Sometimes I forget...

You would think that after all the time that has passed after my weight loss surgery that I would remember that I have to be careful what I eat.  That is not the case.

Today I made myself ill by consuming a banana nut muffin.  It tasted really good, but the gummy nature of the muffin and (I'm guessing) the compromised tummy due to the baby caused me to feel immediately sick. 

Throwing up isn't a desired action, but the muffin wasn't going "down" so it had to come up.  Its moments like this that I'm thankful I work at home.  I was able to lay down for 20 minutes and recover.

With a newly cleared tummy I'll be focusing on my water intake. I'm still puffy in the legs - and believe it or not, the cure for water retention is MORE WATER.  Seems counterproductive, but I'll take a full bladder over these stumps.

I don't see myself as Big TP anymore, but I can not eat the way I use to, no matter how much time has passed.  Most of my eating habits are just that, habitual and don't feel strange anymore.  Last night I ate half of my chicken sandwich and a few of the super yummy fries and brought the remainder of my dinner home.  Two hours later when I was hungry again I ate most of the second half of the sandwich.  When I first had my surgery I felt sheepish about dining in public and the amount of food I was either taking home or leaving behind.  Now, I realize that most restaurant portions are enormous and the fact that I make a dent is enough.  Smart ordering also helps take focus off my plate.   It has been ages since I've been asked if my food was acceptable or since the server has offered to not charge me for the food I'm not eating.  (I only let that happen once, and my meal WAS very much undercooked.)



Thankfully, my issues with food digestion don't happen too often.  Usually it is related to sugar intake (I had to break up with ice cream) which may have contributed to the "return of the muffin" and I will remember the sugar issue for a while.   Some treats have to be consumed.  The cake that Jen left behind had to be sampled.  I did make an effort to have a tiny portion, but alas...even the wafer thin slice was too much for me.   The beautiful and tasty cake has been removed from the house and I'm better for it.


So, there is new item to the list of foods to avoid:  Costco banana muffins.  They are tasty, but not kind to me. 

For the record, even after all this time and these issues that pop up I'm still very happy I chose this route.  Being reminded from time to time that what I put in my face still really matters isn't a bad thing.  I know I'm going to have some work to do after Lucy comes, but I'm up for the challenge.  I will get my body back!  Heck, if you believe the pro-breastfeeding hype, I should be back into my pre-pregnancy shape within months.  (I actually think it will take more than a few months, but I'm willing to work at it.)

Slight topic change:  I'm listening to the big iPod, but must be on some strange music play list because I just went from a Rush song to a Christmas carol.  I must do something about that. I can't handle the musical diversity.

More about me...

As if this entire blog isn't TP central...

It appears as if our discussions in early 2010 have resulted in the undeniable fact that there's a baby coming into our world VERY VERY soon. 

I have been trying to enjoy our last nights of uninterrupted sleep and quiet.  Of course, the actual pregnancy does get in the way of that somewhat, but last night I only had to get up twice.  That's probably more of a sign that I needed to drink more water yesterday, but only having to visit the loo at 12:45 and again at 5am was delightful. 

I've been having adventure dreams of late and seldom am I pregnant or a mother in these dreams.  In my dreams the world needs to be saved and I'm right there in the middle.  I'm sure that's my sub-conscience telling me that soon the life of a small being will be in my hands. 

Too late, I'm already feeling very protective of the belly.  Someone pulled out in front of us in the Target parking lot and Jason's excellent braking skills enabled us to avoid hitting the jerk in the blue beater it almost brought me to tears. Emotionally, I am right on the edge.

Sunday the church sermon was about 'God's will" and letting things be the way they are meant to be.  That doesn't mean that because you're a churchy person that bad things won't happen to you, but when the bad things happen God will be at your side.  A reasonable argument when you consider that kind of support generally comes in the form of family and friends.    To make his point, Pastor Kirby told a story of a family who was a few days away from having their first child and without explanation the baby died.  For anyone this is a terribly sad story but in my current emotional state it threw me into the teary place that was hard to recover from.  I don't know how anyone would be expected to deal with that.  My heart breaks for that family.

In happier news, I think maybe the house is ready to welcome a small person.  I'm as ready as I'm going to be, Jason seems ready so it's just a matter of Lucy being ready.  Tomorrow we have another appointment and hopefully the OB will give us some news that we're on our way.

First babies are notoriously late, but maybe Lucy will be a punctual child.  Jason's dad's birthday is Thursday and I know he's holding out some hope that they will share a birthday.  That would be fine by me, as long as she waits until AFTER my hair appointment tomorrow.  (selfish mommy wants to have her "stripe" removed.)

Other folks are angling for a Valentine's day baby, but I don't really want that.  There's too much pressure for kid's birthdays to make it a darned holiday.  

We'll see, and as we learned on Sunday... whatever will be will be.  If I'm still pregnant in March, what will be will be a cranky bitchy TP... so let's just hope for Jason's sake that that isn't that case. 

'Nuff Said

When invited to an event... RSVP.  It is polite to let the hosts know if you'll be attending.  It's far better to say no, without an explanation rather than ignore the invitation.

(For the record, I DID let this slide without mention the first time around, but the second occurrence feels like a trend and I doubt further invitations will be extended.)

tp comments on current events

Don't expect great insight... my last journey down this path resulted in the anonymous scolding from a bright scholarly dude, so I preface this with a caveat I'm not a journalist or pretending to be one of our worlds best thinkers, this is just me with my own opinions (and some I'm agreeing with others on).

1) “Who the fuck is Kim Kardashian? Some stupid old tart from somewhere or other."
- Elton John

 TP Responds:  Bwahahahahaha.  Couldn't agree more Mr. Dwight!


2) The Egyption protesters tell Mubarak that tonight is the night that he must go. 

TP Responds:  It's a brave, amazing thing to stand up to 30 years of the same old same old (it maybe even fair to call it a dictatorship) and demand change.  However, a change in power literally overnight is likely a bad idea.  September is only seven months away, fair elections with multiple parties running will allow the voice of ALL the people to count, not just those of you on the streets.  Just because you're yelling the loudest right now doesn't mean you represent every Egyptian citizen. Thank you, good night.

3) Global Warming is a joke.  (Generalized comments from multiple parties.)

TP Responds:  Oh My Word, are you serious!?  Take a peak at the polar caps and see that they are getting smaller.  Take a driving trip to the Canadian Rockies where they are tracking the shrinking glaciers.   Just because you're buried under 8 feet of snow right now doesn't mean that global warming isn't happening.   I'm not a meteorlogist, but I saw the movie "Day After Tomorrow" like 8 times and I learned a few things:

• Jake Gyllenhaal is a cutie.
• Apparently you can snow shoe from DC to New York in just a couple days, as long as you have a Wendy's kitchen to camp out in.
• Even minor changes in the gulf stream can result in catastrophic weather phenomenon.  

4) Gifford's Husband to command the shuttle.

