Gruene

Because it was Tuesday night, right?

StayCay 2011

We had a magical week of doing all the wonderful things our great town has to offer but we never seem to find or take the time to pencil into our otherwise rushing and hectic lives.   Friday afternoon driving down MoPac from the office I felt a freedom I haven't felt in a long time.  I was on vacation and there was no packing, no schedule or plane to catch, no requirements or pressure, nothing to forget or accidentally leave behind... just me and my family and the 9 1/2 days ahead. We had a great weekend and starting Sunday afternoon, we surrendered any chores or tasks undone, unplugged the computers, put away our phones and really began to unwind.

We bought flowers for the house, we went on walks, we worked out together(!).  There were cocktails a with our 3 hour-long lunches and 2 hour long massages.  We shopped, went to the theater, watched a movie at home and had our morning coffee on South Congress with all the sounds of the bustle of the town around us and the people watching of (mostly visiting) people in our town.  We went to Zilker park and picnicked by ourselves and also with thousands of people.  We floated in the pool and let the Shorty play 'hooky' from the nanny and hang with Mom and Dad in the mornings and all day on Thursday and Friday.  We had a magnificent date night and I took the time to make a book for my kiddo which he is now carrying around with him like some kids carry around their blankie (which makes my heart swell).

More posts to come on our StayCay as it starts to wind down.  But frankly, bloggin is a favorite thing to do that I haven't had time to do lately so this is a fun nap-time thing.  I hope that as we re-enter regular life, we can incorporate more of our Staycation way of life into the everyday.  Great in theory... we'll see how it goes in practice.

Fun at the Zoo

We actually managed to arrive 20 minutes early (!) and patiently waited  (and actually had fun) in the parking lot before the Zoo to opened.  Yes, we were the first in line to get our tickets.

These giant turtles were intriguing but a bit intimidating, too.

The Lions were facsinating and one in particular (who were were able to be quite close to) was not having a very good day and growled in a low echo-y grumble with an occasional roar.  The monkeys were also quite entertaining and several showed an interest in our little monkey... which worked out beautifully.

this little video was on our way to the zoo.  good times:

(apologies for my pointy elbow on the left)

Pet the Kitty

Harmony in the house with all the small creatures happily co-exisiting.

Tuffy Price

Trip to the pediatric orthopedic dr today after a day and a half in the 'half cast' from the ER

Confirmed: This little monkey broke his leg ...wait for it... AND his foot.

Tough little guy didn't cry or nuthin' (ok, maybe a *teeny* bit when the cast was going on- but that was sheer anger at being held still) but you'd never know it to watch him now. Sweet babe.

Tiniest cast I've ever seen. Also the cutest yet most heart-breaking. Funny how that works...

3 1/2 weeks and we go back.

Cookies for Breakfast

Oatmeal raisin cookies for breakfast for the baby with the broken leg.

Apparently you can have cookies for breakfast if you're strong like bull and in constant motion.

PS. note where he likes to place his milk when he isn't drinking it...

Breakfast with Love

I got heart-shaped pancakes and coffee in bed this morning. The best part: the pint sized Valentine of the duo proudly carried the syrup.

Sent from my iPhone

11 Step Program

An old, dear friend re-posted this on her facebook page and I truly cannot remember ever laughing so hard that I couldn't pry my eyes open to continue reading. Mr. Price and I had to take breaks from reading for bouts of laughter.

I thought about putting something together like this... but it is too perfect. my favorite parts have to be the "...softly in the dark..." and melon. Mr. Price thinks there needs to be a section on trying to keep the little monkey from eating everything in sight - similar to putting a starving mouse in a box with a bunch of cheese and then attempting to keep it from eating anything. But I'll let you skip ahead to the good stuff. So perfect.

Enjoy!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

Beads, Blogs and Butts

I'll spare you the resolution talk... we know i don't believe in those anyway. but happy new year!

