Randomness

Friday was a full day!  At work, it was one of my developers last day.  He put in his notice about a month ago, but I was still sad to see him go.  Very nice guy, very talented.  Unfortunately, the rough beginning of the year that I had at work was shared by everyone on the team.  It kind of tore some of us down.  He decided he was ready to move on after those trying times.  I got the team to sign a going away car and got a cookie cake for the guys to share for the day, and then walked him out at the end of the day to get his badge.  We have seen quite a few people rotate through our team since I've been at Mylan.  It's a tough team to be on, because there's a lot of pressure for the only custom software team at a company of over 17,000 employees.  I've collected several name plates and badges over the years.  I keep them in a drawer and we take them out and tell funny stories every once in a while. 

I got to go up to Sweet Frog for some yogart at lunch time with a coworker.  It was a nice break in the middle of the day.  After work, we head over to Kathy and Tony's house to celebrate kathy's birthday from this past week, and Father's Day since we were out of town on the 17th.  Tony made some excellent pasta and saugsage, and a salad to feed an army!  After we finished eating, we went into the back yard to play a game similar to Corn Hole (don't worry, Memphis folk, I'll explain what that is one day...it's a fun and easy game that any age person can play).  As the guys were playing, the sky was getting strangely dark, and with a combination of the hot, moist air, we knew a storm was brewing.  After a few large lightening bolts came down, we quickly moved inside and went ahead and started gathering candles.  Something big was headed our way and we were sure we were going to loose power.  We gathered candles and then started setting up to play Scattegories and sure enough--the power went out!  So we spread out the candle stash (some still left over from our wedding 7 years ago!) and played some fun rounds of Scattegories.  After some fun times, we packed up some leftovers and headed home.  It was a late night, but luckily our electricty was not off when we got home, so we had air conditioning and a comfortable night!

Tonight, we'll be joining some friends for dinner at Oliverio's for Angie Meadow's birthday.  It should be a really fun time, and great food.  I really just want their bread sticks and ranch dressing....

Oh--today, I might try to actually exercise.  How's that for surprising?  I'm going to use P90x because I like the format, but I will adjust the activities and of course take it easy.  I just can't be so lazy anymore.  I have more energy now, so I need to take advantage of that and accomplish some things. 

On a random note, I saw a really strange gift bag at Old Navy a week or so ago.  It's a little shocking.  Enjoy!

It's Christmas!

So I had a fun time when I got home from work today.  Lauren Byrer stopped by to bring me 2 tubs full of maternity clothes!  It was like Christmas morning but with WAY more presents!  I only got 3/4 of the way through one of them before I got too tired to continue :-)  I'm trying to track all of the clothes people let me borrow so it takes a while to get through them.  It was mostly tops, but a great amount jeans.  I went ahead and wore a pair out tonight because they were so comfy.  It is much better than bustin out over the top of my regular pants.  Of course, she even had a few bella bands in there, so I'll be able to wear my regular pants unbuttoned for a while.  That's really cool.

So, we had to go to Target tonight.  I am quickly growing out of the maternity bras that Ashley let me borrow, so I had to find some solutions.  Luckily, I have a good amount of Target gift cards from my birthday that I was able to use.  Very nice to have those.  I also picked up a registry gift while at Target.  I went ahead and created a registry.  Nothing on it yet, but I'm going to have to have an expert with me to do that.....enter...Ashley Griffith.  We'll worry about that in a couple months!

Oh--great thing happened at work today!  One of my developers gave me two passes to the Greenbrier Classic for next week!  It's for Wednesday-July 4th--so it's just practice rounds, but we're really excited to get to go AND there's a concert that night, with Lionel Richie--so Adam is super stoked.  He loves his music.  It will be a super long and tiring day--but we might get to see Tiger Woods, or Phil, or any of the other super stars that will be there.  We can ask for autographs on practice days, so who knows what we'll run into!

I'm pooped, so I am going to bed.  Night!