TP responds:  Good for him!  A month ago the decision probably would have been different, but she's stable and from my expansive knowledge (of what I've seen watching TLC Life in the ER) the recovery from a traumatic brain injury is a very long journey, taking years.  I would want my astronaut commander husband to go.  She's in great hands and will continue her recovery regardless of if he's in the room for the next two weeks or not.  Plus, imagine the sweet gifts he'll be bringing back from the airport.  I bet it will be better than some crappy San Jose t-shirt purchased at Hudson News.

5) Prisoners in Monroe facility identifed as dangerous.

TP Responds:   Too often in movies we see the snuffing of prison staff as a split second action by the bad guy who 90 minutes later after lots of things blow up and our hero(es) save the day gets hauled back to jail triumphantly.  We cheer and go home happy that our $12.75 ticket price was worth it.  In reality, prisons are a complicated and ugly ecosystem, where the people running the show are trying to identify the right balance between cruel treatment and relative freedoms that can result in the loss of life.  The death of even fellow prisoners is unacceptable and I hope each and every facility in our country makes an honest assessment of the privileges granted to folks behind bars and that that effort results in the prevention of future loss of life to the employees and inmates.


6) Meredeth Kercher's family unhappy about US film that centers on Amanda Knox. 

TP Responds:  Well, no sh*t.  It is neither shocking nor unexpected that this grieving family would bristle at the idea that their loss is being turned to entertainment.  It is an admittedly ugly side of US entertainment that this little reenactment of a sensational story was made and will be viewed by many folks in the US.  (NOT IN MY HOUSEHOLD.)  Believe what you will about evidence and Ms. Knox's guilt or innocence the fact remains that Ms. Kercher WAS murdered and it isn't entertainment.  Yes, we are free to make such 'movies' and the choice is ours to see it or not, but I'm disgusted by the fascination.  If it helps at all Mr. Kercher, I'm sorry for your loss and the further violation that this "movie" is inflicting on your family.

7) Anderson Cooper a "little bit scared" and moves to an undisclosed location in Egypt.

TP Responds:  Does anyone else think that just *maybe* CNN is sensationalizing this story for the ratings?  I'm cynical, but I can't help but think that CNN wants to be part of the reporters getting beat up story.    My Jim Foreman spidey senses are tingling.

8) Jesse Jones retruns to King 5.

TP Responds:  After taking time off to deal with a serious health issue I'm happy to see this silly reporter person return.  He's such a character and I think his niche in our local news market is funny.  Welcome back..(yell it with me) JesseJones!

9) Charlie Sheen



TP Responds:  Parroting and paraphrasing something someone else said - "Dude, you're a parent.  Your time to party like a porn star is over.  Grow up, put your big boy pants on and go to rehab." 

Your tv show makes me sad.  I wonder are you acting or is it easier for the writers to let you portray yourself as the drunken lowlife you are in real life????   Get help.  If Lyndsay can do it, so can you. 







Finally 
10) The length of a mother's employment is associated with an increase in her child's body mass index, according to a study in the journal Child Development.

TP Responds:  oh great, another reason to feel guilty about being a working mom.

reality vs. the internet

online pix

what was delivered

 Sigh... the above is what I requested and this is what was delivered.

It is pretty, but not the put together snug ensemble that I wanted.

I did ask them to not use the happy birthday box, but would trimming the stems have been difficult?

It's too bad the lady that did our wedding flowers isn't available to send flowers for me all over the state...

Taking the high road

Damn it...

I was in the middle of drafting a petty, nasty blog about how my darling brother who never EVER EVER acknowledges gifts or sends anything but a Christmas card with just my last name on the envelope sent a very thoughtful and sweet baby gift for Lucy.   The nasty part wasn't about the sweet and super adorable blanket embroidered with her name that I 110% love, but about my conflict of sending a thank you note.

I was all down the moral high road of suggesting sending him the Emily Post Etiquette book or pre-printed thank you notes:

Dear __________________,

Thank you for the gift / money / thing.
I thought it was:
___  Thoughtful.
___  Cheap.
___  Strange, I don't really know what it is.
___  Um, nice.

Love, ___________________

I was even bitching about how the lack of acknowledgment of gifts has been magically transcended to his lovely children and that a whole new generation of people think nothing of accepting gifts without any kind of "hey thanks".

Having received a wonderful gift for Miss Lucy and being genuinely touched by the thoughtfulness I struggled for about 10.2 seconds before drafting my thank you note.  I was feeling superior about the fact that even though the trend has been set that you 'can' send a gift without expecting a 'thanks!' or an "I got it", I sent a note anyway.  Not only that it was written without malice or tone, just a true "I LOVE IT, thank you!".

In the middle of all this superiority bullshit I got a text from a dear friend who has not been well and it turns out she's been in the hospital since Tuesday.  She wanted to let me know that she wouldn't make it to the baby shower on Saturday and her gift would be late.   I feel like a selfish bitch for a) not checking in on her sooner and b) thinking only of my silly little world when she's struggling with a frustrating illness that wants to knock her off her feet.   Just because location and schedules don't make it easy to get together it doesn't mean she's not deep in my heart and I hope she knows I would trade my favorite shoes and fabulous purse for her health issue to magically go away.  (You may think shoes and a purse are silly, but SHE understands the value of which I write.)    As for the shower and the gift... I told her that that stuff doesn't matter. 

Knowing that the plague has been going around my house I wouldn't have popped up to visit,  because a person already in the hospital doesn't need to be exposed to the lingering effects of the poop/vomit bug.  I'm also sure the nursing staff would have beaten my head with a broom had I dropped in and they heard about the virus.  But had I known earlier I could have dropped her into my nightly discussions with the big man upstairs or at least sent her a dirty text everyday to brighten her day.   (yes, I know those things kind of conflict, but she has a good sense of humor.)

Anyway, I'm feeling like a tool and wishing I could do something for her. 

Security Message of the Day

Passwords are like pants.

You shouldn't leave them out where people can see them.
You should change them regularly.
You shouldn't loan them out to strangers.

Multi-tasking

In classic TP fashion I'm multi-tasking.

Work on one computer and taxes on the other.

YUCKO

One day at a time

Feeling much better.  Still not hungry, but I forced myself to eat lunch as the baby needs nourishment.

I did shower and get dressed in real clothes.  Yesterday I went from my sleepy outfit to clean pj's to and yet other set of clean pj's for bed. Exciting.  I felt pretty good yesterday but had a couple sessions in the restroom with the throwing up.

Today, at almost 3pm I'm happy to say that there has been no vomiting (or the other issue) and I've been able to focus on work all day (until now that is.)

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to leave the house today.  I have no agenda but am kind of sick of these walls. 

The only lingering effects are very sore ribs, a house that didn't get any attention over the weekend and I feel like I want to take a nap every time I do the stairs.  Part of the stair exhaustion is simply the breathing issue, but that's the baby not my virus.    We did pack the hospital bag yesterday, which only took me an hour to pull together 1 set of clean loose clothing, 2 pairs of socks, lip balm and my toiletries (which were already put together)

I'm so thankful that this event didn't occur next Friday or the baby shower that's taking place here Saturday would be a total bust (and really not a safe place for my lovely lady friends.)

