Not triumphantly, but somehow

That time of year again ....

2009-12-09T05:16:19Z

Happy birthday, Jeff. :)

With a fervent desire not to offend...

2009-11-17T03:32:12Z

We are coming up on needing a few things soon, and I wanted to see if anyone is looking to get rid of them.

1) A crib mattress. Our crib only has 3 positions - "infants who can't sit up", "babies who can't stand up", and "I can't reach the baby". I am hoping that putting a second mattress in would raise it high enough to be safe and usable but still be low enough that he can't haul himself out. If anyone is getting rid of a crib or has a mattress gathering dust that it would be a relief to get rid of, I would appreciate it.

2) A forward facing car seat. Nubbit is going to be one in a couple of weeks (I know!), and not only has he outgrown the other seat, it will expire in a month anyway. So, we're looking to get ... whatever the next kind is. I have not looked into them yet, but again, if there's one cluttering up someone garage and is not needed, we'd be happy to take it off your hands.

Experiment

2009-11-12T16:54:16Z

Constance Faithful gazed out the window as the teacher droned on, her ruby jewel-tone pen idly tracing in the notebook margins. What do I care about symbolism? Small hearts chained together were beginning to surround two names until they were interrupted by a scrawled note to meet Jezebel after school. She and Jezzie had been friends for as long as she could remember –summer at least – and they sometimes walked home together. It was often the same days that Varian didn’t have soccer practice, and they all walked together, laughing and joking about teachers and classmates. Varian was the cutest boy on her block, and he and Constance had always been friends.

Constance looked up for a moment, noticing with a moan that there were 5 minutes left in class and their teacher was trying to cram hyperbole in before the bell. Man, I’ll just die if class doesn’t end soon.. She glanced down and hastily moved her textbook to cover Connie + Var 4ever! and its partial enclosure from view and willed the end of the school day. Finally, after a quick stop at her locker she rushed off, eager to shake off another day at St. Judas Iscariot.
<\lj-cut>

So, writing ... yeah ...

2009-11-12T16:51:17Z

I know that some people participate in this NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, I think), and I really have no aspirations to novel writing. However, playing around with writing with constraints can still be fun. So, I decided to try to write 200 words ... badly. It's the beginning of a story, and I decided that my theme would be channeling a poor writer - a young one trying to be clever, really.

Anyway, I wondered if anyone wanted to join me by writing their own 200 for your journals? It can be real writing or goofy, whatever you like, but I wanted to throw that out there. :) I'll put mine in my next post.

State of the Nubbit

2009-08-17T13:29:30Z

I know LJ is so over, but it's still the way I prefer to interact online. No one has ever accused me of being trendy. ;)

Jonathan has at least 6 teeth now and seems to be working on the other 2 for his matching set. Kid is a teething machine, I tell you what. He doesn't cry and whine much about it, but he will gnaw anything he can get his little hands on. Blocks of wood are a favorite right now. You know, when he can't get your pant leg or finger.

He began pulling himself up on things a couple of weeks ago, and just when I thought he was going to skip crawling all together he took off this weekend. Just got up on all fours and headed straight for the DVR. He knows he's not allowed to touch it, so I guess he had to get there fast. Heh. So he spend the better part of yesterday crawling off when I wasn't looking and pulling himself up on the couch or our legs to reach for things that used to be out of reach, like the remotes, hot mugs of tea ... Thus begins a new era. Whee.

Other than that, he's good. He's about 18 pounds at 8.5 months, and the happiest little guy at home most of the time. He's a stoic little stare machine when I take him out, presumably because he doesn't get out very much. He doesn't seem unhappy, and he studies people and things a lot, but if people get in his face or laugh too loud he gets the frowny face. I'm hoping to change that soon by taking him shopping and visiting more so he's less startled by loud noises and groups of people, but we'll see. It's really not under my control as much, which is frustrating.

I did take him to a pool party last weekend, and he let me take him in and twirl him around a little bit. He mostly looked at the water a lot and didn't play that much, but it was his first time. I'm just glad he didn't completely freak out. Maybe I can find a Mommy & Me swim class on weekends in the fall or something. You know, because I need something else on my schedule. ;)

Quick Jonathan update

2009-06-26T19:23:42Z

He's still of average height and weight, and no more appointments until September. Woot!

