What Was That, Now?

A Woolly What?!

2012-02-10T12:45:00.001-05:00

Teehee... Yaaaay monster/ Odd creature stories!

This is the latest one I've come across.

Alleged Woolly mammoth (or maybe just a bear) spotted in Siberia

The Walking Drool

2012-02-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Yep. The Baby Girl took her first two unassisted steps on Wednesday afternoon. Of course I’ve only heard about it. My parents called me to tell be about it a moment after it happened. By the time I got home she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in walking. She was in a huggy mood. Normally I look forward to cuddles, but this was big news damn it, I wanted to see her do her impression of a drunken college student but nope. I guess I’ll have to wait.

The other bit of good news is that she’s sprouting more teeth. She now has a top front tooth and its neighbor is on the way. And judging by how far she likes to cram her fingies into her mouth, I’d say there are a few molars threatening to break through- Poor thing.

Exciting as this all is, it’s also fascinating and disgusting at the same time. I’m not a scientist but I think we should really study the make-up of baby drool. I’m willing to bet there’s money to be made with whatever gives baby drool that amazing elasticity. I mean, this stuff hangs, and hangs but never seems to break. I'm also fairly certain that if the mood really struck her, Baby Girl could probably swing the stuff around to get to out-of-reach items around the house. Gross…

New "Phone"

2012-02-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago my phone died. I mean I couldn't even turn the thing on. So We decided to bite the bullet and get new phones. We also decided to switch carriers because we couldn't get reliable signals anywhere in or around our house.

The only problem is, I never bothered to save my contacts online. Mistake. So I have been reentering all my contacts one by one. Not so bad but it's made for some interesting text conversations. For the most part I am familiar with the area codes so I have a good idea of who it is I'm texting. The problem is, in the middle of all this, I accidentally entered the wrong numbers for a few people. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Pain in the ass. So if you're one of the people I normally text and you haven't heard from me in a while. it's not that I'm ignoring you. I may have just been sending messages to someone completely different. Woops.

A Year-ish In

2012-02-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

The baby girl turned one on Jan 19th. I started this entry a few days before then but haven’t gotten a chance to finish it till now. So my apologies dear bloggy readers.

In honor of Baby Girl’s first trip around the sun, here are some of my highlights from this past year.

January, I lost tons of sleep even before the baby was born. I experienced a little bit of remorse about the end of the pregnancy. I was convinced I was going to miss the little one being inside and the middle of the night hiccup-fest. Glad to say, Aaron was once again right on this one, the feeling went away the moment I heard the wailing from the other side of the curtain.

I was extremely fortunate and thankful that post-partum depression lasted all of about a few days, and the worst of it was in the hospital when I ordered a dinner for Aaron and he said he really wasn’t all that hungry. It brought me to tears. To this day I still think that was the trippiest thing I have ever encountered. On the one hand, I totally understood and wasn’t the slightest bit sad about it, but there I was bawling because he didn’t want to eat hospital food.

February brought a whole host of new experiences. First real bath in a tub, first time In addition to being new parents we were now furniture shopping with a little one. I was also getting to the point of delirium. Case in point, I once tried answering my remote control-I wasn’t coming out of sleep. The nifty thing was that we had the first Mommy and baby outing to meet up with some friends for brunch. Firly successful but I learned that there is no such thing as bringing too much milk. I had to make an emergency stop at my brother’s before heading home.

March was fun and a little sad. In the beginning of the month we celebrated Aaron’s birthday as a family for the first time. But, I also had to go back to work. Boo… Luckily, that’s when Mamá and Papá stepped in and thank goodness for that. Baby Girl became a lot more active. She started being able to roll around and became much more interactive. She no longer smiled because she was gassy. She actually smiled because she was happy. Awwww… We also moved into our new home.

In April we had the whole family over for her 100 day for the first time. I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first but eventually really enjoyed it. We also got to celebrate my birthday as a family.

In May we started hearing more definitive “Dada’s” and “Mama,” but not very often mostly, she drooled and cooed.

In June we took our first family trip out to Massachusetts. The road trip was fine. She slept most of the way there and when she wasn’t sleeping she was busy looking out the window. The way back wasn’t so great. We hit a lot of traffic and she lost her patience. I had to crawl to the back seat mid ride to keep her happy.

On July 19th, her 6 month mark, Baby Girl got her first haircut. Mamá couldn’t stand the little strands of hair that got in her eyes so she trimmed it. I still have the trimmings. That reminds me, I have to get laminating materials. But yes, the other exciting thing was, she started staying seated and she got to try “solid foods” for the first time. We started off nice and slowly with homemade pureed peas. A whole teaspoon! The bad part was that we discovered that eating too much solid food too fast leads to vomiting. Not cool. Especially since I was in the car driving home.

By August we started seeing signs of her fist little tooth. But also the first case of croup. I’ve never heard of this but apparently it’s fairly common. Luckily it got knocked out quickly.

By about September she was really on a roll with the whole crawling thing. She was now no longer happy to sit there and play passively. Nope, now she could scoot around.

In October Baby Girl got to see the first hints of cold weather. The later on in the month she got to see her first snow storm. She loved it! Auntie Andrea babysat her that day so she went out to play with the cousins.

In November we took her on her fist airplane ride to California. She did fantastic. She actually really loved the ride out. Thanks to a very kind agent at the check in counter we got a three seat row so we had the middle seat open for her to play in. She also spent a good amount of time playing with everyone on the plane. The ride back was a lot more subdued. Thanks to our friend’s kids, she got her first cold. Not good. The great news was on the 29th, I noticed her standing all on her own for a few seconds. Apparently my parents and Aaron had seen this a few days earlier. Ah well. Thanksgiving as always was excellent for her. She got to spend several days with the cousins. Never slept better. :D

By the time December rolled around she was crawling and inching along on everything. It’s amazing how far she’s come and how many things she can get into. This made me worry a bit about how she would fare with the decorations. But much to my surprise, while she was genuinely interested in the commotion in the house and all the decorations, she was excellent and listened when we told her not to touch the tree. But just in case, I put all the non-breakable ornaments at the bottom. Christmas day was great. She spent the day with the cousins and even got to do her favorite thing in the world, rip up paper. I can’t even begin to tell you how many magazines I’ve lost to her. I think that Aaron put them out there for her to shred so that I have to get rid of back issues. Sigh…

January. So here we are one year in and Baby Girl now has the beginnings of her next two teeth, top fronts and keeps jamming her fist into her mouth to get to the back of her mouth which leads me to believe her molars are itching. She stands for much longer periods of time and hasn’t figured out that she could probably walk if she lets go of things. What’s crazy is that since her birthday, it seems like she has just learned so much more. It’s kind of scary. She now says a whole lot more and expresses herself fairly effectively. She uses sign language for a few things and words for the things she knows; namely milk, ball, no, Papá (to my Dad), and of course Dada. She still doesn’t call me Mommy. She’ll say Momma, when she’s upset, but when addressing me, it’s Dada. I must be the girl Dada to her. We’ve also noticed that she understands Spanish. My parents and I speak to her in Spanish almost exclusively. Aaron and everyone else speak to her in English. It’s working out nicely. She can point to facial features when asked in either language and will also say, “leche” to my Mom.

In her first Hambok (traditional Korean dress). With Tio Alvin, her birthday buddy.

In her other Hambok

CAKE!

Again, this year has been a blur and I can’t believe it came and went. I’m amazed every day by the new things she picks up and does. It’s like someone flipped a switch and put her into learning overdrive. Still, THE very best thing in the world is just giving her huggles. Especially since she huggles back. Ahhhhhh…. :D

A**HOLES!

2012-02-01T17:22:00.002-05:00

Why must people be complete A-holes? I've just been going through some of my old posts to find comments left by some schmuck leaving spam links. My sincerest apologies all.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

2011-12-16T12:03:00.004-05:00

Ah yes, despite the warm weather, we’re actually getting close to Christmas. This is a problem. No, not because I’m afraid of a visit form the Krampus, but because I’m still down presents and oh yeah, the cards I bought with every intention of sending out, are still sitting on my dining room table untouched and unopened. What hurts is I have no effing idea when I’ll be able to actually get to any of this. I suppose I could just forgo sleeping. But then again, it wouldn’t help my situation much if I were to pass out in the midst of a card signing frenzy, landing on my pen and wind up stabbing myself in the eye. That’s all I need, an eye patch for Christmas photos. Somehow, I don’t think those come in red and white candy cane stripes for the season. :D

I should say Eff-it and skip the cards this year, but then I’d really feel like a slacker and would have to deal with being reminded of this next year when I come across the unopened boxes of cards. This, of course, wouldn’t happen until after purchasing a new batch. So then I’d feel like a slacker and feel dumb for wasting money on even more cards that can possibly suffer the same fate as their unloved predecessors. Neurotic, yes, but admit it, it’s true.

The only one person I have actually finished shopping for is the one little person who won’t even know what’s happening, and why she’s all of the sudden encouraged to rip up paper and resulting ribbons fly as of shot out of a confetti gun. Hell, I think that’s the only thing she may enjoy, which brings me to my next point; why the hell am I spending oodles and oodles of cash on the little one when she already has more toys that she will ever play with? Most of the time she just wants to eat and/or preferably, shred the newest magazines that come in the mail. Yes, there seems to be a difference. The attraction is lost the moment I finish reading any given magazine. I don’t know how she knows the difference, but she does. It’s amazing. But I digress. I have been buying her Christmas gifts since before Halloween. Yes, I fell victim to the marketing traps. From the moment I caught a glimpse of fake snow-covered shelves and detected the sounds of jingle bells being pumped through the speaker systems I felt compelled to buy, buy, buy.

Coincidentally, this is also the reason I have to relinquish control of my credit cards till the suckers are paid off. I have been hemorrhaging money through these things. It’s not going to be an easy thing to do since I feel as attached to my credit cards as Gollum did to the one ring, but I need to do something. I have never had this much debt in credit cards. Feck me!

Have Yourself a Terrifying Little Christmas

2011-12-15T10:17:00.013-05:00

There are things that will forever be imbedded in my head as uniquely Christmas. These memories are your typical, warm and fuzzy memories of waking up entirely too early (likely an hour after my parents brought out the gifts.)

Sounds lovely, so what’s the deal with the title?

I’ll explain. Last year was the first time I ever even heard of the Elf on the Shelf. He’s supposed to be a spy for Santa that watches your child to make sure your little one behaves. Parents are supposed to move him around to make the kid think this thing comes to life in the middle of the night and in the morning goes back to being a mere doll. This year, I’ve started noticing that the Elf has grown in popularity and the more I think about it, the more confused I become over why this is. The thing is creepy. From its Bob’s Big Boy eyes, “It’s a Small World” figurine-like apple cheeks, and slightly hunched up shoulders, that are supposed to express a feigned innocence, the bastard creeps me out.

I am alone in this?

Personally, if I were a child and my parents brought in a possessed toy to “spy” on me, all the while wantonly flaunting the fact that it doesn’t care if evidence of its demonic linkage is known, ignored, and yes, even encouraged, I’d shit myself. I wouldn’t have found it endearing in the slightest. If anything, this creepy little bastard reminds me (yes, even now, as an adult) too much of the damn Poltergeist clown to be remotely cute.

Go ahead Google the thing and look up pictures of it. There are even sites dedicated to how “creative” some people have gotten with this thing. Evidence of the Elf’s mischievous nightly romps have been documented by sick parents (who I whole heartedly believe have too much time on their hands). They have made their children believe that the possessed elf has been rummaging about their homes, wreaking havoc by doing things like messing up coloring books, toilet papering the tree, dangling from a chandelier, using the toilet OUTSIDE, posing with other stuffed animals, and the creepiest of them all, resting atop of sleeping children’s heads. Seriously?!

Now, yes, I know what you may be thinking; it’s supposed to be a fun thing. He’s helping Santa. And this brings me to my next creepy thing. What the hell is the deal with the Krampus? Since when did Santa/St. Nick have a scary-as-hell demon following him about, eating naughty children?!

You’d think that somewhere in all the carols, and poems there would be a rhyme or a line about the bloodbath and the trail of destruction that was left behind as a result of naughty children being slaughtered as Santa flies through town with a monster in tow. You don’t hear a single mention of this in the “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” song. Nope! The song only says, “you better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout.” I think it would be a much more effective warning if it mentioned, kiss your ass goodbye if you don’t behave or the only thing left behind will be a puddle of gore and bits of you stuck in the monster’s teeth. Holy shit! When the hell did Christmas get outright scary?!

What happened to the days of, the three ghosts will visit you and help you find a way to redeem yourself? Back then Dickens’ story was as scary as it got. Holy shit! No wonder kids are seemingly getting more violent. .They aren’t raging against anything, they’re trying to protect themselves from the possessed Elf that will tell on them and eventually lead to their demise as a snack for the Krampus!

Is It Champ's Neighbor To The North?

2011-11-10T12:30:00.002-05:00

HA! I love it when Yahoo News feeds my odd fascination with monster stories.

so this morning I ran across this little tidbit and I couldn't help but see the footage. I sadly remain unconvinced. But it's still fun...

Here's the story: "Canada's Loch Ness Monster Caught on Tape?"
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/canada-loch-ness-monster-caught-tape-012241654.html

(sorry, it doesn't want to link to text)

And here's the video.

And this is an earlier video of the "monster" in the water.

And this has been yet another episode in Brenda's Monsterpiece Theater :D

Tough, Bittersweet Decision

2011-11-04T14:55:00.003-04:00

On the 19th baby Girl will be 10-months old. I have been nursing since day one but alas, I've come to the decision to start weaning her off. I didn't come to this decision randomly. I've just noticed that since she started solids a few months back, the milk level has dropped significantly and it's time to start supplementing with formula. I ran this by the pediatrician and she seemed to agree with me that it's time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be stopping outright, I have to do this gradually, but it made me think about how much I'm going to miss nursing and the bonding time. I don't know, perhaps it's the fact that she is showing so many signs of growing up that it's making me a little emotional. I love her to bits but holy cow is she getting big fast.

Sigh... still 10 months, that's not a bad run. :D

The Front Step Trio

2011-11-03T17:02:00.004-04:00

Not sure why the editing system didn't want me to add this to the last post but ah well...

I did actually work in some time to decorate a touch. I do normally get more creative than the front step trio, but I didn't want to freak the baby out so I went a bit more family friendly. I do fully intend to go a bit more "me" next year.

Time Out! Time Out! Time Out!

2011-11-03T16:29:00.004-04:00

Holy crap I need a moment to breathe. I have been running on fumes for only heaven knows how long now. I think it’s high time I got a break.

Recap Time: I have been working like a mad woman with more responsibilities and a staff of none. Yaaaaay… I am department of one and they have absolutely no intention of hiring anyone for me! The other shitty part is that the place is getting increasingly unstable financially. Needless to say, I’m putting my resume out there. What kills me also is that they have sent me on a few overnight business trips. The last one was a week-long trip. Yeah that sucked ass! It wasn’t even any place fun. I basically got to stay in a hotel and go from meeting to meeting. So once I got back here I was up to my eyeballs in catch-up work to do.

The Baby Girl is getting positively huge. She’s not only crawling now but she’s also finding out that she really doesn’t need to have a kung fu grip on things with both hands to stand up. Needless to say, the gate is going up before next weekend.
We hit a kind of bittersweet milestone in our lives. My father retired. My father has been the superintendent of an apartment building since 1991. But because of his job, we have also all lived in that same apartment since then. I loved the town we lived in and now, they’re no longer there. While I’m happy that my parents have now officially moved into their new place, and ours (they stay with us for a few days during the week to watch Baby Girl), I kind of miss the New Rochelle apartment. It’s been home for so long and now it’s no longer there. Odd. What really threw me off was deleting the number I’ve had listed as “Home” on my cell phone. It just didn’t feel right.

And yes, you guessed it. With them moving out, that also means that we have been pitching in as much as possible. Oh yes, I will have stuff in the trunk of my car. I should probably get it out of there.

Oh hey, there have been wonderful bright spot in all of the craziness. Baby Girl had her first Halloween. I had every intention of taking her out. She had other plans though. I got about ten minutes of her in her little sheepie costume; just long enough to take a few pictures. She then went into a meltdown. She was too tired and hot and wanted the costume off. So we stayed in and handed out candy. Ah well. I did try. Still, it was fun. I like the fact that there are a ton of kids in the neighborhood and they pretty much cleaned us out. I have never had that happen. I love it. The other cool thing was that I got to meet a lot of the parents from the neighborhood. Normally I just get to see them when I drive by but this time I actually got to introduce myself to a good number of them.

So, what was my costume this year? Let's go with "homocidal maniac. They look just like everybody else."

I actually wanted to break away from my normal vampire and go with Zombie. But I thought about it a bit and decided against it. I didn't want to get all made up properly and then have to immediately take it off for making the baby cry. But next year...

Later this month, Aaron and I are going to be taking our first family trip to see my family in California. I am really looking forward to it. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about traveling afterwards, but for now, I have a game plan and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The trip is kind of a big anniversary gift package. The first part is the whole thing was a kind of surprise ticket to see Rock of Ages. Loved it! The unfortunate part was that it was on Saturday. Yep the day of the freak snow storm.

