Pet Peeves

One of the things I can't stand is the "whole world revolves around me" syndrome, especially when combined with the "I'm the victim" mentality and the "manipulate by guilt" trait. How does one person have all three characteristics AND a stank attitude to boot?? Unfortunately, for whatever reason, some people have to remain in our lives. Maybe these trials are to make me stronger? More patient? More understanding? I don't know. I do know how aggravating and stressful our interactions are. I try to keep the frequency to a minimum but that's not always possible. It takes me a while to think of responses and I'm usually in shock that I'm being confronted at all. To the other person this may be perceived as admission or agreement which it never is. I don't want to say the wrong thing so I don't say anything. I have to work on that. By the time I do have time to come up with an appropriate response I don't want to bring up the subject again. And it becomes a cycle. Wonder where/when this became a part of me?

The Inconvenience of it All

Update: The dr's office said that once you've reached 36 weeks, you're expected to go to the hospital if there is a hurricane. The hospital said that you only come in if a hurricane warning is issued, and even then make sure to call the hotline number first for instructions. They also said no family members are allowed - no husbands, no children, no anyone. Well, it's looking like only a tropical storm anyway which is good.

If Ernie decides to keep his hurricane status and keep coming my way then I may have to check into the hospital tomorrow evening. And I'm pretty sure that would mean no kids allowed, including Sid. How could I be expected to be apart from Sid with a hurricane passing through and me not be there to comfort him if he gets scared? I could be jumping the gun because I haven't even called my dr yet to find out what he wants me to do. I do have almost four weeks until my due date. Ok, I'll call him before I start worrying.

Feeling A Bit Overwhelmed

My feet are swollen.
Someone stole my bike.
Sid has to be at school by 8:00 am.
I haven't been getting enough sleep.

And then there was...me

Words of Wisdom

I live in a cube farm. Sorry, I work in a cube farm. There are about 13 of us in this room and the walls are chin high - when you're sitting down. Needless to say there is almost zero privacy. But that's not what this post about. Every now and then my boss likes to come out and stand by my cube (the podium) at the front of the room and share his gems of wisdom. I'll give him his props - he's not a dumb guy and he knows how to politic. In the past he's said things like, "If you want to know the health of a company, follow the money," "It's all about perceptions," and "With change comes opportunity." In today's spiel he encouraged us young'uns to write down our past experiences because as we get older we'll remember less and less of them.

That made me start thinking a bit about the things I did in my youth. I'm talking about 20 years ago. That's a looong time ago. The one thing that stuck in my mind were the times that my cousin and I would go bike riding around the neighborhood. Well, we didn't just go around the neighborhood but that's not important right now. My cousin S is three months older than me so we were very close. Her younger brother, on the other hand, is a couple of years younger than us. That, coupled with the fact that he is a boy, did not make fun times for him back then. The times that he was around S and I would try to get out of the house without him knowing - but he always heard and would come running after us. We would then jump on our bikes and take off. He would scramble for his and then he was on our tails. We always got away. The fun for us was in the running. The chasing was not fun for him however. We either didn't realize or didn't care or a bit of both. A few years ago he let me know how much it bothered him the way we treated him back then. I apologized from my heart. I really was (and still am) sorry.

I've been quite busy doing some pretty geeky things lately. Not that I mind. I love to learn. I don't know where to start and I'm still in the midst of things but I can give you a quick rundown.

I'm very active in my church. On any given Saturday good luck if you find me sitting in one place for more than five minutes (I can usually go about 1/2 hr during the sermon until some "fire" erupts that I have to put out). All of the geeky stuff I've been working on lately has been directly related to my duties at church - trying to retrieve data from a harddrive, transfering domain and email hosting, and upgrading our website. This in addition to creating a budget and proposal for my department, sitting through lengthy church board meetings, editing our newsletter, working on announcement newscasts, and preparing for Communication & Technology Day, which happens to be this upcoming Saturday. My husband does the capturing and video editing of the services (at home) so I have my part to play in that too. After this Saturday, when the day is finally over, and I know I don't have to go back up on the platform, my stress levels will stabilize. In the meantime, I barely have two more days to go and I haven't written my editorial or my welcome or my introduction of the speaker yet, among many other things like doing up schedules, committee member packets, blah, blah, blah.

