The Yuckies

Okay, first of all, my dog is well on her way to getting cancer. Whenever the microwave is running she goes over and stands right in front of it until it's finished. She's really obsessed. It's weird.

I took Anja to the doctor this morning thinking she might have an ear infection. She was really crabby yesterday then her crabbies escalated to screaming in the evening. It was hooorrrribble getting her to sleep and she didn't finally fall asleep until about 9:30. I had given her some Tylenol earlier and I think it helped her sleep... but then even when she nursed at night she would cry a little bit, which is VERY unusual. I figured if she was still acting so weird in the morning I'd take her in--and she was, so I did. But I was wrong about my ear suspicion. Evidently she has some viral yuckies in her throat. He said if the best case scenario is if it stays at the three little sores that it is... if I'm not so lucky it'll turn into hundreds and last about a week. And there's nothing I can do for it! How sad. Is viral stuff contagious? Should I keep her away from her cousins? I forgot to ask about that.

Martin comes home tonight! But he won't be home for dinner because he's taking his boys to Pizza Hut for dinner to try and convince them to participate in something for him. Lure them in with pizza, that's the way to do it.

There isn't any other news except that Anja looks SO CUTE today--she is wearing a tiny pink poncho!! She's wearing these kind of antique floral pants with a white long sleeved shirt and this adorable little pink knit poncho with embroidered flowers on it. Except she's not wearing the poncho now because she wouldn't let me put it back on after her doctors appointment... she was kind of in hysterics after Dr. Beardmore touched her. She smiled at him when he came in, but then when he started doing his actual job she decided he wasn't so cool after all.

I made a good mix CD the other day with this amazing song on it that I don't know what it's called or who sings it... but I'll find out and I'll also post the playlist because I think it's pretty good, though a bit short. Only 13 tracks.

I've got a case of the Uglies.

Ugh. I'm feeling so fat and ugly and gross. I hate my hair. I thought a few weeks of growth would fix it's awfulness, but in fact it just made it worse. The mullet part of it has grown out and the top is very bushy. I look like a mom from the 90's. A mom from the 90's with really bad hair. And I'm really fat these days. Like, seriously fat. Like I've gained my "freshman fifteen" six years late. Serves me right... I never gained my freshman fifteen. I actually LOST weight after highschool. Not that I really went to college... but whatever.

Last night Anja and I went to my mom's house for dinner. We had lentil soup which I thought I would avoid but it ended up being pretty tasty. Anja DID NOT like it. She chose to eat her baby food sweet potatoes. Haha, I wish I would've gotten a picture of her face when she tasted the soup.

After dinner we took Maizie on a walk through the neighborhood and ended up walking over to my Uncle Johnny's house. It was really fun! It's so fun to sit around and listen to my uncle and aunt and mom talk. They are all clinically insane. Anja had a great time too... they have soft new carpet and she loves to roll around on clean carpet. I don't allow her on the carpet in our house because it is BEYOND DISGUSTING, and I think she likes the change from the hardwood and linoleum. Anyway, it was a funny night.

This morning Anja woke up too early and was super grumpy. She went back down for a nap a little after nine and is still sleeping. This is good because we are meeting up with my sister-in-law, TusaRebecca, for lunch at 12:30. She hasn't seen Anja's ears yet! I think we'll walk over to meet her for lunch--it's another beautiful day!

Somebody's a Big Deal!

Back when my niece, Gracie, was six months old, I accompanied my sister and sister-in-law to the boutique at the mall to get her ears pierced. She was sooooo good; she didn't even cry until they'd done the second ear. So when last night during dinner at my parents' house my sister invited me along to get Bella's ears pierced and thought I might like to have Anja's done at the same time, I went along with only a teensy bit of reluctance. And after a long time of stalling and hemming and hawing over it, after listening to Bella scream her little lungs out and then recover within three minutes, I sat myself down in the chair with Anja in my lap and the result was this:

Isn't she too cute!? And here's a picture of the other side:

In this one you can also see her super adorable fall outfit that she wore today because the forecast high is only 73 and it's not supposed to hit that until way later this afternoon. Sorry for all the squinting; we were on a walk and the sun was in her eyes. She's trying to smile for the camera though. And that friendly plastic thing you see in her hand is actually her new toothbrush! I bought it at the store yesterday so I could start brushing her teeth, but she doesn't seem so interested in oral hygiene as she does in just clutching the toothbrush and carrying it with her everywhere. She is so weird. Who needs a mitten when you've got a toothbrush?

