unblague

Our latest sonogram

2011-04-04T12:07:00.004-04:00

This is our baby boy at 23w5d.

I think he's flipping us off.

But everything looks good otherwise. Yay.

Guess I'm officially part of the family

2011-04-04T12:01:00.002-04:00

I now get *those* kinds of emails (ya' know, the "inspirational" or "affirming" or whatever kind that you need to forward to your 100 favorite people...) from SM's aunts on both sides of the family. And he only has two aunts.

Does SM get these emails? Um, no. Just me.

I take it as an indication of affection...

Once again, in honor of St. Patrick's Day...

2011-03-17T20:05:00.002-04:00

I bring you this iconic photograph.

Update on my bro...

2011-03-14T08:42:00.002-04:00

He leaves for Afghanistan sometime this week. Even though his job is more administrative than combat-related, it still scares the crap outta me that he is going to a war zone. Please keep him and all our troops in your thoughts.

We're having a boy!

2011-03-14T08:38:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'll admit that I've known this for quite a while. In fact, we’ve known since the 13w check-up that we’re having a boy. Well, we’ve known since we first got pregnant that we’re having a boy, but the ultrasound tech confirmed it at 13w. And we actually kept the secret. Can you believe it?

Anyhow, we were in for our routine visit at 13w, the one where the tech checked for Down Syndrome by looking at the baby’s neck (the NT test). The tech (a guy) was chatting with us to put us at ease (I was quite worried about our risk factor). He asked if we were planning on finding out the baby’s sex. We told him that we were. He asked if we wanted to know now (then). My stomach jumped a little, and we told him that we did. He told us that it was a boy. I asked him how he could tell. He said — and this is almost a verbatim quote — “because of the giant penis”.

Well now… it seems that our baby has a giant penis! SM should be proud.

Anyway, we were still a little skeptical, giant penis aside, so we wanted to wait until another ultrasound when the baby was further along to really confirm it. Unfortunately Li’l Pea didn’t cooperate at 16 weeks, but we've had two more sonograms since -- and he is definitely a boy. One tech even said he was "a proud boy" (another comment on his giant penis?).

Maybe we’ll have to change his nickname. ”Li’l Pea” just doesn’t seem appropriate anymore somehow.

A year ago today...

2011-02-17T22:02:00.007-05:00

This is what I was doing...

Taking pictures of Half Moon Bay in Antarctica, our first stop after crossing the Drake Passage.

Some scary shit

2011-02-06T10:59:00.003-05:00

My brother is deploying to Afghanistan for six months at the end of the month. He's a reservist, and I think his job involves air transport. I don't know exactly what he does, but I do know he's not infantry or anything like that.

This isn't the first time he's deployed, but I do think it's the longest. And I can't help but be worried.

My mom is definitely going to be very happy when this summer arrives -- that means her baby will be home and so will mine.

We found this out last week...

2011-02-02T10:18:00.004-05:00

Fat Tire is coming to DC!!!

SM is having a great year with both the baby and his favorite beer arriving soon.

Some historical perspective

2011-02-01T18:01:00.003-05:00

On the baby's gender, that is...

As everyone knows, we are going to find out the sex of the baby, as soon as the baby lets us. Both SM and I believe our kidlet is a boy. Most everyone else seems to think the baby is a girl. As one friend said, she pictures me with a girl — but then she went on to say, “But I’m always wrong, so that means it’s probably a boy.”

But here’s some food for thought. If you look at the biological parents of each generation, we seem to have a bit of a family tradition: first-born boys.
* SM's and my generation, circa the late 1960s: both sides (two families), our parents’ first-born were boys — SM, my brother
* Our parents’ generation, circa the late 1930s: both sides (four families), our grandparents’ first-born were boys — SM's uncles J. and C., my dad and my mom’s older brother J. who died as an infant
* Our grandparents’ generation, circa 1910: okay, this is where some first-born were girls

I find it curious that we have to go back one hundred years, literally, before you can find a first-born girl on either side. I believe that my maternal grandparents were both younger siblings of first-born daughters. I’m not sure about my dad’s grandparents or SM's side.

So it’s a tradition for both of our families: first-born boys since the early 1900s.

I wonder if this observation will change anyone's mind to thinking we're having a boy...?

Kitty Midnight Madness

2011-01-30T11:32:00.002-05:00

Just because I thought this was funny.. and I'm too lazy to come up with something original right now.

The great expansion...

2011-01-16T12:15:00.001-05:00

of my wardrobe and my waist.

Yes, today, for the first time ever, I am wearing maternity jeans, one of two pairs of pants I have with a belly band. I don't really look pregnant yet (just fat); I'm in that awkward place where my clothes are tight, but I'm also not really big enough for maternity yet. And even though the jeans are the right size, they don't quite fit...yet. They keep sliding down because neither my butt nor my belly are big enough to keep them up! I know that will change in the coming weeks, but for now, I have to keep hiking them up because I can't exactly wear a belt with them. Hmm, maybe suspenders? LOL.

But these jeans are a welcome relief from the pinching my belly has been getting from the waistband of my pants. Even when I wear the stretch knit pants below my belly, they still press on my pelvis. It's so nice to be this comfortable in clothes that I can actually wear outside of the house.

I can totally see how I'm gonna wanna keep wearing these pants long after the baby comes. All-you-can-eat buffet? I'm in. Just let me get my favorite jeans!

Is it just me...

2011-01-15T11:25:00.001-05:00

or does Reince Priebus sound more like a medical condition than a person's name?

Arguably, either way, it's an affliction.

Justice Scalia can sign some of these lyrics...

2011-01-15T10:17:00.002-05:00

(Just because I found this amusing...)

Told folks at work

2011-01-08T11:44:00.003-05:00

That I've got one in the oven. When I told my boss, a look of panic spread over his face, but then he smiled.

Of course, everyone that I told (about 1/3 the office) was very happy and supportive. I told them all that mum's the word (um, literally!) and asked them not to spill the beans to anyone else.

We'll see who blabs inappropriately first. I'm betting it will be my boss. Seriously. ::sigh::

Plain brown wrapper

2011-01-08T11:35:00.004-05:00

Both SM and I got Kindles for Christmas. The potential of e-readers seems pretty huge, especially the privacy of no one knowing what you're reading -- which immediately made me wonder when porn is going to hit Kindle.

It seems to me that this would be the ultimate plain brown wrapper for folks who want to peruse their fave magazines incognito. The technology for a color screen is already there. Many magazines and newspapers already offer e-reader subscriptions. Porn seems to be a logical next step. Subscription to Hustler, anyone?

Or perhaps I'm naive and porn has already made it to the little screen?

We speak DC

2011-01-02T09:52:00.001-05:00

A little while ago, I told SM that I was hungry. He asked me if there were anything he could do to remediate the situation.

I told him he's been working for the government too long.

Best reaction yet

2010-12-31T15:40:00.000-05:00

We've started to tell our families about the baby. We decided to do it all over Christmas (when we'd see people in person) using Christmas presents. As predicted, both my and SM's dad were kinda thick about figuring it out. Took them a while to get it. But SM's aunt (his mother's younger sister) had the best reaction by far so far.

We gave my dad a picture frame that spelled out B-A-B-Y. In the picture part, we wrote, "Grandma & Grandpa -- See you in July!" He thought it was a frame for my niece (who just turned one). It took my stepmother looking at it and then looking at us for confirmation to get it. Silly dad. SM's dad was similarly dense. We gave him a book "Memories for my Grandchild" that has all sorts of prompts for the grandfather to fill in details about his life for the grandchild. On the cover of the book, under the words "Memories for my Grandchild", we put a sticky-note that said "ETA July 2011". He didn't get it. SM's brother-in-law did, however, and told us, "Congratulations!" That's when SM's dad got it.

As for SM's aunt, we decided to tell her covertly by giving her a framed picture of Gidget. She is an animal NUT; she has more pictures in her living room of her various pets over the years than her children, and she loves Gidget even though she's never met her (go figure). The picture said "Only child" in large print under Gidget's face, and in smaller print, to the side, it said "Until July".

When SM's aunt opened the present, unfortunately, the glass in the frame had broken so she couldn't get a good look at it. I had to prompt her to really read what it said. At first, she was confused and wondering if what she thought we were telling her was in fact what we were telling her. Then she half whispered, "You're pregnant?" When we confirmed, she shrieked -- and I mean SHRIEKED -- for at least 30 seconds straight. Then she burst into tears and was beside herself, alternately mumbling and covering her face, for several minutes.

Even funnier were other's reactions to SM's aunt (who is well known to be melodramatic). A couple of people didn't catch on why she was going berserk, so they were just confused and probably shocked at all the hysterics. SM's aunt kept saying, "We're having a baby! We're having a baby!" Then it became, "I'm having a baby!" (Silly me for thinking this was more about me/SM!) LOL. Then I kept thinking -- hmm, none of our other Christmas presents are going to be nearly as good as that, so she may as well quit opening them now! It was great fun for us, though.

When SM's dad came to pick us up later, SM's aunt went up to him, gave him a hug and said, "We're having a baby!" He kinda did a double-take and then laughed. She also told us she was going to come down to DC when the baby came and move in with us to help out.

I'm just glad she didn't invite herself into the delivery room!

Another interesting, but not nearly as dramatic, reaction was SM's grandfather. When SM told him that we were having a baby and expressed our cautious excitement (because of my "advanced maternal age"), SM's grandfather started comparing our pregnancy to George Bush's experience, that George and Laura were trying to have children but were almost ready to give up and try adoption when they got pregnant with their twins, etc. SM's grandfather (a staunch R, can you tell?) then went off on a tangent about what a wonderful man W. is, etc. SM's grandmother kept trying to steer him back by saying, "I think we should be talking about SM, not George Bush." But SM's grandfather would not be deterred easily. He wanted to tell SM all about W. Ahh, grandparents! LOL. But, of course, they were very happy and excited for us.

My re-cap of the Avon Walk last May (because I said I'd post this in the post below)

2010-12-31T15:10:00.001-05:00

(Note: this is the email I sent folks who supported my participation in the Avon Walk for the Cure, this past May.)

33.3...

Miles, that is. Although, it felt just about that hot (in Celsius) this weekend while we were walking. Yes, this past weekend, I finally did the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. No, I didn't train all that much for it, but somehow I survived... no thanks to Mother Nature! After all the 60-degree weather during the week, Mother Nature decided to slam us with 90-degree weather on Saturday and Sunday. And oh, the humidity!

