Update from Hospital

Can I count a blog at quarter to 4 am as part of yesterday? Valid reason, we're chillin' in the hospital for now. Updates to follow! NaBloPoMo

Very Short Birthday Post

This is a very short blog post to say Happy Birthday to my mommy.

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).

NaBloPoMo Year Two

Welcome NaBloPoMo!

My goal this month, besides the mediocre task of giving birth, is to blog daily. Even if it's merely a photo, I shall try.

If you are uncertain what NaBloPoMo is, it happens to stand for National Blog Posting Month. Since my blogs are usually just worthless rants and raves that I feel the need to share with everyone, they mean little in terms of daily blogging, but it at least forces me to write daily. As it is therapeutic for me, I feel I should make the effort to write more, and this month, I at least have the excuse.

I'm trying to decide if I should require myself to blog here daily, or if I can combine the daily bloggings between here, BabyBlog, and HOK Life. What do you think?

NaBloPoMo Day 30 Post 30 - You Thought I'd Had Enough Did Ya?

It's here! Today is the last freaking day of my "post-a-day"! I never thought it would get here!

Funny to me, is that I plan on doing it all again next month! Well, sort of...

I was reading on Twitter this morning [Twitter's my new BFF] when a tweet came through from @adampknave about his blog. To cut to the chase, here is an excerpt [though I highly encourage you to read the whole thing here]...

"[...] This holiday season, whatever you celebrate, is a rough one for a lot of us in terms of money and stress. Instead of gifts I propose this:

Take the time to write the people closest to you. Send them an email, or a letter in the mail. Tell them how much they mean to you, and why. Share some history. Remind them of why they’re so close to your heart. Maybe they don’t know, maybe they do, either way a reminder is a magical thing. Thirty of them. [...] That’s it. Think of the effect it can have on the people you love, and frankly, on yourself.

Thirty emails. We can all do it. Join me.

So, Mr. Adam P. Knave, I'm in! I'm going to write! [Except, I might do 31 since there are 31 days in December, but I'm with ya anyway!]

How does this have any effect on you, my only reader? Well, on occasion, I will be sure to share some of these people, the histories, and letters with you.

So stay tuned, and maybe, join in!

Words...
keep steppin':To move on from something bad.
Christmas creep:A phenomenon where the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier each year.
skillets:Closest friends [very fitting for today's topic]
UDI: Acronym for "unidentified drinking injury". Random bruises, aches, and pains one pick up when one is drunk but can't recall exactly how it happened [yea...]

NaBloPoMo Day 29 Post 29 - Playing With Balls

I like to decorate balls. You know, the kind that are glass and hang on Christmas trees! @ironstef came over and we glued, painted, and laughed about some balls. [What else do you think girls do when we get together??]



Here are some of my creations:





And here are my favorites modeled after my babies Riley and Bella...




@ironstef will have to comment here and leave a link or some photos of her finished ornaments!!

NaBloPoMo Day 28 Post 28 - Your Favorite Ornaments

Tomorrow, @ironstef and I will be making ornaments! I recall making these as a child. Sometimes we painted ceramic Santas. Often we made construction paper cut outs. One of the ornaments I recall most (and wonder if it still hangs on mom's tree) is a blue one dad helped us make from a kit. I think we wrapped polystyrene with blue cloth, then applied gold trim and pins to it. It was a favorite of most of the ornaments we had on the tree with the exception of each "first Christmas" ornament.

So this brings me to wonder, of the ornaments that are placed on your tree (if you trim trees that is), what are your favorites and why?

NaBloPoMo Day 27 Post 27 - Decorations

I will not lie to you about my general zest (or often lack thereof) for holidays. There are a few I get terribly excited about, those being Halloween and St. Pat's Day. Many will argue that neither are holidays. Well send those bitches my way and I'll argue. I like to argue assuming the context is neither religious or political. Holidays though, send the bitches my way! Also if the subject is China, I'm in for that argument too. Anyway, back to my point. Normally I am one of those curmudgeons that wander about the store complaining loudly about rude people, about how Christmas time is about greed these days, about annoying shoppers, about carts in my way, about screaming children, about bad parenting of said screaming children. You get the idea...I'm just a curmudgeon!

