Amelia's Arrival

Well it has been a very long time since I have blogged but reading Cathryn’s blog made me remember my birth story.

Amelia was due on April 17^th 2010. I had her on April 23^rd. Going went a week past my due date I was mad as a hornet. People at work are asking me everyday why I am at work and when is the baby is going to pop out. One guy even poked my belly with a pencil, I almost slapped him. My mom had been trying to plan her flight around Amelia’s due date but she didn’t want to schedule her flight for before the due date then have to leave early. My mom’s flight was to arrive at 8 pm Thursday April 22.

I had been having mild contractions since Wednesday night and by Thursday at 6pm I was having contractions every 7-10 minutes. They were light but I wasn’t sure how hard they would get since I had never had a baby. I called my grandma and she said to go to the hospital. So I had my neighbor drive me to the hospital and then pick my mom up from the airport. She had never met my mom so I told her to look for an older version of me and it worked. I get to the hospital and sign in and I am there a few hours before they send me home since I am only dilated about 2 cm.

We went to dinner at Denny’s and I get spicy chicken strips and biscuits and gravy. My pregnant friend Jocelynn is also with us and she is drinking a giant chocolate milk shake. Next mom and I go back to my place and I try and go to sleep but I am pacing the floor. I just keep walking back and forth and bending over the chair so mom says that’s it and we go to the hospital again. It is 4 am this time and I check in and I am dilated 4 cm so they emit me. I take a few walks around the ward of the hospital. Then my nurse Rebecca arrives around 6am and gets me in the shower to relax. I stay in there a while trying to manage through the contractions. Around 9 am Jocelynn arrives and I talk to matt on the phone. I am still doing ok and am still convinced I can make it without drugs. I am talking to Matt and breathing….then when contractions come I am just starring at the light bulb and breathing and moving my legs. I do this for a while and around 11 am my mom talks me into getting some drugs. I talked to the dr and ask him how much longer. He says at the rate I was going (dilating one cm per hr it will be 3 before I am ready to push then even longer to push it out) about 5 more hours. When he says that I ask for the drugs.

I ask the nurse what my options are and she says the drug that could also drug Amelia or the epidural. I am thinking about it and tell her the epidural because I didn’t want to drug Amelia. It takes 2 hours for the drugs to get to me because there is an emergency and all the anesthesiologist are in the ER. By the time I got an epidural I was dilated 8cm. In the middle of me getting the epidural I had a contraction and the dr had to wait till it was over to give it to me. After I got that it was like I didn’t have a pain in the world. I started laughing and talking to Matt on the phone and I felt great.

My mom keeps looking at the contractions on the monitor and says they are getting heavy. I don’t feel them of course. Then I start feeling a slight pressure and heavier pressure and I tell mom that I feel like I need to push. The nurse comes in and she checks me and says yes it is time. It is about 3 pm at this time. The nurse brings all the equipment in and gets the midwife to come and I begin pushing. I push and I push and I push and two hours later I am still pushing. They have maxed out how much patosin I am getting. Amelia was turned sideways plus she had both her hands up to her chin making her head come out with her chin up instead of down. They kept trying to turn her and turn her head but they couldn’t get it. Finally the mid wife had to give me an episiotomy to get her out and out she came. The midwife was not supposed to do that but all the doctors on call were in the ER so she had to do it to get Amelia out. As soon as I saw her I was laughing and crying all at the same time.

She was screaming and looked just like matt did in his baby pictures. It was love at first site. I felt an unbelievable feeling of love for her. They cleaned her off and my mom got to cut her cord. My mom was such a trouper and so was Jocelynn. They helped out a lot while I pushed. I had one foot in moms arms and one in the nurses arms and I was bearing down. My mom said it looked totally different from that end. We were all crying and happy it was finally over. So at 5:15 pm exactly Amelia Belle Roeder was born. It was 1:15 am in Dubai where her father had been on the speaker phone the whole time. I wouldn’t let them take her out of my room the whole time. I wouldn’t let her out of my site. I slept with one hand on her consoling her through the night. She cried a lot since she wasn’t getting much milk from me.

Getting up for the first time after having your insides fall out was a site and feeling I didn’t prepare for. Around 7pm the nurse came in to bathe Amelia and to get me up after the Epidural wore off so I could walk and go to the bathroom. I remember getting up and looking at where I was sitting and it looked like some murder scene off CSI. I almost puked and passed out. Then I had to sit on the toilet and pee. I am telling you that wiping your VaJayJay after it has gone through that is quite the experience. They give you a saddle to wear and a bag of ice and a pair of granny panties and a water bottle all to help you feel less comfortable when you sit and when you go potty. Well all those things help but you still feel uncomfortable. So you squirt the water down there you don’t wipe….then you put the huge saddle in the granny panties and the ice pack on top of that and all while you have an iv attached to your hand that hurts! And trebly legs and a gown with your ass hanging out. You really don’t care who sees what at this point since everyone has just seen all of you for a long time so you let your ass continue to hang out.

