Christmastime 2011

While this wasn't Dani's first Christmas, I like to think of it as her first REAL Christmas since she was just over a month old in 2010 and could only see lights. This year, she could play with and enjoy her presents as well as the lights, the tree, the ornaments, and family gatherings. While I haven't written anything over there on the Baby Blog, be sure to pop on over in the near future as I'm sure to include some highlights!

As for my Christmas, aside from the virus my computer got (from a blog they say?), the cold that I got (not terrible though) and the teething Dani is suffering (molars, what a bitch!) it was great.  I got an amazing new sewing machine from Chris and a great sewing basket (that is to be my next project) from my mom.  I got some gift cards, pajamas, a bracelet made by my Uncle Kirk, and of course some delish food and time with friends and family.  Festivities are actually not over yet either.

I should also mention, while this isn't something I got for Christmas, it was something that I received around Christmas, and that was news that I passed my Professional Engineering Licensing Exam, which officially makes me a licensed engineer in the State of Missouri.  We celebrated at work!

A lot of people have asked me how this changes things for me.  For starters, it's a huge relief, one thing marked off my list, one less test I have to take (yes, I still have more testing for some specific other states), and a bit of an accomplishment for myself as I get to add the letters PE to the end of my name and remove the EIT.  In terms of work, it may mean little for now as I don't have any Missouri projects that I can sign and seal drawings for at this time.  Perhaps in the future I will add some states or projects for which I am responsible and then I will sign and seal drawings.  Pay doesn't really change for me, nor do my tasks, but they could potentially for the future.  One thing though that has changed, I personally can be sued.  Before I was working directly for a PE, who was the responsible party, now I am.  That's not so great, but oh well, with all good things there are some bad things.

Now, onto other things, like sewing...here are a few pictures of things I've made recently, new gifts, and planned projects...

Insulated Horseshoe Tote with magnetic closure given as a gift

Insulated Lunch Tote with button closure made with scrap materials

My new Bernina sewing machine!

Plans for my sewing basket - making inserts

2011 Blizzard Fake-Out

It's been a long time since I really posted any updates. For good reasons, I just haven't had time. I've transitioned into a life of balancing work and motherhood. It's confusing and stressful to say the least. If I ever had much time around the house to write, it's short lived and few and far between. I'm fairly busy at work so I can't fit in a blog. I typically eat lunch while I work, or take a short lunch because I have to make up time that had been spent pumping through out the day. So, as you can infer, writing just does not fit into the picture much these days.

You may now be asking yourself why I'm writing now. You see, we've just experienced the 2011 Blizzard Fake-Out. For those of us in the immediate St. Louis area, we were supposed to have a blizzard and ended up with about 3 inches of ice, no-to-minimal snow [I am still hoping to have power despite this fake-out, ice on the lines with heavy winds scares me, watch out Eva, you may have company]. Yesterday I stayed home because of the ice, but today I came into work (compliments of Chris' four wheel drive). I am currently one of about eight people. I figure I can use this time to catch up.

With that said, be sure to head over to baby-blog to catch up on the latest of Dano-dano since I plan on posting today.

As for the rest of us, we're doing good. About a week ago we had 9 inches of snow, you should have seen poor Bella going outside. She used her chest to barrel through the snow, and the poor thing didn't want to squat to pee (would you want to shove your tush into freezing snow to take a leak?). We were excited with the aniticipation of 20+ inches of snow, something to rival the blizzard of 1982. It just didn't pan out for us. Others in the Missouri and Northern Illinois area did see the blizzard, but not us. We were, to say the least, a bit dissappointed.

Since I can't really talk much about how exciting this blizzard is (either positive or negative excitement), I figure I'll go back in time to 1982! I was 3 years old when that storm hit so my memories are vague, but I do recall a few things. I remember being bundled in a snow suit, making a giant snow ball with neighbors, and my mom getting a ride to work with her boss. I have very fond memories of that snowfall. Were you around for the 1982 blizzard? What do you remember about it?

Exhausting Day

Today was an exhausting day but productive. I brought a work laptop home to work from home for a few days. Assuming I don't give birth tomorrow (hypothetically speaking), I plan on this routine for the next few weeks. Office M-W; Home Th-F. I'll be working off my desktop through a remote connection on the laptop I've borrowed. It's actually pretty cool.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, so tonight, after leaving a great NST, Chris and I went up to E-ville to pick up her gift. While in E-ville, we picked up a deck box to put all the pool gear in for the end of summer.

I also got some good news from work...beyond working from home. I won't dwell on it though.

I also packed most of my bag for the hospital (partially because I needed to, partially because I'm paranoid today, and partially because Chris got my bag out of storage for me to pack it).

On the crappy news front, E. failed her 1 hour glucose test, so tomorrow she'll be doing the 3 hour test.

All right, with all that said, I'm out of here, sleep is to be had!

