Look Out!! Friday Free For All!!!

Posted on March 14, 2008 by Sara

I’m not really sure how Friday has become my busiest meeting day at work. I am equally unsure of how 3 donuts ended up in my mouth this morning. Gestational diabetes, here I come!!

I’m not even looking forward to this weekend. It all starts with bringing home ED’s class guinea pig tonight. Tomorrow, hub promised the kids that we could go to breakfast at McDonald’s before their classes. ED’s Tae Kwon Do is at 9:15 and I have to drop them off with enough time to get CA to gymnastics by 9:30. We will be at McDonalds at 8 if anyone wants to join us. (ha) Then, ED and Hub have tickets to the Monster Truck Show tomorrow night, starting with the free pit party at 6. Guess who has to drop them off since Hub doesn’t want to deal with parking??? Oh, right, that would be me!! CA and I are going shopping for the evening and hopefully, FIL will pick them up because I do not want to go downtown at midnight. Sunday is my little cousin’s birthday party, and Hub has to leave for work at 8 PM.

Is it really true that there is a meme going around where people post photos of themselves 1st thing in the morning?? Seriously??? Some of you won’t even post pictures of what you look like normally, much less 1st thing in the morning. I’m working on a theory that it’s not about anonymity, by the way, but rather that you either have bad 80’s hair or lady mullets. That’s right! I’m looking at YOU, Swistle, Fana and Emily!

Clearly, I’m kidding; you don’t have to prove me wrong.

But here is what I look like first thing in the morning—in black and white. The bags under my eyes and greasy hair might kill you in color. Do you like my shirt? It says “Grab your balls! We’re going bowling!!” It is a standard in my PJ wardrobe to the point where if it’s in the wash, ED asks “where is your bowling shirt??”

Can you tell it’s been a long week? I had to have 18 performance and development plans completed by end of business yesterday and the intranet at work kicked me out no less than 30 times. If it weren’t for pregnancy and needing my job, I’d have probably cracked a bottle of something open at my desk, or thrown the computer through a window. Good thing I’m not near any windows, huh?

Finally, if one more person, including my husband makes a comment about me wearing short sleeves, even though it is cold and snowy, I’m going to lose it. I’m hot…not just dead sexy, but HOT. Leave me the hell alone and consider yourself lucky that I haven’t opened the windows.

I think it’s time for another donut!

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When the Baby Name Game Gets Messy

Posted on March 11, 2008 by Sara

I love to watch the old Seinfeld reruns before I go to bed every night. Last night was one of my favorites, the one where George has his heart set on naming his baby, who has not even been conceived, Seven. His fiancée Susan wants nothing of it and mentions it to a pregnant friend, who loves it. She and her husband decide that their baby will be named Seven, and George goes on a rampage, causing her to go in to labor. George goes with them to the hospital, all the while suggesting different names to no avail. The episode ends, and in my opinion climaxes with George pressed against the glass of the delivery room door screaming in despair, “SEVEN!! SEVEN!!!”

I laughed hysterically last night, as I watched this episode for what was probably the 20th time, never thinking that I would be in a similar situation today. But here it is, Tuesday morning, and friends of ours who did not know the sex of their baby and would not discuss names, emailed to tell of the birth of their new daughter. (You can see where this is going, right?) The subject of the email is “Hannah Emily”.

As soon as I saw it pop, my breath caught in my throat. This probably isn’t justified, but I burst in to tears right at my desk. Hannah is OUR name!! We didn’t have the same middle name, mind you, but it was ours just the same!! I called Hub to tell him and he insisted that this doesn’t change anything. We’ve been talking about her name amongst ourselves since November now, and it doesn’t change anything. “THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!”, I wailed, stifling sniffles. Hub was on a job and couldn’t talk any longer, but it would stand to reason that he thinks I’m a loon.

Am I a loon?

I like to think that I am a pretty rational person. I am well aware that Hannah is on the rise as one of the top baby names out there and I was prepared for our baby girl to have a common name as she enters school. My name is Sara for God’s sake…I was never one in a million and it wasn’t a problem for my parents—they love my name. But never in my life did it occur to me that our friends were considering this name. I think that maybe, MAYBE, I would be ok if they were casual acquaintances, but they are not. In addition to being my SIL’s brother and wife, they are our friends. We see them at family and non-family functions. My brother and SIL would have 2 nieces named Hannah.

