Ah the weekend...

Weekends are great. And I mean great as in AWESOME GREAT! The only problem with weekends, though, is that they end, and then you hafta worry about having "a case of the mondays". Booo... At least tomorrow, I have a conference call 1st thing in the morning. Helps get me up and motivated. That just means no sleeping 'til 9, so I can leave by 10... Oh well, better start trying to get used to sleepless mornings, right?

I had interesting dreams last night. Granted, I have interesting dreams every night, it seems, but most of them are not blog-worthy (like the scary one where I was in a store, and for some reason, trusted this total stranger to take care of my baby, only to find out later in the day, that he was a cannibal and had eaten him... I think even my sub-conscious realized this was too horrific for anyone to experience, so it covered it up by saying it was a movie, and it wasn't true, so I had nothing to worry about.... riiiiiiight... I still woke up crying, needing to cuddle with Jeremy to feel re-assured--okay, that was way too much of a tangent.) Not that last night's dreams were particularly 'blogworthy', but I figured if it was interesting enough for me to share with Jeremy, it was interesting enough to put on the blog? Well, that's my theory and I'm stickin' with it!

So the first dream I remember involved me working, and Stephin was tagging along with me (as he sometimes did during the summer.) We stopped at the Target in Potomac Yard (a couple of miles from the Pentagon, for you non-NOVAtians), and I went in, started doing my thing... But then I noticed Stephin was no longer with me. Turns out, you had to show you're ID to prove you were of "shopping age" in order for you to enter the store. I tried explaining to the gal that he was with me, and that he was too young to have an ID, and she said, "well, then he can't go in," or some crap like that. This episode ended with me cursing up a storm (I get very vulgar in my dreams....) at the stupid gal, swearing I would never shop at that store again, and so on and so forth. Then, for some reason, it took us over 2 hours to get home that night. I dunno, weird.

I think a lot of it had to do with a combination of recent events: it probably took place at Target because of the stupid lady I encountered there in May? June? a while back (it's in the blog somewhere), followed by a gal at Wal-Mart telling me Friday that I could not bring my purse into the stock room when I went to sign in and out of the vendor log (why, I don't know, because they allow my laptop bag and pull bag... just not my purse), and finally, the carding thing because yesterday we were at Costco, and we don't have a membership, but are thinking of getting one, and they were carding people at the door (we just snuck in around some people while the guy wasn't looking...) So probably all that stuff put together = my dream.

The 2nd dream was a little more.... realistic? Well, maybe not. You decide. It was Thanksgiving time, and we were in the middle of a huge ice storm. Yet, our small group and some other friends still managed to get together for Thanksgiving dinner (on the Wednesday before [I know it was wednesday because I was excited to not have anymore work that week, after just coming off a three day weekend... man, I'm lazy, huh?] at some random restaurant). We just hung out and chatted, and I guess I thought that Jeremy Jr was gonna make his appearance soon (my brother James was born in the middle of a terrible snow storm), and I was telling everyone how I hoped I would go into labor in the morning after having a nice full night's sleep, so that I wouldn't be so exhausted throughout the process (this probably stems from the fact that last time I did the whole labor thing, I went to bed at midnight, and woke up at 2 am with contractions, and delivered at 2 pm later that day---exhausted! Took me... well, a long time to recover... Probably 3 weeks or so. Of course, the depression may have had something to do with that... Anyways!) The following day (Thanksgiving) we woke up, and no sign of Jeremy Jr. Which is fine, considering that would have made him about 5 weeks early. Not terrible, but not ideal, either. So we'll see if that holds true. And I am hoping for the AM labor, vs a PM labor, but hey, as long as I don't hafta get induced, or a C-Section, whichever way he appears will be okay with me.

Oh yeah, and during that ice storm, Steve Irwin appeared--he poked his head through the window of the house I grew up in, in his khaki shorts (we're still in an ice storm...), asking for donations for his zoo or something. I guess Stephin had been in the same "accident" that cost Steve his life last week, but both of them had survived (in my dream, Steve asked Stephin, "How ya holdin' up there, buddy? You okay? Great!") Yeah, that Stephin's a fighter!

On a related note, it's very sad that Steve Irwin is gone... He was a cool guy, and from what I hear, a really good guy, too. It's unfortunate he's dead, but that is an inevitable part of life... We'll all die at some point, whether by sting ray or natural cause. I hope his wife and kids can recover from this tragic event.

Okay, that's too sad of a note to end this post on, so I'll just say we're only a few days away from bein' 6 months (technically speaking, if going by the 4 week months instead of the lunar months... Although even the lunar months start the 3rd trimester [and 7th month] at the 28th week mark, so I guess I am right! Woot!) Time is flying by, and thankfully so. This week is gonna be crazy, but at least it will go by quickly. Tuesday, Jeremy and I are going to Birthcare to check them out and see if we want to go with them to deliver Jeremy Jr or if we're gonna stick with my psycho doctor. Wednesday is Small Group/Soon-to-Be-Mom's class, Thursday we get a break, but then the weekend is nuts. Friday dinner with friends (should be lots of fun!), Saturday, we're doing security for Awakening Fest, and Sunday, my Mom's gonna be painting on stage during praise and worship at their church's Sunday night service. So that should be okay, since it doesn't really require much of us--just showing up! Yay!

Okay, then, that's better. Time to go 'start the day' (and kick Jeremy off of the XBox 360--which is making a lot of noise, by the way... and we just swapped it out a month or so ago! Junk! Cheap American Junk!) Oh, and if you're familiar with the whole video game industry, and follow what's going on with the XBox, PSP, Gamecube, and if you've ever shopped at Gamestop (or EB Games), check out this video... It's kinda vulgar (okay... it's very vulgar, especially on the part of the PSP), but very amusing for those industry insiders who "know". You've been warned...

Another bright season lies ahead...

The Steelers kicked off the football season this year, beating the Miami Dolphins 28-17. It was a CRAZY game! The first quarter was boring--neither team could manage more than an occasional 1st down... 2nd quarter, we started picking things up, and by half time, was having a lot of hope for Batch, our backup Quarterback (does that make him a Quarterback-back?)

Beginning of the 3rd quarter, I thought we'd left our team in the locker room as we just let run after run, and pass completed after pass.... Then we came back... then we "dropped" the ball at the 1 yard line (Baaaaaaaatch!). But Polamalu redeemed us with a pick, that we then converted to a touchdown, and then in the 4th quarter, Porter picked off Culpepper for a TOUCHDOWN, and that was about it. No more points for the Dolphins.

So, not a bad game... I was impressed at times, disappointed at times, scared at times, bored at times, but over-all, it was worth staying up late for.

Steelers 28
Dolphins 17

OMIGOSH! IT'S SURI CRUISE!

All I have to say is...

She sure looks like she could be alien spawn.
:-)

Geek.

I didn't think this was cool until he got to the middle of the song.... And then I thought, "What a geek."
But a cool, devoted, talented geek! Rock on, Mario Geek!

I think I may have over done it....

Today, Jeremy asked me to "show" him the inventory of clothes we have for the baby.... He thinks I've been going crazy. My Mom says it's silly to get so many clothes when that's all people are gonna wanna buy for us at our shower.... :-/ Well, I wanted to prove 'em wrong, so I laid it all out!

I think they may have been right....

Well, kinda sorta. For newborn, we're STOCKED! We've got some 35 onesies, 6 sleepers, and 6 gowns (though those gowns will probably work through 6 months). Now, most of those (probably about 20) onesies are from Andie. So technically, it isn't my fault. :-) I'll just make sure to change 'em two or three times a day, just cause I can. It'll save me some laundry, if nothing else, for the first couple of weeks.

Now, the rest of the months, we're fairing more evenly on. We do have a lot of clothes clothes for the 3-6 month age, however, we still need socks, and maybe some plain white onesies (you can bleach those when the diaper gets a bit over-soiled... I'd rather do that, then hafta worry about the cutsy ones...) And we only have a few days worth of clothes for the 6-9 month stage (which will probably be the 3-6 for us...)

So, I guess the rule of thumb for all those folks interesting in buying clothes for Jeremy Jr is to BUY BIG! Anything 6+ months (or plain white onesies and socks for 3-6) will be very graciously accepted. :-) You people are so nice.

Da d'daaaaaaaa!

