Month: May 2004

Ever have one of those days where little things just seem to stack up until you can’t take it anymore? Well, I’ve noticed the height of that stack has a much lower limit for me than it used to. I was actually having a decent day yesterday, until – all in the space of maybe 20 minutes – I managed to splash soy sauce all over my shirt at dinner (ok, that one was definitely my fault, unless you can somehow blame the sushi chef for not wrapping the roll well enough), I was called a “f***ing wh***” by someone who apparently thought he deserved to be able to take up more than his fair share of roadway (I actually did have the right-of-way), and I was treated very rudely by a coffee shop employee (for asking for an extra cup since the drink she made me was leaking all over). That third incident was the last straw, and I ended up bursting into tears in the middle of the coffee shop. (Hey, I did get a free drink out of it…I guess there’s one good thing that happened.)

I hate feeling like I have no control over my emotions, and I really hate publicly losing control. I feel like such a blithering idiot, especially because it’s not really that obvious yet that I’m pregnant, so I’m sure people are looking at me like I’m a crazy lady who needs her head examined. I feel like I should make up a t-shirt that says “I’m not crazy, I’m just pregnant!” so people might understand that I’m basically just a ticking, emotional time bomb.

Of course, then you get to the real root of all of this, which is, why exactly do people feel that they have the right to be rude or hurtful to others, especially to someone who hasn’t wronged them in any way?

Since it’s happened every night (at 2:30 in the morning!!) for the past three nights, I think it’s safe to say I’ve finally felt the baby moving. It’s a very odd sensation. It feels like the baby is squirming around in there, trying to find a comfy position to sleep in…which is usually what I’m trying to do at that hour of the morning! I still haven’t noticed any movement during the day, although I’m sure it’s there. I’m at 17 1/2 weeks, which is right in the middle of the range of time you’re supposed to start feeling movement.

I had an appointment this morning to check the heartbeat. It was fast – somewhere between 150 and 160 bpm if I counted right. Supposedly, if it’s consistently faster than 140 (which it has been so far) that means it’s a girl. This is probably not much more than a slightly newer old wives’ tale, but it’s fun to guess anyway. Only another couple of weeks before we (hopefully) find out at our ultrasound! (I keep telling everyone that I might have a modest child in there – this is mostly so I won’t be disappointed if we can’t find out.) Yes, yes, I know, the ultrasound is really to check that everything is developing normally, and that a healthy baby is all that matters (although, what mother wouldn’t love her baby even if it were unhealthy?) but as long as we can find out the gender, we’re going to. (Can you tell I’ve gotten some flak about my decision to find out before the baby’s born?)

Warning: sappy post ahead!
Five years ago today, I was wearing a white dress, carrying purple and pink flowers, and saying “I do” in front of a couple hundred people. (Today, I’m wearing a blue maternity t-shirt, carrying kleenex, and saying “ah-choo!” in front of as few people as I can.)

A lot has happened in five years. Let’s see, we’ve vacationed in Ireland and Italy, visited Disney, bought a house, bought our first new car, adopted two dogs, and are now expecting our first child. Add to that finishing up my masters’ degree, lots of family visits, working on the house, and trying to have at least a small social life, and it’s been a whirlwind. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but five years has gone by in the blink of an eye.

The best part of the past five years? Being married to my best friend. Things are going to change a lot soon, as our little family grows. I’m sure the next five years are going to go by even faster…but I bet they’ll be just as wonderful.

I’m counting my blessings today, and realizing that it would take me longer to count them than to just enjoy them. Happy Anniversary, Denis!

I’m on day three of a cold that has just totally wiped me out. Sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, the works. Fortunately, I seem to be much better today, which gives me some hope that I’ll actually be able to do something useful this weekend…

Here’s the stack of DVD’s I’ve watched in the past three days (note that this doesn’t count the hours of Star Trek (several flavors), Queer Eye and Simpsons that were on the TiVo): Ever After, Shrek, Cinderella (the Roger’s & Hammerstein’s version), and Princess Bride. Notice a trend? And I probably would have picked Willow next. What do all these movies have in common? Mainly that they’re movies Denis would rather not be forced to watch! Although, I think he’d probably make an exception for Princess Bride.