He got his firth tooth last week (front bottom right), and I'm pretty darn sure that he got the matching left one yesterday, although he's grouchy about us putting fingers in his mouth right now. It explains the above average fussiness lately, and I hope he's feeling better soon.

He was an angel in MA other than being upset about the tooth coming in, which was a huge relief. Traveling with a 6mo didn't sound like such a good idea, but he did very, very well.

He seems to be tolerating the organ better at church, too. I hope to be able to take him in with me for whole services soon instead of hopping up several times. When he can eat cheerios or other finger foods, it will get even better.

He tolerates baby food, but is not really excited about it yet. Hopefully, it will become more normal to him and then we can really get down to trying things out.

He's still awesome. Just to be official. :) And Craig is still a fantastic dad with endless energy to play, make odd noises, and toss him about all day long. Life is good.

If time were as plentiful as sand ...

2009-06-23T18:52:36Z

I have so many things that I would love to be doing, if only time allowed.

- become fluent in French
- grow a really good garden, taking time to weed and water like I should
- get back into cooking and baking regularly
- do a few really in-depth Bible studies
- get back into reading regularly
- get back into a rigorous exercise routine
- begin doing crafty things, like making curtains to replace the hideous ones we have or making clothing for Jonathan
- blow the doors off the project at work (instead of falling behind)
- do some real landscaping work in the yard
- take some more courses both for fun and toward another degree
- clean the house weekly (instead of when someone is coming over)
- get out and do a few more things socially - not a lot, but a little bit more

I hope to get to some of these things as Jonathan gets older and I have more time to myself, but I think that some of them just won't happen for a very, very long time.

I don't regret my life or the priorities that I have chosen; I just wish there were more time. :)

Houston, we're getting teeth ...

2009-05-21T00:39:36Z

OK, I feel vindicated now that the little bumps I thought I was feeling late last week have finally been confirmed by Craig. Our little man is growing his upper fangs. Hopefully the middle teeth aren't too far behind, or his little smile will be interesting. :)

So, what were everyone's favorite teething tips? He's a sweet little man, even while he's teething, but I hope he's not upset for long.

My MIL has suggested washclothes in the freezer, and we have a few little teething toys. That might do just fine, although we haven't really tried either yet. He's mostly chomping on our fingers so far, and a little whimpery.

For anyone who cares ...

2009-05-20T12:40:50Z

I enjoy reading Jorge Garcia's blog. He's Hurley on Lost, which is one of my favorite shows. The blog is not about Lost or any spoilers or speculation, but just his thoughts about his travels and things. He seems like a pretty likable guy. :)

Jorge's blog

A request for information

2009-05-20T11:44:31Z

OK folk, this Twitter thing seems big. However, I've only seen people paste snippets of it in their blog. I assume that this is not normally how it works. I gather that it captures small bits of text to ... something. Is it like another blog that you log into and read your "friends list" twitter posts? So, it's like a very succinct LJ or something? It doesn't text your phone or anything, right?

Why: I'm asking because the new Lost ARG (game between seasons) looks like it may be twitter-based, and I am completely disconnected from it. The twitter main page doesn't seem interested in explaining what it is or how it works before you create an account, and I'm just not quite that invested yet.

OK, this one, I'll do. :)

2009-05-14T19:35:48Z

Your results:
You are Geordi LaForge

Geordi LaForge		75%
Beverly Crusher		70%
Deanna Troi		60%
Spock		59%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		55%
Jean-Luc Picard		55%
Will Riker		50%
Worf		50%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		50%
Mr. Scott		45%
Uhura		45%
Data		44%
Chekov		35%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		30%
Mr. Sulu		15%

You work well with others and often
fix problems quickly. Your romantic
relationships are often bungled.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

5 months and counting

2009-05-05T15:30:18Z

I know that I'm not posting much lately, and I apologize for that. Busy, busy, busy ...

So, Jonathan turned 5 months on Friday, and he's still an awesome little guy. We took him to the vet yesterday for his 4th visit with shots, and he was understandably upset, but he recovered in a few minutes and was showered with love by Craig and me all day long to make up for it. This time I just took the day off instead of working from home because I wanted him to feel secure and happy as much as possible without shirking my work.

We had him dedicated this Sunday, and he was actually asleep when we were bringing him up. When he woke up to be handed off, he very cutely just peeked over the shoulder of the pastor for the minute or two that he was up there and didn't cry or anything. That was a relief to me, since I was afraid that he would be too upset.

