One for the Baby Book

Oh this is so something for Padon's Baby Book!
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So what is the first movie we take Padon to and the first movie we have seen in the theater in almost a year? Resident Evil - Extinction!

A great movie and both Walter and I highly recommend it, but a bit of a challenge with a baby.

Padon was the superstar movie baby and didn't make a sound but when we first walked into the theater with the previews already rolling he sat in his infant carseat looking around with his little eyes really wide, like "what is that?!" We watched him for a moment to see what he would do; it was really loud. We hadn't even gotten to the I'm-going-to-eat-you zombie screaming yet. He started to crinkle up his face as he usually does when stationary in his car seat and so I unclipped him and held him in my lap. It took one loud crash and a bright flash for him to jump and Walter and I looked at each other and whispered "do we leave now or do we give him 5 more minutes." I took his thick and fluffy receiving blanket and accordian folded it and wrapped it around his head in a "u" shape covering his little ears. I then held his pacifier in his mouth and plugged his ears the best I could. I let a flap of the blanket fall over my hand and over his face (not only to block out the flashes of light but because he actually watches TV at home when it is on and I didn't want him "watching" the movie). With all this he actually (after a little squirming) fell asleep. He did jump a couple more times when the sound made a big change from someone heavily breathing in angst to a jump out at you gorey face, screaming, but he never opened his eyes and just kept on sleeping.

Walter and I left the movie thinking it was really good, wanting to see it again, and applauding Padon who smiled and smiled as we walked through the lobby.

I just can't wait until someone asks, "so what was your baby's first movie?" and I reply, "Oh, Resident Evil - Extinction."

Day of Caring with the United Way

I spent the whole day, Friday, in south Seattle building a garden with a group of co-workers from various PACCAR divisions for the United Way Foundation. Every year PACCAR conducts a United Way Campaign to generate money and it is a week long fest of games, raffle tickets, bake sales, breakfast carts, silent autctions, and various ways to humiliate management all in the name of donations. They pit the divisions against each other to create a competition and over all it is pretty fun.

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This is the second time I was nominated to be on the United Way Committee and this time for PACCAR Financial. This time, however, I was invited to go along on the Day of Caring and it was great fun. I like helping out with the needy but it isn't usually something that I seek out on my own because it would be yet another project to my extremely long list of "I'd like to do's..." So having someone assign something to me like the "Day of Caring", which also let me out of work for a whole day, was awesome. I was assigned to work on a garden patch for under priviledged called the P-Patch. Linked to the Seattle Housing Association it was to become a garden that allowed the resident refugees and immigrants to have a place to grow food for themselves and for local organic markets. By allowing them to sell their produce it gave them an opportunity to learn how to have a small business and develope their business and networking skills.

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It was great fun. I loaded up the Jimmy with all the garden tools we had and our loyal wheel barrow and made my way through rush hour traffic for Bellevue to pick up my PACCAR Financial counterparts.

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It seemed appropriate to include pictures of the rush hour traffic because it seemed especially slow that morning and it is this traffic that makes me have to take the bus so I don't fall asleep while driving. What is Seattle; The 2nd worst place to drive in the United States due to the driving conditions?

It seemed like it was going to be an over-cast rainy Seattle day but then it burned off and by the time we got down to South Seattle it was sunny and warm enough to take off our jackets and for some of us, change into only T-Shirts.

It was a great bunch of people and we worked our butts off moving 75-100 lb (no kidding) cinder blocks, shoveling clean dirt and mulch, and getting the tiered garden ready for plots.

Some were surprised at how hard and heavy the work was and there is always a group of people that do more talking than working, but for the most part every one had a good time I think and we pretty much finished the garden.

I found it really rewarding and while I am now covered in bruises, my face, arms, and the part in my hair is sunburned, and my arm pits, biceps, lower back, and elbows still ache, I would totally jump at the chance to do it again.

Fashion Thanks to Erin!!!

We really need to give a round of applause, a big thanks, and a huge hug to our very good friend Erin for giving Padon the coolest wardrobe ever. It is so much fun to pick out clothes for Padon because there are so many options to choose from. Where babies clothes (unless hunted down at garage sales) could really break the bank we have spent barely a cent yet have a very posh baby. I have never loved hand-me-downs so much!! Thank you to Erin and her friends that thought of us when they passed on their most loved and gently used items !

As The Parent of a Baby I Reserve the Right To:

Dress my baby up anyway I think is way too cute or too cool! I reserve the right to do this until he turns to me and says "Mom! I don't want to wear that!" And then I will bite my bottom lip and let him become his own individual. Until then....Frog Hat here we come!!!!!!!

Padon Has The Coolest Room Ever!!!!!!!

Ok, if I was a little person and I had Padon's room I would pee my pants and then never leave it. (Pee my pants as in so excited, not because I'm not potty trained; for those of you who have never heard my "oh ma gawd, I'm so excited" lingo.

It was a huge undertaking. The room previously was white, with hideous sponge stamped butterflies in a border around it. It probably wouldn't have been such an undertaking if I hadn't mistakenly purchased a oil based primer to put our acrylic based top coat on. It took forever for things to dry and for the smell to go away.

