6 WEIRDO THINGS

Tagged by Leeanne....
I may have already used some of these weird things about me in a previous post, I can't remember, but anyways. Leeanne wants to know 6 weirdo things about me and I can't let her down!

1. I have all the presidents memorized. In Order. I can recite them by last name at lightening speed and have been able to do so since grade school.
2. I/we/people who know me- believe that I have a photographic memory, although science hasn't proved that there actually IS such a thing. I memorize phone numbers, birth dates, license plates... pretty much anything- and I can store quite a bit in my head. I don't remember EVERYTHING but people are often incredulously saying "how do you REMEMBER that?!" I tend to match license plates up to make and model and color of vehicle, and if someone has transferred plates from vehicle to vehicle, And I have their plates memorized, I can tell you the history of cars they have driven. I have gotten away from that recently, as more and more computer crap clouds my brain. I can only hold so much, after all.
3. I am really not that frightened by things like mice, lizards, snakes, bugs. Granted I don't like bugs crawling on me, and I don't want to be bitten or strangled by a big snake.... but when I was a kid I used to spend my mornings petting the mice caught in the traps to make them feel better, and I had salamanders in an aquarium as pets. I also had a bullfrog, named Jeremiah (naturally) that lived in a giant jar. We have pictures somewhere. I am not afraid of snakes as long as I know they won't bite or attack me, and I always begged my mom to let me have a pet mouse. I did get a guinea pig, but mom was allergic and I had to give it away. I also had a rabbit in high school that we bred in Ag class but he died of cancer. Because we had no brothers, Liz and I were exposed to all kinds of creepy crawly things. We always got our hands on frogs and lizards and bugs. When I started dating Evan, he had a boa, but it was a mean and biting snake, so I didn't really ever hold it, because it always bit. I have always laughed at girls who are afraid of mice. A chick standing on a table screaming is pretty funny. The only bugs I really despise are things that are large or move fast.... june bugs, flying grasshoppers, and most spiders are pretty icky...
   
4. I am very particular. If you don't stack the plates properly or fold the towels with the folded edges facing out, it might drive me insane. I have gotten a LITTLE better since living with Evan, but I really like things a certain way. I get this from my mom. She probably wouldn't admit it.
   
5. I like to be naked. Not really in a sexual way, I just like to be naked. I don't like clothes. Now that I am preggo, I think it's worse. I don't like things rubbing on me. An ideal weekend for me is one spent either entirely or partially undressed. When I get home from work, The first thing I usually do is take my clothes off. Sometimes I put on pajamas, sometimes just a t-shirt, sometimes a sports bra and athletic or pajama pants. I like to be barefoot or wear sandals. I love long skirts because there's a lot less fabric touching you all the time. Looking back, even when I was a kid I ran around in my underwear most of the time. If it were up to me I would stay naked for hours after I got out of the bathtub. Sometimes I will get into bed and curl up and read a book or watch TV just to avoid getting dressed. I can't tell you the number of people who have "unexpectedly" dropped by and I have had to either get dressed or put on a robe, and have many times been caught in a t-shirt and underwear. I can almost never sleep with something on, when I try I usually take my pajamas off in my sleep, sometimes without even being aware of it. Sharing a hotel room or staying at a friend's house is always challenging. The moral of this is that you should always call before coming to my house, and if I am wrapped in a blanket, there's a good chance I am naked.
6. I hate celery. It is my mortal enemy. I don't like anything about it. The taste, the crunch, the strings, ack. It looks like little boomerangs when sliced. Disgusting. People try to slide celery in EVERYTHING and unless it's been cooked well and is super soft, I can't ever stand to eat it. I pick it out of everything. At school they used to put that stupid ants on a log on my plate and I hated it even near my food. Sometimes if I was feeling froggy I would lick off the peanut butter but was especially careful to leave a film of peanut butter so I never had to eat the peanut butter that touched the celery and so the celery never touched my tongue. People think this a very bizarre food to not like, and I am not sure WHY but it sure is icky.
   

Stupid Commercials Everywhere

Today we got our taxes done, and the 2nd ultrasound. Baby looks great, heart beating away, feet and hands, head, spine, all in place. We saw the Yolk sac and the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac. Pretty cool. No movement yet, so the specialist is thinking the baby might be closer to just past 9 weeks versus just before 10 weeks as we have calculated. But I know without a doubt the date of conception. We will see. Only time will tell! I personally think that after the quick trip to peru, the baby was just napping. LOL.

