TMI Tuesday: Unusually Warm Weather

Haven't needed this yet!

When we originally went to settlement on the house we accepted the fact that we probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy the outdoor space until the spring. Well, we were definitely wrong in making that assumption as the weather has been oddly warm. Because of this, our son has been able to go outside in little more than a sweatshirt or light coat (at most) and take in the clean air. He has also been able to enjoy looking up at the countless trees which he has done since we first started carrying him outside last spring.

One of his favorite spots in the yard, probably on the entire property including inside, is the gazebo. While he hasn’t spent a lot of time in the yard (it still gets dark quickly this time of year) he always has a smile on his face when he is sitting in the middle with one of his toys. And the toy is pretty much secondary as he spends more time looking around and making cute sounds rather than playing. I’m just glad that he likes being outside rather than staying cooped up in the house.

With the warm weather, he also likes having a slight breeze in the car whenever we have to go here or there. It’s actually pretty funny, and cute, hearing him take in deep breaths as soon as we crack the back window. Hopefully this doesn’t continue once the weather finally realizes that it is supposed to be freaking cold out and the slightest air leak into the car leads to hours of shivering.

At the same time, I am curious to see if our son likes the snow. While he has seen it, he wasn’t able to fully process what it was at the time or enjoy watching it flutter through the trees. It should at least be an experience watching his reaction to both the flurries falling from the sky and the resulting blanket across the yard. He would probably enjoy watching everything from the dryness of the gazebo.

It is nice knowing that our son enjoys the outdoors and I am already looking forward to not only his reaction to the snow but the warmth that is supposed to come about with the spring and summer. He should be quite mobile by then and I am looking forward to exploring the property with him. After all, I haven’t had a chance to see everything yet either.

Box Bombardment

What happened UPS? 

Last week the packages began arriving at our townhouse. It started with a few small items that I pulled from out mailbox as there were a few items that we ordered for the holidays. Of course, this is in addition to the numerous things that we purchased for the house, crammed in our car, and carried up and down stairs. The latest deluge is a result from the large items from our baby registry being left outside our door.

Each time one of these large boxes arrived my wife would get that look like the father receiving his ‘major award’ in A Christmas Story. Of course, she would have that look as I was carrying or pushing the box up the stairs and into the baby’s room. Let’s just say that it really isn’t fun when the 110 pound box barely fits up the stairs and you spend the majority of the time just trying to navigate the corners while keeping it from tipping back.

Now we have all of the furniture in the townhouse without any help from UPS due to their not being allowed to bring things inside of homes. And everything has been finagled up to the second floor with the only exception being that of the dresser which it simply too big for one person to maneuver. We are going to have to unbox it first and have at least two people carry it up the stairs on its end… it is the only way that we are going to be able to make the turn.

Thankfully there should only be one more big item that will be delivered in the coming weeks as we have another couch due to arrive this week. This too will have to be taken up stairs but this time to my wife’s office to serve as the guest bed for when we have overnight out of town visitors. Hopefully it is like the other couch and I can simply take it up in pieces and assemble in the right place.

There will also be a continued package bombardment as the due date approaches and the baby continues to accumulate more and more items. But at least we are nearly done with the items that we wanted to get to complete our new home. Everything is finished in the basement (at least everything that I had planned on putting down there), my wife’s office is nearly done, and the first floor is full of all our existing furniture. The baby’s room is the only one that will continue to accumulate a heck of a lot more stuff… stuff in all different sizes of boxes.

Think Before Sending Ralphie A Bunny Suit

Everyone, at some point in their life, has found themselves in a position when they open up a gift, fain a smile as best as they can, and tuck it off into the corner in the hopes of forgetting about that brief but unpleasant memory. While those gifts may not be as extreme in their unpleasantness as Ralphie revealing a pink bunny suit, they are still a hiccup to the festivities of the day. We do our best to forget the figurative magenta and look high and low for that Red Rider BB Gun tucked behind the piano if anything to erase the memory of a horrid gift.

To varying degrees this happens to each of us every single year. Some gifts are exactly what we asked for… usually an item off of a previously requested list. While not a unique or creative gift, it is what we asked for and what we got. Can’t complain about that.

Other gifts we may not have put on any list, we may not have even thought of them as an option, but there is a clear thought process behind the item and, while unexpected, you are happy to have received it. These little surprises are appreciated both for the gift received but, more importantly, for the thought and consideration that was put into it.

However, there is a third category of gifts. I call them WTF with a bow on top. These are the boxes that when you crack open you wonder if they either mislabeled the box or, even worse, if they even bothered to think about who they were shopping for. Other gifts in this category range from the completely useless to the “I like it which means that everyone should like it”. Some even encompass both and are therefore deemed pink bunny gifts.

Those are the reasons why I put so much time into buying gifts (in addition to investing in trying to find the best deal). I don’t like being on the receiving end of a pink bunny gift and I really don’t want to be on the giving end. In fact, I hate the latter more than the former. There is nothing like seeing the reaction in someone’s face when you surprise the heck out of them which is immediately followed by the how did you know stare (sometimes a simple fondling of the gift gives the same message). If I don’t know how to achieve that I will either revert to their list of ask someone else for ideas.

Give and you shall receive. Your efforts will eventually pay off even if you have to go through a lot of bunny suits in the process. Even Ralphie gets the gift he has been anticipating and wishing for at the end of the movie. Keep giving great and thoughtful gifts, watch out for icicles, and don’t let the hounds get into the kitchen.