The nurses come in every hour to check you and the baby and to push on your stomach and check your VaJayJay and your stitches and make sure you go potty. They check how often you and your baby go number one and number two.

We never could get her to latch on for some reason. After many contractions and many nurses and many tears we gave up on the breastfeeding feeling defeated and broken. Amelia was born exactly 24 hrs to the minute after her cousin Alyssa. My sister had her baby 5 weeks early in an emergency csection 24 hours before in Mississippi and my mom was there for that and then jumped on a plane and was here for Amelia too. That was one crazy week. We took Amelia home and my dad drove 14 hrs straight to see her. He got to Va at midnight and just had to see her. Of course I was up feeding Amelia. We took Amelia to a few dr’s visits for weight checks. She was born 7lb 7 oz but dropped to 6lb 10 oz when she left the hospital two days later. Then we headed for Mississippi on what would be the longest most stressful road trip I have ever been on. I will separate that one into another blog….lol

Strong Women New Adventures

So I had an adventure yesterday.
As most of you or as I should say the two people who read this know I am pregnant. I am indeed 7 months along and I am having trouble seeing what we will call in this blog my VaJayJay. So to see my VaJJ I have to bend way over and it is uncomfortable. As you can imagine Landscaping this area is even more of a struggle which involves a mirror, a yoga stance, and a razor held very close to my VaJJ.

Well for the past few weeks my hubby I decided to grow out the lawn and see what happens. My hubby is gone on deployment so I can go hippy style for a while. I started noticing in-grown hairs and itching because it has been a while since the lawn has not been mowed.

Yesterday I was fed up and thought I would try something new, Waxing. I had in the past discussed this new idea with a friend who said she had been brave enough and that this didn’t hurt too badly. I have had my brows waxed before and it hurts for a second but then the pain is gone. I am also about to give birth and wanted to know what my pain tolerance was and if I am indeed a sissy or a tough woman.

So I go in and the small Asian lady is getting the wax ready. I ask will this hurt? She says in her little Asian tone, if you relax it hurt less so just relax. I am laying there spread eagle letting a little Asian lady dissect my VaJJ and I am supposed to relax knowing that in a few seconds she is going to put hot wax on my very sensitive area.

She begins her task and the first few were not that bad. I could feel the warm wax which was not bad and then the strip was placed and then I braced myself for the rip! When she got further and further down into her task that is when I thought to myself I wonder how many more? I wonder if I am bleeding? I wonder if I will have any skin left? What will happen if I get her to stop now and not finish? All of these thoughts went through my head.

Next thoughts of the Forty Year Old Virgin movie came across my mind. Thoughts of Steve Carell yelling “Lindsey Lohan” after the wax lady pulled the hair off his chest. I could see every comedy movie and tv show I had ever watched where some idiot thought it would be a good idea to rip hair off their body only to find out it HURT LIKE HELL! They would scream and the audience all laughed…yea why didn’t I think of that before I decided to pay this little Asian lady for this? Why would anyone pay for this type of torture?

Well I survived without punching her, yelling any profanities, or flinching too much. I guess I am strong enough to be considered a woman. Now I have a well landscaped area that I have to use a mirror to see and I have no one to show it to.

Women are crazy. No man would go through that amount of pain for beauty. I guess I will see just how tough I am when I have this baby in 2 months. Men definitely would not reproduce if they had to go through labor.

So I give a big high five to all the strong women out there.

First Post in over a year.....Weird Dream

So this Indian girl bought this weird slimy snake like plant from a medicine man looking dude who looked really shady and she looked scared to death. She planted it in the mud and the medicine man and her hurried up the hill. She beat him up the hill and the plant too root quickly and began climbing the hill like a slimy vine. It caught him and she just kept running as it killed him. She lived in a place that was mud everywhere. She hit the other side of the hill and slid through the mud all the way down on her butt past her village with everyone watching as the vine grew bigger and bigger killing everyone. She kept running to another land which was not mud it was forest and in the forest was a fiery bird bath and it sent out a force field of fire every few seconds and on the other side was another bird bath with a shock force field that sent out a shock every few seconds it was the forest peoples means of protection I guess. Well she made it through but the sheep that were roaming there did not.

She made it to a clearing with a big giant log house. Inside the house were all these aristocrat people all dressed up in large dresses and suits from the 1900’s. She ran upstairs and the vine kept coming killing all of them and she jumped from the roof to the ground and found a man who had a Winnebago and they got in the Winnebago and tried to outrun the killer vine.

I don’t know what I ate before this dream but that is some messed up shiz
This is what probably occurs on the planet next to one where they filmed Avitar.

