Monday, May 28, 2007

Geography and Baby Registrations

I do hope that everyone had a loverly long weekend. I was a combination of really lazy or out drinking.
Let me clarify.
I only actually had drinks two nights. Friday and Sunday -- and Sunday was for a wedding. And once you read the story below you will understand why I felt the need to have cocktails on Friday.
So for those of you that know, Nate and Martine got their referral last week. Of course, we then had to go into full blown baby shower planning. Which means that Ms. Martine had to go register for baby stuff.
Lots and lots of baby stuff.
We began this little adventure in living on Thursday night. I met Martine and one of her co-workers at Babies R Us to register. Alicia was the voice of been-there-done-that-got-the-tshirt and I was the totally single friend who is offering fashion advice concerning whether or not the stroller and pack-N-play match. So here is what they don't tell you. Babies need stuff.
LOTS OF STUFF. MORE STUFF THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.
There is a whole list of stuff that you need. And it is long. So, I had the list, Martine had the gun and prior to Alicia's arrival, we were on our naive own... to which we had a lovely -- trying to be helpful british mom. I know she was a Mom because she was sitting on a glider, breastfeeding, with no blanket. Just snack time at Babies R Us.
And I am fairly certain she thought that Martine and I were lesbians adopting together. Good stuff. So after 2 hours of a lot of shooting of things, we got Martine all set with more onesises, bottles, nipples, video monitors, bathing gear, binkies, blankets, you name it, she got it with the gun. And the urban commando stroller. Its huge. She might just need a new car.
So come Friday, left work around 1PM -- it was the Friday before a long holiday, the office was already a ghost town. I went and met Martine at this little baby boutique to finish up the registry. We spent some time there and got the remaining stuff she needed. The somewhat uptight woman that was assisting us recommended that we check out another boutique down the road that specializes in maternity wear, but carries a whole line of adoption shirts etc.
Specifically a shirt Martine had seen that said "Expecting from..." and it has the flag from the country you are adopting from.
So we head on down to Urban Belly. This is a high-end store. I mean, like baby clothes for $60 for a pair of pants high end. So there is this woman behind the counter, who takes like 5 minutes to even acknowledge us. And I can't tell if she is pregnant or not. Not that being pregnant is a pre-requisite for working there, but anyway.
So I finally ask her, do you have any adoption gear? She points at the one shelf I have already looked at, and I ask her, specifically " do you have the expecting from with the flag tshirts?" She replies -- what country?
Vietnam.

She steps behind a curtain and peeks her head back out and says --
"Um, where is Vietnam?"

I actually can't respond as I can't believe what I have heard. I mean, where is Vietnam??
Um, we fought a war there. For pete's sake, Angelina and Brad just adopted from there, for sure she would have seen something in her People.
Martine responds finally with "Asia" and she goes back in. And comes out with two of the smallest tshirts ever.
Apparently having to keep track of 7 continents is somehow easier.
So we say thanks but no thanks and go on our way.
Thus, my need for drinks on Friday -- the sheer stupidity of some people. I would like to think maybe she was pregnant and had pregnancy brain, but then again....
WHERE'S VIETNAM?
It hurts.

Special congrats to Bobby and Kim -- they had their vow renewal ceremony and reception on Sunday. They eloped about a year ago and used their upcoming anniversary as a great reason to have their big party. It really was a great night.
So tomorrow we are back to the grind.
Can't wait.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Medical Effieciency

Ok - So after whirlwind day or so here is where we are at:
My mom was admitted Tuesday night to the hospital. She had gone in for a follow up scan from her normal quarterly bone scan (PET, MRI -- some sort of acronym). The neurologist took one look at it and admitted her because there was what they called " a soft tissue mass" on her thoracic spine
English translation for those of you that are not doctors, don't spend time with doctors or you did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn last night... She has a tumor on her neck around her spinal column.