And while I din't actually mind clearing the snow, I really regretted it when later on on Sunday night, I was in pain in places I didn't know I had. Awesome. :D

Pulling My Hair Out

2011-09-14T14:31:00.002-04:00

So you may or may not have noticed that I have pretty much been silent for the last couple of weeks. There is a good reason for this. Namely, I've been running around working my tail off so that by the time I get home, I have just about enough time to make dinner, (perhaps) eat, put the Baby Girl to bed and then pass out with a magazine on my face. Not so bad when I wake up in the morning and have to rush, 'cause then I smell like the closest perfume insert... ewwww... just kidding. Not about the falling asleep with the magazine on the face, though. That's actually happened more times than I care to think of.

So why then am I posting something today? Simple, I am doing this so that I don't go on a slapping rampage. I came in this morning feeling a touch combative and it's been getting progressively worse. The great thing about this is that I can pretty much "speak" my mind and no one thinks there's a need to start calling the police.

So why am I feeling so... grr-ish (I know that's not a word, but I'm making it one for this post)? Dunno. Could be that I've been trying to play catchup and my efforts are going over as well as a fart in a closed room. But it could also be because I am just cranky from not having full use of my leg--oh yes, a little over a week ago, I tore a calf muscle while walking briskly to my car. Or it could be because of a crazy hormonal shift? Meh, who's to say. All I know is that I have a presentation to put together for tomorrow and everyone and their mother seems to think I have all the time in the world to take care of them and only them. Grrrr... It's times like this I really just want a big neon sign that reads, "Piss Off." A girl can dream right?

Dizzy

2011-07-20T15:26:00.002-04:00

I swear I'm not sure what happened. All I know is that June came along and I got super busy. NOW we're not only in July, we're at the end of July!

Christ all mighty! I wish I knew where the time went.

So here's another one of my ever-so-handy- recaps:

Baby Girl: She's six months old! Yesterday the little angel who has graced our lives turned six months old. (Again, where the hell did the time go?) she's not only rolling over from back to tummy and back again, the little one now wants to be sitting up. She's getting better at it too. She can stay seated for a few seconds before she starts sagging over and eventually face planting. She's also taken to grabbing anything in sight to try to eat it. She's fond of arms and fingers. She's like a little zombie. There's no real thought in the action, she just knows that she must nom on something. :D

Speaking of nomming, two weeks ago we started her on "food." The first thing she ate was home made, pureed peas. Yep I made them. My parents actually went out and tracked down fresh peas. I now have a handful that I will be planting for her. But yes, the first mouthfuls were completely exploratory and she wasn't sure she was digging it. By the end of the first bowl, she was ready to dive into the damn thing. Rice cereal is still a big hit with her, but she's all about the apples (again, home made). I guess she remembered the taste. :D

The bad news is that she threw up for the first time two days ago. I think my Mom accidentally overfed her then we packed her up to go home. This combination most likely led ot the poor little thing puking her guts out on my drive home. I felt horrible. Actually, that's wrong, I felt like I aged during that car ride home. It scared the hell out of me. Not cool. Of course, today she went in for a doctor's appointment and had to get shots. She's having a bad week.

The House: We are officially unpacked and settled in. Yaaaaay. I had to take the bulk of my vacation time last week to do it, but we're just about done. i have a box full of odds and ends to tackle but we're done. Now, as in the words of George Carlin, I have to go out to get more stuff. :D

We also expanded the deck. the thing is twice the size it was before. Love it. the only problem is, now that the deck is huge, the grill look so lonely and lost. I may just have to get a bigger grill. Yeeeeharhar!

Family: The family is doing well. My Dad got a forced retirement. Luckily this this will happen about two months ahead of schedule anyway, so they're okay with this. The rest of the family is doing great. My two brothers brought their families over last weekend to see my aunts and uncle who flew out for a visit. It was nice. Loud, but very nice.

I think that's about that for now. I should get back to work. I shouldn't push my lunch break out any further. Cheers!

HA! There Be A Monster in Them Waters!

2011-07-20T14:58:00.002-04:00

As you may recall, I have an obsession with monster stories and this one came to my attention today. Enjoy!

Sea Monster of Alaska

The other nifty thing is that when you follow the link there's a video of the Hillstrand brothers from Deadliest Catch watching the footage. :D

Phew

2011-05-27T10:20:00.003-04:00

Yes that kicking sound you may hear is me, getting my way back in here. A wee bit ago I got my blog hacked into and I had to change the password. The only problem is shortly after that we moved and with all the mess of the move and other stuff(Yes I will do a quick roundup) I totally forgot the password. Yay being silly like that.

So now that I was able to get back in, I can now resume my quasi frequent blogging and sharing of the stuff that run through my mind. Huzzah.

As promised here are something that have been going on:

The House: The house is fantastic. I love being in our place. Sure it's a hell of a drive when I bring the baby down to my parents then go to work (normally one hour and 15 to one hour and 30) but it's totally worth it. The only down side is getting all the little details sorted out. Meaning, we finally got the garage door openers installed but we still need to put up the screen doors. Now that the house is settling, more of the screws in the walls are starting to pop a bit. We're also still trying to get totally unpacked. The good thing is that we DID manage to get mostly unpacked in three weeks. I told Aaron that this was unheard of, he insisted it could be. Meh... Oh yeah and I still have the bulk of our pictures to hang.

The Baby Girl: I'm not sure why the baby tracker thingy says she's 7 months old. She totally isn't. She's 18 weeks old. And if my math is correct, she's only four-and-a-half months old. But yes, she is wonderful. She is already about 25.5 inches tall and weighs 15lbs and 10 oz. She can sit up mostly unassisted and as of last Saturday, learned to blow raspberries (both lip and tongue versions). The other wonderful thing is that she seems to be on a pretty good groove in terms of her schedule. She sleeps through the night and doesn't really get fussy. She's awesome. Which of course, means that I'm totally screwed for the next one. Ah well.

Kona Puppy: Kona is the Boxer/Hound mix puppy that we decided to get about a month after moving in. Sadly, Kona Puppy is no longer with us. She was an extremely happy and rambunctious pup; she was also very strong and a few weeks back while Aaron had her out for a walk, she got loose and ran into the street. It was REALLY dark our and she was struck by our neighbor's car. I miss the pup. I still haven't been able to bring myself to go down and break down her crate. I may do that tonight when I get home. I may also be able to clean the floors downstairs so that I won't see her paw prints. We didn't have her for too long, but it was long enough to have really bonded with her. I miss her a lot.

Work: Work has been interesting lately. I had two friends leave the place. one voluntarily, the other, not. But what I find interesting is that there seems to be little interest in replacing people. They seem to be under the misguided impression that we can do more with fewer, despite the fact that we were overworked as it was before. Hrmph.

There, I think that should coverthe bulk of it. I'll take a photo of the house and the baby girl and post them over the weekend. Cheers!

2011-05-24T11:24:00.003-04:00

ollyweird trivia questions again.
www.vanlowe.blogspot.com

2011-05-24T11:24:00.001-04:00

Why oh why can't I log into my blog via the computer?I keep getting an error message. Grrrr...

ANYHOO. .. Check our E. Van Lowe's blog. He started the H

2011-05-17T14:04:00.001-04:00

Sweet. I'm going to be in the west wing. :)

Creating Our Future

2011-02-06T14:54:00.002-05:00

Sure, I still have no idea what we were thinking when we decided to begin the house buying process at the same time as our due date, but the good thing is, we have a big goal to work toward.

Both Aaron and I grew up in the Bronx and as much as we love the borough we call home, we don't want Baby Girl growing up here. The area has changed so much from when we were little, and the school system, well, it just doesn't come close to the area we're most likely going to be moving to. Not to mention, I want her grow up having a back yard.

So yes, we're very close to closing on the house. God willing, we'll be closing in March. We'd like to have it closer to the end of March, but who's to say. At the moment we're waiting for the new contract to be drawn up with all the changes we want, and waiting on the mortgage. We've done the inspection and the appraisal is supposed to happen this coming week.

I have to say though, the whole process is daunting and exciting. Aside from the fact that we're very like to going to be moving into our new home in just a few weeks, we're going to be taking on a whole new set of challenges. As if we didn't have enough on our plates, right? HA! Ah well, it's all for Baby Girl so it's all good.

Luckily, the fun part has been the shopping. We've started looking onto the big items we're going to need. Namely, furniture and the few appliances. I think I may have to see the place one last time before we make a final decision on the items we're going to get.

My Favorite People in the World

2011-01-31T16:46:00.000-05:00

The Baby, Ten Days Later

2011-01-27T17:41:00.010-05:00

Yaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn... so very sleepy, but happy.

Ever since the Baby Girl came into the world, I have been on a strange roller coaster. I go from being completely elated, to about to pass out from exhaustion, to crying my eyes out after wondering what she's dreaming about. I am SO not kidding. But behind all of this is the Baby Girl, who is absolutely more perfect and lovely than I could have ever imagined.

Tuesday January 19th: I woke up at 5:00 am to start getting ready. We were told to show up at the hospital at 10 am. Pretty much as soon as we got to the hospital we were moved into the prep room. I got strapped up to baby monitors and poked full of holes. They couldn't find my friggin vein for the IV. It took them five tries before they gave up and got a specialist. She got it in one shot. At about one-ish they moved me to the OR, the epidural wasn't as bad as they said it would be. I felt a pinch, pressure, heat and then my legs went. So odd. I started getting a little anxious when I saw my doctor come in with his doctor posse and no Aaron. I outright told them we couldn't start without Aaron. Luckily he was just getting his scrubs on outside. He sat in a stool beside me the whole time. After he sat down I heard them say they were starting. Everything went smoothly from there. I asked the nurse to give me an alcohol pad to breathe since the smell of burning skin was making me a little nauseous.

The, just like that, I heard the most wonderful little sound in the world; Baby Girl's cries. I went from a kind dream-like state of mind to being so overjoyed my eyes immediately filled with tears. I couldn't focus fast enough. All I could do is scan the damn room till I got a quick glimpse of her. I think if I could have I would have gotten up from the operating table and walked over to her right at that moment. Aaron held my hand like he said he would. Then it happened, he got an unfortunate look at what was happening on the other side of the blue curtain. As they were putting me back together, they tilted the OR table back a touch so when he looked over he said he just saw parts that belong on my inside. He thinks he even saw my liver. I kind of felt bad for him. I saw the look on his face and even though his face was partially covered, I knew he was turning new and exciting shades of green. They called Aaron over to cut the cord, he hesitated a bit but did it.

They brought her over to me and I was done. I'd like to say I remember seeing Aaron's expression but all I could focus on was her. I remembered Aaron saying, "Here she is." But beyond that, everything everyone said was a blur. I know she reacted to my voice. As unhappy as she was to be out of her former home, she did stop crying and fussing for a moment and looked around when she heard my voice. They took a few photos and then took her to clean her up further. I told Aaron to stay with the baby. After he left, my doctor told me about a few things that happened and what they were doing. Blah, blah, blah.

Aaron followed and stayed with her as long as he could, then came back to find me in the recovery room. While waiting in there, I got to hear a little bit of what was going on during a vaginal birth from one of the delivery rooms down the hall. Now, till this point I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about having to have had a c-section. But after hearing the lady screaming her head off, yeah, I'm cool with having to deliver this way.

So that was the delivery. Exciting ain't it?

Once in my room, room 644 in Lawrence Hospital, I got to relax and feel nothing for a little while. I was kind of out of it for a little while but anxious to see the baby. Once I got to see her, I just couldn't stop staring at her. She was just too damn cute.

Every day since then has brought something new. She changes ever so slightly every day and it's just amazing. Her smell is the best thing I have ever experienced. There are times when I will just sit there smelling her while she sleeps. Aaron occasionally takes one of her blankets or outfits and puts it on his head to sleep.

Sigh... I never knew that love could actually get better. :D

"The Waiting is the Hardest Part"

2011-01-16T09:28:00.002-05:00

So here I am, a few days away from what is most likely going to be THE big day. I swear all of this, while becoming more and more real, is still such a foreign concept. Aaron and I are going to be responsible for a whole other person. And just in a, 'sure I'll watch the munchkin for ya,' kind of way. Nope this one's going to be ours, all ours, and there's no giving her back. Trippy.

So yes, while I am as prepared as I think I'm going to get, I'm now kind of getting a little anxious. Not that I seriously think it'll happen, but what if I turn out to be bad at the whole Mommy thing. Or what if I botch something up? What is she doesn't like me? What if I turn out to be a worse parent than the Lohans? or worse yet, the Simpsons (Ashlee and Jessica's freaky-ass parents) Cripe!

Inhale... Exhale...

So yes, things are finally beginning to get real, while at the same time, I just can't wait for Tuesday to find out what's actually going to happen.

But on the less confusing side, let's talk real estate... I think Aaron and I found the house. We spent most of yesterday looking at houses. We started off at a house we put a bid on and lost. The seller has since dropped the price on the place and so we're considering putting another bid on the place. But first we wanted to look it over one more time to be sure. The problem is, we REALLY liked the place. So much so that when we went to the other places we had lined up, nice as they were or had the potential to be, we just didn't care. We just kept thinking back to the first house and the things we could do to it to make it our own. I suppose that's a sign. Maybe?

My Head Almost Exploded

2011-01-08T10:23:00.002-05:00

I feel very accomplished today. I got up nice and early to run errands and to get some baby stuff done. I don't have a whole lot left to do, mainly wash clothes and organize them.

But in the process of the laundry sorting, I kept having to stop and stare at the itty bitty socks. I swear my head was going to explode form the tiny cuteness. I mean, they may as well have been baby mini-lop bunnies staring at me. My voice reached a whole new pitch detectable, and very likely painful for most dogs. I almot feel bad for the pain I inflicted on any poor animal within a three mile radius, but then again, those socks are too damn cute.

Getting Tired

2011-01-05T12:48:00.003-05:00

I've accepted the fact that I have come down with the adult version of senioritis. I have a week and two days left before I go on maternity leave but I want to do absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton I need to get to including a presentation and I still have to set up a checklist of things that need to get done. I just don't want to do any of them. Blech.

Honestly, I just want to get to all the stuff I have waiting for me at home, and sleep.

It's Worth a Try

2011-01-04T13:55:00.002-05:00

Today Aaron and I got some baby news. We had a sonogram and as it turns out that while the baby has dropped a touch, she is breech. Everything is prefectly fine with her and all, it's just that she's kinda stuck head up. Figures.

The doctor told us he's still going to monitor her progress but since she doens't have a whole hell of a lot of room to shift, he doens't think she'll turn herself around. So the c-section is scheduled for Jan. 19th at 1:00. I'm okay either way as long as there's nothing wrong wth the wee one. But I am going to try one seemingly wacky thing. A friend told me that she tried playing music for the baby and that made her turn. She had these things called belly buds. Basically headphones for the belly. She said she started plahing music for the baby everyday. This made him follow the sound till he was turned the correct way. So not sure if this will work, but I decided I'd give it a shot.

I didn't get the belly buds but I do have nifty sounding skull candy, DJ-style headphones. So I put those low on the belly and I'll see what happens. I think I'll only do this when I know she'll be awake. I don't want to completely disturb her.

Luckily, I have a good amount of Ozzy on my ipod. Believe it or not, she does seem to like the Ozz-man. Every time I play him in the car or anywhere else for that matter, she seems to go nutty moving around. :) I think it's cute.

Well, Looky Here

2011-01-03T21:08:00.002-05:00

Aside from being cranky most of the day, I also noticed I've been kind of uncomfortable sitting down in my char no matter how far back the backrest was. Didn't realize the reason till I got home and Aaron went to say hello to the belly...

The baby has dropped. And Aaron is now a even more convinced that the baby is going to be making a much earlier appearance than originally estimated. The funny thing is, I've been so preoccupied with everything and half asleep that I hadn't even noticed how much better I've been able to breathe, and the fact that I only needed to take Tums once this morning! Duh. That should have been a dead giveaway.

So yeah, I'll have a much better idea of what's going on tomorrow during my appointment, but I do belive Aaron's right. It's a good thing we've really gotten a move on getting things organized for the wee girl. :D

Preggo Rant

2011-01-03T15:33:00.002-05:00

Pregnancy so far, has been pretty pleasant. Sure there have been moments that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, particularly the random vomiting for no good reason at the beginning or the odd bodily aches. But now that I’m pretty much at the end of the pregnancy, I’m finding that along with the unpleasant swelling in my hands and feet, I’m also becoming mighty short tempered. I mean, really short tempered. Like, fully believing that flinging a good sized or jagged rock at someone’s head is a perfectly reasonable way to make them leave you alone— kind of short tempered.

Case in point, a person who is not someone I report to has been sending me emails informing me of how to do my job. My initial thought was, “Go f*** yourself!” But I took a second and thought, perhaps they are just trying to be helpful and wish to send me a friendly reminder. I doubt it, but still… then I got subsequent emails with these so-called, “helpful reminders.” And of course, the more I received, the more violent my wishes for the rest of their day became.

Now, I hesitate to blame this solely on the preggo hormones. I’d say a lot of this also has to do with the lack of sleep I have been getting over the last few weeks. All the changes ranging from loosening of the ligaments, infinitesimal bladder capacity, carpal tunnel and, oh yes— new to the lineup— restless leg syndrome (yippee), I have slowly become an über cranky biotch with a diminished measure of self control. Imagine if you will a sleep deprived toddler with unlimited access to potentially dangerous objects (yes rocks, but also things like keyboards, computer screens, staplers, books, coffee mugs, phones, thumb tacks, big clips for TPS reports, etc.) and the knowledge of how to use them. :D

Meh. There is one nifty thing I’ve discovered; certain people aside, the bigger I get, the more people tend to stay out of my way. They also become a lot more forgiving when it comes to the total loss of control and temper. It’s actually kind of fun.

