Quit your whining you wussy American

I have little patience with "reality" TV. Back when it first started, it wasn't so bad because the contestants weren't all hard bodied fame whores.  Now, that's pretty much all you see.   I liked the first season of Survivor. Who doesn't remember naked Richard Hatch?  Truck driver Sue or "Aw, hell, I don't know" Rudy? I loved Rudy. I was really pulling for him to win, but alas, it was not to be. Now reality shows are populated with people who would make me run screaming the other direction if I had to engage in a conversation with most of them for more than 2 minutes.  Plus, I really hate the people who have been away from their families for like 2 days and boohoo about how hard it is and how they don't think they can take it.  Seriously?  Talk to a military family and see what you have to boohoo about.  Gah!
One show I generally don't mind though is The Amazing Race. Indy is a HUGE fan, so even though many of the contestants annoy me, we watch it. Plus, I loves me some Phil Keoghan.  That's him at the top in case you didn't know.  Maybe it's the Kiwi accent or how he occasionally (but subtly) tells contestants they're morons.
We get the episodes 2 days after they air in the States, so the most recent one was where the contestants had to go from China to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), India. Before they left China they had to drink a cup of tea and then once in Kolkata they had to find that same type of tea from about 300-400 of cups set out before them. Indy and James Bond both said I would own that challenge. I love hot tea and am very particular. I often drink tea like I drink wine (picking out different flavors in the tea). Anyhoodle, I got very, very, very annoyed at many of the people in said tea challenge. The whining and moaning! OMG! I can't tell you how many times I yelled "IT'S JUST TEA!" at the TV. Several of the contestants went on and on about how this was the "hardest thing" they'd ever done. REALLY? THE HARDEST THING YOU'VE EVER DONE?  Are you freaking kidding me?  I wondered what the Indian attendants working the challenge thought of this.  If it were me, I'd have had a really hard time not rolling my eyes.  I know one of them had to be thinking: THIS is the hardest thing you've ever done?  I live in INDIA.  Did you SEE Slumdog Millionaire, you spoiled American?  Did you see the swell of humanity just outside this building?  Drink your damn tea and get out of my country.  I'm really sympathetic like that though.
Are you a reality TV fan?  Do you think it makes Americans look like complete idiots?  FTR, I would LOVE to go on The Amazing Race, but James Bond and I would probably kill each other. 

RTT: Going Rogue, Grapefruit , Cars and Blasphemy

That's right! I'm randoming without Keely. She's put RTT on hiatus (Why Keely? WHY?????), but I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm going rogue. I'm totally still using the button though. Bwahahahahahahaha! Too much?




*Why is that every time you eat a grapefruit (or peel and orange or squeeze a lemon) that the juice somehow manages to squirt directly into your eye?  I mean, you have a whole face there, so how does it manage to make it right into your eyes?  Very annoying.

*I was eating a grapefruit the other day (and had been squirted in the eye multiple times!) and Indy asked for a bite.  I warned him it was sour and he said that was okay.  I put a bite in his mouth and he made the craziest face and said "Why would you put that in my mouth????" That's what she said.

*I like my grapefruit with salt.  Yummy.

*Cars are NOT built with pregnant women in mind.  It soooo uncomfortable to drive or even just sit in the car.  Ugh.

*Back up cameras however are quite possibly one of the greatest inventions ever put in a car for a pregnant woman.  Not having to try to turn myself around is wonderful.

*I am one day more pregnant with Han Solo than I made it with Indy.  No one should ever be this pregnant.  Ever.  Yes, I know I'm not even due for another few weeks, but this is just ridiculous.

*Because of said length of my pregnancy, I hate everyone.  Possibly even you.  You're not pregnant and I am, and therefore, I have to hate you right now.  Sorry about that.

 *My poor sweet Yuka (my computer-she's Japanese, hence the name) started dying a while back.  Oh, it was slow at first, but things started progressing  rapidly.  Her power cord wouldn't connect to give her power, her battery died and had to be replaced (thank you ebay!), and then she started running sluggishly.  NOOOOO!!!  To be fair we've been together for almost 4 years and that's a good time in the life of a laptop.  All of our school files were on her though, so I quickly backed them up (along with everything else) to an external hard drive (wow, that sounds all techy and smart, doesn't it?) and bought a new computer.  Her name is Suki (also Japanese) and I'm not in love with her.  Oh, sure, she's all bright and shiny and comes with cool new programs, but her buttons feel weird and the touch pad isn't what I'm used to and...well, she's just not Yuka.   I know we'll grow to love each other, but for new she's weird and I'm having issues letting go of Yuka.  We've been through so much!  I used her for work, back when I had a job (I miss you paycheck!), we moved to Germany together, she went on a cruise, flew to England and kept me entertained while I was in the hospital.  She's been so good to me, and I just had to put her aside like a piece of trash.  Forgive me, Yuka.  Let the singing commence.  ..And I-I-I-I will always love you-u-u-u-u-u-....

*That reminds me.  When I was in college (a million years ago), I had a roommate my sophomore year (I lived in a quad room, so she was one of my 3 roommates) who was highly entertaining and very, very sweet.  She had one bad habit though.  She loved Whitney Houston.  A lot.  Too much.  She would put on her headphones (yes, this was back in the prehistoric days before earbuds and iPods) and sit next to her stereo (can you imagine?) and sing Whitney Houston at the top of her lungs.  It made me and my other roommates crazy.  Of course I Will Always Love You was her favorite song to sing.  I hated that song so much.  We had to have a stereo/headphone/singing intervention. 

