Bits and Pieces

Games

2007-07-28T08:25:00.001-07:00

Between having two jobs, a volunteer commitment, and a kid I don't have a lot of free time. When I'm not using that free time for something else, I play two games obsessively. Kingdom of Loathing is one, and Desktop Tower Defense is another. Both are free.

The first, Kingdom of Loathing, is a very silly but very fun and comprehensive role playing game. You create your character, and choose one of six classes: Disco Bandit, Accordion Thief, Turtle Tamer, Seal Clubber, Pastamancer, or Sauceror. Depending on your class, you'll have certain abilities and skills which you can use to fight monsters and create interesting food, booze, weapons and outfits. Thanks to something called Ascension, once you have defeated the Naughty Sorceress - the pinnacle of the game - you can reincarnate as a completely different class. I've been playing for three years with the same character, gizpotato.

Desktop Tower Defense is a puzzle-maze type game. You have a board, and on that board you construct a maze for "creeps" to go through. The maze consists of towers which shoot the creeps, (hopefully) killing them before they reach the other end. No account creation needed, just choose your language and difficulty (start on easy, and work your way to Medium) and start playing. It'll take a while before you can survive to the end on Medium, and once you do that, it's a matter of getting the highest score possible. The group of scores I've been contributing to is "monkeyfilter" (the online message board I found the game on). My current highest score of 5700 ranks 22nd.

Now that I have passed on my addictions, my job here is done.

Conversation

2007-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Me: Maybe I should go into the Navy
Him: You wouldn't like it.
Me: Yeah, the people probably wouldn't quite be my type.
Him: No, that's not it. It's because you don't like taking orders.
Me: Yeah, that's a good point. But I think I could adjust.
Him: No, I doubt it. You hate taking orders. Actually, you get kind of combative about it.
Me: Sure, when it's you giving the orders!

The more the merrier

2007-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Back in October of last year, we put Abigail in daycare. The only thing that kept my anxiety level below lethal was that this person was highly, and personally, recommended. Abigail was Liliya's first baby in her brand-new daycare, which also helped. Between October and November, she added two more kids: one about two months younger than she and one about six months older. Thus it has been. Until Monday, that is.

On Monday, three rambunctious boys joined Liliya's daycare. The reaction from the existing daycare kids has been quite interesting. Abigail loves it. She loves the noise, the added action, the company. She's in her element, and it really shows. Donovan, the younger one, is just about where Abigail is, but not as excitedly. Max, the older one, is a totally different story.

Max is now nearly two years old, and had been the biggest and oldest until now, which does make a difference even if he's not the favorite (that would be Abigail, for obvious reasons). He had actually started bullying Abigail, something that made me even more excited about these new kids. If they hadn't been about to start, we might have had to start our daycare search all over again. Thankfully it didn't come to that, the kids are here, and things have changed: Max is not the biggest and baddest, and he doesn't have the freedom he did when it was just the three of them. He hates it. He's jealous. He's miserable. But he doesn't pick on Abigail anymore!

Not so-humble pie and giant bouncy balls

2007-07-21T21:01:00.001-07:00

This morning Jason discovered that he had a nail in his tire. Armed with his trusty tire-patching tool, he went out to fix it right up (he's used to this, being a construction worker and all). In the process of fixing the flat, after he'd already removed the nail, the tool broke. Without the nail in to hold some of the air in the tire, it went completely flat. Within two hours, our neighbor, he of the ridiculous bass, came over to let us know we had a flat. This is the neighbor who has been driving us crazy for months with said ridiculous bass, the neighbor who for the last few weeks has had no friendly "please turn it down" calls, instead being subjected to our banging on the walls when the volume was turned up to insane. I'm sure he doesn't like us just as much as we don't like him, and for him to come over and tell us about the flat we might not be aware of, well all I could think of was that it was a mighty Christian thing to do (they are regular church-goers). I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, and was even eating a bit of humble pie, but tonight the volume has gone right back up, our apartment is again filled with the bumping of the bass, and I am again cursing the asshole who made such powerful stereo systems cheap enough to be owned by apartment-dwellers.

In other, more happy news, Abigail got her first giant bouncy ball tonight. It was like we injected her with pure happiness, the way she reacted to that ball. All night she was carrying it around, running into things, and falling down. And cackling like a crazed witch. Can't forget that part. Did I mention she speaks in tongues, with a strange voice that would fit very well on an ancient spell-caster? We have one weird, and possibly possessed, little girl on our hands here.

