Our Big Get-Away Night

Our evening at the theater.

On our way home on I-5, an amazing rainbow from one end to the other!

This was our first time away from our daughter (with the exception of my short hospital stay last August). RT had a work-related thing in LA last week, and I decided to go along. We decided to fit in a trip to IKEA and a debate in the evening. We took Miss P to my folks the night prior, then drove down to LA.

It was weird to be going somewhere without her. I was actually surprised how many times my husband brought up the baby. (I don't think he was aware of this, and I found it quite cute that he kept bringing her up!). Although we were both looking forward to this "getaway", it was jam-packed with a lot to do that I didn't think we could really relax and feel like we were getting away.

In fact, our evening lasted from 5pm until close to 10pm. We didn't have time to get a bite to eat because we weren't sure how long travel time would be from our hotel to the theater. So, pre-dinner was a Snickers bar!

We got back to the hotel so late that the only places open around us were fast food joints. So, our romantic dinner was Wendy's. Since we never eat fast food, it was actually quite a treat, and we both inhaled our food--we were so hungry. Plus, who can resist a good ol' fashioned Frosty?

We didn't even get to sleep in because RT had to teach the following night so we had to travel back to my folks' house and then back to the coast.

All in all, Miss P had a wonderful time with my parents. She didn't even miss us or cry when we left! Maybe this was a good trial run for when RT and I take a real vacation? We shall see.

February Is Not Starting Off Like Love & Rockets

We're feeling blue...

I think I celebrated too prematurely thinking that we bypassed the flu season this year. Last week, Miss P had double ear infections, and we thought she was on the mend. Then, this past Tuesday, she came home acting perfectly fine. I fed her, bathed her, and we settled down to go to sleep when all of sudden, she starts vomiting--projectile vomiting! All the colors of the night's dinner came gushing out. Poor, poor baby. We had heard at daycare that some of the parents and even the daycare provider were struck with some strange stomach thing over the weekend.

After we cleaned her up, I was holding her and again the projectile vomiting resumed, but this time it was all over me! Oh well. We were so worried and knew that she just had to get through it, and that there was nothing for us to do. I felt so bad for her and my heart ached for what she was going through. It was a long night, but luckily she was able to finally sleep around midnight or so. To this day, she is still recuperating.

The story doesn't end there. This past Thursday, RT came home from work early. He's not feeling well. All of sudden, he starts vomiting and also has diarrhea every half hour or so for about 4 hours straight. I had no idea he was that sick at first. So, I took care of P while he was miserable.

Then, around 6 in the evening, I start to feel funny, but I think I'm imagining it. Then all of a sudden, I start vomiting. It seemed that it would never end. After 4 hours of this, RT tells me, "You've hit the 4-hour mark. It should subside." But, as always, I'm the lucky one. I vomit for 8 hours straight and my intervals are 20 minutes apart! It was brutal. I know that I was reduced to tears and begging for my mother at one point. I've never been that sick (sans pancreatitis!) like that before!

My poor husband was still sick, but of the two of us, he was in vomiting remission, so he had to take over baby duties. He even managed to take her to the ER (yes, again, a different story and she was fine) at midnight! We went through the RINGER that night. It took us a good 2 days to recover. I shaved off 7 lbs. of body fluid that night.

I really hope that this is the last of the flu season, and I hope that I do not have that kind of flu ever again.

Conservation Reception

My partner in crime...party planners take a breather!

Finally, the last of my three big projects at work is over! Whew! Hopefully work life can slow down a little and I can focus on other things. So, this annual conservation is a pretty major deal for our organization. It's not a fundraiser. I think we're one of the rare non-profits that do not actively solicit for money during a big event. We host this event to celebrate our accomplishments from the past year and thank our donors for supporting us. We had 200+ folks show up this year along with a few of our county supervisors. Got a lot of great comments and feedback. While I actually love to do this type of event planning, it was stressful this year because I was trying to get things done beforehand and do more, but with the baby I had to forego a lot of my ideas. I'm slowly learning to let things go. This year, I was able to pull in a lot of extra help from volunteers. Our special events committee members also came through, too! And, most of all, my go-to girl, Miss Melissa was my biggest help and sanity keeper!

Breeding Season with the E-Seals

My parents returned from their trip to visit my sister in Florida. Mom, Dad, and nephew came for an impromptu visit. They hadn't seen the elephant seals since 2006--when my Florida sister was visiting us. What a coincidence! Anyhow, we didn't make it in time to see any live births, but we did see a long stretch of the beach where hundreds of elephant seals lazed about with their harem and newborn pups! We saw one female that had some residual blood on her, so I'm sure she must've birthed a pup not too long ago. Oh well!

I don't really know whether Miss P was looking at the seals or all the people along the boardwalk. It's so amazing to see how big the males can get. It's also quite fascinating to see the bulls establishing their dominance or see them "threaten" the other bulls. Males and their machismo! They're the same no matter the species!