Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

You Have a Little Over a Week

To decide if I'm having a girl or a boy.

The big Level II ultrasound is on December 4th. That's when they make sure all limbs and digits are accounted for etc, and they also can usually tell what sex the baby is. Assuming the baby cooperates. Livvie had no shame during that ultrasound, and it was quite obvious that she was a girl. Hopefully this one will be as compliant.

I'm putting money on a boy. For real. If I'm having a girl I am going to make a small donation to the local animal shelter. 

If you'd like to participate in the "wager" that would rock. Simple rules. Guess the sex. If you're wrong, make a small holiday donation to the charity of your choice.

Have a great day folks!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Yick

I apparently have something called Pregnancy Gingivitis. 

My toothbrush is permanently stained pink. How disgusting is that?

I can't brush my teeth without spitting out entire oceans of bright red blood. 

Yeah, apparently ALL membranes and capillaries swell during pregnancy, so this is quite common.

I also can't blow my nose without turning the tissue red.

Apparently people with Pregnancy Gingivitis are urged to see their dentist for at least 2 cleanings during the pregnancy. Um, fuck no. I can't even have my teeth cleaned without drugs.

This happened with Livvie too, and it cleared up pretty quickly after she was born, so I think I'll take my chances, thank you.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Monday, November 17, 2008

I am the Grossest Person in the Universe

So today was Clean Out The Fridge Day. I did a recon last night by opening the door and peering in and I didn't think it would be too bad. Maybe 7 containers that needed to be dumped and run through the dishwasher. Manageable.

This afternoon I dove in. I grabbed the containers I had seen last night, dumped them into the trash, rinsed them, and stuck them in the dishwasher. That's when I noticed something at the very back of the fridge.

WAYYYYYYYY at the back of the fridge.

It looked like a saucer covered with foil. 

That's when my memory hit me like a Mack truck and I became very afraid. 

I reached back and grabbed it. I took it over to the trash can. Seeing as we don't have the funds to be throwing out saucers I knew I had to actually deal with what was inside the foil instead of throwing out the entire thing. 

I carefully peeled back the foil to reveal what I had expected. Yep. A log of cranberry sauce. A ONE YEAR OLD log of cranberry sauce. It was in fact leftover from last Thanksgiving.

Amazingly, it didn't smell, and it didn't look that bad. It had a light dusting of mold on it, but nothing gag inducing. It went into the garbage. The saucer got rinsed and put into the dishwasher.

So there you have my confession for the week. 

Have a great Monday.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

It Never Ends

So the lady from the state came out again today to go over the financial paperwork with me for speech therapy. On the phone she had said we'd either pay 25% or 0%. Not so much. Now she's saying 40%. That's $30 a week.

We don't HAVE $30 a week.

I told them I'd discuss things with Rich and get back to them.

It's not looking good though.

Oh, and that's only a possibility. She THINKS it'll be 40%. It might be 60%.
Totally uncool. I don't understand why she told me one thing on the phone and then totally took it back in person. 

I'm really upset about this.

In other news, Livvie has discovered the spice shelf in the pantry and now brings me containers when I'm cooking. This is ok. She brought me the Montreal Steak Seasoning the other day. Last night when I was making a pumpkin cake she brought me the oregano. It's cool. However, yesterday she got out the jar of curry and realized something I had not. It's a flip top. I walked into the kitchen to find her dumping yellow powder on the floor and smearing it around with her hands. Awesome.

After the lady left today Livvie went back into the pantry and brought out the jar of marjoram. I was on the phone with my mom, so I was only half paying attention as she proceeded to unscrew the lid and dump the marjoram all over the floor. Got out the vacuum for the second time today. Again, awesome.

She's really digging the laundry lately, and she'll grab armfuls of clothes out of the hamper and pile them on the recliner like I do with the clean laundry. Yesterday I was folding laundry, and she got my underwear and folded them and put them on the sofa on my pile. That's cool. I turned around to get another item, and when I turned back to face her I discovered that she had now stuck her head through the leg holes of my underwear and was wearing them as necklaces. Okee dokee.

It's been an interesting week so far.

UPDATE: The lady called a little while ago. Apprently when she was here today she did the math wrong. It WILL be 20%, or $15 a week for Livvie's therapy.

So we're going to do that and do the free developmental therapy simply because it's free and it's offered. I'm so relieved.

Monday, November 10, 2008

If You Read a Book Enough...

You memorize the pages. 

<----- See this book? It's one of Livvie's favorites. It's one of mine too. It's short, and cute, and stars a rodent. I love rodents.

Livvie also has a book by the same author called If You Take a Mouse to School. 

<----- This picture? Also in If You Take a Mouse to School. 

