Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sabbatical
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Touching
I got this in my email from a cousin, and it's quite touching.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Busy Busy Busy
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tragedy
On Friday, two news helicopters crashed while covering a police chase. Hubby works for Phoenix PD, so right away he called me to let me know. All we knew is that it was a Channel 3 helicopter and a Channel 15 helicopter. We don't watch channel 15 all that much, but we have strong ties to Channel 3. In fact, the first theme song my son recognized after he was born, was the 'Good Morning Arizona' them song. We watch it every morning, including the segments on the helicopter with Bruce Haffner. That was our first though, oh god, Bruce! But then Bruce came on the air, and we pretty much knew it was Scott Bowerbank. And his photographer was Jim Cox. While Jim didn't get on camera much, his name was always mentioned as the photographer in the helicopter. Watching multiple hours a day, day after day, you get to 'know' the on air personality. It has hit us hard.
The suspect who started the whole thing was caught, and the Phoenix Police Chief said that they will prosecute him for the four deaths.
Then, that same evening, a Phoenix Police Officer was shot and killed by a suspect in a check forgery scam. This hits hard because Hubby works for the Police Department.
Finally, a man was killed while he tried to do an exorcism on his 3 year old granddaughter! Good lord! We made national news with that, and even Geraldo!
We have a lot of good things in our valley, but the last couple of days have been hard on us...
Not that I would...
LG: Guess what Daddy?
Hubby: What?
LG: Yesterday I walked into Bible School all by myself! Mommy sat in the car and made sure I got in ok because she was running late and had Baby L in the car.
Hubby: Really? (With that look at me that said 'Reeeealy')
In my defense, it is only two doors that he has to go to to get into the church. And he is five...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Need an Optician?
Sunday, July 22, 2007
I'm Done... But No Harry Spoiling
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Music
I started in beginner band, and I wanted to play the flute. B A D L Y wanted to play the flute. Why? You may ask. Because the daughter (OK this is where it gets tricky, follow me here) of the woman who my father is married to and broke up my parents marriage, played flute. (At the time when I found out she played the flute and I started to want to play, my parents were not divorced.) With the divorce and my mom having to go back to work - she had been a stay at home mom - there wasn't a lot of money. So, after renting a flute for the first year, to make sure that I was going to stick to it, I was granted the use of the flute that belonged to.... I think you get the picture.
So years pass and I go through grade school band and Jr. High band. I even went to all district in eighth grade. I wasn't a great player, but I played well enough. Then I started high school and marching band. That summer I decided that I wanted to be in Symphonic Band. That meant an audition and I had to be good. So I started lessons. All well and dandy. I didn't get into Symphonic Band. There wasn't auditions, and freshmen didn't get into Symphonic Band. But I continued lessons, and I got better for it.
The Feb of my freshman year we went to NAU for the Solo and Ensemble Festival. With my flute teacher we had prepared a solo and one of my girlfriends from school played piano as my accompaniment. I had worked hard for this, and was scared sh*tless. First time I'd ever performed in front of a judge. He had a copy of my music and listened for my tone, my tempo, if I followed the key signature and a whole host of things that you do as a musician.
I got a '3'. (1 being the highest, 4 the lowest) I was devastated. But it was fun to play in the snow and it was my first time at NAU and my first time to be on a 'field trip' with (in essence) no chaperones.
I got my 'baby' the next year, when I turned 16. My open holed flute. I was ecstatic. Granted it was only a solid silver head joint and the rest of the body and keys silver plated, but it was MINE. (Shortly after I got mine, one of the other girls got her flute, and not only was hers solid silver, but her mouthpiece was gold plated! pphhth). About this time I got into the church choir. I found out that I love performing, especially with a microphone in front of me. I wound up playing in church from that point on until I was pregnant with my son, about 10 years. I've also played in church on and off for the last five years, depending on the director and what my schedule is.
College brought two years of marching band at NAU and a two semesters of a non audition band. It was great for me. I went up as a freshman knowing nobody, and after an afternoon, knew not only a whole section, but was planning parties with that section and other sections. I had 100 new friends.
