Appreciation

It's been some time since I've blogged anywhere. Not only am I finding it very hard to find the time to blog, but I just haven't wanted to do so. December has been a hard month. It started out with good people in the hospital and turned into a nightmare that has been overwhelming for everyone involved. My best friend since I was 5 years old lost her baby boy Wyatt on December 13th after he spent 33 wonderful weeks in his mother's womb. To make things even more dramatic for her family, her mom was in the hospital that weekend before with serious issues as well. In an odd twist, many other friends have been going to funerals all month. Even this month my mom experienced a double edged sword with a recent medical diagnosis. While we are happy she has a diagnosis, we are worried at the road she now must take. I can tell you that it makes me appreciate my Dano-Dano even at three in the morning during a crying fit. It makes me appreciate my friends and family. It makes me appreciate getting the chance to do things that many cannot do and that others take for granted.

Normally I'd use this time in my blog to vent, to share my feelings, and to get out of my head what ever it is that dwells there. But this time I'm not going to do so. I feel as though I will always remember the anger, sadness, guilt, lack of understanding, love for friends and family, and general hopelessness of this event for which I will eventually come to terms. Instead, I am going to end here to head over to Baby-Blog and write about a few things there. I will also leave here with the following poem. I read it shortly after my dad died and really liked it. It was read last night at Wyatt's memorial as well.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

Coat Pocket Finds

I was cleaning out my coat so I could wash it (when I wasn't paying attention, it got frigidly cold here in the StL., like Alaska cold, again).

I found the following items in my coat pockets . . .

1 dime

1 nickel

1 ink pen from the Concrete Council

A shopping list (milk, cookies, chips, sodas, salad, micro-bags, yakisoba, dish soap, laundry detergent)

A granola bar wrapper

A piece of paper with the following conversation...

[Eva's handwriting]The kids that filled in at Murphy's Law were 100 times better!

I said is that Adam!? Jami said no, Adam weighs more!

[then in my handwriting] That dude needs to eat some meat, he's freaking SCRAWNY!

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).

Peter Tork, John Denver, and the Accordion

The following quote is from one of the books I'm currently reading called Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez

"[...], every ounce of the Monkees' artistic merit left with Peter Tork"

I wondered as I wrote that if I had ever shared my love of Peter Tork with you, faithful reader...

Once I was intoxicated and told the world how I love Peter Tork. As a kid, he was my favorite Monkee.

I also love John Denver. Sure, he's a bit too hippie like for me, but really, I do have an affinity for him.

One day, when I had time to think and waste, I realized that both Peter Tork and John Denver where a lot alike! [I think it's the blonde hair style]

To steer the subject a bit off course, I saw a tweet about a polka band that played a version of a popular song. I replied to the tweet about my jealousy of those who can play the accordion. Yes, I agreed with @ibificus that my love of the accordion could be considered odd. I suppose that my searching for songs played by accordion makes me that much more odd. But, if you are reading this...you know I'm odd, and now even more odd because I love Peter Tork, John Denver, and accordions!

John Denver's Country Roads accordion style
John Denver's Annie's Song accordion style
John Denver's Annie's Song piano The O'Neill Brothers
Mario Brothers Theme accordion
They Might Be Giants' How Can I Sing Like A Girl (with accordion)

One day I can tell you about the time Eva and I had our photo posted on the front page of the entertainment section of the St. Louis Post Dispatch...we were polkaing!

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.

What NOT To Eat For Breakfast

This blog stems from a conversation with Eva from last week. We were discussing things we should maybe avoid eating. I for one, prefer all carbohydrates (simple and complex). Eva is a fan of the proteins, but for some reason is craving less of that and more carbs during her pregnancy. This got us started on the glucose test for gestational diabetes in pregnant women. Since I already monitor my blood sugar levels I've not had to take the test; Eva's is coming up soon.

That same evening after our conversation, I received the following article about glycemic indices of foods via mail...