Sometime over the next 5 days there has to be a housecleaning and while I'm jazzed that Friday is a housekeeper day, we must remember she only does the kitchen, floors and two bathrooms.  Picking up the blankets and sweaters and sock debris from the tv areas are my own responsibility.  (boo hoo)  Damn my inability to carry a pile of items back to their homes on each trek up the stairs. 

No matter, Jas will help with the house organization and chair movement to the family room.  He doesn't want a gaggle of my friends to think we never sort the mail (we don't but no one needs to see the pile on the kitchen island.)

That's it for now, thanks for your concern and we'll be back to baby watch 2011 shortly.

Yuck

Well that was a rough day.  I was up at 4am and hit with what I'm assuming is (was) a virus.  Vomiting and the lesser fun expulsion of 'stuff' from my person started shortly thereafter. 

I moved to the couch in our loft to avoid waking Jason (and to be in a bathroom far far away).  At 7:30 I heard him get up and then go back to bed.  I assumed he would see I wasn't in bed, but the pregnancy pillow is a perfect body substitute (make a mental note if you're ever going to try to break out of prison, the pregnancy pillow and some hair and you can fool the guards into thinking you're still in your cell.)

What I didn't know is that he didn't go back to sleep, he was quietly entertaining himself (NO, not that, the airplane game) waiting for me to wake up.  When I got up to use the restroom he was confused and then alarmed by the lights and then the oh so lovely sounds of hurking in a far away room.

Once we established that we were both up, I came back to bed to tell him what was going on. By this time I was worried because my attempts to stay hydrated were failing.  Drink water then throw up water.  Repeated over and over again.   Dehydration and being 9 months pregnant is a bad combination.  It can throw you into early labor. 

We called the on call OB who suggested strongly that we make our way to the hospital to get checked out and to get an IV.  Those of you who know me know I'm not one to lightly run to the hospital, but I didn't hesitate.  We were up, dressed, cleaned up, freshly vacated for the ride over and gone.

I have to give Jason some serious credit for holding it together as he drove me to Bellevue.  I know he was worried, and me with my bucket wasn't too pretty.  Once at the hospital they put me to bed, asked me to provide a urine sample (couldn't.... that should tell you how "dry" I was) and then started the IV - but not until I threw up for the nurse.  Actually, I don't think she was waiting for me to throw up, but the IV went in about 2.4 seconds after I did it.

We were there about 90 minutes and with the fluids and the anti-nausea shot I was feeling better.  I was cleared to go home by the doctor (whom I never saw, but I'm sure will bill us anyway.) 

Imagine my complete disappointment when I continued to require the use of my trusty bucket in the car on the way home.  Again, way to go Jason for not giving up a sympathy hurl in the car.

I was put on a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, toast and told to drink either Gatorade (plain or anything without red dye in it) or vita water.  I went to back to bed and Jason headed to the store to bring back all sorts of food that I'm clearly not capable of eating.  (I survived today on a piece of toast, 2 bananas and 2 applesauce servings.)

I finally got out of bed and wandered downstairs at 4pm with high hopes that this little bug was gone.  No such luck - I go from feeling ok (at my best today a 7 on a 1-10 scale) to a 5.  5 is much better than the 2-3 I was hovering at on my way to the hospital.

So with a day on the couch and in bed behind me, my wonderful caregiver is asleep and I'm not sleepy.  I hoped that some time on the computer and maybe tv in the loft would bring me back to the groggy place and we will see.  Right now, I'm drinking more Gatorade and about to sign off.

Our friends, who were over on Thursday, who enjoyed their own bout with this bug that night (and therefore could not have known they were carriers) said it was gone in 24 hours.  That leaves me with 5 hours left of semi-misery.  Actually, misery is overstating it at this point, but I do wish I was tired.

I think Church is a doubtful activity tomorrow.  My goal (still) is to pack my hospital bag - there was a moment this morning when I thought we could have this baby today and I'm not ready.  I'll never really be ready, but I can have my bags packed and the stuff Lucy will need to come home.

False Advertising?

Dear Revlon Cosmetic Company,

I purchased a product of yours that was being sold by Halle Berry.  She looked so pretty wearing your foundation that I couldn't not purchase it.

I would like to request a refund because I put on layer after layer and I don't look at all like Halle Berry.  Does it take a while to work?

Thank you,

tp gal

How do they know???

Amazon.com has recommendations for each user based on their purchase history.  It use to be all books...and now, LOOK at it... drill bits, pacifiers and the Rainbow Riddle (a kids book).  Heck, they even have True Blood in there... a show that I've actually started to watch.

The other thing that's amazing is that of the 4 actual books they are recommending to me, I've read 2 of them and rather liked.  I'm transparent..

Clarification

I've been asked nicely by Jason to clarify a few points on my last posting:

1. He's not stupid and the failure to memorize song lyrics is because he doesn't care about them.
2. He knew that his version of Mr. Roboto lyrics were wrong and was trying to make me laugh (which worked.)
3. He knows that songs have little plots to them.  A point he proved when he narrated for me the plot to "One burbon, one scotch, one beer."  I also believe that he knows the lyrics and plot to the Cee Lo Green Song "F*ck You" 
4.  He loves me anyway.  I added that one.
5. He has wondered what kinds of helpful information I'm pushing out of my head by making room for song lyrics.  I've had that thought too; imagine what I could do if I didn't have all the words to every Beatles, Duran Duran and Michael Buble song in my brain.  

"Do you want to know what I don't like about you?"

This is a question you really hope your life partner never really asks. I was in the middle of cleaning up after dinner last night (he cooked a yummy Shrimp Scampi) and I half heard the question so I casually answered "Sure... wait... what!?"

Then, in true Jason style he said "You make the weekends pass too fast."  (This is the part where you will either say "aawwwee, how sweet" or throw up in your mouth.  Either reaction is acceptable.)

What's funny about this is that for the second weekend in a row we didn't really have much planned.  Yes, there was the wonderful family baby shower last Saturday but we both had a free day off on Monday and our Sunday and Monday were very low key (movies on the couch) days.

This weekend we decided on Saturday morning to drive to Yakima to drop in and visit the parents.  It was a fun day.  In addition to getting to visit with my mom and dad in their home we were also able to see the Aunts and Uncle Ed.   It is nice when everyone is getting along.  I'm probably not supposed to acknowledge that my mom and her sisters are in a perpetual cycle of getting along and then NOT getting along.  It's pretty frustrating when they aren't because everyone retreats to their own corners and (my guess) pouts until one of them finally apologizes or reaches out to make contact.

The upside is that unlike the rift taking place on Jason's side of the family the Aunts tend to make up (fairly) quickly.  I never fully trust it and always wish them the best, but in the end it is far better to not get in the middle. I simply enjoy it when they are getting along.

