ABC June 30, 2009

I stole this one from TheAngelForever.  Feel free to join in!

A – An advantage you have – Job security, at least to an extent.

B – Blue or brown eyes – Blue

C – Chore you hate – cleaning the bathroom.  And the kitchen.  And the rest of the house.

D – Dad’s name – Larry (not the cable guy or the crash-test dummy)

E – Essential start of your day – shower and get ready for work

F – Favorite color – Red

G – Greatest thing you’ve ever done that made you feel really good – working with Mike to run the American Cancer Society benefit each year.  It will never get old or be a chore.

H – Habit you have – glossing over important issues because I don’t want to deal with them.

I – Issue you hate that the world tries to make you pursue – Religion (I’m right there with ya, TheAngelForever!)

J – Job title – On paper?  Sales.  In reality?  Jack of all trades, babysitter, crisis management coordinator, and voice of reason.  (It was a long day at work today)

K – Kohls or Target – Target.  Wish there was one a little closer to us.

L – Living arrangements – Mike and I, two cats, and a baby on the way

M – Music you like – Just about anything, depending on my mood.

N – Nicknames – Don’t really have any. 

O – Overnight hospital stay – Tonsilectomy at age 7, Appendectomy in 2003

P – Pet Peeve – right now it’s people that tell me everything that went wrong during their childbirth experiences

Q – Quote that you like most –  “People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little”—Jean Jacques Rousseau

R – Right or left handed – Right handed

S – Siblings – A baby brother.  He’ll be 30 in August, so I guess he’s not much of a baby anymore.

T – Time you wake up – I sleep in as much as I can now that I’m pregnant—I don’t get up until 6:15 during the week.  Usually 7:00 on weekends.

U – Underwear – Yes, please.

V – Vegetable you dislike – I think I like them all.  Is that weird?

W – What makes you run late – Traffic is the only thing I can think of.  It’s more likely that I’m early for something rather than late.

X – X-rays you’ve had – Teeth, foot, ankles, collarbone

Y – Yummy food you make – If “make” means “dial the phone and have delivered”, the possibilities are endless!

Z – Zoo animal – I love the giraffes!  And the reptile house is always interesting.

Breakdown June 26, 2009

Baby, breakdown, go ahead give it to me

Breakdown, honey take me through the night

Breakdown, I’m standing here, can you see?

Breakdown, it’s all right

It’s all right

It’s all right

Just about every time I see or hear the word “breakdown”, I think of Tom Petty. And I like Petty, so it’s all good.

Except for 4:30 this morning, when I had my first pregnancy breakdown. Hours later, in the light of day, it seems trivial and, well, petty (pun TOTALLY intended). But in the darkness of night, an hour before dawn was ready to break, I fell apart.

I went to sleep at 10:30 last night, dutifully on my left side, sharing my king-size pillow with a sprawling 10lb Guinness, as comfortable as one can be nine and a half weeks away (Or less. Or more.) from giving birth. Even though we were in the midst of a pretty bad thunderstorm, I was tired. We had spent half an hour at our local Wal*Mart that evening, 29 minutes more than was really necessary, and if any place in the world can drain the life energy out of me, Wal*Mart can.

I don’t sleep as well, or as deeply, or as long, as I used to. My days of being able to pass out for hours with lights blazing, TV or music blaring, and in uncomfortable positions seem to be over. And I’m OK with that. In theory, at least. So when I woke up at midnight or so and talked to Mike (who was still awake, in the dark, watching a very muted TV), it took me a little while to get back into a deep sleep. And when I woke up at 1:30 because a certain cat’s paw was too close for comfort to my eye socket, it took me a little while longer. And when I woke up at 3:00 for seemingly no reason at all, I couldn’t fall back asleep. Mike was snoring, although not loudly, but it was all I could concentrate on. After a few pokes to his rib cage that he failed to acknowledge, I grabbed my body pillow and water bottle and headed downstairs to the couch. A common enough scenario for me anymore, and usually I can fall back asleep at least for a little while.

I got myself comfortable on the cold (ahhhhh) leather of the couch in the family room, closed my eyes, and waited for blissful rest to come my way. Seconds later, I heard the tell-tale thump of Forrest knocking something off of the island in the kitchen. I squeezed my eyes a little tighter and tried to will myself to sleep. A few minutes passed, and I heard him in the dining room, playing with the glasses that hang from our wine rack. I got up, turned the lights on, grabbed him off the wine rack, tapped him on the nose, called him a bad cat, turned the lights off, and laid back down.