We are officially 5 months pregnant (and in our 6th month)! Thank gooodness the time is going by more quickly now. Can anyone tell me where August went? Anybody? Still trying to figure that one out...

Rain rain rain... Blah. Don't get me wrong, I like rainy days, but there are a couple of reasons I don't like them RIGHT NOW!

1) It makes for a very dark morning, which makes the difficult task of getting up and out even more difficult.

2) It's freakin' cold outside! Like, seriously C-O-L-D! Even Jeremy was cold. I'm sorry, I can't remember the last time it was in the 50's... It's been awhile.

Did I mention it was cold?

Thanks a lot Er-nest-o! Stupid hurricanes with it's stupid wind that blows my stupid umbrella inside out.... I know, it's not a hurricane anymore. Sheesh. Everyone's a critic.

How annoying...

Okay, so apparently a Houston Grandmother was shot and robbed by her 21 year old grandson. That---is sad. What's incredibly frustrating, though, is the way in which the "reporter" reports this news. Now, I'm no jounalist, but I'm pretty sure when you're writing an article about something, you're not just simply typing out your lines of notes.

The grandson of a 75-year-old woman found shot to death in her home has been arrested and charged with her killing, officials told KPRC Local 2.

Houston police said Sean Saunders, 21, was arrested in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Houston police said Sean Saunders confessed to killing his grandmother, Dorothy Saunders.

Dorothy Saunders was found dead in her home in the 3000 block of Shady Park Drive on Sunday. She had been shot in the head, police said.

Police said the car missing from Dorothy Saunders' home was recovered in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Police said there was no forced entry into the home, and the door was bolted from the inside, indicating that the killer was someone she knew.

Relatives said they suspected Sean Saunders the entire time.

Family members said that a family friend called police to report seeing Sean Saunders driving Dorothy Saunders' car.

See what I mean? And for a second here, I thought it was going to get better, but it reverts back to it's original format:

Dorothy Saunders' neighbors said they are shocked that a family member allegedly took her life.

"A relative come out and of no where and kills her for money, her purse and a car," neighbor Charlie Musick said. "He shot her three times in the head. Come on, your grandmother?"

Houston police said Sean Saunders has been charged with capitial murder and will be extradited to Houston soon.

Surely I am not the only one who is annoyed by this?? I don't think it's the pregnancy this time... I could be wrong... Am I wrong???

Happy thoughts!

Okay, so things have improved greatly since our last post.

First, the power went out at about 7:45. Yes, this sucked, especially when you don't know WHY the power went out. All of our neighbors had power, it was just us. So of course we argued about who didn't pay the electric bill, or if someone had run into the house and we didn't notice or WHATEVER! Eventually, we were able to get intouch with Dominion (the folks who do our power), and they said they would send someone out (therefore, probably not a bill thing.) We then got intouch with our property's maintenance folks, but the guy who called us back lives 45 minutes away.

By that point, we were beginning to worry about the evening, and how Jeremy was going to sleep without his CPAP, especially since he's got some pretty big meetings tomorrow. Luckily, we didn't need to call too many friends or check into a hotel. Dominion showed up, switched the MAIN circuit breaker (outside out house, in a little room in the community) and we were back in business! YAY DOMINION! That's the best part about something happening unexpectedly, such as losing power or the cable going out or something--once it's fixed, you usually forget how mad you were when it happened, and are just grateful to have it back (especially during "the big game"! So I guess if you ever want to be a hero, switch off someone's power (don't let them know it was you, obviously) and then be the one to discover "the problem" and fix it, especially during the Super Bowl, or season finale of Lost or American Idol... Guys, great way to impress the ladies... or something...) So let this be a lesson to ya--not a good idea to do laundry when you've got the AC running on a hot day.... "She cahn't take much mora dis, Cap'n!"

After that whole thing, we were able to eat dinner (around 9:15--luckily, we have a gas stove, so dinner wasn't delayed except by not being able to see what the heck was happening on the stove...) and remembered we had CANADIAN CANDY BARS in the car! Of course, they were a little melted, but a few minutes in the freezer took good care of them. I had half a Wunderbar, and Jeremy had a Mr. Big. Did you know that Cadbury makes more than just Cream Eggs???? Before meeting Jeremy, I had no idea. They actually have a full line of candy, like Hershey's or Nestle does here in the States. And personally, I like them much better than those two--chocolate doesn't taste so cheap (when was the last time you ate a Hershey's Chocolate Bar? On a s'more, probably, because by itself, it's kinda gross...) Mmmm.... Yummy.

So overall, the night turned out okay. The only thing that really stunk about having no power for 1.5 hours is that I'm behind on my laundry.... really wanted to get another load done tonight... Oh well. TOMORROW!

Where's my motivation.....?

Right now, I'm trying to talk myself into making something for dinner... I haven't made chili in a long time, and I know Jeremy would like it, but it's a lot of work, and I tired.... All day, been very blah. BLAAAAAH! And I only worked for 5 hours... Well, technically, more than that because I had a conference call this morning, but out in the field only 5 hours. So I dunno... It was so hot today... They said it was 85, but it wasn't. My car registered at 107 at one point (I guess it takes the humidity into account, because it did rain a bit today...) and that didn't make me feel any better. Oh well.

I'd really REALLY like to start working on the baby's room. I'm anxious, but at the same time, I walk in there and just cry because there are so many boxes still just stacked up hiding... We took care of most of the boxes when all my wonderful friends came over to help unpack us, but there's still more junk (mostly Jeremy's... All of my junk is at my parent's house.) And way too much work junk. I mean, really, it's getting out of hand. They just send me four more boxes of these stupid game cubes (they're broken down in the box, but when put together are about 12"x12"x18" cubes) that I'll probably never get rid of because most stores don't want them in their stores, and I don't really have a lot of room for them in my car to cart around with me.... ARGHA-BARGHA, as James would say. :-P Maybe when we take our vacation in October, we can work on that before we head outta town (don't know where we're going yet, but I don't really want to go away for a long time... and no more freakin' planes... I'm so sick of flying, and I've only done it a few times since being pregnant... well, 4 times round trip, I guess... NO MORE!) I guess we'll see.

I haven't mentioned the stupid cat lately. He's still stupid and I still hate him. Jeremy bought him this little fancy water bowl fountain thingie... It's a good thing I buy stuff for OUR baby, because Jeremy's already got HIS--the dang cat. Maybe he'll follow me outside one day when I go to work, and get lost trying to find his way home... His collar's gone now, so someone would think he's a stray and maybe keep him???? okay, time to stop dreaming. The beast is only 4 or 5 years old... he ain't going anywhere for a long time. Double :-P :-P

August is almost over... My brothers are back in school, the stores a less busy, and it's business as usual in the Wilcox home. I guess we're getting ready to sell my car soon. It was nice while it lasted... kinda... I hate buying cars, and then having a somewhat negative experience about it, because then everytime I get in the car, I associate it with those negative feelings. And gosh darnit, I don't need anymore negative feelings invading my life! I've got enough stuff to bring me down already. All I hafta do is think about trying to work on the baby's room.....

I have yet to shed the rest of my "Vegas Weight". I came back from Vegas and my scale at home said I gained 17 lbs... I knew I couldn't have gained THAT much in one week, and luckily it's gone down (I'm assuming it was mostly water weight from travelling, though we all pigged out a little more than usual--I did try to fill up on salad and fruits, but there was always so much good stuff to eat! And we had soda available to us at all hours of the day. That didn't help...) but I'm still 5 or 6 lbs heavier than I was when I left. Still, that would put my total weight gain for this pregnancy thus far at only 10 lbs, according to my scale (I'm afraid the one at my Dr's will think differently...) So I guess I shouldn't beat myself up TOO much about. This is no time for dieting after all... it just kills me because I was doing so well. Add another "negative" to my repretoire of thoughts.

Stephin is taller than me. He's 13, has a "man's voice", and is now taller than me. Soon, he'll be taller than James (another inch or two...) The big question is, will he beat my Dad... Hmmm... At 6'4", that's a tall order (ha... ha.... ha....), but outta all the boys, I think Stephin's got the best chance. Jason stopped at 6 ft (although he claims "6 ft 1 inch!"), James is just shy under 6 ft, so who knows... I guess that's not a bad compromise, considering my Mom is only 5'2".