Road tripping with Jason is fun.  We torture each other with our music selections.  He forces me to listen to Metalica backed by the San Francisco Symphony (seriously) and I make him listen to "vagina music" like Dido. Eventually we compromise and listen to the classics from our youth.  I find it funny that these are songs that everyone knows (Mr. Roboto, Copacabana, Hotel California) but Jason has never really internalized the lyrics to.  He simply can not sing along, in fact he wasn't aware of the 'plot' of Copababana.  EXCUSE ME!?  How do you not know that Lola ends up crazy and drunk in a disco mourning the loss of Tony 30 years later.  Heck, she's wearing the same yellow dress!  It's a classic.


The best moment in our road trip was when the song Mr. Roboto came into rotation and my beloved did try to sing along.  He's aware that there's a part of the song that isn't in English.  He started to belt out "como taille vous Mr. Roboto."  I almost killed us by driving off the road while laughing.  "Domo arigato Mr. Roboto" I corrected.  "It means the same thing, right?" he asks.  Um, no.  I think you're asking "how are you Mr. Roboto" and every punk kid in America knows one phrase in Japanese "thank you very much Mr. Roboto."   I don't think Mr. Roboto speaks French.  I don't know, maybe his IBM brain now has that kind of processing power, but in 1983 I don't think he did.  


I don't blame Jason for not knowing the words to all the schlocky 70 and 80's songs.  Clearly, road trips and singing in the car wasn't an activity that was part of his up bringing.  The fact that he thinks I'm amazing for being able to sing song after song is nice.  Heck, I don't even really have to know all the words, he's impressed with my knowledge of the choruses.  I love that he doesn't hate me for singing along.


We were home by 9pm and had time to watch more of season 2 of Dexter before bed. 


Sunday I woke with a craving (hankering) for blueberry pancakes and we somehow managed to get in a breakfast at a local joint before church.  My energy yesterday was terribly low because I slept like crap the night before. We went to bed around 11 and I was up at midnight and then woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep.  I was up until 6am- that sucked the life out of my day Sunday. 

I was able to get in a nap in the afternoon which helped, but I'm thankful that we felt compelled to finish Dexter rather than some big house project like laundry or moving furniture around.  Time on the couch was enjoyable.

The road trip was fun, but I'm not really sure what what so remarkable about our weekend, we didn't go skiing or zip off to Paris.  It was just life.  I guess this is a good thing.  Our life is about to get even MORE housebound (for a while anyway) and the fact that he likes to hang out with me is a bonus. 


We have a busy week (dinner with friends, doctor appointments, the installation of our new kitchen sink and then his birthday is Friday) but the only weekend plans that we have are to get our "hospital bags" packed.  Exciting...

It must be true!

 Too bad I'm not a beer drinker...motherhood sounds wonderful when you're a case of beer in!

Shhh

I read today that Mrs. John Travolta, Kelly Preston who recently gave birth had a "silent birth."  Silent birth is a Scientology tradition where the goal is to speak as little as possible during the birth to create a peaceful place for the baby to enter into.

She states that moaning and grunting are natural and to be expected and thus they happen, but talking to each other (the spouses and medical team) is as limited as possible.  I'm sure the doctor is allowed to say whatever is medically necessary, but the "you can do it" encouragement that I hope to hear likely was not uttered in the birthing room.

You know, to each his or her own.  This form of birth can't be unhealthy or dangerous for mother or baby, but I think it's odd.  Babies hear everything inside the womb and in fact it is darned loud in there.  We learned during our last baby class that the sound in the womb is louder in decibels than a vacuum cleaner.   Heck, no wonder she's moving around all the time, it's a rock concert.  Things are obviously muffled, as what babies hear is filtered through liquid, but silence can't be comforting for them.

Those of you who know me and know that I was the kid who had to write sentences for my 5th grade teacher because I was so chatty know that I will not be attempting to do a silent anything, let alone birth.  There will be some talking going on.  I only hope that I can keep the "holy f*ck this hurts" type of statements to a dull roar.  I'm a mommy now, the f-word needs to take a break. 

As for you Ms. Bono, I think maybe your anger and annoyance at me clouded your judgment.  The assignment to write "I will not open my gargantuan mouth in class again." 1000 times was mean.  Although, I do remember my mom calling the school and for some reason I ended up having to complete the assignment.  Perhaps I was out of line.  Me!?  Never.

Whassup World!

Is it the end of the middle of the day on Tuesday already?  Yesterday was a work holiday and like all expectant moms I used the day to relax and catch up on my Dexter episodes.  (There's nothing like a little murder in the afternoon to honor the memory of Dr. King.)  edit:  I mean, tv fake murder, not like the actual murder of Dr. King, which was a travesty.  Sheesh, that sounded terrible.

I felt a little guilty for not using every waking minute on something productive, but since our days of lounging around in squishy pants (pj's and sweats) are numbered it felt really great.

I did hang out in the baby room a little and put away the wonderful things give to us at the family baby shower held Saturday night. A load of baby laundry has been completed and those little shirts and pants have been folded and put away.  So cute!

The shower was a co-ed affair with beer, margaritas and football.  There were traditional games played, but our hostesses made the men in our crowd participate.  In fact, we girls didn't have to do anything but watch.  It was great!  The men were paired up, blind folded and then made to diaper a "baby" with cloth diapers and actual pins.  Cousin Scott gave a pint of blood during his turn.

In addition to the handy things in life that we'll need we were given some adorable clothes.  I do love all things pink, but it was refreshing to get some purple, green, orange and even black clothing for our little Peanut.  She'll have some chic things to burp up on!

Sunday we made it to church and then watched most of the Seahawks game.  I feel badly that I didn't blog about how they had no chance in hell of winning.  That really seemed to work for them against New Orleans.  For those of you with broken hearts I say to you, better luck next year.

Marty & Scott blind diapering

Other than that... we watched movies.  We're an exciting married couple.  We dined in, watched tv... we did get a car washed.  That was pretty thrilling.  Of course, it wasn't MY car so a big "whatever" is in order.

One fun thing, we're planning a Long Beach weekend in the summer. We've reserved a 'cabin' and are going with a large group.  Cabin is misleading because it's a 4 bedroom house that was built maybe 5 years ago.  I'm jazzed about getting to share "my" Long Beach with the group that's going.

Scott's baby with bandaid after blind diapering

Since my vacation time this year will be limited I'm happy to have something on the books that I'm looking forward to. Yes, I get 6 weeks off, but from what I can tell based on the reading I won't be doing a lot of "lounging" around during that time frame.  It seems that Miss Lucy will actually require care and feeding on a pretty frequent basis.

I guess that's about it for now.   Since yesterday was a "day off" from work, there is a lot of activity happening on the employment side of my desk, so I should get back to it.

Take That Self Doubt!

I had lunch today with someone I hope becomes a new friend.  (Tiny back story: we met at a security thing.)