Architects giving bad gifts and good liquor

I got a yard stick that can be used for measuring the depths of puddles and many other useful things but is not to be put back in anyone's yard.  Needless to say I traded it for a bottle of scotch that had rules....it had to be drank at the office and could not ever leave the office.  It appeared every year just like the yard stick.

Architecture Office Christmas party was more like a really bad fashion show with booze





This party was slightly different from the TMP gift exchange, slightly wouldn't you say?

It has been a while

So today and yesterday I was all bummed up with a catch in my back.  I dont know what triggered it but I know I will be visiting a chiropractor in the near future. I have been so busy at work only using 0-5 internet minutes per day and I usually use them to read others blogs so I dont have time for mine. 

This past week I went to a meeting in Arlington, VA which is near D.C. to present our work in Revit to our client.  It was fun and I got overtime for the long trip so cash in my pocket.

I have been a little lazy and bummed since Matt has been gone. I eat cereal for dinner or have a milkshake or a beer.  I know it is not healthy but I just dont feel like eating anything and so if I crave something I eat it because anything is better than nothing.

Last night I made the dreadful trip to Wal-Mart even though last time I was in there I swore that I would never be back in that store.  I went to get Matt's oil changed in his truck since I have been driving it because my tags are expired on mine and I don't want a ticket.  So I dropped off his truck and hobbled around for 2 hours buying groceries with my kinked up back.

I came home and fixed something Matt would be proud of for dinner.  He gave me the idea last week and so I decided to make it.  I thawed out a chicken breast and stuffed it with pesto and used toothpicks to hold it together.  Then I put it in a baking dish and put artichoke hearts, and  fresh grated Parmesan cheese on it.  I baked it for 15 min or so and then put it on a bed of spaghetti with some feta cheese sprinkled on top.....mmmm good.  I had it with some Carolina Red Dublin wine made out of muskedines.  It had a weird unique flavor and I know it wasn't a white wine and I had chicken but I didn't have any white so I drank what I had and it was delicious.

I am tired of the winter, I am tired of the LEED study material haunting me, I am tired of Matt being gone and us having to communicate via emails, I am tired of a messy house with dog hair on every surface, I am tired of not feeling like or having the time to exercise, and most of all I am tired of dreading the 6 months he is going to be gone.

ok I tried to load pics but no matter how many times I clicked the add image button nothing happened....oh well

Whispering Thief

So this weekend SoCal and I decided to treat ourselves to an early Christmas gift. We rationalized that in order to buy for others we are going to need internet access since our family and friends live so far away. We purchased a new IMac desktop computer. I have no idea how to use a Mac but we also rationalized that in our past computer lives SoCal’s laptop has lived and died with more viruses than a streetwalker.
SoCal has been tinkering and fooling with the gadget since we brought it home Sunday night even though we don’t have any internet access as of now. Today is the day the cable guy comes to bring the magic. As soon as we have the magic we can begin our Christmas buying extravaganza. I have already planned on getting both our families webcams so on Christmas we can all see each other. I have a lot of other gifts in mind and hope to find some good deals online for my first year of cyber shopping.
Ok so on our first night of computer ownership I was watching tv in bed and about to turn in for the night when I heard a man’s voice whisper something. SoCal was already asleep so I turned off the television and listened thinking my ears were playing tricks on me. I wanted to get up and check out the house to make sure no one was about to make off with our new computer. Sparx got up to get some water and I took this as my opportunity to follow her thinking the crooks would be scarred of a giant black dog waddling through the dark house. So I looked in the office and the computer was still there and everything looked locked up and secure everywhere else. I went back to bed deciding that I had imagined it all.
Yesterday when I got home I sat down next to SoCal on the sofa and I heard the whisper again. I said did you hear that what is it? Is it your phone? He said oh it is the computer it tells you the time. So evidently every 15 min or so a weird robot like man’s voice whispers the time in our office, and I thought I was going crazy. I was actually trying to protect our new computer from itself.

My color of the day

What color is your sky today?
What is your personality color today?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could see someone’s personality color on the outside like if they could wear a shirt of that color and it would change throughout the day?
This would come in handy at work; you would know that your co-worker is having a great day or a bad day before you talk with them. For instance if they took their LEED exam and failed you could see that they were wearing a sad colored shirt like black and know that they must not have passed so everyone in the world wouldn’t have to ask them. When you come into work and you really feel like crap and are really down in the dumps everyone would know and they wouldn’t give you suck a hard time about little minute things like the curve of a roof drain and downspout.
This may be a bad thing though, if you tend to be going through a lot of crap in your life would you start to purposely try and change your color so no one knows how sad you are? Would you try and hide it or try and fake happiness with a yellow shirt? Maybe you could just have a mood ring and you could reveal it to whomever you chose and they would know exactly how you were and what mood you were in that day.
When my sky is black and there is no sun in sight sometimes I just need a hug and if someone knew that maybe I wouldn’t have to ask for one. If you don’t have close enough friends and you are forced to ask for a hug your sky gets even blacker. Day by day my sky gets blended with more white and it goes from black to gray to dull blue slowly and gradually until one day the sun will show its face for a second and then it is gone again. I want to wear a bright yellow shirt and play in the sun under a brilliant blue sky but it will take time. It will take time.