I Voted

Today was productive. I got an ample amount of work done in the office, I had a smooth doctor's visit, and I got to eat Mexican at the newly reopened Carrisillos Mexican!

To top it all off, I voted.

I purchased Chris' birthday gift, got Eva's baby shower gift in the mail, am now blogging while resting with the babies (who are snorting loudly) in bed (I also snuck in a bowl of ice cream).

Lazy Bums

I'm supposed to be on modified bed rest, but I think the rest of the family thought THEY were supposed to be resting...

Just Some Stuff to Say Real Quick

I've been sitting here at my computer since quarter 'til 5am doing a hodge podge of Internetty things (browsing, social mediaing, paying bills, etc.) and am finally tired enough I might just fall asleep at the computer! Hopefully I make it to a comfy location before my body decides to shut down.

Anyway, today is 10/10/10 and I felt it was only appropriate to point that out (because no one else will today)! It's a busy day for a lot of people. Emily, Andy, and Tim are running in the Chicago Marathon today; Amanda is patiently "watching" the race. Today would have been my dad's 56th birthday. There are a whole horde of parties happening today for a variety of reasons. That's just to name a few things that are going on this fine October day.

I myself will be going to a party, blogging, shopping, writing out Thank You cards, addressing invitations to Eva's shower, and hopefully getting together with a friend for dinner who surprised me by coming home for my shower before she has to head back!

With that said, I'm off to hopefully catch at least an hour of sleep. I hope to blog later over at Baby-Blog about the amazing baby shower I had yesterday. As a baby-blog reminder, I need to make a post about all of the anxiety dreams I had been having (and some still to continue I'm sure); the shower of course with some highlights that include many a sheepy things and Chris' Infant Relief drops.

A few things to specific peoples

To Seth, I am sorry I didn't make it out to your birthday party, I didn't have it in me. To all that attended my shower, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, I honestly have been in tears worrying about how to work in getting items for the baby (with considerations to both time and money). You not only made it fun, but more helpful than you will ever know. To DMA and Marc, thank you for giving Chris work this week. You not only helped with our financial situation, but his mood/stress as well. Rachel, thank you for traveling all the way here, it was a wonderful surprise. To those ladies that helped plan and do stuff at my shower, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It seems to me that everyone had a great time first of all, and secondly, I think everyone was very happy with the food and treats. I don't know what I would do if I didn't know such amazing girls like Eva, Becky, Amanda, Marie, and Brandy who would be willing to take time out of their own lives to help me. It takes a lot of stress off of me, and while you may think you know how much you've helped me, you will never know how much you've helped my sanity (which as you know is questionable at best). To Mike, congrats bud, 6 months is amazing, I tear up just thinking about it! To Aunt Pat and Aunt JoAnne hang in there ladies, your babies will be okay, we've got to tell ourselves that.

A Good Vacuum

This past weekend when hanging out in the nursery putting together the dresser from Chris' parents, we noted the filthy appearance of the carpeting. We had cleaned the floor several times, so why so nasty?

Well, for starters, I blame my furry children Riley and Bella. We have a dusty, furry, and pet dander filled house. Our second culprit was not having a good vacuum for these things. We had a vacuum. It was given to us by Rachel M. and it served us all right for some time (since she returned to C-ville to sell her condo). It, like most vacuums was one of those semi-durable guys that lasts for several years and dies off slowly (as in, not a lifer like a Kirby). The problem is that our house gets DIRTY, so this vacuum that would have served some families for years wasn't up to the Spann challenge.

So, we went to Lowe's to look as some vacuums and ultimately we spent more than we should have on a quality (or what appears to be quality so far) Electrolux vacuum. It is the first vacuum I think I have ever bought. I've either borrowed a vacuum or had a hand me down. I feel like a real adult now!




Thus far I can say that it is AMAZING. Even though the nursery floor had been vacuumed and cleaned several times, this thing was full of dust and fur within one pass over the floor. The real test was to vacuum the living room rug, which turned out to fill the vacuum up TWICE!

So, I spent parts of my weekend vacuuming in between shopping with my mom, going to Eckert's, making apple pies, working from home, and finishing Eva's baby shower invitations. It was a productive weekend and I'm thinking now about all the other things I can vacuum!

Yes, I AM Pregnant

As many of you have heard, I'm pregnant.

Also, as many of you may know, I don't take serious things serious (unless you're talking about licensing exams, that's a whole different bucket of worms). For example, my pregnancy announcement to the world (via Facebook, heh) stated that I was parasitically infected. It's not a lie, pregnancy is in fact, until birth, just like being infected by a parasite (there is the minor difference of species variation, but for the sake of argument, just shut up and let it be).

