I need a new job before my head explodes. Any suggestions? I'm thinking I could be a rodeo clown, a meth dealer (there's probably a recipe on the internet, right?), the person who rings the bell for the Salvation Army at Christmastime, a hand model for gloves being sold online, or a cat whisperer. I'm really only qualified to be the last one.

:/

I really do hate my job, though. That part wasn't a joke.

So - Theseus is out right now, taking the civil service exam for fire fighters. I'm very anxious/excited! He's been looking forward to this for over a year, but because of the deployment, he is just now taking it. I hope he places well!
     

Austin slept for 7 consecutive hours!!!
     

I don't know how long this will continue (hopefully not long!), but Theseus and I have identified a pattern: every late afternoon/early evening, after eating but before bedtime, Austin freaks the heck out. For a few minutes, nothing in the world can make that baby happy. We talk to him, rock him, smooch him, and after 10 minutes or so he settles down and falls asleep. It's actually a lot less stressful for us now that we expect it and can see him spinning himself into The Evening Wail.

Now that we've got him figured out, though, he'll probably abandon this routine and take up another one. He's full of surprises that way. Did I tell you he let out a single, creepy laugh last week? He creeped himself out, too.

Ok, I was going to write some more but now I have a grumpy husband. So. I'll write some more tomorrow.

...even when the baby is screaming.

Austin is having a tough evening - it makes me so sad, because I feel so helpless. Earlier he was wailing his head off and nothing Theseus or I did would comfort him. He had a clean diaper, a dry outfit, a full tummy, his choice of a lap to sit in - still angry. We checked his fingers and toes to see if a hair had become wrapped around them, but they were clear. I adjusted his diaper in case it was pinching him - he continued screaming. He screamed so hard, there was a short pause between wails when his face was beet-red and his mouth was wide open but no sound came out. Finally we took off his (dry) diaper and gave him a new one and that settled him down some.

A little while later, after a walk outside in the garden and a refilled tummy, he sat with me while I worked on some school work. I still have to take an exam before the end of the night. Now he's is sleeping and Theseus and I are watching the Bruins game. I hope he isn't up screaming all night. It's rough on all of us. :/

Last night I had a bad dream: I went into the basement to take care of the laundry I'd left there for several weeks and found a rat had made a nest in the clothes that were in the dryer.

There's a lesson in there somewhere, I think.

Yesterday Theseus and I worked on the yard in shifts. Tonight we worked on school stuff in shifts. The yard is much easier.

I was going to write a big thing about how we have to do damn near everything in shifts, but Theseus is tired and he just dropped the baby's pacifier on the floor, and I have to get my stuff ready for work tomorrow and the baby needs to be changed and I have to pee and the cats are demanding attention...

This has nothing to do with anything, but I want to eat these parsnip pancakes RIGHT NOW!

Gahhhh. Good night.

The baby slept all day, so Theseus and I were able to get a lot done in the yard. Our grass was getting pretty high, and the town can be b*tches about unkempt yards - last year I got a citation warning. Have to try not to let that happen again this year.
     

Yes, honey. In fact, I'll even skip writing this blog post.

Good night!