As I moved towards my degree in hotel management, time and credits became an issue and band moved out of my life. However, during the summers, I still played at church.
After I got married and was living in Las Vegas, I started to wonder if there wasn't a group out there of people who played because they liked to. Not professionally, but the band geeks from high school and college who had real jobs in the real world. Yes they did! But I didn't qualify for residency for UNLV and I wasn't about to pay out of state tuition for a band class. Good thing I didn't, because we wound up moving home in May.
Once back at home, I knew where to look. I found that GCC had an evening band class that was a community based band. The first class I took was the first class for the director. We had about 25 people there. I had a blast! That was seven years ago. With the exception of two semesters off because my teaching program met on the same night, I've been there eight years. We're almost at 100 people and each semester finds us tackling bigger and better pieces of music.
When I talk to my mom about the music, she has told me that she never imagined that I would have done what I have done with that flute. She made me promise that when I 'grew out' or 'gave up' on the flute I would sell it. I promised her, but had no intentions of selling that flute. Nor will I. Maybe some day Baby L will decide that she wants to play the flute as well.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Good News Is... The Bad News Is...
The Bad News Is: I have the kids all day to myself and I'm not used to it. Also, we now need full time day care, instead of just part time!
The Good News Is: We found a babysitter!
The Bad News Is: We're out $200 a week for child care.
The Good News Is: The Monsoons are almost here, it's raining! (Well, sorta)
The Bad News Is: I haven't been dry in days.
The Good News Is: Bible School has started for Little Guy and he's out of my hair for a couple of hours each day!
The Bad News Is: I have to have the whole house (well, Little Guy, Baby L and me) fed, dressed and out the door by 8:30 to get to the church on time.
The Good News Is: School starts in a month, Little Guy is so ready to be around kids his own age.
The Bad News Is: Summer is over! My school opens up next week and I have to start going back to get my (new) room in shape. It'll be the first time since March 2 that I've been back to my school to work. Yikes.
I've enjoyed having almost five months off of work/school. With Little Guy I was chomping at the bit to go back to work. I couldn't get a schedule down, and didn't really do anything because I was going back to work. With Baby L, well, I now have a 5 year old to entertain in addition to taking care of an infant. Time has flown, and both of them have kept me busy.
I never thought I'd hear myself say I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but in some ways I think it might be nice. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever, so I know it's time to do something, but I think a lot of it has to do with trying to keep Little Guy entertained. There isn't a whole lot of kids to play with, and it's hard to keep him occupied. It would kind of be nice to see how it would have worked out staying at home with Baby L while Little Guy goes to school, but it isn't in the cards for us to do that. And I think it's best for us all. We get so much of each other during the summer, that maybe we need the time away from each other during the school year.
More Pictures
Babies, Babies, Babies
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
I'm Recovered?
We sweated our butts off, and I swear to whatever deity you want, we are never doing this again. Our garage is still as cluttered as ever, but a WHOLE bunch of stuff is now out on the driveway for Upward Foundation to pick up. And on Friday, we take the baby stuff and maternity stuff to the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
I had two minds about the baby clothes. If I sold them for .25 - .50 a piece, then they probably would have flown. But the clothes are in good shape. I can write them off for a whole lot more than the .25 - .50 I could have sold them for. It was a matter of instant gratification vs delayed gratification (on our taxes in April). Plus, they were good deals for the $1 that I had them listed for. There were a couple of people who came by who recognized what a good deal it was, but most of our shoppers were Hispanics. And if it was more than a quarter, they weren't interested. So... there you go. I wasn't going to drop the price any more, and I'll have delayed gratification.
A word to the wise, don't have a garage sale in June...
Friday, June 29, 2007
What Was I Thinking?!?
Now, this is the weekend it is going to hit 112. I think I lost five pounds just sweating this morning! And, we're going to do it again tomorrow!
What were we thinking?!?
