Haggalicious

Going to get a vacuum today....

2008-06-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

I always get confused with how to spell vacuum...vaccum...vaccuum...? I keep forgetting if it's 2 c's or 2 u's. I actually had to look it up online and have Yahoo search correct me by asking, "Did you mean Vacuum?" What makes it most frustrating is that when the next time comes to actually write the word, I'll have forgotten how to spell it all over again. Do you have any words like that?

So why am I talking about "vacuum"? Because, YAAAYYY, I'm going to buy a manual pool vacuum today. Our pump is still broken but now our chemical balance is all good, so now I just have to clean the bottom of our pool manually. A pain in the ARS but soooo worth it when it's 8 million degrees outside and I am pregnant and overwhelmingly hot because I have a ridiculous house with no air conditioning. So getting to swim will make me happy on the 100 degree weather days.

Thanks by the way for your help w/my dining room table...I've gotten so distracted with other things that I still have both just sitting there! And sadly, it will probably be like that for the next couple months, too.

New Layout!

2008-06-06T13:48:00.001-07:00

Okay, I didn't realize just how much of a computer idiot I am until I tried to add a flickr slideshow. Once I changed my layout (you like better? I do), blogger made it really easy for me...none of this whole "editing html" stuff anymore. Phiew!

I need everyone's opinion again! See the photo below? That is my dining room table, and I'm having difficulties deciding on which centerpiece to do. The wood plank on the right is actually a section of a used wine barrel from a Napa Valley winery with holes cut out for little tealights. It's really neat, because on the underside you can see the wine stain from its days of use. SUPER COOL, right? Right! Except...I think it's a little small for the table, it doesn't have any height. So instead, I could just do the three hurricanes with candles in them that match the color I have in the adjoining living room...but they seem boring. And if I don't put the wine barrel there, then there's NO OTHER place for it! HELP! Which do we like best? Or is there some super ingenious way to do both, like adding something more rustic inside the hurricanes to make them flow w/the look of the wine barrel? Also, I should note that I'm not a minimalist...it might look like I'm really into the super modern look, but not necessarily, I like that look but mixed w/vintage cottage (anthropologie-ish with a little antique mixed in).

LET YOUR OPINIONS FLOW!

Random Questions for the Internet

2008-06-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

So...I was doing laundry the other day, and started thinking about everyone else in the world, and the fact that everyone has their own way of doing their laundry. Now this is the most pathetic "housewife" type blog topic (perhaps second only to my last post on how to clean green), but I just have to ask:

1)How many times do you wear your bras before washing them? I wash about every 3 wears. Is that normal?

2)How many times do you wear your pajamas before washing them? Shirts: new one every night; pants: twice at the most. (I tend to wear them well into the day if I'm at home!)

3)How often do you change your sheets? I shoot for 1x a week

4)Do you use bleach w/your whites? I do just because Cole is a messy kid. If you don't, why not? Is it bad for my clothes?

Green cleaning

2008-05-29T13:13:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about saving money and being healthier by cleaning the "green" way. And not by buying "seventh generation" or cleaning products from Trader Joe's, but the natural green way. You know, white vinegar and water, baking soda, lemon juice, all that stuff. But I have NO idea how to do it, or how to make it! Does anyone have any recipes for natural cleaning formulas that actually work? I know vinegar and water for glass surfaces (what ratio?), but I also need something that's great for kitchen counters, and bathrooms. Any helpful hints?

I do have to admit though...it's going to be really tough to give up my clorox cleanup. I use that stuff on EVERYTHING (here's to hoping my unborn child doesn't have some strange head tumor thanks to my use of it...). And another thing: I probably won't give up my verymostfavoriteever cleaning product: Bar Keepers Friend. OH MY GOSH THIS STUFF IS AMAZING! It's like a miracle powder. I have an old ceramic or porcelain or whatever-it's-called kitchen sink, and the marks pans make on there drive me crazy, and are impossible--or exhausting at the very least--to get out. With Bar Keeper's Friend, (and I am not exaggerating here) I pour a little powder on the wet sink, and LIGHTLY, no pressure at all, rub it out with a rag, and the marks are gone! It even got rust out from around my drain! The other thing it's great at getting out is the soap scum around my bathtub. I HATE soap scum, and it is like a MAJOR workout to get it out, and I usually give up half way around the tub. This stuff takes out at least 50% of the effort for me. And the best part? It's 2.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond. However, I am guessing that it is not exactly the greenest of cleaning products. It probably causes cancer, holes in the ozone, or creates a carbon footprint the size of Alaska. But I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care. I will happily live in ignorance...unless, you know, I grow a third hand or something....

To the Wayside (by the way, where is the "wayside?")

2008-05-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Two years ago this coming August, I became a homeowner, quit working and became a mother... all literally within 10 days of eachother. So basically, I can sum up the last two years of my life with two words: BROKE and BUSY. I was thinking about this today while I was showering my daily 2.5 minute shower (I've got to shower QUICK~while Cole's sleeping I've got to do everything he doesn't let me do while he's awake...which is pretty much everything, as he is the most high maintenance child in the world. ANYWAY.). I was thinking about all the things that have changed in my life due to those two words, and figured what a great list for my blog. Here it is:

Things that have changed due to lack of time:
1)Blogging!

2)Shaving my legs (hey, my hair is blonde, so you can't tell)

3)Blowdrying my hair

4)Wearing makeup absolutely every time I leave the house

5)Watching a movie during the daytime

6)Putting Jeff's clean laundry away (he gets a big stack...why bother, he just makes a mess of his drawers anyway!)

7)Going to the movies

Things that have changed due to lack of money:

1)Eating out

2)Using expensive shampoo and conditioner (although I have to admit, with our tax return I bought two giant bottles of Redken All Soft--my FAVORITE!)

3)New Juicy Suits

4)Buying new MAC eyeshadows and lip glosses every few weeks

5)Shopping at Nordstrom (H&M and Forever 21 here I come!)

6)Using expensive facewash (But I've discovered Neutragena...LOVE IT!)

7)Getting my hair done every 3 months

8)Getting my hair cut AT ALL (I honestly haven't even had a TRIM in 1 year)

9)My gym membership

10)A new pool vacuum to help suck out the algae...

Don't worry, I'm not breeding West Nile Virus...I just have to get our pump fixed...you know, only $1800 later...

Things that have survived my lack of time and money:

1)My flip flop obsession

Every one of these shoes has been purchased within the last 9 months

2)Expensive jeans (I just don't get more than 1 pair a season now)

3)Perfectly folded towels

4)The "good" cable with DVR (Hey, not watching commercials saves time!)

Now, finally, I will end with a 30-weeks-along pregnancy pic:

Too Darn Cute

2008-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've never been one to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but now that I have a child, I want to do all the goofy things that I was never really into before...and on March 17th, it means dressing my child in the best green clothes he has. I was really impressed--he actually kept the hat on all the way from home to Trader Joe's (where we had to stop on the way to my Mom's where we had corned beef and cabbage with the whole fam) to my parents. Of course it was off almost right away when we got there, but 45 minutes is pretty good!

Now I have to talk about Trader Joe's. Notice the balloons below:

This is why (aside from cheaper prices and yummy food) I shop at TJ's. When we asked for a "boon!", the man said, "Well, we have to give him a yellow and green balloon to match his outfit!"

As you can tell, he had a great time with them.

New News

2008-03-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well actually, the news isn't so new. It's 19 weeks old...

This new one's due date is on Cole's 2nd birthday! 08-08-08

okay, okay...

2008-03-07T14:27:00.001-08:00

I was fixing dinner, when Cole hollers, "Momma! Momma!" I look over to see this. The older he gets, he just gets cuter and funnier...

If the darn stick wasn't in front of his eye, this would be such a cute photo! If you can't tell from the two he's holding, sticks are his latest obsession. We find them all over our house.

Upfsyr

2007-06-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

So the title is supposed to be "update" but my left hand was on the wrong place on the keyboard. Kinda reminds me of those obnoxious word verification things that for some reason I always end up having to do twice....

Forgive my lack of typing correctly, as I missed an entire hour of sleep "entertaining" my son at 1 am.

He woke up saying "Bah-bah. Ma mamama. Thbbbllt. Yah!" Turns out that's 10-month for "Let's play."

The bright side is at least he held still while I took the opportunity to change his diaper. I think the last time he held still for a diaper change was when he didn't know how to roll over yet.

I'm sitting here with my hands poised over my keyboard, at a complete loss of what to write about. What I did yesterday? Oh sure, like anybody really wants to hear about how I organized my office and finally got around to shredding 7 year old bank statements. So how about a synopsis on how the last 9 months of my life has been?

Motherhood? Amazing. I love my boy more than I ever thought I could. Although I end up doing what I never wanted to do: Letting my house look like a daycare. But doggonit, it is SO MUCH easier than the alternative: putting away toys, then getting them back out, then putting them away again... just to get them right back out.

Homeownership? Certainly has its plusses and minusses, but generally, it's a plus. I'll get to that in a moment.
Housewifery? Would be great if that was all I had to do...however I work 8 hours a week at my parents' (billing for my dad's engineering business and housecleaning for my mom), in addition to copy writing for my old job. I don't even have time to pluck my eyebrows. Okay, I still make time, it just happens to be in place of sleep. And about a week overdue.

Back to the whole homeownership thing...

Plusses:

get to decorate all I want
get to paint the walls any color I want
get to learn how to garden
get to touch the side of my house and know that "I own this stucco!"
get to paint a couple swatches on the exterior side of our house and leave it there as long as we need to...

get to dream about remodeling my kitchen and know that it's actually possible
get to have a pool that makes for a great party

Minusses:

Too poor to remodel kitchen, so it's actually not possible.
my "master bedroom" is 10' x 12'.
my pool doesn't have an automatic vacuum so I have to do it by hand...everyday...so it doesn't get dirty on the bottom...which makes me want to rip out my damn pool.
I don't have a/c. Which makes me need a pool so i can cool myself off when it's 836 degrees outside.

Wow, I sound ungrateful...Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my house. There are just things that AREN'T working for me.
Here is a picture montage so you can at least see what I mean about my kitchen.

This is one half of my kitchen. Aside from the hideous countertops, there is SUCH a lack of cabinet space that I am forced to hang my pots on the walls and leave half our food on the counter.

(Obviously, my maid didn't get the memo that we would be showcasing the kitchen today. I should fire her.)

Now this picture shows you the other half of my kitchen (aside from the fridge, which is out of the picture on the left). You have now seen all of my cabinets, or lack thereof. And hopefully understand that yes, they suck. The other issue I have with this space is that those two stools, on the other side of the bar, are on carpet. Which makes this not really an eat-at counter that children can eat at. So aside from the dining room which is behind me as I take this picture, away from all the living space, there is nowhere to eat that is near the family room and television, which I would prefer. Which leads me to this solution:

Remove this wall and put an island in its place. This is the formal-living-room-side of the kitchen wall that has the stove/oven on it. I can put cabinetry around all sides of the island, and get one of those stoves that have the fan that raises w/a push of a button. This would solve all my issues: Have a place to eat that is part of the general living space, give us better cabinetry and counters (as it would all be replaced), and...

even make the dining room more desirable of a space to sit, as it's more open to everything too!

The boy is awake now, so thus ends this post.

Are you still there?

2007-06-22T08:54:00.001-07:00

So last night I was on here for the first time in a LOOOONG time.

I just found out that a couple college friends are bloggers, and after reading their blogs, I felt reinspired. I don't know how dedicated I will be to this, but I will certainly try to update at least a little!

This is me and my little guy a month or so ago.

He's 10 months already. He has 8 teeth and crawls faster than I can... I feel like it was just yesterday when I could leave him under his baby einstein jungle thing while I unloaded the dishwasher, and not even worry about him rolling over. Let alone crawling into the bathroom and pulling all the toilet paper off its roll! (Not that's happened or anything...twice...)

