Clearly Delirious: August 2008 Archives

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August 30, 2008

I'm choosing to laugh about this. Ok, not really.

Last night, I put on my big girl pants and prepared to reload MT on the server. First, I rebooted my laptop to make the annoying fan shut off.

Check!

Wait, my wireless connection is down. What the hell?? Reboot. Yay! Wireless is back up.

Check!

Try to connect to web server. Try to connect to web server. Check three of the other sites I run off the same server. Well, hell. Why is it that when my site is down, my host's sales page is still loading fine? And the admin page.

I shut down and went to bed. My host is rarely down more than a few hours, if that.

Everyone went down for naps while I was making cupcakes for the new neighbors moving in. It's quiet, no one needs anything, and the web server is back up. Slightly chocolately big girl pants are on.

I changed the name of the MT folder as a backup, uploaded and unpacked MT 4.21 and configured it with the database information.

Holy crap! It worked! Except, uh, it looks exactly the same as it did before. Shouldn't my templates have been wiped out and returned to defaults?

I did a little digging, and it turns out the templates are saved in the database. I think. In any case, I'm not poking my ignorant fingers around in the database and taking a chance of losing any content.

All my angst was for nothing, I guess. I mean, not only were there no issues, but I could have skipped the whole 10 minute process and eaten more frosting. I guess I'll muck around the templates and make some more changes and see what happens. In the meantime, unless something more annoying than the server 500 error (the one where it still publishes, not the other one, that was a real PITA), I guess I'll leave the big stuff well enough alone.

Posted by me at 3:47 PM | Comments (1)

August 28, 2008

Wish me luck!

Owen slept much better last night. Thank god. I just wish I knew what causes good vs bad nights, so I could at the very least predict when I'm going to go sleepless.

I've decided to flirt with disaster and do a fresh install of MT instead of keeping this upgrade. (Side note: I *just* upgraded to MT 4.2, and 4.21 has already been released. Come on, people!) The server 500 error is somewhat erratic, but there are other inconsistencies as well. I'm ready to just start fresh.

Tonight I'm going to make some backups and get things in place. I'll probably try to do the actual install tomorrow, and then it may take me a few days (who are we kidding? It could be weeks) to get the header, etc. back together. I'll pretty much be happy if I don't lose any content and the picture links still work.

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2008

And apparently doesn't give a damn

Me: Who was that girl you were holding hands with?

Jamie: Call her Hannah. That's not her name, though.

M: What is her name?

J: Just call her Hannah!

M: Why can't we call her her real name? What's her real name?

J: I frankly don't know her name.

Posted by me at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

The good, the bad and the ugly, in reverse

Last night SUCKED. You would think by the third kid I would know why Owen keeps waking up, or have a better idea of what to do about it. Suggested/possible options so far include letting him cry til he falls asleep (I'm not ready yet) and nursing him back to sleep when he wakes up (doesn't really get me any more sleep, so I'm not really willing to continue feeding him when he really shouldn't need food). Adding solids hasn't helped, and I think may have something to do with the crankier waking (as opposed to pacifier pop-out and turtle wakings).

I actually fell asleep putting him down for a nap, which would have been wonderful if Katie hadn't come in to ask me to sharpen some pencils about 30 seconds later.

Since Jamie started school, Katie has been asking me what to do. All. Day. Long. She'll come up and say "I don't have anything in my head." The scary part is that she's the more independent of my girls. I haven't had a lot of errands to run, so we've been spending a lot of time at home, and I can't seem to come up with anything fun, either. Or at least, anything fun that lasts more than 5 minutes. We made Rice Krispies Treats today, which was a BIG mistake. By big, I'm referring to the size of my butt when I'm done eating the entire batch. I'm not even hungry after all that Brie cheese I had for lunch.

Did I mention my big ass?

Anyway, making the treats took all of 10 minutes. Chalk drawing, coloring, Old Maid and amusing the baby took another 8 and a half. I'm too tired to be more creative than that.