Day one started with my sister and I getting up at oh-dark-hundred to be down at the Washington Monument by 6:15 AM. For those of you who know us, that in itself is a major sacrifice. Ooof. The opening ceremonies started at 6:30, and the walk officially began at 7:00 AM… while many of you were still asleep and I certainly would have been on any other Saturday.

The first many miles were through the streets of downtown DC. And while DC is a beautiful city, I felt like we weren’t making any progress because we were still in downtown DC after walking for several hours. In fact, it took us 6.2 miles to get from the Washington Monument to Union Station. For those of you who aren’t familiar with DC, it’s actually only about 1.5 miles across the Mall. We definitely took the scenic route – and then some. I was happy to see hubby SM who was at the first “cheering station” to provide lots of moral support, hugs and “atta girls” for us, and then onward we schlepped, past Georgetown Law, through the gates of Chinatown block and near the White House before heading north towards Dupont Circle. (Apologies to those who could care less about the geographic details.)

We hit the lunch break at mile 9.2 at about 10:15 AM. I have to say that I’ve never eaten lunch at 10:15 AM. But when you eat breakfast at 5:30 AM and have been walking for several hours, you’re ready for lunch at 10:15. We stopped at a middle school in the West End (around 24th/M Street), just before crossing into Georgetown. Lunch was a nice break, but we didn’t want to sit too too long for fear of inertia keeping us down. So onward, onward!

At this point, the day was really starting to heat up. The streets of Georgetown were fairly well shaded, but that was small solace. We hit mile 13.1 somewhere in NW, and we were both still feeling pretty good physically – definitely better than we thought we would. It certainly helped that many, many people turned out all along the route to cheer us on, provide snacks and give us moral support. Our family as well as friends met us on MacArthur Blvd. for more “atta girls” and a change of socks for both of us. At this point, getting up and going again was getting harder and harder. Whenever we had to cross the street, we hoped for a green light. You might think that we would have preferred a red light for rest, but noooooooooo. That only gave our muscles the opportunity to tighten. Walking was easier than stopping. And hills? Whose bright idea was it to put in the hills after the halfway point? That’s just evil. I never realized what hills there were in NW DC. Ugh. Loughboro Road. Ugh. No fun.

Anyway, we continued through some very lovely neighborhoods in NW DC, and I saw some streets I’ve never seen before. Eventually, we crossed into Maryland at the Chevy Chase Circle, around mile 19 or so. We continued up Connecticut Avenue and into Chevy Chase where my friend C. and her two babies E. (of the cute toddler variety, in his stroller) and E. (of the cute four-legged doggy variety, on her leash) met us to cheer us along and walk with us for a few blocks. At mile 21.2, still in Chevy Chase, we took a fairly long break at a rest stop. Sis wasn’t feeling so great, so we parked our butts for a bit so that she could get some food and Gatorade.

After that, we continued along the Capital Crescent Trail and back over to Connecticut Ave up to Kensington Parkway where we picked up Rock Creek Trail (along Beach Drive). At this point, people kept saying that we were almost there, almost there… but they lied! We soon figured out that we still had several miles to go, which just isn't "almost there" when you're walking. Even though some guy told us around mile 24 that it was all downhill from there, it wasn’t. But none of us were going back to chastise him for it. But it was easier in the shade and the cooler temperatures of the late afternoon. We followed Rock Creek Trail past the Mormon Temple, back under the Beltway and then across East-West Highway to Meadowbrook Lane. Despite having grown up in the area, I had no idea there were stables and horses there!

At this point, the end was in sight. For real this time. SM met us at mile 25.8 to walk with us, and my stepmother (sis's mother) and sister met us too. We walked across the finish line into the “Wellness Village” (where many, but not us, camped overnight – you think I’m going to spend the night in a tent when my own bed is mere miles away? Nooo way. I would have walked home if I had to, to have my own bed and no line for a shower). Then we promptly walked back out and got into our respective cars to go home. I don’t know who was asleep sooner – sis or me – but I do know that I crashed pretty hard after 26.2 miles and being out from 6:30 AM to about 6:30 PM, which is about when we finished. During that 12 hours, we probably walked about 10 hours’ worth in some serious heat. When I got home and peeled off my shoes, I had one monster blister that was more than an inch long! Ouch.

Day two started, thankfully, a little later. The walk started at 7:30 AM, and since we didn’t have to go far to the starting point, I got up at 6:30 instead of 5-something. Yay for the extra hour! Sis and I started out in the disgusting humidity of Sunday, but since the sky was overcast and it had recently rained (ground was wet), it wasn’t too too hot... yet. Just muggy – and buggy! We were definitely taking a slower pace on day two. I was proud that I even made it out to the course. If sis had said that she wanted to bail on day two, I would have been right there with her. But we didn’t. We walked. However, I knew it was gonna be “one of those days” when I heard an “excuse me, may I get by?” from behind, only to be passed by a woman in a wheelchair… . (But we passed her again later.)

We walked down Rock Creek Trail but took a more direct route back to NW DC. I don’t remember the exact route, but we spent some time on Western Ave and down Nebraska to Fort Reno. We saw Dad’s alma mater, Wilson High, home of the Tigers. Somewhere along the way, as the sun started to come out and the temperature go up, I made the decision that I was going to call it a day at mile 7. I knew I could finish the whole 13.1 miles if I pushed myself, but I decided I didn’t want to. My blisters were hurting, and I admit it, I didn’t want to walk during the hottest part of the day (and Sunday was a doozy!!!). So I called SM and asked him to meet me at the cheering station at mile 7.1. With that decision made, it was much easier getting through the rest of the little stroll through NW. Sis hadn’t decided what she wanted to do yet, but I knew that I wanted to preserve the rest of my day from sheer exhaustion and my feet from further injury. We came down Nebraska Ave. to Tenley Circle where we picked up Wisconsin Avenue. I kept looking for the damned mile markers because – I swear – mile 6 was at least two miles long! We kept looking and finally saw the cheering station – with SM and a troupe of Chinese lion dancer (way cool!) – on Wisconsin Ave. Our family drove up, and I said my “hellos” and my “good-byes” because I ended my walk there – for a total of 33.3 miles over 2 days.

I have to say that the marathon (I’ve now done a marathon!!!) was easier than I thought it would be -- but that doesn’t mean I’m in any hurry to sign up for it again next year. My feet suffered tremendously on day two, and I am still hobbling around because of some very serious blisters. It was fantastic to have so many folks cheering us along the route, and SM spent his entire day on Saturday (and Sunday too) as our moral and logistical support. I can’t thank him enough.

And, as many of you may know, I was inspired to do this walk by SM's parents. SM’s mother had breast cancer, and SM’s dad cared for her for many years as they fought the disease. Sadly, SM's mom died from it at 51, and I never met her. But they raised a tremendous son, and for that, I am grateful. This was my small tribute to them.

(BTW, it took nearly two months for my feet to fully heal. I'll spare you the details, but I'm sure you can imagine the mangled toes, etc.)

Christmas Day at St. E's

2010-12-31T14:16:00.005-05:00

Longer-term readers of this blog know that I try to do some kind of charitable event every year around my birthday to celebrate another year of good health, prosperity, etc. This past year, I participated in the Avon Walk for the Cure, which is a full marathon walk the first day and a half marathon walk the second day. I had to raise a chunk of change to participate and then walk whatever part I could walk. I didn't blog about it because I wasn't blogging at the time, but I'll look for the blurb I wrote and post it, if I can find it. For the record, I did finish 33.3 miles -- the full marathon on the first day and 7.1 miles on the second day before I surrendered to my blisters.

Anyway, I have also always thought I'd like to be one of those really generous, giving types who volunteers during the holidays. I'm actually pretty self-centered, but with a baby coming and whatnot, I'm trying to get past my essential me-ness. Well, I heard about an opportunity to spend some time with some patients at St. Elizabeth's Hospital on Christmas Day and decided to do it. I even roped in SM and my mom, too.

Basically, the idea was to spend time with patients on Christmas. That's it.

And St. E's, for those of you haven't heard of it, is a pretty famous psychiatric hospital.

I had no idea what to expect, but we signed up for the afternoon shift.

We were three of approximately two dozen volunteers. This was the first year they had volunteers in over the holidays, so the plan was pretty basic -- play games, do crafts and just hang out with the patients. The organizer told us that the patients' lives consisted of having things done *for* them and *to* them and that having people do things *with* them would help ease the institutional feel of spending Christmas institutionalized.

We met some interesting folks. Some were less than interactive; some were very articulate and well-spoken. I met one guy named David who had been at the hospital for 35 years. He was a writer who grew up in DC. Liked playing ball and still had family in the area. We had a pretty good conversation. He was very articulate and, except for the setting, there was nothing immediately apparent about him that suggested that he needed to be institutionalized. He was the one who told me that most of the patients in the activity area were made to come down and participate and that I shouldn't take it personally if folks had no interest in me or the craft project I was doing. Meeting David surprised me because he didn't match all my preconceived notions of what I thought a "psychiatric patient" would be like. Whatever I thought it was, it didn't include someone like David. Of course, I don't know why he was institutionalized, but he taught me that as open-minded as I would like to think I am, I'm not. And I need to get over myself and do more things that I've never done to get more experiences with different kinds of people.

I also talked -- or tried to talk -- to a number of other patients. Then dinner was served. The volunteers helped with the food and the clean-up, and then we left. We were there about 3.5 hours.

I don't know if I'll go back again next year -- not because I had a bad experience -- but because I don't know that my being there was worthwhile. Which begs the question of "worthwhile for whom"? For me? Well, then, it's still all about me, isn't it? And isn't the point of volunteering to get outside yourself a little bit and do something for someone else? So if the measure is "worthwhile for me", then I need to put on my big girl panties and shut up. So, was it worthwhile for them? I dunno, but I also can't be the judge of that, can I? (See above comment about big girl panties.)

So, we'll see. Of course, next year -- knock on wood -- I'll have a baby, so things will be different. Maybe just SM and I will volunteer and mom will stay at home with the kidlet. But I do want to do some kind of volunteer activity again next year. And maybe it will be at St. E's, if the coordinators thought things went well and want us back.

Cookie-making-extravaganza!

2010-12-20T12:44:00.007-05:00

This is what we spent several hours doing yesterday.

The size of a salad plate!
Check out the Ninjabread men...
Six kinds:
Sadly, between Li'l Pea and staring at the cookies for hours and hours, I had no stomach whatsoever to eat them! Maybe tomorrow? Maybe a plate for our nice neighbors?

Hi Guys!!!

2010-12-17T19:19:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry for the long absence, even after my teaser post a few weeks ago. I do have stuff to blog about, and I've been wrestling with how to much to tell.

Ya' see... we learned some news about a month ago, and we've been keeping it mostly under our hats. Haven't even told our families yet...

