I can't wait to vote for this ticket on November 2nd!
Friday, August 29, 2008
McCain-Palin 08!!!
I can not begin to say how excited I am about Sarah Palin being selected as John McCain's running mate! She is an amazing woman - a role model - a great conservative, and she will be incredible! Can you feel the excitement?
I can't wait to vote for this ticket on November 2nd!
I can't wait to vote for this ticket on November 2nd!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
60% Complete
That is a weird way to think about this pregnancy. But when I say 60% complete, I think to myself that 40% seems like an awful lot left to do. It is funny the way I can manipulate myself into thinking I have much less time to get things in order. For example, instead of a %, lets throw it into weeks. I have 16 weeks left to go! 16 Weeks to go, and I have still not done a THING to prepare for this arrival of this baby (outside of regular prenatal visits and reading about what I should expect in the next 18 months of my life).
We (the husband and I) have so much left to do before this baby gets here. We've got to pay someone to haul the formerly magnificent couch away (because believe it or not, Guinness has taken to destroying that couch on a daily basis... we are almost down to a wood frame at this point) and then move the Futon from the guest room (aka, nursery) to the living room. We've also got a bookshelf and a desk in the nursery that we need to find a new home for (as in, a new home somewhere else in our house). Add to that the closet full of boxes of books that never were unpacked when we moved into this house 2.5 years ago, and we have a whole lot of shuffling to do. And after we get everything OUT of the room, we then have a massive clean up on our hands. The cats have had their center of operations in that room (litter box and food dishes) so we need to get someone in to steam the carpets and we will need to thoroughly scrub the walls.
After the room is *clean* it will then need to be prepped for baby. Paint on the walls, and a closet organizer is all we really need (besides all that baby stuff that will end up in their eventually).
The baby to do list isn't the only one around. We STILL need to get something done with the floors (since Guinness chewed up a massive section of carpet, and as of today has started chewing the carpet AGAIN and ripped up a new seam into the living room). We will replace the carpet with laminate floors (aka, fake wood).
Oh - and the backyard has wall to wall tumbleweeds that need to be professionally removed at this point, because even if we could pull them out, we do not have the adequate trash container to have them all thrown away, and they will need to be hauled away as well.
And finally, there is the small matter of the smoke alarms and the holes in the walls/doors. About a year ago, the smoke alarms started going insane and would just go off in the middle of the night, without fail, at around 1:30 am. I assumed they needed new batteries, and went out and bought new batteries for them. Apparently that wasn't the problem, but the effing effers KEPT going off. In despair, we ripped all the batteries out of them so they couldn't go off at all. HA HA HA! No, turns out the little bastards are hard wired into the house, and they continued to go off without batteries. Once we figured out the correct switch on the breaker outside, we gleefully flipped it and have slept in peace since. Except for now I can't sleep in peace. What if there is a fire in our house? Who will warn us?
Yeah, so, last weekend we finally bought 6 new smoke alarms to replace the others, and hopefully that solves our problem. Now I just need to convince the husband to install them!!
The holes in the walls and doors (ok, 2 holes, 1 in a wall, and 1 in a door) are the result of clumsiness. Dear sister put her elbow through the door into our office, and sweet husband managed to put a hole in the drywall in the bathroom. *sigh*
Have I left anything off?
Oh, crap, I totally forgot about the garage. The garage that will one day need to house bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates and the Christmas tree during the other 10 months of the year. Right now the only thing in the garage would be my Jeep, and the rest of the boxes that were never unpacked after we moved in. Do you think after 2.5 years that we actually need the stuff in those boxes?
And after re-reading my post, I realize that we've got some major issues with our sweet puppy. What else is he going to destroy? Will we have a house left if we keep him? He loves us, but he is super aggressive to our other dog Sammie (out of jealousy I assume). Will he be aggressive towards the baby? We have tried expensive training (barkbusters.com) and we've tried crate training (Guinness LITERALLY chewed through the biggest heavy duty metal crate available). What else is there left to do? Am I putting off the inevitable by not trying to find him a new home now? Or is there hope?
