Just Another Day

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

2009-11-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

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??

2009-10-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-10-10T13:25:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Music Monday

2009-07-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

Oh bloggity blog blog, how I hath forsaken thee!

It has been crazy busy around here, what with time off for Hubba-hubba and hanging with friends, as well as my teenaged cousins being here from Arizona, which causes all of us to do many "touristy" things we wouldn't normally do. Or even just get out of the house more often than we normally would, becauase we want them to be happy, and teenagers are happy to go shopping and the beach and pretty much where ever you want to take them.

So, still too much going on, although I have gotten a nice burst of energy just in time for the girls' arrival. I can actually do more than lay on my bed and moan. Kidding, I would just lay on the bed, minus the moaning part. Most of the time.

Mr. P begins camp this week, and for the next three weeks he will be spending a blissful four hours a day hiking and making crafts and whatever the hell else they do at camp. He loves it, although it is going to be damn hot, so I hope they modify the schedule for that.

As for today's music, I've been hankering for some classic 80's, and you can never go wrong with the band that pretty much started the whole thing, Roxy Music.

This song was released in 1979, and just look at Bryan Ferry with his skinny tie and boxy suit jacket! A trailblazer! And the Nagel-looking girls! What cracks me up is the unconvincing harp players. I can see the producer now, "I don't care if you can play the harp, just fake it and look sexy, no one will care!"

I was telling Hubba-hubba that I still own the original album Flesh + Blood, which was released in 1980. I wondered if it was worth anything, and according to Ebay it is worth maybe around ten bucks.

Guess I'll have to wait longer to buy that mansion.

Music Monday

2009-06-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ah now, you can't blame a pregnant woman for taking the lazy way out and posting a Michael Jackson video, can you?

I was never a huge fan of MJ, although I certainly can acknowledge his talent. Thriller came out just as I was hitting my musical stride, and I have to say I resented it for all the attention it got over my more alternative musical favorites. I did truly enjoy Billie Jean, though.

I definitely liked his early stuff better, and I think he definitely peaked with Thriller. The older he got, the more I hated looking at what he had become, and I don't know why plastic surgeons kept agreeing to alter his face.

This song is from Off the Wall, and one that makes me dance no matter what is going on.

Music Monday

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is here, and you can tell because my house is a complete disaster. I don't know how he does it, but in a very short amount of time, Mr. P manages to scatter a million things all over the floor. I try not to let it bother me too much, but when it devolves into a match of wills to get it picked up, my patience goes out the door.

Patience is definitely not one of my virtues, lately. I'm lucky that it hasn't gotten that hot, but now that I have written that, I have doomed myself to 90+ degree temps for the duration of my pregnancy.

For today's Music Monday, I'll take you back to the early 80's. One of the records I listened to the most was introduced to me by, of course, my father. I think a litle later he got a cassette tape, and I began listening to that more, simply because it was easier to rewind my favorite songs. But I pretty much listened to all of them, and I would screech along to the lyrics, because I am an alto, and Lou Gramm is a definite tenor. Sorry for the lame-ass video, but this had the best sound quality.

Friday Poll

2009-06-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Do you use Chapstick, Blistex, Vaseline, or something else to moisten your lips?

Friday Poll

2009-06-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

And the craziness continues....

What is your favorite museum?

2009-06-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, it is Wednesday and I have yet to write anything here this week.

Boo.

To give you an example of how distracted I am lately, I will tell you the tale of two trash cans.

Because of the placement of our neighbor's driveway, they place their trash cans in front of our place. Whatever.

Last week after the trash had been picked up, I was backing up out of our garage and Mr. P yelled, "Don't go, there are trash cans in the way!" Well, we were running a tad late for school and I figured the child just meant that a trashcan was sort of blocking the exit. Well darn if I couldn't even see the damn things as they were right behind my car! So I wound up knocking two of them over.

Shit.

So I jump (exaggeration as me at 17 weeks pregnant does not "jump" anywhere) out and pull them into our garage so as to be able to get out.

And for the entire week after, there has been a lone trash can sitting there, with no home to go to. I kept moving it into the neighbor's driveway, but they kept moving it back in front of my house. Which was pissing me off, because it wasn't my trash can.

