Sunday as I was getting my monthly massage from Cara at Therapeutic Body Kneads, I felt a strange movement in my belly. I have switched to lying on my side for massage since I can no longer lie on my back. I had the body pillow and was laying on my left side. I was super relaxed (the body pillow is a wonderful invention) and she had the geranium aromatherapy going. I had been looking forward to this massage because my lower back has already started bothering me. As I lay there, just about 10 minutes in to it, I feel a flutter. I thought to myself "what was that? did I just feel the baby?". I waited just a few seconds and there it was again, this time a little bit more noticeable. I giggled a little bit because it tickled and Cara asked me what I was laughing at. I said "I just felt the baby move!". She asked if it had been doing that all week and I informed her that this was in fact the first time I had felt it move. It was comforting knowing that the baby was in there moving around, but at the same time, really weird knowing there's someone in there.
I am finally on winter vacation from work. A whole two weeks off! I so need it! We are going home on Christmas Eve and taking the kitties with us. They will be staying at my father's house and Bill and I will be staying at his folks house. It helps that they live 5 miles apart. I will get them settled and hopefully they will not terrorize Daddy by knocking over the tree or unwrapping the presents. Wednesday night we will join the Johnson's in our yearly tradition of dinner, presents, and lots and lots of laughs. Then we go to church and they take communion and I take pictures of the tree. Christmas morning Bill and I will wake up at his parents house and open presents. Then I will go to Daddy's house and have breakfast with my family. Then Bill will join us for presents. It's a lot of moving around, but it makes everybody happy.
On the 30th we go to the bank to see how much of a mortgage we could afford and start our search for a house. We hope to get one and move in before the baby arrives, but that might be impossible. I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway. New Year's Eve we go for our next ultrasound. I'll be 20 1/2 weeks by then. They'll probably be able to tell what we're having, but we still want it to be a surprise. So, hopefully they'll help us avoid seeing that part of the baby.
I am working on my sister's boa scarf and need to finish that blanket I was working on. I sent out the blanket for my friend Robyn's new baby, Ryan. I am seriously considering starting an Etsy account...I think I said that already. I will take pictures of everything I already have knitted so when I've made my decision, I can go ahead and load everything up.
So, Happy Holidays everybody, whatever your traditions! More in the new year...Happy New Year!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Keepin' Busy!
Hello everybody! I'm still kicking, I've just been busy/tired/unmotivated to type, etc... So, here's what you missed.
I am 18 weeks now. The bebe has been compared to the size of a bell pepper, which is apparently 5 inches. I have not yet felt movement, but I can tell there's something in there because I have increased my trips to the bathroom quite a bit. I now go almost as much as my husband, who has the world's smallest bladder and drinks lots of coffee. LOL!
Last night I decided to go ahead and start sleeping on my side. I read that if you sleep on your back after a certain point you can cut off the circulation to some nerve that would not be good at all for bebe. I'm glad I started this early because it's awkward. I usually end up sleeping on my side anyway, but that's usually after spending the first part on my back getting settled. I will have to be sure to tell my massage therapist that I'm ready to switch to side lying for my massages. I can't wait for mine this Sunday! My lower back is already getting quite stiff. I already had issues with my lower back so I can tell this is going to be fun.
About a week and a half ago I went for genetic testing to make sure the baby didn't have any defects. They said they'd call within 10 days, but ONLY if the test was positive. The Down's Syndrome test evidently has a high false positive rate so once I got over the panic of having to get more blood work done, then I started to worry about that. However, it's been over 10 days and I haven't been called, so I think that's good news. I did just leave a message for the nurse to call me back with the results though, for good measure. A friend of mine made this round of blood work out to sound like I would have multiple tubes of blood removed. However, it turned out only to be one. If you've read my blogs about this and my previous pregnancy, then you know it doesn't matter how many vials they take, it's still a major production. Once again, they had to call in an expert to find my vein. They had this new nurse who used to work for a diabetes center. Evidently people with diabetes get stuck a lot and have issues with their veins as well. She wrapped that damn thing around my arm so tight I thought it was going to fall off, but she got it and then it was quickly over. I took my Mommy with me because Bill had to work. She did a good job of distracting me because she had to look away too and I thought that was funny. Then she found a picture on the wall of a baby in a knitted duck hat that she had to look at as soon as I was done. I was a little weak afterwards, but not too bad. Thanks Momma!
We got to hear the baby's heart beat again this time. Momma hadn't heard it so she was pretty excited. Again it wasn't super fast so I think we're having a girl, but you never know. It was also making this loud noise over the speaker. The midwife said it was because it was moving around in there. Evidently we have quite and active baby! First we saw it dancing on the ultrasound and now we can hear it moving around in there. It was pretty awesome to hear.
We have our next ultrasound appointment scheduled for New Year's Eve. I will be 20 weeks then and they'll probably be able to tell what it is for sure. However, they know we don't want to find out and actually think it's better that way. It's not as hard yet not knowing what we're having. I imagine it will get harder the further along we get, but we're gonna be strong.
I am not looking forward to the aching back and exhaustion and eventually the birth process, but I can't wait for our bebe to arrive! I'm a good feminist and all, but that does not mean I can't love babies and want lots of them for myself. Feminists get a bad wrap sometimes which is unfortunate, because, if we were all honest with ourselves, the majority of us are feminists. Some people just don't understand the term or don't like labels. Anyway, I know I'm going to go gaga over our bebe. It's something that I've always wanted for myself (and my husband of course). I have such a great relationship with my mother, I just hope I can have that with my bebe too.
I sometimes sit and wonder what color hair she/he will have, what color eyes, what birthmarks, what kind of personality, etc... I remember in 9th or 10th grade biology we did a project where we figured out our dominant genes and such which would tell you what color hair and eyes your baby would have. Now that I know that of my partner, I could probably figure it out. I'm sure there's some website that helps you figure that stuff out. It's funny because I had a head full of curly dark hair and really dark brown eyes when I was born, but now it's a light brown and is just wavy. My eyes are still brown, but not nearly as dark. Bill actually had blond hair when he was little which is now brown, but his beard has a reddish tint because of his Scottish ancestry. His eyes are a beautiful blue. No telling what our kids will have, but I know they'll be beautiful!
On a sad note, we got word that Bill's dad's Leukemia has come back in small amounts. It was a year ago (12/11) that he was diagnosed. He went in the hospital for shortness of breath. They told him that if he hadn't come in then, he would have been dead in 2 weeks. We're lucky to have had this year with him and we hope to have many more. He has started some sort of chemo shot and so far he seems to be doing ok. I think the shot will just prolong his life, not cure the Leukemia. I don't think he's a candidate for bone marrow transplant or stem cell treatment, unless something with this shot changes that. We're all hopeful that he'll at least be around to meet his grand baby. We're hoping for a miracle though, and that we'll have him with us for a long time. He's the sweetest and I want our children to know him and what a special person he is. We've been going home to visit him and the family just about every weekend for the last few months. I've encouraged him to write down his family's history, things that wouldn't be on birth certificates or marriage licenses. Not sure if he'll do that so I've been trying to remember everything he's told me about his family and his own life.
On the knitting front, I've been working on a ribbed stitch blanket for my friend Robyn who just had her baby boy, Ryan Mason, on 12/3. I was hoping to have it done by then, but it's only about 3/4ths of the way done. I am also working on a pair of booties for our friend Patti's new niece. Those are lavender with white buttons. The pattern is pretty easy and it doesn't take long to make. I've got to finish those by Thursday so she can take them with her when she leaves town. I've also got a scarf that I'm working on for my sister which is purple (with some pink touches). It's the boa yarn and it's not as hard to work with as I thought. It's actually quite pretty. I still have the two blankets for our baby that I'm working on. I've got time to finish those.
I'm also thinking of starting an Etsy page. That's a place where you can sell your handmade crafts. My friend Tiffany make hair accessories for little girls and sells them up there. She's done pretty well. However, she is a stay at home mom and has the time and space to get a lot made. I would only be able to work on stuff after work and on weekends. I've got a bunch of things made already and there are a few patterns I could whip out pretty quickly. I'll probably make it so that I take requests instead of taking the time to make something big like a blanket and have no one to buy it. I'm still thinking about this though. I also want to organize my photo collection on my computer as well over the break. I have so many pictures on my computer that it is slowing it down. I told the guy who sold me the computer that I take a way lot of pictures. He assured me I would have enough room. I guess he didn't believe me when I said "a way lot"!
Anyway, I'll try to update more frequently. It's fun for me, but I have to make myself get started on it sometimes. If I don't get to update until after the holidays, I hope everyone has a very safe holiday season and finds some time to relax and have some fun!
I am 18 weeks now. The bebe has been compared to the size of a bell pepper, which is apparently 5 inches. I have not yet felt movement, but I can tell there's something in there because I have increased my trips to the bathroom quite a bit. I now go almost as much as my husband, who has the world's smallest bladder and drinks lots of coffee. LOL!
Last night I decided to go ahead and start sleeping on my side. I read that if you sleep on your back after a certain point you can cut off the circulation to some nerve that would not be good at all for bebe. I'm glad I started this early because it's awkward. I usually end up sleeping on my side anyway, but that's usually after spending the first part on my back getting settled. I will have to be sure to tell my massage therapist that I'm ready to switch to side lying for my massages. I can't wait for mine this Sunday! My lower back is already getting quite stiff. I already had issues with my lower back so I can tell this is going to be fun.
About a week and a half ago I went for genetic testing to make sure the baby didn't have any defects. They said they'd call within 10 days, but ONLY if the test was positive. The Down's Syndrome test evidently has a high false positive rate so once I got over the panic of having to get more blood work done, then I started to worry about that. However, it's been over 10 days and I haven't been called, so I think that's good news. I did just leave a message for the nurse to call me back with the results though, for good measure. A friend of mine made this round of blood work out to sound like I would have multiple tubes of blood removed. However, it turned out only to be one. If you've read my blogs about this and my previous pregnancy, then you know it doesn't matter how many vials they take, it's still a major production. Once again, they had to call in an expert to find my vein. They had this new nurse who used to work for a diabetes center. Evidently people with diabetes get stuck a lot and have issues with their veins as well. She wrapped that damn thing around my arm so tight I thought it was going to fall off, but she got it and then it was quickly over. I took my Mommy with me because Bill had to work. She did a good job of distracting me because she had to look away too and I thought that was funny. Then she found a picture on the wall of a baby in a knitted duck hat that she had to look at as soon as I was done. I was a little weak afterwards, but not too bad. Thanks Momma!
We got to hear the baby's heart beat again this time. Momma hadn't heard it so she was pretty excited. Again it wasn't super fast so I think we're having a girl, but you never know. It was also making this loud noise over the speaker. The midwife said it was because it was moving around in there. Evidently we have quite and active baby! First we saw it dancing on the ultrasound and now we can hear it moving around in there. It was pretty awesome to hear.
We have our next ultrasound appointment scheduled for New Year's Eve. I will be 20 weeks then and they'll probably be able to tell what it is for sure. However, they know we don't want to find out and actually think it's better that way. It's not as hard yet not knowing what we're having. I imagine it will get harder the further along we get, but we're gonna be strong.
I am not looking forward to the aching back and exhaustion and eventually the birth process, but I can't wait for our bebe to arrive! I'm a good feminist and all, but that does not mean I can't love babies and want lots of them for myself. Feminists get a bad wrap sometimes which is unfortunate, because, if we were all honest with ourselves, the majority of us are feminists. Some people just don't understand the term or don't like labels. Anyway, I know I'm going to go gaga over our bebe. It's something that I've always wanted for myself (and my husband of course). I have such a great relationship with my mother, I just hope I can have that with my bebe too.
I sometimes sit and wonder what color hair she/he will have, what color eyes, what birthmarks, what kind of personality, etc... I remember in 9th or 10th grade biology we did a project where we figured out our dominant genes and such which would tell you what color hair and eyes your baby would have. Now that I know that of my partner, I could probably figure it out. I'm sure there's some website that helps you figure that stuff out. It's funny because I had a head full of curly dark hair and really dark brown eyes when I was born, but now it's a light brown and is just wavy. My eyes are still brown, but not nearly as dark. Bill actually had blond hair when he was little which is now brown, but his beard has a reddish tint because of his Scottish ancestry. His eyes are a beautiful blue. No telling what our kids will have, but I know they'll be beautiful!
On a sad note, we got word that Bill's dad's Leukemia has come back in small amounts. It was a year ago (12/11) that he was diagnosed. He went in the hospital for shortness of breath. They told him that if he hadn't come in then, he would have been dead in 2 weeks. We're lucky to have had this year with him and we hope to have many more. He has started some sort of chemo shot and so far he seems to be doing ok. I think the shot will just prolong his life, not cure the Leukemia. I don't think he's a candidate for bone marrow transplant or stem cell treatment, unless something with this shot changes that. We're all hopeful that he'll at least be around to meet his grand baby. We're hoping for a miracle though, and that we'll have him with us for a long time. He's the sweetest and I want our children to know him and what a special person he is. We've been going home to visit him and the family just about every weekend for the last few months. I've encouraged him to write down his family's history, things that wouldn't be on birth certificates or marriage licenses. Not sure if he'll do that so I've been trying to remember everything he's told me about his family and his own life.
On the knitting front, I've been working on a ribbed stitch blanket for my friend Robyn who just had her baby boy, Ryan Mason, on 12/3. I was hoping to have it done by then, but it's only about 3/4ths of the way done. I am also working on a pair of booties for our friend Patti's new niece. Those are lavender with white buttons. The pattern is pretty easy and it doesn't take long to make. I've got to finish those by Thursday so she can take them with her when she leaves town. I've also got a scarf that I'm working on for my sister which is purple (with some pink touches). It's the boa yarn and it's not as hard to work with as I thought. It's actually quite pretty. I still have the two blankets for our baby that I'm working on. I've got time to finish those.
