As expected, another month or two has passed since my last blog update. I appropriately hang my head in shame.
The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic at work. A week from last Sunday I almost didn't make it down to a planned trip to the Denver Museum because I had to stop in to the library to help diagnose a network problem. The city IT team had recently switched the all departments over to a new Internet service provider, which ended up playing havoc with any communications from the outside world to us. I ended up spending most of the afternoon at work (with Kate, Tessa, and my buddy Bill just milling about waiting for me) before the City IT guy I was working with said he was giving up for the day. Fortunately, we were able to blaze down the interstate and rendezvous with the rest of the gang at the Museum in time to catch the last showing of the Pirates exhibit (which was stellar cool!) as well as make it to Cinzetti's for a much needed dinner.
I'm still dealing with some of the communication fallout from the ISP switchover. For example, remote access to our subscribed databases don't seem to be working. Also a program used by our interlibrary loan staff is having trouble. I have theories on what's going wrong but I lack the skills or security access to make the changes. It results in a bit of sit around and wait for help on my part.
I did have a few successes. I was able to diagnose a network drop issue that was keeping one of our self-check machines down. A call to a specific network specialist later and it was up and running. I also installed a new color printer for use in the public computer labs. This wasn't as tricky as I was expecting it to be...once the city IT gents installed a couple of new network drops in my computer lab. Now all library patrons can print in color, which has already proven to be very, very popular. This did involve some rearranging of the lab, moving two printers, shifting the position of the copier, and installing a second self-service reservation station.
To top it all off, the library is in a hiring frenzy. I was recently on the interview team for a new cataloging technician that will also work under me in the computer lab a few hours a week. I did some training with the intern working the Childrens & Teen department, who was interested in helping us out in the computer lab. I'm also hiring a new hourly lab monitor position to replace one of my gals whose second job just bumped her up to full-time. Thankfully, she's been good enough to stick around for nights and weekends until I get this new person hired on. I currently have somewhere around ninety applications to filter through over the weekend. All this also means I'm having to revamp the lab rotation schedule to accommodate new availabilities.
I've also been getting pressure to update my section of the library web page, namely the computer lab section. It sounds like I may get tapped to help with the Circulation side as well. And the head of Adult Services/Reference wants my expertise in redesigning our Library 24/7 page. Didn't anyone tell these folks that it's my sister who's the web design expert? :-)
Tack this on to the usual PC maintenance and minor disasters that crop up every other day as well as juggling my scheduled time in the computer lab...and you have before you a severely run ragged library tech.
Still, I can't complain too much. I like being kept busy. I like being challenged. I like that my co-workers consider me an local expert and trust my judgment and ability. I like how I always have something new to work on or try out. It really is a pretty good job that I have.
But that doesn't mean I'm not looking for a nice vacation. :-)
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Pregnancy Update 4
As of this post, Kate and I have roughly a week or so before Baby's arrival. That's assuming that Baby agrees to pay heed to the scheduled due date...which I'm fairly certain he/she will not. In fact, if Baby has his/her parents' knack for timeliness, Baby won't make an appearance until Christmas! :-)
Kate's doing very well. She hasn't had any discomfort that the pregnancy books say can be normal. She does get tired very quickly...and seems to need a sit-down rest after even 10-15 minutes of activity. The only ailment she's suffered from recently is a PUPPP rash, but a little cortisone and some benadryl and she was fine in a couple of days.
Here's a pic of her from this week:
Getting big, isn't she? :-)
It's been extremely cool to be able to feel Baby moving around in Kate's belly. I've been able to feel feet, legs, and even Baby's rump pressing up against Kate's skin. Baby still tends to keep quiet when Kate's moving...but gets active when she's sitting still. Baby also reacts to noise, particularly music...but a couple of times he/she gave a twitch at Daddy's voice. :-D I'm also able to 'play' with Baby by poking or tapping Kate's belly and getting a kick or twitch in response. Oddly enough, Kate doesn't always like this game. ;-)
Another amusing twist is that Kate hasn't hit any sort of 'nesting' phases. In fact, it's been yours truly that's been anxious about making sure everything is ready for Baby's arrival. I was starting to scheme up complex plans to re-arrange the entire living room and office...and I was panicking because I didn't know how I was going to get everything done! Fortunately, Kate was able to talk me down and remind me that we don't need a huge re-structuring of the house just for one tiny tot. With that in mind, I reined by in plans to something simpler and much more manageable, which we finished up last weekend.