I bought this Dial Foaming Handsoap stuff, mostly because it was on sale (3 pack for $4.77). It's not as nice as the berry Softsoap that we had before. In fact, this stuff is junk compared to that stuff (and that stuff wasn't expensive...) I'm disappointed. Ohhhh welllll....

Jeremy bought Madden 07.... There goes our "quality time". It's football season, ladies and gentlemen. And he wants to get Directv so he can get "The Ticket!" Yay....

On a happy note...... ummm.... hold on, gotta find one....



Still looking......



There's gotta be something here somewhere.......



Umm.... okay, how 'bout this: nope, nope, that won't due....



Oh, okay, I got one. Well, small group is tomorrow night, and that's usually good times. And in a couple of weeks, we'll be having dinner with the Cote's, which sounds like good food and good fun. Yup, those are both happy things.


That's all I've got for tonight.

The randomness that is James....

This is NOT my brother James........this is my brother Stephin (from a few years ago). But I couldn't FIND a picture of James, so you'll just hafta get a general idea of where I'm coming from based on this.

Now... I swear to you, my brother does not smoke crack, nor does he drink (unless you count Red Bull or BAWLS...) but the following story from his blog may make you think otherwise....

And I quote:

"Ok. Yesterday, i wnet to Walmart. I saw something on the ground on the way to the door. I'm like" I'll see what is on the way out." So finish shopping. I got new blades for my fancy shmanshy Norelco and a soda for those curious people. So I'm walking to back to my car(van)(oohh. Booms) And i'm like oh yeah. the thing on the ground. You'll never guess what i found. I let you ponder. What could it be. A hamster, a blue whale, my shoe, a "honey i shruck the kids" kids. If you guess any of those, your wrong. Its was a.......................................a.................a wheel weight. Some of you say " this guy is retarded" or "WTF" or "cool" or some of you don't care. I do. You don't see a wheel weight on the ground like that all the time. Think about it.its sitting on my desk. Now Think About IT.

nice I cracked my KNee"

For that, James, you get the rubber chicken:

*clap*..............*clap*.....................*clap*................................

For those times when you need more than words.....

Or when ya really don't know what to say....

Elmo is an Evil Doer!

This article made me sad.... I, like many other americans born in the 70's and 80's, grew up with Sesame Street, and looked forward to it everyday (the power hour of Sesame Street, followed by Mister Rogers---and then unfortunately, followed by Little House on the Prairie... No offense to the fans, but gosh darnit, I hated that show! It meant morning kids shows were over.... :-( ) I loved Elmo growing up, but Big Bird was my favorite... Along with Burt and Ernie (it did make me mad, though, that Ernie would always pin everything on Burt....)

Anyways, it seems that Sesame Street has taken a turn for the worst... which is very sad, as we approach the birth of our first child. Check out this excerpt from the article:

"Elmo is just a baby-voiced, self-obsessed character who is only concerned with Elmo," says Lee. "He just passively observes things: 'Elmo is looking at a sandwich. Elmo is eating a sandwich. Elmo is crapping out the sandwich and writing his name on the wall with it.' " The last celebrity to so obsessively refer to himself in the third person was Richard Nixon.

"I desperately don't want the show to go away, so I know they can't afford to run the "Elmo accidentally drank bleach and died" episode. Instead, they need to simply take Elmo and his buddies and give them their own hourlong show for the idiot spawn. Then put Luis, Gordon and the cool Muppets on their own half-hour "Classic Sesame" for the kids who will one day actually contribute to our society."

I just wanted to share, because I absolutely LOVED Sesame Street, and will hate to have to show our child "alternate broadcasting" when they're four or five and watching those shows... Maybe they'll release a "Classic Sesame Street" DVD for us old school types... :-)

Blah.

I don't really feel like blogging today. Was gonna write some stuff, but it's either gonna be really boring, or depressing. So I'll just pass today. Hopefully, tomorrow fares better. :-[

Cat Flushing

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WofFb_eOxxA

Sorry, this was too cute. Well, funny/cute. Actually, I'm not sure why I find this so interesting, but I do.... If only we could teach Big Fella to do that...

Still in Vegas

Hello everyone!

Blah. I'm still in Vegas. Don't get me wrong, it's been a good time, but I am READY to come home. Absolutely. I've had the pleasure of "walking the strip" and being brainwashed by all the Sony folks here (not a bad thing, but I certainly do feel 'brainwashed'.) We got our new laptops yesterday, though this is the first time I've actually had a chance to get online with it, since the hotel wants to charge $11 for wifi in the rooms... I waited until the PC clinic today, and set up shop outside the conference room. Don't know when I'll be kicked off, but hopefully this will post before I do.

The new laptops are pretty sweet--bigger, but not huge, lighter, brighter, and much FASTER! This thing is about twice as fast as our old, crappy Fujitsus (may it rest in peace...), with a gig of ram, and a 6-8 hour battery life (more than enough for a day in the field!) People are already complaining, though, because it doesn't have a touch screen (the old ones did, though I never used it) and doesn't "auto-sleep" when the cover is closed (I'm sure I can change that setting).
Whatever, though! I'm thrilled! I like it a lot! So I'm happy.

It's been an up-and-down week for me... I was doing alright, until I was in line for the bathroom Tuesday (for the up-tenth time) and there was another preggers gal in front of me (she's due 3 days after me), and all the other gals in front of me were like, "Oh, honey, you've got priority here, you go ahead!" and let her cut all 6 or 7 of them. I just stood there like, "Hello?!" I guess it's just not very obvious with me (I think I carry more like a long watermelon, growing up more than out whereas she's a tiny thing, so she's packin' a cantelope under her shirt) so no one paid me any heed.... :-( Oh well. My district knew already, so they've been treating me well (not that I want special treatment--I just don't want anyone else to have it!)

And I think I'll stop there... Don't want to press my luck. I'll be home Friday evening, so hopefully I'll have more to post then. Have a great rest of the week!

Doomed to stretch marks...

Well, so much for that! The Palmers Tummy Butter that I was so excited about is about as helpful to me as poison ivy. Yes, that's right, I broke out in an itchy, annoying rash all over my belly.... Guess that whole, "Your skin may be more sensitive during pregnancy, " bit is entirely true. :( What a way to end a 'great' week.

So it's back to regular old Aveeno. I guess I won't worry about the "stretch mark do's and don't's", which include, 'If your stomach is itchy, DON'T SCRATCH IT! This will only help stretch out the skin more, and make stretch marks more noticible. ' I've resounded myself to the fact that I will have stretch marks, and will probably always have stretch marks, as this is not going to be the only child we have (God willing, of course). So gosh darnit, if my belly is itchy, I'm gonna scratch it! Jeremy's married a walking roadmap! He says he still loves me anyways. (Awww....)

We have scheduled an ultrasound, though! That's good. And bad. The bad is that because I'm out of town next week (in Vegas for work), I have to wait until the following monday to have it done. So no baby news (genderly speaking) until after 2 pm on Monday, August 21st. :( It'll fly by (of course, I'll literally be 'flying' by, spending almost 10 hours in airports and on planes. Booooo.... And of the freaking times for a stupid terrorist attack to be spoiled--right before I fly! Guess there's no reason to pack lightly, now... Gonna hafta check it anyways! Bring out the big suitcase!)

Okay. Time for work (last day! Yay!)

No news is good news...? :p

Just thought I'd let y'all know that we did NOT have a sonogram today, as we thought we would... :-( Turns out, they were supposed to refer me to a perinatologist or something for it, but my psycho doctor DIDN'T! So now we have to wait. I couldn't even call today to schedule the appt. because their system was down--gotta wait 'til the morning. :-p Jess is not happy. Jess is mighty pissed off, actually. I started crying in the car... Just frustrated. Of course, I'll cry about anything nowadays.

I've been kinda down the past few days... I wonder if there's such a thing as pre-partum (or would it be just "partum") depression... Seems like I'm carrying a burden (and I'm not talking about the baby--that's pure joy there) that I just can't shake. Felt like God was lifting that off of me today... Left for work early this morning, and it was absolutely GORGEOUS! I'm talking 'paradise' perfect! It was only mid-70's, sun was shining... Beautiful. Then I got to my first store (ironically, the same Target I ranted about in June... big surprise...) and everything was downhill from there. My 2nd and 4th stores were okay, but in general, it was a blah day.

