8 years ago I spent my first Thanksgiving away from family. I never imagined how awesome it would be to spend it with my family.

Without Steve Jobs, I would not have my current job.

I wouldn’t have started a blog; I wouldn’t be typing on this MacBook Pro. I wouldn’t have met my husband, who wouldn’t have been able to move here and work remotely.

I wouldn’t be able to work from home, spending part of my day being entertained by my son. I wouldn’t be able to use an iPad to Skype his Grammy whenever he wants or to watch Yo Gabba Gabba! in the car on long rides.

I am only one of many whose lives have been changed because of Steve Jobs.

The Jobs Effect. RIP.

My baby turned one yesterday. It’s hard to believe a year has already passed since we brought him home. It doesn’t seem like just yesterday, but maybe six months ago? Certainly not four seasons.

We had an awesome party, replete with an elephant cake, balloons, close friends and family and a very happy and exhausted birthday boy.

Sadly this morning he had to go in for his one year appointment – three vaccinations and a tiny vial of blood for tests was not well received. By baby or mommy.

I can’t think of anyone I know whose parents don’t drive them crazy at least some of the time. When I was younger, I used to think my parents should win an award for being the most irritating parents on the planet.

Once I moved away they became easier to handle. Don’t like what they have to say? Don’t talk to them for a few days. Not interested in their suggestions? Put the phone on mute and have a perfectly pleasant conversation with someone else. Thinking about moving back to their area? Go visit for a week and swiftly change your mind and thank your lucky stars you live 3000 miles away.

Our relationship has evolved over the years, but more so now that I have a child. Or, as my mom puts it, now that I have “provided them with a grandchild.” The Chop and I look forward to them coming to visit and playing, feeding, napping, etc., the Peanut. My mom could spend hours with him on Skype, watching him climb around, jabber and reading books. We’ve become second fiddle to him, which is fine and dandy, because frankly everyone has become second fiddle to him for us as well.

Unfortunately the byproduct of this is the constant mention of us moving back there (not happening in this lifetime). Ah the guilt trips, they’re awesome!

Summer is 2/3 over and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve had several days in the 90s, a couple days in the 100s and as it turns out, the Peanut is built like his Daddy and hates the heat. He’s now 10 months, 2 days old. It’s almost impossible to believe that he’s only been around for 10 months – sometimes it feels like he’s been here forever, just waiting in the wings for his time to shine. And let me tell you, this kid shines. The Chop and I are entertained by him every single day.

Our summer has been nonstop – visitors, events and work. So much work. I’m not sure either of us realized how tough it would be to work from home with a squirmy little baby hanging around. It was easier in the beginning, of course, when he didn’t move much and slept a lot – now he’s thisclose to walking, crawls everywhere and gets into everything. It makes him more entertaining, but also severely hampers our ability to work during the day – which means our best working hours are 8PM to 1-2AM. Extremely tough when he wakes up at 7 or 730 (except when he’s teething, which is currently happening again, and he wakes up at 615 – ugh).

We’ve been discussing bringing in a nanny-type three days a week – but he loves other kids (playground, his little baby gym he goes too), so now I’m wondering if we shouldn’t be looking for something with other kids.

Parenthood. A never ending stream of questions. And wondering if you’re doing it right, lol.

The Voice premiered tonight and I am SO in love. I’m also pretty tanked, so perhaps I’m watching through vodka-colored glasses… but it’s really good. Although Carson Daly as the host.. I dunno, was Ryan unavailable? It’s awesome because a) there are no bad singers, b) Cee Lo is adorable and c) I just love music anyway.

We took the not-really-wee-anymore Peanut on a walk today, one of his favorite activities, and for the first time he fell asleep in the Bjorn. Which was nice, since he needed a nap desperately. Then after dinner he had such a violent diaper we had to clean off his onesie. Entertained? Ready to have a baby of your very own? Interested in babysitting? CALL ME! He’s cute, he giggles constantly and he LOVES being entertained. 😉

We maintain websites at several locations, but we tend to suggest one particular server company… and right now they are down due to a nameserver issue. I’ve received 5 panicked phone calls from different clients… and multiple emails… but sadly, there is nothing I can do. So I sit and wait, constantly refreshing the “information update” page, following the company’s tweets, wondering just how bad this day is going to be.

Earlier I noticed someone was having a birthday on Facebook… so I went to post on their wall, and I was unable to see it. Did they do that on purpose? I don’t believe she likes me very much… we went to college together, but since then our lives have taken very different roads. I’ve often wondered if she’s just mad I parlayed my degree into running my own business and doing pretty well at it. She comments occasionally on pictures of the ‘Nut, and says she wants to meet him, but never goes farther than that (ie, actually meeting him).

Our honeymoon ended up being awesome, even though we missed the Peanut terribly. Italy was amazing – we really loved Pompeii, Venice and Florence. The food in Florence… wowza. I would move there for that alone, lol. Venice, we loved the atmosphere, but didn’t particularly love the food (very fishy-tasting seafood). Rome was hectic, but we stayed off the beaten trail and had wonderful cappuccinos and food (cheaper than being in the center of Rome) every day.