I was talking to another neighbor and asked if she knew whose trash can it could be. Well, she didn't but she said she would call the city, as each trash can has a serial number on it.

So she calls me and says, "The lady from the city said that the trash can was linked to the address XXXXX." Uh, wait, that's my address!

Turns out I had taken the wrong trash can, and the one sitting out lonely and bereft was mine the whole time. Meanwhile, the neighbor's can was sitting in my garage.

Ooops.

I never liked them anyway.

Friday Poll

2009-06-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Things are rolling along, next week is Mr. P's last week of school. Lots of things to do and seemingly not enough time to do them.

How do you sleep? Your stomach, back, side? Combination of all three?

Percentages (A Novel)

2009-06-02T16:12:00.001-07:00

For almost a month now, my life has been consumed with percentages. And I hate math.

There is some prenatal testing that is available to women in California, known here as the Triple Screen.

As an old woman at 38, I was highly advised to partake in the Triple Screen, although I will say I was never forced. And I thought to myself, it's just a little blood test, right?

Well, that little blood test has made my life hell ever since.

I got the call on a Wednesday. Even though I didn't get to the phone in time to answer and nothing specific was said in the message, my heart sank because I had been told that I would only be contacted if it was bad news.

I was told that I had crappy PAPP-A levels, which factored in with my age, gave me a 1 in 38 chance of having a baby with a chromosomal defect.

Whaaaa?

No need to tell me now that percentage-wise, 1 in 38 isn't horrifically bad. I didn't think of it that way. All I could think of was 38 women standing in a room, and one of them having horrible, horrible luck. Possibly me.

The odds seemed really, really crappy.

Then Hubba-hubba broke out a calculator and told me that 1 in 38 meant a 2.6 percent chance of an abnormality. Before the blood test, my odds had been 1 in 146. Not exactly encouraging.

So off I go to become consumed with finding out as much information as I can about low PAPP-A levels and the effects of it on pregnancy, including complications and chromosomal abnormalities.

Me, the person who loathes math with all of her being, suddenly became obsessed with odds, percentages, and numbers.

I had an amniocentesis scheduled because I couldn't stand not knowing, even though I hadn't finished the last part of the Triple Screen. I knew that the accuracy rating was only 75% (see, one of the many percentages I have memorized!) but I was seriously getting messed up. What if my baby had something wrong? How would I prepare? What exactly would I do? What would this mean for our family? And on and on and on... There was also the fact that I had a much higher chance for miscarrying before the 24th week, which didn't make me feel better, either.

The day before I was scheduled for the amnio, I had some light bleeding, which I have had off and on throughout this pregnancy. Another stressor, let me tell you. I did some quick research, and found that if I were to do the amnio after my history of recent bleeding, I would be putting myself at a higher risk for complications after the amnio.

After talking with my doctor, we decided not to proceed with the amnio, but to do a Level II ultrasound, where the doctor takes many detailed measurements of the fetus to see if there are any so-called "soft markers" for chromosomal abnormalities.

She found not one.

To say I felt better was an understatement, but then did more research and found that the lack of soft markers didn't necessarily mean a lack of chromosomal abnormality. So back to being anxious I went.

I also completed the last part of the Triple Screen that day, and was again told that I would be contacted if something came out funky.

I got the call today. I couldn't bring myself to answer the phone and instead sat there, cursing as I heard her leave a number to call her back.

Except, even though one of my levels was off, a key one was normal, and my odds were suddenly at 1 in 200 instead of 1 in 38. The odds of accuracy are now at 90%.

Call me optimistic, but I'll take a .5% chance over 2.6% any day of the week.

Friday Poll

2009-05-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

This question is a personal one, one that Hubba-hubba and I debate all the time. You see, he is incapable of doing it, and his are the type that rattle the dang windows.

Can you hold in your sneezes?

PS They are pretty sure it's a girl!

Music Tuesday

2009-05-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

All right, so it doesn't have that same alliteration-y sound.

But, since yesterday was a holiday, I'll move it to today. Oh, and by the way, I hit my first golf balls ever outside of a miniature course on Saturday, and I did really well. Perhaps I missed my true atheletic calling.

