It's been too long again...
Oh, blarg, how long I've been absent. And in that absence, so little to report. Still, I will try.
At work: Still working at Nelnet, still a collector. I am now on the morning shift instead of the evening, so my hours now run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., unless we've worked the previous Saturday, in which case I'm off at 3. It means more evening time for me and Adrian--and more baths for him. ^_^;; Yeah, it's early, but I like it okay. I'm also now on the MOTO (that's motivational) team, which is cool. It doesn't necessarily mean a lot, professionally, but I'm there.
Adrian: Oh, he's getting so big. As always. He's thirteen months old now, and thinks he's two, and is quite literally running all over. He's getting better at speaking. It's mostly babytalk, but he still has certain sounds we recognize as his "words." His favorite phrase at the moment seems to be either "uh-oh" or "no-no." We've also discovered he appears to have chosen a favorite color: green. He picks out green toys, is drawn to green weather maps and even picks out green food (especially green beans) first sometimes at meals. He was eating well for a while, for once, but he's recently gone back to being finicky. I think it may be because his lower canines are coming in--he now also has his two bottom molars. I also wish he'd learn to sleep through the nights again, as he still wakes up at least once more often than not. His room is directly across the hall from mine now, so I can get to him sooner, at least.
The other babies: Ryan's getting big too; he and Adrian are roughly the same size, though Ryan has been sick recently. Bronchitis or a cold, I think. This should be my brother's cue to stop smoking, but he hasn't and likely won't. As for the twins, they're doing fine now, but Corbyn has had some hydrocepahalus and now has a shunt in his head--it does at least make it easier to tell the twins apart now. I remain grateful that my boy is the healthy one.
My birthday (September 30): It came and went and I turned 23 with little fanfare. My gifts consisted mainly of Greek food, especially since I went out to the Parthenon with min_chan and xul_teiquin. We then ended up hanging out at Walgreens (or some similar store), and had a ball in the romance novel department. We picked up (didn't buy, just picked up) one called "The Saint." The saint in question? Nicolas. Oh, yeah, Santa porn, baby. Well, except he's not Santa as we know him. From what I gathered, he's a dead-sexy death fey with a vampirism fetish and a pet dragon and is in service to the Goddess. Or something. Seriously--I can't make this stuff up. XD I also got some new clothes and a copy of "The Last Unicorn" on DVD from dmoira, bless her. ^_^<3
Adrian's birthday (October 19): His birthday fell on Friday, so not much happened then, except going out to Red Robin with dmoira. That evening, he got sick--like, vomiting sick--for the second time in his life, and wasn't up to par for most of the weekend, poor guy. His party with the relatives was on the following Saturday, and it was nice. He got lots of presents. I gave him a toy lawnmower and bath toys. He also got crayons and car toys and such. He also got birthday presents from dmoira. She gave him a Wiggles DVD, a V-tech piano, and a Baby Leap Frog disc, but I'm not sure that the Leap Frog thing actually works with anything we have for him. I haven't found what it does work with though yet to get it for him.
Halloween: I had to work, and costumes weren't allowed on the clock. That didn't stop me from bringing mine and Adrian's with me! This year, we were Hotohori and Boushin from Fushigi Yuugi--costumes we did reprise for Anime NebrasKon a few weeks later, and got a lot of "aww, how cute!" responses. Jen and Ryan came over too on Halloween. Jen wasn't in costume, but Ryan was a pumpkin. The boys were pretty good and got a lot of coos from trick-or-treaters, especially when Adrian helped with the candy duty.
Thanksgiving: We had two again this year, going down to my grandparents' in Davenport on Thanksgiving Day, though all my male cousins were missing. I spent much of the day chasing after Adrian, who was getting into everything he could. On the 25th, the Baker clan all came to our house to celebrate, and pretty much everyone except my cousins Tim and Jason came, so we had four babies (Adrian, Ryan and the twins) all over the house. Adrian really seemed to bond with my cousin Andy for whatever reason, but he gets along with most everyone. Still, the food was good, and I did end up going bowling with three cousins and one's girlfriend Sunday evening while the babies were watched by their grandparents, and that was fun. My highest score was a gloriously mediocre 76, though it might've been higher if we'd stayed on the possessed lane. Seriously, I threw one gutter ball and it registered as a strike. Go figure. I was the only one who drank nothing alcoholic (like you're surprised), but apparently I did appear to be on something, even though I wasn't, because my eyes got really dilated at one point--I've no idea why. All in all, a good holiday.