I'm also thinking of starting an Etsy page. That's a place where you can sell your handmade crafts. My friend Tiffany make hair accessories for little girls and sells them up there. She's done pretty well. However, she is a stay at home mom and has the time and space to get a lot made. I would only be able to work on stuff after work and on weekends. I've got a bunch of things made already and there are a few patterns I could whip out pretty quickly. I'll probably make it so that I take requests instead of taking the time to make something big like a blanket and have no one to buy it. I'm still thinking about this though. I also want to organize my photo collection on my computer as well over the break. I have so many pictures on my computer that it is slowing it down. I told the guy who sold me the computer that I take a way lot of pictures. He assured me I would have enough room. I guess he didn't believe me when I said "a way lot"!
Anyway, I'll try to update more frequently. It's fun for me, but I have to make myself get started on it sometimes. If I don't get to update until after the holidays, I hope everyone has a very safe holiday season and finds some time to relax and have some fun!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Heart beats
This Monday Bill and I went to meet with the OB/GYN and got to hear the baby's heart beat. She had no trouble finding it and within no time we were able to hear it. It was not as fast as I thought it would be, but it was faster than mine. Bill's mom said there is an old wives tale that says that boys have faster heart beats than girls. Then, a friend of mine said that had been confirmed by science. So, that tells me the bebe is a girl. However, when we got the last sonogram, it could have been seen as boy parts, but it could also be girl parts...it wasn't really clear. So, we're still in the dark as to what we're having, so that's good. We want to be surprised.
In 2 weeks I have to go back for genetic testing. They draw like 10 viles of blood. Not fun. Unfortunately, Bill can't take off work that day because they will be super busy that week. So, I have my friend Lisa on call to come get me if I pass out or am to weak to drive. I will make damn sure I drink enough water that day so I won't pass out. I've got knitting after that so it is very important that I don't pass out.
Once I get to 20 weeks, the week after Christmas, we go back for our next ultrasound. They know we want to be surprised, so hopefully the baby will keep that little secret to itself.
I am currently working on 3 baby blankets and one scarf, with plans for two more scarves. I recently got a 3rd set of drawers for my yarn. I have one whole set for just cotton yarn. I know, it's a lot. But, it's organized and that makes life better. I have one drawer for Caron yarn, one for my favorite Red Heart Soft, one for fancy yarns, one for baby yarn, one for miscellaneous, and one for projects I need to finish off. Two of the blankets are for our baby, but the 3rd one is for my friend Robyn. She's due before the end of the year, so I'll finish hers first. I am doing a ribbed stitch with yellow, green, and white. Gender neutral colors since they're not finding out what they're having either. The scarf I'm working on is for my sister Jonna. I'm using this Boa yarn that she picked out. It's purple with some hot pink in it. Mostly purple though, so I don't mind working around the pink LOL!
Next week is Thanksgiving so I plan on getting a lot of knitting done. I will go down to Duck on Wednesday after work and hang out with Aunt Linda. The rest of the family will come down on Thursday. This used to be the time of year when I'd get to see my cousin Shane. However, since he died this May, it will be a difficult holiday to get through. We usually play board or card games and he would never play with us because he hated to lose. If he did play, it was usually only for one game. Sore loser I guess LOL! I'm pretty good at card games. Probably because I've been playing cards since I was little. My favorite card game is Spades. Bill won't play with me because he says I'm too competitive. I guess that's because I'm good at it and I enjoy winning. :-) We also usually watch the dog show, but we probably won't do that this year either. Or maybe we will. Then Friday we will do some shopping, of course. I think there is a yarn store down there so I'll HAVE to visit that. I will try to restrain myself. I actually went all summer without buying any yarn, so I can go a day. I have a cone of the xmas cotton yarn being shipped to me at the moment. I want to make some xmas dishcloths for Bill's mom and maybe a few other people.
I'll try to update more regularly. Thanks, Amy, for checking up on me! I'm doing just fine, just haven't taken the time to type all this out. :-)
In 2 weeks I have to go back for genetic testing. They draw like 10 viles of blood. Not fun. Unfortunately, Bill can't take off work that day because they will be super busy that week. So, I have my friend Lisa on call to come get me if I pass out or am to weak to drive. I will make damn sure I drink enough water that day so I won't pass out. I've got knitting after that so it is very important that I don't pass out.
Once I get to 20 weeks, the week after Christmas, we go back for our next ultrasound. They know we want to be surprised, so hopefully the baby will keep that little secret to itself.
I am currently working on 3 baby blankets and one scarf, with plans for two more scarves. I recently got a 3rd set of drawers for my yarn. I have one whole set for just cotton yarn. I know, it's a lot. But, it's organized and that makes life better. I have one drawer for Caron yarn, one for my favorite Red Heart Soft, one for fancy yarns, one for baby yarn, one for miscellaneous, and one for projects I need to finish off. Two of the blankets are for our baby, but the 3rd one is for my friend Robyn. She's due before the end of the year, so I'll finish hers first. I am doing a ribbed stitch with yellow, green, and white. Gender neutral colors since they're not finding out what they're having either. The scarf I'm working on is for my sister Jonna. I'm using this Boa yarn that she picked out. It's purple with some hot pink in it. Mostly purple though, so I don't mind working around the pink LOL!
Next week is Thanksgiving so I plan on getting a lot of knitting done. I will go down to Duck on Wednesday after work and hang out with Aunt Linda. The rest of the family will come down on Thursday. This used to be the time of year when I'd get to see my cousin Shane. However, since he died this May, it will be a difficult holiday to get through. We usually play board or card games and he would never play with us because he hated to lose. If he did play, it was usually only for one game. Sore loser I guess LOL! I'm pretty good at card games. Probably because I've been playing cards since I was little. My favorite card game is Spades. Bill won't play with me because he says I'm too competitive. I guess that's because I'm good at it and I enjoy winning. :-) We also usually watch the dog show, but we probably won't do that this year either. Or maybe we will. Then Friday we will do some shopping, of course. I think there is a yarn store down there so I'll HAVE to visit that. I will try to restrain myself. I actually went all summer without buying any yarn, so I can go a day. I have a cone of the xmas cotton yarn being shipped to me at the moment. I want to make some xmas dishcloths for Bill's mom and maybe a few other people.
I'll try to update more regularly. Thanks, Amy, for checking up on me! I'm doing just fine, just haven't taken the time to type all this out. :-)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Dancing Bebe!
Yep, that's right, we've got a dancing baby! As soon as she started the ultrasound, the baby began to move around like it was dancing. Arms and legs flailing around like I had some upbeat song playing in my belly. It was awesome! I couldn't believe how much it was moving around. I started to laugh and then saw the area around the baby move (my belly). It was weird to think it was moving around in there and I couldn't feel it! It stopped, and I guess rested, for a minute and then started dancing again.
I guess the midwife could tell the sex of the baby because she asked if we wanted to find out what we were having. I paused for a second, excited from seeing it dancing around, but then said, "No, we want to be surprised". That was the first time since I've been pregnant that I second-guessed our decision to not know what we were having until it arrived. After the ultrasound I asked Bill, "are you gonna be able to hold out?". He said, "Yeah, for now". So, who knows if we'll be strong enough to not ask at one of the remaining ultrasounds.
I love how we could see more of it now. It has hands and feet and Bill was able to see the fingers. It was kind of a weird angle for me so I missed that part. I loved the dancing though. I called my dad and told him. I thought he'd appreciate it since he loves to dance. Evidently, now that I'm a "city girl", I speak too fast so he couldn't understand my voicemail message. I specifically slowed it down because he has told me this before. I guess I have to speak at the speed of molasses!
On another note, I found my first grey hair today. It was long too! Not sure why I didn't notice it before. I guess that's because of stress at work. But, the semester is coming to a close so it's not as crazy busy. I need to make an appointment with my chiropractor for an adjustment. I wonder if that's ok while I'm pregnant. Guess I'll have to call and find out. I did finally get an appointment with my favorite dentist that I went to practically my whole life. I tried on up here in Norfolk, but he was just not gentle enough and not very friendly. MY dentist knows my whole family and will care that I'm pregnant and be interested in what I'm doing with my life. It's just hard to get an appointment with him because I have to be out of work longer because of the commute from Boykins. It's soo worth it though.
I go back to the doctor on 11/17 and will meet with the actual OB instead of the midwife. They want me to get to know her since she will be the one to deliver the baby if there are complications. If there are no complications, then the midwife will deliver the baby, whatever it is. :-)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Finally...an update!
Hi everybody! Yes, I've been M.I.A. so to speak for a little bit. Honestly, I've been to exhausted to write. By the time I get home at 5 I just want to lay down. I went to the doctor today and got another ultrasound. The baby is much bigger than last time so I'm all excited and ready to write.
Like I said, I've been pretty exhausted and also constantly nauseous. Not fun. My doctor is happy about it though, because it means everything is progressing like it's supposed to. While I was at the doctor today, I asked if I could possibly switch prenatal vitamins. Last time I was on a different one that smelled like vanilla...and was not pink. This one that I'm on now, smells like vitamins and is pink...yuck. Maybe that's why I'm constantly nauseous! She gave me samples of something different and also said that if that didn't work that I could switch to 2 Flintstones vitamins daily. I hope one of these options works...I'd like to feel a little less nauseous!
So, the midwife and nurse practitioner (from ODU...very chipper!) did an ultrasound. I'm 8 weeks and 4 days today. The little butter bean is soo much bigger than my last ultrasound 2 weeks ago! It was amazing! I could see the head, body and feet. The heart beat was really fast (it's supposed to be)! Previous ultrasounds just looked like a dot. Now it looks more human...more than just a dot anyway. The nurse said to me..."You're going to have a very long pregnancy". I think she meant that most women don't know their pregnant until later in the pregnancy and I've pretty much known since a week after I got pregnant. Hey, I'm on top of things. I'm a planner. Ha ha!
We actually bought our first baby stuff last weekend. I bought a pack of onesies! Green, yellow, and white with little animals (no Disney) that say "I love Mommy" and "I love Daddy". Ah! It was so cute! Oh, and I'm also a little bit more emotional. We saw this baby the other day while at lunch and it had the biggest brown eyes (like I did when I was a baby) and I started to think about what our baby would look like and how cute that baby was...yeah, I teared up. Sigh...pregnancy does some crazy things to women...previously I would have just said "aww, how cute" and moved along. I'm not sure if all women go through this during pregnancy...I can only speak for myself.
Anyway, I'm really happy about all this baby stuff! Oh, and I'm due May 17th. That's right around the time of my cousin Shane's birthday. If this baby is born on his birthday, or the day he died...well, let's just say I'd have a hard time believing it's a coincidence.
On another note...I was about 8 weeks the last time I was pregnant (ectopic) and had the miscarriage. I've made it past that point and that makes me happy too. I look forward to the 2nd trimester...the symptoms are supposed to get better by then.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The little butter bean is growing
I don't know what else to call it. We aren't going to find out what we're having because we want to be surprised and don't want to make any assumptions of who this baby will be, what it will like or dislike, etc... I don't want to slip up and assign gender roles to it before it even arrives! We are doing gender neutral colors (green, yellow, black and white) and generic designs (no Disney characters, etc...) I always thought I'd have a girl first, but now I'm thinking this could be a boy. I think by now (7 weeks) it has decided whether it's female or male.
While they were doing the sonogram, we were able to see the little flutter of it's heartbeat. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. I literally had a sigh of relief. It seems everything is going just like it's supposed to at this point. I'm having the "morning" sickness (with a strong aversion to Beefaroni...ick) and I'm exhausted. When I told my doctor that she said "Yay!" because that means I'm on the right track.
I started prenatal yoga last week and I really enjoyed it. The teacher is now 14 weeks along and the other two women in the class were 32 and 38 weeks. The later one might not be there this week. She was expecting her baby any time. How exciting! It feels like I have such a long way to go! May 17, 2009 is the due date. It's the week my cousin was born and a week before my paternal grandmother's birthday. Mother's Day is on the 10th this year I think. That baby will arrive when it's good and ready. It would be more than a coincidence if it's born on May 14th, Shane's birthday.
I'm going to see Lisa Williams (a medium/she speaks to dead people) in "concert" in October. I don't expect she'll talk to me or any spirits that might be lurking around me, but wouldn't that be the coolest?! I don't know if I believe in that stuff, but so far I have no reason not to.
Not sure if I've let everybody up here know but the names we've picked out are Sophia Rose (Sophia meaning Wisdom and Rose is a family name) and Jackson Shane (Jackson because it's cool and Shane because of my cousin). If Bill had his way, we'd also be getting 3 cats and naming them Tom, Dick, and Harry, or if we just got one it would be Leroy. He enjoys picking out names. If we had an animal for every name he liked...I don't even want to think about all the mess that would cause! Besides, Franklin is even jealous of any attention we give to Eleanor and she pretty much sleeps all day. He would have a fit if there were other animals around to capture our attention. I hope he does well with the little butter bean.
Oh, I'm so excited!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
5 weeks 3 days
(it's the grey dot inside the black bigger dot)
That was Wednesday 9/17/08. I think that puts my due date at May 17, 2009 I think. I will know more at my first official OB appointment next Friday. Yay! I just hope there's no blood work involved. We should be able to hear a heart beat then. Woohoo! We're super happy...can you tell???!!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
It's baby time!
Yes, Bill and I are pregnant! Well, I'm the one who's pregnant, but he certainly did his part to help out with that. I haven't updated this page because I could not write anything and NOT mention bebe!