Now we’re back home with the Peanut, who’s growing way too fast. He’s starting to crawl(ish) backward, is crazy vocal and loves almost all the food he gets (peas = not so much). My parents loved being here while we were gone, and I’m pretty sure my mom would move here in a heartbeat, if she could only convince my dad.

Present from his Texan grandfather

In two days the Chop and I leave for our belated honeymoon to Italy. We had pushed it off last year due to my being sick during the pregnancy, but unfortunately could only reschedule the tickets for a year out.

So here we are with an almost-six-month-old, preparing to leave him with my parents and travel to Italy for two weeks. For weeks now I’ve been stressing this. Parenthood most definitely makes you nervous and highly concerned about leaving your child and going to a foreign country. I know he’ll be fine, but will we be fine? Four airplanes, two weeks traveling from Rome to Venice to Florence, bereft of the munchkin who has occupied our time for a year?

We of course looked into postponing… or having our tickets put into someone else’s name (boo British Airways for not being accommodating to an insane new mom’s needs!), but we’re starting to come around. I got excited for the first time today, talking to the woman from whome we are renting an apartment in Rome. We’re going to Rome! We will eat hot pastry and fresh coffee at the local cafe, explore the city on foot, drink wine at the outdoor cafes and enjoy ourselves.

While my parents come to our house and watch their grandbaby. They are beside themselves with excitement. It’s a good thing I never got his passport, because if I did, I’d probably take him and they’d be crushed.

But really, could you leave this face?

It’s probably bad that I’m blogging while pissed off, but I’ve decided this is a better way to vent my frustration than yelling more. So here goes.

When we were home for Christmas, we had a big storm. Concerned that the guy who was taking care of our cats wouldn’t be able to get in our driveway, we called our contractor from last summer and asked if he had a plow guy he could recommend. He did… he called the guy, called us back, let us know it’d be $50 and we said OK.

Fast forward to us coming home. It was plowed, no worries there. We called to see how to pay. Our contractor gave us his number… we called twice, left messages, never heard back. We called our contractor back, he gave us a general idea of where he lived. We finally found the guy in the phone book and sent him a check.

Fast forward to the next storm.. someone plowed. We said, wth? We called our contractor (having NEVER heard from the other guy), and he said, oh he probably just saw it needed to be done. We said, do we have to pay, because we didn’t arrange anything. He said, No.

Fast forward to the next storm.. someone plowed. We said, wth? Whatever. We never heard from the guy – is he really doing this to be nice?

Fast forward to last week, when we decided that we needed to excavate the Chop’s car. We finally got ahold of the guy (shocking) and he said he didn’t do that. We found someone else, and made an agreement with them for that and plowing.

Fast forward to today, when the first guy said he was sending us a bill for $300.

Yeah. I called him back and said, basically, no you aren’t. We never had an agreement, you never called us back, we didn’t want you to plow. Cue 20 minutes of back and forth wherein it was insinuated that I am a) a bad person and b) a bad neighbor. I said I’d pay him what I think is fair – maybe $100 – but definitely not $300. This guy thinks I’m a raging bitch, I’m sure, but frankly, you don’t do something without asking and then charge for it. THAT IS NOT HOW BUSINESS WORKS. I mentioned this multiple times.

Me: If I just did work for you and then sent you a bill, you’d be totally fine with that? Without me saying, hey, I’ll do this and this is how much it costs first?

Him: Yeah, that’s the neighborly thing to do. I just had tshirts made and we agreed on $600 and it was $1200 and I paid it.

Me: YOU HAD AN AGREEMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

So, the few people who still look at this thing ’cause I never blog, what would YOU do?

Update: So he dropped off the bill (we hid in the nursery) and looking at it, he charges more for more snow, he only came 7 times and I am more pissed than I was before!

Second Update: We talked to our contractor who said, “Yeah, we’re on the same page… it seems like he’s reading from a totally different book.” As in, yeah, he wasn’t supposed to keep plowing and I don’t know why he did without telling you the fees.

About three weeks ago a new sushi place opened 10 minutes from us. I’ve been watching the building ever since the sign went up (at least three months ago… come ON people), and was extremely (some might say annoyingly) excited about it opening.

And I was right, because the sushi is amazing. Seriously, amazing. We’ve ordered takeout twice (New Year’s diet = boo), and both times we absolutely loved it. We also ate it standing up in the kitchen, taking turns holding someone’s bottle in someone’s mouth, but that did not deter the enjoyment. Two of the rolls last night had sliced jalapeños on top. Deliciously painful.

Yesterday was also a football day (oy), and a sad one at that. Both teams the Chop was rooting against won. Oh, and the Peanut’s sad tear duct is gooping up again, so he was a party in the morning (ie, two phone calls to the pediatrician, warm compresses and not a little screaming). So yeah. Sushi. Makes it allll better. 😉

My eye hurts. I'm sleepy. Football loss, boo. What a day!