Just wait till next year!

Being an Auburn fan...


Is starting to feel like being a Cubs fan.
War Eagle.
Go Cubs.

Mr. Drysdale will see you now, Mr. Clampett.

I am now officially taking (at least) a year off to take care of Jackson.  In honor of that I am re-posting one of my favorite emails I have ever gotten from a co-worker.  Jeffrey, you rock.  I hope they let you out of the sandbox soon.

From: Jeffrey Warren
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 12:34 AM
To: Katie Bowman
Subject: RE: our awesome building

http://www.som.com/common/modules/gallery/dsp_image_gallery.cfm/inland_steel_building?galleryCategoryID=503999&ImageIndex=5

Mr. Drysdale will see you now, Mr. Clampett.

Jeffrey

post script...

This photo is in the Inland Steel Building, where my office was located when I worked for HOK in Chicago. (They have since relocated to CNA Center) When I transferred to the San Francisco office, I was surprised to be in essentially the same building at One Bush Street, same architect, built about the same time, same shaped floor plate, but not as shiny.

Because I just couldn't leave well enough alone

After 3 months of looking at the walls in Jackson's room, I've decided that I have to paint. So...the process of paint selection begins. Hopefully I'll have something selected before he's in college.

Why I love my dog

At the risk of this sounding like a 5th grade creative writing project....this is why Archie is the most awesomest, smartest dog EVER.
Jax was fussy this evening, as happens probably 3 nights a week.  I was pacing around, trying not to hover over Andy as he tried to comfort him.  (Not because he wasn't doing it right, just because I get anxious when Jax is crying and I'm not doing anything about it)  Archie was pacing right along with me, trying to help out.  So, we figure out he's not just having trouble going to sleep and he needs a little food.  I sit down to feed him and Andy says, "OK, well me and Archie are going to go downstairs and change clothes."  and heads out of the room and downstairs.  Archie starts to go, hesitates...then looks back at me.  I say, "We're OK, pooch.   Go get him!"  Archie barrels out of the room and down the stairs, happy to be released from duty.

I love that dog so much.  He is adjusting to the new pack member swimmingly.

European Baby Bucket

We received a European Baby Tub a couple weeks ago from my oldest friend, Heather Crocker.
OK, it's a bucket. However, it is a specially designed bucket that keeps the baby safe warm and surrounded by water, the thing that we adults all love about taking baths and showers. Shouldn't babies have that, too? Baby rights NOW!

Environmental note: It is recyclable, non-toxic, and free of BPA, PVC and phthalates.

The Jacksons...

Looks like I've gotten my creativity back. I have all these projects in my head, with plans for cakes, knitted stuffed animals, and artwork for Jax's room in addition to getting the back yard so it is not only habitable but enjoyable...photos will be posted when I actually complete something. It's just so nice to have my brain back to be able to use it for me and not work. These new found hobbies are yet more evidence that with each day that goes by I am more and more like my dad. Oh boy did he have his hobbies - woodworking, fly tying, gardening. But, to paraphrase my mom, he enjoyed reading about and buying the stuff for the hobbies more than finishing them. So, let's hope I can complete these projects all the way to the end before moving on to something else. Not such a bad thing to be like my dad. He was mellow but definitely could get his dander up about things. I miss him most during football season. I watched the Auburn vs. Tennessee game Saturday night and I could just hear him yelling at the TV with every play. I even found myself rooting for Tennessee before I remembered who they were playing. Hey, wait a minute...WAR DAMN EAGLE! Beat those hillbilly Vols! He taught me all the rules and ref signals and I even learned from him how to spot the penalty before it was officially called. That impressed many a guy in a sports bar in Chicago. I guess all the southern boys were used to girls that knew football. Funny that I ended up with the guy that hates sports and is thoroughly unimpressed with my knowledge of college football. Actually "hates" is too strong a word. That would indicate some level of emotion about sports - Andy is actually apathetic about sports. The only time he cares about sports is when I am watching a sporting event on TV and he wants to watch something else.
Speaking of Jacksons...Jax has had a couple of milestones! Jax slept almost 8 hours straight Sunday night. Didn't have a full repeat last night but he did go right to sleep at 7:30 and slept until midnight, instead of his usual fussing every 20 minutes for 3 hours. He's also starting to get some better motor skills. He's figured out how to use his head and his fist to put the pipe (the Bakun name for pacifier, funny considering his namesake smoked a pipe) back in his mouth. And this morning he rolled over from his back on to his side. GO JAX GO!!
Oh, and a third Jackson comes to mind. I have a new euphemism - "Tito's crying" now means it's time to feed the baby. Thanks to dooce for this post, I get a little giggle during feeding time.

Jackson loooves the ladies

Jax's room continues to be in development. I'm sure it will be for a while. It's further evidence that I do have a designer mind, not just a technical one....the design is never done. The room has a weird echo so I got the idea to just hang up some fabric wrapped panels instead of art, inspired by my brother's stay, where he hung fabric on the wall so he could do some voice recording in there. In an afternoon that started out as a quick trip to Jamie's storage unit to drop off some things, then evolved into a latte and hey-why-don't-we-grab-a-sandwich, let's call Jeanne and see what she's doing, Jamie and I went to Discount Fabrics to poke around. I was browsing through the huge racks and racks of fabric, hoping to find cute kid prints that I could stand to look at without cringing when I happened upon an adorable velveteen print with pinup girls on it. It reminded me of the wallpaper in the bathroom at Kuma's Corner in Chicago. hmmmmm...that might make a good wall hanging for Jax's young developing eyes...high contrast black background, a lot of motion in the print. A little inappropriate for a baby's room, though. F-it. I'm getting it. At the cutting table, the tatooed and pierced woman helping me asked what I was using it for and when I said, "Wall art for my son's room" she responded "Cool." I definitely smiled inside on that one - Yay! I'm a cool mom!
I stretched it on to some painting canvas frames and hang it up above the changing table. The echo is gone and Jax can't keep his eyes off it!




















I did get some other fabrics that I'm still playing with and will publish photos once those are up and ready.

School Lunch Night

Tonight Andy and I are having a School Lunch night. We arrived at this dinner decision not out of nostalgia but, out of laziness. This is our menu for dinner this evening:
Appetizer...baby carrots with Ranch dressing
Main course...Grilled cheese (Colby-Jack and Pepper Jack Cheeses) with Tater tots
Dessert...chocolate chips (no, not Chocolate chip cookies but Chocolate chips, poured out of the bag into the palm of your hand)

And what wine would you pair with this gourmet meal, you ask? Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut Champagne. That's right, I am well on my way to becoming a sommelier specializing in pairing excellent wine with comfort food. For the record, perhaps next time I will go with a nice Cab Franc or something.

I wish I could blame this on having a 8 week old infant in the house but sadly, I can't. Andy and I specialize in this type of thing...sleeping until noon, having popcorn or just tater tots for dinner, being 10-15 minutes late for everything. It is the Bowman-Bakun way.