We're pretty much ready with furniture and supplies, having stopped at Sam's Club to pick up diapers and Babies-R-Us for other tools of the parental trade. In addition, our friend Deb and Rick gave us a changing table (which the cats think is a new fort to play on) and a car seat for the kiddo. And (best of all) my folks made us a new rocking cradle for Baby! They also brought up a glider chair for Kate, although Chiral appears to have adopted it as her own chair.
Here's some pictures:
We've finished our childbirth and breastfeeding classes (although we'll have a few weeks of postpartum classes sometime in January). We've also got Baby's baptism all scheduled out - I believe Kate's folks will be out for that event.
At our last visit to the midwives at Womancare, we were told that Baby was doing well. His/her head is pointed downward, but his/her face is looking forward. But there are some easy exercises that Kate's been doing to help encourage Baby to turn around and face the proper way. Other than that, the midwives have pronounced Baby as perfectly healthy...and looking pretty comfortable despite the squashed living space inside of Mommy. :-)
So all is well right now! We're both very excited about Baby's upcoming arrival...but Kate admits that Baby is probably easier to manage where he/she is right now. :-)
Hopefully, the next post will be a birth announcement!
As always, thanks for reading...and I hope you're having a great day!
Kate's doing very well. She hasn't had any discomfort that the pregnancy books say can be normal. She does get tired very quickly...and seems to need a sit-down rest after even 10-15 minutes of activity. The only ailment she's suffered from recently is a PUPPP rash, but a little cortisone and some benadryl and she was fine in a couple of days.
Here's a pic of her from this week:
Getting big, isn't she? :-)
It's been extremely cool to be able to feel Baby moving around in Kate's belly. I've been able to feel feet, legs, and even Baby's rump pressing up against Kate's skin. Baby still tends to keep quiet when Kate's moving...but gets active when she's sitting still. Baby also reacts to noise, particularly music...but a couple of times he/she gave a twitch at Daddy's voice. :-D I'm also able to 'play' with Baby by poking or tapping Kate's belly and getting a kick or twitch in response. Oddly enough, Kate doesn't always like this game. ;-)
Another amusing twist is that Kate hasn't hit any sort of 'nesting' phases. In fact, it's been yours truly that's been anxious about making sure everything is ready for Baby's arrival. I was starting to scheme up complex plans to re-arrange the entire living room and office...and I was panicking because I didn't know how I was going to get everything done! Fortunately, Kate was able to talk me down and remind me that we don't need a huge re-structuring of the house just for one tiny tot. With that in mind, I reined by in plans to something simpler and much more manageable, which we finished up last weekend.
We're pretty much ready with furniture and supplies, having stopped at Sam's Club to pick up diapers and Babies-R-Us for other tools of the parental trade. In addition, our friend Deb and Rick gave us a changing table (which the cats think is a new fort to play on) and a car seat for the kiddo. And (best of all) my folks made us a new rocking cradle for Baby! They also brought up a glider chair for Kate, although Chiral appears to have adopted it as her own chair.
Here's some pictures:
We've finished our childbirth and breastfeeding classes (although we'll have a few weeks of postpartum classes sometime in January). We've also got Baby's baptism all scheduled out - I believe Kate's folks will be out for that event.
At our last visit to the midwives at Womancare, we were told that Baby was doing well. His/her head is pointed downward, but his/her face is looking forward. But there are some easy exercises that Kate's been doing to help encourage Baby to turn around and face the proper way. Other than that, the midwives have pronounced Baby as perfectly healthy...and looking pretty comfortable despite the squashed living space inside of Mommy. :-)
So all is well right now! We're both very excited about Baby's upcoming arrival...but Kate admits that Baby is probably easier to manage where he/she is right now. :-)
Hopefully, the next post will be a birth announcement!
As always, thanks for reading...and I hope you're having a great day!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Pregnancy Update 3
Okay, I have to admit that at this point in Kate's pregnancy, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of 'wow-bang' activity. The visits to the midwives at Womancare are getting, well quite frankly, a bit dull. We walk in, they take a few measurements, check the heartbeat, ask if she's having any troubles, and off we go!
Don't get me wrong! I'm glad that the pregnancy is thus far rather 'boring.' The idea of impending parenthood is exciting enough without an extra-special 'thrills.'
