when good kitties turn bad

Posted on July 31, 2011 by burpobanter

I know that anyone reading this who knows our beloved cat, Zach, is already questioning how I could refer to this cat as “good” but I swear, he is. I mean, he does have that little problem of hissing at people, but he’s just very finicky. And, he only likes very certain people. Like, people named Jeff, Melinda, Elena and Ian. With the last name Burpo. And even then, yes, he can sometimes be a little finicky with us. Like, when he’s coming down from a half of a pill a night of his Prozac to a quarter of a pill a night. (Which we recently decided to do in an attempt to bring him out of his zombie-like state, as convenient as it was to have him spending 24/7 under the bed upstairs.)

The key is that when you are as close to Zach as we are, you learn to recognize when he’s in “one of those” moods. And, you just back off. He’s happy. We’re happy. No one gets hurt. So, why is it that I forgot this simple rule of the Burpo household last night? Was it the extra-large plate of delicious Southern food at Screen Door, followed by the banana whipped cream pie? Or, was it the mint julep and wine? Or, was it the exhaustion that overcame me after we concluded watching True Grit at home after dinner? It’s hard to say which affected me most, but for whatever reason, I forgot the rules of Life with Zach.

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flashback friday

Posted on July 29, 2011 by burpobanter

It’s amazing how being just seven months in to being back at work full time, and I’m already starting to forget what it was like to be mostly at home and not working for two and a half years. (Or something like that. I purposely lost count.)

But, today’s flashback offers a good reminder of the type of activities I engaged in on a daily basis – like cleaning the house. Okay, so maybe I didn’t quite engage in cleaning the house on a regular basis, but here is the proof that I was actually forced to do it for a while. Don’t everyone get out their violins at once.

Life without Maria

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

tulle skirts and painted toenails

Posted on July 28, 2011 by burpobanter

Jeff and I decided with both Ian and Elena that we did not want to find out their sex before they were born. While there were different reasons we chose this path for ourselves, one of my personal reasons was that I didn’t care to have all the questions, comments and stereotypes that would come along with it:

Oh, you’re having a girl! How exciting…you’ll have one of each! And now you get to buy all those cute clothes! (or insert female stereotype of your choice here)

or, conversely

Oh, a boy! How exciting…boys have so much energy! (or insert male stereotype of your choice here)

That said, I admit that before Ian was born – I wondered sometimes that if it was a boy (which I highly suspected from the beginning, by the way), would I relate to him as well as I would a girl given that, well, I am indeed a “girl” myself? But this was also part of the reason why I didn’t want to know. Because I didn’t need that extra time to second guess how I’d be as the mother of a boy. And sure enough, when Ian was born at Virginia Hospital Center the afternoon of January 10, 2006, he wasn’t a boy. He wasn’t a girl. He was my firstborn child and he was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen.

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meet Viz

Posted on July 25, 2011 by burpobanter

This afternoon a few of us ventured out to Camas, Washington for a communications planning retreat on a colleague’s ranch. I had never been to Camas before – or frankly, even remotely close to Camas – but once I got over the initial shock of just how long the commute is, I found it quite lovely. So pretty and peaceful; I can see the appeal for sure. She has this amazing barn on her property, which she calls her “dream come true” and this is her beloved horse, Viz, short for Visible Difference. As you can see, Viz gave us a warm greeting when we arrived before heading out to the pasture to relax for the afternoon while we worked out on the patio. And yes, we actually did get something done.

weekend goodness

Posted on July 24, 2011 by burpobanter

This was a good weekend. First of all, as stated on Friday, the weather was amazing. Finally. Second, as also stated on Friday, we had a lovely evening out Friday night. Third of all, as not yet stated, our Saturday was quite nice, too.

Maria came to watch Elena and Ian in the afternoon so that Jeff and I could do a bit more camera research and actually have a chance to focus on talking to someone. Jeff bit the bullet last week and upgraded to a new Canon DSLR model from his six-year-old one that has been having flash and other issues for quite some time now. It was delivered a few days ago and it’s a bit like a third child just arrived. Except, thankfully it’s much lower maintenance than a third child. Now he has his eye on a new type of lens, which I will make no attempt to try to discuss here. I just know it has something to do with zoom.

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