yesterday, during a luxurious and leisurely afternoon at the mall with joey (thanks, nana), we stopped by one of my favorite stores, anthropologie. i like to go there and pretend like i live in soho and can afford the all their housewares and trinkets and clothes, and that i have a loft where everything they sell would look great. one tiny problem is, i’m not sure how their adorable aprons fit into all that…i can’t make the aprons (or baking chocolate chip cookies in them) work in my imaginary loft, but i want three anyway. yes, three aprons AND three cookies.

so we’re drooling and admiring (i say ‘we,’ joey is actually testing and assessing a magnetic kitchen timer for me, not so much drooling or admiring. it didn’t pass, by the way.), but i notice these books popping out at me, all throughout the store. maybe you know the sort of book i’m talking about, these hateful little books with titles like ’1001 places to see before you die,’ and ‘three billion books to read before you die,’ and ‘forty-leven thousand things to do with your kids before they leave the house.’ books like these. as much as i like a good list, i do not like these books.

how stressful is that, that there are whole books containing lists of things that i need to do, and on tight deadlines. and i’m gonna PAY for this? i’m supposed to pay for someone to heap their punch lists upon me? no, thank you. i think that this maybe works better in the other direction, like maybe i’ll make a list of places that i have gone, books that i have read, and things that i have done with my kid (like taken a picture of him with his pajama pants hiked up to his chin and laughed and laughed), and then maybe i’ll sell this book to THEM for 14.95. take that, THEM! HA!

whenever danny sees ernie anywhere, he pats his head. that’s because ernie taught him how to pat his head one day while he was watching sesame street. ernie also wears saddle shoes, in case you’re searching desperately for the connection. here are danny and his colson cousins on easter. all four sisters now have at least one representative in this annual photo-op. we are planning a world takeover, and this is just a small sampling of our aspirations for our massive army. i’ve maybe had too much coffee.

Danny and I went to see my Mom today. The weather was really nice and it was helpful for Danny to get out and play. He had a blast with the golf cart, trampoline, chocolate lab puppy that loves to lick, and just being able to walk around on a beautiful day. To view the full album click on any of the pictures in this post.

7:00am or earlier
I woke up and entered the kitchen to find Kelly making the new baby a cake. Something along the lines of “You should go back to sleep, I believe it’s going to be today” came from her mouth. I kind of expected it but questioned her anyway to make sure that she was fine, and proceeded back to the bed. (In child birthing class we were told that labor can be a lengthy experience and not to freak out and drive to the hospital until the contractions are within some unforgotten digits of time, blah, blah, blah)

There was no way I was sleeping anymore so I got out of bed to email my boss and start getting things together.

around 10:00am:
I believe Kelly had been awake since midnight-2am so at this point she was already exhausted. We phoned up some people, packed our bags while Kelly attempted to walk to the end of the cul-de-sac. I remember Kelly was walking sloooow and Cletus was definitely putting a damper on her.

12:30pm
In the car and driving to Alpharetta toward the hospital. There was significant traffic for some reason on 285 to 400 north, at which I recall looking over at Kelly who was almost curled up in the floorboard.

2:00pm or so
we arrive at Kelly’s obgyn to be told that there was nothing they could go do because it was still too early. i recall something mentioned of 1-2mm but honestly i could be making that up.

2:15pm
we go to the mall to waste a little time. The mall, yippee! I got to enjoy Chick-fil-a; Kelly tried but I don’t think it was very appetizing.

5:00pm
After being asked by a mall goer if Kelly wanted them to call an ambulance we decided it was time to go. I mean Kelly was knelt behind a leather chair in the middle of the mall, what’s wrong with that? This ride to the hospital, Kelly was literally in the floor board.

5:30pm
We arrive at the hospital where I get to drive Kelly in the wheelchair to the labor area. I mention to the nurse station that I think my wife is ready to have a baby.

6:30pm
After being checked out by the nurses they move us to the room with the birthing tub.

7:00pm
Being told that Kelly is fully dilated, the nurse exclaims “She should have this baby by 7:30″

I will be adding more here so come back and check it out later, but for now fast forward…

11/15/07
7:11am
Welcome to the world Daniel Robert Rutledge.

1. there is a laundry monster, yes, but if you can manage it, he can be ignored (note: he grows during times of being ignored). the traditional workplace has elements that are more difficult to ignore. like your mouth-breathing cube neighbor, your poorly whistling boss, or the burnt popcorn or fish smell from the breakroom.
2. you can reduce to minimum configuration sometimes (like, say, ignore the laundry monster or just go to starbucks), when your boss is teething and extra-demanding, or perhaps has covered himself and anything within 2 feet with one of his special products for the third time today.
3. you can create the workplace environment that you want. if you prefer to work naked with food network on all day (in hopes you can reach one of your quarterly goals, teaching yourself to cook), then it’s all you.
4. at the end of every day, you have made all the difference in at least one person’s life, for better or for worse. they may or may not be able to say it with words, but your performance review is constant, and may not require words at all: