Nearing the end...

And staying put.
More baby updates later.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas & Hanukkah. We celebrated in fine style at the house. Had something going on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after. And in true Irish fashion, the collective masses knocked back some serious libations. I mean, I surveyed my kitchen the morning after Christmas and was frankly in shock at the number of cans and wine bottles -- and that was without my contribution to the festivities.
That and we had enough left-overs to feed a small army.
So good work to all the family. But we did have a good time. I think everyone had a great time. And minus some smack talking over a very critical game of Trivial Pursuit, everyone got along.
Which is good as we are all going to be seeing each other again in roughly 3 weeks when the Little Leprechaun makes his big debut.
Did get introduced to the extended family on Joe's side. As expected, I needed a family tree to keep track of everyone, but I think I did ok. Met his great-Aunt and Uncle, who are both 90+, have been married for 71 years and still live in their own home. She introduced herself to me as she was kicking back a Bud Light.
Suffice it to say. I liked her.
Actually really like everyone. They were great.

What else? Slow work week this week. When do I ever say that?? This should translate to loads and loads of productive things out of my cube. But, not sure that I am gonna get there from here. At a minimum, I am working on getting everything prepped for my maternity leave. So the peeps taking over the work aren't totally left in the lurch.
Which leads us to our maternity update for the week.
Smooth transition I know.
We are on weekly appointments now. Which means I am becoming BFF's with the nurses at the clinic.
The stats as of this week:
Me: gained a total of 26 lbs to date. While this is not a bad thing --recommended weight gain is 25-35 lbs total for the entire pregnancy -- I had a lot to start with, thus have hit some numbers on the scale that are a new high (or low, depending on how you look at it) for me. Bit of a sticker shock when you are looking at those damn numbers bouncing back and forth before they settle on the judgement due to you.
Little Leprechaun: Heart Rate -- sitting at an active 140 BPM. He is head down and frankly, seems pretty darn content to stay put for the time being,
Haven't dropped. And there is no sign of any of the necessary changes down below to indicate that this kid is showing up a second before the 19th -- and that is probably the earliest we will see him. I have maintained for some time that he is going to be past the due date. I guess time will tell. On the upside, we have hit the 37 week mark - which makes us technically full term. So it really could be any day now.
And as such, I have actually started sorta packing my bag for the hospital. It does seem really odd to be doing so, but then again....
So that is about it from this neck of the woods. I would love to report that I have some serious New Years plans, however in recent days I have discovered the following: for every hour of activity that I do, I need roughly an hour of nap time. So rocking out the New Year this year... probably not gonna be happening. That and most of my friends are going the house party route this year, or so it seems. I think Joe has to work, so it may just be a cozy night in with the Dick Clark on the TV -- or whomever is taking his place these days.
Yes, this seals my fate as 1) lame and 2) Really Lame and 3) 8.5 months pregnant on New Years.
Jealous much?
Thought so.

Now Listening: Sister Sweetly by Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Week 36/37 Update

Had the first of the weekly appointments today with the doctor.
This is both a good thing and a colossal pain in the ass.
It is good in that it means that we are down to the final count.
It is a colossal pain in the ass in that I have to go the doctor EVERY WEEK.
And this isn't your typical drive-thru appointment any more.
No, we have reached, well lets just say, the more invasive portion of our programming.
Good times.

As for today -- well, it was kinda cool. We had to get an ultrasound to confirm that he was head down.
He was.
But we got some more pics of the little leprechaun. They are a little harder to make heads or tails from because he is so scrunched up in there. They are on the Flickr site (link on the left)
But we confirmed the following:
He is in fact, still a he. Good thing -- we have lots of boy-centric stuff.
He has a head full of hair. The real question, what color will have to remain a mystery. I still think dark.
He was sucking his thumb -- again. In EVERY ultrasound picture we have, that hand is up by his mouth.
We were not allowed to find out how big he is. The tech said the doctors don't want them sharing the news because it has freaked out too many women. In either way -- too big or too small. All she would say is that he is on track.
Whatever that means.
So now begins the all important, really exciting waiting part of our program.
Like the last 7.5 months HAVEN'T been about waiting?!?!?
Meanwhile, I get to get poked and prodded from the inside out -- and its not that comfortable or cute anymore.
Hiccups = annoying.
Constant moving = total inability to focus on what it is I am doing.
And for the record, there is nothing more distracting that sitting in a meeting and watching my ID badge dance all over my stomach as he moves around.

Ok - back to work. Need to leave right on time today as we have a TON to do around the house in preparation for the onslaught of family this week.

Now Listening: Good News for People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse

It's the end of the world as we know it....

For those of you that don't live in Iowa -- I know there are a few of you out there -- you would have thought that the world was coming to an icy end yesterday.
We were slated to be at the center of the perfect winter storm. Snow from the north, sleet & freezing rain from the south. The newscasts were full of warnings, emergency procedures and general wrath of god type stuff.
Keep in mind, this is Iowa. In December. Its not like this is the first time we have seen sleet, snow, ice or any combination thereof.
However, the gloom and doom was prevalent yesterday. So much so that they started letting schools out at 2 PM. Which then means, that the office started emptying out at 2 PM as people left to go get their kids. Our office Christmas party -- postponed.
All the while, not a cloud in the sky, roads were dry and we were business as usual.
3PM - same thing.
4 PM - same thing
5 PM - same thing
6 PM - same thing
At roughly 7ish, we finally saw some sleet. And so Joe and I decided as it was a night we had planned on being at the office party, to go run errands. And frankly, it was great. No one was out. Roads were pretty good and we got a ton done because no one was out. Babies R Us -- ghost town. Target - ghost town.
All this 6 days before Christmas. It was awesome.
And then of course, I came to work this morning. Made it in 20 minutes (with a coffee stop) and I was the ONLY one in my area until about 9 AM. I mean, the roads weren't perfect, but I have seen MUCH worse in these parts before.
So here's hoping I can get a lot done in the next few hours. I would estimate roughly 2/3's of my teams are out. Which means, if I am productive, I am going to try and get out of here around 2 PM and hit the mall. If everyone is hibernating in their homes afraid of the roads, the mall won't be total chaos.
Here's hoping.

Now Listening: Gossip in the Grain by Ray LaMontagne

I think its time to move....

Sign # 12873 that the Apocalypse is upon us:
Heard on the radio this morning on the way to work...
Well, things are looking good in the metro. Looking for a much warmer day today, so enjoy it. Currently the temperature is 4 degrees and we are looking at a high of 22.

Go ahead.
Digest that for a minute.
And all that before coffee.

Now Listening: Autopilot by The Samples

Here kitty, kitty ...

I will admit it, I am a cat person.
I better admit it, I have three of them. This does of course, bring me dangerously close to being the crazy cat lady. I have solved this problem by moving in with a boy and having a kid. At that point, the people to cat ratio will be back to 1:1. I think that absolves me from spending my life in layered cardigan sweaters covered in cat hair and losing track of how many cats I own.
I preface with this so that you can understand where I come from. Cat attitude is not new in my life.
However, the last few weeks I have been noticing a few things with the little fur balls that are either driving me crazy or have be just shaking my head in wonder.
Lets start with the drive me crazy category.
The big one starts with attention. I try to give attention equally. However, there are three of them. This means that not everyone gets all the attention when they want it. But it drives me crazy when I will spend a few hours on the couch doing not much of anything. Do they ever come over to see me when I am doing nothing on the couch?
No. Of course not.
The minute I am eating, drinking, reading or engaged in ANY activity, boom. There they are.
All three of them. At once.

And then, when I think they are calming down, they just start meowing at nothing. Or will sit there on the coffee table and just give me the stink eye.

And then there is the shaking of the head behavior...
Now, I am convinced that they know something is going on with this kid. Don't ask me how, but they do. I will come home, Joe is on the couch, all three cats spread out in their usual spots, and the MINUTE I sit down on the couch, all three of them are up in my grill. Wanting to sit on my lap. Like they know that their time for attention is rapidly coming to a close.
The other ones of late are specific to the holidays.
I was really curious to see what would come with the Christmas tree. Especially since it had been a few years since I have had one. And in actuality, it is not the LIVE tree that they have been bothering. In fact, they have all but left that one alone. Its the little fake tree that I have in the dining room and the Santa on the steps that seem to keep their interest. And if by interest, you think trying to eat their way through assorted fake greenery, then yes you are on track.
The big one this weekend was the newest one.
Our dining room has a built in buffet on one wall with a banquette seat in between. So the open shelf is readily and easily accessible via the seat. I have had little decorative things on the open shelf since we moved in without any issue.
Well, this year I put the nativity scene on one of the shelves. Shouldn't have been a big deal. And for 2 of the 3 cats, it is a non-issue.
But Boris, she has decided that she has it out for the nativity scene. And not just the whole thing, one figurine in particular.
Not the sheep.
The Shepard.
The three kings...
Oh no, my blasphemous feline has it out for baby Jesus.
Its the only one she chases.
So she tries to bat baby Jesus all over and I am waging a war of attrition with a water bottle.
I think it might be working, as she didn't go near it at all today.
Lets hope that mini-brain of hers remembers all this in the upcoming days.

So that is my cat bitch for the day.
Now watching: Sunday Night Football before I go back to reading more project management standards.
Good times.
Oh - added a few pics to the Flickr site of the nursery in assorted stages and the Christmas tree.
Enjoy.

The Simian Affect

Did you ever see Madagascar? Either one, it doesn't matter.
The reason I ask. You know those monkeys that are in it? One doesn't speak -- just drinks coffee and flings poo, the other speaks with an English accent?
Yeah, I am convinced that those two monkeys could do a better job than some of the people that I work with.
Yes, you read that correctly. Fictional, cartoon characters -- monkey's no less -- could do the job that actual humans do in my office.
Ready to blow a gasket at this point and that is not a good a sign.