Time goes fast, doesn't it? I can't believe how much has happened since I was on here last...Kellyf had a baby?! Janet FINALLY GOT MARRIED??? Isabel's house isn't finished yet, is it??

Well everyone, I will try to be better with posting...I've finally gotten "Coley-roll" on a nap schedule.

Bye for now!

It's Annabana's Husby

2006-11-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I've been reading all of your posts and I've noticed that my wifey, Annabana as you all know her, has not been blogging. Well, I'm taking drastic measures because I love to read what all of you have to say. I will give you guys an update of what has been going on. Our little boy, Coleman has been a super good little boy. We have been having so much fun with him. The wifey has hardly any time to blog because when he's sleeping, she's doing laundry or cleaning the house, or decorating.

Our house has been keeping both of us very busy as well. Oh, by the way, the "floors" look absolutely wonderful! It's great to have such support from the wifey over that matter. The flat screen plasma is also nice. She has ladies night every Thursday to watch all their "chick" shows.

The wifey says that the "Blogger" will not let us upload pictures because of our computer. I personally think it's operator error. Well, I have to go to work, I hope that this post will encourage the wifey to start blogging some more.

I won!

2006-09-25T21:47:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting at my computer--it's 9:43 pm--waiting until my husband comes home. I have a baby in bed and a glass of wine in front of me, and am thoroughly enjoying the fact that I finally feel like writing in my blog for once. I only wish I had an hour to spend creating the perfect post, but I think I'd fall asleep with my head on the keyboard before 45 minutes passed, and the last bit of the post would look a bit like dfasjkl;fjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj.

Anyway. Did you notice the title? Yeah, that's right, I WON, BABY!

Wood floors? CHA CHING!

I will not tell you how I managed to break down my husband...let's just say that we made a deal.

And thus I have become...

A floor-whore.

Yes. That is what it came to, and that is JUST HOW BADLY I wanted my floors redone.

Oooh, don't be shocked. I'm sure all you married ladies have done the same. And if you haven't? I bet you're thinking to yourself right now, "Hmmm...how smart...Do something I have to do anyway, but actually get something out of it! Pure Genius!"

Why is it always like that?

2006-09-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

So Jeff and I ordered new couches*. They're coming on Friday. Friday and not Thursday. If they came Thursday (which would be today), I could sit on them while I watch Gray's Anatomy. But noooo, of course they come the NEXT morning. #%*$&!

So if any of you read the comments from my last post, you would see that Jeff went behind my back and bought a plasma. And tried to make up for it by being all cute and saying I can watch Gray's Anatomy on it. Well, lucky for me, it came around to bite him on the ASS, because I got an email from buy.com saying the order has been cancelled, they're out of stock or something. SO HA! HAHAHAHA! If I was smart and devious, I'd just call the floor guys and have them come out ASAP. A little revenge....

On that note, yes, reading my comments was how he told me he bought the tv. Pansy. So I called him at work, and was like "What the freak??" and he danced around the subject and almost lied to me about it, and started to say that the comment was just a joke, he wanted to see how you all would react, but then thought better about it because he knew I would seriously kick his ass so fast when I found out it wasn't a joke that he wouldn't be able to sit down for a year... and he also doesn't have a couch to sleep on and much prefers our bed. So he told me the truth, and tried to act like it wasn't a big deal. And I was like "What the freak, again??" So then he came home from work, and was acting all depressed, saying he's upset about something that happened at work, and was all sad and "poor me", so I felt bad being pissed off at him because he's all sad, so I couldn't yell and do all the stuff I want to do to him for going behind my back. So I said, "Are you just acting like this so I won't rip you a new one for trying to buy the TV?" And he totally denied it, but I AM NOT STUPID. I KNOW HOW MEN WORK, AND ANYTHING THEY CAN DO TO AVOID GETTING REEMED, THEY WILL DO IT.

I am finished with my run-on sentence now.

*We are not rich. We are a single income family, and my husband works for the government. Remember, we just moved out of my parents' house, where we lived for exactly 11 months, paying zilch in rent and food and all that stuff. We saved and saved and saved, which is how we're able to afford working on our house and some new furniture.

I'm baaack!

2006-09-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

It was exactly 7 days and 6 nights that I was without cable tv and internet access. Do you have any idea how uncomfortably quiet it is in a house when there is no radio or television, and you're all by yourself except for your little baby, who doesn't make a whole lot of noise? I was ready to go psycho there for a little while. The cable guy was supposed to be here on Thursday between 8 and 10 am, and by 10:03 I had the phone in hand, ready to call Comcast, but then he showed up. Lucky for the Comcast employee who would have been unfortunate enough to answer the phone....

I do have to say, though, I sure got a LOT done without any distractions (besides Cole, of course). I almost have the kitchen completely unpacked and organized, the living room is finished (I even spray painted the brass fireplace frame a charcoal color), and all Jeff's and my clothes are organized and put away. Now I just have to get working on the office, the bathrooms, and Cole's room. I am also waiting for our new family room furniture to be delivered this Friday. YAY!

So I need to take a poll. Jeff wants to buy a plasma TV. I want to have the rest of the wood floors refinished in the hallway, office and Cole's room (they have a disgusting, 30 year old carpet on them right now). They'll both cost about the same, and we can only afford to do 1 right now. The other one will have to wait a couple months. So what do you vote on being more important???
My argument is this: we have a good 2 year old TV already, and the nice floors will raise the value of our home. Plus, we'll be able to fully move in to those rooms as soon as the floors are done, instead of halfway moving into them because we know we'll have to pull everything out soon after. And it will look all pottery barn-y and cute in the ENTIRE house now, and not just the main living areas. Jeff's argument is: The wood floors will require him to do some demo of a built-in in the office, as well as ripping up the carpet and prepping the floors. Fairly big job but not a huge deal, in my opinion. And I would totally help. His other argument is how streamlined and sweet it would look in the family room to have the TV mounted on the wall.

So I totally want a TV too, but I think we should wait on that one. Tell me what you think!

FINALLY!!

2006-09-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

We're getting the carpet installed tomorrow morning!!! YAY! That means we get to FINALLY MOVE IN TO OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!!! I am packing up my clothes starting RIGHT NOW.

I am obviously super excited. But also won't have internet for a little while. So please don't forget about me. I will be back, I promise. In the meantime, read my sister's blog. :) (Do you think I've plugged her blog enough yet?)

Polka Dots and Posies! And Random Thoughts...

2006-09-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

My big sister just started a blog!! I am so excited, a perfect way for us to easily know what's going on with each other with the random day-to-day stuff (not that we don't already talk on the phone all the time, but blog-reading is much cheaper)!!

She's going to be fun to read for me, because I know exactly the type of stuff she's going to write about (BEING A MOM! MAKEUP! BABIES! GETTING PREGNANT! HOME DESIGN! CLOTHES! AND MORE!). You should totally go check her out (Polka Dots and Posies), because that's exactly the type of stuff you all write about too! Which is why I read your blogs, of course.

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Ummm, so my child is not sleeping. I have put him down for a nap THREE TIMES and he sleeps for like 5 minutes, then wakes up, and will not go back to sleep. ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I had an awesome weekend. I brought my in-laws to my family's lake house, and we all had an amazing time. We ate a ton, wake boarded, tubed and skiied, ate a ton, chilled on the beach, ate a ton, fished and ate a ton. Honestly, I can't tell you how many Doritos and peanut M&M's I ate.

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My favorite show (Grey's Anatomy...I love it, obsess about it all week waiting for it...) starts in 2-ish weeks!!!!!!!!!

Per Your Request

2006-08-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Jessica and Erika for pointing out that out of all those photos, not ONE of them was of my little guy! I feel like a horrible mom! Amalah never forgets a photo of Noah...

I guess I'll have to try and make up for it by posting 3. Here you go!

His face is so cute here!

Trying to whistle?

This was our first family photo!

Work in progress

2006-08-28T10:50:00.001-07:00

So... my "new" old house (was built in 1947). Talk about a work in progress. I've put together a little picture tutorial to give you an idea of what Jeff and I are dealing with there. I'll start with the worst room: The knotty pine/family room. Good heavens. I like to call it the "naughty pine" room. Because that pine? SO hideous. I wish I had larger pictures, but all I have are the photos I got off of our realtor's website. You should actually be thankful. You'd have knotty pine nightmares if it was too large. Oh, and please notice the plates lining the entire perimeter of the room. Plates that had things like Civil War images on them or something. CIVIL WAR MEMORABILIA PLATES. I think I passed over the segment that was selling those on the home shopping network at 4 am once.

Here is what the room looks like now:

Oh yes, much better. Restoration Hardware paint color: "Linen". The floors are no longer the hideous POOP brown carpet, they are even more hideous linoleum. 30 year old linoleum. That likes to flake. Hideous flakey 30-year linoleum will be gone in a couple weeks once Home Depot gets off their butt and installs our glorious new carpet.

Now on to the Formal Living Room:

I like to call this room the "Far and Away" room. Did you ever see that movie? With Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, about leaving Ireland and moving to the U.S. to get land? Takes place around the mid 1800's I think, and the decor in this room, I swear, must have been taken directly from the set. Seriously, note the chandelier in the corner. Over the baby poop colored (I am an expert in that color, by the way) love seat.

And now:

I would dearly love to redo the emerald city green tile, but it will have to do for now. We're having the floors refinished Tuesday. Restoration Hardware paint color: Latte.

Dining Room:

I'm not even going to comment on the wallpaper. Or the lace curtains.

Now:

Jeff wants to get this chandelier. I like that one a lot, but I also like this one. What do you think?

Anyway, that's our house in progress. I hope you like what we've done so far. I can't wait to show you the finished product!

New house, new baby...Agh!!!

2006-08-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

I am in such a fog. We got the keys to our house last Friday, and between the new baby and working on the house, I swear I'm a walking zombie. Fortunately, Jeff has time off of work still, so he is able to work on the house, and his dad is retired and helping out everyday... but I'm starting to realize how much we took on. So please forgive me for my slacking on the posts, when things slow down, I'll be sure to keep you all in the loop!

I Only Have Time For Pictures

2006-08-22T13:25:00.002-07:00

First trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house

Sleeping by Daddy

Wondering what Mommy is saying...

Cute close up

It's A Boy!

2006-08-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Coleman Rowe

August 8, 2006

10:30 pm

7 lbs 1 oz

20 3/4 in.

I am so in love...

Mucous plug

2006-08-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

I know this is gross, but today I lost my mucous plug. I wish that meant something specific and exact, like "You will now go into labor within 24 hours", but of course it doesn't....
Today, I am 9 days overdue. I never thought that I'd actually wish for severe pain like I am right now. I want to have contractions that actually hurt, even so bad that they make me want to scream, because they are actually accomplishing something like, OH, I don't know, getting this baby the HECK OUT OF ME?!?

Baby shower pictures!

2006-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

What a belly!

My neice Cassie, helping me open gifts

Yummy!!

Funny baby shower game

2006-07-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

This was the funniest baby shower game I've ever heard of! My sisters passed out pink bubbalicious bubble gum (unchewed of course), and gave everyone five minutes to mold a baby out of it. Then I had to pick the best one. SO funny!! The babies were hilarious looking.

On a sidenote, I had a Non-Stress Test today because I am about a week overdue. Everything with the baby is great, BUT, my cervix is not softening or anything. NOT A BUDGE. So frustrating! So they scheduled an induction for next Tuesday at 6 am. The day before I have to go in and have this weird catheter thing inserted to soften my cervix. Strange. Anyway, SAY PRAYERS THIS BABY COMES BEFORE THEN!! I don't think I can handle another full week of being pregnant, and I hear induced labors are longer than natural ones.

No Baby Yet...