She and I discussed all sorts of work topics like career, philosophy, policies and because we're human (girls) talked about the pregnancy, child rearing and all sorts of other personal things.

She shared that getting pregnant for her involved medical intervention and that there were times during the long and painful (and emotional) process that she questioned if maybe her difficulty in getting pregnant wasn't a sign that she wasn't supposed to be a parent.  (That is an extremely short version of the conversation.)

I take great issue with that for a couple reasons. The first being having a baby doesn't make you a mom.  Moms & dads with kids they've adopted will tell you that.  Also, just because I haven't had my own kid yet doesn't mean I'm not a mom.  I think I've always been a mother, but just one without a child.  I know, that's super touchy feely stuff, but I've always felt very maternal.    Secondly, just because it took medical intervention (or adoption) doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be.    No one would say that those folks walking around because of medical advancements in the areas of cancer, heart health, polio, etc. aren't supposed to be here.  Let yourself off the hook a bit eh?



Granted, there needs to be balance.  We could have kept my aunt alive for a long long time with the medical treatment she was receiving, but it wasn't the human thing to do.  Like everything else, reasonable judgment has to come into play.  There's a compelling argument that maybe the Octo-mom shouldn't have more children.  In my opinion, that's more of an economic, mental health judgment call, but if putting her body through another pregnancy would be potentially life threatening I would pray that her medical team would say no, regardless of the financial benefit to them.  That's not to say that if she had the means to care for more kids that adoption or surrogacy wouldn't be appropriate.  (Ok, maybe not for THE octo-mom, but for other sane, healthy families.)




We ladies tend to let that little voice of self doubt work its way into our thought processes and eat away at us.  Reasonable thoughts like, I'm a fantastic mom to my kids, can be pushed out by that little voice.  Sometimes that little voice gets stuck in a loop on a topic that you wish you had done or handled better.  Breaking out of that can be challenging.  However, it MUST be done.



So, I say to you, little ugly voice of self doubt:  SHADDUP  you're not welcome here!

My lunch date seemed to have an Oprah, "a ha" moment when I equated the silliness of her argument to the medical advancements in other areas.  I'm pleased that my little opinion on the topic gave her an argument to push her self doubt aside.   Maybe I'm not as dumb as I look?  :)

Back to me

Golly, what a frustrating day.  Bare with me (bear?) while I whine selfishly without much perspective that my life is actually pretty amazing.

I had a very difficult time settling in to sleep last night and it was well after 2am when I finally shut down.  The alarm at 6am was disappointing, especially since I had a dr. appointment first thing in the morning thus eliminating any chance of slipping back to sleep once my beloved left for work. (It shouldn't happen, but sometimes it does.)

I forced myself to get up and shower and was plagued with a bit of the lightheadedness that has been bothering me lately.  (A pregnancy side effect.)  I still managed to get my hair done (that is a bit of a challenge when you want to pass out every time you put your hands over your head.)

I was out the door on time and got stuck behind someone over compensating for the slushy roads.  Normally, I would just relax and cut the person some slack, but the jerk behind me seemed to be riding my bumper as if I was the trouble.  He even attempted to pass on the right at one point but I put a stop to that with a well timed taking full possession of the lane thus eliminating his opportunity to push me into oncoming traffic just so that he could be frustrated car #1 behind our slow poke friend.

Once in Issaquah I breathlessly made it up the stairs and was asked "are you aware that your appointment is at 9:40 (and not 8:50)?"  UM... NO. not aware of that.  Heck, the doctor wasn't even in yet.  I called Jason, who had left work to come to the appointment and he was already in the parking lot.  We went back to his office to wait out the hour.

Upon re-arrival back at the office the receptionist informed us that the Doctor wasn't coming in AT ALL and that I could be seen by the nurse.  They tried to call me but couldn't get through on my cell.  (Maybe if the 209 area code you're ringing doesn't work, you MIGHT try 206 - a local and well known code.)  I took this news in stride, even though I had a list of 6 things to talk to the Doctor about.  When they use the excuse "she's at a birth" you can't bitch about that.  One hopes that when it is my turn I'll be priority number one.

The appointment went well, but I was requested to do a follow up blood draw to retest my iron levels.  It was a bit low, but I'm bad about taking the iron supplements because of the ill effects it has on my solid waste removal systems.  Sorry folks, I need to poop every now and then and the damned iron pills make that really difficult. 

I hated to have to let my work people know that once again my schedule was wrong and that I'd be missing a meeting.  This isn't such a bad thing when they see you every day, but when they don't not being around for collaborative meetings is really not good. Thankfully, my manager seems understanding. 

Jason leaves to head back to work (again) and I work my way to the lab (which is downstairs).  They call me in and vampire #1 sticks me once in the right arm, and then once in the left arm.  NOTHING.  She calls for the head vampire who sticks me once in the right arm and then once in left arm.  NOTHING.  (At this point I'm almost in tears, mostly out of frustration.)  She then apologizes and tells me she has to take the blood from the back of my hand.  This hurts, but I'm thankful to be done. 

I finally get to head home and manage to get in a tiny nap during the lunch hour that I should really have skipped.  That seems to have helped my attitude and I'm getting work done this afternoon.  (except for this mini-whine break.)

Let's hope I sleep tonight.... and that we can wash this day away.

Missing the point, big time.

Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas made an announcement that it will picket the funeral of Christina Green, the 9-year-old who was one of six people killed Saturday during the attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

WBC is the same group that has made its name by staging protests at funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people, soldiers and even Coretta Scott King.  These folks test my patience and make me wonder how on earth they sleep at night. 

If you don't like gay people, um don't be gay (not that you'd have a choice if you were gay) and if you're against to war then be peaceful and work to better your community or the community of people affected by war.  If you're against AIDS - heck, we're ALL against AIDS.  Fund research and prevention education.   If Coretta Scott King pisses you off... then I'm just confused.  (Well, she did advocate for human rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, economic issues, world peace, and various other causes - that "evil" woman.)
 As for protesting the funeral of a 9-year-old girl who was caught in the cross fire of a (may I suggest) deranged and misguided person, the idea is preposterous.  What good can come from causing this kids family more pain?  How is God involved in that action?  Do these people expect to be rewarded by God?


I wish I lived in the area to participate in the Angel Corps.  These are folks who will line the streets with tall wings to block the protest signs thus enabling the family, and mourners to enter their place of comfort without the visual distraction of hate signs.  The WBC people may be heard, but they won't be seen.   It is a beautiful, non-violent reaction.  The WBC people have every right to say what they want, per our constitution, but as fellow humans they disgust me.


As for the other topic of the day, this kind of sums it up.  I think we all need to be mindful of the "rhetoric" we put out there because you never know who might be paying attention.  If nothing else, the implication of a connection between your sassy little map Mrs. Palin and the events on Saturday are detrimental to your intended message of what you think is good for America. 

