now that THAT is over....

well that was quite the stretch of 2 weeks.

man, i'm tired. still. ugh.

first i started a new full time job. ok, that's a good thing, right?

it is. BUT. i had already committed to working at the local fair for 4 days. and those days? of course coincided with my first weeks of working. which meant that i worked 12 days straight before i got a day off. then? 1 day off, 1 shift at the fair and then boom. off on labor day and then right back into a work week.

plus? i have an event sat until 2ish. not that i'm complaining. i'm just really eyeing sunday when i can sleep in.

in the good news department, i got about 8 leads from one of the booths at the fair and when i started calling them yesterday, i booked a party. woot! so maybe, just maybe, that whole "paying for the time i spent in the booth & working the booth for free" thing might be starting to pay off. we'll see what the order totals look like.

back to work now. if i can stay awake long enough, that is.

has it really been 3.5 months since i last wrote? it seems so much longer than that!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back. at least for a bit.

what have i been doing you ask?

surprisingly, not much.

here's whats been happening since we went on vacation in may:

• after getting back from hawaii, we made plans to go to texas to see vrock's family. then we actually went. to texas. in july. yes, i am an idiot.
• vrock was forced to "retire" from his job due to lack of work.
• i continue to look for a job, any kind of job, and it continues to be an excercise in futility.
• my bff came to visit the weekend before my birthday and took me to see her husband in concert! (ok, ok. so he's only her husband in her head. DON'T tell her that! LOL)
• i sort of started my own business last week. not much has come of it yet, but i'm hopeful that it will at least bring a little money in the door.
• jdogg turned ONE! (how in the hell did that happen? i told that boy he wasn't allowed to grow up!)
• vrock & i have seriously considered moving to texas, provided that he can obtain a job with the company he had to "retire" from.
• we continue to prepare to go to san francisco at the end of the month for my brother's wedding. those preparations included buying a tux for jdogg. OMG! so! freaking! cute!

and while all of that has been exciting/caused anxiety/thrilling/sad, i find that time is zooming by and i never seem to have time to do ANYTHING without major planning sessions. and even then, if it's not something ESSENTIAL? it doesn't make the cut.

for someone who doesn't work outside the home, is living with family (and therefore not really responsible for "household chores"), and is still drawing unemployment, i have NO IDEA where all of my time goes!

dear blog, i really didn't forget about you.....

i'm wondering if i've hit a wall with the blogging.

yes, i have a 6.5 month old that keeps me very, very busy. but lately i've gone WEEKS without even thinking about blogging. i could chalk that up to being so wrapped up in the baby that i barely have time to think. Or to the fact that he doesn't sleep in his crib for more than 2 hours without me having to get up and get him. (by which time I'M EXHAUSTED so he just ends up in our bed for the remainder of the night.)

i could blame it on the energy i'm spending praying/hoping/willing vrock to get the most recent job he applied for. or that after a winter of no colds whatsoever (yay vaccinations!) i've got the sore throat from hell and since i'm still nursing at night i can't really take anything for it. (although, if this keeps up, i'm going to take something!)

but i think the answer that feels the most right is this: i don't know what to say anymore. i don't necessarily want this blog to become a commentary on the day to day life of the baby. yes, i love him and think he's adorable, but i know that not everyone wants to hear about his daily activities.

my life has become an endless string of taking care of the baby. i'm fine with that, most of the time. but i'm pretty sure it would bore the hell out of the few readers i have to report on his adventures. besides, who else would find it amusing EVERY TIME he grabs himself during a diaper change? LOL

benefit 4,928,761,350 of being unemployed & living with your folks

it's really handy when you do something tremendously stupid to not have to worry about mundane stuff. like work. or carrying your child around. or how to feed yourself when your room is on the first floor but the kitchen is on the the second.

thursday night i was cold. i've been cold at bedtime for the last week or so, primarily because our bed is located directly below the only window in our room. that means that even though the window is completely closed, when it's say 20 degrees outside (which it has been at night for the last week or so) that even if you have the heat on in the room, there's still a cold spot right where you put your head down when it's time for bed. i don't know about you, but if ANY part of me is too hot or too cold when it's time for bed? i can't sleep.

so i decided i was going to get the nice, fluffy, warm uw huskies blanket that i got for christmas two years back down from out of the closet to put over the comforter on the bed. vrock is a furnace so i'm not allowed to have an electric blanket on the bed. that means that if i'm cold, i have to pile blankets onto my side of the bed. fine. i can do that. i pulled the office chair over to the closet, braced it against the dresser, and climbed up. there was a little wobble, but no big deal. i've done this a million times. up, grab the item in question, and down with no problems. not so much this time.

when my parents built the garage (where the 5 of us are currently living) they put an apartment over the garage and a bedroom with a bathroom downstairs. they also made 9 foot ceilings, so you HAVE to climb onto something to get anything out of the closet downstairs. ideally that something would be, i don't know, a STEP LADDER, but i digress. the basket that the blanket was in is VERY light. 2 blankets, a pair of slippers, a pair of gloves, and i think a scarf is all that is in the basket. so i knew that it would be no biggie to grab the blanket.

