Rainy Day

We've had a string of rainy days here...which is fine on work days (except that we have a ton more walk ins, I guess people get bored and when you're bored, what better to do than go to the doctor's office!) but it's a problem when it interferes with our weekends!

I only went to Stroller Strides once, I don't think it's for me, but I stayed on the mailing list because they have lots of great activity ideas and seem to know what's up in the area in terms of parent/child venues. Some recent activities have been strawberry picking, a family festival complete with rides, face painting, and a pie eating contest, and something called Free Fun Fridays where there is free entrance to select museums on Fridays throughout the summer.

I also get good tips from daycare, Miss Christine mentioned that there is a place near here that is an indoor play area that includes a miniature grocery store, craft area, miniature post office. It seems more catered to 2-4 year olds but it's so cheap that we might check it out. They have an infant play area but it's pretty much what our library has but I'm curious to see what the place is all about and to see if it's something we might revisit as she gets older.

On top of that, we desperately need to get to Costco today, we are running out of diapers and wipes! Not sure if we will drag her there or if one of us will just scoot...those are our rainy day plans!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an action packed week/weekend...early in the week, Miss A had a fever for a few days which had us second guessing whether or not we would be able to actually have our action packed weekend, but it all worked out in the end. She did miss a day of day care but it resolved within a few days and she's back to her normal self.

Anyway, Friday we went to the aquarium..we've been to a few kid friendly restaurants that had fish tanks and she really liked it. We got discounted passes through the library so we thought, what the heck. We headed into the city and spent about 90 minutes at the aquarium and Miss A was kaput. We tried to revive her with a feeding but she was pretty much all set with the fishies for the day. After being gouged $18 for parking, and that was the validated rate, we headed home to pack for the other adventures of the weekend.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed up to Vt to visit M's parents. Most of M's extended family have not met A yet, so the whole family was coming over on Sunday. She was great in the car, pretty much slept the whole way, waking up just before our usual pit stops and then falling right back to sleep when we got back in the car. The naps in the pack and play were dicey the first day, and she cried off and on for the first hour after going down for the night but then she was fine. The next day, she napped much better, charmed the pants off all of the family, and avoided her usual day 2 meltdown. She went to bed without any issues and actually slept straight through ( I think part of the reason for the success is that she can't drop the pacifier out of the side of the pack and play like she does with the crib). The ride home was fine, she slept for only 45 minutes of it, but I sat in back and played with her and we successfully avoided any major meltdowns.

We have one more day together since I don't work on Tuesdays and then it's back to the grind on Wednesday which will be a rude awakening!

Weekend Recap

M's parents were down for the weekend...we went out to eat with them for the first time since A was born! This was a typical thing for us to do pre-A, we've all got a touch of the foodie gene in us, so we would try out different foodie worthy restaurants when they came down which all had to change when we had A. We had to resort to ordering in and the area we live in has crap for food. There is one great Indian restaurant which isn't that close to us and 2 pretty good Thai restaurants and that's it.

So it was a major milestone this weekend when we actually went out to lunch at a kid friendly chain restaurant (a major compromise for all involved) and went to brunch yesterday morning. Of course, A was good as usual so it was a nice time for all of us.

A continues to pretty much sleep through the night after doing only one night of the Ferber Method. She now will occasionally wake up and cry for 5-7 minutes, but then puts herself back to sleep. Last night, she was up for awhile just kind of babbling so I did go in and give her the pacifier but mostly because I was sick of listening to her babble because it kept me up, thinking that it was going to turn into a cry any second.

This week is exciting, I think the renovations will start on our bathroom. I have to make sure I take those before pictures and then some during pics. We finally decided on the paint color...Benjamin Moore 'Colorado Clay'. We were thinking of something a little more brown initially but M was worried that it was too monochromatic and it didn't have any flair. It was very stately looking but I worried the richness of it was too much for the small space. The Colorado Clay brings out the accents in the tile and the granite countertop and is a nice contrast to the vanity, which were the reasons that we were liking the darker brown color. This color is more vibrant, has the orange undertones I was initially looking for, and is lighter than the other color.

We can't wait for our contractor to get started!