After I wisked my husband off to Charlottesville for a surprise getaway, we still had another day off because of Labor Day (teehee). Bill went home to help his folks do somethings around the house. Since his dad is sick from the chemo, he can't really help Nancy with things like cleaning out Bill's old room. Bill's such a good son. I invited my favorite ladies to lunch and a movie. Momma, Aunt Linda, "Aunt Gayle" and I met at the mall and had lunch in the food court. We killed some time before the movie with shopping. I just went along for the ride. I hate trying on clothes and I certainly don't need to be buying any at this point (of course I didn't know that at the time). We saw "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2" which was pretty good. Then we walked around a little more so we could visit and headed home.
I started thinking about taking a pregnancy test in the movie when one of the characters thought she might be pregnant. Once I get an idea in my head... I had taken a test a week earlier on my birthday that was negative. I figured, "hey, it could be". So, when I got home I took a test. While I waited for the results I reviewed the directions (because I tend to second guess myself). They had an example of the two different results "pregnant" and "not pregnant" (I need it to say the word...none of that 2 lines and one is barely there kinda thing...I need to know for sure). I thought to myself "I deserve some good news, damn it!" I started to look at the "pregnant" example and then back at the test and then back and forth and back and forth as if it would transfer from the paper to the test. "I deserve some good news damn it!" (I was starting to vocalize this now...the power of suggestion maybe?) My mother's voice popped in my head saying "a watched pot never boils" so I decided to see what the kitties were doing. I had just fed them so they were going back and forth taking a bite from each other's bowls, nothing exciting which is a good thing since that meant Franklin wasn't jumping up and down on Eleanor and she wasn't hollaring.
I stepped back in the bathroom to look at my test and there were the results..."pregnant!" "WHAT!? Oh My God, Really? Oh Yay! Franklin, Eleanor, I gotta call Bill! Oh Yay!" I don't know why I didn't wait until Bill was home so he could be there when I got the results. I guess I was thinking it would be negative since I had just gotten a negative test the week before. I wasn't really expecting that answer! I called him and I guess I was a little teary because I said "Honey!" and he said "Yeah?" like he thought something was wrong. I told him the good news and we both said how happy we were and excited. We decided not to tell his parents until we were together. I got off the phone and called Lisa. She was there for me when I needed to vent about the last pregnancy drama so I wanted to share the good news. I planned to tell all my other good friends once I had told my family, and after I had talked to the doctor.
I called Stephanie to see if she wanted to get dinner since Bill wouldn't be back for a while and I could not sit at home after getting the good news. She and I went to dinner at a Chinese Buffett. I had seen a show about dumplings the day before so I was happy she suggested the place. The food was pretty good and we got a chance to catch up. I, of course, had to share the news, I was about to bust. I love to see/hear the reactions of people when I tell them. And I love that I get lots of hugs too. We hung out and had a good time. When I got home Bill and I gave each other big hugs. We're really happy and very excited.
When I went to work the next day I called the doctor and asked if she wanted me to get blood work done. She said that she wanted me to get a blood test to check my beta and progesterone levels (pregnancy hormones). They want to keep an eye on me because of how my last pregnancy went. I went and told my boss after that. I knew I'd have to take some time during the day to get the testing done so I needed her to know. She is very happy for us and I can go and get the tests as needed.
Wednesday I went back to Labcorp. I wasn't nearly as nervous about it now since I had been there so much in the past couple of months. There was no one in there so I thought "this will be a breeze". Wrong! They hadn't faxed my paperwork there yet so I had to get them on the phone. 30 minutes later the fax arrived and they took me back for my test. The lady was one I hadn't had before so that made me a little nervous. I told her that I have deep veins and that if she does it quickly I won't faint on her. She did a pretty good job and I didn't even get woosy. So, all in all what should have taken 5 minutes took an hour. I wont go anywhere else to get blood drawn though because they all do a great job with me. Or so I thought...
I got my test results the next day and they said "Yep, you're pregnant, but very early." She asked me how I even knew I was pregnant. I told her I was on top of things considering last time and because I'm really really excited about starting our little family. She told me to go Friday to get another test to make sure the numbers are going up. Friday I went in and there was a lady I recognized and a new guy. "Oh no, I'm gonna end up with the new guy!" I did, oh lord. He was very pleasant and I found out that he was just helping out that day and usually works at a physician's office in the lab. Ok, a little better. He was very courteous and told me everything he was doing. I really didn't need to know, but whatever. He poked my arm a little longer that I'd like and left the needle in a little long, but I didn't faint. Yay!
The results wouldn't come back until Monday so we decided to tell the parents over the weekend. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna was headed for us so we decided to tell the parents Sunday, but since we were going to see Momma on Saturday she would be the first to know. Well, actually, my sister found out first because I had to get her help in getting Mom to agree to get breakfast with us and skip the beach (that was before I knew about the storm). Saturday morning we go over to my sisters where Momma was staying. I asked her if she wanted to see some pictures before we went to breakfast (she was assuming I meant the ones from Charlottesville). I turned on the camera and showed her a picture of my pregnancy test. She said "When did you take that?" I told her I took it Sunday and it sunk in finally that she was gonna be a grandma, or as she wants to be called a "Big Momma". It's funny because she's barely 5ft tall. Later on when she called her sister, she suggested that Momma go by "Grand Ma Ma" which would suit her southern belle side.
Sunday Jonna drove home with us and we dropped her off at Daddy's while we went to tell Bill's folks. Nancy had given Bill a catalog that had a diaper bag in it. She had suggested that later on maybe she could order it for us. So, we brought the catalog back and Bill pointed out a few things he liked. Then he turned to the diaper bag and told her she could go ahead and order it. She looked over at me and I gave her my biggest grin. She started jumping up and down and clapping and saying "Ohhh!". Needless to say she was very happy. Bill's dad missed the whole thing because he was reclining in the next room. He came in to see what all the fuss was about and started tearing up a little when he figured it out. Yay, lots of happy faces!
Then we went over to Daddy's for lunch. Aunt Linda was there and I offered to show them some pictures (they assumed from Charlottesville). Once Daddy put on his glasses he saw the picture of my test and smiled and gave me a big hug. Then I showed it to Linda and she started giggling. Yay! Happy faces! I looked at Aunt Linda and told her I'd probably be due in mid-May. I looked at her because it's right around Mother's Day and her son Shane's birthday (he died of suicide in May right before his 36th birthday). I think it was meant to be.
I got my test results back today and my levels have doubled, yay! I will go again on Thursday to make sure they're still going up. I have a feeling there is much more blood work in my future. Maybe once I get out of the first trimester they'll stop sticking me with needles. I can only hope!
After I wisked my husband off to Charlottesville for a surprise getaway, we still had another day off because of Labor Day (teehee). Bill went home to help his folks do somethings around the house. Since his dad is sick from the chemo, he can't really help Nancy with things like cleaning out Bill's old room. Bill's such a good son. I invited my favorite ladies to lunch and a movie. Momma, Aunt Linda, "Aunt Gayle" and I met at the mall and had lunch in the food court. We killed some time before the movie with shopping. I just went along for the ride. I hate trying on clothes and I certainly don't need to be buying any at this point (of course I didn't know that at the time). We saw "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2" which was pretty good. Then we walked around a little more so we could visit and headed home.
I started thinking about taking a pregnancy test in the movie when one of the characters thought she might be pregnant. Once I get an idea in my head... I had taken a test a week earlier on my birthday that was negative. I figured, "hey, it could be". So, when I got home I took a test. While I waited for the results I reviewed the directions (because I tend to second guess myself). They had an example of the two different results "pregnant" and "not pregnant" (I need it to say the word...none of that 2 lines and one is barely there kinda thing...I need to know for sure). I thought to myself "I deserve some good news, damn it!" I started to look at the "pregnant" example and then back at the test and then back and forth and back and forth as if it would transfer from the paper to the test. "I deserve some good news damn it!" (I was starting to vocalize this now...the power of suggestion maybe?) My mother's voice popped in my head saying "a watched pot never boils" so I decided to see what the kitties were doing. I had just fed them so they were going back and forth taking a bite from each other's bowls, nothing exciting which is a good thing since that meant Franklin wasn't jumping up and down on Eleanor and she wasn't hollaring.
I stepped back in the bathroom to look at my test and there were the results..."pregnant!" "WHAT!? Oh My God, Really? Oh Yay! Franklin, Eleanor, I gotta call Bill! Oh Yay!" I don't know why I didn't wait until Bill was home so he could be there when I got the results. I guess I was thinking it would be negative since I had just gotten a negative test the week before. I wasn't really expecting that answer! I called him and I guess I was a little teary because I said "Honey!" and he said "Yeah?" like he thought something was wrong. I told him the good news and we both said how happy we were and excited. We decided not to tell his parents until we were together. I got off the phone and called Lisa. She was there for me when I needed to vent about the last pregnancy drama so I wanted to share the good news. I planned to tell all my other good friends once I had told my family, and after I had talked to the doctor.
I called Stephanie to see if she wanted to get dinner since Bill wouldn't be back for a while and I could not sit at home after getting the good news. She and I went to dinner at a Chinese Buffett. I had seen a show about dumplings the day before so I was happy she suggested the place. The food was pretty good and we got a chance to catch up. I, of course, had to share the news, I was about to bust. I love to see/hear the reactions of people when I tell them. And I love that I get lots of hugs too. We hung out and had a good time. When I got home Bill and I gave each other big hugs. We're really happy and very excited.
When I went to work the next day I called the doctor and asked if she wanted me to get blood work done. She said that she wanted me to get a blood test to check my beta and progesterone levels (pregnancy hormones). They want to keep an eye on me because of how my last pregnancy went. I went and told my boss after that. I knew I'd have to take some time during the day to get the testing done so I needed her to know. She is very happy for us and I can go and get the tests as needed.
Wednesday I went back to Labcorp. I wasn't nearly as nervous about it now since I had been there so much in the past couple of months. There was no one in there so I thought "this will be a breeze". Wrong! They hadn't faxed my paperwork there yet so I had to get them on the phone. 30 minutes later the fax arrived and they took me back for my test. The lady was one I hadn't had before so that made me a little nervous. I told her that I have deep veins and that if she does it quickly I won't faint on her. She did a pretty good job and I didn't even get woosy. So, all in all what should have taken 5 minutes took an hour. I wont go anywhere else to get blood drawn though because they all do a great job with me. Or so I thought...
I got my test results the next day and they said "Yep, you're pregnant, but very early." She asked me how I even knew I was pregnant. I told her I was on top of things considering last time and because I'm really really excited about starting our little family. She told me to go Friday to get another test to make sure the numbers are going up. Friday I went in and there was a lady I recognized and a new guy. "Oh no, I'm gonna end up with the new guy!" I did, oh lord. He was very pleasant and I found out that he was just helping out that day and usually works at a physician's office in the lab. Ok, a little better. He was very courteous and told me everything he was doing. I really didn't need to know, but whatever. He poked my arm a little longer that I'd like and left the needle in a little long, but I didn't faint. Yay!
The results wouldn't come back until Monday so we decided to tell the parents over the weekend. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna was headed for us so we decided to tell the parents Sunday, but since we were going to see Momma on Saturday she would be the first to know. Well, actually, my sister found out first because I had to get her help in getting Mom to agree to get breakfast with us and skip the beach (that was before I knew about the storm). Saturday morning we go over to my sisters where Momma was staying. I asked her if she wanted to see some pictures before we went to breakfast (she was assuming I meant the ones from Charlottesville). I turned on the camera and showed her a picture of my pregnancy test. She said "When did you take that?" I told her I took it Sunday and it sunk in finally that she was gonna be a grandma, or as she wants to be called a "Big Momma". It's funny because she's barely 5ft tall. Later on when she called her sister, she suggested that Momma go by "Grand Ma Ma" which would suit her southern belle side.
Sunday Jonna drove home with us and we dropped her off at Daddy's while we went to tell Bill's folks. Nancy had given Bill a catalog that had a diaper bag in it. She had suggested that later on maybe she could order it for us. So, we brought the catalog back and Bill pointed out a few things he liked. Then he turned to the diaper bag and told her she could go ahead and order it. She looked over at me and I gave her my biggest grin. She started jumping up and down and clapping and saying "Ohhh!". Needless to say she was very happy. Bill's dad missed the whole thing because he was reclining in the next room. He came in to see what all the fuss was about and started tearing up a little when he figured it out. Yay, lots of happy faces!
Then we went over to Daddy's for lunch. Aunt Linda was there and I offered to show them some pictures (they assumed from Charlottesville). Once Daddy put on his glasses he saw the picture of my test and smiled and gave me a big hug. Then I showed it to Linda and she started giggling. Yay! Happy faces! I looked at Aunt Linda and told her I'd probably be due in mid-May. I looked at her because it's right around Mother's Day and her son Shane's birthday (he died of suicide in May right before his 36th birthday). I think it was meant to be.
I got my test results back today and my levels have doubled, yay! I will go again on Thursday to make sure they're still going up. I have a feeling there is much more blood work in my future. Maybe once I get out of the first trimester they'll stop sticking me with needles. I can only hope!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Surprise Getaway!
You're leaving? Can I go? I can pack really really quickly!
I cooked up a scheme to wisk Bill off to Charlottesville this weekend! It has been a success! I told him we were going on a little trip and wouldn't tell him where. He played along and didn't do too much guessing so as not to ruin the surprise. I took him straight to Monticello when we got into town. He's seen it from afar but never toured it before. I thought this would be lots of fun for him and I could get some pretty cool pictures. The views here are awesome!