Additionally, I compared babies to dogs. This is apparently not an accepted comparison, but think about it for a moment. You don't wash babies or dogs often as their skin is sensitive, you simply wipe them down often. There's a lot of teaching in the beginning, "don't beg for food", "don't put the knife in the socket", "go potty on the lawn", "go potty in the toilet". Dogs and newborn babies, sleep for 16-20 hours. Humans grow out of this habit, which is a bad thing. Dogs, the obviously smarter species do not grow out of this habit, though they are infinitely less productive!

For all of my current pregnancy mockery, I do not apologize, as it is after all ME. Would you expect less? Would you expect more? Didn't think so! I will however, to appease the masses (and myself just a tiny bit) share the joyfulness of this all with some images and info...

-Will you find out the gender? No

-So, are you calling the fetus 'it'? Yes, as well as 'him' out of habit, and 'Baby Yadi'

-What are you doing for the nursery? We'll be converting the sheep room (the sheep stay), it's already yellow so no need to redecorate.

-You are fairly psycho about the environment, so what are you doing about diapers? Preferably the G diapers, and even cloth, as you know, I'm opposed to destroying the environment for mere convenience. I will on occasion use what is available, but my goal is to minimize the impact of baby diapers in landfills!

-When are you due/How far along are you? I'm due around late November, early December. As of today (May 18, 2010), I'm 12 weeks (out of approx. 40 wks)

-What are you most excited about? My cousin's baby is due earlier in the year, so cousins will be of the same age; Santa Claus; school supplies; Christmas at Grandpa's.

-What about the dogs? I imagine Riley will take this all in very well. Bella, who is the baby of the house will be my problem. I anticipate carrying around a baby doll that whines to teach her what is allowed and not allowed from dogs around babies. Though stubborn (she IS a bully) she's smart, she'll learn, and she'll always be my baby girl as Riley will always be my baby boy!

-How are you feeling otherwise? Well, honestly, it's hard to be excited through all the nausea. Until Monday the 17th I had a vomit free pregnancy. It all changed with some projectile stuff accompanied by a severe headache and about 16-20 hours of sleep. I have otherwise been feeling okay. The nausea comes and goes all day long. Let's hope it passes. I want to throw out a huge thanks to Maureen for the suggestion of Greek yogurt. Others suggested it as well, but Maureen gave me some insider tips!

-Any names picked out? Nothing besides Yadier Molina.

-When are you going to start taking this seriously? What, I HAVE to do that?

-How many horror stories have you heard? Lucky for me, I avoid the people that tell me of horror stories, I can't deal with them. Instead, I hear from Maureen and Michel who are both very positive about their current and past pregnancies (respectively). SO, if you want to tell me about something good and positive, great! If you have a horror story, don't even bother!

Are you making anything for Baby Yadi? Yes, I plan on making a quilt out of all my old punk t-shirts I can't bear to toss but can't wear for one reason or another. Also, there is some scrap booking happening. Eva is drawing some stuff up for the room, I imagine Chris will make some kind of furniture, I expect at least one children's book from @ibificus, and I'm sure all my dog buddies on Twitter will work up some slimy drool kisses for me too (virtual drool works great for me)!

NOW...the images... [If you only see blobs in the ultrasounds, don't worry, that's really all they are...well that and a baby]

The image on the left is the 8 week ultrasound where you should see a blob/baby about the size of a kidney bean and the yolk sac. The image on the right is the 12 week ultrasound (bottom right is "3d") where you should see a lime sized blob/baby.

NaBloPoMo Day 13 Post 11 - Friday the 13th, Again...

Today is Badger's birthday, so Happy Friday the 13th Birthday Honey Banjoooo...

In other news, coworker Matt is on the phone with the IRS over some trumpted up charges we aren't sure are even real...fraud? Who knows. Doesn't matter because the trumped up charges are to a guy with a different middle name and social security number. Amazing things pass through here some days. Just last week my other coworker JJ was called at work and informed that his wife was dead. Rather the election board was trying to confirm she was dead, turns out some other lady with his wife's name died in July. Do people actually do their jobs these days or is it just government employees getting away with not working. On that note, if we are being forced to use government health care, well, you might see where I'm going with this...I don't discuss politics.

Anyway...I'm trying to figure out if there is a goat that when bleating sounds like a human yelling. Is it like a fainting goat that yells? Anyone know? Is there a sheep that does this by chance?

Word...
play: 1. To cheat on or use someone. 2. Hella game from the opposite or same sex.

Collapsed Tunnel Embiggens the Despair

I tell myself that there is an end to the tunnel, but I haven't seen it yet, and I'm somehow sure I'm collapsed inside! I did get some good advice from Mike C. though. He says I should "suck the dampness from [my] hair for [water] 'til the rescuers come find [me]".

There's no denying that I'm stressed out. The canker sores and pound of chocolate that I've recently eaten are sure signs! I haven't had time to write and I find it aggravating. If I find it to the end of the tunnel having survived the odds, I will be amazed by myself!

So I s'pose I could update you on a few things that have come and gone since I last recall writing...

