|
Friday, September 19, 2003 Next Best Thing to Dehydrated Water This is pretty amazing. Using a process called forward osmosis, a company has made a pouch that filters all types of bacteria and chemicals from water, using a filter with microscopic angstrom sized holes. The leftover water is then mixed with nutrients inside the bad, creating a nutrient rink similar to Gatorade. This technology could mean potable water for millions of people around the world where water is currently too polluted to drink. One also wonders if it could be used to clean the environment, too. ------------------------------------------------
Keep an Eye on HIm, Agents J and K At a press conference yesterday, California governor Grey Davis had this to say about the great state of California: My vision is to make the most diverse state on earth, and we have people from every planet on the earth in this state. We have the sons and daughters of every, of people from every planet, of every country on earth. It's getting a bit crowded on this planet, don't you think? Time to sign off, there, Governor Davis. Nanu, nanu. ------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 12, 2003 I am still neglecting my side of the blog :) Hallelujah! Our neighbors finally put up a fence, and a wood one at that! We are now planning how to do the same in our yard, and are still debating chain versus wood. I think it would be weird to have one type up against another, so we might do wood on that side and chain link on the other, but we have not decided. In the meantime, it is time to do some yard maintenance prior to the fence going up. The arbor I bought for the back slab is great, and just fits on the patio, but funnels water directly at the already crumbling foundation of our French Doors (here's to you, Mr. Builder man). We are going to expand the size, and I think we're leaning at getting a professional to do it, but haven't shopped for quotes yet. In the meantime, a neighbor decided to throw away all of her outside yard toys, and we got a quite servicable sandbox and slide for Parker. As Kristin pointed out, our monitor has died, and finding a repair place to look at it was a real pain in the neck. Finally, I went to some dusty old television repair shop. The technician looked like a cross between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Kris Kristofferson, with a salt and pepper beard and a bird's nest of wavy hair. Naturally, he and his partner were watching the X Files. He really hemmed and hawed about his ability to fix it, but finally decided to give it a go as our mobitor convenintly has a trap door in the back for reaching critical electronics, which many monitors don't have. Still, he was overly pessimistic, so we might be shopping for a new one shortly. Of course, until we get our home network up and running agin, we can always use the teeny monitor. After a week of being cooped up with his sick mom, Parker finally got to cut loose for a short time at the Pizza place and at the supermarket. At both places he found children to play with briefly, and had a blast with both. However, their mothers were a lot less inclined to let their children roam about and have fun. At the pizza place, the little girl who tried to show Parker how to hop was swatted by her mom for getting ready to have a bowel movement without saying she needed to go to the bathroom. At the Publix, Kyle, a five or six year old black boy, tried to get Parker to play tag with him, but his mother kept telling him to quit it and finally made him leave. Can't parents let their children be kids? I know they probably had a long day, but they were having fun. I was perfectly fine with letting Parker run about, as long as I could see him. Sadly, after Kyle left, Parker wandered about the store looking for him. Kyle had been doing these jerky dance moves and once fell on his but in the middle of the ailse. Parker imitated this behavior up one ailse and down the other while looking for him. Tomorrow the dads of the moms baby group will be getting together for a Play Group. I think I'll take Parker. ------------------------------------------------
|
|
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 So, I went through Parker's closet yesterday to finally stop forcing him into too-small clothes. It was hard, as so many cute outfits he's worn for a year got to be put up. They include this cute outfit that he was wearing at 9 months, this cute Bugle Boy shrimping outfit he's modeling here at 11 months, and this cute ensemble modeled at 18 months. I am still holding on to a few that he's practically outgrown to see if they can be worn one more time. The scary part is that his 24 month clothes are starting to seem too short in the crotch, so I guess we should be looking forward to 3T clothes. How did this happen? I remember clearly when he was going through clothes quickly in his first 9 months, but then he hit that lull that lasted for a year. The growth spurt is on again it seems. Do you know how cute it is to hear a little boy just learning to say words say, "tickle"? Adorable, I tell you!! ------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 22, 2003 Last night, Parker was way, way overtired. He was fussing about everything. Taking his clothes off, changing his diaper, putting clothes on, brushing teeth, EVERYTHING. And then, using the bug catcher box he got for Christmas last year, Jeff went out and got a toad he'd seen. As he brings it in, Parker is mid scream, sees the toad, stops, and says, "What is that?!?!?" He was utterly fascinated. We'd kinda taught him frog already, so, as inaccurate as it was, we told him "frog". He tried repeatedly to say it. It was adorable. What a great reminder of how much I love this little boy!! ------------------------------------------------
