Latest Update

Here's what I'm up to these days, folks.

I spend a lot of time playing on the floor with my kid. She's 12 1/2 months now and full of energy. After a couple weeks of disruption involving an infection that made her really sick and made us really scared, it has taken me about 5 days to get her back to her usual, happy-go-lucky self. She still isn't walking all that much, but is getting a lot better at the little bit of walking she does. She talks a lot, but we still don't have much clue what she's saying unless she uses her sign language too. Still, she has multiple ways of letting us know what she wants and when she wants it, most of which involve some combination of frenetic gesticulation and vocalization. She only gets really mad when I take away something she wants (like that Sharpie! GAH!!!!) and then only for a few seconds before she spies something else (like the stapler! GAH!!!).

While she naps, I try to do stuff related to managing this little family. Laundry, dishes - yeah, I do that. Cleaning, cooking - I do that, too. I keep us on a loose budget and do my best to keep track of all the things that we are going to do between now and September when Michelle starts work in DC (get the dog to Mom & Dad, get the rest of us to Tennessee for a family reunion, get an apartment somewhere near DC and near a Metro, MOVE, go on a vacation). It's a little crazy. Oh yeah, and I'm still working on my thesis. Every so often I actually make some progress. I'm better off now than I ever have been in that regard. I hope I get it done soon. I'd love to graduate in December.

In my free time (roughly 32 minutes during the day), I play a little XBOX, watch some DVDs, and take part in fake debates on stuff like same-sex marriage and the economy on Facebook. I'm warming up for the family reunion (most of my extended family are hard-core Republicans and some are quite vocal about their right-wing status). It should be fun.