Updates on
Tessa
May
2002-November 2002
18 to 24 months
5/20/2002- Time to start a new page before the other one gets too big. It's been a pretty busy week. Mostly because we've started to do a lot of packing. We no longer have a dining room. It is filled with boxes and empty bookcases and such. I kind of reorganized the boxes I have stacked in Tessa's room and now they are breakables and special things (photo albums, my wedding dress, etc.) that I don't want to put in the U-haul but move in one of the cars instead. We went down to the house on Saturday so Ruby could give us all of the manuals for the different appliances and all of that stuff. We also needed to coordinate when we would transfer over the power and trash and phone and cable and such. Lots to do and only 22 days left to get it all done. Casey came over for awhile and we all sat around and talked. He's been really busy working on his new book but I'm sure we can drag him out once in awhile once we move in.
On Wednesday we were supposed to have playgroup here at our place but Mia was the only one who was able to make it. It was nice though. Tessa and Ashley played together and it gave Mia and I time to catch up on everything that is going on at work. Thursday Tessa and I went to the mall. I needed to get my ring cleaned and Tessa needed some new shoes. I got her the 5 1/2 instead of the size 5 so they are a little big on her but at least that will give me an extra month or two before I have to get her shoes again. On Friday Tessa and I met Cyndi for lunch at Burger King. Today we were supposed to have lunch with Gwenna, Dawn and Baby Reese but they are having some work done on their house and had to stick around and wait for the construction guys.
I found out yesterday that Tutor Time has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Ha! What comes around goes around. They treat their employees like slaves and put profit ahead of the well being of the kids so I just see it as payback. They closed the daycare on Olympia's westside already. I don't know if they are going to close my old center or not. Maybe they'll be smart and use the money they are saving by closing the other center to make some much needed improvements. Who knows. I'm just glad I'm not dealing with that mess anymore.
5/27/2002- We have had quite a busy and exciting week. Last Wednesday we went to Mia's house for playgroup. Thursday morning Mia dropped Ashley off here at our place to play with Tessa while she went to a doctor's appointment. This was the first time Ashley stayed here without Mia so neither of us were sure how it would go. She did great for the first hour but then she started looking for Mommy and got pretty upset. Overall it was a success. Like I told Mia, next time it will be 2 hours before she starts looking for Mom.
A few hours after Mia and Ashley left, the lady from the escrow company called. The paperwork for our house was in and we could come down and get everything signed! We met with her at 1:00 and signed our lives away. :) But we are now homeowners! After throwing money away for the last 12 years living in apartments, I am so excited that we finally have a place of our own. After leaving the escrow office we went over to the house. Ruby is getting close to the end of her packing. We set up some shelves in the attic that we had brought down with us and we went across the street to visit with Martha for a few minutes.
On Friday, Tessa and I headed back out to Mia's. It was a beautiful sunny day so we all sat out in the yard under a big tree and had a picnic. The girls played in the yard and Tessa had a blast jumping on the big trampoline! I wish I had my video camera with me. All four of us Moms stood around the edge to keep the girls corralled in the middle. Saturday afternoon we had to go the LesSchwab to get a tire on Brian's car fixed. They found a nail in it which was causing the slow leak. While we were waiting for the tire to be fixed we took my car and looked at some of the new construction close by. Lots of money for not much house and even less yard. Makes me even more excited about our house.
Yesterday my parents came down to visit. They arrived just as Tessa was getting ready for her nap so Brian stayed here while she slept and I went to Taco Time with my parents for lunch. After lunch we went to a few furniture stores to look at bed frames. I've wanted a nice wooden headboard and foot board for a long time now. When we move into the new house I want to put our bed in the corner of the room, angled between the two windows. That's kind of hard to do without a bed frame because we'd constantly be losing our pillows off the end. Anyway, I had found one in the Ikea catalog for about $250. We have a pretty tight budget for this and even though it wasn't really fancy or anything it would get the job done and was in our price range. Everything we were looking at yesterday was above $400. Mom and Dad said they would match our $250 so we had a $500 budget. Well, I found two I really liked. One was $449 and the other was $499 (but the guy said he could give us a better deal).
We went home and picked up Brian and Tessa after she got up from her nap and went back to the furniture place so Brian could look at them both. I really liked the dark sleigh bed that was priced at $499 until my Dad and I noticed it wasn't real wood. It was a cheap wood with a laminate over it. So our attention switched to the lighter colored bed frame for $449. It is real wood and very well made. Come to find out it is actually a $1000 bed frame but it was reduced so much because when it was built the foot board was made 4 inches shorter than it was supposed to be. The 4 inches didn't matter to us but the good quality and the great price did. Now we have a great bed frame! I almost stopped in the store today to visit it when I was out at the grocery store. We plan to pick it up on moving day just after we pick up the U-haul truck.
Today has been quiet. Took some stuff to storage, bought groceries, watched some basketball. Just a relaxing Memorial Day before heading back to work.
6/5/2002- We've been busy packing the past few days. Time here in the apartment is drawing to a close. On the 7th we go down to the house to be there when the cable guy arrives. We'll be without TV here for 4 days. That will be interesting. I guess we'll just have to talk to each other or something. :) I'm not sure when internet is transferred but I know we'll be without that for a day or so too.
Now it is just a matter of getting all of the final stuff packed up and get it all down to the house. Tessa has been a bit disturbed by all of this. She doesn't know what to think about us putting all of her stuff in boxes. I keep telling her about the house and that we are moving but at a year and a half it is just way out of her frame of reference. I'm sure she'll be fine after a couple of days in the house but for the first few nights it will probably be a little rough. She has never slept anywhere else except for her room. She'll probably be wondering "when are we going to go home?"
Today and tomorrow are only half days for me at work. And most of tomorrow that I am there will be in a presentation. We are heading out to Mia's house tomorrow afternoon so I'm glad I'll have a few hours to come home and get a couple of things done instead of rushing home at noon and then turning right around to head out the door again.
Well, it might be in the new house when I next do an update so think happy thoughts for us!
6/17/2002- As expected, the last 12 days have been jam packed with activity. We are now in our house and settling in quite nicely. On the 11th we went to the U-haul place only to find they didn't have a truck for us even though we had reserved one more than a month in advance. We had to go across town to another store to pick one up. After a quick stop at the furniture store to pick up our new bed frame, we arrived back at the apartment at 10:30 and all the guys were already there waiting for us. Tessa played in her playpen while the guys loaded the truck and I loaded my car. We were on the road and at the house by 1:00. I had ordered pizza on the drive down and it arrived about 10 minutes after we did so they guys took a few minutes to have beer and pizza before unloading.