EXCEPT.

i didn't know that vrock had also put an armband for his ipod in the basket. this wouldn't be a big deal except that he just kind of tossed it into the basket, meaning that it landed on top of the blanket. again, not really a big deal. except. when i pulled the basket down towards me to grab the blanket out, the ipod thing fell out. and startled the shit out of me. which caused me to lose my balance and fall.

luckily i didn't bang my head on the crib or the bookshelf that is right next to it. unluckily, i heard a distinct SNAP as i landed on my foot. i was sure that once we went to the er and got x-rays that there would be a break somewhere. luckily i was wrong and it's just very badly sprained. but man. it HURTS! i spent all of friday, saturday, and most of sunday in bed with my foot propped up and icing it off and on. and today it's STILL all kinds of lovely shades of purple and yellow.

the er doc didn't give me enough pain meds to last me to my follow up tomorrow with my regular doc, so i'm raiding dad's pain meds from his surgery last month. (only after checking with the pharmacist that they're safe to take while breastfeeding.) they make me sleepy though, which is great for at night but not so much for during the day. today i finally ventured upstairs, but had to have my mom bring the baby up since i don't trust my balance enough to carry him yet.

what a great way to spend a weekend, huh? on the plus side......it's not broken. and? vrock has been pretty awesome through the whole ordeal. after 4 days of being an invalid though, i'm ready for it to heal and to be able to walk on it without pain. we'll see what the doc says tomorrow about the timeline for that.

i know this though........i'll never use a chair to get something out of the closet again!

time flies when you have an infant

not much has changed around here.

except that this:

has become this:

he's perfect. and gorgeous. and we've never been happier. especially since we're actually getting some sleep these days! i'll try to write more often, but with that gorgeous little being around, it's amazing that i get anything done. LOL

and this? is what they call a holding pattern

so last week i went in for my 37 week appointment and was VERY excited to learn that i was already dilated to 3cm and 75% effaced. it has been MISERABLY hot here the last few weeks (today? FREAKING 100 degrees! wtf??) so i was excited by this development because as anyone who has been pregnant knows, the last month is THE WORST as far as being uncomfortable, etc. when i went in today, i was hoping for some more dilation, but figuring i wouldn't get quite that lucky since it's apparently VERY unusual to be 3 weeks prior to due date and be 3cm already. i, unfortunately was right. no further dilation OR effacement.

DAMN!

i wasn't super surprised, but i was a little bummed out. i have been EXTREMELY uncomfortable with all this heat. i'm good at 75 degrees when i'm not knocked up. i can deal with 80 as long as there is a breeze. it's been WAY hotter than that the last 2-3 weeks and it's forecast for mid 80's into the end of next week. THIS SUCKS! all that being said, i am VERY ready for little dude to make his appearance, although i'm TERRIFIED about what to do AFTER he's here. LOL i know, i know. i'll be fine once i get the hang of things. i know this. but i'm still starting to freak out a little.

so my next appointment is on monday. something had BETTER have changed (in the correct direction!) by then! LOL

in other news, we had a bit of a scare yesterday in that when we tried to go to babies 'r us in order to get the rest of the things we really NEEDED for the baby, the car wouldn't start. at all. nothing. no lights, no "door ajar" binging. nothing. thank God we have AAA. turns out it was nothing more than a bad cell in our battery, so we just needed a new one. but still. i think vrock had a minor stroke thinking that we'd have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to get the car fixed. (we bought it used, and it's still under the original warranty, but it's only 3 years old.) the battery price was more than i wanted to pay, but it's done and we're back in business.

all of that rigamarole with the battery totally shot yesterday though. so today after the doc appointment, we went to babies 'r us. we didn't get EVERYTHING that was left on the registry, but we did get the things that i think we needed the most. we still have a good chunk of the money my brother & his fiancee' (the godparents) sent for the bambino, so we just moved that money into the baby's bank account until we need to buy something else for him.

since it's been so damn hot, we decided to go to one of the local casinos so vrock could people watch and i could gamble, a little. money is very tight for us these days and while i probably should have just left it in the bank, i wanted to play just a bit. so i went with $80 and hoped for the best. i'd been to that casino in june when my bestest friend in the world was here for my baby shower. i can't remember if i won, but i think i either broke even or won a little bit. (on a side note, vrock & i went to our other local casino last week to see the gallagher comedy show. we played for about 2.5 hours and came home with $50 more than we left with, which promptly went in the baby's bank account. LOL)

anyways, so today i was doing ok, and then all of a sudden i was down to my last 10 cents. (i used to play nickel slots. now? pennies all the way!) i would have had to cash out had this last spin not been a winner of some kind because that machine's minimum bet was more than a total of 10 cents. so i spun. and hit the bonus. right on! this particular game is called "great wall" and i found it last month when i was there. the bonus consists of free spins where you can accrue points & "picks". after the free spins are up, it takes you to the "picks" page where you choose from various ying-yang's and get either points or free spins. so this first bonus i won $121. WOO HOO! not bad for literally being down to your last 10 cents! i decided that i'd play until i was at 100 and that way i'd still be coming out 20 bucks ahead of where i'd started. i spun a few times and nothing. so i cashed out. i was going to leave, but decided "what the hell"? so i put my money back in and spun and hit another bonus. this time? i won 50 something in the bonus. i played for a bit and tried to get my total up to $160 which would have doubled my initial funds for the day. i didn't get there, and decided to cash out at $150.

