jonathanhickman.com

How am I supposed to work?

How am I supposed to work when I get messages like this from Katie:

hello from charlotte

It’s officially the weekend; I’m going home now.

Old houses are expensive

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about my house. I wouldn’t trade my 1910 Queen Anne for ten modern McMansions. Ok, I’d consider ten if they’re paid off.

It’s just that I see my growing list of immediate expensive repairs and I’m frustrated that I can make no inroads. In need of immediate or near-immediate attention: a fence to keep C from the creek in our back yard, a deck that is baby-proofed, a new coat of paint in several rooms and some places outside, a new a/c unit up stairs, and new gutters. Oh, and we need to get a plumber out to figure out what happened to our water pressure, and a couple of interior door knobs are in immediate need of replacing. Heck, I had to take the knobs off of one door because it works better with just the skeleton key.

Door knobs and locks are complicated in old houses. You see, modern door knobs are a fairly recent invention. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed it, but on most newer houses, the knob uses just a round hole in the door, and any lock is in the center of the knob. But in old houses like ours, the lock is below the knob, but it’s still a single piece. The old ones look like this, and fit in a slot in the door:

The problem is that most locks sold these days are the new kind. Not only do I prefer the old ones, but to replace an old lock with a new, round knob means leaving a huge hole in your door. I’m no carpenter, and I have little choice.

They do sell the old locks at your neighborhood Home Depot, but they’re of inferior quality and don’t work for long. And they cost about twenty bucks each.

Or you could pay about twice that for a good one online.

Forty bucks for an interior door lock.

The bottle

The wiggler

Our baby is some kind of wiggler. The last few days, I’ve left her wiggling on the bed with her mama.

It’s an image that stays in my mind all day.

C’s first night at the taco

We have a local Mexican restaurant called Senor Taco; we call it the Taco. It’s not the best food in the world, but we like it. It’s the only place in town with a salsa bar, the food is relatively cheap, and it’s never too crowded. But mostly we just like it because it’s close by and we’re used to it.

Well, tonight was C’s first night at the Taco. I guess I should’ve brought a camera to commemorate the occasion. Charlotte, when you’re older and looking over these archives, know that your first visit to the Taco - a restaurant I’m sure you’ll love by then/now - was when you were three weeks old to the day. I think you liked it, although I also think you got some food dribbled on you. Sorry about that.

And now we’re back from our Taco outing and I’m exhausted. I definitely ate too much, but that’s not all. I am grateful beyond words for Katie getting up whenever C cries at night. Really, I’m not the one she wants, but I’m sure I could take some kind of shift. But Katie does all the lifting.

Just because I don’t get up, though, doesn’t mean I’m getting great sleep. C usually gets one to two good periods of rest each night. She usually sleeps for a few hours at the beginning and maybe two solid hours last thing in the morning. In between, she sleeps and wakes, sleeps and wakes. Katie gets up each time she’s needed, but even though I’m not getting up every time, I do get woken over and over again all night. I don’t think I’ve gotten any deep sleep in a month.

Anyway, the Taco was good, C. I think you’ll like it.

Driving carefully

Late to work, I was driving down the interstate at eight o’clock this morning as I listened to the NPR news update. They talked about the coal miners in Utah and the deplorable conditions in China’s mines where thousands die each year in mining accidents. And they talked about school shootings and the war in Iraq. And as I listened, I remembered the wreck my dad had a few weeks ago on the same stretch of highway, when he was hit from behind by someone who apparently feel asleep at the wheel. I glanced into the back seat of the car, where C’s car seat base awaits her first days at work with me.

I wasn’t driving recklessly or faster than traffic. I wasn’t even in the left lane; having a child has made me drive less aggressively of late. But even so, I had the urge to park my car and stick my head in the sand.

It’s amazing how fragile we are and how little respect we have for that fact. I guess it’d just about drive you crazy if you paid too much attention to how easily you could be hurt.

Still, I think I’ll drive even more carefully from now on.

Hitting snooze

I’ve long considered myself a morning person. I love being up early - before anyone else is stirring. Sipping my tea and checking my email in a quiet house is simply delightful.

But I’ve never had an easy time of getting up in the morning. I lie there thinking “I’m a morning person … this should be easy.” Then I try to remind myself how much I love being up early and how I loathe being late to work. But it’s no good; I invariably hit snooze three times too many.

And now it’s getting more difficult. Although I’m not getting up with C like Katie is, I’m still not getting great sleep. And this morning, C was wide awake as I needed to be rising. Katie and I placed her between us and just stared at her for a while. I talked to her as she looked at me, and I held her hand, which she seemed to like. She watched us with her big, dark eyes and made delightful baby noises.

It’s getting hard to get to work on time.

Tiny baby

I love this picture of C:

C is so tiny, I’m still sometimes amazed that they let us take her home.

Full house

Yesterday, Katie’s brother and his fam came up from Bell Buckle to see the baby, and they were joined last night by several other families coming to meet her for the first time.

It was awesome. I love being able to host tons of people, and our house feels so wonderful when it’s full.

And I think C was a hit.  http://titantv.com/quickguide/quickguide.aspx

Free time

When am I going to find the time to blog?

The only time I find myself at the computer with both hands free, I’m at work. And I need to be earning my paycheck. At home, when I have time to be on the ‘net, I’m also holding a baby. I’m not up to blogging with one hand.

C is more important than blogging about her.

And sooner than we would like, Katie will be going back to work. I will have C with me some three days a week. I have a feeling I’ll be able to blog even less then.

Priorities, priorities. I’m sure I’ll figure this out soon enough. Having a baby really means reorganizing your whole life.

Ahh.

The cable guy came today. I’m watching the Daily Show. Life is good.