Thursday May 21st 2009

One more work day until a 3-day weekend. I have been looking forward to that for at least a month. Not only is it nice to have a day off from work, but it is another day that we can spend the whole day with Rachel.

During a standard weekday, i see Rachel for 90 seconds in the morning. She usually comes running into my bedroom screaming Daddy and looking for me. At this point I have usually already hit the snooze button a few times. She looks at me, smiles and giggles a little bit and if i am lucky, i get a hug or a kiss. Then Lisa and her are off to go to the babysitters. Then i get home around 5:15 and Lisa and Rachel come in at about the same time. We then have about 2-1/2 hours before she goes to bed. She is usually asleep by 8:00pm. So to total, on an average workday, i get at most 3 total hours of time with my daughter. But on weekends and days off, i get to spend alot more time with her, and i like that. So i am looking forward to the long weekend, not only to recharge the batteries, but to spend an extra whole day with Rachel.

Us three are doing fine. My work is still going strong. Lisa is doing good and she is trying to get adjusted to the new company Ericsson has sold her division to. Rachel is doing great and learning more and more everyday. She is starting to get real whiny and throws fits when she does not get her way. She has massive mood swings. Crying one minute and giggling the next. And she does not like to be told 'No'. This is not a fun stage.

I do not want to talk about that debacle last night with the Cavs. I hope the players slept as poorly as i did.

Here are some pictures of the adorable Rachel playing outside. There are also some pictures of her playing right after she pulled her pants off (still in a diaper).

Thursday May 14th 2009

Nothing new to report here in Virginia. Work is going fine for both of us and Rachel is chugging along splendidly.
These pictures i am posting were taken the same day as the pictures from the last post. We took the rubber band out of Rachels hair and it was crazy. We laughed and laughed at how wild it was. So we grabbed a camera and her two favorite stuffed animals (Grover the Muppet [pronounced 'GroGah'] and Buckeye the Bear [pronounced 'Dora' {alot of things are called Dora}]). Here are those pictures. Buckeye the Bear is actually a teddy bear with an Ohio State hoody on. My co-worker won a basketball shooting contest at an amusement park and there were no 'good prizes', so he saw the OSU bear anbd brought it in to work for me. Or maybe he just loves me. Hmm, we have worked together for 9 years, changed companies together, and everyone says we act like an old married couple. Hmm, maybe he is my bitch. His lovely wife sent me an email today saying she saw the blog and loved the pictures of Rachel. Guess she might see this...=)... I digress...I brought Buckeye the Bear home and Rachel plays with him and Grover all the time.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Saturday May 9th 2009

Rachel now has 4 and a half teeth. Another has broken through and is visible on the top row. She looked funny with 4 teeth and will look even a bit off with 5. Rachel is biting anything she can put her mouth and that includes my car keys. Rachel has gotten taller and now can reach the edges of the kitchen counters, dining room table, night stands, etc. So she will pull down anything that is on the edge or barely hanging over. This includes table clothes, coats, place mats, car keys, wallets or anything else right against the edge. We now have to be even more careful so that she does not pull something heavy and blunt down on herself.
The daycare sitter put Rachel's hair into a band for the first time and here are some pictures. She looked like Cindy-Loo-Who from the Grinch.
In some of the pictures she has gotten my wallet and is rummaging through it. I am sure this won't be the first time...

Monday May 4th 2009

Today is the 39 year anniversary of the shootings at Kent State and even though I was not born when it happened, I am quite aware of what happened and the circumstances. I have seen several documentaries and on the tragedy and it is quite heartbreaking. I cannot hear the date may 4th without thinking about what happened. My heart and prayers go out to all of the people and families who were involved in the massacre.

On a more happy subject, We are doing fine in Virginia. Rachel is growing more and more everyday. She adds words to her limited vocabulary on a weekly basis and she is just awesome. She likes to shout 'dadda' at the top of her lungs and gets sooo excited to me. It is a great feeling.

Rachel and Lisa usually leave as I am waking up in the morning. As the are getting ready, Rachel will run to my bedroom and push open the door looking for me. I hate to wake up. I truly hate the world the moment i am awakened. I have always been this way. I am mean and angry the first few minutes i wake up. But there is something about a happy giggly little girl screaming your name looking for you that seems to make mornings nicer.

Work is going ok for me. Sales are not what they were the last few years but it could be way worse. People are always building homes and the government is always building offices and buildings. As a result, I am way better off then some of my peers in other parts of the country. We had about 220 employees last week and that number is around 205 now. I am in no danger (job security is nice-knock on wood) of being let go but my company did get rid of some none essential / under-performing employees at the end of last week. That is always sad. but at the same time, almost every single one was a person in a department that was fully staffed and ,well, to be blunt, an idiot. But still, these are all people with families and they need to work to. So it is sad.

Here are some pictures of Rachel playing outside the last few days. She loves to be outside and gets mad and cries when you bring her back in the house.