Wedding Bells

So everyone knows that the summer is a popular time to get married.  That was always our busiest season when we were in the cover band.  Well, Adam and I do still sing in weddings.  I think it's really fun because people are inviting you to be a part of their special day.  They trust us enough to be a part of that day.  So when people ask me, I always say yes--because it's great!  And--because it's usually people we don't know very well--we get paid, so extra $$ is always welcome in this household.  Of course, now we're not paying down our debt, we're saving for baby furniture and needs and medical bills just in case.  Well...turns out all of yes's have come back to haunt me :-)  We have three weddings in August! 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm still super excited.  But that's three weekends in a row that we'll be doing a rehearsal Friday night, and then ceremony some time Saturday afternoon.  Fun times.  We met tonight with one of the couples and their parents to talk about the ceremony-which will be in their back yard with reception in the house--think "Father of the Bride" style :-)  It will be really fun.  Oh--AND--I get to wear chuck taylors with whatever dress I can find to fit me (I'm sure I'll have a nice little belly on me by that time)!  Luckily, the wedding colors are light blue and green, and my chuck taylors happen to be light blue!  Meant to be!  We'll be singing at least two really cool songs and the third they still haven't picked yet.  I'm sure it will be cool too. 

The house that the wedding is at is amazing, too.  They gave us a tour of all three floors and Adam was drooling by the time we left.  The main selling point for Adam--balcony off the Master Bathroom....he's a sucker for balconies and porches.  It was definitely a beautiful house.  I now have a new goal when looking at floor plans, though I happened to have pinned a house with a Master balcony earlier this week.  I mean...am I a good wife or what??

Ok--no belly pictures today. I mean, how much can I grow in one day...seriously!  But I do have a picture.  I've mentioned before how the cafe at Mylan has great soups that I often end up eating for lunch.  Well, today they had my all time favorite....anyone??  anyone??      ............that's right, they had French Onion Soup!  Mylan makes probably the best french onion in town.  Especially since my favorite place, Damon's, closed down.  Second on the list, Archie's Lakehouse, which I shared earlier this week.  So--as non-glamorous as my picture looks---it was amazing!  Bravo Mylan Cafe...you complete me. 

Oh, and just in case you're wondering....I had already had some when I took the picture.  You KNOW I tried to fill up that cup as full as I possibly could....YUM!

Happy Hump day all....now for Thursday.  Can't wait.

All Better

So I woke up still with the headache this morning.  Boo.  Good  news though.  It all went away by the time I was wrapping up a meeting (around 11:15).  I'll take it.  And an added bonus of it going away...I have a little bit more energy today than I have in a while.  I'm hoping that I can keep ahold of the energy and this Second Trimester fun will go ahead and begin.  I've got a lot of Pampered Chef shows coming up in July because the host special is super rockin', so I want to be on my game for those.  It is also the month that if I sell a certain amount, I get a bundle of the new fall products for free when they come out in September.  Wish me luck! 

After I got my energy burst at work, I really got a lot done.  I stopped by the grocery store on my way home to pick up some milk, bread, and a few snacks tokeep around, and then home.  Next stop--Panera to meet with Becky, my Pamp. Chef Director for our little "you can be a director" meeting.  I really just need to be more vocal when it comes to recruiting.  I always feel like I'm bugging people when I offer the business, but what I'm really doing is sharing something great that has happened in my life.  I shouldn't be selfish and keep that to myself.  Sure, it would benefit me for people to join my team, but it really will benefit them.  I've got to remember that and make sure to share the opportunity as much as possible. 

Kathy's birthday is today (my Mother-in-Law)!  We didn't get to celebrate with her today, but we'll be getting together with the fam Friday night to hang out. 

So work is fun since people know I'm pregnant.  Everyone has advice and opinions about things.  I don't mind it at all.  It's actually really interesting to hear everybody's different experiences.  I feel like I get to be in their club now.  Not that anyone doesn't include me in things before, but now it's like this fun thing that we get to talk about anytime I meet up with people.  I'm actually a little surprised at how much the guys want to talk about their experiences with their wives.  Very entertaining!  I've already gotten a recommendation on a good daycare, if we decide to go that route.  We have a few options that we'll have to look at.  I do know that I want our kid to be around other kids once it's time to get social so they get to work on their social skills.  So, it might be a combination of options.  Who knows. 

Time for bed, now.  Oh--and we took my three months picture tonight.  So here it is.  And let me mention...I needed to pee, but Adam said he wanted it to look more dramatic, so he wouldn't let me pee before we took the picture :-)  So you're getting a combination of baby and full bladder, which always puffs my belly out.  Maybe that means my 4 mounth will be smaller...We'll just have to wait and see.

Sinus infection....Boo...

