Since I think I am done working and think I am stuck on bed rest till the baby shows up as every time I stand up or sit up I get some really fun cramping, I have absolutely nothing interesting to write about until I am up and around again. I haven't been leaving the house to see any interesting people or do any interesting things. So short of regaling everyone with tales of the cute positions my cats sleep in, or what was on TV two months ago (I am getting to catch up on my TV watching for the last two months), or the plot of the book of the day, I have nothing of note to report.
I will be back once there are tales of the cute positions my son is sleeping in! I am hoping that won't take more than another week and a half or two weeks. See you then!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sarah Vs. The Morons (Part IV)
I went to get the car seat inspected today which is a service the hospital provides for free. After checking the way I had it in, the lady took me inside to go over how to put the baby in the actual seat. She brought up the following safety concerns:
Lady: We recommend that you don't attach toys to the handle as they could come off during an accident and hurt the baby, so we will just take this off.
Me: The car seat handle is tucked behind the car seat and the toy is a stuffed animal and ATTACHED to the handle. How could that hurt the baby?
Lady: Well they haven't been safety tested with the car seat, they could come off.
Me: Where do you keep your purse when you are driving?
Lady: In the passenger seat.
Me: Do you usually have a drink in the car with you?
Lady: Yes
Me: I would be far more concerned with those objects becoming a projectile in an accident than a stuffed animal.
Lady: Well, obviously you are free to make your own choices compromising the safety of your own child, but we recommend...
Me: Yeah, I got it, no toys for the baby.
Lady: Next we recommend that you don't use the bumpers to make them fit in the car seat better.
Me: Why not? I thought it was bad for their little necks to roll around in the car seat.
Lady: Well, again, these are after market and have not been safety tested by the car seat manufacturer with the car seat.
Me: Are you serious?
Lady: They add another layer of fabric between the baby and the car seat.
Me: So do clothes! You aren't telling me to not dress the kid because it might be a safety hazard...
Lady: Well it could make it hard to fasten the belts tightly.
Me: So I should just let his head roll around in there.
Lady: Not at all, you should roll up a receiving blanket to fill all the space and stabilize his head.
Me: Alrighty then.
Lady: Obviously, again, these are just recommendations, what you do with your child's safety is up to you...
Lady: Next we recommend that you not put a coat on your child if they will be riding in a car seat.
Me: This ought to be good...
Lady: It adds another layer of cloth between the baby and the car seat. You wouldn't be able to tighten the belts properly.
Me: I am due the first part of February, you are telling me that the hospital recommends that if it is three below zero, I should not put a coat on the kid?
Lady: Well in reality the kid will be going from a warm house to a warm car and doesn't need a coat.
Me: Unless the car takes 20 minutes to warm up like my husband's truck does.
Lady: Well once he is in the car you can pile as many blankets over him as you want.
Me: I was told that lots of blankets were a suffocation hazard for babies and that layers of clothing and coats were better for keeping them warm, but you are telling me that instead of putting a head bumper in the car seat and putting a coat on the baby in February, I should wad blankets around his head and throw several over his face. So he may suffocate, but at least his seat belt will be as tight as possible.
Me: One question, these recommendations...if I go to leave the hospital with the kid in a coat, will they release him like that?
Lady: Unfortunately all the hospital requires is a car seat with a five point harness. If you decide to ignore our safety recommendations, there is nothing we can do to stop you.
Me: Great! Thanks so much for you help! Great talk!
Lady: We recommend that you don't attach toys to the handle as they could come off during an accident and hurt the baby, so we will just take this off.
Me: The car seat handle is tucked behind the car seat and the toy is a stuffed animal and ATTACHED to the handle. How could that hurt the baby?
Lady: Well they haven't been safety tested with the car seat, they could come off.
Me: Where do you keep your purse when you are driving?
Lady: In the passenger seat.
Me: Do you usually have a drink in the car with you?
Lady: Yes
Me: I would be far more concerned with those objects becoming a projectile in an accident than a stuffed animal.