At this point, we are trying to figure out what they are going to do -- a year and a half ago she had a series of surgeries on the same general area, so we didn't know if we were going down that road again.
Of course all of this gets complicated by the following:
  • I live in Iowa - my parents in Kansas
  • My dad was scheduled to get on a plane today to fly to California as my sister Melissa is moving back to KS and needed someone to drive cross country with her.
  • My sister Courtney had purchased a plane ticket for the holiday weekend to go to Dallas to see friends.
  • My brother was scheduled to return to Iraq today.

Now while there is NEVER good timing for this sort of thing, clearly this was REALLY bad timing.
So being the tactics guy that he is -- and if you have never met my father, he IS a tactics guy. You make a plan, you execute the plan, you don't deviate from the plan.
Army inbreeding is what I chalk it up to.

Anyhoos
So, Patrick is trying to see if the Army will grant him a medical emergency extension of some sort, My Mom & Dad decide that he really needs to go out West as Melissa on her own -- well, that is a whole other post. Actually, could be a whole other blog. And I, well I have the most flexible schedule at this point (translation: I am lame and had nothing planned for the long weekend) So, I get to head home. Decide to come down today, rush through work yesterday, making arrangements, getting a loaner laptop to take with....basically chaos.
Head home to finish up some laundry, etc. And my dad calls around ..I dunno, later in the evening while I was at book club.
"Meghan, this is Dad. The neurologist reviewed your mom's films again and
decided that there is nothing that could cause any sort of permanent
neurological damage, so they are discharging her. And your brother got a week
extension on his leave".
He mentioned some other stuff, but that was the crux of the voicemail.
Call back home. No answer.

So, Long Story Short
I am not going home today, probably not going home tomorrow and debating on the weekend as I was going to have to cancel a wedding to go home.
So, in summary.
Spent the last day and a half jumping through all these hoops, GLUED to my cell phone for calls from home and it all came down to the same person that wanted her admitted, changing his mind about what he saw.
Doctors. They get paid all this cash, cause all this stress and one change of the mind = not a big deal.
Grr.
I mean, it is a big deal, we still have to address the fact that she has more growths of cancer, but that is back in the oncologist court. So at this point, no surgery.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

What a difference a day makes ...

So here I have been -- merrily going out and buying some kick ass baby stuff (check out this website, it is really some great stuff Baby Wit ) and I get a call from my dad while I am in a meeting.
They are admitting my mom to KU Med. All I know right now is that they found a mass between her spine and her neck and that the spots on her ribs have gotten worse.
So, now I am at work, clearly not focused, waiting to hear from my Dad because just as he was telling me what was going on, he had to go because doctors were coming into the room.

As Courtney likes to say ...
"Who loves cancer?? The Smith family does!"

NARF.

Monday, May 21, 2007

An Amazing Day

For once I am in a position to not be selfish, bitter or otherwise disenchanted.
It is a GREAT day today.
Nate & Martine got their referral today!!!!! They are getting a little boy and he is beautiful. Click on their link on the right to get more details about their journey to this amazing little one. We are so glad to welcome him!!!!!!
Now I get to go buy all sorts of cool baby clothes!! Woo Hoo.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Drunk Dialing 101

I had another post started yesterday, but upon re-reading it decided it was a little depressing, even for me. So, we are trying again.

Went and saw The Killers show on Monday. It was a great show. It was however hot as HELL in that place. I mean like, my jeans were sticking to every pore in my skin, there was a thin sheen of condensation on the floor that didn't come from spilled drinks -- just all the wetness in the air from the 2000 + people sweating their balls off. On the upside, I only had a few drinks and left the show totally sober as I sweated out all the liquid that I consumed almost instantly. I took a cold shower when I got home -- that should tell you something.