So, this past weekend, I've had a small headache.  My nose has been stopped up since around the time I found out I was pregnant.  This combination of things made for a rough night Sunday night.  The stuffiness has definitely added to the not sleeping well factor.  Last night was the usual waking up several times, going to the bathroom, flopping around, trying to breathe, pretty miserable. I woke up at 4:30 to a really bad headache so I gave up and took 4 "non-aspirin"...which is how Mylan labels generic Tylenol.  Pretty useless.  When I got up at 5:45, I started getting ready and gave up when I was trying to put on my makeup and my eyes were watering so bad I couldn't keep them open.  I emailed Rod to let him know I was going to try to catch an extra hour or so of sleep to try to shake this and then I would be in for our first meeting that morning.  When I got back up, it was a little better, but still pretty bad. 

Once I made it to work, I got into Rod's office and he thought I was crying and said--take all the time you need.  Of course, I just had the yucky distorted headache face with a combination of watery eyes.  My ears started popping and clicking today, so I knew I probably had a sinus infection.  I called my obgyn and they said "We treat you for pregnancy, not sickness.  See your primary care doc."  My primary care doc told me a month ago that he won't touch me cause I'm pregnant and my Obgyn should take care of my needs at this time.  Fun, right?  The nurse suggested I go to an urgent care office and they'll treat me, so after I got as much done as I could bare, I headed home around 3:30 and Adam took me to the ole' Urgent Care.  Oh--throughout the day, I had taken a total of 8 tylenol....probably shouldn't do that again...especially because it didn't work.  Urgent care told me take Benedryl and then prescribed some Amoxicillin.  I'll be good as new in a few days hopefully.  The headache got a little better, but it's still throbbing.  Boo.

We grabbed dinner at Applebees and then off to Adam's softball games where I get to relax and chill out with my homegirl Ashley and her little man Eli.  It is suprisingly cold tonight.  Supposed to get down to 47 I think.  Weird how weather works.

Oh a funnier note, Adam and I contemplated having something other than a normal baby.  Like say...a unicorn.  We have to love it.  Would we use the same names we are thinking about, or would we go for something more like "Sparkles"?  Who knows.  I'm sure this will spark some creative dreams tonight--if I sleep long enough to make it to that level.

And now, here's a belly pic.  Well-not bare belly.   I might share those if I can get motivated to drop them onto the computer from my camera.  This one was taken by Adam's phone last month.  We will take a 3 month one tomorrow or sometime this week, so I'll try to get that one up for comparison.  These will not be on Facebook, so enjoy :-)

Oh--and I've already scored some maternity clothes from a friend of mine, Emily Griffith.  She is also pregnant right now, about a month ahead of me, but seems to have an overabundance of clothes so I get to reap the benefits.  I will be getting to borrow a lot of people's clothes, so my nervousness about having enough clothes to wear is going away.  Ashley suggested a great way to keep track of whose clothes go back to whom--spreadsheet.  Right up my alley.  I created one as soon as I got home tonight and already recorded what I have so far.  My friend Lauren Byrer is going to bring over some clothes next week from her and two other girls who are probably done having babies.  And then Ashley will let me borrow some until she needs them again.  Lots to organize, lots of options.  Very fun!  I've also have gotten a few things already with birthday presents that my family got me.  I am well taken care of.  God has truly blessed us during this time. 

Nighty night.

A great weekend.

This has been a nice weekend.  A nice mixture of rest and fun.  Saturday morning, Adam had to go in early at the church to get some set design things completed for the weekend services.  That left the house to me for the morning and early afternoon.  I caught up a couple of shows I had DVR'd and just sat lazily on the couch.  After that, I was motivated to accomplish something for the day, so I changed into some outdoor clothes and pulled weeds in our flower beds and front sidewalk for a little bit.  It was hot.  I cleaned up the living room a bit, and then headed upstairs to take on my closet and...oh yeah...unpacking from San Francisco.  Yes.  I am lazy and have not unpacked from last week's adventure.  I told you I did nothing this week in the evenings...I was not kidding.

I decided that it's time for me to make room for any new clothes I might be getting in the upcoming months, so after unpacking and putting away my suitcase, I went ahead and went through a good amount of my clothes to put away clothes that I already can't wear, or fall/winter clothes that I won't be able to fit into once the cooler weather shows up.  I normally keep a few lighter sweaters in my closet during the summer for the simple fact that it is FREEZING in my office, and since we moved into the new location (not new anymore, moved there in June 2012), they took away our space heaters because of some fire hazard or something.  Needless to say, I spend most days in my same little gray jacket that I keep at the office.  I could probably not wear a shirt for a week and no one would notice anything different.  It's gray jacket and whatever shoes and pants I happen to be wearing that day.  Oh--and just in case--I am NOT planning on going to work topless any time soon.  Just to be clear. 

