where does the time go?

Has it really been over 2 months since I last posted on here? Doesn't seem right to me. Ah well...I suppose I've neglected to post because there's not much I've had to talk about. I could go on & on about the little one, but she's fully covered over here both by words & pictures so it seems a little unnecessary.

I can say that we no longer go out to eat with her, aside from Top Notch where we can all sit in the car and eat (similar to Sonic's set up, except the food is worth eating). We got tired of E throwing fits in restaurants, so we've agreed to avoid that situation until she learns how to behave better. She does just fine whenever we take her shopping, so it seems like she gets annoyed at having to sit in more or less the same place for however long it takes us to eat. Now that she's getting more mobile (regular crawling started this week), it's probably even better that we have the majority of our meals at home.

Anyway, aside from taking care of her I've spent my hours reading, watching movies, spending time with V when she's not working on her thesis (which is still ongoing), and creating lists on Listal. I haven't been to the theatre since Big Trouble in Little China, which was awesome (as was Maniac), and the only concert I've been to was the free one V & I went to during SXSW. We saw Trail of Dead and !!! play together, and it was great to be out of the house & at a show even if only for a couple hours. E has been keeping us from going out too much due to separation anxiety. When we leave her home with someone watching her she seems to spend most of the time throwing fits because we're not there. It sucks, but I know it won't last forever...looking forward to the day when we can start going out without her again.

Record Store Day is this Saturday, and I'm hoping we can get out for that one way or another. I know Waterloo Records is having the Toadies perform, which would be cool to see but isn't necessary. I've seen them more times than I can count, and the last time I saw them was on my birthday a couple years ago & they played all my favorite songs that night so I haven't wanted to see them since. If all 3 of us go, we'll probably need to plan it so we can miss any live music. I definitely have a few things I'd like to purchase, so that's my main priority.

Next month the 3 of us are flying to Spain for about a week! We've booked the flight and V & I have already received our passports. We ran into a slight snag with E's passport, but have got things in motion to get it completed. If they process hers as quickly as ours we should have it back around May 1st I think. It'll be all 3 of our first time out of the U.S. and we're extremely excited about it. I've only wanted to go to Europe for as long as I can remember, so I'm eagerly anticipating this first trip. We'll be staying with her sister Allie & her family while we're there, which will be awesome. We haven't seen Allie since E was born, and the rest of her family we last saw about a year before that. I'm not that concerned with the specifics of what we'll do there, as I'll be content just to check everything out. If we get to hit another country while we're there that'd be awesome too, but we'll have to see how things work out.

The only other news I have really is that my sister found out today she's having a boy. I told her she gets to have the boy that she wished she was when she was a child. She laughed but then thought maybe that wasn't so funny. Growing up she wanted to be a boy because she thought that was why I got to do more things than she did...she wound up being a tomboy, so that's always sort of stuck with her. Methinks this means she'll be a great mom to their little boy. ;)

I wound up declining the Pearson job mentioned in my previous post because they wanted me to work onsite full-time. I told them to keep me in mind for future projects, but obviously right now I can't do that (especially since what they would pay me won't cover day care costs). I can't say I'm regretting not being able to work for them either though. Taking care of her is the best job I've ever had, and rewarding far beyond any paycheck.

And I guess that's about it. As promised in my last post, you can now check out all of my "Best movies of" lists for 1977-2010 here. Also, I created a list for all of my music lists with links to each music-related list I have created. Last month I made a list of my childhood TV favorites, which was pretty popular, lists ranking the films of 2 of my favorite directors, Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, and then my most recent list is of my favorite performances in horror movies. Check out whichever of those strike your fancy.

Sorry again for the delay...I'll try to do better in the future.

Aural pleasure and goings-on

Sitting here at the computer, ripping my CD collection into my new toy. V got that for me recently as a gift (as well as a couple t-shirts and a shower curtain/bathmat set I wanted from thinkgeek...I'm loved). Been meaning to replace my Creative Zen since it died last year, and since then I've primarily used a pair of small-capacity Sansa mp3 players. The Zen and I had a beautiful friendship...at times it seemed to read my mind and/or feelings & choose songs accordingly. Hopefully my Zune will be able to do the same. I've had a few occasions to use it so far, and while it seemed to play appropriate songs for a Sunday morning today the jury's still out on how synced we are. By the time I go to bed I should be about 1/3 of the way through my collection. I started this on Thursday. Hopefully I'll be done before the weekend.