Weekend Wrap Up

Best laid plans....right? We had planned to go to Vermont this weekend to attend M's extended family's late Christmas shin dig. We spent Friday night packing up the entire house to accommodate Miss A's needs, lined up everything by the door. Earlier in the week, we emailed our friends that we would be staying with on Saturday to make sure we were all set. They were planning on making home made chicken pot pie for us and pancakes on Sunday morning before we set out for the get together.

Then, M started talking about how his stomach was bothering him ever since he ate avocado at lunch mistakenly (gives him indigestion/heartburn) and that he was feeling kind of chilly and hot at the same time. We decided to see how he felt in the morning before making any decisions...morning rolled around after a timultuous night (A picked up a bad habit this week of being fully awake and ready to not sleep anymore at about 330am every night since last Monday, it would take us over an hour to get her to go back to bed...very exhausting) and M was not feeling any better and was still having the chills/feverishness. We decided to cancel with our friends who were pretty disappointed but understood. We were going to play it by ear as far as driving up on Sunday just for the family thing but in the end, it wasn't worth it. M still wasn't feeling the greatest and the idea of driving 4.5 hours to spend 3 hours up there, then another 4.5h in the car again seemed like lunacy. If it was back in our pre-parenthood days, maybe but I certainly didn't want to put A through 9 hours in a carseat knowing she's not one of those kids who really cherishes the time in the car.

Instead, we had a quiet weekend at home and I should have really gotten more done than I did. I was rather sloth like but that's ok. We got the house somewhat back in order (and unpacked all of our gear piled neatly by the door from our Friday night packing session), went grocery shopping. I worked on my mittens from Mostly Mittens...I usually test run knitting books from the library first to see if they are worth ordering. Most aren't, but this one is the book that keeps on giving. There are lots of different patterns, but they are all in the style of the 'Komi' people but the color possibilities are endless and they are all done from basically the same template, so once you've got it, you're good to go. I ended up ordering it from Amazon last night, along with a high chair for A! It will sure be nice to not use her bouncy seat anymore.

I talked to day care this morning about bringing some food to day care and we are all set to start bringing it on wednesday. Yesterday, before each bottle feeding, I offered solids till she was sick of them and then offered her a 6 oz bottle. Last night was the first night in a week that she hasn't gotten up for at least an hour so maybe there is something to what my Mom said about her needing more calories during the day...or it's dumb luck. We'll find out tonight I guess, she's not getting any solids at day care today.

Mall Walker....

I finally did it...I had been entertaining the idea of mall walking with A for some time now and the number not budging on the scale in conjunction with my need to stare at something other than my own four walls finally won out. And I didn't even buy anything!

We went yesterday and I'll plan to do it again in the future. A was entertained by the skylights and plentitude of things to look at, but I think next time we'll try a different mall. This one didn't have any elevators that weren't in anchor stores. We were there for about 2 hours and she even fell asleep (I think I've mentioned before that Miss A rarely sleeps in the stroller) at which point I took the liberty of browsing in a few stores (and was surprised to see that there were a few appealing items in Forever 21...aren't I way too old for that? Maybe it's because I feel old that they suddenly looked appealing).

Friday, we're going to try grocery shopping for the first time. My mom did it with her when we were home for the wedding and she said she was watching the lights the whole time. She does fine in Target, so I can't imagine this would be any different

This weekend is somewhat busy...I may be going out for drinks with a work friend on Friday, M has to work on Saturday morning, I desperately need to get on the treadmill, there needs to be a trip to Target, then Sunday M has band practice and then the whole thing starts again...

Baby Y's First Plane Ride

First of all I will tell you, we did in fact, survive. A was so wonderful! As soon as the plane started moving she was out like a light for the duration of the flight. On some of them (we had four) she would wake up as we were starting to land so then we just fed her and she was totally fine. She did not do as well after the feeding was done and the plane was no longer moving because we had already landed and we had to wait for people to get their stuff together. Mental note, do not book seats near the back of the plane, we need to get this baby off the plane and quick!

I also learned that we had to pick a seat with an infant air mask, I'm still not sure how we would know that while booking seats online but for both of our smaller flights we were placed in the first row which meant we had nowhere to store our luggage. This required a bit of preplanning on what exactly we would need from the diaper bag, but we managed just fine.