For Christmas, Rex gave me a card saying I could get a new computer. Specifically, an Apple product, since I had expressed an interest and he was impressed by the service and details when he went to the store to do some research. I didn't take him up on the offer right away, for a bunch of reasons. We were about to move, my laptop was still working fine in spite of it's small hard drive and failing battery, Apples cost about as much as a car, especially the laptops, and I would have to learn a whole new OS/change applications, etc.

I'm running out of excuses now. We're moved and I have an office all my own. I've so totally outgrown my hard drive it's ridiculous, the battery on this beast is toast, and I've lost a fan. The other fan comes on full speed when the laptop gets hot, but never shuts off. It sounds like a jet is taking off from the couch. I can't really justify the cost of an Macbook, but I really shouldn't need a computer on the couch anyway, right? At least, not in a few months when Owen stops sucking me dry so regularly. Plus, I just can't pass up the glory of the giant iMac screen. And then the applications. I'm concerned about the learning curve, but then, I haven't really gotten around to learning most of the photo editing/video editing apps I wanted to anyway. Might as well save time and just do it once.

And so, on it's way to my house from China, is a glorious 24" iMac. I can't believe I let Rex spend so much money on *me*, for something we don't really *need*.

I'm also so excited I could wet myself!

Posted by me at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2008

Letting go

Posted by me at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

Flying solo

Up until Jamie was about two, she was painfully shy. It took her weeks to get off my lap at our playgroup. She would hide behind me when I talked to anyone she didn't know well. It still took her a while to warm up to family on every visit.

Around two, she started turning around. I left her for an hour or so every week while I was at a women's group, and after a few weeks, she was happy to go to them. Sure, the childcare was two doors down from where I was and it was only an hour, but she left me with a smile. The MOMS Club I joined was full of little girls, and Jamie joined the pack. At the mall play area, she would buddy up with other girls without hesitation.

By the time we finally got Jamie into preschool, she was ready. Ready to make friends, ready to leave me, ready to be on her own. She didn't give us a second look the day we dropped her off, and I never once heard a peep about nerves or insecurity. Instead, I heard about how she chased the boys and played with the girls and can we have a playdate with her and her and her?

For weeks I've been hearing about how excited she is to start Kindergarten, and she totally delivered. There were no last minute bedtime nerves. She woke up with a smile, practically ran into the school, and I had to hold her back so I could get a picture of her outside her classroom. The only tears were the ones I was desperately trying to hold back.

When I collected her afterward, she was still smiling, still excited, still happy. She says she made a friend (although she can't remember her name), she made it across two monkey bars before she dropped to the ground, and she really wants to paint. She's ready to walk into the school alone.

I am so proud of my girl.

Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Bunny leaves home

Posted by me at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

Upstanding citizen or angry bitch?

You know, it takes an awful lot to piss me off enough to do more than rant. Even then, all my good comebacks come hours or even days after they would be useful.

Today was the day I acted.

We live right across the street from an elementary school. During the school year, drop off and pick up time can be a bit of a pain, what with all the cars parked on the street, in front of our house. I'm old enough to have a kids-stay-outta-my-yard attitude, but young enough to keep the words from shooting out of my mouth. It's really not that bad, since the chaos only lasts 30 minutes or so, morning and afternoon.

This afternoon was meet the teacher day, so a ridiculous number of people came to the school looking for a place to park. By the time we walked home, the parking lot, our street, and the street on the other side of the school were full. In fact, our street had cars parked on both sides, effectively leaving a single lane for traffic. That's what it looked like when I packed the kids in the car and ran to the store for a couple things before dinner.

We weren't gone long enough, because it still looked like that when we got home. Except that now, some doofus had parked in the tiny space between our driveway and the driveway next door. In fact, that space is so tiny, he was partially in front of our driveway. That in itself would have pissed me off. Add in that there was another car parked right up against the other side of the driveway, and cars parked on the other side of the street, and I couldn't swing wide to fit between the two fools parked in front of my house.

I wasn't about to find a spot on the street a quarted mile plus from my house so I could haul my crying baby and heavy groceries to my own front door, so I did a many point turn and managed to fit through the tiny gap left to me.

Then I went inside and had Rex look up the non-emergency line for the cops. Cause that SOB blocking my driveway? He parked directly in front of a fire hydrant.

