14 posts tagged “weekend”

That's what I feel like. With stuffing too. I am getting BIG. And uncomfortable. And did I mention BIG? It seems like I have really popped over the last week or so and I'm starting to really feel like I'm pretty much done with being pregnant. I guess this is a good thing because I will be done soon. Of course, I have some mixed feelings about not having BabyB in there with me all the time but I think I am starting to feel more ready for her to make her appearance. Everything now is pretty cumbersome. It's hard to shower (well, at least to wash the bottoms of my legs and my feet), it's hard to get dressed, it's hard to get bowls out of the cupboards (too much belly in the way), it's hard to get in/out of the car, hard to walk from the parking lot into work, hard to make dinner, hard to sit, hard to lie down, and really hard to sleep. So, yes, pretty much everything is hard now!

I had another ultrasound to check weight on Monday. She's now estimated at 7lbs 3oz. Of course, they did tell me this could be a pound off either way. I'm hoping for the smaller side instead of the larger! I saw my doc yesterday and she is still not worried about BabyB getting too big. She's growing at a fine pace apparently and my amniotic fluid level is still fine too. So, here I wait. I didn't have an internal so I don't know what's going on down there but I do have a pelvic scheduled for my next appt next week. We'll see then if I'm progressing at all. I have been having more contraction like feelings lately. Nothing regular, though, and nothing sustained. It's more like uncomfortable period cramps and my uterus gets really tight. It gives me the goosebumps! Anyway, enough about that as there's really not much to report.

The weekend was good and busy again. Friday night I did just stay home and veg out. That was pretty nice because Saturday was a whirlwind. Sarah came over in the morning and she and Brad got the dresser together and then we all worked on getting BabyB's room put together. It is now officially done and I think it is perfect for us. It's not super babied out but it sure is cute, I think. After working in there all day Brad and I went and picked up Alyssa and headed to the Counting Crows concert. It was a lot of fun especially because it was Aly's first concert and all. She was totally pumped when we dropped her off back at my mom's. I was like, "see ya!" and mom was like, "thanks a lot!." We were starving so we stopped at a local drive in before heading home. I don't think we got to bed until 12:30 and that is just waaaay too late for me at this point. I laid in bed and groaned for a half hour before Brad came to bed and rubbed my back and belly and helped put me to sleep. Sunday I stayed in bed until 9:30 and then we got up and continued to try to get the house in order. It is just out of control! But, at least the baby's room and the kitchen are pretty much taken care of. The other stuff can fall into place. I would, however, like to get our bedroom looking a bit better as we still have to get the pack n play up in there for BabyB to sleep in for a while after we come home. I took the day off on Monday and ran a bunch of errands and cleaned. I finally made it to the hospital to pre-register so now when/if I go into labor I can just head right up to L&D and don't have to stop anywhere first. 6-9 on Monday was our last birthing class. I can say that I'm glad we did the classes. It really made me see that the medical folks are not just into pitocin, c-sections, epidurals, and formula. We had really great, practical nurses running our classes. And, one had had a baby 9 months ago so she could tell us things from her experience which was really helpful to me.

So last night I was in the baby's room putting away some things I'd just washed when the cat comes in, meows at me, and then proceeds to jump right in the bouncy seat! It actually was rather amusing. Brad turned on the vibration to scare her but she just settled in even more! I had to then wise up and put something in it so she won't sit in it all the time while we're not home. Punk!

I think BabyB must have the biggest butt a baby has been known to have. She hikes that thing up right under my sternum and lets it stick on out and it HURTS! It's always just on the right side of my belly and I now have a permanent sore spot there. It is especially bad at night when I am trying to sleep. Because I have to sleep on my left side, the gravitational pull makes it such that she sticks it out even more. I now have to get out of bed about twice a night and either walk or sit and rub my belly trying to convince her to move it. Unfortunately, she must also be a sound sleeper because it takes about a half hour before I can noodle her into moving. I will be glad when I don't have to feel that anymore.

