Onward Through the Storm!

Its been a crazy however long since I've last posted. Not necessarily bad, mind you, but a veritable whirlwind.

And to think, the holidays aren't even here yet...

Yesterday I took a day off to attend to house stuff. Last week I had to update my Vacation Time chart at work, something I was dreading as I had just assumed I had used up all my current days and then some toting the boy to the doctor or staying home with him on snowdays. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I have an ENORMOUS amount of vacation days--11 of which I need to use up before April. I was able to do laundry, dishes, deal with the exterminator (ants: ick), and even meet Sheryl downtown for lunch. Sheryl and I share a nostalgia for patty melts and a fondness for the Tic Toc, which is reminiscent of The Attic in Higbees back in the day. The patty melts at the Tic Toc, I'm sad to say, were by no means acceptable. Still, it was sweet to be in the thick of the holiday lunch crowd. I also got to rearrange some of the artwork in the nursery so that the new furniture arrangement matches where things are on the walls.

The real excitement last night was going to pick Donny up at Waldorf as the cold weather had, by then, turned nasty and brutish. Thick wet snow as turning into a sheet of ice on the sidewalks and, while I had an umbrella, I stupidly didn't pack a hat: who needs a hat when you have an umbrella? The answer is "who ever needs both hands to steer a damn baby stroller." I knew it was going to be brutal so, since I was leaving from home, I packed some fleece snow pants and a little fleece blanket. I bundled the boy all up and more or less tied him into his stroller with the blanket. The original plan was to meet Mike at Whole Foods but I made the executive decision to go the Quiet Storm instead. QS is a little further away from Waldorf than I want it to be and, 3/4 of the way there I started frantically thinking, "What's the address? Am I going the wrong way?" Then I saw the mural and knew I was almost there. Kirsten was there when we got there and we got to hang out with her. She loves Donny and Donny couldn't get enough of her--she had him laughing and clapping and blowing raspberries--it was great to see. The kid tore thru a plate of sweet potatoes and a bottle of apple juice. By the time Mike got there, Donovan was full and dry and happy. So Kirsten and I went to Kellys and I had a gimlet, Pittsburgh Bites and a Mini Mac. Plus the ice had decided to melt. All and all a good night.