I'm totally off my routine. Well, probably because it's a brand new routine working from home. Also really busy at work, so that's kind of throwing off the hours a bit too. I did manage to not leave the house today. And I actually felt bad about it. I figure I need to schedule walks. For example, tomorrow morning I'm planning on walking down to Belmont to get Dunkin Donuts. Just a little piece of my former life. But first unhealthy thing I'll have for breakfast all week, which is new for me. The cold I felt coming on is, I guess, here. Just up in the head, got a dry cough. Waiting for all the mucus in my sinus cavity to dislodge. Just a matter of time. Stupid Vegas. With the light streaming in through the windows and doors and where I'm sitting at the dining room table and us without window treatments means I get blinded by the sun after 4:30 or so. For now I'm just taping a giant manila envelope from my x-rays and moving it to match the position of the sun. Lo-tech, but works.

Okay, I cede there is a bad point to working from home: it's hard to separate work from home time. That blended a bit over the last day and night when I had to meet a deadline. But still good. I also think having one big screen instead of two small screens is more productive. It's like single tasking, instead of multitasking. Did some errands today, so again got out of the house. Still feel the cold coming on, not quite full strength, but it's not going away either. I am disappointed tha I haven't been posting my new camera photos to flickr on a timely basis, or even at all. It doesn't bode well for the future baby pictures. Also, my online reading is decreasing rapidly. Crazy. And I even started paring down my Google Reader feed list before I started slacking. Again, crazy.

Working from home all this week. Totally throwing off my schedule. I'm a little surprised that both days I've left the house. That and the productivity increase. Odd. I figured I would go the entire week without going outside, but that's a little much. I feel like I need fresh air right around 5pm. Which probably makes sense since I've been in the same 15 feet area for roughly the whole day (I'm right next to the kitchen). Otherwise, I made dinner last night, since Tracy worked the night. Just a simple beef stir fry. I tried to use my mom's Beef and Broccoli marinade for the meat and might have used a little too much corn starch. Tracy made chili for dinner tonight. Also starting to feel a little under the weather, sore and scratchy throat, slight fever, feels like a cold. Started drinking my OJ and water in copious amounts today. Also made some rice crispie treats for dessert tonight. Still want to make a black forest cake at some point, and I keep buying those pints of heavy whipping cream, and I keep letting them go bad in the fridge. One of these days.

So since Tracy and I don't gamble, yet still go to Vegas with family, we've found something to spend money on instead. Room and Board. Last year we figured out we could try appetizers and cocktails while the family gambled at each casino. This time we tried out the Aria Las Vegas, since it was new. And we loved it. Best sleep Tracy's had in a while. And so good we turned down the free room my parents got at Paris Las Vegas and paid for another night there, because, well, a good night's sleep for a pregnant woman 7 months along is absolutely priceless. Very nice place. Bed most of all. Control4 automation system is nice, the automated drapes is very cool, but the control system itself, well, there's some lag time there. Turned me off wanting to implement it at home. I think home automation is the one place where you really can't skimp, and it shows when you do. Also, the new camera held up pretty well I think. Full battery though the weekend. Only around 300 photos though. Definitely still playing with settings, mostly exposure. Also saw that there was a Raw Camera update for Mac OS X that supports my camera now. So I think it's time to finally upgrade to Snow Leopard and iPhoto '09. I'll try and post photos to Flickr when I get them uploaded to the computer. I still haven't figured out a workflow yet. Great to see my family, parents, Al and Nicole, at the annual Abando Vegas Vacation. Good to see the Basas, then the Argaos. No problems travelling, and keep getting to the airport on Sunday too early with way too much time to kill. And also keep going to Vegas when it rains, and leaving when it gets sunny and warm. Also started using foursquare to track where I went. It beat out Brightkite a couple weeks ago, and go figure, it went down on Saturday night. Today worked from home again, and was surprisingly super productive. I had guessed the opposite.

I get to work from home tomorrow. Which makes it easy for Tracy and I when we leave for the airport. Which is nice. Kind of feels like vacation, except I actually have to work tomorrow. So odd. Maybe something I'll have to get used to though. Got a second network camera, one that actually sees in the dark. So odd. Very cool though. Wondering if I need to setup a camera only server or not. Probably just wait and see how long I can last with what I've got. More leftovers for dinner tonight. Watched an episode of Life Unexpected. Checked in and printed out boarding passes already. Still need to pack. I did find some old fake carabiners for like keys and stuff that might come in handy for camera or diaper bags and stuff. Otherwise, pretty quiet. Lots of stuff going on at work, busy busy busy. Some order to the chaos will be coming in the near future, looking forward to that.

The future is definitely wide open. More like a window opening? Change is afoot. Good stuff though, waiting to see if it happens. In other news, I have jury duty again. I say again, but the last time I had to was 5 years ago, so I guess no need to complain. Not for a couple weeks though. But at the criminal courts this time, so that should be fun. Dropped by the old home again for maintenance reasons, which is where I found my jury summons. Took the 135 there. Been a long time since I took that home. Oh, The Publican was good last night, better company than food, but maybe I'm just having it too often, and need to spread it out a little bit more. Or maybe try a couple new places. I've heard good things about Volo. Also weeded Tracy and I off the Whole Foods blueberry pie a la mode fix. Getting the entire pie is just an overdose. Too much of a good thing.

Finally found a dresser. We were interested in a Young America All Seasons, seemed like good quality, and went up to FurnitureKidz (a Young America Signature store) up in Kildeer to check it out on Saturday. However, it took us a little while to find it, and of course we did some other shopping, and by the time we showed up they were closing in 15 minutes. So we decided to come back the next day so we could look around more leisurely. We did come back with all sorts of random stuff, almost all on sale or clearance, but all for us. Oh, and ate at a Five Guys for the first time. Not bad, but didn't seem all that better than what we make at home in a cast iron pan. Got milkshakes from Steak 'n Shake and watched The Hangover finally, since we're going to Vegas this week. Sunday we go back up, find out about the extra surcharges for delivery to Chicago and over 3 flights of stairs, and decide to go to somewhere closer, like Lazar's instead. Once there we find other dressers of much nicer construction, so we go with something from Pali instead, which is perfect except it's a little tall for Tracy. We'll see if that ends up being a problem or not. Ends up delivery is even more expensive. But we order anyway, because we were tired and hungry. Driving away Tracy realizes that Cribs to College Bedrooms, where we got our crib from, probably has the dresser as well, so she called today, ordered it from there, canceled the Lazar's order, and now only paying for delivery for the dresser and the crib, and the recliner from Bellini. And I think we're done with baby furniture. At least the big stuff. I also realized I had the same dresser/desk at my parents house probably my entire life. Tracy made lasagna last night, and I got to make the pasta, a little unevenly, but still pretty good I thought. Also been watching Arrested Development again. So good. Headed to The Publican tonight. Yum.