So on the one hand, I feel terribly guilty about letting the cat out of the bag here, before telling my fam. And I've also been terribly anxious... and superstitious and, therefore, cautious. But, on the other hand, I'm just about bursting..

I'm sure you can guess what I'm getting at. And you're right.

As of December 15th (one month after finding out), I am now 9 weeks preggers. Yup, I'm with child. Got a bun in the oven. Knocked up.

Way to go, SM!!!

Given my age (and this being the first kidlet to be hatched), I spent the first month worrying incessantly about everything. It got to the point where I had to tell someone because the anxiety was just overwhelming. That's why I came back to my hibernating blog. I needed an outlet, but couldn't discuss it with the usual suspects. But you'll keep my secret, right? We aren't broadcasting this yet, and we aren't telling the fam (except my mom) until next week. It's going to be a Christmas surprise for our families. So, shhhhh!

What made for the change from anxiety to excitement? I had my 9 week check-up on Wednesday, and the sonogram showed that Li'l Pea (making SM Li'l Pea Daddy) is doing his thing on schedule. At the prior 6 week picture-fest, he wasn't quite where he should have been -- thus the crazy worry. And believe me, I know how to worry. Now that he's back on track with a good heartrate, I feel more reassured and am actually starting to feel excited about our future tax deduction!

So that's my big news. I don't intend to spend the rest of my blogging life talking about all the fun things involved in being pregnant, but I am finally interested and excited about writing again. Yay!

And here's a picture of Li'l Pea, who is due to make an appearance on July 20th.

Last post was almost a year ago...

2010-11-30T19:29:00.002-05:00

I bet you'd given up on me, eh? I was pretty much ready to hang it up with this blog too. 2009 was an incredibly taxing and difficult year for me, us. I was glad to see it end. And as the year wound down, I didn't know if I had anything left to write about. I was just tired. And uninspired.

Sure, we had some cool trips this year -- Antarctica, Buenos Aires, Japan, Korea, New Orleans, Vegas... but they didn't compell me to write more than Facebook status updates.

Now I think I might be back in a place where I want to write. And I have something to write about. And I need the anonymity of this blog to hide behind.

I'm sure that I don't have any followers at this point due to the extreme hiatus, so I'm sure I can take refuge here. Right?

Ka-ching!

2009-12-05T22:34:00.003-05:00

That loud noise you just heard was us dropping a ton o' credit on our trip to Antarctica.

Yes, the real deal down under.

We just paid the balance on our trip. Yesirree, SM and I are taking a cruise to Antarctica next year, and I couldn't be more excited. We're calling it our "honeymoon" since that is the only way I can possibly justify spending so much money (=obscene amount) on one trip.

I wonder just one thing though -- which will melt first: our credit cards or the ice caps in Antarctica? Let's hope they both hold out for just a few more months at least.

Wow, I skipped a month

2009-12-05T21:57:00.002-05:00

and I'm not even pregnant.

So much for November. Wish I could say that it was memorable, but alas, no. I do have some updates, but thankfully, not too much. 2009 has been eventful enough that I am very much looking forward to putting it behind us...

I promise, more updates to come. Before 2010!

Like a traffic accident...

2009-10-13T16:11:00.002-04:00

I can't help but look.

Still quiet.

2009-10-12T23:21:00.003-04:00

Except for the occasional siren, but that's nothing extraordinary since we live very close to the rescue squad house.

Maybe we'll find out what happened. Maybe not, but I'll check out the local news tonight (after football).

Update

2009-10-12T20:30:00.000-04:00

The skies are quiet now. Hopefully they'll stay that way.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

2009-10-12T20:01:00.003-04:00

So we're sitting around, watching TV, playing on the internet and generally doing holiday evening suburban things when we noticed what sounded like a low-flying plane. Then we heard it again and again and again. We then thought it might be the paving trucks that were supposed to re-do our streets. Then we looked outside and saw a helicopter with a searchlight circling around.

Then I noticed a police car, without lights, cruising up our street.

Then we got nervous.

SM went around the house to check that the doors were locked and shut the blinds.

Okay, as I type this, I admit it sounds paranoid to lock all the doors, but that helicopter was circling low for a good 20 minutes, and it freaked us out a bit.

SM went online to see if he could find anything out. I decided to be more proactive and called the local district police station for information.

Turns out that there was a robbery a few miles away. Five men were chased in this direction, and four of them were caught literally three blocks (about a 1/3 of a mile) directly up the street. One jumped out of the car to escape. That's who they were looking for.

Turns out our paranoia might not have been so paranoid. I told SM to call our neighbors to let them know what was going on. Their response was along the lines of -- yeah, this has happened before. Welcome to the neighborhood. And BTW, too bad about the Sox and the Patriots.

Anyway, it quieted down for a while, so we figured the guy was caught. But just as I started typing this, the helicopter returned. I can hear it flying around outside right now, back and forth.

Oh well. Not much I can do but go back to our usual suburban evening activities -- TV, internet, playing computer games, etc.

Quick trip to Boston

2009-10-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

Last week -- or was it the week before? -- SM and I played hookie and took a quick trip to Boston for the day. Why, you ask? Well, why not? I found a great airfare bargain. And I can't resist bargains. Of any kind. So I convinced SM and off we went. Ya' see, JetBlue launched a new route from BWI to Logan, and this was a promo fare. $9 each way.

Yup, $9. Who wouldn't wanna do that?

Here were the catches -- had to fly on either Tuesday or Wednesday; fare was dependent on seats available; and tax and surcharges were extra. Even with the extra fees and the middle-of-the-week travel, it was a steal worth doing. (As one person commented to us, the time we took off was much more expensive than anything else. Very true.)

So we got a flight at 9:50 PM on Tuesday to return on Wednesday at 4:40 in the afternoon. Surcharges amounted to something like $11 per ticket, so the total for both of us was around $80. After paying so little for the tickets, we weren't about to put out bucks for a hotel. Fortunately, SM went to school in Boston and still has a number of friends in the area. So, we arranged to see his old friends and crashed with them in Somerville, which is a 'burb of Boston.

In the morning, we took the T to MIT. I wanted to see the campus because I never had and because SM spent 6 years of his life there (undergrad and grad school). We walked around a bit. It was kinda fun to see for both of us. Many things had changed, but many things had not. We also went to the Coop to buy SM a sweatshirt 'cuz, well, his college-era sweatshirt doesn't quite fit anymore.

We had fun shopping. It was particularly interesting to see the various MIT shirt designs. SM got a fleece. I got an oversized hoodie (it was a bargain!), and I bought a t-shirt for my brother for Christmas. It read: I>U (which I think my brother might actually wear, and if not, it's still my duty as his sister to give him snarky presents).

Here was one of our faves, which we didn't buy but would be really snottily perfect to wear as a student:

Get it? I didn't. I understood that the first fraction was M (and therefore could guess), but SM had to translate the rest. (FYI, the second is an imaginary number = I, and the last is an equation about the state of gas: pV=nRT, which I won't even pretend to have any knowledge of or interest in, but it works out to T.)

I also liked the shirt that said "Talk nerdy to me." Heh. Another one had a series of 0s and 1s on it. Now, I went to a liberal arts college (double major in sociology and anthropology, thankyouverymuch), so I was extremely proud that I could even identify that as binary. SM was able to decode the numbers, but we didn't know how to translate it beyond that. Turns out, the numbers were ASCII code for, you guessed it, MIT. When we told this story to my younger brother, whose degree is in mechanical engineering, he got it right away. I guess I'm surrounded by nerdy types.

Anyhoo... after walking through and around MIT, we counted Smoots over the bridge into Boston proper, walked and shopped our way down Newbury Street and then over to Boylston. We then cut over through Chinatown and eventually made it to the Faneuil Hall area where we did more walking but less shopping. We had lunch with SM's friend at the Durgin Park restaurant, where I had lobster roll -- yum! After that, we caught the T back to the airport and had an eventless return trip home.

We weren't even in Boston a full day, more like 17 hours (half of which was overnight), but it was fun. It felt like we were playing hookie -- it was, after all, a Wednesday. We hadn't done anything spontaneous like that in quite a while. We were gone such a short time that we didn't even make any arrangements for Gidget. We just left her at home with water (she has a doggy door). Of course, she missed out on her breakfast on Wednesday, but she, like us, can stand missing a meal. When we got home that night, we were greeted by an almost hysterically happy puppy who was so excited that she peed on the floor. She is, after all, part dauschund.

It was great fun. We need to take trips like that more often, especially when the travel (parking and gas included) costs less than two college sweatshirts and a t-shirt!

Like, omigawd, gag me with a spoon!

2009-10-12T12:58:00.002-04:00

I am a vision of an 80s hipster today. I have on an oversized college sweatshirt (SM's alma mater), leggings, scrunched tube socks ('cuz da' feet are cold) and my hair in a ponytail. All I need is a perm and a scrunchy, and voila -- I am the quintessential 80s college chick. Yes, I've rocked this look before.

Speaking of which, I have noticed that 80s styles are coming back. Leggings -- check. Harem pants (a.k.a., "Hammer" pants or parachute pants) -- check. Oversized shirts/tunics -- check. Hipslung belts -- check. Slouched boots -- check. I've even heard mention of -- ::shudder:: -- of "Members Only"-style jackets coming back. Oh my. All we need is big hair. Think big hair will come back too?

Scary when the "retro" look that is currently a la mode is something you wore before (and remember). Hmmm, I should check my closet. I bet I still have the slouchy boots and belts. No comment on the Members Only jacket. But I'd bet Scooter had one back in the day... eh?

Where are my Reeboks anyway?

Answer

2009-10-10T17:48:00.007-04:00

We have an answer to my "What's next?" question: our computers.

Mine has an internal electrical problem. The battery isn't charging -- not because of a bad battery or a bad cord. It's something in between and will cost $300 to fix. For a 5 year old computer. Ouch.

But SM's computer hit the skids this morning. We're having trouble even powering it up. So this afternoon, he went out and bought a new laptop for $550. Nothing fancy, obviously. His old computer was from, we think, 2003, so yeah, it's about time. And let's face it, when your old computer is from 2003, a cheap new one is a huge upgrade. So he's happy with his new toy.

I, on the other hand, will probably have to wait a while until we upgrade mine. Until then, I'll be plugged in DC here in DC.

First!

2009-10-08T22:11:00.002-04:00

Today was the first time that Metro's red line was back up to speed since the accident on June 22nd. Never mind that one of the cars started smoking in the tunnel on Tuesday (my friend was actually on the train that started smoking; she said that folks went hysterical). Nah, that doesn't mean that they haven't fixed everything.