Otherwise, things are moving along as they have been for quite some time. I have another ultrasound scheduled for Monday where they will once again try to estimate weight. So far, though, my doc says I still have a good shot at going vaginally. She says I am measuring well and keeping my weight down has been good for me too. I went today and am happy to report that I have still not crossed the 20lb threshold. I am certain, though, that I probably will next week. Some women taper off at this point but I find myself hungrier now than I've ever been during the pregnancy. Strange, but I'm not going to fight it at this point. I still try to just eat sensibly. First I eat my orange and THEN I eat a sleeve of Oreos :) ha ha. Baby's heart rate is still good, between 128-136 today, and she is still pretty active in there considering she doesn't have much room to move anymore (except for the butt apparently!).

We had the 2nd of our childbirthing classes last night. They are actually turning out to be fairly useful but I wish they didn't go so darn late. Last night we had a tour of the birthing floor and by the time we left to go home it was already 9:15. That is just too late for me. We didn't get home until close to 10. I did take the morning off from work, though, and just came in after my dr. appt. which does help a bit. Anyway, the last class is next week and I think I'll actually make it. At first I was afraid I would go early and not get all of the classes in but now I don't think she's coming any time soon. I also went to a breastfeeding class last Thursday night. That was really interesting and helpful and I feel a bit more prepared now for what lies ahead in that realm. Brad wondered if he should go to that with me too but I let him off the hook. He is so kind and concerned and caring, I love it.

The weekend was another whirlwind. Saturday we wound up going back down to Shaumburg to go to IKEA and get a dresser that Dandy and I had looked at. Brad had never been there before so we had to look around a bit. We also wound up getting 2 sinks for the bathroom. We also made trips to Babies R Us and to CostCo so by the time we got home about 7:30pm, I was pretty much useless. Sunday morning I had to teach my class again at church and then I had to get over to Brad's mom's house. Brad's cousin, Laura (from Ft. Pierce), was in town so we spent the day with her over there. There is still so much to get done at home before BabyB arrives, I need to tone down my weekends! At least my mom came over last Thursday (I took the day off) and we got the entire kitchen scrubbed down and tidied up. And, I think Sarah will come over Friday night and help Brad get the baby's room together.

This weekend promises to be busy, too. First is trying to get the house in order and then on Saturday night we are going to go to the Counting Crows concert. Yes, I am crazy. I'm just hoping people in the crowd will take pity on me and let me sit where ever I please :)

In the rest department, I have worked it out to where I work no more than 4 days at week anymore. Next week, I only work 3. Now let's just hope I can use the time to balance out resting and getting my house in order!

Holy cow am I tired. Beat. Whipped. Exhausted. I just want to go home and lie on my couch and sleep but instead I'll be here at work until 5 and then have to quick get something to eat and head to the hospital for a childbirth class. It goes from 6-9, gack! This means we won't be home until about quarter to 10 and then I'm supposed to get up at 6:30 and get ready to head back to work. Ummm, maybe not. I think perhaps I will take the morning off tomorrow. I have another Dr. appointment at noon so I think I'll come in after that.

My weekend was, once again, exhausting. I feel like a broken record because I can't seem to say anything else but it really is true. Friday night I actually felt pretty good. I got home and took a quick nap and then Brad got home and went and picked up Sarah and headed out for Mexican food. Afterwards we went and Brad helped Sarah set up tables and whatnot for the shower on Saturday. We didn't get home until after 10 but I still felt pretty good. It's been a long time since I had felt that way!

Saturday was the shower. In the morning I prepped some for the class I had to teach on Sunday morning but we headed out to the shower by noon. It was really lovely. I'm glad it was the last shower because it was def set up perfectly and now I have the nice memory of it to hold me through. Sarah had decorated everything so pretty and there were fresh tulips on the tables and pretty candles glowing everywhere. She had taken some maternity shots of me and Brad a few weeks ago and had a couple of them blown up and on display. I am in love with them! We look really happy in them. She and Nancy got everyone to "wear pink for BabyB" so everyone was in pink. That was pretty cute too. The food was great, they actually hired a chef! And, of course, I got some really nice presents again. The only unfortunate thing is that I now have scads more thank-yous to write! Brad and I didn't wind up getting home until after 8 and then I stayed up until 11 or so getting ready for my class on church music.

