I Love Dogs

When I was born, my parents had a Beagle named Wendy.  Since she was their baby before I was, my mom dressed her up in clothes and she obviously got all of their attention.  After a short period of time following my birth, Wendy decided that she was no longer getting enough attention and she ran away.  However, she didn't run far.  She started living with people up the street from where we lived.  She would periodically come back to my parents' house to visit with them, but she would never come back in the house, only to the front door.  I feel bad that Wendy's feelings were so hurt that she left.  I unfortunately don't remember Wendy.

When I was about 4, my parents decided to get another dog.  They took me to the animal shelter to pick one out.  I chose a little mixed breed and we named her Mindy (I think).  We only had her a short time before she developed a rash.  When we took her to the vet to see what the issue was, it was determined that she had mange.  I don't know if it was untreatable or too expensive, but whatever the reason, Mindy went back to the shelter.  We instead came home with a black Cocker Spaniel we named Bailey.  She was the perfect size for me to be able to walk and play with.  She used to "sing" along with the "Lady and the Tramp" soundtrack and I thought it was quite funny.  I also decided one day to cut my hair and felt maybe Bailey also needed a trimming as well.  I ended up cutting a small chunk out of her ear, causing her to bleed.  Bravo to my mother for allowing her 4 year old to have scissors long enough to cut my hair and the dog's ear.  Unfortunately, we moved to a place that didn't allow pets and so we had to give her to a family my grandmother knew.

When my family moved to Texas between 2nd and 3rd grades, my parents promised me I could get a puppy to help ease the pain of leaving my grandmother and friends behind.  Maybe because my parents had Beagles before I was born or perhaps that's what I wanted, I can't remember, but we searched the papers for Beagle puppies.  We finally found a litter and my parents took my cousin and myself to look at these puppies.  I picked a sweet little girl out and named her Chelsea, which would have been my brother's name had he been a girl.  She tinkled in the car on the way home.  I placed her in an impromptu dog show in which she was one of two contestants.  The prize was an igloo dog house and the judges later told me that had she sat (she was about 2 months old in this dog show), she would have won. Although Chelsea was technically my dog, I was a little young to fully care for a dog, so my parents ended up taking care of her the majority of the time.  We had Chelsea for just over 12 years when her kidneys began shutting down.  It was a very difficult decision to put her to sleep, but I knew she'd be out of pain, which is the humane thing to do.

Between 7th and 8th grade, I was leaving Wal-Mart and happened to see an ad for Beagle puppies.  When I got home, I asked my dad "if you have money, you should be able to buy what you want, right?"  He fell into the trap I had set and he told me we should go "look" at the puppies.  I think he thought since the people didn't have any girls (which is what I wanted), he'd convince me we didn't need a puppy and to wait for a female.  When we arrived at the person's house, a teenage boy came outside (with his fly undone) and led us to the backyard where the puppies were being kept.  We watched the puppies play and my mom picked one up that she thought was cute.  At that moment, another puppy came out from behind a big piece of plywood.  I thought that one was cute, so I picked it up.  In the process of playing with and holding it, I flipped it over.  It was a girl, which was surprising, since we were told they only had boys left.  We should have known from the three warning signs (fly down, outside pups, girl when there were "only boys" left) that this may not be the healthiest puppy.  However, after exchanging my hard-earned money, we left with a sweet little girl I named Daysie.  When we took her to the vet just for puppy vaccines, we found out that she was only 5 weeks old (it's illegal in a lot of states to sell a puppy before 8 weeks), her poor belly was FILLED with many types of worms and she was very anemic (from the worms sucking all of her blood).  Had we not brought her in, the vet thought that would have died within the week and that the other puppies at the house didn't have much of a shot.  Daysie really was my first dog.  I paid for her, I walked her and took care of her.  She had two litters of puppies and we kept a few of her puppies.  My parents still have one from her second litter. We had her for almost 11 years when she was attacked by another dog and died from her injuries.  I feel horrible that her last moments on this Earth were spent in pain and fear. 

I have documented Hattie's purchase here and how we acquired Waveland here.

Waveland's mom had another litter in January, but I don't think we'll be adding to our 4-legged quota at this time.

Each and every dog I have owned holds a special place in my heart.  I miss the ones that have passed on, but cherish the memories.  I try to enjoy Hattie and Waveland each day because I know that far too soon, they too will pass on.

Unknown

Last night, Doug and I went to see "Unknown", the movie that just came out starring Liam Neeson.

This movie is basically about a man and his wife that go to a science conference in Germany.  Liam's character realizes he needs to go back to the airport and leaves his wife at their hotel.  The taxi gets in an accident on the way back to the airport, leaving Liam's character knocked out for 4 days and remembering some details of life, but not all.

When he returns to the hotel, there is someone else posing as him and his wife says she doesn't know who he is.  He then spends the remainder of the movie trying to figure out who this new guy posing as him is and why his wife is going along with the ruse.

