Must love Bully's

Follow Me!

2010-06-30T22:05:00.002-04:00

Long time no talk, I know! I have a new blog! I'd love for everyone to follow me, I could never figure out how to merge them together, so I've been keeping up with my other blog and sadly, not this one!

Follow me at

momsstorytelling.blogspot.com

If not for anything else, on my new blog, you actually get to see pictures of me and my family!!! The furry babies are doing great, and my baby girl is not really a baby anymore, but the really exciting news is...

I'm expecting, AGAIN!

Yup, I'm pregnant, with TWIN girls. How crazy is that!??? So please check out my new digs, and follow me, the blog is currently getting some re-vamping done so don't be too let down by it's blah appearance, I promise, it will be fabulous in no time!

Hope to see you at my new blog!

momsstorytelling.blogspot.com

NEW HOUSE

2009-11-12T13:43:00.002-05:00

As if I don't have enough coming up with my wedding, me and the fiance just bought a NEW house!!!!!

I can't believe it, I am still in shock! We just found out our offer was accepted :)

We totally sold out, and bought a house north of Richmond in Mechanicsville (yes, the 'burbs) in a really cute little community. It's an association so it has a community pool, club house, tennis courts, gym and all that fancy stuff! I am so excited, I can't stand it!

We close on the 14th of December WHICH means, we get married on the 5th of December, leave for our honeymoon on the 7th, return on the 11th and move in on the 14th!!!! Who's stressed???

I wonder if I could manage to fit anything else into my life right now, just for shits and giggles!

Deep breath....I know it will all work out, I will just have to get incredibly organized (damnit). I can't wait to upload pics, the house is gorgeous and the back yard is insanely big....my furry babies will be so happy :)

Need some suggestions

2009-10-20T13:44:00.001-04:00

I need some suggestions for any good "first dance" songs for my wedding. Any father/daughter songs would be great too!

Getting down to the wire! I'm picking up my dress Thursday from the seamstress (it had to be let out :( ) Let's hope it could be let out ENOUGH!!!

I'll keep you posted!

Who else wants to kill that kid???

2009-10-16T12:55:00.002-04:00

The boy in the balloon....really?

I watched yesterday, horrified to think that a 6 year old was trapped in that jiffy popcorn bag that was flying thousands of feet in the air...and then when it finally landed...no kid! I thought for sure the poor boy had fallen out and it was only a matter of time before someone found his body in a tree or something. Hours later, it turns out that little shit was hiding in the attic the whole time!!!??

I know his parents were so grateful he was ok and at the same time were probably like "I'm gonna kill this kid"! Craziness! Now people are saying it could have been a stunt or a hoax. I don't think so, I'm trying to have more faith in my fellow american and praying that these idiots did not "plan" this whole thing. If nothing else, though it was entertaining.

I was watching Fox news when the news broke. First off, Martha Mccallum (the anchor) broke in saying "Check out this amazing video we have coming in from Colorado" and they cut to the picture of the silver aluminum foil looking flying contraption.

I of course immediately thought the world was under attack and that I was looking at a live feed of a UFO.

Don't laugh...I mean, what is the more logical conclusion- flying saucer or 6 year old boy trapped in a balloon?

Part of me was disappointed when I found out it wasn't a UFO, and part of me was pretty impressed about the 6 year old boy that was allegedly inside having one hell of a ride. Now, though I feel retarded for even believing that a kid was actually in there! Oh well, 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.

On a different note, the stupid music director at the church where I'm getting married has yet to return any of my 274747 phone calls. Hello? I need to set up a meeting and pick out my ceremony music and I can't print up my programs until I talk to this D-bag. If he doesn't call me back today, I swear I'm busting into mass on Sunday and halting the whole service until that jerk acknowledges that I exist! Probably not the most "christian" thing to do, but I'm desperate!

2009-10-15T21:05:00.001-04:00

I have been MIA for so long :(

Computer problems, sick dogs, growing baby's and wedding planning have taken over my life. Happy to report though, we have a NEW computer, dogs are well, baby is amazing and we are getting closer and closer to the big day!!!!

I hope to be blogging again regularly now, I really have missed it....and missed all my readers!!

So, keep checking back...I promise I'll be writing!

Is it possible for a Round 4???

2009-09-08T15:07:00.002-04:00

Sorry it's been so long, my laptop has decided to stop working AGAIN...thrills.

So much to tell you, the baby is rolling over now, like a pro! Believe it or not she's teething too! She has been "chomping" on her hands recently and I felt a little something on her upper gum, so I think the process has begun...which means total meltdowns and intense screaming on my part, and her part are about to begin.

Oscar, ohhhhh Oscar! My poor puppy has been through it! You read about his cherry eye surgery, and hotspots, and the "strawberry"incident...I'm here to report last week, was round 4! 5 days after his surgery, his cherry eye popped BACK out!!! I couldn't believe it, he just had surgery and he was still on his antibiotics and the effing thing came back!

So, needless to say, the poor guy had to have surgery AGAIN last Monday. This time they completely removed the gland. Why couldn't they have done that in the first place???!

Happy to report though, that the lampshade is off, and he is doing better than ever :) Although he IS going through an intense chewing phase, I can not even count how many flip flops I have "lost" in the past week! Hopefully I will only have good things to report on him from now on! Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

Oscar Round 3

2009-08-25T10:04:00.002-04:00

So I thought I posted my last post Saturday but apparently saved it as a draft....naturally. Well it's up now, so you should read "Oscar Round 2" and then come back to this post!

So, you've read the previous post, you know what I'm dealing with at my house. Oscar came home and was still really drugged, to the point where he didn't know when he had to go to the bathroom. Yes, my weekend was great, with a baby in diapers and a puppy who was pissing and shitting all over himself. He was still really tired, so he slept most of Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday was the first day he seemed "himself". The poor baby, has 5 different meds he has to take...2 oral pills twice a day, ear drops once a day, antibiotic eye cream three times a day, and powder for his hotspots 2 times a day. On top of it, he has an effing 25 in. e-collar (the lampshade) on his head.

He is so miserable, it's heartbreaking. He looks at me like, "Seriously? What did I do to deserve this?"

He can't fit out the doggy door, and he has ONLY known a doggy door, so he doesn't really understand how to "let me know" he needs to go outside, which means LOTS of indoor accidents. He also is having a really hard time maneuvering his e-collar so that he can eat and drink. He's gotten a little better with the water bowl, but I'm having to feed him by hand because he won't even attempt to eat out of his food bowl! Ahhhhhh.

So, you are probably asking what is the round 3 part? Well, yesterday around 3:30 I was feeding the baby (who was awful, and screaming her head off literally ALL day). I let Oscar out to go to the bathroom. I stand outside and watch him because I don't want him getting into any trouble with that stupid lampshade on his head. He pees, and comes in ....good boy! I put the baby in her swing so that I can start cleaning the stack of bottles that has piled up throughout the day, I turn to check on Oscar and, ummm, he's excited? Let's just say the lipstick is out. about 15 mins. later I noticed, the lipstick is still out, and it's huge and swollen. I also notice that he keeps trying to sit down and can't...it looks painful. SHIT. I call my fiancee, who says that it's probably just some sort of reaction from all of his meds. 15 mins. later it's still out and the size of a strawberry!

So I do, what I normally do...I google it. It's called a prolapsed penis, and if it doesn't go back in on it's own it can cause major damage, and it may even need surgery to correct it. OF COURSE IT DOES!!! When does it stop??? I am freaking out at this point and call the vet. The vet tells me I should be able to get it to go back in on my own, but if I have any trouble I need to bring him in.

Excuse me? He wants me to shove the strawberry back into the sheath???!!!! This is hands down the worst day EVER! I consider myself a good mom though, so yes, I tried to put the strawberry back in. I can not even explain how hard of a process this is...I don't know what I am doing at all. Needless to say, the fiance had to take him to the vet because I couldn't do it. Happily she was able to put it all back to normal in about 10 mins. She says it's normal for "not-fixed" dogs to have this happen, and of course it could happen again!

I think we WILL be getting him fixed...I can't deal with another strawberry fiasco!

Oscar, Round 2

2009-08-22T09:22:00.003-04:00

So, I mentioned before that Oscar had a "cherry-eye". I can't believe I actually thought that was the ONLY thing I would be dealing with this summer regarding my sweet puppy.

I woke up Wednesday morning, fed the baby put her back down and headed for the kitchen for my morning coffee. That's when I noticed Oscar. There was blood and he was scratching the shit out of the left side of his face! OH MY GOD!!!!

We have a doggy door, so the dogs can come and go as they please. I immediately start checking Oscar out, and hair and flesh has completely come off of his body, it's bleeding, there's puss, and it smells like a nasty battle wound. I immediately figure some sort of wild animal has attacked him in our back yard!

I call the Vet, frantic and they tell me to bring him straight in. I can't lift my huge 60lb. 9 mo. old furry baby into my car anymore, so I call the fiance and explain the situation...he comes straight home and takes Oscar to the vet. I have to stay home with the baby, and I am totally freaking out! Finally the fiancee comes home.....without Oscar.

I'm hysterical...what happened? Where is he? God forbid, they didn't have to put him down....did they??? My stomach is starting to turn when I hear my fiance tell me everything is fine.

Oscar didn't get attacked by a wild animal at all (Thank you God)! He has something called Hot Spots...which of course, is apparently very common in bulldogs. It's from the heat, and him scratching his skin. Basically Oscar had to stay at the Vet for a few days so that they could properly clean him up and allow the hotspots to dry out with antibiotics. Since he had to stay, we went ahead and scheduled his surgery for his cherry eye as well.

Happy to report, Oscar is totally fine, and I'm picking him up from the Vet today, in about 30 mins!!! I can't wait to see him, and snuggle him. He has to wear an E-collar (the big lampshade for 2 weeks) so we will see how that goes!

Cake Boss

2009-08-16T18:15:00.003-04:00

New fav. show!

There was a marathon of Cake Boss on the other night...I got hooked and ended up awake for hours watching the drama unfold at Carlo's Bakery.

This is the best show ever! I really like Buddy, he seems like such a nice guy, and it's absolutely amazing the type of shit they make! It makes me want to start making sweet ass cakes. Kind of :)

The Saga Continues

2009-08-06T22:02:00.002-04:00

So, I'm meeting with a personal trainer tomorrow....yay! Hopefully this chick will help me and motivate me to get these pounds OFF!

On a sadder note and more disturbing note: Me and my future mother-in-love (FMIL) have had it OUT yet again!

Long story short....have not seen or talked to the bitch since the baptism. I have not tried to contact her and she has not tried to contact me. My fiance comes home last night and tells me he just had it out with his mom over ME! He said she's basically calling me a heartless bitch and is saying that I am keeping her from her granddaughter.

Hello, this bitch is crazy! So, I'll admit, I've been getting tired of playing the "ignoring" game. So last night, I sent her an e-mail. A straight-forward, honest e-mail about my feelings AND how I feel about her and her behavior. I haven't gotten a single response back.

I know what you're thinking..."Maybe she hasn't read it yet". This woman is OCD about her e-mails. She has a crackberry that is attached to her hip 24/7 and she gets all of her e-mails on her phone, so I KNOW she has read it. Obviously, she doesn't even have enough respect for my feelings to respond to my e-mail. CHICKEN.

The Saga continues....we will see what happens.

Nothing like Home

2009-08-05T12:33:00.002-04:00

We're home....2 days earlier than planned.

The vacation to Cape Cod was okay. The first day down was so relaxing, but then the family started pouring in and wouldn't leave us alone!

Everyone was in love with the baby and couldn't get enough of her, which is to be expected. All the people and commotion is alot though, and is especially a lot for a baby. We were ALL homesick. The furry babies were left at home, and I was missing them terribly. We decided to trek back early and spend the remainder of the week in the comfort of our own home.

I'm so glad we did! Nothing is better than being at home and sleeping in your own bed. The little one was happy to be in her own crib as well! The furry babies ATTACKED us as soon as we came in. Bulldogs are not jumpers, but Oscar got all the way up on his hind legs and tackled me to the ground. Ahhhh, what a welcoming!

VACAY

2009-07-29T10:41:00.002-04:00

So, once we got over our "sickness scare" with the baby (just a mild temp.) the packing resumed. I have double, triple, and quadruple checked EVERYTHING! I hate packing, and now that I have a baby it is 100000x worse! Diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, bath stuff, clothes, socks, toys, blankets, baby carrier, pacifiers, swaddle....it's just a never ending list of shit.

We are DRIVING up to Cape Cod ( yes, a whopping 11 effing hours...pray for me)! We are leaving around 2 a.m. tomorrow morning. The thinking is to get on the road as early as possible so that we can get a lot of road behind us while the LO sleeps. We will see if it works out as planned...I for one am terrified. I can't think of anything worse than being trapped in a car for 11 hours with a screaming 3 mo. old, unless I'm stuck on a plane with a screaming 3 mo. old and 100+ other people giving me dirty looks and cussing me under their breath!

::Sigh:: Well back to packing, and cleaning the house...ohhhh FYI, we are leaving the 2 furry babies behind (my heart is heavy). I miss them so much already! My parents are looking after them, and I'm not so much worried about the dogs as I am my parents. The 2 monsters can be quite a handful!!! All and all it should be interesting!

HELP!!!

2009-07-25T22:28:00.002-04:00

Can a wedding dress be let out???

I tried on my dress again today, to see how much progress I've made. The good news is, I am definitely losing weight :) The bad news is, there is still about a 4-5 inch. gap at the top of my dress where we CAN NOT zip it up!

My mom of course is freaking out, and since all sales are final on the dress, says we need to hurry up and go ahead and pay the money for another dress...the same one, just a bigger size.

I hate to do this though. I mean, I can't be the only person in the history of weddings that has a wedding dress that doesn't fit! I have 4 more months before the wedding, I KNOW I will lose more weight before then, but who knows if I will lose ENOUGH???

Has anyone been, or known of anyone in a similar dilemma? Can I have the dress taken out, and if so, how MUCH can I have it taken out. I mean there is beading and stuff on the dress, if I get it taken out, will it throw off the aestetics of the dress?

Can anything in my life run smoothly???!!!

Still fuming

2009-07-24T11:55:00.003-04:00

Sorry, it's been awhile since my last post...I have literally JUST cooled down from my daughters baptism....

yea, it was awful.

The service was absolutely beautiful. My daughter wore the same christening gown that my father, aunts, uncles, and grandfather wore! It was really touching. The whole baptism lasted a bit longer than I thought it would, but Juliette did great, and I was really surprised how emotional I got through it. It should have been a beautiful, perfect day...SHOULD have been.

I mentioned, that my future mother in law is Jewish, and she invited lots of her jewish friends and family to my daughter's catholic baptism....whatever.

Well about 15 mins. into the baptism, while the priest is reciting scripture, and I am holding my daughter, and she is about to be sprinkled with the holy water, My future mother-in-law's aunt (who is 86, and apparently has no volume control) loudly stated

"Geez, can't this priest or whatever hurry this thing up"

SO COMPLETELY RUDE. I could hear my fiancee breathing heavily behind me, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. I was so completely embarrassed. EVERYONE, heard her, the priest, my family, everyone. I mean, I understand she is Jewish and maybe doesn't understand the importance of the day...but if that was the case then she shouldn't have come, or she should have at least had enough respect to keep her mouth shut. THEN, at the end of the baptism, the priest congratulated us, and of course (quite loudly) she said,

"I mean, can we say a mozaltof or something".

NO, you can not say an effing mozaltof in a catholic church at my daughters baptism!

I was so frustrated, I literally stood for a few pictures and then stormed out of the church with my daughter, before any of those crazy people asked to hold her.

Afterwards, we went back to my parents for a reception. My mom worked her ass off making sure everything was perfect. The food, the spread, the wine, the beer. It all looked really beautiful.

Everyone was invited, and all of the jewish posse came. My future mother-in-law and my fiancee's sister immediately came in and sat in our florida room. I could tell they were pissy about something. Probably because I wouldn't let either of them hold the baby at the church...but newsflash: I DON'T LIKE THEM!

Soooo, the florida room is where we usually keep the pack and play set up, that way the baby can sleep in there and we can hear her through the monitor if we are outside by my parents pool. Well, my mom forgot to unplug OR turn off the baby monitor. So I heard my bitch of a future mother-in-law, and future sister-in-law call my mother a pretentious snob!!!!!

OH SNAP!

Thats it, I'm done! I have had enought of these people! DO NOT MESS WITH MY FAMILY! It was so inappropriate and malicious, on a day that is soppose to be happy. My future mother-in-law totally resents my mom because my mom is allowed to watch the baby. My future mother-in-law is NOT. She has serious health problems, and quite honestly is crazy and manipulative...do I want someone like that around my child...NO THANK YOU!

On top of it, I guess she's jealous that my parents have such a nice home. Well, they've worked their asses off for it! My whole life people have thought we were rich, or whatever. WE are not rich, my family does well, but they work hard for everything they have. My dad has always owned his own business, and to this day, he works weekends, nights, all-nighters, he does anything he has to do for his family. So, DON'T judge us!

I was so upset, I was feeding the baby a little bit later after this incident, while everyone was sitting around talking, and my mother-in-law asks,

"umm, when it's time to burp her, can I have her and burp her"

I looked up from my child and said "NO, you can not". I'm not gonna lie, there was a pretty awkward silence and not 10 minutes later, her, and her crowd left. Yes, we spent time and money to put on a beautiful reception and they stayed 30 mins.

