5 posts tagged “milestone”

Some of you may know that last week I took my first "vacation" in close to two years. It was a working vacation, to be sure, since a web worker's work is never done. The only problem was that it was darn near impossible to work because the advertised high speed wi-fi at the house we rented in Deep Creek, MD in a word, sucked. Most days I couldn't get a stable connection past 5pm to work remotely, and as the evening went on, I could barely snag any kind of connection at all. So. My computer time was spent trying to get some semblance of work done and my birthday (on Wednesday, September 19) came and went with me being unable to really comment on it beyond an odd "tweet" here and there.

So--I wrote my blog post that I would have written here that day on a piece of paper, and I am going to transcribe the thing now:

Rumour has it, I am now in my 36th year.  Now, instead of the usual bit of nostalgia one expects from birthday posts, I have decided to use my birthday as my own New Year's Day and have come up with a list of 36 things I'd like to accomplish in my 36th year. Some are work related, some are personal. Some are silly. Some are things to do around the house. But since I am a sucker for lists, I am documenting this for posterity, and I'll let you know how much of this stuff I actually manage to do when September 2008 rolls around.

1. talk like a pirate (this is a no brainer and already complete since my birthday falls on the strangely popular "talk like a pirate day" that just won't seem to go away)
2. buy a better camera--because flickr has inspired me to become a better photographer.
3. take my kids hiking (actually did this on the 18th at Swallow Falls State Park which means I still need to do this again before next year)
4. Find investors for EBSQ. Any interest? Drop me a line and let's talk!
5. do more yoga. because one can never do too much yoga. at least, I don't think so!
6. replace our storm doors before winter.
7. remove the heinous ivy wallpaper in the kitchen and re-paint the kitchen.
8. do a second EBSQ book project (our first one will be ready to pre-order soon! woot!)
9. use less energy.
10. go to SXSW (fingers crossed)
11. go to Gnomedex (again with fingers crossed)
12. take my kids to the beach--this was supposed to happen this year, but we ended up going to the mountains instead.
13. take my kids kayaking.
14. launch EBSQ 3.0 (because this goal is 2 years overdue)
15. eat more local food. we've made a start, but I know we can do better.
16. cook more often. I used to cook all the time, but we've fallen into the "we have kids now" rut. I know we can do better.
17. 10 new paintings. at least. I spend my days helping other people make a living with their art and here I am with no perceived time left to do my own. I miss my easel. And my paints. This needs to be rectified!
18. pay off at least 50% of our debt.
19. get a new bike. I haven't had my own bike since college, and I sold that one to pay off a credit card bill. I miss having a bike, damnit.
20. save more money. hopefully this is doable since I both want to pay off debt and make home improvements this year!
21. read 52 books. yup, that's one a week for the next year. I'll do my best to blog my reading.
22. get more organized.
23. spend more time with my kids. Yeah, I work at home. Yeah, they're in the next room. But I am a bit of a work-a-holic and don't give them as much quality time as they deserve.
24. go on a date with Bill. Bill and I haven't been out alone since Liam was in the NICU last year. And grabbing dinner on the way home from the hospital en route to pick up Abbey at my mom's house doesn't exactly count as a "date." Surely we'll be able to manage one in the next year, lol.
25. learn to knit. this has been on my list for a while. I think this needs to happen ASAP.
26. get better at my job because my customers deserve better.
27. take my kids on a train ride (this one is already done and I'll blog it in a separate post)
28. make a few dolls (because Gwen really inspired me)
29. go to the zoo (because I love the Pittsburgh Zoo in the fall)
30. take the kids to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. We've had a family membership for 2 years and in that time we've been there once.
31. drink more water. Because hey, this is always a worthy goal :) 
32. shop less. (easier said than done. damn you internet shopping making this too easy!)
33. go for more walks. I used to walk so much more when I was living in Pittsburgh proper. I miss it.
34. new curtains/blinds for the house. because I am SO over the ones that came with the house. They're hideous and need to go!
35. make my mother watch Casablanca. Or Sunset Blvd. Or both. How can she have not seen either of these??
36. get more sleep. Easier said than done with two small children, but I will do what I can to make this happen!

Wish me luck, eh? And if you see me slacking on any of these, give me a nudge in the right direction!