We had Music Sunday that day, and it was a blast and I'm glad its over. I directed two choir pieces, sang another one, and played bells in yet another piece. It's a good time, but a bit tiring.

We're trying desperately to get the yard under control and when the rain stops, I still hope to get my garden in this year. The food is good normally, and the additional benefit of being able to make Jonathan's food from scratch is just too good to pass up if I can possibly help it.

Other than that, same old same old. Craig is wonderful as a SAHD with Jonathan. My sister and I are taking our mom to the Cape for a week in June, and I'm going to bring Jonathan along. We'll visit my in-laws for Memorial Day weekend, and my dad will finally meet Jonathan for Labor Day weekend. No big plans other than spending time with my son under my favorite tree out back once he can sit up, reading to him, and starting him on solid food sometime in the next month or two.

Life is good. :)

State of the baby - 100 days

2009-03-10T13:18:42Z

While we're not from the Asian continent in the least, I can see the wisdom of celebrating the first 100 days of a baby's life. So many things change, and we've gone from completely wiped out and at the end of our rope to establishing a routine that seems to be working in general.

Things I enjoyed:
- holding a tiny little man for hours at a time in the hospital, just keeping him warm.
- watching Craig care for him at all stages.
- first smiles.

Things I did not enjoy:
- getting the hang of nursing.
- screaming fits when he hadn't gotten the hang of his insides yet.
- being completely wiped out due to lack of sleep.

Things I would do again:
- have a baby? While Craig's apparently hesitant, I don't have any doubt that I eventually want at least one more child. I've always felt that only children must have been lonely growing up, so I've never even considered only having one baby.
- use the midwives at the hospital. It was comforting to know that the emergency care would be there if necessary, but I pretty much got through it with Craig's help. Even proven, I don't think I'd go further than a birth center near a hospital, and Craig would probably prefer the hospital.

Things I would do differently:
- maybe have someone at home, at least a little each day, for the first week or two. This idea really bothered me the first time, but I think it would be a really good thing next time. I think supporting everything by himself was way too much for Craig to handle on the lack of sleep he shared with us, and we both sort of crashed.
- take the full three months off of work, even if we think we can't afford it. I think we could really have used the other month to bond more and not make the transition to bottles so quickly. Little man's having a little trouble switching back and forth, and I wouldn't want to hurry another baby. I also feel out of touch with Jonathan sometimes, and wish that I'd gotten to share more of the time when he's getting to know his environment and caretakers. I feel very much that I'm missing out on that.

I think that's the short summary so far. He's a happy little guy when his tummy isn't bothering him, and I look forward to a time when my time with him isn't 97% nursing and we can play more.

Random post for the month

2009-03-10T12:27:34Z

So, Craig and I have always had a system for determining how rotten we feel at the moment, and here are the metrics:

- cold
- wet
- tired
- hungry

If you are tired and hungry, but warm and dry, you are at 2 alarms. You get some sympathy, but things aren't too bad. When it gets to three alarms, there is an effort to make you feel better and more sympathy. Four alarms, and you get taken care of really well and generally spoiled until the symptoms abate. (You absolutely get sole control of the remote for the duration.)

One alarm? Quit whining. :)

P.S. When I was pregnant, I got an automatic +1 for being pregnant. This helped.

He's back!

2009-02-18T16:43:12Z

My little brother (Scott) is back from Iraq as of Monday.

I've had one quick 2-minute conversation with him so far before he had to go sign for his stuff, but he thinks he'll call back again soon. I'm glad he's in the US, and he's hoping to come up in a month or two to meet his nephew. This will mean a great deal to my mother, so I hope that he manages to call her a few times a week for a while. I'll make sure to poke him about it regularly.

Welcome back, Bud.

Well shucks

2009-02-11T17:31:02Z

I just cleaned out my wallet and found an old Circuit City gift card that I hadn't quite finished from a couple of years ago. I guess I missed the boat on that one. Crud.

BBC book meme from Elise ...

2009-02-11T16:08:12Z

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen(X+)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (X)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (X)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (X+)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (*)
6 The Bible (X)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (*)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (X)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (X)
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (*)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X+)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (*)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (X/* some)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (X)
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (X)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X - what, no symbol for hated?)
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (X)
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)
29 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (X)
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (*)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (X+)
34 Emma - Jane Austen (X)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (X - another non-favorite)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (X+ - again?)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X+)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (X)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (X)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert (X+)
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (X+)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (*)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (X+)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (*)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (X)
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (X+)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (X)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (*)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (X)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (X+)
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X+)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (*)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (X+)
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (*)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (X)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (X)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (X)
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (X)
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (*)

44 out of 100 read. 12 intended. (Shakespeare counted in both totals.)