Lady: Well, obviously you are free to make your own choices compromising the safety of your own child, but we recommend...
Me: Yeah, I got it, no toys for the baby.
Lady: Next we recommend that you don't use the bumpers to make them fit in the car seat better.
Me: Why not? I thought it was bad for their little necks to roll around in the car seat.
Lady: Well, again, these are after market and have not been safety tested by the car seat manufacturer with the car seat.
Me: Are you serious?
Lady: They add another layer of fabric between the baby and the car seat.
Me: So do clothes! You aren't telling me to not dress the kid because it might be a safety hazard...
Lady: Well it could make it hard to fasten the belts tightly.
Me: So I should just let his head roll around in there.
Lady: Not at all, you should roll up a receiving blanket to fill all the space and stabilize his head.
Me: Alrighty then.
Lady: Obviously, again, these are just recommendations, what you do with your child's safety is up to you...
Lady: Next we recommend that you not put a coat on your child if they will be riding in a car seat.
Me: This ought to be good...
Lady: It adds another layer of cloth between the baby and the car seat. You wouldn't be able to tighten the belts properly.
Me: I am due the first part of February, you are telling me that the hospital recommends that if it is three below zero, I should not put a coat on the kid?
Lady: Well in reality the kid will be going from a warm house to a warm car and doesn't need a coat.
Me: Unless the car takes 20 minutes to warm up like my husband's truck does.
Lady: Well once he is in the car you can pile as many blankets over him as you want.
Me: I was told that lots of blankets were a suffocation hazard for babies and that layers of clothing and coats were better for keeping them warm, but you are telling me that instead of putting a head bumper in the car seat and putting a coat on the baby in February, I should wad blankets around his head and throw several over his face. So he may suffocate, but at least his seat belt will be as tight as possible.
Me: One question, these recommendations...if I go to leave the hospital with the kid in a coat, will they release him like that?
Lady: Unfortunately all the hospital requires is a car seat with a five point harness. If you decide to ignore our safety recommendations, there is nothing we can do to stop you.
Me: Great! Thanks so much for you help! Great talk!
Friday, January 15, 2010
The End of an Era
You know that job you got in college to earn some money while keeping flexible hours. Yeah, I'm still at mine. Wednesday is my last day. It is incredibly depressing not that I have been there for six years, two months and twenty days, but that I am really going to miss it. In my limited job experience, it is the best company I have worked with and overall, the best group of people I have worked with. I have been telling myself that when I go back to work, it will be in the field that I went to school for, but it doesn't make it any easier to leave behind my familiar, fun, flexible job that doesn't demand an education, just a sense of humor and an ability to appreciate the absurd. Am I ever going to have this much fun working ever again?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Nice Baby
It feels like half of this year so far has been spent patting my belly and muttering "nice baby." Not that this mantra is in the least effective in getting him to settle down. So here we are at 2.30 after a 7.00 Am wake up and he has no interest in letting me sleep. Add to this, Rob is out of town on business, so I am kind of restless in the house. Usually I avoid the house when Rob is gone except for sleeping, but I figure with a baby, I won't be able to do that so I better learn how to be alone here.
Day one, honey I miss you and the magical effect your hand on my belly has on your child's activity level. Please come home and put him to sleep, he doesn't listen to me...
Day one, honey I miss you and the magical effect your hand on my belly has on your child's activity level. Please come home and put him to sleep, he doesn't listen to me...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Quotables
"There are always at least two sides to an argument, I take pride in seeing the third, more absurd side of any binary choice."
--Scott Gentry
--Scott Gentry
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'm Only Distractable on Weekdays
A very productive, non-productive day...
