House of Estrogen

Fun in the Sun - HCH Style

More Hill Country Hyatt fun today... why go anywhere else?

 

So Sweet - Chocolate and Gratitude

We got off to a rough start with this vacation, but after tonight, I can say definitively that it has all been worth the pains it took to get here. We spent the day at Sea World, feeding dolphins, being dazzled by Shamu, and eating ice cream bars during the water ski show. It was a perfect day - a little overcast, so not too hot, and even Addie seemed to enjoy all the shows. She napped in the stroller when the day got too long.

 

As we were making s'mores by the fire pit tonight, Nina walked up to me and gave me a section from her little square of Hershey bar. I said, "That's so nice, Nina. You're giving me some of your chocolate?" She replied, "Yes, Mommy. I'm sharing with you to say thank you for taking us on this really great trip."

I believe that little square of chocolate is the best thank you I've ever received.

Heaven in Hill Country

Hill Country Hyatt - I love you. Several friends had recommended the Hill Country Hyatt to me, one in particular gushing about it saying that she wants to just move in here and stay forever. Their rave reviews brought us here, but I have to say this place has exceeded even my high expectations. If I lived within driving distance, I am quite certain I would never vacation anywhere else ever again. Of course, since we have decided we aren't setting foot on a plane with a toddler again, perhaps we can just live here for the next couple of years. Do you think they have a cheaper rate if you rent a room by the month?

I'm not even sure where to begin to describe the perfection that is the Hill Country Hyatt. They have somehow manged to walk a fine line creating a perfect balance between luxury for adults and non-stop fun for kids of all ages. Every detail strikes this balance: the attentive bell hops and valet parking attendants for adults and the housekeeping staff who carefully arrange stuffed animals on the bed for kids, the shallow baby pool and raucous activity pool along with the quiet, secluded adults-only pool, the fun, shaded lazy river complete with a float-up bar, the big sandy playground and the hammock hidden away in a grove of trees, s'mores at the fire pit every evening with animated movies on the lawn for little ones or luxury spa treatments for their parents. They seem to have thought of everything. It is all wrapped up in such a pretty package too. The beautiful limestone buildings are surrounded by perfectly manicured Texas native trees and flowers with winding paths and bridges running through it all. It seems as though every time we go on a walk, we discover a new hidden treasure - a tire swing in a grove of trees, or hummingbirds happily zooming around a hummingbird feeder.

We started the day with the buffet breakfast - every breakfast item imaginable, all perfectly prepared and presented, complete with custom omelets from the omelet chef and a pancake/waffle bar. It was a great way to start the day after the atrocities of yesterday.

Then, we spent the entire morning playing in the sand, floating half-comatose along the lazy river, and just relaxing. If we were parched, no need to get out of the inner tube, we just floated up to the bar and got a bottle of water. Heaven, I tell ya! The girls decided to forgo the face painting on the schedule to spend more time in the water but then chose to get their hair braided just before lunch. We ate lunch poolside... it doesn't get much easier than that. After a nap, more swimming, and dinner, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores at the firepit and lounged in a hammock. The photos from the big camera will have to wait until I get back home, but here are a few snapshots from this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

I recently finished the book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", by Mitch Albom. In it, he theorizes that heaven is different for each person. An individual's heaven is the time and place in his life when he was happiest. I think my heaven will be the Hill Country Hyatt.

If Looks Could Kill...

... my children would have no mother. This has been a day that will not be forgotten any time soon. We flew to San Antonio today, and by "today", I mean ALL DAY LONG. The day started out with Elise vomiting about an hour before we needed to leave for the airport. Lovely. Virus? Nerves? Stomach Flu? We had no clue, but the show must go on, so off to the airport we went. We got on our first flight to Atlanta right around Addie's nap time with the ridiculous assumption that she would nap on the flight. She had other plans. They mostly involved crying, whining, and complaining. No problem. It was a short flight. We would let her run around in the Atlanta airport, feed her a big meal, and then surely she would sleep on the next flight, right?  Yeah, in our dreams, maybe. The next flight was worse. She just ramped it up. She was absolutely miserable and determined to have everyone in ear shot join her in her misery. Fun times.

We have always traveled with a car seat for babies and toddlers and bought them their own seat, both for their safety and our sanity. Kids are used to being driven around strapped down in a carseat, so that usually translates well to being content to sit in one on a plane. That theory didn't work out so well today. In an effort to squeeze as many passengers onto a plane as possible, the airlines are now leaving us about 4 inches of leg room. Install a carseat, and that leg room decreases to about a half inch. This meant that every time Addie kicked her feet out of frustration, anger, or just plain exhaustion, the lady in front of her got a kick in the back.

