Slacker Wednesday

I'm at work today, but I wouldn't say that I'm working very hard. I did accomplish a few tasks this morning, but ever since lunch I've just been in a brain fog. Maybe it was the chocolate milk. Maybe it's because Rowan has been a terrible sleeper the last few nights and has kept me awake, too. (Last night that naughty imp was awake until 12:50am! He kept demanding to go "out there" in the living room with Jeremy. Arghhh...) But I digress. There are things I could/should be doing whilst here, but I just can't get it together. I thought if I confessed my slackerness here, the catharsis would improve my productivity. So, here goes...

Things I Could Be Doing Instead of Slacking Off

• Reading a white paper on developing effective social media policies
• Working on the script for a tutorial about our Network
• Learning more about Adobe Captivate
• Practicing my Spanish with Rosetta Stone
• Brainstorming ideas for success stories from my states

Do you see why I am so unmotivated? I mean really, doesn't my job sound terrible?

Yeah, I know. It's pretty cool and I do like what I do most days. Maybe I'll listen to a few songs on my iPhone to get me pumped up. Then I will try to at least read the white paper before I head out for a nice long holiday weekend.

Happy 21-month Birthday, Rowan!

Yesterday was Rowan's 21-month birthday! In honor of this most awesome milestone, here are a few updates on his skills and personality. We're so lucky to have a healthy, smart, funny, loving boy.

• Likes: giving kisses and hugs; reading; The Good Night Show with Nina and Star; being outside; watching himself in the mirror whilst crying or having his hair combed
• Dislikes: getting help from Mommy or Daddy (when this happens is inconsistent) and getting out of the bathtub - the tears flow nightly
• New Vocab: I'm certain there are a ton of new words he's using now, but some standouts include "I touched it!" (after touching something off-limits, like TV), burp, and toot (awesome). He's also getting a lot better with his pronunciation of existing vocab words. He can say the names of his classmates really well now, but will not say his own name.
• New Skills: Rowan tries to take his shirt off, but usually ends up in a tangled mess. He's also started trying to help pull up his pants. Sometimes he will mess with the diaper fasteners, but thankfully he has not started taking it off himself... yet. He's getting better using a fork or spoon to eat, but still prefers to use his hands, especially for pasta.

A town called Wise

Two posts in one day?! Yeah, it's crazy, but so is this handmade advertisement from Jeremy's home town of Wise, VA. I had to share it with you. Jeremy said I should thank my lucky stars every day that he made it out of the Wise County School District with any sense. He overcame incredible odds.

A little background on the sign... Jeremy's dad's friend took this sign from a phone pole. I hope he doesn't call to report himself. I find it is best to avoid "whopins" of any variety.


It's been over a year since the last interesting ad from the Wise community. I find comfort in knowing that some things will never change.

Philly Recap

I had to take a little break from posting. Traveling messes up my routine and it's taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things. Sorry to keep you all hanging.

My trip to Philadelphia was okay. The conference was productive, but very tiring. Those of you who have not had the pleasure of "working the booth" at a conference/meeting/trade show/etc. might find it hard to understand how standing around and talking to people can be exhausting. It's draining, let me tell you. Thank goodness the Market was next door to provide fuel and distraction.

I was disappointed to see that the Amish-owned businesses are only open Thursday through Saturday. No pumpkin rolls for me. But, somehow I overcame this small setback and ended up sampling a variety of yummy delights instead. The Original Turkey served up a most excellent lunch for me on Monday. I went for the platter with 2 sides, but the sandwich options looked mighty tasty as well. Lunch on Tuesday consisted of a most awesome roast beef sandwich from DiNic's. For snacks, I bought two decadent cookies (peanut butter chocolate chip and a dipped chocolate chip) from The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company and a few locally-grown organic apples from the Fair Food Farm Stand. I was very excited to try the Macoun variety. I had heard about them on TV, but never seen them in Atlanta. While it had a crisp, tart skin and nice flavor, the flesh was way too mealy for my taste. Wikipedia claims it has firm flesh. Perhaps I just got an old one?

Two of my coworkers and I took a cab to the famous Geno's Steaks. It was mighty tasty. I had "one whiz with" (delicious!) with a birch beer (refreshing) and cheese fries (too soggy). The couple who snagged our cab told us to go to both Geno's and Pat's King of Steaks, which is across the street. They had split a cheese steak at each place. The man preferred Pat's. The woman didn't favor one place over the other, but did reinforce my decision to order the cheese whiz instead of the provolone.

The food was great, but I was glad to get home Tuesday night. You may recall that Hurricane Ida was moving through the southeast that day. My flight home was delayed, but I was able to get a seat on an earlier flight that had been delayed. That had to be the bumpiest (like plane-falling-out-of-the-sky bumpy) flight I have ever experienced. I'll spare you the gory details, but know that pregnancy and turbulence do NOT mix. I'd like to give a big shout out to my favorite black cardigan for taking one for the team and to Gain detergent for getting us all back to normal.

New neighbors... sort of

It's official! My parents are in the process of moving their belongings into their new house in Covington. (No, they didn't choose the location because of its ties to the Dukes of Hazzard, but that would have made an interesting story. Hmm... definitely tickles my creative writing bone.) YAY! I am terribly excited to have them closer, though they are still a solid 40 minutes away in good traffic.

They won't be completely moved up here until the week before Thanksgiving, which they plan to host this year. Awesome. You should stop by if you're going to be in town. I'm sure they won't mind.

In other news, I will be in Philadelphia for a conference tomorrow night through Tuesday. Any suggestions for restaurants or must-see sites? I was in Philly back in 2006 and saw most of the major attractions, but I'm sure I've missed something cool. I can say one thing for certain, the vendors at the Reading Terminal Market will be seeing me at least once daily. I've been thinking about Amish baked goods since August. Hello, pumpkin rolls! It goes without saying that I will also be devouring at least one cheese steak hoagie and that I will miss my guys very much.

Trials and tribulations

Poor Jeremy is sick with some kind of throat cootie. His weekend was neither fun-filled, nor restful. He went to the doctor yesterday and, after starting an antibiotic, is feeling a tad better this morning.

Sparky, my beloved companion of 11 years, just can't get with family living. It's been 3.5 years since Jeremy and I combined households and he still has not adjusted. The vet prescribed an antidepressant for him and it doesn't seem to be working. I'm sad that he is so unhappy and have decided to try to find him a new home. Anybody out there want an awesome cat?

Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a bit dramatic. I guess I'm just feeling a bad because two of my favorite guys are feeling bad.

Looking on the bright side, Rowan and I are feeling okay so far (praise be) and we've got lots of good leftover Halloween candy. As Darryl Worley (a Savannah, TN native) would sing,

Sounds like life to me.
It ain’t no fantasy.
It’s just a common case of everyday reality.
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up.
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy.
It sounds like life to me.