all in all? not bad for less than 2 hours work. i won $70, so even after i subtract the $40 that i gave vrock, i still walked out $30 up. not bad, not bad at all.

tomorrow will be a stay at home day to do laundry and to see what all we have for the little dude that we'll need right away. and hopefully the walking around today helped jiggle things so that he's thinking more about coming OUT OUT OUT already! LOL

oh, and i'll be spending a fair amount of my day with my feet elevated. i'm tired of vrock teasing me about my "elephant feet". they are SO swollen it's not even funny.

sloth, thy name is tbooty, or why i haven't posted lately

all kinds of interesting things have been happening out in seattle. (ok, not really, but there have been a select few.)

mostly the reasons i haven't posted can be boiled down to this:

1. i'm just generally feeling lazy the last few weeks. i've been told this is normal.
2. i often THINK about doing something (posting/laundry/errands) and that's as far as i get. this does not bode well for my post partum period. LOL
3. i've found that while the extreme exhaustion of the first 16 weeks of pregnancy has not returned, i AM more tired than i was from weeks 17-30. case in point, i wake vrock up in the morning for work and go back to sleep when he leaves around 8am. then? even though i went to bed at 1am? i end up sleeping until around 11am. unless i'm going somewhere where i have to leave/arrive at a certain time. weird.
4. i'm already feeling overwhelmed about the baby's arrival. we don't have all of our "gear" yet. no stroller/car seat (although that's just a matter of mom & i going to target together.) we have a bassinet. we have a pack 'n play (that we may just have him sleep in for the first few months due to space issues). we have a crib mattress, but the crib is still at my brother-in-law's. but there are still quite a few things we registered for that haven't been purchased yet. it's kind of stressful.
5. i am SO UNCOMFORTABLE at this stage. between the HUGE belly, the hip pain (so. very. hard. to. walk!!!) and the intermittent ankle/foot swelling, i am PAST being ready to reclaim my body.

the baby shower was good. none of my bridesmaids showed up, including the one who threw the shower, but 2 of the 3 had valid reasons. still, it REALLY upset me. UNTIL. my best friend in the world surprised me by flying up from utah for the weekend. BEST FRIEND EVER! after that i didn't really care about who hadn't shown. her being there made up for it more than 100 times over. of course, she made me cry though. bitch. LOL (don't worry, i TOTALLY got her back when i wrote out THAT particular thank you card. LOL) we got a fair amount of stuff, but of course not everything that we actually NEED. LOL go figure. it's ok. i've still got about $250 in gift cards/cash (not including whatever amount my brother is sending) to get the necessities that we don't yet have.

i'm up to chapter 13 of 18 in the transcription class, which means after i get back the chapter 13 submission, i have 4 graded transcripts left before the final. i'm not sure if i'll be able to start work before the baby is born, but we'll see. it'll be cutting it close, what with me only being 44 days away from my due date. it'd be nice to be able to start before he gets here.

i also had a job interview on monday (long story), and while it seemed to go well, the sacrifices it would entail (2 months unpaid leave, paying for childcare, no guarantee of job being held) make it so that i've never wanted to NOT get a job offer before. they were interviewing all of last week, so in theory i should hear something by wed of this week. like i said, it'll be one of the few times in recent memory that it won't hurt my feelings if they go in another direction. LOL

and i THINK that catches us up. the next 6 weeks are going to be an interesting ride. i'm ready to reclaim my body for myself. LOL let's see when this little boy decides to make his debut. i'd like him to wait at least until 36 weeks (7/14) but ANYTIME after that is totally fine with me! (plus, that would negate the 10 family birthdays in august that we're looking at currently. LOL)

seriously????

i know, i know. i haven't written about the trip yet. i will, promise.

i just need to vent about this first.

when we first got pregnant, i was worried about the normal things: my age (37) being an issue, genetic abnormalities, miscarriage, etc. things that just about every woman is concerned about until she knows that there's nothing to be concerned about.

so we opted to do some genetic testing (first trimester testing & completely non-invasive) to "guide" us in the right direction. fortunately for us, the tests came back with no worries of any abnormalities and we were able to end that particular journey there.

that was in early february. while we were on vacation, i received a call from the billing department of that particular hospital. (not the one i'm delivering at, as that one is too small to have a maternal-fetal medicine clinic that does the genetic testing.) the guy proceeded to say that i had an outstanding bill ($30) after insurance had paid and wanted to know when i would be paying it. i'm in hawaii, and have no recollection of seeing a bill for that amount, so i told him that i was on vacation, if the bill had come prior to leaving i'd have paid it and since i'll be gone for 10 days, i'll have to look into it when i get home. fine he says and i figure that will be the end of it.