I was so upset. We got home, and I cried for an hour. I'm not an over-emotional person, but it was one of those " I am so angry, the only way I know how to let out my anger is to cry hysterically" type of moments. I even told my fiancee I wanted to elope instead of having this big wedding because I don't want to be embarrassed by his mother again.

The only good thing about this situation, is my fiancee totally understands his mother is a bitch. She has not called or attempted contact with us at all...and it will be a week tomorrow since the baptism. She knows she fucked up and pissed me off, and she knows that even though her son forgives her all the time, because she is his mother, I WILL NOT. I hold grudges, and once you are on my bad list, you are always on my bad list. It may be the wrong way to be, but that's how I am. She is not welcome in my home, and I told my fiancee to tell her that, because I don't have the time to waste any words on someone like her.

This is soppose to be the happiest time of our life. Getting married, new baby, and this woman has done nothing but cause drama, hurt, and mental exhaustion. I don't know what to do anymore.

Since I have nothing to do.

2009-07-13T09:09:00.002-04:00

As if I don't have enough hectic-ness in my life right now.

I've decided to make all of the food for the christening reception. Yeaaaaaahhhh.

I was going to just buy the already made fruit and veggie platters and a huge sub sandwhich for the convenience factor BUT with the wine, and beer, and the amount of people that are actually coming, it's more economical to just make the stuff myself. Soooo, my menu thus far is looking like this:

veggie tray (made by me)
fruit tray (made by me)
cubed cheese and cracker tray (yup, all me)
meatballs
pinwheel sandwiches
cupcakes
sugar-cookies
white wine, beer, sodas

As the centerpiece for the buffet table, I am still not quite sure....I'm thinking of just putting a bunch of pictures of her all around, I had this idea of making picture holders out of little flower pots. My idea is to get some small cheap flower pots and stencil some bible verses on them, put some foam and stick some wiring in the foam. Then with the wire that is sticking out of the pot I can fold and twist it so that I can clip pictures on them.

I think its a cute idea but it will totally depend on "time". I also want to try and make these CUTE cake pops, I found the recipe on this great blog called Good Things Catered. Again, totally depends on my time factor this week.

I'll keep you posted!

Ever been to a christening???

2009-07-09T11:02:00.002-04:00

Sooooo, my family is like religious potpourri.

My mom, me and my brothers are Baptist, my dad is Catholic as is my fiance, my mother-in-law is jewish....yeah.

So anyways, we are christening our sweet daughter next weekend. I have no idea what the protocol for a christening is. My MIL informs me that I'm soppose to have a reception after the christening for all the people who are invited to come back to.

Number one, I am growing to HATE my future MIL...I suppressed my urge to punch her in the face and just smiled and said okay.

Number two, I specifically told her I only wanted it to be family...and what does she do, she invites like 10 of her girlfriends!!!

I don't care that she's Jewish....but she's Jewish! and so are all of her friends, I don't know why she feels the need to invite all of her Jewish friends to a catholic christening...I said I only wanted family there...hello??

My beef with this woman has been brewing basically since my daughter was born, she has totally been overstepping her boundaries. Long story, short...when I came home from the hospital with my baby, my mom stayed with me for 2 weeks to help out. Yea, that's what moms of the mom do, NOT moms of the dad. I know she wanted to see her granddaughter but she went about it the wrong way. She would just show up at my house, not even call, just show up and lay on the doorbell and come in acting like she was entitled to be there.

The best part, one day I was in my bedroom nursing, and she stops by (unannouced of course) and says she is going back to talk to me. My mother, very politely said "She's actually nursing right now, I'll let her know you are here though"

MIL replies"Oh, that doesn't matter, I'm going back there anyway, she won't care!"

ummmm.....yes, I care! I don't effing want you watching me breastfeed my child.

So my mom counters, "Yes, she does mind. She is a new mother and she is a private person. She needs her privacy and doesn't feel comfortable with anyone watching her nurse".

MIL "Well, I'm SURE she wouldn't mind, maybe she just doesn't want you back there"

oh snap! DO NOT FUCK AROUND WITH MY MOM, you are going to go down! So basically my mom told the woman she WAS NOT going back there, and it was probably best that she left. So she stormed out, and of course called my fiance bitching about the situation. My fiance (aka the best man in the world) realized his mom was totally wrong (and crazy) he went ape-shit on her and they basically didn't talk for 2 weeks. It was the best 2 weeks of my life, because I didn't have to think or see that woman at all!

Things have not been the same since. The woman totally resents my mother, and honestly I think she feels threatened by her because my mom is so close with the baby. My fiance made the decision that we didn't feel comfortable with his mother babysitting Juliette. She has a lot of health problems, she's had 3 heart attacks, she is a diabetic and has really bad heart disease. We just don't want to take the chance of her being alone with the baby and something terrible happening.

Of course, the bitch thinks this is all my doing. My fiance is the one who brought up the issue TO me! She called me and tried to send me on a guilt trip about how my fiance's dad is dead, and she is so upset the baby will never get to know him and now I am denying the baby the opportunity to know her, her grandmother.

WTF. I told her, she was doing nothing to help her cause. "We don't feel comfortable because of your health issues. But now I don't feel comfortable because you obviously have no problem trying to manipulate situations to benefit your cause. Your guilt trips may work on your son, but they won't work on me. I will not have my daughter around someone who is physically unable to take care of her and obviously mentally unstable. goodbye." Pretty good huh?

I would feel worse for her if she wasn't such a manipulative bitch. She's not upset that her husband isn't here anymore. She is using that as an excuse. My fiance says she treated him awful, and left him right before he died because she was running around with some other guy! My fiance is so fed up with his mom its ridiculous. But of course, I extend the olive branch and invite her to the christening, and she goes and invites all of these freaking people. I think she wants more people "on her side" there because she's uncomfortable maybe. Ugggh, now I have to figure out what I am going to do with all of these people in my house.

The christening is at 11 a.m. so I'm not sure if I should just have coffee, and brunch stuff at my house for when people come by, or if I should do more of a luncheon. Has anyone ever been to a christening? Is it just soppose to be a small reception or is it soppose to be some big fancy affair? I'm completely lost.

This post started out about a christening and has seemed to end up a hate fest on my MIL. Ugggh....that woman, really gets under my skin!

WTF

2009-07-08T09:34:00.002-04:00

As if I don't have enough shit I am juggling right now. My sweet baby puppy Oscar has a cherry eye! OHhhhhhhh bulldogs, I love them, but c'mon!

For those who don't know what a cherry eye is, it basically looks like a tumor on his eyeball. It's not a tumor though, it's like a gland or vein or something that has protruded from the inside of the eye to the outside. It is totally common in bulldogs, and the good thing is it's not infected and it doesn't have any ulcers or anything like that, which apparently can also happen. The vet says it's not hurting him, and that it's basically a cosmetic thing, but it needs to be operated on. An operation??!!! Poor Oscar, I feel so bad for him, the operation apparently is going to be about 300-400 bucks.....sweet.

Of course, we are going to get it done, It wouldn't have mattered if it was 4000 bucks...(well, I mean I'd probably be a bit more pissed). In the grand scheme of things its not that bad though, I hear all kinds of stories about bulldog owners having to shell out all kinds of money for different ailments. One of my friend's bullys ate a rubber chicken ( yes you read that right) it cost 2500 smackers to surgically remove it from it's belly!!!! I'll take my $400 dollar surgery any day of the week over that!

For now, we have this gel stuff we put in his eye in the morning and at night, and he will probably be having his surgery in the next few weeks :(

Lady on the other hand killed a oppossom the other day.

Yup, you read that one right too. She has been patroling the perimeter of our backyard lately as if she were a doberman! Squirrels, chipmunks, and apparently oppossoms don't stand a chance if they come into our yard!

We of course had to get her checked out as well, who knows what you can catch from attacking an effing oppossom????

My life is never dull, never I tell you!

Definitely didn't stick

2009-07-07T21:09:00.002-04:00

My house is a wreck.

The cleaning bug definitely did not stick around after my pregnancy was over...I guess it really was just "nesting".

I still have a special place for lemon-scented cleaning products in my heart though, it's just using those products that is the hard part.

I've been busy, my little girl is 2 months old and I can't believe it! I have to schedule my laundry, my cleaning, and other shit I have to get done around the house around her naps...which isn't always the easiest thing to do. I've gotten everything done with the wedding cake (check that off the list) I got out of that stupid marriage retreat our priest was going to make us take (double check that off my list) my save-the-dates are in, and oh-so-cute! (I'll be posting pics soon) I have an appointment with the florist this coming up Sunday. AND I have my baby's christening planned for Saturday July 18th. Does the work ever end???

I tried on my wedding dress the other day, just to give myself an idea of where I stood...I've lost 5 lbs. which I guess is okay, I'd be happier if it were 25 lbs but whatever. Sooooooo, my hips arent' the problem in my dress since it flares out...it's my boobs. I'm not nursing anymore, but my boobs are still way bigger than they were pre-pregnancy. The worst part is, I can't even enjoy having big boobs...there are women all around America that pay thousands of dollars to have big boobs and I hate them. I would much rather have my small C-cup back rather than these annoying almost DD's. Boobs are totally overrated, and I'm ready to get rid of mine asap!

I'll end up being the only woman who never loses her pregnant boobs, and I'm probably the only woman who actually WANTS to lose them!

I hate Itunes!

2009-06-12T15:44:00.002-04:00

I am in love with my ipod, it's basically the best invention EVER!!! Now that I'm going to the gym it is essential for me to have my ipod. I can zone out and listen to my favorite tunes and forget that my body feels like it is about to collapse, and take my mind off the sweat that is rolling down my forehead ( I hate sweating, its disgusting). Anyways, I've been building up my music collection since, forever. Back in college, yes, I "illegally" downloaded music from all of those great sites like limewire and morpheus. Once I got my first ipod, I was able to transfer all of my "illegally" downloaded songs to itunes and import them on my ipod (fabulous)! Then, two years ago for christmas my fiance got me the new and improved itouch. It was a bit of a pain in the ass to transfer my songs from my old ipod because I wanted to put them on my new computer, but I was able to do it.

Now to the reason I hate itunes... Remember my laptop crashed a few months ago? Well, in order to "fix" it, the entire hard drive had to be wiped off, I lost everything..pictures, songs, documents all of it because of course I didn't back up ANYTHING (don't lecture me, I know I'm a dumbass). Well, the other day I went to download itunes onto my computer so I could put my songs that are still on my ipod in my music library. WRONG. Itunes ONLY transferred the songs that I had purchased from itunes, NONE of my "illegal" songs, which were basically ALL the songs on my ipod! I lost all of it, all of the great corny/stupid songs that I downloaded when I would come back to my dorm room from a frat party, or the sappy songs I downloaded when I'd get my heart broken, and all of those "happy" songs, you know the ones that whenever you hear them it takes you back to a specific amazing moment in your life. Yes, all of those are gone!

I know, I know, I can purchase those songs on Itunes but it's going to take forever to even remember half of what I had, not to mention it's hundreds of effing songs, I'm not rich!

Uggh....damn you technology and damn you Itunes for punishing me by taking away all of my fabulously pirated tunes!!

I WANT to be a big loser!

2009-06-08T12:41:00.002-04:00

I promise I am going to be better about posting to this blog!

It seems like things are just starting to level out at home, and I'M FINALLY ABLE TO WORKOUT! You have no idea how happy I am about this! I've lost about 20 lbs already just from labor, and now I have about 30 to go..yes you read correctly...I gained 53 effing pounds during my pregnancy!

Uggg...but whatever, I went to the gym Friday, and Saturday, Sunday was my day off (Sunday IS for resting, right?) I just got back from a mile and a half stroller ride with the little one, and am going to the gym the second the fiance gets home from work! I've never been into working out before, but I don't really have a choice now...I have a wedding dress I need to fit into (no pressure). I'm hoping I can actually stick to going, I'm famous for making goals and not fulfilling ANY of them...whatever.

Wish me luck...and any suggestions are more than appreciated, I'm that idiot at the gym who has no clue what I'm doing!

It's hit the fan

2009-05-27T15:30:00.002-04:00

You haven't lived until you've had to change explosive poop.

Yea, I'm talking filled up the whole diaper, shot up the back and covered the whole onesie type of poop.

Sweet.

Oh motherhood...just when you bless me with an almost full night of sleep, you throw me a curve ball...and quite a messy one!

Men are Wimps

2009-05-24T16:06:00.003-04:00

Not that the title of this post should come as a shock to ANYONE!

Men are serious wimps! It is amazing how one small baby can humble and bring a man down to almost nothing!

The fiance, is basically a zombie. Yes, babies do not sleep through the night, my child is certainly not the exception. Some nights, she only gets up at 3 am and 7 am (those nights are AMAZING). Then there are other nights where she is up every hour and a half, and sleeping is the last thing she feels like doing. However, I am the one who gets up with her every night.

She sleeps in our room in a basinet right now, so eventhough I am the one who physically gets out of the bed, makes the bottle, feeds her, and puts her back down....the fiance is woken up by her cries. I enjoy getting up and having "baby duty" for me, it's one of those things that I would just rather do, than have the fiance do it. He is more than happy to help out, I don't have to ask, he's great about taking care of her, especially in the mornings and letting me sleep since I've been up all night. But to be honest, he's a guy....and eventhough he is fantastic with her, it's just easier for me to get up at night and take care of her, because when he does it, he usually forgets a crucial step...like burping, which may sound trivial, but its not when you have a baby who, if she doesn't get burped will have the hiccups for an hour and won't go back to sleep because of gas pains. Also, he is able to let her "cry it out"...I am not. I would rather hold her and rock her to sleep than let her "cry it out" in her basinet.

So, eventhough I'm the one trucking through with the "baby duty", my fiance is walking around like he is completely exhausted...and he truely is!!! I feel great, If my baby wakes up at 3 and 7, then I think it's the best night ever, and I'm up at 7 feeling rested and awesome! The fiance walks around with circles under his eyes and passes out at 7 p.m. like he's been up for 3 days straight. So, men are definitely wimps!!!! They simply can't handle it, and I find it quite humorous!!

I'm Back!!!!

2009-05-20T14:28:00.002-04:00

Sorry for my absence!!! My life has been busy these past few weeks, with recovery, and adapting to having an infant in the house! Honestly, between feedings, trying to catch up on sleep, dirty diapers, and meltdowns ( from the baby and myself) this is the first time I've actually had time to sit down and blog.

Labor and Delivery is the most crazy-awful experience EVER! More power to all the women out there who can go natural with no drugs...you are far better women than I could ever hope to be!

I'm going to be completely honest about my labor experience. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. May 4th with the worst pains I have EVER experienced. I can't describe the pain, it is literally unlike anything you can imagine. I've been told that the pain of passing kidney stones can be compared to labor pains. Ummm...I've passed kidney stones, 3 times in fact, and I will take kidney stones over labor pains ANY day of the week, thank you! My Dr. had told me that once I started feeling contractions, I should wait until they are 5 minutes apart before going to the hospital. So, at 2:30 I began timing...7 minutes apart, but I was still skeptical they were real contractions. I've heard of false labor, and my stomach wasn't "contracting". I was feeling awful, excruciating pains, but my stomach wasn't getting hard and visibly contracting, which is what everyone told me would happen. The pain was too bad though, I knew it couldn't be false labor. I woke up the fiance and told him "this was it" but we were only 7 minutes apart, so we still had to wait. What did he do? He went back to sleep....ass.

So I'm up, walking the floors, and panting everytime I get a contraction. My fiance finally wakes up and jumps in the shower, by this point I'm crying everytime I get a labor pain. My whole body is tensing up, and I'm literally becoming paralyzed by the pains, which are now still about 6-7 minutes apart but lasting for 60-90 seconds! It's about 5 a.m. and my fiance has called my doctor's office, which of course is closed, but the answering service is paging the on-call physician....alledgedly. We NEVER got a call back from the on-call physician, and I am in too much pain to continue to wait. So we hop in the car and head for the hospital. We make it to the maternity floor, and the nurses get us set up in our room. I'm crying and announce to the nurses "This is much worse than I thought it was going to be"!!! It's about 6 a.m., so we get in our room right before the shift change. Thank god, because the nurse that I had was a real bitch! I was so certain the baby was about to come because my pains were so bad, and then she informed me I was only 2 cm. dialated!! What! I was 2 cm. at my last doctors appointment, I haven't dialated anymore!!??? Bring on the drugs, the pain is too much!!

The Bitchy nurse however informs me that, I might get sent home because I'm not considered in active labor since I'm only 2 cm. dialated and to top it off, the band that they wrap around your stomach to monitor your contractions, isn't showing that I'm having contractions at all. WHAT THE HELL?? I'm not faking the pain, and I'm not lying, I KNOW I am in labor!

7a.m.-SHIFT CHANGE...thank god...bitchy nurse is out and Phyllis is in! Phyllis saved my life on May 4th, and I will always have a special place for her in my heart! Phyllis came in, and saw I was in a lot of pain, and immediately got the ball rolling so I could get my epidural. Apparently, bitchy nurse never filed any of my info. Hospital policy, is that you have to have an IV and all that jazz in place before the anesthesiologist can give you the epidural, AND your doctor has to sign off. Well of course the on-call physician is no where to be found. But Phyllis makes shit happen, she got all of my info and properly "admitted" me and got my IV in place just as MY doctor made it to the hospital. My doctor was not happy at all about the MIA on-call physician or that bitchy nurse who basically didn't do her job at all, he immediately paged the anesthesiologist and broke my water.

I thought my labor pains were bad before, once my water was broken, they were 10000000x worse! The pain was so bad, that I honestly think if some sort of sharp object had been left near me, I would have caused myself bodily harm. Of course, my fiance is on his phone calling everyone and texting everyone that I'm in labor, which only pisses me off, because he shouldn't be on his phone, he should be holding my hand and talking me through my stupid contractions!!

9a.m- HELLO epidural!!! The most amazing drug EVER!!! My pain was basically gone, besides feeling some pressure. The epidural made it possible for me to actually relax, and believe it or not get some sleep, although my body was still working hard trying to push the baby into the birth canal, I couldn't feel it, I couldn't feel my legs either, so Phyllis had to cath me, to empty my bladder every few hours. After the whole experience, I have a new appreciation for what nurses do, they are amazing, and deserve some sort of award, or definitely a pay raise!!

My contractions still weren't showing up properly with the band around my stomach, and after having been in labor for about 10 hours, my doctor decided to put an internal monitor in. He told me, I wasn't dialating as fast as I should be, so he gave me pitocin (to speed up my labor) and put in place an internal monitor to track my contractions. He told me, I may not be contracting because the baby is too big to be delivered vaginally, or my contractions weren't strong enough to push the baby into the birth canal. If either scenario were true, then we would have to do a C-section (insert panic-face here). Luckily though, the internal monitor showed that my contractions were plenty strong enough, and now we just had to wait for the pitocin to do its job. Through all of this, my parents, brothers, and future mother-in-law are all waiting in the waiting room, taking turns coming back and seeing me. I could care less about my future mother-in-law...I want my mom! Future mother-in-law has majorly been bugging me lately (but more on that for a future post)!

around 5:30, I hadn't dialated anymore, so some decisions had to be made. My doctor came in and told us, we probably needed to do a C-section to get the baby out, he said he would let me labor for another few hours if I REALLY wanted too, but he believed either way, a c-section was probably going to be needed whether it was now, or a few hours later. So we decided to go ahead and do the c-section...I had already labored for 14 hours, I couldn't wait any longer! Things moved so fast, once the decision for the c-section had been made. I had to get more anesthesia medicine for the surgery and I am not afraid to admit, I was freaking out! I was crying so hard I was hyperventilating, my mom was just rubbing my head like I was little girl, telling me it would be okay. I was so scared though, I mean it's surgery...that I'm awake for! On top of it, they are wheeling me into the OR and although my stomach feels numb, I'm poking my stomach with my finger, and I can feel my finger!! Hello, I just knew I was going to feel them cutting me open! Emotionally, I was a wreck because when you have a C-section you aren't able to hold the baby immediately...obviously they have to sew you back up, but I've always read that's a really important bonding experience, and I wasn't going to be able to have that!

Once we were in the OR, they iodined me up, and started cutting. Miracuously, I DIDN'T feel them cutting into me. It was crazy though, there's a huge curtain, so I couldn't see anything that they were doing, but my fiance could! They cut me with a laser thing, and you could smell the burning as they were cutting...I was shaking on the table I was so scared! My fiance watched the whole thing, I was shocked he had the stomach for it! Once I was opened up, I could feel a lot of tugging and pulling as they were trying to get her out. At 6:25 p.m. they pulled my sweet baby girl out, 7lbs 14 oz., 20 1/4 in. long! Apparently, her head was positioned weird in the birth canal and she wasn't able to descend, which is why I wasn't dialating anymore than 7 cm.

The second I heard her cry, I started crying, it was the most amazing feeling/experience. They held her up for me to see her, and then the nurses immediately started suctioning her throat and doing the apgar tests, my fiance was able to be right there next to her, and he brought her over to me when the nurses were done. It all happened so fast, my fiance brought her over and I was so overwhelmed that this little baby was ours! It truely is a miracle!

When I finally got to hold her for the first time, it was such a surreal experience. Only a few hours ago, she was in my belly, and now I was holding her in my arms! She was so alert, and was just looking at me, like she knew exactly who I was.

So, all in all, 14 hours of labor and a c-section, was definitely worth it! I'll post more about the rest of my hospital stay soon, this post is already super long!

Glad to be back, hope everyone has been doing great!

She's Here!

2009-05-08T19:25:00.001-04:00

Juliette arrived Monday May 4th at 6:25 p.m. 7lbs. 14 oz. of sweet perfection!!!

I will certainly be posting back soon with more details, just wanted to let everyone know!!!!!

The laptop is fixed! The laptop is fixed!

2009-05-03T22:29:00.002-04:00

Yay! My laptop is FINALLY fixed! Which means blogging from home can finally be accomplished!! Although I lost ALL my files (ahhhhh) it's worth it to have a 'clean' and smoothly running computer, and I didn't lose anything that can't be replaced, so there is a silver lining!

Due Date is TUESDAY!!! This has been the longest weekend ever, the waiting game is absolutely horrendous, it's practically torture. No news yet on when my induction has been scheduled, hopefully I will hear something tomorrow!

Oh, AND I am officially on Maternity Leave! (wooooooooooohooooooooooo)!!!! Sleeping-in tomorrow, and I am totally excited about it! Hope everyone has had a great weekend...mine has been full of rain (Richmond has to have beaten some sort of rain-fall record). I'm sure I'll be up all night since I took odd naps throughout the day today, I guess it's good to try and stock up on sleep now, before the little munchkin arrives!

The Waiting Game

2009-04-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

Well, my friend's baby = ADORABLE!

He has a head full of hair, and is just the cutest ball of snuggles ever! I visited her at the hospital yesterday, she ended up having to have a C-Section so it turns out that the advice/pointers I was counting on for a normal delivery didn't happen. I know all about C-sections now though, so I guess that's a plus, although I'm praying I don't have to go through that!

Everything was fine/normal at my Drs. appt yesterday, no changes with my cervix. He is scheduling my induction for AFTER my due date (which is May 5th). I'm not sure when the induction will be, but should know sometime today!!! I'm so excited to find out, at least that way I can have a DEFINITE date that I know she will be here by!

So, I'm just waiting.

On a cleaning note: Wednesdays are my days for Bathrooms....you could seriously eat off of any surface in either one of my bathrooms (although I'm sure you don't want to)...ahhh, so clean! I organized EVERYTHING, and went to target and got bins to store all of the extra crap that accumulates in one's medicine cabinet! So, bathrooms = DONE! I'm working on living spaces tonight, which means vacuuming furniture and probably mopping floors, again...the dogs track so much crap through my house and thanks to the never-ending RAIN, my floors are begging for a bath!

I'll keep everyone posted on the induction date!

Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

2009-04-28T11:28:00.002-04:00

One of my dearest friends gave birth to a bouncy baby boy today, at 8:02 a.m.! Bryce came into the world weighing 7lbs 12 oz!!!

I am so excited for my friend and can't wait to see her and the newest addition after work today! I am EXACTLY 1 week away from my own due date, it is so surreal...I'm doing everything I can to keep busy and keep time moving!

Which is where cleaning comes in! yay!

I know it's only been a week, but I'm doing really good keeping up with my weekly cleaning schedule, and whenever I finish a task I feel so good about myself!! Last night, I worked on the bedrooms:

1) I Dusted everything! Walls, tv, fan blades, baseboards, furniture, window sills, blinds etc.

2) Switched out sheets, fluffed pillows

3) swept the floors

4) vacuumed the vents

5) mopped the floor

6) Oh, yea and made sure all clothes were put away!

See, not too bad! It probably took me 30 minutes tops to do both bedrooms, and the office (which for my weekly cleaning schedule I consider a bedroom). 30 minutes a day to maintain different areas of the house instead of waiting for the whole house to go to shit and spend my weekend cleaning the hell out of it, is awesome!

Tuesdays mean kitchen, and I'm excited about sanitizing my drain with baking soda and vinegar again...I just love sudsy bubbles!!! I wonder if this will be the last week of my cleaning craziness, you never know, I may just go back to my dirty ways once my baby is born, but I hope not! I really love having a clean home, a COMPLETELY clean home! It keeps me in a good mood, the fiance and even the dogs are happier with the cleaner set up! I guess, the saying "A clean home produces a clean soul" rings true!

What to pack and What not to pack!

2009-04-24T12:05:00.006-04:00

Ooooops!! I thought I posted this Friday, but just realized it was saved as a draft! Sorry, for no post over the weekend...very unlike me! Here it is though!ohhh the hospital bag!

Seeing as how, I have never had a baby before, or stayed the night in the hospital, this shit is all new to me! I figured I'd go ahead and write all the crap I've packed into my bag (suggestions taken from websites and birthing classes) and then AFTER I have this baby, I can write about the crap that could have stayed at home, so in case any of my readers go through this debacle in the future, you all can be prepared...because I most certainly am not!

What I've packed:

For Baby:
Diapers, wipes, ointment
Blankets
plain white onesies
Going Home Outfit
hat
socks, mittens (so she doesn't scratch her face)
pacifier

For Me:
Nursing Bras/Tanktops
comfy, stretchy pants
nightgown/robe
slippers
chapstick
maxi pads (gross)
toiletries: hairdryer, make-up, hair ties etc.
Nursing pads
lanolin cream
lotion
Notebook/pen (for keeping track of visitors and gifts)
Magazines
Insurance info
Pediatrician info
prenatal records
Nintendo DS (you never know!)
Camera AND battery charger!
Phone AND charger!
snacks (for the fiance, it could be a long labor)
bathing suit (for the fiance, so he can help me in the shower)
and extra clothes for the fiance!

I've packed my stuffed animal that I've had since I was 4..her name is Kathy. My fiance thinks I'm insane, but I need a comfort item there, and Kathy has always been there for me! I've never spent the night in the hospital, and yes, I am an adult, but I think I am still probably going to feel the need to have my mom stay with me (which she totally would if I asked!) I don't care if you're 4 or 400...sometimes you just need your childhood "friend" with you!!!

Good News, Okay News

2009-04-23T15:29:00.003-04:00

Good News:

Oscar's mysterious rash has cleared up! When I got home Tuesday, I noticed his belly looked MUCH better than the night before, and Wed. morning it had all but cleared up. I called his vet, and she said to not worry about bringing him in, if it cleared up that quickley then it was probably just a simple irritation which could have been caused by anything, even him rolling around in some dirt! Obviously if the rash comes back soon, I need to take him in though, but I certainly sighed a sigh of relief that my little man was okay, and my fiance gave me the "I told you so" WHATEVER..better safe than sorry!

Okay News:

I've dialated 2 cm!!! The just, okay part? My Dr. informed me that if I did not go into labor by my due date he would not induce me until a week later!?? BOO!

That means I could potentially go a full week PAST my due date! This would be the worst possible scenario EVER considering I am ENORMOUS and miserable! Oh, and did I mention I'm ENORMOUS?? My joints hurt, I can't breath, I can't sleep...everyone always told me the last weeks are the worst, and they are right!

Uggh! The only thing that made me remotely happy Wednesday, was me cleaning my kitchen sink. It's so shiny and pretty! I cleaned/disinfected the drain and disposal with baking soda and vinegar (which worked wonders!!!) and used some windex to shine up the stainless sink area and fixtures! Cleaning is sadly, the only thing keeping me sane...I will be so happy when I have this baby and I can get back to getting excited about Miller Lite and Margeritas!

Steaming is fun!

2009-04-21T12:37:00.006-04:00

As I was tidying up the bedrooms in my house last night, as per my weekly schedule :) I pulled out my steamer (it's the joy mangano "my little steamer"). I figured I'd steam some of the freshly laundered baby clothes...I had forgotten how much I freaking love this thing! It has to be the best invention in the world! I don't own an iron, sooooo I steam all of my clothes when they are wrinkled, I steam my jeans, curtains, drapes...if I need to get wrinkles out, my steamer does the job!!! I even use it....yes, to clean! It's awesome for cleaning my windows (don't laugh, it really does work) and it's especially great for steaming tough/old/hard dirt, that accumulates in the corners of the window panes, it just breaks it right up so I don't have to sit there and scrub with a towel! My mom has used her's to loosen up the pollen that sticks in the screens on her screened in porch, which is a fabulous idea, but since we've been having monsoon-like weather here in Richmond, I haven't had the opportunity to try that trick out on my screened-in porch! The best part about this steamer, is it's cheap! It's not like the industrial steam cleaners you can end up forking over your paycheck for, I think mine was like 30 bucks, and even if I didn't use it for random cleaning fixes, it's worth it's wait in gold just for the simple fact I don't have to haul out an ironing board and figure out how much starch is too much starch?

Tonight's agenda is to tighten up the kitchen. Although, my kitchen is clean right now, I am dreading doing this! There is something about the phrase "clean the kitchen" that instinctively puts me in a bad mood. But I'm going to power through, and tidy up and stick to my cleanliness goals!!!

In other news, while playing with Oscar last night, the fiance and I noticed these weird bumps on his underbelly!!! I totally freaked out, it looks like some kind of rash, but some of the bumps are raised up, they are on his stomach, where there is no fur, so it was super noticeable, but they are also around his "private" area. I know it sounds weird, but I immediately considered the fact that Lady "gave him something". My fiance looked at me like I was crazy, and as I am writing this, I think that perhaps in that moment I had lost my mind. I, of course being the genius google doctor that I am, started researching all over the internet for possible causes.

1) Simply, they could just be regular ant bites or irritation from rolling in the grass, or bushes (which he does do a lot of, he is a very active/curious puppy)

2) It could be some sort of allergic reaction, or just a reaction from a switch in dog food, which we did recently wean him onto a different brand of dog food.

3) Staph infection, in which he will need to get antibiotics.

4) Lyme Disease, which is an infection from ticks ( my poor baby)!

5) Something called Rocky Mountain fever kept popping up on my search engine, but considering I live on the east coast, I'm ruling this one out!

So, naturally as any good mama would do, I made him a vet appointment for tomorrow and gave him extra tlc, and treats last night :)

My fiance, says I'm overreacting, Oscar's a dog, and dogs get into things, and it's probaby just a simple irritation because his skin is sensitive down there. WHATEVER...I am still taking my little man to the vet!! I mean, it could be something very simple, but if he does need antibiotics I want to get them in him asap! The rash/bumps don't seem to be bothering or affecting Oscar at all, which is good, but I'm still worried about my baby!

God help me, when I have this "human" baby, I'll probably freak out over every little thing!

So, I have my doctors appointment at 10 and Oscar's appointment at 12 tomorrow, I'll keep everyone updated!

2 weeks and counting!

2009-04-20T14:10:00.002-04:00

Can you guess what I've been doing today???

I've obviously re-vamped the blog, and obviously have way too much time on my hands! What can I say, it's a rainy day in Richmond (surprise, surprise) and the economy is in the shitter. There is nothing to do here at the office, and being the nice boss that I am, I told everyone if their work was caught up for the day, they could leave! I'm not exaggerating when I say the telephone has not rung AT ALL today. Such a slow, and rather depressing Monday.

On a happier note, I'm still on top of my cleaning schedule! 2 days in, hardly makes me qualified for an award, but I'm proud of myself none-the-less. Sunday, was my day for odds/ends and resting! It was such a nice day, the fiance and I took the dogs for a walk by the river, and I worked on "trying" to finalize the guest list for my wedding (boresville) and tightened up some "odds and ends" in the baby room! And yes, I made my bed first thing yesterday morning (as well as this morning) and de-cluttered before I went to sleep! I am on a roll!

Monday's schedule is devoted to the bedrooms. So I will probably sweep the floors, maybe dust some photos etc. since I did my deep clean this weekend, there is not too much to do during the week....which is why the weekly schedule is so fabulous!!!

I'm 2 weeks away from my due date...can you believe it!?? I know it will be the longest 2 weeks of my life. I go to the Dr. on Wednesday and hope I've progressed more than my 1cm from last week (keep your fingers crossed)! I'm so excited and anxious, especially about getting all of this baby weight off!!!! Believe it or not, this one woman I know, who had a baby about a year ago, swears she dropped her weight so fast by drinking a glass of lemon juice a day (and working out, of course). Apparently the acid in lemon juice is awesome for your digestive tract. Lemon juice? Perhaps everything DOES happen for a reason, and it's a good thing I've developed such a love for lemons because I am def. going to try her advice out!

Saturday = Mission Accomplished!

2009-04-18T21:54:00.002-04:00

I'm very proud of myself :)

Upon getting home last night, I did exactly what I set out to do. I was able to knock out all of my deep cleaning, and my house is so sparkly and shiny, it brings a tear to my eye! My fiance was quite shocked when he came home from work and found me on my hands and knees scrubbing the baseboards in our kitchen! He probably thought I was cleaning up a crime scene or something....haha...I don't think he's ever seen my clean so intensely before! But I got it all done, I locked the dogs in the backyard, while I did all the baseboards throughout the house, dusted the fans (which apparently has never been done before), dusted the walls ( yes, you'd be surprised, but dust, and stray cobwebs def. accumulate on your walls, esp. corners) I took EVERYTHING out of my cabinets in the kitchen, and washed it all down and reorganized everything. I moved furniture in my living spaces (well, the fiance moved them...I did the cleaning), I swept, vacuumed, mopped, vacuumed my couches, cleaned my toilets, my shower (including tile and grout) and grabbed all the runners, and washing-machine safe rugs from around the house to put in my laundry bin for laundry day!