I got to the Doc's around 2:15, Jeremy arrived around 2:45, we got in there around 3:15, and found out NO SONO TODAY! The last hope I had for the day, though very anxious about it, was crushed. That's all it took for me. I just want to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow, hoping it's better than today, because right now, I have little desire to finish the day out. :-p I say again.

Oh and the psycho doctor was walking around the office while I was waiting (I was the only one in the waiting room, and still had a 45 min wait... Go fig.) First, he called me "sweetie" (which I hate... I'm not his 'sweetie'...) and then asked me how I was doing. I said fine, he then said, "Well, you're pregnant--somebody did that to you." Like it's a bad thing? And he's an OB\GYN? Why??? The thought of having him deliver my child is kinda scary... I mean, if he's the doc on call that weekend, that's who I get. Yay. Good times.

The whole birthing center idea sounds more and more attractive. I guess we should go start looking into them...

:`( <~ That about sums the rest up.

Oops.. I schtoooopid...

Okay, I admit it, I'm a retard... I'm sitting here, complaining that no one really reads my blog only to find out that people do, AND have been leaving comments---that I just found. Y'see, at one point I kept getting spamming comments, and only spamming comments. So I turned on "comment moderation", thinking I'd get an option to approve comments as they came through. Well, I DO have that option, I just didn't know where to find it. I found it now, and feel really stupid not noticing it sooner.

So to everyone who's posted comments to the blog (Ted, Paige, Jeremy, etc) THANK YOU FOR READING!! It's nice to be heard. I'll try not to be an idiot from now on. (I wuv you guys!)

Changing gears a bit, Jeremy Jr (or Jess Jr) has certainly been more active as of late. We're at that stage (almost 19 weeks) where not only can I fell 'em moving, but if you're patient enough (which Jeremy hasn't had a chance to be yet), you can fell 'em kicking with your hand... SO COOL! Usually, we'll be laying in bed, and I'll start pokin' my belly to motivate some action, and it's just so neat! Jeremy's always a little to late, or a little to tired to get to feel it, but I'm sure he will soon. :-) Only 3 more days 'til next appt! Hopefully we'll get to see if our little one is a he or a she. Will let ya know when we do!

:-(

I get the distinct impression that no one reads our blog... Well, no one that I'd like to be reading it (except maybe Paige... I think she tries to read it often... Thanks, Paige!) I guess I'd rather have no one than a bunch of stupid strangers who would feel inclined to leave their "anonymous" comments, because they lack the courage to reveal themselves... I don't even think Jeremy reads this unless I tell him to.

On a more happy note, did you notice the new ticker at the top of the page here?? (Well, that would require "you" to actually exist, now wouldn't it?) I think it's cool. Now I can tell everyday what's going on with little Jeremy Jr (or Jess Jr.. we find out wednesday!) Very neat stuff.

I bought some Palmers Tummy Butter yesterday (and the cutest onesie!) to fight the stretch marks trying to fight their way onto my belly. It's REALLY thick... like... ummm... like shortening! That's actually the texture of it. It's harder than butter at room temp, and I would say it even goes on like shortening (if you were to rub shortening on your belly, that is...) If nothing else, it smells really yummy... Like cocoa butter. Mmmmm... cocoa butter.... Anywhoo, hopefully it helps... Not that I'm anxious to save my "bikini worthy" belly for next summer or anything... But stretch marks are like the annoying cousin who is at every family gathering--you really wish they wouldn't show up, but they inevitably do, and always get center stage. If I were the bikini wearing type, that'd be the first thing people would see... Oh well. Thankfully, I'm not that type, but still..... who wants red/white/silver scar like lines all over their stomach!

I love being pregnant. :-)

After nearly 20 years, Joker lives...

It's been officially announced that one of our favorite gay cowboys will be playing the infamous oldest villain in comic book history, The Joker (behind Lex Luther, of course, but Lex was never as badass as the Joker... sorry, Lex...) Heath Ledger is taking the role of the psychotic madman in the newest installment of the Batman series, The Dark Knight.

Did I mention that I LOVE the Dark Knight series of Batman? Never really got into the Detective Comics (where we first meet Batman and his foes), but man... the Dark Knight series is just so harsh and edgy and... well... freaky! This Joker is not the Joker you came to know and love back when Old Jack took up the role in the late 80's... Nah, this one is much more... disturbed? Maniacal? Evil? Messed up?! All of the above? Well, you get the idea.

I'm a bit concerned for ole Heathy, though... He's gotta pull this off the right way, or people will be comparing him to Jack Nicholson, and you really don't wan that--cause "Jack" was the man back the day! However, I think Ledger is different enough to be able to put that wacko, neurotic twist on the Joker that will allow both versions of the character to exist peacefully. Heck, the movie will probably already be better simply because we'll be sans Vicky Vale and all her yellin'. Oh, and for a double whammy... little chance Tom Cruise will let his kitty Katie out to place for the sequel, too. I could be wrong, but as of right now, she's not signed on. That's a good thing. **keep them fingers crossed** [[I think we should make a new rule in Hollywood--neither Tom Cruise, nor Katie Holmes may be cast in another movie until Suri shows up. Until she does, I'm saying,"FAKED!"]]

"Stress Marks"

Today I woke to find a new series of stretch marks appearing around my abdomen... I'm confused by this, simply because the places they're showing up don't make much sense in my mind--at least not yet. So unless a bigger belly intends to "pop" out in the next few days, my skin is getting ready for nothing... I've been good, really I have! If you ask Mr Bathroom Scale, he'll tell ya I've only put on a few (as in single digits) pounds onto my pre-preg weight. And actually, depending on what day it is, I haven't always gained anything... it's just kinda shifted. I guess it's obvious now where that shifting is taking place...

Jeremy came home from a meeting this morning and found a lost cat in our neighborhood. Being the good samaritan that he is, he caught it, and hid it in our 2nd bathroom with food, water and a litter box. Big Fella was NOT happy. Thankfully, we only had to deal with the extra beast for the work day, as his "Mommy" (who lives about a half a mile down the road...) came and picked him up after work. Praise God! I thought for sure we were gonna end up with not just ONE spawn of Satan, but TWO! Maybe we could just find someone to come pick up Big Fella now, my week would be complete....

Did I mention I dislike these new stretch marks? Don't get me wrong, I definitely didn't have the smooth, sexy belly before, but come on! I don't need a road map to Canada... that's what Google Maps is for. OH well. Like all things, I blame them on the cat... Hence the "stress marks". See? It all comes full circle.

Interesting Article...

Came across this article while perusing a friend's blogsite, friend's blog (friend of a friend). I won't say much about it, other than I find it very interesting how this has become the perception of non-Christians (and even Christians) of other Christians. I wonder if I fall into the group their discussing (I don't think so, but I know I could be better... couldn't we all, though?).

Anyways, I won't say more on it for now. Would like to hear what you all have to say. :-)

Baby Registry Information!

Hi everybody.

As most of you know by now (as dedicated readers of our blog, that is...) Jeremy and I are expecting a new addition to our family in Dec/Jan this year. Yay! It's very exciting (17 weeks down, 23 or so more to go!) So! We've had quite a few people ask us if we're registered anywhere, and what we need. I figured this would be the best place to include that info (especially since not too long ago, we had our wedding registry listed here, too) So here it be. Don't forget to drop us a line sometime, whether by phone or email! We haven't heard from many folks in a while.

Take care!
J2

Amazon Registry

You can search for us by typing in either of our names--I think we're the only Wilcox's on there, but just in case, we're in Oak Hill, VA!

Babies R Us

Registry # 58666391 or search by our names (if using Jeremy's, click on "search by co-registrant" if nothing comes up)

Target Registry
We do not yet know if it's a boy or a girl (hopefully we will by Aug 9th!), but will dress a girl in some blues, if you find something that is just too cute in blue. Also, we've got plenty of clothes/onesies for 0-3 mos, and a few for 3-6, however, we still need an infant coat (we're delivering in winter, after all!) and clothes for the older months, so keep that in mind. :-)

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!! I guess I can share now that we're having a boy, so blue away! :-)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

UPDATE 12/28/2007:
Chances are if you're reading this, you're either very nostalgic, curious, or nosy. :-) Whatever it may be, congratulations! You've figured out our little secret! Yes, we are preggers again--Jemiah's gonna be a big brother! Our due date is Sept. 1st, 2008. We have updated our registry information to reflect that, and yes, they are current, as far as what we're figuring we'll need to get this time around. :) We're not asking, but if you're feeling so inclined, we will thank you profusely! So thank you ahead of time! And keep an eye out for a 'major announcement' on the blog, coming soon.

