The Door is OPEN!

It has been a long time since the door was open on J.K. Rowling’s site, and even longer since I was able to actually participate. The last time it was open (back in March, I think) I missed it and I have been kicking myself over it ever since. So I try to check in on a fairly regular basis to see if things have changed. I just checked the other day and there was nothing. On a whim, I pulled up the site and realized the “Daily News” and “Diary” sections were both updated since I last checked. I got a little excited and clicked on the eraser just to see if anything had changed. Low and behold, IT HAD. The “Do Not Disturb” sign was gone!

So I clicked around and managed to figure things out. I did get a little stumped at one point, but there isn’t anything a little Googling and forum scouring can’t help. Finally I got in, and it did not disappoint. I will tell you there isn’t any news on the next (and sadly last!) book, but it is all fun regardless. Go on over and check it out. If you need any help, let me know. I love to share.

In the mean time, I will be waiting on the owl post…(hint, hint!)

I survived!!

I just got back from my 3-hour glucose test. Whew. That was a doozy. Yesterday, once I found out I needed to take the second test, I was told to wait a couple hours for my test results to be sent over to the hospital and then I could call in to set my appointment. Luckily, they had an opening for this morning. Not wanting to drag this thing out any longer than was necessary, I snagged the earliest time slot available.

I was told not to eat anything after 7:30pm last night, which wasn’t too bad. We just made sure I had dinner early enough to make the deadline. Then I was cut-off. Only water until my test was over. So I dragged my ass over to the hospital at the lovely hour of 7:30am to begin the test.

First they took my fasting blood sugar level. If it was over 140, we wouldn’t need to go any further because we could just determine I had gestational diabetes. Luckily mine was 104, so I got to proceed with the test! Yeah. They gave me the Glucola (again, I went with the lemon-lime) which was the same in every way (size, consistency, etc.) except that it had twice as much sugar as the 1-hour test. And boy did it! I was really worried it was going to make me sick, because I was already light-headed from skipping breakfast. But my nurse informed me if I threw up we would have to stop the test and reschedule for another day. I did not want to do that, so I willed myself with every fiber of my being to not be sick or pass out or anything else that might ruin the test. My nurse was really cool and told me if I needed anything to let her know. She even offered me a pillow and blanket if I started to feel sick. And her name was Ana! I told her that was what we were planning to name the baby, so naturally we instantly bonded. You gotta love a good nurse during such a grueling test.

Anyway, then every hour for the next three hours I was called back into this tiny room for her to take a vile of my blood. I even had my own personal alarm that meant someone had to come and get me because you have a very small window in which to draw the blood. I wasn’t allowed to leave the waiting area between drawings because any unnecessary physical activity could alter my readings. Thankfully, I knew this in advance and brought a couple books to keep me busy. But the further I got into the test, the harder it was to keep focused on my books. Not only was I light-headed, but I was crashing from the worst sugar-high AND I was starving.

Finally Ana drew my last vile of blood. This left me with two nice holes in each arm, complete with gauzey bandages to rack up the extra sympathy from anyone I came across. (You wouldn’t believe how quickly people will open the door for a pregnant lady covered in bandages!) Then I quickly raced to my car with an unbeatable determination to find food–and fast!

So I survived the test. It wasn’t the worst thing I have ever done, but I won’t be lining up to do it again anytime soon. The roller coaster from drunken-sugar high, to dizzy nausea, to feeling like I haven’t slept in months was just NOT FUN. Oh and I should know the results in a couple days, so stay tuned!

Doctor’s Appointment Report

I had my 28 week doctor’s appt this morning and have this to report back:

Urine: Normal, signs of sugar (see below)
Weight: 1 lb since last month (4 lbs total gain)
Blood Pressure: Lower than last time
Baby’s Heartbeat: Normal, in the 180s

Things of note were that we had the big Glucose Screen test. An hour before my appointment I drank my little bottle of soda and prepared for the worst, but I really didn’t think it was that bad. It was just like super sweet 7-up (I did pick the lemon-lime flavor and I would highly recommend it over the orange from what I have heard). Then I sat back and waited to start twitching or bouncing off the walls, but nothing happened. Hopefully that means my body is reacting well to sugar and doing all the things it is suppose to.

Anyway, we got to the doctor’s office and did the hurry-up-and-wait thing, then I gave some blood for the glucose test (results should be back in a few days) and went in for my regular appointment. After the poking and prodding of the uterus (all measurements are in normal range) we got to listen to the heartbeat. I tell ya, that woosh, woosh, woosh just never gets old. I love it.

