My son Andrew does not like to go to the QFC.  However, he really enjoys going to the PCC.  He also seems to derive much enjoyment out of saying “the Pee See See”.  He’s very deliberate about it.  He enunciates QFC just fine, but he doesn’t seem to put as much personality behind it.

Recently, our local QFC has undergone what I would call a “fancy facelift”.   It’s nice.  Sorta like shopping at the UVillage QFC without all the parking hassles.  And you still occasionally get accosted by those guys who just need a little help with their car or maybe $20 for gas.  No childcare, though.

Well, it’s been over 3 weeks since little Zoe has been exposed to chicken pox.  Dare we declare victory?  I feel like it’s almost jinxing it.  I’ll wait until we reach the weekend.  Then, victory is OURS!

It’s been 15 days since our daycare provider contacted us about little Zoe being exposed to the Chicken Pox virus. So far, so good (knock on wood). Little cutie is still pox free and happy.
We had a scare last week when one of our friends told us their son started puking the night after the boys got together for a play date. Andrew never got the stomach bug, so we dodged a bullet there. I’m really hoping Zoe can dodge this one.

I think we have another week of watching and waiting before we can declare victory….

I vaguely remember the day I got chicken pox. I was in Kindergarten and it was a day like any other, I suppose. Except the next thing I knew, my mom picked me up and I got to stay home and watch TV for several days. Not a bad deal unless you mind the itching.

Now that I’m a dad, I worry about things like my kids getting the chicken pox. I suppose it’s part of that “parental” protectiveness thing. Last week our daycare provider called us and notified us that one of the kids at the daycare had broken out with chicken pox. Since Zoe isn’t 1 year old yet, she hasn’t been innoculated so – of course – she’s at risk.
This sort of thing is upsetting on a number of levels, but mostly that my little girl will be very uncomfortable at the very least – and may be at risk of something more severe at worst (*knock on wood*) – in two to three weeks. It’s funny because it’s not something I would’ve given a thought about for me at age 5, but for my kiddos it’s got me going.

Well, there’s still a chance she might not come down with it. You never know, I suppose. She doesn’t come into extremely close contact with the infected kid and our daycare provider was kinda keeping her separated due to her runny nose, but chicken pox is extremely contagious and that kid was shedding virus well before anyone knew he had it, so it’s probably more than likely she’s infected. Our doctor’s office says that due to her breastfeeding and the fact that Mom had chicken pox as a kid that there may be some chance that Zoe will beat it. Let’s hope she does.

Can you imagine a face like that being unhappy?

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the night we got engaged.

Seven years ago it was a rainy but mild Saturday. I had planned on popping the question that night, but it was to be a surprise and I had schemed the entire week and a half prior to get all of the pieces in place. We spent the day shopping for a chair and purchased a wingback chair* (from I forget where) mid-morning and came back to the duplex we were renting.

Fortunately, the Girlfriend had to go pick up some dry cleaning. So I took that opportunity to throw some of her clothes into a bag and head down to the Four Seasons (now the Fairmont Olympic Hotel) where I had previously made a reservation. I was able to upgrade to the Presidential Suite (nothing like a marriage propsal to get a free upgrade) and get the room set up for later that night.

I’ll skip the dinner part because, quite frankly, the restaurant wasn’t very good and I was pretty unhappy with the recommendation from a coworker. Suffice to say that we had an average meal at an average hotel restaurant.

But, the dessert was the piece de resistance (and, to be fair, this was where the brunt of the recommendation came from). I asked the restaurant to print up a special dessert menu with the last menu item being the actual proposal. I had to talk up the desserts at this place (because the food was really nothing special) to ensure that the Girlfriend would at least take a look at the dessert menu. I watched her scan it and then stop at the bottom at which point I produced the ring. Heh, not bad if I say so myself.

So then we headed to the Four Seasons and we had quite a nice rest of the weekend. We had “fancy brunch” at the Four Seasons and the funny part about that was the questionable choice of clothes I threw in a bag for her to wear the next day.

So here we are today. We had alphabet soup for dinner (homemade!), but we did add some brie and stilton and a nice sausage with some pears so it was pretty nice all-in-all.

* As an aside, our taste in interior decorating and furniture has changed considerably since then. We’re in the middle of a slow but sure migration to contemporary designs. Furniture, unfortunately, lasts a little while and is expensive to replace. More on that in future posts.

When you have kids, your perception of time changes dramatically. Various parts of your life appear to go by at double speed while other parts seem to crawl by frame by frame.

Traveling is one “hurry up and wait” time slice after another. When you don’t have kids, the “and wait” portion is usually spent paging through some magazine or another and basically being bored. YOU MUST SAVOR THIS TIME! When you have kids, the “and wait” portion is spent desperately trying to entertain your children with whatever assortment of toys you’ve brought with while not trying to blow your wad since you have 3 hrs to kill while on the plane.

In the end, it’s a crapshoot, though. Kids will be kids and they’ll do what they’re going to do on the plane. But then, this is what makes them endearing the rest of the time, so you take the good with the bad. That said, you’re probably better off not traveling unless you have to.