I wasn't born or reared this way. Both of my parents, religious as they were, taught us to be thankful for what we had. We were taught to be respectful and kind. We also got the religious hoopla as well. I admit to no longer celebrating Christmas and the like as a religious holiday. I do however take this time to celebrate my loved ones; my family and friends that have been kind to me and supportive of me. So I suppose when I walk into a store and see kids wandering aimlessly while their parents are off looking for the best deal on a plasma TV, I get angry. I become irate when I say excuse me and get scowled at for having manners. I become the curmudgeon!

Anyway, I had a point here before I trailed off...my point is that despite my dislike for Christmas hoopla, I do enjoy the traditions that make me recall the days of yore; the Christmas tree with home made ornaments, hand-me-downs, and grade school creations; stockings with our names painted on them; the Christmas candy bowl my father decorated as a child; the reindeer candles I bought my mom from school; even the cheesy sweatshirts! So to begin the day, here are my Christmas socks:


For my family, the traditional day to decorate for Christmas was the day after Thanksgiving when we'd all help put the tree up. So, as this is the traditional day for me, here is my tree...


And as I prefer the home made nostalgic ornaments as opposed to the ornate store bought, here is my craft project to expand my current collection of Steph's home made ornaments along with Grandpa's hand carved ornaments, past gifts, and my collage of hodge-podge sheep and pig ornaments found along the ages!

NaBloPoMo Day 26 Post 26 - Thanksgiving

Hi! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! What did you do? What are you thankful for?

NaBloPoMo Day 25 Post 25 - #Doodle

A doodle for your time!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Word...
skeezy: Used to describe a dubious and dirty or vulgar individual. A combination of "sketchy" and "sleazy". Think in terms of a used car salesman!

NaBloPoMo Day 24 Post 24 - A Test of Your E-Mail System

This is a test and only a test of your broadcasting system, or rather my ability to upload a blog to blogger from my e-mail!  It's very simple from what I can tell, but as things have gone for me lately, I won't hold my breath.  I should though, hold my breath until I go brain dead or something of the sort.  Again, with my luck, I'd live through to be a paralyzed carrot with restless leg syndrome and a brain that runs a million miles a minute.

 

Anyway, with that little rant over with I thought I'd continute my testing by sharing a link and an image.  So here you are:

 

A Link about Owl Tattoos

 

And an image of one of my favorite bull dog friends That One (or as I like to call him, EBD)...by the way, I stole your picture EBD!

 

SO...if neither of those work, well now you know it's because I've been unsuccessful at this, and if they do work, well good, there you have it!

NaBloPoMo Day 24 Post 23 - Engineering

Engineering at it's finest!



The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge. But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.
The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan.
Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day.

The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York to San Francisco . The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead , is 110 miles long and took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936. More photos below .

An extra note: The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior to the drought and development in the Las Vegas area. It is over 100 feet above the current water level.






Word...
Viagrate: to imbue with lasting vigor.


[I have no idea who to thank for this, Crystal sent it to me at work, from before her, I have no idea, but thanks!]

NaBloPoMo Day 23 Post 22 - It's That Kind of Day

Maybe it's the energy in the air. Perhaps it's the three day week. Most likely it's the sugar I've consumed, but I'm beating this day better than any abusive husband can beat his wife despite how it's started out!

For starters Bella, my adorable beastly bully dog got stuck in the compost heap again this morning. So I had to trek outside in the land-mine filled yard half in my work clothes, and half in my pajamas to free her.


Then I had to lug a crap load of belongings into work. I was running late since I had to gather it all up in addition to my time spent saving my beastly bully.

I left the house, got into the car, started the engine, realized that I'd forgot my phone, turned off the engine, went back into the house, locked up again, back to car, you get the idea...could have been worse, but annoying none the less.

I got to work, got onto the elevator, pushed the floor 7 button (lady in elevator with me was going to floor 8). The elevator stops at floor 7, doors do not open, the elevator then goes up to floor 8 and the doors open half way. We both push our way out in a fury worried that at any moment the elevator is going to dramatically drop hundreds of stories just like it does in the movies!

At lunch, I go to get a bag of chips from the vending machine (my blood pressure is low do to an overdose of a medication that I am supposed to cut in half but am too lazy to do thus requiring me to eat something salty (so my excuse goes)). They got stuck in the machine.

We'll just have to see how the rest of my day carries out! If I keep up the sugar intake, nothing will bring me down! Mwahaha!

