They should bottle this stuff

Yesterday we took Lucas out for his maiden voyage - a trip aboard our family's pontoon boat. He was very willing to let us put on his straitjacket, I mean life jacket. His cheeks were pushed up so high that I still don't know how he was able to see. That kid has some cheeks! He sat on my lap at the table and banged away happily (his new favorite pastime). If I weren't such a horrible mother who constantly forgets the camera I would post some pictures for a nice visual.

We headed out of our bay at a nice slow pace and Lucas' banging started to slow down. His eyes glossed over and he stared at his grandmother as if she wasn't even there. I sat back and let him collapse like a lump of clay into my arms. At last, my baby boy was actually cuddling with me! He lay in my arms with his eyes half mast for the next several minutes, in a complete trance. Eventually he fell asleep and didn't budge until we were back on the dock and taking off his life jacket.

It may take the rocking of a boat and the fumes of an engine but damn it, that boy will still cuddle with his mama! Do you think it will work for years to come?

Oprah during business hours

This afternoon I was able to sneak out of the office and "work from home". I am doing some R&D for a product of ours that involves testing the care instructions. What better way to make sure that a sheet can really be washed in warm than by washing it my own machine? I should have thrown in some poopy baby clothes to make the test really authentic.

As I am sitting on the couch working away (thank the lord for wireless internet) the TV starts to beckon - LOUDLY. I look at my watch...hmmm 4 o'clock, isn't that when Oprah is on? Holy cow I can watch Oprah! I excitedly turn the TV on thinking that I can easily work while an episode of America's favorite daytime show plays quietly in the background. The preview starts to play, I hear her voice, then WHAMO! it's a rerun. I saw this episode during the winter while I was home on maternity leave. How can that be? The one time I can actually watch the show it's a freakin rerun?

So here I sit, no TV on, just the sound of the rain and the neighbors' kids playing outside while I work - quite productively I might add.

The Morning Rush

Why oh why can I not get myself out the door by 7:40 every day? I am usually ready by 7 and then have 40 minutes to dress and feed the baby. 40 minutes! I should be able to put him in at least 5 different outfits and feed him until he is overflowing in that amount of time. For some reason I find some mundane task that has turned critical overnight and insist on getting it done. Does the laundry really need to be started? No! Does the dishwasher need to be emptied or loaded? No! But I obsess about these tasks until I have rushed myself into a tizzy. And by the time I get home in the afternoon those damn dirty dish trolls have visited once again and the sink is full. I need to set out some troll traps so I can capture those little bastards and send them to our neighbors house.

When I arrive at work I no longer make my cheerful entry full of greetings to all of my colleagues. I now sneak in and scurry to my desk as quickly as possible, hoping to god that nobody sees me or dares to acknowledge my presence. It isn't until after I have turned on my computer and messed up my desk a bit that I will start speaking to anyone. I recently read a tip about how to make it look like you arrived at work early - leave your computer on overnight. I am going to have to try that except our office is so small that nobody is going to buy it. If they don't see my car in the lot right outside of the door then I am obviously not there. And they all know for damn sure that I didn't arrive early enough to have already left!

Funny thing about being late all the time - I am never late leaving work (thanks to daycare), only arriving.