Monday, March 31, 2014

Birthday Gift

My husband just had a birthday. I won't tell you which, but I'll give you a hint: it's a bigger number than my own age. It's nice being younger. He hits all the big birthdays before I do, so they don't come as such a shock once I reach them. It's very good of you, sweetie, and I do appreciate it...

Anyway, I have a particular fondness for finding just the right gift for somebody. When I manage to pull it off, the results are unforgettable. If you're familiar with the Love Languages theory, gifts is a pretty big one for me.

Well, this year I wasn't expecting I'd have much time to come up with a really spectacular birthday gift. As much as I love adding the personal touch, it's a little more difficult with a baby. But a few weeks ago a friend of mine posted a picture of a glass that he had personally etched, and I was inspired. Whatever it took, I had to find a way to make my husband a set of etched glasses.

So I went on Amazon. I found all the necessary materials. They came in plenty of time. I opened them up, psyched myself out, and then realized... etching cream is not for messing around! Seriously! This stuff comes with a warning that it can cause severe burns that aren't immediately painful or visible. Worse, if somehow you manage to ingest it, it's pretty fatal (unless you go right away to the doctor for the antidote). Yikes!

But I was not deterred. I spent the evening before his birthday working on the glasses, despite the scary etching cream. And the results were really fun! Here's a picture of the best ones of each of the two sets I made.



For the video game illiterate, that's a Cactuar from Final Fantasy and a Triforce from Zelda.

Some of the others weren't quite so good. One of the Triforces bled a bit, and moreover was on crookedly. But my husband really liked them! He's happy and I'm happy. Hurrah!

Happy birthday, sweetie!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Catch Up, Part 1

High time for a bit of catch up, right? In the haze of no sleep I about gave up on blogging, I admit. There was a bit of a rough patch for four long months until we figured out what was causing us to be up every 45 minutes all night every night. But that's behind us now (hurrah!), so here's what's been happening while I've been gone.

Baby

He's really been the front and center of everything for the past eight months. What was life like before him? I hardly remember. It's funny--my husband reminded me that we're coming up on our one year house-versary, and that seems impossible. Didn't we just move in? But the baby being eight months is no surprise. I feel like he's been a fixture of my life forever.

Like every baby he's had his personal highs and lows. He has one tooth. (Speaking of which, when my cousin was learning fractions he called 1/2 one twoth. I look forward to similar adorableness with the baby--not that he isn't absolutely the cutest thing already.) Last week he had his first major cold. He's the most photogenic creature in existence, and I wish I could show you proof, but for his privacy we don't post photos online. The latest cannot-believe-how-cute-you-are thing: when he's happy he tilts his head back and forth like the cutest bobble-head ever.

Life

One of the awesome things about being a new mom is that suddenly I have lots of automatic friends--other new moms! I've met some pretty fantastic people that way. Including the mom of my son's best buddy (the boys are three days apart). She's lots of fun to hang with, and she has the awesome job of house-flipping. She recently took me out to see the house she's currently working on. Lots of potential, but it definitely needs her loving touch. Can't wait to see it when it's done!

Reading

I'm continuing my adult fiction streak. Most recently Vicious and now on to Words of Radiance. Can I just say... VE Schwab can write a seriously good everything! Words turn to magic under her pen. Or something. Always very impressed. I will read anything she writes.

Writing

Started querying The Never Silent. Have some other things in the works.

More on the writing font soon though. In the meantime, I'm off to spend some more of my day teaching the little one about colors... or maybe just watching him be a curious little eight month old.