Now Listening: To the phone ring.

The Cover Shoot

We had our sitting yesterday for our maternity pictures. Used a great photographer here in town, Paige Peterson. She is around our age, way laid back, super cool aesthetic and just liked her work. I decided to do them for a number of reasons. I haven't had professional pictures taken in AGES. I mean, I have been in some weddings and such, but the focus of those events clearly is never me. Also, not that having more children isn't something to consider, but how often are you pregnant? I mean think about it, this is the ONLY time in a woman's life when a super-large belly is cause for not just celebration, but emphasis. I had a couple people ask me if I was gonna do the full Demi Mooore thing. They were, I believe referring to a cover she did ages ago, while pregnant but she was fully nude.
The answer is no.
While I did say that this is the only time when large belly is ok on a woman, I am not that silly. It would take a team of make-up artists to get me to that point. And for some reason, I don't have one of those around.
I did more than a few in assorted stages of no top, so that was as close as we got. She did some of Joe and I as well. Which is good, because we have ZERO pictures of the two of us. I mean, not even a snapshot.
It was sorta awkward at first. We are not the most PDA happy people. Even at home. So she has us facing each other or in some couple-y position and is like, ok, now just sorta love on each other. Which shouldn't be a hard thing, but like I said, was a little weird at first. Based on the few that she let me sneak peek, I think we figured it out.
So keep your fingers crossed that they turn out well. I actually had fun with it, which was weird. I am NOT the photographic type. Prefer to be behind the lens -- pretty much all the time. However, it was a good time and I hope the results will be great.

Now Watching: what looks to be the start of another snow fall.

The Merry Month of Des Moines

Book club on Wednesday created a whole new month for us here in the heartland.
The month of Des Moines. Courtesy of our good friend -- Carissa.
Outside of the center of the universe known as book club, it is technically the month of December. But how fun is that?
Among the many topics we covered at the gathering -- aside from the book, which we did actually discuss, at least a little bit were:

• Eating habits of husbands/significant others and how much they still love the comfort food their moms used to make them.
• Gay mens chorus
• The economy (see we actually do more than just bitch about men)
• A girls night outing -- tied to the Gay Men's Chorus.
• And assorted other gossip and general catch up.

All in all, we had a great time and Brooke put out quite a spread. Including this Apple/Carmel dipping-goodness that she was unable to share the recipe for.
Total bummer, as it was AWESOME. And not just pregnant woman awesome, everyone liked it.

Moving on, I shall devote the rest of this post to bitching about being pregnant.
Fasten the seat belt kids...
And AWAY WE GO...

Someone brought bagels in today to work. Not an infrequent sight around here, but a nice gesture. One of my co-workers goes walking past my cube on his way to his cube, followed closely by a manager of another group. He made some off-hand comment about how he should grab a bagel before they are all gone. To which the manager-in-tow comments, "Better get one before the pregnant woman eats them all"
He was (I think) joking, but not funny.
Really.
At all.
Like I had established a periphery around the bagel bag and was actively monitoring anyone that went near it.
Not to mention the though of scarfing down a dozen bagels, sorta makes me want to throw up.

Shortly after this little incident, I was walking to get some water from the water cooler. Walk past another co-worker who exclaims loudly -- "That belly is just getting bigger and bigger by the minute"
Yes - I will totally admit it is. I have said so myself, but come on. Like if someone had just put on weight would you announce to the world "Hey, your ass sure has spread a lot in the last 4 months!"
No. You would not. At least, I wouldn't think that you would.

I am convinced there is some pregnancy switch in most peoples mind. It does one of two things. It either convinces you that I am somehow disabled and totally incapable of normal physical function. Or it removes any and all filters from your brain that somehow make you think it is totally acceptable to ask the most outrageous and personal of questions. Are you going to breastfeed? How much weight have you gained? Or my personal favorite, how are you planning to deliver, vaginally or c-section?
WTF?
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.
If I wanted to share those facts with you -- you wouldn't be asking the questions, as I don't have an issue talking through it with people that are actually friends. Discussing my breastfeeding plans with the DBA Manager is not my idea of a good afternoon.

Yes, I am in a mood today. But people are stupid, so its just a natural reaction.

Now Listening: Under Construction by Missy Elliott

Speedy Delivery

We had our last birthing class last night!
Hooray!
Can't believe it has been 6 weeks.
Holy crap, here's hoping we don't forget everything in the next 6 weeks.
The entire last night was spent in two ways. One: a full blown labor dry-run and Two: touring the maternity ward.
Let's just say that if I can squeeze the entire labor process into one hour like we did last night, I am SO golden.
Right.
It was a 14 hour process shrunk down into 1 hour. Not likely that it is going to go that fast.
Nope. I am mentally preparing myself for the full blown 14+ hours just to make sure.
But we spent the hour breathing, changing positions and getting massaged. Here's hoping it sticks.

We also got our Christmas tree last night.
It was a busy day at our house.
A full 8' Douglas Fir now resides in my living room. It smells awesome. We went out to the tree farm to pick it up so its nice and fresh. Now there is the small issue of lights and getting it decorated. That is the plan for the next few nights. Oh, and making sure the cats stay off and/or away from it. They seemed pretty un-interested last night. Which struck me as fairly odd, but it was still standing this morning. I view this as a good sign.

What else? It snowed some more this morning. Which translated into a 10 minute commute becoming a 40 minute commute. Seems people forgot how to drive. I don't think I hit more than 35 MPH on the interstate this morning.
Keep in mind, I am not talking a blizzard here. Maybe, key word: MAYBE, 2" of snow overnight.
But it freaked people out. On the upside, it has stopped snowing. The sun is out. Which is awesome, as it will start to melt just in time to freeze overnight and we get to do it all over again tomorrow morning.

I should have more snarky comments on the state of the world today, but I just can't seem to get motivated, so I will go back to work. Whee.

Now Listening: Change Is Gonna Come by Leela James

An apple a day

Does not keep the doctor away when you are knocked up.
NOTHING keeps the doctor away when you are knocked up except other knocked up ladies.
Learned that one yesterday.
Had my appointment in the afternoon. Joe was unable to make this one due to some work stuff. Really not a biggie, the appointments have become pretty routine at this point. The high points being:

• pee in cup
• get weighed
• blood pressure
• baby heart rate
• measure belly
• Any questions?
• Go home or back to work.

And that is it. Really, all of it. You spend more time in the waiting room than in the exam room.
So, get there yesterday. And the nurse informs me there is only one doc there, so they are running a "little behind".
The fact that there is only one doctor there is a little odd as there are 5 doctors in the clinic. Turns out doctors want time off too and 3 of the 5 had planned to be out for the day. Of the two that were scheduled, one got called away to a family emergency. Leaving just, one.
I proceed to grab the paper and get comfy in the waiting room. As I am sitting there, I hear the nurse at the desk tell the next woman that comes in, "The doctor had to leave for a delivery, so we will just want to reschedule you".
I am thinking, hhmmn. Odd, they haven't rescheduled me. Maybe someone came back from lunch and can see me?
They don't say anything to me, so back to the paper I go. Make it through that. Get to the magazine rack. Grab something roughly 3 months old and get to work on that before I hear my name. And its not the nurse escorting me to the back area for the appt. Its the booking nurse at the desk.
Bottom line -- no doctors in the house. And I have been sitting there for about 35 + minutes at this point. But -- silver lining, if I don't have any big issues to discuss with the doctor a nurse can see me.
Done and done.
So, see the nurse, the sequence above, doesn't change and this is how things played out:
Me: gained 5 lbs. 5 POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS. Ugh.
Tummy: Measuring at 34"
Little Leprechaun: Confirmed head down (good thing) and heart rate @ 135.
So, bottom line, he and I are both doing what we are supposed to. Although I would argue that 5 lbs in two weeks is a little aggressive in my mind.
So an HOUR later. I left the office.
Oh, and I got a flu shot.

In other news, got some pictures of the baby shower from home posted on the Flickr site. Thanks much to Brooke for passing them on. Now I just need to get cracking on those darn thank-yous. I swear, you all will get them before he is born. That is my solemn promise.

Now Listening: Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite by Maxwell

Its white, powdery and

Makes people drive like idiots.

Snow people, I am talking about snow. Get those filthy minds out of the gutter.

But we will get to that Monday morning rant in a bit.

I survived.

Yes, the official start of the holiday season is upon us and it was ushered in among a waterfall of wine, beer, turkey, shopping & well, general family overload.

I hope yours was the same as there really is nothing like it.

Headed to Omaha on Thursday morning after whipping up two apple pies while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

The pies, for the record, kicked ass, if I do say so myself.

Joe headed off to family events in the opposite direction that same morning.

Turkey dinner was good. I think we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 people there. And that wasn't a drop in the proverbial family bucket. I believe that only accounted for about 1/2 of the immediate family. But ate too much - not too hard for me these days and chalked another major family event up stone-cold sober.

This, I am afraid, is getting old.

And, it wasn't helped by the fact that I had to pour my whole family out of my Aunt's house Thursday night and play taxi driver to all of them.

Whee.

Only one more to go -- Christmas and then eventually back on the band wagon.

Here's hoping I make it in one piece.

What else? Watched a lot of football (go Huskers!) and some basketball. Chilled out a bit. Did a smidge of shopping. Got one Christmas gift. It was the only thing that I knew I wanted to get for Joe, so that is done. Of course, I still need more, so that challenge is on the table. Along with what to get for EVERYONE else. I shall muddle through it.

Moving on to the inevitable pregnancy portion of my broadcast.

One of the key reasons that I went to the mall on Saturday was to get a new bra. I say this as the ones I bought roughly 2 months ago were digging into my sides -- a sure sign that they don't technically fit anymore. So, I find the women's department and a willing sales lady (they were everywhere) and asked to get fitted.