App Man

My beloved has transitioned from spending all of his iTunes holiday gift cards on music to applications for the iPhone and iPad.  He waits for them to go on sale and then announces with glee what he has purchased.

I am the beneficiary of these games because whatever he gets, I get.  I have been enjoying Suduko, Angry Birds and a "hunt and find" game called Rosecliff.  He has been spending a lot of time lately with a game called Flight Control.  The premise is that you have to land airplanes and helicopters safely by selecting a flight path that does not intersect with other incoming aircraft in your airspace.  (It's a math thing)  He LOVES it and has been using our down time to better his score.   I got this message from him after his lunch break today:

On a personal note, my record has been 69 planes landed, and I have been having trouble beating that score; but today I was on fire and landed 106 planes before the tragic death of 478 people after the collision of a loaded 747 and 737 occurred over the Outback of Australia.

I'm sure he felt the loss of every one of those souls.  In fact here is the email exchange that occurred after that message came in.

Me:    I'm sorry, that made me laugh...  I love you

Jason:  I'm glad you love me, I don't think the families of those 478 people of the plane crash in Australia share your same feelings.

Whoops

Well, I called THAT incorrectly.   What a fun game that was on Saturday.  I'm not holding out a lot (any) hope of a Superbowl appearance, but I will congratulate the team on a well played game.  It was very entertaining and enjoyable.

Good luck with Chicago!

I love it!

I read that charges were filed today for the murder of a woman in the University of Washington area in 2008.  They don't know the assailants name, but they have his (or her DNA) and thus the charges are being filed against that unique profile.  Should this dirtbag ever turn up in any law enforcement system, it will be game on for a prosecution.

I like that we've advanced the DNA technology to the point where we trust it to charge unknown people and to free folks who have been in prison unjustly.  I wish it was possible to file charges against all the people who rape regardless of if we catch them or not.  Law enforcement is expensive and lab testing is not always possible, but it should be. 

The logistics of re-testing all the old cases where folks are sitting in prison is likely not one that our budgets and social system will tolerate anytime soon.  Somehow there has to be a way to re-test where DNA is available but for whatever reason wasn't used or the tests were so new that the results are questionable. 

I'd like to think that our justice system is fair and infallible, but we have plenty of evidence to the contrary.  I don't have the answer of how to fairly compensate someone who sat in prison for 30 years for a crime they didn't commit.  I think we owe it to these folks to help them get back on their feet - education, job placement assistance, some financial compensation, but unless there's proof that the police and judiciary teams acted with malice I don't think we owe them a huge financial windfall.  I feel the same way about people who sue corporations for genuine wrong doing.  Compensate fairly and then use the big fines to do good in our world (foundations, social change, hugging trees... whatever.) 

Regarding the murder of this gal, I hope that this hammer wielding person pops up soon.  Her family and friends deserve closure.

Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure what I'm more excited about, a weekend with no commitments (other than the hospital tour tomorrow morning) or that my icky rash (see the other blog for gory details) has really gotten better.  I slept very well last night all things (potty breaks) considered.

I know we, as residents of the pacific northwest, should be prepping our Seahawks gear and logging onto Stubhub to get tickets to the big game, but I'm unimpressed.  I will be a not-so-quiet naysayer and say that I think anyone with dreams of going all the way with THIS team is may about to experience what it feels like to be a WSU fan.

I will say that I think football playoffs are a lot more to the point than NBA and Baseball.  Best of 7? What is that all about?    I like the lose once and you're out concept.  Sure, sitting through multiple baseball games during a championship run is fun, but best of 7... seriously?  

My mom is excited about the game and I appreciate her enthusiasm.  I also appreciate that she's not at my house in her Blue and Turquoise gear screaming at my tv.  Although, mom - there are tickets to the game to be had.  You could drive over and go... I'm just saying. 

In the boring category, I've started pulling together our information for taxes.  I'm going to try to do our 2010 taxes myself with the aid of TurboTax.  I've been compiling our receipts and find it depressing how much we dine out week after week.  I'm sure that Lucy will put a dent in that, with the portability issue and the loss of a chunk of disposable income toward child care.  Home cookin' will be just fine I'm sure.

I have no earth shattering news, so this will be my post for today.  Have a great weekend!

Silent Monks 'sing' Hallelujah Chorus.

Thanks for the memo, I think some people forgot.

see more Hacked IRL - Truth in Sarcasm

Top of mind

not our room

Jason and I finished a large project this weekend where we finally put our master bedroom together in a way that doesn't look like hodge podge furniture.  I got a surprise cash bonus from my employer for doing a good job (wow!) and used the funds to purchase new (IKEA) dressers.   These replace the three white IKEA dressers we had in the old condo and the "cherry" console thing that I had in my condo.  With all matching pieces, two mirrors, lamps and a lovely picture our room looks rather like a chic hotel.  (even if it did take 3 trips to IKEA... the third was a stressful nightmare, but there's no need to re-live it.)

I'm pleased about how it looks and thrilled that there's room for all of our stuff.  I didn't like that some of my stuff was smashed into drawers where I could find them (including in Jason's space.)  Now, his bed side dresser is his, mine is mine and we share (70/30) the big bank of drawers.  Don't feel badly that he's out of space because he also has an entire dresser in our closet devoted to his undershirts-shirts, undies, socks and other unmentionables (Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts and the like).  Trust me, my beloved clothes hound has space for his things in our house.

not me

In addition to putting all the pieces together and off loading the now unwanted items to family and goodwill, Jason also worked out how to get our lighting on remotes.  Oh yes, I can control all four lamps in our bedroom from a handy bedside remote.  We don't have a glaring overhead light in our room (except over the decorative firepit) and so the bedside lamps are a necessity.   Since we've moved in larger lamps they really aren't in arms reach once I'm in bed so the remote is glorious.  And, because there are two if I fall asleep before I turn out the light (which I'm told has happened) he can "click" me out without having to wake me up or hike around the bed.   When I fall asleep with my glasses on, I'm SOL because the last time he tried to gently remove them I had a pretty aggressive reaction and almost broke his nose.  He's not stupid and won't try the leaning over me to take off my glasses again.  (sorry buddy.)

So, with this project done and the complete de-Christmasing that took place on Monday I'm kind of in a state of "what now"?   The house is put back together, the holiday stuff is packed, the babies room is as done as it is going to be before the showers occur.

I supposed I could (should) work on our taxes as I bet that my interest level will drop once Lucy arrives, but I'm not quite ready to start the massive spreadsheet just yet.  (Maybe next week.)

Speaking of showers, Jason's family is gathering together for a couples shower in a couple weeks.  I'm sure all the men folk are THRILLED about having to endure the baby talk, but since there will be booze and tacos it won't be like the traditional baby shower.   Hopefully it will be a casual affair and all body counts considered a smallish event.