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Baptism of Baby L
Crafty Me
I also made a blanket for my sisters baby:
I'm really quite proud of myself. They weren't hard to make, but they were time consuming. Little Guy has now requested me to make a red one for him. To facilitate that, I went out and bought more pattern books, and I'm hoping to make one for him that isn't so...time consuming. The pattern of the stitches make it a very slow project. I'm hoping to find a pattern that uses stitches that are more open, yet just as warm. However, that will have to wait until I finish the birth announcement for my sisters baby, and to finish hubbies Christmas stocking (that I started last November!)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Eight Glorious Years
Belated Birthday Wishes...
Friday, May 18, 2007
It was a great run boys...
I have to admit, I haven't been 'into' the Suns since the Barkley, Marjelre, KJ, Ainge era, and that was when I was in high school. Then the Diamondbacks came around and I was much more into baseball than basketball because I have a 10+ year history of playing softball, and the rules were second nature to me.
Then last year the Suns took off again. After listening to Tim & Willy talk to Laurel D'Antoni (coach's wife) and hearing their Suns songs, I started getting into Suns Basketball again. This season I made an effort to watch the games when I could. I wound up watching quite a few games because of the damn diabetes and not having much energy to do anything after a full day at school with the kiddos!
I've watched the last two years as we've made it to playoffs and I'll never forget my junior and senior year in high school when the Suns went to the finals against the Chicago Bulls (boo!). My best friend was from somewhere up in that area, not Chicago itself, but somewhere Midwest where there were no teams, so you had to pick the closest one to your state. So, she had been a Chicago Bulls fan for years. And I was a Suns fan. We had some real rockin debates (as much as two 17 year old females can about basketball!) about who was the better team and who would come out ahead. I'll also remember the three pointer made by (I'm stretching here...) Steve Kerr that was the nail in the coffin for the Suns. The town was devastated and my best friend... well, she rubbed it in the rest of the school year.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Gonzales, Attorney General v. Carhart et al
This is more commonly referred to as the Partial Birth Abortion ruling upheld on April 18 by the Supreme Court. I came across this case in two different circumstances. I am taking a US Constitution Class to renew my teaching certificate and we were asked to pick a 'landmark' case and discuss. I had remembered from reading Bitch PhD some articles - here, here and here - regarding this case. So I looked it up to do my research.
Let me sidebar here for a minute. I am pro-choice. My religion is fanatically pro-life. (I guess I'm going to hell for that, but hey, let's just add that to the list of reasons why...) Although I don't think that I could ever go through an abortion, I do believe a woman has a right over her body and what she does or does not do with it. That's also why I believe in birth control. It's my body, my life and I'll make the decisions about what I'm doing with it. Another reason I am pro-choice is the consequences if Roe v Wade is overturned. Instead of having abortions done in a sanitary, safe place with a trained doctor, it'll be done back door and many more women will be harmed and possibly die due to a procedure that is not done correctly or regulated.
That being said, I went on to read the majority opinion written by Justice Kennedy. It can be confusing, but I found myself following it pretty well. Then I got to Section 1, Part A. It gave a clinical description of what happens during the procedure, then it gives a nurse's testimony. I thought I was going to throw up right then and there. I can't cut and paste what she said, you'll have to scroll down to read it in the opinion, and be warned, it is heart wrenching (at least to me.)
I have had a history of post partum depression. After my son, I was on medication for three years. Two months into this pregnancy, I got back on the medication because I was becoming a mess of emotions again and couldn't control myself. I didn't have problems getting pregnant with either of my children, although it took longer with Baby L than Little Guy. Other than the wildly fluctuating hormones, (and the damn diabetes) I had pretty normal pregnancies. There is no reason for me to go to pieces the way I did, except for the hormones. And even that didn't make sense to me.
I was sitting at the computer with Baby L in the swing next to me sleeping (the only time I can get schoolwork done is when the kiddos are sleeping!). She has a habit of jerking her arms out away from her body when she is startled, mostly in her sleep. So when I read what the nurse had to say, all I could think of was Baby L doing the same thing. It was heartbreaking. It disturbed me then, hubby could tell something was wrong when he came home, and it is still bothering me.