Needless, to say I was exhausted by the end of it, and I crashed hard last night...real hard!! But NOT before I also completed my "daily goals" which included putting away the clutter like my mail that was just thrown on my kitchen table, stray papers and magazines on the coffee table etc. and I made sure my dishwasher was completely empty!

This morning I woke up at around 10ish, and made my bed (which is also one of my daily goals)!!! Now, according to my "weekly cleaning schedule" Saturday's are laundry days.

I actually caught up on all of my laundry today, I'm so happy and proud of myself for actually following through with one of my goals!!!! It feels great to know that I got done today what I was soppose to get done, and I still had time to do all kinds of things, like: play with the dogs, go to the craft store, went out to dinner with my mom, and started a new book! Now that my day is winding down, I am so much more relaxed and ready for bed, partly because my bed looks so inviting! The sheets and comforter are crisp, and clean, and the presentation of a nice, clean, made-up bed just makes me really happy right now!!!

So, as I crawl into my comfy bed, and read more into this new book (I'll let you all know more about it soon) I'm so happy with the new "clean" leaf I've turned in my life! According to the schedule, Sundays are my rest day/odds and ends...and I'm sure I will have plenty of odds and ends to tighten up!!! I'm going to try my best to stick to my schedule, and after day 1 I am definitely more than ecstatic at how it's turning out! Now, the dishwasher's empty, just need to put away today's clutter, and I'm hopping in bed!!!!

Really!!???

2009-04-17T11:04:00.004-04:00

The people at Glad must read my blog!

Lemon-scented trash bags!!?? Does it get any better than this? I am totally excited about going to the grocery store this weekend and getting these bad boys...woo hooooo!!!

Now, for the important stuff...everyone knows how I feel about cleaning...I stumbled upon this blog last night that I AM IN LOVE WITH!!! Hyper Home Maker, the link is on my side bar...anyways, this woman has changed my life! Or rather, is GOING to change my life...I can feel it!

I am a want-to-be super woman, but this woman is the REAL DEAL. She has all kinds of great advice about cleaning, organizing, proper etiquette when hosting parties etc. etc. etc. Her advise to have a weekly schedule of cleaning, is beyond brilliant and I can't wait to implement it in my own life! Basically, instead of waiting for your house to get out-of-control dirty before you sacrifice your time to clean it, assign an area of your house to work on each day. That way you get in the habit of tidying up, and KEEPING your home clean, rather than breaking your back deep cleaning your home once it has already gotten psycho out of hand! On top of the weekly schedule, there should also be things you do DAILY as well, such as getting rid of all the clutter before you go to sleep at night, and making your bed before you leave in the morning.

So, as I stated...I am inspired! I was telling myself I would wait for Lady's heat to be over with before I really "deep-cleaned" again...but to hell with it! The rain has finally stopped pouring here, so it's the perfect time for me to give my house a good scrubbing from top to bottom (ahem, again)! My plan for this weekend, is to do the major Spring Cleaning stuff....windows, baseboard, clean out the fridge/freezer, take EVERYTHING out of the cupboards and clean out all the drawers, dust, do the ceiling fans, mop the floors.....you name it, it's happening! This way, I will do my deep clean of my whole house this weekend, and start my "weekley cleaning routine" this week, and see how the "clean as you go" method works! I am totally excited about this!!!

So, for example:

This Weekend: Deep clean Spring Clean the WHOLE house!

My weekly routine
M- Bedrooms
T-Kitchen
W-Bathrooms
R-Living Spaces (Den, Dining room, foyer etc.)
F-Outdoor spaces like my patio
S-Laundry
Su- rest day/odds and ends

My "Daily" goals

1) Putting clutter that inevitably accumulates on my end tables, kitchen counters etc. AWAY

2) Making my bed...while the fiance does this anyway, it never gets done when I am the last to leave the house in the morning!

3) Make sure dishwasher is EMPTY. I am famous for just letting clean dishes sit in my dishwasher and taking them out as I need them....basically I allow my dishwasher to function as another drawer!

4)Complete my daily goals/ weekly cleaning routine!

Oh and to prove that I've been bitten by the inspirational clean bug, I am cleaning out my car today as well...I was planning on doing this anyway since I need to fit the baby seat in the back seat of my car and that is in no way happening with my car in its current state! But it's still perfect timing none-the-less!

Feel free to try out the weekly/daily clean schedule, I'd love to hear how it goes...I will most certainly be keeping everyone posted on my progress!!!

Happy Cleaning!

I'm not an extremist, I'm a patriot

2009-04-16T13:09:00.004-04:00

The Tea Party was awesome! There were about 5,000 people that showed up in downtown Richmond last night, despite the yucky weather!

It was neat to see how many people are fed up with our government spending money we DON'T have, and being overly taxed. It was fun to be a part of something, and it was neat to have Juliette hopping around in my belly as everyone waved their signs in excitement! It really wasn't about what party you belong to at all, which I think is a concept a lot of people have missed. I think most common sense republicans, democrats, libertarians, or whatever, can agree on certain right and wrong principles. The Tea parties were about opposing unfair tax practices, wasteful spending, and while a lot of the focus was AGAINST President Obama and our misguided congress for choosing to throw more money at a problem rather than fix it, and pass bills WITHOUT reading them...the spending problem has been a big problem for awhile!

It is frustrating though, that much of the mainstream media, tried to focus on the Tea Parties being led by a bunch of right- wing extremists, anti-obamaites...because that simply was not the case. It's interesting, how the media is able to filter the information we recieve on certain topics...I think any educated person would agree that at certain times it feels like the information pumped through our TV sets, isn't exactly the "whole" truth?? I truely believe in questioning everything! Never take something for face value....take the time to research a topic and form your own opinion, never take something for fact just because a "so-called" credible source says it is so.

We all have a responsibility. Our elected leaders work for US, and WE need to remember that! Just because someone has an opinion that differs from this administration in the white house and congress doesn't mean they are an extremist. As an American citizen it is everyone's job to get out there and voice your opinion....and if you're a woman then you really need to make your voice heard because as women, we haven't had the luxury to do so, for that long.

I'm not really the type of person to pump my beliefs down someone else's throat, and this certainly isn't a political blog, but it just irks me when people spin the truth, and when my government is telling me "I'm the problem, because I'm exercising my first amendment rights" If you ask me, our government and certain media outlets need a refresher course on the bill of rights, and what the concept of freedom, really means!

Ahhhhh....now that I got that off my chest!

Slow Thursday, every day seems slower and slower....work isn't exactly rolling in, and I had to double check to make sure the business phone bill was paid since the phone hasn't really been ringing. Bill paid, just sucky economy. I really hope things will turn around soon, I know things are so hard for so many people and eventhough business is slow, I'm thankful I am still in business! A lot of small-businesses are going under, and it is just heartbreaking to see it happen.

I'm trying to keep myself busy with anything and everything though, because I would really love for my measly 1 cm. to progress even further by my next Drs. appt :) Lady is still in heat (kill me) and it's the worst time ever for this to happen...I mean I'm expecting a baby, and I'm trying to keep my house as clean as possible and now I have a dog in diapers and another dog totally curious about what is going on! She's never gone into heat before....My fiance and I have been together for quite sometime, and the first and only time she ever went into heat was a few years ago and it only lasted for 2 days. Well she is in full blown out heat right now, and the vet said it probably has something to do with Oscar. Lady's body is quite aware there is a stud around!!! Oscar is soppose to be getting "fixed" sometime next month, and while we just didn't think it was an issue for Lady since it's never happened, I'm thinking we are def. going to need to make an appt for her as well!

I'll just add that to my list of things that I have to do.....geeeze!

Progress on Tax Day!!!

2009-04-15T15:17:00.003-04:00

I am 1 centimeter dialated!!!! woohoooo!!

Thank god, because if I had gone to the doctor and there was no change, I probably would have screamed like a mad woman! I am one of those people that need positive feedback in order to maintain a good/positive outlook on things, so I am incredibly proud of my measly centimeter!

It's STILL raining in Richmond...wtf...and to top everything off, Lady (my 5 year old boston terrier) is in heat. Anyone who has to experience this, knows how I am feeling right now! I feel so bad for her, because she's so lethargic, and un-active (I'm sure she feels a lot like us human ladies do when it's our time of the month). Oscar on the other hand is extremely curious about what is happening with her...as you can probably imagine.

I was able to have the WHOLE morning off of work today, and came into the office after my doctor's appointment! I got to sleep in, and other than Lady's surprise visitor, had a pretty leisurely morning. My heartburn and reflux is back with a vengence as I've mentioned, and I was up most of the night last night...apparently pregnancy causes amnesia as well, because it took me 15 minutes to find my keys before I left the house today (they were in my hand the whole time). The best/funniest part of the day, was my doctor's visit.

I love my doctor's office, everyone is so nice, and I never have to wait too long to be seen. So after I weighed in (and we are not discussing my weight) and gave a urine sample I was sent into "the room". I'm 37 weeks now, I know the drill, get undressed from the waist down, hop up on the bed and place the white butcher paper over my lap and wait for my dr. to come in and check me out.

So the Doc comes in, tells me to lay back, he's going to check the heartbeat and then check my cervix, the heartbeat is perfect as usual, and as he tells me to scoot down to the end of the table so he can check my cervix, he begins to grin.

"Checking your cervix, would be easier if your underwear was off"

Fuck.

Seriously?? I took my pants off, and forgot to take my underwear off?? I laughed at my stupidity and my doctor reassuringly said "Don't worry, you'd be surprised how many people do this. I'll step outside for a sec and let you finish undressing".

So of course, I felt like the lamest person in America, and although I appreciate his manners, it probably wasn't necessary for him to leave, I should have just quickley ripped them off and sling-shot them across the room in order to continue to make the situation more hilarious!

Every week, my doctor's nurse, Michelle always says "See you next week" but today she said "See you next week.....if not sooner"! How exciting is that? I realize I could stay at 1 cm. dialated for the next 3 weeks (which with my luck, is probably how it will go down) or I could shoot into full on labor tomorrow, but I'm just so anxious with finally being dialated...I feel like I've accomplished some huge feat!

CHANGE OF TOPIC: I hope everyone got their taxes done!! I went by the post office earlier to drop off some bills and it was a mad house! They even had a radio station van set up in the parking lot!! Craziness. Since it's tax day, there are all sorts of "Tea Party's" going on all around the country. Me and the fiance are going to the one here in Richmond tonight, and I'm pretty pumped about it. As a history nerd, I just love the idea of the whole concept, it's fun, and besides I'm going to be raising a little patriot soon, and as a woman I think it's important to encourage getting involved with what is going on in your country/government. So, Juliette will get to experience her first political gathering, this evening, while still in the womb. Pretty cool, huh? I'll let you all know how it goes!

Wedding Woes

2009-04-14T10:02:00.004-04:00

Have I mentioned that on top of being 3 weeks away from bringing a baby into the world, that I am also planning a wedding!??

CHAOS!

Honestly though, I've done a pretty good job of getting all of the "big stuff" out of the way early on. The only thing left, is to secure the cake maker, the flower people, and pick out invitations and save the dates.

The wedding is in December, so I think, schedule-wise, I'm doing okay. I don't know why I am dragging my feet on these last few issues though. I know who I want to have make the cake, but I have no idea what style cake I want, I know the color scheme I want for the flowers, but no idea on what type of flowers or vendor I want to use. As for invitations....I'm way too picky of a person to be able to handle this task! I've been looking online, trying to get some ideas of what kind of style I want/like. I love the idea of ordering my invitations online (hello, convenience) but at the same time, I'm terrified of recieving a shipment of 200 + invitations that look awful! So my plan, has been to find a style I like online, and take it, into a local paper shop so that they can do them up the way I want. The problem: when the hell do I have time to make an invitation prototype and shoot the shit with some local paper vendor??? Don't laugh, but I've also considered "do it yourself" invitations. It's a great idea, I love the personal touch aspect of it, but I'm not sure I'm crafty/creative/patient enough to complete the task, AND I'm having a hard time finding DIY invite kits that I like!

I'm a simple-kind of person, I don't need a lot of embellishments, designs, crazy colors or anything like that, just short, sweet, and to the point is fine by me...you know the less is more approach?

It's an afternoon Catholic Wedding, and the reception is at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I originally thought I would like to play off the winter theme (the wedding is in December) but I'm not into sleigh bells, or snowflakes adorning my invites. Now, I think it would be cool to play off the artsy/historical feel of the reception, but I don't really know how to incorporate that, and I don't want it to turn out cheesy.

I found these invites online, and I really like them! They are simple, but still elegant and classy, which is totally what I'm going for! I really love the ones directly below. I think the champagne bow really adds some flair to the invitation (and champagne is one of my colors)!! The writing style is elegant, but I'm kind of on the fence about the fleur de lis symbol. What does that have to do with my wedding? I know I could always, replace the fleur de lis with a monogram or something, but then I think that maybe the fleur de lis is okay, I mean it's religious and artsy at the same time right?

These invitations are really simple, but I also like them. If I had to pick between the two pictured below, I would go with the champagne/off white one. Not only because champagne is one of my colors, but I think the deeper color paper looks more classy.

Out of both pictures though, I like the fleur de lis one the most. I don't know....It's so hard to make decisions, but I feel like I really need to get the ball rolling on this. As for save the dates, I'm thinking about magnets. One of my friends had these cute magnets made up, with her and her fiance's picture and the date of their wedding on it....they were actually really nice because you could just stick it on your fridge and it was right there, not like having a paper save-the-date which is only going to get lost among all the other papers one has in their life.

My goals for today, research flower vendors, contact and reserve cake vendor, and make fiance pick the final invitation product! hahah

Rainy in Richmond AGAIN, I keep telling myself "April Shower's bring May flowers" and judging by the amount of rain we have gotten here, Richmond is libel to turn into a rainforest this spring!

Also, I'm definitely taking advantage of "boss perks" today! I'm clocking out at noon (I'm so proud of myself)! Perhaps if this half-day works out for me, I will be taking them more often in the next few weeks!! I have my 37 week Doctor's appointment tomorrow, and besides the awful heartburn, I haven't experienced any contractions or pains the past few days, so I doubt I've started dialating...but we will see!

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!!

Bouncy Monday

2009-04-13T11:02:00.002-04:00

HOW CUTE IS THIS PICTURE????

This is Oscar, my 30lb. 17 week old english bulldog puppy! He is sleeping on his back, and as you can see gravity has pulled all of his wrinkles back! I love this pic, he is getting so big, and cuter everyday! He is 100% house trained now, and is just a bundle of love :)

My furry babies are so cute, and I had so much fun with them this weekend (for those who don't know, I also have a 5 year old boston terrier, lady). My easter weekend, was perfect. I didn't go to church ( no lectures, please) and will admit I feel somewhat guilty! We also didn't have a big Easter dinner at my parents house like we usually do, it was just me and the fiance and the furry babies!

It was rainy in Richmond Saturday (surprise, surprise), so I tightened up around the house, and took some long lazy naps while watching the master's tournament on TV. I am SO HAPPY to report, that my house is officially done, done, and done! I know I've said this before, but I really mean it this time. There is officially a proper place for everything! My bedroom, which was really the last piece of the puzzle, is complete, everything organized, all clothes sorted and put away, and everything is clean, clean, clean!

Speaking of clean, Regina just left (she's the wonderful woman who cleans my office) and her magic cleaning skills have put me in a great mood, as they always seem to do! I'm pretty happy and bouncy for a Monday, and considering I got no sleep last night. The reason for my no sleep was not due to the uncomfortableness of pregnancy (as it usually is) but because I watched that totally creepy movie with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut.

I should have kept my eyes wide shut through the whole movie because it was awful. I didn't catch the beginning of the movie, but It was still hands down the worst, most confusing, most disturbing thing I've even seen in my life. It's kind of old, but I had never seen it before, and I guess I wanted to watch it because I had always heard it was so risque...so my curiosity got the best of me. I'm not some lame person at all, but the sex scenes made me so uncomfortable, it was so dramatic, and although satanic ritual is not the correct phrase to describe what was going on, for some reason it's the only phrase I can come up with at this time. It was just plain scary, and then the ending was awful, because it only confused me even more. What is up with the underground sex ring thing, did Tom Cruise really experience it, and what the hell is up with Nicole Kidman's character??? I was up all night because there is a part in the movie where everyone is dressed in cloaks and wearing weird masks (maybe thats why the word satanic keeps popping into my head, it's very secret society). Basically, I was frightened someone cloaked and masked was going to break into my house and do something creepy, like watch me sleep. I don't know, why I was scared, I don't think the movie was meant to be scary, just disturbing...but I'm a whimp, and I was scared. Oh, and also, the music in the movie...it was this totally scary piano note...I don't really want to even write about this movie anymore, because I want to pretend like I never saw it, and go back to my innocent ways!!!!

CHANGE OF TOPIC! This weekend, the fiance and I, spruced up the yard with some beautiful flowers!! It really looks great, all the bright colors, and now spring is setting in and the lawn is that pretty bright green color! I also perfected my sweet tea, which is probably the accomplishment I am most stoked about. I love sweet tea, maybe it's a southern thing, I can't live without it...but usually something is always off,: not sweet enough, not "tea" enough, too strong...but no...I put in the time, and I have perfected the perfect pitcher of sweet tea!!!!