Now - for those of you that haven't been fitted in a long time (or at all? is that possible) its a fairly painless process. Hold up arms and cross fingers that you are not into some record setting sizes. And women's bra's consist of two measurements. The one around your chest - measured in inches and the cup size -- not sure how that science works but translates to a letter.

We have all heard the ideal, 36 something? right? Or seen the strippers on Jerry Springer that are rocking out like, a 38F or something. Which for the record is GI-NORMOUS.

Within 6 weeks of finding out I was pregnant I went up once size around the chest and a cup size. I have done it again. And lets just say that when you get to the size I am ... cute goes out the window. You are shopping in the section that you only thought your great Aunt who is like, 75 shops in. There are three colors available to you - white, nude and black. I mean we are talking needing a structural engineer and some serious load bearing girders or something.

And the best part -- I can only expect to get BIGGER once the kid arrives.
So after that humbling holy-crap moment of mammary-magnitude, I took off for my shower.

Which was lovely and had a great time. We got more stuff -- actually some really needed stuff, so that is all good.

Got to see some friends I haven't seen in ages -- and their super-adorable new babies. And catch up with family members and their super-adorable babies. It was good.

It was sorta a new Omaha experience for me as I was actually staying in a hotel for the whole trip. In all years past, I have stayed with a good friend in her guest room. Well, she had the nerve to turn the guest room into a nursery for their new little girl.

So, I was out my cheap and always lovely living arrangements for the weekend. Which meant sharing a hotel room with my sisters.

This had the potential for well, some sisterly love (translation: bad juju).

But we did ok. I felt sorta bad, as we had two beds. Which wouldn't have been an issue except they were full beds, not Queen. So they had to, well, snuggle, as they both insisted I have my own bed.

The only eye-opening event was my sister Melissa. Now, I have known for some time that she takes a little long to get ready. But you would have thought we were going to the Oscars or something Saturday morning. We had committed to being ready to meet my Dad and brother for breakfast at 10 AM. Not 6 AM, not even 8 AM -- 10 AM. Nice little brunch.

In order for her to be ready at 10 Am, she set her alarm for 8 AM. Yes, TWO HOURS.

TWO.

2.

One less than three.

And she still was rushing out the door!!!!

Unbelievable.
Let's just say that by the time we left on Sunday, I was ready to be home.

Which brings me back -- finally -- to my original point. We woke up on Sunday to a light, and I mean, light dusting of snow in Omaha. So I wasn't expecting anything too bad for the drive home.

And truthfully, it wasn't. However, as I got closer to Des Moines, the light dusting became noticeable accumulation. But the roads were fine.

It all culminated about 20 miles from home when I literally was in bumper to bumper stopped traffic. So we are creeping along, and I am waiting for the construction signs, the accident, SOMETHING to warrant a full stop on the interstate.

And you know what, there was nothing.

Nada.

Just people driving like momo's.
I mean, this is Iowa. Most of the plates I saw were Iowa plates. Did you forget between last winter and this one what that means during the months of November thru March?

And like I said, there was NOTHING on the roads. So really, even using the "I forgot how to drive in the snow" argument didn't hold water.

Now, I have to admit, this time of year, it is cool to have snow. But it all needs to melt starting 01/01/09.

Anyway, there is your small novella of catch up.

Now Listening: Give Up by The Postal Service

It's well.... FUN

Yesterday was Thank You/Fun Day at work.
With some Ugly Shirt/Tie competition thrown in for good measure.
Yes, it smacked of a scene from Office Space, complete with pre-determined funny clothing (Hawaiian shirts vs. ugly ties -- really one in the same)
My thinking on Fun Day is if you have to designate a day as FUN, then it probably won't be.
There were games. Food. Hourly drawings. Balloons. I mean, if you can't have fun with balloons, what kind of person are you?
Me. That's what kind of person. I didn't really boycott fun day as much as I just omitted it from my day.
My thinking is this, as a company they can't really incent us the way they should -- bonus, raise, god-forbid promotion -- so we will give away some corporate apparel and throw out some cheap nachos and M&M's for the day.
Yep. That should keep em' all in check.
Or just smack you upside the head with the blindingly obvious fact that FUN is not something that happens around here since we had to designate a day for it.
Can you tell I am a little cynical about all this?
Just a smidge.

Had another round of birthing classes last night. I am pleased to report it was devoid of any 80's power ballads. It was however, depressing as hell.
Here are the topics we covered:
Postpartum depression
Postpartum psychosis
Shaken Baby Syndrome
SIDS
Yep. Uplifting. Not to say these aren't important topics to discuss, but all at once? Damn.
I have to imagine the mood was similar to all the Republican offices around the country for the last few weeks.
-had to get that in

Today work is ghost town. So, I should be able to get work done. Now that's FUN!!!
Actually, my thought is, if it stays quiet, I am gonna just stealthly leave after the lunch hour.
I have to bake a pie today or tomorrow AM.
Make me a pie bitch!!
Actually, it will be two pies. Both apple. And not to brag, but they are pretty damn good.
Tomorrow I head West to Omaha for the weekend. Turkey, football, family events, and a baby shower.
Actually should be a good time. Bummed that Joe won't be coming as everyone was asking about him, but like I said -- too-hard-category.
And then we are staring down the barrel of Christmas.
Jeebus.
Ok - back to the salt mines.

Now Listening: Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine

November showers bring...

Lots of stuff.
Specifically, lots of baby stuff. So I went home this weekend for a shower with my mom's friends. We had a really nice time. Good to see everyone and they went a little overboard. I now have another huge pile of stuff in the living room that we need to go through and wash, and of course write thank-you notes for.
Side note: I do have the thank yous from the last shower done, I just don't have stamps. And how often do you go to the post office these days? Exactly. I just need to get my butt to the post office at a time when it is open and they will be in your actual mailboxes. Novel idea when you think about it.
So, shower was good. Managed to catch up with a high school friend as well.
And then I brought home some Christmas stuff. I say some. My mother was a bit of a collector. Collector of many thing, including Christmas decorations. We have enough to decorate each room in the house like it was the ONLY room in the house that we wanted to decorate. Now the challenge was/is digging it all up. Many boxes all over the house. Some labeled, some not. But dug we did and managed to find stuff that I would want in the house for the holidays.
So between the shower gifts and the Christmas decorations the Mom-mobile was totally stuffed.
And like I said, it now all sits in my living room awaiting some sort of organization.
And here I sit, watching TV, sorta doing laundry and not doing a thing about the large pile of stuff that is cluttering my living room. Hey -- I have Wednesday right?

Ok - dryer went off and I am sure there is another load of laundry floating around this place somewhere.
Now Watching: MNF or Law & Order

Oi Oi Oi Oi

So last night was the Dropkick Murphys show.
It was as one of my friends commented, like "a really INTENSE St. Patrick's Day celebration"
And that it was.
Loud. Punk. HOT. Mosh-pit filled. Body-surfing. Stage Diving. Copious amounts of booze. More than 10 guys in kilts.
All with bagpipes in the background.
Your run-of-the-mill-Wednesday night at our house.
Or not.
But we had a good time. It was one of those rare shows where the male-to-female ratio was easily 2:1, maybe even 3:1. Such that there was a constant line out the mens bathroom door and I was able to walk right into the womens room without any wait. And several times, that wasn't just a one time occurrence.
And for a Irish punk band, that is what you would expect.
Two observations on the night.
I could offer up a whole slew of them, but will keep it to the highlights:
1. We ran into a number of Joe's high school acquaintances there. People he knows casually and of course, didn't know he was having a baby. Try as you might, 7 month pregnant chicks tend to stick out in a crowd like that. And one of his buddies -- who clearly was having a good time -- at one point called me "Mrs. McConville"
Hit the brakes on that one. It was just so unexpected and well, that is his mom, not me.
It was weird.
2. As I mentioned, the crowd had the potential to get a little rough. Now, the venue is set up such that there is a whole section of tables etc, that runs parallel to the open floor. And its the open floor where all the mosh-pit/slam dancing action was taking place. So I was well removed from the action, but could still see the stage. And thus, out of harms way of flailing arms, legs, elbows or drunk people. But every time Joe would walk away from me for something -- he would tap one of his buddies with the "keep an eye on her" message.
Now, while actually somewhat endearing that he cares and is looking out for me, give me a break. Nothing is going to happen to me sitting at a table 100 ft from the crowd.

All in all, great show. Glad we went. Trying to get as much as that sort of stuff on the calendar before January. Figure my days of live music are somewhat short at this point. Which saddens me just a bit, but thems the breaks.

And as a reminder to my loyal readers, I love my job. Love it. LUUUUUV it.
Lets just say, an angry, punk crowd was right up my alley last night.

Now Listening: Pablo Honey by Radiohead

And the answer is ....

Three.
Not 42.
- that was a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference for those of you not in the know.

The question then ....
How many actual birth videos did they plan on showing us in our birthing classes to freak us out?
And last night was the big night. After 4 weeks of breathing and assorted position practicing -- they hit us with the big dog.
Birth videos on a large screen.
Whee.