I have no problem with the concept of having an abortion in the first trimester. However, by the second trimester, things should be considerably set in motion. I know that some people don't know their pregnant right away, hell, it took me two months to figure it out with Baby L and we were actively trying to get pregnant. But to wait until after the third month to decide that the pregnancy isn't what you want? I don't get it. I can understand if it involves a birth defect, the test for Downs isn't done until the second trimester and then you have a decision to make. And in some cases, as noted above in Bitch PhD, it is necessary.
I guess my biggest wonder/concern/whatever, is that a person can 1) do the procedure, and do it over and over again (ie a doctor) and 2) the woman who has made this decision knowing and still making this decision (excluding life threatening cases).
I love my children, I love them to distraction. I probably spoil them too much, but they are my life. Even if we had gotten pregnant unexpectedly, abortion wouldn't be an option for us. I can see where for some, that would be an acceptable option.
This has caused some real conflicting emotions for me. While I am a firm believer in a woman's right to choose (abortion, birth control, etc), I am opposed to this procedure being done just because, or without a health risk to mother or unborn child.
In my little world, I don't think this ruling will touch me. At least, I hope this ruling will not have any opportunity to touch me. But for the women that this does touch, man, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Summer Is Approaching
Pools seem to be a staple here in Phoenix. We don't have a pool now, and I didn't have a pool growing up. We didn't get a pool until my mom and step dad bought the house that they live in now. I was a freshman in high school when that happened, so I only got one summer to relax in the pool until I had to work the summers away. Plus, I had a variance to go to school, so none of my friends lived close enough to come over on a whim to go swimming. I remember living at my friend Dani's house the summer between fifth and sixth grade. We were in that pool from morning till night, and then some.
We're going to have to move eventually, the house isn't big enough now that we have Baby L. I am bound and determined to have a pool. I feel awkward calling up friends and inviting myself over so we can swim. (Plus, I don't have a close enough friend where I can just go over and hang out) I want to do the inviting and have the parties around the pool. My mom says I'm insane, having a pool is a headache... but it won't be my headache, it'll be hubbies!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Happy Six Weeks
I think one of the best things I did was to take those two weeks off before Baby L was born. I got to relax. And now isn't so bad, because I can nap during the day when Little Guy is at school. My biggest worry is to finish this web class so I can go renew my teaching certificate. I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I had to go back to work and get up at 5am when I'm giving Baby L her last bottle of the day at 11pm. Plus, when I went to show Baby L to my kids, I was still ready to strangle at least two of them, so I think it's a win-win situation all around that I stay home for the rest of the school year. (To give you an example, after lunch my kids get an opportunity to get a drink table by table, and if they ask me after that, most of the time I don't let them because it leads to everyone NEEDING a drink. My sub [who is a retired teacher] lets the kids go and get a drink as long as she's not teaching. Well, one of my little angels came up to me and, rather smugly, informed me that 'Mrs. H let's us go get a drink whenever we want as long as she's not teaching.' Like, he he, look what we're doing. No, I don't think I want to go back for only nine days and be driven nuts!)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Not Really A Slacker
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Success
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Welcome Baby L!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Frustration
So fast forward to Wednesday of this week when I called in to find out what was going on with my claim. It had been two and a half weeks since I had faxed in the paper work. I had called the insurance company when I went out early to find out what I needed to do, and found out they had a 7 - 10 day turnaround on paper work (on top of the five day turnaround and $10 fee the Dr's office charged to fill out the form). I felt I had been patient and just wanted to know when...
Here's the good part.
Because I wasn't physically at work on September 1st (I took the day off to go to the doctor), my effective date for the insurance got pushed back to October 1st. Which by then the pregnancy had been diagnosed, and it is a pre existing condition that isn't covered. Which means that I don't get paid for two months of work and my summer paycheck isn't as big as it would normally be because I don't pay into the vacation 'bank' while I'm not earning a paycheck through the school district.
As you can imagine, I was just about hysterical. But, the girl told me, it was still in the review process and she'd send an email to the person who was working on it to get it resolved quickly. Well, that was two days ago, and with the time change, I keep on forgetting until it's too late (and quiet around here) to call and check. But I've written this off. I'm so upset it's not funny. It seems like I try to play by the rules and get screwed.