So, I have a beautifully (lemon-scented) clean, organized house, a fresh colorful yard, the best sweet tea in the world, and I even predicted Angel Cabrera would win the masters....and he did!

I am totally on top of my game, and loving life...quite a switch from last week...it's amazing what a perfect weekend will do for the psyche. I'm spending this week dreaming/searching for the perfect patio set for our backyard, I am ready to be spending lots of time outside with my furry babies, my pitcher of sweet tea, and (in 3 more weeks) my human baby!!!! Oh yea, and my fiance!

Life is good!

It's a Good Friday

2009-04-10T14:23:00.003-04:00

I'm hiding in my office.

I don't know why I just don't go home, but I feel like I have to stay because I expect everyone else to stay and work until the end of the day! What is the perk of being the boss, if you don't take advantage of the perks??? Uggh...I am too nice.

So I will pretend I am working hard, for the benefit of all of my employees...really though, I'm locked in my office, savoring my daily limeade and playing with my new addiction....hulu.com

This is quite possibly the greatest website known to man. I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials...."we're aliens" with alec baldwin and seth macfarlane. It's great, I can catch up on all of my tv shows that I never have time to watch at home or forget to dvr. This afternoon, I've been catching up on LOST. I love it, because I'm obsessed with the show, but don't have the patience to watch it every week because I hate cliff hangers...now I can get 4 weeks worth of shows at once, and actually feel like I've gotten somewhere with the story line! FABULOUS!!!!

Anyways, check it out....it's the best guilty pleasure to have if you are going to have one...not to mention it's totally easy to pause the show and pull up some "fake work" on your computer screen if someone comes into your office....no one will know what you're really up to!!!

Hope everyone has a great GOOD FRIDAY, and Happy Easter to you all!!!!

Hello, Stranger!!!

2009-04-09T09:37:00.002-04:00

Sorry I have not posted in a while...I could sit here and tell you my life has been hectic, but you already know that!

Reasons for lack of posting

1. I hate my employees, due to their incompetence I haven't had time to blog while in the office

2. My laptop has magically decided to crash (sweet) therefore making it hard for me to blog at home.

3. Friday, a fellow pregnant employee informed me she can no longer work (Doctor's orders). She is 14 weeks AWAY from her due date, and I am 4 weeks away from mine and SHE can't work?? Maybe I need to switch doctors.

4. Friday, I frantically post job ads, for someone to fill her position, worst time EVER to be down an employee, especially when I am soppose to be taking 12 week maternity leave in a month!

5. Weekend, had some major down-time which was nice, but alas broken laptop, so no blogging.

6. Monday, woke up with morning sickness. I've NEVER had morning sickness, but it decides to kick in now. Sick as a dog, I call in to work. I stay home, but can't rest, or relax because I'm worrying about what is going on at the office.

7. Tuesday, woke up with morning sickness again, incredible cramping...stupid braxton hicks contractions. I stay home from work AGAIN. I'm still frantically worrying about what is going on at the office but exhaustion has kicked in and I can no longer fight it off... I sleep/rest my life away!

8. Tuesday night, contractions, reflux, heartburn, nauseau, NO SLEEP. I'm up at 4 a.m. watching the infomercial about the smart chopper thing that the same guy who sells the sham wows is pitching. I'm considering ordering one of these.

9. Wednesday morning, I have my 36 week check up, I skip out on work with full intentions of going in after my appointment. My doctor tells me everything looks okay, no dialation, but that I'm dehydrated and visibly exhausted and that I need to go home and rest. I would have gone to work anyway if my fiance hadn't come with me to the drs. appointment and heard my drs. orders to stay home. damnit. Another day off work, instead of relaxing and enjoying time off, I can only think about how much further behind I am going to be.

So, now it's Thursday. I AM at work, and pleasantly, it doesn't seem like things were that bad while I was out. The troops seem to have held the fort down pretty well, I guess my scream fest from the last time I was out did the trick! I'm at my computer, and obviously able to post, so my workload as it turns out isn't as bad as I expected!

I'm interviewing people today, to take over the position that my pregnant employee can no longer do, and am praying to find someone that is going to knock my socks off. I can't be giving birth, worrying that my business is falling apart, and I can't take a 12 week maternity leave if I don't have employees I can trust to run the business while I'm away. Don't get me wrong, I do trust my employees, I just don't want any crazy hiccups, I want things to go as smoothly as possible until I come back to work. I'm sure everything will work out fine, I'm just in stress out mode right now because I am so close to my due date.

Oh and did I mention I fell this weekend!!!??? Yes, me and the fiance were out for a nice little stroll through the shops at carytown, and we were walking on the sidewalk, I rolled my ankle and completely toppled over into the street!! Luckily I caught myself with my hands, but you can imagine the horror as people witnessed a very pregnant woman eat it on the sidewalk. My fiance freaked, and quickley helped me up, I quickley walked back to the car claiming I was fine, and then broke down from sheer embarrasment.

At least this week is almost over..

When life hands you lemons.....grab a lime!

2009-04-01T12:46:00.002-04:00

I am happy to report things have calmed down a bit in my office. Yesterday started out rough, people seemed scared to come up to me and ask for anything, but today has not been too bad. That said, I am completely exhausted and still working 12 hour days...uggh.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and everything is perfect..I'm 35 weeks...so close! I have to say, up until this point my belly has been pretty, no stretch marks, no popped out belly button or anything like that. While my belly button still has not popped, the stretch marks have arrived. They are big and purple and hideous and just make me sad. I'm not one of those people who freak out about stretch marks....I'm a woman, I have stretch marks, so what? I've had stretch marks my whole life, nothing super noticeable just the faint white ones that I probably inherited from my grandmother (damn genes). I've never experienced the purple ones though, and I've never had them sprawled across my whole stomach and hips before! I'm sure once I have the baby they will go away (at least thats what everyone says), I would like to be able to wear a bikini again! Lots of lotion, is basically all I can do at this point, so I've jumped on the cocoa butter bandwagon and hopefully it will work...we will see.

Everyone by now, knows about my lemon fetish. I love the smell of clean fresh lemon...I love it so much that I am addicted to cleaning with clorox lemon scented disinfectent wipes, scrubbing my floors with lemon pine sol, and I have even gone so far as to create my own lemon scented air freshener! It's not a sickness, I swear....I have never had a scent obsession before and I blame it solely on my pregnancy hormones, and my maternal instinct to have every centimeter of my house spic and span for my baby! Yesterday, I took a quick lunch break (because I have too much work to do to be able to take a leisurly lunch) I drove through Bill's Barbecue because it was close to my office. I haven't had a limeade in years it seems like, and the second I tasted it's deliciousness, a new obsession had been born!!! How, in alll my craziness did I forget about limes?? It's like the yang to my lemon fetish. Bill's Barbecue actually puts the lime wedges in the drink, so I have delicious limes floating around in my beverage making my "ade" taste that much more limey. I LOVE limeades! I'm drinking one right now as a matter of fact, and I am so happy and excited about my new found love of limes, that I may even dabble in a lime-scented homemade air freshener!!! It's the perfect time of year to try it out...it's starting to get warm, spring has arrived, and soon cookouts and barbecues will be taking place, and the smell of delicious limes whether in limeades or margaritas just completes the spring/summer season!

I've lost it. I am seriously blogging about limes!? I swear, it is DEFINITELY the pregnancy hormones....it will be interesting to see after I have this baby if I still love lemons, limes, and cleaning! haha

Stupid Cat and Mouse

2009-03-30T14:11:00.002-04:00

I swore, I was only going to work half-days starting this week. Not happening.

My saavy-motivated employees have fucked up everything at the office! Sorry for my "french". I mean, I'm out of the office for a couple days, and all goes to shit. As my dad, likes to say "When the cat is gone, the mice will play". I've always hated that saying, and now I hate my employees even more, for making me use it.

Perhaps they thought I wouldn't notice??? I would just come in to work Monday, and not realize that the general office mailbox has 22r2374 messages that were never checked/responded to, none of the mail had been opened, that clients WOULDN'T email ME, wondering what the hell was going on with my office Wednesday through Friday, or that proposals which were DUE last week, had never been completed (insert angry yell here).

It's not like I was taking a super sweet vacay, that everyone should be jealous about, I was at home, in bed, fat and pregnant, resting because I'm trying NOT to go into early labor. What happens this morning??? I come into the office and upon finding out that I have a bunch of incompetent slackers working for me, I begin to have the meltdown of all meltdowns!

I can feel my cheeks get hot and red, and blood literally boiling inside of my veins. My eyes probably also turned a devilish shade of red as a shouted to every living soul within a 2 mile radius "MEETING NOW"!!

I Bitched, as I have never bitched before. My rant was complete with yelling, waving of the arms, slurred speech, and even the bold threat of firing everyone in the room because let's face it, in this economy I could fine 100 other people in the Richmond area who would be more than happy, to have their jobs AND actually do their jobs the right way!!! Needless to say, it was bad...real bad. People avoided eye-contact and one person even cried. (In my defense, this person cries a lot, she is just one of those very emotional people).

I quickly stormed away, letting my tirade sink in for all, and I locked myself in my office. My explosion left me feeling shaky and dehydrated. Eventually I began to feel bad, as I usually do when I have to come down hard on someone, but there really is no excuse for what happened while I was gone. As if my day wasn't bad enough, I overhear on the radio the government has taken over Chrystler and GM, sweet. I'm so sad for myself, my company, and now I'm sad for my country. As a history buff, who specialized in Imperial Russian and Soviet history, the direction our country is headed, is scary stuff. Trust me, it's REALLY scary. Don't think history repeats itself?? Wait a couple more years, and get back to me.

So basically, my day, my WHOLE work day, has been devoted to fixing everyone's mistakes, playing catch up on my own work and the work everyone else ditched last week. So much for taking it easy. I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. I don't feel like I can take time off, I don't feel like I can only work half-days, and the fact that I feel this way only stresses me out more than I already am ( I'm starting to have cramps right now). This is the time in my pregnancy when I should be winding down and relaxing and preparing for the really hard part, LABOR. Instead, I'm laboring NOW over everything and anything! I am completely stressed, and don't know where to start or stop...my mind is cluttered with the million and one things I still need to do before this baby gets here.

(I'm breathing deeply now). Wish me luck!!! My babyshower Sunday was absolutely beautiful/wonderful, and I will be posting about it another time, when my thoughts aren't consumed with fiery rage! Babyshowers are fun, and light and happy! So, hopefully I will be in a fun, light, and happy mood tomorrow!

MIA

2009-03-27T17:01:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in the last couple days, there has been some crazy shit going down on my end of things....

My mother -in -law has a history of heart problems, and she is diabetic on top of it all. She has had one major heart attack in the past and has 2 stints in her arteries. The worst part of it all, is she has NO health insurance, along with 40 million other people in the United States. So, needless to say, her medical bills are outrageous!!! She is a widow, her husband died in 2002 and I never got the opportunity to meet my fiance's father but from what I hear, he sounds like he was an amazing man. After her husband died, she decided to start over. At 50 years old she quit her job and opened her own business (badass, right?) It was the first time she had been on her own in over 25 years, and I think it's really inspiring how she battled through one of the hardest times in her life, and turned her life around, starting over and living her dream of starting her own business.

Now, anyone who has ever started their own business, knows how hard it is. Start-up costs, legal fees, permit, accreditidation, etc. it's a lot. Unfortunately the first few years in a small-business, one usually sees a lot going out and not so much coming in. As a result, when her health insurance was up, she never got a personal plan, and since her business was brand new, it wasn't practical to get insurance through her business ( health insurance is super expensive for employers...trust me). This may seem risky, but this is a reality majority of people are faced with, it's a risk that sometimes works out, but for her, it didn't. She's had diabetes for years, but no one saw the heart problems coming. She suffered a major heart attack in March of 2005. She's battled through it, and is doing great, but you can imagine what a major heart attack, and then the diagnosis of heart failure does for your chances of ever getting insured.

So, she can't get health insurance because of her "pre-existing" condition, so you can imagine the astronomical medical bills, she is slowly paying off every month but quite honestly will probably never be able to pay off completely. I know the stress of all the bills, and the stress of being unhealthy also takes a toll on her already fragile heart. As a result, she will sometimes avoid going to the Doctor or Hospital when she isn't feeling well, because she wants to avoid another medical bill. Well last week, she had an episode, where she couldn't catch her breath at all, she couldn't catch her breath for a full 48 hours....it was so intense. So basically, her Doctor has decided that it's best to check the stints that are already in her chest to make sure they are working properly, and to also check to make sure there are no more blockages. The procedure alone is $30,000. Bring on the stress.

What are you soppose to do though? I know she is stressed, and feels like she is burdening everyone, but it's obviously a procedure that needs to be done, it's a life and death situation. I keep telling myself, there are so many people in this country with similar problems, and I think everyone can agree that health insurance system in our country is flawed. But, anyways, thats another debate entirely. Of course, my fiance is worried, concerned for his mother, she is his only living parent and I feel so bad for him through this whole situation. My fiance is soppose to be going to Atlantic City this weekend, so obviously he wanted to wait until after the procedure which was done this past Wed. to finalize his plans. To top everything off, my fiance and I were awake ALL NIGHT Tuesday. I was suffering from awful, severe cramps and back pain, and having some contractions (so scary). I'm only 34 weeks, it is still a little early for my daughter to be born, so you can imagine how much we were freaking out. Wednesday morning comes along, and I call my Doctor who informs me to come in immediately. WEDNESDAY, the same day my fiance's mom is having her heart cath, and now we have to make an emergency visit to the OBGYN (whoever writes the script that is my life, is not funny). My OBGYN is located in the same hospital where my fiance's mom was having her procedure done, so that was about the only convenient card that had been dealt to us.

Thankfully everything went fine on both fronts. My doctor checked me out, and I haven't dialated yet, which is a good thing, but I am starting to efface a bit (which means my cervix is starting to thin out in preparation for dialating) but nothing completely abnormal for the stage of pregnancy I am in. My doctor also hooked me up to a fetal monitor for about 30 minutes and everything came out just fine. (whew!) He did however, tell me to take the rest of the week off and stay off my feet. My fiance has informed me that I will not be working anymore. I explained he is over reacting and "not" working is "not" a possiblity. So I obviously took off work for the rest of the week per doctors orders and will maybe only be working half days from here on out. I must have been much more exhausted than I even thought, because when we came home I literally slept for 5 hours!!! I still slept through the night Wed. and I rested all day yesterday, and have already taken 2 naps today!!! (geeeeeze!)

My future mother-in-law is also doing great. She didn't have to stay the night in the hospital, and the Doctor said her stints look great, no more blockages, and her heart is functioning better than can be expected! So it was the best possible news that we could have gotten!!

You can see why I haven't posted, I've been sleeping my butt off and dealing with a possible medical crisis (which thankfully turned out to be an un-crisis). My fiance left this morning for Atlantic City, once the heart doctor assured him his mom was great, and my OBGYN assured him this baby was not coming early!! He needed to get away, and I hope he has fun, and most importantly I hope he wins lots of money!!! haha. My baby shower is this Sunday, so I am looking forward to that, and I will probably be pawning myself off on my parents tonight and tomorrow night to feed me, since I hate cooking! My parents love me though, so they don't mind...at least thats what they tell me anyways!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and other than the Baby Shower hopefully I won't have too much more to report this weekend!!!!

You Annoy Me!!!!

2009-03-24T15:31:00.004-04:00

So, Forbes just released their top 10 list of "most annoying office habits" I'm not impressed. They include: leaving the office kitchen messy, talking loudly over cubicles, blaring music too loud in your cubicle, eating smelly food that stinks up the whole office, playing solitaire on your pda during a meeting blah blah blah. The best one on the list, I would have to say is "getting water all over the sink in the bathroom so that when the next person leans against it, they get a line of water across their clothes"! I mean who hasn't that happened to, and it so effing annoying!!!!

This list got me thinking of the humble posse I work with everyday, and of course, there are the days where the above instances annoy the hell out of me, but I think I am more annoyed by personality types rather than behavior that is exhibited in the workplace.

FOR EXAMPLE:

The over-achiever- This personality type basically sucks. You would think as an employer, "the over-achiever" would be coveted in the workplace. ABSOLUTELY not, because usually "the over-achiever" tries way to hard to achieve their goal and just ends up screwing "it" up, or not getting "it" done on time, or not doing "it" according to your specifications....which they defend by saying "well I thought it made more sense to do "it" this way". This personality type is also the least likely to admit that they've made a mistake or learn from their mistakes.

The Know-it-all- This is an interesting personality type, but still annoying none-the-less. In the workplace, you are either faced with "the know-it-all" that actually does seem to know-it-all (which is annoying because no one is soppose to know everything) or, "the know-it-all" who fakes and skids by life on a whim, they know nothing but are very good at appearing to always have the answers (this makes them especially annoying, because everyone sometimes wishes they could be this slick).

The perfectionist- this is not to be confused with the over-achiever. The perfectionist, actually strives to do things perfectly because they expect nothing less from THEMSELVES, the over-achiever strives to be noticed by OTHERS. The perfectionist, is like a double-edge sword. They often work very hard, not expecting reward or praise, and find they get most of their validation and self-worth from doing good at their job. However, some perfectionists simply do not good in certain workplace settings. Time tables, and specific guidelines are things that perfectionists LOVE! However, with projects that lack a certain amount of structure, a perfectionist could very well end up taking a project in a direction that no one ever dreamed it could go! Not everything in life can be neatly organized and fit into certain categories, and although sad, it's sometimes annoying when people don't understand that.