As for today's video, I can dance. Not terrifically, but not like Elaine, either. I've always had an appreciation for real dancers and their devotion to their craft.

These two men are sure to brighten your day. Not exactly a music video, but amazing nonetheless.

Ooops! To anyone on a feed reader, you saw a naughty pic of Burt Reynolds! My bad!

Friday Poll

2009-05-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

Favorite ethnic food? (i.e. Indian, Mexican, German)

Outrage

2009-05-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Even though I was raised Catholic, I haven't considered myself a true church-going, card-carrying member of the Catholic Church for at least fifteen years, if not more. Oh, I know all the rituals, but my heart usually isn't in it.

I will never forget that when Mr. P was born, the whole child-molestation scandal was making its sordid way through the media. I had already heard tales, but preferred to keep my head in the sand and think that it was just a few "bad apples."

Well, as we all came to find out, it was more than just a few bad apples. Hundreds of supposedly "holy men" either committing atrocious acts, or covering them up. To me, both are just as bad.

It took me a really long time to wrap my head around the whole thing. I didn't baptize Mr. P until he was about four years old, as opposed to the usual six months to a year old time frame. I felt so betrayed, so angry at the Church and its complicity in unspeakable crimes.

In fact, I kept waiting for someone in our required pre-Baptism meeting to ask me why I had waited so long. Nobody ever did. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, because I don't think enough members of the Catholic Church have expressed a real opinion about what happened in a formal Church setting.

I had finally decided that the Church was made up of people, some more flawed than others. But all flawed in some way, as we all are. Thus I made the decision to give the benefit of the doubt to the Church and forgive the small number of people who had commited crimes and focus on the larger number who were doing good works and were well-intentioned.

And so as we see in the news recently, the Catholic Church in Ireland has been found to perpetrate similar horrible abuses upon the most innocent and defenseless of their flock. For decades.

I don't know if I can ever call myself a Catholic again.

I Can Has Moar Sleep?

2009-05-20T14:32:00.001-07:00

Srsly.

I am so freaking tired all of the time, this pregnancy is kicking my ass.

Music Monday

2009-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a really weird house. Well, weirdly located, anyway. We lived on a commercial property, behind a lawnmower repair shop and a chiropractor's office. The chiropractor owned all the land we were on, as well as the creepy shed and unoccupied other house right next to ours.

Oh, did I mention this house was also located next to a liquor store and bar?

How in the world did I ever turn out so wholesome? The reason we lived there is because the rent my parents paid? One hundred dollars a month! Even in the seventies and early eighties, that's a hell of a bargain for a house, no matter how small.

I didn't care about any of that, except for the liquor store.

You see, like all liquor stores, it had it's fair share of tempting edibles, from Funyuns, which I used to be addicted to, to licorice whips that sold five for a quarter.

Being as I was young and had no money, I would simply sneak into my parents' room when they were busy and look in the abalone half shell that held all their loose change.

I would be as judicious about it as an eight year old can be, and try not to take too much or be too obvious about it. Then I would saunter over by myself to the liquor store, where they treated me like royalty since I spent money there like a drunken duchess.

And amazingly, I was a very skinny kid despite all of my ill-gotten treats. Did I mention my mom was a health nut and made me eat things like Cream of Wheat for breakfast and eggplant for dinner?

So of course I have the perfect song for today. It was basically my motto.

Friday Poll

2009-05-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your well wishes. I didn't mean to scare you all, but to be honest, I was pretty scared myself. Still am. Technically speaking, the odds are in our favor for nothing being wrong, but I am going in for an amniocentisis next Thursday so that we can make sure.

Ugh.

But, enough about me and my problems.

I want to know what you think about all the asshats, and there are WAY more than you would believe, who are simply not paying their mortgages? Hubba-hubba himself knows of at least four, all of whom can afford their payments, they just don't want to pay because they are upside down. They are just waiting to be contacted by their mortgage companies, but it has been months and months, and in the meantime, they are saving thousands and thousands of dollars.

Another co-worker stopped paying because he was upside down, the banks didn't do anything for seven months, and then he got his loan refinanced to 2.5% AND got $200,000 taken off the balance of his loan.

In the meantime, suckers like myself are paying on time, every month, with a rate nowhere near 2.5%.

Got any populist rage?