2006-07-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting, and making you all think that I might have had the baby. NO BABY YET!! My sister was in town for my baby shower and so I've been pretty busy.

I have to tell you how BEAUTIFUL my shower was! My two sisters and mom planned it, and it was just gorgeous. They decorated everything in green and chocolate brown, because depending on the baby's gender, I'm going to decorate the nursery in pink and brown w/accents of green or blue and brown w/accents of green.

I had lots of good friends and family there, and the food was SOOO yummy. If I could figure out how to log onto my flickr account, I'd upload all the pics for you. Unfortunately, just this one will have to do for now. Tomorrow I'll post another one. :(

WAITING GAME

2006-07-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

I HATE THIS!!! Okay, I don't really hate "this", but "this" is hard. What is "this"? It's the WAITING FOR THIS BABY TO BE BORN AND WAITING FOR ESCROW TO CLOSE ON OUR HOUSE. That's what "This" is. My life is about to change SO drastically in 2 ways, but I'm just stuck here before it all changes, being TORTURED beyond oblivion.

AUGHGHGHGH!

Okay, I feel a little bit better. It probably wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't 812 degrees outside. Or if I at least had a fan on my hot and swollen red feet.

Sooo...would you like to look at a funny picture to pass the time with me?

This is my 61 year old dad. In order for this picture to reach maximum funniness, you must know my father. He is a self-employed structural engineer. You will never find him with out a pen, pencil, miniature measuring tape, and swiss army knife in his pocket. He goes to church every Sunday, NO FAIL, and knows more about the Bible than...Billy Graham. He is an endless source of knowledge, on topics that range from soil mineral contents to the date Custer's last stand took place. He wears plaid button down shirts and the same style of jeans everyday. He plays the piano and loves trains and reads Guns and Ammo and Military Heritage magazines. The only channel he ever watches is Fox News, and he listens to Rush Limbaugh religiously. His favorite Rush Limbaugh quote is "It's eleven o'clock, time for welfare recipients to...WAKE UP!". He loves his family like no other, loves kitties like no other, and every person on the planet that has ever met him just thinks he is the sweetest, nicest man EVER. He also can't throw anything away, which is a funny post all of its own.

So this picture? Is HILARIOUS! It is the absolute ANTITHESIS of my dad, and everything he stands for.

(Background info on this photo: He was going to a St Pattie's day party, and bought a new green shirt and green Guinness boxers to wear [the fact that his boxers say Guinness on them is funny in and of itself, as I don't think I've ever seen my dad have anything to drink other than a glass of wine at my wedding], and he really wanted his boxers to show. So my mother and I talked him into sagging his pants like all the high school boys do. The facial expression was his idea. Apparently, it's the interpretation of the intelligence level of guys who sag their pants. I have to admit, I kind of agree).

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

2006-07-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

The front of the house

As you know, we moved into my parents' house last October to save up for a home. With all the money we were spending on rent and utilities and all that, we were never going to be able to save enough money to make a down payment on a home. So we moved in with my parents and have been living in their basement for the last 9 months. Honestly, it was surprisingly easy to live here, my parents are so relaxed and generous, super-easy going people and just great to live with. Our plan was to try to buy a house in 1 year. This last month, I've been working with a mortgage broker on getting pre-approved, and over the course of the last 2 months, we've had our eye on a house that seems to be the best of all worlds: A cosmetic fixer (it's really cute, just outdated, perfect so that we can make it our own style), in a great location (1 block from the park, walking distance to downtown, and right near family!) and well sized house and property (1660 sq ft, on a quarter acre...lots for this area) and it even has a pool and spa. Lucky for us, there was an offer made on the house last week that ended up falling through, so when we got officially pre-approved, we made an offer immediately! We made the offer Friday, and found out Saturday morning that our offer was accepted! I AM SO EXCITED!!! Every morning I wake up, I can't help but think about the house, like what color we should paint the dining room, how long it will take to refinish the wood floors, and whether we should paint over the knotty pine in the family room or not.

I'm just really thankful that we're able to give Sweetie Pie a good home, with its own bedroom and its own place to just roam around. YAY! I'll post more pictures of the house later...

Good news and bad news...

2006-07-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

First, the good news:
So I finally had the ultrasound appointment today, and the baby is JUST FINE! They said he/she weighs 6 pounds and 13 ounces right now, and the due date could be anywhere from 7/25 (the date determined from my last menstrual period) to 8/3 (what the u/s measurements said). The tech said that it is not an exact science AT ALL, so it really could be anywhere between those two dates. So I don't technically have a due date. Has anyone else had this same problem with their babies? An ever-changing, elusive due date?? I feel like I'm being strung along, I feel so in the dark about when this baby is going to join the outside world! (On a side note, its movements seem SO strong today. It's actually hurt me for the first time with its head. But I wonder if that's all mental because I know how big the baby is now...)

And now the bad: Something really horrible happened today. I just found one of my parent's cats dead under one of their cars. They're out of town for a couple weeks, and I noticed that one of the outside cats wasn't coming around. So when my sister was here (she went to the ultrasound with me), I asked her to check under the cars because I can't really get that low. She said she saw Britches (his name) and started to call him, then looked closer and saw that he was dead. He was pretty old for an outside kitty, 16, so he has had a good life, but I am just incredibly sad right now. My uncle came over, and while he was here, I asked him to bury Britches by an apple tree in the backyard where several cats from years past are buried. Apparently he had been there for several days, and I feel like an awful cat-sitter because it took me so long to find him. Well, at least I know he had a good life. He probably just felt a little tired one afternoon and decided to go lay down in the shade, fell asleep, and just never woke up....

36 weeks

2006-07-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

I took this 5 days ago. According to my doctor last Tuesday, I'm measuring small for being 36 weeks, so she scheduled an ultrasound follow up. I have that next Monday, and I'm working really hard at not letting myself worry about it. I keep reminding myself how much the baby moves and how strong its movements are, and I tell myself that I'm probably just going to have a small baby, which is a good thing because that makes the labor a little easier!! Still, a little part of me is anxious, wondering if there's something wrong with Sweetie Pie that is causing it to be small. All I can do is pray while I wait, though!

I'm making headway, I swear!!

2006-06-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

The yellow-walled pit of despair, also known as "the room I somehow have to make presentable for an infant". I know it may surprise you, but I've actually worked hard to get it to look like this. This used to be my mom's guest room, and she's been VERY gracious and allowed me to turn it into the baby's room (not that it will be used much by the baby because of the short amount of time we have left here at my parent's house, but nonetheless necessary in order to store all the baby paraphernalia we are frantically hoarding like a couple of lunatic, procrastinating parents-to-be). So I've kept very busy this past few weeks destroying what used to be a very quaint and cute guest room, by doing the following:
Taking apart all the baby furniture people lent us that had been sitting in their garages and basements, in an effort to clean it (hence the naked swing in the picture).
Cramming all the stuff that was occupying 2 closets in the room into just 1 so the baby could have its own closet (hence the one really clean closet, and the one really messy one).
Washing the baby clothes (hence the laundry basket).
And lastly, doing all of this while trying to keep my shedding and annoyingly curious cats from messing up all my cleanliness with their masses of hair and vicious claws (hence the pillows stuffed in the bassinette to keep their dirty paws OUT!).

But inall seriousness, I have absolutely NO idea how I ever had the time to work. I've been off work for 2 1/2 weeks now, and I have been so busy!! I'm finally able to start catching up on ALL the stuff that has desperately needed my attention for a while now (Consistent blogging unfortunately not included! Will get to that soon, I swear!). Besides the previously discussed baby room, I've been able to do things like house cleaning (I never could get caught up on that), laundry (was ALWAYS last minute with WAY too many clothes in one load, it's a wonder they even got clean), and even... *gasp*... Cooking breakfast! For husband! Because I'm not running out the door to work! And we even get to read the newspaper! Together every morning! With Jeff not going in to work until noon, I can even do all that without having to get up early. We are so lucky to have a really nice morning together every day, it's honestly my favorite time of the day.

Yes, I know I've been spoiled to have all this time before the baby comes, many of you super-moms out there didn't get time till the baby was actually born. Reading all your blogs and seeing what you all went through before your little ones were born, I'm reminded to really appreciate this one month I have left of having my own time to do with as I please. I know, soon times like that will be nonexistent and only a fond memory!!

Update at 33 weeks

2006-06-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

I actually got home from work today at a very decent time (and am actually NOT! TIRED!) so I decided to update anyone who may be interested in seeing how huge-mongous I've become (actually, not so much me as the baby...but we're kinda one and the same right now). Please don't laugh at my shirt, I know those sleeves look silly, but I had to buy something that was actually comfortable (that wasn't one of Jeff's t-shirts--I've been living in them lately!), and I could only bring myself to shop at Old Navy Maternity because I'm only going to be pregnant for another 7 weeks or so, so why spend more than I have to on clothes this late in the game, ya know??

So anyway, according to some website I registered at that sends me emails every week, my baby is about 15 and 3/4 inches long, and weighs approximately 4 pounds, 5 ounces right now. I am only 3 weeks from being "full term", which supposedly is at 36 weeks. Yowza! So that means in a few weeks, I could really go into labor at any time! If I think about that for too long, it kinda freaks me out. Actually it REALLY freaks me out. I am SO not ready. I have nothing for the baby, and my shower isn't until July 25th...3 days before my due date! Plus, I am in the process of house-hunting, so things are going to be super crazy until we find a house.

Fortunately though, this week is my last full-time week at work. I'm lucky enough that I get to work on a project by project basis w/the company, which is a sweet deal (not super-lucrative, but at least it's something). So with a month and a half virtually free, hopefully I will be able to get ready for baby, and-- if we're lucky--find a house, pretty quickly.

Welp, I hope everyone is doing well, and sorry I've been so MIA!

At Long Last...

2006-05-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I've been MIA...life's just too crazy sometimes, ya know? As you can see, here's a belly pic. This is Jeff and I almost 2 weeks ago. I surprised him at work on a Sunday night and took him to a hotel in Yountville (Napa Valley). I took this picture at the hotel right before we left for dinner. (I'm retarded with the flash, but don't know how to turn it off, so I'm a faceless pregnant girl).

Change of subject: I am SO excited! Jeff has FINALLY gotten onto a new shift at work! So now instead of him working all weekend, he works during the week!! So now we actually have not just one day together a week, but TWO (and sometimes even three if I don't have to work on Friday, which sometimes happens). His first weekend off is this weekend, and I can't wait to just chill with him. We're probably gonna go to the gym together, then bring our swimsuits and hang out at the pool. YAY! I can't even tell you the last time I had a whole day with him....

Emotions

2006-04-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

So...time for a few random pregnancy stories about how crazy I can get:

1) Yesterday, Jeff and I got these really good tickets to the A's vs. Yankees game (front row, right behind first base). It was really fun. Anyway, so the person doing the opening pitch was an 8 year old boy who won a raffle. Nothing special about him, he wasn't dying of leukemia or anything, just a normal, cute little 8 year old wearing a baseball hat too big for him. But as soon as I saw him, I couldn't keep from crying. For WHATEVER REASON, tears started streaming down my face. I guess I just thought he was SO cute. Good thing we were in the front row and no one could see my face. Except Derek Jeter, of course. :) But wait, it doesn't end there. So today, Jeff and I were laughing about me and my emotional attachment to the 8 year old boy, I started crying AGAIN!

2) I'm having bad dreams like Jeff having secret credit cards with which he buys porn (?!) and then puts us into bankruptcy because he never pays them off.... So I have to wake him up out of a dead sleep, and make him talk sense into me.

3) Jeff heard somewhere that the song "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt is about a guy whose wife died and he just can't get over it. I don't think it's true, but apparently, that wasn't enough to keep me from crying when I heard the song the other day in the grocery store as I was buying cat food. I think the cashier lady felt really bad for me.