The tour was really interesting and I got some ideas for if we ever build our own house. He had two big skylights that would help with power bills and made the room nice and bright. They also had a lot of the arches with a keystone which are very strong. I like arched door ways. The grounds were green and everything was blooming.
Then we went to dinner at Scotto's Italian restaurant. Have you ever had fried cheesecake with bananas? If not, then you must find it somewhere and try it. Delicious! The rest of the food was good too, but that was a great way to finish a meal.
Since UVA was playing USC today, there was no way we would be able to walk around the campus, so we skipped that today. Tomorrow we will head over there and hopefully see their special collections library. My friend Bobby (who graduted from UVA) recommended Micheal's Bistro so we'll probably stop there for lunch. We're heading back to town tomorrow and will still have Monday to relax. Nice.
A few pictures for your viewing pleasure....
The coolest flower I've ever seen! French Striped Marigold
I love purple!
Excuse me just a second...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Where to begin...
I've been slack on the blogging lately. I have been working so hard that I haven't taken the time to sit down and reflect on what has been going on. So, let's start with the birthday festivities.
Friday Bill and I met up with Lisa & Kevin, Stephanie and her friend Rourke at Carrabbas. I like that place because they have a dish called "Chicken Brian" which has sundried tomatoes, basil and goat cheese! (Sorry Eric) So, that's what I got. I have sworn off all alcohol because I'm hoping the baby thing will happen sooner rather than later and I want to be prepared. So, I got a "virgin" pina collada and it was quite tasty. We had a great time hanging out and we decided to extend the evening and go bowling! Yes, bowling! It was so much fun! I turned out to be pretty good at it, even though I didn't have the "form" that everybody else seemed to have. I made several strikes and spares! I was very impressed with myself. Bill played on a league when he was in junior high so he turned out to be pretty good. A few times I screwed up and Bill tried to give me some pointers. I tried to follow his instructions and it just made things worse so I went back to my own style (just throwing it and not thinking about it). Hey, whatever works! They turned the lights out and put on the black lights on and started playing music videos. They were trying to distract me but it didn't work. I still finished with 112 (which is pretty good in my eyes), but Bill beat my by one point. I said "wait a minute, who's birthday is this"! It was lots of fun and I hope we can do it again soon.
Saturday Bill went out and got me breakfast from Starbucks. My tea and a bagel. He gave me my presents and a card. The card had a picture of a kitty that looks just like Franklin. Inside was a cd he made for me of our story through music and tickets to see Lisa Williams. She is a medium and has a show on Lifetime. I'm interested to see the show. I'd like to believe that she can really talk to people who have passed. I'd like the think that she'd pick me out of the crowd and give me a message from my recently deceased cousin Shane. But if that doesn't happen, it will still be interesting to see. We listened to the cd and I loved every song. It brought back a lot of memories and it meant so much to me that he put all that thought in it. Such a sweet husband I have! Then we went to the mall to use up my giftcards. I was looking for a notebook to use to jot down my thoughts. I'm thinking of how I can share my story with other women and let them know that they're not alone. So, I'm writing my thoughts out until I feel like I have enough to put all together. I didn't find one so we walked around the mall and shopped a little. Then we went to lunch at CPK and I got the Thai crunch salad. Tasty! Since we didn't find a notebook, I decided, it's my birthday, let's go to Office Max! Those of you who know me well, know that this is fun for me. I have come to the conclusion that I love office supplies because my birthday is right before school starts so when I go out shopping for my birthday, that's what I find. I found a notebook! It's the perfect size and has a nice soft blue cover. Bill said he had an idea about what to do for dinner, but that he wanted to go home and change first. So, we go home and I grab the shopping bags to take inside. While I'm walking up to the door, I notice a bunch of people standing next to the garage and a Happy Birthday sign. Yay! I love surprise parties, especially when I have no idea what's going on! Lisa, Kevin, and Stephanie had come over earlier and set everything up while Bill distracted me. They were cooking corn, burgers and hotdogs. Bobby, Stephanie and Tina were there too. After a little bit Luce and Todd showed up with Mia and Belle. It didn't take me long to have that baby in my arms. LOL! So, we partied it up and had a great time. Then they brought out a cake! Coldstone cookie dough icecream cake. Yay! I have great friends!
Sunday we took it easy and then Bill surprised me with a dinner with my family at Cheesecake Factory. Melissa and Chad came too because they're part of the family too. :-) The food was TASTY! I got chocolate mousse cheesecake for dessert....yuuummm! I was happy to see my family. It had been a while since I'd been able to spend time with most of them and I miss that.
So, all in all, it was a fabulous birthday weekend! Thank you honey!!!
Whew, that's a long blog entry! I'm gonna have to update more often...this is tiring! :-)
Friday Bill and I met up with Lisa & Kevin, Stephanie and her friend Rourke at Carrabbas. I like that place because they have a dish called "Chicken Brian" which has sundried tomatoes, basil and goat cheese! (Sorry Eric) So, that's what I got. I have sworn off all alcohol because I'm hoping the baby thing will happen sooner rather than later and I want to be prepared. So, I got a "virgin" pina collada and it was quite tasty. We had a great time hanging out and we decided to extend the evening and go bowling! Yes, bowling! It was so much fun! I turned out to be pretty good at it, even though I didn't have the "form" that everybody else seemed to have. I made several strikes and spares! I was very impressed with myself. Bill played on a league when he was in junior high so he turned out to be pretty good. A few times I screwed up and Bill tried to give me some pointers. I tried to follow his instructions and it just made things worse so I went back to my own style (just throwing it and not thinking about it). Hey, whatever works! They turned the lights out and put on the black lights on and started playing music videos. They were trying to distract me but it didn't work. I still finished with 112 (which is pretty good in my eyes), but Bill beat my by one point. I said "wait a minute, who's birthday is this"! It was lots of fun and I hope we can do it again soon.
Saturday Bill went out and got me breakfast from Starbucks. My tea and a bagel. He gave me my presents and a card. The card had a picture of a kitty that looks just like Franklin. Inside was a cd he made for me of our story through music and tickets to see Lisa Williams. She is a medium and has a show on Lifetime. I'm interested to see the show. I'd like to believe that she can really talk to people who have passed. I'd like the think that she'd pick me out of the crowd and give me a message from my recently deceased cousin Shane. But if that doesn't happen, it will still be interesting to see. We listened to the cd and I loved every song. It brought back a lot of memories and it meant so much to me that he put all that thought in it. Such a sweet husband I have! Then we went to the mall to use up my giftcards. I was looking for a notebook to use to jot down my thoughts. I'm thinking of how I can share my story with other women and let them know that they're not alone. So, I'm writing my thoughts out until I feel like I have enough to put all together. I didn't find one so we walked around the mall and shopped a little. Then we went to lunch at CPK and I got the Thai crunch salad. Tasty! Since we didn't find a notebook, I decided, it's my birthday, let's go to Office Max! Those of you who know me well, know that this is fun for me. I have come to the conclusion that I love office supplies because my birthday is right before school starts so when I go out shopping for my birthday, that's what I find. I found a notebook! It's the perfect size and has a nice soft blue cover. Bill said he had an idea about what to do for dinner, but that he wanted to go home and change first. So, we go home and I grab the shopping bags to take inside. While I'm walking up to the door, I notice a bunch of people standing next to the garage and a Happy Birthday sign. Yay! I love surprise parties, especially when I have no idea what's going on! Lisa, Kevin, and Stephanie had come over earlier and set everything up while Bill distracted me. They were cooking corn, burgers and hotdogs. Bobby, Stephanie and Tina were there too. After a little bit Luce and Todd showed up with Mia and Belle. It didn't take me long to have that baby in my arms. LOL! So, we partied it up and had a great time. Then they brought out a cake! Coldstone cookie dough icecream cake. Yay! I have great friends!
Sunday we took it easy and then Bill surprised me with a dinner with my family at Cheesecake Factory. Melissa and Chad came too because they're part of the family too. :-) The food was TASTY! I got chocolate mousse cheesecake for dessert....yuuummm! I was happy to see my family. It had been a while since I'd been able to spend time with most of them and I miss that.
So, all in all, it was a fabulous birthday weekend! Thank you honey!!!
Whew, that's a long blog entry! I'm gonna have to update more often...this is tiring! :-)
MIA
I'm still around, I've just been so tired I haven't had the energy to write. Soon, very soon.
Some of you might get a kick out of this...I was just given a pink t-shirt! A woman from the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Division came to talk to me about setting up a team and raising money. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I loathe pink.
More later....
Some of you might get a kick out of this...I was just given a pink t-shirt! A woman from the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Division came to talk to me about setting up a team and raising money. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I loathe pink.
More later....
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Birthday Week!!!
Woohoo! I love birthdays! Technically my birthday isn't until Saturday (8/23), but I believe in celebrating for at least a week! Why not celebrate life? Why get all cranky that you're getting older....you're not going to get younger so you might as well enjoy the ride!
Yesterday we went to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. There was no talk of birthday, or maybe there was, but it was not a birthday dinner, but it's during my birthday week so I'm counting it! Tonight we're going to dinner at Crackers and I finally get to meet this Patti person who is supposedly the coolest (and vegan, Eric you moved away too quickly my dear)...my husband is a good judge of character so she must be sensational! LOL She works with him at the Mariner's Museum and they carpool. I'm so glad he got that job, he certainly loves it!
Tomorrow is knitting which is always fun. Birthday knitting!!!! Who knows what the rest of the week will bring! I like to put Bill in charge of my birthday...I LOVE surprises! Plus, who knows better what I want to do for my birthday than my husband/best friend!
I will be 27 this year. You don't get any special privileges for that like a drivers license (16) or the ability to vote (18) or rent a car (25). There aren't any age milestones like that until 65 when you get to retire. I hope I get to retire early so that I can travel, or at least have a job that has that kind of flexibility. Maybe I'll start a knitting business...wouldn't that be fun! I could travel around the world getting exotic or just interesting yarns and making fabulous scarves and things. Ok, I'm rambling....
Classes start next week so I have a lot of planning to do. Lots of paperwork and publicity stuff to get done. I'm excited about it though, because I love my job! I have a renewed hope for people because of some trainings I did yesterday so that makes my birthday week a nice one.
More on the festivities as they occur. Plus, once I get my pictures from Charleston off Steph's computer, I will post those. (I accidently erased them off my camera once she uploaded them to her computer instead of putting them on mine first then erasing...nice job).
Oh, on a side birthday note...I prefer the Beatles birthday song over the old fashioned one, so that tune will be playing in my head at most times this week I'm sure.
(I still can't figure out how to put a video on this damn page!)
Yesterday we went to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. There was no talk of birthday, or maybe there was, but it was not a birthday dinner, but it's during my birthday week so I'm counting it! Tonight we're going to dinner at Crackers and I finally get to meet this Patti person who is supposedly the coolest (and vegan, Eric you moved away too quickly my dear)...my husband is a good judge of character so she must be sensational! LOL She works with him at the Mariner's Museum and they carpool. I'm so glad he got that job, he certainly loves it!
Tomorrow is knitting which is always fun. Birthday knitting!!!! Who knows what the rest of the week will bring! I like to put Bill in charge of my birthday...I LOVE surprises! Plus, who knows better what I want to do for my birthday than my husband/best friend!
I will be 27 this year. You don't get any special privileges for that like a drivers license (16) or the ability to vote (18) or rent a car (25). There aren't any age milestones like that until 65 when you get to retire. I hope I get to retire early so that I can travel, or at least have a job that has that kind of flexibility. Maybe I'll start a knitting business...wouldn't that be fun! I could travel around the world getting exotic or just interesting yarns and making fabulous scarves and things. Ok, I'm rambling....
Classes start next week so I have a lot of planning to do. Lots of paperwork and publicity stuff to get done. I'm excited about it though, because I love my job! I have a renewed hope for people because of some trainings I did yesterday so that makes my birthday week a nice one.
More on the festivities as they occur. Plus, once I get my pictures from Charleston off Steph's computer, I will post those. (I accidently erased them off my camera once she uploaded them to her computer instead of putting them on mine first then erasing...nice job).
Oh, on a side birthday note...I prefer the Beatles birthday song over the old fashioned one, so that tune will be playing in my head at most times this week I'm sure.
(I still can't figure out how to put a video on this damn page!)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
"Vacation, all I ever wanted...."
(by The GoGos, in case you didn't know)
I just got back home about an hour ago from my vacation in South Carolina. I'm tired and I want to go back, but life must continue. We took Stephanie out to dinner at our favorite sushi place for her birthday on Sunday. Since Bill and I still have baby plans, I am avoiding the things you're not supposed to eat during pregnancy just for safe measure. I got the chicken terryaki. Mistake! The next day I woke up with food poisoning. Ick, and let's just leave it at that. I did get up to 101.4 for a temperature and felt like I was dying. Bill took excellent care of me and I recovered by the next morning in time to go on vacation. (Dodged that bullet...I was not about to miss my vacation!)
Stephanie and I drove down Monday and made great time. We listened to a few comedy cds, the funniest by Maria Bamford. Hilarious! We were exhausted once we got there, but it only took us 8 hours. Mom had gone down there on Sunday, so she was all checked in and we got to come in and crash. Mom made jambalaya and it hit the spot. She makes hers with salsa....yummy!