Anyway, I thought it was interesting enough to share (courtesy of Anderson Hospital). Now, having learned what not to eat, and knowing how terrible sugars are for breakfast (even Jodi warned me), one might guess I would know better than to eat ice cream for breakfast!



Did I listen? No. How were my sugars? 170 [egads!] Did I learn my lesson? Well, only time will tell!


Keeping tabs on Baby Yadi? I've written more over at BabyBlog [with new ultrasound pics]
Still not in the gender poll? Better get in there over at the StephySite Poll!

As always, thanks for stopping by to read!

Questions, Answers, and Congratulations

I'm going to start this blog off with my quick whiny rants. Skip to the next paragraph to avoid my negativity. Why must I sit next to the loudest people in the office? If you thought I was potentially the loudest person you knew (ahem, Christine), you haven't had the joy of sitting near the people I have the tremendous task of enjoying...loud drink sipping, loud belching, loud mouth-slap chewing, and ridiculously loud speaking volume. Not all of them are loud, not all of them have these annoying traits, but when my patience is thin, I can't bear the annoyances of others (like loud sipping).

Okay, I got that out of my system, and I feel a lot better already. The only reason I'm even really writing today is to update everyone on some of the questions I've been getting a lot of lately.

When is your due date?

I don't know. I have a range of given dates between November 29 to December 8. I think when it comes time for the baby poll, it should be fun to see what people think will happen.

What baby poll are you talking about?

Chris and I are going to have a 50-50 Baby Poll (50% of proceeds go towards the baby, gambling is illegal, but I will donate 50% of the proceeds to the "winner"). Each person is to guess the baby's gender, the due date, and lastly the weight. Only those who guessed the correct gender can win. The winner is the person who is closest to the actual birth date (with correct gender). Weight is tie breaker (closest to weight). I've not set this up yet, so stay tuned! Also, think of ways to spend the money for baby (college, savings account, diapers, toys, sheep, shoes for mom, or whatever).

Are you having a baby shower?

Yes, the date is October 9. If you want to come please let me know (with address (by email)).

Where are you registered?

Uh, yea, I still have to do that.

And you still think you want cloth diapers?

Yes, why, what are you saying?

Have you gotten anything done on the nursery?

I cleaned it out, though, the mattress doesn't fit down the stair well, so it's propped up along the wall, and probably will be for some time. We're leaving it painted yellow. Otherwise, no nesting has been incorporated into my lifestyle.

How's that quilt coming along for baby?

Okay, stop picking on me for being so lazy and lacking motivation. For your reference, I have ironed fusible backing to THREE of the shirts. That's more than you thought I bet!

When is Eva due? [note: NOT "What does Eva do?" - that was an awkward moment for me]

Eva is due at the end of January. Her shower is November 13, if you want to come, please let me know, I'll run it by her of course first to make sure you aren't her mortal enemy.

Okay, do either of you couples have names picked out?

Maybe, but would we share them yet?

Anyway, thanks for your time, thanks for your concerns; I really do appreciate everyone.

A quick congrats to Andrea, Aaron and Rudy for the newest addition to the family, Veronon. Congrats to Crystal and Mark, the newlyweds!

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.

Fingerprints Don't Fade

Eva and I took some time out today to go see the movie Remember Me. I cried through several parts of the movie and silently thanked the movie dearly for comic relief. But all in all, it was a decent movie whose premise is sad and true. It mostly deals with death, love, lack of understanding, and the effect that one person can have on others' lives. The movie even begins with the Gandhi quote "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it". For those of you intending to watch the movie, I won't elaborate, though I will provide you with a couple quotes from the movie...