To All The Mommies and Mommies To Be

2006-03-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby
Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "Normal," is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct.
Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring ......
Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "! turn out good."
Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.
Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices .
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother.
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with her math.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first.
Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books.
Somebody never had a child stuff playdoh up his nose.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.
Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten...
or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back.
Somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married.
Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home.
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her
Somebody isn't a mother.

The One Where I Get All Sappy and Stuff

2006-03-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like you want to shout your love for someone from the rooftops?

I've been feeling that way about Husby lately. I don't really know why, and I in no way mean to brag on here about how great he is, I just feel like giving him a shout-out for being such a wonderful husband.

I guess I feel bad because I'm not always as appreciative of him and all he does for me as much as I should be. Sometimes I let all the crap that goes on crowd out all the good that goes on. Not that there's a lot of crap, but let's face it, every marriage has their share of stuff that you couldn't have possibly prepared for when you were dating. The good thing about all the crap though, is how much you learn about each other--and yourselves--in the process. It really does make your marriage strong, and it creates a sense of a true "partnership".

I love to look at Jeff across a crowded room and just watch him. Very stalker-like. But as I watch him, I love knowing that he chose me out of all the girls in the world, that I am the lucky one who gets to spend her life learning him inside and out.

I don't really know where to begin. Maybe I'll just make a list of some of the things I love about him.

1) I love that he calls me Preg-Pig, Pig, Haggy, The Hag, Bunny-Hop, etc.
2) I love that he's a cop, because cops are sexy, and I feel safe with him.
3) I love that he shares the same dreams that I do: To own a house and have little babies.
4) I love that he wanted to buy me a car that's nicer than his--and did.
5) I love that he kisses me goodbye at 5 am on the mornings he works, and tells me I'm beautiful, even though I'm all bed-head and sleepy-eyed.
6) I love that he doesn't get mad at me when I buy something I shouldn't have.
7) I love to chase him around the house.
8) I love when he told me, "No matter how old our kids are, boys or girls or both, they won't be allowed to leave the house until they've given me a hug goodbye. Even if we have a son and he's just home visiting from college. I won't let him leave without a hug."
9) I love that he has a strong need to support me, make sure I'm taken care of, and have all the things that I not only need, but want, too.
10) I love that he likes to lay in bed with me and watch Law and Order every night.
11) I love that he will watch A Baby Story on TLC with me.
12) I love that I got him hooked on coffee.
13) I love that he has a funny nickname for almost every person I know.
14) I love when he makes up words.
15) I love when he motivates me to go to the gym with him, even when I don't feel like it.
16) I love that other people like him--a lot.
17) I love that he is very respected at his job, and is told frequently that he'll go very far because of how dedicated he is.
18) I love that he when he met my ex-boyfriend, he shook his hand, looked at him in the eye, and was friendly.
19) I love when he scratches me or massages me without my asking.
20) I love that he's a big goofball with me.
21) I love when he says, "I can't wait for Sweetie Pie to be born, so I can hang out and just play with him/her."
22) I love when he surprises me by coming to my work just to say hi.
23) I love that he has an awesome singing voice but is modest about it.
24) I love that he wrote me song and played it for me on his guitar.
25) I love that he loves our kitties.

I could go on, but I won't. I'll just tell you all, that I am seriously, the luckiest girl in the universe!!

2006-03-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

I believe I have entered my first pregnancy-related food crisis.

I think I live in the only house on planet earth that has NO Peanut Butter.

Yes, I said "no" and "peanut butter" in the same sentence.

There is no peanut butter in any mild form whatsoever, in any semblance of existence in this household.

Have you caught my drift yet?

I want a peanut butter fluff sandwich, and I want it now, Darnit.

And no, this crazy lady is not going to the store. Any other evening, I would happily run to the store or at least send Jeff. However this evening is special, because I am lazy and Jeff is working overtime.

I'm settling for strawberry rhubarb and butter on toast and some Smart Start cereal for dinner instead. Yeah, I know, how unhealthy. But I almost dipped a Reese's Peanut Butter cup in some marshmallow fluff, but stopped myself. So don't press your luck.

Failed to Launch

2006-03-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

Ummm, the chemistry between Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McCaughnahey is about as sizzling as... this wet March weather.
Jeff and I went to see Failure to Launch last night, and I have to say it was thoroughly disappointing. The only fun I had was seeing Sarah Jessica Parker's cute outfits. I honestly think I could have done a better job with the writing myself, and the acting was pretty bad. Matthew needs a new agent, or at least some help in picking out scripts. This one was frighteningly similar to How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, with the lying, the token 2 guy friends, etc. Now How to Lose a Guy...THAT was a good movie. Kate Hudson and Matt had incredible chemistry (I have to ask SJP, how is it possible to not have chemistry with MATTHEW MCCAUGHNAHEY???).
Anyway, hope I didn't burst anyone's bubble... I just had to share my disappointment.

I'm going wedding dress shopping with my BFF from highschool tomorrow. I'm so excited! It's going to be WEIRD seeing her in a wedding dress. It's probably going to be just as weird for her too see me with a baby in my belly, as I haven't seen her since last summer. Anyway, I'm writing about this because she most likely has already picked out our bridesmaids dresses, and I'm thrilled because they're from JCREW (where was JCREW when I got married??) and less than $100. Here's a picture:

Isn't it cute?? The wedding is outside on 10/1/06 and I'm SO hoping that I'll have lost the baby weight by then. But still have big boobs and a great tan! Oh, and apparently, the shoes are really cute flip flops. I love this! It's like what I'd wear to the wedding anyway! There's nothing worse than being stuck with having to pay like $400 for shoes and a dress you'll never wear again.

So HAPPY SAINT PATTIES DAY, everyone! Will one of you non-preggies please chug a green beer for me?

Baby names

2006-03-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, time for...

BABY NAMES!!!

Here's what we've decided on (To get the full effect, you might want to know that our last name starts with an S and is 2 syllables. So make up your own, like Selton or something, and say it after the name):

Boy name:

Coleman Rowe S...

Meaningfulness:
Coleman is my dad and grandpa's middle name, and I like Cole for short.
Rowe is Husby's grandpa's last name, with whom he was very close.

Girl name:

Addison Rowe S...

Meaningfulness:
Addison just sounds cool.

These are pretty much decided on. It's weird to know that there is a little Cole or Addy just chillin' in my office with me right now...

Belly Pic

2006-03-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

My 19.5 weeks belly shot
(Hot slippers, huh!)

Ultrasound Follow up

2006-03-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

So you may be wondering if my baby has a stomach or not.... (Thank you, Avorie, for asking!)

The first 10 minutes of the U/S were pretty stressful. The technician was searching and searching, still to avail no baby tummy. So he decided to measure my amniotic fluid first then go back to stomach-searching. It measured fine, which suggested there must be a stomach somewhere in there. So he went back to searching, and after a couple minutes, he practically shouted, "Aha! There it is! That's the stomach!" And proceeded to take like 8 pictures of it. If you ever want a picture of a 19 week old fetus' stomach, please call me, I have a few on hand.

So we are thrilled. And so unbelievably relieved. It was a LONG 8 days. But during the course of those 8 days I received many encouraging stories and lots of prayer, which was so great.

We found out that our baby is super-active (I already knew that from the 30+ times a day I feel some sort of jab/roll/kick) and likes to hang out straight up and down. It's head is to the right of my bellybutton, and its butt is several inches directly below. And it was really weird, we saw it "climb" backwards into a different area of the womb during the ultrasound. Like it was hiding from us or something! Such a funny little baby. I can't wait to officially meet him/her.

Oh, and stay tuned, I'll post our boy and girl name selections next post!

New Position

2006-03-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

So my new job position is absolutely CRAZY and absolutely FUN. My days fly by, and I'm no longer stuck on the phone 24/7 doing sales. Have I ever mentioned how much I did not enjoy doing that? I stuck w/it because it was a temporary position. The ad agency I work for is very new (The company was founded 5 years ago, but I was only 1 of 2 people starting up this West Coast office). Lucky for me and everyone else who has believed in us, we've been doing very well for ourselves. So now instead of doing sales, I'm doing a million other things. Account coordination and PR. I love PR. It's the creative side. I get to plan parties and events, and put ads in newspapers, and blah blah blah, it's fun. Although I'm doing all this just in time to "semi-retire" when Sweetie Pie is born. But I will always keep my foot in the door, and always do a little here and there because A) I'm always up for making some extra cash, and B) I believe this company is going to go far, and I want to be a part of it.

Okay, that was my lunch break. Now I have to go shove a sandwich down my throat while I type 11 emails.

Wow!

2006-03-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks for caring, guys! I feel really special. Sorry if I've worried you, my excuse is nothing exciting, I've been so absent because I've changed positions at my company, and now have ZERO extra time at work...I'm the "eating in front of the computer" busy. So I can't take long to post this, but I will try to do something tonight. You should definitely see my stomach, Sweetie Pie's growing like a weed.
One quick update:
We had an 18 week ultrasound this Monday, and the tech couldn't find the baby's stomach, which means it wasn't full, which means Sweetie Pie wasn't swallowing. We went back 2 more times that same day, and the tech still couldn't find it, and that is not normal. Everything else is perfectly normal, though, so we're going back next Tuesday for a follow up to see if we can find the stomach. If not, I don't know what's going to happen, probably a million tests, etc... So if any of you are the praying type, please keep my little one in your prayers! It's all I can do to not freak out at this point. Tuesday is a long way away!

Randoms

2006-02-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

I hope HALLS cough drops have sufficient nutrients to help Sweetie Pie grow, because it's nearly all I've eaten these past two days. That and my two newest food-loves: Aunt Jemima frozen pancake/sausage muffin things. They're Costco's version of McDonald's Griddle Cakes, and they're SOOO good. That, and Fruit Roll Ups. I would be in heaven if I had a fruit roll up the size of a BIG BLANKET. I would seriously eat the whole thing. MMMMMMMMMM!!

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So yesterday I happened to catch American Idol for the first time this season. You can definitely tell the people who try out just to have a second on tv versus the people who actually think they're good. And I always feel sorry for the latter. Especially when the judges start laughing at them WHILE they're singing. I wonder how they could possibly have thought they were ANY good, at all. They must have never sang karaoke. Like, in front of actual people. I used to think I was a fairly decent singer, and could hit notes pretty well. Until I sang at a karaoke bar. I was SO CRAPPY. It's one thing to hit the note when you're singing with the artist in your car. A WHOLE 'NOTHER THING when you're all by yourself. The worst song to sing karaoke? Faith Hill's "This Kiss". Oh, it's bad. And I've sung it. In front of people. And I sucked. Really bad. That definitely would have been enough to scare me OUT of auditioning for American Idol.

-------------------------------------------

It took me forEVER to remember whether "the latter" (see above paragraph, sentence 3) meant the first thing said or the second thing. Finally someone told me "latter" is like "later". That's almost as bad as how I didn't know Y2K stood for Year 2 Thousand, like Y for Year, 2 for Two, and K for Thousand. I just thought it was the name of the computer virus or whatever that was going to possibly destroy our way of modern living. Until that New Year's Eve, when I was having a little champagne with my sisters and they were talking about it. For some reason, it just hit me. And, having had those couple glasses of champagne, I wasn't smart enough to keep my mouth shut.

How the conversation should have gone, had I any sense of "how to not make a fool of myself":

Amy: You know, that Y2K stuff is a bunch of BS.

Sandy: Totally. I mean, just because it's turning to the Year Two Thousand doesn't mean we're all going to die.

Me: Oh, yeah, I know. Totally. Like, I didn't buy any bottled water or anything.

How it really went:

Amy: You know, that Y2K stuff is a bunch of BS.

Sandy: Totally. I mean, just because it's turning to the Year Two Thousand doesn't mean we're all going to die.