But yeah… That’s my little rant for the day.

Magnet for Ailments

2010-12-29T18:12:00.002-05:00

That's it! I am convinced that I've become a magnet for any ailment working its way around our city. I've gotten a stomach bug, a cold, sinus infection, a touch of the flu, and pink eye (twice). What the hell?! Meanwhile Aaron, meh, he gets the sniffles and a sore throat (which I now actually have).

At this rate, I fully expect to come down with the plague or something equally unpleasant.

Photo Update

2010-12-27T12:00:00.007-05:00

Our room at the Castle at Skylands Manor, B&B. Nov. 14, 2010

Aaron on the staircase.

Photos from outside the B&B, the New Jersey Botanical Garden

Me on Christmas morning, 35 weeks.

Well, Don't I Feel Smart?

2010-12-27T10:51:00.003-05:00

Yaaaay for thinking ahead. Sure, I feel a touch like my Mom but I don't care, I was right.

A few weeks ago, there was a whisper of a snow fall, so I went out and did the responsible thing; I went out and got snow supplies for our cars. During the warm months one of our snow shovels apparently got up and walked off. Rather than try to figure out the mystery, I just hit Home Depot. I had a feeling the supposed snow wasn't going to be bad when the store was pretty empty and all the snow supply piles were untouched. But Meh, I was already there. I picked up a heavy, flat edged shovel and a new snow shovel, a few big jugs of salt and a new snow brush/ice scraper thingy.

Yeah, I got looked at funny at the checkout but like I said, I was already there. When I got home Aaron, while very thankful, kind of rolled his eyes and TRIED not to look at me like I had monkeys flying out of my ears.

Needless to say, today, the day after the first snow storm of the season, he's really thankful I thought ahead. He otherwise would have had to dig his car out via the Force. Perhaps he'll listen to me now when I tell him he should have a small emergency blanket and keep a roll of paper towels in a waterproof bag in his trunk? We shall see...

But yes, he was also really happy I insisted on getting him duck shoes. Duck shoes are those shoes with the heavy treaded rubber bottoms, leather tops and insulated to feel like you've jammed your foot in a teddy bear's ass even when standing in a huge puddle of ice water. They also tend to make your feet look like duck feet because of the ribbing lines on the tops. But I digress. I've had a pair since my freshman year in college and still have the same shoes. The things are not pretty but they are awesome! I will never be without duck shoes. Anyway, I've been meaning to get him a pair since I realized that he just doesn't have good winter shoes. So this year I finally did it. He wasn't sure he'd have much use for them and when he tried them on all he kept saying is that they felt funny. Well, duh!

Last night, as he was pointing and laughing hysterically at the blizzard (it was more of a laugh of utter disbelief), I asked him if he wanted me to lace up his new duck shoes. He gave me a defeated, "yeah." I still have to ask him what he thinks of the ugly duck shoes now. But I'm guessing that he'll be happy with them. I also got him a set of shoe spikes that slip on over your regular shoes, I think LL Bean calls them Stabilicers. He didn't have to use those this time around but I'm sure that once he does, he'll be happy he has them. Those things are awesome.

Fumbly Hands

2010-12-21T20:47:00.002-05:00

I've broken another cup and don't even get me started on how slowly I have to type and retype things. Yep, carpal tunnel set off by the pregnancy is taking its toll. I'm talking, I may well switch to sippy cups to keep from breaking the rest of the cups around here.

But yes, despite the numb hands, insane heartburn (I think I very well could melt paint off walls if I exhale just right), and increasing lethargy, I'm still staying chipper damn it, and I'm getting into the holiday spirit. I've got all my favorite Christmas movies out, including Nightmare Before Christmas and one of my all-time favorites, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. And although I didn't make the doughs (fear of lobbing off a hand) I bought cookie doughs and started up the oven. Sure, it's kinda cheating but meh, they're still tasty :D

Luckily, I'm just about done with my shopping. I have two more gifts to get but I have a touch of time on those. I spent a touch more than I anticipated but it's okay. Now we're just going to have to tighten the purse strings and go back into saving mode.

But yeah, since I'm apparently going with a Christmas thing for this entry, I thought I'd share some great news with all of you. My aunt made it to her birthday and is still with us today. She was over the moon when my parents showed up. The visit made her so happy she honestly started feeling better and it even gave her the strength to eat more, which has been helping her, overall. Sure, it's not a perfect miracle, but as far as I'm concerned, it's enough of a miracle for me to be extremely thankful.

How Exciting

2010-12-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is very exciting. Aaron and I found a house we really, really like and we put a bid on it. Unfortunately now, like with anxiety inducing milestones in life, reaching back to SAT scores, to hearing back from a potential employer, we’re holding our breath and waiting to hear back. I’ve no inkling about what we should expect to get back because apparently there are two other bids on the place. Sigh… I’m not sure my nails are long enough for this.

Another big thing that’s been on my mind has been the passing of Aaron’s aunt and my aunt’s current condition. My brothers and I decided to send my parents down to Florida to see her. It was a complete surprise for her and it put her in great spirits. She seemed really lively and beyond ecstatic. She even managed to eat and drink a few things and kept them down. My Mom even said color started coming back to her face.

I’m just excited that my aunt has gotten one of her wishes so far. She told everyone around her that she really wanted two things before passing. The first is to make it to her 70th birthday the second is to make it to see one last Christmas. I’ll be calling her today to wish her a happy 70th. I’m also happy that my parents were still there this morning to spend some time with her on this special day.

And lastly, the baby is still doing her thing. We have about 46 days to go. I’ve been keeping track of my Braxton Hicks contractions since I’ve been getting them fairly often. Not sure what this means, but I was told to keep track of them on a daily basis till my appointment next week. I suspect my doctor is trying to predict if the wee girl will be making an early appearance.

Catch Up Entry

2010-11-30T13:41:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving: I ended up cooking the bulk of the meal, but it was all good. My Mom helped and no one had to lose a digit. It was a much smaller gathering than usual but it’s all good, it made it much easier to speak with everyone.

Baby Shower: It ended up a surprise after all. I knew it was supposed to occur. I figured the most logical time would have been this past weekend. I thought it would have happened on Saturday (and I was right) but Aaron threw me off. His aunt has been up from Florida and I know she was supposed to head back soon. He said we were supposed to have lunch with them. I then figured it was going to happen on Sunday instead. Then we got to Aaron’s sister’s place and I heard the voices. :)

I got a lot of really great things and a few things that I hadn’t expected. It made me really happy and made me realize that the wee girl is going to be here before I know it. I mean, according to the ticker, I have 60 days left to the due date. That’s nothing!

House Keeping: So now I’ve given Aaron the task of making room in our closets during his days off. As it is most of the baby stuff is in our living room. The crazy part is that we have to get creative in putting her stuff out. I think I am going to ask Aaron to pack up our book shelf to make room for a small dresser and the basinet. I don’t think he’s going to be too thrilled with the idea, but we have to pack them up anyway. We’re house hunting and if all goes well, we’ll have a new place by mid-to-late spring and hopefully be set to move by the beginning of the summer.

House Hunt: Speaking of a new place… we’ve hit a milestone! We wanted to have a certain amount socked away in our house fund by the beginning of November. We’re a month behind BUT we made the number. Now Aaron is saying that he’s getting back in full house hunting mode (as if he actually stopped or slowed). I’m pretty excited about this. Granted, yes, it brings up a whole new set of issues, like what is the commute going to be like, what are we going to do about daycare, what are we going to do about his brother, but we can get to those when the time comes. Besides, the whole brother thing is just a big headache and makes us both get really irritated. Quickly touching on it, I have been helping him with cover letters and helping him hunt for full time jobs. BUT what gets to both Aaron and I, is the fact that unless we’re there hounding him about getting a full-time job, he doesn’t do jack to search or to reply to things. YET he says he wants to keep the apartment. Yeah… not bloody likely at this rate. All I know is that he’s NOT moving in with us.

Christmas and Chanukah: I can’t believe he’s already ahead of me. I thought I had a jump start on him but no. Aaron is just about finished. Ah well. The good news is that we should be pretty much done by this weekend. I have a few more items to pick up and voila! And I’ll have a Chanukah gift for him for whenever he decides he wants to exchange gifts. I know he’s really anxious to give me a gift. He even said last night that he hates buying me things and then having to wait to give them to me. He doesn’t really care that I got him anything since I’m already giving him a very big gift.

The sad thing is that I really think I have to skip decorating after all. I looked into our hall closet and there is NO WAY I can actually get to any of my decorations— at least, not with all the new baby stuff in the way. Boo… but it’s all good. I’ll just have to make up for it once we’re in our new home and get to throw a big Christmas party.

Sad News: I haven’t spoken about this but I think it’s time… Aaron and I have two aunts who are coming to the end of their days. As a matter of fact, one is in hospice care and the other elected to remain at home, rather than be moved into a hospice. I can’t say exactly why I haven’t mentioned it sooner, I just haven’t. Now of course, with the new baby, house and all the other good stuff happening, I can’t help but think that my two aunts are going to be missed. These are the kinds of things they would love being there for. The aunt on my Dad’s side, while she has had her issues, has always been pretty great with me growing up. She used to take care of me when we first moved to NYC, and was the one who encouraged me to break the rules every now and then, much to my Dad’s chagrin. But she’s also the one who made me realize that you simply can’t take things so seriously all the damn time. And the scarier part is that, as I get older, I am starting to look a lot more like her. Aaron’s aunt (on his Dad’s side) is just about one of the happiest, sweetest people I have ever encountered. She’s a kook and he grandchildren even call her “Cuckoo” rather than grandma. Apparently, she and Aaron’s Mom used be pretty tight when they were younger, which doesn’t surprise me. We’re not sure how long either one of them has. But unfortunately, doctors have told them their cancer treatments have gone as far as possible, and that it is now in God’s hands. It’s odd; while thinking about them makes me sad, I really think I’m still in denial about both their cases. I’m just thankful for the nurses they have caring for them. These people really are doing God’s work here on earth. God bless them.

And They Say Time Flies…

2010-11-22T12:51:00.002-05:00

I can’t believe it. This morning I turned on the radio and there they were; two stations playing Christmas music. Holy crap we’re back in the holidays!
I feel like I’m a few steps behind already. Blech… I mean usually, I have some gifts worked out and I have a good idea of what I’m getting Aaron, but it feels like the whole thing just snuck up on me.

The good thing is; I DO have Thanksgiving worked out. Even though my “sous chef” (Aaron) is going to have work overtime the day before the big day. Yes. You read that correctly, this year, for obvious reasons, I am actually calling in an assistant. I’ve also modified the side dishes. They’ll be a lot less complicated.

What I’ve got so far:

Turkey (a slightly modified version of Alton Brown’s Roast Turkey)
Stuffed Mushrooms (app.)
Butternut Squash Soup
Cornbread (the spoon bread version I make every year)
My Mac N’ Cheese
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts
Sautéed Green Beans with almonds
Wild Rice w/ Red Grapes
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans
Cheddar and Sage Biscuits
Stuffing/Dressing

I know I’m missing an item or two but I don’t have my list with me and I can’t remember at this point.

As I said, the dishes are a lot less complicated and I can do a lot of the prep ahead of time. Unfortunately I may have already hit a bit of a snag. I have been preparing Aaron for this—well, more like training— but unfortunately, he just learned yesterday that he has to work overtime the day before. SO… I may have to work with my Mom on this. This is kind of getting me a little nervous though. My Mom and I have very different takes on how things are done. She likes to throw things in or change things up on the fly, whereas I don’t. I’ve gotten most of these dishes down to a science and it would make me freak the hell out if she starts "tweaking" or changing things up on me.

Evan, my brother-in-law volunteered to help with prep. I told him it be best for him not to. It was very sweet of him to offer, but that could potentially be disastrous. He doesn’t “cook.” His idea of cooking usually consists of throwing a group of pre-made items together and calling it a meal. I need someone who will understand what I want when I say, “mirepoix,” “chiffonade” and “finely grate,” and will know that there is a difference between, stock and broth, finely mincing and chopping. Hell, we’re talking about the same guy who, just the other day, used my pie dough cutter as a pizza cutter! (I wish I were kidding).

Don’t get me wrong, I really love cooking for the holiday. It’s one of my favorite meals to make. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t. I’m just very particular about the way things are done. I mean, I plan things out weeks in advance and usually have the timing worked out so that all dishes are pretty much done at the same time. So it’s not a pretty sight when things gum up the works. Imagine if you will, one of the crabbing boat captains from Deadliest Catch… yeah I have the potential to get that cranky when things don’t work out. I almost stormed off when my brother burned one of my dishes and my one of sisters-in-law decided to not start one of her dishes until everything else was already finished. She held everything up by about an hour.

Ah well… We’ll see, perhaps I can get an even earlier start and not have to call in the reinforcements. Wish me luck!

The Great Eclipse

2010-11-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

Now I know that pregnancy is a time of changes, the problem is I know there are changes going on; I just can’t easily them all. For example, Aaron keeps mentioning that my belly button is looking more and more like it’s going to pop. I have to take his word for it. If I were to look down on my own, I can’t really see the darn thing. Sure, I can use the mirror, but I don’t have a full length mirror to be able to get a proper perspective. Another good example: my feet. I can’t see them if I’m standing up. The belly’s in the way. I know they’re getting puffy because I’m having issues putting on shoes that just a few weeks ago, I considered comfy. Ah well at least I can still see them when I sit down. :/ It’s going to be weird not having a belly in the way after all this is over.

Ooh, ooh. I now have my quasi official leave date. It’ll be Jan 14th. This may change if my doctor tells me to stop sooner. I met with the HR people and my supervisor to iron things out and to answer the tons of questions I had. I’m just glad they were able to explain things to me. I was getting freaked out a touch. I went in with a real fear that I was only going to get 17 percent of my paycheck while I was on leave. Luckily that’s not the case. While it is a percentage, it’s a frick of a lot better than 17 percent. I’m also entitled to get 8-12 weeks off, depending on how my doctor fills out the paperwork.

Sigh… we’re getting there.

Hello Mrs. Snippy-Pants

2010-11-11T13:56:00.001-05:00

I’m assuming the hormones have me a touch on-edge. I’ve noticed lately that I keep losing my temper with people. I mean really losing it to the point where I find myself clenching my jaw and fists to keep from lashing out at people. I feel bad but so far I’ve been able to put up a good front. The only who really seems to notice is Aaron. When he sees this happening, he smartly pulls me away from the general area and finds a way to defuse my ass.

Unfortunately, he’s not there to do this while I’m at work. And of course, this has been where my temper has been flaring up the most. I know, I know, doesn’t that happen to most of us? Yes, but I’m mean even I felt like hissing at the phone when I was in the middle of writing up an e-mail earlier today. Then of course there was the co worker who came by to just say “hi.” I almost jumped down her throat. I felt awful afterwards but I was at least able to restrain myself, smile and say a quick hello. It gets a lot tougher when I get the stupid questions or get things back that don’t make sense. Good lord!

But yes, Aaron has really stepped up his game and has been incredibly helpful (he even helped me put on my socks the other day when I was having issues reaching my feet) and even keeled when I start losing it. Luckily, he’s also there to be my Pit Bull when it I’ve had a reason to be angry.
Inhale… Exhale…

Oh yes, and just because it's suits my mood today, and because the song is catchy as hell adn makes me smile... (enjoy)

2010-11-06T20:51:00.001-04:00

Aaron just started playing The Force Unleashed. It looks awesome!

Test Results

2010-10-28T11:34:00.001-04:00

My Glucose Tolerance Test results came back and the results showed that I’m totally fine. I’m not exactly sure why I was concerned considering that I’ve been eating fairly healthy throughout the pregnancy so far. I’ve only indulged on a few occasions and even then, it was mostly apples; lots and lots of apples. :)

But anyhoo, the only thing I have to do now on doctors orders is take an iron pill. Apparently my iron level was a touch low, nothing serious, but considering that babies tend to suck up minerals like that, they want me to just pop a pill to boost that.

Now if I could only start feeling better I’d be a happy camper. I’m not sure if I’m coming down with a cold or if this is just a bad allergy attach but I have been congested as all heck for the past three days and yesterday I barely had a voice at all. Today I’m just draining, sneezing and feel generally blech. Ah well. At least Aaron’s been very comforting. He’s been giving me quite a bit more extra attention and helping more at home.

E's Blog

2010-10-28T11:22:00.001-04:00

Ony of my favorite Bloggy people and fun author has once again posted his trivia challenge. Check it out. It's always good fun, E's Blog

Glucose Tolerance Test

2010-10-26T08:44:00.003-04:00

Today started nice and early. I had a 7:15 am appointment to have a glucose test done. Basically, they're testing to make sure I'm doing okay and to check for gestational diabetes. The sugar drink they had me drink to prepare for this thing tasted like the quarter drinks from when I was a kid but with a few extra teaspoons of sugar added. If you know the ones I’m talking about, you know just how sweet those are to begin with.