so we get home. i get the mail and sort it out. bills in one pile, etc. at this point, (about 2 weeks ago) i'm still not receiving my unemployment yet. vrock is working (huzzah!) but it's only part time. so while we do have some money floating around, there's not a lot that's leftover for extra bills. i put the bills on the desk in their spot and turn to other things.

i get a phone call a few days later from this guy again. telling me again that i still owe $30. now, i'm 27+ weeks at this point and my memory has become more faulty than i'd like to admit (HELLO list writing!), so i inform him that i have NOT received this bill and that i don't care that his system tells me they mailed it, i don't have it and therefore it will be hard for me to pay it. he says they'll send it again. fine. (of course, a day or so later as i'm preparing to pay bills i find it. but it's for $45.08 and NOT $30, so it's not completely my fault.)

meanwhile, vrock's job has become FULL TIME & BENEFITTED (woo hoo!!) and now i can pay the bills knowing that there will be more money coming in. great! so last week i write a check for this particular account and a few other non-monthly bills (we're STILL paying medical bills from his sinus surgery in oct) so that i can mail them in. i check our bank account online about every other day, so i'm glad to see that the check for this particular account has cleared. YAY! no more phone calls from this guy. right? WRONG!!!

this morning i'm sleeping in. (with vrock working full time now, the alarm goes off at about 6:45 and he gets up about 7:20. this wouldn't be an issue, except that 1) the alarm is on MY side of the bed, which means i'm the one hitting snooze and then rolling over to make sure he's awake, 2) i've done this every morning this week because i'm afraid if i don't sort of wake up with him that he'll fall back asleep and be late for work, and 3) last night/this morning i stayed up until 4:30am finishing a book because i'd had a 2 hour nap yesterday.) my phone is almost always on vibrate overnight, but because i'd grabbed it and put it by the bed this morning when vrock left for work, i hear it buzzing.

normally, i don't answer if there's no number listed. this one pops up as "private call". now, i know it's not my mom, because she left earlier and her cell number shows up on my phone. the only other "private call" that i know of for sure is my almost 38-weeks pregnant friend who lives about 8 minutes away. i'm her emergency ride to the hospital and since yesterday she was dilated to 1cm, it could be her. so i answer. it's the guy about the bill. he starts his spiel and i'm already PISSED because i KNOW that the check has cleared. i'm civil, barely, as he spits out the info about the visit date and the amount owed. and then i inform him that not only did i ONLY get the one statement (when they were supposed to send me a 2nd since i didn't recall getting a first) but that i've PAID it and IT'S CLEARED THE BANK! (there are few things that irritate me more than someone who doesn't have all the facts getting ready to "tell me off".) he then asks me to FAX him proof of payment.

um FUCKING HELLO??? just how am i supposed to do that? 1) i paid by check you asshole. i'll be DAMNED if i'm going to go to the bank and ask for a copy of the cancelled check because you can't be bothered to CHECK YOUR FUCKING SYSTEM to see if the payment has applied. (the check CLEARED on 5/22. i know monday was a holiday and all but seriously? it should be in your system by now!) 2) i don't have ready access to a fax machine and all i'd have to fax you is a copy of the statement. so i'm PISSED now. i explain to him that it's paid, cleared the bank, etc. he can tell i'm pissed because he then says "i'll just note your account paid then."

good idea asshole. of course, now i'm awake, so that annoys me even more. oh well.

i suppose i wouldn't be so mad about it if i wasn't already irritated from yesterday when the cop pulled me over.

more on that later.

25 weeks & vacation errands

so it was pointed out to me that i haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. (thanks stace! LOL) and with the trip looming up, i figured i'd best post BEFORE we left for hawaii on friday, otherwise it'd likely be ANOTHER week & a half before i was able to post. so, here i am.

i've been unemployed for not quite 2 weeks, and i don't think i've EVER been this busy! it's crazy. here's a sampling of what's been going on the last 2 weeks, broken down by day:

• mon (1st day unemployed) - trip to costco & target, which took almost all day
• tues - trip to the outlets with my mom, and to pick up some baby clothes & a bassinet from freecycle.org people
• wed - errands for the trip & a chiropractor appointment for vrock
• thurs - trip to the nearest joann's with mom to find some cute maternity patterns for later in the pregnancy, along with other trip related errands.
• fri - blissfully NOTHING was planned out and i did some spring cleaning stuff
• sat - one of the local communities has a yearly garage sale weekend, & i went with my folks. scored some good baby stuff (clothes, brand new pacifiers, size 1 diapers) and a few other things and only spent $16!
• sun - pre natal massage & out to dinner with vrock for our 1 year anniversary
• mon - doctor appointment (everything looks great! no issues other than the norm of heartburn & aching hips), lunch with mom, more shopping for the trip & a mani-pedi.
• tues - trip to storage to pick up & drop off stuff, over to a friends' house to drop off some baby girl clothes i'd picked up for her from one of the freecycle people
• today - took my folks to the airport this morning. the rest of the day? probably studying, laundry, clearing out the tivo. stuff that needs to be done, but that i can do from home.

