Incubation Nation

* This is my favorite FAVORITE time of year. For real. Everything. The air, the events, the frame of mind; the anticipation of what's to come. Yes, I love the fall. LOVE IT! Passionately.
* I do get mildly depressed though to realize that we will not be spending any portion of Autumn in the foreseeable future in the White Mountains of NH. Damn school aged children. Hub did promise me that we could go next year, however, it will be a late summer trip. New Hampshire in the fall is my heaven.
* Be proud of me–I've only had 3 Pumpkin Spice Lattes so far.
* I can not wait to make Mommy Daisy's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which have been an autumn staple the last 2 years. (link to be added later)
* And No Whey Mama's Autumn Soup (again, link later)
* I think I am most looking forward to apple picking. This was a new activity for us last year and ended up being our favorite. Plus, the orchard we went to had homemade pumpkin ice cream!!!
* And of course our annual photo at Letchworth State Park–at least there's no chance of the big kids dropping Liv on her head this year. (jinx)
* Ok but (really) most of all, I'm looking forward to the kids enjoying it all. Liv will be able to take most of it in and be an active participant. I love that the kids know that we have traditions and that they are looking forward to doing all this crap as much as we are.
* YAY FALL!

Yesterday I did something that I normally wouldn't do. The background is basicall that I applied for a new job last week-within my current company-a new position that would suit me so well I couldn't even believe it- and awaited a phone call. I arrived Monday morning to find 2 emails from our recruiter. The first was the generic "I am reviewing all applicants" email, and the second was a canned response that basically stated she was pursuing candidates with a skill set that better matched the position.

I was annoyed, and then pissed. My skill set IS this position. Yes, I have done a different job for the last 10 years, however, my resume and college experience speak to being qualified. How am I not a match?

I would normally just let this sit. I feel so strongly about this job though, that I sent an email to the recruiter. I asked her whether she could explain how my skill set didn't match, and whether she would have some time to discuss it with me. I asked to be put through to the interview process and to let the line of business decide whether or not I was a strong candidate.

She and I played phone tag all day yesterday, and I have an appointment to speak to her on my lunch hour.

BOOYA! (really??)

Regardless of the outcome, I am proud to have stood up for myself. I am at a point in my life where it is time to take control of my career. If it doesn't work out with this particular position, I want it to be known that I am motivated to move. To take the next step.

Well, that's kind of exhilarating now, isn't it?

We had such an amazing long weekend that I needed a day to recoup just to write about it. (ok, not really, heh.)

When I picked the girls up from my mother’s on Friday Lucy mentioned that she had seen on the news that there was a chicken wing festival in town, and boy does she love chicken wings! Hub and I had been to Wing Fest before, and didn’t necessarily plan on going, but how can you resist this face?

Lucy and I went on our own Saturday afternoon and spent a couple of hours sampling chicken wings. I don’t remember where they were from, but this was a sea salt and vinegar wing, which we decided was our very favorite.

While we were there, plans were in the works for Hub and I to spend the evening out. My parents took the big kids overnight (for the very first time–OMG) and Liv stayed home with FIL because I wasn’t ready to hand her over to someone overnight. Hub and I saw a late showing of ‘Inglourious Basterds’, which was an amazing movie ( a testament to how good it was is the fact that at least 75% of the movie was subtitled, and Hub didn’t even mind) and then had an appetizer at The Cheesecake Factory. We took some cheesecake home because it was after midnight by then, and had dessert and coffee in front of the TV.

Sunday morning Hub and I relaxed a bit, basking in the glory of having only one child, and then we worked around the house and yard for a bit. My parents brought the big kids home in the afternoon and stayed for the evening while we barbequed and played with the kids in the yard. It was a nice relaxing evening.

We got up on Monday itching to do something, but really had no plans or ideas. We thought about checking out a park in Erie, PA that has been suggested to us several times, but came upon the Erie Zoo instead. The kids slept on the way down, about 1.5 hours, and we had a really good time. It was Liv’s first time at the zoo, and although she thought all of the animals were “woof woofs” she really enjoyed herself. Especially in the petting zoo with Hub. We stopped for dinner on the way back and were home fairly early; Bud had school in the morning.

(on our way home)

I feel like this weekend was the precursor of fun autumn weekends to come; this is by far my favorite time of year. Soon, we’ll be apple picking and taking our yearly trip to Letchworth, and then heading off to the pumpkin patch. And let’s not forget Pumpkin Spice Lattes, now.

Hooray for fall. And Hooray for spending time with my wonderful and beautiful family.

“Hey everybody, I’m on no sleep, no sleep!. You don’t know what it’s like in there; all night long things are creeping and cracking. And that red light is burning my brain!”