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)

August 21, 2008

Watchdogs

Posted by me at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

Whoosh

I'm sure I've mentioned before how hard Jamie is to teach. At least, it's hard for Rex and I to teach her. She's apparently such a different person at school that I wouldn't be surprised if she was Super Sponge there. Honestly, I've avoided working with her on a lot of things I should be trying to teach her, from academics to shoe tying. We both get so frustrated that I think it does more harm to our relationship that the little bit she soaks in is worth.

So when it came time to teach her to ride a bike, I was glad I was pregnant. Then recovering. Then I was just always holding the baby. It's been 5 months (of inconsistent practice, I admit) and she still isn't really riding by herself. Actually, she rides by herself, but Rex has to start her, and I stand at the other end to "catch" her as she brakes. She has this interesting habit of flinging herself away the bike as she comes to a stop, instead of just putting her foot down and leaning. It's like she thinks the bike is going to explode when the mph drops to zero, a la Speed. Rex and I are in disagreement as to what comes next. I say you just have to let go, he's still willing to coddle her for a while. (Isn't that supposed to be the other way around? The mommy babies the kids, and the daddy tells them to buck up? Hmm...)

The somewhat surprising development is that she now asks to practice riding, whereas in the beginning she had to be told. She's taken a couple (minor) tumbles, and is willing to get up and try again after a little pep talk. She loves the part when she's whooshing through the air. In this, if nothing else, she wants to be the big girl.

I don't know if it's her maturing, or me, but in the last couple days we've tried some reading and pronunciation. It's been a while since the two of us have made an effort, and I was surprised at the number of words she knows by sight. I was also surprised at her willingness to pronouce letters and put them together, something she would normally flat out refuse. Don't get me wrong, she still balked at some of the words she considers difficult, and she can get really pissy and uncooperative, but I've seen improvement just between yesterday and today. I think she's getting ready to see the words whooshing through her mind.

And the closer she gets, the more she likes the feeling of growing up.

Posted by me at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2008

I wonder what they would do if I cried all the time?

Tonight was not my finest parenting moment. I swear sometimes I can hear the way I'm talking to the kids, and I still can't stop it. In this case, I was totally justified, but still totally wrong.

Moving on!

Owen would not stay asleep last night. He would *go* to sleep. Then he would scream. And shriek. At least once he sounded like he was in pain. The rest of the time he just sounded pissed off. At one point in the middle of the night, when I had just gotten him to sleep again and he started crying AGAIN, Rex and I just stood there staring at each other.

I feel like I was much less effective last night, but I was still a better parent than I was tonight.

I'm too tired to be upbeat tonight. I'll give it a shot with this one bit from today.

Jamie has these workbooks for preschool skills. She's got all the skills mastered, but she still likes to do the pages. In fact, she seems to like completing pages more than she likes doing them right, but that's another story. So anyway, she can do all the skills, but she can't read the directions yet. Actually, she knows a lot of the words, but not the bigger ones, and she tends to see the first letter of a word and just fill in the rest with something likely. She's really good at faking it, too. If you aren't looking over her shoulder, you would totally think she was reading, when really only half the words are right.

I had the audacity to make her try to read the words for real.

It's always hard to get Jamie to pronounce words. She knows the letter sounds as well as she knows the letters themselves, but she refuses to put them together into a single sound. She finds the whole process hard, and she HATES to do anything hard. I'm not a particularly patient person, but I held myself well in check today. We powered through.

We learned the word pattern. And after that, we pronounced all the other words she didn't already know. And we got through them with relative ease.

And after all that hard work, I had to explain that some words just don't make sense, sound-wise.

Right? Right.

Posted by me at 10:02 PM | Comments (1)

August 19, 2008

Liar, liar shorts on fire

I walk in to the living room after taking my shoewr.

J: I don't feel good.

M: What's wrong?

J: I've been coughing and coughing.

M: (I haven't heard a sound, but maybe while I was in the shower?) I'll listen for it and see what we should do.

J: Can I play [on the computer?]

M: Ok.

Jamie plays for a while. Katie asks for a turn, and I say ok.

J: I don't feel so good. My head hurts.