Today we are going to play a game we call start everything, finish nothing. I started cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry, then was interrupted by a doctor's appointment. While waiting at the doctor, I started paying bills, which prompted curiosity about whether we had gotten paid which required I get on the computer when I got home. While on the computer, I checked my email which reminded me to pack for the hospital. While packing for the hospital I remembered the laundry. I knocked over the trash can while changing the laundry, so I took the trash out and the recycling to the curb, which reminded me that the furnace filter needed changed before I took the trash down. While changing the filter, the cat tripped me and I remembered that I hadn't given him medicine yet. I went into the bathroom to get his medicine and noticed that the trash in the bathroom needed taken out and when returning the trash can to the bathroom, remembered I hadn't packed bathroom stuff for the hospital. When consulting my packing list, I remembered I needed the call list off the computer. When I logged on to the computer I noticed that I had some more email and figured I could update my blog as well.
The funny thing about this is that the only thing that was on my list for today was take down Christmas decorations. I haven't even started this and yet it feels like I have been working all day. Instead, my kitchen, bathroom and living rooms are mostly clean, the laundry is halfway done, the floors are halfway done, the trash is halfway out, I am halfway packed for the hospital, the bills are half paid and the cat still hasn't gotten his medicine.
Today we are going to play a game we call start everything, finish nothing. I started cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry, then was interrupted by a doctor's appointment. While waiting at the doctor, I started paying bills, which prompted curiosity about whether we had gotten paid which required I get on the computer when I got home. While on the computer, I checked my email which reminded me to pack for the hospital. While packing for the hospital I remembered the laundry. I knocked over the trash can while changing the laundry, so I took the trash out and the recycling to the curb, which reminded me that the furnace filter needed changed before I took the trash down. While changing the filter, the cat tripped me and I remembered that I hadn't given him medicine yet. I went into the bathroom to get his medicine and noticed that the trash in the bathroom needed taken out and when returning the trash can to the bathroom, remembered I hadn't packed bathroom stuff for the hospital. When consulting my packing list, I remembered I needed the call list off the computer. When I logged on to the computer I noticed that I had some more email and figured I could update my blog as well.
The funny thing about this is that the only thing that was on my list for today was take down Christmas decorations. I haven't even started this and yet it feels like I have been working all day. Instead, my kitchen, bathroom and living rooms are mostly clean, the laundry is halfway done, the floors are halfway done, the trash is halfway out, I am halfway packed for the hospital, the bills are half paid and the cat still hasn't gotten his medicine.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
New Year's Thoughts
As I mentioned in last May's blog. Rob and I have met most of the five year goals that we laid out when we married almost five years ago. Since he was stuck with me for a three hour drive with no distractions on New Year's Eve, 'we' decided that there really was no better time to formulate a new set of five year goals. The two of us having come up with a basic list of five year goals, I was then able to set my own resolutions for the year and come up with a plan for tackling them. Tasks were further split into months and halfway through January, I find myself halfway through my task list. I don't really think this is early year motivation. Over the last year and a half I have become increasingly efficient at breaking down large tasks into manageable 'bite-sized' tasks that don't seem so overwhelming. For someone whose major fault used to be lack of follow through, it is very encouraging to look back and see my progress. Now, looking at a list of five year goals that would have been overwhelming a couple years ago, I am not intimidated at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that we will be through the next set of goals in two or three years.
Every year I read a couple 'self-help' books at the beginning of the year. This year, I read some books on money management and Covey's Seven Habits. Looking at my list of goals and feeling that they should be relatively easy to reach has gotten me thinking that I need bigger dreams and goals. Part of me still thinks that every person have some goal that is almost out of reach or that will challenge their skills and assumptions. Having been focusing on the attainable for the last couple of years has shorted out my dreamer side temporarily. Biggest goal of the year...find a big hairy audacious dream and go after it.
I realize this is usually more of a funny blog and apologize for the reflective really kind of self-absorbed post, but really the only people that read this are my closest friends and family. I believe that sharing your goals with others is a form of accountability. If nothing else, having put this in writing and shared it with you serves to motivate me.
This year's resolutions:
Ministry involvement, include baby.
Research CPA requirements and local master's programs.