And oh yea...

2009-10-08T13:24:00.002-04:00

In addition to all the crap with the house that I wrote about before, sometime during the summer (I don't remember when) our A/C went caput -- necessitating a completely new system (outside unit, water heater and furnace) to the tune of $10K. Yay. That, on top of the approximately $20K for the plumbing, new bathroom, ceiling repair and electrical work. And our one car kept dying (three tows!). Now the gutters are falling off the house.

Sheesh.

But the A/C is fixed. And the car seems to be running reliably (knock-on-wood) now. We still need to take care of the gutters.

And then, what's next? I should start a lottery to see who can guess what our next major fix-it project will be. Any takers?

What's left.

2009-10-08T13:15:00.002-04:00

So I was wrong

2009-10-08T09:38:00.000-04:00

They weren't done yet. Now they are. More pix.

Who could that be knocking at my door?

2009-10-08T08:29:00.012-04:00

Especially at 7:30 this morning?

Turns out it's some workers who have come to remove the tree in our front yard. The tree is half dead and old enough that the branches get pulled down by the wind on a regular basis. Fortunately, the branches only fell on the lawn, not our cars, but we always avoided parking the car under the tree during storms. Anyway, the worker dude wanted me to move our car so they could work.

Of course, I didn't know they were coming today. I knew the tree was slated for removal, but no one told us when. About a year ago (yes, a year), the county came by and marked the tree for removal. The reason it's half-dead is because some genius 60 years ago, when the house was built, thought it was a good idea to plant a tree directly under the power lines. All up and down the street. Many of the trees have already been removed, and those that remain have been trimmed and cut back into a weird V shapes to avoid the power lines. Not only did the trimming result in a strangled-looking trees, but the trees are dying as a result.

So now I'm watching it being taken down. And I'm a bit sad to see it go. It was a fairly large tree that produced a lotta shade -- and yes, a lot of leaves on the ground. But it was (mostly) a living thing, so it makes me a bit sad to see it chopped and chomped up into chips. Also, it also dramatically changes the look of our front yard. And we'll get much more sun on the house too.

But it's a good thing to have the tree removed. Just yesterday, we had a wind storm. When we came home last night, there were a few branches on the lawn, one of which would have dented a car. And lucky for SM, they're removing the tree before the leaves have fallen. This will save him very serious hours of raking.

So the once lush tree (okay, 1/2 lush) will soon be reduced to a creepy, limbless trunk (they come back to take the trunk and then again, hopefully, to remove the stump). It's actually been a very interesting process to watch. The guy responsible for cutting the branches did it very methodically and used ropes for controlled falls.

Here are some pix.

Done. For now. Kinda sad. But I guess this adds to the ambiance for Halloween!

So now I need to go to work!

In case somehow some way you missed this...

2009-07-30T20:49:00.001-04:00

Watch this too (until the end)...

Paper sons...

2009-07-29T15:14:00.002-04:00

Being involved in the Asian American community here in DC, I've learned a lot about the histories of other Asian American communities... But, unfortunately, most communities' immigration stories do not get told beyond that community, which is why this article in the NYT was not only good to read but also good to see.

I know many Chinese Americans who have introduced themselves to me, saying something along the lines of... "My name is John Lee, but it's really Chen." Or, s/he has two different names on her/his business card -- on the English side, it says, e.g., "John Lee" but the Chinese characters on the back read "Chen". Because someone up the ancestral line was a paper son.

Interesting stuff. I don't think there's an analogous history in the Japanese American community. We don't have "paper sons". Maybe because the numbers of immigrants were smaller? I don't know.

And on a tangentially related note, here's another story about an Asian and American names...

Who knew?

2009-07-28T14:32:00.002-04:00

Who knew that my pooch had a famous namesake

Now, if only our Gidget spoke Spanish and we could get the residuals on her commercials...

Ooooh, a new toy!!

2009-07-20T18:30:00.002-04:00

A few minutes ago, I got an invitation to open a Google Voice account, and I just did it. I'm very excited! Yay, fun!

I'm sorry for two NSFW posts in a row ...

2009-07-17T15:11:00.003-04:00

but this just made me laugh.

Not the letter so much as the advice columnist's response:

Dear Prudence,
Last fall, I met a terrific woman from the Mediterranean who may be "the one." She's beautiful and has a great body that she likes to show off, but she is also very hairy. She never shaved back home, and having now been steeped in years of women's studies in the United States, she has become militant about not conforming to the ideal of hairless womanhood. She can't wait to spend lots of time at my parents' beach house this summer. She has bought a tiny bikini that she plans on wearing, so lots of her pubic hair is guaranteed to be on display. My mom and dad are going to faint. Hair in the armpits? European. Hair on the legs? Granola. But pubic hair all over the place? I've told her she may want to "trim up a bit," but she refuses. What to do, besides hide her from my mom and dad?
—Hairified

Dear Hairified,
If she feels about you the way you feel about her, surely she wants to snatch this opportunity to make a good impression on your parents. Appeal to her vanity: Tell her that if she refuses to trim her undergrowth, your parents' embarrassment will keep them from appreciating her great mind and beautiful figure. Appeal to her sophistication: Since she's lived a cross-cultural life, she knows that making a small gesture can be all that's needed to keep from muffing a sensitive encounter. Appeal to her affection for you: Explain that if her pubic hair is also her public hair, you're going to want to hide in the bushes. Emphasize that you are not asking for permanent defoliation, just for an application of depilatory so that when beach time comes around and your neither European nor granola parents see her itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikini, their hair won't stand on end.
—Prudie

Porn for pets!

2009-07-16T17:35:00.002-04:00

I am posting this purely in the interest of science. Nope, had nothing to do with the oddity of this article. Nor any salacious intent. Or any fascination with the subject at hand. No indeed. I'm posting this piece because it's interesting and bizarre -- and because my dad is now my "friend" on Facebook, so posting articles there about chickens choking their chickens ain't gonna fly (not for me, at least).

All mixed (up) metaphors aside, here is the article in question: Hands or Paws or Anything They Got

Make sure you watch the embedded video. Ahh, nature in its natural state!

Facebook

2009-07-10T10:57:00.002-04:00

Here's another reason for EMcPan not to join FB (if she hasn't already listed it): so you'll never have to be "friends" with your parents.

My father recently joined and "friended" me. Now, what the heck am I supposed to do with that? First, I had no idea that he had the remotest clue what FB is. Second, I don't necessarily want him knowing the stuff I post on FB. I didn't tell him all of my shenanigans as a teenager, and I am not about to begin doing that now.

But I guess I am. Because, really, if a parent "friends" you, then you sorta, kinda have to accept (unless they have a bad enough memory that they'll forget about it). I mean, I don't want to have my allowance garnished or be grounded or anything...

Seen scene

2009-07-07T20:04:00.003-04:00

In this neck of the woods/'burbs, apparently, Burleys are grocery-schlepping machines.

Saw one so filled yesterday.

Happy Blog-o-versary to me...

2009-07-06T12:09:00.002-04:00

Started this blog on July 5, 2004. Ironic that almost five years to the day later I'm thinking of signing off.

Separated at birth?

2009-07-06T12:04:00.003-04:00

What do you think?

Still alive

2009-07-06T12:02:00.002-04:00

but wondering if I should bother with this blog anymore... No more chronicles of law school, studying for the bar or even looking for a job -- and chronicling the crumpling and rebuilding of my house is just plain depressing. I just don't know if I have anything to say these days.

So I'm thinking of signing off.

Baachan, oyasuminasai

2009-05-25T01:45:00.001-04:00

Grandma passed away tonight (May 24th). She never truly regained consciousness after the stroke.

Goodnight Grandma. Rest in peace. We'll miss you.

Updates

2009-05-24T19:19:00.004-04:00

The plumbers are coming on Tuesday to begin the overhaul of our house. All the pipes are being replaced. We're also getting new toilets and a new shower downstairs. Cha-ching. Our house is going to be in complete disarray (more so than usual) for months. This stresses me out tremendously.

And, today I got the news that the doctors have pretty much given up hope that my grandma will regain consciousness, so the family has decided -- I think rightfully so -- to give her comfort care but take no extraordinary measures for her. In other words, hospice care until she passes away. We've already dismantled her apartment and moved stuff to storage. Now they are starting to give stuff away. Losing hope is a hard thing. She isn't dead, but she's definitely gone.

I am tremendously sad today. Maybe watching the final three episodes of Grey's Anatomy^* today wasn't such a good idea?

_{*where everyone dies}

Damn. Enough already!

2009-05-18T15:23:00.002-04:00

Let's see, my past few months have included...
* bathroom leak that flooded the kitchen (February 12th)
* molar pregnancy and ensuing procedure (February 13th) while the baseball remains to be dealt with
* kidney transplant for Dad (March 31st) and follow-up care (ongoing)
* various car problems (ongoing)
* chipped my front tooth (May 3rd)
* ruptured pipe in ceiling that flooded basement (May 3rd), necessitating an overhaul of our plumbing and redoing pretty much the entire basement (it's gonna cost us a chunk)

And now, the worst thing yet. My grandmother had a very serious stroke on Thursday last week (May 14th). She's in the ICU. At first, they didn't think she was going to survive, but she did. And I had hope that she'd recover. Maybe not fully, but at least functionally to some degree. Before the stroke, she was completely lucid and active and lived independently. Now, she meanders in and out of consciousness and has moments of partial lucidity. But she spoke every so often and even opened her eyes. She responded to stimuli and our voices somewhat. And I had hope.

But it's been four days now, and the doctors are saying that they don't expect her to recover any further. And I'm feeling a bit crushed. I could deal with her condition well enough when I had the hope that she'd fight through it ('cuz she's really tough), but now I'm thinking my hope is futile. And I am so. very. sad. Grandma was so vibrant that it's hard to fathom that she isn't likely to recover. There was no gradual decline. She went from life in the fast lane (for a 94-year old, that is) to stop.

::sigh::

We'll find out more tonight. But I don't feel so optimistic anymore.

Saturday in the 'burbs...

2009-05-16T11:08:00.002-04:00

Empty.

2009-05-07T16:08:00.002-04:00

Our basement, that is. The carpet is out. The padding is out. The ceiling and parts of several walls are also gone. Devoid of (almost) all furniture -- and hopefully, all water. We're hopeful that the smell leaves soon too. But who knows? It's been raining so much that nothing seems dry these days.

Photos to come.