I spent 2 hours confused as to what was going on.  I hate when I don't understand what's going on, the twists and turns.  Luckily, I have Doug around to explain to me what went on and how the pieces fit together.  Unfortunately, I had to wait until the end of the movie to have everything cleared up. 

I would rate this movie a 6 or 7/10.

Free Is ALWAYS Best!

Last night, after our dinner fiasco, Doug, Weston and I headed to a local arcade to play some games.

We received a coupon in the mail that said "FREE tokens- all your hands can hold".  Ok, we're in.  Since I have incredibly small hands (really I do, my 12 year old cousin's hand is bigger than mine), I nominated Doug's hand(s) for the token holding.  He went up to the desk and was invited to use one hand to grab as many tokens as he could.  He put them in a cup and into the arcade we went. 

We played various games for about an hour and a half and we still have a lot of tokens left.  It was very nice of this business to offer families an opportunity to play in their facility for free.  The place doesn't really lose that much money, since they have drawn you in, so you will probably spend money on drinks or snacks while you're there.  I definitely look at the business in a different way and we will definitely return to a) use the rest of the tokens and b) spend some of our own money too.

If more businesses offered an occasional free or low cost opportunity to the community, I feel their business would increase after the free/low cost opportunity is over.  It's a great way to advertise too.

Dinner Was...

Interesting.

We went out to dinner tonight and from the time we walked into the restaurant, things went wrong.  We didn't even go out until later and the wait was 30 minutes.  We didn't mind waiting and asked for a table for 2, but needed a place for Weston.  When they called our name, we stood up and then the host looked at Weston and said, "Oh. We don't have space for the baby, so you'll have to wait longer."  Ok, lucky us.  However, someone else took our seat where we were waiting, so now we got to stand.

We finally got seated and immediately, the waiter was creeping me out.  He got near my face to take our drink order.  Then, the guy brought me the wrong drink.  Ok, no big deal.  It became sort of a big deal when 15 minutes later, I still didn't have my drink.  We also didn't have the complementary bread and I was starving.  Then the guy took our order, repeated it back to us and then we waited.  Our food came in a somewhat timely manner, brought to us by a random person, not our waiter.  Doug's was correct, but dry.  Mine wasn't the right meal.  The chap told me he'd get the right meal out right away.  Our waiter came to check on us and asked if we were missing anything.  Uh, my dinner?!  I told Doug to go ahead and enjoy his dinner while it was warm.

The waiter came back to our table a couple times, never bringing back my dinner, never apologizing about the absence of my meal.  Fifteen minutes later, my correct meal was brought out.  It was very warm and worth waiting for, but Doug was basically finished with his.

Although I wanted to say something to the manager, Doug didn't want to create a fuss and figured we would just deduct from the waiter's tip.  That all changed when the waiter returned with our bill.  He gave us someone else's check with our coupon taken off.  The bill had expensive seafood (which I don't eat and Doug didn't order) and came to about $20 more than ours should have (even with a coupon).  I got up to speak to the manager and explained the situation.  While he was fixing the issue, I went to the restroom.  On my way back, I was behind our waiter, who was picking up Doug's credit card and our receipts off of the floor, where he had apparently dropped them. 

We were glad to leave!

Blast-Off Discovery!!

As I have mentioned before, there was a time when I wanted to be an astronaut.  Since we live in an area with a NASA channel, I have the opportunity to see the inner workings of NASA, space missions, etc.  Most of the time, it's like watching CSPAN-very dry and boring.  However, when I was younger and wanted to be an astronaut, I would have sat and watched this channel for hours.

Today, Doug texted me and asked me if I was planning on watching space shuttle Discovery's launch.  My reply was "How do I have a husband working at NASA and knew nothing of a shuttle launch?"  Anyway, today was the (for the time being) second to last space shuttle launch and the last launch of Discovery.  I also saw this as an opportunity to let Weston see the sort of thing that Daddy works with all day.  Obviously, he's too young to understand or care, but it made me feel sort of "teacherly" exposing my son to something educational.

I put the NASA channel on and went about my business, feeding and playing with Weston, entertaining the dogs, etc.  We saw the astronauts getting ready to go into the shuttle via the "clean room".  We saw the NASA workers getting the commander situated in his seat inside the shuttle.  Eventually, after thinking the flight may be scrapped for today, we watched Discovery leave the Earth's atmosphere. 

Because of the Columbia incident, NASA put cameras on the external fuel tank, which allows the engineers to monitor the launch and ensure that nothing falls off of the shuttle, causing damage.  During Columbia's launch, foam fell off the shuttle, damaging it, and thus causing it to disintegrate upon re-entry.  Since there were cameras on Discovery's launch as well, today we were able to watch as the booster rockets and external fuel tank fell off of the shuttle.

It was very cool to watch the shuttle enter orbit.  They were travelling so fast that they were far above the Earth in just moments.  Again, if I was still as interested in the space program as I was 15 years ago, I would have been in 7th heaven today.

Filters

Doug and I were talking this afternoon about people saying what they think before thinking about what they say.  As one ages, generally, they begin thinking about what comes out of their mouth and process it before actually saying it.  It is in the best interest of an adult (for their job, relationship) to filter the things that go through their mind before allowing inappropriate thoughts to exit the mouth.


I don't know if it's the Italian in him, the way he was raised or what, but my dad never has and never will have a filter.  It's just how he is.  Everyone who knows him has just learned to either ignore him or pretend not to know him in public.  He says what he thinks when he thinks it and doesn't care who is offended.


I have a family member that is old enough to know the importance of using a filter, but is too immature to and/or absolutely refuses to use a filter.  This has led to many arguments within our family when dealing with this person.


I admit, I used to have no filter whatsoever.  I used to say everything that came to my mind and it got me into a lot of trouble through the years.  I won't say I always use my filter even now that I'm older, but I definitely try as much as I can.

Embarrassed

I found out today that Alabama, the state I live in, still has segregated schools.  I also found out that funds are not being equally allocated to all the schools in the state.  The predominately "white" schools are being given more funding for advanced programs and general materials and supplies than the predominately "black" schools.  I'm embarrassed by Alabama.

Free Dinner...Sort Of

When I first went away to college, I found that my funds were...lacking.  Somehow, I had thought that the little bit of money I had earned at my summer job would pay for gas, food and all of my social engagements.  Who knew that milk was so expensive? Or that toilet paper is consumed at such an alarming rate?

My friend Cynthia and I had to become creative with our finances very quickly if we occasionally wanted to see the outside of our dorm rooms.  One day, we struck upon "free" entertainment.  We still had to pay for gas, but otherwise, we could go out for several hours and spend nada.

We would go up to our local Books-A-Million to read books, take quizzes and watch parents melt down almost as quickly as their children were.  You could always tell when a parent wanted to be at the bookstore and the child wanted to be anywhere but.  It was quite humorous and I counted my blessings that I could walk into such a store, find a book, sit down and read without interruption.  I wonder if college students look at me with pity now and count their blessings.  However, now, I am glad that I have a little one to share my love of books with and I (most of the time) wouldn't trade the quick, quiet trips to a bookstore or library for the wonder I am beginning to see on my little boy's face when we read a new story.

Anyway, back to free dinner.  In the parking lot of Books-A-Million was an O'Charley's.  For those of you who don't know what O'Charley's is, it is basically like a Bennigan's or Chili's.  When you are seated at O'Charley's, they give you complementary rolls, butter and water.  Cynthia and I quickly figured out that if we asked for lemons and used the sugar on the table, we could make lemonade for ourselves.  Between the lemonade and rolls, we had a (free!) poor man's dinner.  It wasn't the most nutritious or filling meal we could have found, but it agreed with our wallets.  Therefore, we had a lot of roll and lemonade dinners.  We went there enough that the servers finally just began bringing us lemons and refilled our rolls, knowing that we were ordering on a limited budget.

Although I am glad that I can afford better meals than those early college O'Charley's ones, there is something to be said for the ingenuity of college freshmen.  Those days were easier in a way, but again, I wouldn't trade this life for my former one.

I Finally Feel Something!!

A year ago today, I was 21 weeks pregnant.  I'd made it past the halfway point of my pregnancy, I was beginning to show and I was 2 days away from the "big" ultrasound.  Even though Doug and I weren't finding out the gender of our baby, we would still get to see our sweet miracle on the screen and the doctor would (hopefully) be assuring us that everything looked on target for our baby's growth.

The only thing that was missing from my pregnancy picture was movement.  I hadn't felt the baby move at all and people, including my obstetrician, had all told me I should have felt the baby moving about 3 weeks ago, even if this was my first baby.  I was trying not to stress out during my pregnancy, to keep the baby's stress level down, but it was very hard to know everything was alright with the baby when I couldn't feel him/her moving around.

On February 20, 2010, I finally felt the little being growing inside me move around for the first time.  I remember being so excited that I could now associate the little jumping jelly bean that I saw in the first grainy image more than 2 months prior to the fluttery feeling in my abdomen. 

Looking back, I think that maybe I felt the baby's movements before that, but didn't know what sensation I was waiting for.  Hopefully I will feel the next baby's movements earlier in the pregnancy, but if I don't, I will look forward to the day that I can connect the next miracle in my life to the waves in my tummy.

Home-Bound

I'm sure Doug is just about over living in a germ-infested home.  However, between Weston coughing all night, me staying up to administer medicine to him throughout the night and the fact that I am still sick, I'm thinking he's going to have to be stuck here at least one more day.

Weston seems like his normal self, except with a cough.  He hasn't had a fever any time that I have checked him.  I'm very thankful that he's still feeling pretty much alright. 