Which segues so nicely into our topic of the day.
Now, as is well documented among these many posts, I am in my early thirties. Now this belies a certain sense of responsibility and grown-up-ness.
Clearly, I have you all fooled. Well, some of you anyway.
Either that, or dating someone who routinely acts like a 2 year old has lowered my mental age down to that of a drunken college sophomore -- in their first semester no less.
So as was noted, I had (emphasis on HAD) been doing a decent amount of drinking. I have -- I am please to report -- been much better in recent weeks (ok, one week, maybe one and half -- this is my party, let me take solace where I can). But I think it is fair to point out that even in my various drunken states, I have NOT partaken in the below documented behaviour.

I got home from the show on Monday night, took the aforementioned cold shower and then read for about 10/15 minutes before going to bed. So, it was probably about midnight when I hit the pillow.

Fast forward an hour --
ACTUALLY -- REWIND TO FRIDAY.
Forgot to tell you about this one.... Met up with Martine for lunch at the Cafe last Friday. Beautiful day, ate outside, had a nice time. Prior to leaving, I excused myself to use the ladies room and as I was coming out, I see Joe's dad having lunch. Now. I am as I said, in my early 3o's. So, I wasn't just going to ignore him. Seemed rude. I have no issue with Rick -- or anyone in that family. Quite the contrary, I like them all immensely. I stopped and said hi. We exchanged some brief pleasantries before he got to the meat of the matter.
So, what is up with my deadbeat son?

For those of you that haven't taken a grammar lesson in awhile, that is a direct quote. Sorta took me a minute to respond. I mean, this was his dad calling him out. So I was kind and said not sure, blah, blah. Basically said nice to see you, I will let you get back to your lunch. And he was like, good to see you -- Keep at it.

Ok, so NOW fast forward BACK to Monday night one hour past my previously mentioned bedtime of midnight.
Cell phone rings with a text message indicator.
Wakes me up.
It is Joe.
Drunk Texting me.
AWESOME.
Apologizing, telling me he misses me, he has been an asshole ...
So on and so forth.
And this happened last week as well.
All the while I am am thinking,
1. Why did I respond?
2. Its 1:30 in the freakin' morning.
3. This is so 'i-am-a-sophomore-in-college-drunk-dialing' moment. I say this because all my other in their early 30's friends are soundly asleep, not being bothered by crap like this.

Of course, we resolved nothing. As I mentioned this was drunk texting. So, I give him the window yesterday with a voicemail.
**Please no Dr. Phil commentary on why I shouldn't have even answered the text, much less called him the next day**
I said, in summary, I think we have some things to discuss that need both parties SOBER. Please give me a buzz and we can go from there.
I got nuthin' in return.
serves me right.

WTF?
You boys, you think you know what you want, and then you change your mind like 8,000 times along the way.
BUT you reserve the right to call and ask to come over anyway?
Gutsy move I will give you that.
STUPID AS ALL HELL.
But gutsy.
Narf.
So here we are. Back to the drama. Not sure where this is all going to lead to. Any ones guess is fair game at this point.
So stay tuned. Same bat channel, same bat time next week. As I am SURE I have not heard the last of this one.
Out.

Now Listening: The Loon by Tapes N' Tapes

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Fat Thursday

I am having a fat day.
Check that, a fat week.
Perhaps really a fat year to date as of right now.
So, what you ask, am I doing about said fattyness?? Besides eating a brownie RIGHT NOW??
Well,
Eating too much
Drinking too much
Exercising not at all.
It really is a winning combo. I have always said if you are going to do something, do it right. In that respect, I am kicking some serious not-skinny ass.

Bygones.
Moving on.

Why is it that you can have several weekends with nothing going on except the usual catch up on sleep/housecleaning/assorted domestics and then in a single day have the following:

I mean really. I have considered clones, not going to ANY of it, trying to do ALL of it and everything in between. My saving grace right now is that Courtney is coming up this weekend, so worse case -- I blame her for not being able to make an appearance at any of the functions that I don't make an appearance for.

What for else?