A boy climbed into a balloon and floated away...but not really. It was a hoax.

I moved to a new desk at work.



I camped in freezing cold weather that was the epitome of pure camping weather.

I watched mass leaf suicide the Sunday we left camping as all the frost covered leaves jumped to their untimely deaths.

I've been given a "second chance".

I left work one day without my glasses and wallet, how the hell did I pull that off? I need both of those to get home [legally that is].

I got invited to a Masquerade Ball [ballroom gown and the whole 9 yards] but it falls on a date that I am out of town. I'm torn on what to do as I'd love to go to California, but I need me time so badly, as well as the opportunity to dress in a gown with a mask! Any suggestions?

I made plans to go see Where The Wild Things Are on Thursday, yea!!

And I guess I'm finally coming out of the closet...to tell my readers, I am reading the Twilight series and I'm enjoying it! Yes, there it is, I feel better getting that out in the open. I am reading the Twilight series! Please don't judge, thanks.

Well, that about wraps up what I am able to fit into a quick written dialogue for now...so I'll give you some words and move along some more of my darkened tunnel.

pimpstress: A female pimp.

hostage lunch: Meal purchased by the company, often pizza, and delivered for employees whose bosses require them to attend a meeting or work over their lunch hour.

stoner's Graceland: Another name for Wendy's [damn I like me some cheese fries and Frosty from Wendy's!]

In use: The late hours, stoner-friendly food, and 99-cent value menu are the main reasons Dave Thomas is to stoners what Elvis is to your grandma.

left-handed Web site: A porn Web site.

Bengal: A chick with an ugly face but a smoking body. After the football team the Cincinnati Bengals, who have sweet jerseys but terrible helmets. [I'll have to have Amanda or Andy verify this word for me]

embiggen: A perfectly cromulent word meaning to make bigger.

In use: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

Tomorrow I Take Off

I'm very excited, as today is my last full day of this week. Tomorrow I take off to Dublin/London/Glasgow. I just checked the weather and it should be in the 70's with rain. I should plan to pack an extra set of pants and maybe less shorts.

Tomorrow will be hectic. I am having Chris drop me off at a Metrolink station so I can take Metro downtown to work for a few hours. I think sometime around 10 or 11 I'll leave work to Metro to the airport. My flight isn't until 3, but with the President coming to St. Louis for the All-Star game, I have to be prepared for hassles at the airport. Metrolink to the airport is about 45-50 minutes from downtown, so if I leave at 10, I should get there around 11, and I'll just eat lunch inside security and have about 3 hours to kill. I'd better pack another book!

It has just occured to me that I used the words President and kill in the same blog! Egads! What do you think will happen?

So just a quick review of my weekend and then I'm off to work as much as I can possibly stand today!

Saturday, Amanda and I went for a bike ride, partly for the ride, partly for the geocaching experience. We looked but found no geocach. We also rode in the rain, which was slick, but fun.

Sunday, Eva and I went for a hike up at Pere Marquette State Park. We are getting Eva prepared for her trip to the Smokies. While there, we looked for a geocach, and surprisingly enough found it. Lucky for me it had a Travel Bug so I get to take that with me to the UK to deposit in a different geocach! I am very excited about this!



Words-
ungood: Surfer term for "bad". Also used in George Orwell's bovel 1984.
drunk catcher: An obstacle found in one's path that, while drunk, provides, an incredible challenge to avoid. This includes cracks in the sidewalk, low-hanging tree branches, abnormal curbs, and members of the opposite sex who are of questionable attractiveness. Generally these are ranked by class, or degree of difficulty: class 1 being the lowest and class 5 being the highest.

In Use: The captain totally tweaked his ankle last night on a class 5 drunk catcher.

Sorry So Bland...

A long weekend down but much more to come within the next two weeks!

I'll try to quickly recap so not to bore you with details you may or may not already know.

Friday the Third I had the day off work, where I was able to get some stuff done for a variety of things. I can barely even recall what I did on the Third, but I did invite an acquaintance to meet me on my adventures next week, but then had to recant my offer. That's a story for another day. I also went to breakfast with friends and had this whole awkward ordeal paying for my meal (the things honesty will get you); but that's also a story for another time.

Saturday the Fourth, some plans got canceled and some impromptu plans came into play. I went over to Kelly S.'s house for a small get together where I got to meet the other Stephanie (Ironstef) and others. Kelly made Crack Corn (popcorn with truffle salt that was like crack, so addictive you had to keep diving the hand into the bowl for more, we looked like vultures) and a really good carrot dip that almost tasted like a bean dip. Oh and I bought some beer from the Ska Brewing Company to take with me, and it was awesomeness in a bottle! Following that brief adventure, I went to Jen's over in St. Chuck for fireworks (viewable from the parking lot adjacent to her house). It was sticky, wet, muddy, smelly, and fun. We couldn't really see the fireworks too well (weather and all), and we got soaked (so I rode home in my under clothes). But it was great to see my friends, and to hear Tim and the anarchist jam together on the guitar and banjo! That was very cool! I even had a dream about it that night, watching them play together. They were doing tricks with the instruments while still playing!