Sorry - I realize this was a long post rambling about a whole bunch of crap that I have the capability of doing something about. Don't you just hate whiny slackers?
We (the husband and I) have so much left to do before this baby gets here. We've got to pay someone to haul the formerly magnificent couch away (because believe it or not, Guinness has taken to destroying that couch on a daily basis... we are almost down to a wood frame at this point) and then move the Futon from the guest room (aka, nursery) to the living room. We've also got a bookshelf and a desk in the nursery that we need to find a new home for (as in, a new home somewhere else in our house). Add to that the closet full of boxes of books that never were unpacked when we moved into this house 2.5 years ago, and we have a whole lot of shuffling to do. And after we get everything OUT of the room, we then have a massive clean up on our hands. The cats have had their center of operations in that room (litter box and food dishes) so we need to get someone in to steam the carpets and we will need to thoroughly scrub the walls.
After the room is *clean* it will then need to be prepped for baby. Paint on the walls, and a closet organizer is all we really need (besides all that baby stuff that will end up in their eventually).
The baby to do list isn't the only one around. We STILL need to get something done with the floors (since Guinness chewed up a massive section of carpet, and as of today has started chewing the carpet AGAIN and ripped up a new seam into the living room). We will replace the carpet with laminate floors (aka, fake wood).
Oh - and the backyard has wall to wall tumbleweeds that need to be professionally removed at this point, because even if we could pull them out, we do not have the adequate trash container to have them all thrown away, and they will need to be hauled away as well.
And finally, there is the small matter of the smoke alarms and the holes in the walls/doors. About a year ago, the smoke alarms started going insane and would just go off in the middle of the night, without fail, at around 1:30 am. I assumed they needed new batteries, and went out and bought new batteries for them. Apparently that wasn't the problem, but the effing effers KEPT going off. In despair, we ripped all the batteries out of them so they couldn't go off at all. HA HA HA! No, turns out the little bastards are hard wired into the house, and they continued to go off without batteries. Once we figured out the correct switch on the breaker outside, we gleefully flipped it and have slept in peace since. Except for now I can't sleep in peace. What if there is a fire in our house? Who will warn us?
Yeah, so, last weekend we finally bought 6 new smoke alarms to replace the others, and hopefully that solves our problem. Now I just need to convince the husband to install them!!
The holes in the walls and doors (ok, 2 holes, 1 in a wall, and 1 in a door) are the result of clumsiness. Dear sister put her elbow through the door into our office, and sweet husband managed to put a hole in the drywall in the bathroom. *sigh*
Have I left anything off?
Oh, crap, I totally forgot about the garage. The garage that will one day need to house bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates and the Christmas tree during the other 10 months of the year. Right now the only thing in the garage would be my Jeep, and the rest of the boxes that were never unpacked after we moved in. Do you think after 2.5 years that we actually need the stuff in those boxes?
And after re-reading my post, I realize that we've got some major issues with our sweet puppy. What else is he going to destroy? Will we have a house left if we keep him? He loves us, but he is super aggressive to our other dog Sammie (out of jealousy I assume). Will he be aggressive towards the baby? We have tried expensive training (barkbusters.com) and we've tried crate training (Guinness LITERALLY chewed through the biggest heavy duty metal crate available). What else is there left to do? Am I putting off the inevitable by not trying to find him a new home now? Or is there hope?
Sorry - I realize this was a long post rambling about a whole bunch of crap that I have the capability of doing something about. Don't you just hate whiny slackers?
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Cankles and Heartburn...
The 22nd week of this pregnancy has brought on two new interesting developments. First - Non stop cankle action. They calm down overnight only to swell up again the second I walk into the office in the mornings. Strangely enough, they are usually ok on the weekends. On Thursday I had some major swelling from the knees down all the way to my toes (even the top of my foot was puffy) but the swelling was super awful in my left leg and barely noticeable in my right. I called the Triage line of my doc's office, and they told me to get my butt in that afternoon.
