Loren had her check-up today. At 3.5 months old she was 25 inches long and 13.5 pounds. All is well. I just got back from 2 days in McLean for a work off-site, and now we are getting ready for a few days off and a trip to visit my family in Virginia.
I took a quick overnight trip to VA for a Thursday afternoon meeting. I stayed over on my own dime (or less than a dime, really, for I stayed with Trent, Jenny, and Sheldon - actually I guess I purchased them a gallon of milk so it was something like my $2.50). Anyway, this schedule permitted me to play D&D Thursday night at Rick's. The Hotel Phillips continues to get rave reviews, and with two cats on top of me at night I had no trouble keeping warm! ;-) 
My cousin Angelique came in to visit with her kids (Kaya and Van) today (her husband Laurence works in Manhattan). She and Van had a quick visit in the apartment while she sent their nanny and Kaya off to the Central Park Zoo. Afterwards, we all met at 61 Bistro for lunch. She probably won't like this picture very much as I think she was starting to talk when I snapped it, but it was the only picture I took that had her in it - the rest just had Van or Cheryl & Loren.
A couple of people have mentioned to me that Jessica is not posting her blog entries any more. Not true. As the site says, Jessica Stover Dot Com is on hiatus; Jessica Stover is not. They are slightly hidden and secret while her web site is being re-designed. They are now under the The Dead Sto Scrolls located here:
www.jessicastover.com/deadstoscrolls
So enjoy!
And there will be a Loren update later today. Cheryl is currently at group so we'll have a weight report and some cute pictures of her lion outfit later.
NYC
I enjoyed a well-deserved day away from work on Friday and spent it with Loren's Uncle Andy and Aunt Jen. We took a trip to Chinatown and ate some very inexpensive and very tasty dumplings and Aunt Jen looked around for a briefcase (unsuccessfully). The lighting was not great, as it was quite windy and signs and banners kept causing shadows to pop across our shots. Afterwards we went back to the apartment where Loren entertained.
and we all made homemade pasta as an appetizer.
No, I'm not back in Virginia. And these are actually from a sun rise, not a sun set (taken from my hotel room at the Courtyard Marriott from the last time I was there). But the proposal I've been working 10+ hours days on for the past three weeks is going to the print shop tonight. So tomorrow the sun will rise on a glorious day and I will take some time off. Maybe only working half-days for the rest of the week.
Loren can support her own weight as long as I keep her from toppling over (she doesn't have the balance thing down yet). And try to ignore my hair loss.
I understand that as she gets heavier she probably won't be able to do this for a while, and when she can do it again she'll be closer to actually being able to walk. But for now, it is neat to see her sort of standing.
John hated the picture I put up from yesterday's dinner so much I had to snap another one from Wednesday's dinner. We ate at On the Border in the Tyson's Area with an old co-worker of John's and her husband. I ate the one item on their entire menu that was marked as "healthy". It was a chicken breast with grilled vegetables and the entire place was supposed to be less than 800 calories. It was alright. I would have preferred something taster but I've been at work too early to work out every day this week, and I've been going out in the evenings.
I'll be glad when the proposal is over. And yes, my dear cousin Angelique, I'll still bitching about work!
So John is also here for business (link to his blog is off to the right) so we decided to go have dinner last night at Legal Seafood in the Tyson’s Galleria. First, let me say that I really take for granted the no smoking laws of NY until I come back here to
We ordered the crab-dip appetizer and I had the grilled scallops with a side of seaweed salad and broccoli. And a second Mojito because it had been a long day. We complained about work, so I’m sure Cheryl was glad she was not there. She hates it when John and I start to go off about work.
But this entry is not about the restaurant. When I got to the Courtyard by Marriott and checked in, they gave me a smoking room. I didn’t know this until I got to the room, because the woman at the front desk (who was too busy being picked up my one of the maintenance men) neglected to tell me, even though my reservation specifically asks for non-smoking. So I went back down to the lobby and asked to be moved. The guy at the front desk (guess the woman went home with the maintenance man) told me they were full. I said, “You have to be kidding me, I always request non-smoking with my reservation.” He said, “Sorry, but we’re full.” I said, “Then I’m never going to stay here again,” and departed in a huff. (Maybe it was the Mojitos talking).
I got to my room and called John and asked him to check with the Hilton. He called me back and said they were full. In the meantime I called the front desk and asked for the manager. While I was on hold (10 minutes) I has John via cell phone to call The Ritz to see if they had any rooms. The same guy whom I spoke with at the front desk had fielded my call, and I guess he decided I was going to be trouble, so when I was taken off hold I was not speaking to the manager but once again to him.
He told me that he had “unlocked” a non-smoking room for me that I wasn’t given because it wasn’t “available” for the full length of my stay. So apparently other people can get a lock on a non-smoking room when they make a reservation but I cannot. He came up in the elevator with a new key for me, and I called John back to abort the Ritz call. Luckily he had just progressed to the point of getting the number but had not called them yet. So I got my non-smoking room by being a pain in the ass.
I am a Silver member of Marriott’s program, so it really pisses me off that they would stick me in a smoking room. I would rather pay $50 more a night than to stay in a smoking room. I will gladly switch hotels instead of staying in a smoking room. Having a non-smoking room is the single greatest desire I have when staying somewhere – more important than the view, the bed, the room configuration, or having free high speed internet.
With a nearly three-month old baby at home we rarely watch an entire movie start to finish. We have what I like to call, “40-Minute Theater”. Essentially, Loren eats on one side for 20 minutes, and then on the other side for 20 minutes. So we watch shows and movies in 40 minute increments while she eats. This arrangement works out well for TV, as we can fit an hour-long show into 40 minutes by skipping the commercials. (The DVR is the greatest. invention. ever.) It also means that for most feature-length movies, it takes at least 3 feedings to watch start to finish.
As I have mentioned in the past, Cheryl and I are attending St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church near where we live. I've had two bad experiences with their "doorman" whose main job, as far as I can tell, is to keep the homeless out of the church bathrooms. He has two keys to two miniscule bathrooms that are barely accessible via a long, narrow hallway.
Now, the church conveniently pipes the sound out into the foyer, so if you are out there with a crying baby you can still hear what is going on. At least you would be able to hear, if the frack'n doorman was not talking on his cellphone the entire time. Once again, I had visions of cramming his cell phone down his throat, but I refrained. Killing someone actually inside a church is probably considered a bad thing.