Enough for an RX400h

2007-07-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

My car is in the shop again, this time for the alternator. Curious as to how much this car is costing us, I did a bit of digging. Our costs, only dating back to May because that's all the info I have at hand, have been:
May: $437.05
June: $419.41
July: $808.45
That's a total of $1,664.91 we've spent on that car in the last three months. That averages out to $550 per month. Just for the shame of it, I'm going to say it: I'm paying $550 per month for a 1991 Honda Accord with 197,000 miles.

We'll be having squirrel for dinner tonight.

One down, hundreds of thousands to go

2007-07-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

For about three years, I have been volunteering for Happy Tails. My duties have changed as my personal time requirements have changed, and right now I'm returning voicemail messages twice a week. Most of what I do is putting cats on our waiting list, and since I have all the contact info & such, I also add cats that appear on the Sacramento Freecycle list I subscribe to. Today, because of that, a kitten is going to get a highly-coveted spot at Happy Tails. My day has been made.

A day in the City

2007-07-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Abigail, Jason and I packed up and headed to the City for the day. (For those of you outside our immediate geographical location, our "The City" is San Francisco.)

We didn't get out until ridiculously late because Jason, who hadn't gotten to sleep in on any of his proceeding four days off, slept in. We nearly called it off and stayed home to clean (which really, really needs to happen), but at the last moment decided to throw caution to the wind and go. Jason's got County Summit Fever, and if I didn't get out of the valley & have some fun I was going to go postal.

The first thing we did was go to the mall. Seriously. I had forgotten to bring a jacket, and since to San Franciscans 65 degrees is hot, a jacket is always needed. We went to American Eagle and got me a ridiculously priced hoodie with AEs logo plastered all over it. Yes, we're going to return it (or try, at least). Then we went to McDonald's. We were starting to think we should have stayed home. But then we went up the San Francisco County summit, Mt. Davidson, and started to have fun. We drove up & down what must be the steepest hill in the City. Seriously. Jason had to stomp on the gas halfway up because the car was about to stall. I didn't even think it was possible for an automatic to stall! Everything was okay, though, and we drove around for a bit deciding what to do. We wound up parking at Fisherman's Wharf and eating at Bubba Gump's at Pier 39. For some reason, we can NOT avoid doing totally touristy stuff when we go in. Abigail was happy, though. Lots going on, lots to see, but still safe & snug in her (gigantic!) stroller. At Bubba Gump's, she stuffed her face (literally) with mac & cheese, and was the delight of the entire restaurant.

Though we didn't get home until 10:30, Abigail had to have a bath. Dirt from the summit plus mac & cheese had combined to form a film of grit that only soap and water could remove. While I was getting the bath ready, Jason did the usual and played with Abigail. Poor kid couldn't even stand up! She was still happy, though. In fact, she was positively giddy. If you've ever seen her when she's extra extra tired, you know what I mean. Our kid doesn't get cranky when she's tired, she gets happy. Have I mentioned what a great kid we have?

Anyway, after we put Abigail to bed we sat down on our ridiculously uncomfortable couch & watched some t.v. We reflected on the day, on how nice it was, and how happy we were that we'd gone. We decided we'd do this once a month or so, because it really is good for the soul. However, next time we'll do a few things differently. I'll take my jacket if we're going someplace cold. We'll leave earlier, even if Jason hasn't gotten to sleep in yet. But the most important change we'll make is not leaving the house in a state of disaster. Nope, not doing that again. Next time, we'll hire Merry Maids to take care of it while we're gone!

Simple Solution

2007-07-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

About mid-week, we ran out of birdseed. That would be thanks to the squirrels, who eat and eat and eat and... well, you get the idea.

Anyway, I rummaged around to see what we had and it turns out we had one birdfeeder's worth of safflower left. We used it - the finches at the old place liked it just fine. Apparently the squirrels are above eating such simple fare - I haven't seen one since the "good stuff" ran out. The best part? Safflower is cheaper.

Squirrels: 2
Minda: 3

Another Fourth

2007-07-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again, the time when people spend unholy amounts of money on fireworks and try to set themselves and their property on fire. Living in a somewhat questionable neighborhood, I'm a bit nervous about what this fourth will bring.