Then, to top things off, later that afternoon I'm checking my school email from home, and I find an email that I'm copied into informing our principal that I'm one of two new representatives for our Site Base Committee for next year.
Hello?!?!? Was I asked about this?
So let me get this straight, I'm at home on maternity leave, we have a grade level meeting and someone decides since I'm not there to defend myself, to assign me to a committee where I'm going to have to spend one night a month at school. Attend the meeting with my coworkers (not so bad, I can still make it home in time), but then to stay after that to attend the monthly PTO meeting. It may not sound like much, and if they had asked me, maybe I'd have done it. But I'm going to have a five month old when I go back to work in August, and it's on one of the nights that my husband doesn't work. I don't get to see my husband enough as it is, I'm not going to let this happen.
Not to mention that the supposed reason I was nominated for this was because I don't get involved enough with the team.
Again, Hello?!?!?!
I put together our team field trip (of which they decided at the last minute to make changes to, making me look bad to both the district and the destination for having to call the day before to change times!). I offered to do Christmas shopping for our principal, vice principal and secretaries for those who wanted to chip in (and got an earful about how you just don't do that, it isn't professional! {???}). Granted I haven't been volunteering for a whole lot, but I think I've got a valid reason (excuse?). I'm pregnant, major morning sickness, then the development of the Gestational Diabetes which made it necessary to go to the hospital twice a week for monitoring. Not to mention a car accident thrown in there. I kinda had my hands tied. But any time someone came to me directly and asked me to do something, I did it.
Please don't call me a non participating team member. And don't stab me in the back in the process.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Happy Birthday Mommy!
So, I'm at the hospital, hooked up to the monitor, and Baby L is just fine, but I'm having contractions about 7 minutes apart. The nurse sent me down to have my weekly ultrasound, and Baby L is just great, but I'm having contractions on the ultrasound table. (Do we see a pattern here!?!) When I get back upstairs to the NST area, the nurse checked me out, and sure enough, I had started to dialate (whoo hoo!) and she called the Dr. on call. He turned out to be a real nice guy, and we talked and basically his reasoning was that I was scheduled for a C section on Friday anyway, I had started labor and had dialated, no reason to send me home to be miserable for two days, lets do it! Great! Finally!
So I called hubby (last time I brought him with me, we got sent home), we got Little Guy to the sitter, called Mom and within an hour I was prepped for surgery. (I won't go into all the gory details here!) And at 11:03, Mommy got her 30th birthday present, Baby L.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
I'm Done
Lately, there hasn't been much room in my abdomen for much of anything, and I think that Baby L is feeling crowded. She doesn't like it when I lay down on my side, I can't sleep on my stomach anymore, standing is making my legs weak and if I don't sit in just a manner, she lets me know. I am so ready to have this baby.
Yesterday I went in for my biweekly non stress test and ultrasound. I let the NST nurse know about the pain I've been in, and the fact that the night prior I had a real bad back ache and thought I might be having some mild contractions. Well, turned out my doctor was on call yesterday, and she came to take a look at me to see if we could get things moving along. No such luck - no dialation. Go home, rest and get off your feet. Great. But, I have my regular appointment with her tomorrow and if I've started to dialate, we can get this show on the road. I could care less about keeping the quadrafecta intact, I just want to sleep on my tummy again!
The Albatross is Off Our Neck
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Homebound
While I'm lounging about (*snort*) we are getting the baby's room finished. She is due to join us in just over a week, and I'm starting to get somewhat nesting. I never had that with Little Guy, partly, I think, because I worked literally up til my water broke, and we were in an apartment that was packed and ready to move. (That is a story for another time!) There was nothing to clean! I had to clear off boxes from the dining room table to find a place to change Little Guy once we got home. But now I have this house, and I'm starting to look around and there is a lot to do. Or maybe it just looks like a lot...
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Bookwormish...