*Ugh.  I had a big old, painful contraction while typing that.  Will it progress to labor though?  Probably not.  If you're not pregnant, I still hate you.  I'll love you again soon though.

*This photo has been on my computer forever, but I never posted it.  I figure since I'm going rogue today though, why not?

So, there you have it.  My rogue RTT.  I don't need no stinkin' host.  That's not true.  Come back Keely!  Come back!!!!!

Another one bites the dust

So....yesterday was my birthday and thanks to FB (remember I actually KNOW all of my FB friends) I feel ridiculously loved (and adored). James Bond and Indy made me an awesome strawberry cake with chocolate icing (LOVE) and we drove up to Ramstein Air Base(about an hour away) to go to Chili's for lunch (we haven't been to Chili's in over 3 years-I totally forgot there was one at Ramstein). We started off with Spinach-Artichoke Dip and practically had to fight Indy to get any ourselves. That boy loves spinach-artichoke dip. After his first bite, he closed his eyes and said "Best. Mom's. Birthday. Ever." Silly boy. I ordered the Chicken Quesadilla Explosion Salad and it was heaven. There was no way I could eat it all, but what I did was wonderful.  After that we went to the HUMONGOUS Ramstein PX (store) and walked around. I also had a strawberry milkshake from Baskin Robbins. The last 3 times we been up there they have been out of strawberry ice cream (HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN???) and I told JB that if they were out this time, I was going to go totally pregnant crazy on them. Fortunately (for them), they had 2 containers out. YUMMY.
On the way home we were being crazy silly an laughed so hard I thought I was going to go into labor.  It wasn't even anything spectacular, we were just being silly.  Good times.  When we got home and opened the door, a wave hit me and I said "It smells like ass in here!"  I'm a lady like that.  When we stepped into the LR, we saw why.  My poor Dutch (10 y/o Pekingese) had been violently ill, many, many, many times.  Oh, the horror.  James Bond was super awesome and cleaned it all up (it was in the LR/DR and kitchen) and then I mopped all the floors.  Dutch acted fine (he was very happy to see us), but the illness continued all through the night.  He tried to tell us he needed to go out, but several times, before we could get our shoes on, it was too late.  Darn it.  JB and I were up half the night and totally exhausted this morning.  And the house smelled like double ass.  Ugh.  I'm happy to report that Dutch seems to be feeling better today and has only had to go out a few times today (as opposed to about every hour and half last night).  I called the vet and they told me to feed him rice and chicken broth and if he doesn't improve to bring him in.  He's been enjoying that along with the extra love (though probably not the 2 baths he had to take) and we're hoping we don't have to go to the vet.
Dogs get ill, just like people.  Who knows why?  They get viruses or eat something disgusting they found outside (that's right, I'm talking about you Arf) that doesn't agree with them.  It's not often, maybe 3-4 times a year, but when you have 3 dogs, those 3-4 times a year become 12-16 times a year and you think you might lose your mind. We have hardwood floors in our house, but like most people have placed down (thankfully) inexpensive area rugs.  For whatever reason though, when the dogs get sick, they head right for the rugs.  Oh, yeah.  At one time in the big LR/DR area, we had 4 rugs: one under the coffee table, one under the table, and two others just in the open areas.  Thanks to multiple illnesses, and dogs who apparently like to be ill on said rugs, we now have none.  We also lost the rug in the school/guest room when Arf ate something he found outside and decided to bring it back up all over the rug.  Lat night, the last rug we had in the house (aside from the one in Indy's room, where the dogs are no longer allowed)  became the latest victim.  There was just no saving it.  James Bond tried, but to no avail.    We are now pretty much a bare hardwood floor house.  It's chilly in the winter, but easy to clean up, so I guess that's good.  Whatever will we do if we move into a house with carpet????? 

The greatest shower of my life-it's good be clean

Most women seem to be bath people. I am not most women (as you may know by now). I've never been big on baths. It just seems like you're soaking in your own juices and that's just icky. If the water is too hot, you get hot and that's no fun. Even if it's the perfect temp. it will eventually cool and then you'll be cold. What do you DO in the bath? I've tired reading, but after dropping 2 books in the water, I gave up on that. I'm just not a fan of baths. I'm a shower kind of girl. I loves me a good shower. I can stay in the shower forever. I've even been known to sit in the shower. I get a lot of thinking done in the shower (in fact I wrote a good portion of this post in my head in the shower earlier). I find the sound of the falling water relaxing. I've been in showers so long that James Bond has come in to check on me and make sure I didn't somehow drown myself. My dream home has one of those great big tile showers with multiple shower heads (and a steam option) and a big marble slab for me to lay on while the water beats down on my back.  A girl can dream, right? 
I know to most people a shower is just a way to get clean and one is pretty much like the next, but there is one shower I will always remember and the closer I get to giving birth to Han Solo, the more I remember it.