After making some nice space in my closet for maternity clothes, I went ahead and got ready for the day since I had to be at the church at 2:30 for rehearsal and then the Saturday night service.  I have determined that my face is already looking chubby--so to hide this, I have two solutions.  ONE--ponytail.  This is easy because I wear a low ponytail to work almost every day now.  I take a shower, brush my hair and let it air dry a tad while getting ready, and then pull it back before I leave for work.  Easy as pie.  Having the ponytail makes sure that my hair doesn't add any pounds to my face.  TWO--super straight hair.  I noticed that if I curl the bottoms under or out, it just makes my hair have more body and thus--chubby face.  So, if I straighten it as much as I can, it seems to have a slimming effect.  Yay.  So--Saturday was the first time I tried the straight look since I got my hair cut.  (I got a few inches taken off the day before we left for San Fran.  It was entirely too long).

We had a great practice at church, great service, and then Adam and I went to Archie's Lakehouse (on Cheat Lake) and ate a small dinner.  I tried their French Onion soup for the first time.  I have a new favorite :-)  

Sunday, we were up early to make it to practice before the services, and then two services this morning.  Afterwards, we came home real quick to change clothes and then head out to a cookout for a girl's birthday.  There was LOTS of yummy food, and then, what we always do at her house, Volleyball.  Now--the car temp registered at 93 while we were there, so don't even think that I was about to get out there and play. I DEFINITELY don't have the energy for that!  And plus, I want to try to be safe, so no chances there.  Adam played several games, got super sweaty, and then we headed back to the house a few hours ago.  Since then, we've been chillin' out, and now I'm off to bed.  Lots of fun. Good rest. Now for Monday..blah..

If I'm feeling spunky tomorrow, I might post a belly picture.  No promises...

The story of squatters

Yes, I remembered to post. We'll have to thank the alarm on my phone for that one. 

So, the past couple of months, I've been a "frequent flyer" of the restrooms here at work.  Only natural , in my current situation.  During my "travels", I've noticed a few odd things going on in the restrooms. 

First--Phone calls.  No--not me.  Other women purposefully walk into the restroom, dial a number, and either pace back and forth in the restroom while chatting or park themselves in a stall and chat away.  I'm never sure what to do when this happens.  Can I let loose and let whatever happens, happen?  I mean--it is the bathroom!  Should I not flush the toilet?  It's like a jet engine it's so loud.  Does the other person know that their friend is talking to them in a public restroom?  So many questions--no real answers.  One of my friends here says she tries to make as many inappropriate noises as possible to hopefully force them out.  I'm not sure how to handle this situation except to get in and out as quickly as possible and pretend like it's not really weird that they are doing this.

Second--teeth brushing.  Now, I've been that person a few times, within reason.  I have a dentist appointment around lunch time or in the afternoon, so I try to remove any food that might have gotten into my teeth that day before I head over to my appointment.  I keep a toothbrush at my desk for this reason--and just in case I have really stinky food, or end up barfing (which hasn't happened at work so far, so I'm probably in the clear there).  I don't think that this is an unreasonable action.  What I DO think is unreasonable is people brushing their teeth WHILE using the restroom.  That's right.  It's happening in the stalls.  How long are they needing to brush for?  Did they have caramel for breakfast?  Popcorn perhaps?  And what about the men?  I have heard complaints from my developers that they have walked in and guys are standing at the urinal, using it, and brushing their teeth at the same time.  WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT??  People are either working way too much that they have to budget their time in the bathroom so tightly they they must cram many activities into a short amount of time....or they are just really weird.  It's a toss up.

Ok--lastly--the Squatters.  This is my term for what happens most frequently here at Mylan.  I sometimes use a bathroom break as a small mental break from what's going on at work.  I can go in, take a deep breath, use the restroom, take my time washing my hands, and then take the long way back to my desk.  It gives me a time to refocus on what I'm doing.  Some people are using the bathroom as a break room.  Now, there are extra chairs in one of the bathrooms.  I mostly see gym bags sitting on them when people are changing to go work out.  These chairs are not where people are taking their break.  They are sitting in the stall, quietly, trying not to be noticed.  It's always either in the very last stall, or the very first stall.  They don't want to be bothered.  If I go in and notice one of those doors closed and no noise in the room, I know I am disrupting either a nap or a long mental break, so I know that they will be listening to everything that happens while I'm in there...which encourages me to be swift.  The squatters are frequent.  People must be working way too hard if the only place they find comforting enough to make it through the day is a bathroom stall.  Either that, or people have some serious bowel problems that cause long stints in the bathroom. 

