asteroid B612

I realized as my molar lay on the dentist's tray that the tooth she had just pulled was my favorite tooth. I know it's silly, but I kind of liked that tooth more than the other teeth and took extra special care of it. Maybe because it was the under-dog molar that never really fit. I don't know. Now there's just a hole there. Recovery is going better than I expected, but I still feel like I was punched in the jaw, and I'm really not looking forward to a repeat of this on the other side in two weeks.

My mom came to help watch the kids so I could go to the dentist. Ellis had off school for Rosh Hashanah (something *I* never got growing up in Christian school) yesterday and off today for teacher inservice. The dentist visit was fast, and I met my mom and boys at the arboretum, numb jaw and all. The arboretum has gotten over its late summer "ugly" hump. It was just looking all dry and worn out, but fall is starting to peek in, and the sedum is gorgeous and leaves are starting to turn. The shimmering linden branches were starting to quiver golden yellow.

I went home with my mom, who fed me soft things, while I watched House and waited for the baby to wake up. He did not disappoint. I finally started looking at the clock. He woke up around 6-7 times between 2.30 and 4.30 and then hourly until morning. This has been going on every night for weeks. A lot of wakefulness. And a lot of crying. Plus Ellis's continued nightly wakeup. He wakes up once and usually crawls in with me, and since I'm dealing with Marlowe, I can't take the time to help him go back to sleep in his own bed, like I used to be able to. About 3 months before Marlowe was born, he was making it all night in his own bed a few times a week. This, too, shall pass. (And b/c of Daddy's work schedule, he is unavailable for nighttime parenting.) I'm kind of bummed. Marlowe started out pretty well, going 3-4 chunks between wakeups, but this past month that has all unraveled. And I've done everything right. All the routines and cues are in place. It's just down to temperament now. And it looks like I'll continue to be a zombie for another 3-4 years. I'm sorry if I forget to do things for you that i said I would.

Anyway, we had an excellent day at my mom's. Ellis was in a terrific mood and had a great day. He even ate a variety of food, including homemade pizza margherita, which, if you knew him, would cause your jaw to drop.

I tried to sew. I actually got a pair of CUUUTE baby jeans made for Marlowe, and started a pair of pumpkin-colored pants for him, but I kept making stupid mistakes and having to rip out seams. The process took a lot longer than it should have.

I love October, it's the falliest month of my favorite season fall. I'm so happy that it's October. And it will be deliciously cool tomorrow.

BTW, don't forget to update your feedreader to http://ab612.partialflow.com. Hopefully our new server will be much more reliable. If you don't read this blog through a feedreader, you have nothing to worry about.

OK, peeps. Update your feeds, and let me know if you have any trouble. The address, ab612.partialflow.com should work, and the old cjones.jwnmedia.com/ab612 will soon be removed. From this point forward the old feed will not work.

If you read me on the web, then you are not affected by this change.

I got a wisdom tooth out today. I need both bottoms out, so one made its grand exit today. She didn't want to numb both sides of my mouth at the bottom, because then I wouldn't feel my tongue. As it is, I feel very numb and expect to stay close to the bottle of tylenol for awhile. The next one comes out in two weeks. I was shocked at how huge the tooth and roots were. Blah.

Another change in this blog's address is pending. Some time soon (either tonight or some time tomorrow) your feed readers will need to be updated to use the address, http://ab612.partialflow.com.

For the technically minded:

Those of you using feed readers had to use the address, http://cjones.jwnmedia.com/ab612 to access this blog's feed because I was using url forwarding on the subdomain ab612. What we didn't realize when we made the initial move was that the rss feed wouldn't come from the forwarding address, ab612.partialflow.com, but from the real address, cjones.jwnmedia.com/ab612. This is unfortunate, since we were never 100% committed to this host. We used a subdomain of partialflow precisely so that we could avoid having to ask people to update addresses all over again, in case we decided to change hosts. Sorry. But this should be the last change you have to make. Thanks for bearing with us.