Sunday morning was church and then my class. It wound up going really well and the people who came were actually interested in what I had to say....so NOT like teaching library skills to a bunch of undergrads! After that, mom, Alyssa, and I went to lunch and then I went home and moaned for about 3 hours. Everything hurt. Everything! I had a bad case of insomnia on Saturday night (up from 3-5:30) so I didn't get the sleep I needed and I was tired after all the activity of the weekend anyway. I just sat and dozed on the couch and watched the NCAA tournament. I even came in late to work today and stayed in bed until about 9 and yet, I am still dead tired.

I don't think I mentioned that I had another ultrasound on Friday. We just went for an estimation of weight. The tech gave us an estimate of 6lbs 6oz. Considering I still have at least 3 weeks to go, she could get pretty big for me. I'm hoping to hear more from my OB tomorrow as to what she is thinking.....section or vaginal birth. I would really rather go vaginally but I'm not going to be an idiot and try for something that just won't work for me. We'll see, I guess. Unfortunately, after the ultrasound I had a freak out fit. It's almost like seeing her on the screen makes me more nervous and anxious. I was worried that she didn't have a brain, that she does have Down's, that she has a club foot, that she has a cleft palate, you name it, I worried about it. So, after it was over I cried all the way back to work. I have since settled down but WHY do I go to those bad places!??

I just pray she is happy and healthy.....my little BabyB!

I told Brad yesterday that I think BabyB is spelunking inside of me. I imagine her exploring all there is to see in there with a little hat on her head and cave boots. She has just been wild this week! Today she is a little quieter but she also tends to ramp it up a bit nearer to bedtime. I have heard a lot of women say that baby movement would wake them in the night but, so far, I haven't had that problem. At one point yesterday I think she was sleeping and I made a really loud noise and I think I frightened her into waking. She jumped right after I yelled and then she was active again for quite a while. I know that is how it is but it is strange to think a little in utero baby is affected by your noises and movements.

I am finally at the end of a *very* long week. I had 5 classes this week along with countless meetings. I am ready for the week to be over. Unfortunately, though, I have to stay late again to practice with students before their big music competition tomorrow. I think my first accompaniment tomorrow is at 9am in town so I won't be sleeping in or relaxing in the morning. So far my last accompaniment is at 10:30 but I am just certain that someone today will tell me their time is like 1pm or 4pm or something and then I'll blow my entire day. Gack.

Tomorrow night Brad and I were thinking about going to see Corah's (my niece) last basketball game of the season but I will have to wait to see how I feel before committing to spending a couple of hours in a high school gym on bleachers! Although, someone will likely see me and take pity on me and quite possibly give me a folding chair. Sunday is church and then the shower. So, my weekend is already filled up and I'm already tired just thinking about it! I need a day off to simply sit and stare out the window (or maybe at My Redneck Wedding, ha ha).

Did I tell you that my nutcase sister-in-law is pregnant again? This is Brad's older sister and it will be her 5th child! Three with Henry and one with her new husband (her little sister's boyfriend that she stole and then married). I will admit that when I heard the news from my nephew (we don't talk to her, we see the kids through her ex-husband who we just love along with his new wife), I wasn't all that surprised. I think that 1) this child makes it possible for her to sit home and not have to get a job (she is *terrified* of working and her new husband has implied that the youngest kid is getting old enough that she will need to start working soon) 2) this child is an insurance policy for child support (she still is getting support from Henry until Calvin turns 18 in 8 years and now she will be able to get support from Randy when they get divorced which is inevitable because they already have a horrible relationship) and 3) she couldn't stand the thought of Brad and I having a baby and getting attention for it. I know, I am being shallow and crass but this chick is a Froot Loop who is already not a really great mother and who is in an awful relationship and who really has no business having another child. In fact, she has some blood thing that gets worse for every subsequent pregnancy and her last 2 children suffered because of it. I just really can't stand the thought of her at this point. Corah will have a brother or sister that is 17 years younger than her! Not that that is a horrible thing or anything but Sue can't really take care of the kids she already has. She is one of those types that masks everything in God and church and crap and how wonderful her life is who is really just miserable. *sigh* Enough about that.

