Big weekend

We bought a house! It looks like this:

Eleanor turned 2! To celebrate, we threw her a party in the new house. It looked like this:

We hid our present in a closet, because we're lazy and didn't feel like wrapping, but mostly to hide the big surprise. It looked like this:

The Other Half

Thanks, Gizmodo.

It's the little things

There's a small knock on the bedroom door this morning. Bridget gets up and opens the door. I hear a high pitched "Hi mommy!"

And then "Daddy sleep?"

Yep, the little things.

Of Books

I recently picked up my library card at the public library here in town, and have set about reading as many books as I can. I haven't really read in quite some time, so it was quite refreshing. The third book I picked up, and the main reason I got the library card, actually, was Foundling by D.M. Cornish, and is the most engaging book I've read in some time. It was recommended by a friend, who spoke very highly of it and its sequel, which I plan on picking up tomorrow.

The book takes place in a steampunk-ish fantasy setting, filled with alchemists, monsters, and ship engines powered by muscle tissue. The author presents the world to us in a way that makes the connection to this world easy to grasp, and provides fantastic character illustrations to go along (he studied illustration in college), as well as a lengthy glossary. I highly recommend picking it up from the local library, at least.

Any other recommendations anyone can offer?

Work, and things

The new job is going pretty well - I've been doing it long enough now that I suppose calling it "the new job" is even a little out of place. I've actually been out of all phases of training for about 3 months now, moved fully into my role as last line of defense before a customer leaves the company. Not doing too shabby, either, for the most part. I manage to keep a majority of my customers; some of my other stats, like length of call, could use some work though. Working on my QA scores, as well - would love to get those back into the green. Was doing fine until we moved into save.

My desk:



The view from my desk when I turn around:



Oustide of work, things have been going pretty well, too. Got a new (to us) car, as the old Tercel was on its last leg, a '94 Honda Prelude. Has its issues, of course, being old and used, but I like it. If I could fix the whine one of the generators gives off, it'd be near perfect.

Spent the weekend in Jackson earlier this month for the big hapkido seminar we usually attend. Had a great time, as usual, learning some great techniques, and some fantastic applications. Have to share with Charlie once I can head back up north for class.

Speaking of class, I really need to start working out again. I feel kind of like I've turned into a lazy bum. I've lost 20 pounds since moving down here, which I chalk up to the lack of exercise and a change to my eating habits - I eat smaller meals now, it feels like. There's a hapkido class that meets on Saturdays that I may look into joining, as they know a friend of Charlie's. Tough to give up that time though, as it's some of the only real time I get to spend with Bridget and Eleanor.

My baby girl is doing wonderfully, as well - mostly. She's crying right now, and Bridget believes she may have a sinus infection. Had a great time playing with her cousins today though. She's really starting to communicate now, and her vocabulary grows every day; she picked up "cow" today while we were out shopping. Daycare is apparently teaching some sign language, too, as she now uses the sign for "more" and says "mo-mo" when she wants some milk - she actually uses it to mean "milk" rather than "more", really.

We have a vacation planned for April 18-25, visiting my relatives in the northeast. Flying to DC to visit my paternal grandmother for a few days, and then on up to Massachusetts to visit my maternal grandfather, aunts, and friends for a few days. Very much looking forward to it, but worried about Eleanor on planes of course. All of the flights are short, thankfully, and we have layovers in between most of them, which we hope will make things better.