If required take GRE
Sign up for summer classes, Rob's job allowing
Lose baby weight
Finish building six month emergency fund
College fund for baby
House down payment
Sew through my fabric stash
Most of these lead into our five year goals which mostly have to do with me bringing in income, Rob finishing his education, us having settled somewhere relatively permanent, having a financial safety net, actively funding our children's futures and our own retirements. Of course we will continually work on raising Godly, respectful, educated children. We believe that a peaceful, loving home that places God first is key to success in every area of life for each member of our family. We also believe that service to others is a responsibility we have been given as children of God whose needs have been met and hope that as children are entrusted to our care, we would teach them the importance of reaching out to others who are not as fortunate.
To our family and friends...your support has been and will continue to be invaluable. Please lift us up in your prayers as we begin the adventure of parenthood. We have been entrusted with a tremendous responsibility in shaping this little life. I hope that this decade brings peace, happiness and success to each of you and that your year is a great one!
Every year I read a couple 'self-help' books at the beginning of the year. This year, I read some books on money management and Covey's Seven Habits. Looking at my list of goals and feeling that they should be relatively easy to reach has gotten me thinking that I need bigger dreams and goals. Part of me still thinks that every person have some goal that is almost out of reach or that will challenge their skills and assumptions. Having been focusing on the attainable for the last couple of years has shorted out my dreamer side temporarily. Biggest goal of the year...find a big hairy audacious dream and go after it.
I realize this is usually more of a funny blog and apologize for the reflective really kind of self-absorbed post, but really the only people that read this are my closest friends and family. I believe that sharing your goals with others is a form of accountability. If nothing else, having put this in writing and shared it with you serves to motivate me.
This year's resolutions:
Ministry involvement, include baby.
Research CPA requirements and local master's programs.
If required take GRE
Sign up for summer classes, Rob's job allowing
Lose baby weight
Finish building six month emergency fund
College fund for baby
House down payment
Sew through my fabric stash
Most of these lead into our five year goals which mostly have to do with me bringing in income, Rob finishing his education, us having settled somewhere relatively permanent, having a financial safety net, actively funding our children's futures and our own retirements. Of course we will continually work on raising Godly, respectful, educated children. We believe that a peaceful, loving home that places God first is key to success in every area of life for each member of our family. We also believe that service to others is a responsibility we have been given as children of God whose needs have been met and hope that as children are entrusted to our care, we would teach them the importance of reaching out to others who are not as fortunate.
To our family and friends...your support has been and will continue to be invaluable. Please lift us up in your prayers as we begin the adventure of parenthood. We have been entrusted with a tremendous responsibility in shaping this little life. I hope that this decade brings peace, happiness and success to each of you and that your year is a great one!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
In Memoriam
We had a bittersweet holiday this year. Unable to travel to be with family due to the advanced pregnancy and its sensitivity to, well, everything, we stayed home for Christmas. Our dear friends the Halcombs joined us and we had a wonderful holiday. We went to a Christmas Candlelight Service, which has been a holiday tradition for both Rob and Becky for most of their lives. Then we spent Christmas day cooking fancy appetizers and playing games with the four of us and three other friends. Rob had talked about going to see his family for Christmas anyway, because his Grandmother's health was failing, but ultimately, we decided that it was better to be together on Christmas. After the Halcombs left on Sunday, Rob and I watched the snow pile up outside our windows and we thanked God that Rob was not fighting his way home in that weather.
The next morning we got news that his Grandmother had passed in the night. It is incredibly frustrating to not live close, to not know that you need to be there, to not know that this is the last Christmas that you will have this person in your life. While we had visited frequently this year mostly due to her declining health, when we had the opportunity, the time off, to make that last visit, it feels weird to miss that moment. We went to Chicago for the funeral, begging the baby to understand, to just stay put another couple of weeks. Then the self-doubt begins, we had really wanted her to meet her only great-grandchild, to hold him once...if we had only tried to have a baby sooner... And I know in my head that that is ridiculous, that this would have been a high risk pregnancy had we done it before I was healthy, but it doesn't make what you wish for any different.
Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with his family, one of the more unique experiences I have ever had. I have never opened presents from someone who is no longer with us. And I know we will cherish her gifts to her great-grandchild and will tell him about her and her smile and her enthusiasm. Maybe in some ways the Grandma Frances he will know from his father will be more her than the one I knew as she was already very sick when I met her.