Caroline asked me if I knew what I'd say if I knew you could hear me. I told her I know: I love you. God, I miss you. And I forgive you.-Tyler

If you could hear me, I would say that our finger prints don't fade from the lives we've touched. -Tyler

I guess I wanted to write about seeing the movie so I could emphasize something. The things we do, good and bad, they do leave fingerprints on someone else. We may not know it, but we may be the one thing that keeps someone smiling. We might also be the one thing that torments someone else, so maybe try not to be that person. We can't live worrying/working/stressing/being depressed every day. If you feel the need to compliment someone...forget social boundaries that might make you feel awkward...say something, it may be the only compliment that person receives. People are mean, but don't be bothered by them, not everyone will be mean to you, they just don't "get" you. Life really is short and we never know what tomorrow holds...make the most of the little things, the one's you love, and the one's that love you in return.

Now, go on and take a few seconds to list a few of the small things that get you by...

• Snuggling with the dogs


• Knowing that you can talk to some one who does not hear you, and knowing that really, they do


• My shorter curly blond hair that goes where ever it wants when the humidity is high, no matter how much I hate it, I smile in the mirror


• Incessant giggling that can't be stopped which incurs more giggling


• The stuffed animal carcasses laying about the house...each with its own place so that cleaning is endless with carcasses ending up back where you removed them from


• Always having a book on standby...never want to be left without reading material


• Saying the perfect thing at the perfect time that gives you the confidence/pride tingle up the spine


• Being able to relate to someone, for the simple matter of letting him know he is not alone


• Finishing a project


• Marking things off a list


• My notebooks
• 
  
• The Notebook of Potter-Arbogast transcripts


• Four leafed clovers


• History


• Battery chargers

I Rant About Chinese Products Yet Again

One could easily say that yesterday I was on a tirade. It all started because I needed to wrap Eva's birthday present, the Tim Burton book I bought her while at the MoMA.

I could have simply used Christmas paper that I have at home, but the dilemma is two-fold. One problem is that I feel those who celebrate their birthdays so close to Christmas get jipped in a sense. They get cheated on gifts and most of the cheated gifts are wrapped in Christmas paper. I don't want to be one of those people; the one's who cheat others. I admit fully that I love to give people gifts. I love to make others happy be it with small gifts, large gifts, or simple compliments. So, as one might see, there was no way I was wrapping a birthday gift I was so excited about in Christmas paper!

The second problem with Christmas paper is that I prefer to save every sliver so that it may be used to wrap something next season. I don't want to waste it is what I'm saying.

So now I had the dilemma of how to wrap the gift. Simple I thought, get a handkerchief and wrap it in that. Well, that would have been nice if every handkerchief in the freaking US were not made in freaking CHINA! Scarves, head wraps, socks, and underwear...everything made in China.

So to end my tirade, I'll tell you that I chose not to wrap the book. I refrained from bitching too much about it, and yet here I am a whole day later still stewing!

One might ask, "what do you do now Steph?", and to that I have an answer! Go to furoshiki, they tell you where the wraps are made!

No No, The Other Chicago!

She told me three or four times about how she went with Mama Skweak, Becky, and Skweak to see Chicago (the musical) at the Fox Theater. She wasn't doing it as if to "rub it in" that she got to go, she was merely excited at having had the opportunity. She really enjoyed herself.

This time though she told the story as if confused and irritated that she had to reiterate that she had gone. It came up because she was mentioning something or other about seeing Chicago. My first thoughts were of sadness of being replaced. I had for a moment thought that she found cooler people to hang out with; people that liked Chicago. My second thoughts were that of not really liking Chicago. My next thoughts were that Eva didn't like Chicago either, why would she be doing that? So I had to ask, "You went to see Chicago"? She shot a crooked glance at me. One of those unsure glances; "is she loosing her mind?" type glances. As she retold the story it all came back, "OH, THAT Chicago, thank god, I thought you were talking about the band"!

All's good now!

A Not-So-Funny Cat Pee Story

There are those that like cats and those that do not. I fall into a category very close to "hater". Cats are mean, they are vindictive, they care only of themselves; they are in fact much like myself. I imagine this to be the start of our inharmonious relationship! Despite my deep feeling of angst for the creatures that try to suck human's breath out at night, I associate with the "cat lovers" because they are at least animal people. One of these said "cat lovers" is my former blog crush Justin. In his Two Week notice blog post he shared a picture of his cats...