Sunday, September 21, 2003 Oh yeah, "uh-oh, "oh no" are two othe cute things he says (and just did;)). ------------------------------------------------
It seems Parker is now as big a Mario fan as his Daddy. At the end of levels that Jeff completes, Parker will sing the little ditty. Speaking of Parker, his vocabulary is starting to explode. He will start to say up to 5 new words a day. I can't even remember the mall. Let me see: frog, clock, cake, blow, me, down (did you notice the last three? Could it be "blow me down" from the Wiggles? Why yes, yes it is;)), juice, bus, donut, off, "F", "O", "P", "boom boom" (from reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom), "What is that?", "dough" for playdough, "cracker", a variation of that for "markers", an attempt at "colors" for crayons (along with the sign of wiggling fingers on his chin). I know there are more, and I just can't remember them. It is very, very exciting here, and Jeff and I beam at out smart little boy. ------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, September 09, 2003 Well, I was feeling better. Last night I started coughing really badly and I woke up this morning with congestion and a sore throat. Will this never end? Not only that, but last night, Parker fell asleep at 8:45 (shocking, I know), but woke up at about 9:05 crying. Jeff and I alternately tried to get him to go back to sleep until midnight. He fell asleep several times, and the second we moved or laid him down, he was up again. It was very, very frustrating. The evening was capped off with after finally getting Parker to sleep, Jeff came to get his stuff ready to work tomorrow (today) on the computer, and the monitor was dead. Yep, dead. Wouldn't turn on. No sound. Kaput. After switching our 19" with the 15" (what a difference!!), I looked to see about what to expect in terms of repairing it. Looks like there is a flat rate of about $100, JUST to look at it. A new monitor is about $150 or so (for essentially the same as we have), but probably for a refurbished model. Would LOVE to get an LCD, but I don't think we could handle a small screen, so I think we'll just get ours repaired. I briefly considered opening it up myself and seeing what I could see, but there was this one site I went to that essentially said the difference between home repair of a computer and that of a monitor is the fact that trying to repair a monitor yourself is DANGERous. Repairing a computer, though, nothing bad will happen to you. I guess it has to do with capacitors, resistors, high and low voltage, etc. ------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 05, 2003 Well, I am finally starting to feel a little better. At least it seems so. I still have the cough, but I have had a couple of good nights sleep and a nap or two, so that helps. I hope the antibiotic (Zithromax) is working ,because if it isn't, I'll be pissed. I don't take meds unless absolutely necessary, so to me it is a big deal. Parker is doing okay, he's had a bit of a temp and a bit of a cough, but we're keeping an eye on both. The worst part is that he's been cooped up in this house all week ... poor thing!!! I think he's starting to go stir-crazy. He's really cute, though, playing with his little figurines. I joked with Jeff that we should get him some Barbies. He countered with action figures. Honestly, neither of us have a problem with him playing with either. I just want the Barbies for myself. ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 03, 2003 What a bad blogger am I. I will use this excuse ... I have bronchitis, verging on pneumonia (or so says the doctor I waited 70 minutes to see yesterday). I'm using Parker's nebulizer to give partial Albuterol treatments and Jeff is filling my prescription of Zithromax when he gets home. I had planned to go out and do it myself today, but that was soooo not happening. Parker went to sleep last night at 11 pm (sigh), and I followed him. I'm not sure what happened, but we didn't get up until 10 am (at least, I am assuming he didn't get up without me and come back and go back to sleep, which has happened in the past, but always when Jeff was here. I wouldn't know either way, since I felt so horrible). My house is a wreck, and we are up past our eyeballs in freelance work. I think I need to really search for a local teen who would be willing to be a mother's helper on day a week or something, just so I can clean my house. We also have a lawn that needs mowing (when has Jeff had time, though? And don't suggest that I do it ... how do you propose, with a toddler underfoot, hmmm??), and two outdoor toy things that a neighbor was just throwing out to clean up. The plan was to do that this past weekend, but I was too sick and Jeff too busy to worry about the outside of the house. I want to show just what people will throw out, cause it is insane!! ------------------------------------------------
|