Tuesday we were being lazy and just lounged around. I started the latest Lisa Gardner paperback and Stephanie began reading Marley and Me. That one was recommended to me by Mr. E, so I'll read it next. Mom spent a lot of her day on the beach until we went for our mani/pedis. There is a little "spa" up the road that does everything from nails to massage to hair to tanning. I got there first and started my pedicure. I picked purple nail polish (of course) called "Don't you lilac it?". OPI has such clever names for their polish. After the pedi, another lady started the manicure. About halfway through Mom came in for her pedi. Once I was done I took Mom's car to get gas while she got her mani. I came back to wait for her to finish and I notice a lady come in with her daughter. I noticed that she had beautiful curly dark hair and couldn't see much else (because I'm practically blind even with my glasses). She set up an appointment for a hour and a half massage for herself and a half hour massage for her daughter. She walked over to the seating area (closer so I could see) and I thought to myself "damn, that looks like Andi McDowell". She sat down with her back to me and I whispered to Mom "don't turn around, but I think that's Andi McDowell". She wanted to turn around, but if it was her, I didn't want to make a scene or invade her space (I would hate that if I was famous...she obviously was on vacation and didn't want to be bothered). Mom and I continued to chat about knitting and this and that. She got up and turned around and looked right over at me and damn if it wasn't Andi McDowell! I just smiled and she sipped her water and then she turned around and sat back down. I whispered to Mom "that is her!" Then she got called back for her massage and the lady working on Mom's nails came back over. Mom (of course!) asked if that was in fact Andi McDowell and she confirmed that it was. Evidently she has been there before and they "don't make a big deal out of it". How exciting! Well, Mom and Stephanie were not happy that they didn't get to see her, so after lunch we went back to get Mom's car and saw her coming out of the shop. Perfect timing! LOL That night, Stephanie cooked tilapia with basil, fresh tomatoes, and white wine (thanks for the recipe Careyann!) We got the fish from the fresh seafood place right down the street. There was a guy in there who seemed interested in Stephanie so I told her we had to go back again before we left time so she could practice flirting. It's entertaining for me to try to help people get together, but I certainly wouldn't have the ovaries (in lieu of balls) for dating if I had to do it. (Thank you Bill!)
Wednesday it rained so we stayed in and watched a lot of Golden Girls (I brought the first season on dvd). TV is much more pleasant when there are no commercials! We also watched "Across The Universe" which was pretty cool. (I am still singing Beatles songs in my head!) They both fell asleep about half way through it though. I finished knitting the scarf I started in the car on the way down there. It's a double yarn drop stitch scarf in reds and cream. Just gotta add the fringe and I'll be done. (Just realizing that I haven't posted any knitting pictures in a while) I made "chicken-old-ladies-on-the-bus" for dinner. The name comes from my grandmother who over heard a couple of old ladies talking about the recipe on a bus. It's basically barbecue chicken.
Thursday we went to the beach in the morning and stayed for a while. I got a lot of my book read, it's really good! I definitely recommend her as an author. The first 4 or so you have to read in order and then I think there's a random one in the middle and the last two are another you have to read in sequence. There is a new one out in paperback, but I will wait until that one comes out in paperback. Oh wait, I have a gift card I can use to buy the hardback version. Oh goody! Anyway, we came back for lunch and then Steph and Mom went back to the beach. I'm not a hard core beach person...I've been stung 4 times by jellyfish! I was proud of myself for going in the water but after about 15 minutes I freaked out when I stepped on something soft that was not the sand. That was the end of my ocean fun for the week. It's a shame because I love to swim. I'd like to have my own pool one day to go with my house, but I'll have to start saving yesterday for that one. That night we decided to go out to eat. We went to the "fancy" restaurant on the island with a great view of the ocean. Well, when we walked in it looked nice, but upon further inspection, the frilly white table cloths were plastic and the drinks were served in plastic cups. The price of the food didn't reflect the cheap decor, though. I got the crab cakes (of course!) and they were ok. Stephanie brought her camera so we took a few pictures and then after dinner decided to take some on the beach. We had a blast and were being quite goofy. (pictures to follow once I get back into the swing of things)
Friday we headed for Charleston. We walked around and did some shopping first. I found some purple earrings so the trip for me was a success. Then while we were driving around, Bill called me. I had called him earlier to ask him a history question and I thought he was calling me back about that. I told him that we had just had a quick bite and were going to go to Sticky Fingers restaurant after a boat tour. He said "Oh, cool, can I come with you?" I said "Huh?". I thought he was being silly, but he then said "I'm in Charleston, surprise!". All I could say was "what?". It took me a few minutes to realize he wasn't kidding because Mom and Stephanie kept saying he was pulling my leg. Sure enough, he told us where to meet him and there he was waiting for us! What an amazing husband I have. He missed me so much he decided to take a day off work and come see me! Or, maybe it was because he wanted to go to Sticky Fingers. LOL, I think it was a mixture of both. Turns out he planned this a few weeks ago, sneaky! I was so happy to see him that I couldn't start smiling. He's such a cutey! The boat tour was ok (it rained for most of it) and then dinner was excellent. It was a good day!
Yesterday we went back to the seafood place and got some shrimp. Then we decided to go back and get scallops and clams. Then we went to the Piggly Wiggly to get some bacon to wrap the scallops in. So, we had a seafood fest that night and finished up the cheesecake and ice cream for dessert. It was another relaxed day and I tried not to think about work and all that I have to do this week.
The week went by so fast and now here I am again on a Sunday night worried about Monday morning and everything I have on my list to do this week. Sigh...why couldn't vacation be two weeks? Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I haven't had a vacation since last August...I'm tired!
I just got back home about an hour ago from my vacation in South Carolina. I'm tired and I want to go back, but life must continue. We took Stephanie out to dinner at our favorite sushi place for her birthday on Sunday. Since Bill and I still have baby plans, I am avoiding the things you're not supposed to eat during pregnancy just for safe measure. I got the chicken terryaki. Mistake! The next day I woke up with food poisoning. Ick, and let's just leave it at that. I did get up to 101.4 for a temperature and felt like I was dying. Bill took excellent care of me and I recovered by the next morning in time to go on vacation. (Dodged that bullet...I was not about to miss my vacation!)
Stephanie and I drove down Monday and made great time. We listened to a few comedy cds, the funniest by Maria Bamford. Hilarious! We were exhausted once we got there, but it only took us 8 hours. Mom had gone down there on Sunday, so she was all checked in and we got to come in and crash. Mom made jambalaya and it hit the spot. She makes hers with salsa....yummy!
Tuesday we were being lazy and just lounged around. I started the latest Lisa Gardner paperback and Stephanie began reading Marley and Me. That one was recommended to me by Mr. E, so I'll read it next. Mom spent a lot of her day on the beach until we went for our mani/pedis. There is a little "spa" up the road that does everything from nails to massage to hair to tanning. I got there first and started my pedicure. I picked purple nail polish (of course) called "Don't you lilac it?". OPI has such clever names for their polish. After the pedi, another lady started the manicure. About halfway through Mom came in for her pedi. Once I was done I took Mom's car to get gas while she got her mani. I came back to wait for her to finish and I notice a lady come in with her daughter. I noticed that she had beautiful curly dark hair and couldn't see much else (because I'm practically blind even with my glasses). She set up an appointment for a hour and a half massage for herself and a half hour massage for her daughter. She walked over to the seating area (closer so I could see) and I thought to myself "damn, that looks like Andi McDowell". She sat down with her back to me and I whispered to Mom "don't turn around, but I think that's Andi McDowell". She wanted to turn around, but if it was her, I didn't want to make a scene or invade her space (I would hate that if I was famous...she obviously was on vacation and didn't want to be bothered). Mom and I continued to chat about knitting and this and that. She got up and turned around and looked right over at me and damn if it wasn't Andi McDowell! I just smiled and she sipped her water and then she turned around and sat back down. I whispered to Mom "that is her!" Then she got called back for her massage and the lady working on Mom's nails came back over. Mom (of course!) asked if that was in fact Andi McDowell and she confirmed that it was. Evidently she has been there before and they "don't make a big deal out of it". How exciting! Well, Mom and Stephanie were not happy that they didn't get to see her, so after lunch we went back to get Mom's car and saw her coming out of the shop. Perfect timing! LOL That night, Stephanie cooked tilapia with basil, fresh tomatoes, and white wine (thanks for the recipe Careyann!) We got the fish from the fresh seafood place right down the street. There was a guy in there who seemed interested in Stephanie so I told her we had to go back again before we left time so she could practice flirting. It's entertaining for me to try to help people get together, but I certainly wouldn't have the ovaries (in lieu of balls) for dating if I had to do it. (Thank you Bill!)
Wednesday it rained so we stayed in and watched a lot of Golden Girls (I brought the first season on dvd). TV is much more pleasant when there are no commercials! We also watched "Across The Universe" which was pretty cool. (I am still singing Beatles songs in my head!) They both fell asleep about half way through it though. I finished knitting the scarf I started in the car on the way down there. It's a double yarn drop stitch scarf in reds and cream. Just gotta add the fringe and I'll be done. (Just realizing that I haven't posted any knitting pictures in a while) I made "chicken-old-ladies-on-the-bus" for dinner. The name comes from my grandmother who over heard a couple of old ladies talking about the recipe on a bus. It's basically barbecue chicken.
Thursday we went to the beach in the morning and stayed for a while. I got a lot of my book read, it's really good! I definitely recommend her as an author. The first 4 or so you have to read in order and then I think there's a random one in the middle and the last two are another you have to read in sequence. There is a new one out in paperback, but I will wait until that one comes out in paperback. Oh wait, I have a gift card I can use to buy the hardback version. Oh goody! Anyway, we came back for lunch and then Steph and Mom went back to the beach. I'm not a hard core beach person...I've been stung 4 times by jellyfish! I was proud of myself for going in the water but after about 15 minutes I freaked out when I stepped on something soft that was not the sand. That was the end of my ocean fun for the week. It's a shame because I love to swim. I'd like to have my own pool one day to go with my house, but I'll have to start saving yesterday for that one. That night we decided to go out to eat. We went to the "fancy" restaurant on the island with a great view of the ocean. Well, when we walked in it looked nice, but upon further inspection, the frilly white table cloths were plastic and the drinks were served in plastic cups. The price of the food didn't reflect the cheap decor, though. I got the crab cakes (of course!) and they were ok. Stephanie brought her camera so we took a few pictures and then after dinner decided to take some on the beach. We had a blast and were being quite goofy. (pictures to follow once I get back into the swing of things)
Friday we headed for Charleston. We walked around and did some shopping first. I found some purple earrings so the trip for me was a success. Then while we were driving around, Bill called me. I had called him earlier to ask him a history question and I thought he was calling me back about that. I told him that we had just had a quick bite and were going to go to Sticky Fingers restaurant after a boat tour. He said "Oh, cool, can I come with you?" I said "Huh?". I thought he was being silly, but he then said "I'm in Charleston, surprise!". All I could say was "what?". It took me a few minutes to realize he wasn't kidding because Mom and Stephanie kept saying he was pulling my leg. Sure enough, he told us where to meet him and there he was waiting for us! What an amazing husband I have. He missed me so much he decided to take a day off work and come see me! Or, maybe it was because he wanted to go to Sticky Fingers. LOL, I think it was a mixture of both. Turns out he planned this a few weeks ago, sneaky! I was so happy to see him that I couldn't start smiling. He's such a cutey! The boat tour was ok (it rained for most of it) and then dinner was excellent. It was a good day!
Yesterday we went back to the seafood place and got some shrimp. Then we decided to go back and get scallops and clams. Then we went to the Piggly Wiggly to get some bacon to wrap the scallops in. So, we had a seafood fest that night and finished up the cheesecake and ice cream for dessert. It was another relaxed day and I tried not to think about work and all that I have to do this week.
The week went by so fast and now here I am again on a Sunday night worried about Monday morning and everything I have on my list to do this week. Sigh...why couldn't vacation be two weeks? Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I haven't had a vacation since last August...I'm tired!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Man vs. Guy
This morning as I drove to work, I was rockin' out to Bon Jovi (the only music on the radio at the time) and near 'bout ran off the damn road! I happened to glance over at a large truck (because I like trucks) and saw that the license plate read "NOFTCHX". WTF! My mouth dropped open, literally. He obviously was driving that huge truck to overcompensate for something, and that's all I'll say about that.
After I got over the initial anger, I started to reflect on why he felt it was necessary to have that on his license plate. I mean, really. Is it necessary to insult the average woman, because, as we see on TV and in magazines and on the runways, the average woman is considered "fat" by our society. As my buddy Luce pointed out, "full figured" starts at size 10, according to the fashion world. I am not ashamed to have a little "junk in my trunk", but damn does it piss me off that someone makes a point to say something so insulting to one specific population (above average women) ON THEIR VEHICLE. Why is that your soap box? Why is that the message that you want to put out to the world? Who are you trying to impress? Do you have no compassion for people who don't fit into your little box? I'm sure that you, sir, have many of your own flaws, besides being a dick. Yep, I said it!
This is why I distinguish the men from the guys. A real man would not feel the need to put something so childish and ridiculous and disrespectful out there for the world to see. A real man would respect all women, no matter their size, shape, color, religion, political standing, etc...
On the other hand, a "guy" would feel the need to so something as disrespectful as this and show how immature and superficial he is. A "guy" feels the need to find ways to make himself feel good by putting others down, and if it does make them feel bad about themselves, then that's just funny to him. A "guy" is what you see on that "go meat" commercial chanting about grilled meats on the verge of beating their chests like a gorilla and pulling out their pieces and measuring them to see who's is the biggest (they don't actually do that, but it seems to be the next step). That's a "guy". I hate that macho crap, why can't you act like a human and be respectful and then everybody can have fun and enjoy life. I mean, if I wanted to play that game, I could change my license plate to "NOTNYDX". But, I'm beyond that because I don't get my jollies from making others feel bad about themselves.
Anywho, I'm getting lots of stuff done at work so that I won't have to worry about anything while I'm on vacation. Whoohoo, VACATION! Finally! Tomorrow is another busy day and we're having a special guest. More on that later.