The wonderful girlfriends are pulling together a "traditional" baby shower as well.  I'm very happy that they are pooling resources so that not one gal has to cover the cost and time suck that a shower can be.  They are also letting me participate which is nice.  You know how I don't like to hang back.     The other thing that I genuinely appreciate is that a couple of the beloved girlfriends have opted out of the planning.  Each for different reasons, and I honestly think it is a wonderful testament to our friendship that they are comfortable enough to say "I'd love to help, but right now it just doesn't work for me".   So often people (I think women especially) over commit because of internal pressure.   I love that both of these ladies know me well enough to realize that I'm not keeping score about things like this and think that prioritizing their family time, finances and health over a party is perfectly perfect! 

For sure, I would be genuinely disappointed if no-one stepped up and went to the horrific trouble of throwing us a shower.  Even though showers are events that I love to loathe.  Part of me selfishly thinks - I went to all of your showers (gladly) all those many many years ago, now it is payback time.  I don't mean the gifts either, I mean the loss of a Saturday and being social with a gathering of women that you only kind of know.   This party won't be a formal tea, where we pretend that none of us have ever been rip-roaring drunk, throw up in a parking lot, while walking back to our dorm.  (Who me?)  Well, some of those ladies never experienced that with me, but they have other equally shameful secrets (perms and bi-level hair) that bind them to my world of ladies who look respectable but have a shady past that makes them colorful. Hopefully it will be a lively, loud affair with funny parenting stories.

On that note, work does beacon... off I go to secure the world.

Year in Review

Top events in 2010

Doug & Chelsey announce they are pregnant.  Super excited for them!  We don't share that we've started talking about the possibility of a family ourselves.  Must make our own decision before we bring anyone into the loop.

Jason turns 40  A fun 70's themed party was held and the family and friends embraced the theme with gusto!  Thanks to everyone who made the night memorable.

My friend Matt got married.  He looked high and low for the perfect gal to compliment his witty and rather smart existence.  After lots of dates with the wrong ladies he found someone who appreciates all the wonderful things about him.  I miss his sarcastic side, but am thrilled he's happy.  Wishing them many happy years together.

TP goes to traffic court.  I got a speeding ticket that I deserved but wanted due process.  I got it, and for $150 and a year of good driving record my insurance company will not be notified.  (I have 7 weeks to go!).  It was a bummer to have my 20+ years of clean record wiped away, but the law is the law.  Speed (get caught) and you will pay.

TP's consulting company on the back burner, after being hired as a full time employee by her client.  (Happy news!)

Sad news that an estranged friend died suddenly at age 43.  My heart is broken for her family and am sending lots of love and good wishes to them over the holidays and always.  

Installed a heat pump (air conditioner) in our house.  Jason is delighted and I'm convinced the weather will never again be warm enough to need it now that we invested in it.

Discussions about a baby kick into high gear.  "Maybe we should take down the firewall and see what happens".

Fun visit to friends in Portland and the craziness with their kids (a busy 4 year old) don't scare us... in fact.  We stop using the "firewall" (nerd speak for birth control.)

Holy Shit - We're pregnant.

Long Beach for 4th of July!  Fireworks and friends.

Long weekend to Yosemite.  Damn, tis HOT there in July.

Last Train to Clarkston - camping for a week on the Snake river.  Happy to get color on my skin and hang out with Jason's friends who are now my people too!

Wine Tasting Weekend In Walla Walla with Becky and her cute hubby.  The being pregnant thing stopped the wine tasting but we had a pool at our hotel. It was perfect!

Jordan is born!  Welcome to our world, nice to meet you sweet little monkey!


Labor Day in Vegas with my sweetie.  Turns out my hair looks fabulous in 114 degree heat.  Maybe a move to Arizona is in order... NOT.


1 Year Wedding Anniversary - weekend road trip along California's northern coast.  SF, Santa Cruz, Monterrey.  I'm still quite pleased with my fella!

It's official - We're having a girl.  Happy tears.

In Denver for Mrs. B's 80th birthday party.  She's amazing.

A rainy and wonderful weekend with my girlfriends at the Lake Quinault Lodge near Forks.  No vampire sightings.

A snowy getaway with the book group to Leavenworth.  (Jason puts up x-mas lights and does secret holiday shopping for my gifts. lucky me.)

Thanksgiving with the cousins.  How fabulous not to have to cook!

Christmas with the family.  Missed Mom & Dad on Christmas but got to road trip to visit the following Monday.  Happy!!!

Counting the weeks until Lucy arrives...  We have 8 to go.  tick tock

TP comments on the news

I read an article on CNN.com today about a man who was arrested after slapping a kid (teen)  on a plane who refused to turn his iPhone off during landing.  The man was being charged with assault. 

I don't agree with slapping the kid (even on the hand as the man alleges) but can feel his frustration.  I've noticed plenty of adults on planes who turn their phones onto sleep mode for the take off and landing instead of "powered off" as the flight attendants require.  I'm not sure who makes these rules, but for the most part when it comes to things like flight safety I'm going to abide by the rules.  (I'm going to get hopped up and mad about the possibility of them feeling me up before I get on the flight, but in the end I will comply.)

  ----------

"Husband defends reading wife's e-mail"  Oh no you didn't!  In Detroit a bitter battle is taking place between a man and his now ex-wife.  He cruised her personal email account to discover that she was having an affair with her (second) ex-husband.  After consulting with the first ex-husband, they decided that since hubby #2 was a douche bag that they should involve the courts to protect a child in her home.  (I'm thinking it was the child of husband #1).  Anywho... he claims she had previously provided him with the password to her account and that she had given him permission.  She (and the courts) content that he hacked into the account (new password) to illegally view the mail.  I have to say, that even though Jas has my password and I have his, our emails are our own.   Should I change my password or he change his, any previous "permission" to view is revoked. 

But... she's an idiot.  It is EASY to set up a free email account that the newest soon to be ex-husband wouldn't know about.  How stupid are you to communicate with your lover on your cell phone or main email account?  When plotting and scheming, set up a new account and your address can be "cheatingliar@gmail.com"

NFL Fines Brett Farve $50,000.  Tisk Tisk Tisk. These sports guys need to keep their business in their pants.  The NFL says that Farve failed to cooperate with the investigation that he sent crude messages to a fellow NFL employee.  (oops)  The lesson here is that if you're going to send pictures of your junk to someone make sure they don't work for the same company that you do or not only are you a douche bag, but you can be charged with sexual harassment.   They can't prove anything, but the fine seems to say "we think you did it" so here's a tiny little reminder that we own your @SS!   (I'm sure his wife isn't too thrilled either.)


Kate Middleton showed people's princess flair when she posed with fiance Prince William wearing apparel from some of the United Kingdom's mid-priced retailers - not exclusive designers - for her official engagement photos.  Oh my,  who cares?  She's a pretty girl who is marrying a guy that may (or may not) be King someday.  Together they seem genuinely happy, so why does it matter what she wears?