Five minutes later, he was at it again. In a loud whisper, I said “Forrest!”, and he stopped. He got back up on the counter, and used the weight of his body to push my purse off onto the hardwood floor. No small feet for a scrawny one year old cat.

Not getting a reaction out of me, he walked into the family room, got on the coffee table, knocked my phone (which I had the alarm set on) off onto the floor and played hockey with it across the hardwood and into the kitchen. Of course, I was lying there wondering where he would hide it and imagining that I would miraculously fall asleep and then be late for work.

I once again grabbed my body pillow and water bottle, retrieved my phone, and, as Forrest trounced back upstairs, I shut myself into the room that is supposed to be our formal living room but is more of a den. The room is dark red, the blinds were shut, and only a little light was coming through the windows of the French doors. I laid down on the couch, settled in, and maybe even fell asleep for 5 or 10 minutes. Until Forrest figured out that the only thing separating him from me were those doors. He, at first, gently pushed at the doors, making them rattle. His pushing increased until he was throwing his little cat shoulder into the doors, trying to use his body weight to push them open. He’s very persistent.

I packed up my stuff and went upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms, and although he didn’t follow me, I couldn’t get comfortable on that bed. And I was cranky by that point, which makes getting comfortable a teensy bit harder. So I moved to the other spare room, shut the door, swept the mess of clothes off the bed, and threw myself down. It was 4:30.

The first time I heard Forrest in the hallway outside the room, the tears started. I knew there was no chance now that I would fall back asleep. Within seconds I was sobbing uncontrollably. I knew I had an intense day at work ahead of me, and knew that I would have trouble being “on” for nine straight hours after such a restless night.

I cried until my eyes were swollen and the tears eventually dried up.

All the while, I could hear Forrest pacing in the hallway, trying to figure out how to get to me. I felt like I was in the movie Jaws, in a cage in the ocean, a shark swimming laps around me, smelling blood, anxious to make his move.

Having exhausted the options of the two couches and two spare beds, I gave up and went back to our bedroom, climbed into bed, laid my head down on the edge of my king-size pillow that Guinness allowed me to have, and closed my eyes. The tears started anew, not racking sobs this time, but enough to wake my (still snoring!) husband, who talked to me, hugged me, and calmed me down. Forrest, meanwhile, leapt onto the dresser, weaseled his way through the curtains, and rattled the blinds when he stuck his head through them so that he could look out the window.

The sun was up. I fell asleep around 6:00, and my alarm went off at 6:15. Time to get up.

I showered, forced my contacts into my swollen red eyes, got myself ready for work, and stopped for a second on my way out the door to pet Forrest, who was passed out cold on the couch. As annoyed as I was with him, I still love him. But couldn’t resist a small poke to stir him awake.

Sure, I’m still tired, and my eyes are still puffy with dark circles underneath, but I got through the day by thinking that at least I could go home after work and lay down for an hour or two. And the baby was really active today, so my mood improved with each movement, each kick, each scrape of an arm or leg as he or she flipped and turned.

Breakdown, it’s all right

It’s all right

It’s all right

Good night.

Crazy weekend! June 9, 2009

JLo’s bachelorette party was this past Friday and her bridal shower was on Sunday.  Add a baby shower on Saturday, and we had quite a weekend!

JLo’s bachelorette party was a lot of fun.  It was great to see her having such a good time with all of her friends, and although there was a lot of beer and shots involved, nothing got out of hand and JLo was barely even hungover the next day. 

She was quite a sport with all of the traditional bachelorette party garb.

And she had a good time dancing!

I will admit that being the sober pregnant one at a bachelorette party was a new experience for me, but I had such a great time!

The bridal shower was also a lot of fun.  JLo got a lot of really nice gifts and it made me realize that her wedding is just 2 short months away.  Time is just flying by!

Babymoon May 26, 2009

It all started innocently enough. About 6 weeks ago, I said to Mike that I wanted to go away over Memorial Day weekend, one last trip somewhere by ourselves before the arrival of Baby L. I proposed New York City , and Mike’s immediate comeback was “Why don’t we go to Vegas?”

Why not, indeed?

So we used our frequent flier miles to get free flights (well, relatively free—there was a $30 service charge for each). Mike called around to a few different hotels and came across one that would comp us the 3 nights— New York New York . Free flight, free hotel. Who could resist?