His commentary about cat pee along with this picture made me think of a story about cats and the work required to move them. The important lessons are thus:

-Cats should be moved in carriers

-Cats freak out to everything

-Cats really are mean

-Cat pee stings in fresh wounds

Here is the story...

Eva and I were about 17; old enough to drive, old enough to know better, young enough to still try stupid things! She was moving to a new house, I had offered to help her since it was hard to not help her considering our attachment at the hips!

We were transporting many of her belongings in her old red Ford Escort that had this tricky fuel switch. You see, after the whole Ford Pinto incident of the 70's, Ford installed fuel switches in all Fords whose tanks could be rear ended causing a massive explosion. Eva's car was special. Not only did her car have the switch, but every time we hit a road bump or pot hole hard enough, the fuel was switched off! So imagine if you will, cruising down pot holed Benton Avenue (in Granite City), to fall into one of the holes and then have the car simply stop! No fuel! So Eva would have to get out of the car, go to the back, do some magic (for I honestly have no idea what she had to do in order to get the switch back on), and then off we go again to the next pot hole!

After several moves of the belongings we came to the final items to be transported, the cats. Linus and Azzy were a couple of nutty cats to begin with. I didn't hate them, I in fact thought they were all right for cats. Everything changed after the big move.

We didn't have carriers. This is a huge part of the story. We did not have pet carriers!! We just put the cats in the car, to roam free, to kill me! Eva starts the car and pulls away; Azzy, hides inside the dashboard. I kid you not, the cat found a crevice for which she could squeeze and then she was inside the dashboard. I would have tried to sooth her but Linus was literally bouncing off every surface. I couldn't understand what was happening. Eva, seeing the error of her ways, drove faster to get this nightmare over with as soon as possible. Linus was everywhere, all at once; back-and-forth, side-to-side, demolishing everything in his path. It was then we hit a pot hole. I don't know if this is when I was nearly clawed to death or if it had already occurred but while Eva was magically repairing the car, Linus and I were fighting to the death.

The details are fuzzy, but somewhere in between being clawed nearly to death, Eva repairing the car, and finally arriving at the new place, Linus returned to his chaotic to-and-fro frenzy while leaking urine. Cat pee was everywhere! All over the windows, all over the car, all over me.

As time moves on I may forget some of the details, I may forget Linus' name, but I do not think I will ever forget the way cat pee stings in fresh cat scratches!


The word...
adorkable: Both dorky and adorable. A higher state of being all dorks strive towards. [I like to think I have reached this state]

Happy Anniv. Eva and Jami

September 30. Today be Eva and Jami's anniversary. So just a little shout out to two people who will never read this! Happy A. dudes!

I should tell you a little bit about Eva and Jami. Eva is my bestest friend in the whole wide world. No one can replace her. She and I share a brain. Go on, get the laughter out of the way so I can continue! I'll give you a moment before I explain... [moment]

I am left brained, she is right brained. Together we make a complete brain. In fact I am far more right brained than most lefties as she is far more left brained than most righties simply because we share a brain! We call each other at exact moments [in fact there are times that we will each pick up the phone to make the call and there are no rings because at the exact moment one of us dials, the other picks up]. If you have ever seen us together you may wonder what mystical force has taken us over and has made us giddy. I think it can be frightening for some people.

Perhaps we are like this because I spent most of my life with Eva and her family. I hate to say "most", but pretty much every weekend I was allowed, and through most of the summer vacation, I was at Eva's. All of her family vacations became my family vacations. She is really good people too. Just really good! I met Eva when I was five, and we've been around together since. [The story of how me and Eva became friends is another story for another time, remind me though, it's lovely]

Then she met Jami. He stole her from me, but I guess it was bound to happen. I like Jami all right. We fight a lot. It's good though, because I like to argue and throw tantrums; he lets me, and then all is good. Also, he shares candy with me. Interestingly enough, he had an accident at work on Monday that tore the tip of a finger off...so now, we are even more alike! We both have stubby fingers! [The story of how I smashed my finger tip off is another story for another time, remind me though, it's lovely]

So anyway, today, a few years ago [4?] Eva and Jami got hitched. And that's my story!