Lastly, my pet peeve of the day. When I was coming to work today and getting on the freeway I was behind a person who was going approx. 35mph. Hello, dude, you are getting on the interstate, time to step on it! Anyway, he continued at pretty much that speed and I high tailed it around him really quick so I didn't get stuck behind him in the right lane for eons. Well, I look in my rear view mirror and I see him finally make his way into the right lane and then he all of a sudden veers across the other two lanes of traffic and into the left lane totally cutting off all the people in the left lane (the passing lane, freak!). I just couldn't believe it. And, he stayed there. Traffic is already heavy in the morning and he then successfully blocked out about 20 cars who could now not pass anyone. Needless to say, I was happy that I got around the fool.

We got one thing off our to-do list this weekend. We got our bedroom painted and trimmed and everything back in and all clean and set up. We had just painted it about 2 years ago but neither of us was in love with the color. I was looking for something warm and brown and instead I think we got something that looked more fleshy. It was pretty with the right lighting, but not what either of us had wanted. So, we picked out some new paint and got it all done on Friday night/Saturday. Sarah came on Friday night to help Brad get the wall color up. I just ate Chinese food and then watched TV with my MIL all night. I was so tired I don't think I could've helped. Saturday morning we got up and Brad went to work right away on it. I laid around on the blow up bed in the living room (not pleasant sleeping) until 10:30 and then joined him. We spent a good part of the late morning/early afternoon doing trim. You always think that once you're done with the walls you're almost finished. Until you get to the trim. It's just a pain in the ass. But, we persevered and by about 4pm everything was back in order and our room was freshly painted. The color is a nice, rich cocoa. Much darker than the previous color. I love it.

Unfortunately, even with the walls a great new color, I still slept like crap on Saturday night. I was up every 2 hours just tossing and turning. I can't seem to get comfortable no matter how many pillows I have. Last night I gave up again and took a 1/2 Unisom. At least I slept pretty good. The other bad thing with the sleeping is that my shoulders are terribly sore. I want to sleep on my stomach so badly!

Yesterday we went to church and then to Menards and Lowes to pick up switch plates and look at ceiling fans. After we got home my mom came out and we watched the end of the Packer game and then 3 episodes of ER that I had DVRed ages ago. About 8:30 I completely lost it and puked all over the place. It was a lovely ending to the evening. Gross. I was in bed asleep by 9:45.

So tomorrow is the big ultrasound day. I am just hoping everything looks fine and that my bladder doesn't explode the second they touch me!

Finally! A day at home. I am actually tired from doing to much stuff. I know, try to control your surprise. This from a girl whose normal nights out are Mondays to the grocery store. I haven't posted because I really haven't had much time. And, when I have, I just want to sit and veg out.

Where to start.....well, I played that musical a week ago now. It was the weekend before the 4th. Two performances on Saturday and one on Sunday morning. They all went well and I'm 150 bucks richer. I'll take it. My mom came and brought Alyssa to one of the performances and she just thought it was the best thing ever. That's what's so great about having kids around, their unabashed enthusiasm for life. It made me enjoy the playing a tiny bit too. I miss playing so much. It used to be an everyday occurrence for me but now I really only play when I have something coming up. Oh well, that's the way it all panned out I guess. Anyway, after the Sunday performance, Brad and I headed up to Summerfest. We only planned on staying until about 9 or 10 but we saw some friends there and wound up staying until midnight. I think we went in about 3. It was a looooong day. Of course it was worth it, though. Good food, good music, and great people watching. I think that is the best part. It amazes me what women wear to go out to a music festival by the lake. I'm talking mini skirts and high heels. You are walking around there the entire day. Why on EARTH would you wear high heels. Brad and I have a great time pointing out the "sensible shoes."

On the Friday before that we went to Milwaukee for a gallery opening of one of Brad's old good friends. He hadn't seen him in years. In fact, I had never even met the guy. Anyway, Brad has told me a million stories about him and this guy, Tom. So, we show up and just look around a bit. Tom doesn't recognize Brad because he hasn't seen him with short hair and 10 years. Finally, Brad approaches him and Tom realizes it's him and they're both just like "Hey, Man." "Hey, Man." It was so hilarious. I kept thinking about what a couple of girls would do. We would freak out, start chatting, asking about anything and everything. Drag the person around and introduce them. Etc. etc. In their case, the "Hey, Man." led right to "Do you still play guitar?" and "Are you in a band now." I laughed so hard on the way home. I don't think Brad was nearly as amused as I was. Anyway....