I mean yes - we have all seen something approximating a birth on TV - anyone who is a cable geek like me has stumbled across one or two on Discovery, National Geographic and the like.
But here it was. Large and in charge.
So we made it through and then at the end of class, the instructor, who is actually quite nice and fairly entertaining -- decided to bring us back from all the physical aspects of the class and focus on the emotional/spiritual aspects of birth.
Great.
Like I need to get in touch and share that sort of thing with 10 perfect strangers. Strangers that the only thing we have in common is that somewhere around the same time last spring all of our eggs decided to firmly plant themselves somewhere in our insides.
So they queue the birth video (this time with 3 new characters -- 3 must be a lucky birth number) and then she turns on the CD.
There is no dialogue. There is no sound -- just a sound track.
So we got to watch all the laboring portions of the video timed out to Because You Love Me by Celine Dion, complete with footage of horribly tuned-in, uber-attentive husbands massaging, rubbing and holding their beloved. And the actual birthing portion of the tape to You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker. Do I need to say more?
And yes, my ears were bleeding AND I threw up in my mouth.
I couldn't speak for a good 2-3 minutes after that. Joe just kept looking at me and shaking his head.
The best part -- we have two classes left. I have no IDEA what is in store for us at this point.

Small milestone today. We are officially 8 weeks out from our due date today.
I am going to celebrate by going home and digging up my copy of The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston and putting it on repeat.
Oh wait. I threw that out after 8th grade.
Dammit.

Well - at least its a post

Hm. I feel like I should have lots to share today -- but not so much.
Work is loco. My boss gave his notice yesterday, so this opens Pandora's Box for the work place.
Without going into a slew of meaningless detail for most of you it comes down to this --- do I apply for his job or not? It would be a shift in responsibilities (obviously). But 1) do I want those changing responsibilities and 2) do I want to do it now when I would get the job and then basically disappear for 3 months?
Much to think through.

Had what is getting to be the routine dr's appt today.
I have gained another 2.5 lbs. Those numbers on the scale are starting to eek into not only uncharted territory but SCARY territory. At least for me.
My ever-expanding belly is measuring out at 33 CM -- which is a little large for 31 weeks, but not overly so.
And the little leprechaun was kicking away at a healthy 144 BPM for a heart rate.
They also went ahead and scheduled us out for the remainder of our appointments. After mid-December, we go EVERY week.
I mean, we knew this was coming -- but man alive. So we are all booked up with the last scheduled one on our due date.....
Ok - much work to do.

Now Listening: For once, nothing. My ear buds frazzled out and haven't gotten new ones.

A Friday Morning Bitch

Who me? Bitch?
No, I don't believe it.
I know everyone says, don't complain unless you have a solution to offer up.
That is a mantra that this girl doesn't necessarily subscribe to. And when I say necessarily, I mean -- for the most part -- never. Sometimes you have to just get it off your chest.
(See my entire archive of blog posts as a prime example)

So here it is, straight from Dilbert-ville.
I work for corporate America. Like many of you. This means that a healthy portion of my days are spent in meetings talking about the work that we should actually be doing. This also means that I live in cube-land within 4-6 foot proximity of my closest neighbor.
This is just the set up.
So as I mentioned; meetings. We have lots of them. Easily half to 3/4s of a typical day are spent in meetings. This means that we have a way of tracking them -- in our case, Groupwise. Most of you probably use Microsoft Exchange.
Its email. Its your schedule. Its my life.
If it is not in my calendar, it doesn't exist.
So 3 times this week, I have received phone calls from people about scheduling meetings. As in
"Meghan, what time would work best for you?"
And my standard response is...
"my calendar is current. take a look there."

And then they want to debate it. I don't know what I am doing tomorrow. I sure as hell don't know what I am doing 2 days from now. So look it up in the system that we have to track that very thing.
Its not hard. There is even a "Busy Search" button that tells you who has conflicts with a given time.
This is not rocket science people.
Not at all.

Now Listening: Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes

Wow, was that hard.

Rarely do I create two entries in a single day.
But had something that I needed to get out of my head and wanted to make sure that I got it right.
So we know that today was ironic Monday. I am still shaking my head over the whole Suburban driver looking for fuel efficiency.

This evening, I get home and it has been a bitch of a day. Didn't roll home until about 6:30/7:00. It was raining and cold. I am tired as I didn't get enough sleep last night. So just looking to chill out at home and curl up on the couch. Well, as much as I can "curl up" anywhere these days.
Given that it is Monday, and not a lot on TV --and too tired to think about doing anything around the house, I decided to take a nice hot bath. And Joe had cleaned the bathroom today, so I got to take one in a nice, clean bathtub -- added bonus.
I will caution, some might find the following a bit TMI. But I don't really care at this point.
In the tub and decide I should shave my legs.
HA.
And it wasn't like I had reason to shave my legs. It was just that I hadn't done it in ages and there comes a point where you just can't stand it anymore. So grab the razor and get to work.
Or at least tried.
When you have a gi-normous belly, the act of reaching for anything gets a little dicey. Managed to get the below the knee taken care of before I threw in the towel.
It was hard.
Shaving.
Hard.
Not a combination you hear very often. I mean, we aren't talking shaving a yeti here. Just your legs. And not even the whole leg. Just below the knee. It kicked my ass, was totally uncomfortable and I am guessing at the rate my belly is growing, won't happen again until after this kid shows up.
Which brings me to my newest pregnancy bitch. People will see me, maybe haven't actually been paying attention to me for a week or so and I get this:
Them: "Wow. You got a belly"
Me: (internal dialogue) No shit, there is a kid in there that is getting BIGGER not smaller.
Them: "So when are you due?"
Me: "January"
Them: "Holy cow, you are getting really big for that much time left"
Yeah. That is what I love to hear. Now, I know early on I was complaining about people saying I didn't look pregnant. Now I look too pregnant. I reserve the right to just be annoyed no matter what.
Either that, or I am blaming it on the outfit that I had on today.
Here's hoping that is the case.

Now Watching (sorta): Monday Night Football.

Its IRONIC Monday!

Man do I love a good Monday.
Really. They are like, my FAVORITE EVER.
I was sitting on the off-ramp this morning on my way to work, waiting for the light to change when I looked up at the car in front of me.
It was a white Suburban. And it had the following bumper sticker on it:
Drill Here. Drill Now. Save Today.
And the background image was a gas pump.

Now - I can honestly say I haven't done a ton of research on the whole domestic drilling issue. But I do know what mining of any kind tends to do to the surrounding environment, so my gut is tread very, very lightly on this topic.
But here is a news flash:
You want to save at the gas pump???
GET RID OF YOUR FREAKIN' 8/MPG SUBURBAN!!!!!
You mean to tell me there aren't more fuel efficient cars out there?
Really? Not a one that would fit your needs?
hm.
Next thing you know the CEO of BP will be calling me with suggestions on how to keep my energy bills lower.
Yeah. Suck it buddy.

Now Listening: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon

The General Idea

Ok - So for whatever reason, I am having issues getting these pictures formatted the way that I want them. And keep in mind, I took these with my cell phone as the "real" camera is on the fritz. But this is the furniture that is in the nursery. Of course, there is nothing on the wall, no rug, no bedding -- hell, no mattress at this point, but you start to get the general idea.

And we still have a glider on order. Big thanks to Grandpa & Grandma McConville for that one. Oh - and we will be changing the drapes as well.

Pretty low-key weekend around these parts. A lot of football that is continuing into today. I have been battling the nagging possibility of a cold for the last few days. Convinced that the only reason that I haven't gotten into a full blown crap-tastic cold at this point is my pre-natal vitamins are keeping me in on the verge of pretty healthy.

Started talking about holidays this weekend. Can I just say (and I knew this, but just re-enforcing the fact) that juggling holidays with two families in two locations is REALLY a pain in the ass. Such that this year, I think we are going to go solo on Turkey Day to keep sane. Otherwise it would have translated into alot of driving (in two cars no less) and not a lot of time with either family. That got squarely into the category of colossal-pain-in-our-ass. Christmas, on the other hand is a full blown you-can-come-to-me affair this year.

So that is about all I have to report on this sorta overcast Sunday afternoon.

Now Watching: The Bears vs. The Titans (Bears up, 7-0)

The slow graze

Its food day here at work.
Well, not an "official" food day. Its a birthday celebration. And around here that means food.
Lots of it.
Bad for you food.
Krispy Kremes
Assorted danishes
Dips
Chips
Cake
More cake
And so on...

So what have I been doing all day?
You guessed it.
The slow graze.
A little here.
A little there.
All day.
Almost on the hour.
And what did I have for lunch? Which is silly as I really didn't even NEED lunch as I had been eating all morning...
Oh yeah. Burger King.

I
ROCK.
Now I have to go get another donut.

Now Listening: Grace by Jeff Buckley

SLOOOOOW Motion

That
Is
Today

Getting out of bed. Momentous.
Shower - like 20 minutes.
Getting dressed -this was the big one. If you felt a huge surge in the cosmos this morning it was the Cosmos in fact, kicking my ass when it came to a outfit that fit and didn't make me look like a human tent. Suffice it so say, I am invoking a "casual day" card at work and sporting the jeans.
Coffee - 4 cars deep on the drive-thru AND 3 people deep inside.
Nothing is really moving at a reasonable pace today.

Maybe this should be a sign that I should just pack it up and go home.
Hm. Worth consideration.

In other news you all hate me.
I have been watching some of the "bets" come in on the little leprechauns arrival. More than a few of you are thinking this kid is 9lbs plus.
One word: ouch.
Here's hoping he will take after his father a little and just out of spite be like, 7lbs something.
But it has been fun to watch the guesses come in.
And keep em' coming. The bigger the list, the bigger the bragging rights.
Maybe we will have to work out some sort of prize for the winner.
Maybe a night of watching the little leprechaun once he shows up?
No?!?! That doesn't seem like incentive?
Well, I will work on plan B.

Now Listening: Four Songs by Alexi Murdoch

Awesome Night, Better Morning

Wow.
Wow.
And wow.