Look at the list of books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole , put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. *Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. *A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. *The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. *Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. *I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. *The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. *The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. +The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. *The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. *She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. *The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. *Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. *The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. *The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. *One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. *The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. *Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. *Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. *Ulysses (James Joyce)
OK, now I realize that there are a lot of asterisks. Maybe I'm not as well read as I thought I was. But my tastes tend to run toward the historical romance and mysteries. Most of these that I've read was because I was required to during either high school or college requirements... oh well. Hope you enjoyed!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
I'm Not Dead....
The Doctor has decided that I need to go out early, so my last day of school will be March 2nd. Two weeks earlier than originally expected. Which is nice, but it leaves me a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time. So, until I hit that magic date, I won't be posting much. Just wish me luck I get everything ready for the sub in time...
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Never a Dull Moment
Turns out that while my counts have been lower than target, there have been a few my doctor is worried about. That, and waking up in the middle of the night to do the obligatory bathroom run and being so dizzy that I had to hold on to the wall to get there. That was early Sunday morning, and by the time the alarm went off to get me up on Monday morning, it was still there. Not too bad, but enough that I woke hubby and Little Guy up to drive me to work because I was afraid to get behind the wheel of a car.
So in response, I am now on a medication that will help my pancreas create more insulin on it's own. AND from now until the baby is born I am going into the hospital twice a week for a Non Stress Test, once a week for an Ultrasound, seeing the Dietitian once a week to check on my blood count/sugar count and once a week to the OB for my usual checkups. This is in addition to working with 26 darlings every day, having to prep for them, take the required new teacher classes and the training for my new SmartBoard (all before baby comes!). AND since nobody (but the hospital) sees their patients after 3 or 3:30 in the afternoon, I get ABSOLUTELY no work done at school. **Sigh** Back to grading papers in the evening and on weekends. I had just about eliminated that. Oh, I almost forgot, let's throw in two evening of baptism classes (because although I am there every single stinking Sunday, I still have to do it and be preached to about stuff I already do!). And Little Guy's Birthday at the end of the month. **Sigh** But as long as it means a healthy and happy baby, it's all good.
On a brighter note, hubby, with assistance from Little Guy, got Baby L's room all cleaned out and painted a beautiful shade of pink. Then this past Monday the new carpet came in for the two kids rooms. It is starting to really look like a baby's room. All we need to do is hang the border and then we can move in the baby furniture and I can start going through the boxes and boxes of STUFF we have from Little Guy to see what I can use for Baby L. Start washing and putting away stuff, not to mention to start putting away all the clothes that my mom has bought since she found out we were pregnant again.
Hubby went to the storage shed to get the baby stuff the other day, and it turns out that we have over 10 Xerox boxes of clothes left over from Little Guy, from newborn to about 4T. And since we're having a girl and my sister is having a girl (did I mention she is pregnant too, about ten weeks behind me?) I am not saving it any more. Mom kept on saying to keep it in case I had another boy, and I did, just to humor her. Because even if we were to have another boy, she'd still go out and clothe that child, even with all the clothes we had from Little Guy. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, and I do not have to clothe my child. My mom is super shopper and hits the sales. Any clothes that I buy for Little Guy are because I want to, not because I need to. And it helps that his birthday is just as the Spring and Summer season come upon us, because I don't have to buy him clothes, he gets it for his birthday! Yea!
Anyway, the whole point of that is that I am going to have one stinking big garage sale in late April or early May. I'm getting rid of clothes and toys! We have more toys coming out of our ears than we know what to do with. And he keeps on getting more! Maybe we'll make enough out of the garage sale to finance the gas to San Diego this summer. You never know!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I'm da bomb!
But being under now brings up a new quandary. Can I be too far under? I see the dietitian on Monday, so I guess we'll bring that up then. In the meantime, Baby L is doing some sort of synchronized swimming, and is always moving. My stomach is one big gyrating blob. Both hubby and Little Guy are fascinated by it and will sit on the bed and just rest their hand on my stomach so they can feel. It's a good feeling...
Accident Update...
Sunday, January 21, 2007
5K Run to Remember
They're OFF! The start of the walk.