My filing cabinet got munched (I don't know what shifted in the truck to damage it so badly) and a piece of our entertainment center was damaged when they were moving it inside (nothing a little wood glue couldn't fix) but besides that nothing got broken. Not anything I've found anyway. Still lots of boxes around here to unload. After unloading everything we were back in Lacey (where we got the truck) and had it returned by 5:30. We went by the apartment and loaded up our cars with stuff that didn't get packed up to go on the big truck. There was much more left behind than we both realized. It took us 6 car trips over the next few days to get everything out of there.
We were going to go up and clean the apartment on the 13th but we had record heat here and decided to lay low at home and just do some unpacking. Friday was cleaning day. We headed up about 10 am and I helped clean until about 11:45 when I left to have lunch with Cyndi. I came back home after that so Tessa could nap but she had taken a 20 minute nap in the car and wouldn't go back down so we headed back up to help some more. Tessa and I stayed until about 5:30 and Brian finished and did the walk through with the manager and got home about 11:00 pm. It was nice to be done and out of there. Now we should get back most of our deposit (they are charging us $25.00 because the oven wasn't clean enough) and the other half of the monthly rent that we had to pay anyway.
Saturday Brian and I washed my car. After all those years sitting under the pine trees and no place to properly wash the car, it took quite a bit of scrubbing. It looks so nice now. Still needs another once over but it's a 100% improvement. I'm not embarrassed to drive it anymore. Saturday night we celebrated and drank too much. Fun times for all.
On Sunday my parents came down with presents. :) They delivered the barbecue they got us for Christmas but we had no room for until now. They also brought us a lawn mower (they just bought a new one) and the love seat that goes with the couch they will bring us later. I was going to mow the lawn today but it rained. The weather is supposed to improve by the weekend so I'll do it then. I told Casey I'd mow his too. After Brian and Dad put the barbecue together we all went out to dinner. Prime Rib. Yummy. I was stuffed. I actually fell asleep on the couch when we got home while Mom and Dad played with Tessa.
We are really enjoying living next door to Casey and across the street from Martha and the gang. Casey comes over quite a bit. Tonight he brought cake. He's welcome anytime. :) The cousins love to get Tessa to say stuff. She seems to be warming up to everyone quite nicely. For so many years we barely knew our neighbors and now our neighbors are family. It's great.
Tessa is doing pretty well. She caught a cold so she's been having a couple of rough nights dealing with her stuffy nose. The first thing I did when we got here was to unpack her room so everything would be familiar. She went to bed pretty well after she realized we were not going anywhere. We' ask fi she was ready to go night-night and she'd run to the door and say "home". I took her in and showed her Elmo and all her other animals and it was an easy sell from there. She loves to go outside and play. We have lots of quiet blocks we can go for walks around or just stay in our own backyard. Of course going outside means more dirt and more baths. She's had 5 baths so far here! In the apartment I'd stick her in the tub once a week because she never really got dirty.
Anyway, tomorrow we have to head back up to Olympia for Tessa's doctors appointment. Another weigh in to see if she's closer to average in her growth. I don't think it's as big a deal as the doctor is making it out to be. If she was losing weight or not gaining at all I'd worry. Doesn't really matter though. After tomorrow's appointment we are switching to a doctor down here. Mia and the kids are coming down in the afternoon tomorrow and I also need to make some phone calls. It will be another busy day!
6/24/2002- It's been another busy week. Let's see... Tessa's appointment was on the 18th. She is now 21 lbs, 6 oz. She's inching her way up the chart. She's still smaller than the average 19 month old but she's above the 5th percentile now. That was her last appointment at Dr. Fukui's office. Last Wednesday I got all three of us set up with a new doctor. We'll all be seeing the same guy which will be nice. We can't see him until after July 1st but I need to get in there soon. I'm way overdue for my yearly physical.
Thursday evening Jennifer was down visiting and came over for awhile. Tessa had gone to bed so Jennifer, Casey, Brian and I sat out on the patio and talked until midnight. Friday we bought Tessa a little swimming pool. Jennifer, Joy and Esme came over to lend us their foot pump and help blow up the pool. Tessa hasn't been in it yet but she stands at the side and splashes in it. Hopefully it will warm up a bit sitting in the sun and I can get her in there later today or tomorrow. We also bought a propane tank for our new barbecue and had BBQ chicken for dinner Friday night. Casey made mashed potatoes and we had a nice dinner with Casey's daughters who were visiting for the weekend, and Steve who was up for the night from Oregon. We made a 9:30 pm run to Dairy Queen for dessert.
Brian had to work for part of the day on Saturday. I wasn't feeling well (I caught Tessa's cold) so I took a short nap when he got home and then got dressed to go to dinner at Anthony's with Mia and Erin. Brian and I still had a $50.00 gift certificate that Heidi had given us way back in February so I used that and it pretty much paid for 2 of the 3 meals. I got home pretty early but I took advantage of it and went to bed early.
I went back to work today. There wasn't enough to do so everyone was sent home at noon. I leave then anyway so it didn't impact me but no one is supposed to come in until 8:00 tomorrow morning. I'm going to take advantage of the extra 2 hours of sleep.
Yesterday I got a call from my friend, Shilpa. She was flying up from California last night for a job interview in Seattle tomorrow. I'm waiting to hear back from her right now. We are going to try and meet halfway and spend some time together this evening. She's never met Tessa.
... 10 hours later ... We just had a very long evening. Tessa and I left here at 3:00 to meet Shilpa at the McDonald's in Fife. Once there we left her rental car and she came with us back to the house. We stayed here for awhile, looking at photo albums and talking and then at about 8 pm we loaded back in the car and I drove her back to Fife to her rental car. It was great to see her. I hope she gets the Seattle job so I can see her more often.
7/3/2002- I've got more than a week to catch up on but first I wanted to start with today's big milestone. Tessa went pee in her potty chair for the first time! Yeah! I actually cried. This is a big step on her way to no longer being a "baby" anymore. Brian had given her a bath after her spaghetti dinner and when she got out he put her on the chair and she actually went. She's completely enthralled with her potty chair. We have to keep the bathroom door shut now or she is in there playing with it.
Anyway, after Shilpa's visit last Monday it was a pretty normal week. A boring staff meeting at work on Tuesday, we went to Mia's house for playgroup on Wednesday, and I got off work early on Thursday so Brian could go to his meeting. On Sunday we headed out with Casey to the fireworks stands to buy fireworks for tomorrow. This is the first time in 12 years that we've lived somewhere that we can shoot off fireworks so we're both pretty excited. Brian and Casey went again this afternoon so I think between the two houses we have about $200 worth of stuff to blow up tomorrow evening.