In Detroit yesterday, we encounted a two hour delay because of an engine leak but this gave her time to make the biggest messiest diaper while we were still on the ground rather than dealing with it in the air. I don't think she would have been a happy camper for long sitting in that. M was the one that changed her and he went through most of our wipes cleaning her up, luckily we weren't detained longer. It got on her pants and we came to the realization that our extra outfit had been used as pajamas by Grandma and we forgot to reload a spare outfit. She wore just her onesie and a blanket on those little chubby legs on the way home, but she was fine.

She adapted very well to the different schedule when we were visiting, we had some minor problems getting her to calm down enough to put her down but eventually we got there and she went back to her waking at 1230 and 330 schedule. She's back at daycare today and we're back at work....what a whirlwind weekend!

The house is horrendous right now, hopefully she takes a nice long nap tomorrow because the house is in a serious state of disrepair. The luggage is literally laying in the middle of the dining room floor, I'm sure one of the cats will be cozily sleeping in it today.

The wedding was great, it was nice to be a part of all of the pre-wedding festivities and then to be in a wedding for the first time!

Parenthood

I'm the mother of a 2 month old already! Seriously folks...time does fly and realize this when you have children. Even though I look forward to new developments and milestones that tomorrow might bring, I find myself already nostalgic over how small A was when we brought her home, how her newborn outfits hung off of her and how tiny tiny tiny she looked in her carseat.

Here's the rundown on A:

• She is much less fussy (I cut out caffeine but I'm not entirely sure it's that vs. establishing a routine)
• She coos and almost giggles when she sees her toys (the current faves are the mobile or barn babies)
• She has become a fan of the bouncy seat and the swing but is not entirely sold on the stroller (this is unfortunate because we are doing a charity walk on Sunday...3 miles)
• She has slept for an 8 hour stretch at night a few weeks ago and M and I are anxiously awaiting a reoccurence!

My break is up...the boss is waking up :)

My Name is Earl

Well, here in Massachusetts we are being told to expect some fall out from Earl. I'm crossing my fingers that we do get a nice storm, but I think the Y family is too inland to experience anything fun, although the entire state is being declared a state of emergency.

In other news, tomorrow is my birthday. I forgot about my new role as Mom and asked M what we should do for my birthday. Oh right. The plan includes feeding A, changing A, and putting A to sleep. That's ok though, she's the best birthday gift one could hope for, her smile will melt anyone's heart :)

My big plans for the weekend include a solo trip to Target to get a few essentials..I might also eyeball some clothes to get me through till I can really fit into my own pants again. Even though I've lost most of the weight, my pants are still pretty difficult to zip and button...things have shifted and I think it's going to take some time till they shift back, or at least to a point where I can comfortably wear my pants. I read another blog where the woman just had a baby, she said that it took her seven months before she felt reasonably like herself again. She gave up around month four and bought some pants to get her through, and without exercising or losing any additional weight she was able to wear her own clothes again at seven months.

Luckily, I also have a groupon for the Gap as well as a $50 gift card...perhaps my trip to Target will involve a scenic tour to the Gap as well.

trip to g-ma and g-pa y

first of all, excuse the lack of capitalization. i'm typing with one hand while arden sleeps in my other arm. we made the first trek to vt with baby a,. she pretty much slept the entire way up, we stopped once for a feed and change. we hung out with j and d on saturday which meant another car ride. she slept through the whole visit which gave us plenty of time to visit. the rest of the night she was pretty fussy, i take that as payback :)

the ride home didn't go quite as well, we topped twice and she was still pretty fuusy. she cried herself to sleep a few times after crying the cry that makes me want to pull over right on the side of the highway to console her. sge was fussy the rest of the night.

we decided to make the switch to the crib since the bassinette was already out of our room for the trip. we figured she would have a bad night because of the big weekend, then a change in her sleep environment but she did great! she went down about 9 and woke up at 330 which is our longest stretch yet, she went back down after eating for another 2.5h, we were very surprised.....and somewhat rested.

BBQ

The BBQ was fun, it was nice to see all the people that I haven't seen in a long time. Unfortunately, most of the people I invited had conflicts, but our mutual friends were there. We probably had 15 or so people over, it felt nice to use our deck and patio set. We were unsure if we should lock the cats in the basement or trust that people would read the 'Please keep our kitties inside, keep door shut' signs. We left them upstairs and people were very respectful and made an effort to keep the door closed.