Quotes, Stories, and Other Things

Some quotes and stories, perhaps for your amusement!

• "Well, if you take that away, it's gone"-nameless engineer
  [Really?]

• Person 1: "...decontam?"
  Person 2: "Deacon Dam? What's this?"
  Person 1: "No no, DEE-CON-TAM..."
  Person 1: "Hmm, Deacon Dam, I don't know where this is."

• One fine summer day, Eva and I ate lunch at a place called Johnny Rocket's [or something of the sort], where they have really cool jukeboxes sitting on every table. Place a nickel in and choose a lovely 50's-60's genre tune with lunch!
  
  As it always goes with the two of us together, a small child was drawn to our power. [It happens often that children are drawn to staring at us, creeping over seats or under tables to look closer, have a chat, or even steal some food. We've grown accustomed to this behavior, so this incident here was no big deal]. A small boy, maybe 3-4 years old decided he wanted to play music. Of all the tables in the diner, empty or not, the boy chose to venture towards us with his nickel. He braced himself against our table doing a slight heaving motion to reach the box. He was literally hovering over our food and drinks struggling with all his might to get to play a song. His mother finally notices and gathers him up with much effort. He was determined to play a song, and not on any jukebox, our jukebox! I do not recall if he ever got to play a tune!

• Eva and I were eating dinner at a lovely place called Noodles & Co. one fine afternoon before catching the English Beat show. As we are minding our own business having a conversation Eva notices a small child creeping ever closer to us. We both began doing the side glances by the time he was sitting next to us staring. I turned to say hello to find the boy, Damien, very chatty. It didn't take any time to jump onto the "oddity" boat by asking me, "why is your head so small?", to which I could only laugh and cry a little!

• "..For the rest of us who generally live vicariously through the interactions of our 72 dpi avatars..." -@FrankieP

• "Gramma was hot....but that baby...uh, well not so much" -Amanda

• ...the past few years I had to tone down because of sexual harassment issues, but I used to be the kind of guy that would flirt with every female I worked with except for one. One day she called me on it and said that she'd use the excuse 'not my type' except usually 'not my type' means I think the husband looks like the kind of guy that would shoot a naked guy in the back if he saw him running away..." -anon

• "Yesterday we were talking about MPR calculations for a person taking a drug therapy. Basically its to measure a person’s adherence to their medication. Well the calculation is a rolling calc and is constantly moving.
  
  So we were talking about the Depression Medication Adherence and how the calculation is always moving. So Bobby is trying to explain how “the window for it is always moving”; Pete looks at me and says “that’s so they can’t jump out of it!”...-anon
  

• In reference to my loading diagram plans..."your work is pretty, but it tells me absolutely nothing" -Jim [thanks buddy, gave me a good laugh]

• A doodle...

--------
word...
Dirty Third: A synonym for the Dirty South; derived from the terms "Dirty South" and "Third Coast".

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.

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.

The Surreal Week Is Finally Over

Friday night I had the pleasure of spending my evening with my good friend Mike. He made me dinner (tomato sauce with pasta and garlic bread per my request); and then we watched TV (some cooking shows, drinky crow, others). I also finally got to pick up my birthday present from him which is a certificate to a demo cooking show at Kitchen Conservatory.

I thank him dearly because he really went out of his way for me, and he had to deal with me in a mood he probably had not anticipated. So thanks.

Saturday night I had the pleasure of celebrating two very belated birthdays (Sharline and Eva) and one less belated birthday (James). It was hot outside, but fun none the less. I hope everyone, especially Sharline, enjoyed the evening!

Later that evening I spent some time online talking to James and going over some social media stuff, which was fun! So thanks for that James!