I am trying not to think about Abbey's first day of pre-school, that was this past Tuesday. She had a fantastic time. I was a wreck, crying as I walked away from dropping her off. Constantly walking to the door and looking at her pre-school building across the street. Sobbing whenever Bill mentioned how proud he was of her. Getting no work done whatsoever while she was away. Setting a timer until it was time to walk back over to the YWCA and fetch her home. Getting there 5 minutes early anyhow.

Not thinking about the phone conversation later that day with my mum, where she asked, "How was Abbey? Did she cry?" and I told her, "You're asking the wrong questions, mom. It should be, 'How are you? Did you cry?'" to which she replied, first with an apology and then a remark: "Do you remember when Nick started pre-school? Nope, you don't, because I sent you to college and Nick to pre-school the same year."  Ok, yeah, she trumps me there. And doesn't that just boggle the mind (particularly since he's a junior in college now!)

Nope. Not going to think about it. But Abbey was brilliant. And can't wait to do it all over again.

Abbers has pre-school orientation tomorrow. Earlier in the summer, she was really looking forward to this. But as she's seen the day visibly draw near on the calendar, there's been a shift.  She's been having accidents again, including a full-blown pee in the foyer and wet footprints running away from the puddle yesterday evening, which she tried to write off as her spilling her glass of water.  She's been tempermental and having crying jags. Last night around midnight she woke up screaming, which woke her brother (grrrr), and it took Bill close to an hour to calm her back down. 

After she "watered" the foyer and we got her cleaned up, I took her for a walk over to the pre-school, which is literally across the street from our house. We peeked in the windows and I showed her the small  private playground that's nestled beside the building. She seemed relieved to see swingsets and toys. She even noticed cups and napkins for snack time. Still, she confided in me that she was scared to go. "Of the kids?" I asked. "No. I like to play with kids." "Of storytime?" "No." "Of craft time?" "No, I love to make crafts!" "Then what is it, kitten?" 

She thought for a moment, then whispered, "I'm scared of the activities." 

"But Abbers, " I reasoned, "storytime and snack time and craft time are all activities and you love those!"

"I'm scared of activities that I don't even know what they are yet."

Aha. We get to the heart of it. Fear of the unknown. I'm hoping orientation tomorrow morning will ease her fears, particularly since I'll be able to be with her that first day. But a week later, she'll get the real deal and they won't let me past the front door to drop her off. I have to say I have some fear myself. Will being across from the pre-school be a blessing or a curse? I can picture her sad little face staring out that window that faces our house, wanting to be home with mama, dad, and Liam.  I know she'll get over it, particularly since she's an extremely social child who is so lonely for friends. Any child that walks past our front door is fair game, as she screams, "Hi! Hi!" over and over again until she elicits a response (or the child is out of visual range.) I just hope she takes after me (who loved school) and not her dad, who wants to homeschool her because while he values education, he was very unhappy in school, doesn't want her to turn into a little sheep, and of course, he has his own social anxiety issues as well which are no doubt playing into wanting to keep her home. 

Bedtime tonight should be interesting.

Liam's first birthday was on Thursday. And his party (close to 40 people in my tiny house!) was yesterday. It's hard to believe that at this point, exactly a year ago today, I had to leave the hospital without my son, and still hadn't been allowed to hold or nurse him. He wasn't even able to drink the milk I was pumping for him yet! Leaving him at AGH was quite possibly the worst day of my life. Coming home to Bill and Abbey as if my whole pregnancy, my new son, had never even happened at all.

And now he's a boy who crawls around with his toy cars, making them vroooom or go, "a-wheeeeee!" in his small sing-song voice. He loves to play ball, especially with his sister. He's fantastic on his drums with his two drum sticks. Definitely better rhythmicly than his sister was at this age. Liam really seems to have an innate sense of music. Loves the piano. Loves when we sing to him. Or when we're all dancing. He also has quite a temper, something we didn't see in his sister until a MUCH later age. Liam is such an amazing little person. Utterly unique and brilliant. Happy birthday, small son!

!

I never got a chance to blog this properly, but as of 1-6-07, our dear Abbers has been potty trained and diaper-free! We still have the odd accident here and there, but they're getting to be less frequent. I am so proud of my girl. What a joy to only have one child in diapers now. Sweet relief!