I made the phyllo pizza with mozzerella and cherry tomatoes from the latest issue of Bon Appetit. It was quite a hit, not a single piece left by the time that M went to grab a slice. I don't relish working with phyllo so I grabbed the package that said 'extra thick' slices and it went remarkably smoothly. The recipe is fairly easy, which is not my typical impression after attempting to make something from that mag. It was so easy that I don't need the recipe to make it again.

We have more chips in our cupboard than a vending machine right now, I have never had this many bags in my house ever. We have tons of ground beef left over, I'm planning on making spaghetti sauce and freezing it into meal size portions so that after the craziness of life with the baby sets in, we can just pull a container out and have instant dinner.

Post Grad School/Pre Baby BBQ

M and I are hosting a BBQ at our house this weekend. I have sequestered myself away from most of my friends for the last year to finish up the hell that was/is/forever shall be called grad school and would like to see them before Baby Y makes her debut. As a result, I convinced M that we needed to host a BBQ, some of friends haven't even seen the new house yet.

At the time I planned the BBQ, I was thinking that most of my studying for the boards would be done, and in reality it probably is. I have done just about 4000 test questions and read about 4 review books in addition to listening to review cds (over and over and over). I apparently didn't recall the feeling I had before NCLEX when I was planning a day of frivolity; that I could never amass all of this knowledge before the test and that there was always more studying that could or should be done. But alas, the party will go on and it will be a nice forced study break. I'm on information over load right now and can't think about fixed S2s or DRSP risk anymore. I wake up asking myself questions about the appropriate time to screen a DM1 vs a DM2 for microalbuminuria (5 years vs at dx) and I'm really looking forward to the test being done.

Anyway, I got sidetracked there. Tomorrow I will need to spend most of the day cleaning and reorganizing the rooms upstairs to make it moderately eye appealing for our party guests. I have most of the supplies but forgot a few things (ice, hotdog buns, relish). We asked people to bring their beverage of choice and a dish to share, we're supplying the meat and then I'm making a Mediterranean pizza I found in the latest edition of Bon Apetit (made with phyllo dough to test my patience).

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and being able to enjoy our deck, patio set, and back yard. And no studying for an entire day!

Freedom Begins!

I write this as I sit, completely relaxed on my couch watching M play baseball on the Xbox with a cat stretched across my lap. Normally, I would be halfway through my Tuesday night class, trying not to fall asleep.

Today was my first day of my school free schedule, I kept my hours at 30 so I have Tue/Fri off. I accomplished a lot today, but not everything on the list. Here's what I did:

• Treadmill
• Called various pediatrician offices
• Studied for 3 hours at the library
• Lunch at home
• Grocery shopping
• Made dinner (MIL's mac and cheese recipe)

This weekend was also enjoyable. We celebrated my newfound freedom by spending the day in Cape Ann. We took the scenic way up and meandered around the towns for the day (till my back started hurting and we had to call it quits). We then arrived home to find a surprise gift from M...a Canon Speedlite 430 EX II! I really want to brush on my photography skills for the babies arrival. I want to be able to take some great photos and really wanted the fill flash because I'm sure the bulk of our time will initially be spent indoors and a harsh flash isn't flattering for anyone, even the world's cutest baby. I'll post some pics soon that I took illustrating the regular camera flash vs the fill flash. You can really see the difference.

Here are some pics that I took on Cape Ann this weekend...

I

Weekend Recap

This weekend, I sort of picked out the cookies I'm going to make this year but the long list needs to become a shorter list. There are several variations on a theme that will be reduced to the best on the list (hopefully).

We also put out some Christmas lights on the porch and the shrubs. We always thought we had a ton of lights until we had something more to decorate than just a tree. For next year, we will need at least 4 more sets of lights but we're going to wait until everything is on clearance before we do that, especially since we aren't even here this year for Christmas. Next year, I would like to get some more of the red berry garland I got on clearance at Pottery Barn a few years ago. We have it going up some spindles on the top of the porch but it's a little sparse. I would also like to get some kind of green garland and bow for the little lamp we have outside near the driveway.

