Arnold Tells It Like It Is...

Arnold inspired me when he spoke at the RNC in 2004. Today, at a rally in Ohio for McCain, he showed that he still knows how to rock a room:



And in 1 day polling, Zogby has McCain with the advantage over Obama by 1 point. Now - I know that polls are worthless (because otherwise George Bush would have lost in 2000 and 2004) but it is good to know that there is still a race!

Other fun news? Obama's aunt is living in the United States illegally, and with a standing deportation order has still somehow managed to live in public housing. WTF?

I'm so worked up for this election, but glad that I get to cast my vote (even if it is in AZ where McCain will have no issue winning).

November 4th...

'Nuff said.

Is It December 19th Yet?

I think work might actually be killing me. It has been so stressful and non-stop chaos for the last two weeks that it is all I can do to keep my eyes open when I get home at night. My phone rings non-stop all day long, and while I'm on the phone with my dealers, my other dealers are calling and leaving me voicemail. On Monday I tallied up all the voicemail left for me during the day and realized I had received 33 messages! Holy crap! And that is in addition to the probably 50 or so calls I actually picked up! It seems like every client is facing a challenge right now, and there aren't any "simple" things I can accomplish. What is worse is that all these fires I'm putting out right now are preventing me from completing my everyday job description, so even though I'm busting my ass right now I feel like a major slacker. Mix all that in with placenta brain, high blood pressure and potential gestational diabetes and its no wonder my ankles look the way they do.

So, yeah, I keep telling myself that all I have to do is make it to December 19th - my last day of work before Maternity Leave, and then I am home free! Well, at least I am free to concentrate on the baby. I feel awful right now for poor little Mike. I can only imagine how my stress is rubbing off on him. I think he is trying to send me hints by the occasional jab to the ribs. "Hey, Ma, knock it off! Calm the heck down!" Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll calm down in 51 days when I can finally put my feet up and relax until you make your arrival, kiddo.

I really can't compartmentalize my life as much as I would like to right now - everything is sort of infringing on the other crap going on. I get home and want to sleep, watch tv, or play WoW, but there is a behemoth package at the door containing a gift for Mike... his travel system! Oh, goodness! His stroller and his car seat! Wow! I have a car seat in my house?!? Reality is setting in. Who is going to put all this stuff together before he gets here? And my Jeep is so messy right now - how can I possibly think about putting a baby in there. At least Mike's room is clean :)

Babygate is just about a week away! I'm so excited to spend time celebrating our baby with our friends and family! Good food, good drinks, and even if ASU can't make it on to TV so we can cheer them on, I still think it'll be a good time for all! I will make sure to take LOTS of pictures to put up on the ole' blog.

Pregnancy has changed my musical preference for the time being. I'm sure I'll go back to my metal lovin' ways soon enough after the baby is born, but for some reason all I can listen to right now is soft/wus/alternative drivel. Ok - really it is just kind of slow relaxing somewhat sad music, but it is all I can tolerate right now. Hooray for music that doesn't give me heartburn!

The Fray: I'll Look After You



O.A.R. - Shattered



One Republic - Stop and Stare

Bar Stool Economics...

This is the best I have ever seen it explained ;)

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too.

It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!'

shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics

University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Mooning the Room...

Mike refused to show his face at his last ultrasound on the 17th, but he made sure we could see his sweet little butt and his big huge feet!

75% done, 10 weeks to go!

I feel as though I have entered the twilight zone this morning.
After getting about 3.5 hours of sleep (I was too ramped up coming off of vacation to get to bed at a decent hour) I was woken up by Mike kicking up a storm and a racing heart. I'm attributing the racing heart to the fact that I had flipped over. This mere act is enough to get me sweating. I just couldn't get back to sleep, so I laid in bed waiting for the alarm clock to go off. Luckily, I only laid there about 15 minutes.

I've wanted to write a 1/2 dozen times in the last week, but I couldn't seem to make the time (even though I was on vacation, lol). Josh and I got a lot done around the house. In fact, it is all ready to receive baby with the exception of our office which is still a terror, but one that we will attend to this week. Now it is a matter of KEEPING the house clean. Mike's room is quarantined now - the door is shut and no animals are allowed to roam on the freshly steamed carpets or newly scrubbed walls.