I'm really not feeling any better today, but again, I didn't sleep all night.  I'm hoping that after a nice nap (and more antibiotics), I will see some improvement.  Laying low and rest is really what I need right now.

Doctors Are Just "Practicing"

When I left urgent care on Wednesday, the doctor told me to come back on Friday if I didn't feel any better.  The girl who called me yesterday to check on how I was doing a) told me I sounded horrible and b) told me to return today if I wasn't feeling any better.

I wasn't feeling better this morning, so Doug called at 8:00 this morning, when they opened to find out, since we were returning for a recheck and had a baby we didn't want exposed to all the illnesses, if we could make an appointment.  The girl said they don't take appointments, but that 12pm and 4pm were their slower times, so call before those times and perhaps we could get in faster.

As the morning proceeded, I was finding myself in more and more pain...and then I threw up.  It was about 11, but I had just fallen asleep, so I took some Zofran and went back to sleep for a while.

Meanwhile, Doug kept checking Weston's temperature and it was slowly elevating from about 98.2 to 99.3.  He was still coughing, but otherwise, seemed alright. 

Doug woke me up about 3:30 to tell me he talked to the urgent care and they told him now would be a good time to come in.  Therefore, I got dressed and we left.  When we got to urgent care, there were a ton of people in the waiting room, including a guy who was about 20 (and just along for the ride with someone else) that had absolutely no compassion for those of us that felt horrible and he was going to town on his phone, playing games and texting, with obnoxious noises.  There was also a couple with a little boy who was approximately 3.  He had a Tasmanian Devil shirt, which described him well.  He was acting crazy and running into things and people, including me.

While we were waiting in the lobby, Weston's eyes were starting to get watery and his temperature was above 100 degrees.  I asked Doug to take Weston to the pediatrician and get him seen before the weekend began.  It was Weston's first "sick" visit to the pediatrician and I wasn't able to go with him.  The pediatrician told Doug that Weston had the flu, but it definitely shouldn't get as bad as mine.  He was told to just keep rotating Motrin and Tylenol, but wasn't given any cough or flu medicine.  It broke my heart to find out that I had given my germs to Weston and made him sick.

I was eventually called back to see the doctor.  Unfortunately, it was a different doctor than I had seen on Wednesday.  This doctor's first words were, "You didn't give it enough time to run its course.  You shouldn't have come back yet."  He then asked me what the chest x-ray showed on Wednesday.  You mean the x-ray that wasn't taken?  So, I had chest x-rays and shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchitis, on top of the flu.  The doctor gave me antibiotics, which I probably should have been given on Wednesday, and I was sent on my way. 

I have taken the starter dose of the medicine and, after a shower, back to bed I go.  I'll be up in a while to take care of Weston and give him some Tylenol.  Since we both have the flu, I can finally snuggle with him.  I haven't held him in 3 days.  :-(  By taking care of Weston, I can also give Doug a little bit of a break, which will be good for him.  Poor guy has been trying to work, take care of us and the dogs for the past three days.

Hopefully a better week awaits us.

Hallucinations

When I went into the hospital to have Weston, the nurse gave me some Ambien to help me sleep during early labor.  Since my goal was to naturally labor without an epidural, I would need all the rest I could get.


Not only did the Ambien not help me sleep (whether it was nerves, excitement, fear, etc., it didn't work), but I also was having hallucinations on the medication.  From across the room, I could see a Hawaiian hula girl, made out of a coconut and she was very pregnant.  She then began having contractions and giving birth on the table upon which she was standing.


The cough medicine the doctor gave me yesterday for this flu, which, by the way is still taking everything out of me, is also giving me hallucinations.  Last night, I saw a shadow monster on the wall and he dragged me into a tornado.  I was never scared of ghosts or monsters when I was little, but at 26, seeing the monster on my wall was a bit scary.  I think I was more concerned for Weston's safety than mine, but monsters are no fun.


Doug still seems unscathed by the flu.  Weston, however, is starting to have a cough.  Because he still has an appetite, energy and no fever, the pediatrician won't see him.  I'd rather nip it in the bud, but I'm not a doctor.

The Flu! Yuck!

Monday evening, I had a slight tickle in my throat.  I coughed a little bit, but thought nothing of it, and went about my business.

Yesterday, I woke up and could tell that some sort of sickness was moving into my chest.  Doug, being the minimalist, thought that I should try some over-the-counter medicine before going to the doctor.  Therefore, I bought some severe cold and cough medicine and hoped for the best.

This morning I woke up absolutely miserable.  I felt so horrible that I told Doug he needed to stay home and take me to the doctor.  We went to urgent care as soon as they opened.  Almost 3 hours later, I was diagnosed with the flu, a strain of which the doctor hadn't really seen this season.  All 3 of us have gotten the flu vaccine this season, but with so many strains floating around, it's impossible to be protected from all of them.

I am taking Tamiflu, as is Doug so that he hopefully won't catch it.  I was also given cough syrup, so hopefully it will do its job and allow me to get some rest. 