so you see, it's not that i haven't WANTED to write. it's that by the end of each day i've been EXHAUSTED!

now i'm off to warm up vrock's lunch before he leaves for work (more on that later!) and then i can maybe take a nap later this afternoon!

and then there were 6

it's a very freeing feeling to know when your job is going to end. you can plan for things. you have the chance to make sure that all of your "loose ends" are cleared up. as much as being laid off sucks (cobra, unemployment, etc.) it's a good thing to KNOW it's coming. (unlike my friend who walked into her office one day in dec & was escorted out of the building a mere 90 minutes later.)

that being said, in a sick way i'm LOOKING FORWARD to not working. granted, i'll still have my school work to do and all that, and as long as i continue to pass all of my lessons on the first try, i'll be done mid june. that will hopefully translate into a gig working from home transcribing, which means that when this little boy makes his debut sometime in august, i'll have a paying gig. (not sure how the whole "i'm having a baby" thing will translate to the job, but the benefits to the employer are not that many "sick" days since i'm already home.) from what i've been told, around the middle of this part of the class (18 chapters & lessons) i'll be getting a call from the school to set up phone interviews, etc. if all goes the way it should, that should be happening around the end of the month. with the way the grading is timed out (once i turn in something, they have 4 business days to get the graded lesson back to me) i'll only have to worry about 1 chapter while we're on vacation, which is a good thing.

vrock's mom & sister are moving into a different house next month & they want him to come out and help them move. if he's still not working, that's not a huge deal, as they'll pay for his plane ticket. since i won't be working either, we've been debating the idea of me going with him, since after the baby is born i won't want to go ANYWHERE, much less to texas. so we'll see what happens. i can take all my school stuff with me, it'll just depend on how much i'm getting from unemployment & how much/if he's still getting unemployment. not to mention, our childbirth class starts on 5/5 (we'll be in hawaii) and runs every tues night. i don't want to miss any more than the one we have to miss since we'll be gone. so there's that to consider too.

a lot going on in the next couple of weeks but it's all good. and i feel calm. which is always a good thing.

t-minus 11

work days, that is.

eleven days. that just seems so weird!

it also means that i'm 4 weeks & 1 day away from leaving for hawaii for a family reunion of sorts. which means i'll get to see my brother & his fiancee' for the first time since she became his fiancee' in feb and that they'll get to see me for the first time since we told them at christmas that we're pregnant & asked them to be the godparents. all in all, i expect it to be a great vacation. i just hope i can find some decent maternity shorts between now and then.

and speaking of maternity clothes, why is it that if whatever article of clothing you're looking at ISN'T a solid color it's HIDEOUS??? i can't quite figure this out. i've found ONE, count it, ONE cute maternity top. (ie: something that ISN'T just a tshirt/tank top) ALL of the others that i've actually seen? FUGLY! i don't get it. you'd think SOMEONE would figure out how to make ALL maternity clothes cute. what's even worse? you find a cute shirt (in other words, you like the cut, etc.) but they've made it in the WORST possible print possible. i'm sorry. i don't feel the need to look like a circus tent when i go out in public.

that being said, this is what my maternity wardrobe consists of:

1. 1-black tank top
2. 1-grey tshirt
3. 2-royal blue tshirts (1 v-neck, 1 rounded neck)
4. 1-black tshirt
5. 1-red tshirt
6. 1-red polo type shirt
7. 1-cornflower blue tshirt style, with tie-backs
8. various xl or xxl victoria's secret/old navy tank tops
9. 3-pairs maternity jeans that i only have to pull up every other 5 minutes
10. 3-pairs black maternity yoga pants (SO COMFORTABLE!)
11. 1-pair jean shorts
12. 1-pair cotton type shorts (that i'm not sure will fit by hawaii)
13. 2-pair grey maternity pants, suitable for work

that is IT. i may have 2 other tank tops that are specifically maternity, but it's a bare bones wardrobe. i'll be 25 1/2 weeks by the time we leave for hawaii. i'd toyed with the idea of getting a maternity swim suit, but i may just try to wear one of my tankini's instead of buying something. i can't find ANY cute little sun dresses or anything like that to wear in hawaii, so this will be challenging.

any ideas where i can find ANYTHING that's cute? i've planned an outing to the local motherhood maternity at our outlets, probably the week after i'm done with work. (mom & i will no doubt also hit the carter's outlet there too, for the little guy.) i've gotten the few things i have at target & penneys. help!

news & other assorted tidbits

all kinds of things happened over the weekend & the early part of this week. and most of them were squarely in the "good" column. woot!