Sunday night we got home safely and the contractions started again. This time, they were five minutes apart and painful. We laid down in the bed and prayed and begged God and the baby to just stay in there two more weeks. I couldn't bear to think that my decision to go to the funeral would cause our baby to be born prematurely and possibly have an unnecessarily difficult start in life.
Grandma, while we miss you dearly, we are glad you are not suffering anymore and that you are with your beloved husband again. You will be be in our hearts always...
The next morning we got news that his Grandmother had passed in the night. It is incredibly frustrating to not live close, to not know that you need to be there, to not know that this is the last Christmas that you will have this person in your life. While we had visited frequently this year mostly due to her declining health, when we had the opportunity, the time off, to make that last visit, it feels weird to miss that moment. We went to Chicago for the funeral, begging the baby to understand, to just stay put another couple of weeks. Then the self-doubt begins, we had really wanted her to meet her only great-grandchild, to hold him once...if we had only tried to have a baby sooner... And I know in my head that that is ridiculous, that this would have been a high risk pregnancy had we done it before I was healthy, but it doesn't make what you wish for any different.
Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with his family, one of the more unique experiences I have ever had. I have never opened presents from someone who is no longer with us. And I know we will cherish her gifts to her great-grandchild and will tell him about her and her smile and her enthusiasm. Maybe in some ways the Grandma Frances he will know from his father will be more her than the one I knew as she was already very sick when I met her.
Sunday night we got home safely and the contractions started again. This time, they were five minutes apart and painful. We laid down in the bed and prayed and begged God and the baby to just stay in there two more weeks. I couldn't bear to think that my decision to go to the funeral would cause our baby to be born prematurely and possibly have an unnecessarily difficult start in life.
Grandma, while we miss you dearly, we are glad you are not suffering anymore and that you are with your beloved husband again. You will be be in our hearts always...
A Nice Day for Sewing
Three inches of snow on the ground, my house is clean and warm and dry, I think it is a perfect day for sewing. I will work on diapers, and a bed skirt and a coat for my friend's puppy. Meanwhile, the raucous laughter of the Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me panel blends well with the soothing landscape...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sarah Vs. The Crib Skirt
I was going to use the space under the crib to store baskets of blankets. Unfortunately, the rails come down too low to allow for smart storage, so I was just going to put a crib skirt on it to hide underneath. Crib sheets cost between $3 and $15 depending on where you get them. Patterned, cutesy crib skirts start at $12. A plain beige, tan, cream, white, or blue crib skirt will run you about $80. What!!! So I have my heart set on a boring, plain, non-patterned crib skirt and I refuse to pay 40 times what I paid for the sheets. So I today I went to the fabric store and bought plain colored fabric. Total cost...around $10. I am thinking that there is a business in there somewhere. It cannot be a new concept to offer solid fabric choices for baby bedding??
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sarah Vs. Delusional Memories
Preface: I believe that children are a blessing and one of the most rewarding decisions you can make in your life. This does not mean that the process for obtaining them is nine months of euphoria. Worth it? Yes. Glorious? No.
My legs hurt, my hips hurt, my back hurts, my stomach itches. I am too hot or too cold all the time, I can't reach my feet, I still have morning sickness, I have really bad heartburn, and I have to go to the bathroom every hour. I am exhausted but can't sleep (see bathroom every hour). The baby keeps alternately pinching the nerves in my legs with his head and reshuffling my ribs with his feet. If one more woman tells me that being pregnant is the most glorious experience in the world I am going to shove one of the socks I cannot get on my feet down her throat.