Yikes!

Wow. What an interesting past couple of days!

My laptop for work is officially on its way back to Sony HQ, to be swapped out, so I can get back in business. Right now, doing manual calls kinda stinks... It's just more work, and less thorough work, even though it takes less time for most of it. That, and I'm not used to it, so I'm constantly forgetting to have folks sign my sheet, and have to go back in the store to get it!

I'm tired.

I'm still waiting for this whole "burst of energy" to show up in the second trimester. At 4 months preggers, all I want to do is N-A-P! I got home today at a little after 5, and just been chilling ever since... At some point, I need to get up and make dinner... But I too tired... Oi.. If only Jeremy could cook. And we're sick of take out. So... I'll give myself a few more minutes, and then I guess I will get up. Blaaaah.

I parked in the preggers spot today at Kinkos. It's a busy shopping center, and there were no good spots within a reasonable distance of the store, so I said, "Ah, the heck with it..." and parked there. I felt kinda guilty, even though I AM pregnant. I guess I just think that because I'm not further along (or showing a lot), I don't deserve it yet. But it was a nice break.

Okay. Just thought I'd throw that down for all two of you who read this. :-) maybe someday, someone else will read my blog besides my husband and one friend.

OH! And one more thing--this is where the yikes comes in... I just found out that a really good friend of mine IS ALSO PREGGERS!!! They just found out yesterday morning--I think we were the first people they told! I feel so special. :-) They're awesome people! I'm super happy for them (of course, she's kinda stealin' my thunder a bit... I mean, hello! I was pregnant first, wait ur turn! ;-) Just kidding. I'm excited to have someone to hang out with who's also preggers. She'll be about 6 months by the time we deliver Jeremy Jr, so maybe she can come and hang out and help, get used to the whole baby thing (I've seen her handle babies before... she needs a lesson or two. ;-) love her, but yeah, definitely could use some more exposure! And by the time she delivers in April, she'll be a pro! If she's nice, maybe I'll let her even change a really nasty dirty diaper. Hee hee)

Just wanted to share. yay!

Getting better...

Hullo.

So, this week turned out much better than when it started! My wonderful friends, and their wonderful friends came to my rescue Thursday night, and the place has never looked so good! Of course, it didn't last that long... I mean, it still looks great, but things got moved around a bit since a couple of those wonderful friends gave us a very nice entertainment center to hide all of our video game junk! Ah, it's very nice indeed (and from what I heard from them, kinda pricey, too...) So we've been very blessed this week! God is so good! And to everyone that helped out--THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Right now, we're kinda just taking it easy. Jeremy's playing XBox games on his brand spanking new XB 360 (our other one died... but we were smart, and bought the warranty... When it comes to expensive electronics, always buy the warranty! $40 is much better than $400). We picked up a couple of used games, cheap, and that's all he's been doing since we got home at 8 pm last night. I don't even know when he came to bed, I was asleep by the time he showed up. Oh well. What're ya gonna do...

24 weeks to go, on the baby front. I'm anxious.... I have a hard time being patient. But I think I'm doing alright, considering... Even though I wouldn't mind being home right now, work does help the time go by so much better. So that's a good thing. I can't believe July is almost over already. That's crazy. It was just the 4th, like, yesterday! Well... not quite, but you know what I mean.

Next Dr's appt is Aug 9. I'm hoping it's sonogram time again. Even though I wouldn't mind waiting until the birthday to find out if we've got a Jeremy Jr or a Jess Jr on the way, I'm kinda excited about finding out. Place your votes now! I'm guessing girl... Jeremy's guessing boy... But we'll be happy either way (one of us is right, after all!)

Okie dokie, I think we need to go pick up Stephin now... He's bored and wants to come over. I think he felt bad about leaving during the week last week, and so now he says he wants to help me work (he pulls my bag around, which is very nice, 'cause that thing gets HEAVY!) At least the house looks a little better. Once we get all the dvds and games unloaded, we'll have so much more room, and so many fewer boxes lying around. Ah, that'll be nice.

Byeeeee!

Chaaaaaa-oooooooossssss!

What a week--and it's only Tuesday!

It hasn't been a bad week, just busy, it seems, and non-stop. I normally thrive in non-stop, but the Jeremy Jr in me is forcing me to slooooow it dooooooowwwwwnnnnn.... Which makes coming home so discouraging. Normally, I'm happy to come home. But it's a disaster right now. And I just can't live like this anymore! But I have little energy to do much about it. Jeremy gets motivated to do stuff, but is easily distracted by "other" things, as in ANY other things that need to be done. So even though we had planned to have a productive weekend, we didn't. We got the couches set up, and the TV where it will stay, and, of course, Jeremy set up the computer (that was a bright, shiny #1 on his list! Well, at least he only has one #1-everything on my list is #1, so nothing gets started and nothing gets done...) Now, if we could just uncover my dining room table (or what we're using as such for now) without just moving stuff to another spot in the house, I'd be able to breathe easier!

Stephin-bunny came over Sunday and spent the night (another reason nothing gets done--Jeremy loves to hang out with "his buddy", so unless it was a video game, it was not conquered...) He then stayed home while Jeremy and I went to work, and played video games all.... day..... long..... If only everyone could have summer vacation....

Jeremy left for Boston today, and won't be back 'til Thursday night... :-( Makes things really quiet here... Just me and Big Fella... and a crockpot overflowing with chili (my first time making it in a crock pot... I made a chili base with the meat, spices and beer, cooked all that, and poured it over a huge mound of veggies and tomatoes... we'll see!) For the first time, I think my crock pot is too small. It's not tiny or anything, but I went in the kitchen and there was a puddle of chili juice on the floor... I was not happy, not because of the mess, but because all that good, yummy, chili flavor was going to waste. So I mopped it up with a towel, and squeezed it back into the crock pot..... ;-) Nah, I didn't do that. Now I've got the whole thing wrapped up, incase anything else should spill. I hope it doesn't do that all night.

Stephin went with me to work today. He lugged around my heavy bag, and did all the running back to the car for me. It was very nice--they should let us have full time assistants all the time! Maybe next week he can come back and do it again. I think he's pretty proud of his big sister--I know more about PS3 than most of the store associates I encounter! That makes me "pretty gangster", as Stephin would say.

We're 16 weeks today! Only 169 more days to go! I've definitely been feeling the baby move around this past week. It's very exciting. Every now and then, I'll feel a definitive kick, and all I can do is smile... I think I need to back off on the baby clothes buying, though. I only buy stuff on clearance, and gosh darnit, I've already got, I think 15 onesies, 6 gowns, and a couple of pairs of pants, all in Newborn size. And I'm starting to build up the 3-6 month collection now. Really, all I still want to buy for Newborn is a couple of nice little outfits, especially a coming home outfit. But, I may wait until we know if he's a he or a she. So if you're thinking about getting us anything for our little guy/gal to be, think 3 months and up! Unless it's not clothing related. Then go to town! :-)

Okay, gotta check on the chili. Have a splendid week!

Can you hear me now? No? That means you're old!

I'm sure you've heard by now about this "Teen Buzz" or "Mosquito Ringtone" thing that's going around. If not, I will explain...

Basically, a while back, a British company called Compound Security developed a "sound" that could be played to dismantle groups of teenagers when they gathered where they didn't belong (i.e. anywhere!) Well, some smarty pants teen decided to put it to a teen's use, and recorded it as his ringtone. Many teens across the country have done the same, enabling them to receive text messages and calls while in classes, without the knowledge of their teacher.

I was curious, so I found a site online that has the tone available for download. Click here* for an MP3 version, which most folks can hear (lower quality audio makes for better listening). If you want to hear what you're NOT hearing, click here** for the .wav file. And for the record, I couldn't hear the .wav one... Guess I am old after all! Ha! Of course, the reports all seem to think that 20 is the cut off age for it. I plan on trying this out on my brothers the next time their over... I'll just keep playing it until they go nuts and beg me to SHUT IT OFF!!!!