1. we found a crib. well, technically we were only really "browsing" for a crib, knowing full well that we can't afford to buy one unless we got a totally screaming deal. and then we found one. we didn't buy it though because we found out from my brother in law that we could use theirs. (and most likely we'll get to keep it since their youngest is almost 8 and they have no plans to have any more.) they apparently got a screaming deal on this crib (i've yet to see it, although vrock is going over there this weekend and he's going to take pictures for me.) and paid around $200 for a $600 crib in cherry wood. and it's a convertible, which is what i wanted. so, score!
2. my dad officially got the position that he applied for within his company, so he will NOT be laid of mid-april as we had originally anticipated. woot! granted, dad is 61 and had thoughts of taking early retirement if this job didn't pan out. for my mom's sake, i'm glad it did. with vrock still not working (more on that shortly) and me likely being out of a job next month (more on THAT shortly) i don't think mom could have handled it if ALL of us were home all of the time.
3. we got the ruling on vrock's unemployment mess. not sure if i detailed that fight here, but here's the short version: due to his surgery in oct, he had to "quit" his job. (he didn't really quit, they just told him to call back after he was released to duty and they'd put him back on the schedule. he'd only worked there like a week & a half.) he called after surgery & nobody ever called him back. then? they challenged his unemployment and he hasn't gotten paid since christmas week. he appealed and his hearing was last week. the old job didn't bother to call in. judge heard the complaint anyway and ruled in OUR FAVOR! woot! so we're looking at 10 weeks of pay that they owe us.
4. we DID get a deposit yesterday, but it wasn't for the full amount, so vrock is calling today to find out wtf is going on. since the judge ruled in our favor, they are supposed to pay the whole amount due. keep your fingers crossed on that.
5. vrock's been applying for EVERYTHING, but sadly there's no "new job" news there. there hasn't been a lot in the paper/online lately, but he's trying to stay positive.
6. i had gotten a call last week from one of the temp agencies that i'm hooked up with. there was a permanent full time position available & they wanted to send my resume. the place wants someone to start on 3/13. i haven't heard back from anyone about an interview, so i guess they passed on me. which frankly? i'm ok with. initially i was torn. yes, it's a job with more money & benefits and all that. but? i'm kinda looking forward to working from home as a transcriptionist and being able to be around for the baby. not to mention that the job was a little bit further away than where i'm working now and it would take FOREVER to get there on the bus. so there's that.
7. there's also the slim chance that i'll just be able to stay at my job. things with the industry have gotten interesting. my boss is still trying to see if he can keep me, but i'm not planning on that. it would be nice. but we'll just have to see what happens with that.

so there's the big news from around here. add to that finishing up the first half of the transcription course (i'll be taking my final either tomorrow or saturday) and trying to think of what i do and DO NOT want for my baby shower. things have been keeping me busy, to say the least. and all in all, that's a good thing. although, i have to admit that i'm kinda looking forward to the end of april when i don't have to get up at 7am to get ready to go to work and can instead work from home in my jammies. :)

countdown

so today's the 5th.

that means the following:

in 18 days i have my ultrasound and hopefully find out if we're being blessed with a little boy or a little girl.

in 43 days i'll be working my last day at my current job. (unless something happens between now & then. there IS a small possibility that i'll leave BEFORE 43 days, but i'll keep that to myself for the time being.)

in 57 days we leave for hawaii for the family reunion/my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.

somewhere between all these milestones, i need to finish my online transcription course (almost done with the first half and averaging 92% for the class so far!), interview for transcription jobs (that will start 14 chapters from now, once i'm halfway through the 2nd part of the class), go shopping for hawaii appropriate clothes (i think i have maybe 3 pairs of shorts that MIGHT fit by then since i'll be 25 weeks by then, if not, consignment stores here i come!) and various other things.

oh yeah, i also have to come up with a guest list for the baby shower my friend is planning for me. granted, i'm almost done with that, but still. it's one more thing to do. on top of all the reading i'm trying to cram in before the baby's born (plus that allows me to get rid of a lot of books too!) i almost wish i had the money for a kindle, so i could take like 5 books with me to hawaii and be able to read easily! hint hint stace! LOL

and when i say atlanta, i mean the braves

so the other day i posted about how ANNOYED i was with atlanta for prohibiting the seattle fans from getting their nostalgia fix by stealing ken griffey jr from us, the fans who were there for the first 11 years of his baseball life.

well. it seems that i may have to take a step back from dressing them down.

see, on tuesday, an atlanta paper published a story that jr had decided to sign with atlanta. which of course started a flurry of "atlanta sucks" comments & feelings from the seattle fans. and i was on that band wagon. (technically i still AM on that band wagon.) i'm not a national league girl. never have been. and i'm a true blue mariner fan & hometown fan kind of girl. (or homer, whichever you prefer.) about an hour or so after THAT story surfaced, was a denial by jr that he had chosen, yet.

so, there was still hope alive in the hearts of all jr fans that our beloved "kid" might, just MIGHT come home to be celebrated as he deserves.

this is a new position for most mariner fans. i can't recall another mariner who has gone to play with another team that would be welcomed home with such open arms & excitement. maybe jamie moyer, who now plays with philly. but that's about it. our greats have retired. edgar martinez, jay buhner. yes, we had randy johnson & alex rodriguez but i honestly don't think that mariner fans would want EITHER of them back, EVER. jr is the exception to that rule.