The baby was up like, 25 times last night and I am exhausted. It wasn’t her usual “I’m up for a little snuggle” deal, but rather, “I’m up!! Let’s play!! Is that the kitty???” She didn’t want to lay in her bed, or even lay on me, which usually works. She was UP. And screaming “OUT! OUT! OUT!” and when I got her out, she wanted to wake daddy and Grandpa. She just goes and goes all day long, and when it carries over in to the evening…we’re all screwed.

Yesterday ended up being not too horrible, although Bud already came home with a note that someone in his class was sent home with head lice. Apparently, one of the first things they did was take a walk down to the nurse for a healthy hair check. I’m just hoping that it was early enough where we don’t really need to worry about Bud’s exposure. He enjoyed school, he told me, although, he was miffed that he ‘didn’t learn anything’.

The last Buffalo preseason game was last night, and Hub got free tickets, so he and Bud went after Tae Kwon Do. I got home later that I would have liked because of stadium traffic, but once there I packed up the girls and headed to the farmer’s market. It is pretty close to our house and I see it all the time, but never remember exactly where it is. In any case, I had been meaning to go, and the girls were up for a trip, so we went. And it was cute. Small, but cute. We picked up some grapes and fresh baked goods, and Lucy picked out some smoked sausage for dinner. By the time we got home and I cooked it up, it was nearly bedtime. The boys were on their way home, so we waited up to see them. Everyone was in bed a bit later than I would have liked, but in all, I think we all had a pretty good day. (you know, prior to the baby being up al night)

I am really looking forward to the long weekend. Aside from playing some baseball in the yard, we have no plans for the first weekend in a very long time. Personally, I am hoping to get out from under some of the clutter in the house that has been compounded by having all of Hub’s mom’s stuff there, in addition to some strategic relocation of some items from when our sewer backed up in to the basement earlier in the week. (yeah.) I also need to set a plan for picking up some fall clothing for Bud and Lucy, who have close to nothing for the upcoming season. (yes, Lucy got all new summer clothes for her birthday in August. SRSLY. But I am not mad; I look at them as an investment for Liv.) Anyway, I’m thinking of checking out consignment. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Today I put my firstborn on the bus for the first time; it is his first day of Kindergarten. Those of you who have done it probably know that it is a bittersweet event. On one hand, here is my baby, MY BABY, on a bus and then in the hands of strangers for the better part of 8 hours. He may have to make INDEPENDENT DECISIONS! And OMG! My BABY!! But really, on the other (slightly more rational [ish]) hand, I know that he is ready. My husband and I have prepared him for this day in the best ways that we could. He is a smart, well rounded child. The real question should be ‘is kindergarten ready for him?’.

The bus left and we waited a few minutes before heading over to the school. Hub pulled in to the parking lot and we took a spin around. Bud was already off the bus, standing on the steps of the school. As we left the parking lot, he saw us and waved. It was no big deal.

I, er, may or may not have driven by the school again on my way to work.

So now we wait for him to come home and hear how his very first school day went. I wonder if anyone will ask me how MY first day of having a school aged child went.

I want my baby back.

I love technology. LOVE it. I am definitely not the most tech savvy person on the planet, but I do enjoy my toys—Sirius Satellite Radio, TiVo, the whole shebang.

For the last 2 years, I have used my LG Fusic with no issues. It fulfilled my need for an MP3 player and I have been able to use it to access the internet in a limited capacity. It was very handy when I was nursing Liv and still serves me well when I am up in the middle of the night with her; it gives me something to do to keep my eyes open.

Recently though, especially after my job put the kibosh on using such sites as Facebook and Twitter, I’ve been looking for more. There are so many things I’d been used to doing on my lunch break, that were no longer possible. As of today, I am eligible to upgrade my Fusic, and I am heading right down to the Sprint store to pick up a Blackberry.

I know! A crackberry! I am, like, foaming at the mouth over it. It has TV! And GPS! And Radio! And so much other stuff! And I never have to deal with T9 again! I am just so excited. It probably won’t be perfect, I know. But I think we’ll get along just fine.

What about you? Is there any piece of technology you can’t live without? Anything you want to tell me about Blackberry?

Well, here are a few happy things in spite of all the crapola going on lately—

• Hub was at Radio Shack last week looking for a new head set and came upon a TiVo marked down to $19.99. We’ve been wanting a new one because ours only records 1 thing at a time and you have to watch what is recording. Rather than buying a new $200 TiVo we were going to reluctantly succumb to DVR. Then this fell in his lap. YAY!
• He also came home yesterday with Seinfeld Scene It which we have been wanting for a while now. I hope we can play it this weekend.
• The baby is transitioning well to whole milk. We are at 2oz in every bottle right now with no issues. Moving to 3 tonight. We’ll need to buy a small can of formula, but that should be it FOREVER.
• I snipped some chives and oregano from my garden yesterday and made an impromptu tomato sauce and served it over whole wheat pasta. Man, I felt accomplished. And then when I posted about it on Facebook, someone said I was superwoman for managing 3 children a full time job AND a garden. Hardly true, but it made me feel pretty good.