I tried hard to hold her feet down, but realistically, I couldn't hold her feet every second of the flight, and she's only 17 months old, can't you cut the poor overtired baby some slack?  That woman gave me looks like I was the devil himself... as if I was deviously poking my toddler, nudging her saying, "Go ahead, kick her again!" just to piss her off. And then she started with the passive aggressive crap of throwing her newspaper down on her tray table if Addie kicked. That's nice... thanks. I really needed that crap from you as if things weren't bad enough on my row as it was.

I try to be a considerate traveler... really I do. I make sure my children have plenty to eat and drink, blankets or sweaters to stay warm, plenty of entertainment, including a few new things to help keep them quiet and busy. My goal is not to make your life a living hell, lady. Really. She's a TODDLER. Ever seen one before? They can't always be controlled with the flick of a switch. I was trying.... EVERYTHING... food, drinks, new toys, Tylenol, a favorite blanket... surely I could at least get an A for effort? An understanding smile of "yeah, this flight really sucks, but I can see that you are trying really hard."?  No. I got looks to kill, and then she asked the flight attendant if she could move to another seat. Sorry... no can do. Full flight. Sucks to be you. Guess what though... it sucked to be me too. I promise. You dealt with an occassional size 6 foot to the back. I was dealing with an inconsolable child for hours... in a small space... with a lot of other people around. Everyone else politely put on their headphones or tried to bury themselves in a book. I knew they were irritated, but at least they weren't making me feel any worse about it than I already did.

Addie finally conked out in my lap about 10 minutes before we landed... IN AUSTIN!!!  Yeah... that's right. Austin. That's NOT FREAKING SAN ANTONIO!  Due to bad weather in San Antonio, the airport had closed down for a short time, so we were diverted to Austin for refueling.  This was seriously the worst flying experience I have ever had with a child, and this was the day we had to get diverted to another airport?  I shed a few tears. Yes. I'm being serious. It was that bad.

She slept for a short time while we were on the ground in Austin but then cranked back up again. We finally arrived in San Antonio, exhausted, drained, and never happier to be on the ground.

Anyone want to place bets on whether the antibiotics for Addie's ear infection are working? Me thinks the answer is no. Thank goodness she has an appointment with an ENT next week for a consultation for tubes.

We have decided we are moving to San Antonio because there is no way you are getting us back on a plane with a toddler again, ever. Maybe we'll fly back when she is 4.

The Bruiser

In the "Nina's face vs. hard immobile object" wars, Nina rarely comes out on top.

This was "Nina vs. Picnic Table" three years ago. There was a clear winner here.

 

And yesterday's battle was "Nina vs. Door Jamb."  Poor girl. That face has had a rough life so far.

Simple Woman's Daybook, May 18

For Today...

Outside my window... the gorgeous Crowne Plaza Hotel, Indianapolis (I have an interior window overlooking the indoor pool). This place is just beautiful. It is part of the first Grand Central Station in the United States. The grand ballroom is spectacular with a beautiful ceiling and huge stained glass windows. There are 26 original Pullman train cars inside the hotel that have been turned into really amazing guest rooms. If you ever have a reason to come to Indianapolis, this is a great place to stay.

I am thinking... that Jon Stewart is so freaking funny (watching the Daily Show while blogging).

I am thankful for... the awesome friends I have here in Indy who I got to go out with tonight!

From the kitchen... I have no idea. That's the beauty of traveling on an expense account! JC is in charge of the kitchen this week.

I am wearing... brown slacks and a striped sweater.

I am creating... Flex code. I've learned so much already in just one day of this conference that I have a running list of new things I want to code, or old code that needs to be refactored based on things I learned today.

I am going... to bed soon.

I am reading... Mommywood, by Tori Spelling. Yes, Tori Spelling. Shut it.

I am hoping... that Elise is having a great time with her grandparents in Dallas, and that JC is surviving OK with the other two at home.

I am hearing... technically I'm not hearing this right this second, but every time a train goes through the station, the entire hotel rumbles. It feels a bit like what I imagine an earthquake might feel like!

Around the house... dunno... read "from the kitchen" above!

One of my favorite things... H&M! I love that store. I've only been able to shop in H&M in person twice, once in DC, and once tonight. Fortunately, one of my sweet shopping-loving Indy friends shops H&M for me occassionally so I can get my fix.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... two more days of conference sessions and then home to my family.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... 2 pictures this week... from the lovely Crowne Plaza.

