Saturday, February 23, 2013

Romance In the Air

Yesterday Jeannie brought Sam to visit me at work (always makes for a fun day in and of itself) and also brought flowers and a card that said that she had gotten a babysitter for the evening and that we would be going out for a nice dinner.  Pretty awesome!  So when I got home from work, Nyoka came over to babysit, and the J-Dog and I headed over to an Indian restaurant that was new to us, the Ambassador Dining Room.  Very cute, relatively expensive, romantic place in Charles Village.  The food was very good, the fireplaces were nice and warm, and we had a very enjoyable dinner.  For a minute I even forgot that we had a kid.  Then we spent about an hour walking around Charles Village, which we hadn't done in such a long time, and an hour was about all we could handle before both of us were pretty worn out and ready for bed.  So we headed home around 9:30, hung out with Nyoka for a little while and then went to bed around 10:15.  What a fantastic surprise evening.  I am a very lucky person. 

Since Sam was born, I've been taking a few film pictures here and there, and I finally used up the roll the other day and went and got them developed. Some pictures turned out pretty well, some pretty bad, but it was fun to take a little stroll down down the lane of memories of the last 10 months.  Also fun to be reminded of how crazy his forehead was there for awhile.  I'm glad that he's growing into his head.  Ha Ha. 

Tomorrow is the last event at the new theater for awhile:  a public open house.  Should be pretty low-key, I think, much less involved than there was for the fundraiser-type party there a few weeks ago.  We're still waiting to hear whether we got a major grant that we had applied for.  Whether we get the grant will kind of determine whether we move forward immediately with the renovations or whether there is a pause while we round up some more money.   Of course, we'd like to move forward right away, but it's probably more realistic to expect a pause.  But somehow the history of the company has always seemed a little charmed when it comes to lucky business things of this nature, so who knows.

The Jeanners and I are spending the afternoon cleaning out the basement a little (while Sam plays in a cardboard box) to get ready for lots of stripping of doors and trim.  Fun times await. 

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Nobody Steal This Idea, It's Mine.

The other day Jeannie and Sam and I took naps, and mine was particularly good.  During it, I had a dream about a musical instrument that was a cross between an accordion and a pedal steel guitar.  I believe it was made from an ivory-like material. 

Anyway, I just wanted to get this idea down before I forgot it. 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Catching and Throwing (Up)

Well, Jeannie's birthday on Tuesday was not low-key.  It was disgusting.  She and I both had some form of food poisoning, or maybe a super-strong, super fast version of the flu, and took turns running into the bathroom every 20 minutes.  Thank god we took turns.  When we bought this house, we were worried about only having one bathroom, and we described this very scenario to ourselves with worry - 'what if we both get sick and we only have one bathroom?'  Well, it turned out OK, although there were a couple of close calls.  And we did have a "Dan Will Shit in the Bathtub" contingency plan all worked out, but luckily never had to call it into play. 

The worst part was that Sam was sick with a cold, and so awake for a good portion of the night, at one point wailing in his crib while Jeanners and I were writhing on the floor of his bedroom, moaning, groaning, and hating life. 

So anyway, we're both feeling better now, thank you very much, and life has resumed its busy pace.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and a bit falling-behind, mostly due to the fact that my days off recently have been filled with ChesShakes building stuff rather than getting-stuff-done-around-the-house stuff.  I think a nice long vacation is in order. 

Today a little family time in the morning, then I head off to work in the afternoon.  Tomorrow, a little family time in the morning and then I help Pat get ready for his show and get a few things done at the building. 

Hokey-Dokey, Sam is requiring my full attention.  Must go!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Empty Theater

Pretty much every muscle in my body feels sore right now.  I've been heading down to the theater the last couple of days and moving a lot of stuff around, and I think my body is not used to doing that kind of thing on a regular basis anymore.  There was a fiasco with a Genie lift yesterday that involved about 6 guys attempting to move the thing in a manner in which it was not designed to be moved.  The moving also involved a car jack, several two-by-fours, and a cart.  And it (or some other activity that I did) has left me feeling sore.

All the activity has been in preparation for the "Empty Theater Party," which is where we opened up the building to some of the movers and shakers of Baltimore, a chance to bring in potential donors and let them see the space and hopefully share our enthusiasm and get them interested in helping with the project.  And there was tasty catered food and lovely decorations and some live music and a couple of short speeches.  But most of the day was left for mingling and schmoozing, two activities at which I am no good, so I spent most of the day talking to people that I already knew or walking from place to place as though I had something important to do.
 


















Tomorrow is the J-Dog's birthday.  I fear it will be a relatively low-key one, but she'll be at work most of the day anyway. 

What else?

Spent a good part of my morning sending e-mails about conduit.   

Everybody needs sleep.  I really should just stop writing and GO TO BED. 

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

No More Farts!

Not much to write about lately.  Jeannie's been busy with work stuff, I've been busy with building-related stuff and work, and Sam's been sick with cold and ear infection.  So he hasn't been sleeping well, which makes everyone exhausted.  Although Jeannie and I are the only ones showing it.  Actually, during the day he's great.  All smiles, good naps, playing well.  But it seems like when he's sick he just wants to take little naps during the night, too, and wake up every couple of hours and do some more playing.  All of this is exacerbated by the fact that we (Jeannie) took down the bedroom door a week and a half ago to refinish it, and it is currently downstairs in the basement waiting to get painted.  So at night it's kinda like he's yelling right there in the room with us even though he's down the hall.  It's pretty sucky.



[portions of this blog post removed to protect the innocent.  or not so innocent]



This Sunday is a big party at the new building, a party for the movers and shakers of Baltimore City.  A party where we hope to raise money to pay for the renovations.  We're kind of banking on the fact that once people get inside the building and see how cool it is, and see the architects' plans for what the building could become, they will want to help us.  I think if I had money and saw the building, I would want to help.  Although I've realized over the years that I tend to not think in the same way as those people who have a lot of money.  I get along with them and enjoy their company (for the most part), but I don't really think like them.

Been craving a homemade hamburger lately.


Sunday, February 03, 2013

Once in a Lifetime

Ugh, it's too early for the little dude to be up.  But he sure is cute, sitting back here on the floor, playing with his toys and smiling at me.  But, yes, it's too early.  But I got up early with him because he's sick, all stuffed up and having trouble getting air in through all the snot.  And because I want the J-Dog to try and get a little extra sleep.  Who knows