The doctor was going to give some to Weston, but he's too young.  Doug called the pediatrician and explained that I had the flu, but unless Weston starts showing signs of the flu, other than a cough, he can't be treated for anything.  So now we wait and see (and pray) that Weston is not affected. 

Doug is doing a great job taking care of Weston and me.

I'm going back to bed here in my quarantine room.

V-Day Wrap-Up

When Doug came home we celebrated Valentine's Day instead of waiting until dinner.  This was mainly because, although Weston is really well behaved, he is still a baby and therefore unpredictable.  We didn't want to try exchanging gifts at dinner if Weston needed our attention more.  I was a little leery of taking Weston out to dinner on this "couple's" holiday, but I was more reticent to leave him with a babysitter.

I gave Doug an iTunes card for his new iPhone and a magazine subscription so he can read about all the baseball happenings.

He came in with a dozen 11 roses (one broke when he was cutting the stems to put them in the vase). 

He also bought me 3 calla lilies.  Calla lilies are what I carried on our wedding day. 

Recently I mentioned that we have never been to any professional sporting events together.  Therefore, he bought me (which is a gift for him, just as much as it is for me) tickets to go see the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals play in April.  We will drive over to Atlanta to see family, go on a stadium tour and make a weekend out of it.  I'm very excited about going to the baseball game and everything else for that weekend.

We gave Weston a car that moves when the ball on the top is spun or when he shakes the "finish line" flag.  He immediately figured out how to make it move.  Unfortunately, a car that moves seemingly by itself is a little scary to a 7 1/2 month old.

Doug surprised me as to the dinner location.  We went to Grille29, which is a steak and seafood place.  Doug got steak and I ordered soup and salad.  The food was very good and both Doug and myself left very full.  Weston was an absolute angel.  He didn't make any noise and he looked SO handsome and grown up.

By the time we got home, the evening was gone, but tonight we are making Valentine's cake.  I'm excited whenever we make cake because when Doug and I first started dating, we used to make cake a lot and it was always fun to bake together.

Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine's Day today, I'm remembering my 1st non-family Valentine and my 1st Valentine's gift, which weren't from the same person.

My first non-family Valentine was in 2nd grade.  His name was Jim and our families were friends.  I don't know if it was on a dare or I just decided to do this on my own accord, but while he was drinking from the water fountain at school, after recess, I swooped in and kissed him on the lips.  Looking back, obviously that was the wrong time, because who wants to kiss a sweaty boy?  I don't remember him being enamored with my actions and I'm pretty sure he didn't talk to me for awhile.  The last time I saw Jim was in high school.  I will say, he was cute even then.

The first time I got something on Valentine's Day from someone other than my family was back in 1994, when I was in 4th grade.  I had a "boyfriend", Andrew.  We saw each other at school and luckily for our young "love", we went to the same after-school care.  On Valentine's Day, when my mom picked me up, Andrew got permission to run out to our car and give me a rose.  Where he had been hiding it, I'm not sure, but it was a very sweet gesture.

Our "love" soon fizzled out and that was that.  I still remember my first Valentine's gift...and wonder why I thought he was so cute.  Lol.

Cross-Stitch

When my mom came to visit about a month ago, she took me to buy supplies to cross-stitch.  When I was younger, I dabbled in cross-stitch, but I always found better things to do with my time.  Now that I am older, I find cross-stitching soothing and I like watching a piece of cloth turn into a work of art and I know I made it.  It is also something my mom and I can do while we are chit-chatting and something we can do together.

The first thing that I made was a bookmark.  Although the actual cross-stitching is done, I haven't cut it yet.  I really enjoyed doing it.  Now I need to look through the books I have and find something else to make.

Field Trip

Today, Doug and I took Weston to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.  We had discussed going for a while and since Doug can get us in for free, we decided why not?

We went into the smaller part of the museum first.  It is basically just a giant room that has a bunch of space artifacts and boards with factoids in it.  We saw modules from the Mercury era, Saturn era and the very abbreviated Ares era.  We also saw the actual command module the astronauts from Apollo 16 splashed down into the water in.

There is a much larger museum, but by the time we were heading that way, Weston was melting down, so we decided to go back another day to see the rest.

Here are some pictures from the trip taken before my camera died.

Mercury Command Module

Mercury Service Module

Lunar Rover Vehicle (it folds up to fit in the rocket...cool!)

Moon Rock

Apollo 16 Command Module

WAR!! What Is It Good For?

Absolutely nothing!!

My little brother signed up for the Army, against advice from my parents, Doug and myself and pretty much everyone else in the family.  My dad was in the Air Force, so my family is pro-military, but my brother had opportunities and scholarships to go to college, which would be a better option.

He decided not to go to college, instead allowing the military to pay for his education.  Although we may not agree with it, my entire family now supports his decision.  We are proud of him for joining during wartime and for being a brave soldier, willing to put his life on the line to keep our freedoms.