Back in July of 2002, we were once again living in Heidelberg, I was pregnant with Indy and it looked as though I would give birth at any moment (despite the fact that I wasn't due until late Aug). We had been to L&D (labor and delivery for those who might not know) numerous times to stop contractions and the docs told me that if I went before 36 weeks, they would have to medivac me to Landstuhl because our small hospital had no NICU (at the time they weren't sending women to German hospitals, I have no idea why). When they sidy medivac, they meant they would put me in a helicopter to get me there.  As you can imagine, I was violently against this idea.  Being in labor was one thing.  Being in labor in a helicopter was a whole other animal, and I was not about to go there.  Every day I rubbed my stomach and told Indy we just needed to make it to 36w.  The night of July 24th, James Bond and I went to bed around 11pm and he promptly fell asleep (I hate that he can do that!) while I stared at the clock.  Only 1 hour to go and we would be at 36w.  The minute the clock flipped to midnight, I sighed, rubbed my stomach and said "We made it."  The moment the words were out of my mouth I had my first contraction.  I lay there timing them for about 2.5 hours (they were about 15 mins apart) and finally decided to get up and take a shower to see if they would stop (sometimes warm showers or baths will stop false labor). They didn't so I went back to bed and kept timing them. By 4:30am they were about 10 mins apart and I woke James Bond to tell him. He groggily pulled on his clothes and grabbed the keys, thinking this was going to be yet another night spent in L&D, only to be sent home. When we got to the hospital, the OB on duty checked me out and said we would be having a baby that day. WHAT? YES! We were terribly excited, and hunkered down to wait. And wait. And wait. At 7am the OB went off duty and midwife came one. She checked me out and said it would be a while yet, so just get comfortable. At 1pm I was miserable and in pain. We had walked about 100 miles in the hallway, JB had rubbed my back (I had terrible back labor), held me while I cried (labor sucks) and listened to me rant and rave. The midwife would NOT give me any sort of pain medications, despite the fact that I begged for it. She said it would be "better" if I just worked my way through the pain. I really hated her at that moment. 3 hours later, James Bond had had enough and went to tell her that it was not her decision to make and if I wanted pain meds, it was her job to make sure I got them. She finally agreed and came in with something to inject into my IV. It reminded me of a movie (you know, how they inject stuff into IV's and the people immediately fall asleep?). I tried to tell James Bond this and said "It's just like in the moooo..." and I was out. I slept for about 2.5-3 hours and my contractions seemed to stall. James Bond was cranky and irritable, though from MY perspective, he had no reason to be. When I woke up (feeling much better-I was exhausted), they were back with full force, but the evil midwife had gone off duty and my favorite OB, Dr. Gobern, was on. He checked me out and said I was dilated to 7cm, so it would be much longer. He also offered some pain meds that merely took the edge off and made me slightly more comfortable. At 9pm he offered me an epidural. YES, PLEASE! Life got so much better after that. Finally (FINALLY) at 11:41pm (23 hours, 41 minutes after the first contraction) Indy made his appearance in the world weighing in at a very tiny 4 pounds 14 ounces. I was delirious, but got the "post birth" energy surge and was awake until about 1am. Indy was sound asleep, as was James Bond, so I laid down and drifted off, happy to be able to sleep without being kicked from the inside. Indy slept great and woke me at 6 to eat, and then promptly fell back asleep. The nurses came to bring me breakfast and check on me. James Bond went home to take out the dogs and call our families and drop off several rolls of film at the one hour film developer (we didn't have a digital camera back then). I asked if I could have a shower. Giving birth is messy and gross and I just wanted to be clean. The nurses told me I needed to wait until the doc gave the ok, but brought me stuff to give myself a sponge bath. Let me tell you, after nearly 24 hours of hard, sweaty labor and then all that goes along with giving birth, there was no way a sponge bath was going to be good enough, but I took what I could get. The doc was supposed to see me at noon (12 hours after the birth), but some very inconsiderate woman came in around that time and gave birth to twins, keeping the doc from my room until nearly 2pm. How rude of her. I spent those hours trying not to smell myself (I'm extremely sensitive to smells), taking an obscene amount of photos of Indy and just staring at this perfect little person who had been in my body just a few hours earlier. By the time the OB got there I felt gross. I hate to be dirty, and this was just too much. I begged to be allowed to shower and he said if I felt up to it, it would be fine. Oh, happy day!!! James Bond helped me out of bed and into the bathroom (giving birth also makes you quite sore) and promised that if Indy needed me, he'd come get me post haste. The bathroom was small, the shower stall roughly the size of a coffin, with 1960's greenish-yellow tiles that were cracked in places and there was a bit of mildew in each of the corners (believe me, military hospitals are less than glamorous), but I didn't care. I turned the water on full blast and climbed in. HEAVEN! I bumped my elbows trying to soap up, and I couldn't sit down, but this was the single greatest shower I had ever taken. It was so good that I was in there for almost an hour. James Bond came to check on me several times (and to report that Indy was still cute and still asleep), but I just wasn't ready to get out. I had unlimited hot water and I was getting clean! Once I resembled a prune from head to toe, I finally pulled myself away from the cleansing spray and dried off. I slathered myself with pretty smelling lotion and felt more like a human than I had in about 48 hours. Seriously, cracked tiles, mildew and all, this was the single greatest shower of my entire life. It's honestly the only shower I can ever remember.
When I give birth to Han Solo, it will be at a very nice German hospital that I know from my experience with food poisoning back in Nov, has wonderful, huge corner showers and is scrupulously clean. I'm sure that first shower I take after giving birth will be a moving experience and will rank as one of the TWO greatest showers of my life.

BTW, come back tomorrow to adore me some more as it is my birthday and I know you want to wish me well.