And why? I was thinking "Oh, great this is it - I'm going to have pre-eclampsia."
Apparently, that isn't what the doc was worried about. Evidently, the swelling and chest pains I was complaining about are indicative of congestive heart failure.
Oh noes!
Anyway - my ticker is just dandy. Nothing to worry about there. The chest pains are actually heart burn. And as it turns out, my blood pressure was pretty high, and the doctor wasn't convinced that it wasn't anxiety related. He told me to lay on my left side and nap for a few minutes in the dark room. After about 10 minutes one of the nurses came in and took my blood pressure again. It had come down significantly.
The prognosis? I'm stressing myself into this:
Ok - it isn't really that bad. But basically I'm letting work stress me out WAY too much.
Oh, and Tums are my new best friend. Stupid frickin' heart burn.
Finally - I think I am having braxton hicks contractions - but it could be the baby moving. I swear I feel my whole stomach tighten up and then loosen up for a few minutes every once in awhile.
And why? I was thinking "Oh, great this is it - I'm going to have pre-eclampsia."
Apparently, that isn't what the doc was worried about. Evidently, the swelling and chest pains I was complaining about are indicative of congestive heart failure.
Oh noes!
Anyway - my ticker is just dandy. Nothing to worry about there. The chest pains are actually heart burn. And as it turns out, my blood pressure was pretty high, and the doctor wasn't convinced that it wasn't anxiety related. He told me to lay on my left side and nap for a few minutes in the dark room. After about 10 minutes one of the nurses came in and took my blood pressure again. It had come down significantly.
The prognosis? I'm stressing myself into this:
Ok - it isn't really that bad. But basically I'm letting work stress me out WAY too much.
Oh, and Tums are my new best friend. Stupid frickin' heart burn.
Finally - I think I am having braxton hicks contractions - but it could be the baby moving. I swear I feel my whole stomach tighten up and then loosen up for a few minutes every once in awhile.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Can I be FLY?
The internet is a wonderful thing, with a wide assortment of useful websites that I have yet to discover. It is always a treat to discover a new gem, and today I have found one of those gems. Hello FlyLady! I stumbled across this website: FlyLady.net.
The concept is appealing - someone on a forum I read asked in a thread "Is your life in Chaos?" Much like Ron White in the Blue Collar Comedy tour, I followed the link thinking this women must surely be talking directly to me. When I found out Chaos stands for "Cant Have Anyone Over Syndrome" I knew she was talking to me! Ok, ok, I shouldn't be giving rave reviews to the site just yet, but the principles are solid and I'm signing up (hey- it's free!).
So, I'm a single mom for the rest of this week. Husband is in Palm Springs for training on a new piece of equipment for the ol' job. Must be rough - Palm Springs. *sigh* It's ok - I get a lot more accomplished around the house when I don't have to clean around the husband :) And besides, he'll be back by Friday.
Picture Time:
Ok, as much as I am dreading this - here are some belly shots. The first is a side profile. Please don't faint from the horror of it all. I warned you that my skin and I are not on speaking terms right now due to her unwillingness to stretch to accommodate my offspring. The doctor said younger women get stretch marks because we have a lot of collagen in our skin. Uh - shouldn't it be the other way around?
I know, I know - it is going to get worse before it gets better. But - to illustrate my point on how ridiculous my stretch marks really are, here is a shot of the right side of my belly. For some reason I'm not getting them on the left side of my belly. Perhaps this is due to the positioning of Baby G, but that is just a guess.
So - any hot tips on dealing with these stretch marks? Is a skin graft my only hope??? /cry
I have other pictures, too. I caught my sweet kitties being nice to eachother this afternoon, and much to their dismay I had the camera plugged in and ready to rock.