Sunday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Eva going to the Loop, eating at the Noodle Co., shopping around odd stores, buying a crazy CD and picking up some random gifts. We also went to Whole Foods for the first time, and that store is A-MA-ZING! I loved it!

So here it is, Sunday night, and I'm just happy the last week is over. Deaths: Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Sky Saxon, Bob Bogle, Billy Mays, beloved pooch Queens, and my Zune. I had my first real concussion (caused by my own stupidity). I purchased maps for the TomTom, UK and Ireland, so that I may geocach and find my way around! I sewed patches on my travel bag.

I see that my friend Shane has gone to Donegal for trip, I hope he has fun. Perhaps one day, when I can get around to it, we'll get to talk. I'll be sure to keep him in my prayers/thoughts.

I should head to bed now, so I'll speak/write again tomorrow. Here's to not texting when we shouldn't!

I would love to have this: Drinky Crow

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I wrote here if you are signed up to read: My Private Blog. It's a blog I started that is about me and all the madness that happens in my head.

I read these books: Bloodsucking Fiends, A Love Story; Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible; Broken.

I read these blogs: kottke.org, Barbaric Gulp, Heavy Backpack, and my newest fave-I Did Not Know That Yesterday!

Things related to people: Bella learned to poo and jog at the same time; Riley was coaxed to poo by telling him "it's okay, everyone poops"; I missed my Cousin Betsy's party so to her I say "Congratulations!"; I love Tim Armstrong; hang in there Mike C. and Holly; Eva and I are talking about getting tattoos, nice idea, we'll see if it happens soon; I got Bernie's CD in the mail last week, it's great, check it out!

Other things I did: went to a food cooking demo class; bought a trifle bowl, new patches, and insulated bag; lounged, jogged, biked, rode roller coasters, played in a water park, and walked a lot; ate ice cream and cookies and ate too much food in general; got annoyed, got some sleep, had insomnia, got worn out; took some pictures; picked some berries; went to see Rancid (oh how I love Tim Armstrong). I'm sure there's more!

I'm happy to say that True Blood is back on HBO. I could just eat up that vampire Bill!

Words you missed:
trade junk: to have casual sex
remasculate: To grow one's balls back after they have been shrunken by an especially effeminate activity. The opposite of emasculate.
gradumacate: To successfully complete four years of edumacation with passing grades, capped off by attending gradumacation.
e-haircut: A change in a person's online identity. Also called an "i-haircut".
shark:To engage in overt attempts at procuring a partner of the opposite sex. You can accuse someone of sharking by putting your upright, straight hand up to and at right angles to your nose and forehead, and weaving your head from side to side as if you were a shark in the murky depths.
chesticles: Female breasts.
work hot: A person who may or may not be hot, but is the most attractive person in the set of people you work with so you lust after him/her. [Ed. note: There is always someone to lust, isn't there?!]

Today's Word:
herm:A hermaphrodite.

You Can Call Me Anytime Baby

Interesting cake for Eva's group of people. Yes, they might be giant ... oh wait, I meant to say, they might be facetious!

Saw an article in an architecture magazine called Architectural Record that I think Mike C. would really appreciate reading. It's about this very cool looking building, Barcelona's Gas Natural headquarters building. It has a huge cantilever! What is a cantilever you ask? It is the
suspended end of a building, beam, etc. The "part that hangs off the edge". Here
are some images of the building . . .

Photos from Gas Natural Website

I hate to go into a tirade about cantilevers, mostly because engineers already get made fun of because we worry about the size of one's cantilever (ha, wink wink nudge nudge baby)! But more important to the reader; I don't imagine you would have any idea what I was talking about, then you'd get bored, and then you'd never read my blogs! But, if you should ever find the need to talk some serious talk about the size of one's member, er, cantilever member, well you can call me anytime baby!

Now, on with the word of the day-
limousine liberal: Wealthy person who adopts the cause of the downtrodden; carries a connotation of hypocrisy.