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Where are the Women?

In the last few years, we've seen Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, Drew Gilpin Faust named the first female president of Harvard University, and Hillary Clinton make a strong, competitive run for the White House. All of these successful women give the impression that women are making their mark in traditionally male dominated fields.  It is great to see women breaking through glass ceilings in these arenas. From my experience in the past two days though, I can say without a doubt that women in computer science are not making these same strides.

I am attending the 360|Flex Conference this week. It is a very technical, programming-centered conference. There are no suit-wearing marketing-types here. It is strictly for the geeks, the laptop toting, black t-shirt wearing, need-a-haircut programmers.  At the opening session, in a room of about 500, I counted 15 women. Although, I can't even say for sure that all 15 of those were women. Since I was sitting near the back of the room, I may have counted a few men with long hair. Regardless, we are a rare breed, indeed. 

Last night, my coworker C and I decided to relax in the hotel hot tub. We were joined by a couple of guys, one of whom eventually asked why we were visiting Indy. When we said we were here for the 360|Flex conference just like them, his jaw dropped as if I had just sprouted a third eyeball. He got completely flustered and started stammering, "Wow! That's really wild. Really? You hardly ever see women in software development. Both of you are developers? That's really interesting. Have you always done development? How did you get into it?" I wasn't sure he was going to stop asking questions long enough for me to answer, but at some point I responded, "I got both my bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science." I could have said, "I've just been programming a couple years, ever since I stopped naked pig wrestling since that just wasn't paying the bills any more", and it might not have blown his mind as much as the truth.

Today's encounter at lunch was equally odd pathetic comical. C and I were sitting at a table for 10. We were the only women at the table (actually, to be fair, I looked at the other 8 tables near us, and we were the only two women, period). The discussion at the table centered around interactions between developers and designers. I mentioned something about the user interface designer on our team, and the man next to me turned to me and said, "So, do you use men or women for your designers?" Seriously? Was he asking if the job descriptions at my company say, "UI Designer: a woman who uses her artistic and creative abilities to design user-friendly interfaces for computer software?" Or perhaps he thought we worked at an all-female software company? I was just so baffled by the question. Both C and I immediately said, "Both", and I think he was as surprised by our answer as we were by his question.

When shopping with an Indy friend tonight, she picked up some heinous gold gladiator sandals and said to me, "I think you need these for your conference! You stand out so much anyway, you might as well give them something to talk about!"  I had to pass on the sandals... I'm thinking some of these guys might just pass out from brain-overload. "She's a woman! And she's a programmer! She writes flex code! AND SHE WEARS GOLD GLADIATOR SANDALS."  I just don't want to rock their worlds more than I already have.

My field needs more women. I don't know how to find them or how to encourage girls to pursue a degree in computer science, but we seriously need some help! 

 

24 Hours of Dallas

My 24 hours in Dallas is coming to a close, and I've managed to fit in quite a few Texas must-haves in the short time I've been here. The caesar salad from La Madeleine was perfect, as always. Last night's outing provided nachos and tamales at a good Tex-Mex place. I have yet to find decent nachos or tamales in North Carolina... tacos and enchildas, yes... nachos and tamales, no.  What is so complicated about nachos for crying out loud?  It is beans and cheese on a chip! Why can't any restaurant in NC get that right?  Maybe that should be my next business venture - a nacho restaurant. That's how I'll make my millions... Ann's Nacho Hut, perhaps? Today, I got to introduce Elise to pecan (that's pronouced puh-kon for all you Carolinians reading that as pee-can) pralines... oh my! - a little blob of heaven wrapped in plastic wrap!  She is a fan. Maybe she'll bring one back for me at the end of her trip.

My parents moved out of my childhood home and into a condo a couple years ago. This morning, my mom said, "There is a park with a nice playground that I think is about a half mile or so from here. We can walk over there."  We started walking, and she would say, "I think it is just a couple more blocks this way." (famous last words). After those couple of blocks, she would say, "Or maybe it is the next street over."  This continued for a while until Elise started saying, "JoJo, I think you're losing your mind!" - gotta love a seven year old to call it how she sees it!  We finally asked a jogger how to find the park, and he said, "Oh,  you've gone a few blocks out of your way... I saw you walking a while ago."  Nice. So not only were we lost, people had noticed how completely lost we were. Fortunately, at this point, we were only a couple blocks from the park, so he pointed us in the right direction. The jaunt definitely provided a bit more exercise than we had planned for the morning.  Elise had fun, but she was a bit freaked out by all the grackles overhead. If you've never seen a Texas grackle, it is like a giant crow that caws like a prehistoric pterodactyl.  I'm not sure if Elise was more worried about being used as target practice for their excrement or being eaten alive by a flock of them. Either way, she was a bit anxious, so we didn't stay long.  The walk back was considerably shorter thanks to knowing where the heck we were going. Note to self... when mom says she "thinks" she knows where something is, have her scout it out by car first.