The high cost of weddings

2009-05-06T16:04:00.003-04:00

Not for us, but rather going to one out of town. Here's the breakdown:

$379.80 -- airfare for two (so that's $189.90 each)
$30.00 -- airport parking for a long weekend
$30.00 -- luggage fees (one checked bag each way)
$390.03 -- hotel (two nights room and parking)
$105.00 -- car rental
$934.83 -- total

This doesn't include the present, gas, food or other incidental fees. AND, if only one of us had gone, then the cost would have only been reduced by $190 (one airfare).

E-gads. About $1150 when you add in the present.

Although I have attended a number of out-of-town weddings, I never did this math before and didn't realize how much weddings cost for out-of-towners who have to fly in, stay in a hotel and rent a car.

But, no regrets. We're glad we went.

New plumbing for our house...

2009-05-05T10:41:00.003-04:00

My past three days:

Sunday -- chipped my tooth; got home around 11:00 PM after being away for three days to find a pipe burst in our basement, spurting everywhere. Water was covering the bathroom floor and had pretty much soaked the carpet across the entire floor. Wedding presents, law books, photographs and gawd knows what else was on the floor. So, after we figured out how to turn off the main valve to the house, SM and I started digging out. We put towels down and pulled out our fans and dehumidifiers. The towels got soaked instantly, so I had to run them through the spin cycle of the washer and then stick them in the dryer. And repeat and repeat.

We managed to get a lotta stuff out of the basement, which is a huge disaster area. Sadly, my junior high and high school yearbooks took a big hit. All of them are damaged. ::whine::

Monday -- took off work to clean up some more. Got the plumber in there to do the quick repair so we could get our water back on and take showers. Figured out that the pipes had burst before (saw an old repair) and were likely to burst again (lots of rust). Ahh, the joys of owning an older house with original plumbing! Got the boss plumber guy in to do an estimate to re-do all the plumbing in our house. ::sigh::

Then I had a doctor's appointment. After I had been sitting there waiting for half an hour past my scheduled time, I asked when I would get in. Turns out they (someone) had cancelled my appointment. They said that I had called in to cancel it. Um, no. I had to wait another half an hour before seeing the doctor. Boy, was I pissed. This office screws things up all of the time like this. Unfortunately, I like the doctor, so I don't know if I'll switch providers.

Today -- taking the morning off work to get stuff cleared out of the basement. I got the area rug up (which was sitting on the wall to wall carpet), and now it's outside on the deck. I'd say it's out there to dry, but given the humidity, I doubt any drying is going on. At least it's not sitting on the other carpet like a petri dish.

Fun times!

2009-05-05T10:38:00.000-04:00

A stimulus package for the hard times ahead

2009-04-26T14:58:00.001-04:00

Seriously, that IS what this ad is about.

I almost spit out my coffee when I first saw this...!

SM hard at work

2009-04-24T20:52:00.007-04:00

As you probably know, SM works on the Hill. Well, today, his boss was in a hearing, so SM had to staff him -- which basically means sitting behind him to answer any questions. Which basically means sitting behind him and trying not to fidget, fall asleep or look bored.

SM told me that the hearing was on C-SPAN, so I looked it up online and watched it. This is what I saw:

SM wasn't sitting behind his boss exactly, but I could see him behind another member, Sam Farr. Well, Mr. Farr has a big head, and at first I couldn't see SM at all. He was completely obscured by Mr. Farr.

So I emailed SM and told him to move. He did.

But he went the wrong way. So I emailed him and told him to move in the other direction.

Ah, that was better.

And, I was sending him these pictures, so he was seeing himself on C-SPAN while he was in the hearing. I could also see him checking his Blackberry on camera (in the back, of course). There was lots of back and forth between the Members of Congress and General Petraeus, so SM wasn't on-screen often, only when Mr. Farr was asking questions. Then SM emailed me and said that Sam Farr was going to ask more questions. I was ready when SM did this:

Heh. SM also told me that he was showing the pictures to the women sitting on either side of him, which explains the craning in the picture above.

I was amused.

New plumbing

2009-04-02T16:11:00.002-04:00

Quick update: Dad's kidney transplant surgery went well, medically-speaking. Tuesday was a nightmare of a day, but he was doing quite well yesterday and seems to be suffering only from the usual post-op pain, meds and fuss. My stepmom is also doing quite well and will be discharged today, I believe.

The day of the surgery was surreal in terms of all the administrative screw-ups. We were told that they were scheduled for surgery at 8:00 AM and had to be in the hospital at 6:00 AM. My stepmom didn't actually go back for her surgery until 4:00 PM, and Dad didn't go back until 5:30. We spent almost 18 hours in the hospital, at least 6 of which were unnecessary waiting due to the administrative error. I'll rant more about this later.

The important thing is that they seem to be doing fine, and I am grateful for that. The kidney also seems to be doing very well, and everyone is optimistic that it will continue to be a good little organ in its new home.

Thanks for all the well wishes.

Kidney update

2009-03-29T20:43:00.003-04:00

Dad is good to go for the transplant this Tuesday. My stepmother (his wife) is the donor. The operations will be performed in New York. Dad and my older brother drove up today. My stepmother and various sisters will drive up tomorrow during the day. My younger brother and I will drive up tomorrow after work.

I'm starting to feel a little bit anxious about this. Not worried, but concerned because a transplant is serious stuff.

Tuesday morning is when it all begins. Dad's operation will last about 7 hours. I am confident that it will all work out just fine, but please send positive vibes for the surgeons and for Dad and my stepmom for successful surgeries. And then for speedy, easy recoveries.

Thanks.

I'll update when I can.

Even if this is CGIed...

2009-03-18T23:30:00.001-04:00

this is quite amusing...

Blogging from Toronto airport using my iTouch

2009-03-13T08:40:00.003-04:00

How cool is that? The iTouch was a birthday prezzie from SM. The typing is really slow (one finger tapping), so there will be no long posts.

But I'm having fun playing!!!

Hey Laaaaaaaaaaa-day!

2009-03-09T09:01:00.003-04:00

I'm now firmly ensconced in "ma'am" status. I am now 41. Do I look any older?

We're in New Jersey at my college roommate's house and going into Manhattan for lunch and then the taping of The Daily Show. Jon Stewart is yummy. And you know that if there is any way for me to get it out there, leverage or otherwise broadcast that today is my birthday, I'll do it -- shamelessly.

We won't see the show when it is broadcast since we'll be driving back tonight, but our friend Tivo has that covered for us.

It's gonna be fun!

Talking 'bout Swiss cheese

2009-03-04T14:49:00.007-05:00

… continued from the baseball/mole post …

So, there I was… pregnant but not; worried but not; generally feeling ill and definitely taking the rest of the day off. I really did struggle with the decision to tell SM my news right away or wait until after work. I knew he had a busy day, and I wondered how much of my wanting to spill the news was borne of my need for a sympathetic ear. That is, how much of my decision was based on selfish motivations v. thinking of what he would want? In the end, I decided that if the shoe were on the other foot, I would want to know immediately of any of his health concerns, and I would want to share the burden with him, rather than him having to suck it up. I figured he’d probably feel the same.

So I called him and asked if he wanted to meet for coffee. He was a bit confused. I told him I wasn’t going back to the office after the appointment, that I was taking a sick day (it was already around 4:00, so what was the point?) and going home. That took a second to sink in. I asked if he were busy. He said he was, but he would always make time for me and that he was happy to meet me at the Starbucks near the metro. I got on the metro and then called him when I got there. He took a few more minutes to make it over. I already had my drink of choice (a mocha milkshake from Potbelly, yum!), so he got his java and joined me at a table outside.

How do you start a conversation like this? How do you tell your husband this kind of news so that he doesn’t assume the worst or get the crap scared outta him? I wanted to ease into the conversation without alarming him, so I started with, “I have good news and bad news.”

"The good news is that I now know why I’ve been feeling so crappy lately,” I told him.

Then I sped up and basic spewed out, “The bad news is that it’s because I have a molar pregnancy, which means that my body thinks I’m pregnant but I’m not really. But that’s why I’ve been feeling crappy lately, but there isn’t a baby or anything. But there’s all this extra tissue developing in my stomach, and I have to have a procedure on Friday to take care of it.”

Etc., etc., et cetera…

I practically dumped the information over his head, making sure to get the most relevant information out as quickly as possible so that he wouldn’t have time in between to think, let alone get too worried. Of course, he was still concerned and stunned and probably felt like he had been whacked upside the head, which was still spinning. He definitely had the “deer in the headlights” look on his face. Poor SM. He had no idea any of this was coming. He thought he was there to meet me for a nice mid-afternoon-escape coffee-break.

Anyhoo, I filled him in on all the details as I knew them, regaled him with a blow-by-blow account of how my day had gone and asked him if he thought it would be a problem for him to take off Friday. If he couldn’t do it, then I felt sure my mother could come with me. Of course, he wanted to be with me and said he’d make it happen (it’s amazing how few questions get asked when you tell your boss you need a day off because your wife needs surgery). We chit-chatted a bit more. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable with what I was telling him, not totally freaked out by (1) the pregnancy news or (2) the “I need an operation” news. But he’s not the type to get freaked out that way. He took it in his stride and told me that the only thing he cared about was my health. We sat there for a while and talked about stuff, but then he had to get back to the office. He left, and I went home for the day. I was still a bit shaken up, and the last thing I wanted to do was put on a good game face and head back to my office.

The next day I came into work to discover a box of flowers on my desk. It turns out that SM had ordered me roses for Valentine’s Day; they had been delivered the day before – the day when I didn’t go back to the office after my doctor’s appointment, which explained why SM was so surprised when I told him that I decided to take the rest of the day off. What a sweet man. He didn’t spill any of this at home the evening before, so the roses were a complete surprise the next day (which was Wednesday, February 11th – I know this because I had my procedure on Friday, the 13th). I still have the dried roses on my desk. The leaves are falling off, and they’ll probably make a mess as they continue to disintegrate, but they are just lovely to me.

Somehow I got through the rest of the week. I’m guessing that no one wants to hear about my hospital visit on Friday, but I may post a few observations anyway. It was my first time to be wheeled in a gurney down to an operating room. Kinda like you see on TV, but not… and all very weird for me.

The inaugural dresses

2009-02-28T15:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some pix of the dresses. Yes, I pixelated my face. It seems silly, given the fact that I put up wedding photos and am identifiable in them... You can laugh at me if you want.

The gold dress was from the evening before inauguration, and the blue dress is the evening of inauguration (at an unofficial ball that we left by 10:30 because we were exhausted).

SM and I with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (former Chief of Staff of the Army and retired 4-star general). He is one of the nicest, most dignified and gracious men I've ever met. Truly a gentleman.