Tomorrow is also knitting day! I should take the backpack I have been working on so that I can ask our knitting expert, Mildred, how to finish it. I might just take the fun fur ODU blue scarf and the black tie Bill has asked me to make for him. He wants to wear it to a big meeting. Who knows, maybe he'll get some compliments on it and I can sell some ties, LOL! I'd like to be able to make money off my knitting. Maybe after the sale at ODU in November I'll start an Etsy account like my friend Tiffany who makes baby hair accessories. She actually has one of the hats that I knitted that she added a flower to. It's super cute! I have enough yarn to make lots of stuff, the problem is finding the time to do that. Maybe I need twice a week knitting groups LOL!
After I got over the initial anger, I started to reflect on why he felt it was necessary to have that on his license plate. I mean, really. Is it necessary to insult the average woman, because, as we see on TV and in magazines and on the runways, the average woman is considered "fat" by our society. As my buddy Luce pointed out, "full figured" starts at size 10, according to the fashion world. I am not ashamed to have a little "junk in my trunk", but damn does it piss me off that someone makes a point to say something so insulting to one specific population (above average women) ON THEIR VEHICLE. Why is that your soap box? Why is that the message that you want to put out to the world? Who are you trying to impress? Do you have no compassion for people who don't fit into your little box? I'm sure that you, sir, have many of your own flaws, besides being a dick. Yep, I said it!
This is why I distinguish the men from the guys. A real man would not feel the need to put something so childish and ridiculous and disrespectful out there for the world to see. A real man would respect all women, no matter their size, shape, color, religion, political standing, etc...
On the other hand, a "guy" would feel the need to so something as disrespectful as this and show how immature and superficial he is. A "guy" feels the need to find ways to make himself feel good by putting others down, and if it does make them feel bad about themselves, then that's just funny to him. A "guy" is what you see on that "go meat" commercial chanting about grilled meats on the verge of beating their chests like a gorilla and pulling out their pieces and measuring them to see who's is the biggest (they don't actually do that, but it seems to be the next step). That's a "guy". I hate that macho crap, why can't you act like a human and be respectful and then everybody can have fun and enjoy life. I mean, if I wanted to play that game, I could change my license plate to "NOTNYDX". But, I'm beyond that because I don't get my jollies from making others feel bad about themselves.
Anywho, I'm getting lots of stuff done at work so that I won't have to worry about anything while I'm on vacation. Whoohoo, VACATION! Finally! Tomorrow is another busy day and we're having a special guest. More on that later.
Tomorrow is also knitting day! I should take the backpack I have been working on so that I can ask our knitting expert, Mildred, how to finish it. I might just take the fun fur ODU blue scarf and the black tie Bill has asked me to make for him. He wants to wear it to a big meeting. Who knows, maybe he'll get some compliments on it and I can sell some ties, LOL! I'd like to be able to make money off my knitting. Maybe after the sale at ODU in November I'll start an Etsy account like my friend Tiffany who makes baby hair accessories. She actually has one of the hats that I knitted that she added a flower to. It's super cute! I have enough yarn to make lots of stuff, the problem is finding the time to do that. Maybe I need twice a week knitting groups LOL!
Monday, August 4, 2008
A variety of thoughts
As I watch Spaceballs, I am reflecting on the events of the last couple of days. (I love this movie)
Friday night I went to the Crosby Stills and Nash concert with my mom. Right in the middle of it I had all these great introspective thoughts that now escape me. LOL! (It's probably a bad idea to try and update this while watching John Candy dressed as a mog (half man/half dog) and Pizza The Hut.) My favorite song they sang was the "almost cut my hair" song. It was nice hanging out with the hippies. One song they sang he said he wrote 40 years ago about ending the Vietnam War and the lyrics are still relevant for this war.
Sunday I hung out with a group of feminists. THAT was FUN! It's nice to be around like minded people. We're trying to get the local chapter of NOW up and running again. I joined them at the March For Women's Lives in 2004 in DC and had a blast. So, I'm excited about what we can accomplish. Who knows, maybe you'll see me outside a Walmart picketing for equal pay.
Then I went to see Brideshead Revisited with my friends Luce and Erin. After the movie Luce heard a woman say outloud "I came to see a love story not a f**ot love story" (sorry, I refuse to even type that word, but if you can't figure it out she was referring to a gay love story) The nerve of some people! Then we went to a local eatery and had some appetizers and talked about random stuffs. Good times! I love haging out with the girlz.
Things at work are going well. I'm taking care of all the details for the start of the semester this week since I'll be on vacation next week. I'm ready for vacation! Bill isn't able to go this time because of his new job and their big move to the new location. I will miss him! It will be fun to get away and be with the girlz though. I'm sure he'll watch the movies I don't want to see with him and eat a lot of spicy food. I bought a Lisa Gardner book to read on the beach. Yay!
I'm working on an ODU colored scarf for the sale in November. I finished one this weekend and I'm half way through this one. I decided to put the baby blanket down for a bit and work on the sale stuff. It's a nice switch because the scarves don't take as long.
If you haven't seen Spaceballs, it's a classic Mel Brooks movie that everyone should see at least once. There are so many good quotes in this movie! I can't figure out how to put the video on this page, so here's the link. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDqk-izC2kw
Friday night I went to the Crosby Stills and Nash concert with my mom. Right in the middle of it I had all these great introspective thoughts that now escape me. LOL! (It's probably a bad idea to try and update this while watching John Candy dressed as a mog (half man/half dog) and Pizza The Hut.) My favorite song they sang was the "almost cut my hair" song. It was nice hanging out with the hippies. One song they sang he said he wrote 40 years ago about ending the Vietnam War and the lyrics are still relevant for this war.
Sunday I hung out with a group of feminists. THAT was FUN! It's nice to be around like minded people. We're trying to get the local chapter of NOW up and running again. I joined them at the March For Women's Lives in 2004 in DC and had a blast. So, I'm excited about what we can accomplish. Who knows, maybe you'll see me outside a Walmart picketing for equal pay.
Then I went to see Brideshead Revisited with my friends Luce and Erin. After the movie Luce heard a woman say outloud "I came to see a love story not a f**ot love story" (sorry, I refuse to even type that word, but if you can't figure it out she was referring to a gay love story) The nerve of some people! Then we went to a local eatery and had some appetizers and talked about random stuffs. Good times! I love haging out with the girlz.
Things at work are going well. I'm taking care of all the details for the start of the semester this week since I'll be on vacation next week. I'm ready for vacation! Bill isn't able to go this time because of his new job and their big move to the new location. I will miss him! It will be fun to get away and be with the girlz though. I'm sure he'll watch the movies I don't want to see with him and eat a lot of spicy food. I bought a Lisa Gardner book to read on the beach. Yay!
I'm working on an ODU colored scarf for the sale in November. I finished one this weekend and I'm half way through this one. I decided to put the baby blanket down for a bit and work on the sale stuff. It's a nice switch because the scarves don't take as long.
If you haven't seen Spaceballs, it's a classic Mel Brooks movie that everyone should see at least once. There are so many good quotes in this movie! I can't figure out how to put the video on this page, so here's the link. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDqk-izC2kw
Monday, July 28, 2008
Memmmmrrrrieeeesss
A commercial just came on for some random thing and it in there was a little boy playing with a toy that sparked a memory. I forgot all about these toys and am really surprised that they're still making them! I couldn't remember what they were called so I googled "80s basketball water toy" (because the version I remember was a basketball game). Good ol' google.....Waterfuls!
My cousin Shane had these toys at his house and I used to play with them on Sundays after church while we waited for lunch. I think he also had the tic-tac-toe version. We'd switch games because we'd get bored with them easily. I just remember sitting there on the couch with him and my sister someties and we didn't talk, just played our games. I would get frustrated with mine sometimes and cheat and turn it upside down. He would just laugh at me and switch games.
Not an exciting post, but when I remember times with my cousin Shane, it helps me to share them. That's how I want to remember him, not as someone who committed suicide, but as the boy who was the closest thing I had to brother and who I enjoyed spending time with.
My cousin Shane had these toys at his house and I used to play with them on Sundays after church while we waited for lunch. I think he also had the tic-tac-toe version. We'd switch games because we'd get bored with them easily. I just remember sitting there on the couch with him and my sister someties and we didn't talk, just played our games. I would get frustrated with mine sometimes and cheat and turn it upside down. He would just laugh at me and switch games.
Not an exciting post, but when I remember times with my cousin Shane, it helps me to share them. That's how I want to remember him, not as someone who committed suicide, but as the boy who was the closest thing I had to brother and who I enjoyed spending time with.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Happy Thoughts!
In no particular order. After all the bad stuff that's gone on in the last 8 months, and after all that pink in the previous post, I needed some happy thoughts. LOL
Pens!!!! (I know, I'm addicted)
Wedding Crew!
Gloria Steinem (my friend...we bonded) 
Purple! (photo by me!) 
Knitting with an awesome friend!
Happiest (and hottest) day of my life!
Ansel Adams and the road ahead
Franky...cute little devil
Eleanor...our sweet "old lady"
My hubby...his eyes aren't always like that, he was being funny LOL 
Front and center at The Breeders concert! Kim Deal (left) shook my hand! It was awsome!Thursday, July 24, 2008
barf
A few pictures that made me throw up a little...
"Baby's first high heels"
"She-ra, Rainbow Bright, and Strawberry Shortcake"
Little girls in beauty pageants made to look 25+
Because girls must play with girl toys and boys must play with boys toys evidently
Underwear marketed to little girls
I just don't even know what to say about this one
This one is going to give me nightmares!
I've been "punked"
By a Crape Myrtle tree! I came out to my car this morning to go to work and saw that it was covered in PINK Crape Myrtle flowers! Which one of you who knows I hate pink did this?????? LOL I guess the tree thought it was doing me a favor donning my car with flower petals. Too bad it wasn't gardenia petals on my car...those are my favorite!
I'm gonna have to explain (I guess) why I hate pink. Ok, hate is a strong word so let's just say I really really really don't like it. Soon, all will be revealed....
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Bingo!
We had a very busy day yesterday. Bill had a haircut scheduled at 11:15am, but she was running behind so that put us behind. We didn't leave Norfolk until 12:30pm. We headed to Bill's mom's house where we loaded up the truck with a recliner for my dad. We took that over to my dad's and visited for a few. Then Bill went back to his house to help his mom cut the grass. I hung out with Daddy and ran some errands with him around town. Then we went to visit my Aunt Linda (Shane's Mom). There was a picture of Shane on her mantle that I had taken and a friend of his and blown up and framed. I still have a hard time looking at his picture now that he's gone. I have so many of him though because he used to not let me take his picture and it was fun to try to sneak up and get his picture. I have several with his head turned or his hand up in front of his face. It wasn't until a few years ago that he liked for me to take his picture. I even printed on of the pictures myself in the dark room at school when I was pursuing a photography degree. I gave that one to him one christmas and he liked it so much he kept it up in his house. After he died everybody started bringing Linda pictures of him, and she got that one from his house. I didn't know that he had it on display and that really touched me to know he valued it so much. I still can't believe he's gone and I still don't believe he did it to himself.
Anyway, so we got all that done and then headed back to Norfolk and met Lisa and Kevin at the bingo hall. This is our third trip and so far at least one of us has one each time. We had a lot of giggles at the random things people were yelling out and our inability to keep up with the quickie games. It was a fun time and we ate junk food and Kevin one $100. The rest of us, not so much. Next time we have to go super early to get a table in the non-smoking section. It gets sooo smoky in there, buy eyes still hurt today! I've only gotten to yell "bingo" once, so hopefully next time I'll have it all together and can win some moolah.
Back to work tomorrow and then 3 weeks until vacation!!!!
Anyway, so we got all that done and then headed back to Norfolk and met Lisa and Kevin at the bingo hall. This is our third trip and so far at least one of us has one each time. We had a lot of giggles at the random things people were yelling out and our inability to keep up with the quickie games. It was a fun time and we ate junk food and Kevin one $100. The rest of us, not so much. Next time we have to go super early to get a table in the non-smoking section. It gets sooo smoky in there, buy eyes still hurt today! I've only gotten to yell "bingo" once, so hopefully next time I'll have it all together and can win some moolah.
Back to work tomorrow and then 3 weeks until vacation!!!!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Rollercoaster!
Good news today! Finally! My doctor called me with my test results from yesterday. My beta levels are now down to 5 so that means I'm done. No more blood work or ultrasounds for this pregnancy. It's over! What they saw on the ultrasound yesterday will go away on its own. The beta number is what's important. She said we can start trying again as soon as I have a normal cycle. Who the hell knows when that will be, but this is good news! Woohoo!
(Sigh of relief)
Man what an emotional rollercoaster this has been! You can see from my post yesterday that I was feeling a little loopy. I had a thought yesterday about my emotional state and how I was having trouble really feeling what was going on. I have been on birth control since I was 18, and now that I'm off it, I didn't think about the effect it was having on my emotions. I was actually more emotional on the pills. I remember saying how I didn't used to be emotional growing up. Never put two and two together, but that probably had a lot to do with it. I wonder what other changes I haven't noticed. So, now I'll have to be more in tuned with my emotions and make sure that I'm not neglecting any of them.
When my cousin Shane died recently I had the initial emotional breakdown and then I switched into take care of everybody mode. But with that situation I had a few other moments where I allowed myself to grieve. That was right after I got off the pills though, so it may have still been in my system. I figured out when I got pregnant and sure enough, it was the day he died (we didn't know he was did until 2 days later). I don't know if I believe in reincarnation, but I was sure hoping it was true. So, losing this pregnancy was almost like losing Shane all over again because I was hoping he had been reincarnated and was coming back to us. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I wont dwell on that though. I will remember the things I loved about Shane and the wonderful memories I have of him (like him teaching me the rules of football).