I don't think anyone wants their family member(s) to go off to war, but we all realize it is a necessary evil.

Unfortunately, my brother's time has come to deploy to the Middle East.  He will be gone for awhile and will see and do things no 20 year old should ever have to see and do.

He is my only sibling and I am afraid of the very real possibility that his deployment could make me an only child.  Everyone has told me that it is getting safer over there and that more soldiers are coming back perfectly fine, but I am still incredibly scared for my brother's safety.  I guess all I can do is pray daily for his well-being and hope that he and his battalion return safely.

This war has been going on for almost 10 years now.  I hope that VERY soon, we can put an end to this fighting and bring ALL of our troops home safely.  I don't want any other families to feel what I am feeling right now, as I prepare to watch my brother board a plane to the unknown.

Please pray for him and all of our soldiers and their families during this time of war.

Life Changes

I was watching "Boy Meets World" today (yes, the mid-90's sitcom) and it got me thinking.


Cory and Topanga were getting married and Shawn was having a hard time coping with their marriage.  At first, I thought it was because he was jealous.  It turns out, however, that Shawn was upset because he knew that he and Cory were not going to be best friends anymore because Cory was marrying his new best friend.


I started thinking about my own life and my own friends.  In August of 2008, I had several friends, both single and married.  I then moved away to teach in another state and be with Doug.  When I moved, although I still talked to my friends, it was clear things had changed.


See, when I lived in Florida, I was the single girl and I had nothing tying me down.  I could just get up and go where ever, whenever.  Just a short time later, I was the married girl.  I now had a husband to confer with and figure into my plans.  Very shortly after I was the married girl, I was then a mom.  I now had to include a husband and a baby into my plans. 


For my friends back home, especially the single ones, it seemed like in less than two years, we went from having a lot in common to really having nothing in common.


Doug is also finding that friends from college that were really good friends of his, he doesn't talk to except very occasionally.  I've tried telling him, that a) we live about 10 hours away from where he went to college, where a lot of people still live b) some of his friends are single, some are married, but only one of his friends has a child and that baby is only 5 days old.  Doug's life and his friends' lives are different than they were 3 years ago.  I'm afraid that even if we moved back to the area he went to college, he would find himself no longer part of the "group".  Oh sure, his friends may talk to him more often, but they've all forged new friendships in his absence.  It's kind of like this situation.


Even my little brother has learned this sad lesson.  After Thanksgiving, he and his wife went back to the small town we grew up in.  They wanted to see all their friends that they left behind just 18 months earlier.  They very quickly found out that the people in our small town were either in college, which neither my brother nor his wife are, or the friends were slackers sitting around doing nothing with their lives, which my brother's not.  Also, none of their friends are married.  With my brother already completing Army training and being slightly more worldly than a typical 20 year old and he being married, there wasn't a whole lot that the "old" friends had in common with him anymore.


I think that the great thing about Facebook, among the many not-so-good things, is that you can stay in touch with people you grew up with or knew.  I am friends with people on FB that I wasn't friends with in high school or in my old town.  These people and I have things in common now though.  We both have children or we're both stay-at-home moms or we both became teachers, etc.


People say 'you can't go home'.  I think that this statement is true if you expect everything to be the same as when you left.  If you are open-minded and realize that everyone's life changes, moves on with or without your presence, you can go home again, if only for a short while.

Space!

For the past several nights, when Doug and I have gotten into bed, we have watched portions of "Apollo 13" on Netflix.  With Doug being an aerospace engineer, he is very interested in movies dealing with space and rockets.


Although I have seen this movie before, it has been quite awhile.  Therefore, I spent a good portion of the movie asking him questions about what the characters were doing or why they were doing what they were.


Last night, after we finished the movie, Doug and I began talking about the space program, the Constellation program and random other space related things.  Even though it was already late and Doug was clearly getting sleepy, he spent the next two hours explaining and discussing space with me.  The best part about our discussion was I got to see my husband's eyes light up when telling me about what he does at work, what the Ares rockets were supposed to do and while he answered my sometimes ridiculous questions.  It is so great to see how passionate about his job Doug is.  He is clearly much happier with his job now than he was at his previous job.  That makes me happy.


I love our late night discussions and I love seeing my husband excited about certain subjects.

Foods I Don't Like

A little more than a month ago, I wrote this post about cooking dinners for myself and Doug.  I stated how challenging it is because Doug's so picky.  The truth is, I'm sort of picky too.

I won't eat seafood of any type.  I will eat tuna fish from the can, but it has to be smothered in Miracle Whip, so I don't really count that.  Recently, I tried fish from Bonefish Grill.  I have had lobster and crab.  I've even tried shrimp, but I just don't like seafood.  When I was little and my mom would serve fish, I would sit at the table and gag.  One time, she made me stay at the table until I ate my dinner.  I ended up sleeping at the table. 