Anyhoo, the nurse today was awesome. I hate needles. No, really, let me state that again. I HATE NEEDLES. I used to give blood regularly because it was the right thing to do, but when it comes down to it, I cannot stand the things and pretty much have to cringe and look away. I’ll openly admit it; I’m a big baby when it comes to them. But I digress. The nurse today drew blood and I hardly felt a darn thing. I had to tell her that that was the most painless and fastest I’ve ever had blood drawn. She took out to vials. I was really impressed. I may have to go back in the mornings if I have to get blood drawn again. Like I said, she was awesome.

So yes, I was supposed to get my flu shot today but I may have to hold off on it for a little longer. I’m starting to feel the all too familiar itch that signals the start of a sinus infection. I was asked how I knew and I told them that because my allergies are so bad, I get them at least once a year. Ah well. The nurse wholeheartedly agreed with me. So I’ll have to call them back and try to schedule it for when I’m feeling better. Yay. More needles. Sigh.

Oh yeah, my doctor didn’t give me crap about my weight this time around. I was only up two pounds from the last time. I told him that I cut out a lot of my favorite juices, cut back drastically on my apples, added more vegetarian meals to the week and I started walking a bit more while I still can. He seemed pretty pleased and told me to keep it up. So yaaay! Hopefully at this rate, I won’t end up feeling like a big, round cow. Although Aaron’s convinced the baby’s going follow suit with the other babies in my family and come out huge. I’m talking the smallest one was Munchkin #6 and she was seven pounds-ish, almost eight. All the others were damn near close to 10 lbs.

So now all I have to do is make it to our childbirth class and try to not pass out during the thing. At this rate, I’m not sure how well that’ll work out.

100 Days...

2010-10-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

I just realized I have 100 days left to go till the baby arrives (in theory anyway).

Teehee... I am now really excited. Good lord. It really has gone by quickly. Yes, that’s despite the puking fits and the times where I actually had to walk around with tissues in my pockets as improvised nose plugs.

But really, where the hell has the time gone?

Was I Wrong?

2010-10-21T10:16:00.002-04:00

I did something yesterday and it’s kinda bugging me a touch. So, you know, I have to air it out here.

So as you know, Aaron has been struggling with putting the cigarettes down for good. There is no smoking in our apartment any longer. Not even in Evan’s room. Especially now that there’s a baby on the way. So Aaron has been doing well for several weeks, possibly months. But then recently, like a dumb-ass he went and had a few. Not sure why, he said he was having a stressful day, and while I can understand that, I’m not sure I can fully understand the reasons why he went and lit up when he was perfectly fine and chipper. Before you go on, I know damn well that it’s an addiction and therefore, prone to cause irrational behavior. ANYWAY...

Tuesday we spent the day with my Mom for her birthday and while we were there, I moved Aaron’s jacket and felt the unmistakable shape inside his pocket. I thought to myself, ‘I HAD to be mistaken. WHY would he have a pack in his pocket?’ I felt through the material and there it was, about a thumb-length up from the bottom edge, the lid gave just a touch. I considered my next step, but decided to do nothing. Instead, I would let it go. Perhaps there was some other kind of explanation. Yeah, right! Later that night he made a comment about wanting to smoke a giant cigarette. I nearly lost it, but rather than brining this up in front of my Mom and getting her involved, I held my tongue.

That night we went to our first childbirth class. I’m still not 100 percent convinced this is necessary but I figured, why not, I’ll listen to see what the maternity ward nurses (i.e. the experts) have to say on the whole subject and learn a thing or two. Right after the thing, I noticed he was getting antsy and a little short-tempered. He seemed a bit anxious to meet up with his friend Jerry who I know smokes. ‘Hmmm,’ I thought. Right before he dropped me off at the front of the building, I kindly reminded him to not smoke. He got really agitated and started yelling at me. “I haven’t smoked! When did you see me smoking. I haven’t smoked at all!...” It was an awfully sharp response for a simple request. Hmm... Nicotine withdrawal anyone? Ding, fucking ding!

For the rest of the night I was pretty pissed off. He didn’t get back until after I fell asleep. In the morning, however, as I was on my way to work, I got my jacket out and saw his jacket on the hanger next to mine. I reached in the pocket and wouldn’t you know it, there they were. I thought I could do something fucked up to them and put them back, but that would still mean he’d reach in and want to get one. And what if he didn't noticed I tampered with them until after he lit up. Gah! So, I just took them. I threw them out once I got outside of the building. But for the rest of the day I was pissed off beyond belief. I mean, how dare he?! Its one thing to behave irresponsibly to a certain point, but when you know your behavior, because of the damn things, is affecting those around you when they are already emotionally sensitive? That just takes fucking balls. I was so pissed, I honestly wanted to turn right back around and cause a huge fucking scene. Not to mention he lied to me. He outright looked at me, while yelling at me for no good reason, and LIED to me. But once again, I tried to cool off on my own and not think about it. It mostly worked. The drive on the way home was challenging at best. I started thinking about all the other stuff he could be lying to me about. Then my mind traveled right on into kooky town. I’m talking, I could have easily convinced myself into thinking he was cheating; was not the person I thought he was; possibly some kind of sociopath; or even worse. By the time I actually got home I was so damn agitated I didn’t even want to talk to him. I walked in and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. What the hell is that?! I kept reminding myself to remain calm and not to jump to conclusions.

I asked him if he noticed anything missing? He said no. NO. HA! I then asked him about his day. He went out to have lunch with a friend. They talked for a while, just catching up; he played with her son, read him a book and she told him about her experience with the whole childbirth thing. And there it was again that twinge of jealousy. No good reason for it, but there it was, just the same. Hormones and anger are a hell of a combination. In those few seconds I got to the point where I wanted to throw something at his head for being untrustworthy and for daring to cheat on me. Now, I knew I ventured off into kooky town again so I forced myself to calm down and behave like a normal person.

Then he stated making dinner I helped but he pretty much took charge. Hmmm? Is someone feeling a touch guilty? Perhaps. I didn’t bring the topic of the disappearing cigarette pack. I may tonight. Only goodness knows what that conversation would have led to, given my state of mind yesterday.

I still feel a touch bad about what I actually did (going through his pocket and taking the pack). I keep thinking that it wasn’t the right thing to do. But then again, in a situation like this, perhaps two wrongs do, actually, make a right. Eh. Who knows?

"Watch That Weight"

2010-10-12T11:23:00.001-04:00

I should be more upset but I’m kinda not. Yesterday I went in for my monthly doctor visit and was told that I have gained too much weight in the last month. I thought that might be the case, but I didn’t think it was THAT bad. So yes the doctor told me that he really wants me to watch my weight because ideally, he would like me to be delivering at the weight I’m at currently and no more than five pounds from where I am. Boo. :(

The problem now, is how do I keep the weight steady without going hungry? Somehow, I don’t think it’s a great idea to go on a diet while pregnant. I can try to get more exercise but what foods should I eat then? I don’t really pig out on “junk” food. My snacks usually consist of fruits (apples are my go-to snacks), fruit juices or yogurts. I may throw in a handful of non-salted nuts once in a while, when I’m feeling sassy. He told me to cut back on the fruit juices and the fruit. The juices I can do without. The fruit, however, that’s a tough call. Like I said, it’s all I usually snack on between meals (one snack between meals). Like I said, I’m not exactly a big fan of eating chips, sweets, or your standard crap food fare. Gah! I feel like I would have been better off eating all the crap foods. So now I am on the hunt to find a solution.

Luckily everything else was okay. The baby’s HB is going strong and well. Growth is normal, the kicking activity is normal, and the hand falling asleep in the middle of the night are all, well, normal. Next time I go in I have to do a glucose test and get my flu shot. I told Aaron he and Evan have to do the same thing. He wasn’t so thrilled about it; mostly because of the thought of potentially getting sick because of it. But I told him that as long as there will be a baby in the house and as long as they’re in it, they have to get the shot. The baby’s due in the middle of the flu season and there is no way in hell I’m taking any chances. Luckily, my parents, who will likely be helping take care of the baby when I first go back to work, already get their flu shots around this time of the year.

Besides, Aaron and his brother can suck it up and deal. I have to deal with all the other aspects of being pregnant; they can deal with getting a teeny shot. Big babies.

Creatures of the Night

2010-10-09T23:34:00.016-04:00

For those who have known me for any amount of time know that I have had a long history of loving vampires. I’m not certain how it started or why, but I absolutely love the stories, the endless variations of the creatures themselves and yes, the lore from all parts of the world.

So whether you like them or not, here’s my little tip of the hat to the classic (to me) vampires from when I was growing up. And in case you’re wondering, the cut-off point I used was high school. I’d be here forever if I included all my favorite vampires.

The Count

Yeah, I know, 'really?' But let’s face it, he was quite possibly the very first vampire I ever saw and still one of my favorites. SO, here’s to you number ONE! AH. AH. AH.

Count Duckula

You know, I don’t know if many people out there would remember good ole Count Duckula. He used to be a regular vampire but during a resurrection ritual one of his servants called Nanny dropped in ketchup and so he became a vegetarian vampire. It was really a cute cartoon, but sadly short-lived.

Love at First Bite

I think I was entirely too young to see this movie when I was a child, but I saw it anyway. And wouldn’t you know it, I loved it. I thought it was absolutely hilarious and it’s still a great flick. One of my favorite things about it is that George Hamilton is in it, and he’s not day-glow orange. They actually had to make him look pale. HA!

Monster Squad

Okay, okay, this isn’t strictly a vampire move but it’s still great. And Dracula is the sort of leader of the monsters.

The Lost Boys

Enter the hot vampires. Until I saw The Lost Boys, vampires weren’t really hot. Ah but then I had never seen Michael before. Sigh… “Say hello to the night, lost in the shadows, say hello to the night, lost in the loneliness”

Once Bitten

Cheesy, yes. Campy, oh hell yes. But come on, it’s one of the earliest Jim Carey flicks and Lauren Hutton is in it.

My Best Friend is a Vampire

Robert Sean Leonard could have been the first Edward. I’m just sayin.’ He was turned into a vampire but was trying to be good and not feed from humans. Trying to get the girl and save the day. And because of his odd behavior, his parents mistake him for being gay. It’s not a very well known movie, but it is fun and yes, you guessed it, it’s loaded with 80’s cheesy camp.

The Original, Bella Lugosi as Dracula

I can’t say enough about this one. I usually catch it on a yearly basis. I mean, really, how can you go wrong? Not to mention, would any classic vampire, “look” ever exist without Mr. Lugosi?

Interview with the Vampire

Hello! As in most cases, when you have a book turned into a movie, the book is better, but can anyone deny that pre-crazy, couch-jumping Tom Cruise was just hot personified? His portrayal of Lestat, in my opinion, was spot on. The look wasn’t quite what I pictured in my head, but damn it, the attitude was spot on. For a while there I toyed with the idea of getting a neck tattoo that read, “Insert Fangs Here, Lestat.”

Vampire Hunter D

Manga or the Anime, version, this is just an awesome flick and was one of my first introductions to my other crazy obsession, the world of Anime and Manga. Not to mention, D is kind of a tragic hero that you just can’t help but really feel for.

Nosferatu

For years and years, I saw this character and didn’t quite know what to make of it. The look of Nosferatu is about as classic as the Bella Lugosi look, just not debonair. He’s actually kind of grotesque. Then at some point in high school I actually got my hands on a copy of the movie and watched it. I was surprised how much I actually really enjoyed it and it quickly became a favorite.

I Love When Things Work Out

2010-10-06T15:24:00.002-04:00

I do love it when things work out better than expected. Case in point, I just put my boss on an NPR program. He wasn't sure it went as well as he would have hoped, but I told him that he did a great job and that because of the program's reach, it was a fantastic spot for us. I got him feeling better and then right after I got off the phone with him, I got a call from the program's host to say thank you and to invite him on again in the future. Who rocks?! Booyah!

Can't Work, Ah Well

2010-10-06T11:19:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, it should be a relaxing day at work, but it so isn’t. But damn it I can’t really think so I’ll just churn out a blog post to get the writing groove started.
Ever since I work up this morning, I’ve had Lee Dorsey’s “Working in a coal mine” song stuck in my head. In case you don’t know it, it starts off like this:

“Workin' in a coal mine
Goin' down down down
Workin' in a coal mine
Whop! about to slip down
Workin' in a coal mine
Goin' down down down
Workin' in a coal mine
Whop! about to slip down
Five o'clock in the mornin'
I'm all ready up and gone
Lord I am so tired
How long can this go on?”

So yes, the event I was working on went over very well we got a lot of good media coverage for it and I’m a happy camper. I got a ton done, but I’ve still got oodles of stuff to do to actually reach the happy place -which I’m almost convinced is fictional- called, Caught Up. Ah yes Caught Up, it’s a lovely place to visit, just south of Hogsmead and Hogwarts.

Blech. So yeah, I have a few deadlines handing over me like the sword of Damocles. But I will be damned if I get myself as worked up as I was last week. It’s just not worth it. Not to mention poor wee girl may end up coming out looking like Tweak from South Park, if I keep that up. I just won’t let it happen damn it.

Ooh speaking of the wee girl; you know how you so often hear parents say that every day brings something new once you’re a parent. It’s actually very true. I have never experienced so many random things. For example, it turns out that the wee girl is under the impression that my bladder is a bouncy house. I normally get the giggles when I feel the movements but when I already have to pee and she decides it’s time to play, it’s not so cool. Another thing is, I used to be able to sleep with very minimal movement. I used to be able to wake up, pull the corner of the cover back and viola! The bed is made. Now, not so much. Because of all the position changes, the middle of the night pee breaks, hot spells and numb hands and arm (so need to get back to this) my room, not just my bed, now looks like a frat party made its way through my room in the middle of the night. I’m talking there are papers, magazines, articles of clothing and empty cups all over the damn place by the time I wake up.

So yes, I’ve apparently come down with a common symptom of pregnancy. I’ve experiencing numbness in my right hand and sometimes part of my arm. It mostly happens in the middle of the night but it really happens at all hours. The other day I was at work my fingertips started going. As it turns out my chair at work sucks. Ah well, at least I haven’t actually started leaking yet.

I’m not kidding, this is actually something I’m happy about. Aaron seems to like reminding me about that. He thinks it’s funny. He learned all about what to do and what not to do from the book I gave him, “The Expectant Father” or something like that. So yes the book says to be nice and to not make fun of your wife, significant other, baby momma, whatever. So what does he do? Yep, he sticks to his ways and uses the stuff he learns about as comedic material. Not in a bad way of course, he’s not a complete bastard. He’s just a smart-ass who can’t help himself. So yeah, the potentially leaky boobs thing had him rolling when he first read about it. The other day he joked that I should use them as water guns or something equally ridiculous. Yes, my husband who’s about to become a father has reverted to a 12-year-old. :)

The good thing- yes despite my bitching, there are several good things- is that the rounder I get the more he insists on rubbing and talking to the belly. He’s even made it part of his daily routine. Things like that make up for the childish behavior.

Aw crap, I’ve looked at the time and I should probably get back to work. Booo.

2010-09-26T15:15:00.001-04:00

WTF Giants?!

Bad Blogger

2010-09-22T20:48:00.002-04:00

wow I have been a bad blogger lately. What's sad is that there has been plenty to write about, I've just been too damn pooped when I get home from work and my weekends lately have been reserved for the stuff I should have done after work all week long. Blech.

So here's the quick recap of what has been going on.

Pregnancy front:
- It's a girl Woohoo!

- My boobs which were once normal, are now waaaay too big. I was a bit startled when I came to this realization. I once thought it would be neat to have bigger boobs, but as it turns out, I don't really like it. The damn things just get in the way.

- We picked out a name and then went a few rounds over the middle name. I wanted Jade as a middle name but it was pretty much decided that it sounded too much like a stripper name so we nixed it.

- The wee girl keeps moving around randomly and has a tendency to move more when Aaron speaks to her.

- The other day Aaron made me want to laugh while at the same time cry. A friend of ours suggested that in the future their boy and our wee girl can date. I told this to Aaron and as it turned out we had the same thought, except mine was more along the lines of, 'over my dead body, especially if it's anything like the father.' Aaron's thought was (thankfully he only said it to me), "keep that little cross-eyed bastard away from my beautiful princess." He called the wee girl his "beautiful princess," awwww...

- I finally have items on my registry.

On the work front:
- All I've kept envisioning at work lately Mr. Hand from, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" saying, "What are you, people? On dope?" That should pretty much sum it all up.

- The work lately has been piling up like mad and I think I may have to take a
personal day next week after this Capitol Hill event that I'm in the middle of wraps up.

- I'm also convinced that some people have no concept of how much crap I have to put up with in a single day. But then again, those very people are the ones who bother me the most.

Family and friends:
- No complaints really, except I haven't gotten to see them much. I did get to see some family last weekend, during Munchkin #3's birthday party but that was about it.

Home:
- We went to see a few homes. We liked some of the ones we saw, but alas, we haven't found one that struck us as the one we want. Ah well. The search continues.

That's pretty much about all I can think of right now. I'm positive there's a lot more to say, but I'm actually now fighting to keep from doing a face-plant on the keyboard.

Tis The Season

2010-09-09T16:37:00.001-04:00

Ah, welcome Fall; it’s been a while. How ya been?

Yeah, today my mind is pretty much outdoors. Yesterday, I was all about figuring out how I was going home without crashing (migraine). But since I got to go home early to drink lots of tea and to get some rest, I’m now right as rain.

