Unbelievably, we're a week into August already. Tonight, my best friend from high school, Betsy, is staying with us. We first discussed these plans some six months ago, and I'm not sure how the night has arrived already.
This summer has been a drag. Between the issues with my heel and many other medical traumas in the lives of those around me, not much has happened in a carefree summer way. By the third week of the cast, it was becoming more and more difficult for me to get around with it. My body had adjusted to walking in strange ways, and when I finally got it removed, it took a while for me to trust my leg again. But just days later, I threw a wonderful surprise party for Julie's 30th birthday, and tried to temporarily forget my own pain. Unfortunately though, Julie then began dealing with health issues of her own, which brought a new degree of fear and worry into my life.
Just after that, we had the unexpected passing of Marc's grandmother. Instead of spending a weekend in Hartford relaxing with family and playing at the beach, it became a difficult weekend of emotion and exhaustion. And because of my never-reliable body reaching it's maximum stress-handling breaking point, I came down with an eye infection to boot.
And just so I don't neglect to mention it, we also had a draining doctor's appointment with Max, the result of which is that he will be getting outfitted for a helmet to be worn almost constantly to treat plageocephaly (his flat head) for about 3 months. And to think this was actually the least major thing we had to deal with!
So as the title suggests, this summer seems to have just vanished. We haven't done much, and have actually found it difficult to justify some outings with gas prices as they are. This weekend will be pretty low key too. Though low key, so long as there are no more medical crises, kind of sounds good.
I am trying to look forward to fall.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Roll Call
I'm curious to see if anyone is actually reading this thing. Not that I'm expecting to achieve great fame and glory through my very limited posting, which offers no great insight on life or information of true value, but just out of serious curiosity. I've been making more of an effort to comment on what I'm reading lately, so if you've stopped by, drop me a note in the comments to let me know. Thanks, and happy reading!
Hannah Takes Manhattan
Despite the injury, I haven't really had much time to slow down. This past weekend, Marc and I took Hannah to New York City for the first time. Max stayed with my sister- and brother-in-law (thanks again!!!) and we took the train into the city.
It was a jam-packed weekend! We spent an afternoon at the Natural History Museum and caught a show at the planetarium. Hannah was particularly interested in the depiction of a whale eating a squid, and seemed to like the dinosaur fossils as well. We spent the evening in Times Square, and rode the ferris wheel at Toys R Us. The following morning we took in a street fair and spent some time in Bryant Park before enjoying Hannah's first Broadway show - The Little Mermaid.
The show was great, and Hannah seemed to love every minute of it. I'm a big Broadway fan and would go all the time if I could, and I think as she gets older, it will be something Hannah and I will get to enjoy together. The show was very well done too - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with a princess-loving child. There was a little boy in front of us who was maybe 3 years old, and he ooh'd and ahh'd at all the right places, which was just adorable (and made me miss Max terribly!). All in all, a wonderful, exhausting weekend. I can't wait to go back.
It was a jam-packed weekend! We spent an afternoon at the Natural History Museum and caught a show at the planetarium. Hannah was particularly interested in the depiction of a whale eating a squid, and seemed to like the dinosaur fossils as well. We spent the evening in Times Square, and rode the ferris wheel at Toys R Us. The following morning we took in a street fair and spent some time in Bryant Park before enjoying Hannah's first Broadway show - The Little Mermaid.
The show was great, and Hannah seemed to love every minute of it. I'm a big Broadway fan and would go all the time if I could, and I think as she gets older, it will be something Hannah and I will get to enjoy together. The show was very well done too - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with a princess-loving child. There was a little boy in front of us who was maybe 3 years old, and he ooh'd and ahh'd at all the right places, which was just adorable (and made me miss Max terribly!). All in all, a wonderful, exhausting weekend. I can't wait to go back.
Extreme Strawberry Picking
I have spent the last two weeks with a cast on my leg, from my toes to my knee.
The Saturday after the week I've just described below, we decided to go to a strawberry farm. I'd never done this activity before, and since I particularly love strawberries, I was very excited. Unfortunately though, after picking just one strawberry, I fell when I placed my foot in a tire track from the farm's tractor. I was holding Max as I fell, and I guess I did it in such a way that he came out of it just fine...but I ended up with a fractured heel.
I was basically incapacitated for four days until I finally got the cast. I should have it on for just three weeks, but needless to say, it's not fun. While I am incredibly relieved that I am not more injured, this has been a great inconvenience. I actually miss driving - and that is a statement I never expected to make in my entire life.
The other annoying factor is having to tell and retell the story each time someone encounters me and my giant piece of plaster. At first, I felt really silly saying I fell at a farm. People seem to want a more glamorous story. So it's taken two weeks, but I finally have a good opening line: extreme strawberry picking. Whoever said I wasn't into sports!
