Thursday, May 31, 2007

i DO have better things to do, but this is more fun...

1. If you were to attend a costume party tonight, what or whom would you go as? an eggplant
2. What is your choice of toppings on a hamburger? And do you prefer gas or charcoal grilling? ketchup, mustard, and pickle; tomato sometimes, a little onion sometimes, and sometimes mayo instead of mustard. don't care how it's grilled
3. You are chosen to have lunch with the President. The condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask? how do you sleep at night?
4. It's your first day of vacation, what are you doing? running frantically wherever i was supposed to be yesterday
5. What is your concession stand must-have at the movies? M&Ms. also learned about 9 years ago that if you take a small child to the movies, you must buy them popcorn, or they will eat it off the floor and out of other people's boxes.
6. Which do you dislike most: pop-up ads or spam email? spam
7. What do you think Captain Hook's name was before he had a hook for a hand? Captain Hook
8. Rock, paper, or scissors? scissors
9. How long was it from 'the first date' until the proposal of marriage? How long until the wedding? first date Thanksgiving 1990, proposal August-ish 1993, wedding April 29, 1995.
10. Which is worse, being in a place that is too loud, or too quiet? too loud - and everyplace is!
11. What is one quality that you really appreciate in a person? enjoying my sense of humor
12. At the good old general store, what particular kind of candy would you expect to be in the big jar at the counter? horehound candy - tho it's nasty!
13. What is the most distinguishing landmark in your city? the water tower
14. Everyone hears discussions that they consider boring. What topic can put you to sleep quicker than any other? don't need help sleeping
15. Where are your favorite places to shop? online - amazon.com
16. If you had to have the same topping on your vanilla ice cream for the rest of your life, what topping would you choose? Magic Shell turtle - mmm!
17. What food item would need to be removed from the market altogether in order for you to live a healthier, longer life? french fries
18. You are offered an envelope that you know contains $50. You are then told that you may either keep it or exchange it for another envelope that may contain $500 or may be empty. Do you keep the first envelope, or do you take your chances with the second? take my chances - $500 is a heckuvalot better than $50; $50 doesn't help much
19. If you had to choose, which would you give up: cable TV, or DSL/cable internet? already gave up cable TV! and works pays for my cable internet, which i couldn't live without.
20. What is your highest level of education? "some college"
21. What is your pet's name? Milly and Sparky, tiger cats
22. What kind of lunch box did you have as a kid? i only remember the smell of the new plastic...
23. What would you rather have, a nanny, a housekeeper, a cook, or a chauffeur? probably a cook; i don't want a nanny, and i'd rather have good food than a clean house. and both DH and i LOVE to drive.
24. Would you rather be trapped in an elevator, or stuck in traffic? NO! traffic, b/c i wouldn't feel claustrophobic, and i could get out of the car if i had to.
25. Lets say a brick fell on your foot, and your kid is standing right next to you, what is your 'cleaned up' swear word? um, they've gotten used to me cussing while hormonal, and i would just say SHIT!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

8 months and counting

can i have my fricking epidural NOW? the stupid Braxton-Hicks are getting strong enough that i'd better have the shortest labor on record! (in my family, at least; that won't be hard.) they HURT and the doctors just say, well, if you go into real labor, we won't stop you, and if you don't, it doesn't matter. excuse me? it matters if i'm in pain!

but they don't do pelvics. i don't understand why they're "routine" so many places if i don't need one. they think i'm a freak for wanting one, but why do they do them if they're not important?

just give me the damn epidural and i'll stop bitching.

thank you.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

one more "kids today"

my mom tells me stories about when SHE was a kid. my grandma was a smoker, and mom was riding in the cart, when grandma threw packs of cigarettes into it. mom saw the cigarettes disappear into her mother's mouth, so she figured she ate them. mom proceeded to eat two or more packs of cigarettes before getting to checkout.

do you think they took her to the EMERGENCY ROOM? i don't think they even took her to the doctor. and she was sick.

so, i'm typing this report, where a 2-year-old gets a piece of nicotine gum dad had already chewed, and swallows it. they rush her to the emergency room. for one bitty piece that the drugs were probably already chewed out of.

do we spoil our kids? yes. is it maybe sometimes a good idea? well, heck yeah! i'd at least have called Poison Control myself. but it is a sharp contrast, close to 60 years later.

PS: Mom says she was in the backseat of the car, actually, and it may have only been one pack of cigarettes. Nonetheless - she didn't get any medical attention, and she didn't ever smoke a cigarette herself. Great deterrent - let's feed butts to ALL kids!

Friday, May 25, 2007

kids today

got back from the child psychologist's office, where he says "today's parents are the first generation to put the kids first in everything. they're spoiled rotten!" to find the following on one of my chat boards. you WILL laugh.

