TMI Tuesday: More Presents!

Over the last couple of weeks my wife and I have been picking up supplies, coordinating food, and ordering a special cake (the product from the local Walmart was surprisingly good). It was all for a very special day and a memory that we wanted our son to carry with him in these early recollections of life. So, with the Mickey decorations strewn about the kitchen and lining the driveway, this past weekend we had a very small gathering at our home to celebrate our son’s birthday (even though we think the calendar is lying to us). It was a great, low key, get together which actually required less preparation and clean up than my wife and I were expecting.

While he is now playing shy around most people now, it was great seeing him play and watching his face light up when a present piqued his interest. After lunch and presents it was time for cake and while most kids would love to smash the heck out of the confection and get icing on their face, our son wanted nothing to do with this and was displeased when the blue icing founds its way to his face (with a little assistance… and no it wasn’t me). After that it was just about time to pass out for the afternoon and to recover from the mid-day activities.

In the few days since this gathering we did our best to continue making this a special time for our son. In addition to the plethora of presents that were brought or sent to the house, we have continued to celebrate his birth and giving him a little more leeway regarding play and television time… Mickey is just as entertaining the second, third, and forth times on the loop. However, with so much activity and simulation (plus some intense teething), his schedule is a little off and, when playing, he sometimes has trouble deciding what new toy to play with. While we originally put his other toys away before the party as a means of keeping things clean, it has actually served us well as there is now a whole new host of toys at his disposal.  

It has been a great couple of days celebrating our son’s birthday and I am glad that we spread the distraction over the entire weekend. Even though there have been moments of readjustment after so many days following an alternate routine, it has been well worth the effort and few hiccups along the way. I guess you could mark this down as another first experience of parenthood… the birthday party hangover.

Party Fallout And Leftovers

Friday morning we all got to the office a little later than usual. At least most of us as there were a couple that never made it in the door. It was a great party the night before but we were all a little tired (to say the least) from the long day out. It seemed to be a day when tasks took a little longer to complete and time just seemed to move a little slower than the previous day.

It didn’t take long before we all started looking at the clock trying to figure out when we would be able to pack up our things and head out the door for the much needed weekend. At the same time, many of us didn’t want to begin the trek home too soon as the rush hour traffic was a little off due to the deluge of children itching to take to the neighborhoods. Needless to say, I decided to stay a little longer than usual to make sure that I would be able to relax over the weekend without a mountain of projects hanging over me.

While the mountain still had a fairly substantial summit by the time I left, I was able to take care of all the things that were pushed back from the previous day due to the party prep and commute. With all the extra things swirling around us on Thursday, we all stumbled into the office in the morning with a growing list of things that we needed to accomplish right away or else our entire week would have been derailed. We all put our heads down and took care of what needed to be done but the list inevitably flowed right past the end of the day and into the weekend.

Knowing the day and the week that had just come to a prolonged end, it was not a surprise that I was the last one to get up from my desk, start the dishwasher, and make my way out to the barren parking lot. Now, with the weekend concluding, I am nearly up to date with everything that has to be done. I will still have to put things in overdrive in the morning to get caught up but I should be able to get back to even by the middle of the week… well, I hope that is the case. I guess we will have to wait and see and hope that all the other events this coming week done impede me as much as last week did. Anyway, back to the beginning of the week and another growing mount of projects.

However, there was leftover jars of cake which made my wife happy (at least for a minute or two)!

Party Time In Old City

I prefer a beard!

I was the last to leave the office on Thursday, turning off my computer at half past three and rushing out the door and doing my best to keep the car in the approximate vicinity of the speed limit as I made my way to the apartment. Moments after pulling into the parking lot, changing my shirt, and putting on a sport coat, my dad walked around the corner and I was once again in the car. We arrived in old city just in time to watch everyone strolling down the street to the nearest bar after a long day at the office. While I too was walking into a bar, I headed upstairs to the event room at Prime Stache to help my colleagues prepare for our party.

It seemed like it was only a few moments before our guests began to arrive (including my dad who walked around a bit so that we could prep). We all quickly dove into different conversations with the same thought running through all of our minds… we couldn’t believe that it had already been a year (a little longer for most of us). It was a night to celebrate our success and, more importantly, the hard work and long hours that we all put in to ensure that this day would come. We all took a bit of a risk joining a new venture but it never seemed like a risky move as we have remained confident in both our abilities and our leadership.

Over the past year, primarily over the last several months, I have had to learn to pull back a little from work and spend the time needed with my wife. While the night was going well, my dad and I left a bit early so that I could spend the evening with my wife. Not part of the original plan but something that needed to happen that night. There were still people coming and going when we walked back down the stairs but the drive back out of the city was much faster than it would have been later given the fact that we were driving right at the very beginning of mischief night.

Once I met up with my wife in Bryn Mawr, we settled in for a night of doing pretty much as little as possible. While we didn’t wind up going very far we did manage to entertain ourselves by watching the constant flow of police walking by with teenagers in tow. After a quick trip to Wawa (the Gobbler is back) we settled in at the apartment and rested for what was going to be a hectic end of the week for the two of us.