At work, I have a project due on Nov 1, nevermind that I'll be out in a few weeks. That means I have to do as much as I can by the end of this month and hope I still have time to handover whatever is left.

Plus, did I mention I'm having a baby? I went to the doctor's yesterday and he asked me if I wanted to choose a date. He said a lot of families do it for the convenience. I'm sitting there thinking, he's asking me if I want to decide when I want to go into natural labor?? That's not something I want to think about and work towards. Let it happen when I don't expect it. Basically you choose a date and the day before, if you've been having minor contractions or braxton hicks, and if you're dilated, then the next day you get admitted to the hospital and you get pitocin to induce labor. Umm, no thank you. First of all, I have not heard anything good about induced labor. Secondly, my family doesn't need the 'convenience' of knowing where I'm going to be beforehand, they can find out when I do. Maybe some women would prefer the select-your-labor-day option if they need to make plans for childcare and husband taking off work, but I don't have to think about that. Fortunately I have enough family and friends, and co-workers even, who can pitch in to make things work. So I'll pass on that offer, thanks.

There are not enough hours in the day.

Don't laugh because the only thing I can make these days is chicken pot pie. Hubby asked for it so I made it again. So there!

What's Up With You?

I'm here. No baby yet. She's not due til Sep 23. I know, that's less than two months away! Am I ready? You bet. I wanna see her and hold her and hug her and squeeze her. And I sure am ready to take a break from work and the daily routine. Sid is still adamantly telling people that she's his baby. lol. Her name is still up in the air. I'm rooting for Shelby. Some love it, some hate it. Hubby frowns at it. He's voting for Courtney as is my mother. My mother says if I go with Shelby she won't call her by that name. Yeah, right.

Speaking of boys, stepson is in TN right now visiting his aunt and he doesn't want to come back. Why? You know why - he's in l.o.v.e.! Unfortunately he has to come back to his life here in SFL.

No news from Uncle yet either. He says he only checks his email on Sundays. Ok. Two Sundays have past since the first 'hello' message I sent. No response to the letter I wrote to Aunt either. Hmm.

I had a dream last night that I met Mocha and Nikki. Is there anything to that? Are they headed my way or am I going on a road trip? (I love road trips but these gas prices are no joke! My little V6 took $45 to fill up yesterday. When I had my gas-guzzling Beamer five years ago it used to cost that much. Prices have DOUBLED since then. I can't imagine having to pay $90+ for gas at least once a week. I wonder what the mileage is for a Honda Odyssey minivan?)

Poor hubby - the company he works for has been indefinitely absorbed by it's parent because the money wasn't coming in fast enough. They let almost all of the sales guys go. Being as he was the one making the appointments for those guys I don't know what all this means for him. Of course, he had a dream a few days prior that there were only three people working in the office - the two owners and himself. Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing.

I finished "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston. I thought it was pretty good. I tried starting "Beloved" by Toni Morrison but it's taking me a while to get into it. In the meantime I also finished "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris, the author of "Silence of the Lambs." It was ok. I liked the twist near the end. I haven't given up on "Beloved" but I'm taking suggestions of other books to read.

Oh yeah, the new bed is great. I don't know what to do with all the room I have!

Random thought: Why doesn't everyone iron their clothes before coming to work? I'm not saying that if you wore something already and you're wearing it again it necessarily has to be ironed even though you know it has those "I've been worn before wrinkles." I'm talking about those "I was folded and put down and not even folded properly, see my creases" kind of wrinkles. How do you come to work like that?

Finally!

We're FINALLY getting a new bed! With a frame! All courtesy of my mother-in-law (she's the sweetest). It's scheduled to be delivered this Thursday. I can't wait to go to bed Thursday night! (hehe) Our old bed, is, well, old. It's a queen-sized bed that sags all over. When you move it moves with you. My husband had it way before we got married five years ago and we never got around to replacing it. The new bed on the other hand is a firm KING.

Everywhere I look in my house I see things that need changing. The new bed will be screaming for a bedroom set and I don't blame it. There are a lot of mix-matched pieces in my bedroom. We'll need new sheets too of course, but Macy's is having a sale (as usual) starting Thursday so you know that's where I'll be Thursday evening after work. The television in our room is small but it still takes up too much space. A flat-panel LCD hanging on the wall would be much more efficient. As for the nest of cables behind the television in the living room - what can I say about that except that it needs to go. A proper wall unit is in order. Then I'll have somewhere to store my CDs instead of in my bedside table. But the wall unit will have to come after we repaint the living room. I have a red couch (sort of the color of ketchup) so I have to find something that will complement it.