I'm a WINNER!!!!

After my disasterous, no interwebs, no telephone Tuesday 2 weeks ago (I think I'll call it Black Tuesday from now on), I was all set for the Heidelberg Community Spouses Club monthly luncheon on the following Wednesday. The luncheons are nice, because it's good to get out of the house and talk to grown ups and eat and laugh and win stuff. Oh, and there's usually some sort of presentation. I won't tell you my feelings on this month's presentation. I'm sure you can guess by that statement that they aren't glowing.
Anyhoodle, I take Indy to a friend who was watching him for me, as our regular sitter was booked and 3 (THREE!) back up sitters canceled on me and tra-la-la'd my way (yes, STILL in heels at 8.5 months pregnant) to the Village Pavilion for the luncheon. I checked in and bought $10 worth of raffle tickets (the HCSC raises a ton of money for the community, you know) and then wandered around talking to friends I saw and checking out the vendors (but didn't buy anything). At 10:30 the seating opened up and we all scrambled in to find seats at the same table with our friends. After placing my name card to reserve my seat, I wandered over to the raffle prize table to see what was up for grabs. If you when a raffle, you get to pick whatever is on the table (the first winner is the best to be because you get to choose from everything, while the last winner gets what's left). I was a bit let down and grumbled that I should have saved my money because there wasn't much on the table I liked (and the things I like usually get snapped up quickly-you know, because I have good taste and what not). See, no interwebs and no phone makes me crabby.
On the first raffle ticket drawing, of course one of the two items I liked was snatched up. Bummer. It was a Coach purse, in case you were wondering. I'm not a big Coach fan, but of all the things there, I liked it. Raffle drawing #2 and #3 took another item I liked. Drat. Raffle drawing #4 was...ME!!!! Shut up! I went to the table and decided to snatch up the OTHER Coach purse. All my friends oohed and ahhed and said for $10, that wasn't too shabby. True dat!  ETA:  The purse was donated from the PX, so I checked it out while I was there a few days later and it was $225!  YOWZERS!
We ate lunch and dessert (OMG, the lemon cake was divine), listened to some people talk and of course I had to pee about every 15 minutes. Drat! Coming back from one of my frequent bathroom trips, I heard a raffle number called that was 1 number off from my previous win. It was ME!!! I went as quickly as I could back to the dining room, while all my friends told the ticket drawer to hold on because I was coming (they call the number 3 times and if you're not there to claim, they draw someone else). I made it up to the front and looked at the remaining prizes. Nothing struck my fancy and I was about to take a set of 3 serving trays with a tapestry Easter runner, when I thought, I have a ton of serving trays, why get more? I looked over the prizes again and saw a big basket full of cake mixes, icing, ceramic cake pans, a book titled Kids Can Cook and a Martha Stewart child size chef's hat, apron and oven mittens.  Now, Indy loves to bake.  He bakes all of our birthday cakes and takes great joy and pride in it.  I thought he would LOVE this set, so I picked it instead of the serving trays.  He saw it when I got home and had a fit!  He's so excited he can barely stand it.  One of the cake mixes is strawberry (which is my favorite) and he said he could use that for my b-day cake in a few weeks.   I'm such an awesome mom.  Plus, I really liked the basket it all came in. 

After I got home and found my internet was FINALLY back on, I sat down with a cup of tea and set to reading all the emails I had missed.  One of them was titled "Congratulations!  You're a winner!"  I almost didn't open it, but the preview showed the name of one of the blogs I follow, so instead of deleting, I opened it and WHAT DO YOU KNOW???  I WAS A WINNER!  I won a nail gun and compressor from a give away sponsored by Centsational Girl!  I have not won a blog sponsored give away in well over a year and almost didn't enter this one because, well, I wasn't going to win, so why bother?  Haha!!!!  Can you believe it?  I called James Bond at work to tell him and I think he was more excited than I was.  Nail gun + compressor = crazy excited James Bond.  Huzzah!

Would you like to see the swag I won at the luncheon?  Of course you would!

Lovely Coach purse:

Baking basket for Indy:

I like to think it was just the universe apologizing to me for stealing my interwebs and phone the day before. 
BTW, the compressor and nail gun arrived today. James Bond practically drooled all over it.  Until I told him it's MINE!  Bwahahahahahaha!  If he's nice, I might let him use it though.

RTT: You like the towel animals!!

Hello everyone! Happy second (or is it 3rd?) day of spring!

*Did you know spring is not supposed to be capitalized? I didn't until Indy and I learned about it in his grammar book a few weeks ago. Months and days, yes, please capitalize. Seasons, nope. Wonder why?

*You guys really liked my pointless post with towel animals yesterday. It got loads of hits. Who'd have thunk? If you didn't see it, click here.  You know you want to see some towel animals!

*I hate spring (capitalized or not).  Indy and I have been sniffling and sneezing for days.  It's awful.  I can't even take the good meds because of Han Solo.  We're in for a long few weeks I'm afraid.  Sadly, my poor Indy seems to have it almost as bad as I do, but he's not old enough for the good meds.  I'm hoping James Bond's genes will make it to Han Solo, but I don't think it's going to happen.

*Speaking of James Bond, yesterday was his Army anniversary.  He's been in for 15 years.  Only 5 to go before he can retire!  WHAT?  It's true. Of course he'll probably want to stay for 25 or 30 years, so then it would be 10 or even 15 to go. Sigh.