On Monday I met Cyndi at McDonald's after work. We made a stop at the storage space and loaded some things into her truck and then she followed me home. I gave her the grand tour and we had a nice visit for a couple of hours. Yesterday was the July birthday potluck at work so Tessa and I stayed late for that. I dressed her in a cute one piece outfit I had bought for her that is red with a big heart on the front colored in a flag design. She looked like a boy but very patriotic. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be kind of yucky so she might just wear her blue pants and her gray Old Navy American Flag shirt.
Today playgroup was at our house. Mia was the only one who could make it. Tia isn't feeling well and Erin got a new job that is keeping her busy. Casey came over to visit. He hadn't seen Mia in a long time and hadn't met Ashley. They had a good time catching up on things and talking over old times.
7/15/2002- Happy 1st Birthday Jacob! My cousin Dina and her husband Rob had a rough start a year ago when Jacob arrived early but now he's doing great and it's time to celebrate!
Okay, lots of catching up to do... the 4th of July was great! Festivities started over at Martha's house about 5:30 with lots and lots of food. With all of Tessa's cousins around I didn't really have to be Mommy all that much so I could socialize and drink and have a good time. :) Fireworks started about 8:30 even though it wasn't close to being dark. Tessa didn't mind them at all. Sometimes a loud one would startle her a bit and she'd look around, "Boom!" She ended up falling asleep a little after 9:00. We put the baby monitor in the front window so we could see it from across the street. We didn't need it though because she slept through all of the fireworks. I was amazed. I blow my nose in the morning and it wakes her up but she can sleep through a whole street full of people shooting off fireworks outside on the street.
Brian and I both had the day after the 4th off so we had a nice 4 day weekend. Friday we spent recovering from the party and cleaning the house. On Saturday, Tessa and I headed up to Kent to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Heath. Some family friends, Holly and Elsie, came to meet Tessa while we were there. Mom and Dad's neighbors gave Tessa a little outdoor playhouse that their grandkids had outgrown. Dad and I got it all cleaned up and Tessa had a great time playing in it. She even got to play with Tagger. Usually he runs when kids are around but he actually came up and let her pet him.
The next day Mom and Dad drove down to our place to deliver the playhouse, a little car for Tessa and the couch that matches the loveseat they brought down on Father's Day. Tessa and I went with them to Casa Ramos for Mexican food and did a little shopping at the outlet stores. They also brought a little plastic lawn mower for Tessa but I still need to clean that up for her.
Last Thursday was very busy. Playgroup was at Erin's new house on the westside of Olympia. We only got to stay for a little bit because I was meeting Stacey and Gwenna at Tumwater Historical Park at 3:30. Stacey and her girls arrived at the same time we did but Gwenna got held up and was running late. By the time she arrived we only had time for a quick hello before Tessa and I were off and running again. I had to run back home and change clothes and get some more film so I could be back up in Tumwater by 6:30 to meet Michele and her family at McDonald's.
Michele and I were really good friends in junior high and high school and we've managed to stay in touch all these years even though she and her family call Alaska home. I saw her about 6 years ago when she, her husband Darrell and their three kids were visiting her parents. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting all 6 of the Johnston kids. I was very impressed by how well behaved and well mannered they all were! Even little 7 month old Gabe is a charmer. I had a great time catching up with Michele face to face. She's a wonderful letter writer but there's nothing like having a real conversation with someone you've missed so much. They are thinking of spending their summers down here in WA. I would just love to be able to see them more often.
Saturday was a busy day too. In the morning I put Tessa in the stroller and walked down to the Farmer's Market with Jennifer. The market was kind of a disappointment but it was about a 20 block trek round trip so the exercise was good. At about 4:00 the three of us headed out again and we walked down to Washington Park to listen to some music during one of the Music In The Park concerts. Tessa had a good time dancing and eating popcorn. After we got back to the house Jennifer and I took over the bathroom to color our hair. I've really enjoyed hanging out with all my nieces but since Jennifer and I are less than a month apart in age we seem to have the most in common. More in common than I originally thought anyway.
7/29/2002- Holy cow! I knew I needed to make the time to do an update but I didn't realize it had been such a long time. We have been incredibly busy these last few weeks. Let's see, where did I leave off...
On the 17th Tessa and I went over to Shari's to have breakfast with Shilpa and her Dad. She took the job at Microsoft and was on her way up to her new place in Bellevue. It wasn't a very long visit but it was nice to see her. I hadn't seen her dad since our family trip to California a long, long time ago. It's going to be nice having her close for awhile. Another added bonus is she moved in about a block away from my niece, Jennifer. Now we can visit them both at the same time when we go up there.
The 18th was a play date at Mia's house. Karen came with Annaliese. We hadn't seen them in several months. They just bought a new house too but they are being more ambitious about redecorating. Karen has been busy painting and picking out wallpaper. I can't wait until they are done so we can g see it. After Tessa and I got home I spent a few hours baking 80 chocolate chip cookies for the party.
Saturday the 20th, our 6th anniversary, was the big day. We had about 35 people at the party. I think Mike and Louis left around midnight and Casey ended up with a couple of overnight guests. Amanda and Alex had driven down from Seattle and thought it was best that they not drive back that night. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I finally got to meet Cris' new husband, Dusty. She's been talking about him for years. Dave and Darla came down from Renton. It was great to see them. After bumping into them a few months ago in the Red Robin parking lot in Kent I had hoped they would come so we could have more time to talk. Even my Uncle Robby and Andy came. I hadn't seen Andy since our wedding and Tessa was still in her carrier carseat the last time I got together for lunch with Robby. Tessa had fun playing with Anna and Ashley as usual. I took a picture of her carting around an unopened Mike's Hard Lemonade. Like mother like daughter. :)
Even with the big turn out there were about 40 invited guests who could not make it due to other commitments. Like I was telling everyone, it was our own fault for getting married right smack dab in the middle of summer. We are having another party at the end of September. The bulk of the guest list are those who could not make it to this party. There are so many more people I want to catch up with.
On the 23rd I cut Tessa's hair for the first time. Just the bangs but it made a world of difference. Now they are not hanging in her eyes. I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. I hate it when my bangs hang in MY eyes. Brian took the 24th off to stay home with Tessa because I was in training all day. We are getting a new computer system at work and I was one of the ones chosen to be trained first so I can help train the rest of the group. This system is going to completely change how we do our work. Eventually they won't need data entry operators anymore so we are kind of helping them to put us out of work but that's a few years away and I'm hoping I won't be there that long anyway.
The 25th we had playgroup at Erin's house. She and Joe finally got out of the apartment and into a rental house. They are going to have a house warming party next month.
Yesterday Tessa and I went up to Mom and Dad's for a few hours. We needed to return the tables and serving trays we had borrowed from them for the party. While we were there we went over to Natalie's place. Tessa had her first encounter with a horse, a goat, and a live chicken. She wasn't too sure about the horse. His head was as big as her whole body. Kind of intimidating for a kid. We'll have to go back when it's no raining and we can spend more time. I hadn't even taken a coat for Tessa because it was sunny here at home when we left.