I will however share this picture of Kate and her growing belly. This picture was taken on Oct 1st and Kate is about 30 1/2 weeks along.
This puts her into her third trimester, which means we're on the downhill slope to baby's arrival in December. As such, since Kate's a big fan of being prepared (I am as well; she's just better at it than me), we're starting to get some of our ducks in a row before baby makes his/her appearance.
For one thing, we've signed up for birthing classes through the Foothills Childbirth Education Association. We had originally hoped to get into a specialized class that taught the Bradley method of husband-coached childbirth, but the scheduling and timing didn't work out. So instead, we're reading a book entitled "Husband-Coached Childbirth" and taking this class through the FCEA for a general introduction about what to expect from the birth.
The class actually had its first session on Wednesday this week...and it was very informative! Okay, so sue me...but I honestly had no idea how the internals of a woman's body worked during childbirth. In this first class, our instructor Krista gave us a crash course in the bodily functions that occur during childbirth. I won't go into it all here, but I have to admit, I am seriously impressed with how God has put women together to allow babies to be born! Everything just operates like a smooth machine. Sure, there's always the chance of a glitch, but it's almost beautiful how it all functions.
Sorry, I'll skip over the waxing poetic here. :-)
So we went over the physiological aspect of childbirth and some general talk about relaxing during childbirth. Krista didn't lie to us - she told us that childbirth would be messy and painful, but there are things we can do to help ease the pain. The key seems to be to trust that your body knows what it's doing...so just let it. Don't focus on the part that's automatic; concern yourself with anything else that adds to your comfort. Krista and the FCEA seem to be big fans of husbands and partners helping with the birth and with minimal use of drugs - basically as natural as you can if what they'd prefer.
Krista finished with an anecdote about how one never forgets all those details related to the birth of one's child. Even when the child is grown up and getting ready to graduate from high school like her daughter is. She got rather sniffly and teary-eyed during this story...and none of us could blame her! It really hit home the kind of love that we're going to be bringing into our lives.
Oops - waxing again. Moving on. :-)
We've also started talking with our church about getting the baby baptized. We met last night with Deacon Bill and his wife from SEAS Parish. We'll need to go to a class at the church next month, and after that we'll probably plan on having the baptism in January. We're still debating whether we want to have the baptism during a regular Mass or a private ceremony. We're leaning a little bit toward the public one. We would have liked to set it up so the baptism occurred on a holiday weekend - to make it easier for Kate's mother to visit - but sadly, I'm scheduled to work both holiday weekends in January and February. In any case, we'll figure something out.
As part of the process, we chose our friends Debbie and Rick to be godparents of our baby. They are wonderful, good-hearted people that go to the same church as we do. Debbie worked with both me and Kate at the library for some years before Jason - their charming boy - was born. We've made an effort to stay in touch, get together for dinner, that sort of thing.
Here's a picture of Deb, Rick, and Jason at one of their friend's wedding:
Other than that, it's business as usual. Kate regularly feels the baby moving, usually when she's not. It's too the point that occasionally I'm lucky enough to feel a kick or push when my hand rests on Kate's belly. It's the coolest feeling! :-)
That's all to report for now.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day!
Don't get me wrong! I'm glad that the pregnancy is thus far rather 'boring.' The idea of impending parenthood is exciting enough without an extra-special 'thrills.'
I will however share this picture of Kate and her growing belly. This picture was taken on Oct 1st and Kate is about 30 1/2 weeks along.
This puts her into her third trimester, which means we're on the downhill slope to baby's arrival in December. As such, since Kate's a big fan of being prepared (I am as well; she's just better at it than me), we're starting to get some of our ducks in a row before baby makes his/her appearance.
For one thing, we've signed up for birthing classes through the Foothills Childbirth Education Association. We had originally hoped to get into a specialized class that taught the Bradley method of husband-coached childbirth, but the scheduling and timing didn't work out. So instead, we're reading a book entitled "Husband-Coached Childbirth" and taking this class through the FCEA for a general introduction about what to expect from the birth.
The class actually had its first session on Wednesday this week...and it was very informative! Okay, so sue me...but I honestly had no idea how the internals of a woman's body worked during childbirth. In this first class, our instructor Krista gave us a crash course in the bodily functions that occur during childbirth. I won't go into it all here, but I have to admit, I am seriously impressed with how God has put women together to allow babies to be born! Everything just operates like a smooth machine. Sure, there's always the chance of a glitch, but it's almost beautiful how it all functions.