Note 1: I am tickled to see Swallows and Amazons on the list. It's the complete and exhaustive reason that I want to learn to sail. :)
Note 2: Bridget Jones Diary? Really? Sheesh.
Note 3: Hamlet and tLtWatW both singled out of other lines? Odd.

Well, that settles any doubts on _that_ score ...

2009-02-02T21:27:08Z

We're freshly back from Jonathan's 2-month appointment. The little guy now weighs in at 10lb 8oz. Good heavens. I guess he's getting enough to eat after all. You'd never know by the way he acts sometimes. Heh. I think he was measured at 22 inches ... and something. I was busy holding his head in place and didn't really hear what the reading was for that one. Oh, and he's smiling now, but they didn't measure for that. I'm sure it's above the 50th percentile in cuteness. ;)

Other than that, he got his first 3 vaccinations - Dtap, Rotovirus, and HiB. I am sort of sorry to say that I only barely looked into vaccinations, and so the only thing I really did was delay polio and Pc. I wish I had time to devote to developing a real opinion, but for now, I'll just keep my eyes open for any major issues and assume the doctor has no vested interest in hurting my little boy.

I myself waited in the hallway while Craig stayed in with him. I freak out a little bit when he gets his scream on, so we thought we'd just dodge that. I felt little bit like a coward and a bad mom, but Craig thought it might be more comforting to the little guy if the mommy that holds him when he's panicking isn't crying her fool head off. However, it seems to have been unnecessary on that score. By the time the nurse came out to tell me it was over, he had recovered and wasn't even crying anymore. Such a good-natured little guy. He was asleep by the time we got home, and he didn't even wake up as I transferred from from the car seat to the crib. Hopefully he'll sleep it off and not be a total nightmare tonight. :)

I can't believe it's been 2 months.

The axe falls again; good thing I'm short

2009-01-30T17:33:58Z

Broadcom had a round of layoffs this morning, and I believe that I have again escaped unscathed. (From what I understand, they're trying to track the last person down, but I think they know how to contact me.)

I lost count a while ago, but I have made it through at least 7 in the nearly 10 years that I've been working with these people. Are other industries like this? It's a bit nerve-wracking, and the morale has been ticking steadily down for so long that I forget what it used to be like when people were happy and positive about things. I really hope that things turn around for our little group in the next year or so.

This latest RIF has wiped out a large group of our volleyball crew, so I fear for its continuation this summer. That's really the least important of the sad things about this, but it will have the greatest impact on my work environment, as I rarely work with those who are missing, but we play volleyball on a weekly basis. Good luck, guys. You'll be missed.

And thank God I still have a job.

spritelyone @ 2009-01-01T16:24:00

2009-01-01T21:26:04Z

Early last week, my grand plans of going nowhere for Christmas this year crashed around my ears when we found out that Craig's parents would not, in fact, be bringing his grandmother with them when they came to visit for Christmas. We had assumed that she would come with them, since she spends Christmases down at the Kerns homestead, but the plan was apparently to have her visit, take her home, and then come visit us the following week.

We decided that while grandparents could cope without the travelling this year that great-grandparents were an exception to the rule. And so, on Christmas morning, I woke Craig after Jonathan's 9AM feeding to pack everything up so we could just tuck the little man into his carseat after the following feeding and haul butt over to Perry County.

Much to my surprise, he slept the entire way (2+ hours) and we didn't have to stop and feed him. To my further surprise, he did really well at their house. He did well enough that we stayed for a second night. He didn't scream either night. He slept during the day and his eating pattern was even different, eating more at a shot and further apart. He was mostly alert and happy with them, and it was really neat to see Craig's father and brother being so natural in their new grandpa and uncle roles.

Of course, that didn't last. But, it was a good visit. This weekend, we'll go for an afternoon to visit my own grandmother and intrduce her to her first great grandchild.

We're both still the typical new parents, both staying with him when he's awake, especially when upset, and supporting each other instead of taking more breaks and naps. But, it's working for now and we think it's OK for a little longer - until it gets closer to when I return to work. At that point, making sure we both get more sleep and can cope handling things alone will be something we need to prepare for.