Alright, that is all :) I will post more on the development of this FlyLady quest, along with my rededication to a Total Money Makeover with Mr. Dave Ramsey
The concept is appealing - someone on a forum I read asked in a thread "Is your life in Chaos?" Much like Ron White in the Blue Collar Comedy tour, I followed the link thinking this women must surely be talking directly to me. When I found out Chaos stands for "Cant Have Anyone Over Syndrome" I knew she was talking to me! Ok, ok, I shouldn't be giving rave reviews to the site just yet, but the principles are solid and I'm signing up (hey- it's free!).
So, I'm a single mom for the rest of this week. Husband is in Palm Springs for training on a new piece of equipment for the ol' job. Must be rough - Palm Springs. *sigh* It's ok - I get a lot more accomplished around the house when I don't have to clean around the husband :) And besides, he'll be back by Friday.
Picture Time:
Ok, as much as I am dreading this - here are some belly shots. The first is a side profile. Please don't faint from the horror of it all. I warned you that my skin and I are not on speaking terms right now due to her unwillingness to stretch to accommodate my offspring. The doctor said younger women get stretch marks because we have a lot of collagen in our skin. Uh - shouldn't it be the other way around?
I know, I know - it is going to get worse before it gets better. But - to illustrate my point on how ridiculous my stretch marks really are, here is a shot of the right side of my belly. For some reason I'm not getting them on the left side of my belly. Perhaps this is due to the positioning of Baby G, but that is just a guess.
So - any hot tips on dealing with these stretch marks? Is a skin graft my only hope??? /cry
I have other pictures, too. I caught my sweet kitties being nice to eachother this afternoon, and much to their dismay I had the camera plugged in and ready to rock.
Alright, that is all :) I will post more on the development of this FlyLady quest, along with my rededication to a Total Money Makeover with Mr. Dave Ramsey
Monday, August 11, 2008
When is it ok to kill your dog?
Guinness decided to do some redecorating while we were at work today. Our couch USED to look like this:
And now looks like this:
Please notice that the couch USED to be in one piece, and USED to have several pillows that matched the fabric of our $2300 couch. Oh, precious Wooly Bully couch from Mor Furniture, how you have been wronged. Fear not, for I shall make you new pillows, and they will be carved from the fur of a German Shepherd.
What happened to the sweet little Guinness I used to know?
And now looks like this:
Please notice that the couch USED to be in one piece, and USED to have several pillows that matched the fabric of our $2300 couch. Oh, precious Wooly Bully couch from Mor Furniture, how you have been wronged. Fear not, for I shall make you new pillows, and they will be carved from the fur of a German Shepherd.
What happened to the sweet little Guinness I used to know?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
What a week!
*Sigh*
As if the Twilight Series wasn't bad enough, our pal Steve brought over the first season of Battlestar Galactica yesterday. To say I'm hooked would be an understatement.
Not posting a menu for this week because husband will be out of town. I do have some ambitions for the week ahead, including an oil change for the Jeep, and possibly new tires. She is just about to hit 30K miles, so I'm sure I need to have some other maintenance done. I'd love to get her a nice detailed bath because I gotta get her gleaming for the arrival of the baby.
Is it time for maternity leave yet?
I have managed to watch a little bit of the Olympics. Caught some men in skimpy outfits doing gymnastics, which I always find enjoyable. Also was glad to see that the US beat China in basketball. What else? I'm interested to see all the drama surrounding Israel and Iran at the games. Some Iranian swimmer not wanting to swim in the same pool as an Israeli. And then the Iranian basketball players shake the hands of the Israeli basketball coach. I can't keep up with it all!!
I'm watching the news closely on the situation between Russia and Georgia. I'm worried, and not very familiar with the region or their history. It appears that Russia bombed an oil line, and I'm not sure why.
Condi basically said "Israel is going to do what Israel is going to do..." So, I guess that means that Israel is going to blow Iran off the f*cking map.