Oh, and during one of those Star Trek episodes I saw a commercial for the Skybox Vending Machine which I thought was hilarious. Actually, it looks pretty good in black with the Mets panels…if only it was a little less expensive, honey, I’d get it for you…

I did actually do some knitting, and a bit of cross-stitch, too. Mostly, though, I’ve slept – which is something I’ve been advised to do as much of as possible before the baby comes!

Seeing as my current hosting provider contract is just about up, I went web host shopping and found a new home. It’s not that I was tremendously unhappy with my old host, but there were things that I wanted that I didn’t have – like shell access. Plus, BlueHost is marginally cheaper and has more space and bandwidth. I’m currently looking at 1 GB of blank space, just waiting to be filled. (It’s sort of sad that I feel like a kid in a candy store, isn’t it?) The transfer probably won’t take place for another month or so, because as long as I have the overlap in hosting services, I’m going to put the time to good use and do some upgrades I’ve been meaning to do for a while…Movable Type has a new version out, and I think it might be time to “freshen up” my design a bit.

Oh, and sorry for the extra-long weekend of no blogging. Traveling for the weekend is always hectic, and it seems to take a lot more out of me now. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and we got to catch up with some college friends we haven’t seen in years. It was definitely a wonderful weekend, and – because we were guests at the wedding and had no responsibilities at all – a very relaxing one, too. The only bad thing was Sunday night, which involved waking up every two hours – including once for the worst nightmare I’ve had in a long time. Guess the baby’s just getting me used to not getting very much sleep!

It’s been a while since I’ve worked from home, but the air conditioning is on here, and, well, it’s hot in the office. Besides, I was a bad girl and didn’t do my laundry earlier this week, so I’m working from home in my pajamas – at least until the dryer finishes. I think maybe I’ve finally washed through all the clothes I was just barely getting into before, because the loads really are much smaller now that I have so little that fits and I’m essentially forced to do laundry weekly.

I suppose there are advantages to having a very limited wardrobe. At least until you wake up and realize that – unlike when you’re just having a bad clothes day and don’t feel like wearing anything you’ve got – there’s really absolutely nothing to wear.

Today I’m 16 weeks pregnant. I guess I should start feeling the baby move any day now, but I haven’t yet…well, at least I don’t think I have…

It was just too hot today. I know, I know, I complained about the cold not too long ago, but we skipped spring and went straight to mid-summer temperatures and humidity. After working all day in a room with several computers that was just shy of 90°, I had band rehearsal tonight in a room with lots of people blowing hot air. I was ready to dump my bottled water over my head instead of drinking it! Oh, and I know Sousa marches are really popular with everyone, but those of us who play French horn truly hate them. Try playing off-beats every measure with no breaks and see how quickly you hyperventilate.

Anyway.

No knitting was accomplished today, because I was so overheated when I got home it was all I could do to collapse in a chair and revel in the central air. What am I going to do in July?!?

(Yes, this post is essentially one long complaint. Sorry!)

Yay! This year I get to celebrate Mother’s Day, too! Of course, I spent the bulk of it in the car on the way back from NYC. We’ve picked up the doggies from their respective vacations – Molly stayed with my parents (at one point she was looking out the window over the back of the couch, then literally fell asleep sitting there and dropped sideways so her head was on my mom’s shoulder…awww) and Murphy had a sleepover party with Oscar at Jenny’s place (apparently there was a little mishap over there involving pot holders that Murphy wasn’t even directly involved in…)

It was actually nice weather for the drive, and I got a ton of knitting done. I also got some nice little Mother’s Day gifties from Denis and my mom, but I am far too sleepy to take pictures and post. Tomorrow, maybe…