The Kid- The kid on the other hand, is SO ANNOYING, because although they have been to the best of schools, and have awesome references, they can't staple a pack of papers without asking you how to do it first. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking they will take the initiative to do ANYTHING. The kid, would starve to death if you didn't remind them to take a lunch break!

The delegator- The delegator is simply, too good for everyone. They are sometimes the person in the company who has been there the longest and feel like they've "put in" their time. They do nothing, and everything that they are responsible for doing usually gets done by someone else. They are really laid back, and don't see the problem asking you to take on some of their work load eventhough you have plenty to do yourself.....AND because you are not an asshole, you usually take on the extra work to avoid a confrontation....thus why the delegator is SUPER annoying!

I could go on forever...this would actually make a good "Ask the Boss" segment now that I think about it, but I'll come up with a better topic for that post. I know I've left PLENTY of other personality types out, like the person who does the bare-minimum, the chatty-kathy who does nothing but encite rage throughout the workplace because they gossip about everyone, the who would rather get all of their work done without talking to ANYONE and the second it's time to leave they run out the door and get in their car before they can have any human interaction!! hahah that last one makes me laugh, because I honestly worked with someone like that a few years ago, he was terrified of social situations and would have rather stapled his forehead to his desk than talk with someone! Super nice guy, and kind of sad situation, but still annoying!!!

Of course I'm sure the worst type of all, is the one who "thinks" she knows all about office personality types, and she has no faults of her own, and blogs all the time when she should be getting HER work done! hmmm I wonder who is like that? Hahah...ok, I'm getting back to work!

6 more weeks....

2009-03-23T15:12:00.004-04:00

What a Monday!!!

I got exactly ZERO hours of sleep last night thanks to this huge child growing in my stomach! I am completely exhausted, and have somehow managed to get through this workday eventhough I've seriously considered going home and crashing about 73947237 times today! It's better to keep busy and keep working though, the last thing I need is to get behind at work and THEN be stressed out about my job (at least, this is what I keep telling myself)!

The baby furniture is ABSOLUTELY beautiful, and me and the Fiance worked our butts off decorating the nursery this past weekend! I'm not going to post pictures just yet though.
My babyshower is this Sunday, and there are lots of things on my registry that I'm sure people will get me that I need before the nursery is completely done, like her bedding, and changing table stuff etc. So, I will hopefully be posting pictures next week of the FINISHED nursery!

Saturday, close friends of me and the fiance's had their second child!! They didn't find out what the sex was (they already have a 2 year old son) so the suspense was crazy!! It turned out to be a baby GIRL (yay)!!! Madelyn Belle....she is so cute, and has a head full of hair! I was so excited when it turned out to be a girl, now Juliette has an automatic friend (they will only be 6 weeks apart, that is, if Juliette comes as scheduled)!! It was kind of surreal being at the same hospital I will be giving birth at, and holding this sweet little girl, she was so tiny and it was amazing to think that she was just in her mothers stomach a few hours before.

6 more weeks, I am so huge right now, my hip joints and ankles are starting to swell, and every muscle aches...I never knew how hard it would be to carry around 45 extra pounds. Yes, that's right, 45 extra pounds...I've gained 45 pounds so far!!!! Ahhhhh.....6 more weeks...it can't come soon enough!!!

I still love my Rams :)

2009-03-20T11:29:00.003-04:00

13 seconds left in the game and down by a point...and we miss the 2 point shot for the win!!!! Ahhhh, broken-hearted. It was a great game though, even though the outcome is not what I wanted at all. Our guys played their heart out though, and I'm so proud of VCU's efforts! Our Women's basketball team plays Rutgers Saturday, so the Ram nation is still alive!

The most exciting news of the day:

The Furniture will be here TODAY between 1 and 5 :) We've also been getting packages at the house, a lot of my fiance's family is from cape code and will not be able to come down for the babyshower next weekend, so they have been mailing us presents!! It's so much fun to come home and have a big package waiting for you. So far, we've gotten a lot of cute outfits, wall art for her nursery, stuffed animals, a boppy pillow and recieving blankets! It's all just so much fun!

Also, my experiment with making homemade air freshener was a success!! My house smells like delicious lemon (it makes me so happy) and unlike the aerosol stuff I buy at the store, my homemade concoction smells great AND the scent lasts ( it doesn't wear off after 30 minutes)! It's all-natural, easy, and cheap as hell to make...I am definitely going to dabble into some other things I can start making at home and maybe play with some different fragrances!!!

I'm so happy it's Friday and can't wait for the weekend/nursery decorating to begin! It's been a slow day, and a slow week for that matter, but I know "quitting-time" will get here eventually! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Is it Friday yet?

2009-03-19T08:57:00.007-04:00

Here are Juliette's wall letters...aren't they pretty!!! I took the pic from my phone (naturally) sorry if it's a little grainy. I'm so happy with how they turned out, I can't wait to put them up! She also made me a complimentary head band (which is above the letters, in the pic)!!! The furniture is scheduled to be here SATURDAY....so, if everything works out I will hopefully have her room done and decorated by the end of this weekend!!! (yay)!

I also, had my 33 week Doctor's appointment yesterday, everything is going perfectly! My next appointment is April 1st, and then I will go to the dr. once a week until she pops out....we are so close!!!

I've been spending most of my morning slacking off and surfing the web, I found this awesome website http://www.tipnut.com/. It has all sorts of advise on "do-it-yourself" stuff, from crafts to cleaning tips! Anyways, they have this recipe for homemade lemon-scented air freshner, (how can I resist this??) I am DEFINITELY going to make some and try it out tonight!

I'm also adding some new books to my sidebar. I've been kind of obsessed with biography's lately, Tori Spelling's bio was awesome, I came to love her through her reality show "Tori and Dean Inn Love". It's a really easy read, after I was finished, I came to the conclusion that she is really just a "normal" person, I mean I could picture myself being friends with her (I wonder if she's on twitter).

One of my ABSOLUTE favorite biography's I've read over the past months was "Alice". It's about Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. It's lengthy but so interesting. She lived such an amazing life, and it's not written like a boring Historical recap or encyclopedia of knowledge (and trust me, as a History major, I know how boring those kind of books can be) it's light, informative and the author incorporates primary sources into the story effortlessly! I most certainly recommend this book to anyone.

Another great pick is "The Zookeepers Wife". It's an amazing story told by the perspective of (you guessed it) a Zookeepers wife. It takes place in Poland, during the Nazi invasion. It's heart-wrenching at times, but an amazing story of perserverance. The amazing strength of character this family maintained during one of the darkest times in recent history is deeply touching.

Anyways, TOMORROW is Friday! Waking up, has been a challenge for me all week, I'm just so tired and slow now that I'm entering the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I've been in bed by 8 p.m. every night this week (I'm so pathetic). Tonight VCU plays UCLA in the NCAA Tourney though! Of course, those ass-holes who do the scheduling, have them playing at 9:50 p.m. east coast time!!!?? That is way too late for me to stay up, I won't be able to function tomorrow! My plan is to take a nap when I get home from work so I can be energized and able to watch the WHOLE game....wish me luck!!

Eureka!!!!

2009-03-17T14:43:00.003-04:00

I HAD to make a quick post because I am so ecstatic with JOY!!!!!

USA Baby called and the furniture WILL be here this weekend....GUARANTEED!!!!!!

I'm so happy, I think I will have ANOTHER cupcake! Haha, I guess the "luck of the Irish" IS with me today!!

Wear Your Green!

2009-03-17T11:45:00.005-04:00

St. Patrick's Day is always fun! I love any holiday that gives a regular work day a little extra bounce! This Tuesday in Richmond is rainy and messy, but my green attire has put a spring in my step, and all of my co-workers are obnoxiously happy like school children! The green mardi gras beads, leprechaun hats, and green cupcakes, have made everyone happy today, and has happily made the morning seem to go by some-what quickly! However I don't appreciate everyone LOUDLY making plans to go out after work for green beer when they know that I can not participate...AND I don't appreciate that a certain co-worker joked,

"Good thing you made a DOUBLE batch of green cupcakes because with a preggers in the office, none of us would have been able to eat any!"

After all I do for them, they are so mean to me! Of course I'm only kidding, I'm not mad at all, it is all in good fun and I enjoy the jokes and jabs, besides, pregnant or not, I have ALWAYS been able to put away some cupcakes...they are just sooooo good!

Anyways...I'm SUPER excited about my kreativ blogger award :) (Pictured Above)

I was tagged/awarded this award from KYLIE ( her RANDOM THOUGHTS blog is on my side bar)!! Her blog is super cute, and she always writes me cute comments to my posts (and I love her for that)!

Sooooo, there are some rules that come with this award!!!

List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love!Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ.

My 7 things
1. My fiance ;)

2. My soon-to-be-born daughter!

3. My dogs!!! Duh...my blog title is a shoutout to my 13-week Bulldog puppy!

4. Coca-Cola Classic! I can not live without it, it's the most amazing soda EVER!

5. Lemon-scented cleaning products (hahah)...esp. the lemon clorox disinfectant wipes!

6. The water....I'm a pisces, and feel most relaxed when I am at the beach or river.

7. Blogging...it's new, but I really enjoy writing and reading other blogs!

7 blogs that I LOVE

http://missmusing.blogspot.com/

http://www.stinardfamily.com/

http://chroniclesofafashionbiscuit.blogspot.com/

http://work-girl.blogspot.com/

http://rambleramble.com/

http://sarah-bration.blogspot.com/

http://perfectlycursedlife.com/

Check them out, they are really great!

Monday Monday

2009-03-16T09:30:00.006-04:00

The Ultrasound was the coolest thing EVER!!! I have pictures below! It was totally worth every penny, and I would reccomend it to ANYONE! The people were so nice, we got a CD with about 60 pictures of her, plus a 15 minute DVD, and they printed out pictures for us there to take home. The detail is amazing, she looks EXACTLY like my fiance ( I kept searching for my features, but couldn't find anything)!! The whole experience, has done nothing but make me more anxious for her to get here...I've watched the DVD about a million times already and it hasn't gotten old. Now when she's kicking and moving around in my belly, I can picture her sweet little face! I can't wait for her to be here...maybe some of my features will magically appear in the next 7 weeks!!!

I just got an e-mail letting me know her wall letters are finished, I haven't seen them yet, but can't wait! We should also be hearing from USA Baby AGAIN, today, about our furniture ( I seriously hate these people)!

On a completely different topic...Regina just left my office, she comes once a week and cleans everything and she is awesome! She fuels my addiction for lemon-scented cleaning products, and I am in such a good mood right now because my office is so clean and smells so nice. I love you, Regina! Other than that, this is the slowest morning in the history of mornings, I am sincerely hoping this day picks up because I am ready for Monday to be over, and to be home snuggled in my bed.

Oh, and thank you to the Girl Scouts for the delicious somoa cookies, they make me happy.

Here she is!!!

Sucking on her hand

Juliette with her mouth open!

J-E-L-L-O

2009-03-14T09:45:00.003-04:00

I've been having a strong craving for lime green jello. I made some last night and let it "jell" while I was asleep. I just ate some for breakfast...delicious! Oddly enough, there was a semi-marathon of the Cosby Show on TV last night....I watched it for hours, I totally forgot how great that show was!! Anyways, my fiance went out last night with some of his friends and got his car towed...ha. Sooooo, we are slowly getting up and moving this Saturday morning, going to pick up his jeep from the tow company and then off to our 4D ultrasound appointment! I can't wait to see the pictures, I am definitely going to try and post some up on the blog as well!

Okay, short post, just wanted to share my love for lime jello....and Bill Cosby with everyone this morning!!! Check out my twitter feed on the side bar...I haven't given up on it yet, but still don't quite get it!!!

Ask the Boss

2009-03-13T13:55:00.007-04:00

As a small-business owner and "boss" to some truely amazing employees, I thought it would be fun to bring a different perspective to workplace politics. "Ask the Boss" gives my perspective as an employer, it is basically a forum for me to rant and rave about employee/business related issues!!

I came across an interesting article, which I figured I would devote to this segment of "Ask the Boss"

Would you Facebook your Boss? On http://www.workitmom.com/ there was an interesting article about this question. I don't believe there is an easy answer, I think the answer depends on the person, and the company. I'm a small-business owner, I run a very small business with a handful of employees, and yes, I am facebook friends with a few of my employees.

I don't remember thinking it was awkward when I started getting "friend requests" from people I work with, BUT I never stopped to think if it was awkward for THEM. I mean, who really wants to deny a "friend request" that their boss sends them? Would that be considered rude, or mean?

When I originally joined Facebook, I was still in college, and everyone was doing it, so why not me??? I love Facebook, it's fun to post your pictures, and read your friend's profiles and keep up with whats going on in everyone's busy lives. I enjoy looking at a few of my co-workers pages and seeing the great photos of their families, and reading happy updates about their lives.

However, I was gazing through all of my pictures reminiscing about my college/sorority years, and as I stumbled across the classic drunken fraternity parties, sporting events, and festival pictures that make me laugh out loud, I realized that these pictures may not be so appropriate for people who work for me, or people I work with, to view.

The great thing about Facebook is you can, if you want, regulate who can see what, on your profile. So with a click of my mouse I was able to make the pictures I didn't want certain people to view, invisible to them. That being said, a few of my employees must not know about this feature...some of their pictures are crazy and hilariously inappropriate! Honestly though, as their employer, I don't care. As long as my employees come to work and do their job, I could care less what they do on their personal time, or whether they want to post the visual evidence on their facebook page.

As I stated earlier though, I run a very small business in Richmond, Virginia; none of my employee's photos or comments on their facebook pages, reflect badly on my company or affect my business negatively. If they did, as an employer I would request that harmful material be taken off of their page IF they chose to be "friends" with fellow co-workers or clients. I also understand that in huge companies, it may not be so appropriate to be "friends" with your boss. However, I'm flattered that my employees WANT to be friends with me on facebook, I actually find it quite flattering! I also love the fact, that my company is small enough where I can remember everyone's birthday, tell people to knock-off early on a Friday, and get invited to their children's baptisms and birthday parties. We are a close-knit group of people, and I think that's why my company is so successful, we all work hard, play hard, but most importantly ENJOY what we do everyday, and ENJOY eachother! ( awww, I really heart my employees)!!!

Anyways, would YOU Facebook your boss?? I think it's a personal decision, and if you work for a company that allows you to, ( apparently some companies block Facebook..wtf??) you should weigh the pros and cons before accepting a "friendship" or requesting one. AND, if your boss "friends" you, and you feel uncomfortable, just deny the friendship....I can truthfully say, that as a boss, I would NOT be offended, and quite honestly might be a little bit impressed (it's always good to stand up for what you believe). Don't let anyone bully you...technology is a fickle friend....need proof?? My co-workers have peer-pressured me into getting a twitter account. What the hell is twitter?? Oh well, I caved, and I have an account now, even though I'm not sure what I am soppose to do with it! I'm officially following Britney Spears and Tina Fey.....whatever that means.

8 more weeks

2009-03-12T13:00:00.004-04:00

This is the beautiful furniture we have ordered for our daughter (due May 5th)!! The lady from USA Baby called us yesterday and said that our dresser/changing table had arrived but our crib was backordered (whatever) she is calling us back tomorrow (3/13) and letting us know how long it should take for the crib to arrive. This is all just too stressful for me, I know I still have 8 weeks until my due date but I am ready to get her nursery done and finished! I feel like I can't do anything until I get her furniture in the room and set up the way I want it. On a happier note, one of my friends just recently started her own business from home. She makes all kinds of crafty things for kids, and I'm getting her to make me some wall letters that spell out the baby's name, which is going to be Juliette by the way! She is going to paint them all kinds of cute colors and probably throw on some dots or stripes or something, I will definitely post some pictures once they are finished!!!

But, the wall letters just take me back to my original point, I don't feel like I can put all of the pictures and cute knic-knacs up on her wall until I have the furniture situated in the room! We can put the dresser/changing table in there now, but I just think that will make me more frustrated because then I will only have "part" of the furniture in the room, and it will throw off the whole look for me! I need EVERYTHING to go into the room at one time! I'm a little OCD about this, if you can't tell?!

I wasn't able to get out of the restaurant tour last night, but I did get a nap in before-hand which helped my mood considerably! I'm glad that I went though, it was really nice, and just what we were looking for, and we reserved it...so that's one more thing I can check off my list...yay!

I have a babyshower coming up at the end of March, so yesterday I surfed the web trying to find some cute maternity dresses. There is so much out there, but so much of it is so expensive! I refuse to pay a shit-ton of money on maternity clothes (I mean I'm not going to be wearing them that much longer) so I resorted to http://oldnavy.com/ They had some really cute dresses! I couldn't decide what I wanted so I bought 3 (don't judge). The weather is getting nicer, and I refuse to wear maternity shorts....let's be honest NO ONE looks good in shorts, pregnant or not (unless you're a size 2, which I never have been and probably never will be) so cute cotton summer dresses are the next best thing. My other dilemma is I have huge fat arms right now, (I'm blaming them on my pregnancy as well) so I'm not really a fan of thin straps or tank tops at this moment, that being said...I actually found some dresses that met all of my stipulations! So basically, Old Navy saved my life yesterday...thank you Old Navy!