But the surprising part of the appointment came as my doctor was handing us the little slip to set up our next visit. Having done my reading, I was all prepared for the switch from having appointments once a month to every two weeks, but I was not prepared for her to say, “And now we will schedule the appointments for the rest of your pregnancy.” THE. REST. OF. MY. PREGNANCY. How bizarre is that? So I see her every two weeks for the next eight weeks, then I switch to weekly visits until I deliver…which seems to be arriving more quickly that I could ever have imagined! Eeee!!

Salishan Weekend

What I want to know is how does one go away for a fabulous luxury weekend and then return to normal life? I just can’t seem to figure it out. I mean, I have to make my own bed and cook my own food? Jeez. In all seriousness, Simeon and I had a lovely romantic weekend. It was amazing. Our room was beautiful; tucked away in the peaceful wilderness, with a gas fireplace (Sim turned it on once for the sake of doing it, but it was far too warm to be necessary) and an amazing view of the bay (and the ocean in the far off distance). We practically had to force ourselves to leave the room each day and go explore, and we could also use a Milf hookup site to find women to have fun.


But explore we did. Simeon had never been to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, so we drove down to Newport Saturday morning and played tourist. We enjoyed the unnaturally warm (and windless!) beach weather and just enjoyed being together. However, it was fun to imagine the next time we plan this sort of excursion we will be accompanied by our very own daughter.


We returned from our outing to rest for a bit and then got ready for our fancy-pants dinner. The package we booked included a bottle of wine (and keep sake glasses), breakfast one morning, and dinner in their formal dining room. So Simeon and I got all dressed up and headed out to enjoy a lovely romantic dinner together.


On Sunday morning we woke up, split a cinnamon roll in the local bakery and walked over to the Salishan Spa for our massages. With any spa purchase you have access to all their amenities, which unfortunately being pregnant I was not able to do. But I did take use the “rain shower” which was something both comforting and bizarre at the same time. After our massages we cleaned up and had just about the best breakfast ever back at the resort Sun Room (their casual dining). We then packed up our things, checked out of the hotel and started on our journey home. We stopped at the outlet mall to check out some of the stores, but being pregnant and unable to shop for normal clothing really took the thrill out of things for me. We did however grab some adorable Christmas outfits at the Carter’s outlet. You know, for our “Christmas baby” as everyone loooooves to point out when we answer the “when are you due” question. But all in all it was an amazing weekend, made better only by the fact that I got to spend every minute with the man of my dreams. I love you, pie-bear. Thank you for agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me.

You can browse through all the pictures Simeon and I took here.

Four Fabulous Years

At this time, four years ago, I was running around frantically trying to get ready for my wedding. FOUR. YEARS. AGO. I cannot even believe it has been that long. In fact, the only reason I do believe it is that math does not lie. We got married on September 21st, 2002. So there you have it. Four years.

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, Simeon and I are heading out of town tomorrow morning for a fabulous weekend at the Salishan Resort. We are going to dine on five-star cuisine, enjoy a relaxing couples massage, enjoy the view of the bay from our private balcony and end each day cuddling in front of our romantic fireplace and we could even plan sex meet ups if we were alone. You could say it will be the perfect weekend. Plus it will be our last little get-away before our daughter is born and any vacation we take will be a family affair.

Oh but the anniversary celebration hardly stops there. For those of you unfamiliar, the proper gift (between couples, that is) for a fourth anniversary is either fruit/flowers (the traditional gift) or appliances (the modern gift). Now while I normally consider myself a traditional girl, I was not about to settle for fruit or flowers on such an occasion. Not when appliances were to be had! Well that and a couple weeks ago our dryer (second-hand even to us) decided to bite the bullet. So Simeon and I make the trip out to Sears and found ourselves the proud owners of a new front-loading Kenmore Elite HE4 washer and dryer.


When we first walked in we were torn between just buying a cheap dryer to hold us over or going all out and getting the best thing on the market. Once we factored in all the tax credits, water rebates, energy rebates, 15% cash back on all appliance purchases, and the long term energy efficiency (Our old washer used about 40 gallons of water per load and the new one uses 17. Not to mention there is a more efficient spin cycle cutting the drying time in half!), it didn’t really amount to much of a decision to make. Plus, we were able to reason that with a baby on the way, any help in making laundry easier was just fine and dandy with us.