Things Change

So I was never one of those employees that brought in treats on Tuesday for everyone to enjoy. I was always busy working in the yard or on the house or just too lazy for all that baking. Well things change. SoCal is out to sea and I am at home procrastinating on studying for LEED or my licensing exams by baking treats for our Canstruction bake sales every Monday morning or by making a crock pot full of chili for our chili cook-off.

I made a terrific batch of white chicken chili in my crock pot….Cathryn you can do it too. I have made poppy seed muffins, SoCal and I made carrot cake cupcakes from scratch, and this week I made these delicious German Chocolate Cupcakes with a cream cheese and coconut filling. You make the cupcakes as the box says, yes when SoCal is out to sea you wont see me making things from scratch, then you mix mini chocolate chips, cream cheese, sugar, an egg, and coconut together. You put the batter in the cups and then drop a spoonful of the cream cheese mix on top and magically in the oven the cream cheese drops to the middle of the cupcake leaving a creamy surprise inside.

So yesterday I had my two plastic containers of cupcakes and a big brown bag of pigs in a blanket in tow and I was on my way into my office to distribute them to the masses. Well I was wearing my black Bandolino’s that had the replaced heel tip. The heel tip that needed to be replaced again due to the clickity, clank the metal made on tile when I walked. Girlfriend is broke and needs new black pumps, don’t judge. I drooled over Jessica Simpson shoes a few weekends ago but could not part with $60 so I clickity clunked along. So I guess my broken heel tip got caught in a crack or something because the last thing I remember I was tripping on an imaginary line and landing cupcake first into the damp sidewalk. I did not drop anything, the cupcakes were tossled about but not too damaged. I cursed loudly dropping the F bomb, dusted off my knees and then continued inside. That is when I noticed my ankle bleeding pretty badly and I stopped at my desk to get a tissue. So I took the bloody canklecakes into the kitchen to be sold for .50 which was a steal compared to the amount of trouble they had caused.

During lunch I moseyed over to the addictive TJ Max and found myself a new pair of black pumps with a perfectly good heel and I tossed the black straps of death in the trash. They had lasted me two years and I had worn down two heel tips wearing them so they were well worth the $50 SoCal paid for them. Maybe I will go buy those dark purple Jessica Simpson pumps if they will last me 2 years that is longer than a pair of running shoes.

Hello again addictive habit….

Well it has been a very long time since I have blogged. One reason was because I was in the process of moving and had no computer and the second reason is my new job takes up all my time and I only get on the internet about 5 min. a day on average.

So here’s the scoop.
SoCal got transferred to Norfolk, VA by the Navy. He is stationed on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower which is an air craft carrier. He is still waiting on his radiation detector before he can go into the reactor so he has been toughing it out doing minimal tasks appointed to him, studying for his qualifying exams, doing random things and basically who knows what he really does anyways.

Whatever he is doing it is a whole hell of a lot better than recruiting and I have only wined one time so far. I wined because he has to do 24 hours shifts sometimes and he was going to miss my softball tournament, but the tournament was cancel because of the pseudo hurricane turned tropical storm Hanna, of which I called Hanna Montana because looks can be deceiving and I have seen worse weather conditions on a sunny day in the south. (Wow that was a really long sentence that should probably be multiple sentences but anyone who reads this will know in advance that I don’t really strive for excellent punctuation and grammar.)

As for my job I am doing basically what I did at TMP which is a CADD monkey except here I have caught a lot of things on my own. Well at TMP someone (DC) would get out their red pen and redline everything so that someone in high school home economics class could fix it. Here I have to redline my own things and they just tell me to go do the plan details and I do. My project architect will redline them but I have brought up new details that we need and new issues that have not been found. Basically the things I learned at TMP come in handy here since the project that I am working on needs a little help. I also got taught how to do a spec section last week which is a new one for me.

My office is a lot of fun as well and like TMP it is the people that make it that way. Most of the people that sit in my area are a lot of fun to work with. We have our occasional few that are not favorites as does TMP. I have not encountered so much brown nosing political friendships here as at TMP but I have not met the high-uppity people yet.

Our house is still for sale and empty so if you know anyone looking to buy send them our way. We are paying rent on a small 3 bedroom house in a neighborhood for retirees in Norfolk as well as mortgage. For this reason I am thankful that both of our new jobs pay more and we are also trying to cut back on things like cable, internet, and going to the movies to help.