But yes, the Fall. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really believe it’s my favorite time of the year. I mean, there’s apple picking, the farmer’s markets, hearty food, the fun holidays and the kickoff to the Christmas season. Not to mention, you can even walk around with a sweater, sweat shirt or a light jacket and be toasty without having to look and feel like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man. But yes, it’s just a happy season. Oh, and let’s not forget, it’s the time of the year when I get all antsy to drink cocoa, and go crazy baking. What can be better than that, I ask you. What?

At the very least, it beats the hell out of the scorching temps of Vegas. This past weekend Aaron and I went out to a cousin’s wedding. She and her now, hubby got hitched at the Bellagio and even had an appearance by Elvis. How cool is that? But I digress.

I braved the 100-107 degree days to walk around and even ventured out to meet up with an old friend and meet her new fiancé. They’re both doing really well and seem to be just about prepared for their big day. It sounds really exciting, but unfortunately I won’t be able to attend by then. Luckily they said they will have a webcast of the actual nuptials. I’ll have to remember to get that link.

Stuck in My Head and I Do Not Mind

2010-09-01T13:51:00.003-04:00

For the last few days (since Aarond randomly started singing it to the belly)this song has been stuck in my head. Luckily it's one of my favorite songs. I just wish I fully understood how it's possible to understand him better when he sings. Eh, either way here it is:

Things That Go Bump in the Night

2010-08-27T14:11:00.002-04:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but lately, Aaron has become one with his inner hunter, or fisherman, I should say. He picked it up a few weeks back when his work buddy invited him to go deep sea fishing. He has now gone just about every week since then and last night he went on his own. I don't mind this at all. I actually find it really nice that he's found something to do that gets him out of the house for a little while on his days off. Not to mention, being out on the open water actually makes him feel really good. I told him it's the positively charged air, he thinks it's something else.

Eh either way, I'm happy he's found something he really likes doing. I actually can't wait to be able to go out with him. I used to go with my grandfather years ago. I'm just not sure if I should go out with him now. I'm usually good with the motion, but it's the smells I'm concerned about. I have the olfactory senses of a bloodhound now so the fishy smell probably wouldn't be so great.

So yes, last night he got home kind of late. But the thing I noticed is that since the first time I felt the nudges, flutters, whatever you call them (wee one movements), a little bit ago, they don’t really occur unless he’s there. So last night, I was asleep when he came home. I asked him how he enjoyed the trip, blah, blah, blah and as soon as he walked out of the room to let me go back to sleep, the wee one starts in with the movements. I heard that their ears are actually functioning at this point (18 weeks) but I quickly becoming convinced that the wee one likes it when Aaron speaks. Actually, when I feel the wee one the most is when he goes to give the belly a rub and a kiss good night. So yeah, there I am trying to get to sleep and the wee one is doing somersaults. Nice. And of course, I can’t just ignore it, feeling the wee one’s movements is just too nifty.

I’m sure I’ll change my tune later on when the movement becomes more pronounced and occasionally embarrassing, but for now, it’s just new, odd and nifty.

Oh yes, Aaron did actually catch a few fish.

It Feels Like Fall

2010-08-24T16:10:00.001-04:00

Today feels like one of those glorious Fall days that remind me of just happy things like apple picking or walking across the UConn campus or the elementary school Halloween parades. I love it.

I can’t help it; I’ve always been big on the Fall. I love the happy crisp, but not too cold weather, the colors, and the smell apples and of cider doughnuts when you go apple picking. Oh and how can I forget the aroma of cinnamon that lingers on everything after banking. Ahhh… it’s like a giant hug.

So yes, if you’re wondering, I have already started coming up with ideas for decorating. My friend Marie told me she’s going to throw a Halloween party at her place and recruited me to help her decorate. Muuuuahahahahaaa. Yeeees! I told her about my skull candelabra and she wants one of her own. I’m also thinking of making flower holders out of plastic skeleton hands to place everywhere. I may go nutty and try to make a platter with the pedestal made of plastic bones or skulls, but it will depend entirely on what I can get my hands on and how crazy she wants me to go. She already has me working on designs for her Jack O’Lanterns. I’m so excited. I sketched out a few that she immediately loved but I think I can do better. Luckily I have several carving kits that can be used for the pumpkins. Now I just have to figure out how much dry ice I’m going to need for the other decorations.

How Fargin’ Exciting!

2010-08-19T10:56:00.001-04:00

I am really excited. Last night I was kind of outed on FB by a friend who was asking about how I was feeling. While I haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret, I haven’t actually gotten around to letting the world know about the news on a grand scale like this. So I took the celeb route and made the announcement myself. :)

My poor phone wouldn’t stop beeping all night long. It’s connected to my FB and every time I get a response to something it lets me know. I had to set it to silent to get to sleep.

Earlier in the night I experienced something really cool, as did Aaron. We felt the baby move. I kept noticing that the belly would kind of make mini swishy moves all day long. When Aaron got home I showed him. When he put his hand on my belly I felt the most definitive movement ever, right where his hand was. I was thrilled. He was positively over the moon.

Then of course, I got yet another bit of happy news. Early in the day, I sent my friend a text to let her know I sent her an e-mail through FB. I originally wanted to ask her if she would be up for going to lunch or something soon and to get her address for the shower. She said he’d be happy about getting together and then told me that SHE was also expecting and her 11th week! Mind you the last time I saw her it was back in June, I told her I was expecting and she told me she and her DH were trying for baby number two. Teehee! Love it!

PISSED

2010-08-17T09:00:00.002-04:00

I really hope the asshole who hacked into my e-mail and blogger has a very unfortunate accident. Or perhaps has a bout of severe bad luck. Something along the lines of oh, say, flesh eating virus or perhaps a spontaneous testicular explosion (if it's a male).

Sigh...

Why You Little...

2010-08-04T20:14:00.003-04:00

I find it amazing that the moment someone shows that they aren't completely useless around computers, others will automatically assume you're the next Bill friggin' Gates.

At work, I do some of the updates and I fix a few things around to make them run smoothly. I wish I had never started this. Today I was referred to as the webmaster. WRONG! But the worst wa that while I was out sick yesterday a huge mound of work piled up that was all web-based and out of my capabilities. Had they actually spoken to the IT/ webmaster in the office, they would have gotten a lot of things straightened out and I wouldn't have had to freak the hell out while trying to catch up with the things I am actually responsible for.

There. Now that I've bitched and feel remotely better.

Today is the kind of day that I wish I could sit down and throw back a beer or two. Ah well, I suppose an herbal tea will have to do.

You Win Again Mr. Target...

2010-08-01T13:35:00.002-04:00

All I meant to get is a new pillow, two storage bins and Listerine. Ah yes, the best laid plans...

Target has always been this magical spot that seems to take my money the way a casino slot machine does. I approach it knowing I am going to walk away with less money than I started with but have some fun in the process. By the time I walk away, however, my wallet is empty. I hate that.

I walked out of Target with a bill that's a few dollars away from the $200 mark. Granted yes, all the items I got except for the Ravin Rabbids game ($14.00) were necessary. It just still a little jarring when you see the sales total.

Ah well, at least I've been able to clean the apartment without getting pass-out tired and I was able to get all the pre-pregger clothes that just don't fit anymore out of circulation and into the new bins. I suppose I'm pretty lucky that although my tummy is getting bigger I haven't gained a whole lot of weight yet (only about 5-7 pounds so far), so I can still fit into my looser tops. Pants are a different matter all together. I can get them on, I just can't close a lot of them. Luckily I have the belly band thing, so I can use that to keep them sorta closed, or covered enough that you can't see my pants are actually open. :)

Revenge of The Wee One

2010-07-23T14:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had our NT scan. The wee one was most displeased about getting swished around. The wee one was not positioned correctly to get the image they needed so they had to bounce the sonogram thingy on my belly to get the wee one to move around. I couldn’t help but laugh after she told me it doesn’t harm the baby at all. It was pretty darn cute. The baby looked like it was waving hello and at one point the wee one just kept mooning us, then it wouldn’t keep still. My thought was, ‘why am I not surprised?’ It figures our kid would do something like that.

It was pretty cool. We got to see much more detail of the wee one, like the facial features, little teeth buds, the ribs and spine and the heart beat. There was even a shot that let us see the developing brain. Aaron got to see it on a much bigger screen but sadly where I was, I didn’t have a very clear view, I had to see it on the small monitor. We also saw the wee one’s little fingers every time it seemed to wave hello. Aaron looked completely awestruck, looking up at the screen.

But yeah, everything looked normal so all is good. The only sucky part is that I had to have more blood drawn to do the tests for the Jewish panel. I know; I’m not Jewish nor has anyone in my family. BUT Aaron is Ashkenazi (meaning, Jewish of Eastern European descent) and so I had to be tested to see if I am a carrier for things like Tay-Sachs. Why test me? Well, because apparently it’s easier to run a test on the mother from an insurance standpoint. Booo!!

After the appointment I went back work and Aaron went home. Then, about five minutes after I get back to work I have to go to the bathroom. Then, about a half hour later, same thing. This keeps going until I leave work. I hit shitteous traffic on the way home and by the time I do get home, I’m starving and really tired. Aaron got me dinner and set up last week’s True Blood for me. A little while after I finished dinner, I start feeling a little eh. That feeling becomes a little worse. I luckily ended up in the bathroom by the time I began burping because it wasn’t an innocent burp at all. Nope. My entire dinner came back with a vengeance. I puked so hard my entire face turned red. I mean, it looks like I have small pox.

Aaron tried making me feel better by telling me I look wonderful. Dirty liar! He then tried to console me by suggesting that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad by morning. I hoped he was right. Morning came and I didn’t look a smidge better. I had to run out to the 24 hour CVS and pick up concealer and foundation. I seriously considered not going to work but because I had two big meetings and I had just taken three days off, I decided to slap the stuff on and try to make the best of it.

I looked like RuPaul or one of his “girls.” Aaron thought it was more along the lines of Michael Jackson. Very powdery and heavily made up. Either way, I was displeased. I still feel like I have a cake on my face but at least I don’t look diseased; just freaky. So yes, the baby got me back for the sloshing. Sigh…

Moments in Growing a Person

2010-07-13T14:12:00.003-04:00

It’s official. I’m preggers.

I know what you’re thinking, ‘Hello, weirdo, wasn’t that the case the day you saw the second pink line on the pee stick?’ Well, yes. Yes it was. However, it hasn’t “felt” real until today.

Today (this morning, really) was the day I went to get dressed and ran out of things to wear. I have three dresses that still fit and a pair of shorts that I can still close if I roll the top down. Other than that, I can’t close anything around the belly.

I swear, this whole affair of growing a person is really something else. Aside from the clothing thing and feeling like a Mumu may become a viable clothing option, there’s a whole list of moments you run into that you never, ever, thought you’d experience. Here are some examples (Warning, some of these may fall under the TMI category, but I've been dealing with it, so…):

Smells: I have quickly developed an olfactory sense that could very likely rival a bloodhound. While this is a great thing when surrounded by yummy food, this is actually a terrible thing when standing in an elevator with a person with poor hygiene. OR when going #2. It’s gotten to the point where I frequently have to plug up my nose to go to enter a public bathroom or actually “go.” I found out that the slightest hint of a bad smell sends me into a bout of gagging and has actually led to me puking my guts out. Fun!

I also know when Aaron works with his buddy Park or his boss. Park smokes his boss doesn’t. Aaron quit smoking a few days after finding out we were expecting. When he works with Park, either Aaron or his buddy will get out of the car when Park takes a smoke break. It’s faint but it’s there and damn it I can smell it.

Shoes and socks: Yeah, who knew that something as mundane as putting on socks and shoes could become a chore? About a week ago, I discovered that the belly/bloat-belly was actually starting to get in the way. I know this is to be expected and will likely get worse, but I really didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. I’m not showing that much at all. At this point, it only looks like I’ve eaten waaay too much during that time of the month (at least that’s what I think, although judging by the pants thing; I may be way off base here). But yes, it’s gotten to the point that I can’t just bend down to put socks on. No. The wee one does not approve of this at all. I have to sit down and swing my legs over to the side to put them on. OR I have to get Aaron to help me. I wish I were kidding.

Going to sleep: I’m pregnant, I should be able to conk out at the drop of a hat, yeah, not so much. Often, this is when the wee one decides he is displeased with some morsel of food I may or may not have consumed during that day. Yes, heartburn city! Woohoo! There is nothing worse than being so dead tired, you begin to feel really cranky, but not able to go to sleep, despite the fact that you’re in bed.

What makes things worse is that I know I can’t feel the wee one move around yet. Apparently the middle of the night is when they like being active once they can move voluntarily. I’ve been told movement during that day rocks them to sleep but once you’re out cold and still, THAT’S when they wake up and start kicking around. Fabulous!

But wait, there’s more. On the few blessed nights when the wee one is pleased with the food, the thing that keeps me awake is the discomfort of having a belly. I can’t sleep on my right for some reason (too uncomfortable) and sleeping on my left just feels funny. So I have to sleep on my back. The problem with that is, I’m not used to doing this and the weight around my middle feels odd. OR, it’s too damn hot and I can’t get comfortable no matter how cool I try to make the room.

Peeing: Racehorse comes to mind. Now, this one very often affects the sleep thing too. Usually by the time I fall asleep, I have to wake up to go pee. I get up about twice a night now to go pee. I wish I were joking, but I’ve considered switching to adult diapers. Luckily, I just can’t bring myself to do it. Not to mention, I really don’t think Aaron will ever touch me again after something like that.

Sex: So apparently there’s a great divide between some women who are into it and those who are not during this phase of life. I fall into the group who are. The problem is that we’re quickly running out of options. Nothing, I mean nothing prepares you for the funky-ass sensation of feeling like someone put a rubber ball between your bellies while in missionary (he felt it too). Talk about a show stopper! I think we’re down to about two positions that work.

Eating: Ah yes, eating. I can’t predict when and what I will want to eat. There are times that I really, really crave something then can’t eat it at all once I get it. Case in point; about two weeks ago, I got a corned beef sandwich. The thing had been running through my head since the morning. As soon as I got it, the wee one decided it was repulsed by it. I managed to take one bite before the wee one decided it would push the gag reflex button. I had to order a soup instead. Then there are the days it wants to pig out. Last week I woke up and immediately wanted pizza from a particular shop down the street from my parents place. We got out early that day so I drove out of my way to go to the shop. I ordered a pizza. I got it home and proceeded to eat all but three slices of the damn thing. I would have kept going but I realized how much I ate and got a little grossed out with myself.

Then of course there are the moments where I will be perfectly fine then within minutes be ready to eat my desk.

So yeah, these are just some of the things I have been experiencing so far. There are more, but I really have to go pee.

Ahhh

2010-07-09T23:05:00.002-04:00

So after a few shitteous weeks things have started to calm down a bit. Work life and getting stuff done at home has left me pretty much wiped out to the point where the ide of getting back on a computer in the evening actually made me feel a little sick.

Eh, whadda ya gonna do?

So here is a quick, quick recap.

Aaron, has been telling me he's going to try to help out around the house some more.
while I appreciate the sentiment, I'll be happier when I see it.

I've been feeling as sleepy as a teenager in homeroom.

I'm getting huge. Well, I feel it anyway. I'm stll pretty bloated and today, I actually had issues reaching my shoes to take them off.

The wee one, peanut, or "THE FETUS" is happily doing its thing. We went for a sonogram (well it was an appointment to take blood but who cares about that)and as soon as they turned the screen for me to see, the wee one started doing a little jig. It was really odd. The fact that something is apparently performing on command inside me is just trippy.

I think that once we actually get a house, I may have to look into house cleaning services.

Ooh, Look Charlie...

2010-06-25T15:29:00.004-04:00

Okay so this is not a monster but still... It's a friggin Unicorn

Still Sad One Year Later

2010-06-25T10:21:00.003-04:00

It's been a year an I still get a little choked up whenever I hear certain songs. I just hope that wherever he is, Michael is surrounded by love. This song brought me to tears last year during the funeral.

Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Gone Too Soon

My Mom The Hero

2010-06-23T19:50:00.002-04:00

For the past two days I have been feeling like poop. No. Actually, it's been worse than that. I've been feeling outright green. Between feeling like someone strapped a space heater to me, the hearburn and upset stomach has been just insane. I've had a few days that have been good but then the last two days have been beyond anything I've felt so far. I haven't puked but I've been consistently on the verge.

Today I woke up and before I even got to the shower, I was gagging. I mean really, what the hell?

So yeah, I eventually took refuge at my parents. We took a quick trip to Homegoods and Costco. Then my Mom made me chicken and rice soup and kept super cold fruit coming my way when I needed it. I can't say how much I love my Mom during times like these. I mean, I love her to pieces anyway, but there are moments when I know the woman has a superhero cape tucked away somewhere.

Ever Puke So Hard It Left Red Spots All Over Your Face?

2010-06-16T14:41:00.000-04:00

If you haven’t, I envy you. And if you have, I give you a hug. Yeah the wee one made his thoughts on meetings known today. Much like Momma, he doesn’t care for them. I’ve always joked about puking during a meeting. Never thought it would actually be inconvenient to do so.

Yeah about an hour into our monthly all staff meeting, I started feeling queasy. This progressed. About an hour and a half later, I scribbled a note to my manager telling her I had to get air. I left the conference room and about three steps into the hallway, I had to do an about face and jet to the ladies room. Luckily, the place was empty and I was free to gag, heave and puke away.