Sunday the Fifth was a big let down for me and others. Well not a total let down I suppose, Chris removed the existing window from the master bath and replaced it with the extremely nice window we purchased, what seems like eons ago. I, however, worked on getting some much needed things done. I did manage to finish ALL the laundry that had piled up, I was able to at least book the remainder of my flights for my trip next week, I got some much needed shopping done, and I worked some on the invitations that have an end of July deadline for me (and really not a lot of time to do them). I still however have a list of things to be done. No matter how much I could do, it didn't seem I could get anything marked off the list. What I find most disappointing is that I had three different sets of invitations to something on Sunday. I had to decline all three. I at least heralded myself on the fact that if I said no to one, I said no to them all; which is exactly what I needed to do. I guess I feel most bothered by my sister's party for her 18 year old son. 18 years old is a big age, legally speaking that is. It was even a surprise party, luau themed. I just couldn't get it in there with ever thing else.

So now here we are, Monday the Sixth, things moving along smoothly so far. I can think of many things to talk about, like Amanda with Buddy Holly glasses; Clint and the Austin police; my itinerary for next week; my desire to be a complete vegetarian; my appointment with a personal trainer (only 3 sessions, not like a real PT); my annoyance with people I know that have either really ticked me off or have hurt my feelings in some way recently; my annoyance with iPods and Zunes; my complete and total lack of proper social skills (which I seem to lack and am sometimes told that I lack); and well, really I could go on for a while. I will return later to try and make some clarifications to a few things!

I won't go on now though, as I have a meeting at 9 am. So alas, I leave you be with the words of the weekend and today...

roffle: To roll on the floor laughing. From the Internet chat acronym, ROFL (roll on floor laughing).

BOBFOC: Body Off Baywatch, Face Off Crimewatch. A person who possesses a killer body but has a face that only a mother could love.

put in print: To kill. To put someone in the obituaries.

My Twisted Traits

As you may know, I entered a contest where the only question was, "What is your most twisted trait?". I started out asking my closest friends and family to define that trait for me. I just needed an idea other than the first one that came to my own mind. I later decided to open the question to Facebook and Twitter strangers. I find it amazing what the people that did answer had to say. Below I have compiled a list of these traits that had to vie for the trait which I chose to submit!

TWISTED TRAITS
-That you looooooovvvvvvveeeeeeee pink sheep -Crystal
-Disliking nice people -Amanda
-I’m thinking that the fact that you’re an atheist who occasionally prays is pretty twisted -Christine
-And that you’re seriously prepared for the apocalypse is slightly twisted too - Christine
-Your obsession with sheep definitely borderlines twisted -Eva
-The fact that you have a traveling sheep (no help from me on that) is twisted -Eva
-The fact that you dress [the traveling sheep] up (not that he came with a tie) makes you even more twisted -Eva
-We’ll call each other at the same time and finish sentences (sharing a brain) that’s twisted -Eva
-I'd say it would probably be the way you can criticize and make a person feel bad all in the same sentence! Kind of like Mrs. Aleman! -Drew
-You are an OS [os is what exactly?] -Mike C.


FIRST REACTIONS TO QUESTIONS
-We only get to pick one? -Christine
-It might take me a while to break out the list. -Chris
-Do we only get to pick one? -Will
-Now do you mean twisted as wierd or twisted as you know, f'ed up kinda twisted? -Drew


THINGS I THOUGHT OF ON MY OWN
-I'm twisted because my dream job is to herd sheep! [first thought]
-I like to lay in bed and position myself in various "coffin positions" to see what would seem a best way to rest forever
-When I die, I want to be cremated and my ashes placed in a concrete masonry unit
-Sometimes when I can't sleep, I like to say the 50 US states in alphabetical order, some times I like to count how many of them have double vowels, an "l", etc. just to mix it up

THE TRAIT I CLAIMED
-I'm twisted because I don't trust nice people (eventually you will be chained to their basement wall, among other theories)


Word-
a and b the c of d: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. Very good.

Good Morning Heartache, You're Like An Old Friend

I find this whole blog thing funny. First of all, as I've always said, I write for me, not you. I sometimes find that I enjoy reading my own blog more than reading others'. I'm not being arrogant either; it's just that no one seems to have my sense of humor. So when I read my blogs, written pretty much how I actually talk, I find them very amusing, I enjoy what I have written, and really, we are truly the only one's that can make ourselves happy; we had better damn well try!