My legs hurt, my hips hurt, my back hurts, my stomach itches. I am too hot or too cold all the time, I can't reach my feet, I still have morning sickness, I have really bad heartburn, and I have to go to the bathroom every hour. I am exhausted but can't sleep (see bathroom every hour). The baby keeps alternately pinching the nerves in my legs with his head and reshuffling my ribs with his feet. If one more woman tells me that being pregnant is the most glorious experience in the world I am going to shove one of the socks I cannot get on my feet down her throat.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sarah Vs. the Telemarketer
One of the lovely ladies at the Ball State University Development offices called me to beg for our money as they do every year. Ah the Ball State Telethon... Usually I recognize the number and ignore the call as I used to work in conjunction with these ladies processing the donations they received and I remember the number. So anyways, this year I fed her a line about hard times and all, blah, blah, blah, baby on the way...
That is not the reason we don't donate to the university. The reason we don't donate is because Rob won't let us donate until Parking Services admits they were wrong and returns our $600 dollars in bogus parking fees we had to pay to get our diplomas from them. As I never see this happening, I don't know that I will ever be allowed to contribute to our beloved Alma Matter. I was, however, a little hesitant to admit this to the nice girl on the other end of the phone who I am sure had nothing to do with this grave injustice and does after all have a monetary goal to meet.
I hung up, feeling bad for lying to the girl until my phone rang again. It was the same girl, asking for Rob so she could ask him for money instead of me! As I know for a fact it lists us as married on the screen she is working from because I helped build that database, I immediately stopped feeling guilty and hung up on the little pipsqueak.
That is not the reason we don't donate to the university. The reason we don't donate is because Rob won't let us donate until Parking Services admits they were wrong and returns our $600 dollars in bogus parking fees we had to pay to get our diplomas from them. As I never see this happening, I don't know that I will ever be allowed to contribute to our beloved Alma Matter. I was, however, a little hesitant to admit this to the nice girl on the other end of the phone who I am sure had nothing to do with this grave injustice and does after all have a monetary goal to meet.
I hung up, feeling bad for lying to the girl until my phone rang again. It was the same girl, asking for Rob so she could ask him for money instead of me! As I know for a fact it lists us as married on the screen she is working from because I helped build that database, I immediately stopped feeling guilty and hung up on the little pipsqueak.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Apparently I Smell
I have noticed a very interesting little trend in the last couple months that has exponentially increased in the last couple weeks. Everywhere I go in the house I have at least one, usually two shadows. I suppose they are smelling the hormonal changes, but every time I sit down one of them jumps on my lap and rubs their faces on my belly. It is sorta weird, very funny and slightly inconvenient. Every time I stop moving I get swarmed by kitties winding around my feet, sitting on my lap or keyboard or desk or in between me and my dinner... I wonder if they will be this friendly with the baby?
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Bummer
I saw a recipe for Creme de Menthe brownies a month ago that looked amazing. It took me a while to get to a liquor store to buy the necessary Creme de Menthe for the recipe so I finally got around to making them yesterday. After two failed batches of brownies, I finally found a recipe worthy of the delicious minty frosting. I frosted them, crushed Andes mints on top of them, admired how pretty they were, and prepared to eat one. No dice, the baby was not in the mood for minty deliciousness so instead I sat on the kitchen floor and cried. After more than a month of anticipation, I was too nauseous to even attempt them. Of course Rob comes home from work at that precise moment and is left trying to figure out whether I am really that upset about just brownies, the pregnancy or something else entirely. I am sure he thinks that I have lost my sanity...
After staring at the brownies all day today, I took them to work so that someone could enjoy them. Apparently they were a hit, I believe it took about ten minutes for all of them to disappear. I did break off a corner of one tonight before the last one got devoured. Wow...definite keeper recipe.
After staring at the brownies all day today, I took them to work so that someone could enjoy them. Apparently they were a hit, I believe it took about ten minutes for all of them to disappear. I did break off a corner of one tonight before the last one got devoured. Wow...definite keeper recipe.
Friday, December 11, 2009
I Miss my Brain
Apparently my brain took vacation yesterday. I had to call twice to ask what time my doctor's appointment was, left the house in slippers, which are not snow appropriate footwear, then forgot to get half my grocery list at the store. I got home, started baking, added the wrong kind of nuts to the no-spit candy, forgot half the butter in the brownies, re-made them, realized the recipe was just gross, and had to throw out a whole recipe of ginger molasses cookies because the dough was too hard to work or I was too frazzled or both.