I got my favorite ultrasound day treat, Arby's Roast Beef for lunch.

I have seen some pretty RETARDED Commercials tonight. The one from Cascade. First, the woman is standing in front of her dishwasher with the door open, unloading it. And instead of, for example, taking out all the plates, making a stack on the counter, and putting them in the counter, she litterally picks out ONE plate at a time and puts each one in the cabinet seperately. Um. Does ANYONE do that? Anyone who has things to do? I can pick up 9-10 plates at once, all out of the dishwasher in one swipe, and stack them and put them in the cupboard. That one at a time crap looks ridiculous. So then, as she is unloading the dishwasher, the lights flicker and go out. So IN THE DARK she keeps unloading the dishwasher. The moral? "She KNOWS the dishes are clean." So what. If the lights are out, I am not going to keep standing there in the dark and put away dishes, unless I am like heavily medicated. WTF? I would be looking for flashlights or lighting candles.

Then, immediately after that, the Pepsi commercial with the giant red and blue ball (like the one on the pepsi can) bouncing around the city like a giant pinball. I understand the pinball concept, and I thought it was cool. Except. There was a GUY.... lying on the top of the pinball. And no matter how much the pinball ROLLED, by just lying on the top of it, he was always on top. Um. Okay. That's logical. I wasn't thrilled. Have you seen these commercials.

And how about the next Trading Spouses with the gay women. I can't believe that the other wife said "your birth defect is that you were born gay." Whoa. Closed minded much? Talking badly about mexicans, homeless people, smokers, fat people.... How about ugly mouthy bitches with big egos. How about calling your daughter FATTY at practice in front of others? How about you don't EVER call your kid fatty, whether or not they are in public. And the father said "She is LAUGHING" when she is playing sports (because sports can't be fun) and told his daughter to keep playing when she broke her collarbone. It's like they are white trash living in a nice house in Oregon. Goes to show that Lesbians can be better parents than LOTS of straight couples. Ridiculous.

I LOVED the look on the evil mom's face when she saw that her "husband" was a woman... and the look when Pepper said she was a lesbian. And I can't BELIEVE that the evil mom said that they live in a community that isn't diverse, and that she then made the point that it's "an excellent place to raise children... or at least it was until the Mexicans moved in." And how about "I really like kids IF they're nice kids... but if they're dirty little runts..." Uh. Okay. She has probably made more enemies in the first 10 minutes of this show.... In the first 2 seconds of meeting the daughter Shay, she said "What happened to your teeth?" And then later she said "I would probably DIE before eating leftovers." Wow. Bitch?

I want a Little Sugar in My Bowl. And 50% off sex toys.

Visit my new renter "I want a little Sugar in My Bowl" She's a mom and a "retired" owner of a big sex toy company called intimate pleasures. She has closed down her business to spend more time with her family and via her blog you can email her to get 50% off anything in her online store (separate site.) By clicking on her you are not going to be inundated with photos of sex toys. Don't panic boys. Her blog is sweet and innocent.... but THIS is where you get the sex toys.

Visit! Tell her I sent you!

AmerenIP Strikes Again.

Ya'll know how much I dislike AmerenIP (remember this? and this?)

But come ON this is ridiculous.

Don't Touch my Belly. Actually, How about you just don't TALK.

So today, at work (in an undisclosed location with an undisclosed employer), I had a woman who works for the same undisclosed employer, Say to me "So how far along are you" and I said "I am 10 weeks, so in my third month now" and she said "oh. And you are ALREADY wearing maternity clothes?" with this look of disdain on her face. And I said "Yes. I wasn't that skinny to start with."

What the fuck is that about? She has two kids. Why do mothers judge other mothers like that? So what if she's like a size 8. She doesn't do her hair or put on any makeup, and I look better pregnant than she does on any given day. I don't judge her for that. She's a mom. I support whatever she does. Who cares if I am wearing maternity clothes at 10 weeks? I am pregnant. My old clothes don't fit. I have only gained 2 pounds in the past 3 months, and that is mostly water weight. If you are pregnant, and your old clothes don't fit anymore, aren't you SUPPOSED to wear maternity clothes? Isn't that why they make them? It's not like I am a knocked up 16 year old trying to hide it from my parents. I am a 28 year old happily married pregnant woman. In Maternity clothes.