*I so wish I could go see the Broadway version of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

*Han Solo has been giving me issues all weekend.  Contractions strong enough to wake me up at night (and make me miserable during the day), but not consistent enough to be progressive labor.  Ugh.  If he's not born by tomorrow night, he needs to knock it off until at least Monday of next week. Why?  Because my birthday is Sunday and I do NOT want to be in the hospital on my birthday!  I was actually in the hospital for bronchitis and sinusitis for my 33rd birthday (IIRC-I know it was the week Pope John Paul died) and it was the WORST birthday ever.  I do not want to be in the hospital or worse, labor on my birthday!

*So, I finally got my Google Analytic to work.  I get a lot more hits than I thought.  Yesterday's towel animal post got over 300 hits.  Yeah, I know, compared to some super star bloggers, that's small potatoes, but for me that's exciting.   It only got like 5 or 6 comments and 3 private emails though.  I want to know who you are!  Say hi!  Leave me a comment.  Tell me how awesome I am.  I love to check out new blogs and if you leave me a comment, I will come visit you in return.

*I just want to sleep all. the. time.  On Sunday, I didn't get up until almost 11am (I went to bed at 10:30pm the night before), and then napped from 4-6pm and was back in bed by 10pm.  If I didn't HAVE to get up in the mornings, I wouldn't.  Maybe I'm prepping for all the sleep I'm going to lose to late night feedings?

*What the frick goes on in Texas?????  Come have a ball?  Seriously?

Click the button at the top to see all the other randoms.  And leave me a comment!

Darn it!! Pointless post with towel animals!

I have a whole bunch of photos on my computer to do entire blog posts about in case I have nothing to really blog about. It's a file named "Random blog photos." Today, I had planned to do an entire post about garbage. That's right, garbage. Garbage in Europe is more of a game than anything, because you MUST recycle. We have multiple cans and multiple containers outside for stuff to go it. I took loads of photos (that I KNOW you would be interested in) and where are they? No idea! NONE! The whole file is just gone. Poof! Like it never existed. I know it did. So now what???? Well, I've got little to talk about (except for the whole pregnancy thing and I'm just over it), so instead I'll show you some photos of the towel animals that we found in our cabin EVERY NIGHT on the Disney cruise we took last year. Why? I dunno. I thought you'd like them. Who doesn't like towel animals?

Loch Ness Monster?

Stingray (wearing my sunglasses)

Elephant

Rabbit

Scorpion

Lobster? 

Orangutan

Peacock

Dinosaur

Cobra

I.....?  What are your guesses?

I wonder how long it takes them to make these?  Can you imagine if that was your job?  "So, what do you do"   "Me?  Oh, I make towel animals for the Disney Cruise Line."  I think it would be kind of awesome.  Okay, there you have it.  My totally pointless post. 

16 years

Sixteen years ago today James Bond and I were married. SIXTEEN YEARS, people!  Of course if you figure all the time we've been apart because of the military, we've probably only been together 9 or 10 years.  Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that I was nervously walking down the aisle (and getting my heel stuck in a grate on the floor-everyone thought I was just pausing for effect, but in reality, I was trying to wiggle my shoe free), and other days it seems like it's been forever. 
This year's anniversary was not what I would have expected a year ago.  James Bond was actually home this year (unlike many anniversaries in the past), and had the day off, but I had NO plans to be pregnant and close to delivery.  I thought we'd probably go out to dinner, laugh over the silly things we remember from our wedding day (there were loads of funny things that happened), then come home and dance to our wedding song (You Send Me by Sam Cooke).  Unfortunately,  I had a rough night of contractions last night (we were both adamant that Han Solo could NOT be born on our anniversary) and didn't sleep well and have really been laying around all day, trying to keep the contractions at bay.  I didn't feel like going out, so we decided to order in (Chinese) and watch a movie (Young Victoria).  Indy thought it was a great anniversary.  He hugged us both and said he was glad we decided to get married.   It wasn't romantic or anything, but you know what?  That's okay.  We spent the day together and in the long run, sometimes that's just as good.
I know this isn't mushy and lovey dovey, but that's okay too.  It wasn't a mushy kind of day.  If you'd like to read some slightly more romantic mushy posts, you can read  these:

15 year anniversary-The story of a boy and a girl

14 year anniversary-You Send Me

Happy anniversary James Bond! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

For each petal on the shamrock

This brings a wish your way -

Good health, good luck, and happiness

For today and every day.

~Author Unknown

Erin Go Braugh!   Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!  Indy's second favorite "holiday" of the year has arrived and with it the "Naught Leprechauns."  Oh, those leprechauns!  James Bond was teasing Indy yesterday that he was going to set traps to catch them and Indy was incredibly upset, but decided he wasn't really all that worried since James Bond "couldn't catch a mole when we live in AZ, so the odds of him catching a magical Leprechaun were pretty slim."  Those were his exact words, BTW.

So, after Indy went to bed, the Leprechauns came and oh, the silly stuff they did!  In Indy's room, the took the water bottles we had used to refill the fish tank when it was cleaned the other day (they have obviously not made it to the recycling bin) and created a circle in the middle of his room and placed two $1 bills in the middle.  They tossed his clean underwear and jammies on the floor, filled his Indiana Jones door booby trap with green and white confetti (sigh) and hung tons of green streamers in his door.

