Thoughts from a Coding Mommy

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Yummy Turkey Dinner Wasted

My son is only 15 months old. Why I thought he would like a plate of turkey will all the trimmings is beyond me. He tasted the yams and cranberries. Rejected the turkey outright. Chewed a couple green beans and decided that garlicy mashed potatoes was not for him. All in all, I actually was foolish enough to try to feed him this meal twice with the hopes that the first night was just a fluke. "How can he resist such a yummy dinner?"

This month has just flown by. After pulling a couple all-nighters to try and make the CC (code complete) date, I'm still up cranking away. If I didn't love to write code, I might be more bitter. But I can't say that I hate this lifestyle. But being pregnant does NOT help. I'm truly tired.

The baby in the belly is doing fine. 155 beats per minute. Very exciting to think that I'll have another kiddo to cuddle and love. But I'll tell ya, the next couple years I'll be in toddler hell.

Oh yes, my son has developed a crush on a little girl at daycare. He's already bitten her twice and apparently follows her around. They try to keep him away from her. (Once a biter, you are permanently marked.) But he really likes her. I'm trying to teach him to kiss and not bite. Poor little toddler brain must be over loaded with new words like "shoe" and "da-da", far too overloaded to learn kissing.

So cute. And another one coming....have I mentioned that I'm tired?

Monday, November 13, 2006

Big Bowl of Sherbert

Going grocery shopping when you have cravings is just asking for trouble. I have now just finished a big bowl of Berry Rainbow sherbert with 7up. My idea of pregnancy punch without the vodka. I needed this sweet treat after my day of meetings and tough decisions.

I basically find myself in a position where I have an offer from a very small startup with a very cool consumer facing website. The problem is naughty me. What am I doing with an offer if I've only been at my current job for less than 6 months? I didn't mean to stray. I didn't mean to wander. But their website was so pretty.

Call me frivilous but I'm not going to lie and say looks don't matter. If you are building a consumer facing website, you better give a damn about the appearence and usability of your website. As you can tell, not only does it attract consumers, it attracts potential talent to your company as an enticing product to work on.

But now I have this dilema of "should I stay or should I go?" Actually, I tried to turn down the offer. I sort of feel like I can't leave my current position and the people that I effect and support on a daily basis. But I didn't know that a company could refuse to take no for an answer. They basically said, "Let's talk tomorrow." Will one night of sleep really change my mind? I'm not sure but I guess I'll know tomorrow.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

WFH on Saturdays

It's common practise for software engineers to work from home on Saturdays. But also as a mommy, I work from home whenever daycare has a holiday like Veteran's Day. Basically, this means squeezing in phone meetings during naps and mealtimes when I know that my son doesn't need my full attention. It actually works out ok as long as your coworkers don't mind IM and the telephone. We actually used wiki to visually sync up though wiki can't compete with a white board if you need to draw a diagram.

On this rainy Saturday morning, I blew off playgroup (bad mommy) and jumped on my computer before my son woke up. Big mistake. Now I'm sucked into the online discussion threads about the latest build breaks and db problems. Sometimes I can't help but find work speak engaging. Even if what I really need to do is get a haircut and finish some much-needed laundry.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Halloween in the Suburbs

Having a toddler on Halloween is just too damn cute. We watched our son stumble around in a monkey costume. It had a lot of padding to help cushion his falls but watching him pick himself up with butt in the air is really funny. No candy for him. Just a quick trip around the block to say hi to our neighbors.

I hated to leave San Francisco. I'm really not into the suburbs but my husband refuses to live in a city. He'd like to secluded away where he can't see neighbors. I think of remote areas as scary and isolated. Where will your kids go trick-o-treating? What if you need to visit the emergency room?

The suburbs where we live is a good compromise. And we love our neighbors. No ridiculous type-A personalities. Just down to earth folks who like to work on their own homes and aren't strangers to tools. I can't ask for better neighbors.

Which brings me to an interesting dilemma. Buy or Build? Now with baby number two on the way, our already small house will officially be too small. We love our neighbors. So moving to a bigger house in a "better" neighborhood where I risk having scary neighbors who compete for the best salad at the annual blockparty...*shutter* That was my vision of the suburbs for a long time. But you can only build so much and I don't know if our little blot of land (yes, I mean blot) can sustain a big house without sacrificing our small patch of green grass. We do have a dog after all.