BEADS
While in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains I began beading Shorty's Christmas stocking (yes, the week after Christmas) but there was no getting to it sooner and it was a lovely thing to do while relaxing in NC. I haven't beaded since living in Dallas with the good ol' "Stitch and Bitch" group. For all the creations I made along the way, I was surprised to realize that I gave away almost all of my creations with the exception of a couple snowflakes I found shoved in with my bead and sequin supplies. It's still a work in progress, but the most time consuming part was designing and cutting out the items. So while i was at it, I cut out an extra set to make a 'kit' for future stockings. good times.

BLOGS
Sadly, though my mind has been cranking away on blog posts, i've not been cranking them out. it takes a lot longer and a lot more body involvement to type these days. However, i go back to the doctor at the end of next week and we'll see what he says about the hand/brace. cross your fingers!

BUTTS
And the most shocking post-holiday news of all: I have been working out. yep. gone twice now to my neighborhood non-chain gym and am 50/50 on enjoying it. However, i'm hurtin' today. Not because of the dinner last night celelbrating Mr. Price's company being funded. And not because the baby woke up after we got home and remained awake and unhappy until finally giving up around 3:30. I'm hurting because of Tuesday's equipment pilates class (my first ever! which I would have enjoyed, I believe, if not for the raging b!tches in the class that I had to contend with) and yesterday's 'boot camp' style class with an inspiring and energetic (but not obnoxious) teacher and interactive and fun class. Hopefully i'll keep it up! You never know. =) The fact that it takes under 6 minutes from my door to walking into the gym and thatI can go during the day while the shorty is with the nanny makes it much more likely that this could continue.


Hitting the ground running this week. It's been great to be back home and have a smooth re-entry into work after a couple weeks off. Thanks to CES, collegues both internal and external are all doin' it up in Vegas - leaving me to actually get some stuff done. yay.

California Playdate

I LOVE Angie's post.

Not only because she includes pics and gives a great recap, but she is so positive. See, it's true, the Shorty did beautifully on his first flights to and from San Fransisco which Angie so sweetly highlighted. However... at lunch with the Paulsons at The Ritz at Half Moon Bay... he has never been so loud, discontented and rambunctious. All while sweet little Hank looked on, slightly amused, slightly confused by his little friend's squawks. A key part of the day Angie happily omit. So lovely of her. As for the munchkin: I'm not sure what to make of it, but he *might* have an opinion of the The Ritz Carlton that he was trying to convey... we'll leave it at that.

As for the rest... we definitely had a great time with Team Paulson and eagerly await the day when you guys tell us you are packin' it up and movin' to Austin!

The Enemy of Perfection

So this evening as I ate my dinner, talked about work and fed the baby with the (seemingly attention-starved) cat sitting in my lap, it hit me: I haven't blogged in awhile. Was it the business trip that took a week of prep to match my week on the road? The photo sessions and related post-production endless task list? Maybe it was because of the newly-crawling, teething kiddo and adjustment to the time change and all that entails? Could it be the trips to the vet and the kitty-girl overcoming her illness that just about sent her to kitty girl heaven? Maybe it's the house redecorating? It surely wasn't the distraction of UT football. For all the times I get super busy, I still find time to blog. Why haven't I? I have tons of stories, updates and vignettes in my head, just bouncing around and itching to get out... so why?

My cousin recently emailed and asked us to compile photos and stories for my Grandmother's upcoming 90th birthday (yet another undone-to-do) and something she included at the end of the request was compelling. Maybe I should think on it a bit more until it REALLY sinks in... but on to it: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" In an effort to make things just right, don't put so much effort into it that you don't finish it and move on to the next thing.

You laugh. Think this was directed at me? Case in point?

So yes, I have managed to skip over some blog-worthy happenings which about drives me bonkers. It's one thing with things are just crusin' along, nothing to report, and I'm feeling the creative impulse to scribble. But uggh, to have content yet haven't captured it is like an itch I can't scratch. Did I mention I *actually* worked out? YES! THREE, count 'em THREE trips to Vinyasa Yoga (that's three 90 minute sessions of power yoga in a heated room). I mean, that's SOMETHING.