In the living room, they pulled a bunch of books off the shelves and stacked them in the middle of the table. There was a $1 on top.  They also took the sofa cushions and a green blanket and made a fort in the middle of the floor.  Inside the fort was a pack of green gum, a box of Nerds Candy (Indy LOVES Nerds) and another $1.

In the bathroom, they stacked all of our medicine/vitamin bottles into a pyramid on the counter and of course turned the toilet water green (Indy's absolute favorite thing). Oh, and they wrapped his toothbrush in green streamers.

Indy came into our room this morning around 7:45 and informed us that the Leprechauns had come.  James Bond had already been to PT and come back and was trying to catch a few more Z's.  I had not gotten up yet.  :)

Indy:  Mom!  Dad!  The Leprechauns came!  Can I get up now?
Me:  Sure you can.  So, tell me,  what all did they do?
Indy: [quick recap of stuff they did] ...and they turned the toilet water green!
Me:  Exciting.
Indy:  Yeah!  I've already peed in it twice, but I didn't flush.
Me:  Gross!  Why not?
Indy:  I didn't want you guys to miss out on the fun!
James Bond: [muffled laughter]  Ewwwww.

Me:  I think we can miss out on that.  Go flush!
Indy:  Okay, but you're not going to get to see the cool green water!
Me:  I'll survive.
{Indy leaves}
Me (to JB):  Your child is weird.
JB:  I wonder who he gets it from?


The breakfast eggs were green too. Indy was sad that they forgot to tint the water in one of the water bottles though. Oops.  I told him they were probably really busy with all the streamers.

I have to say that St. Patrick's Day Even is exhausting for me the Leprechauns.  Indy loves it though and thinks he must be one lucky boy.  That makes it all worth it.  Except the confetti.  What a mess.

 

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.
~Author Unknown

I hope you all have a lucky, happy and healthy day!

RTT: Being pregnant can make you stupid

A Tuesday with interwebs! Huzzah!

*Being pregant seriously affect your brain. Seriously. During the early part of pregnancy, I would forget what I was doing in the middle of doing it. I'd get up to get something and then have no idea what it was I was I was going to get!  It gets worse as the pregnancy progresses.  Here are some examples:
--I nearly missed my own baby shower because I forgot what time it was being held.  45 minutes before the shower, I was at the PX.  I had not showered, had no makeup on and had not straightened my hair.  Fortunately, it came to me and I rushed home and got ready in record time.  I was only 10 minutes late!
--I saw a woman the other day that I've known for at least 2 years.  I could not for the life of me remember her name or figure out where I knew her from!
--Yesterday Indy and I went to the post office to mail something (aside: postal rates are ridiculous!!) and when we got back to the car, I couldn't get it to back out of the parking space.  I freaked out for about half a minute before I realized I had not put the car in 'reverse.'  Good grief.

*I got a new elctric toothbrush last week (A Sonic Spinbrush) and I feel like it's going to vibrate my teeth right out of my mouth.  Seriously, it's like a jackhammer.  My teeth feel really, really clean though.  I just hope they stay in my mouth.

*Topic on The View yesterday:  Does money buy happiness?  I'm guessing it doesn't, given all the crazy rich people on TV, but I'm sure it makes being miserable far more tolerable.  I'd like to try it.  Being rich that is.  Not crazy.  I've got that down.

*I have YET to receive my invite to the royal wedding!!!  I'm sure it's lost in the mail.  Kate, if you're reading this (and I'm SURE you are), could you just pop another one in the post?  Thanks.

*Allergy season has arrived.  SUCK!  Because of my pregnancy, the docs have taken me off all but one of my meds (plus a script eye drop, but that doesn't count) and I am not a happy camper.  On a normal day, I take 5 meds plus the eye drops and I'm frequently miserable on all that.  Down to one med and I could become a raving lunatic.  Stupid, stupid allergies!

*Obviously sensing my pain, my sweet Johnny Depp spent some time with me in my dreams last night.  He's considerate like that.In my dream he wasn't famous yet (though somehow I knew he would be) and was working as a fireman.  For whatever reason I was at the firehouse, oh wait, it just came to me-they were having a fund raising car wash (a wet, Johnny Depp?  Yes, please!) and I was getting my car washed.  I was wearing an amazing pair of red stilettos and Johnny complimented me on how nice they were and how they made me even sexier.  Is there any wonder why we're so in love?   Oh, Johnny.  Call me.

*Speaking of Johnny Depp, we went to see Rango this weekend.  Not because Johnny was in it though.  It was just his voice, but still.  Anyway, it was really quirky and weird, but awfully funny.  We LOL'd a lot.  There was a bit of language in it, but sadly all kids movies seem to have that in them now.  Indy gave it 2 thumbs up.

*I have found my first real issue with my beloved Kindle.  Well, not the Kindle itself (I still {heart} and adore it), but with the formatting of a book.  I'm really digging period mysteries lately, especially the Sebastian St. Cyr series, but as the most recent book just came out 2 weeks ago, I've had to find other books to keep me occupied until the next one comes out in a year or so (curses!).  Sorry, back to the point.  I downloaded an Edwardian murder mystery the other day, which is okay (not great, but okay), but the Kindle formatting is just bloody awful.  There are random hyphens and spaces in the middle of sentences, misspelled words all over the place, and practically any word with an apostrophe is jacked up.  "I'll" reads as Ull, "You'll" reads as yoUl, or /oUl (WTF?) and so on.  It's really impeding my reading and making me mad.  The book was $7 and for that, I'd expect not to have to decode half the words.  If it were a print book with these types of problems, I'd return it and get my money back.  I've downloaded tons of free books that have not ONE mistake in them.  What gives Amazon?