Speaking of mitten, it's lost. It got lost shortly after I made that post about it. We left it on the bathroom floor while we took the dog out to go potty and when we came back it was gone. That means my jerk of a cat, Theodore, got a hold of it and who knows when or where it'll turn up. I felt bad about it until Toothbrush was introduced.

Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The grandchildren (Aurelio and Anja) with Figgy and Grandmama at GlobalFest

Happy Anja hanging out at her daddy's office

Bella, just before her piercing!

Martin at GlobalFest

Gracie, about four and a half years after her own ear piercing experience!

Back to last night's adventure--it was really a lot of fun, after I got over the parental terror of having holes gunned through my baby's earlobes. The babies WERE very good, even if they did get a tad (okay, a lot) more upset by it than Gracie did. The crowd was my mom, Grace, Sarah, Bella, Anja and me. All the girls! My dad stayed home with the boys (yikes!) while we went out to do this. I had called Martin and asked what he thought. I knew he'd think it was a fine idea because we've been talking about it for a long time. And last night was the perfect time to do it because if he had been in town I would've made him come along with us and then we both would've chickened out together. As it was, I had my sister pressuring me to just do it, and I'm SO glad I did. I really would've regretted not doing it. Because I would still WANT to do it, but I'd be that extra little bit scared after seeing it done again on Bellie-Bellie. Afterward we got cookies at that cookie place in the mall and Anja LOVES being at the mall, so pretty much as soon as we left the boutique she was immediately cheered up. And she loves cookies too.

This morning we got a good early walk, setting out at around 8:30. I was totally craving a McCord's breakfast sandwich, so I bypassed the Farmers Market and went straight there--but they were closed!!! Evidently they don't open until 9:00. Bummer! I was too hungry to wait, so I went back to the Farmers Market and got an apple cinnamon scone from Great Harvest and shared it with Anja while we walked up to campus just for the fun of it. It was such a gorgeous morning for a walk! So cool and mostly cloudy, although it sunnied up by the time we were coming home, so I put Anja's shade over her stroller and she fell asleep.

She woke up as soon as we got home so we hung out for a little bit then drove out to CC to visit her grandmother and show off her new bling. Anja met two of Mrs. Schap's classes (they were very taken with her, even the boys) and one teacher we'd never met before, along with a few we already knew. When we got home she went down for her afternoon nap and she's been sleeping since then, which is good because her naps have been terrible for the past few days.

I was invited to my parents' house again tonight for lentil soup, so Anja and I will go up for that, but we'll contribute a loaf of Asiago bread and a jar of dipping sauce from Panera. I'd been drooling over those items since the weekend, but of course I can't eat a whole loaf of bread by myself! So tonight will be a good, cold night to share. The low tonight is in the 40's!!!!!!!! Hooray for Fall!

A Weekend

Our weekend was nothing thrilling, but it was pretty fun, and definitely nice to be a little family again after the long week of travel for Martino. On Friday night I was going down to pick him up at the usual time when he called and said A) he didn't need a ride after all because he'd gotten the college car starting that day; and B) he wouldn't be done with all his paperwork by 4:30. Since I was already on my way, I continued down and while he finished up some stuff at his office, Anja and I took a walk around campus. We saw lots of dogs. We eventually made it back to Martin's office where we hung around before going to Johnny Provolone's for a pizza dinner. It was a festive bit of an otherwise lame Friday night; Martin ended up working until 10:00 or so. Barf!