I've set a goal of having the nursery ready to rock and my bags packed for the hospital by December 1st. After my most recent appointment on the 17th it seems like I had better be prepared early. You see, my baby, 29 weeks gestation at the time, was measuring at 30 weeks plus some extra days from his toes to his neck, and his head was actually measuring 32 weeks! Holy crap! Oh, and no wonder I've been feeling him kick so hard - he is closing in on 4 pounds now, lol. Most people I saw at the doc's office that day said "that is one big baby!" In fact, we were told that not so little Michael is in the 95th percentile for his gestational age. I get the results of my glucose test today, and everyone seems convinced that gestational diabetes is the cause of my enormous baby, so we'll see if I have to go back for the 3 hour test now. To frost the baby cake, our nurse practitioner asked me if I knew I was anemic. Huh? I am? My blood has been fine thus far. So, yay me, I find myself now on an iron supplement. On a bright note, my blood pressure was a respectable 120/80, so at least that was normal.

And now I find myself back at work - where things are just crazy. Lets face it, if you work in the financial industry, nothing is normal right now. I feel pretty confident working for GE (we have a pretty good track record of being able to weather storms) but I'm still nervous in general. I've got 9 weeks until my scheduled maternity leave (let's see if I actually make it the full 9 weeks since the Doctor said they will induce me early if my babies big head does not slow its roll). I'm frantic to get everything perfect before my 6-8 week departure (haven't quite decided yet) and with the US economy getting worse by the second, I'm not sure this is possible.
Does anyone else feel like the US economy is in large part being caused by the Main Stream Media? I can't help but feel like they started this whole mess with their doom and gloom outlook on the housing bubble.

Alright - I have a million more things to write about, but my morning free time is quickly coming to an end, and I must now play catchup after having been gone for a week. Have a wonderful week everyone!

(Also - I have ultrasound pictures to show off! Mike refused to show his face, but we got some great shots of his sweet little tush and his big old feet --- I'll get them scanned and posted today).

The end is in sight...

We've been on a cleaning frenzy the last two days, and the work is really paying off. All we have left to do at this point is the office and finishing the nursery. Both of these will happen tomorrow, in addition to the carpet being repaired and steam cleaned!

It's going to feel so good to have a clean house :)

Clean up time!

So, here we are, on vacation, cleaning the house! Sound exciting? Well, it is, for me anyway. This signals the final preparation for Michael's arrival, and is easing anxiety and tension I have felt for months now over if we would be able to get our acts together to get everything ready in time. Come on people, I don't need CPS showing up to haul my sweet baby away because I can't keep the dog fur off the couch.

The plan of attack is as follows:

Monday: Any room that doesn't involve furniture moving. Kitchen, Master Bedroom, Office and Bathrooms.

Tuesday: Furniture moving required. Great Room, Nursery.

Wednesday: Backyard while the carpet cleaners repair and steam the carpet.

And then we get to lay back and enjoy Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as actual vacation days.

Perhaps some before and after photo's are in order?

What's in a name?

A few of you may have wondered sometime over the last 28 weeks or so the name we had picked out for our pending addition. Or, maybe you assumed that we intended on calling our little guy "Baby G" for the rest of his life :)

In any event, now that the cat is OFFICIALLY out of the bag, as in, on invitations to the Babygate party we are having, there is no reason to keep it a secret from my blog any longer.

From here on out, Baby "G" shall be known as Michael Patrick. Or Mike? Mikey? MP? MPG? Hmmm... so maybe we haven't worked out exactly what he will be called, but the first and middle name on the sweet baby's birth certificate will be Michael Patrick.

Husband (otherwise known as Josh) expressed his desire to name his first son Michael pretty much the moment we started dating, and we haven't wavered from that decision once in the last 7 years. Michael is my Father-in-laws name, and we could not think of a better person on earth to name our son after. Of course, that is where Patrick comes in. The middle name is intended to honor my best friend's father, who has always been like a father to me since his daughter dragged me to her house in the 8th grade. Two great men, one great name :)

I am so incredibly happy to know that our son will get to know such great people, and will be surrounded by love from both our family and friends. This kid is going to have more aunts and uncles than he can count!