A little while later I actually managed to run back to my office get some mints and head back to the conference room. I’m not sure which part was harder, the trying to keep the sick feeling at bay before or after puking. Either way, I was extremely grateful when the meeting was called to adjournment a few minutes early.

Now I’m trying to eat small bites here and there to get something back into my system and drinking ginger ale. I still feel like crap and my face looks terrible, but at least the day is progressing and if I call it an early day, my manager knows I did try to stick it out.

Control Your Anger Young Jedi…

2010-06-14T14:57:00.003-04:00

I swear it is getting harder and harder to not to biotch-slap people. This morning Psycho-Biotch showed up nice and early and even accompanied me to work.

Psycho-Biotch is my personal version of Jenny McCarthy’s Psycho-Chick from her book, “Belly Laughs.” By the way, I burned through her book on Saturday afternoon and loved every page. I’m now mildly afraid of the surprises in the delivery room but, hey, at least I now know what may or may not pop up.

So as I was saying… Yes, Psycho-Biotch. I’m normally pretty flexible when it comes to routines. Yes, I’m totally a creature of habit but when things come up, I normally go with the flow. No biggie. Yeah, no one told Psycho-Biotch that. I normally take a shower, do my hair, eat breakfast then do my makeup. I do it this way, because I hate having to retouch my makeup after eating breakfast. This morning, however, my brother-in-law jumped into the shower as I was eating breakfast. Normally, he’s never up at this time. And so it’s never been an issue. But for some reason the fact that he dared go into the bathroom without consulting me first, burned me up. I know, I know. What the hell? It’s not like he’s a mind reader, nor did I put a sign up or anything like that. It was completely irrational. I understand this. But still, I was pissed! Then he took forever and I couldn’t get my makeup on by the time I had to leave for work. I was pissed. In fact, thinking about it now-- knowing full well the anger is irrational-- I’m still getting pissed. Ooh yeah, but that was only her entrance.

As I walked around getting my stuff together I then noticed the shoes in the entrance were out of order. Actually, no. Not out of order. They just weren't where they were supposed to be; on the rubber mat. In fact, the only shoes that were on the stupid mat were mine and half of one of Aaron’s shoes. This burned me the frick up. I got the mat so that when you come in, particularly on a rainy day, you can leave them on the thing, rather than track water, mud, etc. all over the apartment floor. Then I noticed dried mud on the area rug in the entrance. That did it. I went bonkers. I kicked a shoe halfway down the hallway and began raising hell about how neither one of them bothers to help keep the place clean and how I may as well just leave shoes strewn all over the ****ing place. Or perhaps I should just start carting in loads of mud since they liked living in a ****ing sty. Aaron was so confused.

He his attempt to calm me down was giving me a hug and kisses. The problem is my nose has been replaced with that of a bloodhound. So him trying to kiss me while rocking the morning breath was not only displeasing me but displeasing the wee one and it was starting to let me know it. I politely tried to break away, which in turn, made him try even harder. This was not good.

I tried to sound as calm as possible (ha!) and tell him that as much as I appreciated the attempt at making me happy, his breath was having the opposite effect and that I was angry about having to go to work without makeup and seeing the place get dirty after being clean for only one day. He apologized for the breath and told me I still “look beautiful.” I called him a wonderful liar but that I appreciated his effort.

I went to work, still kind of fuming. What greeted me at work was not a pretty sight. I will once again spare you the gory details but I was in a meeting and left with nail imprints on the bottom of both my palms. I also felt the powerful urge to throw my computer through a wall when I got an e-mail that just pissed me the hell off. Yeah. Psycho-Biotch is kind of hard to rein in, but at least the bouts of queasiness from time to time, seem to be keeping her at bay a touch. Basically, if I move too quickly, the wee one will become even more agitated and make me boot. I nor Psycho-Biotch want that.

Psssst... Scroll Down...

2010-06-13T20:03:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't seen it, scroll down to
"It All Started With the Peanuts"

This Afternoon

2010-06-08T12:06:00.003-04:00

Not that it's really that surprising but everything is going to change today. It's awesome and kinda scary but mostly, just doesn't seem real. I suppose that's to be expected, though. I suppose nothing this big is ever real at first.

Luckily, I have a great sypport system to turn to should I need them. And really, that's all I could ever ask for.

I know, it's not very like me to be so cryptic, but I'll make sure to let yall know what I'm talking about in time. At this moment, I'm just not ready.

2010-06-02T16:55:00.001-04:00

Down time. It's a good thing

Holy Bleeping Chriminey!!!!

2010-06-01T15:44:00.002-04:00

I am so fargin’ sleepy. I can’t seem to get anything together today.

I'm serious. I'm all out of whack. For example, on my way into work, I hit the down button in the elevator instead of up. I should explain, I come in on the second floor and work on the third. And before you ask, no it’s not out of laziness, I can’t get out of the staircase on the third floor. I can get into the stairwell, just not out. Anyhoo, I packed three notepads to bring with me for the trip to DC tomorrow. I meant to only pack one. I apparently kept forgetting. And lastly, I have three cups on my desk. One is water the others are coffee. I got one coffee earlier, set it aside and forgot it. Then later I got water and coffee. Sigh. At this rate, I may have to just bring everything on the top of my desk (including all the cups), out of fear of forgetting something important.

Ah well, at least I haven’t fallen asleep with my finger on a keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Still Here!

2010-05-31T23:04:00.002-04:00

Hiya. In case you have been wondering, no, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth and yes there is stuff going on. I'm just not exactly comfortable posting the news at this time. I am keeping a long and detailed entry that I will post when the time is right, but for now... Hiya.

I can't believe we're already at Memorial Day. Holy crap has this year flown. I mean honestly I have no idea what happened to the last three months. All I know is that I started work and, boom we're here at the unofficial start of the summer. Next thing you know, we'll blink and it'll be the 4th of July, then we'll give Halloween and Christmas miss and proceed directly to Groundhog Day. Huzzah!

Ooh, speaking of Huzzah! I'm really excited. I've already know which items I will be getting at this year's Ren Faire. It is almost the season es, This year I'll be getting the apron portion of the garb and a head cover of some sort. I haven't decided if I like the bonnet style or the floppy-style hats. Eh, I'll decide later. But yeah, I am so looking forward to all the Summery stuff .

Activities I've got planned for this summer:
Hiking
Kayaking
Camping (still have to determine where and get a new tent)
Ren Faire
Beach (Duh)
Vegas (Labor Day weekend)

The other thing I have decied on is finally getting a digital camera. I still use my old-school film camera which I adore and will NEVER give up on, but I think it's time to bite the bullet and get a point and shoot.

It All Started With the Peanuts

2010-05-27T15:55:00.010-04:00

May 27, 2010

This post is obviously backdated. I have been keeping a running log of stuff but have resisted posting anything until I felt the time was right. If you haven’t guessed it and the picture hasn’t given it away, yep, Aaron and I are going to be parents!

Two days ago as I was leaving work, I noticed that my time of the month was feeling awfully late. I counted backwards and yep, I was, indeed late (I’m now 6 days late). I called ‘Chele to confer. I would have purchased tests then but I got sidetracked. Yesterday I picked up a pack of tests. Drank water. Waited. Ate some honey roasted peanuts, watched TV then peed.

As Aaron put it, the test (at the time), "appear inconclusive." I had a dark pink line and another line that was lighter. Now, the box says the second line may appear lighter in color but he wasn’t convinced. Mind you, the last time I took the test there wasn’t a single trace of that second line there. Still, I waited till the morning and redid the test. There it was again, another line. It wasn’t as dark as the first line, but very much there. I took it as a positive. I later found out the damn things are incredibly accurate after the missed period. Woohoo.

What’s funny is I should have known something was up. Last week while I was out food shopping, I got the craziest craving for honey roasted peanuts. It’s not like I don’t eat them, but it was almost like a cigarette craving when surrounded by chain smokers. I HAD to have them. I didn’t actually get on the road before I popped that bad boy open and polished the thing off. No I ‘m not that big a pig, it was the small, small container. I went back and got the glass jar of them to bring home. Aaron looked at me funny when I took them out. All I could say is, “I wanted them.”
So today, rather than do a good amount of work, I have been doing my homework, reading up on what to do, what not to do, etc and writing creating this post.
TheBump has been my go to site since we decided to try for kids and now I’m really happy I knew about it. Hell, I’ve only been a frequent visitor to its sister sites TheKnot, and TheNest since I used it to organize my wedding. Blech I wanna go home and read up on more baby stuff, but I don’t think I should just bolt. At least my boss is gone for the day and so is my supervisor. My ass is heading home at 4:00. I have been getting in the office at 8:00 am all week, damn it.

May 28, 2010

Holy crap. My tummy hurts and I have to pee like a racehorse. I actually feel like I’m having really bad cramps. Apparently the cramps I’m feeling are called round ligament pain. It’s basically caused by the ligaments that surround and support the uterus thickening and stretching. But wait, it gets better. Apparently this is supposed to hurt worse in the second trimester and usually worsens when you move quickly , laugh or cough. Woohoo!

Oh yeah. Aaron is finally convinced that the tests were accurate. All it took was for me to relay what the receptionist at my GYN said about the lighter pink lines and the timing. Yes, I told him the very same thing. Eh, wadda ya gonna do, right? But I digress… I called them yesterday to schedule an appointment. I’m going in on June 8th to have my first prenatal visit. Aaron’s going to be going with me in case they do a sonogram.

Last night we finally had some time to talk about the baby and when we’d like to tell people about it. I think we decided to tell the families during the July 4th Weekend. After that we’ll officially tell our friends. I know it’s a while but Aaron’s concerned about anything potentially going badly. I can’t really blame him. If anything bad happens it’s most likely to happen during the first few weeks. I just have to make sure I’m disciplined enough to keep my mouth shut till then. We shall see.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Let's Go Yankees!
Today I got to see, A-Rod hit a grand slam, a new angle of the stadium (I've sat in almost all of the different areas) and myself almost go cookoo for Cocopuffs over just about every food item I saw and/or smelled, except for one of the stands that was making something with curry. I normally love curry, but today, the smell was turning my tummy. THEN after Aaron who was wonderful enough to get me the biggest stadium steak sandwich I have ever seen, I turned into a friggin machine. I devoured that thing in no time, flat. Hell, I'm surprised I didnt eat the wrapping too.

Ah well, at least I'm still working out. I'm cutting back on the harder stuff or the stuff that can involve falling, like roller blading and perhaps biking, but I'm making it a point to continue walking, jogging and lifting light weights.

Ooh yeah, I've also noticed that my mood swings have been just charming over the last day or two. I learned that I can go from zero to psycho bitch on wheels and back again, in under three seconds! Woo! I can't help it or explain it. Like Dr. Banner, I try to keep it under control as best as I can, but when pushed too hard (or, not at all)... I have the strange feeling that you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Leaping lizards! I haven’t felt this sleepy in ages. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that my boss is out today or what, but all I want to do is put my head down on the comfy looking keyboard. The keys have some give to them. That should make it comfortable enough, shouldn’t it?

Ooh yeah, I’ve gotten a better idea of just how bloated I am. I tried on several different outfits that shouldn’t be fitting as snug as they were this morning. All I keep telling myself is that this is happy thing. It’s a good thing and that I’ll have a good reason to buy bigger comfier clothes. I did this of course as I tried not to burp my breakfast back up. I feel so lady-like.

I’ve also noticed the first signs of “morning sickness.” The symptoms aren’t bad. It’s mostly been heartburn and a touch of gas. I normally don’t get heartburn and/or burp like that after eating a bagel and fruit. Then again I also started feeling that after dinner the other day. All I had was rice, veggies and chicken. Go figure. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Sunday, June 6, 2010

What have I learned today? I learned that I can’t clean the way I used to. Today was a low activity day. I went to church and went food shopping. We’ll have to reexamine the logic behind sending the pregnant one to buy food at a later time. After I got back I took a nap, and then woke up feeling the need to clean. I get that way some times. I just can’t sit still until things are cleaned to my nutty (Marthaesque) standards. I cleaned the bathroom swiffered (dry and wet) the floors and vacuumed the two area rugs in the living room and entryway. By the end of that, I felt like I was going to pass the hell out. Mind you, normally this is what I do when I have to clean in a hurry, like when company is coming over, or when I’m just beginning my cleaning day.

I mean I was actually out of breath and dizzy. I got a huge glass of water and sat my ass down. Aaron got a bit concerned when I told him but I think he was okay as long as I didn’t actually pass out. I told him he’d have to finish the chores tomorrow. I didn’t touch the laundry, I still have to dust and wipe down all the common surfaces like counters, handles, door knobs, light switches, etc. He happily agreed.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Buuuurrrrp!

So as far as “morning” sickness (or any time sickness, really) goes I’m getting lucky. All I’ve really been experiencing is heartburn, a bit of reflux and burping. No nausea, vomiting or anything like that. The problem with this is that there’s no rhyme or reason to what sets it off. It’s not like I can say, okay, I’ll avoid this kind of food or that kind of item. Nope. The other day, a simple smoothie set it off. What the frick?

Ah well, at least it’s not nearly as bad as the incessant need to pee. THAT has gotten old really fast; especially when it’s 2:00 and 3:00 A.M. and I have to make a mad dash for the bathroom. Coordination and I are not friends when I first wake up, particularly at that time of the morning. I’m just glad I’ve made it a point to keep the bathroom light on at night. Goodness knows there’s a good chance I’d end up peeing in the bedroom next to the bathroom is the light wasn’t there to guide my half comatose self. Imagine trying to explain that one in the morning.

Ooh, I have some other changes. Aaron decided to tell his sister, brother-in-law and his parents about our news. Once again, he’s the one who wanted to wait till July but he’s totally pinning it on me. His reasoning is that I’m the one who’s been dying to tell people. I’ve kept my mouth shut. The only people who know at work are my supervisor and the office assistant and I did this in case I have an emergency and have to take off early. He’s told his boss and just about all of his work buddies. But, you know, I’m the one who wants to tell everyone. Uh-huh… riiight.

His behavior is sweet though. Even though he insists he’s only 98 percent sure that we’re having a baby until we see the doctor (HA!), he’s sure acting like an excited man who’s trying to play it cool. But I think he’s slowly but surely getting used to the idea of being openly excited. He even rubbed my belly to say hello to the little one yesterday. Awwww…

Tuesday June 8, 2010
It’s Official We’re Having a Tadpole!

Yep we went to the doctor’s today. Poor Aaron hadn’t slept at all but was still pretty happy to see the little dot on the screen.

Aaron worked last night but rather than being able to get some sleep he had to take his brother to a doctor’s appointment in the morning and got home just in time to sit down for a bite to ear, before he had to get right back up and head out to my appointment. He was so tired he was actually shaking.

When we got there I actually thought we were going to go through the whole thing quickly. Well, the sonogram went quickly. I have no idea what the hell I was looking at, it was all kind of grey and then there was a black spot with a few white sections in it. It looked like an amorphous blob. Apparently that was the embryo. When she did a close-up, it looked like a tadpole. She then said, “Oooh look, you can see the heartbeat.” I stared and leaned in but really didn’t see a damn thing at first. Then she had to point it out. There was a wee little section in the tadpole that was blinking. Apparently that’s the forming heart. Cute! So yeah. The little guy is now the size of a pea or an M&M. HA!

After that whole thing, we then waited around some more and argued over how long I’ve been off the pill. Aaron seems to think it was one month. It was two. I know this because, well, I marked it down on my calendar. Duh! So yeah, then we got into the stuff about what I can, can’t, should and shouldn’t be doing. Basically it all comes down to, don’t be stupid and listen to your body. Sweet.

Now here’s the thing. This appointment just happened to coincide with my yearly exam. I’ve always been in that doctor’s office on my own. Having Aaron there, however, felt really odd. I mean, he has never gotten to see or have any inkling of what happens when I go to the GYN appointments. This time, however, he got to stay in the room for the whole thing. We didn’t really talk about it, but I’m just not sure who felt stranger about being in that room.

Friday, June 11, 2010
The Wee One Was Displeased

Yesterday was the first day I actually came close to booting. I called in sick yesterday because since finding out the big news, I haven’t used my prescription allergy medications. Then about an hour after eating breakfast, I experienced the first episode of “morning” sickness. I thought I was going to be safe with a bowl of cereal and a small bowl of fruit. Nope. The wee one was displeased.

What an unpleasant experience. I didn’t actually vomit, I just wish I had. Blech. For only God knows how long, I just sat on my bed waiting, still as a statue. I wasn’t sure whether I was waiting for it to go away or waiting for boot. All I knew is that if I moved I wouldn’t like it.

Since the day we found out the big news till yesterday, I’ve been pretty lucky. My cravings have been fairly mild. The biggest thing has been anything that has the salty/sweet combination, namely, honey roasted peanuts. The only other symptom I’ve noticed is an uptick in heartburn episodes (I hardly ever get heartburn). Ah well. I knew it would happen at some point or the other. Like I said, I’ve been pretty lucky so far. Here’s hoping the luck lasts.

Sunday, June 13, 2010
Got Plans? The Wee One Says 'No'

I don't mind being flexible, just be reasonable. I've already come to learn that when the wee one has plans of its own, he makes himself clear. By the way, I'm calling the wee one a him, but we still have no idea what the wee one is.

So yes, earlier this week I got to find out why the term "morning sickness" is laughable. This morning I got a repeat lesson. Blech. I once again didn't boot, I just had to stay still and wait. Blech.