What a cool night last night. Historically cool.
I was unable to watch a good chunk of the returns, as we were in class learning to breathe.
But mad thanks to Nate for keeping the text messages flowing with updates. We did get home in time to see both the concession and acceptance speeches of each candidate.
It was overwhelming.
Even my sisters were gracious. Which was a little odd. I was concerned they might have either had too much to drink or hit the crack pipe a little too hard when I got this text from Courtney
" You know we speak from different political sides, but we witnessed absolute
history tonight and THAT is cool... congrats. "
Yes. My sisters.
Melissa even chimed in with a congrats as well.
The outlook today -- is freakin' awesome, rainy day and all.

What else? Started an online poll for the little leprechauns big arrival. Link is on the left under the archive. Chime in and let us know what you think. No big prize, other than bragging rights, but it seemed like a fun thing to do.
Had our 2x a month checkup today.
All is good.
Weight gain for me: nothing since the last appt. Woot. Although I did grow another CM in my belly which means all the weight gain went to the little man. Measuring at 30 weeks right now. Which is about spot on.
His heart rate (which they found in like, 0.02 seconds unlike the last appt) was a busy 140 BPM.
Doctor viewed it as a sign of a future troublemaker. Or ornery. Or both.
I think its fair to say, yes -- those are both not only possibilities, but a pretty solid chance at reality.

OK - back to the grind.
Now Listening: Rock This House by Hollywood Fats

Gettin' My Civic Responsiblity On....

We have made it.
As a nation, the big day is here. No more ads, no more rallies, no more SNL parodies (sadness).
Go vote people.
I did.
Although I was ultimately let down as I didn't get an "I Voted" sticker. I mean, come on -- its the accessory of the year.
I was bummed. But getting over it, thanks for asking.

We did have a small glitch in the process this morning.
Not the long lines, I waited until about 8 AM rather than when the polls opened at 7 and was fine.
Its because we moved. I stayed in the same zip code, but my voting precinct changed.
And it confused the hell out of the 3 volunteers that were all easily 70+ years old.
They just weren't sure what to do with me.
Suffice it to say that after a few forms, a proof of residency, my drivers license, Social Security Card, blood sample and the promise to give up the Little Leprechaun to the Polk County Auditors office for 7 years of indentured servitude, they let me cast my ballot.

The wait: almost 40 minutes.
The act of voting: 5 minutes

And of course, being pregnant and just standing there sent the aforementioned 70+ year old women into a fit.
"Sweetie, sit down please"
"Are you sure we can't get you a chair"
"Do you need anything?"
Yes - I needed to vote.

Really, it was sweet, but nothing makes people more uncomfortable that a pregnant woman standing.
Trust me, sometimes I want to stand.
And keep in mind, this polling station is a 1/2 a block from a retirement community. The median age there had to be easily 65 years old and there were more walkers and canes in the waiting area than anything else. And they were worried about me?
I am surprised they didn't have an EMT permanently stationed there.
bygones.
The vote is cast, the deed is done.
I will miss out on several options for watching returns tonight because we have our birthing class.
So I will be getting updates on my cell as I am probably missing some key point that the instructor will be making.
Details.
So if you haven't voted yet -- get yer' ass out there and do it!!!

Now Listening: Getz/Gilbreto by Stan Getz & Joao Gilbreto

Baby Overdrive

Its baby week at our house.
which I should probably view as a preview of things to come --like every week will be baby week.
But up to this point, we haven't had this much baby-ness in a given 5 day span.
Sunday - baby shower.
Monday - nursery furniture arrives
Tuesday - start birthing classes/put together the crib -- the dresser was already assembled.
Wednesday - interview doula
Thursday - hire doula

Whew. Its enough to wear you out. At least wear me out, but I get worn out a lot easier these days.
I will have to get a picture of the nursery furniture. Of course, there is no mattress, bedding, rugs or anything on the wall -- but its a start from an empty room with a box or two and some gift bags.

Birthing classes. Maybe not going to be as bad as I thought. Although we did get some quality mocking of the other couples in class in. And discovered (confirmed really) that neither Joe or I enjoy strawberry/pineapple hand lotion. Long story. Think hand massage and you are on track.
I did have an epiphany. Among the many visual aids that our instructor provided us, one was a tray that had a series of circles on in -- 10 to be exact. Representing the progression of cervical dilation. One ring for each step.
Now, I know most of you -- up until Tuesday night, myself included -- that think 10 cm isn't that big. I would have agreed with you.
Until I saw that last circle.
When its your INSIDES that have to get that wide and still probably won't be quite big enough for a babys head you sorta go -- WTF? OMG? and JEEBUS all at once.
It was an eye opening experience, lets just leave it at that.

As for the Doula. We liked her. She is about our age, has had two kids in the last two years and was pretty candid with us about what to expect at different stages. Asked a lot of questions and laid out a bunch of options that frankly, we didn't know were ours to make. Both Joe and I felt that having someone at our side that is there for us, understands what we want and is going to work really hard to make sure we get it, is a win for us.
I think it will be a good fit. So Thursday, we hired her. Now starts the fun stuff -- working on a birth plan. Which is a lot of details that you would never think to jot down on paper. I shall spare you many of them but we are feeling much better about this whole thing.
And no, this doesn't make me a earth-hippie mom or anything like that. We will be at the hospital, and open to all the possibilities that could face us -- but we are trying to work with her to outline what we would LIKE to have happen and how to react in the event that those things don't happen.
If you are asking yourself, Meghan what in the hell is a doula anyway? Go HERE to get the scoop.

So that is about it. I am getting bigger by the second, or so it seems. Little Leprechaun is all over the place, pretty much all of the time if I am just sitting down and well, not sure that will stop for a bit.
This will be a nice change of pace weekend, with nothing planned but Thank You notes from the shower and hanging out at home. Looking forward to that in a big way.

I do have one bitch today that really gets me.
So in case you didn't know, the Presidential election is next week. You didn't know that? Wow. Hope that you have been on an extended trip to Mars or something -- that would be the only reason for NOT knowing this.
So - Barack Obama has decided to do a final rally in DSM today. This morning specifically. Open to the public. I really wanted to go. I have seen him speak a few times through the campaign cycle. But I couldn't go -- I had to conduct an interview here at work. So I begrudgingly come to work rather than get my politicking' on. And then the guy we were scheduled to interview canceled at the last minute.
GGGRRRRRR.
Dammit man. I have a social responsibility here and you just messed with my Chi or something.
Ok - back to the grind.

Now Listening: Living in Clip by Ani DiFranco

Whirlwind Weekend

Where to start? Lots to catch up.

Lets start with the freshest little nugget in ye' olde' noggin.
They tell you pretty early on that when you get pregnant your dreams have the possibility of hitting the outer stratosphere of craziness. Some blame it on hormones -- which for the record, I think is the medical communities fall back answer for everything odd in pregnancy that they don't understand -- others on the lack of full REM sleep that makes things more memorable. Who knows. But for a girl that never got up at night and NEVER remembered dreams, the last few months have been a bit of an eye-opener in that department.
Lets just say that I think that my sub-conscious has been trying to tell me something for awhile. I have just been too oblivious to it.
Not so much anymore. Last night being a classic example.
For starters, after a very full weekend (more details on that later) I was pooped at the end of the night. Fell asleep on the couch before half time of the MNF game. Woke up to the World Series getting a rain postponement. Went straight back to bed.
So in this dream, I was pregnant - shocker. And going into labor. But when we went to the hospital it was sorta in the middle of a corn field - which our hospital is not, thank you. I mean, yes, we live in Iowa, but not in Hickville, USA.
Anyway, my mom and sisters were with me. And they sent us to this little room. I mean little. And not sure where Joe was during all of this.
A few minutes later - had a kid. No major labor, no big to-do, just boom. Baby. And it was a girl, not a boy.
So they shuffle us through a few more hallways, where I run into two more people I know having a baby. One of which is actually pregnant, one isn't. And then they sent us home. Like the whole thing was just a few hours at this maze of a hospital in the middle of a corn field.
But rather than go to my house, we decided to go to Tony's place. As in Cafe DiScala Tony's apartment. And Joe was there. So we talked for a few minutes about the baby -- no explanation of where he was and then he was like, well, I have to go to work. To which I went ballistic and threw things at him. At this point my sisters and my mom just sorta faded into the wood-work.
And that was the dream.
So go to it my Freudian friends.
The thing about it that sticks in my head was the fact that my mom was there (obviously), the baby was a girl, I was really pissed off about not having a labor "experience" and Joe was no where to be found until the very end.
Any thoughts, insight or theories on this one would be great.
Leaving the slightly esoteric behind....

As I mentioned, full weekend. We had the Race for the Cure on Saturday. Had really good turn out, the weather cooperated (thank goodness) and a believe a good time was had by all. I think the final numbers for the race were over 24,000. Which someone told me puts us close to New York City in terms of turn-out.
I had minimal food left over after brunch (another big thank goodness) and got a trial run at baby-proofing my house with 2 two year olds and 3 under 10 month old babies in my house.
We have some work to do in that arena, but time to get to it. Was really curious to see how the cats reacted to all of it. One hid the whole time, one would hiss at the kids and then walk away (not too happy with that behavior) and one was totally chill with being mauled by little hands.
Saturday night we all went out to dinner to celebrate my sisters birthday. And Sunday was my first baby shower.
Big thanks to all my friends for showing up, family for coming from out of town and just everyone hanging out for a few hours together.
And big shout out to Martine, Lisa and Courtney for throwing it all together.
I had to play one game -- guess the baby food. Which in all fairness, I think I did ok with. My sisters picked up the baby food and threw some combo's in there. Pretty tricky, those girls. But I believe I finished a more than respectable 4 out of 5. I missed applesauce of all things. I thought it was pears.
And for the record, most baby food tastes like crap.
We then moved on to the gift opening. Lets just say that our friends are generous to a fault.
We got a ton of stuff. I mean it.
It took two cars to get it home.
And the coolest part of the day, was the whole party contributing to a Squish Quilt. In short, it is an Asian tradition to create a quilt of good wishes for a new baby. Everyone contributes a piece of fabric and some well wishes.
Now, I am not a "quilt" girl in the traditional sense, but the idea of having one that actually has some meaning behind it is pretty cool. You can read more about them here: www.quiltofsquishes.blogspot.com
As soon as we get it put together, I will get a picture.

