Nana, Kitty Cat

Artificial tears = my BFF

It has now been 11 days since I had my LASIK surgery and I’m happy to report that I A) survived and B) I have 20/15 vision. WOO HOO.

I was a whole lotta nervous for nothing. I took two .5 mg of Valium and they sat me down under this machine (obviously the laser) and just stared at it while it worked its magic. There was some pressure but only for a nano second and I had no idea when the laser was “doing it’s thing.” At the end of both eyes, the machine made this weird noise and I smelled smoke but I was warned that would happen and was normal.

Recovery was sleeping from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.  My husband picked me up from the surgery and I could see on the way home which was amazing and an hour after surgery. I went for my post-op the next day and could see 20/20 but the flap had moved a nano millimeter so I had to come back in a few day and then it was proclaimed I could 20/15. Woo hoo.

My eyes were not too dry at first but today I’m experiencing it big time (I think it’s because I went to our new Redmond office and the dust was flying all over the place). Artificial tears have been my best friend today. I have anywhere from two weeks to six months for the dry eye to go away. I guess it’s better than wearing glasses or contacts. Good thing Costco sells them in bulk.

I keep wanting to go take my contacts out before bed and I grab for my glasses on the night stand. I have to sleep with a stupid sleep shield for a few more days (I busted one already).

I realize I need to blog more. I have some exciting topics coming forth so stay tuned.

Can't get enough of peanut butter chocolate Easter eggs unless ...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="126" caption="Egg hunt"][/caption]

... you come down with a stomach virus.  Lil B awoke me at 3 a.m. crying with a weird cough. As I rolled out of bed and walked into him room there was this stench of grossness. Poor little guy couldn't keep anything down. After a few hours, he just sorta snapped out of it and was up for the Old Mill Easter hunt.

Lil B was a pro. He knew exactly what to do (without even telling him) -- get the eggs. He ran all over the amphitheater and when we got in the car, he fell fast asleep in the back of the Jeep. He'd been up since 3 a.m. so he had to be pretty darn tired. When he awoke, THREE HOURS LATER, we proceeded to "hide" the eggs over and over again.

Brian and I met his brother out that night. He and his girlfriend came to town for a little R&R so we went to dinner and had swanky drinks. On the way home, we noticed a police man had pulled over someone on the parkway. It was a man dressed in a bunny suit. We joked on twitter that no one would get candy in the morning as it looked like the Easter Bunny was a little tied up taking a sobriety test on the side of the road.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Lil B and his Easter basket"][/caption]

This morning Lil B was greeted with his Easter basket (bunny must have not been drunk). The candy was mostly for my husband but inside where two little trains -- Thomas and Rosey -- guess what Lil B did all morning? Play trains. I know what he'll be getting for his birthday.

Mid-morning, Brian started to not feel good. I joked he ate too many peanut butter chocolate eggs. He didn't think that was funny and within the hour was sick and couldn't keep anything down. Now, Lil B wasn't sick too long so my guess is Brian will be fine soon and well, I'm next. Fabulous.

I had a glorious meal planned but I guess we'll skip it. I might break into the strawberry pie though. Hot dogs for dinner. Yippie!

You can view our Easter photos here.

Happy Easter!

Wayne and the bubble

I did do a little playing when I went to SXSW Interactive. I was lucky to score a ticket to the Flaming Lips sold out show. Enjoy Wayne floating around in his bubble!

Bye, bye four eyes

Hmmm, it’s been a few weeks. My goal is to post at least twice a week but since being back from Austin from SXSW Interactive I’ve been faced with the following:
• Re-sleep training my child
• WORK WORK WORK
• Volunteer stuff for the Family Access Network
• Pre-school hunting
• Getting the house painted
• Being scared out of my wits about getting LASIK in less than a week.

By the time my child is off to dreamland I am SPENT. Just SPENT. And a little stressed. When this happens, I focus on spending my time on Flickr seeing if Jeff Tweedy combed his hair during Wilco’s sold out
US tour. Jeff, if you’re reading this, I’m quite disappointed in your grooming skills.