I've been reading this really great book by Tracy Hogg, its called the Baby Whisperer. One of my friends recommended it to me, and I was like, "okay, whatever" but I was at Barnes and Noble and randomly came across it a couple of months ago. I wasn't looking for it, but there it was so I figured I should buy it ( I believe in signs). Anyways, its actually been really good and informative. Tracy Hogg was a British baby-extraordinaire and she seems to know all kinds of things about babies: their schedule, how to get them on a schedule, how to keep them on a schedule, how to understand what they need, when they need it and how to give it them! I'm definitely going to try her techniques with my little one (anything to get this kid sleeping through the night as soon as possible)!! I'll probably try to post a tab of books I'm reading on this blog, since I read ALL THE TIME, I'm never without a book, and I love to read all types of different things, so maybe some of my suggestions will interest someone out there! If not, it will at least keep ME busy!

Well, I have NOTHING planned for tonight, which I am loving right now, I can't wait to be off work, go home and take a long hot shower, play with my crazy dogs and then hopefully be asleep by 8:30!! Hahah, it's crazy how much my routine has changed, I've turned into my mother!!

2009-03-11T10:26:00.007-04:00

My alma-mater Virginia Commonweath University is going back to the NCAA Tournament!!! I went to the CAA Final game Monday night, where we completely dominated against George Mason University! It was so much fun, and I'm excited that VCU will be a part of the NCAA tournament again! VCU is a big school here in Virginia, and we've had a great basketball program for years, but on the national stage, we haven't had a lot of coverage. The last time we were at the NCAA Tournament was 2 years ago, VCU got a lot of coverage for knocking off Duke in the opening round, and we ALMOST beat Pitt in the next round! The whole city, is really excited about VCU getting the opportunity to go back and compete, and it's a lot of fun being a part of it all!

In other news, my birthday was yesterday, pretty low-key, me and the fiance went out to dinner and then basically just came home and relaxed! Oscar had a visit to the Vet yesterday as well, he got his 12-week puppy shots and is 17.6lbs!!! He's gained 8lbs in 4 weeks (sounds more like what I experience when I go to the doctor)! We were also informed yesterday that the baby furniture is backordered (SO FRUSTRATED)! The lady at the store said the manufacturer only put a few of the orders on the truck, and we won't know if our order made it until the truck gets there and unloads, she is soppose to be contacting us today with more info. My main frustration with this, is that this company sells BABY furniture, so they should know that when customers place an order, there is a very specific time-frame for when they will need their order delivered! We ordered this furniture in December, it was soppose to be here in February...it wasn't, so we were told it would be here the week of March 9th and now they are telling us it's backordered!!?? I know, that if it were backordered, this company should have known that, long before the actual week it is soppose to be delivered! I swear, nothing can ever run smoothly! Tonight, we are taking a tour of a really nice restaurant here in Richmond, for the rehearsal dinner. I'm going to try and get out of it, my fiance and his mother can go, its her responsibility anyway, and besides I'm tired and cranky and pregnant, and just don't feel like dealing with anything right now! Uggh, hopefully my mood will improve as the day goes on!!!

Suprise!

2009-03-09T08:34:00.003-04:00

I had the best weekend! Saturday, I did my normal Saturday thing....CLEANED! I thought, I went all out last weekend, but I really took it to the limit this weekend. I bought all new bedding for my bedroom, completely re-did the theme of my bedroom (it is now a soothing yet classy black and white) and my fiance even approved of the changes! I love it when that happens! Sunday I got to sleep in, which was amazing. The weather in Richmond was gorgeous, I think it got up to 78 degrees on Sunday! I relaxed all morning, ate breakfast on my screened-in porch, the dogs played outside, it was so blissful! Then my fiance suggested lunch..as if I would ever pass up a meal! He said we should go get a really good lunch, and I should maybe dress up and wear some of the new maternity stuff I got. So I got excited and put on my new maternity jean dress (super cute) some pink pearl earrings and even straightened my hair!! It's amazing how dressing up, and feeling cute can sometimes make you feel so good about yourself, and since I have been feeling large and in-charge recently, I definitely needed the self-esteem boost!

We headed out to Short Pump Town Center, the NICE mall, in the west end of Richmond, and just walked around for a little bit, the mall is outside so its perfect to stroll around on a nice day. My fiance suggested that we eat at Bakers Crust, so naturally I agreed. As we walked in, I noticed my parents, and all of my really close girlfriends were there seated at a table! It was a total surprise! My birthday is Tuesday, so my fiance planned a nice surprise lunch with my friends and parents! How awesome is that? I was totally surprised, and had no clue....I actually cried! Damn these hormones! But in all seriousness, it was perfect. It was so sweet and thoughtful, and made me realize why I have the best fiance in the world!

I have so much going on this week, and I LOVE it that way! I'm so anxious about my due date getting here, that I welcome any sort of distractions that help the weeks go by faster! Tonight, me, my dad, and fiance are going to the CAA Championship game! My alma-mater Virginia Commonwealth University battles George Mason tonight for a shot at the NCAA championship title! GO VCU!!
Tomorrow, is my birthday!! I'll be 24 years old (which sounds so old to me, but I still feel like I'm in highshool, and apparently still act like it at times, as well)! I also have to take Oscar to the Vet tomorrow for his 12 week shots. He is using the doggy door like a champion right now! He knows to go outside when he has to poop but is still 50/50 on peeing inside vs. outside...but progress none-the-less! Also, the baby furniture is scheduled to arrive sometime this week, and once that comes, I really feel like I will be able to finish her room! The paint, border, and curtains are already up, but the furniture completes everything! Once I walk in her room and everything is all set up, it is all going to feel so much more real! Wednesday, I'm going out to dinner for my birthday with my fiance's family. Friday I'm having lunch with my mom and one of my mom's best friends, she's a really sweet lady and one of those people who NEVER forgets your birthday or any type of milestone, I'm really looking forward to catching up with her. Then Saturday, I of course, have my 4D ultrasound (my mom is now referring to it as the creepy-baby ultrasound, because she thinks they look weird...haha...she will love the DVD though when she sees it) and a cookout at my parents house afterwards!

Busy, busy, busy, oh and I am officially 32 weeks TOMORROW!!!! Ahhh, I get chills just thinking about how close I am to my due date! I really need to start packing my hospital bag as well, so I think I will work on that this week also! Whew, I'll check back in of course, and let everyone know how things are coming along!

Thank God Its Friday!

2009-03-06T11:03:00.005-05:00

I don't know if I have ever been so happy to see a weekend arrive! Although I took a snow day on Monday, and technically it has been a "short" week, work-wise, I am still ready to enter the first week of March into the books and forget about it!! Every week, I get closer and closer to my due date, and thus my salvation! I no longer sleep, I rest. I can't bend over anymore without feeling like my back is going to snap in half, and the heartburn! I seriously feel I may shoot flames out of my mouth any second!!! To top everything off, I was just informed that I am borderline anemic, so I have to start taking stupid Iron pills until this little girl is born.

I really appreciated the comments about my birthing class, fiasco (you guys are the best)! My birthday is next week, so as a birthday present to myself and a little "pick-me-up" I scheduled a 4D ultrasound session next Saturday the 14th! If you don't know what it is, its a regular ultrasound, but in 4D (obviously) so you can really see the facial features and detail of the baby! At first, I thought the pictures were kind of creepy looking, but I haven't had an ultrasound since I was 20 weeks, and I'm dying to see her again before the delivery!

With all of the excitement about the baby, and being so close to her arrival, I have been completely neglecting my wedding responsibilities. Nothing like a mini-panic attack to snap you back into reality. This morning I recieved an e-mail from I. who is the secretary, or whatever, for St. Benedict's Church (where I will be getting married ). The e-mail was written in a fairly mean tone, which totally threw me off....I mean, she works for a church! She claims, she has never recieved a letter from the priest who will be conducting our nuptials, and without the letter, she can't hold our wedding date on her calendar!! WTF!

Of course I frantically call my fiance, and yell at him to fix this problem immediately (as if it is his fault to begin with)! To my astonishment, about a half-hour later, fiance calls me back and calmly states that he has taken care of everything! He talked to I. at St. Benedicts, and our priest, and even went ahead and registered us for our marraige-class retreat that we are REQUIRED to take!

SIDENOTE: We are being FORCED (against our will) to take this stupid marriage class! It's required by the catholic church, it's called The Engaged Encounter. Before you can be married in the church, you have to go on this weekend retreat! We actually have to stay at the abbey ALL weekend, spend the night there, and take stupid marriage preparation classes! As if, thats not enough of a hassel....we have to PAY money for this torture...$273 to be exact! That's a lot of money to pay, for something I am absolutely DREADING to do! How can the catholic church make a $273 weekend retreat MANDATORY??? These catholics are crazy! Sometimes, I don't know why I am so devoted to them! Anyways, I've done all I know how to do to get out of this retreat! I mean, I'm pregnant, I don't want to go to some stupid retreat! I'm not against taking the classes, but why can't we just go to some marriage prep classes one night a week? I'll tell you why, because that makes too much sense! Our priest, is way too old and set in his ways as well.....the compromise, we can do the retreat AFTER we have the baby. Shit.

Anyways, fiance even called and booked the photographer, which I've been nagging at him forever to do! I think fiance is so scared of my hormonal outbursts right now that he is trying super hard to be more accomodating than he usually is!! So, mini-panic attack aside, now all that is left is to book the flowers, the cake company, find invitations and save-the-dates! Oh and the rehearsal dinner site, which technically the grooms family is responsible for....although his side IS paying for the dinner, his mom has been blowing up my phone about ME calling and scheduling places to look at! I have enough to do with my time, if SHE has the time to pick up a phone and call ME, then she has the time to call and schedule places to look at! I swear, my anxiety never ends!! On a less stressful note, I DID decide on my bridesmaid dresses!!! My colors are officially champagne and apple! Apple, is the color the manufacturer of the dresses gave...the red really isn't red like an apple though, its much deeper like a semi-crimson. Anyways its going to be beautiful, and I'll try to post some pictures of the bridesmaid dresses! I know EVERY bride says this, but the dresses REALLY did look good on everyone!!!

Anyways, I'm gonna take a breather, I'm loving this weather (it snowed last weekend, but it's in the 60's right now! so wierd), but hating that I'm huge and pregnant and can't fit into any cute spring/summer stuff! Uggh, it's always something!

War of the Roses

2009-03-05T14:21:00.003-05:00

I feel like I have so much to rant about today! Here it goes....

En route to work this morning I was listening to a local radio station (Q94) morning show. They have this segment called "War of the Roses." Basically someone calls into the radio station because they have a suspicion that their significant other is cheating on them. The radio station calls the suspected cheater on the telephone, claiming they are a newly opened flower shop in town and would like to offer him a dozen complimentary roses- no strings attached (right). So obviously if the suspected cheater sends these freebie roses to their significant other then all is good in the world, BUT if they say they would like to send the roses to some one else, then they are totally busted! This morning's star-crossed lovers were Liz and Ian. Liz phoned the radio station, claiming Ian has been distant lately. Liz and a bunch of her girlfriends went out for drinks and got sauced, as Liz began to drunken-babble about how her relationship wasn't what it use to be, her girlfriends immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ian MUST be cheating on her, and as (most of us have done) planned a super secret mission to go steakout Ian's house!

So Liz, and posse of girlfriends, camp out across the street from Ian's house and notice an unfamiliar car parked in his driveway! SIDENOTE: Now, I can be irrational and a little jealous at times, and I know that if I were in Liz's situation, I would have marched up to Ian's house, threw open the door and if there was a unfamiliar girl in his place, I would have thrown a huge fit and demand an explanation! I mean, these girls were all drinking, so if it turned out to be nothing, they could have always blamed it on "the drink".

BACK TO THE STORY: Liz calls Ian, and tells him that her and her posse called it an early night, she's in the neighborhood and wants to stop by. Liz tells the radio hosts and all of its listeners that Ian seems flustered and short on the phone, but told her okay. THEN, a girl quickley leaves Ian's house, gets into the unfamiliar car and vanishes! Liz shows up at Ian's a few moments later (even though she's really been hiding out in her friends car, across the street)! Again, I would have thrown a huge tantrum, but Liz says she did not bring it up to Ian, which is why she is calling the radio station this morning to participate in the "War of the Roses" segment. So, the radio station calls Ian (disguised as a florist, of course) and sells the pitch. Ian calmly says, "Of course, sure I'd love to send someone flowers, make the card out to Liz." Yay! All is right in the world! But not so fast! The radio host pokes Ian further....

"Oh Liz? Is that your girlfriend?"

"Yes"

"How cute, is it her birthday or some sort of special occasion"

"Umm, no, you know, I just think it would be a good time to send her some roses, you know since I almost got "caught" last night" ( He actually said this to a florist! Well, what he thinks is a florist anyways)! What an idiot...the radiohost, naturally, jumps all over this!

"Caught? Oh my goodness! What do you mean caught? So you were cheating on her?"

"Well you know, I mean, I was with another girl, you know how it is" (Really? Who gets this personal with a flower company)?

By this time, Liz has jumped on the line..." You ass! I can't believe you, I knew it, I knew it!"

This is where it gets sad. I began to feel so dirty and guilty as I listened to this poor girl, who was obviously hurting, yell at her douch-bag of a boyfriend. I felt like I should not be listening to any of this, but I couldn't help it, there was no way I could turn the radio off! By the way, I'm at work at this point, sitting in my car, in the parking lot, because I HAVE to find out what is going to happen with Liz and Ian...and I have to tell him exactly what a jerk he is, as if he can hear me through the radio!
The super sad part, is that Ian (typical guy) totally turns the whole thing around on Liz, and tells her that HE doesn't think they can be together anymore because she has no trust in their relationship! Ian also tells her, that he never admitted to cheating on her with this mystery girl, and the reason he didn't tell Liz about mystery girl was because he knows how jealous Liz can get, and wanted to avoid a fight! Can you believe this slimeball?? Poor Liz, totally confused about how quickley the tables have turned, starts apologizing to this asshole and begging him not to break up with her!

You can't make this stuff up!

To the credit of the radio hosts, they put Ian on hold and basically told Liz, that she was crazy for letting Ian manipulate the situation like that! If mystery girl had been just "a friend" then she wouldn't have left so hastily when Ian found out Liz was on her way over. Liz seemed to slowly start to understand that Ian is a user and abuser, and that she should stick up for herself! This is the point when the station takes commercial breaks, so I quickly get out of my car and run inside to my office so I can pick the station back up without missing a beat.

I was not so lucky. Basically one of my employees intercepted me, with a crisis. Needless, to say when I got back to my radio, Liz and Ian were long gone! Damn. I, naturally, went to the radio website to try and get some info but couldn't find anything...it did however, say that the show checks back in with updates on each couple, one week after their segment aired....March 12th can't come soon enough!

Not that my words will reach either one of these people, but I would just like to tell Liz, be strong! Don't let Ian walk all over you! And, Ian, you suck, Liz seems like a nice girl, and you do NOT seem like a nice boy! Ugggh...I hate the Ian's of the world!

TOPIC CHANGE!

Last night, I had my first childbirthing class! It's called Confident Childbirth, and is taught at Bon Secours Hospitals. My class was at St. Francis Hospital...which is most definitely WAY out of my way! But me and my fiance made the hike, excited to learn all about the wonderful experince that is, labor and delivery (insert sarcasm here). This hospital is crazy! I felt like I was pulling up to a Las Vegas Casino, inside the floors are marble, they have fountains, gift shops, black jack tables (just kidding) it was quite swanky though. Our class consisted of 8 other couples and we all introduced ourselves...I wish I had done the talking instead of my fiance. Not that it's that big of a deal ( I mean it's 2009) but I probably would have introduced my fiance to the group by his name, NOT as my fiance (which is how he introduced me). We were the only non-married couple in the class, and although it shouldn't matter, I felt like everyone was secretly judging me with their eyes....I know what they were thinking: "Oh, sad, they're engaged. They're engaged because they HAD to get married." NOT TRUE! We have been talking about marraige for a long time, and while the unexpected conception of this child probably moved him to pop the question a bit sooner, the question was honestly only moved up by a few months! Whatever, I know I shouldn't care, I'm not ashamed AT ALL, this baby was a surprise, but that's how I chose to live my life, by letting life just happen.

Anyways, so I'm uncomfortable right off the bat. Now I have to sit through 2 hours of looking at diagrams of the human body and what the inside of my body looks like right now (not too pretty), stages of labor, signs of false/early labor, what to do when you start to have contractions...blah blah blah.

The most interesting part of the evening was when the instructor asked the class "Do you know where your cervix is located"

I'll be honest, I didn't know the answer to that question, until I got pregnant and started reading books...I mean why would I have ever needed to know anything about my cervix before? My doctor handles all that stuff!

At the end of the class, we all layed down on these mats, and she led us through a relaxation exercise, complete with weird music and her trying to take us on a visual adventure to the beach. My fiance and I layed on our mats, cracking up and giggling like we were back in kindergarten...she even threatened to separate us!

A little too earthy-crunchy for my taste! I don't know if we will be going back or not, the jury is still out. Women have been giving birth for hundreds of years, so I'm sure when it is my time, some sort of natural instinct will kick in, right? Whatever, I'm going to do some research into some other NORMAL classes that are maybe offered around town.

Most useful info I took from the class: You shouldn't get your epidural before you've dialated 4 cm. So the number 4 is now my new lucky number!