Settling into the new routine around here. Most days I get E ready & take her to V's work for some mommy time during lunch. They're both enjoying it, and sometimes on the way home E looks like she's sad that we're headed back without mama. I was doing well on getting her into a nap routine, but then this past week screwed everything up. With it being so cold out V didn't want me taking E outside much (which was fine...I didn't want to go out in the cold either heh), so she came home for lunch 2 days last week & then worked from home on Friday. And so our little routine fell apart a bit, as E switched to short naps instead of taking longer ones. It'd be nice if the weather we had over the weekend would stick around (60s & low 70s for highs), but it looks like another cold front rolls through this week. So hopefully it just won't be as bad as last week so we can get back to the routine and get out of the house on a daily basis again. I think that as much as anything does us both some good.

Other news...my sister called me today to let me know I'm going to be an uncle. Her due date is the same as Vita's was last year, so it looks like she'll be having her first kiddo around E's birthday. Crazy! A year ago on Super Bowl Sunday we told my parents V was pregnant, then told my sister afterwards. She of course remembered & decided to do the same (though she called my parents yesterday). We're excited for her & her husband. She's even got an appointment to check out the birthing center where we went & wants to deliver there. And of course she'll be asking us for advice as needed.

Also, I was offered to work at Pearson again & I have accepted it for now. From the way the e-mail was written it looks like it's a work-from-home job this time around, but it also looks like the hours are set at 8am-4pm. So there's a good possibility that I'll end up not working for them after all. I'd like to do it, but if I HAVE to be available only during those hours then that'll be hard. I can't exactly ignore E for 8 hours every day. Waiting for more information now, but at least I know that I can walk away at any time & it's OK.

Beyond that, I've decided that I need a night off from the home responsibilities once in a while. So this week & next I've bought tickets to see films at Alamo Drafthouse that I want to see: Maniac! and Big Trouble in Little China. Looking forward to seeing both on the big screen, and having some time to myself (well, sort of...I mean, there will be other people there too I just won't know them). Considering doing one of their upcoming Pulp Fiction quote-alongs too, but haven't decided yet. I could easily do that...I've seen it enough times that the last time I watched it I was able to recite most if not all of the dialogue. And it's not like I haven't paid to see it multiple times in theatres over the years, so we'll see.

And speaking of movies, we've been catching up on those still. Feel free to consult my previously linked-to "Watched in 2011" list to see what I've watched. I've also uploaded to Listal my Best movies of 2010 list, as well as lists for 2000 through 2009, all of which can be accessed from my Best of 00s list if you're interested. At this point I've made similar lists for each year I've been alive (that'd be starting with 1977), and plan to upload them a decade at a time each Friday of this month. Once the 70s lists are up I'll also post the list I made collecting the links to all of them. Yeah, I've been keeping busy over on Listal heh.

I've also made a new music-related list of a personal nature, which has spent most of Sunday on the main page of the site. It's called Songs and what they mean to me. I consider it the proper follow-up to my previously mentioned "I was a preteen metalhead" list. As anyone who knows me well is aware, music's been a big deal to me for pretty much my entire life, so making personal lists out of the music I like is somewhat easy and completely enjoyable. I feel like between the 2 I've given some fairly extensive insight into my tastes & myself, so it may not be as easy to come up with another one. I'll have to wrack my brain a bit perhaps.

Other than all of the above, there's not much else to tell. We had dinner Saturday night at a former co-worker/friend of mine's apartment that was nice, and we've got a friends' wedding coming up to go to. The wedding falls on a weekend, so my parents will come down to take care of E for us. I'm hoping to squeeze in the Swans performance here that weekend too, but at this point if I want to I may have to go alone. Perhaps if I go out alone often enough I'll make some new friends with similar interests though. That'd be great.

