I think I can, I think I can.....

Claire and I have had quite the week. Last Friday Dan left for Seattle to visit some of his buddies. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough vacation to join him so Claire and I have a week without Daddy. I didn't think it would be too hard, but boy was I wrong! Friday afternoon/night went great. Claire and I met friends at the park after work and we played until dinner time. Claire passed out around 8:15 and I followed shortly thereafter. I slept for 11.5 hours, Claire slept 12.5 hours and I felt great. Saturday morning we got a ton accomplished before 11AM and were home in time for her nap while I met with the contractor who will be renovating our bathroom while we are in Vermont. Saturday Andrea and a friend came to Hoboken, we had a late lunch and they headed to see Avenue Q on Broadway. At the last minute Andrea was stuck with an extra ticket, but I couldn't find a babysitter on short notice so I couldn't join them. That was fine though because Dan & I already saw Avenue Q. Sunday we went to breakfast, took Andreas friend to the airport, and shopped for the day. Claire was great! Then just as we turned down our street the skies opened up and we had a horrible storm. It wouldn't have been that bad but we don't have parking and the car was full from our shopping trip. I double parked in front of the condo and ran up to get an umbrella to get Claire & Andrea inside. When I came back to the car there was lightning and the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I dropped the umbrella outside and jumped in the back seat of the car faster than you can image! Andrea took Claire in and I was stuck unloading the car before I parked it. Not sure why I even bothered using an umbrella because I was soaked, so much so that it looked like I showered with my clothes on. And don't you know as soon as I got the car parked and was walking back to the condo, it was sunny with no rain. Go figure!

Monday was great, Andrea had stayed Sunday night so she could take Claire to daycare in the morning and I had a good day at work. When I got home I realized our TV, the only TV we have in the house, was broken. Not sure what has happened to it, but Claire and I have been enjoying each others company with lots of music since Monday. I can't even put on a DVD to get 20 minutes of sanity for myself! I called the TV manufacturer and they recommended I call repairment. The first guy said $60 to come to the house so I made an appt for Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday I called the other repairmen and the next guy said $105 to come out and the last guy told me no one should charge to come to the house, and if they were I was getting ripped off. In the meantime, the repairman cancelled my Tuesday appt and moved it to Wednesday (Thanks, buddy! Had I known, I would have gone to spin to work off my stress). I cancelled my appt for this afternoon and waiting on the other guy to get back to me with a quote for repair. In the meantime, Claire has figured out how to open every drawer and cabinet and I had to babyproof last night, when I would have much preferred to be watching trashy TV! Needless to say I have been on edge this week and am looking forward to Andrea and Paula visiting shortly for dinner and drinks (and I am in desperate need of a drink!).

But......how could I stay frustrated when this sweet child is around? You see why we are getting a tub installed next week - it is much needed. You can see Claire signing a few words for you in this video



And this is Claires newest toy from our shopping trip Sunday. Andrea - I hope you have a good explanation for Dan when he gets home :-)


Lastly, here is Claires newest trick. As Andrea pointed out in the previous video, Claire is not a dog - but I will still refer to this as a trick. What else would you call it?


FYI...the TV guy just called me back. $625 to fix the TV. I hope you're not tired Sunday morning Dan, it looks like we will be shopping for a new TV!

On the positive side - we are heading to Vermont next Thursday night.