We are going to attempt the baking thing again today, hopefully my brain is well rested from its day off.
We are going to attempt the baking thing again today, hopefully my brain is well rested from its day off.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sarah vs. the Customers with No Shame
I ran across a new specimen of human last night. A lady sat down with her three children, husband and father-in-law.
Me: Ma'am your sweater still has the price tag on it. Would you like me to get that for you? (It was in the back and hard for her to reach).
Her: Oh, no, I haven't decided if I am taking it back yet.
Later in the dinner, she stopped me as I was on my way to another table with their food...
Her: Here, we are done with these ramekins, take them with you.
Me: (Showing her that my hands were full) I will be right back to get them, just let me drop off this table's food.
Her: (Trying to put them on the other table's plate) Just take them with you now.
Me: Ma'am my hands are full right now, if you will just let me set down these plates I will be right back for your dirty dishes.
Her: I will just sit them on this wall for you then.
Me: That would be better ma'am.
Me: Ma'am your sweater still has the price tag on it. Would you like me to get that for you? (It was in the back and hard for her to reach).
Her: Oh, no, I haven't decided if I am taking it back yet.
Later in the dinner, she stopped me as I was on my way to another table with their food...
Her: Here, we are done with these ramekins, take them with you.
Me: (Showing her that my hands were full) I will be right back to get them, just let me drop off this table's food.
Her: (Trying to put them on the other table's plate) Just take them with you now.
Me: Ma'am my hands are full right now, if you will just let me set down these plates I will be right back for your dirty dishes.
Her: I will just sit them on this wall for you then.
Me: That would be better ma'am.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Pumpkin
I finally figured out how to get pictures from my phone to the computer...so here is Rob's pumpkin, a month and a half late but hey...
It was supposed to have fangs and horns, but he said real babies were much scarier and I am inclined to agree with him.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
December
December already... The really great thing about new year's resolutions is that if you aren't organized enough to remember where you put them, you can tell yourself you accomplished all of them.
Usually December is my last ditch effort to accomplish those things on my January list. Since I cannot find the January list of resolutions, I consulted the list that I made in May when we found out we were going to have a baby. So far, the only thing not done on the list in making diapers for the baby. Every part of our house has been tackled and decluttered, with the exception of the Army paperwork, which scares me. All of our half finished home improvement projects are done and the guest room has been modified for the baby. So December's projects include two baby quilts, roughly sixty cloth diapers and a pretentious, multi-course Christmas dinner.
We are not travelling this year, so my best friend and her hubby are coming up for the holiday. After chatting last night, we decided to have a really pretentious dinner with china and courses and everything, since it will be the last chance to do it without babies underfoot. This is going to be so much fun... This is somewhat of a departure from my family's Christmas pot of Chili tradition. All I know about the menu so far is we are having a cheese course, and we are not having ham. I am experimenting with homemade gelato recipes and trying to come up with some good deserts that don't have chocolate, coconut or nuts in them...maybe cannolis?
Usually December is my last ditch effort to accomplish those things on my January list. Since I cannot find the January list of resolutions, I consulted the list that I made in May when we found out we were going to have a baby. So far, the only thing not done on the list in making diapers for the baby. Every part of our house has been tackled and decluttered, with the exception of the Army paperwork, which scares me. All of our half finished home improvement projects are done and the guest room has been modified for the baby. So December's projects include two baby quilts, roughly sixty cloth diapers and a pretentious, multi-course Christmas dinner.
We are not travelling this year, so my best friend and her hubby are coming up for the holiday. After chatting last night, we decided to have a really pretentious dinner with china and courses and everything, since it will be the last chance to do it without babies underfoot. This is going to be so much fun... This is somewhat of a departure from my family's Christmas pot of Chili tradition. All I know about the menu so far is we are having a cheese course, and we are not having ham. I am experimenting with homemade gelato recipes and trying to come up with some good deserts that don't have chocolate, coconut or nuts in them...maybe cannolis?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
What's In a Name?