Other projects: Well, I am getting work done on most things except AMV 6--I blame the fact that I can do very little unless Adrian is asleep, and I'd rather not have Tom Jones going while he's sleeping. I'm into F for the name list, and really have gotten a lot done with the Mirlivas dictionary, though there's still a lot left to do. The pronunciation chart is going to be the biggest bitch at this point, I think. I did start a couple new side projects: some Mirlivas translation work and, just for fun, mostly, converting some old RP chats into a fic resembling a single continuity for those particular characters. Pathwalker is still coming along, and I've roped one of my coworkers into being my beta for it. ^_^v And, what's really been keeping me away, vain attempts to keep Flickr updated somewhat. I'm still a couple weeks behind, I think, but a couple weeks beats a couple months, doesn't it? So, yeah, lotsa pictures up on Flickr. Speaking of which, this photo is going to be featured in a publication called "We Feel Fine"--I just need to get the permissions form signed and sent back. Woot.
Romance: Well, things kind of drifted into nowhere after Pete met my parents. They liked him OK as a person, but not as son-in-law material. And, after that, really, there's been nothing. Seriously, nothing. No dates. Not even really any conversation at all for the last couple months. So, at this point, I'm changing my status back to "single" rather than "taken." I suppose it's for the best. One of the reasons a girl usually goes for an older man, especially a much older man, is security, or at least stability, emotionally and financially. Honestly, I don't think Pete is in a position to provide either of those things for me right now, and stability in both respects is something I want. I'm not asking for a rich man or really even a financially comfortable one, just someone who has enough control over his financial life that necessary bills are paid on time and it's not a constant worry of whether or not ends will meet in a given month. I have attracted some possible more-than-friends attention from some of my Flickr male friends, particularly this one from Istanbul, but I don't know about that. It's flattering, but a little weird and not too likely to go far at this point. In the meantime, though, I'm still lonely. Very, horribly, excruciatingly lonely. I don't get to see anyone, not even my friends, but immediate family and coworkers except for maybe once a month, and the last time I went anywhere prior to this past Sunday without Adrian in tow for something other than an errand, it was on my birthday. Lonely is not a status Libra Rats do well in. ;_; I know that being a mom to a small child means that I can't really go out on spur-of-the-moment outings anymore, which is why even with two good old friends in town for a week, I really didn't see either of them, despite promises to meet up. It doesn't make it easier, even if it is all part-and-parcel with motherhood. I think I'm going to give up on meeting people via being online, though, mostly because it raises too many questions I can't comfortably give satisfactory answers to when I would want to go to meet with said people and have to arrange babysitting. The "we met online" bit does not sit well with my parents (though I still say it beats "we met at an alcohol-drenched dorm party" as my parents did), and so long as I am sharing a household with them or having them babysit, it's probably best not to take that route. On the all of two occasions I've had packages delivered from online stores, they've been suspicious enough, and that's for goods. It gets even dicier with people. So, yeah.
At work: Still working at Nelnet, still a collector. I am now on the morning shift instead of the evening, so my hours now run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., unless we've worked the previous Saturday, in which case I'm off at 3. It means more evening time for me and Adrian--and more baths for him. ^_^;; Yeah, it's early, but I like it okay. I'm also now on the MOTO (that's motivational) team, which is cool. It doesn't necessarily mean a lot, professionally, but I'm there.
Adrian: Oh, he's getting so big. As always. He's thirteen months old now, and thinks he's two, and is quite literally running all over. He's getting better at speaking. It's mostly babytalk, but he still has certain sounds we recognize as his "words." His favorite phrase at the moment seems to be either "uh-oh" or "no-no." We've also discovered he appears to have chosen a favorite color: green. He picks out green toys, is drawn to green weather maps and even picks out green food (especially green beans) first sometimes at meals. He was eating well for a while, for once, but he's recently gone back to being finicky. I think it may be because his lower canines are coming in--he now also has his two bottom molars. I also wish he'd learn to sleep through the nights again, as he still wakes up at least once more often than not. His room is directly across the hall from mine now, so I can get to him sooner, at least.
The other babies: Ryan's getting big too; he and Adrian are roughly the same size, though Ryan has been sick recently. Bronchitis or a cold, I think. This should be my brother's cue to stop smoking, but he hasn't and likely won't. As for the twins, they're doing fine now, but Corbyn has had some hydrocepahalus and now has a shunt in his head--it does at least make it easier to tell the twins apart now. I remain grateful that my boy is the healthy one.
My birthday (September 30): It came and went and I turned 23 with little fanfare. My gifts consisted mainly of Greek food, especially since I went out to the Parthenon with min_chan and xul_teiquin. We then ended up hanging out at Walgreens (or some similar store), and had a ball in the romance novel department. We picked up (didn't buy, just picked up) one called "The Saint." The saint in question? Nicolas. Oh, yeah, Santa porn, baby. Well, except he's not Santa as we know him. From what I gathered, he's a dead-sexy death fey with a vampirism fetish and a pet dragon and is in service to the Goddess. Or something. Seriously--I can't make this stuff up. XD I also got some new clothes and a copy of "The Last Unicorn" on DVD from dmoira, bless her. ^_^<3
Adrian's birthday (October 19): His birthday fell on Friday, so not much happened then, except going out to Red Robin with dmoira. That evening, he got sick--like, vomiting sick--for the second time in his life, and wasn't up to par for most of the weekend, poor guy. His party with the relatives was on the following Saturday, and it was nice. He got lots of presents. I gave him a toy lawnmower and bath toys. He also got crayons and car toys and such. He also got birthday presents from dmoira. She gave him a Wiggles DVD, a V-tech piano, and a Baby Leap Frog disc, but I'm not sure that the Leap Frog thing actually works with anything we have for him. I haven't found what it does work with though yet to get it for him.