Oh - and now supposedly Lieberman is on McCain's short list?? *sigh* I guess McCain has made some headwinds lately with the ads on Obama (which have all been great, imho) but I feel like this would be a step backwards. Lieberman is probably the greatest Democrat out there after Zel Miller, but I think he actually amplifies a lot of McCain's negative qualities. If McCain wants to pick a candidate that will spice up the election, he should pick Chuck Norris. /nod
Finally - Bernie Mac is dead (a shame, I adore Mac), the US Dollar is up and Oil is down.
What a week!!
As if the Twilight Series wasn't bad enough, our pal Steve brought over the first season of Battlestar Galactica yesterday. To say I'm hooked would be an understatement.
Not posting a menu for this week because husband will be out of town. I do have some ambitions for the week ahead, including an oil change for the Jeep, and possibly new tires. She is just about to hit 30K miles, so I'm sure I need to have some other maintenance done. I'd love to get her a nice detailed bath because I gotta get her gleaming for the arrival of the baby.
Is it time for maternity leave yet?
I have managed to watch a little bit of the Olympics. Caught some men in skimpy outfits doing gymnastics, which I always find enjoyable. Also was glad to see that the US beat China in basketball. What else? I'm interested to see all the drama surrounding Israel and Iran at the games. Some Iranian swimmer not wanting to swim in the same pool as an Israeli. And then the Iranian basketball players shake the hands of the Israeli basketball coach. I can't keep up with it all!!
I'm watching the news closely on the situation between Russia and Georgia. I'm worried, and not very familiar with the region or their history. It appears that Russia bombed an oil line, and I'm not sure why.
Condi basically said "Israel is going to do what Israel is going to do..." So, I guess that means that Israel is going to blow Iran off the f*cking map.
Oh - and now supposedly Lieberman is on McCain's short list?? *sigh* I guess McCain has made some headwinds lately with the ads on Obama (which have all been great, imho) but I feel like this would be a step backwards. Lieberman is probably the greatest Democrat out there after Zel Miller, but I think he actually amplifies a lot of McCain's negative qualities. If McCain wants to pick a candidate that will spice up the election, he should pick Chuck Norris. /nod
Finally - Bernie Mac is dead (a shame, I adore Mac), the US Dollar is up and Oil is down.
What a week!!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
20 Weeks...
You've got a heavyweight in your belly now (well, in baby terms, anyway). Your little champ weighs about ten ounces and has a height, crown to rump, of about six and a half inches. Think small cantaloupe (and probably as sweet too).
Is it a boy cantaloupe or a girl cantaloupe? You'll be able to find out your baby's gender via the ultrasound by this point. If you're carrying a girl fetus, her uterus is fully formed this week and her vaginal canal is starting its development (which means that in about twenty-five or thirty-some-odd years, she could be just where you're at, Grandma!). She also has primitive eggs in her tiny little ovaries now, seven million of them — though by the time she's born, that number will be down to two million (still more than she could ever hope to use). And interestingly, your baby girl will be born with all the eggs she'll ever have.
Have you got male? If your fetus is a boy, his testicles have begun their descent this week, though they're still located in the abdomen, waiting for the scrotum to finish growing so they'll have a place to drop into in a few weeks.
Though the external genitals in both male and female fetuses still have a way to grow, you should be able to find out the sex of your baby (if you want to) during an ultrasound exam.
Holy Excitement :) Half-way cooked! And I'm making pretty good progress on the registry, too. Friends are even chipping in now. My pal Liz invited me over to pick through all the "extra's" she got after organizing the nursery in her new house. December seems to be just around the corner!!
Oh, and sorry about the whole food thing. I actually did, with the exception of one night, stick to my recipe plan for the week. Bangers n' mash were a hit! The pineapple rum chicken was a disaster. The meatloaf was awesome! No pictures because I am lame and lost my camera (which ended up being in my purse - it had fallen in a rip in the seam of the fabric).