On a more personal note, this week has been very relaxing for me.  Other than Adam's softball game Monday night, I have been able to spend every evening this week at home.  It either means I'm getting lazy, or smart.  I haven't decided.  I'm definitely physically tired by the end of the work day, so putting my feet up and just chillin' has been really nice.  I will need to start accomplishing things though if this break continues.  There are lots of things to do around the house and to keep my Pampered Chef business on track.  We're on worship this weekend at the church, so that will keep me plenty busy for this coming weekend.  Of course, the only bad thing about all of this is that we are eating out every day.  I just don't have the energy to make dinner.  Adam has been really great to pick up food for us, so I'm going to have to adjust our budget a little bit if we continue to do this. 

So wrapping up--I'm getting rest and lots of interesting things happen at Mylan.  Here's a couple of pics of what I did to my boss's office for his birthday last month.  He loved it.  Brownie points for me :-)

Ok...Babies! (this time, yes..for me)

So, I know what you're thinking.  Am I actually going to consistantly post on this blog.  To that I say....Who knows?!  I haven't been sleeping well lately, and have been pretty tired, and one of the solutions I found on Babyfit.com was to "journal" before you go to bed so it gives you a chance to "close the book on today" and then leave those thoughts somewhere so you can sleep.  I figure--if I'm going to ramble about my day, might as well put it on the ole' internet in case any nosey family members or friends care to read along. 

I will warn you--this will be RAMBLING...possibly a little complaining...who knows.  So--if you don't want to read it--don't.  Fine by me.  This way-you make the call and I might sleep better at night.  Win, Win. (win..for you Office fans out there).  Oh--and this first one will be rediculously long, because I have to get you caught up with things.

Ok--enough introduction. Yes-I'm pregnant.  You thought that's what this was going to be about, didn't you?  Was it the title that made you think that?  Well, I don't know why....

As of today, I am 12 weeks, 5 days prego.  That's going off of my last ultrasound-which was done forever ago at 6wks 6days.  I guess I'll post a picture...Viola! :

So, at this appointment we were able to see this little roach looking thing in my uterus.  It is literally sucking the life out of me, turns out!  On the right half of it, there was fluttering of the heart that looked like wings on top of a roach...hence my nickname for baby Etris.  We also heard the heart beat for the first time.  That's always a relief, right?  It was just kind of weird.  Just one more item of proof to show that I'm not crazy, and yes, I am really pregant.  I'm not just acting that way for sympathy, which is kind of the way I felt at that point. 

Since then, I can say that I have only been mildly queasy on most days, and only had a few bad days where I just tried to stay still and not move around too much.  This works nicely with my job lately since I sit at a computer most of my day.  I just try to keep snacking throughout the day and I seem to mostly be fine.  I've only had one barfy morning, but I'm going to attribute that to a bad headache I had over the weekend that just would not quit...it was probably the combo of that, and my sensitive gag reflex while brushing my very back teeth.  Don't forget the tongue!  Yeah--bad combination of things happening at the same time.  It really just reminded me that I needed to clean my toilet.  Yuck.

Oh a semi-related note, my good friend, Ashley Griffith, dropped by some goodies off for me yesterday.  The package included (ear muffs, boys) some larger bras that I have been in need of and a little surprise.  A book called "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy.  Jenny McCarthy is known for her tasteless humor and no concern for her dignity.  This, of course, puts her in a perfect position to write a book about her pregnancy.  Let me just say-----HILARIOUS!!  There's definitely a lot of language in this book, but the laughs are well worth reading through them!  Just reading the chapter titles in the Table of Contents had me laughing out loud!  She has no shame in her descriptions of what happened and how she was feeling.  I started reading it last night and had to stop after a while because I was laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe and was crying, so I couldn't keep my eyes open!  Adam, naturally, thought I was nuts.  I got almost half way through it last night and can't wait to get back to it.  I wouldn't dare read it anywhere in public, though, because I might not be able to control my laughter.  It's really, really funny.  I recommend it to anyone who is or has been pregnant.  You will totally be able to relate :) 

With all of this said, I think I'll wrap it up for the day.  I have to leave something to talk about tomorrow...that is...assuming I remember to blog.  We'll have to wait and see.

Oh--lastly, just in case any of you missed it (and I don't think the small audience that actually reads this thing includes anyone who did), here's the picture we put on Facebook to announce our pregnacny to the world.  And it was my idea, by the way.  I'm funny too.