Off to Indianapolis now!  I missed out on Texas BBQ, but I'll just have to save that for the next trip.

Brains in your Head

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

        ~ Dr. Seuss

Since the girls were all born in a teaching hospital, we are occassionally called with a request for one of them to participate in a research study. Nina took part in a cognitive study earlier this week. Apparently, there is a tiny region of the brain that is responsible for face recognition (the right middle fusiform gyrus, if you were wondering). The hypothesis of the study is that there is also a part of the brain that handles number recognition. Nina's job was to play a video game inside an MRI machine where she was shown numbers, letters, faces, and other random things like shoes, so researchers could watch to see what part of the brain was stimulated when she saw the numbers. Interesting stuff.

I am horribly claustrophobic and avoid MRIs at all costs, but I am striving to not pass on my personal phobias to my children. I even made J.C. take each of the girls to her first dentist appointment to avoid instilling my own anxieties about the dentist in my children. I really had to take a deep breath and put on a smiling face as we walked into the MRI room. You couldn't have paid me enough money to lie down in that machine myself, but Nina happily jumped in with the promise of a Barbie doll from the researcher. She lay still, did great, and now we have this lovely picture of her brain... perhaps a contender for this year's Christmas card?

Dentist and MRI... two phobias down. Now, how do I teach my children to be neat and tidy and pick up after themselves better than I do?

Simple Woman's Daybook, May 11

 

 

For Today...

Outside my window... a chilly, rainy, dreary day... not my favorite way to start the week.

I am thinking... that I need to fill out a medical consent to treat form for my mom when she is keeping Elise. Anybody know if that needs to be notarized?

I am thankful for... the sweet homemade Mother's Day gifts from the girls. I'm going to be sad when they outgrow that kind of thing. Elise's was a book she wrote and illustrated - love it!

"My mom is the best cook in my family. She has straight blond hair and if you rub it, she feels like she is going to fall asleep. Her eyes are the color of gold leaves. I love my mom because she takes me on fun trips and to Los Tres Magueyes. I love my mom most of all because she takes care of me. I love playing games and going to girl scouts with her. I love camping with my mom. I like reading with my mom at night."

I admit, I got a bit teary reading that Mother's Day morning.

From the kitchen... spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.

I am wearing... jeans, a green Boden top, and flip flops.

I am creating... creative placement for Elise's patches on her Brownie vest. The back is completely full now, so I'm sewing patches hanging off the edge, some overlapping others, and others hanging off the sides. When Elise entered Brownies in first grade, the Brownies covered grades 1-2. Then, the following year, they changed the levels so that Daisies are K-1, and Brownies are now grades 2-3. Since this change was implemented when Elise had just finished first grade, she now ends up with 3 years of Brownies. I have no idea where I will put another year's worth of patches. That will involve some serious engineering!

I am going... out of town soon! Yea! I'm ready for a change of scenery. I'm flying with Elise to Dallas to drop her off with my parents for a visit there, and then I'm on to Indianapolis for the 360 Flex Conference (a bunch of geeky computer programmers gathering together to talk about Flex programming and other geeky topics. Should be fun!) 

I am reading... The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.

I am hoping... that Addie's two recent baths with no screaming, no crying, and no trying desperately to scramble out of the tub are a turning point to a more peaceful bathtime and not just some weird fluke.

I am hearing... J.C.'s squeaky chair. Nina is the only other person home, and she has been napping for 3+ hours!

Around the house... clutter I need to pick up. How is it that 3 days after the housecleaner comes, the house is always already destroyed?

One of my favorite things... movie theater popcorn drenched in that fake butter. Yes, I know it is one of the worst possible things you can put in your body, but when you're only going to the movie theater 3-4 times per year, how bad can it be?

A few plans for the rest of the week.... dinner out with friends tomorrow, tumbling for Elise, the closing for the refinance of our mortgage, pack for the trip, and head to Dallas/Indy.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... Mother's Day with my girls.

                 

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.