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways ... yadda, yadda, yadda. And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up our selves, in the card catalog!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter ... with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! (if that!) With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics were horrible! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your a$$ and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up. We had to use the stove or go build a fire..imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about!

You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes way back in 1980!

Regards, The over 30 Crowd

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

a survey to distract us

NB: i'm planning on just deleting any questions that would be too boring to answer...



1. If your doctor said you were pregnant, what would you do? i'd KICK him and say "when did you notice?"

2. Do you trust all of your friends? yup

3. Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love? done it more than once

4. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? mostly

5. Name two things you would NOT tolerate in a relationship. cheating and lying

6. Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor? me

7. When was the last time you snuck out? i fantasize now, but too much keeps me home. :p

8. Are you afraid of falling in love? well, it would certainly be inconvenient at this point!

9. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times? lotsa folks. HI, folks!

10. Would you stop talking to your friends because you hooked up with a new person? oh, they'd probably drop me flat!

11. When was the last time you flew in a plane? last summer

12. What did the last text message you sent say? i don't text

13. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? muscles and kindness

14. Fill in the blank. I like... surveys?

15. What are your goals in life? um, to be happy, raise my kids up happy... try not to bitch DH out daily (or hourly, depending on the mood). i want to grow up to be a happy old lady, not a witchy one like some in my family.

NB: I did NOT delete #16; it came without!

17. When you get married, how would you envision your dream wedding? if i did it again, totally BEACH and sundress at sunset kinda thing.

18. If you could say just one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? boxcar

19. If you were to wake up from being in a coma for an extended period of time, name some people you would call? well, i haven't been in touch with lotsa folks for so long they might THINK i'm in a coma... but my kids would be first!

20. How many kids do you want to have? 3 - and i was RIGHT!

21. Would you make a good parent? if i weren't already one i might answer this

22. Where was your default pic taken? que?

23. What is your middle name? Anne. thus, my pirate name is Annie Yellowsticks.

didn't delete these either - cool, somebody else shrunk them!

27. Honestly, what’s on your mind right now? money troubles

29. If you could go back in time and change something, what would you change? something selfish, i'm sure; i'd make me stay in college and get a degree that meant something

30. Shoe size: 11

31. What are you wearing right now? green maternity V-neck and khaki stretchy skirt

32. Righty or lefty: righty tighty lefty loosey

33. Can you make a dollar in change right now? probly

34. Best place to go for a date: OUT!

35. Favorite jeans: the cheap ones i got at "Once Upon a Child"

the ghost in the machine strikes again...

37. Favorite animal: deer

38. Favorite month: April

39. Favorite juice: prob. OJ

40. Have you had the chicken pox? when i was like 3.


41. Have you had a sore throat? ever? what a stupid question.

42. Have you had plastic surgery? Not yet

43. Who knows you the best? the Good Lord (go ahead alana, poke fun) - or maybe my mommy

44. Do you get along with your family? mostly

45. Do you wear contact lenses or glasses? only for close work; i had LASIK and am 20/20 but get headaches if i don't correct the astigmatism when i stare at the computer all day.

46. too stupid to save!

47. Been to Mexico? nope.

why are these ALWAYS incomplete?

49. Did you buy something today? not yet, but it's time for the milk run

50. Did you get sick today? stuffy head, sure

are other people deleting the stupidest questions too?

52. Do you miss someone today? totally miss my brain

53. Did you get in a fight with someone today? no, but give me a chance - hormones may yet strike at random!

54. Did you have sex today? are we running out of good ideas for questions?

55. Last person to sleep in your bed? me

56. Last person to see you cry? DH - before that, random people outside the video game store when i totally lost it

57. Who made you cry? how presumptuous that it should be someone, when in fact it was stress and hormones

58. What was the last TV show you watched? don't remember - oh yeah, it was Biggest Loser

looks like this one was forgotten, too

60. What are your plans for the weekend? yard sale, baby!

Monday, May 21, 2007

update again

well, it's never a dull moment, anyway!

i got my glucose test kit wednesday. i called friday b/c the numbers were consistently high (over 200 frequently, with 120 being the goal) and i wanted to know if i should do anything differently before monday. so they put me on insulin. (another doctor visit, more prescriptions!)

it's no fun pricking your fingers for levels and shooting insulin into your fat rolls all day every day. but we do what we have to. the hardest part, worse than the shots, is the COST! it was $50 for test strips and lancets, and $100 for insulin and needles. they'll likely be increasing my dose gradually, and i can't afford that, either!

plus i've used all my PTO to cover time i used to clean house and doctor appointments. how the heck are we going to manage having a BABY?

well, i'm looking forward to feeling less tired and more energetic. everybody i say that to says they want some of what i'm getting. i'm like, no, you really don't. even a test addict (when trying to conceive, we call ourselves pee-on-a-stick addicts, or POAS for short) like myself got sick of pricking fingers after three days. it's still kinda cool to get the results in 5 seconds flat.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

the headless chicken

THURSDAY UPDATE
(don't ask why it's a "thursday" update, just accept it...)