Speaking of nervous, the Honda's new trick is to flash odd lights from the dashboard and have a non-functioning speedometer and odometers. The guys at the shop tell me that the speed sensor is bad, and while it's okay to drive till they have time for it on Friday, the gas mileage will be crap. Yep, we're not going anywhere for a while. Which is okay, because it's 247 degrees outside. I'm not sure where our family will ultimately end up, but it is NOT going to be somewhere that gets this hot. Nor will it be where there's lots of humidity. You might as well rename all those humid states "Hell". I have tons of respect for people who can handle that weather well, because I sure can't.

Oddly enough, I have no updates on either baby or birds/squirrels/small black & white cats. Abigail is still walking, still not talking, and still insisting on eating everything with her hands (yeah, dinner time is very messy). The squirrels haven't been by lately, and that cat hasn't been around in ages. All in all, things are pretty boring. I promise to try harder next week.

In a time of need

2007-06-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you know, there is a huge fire in South Lake Tahoe that is destroying many lives and homes. The victims of the Angora Fire need help in many forms. If you can donate time/money/whatever, here is a good page of resources, and here's another. And of course, there's always the Red Cross. If you can only spare ten bucks or one blanket, don't be embarrassed or feel like it is too insignificant to help. If we all contribute a small amount of money or one small item, we can make a big difference.

Unintended Consequences

2007-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

During the day on Saturday, a day I don't remember well because I was so sick, I filled the bird feeder. It caused me pain, because I was sick, but I did it anyway. Can't have the birds going hungry now, can we?

Anyway, I watched the birds while being very sick on Saturday, and it was nice. Then on Sunday I was better, and as a result was very busy. We didn't get home from Grandma's until about 9:30, and once I finally got to look outside, I saw that the feeder was EMPTY. I don't believe for a minute it was the birds. It was those squirrels. I put up the Special Squirrel Sauce and how do they thank me? By emptying the feeder in one day. We're going to have to re-think this.

It's what's for dinner

2007-06-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago, we realized Abigail is a bit old to still be eating baby food, and really needs to learn how to chew. So I started grinding up fruits for breakfast and veggies for lunch, because they're chunkier that way and will help her learn to chew. We still had plenty of dinner baby foods left, so until yesterday she's had Mom's Mix breakfasts & lunches, and baby foods like Turkey & Veggies and Chicken with Rice for dinner. Well, a couple of days ago she ate her last jar of baby food.

The night before last, we had meatloaf and veggies for dinner. All of us. I cut up Abigail's meatloaf into strips, because it's easier for her to chew on that way (she tries to swallow things that are cut up in chunks). She took a strip of meatloaf in her hand and started sucking on it. Then she stuffed the whole thing in her mouth, and immediately reached for more. If she'd have had her way, Abigail would have stuffed so much into her mouth that it would have sqooshed out of her ears. I think Big People Food Experiment Number One went well.

A shaky cease fire

2007-06-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days, I have realized that the small black & white cat has abandoned our patio, and the squirrel has limited his activity to the bird feeder. Now that there is no cat to eat the birds, and no fear that the squirrel will give my cats fleas and contaminate my whole patio with squirrel poo, I have decided to put away the Special Squirrel Sauce. Details on the parade currently in the works to follow.

From here to there, here to there, and back again

2007-06-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Abigail is walking. She has officially graduated from crawler to walker. All evening long, and as I hear it all day long too, she was walking. Not to anywhere in particular; just walking from here to there and there to here and here to there and... well, you get the idea.

Far from being scared shitless, I am excited about this new development. Abigail has been ambulatory for many months now, and I've already reconciled myself to that fact. Now I'm excited because she'll be able to walk instead of me having to carry her everywhere, which is good because lately she has picked up the habit of trying to fall out of my arms while I'm carrying her. Most of the time she does this while we're walking over a hard surface that would do permanent damage should she succeed.

This now also means she's going to be getting into a whole lot more, as in "everything". There will be nothing the kid doesn't get into, and we're going to have to rethink our whole lives to make sure she doesn't ingest things that could kill her, like small cat toys and Jason's extensive wire nut collection. In light of this, we are currently accepting donations of any kind of closed cabinet/drawer thing where we can put stuff and our t.v., as well as valium. Because there will probably be times where we will need it in order to not go crazy from saying "No Abigail!" and fishing small cat toys and wire nuts out of her mouth, for the millionth time.

I'm okay with Tuesday

2007-06-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

After this weekend, I find myself feeling happier than I've been in a while. Not that I'm all Pippy Longstockings or anything, I've still got a ways to go before I get there, but definitely better.