Jeez. I have had THREE people touch my little belly. One was okay. It was nice. The other, was a stranger, in an elevator. Not okay. She seemed sweet but probably a little mentally disturbed. The third was one of those people who you don't really get along with, but you deal with because you have to as a part of your job, and it was like, uh... okay. What part of our acquaintances makes you think it's okay to touch my belly? I have to admit that I have heard of lots of stories about people randomly thinking that they have permission to touch your belly, and I am sure it is going to get much worse. But let me tell you, it is much more uncomfortable and awkward than I thought it would ever be. Except for that one person who I felt comfortable with. Why do people DO that?

So that's this week in pregnancy. Another ultrasound tomorrow. "Ugh. You have had TWO ultrasounds and you are only 10 weeks? That is SO uncool." Whatever. And tomorrow I pickup my glasses (they got new lenses) and we also get our taxes done and find out if we have enough return $$ to get a new mattress as ours has springs poking through and is very uncomfortable. Cross your pretty little fingers!~

Meredith Viera is such a dumbass.

Check out Izzy's post about the Today show and their recent segment on mother's who have an alcoholic beverage in the presence of their children. I agree with Izzy's call of bullshit. And I can't say it any better, so suffice it to say that you should read Izzy's post.

She Blinded me with Science...

Today I got recognized and praised for the large (approximately 400 page) website that I built and published for my "top-secret" employer back before January 1. It appears as though the local newspaper picked up on the site and published an insert to the Tuesday paper that contained a whole LOT of great information that was pulled DIRECTLY and word for word from the website that I worked so hard on. I am pleased. Not as much for being recognized as for knowing that SOMEONE out there saw the changes and was so happy with them that they converted it into a published insert, without charging my company, which makes everyone here very pleased at the exposure! Yeah! I love websites, and I would be thrilled if all my IT tasks consisted of web and graphic design. But you can't always be so lucky. My biggest fear now is who will maintain the site when I go on maternity leave, and what terrible things will they do to it that I will have to fix or undo.

Things that came in the mail yesterday:

• Blue Boppy with Luxe Cover
• Avent Bottle and Food Warmer
• Baby Food Organizer (spinner)
• Avent ISIS IQ Uno manual and electric Breastpump
• Gap Maternity Cardigan Sweater
• Black Motherhood Maternity pants
• Brown Duo Maternity Pants

All of this goodness from our beloved eBay.

What I did last night:

• Ate Ham and Cheese Hot Pockets
• Got the shits from my new medication
  
• Watched Malcolm in the Middle Episodes on Tivo
• Balanced the checkbook AGAIN and went through mail and bills AGAIN
• Let Dogs Out.
  
• Let Dogs In.
• Ate Hummus and Athenos Whole Wheat Pita Chips
• Drank Water
• Went to Bed

What I did today:

• Ate Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios for Breakfast with a Glass of OJ
• Saw the Midwife and got a new prescription.
• Ate a Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich with onions, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and mustard; 1 icky deviled egg, and "American Chopped Suey" a.k.a. Goulash for lunch.
  
• Called husband and declared a financial emergency due to ANOTHER unexpected prescription.
• Explained that just because you can't take the pills, the pharmacy does not give a refund.
• Went to Pharmacy, picked up prescription and OTC Supplement the midwife recommended.
• Cursed my health insurance that doesn't give me prescription coverage.
• Counted the pills I now take on a daily basis, which have increased to 15, but won't complain because Ruben has it much much worse and for a much less fun reason.
• Ate a HUGE piece of cheese pizza at 4pm to tide me over till supper (we eat late, like 7:30 or 8pm)
  
• Picked up two books that I had the library order from the big city... "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" and "Choosing Waterbirth"
• Craved morning star vegetarian corn dogs, one of my new favorites and addictions.
• Read an article on ultrasounds and determining the sex of the fetus
  

Diamond Organics Overnighted Produce Sampler

Salad We Made with all our greens, originally uploaded by Dazed81.

Check Flickr for the produce package that we ordered from Diamond Organics. Search my tags for Diamond Organics, California and you will be most pleased! We were!

www.diamondorganics.com to get your own!

Kiddie Bento - Butterfly Garden

Kiddie Bento - Butterfly Garden, originally uploaded by rainjuli.

Isn't this cool?! Found it on Flickr and someone had commented to the photographer/creator "can you be my mom?" LOL. Maybe I will be this kind of mom?

Shhh... They Don't Know We're Coming!