And what exactly is Michael up to at this point in his development? Read on...

Week 29 of Pregnancy: Baby Fat

Your baby is almost 17 inches tall now (nearly as tall as he or she will be at birth), and close to three pounds (a weight that will likely more than double — and may even come close to tripling — by delivery time). His or her wrinkled skin is smoothing out as more fat is deposited under the skin surface. This fat, called white fat, is different from the earlier brown fat that your developing fetus accumulated. Brown fat is necessary for body temperature regulation while white fat (the fat you have, Mom) actually serves as an energy source.

Which explains why your energizer baby feels so…well…energized! Space in your baby's living quarters is now at a premium, so you'll be feeling jabs and pokes from elbows and knees mostly. But those kicks will be more vigorous than before (and also less erratic) because your baby is stronger and excitedly responding to all sorts of stimuli — movement, sounds, light, and that candy bar you ate half an hour ago.

Luckily, your baby doesn't have teeth yet that would need a brushing after that sugary treat, but it won't be long before you'll need to buy that first baby toothbrush! You'll recall that your baby's baby-teeth buds formed weeks ago, but now the buds for permanent teeth are forming in his or her gums as well.

And back to those kicks, who's counting? Actually, you should be. Now's a good time to start doing a kick count twice a day to make sure baby's doing just fine (plus, it's a good excuse for a rest). Lie down (preferably after a snack) and keep track of your baby's movements. You're looking for at least ten movements in an hour's time (don't forget to count movements of any kind — kicks, flutters, swishes, rolls, and so on).

Heroes of our Time...

Today has been utterly exhausting! After waking up at 9am this morning (the crack of dawn, I know ;o) Husband and I dinked around in World of Warcraft for a few hours. Then we set out on an epic journey involving a quest in the Costco dungeon (ok, seriously - Costco is a disaster at most times of the week - don't people realize they should be fearfully hording their money in light of this economic crisis we are facing! I would hate for someone to accidentally stimulate the economy!). We filled our cart with gargantuan portions of toilet paper, dog food, dog bones and Jack Daniels. And really, that is what makes Costco worthwhile - being able to purchase a liter of Jack for $30.00.

After Costco, Husband and I had a late lunch at Chili's. Do you have a Chili's near you? If so, I highly recommend you get in there and try the Chicken Crisper Club Taco's - super tasty! Husband and I stuffed ourselves silly and began our journey back to Maricopa and into Fry's Marketplace. This place was even more packed than Costco! I frickin' HATE shopping at this stupid Fry's. The prices aren't that great, and you can expect to wait in line for a stupid amount of time no matter what time you are there day or night. When Walmart opens in March I will be doing all my grocery shopping there. I've said it before, but if I'm going to wait in lines and fight through crowds, I might as well be getting a good deal! And unlike many people, I <3 those Capitalist Pigs at Walmart!

When we finally got home from our adventure, we were both so exhausted that we crashed on the bed and passed out for an hour, after which we were rudely awakened by one of Josh's guildmates asking if he was going to make it to the raid! WTF!

Oh oh oh - before I forget! GO SEE AN AMERICAN CAROL!! Greatest movie of all time! Plus, the liberals are trying to keep the movie from having a good opening weekend. Lastnight the husband and I along with 5 of our friends had a "dinner and a movie date" to go check this flick out. After hanging out at the restaurant for a few hours we walked across the street to the theater. We walked up to buy our tickets only to discover that the movie time of 8:25 was not listed! What the crap!??! We figured it was sold out, but I asked anyway. The guy tells me the movie is not sold out, and in fact there are 258 seats left to sell for that time. I mention to him that it isn't listed on the display above his head, which he seemed confused about. Ohwell - we buy our tickets and then run off to shop since the movie doesn't start for another hour. At 8 we walk back into the theater and towards screen 19 which is where our movie is playing. The marquee outside the theater door says that "How to Lose Friends" is playing at 8:10. WTF? We go in anyway and sit down. At 8:10 the movie starts. Now this is ridiculous. We go complain that the movie is starting 15 minutes early and finally all is settled. Meanwhile there is a crowd of people outside of the theater not wanting to go in because they don't want to walk into the wrong movie. *sigh*