On Saturday we walked over to Vienna and had a really nice morning over there. I think Anja eventually took a nap... I made a big salad for lunch, then Martin and I joined Anja for her nap and didn't wake up until 2:00. We met our friend Matt out for coffee, from there went to Petsmart to see dogs and buy cat food and dog food, and then we went up to my parents' house to drop off some dry cleaning I'd picked up for my mom and to pick up Pig, whom I'd accidentally left there the day before. They were on their way to 4:30 church, but Martin and Anja and I hung around after they left and drank chocolate cokes and iced tea and relaxed. My parents had invited us out to dinner with them after church, and we didn't think we would go because we thought Anja would be too crazy by that time. However, she took a nap at 5:00 and when she woke up I gave her some banana and she was very happy to be alive, so my parents' came by our house and we DID all go to dinner. We went to the Brew Pub! It was a Mosey Down Main Street night (doesn't it seem like they have one every weekend?) and we did the mosey thing and saw lots of people we know. I almost bought a skirt from Amused, but I didn't. Anja had a good time and when we got home we all went to bed.

...and didn't wake up for 7:30 mass, AGAIN. We decided to get coffee before church and go to the noon mass at St. Ann's. Martin and Anja took a morning walk while I took a shower, and we had a nice time at Vienna and got to mass incredibly early. We haven't been early for mass since Anja was born. You'd think it wouldn't take ten months (or more) to adjust to the time-difference of having a baby, but we still haven't found the groove yet!

Our Sunday was kind of nothing after that. A quick lunch of leftovers at home, then I had a practice to for a wedding I'm playing with Heasty Puddin'! I'm reeeaaallly excited to be playing with them again. They are SUCH nice people, and I like playing tunes and I especially like the simple combination of instruments in the group. So even though it was kind of a bummer to miss out on time with Martin since he has such a limited time at home these days, I'm not sorry I had to practice cause it was loads of fun. And he could've come in too, but Anja was finally asleep, so he stayed with her instead.

After the music practice we got cokes from the Custard (the practice was right nearby,) went home and took a nice walk together. Anja was SUPER grumpy when she woke up from her nap, but we put her in her stroller and as soon as she was outside she was her happy self again. She is so funny. Anyway... Martin packed up, it was an uneventful early evening, then he suggested another walk before he left. And he led me to Panera for a chocolate pastry (MUCH more delicious than it looks) as a last treat. On the way there and back we passed through some kind of democratic rally down at the Plaza. They had all sorts of booths set up on the bridge, bands, signs... loads of people. I'm sure we fit right in, Martin in his Hofbrahaus (sp?) shirt, I in my Birkenstock clogs, wearing my baby in my colorful wrap. We saw a VERY cute and cutely dressed little baby girl in an Ergo carrier! She had on the cutest little stripey tights. VERY adorable.

I'm really looking forward to the cooler weather and dressing Anja in her own cute tights that she had last winter but that never fit her skinny little legs. They'll be perfect now.

I posted before about the little ear-flap hat I knit for her and how I was making matching mittens. Well, I finished the second mitten tonight, but it didn't match the first one at all (the first one was much better.) But while I was finishing up the second one, Anja kind of confiscated the first one and for some reason really loved it. She kept smiling at it and holding it up high. And she held onto it all evening... she even fell asleep with it! Isn't that adorable!? She is so weird. So I'm not sure if I'll finish the project by re-making the second mitten or if I'll just have to give up and let her keep the first one as a... well it's not exactly a toy... a friend? Whatever. Weird baby.

She's sooooo cute... she loves bread. But I think it's making her constipated so tomorrow I'm going out to buy some baby food prunes.

And Another Thing...

I saw a car the other morning with two stickers on the bumper: on one side, an anti-abortion sticker. On the other, a Barack Obama one.

How's that work?

Big Day!

