Whoops, was that a week ago that I last posted?  Time flies!  This week was my sister's birthday, my brother's birthday, and Miranda's birthday, who came to visit Denver with her family.  I took off yesterday and today so we could hit all our favorite places.  I got some fabric from Fancy Tiger today to make another tunic.  It took great willpower not to walk out with another skein of Twinkle bulky yarn.  I love them so. 

Tomorrow is my Saturday at work.  Fingers crossed that it will be a short day!  Jack had a grumpy mood all of today and his sleep schedule is pretty messed up.  I'd like to spend some happy time with him, and see my friends and sister a little more.  

This photo is from the same day as the last one.  Another adorable expression to start your weekend.

I added a bunch of videos to my vimeo account.  They are all FTG quality (For The Grands), meaning that some of my audience might not want to endure all of them.  Here's a sampling embedded for ya.

Grammar talk from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.


First cereal meal from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

I LOVE it when it rains in the morning.  We made cookies!  Jack started at the very beginning of learning to help - holding a spatula.

I got called in to work 7 hours yesterday.   Not bad for a Sunday.  I didn't get called out again in the evening - woohoo!  More good news is that on our new schedule I don't have any weekend call, only a couple regular shifts on Saturday. 

Today is my day off and I'm spending it making Jack happy.  We played lots of games, read books, and later are going to take a walk with Jem.  We went down to Littleton to have lunch with Ben for the last time.  I don't think I've explained on the blog about his work changes yet.  Basically, he's been getting very tired of his job and feeling stuck there.  During his days with Jack he realized how easily he could do school online during naps.  He found a great program at Regis to get his Computer Science degree through online classes.  I'm so excited for him to go back to school and get his degree.  Regis was really good to me and I know he'll have great classes there.  For now, he is taking three pre-reqs through Red Rocks online.  He got accepted at Regis and will start classes through them starting in January.  At first we thought he would continue to work until then, but we decided that life would be happier if he quit sooner.  Tomorrow is his last day.  I think we'll do fine on just my salary.  It will really pay off when he can launch himself into a new part of his career in a year or two (he's still figuring out how long it will take).  In the mean time, I think he's going to have a blast taking classes in a field he loves. 

And for no reason, here's a video of me and Jack!

Near and Far from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

Jack likes to see himself on the computer screen. This is another boring baby video. I'm whispering "near" and "far" to Jack, so no, there's nothing wrong with your sound. You can't hear anything but Ben's computer fan buzzing.

"Sesame Street is black magic." - Ben.

What is it about post-partum and feeling like a frumpy house-frau?  I have to wear blue and black, bleach and blood stained baggy clothes to work.  When I'm home I either wear baggy comfortable clothes, or a mish-mash of things bought over the past 15 years that don't fit very well, are out of style, or are plain unflattering but purchased because they were such a steal.  This needs to stop.  In the words of Twist, "Stop feeling like a fat, ugly failure."

After two weeks of tenuous consideration I marched into Old Navy today and tried on 9 pairs of skinny jeans.  I hated this trend three years ago.  But seeing that it is still around, and all my bootcut pants hide my legs (my one good body feature I have left), and reading online that bootcuts are becoming the new "mom jeans" I took the plunge.  For $16 each it isn't a big risk.  I bought two pairs and I'm wearing them around the house today with tags on to see if they will really work.

High on my triumph, I went to Ulta to find new foundation.  For years I've used a drugstore powder.  It's time to upgrade.  I was in the store for only 90 seconds, but accosted by 4 glowing, beautifully made-up women offering me help.  I started sweating and felt like hiding my unmade face and tangled hair, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the many expensive foundation options.  I retreated to the car, vowing to return with my sister for moral support, and a nicer outfit and base face. If skinny jeans took me 2 weeks and 9 pairs, I better do my research before returning to Ulta.  One step at a time.

Let's not even talk about my hair problems.

Instead, here's a cute picture of my baby!  Distraction!  I'm going to knit and watch 30 Rock!