why? because he helped not only save baseball in seattle (1995 refuse to lose season anyone?) but he also helped to get our beautiful safeco field built. and he was a perennial all star for 10 of his 11 years here. and he's ALWAYS been a fan favorite. when he left the town was crushed. when he came back in 2007 he got a heroes welcome, even though he wore the opponents uniform. standing ovations. declarations of love from the fans. from the management.

and a declaration from jr himself that he wanted to return to seattle to finish his career. to retire a mariner. to go into the hall of fame as a mariner.

and atlanta swooped in at the last minute to try to turn that dream into a nightmare. and for that i'll never forgive them. luckily they didn't succeed and jr WILL return to the town that loves him. who is excited about baseball for the first time in a few years. yes, he's not the player he was in his prime. but he's a mariner. a family member that we've missed for the last 9 years. and i couldn't be happier.

but the braves? they can still suck it.

the braves can suck it

i am a die hard hometown fan kind of girl.

that said, i had hoped against hope that ken griffey jr would come home to seattle and resign with the mariners, even if it was only to end his career in the town that he helped save baseball in.

everything looked good for that for a while. and then the freaking atlanta braves swooped in at the 11th hour. and with that, seattle's dreams of welcoming home their beloved jr fell by the wayside.

i knew that it was a longshot that he'd actually come home. to a place where even after defecting 9 years ago, he received multiple standing ovations when he FINALLY returned to play ball (albeit as a visitor) in the last season or two. yes, i was longing for the nostalgic days. and yes, i realized that the chances weren't good once i heard that atlanta was in the mix.

but still. atlanta braves? you can suck it! you deprived this homer of a chance to reflect in the sweet nostalgic glow of one of baseball's good guys. and for that? i'll never forgive you.

settling in

i tried to post this yesterday & blogger ate my post. let's see if it "sticks" today.

life is slowly getting back to normal after the move. all of the big moving/storage issues are pretty much settled. there are still a few boxes & bags to go through and unpack/donate/trash but thankfully those number only about a dozen or so.

since we have limited room in our closet, i've been packing away items of clothing that i don't want to get rid of, but that i can't actually WEAR at the present moment. i'm not entirely sure if my belly has "popped" since i was a little chubbier than i'd like when i got pregnant. it definitely seems bigger to me though. LOL

since things are finally calming down, i'll be able to pick up the medical transcription course again and start studying. i'm halfway through the first class & have taken the midterm. i'm hoping to finish by the end of march if not sooner.

things at work are still kind of up in the air. since the initial push that preceeded me getting the 90 day extension, things have slowed a bit. which means, if it slows enough i'll be out before mid april when the extension was set to expire. we'll see what happens. we need the insurance, so i hope that doesn't happen (since i don't really want to pay for cobra a month or two early if i don't have to.) but part of me really would like to just be able to sleep in & study & look for jobs while getting unemployment. we'll have to see how that goes.

i have no words

ok, that's so not true.

i have MANY words. most of them heated/angry/incredulous, in fact.

i read a story this morning about the "octuplet mom" in california. you know the one. the one who already had SIX (count them, SIX) children UNDER THE AGE OF SEVEN when she got pregnant. the one who is an unmarried, "full time student" that expects (at least from what i've read) her parents to shoulder the burden. the one who DESPITE the 6 kids, unmarried status, non job working PROCEEDED to not only use fertility drugs (yes, i'm assuming that fertility drugs were used because 8 babies does not happen naturally unless you're a cat!), but chose not to selectively reduce when it was discovered that there were SEVEN fetuses. (the 8th wasn't found until she was in the delivery room.) and the one who EXPECTS someone to PAY her TWO MILLION dollars to share her "story" and "parenting expertise".

these are the first words i had when reading that little tidbit:

WHAT

THE

FUCK??

now, i'm all for people having babies. i completely understand the draw & desire to have children. and i understand that for some, fertility drugs are the ONLY way that the dream of children can become a reality.

BUT.

for a woman who ALREADY has six kids? fertility drugs/egg stimulation/etc should NOT have been an option. AT ALL. i could ALMOST understand it if she had ONE prior child, maybe two and had turned to fertility treatments to conceive THOSE kids due to problems in previous pregnancies. (a la John & Kate Gosselin who'd had twins, wanted one more & ended up with 6 more.) not only do i believe that the doctors who assisted her in this folly should come up before some type of review board, i think that the state/federal governments should REFUSE to assist this woman with any type of money. (i know that sounds harsh, as the babies themselves did NOTHING wrong and shouldn't be punished for the stupidity of their mother. but still.)

i'm just floored at the things that continue to come out about this story. such as the woman's parents have hinted that their daughter may have some sort of mental illness. um, HELLO?!?!?!? did NO ONE think that after 6 kids MAYBE she should have been "fixed"??

nothing about this "spectacle" is easy or in black & white. there are 14 fatherless kids to think about. 8 of whom are still in the hospital fighting to get off of machines. the children are not at fault. i have MANY ideas as to what should happen to the mother in all of this. none of those ideas have a good outcome for the children however. it just makes me immensely sad that in today's world where there are so many people who struggle to have one baby, there are women like this that feel no compunction at all to have children that they are ill prepared to care for.

