Learning my Limitations

This week I had three things I wanted to do before Halloween. I wanted to make iced sugar cookies using the ghost cookie cutter I got on clearance last year, carve a pumpkin for Baby Charlie, and make brownies for our office potluck lunch. Today is Halloween, and I have a tub full of un-iced cookies that don't really look like ghosts, an untouched pumpkin on the front step, and brownies that I cut into at 5:00 this morning. Oh well, at least they taste good.

What I found most amazing about this morning is that even though I was up an hour earlier than usual (Charlie had to get to work by 5 today) I was still rushing to get out the door when 6:45 rolled around. I guess if I didn't have the brownies to cut I might have had extra time.

It's only been 2 full days of being back at work but I can already tell that the organization and cleanliness of our house is going to suffer more than it already has. I'm also cursing whoever came up with the million pieces that go with the Dr. Brown's bottles.

Here I Am

At work. Daycare has called twice to give me updates on Baby Charlie - so far he's eaten twice and taken a small nap. They said he's been very smiley and interested in checking out the other babies. He's doing a lot of watching so far today. I have the webcam to check on him from work, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm not 100% sure the baby I'm looking at is actually Charlie. The screen is pretty small and since they keep the lights low in the young infant room it's kind of hard to see. Maybe tomorrow I'll dress him in something that will really stand out. So far I've done a lot of nothing at work - I have a project on my calendar but there won't be data to look at until Monday.

My co-workers have been great - I came in to "welcome back" signs with pictures of turtles, candy, a pumpkin, and a wire photo hanger for my collection of Charlie pictures. As a bonus, yesterday's donut bringer was out with a sick child so he brought the donuts in today! As a double bonus, my buddy Lynn brought me a NKOTB magazine to read while I pump.

I've survived my first pumping session in the office library. It was a little weird, but manageable. Something's up with my supply though, I didn't get as much as I usually do from my early morning session. I'm hoping it's just stress related and will correct itself tomorrow. Baby Charlie had the second half of his 2-month shots yesterday and didn't do so well with them, so he was up a few times during the night. I really hope I don't have to add another pumping session back in.

I missed my morning nap with Baby Charlie and I miss having MSNBC on in the background. It is nice to be enjoying ESPN radio again, but it's cold outside and I'd rather be at home playing. I'm glad I came back on a Wednesday - a short week is a good way to ease back into things. Even better that it's halloween week! We have a party and a short day on Friday. Whee!

Do you miss me?

Don't worry, I go back to work next Wednesday. I'm not really looking forward to it, but one of the positives is that I'll have lots more time to screw around on the interwebs so you'll be getting more than a weekly blog update from me :)

I have a whole list of things I've been wanting to talk about but haven't had the time to say, so you'll have plenty of my babbling to read.

One quick note that you'll probably find amusing - I got my course evaluations from the last class I taught in the spring. Everything was as I had hoped, all good reviews and positive things to say, except for one comment - "Shouldn't curse so much." Damn, I thought I had cut back! Guess I should make more of a concerted effort to watch the language - you know it's bad when your baby starts reacting positively to the F-Word. As soon as the election is over I promise I'll try to do better.

51 Weeks and Pumpkin Cheesecake

Kidding about the 51 weeks, but not about Pumpkin Cheesecake! I love pumpkin in all things - pumkin spice lattes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, and now pumpkin ice cream. Ben & Jerry lured me back over to the dark side with this special batch.



Fall is right around the corner. Doesn't it make you start craving foods like apple cider, butternut squash, and Pumpkin Cheesecake!? That's right!

Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream with a Graham Cracker Swirl.

This flavor quickly made my top 5 list. There's a lot more graham cracker than in other flavors, which is something I've complained about in the past (like Peach Cobbler). The pumpkin flavor is sweet but not overwhelming and lends itself well to the creaminess of an ice cream application. It feels a little weird to be eating fall flavored ice cream while the temperature is dropping - usually pumpkin shows up in toastier applications - but I can manage :)

If you like pumpkin then you should try this one. If you don't like pumpkin try it anyway, because the flavor isn't that strong. C won't even look at it, let alone taste it.

Just so I don't feel like a traitor, here's my favorite fall combination:



Gingerbread lattes and muffins are right around the corner!

Obama Rally

I brought the Minion to the Obama rally in Cincinnati yesterday. It was amazing! If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak in person you'd be crazy not to go. We weren't as close as I would have liked - it ended up being really sunny and warm so I wanted to keep the baby in the shade. He slept through most of it, but at least he can say that he was there :)

I'm very hopeful that he will be the next president. What a great start for my son's generation!

Tearing Down the House That Ruth Built

Some of you have mentioned to me that one of my favorite subjects in Real Life has been absent from my Blog as of late. Baseball hasn't taken a backseat because baby stuff has invaded my mind, but because it's just too painful to contemplate an October without Yankee baseball. I've come to terms with the fact that my beloved men in pinstripes won't be gracing our television in glorious HD this fall.

I was so excited when I calculated that my maternity leave would coincide nicely with the postseason. The downside of October baseball has always been the late start times of the AL playoff games (the NL always got the shaft with day games) and this season I wouldn't have to sacrifice sleep for the love of the game. Sadly, I don't have a reason to watch any of the games this year, unless one of two scenarios plays out. The only way that this postseason could come to an end that I would be comfortable with involves the ring going to anyone but the red sux. I would love to see Tampa Bay win the series. It would be a great story - the young rookie team who came back from years of living in the AL East basement to conquer the giants. That would be fun. I would also be happy to see Joe Torre's Dodgers win the series. Everyone knows that the Steinbrenners made a huge mistake when they let him leave after last season, and it would be awesome to rub it in their arrogant faces. The best case scenario that I've put together in my head involves a sweep of the red sux in the series by the Dodgers, including a walk-off home run by Manny in the bottom of the ninth, preferably off of puckerface papelbon. Have you noticed that when he makes his lame attempt at looking intimidating his mouth looks suspiciously like a certain part of the human anatomy?



(excuse Pyle on the left, can you believe this is the only papelbon scowl picture I could find?)

Anyway, enough talk about October baseball. Let's move on to an even sadder topic - the final game at Yankee Stadium. The Minion stayed up with me to witness the pre-game festivities and the first inning, but he didn't make it much longer past that so I watched the last hurrah all alone, which was just as well because no one was there to see the tears rolling down my cheeks. Yes, I'm that big of a loser. I don't even have the pregnancy excuse anymore. It was beautiful. Most of the Yankee greats were represented on field before the game and Yogi spent a few innings in the broadcast box regaling the audience with stories of Yankee legends. The greats from the championship surplus in the late 90s were in attendance - Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi, and, most importantly, Bernie Williams, who earned a long and well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd. Andy Pettite started the game for the home team and Captain Jeter gave an emotional post-game speech after Mariano Rivera induced a ground ball for the final out, giving the Yankees a 7-3 win over Baltimore.

I'm still sad that the Minion will never set foot in the old Yankee Stadium, but at least he was able to attend a game in utero :)

I can't wait to take him to a game at the new stadium with Aunt Katie and Great Auntie Ann!