What? I don't hear anything.... ;-)


*Thanks to the NY Times for providing this sample!
**Thanks to jetcityorange.com for providing this sample!

How 'bout this for depressing!

While perusing through the Baby Center website checking to see what's going on this week in development, I noticed they had a "Cost to raise a child estimate calculator". What the heck, so I plugged in the info (according to this site, VA is the "South"... Can't we just call the the East??) and omigosh, I don't think Jeremy's gonna wanna see this. I know what he'll say the when he does, "And you want to have 5 of these?!?! 'Jeremy Jr' alone is gonna put us in the poor house!" Here's the breakdown of the est. costs.

Expense Annual Cost (based on ages 0-18)
Housing $9201
Food 3711
Transportation 3478
Clothing 1551
Healthcare 1567
Education 3122 (this I think is high, because it would also include childcare, which we probably won't use...)
Misc 3138
College (18-22) 47623 (public)

Total amount needed to raise a child:
654,316

Yup, I still want 5!

On a lighter note, I've been trying to determine if our little guy is moving around yet, and I think that maybe, just maybe, I can feel him now. I first thought I felt something when we were watching fireworks in FL, but I don't know if it was or not. Then I thought I felt a couple of kicks while we were at small group Wednesday... Could have been! But now, just laying here, yeah, I think he's active. I don't know, could just be gas, I suppose. :-)

Okay, time to get ready for work. My first store doesn't open 'til 10, so I figured I had time to chill (the one morning I get up early, I don't have to. Grrr...)

Grumble grumble...

Why???? I really don't get this... I just don't understand why every single baby bedding theme has to be PASTELS!!! I mean, seriously, they must think that putting pastel everything in a nursery will somehow bore the baby to sleep! It sure is boring to me. And what's the point, really! It's just for ourselves that we do this--babies don't see those pale hued colors until their older. I doubt any of 'em will someday say, "I am who I am because I had a pastel froggy layette set when I was born..." Not that I expect my kids to be different because I want to have more primary colors, at least colors that they can kinda see!, in their room. But going to buy that is a completely different story! Forget Babies R Us... forget Buy Buy Baby. I haven't ventured any further than that, incase I find something I really like, only to realize it's $800 (umm... hello?! They're just sheets!)

Okay, I done now. Time for sleepy time. :-) Goodnight!

Sunny FL!

Hello!

I thought I'd take a quick moment before I head back to work for the first time since the beginning of June (the back thing, remember?) and give ya a brief rundown of our trip to visit Todd and Paige.

We'll sum it up as fun, adventurous, tiring, pain inducing, and somewhat relaxing all at the same time! It was really great to see T&P, as it's been a while. And they've got a cute place right now--if you were familiar with their old place here in VA, they've got much more room, with a nice big kitchen (it's very nice!) So even though it's in FL, they're doing well.

We flew in on Sunday morning (those flights seemed to take forever!), met up with them, checked out their place, and then grabbed a bite to eat at a yummy Chinese Buffet (Chinese food is my thing right now, but I think I'm starting to get over that...) As it was getting later, and we had to get on the road again, we headed to Ft. Walton for a few days of fun in the sun (and on the boat!)

Spent some time along the way stopping to check out the sites--some little shops along the Gulf, a fruit stand where we got some yummy "Pluots" (an apricot-plum hybrid... really good!), before finally making it to Todd's parents' house. What a long day! After dinner that night, we fished for dinner for our prey for the next day off the dock behind the house. It was fun at first, but then they stopped biting, and it just got frustrating. Oh well. Luckily, plenty had found their way into the trap, so we were okay.

Monday was an early morning (early if you really could have used a sleep in day!) We were on the boat probably by 9, and bumped our way out to sea. Lemme tell ya, boat rides are only smooth if you're NOT going fast! Oi... by the end of the day, our butts were so sore that sitting without a cushion was just plain painful! As my brothers would say, though, "It's all part of the experience!"

Jeremy had better luck fishing than I did. The biggest thing I caught was more bait to use on the bigger fish. At least Jeremy caught a few bigger fish (like 18-20 inches), though they were still too small to keep. But at one point, he hooked what must have been a shark, because he and Todd fought that thing for at least 30 min, and it dragged us (well, we chased it, I guess) for over half a mile, before Todd lost it (way to go, Todd!) Oh well... I guess it was impressive it lastest as long as it did, considering the rod he was using wasn't designed to hold something so large!

Paige was the only one of us who suceeded in getting us some dinner--she caught a 25 lb cobia (I guess that's what it was). It was yummy, too. Just a white fish, nothing fancy, not to heavy. It was nice. So she won the prize as fisher of the day! Yay Paige!

Tuesday (the 4th) was far more relaxing. We went out to "Crab Island" (which isn't even an island, it's just a low bay area where a bunch of boats hang out, and you can walk around in the water) to just chill. The water was so warm, it was almost not worth it, until you got out and the air was cold on your skin.

Later that day, we went out again to catch some fireworks. That was fun--got to watch the fireworks in Ft Walton, and Destin, by just moving the boat a mile or so. It was pretty cool, and very relaxing.

Wednesday we had to leave. After leaving at 8 to drive back to Tallahassee, we go to the airport at 12:30, only to find out our flight was delayed (supposed to leave at 1) 'til at least 2:00. Boooo. They ended up re-routing us through Atlanta, and then our flight from there was delayed. To make it even better, once we were on the plane, we had to sit on the tarmac for an hour and a half. Crazy. So we arrived back in DC at 8:30 (instead of 5), tired, beat, and ready for bed.

What a trip, eh? It was fun, but it's good to be home again. Now it's back to work! I hope I can remember what I'm supposed to do! :-)

Oh, and we've got another pre-natal visit this afternoon--don't know if they'll do anything besides tell me (hopefully) "Everything's good, see you in a month!". I'll let ya know if they do. :-) Happy Monday!

Good Morning! (Muahaha... the wireless pirate strikes again!)

It's Saturday! Of course, it's been "saturday" for me everyday for almost a month now. But this time, it's my last "Saturday" until next "Saturday", at which time it will be "Saturday" once again. :-)

Jeremy's gone out to fetch us some breakfast--bagel sandwiches. At some point, we need to go grocery shopping, but for now, I'll take the take-out (it beats McDonald's, after all).

Today looks like it's going to be a fairly nice day. The sky is blue, with a few spots of clouds here and there. There's a nice warm breeze coming in off the balcony (the door is open right now so that Big Fella can go in and out of the house--I think he thinks he's back in the "wild", or what he thinks the wild is, when he's out side. That much be how male cats define their "manliness"; "Look at me, I can stay outside of the house for all of 5 minutes! Isn't that "manly"?" Anyways...)

Oh, Jeremy's back. Time to eat. Will write more later (I know, I know, gotta mention the Fl trip, still. We also have a funny store to tell about some Cape Cod Potato chips. But as I said, more on that later!)

Have a great Saturday!

The Litterbox Dilema

While shopping on Amazon for a "privacy tent" for Big Fella's litter box, I came upon this review. For you cat lovers, look away. You will not like it. But I think this guys says it all, as far as how I feel about the whole thing!

Decent product, some flaws, April 22, 2006
Reviewer:
The Phantom Paddler "ChildBeat" (PaddleTown) - See all my reviews

Our cat Woogums, who had sustained a pellet wound to the rear flank (neighborhood sources claim that he was 'pinged in the ass'), was unable to remain in the cat privacy tent due to what we believed was claustrophobic paranoia as a result of acute traumatic stress disorder.

Our cats, unfortunately, were shot at by local anti-feline vigilantes acting against the common and widespread practice of cats being let out by their human servants to roam the neighborhood so they can maim and kill smaller animals, urinate on and leave their kitty footprints all over freshly washed automobiles and generally make malicious pests of themselves. We learned from the experience and no longer allowed our cats outdoors, as our practice of feeding them expensive foods in crystal goblets make their hunting instincts unnecessary and an annoyance to those who are not fond of cats.

We decided to return the expensive litter box and 'cat privacy tent' and have Woogums euthanized by a local farmer with a cheap pellet gun who had offered his services when we first acquired Woogums. We were pleased that he did not charge for the euthanasia.

