Doctor Firefly Mama

Dead cat, open house, and sharing the news

That was my day. Well, there were some other things thrown in there too, but this is the part I choose to share.

We're taking care of a neighbors cats, and this morning husband returned to say he thought one of the cats was dead. Poor kitty. Sure enough, "Yoda" was curled up in a tiny box under the sink in the laundry room, and was stiff as a board. He was still warm, but definitely not with us anymore. I've never had to wrap a cat in a garbage bag and stick them in a freezer before. The owners will return tomorrow to a sympathy card taped to their door. Don't want to surprise them when they open their freezer to find a frozen kitty...

Just after finding the cat, and just before placing kitty in the freezer, we jumped in the car to go look at a house. It is the first house we've actually gone to see...and turns out it is owned by someone we work with. House needs work, but is livable and has EXCELLENT potential. Location is great too. But if we buy it and want to make some upgrades, it would be more than we can afford.

A few hours later, my folks arrived for tomorrow's graduation ceremony. They haven't been here in a year, haven't seen daughter in a year, and haven't seen son in 9 months. It is really great to have them around. And...I got to actually tell them in person that we are expecting another baby. This is the first time I've gotten to tell them in person, though I think they kinda suspected since we mentioned we were looking at bigger houses. Still, it was great to see their faces as the comprehension sunk in. I had one of those digital pregnancy tests that just says "Pregnant" and I asked daughter to carry it in and hand it to grandma. It was pretty sweet.

Now tomorrow I get all dressed up and receive my PhD. It feels a bit surreal.

By the way, I was in Vermont for most of the week at a conference. Nearly saw a tornado while there, and I've got pics. Hope to get those up soon.

2008

Welcome to a new year! I'm really glad 2007 is finally over. While there was some good things that happened in 2007 (Alder was born, and that was awesome!), it was a very hard year. I had a very good friend commit suicide, and then my aunt died too in what was essentially a very long, drawn-out suicide. I thought I was going to finish school, but with delay after delay, it didn't happen. I slipped into another depression and gained some weight (source of eternal difficulties for me). I can't say I'm feeling especially optimistic about 2008, but at least it is a fresh start. I should DEFINITELY finish school this year (probably by March). I'm working on the depression issue. I'll probably start getting PAID again, so our family financial situation will improve. We might even have another baby by the end of the year (nothing to announce right now though). We'll see.

As for last night, we celebrated the evening with two other couples here at our house. One couple has a 5-month old, who went down for the evening on our bed. The other couple is 37.5 weeks pregnant with their first baby. Both of the women were present at my birth with Alder, so we are all quite good friends. We enjoyed pizza, beer, sparkling cidar, and some ice cream. We talked and laughed and joked around. And then everyone got tired so they bailed early, but actually didn't walk out the door until 11:45 pm. I thought that was funny. So Keith and I popped on the tv and watched the ball drop, then hit the hay. One of these years I'd like to attend a real NYE party again.

Back to work tomorrow. We've now had 3 weeks of extra-long weekends. I think next week with 5 days of work will be really hard to handle.

Halloween 2007

We attended our indoor park's costume party where Ava was a ladybug and Alder was a tiger.
Alder also sported the pumpkin hat that a friend knit for us back when I was pregnant with Ava.
Then I decided to try Alder in Ava's old monkey costume and it fit him really well! So for library costume party, we went with that outfit. Ava loved wearing her costume. She was one of the few kids who happily kept it on all evening.

We didn't do any actual trick-or-treating. I see no reason to give my kids candy yet. Ava's had one piece in her life, and she didn't really seem to know what it was. So for one more year, I've escaped the crazy sugar high that I'm sure will be part of all future Halloweens.

I was rather perturbed by the SINGLE trick-or-treat visitors we got at the door. It was a family with five kids. They stomped on the porch, chased the cats, and banged on the window. And the parents both had candy bags too. Jerks. Good thing I was handing out all-natural and odd-flavored lollipops. :)

Another family vacation

We're headed out on another family vacation today. This one involves 7.5 hours of driving each way. I'll surely write about that when we get back. I know we've been on a lot of mini vacations these last few months. But still, I feel READY for this. I'm crossing my fingers it will involve a little more sleep for me, but I won't hold my breath.

Camping one last time

We're headed out to the woods one last time this season (literally, because the campground closes for the winter on Monday). The weather is supposed to be perfect up in the mountains. We are headed to Ice Cap Creek campground with the nearby reservoir. Should be another good time. Pics to follow when we return I hope.

Chocolate chip pancakes

Typing with 1 hand, so this will be short.

On nearly every weekend day, my family assumes our ritual morning activities with no need for discussion. I nurse the baby while watching over the toddler (as she drags all her toys out from hiding), and Keith makes chocolate chip pancakes. I can smell them right now...he's gonna bring me my plate in just a few minutes. Mmmm... I love that we have this ritual. It is so warm and comforting and yummy. And I love that Keith is the one that cooks them. It makes me feel so cared for.

And here they come...

Did Somebody Have a Baby?

We had dinner at Keith's parent's house last night, and there were soooo many family members there, it was a little terrifying to our toddler. As customary, the very old and the very young are the guests of honor, so it was Ava, Alder, and Keith's grandma Pat that shared the spotlight. It was lovely to see so much of Keith's family, though I do wish we could see them all a bit more often, and in smaller groups. With 20 people in the room, all of whom you owe a conversation to, you end up talking to no one and feeling bad about it.

Let me see if I can get all the family straight here. We had:
Keith
Ava
Alder
Linda (Keith's mom)
Ron (Keith's dad)
Kari (Keith's sister)
Kristi (Keith's sister)
Pat (Keith's grandma, aka Ron's mom)
Dave (Keith's uncle, aka Ron's brother)
Lorri (Keith's aunt, married to Dave)
Haley (Keith's cousin, daughter of Dave and Lorri)
Karly (ditto)
Lexy (ditto)
Don (Keith's uncle, aka Linda's brother)
Mary Fran (Keith's aunt, married to Don)
Donna (Keith's cousin, daughter of Don and Mary Fran)
Sean (married to Donna's daughter Maureen, who was absent)
Other nameless woman (?)
Tabitha (Keith's cousin twice removed, daughter of Sean)
Cassie? (ditto)

I can't even recall if I'd met all these family members before. Some of them I do remember seeing very briefly at our wedding (very briefly because the other 130 guests were also flashing before my eyes). It was just a bit nuts. And Ava agreed. She screamed and wanted to hide when the full force of all that family were crammed into one room, all wanting to see her. After half the party had left, she got a bit more accustomed to Keith's family, and even danced on command. Some of Keith's cousins are young (under 10 years old for a few of them), so Ava had some friends she could play with and dance for. Alder spent a good half of the evening attached to my breast, and because I would never hide myself while breastfeeding, Keith's family all got to witness it. Thankfully they all seemed okay with Alder's choice of food, or at least they didn't berate me in front of the group.

Karly, Dave, Grandma Pat with Alder, and Lexy:
Karly and Alder (I love this picture): Grandma Pat with Alder and Ava:
Alder getting some standing assistance:
Ron and Kari getting Alder started on reading already: