Friday, February 29, 2008

15 for Friday

1. Yesterday was hellacious, though I did find a cute blouse at Target to wear with the blazer I already had (unbuttoned, of course) and I spent $35 instead of the anticipated $100 or so. I even wore earrings and make up---and heard from ED—“I am not kissing you goodbye with those things in your ears!” and inspired panic in CA because she couldn’t find her clip on earrings to be just like Mommy. I can’t win. The visit went well, but after a day on my feet in heels, I was dead by the time I got home.
2. ED took his second Tae Kwon Do class yesterday—he doesn’t want to interact with the class at all; he wants to do his own thing and then do the kicks and punches when everyone else has left. We’ve told him that tomorrow is his last chance. If he participates the right way, he will get his uniform and can keep taking the class. If not, he is done.
3. CA starts her gymnastics tomorrow—YAY! It is a parent participation class though so we’ll see how it goes. My pregnant ass isn’t getting on a balance beam.
4. Between the kids classes, a chuck e cheeses play date and Sesame Street Live, we have a very busy weekend ahead of us. This is the second year we are doing breakfast and Sesame Street with my 2 cousins and their kids. It’s a fun time.
5. Tim Horton’s is pissing me off and not because I haven’t won on RRRoll Up the Rim to Win yet. I have been ordering an onion bagel with butter every morning. The bagel ends up being nearly dry…just a smear of butter. So this week, I started ordering extra butter and still, nearly dry. By yesterday I said “can you make sure there really is extra butter on it??” ‘Sure we can!’ I can not win. I am tired of dry bagels. But I also don’t want to make my own breakfast in the morning.
6. I’ve seen a few people writing sweet things about their husbands. Here is what constitutes sweet for Hub and me: Him: Man, I still can’t believe you’re pregnant! What a whore!!” Me: “ME???? You should probably learn to keep it in your pants!!” and we both laugh hysterically. Our relationship is based solely on sarcasm and humor.
7. I ordered lunch from Panera (and a drink from Starbucks) and it is taking forever!! I want to eat now! Asiago Roast Beef and French Onion Soup! And Green Tea!! YAY!!
8. Last Sunday, my MIL came over for dinner. I was arguing with ED about something and told him that he wasn’t going to get any dessert. He looked me dead in the eye and said “I don’t need your cookies; Grandma always brings me a treat!!” He is pushing it with his attitude and he is only 4! I don’t even know what to do because honestly, I’d like to laugh in his face.
9. Then there is CA who is obsessed with my breasts, only she calls them buttons. And asks “Why are your buttons so big, Mama?” Sigh……
10. Less than a week until we find out boy or girl! I’m dying!! With my luck, because I’m so excited, they won’t be able to tell. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I keep having dreams that it is a boy (probably because I’m stressed about names for boys) but all of the old wives tales and Chinese gender predictor say girl. Either way, whatever, I just want to know! I need to buy our matching Old Navy outfits soon!
11. Then I see the neurologist on Friday about these migraines. I’m thinking I might ride them out another month or so, rather than starting some new drug. We’ll see.
12. My lunch just came and my soup has 3 croutons on the side. Seriously. THREE! And no spoon. WTF? I’m not having good luck with food, it would seem.
13. I have a whole lot of blogs to catch up on. I’ve actually most of them, I pull up my RSS reader on my phone (Hello Saly, you are a loser. A really big loser) at home. But I’ve not commented. I’m all about doing that today.
14. You may have picked up on this, but my pregnancy craving has been onions. I picked up a big bag of the pre-chopped frozen ones when I got groceries this week and I have every intention of sautéing them in butter and just eating them like that. Hub joked that when my water breaks it will smell like onions. Maybe it will!
15. And now I’m going to eat! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

My desk at work is so clean; you would never even recognize it. You may not know this about me, but I am a slob by nature. Not dirty, mind you, but sloppy. I am much more comfortable in piles of paper, with pens strewn about, 45 pictures of my kids (and my cats and family), with my kid’s art on the walls than I am in this environment. I looked for 5 minutes this morning to find a pen—which was neatly put away in one of my sliding trays (along with a letter to a friend I haven’t mailed for 4 months, leftover valentines, paperclips, post-its, and a whole lot of other crap) where it probably should be, but I prefer it to be resting on my keyboard. If you opened any of my overhead bins, you would see my entire desk jammed in there—bins full of papers dating back to 2001 that I probably don’t need; but what if, photo frames, trinkets received from my employees over the years, cards from Hub, a super-cool 3-D drawing of my name from a former employee, magazine cut-outs of Patrick Dempsy and any number of random items accrued over my nearly eight years of employment. Yesterday, I carried home 3 empty travel mugs, 2 pair of shoes and a crapload of invoices that I work on for Hub during my lunch. And today, my desk is immaculate, marred only by my lunch sitting on top; to be eaten soon. It is not me, that’s for sure, but it looks really nice.

I am going out this evening to find an outfit, which I more than likely will return over the weekend. White Trash, I know. I do have a suit, however, I’m reasonably sure that the blazer I have will look ridiculous over a long flowing maternity top. The dress shirt I have also has very wide sleeves that will not fit under said blazer. What am I to do? We are fighting for our lives here.

I have been on desk inspection duty all day; going through my associate’s items with a fine toothed comb. “That calendar needs to come down!” “Please take down the wrinkled papers!” “Can you cover that stain with something??” “Homer Simpson needs to go in a desk drawer, please” They are less than thrilled with me to say the least. How do they think I feel? It’s hard when you have to support a business decision without necessarily agreeing with it. “There is a light though”, I tell them, “You can put it all back out on Monday”. My words make no difference though. They are disgruntled regardless.

These same visitors are touring our NC site today. A friend of mine there was talking with another of the managers here and said something to the effect of “the next thing you know there will be a live band and floats coming through here”. This manager went to our site manager and said “NC has a live band!!!” and proceeded to get everyone more riled up. She ended up in a ton of trouble for causing widespread panic.

Maybe I’m too laid back. I’m getting done what needs to get done, but I don’t have this sense of insanity that is ripping through here. What will be, will be. I don’t see any sense in being worked up over it. I don’t know. Maybe their insanity coupled with my lack there of is what makes our business work.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

10 For Tuesday With ?'s for You. Please Help!!


1. Clearly, I need to find a new OBGYN. When I walked in for my 4 month check-up today, scheduled for 8:30AM, I was asked “you know Dr. F usually doesn’t arrive until 9:30, correct?” Um, no. I was unaware. Why then would they schedule me at 8:30? I sat for an hour and 5 minutes for my 5 minute appointment. So here is the question. Have any of you changed doctor’s mid-pregnancy? Is there any protocol? And why the hell aren’t you all here so I can get a good recommendation?? What should I do?????
2. Speaking of the appointment, it went well. I could hear the baby kicking all over when she listened for the heartbeat, which was good at 144 BPM, and I lost a pound. My Ultrasound is next week at the hospital. YAY! I was referred to a neurologist for my headaches because they are not stopping. Dr. stated that I may need a beta-blocker and a neurologist needs to prescribe that. They are making the appointment for me. Have any of you ever taken a beta-blocker either during or outside of pregnancy? I was assured they are perfectly safe but still……any new drugs make me nervous.
3. Short of being dusted, which I am doing this afternoon, my cube is spic n span clean. I have the requisite 2 photos (down from, oh say, 30) in frames, and nothing other than bank info hanging on my walls. It screams “I am a robot!!”. It was also strongly suggested that I put together a suit for Thursday. Sonofabitch.
4. Misty got the impression yesterday that we, as a family, would be ok without me working. I had mentioned that as long as my leave was paid for (I get 8 weeks fully paid maternity and up to 16 weeks paid time off before I deliver if it was medically necessary) I would be good, so it was my fault—I was fed up with the crap yesterday. I make pretty good money and have decent benefits—all things that are necessary when your husband is self-employed since his money is not guaranteed and benefits paid for completely out of pocket are very expensive. If my office does close, I am banking on a severance package and unemployment for a while. Honestly, the responsible person in me would take severance pay and immediately get another job. I also really like working outside of the home. I just wonder if having 3 kids will change that perspective any.
5. Speaking of my good friend Misty, on her recommendation, I ordered Barbara Kingsolver’s “Prodigal Summer” which finally arrived yesterday. I am only 2 chapters in and I LOVE IT!! So far, excellent book. I’ve been looking for something non-crappy to read forever. Thanks darling!
6. ED starts Tae Kwon Do tonight. I think I am more excited than he is.
7. Afterward, Hub is taking him home and I am grocery shopping by myself. Oh yeah!
8. I mentioned to Hub over the weekend that for Mother’s Day this year, I would really like a weekend away—as in by myself—not on mothers day, but another weekend. Later in the day when complaining about how our TiVo is old and only records one thing at a time I said you can by me a new one instead of my weekend away. His response: “you were serious???”
9. In every pregnancy I have dreamt about my ex-boyfriend before Hub. Never cheating dreams or anything like that, and there is always the knowledge that hub is in the picture, but he and I are just hanging out, talking. I had one last night, and we were sitting in the hall of our high school chatting like old times. It was weird. I wonder what it means and why it occurs in pregnancy. We were great friends and had a very strong connection even after we broke up, through college, and then eventually lost touch. I know what he’s up to though, and I have no “what if” type feelings. I just want to know what it’s all about.
10. I really had nothing else to say, but wanted to end this at 10. Have a great day!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Rambling on About My Sucky Weekend and Corporate BS

I think that I had mentioned that I was off on Friday, having worked the previous Saturday, so I did have a 3-day weekend, this weekend past. We didn’t do much on Friday other than going out to breakfast and finalizing our kitchen plans (it should be complete by the end of April!!! WOOT!!) Hub had a chiropractor appointment and I passed out on the couch for the better part of 3 hours, never even hearing him come home and go back out again.

We picked up the kids later than normal and stood around for a while talking with the assistant director about CA’s teacher (the one who came from the old center) who mysteriously disappeared, and ED’s “manny”, who we actually do like quite a bit now. (It turns out, Beck, that he actually does work there as part of a work/study program; he is studying to be an elementary teacher.) It was mentioned in passing that CA had a low fever at about 6:00 but since it was nearing pick-up time, they hadn’t called us.

The low-grade fever was actually 102 and she looked like death when we picked her up. We got her home and the coughing, sneezing and fever progressed through the night. The fever got up to 103 and we could not get her to sleep except for being propped up on me on the couch. I stayed with her all night, barely sleeping myself, medicating her on an off, just making sure she was comfortable. Thankfully, ED slept the night so I only needed to worry about her.

Morning came, and she was no better, so we had to cancel her very first gymnastics class and postpone until next week. She didn’t eat much and was lethargic and mopey. Hub took ED out to a train show that was in town and to get a hair cut, so CA and I took a good three hour nap. She woke up feeling much better, thank goodness, and after contraband Robitussen and some Motrin, she was behaving pretty much like herself. We decided to go bowling for a bit because being cooped up in the house hadn’t been good for any of us, so once Hub brought ED home and showered him (because he refuses to wear the cape at the barber) off we went for a bit. It was actually fun, and we were home after about 2 hours. The kids were in bed early and Hub and I watched some TV before going to bed pretty early ourselves.

CA slept on her own until about 5 on Sunday morning at which point I relocated to the couch with her. We slept until about 8 and once everyone was up, I got out the waffle iron and made some waffles. Hub did some running around while the kids napped and I folded a crapload of laundry. I braved my chicken-phobia and fried up chicken fingers for dinner, complete with a buttery hot sauce. They turned out well, but my breading kept falling off. The Bean rather enjoyed the hot sauce, and wiggled around for a good hour after I went to bed last night. My stomach did not enjoy it so much so I was up for a few hours in the middle of the night with horrible reflux. YAY.

Today I’m back at work dealing with the bunch of shit that accumulates when you take a day off, and keeping it in the back of my mind that I need to clean and take down my way too many pictures and kid’s artwork because we are being evaluated by a transition team this week, from our newly acquired company (yes, we acquired them, but we have to prepare for them to come in….what kind of sense does this make? NONE!!), which will determine my site’s future. Apparently, desks that look lived in and personalized will not do……our work environment needs to be sterile. We are also required to be in full business dress when the team does their walk thru on Thursday—which makes no sense to me since we do not see customers. I can tell you this though—I am not buying a maternity suit. I have a nice button down and dress pants and I will wear heels and stockings, but that is all THE MAN is getting. Official day one of this transaction occurs July 1st and I plan on being off preparing for the baby by 7/15. Here’s the thing—I do not care at all if they close my office, so long as I get my full maternity pay. If I never had to come back here……well, that’s a story for another day. There’s so much more to it than I can even get in to here anyway.

Ok, you’ve heard enough from me!! I need to eat lunch anyway.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Excercise During Pregnancy

I have been feeling like a moose lately which is odd because since I barely ate anything in my first trimester, I really haven’t gained any weight. What I’m finding though is that the baby bump is pushing up that fat left over from the previous pregnancies, and well, I just feel gross.

I started thinking about exercising which is not my strong point in non-pregnant life, so it’s for damn sure a long shot now—but as I thought more about it, it occurred to me that I actually do get a lot of exercise in any given day. Here is a sampling:

• Going up and down my basement stairs 6 times in the morning because I can’t stand any of my clothes.
• Sprinting the ¼ mile between the parking lot and work (coming in and going out, and also sometimes on my lunch break) because it is actually 2 degrees outside
• Vigorously rolling cat hair and coat feathers from my clothes for 5 minutes a morning
• Power walking from my desk to the bathroom 8 times a day.
• Chasing my kids through the halls at daycare (which is a complete circle) because they think it’s funny to each take off in a different direction and see where they meet up.
• Getting an aerobic workout in bed every night (no, it’s not what you think) what, with all of the tossing and turning
• Carrying a 25 lb 2-year-old or a 40 lb 4-year-old back to bed up to 4 times a night

It’s actually a pretty well-rounded regimen, huh

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

S E V E N

Ok, Carrie tagged me, so here it goes!!

The rules are as follows:
# Link to the person who tagged you
# Post the rules on your blog.
# Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
# Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
# Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

1. I am overly freaked out by feet—to a ridiculous extent. It took me years to be able to even touch my husband’s feet, and even now, seeing him barefoot, disgusts me. True story: a friend and I went to a new health club downtown (a few years ago) and took a tae bo-type class upstairs and then headed downstairs where we had signed up for a free martial arts lesson. When I saw all of the naked feet on the mat, I had a panic attack and could not go through with the class. What was worse was that I had to cross the mat with the naked feet in order to leave the building. It was horrifying and I am truly scarred for life from that one. (The exception to my foot issue is my kid’s feet—I have no problem with them at all.)
2. I am mildly obsessive compulsive about a couple of things in my life but none more so than my alarm clock which I obsessively set and reset no fewer than 6 times before bed. It goes a little something like this: set, view to see that time was set correctly, double check to make sure alarm is set to AM and clock shows it is currently PM, turn the alarm off, click it back on and repeat the entire process. Yeah.
3. I can not handle any type opf repetitive noise (think someone tapping their pencil or clicking their pen—or better yet the dinging in your car when you forget your keys or leave your lights on; even the microwave beeping at the end KILLS ME) OR any sort of repetitive blinking (think the light on the answering machine). It seriously takes me over the edge. I may have some sort of mild sensory integration disorder.
4. When I was a kid, I used to practice smiling in the mirror so that I would always look great in photos. Seriously. (It was time well spent though, my wedding photos being proof)
5. I loathe board games and puzzles. The thought of sitting down and going through the motions of any board game, especially monopoly, is worse to me than having to peel off my fingernails one by one. This carries over to all of those crappy kids board games too. (I’m talking to YOU Chutes and Ladders!!!) They actually make me feel claustrophobic and confined—like I’m in a straight jacket. There is one exception though, and it is Scrabble. I love it!!
6. I will only eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese if it is doused in ketchup. If you haven’t tried it, you should!
7. I pretend to be pretty outgoing—especially at work, but typically I feel out of place and somewhat retarded in social situations. I can always be counted on to say the wrong thing in an awkward moment. In fact, I often create awkward moments.

Umm, here is who I tag:

Emily

Misty

Shelly (if she hasn’t been killed by a rogue realtor)

Bananafana

Mom of the Year

Shannon

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Deep Calming Breaths

I figured I should take a few minutes and sit down and write because I have been on a horrific rampage here at work today. Note To Self: It is never acceptable to stand up and yell “Hey Ass-wipes!!” in the workplace.

I worked yesterday, President’s Day, in order to gain a future floating holiday. It was dead, and I did absolutely nothing. Glorious. I left around 4:30 though because I had a conference set up with ED’s teacher. Typically, I avoid daycare parent/teacher conferences, because, well, it’s weird—but I decided to do this one since it is a new school and I don’t get to talk to his teacher often like I did at the old place. I fully expected to hear that my son was a gifted genius, but all I got was “he is one of the smartest in the class……” I was pleased to hear, however, that ED is the best mannered 4-year-old she has ever encountered. We are big on the polite thing in our house (well, all of us but CA who seems to think it is acceptable to bark orders on a wide variety of subjects……but that’s a story for another day) so it’s nice to hear that he carries it over to school. The good things she said: he is very bright, he can count to 30 and identify numbers up to 99, he knows all of his colors (which he has since he was like 18-months old) both in English and in Spanish, he can identify a few words—his name, cat, dog etc by sight, he can write his name and the majority of his letters, he excels in computer class (seriously, you should see this kid at p b s dot com) and he gets along well with the other children. Her concerns: he is something of a know-it-all, shouting out answers before the other kids can and he holds his pencil in his fist rather than the right way. I asserted that it may have something to do with him being a lefty and she agreed. She is starting a name book with him where he can work on printing his full formal first name on dotted lines. First he’ll be tracing and then he will write it out on his own. In all, I think it went really well. It was nice to have a little one-on-one with her.

I picked the kids up then, a full hour early, and ran in to the CA’s infant teacher from the old center; apparently, her daughter goes there. She told me that she can’t believe how big CA has gotten, and that it’s funny to see how much the same, personality wise she is as she was as a baby. (She wants what she wants, when she wants it and will do whatever it takes to get it) She said there’s no word to describe her except to say “she is such a CA”. Indeed.

So, like I said, I’m reasonably miserable today. Hub has had the flu since Thursday and hasn’t been sleeping well, which means I haven’t been sleeping well either. My mother is having a jewelry party tonight, which I am skipping, because Hub has to work, but also because of my sinuses-I don’t think I can deal with the cigarette smoke, even if she didn’t smoke inside at all today.

Tomorrow I will be 16-weeks along, so maybe I’ll post another belly shot, for your enjoyment.

Toodles, for now!

Monday, February 18, 2008

4 Reasons to Change Your Opinion Of Me Forever

1. Barack Obama is a smoker. This is appalling to me. According to a news article we read this weekend, he is trying to quit. 20 years ago, heck, even 10 years ago, I don’t think anyone would have taken issue with this. I, for one, do. How do you expect to be in the public eye; be a role-model, and even consider smoking? I don’t necessarily feel that this is a reason to *NOT* vote for him—I actually really like him as a candidate, however, the smoking weighs heavily on me.
2. I’m on a roll with this smoking thing—one of the girls who works for me did not even try to quit smoking while she was pregnant. Admittedly, she never saw the need. She had a 5-lb baby who is now 2 and has severe asthma. Now though, because she and her husband are broke, she has quit cold-turkey. Because she can’t afford it. Hooray for you. I’m glad that the money is enough reason to quit, but your own child was not. I could even see quitting while you were pregnant with full intentions of starting back up again after delivery. That was never the case here though, and it disturbs me to no end.
3. The Melting Pot is the most ridiculous restaurant I have ever been to. In my life. Do you know that I spent $45 on just me there last night? The people who had drinks?? They spent $69 each. For 9 of us the bill was $592. Stupid. This is not to mention that our reservation was for 7:00 PM and we weren’t even seated until after 7:30. I got home at 11:20—it took for-evah! I will say that the California Salad was to die for, along with the chocolate at the end, but I don’t ever see myself going back. At least I can say I’ve experienced it?? Whatever.
4. This is really wrong but I am very leery of the new teaching assistant in ED’s class---a guy. I’m sure he is just as great as all of the girl’s there. This is a reputable chain of high-quality child care centers-even their assistants have credentials. Just ask my credit card—we pay for high quality. But honestly, when I see him, my head screams PEDOPHILE!! This is stereotyping on my part---hardcore and wrong on so many levels. I’m sure he’s not. ED LOVES him. But I can’t shake it.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

I was going through my old diary account and came across this entry from when I was about 4-months along with ED:

I heard baby's heart beat!!! Saturday, July 19, 2003
I did, I did!! it was 143 beats per minute, and per old wives tales, that means a girl. How fun!!
The midwife says it sounds like a very happy baby in there! She found the heartbeat EXACTLY where I always feel baby kicking me. How funny. I can't wait until my ultrasound. I need to know what this bundle of joy will be!!
I treated myself to a decaf Starbucks on the way to work, and had an amazing day knowing for sure that baby's heart was beating and that I wasn't imagining those little kicks. It was a triumph. I only wish Ed could have been there; he was working out of town.
I'm going to a giant craft show with my parents tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited. I don't get out and do too many things any more. Besides, they always feed me.
It's funny how our relationship has changed since I've been preggo though. They always greet me and see me off with hugs and kisses. We haven't done that since I was about 5.
On a side note, if my mother refers to my baby as 'our baby'(our including her....) one more time, I'm really going to slap her. She wants to know if she can be called Nonnie now. I just roll my eyes in silence.
I think that's about it, I want to organize my clothes so that m maternity clothes are accessible, and everything else is out of the way for now.
TTFN!
_______________________________________

It’s funny how hearing the heartbeat is still an amazing thing, even the 3rd time around. It further amazes me that I worry as much this time as I did the first time. I wonder if it ever stops. I know we’re ok, but I worry about this baby constantly. Will it be healthy? Will it end up in the NICU like CA did? Will it be gigantic like it’s brother? Will it be a champion nurser like both of it’s siblings. How will it change our family?


Of course, only time will tell. I just wish I could shut my brain off in the meantime.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Further Proof That the Third Baby Will Kill You

Here I am yesterday--15 weeks along




The jury is still out, but there may be a 2nd baby growing in my ass.

Seriously, my ass can't be that big, right? Look at my legs in proportion--right?? It's got to be the shirt. TELL ME IT'S THE SHIRT.

Happy V-Day to You

I picked up a valentine for each of the kids yesterday, a Spongebob one for ED and a Diego one for CA. Each came attached to a small box of chocolate. I had the kids in the grocery store with me last night and as they hounded me for candy, I repeatedly told them “no, you don’t need any candy.”

I left the valentines in the kitchen so that Hub and I could give them to the kids together before I left for work today. CA was asleep on the couch when I got in the shower this morning, but when I peeked my head out to check on her as I dried off; she was wide awake on the couch and greeted me with a huge smile. She climbed down and ran to the bathroom.

“You said at Tops we couldn’t have any candy but you buyed us candy!!!”

“What??”

“You did leave us candy on the kitchen table!!”

I got dressed and followed her to the kitchen where she showed me what I bought her.

“Diego for me! Spongebob for Eddie!! Can I eat it now??”

By this time ED was up and came out to see what we were talking about. Both kids were accosting me with “when can we eat our candy? Now?? Now?? NOW!!??” I told them for a snack after lunch.

When I was in the bathroom getting ready, I heard ED tell Hub “My mother said I could eat this for a snack after BREAKFAST!!”

Sigh. They are making valentine cupcakes with Hub today since they don’t go to daycare on Thursdays and will miss their parties.

In other Valentines Day news, apparently telling Hub I didn’t mind if he picked a job up tonight was the WRONG ANSWER. We initially planned on celebrating on President’s Day but due to volumes, my office is open. I decided to work because I get a floating holiday now, that I can add on to my Maternity Leave. I also work this Saturday, so I have next Friday off as a comp day. The kids are in daycare, so I figured we could do something then.

Again, wrong answer and apparently, I suck. Whatev.

I left him a card and a candy bar this morning so hopefully that makes up for it some.


Finally, because this is high school, we sold carnations at work for a fund raiser. I bought one for each of my 18 associates. I received one from my boss and from our site manager—pity flowers if you ask me. I never was the most popular girl in school……

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Vernacular

Vernacularver’nak’u’lar: 1. The everyday language of the people in a country or region, distinct from the official or spoken language. 2. The distinctive vocabulary or language of a profession, group or class.

From the time I was young, vernacular, as I suppose you would call it, has interested me. I first took notice in the words my extended, and very Polish family spoke; words that were not spoken in our everyday life. There are many examples, but the first one that comes to mind is my grandmother referring to her couch as “the davenport”. When I asked my parents why, I was just told that different people used different words. Well, ok then.

When we moved to the town I consider “my hometown” when I was 11, I was first introduced to the term “Duh”. The kids I went to school with inserted it in just about every sentence. “Duh, I forgot my homework!” “And then I was like ‘OH DUH!!’” “Duh” was probably more widespread than I had realized at the time, however coming from a strict catholic school with children who were sheltered it was probably the least offensive of the words that I learned that year which I had never heard before.

The language of the town we live in now, is something else. If you are an old school townie—like my father-in-law, the words “this, that and the” are pronounced “dis, dat and da”. This phenomenon is actually something my husband is sometimes a party to (when he’s not paying attention) having lived in this town for more than half of his life. You won’t hear people say “Those are good cookies!” but instead “Them (or dem as it may be) are good cookies!” Sandwich is pronounced “sandridge” or “sanrich” and you will often hear “batteries” pronounced as “bat-trees”. You don’t go out for a fish fry; you “go for a fish”. The biggest thing is the use of “ain’t it” at the end of a sentence or in completely odd context. It is typical in our area to hear something like this: “We need to get some milk from the store, ain’t it?” Or in a conversation between 2 people: Person A says “That guy comes around here a lot” and Person B will respond “Ain’t it?” Seriously. Hub and I started inserting it in to our conversations years ago because we thought it was hysterical, and now, it is kind of second nature to us….regardless of how incredibly wrong it is.

You notice things like this in your travel as well. When we were in New Hampshire on our honeymoon, there were many, but the one that sticks out is people saying “How you are?” (or in the NE accent, “how you ahhhh?”) instead of “How are you.” When my brother lived in PA last year he was appalled at the dropping of “to be” in most sentences. People would say “the car needs washed” or “the dog needs walked” or my personal favorite, “the laundry needs done.”

Today I put the call out to you who live all over this country and Canada, those of you who have traveled extensively, or any of you that want to respond. Blow my mind with what you have heard. Better yet, blow my mind with what you have said!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Weekend Recap

1. The weekend started on Friday for me since I was home with a craptastic migraine. I took the kids to daycare and slept until about 4:00. We went for a fish fry and then Hub and I watched “The Ten”.
2. Friday over Saturday CA woke up around 1:00 freaking out that there were spiders in her bed. It was obviously a nightmare, but we couldn’t get her anywhere near her bed for the rest of the night. She slept on top of me in bed until the morning.
3. Somehow I woke up Saturday morning to find both kids in bed with me and Hub on the couch.
4. Hub took CA shopping to spend some Daddy time with her. He planned on getting her some new shoes to replace those that were destroyed in the escalator. He bought her new shoes all right, $30 Nikes. Seriously. For a 2-year-old. Even though I’ve never spent more than $15 on shoes for either kid. His excuse—she said she wanted them. If I came home with $30 shoes, all hell would break loose.
5. While he was gone, I had a few bills to pay so ED and I went downstairs for a while. I threw in a load of laundry, paid the bills and set ED up on the PBS website so he could play some games. In the back of my mind it occurred to me that the washer seemed to be filling for quite a while. When I went around the corner to go fold some laundry, I was greeted by a flood. The tub in our washer apparently cracked, and water was leaking from the bottom of it all over the place. FIL and I spent over an hour with squeegees and push-brooms cleaning it all up. I’m just glad that all of my clean laundry was up off of the floor when it happened.
6. That evening, we went to Sears and purchased a new (front-loading) washing machine. F A N C Y
7. We also went to BJ’s to restock our pantry.
8. We came home and the kids stayed up until 11PM watching NASCAR with Hub.
9. ED woke up at 7 on Sunday morning.
10. Hub took all of our clothes to the laundry mat and I laid around on the couch until about 11.
11. Hub took ED to a birthday party for one of his classmates (where he bowled for 2.5 hours straight) and CA and I shared lunch, folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen and worked on dinner (I made oven-fried chicken).
12. I bathed CA and Hub showered ED and everyone but me went to bed.
13. I played Scrabble on my phone and watched The Grammys.
14. I woke up this morning to find that it was 1 degree with a wind chill of minus 20.
15. I had to fight with the children to wear hats and mittens.
16. And here we are, kids at school, Hub at the chiropractor, and I’m at work.
17. Happy Monday!

Friday, February 8, 2008

So I suppose you're quite tired of hearing about my son's pissing habits. How do you feel about hearing that CA got her foot caught in an escalator yesterday? Yeah. Hub took the kids to the Auto Show and that's where it happened. I always watch their feet at the front of each step...making sure they don't get sucked in, but CA's foot actually got sucked in between the railing and the stairs. Did I mention she's fine? The shoe is destroyed as evidenced in the photos below:

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The convention center folks set them all up with lunch and made sure everything was fine. How incredibly scary, right??

The End (of night time potty training)

After ED had asked despairingly before bed why CA can stay dry and hold her pee and he can't (which led to a long discussion about our bodies working differently...) AND peed the bed for the second time last night, Hub announced "Maybe he's not ready...."

And there was much rejoicing.


I stayed home today with a migraine and am going back to bed....just needed to share the news.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

More on Night Time Potty Training

Let’s start by saying that ED recently turned 4 and has been daytime potty trained since he was 2.5. (For the record, CA has been fully trained, day and night, since she turned 2 and she did it herself. Girls really are easier) I had heard of the “waking up” method before, but refused to try it. The majority of things I have read have said that it is especially hard on boys, and that it may take until they are 6 or 7 years old to fully outgrow it. I was ok with this. I actually talked about it on my old Blog. So what changed??

Hub took ED to the pediatrician last week for his 4-year checkup and saw the famous and apparently hot Dr. Jen. I’ve never met her because she is actually an NP and I prefer to see the actual doctor when it comes to checkups but ED and Hub prefer the pretty girl—which is another issue in itself. Aaaaanyway……among other concerns, Hub brought up the bed-wetting (which I don’t even consider bed-wetting since he is only 4, but whatev.) and the pediatrician recommended waking him up nightly. This reinforced what Hub read in a John Rosemond column and apparently Hub feels the way about John as I do about Catherine. So he came home with the attitude of “we are going to do this and it is going to work!”.

We are 2 days in and I want to die. DIE. Setting my alarm to get up 2 times a night is killing me. Hub is getting up too, but ED only wants me. This kid is not easy to wake, let me tell you, and he is not nice in the middle of the night either. I think that’s part of the problem anyway, him being such a hard sleeper. I have to carry him from his bed to the bathroom and back as well, which probably isn’t the best idea right now; he weighs 40lbs.

The bottom line is that I am committed to trying this for a week. If it doesn’t work out, so be it. Perhaps we can try it again when I’m already up 3 times a night nursing a baby. At least we have plenty of sheets and he still has the plastic toddler mattress. It won’t matter much though when I go out and pick up some more pull-ups on Friday.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Maternity Wardrobe Choices, Customer Service, and Night Time Potty Training

Last weekend, Hub and I did some work in the basement because, a. it needed to be done, and b. I was missing a box of winter maternity clothes. Of course, I was more concerned with the latter and we found them buried in an unlabeled box in the very back corner of where we store things. As I excitedly went through clothes a few things stood out. Some of these items were no longer wearable due to wear and tear. Others were unwearable because clearly they were out of style.

Case in point: Denim Overalls. I really want to believe that when I purchased and wore these in 2003, the first time I was pregnant, that they were a good idea. I also want to believe that I looked super-cute with them on. I remember wearing them the day we went to do our registry, soon after finding out ED was a boy, with a cute t-shirt underneath and my hair in pigtails. I would never wear the overalls (or the pigtails for that matter) now. This leads me to wonder if it is because I am older, because I have kids now and feel older, or if really, in 2008 overalls are just not an option. I further wonder if they were a bad idea in 2003 and I was just clueless.

When I came in to work today, I had a voicemail from a very upset customer. He said and I quote, “Hello, my name is MR. ‘X’. ‘Big Bank’ has STOLEN MY MONEY!! FUCK YOU!!.” Then I’m pretty sure that he threw the phone because for the next 2.5 minutes I heard muffled background noise before my voicemail cut him off. He didn’t leave any identifiable information or a phone number so I can’t call him back. Even if I could, I probably wouldn’t. Regardless of how irritated I was with a company, I would never leave such a message. I would also at least give them the opportunity to do something about my situation. I just don’t get people sometimes.

We woke ED up twice to pee in the middle of the night, and he did very well until he got up this morning. I think in that half awake stage, before he gets out of bed in the morning, he just lets it go. I’m at a loss here. He doesn’t want to wear pull-ups to bed anymore (and I don’t want to buy them) but it seems like no matter what, he’s going to pee. It has only been 2 days, so maybe a week of training will break him. He gets really upset when he wets, and I don’t want him to feel ashamed, but again, he is the one who is initiating this. I guess we just have to see how it goes.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Accentuate the Positive

SO, I was a giant bag of sunshine yesterday, right? I know- I actually am miserable. My belly is getting big thanks to third baby syndrome, and also my belly always being noticeable by the time I am 4 months along. Today, I am going to focus on the positive. Yes. Good thoughts.

1. My hair really is awesome right now; healthy, long and luxurious.
2. My boobs----they are SMOKIN!
3. I finally put the new Matchbox 20 CD I got for Christmas in my car and rocked out on my way in to work this morning. It is a really good CD.
4. My new Sirius radio arrived yesterday, so as of tomorrow, I will be reunited with Howard Stern.
5. I am no longer nauseous 24/7
6. My kids---are awesome. CA is telling everyone we are having a baby sister and “her name is Nanna.” ED still insists it is a boy named Matthew. CA said she will rub the baby’s back to help it go to sleep at night. ED wants to give it lots of kisses.
7. I can feel this baby poking me ever so gently and doing a little dance. I like the reminder that s/he is in there
8. Work is busy and crazy, but I feel needed and useful. I actually didn’t log in and check my email and Blogs 150 times yesterday. I didn’t even have much time for commenting.
9. I told my boss’s boss’s admin that I was expecting yesterday. When she heard that it was my 3rd she asked if I wasn’t a bit young to have 3 kids. She thought I was about 20! I am going to send her flowers.
10. Hub and I were talking about the bedding we bought for the baby and I mentioned that I think it’s nice that in the sea of hand-me-downs s/he will have something that was only theirs. Hub looked at me and said “You know we are spoiling this baby, right?” I do.
11. Tomorrow, I will be 14 weeks along and by the end of this month; the baby will be a whopping 7 inches long. I also have 1 month and 2 days before we find out what we are having. YAY!