I also don't like hot dogs.  I'm not really sure when I began not liking them, but I remember the last one that I consumed was covered in chili and cheese.  That was in 2nd grade.  Since the toppings masked the flavor of the hot dog, I obviously wasn't a fan of hot dogs then either.  Doug and I went to the store to buy hot dogs for a family cookout last Thanksgiving weekend.  Neither of us knew where to find hot dogs because neither of us eat them.  I did try a bite that evening, but confirmed I still don't eat hot dogs.

Although it's not my favorite meal, I will occasionally eat Chinese food.  Something very plain, such as sweet and sour chicken or beef and broccoli.  I don't really like white or fried rice either.  I do like rice-a-roni though.  Curious...  When I still lived at home and my parents would go out for Chinese food, I would have them stop at a fast food restaurant and pick me up something.  Doug and I have a P.F. Chang's near our house.  Several people have told us how good the food is there, but I don't know if I want to spend good money on a restaurant that serves food neither Doug nor myself is too fond of. 

I'm not big on very ethnic foods either- German, Greek, Thai, Indian.  If I can't read the menu or decipher the food I am getting, I don't want it.  I should probably start sticking my neck out occasionally, because I probably won't die.

Those are basically the foods I won't eat.  After re-reading it, I don't think I'm as picky as I used to be.  I used to not eat steak, pork, lettuce, among other foods.  I do see, however, how my parents spoiled me by allowing me to not eat certain foods and buy me others.

I hope that although Doug and I are picky eaters, we can somehow raise our children to eat many different types of food.

Oh My!

When I was 8 months pregnant with Weston, my parents, Doug and I went to Gatlinburg, TN for a little R&R and a sort of "last hurrah" before the baby was born.

Even though I still had a little more than a month left before my due date, you would have thought that I was about to give birth right then and there, judging by people's looks and comments.

Several people saw me and would say "oh my!" like I was pregnant with triplets.  I didn't feel that big and the comments made me feel very self-conscious and no longer "glowing".

When we walked along the strip, people gave me dirty looks, like I shouldn't be enjoying myself and I should be home nesting.  Other people gave me a wide berth along the sidewalk.  I didn't need it.

Despite the rudeness I encountered, we had a blast in Gatlinburg and it was very nice to get away from home for a few days.  We went on a ski lift, a concrete slide and through a maze.  I couldn't go on go-karts or some of the other rides and things to do there, but it was still a memorable trip.

Was I really big enough to warrant the rudeness?

Super Bowl Sunday!

Today is the Super Bowl and I don't care.

Don't get me wrong, I love football and I am very sad that today is the last football game until August, unless of course the NFL and players don't come to an agreement. 

However, I still don't care about today's game.  First of all, I still feel terrible, so I don't have the energy to care about it.  Secondly, I don't care about either team that is playing today.  I am a Saints fan and secondary to them, I am a Colts fan.  Therefore, when both teams were eliminated on the first day of playoffs, I no longer cared about the teams in this year's Super Bowl.

Side note- last year, when the Saints won, I lived near New Orleans, so I saw the Super Bowl Champions parade and the Mardi Gras celebrations that honored the Saints.  It was awesome!

I guess I'll "cheer", and I use the term loosely, for Green Bay, just because I don't like Ben Roethlisberger.  He is not a man of morals, so I don't choose to back him or his team.

We'll see how it goes...if I stay up long enough to see the end.

Virus

I couldn't sleep last night.  I tossed and turned the entire night.  About 9:30, I started feeling sick to my stomach.  For the next two hours, I threw up/dry heaved every 15 or so minutes.

I ended up going to the urgent care center, which turned out to be a waste of time.  The doctor told me I was dehydrated (no!), but that she didn't want to give me fluids, she'd rather I go to the ER for that.  After checking me for pancreas or gallbladder issues, she wrote me a prescription for stomach meds and sent me home, telling me dinner didn't agree with me.  Except that dinner would have made me sick a lot less than 12 hours later.

I came home and slept for about 4 hours.  Poor Doug went to get the prescription filled and our insurance wouldn't approve the medicine.  However, he had to sit at Walgreens for an hour to find that out.  They told him he could get 5 pills for $106 or get the full prescription for $600.  He went back to the urgent care center and got 20 pills for $24.

Doug finally got home and took a nap himself.  He's been taking care of Weston and letting me rest.

Therefore, I am just taking the medicine and hanging out in bed.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Empty

Today was a very emotionally draining day.  A lot of things have been bugging me and I can't find a way to get over the thoughts in my head.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a more substantial post.

Counting My Blessings

Almost 2 months ago, I wrote this post about being thankful for Weston.  I'm am still incredibly thankful for Weston. 