A few weekends ago SoCal invited me on his ship for family fun day. It was a day where the sailors could invite their entire family on the ship and see what it is like. We had to be on the ship at 4am where we had breakfast and then watched as Norfolk and Virginia Beach passed by. After that we hung out in the lounge area with SoCal’s nuke friends and yes they are a nerdy bunch. Then we took a nap in SoCal’s tiny bunk, and yes we both fit if we spooned really tight. Then we ate lunch and SoCal gave me a tour of the ship and the only area I could not tour was the area that SoCal works in. We all went out onto the flight deck middle of the Atlantic Ocean and launched and landed a few planes and of course a few maneuvers with fake bombs and such. Last we just hung out in SoCal’s berthing and watched as the guys got bored and started lighting things on fire and taping each other to chairs. So all in all I had a great time meeting SoCal’s friends.

We have been out to eat a few times with a couple of the guys that SoCal hangs out with most.

I have made a few friends at work as well. Sara, Emilee and I have been to the beach together and out to dinner followed by dessert at The Boot which is an Italian restaurant hence the name. We ate at this restaurant called Ibeza which is a Spanish inspired restaurant that serves tapas. I had no idea what tapas were but apparently they are way over priced small portions of food that you are supposed to share around the table like an appetizer except there is barely enough to share. The two highlights of the night out with the girls was the Date pudding dessert at The Boot and Emilee getting toasted and almost getting in a fight with this girl at The Boot over a sip of wine. Long story….

This weekend we are doing a practice run at the beach for our sandcastle competition idea. I am helping out with my first sandcastle competition and it is Sept. 28th. I am so excited but also nervous because it seems like it would be very hard. Our theme is Neptune’s Olympics and we were initially going to do King Neptune with sea creatures but then we simplified our idea and are going to do the creatures racing after a wreath or a metal of some kind. Anyways….

So I guess that is all I can remember right now to catch up on but I will try and keep up with my blogging.

Peace out

Have you ever bruised someone's ear lobe?

Some of my co-workers and I were having a conversation about… well I started a conversation about Matt and I wrestling yesterday. We were just goofing off and freshening up my yellow belt when he had me down and I was trying to retaliate. I know he hates when I grab is ear lobe because he is always afraid that his ear skin will rip. So I grabbed both of them and he grabbed under my arms and we were both applying pressure until one of us give in. Well I don’t remember who finally give up but later in the evening we sat down to eat dinner and I looked at Matt’s ear lobes and noticed something on the bottom. I thought it was stain from the deck but no, no it was bruises on each ear lobe. I felt so bad; I apologized, since we usually don’t end up with evidence of wrestle mania. Well my co-workers laughed at this story and swore that normal people do not wrestle with their spouses. I guess it is just a Mississippi girl thing.

Fun from Cathryn

Post your particularly amusing names in the comments. C'mon! Fun for all!

1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car):
Sky 4-Runner (not feeling I will sell many records with that name)

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):
Chocolate Flip-Flop (Ohhh girl dont get me to snappin my fingers and shakin my head at you)

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):
Pink Meercat

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born):
Rose New Albany

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name):Roe Ke or Gib Ke (I'm both right now until the parperwork is done.)

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
Teal Sweet Tea (and yes she will kick some ass.)

7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):
James Hubert or Hubert James?

8. STRIPPER NAME (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):
Divine Sweet Tart (Yes I am well known in these parts)

9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your fifth grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):
Cooper Charleston

10. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, flower):
Summer Orchid (Yes that is sooo pretty)

11. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now):
Mango Sweater

12. HIPPIE NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Teddy Graham Spruce (Dont judge my breakfast choice)

HOUSE FOR SALE OR RENT

Calling in a miracle

I have been so scared for the last few weeks since Matt got orders to move to Norfolk, VA in August. I go from excited, to frightened, to mad, to numb.

I told my partners at work last Wednesday that my last day would be July 24th which was a months notice. Two of them have talked to me about it and three of them have said nothing. They are so weird when it comes to people leaving even if they cannot control why they are leaving. No wonder they have trouble with people leaving.

My moms are both trying to talk me into staying in Nashville until the house sells and Matt to stay on the ship. Fear is telling me to consider this but my heart is telling me that I should trust my husband. I always listen to my heart no matter how scared I may be my heart always wins and has never wronged me. The only thing is my mom is typically right too.
So I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything ready for the move. Matt and I have an extensive list and no matter how much I work on it the damn thing keeps getting longer.