We only found out that she was a girl last Thursday and did not tell anyone our name until then. They definitely didn’t know. Justifiably, they had their baby first and it is a free country. I know no malice was involved. She is a beautiful baby girl, with teeny tiny toes, and a full head of blonde hair, and I am thrilled for our friends.

But here I am, my face pressed against the delivery room door screaming “Hannah!! HANNAH!!!!”

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The Weekend, Wind Burn, The Monday After and a Crisis of Underwear

Posted on March 10, 2008 by Sara

We had a pretty big snow storm this weekend which forced many cancellations, including CA’s gymnastics on Saturday morning. I drove home from a baby shower on Friday evening, willing the snow to cancel my bowl-a-thon on Saturday morning, but alas, I had no luck and had to bowl anyway. I came home and Hub, CA and I ventured downtown for our local home and garden show. It was pretty interesting, especially the part where we talked to a guy about remodeling our existing house VS. building a brand new house and how comparable the price would actually be, and the vanilla ice cream with a minty swirl in it.

Hub snowblowed a pretty good hill on to our porch, so the kids spent the day sledding in the front yard yesterday. Well, CA mostly threw snowballs, but ED really enjoyed the sledding. I have photos and video to prove it, but you know me……you may not see them for a while……or at all. The kids’ cheeks were rosy like apples from the cold and the wind, but I was not so lucky. I ended up with a horrible windburn, complete with raised blotchy bumps, all over my cheeks and chin. At first I thought I was having some sort of allergic reaction, but the fact that it only appeared where my skin was exposed convinced me that I did not need to bust out the benedryl (though I had to try harder to convince myself that my throat was not closing up as I drifted off to sleep last night). I’d also decided that if I woke up today looking the same, that I was not coming in to work.

My skin today is red and blotchy, but not bumpy, so I did come to work, but only after dealing with horrific dreams filled with blood and miscarriage all night long (can we do something to shut the dreams off already? It’s getting OLD!), the kids not wanting to get out of bed this morning because it was still dark, a partially flat tire—I thought it was fine but drove FIL’s car in anyway, and an underwear crisis.

I have never had to buy new underwear during pregnancy. I wear them below my belly anyhow, so it has never been an issue. (TMI?? Perhaps.) But this baby girl, she is so low in my belly, that all of my underwear is severely uncomfortable. She is kicking me in my waistband as we speak. I fear that I will be investing in granny panties soon. I’m telling you, its one thing after another these days.

In any case, I arrived at work less than an hour late. And I won another free coffee, bringing my tally to 4 out of, say, 11. Not an entirely bad start to my week.

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2 Appointments, 2 Days

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Sara

The appointment yesterday, though long, was pretty uneventful. We got to the hospital by 9 and did not get in for the sonogram until after 10. The baby is currently breach, but at 18 weeks, it’s not any cause for concern. She is measuring right on schedule, where as my other 2 kids were each 10-days to 2-weeks ahead of the game by the time we had our ultrasound. So, we’ll see how she does. Perhaps she will not have low blood sugar at birth like her brother and sister before her. More importantly, hopefully she will not spend 3 days in the NICU like her sister did. I loved seeing her little profile in there, seeing the exact same button nose of ED and CA that was prominent in their ultrasound photos. Now, more than ever, I can’t wait to meet this little girl. When the doctor illustrated with her 2 fingers around how big the baby is, CA responded with “Oh! That’s about how big my poop is!!” I wanted to die; hub thought it was hysterical. The best part of the day, by far, was going to IHOP afterward. Have you seen the commercial for those shortcake pancakes? YUM. They are a thicker pancake, smothered in fruit and whipped cream. To.Die.For. I highly recommend the blueberry version.

Today I saw the neurologist and didn’t have much to show for it. There haven’t been enough tests done to give pregnant women some hardcore drug. SO we are trying Tylenol with codeine to see if that helps to relieve them. Back in 2 months, but only if it doesn’t help.