Sorry, I'll skip over the waxing poetic here. :-)
So we went over the physiological aspect of childbirth and some general talk about relaxing during childbirth. Krista didn't lie to us - she told us that childbirth would be messy and painful, but there are things we can do to help ease the pain. The key seems to be to trust that your body knows what it's doing...so just let it. Don't focus on the part that's automatic; concern yourself with anything else that adds to your comfort. Krista and the FCEA seem to be big fans of husbands and partners helping with the birth and with minimal use of drugs - basically as natural as you can if what they'd prefer.
Krista finished with an anecdote about how one never forgets all those details related to the birth of one's child. Even when the child is grown up and getting ready to graduate from high school like her daughter is. She got rather sniffly and teary-eyed during this story...and none of us could blame her! It really hit home the kind of love that we're going to be bringing into our lives.
Oops - waxing again. Moving on. :-)
We've also started talking with our church about getting the baby baptized. We met last night with Deacon Bill and his wife from SEAS Parish. We'll need to go to a class at the church next month, and after that we'll probably plan on having the baptism in January. We're still debating whether we want to have the baptism during a regular Mass or a private ceremony. We're leaning a little bit toward the public one. We would have liked to set it up so the baptism occurred on a holiday weekend - to make it easier for Kate's mother to visit - but sadly, I'm scheduled to work both holiday weekends in January and February. In any case, we'll figure something out.
As part of the process, we chose our friends Debbie and Rick to be godparents of our baby. They are wonderful, good-hearted people that go to the same church as we do. Debbie worked with both me and Kate at the library for some years before Jason - their charming boy - was born. We've made an effort to stay in touch, get together for dinner, that sort of thing.
Here's a picture of Deb, Rick, and Jason at one of their friend's wedding:
Other than that, it's business as usual. Kate regularly feels the baby moving, usually when she's not. It's too the point that occasionally I'm lucky enough to feel a kick or push when my hand rests on Kate's belly. It's the coolest feeling! :-)
That's all to report for now.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day!
Friday, September 11, 2009
September Updates
Just some quick notes - stuff I've been meaning to post. It's been crazy busy at work the last couple of weeks...and I've been dead-to-the-world tired for most of this one. I wonder if that has something to do with the long weekend for Labor Day. Ah, well.
First off, I want to mentioned the passing of my great-uncle Pone. My Mom mentioned that he'd passed away on Wednesday night. In truth, I had no idea that I even had a living great-uncle. Sadly, I never had the chance to meet him or know anything about him. I had the same feeling when my Thai grandfather passed away some years ago...that sense of regret that I wouldn't have another chance to know him. I know that Mom is sad that she won't be able to get to Thailand for his funeral...and she says that Yai (that's Thai for "grandmother") is pretty broken up about losing her younger brother. Pone was only 61.
If you could spare a prayer, our family would appreciate it.
Next, I'm happy to say that our wasp problem seems to have been dealt with. Last week, Kate and I noticed something like two dozen wasps buzzing about our back porch area. A large number of them were congregating in the fence that divides our back porch with our neighbor's...which meant that the nest (nests?) was actually inside the fence. This was really annoying for me because...one, I hate wasps...and two, I'd been planning a barbeque for Labor Day. I had grand plans for a kabob theme...but I sure as heck couldn't work the grill with a swarm of aggressive insects buzzing about. And since it was just before the weekend, it was unlikely that we could get an exterminator in before the holiday. I ended up having to ditch the grill idea.
I did some looking online and found a few ideas for homemade wasp traps...but most websites suggested either using poisons or just calling a professional. I tried my hand at making my own wasp trap using a soda bottle, some corn syrup and a few pieces of watermelon (since wasps are attracted to sweet smells). It didn't work. Kate's theory was that the critters were very, very focused on trying to finish their nest before the cold weather set in and didn't have time for snacking. Whatever the reason, I didn't kill a single wasp.
Thankfully, Kate and I noticed yesterday when we got home that our fence had been tagged by the exterminator used by our HOA. Kate had called our HOA rep on Tuesday and she was told that a professional would be called and that it was all covered by our HOA fees (since the nest was outside). Last night, we found the tag and a number of dead wasps lying on the porch. Huzzah! Now I can resume my plans for grilling.
