Tag: disc

10 month stats

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. Have been v v busy with work stuff, and so I just haven’t had time. But now it’s 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and before I go back into meetings, I thought I’d post a little bit.

The boys had their 10 month well baby visit on Wednesday and they all lost weight. I freaked out for a little while about it, but was pretty reassured when I found out it was common due to all of the crawling that’s been taking place. Whew!

Last month’s stats:
Linus: 18#8oz (20th); 28″ long (45th)
Oliver: 18#6oz (19th); 28″ long (45th)
Miles: 17#10oz (10th); 28″ long (45th)

This month’s stats:
Linus: 18#5.5oz (6th); 28.5″ long (32nd)
Oliver: 18#2.5oz (5th); 28.75″ long (41st)
Miles: 17#3oz (<3rd); 28″ long (17th)

Now we just need to make sure they all drink their formula and then we can give them solids. Especially my little Miles-peanut!

In other news, am v excited because a week from today is our photo session with our wedding photographer. Hopefully the boys will cooperate and be cute!

Canada trip

Yay, I’m home! My trip was so short, though, you probably didn’t even notice I was gone. 😛

It was a very busy trip, but MAN I was glad to be away from everything at home, you know? Yes, I guess I include the boys in that, but really what it means is that I needed a break from taking care of them all by myself while George was sick. And they were sick. Very stressful week I had last week. So of course, it goes without saying that I missed them terribly, and was sooo happy to see them this afternoon when we went to pick them up. Best part is, I think they missed me too! 😀

So, the recap…it’s not without drama!

First, let me explain the trip. I was going to Toronto to help with the preliminary planning of a conference (the one I go to every May, the one I took the boys to in San Antonio, the one I went to Monterey for last May, etc, etc) that will be held there in 2010. We were going to be visiting several Marriott properties so that we could make the decision and sign a contract for the conference. We also needed to see the city so we could get some ideas for things to do for the conference. I was meeting Mike and Eva, other board members (who also came down here earlier this month, and we did the swamp tour, remember?) and Ralph and Fiona, a couple who live in Toronto and will be hosting the conference.

Saturday:
Up bright ‘n’ early at 4 am to get on my flight at 6 am. I was lucky enough to get a row to myself, quite rare nowadays. I didn’t sleep (I never do) but at least I was able to relax with a book. My connecting flight in Atlanta was an hour late leaving, but no biggie, really, as our schedule on Saturday was pretty flexible. No appointments or anything. I arrive in Toronto and have no issues going through customs.

So I go to get some cash out of an ATM. Whenever I travel to a foreign country (okay, only England so far), I never bring money to exchange, I always just use my ATM card there and withdraw it that way. I’ve never had a problem, and I have no reason to think I will now. But I do. It just doesn’t work. Later, I figure out that my ATM card is on a network that I don’t see on any Canadian ATMs. Oh well, it doesn’t end up being that big of a deal. Everyone takes credit cards (fortunately, my CC worked) but it’s nice to have a little cash on hand. No biggie. I panic a bit, though, thinking I’m not going to be able to get on the airport shuttle to the hotel, but they take CC (of course.)

The half-hour ride to the hotel ends up taking closer to 90 minutes because of unexpected traffic, so instead of arriving at 1, I get to the hotel at 2:30. Everyone else is there, and I try to check in. Half an hour early, no biggie. Eva had already checked that I had a room, and I did. It just wasn’t clean yet, so I wasn’t able to check in. We head off to Niagara Falls.

Ralph, me, Eva on the Maid of the Mist:

Rainbow!

Purty:

In a nutshell…fun! We walked around, took a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist, got soaked, walked some more, had dinner at the Marriott there (very nice dinner.) We head back to the city at around 10:00, after a comical search for the car. There is a LOT of traffic due to construction, and I am beyond exhausted. We finally make it back to the hotel close to 1 am.

I go up to the front desk to check in, and wouldn’t you know? The night manager, who is checking me in, says the hotel is 100% occupied, and he is very sorry, but there is no room for me.

Nice. Everyone is irate but me, I’m just tired. I’ll just sleep on a sofa in the lobby, whatever. I’m exhausted. He says the only room available is one at the Marriott at the airport. No freaking way. I go off to the restroom and let everyone else deal with it. I come back, and I am told that I will be staying up the street at the Four Seasons.

Now THAT’s more like it. Heh.

They stick me in a cab and off I go to sleep for the night at the fanciest hotel I’m likely ever to stay at.

(Truth be told, the rooms aren’t THAT nice, kind of dated. But they had L’Occitane toiletries in the bathroom and a very comfortable bed.)

Not that fancy room:

The next morning, I wake up, have my $40 breakfast and get picked up by everyone so we can tour the city.

My $40 breakfast: (but a real rose in the vase!)

So we tour the city, blah blah blah. Love the city. Decide I want to live there.

Then we go to lunch at a restaurant near the hotel called Baton Rouge. Love that. They feature “Louisiana Spinach Dip” and “Louisiana Chicken Sandwich” and “Baton Rouge Hurricane” on the menu. Kills me. Good food, but absolutely NO connection to my fair hometown. Funny.

After that, we have a meeting at a hotel.

Then we go to the top of the CN tower. Fun!

Then to dinner at a Moroccan restaurant called the Sultan’s Tent, where you get to see belly dancers perform. It was fun. Food was delish.

Back to the hotel (where I had a room this time, and a fruit basket because they felt bad) and off to sleep.