I got on the scale this morning and I'm up 10 pounds total for the pregnancy. Not so bad - but I've got 20 more weeks to go, so I'm going to try and keep it reasonable :)
Happy weekend everyone!
Is it a boy cantaloupe or a girl cantaloupe? You'll be able to find out your baby's gender via the ultrasound by this point. If you're carrying a girl fetus, her uterus is fully formed this week and her vaginal canal is starting its development (which means that in about twenty-five or thirty-some-odd years, she could be just where you're at, Grandma!). She also has primitive eggs in her tiny little ovaries now, seven million of them — though by the time she's born, that number will be down to two million (still more than she could ever hope to use). And interestingly, your baby girl will be born with all the eggs she'll ever have.
Have you got male? If your fetus is a boy, his testicles have begun their descent this week, though they're still located in the abdomen, waiting for the scrotum to finish growing so they'll have a place to drop into in a few weeks.
Though the external genitals in both male and female fetuses still have a way to grow, you should be able to find out the sex of your baby (if you want to) during an ultrasound exam.
****************************************************
Holy Excitement :) Half-way cooked! And I'm making pretty good progress on the registry, too. Friends are even chipping in now. My pal Liz invited me over to pick through all the "extra's" she got after organizing the nursery in her new house. December seems to be just around the corner!!
Oh, and sorry about the whole food thing. I actually did, with the exception of one night, stick to my recipe plan for the week. Bangers n' mash were a hit! The pineapple rum chicken was a disaster. The meatloaf was awesome! No pictures because I am lame and lost my camera (which ended up being in my purse - it had fallen in a rip in the seam of the fabric).
I got on the scale this morning and I'm up 10 pounds total for the pregnancy. Not so bad - but I've got 20 more weeks to go, so I'm going to try and keep it reasonable :)
Happy weekend everyone!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Menu - 8/3 through 8/9
So, trying something new out. Had the husband flip through all my new Rachael Ray cook books and pick out everything that looked good to him. From those recipes, I picked out a weeks worth, and then spent a ridiculous sum of money and time at the grocery store. You know things are getting complicated when you need spiced rum for your cooking! Anyway, thought it might be fun to post my weekly menu on the blog so everyone knows that I'm making an effort to feed my husband, lol.
Sunday
Fancy Pants Bangers n' Mash
Salad
Desert: Fresh Fruit
Monday
Island Bird: Pineapple Rum Chicken
Baby Green Salad w/ Mandarins & Almonds
Desert: Peach Sherbert
Tuesday
D'backs game, out to dinner
Wednesday
Cheddar-Studded Tex Mex Meatloaf Patties
Scallion Smashed Potatoes
Blue/Red Berry Short Cake
Thursday
Lettillas: Mix n' Match Lettuce Taco's
Mexican Rice
Desert: Fresh Fruit
Friday
D-Backs Game (Out to dinner)
Saturday
Aussie Meat Pies
Red Potatoes (Right Wife Style)
Desert: 1/2 Skinny Cow w/ Fruit on top
I'll take pictures for every meal this week and let you know how they turn out. Also - these recipes are all taken out of the Rachael Ray 365 book.
Sunday
Fancy Pants Bangers n' Mash
Salad
Desert: Fresh Fruit
Monday
Island Bird: Pineapple Rum Chicken
Baby Green Salad w/ Mandarins & Almonds
Desert: Peach Sherbert
Tuesday
D'backs game, out to dinner
Wednesday
Cheddar-Studded Tex Mex Meatloaf Patties
Scallion Smashed Potatoes
Blue/Red Berry Short Cake
Thursday
Lettillas: Mix n' Match Lettuce Taco's
Mexican Rice
Desert: Fresh Fruit
Friday
D-Backs Game (Out to dinner)
Saturday
Aussie Meat Pies
Red Potatoes (Right Wife Style)
Desert: 1/2 Skinny Cow w/ Fruit on top
I'll take pictures for every meal this week and let you know how they turn out. Also - these recipes are all taken out of the Rachael Ray 365 book.
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