Me: OH MY GOSH. Did you guys know that the name of the computer virus, Y2K, also stands for the Year Two Thousand?? That is so cool!

Them: Stared at me for a long, long time, wondering how it was that I had a better high school GPA than they.

--------------------------------------------------

My sisters and I love Deep Thoughts from SNL. On a family trip, we once found this store with all these postcards with Deep thoughts on the front, and we stood there and read all of them, laughing for hours. The two we remember and always say to each other:

"If you ever drop your keys in molten lava, forget it, man. 'Cause they're gone."

"You know how dogs like to stick their heads out of car windows? Well, I wonder, if a dog stuck its head out of a rocket ship that was going really fast, if its head would burn up."

2006-01-31T15:29:00.000-08:00

I have a cold. The feelslikeatruckranoveryourheadinthemorning, you'vewipedyournosesomuchtheskinisflaking kind. Jeff has it too, and so we were both awake this morning from 4 until 5:30 or so. And because I was too weak to fight him for the remote, I had to watch three. episodes. of. COPS. while I coughed and blew my nose in tired misery. I hate that show. And I hate being sick, and I hate being tired. And I especially hate both of them together. And I especially-especially hate both of them together when I have to watch COPS. Here at work, all I want to do is close my eyes and sleep under my desk.
And?

That's all I'm writing today because I am freaking sick and freaking tired.

Oh, and freaking pregnant. Everything bad is always worse when you're pregnant on top of it.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Crapbooking

2006-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm the youngest of 3 sisters. After spending any decent amount of time with the 3 of us, you would never doubt that we are a) 100% blood-related and b) totally insane. We all talk the same, have the same laugh, same sense of humor, same color of hair, taste in music, blah, blah blah.

This was not always true. There were many times when I felt like I was destined to be The Weird Sister. First, they were both living in LA. I was in San Francisco. Then they both got married. I was going through 3 boyfriends about every 4 weeks. Then they started having babies. The only thing close to me having babies was “Spydie”, my hanging Spider Plant. Then they both bought houses, and all they ever talked about was designing or landscaping them. I couldn't even afford to wash my sheets, let alone wonder whether sateen or Egyptian cotton was best. They just kept growing up and getting all mature, and I kept resisting, because, seriously, WHO CARES WHETHER YOU PLANT A BOUGAINVILLEA OR A CRATE MYRTLE TREE? Gah.

I proceeded on, determined to be Totally Unique, absolutely positive that getting married and having kids would like, seriously, never be me. I dated a baseball player, a musician, an aspiring actor. I tried to be a poet for like 3 weeks. I thought about being a personal trainer for 5 minutes. I even seriously considered going to design school after I'd already spent like 8 million dollars on my college education.

Then. I met Jeff. And subsequently, gave in to being...ME. I started watching HGTV and Law and Order. I stopped spending entire paychecks on something because it had a recognized label on it. I stopped caring about which band was playing at the Viper Room that week. And a Bougainvilla would totally be better there, Sandy, because it's a vine, not a tree. Duh.

I'm in a place I never imagined would suit me. But it does, it fits me better than anything else I tried. It was like I was forcing Jimmy Choo's on my designed-for-flip-flops feet. I'm more excited about what diaper bag I carry than knowing whoever the hell that Kanye West guy is.

BUT. I have my limits. There is ONE THING my sisters do that I SWEAR ON HOLY HEAVEN I will not start doing.

Scrapbooking.

Oh, what, for the love of Mary, is so fun about using squiggle scissors to cut out a picture, and whathehell is a sizzix?

My sisters love to scrapbook so much that once they went up to our family’s lake house and spent the entire time inside. They even forgot to eat a couple meals because they were so into it. The thought of being stuck at a dining room table for days, putting PALM TREE STICKERS next to pictures of my trip to Mexico, is about as thrilling as…I can’t even think of something so awful.

And they’re so disappointed in me. After all, I’ve come so far, with the whole getting married and pregnant thing. I even went from borrowing 8 bucks so my checking account won’t be in the red to balancing my checkbook in an excel spreadsheet linked to my budget. They just assumed that scrapbooking would be the next logical step for me.

I'm so insistent that I will NEVER start that forsaken hobby, but they just do things like pat my shoulder and said “You’re totally going to want to scrapbook your wedding.” Uhhh… 15 months later, I have managed to get all my pictures IN A FREAKING ALBUM and that just about sent me to a psychiatrist begging for Geodon.

Now they’re saying, “Just wait till you have your baby. You’ll totally want to create a special album for them to look back on when they’re older.”

To which I say, just to piss them off, “Nooooo, I find nothing wrong with the way Mom did it. You know, throw all the pictures into a file box in no chronological order whatsoever. That way we won’t be able to tell the difference between any of the baby pictures. You know, Amy, like that baby picture you submitted to the yearbook’s ‘Guess Who’ section that really ended up being a picture of me?”

Any hobby where I have to purchase crap from a store with a name like “Once Upon A Memory”, where paper costs like $1.75 a sheet is, like, so not me.

*I have to say, this is not meant in any way to bash scrapbookers. I do not think you all are wackjobs for enjoying that hobby. In fact, I admire your patience, attention to detail and ability to sit down and focus for 5 hours straight without so much as a potty break.

I'm sorry, can you repeat that?

2006-01-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

So lately I've been feeling like I'm fighting some kind of bug. I get dizzy almost every stinkin' time I stand up, and my ears get all plugged up and I hear this high pitch tone in them. I've figured I was just getting sick. Until I read my Handy Dandy Little "What To Expect When You're Expecting" book.

I was reading about month 4, and lo and behold, what I thought was my immune system kicking some weird germ's ass, was instead, a pregnancy symptom. Ears getting plugged up is a symptom of pregnancy. And my nose bleeds aren't because the heater is drying my nasal cavities out like I previously thought. That's actually a symptom too. And that weird metallic taste in my mouth? And my eyesight getting those floaty things? All symptoms. So. Weird. Which one of my 5 senses is left? Touch? So what does that mean? My hand's going to start feeling like it got slammed in a car door or something? Geez!

It's just so strange to see all these changes occuring that I'd never thought about. When I put that pillow under my shirt when I was 10 to see what I'd look like pregnant, I should have put plugs in my ears, foil in my mouth, had someone punch me in the nose to make it bleed, and stared at the sun for a few minutes first just to make it authentic.

So Ironic...

2006-01-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

It's so weird how things always seem to happen all at once.

I'm talking about my social life.

I moved back here, to the city I grew up in, a year and a half ago for a new job and to get married. I left all of my friends in Southern California. Aside from my sister, I have survived on One Friend this past 19 months. Until, like, 1 week ago.

In this past week, I have had 5 invitations out to either lunch or dinner. Monday, my friend from college called me to let me know her sister moved to my area. So I met her sister for lunch Wednesday. That same day, I got a call from a friend who lives a couple hours away, asking me to call back and schedule a night we could meet half way for dinner. Last Friday evening, my husband's best friend's fiance asked me to go wedding dress shopping and out to dinner with her. An old friend from high school asked me to meet her for lunch yesterday. Then my oldest friend (since 3rd grade) called to let me know she's in town next month and asked if I could go to dinner. So AT LAST, I am getting more friends, and am finally. going. to. have. a. social. life.

What makes this so ironic? The fact that I'm getting this great, well-rounded, exciting social life 6 months before I have a child and end up having nearly NO TIME for lunch and dinner dates. And the only one with children is the one who lives 2 hours from me. So most likely the social life that I'll be spending the next 6 months cultivating and nurturing will DISINTEGRATE. Into the vast nothingness it was two weeks ago. And to top it off, the Trivia Night at the brewery that husby and I have so much fun going to (with The Only Friend) on Tuesday nights? That will also be no longer, because there is NO WAY I am going to have someone babysit my brand new little baby just so I can go drink beer and play trivia. So in fact, my social life will actually be LESS than the vast nothingness. It will be a VAST WASTELAND of NOTHINGNESS....

FINE!

2006-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I can't expect you to understand how pregnant I look...to me (and husby, too!). I know that strangers don't think "Hey, there's a pregnant girl" as I walk by, but I USED to have a really flat stomach (now that it's not flat anymore, I can say that without sounding like I'm conceited, right?), and what used to be concave is now convex. And the fact that I can't button my jeans anymore says something, right? I swear there's a LITTLE belly, at least! Now I just need to LOOK as pregnant as I FEEL...*sigh*...

So last night we went to trivia again. We got 4th place out of 15. Yeah, we pretty much rocked. Except for me. I didn't rock, because I didn't contribute much. Because I was eating. Make that stuffing my face. The entire time.

It started with the blue cheese garlic chips. (The blue cheese was pasteurized, so don't worry.) They were for everyone, but I ended up eating most of them. I think my snorting like a pig as I ate intimidated them and they didn't want to interfere, in case I might eat one of their fingers or something.

Then I ordered a salmon caesar salad (Trying to make up for the greasy chips. And their dressing is not made with raw eggs, so again, don't worry). When I ordered, the waitress asked me if I wanted the large or small salad. Without even a second's hesitation, I said "Large."

Our food came, and I ate the entire large salad. And then proceeded to eat half of Husby's fries. And then one of my friend's chicken wings. And a couple bites of my friend's Turkey burger. My sprite was refilled like 48 times. I don't even like Sprite.

The kicker was when I made Husby and BFF Robin go with me to Krispy Kreme afterwards. The nearest Krispy Kreme is 15 minutes away, by freeway.

So today? Not much of a surprise that it's 11 am and I'm not even hungry yet. I know I should eat, but my stomach is still full of all of last night's grease. With a little "Original glazed" drizzled in. Ugh. I think I'll eat oatmeal for lunch. Isn't that supposed to help with my cholesterol level that I just raised, like, a million points last night?

*I have to say, I've recently realized one my favorite things about being pregnant is that my husband actually shares his food with me now. Do you remember that episode of Friends, where Joey goes on a date with this girl and freaks out when she takes a bite of his food? Well that used to be Husby. What is it with guys and their food?? But since I've been pregnant, every time I go to take a bite of his food, he willingly shares. He even offers me a second bite. And if I don't ask for a bite in the first place, he'll say, "Did you get enough food? Do you want some of mine? Here, please. Have some." (Sing the following to the tune of "The Twilight Zone") Doo doo doo doo, Doo doo doo doo...

2006-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it look so much bigger from my angle?

The Long Awaited Belly (or lack thereof) Picture!

2006-01-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ha! It doesn't look like much...but I swear, there's a baby in there!

Yay for Flickr!!

2006-01-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, I got Flickr to work! (Thanks for your help, Avorie)

Since I have an intoxicatingly exciting Friday night planned (the Mom and I will probably order pizza then watch CSI on Spike TV from 7-9 and then I'll lay around the house being lazy until midnight) I will add a few more recent photos (nerdy pj picture, anyone? Belly picture, anyone?) to it my fun new little toy named Flickr.

Can I just take a moment to reflect? Only 3 months ago or so, I had no idea what a blog was. I couldn't upload a picture from my camera to the computer (let alone from my computer to the internet) to save my life. The only website I regularly visited was WAMU.com for banking. Now look at me. I'm changing my website template. I'm downloading programs and pictures to make my blog more exciting. I have a brand new digital camera and video camera that I actually know how to use. Ya know what? I am just...so thankful...*snif*... to all my 5 readers...*snif*...who have all made this journey worth it. Thank you, thank you all.

Okay, reflection over.

Confused!

2006-01-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

So I just signed up to Flickr, and I want to include a link to my flickr photos in the sidebar of this blog. I cannot find ANYWHERE how to add it to my template. Can someone help me?

Error

2006-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

So it was brought to my attention (thanks, Kelly) that the house is in NC, not Wyoming. I saw something that said "Jackson Hole, Wyoming", and didn't look closer to realize that it was the first Home Giveaway in 1997. Stupid HGTV for making me look dumb.

