The New Addition Seems to be Working Out. I Think We'll Keep Her

Just a quick update for y'all.

Our daughter was born healthy (7lbs 6 oz) and beautiful at 9:33 am on Thursday Nov. 5, a day that will live in the annals of Caesarian section history. I say that because the anesthesiologist himself told me that I set some sort of world record for vomiting during the entire procedure.

Fun times.

If you want to know the name we picked out, email me and I'll tell you. Think, uh, designer clothing label. Or a famous actress.

But, it truly is the beginning of fun times. She is such a joy, such a good, good baby. Which I really think I deserved because I endured such hell with Mr. P.

So, I am not too sleep deprived, Mr. P is a fantastic big brother, and all is good in my world right now.

Thanks, Universe, for listening.

We Sold Our House

And I'm thinking I'm supposed to be happy about it.

We got exactly the price we wanted and exactly the terms we wanted. Because if we hadn't we wouldn't have accepted the offer because you know, we've got a bit much going on over what with the imminent birth of Ms. P, which is short for Ms. Princess.

Anyhoo.

I'm actually pretty stressed out because it means we will have to find somewhere else to live by January 10.

Ouch.

Whether that is something we buy or rent remains to be seen. But just the thought of trying to look for a house with a newborn seems daunting. And I've already had lots of daunting things to overcome lately, and I'm just tired of overcoming things, you know? I just want to have everything handed to me on a silver platter, with absolutely no effort on my part.

Universe, are you listening?

Lucky Me

All right, so I didn't get checked in to the hospital the other day, so give a big sigh of relief with me.

But, I escaped from the hospital in order to have THIS happen to me:

Our house is up for sale.

We have, like 99% of people who have their house on sale, a lock box on our gate.

Lately, asswipe realtors have been showing up at our door without calling first, which is specified in the listing that all realtors have access to. Some beeyotch showed up without warning and wanted to show my home in 10 minutes.

I kept having a bad feeling about something. I didn't know what, but it was definitely realtor related.

So I was taking a shower, like 99% of all people.

I had brought the phone in the bathroom with me, because I was paranoid about missing a call from what I will now term "goddamn realtors."

I open the bathroom door when I am done, only to hear a male voice calling out, "Hellooo!"

I screech and go "Oh my god, who ARE you?"

Male voice, "Oh, uh, I'm a realtor."

I say with all the sternness a pregnant, dripping wet naked woman with a towel wrapped around her can muster, "No SIR, you NEED TO CALL FIRST."

Sounds of some dude beating a very hasty retreat out of my house.

I think I would have rather been in the hospital.

Here We Go Again??

Well, last night my defective gallbladder started to act up again, and I tried to ignore it as best as I could. Because the last thing I want to do is go back to the damn hospital.

But.

Then I did some resarch, and all of it said in big or italicized letters "You need to get medical attention" or "ignore the pain at your own peril" and that type of crap.

So I'm about to leave to labor and delivery where they will take samples of various bodily fluids and poke me and prod me like a cow.

Fantastic.

Let's hope I'm back home by later this afternoon, shall we?

We're Personal Friends Of Mickey, Don't You Know?

My family and I were lucky enough to be invited guests to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party being held on select nights this October at California Adventure.

We visited on October 2, and luckily, it wasn't too crowded and the weather was just right. My son, dressed in his "most intimidating knight costume we were able to find on the internet" was of course, extremely excited to be there.

When we entered the park, we were handed some trick-or-treat bags and right away, Disney gets you into the ahem, spirit of things. The giant sun wheel above the fountain had cool light projections on it, and it presided over a fun, DJ'd dance party. Also entertaining were the whirling projections being cast on the ground, which all the kids were either sort of freaked out by, or jumping on. There wasn't really a whole lot of in-between.

Treat stations were set up all over the park, and the lines for some were quite long, but the staff tried their best to keep the times down. And to be sure, the candy and treats were first-rate. Normally my son would sort of scoff at raisins as a Halloween treat, but they were packaged in some very cool Cars-themed boxes, so that made up for it.

It was great to see all the families dressed up in their costumes, many of them going as a theme. There was a family of Incredibles, a father and son who were Woody and Buzz respectively, and even some caveparents with their kids as dinosaurs. I really enjoyed seeing everyone being so happy and enthusiastic, seeing as how Halloween is pretty much my favorite holiday.

Even though the fireworks show is held in Disneyland, it's still possible to see quite a bit of it from California Adventure if you're in the right place. Just as a heads up, some of the rides in the park are still being renovated. But, the best one is of course operational, and that would be Toy Story Mania.

So, I recommend getting some advanced tickets (save yourself some money!) and have a great time!

Where the Hell Have I Been?

I just looked at the last post I wrote, and shook my head sadly. I've never gone that long without a post here, and I really can't explain what took me so long to come back.