Anyone that knows me knows that the entire time I was pregnant, I hoped for a girl.  When asked what gender an expectant couple prefers, the answer is usually a politically correct "it doesn't matter, as long as the baby is healthy".  I DID want a healthy baby, but more than that, I wanted a girl.  Since Doug and I chose not to find out the gender, it wasn't until Weston was delivered that we found out we were the parents of a son.  I remember pushing the last push and the doctor pulling the baby out.  I saw the genitalia and immediately started crying because it was not a girl.  I knew then that it was very selfish to feel that way, but I just couldn't get over it.  In fact, it took me quite awhile to come to terms with the fact we had a boy.  I struggled, and truth be told, still at times struggle, with the fact we didn't have a girl.  I definitely loved Weston since we conceived him, but I didn't like the fact that he was a boy.

That all being said, I may have not had the girl I so badly wanted, but I did have a very healthy, very smart, entirely amazing little boy.  Weston was born on Wednesday and we went home on Friday.  He didn't need any extra medical attention and to this day has never gone to the pediatrician for anything other than vaccines and scheduled appointments.  For all of that, I am eternally grateful to God.

I read several blogs of people who have the daughters they wanted, but under trying circumstances.  Kelly had her baby girl, Harper, at full-term, but Harper was very sick and spent a month in the NICU.  Kayla Aimee had her baby girl, Scarlette, at 25 weeks.  She's now 12 weeks old and is still in the NICU fighting for her life. Karen is 35 weeks pregnant with baby Grace.  During an ultrasound, it was discovered that Grace has a couple medical problems that will cause her to struggle from birth and doctors may not be able to help her.  I cannot imagine having a child in the NICU or knowing before it's born that it may not survive.  I thank God everyday for my healthy fella.

So, I may not have the little girl I wanted, but I have a healthy little boy and that's all that matters.  He's healthy.  Perhaps some day, I will be blessed with a girl.  Maybe she will be healthy, maybe she won't.  However, whether the next baby is a boy or a girl, the outcome doesn't matter, I just want a healthy baby.

I have most certainly learned three invaluable lessons.  The first is that selfishness is a very ugly character trait and I need to shed that particular trait immediately.  The second lesson that I learned is that God knows what he's doing and he obviously felt that what Doug and I needed was a little boy.  I need to have peace with His decision and trust that if God wants us to have a girl, that we will someday have one.  If not, I will be the mom of boys.  The third lesson is that I really desired a baby, not necessarily a boy or a girl, healthy or ill.  How do I know?  Because the little boy that lives in my house lights up my life and makes me smile daily.  He is the reason I am a mommy.

I continue to pray for the families of sick and premature children, that they will find the strength to endure their child's illness and that the children will get better and grow up to be healthy, happy people.  I ask you to do the same.

Things About Life

When you are a child, you can't wait to be a "grown-up".  When you are a "grown-up", you want to be a child again.

When you are a child, adults try to get you to take a nap, which you fight.  When you are an adult, you would give anything to have an occasional nap.

When you are thrust into adulthood, you assume that some things will come somewhat easily, but we all know what assuming does.  If you have a good and steady job, you would think that a bank would be willing to give you a loan. 

There are two problems with this thought:
1) If you are a professional, it can be hard to get a job.  Why?  Because employers are looking for experience and don't necessarily want to stick their neck out for a newbie.
2) Banks do not want to give loans to young people with little to no credit history.

The conundrum with number 2 is that you can't build credit until someone will take a chance and extend credit to you.  Therefore, it is hard to buy a car or a house with no credit.

I know that our country is in a horrible recession, but perhaps giving college-educated people with long-term employment a chance to build credit could better our country.  My generation could improve our country with a little help and faith from banks and credit institutions.

Power Outage

It rained all day today and as the day wore on, the weather became progressively worse and the wind was whipping pretty hard.


When Doug got home this evening, after driving through torrential downpour and dealing with drivers that think rain=snow and thus we should drive 5mph,  he decided we should watch a little "Cake Boss" to relax before we fed Weston and made dinner. 


We had about 5 minutes left of the show when the power went out.  It was 5:01 (according to the blinking clock on the oven when the power returned).  Since our dinner required electricity, I told Doug that we would give it an hour (6pm) and if the power still wasn't on, we should go out for dinner.


About the time the power went out, I smelled Weston and decided he wasn't "fresh", so I went and changed him while Doug held the flashlight.  The experience was...different.  We then lit candles and played Rummikub by candlelight.  After a game and a half, Weston started getting incredibly cranky.  It was probably a combination of being hungry and being scared in the dark.  Therefore, we finished our game while Weston serenaded us with cries.  By this time, it was about 5:45.  We decided we should just go ahead and go, but that we'd feed the girls first. 


I put Weston in his carseat while Doug filled dog bowls.  We fed the dogs and let them outside in the rainstorm.  Meanwhile, I packed Weston's dinner in a lunchbox and then Doug brought the girls in and put them away.  We had just picked up the carseat, diaper bag and lunchbox when the power returned.


We ended up going out to dinner anyway, since everything was packed and ready to go.  Tomorrow we will have the dinner I planned for tonight.