The 4th was HOT. Temperature, I mean. So, we all headed over to Susie's for a cookout. She has a really nice pool and deck and we went swimming and ate and played a lot of pool volleyball. Afterwards, Brad and I went home and showered up before heading in to town to see the fireworks. Of course, they were great! After that we went back to my mom's house to wait for the traffic to ease up (she lives near the lake where they shoot them off) and had root beer floats (a 4th tradition) and lit off some of the fireworks I had bought at a stand near my house. Do they do that in Fla., too? Those little stands are everywhere up here.

On the 5th we went to see The Police at Wrigley in Chicago. It was quite possibly the BEST SHOW EVER. That whole experience warrants a separate post so I'll wait to tell all then. Friday night we finally just stayed home. It felt so good just to order a pizza and watch TV. It's been really hot, too, so you don't feel like doing much else.

Saturday was our anniversary. 7 years on 7-7-07. All those people who got married on 7-7-7 have NOTHING on us. We trump them all. And, I can't imagine too many people shared our 7-7-7-7 because we got married on a Friday and there aren't too many weddings on Fridays it seems. We still had 6 Summerfest tickets so we headed back up there for the day. We spent the entire day there again just going from one stage to another. I love Summerfest. The only bad thing was that it was really crowded (Saturday) and it was boiling hot so there was a lot of sweaty nastiness going on there.

Yesterday, the hottest day of the year so far (I think it got to 95), we went to a surprise party for my oldest friend, Becky. Our moms tell us we have known each other since before birth. We were both due around the same time but I was born two weeks early and she was two weeks late. We had a great time. It was at her parent's house and a bunch of people I hadn't seen in ages were there. At first we all just sat around trying to keep cool but then, at some point, you realize that won't happen so we started playing games....and drinking. Sweating + Drinking = fun at the time and dehydration later :) We came home about 7 and I practically just fell on the floor of heat-induced exhaustion.

Today started out hot again but we have just had some pretty big T-storms roll in so it is cooling off nicely. Of course, I went for a run while it was still hot because I am pretty much a moron. I haven't done anything today really and I don't plan to. I suppose I should rustle something up for dinner....maybe.

I got a long email from a work colleague today where she complained about all the crap there. For now, I'm going to continue to live in my fantasy land where I never have to go back and they keep paying me simply because I'm such a lovely person.

Well, I'm not 100% positive about the cicadas, but I'm about 95% there. We had been talking about how we were so lucky not to have an invasion of the 17yr cicadas that they are experience just one county west of us and in all of the northern suburbs (Chicago). I think we may have spoken too soon. I can hear them. It's like a strange drone sound just in the background all the time. I know it's them because a few weeks ago when Brad and I were in Glencoe and Skokie, I could hear it everywhere.....and see them everywhere too. I've got my eyes peeled for them now but I haven't seen one yet. We have cicadas every year but not this specific type. They come only every 17yrs (as the name so nicely implies!).

Oh Gack! I just looked up and there is a huge wasp on my ceiling. Do you think it I just ignore it it will go away? I do that with nasty bugs sometimes. See a spider? Just turn the light off and leave the room. *sigh* I hate wasps, though. Much more than some dumb little spider. I am certain it will bomb down at any moment and sting the bejeezus out of me. Pifflesticks (Ha ha Dandy, I used it again!).

I am just biding my time before I leave for rehearsal. I don't know how I get myself into these things. I don't want to go. It's for some patriotic concert extravaganza. Pretty much BS but at least I'm getting paid. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for how "into it" some of the people will be while I'll be sitting there thinking about my left toenail which is ever so much more exciting than rehearsal. (Oh no, I've lost visual on the wasp! Where is my fly swatter?)

