2 foot tornado, Euro hotels, and how you know when you are old

We have started calling Q the 'two foot tornado' now as he has a penchant for utter decimation of any area you put him in.  Whether throwing around toys, smashing whatever he can on any hard surface, and projectile spit-up, he leaves a swatch of destruction in his wake.  It should prove interesting when he can walk.....I might need to start child proofing now.

Q has also recently learned the 'bah, gah, and dah' sounds.  He repeats them over and over.  It is actually pretty funny because there is never any context for it.  He just kind of starts babbling when the mood strikes him, wherever that may be.  Also, he is really developing a funny laugh.  Still runs at 110 mph when awake and flails his entire body about like he is on methamphetamines.  Probably why he crashes out so hard when he naps.  Nighttime sleep is still irregular.  Mornings still begin anywhere between 5-630 (usually closer to 5).  Night sleep is pretty consistently around 6.  It is remarkable to see him evolve from this little crying lump over the past half year.   

Tia and I (thanks to my mother-in-law) actually managed to have 24 hours baby free.  It is funny what things you revel in after their absence.  Things like eating a hot dinner at the same time, going places that are decidedly not baby friendly, having dinner at 9pm, and reading the newspaper while having your second cup of coffee.  It was a wonderful escape.

We didn't go far, both because Q is still unpredictable and also because we didn't want to spend the bulk of our time driving.  We settled on McMinville because it was close, inexpensive, and neither one of us had been there.  The town is surrounded by vinyards and has at least one very notable restaurant (amongst a disproportionate number of them vs. the size of the town) and lots and lots of tasting rooms.  Well, the truth is that the main drag is, as far as I can tell, pretty much all there is to the town. It comprises about 6 blocks along one main street.  It is easily traversed in 10 minutes of leisurely walking.  The hotel was one of the McMenamin's properties, The Hotel Oregon.  We opted for the Euro room vs. having an en-suite bath as the idea of traveling a few feet down a hall to save $40 appealed to me (had you asked me that at 5am, when I was trying to locate my key card so I could wander down the brightly lit hall and pee, I may have reconsidered).  It was all pretty typical, and pretty novel considering.

Our new manager started this week.  I don't know when I will actually meet her though.  I have been running all over the system of late as it becomes more and more evident they aren't exactly sure what to do with me.  I will be out at the Hood tomorrow (in Gresham), and have been to the Tualitan and Vancouver in the last few weeks.  I keep hoping that the deal will finally come through for the clinics, just to see if I would finally have an opt out that would allow me to collect unemployment and stay home with Q.  I have doubts it will happen anytime soon, if at all.  In the meantime, I will just keep showing up where they need me I guess.

Last but not least (and most recent), I realized, definitively, that I am getting old.  I was washing the dishes after dinner and I sneezed.  But, since my hands were wet, I tried to hold back a bit.  This was a bad idea.  I felt a tweak down the left side of my body and a tug in my groin.  Now I am actually sporting a bit of a limp.  This is all utterly ridiculous.  If it gets worse tomorrow I am going to tell people it was a from jumping out of a plane, playing some pick up basketball with much younger players, or really anything that has slightly more cache than what actually happened.

I am going to bed to hopefully prevent further injuries.  More to come as events warrant.