The carpet that was in the room when we moved into the house had a huge hole as well as a pile of cat poop smooshed into it. Luckily we got new carpet installed in the room a couple weeks before Padon was born, which added its own chemical smell but was super squishy and made me smile at the thought of him playing on it. It was exactly what I wanted but was cheap enough that I wouldn't cry at the thought of glitter, glue, or paint getting on it; which I think is what a little kids carpet should be ready for.

So here it is; the unveiling of Padon's Room! (Think nature and the size of a bug)

Reading is super important to me and once while in the Edmonds Library I noticed they had a big row boat in their kids section. In it they had filled it with giant pillows. I thought that was the coolest thing ever and hoped to someday have something like that for myself. My dream has come true through Padon. Under three giant green leaves are roughly 20 pillows of different sizes in rock shapes and prints. They are super squishy and with our three year old friend Max's approval are totally pillow fight proof. You can easily take a rock to the head without shedding a tear. Sweet!!!!! And they make the perfect pile to flop and jump into.

The curtains are awesome! Too shear for nap time they are lined with a blue shower curtain (awesome cheap alternative to curtains). But the shear side has teal stars with black bats flying by. I love that with a tug of a curtain we can turn day into night for when the room needs to be its darkest to keep small eyes closed and sleeping. The curtains even have bats roosting in the corners waiting to fly outside.

The table and chairs was another total steal. I really wanted chairs and a table that could be easily moved from bedroom, to living room, to outside for especially messy craft projects, playing, and snack time. I loved the bright colors and it fit perfect in his room. Too bad he's still too small to climb into the seats.

He doesn't have a bureau so a portion of this incredibly large shelving unit is clothes, sheets, blankets, burp cloths, shoes, socks, and baby accessories and the rest is books to read, and toys at levels of "I don't care if you ruin them and you can't hurt yourself", and "uh, I'll play with that with you".

Hanging from the ceiling are three lights. Two are blue lamp shades with blue and green beads hanging from them like rain drops and one large chinese lantern painted with orange and yellow spirals to act as the sun. It doesn't give as much light as I hoped so I may have to change some things.

So after 8 months or so of trying to get the room finished, for now, I think this room is the best! I mostly can't wait to read to him on the pillows. We have already started to develop his library and I think it's never to early to start reading to him.

Even his bathroom is great!

Sad Goodbyes

This weekend we went to Autumn War, once again down in the far away place known as Randle, and we kicked butt. We, as an alliance with Clan Carn and the Barony of Blath An Or, beat Lionsgate and won Autumn War. Two of the gals in our group also contributed to the total winning war points by entering in and winning the Arts and Sciences competition where they sat and sewed two pieces of garb over a 6 hour straight sew off. It sounded like fun and I wish I could have been a part of it.

Sadly, though, Autumn War marked the last time we would see Tim and Amy for a long time.

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Amy moved to Washington with her sister Lisa and Lisa's husband Greg about 6 years ago. Greg went job hunting and found Walter working at the Whistle Stop Ale House, in Renton, where they were looking for a chef in their kitchen. A few days later they had hired both Lisa and Greg as a chef and waitress and it didn't take very long to find that they were our kind of people. At the time Walter was living with Tim in his condo in Renton and so we introduced Greg and Lisa, who of course brought Amy along, to Tim and the group of us became friends right away. Three years later Tim and Amy got married, April 16, 2004. Lisa and Greg moved back to Massachusetts two years (?) ago and Amy for the last couple years has been longing to go home too especially since Tim is looking forward to having a family and Amy would like her Sister and Mom to be there to support her. So now after all things that were holding them back in Renton have been resolved, the condo has been sold, an awesome RV has been bought they are making an incredible road trip across country to old friends and loving family.

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This was a hard transition though for all the friends they have here. Medlested is very attached to Tim and Amy because they have done so many wonderful things for the group and there were a lot of tears shed. I hadn't realized how much they meant to me until the inevitable day had arrived. It dawned on me that there would be a hole in the SCA for me (Amy was the one who found the SCA and introduced it to us three years ago) and that not being able to see them whenever was going to be really strange. It made me sad too to think that they wouldn't see Padon get older, except in pictures, and that we wouldn't be there for the birth of their first child. Both Walter and I wanted to send them off with a really heart felt gift and so we decided that we would make them both a pair of leather boots like the pair I made Walter (which online run $750 a pair) but custom tailored to their SCA devices and personas.

Can't upload the front of Tim's boots for some reason....

Back of Tim's boots (conceptual design created in Photoshop)

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Front of Amy's Boot (conceptual design created in Photoshop)
Back of Amy's Boot (conceptual design created in Photoshop)
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We left them at our last group "Rate the event" lunch and I found myself crying in the Jimmy as we made the four hour drive home. They will be greatly missed and we will try to stay in contact with them a lot.