Second is that I tend to read/write blogs that are really just metablogs (metablog=blog about, or refering to, other blogs). I love it! I love knowing that there are enough literate people in the world who care enough to read and share. One disheartening thing about reading (books, blogs, anything really) is that I often find that I want to share everything I've read with someone in particular who tends not to care. The said "someone in particular" varies depending on what I'm reading, but the feeling is always the same. I share what I read with said humans and all I get is a look of "okay, I'm glad you enjoyed, can I carry on and forget we had this conversation". There is never a discussion, never an excited glimmer, never a "but ma, all my friends are jumping off the bridge, I wanna go too" moment. I want someone that actually cares for once to listen! So start caring "Mr. I'm Going to Ignore You"! I suppose I could also be saying "Mr. I Hope You Get Stuck In A Foreign Country" or even "Ms. Oh Cool, I Only Read Things That Come From Starbucks"! Ugh! [As a side note, for those of you that do seem to care, forgive me, for it is not you that I may speak of, and Holly, you should know I am talking about You!]

Anyway, on days like this when I fear I may have accidentally given myself a concussion before 8:00 am (long story, but I can't function, must get looked at); I find the best way to calm down is to take some deep breaths, minimize everything on my screen, and daydream of my dream job (sheep herding, stop laughing, I'm being serious damn you). My work desktop image is one taken from a friend Kelly (pic shown below). It's calming, it's also reassuring; then I recall that these fine animals will be eaten and it all strikes me back into reality. Reality, where I should be right now if I could only think . . .



Things to Share-
My boss Steven Crang in an HOK blog interview! Click here to see it!

Bella is better, after a visit to the vet, and many drugs, she's getting back to her spunky self!

Word-
oh, snap: Interjection conveying unpleasant surprise. Popularized by Tracy Morgan on the TV show Saturday Night Live.

Amanda Is Finally On Facebook

Blog-
Last night was rough. Today is bearable, I'll be leaving work at noon. Today's lessons:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. Don't panic and stress about the things for which you have no control.
3. Give yourself something to look forward to, always!
4. At the end of the day ask yourself if the choices you made, actually made you happy . . . if not, then on the next day, try to reconsider what you can do differently.
5. It's probably too far from your heart to kill you.
6. Don't let guilt guide you.

Recent updates: I finished Dog On It, super cute book that I am loaning to Chris. I am now onto Bloodsucking Fiends. We have Mama Skweak's birthday party this weekend. My window in my car was fixed thanks to Chris who went to the junk yard, got a window and put it in himself. Saved me loads of money too. I may have already blogged that. Amanda is finally on Facebook. Took long enough! I am still pondering the 6th installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide. Thanks to the Sutter siblings for providing me with exciting play by play on the ESPN spelling bee yesterday (when I needed the entertainment)!

Yesterday and today's comic Brevity, (that I am sharing this week because it's backwards)! See previous blog for clarification!





Likes/Dislikes-

People I know blogging; or getting to read interesting blogs.



So many bloggers, does anyone read any of it? And why aren't more people I know blogging?


Word-
yo

1. When followed by an apostrophe (yo'), a contraction of "you" or "your".

2.An informal address or title to one whose name is not known; can be used as an interrogative address.

3.A declarative or imperative exclamation, whether alone or within a sentence.

Cynicism Shined Through

Friday, Friday, Friday . . . oh how I love thee!

Went to the game last night (with the Sutter clan), the last against the Cubs series . . . and it was a glorious sweep! We had bleacher seats, and they were awesome! On a side note, I better see my hat again . . . in ONE piece and alive!

My cynicism shined through as I tried to convince Emily to stay away from the nice boy who is way too nice for his own good. My argument is that the nice guy is just a front. Everybody is mean . . . so I'd rather know your degree of meanness when I meet you up front rather than have you break my heart later. See, the nice guy is the lure, and eventually the nice guy will have you chained to the basement wall. Stop rolling your eyes at me! If you think about it, you know it's true!

I rode my bike into work today so I could go to lunch with others to the Crown Candy Kitchen! This is going to be so fun! Yippee Skippee!

Now . . . I have something very exciting to show you. If you know me at all, you will know that my favorite architect (despite his poor ability to provide quality construction) is Frank Lloyd Wright. One of my favorite toys are Legos (click here for cool Lego dude). So what could be better than FLLW Legos?



Sweetness pours over me! Okay, seriously, keep your head out of the gutter please!

Now, to Drew and Becky, THANK YOU for being awesome peoples that also use made up wordifiles. I had started to wonder if I was the only person to have a unique vocabulary. It's not that I like to brag or anything, but this obviously means we are quite brilliant!

To Chris, THANK YOU for finding me cheap junk yard glass for my car! And thank for saying you will put my car back together. You don't have to do that. But I'm not going to turn down the help either! I'll get you a check when I get home. We need to remember to go to the bank so I can put my ASCE reimbursement check in there this weekend!

To Jeremy, THANK YOU for the recommendation for T-Shirts @ T-shirthell.com. Deadly stuff . . . wrong and deadly stuff!