Tessa has become quite the little helper. She loves to fold laundry with me. She'll dig through the basket and find all of the socks and lay them out. She'll also "fold" towels and put them on the pile for me. She also helps me put things in the dryer. I purposely put things only part way in so she can push the sleeve of a shirt or a sock into the dryer. Makes her feel important and it's so cute when she smiles and claps for herself when I thank her for being such a good helper. :)
Now we are getting ready for our trip to Westport this coming weekend. I'll have to be better about updating so you all don't have to wait so long to have a glimpse into our busy lives.
8/12/2002- Well so much for updating more often...
August 1st we had playgroup here at our house. Mia and Ashley came and so did Tia and Macy. We hadn't seen Macy in a long time. It was strange to watch them play and suddenly see little girls and not babies. They are growing up so fast. After playgroup Mia and I went over to Carter's to buy the girls some new clothes. I can't wait until Thanksgiving so Tessa can wear the adorable mustard yellow dress I got her. IT has little red cherries all over it. Maybe I'll cheat and let her wear it to Anna's birthday party at the end of September too.
That afternoon we also got new tires on my car. The back passenger side tire had a slow leak in it and pumping it up everyday with a bicycle tire pump wasn't exactly safe. Besides, the front tires had such little tread left on them they needed to be replaced anyway.
At about noon on the 2nd we left for Westport. The drive over was uneventful and we found the motel and the RV park easily. Dad was coming over later after work so the three of us and Mom walked the block and a half to the chainsaw carving contest and looked at all the creations. Many of them were still in the early stages. Tessa had not napped in the car as I had hoped so we crashed in the motel room for awhile while she napped in her playpen. That evening we all went to Grayland to have dinner at the Sea Star. Tessa was very good and sat in the highchair and waved to everyone who went by. We didn't leave the restaurant until after 8:00 so by the time we got back to the motel it was time for bed.
On Saturday morning Brian had to be up bright and early to meet Dad and Captain and get down to the dock to catch the fishing boat. He was showered and out the door by 6:30. I didn't go back to sleep after he left because the people upstairs were really loud and the boats in the marina were starting up their engines. I read a trashy romance novel I had brought with me and finally woke Tessa up at 8:30. Tessa and I spent most of the day with Mom wandering around the little shops in town and eating lunch at one of the little restaurants. The guys finally came back in on the boat at around 3:30. They had all caught their limit.
After the fish was bagged and in the freezer, we spent some nice family time together. Brian was hungry so we got him a sandwich and then headed for the beach. Getting up over the boulders of the breakwater was interesting. Brian and I had to do kind of a fireman's brigade type thing. He would climb up a few rocks and I would hand Tessa to him and then I would climb up past him and he would hand her to me. We did this all the way up one side and down the other onto the beach.
Once we were down on the beach the harrowing climb was worth it. Even though there was a pretty good breeze coming off the water, the tide was about halfway out and there was plenty of sand for Tessa to play in. She would pick up big handfuls of dry sand high up on the beach and then walk down towards the water and drop it in a little pile. She did this several times. It was like she was returning the sand to the ocean. I collected some rocks and took pictures while Brian trailed behind keeping a close eye on Tessa to make sure she didn't wander too close to the waves. We stopped at the breakwater farther down the beach before climbing back up and over to the RV park.
Saturday night was a potluck dinner. Lots of good food and lively conversation. We went o bed that night with nice, full tummies. Sunday morning Tessa woke pretty early. Breakfast was not scheduled until 9:30 but we were both starving so we got some food to go at the little restaurant on the corner and ate it in our room while we watched the news. After breakfast with the travel club we wandered over to the chainsaw carving area to see the creations in their final form. Lots of them were really good but nothing stood out like in years past. Mom wold show us pictures of some of the carvings and there was usually one that was the obvious winner. This year wasn't like that.
Anyway, we loaded up the car, got the fish out of Mom and Dad's freezer, and headed home. I drove to Elma and then Brian took over the rest of the way. I was so tired I couldn't drive anymore. Even after we got here I took a nap while Tessa took hers. I was pretty wiped out and glad to be back home.
Monday morning was another milestone for Tessa. She went to daycare for the first time. of course for her, daycare is right across the street at Brian's sisters house. She did really well from what I was told. Brian would drop her off about 7:45 so he could be in class by 8:30 and then Casey would go pick her up at 12:15 so Martha didn't have to try and keep her entertained while she was getting the other kids down for nap. Martha let her break some of the rules since she was only going to be there for a few days. Brian ended up staying home with her on Wednesday and I stayed home on Thursday because she had a really stuffed up nose and didn't sleep well either night. We thought it was a cold but a runny nose and sneezing were her only symptoms. I think she might have allergies. I'll have to ask our new doctor about it when it is time for her check-up.
Thursday afternoon we went up to Mia's house for playgroup. Erin brought Anna and the three girls played in the shade of the big trees Mia has on her property. I wish we had more shade in the yard. Time to get planting I guess. Saturday night was Erin and Joe's housewarming party. Brian had stuff he needed to get done for work so just Tessa and I went. We had a good time watching Joe almost burn the burgers. :)
This afternoon we went to Karen's new house for playgroup. There new house is really nice, especially the basement with all the trees painted on the walls with branches and leaves spreading over the ceiling. Very nice. Karen still hasn't been to see our house so next Wednesday the gang will be gathering here.
8/29/2002- Let's see. It's been 17 days since I posted last and there is LOTS to talk about.
On Wednesday the 14th we took Tessa to the Southwest Washington Fair just down the road here in Chehalis. We didn't stay for too long and didn't go on any rides or anything but Tessa loved the animals. We saw cows, goats, sheep, pigs, llamas, and chickens. She knew what the chickens were as soon as we walked into the barn. "Bock Bock! Bock Bock!" she began chanting. She's never seen a llama before and we had a tough time convincing her it wasn't a dog. Next year we'll do the llama ride and I think she'll enjoy the petting zoo more too.
Sunday the 18th was my day away. I drove up to Bellevue by myself to visit Shilpa and Jennifer. Shilpa's job with Microsoft is only temporary so she may only be here for 6 months. It may be extended but since she might be headed back to California at the end of the year we are trying to take advantage of her being so close. Jennifer, Brian's niece, lives in the apartment complex kitty corner from Shilpa's building. Makes it easy to see them both. Shilpa and I had lunch in a little Indian restaurant she discovered, did some shopping at Borders Books and stopped for coffee at Starbucks before heading over to Jennifer's to grab her and go to dinner. It was a fun day away from the house and on my own.