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Medlested and company have decided that we will make a trek to see them every three to five years. As it stands the goal is to rent a charter bus, load it with our gear (man that will be a sight) and drive across country to wage war on the Kingdom of the East and the Barony of Smoking Rock to take back what is ours (Tim and Amy). The irony is that Tim and Amy, having been named the ambassadors to the Kingdom of An Tir (our kingdom), will have to let their King and Queen know we are waging war and then because they will be ambassadors to Aquaterra (our Barony) they will have to fight on our side. We all think this would make for a fantastic road trip and look forward to it happening. We will see where we are in three years but as a bardic group (nick naming ourselves Battle Bards) I can just hear the war songs we would sing as we marched onto the battle field. Too cool! Rumor too is that fighters in An Tir fight harder than the Kingdom of the East (rule of thumb is you should be able to hit hard enough to knock a bowling ball, propped up, three feet off and to the side). Supposedly their form of fighting isn't hard compared to what our fighters are used to.

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Medlested sent Tim and Amy off with the original house banner and Tim and Amy have promised to set up a new household called Medlested East.

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So we are all sad to see them go but feel ourselves still contected.

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Two more weeks and the last SCA event for the season - Banner War. I am so glad for a break...

Roasted Starbursts

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Have you ever heard of roasting starbursts? The kids in Medelsted introduced me to it and it's wild! The rule of thumb is, stick it on the end of a roasting utencil, and stick it above the hot coals of a campfire. Let it drip no more than 5 times and then take it out. It does the coolest thing. The candy on the outside gets hard and just a tad crunchy (like a creme brulee) and the middle gets all warm and gooey. So when you pop in in your mouth it kind of pops with all this warm goodness with a tiny bit of chew. It was very cool! I recommend trying it if you are of the sour / tart candy sort of person.

We Had A Summer?...Really?.......

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So we supposedly had a spectacular lighting and thunder storm here in the Puget Sound, Monday night, but either it never made it to Stanwood or Walter and I have become sound sleepers and slept through the whole thing. It was this thunderstorm that prompted a local journalist to write an article on how we did too have a summer this year and even though it really felt like it too had taken a summer vacation it was no different then the average summer we usually receive.

http://www.komotv.com/news/9566232.html

As I read the article I felt like, "Really?...." until I got to the last bit where he created a sunshine index to rate the summer glow and developed this hypothesis:

Average "sunshine index" for each day of the week:
Monday: 3.39
Tuesday: 4.93
Wednesday: 5.39
Thursday: 4.39
Friday: 3.86
Saturday: 3.22
Sunday: 2.07

Add it all up, and summer was out there this year -- you just had to take off Tuesday and Wednesday to enjoy it.

So for all us poor saps, that are cubicle jockies and who, like me, have to crane and just about break our necks to get a glimpse of the outside world through our boss's window, just happened to work our way through the best part of the summer. I’ve never wanted to go back to manual labor as much as I did this summer. I didn’t even get to develop my Irish tan and definitely didn't get to absorb as much solar warmth as I need to make it through the dreary gray skies and long winter that the North West generally likes to present. Uhhhhhh, if it wasn't for the holidays to come......

September Crown

September Crown was hot! Wonderful for me but miserable for most of the others in our encampment.

Walter still suited up to fight the Queen's Guards and came back shortly after, probably having gotten spanked on the back of the head by a heavy rattan sword in the first couple minutes. They are really, really good. But he looked really happy so I assume he must have gotten to hob nob with the knights and learn all kinds of cool trade secrets on how to fight. He was really tired from the heat and attempted to take long nap but about an hour into it was bothered by a fly that kept landing on him and Padon. It kept waking them both up and he was grumpy about it. Good food from a fabulously presented feast from our friend Raph, however, made him completely forget about it.

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I think Roadie is getting tired of eventing and I am getting tired of eventing with her. She whined the whole time. Usually the answer to that is to put her in the tent by herself for a while but because there were flies and flying ants she would hop all over everything trying to eat them. The wind had loosened the ropes on our pavilion a little and so she quickly learned that a sharp enough tug would pop the pole and she could get her leash out from under it. Oh, that made me so frustrated. She took down our rain fly three times before Dalich thought to tie her to the tent stake instead of the pole. If it hadn't been for Padon I think I might have figured that out more quickly but I felt silly for not thinking of that earlier. Matthew (Ally's older brother) was a big help. While he aided Roadie a couple times in attempting to pop the tent pole he kept her occupied for hours at a time playing her favorite game; tug of war. I was so grateful for the whining to stop which to me sounds like fingers down the black board. Nothing would stop it even when we took her with us on a long walk around camp. It just kills me.
I can't stop bragging about Padon's camping ability though. Again the only trouble we had was trying to feed him in the freezing morning air. On Monday morning he was so funny. I woke up to find he was soaked from shoulder blade to butt but he was hungry. So in an attempt to keep him warm beforeI changed his diaper I sat him on my lap on a cloth diaper and wrapped us both in my fleece cloak while I gave him a bottle. All fat and happy he tried to smile through his following diaper change only he was cold so he would smile and then pout and whimper, and then smile and then pout and whimper. You could tell he was listening to me as I talked to him and got him out of his wet clothes and into a dry diaper and warm PJ's.

Overall it was a great Labor Day weekend. It was relaxing (except for the dog) and warm and I got to snuggle on my little bean for hours and hours.

Next weekend Autumn War! And then a break for a couple weeks. What die hards!