1. Finish sanding and staining the deck along with building the steps.
2. Finish painting the basement along with spackling, sanding, and painting the ceiling.
3. Buy and put up trim with money we don’t have for the basement since previous owners used Styrofoam trim and yes that product actually exists.
4. Finish painting half bath and touching up bedroom and bathroom.
5. Trimming out hallway paint.
6. Just one more coat of white on all doors.
7. Just one more coat of white on all ceilings.
8. Hang new curtain rods in bedroom and dressing room.
9. Clean up garage so someone can walk in it.
10. Put alternator in Matt’s car or sell it like it is which requires Craigslist which requires the internet which we don’t have and I have tried on my phone and no it wont work.
11. When parents come we must cut up tree that fell and get them to take tree and trailer with them.
12. Get parents to help move old fridge down to the basement or sell it on Craigslist (see comment above)
13. Paint exterior CMU wall to match house.
14. Weed front flower bed and plant flowers we cannot afford.
15. Call pest control to come kill all our moths, spiders, ants, earwigs, etc so the movers will pack our stuff.
16. Orchestrate movers for 2 days while they mark and pack all of our stuff.
17. Pack clothes and supplies enough to survive on for 6 months while our things are in storage. Things live interview outfits, winter clothes, air mattress, etc.
18. Take Sparx to vet for rabies shot.
19. Go to dentist before I leave so I am good for 6 months.
20. Take wedding rings to jeweler for repairs before we leave.
21. Find a job which requires I create a portfolio of my work at TMP.
22. Sell our house which requires we finish it so we can show it and have an open house.


This list is just the things I can remember off the top of my head that wont stay off my mind long enough for me to do my job and all this must be done by July 24th since we are driving to Virginia July 25th. After July 25th a whole new list will develop with things such as find an apartment and start my new job.

We basically need a miracle….

Housework

Well Matt and I have been working really hard trying to finish up current projects.
We worked on the deck all day Saturday and then again on Tuesday night when we put the last board on. Yes we still have work to do on the deck such at buying the toppers for the posts and put them on, building some sort of stair, sanding and staining so that all the wood matches but in general it is done and we can store things in the benches and actually sit on them if we want.

This weekend we are going to get some help from a guy that works with Matt and we are going to try and finish the basement. We have to finish scrapping the popcorn off the ceiling and patching the ceiling then we will have to sand the ceiling. Next we will paint all the walls a light ice blue and paint one wall with chalkboard paint. Last we will paint the ceiling a dark gray. So basically I will be covered in paint all weekend.

I had my first tennis match in the summer league last Wednesday night. I was sort of nervous since it was my first match in the 3.5 league. One of my friends talked me into moving up with her and I don’t know why I listened to her. I anticipated I would loose every match by a lot and then move back down to the safe 3.0 league. Well I did loose my first match but not by much 4-6, 4-6 so it was very close the whole time. Last night I had my second match and guess what? I won 6-4, 6-4, so I guess I play better when I am playing a better opponent.

High School friends

Matt and I took yet another trip this past weekend back home to Mississippi to go to the wedding of one of my high school friends. We were friends in high school and college. This weekend made me thankful that I am not in high school anymore.

Some of our other classmates were there in support of the bride and some in support of the groom whom graduated two years ahead of the bride and me. Some of these people didn’t recognize me and some of them still have not grown up. I always have to try really hard at keeping the conversation going with some of these people. Matt said they were not so bad but seeing how they talk about people and how rude they are reminds me why I was not in that particular click growing up.

I like real people who like to laugh, see the good in every situation and who enjoy seeing and getting together with people they have not seen in a while. The bride and I are a lot alike but some of the friends that she has kept after high school are totally different. Thankfully the bride had her “new” friends at the wedding as well and they were good people like us, people who stay and chat with family after the wedding to just catch up and laugh about the good old times. Times when we were young and doing stupid stuff.

I remember high school being a popularity contest and me not wanting to join in at all. I hated all of the who’s better than who and who has what car and all that hoopla. I was friends with everyone; yes I had my closest friends and I mostly hung out with them but never do I think I made someone feel less than me. I had hoped all of us would grow up but I guess some are still playing the expensive car better than you game.

I should be used to it because now I have to watch as my co-workers play the same game but with bonuses and kiss-assing.



It really wasn’t so bad I am just recalling the parts that annoyed me. It was nice to see all those people again even though some of them haven’t changed. The wedding and reception were beautiful but hot. We had a really good time and an especially great time after everyone left. Some of her close family and friends hung around to clean up and we ended up breaking out some wine and just reminiscing about the bride. The reminiscing was more or less behind her back since she and the groom had already left for the night but I don’t think she would mind.

Family Vay-Kay

Well let’s see, I have been pretty busy at work and trying to keep busy so I don’t get in trouble since my review is coming up and I am hoping to not get fired. We will see tomorrow if I still have a job or if I should put my resume in at Lowes.

