The Burlingames

Chronicling the adventures of the B's

Too Much Puking

by Dave

Eli had a rough Friday. Megan had a rough Saturday night and Sunday. I’ve had a rough Monday (starting right away at about 1am). Eli appears to be better, though he threw up on the way home from the retreat this weekend. Megan is much better today, but took the day off to finish recovering as she’s still very tired. I also took the day off after feeling like I was going to die during the night. I’m feeling better this afternoon after sleeping until 11am. I haven’t eaten much today, but my appetite appears to be coming back. I hate sharing sickness.

There were some others at the retreat that were sick toward the end as well. It’s hard to say if they were related, but it seems like more than just coincidence. Who knows.

Flashback & "I've been left in the Dust"

by Dave

I was eating lunch yesterday at the Maplewood Mall thanks to picking up some extra hours at work. They’ve had LCD tv’s in the food court for quite some time, but their content has taken an interesting turn since the last time I was there. They were playing music videos. As I sat down I noticed the current video looked familiar; it was Chem 6a by Switchfoot (circa 1997). It was quite hilarious to see: bowl cuts and bad polo shirts.

After that video I noticed something interesting. I (or anyone else watching) could help choose the upcoming videos via the tv next to the one actually playing the videos. They were using a website’s texting service to choose songs (American Idol-style). The tv on the left showed previews of potential upcoming videos with a text code for each. You could also send a text to find out the current song playing.

It was kind of a neat idea, but at the same time, who cares enough to actually do that. I find myself wondering if this is the way we’re headed given everyone’s (media outlets, social networking sites, blah blah) rush to include interactivity in as many facets of their reach as possible. If so, I will play the “old man” card and say that I don’t care. I just want to eat chinese in the food court.

Our New Nephew

by Dave

We have a new nephew. Nat and Sarah had their baby boy last night a little after 7pm. His name is Evan Thomas Burlingame. He came in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. He’s a good looking boy.

Evan Thomas Burlingame

Eli Funnies…

by Dave

Eli has been super cute lately (well, he’s always super cute), but I’ve been wanting to get some of his cuteness on the blog.

Eli knows the following words/phrases in sign language: more, please, more please, eat, help, help please and milk. We have been working on ‘all done’ but he hasn’t picked up on that one yet. Key words are ‘mom’ and ‘no’.

When Eli is ready to eat he will run over to his high chair and sign ‘eat’, he often does this at night when it is bedtime as a stalling trick. He is getting better at feeding himself but still tends to make a big mess but that’s ok. His favorites right now are beef ravioli and mac n’ cheese. He LOVES apples and will devour them whenever he can. Veggies are still out of the question.

If we tell Eli it’s time to take a bath, he runs to the bathroom door and knocks on the door until we open it. He will dump his toys in the tub while we are busy filling up the tub and adding bubbles to the water, he’s most helpful. While in the bathtub if I give Eli the wash rag and tell him to wash his face, he puts the rag up to his face and scrubs. He is very proud of himself afterward. He can even pick up his toys when bath time is all done.

Eli knows where to go for a diaper change. If we say, ‘let’s go change your diaper’, he takes off running to his bedroom and reaches for the changing table. He also knows where his jammies are and will attempt to pull open the drawer to pull a pair out for us to change him for bedtime.

Lately I’ve been asking for lots of hugs, if I ask Eli for a hug he leans his head on my shoulder. If I ask him for a kiss, he leans his head forward for me to kiss. I’ve been telling him to give his toys a hug, he’ll put them up by his cheek and pretend to give them hugs.

When we get home, he likes to walk up the walkway and steps, then he will knock on the door until I open it. He then gets inside, shuts the door and sits down on the steps to take his shoes off. However, for a few days he was being lazy about taking his shoes off and would start crawling up the stairs instead. I would stop him and ask him to take his shoes off, well he stayed in his crawling position and stuck his foot out behind him expecting me to take his shoe off for him. That didn’t work out in his favor, I made him sit down and take his own shoes off. I think we are back in the routine.

Getting Busier

by Dave

Today was a great day. Not only did my long-awaited amp arrive, but I also accepted an upgrade at work to move to full time (I’m currently working part time). I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I wanted to work full time for several reasons. I’ve greatly enjoyed hanging out with Eli during the day and it’s been good to only have to pay for a couple hours of daycare each day. On the other hand, it’s getting trickier to spend money on making the necessary repairs to the house, not to mention the upgrades we’d like to make when the funds become available.

One interesting thing about being part time at FedEx is I could always say no if they asked me to come in a few hours early or need help during the busy times. As a full time employee, they now own me. If there aren’t enough volunteers to cover extra work (there usually are, so it’s mostly a non-issue), they go down a seniority list and assign people to do things. It’s not a big deal, but something to consider.

Another reason to take this chance is the relative rarity of it, especially given the state of the economy. I’ve been at FedEx for nearly 2.5 years and only in the last several months have any full time positions become available to part-timers. Who knows how long it would be before I got another chance.

I’m glad for the opportunity. I started at FedEx thinking of it as a stopgap job while waiting for another design gig. I’ve been there almost 2.5 years and I’m not in any hurry to go somewhere else. Honestly, I don’t really miss design all that much. Who knows: maybe I’ll work my way up the chain at FedEx and do something besides being a courier with them. They hire almost exclusively from within, so there’s definitely a chance. Perhaps I’ll learn some valuable skills along the way that will help me achieve my ultimate dream of owning a guitar store. We’ll see.