We arrived at Bodega Bay mid-day Saturday. We putzed around a bit, walked on the sand (or should I say, in the sand), and then headed over to the "camp" site. I put quotation marks there because there was only one other couple in a tent, and the rest (meaning a friggin boatload of people) were in campers. For my birthday, I want a camper. A big one. And a driver, because my husband made it *crystal* clear that he will not be driving one of those, ever.

The camp site was a sheep pasture nestled between a few hills, and absolutely covered in sheep poo. At first, when I saw that whole families had come for the event, I was sorry we'd left Abigail behind. When I discovered all that sheep poo, though, I was extremely happy we'd kept her in Grandma's care. She'd have ingested that poo within five minutes of arriving.

Anyway, we had a good old time playing games, talking with an incredibly large number of people, and getting drunk. We youngsters took a midnight walk up the hill, blindly following Jason, because he was just about the only one who could see anything. We passed around a cup of Jamison's and talked about being dragged into the woods by monsters. It was quite exhilarating.

The next morning I woke up with a doozy of a hangover, and had to sit perfectly still for about two hours in order to not hurl all over the place. I do not hold my alcohol well, apparently. Thankfully PJ's mom, Becky, was cooking and chatting with Jaime, so I was able to sit in their camper and pretend to talk while trying desperately to calm my guts. That sweet woman cooked us all breakfast, and that did the trick.

It's always such a pleasure to get together with PJs family, because they unhesitatingly welcome us into the family when we come around. Sometimes I feel like I gained several families when I married Jason... I realized this fully when Becky started in on me for not bringing the baby around more. Becky, I promise that the next time we're in Woodland we'll stop by. You can even keep her for a couple of hours, if you like, while we go do... whatever.

Anyway, we wrapped up the trip in style. Jason played a game called washerboard (it's a bit shuffleboard, a bit basketball, and a lot unique) for several hours, and I sat with Jaime watching. While I was sitting and watching, I got a horrific sunburn. The sunburn's not even the worst part, though. The worst part is that about halfway through Jaime offered sunblock, and I said no. Sometimes I can be really, really stupid.

All in all, sunburn notwithstanding, we had a fabulous time. The Gordons are a big, welcoming, friendly, and slightly odd family that are just delightful to spend time with.

I CAN take heat, thank you very much

2007-06-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Right now it is 80 degrees outside. Later it will be around 85 degrees. I am not worried because as we speak my car's air conditioning is being fixed. For just above four hundred dollars, I am getting a new fan motor. The irony here is that Abigail, the main reason I was so adamant about fixing it, is home with Jason today getting ready for our trip this weekend.

Speaking of that trip, I am very excited to get away for almost two whole days. I'm not excited to be away from Abigail, except in the sense that I'll finally get to sit down and relax without either running after a quick toddler or shushing myself and others for fear of waking said toddler. Abigail, I love you but you sure are a lot of work AND MAMA NEEDS A BREAK.

However, I am not thrilled about leaving the plants and bird feeder unguarded. It's bad enough that we have those pooping, fleabag squirrels visiting our feeder, but I think that small black and white cat has actually been eating the birds. I watched him as he lay under the feeder the other day, and he nearly got one. When we set up this bird feeder we didn't realize we'd be giving food to the birds as well as making food of them! As a result, I've decided to booby trap the feeder. I plan on staying up all night to study the ways of that Master Booby-Trapper, Wile E. Coyote. Wish me luck!

Might signal the apocalypse

2007-06-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

On Friday, between the hours of 1:00 and 5:00, we are going to get cable installed. Not just any cable, but Digital cable. We are going to have tens of channels, which might not sound like a lot to you but sounds like a whole lot to us, who currently have no channels at all.

We are going to have The History Channel (I've always giggled a bit at that particular channel's acronym), The Science Channel, The National Geographic Channel, The Discovery Channel and many, many more. Including ESPN. Several channels worth of ESPN, at that.

There are very few likely outcomes here. One, we turn into zombie t.v. addicts. Two, we kill eachother while fighting over the remote. Three, we enjoy it a lot but ultimately decide it's too expensive and downgrade to basic cable (as in 13 channels) in around three months. Yeah, I'm going with that one, too.

Monday, Monday

2007-06-04T15:26:00.001-07:00

Well, Happy Monday everyone! :op

I've had this bad feeling that I just can't shake all day long. I think it's just that blech Monday feeling that pervades the beginnings of some weeks, though. In the interest of getting happy again, let's go over some good things:

Today is both my brother-in-law's birthday and my Dad's. Happy Birthday, you guys!