To Amanda, I believe I have thought of a solution to your problem of having too much on your plate . . . either A) get a bigger plate (but the not the ideal solution) OR B) find another plate to shove some of your "food" onto (seems enough people are doing it to you) OR C) Get that dog Emily wants and shove some of the "food" onto the floor, most dogs will eat anything!

. . . this brilliant mind needs to get to work, so onward I shall go . . .

Word-
purse out: To not do something because of a girly reason, to wuss out. Generally used from one male to another.

Pull From Another Blog

So today is one of those days already. I woke up at 4:30ish, tossed and turned for an hour until my alarm went off, then tossed and turned for another 45 minutes. When I finally got out of bed, the irritation just settled right into it's cozy little spot in my mind.

Why am I irritated and annoyed? I don't know. If you could do me a favor and pop into my noggin and have a little chat with my brain; please ask that question!

I have to give many thanks to everyone that wished me a happy birthday yesterday. I owe Crystal many many thanks for not only baking me cupcakes for work (a tradition I started with the structures group); but she was also the only person to give me a gift on my birthday as well! The gift thing isn't so much what I am concerned about, I didn't ask for anything. I just thought she deserves some credit for that! My mom dropped by in the evening and brought me a low-fat cheesecake and strawberries. Chris took me to dinner. Eva is of course throwing me a birthday party (like I've been saying, if you want to come and didn't get an invite, e-mail me). Shane was the first person to wish me a happy birthday on my actual birthday. The Sutter siblings sang to me. Christine and Grace both got me birthday cards that are sitting on top of my locker at work. Mike dedicated a song to me! Skweak sent me a cut out sheep party doll on myspace. I heard from all sorts of other people too!!! So thank you to everyone, it made yesterday nice, and it made turning 30 tolerable! And, yes, I know, I know, I know . . . 30 is nothing, no big deal. BUT, it's like saying good-bye to my youth. I need time to adjust.

I really wanted to have something fun to write about today, just anything more interesting that me, but I just don't have any good stories. SO, I'm going to pull from another blog, in fact two blogs.

HOK Life's John G. wrote about awards, to which he points out Contractor's Awards. Funny Funny Stuff!


Bifsniff's Frank (a fellow I suspect likes creepy things) added a clip of an old black and white cartoon that is wildly different than any hippie-fied Diego saving whales cartoon we see today!






Word of the day-

high beams: When a woman's nipples can be obviously seen through her clothing. The larger the protrusion, the brighter the beams. [E. N.: I'm embarrassed by even listing this word today]

Why Is This Wet?

Hoo-rah...hoo-rah; today is my birthday. 30 years ago around nine in the morning, I was born, dislocated hip and all! I wanted out real bad, eager to get this life going. I chose to come out before the doctor was ready to deliver and somehow managed to dislocate my hip! I would have to say that this particular action set me up for how I would manage the rest of my life; too eagerly and far too clumsy! Those of you who know me well enough are laughing. Maybe not laughing at me, but laughing at how true this all is!

Before I move on; I want to rewind back to last week. The hi-lite didn't occur until Friday evening, and frankly, it's well worth the rewind. Chris and I went to the Trowbridge's for movie night (featured presentation=Bolt (2008)). So let me cut to the chase, Grace, my 3 year old buddy was carrying around a pink flamingo doll. Christine, (a.k.a. mom) picked up pinky and felt that it was wet. "Grace, why is this pink flamingo wet?"; "because I -----". That last part so indistinguishable, we all leaned in further to hear; "what Grace, why is this wet?"; "because I peed on it"! It was beyond difficult to stifle the laughter and tears that were slipping out; a rather tense moment for a 3 year old turned my entire week into a great one!

So, fast forward to Sunday, Mother's Day; a decent day all in all. The one thing though, worth mentioning, is that some one thought I was young. Very young! I met Jen for a bike ride, and her step-mother (in-law?) was at the house. Jen introduced us and we chatted for a moment before Jen and I took off for the Katy trail. Later that day, Jen called to tell me that Step-Mom thought it was so nice of Jen to take the little neighborhood girl out for a bike ride. It wasn't until later that she noticed a car parked next to hers that she asked Steve (Jen's hubby) about it. Steve told her it was mine; her response was to ask Steve if I was old enough to drive! It was an extreme compliment! Here I am disdainfully celebrating 30, and she thought I was barely old enough to drive! In hindsight I wondered if it is because I acted immaturely . . . but I really don't care how I acted since I was polite and I enjoyed myself!

Other stuff to note: I broke my phone Friday, had to get a new one (which was going to happen this year anyway); purchased a new pair of eyeglasses (will get them in about a week); Chris planted a tomato and cucumber plant(s) in the backyard; I blogged on Friday for work; stole old photo albums from mom to scan photos for online (yes Holly, that does mean I will get you those promised photos of dad finally (albeit electronic)); last, but most unpleasant, I got bad news about my cousin Matt who had a stage two cancerous tumor in his brain (if you pray, please pray for him).

