I Heart Soup

This clip is easily the funniest thing I have seen in months. Jim and I were both in hysterics when we saw it Friday night on The Soup. Poor, sweet little Staines!

Precious

I heard a story on NPR this morning about mini Angus cows and of course I had to run and Google them. They are DARLING. But even as a meat-eater I find this website’s copy unsettling. Is it really appropriate to talk about cuteness and tastiness in the same sentence?

New

We finally bit the bullet and got a new car. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. After much debate that occurred over a period of months, we settled on a 2009 Forester. Once that monumental decision was behind us, Jim spent a fair amount of time on the phone and interweb, pitting two competing dealers against each other. The salesmen tried every trick in the book, but in the end I feel like we won. We got the car for less than $1000 over invoice, including the $400 “dealer fee.” We didn’t pay a delivery fee, and they gave us a discount card that allows us to get the first oil change and every subsequent 4th oil change for free for the life of the car. Not bad considering the Forester was voted Motor Trend’s SUV of the year and was recently ranked the #1 small SUV by Consumer Reports.

We sold my car in a day on craigslist. Apparently used Subarus (even those that are 10+ years old) are a hot commodity in these parts.

I was a bit freaked out to drive the new car at first, but it has grown on me. The best part about it is the extra room. We don’t have to worry about smacking Max’s head on the top of the car when we’re trying to maneuver him into his carseat, and we can actually put the umbrella stroller and all the groceries in the trunk AT THE SAME TIME. Once we procure a wire screen we’ll be able to entertain the idea of toting the dogs and Max around simultaneously, something that was previously impossible, since the dogs are wont to bounce from one end of the car to another like furry ping pong balls.

Clockwork

StoryCorps on NPR makes me cry EVERY FRIDAY MORNING. It doesn’t matter if the story is happy, or sad, or funny. Same reaction. Every time.  I wonder what is going to be like for Max to grow up with a mom who is so easily moved to tears. Though I’m sure he’ll get to the point where he just rolls his eyes and thinks “There she goes again,” just like his dad does.

Proof

Apparently Banjo knows the word “dat” too.

2008 Wordle

I have been wanting to create a Wordle for a while, but wasn’t able to on my old computer thanks to my ancient operating system. Anyway, pictured below are the most used words from my 2008 posts. The size of the words corresponds to their frequency of use. I guess it’s no surprise that “Max” is the most frequently used word, but I am kind of shocked at the prominence of “just.” I always think twice about using that word thanks to having an English teacher in college who would always say, “Nothing ‘just’ happens, there is always a cause. Just Say No to “Just”!” Sorry Dr. Dave, it appears I have failed you.

Image courtesy of http://www.wordle.net

Back

There have been many factors contributing to my radio silence as of late. We traveled to Florida for Thanksgiving and Albuquerque for Christmas, and there was a lot of hectic working, shopping, living, etc. in between. Oh, and sickness. Max brought a cold home to the family in early December, and while he and Jim managed to recover fairly quickly, I did not. Or rather, I DID recover to some degree, and then took a steep downward turn when the cold mutated into a sinus infection and bronchitis. I went to urgent care before Christmas after the coughing rendered me essentially voiceless, but the doctor thought I should wait things out for a while sans antibiotics. So I loaded up on cough syrup with codeine and night and tried to tough it out, but finally lost patience earlier this week and returned to my regular nurse practitioner to get a script for amoxicillin. So now in addition to all the unattractive hacking and snorting I’m sick to my stomach, but I’m hoping to take a turn for the better soon.

The good news is that while I’ve been whiling away the hours with tissues clutched firmly in hand, Max has been transforming by leaps and bounds. He finally mastered the army crawl shortly before we left for New Mexico, and has started pulling himself up and generally running amok with much glee. He has been saying “mama” and “dada” on a somewhat regular basis for a while, and had almost mastered “dog” and “cat” before he recently developed a fascination with the term “dat.” We’re not sure if it’s a dog/cat hybrid (since our pets are the objects that seem to inspire the most enthusiasm and insistent pointing), if he’s saying “that,” or if it’s just nonsensical babble.  Either way, we’re pretty amused. I overhead a conversation between Max and Jim yesterday that went something like this:

“Dat?”
“That’s a LIGHT.”
“Dat.”
“LIGHT. La-la-la-LIGHT”
“Dat.”
“LLLLLLLLLLLIIIIGGGHHT. It’s a LIGHT, little man.”
“Dat.”
“Well OK, then it’s a dat light.”

In other news, despite the faltering economy 2009 is shaping up to be a year of big purchases for us. It’s time to replace my car, and we’re in the market for a new television so we can retire our antiquated, monstrous beast of a TV. We’re also hoping to make our living room more child friendly and rethink the bookshelf situation in the office. This all means lots of comparison shopping and a lot of searching to find furniture that meets our aesthetic requirements AND budget. Not an easy task.

Sandwiched between all the “to do’s” I’m still trying to find time for creative pursuits and reading my way through a stack of books I have in the queue. There never seems to be enough time for everything I want to accomplish.

Anywho, here’s a montage of images from our recent travels, holiday celebrations, first haircut travails, and developmental milestones.