A proud daddy and son.
The happy walkers.
I'm so happy and proud of hubby for doing this. He's worked hard to do this, he and the coworkers have been walking in the wee hours of the morning after they get out of work (midnight!) and made real good time. Next year they're talking about running the race instead of walking. Who knows!
Congratulations Desert Songbird
So, party at Desert Songbirds' in two weeks?
I Made it Through Week One...
I made it through almost completely changing my diet. I found out a couple of things.
- Peaches in lite lite syrup are actually good!
- Whole Wheat isn't actually a bad word! It can be pretty good.
- I rediscovered carrots
- I can still eat cheese crisps, although it has to be with a wheat tortilla.
- I can survive without Coke.
- Since I eat every two hours or so, so does Baby L, so she and I are constantly talking.
- Diabetic web sites can be a good friend!
So I move on to week 2 (only 10 more weeks to go!), and start monitoring tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Wild Wild Week
However, that was before I got the call on Monday morning. The call was from my OB's nurse practitioner. Crap. Anytime that comes up on the caller ID, it's not good. Last time it happened it was the happy news that I had a high blood sugar count on my first glucose test and had to go in for the happy happy three hour test. Which was Saturday. The only good thing about sitting in the lab for three hours on a Saturday was that I got my report cards done.
So, anyway, the caller ID shows my OB. I failed my second glucose test. That means I have Gestational Diabetes. That means I have to go on a rather strict diet. That means that I have to monitor (prick myself) four times a day. That means I have to eat six 'meals' a day. That means NO MORE PETER PIPER PIZZA, PIZZA HUT, CHIPS AND SALSA OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT I EAT. To say that I'm upset is putting it mildly. I knew this as soon as the nurse told me. But I had no idea of the extent of this diet. And because NOBODY in this office works past, like 2:30, I had to take another sick day to go to the doctor. (I am not happy with this OB!)
So bright and early on Tuesday morning the hubby and I are in the doctors office to talk to the dietitian. Then I came home and cried. And cried. And cried. Then hubby and I spent three hours food shopping. There was just about NOTHING in the house that I could eat.
I'm normally a very healthy person, who takes a sick day more because I need a 'mental health day' than anything else. Occasionally I'll get a flu bug, but I've never had to really watch my diet for anything other than losing weight - which is good, because I don't like a whole lot of foods. Well, now my health and the health of the baby depends on what I eat. Not a good scenario.
This is what a typical eating day is for me:
Breakfast: Pop tart and glass of milk on the way to school
Lunch: Cheese quesadilla on white tortilla, chips and salsa, low fat pudding (I'm trying at least!) and a Coke with Lime
Snack: Out of the vending machine - butterfingers lately, with a Coke with Lime. Maybe a glass of milk instead.
Dinner: Applebee's, Earl's (Mex Am), McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Peter Piper Pizza, whatever the mood strikes.
Real healthy, huh? Now this is what I have to eat
Breakfast : 1 starch (i.e. half a whole wheat English muffin), 1 protein (i.e. egg or peanut butter), 1 fat (i.e. butter) and 1 milk (8oz milk or yogurt).
Morning snack: 1 fruit. (FRUIT!?!?!?)
Lunch: 2 starch, 2 protein, 2 veggie, 1 milk, 2 fat (thankfully whole wheat tortillas are OK, as well as cheese. The quesadilla lives!)
Afternoon Snack: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1 milk
Dinner: 2 starch, 3 meat, 2 veggie, 1 fruit, 1 milk, 2 fat
Evening Snack: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1 milk.
I'm slowing going insane. And not just any starch, I've been warned off any white starch. Everything is whole wheat. Whole wheat bread, pasta, tortillas... No more soda (unless it's diet, and I'd rather drink water than drink diet soda!), no more candy, no more random snacking. Quite frankly it sucks. But there are risks to the baby if I don't follow this, the most serious (and most rare) being stillborn. But gestational diabetes causes big babies and early delivery (maybe I was borderline diabetic with Little Guy, he was 9lb 12oz and two weeks early!)
