Culture Shock: Delivery

It took us almost an hour last night to find a restaurant that would deliver something other than pizza. And what did we finally find? No surprises here - Chinese.

We were oh so spoiled by all the delivery options in nyc! It's little wonder that when I'm in there each month I only eat Thai, Indian, and other old standbys that are more difficult to find here...

Documentary Plug

In case you don't surf over to Aartilla the Fun regularly:

My friend Aarti co-produced a documentary called "Sand and Sorrow" about the Darfur crisis that airs tomorrow at 8 on HBO. Check it out if you can!

And if anyone out there has HBO and still has VHS... can you tape it for me? Or, if there's anyone in the Atlanta area with HBO and DVR, record it and we'll have a documentary date...

Check-up

Carter had his 18 month check up this morning. It's official, at 37 inches tall, he's more than a yard of fun! He's also starting to fill out. At 27 lbs, he's 75th percentile in weight, whereas he's consistently been at 50th percentile on previous visits. And he has a big head - but that's to be expected!

Haircut

Carter was starting to get a little shaggy, so we took him for his first haircut on Sunday. We went to one of those cute places that have cars for the kids to sit in and show movies to distract them. Carter was a bit squirmy (to be expected), but overall, he did great.

Before


After

Yard Work

We filled up 13 bags with leaves and pine needles this weekend. And that was just the front yard!
Thankfully, Carter was there to help...

In Stitches

After Carter's successful first haircut this afternoon (pics of that tomorrow), we made our first family trip to the ER.

Upon leaving the salon, Carter tripped on an umbrella stand (the kind for an outdoor cafe). The stand was empty, so it was essentially just a foot high metal pipe. He caught his nose on the pipe and cut his right nostril. That's as much detail as I'll give in order to be kind to those of you with weaker stomachs. I'll add only that it was immediately obvious that he'd need stitches.

Luckily, we live only a mile and a half from the children's hospital at Emory. At 3 hours, it was the fastest ER visit I've ever experienced. The staff was very friendly. They had bubbles in triage and a DVD player at every bed. That went a long way to making it a bearable experience. The roughest part (other than the actual stitching) was at the end when Carter no longer wanted to be held or touched in any way by anyone, but the medicine they gave him to relax him hadn't worn off, meaning he couldn't stand or walk on his own, so that was... unpleasant. For all of us.

Since Carter's accident happened right after his haircut, I had my camera on hand - thus the pics below.

More Excuses...

Earlier this month, I posted about why I've been so out of touch lately, and I knew that I'd be making more excuses for myself soon. Here's the other reason that I've been so non-communicative. My company did all the analysis for the project, and we've been working on it for months. The print issue hits newsstands on Monday. Here's hoping things slow down soon...

Thanksgiving Pics

Here are some pictures from our weekend in Arkansas.

Carter and Daddy Phil.

Enjoying the fountain outside my parent's house.

Carter enjoyed two things about thanksgiving dinner: the food and the fun under the table.

Carter "helped" with Christmas decorations - in his angel's halo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry for not posting earlier in the weekend. I couldn't get my camera hooked up, and it took days to realize that I could at least post a few pics from mom's camera.

We've been having a lovely time at my mom and dad's new place in The Largest Gated Community in the US. I'm not kidding.

Some findings from the weekend include:

1) We can make the 10 hour drive straight through, even if we don't leave Atlanta until 4:30pm.

2) If everyone else is eating off of china, Carter does NOT want to eat off of plastic.

3) Carter loves sausage. LOVES it.

Fall!

Fall has definitely arrived in the south (despite the nearly 80 degree weather). The trees are just gorgeous here right now. We're lucky to have three red beauties in our yard.

We're headed to Arkansas tomorrow evening to spend Thanksgiving with my parents in their new house! We'll drive part way and then make the rest of the drive in on Thanksgiving morning. Here's hoping that Carter likes road trips...