I was also successful in changing OBGYN’s today. I see the new one, who was the OB resident at the hospital when I had complications prior to delivery as well as when I delivered each of my other children, at her practice on 3/17. I’m actually pretty excited about it. When my old Dr., who is now the Director of Prenatal Testing at our hospital, did my sonogram yesterday, and I mentioned proposed new doctor’s name, she said that she had actually offered her a position at the old practice but she didn’t accept as she was looking for something different. She comes highly recommended and based on my dealings with her in the past; I think we’ll be satisfied. YAY! It feels good to have something go my way for a change.

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For those of you furiously refreshing your readers….(har)

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Sara

Drum roll please…….

It’s a GIRL!!!!

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Posted on March 5, 2008 by Sara

I slept hard all night last night without even getting up to pee. If the kids woke up, I didn’t hear them. We woke up this morning to a blanket of ice and snow that took over 30 minutes to scrape/melt off of my car. I never did get it off of my side mirrors. Hooray for March!! (oh, that was sarcasm……)

Yesterday, after starting off quite badly, continued to get worse. I had to let one of my associates go, which is rare in a specialty group such as mine with senior associates. Unfortunately, it was more than warranted. Seeing anyone lose their job, sucks. Being the one to do it sucks more. Firing someone with whom you have worked for over 4 years; someone with whom you have a personal connection to the point where you know their family, sucks even worse than that. Firing someone who is so nice and so sincere, that on his way out the door for the last time he says “Thanks for everything Sara, good luck with the baby” is like a punch in the gut. I felt like throwing up all day long.

I met Hub and ED at Tae Kwon Do last night to find ED crying hysterically. Apparently, he was in trouble for kicking the wall. The teacher asked him once to stop, and when he did not, Hub stepped in. After all of the progress on Monday, you know, the progress that prompted us to pay $600 to cover the next 6 months, he refused to take the class yesterday. There is only one other child in the class and he doesn’t want to do it when she’s there. We are working on it. The teacher is doing a private lesson for him this afternoon. This poor child has inherited my childhood wallflower personality. He gets uncomfortable and embarrassed so easily (which is why it took him 4 months to adjust to his new daycare) but in familiar situations, he is a completely different kid. We still feel like Tae Kwon Do is what he needs, but it sure is frustrating to see him behave this way after doing do well.

I feel like I need to point out that I don’t think that I can go to Tae Kwon Do anymore because of the teacher, and his man feet, that get way too close to me for comfort.

In a bout of pregnancy induced stupidity, I almost climbed in to someone else’s car. It was the same style and color of mine and when I walked up to it and saw the number pad under the door handle I did not think “oh, this can’t be my car; we don’t have that”, but instead thought “Hey, when did we get these???” and proceeded to try and unlock the car with my keys. Yes, I am an idiot.

Finally, ***FINALLY!!!!!*** tomorrow morning is my appointment. It is at 9AM, so as soon as I am back at work, (we are taking the kids and will probably get breakfast afterward) I will let you know what we found out. Use your superpowers and will the baby to be gracious for me. I’ll be doing the same thing!!!

Oh, and P.S. please say some prayers for my blogging pal Bananafana who is 33 weeks pregnant and had some complications last night. We really need for her and the baby to be just fine. You can read all about it here.

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Who Needs Sleep? Well You’re Never Gonna Get It!

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Sara

“Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won’t sleep
I countdown, I look around….”