The weekend was fun and not fun all at the same time. On Friday night we took my nephew, Calvin, to the batting cages with us. That was a lot of fun. We wanted to play mini golf too but it was an hour wait! Yuck. So, we settled for dinner out at a Mexican restaurant. It was so funny to be with Calvin. He is a total crack up. 10 yrs old. Pretty much thte perfect age, I think. Dandelioness, he's the one that I think wanted to date you. Remember!? Hee hee. Afterwards we just took him home and chatted with Henry and Nancy for a while before going home to read a bit. It was getting late but I'm really hooked on that Wages of Sin book so I got a little in on that.

Saturday we went to Susie's to celebrate Calvin's and Stella's birthdays. It was pretty hot outside so we had it there so we could all go in the pool. I think we were in there for hours. We played volleyball and had chicken fights and just generally loafed around. It's nice having those outings for the kids and for us too! (The wasp is behind me now) I ate waaaaay too much, especially of my house special Raspberry Torte. Everyone loves it so I bring it when the raspberries are in season. I forgot to mention that Brad and I spent almost TWO HOURS doing dishes on Saturday morning. I hate that my dishwasher is broken!

Sunday we loafed around some in the morning and then went to Brad's mom's for most of the day. It being Father's Day and her 40th anniversary, it was a pretty hard day for her (Brad's dad died when he was 18). We just hung out and talked and ordered a pizza and sat around. It was hot hot hot again so no one really felt like doing anything anyway. Then came the not fun part of the weekend. About 10pm Brad went outside to bring some water up and one of the steps on the deck gave way and down he went. He got a real bad sprain and some bone chips but nothing officially broken, thank goodness. Needless to say, he is now in a soft brace and on crutches. Not fun for a person who spends all of his free time putzing around the house. I got him to stay home from work yesterday and I was almost going crazy too! We just sat around and watched shows we'd stored up on our DVR. I am totally addicted to house flipping shows right now. No idea why.

Last night I started watching Big Love. I don't have HBO so I had my mom order it for me on her Netflix account. It's pretty entertaining. I can't understand how people can actually live like that. WTF!? Anyway......

Well, I need to go get my stuff in order for rehearsal and I'd better figure out what to do with this wasp before I leave. I don't post within 2 days you'll know it got  the better of me.

Does anyone say piffle sticks anymore? We always said that and heard that when I was younger. Yet, when I google the phrase, I only get 8 measly hits. I think I'm going to start a campaign to bring piffle sticks back to its former usage glory. Starting today, I will make an effort to use the phrase at least once throughout the day. Tomorrow I will save it for our monthly collection development meeting. I'm sure I can fit it in there!

Ok, on the real post. I say piffle sticks because I am finally back to work today. I was off Friday-Wednesday. It pretty much sucked coming back. Too much canned air, too cold, and nothing worthwhile to do. Did I mention I got nominated for a Distinguished Service award again this year? I have no idea how that has happened to me twice now!

My time off was mostly good and, of course, went waaaaay too fast. Friday I spent the entire day weeding my flower beds, prepping my flower beds, running to the nursery to buy plants, and then planting them all. I got a bunch of perennials and some annuals as well. I like to plant my front bed with annuals because it gets so hot out there I would hate to pay the money and then have my perennials die. I only wound up spending 100 bucks so I was pretty happy with that. Friday night I literally couldn't move! I worked so hard during the day that I went to bed before I normally go to bed even on a work night.

Saturday was crappy....cold and rainy. As a result, I called up my mom and we made a marathon trip to CostCo! Brad entertained the thought of going along until I told him to be prepared to wander every single aisle. When I go with my mom, we want to look at it all. Being as cold and rainy as it was and seeing that it was a holiday weekend, the place was jammed. I don't even know how long we were there. Probably hours! I mostly got booze and produce. The liquor is so cheap there I can't stay away from it! I got a bottle of Cliquot for 32 bucks. A total bargain! I bought that for myself for my birthday. Last year I bought the Tattinger but I just like the Cliquot better. Anyway......after we got back from CostCo we just sat around and watched some tv (while it POURED out) until about 4:30 when Brad announced that we were all going out to dinner at my favorite restaurant. It was me and Brad and then my mom, his mom, and Sarah. Of course, it was fabulous. And, I had a few really tasty melon martinis -- yummy. We got home about 9 or so and then Brad and I just played with the Wii until bedtime.