And now I'm officially out of things to talk about. As you were...

Still alive

Been meaning to post here, but the holiday season kept me plenty busy. Thanksgiving & Xmas were spent in Dallas with my family, V's mom came out and spent a week with us, and the New Year's holiday was spent catching up on movies. I've watched about 15 films since New Year's Eve, and V watched most of those with me which made me happy since we hadn't watched many together in the past couple months. I've spent many a late night watching a movie or two while she & E sleep, which isn't a bad thing but having someone to discuss a movie with after it ends is always better than discussing it with myself. I've got a handful of films waiting to be watched before I post my best of 2010 list anywhere, but I hope to do so by the end of the month.

Speaking of lists, I've been making more of those on Listal lately. Feel free to check them out: Best albums of 2010, Most anticipated albums of 2011, and Watched in 2011. The watched list will be updated regularly throughout the year to document what films I watch this year, whether for the first time or a repeat viewing. It's something a lot of Listal users do, so I've decided to give it a try. I hope to use it as a springboard for other movie lists as the year progresses. The most anticipated albums list is a work in progress too...right now it reflects the information that's available, so as album titles & release dates are set I'll add them as well as any albums coming out I'm unaware of at this time.

I'm still enjoying staying at home with the little one. She seems to change every day, doing new things, being more vocal, and so on. She also seems more aware...I often catch her focusing on things she never did before, and since Christmas she's been touching my beard

whenever my face is close enough. I love it & am always willing to endure the risk of her scratching my face in the process (which occasionally happens).

Her favorite toy lately seems to be her feet, which she happily grabs and holds onto for long stretches of time. Next to them she loves anything she can fit into her mouth and bite down on, which has us expecting her to start teething soon.

She's never been keen on spending time on her tummy, so I'm making it my mission to make her do so a little each day until she realizes it's not so bad. I'm sure once that happens it won't be long before she works toward crawling. I'm also trying to read a book to her each day, which seems to only interest her when she's in a good mood. If I read to her after she's been playing a while she usually throws a fit in the middle of the book hehe. So far her favorite book is Pat the Bunny, which was one of my childhood favorites as well. I think mostly she likes that the book gives her things to do rather than just sit there & listen to me.

As for other plans for the near future, V will have to work full-time again soon...once that happens E & I will drive there to have lunch with her every day so they're not apart for too long. Already E starts getting upset if V's not home close to 4pm, as if she knows that's the time mommy gets home. I think she's too smart for our own good already. ;) Also, I'd like to take some computer classes at the community college in the near future. The job interviews I had last year taught me that I'm not as computer savvy as potential employers would like, so that's something I need to work on. Not sure yet when that will happen, but I definitely prefer taking classes over trying to teach myself especially when it comes to software I've never used. Finally, I may work for Pearson again on the TAKS test since they're planning to have a lot of employees working from home this year. I'll have to know more details before I decide.

Other than that, I guess there's 2 pieces of news I haven't broadcast here yet. First off, we recently traded V's car in for a bigger vehicle. The trips to Dallas taught us that we needed more room than the Subaru Impreza provided, so now we've got a Honda CR-V to get around in. I've done most of the driving so far and am loving it. Not only does it have more room, it's now easier to get E in and out of her carseat (big plus!) and the seats are more comfortable for me than the Subaru's.

The other news is that on Nov. 22nd V & I went out to dinner to celebrate a year & 1/2 together & she proposed to me. Despite her not giving me a ring, I said yes. We haven't set a date yet, because our main focus is on our honeymoon which we intend to spend in Europe. Once she has the time off saved up and we have the money to go we'll figure out when the wedding will take place. We don't plan on having any big ceremony, just a small service. I haven't been telling everyone because, well, it's not that big of a deal to me. Ever since I told her I love her I've been 100% committed to our relationship, and having a child together seems like a bigger & more important commitment than a wedding ceremony. I've said all along that I'm with her no matter what, and I don't need a ceremony or a piece of paper to prove it, which is also why when she found out she was pregnant last year I told her that if she ever decided she wanted to marry me she'd have to propose. I guess making it legally official is a good thing in the event something should happen to either of us, but beyond that... I don't know. Please don't mistake what I'm saying, I'm glad we're getting married (otherwise I would've said no, right?), it's just not the major event for me that it is for most people I guess. Being legally married won't change anything for me personally, except I'll be able to call V my wife in conversations. I'm more excited about us going to Europe, which is somewhere I've always wanted to go. Best of all I'll get to see it with her by my side.