Certainly not us! (And in a twisted sort of way, I got my trip to New York!)

If I was a complainer (which I’m trying hard not to be), we kind of got what we paid for. On the flight out, we had the pleasure of sitting directly behind 2 drunk jerks, one of whom was the Ultimate Loud Talker. I could hear every word he said despite my ears being clogged from the change in altitude AND wearing earplugs. Because our flight was delayed, US Airways was stupid considerate enough to offer a complimentary alcoholic beverage to everyone on the plane to make up for the inconvenience. Brilliant idea . . .half our flight went to the bar as soon as the delay was posted. Now that we’re finally on the plane, let’s get everyone even drunker! And then, despite having to be asked to be quiet by the flight attendant because of his drunken Loud Talking, the dude bought 3 more during the flight. Is it not possible for him to be cut off? I guess every $7 is so important to US Airways that it doesn’t matter that the rest of the passengers are irritated. Our flight back was quiet, but very very bumpy. The seatbelt sign was on almost the entire flight and at some points the turbulence was so severe that your butt actually lifted off the seat and then slammed back down despite the seatbelt. The Bishop of the Pittsburgh Diocese was on our flight, so I think that made us all feel a little safer.

And the room? Ehh. The hotels we stayed at before had much nicer rooms—bigger and with extravagant bathrooms. This one wasn’t much more than your ordinary Holiday Inn in Anytown , USA . But it was clean, and we were barely there anyhow, so it wasn’t a big deal. Plus, we were on the 22^nd floor with a view of one of the higher spots on the roller coaster, so it was entertaining to be able to just sit there and watch.

But despite the little quirks, we had an incredible time. We went into this trip knowing that it’s going to be our last one, at least for quite some time, so we had a game plan of the things we wanted to do while we were there. Some highlights of the trip:

Staying up until after 2AM (Vegas time) our first night there and then only getting 3 ½ hours of sleep before being wide awake and ready to start the day. For once, pregnancy insomnia did me a favor.

The bed was really firm (but not uncomfortable) and sleeping on it totally got rid of my ligament pain, which was key to me being able to walk around the whole time we were there. I’m cured!

Going to bed the first night after hours of gambling and only being down $5. Mike was up $50. Good feeling.

Heading downtown on Saturday morning before Fremont Street was really busy . . .wandering in and out of casinos, people-watching, and playing 3 card poker and roulette.

Checking out casinos on the strip that I haven’t been in before—Stratosphere and Circus Circus. I’ve now officially set foot in every single casino that’s on the strip.

Going back to the Riviera . . .

Mike stayed there for work 3 years ago and I went out for a long weekend. I woke up at 4AM the first morning really thirsty and we wandered downstairs to find somewhere to buy bottles of water. We went into this ABC store.

Bottles of water were $2.50, 24oz cans of beer were $2. Our rationale was that beer is mostly water, so we each grabbed one (and then another and then another) and sat at these Wheel of Fortune machines

until 10AM or so (winning money!), when Mike had to go over to the convention center for work and I went to the spa (which wasn’t very spa-ish, but I got the best neck and back massage EVER there). We both reeked of beer and were very very tired by the time we met up again at the pool that afternoon. That morning with Mike is one of my favorite Vegas memories.

Dinner at Chin Chin. Possibly better than PF Chang’s. We left there stuffed—I went upstairs and took a nap while Mike played Pai Gow Poker. I met up with him downstairs an hour later and we walked around for awhile (to MGM Grand and the Tropicana), but it ended up being a fairly early night, relatively speaking.

Going to the Hard Rock on Sunday and watching all of the “young kids” line up for Rehab.

Playing roulette at the Hard Rock with a famous (well, at least “reality show famous”) person–Evil Dick, the winner from Big Brother 8. We didn’t give him the time of day as he threw around his $100 chips and he left the table disgruntled that we didn’t fawn all over him. He’s as skeevy in person as he was on the show.

Going back to Planet Hollywood, which was our “home base” for a lot of our Vegas trips. We loved it as the Aladdin, and love it even more as Planet Hollywood.

Mike seeing Chuck Liddell (in real life, but we only got a picture of a cardboard cutout of him).

Lunch at Earl of Sandwich (although they really need to bring back the Ultimate Grilled Cheese).

Wandering up and down the strip to Bill’s, O’Shea’s, Casino Royale, Imperial Palace , Harrah’s, the Venetian, and the Flamingo, and ending up back at Planet Hollywood for the Spice Market Buffet. Mike had been looking forward to the crab legs for weeks. We got our money’s worth there.