1. My mother is fine, Thank God. Thanks for all of your well wishes; it was scar tissue. Hopefully, this will be what she needs in order to push her in the directions of quitting smoking. She told me yesterday that she would. I am skeptical.
2. ED participated in the entire Tae Kwon Do class yesterday and did a great job. He got his uniform and everything, which is adorable. I will take a photo soon. It’s going to cost me $99 a month, but I think it’s worth it. We went to Friendly’s for dinner to celebrate.
3. By the time we got home my headache had turned in to a full-blown migraine. I put the kids to bed and passed out on the couch. I woke up confused—I didn’t even realize hub had gone to work–around 10, fed the cats and went to bed.
4. By 11:30 CA was in my bed snoring away.
5. At 12:30 I put her back in her bed after I woke up coughing up stomach acid. I forgot to take a Pepcid before bed. I propped myself up on the couch, watched a bit of Craig Ferguson (is it odd that I find him very attractive?? I think it’s his humor…something about him is sexy) and went back to sleep.
6. Hub came home around 1:30 and insisted on shouting a conversation from the bedroom where he was changing in to the living room.
7. ED was up at 2:00 wanting to lay with me on the couch. I asked him to lay on the loveseat but when I woke an hour later, he was curled up in between my legs.
8. CA was up again at 5, upset that I had put her back in bed. She fell asleep on my chest, ED curled back up in between my legs and I was wide awake.
9. I must have fallen asleep at some point because the alarm startled me—and I felt exhausted.
10. When I complained to Hub that the kids were crabby and further stated that if anyone had the right to be crabby, it was me he said “I’m not trying to be mean, but it is your own fault……” He’s right. I should let them both scream; perhaps lock them in their room so that we can’t hear them and get some good, uninterrupted sleep. I feel like I need to point out that he sleeps like a king during all of this, the bed to himself with extra pillows. Not that the kids would even go to him in the middle of the night if he offered……but still.
11. In the midst of all of this, I dreamt of my ex again last night. That I was in a bar with 2 girlfriends and he was there. We split a pizza. Hub drove me out to his house the next day, and we walked through the mall and had more pizza. Seriously, what the hell?
12. I need more caffeine that pregnancy will allow.

*lyrics and title courtesy of BNL

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Weekend Recap

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Sara

This weekend was long, and not the good kind of long. Although we were busy, it seemed to drag on and on and I constantly had the feeling of “when is this going to end??” I guess maybe I was just tired, but I am looking forward to this coming weekend when we have nothing to do.

I called my mom on Saturday to get her sloppy joe recipe and was told that when she had her chest x-ray for pneumonia, 2 weeks ago, something else showed up and she had a cat scan a week ago. She didn’t want to tell me because I’m pregnant; she didn’t want me to worry. The Dr. is optimistic that it is scar tissue from a previous infection, but as of now she hasn’t got the results. It would be nice if it was scar tissue, but honestly, after 40 years of heavy smoking, I won’t be surprised if it’s more. Not that I’m wishing for it to be more—it would be great if it was just a scar, but I am preparing myself for it being much more. I’m the type of person who doesn’t worry until I have all of the facts, but this—-this is gnawing at the back of my brain like crazy. Until we know more though, that’s all I’m going to say.

CA did well at gymnastics, especially any of the parts that involved jumping. ED still would not participate in Tae Kwon Do. Hub is taking him this afternoon when there will be no other children there to give him one last shot. It may just not be for him. I actually think he would enjoy gymnastics too, but the discipline factor of the Tae Kwon Do is what makes it attractive. So again, we’ll see how today goes……but this time, it really is the last time.

The kids enjoyed Sesame Street Live yesterday. CA got cranky during the second half and fell asleep on me before the end. She was crabby when we got home around 4 and was running a temperature so I bathed her, and she crawled up on top of me around 6:00 and passed out. She was in bed by 6:30 and slept all night. ED was in bed by 8, which is rare and Hub and I retired as soon as “The Simpsons” was over.

This baby is very low in my pelvis, which has never been the case before. I keep thinking that it is way too early to feel it jumping around on my bladder, but honestly, that’s one of the only places I ever feel it. It seems low, and far back. I’m nervous about Thursday—what if, at 18 weeks, they can’t tell? And I waste my time and my one and only sonogram shot until I’m like, 38 weeks? I need to know! I need to buy a baby book and start taking inventory of what we have compared to what we need. I need to make lists, tons of lists!! Everything hinges on the sex of this baby!! Ok, it really doesn’t. I’m stressed, nonetheless. (It is jumping like crazy right now, BTW)

In an odd twist I dreamt that the baby was a girl last night. Of course, in this dream the dr. was unavailable so the Assistant Director from our Daycare stepped in to do the sonogram…… I had another dream that I was riding in a log flume boat with an old manager of mine and we got trapped in an underground cave. There were lots of people there, including my Uncle Jim, who had superpowers that could get us all out, but he didn’t want anyone to know that he was a superhero. He was dressed all in yellow spandex though, so everyone knew he was a superhero. It was ridiculous.

It is Monday and I have an awful headache (but that is not news). I’m ready to go home. At least I finally won a free coffee! 1 out of 6….not bad.

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15 for Friday

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Sara

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!

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Posted on February 27, 2008 by Sara

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.

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