So, I'm looking forward and hoping for some more good news in the near future. The odds of me having another ectopic pregnancy are very slim, but I will certainly be paying attention to everything that happens with my body. One thing that I learned through all this is that I have some pretty amazing friends...thanks y'all! :-)
(Sigh of relief)
Man what an emotional rollercoaster this has been! You can see from my post yesterday that I was feeling a little loopy. I had a thought yesterday about my emotional state and how I was having trouble really feeling what was going on. I have been on birth control since I was 18, and now that I'm off it, I didn't think about the effect it was having on my emotions. I was actually more emotional on the pills. I remember saying how I didn't used to be emotional growing up. Never put two and two together, but that probably had a lot to do with it. I wonder what other changes I haven't noticed. So, now I'll have to be more in tuned with my emotions and make sure that I'm not neglecting any of them.
When my cousin Shane died recently I had the initial emotional breakdown and then I switched into take care of everybody mode. But with that situation I had a few other moments where I allowed myself to grieve. That was right after I got off the pills though, so it may have still been in my system. I figured out when I got pregnant and sure enough, it was the day he died (we didn't know he was did until 2 days later). I don't know if I believe in reincarnation, but I was sure hoping it was true. So, losing this pregnancy was almost like losing Shane all over again because I was hoping he had been reincarnated and was coming back to us. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I wont dwell on that though. I will remember the things I loved about Shane and the wonderful memories I have of him (like him teaching me the rules of football).
So, I'm looking forward and hoping for some more good news in the near future. The odds of me having another ectopic pregnancy are very slim, but I will certainly be paying attention to everything that happens with my body. One thing that I learned through all this is that I have some pretty amazing friends...thanks y'all! :-)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thank god for Starbucks tea!
I really needed one today. I just got back from the doctor and guess what...it's still there! $&()@#&$&@%_*#(&*%*()@#$&@()*#*)(@$*& I guess I'm going through the angry stage of grief. I don't know who I could possibly be mad at though. It's nobodies fault. I just want this crap to be over. It's sooooooo frustrating! Bill and I have been together for 9 years. We waiting to have a family until we felt we were both ready. And now THIS! We're going to be awesome parents when it happens like it's supposed to, so why the delay? It wouldn't be so bad if it was over quickly, but no, this is the 3rd week I've had to go to the doctor for ultrasounds and blood work. I'm surprise there's any blood left! (On another note, yay for the labcorp people. I only go stuck once today and it only took a minute!)
Let's see, I'm trying to remember back to my counseling classes...what are the 7 stages of grief...keep in mind these are not linear and I can cycle through them in any order...
Anger--#^*&#^(*&%#&^$#*())&#%(^#$...check
Depression--hmm, physically I've been down, but I don't know that I've allowed myself to feel this stage yet
Bargaining--who am I gonna bargain with, myself?
Denial--YEP! Big time! I know it's happening, but I'm being very logical about it all and haven't broken down yet....damn it
Acceptance--not until it's all over with I guess
Shock--maybe this is why I'm numb
Guilt--over what? Doing everything right?
I keep writing about this hoping that it will sink in and I will be able to let it all out. I'm too busy making sure physically everything is ok and thinking about when we can try again to deal with what's going happened. See, I'm very logical about it all. Of course, I haven't really had the space to fall apart. I think I'm too worried about everybody else in my family's feelings. I've always been the one who had to hold it all together for the family. I just remembered the scene from Grey's Anatomy when Izzy laid on the bathroom floor after Denny died. That's what I feel like doing, just plopping down somewhere and staring at the wall. But then at the same time I want to get back to my life and go out and have fun with my friends and go shopping and look at baby stuff and feel hopeful. Now when look at baby stuff, ok, so, maybe I have had some teary moments. Yeah, when I think how badly I want a baby of our own....I love holding everybody else's baby, but I'm really ready to have my own to hold and kiss their little head...I love that baby head smell. Ugh, I ache! I think that if I tried to lay on the floor the kitties would come and cuddle with me or chase each other around me and I wouldn't be able to just stare at the wall. Maybe I need to take a trip home to the country and drive out to my favorite spot from when I grew up. I used to go there with my dog Kisses and explore the woods and take pictures. That's the thing about the city...there's always someone around...no peace and quiet to sit and think.
I'm amazed at all the women who have told me their stories or their daughter's or aunts or cousins or friends, etc... It makes me think of the quote "women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water". I continue to be amazed by women and their strength. I know somehow I'll get through all this, but damn when will it end?
I forgot how much I liked Garfield until I got this bandaid.
Let's see, I'm trying to remember back to my counseling classes...what are the 7 stages of grief...keep in mind these are not linear and I can cycle through them in any order...
Anger--#^*&#^(*&%#&^$#*())&#%(^#$...check
Depression--hmm, physically I've been down, but I don't know that I've allowed myself to feel this stage yet
Bargaining--who am I gonna bargain with, myself?
Denial--YEP! Big time! I know it's happening, but I'm being very logical about it all and haven't broken down yet....damn it
Acceptance--not until it's all over with I guess
Shock--maybe this is why I'm numb
Guilt--over what? Doing everything right?
I keep writing about this hoping that it will sink in and I will be able to let it all out. I'm too busy making sure physically everything is ok and thinking about when we can try again to deal with what's going happened. See, I'm very logical about it all. Of course, I haven't really had the space to fall apart. I think I'm too worried about everybody else in my family's feelings. I've always been the one who had to hold it all together for the family. I just remembered the scene from Grey's Anatomy when Izzy laid on the bathroom floor after Denny died. That's what I feel like doing, just plopping down somewhere and staring at the wall. But then at the same time I want to get back to my life and go out and have fun with my friends and go shopping and look at baby stuff and feel hopeful. Now when look at baby stuff, ok, so, maybe I have had some teary moments. Yeah, when I think how badly I want a baby of our own....I love holding everybody else's baby, but I'm really ready to have my own to hold and kiss their little head...I love that baby head smell. Ugh, I ache! I think that if I tried to lay on the floor the kitties would come and cuddle with me or chase each other around me and I wouldn't be able to just stare at the wall. Maybe I need to take a trip home to the country and drive out to my favorite spot from when I grew up. I used to go there with my dog Kisses and explore the woods and take pictures. That's the thing about the city...there's always someone around...no peace and quiet to sit and think.
I'm amazed at all the women who have told me their stories or their daughter's or aunts or cousins or friends, etc... It makes me think of the quote "women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water". I continue to be amazed by women and their strength. I know somehow I'll get through all this, but damn when will it end?
I forgot how much I liked Garfield until I got this bandaid.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
More needles!
I have another appointment tomorrow with the doctor people. More blood work! I'm hoping she'll say it's completely gone and we can start trying again. I'm ready for the happy giddy stuff again. I'm ready to not have to say "oh, you haven't heard...." and explain the thing. I'm ready to see the smile on my face and Bill's and on my family and friends faces. I'm ready to go to the doctor and have her say, there it is, right there in your uterus right where it should be. Well, maybe not exactly that, but I'm ready for her to not make a concerned face while she's looking at the ultrasound. I'm ready to not have to do any more damn blood work, or at least a lot lot less. And, please limit the shots in my ass, thank you.
I accidentally walked through the baby section of TJ Maxx last weekend and saw the cutest little onesies. Big mistake. Sigh. It will be soon enough. Crossing my fingers for good news tomorrow.
On a lighter note, I got some more organizing done in my office today. Cleaned the windows with the Seventh Generation stuff....now it's a clean and shiny. I think I got the smell of smoke out by doing that. For some reason, I am the only one who can smell the smoke in there. (The smoke that came through from the fires in NC) I got my plants in there in front of the window, my bad kitty calendar, and Bill's picture on the desk. It's all coming together.
And, tomorrow is knitting, yay!
I accidentally walked through the baby section of TJ Maxx last weekend and saw the cutest little onesies. Big mistake. Sigh. It will be soon enough. Crossing my fingers for good news tomorrow.
On a lighter note, I got some more organizing done in my office today. Cleaned the windows with the Seventh Generation stuff....now it's a clean and shiny. I think I got the smell of smoke out by doing that. For some reason, I am the only one who can smell the smoke in there. (The smoke that came through from the fires in NC) I got my plants in there in front of the window, my bad kitty calendar, and Bill's picture on the desk. It's all coming together.
And, tomorrow is knitting, yay!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Getting back to normal...
Hopefully! I have another appointment on Wednesday for another ultrasound and more blood work. I am so sick of having to get blood drawn I don't know what to do! Hopefully I won't have to get that much done next time I'm pregnant. Although, a friend of mine who is now pregnant has informed me that at one appointment they have to draw 10 viles of blood! AAAAHHH! Bill will have to drive me to that one. I'm sure I'll pass out. But it's to test for a bunch of possible birth defects or something, so it's for a good cause, but DAMN!
My new job officially starts on Monday. I will be doing both my current job and new job for a little while until they find someone to take over my old one on a temporary basis. I am technically "interim" in the new position and after a year I'll have to formally apply and go through that whole process. Those who have known me a few years know that I have gone through this process before. But, I survived and am stronger now for it. I really want to keep this new job and I'm excited about what I can accomplish with it. I'll get to interact more with students too and that's nice. The only thing that will take some getting used to is being back in that office after having been out in the front office for a year. It just got new furniture which is nice. And, thanks to the person who just vacated the position, I have a new plant! I'm trying to have a green thumb...we'll see. So far I haven't killed any plants. Although, I think I'm going to have to re-pot my jade plant that my buddy Lisa gave me. The soil I put in it was sitting in the garage and now has some gnats flying around it. I can't deal with that. I'll have to buy a new bag of soil and dump the old one in the back yard I guess.
Bill went home to help his folks get a new tv today. Their dog of 15 years, Lady, recently had to be put down. The think she had a stroke and she was having trouble even standing and was miserable. It's really hard to lose a dog who has become part of the family. I had my dog Kisses for 14 years and she was starting to get sick and one day walked off to die. We never found her so sometimes I like to think someone came and picked her up and took care of her and she's still around happy somewhere. Wishful thinking I guess. She was the most wonderful doggy. She followed me everywhere I went, even when she wasn't supposed to. I used to ride downtown on my bike just about everyday and I would have to trick her and not let her see me leave or she would follow me all the way downtown (1 mile). One time I didn't realize that she followed me and when I got to my dad's shop, I turned around and there she was. Daddy was not very happy about that because he had to close his doors and take her back to the house. That took all of 5 minutes, but whatever. I have lots of good memories of Kisses. I hope to have a dog for my children. Of course, in my neighborhood, we didn't have to tie them up. Kisses could roam around the neighborhood and everybody loved her and fed her treats. In the city I don't think you can do that. Too many cars and people who like to do stupid stuff. So, I'm hoping for a house with a big back yard.
I was looking at houses online this morning. I also discovered that on channel 95 they run ads for homes for sale 24 hours a day. I just started looking online in Chesapeake. I found a few good ones. Bill and I are hoping to buy a house before the baby comes. Our apt. lease is up at the end of May 09. So, I'm now just doing research and drooling over the cute homes. I have no idea what all goes into buying a home, but I am discovering it is a lot harder than I thought. So, if you have bought a house and have some tips, please share. I have no idea what our price range will be. We'll go through our bank when the time comes. I want at least 3 bedrooms so we will have one for baby and a guest, and at least 2 bathrooms. I would like a nice kitchen with plenty of counter space. Bill and I like to cook. I would like a dishwasher because I am freaking tired of doing dishes. Probably just washer and dryer hookup because I'd like to have new ones instead of using one someone has had their stuff in. Weird, I know, but this is a wish list. Garbage disposal would be nice too. It would also be nice to have a music/craft room for Bill's guitars and my yarn. And an office with room for all our books. I know I know, I don't want much do I? Oh, and we have to have a porch or deck of some sort. I have to be able to sit outside. I'm tired of this apartment living where I have no space of my own to go outside.
Today I'm going to see my friend Debbie for another Healing Touch treatment. She offered it to me because of all the crap I've been going through lately. I had one after my cousin Shane died and it helped to relax me. Then we're going out to dinner at Cogan's (Woodchuck damn it!) for my friend Bobby's birthday. I'll have to post the Woodchuck story up here. It was quite an ordeal! Maybe later....
Gotta go, Franklin is getting into stuff and bugging the hell out of me. He wants to play fetch. Yeah, that's right, my cat plays fetch!
Oh, and good luck Eric on your bike ride this weekend! You must be crazy! LOL
My new job officially starts on Monday. I will be doing both my current job and new job for a little while until they find someone to take over my old one on a temporary basis. I am technically "interim" in the new position and after a year I'll have to formally apply and go through that whole process. Those who have known me a few years know that I have gone through this process before. But, I survived and am stronger now for it. I really want to keep this new job and I'm excited about what I can accomplish with it. I'll get to interact more with students too and that's nice. The only thing that will take some getting used to is being back in that office after having been out in the front office for a year. It just got new furniture which is nice. And, thanks to the person who just vacated the position, I have a new plant! I'm trying to have a green thumb...we'll see. So far I haven't killed any plants. Although, I think I'm going to have to re-pot my jade plant that my buddy Lisa gave me. The soil I put in it was sitting in the garage and now has some gnats flying around it. I can't deal with that. I'll have to buy a new bag of soil and dump the old one in the back yard I guess.