So I'm having a problem with the ultrasound picture, so when I have a moment to myself I'll take a picture of the picture. Also, I'll go work on the belly picture later tonight. I say tonight because at night I look more pregnant than in the day, plus I'll be all gussied up because I'm going to a belated Christmas dinner for work. I am so excited, but very bummed out that I can't have a glass of wine with dinner. All for a good cause though, so I know it's worth it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I forgot to post that one, and I also forgot to take the gussied up belly picture. I guess tonight, when I'll surely be looking like crap will have to do. But now that I've seen Angelina's pregnant pictures, I am afraid to post one of me, for I will be far more pale in comparison. Sometimes I hate beautiful famous people.

Okay, I haven't had the opportunity to mention this, but I GOT A NEW CAR!!! FINALLY!!!!

After months of deliberating, we finally decided on this beautiful Nissan Murano in Platinum with Black leather interior. We even splurged on the Touring package. It is SO BEAUTIFUL! I love to sit in it and play with the in-dash computer. Yeah, I said in-dash computer. That. comes. standard. And the seat warmers. And the HID lights that go up and down. And the 6 cd bose system. And the camera that shows what's behind me when I'm reversing. And the...okay, I'll stop.

Before you think to yourself "Why would she buy a car like that if she's trying to buy a house?", please take note of what I drove before: a 1989 maroon Honda Civic. Oxidized maroon. 198,000 miles. Driving it was like driving a skateboard. It is so ugly, someone threw a pumpkin at it on Halloween. And we also have a close family member who works for the company and got us a very splenderific discount, so that didn't hurt either.

Now, I'm a firm believer in the fact that no one truly "deserves" anything. We get whatever we work for. (Please don't get me started on welfare...) However, I came as close to "deserving" a new car as you can. I may sound spoiled here, but I was driving a poor college kid's car 4 years post-college.

Plus our little Sweetie-Pie will need something big and safe to ride around in... and to throw soggy cheerios all over.

Mama wants a brand new house

2006-01-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

So the other day I was playing around on the computer, and happened to come upon the HGTV website. What I found made me VERY excited. I had totally forgotten about this year's Dream Home Giveaway!!! Now I'm not sure if I could ever really move to Jackson Hole Wyoming, but I can tell you that I definitely could get used to living in a house like that!!!
So every day I've been on the site to register both Husby and I, and I've decided that I'm going to win this year. All the past years I've entered I (obviously) never won, but I have a special feeling about it this time. I've never won anything before, and I feel like eventually, my time has to come. So why not come now? Wish me luck!!

PS-Belly and U/S pics are on their way, promise...

I love nice nurses.

2006-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Husby and I had an Ultrasound appointment today with the world's most awesome Nurse Practitioner. This would have been our first Ultrasound for Sweetie Pie (Have I mentioned my nephew named the baby that? Somehow it just stuck.) had there not been a little scare in the beginning. Instead this was our 3rd, and we found out that most likely, we are 1 week less along than we thought, 10 weeks instead of 11. Bummer, but no biggie.
So at the appointment, the nurse discussed with me all the test results from when they took like 800 viles of blood from me 3 weeks ago. I am happy to announce that I do not have HIV, Syphilis or the other STD they tested for. I also have rockin' red blood cells and do not carry the gene for CF. Boo ya.
Unfortunately, I leave a little lacking in the iron area. As in, I'm borderline anemic. But really, no bigger here either. I always knew I had low iron because whenever I've donated blood they always have to run 2 tests to check my levels. Now I just have to take a low dose "slow iron" supplement. Just one more thing to remember.
The truly, truly good news came when the nurse said I am out of the "miscarriage zone". I am SOOO thrilled! YES! I can now sleep peacefully, and not have the fear of telling anyone I'm pregnant then having to come back a day later and say, "Psych."
So what was so great about this nurse? Well, same thing that makes anyone great: they butter me up and flatter me with compliments! (kidding, really, you don't have to do that to make me like you...but hey, we can all agree, a little compliment never hurt anyone!) As we were looking at Sweetie Pie on the monitor (I swear, the baby grew like a million...millimeters or something. It was huge. And swimming. Like water ballet swimming. I am so excited that I'll never have to fuss with teaching it how to swim some day...), she said "You have a beautiful uterus." Wow. I never thought I would appreciate a comment like that so much. I wasn't sure if I should say thanks though, cause it's not like I had anything to do with it. So instead I said, "Oh, good! I've always hoped I had a good one!"
The other great thing about this nurse is that she printed off like 15 pictures. I could practically fill up a Sweetie Pie photo album. There's one with the baby waving at us (I swear), one with it's back to us, front to us, sideways...you name it. And you know what I'm going to do with them all? Put them in my purse, and make every person I know have to look at them all. Because Sweetie Pie is the cutest little fetus you ever did see. I swear, I fell truly in love with it today. Once I saw it moving, it became real to me. I seriously thought in my head, "That is the cutest baby I have ever seen." And it's just a black and white blobby thing! How insane is that? But it's true! I'll even try to figure out my mom's scanner, and I'll put a picture on here so you can all see the cutest blobby baby for yourself. And if you're all real good, I'll post a belly pic. But only if you're good!

Cheesy Pajamas

2005-12-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love cheesy family pictures? That's me in the red hat with my sister and her two daughters. We're wearing fleece hats we bought at an Arts and Crafts fair. I'm hoping that font is so small you can't read it. If you can, please don't tell anyone that I wore (and still have) a fleece hat I actually paid ten dollars for at an Arts and Crafts fair.

Anyway. My family SO dominates in the hoaky photos department.

Case in point: Every Christmas Eve we all open one present, and it's the same every year: Pajamas to wear that night and all the next day. I say that because it literally takes all day to open our presents (my mom goes overboard on the gifting, plus we take turns opening our gifts...so as the family gets bigger, Christmas gets longer...as in we opened until 7 pm this year).

I digress.

Back to the pajamas. So somewhere down the line, we decided that we should take a "Jammie Picture" every year, showcasing our new pj's. Heh. The name "Jammie Picture" is even cheesy. Now you might think this picture would be cute. Only partly true. There are two of these pictures, and yes, one is cute. However, the second one? Is so entirely retarded.

Some nerd in our family (not me, I swear. I'm the youngest of three sisters, and am trying my hardest, despite getting older, to stay the coolest. For example? They both scrapbook. Me? SO TOO COOL to scrapbook. [sorry if anyone reading this partakes in this rather expensive and extremely time consuming hobby. If it's any consolation, I like looking at them...I just don't have the patience for it.])

Oops. Digressed again. So some nerd in our family decided one Christmas that it would be funny to pose normal for one "Jammie Picture" and then pose goofy for another. For the record, I was initially SO incredibly against this idea. However, I hate to be a party pooper, so I decided that I could maintain my coolness by having the best goofy look.

Last year, I pretended to punch Jeff in the face while he choked me.

The year before that I drew a really big mole on my face with eyeliner.

The year before that I laid on the floor pretending to be dead.

Seriously, I am amazed at how good I am at pretending to not be cool. You'd almost (I said almost) think that I actually enjoyed these cheesy "Jammie Pictures". Please, my friends. Do not be fooled. I do not enjoy these pictures, and worry not, nothing can take away my coolness. Not even this baby growing in me. Rest assured, there are no minivans on the horizon, or family photos in which we wear matching denim shirts. No, no, not me, I will forever remain chic. Fleecy red arts and crafts hat and all.

Picky, picky, picky...

2005-12-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

I am so thrilled. My favorite Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, the Velveteen, is at Nordstrom!!! I love this one so DEARLY BELOVEDLY much, and so I put it on hold. Why did I put it on hold and not just buy it? 2 reasons: 1) It's 155 freaking dollars and 2) Because I'm a wee bit hopeful this Christmas. See, I went shopping with Husby the other day and when I saw the bag that I thought I liked the most (The Spring Roll--much cuter in person than online), he said "Put it on hold. My parents have NO idea what to get you this Christmas." So now I'm hoping I get the Spring Roll...just for the fact that I can take it back and get the Velveteen instead! How conniving is that?! I'm sorry! I just can't help it! I am super picky!

Seriously, I am annoyingly particular about clothes, shoes, bags, makeup, furniture, cars (more on this later)...you name it. From the time I was 8 years old, I've always been the type that knows exactly what they want-- in their head. The problem with that is I can never find it in person. My grandma used to take me shopping for my birthday every year. I would DRAG her around the mall from store to store, trying to find something that fulfilled my vision. One year it was a tan coat with flannel on the inside and leather accents (Gap Boys had it, lucky for Grandma). Another year it was brown worn leather shoes that are sturdy and clunky yet feminine, not boots, with no more than a 2 inch heel. Never found those.

My pickiness has even escalated throughout the years. It's so bad that I've actually considered learning how to sew and how to make shoes by hand. Seriously. That bad.

Unfortunately for me now, I've learned that I can usually find the exact item I'm looking for, only it costs $200 more than I'm willing to spend. If it's clothes, it's usually by BCBG, Max Studio or DKNY. I love the creative femininity of their designs and the fabrics they use. And they fit me so damn well. Which, obviously, is why it all costs 8 million dollars.

Ahhh well. I don't really need to worry about any of that for a little while now. I don't think BCBG designs maternity wear. And if they do, I don't wanna know about it!

The One Where I Write About Nothing.

2005-12-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here are my kitties. Gracie on the left, Cali on the right. They really like the bathroom window for some reason.

I am feeling awful lately. I know I shouldn't complain, because I haven't thrown up, but I get this morning, afternoon and evening sickness and it rarely goes away. It's just this icky, nauseous feeling. If I think about it or talk about it I start to dry heave. It makes me feel like I'm being overly dramatic like Jessica Simpson on the "Newlyweds" episode where they go to this super-fancy restaurant in Napa and she hates all the food and starts gagging. Please say I'm not as obnoxious as she is.

So I wanted to put some pictures on here...but for some reason Blogger is not cooperating. It wants to put all the pictures at the beginning of my post instead of where I left the cursor. Curses! Well, at least you got one. Aren't my kitties cute?

Goodbye, Hermie.

2005-12-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

My nephew Landon's hermit crab died today. His name was Hermie and he was a good little crab. Landon is 4 1/2 and just sobbed as his daddy dug the hole for the little crustacean's burial. He was crying so hard that he almost made me cry (darn hormones!). After the burial he asked me if he could fly now.

Me: Yes, because Hermie's in heaven, he can fly, eat as much candy as he wants, and he never has to take naps.

Landon: What does his shell look like now?

Me: I think it has diamonds and pearls all over it.

Landon: started to cry even harder

Me: Why does that make you so sad? Hermit crabs love diamonds and pearls!

Landon: Because if he has a different shell, how will I know him from all the other crabs?

Doesn't that just break your heart?

No one better get between me and my chicken bake.

2005-12-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have no doubt...I am definitely preggers (as if the 2 blood tests last week, 1 home urine test and one hospital urine test weren't enough).

I have had the biggest mother of an appetite for about a week or so. So big that I'm afraid of what I'm going to look like in 8 months. Now don't get the wrong idea about me, I am DEFINITELY not the type of person who says "I'm eating for two", and then wolfs down half a carton of ice cream. I've never been much of an eater, and I try to be pretty healthy about what I do eat. And during my pregnancy I plan on being even more particular. But I can't tell you how difficult it's been. I'm gonna get really open here with you all. Pre-preggs, I weighed 108 pounds, and after this past few days? I don't even know, because I'm too afraid to step on the scale.