I’m getting LASIK surgery next week. Since I’ve inherited my mother’s poor eyesight at the good ole age of 10, glasses and contacts have been my world. I only wore my glasses to see the blackboard until my
senior year where I was forced to get contacts for my 18th birthday (what a fun bday gift) in order to see the world more clearly. Since 1993, there have been some great advances in corrective surgery and the recovery time (in my case) is just a day and I should be back up and running and seeing clearly but that doesn’t mean I’m scared out of my mind that lasers will be pointed at my eyes and slicing stuff. I’ve been told I’ll be loaded up on valium but still, I probably won’t sleep the night before. YIKES.

The good thing is that my employer offers LASIK and I get to cash in on the good ole employee discount. I was hesitant to sign up for a health flex spending account in November since my husband was out of
work but I held positive vibes that he would find employment (which he did) and I wouldn’t feel guilty about spending the dough on a cosmetic procedure. There was talk of videoing the procedure for a work video
but I really really didn’t want to broadcast that part of my life out there on the internet. You’ll just have to read about it when it’s all said and done.

As for my child, after a few days of crying himself to sleep, he is back to his regular sleep routine of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. He’s been night waking a lot too so we’ve started night waking sleep training. We
would usually bring him into bed where he’d fall asleep and proceed to kick me all night long. Great for him; not so much for me.

I will post more, I promise. Pinky swear, really.

Don't text and walk at SXSW

I've been getting educated in the ways of social media at SXSW (spring break for geeks). My brain is soaking it all in and I feel as if I'm with my own kind -- geeks from all over the world. In public, I would not walk around with my lanyard full of flair but when a famous blogger say "I like your flair" you can't help but feel proud and even more geeky.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="222" caption="Eating pasta"][/caption]

On Saturday night, I attended a party put on by a vendor I use and ran into someone who has been reading my blogs for over 8 years (and me visa versa though she's moved to the twitter platform). I wasn't sure if I should walk up and introduce myself but I'm glad I did. It was a joyous occasion.

I'm having fun but at the same time, I'm really missing my family. Skype has come in handy to get my daily Lil B fix. Over the past two weeks, sleep has been a battle in our house so when I get back, Brian and I will be sleep training (yes, letting him cry it out) Lil B. Fun times. I often get cute MMS messages of Lil B eating pasta or coloring. I cried this morning when I saw a commercial of a mother and child on TV.  I do miss them alot.

The trade show is crazy. Everyone is giving away buttons, t-shirts and ever beer so you can hear about their products and services. One vendor is giving away a fake tattoo sleeve thing I snagged for my husband. I'm seeing a lot of folks walking and texting. Just watch this video and you'll see.

Terrific Twos

Even though my son is not two for 2.5 months, we have officially entered the "terrific twos" stage as I'm coining it (trying to be positive folks).  I'm pretty sure he's not getting the greatest nap at daycare anymore because he's just cranky butt tired when he gets home.  He's hungry but we've officially also entered "ALL I WANT TO EAT FOR DINNER IS CHICKEN NUGGETS" stage as well. Sigh. Lil B, don't you know your mom is a fabulous gourmet healthy cook? You're totally missing out.

This stage is frustrating. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. At the same time, I have not been sleeping so it doesn't help I'm dog tired when I get home from work and a zombie. I just want to sit down and if that means watching the Thomas the Train (yes, we're so over Yo Gabba Gabba in our house which is unfortunate because I can tolerate Yo Gabba Gabba -- Thomas, not so much) over and over so I can just relax, so be it. I know we're in that in between stage of toddlerdom where he can't help it, he can't communicate but my GOD, the screaming.  The throwing himself on the ground because he can't play with the remote.

On the flipside, we have a new bedtime habit that is pretty sweet. After many kisses, he grabs his blankie and lays down on my lap while I rub his back. He won't do this for my husband. We are slowly trying to give him less milk before bed because his diaper weighs a few pounds when he wakes up. He's not too happy about that but I think in a week, we'll be fine. Someday we'll give that bottle up. Someday.

Next week, I'm heading out of town on business to Austin. Five nights without my family. This is exciting and sad at the same time. Five nights all by myself. Five nights of missing my son (and husband, of course). I'm going to go buy a web cam so I can skype in and say goodnight.

I'm such a good mom.