View from my room:

Up bright ‘n’ early on Monday for a breakfast meeting at the hotel we were staying at. The sales rep felt so bad about how I was treated on Saturday night. After the meeting, there was a tiny bottle of ice wine (some Canadian special wine that I have a feeling I’ll like a lot) and three tiny Roots t-shirts for the boys! Aw! Too bad I’d already bought them three tiny Roots t-shirts. I may sell three of them. We’ll see. Maybe not.

Now I have the Toronto bug. It’s such a beautiful city. Perfect size, clean, safe, lots of stuff to do, great shopping. And I didn’t know you get a WHOLE YEAR OFF after having a baby. I know, I know, Canadians pay higher taxes for this and for their socialized medicine, but damn. I’ll pay higher taxes to live in such a place! To raise the boys in such a place…sigh…where the Coke has real sugar in it, not high fructose corn syrup…

And because I can’t post without ONE picture of the boys, here’s one my mom took this weekend:

Can’t wait to go back in Fall 2009. Woot!

In non-travel news, we may be evacuating this weekend for Gustav. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t head this way. Sigh.

8/7/08

I don’t have much to post about, but I’ll post anyway. How about pictures?

The pose that strikes terror into my heart…Miles on all fours!

And, oh crap, he’s not the only one! Oliver…

Linus is getting so good at scootching on his belly. He was “chasing” George, trying to get a pacifier that Daddy was taunting him with.

Look how sweet they are, playing on the floor together:

And you can’t miss the best outtake from the monthly photoshoot, Miles using Oliver’s ear as a handle.

Oooh, and here’s something fun. Last weekend, I went on a swamp tour with some work people. It was really fun, I’m glad I went.

I held an alligator!

And you can watch a video of a crazy Cajun man feeding an alligator off the side of the boat.

Going uppppp

I’m so excited…I’m going to Toronto for work! Just a few days, but still! Canada, here I come! I am going to do a site visit for an organization I belong to through work. Oh never mind, the reason isn’t important (except that it means it’s free), I’m just excited to go! Of course, I’ll miss the boys.

Now I have to admit I don’t know much about Toronto. Has anyone been? Or is anyone reading this from there? What’s there to do (besides tour Marriotts, which is definitely on the agenda…)? Oooh, how is shopping?

Now I just need to get my passport renewed, and I’ll be all set. Yay!

Pittsburgh recap

Sooo, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. Yes. But I’ve been v busy. I am v important busy person. You may now even refer to me as “Board Member Pam.” Yes indeedy, I am that important.

So, my week in Pittsburgh (with a foray to Northern Virginia) went a bit like this:

Sunday: woke up at ungodly hour to catch 6 am flight. Met Kristina at airport (she drove in.) Went to IKEA. Checked into hotel. Walked to Pirate’s game. Got sunburned. Ate lots of food. Went back to hotel, rested. Went to dinner at Piper’s Pub, a Scottish pub that Polly and Colin recommended. Drank some beer, ate some toad-in-the-hole. Delish. Got a cab back to the hotel, hung out in hotel bar with roadie from some heavy metal band. We are cool chicks.

Monday, Memorial Day: Woke up, decided to walk to Penzey’s, the spice store I’ve been dying to visit. Me, being a Southerner, didn’t realize how big Memorial Day is up north. So the fact that EVERYTHING was closed was a bit of a shock to me. So no Penzey’s for us. After we trekked back downtown, we took the teeny subway to Station Square, a “mall” (I use the term very loosely) that was also largely closed. We ate lunch and then took the v scary incline up to Mt. Washington and admired the view and the houses. Ate some ice cream, went back to hotel, Kristina left for DC. I took a nap and then met with fellow members of conference planning committee for dinner. (Buca di Beppo…mmmm!)

Tuesday: Conference began (actually, pre-conference.) Seminars were interesting, esp the one about computer forensics. Tuesday night was the opening picnic. I got to eat another french-fry sandwich. Yum. I went to the gym that morning, did I mention?

Wednesday: Real conference beginning. Went to seminars. That night, my coworkers and I went to an outdoor mall where I shopped and then we ate dinner. Went back to hotel where we visited the hospitality suite. Fun!

Thursday: More conference. That afternoon we had the big outing. The Cathedral of Learning with the Nationality Rooms – very cool, a tour of the cathedral, and then a boat trip up and down the rivers with dinner and faux-gambling. I am now a faux-roulette expert.

Friday: last day of conference. I won a seat on the Board of Directors! V exciting. Friday night was the closing banquet. Yummy food, we had a fun table, and I won another printer! (Last year, at the closing banquet I won a photo printer. This year, a big ol’ inkjet that will come in v handy for my design jobs.) They had these ethnic dancers (Eastern European) that were highly entertaining.

Saturday: up at another god-awful hour for another early flight, this one to DC. Kristina picked me up, and we went to her house. I took a nap, we got manis/pedis, and then I started making five batches of hamburger and hot dog buns. Only I made them too small, so we ended up having a ton of rolls. Just rolls. Lots left over. Too bad I didn’t bring any home. Mmmm. Bread. I drank too much champagne punch, made a toast (before too much punch was imbibed, I think) and had lots of fun. Too much.

Sunday: got up not too early for flight home. Only one bag made it with me, not the big one. Sucky. But now everything is back safely in my hands.

Last night we went to Jacque-Imo’s for dinner with Polly and Colin and Teresa and Jon. Polly and Colin are moving to Pittsburgh on Sunday. 😦