Last Monday Tessa stayed with her Aunt Martha for a few hours in the afternoon while I went to a doctor's appointment. I should have had my yearly physical way back in April but with my old doctor moving to Seattle and our move down here I was finally able to set up an appointment with the new doctor. I like him a lot. I don't think he is much older than I am and I found him easy to talk to. I still need to go into the lab to have my cholesterol checked and I need to get my test results back but everything seemed fine.
Natalie called to ask me to be her Matron of Honor for her wedding next summer. She and Arnold will probably get married sometime soon at the courthouse so she can get on his insurance but she wants to have a big wedding during the 4th of July weekend. Tessa will be her flower girl. They'll get married at the barn in the front pasture. I need to start looking for a dress for myself and Tessa.
The 20th Stacey and her three girls came by to see the house and drop off the Little Tykes Climber/Slide that her twins have outgrown. I put her step stool at the back so she can get up on it by herself and slide down the little slide. Sometimes she doesn't put her feet down to stop herself at the bottom and she hits the grass pretty hard but she doesn't seem to mind. With her little house, car and kitchenette it looks like a playground out there in the backyard.
Last Wednesday morning I got an e-mail from my cousin Dina to let me know that our great uncle Cecil had passed away that morning. I spent most of the rest of the day making arrangements to take a few days off work so I could go to Spokane with Mom and Dad in the motorhome. The funeral was Tuesday morning so we needed to be over there Monday evening. Karen and Erin came over later in the day for playgroup and that was a nice distraction from all the funeral plans. Little Annaliese even hit a milestone right there in the middle of our living room. She stood up from a sitting position without anything to hang onto to help her balance.
On Saturday I went to Kent to have lunch with my Kentridge friends. Ken and his wife Janette, Shellie, Roni, Beth and Scott, and Becky McCauley were all there. I hadn't seen Becky since high school so it was fun to catch up. And Roni made the announcement that she is pregnant! I'm so excited for her. She is going to be an excellent mommy. She's not due until March 29th so I have plenty of time to find a great gift.
When I got off the freeway in Kent to head up the hill to the restaurant I noticed my car was making a funny noise. I knew my front brakes needed to be replaced so I thought it might be that. After lunch it was making the same noise and seemed to be getting worse. I was getting nervous but just wanted to make it home. For some reason I decided to go back on Highway 18 instead of Highway 167 in the valley. I was about half a mile from Highway 18 when suddenly my car wouldn't go into gear and the noise had become much worse. I looked up an noticed I was right in front of a transmission repair place. I coasted into the parking lot and parked. The guy working next door at the muffler place took a look at it for me and decided it was indeed my transmission but the transmission place would not be open until Monday morning.
I called Brian in tears and he, Tessa and Casey came up to get me. I left a message on the answering machine at the transmission shop to let them know I was the owner of the white Nissan Stanza out front and I would be there Monday morning as soon as I could get back to Kent. On Sunday I busied myself by finishing all the packing for our trip to Spokane. We were up and on the road by 7:20 on Monday morning. When we got to Kent we dropped off the spare key at the transmission place and then headed up the hill to my parents house to wait and here how bad it really was. Bill, the owner. looked at it and said the o-ring on the transmission was bad and it had been leaking transmission fluid. He was going to have to tear it apart and see how bad the damage really was. Since it was obvious we would not be picking up the car on Monday, Brian left us there at Mom and Dad's and headed back down south so he could get to work. Tessa played with their box of toys and even took a little nap while we waited. They got home about 2:00.
We finished getting the motorhome loaded, strapped Tessa's carseat into the passenger seat, and were headed to Spokane about 3:00. We ended up sitting on Snoqualmie Pass for a hour due to road construction. It took us an hour to go about 4 miles. Not fun. By the time we got through that Tessa was going nuts sitting in her carseat so we stopped at Indian John rest area for a break. It felt good to get out and stretch our legs and eat some dinner. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful but we didn't get to the KOA campground on the eastern side of Spokane until 9:45. We got set up and finally crashed about 11:00. Missy, Mom's cat, wasn't too thrilled that Tessa was invading her space so she spent most of the 3 days hiding in the bedroom.
Tuesday morning Tessa woke up at 5:45. I tried putting her up on the bed with me but she wouldn't go back to sleep. We didn't have to be at the cemetery until 11:00 so we watched some TV, ate breakfast and got ready to go. I moved the carseat into the passenger seat in the truck and Mom and I sat in the little seats in back. Dina and Rob had come over from Portland so we all got to meet Jacob who turned 1 in July. He's right on the verge of walking and showed us his skill later in the day at the church. The graveside service was very nice. Cecil was an Army veteran and served in the war so he was buried with military honors.
We were starving after the graveside service and didn't need to be at the church for the memorial service until 1:00 so we went to Wolffy's and had huge blackberry milkshakes. Yummy. The church service was more than an hour long and Tessa couldn't sit still so she and Mom spent most of their time wandering around the church. I brought my photo albums so I was glad I got to show Aunt Barbara some of my pictures at the social gathering afterwards. Tessa ate a little bit but there was too much to see and too many people to smile at. We finally left the church about 3:00 and stopped at Walmart to look for swimming suits. We had been invited out to Cindy's place to go swimming but had to buy something to swim in first. By the time we got back to the motorhome we were all pooped and crashed for awhile. We went to the Spokane Valley Mall and had stir fry for dinner at one of the food court restaurants. It was almost 7:00 by the time we got back from dinner so we decided not to go to Cindy's. Gary and Barbara got worried about us and came out to the KOA campground to find us and make sure we were all right. We had a nice visit with them and crashed for the evening about 10:00.
I had called Brian when we got back from dinner to find out what the guy had said about the car. Basically the whole transmission needs to be replaced. Two gears are completely gone and the clutch is bad. It's going to cost us $2527.10 to get it fixed. I was hoping it was going to be something cheap so we could trade it in and get a new car but since were spending more than 3 times the trade in value to get it repaired we are going to hang onto it for awhile before getting something new. That will give me some time to do some research on SUV's. :)
Wednesday morning we had Cinnabon cinnamon rolls we had bought at the mall and coffee for breakfast. We got the motorhome all packed, took Tessa over to the playground for a few minutes, and took a quick drive across the freeway to The Nut Factory before we headed out of town at 10:00 am. We stopped in Moses Lake and had a picnic lunch at the state park and also stopped at Indian John rest area and dumped the tanks. We made it back to Mom and Dad's place about 4:00. Since I was without a car they are letting me borrow the truck for awhile. I got that all loaded up and put the carseat back in there. Tessa and I were home by 6:15.