Wow, did Anja and I have a fun and not very typical day today! We woke up at the usual time, both got ready, and headed out to the bagel shop because I was dying for a six cheese bagel with garden veggie cream cheese from Einstein's. When we got there? NO SIX CHEESE!!! No Asiago either!! In fact, they were almost completely out of all the bagels, except for the spinach and chili pepper ones, and the power bagels. I settled for a challah roll with garden veggie cream cheese, and it ended up being very delicious, but not as filling as the six cheese bagel. Anyway... I was slightly thrown off by their lack of selection and also by the VEERRRYYYY friendly man in line behind us. The touching-my-shoulder kind of friendly. He was really nice, and not exactly creepy... it's just that he was so incredibly friendly that I wondered if we actually knew each other and I just didn't remember him. By the time I left I realized no, he didn't know me--I could tell by our conversation (he asked if Anja was my first child)--but I was still really confused by him. So I didn't order my coffee. But I reeeallly wanted some, and so I went to Big Apple Bagels in hopes that they had some delicious Flavor Of the Week--AND THEY DID!! It was CHOCOLATE AVALANCHE!!!!! However, they too were out of my favorite kind of bagel, so I didn't even feel bad about going to Einstein's first. In short: I had a yummy, if a bit hard to come by, breakfast.

When we got home Anja took a nap. A THREE HOUR nap. I was amazed. She had a really rough night last night, though, so I guess she needed the sleep. I called my mom and made plans to go to the dry cleaners together when Anja woke up. You see, whenever I go to the cleaners it seems like a huge pain in the neck to get Anja out and take her in with me, but I worry too much leaving her in the car at the curb. (I did it one time, and was sooo nervous... the lady assured me that everybody does it and one time someone's school-age children climbed up front and drove away.) When I came back there was a State Troopher pulled up right by my car and I thought for sure he was going to arrest me. He didn't. But it still tipped my nervous scale too far to be able to do that ever again. So anyway, now I either take my mom with me or drop Anja at her house and go to the cleaners on my own, which is a few blocks from my mom's house.

Aaaaanyway.... she said she'd ride with me this time because while I was dropping off, she had some stuff to pick up. She also had another errand to run and I suggested that if she brought her dog, Maizie, along with her, we could all go to Petsmart after the errands. So we did! And it was sooooo fun! Anja LOVES animals, especially dogs. She also really liked the birds and the cats, but was a little freaked out by the fish. I don't think she's ever seen fish before today. I try to show her the fish in my mom's pond, but I don't think she knows how to look through the reflection of the sky to see them. She never seems to notice them at all. Today she would put her hand against the tank and the fish would swim up to her hand and she'd pull it back and flinch. It was so cute! We also tried to look at the hampsters but they were all sleeping.

The best part was the BULLDOG that was coming out from being groomed. What a handsome devil! I SOOOOO want one. And they are so lazy, they'd be the perfect dog for me.

A funny thing that happened was that there was this woman in the store, just walking around looking at all the animals like we were, and Maizie would not stop barking and growling at her. It was so strange because Maizie never barks and growls at ANYONE, and she was really going nuts, trying to get at this lady, being really ferocious (as much as a 7 pound dog can be...) and while it was kind of cute, I kept wondering if this lady was going to shoot us or something. Maybe she was just carrying a lot of drugs. I dunno. It was pretty weird though.

So from there we went to my mom's house so I could feed Anja and my mom could feed me! She made me a grilled cheese sandwich--yum. We hung out and then went home. Once at home Anja went down for her afternoon nap. It was a little after 3:00, so I told myself I wouldn't let her sleep past 4:30. Then I thought, "gosh, I could use a ten minute nap..." so I went up and laid down with her... and didn't wake up until 6:00!!!!!!!!! For a little girl whose bedtime is typically between 7 and 7:30, six o'clock is MUCH too late to be sleeping! So I woke her up and started thinking of things to do to fill our evening since she probably wouldn't go to bed until MUCH later than usual... and I decided to see if my good friend Alison wanted to meet up for dinner. And she did! We went over to the Olive House in the Village, which is where it seems we always end up eating together, and it was a lot of fun. It wasn't crowded and the owners children are super friendly and only as crazy as most kids are. They really liked Anja, and toward the end of the evening Anja played on the floor with them. I had the Lamb Biryani which was awesome, and not tooooooo spicy... I like to get it with the yogurt salad and an extra yogurt salad as well and then I mix them. The yogurt cuts the spice and makes it extra delicous. And of course, it's always good to see Alison. By the time we left if was about 8:30 and Anja had gotten fairly worn out. I put her to bed around 9:30 and she's still asleep.