With all these things scrolling through my cabeza, I kept thinking I'd back-blog them. But alas, I give up. Maybe I'll have a very slow next couple weeks and have the chance to do just that. Ah, note to self: next week is Thanksgiving. Is it possible? (Time to bust out the Charlie Brown!)

And so in summary, I offer the following... Here 'tis:
-work trip damn near did me in... but I made lemonade: flew the boys to meet me in San Fran and we enjoyed spectacular weather. Even the locals were in awe.
-for now, I've managed to stave off the 2 week trip to Brazil. Seriously? Brazil. Don't get me started on the irony. and related eye-rolling frustration.
-The kitty girl is in full recovery. However, she has a new problem... for years she was a bit, shall we say, overly fluffy? (read: morbidly obese and on diet food for years, to no avail). She has dropped from ~20 lbs to a frail 5 1/2 lbs and as we have been working to pack the pounds back on, she has made progress. Along with it, she's become less irritable. whew. few things as mood altering as a cranky kitty. ESPECIALLY an hour after the baby has gone to sleep.
-yoga. see above. Mmmmmm. yay.
-the house make-over has been delightful. makes me wonder why i didn't do this early.
-we had our first over-night away from the bebe. Mr. Price and I got away for about 36 hours for a lovely stay at Barton Creek Resort while the shorty's delighted Nana got the pleasure of snuggling and playing with the little charmer. And a good time was had by all.

that's all I've got for now, team. Diving back into photoshop for the balance of the evening for a photo shoot of a babino with several large souvenirs of recent fun-gone-awry (aka scratches, bruises and bumps) that we'd prefer not preserve. good times.

over & out.

Greetings from the Golden Gate

Happy Halloween

From the giraffe and his keepers...

Spur & Mini Spur

Hook 'Em

Saturday Morning Coffee

Our weekly walk to our local, family owned coffee roaster.

Redonkytown

Um, there was a sale! And... We had a gift card... And, um, he really liked picking out toys... Uh.. Oh yeah... His mom & dad are suckas. It was super fun - like we were celebrating 6 months a couple weeks early. :)

The best part had to be the woman who huffed and rolled her eyes at us in the checkout line after her daughter tugged on her and whispered: "look at all the toys that baby is getting..."

I'm pretty sure she is somewhere in Austin tonight talking about the rediculous parents she saw today...

Depending on what she has to say, she might be right and I might agree.

5 months ago today

5.5 to 15.5 pounds in 5 months.

Father's Day Fotos

Pics from my Daddy of Father's Day at Ski Shores on Lake Austin.

Mmmm... Fried stuff. 

Self Portrait on Mescalin

If I were to draw a self portrait, it would really be more of a caricature, resembling me, biting the corner of my lip while attempting to focus through the sleep deprivation and aphasia, juggling multiple items with each limb -except for one foot, pushing down on the gas peddle- while shoveling bites of food in my mouth, talking on the phone -handsfree, I assure you- and pumping. (what?! yeah, I said it...)

Of course, there would be a big silly grin on my face and my hair, dusted with dry shampoo, would be pulled up into a pseudo-french twist. Any remaining mental energy (that little bubble above my head in aforementioned caricature) would be plotting out the next 8 things I need to accomplish within the next 7 minutes, prioritizing for the order most efficient - oh, and re-evaluating the balance of my life (what are we doing for date night this week?)...to ensure things are as they should be...

Yes, the image I paint is that of a working [breastfeeding] mom. And yes, the breastfeeding part does get it's own shout-out because it is incredibly difficult and time consuming to maintain.

I know I'm not unique in this, but I have a whole new appreciation for what new parents mean when they comment dryly about 'how much work' a newborn is or the level of sleep deprivation. Ironically, I only have the energy to even comment on the sleep deprivation now that it is improving-- we are on the downhill slide with the shorty sleeping through the night(!) at least for the time being... I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop (aka the teething to kick in and the sleep schedule to run amok.

Regardless of the strain, physical/emotional/mental -- I'm sure I'll look back on it as 'not that bad' and even in the throws of this attention-deficit delight, there is a calm happiness. Oh, hello. So good to see you!