Sunday was church in the morning and then I whipped up a pan of brownies before we headed out to a friend's BBQ. It was a great afternoon (warm and sunny too) hanging out by the pool and just chatting and eating way too much. Afterwards Brad tried to mow the lawn but the riding mower has something wrong with the PTO clutch. This is pure tragedy considering the size of our lawn! I planted some more while he worked on the mower (to no avail).

Monday was the big birthday! It turned out to be a great birthday. We had a family party at Janet's house. I think there wound up being about 20 people there. It was the perfect day outside and we grilled out and played games outside. All the good picnic stuff. The kids were totally entranced once again with the Wii so they were happy to be there too. No whining! I think my 10yr old nephew can't believe his old aunt can beat him at the games on Wii sports. It was pretty funny when I kept winning at tennis and acing him with my power serve :) Anyway, we didn't get home until almost midnight. It really was a great birthday for me.

Tuesday and Wednesday I mostly just dinked around the house. I went for a run with Brad on Wednesday. I'm glad he's joining me again. It's so much more entertaining to go with someone. I also got plenty of exercise push mowing the freakin' lawn! Brad did about a third of it and I did the rest. It took me about 3 1/2 hours! I had to break it up into 2 days because it was so hot and humid and I just got worn out!

Now I'm back at work. Bah. The good news for me is that this week will only be a 2 day work week, next week I work a full week, and then the week after that I have only 4 days before I'm off for my two months! Woot woot. Yeah, I probably shouldn't be rubbing that in now should I? Sorry about that (but only a little).

That subject line alludes to my fun Friday night. Not. I must've felt jealous of you or something with all your attention so I went and got myself a UTI!! Woot woot. On Friday morning I felt a little bit of it coming on but I decided to head to work, drink a lot, and monitor how I felt. Well, I got to work and felt fine, great even. I didn't even think about again which sucked because if I had felt something I would've just called my GP and had her send me in a prescription to Walgreens. But nope, I felt nothing. So I went about my day as usual and then headed on home for a nice Friday evening. Well, about 30 minutes after I got home I was in pain. It was then that I knew I had a full blown infection. I still don't get, though, why I felt nothing the entire day. Whatever. I waited until Brad got home (with the pizza I asked him to pick up) and then I decided I had to go to urgent care. Brad was kind enough to go with me (the pizza had to go in the fridge, wah!). Let me tell you, all the strange ones head to urgent care on Friday nights. It was jammed. The thing I hated the most was that there were about 10 people in there just hacking away without a mask on. There are signs all over the place asking that if you have a cough, please take a mask and wear it so as not to infect others. But no, these people are too cool for school and wouldn't want to look silly wearing a mask. I sat there and left my coat on, my gloves on, and my scarf around my mouth so I didn't have to touch or breathe in anything these people hacked out. Gross. I waited about an hour and half until I finally got called to the room where the doc told me I had a UTI. Ummm, yeah, I know now give me the freakin' prescriptions and let me be on my way!!! We didn't get home until about 10 so we just threw the pizza in the oven (it was a take/bake) and watched some tv before heading to bed. Good times.

Saturday I took it easy in the morning....still recovering at that time from the infection. I just dinked around at home and then decided to go into town and meet my mom for a coffee. She was glad to get out, I think. She has pretty much been spending all her time with Kris and taking care of Alyssa while Kris heals. Brad got a haircut (super short!) and mom and I just chatted for a while.

Saturday night we headed up to Milwaukee to see a coworker of mine sing. Me and Brad, and Brian and Amy (Brian is my friend at work) met up beforehand for dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant. It was good. I had a great seviche appetizer and the fish was "cooked" perfectly! Anyway, afterwards we headed to the concert which was really nice too. The only thing that was bad was that I was getting sleepy from the margaritas and instead of having program notes they had these 2 guys talk about the pieces and they were really cheesy speakers. Oh well. Brian and Kim (my other coworker) were supposed to show but they never did. Later on I found out that Kim's dashboard lights kept flickering on her car and halfway up they decided to turn around and go home. They are such total pansies. Whatevs. Anyway, afterwards we all went downtown to Mo's Irish Pub and stayed there talking and having a few drinks until about midnight. It was a nice evening out.

