progress report

Last week, I had my 30 day review. This was all of 10 minutes long, and I had positive feedback from my boss that in the past 30 days my performance has been above average. I thought it was kind of nice that she formally told me that I was doing a good job. I admire her professionalism, her ability to cut through the bullshit and the fact that she does her job really well. It has been such a great change for me, sometimes you don't realize how toxic an environment is until you are somewhere new. I feel like this job is going to give me the space to spread my wings as a designer and be inspired and motivated to continue to do better work.

In other news, Ethan is doing well. According to his doctor he is in the 50th percentile for his weight and height and in 90th for his gigantic head. A mother can only hope that it is proportional to his massive brain capacity. He is almost completely potty trained, but I think it is going to be awhile before we brave no diapers at night, laziness may prevail.

There has been an epidemic of bad behavior in Ethan's class, most recently biting and hitting. I believe that this is due to the disproportionate amount of boys in the class, who all fail miserably at sharing. So now every day before and after school, our mantra has become "No hitting, no biting, no pushing." Yesterday, while driving home from school, Ethan and I were re-capping his day, when he stated "I'm not a biter mommy, I'm a pusher," which made me guffaw, chuckle, and cringe.

Other than that, 95% of the time Ethan is a joy to be with and if I had a choice I would like him to stay this age forever. His vocabulary is continuing to grow, and we are putting efforts into having him politely ask for something instead of just demanding and whinning. He can also remove all of his clothes and put on a new random assortment of clothing. This does pain me and I wish that I was brave enough to let him go to school in dinosaur jammie bottoms and his Superman top, but I do confess that I am weak and change him into perdestrian cargo pants and t-shirt uniform. His athletic prowess seems to be improving as well, he is doing amazingly well at the park, conquering territory that he never explored last year. I am not quite sure where he gets all of his coordination, but am thankful nonetheless.

The last major point is, of course, the love life. And things right now, just hit a bit of a bump. It was sort of like a Chicago pot hole, you see it too late and it can cause some damage. We haven't hit one of these in awhile and this one in particular was jarring, but we have since talked and are hopefully better and more aware because of it. Relationships are tricky, I have yet to master the art of remaining in love while keeping a sense of self intact; I also bring to the picture a rather rambunctious three year old. But I am lucky to have such a strong partner who will guide me through the peaks and valleys and encourage me to still be myself, however challenging and harrowing that may be for him.

Right now, my life is just about as perfectly balanced as it can get (good job, good boy, good boyfriend). I finally feel the burdens and stress of last year lifting off my shoulders and hope that I now have the a bit more wisdom to keep from any future mistakes.

better safe then sorry

I have been noticing a trend here in Chicago as of late, and I do not like it. People on their cell phones while they are driving, today alone I saw over a dozen drivers on their phones. A few years back, the city required that you get a hands free device for you cell phone when driving. I think this was a rather effective law, partly because it was enforced. I feared getting a ticket and grudgingly got a hands free, but let's be honest, it is distracting to hold a phone and drive.

And now I see people texting while they drive, and it makes me crazy. Can we not get the law passed already outlawing this practice, or does there have to be some horrible accident that speeds this process along? I realize that people are busy, but to text and drive is dangerous and stupid. If you need to text that badly, pull over into a parking lot, do not endanger the lives of your fellow drivers, scooters and bikers.

Chicago traffic is awful enough as is, so please put the phones down and focus at the task at hand.

my favorite holiday

Now that I am older and with child, the greatest day of the year is no longer my birthday but Mother's Day. First of all, everyone remembers this holiday and is usually generous with the hugs and lots of positive reinforcement that you are doing a great job. It is a bonus if your child is as cute as Ethan as well (sans the huge bruise on his head).

This year's holiday was an especially busy one. On Friday, Ethan stayed home with me and we hung out during the morning. In the afternoon, we met up with my brother and his son Emery and my mom, who drove in from Michigan, at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo is Ethan's favorite place to be, he has an avid interest in animals that has remained constant.

Later on in the evening, my brother and I took my mom out to dinner at Cafe Babareeba for tapas. B and I introduced them to bacon wrapped dates, which are a slippery slope of goodness.

The next day, my dad and stepmom came over and we had some pizza for lunch and they got to spend time with 2/3 of their grandchildren. Naptime descended upon the group and we all went our separate ways. That evening, we went to my aunt and uncle's and ate even more pizza and celebrated my grandma's 88th birthday. She told me that she only had five years left in her, which I later learned, she also said at 75. There was also reason for celebration, when my cousin and his wife announced that they were pregnant.

Later that evening, we met up with friends to go see Thao at the Empty Bottle. It was a pretty good show, though we both agreed that late shows are no longer fun when your internal clock is set to life with child.

The next morning I was woken up by a text from my brother saying that Ethan was looking for me. He had spent the previous night with my brother and mom. We went up and picked him up, and wished my mom a happy mother's day. We came back to the city and for my Mother's Day "brunch" I requested a donut from my favorite bakery, which we waited 40 long minutes for but it was delicious and watching Ethan eat it was a half and hour of good entertainment.

Later on, we went out to the burbs to spend time with B's family. It was a beautiful day and there was wine a flowin' (which makes mommy clever) and lots of bbq'd meats to be had. Ethan and the girl were reunited, and spent most of the day wandering and playing hand in hand. Later on, B's uncle offered to take Ethan for a ride on one of their horses, which was exciting and a bit surreal.

A nice holiday weekend spent with lots of family, and I would say that it was the best Mother's Day yet.

old fashioned

There seems to be a rivalry brewing between Facebook, the heavyweight champion vs. the underdog, Twitter. I reluctantly have accounts to both and my initial reaction to Twitter was, eh, no one I really know is on this and at least everyone I know is on Facebook. And I thought that Facebook was far superior to Twitter, I thought it was nice to feel virtually close to an old friend that I rarely see. But I have found that I feel more like it is nice to see you, but I seriously can't keep active correspondence with all of my "friends." And I can't help feeling a sense of guilt over that, I have started to reached a saturation point with FB. I am starting to think what started as a good thing is now over run with quizzes, requests, invitiations, and walls to leave witty, wish you were here banter.

Twitter has started to look a bit more attractive, with it's promise of only 140 characters and it is what it is, sort of undertones. Maybe the simplicity of Twitter is what makes it so deceiving. But I think it is the sum of it's parts, it's nice to know what is going on, but without being bombarded by information and visual stimulus. I find that when I go to Facebook it feels like a chore and with Twitter, it is less intense and more enjoyable. And I have found that the more I do it, the more I like it.

That is not to say that I don't enjoy aspects of Facebook or think that social networking on a whole, isn't a good thing. I feel like we are all still trying to figure out what we like and don't like and how open we are to sharing our every move and thought. I do think that it is important to note that social networking can only do so much. Call me old fashioned, but when it comes down to really connecting, phone calls, getting together or a simple hello, are still the simplest and most genuine modes of communication.

Happy Birthday Daddy-o!

Today my father turned another year older this year. And for his birthday, I am allowing him to come on over on Saturday to hang with me and Ethan and my brother and his son and then probably insist that he buy us some lunch. It should be a good day, I am already looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday Dad.