After our birthing class Monday, Rob and I were chatting with another couple about names for the baby. When we told them we were seriously considering Gustav, the man laughed. This is a reaction I am getting used to, but his explanation for the mirth was better than most...
"With a name like that you are giving the child no choice but to be a world leader, musical prodigy, great military mind, innovative scientist. I just can't imagine a guy named Gustav being a normal guy."
While I have to admit it isn't really a ho-hum kind of name and I believe names can influence the kind of person you become, I am more inclined to think that if we actually called him Gustav from birth, he may just become the anti-thesis of our dreams for him, a successful Brain if you will or a baby Stewie with plans to take over the world fresh out of the womb.
"With a name like that you are giving the child no choice but to be a world leader, musical prodigy, great military mind, innovative scientist. I just can't imagine a guy named Gustav being a normal guy."
While I have to admit it isn't really a ho-hum kind of name and I believe names can influence the kind of person you become, I am more inclined to think that if we actually called him Gustav from birth, he may just become the anti-thesis of our dreams for him, a successful Brain if you will or a baby Stewie with plans to take over the world fresh out of the womb.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
I'm Blaming it on Pregnancy
Last week my cousin and I put down wood floors in the kitchen. To do this, we had to get all of the appliances out of the kitchen. The dishwasher hasn't been draining right and had three inches of water that smelled like sewage in the bottom of it. We used a shop-vac to drain the dishwasher, but while attempting to disconnect the dishwasher, we managed to flood the kitchen. So we manage to get the dishwasher out of the way and the water shut off and my cousin's one year old decided to have a meltdown at that particular moment. She goes to tend to the baby and is standing there watching me clean up the mess while she calms the baby down.
Rewind to three months ago
I am standing in my kitchen deciding what to get rid of in my annual kitchen purge. I am holding a mop in my hand that I have not used in five years thinking "I haven't used this in five years, I have a swiffer, I will never use this again," and tossed it into the goodwill pile.
Now back to the flood
I am mopping up the mess with a pile of sham-wows and wringing them into a bucket and cursing myself for getting rid of the mop. My cousin is laughing at me, she cannot believe I don't have a mop, I am grumbling that I hadn't thought about the efficiency of swiffers in flood intervention. By the time everything is cleaned up, I am in a spectacularly foul mood.
Later that night
We are getting ready for bed and I realize that...I have a shop-vac! I tell my cousin and husband about it and they are laughing at me, then my cousin points out that not only do I have a shop-vac, but I had been wringing the shammies out into the bucket part of the shop-vac. Because I don't have a mop anymore, I don't have a mop bucket either. I remind her that she stood there and watched me and it didn't click with her either. Then I remember that I had actually had to dismantle the shop-vac to get the bucket. While I am lamenting having made the situation so much more difficult for myself my husband's only comment was "the baby is doomed."
Rewind to three months ago
I am standing in my kitchen deciding what to get rid of in my annual kitchen purge. I am holding a mop in my hand that I have not used in five years thinking "I haven't used this in five years, I have a swiffer, I will never use this again," and tossed it into the goodwill pile.
Now back to the flood
I am mopping up the mess with a pile of sham-wows and wringing them into a bucket and cursing myself for getting rid of the mop. My cousin is laughing at me, she cannot believe I don't have a mop, I am grumbling that I hadn't thought about the efficiency of swiffers in flood intervention. By the time everything is cleaned up, I am in a spectacularly foul mood.
Later that night
We are getting ready for bed and I realize that...I have a shop-vac! I tell my cousin and husband about it and they are laughing at me, then my cousin points out that not only do I have a shop-vac, but I had been wringing the shammies out into the bucket part of the shop-vac. Because I don't have a mop anymore, I don't have a mop bucket either. I remind her that she stood there and watched me and it didn't click with her either. Then I remember that I had actually had to dismantle the shop-vac to get the bucket. While I am lamenting having made the situation so much more difficult for myself my husband's only comment was "the baby is doomed."
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