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My mother spoke to one of my uncles last week and he told her that he had just come back from vacation. When she asked him if he came to Florida he said no, Vancouver. I don't know if he meant to say it or if it slipped out before he realized what he was telling her, but we all know that's where my father is. He admitted to seeing him and he apparently told him that he has a grandson, for which my father was supposedly excited. I couldn't bring myself to call my uncle and ask him my questions myself so I emailed him instead. We'll see if he responds.

M-eril Ain't Got Nothin' On Me!

I told you I would keep you updated as to my cooking endeavours. Last night I attempted chicken pot pie and profiteroles for dessert. The recipe said it would yield six servings so I halved the ingredients but still ended up with two 9" pies. I even improvised a bit. My main issue at the end was that I didn't halve the bay leaf so it was a bit overpowering, just a bit. You should have seen me though, poaching chicken and mixing veggies, stirring chocolate sauce and squeezing dough.


The first picture is deceptive because I didn't make the pie crust, I bought it - but that's what the recipe said to do!


This second picture, as if you couldn't tell, shows the inside stuff, which is what I did make...from scratch.


Here's my baby eating away indiscriminately. He would have told me if it wasn't good but he ate the whole thing. Yes, he eats everything except peanut butter, so he's easy to cook for.


Last Sunday I watched Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network and her pastries looked so good and easy to make I had to try them. Granted, I read the recipe incorrectly and set the oven temp at 475 instead of 425 so they came out a leetle bit overbrown. But they didn't taste burned. Hubby asked for seconds so they couldn't have been that bad.

SP and BDaB, you would have been SO proud of me!




Mama Update: My mom's is alright. She survived the night without having to call me. Her biggest upset is that her $300 PDA is gone and she doesn't want to spend another $300 to replace it. BDaB, as you mentioned in your comment, I too envisioned my pregnant self breaking the glass hurting that boy! I don't care if he wants to be lazy, but how dare he infringe on another who worked so hard to get where she's at. (My feelings for squatters are just as strong.) After she banged on his window and he started to drive off she ran back to her truck to grab her cell phone thinking she'd have enough time to take a picture, but you know how that goes. She would have been better off trying to memorize the make/model/license number. The gas station had at least one camera which of course didn't capture anything cause it was pointed in the wrong direction.

What would make little ole me want to punch somebody in the face?

I can't stand to see defenseless people get preyed upon. My mother stopped to get some gas this morning and you know the cars these days - there's no way to open only one door short of fighting to get the little lock up - well all the doors were unlocked and her purse got stolen from the passenger seat. She saw the guy just as he took it and she ran after him (ya'll don't know my mother, she's crazy). He jumped in his car and started banging on the window. Fortunately he drove off instead of possibly shooting her right there (this is South FL, it could definitely have happened). This all happened right smack in the middle of the day. She called me about 12:15 pm and the poor woman was frantic and upset about the nerve of this guy taking her stuff. Her life was in that purse. And her brand new PDA. I helped her find some numbers and she called to freeze her accounts, blah, blah, blah. I don't know she's going to sleep tonight. He has her driver's license with her address on it. Before today she was intent on leaving; now she can't wait to sell her place and get out.

No Drumroll Necessary...It's another random post

Edit: The 'ney' at the end wasn't intentional but it doesn't hurt, plus we do like the fact that both names, Sidney and Kourtney, are unisex.

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Ok, belly pix will be coming. Why do I have to chase hubby around with a camera to get him to take of picture of me?? lol (Brill could add that to his list of 'why' questions.) :)

No, I have no clue why my OB assumed I'd be tying the ovarian knots. Of all the words he spoke to me, that statement alone was almost half the word count!

No lunch adventure today. A bunch of us ordered from the overrated Lucille's cafe. The food is never above average but the price tag always is.

