Sick Baby - Heartbreaking!

So Nickolas had a temperature on Tuesday of 102.7, and we started giving him Tylenol. Come Wednesday night, it still wasn't gone, so Keith took him to the emergency room. They were worried and did some bloodwork and gave him some fluids (in an IV) and his temperature shot up to 105. After about 4 hours in there they figured out he has a virus, and just isn't handling it very well. We can only treat the symptoms (which is only a fever), and since about 2am it's been mostly down.

It's the worst feeling when your little baby is sick, and there's nothing you can really do for him except hold him and comfort him-at least try.

He had more of an appetite tonight, so that's good. Eventhough my Aunt said that going a few days without food, for him and his size, probably wouldn't hurt too much! =)

I'm Proud of My Sister!

Eventhough at 18 she already has 2 tattoos, a belly piercing and has had more boyfriends than I can keep up with, I am so proud of her. ;)

She is such a hard worker. She works almost 30 hours a week and it going to the University of North Texas full-time majoring in a very difficult program. Over winter break she will be working 2 jobs. I just talked to her at 11:00 tonight and she was headed out to do laundry.

I admire how intelligent and determined she is. She has a good head on her shoulders and she makes me laugh. She is my seeeeester and my friend and I love her!

My Date

Today I had a wonderful date with one of my favorite guys. Kolbe and I went to see "Bee Movie"!

We had stopped by Dory's place to see Ella and Ava and visit for a bit, and then headed over to the theatre. Kolbe was so great. We bought our tickets, and then went inside and bought popcorn and some candy. The movie was about an hour and a half. Kolbe did great sitting through all of it. Twice he wanted to sit on my lap, and we snuggled some, and then he would go back to his seat. The movie was really cute and the colors were amazing. It's always so mesmerizing to watch the artistic part of it and to think about the technology behind it all. Which is what I'm sure Kolbe was thinking about too.

I came out of it thinking differently about bees and Kolbe came out of it with a sticky hand from the candy.

It was still fun!

Busiest Shopping Day of the Year

And you will not see me out in it! Well, okay...we did go to Walmart, and I got a little tense and we were in and out in 45 minutes.

Thanksgiving was really nice! We spent Wednesday evening at Keith's parents house. His Uncle Bill drove all the way in from Florida. It was really nice to see him-he hadn't met Nickolas yet. He was eager to see his grandkids (Billy and Andrew), and then we got a call on Thursday around noon that Andrew was in the emergency room with mono! So they didn't even make it out. What a horrible thing to have, especially on Thanksgiving.

We still had a nice time visiting, and then drove in to my grandparents' house for dinner. I was really nervous about whether or not she made macaroni, but I saw her sneak out to the backyard and when she opened the grill it was there-WHEW! I had 3 helpings, and of course a Dr. P! That made the whole day (and I guess seeing family did too)!

Now only 31 more shopping days until Christmas. (at least that's what the Walmart sign said)!

Being Thankful

Is definitely not something that I express as much as I should. It's unfortunate that some people take the opportunity only around the holidays to show it, and I hope I can make a habit of being thankful more often, and being open and honest about what exactly it is I am thankful for.

Confucius once said "It takes 100 days to break a habit, and it takes 100 days to gain a habit". Maybe if we all took the next 100 days and made a point to be thankful every single day for something-and told someone-it would make a difference.

I am so thankful for my happy and healthy boys. They are such a joy to be around, and although my patience is tried at times, they bring so much laughter and a new perspective on life and how to live it. That I am thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Learning to Lead

So today was the first day of DMI's "Learning to Lead" seminar in Boston. It was partially what I had anticipated, and was worried I wasn't going to be able to keep up with the pace.

We had an article to read before even entering the classroom and I read it last night so that it would be fresh in my head, and took in most of it, but some of it was still over my head.

There were about 20 or so people in the seminar. A few from Ebay, Google and Hasbro. I also met a guy from TI. Almost everyone was from the design discipline, all split by web, print and marketing.

We spent a long time on introductions, and the instructor really got to know our backgrounds, and created mind maps around comments made. We did several team exercises, and ended the day with a great team exercise and presentation based on breaking down issues/challenges as design leader, the difference between the problem and the purpose, and how to get to aspirational goals based on those insights.

Pretty in-depth information-and it's going well so far.

Day One in Boston

Travel this morning went fairly smooth with the exception of a terminal change and trying to find a cab that would take a credit card. My flight left at 8:45 this morning, and we landed just as they had anticipated-1:20pm Eastern time. Took a taxi over to the hotel. On the way I went through a tunnel that reminded me of the one in D.C. IN D. C. we had Kolbe with us at the time and he loved the tunnel. This one was just like it. All the orange lights and really long.