So tonight starts our birthing classes. Can't believe that it is here. Can't believe that I am going to birthing classes. That should be, well, interesting. Stay tuned for details. At least the ones that I feel are worthy of sharing.
We also meet with a doula tomorrow. Its like baby over-drive all the sudden.
So that should bring you up-to-date on the latest in our world.
Other than that, just watching the election move towards what I hope will be the right conclusion. Just a week left.
Which is good -- the commercials are really getting old.

Now Listening: Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn

The Last Hoorah

I think that the road trip is a quintessential American rite of passage. I mean, don't get me wrong, jumping on a train and going to another country a la Europe is pretty cool.
But -- logging the time in the car, the combo of the company you keep in a very small space, the right tunes on the radio and the ever present truck stop make them a uniquely American thing to do.
I mean, we have movies, songs and books about them.
One of those undertakings where the journey is just as much part of the trip as the destination. In some cases, the journey itself makes the trip.
And I have undertaken my fair share of them since getting that all important drivers license:
San Antonio, TX
St Louis, MO
MPLS, MN
Chicago, IL
Kansas City, MO
And even some less than exciting locations while in college.

So with that somewhat loaded introduction, I am afraid that I probably took my last one this week.

**big collective sigh**

Yes, we went down to KC from DSM to go see Ray LaMontagne in concert. One this was a road trip and two, it was a road trip to see a band -- which is the holy grail of road trips in my mind.
And I will grant you, a 3 hour drive from Des Moines isn't colossal on the road trip scale by any stretch of the imagination. But I took some time off of work -- yes, I took time off of work -- and we headed down. Had a great time -- show was amazing. He hurts my heart when he sings. And it was one of those 2500- 3000 person venues, so our seats were only about 20 ft from the stage. I mean, wow. 2 encores and just a great, great show. Got to share it with our good friends Lisa and Tim. Which was interesting, as she just found out she is expecting, so two of us could drink, two of us couldn't. The boys had to convince the bar tender that being in their presence would NOT get you pregnant.

Which is another side activity of a good road trip -- the drinking. I mean, I did an hour of power out of a bathtub filled with LONESTAR of all things before a U2 show in San Antonio. This was years ago, but you get the idea, and we won't even talk about the beating my liver took on one of my trips to Chicago (it was St. Pat's, need I say more?)
But in homage to the spirit of the road trip, I had a non-alcoholic beer.
Woo Hoo.
I know, how the mighty have fallen, but I have to say it wasn't actually that bad. And for not having a beer -- and loving beer -- in 7 months, it fixed the itch for a little bit.
The saddest part of the whole day and a half, was the realization that this is probably the last true road trip I will take for some time. I mean, we will go places, but with baby in tow.
Whole different ball game at this point.
It made me slightly nostalgic for all the trips of the past.
Ok - enough Debbie Downer, moving on...

Big weekend at the Smith/McConville household. The Des Moines Race for the Cure is this weekend and my first baby shower is on Sunday -- and my sisters birthday is Sunday. So we have company for both events, having breakfast for 40 people at the house after the race and trying to get the house ready in advance of that and getting winded after about 5 stairs has made this a new experience.
I miss my cleaning people.
I miss being able to reach down and pick something up without it being a big deal.
Nonetheless, I am super excited for the weekend. My sisters are coming up, I get all my girls together on Sunday, which NEVER happens, and Julie is coming in from DC for the long weekend.
Woo hoo.
It shall rock.
Ok, back to the grind.

Now Listening: Back to Black by Amy Winehouse

Who me? Irrational? Not possible

I think there is this poster child pregnant woman that everyone has in their minds when the topic comes up.
Some rapidly ballooning, hormone laden, irrational, large ankled woman on the verge of losing it and only staying sane with a gallon of ice cream in one hand and a large vat of pickles in the other.
Clearly this is not the case.
I mean, I haven't craved pickles at all.

Seriously though -- it is true. Maybe not quite to that extreme, but everyone has this idea. Like I could go from 0-Bitch in 6.8 seconds.
Frankly, I could have done that prior to getting pregnant.
I guess what I am getting at, is at any given point, I have experienced one or more of the "typical" pregnant side effects if you will.
And some not so typical, but that is not the story today.
I had been warned by friends of the "irrational" bug. They claimed it was one of the most frustrating things about being pregnant. You KNOW you are being irrational, but you can't stop yourself from feeling, saying and doing X.
Up to this point, I have been just fine in that department thank you very much. I haven't overreacted to too much (at least I haven't been called on it yet) and like to think I have kept a decent sense of reality about this whole process.
Until the last two days.

-you had to know that was coming.

It all stems from the little leprechaun moving around. He is moving quite a bit these days. To be expected. And up to this point, he was most active in the morning and then about dinner time.
Well, over the last few days that pattern has changed. And of course, all the books are saying if anything changes, call your doctor or start charting the babies movement.
Yeah, like that will work -- middle of a meeting and I have to excuse myself to go count kicks.
Practical, really.
I swear these books are written for woman that just sit around rubbing their stomachs and thinking positive pregnant thoughts while only feeding themselves organic, whole foods that they grew in their own garden.
Moving on.

Now, keep in mind, he is still moving. Still feeling the nudges, bumps and kicks. But somewhere along the line I had convinced myself that something was up.
And then today, we had our doctors appt and it took the doctor a few minutes to find his heartbeat.
Total freak out.
I mean, I didn't lose it in the doctors office or anything, but my brain was on total overdrive for like, 3 minutes. It was not pretty. Had it gone a minute or two more, not sure I would have stayed calm. At least on the surface.
But, long and short... they found it. 140 BPM. Right where it is supposed to be. And as I type this he is pounding away on my insides.
Basically, it sucks. You know you are off your rocker and yet you can't stop yourself. Oh, and 12 more weeks of this.
Whee.

Now Listening: Gossip in the Grain by Ray LaMontagne

You did NOT just say that

Its been a week.
Just one thing after another.
So much so, that even my normal amount of bitching seems extreme to me.
Which is saying alot.
But I think the cherry on the sundae came yesterday.
I have sorta begun to insulate myself from the annoyance that comes with the following questions:
"How are you feeling?"
Now, I know people are asking because they care --at least I have deluded myself into thinking that. Its just after the 5,749th time you get asked that in a 48 hour span, you tend to get a little, what's the word.... oh yeah -- annoyed as hell.
However, when I tell them "Fine", I often get this disappointed look. Like somehow they were expecting a horror story of sorts. Sorry to disappoint.
Yesterday afternoon I was at work - where I spend the bulk of my hours these days. And a co-worker asked me the above loaded question, prefaced with my other new favorite....
"You are so cute pregnant"
Erm, nope.
I am learning to just smile, shut my mouth and say thank you. You cannot understand how hard even that is.
Back to the story at hand.
So I get the cute comment, then I get the million-dollar annoyance question.
I reply with my standard -- "Feeling really good. Getting bigger by the day, but good."
And she says - and this was roughly the time in which I wanted to take my shoe and beat her to a pulp --
"You know, it can't be that bad. I mean I have never been pregnant, but how bad can it get?"

Yes, that line you see in front of me. You just crossed it.
Now a little perspective here. I really have been pretty lucky with my pregnancy up to this point. But let me just shower you with a little bit of reality:
I haven't had a good nights sleep in like, a month. And don't expect this to change for well, the next 5 years.
Cherries give me heartburn. Yes - cherries. Not even eating a whole cherry. It was on a danish.
I can't climb a flight of stairs without getting winded.
Putting on shoes and socks has become a major effort
And god forbid I drop something -- which I do with alarming regularity as my joints loosen up -- because it takes 10 minutes to pick it up.

And these aren't major.
I have had friends on bed rest for 30 plus days.
Friends that were sick the entire time.
All kinds of issues.
And we haven't even TALKED about the whole getting the kid out of me process. And I can't even start on that topic as I haven't done it yet --- but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that labor and delivery can in fact, be "that bad"

So, Ms. It-can't-be-that-bad ......
Run.
Run as fast as you can.
And take heart in that even if you can't run fast, I probably wouldn't be able to catch up with you anyway.
Because, a beating is at hand.

Now Listening: Whitechocolatespaceegg by Liz Phair

Its the pedal on the right

I will readily admit that I am not the most patient person on the planet.
Or really at all.
But I am trying and that should count for something, right?
So its a Monday, I have slept like crap the night before. I know, I know
"Meghan" you are saying to yourself, "you got the ok to take a little something to help you sleep."
Well, yes I did. Except when you wake up at 1:30 AM and the alarm goes off at 6:45, its too late to take anything.
So -- starting a overcast Monday kinda crabby to start with.
And it would seem that today, I am doomed to drive behind and be trapped next to anyone who thinks that going 5 MPH UNDER the speed limit means the far left and center lanes are where they should drive.
It made me happy.
Really, really happy.
And of course, the slower that they drive, the 'happier' I get.
Lets just say, its a good thing that I didn't have any meetings this morning, otherwise I would have probably been asked to go home and change my crabby pants. Although, being sent home may not have been the worst thing. At least I could sleep.

In other news... we have entered double digits -- leaving the triples in our dust!
As in, I have less than 100 days of being pregnant left.
Woo hoo.
Officially, its 99, but whose counting?
Not this girl, who is getting larger by the second.
Alright, I should get back to work. For a large portion of the country, today is a day off. For me, it is not. However, our client has the day off -- as they are federal. Which means the bulk of my meetings have been canceled and I just **might** get some work done today.
Hold onto your hats, could get crazy up in here.