Sunday during church, I couldn't even concentrate on what the pastor was saying. All I could think of was how much I was dying for a huge, fat, juicy steak. (?!) I am not a huge fan of red meat, I usually prefer chicken and fish. But apparently? Not anymore. I called BFF Robin and begged her to come to our favorite Mexican restaurant for their SCRUMPTIOUS steak fajitas. Fortunately she was up for it, because I was prepared to go out to eat by myself if I had to (Husby works on the weekends, so he wasn't an option). Before the skillet was practically put down on the table, I snatched a slice of the steak and just stuffed it in my mouth. NO concern for the fact that I had just burnt my fingers and tongue, or that I was in public eating with my fingers. ME. WANT. MEAT. arrgaghghhghagh. (gross sound of me scarfing down food like a cave woman.)

And it doesn't stop there. Yesterday I don't know what came over me. My body just kept saying "EAT!!!" So for breakfast I ate a homemade egg sandwich, then for lunch I made a grilled turkey, cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickle, horseradish (?) and ranch (?) sandwich. Then about 3 hours later, I was, you guessed it, hungry again. So I had a small bit of yogurt with granola. Then I went to the gym. And ran my a$$ off because I am DETERMINED NOT TO GAIN A ZILLION POUNDS. Then I had to go to my neice's Christmas Band Recital, where I knew I would die if I didn't have a snack, so I ate some crackers with cheese, more yogurt, and a few baby tomatoes (I was in a big hurry). Apparently it wasn't enough, because by the end of the "concert", I was ready to stop at a drive thru. Don't worry, I didn't. I went straight home and to bed, determined to try and fall asleep before I became so hungry that I couldn't avoid eating.

No such luck.

Flipping through the channels I saw this guy on that female President show eating a fatty burger, talking with his mouthful. And it looked sooooo good. My stomach even made a gurgle noise.

Determined NOT to give in to my hunger, I found a particularly graphic Law and Order that I hoped would gross me out.

Again, no luck.

So I drank an entire 32 ounce bottle of water without stopping, thinking "sometimes people think they're hungry when they're really thirsty."

Um, yeah. I wasn't thirsty.

It had been a whopping 2 hours since I'd last eaten, but it honestly felt like it had been 2 days.

I held off all the way until 10 pm, when Jeff came home. He gave me a kiss, and I practically ate his head. Okay, not really. But an hour later I could have.

Me: "Babe, I am SO STARVING RIGHT NOW. Can you get me something to eat? Please? It's so cold in here, I don't want to get out of bed, but I'm really dying. Pleeeeeease. I don't care what it is, as long as it's substantial. Like, Hamburger substantial."

Jeff: Looking at me like an alien has inhabited my body, "Holy cow! It's after 10 at night. Wow...okay...umm...what do you want?"

Me: Feeling like an alien really did inhabit my body with an evil intent to make me gain 300 pounds. "I don't care. Whatever. As long as it doesn't take more than 3 minutes in the microwave. I really don't know if I'm going to make it. Please--hurry."

Jeff: Takes off running to the kitchen. Not so much because he wants to get me food, but because he's afraid I'm going to eat him if he stays any longer.

Me: Yells after him "Remember--SUBSTANTIAL!"

After the longest 8 minutes of my life, Jeff finally comes back with a broccoli and cheese stuffed Chicken Bake It's stuffed, breaded chicken, about the size of an elongated burger, and worth probably 80 grams of protein. Normally I eat half of one. This time? I inhaled the entire thing. It didn't matter to me that the chicken was chewy because it was cooked in the microwave instead of the toaster oven. Jeff was in such shock at me that he stood at the side of our bed and watched me eat it like I was a lion eating its kill on the Discovery Channel or something. Later he told me he was watching and listening. I was literally making this breathy inhaling noise with every bite. My dad walks by and peeks his head in. When he sees me chowing down, in bed, he has to watch too. I felt like I was in some weird chicken eating contest and they were my audience. But I didn't care. I was going to eat, and whoever wanted to watch could watch, as long as they didn't ask for a bite.

Once I finished, I washed it down with the glass of milk Jeff brought, and was finally comfortably satisfied. I settled in under the covers and thought about the fact that I should probably brush my teeth again, because nothing is worse than sour milk with herbs breath. But I just couldn't get myself out of bed. Then the 32 oz of water hit my bladder and gave me no choice but to get up and head for the bathroom anyway.

The kicker to this whole story? Jeff told me later that it was a turn-on to see me eat like that, knowing I was "feeding our baby".

And I thought I was weird.

You ready for the news???

2005-11-30T16:57:00.000-08:00

Been bad about writing. Life is just WAY too crazy right now. Not only is work insane, but I'm trying to exist calmly with all the possessions my husband and I will need for an entire year in ONE TINY BEDROOM (the closet is practically the size of my pinkie nail...so I've done what any normal wife would do, and made my husband find somewhere else to put his clothes. Lucky for him there's another spare bedroom at my parents' with an empty(ish) closet.). Not only that, but now I have been trying to force myself to go to the gym. That H & M trip made me realize I'm getting out of shape. I've lost so much muscle tone, going up stairs makes me out of breath. Well, that really wasn't the reason I've decided I need to go to the gym much more than I have been this past month. The REAL reason is also the big life-changing news: Are you ready?

I'm pregnant!

I'm only about 5.5 weeks into it, and I still haven't been to the doc (My first appt is tomorrow at 8:30 am, and I'll let ya'll know how it goes). But I must share something about this pregnancy: I am PETRIFIED I am going to lose this baby. It wasn't planned (as "unplanned" as a pregnancy can be when you're married and just happened to be too lazy/busy one month to refill your Yasmine prescription, but anyway), but even though I didn't really want-want a baby yet (sometimes I got baby fever, but it always went away), now that I know I'm going to have one, I am SOOO excited...yet terrified at the same time. It's a really strange feeling. So is the sensation of wanting to go to bed at 8:30 pm...this pregnancy thing is just really weird altogether. And so are the things that I freak out about now (Oh no, I forgot to take my prenatal yesterday! Now my baby's going to have Brain Damage!"). Seriously, I've become a freak.

But regardless of my freakiness, Husby and I are thrilled, despite the fact that we don't have our own house yet, but I know it'll all work out. And I know I shouldn't be so worried and negative, but it's just a really scary time for me right now! I mean, now I actually have to start being like a grown up, not to mention start adjusting to the fact that I'm going to have a "post partum" body...

Hmmm, forget all that crap, I just need to start saving for that Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag....

Fully Recovered

2005-11-25T11:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to you gals for your sweet comments. I am grateful for all your prayers and encouragement! Things are looking up, thanks to you all, H&M, Thanksgiving, my best friend Robin, Jeff and our counselor (I agree with Ashlie, therapy is SO the new black).

So H &M...Where do I start? I had no idea what to expect when I got there, but now I realize it is the Ikea of clothing stores. I heard it was even Swedish. And they have everything there, from old woman-looking clothes to lingerie to bright green velvet jackets...for men. Think Emerald City. It was everything I imagined it to be, and better. But by the end of the day, I truly felt as if I'd been through hell and back.

So, I live about 30-45 minutes away from San Francisco. But this day, apparently the cards were against us. It took us 2 hours to get there (Clue #1). By the end of hour one, I am so ancy that I'm rocking back in forth in my seat and wriggling around like a little fish, yelling at every person in front of us to get out of the way. Finally we park (having to valet because parking is full--Clue #2) then we head towards the store. AM SO STUPID! There was a FREAKING LINE 3 blocks down and around the corner. Did I actually think it wasn't going to be crazy? Like I was the only person who had heard of the opening?? Robin and I look at each other with the same expression: No way. I have too much pride to stand in line for that long. Very, very bitter with heads hanging low (and pride hanging high), we decide to head over to the other stores we love that only the city has: Urban Outfitters, Gap GRANDE (4 levels!) and Anthropologie. But nothing was as big and as exciting and as cheap as...you know, the storethatnotbenamed. Everywhere we went, there were people carrying these white bags with letters written all big in sloppy red ink. It was painful to see their smiling faces, almost like they were smirking at us. Those stupid cheery expressions that only getting a really hot pair of pants for 25 bucks can give you. 2 hours later and feeling really let down by this point, we decide to head over to our old standby, Nordstrom. We head to the Mac counter, and see two ladies perusing over some lip-glass with those SAME dang bags at their feet. So I just ask, "Excuse me, how long did you have to wait in line?"
"15 minutes," they answer.
"I'm sorry, did you say fif-ty?"
"No, fif-teen".
"You mean a 1 with a five after it?"
They both look at me very annoyed, "Yes. FifteeeeNNN"
So of course, we dash out (of course not before buying my favorite shadow, satin taupe) and head to Post St, wait in line for less than 5 minutes, and then... We're In! Forget the fact that I was just herded in here like cattle, I can't breathe because the body heat is stifling, and I see piles of clothes on tables that have been rumaged through by like 80,000 people already that day. Seriously, who cares! I'm IN!

And then it hit me: The panic. The panic that there is probably hardly anything left in my size, and I am in a RACE to find something I like before anyone else gets it first. "Quick, Robin! Over here! Look at this sweater! Oh, what's that she's holding over there? Let's go over there! Hold onto me so we don't get separated!"

Finally with arms heavily laden with waaayyy too many clothes, we head to the dressing room.

The line was 45 minutes LONG.

Exhaustion and fatigue begin to set in as Robin and I stand there in line, nearly ready to pass out from the fact that it's seriously 90 degrees in there. As we stand there, sweating and attempting to fan ourselves with the tags on the clothes in our arms, I decide I can't take it.

So I sit.

On the floor.

Pride from earlier? Gone.

The 20/20 I saw the other day on germs that taught me they're ALL OVER floors? Trying not to think about it.

To top it off, about half way through the line, as I'm sitting there, scooching along on my butt as the line moves (Yes, I was the only one on the floor), I get a very frightening feeling. The feeling every female knows: CRAP. I think I just got my "monthly visitor". After all this pain and effort to get to this point, there is NO WAY I'm gonna leave this line.

I will not. be. deterred. No obstacle will keep me from my goal. Trying the sly "crotch check" every once in a while (I'm sorry, I really am not intending to be crass), Robin and I get into a room. Fortunately, the "visitor" decided to not come like I had thought, AND, I found 1 pair of pants and 2 shirts that cost me less than 60 whole dollars! And Robin? She found nothing, except a silk flower to pin on her coat that cost 3 bucks. Poor thing.

However, she is still determined, so we will be returning to the "storethatnotbenamed" in a couple weeks. In the peak of the Holiday Season. Any prayers and well wishes will be greatly appreciated.

Stay tuned for a HUGE, life changing bit of news that I will be sharing very soon!!!

Life? Not so much fun right now.

2005-11-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

But I'm determined to make the best of it. My plan: to distract myself completely by posting a blog.

Looking forward to the San Francisco Grand Opening of H & M this coming Saturday (not that I have much money to spend there, but getting into the city and not having to THINK about things I don't want to think about will help). Another nice thing is that I have most of next week off, and so does Husby. So we actually have not just one whole day together for the first time since the middle of September, but FOUR whole days. Yeah, I did say since September. He works Fri thru Tuesday, I work Monday through Friday. You see a problem there? Thought so.

I feel like my life is one long Bjork song. Seriously. It's going in like 18 different directions at once and just plain wack.

So since I'm feeling so blue, I've wasted half an hour making a depressing Playlist on my iTunes. It's title is quite original: "Listen When Sad". To end this empty, depressing and downright boring post, I've decided to share some of the songs with you(don't worry, no Bjork, she freaks the living crap out of me too). I'm actually pretty proud of this soundtrack for a really sad day...it almost makes me hope things won't get better. Well, not really, but it's almost that good.

Just Another (Pete Yorn)
Come Pick Me Up (Ryan Adams)
Givin' Up On You (Laura Fabian, Dawson's Creek Soundtrack)
Home (Michael Bubale)
Closer To You (Wallflowers)
Though It Wouldn't Be This Way (Leann Rimes)
Missing You (Jem)
As I'm Leaving (David Gray)
The Scientist (Coldplay)
Square One (Tom Petty)
Same In Any Language (I Nine)
Hard Times (Eastmountainsouth)
Strong Enough To Be My Man (Sheryl Crow)
Break Down Here (Julie Roberts)
World On Fire (Sarah McLachlan)

New Clothes on the Horizon!!