Oklahoma man says wife's death was sex fantasy accident And then there's this yahoo.  He claims that he and his (now dead) wife commonly used a gun to enhance their sexual play.  Apparently, putting a gun to her head while "giving it to her" was normal in their world.  And holy shit of an oops to find out the darned thing was loaded.  If it's true (which the police seem to be leaning towards) they are both dumb as an ox and it seems wrong that somehow they didn't snuff each other out in this stupid game.   A lesser part of the story and equally disturbing (to me) is the age difference between the grieving husband and his wholly wife - he was 23 she was 50.  Perhaps she SHOULD have known better. 

Merry Christmas!

Ah the holidays! We hosted the "All Family Extravaganza" this year and it was a lot of fun. There were babies, gifts, tons of food, lots of laughter and we didn't have to travel anywhere.

Liam & Jordan hanging out. 

The white elephant gifts

Who is Mans Best Friend?

oh lord... knives

what's up!

Rachel and Shalena loving on Jordan while Daddy Doug naps.

The white elephant gift exchange was a hit. The gift certificates made the rounds, my fun beer steins were stolen from me by an evil evil man who I shall smite for ages. Gifts like wine and DVDs tended to be popular and a poster of Cousin Phil dressed in his finest for Jason's 70's themed birthday party was a riot.

Hanging out with all the new babies was great. Jordan, at almost 4 months is still a tiny girl, but really interactive and a joy to be around. Liam, who is a bruiser at 7 weeks old is a happy content baby. He's big, but very much an infant. Wade, a tiny dude is still squishy and doesn't have head control yet. He's not even a month old yet, but a cutie none the less. Next Christmas we'll have to put a fence around the tree as all three (four plus Lucy) will be VERY mobile. Jordan will be about 16 months old and will likely be wandering around on her own and I'm sure Liam, Wade and Lucy will be scooting around the floor as well. (Lucy probably on all fours, but she'll try to keep up.)

We had way too much food, and it was great. I love a table full of appetizers and then hot food followed by way too many treats. I nibbled all afternoon and then (shame) had to eat again before bedtime. It was fun to dig out my serving dishes and set up a lovely table. People were parked all over the house to eat which was festive. Everyone at sitting formally at tables might have killed the party spirit.

I'm sad my parents were unable to make the trip over, but understood.  Dad wasn't feeling well and the weather wanted to be an issue.  Lucky for us it held out and we made a day trip over on Monday.  (I knew I took the day off for a reason.)  It was a long day, but worth it to bring them gifts, Christmas food and of course.... PIE.

John and Susie left this morning before 7am and while they enjoyed their visit were happy to be headed home.   They will be celebrating the new year with their "other" family - the Niagara Way neighbors.  It is so nice that they have lived on the same street for 40 (some) years and have built a real community in their neighborhood.  It is unusual these days and something to be celebrated.

I'm "back at work" today but thankful for a) a home office and that b) most everyone is on vacation so I can work on my own stuff.  I'll be sneaking off to have lunch with my fella today which is a nice treat.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and a happy new year!

Keep your EMPHASIS out of the HEADLINES

Each week I cruise through the online version of the old hometown newspaper.  I enjoy catching up and feeling a bit connected to the place I grew up.

The paper is a weekly and for the most part does a good job of balancing the bake sale at the nursing home highlights with the larger news stories.

I noticed a headline related to the Governors budget proposal and take issue with how it is presented.

"deep STATE cuts expected TO HURT LOCAL AREA"   Perhaps its a typo, but the emphasis seems to be a bit "non-neutral" and a tad judgmental.  (hey, conservative voters - you get what you voted for... NOTHING)

It reminded me of a helpful article I read in a management book by Dilbert that talked about creative editing.  The suggestion was that you could edit any statement in anyway and as long as you left the words in the correct order you weren't lying.  The example looked a lot like this:

"The Pope commended Mother Teresa today for her stance on food distribution for the poor.  She is against the stealing of food like potatoes and rice from one region to ship to another region.  Local food should feed local families."

Edited: 
"The Pope commended Mother Teresa today for her stance on food distribution for the poor.  She is against the stealing of food like potatoes and rice from one region to ship to another region.  Local food should feed local families.."

Cleaned up
"Mother Teresa is stealing potatoes from local families."

All the words are there, therefore it must be true. 

(funny how I start on one point and then wander to another... I'm NOT A JOURNALIST, continuity rules may be applied loosely.)

My original point is that every newspaper (and network for that matter) should remember one of the key journalistic principals that Edward R. Murrow brought to the profession - State the facts and be neutral.  Opinions are for the OP-ED page. 

And now, for an actual quote:

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.

-Edward R. Murrow


Anyway, this applies to all news agencies.  I want the facts, I can form my own decision if it is courageous, outrageous or simply not interesting.

Hide yo kids, hide yo tree

The horrible losses in life

The iPhone is a lovely thing, it makes phone calls, we can text, send email and then there are the games!  Oh how I love to pass those idle hours in the airport or when I can't sleep at night with a game that allows my brain to shut down.  One VERY popular game is called Angry Birds.  The idea is that you use a slingshot to fling birds at structures and inside the structures are pigs.  The object is to blow up the pigs (because they will eat your nest). 

There are many many levels and each is more and more difficult, thus the challenge.  I am happy to get through a level no matter what.  Jason however, feels that to be satisfied he has to earn high point values which are captures in his stats page by the number of stars earned for a level.  Three stars is the best.  He was on a personal journey to get three stars on every level.  He wouldn't even proceed to a new level until he achieved his goal.

You all know that I love this man with my entire being.  But, I will call a nerd a nerd.  My beloved NERD has been bragging to folks about his three star merits and I simply have to sit back and let him geek out.  No amount of telling him he sounds like a kid raving about Atari or Halo has penetrated his obsessed brain. 

Heck, the boy is even RANKED in the online world of Angry Birds.  (I play for the enjoyment, he plays for the glory.)  Of the 36,000 other people who upload their Angry Bird scores to the main game server he is ranked at about 25,000.  Now this won't get him on the medal platform, but really do you want to be THAT guy?  I mean, the dude (just a hunch) that is ranked number one has a cumulative score that is in the billions - seriously!?  I think he hacked into the program or he plays so much that he doesn't eat, sleep or worry about his virginity.

Last night, the unthinkable happened.  Jason's phone seized up while he was playing.  He rebooted and then the Angry Birds application wouldn't load.  At 11:30 pm (with his parents nicely tucked into their guest room) he trekked into the office to "fix" the application.   He came back to bed and made the saddest sound.  I knew immediately what horror had just entered into his life.   All of his hard word had been wiped away.  Not only were is pages and pages of 3 star victories erased but all but level 1 was locked.  In order to play, he has to start over.

I do sympathize, but I also laughed until my stomach hurt and tears were leaking out of my eyes. He's sad but seems determined to start over.  His ranking is still online, but his new games aren't contributing to his score - so in order to improve his ranking he has to make a new name for himself.  I hope he's done before the baby comes or he'll be using his paternity leave to catch up.

Merry Christmas you damn birds!