Made it to the hotel. It's really nice...a very pleasant surprise. ;) Got settled in and then checked out the city a little bit. Had a hard time finding the university, but only because I went around the back of the building and they were doing a lot of construction. Right across the street is the Granary Burial Ground where a lot of historical names lay to rest, a lot from the Boston Massacre. Saw the plots for John Hancock, Paul Revere and Mary "Mother" Goose.

The city and architecture remind me a little bit of Italy. Some of the same shape details, and the way the streets are laid out are very similar. There were a lot of people out. Running, waking, shopping. Getting to destinations by foot is common, along with the underground bus system. I also saw a few trollies. The area seemed good, there were a few people sleeping on the park benches, and there were a lot of dark alleys. It got dark at 4:30. I walked through Boston Commons which is the oldest public park in the United States. The colors of the trees were beautiful.

Had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was good and the view was great-it overlooked the city street. I am anxious for the seminar to begin tomorrow, and hope I can keep up with the intellectual level in the room! I'm ready to learn!

Boston Pictures

It's Day 3...

Of Kolbe being away on his camping trip with Oma and Opa, and I think my heart is about to explode I miss him so much.

I know he is having a great time, and they are having fun. Have been taking walks, and playing, and making fires and exploring. The cousins were there last night and will be there all day today, and I know Kolbe is having fun with DoryAnn.

There is a huge piece missing when he's not home. And as much as I enjoy one on one time with Nickolas, only lugging one child out to the car, and a little more quiet time in the house, I enjoy Kolbe and the contagious laughter he brings. He makes me laugh and is such a wonderful little boy. I don't know how I got so lucky!

Only 2 more days.

Am I Addicted to the Internet?

First off, can I say how ironic I find it that there are countless sites ONLINE for internet addiction. This one (http://www.netaddiction.com/) even claims this statement "Welcome to the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery <------------, --------> your resource<------------- for assessment and treatment for Internet addiction disorders." I looked up signs of an addiction, where else, on the internet... Preoccupation with the Internet. (Thoughts about previous on-line activity or anticipation of the next on-line session.) YES

Use of the Internet in increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction. NO

Repeated, unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use. YES

Feelings of restlessness, moodiness, depression or irritability when attempting to cut down use of the Internet. NO

On-line longer than originally intended. YES

Jeopardized or risked loss of significant relationships, job, educational or career opportunities because of Internet use. NO

Lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet. NO

Use of the Internet as a way to escape from problems or to relieve a dysphoric mood. (e.g., feelings of hopelessness, guilt, anxiety, depression.) NO

Okay, so 3 YES and 5 NO. That's a good sign I guess. My addiction is more work-related, and needing to get information as soon as possible. I also use it as a resource for anything I need, shopping, research, weather, entertainment. I can't remember the last time I read a newspaper, besides the ads. It's the reason I refuse to get a PDA, because I would never have a personal life. I feel like if there is something to be done, or information sitting there for me, I can't just let it sit, I have to get it.

The reason I was prompted to really think about this, is because last night I couldn't get online, and I really didn't want to contact tech support to get it, and I got really upset. Not only did I want to work, but I wanted to check email, look up the weather, just plain surf, and I couldn't. I felt unproductive, and anxious.

That sounds pretty bad. Maybe I need to look into a support group.

Cursed Be the Time Change!

Long gone are the days when I would look forward to that Saturday night in fall...anticipating 2am when I rolled back that hour hand to 1. An extra hour of life. An extra hour of sleep.

Welcome to the days, when that hour hand moves, and it's like it is somehow directly connected to my childrens' brains. How can only one tiny hour mess up an entire week of sleep?

For the last 4 days, both of my kids have been up at 5:30am. It doesn't even make sense. That's 6:30am the old time, which is still an hour earlier than when they used to get up. So, somehow their daylight savings brain is on a 2 hour window, not one.

Worst case scenario...there's always April to look forward to.

Future BodyBuilder?

Looks like we have some bicep (callout 1), brachialis (callout 2), and brachioradialis (callout 3 & callout 4) development going on here.

Enough said.

Door to NoWhere?

We were out at Keith's parents' house over the weekend, and drove past this house (slowly) on the golf cart. I'm sure that at one point they had some kind of stairwell that got you down to the ground, but I wonder what happened to it?

Maybe they just use it now to have people walk the plank?

Uh-Oh

Fun Paintings

First off, how do people get so much time on their hands? Maybe I just spend too much time doing unproductive things?

Even still, I had fun looking at this idea and think they did a great job. It's fun and creative, and we need more of that in life!