Traffic for 2007 October

(3) Thu Oct 04 2007 14:26 EST Truth & Lies: Yesterday when I went home I noticed the car in front of me had an Antarctica license plate. Can that be for real? I don't see how it can, but it looked real.

If it's not real, I wonder. I see lots of people in California with stupid license plates in lieu of real ones (fake Angel fans ones, fake USC alumnus ones, etc). I thought that it was illegal to not display your license plates. If not, then why even bother with license plates in the first place?

(1) Mon Oct 08 2007 23:14 EST There & Back Again: Back from SLO, as it is known to the locals, and those in the know, including me but not including my wife. I love being right.

Maggie slept for two hours on the drive up, which was nice. We stopped at a beach between Ventura & Santa Barbara both coming and going to feed Maggie. The water was the bluest I have ever seen, as it is semi-polluted in SoCal & the Kong, brown in NYC, and grey in Alaska (due to the silt).

We stopped for Pea Soup, and Maggie had a bite and ate some bread. The waiter couldn't believe how well-behaved she was. That place is quite a riot--there is so much junk for sale in Solvang. They have these sleeping puppies and kitties that breathe while they sleep. Creepy indeed.

Joel & especially Leah found Maggie to be quite the hot item. Leah would go up to Maggie and just grunt and grunt. Then Maggie and Leah would crack up laughing. The kids weren't shy at all, unlike the last time I saw them. Joel wasn't even afraid to go in the hay bale maze with me at the pumpkin patch. He found his own way out, in fact.

It must be nice to be able to walk to the ocean every day. We're close, but not that close. The big rock is still in the bay, and it still looked big. Sometimes things that were larger than life as a child aren't so cool as an adult. But the rock is still big. On the way home, Maggie slept for two hours straight, then screamed for two hours straight. She always looks so glad to be home. Hopefully she won't be traumatized by the move. I hope that once our stuff shows up at our home, she'll accept the move easier.

Maggie is definitely a Richardson. We gave her peach wedges to eat at the picnic table while we ate breakfast and she just gnawed and gnawed on those pieces. Millions of peaches, peaches for Maggie.

(1) Mon Oct 08 2007 23:14 EST Old Man Trouble: My daughter is seven months old today. Rounding up, she's now almost a year. This can't be happening.

(2) Thu Oct 11 2007 12:39 EST Calling Ma Bell: As part of the Verizon "new every two plan" I got a brand new phone yesterday. For free. An LG Chocolate phone. Not that I need all the gadgetry, but this is my first camera phone. I got Susie a new one as well, as hers was half off with the plan.

She wanted a pink razor phone. Pink. I told her pink is not good--now I can't use it. And I told her I've heard a lot of complaints about the razor phone. And sure enough, last night as she played with it, she complained about it. Oh well, hope she'll learn to like it. I love mine.

(1) Tue Oct 16 2007 23:50 EST Daddy Daughter Day: I took the day off to be with my family after yet another grueling deadline ended. As Susie mentioned, it's been a long day for us. Along with packing up most of the kitchen and a few other things, Maggie managed to have a rough night throwing up, poop in the bathtub this morning, have a bad bought of the trots (luckily we were holding her at the time and it got on nothing), going to Disneyland, watching Maggie pull herself up in her crib (which we have now lowered, thank goodness), and bribing Maggie into crawling! The trick is to show Maggie her binky, then place it about 5 paces away from her. She'll crawl to it every time. The first time it was just Maggie & me; the second time Susie was there; the third time, we added the camera.

Though I didn't want to lower the crib and have her crawl till we moved, it's been fun watching her progression nonetheless. Even with my crazy work schedule, I've been blessed to be present for about 90% of these 'Maggie milestones.' But I do hate doing anything to the crib because the bumper makes it difficult to get the sheets off. I'm ready to pack it away and use the hide-a-crib until we move.

So much to do at work before the move. Better get back to the grind.

Thu Oct 18 2007 11:21 EST I Need a Hero: Maggie's been vomitting since Monday night. Yesterday at the doctor's office it was my turn to start throwing up. Then last night Susie started. There we were about 6 pm last night, all laying on our bed, counting down the minutes to Maggie's bedtime so Susie and I could go to bed too.

Luckily I felt the sickness coming on and only had a cup of Instant Breakfast. I skipped lunch and dinner, and am so glad I did. I really had nothing to vomit up. This morning I feel much better, and am sticking to peaches and water until I am absolutely certain they can stay down.

Now it's my turn to help Susie and Maggie recover. We've had Maggie on breastmilk and Pedialyte only, so I'm surprised she's still not doing well. I had to get out of a major assignment today. I think, though, I'd rather be at work with a healthy family.

We've been wracking our brains trying to figure out where we got this from. Especially since Maggie got it first and gave it to us. Usually it works the other way around. Well, duty calls.

Fri Oct 19 2007 13:56 EST Setback: I have now gone about 40 hours without vomitting. I kept down six peach slices and some cheese and crackers. Maggie was on my same track, but she just threw up. After almost 40 hours of not throwing up. This bug refuses to leave my family alone. I couldn't care less about a cure for cancer anymore. I'll stop telling doctor jokes the day some overpaid health care administrator comes up with a cure for the common flu. I must be desperate--I'll even wait in your lobby for the normal 45 minutes without complaining!

(1) Sat Oct 20 2007 21:32 EST Don't jinx it: I feel almost 100% better now. Tomorrow I am going to have actual food again! Also, I've lost six pounds to this illness.

Susie also is better, which means that I can go back to work on Monday. I've got 5 days left in this office, and I've got a lot to do before the big move.

Maggie seems a lot more perky now, didn't feel feverish to the touch today, seems to have her apetite back (though we don't know for sure, as we are still depriving her a little until we are sure), and overall appears to be on the mend.

We close escrow on our house on Thursday! We will own a house very soon!

We have been informed that we are now in escrow to get rid of another house. Pinch me. It can't be true.

(3) Mon Oct 22 2007 12:57 EST Armageddon Now: Link: OC Fires

Yesterday Maggie finally kept down solid food! So we were all able to attend church. I had to sit on the stand the whole time for the Primary program. It went better than any of the rehearsals at least. They announced in Primary that we are leaving. Matthew turned to Susie and told them that we are the best teachers in the universe, Charlotte started crying, and Elizabeth was extra sad. She made a knitted winter hat for Maggie that is crooked, but way cute.

We tried to go for a walk after church with our new, improved, healthy little girl. But mother nature had other plans. The Santa Ana winds picked up with gale forces of around 40-50 mph. Then arsons started a fire in Portola, about 20 miles from our house. The sky turned black and we had to shut all the windows in our house. Because we have all been sick for six days, our house doesn't smell so good. And the smoke leaked into the house anyway. By bedtime it was hot and stuffy, so we sprayed linen spray all over everything, and laced the carpets with deoderizer. But all that did was make our house smell like a cheap Vegas hotel room.

What possesses people to do such things?

First the illness, now the fires. I think we'll never regret our decision to move.

(1) Wed Oct 24 2007 18:33 EST Breath of Fresh Air: My car was covered in ashes this morning. 90-degree weather with closed windows and doors sure is stuffy. I'm so glad our apartment is one of the few to have air conditioning. Seriously though, folks, I'm counting down the hours to when I can get out of this mess. It's like the entire tri-county area has turned into one big casino, but the "house" isn't winning. It's burning.

Work this week is a never-ending smorgasbord of free lunch. Maybe I should leave more often.