Hubby blogs----

Wow. What a week. Actually, it's been a week and a half. About the middle of last week, I was looking at a deadline. I knew I had to finish this particular project by the end of the week or so, though I did think I would have the weekend. But for the life of me, I could not get to that project. Whenever I tried, I would be interrupted by some new disaster at my other job. In fact, they owned me for about three days. So by the end of the week I turned to finish the other project.

I knew it would be a programming marathon, but I was determined to make it happen. After almost forty-eight hours without sleep, I had what I had. But I still was not where I needed to be, and my employer was -not- happy with my progress. I swear, thought I would lose my job.

So I worked through Sat. and Sun (I NEVER work on Sundays). And on Monday I was feeling comfortable that I could be done in reasonable time.

Then my other job called up. Disaster. Our client was -very- unhappy. Things had gone completely wrong over the weekend. And though it -really- wasn't our fault, we naturally had to share the blame. So it fell to me on Monday to be the one to offer a solution that would save not only the project but our relationship with the client.

In a moment of complete psychotic disassociation from reality I suggested it might be possible to put together a complete social networking environment in Drupal, within 24 hrs. We already had a template, which could easily be tweaked for the purpose. And once again, another forty-eight hour work marathon later, I was in the same situation as before: desperately trying to put something together in a pinch, hoping it would be good enough to buy more time to keep desperately trying to put something together in a pinch that would buy still more time. Only now I was doing it on two fronts, for two clients.

I don't have to tell you that as I sit here I feel like I've lived five years in two weeks. I'm just now remembering that I have a family, and I'm trying not to think about everything I have left to do. I'm trying to think of what to say to my wife to start getting to know her again. And I'm not sure that Ellis remembers who I am.

I did find out from talking to her today that Ellis had a rough speech therapy session, though not in the usual mode of rough. We've been struggling to keep him engaged during the sessions. The therapist thinks he should be making more progress than he is. So she asked a colleague to run this week's session, while she watched.

Second opinions can be just the thing for getting over a hump. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the reasons we are not seeing the progress we should may be that E has processing difficulties. He's struggling in ways he shouldn't, even given the challenges of being deaf. And maybe he is showing evidence of this processing problem in ASL, too. Only we would never have known it, because we could never get anyone to give us a proper ASL evaluation as part of our IEP.

So yea, we've pretty much had a normal week. What's new with you?

More Photobooth photography going. I need new batteries in my camera. So I finished my shirt. I tried to find as flattering a pose as possible, but let's face it, the baby house is still deflating (very! slowly!). I swiped the material from my mom's. It was impulsive after all. It's chocolatey brown, if you can't tell. Seemed kind of fallish. Still not sure about the style, but it's comfy. I wanted to make 3/4 length sleeves, but I didn't envision it right when cutting it out. So I went with what the pattern called for. yes! I used a pattern. shocking. I guess I don't have the bend the rules every time.

Today Marlowe graduated to the back wrap cross. He's getting to be big boy. I'm still pretty new to wrapping, so I didn't feel confident back carrying him when he was younger, though it's entirely possible (see Africa). But he's seems pretty happy now. I'm still trying to get my mind around throwing a wrap over my shoulder. But I think after a few times, it'll get easier.

I might also add, that the kid with amazing wiggles who has been trying to nap all morning, fell promptly asleep. (too bad you can't wear your baby in the shower)

I love wraps, because they're so versatile, soft, and, well, a little mysterious and cool. Though we are currently pretty huge fans of the pouch sling for grocery store runs.

Okay. Off to finish the dishes before the water gets cold.

WELCOME FALL!!! Or Autumn! Or Harvest! Or Whatever you are!!! I just love you! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you!!!!!

Welcome MY FAVORITE SEASON!

Bring on the pumpkins! Bring on the leaves!!! Bring on the acorns! (maybe, just maybe, THIS will be the year that Ellis will learn to love acorn people with their jaunty hats)
Bring on the chai!! Spices!!!! Bring on cozy fleece jackets! Bring on the stews and soups!!!

I LOVE FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!