I know I said I wanted a name that started with an 'S' but hubby and I can't seem to agree. Since we must learn to sacrifice for *cough* love *cough* I think I've found something to satisfy us both: Kourtney Cassandra (and possibly add Morgan to the end of that). Bear with me on the spelling, that's still up for discussion. Hubby's name begins with a 'K' hence Kourtney. (I considered putting a silent 'S' in front of Kourtney, but SP duly threatened me. just kidding, I was only kidding.) Cassandra is my middle name so my vain side is somewhat satiated. Morgan could stay or go for me - what happens to it depends on hubby. He's used to having four names plus a last name so Kourtney *only* having three is nothing.

Btw, I know she needs no introduction but I've finally added Miz JJ to my blogroll *sigh*.

Now I'm All Sore And Achy!

I felt like having a chicken philly from Charley's Steakery for lunch today. The nearest location that I know of is at least a 15 min drive from where I work. But then someone told me that the Sawgrass Mall had one. I checked online at both the Sawgrass site and the Charley's site and they both said the same thing. So, I ventured out onto the open road with the threat of rain at every turn to satisfy my hunger for something non-foofoo (foofoo food is what we call the food around here that you pay a lot for but is generally overrated). Anyway, I got to the mall and found a parking space that wasn't a foot under water and parked. When I went in I knew exactly where I was going based on the map I had studied before leaving the office. But alas, Charley's was nowhere to be found in the Garden Food Court. I thought, hey, why not take the walk and check the other food court. It turned out to take a bit longer than I anticipated. I walked and walked and walked (say 15 mins) only to find that it wasn't in the other food court either. Miami Subs almost got my business but I decided against it and opted for Sbarro. So dejected was I! I sat alone and ate my pizza til I was ready for the trek back. I almost treated myself to some Haagen Daz ice cream for all the effort I put into finding this non-existant place, but the $3.20 price tag for a small cone deterred me. (Yes, BDaB, things change even as they stay the same.) I manuevered my belly through the crowd of people who don't even know what side of the mall they should be walking on - everyone outside of SFL knows that you keep to the right! I found my car easily and returned to work by 1:50 pm (note: I had left at 12:30 and the drive is only 10 mins each way). I did end up rewarding myself with a twix though.

It's interesting that in books the villain almost always speaks perfect English. Is it because the person doing the speaking means to give off an aura of superiority and likes to boast his intelligence? (This has nothing to do with Nikki's post nor the comments that ensued, trust me.)

Went to the doctor's yesterday for a regular pregnancy checkup and after making me drink some nasty glucose syrup we listened to the baby's heartbeat, he measured me, and then he told me I have a "slight hernia." He asked if my belly button always stuck out like that while he pushed his finger in. It's always been a partial outtie, I told him. He then asked me if I was getting my tubes tied cause they could repair it at the same time. HA! I told him the same thing I told my husband - that I'm willing to have more but if hubby is done then he needs to do something about it.

Of course, when I finally got to work I looked it up. If I really have one it's an umbilical hernia. They don't get better, only worse, and have to be repaired with surgery. Now I'm paranoid that I'll laugh too hard or sneeze and my intestines will come out. lol. Gross thought, I know, sorry.

Cooking

I've never been one to cook. My mother always only wanted me to focus on schoolwork so I was never forced to stay in the kitchen. Fortunately, hubby is an awesome cook always willing to experiment and his food much more often than not comes out very good. I, on the other hand, don't like to experiment cause the food never comes out the way I envision. And heaven forbid anyone try to give me any tips while I'm in the kitchen. That just adds to my stress and the food comes out even worse. Because of this I've never been inclined to try, but lately my co-worker has had my mouth watering. She very recently started cooking and every day we talk about what she made the night before. She's so excited because she's actually liking what she's making and the foods she chooses rarely take more than an hour to prepare and cook. If she can do it maybe I should try. It couldn't hurt. Not really.

It's a blessing that we've made it (happily) through five years of marriage. So many marriages barely make it past the second year. I never had a doubt that we would make it this far but it can make a girl nervous when she hears of couples "growing apart" and divorcing after 20-30+ years. On the flip side, it is quite encouraging to attend 50th anniversary parties. Saturday was our actual anniversary. After church in the evening we dropped the kids at their grandparents' house while we went to J. Alexander's for dinner. I suppose we could have picked them up afterward, but why? Instead we went home, I put on a cute little outfit to waddle around in and we chilled watching tv. The next morning was (you guessed it) pancakes at Grand Lux. Uneventful, I know, but quiet and kidless - a respite from the daily grind.