Next month, if Jason and I are careful - not even "very" careful, only "somewhat" careful - we're going to have our Chapter 13 bankruptcy paid off and done. After three years of paying that, and being completely non-existent to (and sometimes even reviled by) all lenders & financiers, we're going to be done. That's a good thing because that car that was given to us a year ago is getting more and more expensive to keep operational. Also because we won't be in bankruptcy anymore. That all by itself is quite satisfying.

Next weekend Jason and I are going camping, while Abigail stays with Grandma. I haven't gone anywhere in a long, long time and I'm completely thrilled with the prospect.

Friday, we're getting the AC fixed in the aforementioned car. It's going to cost $415, but in Sacramento, with a baby, not having AC isn't really an option.

What's not good, you ask? SQUIRRELS, THAT'S WHAT. Squirrels and small black and white cats are haunting my dreams, emptying my bird feeder and pooping everywhere. I didn't see them much this weekend, but that's because I was busier than hell. Jason dutifully reported to me that he was going after them with the Special Squirrel Sauce all Saturday morning, though. I'm seriously considering getting one of these.

For Optimal Flavor Cook with Soy Sauce and a Pinch of Garlic

2007-05-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today I had the worst customer service experience of my life. Seriously. And it wasn't even Home Depot.

It was an awful, tortuous experience that ended in the worst, and weirdest, way ever: On the phone with customer service, I was told I needed to be transferred to a different department. I was transferred to a coffee shop in Dallas.

I'm not a vindictive person as a rule, but this case is an exception to that rule. I hope this company is ready for the squirrels and small black and white cat it's about to receive.

Fun and Full Weekend

2007-05-29T12:47:00.001-07:00

Well, that was certainly a full weekend!

On Saturday, I went to my second job and found out that to keep me from quitting, the boss is willing to have me work from home 90% of the time, PLUS gave me a raise. How's that for employee appreciation? :o)

Also on Saturday, Jason's Mom came in, and then PJ & Jaime visited. We had a nice BBQ and then later, a nice night of very competitive hearts. We had a very good time, laughing our asses off at Kate Bush. I love this woman's music, and had watched this particular video before. Apparently I was unaware of how incredibly weird it is. But in my defense, I first watched Wuthering Heights (the one where she's in the woods, wearing a red dress), and after that nothing seems weird.

Sunday was a great, productive day. I cleaned the whole of the upstairs, and washed AND folded all of the laundry. Jason hung pictures & stuff, and watched the baby. That last job was not little, as "the baby" has a tooth coming in and is so cranky that if you so much as look at her, she'll scream (I only wish I were kidding).

Yesterday was a great end to a great weekend. I made mucho progress on Mom's website, and got us all out of the house at about 2:00 to go see Matt & Debi & their baby, Brady. We had a wonderful time there. She & Brady played pretty much the whole time, and I can tell, Brady has a crush. They were standing side-by-side at one point, and Brady kept putting his hand on her butt! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this with which to embarrass them both later in life.

There was also some water fun to be had yesterday. Matt & Debi have a small inflatable pool, and Abigail loved it. She even slipped out of Jason's grasp once and went in, face first. She emerged, sputtering a bit, but no worse for the wear. She just went back to what she'd been doing: walking around, and around, and around the pool and splashing us all till we were dripping. It's a really neat pool - it's not the usual little round one, but one that's about as tall as Abigail, and has big, inflatable sides. Every now & then, while she was making the rounds in the pool, she'd throw herself on that inflatable side, giggling madly. If it weren't for that last thing, I'd think we had an Olympic swimmer on our hands!

I nearly forgot: The Squirrel War. He's winning. He hangs out just long enough for us to open the screen door, and then he's off. I don't think we've actually managed to squirt him with the Special Squirrel Sauce since that first week. As if this weren't bad enough, there's a small black & white cat that's also taken to hanging out at the bird feeder. Right under it, in fact. When I see this one, though, I don't reach for the squirt bottle. I pick up our giant, behemoth cat Gizmo and make lunging motions with him. Incredibly, the cat does not fall off the patio wall laughing, he actually runs away. I think I'm on to something here...