Seeing a random Elvis.

Playing some kind of Noah’s Ark slot machine at O’Shea’s that just wouldn’t stop giving me money. And then playing a game with wolves on it that gave me even more. And all the while, being entertained by the people playing beer pong in the back of the casino.

Walking back to New York New York and stopping along the way to make our first clothing purchase for the baby.

Buying a couple more outfits before we left on Monday.

And Mike couldn’t resist a musical Vegas snow globe for the baby’s room. It plays “Luck Be a Lady”. It never occurred to either of us that you can’t take a snow globe in a carryon bag (duh), so that made for quite an adventure in the security line.

Taking my weekly belly picture in front of Nine Fine Irishmen before lunch.

26 weeks

Traditional Guinness at Nine Fine Irishmen. Mike had two to make up for me not being able to have one.

All of a sudden, it was time for us to go home. We got in a cab and headed to the airport, looking back at the strip.

Our gate at the airport faced the strip, and we had a view of the hotel where our baby was conceived (I know . . .TMI for some of you), thinking about how our lives are going to change (for the better!) in just a few short months.

It was a bittersweet trip . . .knowing that it was our last vacation anywhere before the little one arrives. But every time we got sad about having to head back home to reality, we thought of the baby and knew that our biggest adventure is yet to come. And we couldn’t be happier.

Nothing beats a Saturday nap May 20, 2009

Quick catch-up May 19, 2009

know, I know. I’m a horrible blogger. I know with some people, the more that happens in their life, the more they blog. Me, well, not so much.

My father-in-law is doing extremely well. He went back to work part-time, which I consider an amazing feat, since his work is a few hours from here and he has an apartment there where he stays during the week. He does have to go back in a few weeks for more surgery—to have his other thyroid removed. He’ll only be in the hospital overnight this time, and in comparison to everything else he’s had done, this one should be a piece of cake.

Mike and I have spent the last few weekends concentrating on getting stuff done around the house. We got all of the blinds dusted (and we have a million windows, so that was quite a chore), washed all of the windows (a million of them, remember?), put the deck furniture together that had been sitting in cardboard boxes in the never-ending rain for 3 weeks, cleaned out the room that is going to be the nursery, put the crib together, and all kinds of other things. I was really pushing to get some of the bigger projects done now since we have stuff going on every weekend between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. The upcoming weeks include a long weekend in Vegas (yay!), all kinds of running around for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower, the shower and bachelorette party, two baby showers for me—one hosted by my wonderful sisters-in-law here in Pittsburgh and one in the middle of the state that two of my good friends are organizing, Bob’s surgery, my nephew’s birthday, our hospital visit and baby care class, plus the normal work weeks and regular errands and doctors appointments. Oh, and all of the bigger home projects that we haven’t gotten to yet—our garage and basement are a DISASTER!. And somewhere in the midst of all of this, I agreed to host our neighborhood bunco league at our house this month. I’m thinking that I’ll be ready to pass out by the time the Fourth of July weekend gets here.

But I love being busy—I feel so much more organized when I have my to-do list all mapped out and I feel a really dorky sense of accomplishment when I can cross something off and move on to the next thing. Mike has been such a trooper throughout my never-ending demands. I’ve constantly had him lifting, moving, helping, cleaning, and putting stuff together. He’s been great with cooking and planning meals, helping with the laundry, and even giving up his body pillow so that I can sleep more comfortably at night. I know there have been times where I’ve been irritable and snapped at him, and he just goes with the flow. Pregnancy is a powerful, powerful thing!

The Big “C”. Again. April 13, 2009

My father-in-law had surgery on Friday to have his voicebox and part of his thyroid removed.  We found out just a few weeks ago that he had cancer, and although the prognosis is good and it seemed to be concentrated around his voicebox, it still rocked our world.

Mike and I have heard the “C” word more times than we ever imagined.  It took our mothers, our grandfathers, was instrumental in my grandmother’s death, whisked away my best friend’s father, and just last year stole my aunt.  I could go on and on.   As stupid as it sounds, this is our most positive experience with cancer yet.