Secretary-designate (of Commerce) Gary Locke (former Governor of Washington), Irene Hirano (a.k.a., Mrs. Daniel Inouye), Senator Inouye and me. Gov. Locke and Senator Inouye are also incredibly down-to-earth and friendly.

SM and I taking a picture of ourselves in a mirror, just goofing around.

The baseball continued... into the mole

2009-02-28T13:25:00.002-05:00

This is a continuation of my earlier post about the baseball. If you haven't read that one, this one may not make as much sense. Also a warning: this post may be TMI for the squeamish or those who just don't wanna know personal stuff... 'Cuz this is a really personal post.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyhoo, when we last left our bruised and battered pin cushion, she had just received a call from the doctor's office (having just left the same doctor's office mere hours earlier...), and they were telling her to come back that afternoon for further tests.

What I didn't mention in that earlier post was that the woman who called me said that she had some of my test results, and the Beta had come back positive.

Now, many of you who are reading this may know what that means, but I didn't. So I asked. And she told me it was a positive result for a pregnancy test.

I was stunned.

I had been having an irregular period (I'll spare you the gory details), but I had taken a home pregnancy test three times when my period was late. They all came back negative. Then I did eventually get what I thought was my period, just late. So I thought I had just skipped a month. (Turns out that I had been spotting.)

The tech was all cheery on the phone and said that I should probably start taking vitamins and that I needed to come in for another ultrasound to figure out how far along I was. Then she consulted something and said that I should come back that day. Then the scheduling person got on the phone and said I needed to come back as soon as possible -- could I be in by 2:00? That was a bit alarming. It was about 12:30, so I went and told my boss that I had to go back. And off I went.

There were a ton of things running through my head. The urgency with which they were demanding that I come back made me think something was amiss. And then there was the "Holy shit" reaction of what it meant to be about two months pregnant. How our lives would change. How would I be able to take the time off of work when I knew I'd probably have to use all my leave for my dad's transplant and the baseball surgery? And how would we get the house ready? And so on...

All of these things ran through my head. But I'm not the type to panic, just digest -- although, I have to admit that I was pretty freaked out as I went off to the doctor's office. Just silently freaked out.

At the doctor's office, the tech asked me a bunch of questions about when my last period was to figure out when I may have conceived. I, however, knew exactly when it was and told her. She looked at my Beta hormone levels and said they were a bit high for where I was with this pregnancy. Then she did the ultrasound.

I mentioned that I had fibroids, and I apparently had a very large one. She said she saw it, that it was bout 8 cm across. I told her that we had nicknamed it "the baseball". She smiled and remarked, "Oh, it's bigger than that." (!) She then turned the monitor and showed me what she was seeing. Now I have no medical background, so I didn't know what we were looking at. But what I saw looked like Swiss cheese. The tech then looked for a fetus among all the globs, but all she found was empty sacs. Several of them. She said she couldn't make a diagnosis, but based on her experience, it looked like a molar pregnancy. Then she got the doctor on the phone, who told me that it was a molar pregnancy, and I needed D&C as soon as possible. This was Tuesday, I think. I had Friday off, so they scheduled it for Friday. Took care of all the scheduling then and there. In three days, I was going to have outpatient surgery (on my first flex day off -- how rotten was that?).

A molar pregnancy is an abnormal conception that does not result in a fetus. The problem (I later found out) is that the tissue development in the uterus can become cancerous and spread to other organs, like the lungs. If that happens, it's serious shit. The reason they scheduled the D&C so quickly was because my hormone levels were really high, and they were concerned that this molar pregnancy could lead to the more serious consequences. They didn't tell me all those details in the office; I did my own research about it. But they did tell me enough to convey that the molar pregnancy could have some nasty health consequences, and it was better to remove the tissue as soon as possible.

So in the space of about two hours, I learned that I was pregnant, then that I wasn't actually carrying a baby but needed surgery, which was scheduled for three days later. Talk about a lot to digest. I didn't freak out, but I think it took a while for me to catch up with what I was being told. I had an abnormal pregnancy; my body thought I was pregnant (which explained why I had been feeling like crap for the past month) and was reacting accordingly. In fact, I was exhibiting many of the common symptoms: nausea, bleeding, increased Beta hormone levels, rapidly growing uterus, etc. My understanding is that a molar pregnancy does involve a conception, but it was never viable and no fetus develops. I am fortunate because I never thought I was pregnant, so I did not suffer the emotional distress of "having lost the baby". For me, this did not involve a loss, but was rather a clinical procedure that I needed to address a health issue. Thank goodness I never thought I was "with child". I can't imagine how horrible it would be to be expecting your first child, only to get this news.

Still, as you can imagine, I was pretty shaken up.

I decided to take the rest of the day off. My boss wasn't expecting me back (I told him I might be gone the rest of the day), so instead I called SM to see if he had time for coffee. I knew he was really busy at work, so I weighed whether or not I should tell him now or wait until after work. I decided to tell him right away. I thought that I would want to know immediately if my wife were going through something like this.

I just needed to figure out how to tell him that I was pregnant but not and that I needed immediate surgery but not to worry...

... to be continued ...

Dad update

2009-02-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

Dad is a "go" for the kidney surgery, which means that my stepmother passed all the health tests. They'll do the transplant at the end of March.

Yay!

Now if Marion Barry, who is older than my dad and has done more drugs, women and jail time than my dad as well, can get through the surgery well, then I am very optimistic for my father's successful transplant.

Just knowing it's going to happen is a relief. I'm sure my dad must feel better too.

Wow... missed it but didn't

2009-02-28T00:14:00.002-05:00

The bar, that is. It was this past week, but it didn't hit my radar at all. It's been 3 years since I sat for that sucker; the bar exam is a toddler for me. And no one I know personally sat for it this go-round.

To all of you who did, congrats on slaying the beast! Now get some rest...

Kidney story

2009-02-27T23:55:00.003-05:00

This is the story of a son who donated his kidney to a stranger so that his father could receive one. It is told from the perspective of the son and was really informative. And it totally made me bawl, given my current family situation. If you have about 15 minutes and want to learn more about what's involved in a kidney transplant, this is worth the watch.

First

2009-02-27T23:44:00.004-05:00

Although layoffs in private firms have been rampant, until today, none of my friends had been axed (to the best of my knowledge). It's actually kinda surprising that my circle of classmates, friends, etc. have gone unscathed, given the massive bad news in the legal sector. Layoff... offers being rescinded... no jobs at all...

My salary may suck, but working for the federal government is relatively stable. And I am very grateful for that. And not having to worry about if I'll get a pink slip anyday is definitely worth the trade-off in salary.

I hope the economy turns around soon... there's just too much bad news in the news and my inbox.

::sigh::

The baseball

2009-02-27T23:30:00.002-05:00

So, in about April of last year I noticed a large lump in my abdomen on the right side. I could only really feel in when I was lying down, and sometimes, not even then. But when it did appear, it was fairly prominent, and I'd make SM rub his hand over my gut to see if he could feel it too. Just to make sure I wasn't acting paranoid. SM could feel it too. About that time, I had a regular checkup scheduled with my gynecologist, so I asked her about it. She felt my gut and did some poking around internally but couldn't feel anything. She suggested it might be a lump in my intestines from constipation.

Constipation??? That's a heckuva lotta something stuck there if it's just poop.

But I knew better. I wasn't thrilled with that answer (it seemed awfully dismissive), but indeed the lump had vanished again. She couldn't very well diagnose a condition she couldn't see or feel.

Over the next months, the lump continued to come and go, but it always came back. So having already seen the OB/GYN, I made an appointment with my regular doctor about it. When I made the appointment, the lump was there. Of course, when I went in for the appointment, it wasn't. I also had abdominal pains/gastric distress, so I wondered if there was a connection between the lump and my always-upset-stomach. The doctor did not find anything (of course!) but took me seriously and sent me for an ultrasound of my abdomen and kidneys. The tech also looked a bit lower on my pelvis and thought she saw a cyst or the remnants of one. Otherwise, nothing irregular. This was at the end of July.

Into the fall, the lump came and went, and each time, I asked SM to feel it to confirm that I wasn't completely off my rocker and paranoid about this. The lump finally grew to the point where I could feel it when I was standing up, and it started to give me pain sometimes when I twisted or bent over. I had noticed that the lump appeared on a cyclical basis -- like every other month -- so I thought it might be related to my period and which ovary was ovulating. So I made another appointment with the OB/GYN and tried to time it when with I thought the lump would make an appearance.

And guess what? By the time the appointment came, the lump went. Even so, I went to the OB/GYN for an exam, and she couldn't feel anything. Shocker. I'm sure they must have thought I was imagining it all. But this time, she (a different doc than the first time) said that I should call the office to schedule a utrasound when it reappeared. It reappeared about a month later, so I went in. This is December.

I scheduled the pelvic ultrasound and hoped against hope that the lump would be there this time when they looked for it. In preparation for the ultrasound, I was told that I had to drink 32 ounces of water half an hour before it. That way my bladder would appear dark in the picture. So I drank it all, and I crossed my fingers and my legs that the appointment wouldn't be late. It was. My luck, right? So I sat squirming in the waiting room for an extra 15 minutes or so.

Finally, I went in and had the exam. The tech told me that she found fibroids. Several were internal (in my uterus), but one was pedunculated (attached to the outside of the uterus by a stalk). This was the one I could feel. She said it was fairly large, about 8 cm across. Finally, vindication that I had something in my gut after so many false starts! It was not poop in my intestines from constipation, nor my imagination. I had a rather large fibroid hanging off of my uterus. When I got home, I told SM about it -- that it was large, about 8 cm across. He said, "Oh, like a baseball."

And that's what we've been calling it ever since.

A few days later, I got a call from the doctor to interpret my results. She said I should schedule an appointment to come in and discuss my options, one of which was surgery. I made an appointment with my regular OB/GYN (the first I had seen) about a month later. This was right before the holidays when I was switching jobs, so I put it off until after I started the new job. Sometime around the end of January, I went in for a follow-up exam and to discuss my options related to the fibroids. This time, the doc actually felt the baseball. Hallelujah! And she even remarked at how large it was. Said it felt like an antenna off of my uterus. I told her that we call it "the baseball". She said, "Oh, it's bigger than that."

Great. But hey, at least she felt it this time!

The doc told me that she wanted me to get an MRI so she could take a good look at fibroid stalk to see if it could be removed laporoscopically or if I would need gut-cutting surgery (with a 4-6 week recovery period). The doc also asked me a bunch of questions, ordered a bunch of tests and had my blood drawn. And let me tell you, I react incredibly poorly when I get stuck with a needle. The first and only time I gave blood, I threw up and almost fainted. It also took forever. My blood drips slowly apparently. So getting my blood drawn is never fun. I often get woozy. Since I know I react this way, I always tell the tech and have him/her take the blood while I'm lying down. This time, it wasn't too bad.