*Speaking of downloads, I recently downloaded a ton of 1980's songs for my ipod.  Amazon now recommends the most random things for me.  

*Oh, today is the Ides of March!  Beware the Ides of March!  Especially if your name is Julius Caesar.  Otherwise, you're probably okay.

*James Bond had to do a 10 mile ruck march (carrying a 40 pound ruck sack) this morning at 6am.  Better him than me.  My ruck sack is in the front right now (and weighs nowhere near 40lbs, thank goodness) and 2 miles is about all I can deal with.





*Sometimes sports fans just aren't that smart.  I think they were going for ESPN.  I would say they could blame in on pregnancy, but they can't use it as an excuse.

Okay, I think I'm done for the day.  Hit the creepy button up there ^^^^^ somewhere and join in the randoms!

Completely Awesome Baby Shower-For ME!!!

I truly have the most amazing friends! Hoosier Mom and another friend (who we'll call Cutie Mom-because she's cute as a button) threw me a baby shower today and it was awesome!  I was truly overwhelmed.  Hoosier Mom was very worried about making it perfect because I like to throw parties and do so often, but I told her that's just my thing and not to stress because I would be happy with anything.  I was just thrilled to have a shower.  She didn't listen and the results were outstanding.    They decided to go with a French theme and it was perfect!   For food we had Ratatouille, Quiche, Baked Brie, Crudite, Petite Fours, Punch, Wine and of course cake.  Hoosier Mom knows how to make a cake!

Look how beautiful this is!!!  The initials are Han Solo's real initials.  It was a white cake with chocolate ganache a raspberry coulie and white chocolate butter cream icing.  Decadent!

Hoosier Mom made the Petite Fours too.  The blueberry topped ones were with lemon curd and the raspberry topped ones were raspberry curd.  OMG, they were delicious!

The spread.  It was all delicious.  I only wish I had more room to eat!

Look at all the gifts!!!  Can you believe it?

Hoosier Mom and JAG's little sister (who arrived in country yesterday) made this diaper cake.  The center of it is a bottle of champagne.  Do they know me?

Hoosier Mom, Me and Cutie Mom

Cutting the cake.

Eating!  The best part.

The favors were little bottles of wine (tres chic) wrapped with little wrappers that matched the invites.

They played soft French music during the shower and the game we played was matching French words and phrases to common baby words and phrases in English.

It was really lovely and we got so much stuff.  We really needed it all too because poor Han Solo has pretty much nothing.  I have about a hundred photos of me opening gifts, but I didn't want to bore you with them.  It was a fantastic shower and I am so lucky to have such a great group of ladies I can call friends.

My mom was sad she couldn't be here, but sent a fab present anyway!  She bought our infant seat, which we really needed.

Now all we need is Han Solo!

RTT: The Thursday Edition

If you read yesterday's post, you know I was living in the dark ages on Tuesday and had no internet access. Quelle Horror! Because of this, I could not participate in RTT. Nooooooo!!!! I decided (at the request of a few readers, both through comments and emails) to do a RT THURSDAY. How's that for randoms??? Shablam!  I just blew your mind!

*I would like to thank those who emailed me wondering if my absence from RTT was due to Han Solo trying to come again. He's hanging in. In fact, he's nestled firmly under my ribs and has 1 tiny foot lodged against one of my ribs even as I type. With all the meds they have me on, I told James Bond that I will probably be overdue and hate everyone.

*There is a full moon on the 19th though, and that can make women go into labor. I looked up the full moon date in July 2002 (when Indy was born) and guess what? There was a full moon the night I went into labor! The next full moon is April 18th, which would be better, if we go the full moon route, but I am so over being pregnant.

*Here's a tip for you. If you have to yawn in the shower, make sure you're facing away from the water spray. If you're not, you may suck water down your wind pipe and choke like a fool causing your family to rush into the bathroom to make sure you're okay.

*Did you yawn when you read that? I did.

*Indy has something against "hippies." He hates to see guys with long hair or dirty looking young people. I tried to explain that he should not judge people by their looks, and he said he knows this, he just "can't stand the hippies." Okay.

*Only 50 days until the royal wedding!!!!! I.AM.A.DORK.

*We got our tax refund today!  Sa-weet!!!  Now I can buy new tires for Ulrika.  SUV tires are crazy expensive.  Unsweet.

*This morning I thought I found a stretch mark and totally freaked out. I did not get stretch marks with Indy and am determined not to get them this time either. The secret? Moisture! When I'm done in the shower (and hopefully not yawning) before I dry off, I rub down with oil and air dry (I pat myself with a towel, but make sure the oil stays on) and no stretch marks. This morning what I saw was actually a mark from where I had laid on the seam of my pj bottoms. Whew!

*Almond oil is perfect for after the shower. It doesn't leave you feeling greasy and absorbs quickly.

*Cherries are $6/pound. Of COURSE I am now craving them.