We also decided since we are not going to be here this year, we are going to skip the tree. I'm so burned out from life and the semester that it just seems like so much energy to go and pick out a tree in the cold. This also means that we would have to buy more lights and we briefly looked this weekend and things were really picked over or we couldn't find lights similar to what we already have. Our other concern is how Clete will be with the tree, he tries to eat everything so I'm pretty sure we have our answer. If we were hosting Christmas this year, we would certainly get one but the only people coming to our house before Christmas are S and A and the kids and I'm sure eldest E would love nothing more than to go after the ornaments on the tree. Doesn't seem worth it this year.

We also did our Christmas cards this weekend, just have to get the stamps so we can send them.

In upcoming holiday plans, we have a Christmas party this weekend at one of the band members house. He has a party every year where he airs National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, no one actually pays attention to it because we're all busy eating and drinking. He has a small one bedroom condo and crams about 40 people in there so it gets loud, so if anyone is actually interested in watching the movie they best do it on their own time.

The following weekend, S and A and the tiny ones are coming over to bake Christmas cookies. We have done it 3 out of the past 4 years and it's always a good time and I definitely eat my quota of cookie batter (even though I hear my mother scolding me like a little devil on my shoulder the whole time I'm doing it).

A few days after that we fly home! We're only there for a few days and most of those will contain holiday related goodness so I only have one night to hang out with J and meet her fiance! I'm really looking forward to seeing her, it's been quite awhile!

Weekend Recap

Friday-did nothing and got nothing accomplished. Whoop whoop!

Saturday-took a nice road trip to Mason New Hampshire to go to Parker's Maple Barn. As usual, it was a great drive filled with lots of pretty leaves and New Englandy quaintness. Pics to follow. I read an article in the Boston Globe about some foliage destinations and this was mentioned. They have a sugar shack and produce their own maple syrup in the spring. They also have a restaurant and gift shop, they make fresh maple doughnuts too. Of course, after our brunch we were too stuffed to think about having a doughnut. We could have gotten them to go but it seemed like the kind of thing one would want to have fresh....

We got home mid afternoon and were somewhat productive around the house. M washed the front steps with a deck cleaner because he's hoping to seal the steps before it snows. I did a few loads of laundry and did some home work. That night we watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was cuter and more fairy tale like than I thought it would be. Entertaining, but wouldn't call it the best movie of the year or anything.

Sunday-We ran some errands during the day (gym, Target, Lowe's, Home Good's, Hallmark store, packie) and then were invited to a Fake Thanksgiving at some friends of ours who are hosting for the first time this year. We were certainly into being their guinea pigs especially when we were told not to bring anything but wine! The dinner turned our very well and we left with full bellies!

Monday-M worked from home so it was almost like I was home by myself, he was holed up in the office all day. I did more laundry, read a little bit, worked on a few projects that are coming due in a few weeks, watched Dexter and worked on S's sweater. I have now joined the sleeves to the body and finished working the decreases. I'm about to start on the saddle around the shoulders. Won't be long now and S can wear his new forest green sweater in the crisp Vermont Fall! I also managed to make 2 fresh loaves of bread yesterday, the only thing I would change with this recipe is the addition of more salt! I think I have made this recipe before and thought that but neglected to make a note in the cookbook...but this time I did.

Upcoming week:
Class tonight
Test tomorrow night
Mom on Thursday night
Friday-nothing
Saturday-haircut
Sunday-visit to S and A to pick up our meat from the farm

Weekend Plans

This weekend is a long weekend! Oh joyful day, three days to sleep in! Unfortunately, the agenda is quite full but it's not all work and no play.

Friday-maxing and relaxing
Saturday-leaf peeping and checking out a farmstand and restaurant in NH. Maple pancakes served all day!
Sunday-Fake Thanksgiving being hosted by some friends. Our only directive is to bring wine. Love it.
Monday-M has to work so I will get things done at home and do homework.

Next week is my last week of not doing my clinical rotation because my preceptor is on vacation. After that, things get crazy again. Here's the not so short list:

clinical
Complete verbal case presentation
Preceptor has to fill out mid term evaluation form
I must talk to him about my capstone project idea

Class 1
Test on Tuesday night
Class online next Monday

Class 2
Keep working on my idea for my capstone project
Fit in several advising sessions for capstone direction and to discuss next semester's classes and clinical
Write a note to be posted online for critique including research to support diagnosis and treatment plan
Critique someone else's note
Work on case study analysis presentation
Present case study analysis
Present idea for capstone

Weekend Recap

J down from VT
Loud music Friday night
Breakfast out on Saturday morning
Tour of Salem NH
Thai for dinner
Obnoxious texter at bar during dinner
Studied Sunday
Caught up on TV shows
Papa Gino's for dinner

Vermont Foliage

This weekend, M and I went to see the in laws way up in the Kingdom. Northeast Kingdom, that is. No, I'm not joking, that's how they refer to it. These pics reveal why....

