Kelly's Weblog

Well, we moved on Saturday. It was awful...but we survived, and the new place is going to be a major improvement. Jamie and I left for Toronto on Tuesday, surviving another 12-hour epic journey due to snow, and are enjoying a nice visit with Grandma while I work at grant applications.

Would love to write more, but it's a boy's breakfast time!

Back from Boston, where we visited the outstanding Aquarium and the even more outstanding Children's Museum. Jamie thought he had died and gone to heaven! Now we're starting to pack up; it's Martin Luther King Day, so Paul's not at work.

We're moving a week from tomorrow! Our new place is just around the corner from the old apartment, as was the case in our last move, and the building is yet another rental property owned by our most excellent landlady Susan. This one has two bedrooms and is carpeted throughout; it has a small deck for the BBQ and a small woodburning fireplace for use by those with pyromaniac tendencies. It also has en-suite laundry.

Moving is no fun, but this should be a pretty easy move. (Famous last words...)

Off to Boston tomorrow for a weekend with Chris and Christine, who are expecting their first very shortly.

Wheeee! The new computer is in place, and so far everything has gone almost suspiciously smoothly. I actually have file and print sharing established across the home network now: I can back my laptop up to the hard drive of the desktop and print from my laptop without transferring files! This is very very exciting.

I also managed to get the data off the old machine with only a few false starts. Poor old computer - by comparison with the new one, it was really barely limping along.

I need to load a few more applications, test the IEEE 1394 and USB ports, and make sure I understand some of the new features of XP Professional, but this is very promising indeed.

My poor boy has so many teeth either just cutting through or having just cut through that his gums are sore and swollen; not even Tempra drops can dull the edge of the discomfort for long, and last night he hardly slept. The lower molars are bound to come in before long, which will be good...but I feel so sad for him, even when he's keeping me from sleeping. As Grandma puts it: teeth are just plain bad design!

Perhaps it was just the full diaper, but picking him up at one point last night, I felt as if he had gained some weight. He's also longer than he was; I have to lift him much higher now to clear the crib rail. It won't be that long before he outgrows the crib altogether; he's close to being able to climb out, if he but realized it. Ssshhhh - don't tell him!

Just got word through their website that our new desktop system, the Dell 8300, will probably arrive today. Very exciting! It has 512Mb of RAM (as compared with our current machine's 48Mb) and a 120GB drive (as compared with a total of 3GB across two drives on the existing machine)! Also onboard USB 2.0 and two IEEE 1394 ports, USB key memory instead of a standard floppy drive, and assorted other goodies. Oboyoboyoboy! This is Paul's and my pragmatic, if not romantic, anniversary gift to ourselves.

After another weather-related epic 9-hour journey, the three of us reached Brooklyn mid-afternoon today. Our flight was delayed by the snow, then it turned out that the aircraft hadn't been cleared by US Customs to cross into the US...so after sitting in the plane for an hour, we had to take all of our belongings and leave the plane. When we were finally back in our seats, there was another delay caused by congestion at La Guardia. Incredible! We could almost have driven as quickly - except that we have no car.

We're worn out. Jamie is asleep at last; I think I'll have a quick bath - didn't get a proper wash this morning, and feel grubby - and curl up in my new fleece bathrobe (colour: lupine!) with a book for a half hour before turning in.

The house in Toronto seems suddenly very empty! Ian, Ruth and Ariana have gone back to Guelph. Ian leaves tomorrow morning for Moose Jaw (the historic downtown of which has been devastated by fire, we were sorry to read!), and Ruth and Ariana will stay in Guelph for another couple of weeks with Jane. I think Jane leaves for Exeter on the 19th of January.

People have great expectations for the new year; nobody I've spoken to seems to have had a particularly stellar 2003, so the thinking is that 2004 has got to be an improvement. As for me, I've made a few resolutions that I'm hoping will lead to personal improvement; the rest will have to take care of itself.

Jane's coming to Toronto tonight to stay with Jamie while Paul and I go out to a party at Lynn and Ken Janes' place in Pickering. Paul was initially dubious about the Pickering part - it's not on the subway! - but today he seems to be looking forward to it as much as I am. It will be fun to catch up with the others who will be there.

This afternoon I'm going out to pick up some new underthings. Jamie's finally weaned, so there are a couple of changes to my shape to be taken into account yet again: the last vestige of the invasion of the parasitical embryo! Now I can go on antibiotics for the nasty plantar's wart on my foot at last...must remember to book an appointment for that on Monday when I get back to Brooklyn.

Jamie is napping (and so is Paul), so I think I'll start to take down the Christmas tree. It has to be done before we leave on Monday morning, and I fear that this year it's best not done with Jamie's help.

Happy New Year, everyone!