got up, force-fed Da Boyz, got them off to school, as i do every day.

then, i got a shower (no more stinky mom! woohoo!). go to head out and the car wouldn't start. it's got a glitch in the ignition and doesn't always. after i turned the key 20+ times, it finally caught. start your day with a bowl of STRESS, why don'tcha?

went to pick up #1 son from school to go to the psychologist, where he had testing for an hour. kept falling asleep while waiting - or at least tried, but wasn't comfy enough and my skirt wouldn't stay down... plus i got a call that my house would show at 5:30. Son was a little fried after all that, so i took him with me to Sam's for our usual run, to give him a short break before returning to school.

dropped off the food, dropped off the kid, returned home and had lunch. felt like splurging, so i hit McDonald's. they got my order wrong and gave me a Big Mac. i truly hate them (as you may remember!), but had to eat, so i did.

clocked in, tried to work. kept falling asleep. finally gave up (over an hour on one report) and took a nap.

then the kids get home from school. we all ran around tidying the place up for 20 minutes and headed to my OB appt.

where they asked me if i'd gotten a call about failing my one-hour glucose test. due to my other stresses (like getting the house ready to show, exhaustion and pain whenever i did anything, etc.), i did not have time to go for a longer test (they call it 3-hour, but it takes 4 hours), and i wouldn't have had the mental energy to face the diet anyway. so i didn't do it.

so when i said, yeah, i got the call, but i didn't go for the test, they asked me why, and i explained. they said, your one-hour is so high, and you have 4+ sugar in your urine, you don't need the test, just start the diet and the monitor TODAY. then they explained Erb's syndrome and that permanent birth defects CAN occur even now. to which i said, ok, i'll do what you tell me!

the first thing they told me to do was to wait until the diabetic educator could meet with me and learn what i needed to do. great. still have to clean house. learned how to sample blood, how NOT to dispose of sharp (gashed thumb open), and how to adjust my diet this week. 3:40 appt., finally left at 5:00.

got home at 5:10, still had to tidy kitchen and baths. got kids working, started wiping things down. we were going to a church potluck to keep us busy while the showing took place. as we were finishing up (just in time), #1 son threw the duster up in the stairwell to try to get some of the high cobwebs, and broke the lamp.

so we cleaned up glass and left at 5:40.

after the dinner was a talent show. i was exhausted and left early. DH met us at church at 6:45 (he got home early!) and had dinner, wrapped things up after i left.

came home and crashed. exhaustion is a symptom of gestational diabetes. can i blame it all on that? only time will tell. but my sugars are really bad - fasting this morning was over 160.

further bulletins as events warrant. i'm working as long as i can stay awake today!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

DEEP THOUGHTS

i'm having plenty of deep thoughts, i'm just not retaining them long enough to post... i keep trying to capture them, but they're elusive like butterflies.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

and SAD epiphanies

#1 son asked about childhood fables the other day. specifically, santa, easter bunny, et al.

he asked me a couple of weeks/months ago if they were mom and dad, and i said "if you think they are, you're probably right." he decided that he thought they were real and that was right.

turns out, some (cursed) kid at school (!) has been telling him they're only make-believe. so he asked again, and we had to talk, and have the painful growing-up discussion. i told him yes, mom and dad do the work, but believing in such things is what makes childhood magical, and they're real if you believe; not tangible, but real. he actually got choked up. my poor baby.

then he asked if God was real, and of course i said yes. and he replied "I knew it!"

this poor kid had a teacher tell the class they were too old to believe in fairy tales in 3rd grade. i said he should reply "people who believe in magical things have happier lives than people who don't." same applies here. now the KIDS in 4th grade are interfering with his childhood. gr.

he's an emotional person, and loves fairy tales and suchlike, and wants to be a children's book author and illustrator. i think he can believe as long as he likes! he's not even 10 until next month!

i try to be honest at all times with my boys, and the one thing i told him was that he was NOT allowed to talk to his little brother about this stuff. they're 2.5 years apart and have a typical brotherly relationship; violence is a daily event. but he hasn't spoken of it.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

epiphanies

#1 son discovered Big Macs yesterday. took him to McDonald's, and he liked the picture, so he ordered it. his one complaint - it was TOO SMALL.

kids grow up too damn fast. but it's so fun to watch them discover things. even things _I_ don't like. i'm a quarter pounder girl.

we had another "AHA" moment later in the day, but i can't remember it. yes, i hide my own easter eggs.

Friday, May 04, 2007

funniest pic

ok, all my regular readers (snort!), you MUST go to dooce today and see her photo. it's just too funny. (click the link under "favorite places," or whatever i named that box.)