Could it be I have other blog obligations?
Could it be that I was literally sick for two months?
Or that a (hitherto unknown to me) gallstone attack put me in the hospital for four days, and almost triggered preterm labor at 30 weeks?
Could it be that I have a busy 1st grader and am tired and exhausted in my last trimester?
Could it be that I am just damn lazy?

Probably a combination of all five, my friends.

The less said about the hospital stay, the better. I've never been in the hospital for that long, and I never want to be in there for that long again.

I learned two things:

1)Taking a shower with an IV hooked up to you is a pain in the ass.

2) Even if your nurse is a crazy right-wing nut, DON'T DISAGREE WITH HER AND PISS HER OFF.

Of course I wasn't stupid enough to piss her off, but a perverse part of me wanted to, and then thought the better of it since I was pretty helpless and weak. My least favorite nurse out of all of them was of course assigned to me for a full 10 hour shift. Of course. The really cool ones? Four hours at most.

And that's pretty much the way my luck has been running.

All I can give as an excuse is that my life has sucked, my pregnancy is kicking me in the ass, and most days I'm down for a two hour nap.

Oh, and of course it stands to reason that with all the crap going on, every weekend for the next month is booked solid with parties, carnivals, and various social gatherings which we are obligated to attend.

So, I don't know how soon I'll make it back here, but I have one plea for you.

We are still fighting about a damn name for this baby, and I want some suggestions from the peanut gallery, since books with 6,000 baby names still haven't produced a winner.

It can't start with a P, and we prefer it to be limited to two or three syllables.

Thanks, and I promise I'll write sooner rather than later.

Friday Poll

My dad had to put his beloved dog of 12 years down last week. It was very unexpected, and very hard for him. She had suddenly gotten a condition that is apparently common in older, deep-chested dogs, and my dad, not knowing exactly what was wrong, waited a little too long to take her to the vet (a mere six hours, and she had initially gotten ill at 1 or so in the morning, and he simply waited until his vet's office was open) and it had already damaged her heart and kidneys. She was going into renal failure when he made the decision to not have her suffer any longer, as she had suffered greatly throughout the day.

I feel very badly for him, but at least he was with her during her last moments, and she was being held and talked to as she slipped away. Not knowing she was going to die so soon, he had also recently gotten a Border Collie puppy, thinking they could keep each other company. Now at least the puppy is keeping him occupied and hopefully not dwelling too much on his much-loved Australian Shepherd.

What was your favorite pet?

Music Monday

I've been sick, sick, sick for the past week and am only today starting to feel any better. It was basically a head cold with a fever added in for good measure, but man, without being able to take medicine, it was killer.

Add to that I had to deal with home inspectors and termite guys, and the overall week was one of not getting enough rest, and thus, never getting better.

So of course it sucks that John Hughes died, and seriously, we DVR'd The Breakfast Club and watched it the week before his death. Really weird, because I hadn't seen one of his movies in years and then bam, he dies right after I watch it. Somehow I feel reponsible.

And with the sickness and all, I'm again taking the easy way out and putting up a favorite song of mine from a John Hughes movie. Can you blame me? It's also one of my favorite sequences from his movies has well.

Friday Poll

You thought it was gone forever, didn't you?

Well, so did I for a while, there.

I've been watching with increasing alarm the debates over revamping the health care sytem that are ocurring in the House and Senate. At first I was confident, because the dude in charge in the House is Henry Waxman, a kick-ass guy if there ever was one, and one of the few politicians I actually trust. He comes from the LA area, and has always been as honest as a politician can possibly be expected to be.

But then came the Republicans and the Blue Dogs and all the other jerks who are looking to screw over people in favor of the wealthy and powerful health insurance lobby. And listen, anyone who doesn't think the government should have a part in healthcare should renounce their right to Medicare THIS VERY SECOND. And yes, old people who are croaking about "socialism," I'm talking to YOU.

Argh. It raises my stress level, it does.

Do you think there should be a public option in the new health care bill?

PS I now realize the build-up to that question was a bit loaded. Er, I promise not to bite your head off if you disagree. Only maybe your nose.

Music Monday

There's been lots going on in Gina-land, I've just been too busy/distracted/stressed to write about it.

We have totally lost our minds and have decided to sell our place.

Er, the bad news is that we need to be out before the baby comes (due on approximately 11/12/09) and in another place by then. So yeah, six months pregnant and getting ready to put a house on the market! I am indeed certifiable, I know. But, I figured it would be much easier to show the house sans bebe, what with diapers and feedings and nap schedules.

Whether we own or rent that place remains to be seen, as we now know after eight years of homeownership that it isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Especially since we only have one main income, and thus the tax breaks are pretty much negligible.

If we can find something within the right timeframe, great. If not, I'm not averse to renting for a bit. The last thing I want to do is to say, "I've got thirty days to find and buy my next house!" To me, that is going to lead me to make compromises I probably wouldn't make without the pressure.

Add to that the fact that some people are causing my husband great stress at work, and you have the recipe for some not-so-fun times.

So, the song for today was almost too easy, ya know?

I am so totally that blonde chick!