It's such a wonderful, cool, rainy night. I love it! The only bummer is that Martin isn't here. We both thought it would be a perfect night to drink yummy hot drinks on our porch. I love nights like this. I love fall.

I've recently made Anja a hat with ear flaps and tonight I finished one of the mittens that match it. It's perfect! It turned out way better than I'd expected it to, so I'm quite pleased. The only stupid thing I did was not writing down the pattern as I made it... so now I've just got to eyeball the second one and hope that they match well enough that nobody notices. Whoops!

And So it Begins...

Martin's travel season officially started today. He left last night for Bloomington where he is spending most of this week before heading down to Evansville on Friday morning, and will be back home at his usual after-work time that afternoon. It was sad to see him go! We had a nice weekend though; after our Global Fest fun on Saturday we slept in a little bit and went to the 9:30 mass at St. Boniface, where we haven't been in AGES. We ran errands all day in an effort to get stuff done before Martin left, and in the afternoon we met up with our friend Joel who was in town. We went to Vienna and had chais and Anja was pretty happy for awhile, and then decided she'd had enough, so we left.

Most of our Labor Day was uneventful. In the morning we had breakfast at the Sunrise Diner as a sort of last hurrah, but for some reason Anja wasn't digging it and Martin and I took turns standing outside on the sidewalk with her while the other ate. It would've been fun to do something festive like have a cookout, but instead we ran more errands, met up with our friend Matt and TusaRebecca at Vienna, and left town for Crawfordsville around 6:00. Martin had a little work and packing up to do at his office, and we were going to go out to dinner, but decided it would be better for Anja if we just got something quick and ate on the picnic table outside Martin's building. So while he was off getting Wendy's sandwiches, Anja and I chased a couple of cats around the building, then took a walk around the circle drive on campus and saw tons of dogs! Anja LOVES to see dogs. She wiggles and squeals and waves at them. It was such a nice evening and there were so many people out; it ended up being a really enjoyable time, even though the reason for being there was kind of depressing. We ate our Wendy's and Anja played on the giant front steps of Trippett Hall, then we took one last walk together around campus, got in separate cars and headed our own directions for the night. Anja cried most of the way home and eventually fell asleep as we were coming into Lafayette.

The good thing about the travel season finally starting is that now that it's started I can begin the countdown to it being over!

The dog started having some slippery poops again yesterday and this morning, so I'm monitoring her carefully and if they continue tomorrow (they've solidified considerably this afternoon) I'm going to call the vet and ask about a prescription diet we can put her on.

I went to lunch today with my dad! He called me because he was downtown for a meeting and parked near my house, so when he got out of his meeting he took Anja and me to Scagnoli's for lunch. I had the most delicious (and enormous) sandwich... I'll have the other half for lunch tomorrow. It was really fun though and Anja enjoyed herself and ate half a jar of sweet potatoes.

After lunch Anja and I went out to Nature's Pharm where I bought some shampoo. We were going to go to Petsmart too, but my sister texted me about story time at the Ivy Tech library at 2:00, so we met up with them there. Anja really liked the little songs and rhymes.

Anja took an afternoon nap then and we went to my parents' house for dinner. My mom had stopped by earlier in the day and I told her I'd supply the peppers if she made pepper steak and invited me to dinner. Haha! I had a few good sized peppers from my garden. I'd picked them to make pepper steak for us over the weekend, but never ended up making it. That's probably okay though because my mom makes it better.

And now Anja is asleep and I'm about to be...