Now Listening: Trouble by Ray LaMontagne

Full, pink and pissed off

I know, I know. I have been a bad, bad blogger. My excuses for what they are worth, and in no particular order:

• Lack of sleep. I have been battling some serious insomnia the last few days.


• Work has been loco. Which at this point I am sure you are sick of hearing about, but the last week/week and a half has been off the charts.


• Slow build up of stories to share with you all.


• Motivation. Not gonna lie. Throw all the previous issues together and I just haven't even turned on the computer when I get home.

Feel free to let the ensuing judgement begin.
Done?
Good. Moving on.
We will start with a little leprechaun update.
Dr's appt on Tuesday. Had to take a glucose test. Which is a test for gestational diabetes. It consists of the pregnant woman drinking a glucose filled liquid and getting blood drawn at a certain time after you drink it.
Does everyone remember that scene in "Elf" when he chugs the bottle of maple syrup?
Yeah - this stuff is like that, except I don't love syrup the way Buddy the Elf does. But you have to chug it. The whole 20oz bottle has to be consumed in 5 minutes.
So, it was sorta like drinking orange flavored syrup.
Word. Oh, and I passed. So that is the good news.
On to the other pertinent details.
Little man is good. Heart rate came in at 140 BPM. I am measuring right at 26 weeks. And he is moving around just like he is supposed to.
I have gained a whooping 5 lbs this month. Eek. That puts my total weight gain at 12 lbs.
And as we have entered that mystical, magical time frame known as the "Last Trimester", we get to go from monthly appointments to appointments every 2-3 weeks.
And we get to do this for about the next 10 weeks and then we go to WEEKLY appointments.
The OBGYN is my new best friend.

In other munchkin news, the great music experiment isn't really getting me far. As was mentioned in an earlier post, he likes music. Specifically at this point, Radiohead. So I have been making a point of listening to all sorts of genres as loud as possible to see if they warrant a similar reaction.
More brit pop (Amy Winehouse) -- nothing.
Alt-Country (Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash) - nothing.
Rap (Missy Elliott) - nothing
Alternative (Peter, Bjorn & John) -- nothing.
Last night, got to go see The Kooks here in town - more Brit pop. First, totally stoked that we are getting good bands here. That is a great move forward for DSM.
The real test was, will little man react the same to loud music this time as he did before.
During the first set, the answer was no. During the second, he did get a movin'.
I will continue this experiment in the following weeks as we are going to see Ray LaMontagne in about 10 days and I just found out that Dropkick Murphy's are coming to town in November.
Figure I might as well get the shows in now, as post January, those will be a fleeting, distant memory.
Pleased to report that in a nice gender role switch, Joe's friends threw HIM a surprise baby shower on Sunday. And they made him play games. Which, I would have paid good money to see. Still waiting on the pictures. But we got some really nice stuff, and plenty of Bears gear to start down that path.
The only down side was HE got to have drinks at his shower. I will not.
Sucky.
But short lived, and dealing with it.

In the category of public affairs/political news:
Was watching the Presidential debates earlier this week. The outcome of the debates for me didn't really change anything. I do wish to hell that they would actually ANSWER THE QUESTION that is asked of them at the time. Drove me crazy. Or the answer was so buried (most of the time) in a bunch of rhetoric.
The thing that really got under my skin during the debate was a little segue they made prior to the debate starting. I was watching CNN and my buddy Wolfe Blitzer cuts to a picture of the White House bathed in pink lights.
For a reason.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Pink is the official color of the Awareness effort -- you all have seen the pink ribbons, even on NFL refs this month.
So, our President lights his "house" in pink for the night to show his commitment to curing breast cancer.
Here's an idea you backward man -- allow for stem cell research to continue. Don't set there and tell me that you are committed to a cure, make some hollow PR move like coloring the White House for the night and then cut the arms off the scientific community that is trying like hell to understand and cure this disease.
Can you tell it pissed me off?
**steps off soapbox**


And in my last rant for the day.
I am damned when it comes to Customer Service.
Which I find odd, as I did my time in Customer Service hell. My first "adult" job out of college was a customer service/sales position with the phone company. Yeah, the people you hate to call. I was called every name in the book, insulted in more ways than you can imagine and told more than I care to recall that I was just a "peon" and had no real ability to get anything done. Worked wonders for the self esteem. Suffice it to say, I think that I earned a cosmic get out of jail card with all subsequent customer service people.
Not so.
It has taken me 6 weeks to get our stinkin' HDTV/DVR box to the house. 6 weeks. 4 phone calls to the cable company and many, many minutes wasted away on hold. And so Joe went to get the box this week, got it plugged in and the HD channels didn't work. And they wouldn't talk to Joe because he was not authorized to do anything on the account. So I had to call. And yes -- another 20 minutes on hold and a tech that didn't know what he was doing. Only to have to schedule a tech to come out. With a four hour window of time.
So while I am waiting for the tech to call me, Homemakers -- one of the local furniture stores -- calls to tell me that the BOXSPRINGS I had ordered where going to be another week late.
Let's break this down.
We had an extra bed. We have room in the part of the attic that is finished off. So, make an extra room for guests. Well, since it is an attic, the queen sized box springs wouldn't fit up the stairwell. So, I had to go buy a split box springs. Nothing special, nothing high end. Just a wooden frame with some fabric around it.
But apparently, you need at least a month to get one ordered. It had better be here before the Race for the Cure, or we are gonna have people sleeping on the floor.
So then the tech called, went home, spent an hour working on the HD issue only to be told that basically with the type of TV we have --- its not going to work as is.
Good, good technology times.
And to think, I just wanted to watch some football with a really clear picture.

And to top it all off, we have reached a new milestone in the whole being pregnant thing.
As little leprechaun gets bigger, the stomach takes more room. Which means my insides, and more importantly, my assorted organs are getting all moved around. Including my stomach.
Yeah -- one regular sized meal is enough to send me into misery for a good hour or so.
Who ever got the whole "pregnant women eat all the time" rumor started, is full of it.
No way.
No room.
So working on the smaller, more frequent meals.

Now Watching: A non-HD version of Project Runway Part I of the finale.

The Emergency Alert System

Revealing fact # 374 about living with Joe.
His alarm clock is the loudest thing I have EVER heard.

I am not a light sleeper. I have -- in the past anyway -- slept through tornado warnings, alarms at finals time, bats in my house and who knows what else. Now, I don't sleep as well but that is because I have to get up several times a night to use the bathroom. Which for someone who likes their sleep (me) is a bit of a pain in the ass.
My sleep is normally only interrupted by one of two sounds...1) my alarm or 2) my cell phone ringing.
This morning, in what I am sure will be about a once a year occurrence, Joe had to be out of the house before me.
And when his alarm went off this morning, I swear I jumped about 6 inches in bed from the shrill, 80 decibel, eardrum shattering sound it made. Now, keep in mind, in recent days things like getting out of chairs, getting up from the couch and getting out of bed have become a multi-step process. So anything that made me move that quickly was LOUD. I mean, we are talking the monthly testing of the emergency alert system loud. If I was sitting right by the speakers when they tested it loud.
It was so loud in fact that it "woke" not just me, barely woke Joe but the little leprechaun as well. Within minutes of that thing going off and launching me -- somewhat violently from my well-earned sleep -- little man was all over the joint. And by joint I mean the roughly soccer ball size area that is my insides. And frankly, he didn' t really stop all morning.

Spent the weekend down at my Dad's house for the annual block party. Like many an event that I have loved, this one too took on a new point of view when you are sober. It's not that it still isn't fun. The people are still great - but come about 11 PM when everyone has been drinking for oh, about 7 hours and you are on your 4th version of cranberry juice and... insert non-alcoholic mixer here, you just don't have the patience to sit around listening to drunk people try to out-drunk-people each other. My brother and his pressing desire to be the biggest drunk there, leading the way. Seems 2 weeks down in Texas has already instilled a "everything is bigger in Texas" mentality as he was drinking out of one of our European liter mugs. Which means, in normal people terms a big-ass glass of beer that gets warm when normal people drink it because there is SO much in there.
My same brother that it seems, will be going back to Iraq in January. For the third time.
Yeah, we will visit that topic on another day.
That is the weekend in a nutshell. There should be more -- there should always be more -- but that is what I got for tonight.

Now Watching: Monday Night Football. Oh yeah, how about those Bears last night?!? Woo Hoo.

Best EVER

Its no secret that I would have either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colberts love child.
Technically, its not a secret that I having Joe's - maybe in my current situation, that statement doesn't carry as much weight.
Appearances aside, I would. I would adore having a smart-ass, snarky little one running around telling me what to do.
Actually, I might just get my wish.
Moving on.
I am religious in my watching of both of them. Think that they are probably the closest to the truth -- or truthiness, as the case may be -- of ANY of the 24-hour news guys. And well, they make me laugh.

So in a causal perusal of the web this morning (I was waiting for the coffee to kick in.) I stumbled upon an article on Entertainment Weekly. For the record, it was linked off of CNN. com, but lets be honest, Ew. com has some great stories.
And it is an interview with not just one of my poli-humor gods, but BOTH of them.
Read it.
And then re-read it.
Genius.
I tell you we are nightly in the presence of genius.

Now Listening: Howl by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

It was sorta like the commercial

I know you all have seen the commercial. It is for either MasterCard or Visa. There is a scene (coffee shop, deli or garden supply store) and there is a creative, symbiotic relationship between the people, the product and the assorted retail workers. Its like a Snow White scene for the 21st century.
All the while fueled by copious charging against the aforementioned MasterCard or Visa. It is a happy place where people purchase freely without any issues around budget, need or concern. Until it all comes to a harsh, screeching halt with someone writing a check. And I will admit, I mean, come on... use the debit card. It is easier and faster. But frankly, I have seen each of those commercials more than a dozen times, and while not totally annoyed with them, don't really give them much thought.