I don't remember much of anything last night. I was so tired that by the time I fell into bed I was out like a light. I'm sure my stuffy nose from my allergies made me snore but it didn't wake me up. I went to work today and even though Brian has his flex day tomorrow, I have to be up at 4:30 again to head for work. At least this is a three day weekend. Jennifer is down for the weekend. Her Dad is getting married and she is baking the cake. Hopefully we can find some time to hang out. Casey has his girls this weekend so it could be very quiet. After work tomorrow I am going to stay in town for a bit and have lunch with Cyndi. Then we're going to sign papers on a new loan. Right now we are paying off a loan with this same company so adding another $2600 to the amount isn't a big deal. It will also pay off the previous loan and get the title to my car clear so we can trade it in without having to worry about that.
9/10/2002- Tomorrow is of course the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. It's strange to think how different "normal" was 365 days ago. Now thing are pretty much back to normal but it is a different normal. I don't have to work tomorrow so I may attend the church services at the Catholic church a couple of blocks from here and I plan to go the the candle light vigil tomorrow night in Washington Park. I'll put Tessa in the stroller and we can walk over there. I am also planning on doing about 24 hours of recording various television programs dealing with September 11th. I have the VCR set on EP and the tapes are ready to go. I just have to switch the tapes every 6 hours and do a few channel changes through out the day.
It has been a fairly quiet 2 weeks since I wrote last. We didn't do anything special over Labor Day weekend. This past Friday I finally got my car back. Tessa stayed with Martha for the afternoon while Brian and I went to Kent to get the car and return the truck to Mom and Dad's. Yesterday we had playgroup here at the house. Erin and Mia came. Mia brought donuts and I got a cute picture of the girls all lined up on little chairs in the kitchen eating their donuts. We went to Carter's while they were here. I got Tessa another pair of pants, a long sleeved shirt and a long sleeved pair of pajamas. The girls had fun playing outside on the slide and it was nice to catch up with Mia since she had been in California for the previous 2 weeks.
9/18/2002- On September 11th I attended the candle light vigil the city had in Washington Park. Tessa stayed home with Tessa because it started at 7:30 and that is about when she goes down for the night. I'm glad I left her home because she wouldn't have wanted to stay still for that long and I would have had to pay more attention to her and my candle instead of the speakers and the songs. I cried. I knew I would. I've shed a few tears here and there over the past year but I had never taken the time to sit down and think about all the people who died or the families they left behind or the fact that our nation has lost some of it's innocence and raising a child in this world is going to be harder than it should be.
The rest of the week was quiet. This past Sunday Tessa and I went up and picked up Cyndi and the three of us did the Puyallup. Mom and Dad had given me two tickets for the fair and Tessa got in free anyway so we just had to pay for food and a game we played on the midway. We had a good time looking at all the animals and the art and even stopped to watch some jugglers for awhile. They have a new free fall "ride" that made my stomach turn just watching people as they did a free fall into a net below. The day was overcast but we didn't get rained on. Tessa did a great job and was really good for the 4 hours we were there. By the time I got her home it was past her bedtime and she was pretty grumpy.
Yesterday we went up to Erin's house for playgroup. I got into town early so Tessa and I bought a few things at Linens and Things, looked around in Old Navy and got some party supplies and some Halloween decorations at the new Party City. The girls had a fun time playing together. Anna is talking a lot more now. Her 2nd birthday is only 11 days away! Yeah! They are all getting big so fast. Thursday we are going back up to Olympia to go to the Children's Hands On Museum. Mia gave us free passes so that will be fun. We haven't been there yet.
This morning Tessa and I walked over to the business supply store that has a vehicle license office in it and transferred the Stanza title back over to my name. We finally got it out from under a loan that was using it as collateral. Martha was going to watch Tessa for me this morning while I went to Kent but I am going on Friday instead. I need to have my transmission checked over by the guy who worked on it so my warranty will be good. Martha is gong to watch her for me then instead. This afternoon Tessa and I are going to Martha's at 5:00 to fill in for her so she can go to the Puyallup Fair to see Bill Cosby. She should only have a few kids left by then and the parents all know someone else will be there. I've met most of them already but it will be nice to have an opportunity to learn more of their names.
9/30/2002- Back on the 19th Tessa and I went up to Olympia and met Mia and Erin at the Children's Hands On Museum. The girls had a lot of fun playing in the various rooms. The water table with all the little boats was fun. Tessa got sand flipped on her by a little boy who wasn't being careful at the sandbox. It didn't seem to faze her but she even had it in her ears! They played with play dough and with the stuffed animals and sat in the pretend ambulance. It was a lot of fun.
On the 20th Tessa spent the afternoon at Martha's while I drove to Kent to have my transmission checked to make sure it was still running alright. It was a long trip just for the guy to tell me everything looked good but I'm glad I didn't have to take Tessa all the way up there. She's been pretty intolerant of long car trips ever since the day she had to ride up with Brian and Casey to come and get me. That was a long time in the car without a break for her.
Saturday the 21st was a busy day but a good one. In the morning Casey, Brian and I all drove our cars over to Jiffy Lube and got the oil changed in all three cars. While we were waiting for them to be done we walked over to the outlet stores. I bought a new cutting board since our old one was cracked. When we got home I went and got us all burgers at Harold's Burger Bar. I went to Walmart and bought a new watch (mine died even after a new battery) and I also found a turkey platter (something I've wanted for awhile). Mia was having her annual all girl party and I arrived at her place about 2:30. We all had fun talking and eating into the evening. I got home about 8:30 that night.
On the 24th I was back at Mia's for playgroup. We sat on a blanket in the yard while Tessa, Ashley and Anna played. I spent the rest of the week doing a little bit of cleaning each night after work in preparation for our big Housewarming Party II this past Saturday. We had a lot of fun. About 22 people showed up. Mom and Dad came early because Dad was attending a ham radio club swap meet at the fair grounds. Mom played with Tessa and took her on walks around the block while I finished cleaning and getting ready for the party. While Tessa napped, Mom and I went and picked up pizzas and ice. Roni, Shellie, Beth and Becky all came down. It was great to see them. My friend Mary and her husband came too. Mary is going to have a baby! I'm so excited. She and Dan are going to be great parents.
Yesterday we went to Anna's house for her second birthday party. I can't believe our little ones are turning two already. I finished making the invitations for Tessa's party earlier today. We are having an Elmo theme party. She loves Elmo.
We had lunch with Cyndi today. I let Tessa sit in one of the real chairs instead of putting her in the highchair at Burger King. It was one of the swivel chairs. She loved that. We finished cleaning out our storage space today. Since we now have a garage and an attic we didn't see the need to keep paying someone $59 a month to store our stuff when we can do it ourselves. More money to spend on home improvement projects.