Slight update on the I am breaking up with my boyfriend front -- however, holding a full post until I have an idea of where said update is taking things. Lets just say, timing is everything and as usual my timing (his timing?) SUCKS and that late nights, text messages and assorted whatever was involved. Stoopid boys.

I should get back to it. I would like to get home at a reasonable time in order to mow my yard which I have affectionately started calling my urban jungle.

Now Playing: Unplayed Piano by Damien Rice

Monday, May 07, 2007

Somebody has a case of the Monday's....

And it would be me.
Something about a rainy day just makes me want to stay in bed. Or at least migrate to the couch and just watch movies or something.

So Patrick is due back in the country at some point this week. Managed to get some R&R already. Which, if you ask me -- and for some reason the Joint Chiefs of Staff never bother to call me and ask my opinion on things -- is going to make for a LONG year tour when he gets back.
But, silver lining and all -- he gets to visit. Courtney is coming up for a visit as well. Which means I spent the better part of the weekend on cleaning house. And not sure that I got nearly enough done.
Bygones.
What else??

Congrats to my cousin Dan and his wife, Beth. Found out last night that they will be new parents sometime in the winter. Awesome for them. Of course, this has only fueled my mother's ever growing demands for grand-babies of her own.
I told her if she wanted fat, Irish grand babies, she should have said something sooner, as her window of opportunity has now passed.
That killed that conversation PRETTY quickly.

I am sure that I should have more to report.
Oh - small moral victory for meghan this past week.
Unbeknowst (sp?) to me, Joe's dad came into the Cafe on Friday for lunch. As he always does.
My friend Lisa was waiting on him and basically said to him "I am mad at your son". His response, "Yes, so are we." and then something about that being said, you can't live your kids lives for them. So, I get his family vote.
It seems like a slightly hollow victory, but I shall take it anyway.
Petty. yes.
Cheap. slightly
Confidence booster. you bet.

Ok - now that I am done with lunch, it is time to get back to work.
I need to get out of here at a normal hour today to finish up the aforementioned house cleaning/laundry as I have no EARTHLY idea when my brother is going to get here. Sometime between today and Saturday.
I hate people that can't plan better than that.

Now Listening: I Trust You To Kill Me by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Bitter, Jaded and slightly road raged

Where to start today?
Hm. Lets see.
Work is a disaster this week. This project that I am working on has gone as wrong as wrong can be. And its only Tuesday.
So, last night I decided to try a new approach to dealing with the stress.
I went to yoga class. I had purchased a package at a charity event a few weeks ago and decided it was time to get my ass in gear.
So I went. It was good. I am as always amazed at a few things:
1. I am TOTALLY out of shape.
2. My left side -- way stronger than the right. Which is odd to me, as I am right handed.
3. One would not expect an hour of breathing to cause your muscles to be sore -- see comment #1.

So, here I was. Slightly more centered, having done something good for myself.
I get home, watched some TV, blah blah. Go upstairs to read for a bit.
Turned on the radio as I had left my iPod at work and things went south from there.
Was listening to 106.3 as they play lots of music and keep the talking to a bare minimum.
Here is what I discovered. If you want to hear a TON of music about relationships that suck, being in love, falling out of love and general tug at the heart strings, this is the station for you.
If, like me, you are looking for the station for pissy women, then this would have NOT been the type of music you wanted in the background.
Ugh. Where is Ani DiFranco when you need her?
So then I couldn't get to bed.
And then once I did get to bed, I couldn't stay asleep.

And then, this morning I woke up, and apparently centered myself into a cold sore.
I must have let loose something with all that damn breathing and it has manifested as fungus on my face.
Hotness.

So in summary:
  • work is crap
  • tired from not being able to sleep
  • slightly depressed at all the annoying music on the radio
  • a little PMS-y - ok, maybe a LOT
And to top it off, got stuck behind two cars on the way to work that clearly did not know that the speed limit was in fact ABOVE 50 MPH.
Not a good start to the day.
So, back to the grind I go...


Now Listening: How We Operate by Gomez