and the worse part? it's sounding more & more like this woman PURPOSEFULLY got pregnant with these babies to capitalize on the publics fascination with multiples. unless i'm TOTALLY misreading the stories, she PLANNED to sell her story and wanted to try to get a reality show/sponsors/etc.

i understand wanting the american dream. but at the expense of your own children? shame on you lady.

the countdown begins

so i found out yesterday that my brother & his girlfriend are coming for christmas. yay! they were here in october for his 35th birthday and we saw them in april for our wedding, so this is a good year. (we typically only see them once, maybe twice a year. 3 times in one year is a record. although, now that i think about it, we'll be seeing them AGAIN in may when we all go to hawaii for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. so, FOUR times within a 13 month period. that'll be a tough record to break.)

where was i? oh yeah. so they're coming on the 26th and leaving on the 1st. this is typical for them as it allows them to spend time with her family on the actual holiday. and we don't mind pushing christmas dinner & opening presents back a day or so if they're coming up. it also makes the hassle of thanksgiving (2 family deals 45 minutes of travel time apart) obsolete.

as i was reading his email yesterday i realized that holy crap, christmas is only 21 (now 20) days away! and i'm not done shopping. i have NO idea what to get my dad this year and mom's been no help in that department. i'm already done with my brother (amazing in itself) and i'm almost done with his gf's stuff. vrock is done and with one or two minor things to get for everyone else, we're pretty much done. i'll be doing some baking this weekend which will round out the gifts and then it'll be time to pack up the boxes for shipping.

this time of year is always a whirlwind for me and it always seems that christmas comes & goes much too fast. i wonder if it will always be like that? i've noticed (much more so this year than ever before) that the things i've looked forward to (predominately the wedding) have snuck up on me much sooner than i'd anticipated and then POOF, they're done. what happened to the time when you could savor something?

so NOT the way to get me to do something

have you ever had one of those "friends"? maybe someone you knew casually or someone that you worked with but didn't socialize with outside of work?

i have one of those. someone that i USED to work with. someone who i was friendly enough with while we were working together, but not someone i'd consider a "friend" friend, if you know what i mean. i've never seen her outside of the work environment. we don't talk on the phone. we don't meet for lunch. she's an acquaintance. i don't dislike her by any means. we just don't hang out.

she's moving to las vegas next month. she had twins about a year - year and a half ago, on her own. she gets season tickets to the seattle mariners every year and usually when i hear from her it's as part of a mass mailing trying to sell tickets that she can't use.

so i got an email from her (not just to me, mind you) stating that she needed some help with her garage sale this weekend and with another one she has planned for 10/11 - 10/12 for anything she doesn't want to take that's left over after she packs up the moving van. i'm still unpacking from our move and my weekends have become my refuge. MY time. yes, it's time i share with vrock. he IS my husband after all. (and with him starting his new job this week, i've barely seen him as he's going in as i'm getting home and i go to bed right after he gets home.) i very occassionally will do something with a friend on the weekend. this saturday vrock will be going over to his brother's to watch the texas football game & then coming home sometime on sunday (i think before the cowboy game). which means i essentially have saturday to myself.

in theory i could go and help out at the garage sale. and i MIGHT have done just that. (another gal that we worked with, who i ADORE and who actually traveled down to vegas from seattle for my wedding, is going to go help out and i haven't seen her since june.)

except for this: "So, I beg…If you are my friend, can you please help on one of these days?"

if you are my friend? what?!?! i barely know this woman. it's not like we became real friends from working together and hang out all the time. or EVER! it just really rubbed me the wrong way. could i go and help her out? yeah, i probably could, even though i've been making a concerted effort to not drive around too much. (my car was doing some weird things a little while back and while it hasn't happened in about 1000 miles, i don't like to drive it very far.) one, gas is still expensive. two, she lives about 25 miles away. that roundtrip would take at least 1/4 tank of gas. three, even though vrock is working it's not a lot of money per hour and he won't get paid until next week for this week so money is really tight right now.

and of course, there's always the fourth reason: i don't like to be "guilted" into doing something. it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. and seriously. the only people who i let get away with that are my mother, vrock (although he wisely doesn't try it often) and a few choice friends. real friends.

you know, the kind you'd go to jail for.

seriously?!?!?!?!?

beware. rant ahead!

ok. i know that people magazine is an "entertainment" rag. i know that the majority of the stories they cover relate in some way, shape or form to the celebrity industry.

but.

a COVER story of clay aiken outing himself??

not only is it NOT news that he prefers men but there is ABSOLUTELY no reason for it to be the COVER story. i suppose "technically" it's a story because he's never admitted it before. fine. then have a little blurb in the magazine with the details. fine.

but a cover? seriously?

i guess there was absolutely NO other newsworthy stories out of hollyweird last week.

*i could care less if he's gay/straight/crooked/green/purple/whatever. i believe that whatever preference someone has is their own business & it's not for me to judge. i'm just incredulous that not only was this deemed a "big" story but that it was deemed important enough to put on the cover. aren't there other more important things going on in the world right now???