This morning Brian was getting ready to change Tessa diaper and told her to come here and get changed. She held up her finger, said "minute" and walked away. We often tell her "Just a minute" when she asks for something. Brian said it was really cute but frustrating at the same time. She's doing really well putting words together into short sentences. Most of the time I can understand what she wants without her having to repeat herself too many times. :)
10/14/2002- In some ways it has been a quiet few weeks but it has also been busy. We went to Mia's house on the 2nd for playgroup and for the first time in many months we stayed inside to play. Fall has definitely arrived. Tessa got to spend a few hours at Martha's on the 8th because Brian had an early meeting and I couldn't get off work to stay with her. The 9th was full of highs and lows. In the morning, Tessa went poopy on the big potty for the first time! She hasn't done it again since but it was a major milestone for us nonetheless. That evening at about 5:00, Tessa started throwing up. She hadn't been acting sick at all but all of a sudden anything that when in came right back out. When she had vomited 13 in 4 hours we took her to the Urgent Care Clinic over in the medical center. Dr McGill just happened to be the doctor on duty that evening so he got to meet Tessa a few weeks earlier than planned. They weighed her (23 pounds) and the doctor checked her hears and listened to her heart. He said it was a good sign that she still had tears when she cried (she didn't like the exam too much) and it was probably a virus and we just had to ride it out.
We put her to sleep in her playpen in the living room and I slept next to her on the couch. I was awakened about every 45 minutes to her throwing up some more. We went through a lot of towels that night. By 6:30 am she wasn't vomiting anymore. We got a couple of good hours of sleep and then I went into work for part of the day while Brian stayed home with her.
Friday I got up and went into work at 6 am like any normal day. By 8 am I was driving home because I was fighting to keep from seeing my bagel again. I didn't even make it all the way home. :( At least I made it off the freeway but now that I've christened the Casa Ramos parking lot I don't know if I can eat there ever again. I spent the entire day sleeping, only to wake for brief periods of time to grab my garbage can. By 7 pm I was still very tired but the worst seemed to be over. By Saturday morning I felt just fine again. Weird stuff.
On Saturday I left Tessa at home and went out to Tia's house for an Usborne Book party. I could have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on all the neat books they have but I kept it under $75. They should be here just in time for Tessa's birthday. After I got home we went over to Just Wood Furniture and looked around a bit. They have a really nice table I'd love to have to replace the ugly one we have in the kitchen and another one that I'd love to have to put in the dining room where we don't have a table at all! We also went over to David's and looked at washers and dryers. My washing machine always seems to go out of balance no matter how well I load it and the dryer doesn't stop on its own- you have to be here to shut it off after the clothes are dry. It doesn't keep heating but it keeps going and going and going and wastes a lot of energy. Maybe I'll have new ones soon. :)
Yesterday Tessa and I left the house a little before 10 am and drove up to Kent to visit Grandma and Poppa. We did some shopping while we were up there. Tessa got a winter coat from Grandma as part of her birthday present. She also bought her a cute little jeans and sweater outfit and an adorable green velvet dress that she can wear to the Christmas party at Mom's office. We will also take her Christmas photo in it. Last year we did family photos to go in our Christmas cards but we'll just do a Tessa picture this year. She's the one everyone wants to see. :) Today we had lunch with Cyndi to catch up on everything going on in our lives. Cyndi is going to join us at my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. Tessa is going to love that! She sure loves her aunt Cyndi.
10/20/2002- It's been a busy week. I love this time of year. So much to do and see. All these holidays and birthdays in just a 5 or 6 week period. Anyway, last Tuesday we went to Erin's house to play with Anna and Ashley. It was a beautiful bright sunny day so we brought a blanket out and the girls played in the dirt while we chatted. Wednesday was grocery shopping and house cleaning. Thursday during Tessa's nap I got the fake spider web stuff up on the front porch. It turned out really well! Like walking into a big spiders nest. Last night I finished my 4 headstones that I have stapled to the wall on the porch. I just made them out of cardboard so they are not very realistic but they look alright.
I also used her naptime to make an apple pie! Mom and Dad had given me some apples that they brought back from gleaning. I wasn't sure we'd go through them fast enough before they got mushy and I had an apple pie recipe I wanted to try. I bought the pre-made crust. It turned out pretty good. Next time I get the urge to do that though I need to borrow or rent or somehow get my hands on one of those apple peeler/corer things. I think it took me longer to peel and slice up the apples than it did to bake the pie!
On Friday Tessa and I stayed home while Brian and Casey went to Portland for the Paul McCartney concert. They headed down there about 5 pm and got home about 1 am. Once Tessa was in bed it was nice to have a little quiet time by myself. We don't get very much quiet time anymore. Tessa is speaking in sentences and you can understand a lot more of what she is saying. She learns SO fast! You only have to tell her the name of something once and she remembers it.
Saturday Tessa and I drove up to Bellevue to visit Shilpa. Tessa slept for an hour on the way up. I was worried she wouldn't nap at all and be grumpy. She pretty much ate all of my lentil soup at the Greek restaurant we went to for lunch. We headed over to Bellevue Square and had a good time shopping. I bought myself a pair of earrings. A little gift to myself. I found a cute ghost picture frame at Eddie Bauer Home that was on sale for $3.00. I'll have to go back in a few months when all their Christmas stuff is half price. Shilpa found an adorable pair of wings to go with Tessa's princess costume. During the day she is going to be a princess and then at night when it is cold she will be in her giraffe costume. We stopped for ice cream but Tessa didn't want any of my raspberry sherbet. By the time we got back to Shilpa's place it was about 5:30 pm and Tessa was getting grumpy so we headed home. I'm going to go back up by myself next month and spend the night. We'll rent movies and stay up all night talking like we used to. Of course this time there will probably be alcohol involved. :)
Today we went up to Hunter's Pumpkin Patch. We met Erin and Joe with Anna, Mia and Ashley, and Tia and Macy. The kids had fun looking at the animals and Ashley and Macy rode on the little train and did the pony ride too. We put Tessa on one of the ponies and Brian walked along with her but she only made it around the circle about one and a half time before she decided that was enough. Oh well. We all got on the big cart being pulled by the tractor and went out to the pumpkins. This late in the season the pickings were a bit slim. Plus, the field was a huge dust bowl. The girls kept tripping over the dried up vines along the ground and falling. By the time we got the four of them lined up to take their pictures with their pumpkins they were filthy! I can guarantee all 4 of them got baths tonight. We just got two little pumpkins. I'm going to go to the grocery store tomorrow and get a big one we can carve.
11/3/2002- Time for some catching up again! On Friday the 25th I bought two large pumpkins at Albertson's to go with a smaller one I had bought earlier in the week. Now we had our Daddy, Mommy and Baby pumpkins to carve. Tessa tried to help but she kept trying to put the pumpkin innards back into the pumpkin after we scooped it all out. We had a lot of fun and ended up with three pretty god looking pumpkins.