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The boy and the girl are the same. The oldest boy is still in TN. Since he turned 16 last week he's trying to secure a summer job. Won't he be surprised to hear he won't be keeping all the money he'll be making. The girl is still acting up at home yet she was 'rewarded' with being allowed to go on a trip next Sunday to the Orlando area. Hmm. nyabg asked when it all started with her. I don't know when it started but from I've known her I've seen signs - I've seen her switch. Asking her about her behavior always results in a blank stare and sometimes monosyllabic responses. SP suggested I read some books on being bi-racial because maybe she doesn't know where to fit in. Ok, well I've started reading Rebecca Walker's autobiography, "Black White and Jewish" just in case it gives me a much-needed insight.

Shawn asked if there was any meaning to how I reference my husband's children. Could be, but I usually refer to my own son the same way when I say things like, "I have to go pick up the boy from school."

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Thank you to everyone who commented on my brow post, esp. to those guys who said they looked fine before being done. :)

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So, lets get this straight, on my father's side there are four brothers and a sister, only one of whom I've met. One brother is Mocha's dad, another brother is A's dad, a third brother (the one I've met) has children I've never been able to see in person. The sister lives in Jamaica. I got her address not too long ago but have finally sent her a letter this past Friday. I don't know what she'll make of it. I'm sure it will be a surprise - hopefully a pleasant one. Maybe she'll even write back.

Sort of Peer Pressure

Update: Do-it-yourself threading info here. Trust me, you really wouldn't want to do it yourself cause until you're proficient it hurts. But at least you can get an idea of the process. Here is one lady's experience.

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I got my virgin eyebrows threaded today at lunch. In the past 32 years I've never waxhed, trimmed, or noticeably plucked my eyebrows. My husband and son have near-perfect eyebrows which I don't think is fair so when my co-worker said she was going to get hers touched up today I agreed to go with her. I had gone before but only watched. Today, I sat through my teary-eyes and almost clenched fists while the lady worked on me. It wasn't too painful to bear but I did wonder what I was really doing there sitting in that chair. Here are a couple of before and after pix. I'm sure you will agree the new brows are an improvement over the au naturel look, although the polished look will take some getting used to.

The original that was me this morning.


I hardly recognize myself now!

I never thought I would feel protective of my husband with respect to his own children. I mean, really!

The one boy has the nerve to say in his father's presence that his absentee mother is his best friend next to God. Ok, I understand the phenomenon where kids hate the parents they're living with and the one who's not around is perceived as the 'good' one. I can almost live with that despite the fact that I don't like it.

Then there's the girl who is a habitual liar for reasons unbeknownst to me. On the one hand, when she's with us, she makes out her mother to be the monster but when she's there she portrays her father as mean and restrictive. Which, he's never mean to her, but he does enforce rules of cleanliness and proper conduct. He can say one word to her and she'll do things her mother can't get her to do with any amount of yelling. Anyway, last weekend was the girl's birthday weekend. Her father never heard from her. We both called and left messages, emailed, went and knocked on the house door sat & sun nights. You can imagine his concern when no one was able to contact anyone in the household, and esp. consider the fact that every weekend (at least for the six years I've been in their lives) the girl comes over to our house. If she can't make it for whatever reason she always calls or she tells us when we call to arrange to pick her up. This past weekend was inexplicable. And when I found out the extent of her lying and manipulativeness I got so angry. When we finally reached her (about 8 pm last night) K drove over to her house ready to confront her mother only to find out her mother was not the problem. It's too much to get into in one post but just saying that the girl erased the messages left on her mother's voicemail gives you a clue.

It's been four weeks since SP turned in her resignation. I almost can't believe that her last day has come already. It seems quick to me but I'm sure to her it dragged out much too long. But regardless, it's here, and soon she'll be free. I hope she keeps us updated as she goes through the next transitional year of her life.

And speaking of time flying, I guess I'm nearing the six-month mark. I'm really starting to waddle now. With Sid I didn't have any aches or pains but with this one, sheesh, I can barely use my legs. Is it because this pregnancy was bound to be different, or, as SP enjoyed reminding me, is it because I'm older?