As we discovered later, the farmer was a poor shot and only managed to despatch Woogums after one hundred and sixteen shots (most of which appeared randomly placed over Woogums' body, but we were assured that no pellets missed the cat entirely), the killing shot having been administered down and into the left ear.

We are grieving poor Woogums' demise now, but we feel it is important to inform other purchasers of this product that it is poorly made and extremely overpriced. It is much cheaper and infinitely wiser to simply have the cat euthanized by a skilled practitioner, thus obviating the need for further expenditures upon it.

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Bring me your tired, your weary, your weak....

Today, patience is, indeed, a virture.

I say this mostly because I'm working with a "borrowed" internet connection that I'm guessing belongs to one of our neighbors. And right now, it says I have no signal. Yet, I've been able to check my email, and log into Blogger so I can write this for you people. :-) Hopefully, it will keep up a little while longer.

So much has gone on since I've written last, I don't know where to start! I guess we'll go through it chronologically. Last week was "the big move". We spent all day Wednesday loading up the truck (well, James and Stephin and Jeremy did--I stayed inside and packed the remaining items we had waiting to pack). The goal was to be done packing by 4 pm so that we could get the keys to our new place and be ready to start unpacking before it was too late. Well, we ran out of room on the truck by 5, so we decided that was a good time to leave. Jeremy's co-worker, Michael, was awesome enough to skip small group to help us out (by this hour, we were all exhausted, and needed some fresh blood to take the edge off of things).

We got to the new place here in Tyson's Corner, got our keys, and found out that the rugs had just been washed earlier that day, so we wouldn't be able to move anything in... >:-( After much "hanging around" trying to decide what to do, my Dad, and friends Laurence and Katharine, showed up to help, and we were able to unload about half the truck. One of the things we couldn't yet unpack, though, was our bed. So then came the, "Hmm... where are we gonna sleep tonight?" Laurence and Katharine to the rescue! They have a two bedroom apt not far from us, in Falls Church, that just happens to have a guest room with a nice, comfy bed. Oh, and did I mention they also have a bathroom, with a nice, hot, soothing shower???? Yum yum yum! They're so awesome! So that's what we did, after a nasty dinner at On the Border (never again!) and one more trip to the house to get what we could loaded up again (and filled to the brim, again!) What a day. I think we ended up going to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning? Yikes!

The next day, Thursday, was my birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! I had to get up before 7 so I could take Jeremy to work to make cold calls at 7:30 (good times, good times). That was good, though, because it gave me a chance to go to Giant and get some snacks for all the fine folks who were showing up to help that day. I was even able to hit the local bagel shop (not NY bagels, but still pretty good!) to get some bagels for 'em, so we had quite the little feast ready for everyone.

My family showed up a few min passed 9 with homemade pierogis for me (which has been my breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week, since Jeremy's been outta town), and we began unloading the truck. Shortly after, Katharine, and Jay's roommate Nate also showed up to help. Lemme tell you, unloading goes sooo much faster than loading! We were done within' the hour, I think. So we ordered chinese food for lunch, while furniture got moved into place, and most of the kitchen unpacked. Then we just pretty much chilled the rest of the afternoon. The Boyz found the XBOX (of course) and spent their time trying to crash into each other with Need for Speed. Later, we met up with Jaime and got some dinner at Brio (some schwanky italian place in Tyson's) and so on and so forth. Busy Days!

That was our move in a nutshell (a very large nutshell, huh?) I think that's enough for now. Will tell ya about our FL trip in the next post!

Week 13!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, kicks off week 13 of our pregnancy, and I'm excited! I know, it doesn't take much, huh? I'm excited because I remember not too long ago, we were at 9 weeks, and looking forward to this week, because now Jeremy Jr is...

"about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably."

So, of course, I'm like, "WOW! Time's flying by!" And then I look at the calendar and see that December/Jan is still very much a ways away, but that's okay. We've made it through another month, and slowly but surely, our baby is making himself/herself and will be here in no time (or at least I hope so!)

Right now, I'm taking curtains down from our old apt, and waiting for the Chinese delivery to get here. I had Chinese for lunch, too, but my choices were limited to that or pizza. We're gonna be having pizza all day wednesday and thursday, probably, so I said, "What the heck!" and ordered sweet n sour chicken combination plate, fried dumplings, wonton soup, and I think I ordered crab rangoon, too... Not sure. I figure I've got one week left before we hit Trimester #2, and I've only gained maybe 2 lbs so far, which means LAST CHANCE TO EAT JUNK! Next week starts a healthier Wilcox clan. :-)

Jeremy's playing poker with the guys right now. The gals and I went out earlier for lunch, and then to Kris' for tea. So I couldn't give Jeremy too much of a guilt trip for leaving right after he got home from work--I got a quick hug and a kiss and that's it. He'd better win something! (And then use that money to buy something for me!)

Alright, back to work. :-)

Just chillin'.

We are just taking it easy this weekend. Our apartment is in a state of disrepair at the moment. We had the boys and my Mom over this week to pack our stuff (at $5 a box, they made quite a bit of pocket change). So we're nearly completely packed, just need to do a few more things around the house, and the bedroom (our clothes and such).

We're picking up the truck on Wednesday morning to be loaded up that evening. Originally, we were trying to have movers come and do it all, but they wanted a lot of money, and weren't willing to be flexible with us (we're in a high rise right now, so we need to reserve the elevator, which was completely booked up on Thursday and Friday morning... oi vey), so screw it, we'll do it ourselves. Pray everything goes well!

Thursday is also my birthday, and like many other birthdays I've had in recent years, it will be filled with non-fun things to do, but that's okay. The goal is to be done loading up the truck by 1 or 2, and then chilling the rest of the day.

Jeremy and I are flying to Tallahassee next Sunday to visit good ole Todd & Paige. Hopefully they have some nice weather, and I don't get grossed out by swimming in something other than a cement-bottom pond. :-) I don't like the feeling of mud squishing between my toes when I'm walking around. Too many creepy crawlers. Will hafta get some of those water shoes at Walmart for like $5.

We got some sun this weekend. Jeremy's a lobster. :-) Let's hope that gets better soon.

This is short and sweet.

I just wanted to prove I could post a short post.

So there. :-P

Hee hee.

One week to go!

Yay! In a little over a week, we'll be settling in our new home in Tyson's Corner. Good--I'm getting sick of this place. Since hurting my back (which is feeling much better, btw) I haven't done a whole lot to keep this place tidy, so it's really bugging me. The Boyz (James n' Stephin) are coming over today to pack us all up--they're determined to do it all before tomorrow so my Mom doesn't come and start earning money they could have been making! :-) We'll see...

Jeremy's busy busy busy this week. So busy, he forgot to say bye to me this morning... :-( He just walked out the door on his cell phone, locked up and went on his way.

Oh, but then he came back in and I thought to myself, "Awww... he came back to say goodbye!".

Nope.

He came back to ask if we had an umbrella. And then left again. >:-( Oh well. Se la vie...

So I'm still home this week, until at least Thursday when I see an Orthapedic Surgeon. We'll see what he says about me going back to work then.

I'm a little irked with my OB, though. I've been calling them for a week trying to get them to give me a Dr's note for my boss, and they haven't yet. Either they don't call me back, or the Dr's not in, or the office is closed (they told me to call back Monday, but they were closed? Grrrr!) so on and so forth. I'm surprised I haven't been fired yet (it would have been their fault!) My boss is a good guy, but sheesh... Gotta give him something!

I'm starting to think that next time we get preggers, I'm gonna hire a midwife and do a home delivery--takes all the hassle outta dr's, and long office waits, and stupid hospitals that strap you up with all sorts of monitors and such... We'll see. That just means I'll hafta find a good general practitioner for those other moments. I didn't really care for the old GP that Jeremy had, but y'know what? If I had a problem, they could see me that day! Not, NEXT WEEK!

Okay, I'm done. Byeeee!

Rant!

Today's rant includes random people at stores telling you what to do, bogus uses ofKatrina/Rita relief debit cards, and a small Philly cheese steak house that's causing uber controversy.