Last weekend Matt, the dogs and I drove down to Mobile to see his family and to meet my family at Gulf Shores. So we plan on leaving Thursday night after work but Matt says that his boss wants him to check in Friday morning at 6:30 to just take roll and leave. So Thursday afternoon we are getting the lawn mowed and packing clothes for the trip. Matt decides to rotate his tires since we are taking his truck. He takes off the back tire and it looked like one of those racing tires that are smooth with no tread. I said, I am not riding to mobile on those tires. So Friday morning Matt got up to go to work and I got up to go get him new tires. After the tires we packed up all the x-wife’s stuff and all of our stuff in the truck and we were off.

We get to Mobile around dinner time and we had hamburgers on the grill and just relaxed that night. We got up Saturday morning to go to the Monastery to get my grandmother a St. Petagrine necklace. Matt’s mom had bought his dad one when he had cancer and she suggested I get one for my grandma so I did. I also got some fudge called heavenly hash that was made by the nuns. Anytime you mix pecans, chocolate and marshmallows you will have a hit with me.

We got done just in time to have lunch at our favorite shopping mall Mexican restaurant in Mobile. My mom, dad, sis, brother-in-law, and nephew had just got in town from Mississippi and they met us there. My brother-in-law ordered Chili Relleno without the red sauce because he doesn’t like tomatoes or tomato sauce. Julie had something and I think she was going to complain about it but my mom was sitting next to her so she did ok at this particular meal.

So after we filled our stomach’s full of delicious Chili’s stuffed with Mexican cheese we all met at Matt’s parent’s house. Matt’s mom and dad give them a tour of the house explaining past additions, current projects, and antique hand-me-downs. Then we all went outside for an afternoon siesta in the swing. Dorie and Prancer (Liz’s dog) entertained themselves with a plastic water bottle eventually to the point where we thought they would pass out from heat stroke and the bottle had to be taken away for a water break. We talked until Julie was ready to go either because of Matt’s pipe smoke, mosquitoes, or the spider web that was in the chain of the swing or all of the above.

The next day we were to all meet at Gulf Shoes beach for fun in the sun. So we got up to begin coating ourselves down with sunscreen and hunting beach umbrellas, coolers, chairs, snacks, sunglasses, chap stick, towels, etc. After a few stops on the way we arrive around noon when my family had been there about 2 hours already. So we set up and take pictures, play in the waves, attempt to fly kites, hear complaints about jellies. Around 2:30 we are all hungry so we decide to walk to the nearby Pink Pony club and get some food. My mom and Julie are to stop by and wash their feet at the outdoor showers and then meet us there. Some of the men and Easton are to stay behind and hold down the fort and we are to bring them food back.

We walk over, order drinks, order food and wait for food and still no mom or Julie. We are worried and make phone calls and still no mom or Julie. We meaning I am about to walk up the beach to check on mom and Julie when they all walk into the club. Mom, Julie, dad, Brad, and Easton come in and get a table. They meaning Julie had had enough of the beach for the day and packed up all their shit and then came to get something to eat. We finish our food with them and then take back food for Matt’s parents who are holding down the fort.

My family goes back to their hotel to try and wash off the sunburn that they all got at the beach. We stay a little longer at the beach relaxing and sunning. Marty decides early on this day that she was going to put on accelerator before she came to the beach and put on afro sheen at the beach to get burnt to a crisp and guess what her planned worked. I wanted to spend some time with my family so we met them at the hotel to decide what to do next. Matt and I tried to get Liz to take them back home so we could go do something with my family but I guess they were not quite ready to leave the beach. We went to this family fun place that had bumper boats, putt-putt, and race cars. Matt’s parents are not really the type to do this sort of thing despite the sunburn and sandy pants so Marty went to the truck and slept while Randy watched us ride.

We rode this two story wood race track called “Wild Wood” first and yes we all had fun joking about the name of the track. At the very end of the race I was making a move on my sister and Easton when we all went around a curve and I had Matt on one side and Brad on the other, the next thing I knew I was facing the wrong direction and stuck on the track. Knowing me I read all the disclaimers, no bumping, keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle, if you do get stuck on the track stay in your car. So I did. I would press the gas and go about 2 inches and hit the side then roll back 2 inches and of course they did not put a reverse in the cars which would have solved my problem. No, no I had to wait and watch everyone get off and finally one of the workers came to get me.

We all had a good time watching people ride the “Sky Coaster”. It is a thrill ride where you and up to two friends are harnessed together, lifted 100 feet in the air and let go to coast over the fun park. Matt and I did this at Six Flags when we first me and loved it but no one in our family was up to it.

It was time for us to go since Easton was cranky, Marty was asleep in the car, and we were out of tickets. We drove the hour back to Mobile while my family went out to dinner. When we got home we watched Juno with Liz and Marty got her a shower, a benedryl and she was out for the count.