Halloween: I had to work, and costumes weren't allowed on the clock. That didn't stop me from bringing mine and Adrian's with me! This year, we were Hotohori and Boushin from Fushigi Yuugi--costumes we did reprise for Anime NebrasKon a few weeks later, and got a lot of "aww, how cute!" responses. Jen and Ryan came over too on Halloween. Jen wasn't in costume, but Ryan was a pumpkin. The boys were pretty good and got a lot of coos from trick-or-treaters, especially when Adrian helped with the candy duty.
Thanksgiving: We had two again this year, going down to my grandparents' in Davenport on Thanksgiving Day, though all my male cousins were missing. I spent much of the day chasing after Adrian, who was getting into everything he could. On the 25th, the Baker clan all came to our house to celebrate, and pretty much everyone except my cousins Tim and Jason came, so we had four babies (Adrian, Ryan and the twins) all over the house. Adrian really seemed to bond with my cousin Andy for whatever reason, but he gets along with most everyone. Still, the food was good, and I did end up going bowling with three cousins and one's girlfriend Sunday evening while the babies were watched by their grandparents, and that was fun. My highest score was a gloriously mediocre 76, though it might've been higher if we'd stayed on the possessed lane. Seriously, I threw one gutter ball and it registered as a strike. Go figure. I was the only one who drank nothing alcoholic (like you're surprised), but apparently I did appear to be on something, even though I wasn't, because my eyes got really dilated at one point--I've no idea why. All in all, a good holiday.
Other projects: Well, I am getting work done on most things except AMV 6--I blame the fact that I can do very little unless Adrian is asleep, and I'd rather not have Tom Jones going while he's sleeping. I'm into F for the name list, and really have gotten a lot done with the Mirlivas dictionary, though there's still a lot left to do. The pronunciation chart is going to be the biggest bitch at this point, I think. I did start a couple new side projects: some Mirlivas translation work and, just for fun, mostly, converting some old RP chats into a fic resembling a single continuity for those particular characters. Pathwalker is still coming along, and I've roped one of my coworkers into being my beta for it. ^_^v And, what's really been keeping me away, vain attempts to keep Flickr updated somewhat. I'm still a couple weeks behind, I think, but a couple weeks beats a couple months, doesn't it? So, yeah, lotsa pictures up on Flickr. Speaking of which, this photo is going to be featured in a publication called "We Feel Fine"--I just need to get the permissions form signed and sent back. Woot.
Romance: Well, things kind of drifted into nowhere after Pete met my parents. They liked him OK as a person, but not as son-in-law material. And, after that, really, there's been nothing. Seriously, nothing. No dates. Not even really any conversation at all for the last couple months. So, at this point, I'm changing my status back to "single" rather than "taken." I suppose it's for the best. One of the reasons a girl usually goes for an older man, especially a much older man, is security, or at least stability, emotionally and financially. Honestly, I don't think Pete is in a position to provide either of those things for me right now, and stability in both respects is something I want. I'm not asking for a rich man or really even a financially comfortable one, just someone who has enough control over his financial life that necessary bills are paid on time and it's not a constant worry of whether or not ends will meet in a given month. I have attracted some possible more-than-friends attention from some of my Flickr male friends, particularly this one from Istanbul, but I don't know about that. It's flattering, but a little weird and not too likely to go far at this point. In the meantime, though, I'm still lonely. Very, horribly, excruciatingly lonely. I don't get to see anyone, not even my friends, but immediate family and coworkers except for maybe once a month, and the last time I went anywhere prior to this past Sunday without Adrian in tow for something other than an errand, it was on my birthday. Lonely is not a status Libra Rats do well in. ;_; I know that being a mom to a small child means that I can't really go out on spur-of-the-moment outings anymore, which is why even with two good old friends in town for a week, I really didn't see either of them, despite promises to meet up. It doesn't make it easier, even if it is all part-and-parcel with motherhood. I think I'm going to give up on meeting people via being online, though, mostly because it raises too many questions I can't comfortably give satisfactory answers to when I would want to go to meet with said people and have to arrange babysitting. The "we met online" bit does not sit well with my parents (though I still say it beats "we met at an alcohol-drenched dorm party" as my parents did), and so long as I am sharing a household with them or having them babysit, it's probably best not to take that route. On the all of two occasions I've had packages delivered from online stores, they've been suspicious enough, and that's for goods. It gets even dicier with people. So, yeah.