I tried to take a few pictures of my “anniversary gift” but given the dimensions of our laundry room, the angles were tricky. But you can get the idea of how cool they are
here. Oh and don’t forget to check out Sim’s side of the story. The cutie beat me to the punch and managed to blog first for once.

Future Soccer Stars

With fall comes back to school and with back to school comes the start of fall sports. In our family (Simeon and I, that is) our favorite is soccer. Sim played soccer in high school and college and he now very actively supports and attends all things soccer. I myself attended a “soccer college” where we didn’t even have a football team. The point I am trying to make is that you could say we are fans. And nothing makes us happier than to see future generations embrace these things as well.

My first case in point:


Our niece Emily, who just turned nine, is quite the little soccer star. In fact, at this game we attended she was injured and was still in the starting line-up and did the majority of the ball handling. All her injury did was allow the other team some play time and prevent her from knocking down as many of her opponents.

My second case in point:


Hayden has been waiting all five years of his life to get to play sports. That is what this kid lives for. When he was growing up watching his older siblings it was all we could do to keep him off the fields. Well now we don’t have to keep him on the side-lines and he is loving every second of it. Check out my little rock stars!
Here are all the pictures of
Emily and Hayden.

Cross that off my list

Speaking of lists, I really wish there was one for pregnancy. When we got married, I used The Knot. It was a fabulous resource; lists of things to do, when I should have them completed, recommended places to shop, and even helpful hints along the way. I have yet to find a resource of this type for pregnancy. (If anyone knows of such a place, let me know. I’m not looking for a forum-I want check lists!) So I have pretty much been left to my own neurosis (and those of people asking me if I have done such-and-such yet, to which I reply, with horror, “Should I have?”).

That said, Simeon and I finally completed the daunting task of creating our registry. Ta-da! We decided to have the bulk of our registry at Babies R Us, but there were a few things they didn’t have so I created one at Target as well. Sure, there are a few things I need to research a little more and will add online (I was not about to make my poor husband stand around while I contemplated breast-pumps. That I can do on my own, thankyouverymuch.) But we got the majority of the if-we-ever-think-we-might-need-it-then-scan-it-with-the-gun shopping done. Now I have to warn you, Simeon got a little excited with the scan gun once we got into the toy department, naturally.

We even tried to be conscientious of those who would be buying these gifts for us, by selecting an array of items in a variety of price ranges. (It always annoyed me when I went to buy something off a registry-wedding, baby, etc.-and there wasn’t a single thing under $75. Way to force me to put a price on our friendship.) Everything from our crib and travel system, all the way down to rattles and Butt Paste. You know, so
Nick would have something to get for us.

27 Week Belly

I am 27 weeks and one day. That is officially six days away from the third trimester. Can you believe that? Because I sure as hell can’t. Anywho, here are the pics (please note it is officially cool enough today for me to wear 1) a long sleeve t-shirt and 2) jeans. Yippee! Fall is on the way!):


And now for the close-up.

Trying to Stay Above Water

Whew. Has this week ever been hectic! On Monday I started looking to hire my replacement at work. I have to tell you that is one strange thing to be doing; looking for someone to take over your job. Since I know better than anyone what my job entails, I drafted the ad, submitted it and then waited for the hailstorm of resumes. Reading through one after the other was just about the most mind-numbing thing I have ever done. But I did it. I read each and every single one that came in. Then I had to review them a second time to sort them into “Yes” “Maybe” or “No” piles. After that came the endless number of phone calls conducting the preliminary interview to see if we wanted to meet them in person. Yeah, all this on top of my regular work-load.

By the time I got home every night…No. Wait. Scratch that. By the time I dragged my ass out to the car at the end of the day I was so tired I could barely stay awake on the drive home. Thankfully I carpool with my husband and he likes to take care of me. With Sim’s help, I would just barely make it home, find something to eat, and crawl into bed. Not only has this week been physically exhausting, but emotionally as well. Each phone call I make or person I meet is one step closer to ending my working-career as I know it.

And that is one tough idea to swallow.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am more than ready to leave. I am very excited (and also very aware, thankyouverymuch) of the changes that are coming in my extremely near future. How near, you ask? My boss and I talked it over and decided I would work until the end of November. So I have roughly 11 weeks left of work. ELEVEN. That is practically nothing! And it all just keeps slipping between my fingers.

So, yeah, you could say I have been a little busy lately. And a little stressed. What with all the trying to keep myself afloat over here.