Sunday I stayed in all day! It was snowing off and on all day so I did go out and do a little shoveling and cleaned my car off but that was it! I watched football and just read. Nothing special.

Last night I made an excellent dinner of Asian Peanut Chicken and rice noodles. I am thinking about posting the recipe on Gather later today. I laugh so hard at how seriously so many people take Gather. Are they just losers or what? It's a freakin' online community. Who the eff cares who posts what? If you don't like it, don't read it! Geesh. That said, it is fun. I'm nowhere near you in the points category though and I don't think I'll even get one GC! Time will tell. I just hope they don't take points away from me. That would be bad.

Ok, I have to get out to the desk soon so I'd better rustle up something to work on!

I've been slipping. Slipping in posting any updates about what I've actually been *doing* over the last few weeks. So, I figured I had a little time (and I'm procrastinating on getting prepped for class and preparing a presentation for WIT on Friday) and thought I'd try to sit down and post. Here we go.

The weekend, as usual, went too fast. I left work about an hour early on Friday to get ready for dinner. We've been trying to get together with Matt and Anna at least once a month and I volunteered to make dinner and have them over to our place. I just made a pasta dish with homemade sauce, stuffed mushrooms, a nice salad (with glazed walnuts, dried cranberries, and goat cheese), and raspberry torte for dessert. Not too hard to get together as they are all things I've made many times before. Just time consuming. Besides, I had to stop at the Italian grocery on the way home to pick up some bread and pancetta. They didn't wind up getting to our place until about 8pm so we dined continental style. We just hung out and chatted and drank a little too much and they left about 12:30am. I was so happy to see them go! Don't get me wrong, I love having people over and I really enjoy their company but I was just so tired I was ready to fall into bed. Which I did. Promptly after they left. Seriously, I think I was asleep 10 minutes after they pulled out of the driveway.

Saturday we got up in the morning and just putzed around the house some. About noon we took leftovers to Janet's and had lunch with her. After that we all packed up and headed out to look at carpet for our living room and a new upright freezer for Janet. We had more luck with the freezer. I don't know what the hell kind of carpet to get. And, everything I like is waaaay to expensive. We decided to chuck it and instead invite Elyse (our neighbor) over to help us out. She works for a general contractor and has a great eye for design. All I know is that nasty carpeting in the living room now has GOT TO GO! Anyway, after our trip out, we came back with a new freezer for Janet and had to get that all unloaded and put downstairs. The benefit for us was that we got to take her old chest freezer home. I will now finally be able to open the freezer without getting beaned in the head with a pack of butter! We stayed there and had dinner and just chatted until about 10 when we went home.

Sunday I headed out to church and Brad stayed home to work more on the electrical for the barn. Poor Brad, it is just not going well for him. It always seems to be one step forward and two steps back. After I got home I tried to help him a bit but I think he just needs someone stronger than me! We did get the chest freezer from the truck into the basement so at least he could be happy about that. He thought he'd have to call Henry to help him. It was a pretty nice day out so I got to planting the last of the bulbs I've been meaning to plant all fall. I got 150 tulip and daffodil bulbs in and 24 crocus bulbs. I am hoping for a 50% return. Actually, I am just hoping for 1 bloom at all. Anything! Please? Later in the evening I hemmed some pants (only 3 pair to go), watched a little tv, and read some before heading to bed.

Exciting huh?

Yesterday it was about 67 here. Last nice day of the year, I fear. I'll take it though. It felt great to head to the grocery store after work and have no jacket on. I got home and rustled up some dinner and then set out to make pumpkin bars. I have to frost them tonight when I get home so I can take them over to Janet's tonight. We always go over there on Halloween. It's a tradition to have the family and kids over and we all eat pizza burgers until we are so stuffed you aren't comfortable sitting or standing. Ahhh, bliss.

So, a 4 mi run huh? That's funny because Brad and I are thinking of running the Turkey Day race here too. It's only a 5k though. You'd better get training! Speaking of running, two girls we know, Jessie and Jackie (yes, they're twins) ran the marathon this year too. We didn't know they were running. Anyway, Jessie's time was 2:54 and Jackie's was 3:15. How crazy is that???? Jessie is only behind the woman winner's time by 24 minutes. That's just nuts.