Until today after work.

I was at the one maternity store at the mall -- Motherhood, Mimi, something or other. Its a crap store that I wouldn't shop in except for the fact that it is one of the few, affordable options in town. I needed tights.
So I went in, and got the tights and was beat to the register by 3 women. A pregnant woman, her mother and her sister/friend. So they are talking to the woman at the register -- who kept calling them all "Hon" and sharing her horror stories of pregnancy -- she gained 100 lbs with her first kid. So pregnant woman makes her purchase.
Writes a check.
Pregnant womans mother gets a few more things for pregnant daughter.
Writes a check.
Pregnant womans friend/sister buys SOMETHING else for her
And you guessed it..
Writes a check.

So one group of purchases that should have taken less than 5 minutes, takes like 15. Because each on has to show id, get the approval, sign something, write the check and then ask 3 times what the amount was as they couldn't follow her the first 2 times.

It really was like the freakin' commercial. And then I found out why. They weren't from DSM. They were from some small town, like an hour away and had come into "the BIG city" for the day to shop. See I forget that for all the bitching I do about Des Moines, and its size, it is still the largest city in the state. And with few exceptions, if you drive 30 minutes in any direction of DSM, you are in farm country.
Apparently outside of the metro area, you don't use plastic.
Ugh.
New rule: if you are going to plan a shopping trip in the "big city", warm the plastic up.

Now Watching: A Cialis commercial and trying to figure out who in their right mind doesn't know that an erection lasting more than 4 hours is a problem.

Two Wheelin' Attitude

Iowa is a bike state.
Big time.
And I don't mean motorbikes...
I mean, pedal, work your butt off (or get the right calluses) bicycles.
We have trails. And major events.
There is RAGBRAI (Registers(as in Des Moines Register) Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa) which I detailed once upon a time -- ok, in digging that one up a LONG time ago.
People do all day bike rides/pub crawls - which I think could be its own entry as that just sounds like something that shouldn't be combined.
Every night from March - Oct -- you see people of all shapes and sizes in all the biking gear, and yes, all shapes and sizes in spandex. It's a hidden camera gem.
So to get back to my earlier point, Iowa is a bike state.

Yesterday I was on my way back from the Farmers Market and stopped at an intersection. It was downtown so it was like 3/4 lanes of one way intersecting with another 3/4 lanes of one way. There was a family of 4 biking in the far right lane. And they have the right of way. That is the rule. They were coming to the intersection and taking a right onto the street. There was a SUV behind them that apparently didn't like the pace in which they were moving. So she honked. To which the father of said family who was the last in the line of the 4 gave her the bird.
Which in and of itself was pretty entertaining as, while I have heard bikers bitch about not getting the appropriate respect on the road, I have NEVER actually seen one of them lash out even in that fashion.
So as he is turning the corner, he throws down his bike and waits for the SUV to make the turn and starts just yelling at this woman. And it wasn't like a "Screw You" and move on... he had something to say. And he did. To the point where the woman started shouting back.
The whole thing just struck me as really funny. Until I realized that as the woman was stopped in my lane, I almost missed my green light.

So me finding this whole thing funny got me thinking, am I the only one who sees stuff like this and finds it amusing? Enough to actually write about it? Or do other people see it and just brush it off, like no big deal? Is my brain really wired that much differently?
I throw that question out there into the ether with trepidation and a little concern as to what the answer could be, but brave blogger that I am, I am willing to deal with the response.

In other news, well I really have no other news. Had a little mini-girls night out last night. Ate some cheese I probably shouldn't have, had a few sips of wine I shouldn't have and then had sushi. Which, I did use some discretion and only had either vegetarian or cooked versions.
But all in all, it was a night of pure pregnancy rebellion.
Woo hoo.
That's right kids. Getting crazy at week 23.
WATCH OUT!
Ok, so I exaggerate a little bit. But you can only be told "no" so many times before you kinda just say "fuck it" and rebel a little. Thus, I had the cheese (and it was good) and a few sips of wine (even better) and a band-aid for my continuous sushi craving.
Here's hoping it gets me through the next 17 weeks.


And that really is about it.
Now I am going to go ride a bike 20 miles. Oh wait, that is another in the long line of NO's.
And I wouldn't have done that anyway -- pregnant or not. And its football Sunday. All bets are off for my attention span unless it has a pigskin, full pads and guys with names like Forte and Urlacher.

Musical Pedigree

Had a rather enjoyable evening last night.
Managed to score a last minute ticket to go see Neko Case in concert here in the big DSM. She of a number of solo, what I would call Alt-Country albums and The New Pornographers fame.
Suffice it to say, when the good tunes come through town, you need to go to the show. And so, courtesy of my friend Liz, I was able to get in on the action.
The show was really great. It was one of those small-ish venues (maybe 1800? people, not sure how many the theatre at Hoyt holds) where you recognize a bunch of people from other like-minded shows. That and as you are chilling between the opening act and the main show, sipping on your water (YUM!) -- people watching and asking yourself "Who are these people? Do they live in Des Moines? And how have I never seen them before?"
See, sometimes I think that Des Moines is so small and my social sphere so wide that I MUST have run into everyone in town that is worth running into.
Oh wait.
Yeah.
Aside from being a ridiculous thought, the fact is that I don't get out as much as I used to and well, there are hip people in town that I don't know. Which is sorta a tragedy -- but one I shall overcome.
At least I hope to.

So aside from catching a GREAT live act last night with some GREAT girlfriends, we got a little taste of the little leprechauns musical preferences.
Before the show, we all met up at a new bar that just opened in town called The Underground.
No, not named for the subway in Des Moines, there isn't one. Shocker I know.
But as it is a basement bar -- it is therefore UNDERGROUND.
Ahh, the wit of this town just never ends.
So anyway -- it was early, the bar just opened last week, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. And naturally, we hit the jukebox pretty heavily. Which frankly, is one of the better bar jukeboxes I have seen in ages.
At one point, Radiohead came on -- and little dude went slightly berserk. Moving and kicking all over the joint.
So either he LOVES Radiohead or HATES Radiohead.
As he is my son - we are going with LOVE. This has led me to wonder, what other music moves the kid? He wasn't that active during the actual concert -- which was much louder than at the bar. Now I have to start working my way through my iPod, loudly, and seeing which stuff he responds to.
Its a worthy challenge and one I am up to. So stay tuned. Will he stay true to his Brit-Pop sensibilities identified yesterday or will other genres get him moving?

Oh, and in another striking revelation....
We discovered that I am just as bad at Golden Strike bowling as I am with the real thing.
In fact, one could argue -- WORSE. Which is sorta impressive if you think about it.
And this fall, I have backed out of the league play.
I know, I know -- but Meghan, you are thinking -- we loved living through your horrific bowling Thursdays. Well kids -- so did I.
But it was a weird deal this time. As was mentioned in previous posts -- one of our team members was killed in a car accident earlier this summer. So that in and of itself put a real damper on any resurgence of the team.
And well, I be knocked up. Sitting around every Thursday watching people get drunker and drunker while I get fatter and fatter just didn't hold a lot of appeal for me.
So we opted out this season. And I don't feel that anyone in the league is going to be like, Where is that sassy redhead and her orange fury?
Not so much.

Now Listening: The Id by Macy Gray

Working through the kinks or is it kicks?

It has been a bit of a crazy week. At least that is my excuse for not posting more last week.
Or at all really.
So a brief re-cap of the week.
We had ultrasound.
Newest stats:
Me: 4 lbs more this month. Whee.
Little Leprechaun: 14 oz and starting to move all over the place. At least as long as there is real estate to move around in.
Week: Last week was 21/22 -- so we are just over the half point.

And in other baby news, we registered this past week.
Allow me to shed some light on this situation. I am one of 4 kids. I have 30+ cousins on each side of my family. I have been babysitting since I was about 10 years old.
Kids, in principal do not freak me out.
The stuff that they use, does not freak me out.
I consider myself somewhat literate when it comes to the kid stuff. I know what it is, I know what it does and for the most part, I know what it is called.
And then we went to register.
And 20 some odd years of kid-friendly existence went **poof**
It is an overwhelming experience.
I mean, how do I know how many waterproof crib pads I am going to need?
How many diapers?
The right tub set?
Which freakin' baby lotion do you choose?
I mean, these are the debates that we were having. It took a good solid 2 hours to get through it.
And for the record, Babies R Us actually provides a list of "suggested" items.
Now, I am sure that a good section of those are suggested for their bottom line.
But it was a start.
So I then took Martine back on Sunday to review it and make sure we didn't really goof up. And then my cousin Kara took a look as well.
Between the two of them, I feel like we have righted a few wrongs and updated in the right direction. Of course, I say that now. Day one with the kid at home and we will be like, where in the hell is the ----???

Little Leprechaun has started kicking at little more regularly. At least that I can feel. Found out that I have an anterior placenta -- which basically means my placenta has been acting like a shock absorber for the last 5 months. And that is why I just starting feeling anything. I am told to enjoy this for right now as in a few more weeks, my insides will be turned into a kickboxing clinic.

Work is a little crazy. Got some interesting news this week. Long story short the client that we work for -- the only client that my contract line does work for -- is opening up our contract bids out. Which had a bunch of people freaking out about whether they will be able to keep their jobs etc.
First of all, its the government. NOTHING goes quickly with them. And frankly, we don't know what we don't know. So time will tell. Suffice it to say, I am a smidge worried, but not losing any sleep over it.

So there you go. The three paragraph update on the last week.
Back to the grind this week we go.

Now Watching: Monday Night Pre-game on ESPN. Yes, I am a dork.