I told myself that the movie "United 93" was not wise for a pregnant woman to watch, with all the mom's at home with their kids and new babies and the dads on the plane who died and were calling home to say goodbye. I was an emotional basketcase, but I was riveted. This week I watched Extreme Home Makeover, which I hadn't watched in a LONG time. Jeez. A woman with 6 kids, 12 and under. She bought a home with her husband in the country and on Christmas Eve he died, after suffering from poisoning from the mold in the basement of the house. He was in bed next to her, she was nursing their new baby, and he started to have a seizure and died right there.

20 some days before he died, he delivered their baby right there in the same bedroom.

Okay wow. Their house was of course beautiful. I loved the episode, but I coldn't believe they put a sandbox in a little boy's room (I mean like 2 or 3 year old boy) and it was IN the trundle bed, nonetheless. Talk about sleeping in a bed of sand! Holy cow! By the end, I was just mildly annoyed by the wife having said "We are so blessed" for about the 15 millionth time, and from the repeated shots of the 12 year old daughter talking to the camera but unable to contain her quivering chin and tears. I felt really bad for her, because she was one of those kids who isn't very attractive when crying, and I thought they might have been exploiting her tears just a little bit, and that they probably could have given her a tissue to clean herself up with. I felt bad for her, and then I was just annoyed. Sometimes I can't help but think about what pieces of that show are "planned."

First there's the whole "They don't know we're coming." Yeah. I am sorry, but if you knocked on my door at 7am, without me knowing you were coming, and I was a single mom with 6 kids and a new baby, we would not ALL be dressed and have our hair brushed and our breakfast eaten, and be ready to run out the door and leave all our posessions and go on vacation. Bullshit they don't know you're coming Ty. You don't fool me.

Besides that. Desperate Housewives HAD to be a rerun. Ack.

Well, back to watching Family Guy and folding laundry. My last goal for the night (forget the Christmas Tree. I think it's staying for a while) is to wash all the greens that arrived in my organic produce sampler on Friday.

February Pink and Yellow Swap

On Saturday, I was fairly productive. Okay, not really. But I did start and finish the February Pink and Yellow Swap this weekend. After a $207 trip to Wal-Mart (groceries, diapers, toiletries, swap stuff) I unloaded groceries and then watched my usual Nick and Nite Roseanne Marathon. I was in bed by 10:30, per my usual preggo schedule.

Saturday I slept till about 9, then forced myself to lay in bed and continue my dream until I drifted in and out of sleep- up until around 11am. Then Evan had a visitation/funeral to go to, so I ran around in my underwear and pajamas and altered this target mailbox and gathered and packaged my pink and yellow goodness for the Color-iffic Swap-o-rama pink and yellow swap. It all looks so small, but I have to tell you that little crap adds up fast :) Hopefully my partner will love and adore it, as well as appreciate that god things come in small packages. I was able to put most of the goodies inside the mailbox and the rest all fit alongside the mailbox in a small priority mail cube. It's all ready to go! My partner's name starts with an "m" so it made it simple for me, since I have so much "m" stuff myself!

Saturday night I got all dolled up because Evan was going to take my to LOS RANCHERITOS, the new mexican restraunt in Princeton on Route 6/Peru Street. Apparently most of the county was also going there. It was standing people and totally crammed. People were waiting in line to place orders, there was no seating, so Evan, my brilliant husband, said "get a menu and we'll order from the car." So I stepped through all the peeps waiting and grabbed a paper menu and we hi-tailed it to the car where I called and placed our order via cell phone. It was kinda funny because all the peeps waiting in line had to wait while the guy taking their orders answered the phone and took ours.

The food was great, we took it home and rented the 3rd X-men movie in On Demand (cable.) Our food was a little cool. Their chips were awesome. Evan had Enchiladas and I had my fave- Chicken Fajitas. I think that Mi Margarita's in Peru is better, but it's hard to tell unless you are eating your food fresh instead of taking it home. But overall we are super excited that they are there, and I recommend to anyone- grab a menu and call in your order. It's a constant evening madhouse there. I hope their business goes so well that they can move to a new location in town or build on so they have more dining space. Evan said that the people working there, especially the woman who appeared to be part owner, were very polite to him. That makes me smile.

Today I am supposed to be cleaning since the cleaning people come tomorrow, but so far I have sorted through the basket of bills, all the piles of mail, and balanced the checkbook (a huge undertaking that usually takes an hour-three hours.) I also packaged up my swap and addressed the box, and cleared off the coffee table and started a load of whites. Wow. Only a whole house left to go! Ugh.

Cheerios HNT

Cheerios, originally uploaded by Dazed81.

The Breakfast of Champions. And Pregnant Mom's. Happy HNT!