A list that tells a tale

I've been spending a lot of my time on Listal lately, and those of you following this blog have seen me post links to it here. I can't remember now how I first stumbled upon it, but I joined the site so I could keep track of my music and movie collections (I've got my books on there too, but I was already using Goodreads for them). It's been a great resource for that, despite the fact that music-wise it rarely acknowledges lesser-known artists & albums. When that happens, I can sometimes add an album through a connection between Listal & Amazon, but if it's never been sold through Amazon then I'm out of luck.

ANYWAY, for the past year or so I've been creating my own lists of various things. Most have been movie-related, such as my favorite horror movies, annual best-of lists, and movies I hate. I've also posted my share of music-related lists, and there's one that I'd like to share here with you.

Behold: "I was a preteen metalhead". This list details my personal musical evolution, from childhood through high school with a glimpse at what has followed since. I've given a lot of thought in recent years about why I like the music that I do, which albums and artists had the most significant impact on my listening tastes, and this list has given me a means to deconstruct that and present it to others. I really enjoyed this process as it's led to a clearer understanding of where I've been, and I like that I can finally lay to rest the ongoing conversation in my head about my musical taste.

So far, the response to it on Listal has been very positive, and I hope it will continue to gain attention. I have plans for more music-related lists in the future, and any time someone shows interest in those lists I can always refer them to this one to provide a deeper understanding if necessary. And since my lists can be accessed by non-Listal users as well, I can share it with the rest of my friends too, though of course you can't comment on them without being a member. (If you'd like to join the site, let me know & I'll send you an e-mail invite to get you started.) So feel free to bring your comments back here after you've looked at it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have household chores that demand my attention....

a few things

Back here again. Tomorrow will be my first day having Evie all to myself during the day, as V goes back to the office. She'll still be working part-time for a while, so it's not like we'll be home without her most of the day, but it's still a change and one I'm excited about. Our little girl is getting stronger every day, and she's making attempts to do more than just cry at us now. I'm hoping with her set of lungs being as strong as they are so far she'll be a scream queen some day...that could be cool. Anyway, it'll be up to me to keep her fed and happy during the day now...hopefully it'll go as well as I imagine. She's been really easy to handle so far, so if that continues I shouldn't have any problems.

This week in addition to watching her I intend to get some more boxes taken care of. There's a few in our garage I know I can find places for the contents of...won't be long and all that will be left are the things we want left in boxes in the garage. Since Evie tends to sleep a lot during the early part of the day, that should allow me time to get it done. That is, of course, if we don't both go back to sleep. Heh. We shall see what happens.

Also this week Evie has her first pediatrician appointment, so we'll see how that goes too.

And in addition to the above I'm still working my way through horror movies when I get the chance. If you want to check out what I've watched so far & my thoughts on them head over here. I've still got several left in our instant queue, and odds are I won't get through all of them (especially since I keep noticing ones I've overlooked & adding them). Along with the ones in the queue, the annual Halloween movie marathon is this weekend and on Halloween no less. Since I'm no longer in Dallas where it's usually held, we're trying something different this year. Tommy will have at least one person over at his place, while V & I will be at our place. We'll all watch the same movies at the same time & text our comments & thoughts between us. I still have no clue which movies we're watching though, so hopefully that'll be determined in enough time for us to acquire any movies we don't already have access to. If it all works out as it should then a good time shall be had by all.