Two Fridays ago, Bob underwent about 3 hours of surgery.  Because of an infection in his throat, they were unable to do the total laryngectomy, and instead they did some further biopsies and installed a trach tube.  He went back in this past Friday and had the full laryngectomy.  Eight hours of surgery later, he was taken to his room for the night.  When we went to see him on Saturday, he was able to walk around—not just a few steps.  A trek down the hall to the end of his unit and back, and then on into the main part of the hospital.  I was stunned.  For the five or so hours I was there on Saturday, he was sitting upright in a chair, watching TV, and didn’t even take a nap.  He even was using his white board to communicate with us—not just when he needed something, but to crack jokes and make funny comments. 

He’s cut in a U-shape from one ear, down to the base of his neck, and up to the other ear.  There are 2 sets of drainage tubes on each side of his neck, an IV, a feeding tube, and a device over his trach tube to keep it moist.  Despite all of the tubes and wires, the inches of staples holding the incision closed, and the fact that he’s stuck in the hospital for probably what will be the better part, if not all, of this week, his spirits are good and his color is the best I’ve seen in weeks.

I hesitate to write that he’s “out of the woods” for good.  He’s underweight—my guess is maybe 140 or 145 lbs on a 6’2” frame.  He needs to gain weight, get stronger.  Although the surgeon seems to think that he got the entire tumor, Bob will probably have to undergo chemo and/or radiation later on, just to make sure.  He’ll have to learn to talk again, to swallow, to eat.  Things we take for granted and do without thinking.  There will be hours of speech therapy and physical therapy ahead.  But he’s headed in the right direction.  And, wow, is that a good feeling.

Climber April 5, 2009

A lot has been going on lately, not all of it good, but it’s going to take me some time before I can write about everything and do it justice.  In the meantime, take a look at what Forrest has been up to.  And I mean “up” in the most literal sense of the word.

The Secret March 9, 2009

On Saturday, I discovered The Secret.

It rocked my world.  It changed my life.  It allowed me to get through the days without frustration and exasperation.  In peace.

It has nothing to do with the book. 

For The Secret is as simple as the air around us.  Fresh, outside, almost spring air.

The Secret?

When Forrest goes outside for a few minutes, it zonks him out for the rest of the day.

Case in point:

Yes, I know we’re the crazy cat people dragging their feline around on a leash.  I had bought the harness and leash last fall, thinking it would calm Forrest down a little if he could go out and run around for awhile.  It was a little too heavy for him back then, and he was more interested in playing with the leash than he was in going outside.

Now that he’s grown a little a lot, I figured it was time to try again.  He loved it.  Although he was a little hesitant at first, he quickly realized that he was somewhat free and could walk around the deck and backyard.  He had a great time sniffing at things, chewing on grass (what there is of it), and watching birds.  We went out three times over the weekend, and I swear by Sunday night he understood that seeing his leash meant that he got to go outside.  I think he’s part dog.

And when he passed out each time afterwards, it wasn’t his usual 20 minute catnap.  He was out for HOURS!  Mike and I could eat without fighting him for our food, we could watch TV without scremaing at him to leave Guinness alone.  It was heaven.

Now I just need the weather to cooperate so that we can make this a ritual every evening!

Long time, no blog March 7, 2009

Sorry for the absence . . .I just kind of lost my blogging mojo for awhile.  Everything’s fine, my pregnancy is going well, I just haven’t really had anything of note to write about.  And now as I sit here this morning, watching the sun (gasp! the SUN!) break through the clouds, once again the last thing I want to do is sit here on the computer when I could be outside on a long walk.  So I’ll keep this short.

TRAVELIN’ TUNES

I haven’t been too enthusiastic about my music selections over the past few weeks.  I started out with The Best of Radiohead.  I have the limited edition 2 disc CD, so I listened to one disc one week and one the next.  I just wasn’t feeling it, but I plodded on through both weeks.  I was always a big Radiohead fan.  Pablo Honey was a staple in my music rotation in college.  But I’ve barely listened to this “Best of” compilation since it was released less than a year ago.  I can’t figure out if my music tastes have changed over the past –ahem– 15 years, or if I was forcing myself to listen to this when I wasn’t really in the mood for it.

This past week I pulled out Candlebox’s self-titled debut album, another gem from my college years.  I couldn’t even listen to it for the entire week.  I ditched it for the radio on Wednesday.  “Far Behind” was OK the first, and even the second time around, but I just couldn’t bring myself to continue with a whole week of Candlebox.

I think I’ll put a little more thought into my music choice for this week.  Somehow, it seems like I’m . . .maturing.  Who would’ve thought?

In the meantime, I’m going to go outside and play go for a walk and enjoy the warmer weather.