Lullaby and Goodnight.....

okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but anybody got some good vegetable recipes? I am supposed to be eating all these fresh vegetables. And I tend to like cooked veggies. But it's like, besides Broccoli with cheese, and asparagus with butter, how to heck do I cook fresh veggies? I have always bought frozen or canned veggies. Frozen Veggies Mixes to put in stir-fry and eat as sides, and canned carrots and green beans too. But my CNM is on me to eat FRESH Vegetables and not canned and frozen, and I am like "I don't even know where to begin!" I get to the produce aisle and I just wanna cry! Help? If you have some ideas send them my way.

One thing I have been able to eat happily is sliced bell peppers with hummus or ranch dip. I Don't really like raw carrots. I do love Artichokes but I am seriously daunted at trying to cook a fresh one. Ugh. Once I made Eggplant Parmesan and I liked it, but wow I don't have that much time and energy. I wish someone catered vegetables. Like Fresh vegetables all cooked up nice. I would so be ordering some veggies on wheels.

My other goal is the 3- 8oz servings of milk a day. I always thought I could count cheeses and other dairy products, but CNM insists on 3 glasses of milk. Well an 8oz glass of milk isn't much milk. I usually drink about 16 ounces in a glass. And I put a TON of milk on my cereal, more than most people. But now I am trying to drink milk mid-day, while at work. This weekend I need to get some groceries, more fresh meat and some kind of veggies, and some little milk chugs that I can drink here and there.

Still tired. Okay Exhausted. I passed my Glucose Test, so no gestational diabetes yet. That's one of the main concerns for me (and my CNM) - so as long as my GTT's are normal, I can continue to take my medication for insulin resistance throughout my pregnancy.

The Christmas Tree is still up. The Desk in the Office is still a mess. The Dining Room table is still a clusterfuck of mail and Nativity Scene Pieces. There is still a squished and half frozen pumpkin where it died by the back door before December 1st. There's a mouse in the kitchen that is pissing me off but I haven't had the energy to go get Glue traps to catch the little bastard. The dogs still need to be taken to the groomers for a nail trim and all that jazz. Oh well. Soon this first trimester will be OVER! And I hope the exhaustion goes with it.

I have a friend having a Stampin Up Show, and I am getting the Carte Postale and the French Flair Stamps from the Winter Mini Flier. Trying to limit my purchases on things like that so that I can save up for baby furniture.

The InPhonic Post-It Note Jaguar

The InPhonic Post-It Note Jaguar, originally uploaded by Scott Ableman.

For real, have you seen these Flickr Photos? LOL

Shhhhhh.........

I have been Sooooooooo lazy! Ugh! I am surprised I don't have bedsores! LOL. Saturday mom wanted to go shopping, and I wanted to go with, but I knew that I would be exhausted. We went to the Quad Cities and looked at carpet and furniture stores (for her) and then went to two Toys R Us (to seek out cribs, which were all junk) and then to Bed Bath and Beyond (where I splurged on a $1.70 Wonka Bar) and to Target (where I splurged on milk, cheerios, cream cheese spread, and a pink amy coe baby beanie.) I was so freaking exhausted! I spent $14 and I was whooped. My feet hurt, my back hurt, I started getting a headache, and then the stomach ickiness set in. My dad got back from his snowmobile trip to Colorado, and he took us out to supper at the club since Evan was cooking, and I didn't like my dinner. Of course at that moment I didn't like ANY food. I was trying valiantly to stay awake while dad used the computer at my house and mom chatted with me. I remember lying on the bed with the dog and waiting till I could go to sleep and my mom trying to convince me that we should take down the Christmas Tree. Uh. No. I am so exhausted I am sick. I have overdone it. I need sleep! I slept till 10:30 on Sunday, and then took a shower and then fell asleep again from 1pm-2:15. Then we ran to Princeton for toilet paper and so I could stop at work and then back home to lie in bed and watch the Bears game (yee!) and then I watched Dodgeball the movie (love that!) and 13 going on 30 because it was "on next" and I was okay with not moving to change the channel. Then I moved to the couch and lie there watching Desperate Housewives and Crossing Jordan, I ate a bowl of cheerios, and moved right back to bed again for a nights long long sleep. I slept till 9:15 this morning, although I really had a hard time sleeping past 4 or 5 am.... But once I fell asleep again it was all good.

And on Monday, all I could do as of noon was think of taking a nap.

I can't wait for the sleepy times to go away.

This morning I went to the Post Office and I have SIX packages in my car just DYING to be opened and pilfered through.