I Got My Daughter Back. And Random Stuff

Thank GOODNESS.

What FUN it is to have a cranky baby!

Wow.

Nora had her 2-month shots last week and if I'd thought about it, I would have waited until she was 2 months old according to her gestational age, instead of her actual birthday. It seemed to hit her particularly hard with lots of screaming (nothing makes you more frustrated and helpless than watching your baby scream in your arms, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO) for LONG periods of time.

Now we're just down to some green gook in her left eye, but that seems to be subsiding. I wonder if she may have had a bit of a cold.

Then I got one. Jeff got it first, then Judy, then me. "The Sickies" as they're known among many with children, have started the rounds. So far Nora hasn't gotten the chest cold that starts with a sore throat and ends with a nice round of coughing fits that remind me of days when I used to get bronchitis at the drop of a hat. You know, those days Moms don't want to read that I ever did (but I did smoke cigarettes at one time, but I won't bother fessing up to how long).

So, after Nora came back to us, I had to take it easy and Mom and Aunt Kathy took the baby a couple of days so I could try and recuperate. Ugh. The first day I felt so bad I didn't want to get out of bed. I had that heavy, bone hurting feeling that I thought you only get with the flu. Now I'm just worried Nora will get it, but you know it's one of those things you can't really lose too much sleep over it.

In other news...I sent out Christmas cards. Picture cards with Nora on them, and if you get one, you're on of the lucky 60 in our lives. Or 80. I can't remember now.

I had to make a choice about ordering more at some point and decided not to. My hand hurt from all the writing, and I was out of stamps. We did send a bunch to the Calgary cousins, aunts and uncles, and to a long list of friends from all over. The best was writing notes and sending pictures of Nora to our Perinatologist, OB/GYN and Nurse Practitioner in Denver who were there for us during my pregnancy with Jacob, as well as the beginnings of Nora.

It feels so amazing to be able to finally send out a Christmas picture card with OUR daughter on it.

What's funny too was I started writing a newsletter covering the year, including my 40th birthday (which actually was a yawner in terms of me getting arrested or anything, since I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time so unable to rabble-rouse).

The best things about my birthday were my trip to Seattle and those who were there know all about it (and they drank for me, I assure you, Mom, Jill, Judy, Stephanie, Teri, Deb, Jess Pie, Kim Pie and Shan Pie), and Brian's and my "last road trip in the Subaru" to the Grand Canyon. Turns out we should have gone ahead and Thelma and Louise'd it over the edge, because the engine light came on in Flagstaff, and not too long after that we found out the 200,000 miles on it had been hard enough on our old girl that she needed to be retired.

Anyhow, I figured both those things were stories left to my memory and photo album, and probably didn't really need to be shared with the Calgary Cousins, who probably are the only people who don't stalk my blog.

Then, of course, our daughter's birth was the most long drawn-out drama, which of course in my newsletter went on for paragraphs, but as I went through my mailing list, I realized that no one except the Calgary Cousins Who Don't Stalk My Blog needed to read this news, because everyone on the planet, from New Zealand to Finland, had access to her story right here at Planet Jules.

In short, my newsletter got trashed because it was indeed, NO LONGER NEWS.

So, suffice to say, you won't be getting a chirpy newsletter out of us this year. Or probably ever. You'll just have to keep reading here.

Next in this newsy news bulletin: The cats have started fighting.

Jack and the Kitten Hopper, who have known each other for life, now officially are strangers. They started fighting when the Kitten Hopper (who weighs 22 lbs -- no joke) took on scrawny Jack (who weighs about 12 pounds so is at an ever so slight weight disadvantage) for the last time.

Jack decided The Man was "keeping him down" and he had had enough, and the two went about 12 rounds several times, with no clear winner, although the Kitten Hopper decidedly lost more fur. But we're not sure if it's just because he HAS more fur on his Marlon Brando (the later years) sized bod.

So, at the top of the stairs we installed a child gate that opens easily for the rest of us. Some people come over and think we've REALLY jumped the gun on childproofing the house for Nora, and we have to explain about how the cats now hate each other for no good reason, but we all have to sleep at night, so separating them during those hours has become a necessity.

Nice.

My only real concern is how they'll reintegrate when we move into a smaller house down the road. I think the Kitty Politics will get a little thick.

And finally, for those of you who wonder how my husband Brian is doing -- He got a nice review and raise a couple of weeks ago. Then his boss called and said the big boss "didn't like the number because it wasn't even enough" so they rounded it up to the next dollar.

He works very long hours these days as he scrambles to get end-of-year stuff done, but otherwise is doing fine. We get him new equipment here and there, so sometimes it's cute how he asks if he can have this or that -- as if I would possibly say no.

Hmm, let's see. We could just let you read a bad map, or we could get you a GPS! Or a headlamp that lets him see to DO HIS WORK after hours in a state where the sun goes down at 4 p.m. in the dead of winter.

A funny, funny man.

OK, gotta go. Nora calls.