He likes cake
We had Troy’s first birthday party yesterday at our house. Other than natural fruits, the birthday cake was his first exposure to sweets.
He wasn’t quite sure what to think of it at first:
But he got the hang of it pretty quickly:
And he was a seasoned pro after 5 minutes:
Thanks to everyone who came yesterday!
Oh, and, uh, Troy had a *very* big day today, if you catch my drift (gawd knows we caught his…)
Happy Birthday, Dude
Exactly one year ago today, your father was very tired. Like, exhausted. Could barely stand, I was so drained. I don’t know how I did it, but I dug deep, and I came through in the clutch.
Oh, and your mom had a bit of a workout that morning, too, but it was small potatoes compared to what I went through.
Anyway, that day changed our lives forever. You have brought so much joy and laughter into this household that we can hardly believe we ever lived fulfilling lives without you. Here’s to a fabulous first year of getting to know you, and many more to come.
The Rock
When we found out that I’d have a free week of vacation, Kelly and I decided very quickly that we should take advantage of it as best we could, so we booked a room near Fisherman’s Wharf. She’d never been to Alcatraz, so we made visiting The Rock our main purpose. It is a trip. They have a guided audio tour, and they did such a good job with the tracks that, at times, it really sounds like you’re standing in the middle of an operational prison. It’s kind of neat to let your imagination run wild, picturing what it must have been like to arrive at Alcatraz, knowing that you’d be spending an interminable amount of time in the depths of hell. I have to tell you, I would NOT want to spend one second there as a prisoner. The hopelessness, the despair, the desolation… and I was just a tourist!
I'm on vacation
Have you noticed an uptick in the frequency of my blog posts over the past week? Well, there’s a good reason for that: I am not employed at the moment. Note: I’m not unemployed; I just don’t have any place to be until I start my new job on the 17th.
I originally gave my two weeks notice on February 29th. Everything went according to plan until March 6th, when Esurance decided to buy out the remainder of my two weeks and sent me home. It was nothing bad; on the contrary, we parted on very good terms. Rather, it was a corporate procedure they had to follow for reasons that are far too boring to recount here.
Would sir desire a Coors Light with his T-bone?
Why, yes, I would, thank you.
So.
Kelly and T-man are out of town for the next couple of nights, which means I’ll have to fend for myself when it comes to food. Fortunately, I learned how to operate a BBQ at an early age (thanks, Dad!), so, for tonight at least, I won’t starve to death.
What’s on the menu:
- T-bone steak
- Kimchee
- Rice
- Coors Light (for basting the steak (honest))
Mmm… temporary bachelorhood food…
Pre-breakfast histrionics
Every morning I wake Troy up, change him, and take him to the kitchen for his first bottle. Every morning, I set him on the floor for the 30 seconds it takes me to retrieve the bottle from the fridge and warm its contents. And every morning, without fail, I get 30 seconds of this:
It doesn’t start until I’ve placed him on the kitchen floor. He’s usually his happy, goofy self up until that point. Clearly, I don’t understand how hard it is to be Troy Steven:
The First Haircut
We’ve been saying for several months now that Troy’s hair is getting out of control, and that we needed to get it cut. That prompted strenuous objections from certain parties, who proclaimed vociferously that we must wait until after his first birthday. So we waited.
Yesterday, however, we reached the breaking point. We couldn’t take it anymore, so we headed down to Jack n Jillybeans Salon in Roseville to get him a little trim.
He gets tested
Poor Homer has really bad allergies. His regular vet couldn’t “fix” him, so we ended up having to take him to a veterinary dermatologist. She ruled out food as the cause pretty quickly, so that meant it was environmental.
(Great job, Homer. Way to pick the more expensive allergy.)
Regular blood tests and treatments would have cost hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars, and there is no way we could do that. Fortunately, the vet has used an experimental drug to treat dogs like Homer with a good success rate. By participating in the experiment, the drug company would pay for all of Homer’s blood work and give us the meds for free. We jumped at it.
Book worm
This is one of my favorite pictures because he does this all the time. He’ll find a book, pick it up, face me, and hold it up in the air with a very earnest look on his face. It’s as if he’s saying, “Won’t you read this to me, PLEASE?”
That, or, “Sandra Boynton? Seriously? If you read me one more Sandra Boynton book, I’m going to stab you in the face with a soldering iron.”
Garfield Minus Garfield
Holy crap, these are hilarious.
From the site description:
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.