Guess that's about it for now. I'll most likely check in again next week. Until then...

a long-delayed update

A lot has gone on in the past few weeks, beginning with moving into our new place. We hired movers, and the whole process took a little longer than we'd anticipated. Fortunately though, they managed to transport all of our belongings safely. We're now mostly settled into our new home, and it's taken a couple of weeks just to get this far. Funny, we were excited about having more space and now that we're here we've already agreed that we could use more than this. Oh well, it'll work for the time being. Hopefully we won't overload the place too much too quickly.

Don't get me wrong though...we're loving our new place. Quiet neighborhood, friendly neighbors, more space to maneuver around our belongings, a kitchen that both of us can be in at the same time without bumping into one another, a yard to hang out in when the weather's nice (which it has been lately), plenty of space to have guests over...all good things. We could use a bookcase or 2 still, and we need to figure out what to do with some things that have been sitting in boxes for unknown amounts of time, but we'll get it accomplished. Especially now that I'll be at home full-time.

That's right, no more temp job. It really wasn't working out anyway. I like the people, but being forced into crummy projects got to me. Plus, even if I wanted to stay, there's no alternative shift for me to work. And after looking into day-care costs, it's just not feasible for V and me to work similar hours, especially for no more than I'd been making. So that brings me to being home, which I'm excited about. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for late-night or work-from-home opportunities, and if I find something, great. But if not I'll gladly stay home with our little girl and take on a full-time job working for her. I believe that'd be a teaching/culinary/entertainment job...looking forward to getting some practical experience in all those areas.

Oh yeah, back to the moving thing...after the movers did their part, we still had to clear some things out of the old apartment. The following week, I was ill. Nothing serious, congestion and cough mostly. At first I chalked it up to allergies, what with high pollen counts and the dust regularly flying around as we packed and unpacked and so on. But if it was solely allergies, then it may have progressed into a sinus infection, as this past Friday and Saturday I ran a fever. I seem to be better now, though the cough continues to linger...fortunately it's nowhere near as bad as it has been. I've been self-medicating, and it seems to have worked. But over the now week-and-a-half that I wasn't feeling well it was difficult to do my share of unpacking and such. I'd do a little and have to rest for a bit before I could move on to another task. Sucked. So yeah, that slowed down our progress a little.

Add to that the fact that V's now working from home part-time, and both of us juggling the little one, and that slowed us down even more.

Yet somehow we managed to pull off having the place looking great by the time my parents, sister, and brother-in-law rolled into town this past weekend. (I give V most of the credit.) My parents stayed overnight and watched Evie while V & I hit up a pair of post-ACL shows. V won us tickets to see The Black Keys, and I'd bought us tickets to see Sonic Youth. Both bands were better than the previous time I'd seen either of them, though The Black Keys were merely OK this time instead of completely dull, and Sonic Youth were simply more enthusiastic this time around. Neither show was Amazing or especially memorable, but I enjoyed both of them. I especially enjoyed spending a night out with V and not having to worry about Evie the whole time.

And I guess that brings us up to speed. Now that it's October, I've got a slew of horror flicks in our instant queue to watch. So far I've only managed 5, but I'm hopeful I'll get through most if not all of them between now and Halloween. Slowing me down on that front is the fact that the fall TV season has started up, and we've got a bunch of shows to watch now (not to mention having just begun watching season 1 of Damages this past week). Which shows, you ask? Those would be: Bored to Death, Boardwalk Empire, Big Bang Theory, House, Community, Weeds, and in V's case Mad Men, which I admit I'm still far behind on (still lingering back in season 1). I think that's all of them. So yeah, lots to watch on top of caring for our baby girl and being entertained by her. Funny how she can't do much of anything and yet still manages to keep us enthralled with what little she can do.

All right, that's it for now....

The birth of Evie

Vita recently posted to the baby blog a detailed account of the birthing process, plus some pictures. For those not following it already who may be interested in checking that out, go here.

In other news, we signed the lease on our new place today. It'll be great to get out of this crummy little apartment and into a nice, spacious 2 bedroom duplex. We'll be moving toward the end of the month, so we'll be plenty busy between now and then! The new place is a little further north from where we are, in a nice quiet neighborhood. As an added bonus, it's right around the corner from a handful of restaurants we like to eat at on a regular basis.

OK, off to eat some lunch....