Interesting little story

2008-12-21T00:03:09Z

I found a link to the short story by F Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, on TWoP today, and I decided to read it. (I was trapped under a sleeping infant, which prevented much other activity. :) ) It's a good little story, although I'm not sure they'll adapt it well for the screen. I'll be interested in hearing the reviews even if I never see the film. Anyway, I thought I'd post the link to the story for anyone else who might like to check it out.

Birth story post - sanitized for the general public

2008-12-17T15:12:41Z

Just for those who want the bullet points and with a passing interest in how things went for us, I wanted to quickly record the general events.

I went into real, more active labor the afternoon of Sunday, November 30th. I had contractions about once an hour that morning, and by 3PM they were nearly every 3-5 minutes all at once. I sort of thought it was some early labor but that it would stop, since it progressed so quickly. By 5 or 6, they were pretty consistently 3 and getting shorter.

However, we had a minor miscommunication between us and our midwife that changed how things went in the middle there. One of my books said to measure contractions from the beginning to the peak for the length, so that's the information that we were giving her and waiting for them to be a minute. Ha ha. She meant us to be measuring beginning to end. Around 7, we called her to clarify since they were more like 2 minutes apart, and our numbers were still closer to 40-50 seconds. When we cleared that up, she told us to head for the hospital and that she would meet us there.

We got there around 8:30, and when the midwife showed up, I was 6cm. I had been prepared to reconsider my unmedicated stance if it were only 2 or something. My back was killing me at every contraction, and no amount of preparation of relaxing techniques was going to touch that pain. Poor Craig was basically pushing on my back for 8 hours on and off the entire time without complaint. For my part, I didn't yell at him, so I hope that helped. :)

I tried the jacuzzi tub, which didn't help too much. After an hour of that, I was at 8cm and my water broke. Around 9cm, I got the urge to push, which freaked me out a little bit. I hit 10 right after midnight, and after only a half hour of pushing, Jonathan David was born at 12:48AM on my little brother's birthday. Happy birthday, Scotty!

I managed to keep my sense of humor through the delivery, which had the nurses laughing and Craig didn't worry about me too much. The back labor was almost too much for me, though, and it was far, far worse than I had expected. But, I got through it unmedicated as I had hoped, and Jonathan seems good.

He was a 6lb10oz baby at 19 3/4 inches. He's got brown hair and I think his eyes are turning brown already, too, as expected. I'll try to post a few pictures later, but we keep forgetting to take any.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this. It has been a great comfort to us that we have such wonderful friends and family. :)

Just for kicks - another Inuyasha drabble

2008-11-25T15:45:16Z

Explanation: One of the writers I enjoy reading on LJ has a challenge for 12 small writing challenges for the Inuyasha fan fiction community. I know I'm no writer, but it's fun to play around a little every once in a while, and really, I have nothing better to do most mornings anyway. :) We'll see how far I get before I have something else I need to tend to regularly. Since I'm not really submitting them for the contest, I'll put them in my journal for safe keeping. I'll just keep them under cut tags so they'll be easy to skip. :)

********************************************************************

Title: A New Spin On Things
Author: Spritelyone
Characters/Pairing: Shippo et al
Genre: General
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Shippo's got new crayons, but a new subject is giving him some trouble. 500 words.

Shippo sprawled on a blanket scribbling, new crayons arrayed in front of Rin and himself. It was a miracle she was with them at all, but Kagome's tales of the winter celebration had excited the girl's expectations, and she had been allowed to join them. The holiday week almost over, Sesshoumaru's patience would surely end soon, leading him to take his young charge and leave, returning to patrol the western lands.

He looked across the practice yard, studying the movements of their morning routines. Flowing motions of the monk moving from pose to pose, staff flashing in the sun. Short, powerful bursts as Sango launched her boomerang from Kirara's back, high in the air. He could hear the loud cracks in the distance as Inuyasha worked to perfect the Wind Scar, aiming for arrows that Kagome shot out in front of him.

These sessions were typical and he had spent hours sketching his companions while they honed their skills, trying to capture them in crayon. But, Sesshoumaru was a new subject. In an adjacent clearing, the taiyoukai whirled in place, hitting the targets Jaken had set on posts at the edges of the clearing with the snapping tip of his poison whip. While Rin covered her sheets with pictures of flowers in garlands, bouquets, and wreaths, he tried again and again to draw the spinning demon, only to end in frustration. A rogue breeze rustled the failed pictures he'd been casting aside, flashing through the images as they blew into the brush behind them. His eyes sharpened as he quickly considered a new possibility.