It seems that AMC was doing everything in their power to make sure no one watched the 8:25 showing of An American Carol. Oh - and the trailers that were played before the movie started? You guessed it - every American Hating piece of crap movie coming out. Oliver Stone's "W", along with Bill Maher's "Religolous." Since when do they play trailers on other movies for a movie that is coming out THAT SAME DAY! I wonder if this was happening at AMC's across the country?

Alright - before this post gets ridiculously long, I want to say that the new Dragonforce album is pretty good! The first track is called "Heroes of Our Time" and it rocks my socks. I wonder if there are any other bands that fall into this genre known as "Glory Metal."



Check em' out!

Happy Third Trimester

Had my first appointment of the 3rd Trimester today. My blood pressure was high (132/90) so my doctor had them take it again at the end of the appointment (122/90... still somewhat high). The doctor stressed to me that if I had a few symptoms combined I needed to get my butt to the hospital, stat. These symptons include a headache that won't go away, seeing black spots, and swelling. I always seem to be swollen, so I guess I'll just be concerned if I notice the others. Thankfully no headaches, so that is good.

Doctor then measured my stomach, and according to her I'm measuring a week ahead (or an inch ahead of what I should be measuring) and that the baby "feels" big to her. Oh brother.

The exciting news? On October 17th we have our 30 week ultrasound! I imagine that I will really get a good idea of what our baby is going to look like, which will be fun :) The not so exciting news? Stupid glucose test that I have to do before the next appointment in two weeks. Lameness.

Martha Stewart Madness

So, if you want people to think you are creative, but don't want to put in the time or effort, you can now go to Martha Stewart Crafts and BUY wonderfully crafty items. There are tons of Halloween items available, but I mostly fell in love with the favor bags. Of course, it would be a bit silly to actually purchase these seeing as I don't really have anyone to give them to (and I don't think my co-workers would really appreciate them). But, maybe after I have my brood of children I can such purchases for them or their classmates!

On another note, today is my Friday! Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to a nice 3 day weekend, staying up late tonight to watch Sarah Palin kick some ass, and of course a date with the husband to see an American Carol! Any movie that makes fun of Michael Moore is worth seeing on opening day!

It's gonna be a good month, Tater...

Seriously great month. Not only is it the fall (which equals somewhat more reasonable temperatures in AZ) but we have finally entered the month of Halloween! I'm telling you, from here on out time is going to FLY! Yeah, yeah, yeah, the baby will arrive sometime between the end of December and the beginning of January, which is 3 months, but these are the FASTEST 3 months of the year. I like to think my timing is perfect. I will be the size of a house in the best weather AZ has to offer, and I won't even feel like the misery is dragging on forever because the time will be zip zooming by.

By the end of this month, I will be more than 30 weeks pregnant. Holy schmoly! Every day Baby "G" is getting stronger and I'm feeling his kicks all day and night. The little dude is about 2.5 pounds now, so I can only imagine how this is going to feel when he gets to his full capacity.
Husband and I will be on vacation from October 13th through October 17th, so that is also extremely exciting! I can't wait to knock out the last of our projects to get the house "baby ready."

This month I'm going to try something new. I'm going to try and harness some of my creative abilities to embrace the fall season. First - props to Lula for her delicious looking Pumpkin Crisp recipe. I will be making this for the Husband for sure! I've also found a use for those coffee filters (haven't been drinking much coffee for, oh, I don't know... 7 months or so). I'm going to make bats!!! Don't ask me where I'm going to hang them up, lol.

And lastly, Halloween is on a FRIDAY this year! Hooray! Halloween is always much more awesome when the little ones (and their respective adults) do not have to go to school the next morning. I'm trying to con my pal Valerie into dragging her husband and children out to Maricopa for some dinner, trick-or-treating and of course handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. We'll see!

Happy October everyone!!