The last day of our “vacation” we had to drive the hour back south to Gulf Shores to meet with my family and get our pictures taken on the beach. My mom had told me she wanted a picture of us all wearing white button down shirts and “jorts”. Well Matt doesn’t have any “jorts” and they don’t make white button up shirts big enough for Brad so she had to settle for Matt wearing blue jeans on the beach in 100 degree weather and Brad, Julie, and Easton in white t-shirts. Despite this I think the pictures turned out well.

Before we went to the beach we at lunch of course. Earlier that morning we were told that they wanted to do breakfast at Cracker Barrel upon which Matt says, “well we just won’t eat and we will leave early and go to Lambert’s on our way back”. Another phone call tells us just what Matt wanted to hear, “we are going to Lambert’s, the place where they throw the rolls. Yea.

Matt talked me into getting frog legs so he could try them. He got a whole skillet of ham. Julie got mashed potatoes and gravy which she sent back to get without gravy because the gravy had onions. Mom and dad split beef liver and onions. Brad got meatloaf and Easton ate a roll and got a green and it had to be green balloon. We all had a good time and got some tricks played on us. The waitress brought a gag pitcher of sweet tea and pretended to spill it on my dad’s white button up shirt and he almost jumped on top of me to try and get out of the way. My mom got offered a pot of stuffed road kill and Easton opened a candy box with a mouse in it.

We said our goodbyes and drove the hour back to Mobile to pack our things and drive 6.5 more hours home. We were tired, not sunburned thankfully, but tired of being torn by two families and annoyed by their particularities.

We got home Monday night to go to work Tuesday morning and to go out of town again the following weekend. What a vacation we had.

The not so new News

I have not blogged in a long time because I have been busy at work and not able to get on the internet. When I was blogging more often it was because I was doing casework for 4 weeks straight and I got bored. This gave me more time to blog but got me in big trouble. Now I am busy and not complaining even though I don’t get to blog as much. I would blog from home but our internet hasn’t worked in a while.

Matt's Strawberry Pott

So Socal and I are very busy in the yard with multiple projects going on right now. We are trying to finish up the deck benches, planting tons of trees that Socal got off the Arbor Day foundation website, mowing grass a constant chore, tilling up the front flower beds, mulching the front beds, and putting down border around the front beds.

ACE presentation table

Members of our ACE team this year

ACE scholarship winners from our team

Tuesday of this week Cafra, another ACE mentor, and myself drove to one of our High Schools because they were being featured on Channel 4’s Cool School segment this week. They ask us all a question and we wasted 2 hours waiting on the reporter and driving to and fro to find out that they cut us out of the segment. How could they? Where do they get the nerve to cut me out of their news.

Yesterday everyone in my office packed up and drove downtown to one of our projects. It is a small renovation at Baptist hospital for the NICU. The project manager and interior designer from our firm did a great job on the design but it is giving the contractor fits. The hospital is huge and has a goal of 8,000 births for 2008 which sounds like a baby factory to me.

After that a few of us toured a site in East Nashville called 5th and Main. It is a housing development with underground parking, retail, town homes, condos, and a pretty price tag. They are selling for $250 a square foot… WOW…

After we all were drooling over the spacious condo’s the Young Architects Forum members that toured the residential site went to Three Crow Bar and had our first drink on a rep. that works for Ally-Cassidy Brick and Block.

Socal and I are planning a trip with my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to Gulf Shores in May. Socal and I are going to stay with his family in Mobile to save money and drive to Gulf Shores to have fun on the beach with both families since it is only about 30 minutes drive I think.

This weekend we are going to go to this Tequila bar called Agave to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. They are having live Luca Libre Wrestling with Midgets and Mini Wrestlers.
For the next 2 weeks I will be attending Structures classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights to help me pass my exams. I have been going over the program that I will be using to take the Site Planning test just to get used to all the buttons and commands.

Spring in TN

Just some pics of my car ride home. I tried to capture the tunnel of white blooms that the Bradford Pears create. The city trims the trees over the road and they begin to form a perfect tunnel.

These are a few images that I took yesterday while waiting for my $44 in gas to pump into my car. I noticed this sign because the wind was blowing pretty hard and the sign kept rotating so it was fun to try and time it just right to get the word liquor in the picture. It makes me want a drink too. Mmmm.

I took these pictures on my way home. I saw this little dog in the back of this car and just had to take it's picture. I just laughed looking at it, it is one of those so ugly it is cute dogs. This dog made my day in the middle of rush hour traffic I was stopping trying to take it's picture so I could keep that happy feeling it gave me.

JPhotoshop Cowan

Well a guy at work always gets his head photoshopped on some funny picture or body and a few times by me. This past week he was bragging about how he saw himself on tv at the soccer championship game. He sent around a youtube video of his 2 seconds of fame and well I posted a pic of him up in the office of him at the soccer game.

Yes, I added the socks because no one would know it was J.P. without his argile socks; they were Cafra's idea.

I know this is office related but I chose to post it here because I am trying to keep the other site clean and strickly professional.