But yeah, like I've said before, it's really not bad in general. But when the wee one acts up or wants me to pay attention, there's just no ignoring it.

Here's a funny story. This afternoon I got a smoothie thingy from starbucks. I told the dude at the counter to use no fat milk or soy. He said, "you got it." Needless to say, I think the bastard had no idea what I was talking about. So a little while ago, I began feeling terrible. I'll spare you the details but I came back into the livingroom rubbing my tummy, grumbling, "F***ing little bastard!" Aaron immediately responded with an offended, "HEY!" I then had to explain to him that I wasn't referring to the wee one but the idiot at Starbucks.

He laughed at the misunderstanding and said that he wasn't surprised that I wasn't feeling so great. Apparently dairy may not agree with my system at this stage. He started reading the book I got him! What a good soon=to-be daddy

V May Be Right

2010-05-26T13:25:00.003-04:00

This weekend I went up to Mass for Munchkin #1's birthday so happily I also got to hang out with Munchkin #5.

While the little guys ran me ragged, I still had fun and as always walked away with lots of little funny moments that are now forever locked in my memory. One such memory is waking up nice and early and having both the little guys come over to lay with me for a little bit (till they ended up pushing me off the bed, really). But the winner for the weekend is watching the whole battle over pooping.

A little while ago, Munchkin #5 apparently had some tummy issues (backed up). That experience left him a little hesitant to go poop so now he tries to hold it in. As we were trying to get out of the house his Mom asked him if he has to go poop. Now, mind you he was doing the pee/poop dance. His response was, "nooooo." It took a whole half hour to get the little guy to finally sit and go poop. She tried everything including a threat to use the "screwdriver." And before you call child services,NO they aren't using a screwdriver. It's what Munchkin #5 decided to call the suppository.

In the end, Mom won by buying the little guy off with starbursts. Who knew?

But yeah, the back and forth was too funny. He tried everything to convince her that he didn't have to go. He even said he'd go after the t-ball game and that he wasn't doing a dance (while dancing back and forth, holding his pants). His Mommy even told him that if he held it in any longer, he'd end up full of poop and that it would end up coming out his ears. He didn't like that much and had a mini freak out. Meanwhile, I felt like an awful aunt. I hid in the other room to keep him from seeing me laugh. Poor little guy. At least he felt better afterwards and even told us that it didn't hurt at all. :)

Oh yeah and to secure my position as a bad aunt, I actually posted a reference to the incident as a wall post on FB. V said he may get really pissed at me for that one day. Luckily, I never use their names Online.

Pretty awesome seat for a cooking demo

2010-05-20T16:01:00.001-04:00

(Holy crap this took a while. I sent this from my phone on Thursday. My carrier sucks.)

This was really cool. I was at work on Thursday when my supervisor asked me if I knew anything about this tent that was set up in White Plains. She said it said Chef something. I was delight it find out it was actually Top Chef. Apparently the Top Chef national tour had a stop in White Plains, about a block and a half down from where I work. I was unaware of this, but you bet your ass I was there the moment I went out for lunch.

After hoofing it down to the site I saw they had a cooking demo set up. The two chefs from the show were Ariane and Ashley. They weren't my favorites but they were cool enough that I wanted to stick around and see what they were making.

Apparently you needed to make a reservation to get into the tent. But then the woman at the entrance asked if any one waiting was alone and wanted to see the demo. I didn't waste a moment. My hand shot up and I let her know I was alone. I was the last one let in and I got to sit right up in the front. So during the demo, not only could I see what they were making, I could also smell it. Awesome!

So yesh the cheese souffle they were showing us how to make tasted quite yummy. I loved it. I asked a bunch of questions. I was one of the two vocal people there. Another woman there may have a had more questions and may have been a bigger fan, but I can't be sure.

Afterwards they signed autographs. I got two photos and an oven mitt signed. I would have asked for a photo with them but the line was pretty long and by then I had to get back to the office. Still not a bad way to spend a lunch break. :)

Drama, Drama, Drama

2010-05-15T22:45:00.002-04:00

I suppose I shouldn't be surprise that drama will arise when you have negative people and alcohol mixed in with big personalities.

Today I got to witness some interesting drama at a birthday party. I wasn't in the mix but once again my role as Switzerland was kind of tested. First, the parties involved had quite a few drinks and then the negative feelings some people have toward others just came out in the form of a screaming match. Actually, it started a touch earlier. The negative person, we'll call her Nancy, kept saying "I hate that B." Based on how the night ended, I'm going with the assumption that she was seeking someone kind of validation or looking for a comrade. I don't have an issue with the target of her animosity so I chose to not got involved and ignored the comments.

When the fighting actually broke out the Birthday Girl got very upset and asked people to help tell the ones in the fight to leave. Since it was her house, I got up and went toward the fight to see if I was even going to be able to do anything. The fighting got worse so I helped escort some people outside. When that didn't work, I went to the bathroom, got some tissues and handed them out to those who needed them. I then tried to calm people down. That didn't work. So then I went back outside. The fighting broke up and the contenders were separated. Then, because who knows why, the people came back together to start shit up again. I then just turned to Aaron and asked him if he wanted to go out to the front of the house, away from everyone. By this time, Nancy's target was reduced to tears and the Birthday Girl was very upset and were headed right towards us. Since I was kind of right there, the proper thing to do was to try to comfort people. I did. It worked. When I went back to where Nancy was, I couldn't help but feel a wave of negativity coming from Nancy. I chose to ignore her.

Now here's my thing; I don't understand why some people feel the need to air out their shit when drinking and while among a large group of people , at a clearly inappropriate time. It was at the Birthday Girl's home for crying out loud. Why can't people just air out their issues between themselves? If you have an issue with someone and it gets to a point where you can' ignore it any longer, why not pull the person aside and get it out in private?

Am I crazy? The other thing that gets me is that Nancy seemed to have gotten pissy with me for actually trying to calm people down and respecting Birthday Girl's wishes. It's her fricking house!

The crazy thing is, Nancy isn't usually this bad. Sure she is negative. No one who knows her can deny this. I've had plenty of interactions with her and no, she's not my favorite person in the world but I can normally ignore her sour demeanor without a problem. Today, however, it really bugged me.

Eh. I don't know I suppose I'm just crazy like that. I actually behave and don't like seeing people reduced to tears and/or being rude in a person's home.

Need Nice Weather

2010-05-12T12:43:00.003-04:00

All I can think about is kite flying. Yes dear reader, we've come to that time of year again when I start staring longingly at things getting blown around in the (lately, gale-force) winds begin the urge to take measurements to determine which kite and line I should use.

Last weekend would have been perfect for one of the stunt kites but alas, I didn't have time and didn't have one with me at the park. Ah well. At least I'm now prepared. I stashed a kite in my trunk so next time I happen to be at a park or feel like taking a detour on my way home and drive to a park with a clearing, and the wind is blowing just right, I can pull that bad boy out and fly.

I've said it before. I'm not exactly sure what it is about kite flying that makes me so happy. I think it reminds me of being a a kid. Eh. It just makes me happy.

Oh yeah, the other things driving this urge to fly is the fact that I have my eye on a new toy. I didn't get myself a birthday gift yet and I think this is a better choice than some of the other items I've been looking at, including a new Movado watch and a lovely new pair or diamond stud earrings.

I think I want to try my hand at flying a quad line kite. But rather than getting a frame quad kite, I think I'm going to try for a foil quad kite. This way if I have a spectacular crash while learning to fly the thing, I won't run the risk of shattering the frame.

"The Dance"

2010-05-10T12:24:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, for whatever reason a song pops into my head and kind of lingers there for a few days. For the last few days I’ve had Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” (I know others have covered it, but his is the one I know the best). It’s kind of a bittersweet song that has made me ball my eyes out in the past. Actually there was a time that I couldn’t listen to it at all because of the emotions it used to bring up (right after a bad breakup during college). Since then I’ve made my peace with the song and aside from being able to appreciate the song, I now find it kind of comforting. So yeah, this is the song that, for whatever reason has been rattling around in my head...

The Dance

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say? you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Yes my life, it's better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Winnie the Pooh, The Wise

2010-05-05T17:35:00.002-04:00

The other day I was reminded of a great quote from Winnie the Pooh. I used to love it and since rediscovering it, I remembered why.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That is why we call it- the present."

Smart old bear.

“I’m Back in The Saddle Again”

2010-05-03T14:48:00.003-04:00

After a week-long vacation to Bermuda, I’ve returned. The vacation was pretty wonderful (I’ll go into more detail in a different entry). We’re already unpacked and back to life as usual. Well, I am anyway. Aaron is still off for a few more days.

Getting back to work was quite a bit easier than I anticipated. Granted, it did take a little bit to get through the 178 e-mails I received over the week. But it’s all good. I moved quickly to patch up a few errors that occurred while I was out (some people didn’t follow the carefully outlined and detailed instructions I left) and now I’m back to bouncing ideas and thoughts around and working on my next writing assignments. Yes, this is part of my process too. I’m not just goofing off. The draft I came up with is waiting on another page. I’m not taking a few minutes away from it before I go back and start editing it (tearing it to shreds).

I got a very nice compliment from my big boss again while I was on the phone with him earlier. I think he missed me. He said that he was a little annoyed last week when he was looking for something, them my work, “miraculously” appeared (one of the goofs). Then, right inside the document I wrote were the words he was looking for. It‘s kinda nice hearing that. He also said I’m quickly becoming one of the most productive people on the whole team. Again, kind of nice hearing that. I just hope I can keep up to the steadily rising bar. Damn it, why did I have to set it so high?

Ah well, back to work I go. Here's hoping the meeting I'm about to head off to doesn't end with me ranting like a maniac.

...

YaerrrrrHJK:HJK:YGYURYighjrtfyfghui;yuihhhhhhprrrrtthhhhhh!!! (Ranting like a maniac)

Lord, please give me the patience to put up with all the nonsense. That's all I ask for... well, actually Lord, if it's not too much trouble, can you please grace me with a fully functioning crossbow with a hair trigger, to ward off people intending to send me their work to do. Thank you lord. Amen.

Inhaaale. Exhaaaale. Ahhhhhh

2010-04-25T11:32:00.002-04:00

At long last the day we head off to Bermuda is here. This has been in the works since some point late summer. Aaron and I went out to lunch with our friend Marie. Aaron threw the idea out there and she jumped at it. Then it snowballed, got kinda ugly, then uglier and eventually settled back to something reasonable.

But yes, here we are... Our bags have been packed, resorted closed and waiting patiently by the door. We're now waiting for my Dad to come pick us up. I am so damn excited. I wanna just do a tap dance to a impromptu Carnivale Samba down the long hallway of our apartment.

Off to Bermuda, But First...

2010-04-24T20:25:00.003-04:00

Ah yes, both Aaron adn I have spent the whole day preparing for our long-awaited vacation. I've made stops at the salon, I've packed, repacked and then tidied up. What kills me is that with everything I've done, I still feel like I'm missing something.

Ah well, missing items or not, Bermuda here we come!

So in case you can't get away to an island but want something to help you escape for a little bit, here's some music that I will certainly be listening to. Enjoy.

My God I've Gotten Fat

2010-04-22T20:00:00.005-04:00

I know, I know. I will get around to writing all about the cruse and posting photos. I promise I'll do that soon. First I have to bitch. I've gotten fat. I mean I'm far closer to the 200 mark than I ever wanted to be. On that oh-so-fun cruise to Bermuda I gain ten friggin' pounds. Ten pounds in a week! I didn't even know that was possible.

It was so bad that a light jacket I have for work was fitting really snug in the arms. Well, no, that's a lie. It wasn't snug. It was more like, I couldn't lift my arms in it. This was a jacket that a few weeks ago, when I took it out of winter storage, fit comfortably. F**k me!

So yesh, my increasingly chubby ass now has to actually get back to shrinking down again.

I'm Going Down to South Park!

2010-04-22T20:00:00.004-04:00

Because I think it's complete Bullshit that the South Park guys are getting death threats from extremist Assholes with nothing else better to do than try to scare and intimidate everyone into their way of thinking, I put myself in South Park. Well, sort of. I really just made an avatar of myself on their site.

I couldn't get into their forum section to leave them my, "rah-rah. You go!" note. So I decided to do this as a show of support for the crazy bastards. I mean for cripe sake, this is the same episode that had Jesus watching porn and Buddha snorting coke! But you don't see conservative Christians trying to encourage people to kill Parker and Stone.

Avast Me Hardies... That be Bermuda Dead Ahead

2010-04-21T11:25:00.002-04:00

I'm now getting excited. I feel better after the last few days of allergy (blech)attacks and I am NOW really looking forward to shoving off and making waves to Bermuda. All I know is that within an hour of getting on that big-ass boat on Sunday, I want a nice, strong rum drink damn it. And for this trip, like most of my other sea-faring trips, I will be accompanied by my buddy, Mr. Jimmy Buffett. Well, through my iPod, that is.

Boat Drinks
Boat drinks
Boys in the band ordered boat drinks
Visitors scored on the home rink
Everything seems to be wrong

Lately, newspaper mentioned cheap air fare
I gotta to fly to saint somewhere
Im close to bodily harm

Twenty degrees and the hockey games on
Nobody cares they are way too far gone
Screamin boat drinks, something to keep em all warm

This mornin, I shot six holes in my freezer
I think I got cabin fever
Somebody sound the alarm

Id like to go where the pace of lifes slow
Could you beam me somewhere mr. scott?
Any ol place here on earth or in space
You pick the century and I'll pick the spot

Oh I know, (I know)
I should be leaving this climate
I got a verse but can't rhyme it
I gotta go where it's warm

Boat drinks
Waitress I need two more boat drinks
Then Im headin south fore my dream shrinks

I gotta go where it's warm (I gotta go where it's warm)
I gotta go where it's warm (I gotta go where it's warm)
I gotta go where it's warm!

I gotta go where there aint any snow
Where there aint any blow
Cause my fin sinks so low
I gotta go where it's warm

Hear Me Roar!!!!

2010-04-14T19:38:00.003-04:00

I rule!

I love days like this. Today was one of those days that friggin fed the dragon lady. Going in, I knew it was a tough-ass day. I had a few very big things due and boy did I ever perform well. I got glowing reviews on all the pieces I submitted. My boss was pretty damn happy. Not to mention, I found yet another media hit (a prominent one too) that I hadn't expected. It came about as a result of my NY Times placement. Awesome!

For the last few days I had been sort of anxious to see how this day was going to turn out. Everything that was due today was originally due two weeks from today but because I am going to be out the last week in April and the big boss isn't going to be in next week, all of my deadlines got moved up significantly. So last night I as up reading up on an insane amount of material (not to mention, watching Idol and Glee). So this morning I was beat. It took about seven 12 oz. cups of coffee to animate my carcass for the day but hell, I worked it out. As it turned out I was super focused and productive like you wouldn't believe but best of all, my writing was just on point. What more could I ask for? Oh yeah, impressing the reps from the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm. Boo-yah!

So yeah, I've had nothing but ballsy songs blaring through my iPod from the moment all the madness (deliveries, prsentations, meeting and phone conferences) ended. to quote one of my favorite movie characters ever (Ash from Evil Dead), "Groovy."

What's for Dinner?

2010-04-12T10:22:00.002-04:00

I hate trying to figure out what I want to make for dinner every night. It really bothers the hell out of me, especially if I just can't think after getting home from work.

So what I started doing a while ago is making a weekly meal plan to help me out. The whole, not being able to think part wasn't much of an issue when I was unemployed, but it helped a lot when it came to budgeting. Now this tactic is helpful in many more ways. It'll just be interesting to see how Aaron handles helping me with these dishes. They're all pretty simple for me, I know they'll test his technical abilities in the kitchen. I know he's going to freak out if I don't explain and show him what I mean when I say, "chiffonade" or when I try to make him understand that sautee does not mean, frying something to hell. But like I keep telling myself, he IS trying and I love him all the more for it.

Oh yes (slightly off topic), that man has GOT to learn how to use his wrist when whipping or beating liquids. I asked him to beat eggs this weekend and he began stirring them. I had to show him what was wrong with his technique, then had to move him on to making the coffee. Sigh... lordie, don't get me started on that one either.

So yes, today, rather than starting my day with actual, honest-to-goodness work, I did my meal plan for the week. I should have been doing work since the next two weeks are going to be hellish, but the allergies have kicked in and I'm waiting for the meds to start working. Blech. I feel like I'm on another planet.

Obsessed?

2010-04-09T20:56:00.002-04:00

The more I thin about this, the scarier it is; Aaron and I are not that different. That right there scares the beejeezus out of me.

I love him dearly, mind you, but he is a bit of a loony. He tends to find things to obsess over and once he gets on them, it's pretty much impossible to distract him for more than a millisecond. For example. His to-do lists: He will sit there for hours and hours shuffling things around and figuring out the order of things as he goes along, checking things off. House hunting: He knows every house on sale in the areas that we're interested in and knows when they drop in price or have new photos uploaded.

Where do the similarities come in? Ah-ha... For the last week I have been looking into anything and everything out there on the whole baby planning thing. I've even restarted putting entries on The Bump. I noticed I still have the blog that I started on The Knot. It's connected to The Nest as well. I'm apparently in the TTC segment. Yeah you'd think it'd figure out what TTC stands for sooner, right. Not so much. It took me till today to realize it means Trying To Conceive. Duh.