I have one more week to go, and am praying that everything will look good when I am x-rayed again. In the meantime, I am hobbling around as best as I can, and am very thankful that Marc has been a big source of help to me over the last few weeks.
The Saturday after the week I've just described below, we decided to go to a strawberry farm. I'd never done this activity before, and since I particularly love strawberries, I was very excited. Unfortunately though, after picking just one strawberry, I fell when I placed my foot in a tire track from the farm's tractor. I was holding Max as I fell, and I guess I did it in such a way that he came out of it just fine...but I ended up with a fractured heel.
I was basically incapacitated for four days until I finally got the cast. I should have it on for just three weeks, but needless to say, it's not fun. While I am incredibly relieved that I am not more injured, this has been a great inconvenience. I actually miss driving - and that is a statement I never expected to make in my entire life.
The other annoying factor is having to tell and retell the story each time someone encounters me and my giant piece of plaster. At first, I felt really silly saying I fell at a farm. People seem to want a more glamorous story. So it's taken two weeks, but I finally have a good opening line: extreme strawberry picking. Whoever said I wasn't into sports!
I have one more week to go, and am praying that everything will look good when I am x-rayed again. In the meantime, I am hobbling around as best as I can, and am very thankful that Marc has been a big source of help to me over the last few weeks.
A Chapter Ends
I have had a few blog posts rattling around my brain for a while now, yet seemingly no time to actually write them, so I will attempt a little catch up.
Hannah's school year came to a close a couple of weeks ago. There was a crazy week where it seemed every day was monumental. On Monday, we had her end of the year party and "graduation" ceremony. On Tuesday she went on her first field trip, to Drumlin Farm, and she is still talking about it. Wednesday was her official last day, which was quite emotional for her. Then she spent Thursday and Friday at the back up daycare center in my office building. It was quite a week.
I am a little sad to see that chapter of her life come to an end. She has one more year as a preschooler, and I can't believe how quickly the past two years have come and gone. I felt proud of her and all of her classmates - they've grown and accomplished so much. I will miss seeing all of these kids and hearing about Hannah's daily adventures with them.
Hannah has since moved on to her new program, and so far it is a giant success. I don't think it even took her the whole first day to feel at home there. I am thrilled that the transition went so smoothly, and it gives me great hope for her entrance to kindergarten in another year. But gosh, my little baby is so grown up already.
Hannah's school year came to a close a couple of weeks ago. There was a crazy week where it seemed every day was monumental. On Monday, we had her end of the year party and "graduation" ceremony. On Tuesday she went on her first field trip, to Drumlin Farm, and she is still talking about it. Wednesday was her official last day, which was quite emotional for her. Then she spent Thursday and Friday at the back up daycare center in my office building. It was quite a week.
I am a little sad to see that chapter of her life come to an end. She has one more year as a preschooler, and I can't believe how quickly the past two years have come and gone. I felt proud of her and all of her classmates - they've grown and accomplished so much. I will miss seeing all of these kids and hearing about Hannah's daily adventures with them.
Hannah has since moved on to her new program, and so far it is a giant success. I don't think it even took her the whole first day to feel at home there. I am thrilled that the transition went so smoothly, and it gives me great hope for her entrance to kindergarten in another year. But gosh, my little baby is so grown up already.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wordle
I just found out about a fun site, wordle.net. This one is based on the Counting Crows "Walkaways". Enjoy!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Ponytail Days
Last week at work was unexpectedly busy. A project came out of a meeting that I attended on Monday, and I spent the rest of the week working on it at a feverish pace. When I get extremely busy at work, I usually end up pulling my hair into a ponytail, since I don't want to be irritated by it. Since it was quite hot last week as well, my hair went up as early as possible each day.
I almost never wore ponytails until Hannah arrived. Then, they became my default as soon as I passed over the threshold. She always pulled at it, and now Max does too. I guess it's my version of a "mom cut" - I haven't actually chopped it all off, just keep pulling it back.
This weekend Hannah discovered pigtails (and braided pigtails for extra fanciness). I'm not very good at doing her hair, but I'm getting better at it. She looked so different with them in, but it's good for her to experiment. She shouldn't be stuck with a "I'm a four year old" look just because I can't escape my ponytails.
I almost never wore ponytails until Hannah arrived. Then, they became my default as soon as I passed over the threshold. She always pulled at it, and now Max does too. I guess it's my version of a "mom cut" - I haven't actually chopped it all off, just keep pulling it back.
This weekend Hannah discovered pigtails (and braided pigtails for extra fanciness). I'm not very good at doing her hair, but I'm getting better at it. She looked so different with them in, but it's good for her to experiment. She shouldn't be stuck with a "I'm a four year old" look just because I can't escape my ponytails.
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