And in case you were wondering, we did have a big get-together on Labor Day. We usually have a monthly gathering of friends from the libraries in order to gossip and play board games. Since we missed the August session, we decided to hold a big game night on Labor Day, assuming that most folks would have the day off. Since we couldn't do my grilled kabob plan, we instead switched to a semi-Mexican theme with Kate making lentil tacos and me trying a pork green chile recipe. As usual, we overdid it on the food and we had tons of leftovers! That's okay though; we were starting to run low on decent leftovers.
We had our ever-faithful chum Erin show up and a brief visit from Sarah R. and her family. Giny also made an appearance...and our non-library friends Ron, Dawn, and Josh also visited. It was great fun, especially since we actually managed to play several games, including Fluxx and SceneIt. Our next game night will be in October. We're not sure when exactly...since October includes our anniversary, Halloween, baptism and birthing classes, and a possible visit with my family (though that might wait until early November).
At what point did we develop such a complicated social calender? :-)
That's all from the Fort Collins front for now. I probably owe our good readers an update on Kate's pregnancy...but I'll save that for its own post.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and have yourself a great day!
First off, I want to mentioned the passing of my great-uncle Pone. My Mom mentioned that he'd passed away on Wednesday night. In truth, I had no idea that I even had a living great-uncle. Sadly, I never had the chance to meet him or know anything about him. I had the same feeling when my Thai grandfather passed away some years ago...that sense of regret that I wouldn't have another chance to know him. I know that Mom is sad that she won't be able to get to Thailand for his funeral...and she says that Yai (that's Thai for "grandmother") is pretty broken up about losing her younger brother. Pone was only 61.
If you could spare a prayer, our family would appreciate it.
Next, I'm happy to say that our wasp problem seems to have been dealt with. Last week, Kate and I noticed something like two dozen wasps buzzing about our back porch area. A large number of them were congregating in the fence that divides our back porch with our neighbor's...which meant that the nest (nests?) was actually inside the fence. This was really annoying for me because...one, I hate wasps...and two, I'd been planning a barbeque for Labor Day. I had grand plans for a kabob theme...but I sure as heck couldn't work the grill with a swarm of aggressive insects buzzing about. And since it was just before the weekend, it was unlikely that we could get an exterminator in before the holiday. I ended up having to ditch the grill idea.
I did some looking online and found a few ideas for homemade wasp traps...but most websites suggested either using poisons or just calling a professional. I tried my hand at making my own wasp trap using a soda bottle, some corn syrup and a few pieces of watermelon (since wasps are attracted to sweet smells). It didn't work. Kate's theory was that the critters were very, very focused on trying to finish their nest before the cold weather set in and didn't have time for snacking. Whatever the reason, I didn't kill a single wasp.
Thankfully, Kate and I noticed yesterday when we got home that our fence had been tagged by the exterminator used by our HOA. Kate had called our HOA rep on Tuesday and she was told that a professional would be called and that it was all covered by our HOA fees (since the nest was outside). Last night, we found the tag and a number of dead wasps lying on the porch. Huzzah! Now I can resume my plans for grilling.
And in case you were wondering, we did have a big get-together on Labor Day. We usually have a monthly gathering of friends from the libraries in order to gossip and play board games. Since we missed the August session, we decided to hold a big game night on Labor Day, assuming that most folks would have the day off. Since we couldn't do my grilled kabob plan, we instead switched to a semi-Mexican theme with Kate making lentil tacos and me trying a pork green chile recipe. As usual, we overdid it on the food and we had tons of leftovers! That's okay though; we were starting to run low on decent leftovers.
We had our ever-faithful chum Erin show up and a brief visit from Sarah R. and her family. Giny also made an appearance...and our non-library friends Ron, Dawn, and Josh also visited. It was great fun, especially since we actually managed to play several games, including Fluxx and SceneIt. Our next game night will be in October. We're not sure when exactly...since October includes our anniversary, Halloween, baptism and birthing classes, and a possible visit with my family (though that might wait until early November).
At what point did we develop such a complicated social calender? :-)
That's all from the Fort Collins front for now. I probably owe our good readers an update on Kate's pregnancy...but I'll save that for its own post.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and have yourself a great day!
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