Until the next day when I got a call from the doctor's office. Guess what? They didn't draw enough blood to run the tests. Could I please come back so they could draw more? This was Friday.

Oh, can I tell you how happy I was to hear that little bit of news? Remember how bad I am at having my blood being drawn? ::sigh::

So I went back in first thing in the morning on Monday (or was it Tuesday?). They took me back to draw the blood again, and I told them to please, please make sure that they took enough for the tests because I had already come back once because they didn't get enough -- and this was my idea of a very bad way to spend the morning. The nurse or PA or whatever she was assured me that she would. As usual, I laid back on the exam bed for the draw. However, despite her attempts to make it easy on me, it was the very worst experience I've had with a needle. It hurt like hell, and I felt sick to my stomach. I actually had to lie there for several minutes to recover. It was that bad. And within hours, I had a very ugly, three-inch, green bruise on my arm. Eeeuw.

But I got over it and went back to my office. I wasn't feeling great, but I hadn't been feeling great for a while, and the blood poke didn't help. Oh well. Then, sometime around noon, I got another call from the doctor's office. Some of my test results were in (I guess they had enough blood to run some but not all of the tests), and they wanted me to come back. Now.

... to be continued ...

I've been ignoring

2009-02-27T18:30:00.004-05:00

this particular meme, but I decided to do it since Scooter has been a good egg, putting up with my nonsense. So, Sir-who-Scoots, this is for you...

Three names I go by:
1. My real name (which I'm not saying here)
2. She Says
3. Chickee (a childhood nickname that my mom sometimes calls me)

Three jobs I've had in my life:
1. Attorney
2. Starbucks barista
3. Teacher

Three places I've lived:
1. New York, NY
2. Shiga, Japan
3. Washington, DC

TV shows I watch:
1. Project Runway (come back! come back!)
2. The Daily Show (We've got tickets to see the show on my birthday!!!)
3. Countdown with Keith Olberman (although not so much these days)

Three places I've been:
1. The Grand Canyon, AZ
2. The Great Wall of China
3. Kruger National Park, South Africa

People who e-mail me regularly:
1. SM
2. my supervisor at work
3. Adam Ruben (Moveon.org)

Three of my favorite foods:
1. Ice cream
2. Chocolate
3. A good crunchy apple

Three friends I think will respond:
Honestly? None.

Things I'm looking forward to:
1. My dad getting a new kidney and healing well
2. My birthday
3. Getting our tax refund back

My wedding dress made from kimono

2009-02-23T20:53:00.011-05:00

I just realized that I only posted one picture of my kimono-into-wedding dress. So, a few months late (like 6!), here are more pictures from our wedding... (Obviously, I'm posting ones to show the dress more and us less.)

The kidney, the baseball and the mole...

2009-02-23T13:18:00.003-05:00

Where have I been? Oh, where do I start? I know I’ve been crap at updating this blog recently. I think I’m just too tired when I get home at night. And now I get home a bit later than I used to. With my new job, I leave home at 7:30 am and get home around 7:00 pm. I know that’s not a long, long day, but I’m crap in the morning. So the first few weeks of this new schedule were hard.

Anyhoo, what’s up with me? Let’s see… there’s the kidney, the baseball and the mole, to name a few. Where to start?

The kidney. So, my father is definitely going to need a kidney transplant. This isn’t news, but it may be necessary sooner than we had thought. Now, the family is now going through the process of who, when and how. It was decided that my stepmother is going to donate one of her kidneys, if she’s viable. Of course, this led to a “family discussion” about my dad/stepmother’s estate, living wills, advance health care directives, etc. Ugh. All very necessary conversations, but no fun at all. Especially when you’re talking about a mixed family. Step-siblings, half-siblings, etc. We all get along well enough, but it still isn’t the Brady Bunch.

And of course, me being the attorney, I had a ton of very specific questions. And I was very persistent in getting answers. What a pest. I asked my dad what their backup plan was if my stepmother didn’t pass the health exam. They didn’t have a plan. I told them they needed one. My dad said that he’d just go on dialysis. I told him that that wasn’t good enough. His health is important to and affects all of us. None of us want to see him on dialysis if there is another option for a donor. So they need to discuss that and let us know what they want to do. They agreed. My older brother is a match for a donation, but part of his career is tied to his military service. It seems that he wouldn’t be eligible for certain duty if he was missing a kidney. Or something like that. So my dad said he wasn’t willing to accept a kidney from my brother because he wasn’t willing to potentially jeopardize my brother’s career. I understand where Dad is coming from, but I personally think it’s crap. I don’t think one should sacrifice one’s health because of potential outcome if the donor wants to take the risk. But it’s not my decision. I am also a possible donor (same blood type). But Dad says that he’s not willing to accept a kidney from any of his daughters in their childbearing years because if we were to get pregnant, having one less kidney might complicate the pregnancy. Again, crap. Don’t sacrifice your health and well-being for a “this could possibly happen” scenario where the risk is small and the donor is willing. But again, not my decision. If he won’t accept a kidney from one of us, that really is his decision (although that doesn’t stop me from trying to change his mind).

Anyhoo, we don’t know who the “backup” is if my stepmother cannot donate. My other brother isn’t a match (wrong blood type). Meanwhile Dad’s health seems to be deteriorating. I don’t know how much is psychological and how much is physical. Knowing him, it’s probably both. He’s a lousy patient who doesn’t handle stress well and tends to blow things out of proportion. So, little things become big things with him. Not helpful now. Not helpful anytime really, but in this situation, it could have seriously negative consequences. State of mind and attitude are so important to physical health.

As it stands, Dad is scheduled to go to New York City next week for more tests. He’ll have the transplant up there when everything is worked out. Possibly at the end of March. They are planning on renting an apartment short-term (for several months) to make it easier for him to get to his appointments. They’ll probably hire a nurse to help him in the beginning, but after that, I think the kids will be taking turns to help -- taking off work and staying with him; stuff like that. Everyone seemed willing, for the most part. Except my stepbrother, who lives several states south of here. He pretty much said that he won’t be able to help because he has kids and is too far to do anything. And while I know that’s a practical reality, I still felt like he had the wrong attitude about it. And it irked me. I think he should have said that they will do anything they can; it may not be much, but they will try. Instead, they said they probably couldn’t do much. I was annoyed.

So that’s the issue with the kidney. Please cross your fingers that everything works out well for Dad – that he gets a good match, that the surgery goes without incident (no dropping kidneys on the operating room floor!) and that his recovery is easy. I am definitely worried about him, but I am also the type not to get bent outta shape and upset unless there is good reason. So I’m not too too worried, just anxious. I will worry when there is good reason. Until then, I’m confident that it will all be just fine. Right? Right.

Next: the baseball.

Sorry Scooter

2009-02-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

My new job uses the other legal database. Now I have to relearn it. I have been using blue since law school -- and during law school, too. I prefer it and don't remember the other one very well.

One more adjustment to my new job.

Which I still love, BTW.

The thing I started writing about earlier...

2009-02-07T10:24:00.004-05:00

The set of articles on the New York Times website. I found them interesting and useful. I suppose it says something about my age that I was attracted to articles on "what you need to know" about...

Estate Planning
Health Insurance
Home Insurance
Income Taxes
Credit Scores

The estate planning article also included a link to a site where it will apply the laws of intestacy of your state and give you a basic breakdown of what will happen to your assets if you die without a will. That was useful. I had assumed that since I am married but without children, my husband would get my estate in its entirety. I was wrong. My parents will get half.

They don't need half, nor do I want them to have it (believe me, their estates are worth a whole helluva lot more than mine). So, now I'm gonna look into doing a basic will.

That's my PSA for the month.

Okay, this time I am actually back.

2009-02-07T09:49:00.015-05:00

That other post? No, we didn't get a cat who was walking across the keyboard. In fact, I actually broke the keyboard. Anyone know how to re-attach keys? My "O" is now not. You don't realize how often you use that key until it no longer functions properly.

"O" well.

So, I never posted about inauguration. Here is something quick and cursory to describe part of our day.

Getting ready to head out. See how bundled folks are -- and we're inside!

View of the Capitol from SM's office.

SM and co-worker figuring out where we needed to go to get in...

Unfortunately, we were among the throngs who had tickets but didn't get in. We had blue tickets, and it turned out that the magnetometers screening the blue section didn't work (or the generators powering them didn't). About 50 people were able to get in. The rest, not so much. We were among the many who were outta luck. Here are some pix from the mass of hopefuls.

We really wanted to see the ceremony/speech, so at a certain point we decided to cut bait and went back to SM's office and watch it on TV. So, yeah, we basically ended up with the same view as everyone else around the world. We could go over to SM's office window to view the Capitol, and we did hear it outside. But we watched it on TV. It was still thrilling. I cried when he was sworn-in.

And here's W's helicopter leaving the Capitol. We had a good view of it from SM's office.

("Nyah nyah nyah nyah... nyah nyah nyah nyah... hey, hey good-bye!")

Anyway, we had gotten up at 4:00 in order to get downtown in time to clear security to get in. D'oh. So much for that. So, we were tired but didn't get to see the ceremony in person. Kinda not worth it, but we weren't too too disappointed. We did get to participate. We were there. It was cool.

SM snoozing in his office after the inauguration and before the evening's festivities.

I do have pictures from the two balls we attended (one the evening before and the other the evening of). No, we didn't go to any official balls nor did we see Tom Hanks or John Cusack. But it was a great and exhausting coupla days.

I'm still here...

2009-02-07T09:33:00.005-05:00

Just been feeling sick recently. More about that later. Also, the new job doesn't allow access to personal email, social networking sites or blogs. So no goofing off at work that way anymore.

I am, hwever, catching up on my online newspaper reading. I found a bunch of articles on the NYT website on "oiki9oi. ythings you should know" about varil`ii

Tom Daschle 1986 campaign ad

2009-02-03T23:33:00.001-05:00

I think Tom Daschle would have been an excellent HHS Secretary. I was so sorry to see him withdraw and think he got kinda shafted.

That being said, I still found this amusing:

Wordle

2009-01-18T10:11:00.004-05:00

Following in Scooter's footsteps, I wordled my blog.

I don't know if it's me or the program, but how dull is this?

I know I've been lame lately with the posting, but this lame? I guess so.

Oh happy day!

2009-01-16T09:58:00.002-05:00

Today is my last day of work (at this job). I cannot describe my joy at my final Friday. When I was walking in this morning, I was actually happy to be coming to work. There was a spring in my step, and I physically feel lighter.