Some words...
ROAR: Acronym for "right of admission reserved". Typically seen on clubbing/rave tickets, it means that if you're drunk or high, the bouncers will kick your ass out!
ninja skills: Ability to do something without being detected or suspected.

NaBloPoMo Day 22 Post 21 - 10 Questions About You and T-Day

I have very little to say today. So I thought that instead of talking about myself, I would talk about you! Or at least I'm going to ask you some questions about this upcoming holiday.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

If celebrating, what meal (side dish, etc.) will you be making or eating?

What are you most looking forward to?

What are you thankful for?

What is your favorite memory of Thanksgiving?

Do you have a funny story for Thanksgiving (dad throwing the turkey sort of thing)?

Will you be watching any of the big games?

Will you be doing any Black Friday shopping?

If shopping, what for? / If not shopping, why?

Will you be putting up decorations after T-day for any of the upcoming holidays?

NaBloPoMo Day 21 Post 20 - Donations

First of all let me say that I am fully aware that I'm cheating! Instead of doing a post a day for National Blog Post Month, where I've already missed three, I'm "catching up" by posting several over the last few days. Meh, as everything goes with me: I tried, I failed, I now perform a mend to the situation. Hence, a post...

Anyway, if you've read the blog as of rather recently you will know that I'm participating in a 5k. Please feel free to come along with me. Also, I am collecting donations (that can be made online or by mail in check). To check my status you can look in the upper left of this blog or by checking on my fundraiser site!

Thanks!

NaBloPoMo Day 21 Post 19 - Ska Brew

While I still insist that coworker Matt is a traitor and scoundrel for leaving HOK, I still felt compelled to buy my ska buddy some Ska Brewing Company beer. Here's what it looks like...




Other than that I have little to say this morning! Here's a word...
Queen's Boulevard: A major street in Queens that is known to be one of the most dangerous streets to cross in NYC. Queens Boulevard is a major commercial strip for many of the neighborhoods it cuts through, which includes Briarwood, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Elmhust, Woodside, Sunnyside, and Long Island City. Queens Boulevard is quite possibly the widest non highway in NYC. Through much of its stretch, it's a 12 lane multi-median divided street. Queens Boulevard starts off at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens and goes all the way to the Queensboro bridge and to Manhattan.

NaBloPoMo Day 20 Post 18 - Run Away With Me, Please

Really though, read the title, I really want to run away, encourage young people to avoid engineering [at least this field of it] and be a sheep herder or a librarian, or maybe a little [or lot] of each.....

Who's in?????????

_____________________________________________
PS: conversation of the day so far...

Me: So, want to run away with me today...away from the hell that is engineering??? Huh huh huh???

Cohort in Crime Christine: Yes please!!! Anytime . . . anywhere . . . I’m always up for running away.

Me: I want to march over to some universities today and smash kids hopes and dreams of becoming engineers! Crush them!!! Mwahhahaha!! After that we can go wherever!! [Please note the enthusiasm by numbers of exclamation points]

CiCC: Ahh, so it’s EVIL Stephy today . . . love it!

NaBloPoMo Day 20 Post 17 - Run Away With Me

First up to bat......HAPPY BIRFDAY BABY BRUDDA! Twenty-Four, hurts nothing like 30, enjoy it while you can! [Sniff sniff, my widdle baby brudda is growin' up so fast, it seems like just yesterday I was picking him up at school]

Next at the plate, I'm doing this in December, you should join me! Kim Estes is actually the person that asked me to run with her, and I thought it would be very enjoyable [ok ok ok, as enjoyable as running 5k can be]!



And now the third, your word...
turkey drop: This happens when a dating couple try the long-distance relationship thing when they go off to college in September. Typically, when thanksgiving rolls around and everyone goes home for the holiday, someone gets dumped.

NaBloPoMo Day 19 Post 16 - The Extent of My Design Abilities

I was asked to make a poster for the structures group. I was given 10 photos to use. The rest was up to me to make up. This is the extent of my design abilities...sad to say, but at least I got to mark a task off my list!

[click here for large version]

I'm an engineer, not a graphic designer, what more could you expect??

Word...
Kentucky doorbell: To drive up to someone's house or apartment and proceed to honk the horn until they come out rather than exiting the vehicle and going to the door.

P.S. I was asked what the small structure in front of (and inside the circle) was (shown in construction)... after some research I found out that it is a cistern for collecting rainwater. It was designed by another company.