So today Livvie was "reading" If You Take, and she flipped the page to the picture. She looked at it for a moment, and then turned around and found Time For School, Mouse. She carried the book over to the sofa and held it up next to the picture on the page.

They matched! How cool!

Know what's really cool? I was just typing this post and Livvie saw the picture in it and went and got the book for me. Which I was then obliged to read.

She might not talk, but she's no dummy.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Ok, I've had it

Santa arrived at our malls yesterday.

They reported it on the news and I threw my pillow at the TV.

Insane.

On the Monday after Halloween Livvie and I went to Target and the employees were putting the Christmas trees up and there was Christmas music playing overhead.

Can someone explain to me why the Christmas season is no longer a season? It's now an epoch.

I just don't get it.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Fauna

This morning I went to take Emma out to pee. I opened the kitchen door and a giant wolf spider said, 'Thanks!" and crossed the threshold and scurried across the kitchen floor and ended up God knows where in my house. My dog Ginny watched said spider scurry across the room and did NOTHING. 

Useless dog.

With the cold weather the bugs have moved in. We had been ant free for months, but recently we have been finding ants running around on the kitchen counter. Ant baits were procured, and they seem to be working as I have only seen one ant in 24 hours. Ants are ok when they're outside, but they are NOT allowed in my kitchen. Ever.

Remember my post about the giant outdoor flying roach that invaded my kitchen? Well, they've been coming inside as well. I saw the first one about a week ago when I walked out of the bedroom one night to go pee and saw one crawling around on the floor in the hallway. I went into the office and got Rich and made him take care of the situation. A few days after that I went into the kitchen one morning and found one on its back futilely kicking its legs to turn back over. Got Rich. 2 days ago the same thing happened, found an upside down one in the kitchen, but this one was already dead. Didn't care. Got Rich.

I don't do bugs.

I really hope the weather will level off soon and the bugs will stop coming indoors. 

At least the mosquitos are gone.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Stunned

Does anyone else feel like this <----- today? I sure do. I woke up this morning convinced I had been dreaming and only believed when I turned on the news and had confirmation.

On January 20th we will finally see change.

Yesterday I voted Obama and then straight party Democrat for the rest of the partisan elections in NC. As far as I can tell, everyone I voted for won. I haven't checked the judges in the non-partisan results yet. What I can tell you is that despite my original leeriness, I voted for Bev Perdue for governor yesterday. NC now has its first female governor. I voted also for Kay Hagan to get Elizabeth Dole out of office, and she won as well. It was a very surprising day.

Last night I watched Jesse Jackson sob with happiness. I cried too. I never in my life believed. Now I do.

I am so proud of my country. not for voting Democrat, but for voting at all. Every election I've been a part of has been rife with apathy and dejectedness. It was like everyone had simply given up. I hated to see that. When I was 18 and in high school they came into school to register kids to vote. I was so excited I almost plotzed. I couldn't WAIT to vote. I always wished everyone else felt that way.

I have assigned Rich the task of finding a newspaper on his way home so I can save it for Livvie. Yesterday I received the Obama '08 button I had ordered a few months ago. Both things will be put away for her for when she's older and can appreciate them. I hope she does.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

In tears


Happy tears. The first president my kids will remember is a black man. I never thought I'd live to see this day. 

What an amazing day. I couldn't be happier. 


One Word Day


Sunday, November 02, 2008

I'm Jealous

This is what Santa is bringing for Christmas.

Yes, it has Disney princesses on it, but by golly it's a PURPLE TRICYCLE WITH STREAMERS. 

I would have been over the freaking moon for this bike as a tot. My tricycle was a very odd shade of green. Maybe the same color as the inside of a lime? Anyway, it was seriously ugly, but it worked so I never complained.

We're not going to wrap it. We're going to assemble it and set it up in front of the tree with a bow on it. The seat and handlebars are adjustable so the bike should fit Livvie just fine. 

As far as the princesses are concerned, well, I really don't think I can fight it. It will happen soon enough, and this bike should be good for a few years so we might as well get started. I'm also buying Livvie a feather boa, because she pulls dirty shirts out of the hamper and drapes them around her shoulders, dragging them behind her. 

I'm fairly certain that this new baby is a boy. I don't know why I feel that way but I do. Then, I was the only person last time who was certain that Livvie was a girl so maybe I'm right. Anyway, I was talking to Rich about it the other day and I told him we can go ahead and move all of the comic book stuff into the new baby's room and "girl" Livvie's room up a bit. I thought fairies would be a cool way to go, but a thorough search online has alerted me that fairy bedroom decor costs an arm and a leg, unless you go with Tinkerbell. And I can't stand Tinkerbell.

So I guess we'll start small with a little purple bike. It'll be quite awhile before the new baby actually moves into a bedroom anyway. Until then Livvie can sleep surrounded by super heroes. Not such a bad thing...