Bill went home to help his folks get a new tv today. Their dog of 15 years, Lady, recently had to be put down. The think she had a stroke and she was having trouble even standing and was miserable. It's really hard to lose a dog who has become part of the family. I had my dog Kisses for 14 years and she was starting to get sick and one day walked off to die. We never found her so sometimes I like to think someone came and picked her up and took care of her and she's still around happy somewhere. Wishful thinking I guess. She was the most wonderful doggy. She followed me everywhere I went, even when she wasn't supposed to. I used to ride downtown on my bike just about everyday and I would have to trick her and not let her see me leave or she would follow me all the way downtown (1 mile). One time I didn't realize that she followed me and when I got to my dad's shop, I turned around and there she was. Daddy was not very happy about that because he had to close his doors and take her back to the house. That took all of 5 minutes, but whatever. I have lots of good memories of Kisses. I hope to have a dog for my children. Of course, in my neighborhood, we didn't have to tie them up. Kisses could roam around the neighborhood and everybody loved her and fed her treats. In the city I don't think you can do that. Too many cars and people who like to do stupid stuff. So, I'm hoping for a house with a big back yard.
I was looking at houses online this morning. I also discovered that on channel 95 they run ads for homes for sale 24 hours a day. I just started looking online in Chesapeake. I found a few good ones. Bill and I are hoping to buy a house before the baby comes. Our apt. lease is up at the end of May 09. So, I'm now just doing research and drooling over the cute homes. I have no idea what all goes into buying a home, but I am discovering it is a lot harder than I thought. So, if you have bought a house and have some tips, please share. I have no idea what our price range will be. We'll go through our bank when the time comes. I want at least 3 bedrooms so we will have one for baby and a guest, and at least 2 bathrooms. I would like a nice kitchen with plenty of counter space. Bill and I like to cook. I would like a dishwasher because I am freaking tired of doing dishes. Probably just washer and dryer hookup because I'd like to have new ones instead of using one someone has had their stuff in. Weird, I know, but this is a wish list. Garbage disposal would be nice too. It would also be nice to have a music/craft room for Bill's guitars and my yarn. And an office with room for all our books. I know I know, I don't want much do I? Oh, and we have to have a porch or deck of some sort. I have to be able to sit outside. I'm tired of this apartment living where I have no space of my own to go outside.
Today I'm going to see my friend Debbie for another Healing Touch treatment. She offered it to me because of all the crap I've been going through lately. I had one after my cousin Shane died and it helped to relax me. Then we're going out to dinner at Cogan's (Woodchuck damn it!) for my friend Bobby's birthday. I'll have to post the Woodchuck story up here. It was quite an ordeal! Maybe later....
Gotta go, Franklin is getting into stuff and bugging the hell out of me. He wants to play fetch. Yeah, that's right, my cat plays fetch!
Oh, and good luck Eric on your bike ride this weekend! You must be crazy! LOL
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I feel like a pin cushion!
I went to the doctor again today for another ultrasound and more blood work. They want to make sure I'm getting back to normal. Well, the ultrasound showed that the mass in my tube has gotten smaller, but it's still there. I didn't realize this process would take more than a week! They had to draw more blood to check my beta levels which should be headed down as well. They remembered me from last time because my veins were difficult. They had me lay on the table from the start so I wouldn't pass out. This trick works really well, because I didn't even get light headed. The first nurse looked and couldn't find a vein she was willing to stick so she called in the nurse who got it last time. She found the same vein she stuck last time in my hand. Well, she got it stuck but then the butterfly needle was faulty and it wasn't working. She tried the other hand but couldn't get it. I was sent down to labcorp to let them have a go. Christina got it on the first try and I didn't pass out.
Also, last week I had asked them to make sure to check my blood type while they had all that blood out of me. It turns out I'm B negative. That means that I have to have a shot of Rhogam...in my ass! Well, let's just say it wasn't fun.
I was hoping to get the news today that things were back to normal and we could try again. I have to go back again next week for another ultrasound and blood work. Hopefully the test from this week will show that my beta levels are going down and I don't have to have another shot or two in my rear.
On another note, I am getting a temporary promotion. Starting Monday I will be the Interim Assistant Director and SAFE Coordinator at The Women's Center. The person who currently holds the position is moving to Oregon to take a kick ass job. After a year I will apply to have the position permanently. So, for the next year I have to be on my game and make a very good impression. So, finally some good news for me!
Also, last week I had asked them to make sure to check my blood type while they had all that blood out of me. It turns out I'm B negative. That means that I have to have a shot of Rhogam...in my ass! Well, let's just say it wasn't fun.
I was hoping to get the news today that things were back to normal and we could try again. I have to go back again next week for another ultrasound and blood work. Hopefully the test from this week will show that my beta levels are going down and I don't have to have another shot or two in my rear.
On another note, I am getting a temporary promotion. Starting Monday I will be the Interim Assistant Director and SAFE Coordinator at The Women's Center. The person who currently holds the position is moving to Oregon to take a kick ass job. After a year I will apply to have the position permanently. So, for the next year I have to be on my game and make a very good impression. So, finally some good news for me!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July 4th Weekend
We had a very busy weekend. It was good for me to get out of the house and think about something else for a change. Thursday night we went to stay with Bill's parents after he got off work. Friday morning we woke up and had pancakes. His mom makes the BEST pancakes I've ever had and it's nothing more than pancake mix in a box. Must be the love she puts in it. Then I went and visited with my dad for a little while. We had a nice time talking about everything going on and what he has going on with the food bank. He runs the local food bank out of the church. He has been able to do a lot of good for a lot of people and that makes him very happy. While I was hanging out with Daddy, Bill was helping with the grass cutting at his mom's house.
Then it was time to go down to Greenville, NC for my cousin's memorial. For those of you who don't know, I lost my cousin Shane in May to suicide. I'll never believe he did it, but that's what they're telling me. He was such a good person who would give you the shirt off his back. He ran a biker tavern called Big Al's and would frequently raise money there for those who needed it. One time he even took half the money he made on "steak night" and used it to buy toys for a regular's kids on Christmas because he couldn't afford it. When we arrived at the tavern, there was a donation bucket on the bar for a kid who had some rare disease. This kid was the son of another regular to the bar. He was living the life as far as he was concerned. He had lots of friends and ran a bar that he loved. I'll never understand it.
The memorial started at about 4:30pm. A bunch of the regulars and one or two from our family took Jager bombs as a toast to him. Then we all went outside and Aunt Linda put a sign she hand painted in front of the bar by a bunch of cacti. The sign was painted on a piece of slate that came from the old church roof. It had a Rottweiler silhouette and said RIP Shane and his dates. Then we buried a tin with a lock of his hair and a red bandanna (which he always wore) in front of the sign and we all put rocks over the area. Then the preacher said a few words and then several folks told a few memories they had of Shane. I was a mess but didn't let on. I simply took pictures of all the goings on to distract myself. I loved my cousin Shane. He was like a brother to me and I miss him terribly.
Then we got back in the car and headed back. Our friends (starbucks family) were having a get together for the holiday and we made it before they all left. It was great to see everybody. Now that Bill doesn't work at Starbucks anymore, we don't get to see the crew as often, so these times with them are lots of fun. I got to hold our friends Todd and Luce's new baby Annabelle. She's about three and a half weeks old and sooo cute. I couldn't help but think about when we'll have our baby. I can't wait to start over on that again. Hopefully next time there will be no complications and we'll make it all the way through. We're really ready to start our family.
Then yesterday I slept in a little. I've been really tired lately with all this...stuff. Bill got the idea to go see the new movie "Hancock" so we went up to the mall to see it. It was really good. They didn't give the whole story away in the previews so it was nice not knowing everything when we went in. Then we met with our good friends Lisa and Kevin at Carabbas for dinner. I had the chicken bryan again...yummy. I treated myself to a glass of wine...Riesling. I hadn't had a drink since we decided to start trying to get pregnant. Well, now that I'm on a break from that for a little bit, I decided to have a glass. It was good, but I hadn't really missed the alcohol.
We headed over to the Bingo hall for a lively night of paper stamping. They always start with the "quickies" where the call the numbers out very quickly and for the first 2 or 3 games I was totally lost. I couldn't help but giggle because I was so behind on the numbers. It wasn't about the game, it was about being with the friends and laughing at everybody's funny noises and random comments. Everybody won some money this time except for Kevin, but he won last time. Bill won $50! I only won $10 because there were 5 winners on the game I won. Lisa would have won more if they had heard her say Bingo. Evidently you have to holler! It was a lot of fun!
Today I slept in again. Then I went to lunch with Melissa at Red Robin. I love their french fries with the ranch dressing. It was great to get to catch up with her and talk about what had happened. We weren't ready to split yet, so we went over to TJ Maxx so I could find a summer purse. It's so funny to me that I even have a purse. I used to carry everything in my pockets. I guess it's one of the very few "girly" things about me. I'm very picky when it comes to purses though. It has to have the perfect number of pockets and be set up right. I found a good one and it was only $13! Nice. My other one was just too big and bulky and I was carrying around way too much just because I could. So, with this one I can only carry the essentials which my shoulder will thank me later for.
I was really really tired today so I had to cut it short and come back home. I read some of the book for work and when Bill got home we went to the store to buy stuff for dinner. We made stir fry. He likes his stuff spicy so we separated everything and cooked side by side. Mine turned out salty though, because I thought, rightly so, that teriyaki sauce was more sweet than salty. We put ramen noodles with it too and it was very tasty. I also bought some ginger snaps at the store and had those for dessert. I think they might be my favorite cookie, or at least second favorite.
Now I'm resting and watching the cooking and HGTV shows that we like. I wont stay up too late tonight. I'll need all my energy to go back to work tomorrow and play catch-up since I was out 2 days last week for this....stuff.
Then it was time to go down to Greenville, NC for my cousin's memorial. For those of you who don't know, I lost my cousin Shane in May to suicide. I'll never believe he did it, but that's what they're telling me. He was such a good person who would give you the shirt off his back. He ran a biker tavern called Big Al's and would frequently raise money there for those who needed it. One time he even took half the money he made on "steak night" and used it to buy toys for a regular's kids on Christmas because he couldn't afford it. When we arrived at the tavern, there was a donation bucket on the bar for a kid who had some rare disease. This kid was the son of another regular to the bar. He was living the life as far as he was concerned. He had lots of friends and ran a bar that he loved. I'll never understand it.
The memorial started at about 4:30pm. A bunch of the regulars and one or two from our family took Jager bombs as a toast to him. Then we all went outside and Aunt Linda put a sign she hand painted in front of the bar by a bunch of cacti. The sign was painted on a piece of slate that came from the old church roof. It had a Rottweiler silhouette and said RIP Shane and his dates. Then we buried a tin with a lock of his hair and a red bandanna (which he always wore) in front of the sign and we all put rocks over the area. Then the preacher said a few words and then several folks told a few memories they had of Shane. I was a mess but didn't let on. I simply took pictures of all the goings on to distract myself. I loved my cousin Shane. He was like a brother to me and I miss him terribly.
Then we got back in the car and headed back. Our friends (starbucks family) were having a get together for the holiday and we made it before they all left. It was great to see everybody. Now that Bill doesn't work at Starbucks anymore, we don't get to see the crew as often, so these times with them are lots of fun. I got to hold our friends Todd and Luce's new baby Annabelle. She's about three and a half weeks old and sooo cute. I couldn't help but think about when we'll have our baby. I can't wait to start over on that again. Hopefully next time there will be no complications and we'll make it all the way through. We're really ready to start our family.
Then yesterday I slept in a little. I've been really tired lately with all this...stuff. Bill got the idea to go see the new movie "Hancock" so we went up to the mall to see it. It was really good. They didn't give the whole story away in the previews so it was nice not knowing everything when we went in. Then we met with our good friends Lisa and Kevin at Carabbas for dinner. I had the chicken bryan again...yummy. I treated myself to a glass of wine...Riesling. I hadn't had a drink since we decided to start trying to get pregnant. Well, now that I'm on a break from that for a little bit, I decided to have a glass. It was good, but I hadn't really missed the alcohol.
We headed over to the Bingo hall for a lively night of paper stamping. They always start with the "quickies" where the call the numbers out very quickly and for the first 2 or 3 games I was totally lost. I couldn't help but giggle because I was so behind on the numbers. It wasn't about the game, it was about being with the friends and laughing at everybody's funny noises and random comments. Everybody won some money this time except for Kevin, but he won last time. Bill won $50! I only won $10 because there were 5 winners on the game I won. Lisa would have won more if they had heard her say Bingo. Evidently you have to holler! It was a lot of fun!
Today I slept in again. Then I went to lunch with Melissa at Red Robin. I love their french fries with the ranch dressing. It was great to get to catch up with her and talk about what had happened. We weren't ready to split yet, so we went over to TJ Maxx so I could find a summer purse. It's so funny to me that I even have a purse. I used to carry everything in my pockets. I guess it's one of the very few "girly" things about me. I'm very picky when it comes to purses though. It has to have the perfect number of pockets and be set up right. I found a good one and it was only $13! Nice. My other one was just too big and bulky and I was carrying around way too much just because I could. So, with this one I can only carry the essentials which my shoulder will thank me later for.
I was really really tired today so I had to cut it short and come back home. I read some of the book for work and when Bill got home we went to the store to buy stuff for dinner. We made stir fry. He likes his stuff spicy so we separated everything and cooked side by side. Mine turned out salty though, because I thought, rightly so, that teriyaki sauce was more sweet than salty. We put ramen noodles with it too and it was very tasty. I also bought some ginger snaps at the store and had those for dessert. I think they might be my favorite cookie, or at least second favorite.
Now I'm resting and watching the cooking and HGTV shows that we like. I wont stay up too late tonight. I'll need all my energy to go back to work tomorrow and play catch-up since I was out 2 days last week for this....stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