Oh yeah, baby!

Obamicon

2009-01-13T23:21:00.007-05:00

Check out this site. So much fun!!!

SM doing his Colbert impersonation. The caption has nothing to do with the picture. I was just amusing myself. A lot.

My feelings about the new job.

SM and I after our wedding.

Little sis.

Again.

Inauguration

2009-01-09T07:43:00.002-05:00

We got tickets!!! Woo-hoo!

I have to report to my new job (yay!) the next day at 8:30 AM (boo!). I'm going to be exhausted, but it will be worth it.

I'm a bit twisted...

2009-01-02T21:52:00.002-05:00

because I found this amusing.

There are a lot of very funny (and not so funny) pictures and videos on this site. Check it out.

Among those which evoked the greatest guffaw is the lunchmeat (currently on page 3).

I told you I was twisted.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T12:48:00.001-05:00

2008 in review

2008-12-31T12:01:00.005-05:00

Snagged from Res Ipsa Crap, who, like me, had a few big events this year which tended to dominate this list...

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
What a great question to remind myself of the adventures I've had... I got legal with SM. Had not just one but two dresses custom-made for me. Travelled to the Iberian penninsula.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, lost weight. But I've gained a chunk of it back. So, yes, again, I'll make the inevitable pledge to lose weight again.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. But SM's grandmother did. I never actually met her.

5. What countries did you visit?
Spain, Portugal.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A job that doesn't make me want to spit in fury or hit someone every day. An administration that is actually democratic -- not autocratic -- and understands and respects the Constitution.

7. What dates will you remember from 2008?
August 8th -- our wedding. August 10th -- our reception.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I don't know that the wedding was an achievement per se, so I won't say that. Getting a new job isn't all that extraordinary of an achievement either. Perhaps it was surviving my current job without going insane, going postal, needing heavy medication or saying/doing something that would deep-six my career.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Being mean to SM because of my frustrations.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No.

11. What was the best thing you bought/received?
I can't pick a "best", so I'll list many of the happy things I received. SM bought me a Tiffany's charm bracelet and a heart charm for a wedding present. For Christmas, he gave me another charm for it. I also got a pair of diamond earrings from my parents for my big 4-0. And they also gave SM and I their old car (a 1998 Acura with 150K miles -- but still a great car). My sister did all sorts of wonderful things to make our wedding reception beautiful, and my dad paid for it. Scooter, SM's aunt and others schlepped Fat Tire beer from points all over the US so that I could surprise SM with it for our wedding. All tremendously generous gifts.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The American voter for electing Obama.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Several of my coworkers' (a recurring theme here…).

14. Where did most of your money go?
Wedding-related purchasing. Vacation in Spain/Portugal. Car repairs. Stuff I wanted but didn't need.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Obama's election. It was an evening like none other. Getting my new job -- not as momentuous in the grand scheme of things, but definitely has more impact on my day-to-day existence.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2008?
Beyonce: Single Ladies (mainly because it's been running through my head all morning).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: fatter or thinner?
Fatter.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Watching what I eat.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating. Pulling my hair out from frustration at work. Complaining.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Spent the Eve at my house where I hosted my brothers, sister-in-law and mother for dinner. Went over to dad's for X-mas day to eat and open gifties. Flew up to SM's dad's house X-mas afternoon to celebrate that evening with them. Drove to SM's aunt's on Boxing Day to celebrate with her, cousins, another aunt and grandfather. Flew back home on Saturday. It was a whirlwind, but not nearly as stressful as I thought it might be.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Still happily happy with my hubby.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
No faves of anything, but I rediscovered The West Wing after the elections were over. Damned good show, even in reruns.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Don't hate anyone. Never have.

25. What was the best book you read?
Again, no "best"s or other superlatives. I did enjoy The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. I'd have to check my bookclub list to remember what else I read and liked.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
None.

27. What did you want and get?
A new job.

28. What did you want and not get?
Our livingroom ceiling fixed. Yes, it is still on our floor six months later. ::sigh::

29. What were your favorite films of this year?
No faves. And I have to admit that I barely saw any movies this year.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I don't remember what I did on the actual day, but we celebrated by going to Spain/Portugal for a week. I was the big 4-oh no.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Blowing the whistle on the bullshit that has been and continues to go on in my current office.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
On sale.

33. What kept you sane?
SM and Gidget. And retail therapy.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I have no answer.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Issue? Not sure. The blatant hypocrisy of the Republicans and the Bush Administration pissed me off beyond words, however...

36. Who did you miss?
A smart, progressive president – and having my closest girlfriends in the same timezone as I am.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Met this year? Who did I met this year? The Scooter family? My new boss who hired me?

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Some things are worth it, and some aren't. It's important to figure out the difference.

Gidget as Max**

2008-12-30T20:42:00.007-05:00

We had a very Merry Christmas and hope you did as well!

**_{you know... as in How the Grinch Stole Christmas}

I'm cold and there are wolves after me.

2008-12-23T20:14:00.002-05:00

I figured that was a more interesting post title than "Festivus in DC" (which sounds a bit like there has been an outbreak of some sexually transmitted disease...), but yes, indeed, this video is about Festivus, complete with Seinfeld clips.

River Road literally becomes a river...

2008-12-23T10:44:00.002-05:00

This is not too far from my dad's house and where I grew up.

I was wrong.

2008-12-17T14:39:00.002-05:00

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned.

2008-12-16T14:53:00.002-05:00

More to come. Imminently, I hope.

My happy thing today...

2008-12-11T10:18:00.002-05:00

Holiday cookies in the break room.

I know it's not much, but it's all I've got.

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2008-12-08T14:20:00.002-05:00

It's just one of those days. I hope it's not one of those weeks.

But I have the feeling it will be.

Ball gown

2008-12-07T11:28:00.005-05:00

I bought a gown yesterday for the inaugural balls next month. We have tickets to two. I'll probably wear this to the first one.

It doesn't fit me like this size 2 model, but it looks pretty good. I have boobs but no waist or hips, and this gives me more curves. I am going to get gold opera-length gloves to wear with it. We'll see how that looks. If it's too costume-y, then I'll go without. I will also have to wear 3-inch heels to make sure I'm taller than the dress is long. I'll be half a head over SM with those heels, if I survive getting down the stairs and outta my house wearing them.

I also have another gown that I bought on eBay for the inaugurals. That one is at least a size too big and about half a foot too long. It will need some serious alterations. I like the style a lot, so I'll probably try to get it altered in time. I mean, when else will I wear a ball gown? The last time I wore one was prom. More than 20 years ago.

Here's the second one. If I were about 5' 10", I would be tall enough to wear it. Alas, no. Not even in killer heels.

New email scam, new twist...

2008-12-05T11:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I guess the scam is actually nothing new, but the twist is. It comes from the legitimate known email address in the name of someone you know. A hacker accesses a friend's email account and then sends an urgent plea for help to send him/her money. The name is right. The address is right. Just the facts are wrong. Plausible but wrong. And the language in the email also sounds a bit stilted, not what a native speaker would write.

So, if you get an email that looks like this, do your due diligence!

----- Original Message -----
From: [someone you actually know]
To: [their real email address]
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 5:23 AM
Subject: I NEED YOUR URGENT HELP.

I am in hurry writing you this short message and I am sorry I didn't inform you about my traveling to China for a program called "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education. The program is taking place in three major countries in Asia, which are Taiwan, Singapore and China. It has been a very sad and bad moment for me, the present condition that i found myself is very hard for me to explain.

I am really stranded in China because I forgot my little bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents, cell phone which i have all my contacts and other valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am facing a hard time here because i have no money on me and the weather is so cold right now. I am now owing a hotel bill of $1,400 and they wanted me to pay the bill soon else they will have to hand me over to the Hotel Management, I need this help from you urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also need $1,500 to feed and help myself back home.

So please can you help me with a sum of $2,900 USD to sort out my problems here. I am sending you this email from the city Library, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home. So please use the details of one of the hotel managers below to send the money to me through Western Union money transfer because that is the only way i could be able to get it fast and leave since he has a valid ID to pick up the money for me from the western union. These are the details below....

Last Name: Olajide
First Name: Abideen Olaolu
Address: 27B Jiang Shi Tu, Guilin, Guangxi, China
Text Question: To whom
Answer: [friend's first name]

After you have send the money, email to me the western union money transfer control number or you can attach and forward to me the western union money transfer receipt so that i can pick up the money fast and leave. Right now, i dont have any acess to phone communications because the phone in my hotel room had been disconnected due to too much bills, i only have acess to the computer at the library where am sending you this email right now.

Hope to hear from you soon. The embassy here has already promised to give me a covering traveling papers that i will need to have my way back home, all i need right now is the money to settle up the bills and leave.

Thanks and get back to me soon.

Sincerely,
[someone you actually know]

Happy Friday!

2008-12-05T10:01:00.003-05:00

Nothing special planned for the weekend. The onslaught of Holiday Parties begins next week, which should be fun.

Meanwhile, it's Friday! It's Friday! It's Friday! It's Friday!

Performance appraisal

2008-12-04T13:17:00.002-05:00

Just had it. It was an awkward process. It always is. I don't think my boss was fair to me on a few things, but overall it was fine. She did tell me that she put me in for a promotion over the summer with the hope that they could get it approved in time for it to be implemented when I became eligible (next month). The bad news is that the Continuing Resolution has resulted in a spending freeze, which means that no promotions have been approved in the past month or so -- and we don't know when mine will go through.

The news of the promotion takes away some of the sting of the no news on the other stuff... and life goes on.

Prop H8

2008-12-03T22:17:00.003-05:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

I just bought a dress from a drag queen.

2008-12-03T11:44:00.002-05:00

On ebay.

(That's all.)

Raindrops on roses. Whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Round paper packages tied up with string...

2008-12-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

Okay, so maybe it's a bit hokie, but do I get credit for trying to be positive and optimistic and hopeful? Even if I'm not swirling around in my nightgown dancing with Julie Andrews in the middle of a thunderstorm?

Happy news: SM comes home tonight. I bought a dress on ebay that I think will work for some of the inaugural events we're attending next month. I'm looking forward to the holidays. I think I will finally resolve an issue with Macy's (about a gift on my registry) that has been on-going since JULY. I'm feeling better.

No news: The job I'm waiting to hear about. Put off my performance evaluation until today because I was feeling so crappy yesterday.

And I don't have any grumpy news. So file that under "happy news" too.

Prezzies Prezzies Prezzies!

2008-12-02T19:16:00.003-05:00

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(Grinched this from Jami!)