2005-11-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Just talked to Robin, BFF.

Lamented over subject of last post.

Conversation went like this:

Me: "I am so tired of my clothes. I've been wearing the same type of outfit over and over."
Robin: "You won't be after this weekend"
Me: "What are you talking ab---Oh! H & M!"
Robin: "Aren't we still going to the grand opening in San Francisco on Saturday?"
Me: drops phone and does a little jig in the office while yelling "YAAAYYY" and other gleeful exclamations.

Silly, forgetful little me!

CLOTHES RUT.

2005-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

I am so tired of wearing the same type of outfit OVER and OVER and OVER: Jeans (usually the same ones, my favorite torn Sevens because I'm one of those people who wear 10% of their clothes 90% of the time), a tank top and flip flops. Or this and flip flops. I want to wear something like this picture to the right. But I can't for two reasons: 1) I don't have the money to go out and buy it (Because I DARNWELLWOULD if I had the cash. Whether I want a new car or not.) And 2) The temperature is in THE SEVENTIES today. Did ya realize, Mr. Sun, that it is the middle of November? Which means you need to start moving farther away from the earth? I can't have a warm Thanksgiving! I want to wear Sweaters! And boots! Tall warn in brown leather boots! And a gorgeous tailored cashmere coat!
Ugh. I am so. tired. of. my. clothes.

Where did the word Meme come from?

2005-11-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

5 Things

10 years ago - I was in high school (a Junior), was # 36 on the Varsity Volleyball team, which was a number I chose because the guy I had a crush on had the same number for football. And I actually thought he didn't notice!
8 years ago - I was a freshman in college, going to a local JC and working my first job in a Mexican restaurant (YUMMY!--Oh, and I subsequently gained 10 pounds thanks to their BBQ Chicken Burrito). Also learned how to snowboard and spent pretty much my entire income from the restaurant on trips to Lake Tahoe--love that place.
4-7 years ago - Living in Los Angeles where I went to college. Had more FUN than ever in my whole life up to that point. It was like camp, 24/7. Also had my heart broken for the first time.
2 years ago - Was living in Huntington Beach and teaching high school PE. Just the summer before, ran into Husby (Jeff) who had been a childhood friend (since age 8--we used to play fort and ride bikes together every day after school. Our parents still live 3 houses down from eachother) and sparks flew (got engaged 5 months later)!
Now- Just had our 1 year anniversary, working for an Advertising Agency and living w/my parents to save up for a house.

Five yummy things:
1) Sushi and a Sapporo
2) Mango MOCHI ice cream (Try it! You can get it at Trader Joe's)
3) Magic Cookie Bars
4) Starbucks Verona coffee with cream and a Fudge Graham Zone Bar
5) Blue cheese & garlic chips from Pyramid Brewery

Five songs I know by heart:
1) I Want You (Bob Dylan)
2) Zombie Zoo (Tom Petty)
3) Up Town Girl (Billie Joel)
4) The entire Grease soundtrack
5) The entire Little Mermaid soundtrack

Five things I would do with a lot of money:
OOOh, this one's fun! Hope it's okay that I'm translating "a lot" to "unlimited"
1) Buy a Villa on Lake Como, Italy with a view like this.
2) Buy a jet w/pilot to take me and Jeff from Lake Como to the U.S. whenever we want.
3) Buy Nordstrom (with unlimited rights to all the clothes/makeup/shoes/bags in stock)
4) Spoil all my family and friends
5) Start Christian schools in poor African and Asian countries.

Five places I would to escape to:
1) Manhattan--lovelovelove it there!
2) Prince Edward Island (where Anne of Green Gables was filmed)
3) Highlands Inn, Carmel (where we got married...SO gorgeous!)
4) Switzerland (the Alps!)
5) A yacht in Italy (think "The Talented Mr. Ripley")

Five things I would never wear:
1) Leggings with a baggy sweatshirt
2) Just a sports bra with spandex shorts to the gym
3) Anything Cher or Beyonce Knowles would wear
4) A leather jacket any color other than black or brown
5) High Tops

Five favorite TV shows:
1) Grey's Anatomy
2) CSI
3) Sex and the City
4) Hannity and Combs on Fox News
5) Talk Soup

Five things I enjoy doing:
1) Sleeping in with Jeff then going to Starbucks together
2) Playing card games and scrabble with my sisters and mom
3) Hanging out/water skiing/tubing at my family's lake house
4) Decorating our Christmas tree with a cup of "Adult Hot Chocolate" and christmas music in the background
5) Playing the piano

Five Favorite toys:
1) iPod/iTunes
2) The Infiniti G35 we're buying next month (does that count??)
3) My two kitties Gracie and Cali
4) The Internet (new-found-fun w/my blogs!)
5) Jeff (I hate to be unoriginal but it's true)

Five people who get this meme:
This is hard, as I don't know of ANYONE on here yet who hasn't already been Memed (How sad!). Give me more time and I will. Here's sweet Janet who helped me earlier today.
1) Janet

Why is my profile at the bottom of the page?

2005-11-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

Can't.
Fix.
It.
I've.
Refreshed.
This.
Page.
8.
Million.
Times.
What.
The.
Heck.

Sushi, anyone?

2005-11-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the beginning of the movie "Home Alone"? You know, the part where the house is chaotic because there are like 27 kids running around and everyone's trying to pack for France? Well I swear I was in that scene last night. Minus the trip to France, unfortunately.

I have two sisters who are both married with kids. There are five children total, and they range in age from 11 months to 10 years. We all decided to have dinner at my parents' house, but no one wanted to cook. So? We sent Dad to Taco Bell. 45 minutes and about 50 bucks later (which, mind you, is very difficult to do at TB), the food finally arrived, and we all gathered around the dining room table. That comfortably seats 6 adults.

There were 8 adults and 5 children. At one table.

We said Grace twice because the 8 and 4 year old will brawl over who gets to pray.

In no time at all, complete chaos ensues.

Shredded lettuce manages to be EVERYWHERE.
Someone steps on a packet of Mild Sauce, spraying it all over the wall.
The 10 and 8 year olds decide to sing us the Christmas play song they learned in Choir that day.
Mom #1 tells the kids to stop pounding the bottles of sparkling apple cider, pretending it's beer.
11 month old baby knocks over Mom #2's water.
And the 3 year old, whom I'm sharing a seat with, manages to spill his Pintos 'n Cheese on my lap.

Dear Merciful Father in Heaven, please take the ovaries from my body.

Then I feel someone looking at me. I look up from my bean-caked $200 jeans at Husby. He's sitting rigidly still, his eyes wide, starring at me in almost...fear, I think...with an expression that says "Ihavetogetoutofhereweareneverhavingkids-doyouthinkitstoolatetogooutforsushi-ow-someonejustelbowedmeintheeye".

What are we doing for Thanksgiving dinner again?

Me = Big Nerd.

2005-11-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am such a dork. So last night? I went to a local microbrewery downtown with several friends, minus Husby, who was working overtime. Please know, the bar scene isn't my thing. But this... *sigh* this was no Hang-Out-And-Do-Nothing-But-Talk-And-Drink kind of night. Oh, no.

This was Trivia Night, BABY!

Now this was my first time at Trivia Night (I swear), and it was SO MUCH FUN! And that's not the beer talking, because I didn't have very much. Being as competitive as I am when it comes to board games and the like, I had to keep my head clear of the buzz-fuzz. And please don't get the wrong idea here, I take that precaution not because I'm good. I am so. not. good. at. trivia. I think I contributed a total of three answers (out of 70) to my team, all of which I can still remember: Morgan Fairchild, The Wall by Pink Floyd, and Pasteurization.

And my team got slaughtered. Silly us, thinking it was just an opportunity to have fun. There is a whole world out there of Trivia Buffs. I have to say I was getting a little flustered at the other teams and their unrealistically vast and ultra-annoying trivia knowledge. You know, the guys who probably come every week, and know answers to the most retarded questions, like "For what purpose is trinitoluene most commonly used?"

WTF??

We're so gonna kick their asses next week.

Step 1 Toward Home Ownership: Have Money.

2005-11-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

So my husband and I are no longer renting our spacious 1 million dollar home. When I say "1 million dollar home", here in the San Francisco East Bay, that means "Fixer Upper", or as the Real Estate agents like to put it, "Contractor's Special". You might ask, "Ann and Husby, WHY would you give up a spacious 3 bedroom home where deer and bunny rabbits would graze on the fruit of the trees in 'your' backyard, and you could have house guests and fun parties, and EVERYONE you know over at the same time, because you had lots and lots of space?" Well, we moved out because we have decided we would like to join the kajillions of people scrambling to buy homes at twice the price they're worth for half the space, and become house poor. Yes, we want to own our OWN Fixer Upper/Piece of Crap/Contractor's Special! So in order to save enough cash to make this possible, we have moved... into my parents' home.

Now before you start laughing or cursing at our stupidity (depending on what type of person you are) , let me tell you a few of the great things resulting from this decision (there are a few not-so-great things, but today we're focusing on the POSITIVES):
1) FREE FOOD. But only on one unfortunate stipulation: that I cook. The good thing about this is that I get a "training period", where my mom cooks all her yummy stews and roasts and chowders while I watch. Can't complain about that. Plus, when I start cooking on my own, I'm gonna be so Martha Stewarty (insert your own ankle bracelet joke here) that my husband might actually keep me.
2) COSTCO TRIPS. I can't tell you how many times I have been to this bulk-sized Mecca since we've moved in. Okay, actually, I can: 6 times. Now, six might not seem like such a large number until YOU REALIZE THAT WE'VE BEEN LIVING THERE ONLY 3 WEEKS. My mother has a certain obsession with the place. But ya know what? I'm not going to complain. Because A: I'm not paying for anything; B: their rotisserie chickens are so dang good; and C: One word. SAMPLES. If you've ever been there, no more needs to be said.
3) ORGANIZING. I love to organize and throw stuff away. A lot. In a "I think I missed my calling to have my own HGTV show" kind of way. And my mom has told me to feel free to clean my little heart away, which I happily do because it helps me feel like less of a Mooch. However, my parents, bless their hearts, are part of the generation that was raised by the generation that went through the Depression. Meaning: they were taught to keep EVERYTHING (my grandparents actually keep-and use-the same paper napkin throughout the entire day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No, I'm not exaggerating). So when I say my parents keep everything, I mean that 19 year-old Get Well card from my mom's cousin when she had the flu, or the half-melted candle that shouldn’t be thrown out “just in case the power goes out”. This has not only given me enough work to do for the next 38 weekends, but it also leads to my next positive aspect of living with Pam and Lee:
4) CHARITY. I have sent Lee to Good Will 4 times in the last few weeks with a full truck bed. And these aren’t just some pansy trips with some wimpy Ford Ranger bed-full, I’m talkin’ Ford F-250 extended-bed-with-camper-shell-so-there’s-even-vertical-room-for-junk, bed-full. It feels so good to help the needy.
5) DEBT FREEDOM. In 1 month, we'll have paid off our credit cards, and in 3 months, my student loans should be P-A-I-D. Can I get a woop woop?
6) FEELING LIKE KIDS AGAIN. But even better: kids with no curfew, our own cars, no acne, and the freedom to be sexually active (with each other, of course).

Ahhh, yes, life is good in the McCleary/Silva crib. Now I'm gonna go clean out a closet somewhere.

Aren't we cute?

2005-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist posting a pic of our wedding. Don't we look so happy?

2005-11-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I need another vacation. I need to be doing this RIGHT NOW.