M: (Starting to get suspicious. I haven't heard a single cough, yet.) Does it really hurt, or are you just making it up?

J: It really hurts.

M: Why don't you go upstairs and lay down.

J: No, I'll just lay down right here. (She hangs over the back of the couch and watches Katie play.) Mama, don't you get to watch a movie when you don't feel good?

Ah! We've reached the root of the matter. It was as I suspected. She barely ate lunch, which is unusual, but has otherwise shown no other symptoms besides a pathethic look that disappears as soon as she turns away from me.

Posted by me at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2008

It's raining, it's pouring, but only the cat is snoring

Owen is currently rejecting sleep. Loudly.

Also, he barfs more every day.

I've given him solids for four days now, and they seem to be making him sleep worse, not better.

Aren't babies supposed to get easier as they get older? You know, until they start with the back talk and the attitude?

Posted by me at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2008

What I did on my summer vacation

While the girls were off galivanting around Maryland, I secretly redid their room. I had asked what kinds of things they would like before they left; Jamie said polka dots, and Katie said green. I did get Jamie to say that the pink from her last room would be nice, which was good, since I still had a gallon left :)

Anyway, this is what I came up with as a compromise. The dots are totally removable, thank goodness, so it won't be too hard to "redo" the room when Katie outgrows her love of green.

Posted by me at 9:23 PM | Comments (2)

August 15, 2008

The hell??? I just got that server error again, the one that I thought was fixed by the upgrade. Even more confusing, the post shows up where it's supposed to be without me having to publish the site.

Posted by me at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

Boy child

Owen has made so many big steps in the last month, I can hardly believe he was a smushy lump just a few short months ago. In just the last week, he's gone from slumping on his chest to full on sitting. He loves it! He'll sit for large chunks of time, playing with the same toys he's drooled on for weeks, but apparently they look new (and tastier!) from his new perspective. He loves the LeapFrog table, minus the legs, and he loves to drive me nuts by playing the alphabet song over and over and over. That kid really has a thing for his letters, since that the one song that's calmed him in the car and to sleep.

Just today, I tried feeding him rice cereal. He tried to convince me he was choking on his first bite, but actually ate a fair amount. He made the sour lemon face a few times, but who can blame him? Rice cereal tastes like cardboard. What an awful introduction to the world of solids. Then again, the kid puts absolutely anything that gets into his hands into his mouth, and he must have tasted something nastier by now.

He's becoming much more deliberate in his grabbing and manipulating. He's finally starting to pick up his pacifier and put it in the right way. Now if only he could put it back in his mouth by himself at night. Since we put him in his crib about a week ago, he's only been eating once a night, but we're up anywhere from a couple to half a dozen times a night putting that damn sucker back in. I'm still getting more sleep than before, partly because Rex is sharing recorking duties with me at night.

Socially, Owen is so much fun. He loves to smile, but when he meets someone new he gives them this emotionless stare. And he just keeps staring until something clicks in his head and he opens up into this big grin. He's been laughing for me for a while, but almost never for anyone else, until this week. He's now giving his father big belly laughs, too. He's much more willing to be set down, now that he's sitting. I can actually get stuff done!

For anyone who worried that I wouldn't love my son as much as my girls based on my posts while I was pregnant? Not to worry. I am absolutely head over heels in love with my little man!

Posted by me at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

Curls!

Posted by me at 7:53 AM | Comments (2)

August 14, 2008

Quick catch-up

Just a quick update before I head to bed.

I just upgraded to MT 4.2. It seems to have fixed my publishing issues and a few others, besides. I still need to mess with it a bit to see if there's anything else that was broke (it's been so long since I posted that I can't remember every issue I was having), and it didn't fix some of the layout issues (the Category links are still missing on some pages). I haven't tested scheduled posts yet, either. Those haven't worked in an upgrade or two.

I'm quite relieved that the major issues were fixed, which saves me having to blow this thing away and install from scratch. That makes me incredibly nervous. I need to find an LJ Book equivalent for MT, but that's another day.

I shouldn't have done my backup and stopped posting before MT released it's final version of 4.2. I'm glad I finally got the upgrade done. I was starting to miss posting, and I have lots to write about!

Just another mommy blog