Ah, vacation. I'm in my third day off of a three week vacation and boy is it sweet. My favorite part is I get to take both girls to and from school every day.
Winter is officially here now. We had our first real snow on December 5th, about 4 inches or so. It lasted several days, including plenty of good sledding in the neighbors' yard. This week is is cold. Last night it got down to about 12 degrees and it is only 16 degrees right now at 9:30 AM. It was a brisk walk to school this morning. Audrey and I didn't see anyone else walking; I guess all the other parents wimped out and drove (it's two blocks away).
We are getting the most out of the Museum of Science membership we bought last month. We have been several times and we still haven't seen the whole thing. I took both girls last Sunday and we spent six hours there. It was nice to give Carol a good long break. What did she do to relax? Bake holiday cookies!
Finally, here are a few experiments with iPhone photo manipulation applications. One lets you remove all of the color in a photo and then paint back the color in just the areas you want. The other applies distortions to the photo. I like what it does to Charlotte's already big brown eyes.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Conversations with a Four-year-old (ongoing)
Charlotte: Mommy, can you make me into a mommy?
Mom: What do you need to be a mommy?
Charlotte: Toilet paper.
Mom: What do you need to be a mommy?
Charlotte: Toilet paper.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
What Happened to November?
November was a little bit of a blur.
My big project at work, which was related to the move to Boston and which has been the focus of my attention since February, was released for use on the 16th. My stress level at work has been building steadily since mid-Summer and reached a fine crescendo. It didn't mean a lot of extra hours although I did work some evenings at home. But my work days featured constant intensity from the moment I'd arrive at work until I left. For the past couple of months I've been carrying around a literal pain in the neck. The release of the project just meant that the stress shifted from getting it done to addressing user problems, but at least I'm over the hump.
I got plenty of praise for my work. My boss refers to me as a hero and the promotion we had discussed before the big move became official. Of course the result isn't as perfect as I'd like it to be but given the time constraints and the fact that the entire team moved 3,000 miles in the middle of the project I'm pretty satisfied.
Merck has a "use it or lose it" vacation policy - no carry over from year to year. That means at the end of the year everyone takes all their remaining vacation. I have enough left that December 11th will be my last day of work for the year. I am really looking forward to three weeks off!
Of course while that was going on the flu was going around our house. Audrey got it first and was sick for a week. She was a trooper for the most part. Then I got it on the 22nd and was sick the whole week of Thanksgiving. Finally, Charlotte got sick on her birthday on the 27th. Fortunately it seems her vaccine had had more time to work by then and she was only sick for a few days. Audrey, Charlotte and I all still have coughs. Carol somehow escaped unscathed (knock on wood).
Speaking of Carol, can I say what a wonderful wife she is? She has been a wonderful sport about the extra work I have had to do and with my venting to her about my work stresses. She's the one that got up with sick kids in the middle of the night so that I could get as much sleep as possible while stressed. She takes wonderful care of all of us. Carol is a treasure.
Audrey's skating classes continue. Yesterday she jettisoned the "milk crate" and skated on her own for more than half the class. She even helped other kids who weren't doing as well! Audrey has such a huge grin on her face the entire time she's in class that it's a joy to watch.
As I mentioned Charlotte's 4th Birthday was on the 27th. We had cake and presents that morning while she was still feeling chipper. Unfortunately we had to cancel the party that Carol had planned for the 29th. We need to reschedule. Charlotte tends to get ripped off in the birthday department because it is so close to Thanksgiving. I want to consciously try to avoid that.
Carol is enjoying her time off when both girls are at school. Of course she lost a bunch of it while they were sick but now things are back to normal.
The other night I did the very last homework I'll have to do for my Masters degree. Tomorrow is the final exam for my last course. Then I'm done! And with a 4.0 GPA, somehow (I'd have to really screw up the final tomorrow to not get an A in this class).
Audrey is slowly learning to read and write. She fights it when "forced" to work on it, but then out of the blue she'll read a word or two to us from a sign or a magazine cover. Charlotte is envious and wants to read and write, too. So we're starting to try to help her along.
My sister Tricia and her husband Frank are coming to visit for Christmas. We'll all spend a few days in New York City as well since they have never been. We're looking forward to seeing the city decorated for the holidays. And of course we're looking forward to their visit. I'm intentionally not starting any more kitchen remodel projects because if there was work to do while they are here Frank would jump in and do it. That wouldn't be much of a vacation for him.
Finally, we had our first real snow of the season last night. We got about 3 inches. I spent some time yesterday getting ready for it: clearing obstacles from the driveway; insulating the outdoor faucets; making room in the garage for both cars; firing up the snow blower we just bought. Unfortunately we didn't get enough snow this time to justify using the snow blower!
The girls had fun playing in the snow this morning and are now having a tea party next to the Christmas tree.
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