So, that leads me to here, today, my birthday (Dusty's as well). I hope your day is enjoyable.

Word of the today and the weekend-
moose knuckle: The male version of camel toe. Usually found on older rotund gentlemen wearing a suit.

pour one for my homies: To pour liquid (usually an alcoholic beverage) on the ground as a sign of reverence for friends or relatives who have passed away. In many cases, a 40-ounce bottle of liquor is used.

Wake Up Please

Last night I had a nightmare. It started out in my mom's house, except Chris and I were there but no one else. We had invited some talk show host over to the house as a surprise for Amanda because we knew she would want to meet him. We told Amanda and she was taken aback by the surprise, much as I expected her to do. Moments later she and I were sitting on the floor of my old bedroom; it was still tiny, same layout. We were talking when I noticed a small (1/2") spider. It was brown, fuzzy, and creeped me the fuck out! It was at this point that I saw the rest of the spiders, much larger, all over, and now crawling on me. They were all brown with black spots and fuzzy with beady black eyes that looked like an abyss. Amanda at this point left me and shut the door. I screamed for her, she did not come. I screamed for Chris and he laughed through the door. I screamed for anyone to help me and no one would. Broken hearted and crying, I tried smashing the spiders with a spare shoe but there were too many. I remember saying aloud "wake up wake up wake up please for the love of God" . . . and then, like a miracle I woke up. I shot straight up in bed! My heart was racing so fast I could feel it in my face and ears. I ungracefully flew out of bed and turned on the light, pulled back my blankets and even flipped the pillows. No spiders! I sat down and just took a minute to breath. Got up to flip the light off and shot a glance in the mirror to see the sweat that had accumulated on my face and neck. I took one more glance around, flipped the switched, and took a last stab at trying to sleep.

Word-
That's my word: Interjection used to reinforce a statement.
In Use:

Guy 1: Stay away from her, she's a skank!
Guy 2: No way, not her?!
Guy 1: That's my word!

You Suck!

Ah, nothing like some hot tea with a bit of milk and sweetener to get you going on a cool and rainy Spring day! Or, that's what I am telling myself!

I wanted to blog yesterday night, but I had taken some diphenhydramine and had the urge to sleep. Knowing that I rarely feel the opportunity to sleep, I took my mind up on its offer and crashed into bed with my snuggle pillow held tightly to me! It lasted until about 2 or 3 in the morning. I was awaken to a nightmare that I no longer recall; but I can vividly remember my heart beating at a ridiculous pace! I nodded in and out of sleep until about 5:30 this morning. I am so tired!

On other topics I went to the bookstore last night. Borders of course! I had to go because the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel was out on bookshelves yesterday. I couldn't miss buying that. I also was at the end of my Christopher Moore book, A Dirty Job. I had purposely dragged it out as long as I could even though it was really good to read! I loaned it to Chris because I truly believe he will appreciate the humor! Something I learned about that book just last night . . . it glows in the dark! All this time and I just learned it! Of course I don't make a habit of reading in the dark so I have to wonder just how many people know about its glowing properties?

It happens every time I walk into the doors of the bookstore; euphoria from the perfect temperature, perfect lighting, and the smell of refreshing books! Dead and Gone was right there for me when I walked through the door, I snatched it up as if someone were ready to remove them as a waiter removes a half full plate in front of a still consuming diner! I wasn't about to let it out of my sight!

I marched onward with a mental list of books I wanted to peruse! More Christopher Moore, Chuck Palahniuk, and a handful of titles I could think of at that moment. As it always goes, I can never leave a book store with fewer than two books, I left with three. Lovely Bones, You Suck, and Dead and Gone.

Also yesterday, Shane sent me to some videos of Olga from Toy Dolls teaching how to play various songs on the guitar! It was brilliant! So thanks for that Shane Brain! I'm still so far back on the learning curve I'm beginning to believe I'll never figure it out. My fingers just don't move that fast. But I suppose, like everything else I have ever encountered, it will take time, practice, and patience!

Other things I find noteworthy:

I wrote in My Other Blog yesterday as well should you want to look at some cool photos. I finally watched Monday's episode of House, where CTB (a.k.a. Amber) sang part of a Specials song! I reached 100 posts on Twitter (which I some how felt unaffected by). I read through a blog called (and previously referred to in my blogs) Bifsniff; where I found a trailer that was very interesting (to say the least). BUT, on that blog is a great, and I mean great sort of advertisement. I do think you will like it!

Now that I have rambled, please write me to tell me how you are doing! Maureen, I haven't heard from you in ages. Are you doing okay?

Word of the day-
snark: Sarcastic comments. Combination of "snide" and "remark". {Sounds like this word is right up my alley]