Words, Freedom and Squirrels

2007-05-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I was doing the dishes, Jason came downstairs holding Abigail. I turned around and said "Hi, bubba baloo!" (that's her nickname, and if you don't like it then you don't like AMERICA). She turned around to look at me and said "HI!". Jason and I looked at eachother, then at her, then at eachother again, while she continued babbling away. Jason said "Did she just say her first word? Because I think she just said her first word." After pondering it, and telling both her daycare provider and a co worker with kids this morning, I believe we have a conclusion: Abigail said her first word, and it was "hi".

Something else Abigail has done is render her corral obsolete. We might as well just dismantle the whole thing, because it has no purpose anymore. Except we can't. We're attached to that corral, it's our last vestige of Abigail's babyhood. If we take it apart, if we put away those boxes and return the furniture to a normal living room pattern, then we're admitting we no longer have a baby but instead have a toddler. A toddler who we must educate on what to and not to touch, who we must convince to not put everything in her mouth, who will cause baby gates to grow from many walls and doorways. There are many things we need to put away very soon, but there's really nothing to be done about the cat toys. I'm not sure yet how we're going to teach her the difference between her toys and their toys, but since Gizmo steals her stuffed animals all the time, I guess we can let her play with his catnip mouse.

Speaking of vermin, this morning as I was getting ready for work I looked out the window to see a squirrel sitting on our bird feeder. I ran downstairs, thrust the blinds open, and nearly broke my fingers trying to open a locked patio door in my haste to squirt the little bastard with the Special Squirrel Sauce I made up. That little shit watched this whole routine from the top of the patio wall, staring at me. It was plain to see what he was thinking: "As soon as you open that door, I'm outta here, and it's going to PISS YOU OFF." And do you know what? He was right. I sprayed the Special Squirrel Sauce at him anyway, in hopes that he'd catch a few drops on his way back to his tree. Do you know what I heard while I was doing that, while I was looking at the mostly-empty bird feeder I had just filled the day before yesterday? Laughing. Tiny, smug squirrel laughing.

Squirrel: 2
Minda: 1

The day of days

2007-05-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

At 2:01 this morning, Abigail turned one year old. Today I've been thinking back on the last year, on how much she's changed in that relatively short, but extremely long, period of time.

Abigail came in to the world a pink, squalling little thing, with parents who soon realized they'd gotten in way over their heads. For the first two weeks, we were in a state of exhausted terror. We were terrified of the bath, and the thought of the nail clippers made us tremble. We jumped at her every cry, worrying ourselves sick over whether she was hungry, poopy, or dying.

At about one month old, we realized we had a colicky baby. She wasn't as bad as some babies, but to us it was bad. At four months old, though, we realized that all Abigail needed was for her body to grow a bit, and a regular schedule.

At almost five months, Abigail went into daycare. I didn't think I'd survive - being away from her for so long, in the care of a stranger, was the most awful thing imaginable. So was the cost! But after a week or so, I saw a change in our Abigail. She was thriving in the schedule-driven daycare environment, and having been the first baby our daycare provider took on, I saw that they had a special attachment to eachother. We also learned that we could get by pretty well money-wise if we were careful.

Over the next few months, we watched our little baby change. She became much more aware of her surroundings, and became a very happy little baby. She learned to almost-crawl, then crawl, then pull herself up to standing. We discovered babies are curious little things, that will put anything and everything into their mouths. We learned that a mobile baby is one that is through with the swing. We discovered that Once Upon A Child is not only for buying baby stuff, it's for selling it, too!

When she was 9 months old, we moved into the new place. We set up a "corral" in the living room, where she happily played for about a month. Soon we discovered that if we do just a bit of putting-away and put up a baby gate, we could let her play in her room. That is now where she prefers to be.

Saturday was Abigail's birthday party. She made her walking debut that day, much to the delight of everyone there. She's not a full walker yet, but she can walk from here to there, as long as it's not too far. She also played in the grass, ate a couple of leaves, and had a bit of cake. Then she went home and took a nap.

Today she seemed to know that she's no longer an infant, and I believe she thinks her newfound toddlerhood requires an attitude. She was impatient and squawky, driving me nuts while getting ready. But she was quiet in the car, which is a nice change. Maybe it's because I've embraced the inevitable and bought a 2 CD set of toddler-friendly songs. Little Bunny Foo Foo, Peter Rabbit, and cows that "go moo moo, moo moo" are now a integral part of our car trips. I don't mind so much, though. It's better than the crap I'm sure she'll be listening to in a few years!