***New layout on the blog, hope everyone likes it!***

Doctors and Apples

2009-03-04T11:59:00.006-05:00

Okay...so I am a huge fan of "The Real Housewives" show! Orange County was originally my favorite, but New York City is hands-down the best! New York is in their second season, Tuesday nights, Bravo, 10 p.m....check it out!

I think the reason I love NYC so much, is the drama, of course! These women are crazy and I love every second of it! My fiance also loves this show, and freaks out every week when he realizes it's Tuesday....interesting, huh? I figured, I would break down all the characters and give a synopsis of why I like or dislike them ( I mean, what else am I going to do at work)?

Bethenney: My FAVORITE! She is basically the comic-relief of the show...she calls it, like she sees it! This season, she seems to be newly single, which is cool, because she is one of those women that definitely is doing just fine on her own! She has her own line of natural foods, and apparently is an amazing chef (I've never sampled her work). She seems to be friends with all of the women on the show, but definitely has no problem calling them out when they need to be. Love it!

Jill: Jill and Bethenney are especially tight. Jill is a classic NYC jew, and I say that, with TOTAL affection (as I am marrying into a Jewish family, I have come to love and enjoy their quirky, loving, all-knowing behavior)! Jill tries to take care of everyone, she's the typical 'mom' figure. But don't be decieved, she can strike at any moment...you don't want to be on her bad side either...she holds grudges.

Ramona: Ramona is the fire-cracker of the show! At times, she seems so socially awkward...she says whatever pops into her mind, and has absolutely no filtering system whatsoever! Example: Last night's episode, she was trying to tell the blind Governor of NYC that she was probably more blind than he was? Really? Really. Although, Ramona sometimes makes me cringe and hide my face in embarrassment, I sometimes really admire her straight-forward, and sometimes, abrasive honesty. She stands up for what she believes in, and doesn't apologize to anyone for the person she is.

Alex: One word, wierd. Alex and her husband Simon, are quite possibly the oddest couple I have ever encountered (on TV, that is). Some of the other women refer to the duo as Silex. They are two separate people, but are so awkwardly obsessed with eachother that one really does need to refer to them as one entity. Their situation is very different from everyone else's, they don't seem like they are in the same "wealthy" circle as some of the other women (not that there is anything wrong with that) but they still portray themselves as a very ritzy, too-good-for-you, type of couple. They basically make my skin crawl, they are total posers! I felt somewhat sorry for Alex last season, but not anymore...she honestly thinks there is nothing wrong with her speedo-wearing, creepy husband! He looks like a sexual predator! (I'm just being honest)

LuAnne: LuAnne is a countess, and never lets you forget it! She is totally stuck on herself, and definitely thinks she is better than EVERYONE! Her own children seem to prefer the nice and sweet housekeeper, Rosie, to that of their mother. She is "writing" a book about etiquette, and quite frankly she needs to acquire some! Money does not buy class, she is rude and annoying, and if I ever met her in "real-life" I would probably punch her in her fake face! This is America, no one cares if you married a Count...get over yourself!

Kelly: Can we say SNOB?!! Kelly and LuAnne fit together perfectly! They are both stuck-up and way to stuck on themselves! Kelly is the newbie of the season, and her storyline is so boring! She's a former model, and an attention-whore! Wherever she goes, she expects everyone to fall all over her because she is so gorgeous, and so rich, and THE socialite. She looks like a man (everyone is thinking it, I'm just saying it) and has absolutely no manners. Again, get over yourself, you are passed your prime, not attractive, and no one cares who you "used" to be....If I ever met her, I would probably want to punch her as well!

Anyways....it is one sweet show, and everyone should watch and enjoy it!

On a more personal note, I had a doctor's appointment this morning...everything is moving along perfectly! I have my FIRST child birth class tonight! It's a month-long class, one night a week. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be interesting!

2009-03-04T09:09:00.007-05:00

Lady and Oscar! She literally ran like hell to the front door after I took this picture...she hated the snow!

OSCAR!!! As he walked, he kept sinking lower and lower into the snow!

Playing in the snow is exhausting! He really does sleep on his back like this, all the time!!!

Snuggled up on mom's belly, after her "traumatic" snow experience!

Am I covered?

2009-03-03T20:21:00.002-05:00

SOOOOOO MAD!!!!

I LOST MY BLACKBERRY! I should have never written a post about how I can't live without my blackberry, and I should have never counted on my phone as a safe-house for all of my precious pictures from my snow day!

I just don't know what happened! I've back-tracked every step I took today (which honestly, wasn't that many)! Not at the office, not at home, not in my disgustingly-filthy car (although I did find my missing rainboot and a french fry from last week's run to Wendy's). My only guess, is that it must have fallen out of my car when I was getting out....which ultimately means that my blackberry is sitting outside in wet snow....fabulous.

So, I just spent an hour at Verizon, begging and totally playing the pregnancy card (woa, is me) for a new phone...I just CAN'T wait 24 hours for my insured replacement to arrive via mail. All I can say, is Tranae (I hope I spelled her name right) in customer service, is a total LIFE-SAVER! Not only did she hook me up with a phone, but I got an upgrade! I use to have the curve and now I have the storm! Although, as I am playing around with it, I'm not sure if I got a sweet deal or not, the keyboard on the touchscreen is a pain in the ass!

Anyways, luckily I e-mailed a few of the pics I had on my old blackberry (before I lost it, obviously) so I have a few pics from my snow day I can post. 'm still super sad about the ones I'll never get back though, and of course, about all the numbers and contact info I have to input into my NEW phone....uggh, such a hassel!

This just in: East coast storm devastates house-training efforts of thousands of dog owners!

2009-03-03T11:24:00.003-05:00

The ice-man cometh and conquered Richmond, Virginia!

This was the sight out of my family room window Monday morning, EVERYTHING was frozen! We officially got about 7 inches of snow/sleet where I live, but some people in the Greater Richmond Area saw 12 inches!!! It's the biggest storm we've had in about a decade!

As I woke up Monday morning, I immediately was thankful that our power had not gone out! Then my mind wandered on, to the more important issues....hot chocolate and snow angels! I might as well be 5 years old all over again! My fiance and I were giddy with excitement as we threw the dogs outside (against their will, I might add) and promptly began dancing around in the front yard, throwing up snow and hollering like insane people! We found an undisturbed area of the yard and threw ourselves backwards and began flapping our arms frantically....the result, were pretty bad-ass looking snow angels, if I do say so myself! As with anything in life, once we had accomplished our goal, things started getting old....real fast. It took me about 10 minutes, to wiggle and maneuver my unbalanced body (thanks to my enormous stomach) back to my feet. The dogs were huddled at the door, over the snow and ready to be inside! Much to Oscar's credit though, he did do a bit of frolicking and even peed (what a good boy)! Lady however, would not even go to the bathroom outside, in fact she would not even come off of the front porch ( I guess you really CAN'T teach an old dog new tricks)!! She was, quite frankly, disgusted with the snow, and quite pissed off at how me and my fiance were conducting ourselves ( I hate it when she gives me that "I'm judging you" stare)!

We came inside to our toasty-warm house, and basically hybernated for the rest of the day. What is it about snow that makes one so sleepy! Even the dogs, who didn't even hardly participate in the outside festivities were completely exhausted! My day was interrupted briefly when my future mother-in-law camped out at our house until her power was fixed (sigh). BUT, to her credit, the second that power was restored, she was back at her own casa!

As the day came to a close, it was bitter-sweet...the snow would still be here, but it was back to work....(which is where I am creating this post...tough job, huh)? When I woke up today, I was greeted with quite the surprise....a big pile of dog poop in my kitchen! It took me a second to put it all together....Oscar was in his crate (which as I've stated before, I hate) so how could he have pooped outside of his crate, in the kitchen? We have a doggie-door installed which leads to our back yard, Lady is an expert at using this, and since she IS completely house-trained she is NOT crated, and can come and go, in and out of the doggie-door as she pleases. So, why then, is she suddenly boycotting the key to her free-roam around the house? Drum roll please.....you guessed it! The SNOW!!!! The glorious, wonderful, haven't seen anything-like-it, in over a decade, snow. My 5 year old boston terrier is incapable of battling the freezing temperatures and icy coolness of the 7 inches of snow against her body, as she goes outside to do her "business", the alternative: the toasty-warmness environment of the kitchen! She even did her "business" next to Oscar's crate....I wonder if she seriously thought, we would think that HE was the culprit, not her???

Pictures as promised? I DID take pictures, but, I had to take them on my blackberry, since I've conveniently "misplaced" the charger to my camera....soooo I will be posting pictures as soon as I can!

Oscar's First Snow!

2009-03-01T19:35:00.002-05:00

THE SNOW HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!

I can not even tell you the last time Richmond, Virginia has gotten a good "shut everything down" kind of snow. Yesterday was filled with rain, and today those saavy weather forecasters hinted that something white and wet might be on the way, but they originally said we probably wouldn't see any activity until about 9 p.m.

I VERY bravely went to the grocery store around noon to stock up on the essential "snow day" items: chili, hot chocolate, milk, bread, sandwich staples, soups, and all kinds of snack food. By 3 p.m. the rain had turned to sleet and by 5 p.m. the snow had arrived! It hasn't stopped since. It's beautiful outside...the snow has covered everything, the grass, the bushes, the cars, the streets, the scary electrical wires outside of my house (praying we don't lose electricity)! The white snow is so beautiful, I even struggled for a brief moment about whether I should string some christmas lights up on the trees outside!! Anyways, my fiance and I immediately took the dogs outside to play in the wintery wonderful-ness! Oscar has never experienced snow before, so it was fun to see him exploring, and licking and smelling the snow!

I've already called to inform all of my employees to enjoy the snow tomorrow and don't bother treading and shoveling their cars out to make it to work because I for one am definitely taking and enjoying a SNOW DAY!!!

I hope to take a lot of pictures of the snow and the dogs and will hopefully be posting them tomorrow!

I love the smell of lemon scented Clorox disinfectant wipes in the morning

2009-02-28T22:09:00.004-05:00

Richmond, Virginia has been swamped this Saturday with rain. I LOVE rainy days! I got to stay snuggled under my comfy sheets until 10 a.m. this morning, because it's impossible to feel guilty for sleeping-in when it's dark and gloomy outside! I would normally spend my day in my pj's, camp out on my couch and probably watch old movies and pig-out on junk food...you know, the normal Rainy Saturday ritual for anyone!

Not today though. Yes, I took full advantage of sleeping-in, but woke up with a plan! My fiance and I moved into our new home this December, we are still "moving in". Organizing a new house, and getting the nursery ready for our baby is basically like having another full time job. It is impossible to keep our house clean and I don't know why. We both work all day, 5 days a week, no one is home while we are at work messing up our house, but for some reason it's so hard to keep up with laundry and dishes, and finding the proper place for all the stuff that clutters up a house.

I've never considered myself a "neat freak," but since we have moved into our new home and I've been pregnant, I am definitely starting to consider myself one. This sounds weird, but I love to clean! Today I went to the store and totally stocked up on the essentials: laundry/dish detergent, swiffer dusters, refills for my swiffer wetjet, and my all time fav cleaning product.....the lemon scented clorox disinfectant wipes!!! I went to town today on my house! I cleaned like I have never cleaned before, I actually caught up on laundry, I scrubbed (well...swiffered) the floors, dusted, and even put the blue toilet bowl cleaner stuff in my toilets! I am so proud of myself!

It may sound silly, but I really feel like I accomplished something! I was so happy to have a nice, clean house. I absolutely love the smell of lemony disinfectant cleanliness and with the new puppy, my house definitely needed the deep cleaning! My mom jokes that my "nesting" instinct has kicked in, which apparently happens to pregnant women. The "nesting" instinct is when pregnant women frantically clean/organize everything, because they want everything to be safe/clean for their baby's arrival. This may be true, because as I stated, I have never been a "neat freak" before. I hope this cleaning streak stays with me though, because I really love having the blue toilet water, the hard wood floors sparkle, and of course that lemony goodness smell throughout the house!

Cocktails Shmocktails

2009-02-27T17:58:00.004-05:00

It's Friday night, and my fat pregnant butt is lounging on my couch at home watching Paula Deen. Of course her entire show would be devoted to tropical recipes like, coconut shrimp, lime souffle and pina coladas.

I want an effing pina colada soooooo bad, and now that I have the idea of a pina colada in my head, my mind is wandering to all of my pre-pregnancy fav drinks like an ice cold Miller Lite, a bourbon and ginger, and a super spicy bloody mary! Damn you Paula Deen.

The no alcohol thing hasn't been as bad as I though it would be, but sometimes you just miss being able to poor that glass of wine on Christmas Eve as your gazing at your beautiful tree, or cracking open that beer bottle at the end of a hard day.

What is a girl to do? GOOGLE!!! http://babycenter.com has all kinds of cute recipes for pregnancy cocktails like a white sangria (which sounds super good)! Also, I found this awesome blog maternitystyle.typepad.com which has all kinds of great resources for all of us preggers who are out there, from mocktails to nursing bras to the best stylish coats to wear with our growing belly's!!! Check it out, I'll be perfecting my non-alcoholic champagne recipe for the rest of the evening!!

Ask the Boss

2009-02-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

Technology has completely revolutionized the workplace! There are many aspects I love about this, and many aspects I hate! For example: Landline telephones are basically obsolete! Do you know how hard it is to get in touch with someone on a landline! Most of the time my work colleagues don't even bother calling the "business" number but call my personal cell first! This is the same with my employees...

I'll ask "Did you get in touch with such and such about that thing?" Employee " I e-mailed them, and am waiting on a response" Me " Oh, why didn't you call them" Employee " Well, everyone has a blackberry, so they get their e-mails on their cell phone, its kind of the same as calling.".......sigh.

Disclaimer: I would just like to state that I am 23 years old! I am not 50, struggling with growing technology and reminiscing about how things were done in the "old days". I own a blackberry, and I love it, and quite honestly I probably could not live without it, HOWEVER, I am not afraid to actually call someone and have an actual verbal conversation over the phone! Technology has in many ways taken away the social art of verbal communication, many people my age don't even know how to carry on a conversation, and why should they with e-mail, and text messages?? The convenience of technology has completely begun to hinder a whole generation of people....side note: My cousin is 12 and she has no idea how to use a phone book, "What's the purpose of a book, can't I just look it up online?" I rest my case.

I am the oldest 23 year old I know when it comes to business etiquette on the telephone. This probably comes from working for my dad in highschool....my dad, who has owned his own business since 1977 and IS in his 50's and DOES reminisce about the "old days" drilled it into my head about proper etiquette when answering the phone, directing calls, calling people, and keeping immaculate paper records on EVERYTHING! Some of my employees, don't even understand the concept of printing things OFF the computer onto PAPER...I mean you can open documents on your blackberry, what's the point of carrying a hundred pieces of paper around when you can just pull up what you need on your phone, which is always attached to your hip anyway, right??

So, I keep calling people I need to "talk" to and I keep printing out things just so I can file them away in these crazy tower things called file cabinets, and my employees keep looking at me like I am totally out of touch and probably from another planet! Whatever.

If you take anything away from this post, let it be this:

Technology is great, Blackberry's are wonderful, but however great the two are, it is NEVER EVER okay to TEXT MESSAGE your boss to inform them that you are sick and will not be coming into work! I don't care if advances in technology have completely melted your social/telephone skills (which they probably have), pick up the telephone and CALL your employer!!!

The Newest Addition

2009-02-26T11:17:00.002-05:00

Sunday February 8,2009, my fiance, 2 turtles, and sweet boston terrier welcomed the newest addition to our family...Oscar Blue!!! He is an English Bulldog and was 8 weeks old when we brought him home! He is already so much bigger than he is in this picture!

The title of the blog is obviously a shout-out to my "little man". I have wanted a bulldog for as long as I can remember, and as an early Valentine's Day present, my fiance surprised me with the furry ball of cuteness pictured above!! We also have a 5 year old Boston Terrier named Lady (we kind of have a weakness for dogs with smooshed in faces)!!! I was worried how Lady would react to Oscar, she is famous for being very territorial and does not like other dogs, she welcomed him home much better than I expected (thank goodness)!! I think she recognized right off the bat that he was a puppy and needed lots of love and cuddling!!

We are currently crate-training him until he is house broken, which is so hard! I hate putting him in the crate, and I don't care how many people tell me "oh, dogs who have crates end up loving them"! I will never like them, I feel guilty everytime I have to put him in there. House-training is much harder than I originally thought it would be, but he is progressing more and more everyday, and I think it helps that Lady is around....she "tells" him whats up and I swear, she gives him a scolding look when he has accidents in the house!!!

A little bit more about my life, my fiance and I own/run our own business in the Fan area of Richmond, Virginia. Being a small business owner is fun, challenging, hard, and rewarding! As if I do not have enough on my plate right now, I am also 30 weeks pregnant with my first child, a little girl! The past few months have been a rollercoaster ride of shock, excitement, anxiousness, and some of the most happiest times of my life! This little girl was a little bit of a suprise, hence why I am having baby showers BEFORE I'm having bridal showers! But oh well, I enjoy a certain level of spontaneity in my life, and love the excitement of unplanned joys creeping their way into existence! My wedding is planned for next winter, and the baby is due in May, so this year will probably end up being one of the most stressful/happiest/eventful ones of my life!

I look forward to blogging more about the experiences I will be having and the joys of becoming a wife, and a mother to a "human" baby, since I am already mom to 2 adorable "furry" children, oh yea, and 2 reptilian children. I am living in an extremely full house!!!