Starting anew, the kitsune colored furiously as Jaken leaped up once more to reset his master's targets. Shippo drew picture after picture of Sesshoumaru until he finally had a small stack of images. Hopefully, he fanned through the sheets, and let out a whoop. His still images of the tall demon in the clearing were transformed into a spinning dervish - clothes flaring, hair trailing, stripes twirling – as Sesshoumaru spun in place, destroying the targets drawn on the edges of the paper.

Rin looked over Shippo's shoulder, exclaiming in delight. “It's Lord Sesshoumaru! Shippo, you've drawn Rin's master!” She leaped up to show the now motionless taiyoukai but paused as the other members of the group assembled to discover the source of the outburst.

Kagome walked over to the pair. “What's going on, Shippo?”

Rin smiled up at her and held out the stack of papers. “Shippo has drawn Lord Sesshoumaru. And he's dancing!”

Inuyasha stifled a snort as the demon in question walked over to view the proffered images. Kagome smiled as she flipped through the pictures. “Shippo, you've made a flip book! I haven't seen one of these in a long time.”

Sesshoumaru took in the moving pictures quickly and returned again to the clearing. Rin looked confused and turned to Kagome. “Was he displeased, Kagome?”

Before she could answer, in a low voice tinged with humor, Inuyasha replied “This Sesshoumaru does not dance.”

Local PSA

2008-11-06T13:33:27Z

For those who haven't tripped across it yet, radio station 97.5 has switched to Christmas music already much to my joy and delight. Listening to the music that the local stations play for Christmas always makes me happy, so I was glad we tripped across it last weekend. :) Some of the songs aren't my favorite, but I usually sing along to just about everything I know. Good times.

I have a new brother-in-law!

2008-10-27T15:46:18Z

My little sister got married this weekend with all the associated drama and overwhelming joy. :) Nothing went so wrong that it couldn't be fixed by the time I left the reception on Saturday night, and I trust that it stayed that way the rest of the evening. She was beautiful and happy and well-loved by everyone, which is just the best it can be. *grin*

Friday and Saturday were completely jam packed for me as I took part in the traditional nail and hair appointments with my sister, the rehearsal and dinner, setting up for the reception, and the wedding and reception themselves. Boy, what a blur, but she seemed to have a good time most of the time, and everything turned out great. I'm so happy for her.

There was so much music in the wedding, and it was so Misty that you couldn't miss it. My family sang a neat round before the processional (the Talis Canon) and I did a duet with one of her friends during communion. She's very close with another family full of singers, so they also had a solo, a duet, and a lovely, a capella Ave Maria during the ceremony as well. She even walked in to a haunting Gaelic tune I had never heard that she just loves. It was neat how customized the music was in a traditional Episcopalian high mass service, but it just seemed so right for her and so perfect. I hope she loved every second of it. I think I got something in my eye a few times, but we won't dwell on that. ;)

Oh, and my sister's wedding cake? They both decided that they weren't huge cake fans. So, they had a table just overflowing with donuts instead that were baked by the groom's cousin at his bakery that morning. *grin* Excellent.

Other stuff:
This should be my last full week in the office other than coming in a couple times next week for new employee stuff for the transition to Broadcom. After that, I'll work from home. I need to understand the expectations of me over the next few weeks, since what I'm working on is dead low priority to everyone. If they mean "working from home," I want to make sure that I understand that, although I don't think they'll tell me that flat out. But, it'd be nice to pretend that I didn't just lose all of that leave and that they're looking out for an employee who works hard when she can, even when there's no real payoff. We'll see.

I'm still feeling pretty good, although I am having a harder time maneuvering these days. Oh, and Scott moved out yesterday afternoon, so things should be able to go back to normal for a couple weeks before they get shot to heck. Heh. The current plan is that he will be back this weekend with his father and a U-Haul to finish the move completely, but he's out of the guest room and nursery completely at this point, which is certainly a good thing for my super-planning stage. I think we've got all the essentials (except a pediatrician lined up), so that's good. I'm trying not to expect anything in terms of a time line, so I'll just chug along and hope that this train gets to start itself. That's my final hope.