Friends and Food

Yesterday, A and S came over to see the new house. E liked gathering sticks in the yard and hand delivering them to us and attempting to eat the acorns that adorn our back deck.

We tried a new Thai place for luch which was really good. In our old 'hood, we had zero Thai so we're glad that we have an inexpensive good place nearby. Unfortunately, haven't seen any Indian food yet :(

We also tried one of the two dairy stands near our house, I voted to go for the one where the line is usually the longest since they are both on the same road and within 1/2 mile of each other. It was ok, not great by any means. A kept finding chunks of ice in her ice cream and they got the order for E wrong. I, ever the fan of Dairy Queen Blizzards or it's brethen, was disappointed to see no nods in this direction. It was straight up ice cream in a cone or a dish or frappes. I got a malted frappe (Coffee Khalua Brownie) which could have been heavier on the malt powder. Oh well. We'll try the other one next time.

In gym news, I did a machine I have never seen nor tried before. It basically forces you to do a crunch by bringing your upper torso down and bringing your legs up. I did 10 and my lower abdominals are killing me today. Go machine!

Today I'm planning to attempt staining our unfinished bookcase...pics to follow

Weekend in Review

Friday
Potential last trip to Cabot Creamery

Saturday
Gym
Library
Target
Birthday Cupcakes
Jasmine Bistro

Sunday
Gym
Grocery shopping
Birthday Gifts
Showed apt
Donated textbooks
Recycled notebooks/folders
Laundry

This and That

Friday M's band played at the art gallery mentioned in the previous post with two other bands they frequently play with. It was a fun night, although driving that distance in unfamiliar territory is somethign I could have done without. Even with my GPS, I still manage to take wrong turns. I ended up getting there as they were about to go on, luckily I made it in time. I was thinking back to those high school kids that were there and how young they looked and then I dared to wonder how old they would even think I was....were they looking around thinking how much older everyone else was than them? Yikes...don't go there....

Saturday afternoon I did some shopping because I had a 30% off coupon for Old Navy and the Gap Outlet and found this:

I have no idea what possessed me to buy a sweater with a bird on it....totally unlike me. It's far too whimsical. Actually, I blame it on the art gallery show and seeing those kids, nay, children there. It made me yearn for my youthful self...so what do you do with that? You buy a sweater with a bird on it.

Saturday night, we met some friends out for bbq....he apparently won a gift certificate somehow but has the unfortunate circumstance of being a vegetarian so he invited his carnivorous friends. It was good, but bbq is not something I would ever suggest going out for. I think I'm too much of a spice wimp. I had the buffalo shrimp which was good but waaay more spicy than I would normally order. After that, we headed out to hear our band friends play another show.

Sunday I went to the gym and was hopped up on a combination of adrenaline and caffeine and decided to clean off our back deck to put up our new wrought iron cheapo outside table and chairs. Clearly, we hadn't been out there for awhile. Coolers from the party we had last September were still out there. This weekend, for the first time in a long time, I baked. I haven't really been able to rally on that front since Christmas because I baked my brains out for three full days. But, alas, a rotting banana begs to be made into a tasty bread so there you have it. It turned out well, the last recipe I used had an odd baking soda taste, this recipe is much better.

With the rest of my time, I finally took pics of my sluggish knitting progress....For your pleasure.

In school news, I have done the only presentation required of me this semester and did fine. It's always something I dread, but luckily I do well once I'm up there. I am about 3 hours ahead of my required clinical hours at this point which is good because not this week but next, my preceptor will be gone on the day I do my clinical hours. I've decided to revert back to my normal schedule for the week operating under the assumption that I will continue to do some extra time each week and that by the end of the semester I'll have enough hours without making up that day....it will be a pure thrill to leave work at 430p a full two hours before I normally do. I'll be able to go to the gym after work! Not something I would normally be excited about, but now that I can't I of course, long to.

And per request...cat's at play, cat's at rest. Boigie lacks the little white boots....