But, I digress. So yeah, I've been reading over dozens upon dozens of articles on WebMD (By the way, I'm now convinced I may have every ailment out there including an enlarged prostate and possibly rickets, thanks to all the damn scary-ass articles on there). I've also made my way through Fit Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Women's Health and yes, The Bump. And I've started expanding on my original to-do list. (Ta-dah) This was once a shortish list. No longer. The thing now runs into a third page. I've crossed things off already, mind you.

Ah well. I suppose it was bound to happen. I mean, you spend enough time with a person and some of their quirks are bound to rub off on you, right?

Lord, I still say that's a scary thought.

Oh yes, so here's where we stand on the whole house hunting thing; when we get home from Bermuda (we're taking off at the end of the month. Woo!), we're opening a new savings account and piling as much as possible in there. We've narrowed the search down to a handful of towns based on school systems and we've created a list of things we want and things we do not want in a house. Hopefully by the time summer rolls around, we'll be able to actually check out potential homes.

See, the obsession is contagious.

Jingle, Jingle. Hey Looky, Lots of Change!

2010-04-06T15:54:00.003-04:00

Change, yes, it’s good; except of course if you have too much in your pockets and are trying to run, then it just gets in the way and threatens to pull your pants down. But of course, that’s not the kind of change I’m talking about.

Inhale and long exhale… Aaron and I have decided it’s time. Yep we’re finally ready to start trying for kids. And, oh yeah, you’re all the first to read this. I haven’t even told my parents yet. But then again, I also thought we were going to have another month.

Long story, short. My pill pack ran out BUT when I got that pack, the pharmacist didn’t tell me that was the last of the refills. I tried calling my doctor's office but missed them on Sunday (pill one) and yesterday I was in meetings all day long. By the time I had a moment to call, they were closed (pill two). So last night I realized that by time I got a hold of my doctor to let him know that I would needed another prescription called in, I would have already missed three pills and therefore, pretty much would have rendered the pills I would get, useless. Especially since I was going to be going off them at the end of the month. So when I told Aaron the situation yesterday he kind of laughed, particularly when I suggested he use protection till the month is up. Actually, if I’m being honest, that last bit stopped the laughter momentarily before he scoffed a “no!” and laughed harder.

It’s all good. He’s actually very happy about the turn of events. That, and he’s really happy because he’s ahead of where he wants to be on his “to do” list. Yeah, every month he creates and obsesses over his “to do” lists. He even gets pretty annoyed if he can’t cross something off. He’s about a month ahead on that too so for him; the whole pill thing is just going according to his plans. :)

It does feel odd though. I’ve been on the pill for ages so this morning was just off. I kept thinking I forgot something. Duh! Eh, it’ll take a bit to get used to this change. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the other changes coming our way.

So today after work I'm hitting the supermarket and Vitamin Shoppe to stock up on vitamins.

Since we're on the list topic, this is WebMD's checklist of things to do prior to getting pregnant. I'm screwed on the caffeine thing by the way, but does anyone out there have any other suggestions of things I should be doing?

• Take a folic acid supplement every day. This reduces the chance of certain birth defects. Do not wait until you are pregnant to do this.

• Make a doctor's appointment for a checkup/wellness visit.

• Make sure to get and begin taking prenatal vitamins.

• Check with your doctor about any over-the-counter and prescription medications you currently take.

• See your dentist for a cleaning or checkup if you have not done so in the last six months. Untreated gum disease is linked to preterm birth.

• Look into local prenatal exercise classes.

• Review maternity/paternity leave options at work and your health insurance's maternity coverage.

• Develop a maternity and baby budget.

• If you smoke, quit.

• Limit alcohol and caffeine intake.

• Stock your refrigerator with healthy foods and snacks.

What to Do?

2010-03-28T16:10:00.002-04:00

I have been at this job for about a month and already my presence seems to have rubbed someone the wrong way. Not anyone in the office per se but a vendor we have a contract with. Apparently the vendor was hoping all the public relations/communicaitons work would be left to him and his company. But they decided to go ahead and hire someone. Then there was an issue about hiring lobbists. The vendor had people in mind, but then the president decide to go with a bigger, more established firm. This didn't sit well. Now the vendor seems to have a thing against me and has been trying to do anything to make me look bad. Luckily, I've been on my toes from the beginning. And I've been doing my job as best as I can to make sure that there are no complaints. I've been in situations like this before and I've been getting better at the game. I just hate the fact that there are those who prefer to play games rather than spend their energy actually doing their jobs well.

Duck, Duck, Duck...

2010-03-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

Holy Geese! I don't know what happened but all of the sudden, this morning, I felt like I walked out of my building and into a low budget, Canadian version of the birds. They all came back to our area en mass. Actually, they don't all leave. There are a few that stick around all year long. I think what happened this morning is that the local flock sent out a mass call to ALL Canadian geese and they, in turn decided to visit their Bronx buddies at one time.

Very sneeky.

I Have Decided

2010-03-21T11:41:00.003-04:00

That's it. I want to go back to Italy. The weather today is reminding me exactly why I am in the mood for gellato and doing nothing. I went through my photos from Italy and all I can think about is how much I friggin' loved Siena and San Gimignano. If I could be anywhere in the world right now, I would go to one of those two cities. Sigh. The weather today is perfect and reminds me of the weather we had there. Ah to be rich.

But yeah. I think I've decided to tell Aaron that the next time we plan a big vacation, I want to go back to Europe adn I want to make sure to have a stop in those cities. Of course, who knows in a few hours I may very well want to hit Florence or Venice gain :) but I don't think so. Those two smaller cities really spoke to me.

Now What

2010-03-21T10:53:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty happy I was able to salvage some of hte weekend. After havig to rearrange my plans a bit, I was still able to go out and have a little bit of fun this weekend. Late yesterday I was able to meet up with some of the Twilight Moms to watch New Moon, have some snacks and a few drinks. There's noting quite like getting together with that many women. At one point, it really sounded like a hen house. :)

So yes. Today I'm having a nice relaxed day. I'm going to clean the house a bit, read some stuff for work then I'm going to get my nails done. Hopefully by the time I get through all of this Aaron will be read to wake up and then perhaps we can go for a nice walk. I like this plan. :)

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to go for a manicure or if I'm going to splurge and get gel nails. I'm leaning toward splurging. Ah well, we'll see how I feel later.

Fail/Win

2010-03-14T13:03:00.004-04:00

Meh. So I couldn't get me boss on TV this weekend. 'Sall good. I couldn't get a hold of him till 6:30 but the MSNBC people knew that I was trying my hardest and understood that it was a very last minute thing. Still, I looked good because I damn well tried.

This weekend has been surprisingly productive. I got a mound of laundry done. I got a gift for our friend's kid's first birthday. Attended said party and still managed to get some good, comfy couch time with Aaron. And today I'm relaxing, preparing for the early meeting tomorrow morning, getting ready to make chili and last but not least tidying up the messy corners around the house.

I've noticed that since I started working there have been little piles of random crap gathering int he corners and no one seems to want to bother to clean it up. I've piled them into bags and left them in favorite spots on the couches. I also left post-it notes on each bag saying, "This is your crap. Throw it out." I know what you may be asking, 'how do you know it's not yours as well?' That's simple; most of the stuff there has their names on it OR it's something I know they brought into the place.

I totally understand, now that I'm not there, they (well, not really they, it's more like the brother-in-law) feel they can return to prior slobbish tendencies. But what they have to understand is this, I still live there and if they want to keep breathing, the house better remain tidy. I'm not expecting cleanliness that is up to my standards, but tidy enough that I will not immediately notice and go into a cleaning frenzy and take everyone out in my wake.

One lovely change since I started working is that Aaron wants to help me cook. I'm really trying to include him. I think tonight will be the real test. I am making a recipe that I have in my head which means I'll have to be able to give him directions as we go rather than just do it all on my own. I tried doing this the other night but it didn't really work since there wasn't much to be done. I had to braise leeks, slice oranges and place fish on top of the orange and leeks. He did juice one of the oranges though. I forced myself not to just do it for him. Instead I told him what to do with the orange to prepare it and how to use the reamer. Baby steps. Baby steps.

AWESOMESAUCE!

2010-03-12T17:12:00.002-05:00

I really hope you don't mind me swiping your word, Michele, but really today is (and I am feeling) awesomesauce!

I love looking like a rock star. And so far, every day that I have been at work, I have come off looking like a rock star or a "Superstar" *insert jazzhands here.*

Today was an out of office day. I hit the pavement, if you will, and hit up my contacts over at the news networks. I first visited my old buddies at MSNBC with cupcakes from Magnolia's in tow and had a lovely, but short chat with them. I wasn't so successful at CNN since the people I wanted to see were either away on vacation or they were already gone for the day. BUT as soon as I got home, I started getting calls from my buddies at MSNBC. AWESOMESAUCE!

They want my boss Dr. McPhail on TV tomorrow morning. I called immediately and got his contact information. This process was a little painful because his assistant was really reluctant to give me his numbers. I had to convince her that he had indeed given me his info and that he would be really pissed if he missed out on this opportunity because she didn't give me his number. He's been wanting to get on National TV for ages. The problem is that he is currently on a plane home from DC. The good part about all this is that even if he misses the deadline, he knows that I damn well delivered on what I set out to do today and wasn't wasting my time.

I left him a message at home and on his cell, so if all goes well and I can secure him a spot tomorrow morning, he will be beside himself with joy and I will look like a rock star. If it doesn't go well and we miss the deadline and doesn't go on, I'll still come off looking like a rock star because I did everything I could, short of going to the airport and trying to catch him as he comes off the plane, that is.

I hate waiting.

Oh lord I hope this works out right. Then I'll have to put the word out to every member on the board of directors and out the news up on our twitter and facebook sites. Ah yeah, check me out, Spin Doctor extraordinaire!

Sadly, now I have to wait till he gets off the plane and/or turns his phone on. I'm giving him five more minutes before I begin calling him again.

Forwaaaaaard.... Hoooooooooo!

2010-03-12T09:16:00.002-05:00

I'm in a good place. Work is going well. I'm getting ready to meet up with my old buddies at MSNBC and after that I'm going to try to see a few of the radio people in the area. I'm out of the office today but I've been doing quite a bit of work from home. Last night I was up way too late drafting a letter and another piece that I am going to submit later on this week. I'm also pretty jazzed about the fact that my jobs seems to be pretty well tailored to me. And I can potentially help a few friends looking for some kind of freelance work down the road. Love it.

The other good thing is that Aaron and I decided when we will start trying for kids. :) I'm not going to say when exactly, but we're planning on doing so within this half of the year. Holy exciting Batman!

Last night Aaron and I had a very nice surprise evening alone. We had a lovely dinner which surprised him (fish and not fishsticks). After that, we ended up watching Supernatural, Iron Chef, checked in to see who got booted on American Idol and mostly spent the evening chatting away (this is when the whole subject of a family came up) I love nights like that.

And Now There's Only One Corey!

2010-03-10T09:36:00.003-05:00

Somewhere deep inside, the part of me that is forever 13 is weeping. Corey Haim is dead.

Actor Corey Haim dies at age 38
Police say hospital notified them of former ‘Lost Boys’ star’s dead

Although he wasn't "my" Corey (I was all about Corey Feldman), the news of this celebrity death is still pretty sad. He was a really good actor back in the day. I mean really, could Lost Boys have been the same without Sam's, "You're a vampire Michael... I'm telling Mom"? NO! No, it would not.

Sigh, good lord. The fact that there's only one Corey left is yet another shock to my system. I'm really feeling old now. My childhood celebs are dying off.

Working, Working, Working.

2010-03-09T07:39:00.002-05:00

I love working. Although I'm already up to my eyeballs in stuff to do. I still love the fact that I'm making a living by doing something I actually enjoy and take pride in. There aren't a whole lot of people who can say that.

Day One: I'm Pooped

2010-02-26T17:35:00.004-05:00

Today was my first day at work! WooHoo!

I got a pile of work and a meeting with some of the place's board of directors. Interesting and long. But it's all good. I had an incredibly fast paced day but the great thing is that I actually got a lot of actual work done. Not your typical first day of work.

What was funny is that I actually got there about ten minutes late. I was at the building on time, but I couldn't' find the entrance from the back parking lot and once I did, I couldn't get into the building! HA! I had to call the office to have someone come to let me in. they were more than cool about it and apologized for forgetting to get me a key card.

So far I have a really great feeling about the place. I have some work to still do tonight but I'll have to not make this a habit. I've never been a fan of bringing work home regularly. But since I still don't have access to my computer, and I have a deadline, well, I have to suck it up and deal. Tomorrow I have an early meeting and then I'll be back on the run. I love it.

Yummy, Yum

2010-02-26T17:35:00.003-05:00

Aaron took me out to celebrate my big news this afternoon. He took me to a restaurant I've wanted to go to for a while. Actually it was a place I selected as a possible place to go to on our 5th anniversary. Instead we went to The Castle and ended up with an experience he will never let me live down. But I digress.

The place is called La Panatiere in Rye, NY. It's a French place so the portions are kind of on the small side. Not as small as Le Cirque, but it's hard to imagine something being smaller and not coming in pill form. The food, though was so darn yummy that Aaron had to take a moment after tasting two of his dishes. :) This doesn't happen very often.

I had baked escargot that I can't even begin to describe using words, seared scallops with tempura fried artichokes for my main dish, and a lovely warm apple tart(it wasn't actually warm, but I think I preferred it that way). Aaron had a butternut squash ravioli, a creamless winter veloute (Celery root, pear, roasted chestnut, curry-scented soup), then had braised short ribs for his main course and this thing called an opera cake, which is a espresso cake with ganache. Yummy goodness all around. The only thing I didn't care for was his cake. It was really dense and too heavy for my taste.

The other great thing was that as hoity toity as the place is, the server we had did a great job. He did everything himself, was really friendly but not intrusive at all but was also right there the moment we needed anything. Awesome!

Based on my scale I give it a strong 8; possibly a 9.

Lunch was a lot of fun. We had a great time just relaxing and talking about the possibilities that this job now offers. We also discussed our next big dinner. He wants to go out with my entire family next (just he adults). We're threw a few different places into the conversation but we're still not sure which one we want to do. Eh, it'll be a while before we do that anyway. We also got a laugh over the fact that I now have a snuggie (well, a wannabe snuggie from Brookstone). Yep. My Mom got one and loves it. I tried the thing on, and you know what? Silly as the idea is, the things is incredibly comfy. My Dad got me a really nifty one and darn it, I actually love it. The bad thing about it is that it's an instant nap. It doesn't matter how awake I am, after a few minutes of having the thing on me, I end up out cold.

Let It Snow. Let It Snow. Let It Snow.

2010-02-26T11:18:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how much snow has fallen by my sister-in-law's, a.k.a. the are we're looking to move to. They got over two feet of snow. Lovely.

Here' it's not nearly as bad but still. Wow. From my window, I can't see the drawbridge across the water. Normally, I can see well enough to know what kind of cars are on it.

I love it though. I may or may not have to go out at all today. Aaron said he'd take me out for a congratulatory lunch, but somehow, I have a feeling the place may be closed. Still, I'm enjoying the snow while I'm inside. I'm still in my pj's (because I felt like staying in them) and I have a nice hot cup of coffee. Life is good.

I RULE!

2010-02-25T17:09:00.004-05:00

I got a new job!

I'm now a Director of Communications for a fantastic non profit organization. And yes, this is the place the turned me down a few weeks ago.

Apparently the other person they went with was really trying to wheel and deal on the salary then took forever to give them an answer. Then the CEO decided that he would go with me because my writing is a lot stronger and I am was the more aggressive and better connected person in terms of media, which is what they want anyway. Soooo, woohoo!

I will be starting work on Monday. Awesoooome. I am so excited. Not only did I get a nice raise, I got a great title to add to my career. How awesome is that?!

Aaron and I already started figuring out our new budget and worked out how much we want to sock away per month to save up for a down payment on a house. With what we worked out, we should be able to have more than enough to get a house by the new year. So hopefully by this time next year, we'll be closing on a house.

Sigh... that's really the most exciting part. Finally being able to get back to building our lives. For the last year, although we've been able to accomplish a lot, like pay off our school loans, paying off his car and eliminating the balances on our credit cards, we had to put off the house hunting and starting a family. Now we can actually get on those. Woohoo! I feel like doing a tap dance.

My Gift Rocks!

2010-02-23T23:20:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited. My Dad's birthday was the other day and it took me about, oh, say three weeks for me to figure out what I wanted to get him. For the past few years we've gotten him gifts that are somewhat ho-hum. Gift certificates for Home Depot, Best Buy, movie ticket packs, etc. But the thing about him is that he really doesn't let us know what he wants and it's hard to get him a silly gift because he's just not into silly stuff. So on Friday, his birthday it finally came to me. I got him shoes.

I have a pair of slip on winter shoes. I love those things and they have lasted me for at least six years and they are my go to shoes during the cooler months. A few years ago I got a similar pair for my Mom for Christmas and she LOVES the things. So off I went. I scoured the mall for the right ones and finally I found them. When he opened them he didn't seem too sure. Then he put the things on. He loved them! He said they felt like slippers.

He's been wearing them every day since Friday while he's not working. He keeps commenting on how much he really likes the fit and the feel of the shoes. Yay for last minute inspiration!

The problem now is figuring out what to get him for Christmas and for his next birthday. He really is a tough man to shop for.