On Saturday I had to work 8am to noon but I was home in plenty of time before Mom and Dad came down. They arrived in the motor home to baby-sit Tessa while Brian and I went to a Halloween party at Louis and Anne's house. Before we headed out we walked across the tracks to the little Mexican restaurant on Main Street. It was pretty good but a bit too authentic for me. I guess I like the Americanized Mexican food better. Brian and I got ready to go to the party. He has an old man mask that he wore with an old coat he has. Pretty easy costume. I went as a witch. Dark eye make-up, black lipstick, press on nails, black dress, long black haired wig, silver cape and a witches hat. Once at the party I ended up taking off the hat and the wig. Too hot and itchy.We had fun but only stayed for about 3 hours. Mom and Dad had a good time with Tessa and got her to sleep with minimal fuss. The next morning we walked over to Papa Ray's for breakfast before they headed home.
On the 29th and 30th Tessa spent her mornings over at Martha's house. Brian had a conference he had to attend in Tacoma both days and being the busiest time of the year in my department I couldn't take any time off.
Halloween was fun. I wore part of my costume to work. Instead of the black dress I wore black pants and a red shirt. Looking at myself in the mirror with the dark make-up on and the hood of my cape up it became quite obvious that I was not going as a witch, I was Little Red Riding Hood after she discovered how much more fun it is to be bad. :) I found a little basket I could carry and put a little stuffed dog in it (my wolf). I won third prize in out costume contest! I was just dressing up because Halloween is a good excuse to look weird, I didn't expect to win anything.
I left work at 9am so Brian could come in for his managers meeting. After Tessa took a little nap I got her dressed in her fairy princess out fit and we headed to Mia's house. Tessa, Anna and Ashley were all dressed as fairy princesses. They looked so cute. I hope my pictures turn out. We headed up into town from Mia's to visit Brian at work. We pretty much went all over the building looking for him so everyone got to see her in her costume.
As the day began to turn into evening I found some candles to put in the pumpkins and managed to set my hair on fire lighting the pumpkins! I put it out pretty quickly but I can tell the right side of my hair is thinner than the left. I didn't actually get close to a flame but with all the hairspray and gray colored spray I had in my hair I'm not surprised. I'm just lucky I didn't lose all my hair. Even my eyelashes and eye brows got a little singed due to all the make up I had on.
Anyway, once Brian got home about 5:45 we headed out with Tessa all dressed in her giraffe outfit. She looked so cute carrying her pumpkin bag. I had made cookies and bagged them up so she gave Martha some cookies. At Casey's house she gave Casey some cookies and when his kitten wandered over to the door she pulled out more cookies and plopped them down in front of the kitten. We were going to go to more house but it was so cold out there I just wanted to get inside. Tessa has a little bit of a runny nose today and I'm wondering if it was from the cold. Plus, trick or treaters were beginning to arrive at our house and we needed to get back so we could answer the door. We ended up having 42 trick or treaters. Not too bad.
Yesterday I had to work 6am to noon. We always end up working some weekend hours in November. I made a run to Costco and then headed home to get Tessa ready to go to Macy's birthday party. Tia has a membership to the Children's Hand's On Museum so they had it there. All the kids got to put their handprint on a t-shirt for Macy and after cake and ice cream in one of their activity rooms, it was time to play. A lot of the exhibits are kind of advanced for the girls but Anna, Ashley and Tessa really enjoyed playing in the fake dump truck and moving all the plastic rocks around. It was a fun day but exhausting.
Today we went to K-mart and bought some Christmas lights to go on the house. I also got a tree stand and a tree skirt. We get to have a real Christmas tree this year! During Tessa's nap Brian helped me take down the tombstones and the spider web on the front porch. Time to start putting up different decorations! I listened to a couple of the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD's at work yesterday. I almost bought a box of Satsuma mandarins but they don't look very good yet. It's pretty early in the season for them. Pretty soon! :)
11/9/2002- This will be my last entry on this page. Tomorrow is Tessa's Birthday party so I will start on a new journal page to begin documenting her life as a two year old.
The past 6 days haven't been all that busy but there has been a lot going on here around the house. On Monday Tessa and I went to the furniture store just around the corner and I bought a beautiful dining room table and chairs. We've had the money set aside for a while and Brian had looked at the set with me a few weeks ago. We decided it might be nice to have a table for Tessa's part and we definitely needed one before we host Christmas. It's an oak table, stained a deep cherry. The 4 chairs are padded and have a blue fabric with a small cream and burgundy diamond pattern on them. I almost got the lighter oak table but our dining room is pretty big as most dining rooms go and I think the light color would have been lost in the big space. Now I'm scared to use it.
We had to move our little mini fridge off of the patio and into the locked garage. We use it to store extra pop and beer. Someone stole all the alcohol out of it several nights ago. We have that motion sensor light out there but if we're sleeping it doesn't do much good. I had just bought beer so they got away with about $30 worth of alcohol. I think it was the teenager behind us but I don't have any proof. I hope he and his buddies drank it all in one night and got sick. :)
Tessa has started to sing in the car. I sing in the car all the time and now she'll sit back there in her car seat and rock her head back and forth and babble on and on. Some of it sounds pretty good. IT doesn't sound anything like the song on the radio, but it sounds pretty good!
I have a bungee cord holding one of the kitchen cabinets closed because it is one of the carousel cabinets and we keep cereal and chips and all sorts of other yummy things in there. Tessa had been getting in there and dumping her Cheerios all over. We thought the bungee had solved the problem but the other day while I was at work, Brian was coming out of the computer room when he looked down the hall into the kitchen and saw Tessa at the cabinet. He watched her unhook the bungee, take out the Cheerios, close the cabinet and rehook it. Sometimes I have a hard time with that thing! Sneaky little thing. Time for Plan B as soon as I figure out what Plan B is.
As part of our Halloween decorations we were using a fake skull Brian has had for years. It's pretty ugly. We had it on the floor in the entry way so you could see it when we'd open the front door. Tessa wasn't very fond of it so Brian named it "Timmy" and for some reason that suddenly made it less scary. Everyday Tessa would visit Timmy and give him a kiss on the top of the head and tell us "Timmy no hair". Well, a few days after Halloween I took down all the decorations including Timmy. Tessa freaked out. She went to give Timmy his morning kiss and when he wasn't there she threw herself on the floor and cried. I felt bad but I don't want that thing sitting in my entry way all year round. She doesn't ask for him anymore. I'm sure she'll pick a new object to bond with.
Lately she's really been a Daddy's girl. She could care less if I'm in the room but if Brian is around she wants to be with him. If he has to leave for some reason she gets pretty upset. Transferring her from his car to my car at work this past week has been a struggle. Much crying and flailing. Brian described getting her into the car seat like trying to get a mental patient into a straight jacket. Yep, she's two. :)
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