In non positive news, ED, who was fine when I left started crying hysterically to Hub that his throat hurt at breakfast this morning. It is bright red, so off to the doctor he goes. My poor honey. I know he is ok at home with Hub, but I wish I was home with him. I kind of regret waking him up last night in an attempt to get him to stay dry through the night. (he still wet the bed twice.) Poor baby.

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Things People Say

1. Hub was telling a story last night, trying to make the point that I have been crabby. It went a little something like this: “so I ran in to this guy who said his wife was expecting in July. I told him Saly was in August and he asked if she’d bitten my head off yet. I thought for a minute and said, ‘well, she did wake me up in the middle of the night and yell at me for breathing. Does that count?’ “. Many laughs were had, and it didn’t matter that what actually happened was that he, being sick, took a ton of Nyquil and passed out. I woke up to find his head on my pillow snoring and breathing his cold in to my face. But I guess I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s better to think that I’m some annoying, nagging, pregnant hag.

2. 4 people have told me today how long and beautiful my hair is. It must have grown a foot overnight! I actually colored my hair 2 weeks ago screw-holes. Thanks for noticing. You’re noticing the lack of roots and grays. Yes, it is longer and shinier, because that’s typical of my pregnancy hair. But you are noticing the dye job.

3. The same 4 people have also said “WOW! You look really pregnant today! You popped over the weekend!” Let me tell you that if I have popped, we are in really big trouble. I am not even 4 months yet. Here is what you are noticing----I am FAT. I was fat before I got pregnant. You have just made me feel like the Goodyear Blimp. I’m surprised you just don’t go and point out how awful my skin is while you’re at it.

Ok, so I’m crabby today and it’s mostly post-superbowl letdown……or regret of much crappy eating and staying up way too late, coupled with wearing heels today (STUPID!!) and my back is killing me. I’m actually still recovering from my Friday Migraine which is becoming an alarming, going to bed at 7PM and leaving Hub to deal crazy children kind of trend, and the weekend was just so rough.

I mentioned to Hub the other night that I thought this baby was trying to kill me. I wonder if that fits in to naming criteria anywhere. Sigh.

At least it’s February and suck-hole January is over.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Also, CA Loves to do the Chicken Dance

I can't upload it from my phone, but here is the link.

Complete Hysteria, I tell ya!

CA DOES THE CHICKEN DANCE

More on the Name Game

I got to thinking more about baby names last night, mostly because of Donna, who pointed out that Hannah is the Hebrew translation for Grace. So I would actually be naming my daughter (who might still be a boy we won’t know until March) “Grace Grace”. This, of course has killed me! I now need to find a NEW perfect middle name……sigh.

Hub and I have been kicking around Carter for a boy. We like Cooper too, but I worry about him being called “Cooper the Pooper”. I mentioned Cade and Hub said you can do what you want, as long as it’s not Cade, so I guess that’s a no. My concern with Carter is that it doesn’t go with our other names. This really shouldn’t be hard, right?

I couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to make a list of all of the names of children I went to Kindergarten with (circa 1982-1983), kind of as a base line, figuring that they were common names, so maybe I could pull out some middle names. After this though, I got to thinking. I wonder what would happen if I compared these names to the names of the kids in ED and CA’s classes at school—kind of my own name trending.
Here is what I came up with:

My Kindergarten Class
Girls

Sara (duh)
Susan
Jill
Kelly
Jamie
Jennifer (2)
Leanne
Jessica
Lisa
Julie
Adrienne

Boys

Kevin (2)
Eric
Christopher (2)
Nicholas
Curtis
Wesley
Chester


ED's Preschool Class
Girls

Celena
Madison
Emma
Mea
Marissa

Boys

Edmund
Brock
Liam
Griffin
Hayden
Siddharth
Matthew



CA’s 2-year-old Class
Girls

Caitlyn
Madisyn
Kelly
Zoie
Samantha







Boys

Liam
Joey
Ian
Davin
Max

After that, I pretty much decided that there was no hypothesis to make and that trending was not for me. It definitely did not help me in my own naming process. More than anything, it helped me fall asleep.

I think I’m going to stop thinking about baby names all together until we know what we’re having. I think it will make everyone a whole lot happier.

Does anyone have big Superbowl Plans? I’m making pulled pork in the crock-pot and my brother and SIL are coming over. I really don’t care much about the game itself, but I think it will be pretty cool if New England wins it all. We’ll probably have nachos and dips and lots of garbage to. The only thing that would make it better is ice cold beer………Maybe next year!