*Instead of getting the local weather on the Today Show (after Al does the national weather), we get a map of the US and can hear all the goings on off camera. Every flipping day Al Roker says these exact words:

AR: Ladies and Gentlemen, we always like to make sure out director Joe Michaels is awake. Could you please all say 'Wake up Joe Michaels!'
Crowd: Wake up Joe Michaels!
AR: And he's a HUGE fan of Robin Williams. Could you please all say 'Jumanji, Hi-def Joe!'
Crowd: Jumanji, Hi-def Joe!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN????? I have been listening to this for YEARS and still don't know. It's a great mystery.

*Oh, darn it!   I just saw that the US is "springing forward" soon.  Europe won't "spring" for a few more weeks.  This means it's going to mess with my TV schedule, as the live shows (like the Today Show) will come on at a different time than we're used to.   Key-rap.

*How much do I love the person who took a LOT of time to make this sign?  A bunch, that's how much.  Click on it to enlarge and read it.  It will make you laugh.  Or not.

So, that's my random Thursday.  Hope you have a wonderful day!

No interwebs and no telephone make MiHH go crazy

Yesterday we had no internet or phone service. Actually, it went out around 5pm the day before, so it was a whole DAY AND A HALF!! OMG, it was like living in 1990! On top of that, my cell was dead and I couldn't find the charger (I have since found it-you know, since I couldn't sit around on the interwebs). It was torture.  My poor little Yuka (that's my computer's name-cause she's Japanese) just sat on the table with her little lights blinking slowly and sadly.  I know she was wondering why I was ignoring her.  Poor thing.
In case you're wondering, we pay our bill online and the bank card I had on file expired and I forgot to update it.  Did the company bother to tell us that the payment didn't go through?  No.  No, they did not.  They just let our bill go (not even an email notification!) and then cut us off!  Ack!  Of course they cut us off at 5pm and then the next day was a semi-holiday (Fasching/Mardi Gras to those of us from the States) and had shortened hours.  I went into the offices around 10am (that's when they opened) and paid the bill in person.  I was told that they were shutting down at noon and our service "should" be back on by 6pm, but since it was a semi-holiday, they couldn't promise anything.  WHAT????  At 6pm James Bond and I were both obsessively trying to log on to our computers, but to no avail.  We were like junkies trying to score a hit.  I guess.  I mean, that's what the druggies on CSI act like.   Our wasn't turned back on until 10am THIS MORNING!  Really?  Okay, sure, I got my laundry done, swept and mopped the bathroom, loaded the dishwasher, schooled Indy, cleaned out a closet and read a whole book (on my Kindle, so at least I had SOME sort of electronic device), which was all well and good, but come on! I need my interwebs!!!!  My Kindle has "experimental" interwebs, but if you can't connect to a network, forget it (3G is a joke).  When I finally logged on, I had so many emails it wasn't funny AND I was a whole day behind on the blogs I follow!  I suppose I should be grateful that they didn't cut our cable service too, huh?  How did we live without our electronics? We're not tied to them, like some people (we don't have phones at the table, and do actually talk to each other), but not having the option to go online or even call someone was so....primitive.  Maybe I need an intervention?  Preferably online.  :)

Super Simple (and FREE) St. Patrick's Day Decor

I've been a slacker this year when it comes to seasonal decorating. I did nothing for Valentine's Day and just got around to taking down the winter decor on Saturday (to be fair though, it IS still cold out there). I use the fact that I'm pregnant and tired as an excuse, but let's be real, I'm kind of lazy. I said it.
Well, with one of Indy's favorite holidays coming up, I HAD to do something. Seriously, Indy LOVES St. Patrick's Day. It all started when he was about 3 and the "naughty Leprechauns" came to visit for the first time.  Since then, it's second only to Christmas in our house.  For a hilarious recap of last year's St. Patrick's Day, click here.  Reading that again makes me laugh because we actually had to wake him up on Christmas morning.
Anyway, while there are a lot of St. Patrick's Day decor ideas floating around the web (and they all look gorgeous!), I just wasn't up for all that work (and didn't want to spend any money), so I put on my thinking cap and thunk and thunk (ate a moonpie) and thunk some more.  I wanted to use only items I already had.  How could I do some cute decor without spending though?  It would be so easy to go to the store and pick up a few things, but that would involve getting out of my jammies and who has time for THAT on a Sunday?  Not me.  After some hemming and hawing and thinking, would Indy really care if I didn't put up some decorations?, Yes, yes, he would, I pulled out Yuka (my trusty computer) and opened up MSWord.  That's right! Word.  I flipped through their clip art (sad) and then went to check out MS clipart online.  I found what I was looking for and downloaded it (for FREE).  I printed off  some large word art letters and a shamrock outline on plain paper, a leprechaun hat on heavy paper, pulled out some green poster board (construction paper would work too), some green ribbon, a pair of scissors and some faux greenery from my stash and got to work.
I traced the letters and shamrock onto the green paper and cut them out and cut out the hat.  James Bond kept giving me weird looks, but I told him to trust me (he totally thinks I'm insane for the holiday decorating, but likes the results).  I cut the ribbon into small strips, grabbed my greenery and went to the front door. Here are the results:

Total cost: $0.  Not too bad, eh?  It's festive and very spring like.  I love the crispness of the green and white against each other.  It's so nice to know that warmer weather and pretty flowers are just around the corner.  Hopefully the naughty leprechauns will bring some gold and luck along with their craziness this year.  Have you decorated for St. Patrick's Day????