But it is so stinking hard. Thank god for hubby. He was right there next to me through it all. He's willing to change his diet and he was a godsend during the massive shopping event. He took labels and compared and read and put together things that I could eat (that I liked!) That has been the biggest challenge. Eating fruits and veggies. I don't like fruits and veggies. Ick, gross. And I have tried them. I guess before this pregnancy is over I will have od'd on peaches, banana's and carrots, because that is the extent of fruits and veggies I like. Of course, I like corn too, but that doesn't count as a veggie, it's a starch!
Thank god it's only two more months until Baby L is scheduled to come into the world.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Hello?
World of Wheels
Hubby with his favorite! Jack Daniels!
Today we went to the annual World of Wheels car show. Mostly because it was held close to our house, at the new University of Phoenix Stadium (yuck, I hate that name, it'll always be Cardinals Stadium to me). We thought that Little Guy would get a kick out of seeing the life size Mater from Cars and the General Lee. Heck, I was excited to see the General Lee. And Little Guy was excited to see all of that. He was even more excited about seeing all the classic cars and the engines. Don't ask me where he got this from. We've never done anything like this before, and I don't think he's been exposed to cars and engines like this before. Occasionally Little Guy and Hubby will sit and watch Overhaulin', but that's it. They're more into American Chopper. Anyway, it was fun to watch him.
I, on the other hand, was disappointed. I expected a lot more, since this has traditionally been held at the Civic Center. It seemed small and there were not very many vendors. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. What was really disappointing though, is that the General Lee was advertised but we couldn't get close enough to actually see it or get our picture taken close to it because they wanted $10 to take a Polaroid picture and get an autograph with Cooter. So we got ours in front of the merchandise table. Same thing with Mater. They wanted $5 to take a picture with Mater. We just stood outside the rope and hoped for the best when we shot that picture. Thankfully, it turned out well.
Hubby and I were excited when we found out that Chris Garver from Miami Ink was going to be there, and the line wasn't too long. But then there was his handler. Five bucks for an autograph. I guess this is how things are done, but it seemed like a rip off. Oh well. Live and learn. I guess the most important part of the day was that we had fun, and Little Guy had a ball.
Catholic Codes
This information is for Catholics only. It must not be divulged to non-Catholics. The less they know about our rituals and code words, the better off they are.
AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows.
HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY.
USHERS: The only people in the parish who don't know the seating capacity of a pew.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Navy Drill Team
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Check This Out!
Crafty Crafty Me!
Many moons ago, while I was visiting relatives in Albuquerque, my cousin started to show me how to crochet. I started this scarf about three years ago, with nothing more in mind then to try to get the stitches down. I worked on it for a while, then put it away for what turned out to be years.
This year I started making a stocking for hubby, and when I went to pull out the materials I needed, found the length of crocheting. Little Guy saw it and asked if it was a scarf for him. Sure, why not? So I finished it off and added some tassels to it. (That is, after I went and bought a crocheting book to find out HOW to do the tassels!) The scarf itself, when you look closely at it, is really quite amateur. But Little Guy is quite proud of it, and so am I.
In fact, I'm so infatuated with crocheting right now that I'm practicing to make Baby L a blanket. Wish me luck, it looks to be complicated!
The Quadrafecta!
When we found out that Baby L was due in March, hubby groaned. March is a big month for us, at least in my family. We have a unique birthday happening in my family. My father is March 13, I am March 14 and my younger sister is March 15. In addition, my father in law is March 1, sister in law March 29 and an assortment of anniversaries and birthdays of other friends and family.
When I was pregnant with Little Guy, his due date was March 11. He was so big, however, that the doctor induced me and he was born on Feb. 28. So while he missed the March 'curse', he's still close enough to be a part of the festivities.
Baby L's anticipated due date (should I carry to full term) is March 25. But with having a C-section, the doctor wants to make sure I'm not going to go into labor, and we're planning for about a week ahead of time. My doctor has gone ahead and scheduled my due date for.... drum roll please.... March 16!
We have now put the Quadrafecta in action...