First, the random person. Yesterday, I was working at a Target at 10 in the morning. I had finished what I was there to do, paid for a few items I needed to purchase (binders, father's day card, etc), and proceededto the Guest Service desk to sign myself out. I had all my stuff in my cart, my pullbag for work in the cart itself, my purse and purchase in the seat.

I parked my cart right behind me, so as to not get in the way of others there (though the only ones there at the time were two Target associates behind GS, two in the photo lab [in front of which my cart was parked], and one wandering employee waiting for me to walk to the counter and back to say something.)

I do my thing, sign out, start to walk back to the cart, and the wandering employee says to me, "You know, you shouldn't leave your purse like that, stupid!" (she didn't say stupid, but the way she spoke, she might as well have!)

Stunned and a bit annoyed, I simply responded with, "I was right there..." kinda nonchanantly, hoping that would pacify her. She quipped back, "Doesn't matter," while shaking her head.

For those of you who know me understand that I don't like being told what to do, especially by some stranger in a Target. I probably would have had more patience for her had she changed her tone from that of something condescending, to that of a gentle, caring scold, maybe a, "Oh honey, watch your purse, you wouldn't want something to happen to it."

However, since she didn't, I getting a bit irked by standing there. Feeling the blood rise to my head, I quickly said, "Okay, thank you!" as sweetly as I could manage, while still being a bit sarcastic, and quickly walked out.

I guess my annoyance with these types of folks stems from the fact that IT WAS NONE OF HER FREAKING BUSINESS! Go be someone else's mother, I've got one of my own already, thank you very much. I fear people like this when I have kids... Everyone's got an opinion of how things should be done, such as how to hold a bottle, how to burp, how to change a diaper, and I'll be darned if I'm gonna take advice from some random stranger in a Target, or Wal-Mart or wherever! Unless someone is in danger, like the kid is leaning kinda far outta the cart or something, and I didn't notice, LEAVE ME ALONE AND KEEP YOUR COMMENTS TO YOURSELF! (Keep in mind, I'm only referring to the random people I don't know, not those I do know who give their comments with love and care behind them.)

/rant#1

Rant #2

This article caught my eye as I was surfing this morning. FEMA funds spent on divorce, sex change. Apparently, federal investigators are estimating some $16 million, up to $1.4 billion wash spent on bogus stuff, like NFL season tickets, all-inclusive vacations, adult erotica, Dom Perignon champagne, etc.

What I don't understand is why there weren't restrictions placed on these cards, that would limit them to being used only for food, clothing, and housing needs (though those are being abused as well)?! I mean, when I won a Vendor of the Month contest while working at Tyson's Corner, I received an $800 AMEX card that only worked at restaurants--it worked in the food court, but not at the Smoothie King. I doubt it was terribly difficult for them to set that up. SO WHY ISN'T FEMA DOING IT WITH THESE AID CARDS?! I mean, last I heard, food stamps still only worked at certain places, and could only be used for certain items. Really, how difficult can this be??

I do understand, though, that FEMA wasn't quite as prepared as we all would have liked them to be for the disasters nearly a year ago, and they did the best they could, and there are honest people out there using their cards for the purposes intended, but c'mon... They sent 13 checks to one address because someone applied for aid using 13 different ssn's. And they sent checks to inmates IN PRISON!

Oh well... what can you do.

/rant#2

#3! Philadelphia "English-Only" Eatery faces probe

I'm behind this guy 100%. I believe this is simply another case of "Enough if enough!" Before ya harp on me, let me explain.

This guy, Joseph Vento, runs a cheesesteak place in Philly, and 6 mos ago put up a sign that says, "This is America--When ordering, speak English." Now, I agree the wording may sound a bit harsh, but I understand his frustrations.

When I worked in retail, it was difficult and frustrating not only for me, but for the customers themselves who came in and couldn't speak english. I couldn't figure out what they were looking for, how to help them find it, couldn't sell them anything extra, like warranties, or controllers, etc. And it was frustrating for them, because they couldn't communicate to me what it is they were looking for, so they usually left empty handed.

Occasionly, there'd be another customer in the store who would help translate, or sometimes I'd be lucky enough to have someone on staff who could help them. But it is kinda difficult to operate business when you have a language barrier like that.

That being said, when you sell only one thing, like Cheesesteaks, I can see how you could use that to encourage people who have difficulting speaking english a chance to practice or learn something helpful to them. And it's not like they're discriminating against those who can't speak it! They work with the customer, and help them order, and then give them their food--no one was turned away, or refused business. No one was discriminated against.

I like Vento's quote in the article--he nails it on the head when he says, "If you don't speak English, the sign means nothing." EXACTLY! It's not like they can understand it anyways! And when they get up to order, they're walked through the ordering process in English, and then move on! Not that big of a deal!

It's amazing what people get bent outta shape over. I mean, seriously, find a fight worth fighting. If he were turning away non-english speaking customers, I could understand the outrage. But for this? Grow up people!

/RANT#3

January 3rd, 2007

The official due date of Baby Wilcox! Originally, we were thinking the 7th... Then the 5th, but I'll take the 3rd! And more than likely, it'll be December 20-something, since even the nurse understands Jeremy's desire to get the tax break. Maybe we'll take that extra portion of our refund and put in a college fund for the "kids". We'll see!

I went to the Dr's today, and got to hear the Baby's heartbeat for the first time (we kinda saw it/heard it when we had our sonogram, but I was busy watching the screen, I didn't really pay attention). The Dr was surprised, because you usually can't hear the heartbeat until 12 weeks, and we're about 10.5 right now. I guess we're just special. :-)

Right now, I really feel like this whole pregnancy thing is taking too long--I really want to be at the "showing" stage, so I can start parking in the "expectant mothers and mothers with newborns" spots at the mall (would get too many weird looks now). And of course, I'm looking forward to the "kicking" and "moving" that goes along with it. Currently, we're working on the whole moving thing, and getting a mover settled, and ordering boxes for packing. My Mom and brothers are gonna help us pack (for $5 a box), so hopefully I'll be able to leave for work one day, and come back to a packed apt! I really am trying to not do too much so I don't aggrevate my back (all my Dr said about it was take it easy and lay low--and try Tylenol--expect it to flare up again... sigh...) So! I'll be taking it easy. Painting day is on my b-day, the 29th, for which my Aunt and Cousin will be in town (maybe my Aunt and I can go out for a bit while the painting is going on [again, Mom and Bro's painting], since I'm supposed to stay away).

Craziness!

Taking a break...

I'm home today. Not because I necessarily want to be (well, who doesn't like to take a day off here and there?), but it's one last desperate attempt to fix something that doesn't seem to want to get better on its own--my back.

I don't know what I did to it, but obviously it wasn't very happy about it. By the end of the workday Tuesday and Wednesday, I was walking around hunched over like an old lady, just to give my back time to realign itself before I could stand up straight again. The only time it feels good is when I wake up in the morning, having laid flat on it all night. So I'm hoping that super long back laying will produce permanent results... We'll keep our fingers crossed. :-)

In other news, find a mover to deal with all our stuff is not as easy as making a phone call. I've heard so many horror stories about people and movers, I'm wary, but also know that good movers exist out there somewhere---for a price. Now, we did set aside a budgetted amount for the move, but looks like we're underestimated by half. Opps. So now it looks like we're gonna have to pack ourselves (one mover wanted $1200 just to pack), and just hire the movers to actually MOVE it from here to our new place 9 miles away. Blah. I don't know what we're going to do yet. We've got another guy coming to do a quote on Friday... Hopefully he's got more reasonable numbers.

On a more upbeat note, we've had a lovely couple of weekends this past two weeks. Between being poolside for three days Memorial Day weekend, and semi-poolside this past weekend (a little too cool for me to go in), it's been a very relaxing time. Got to watch a handful of youngsters get baptized in my parents pool, ate lots of great food, and just relaxed. Made it more difficult to go back to work on Monday, but hey, enjoy what ya can, right?

And finally, we're 10 weeks along now, in our little adventure we call "Jeremy Jr", and everything's going well. Everyone keeps asking us what names we've thought about, and honestly, I have a list, and then Jeremy's got "JeremyJr, boy or girl". At the baptism last weekend, Jeremy and I sat around with a crowd that started off with just my brother Jason, and came up with some wacky names that we could scar our child for life with. Some of the favorites were "Yo Wilcox" ("What's up, Yo?"), "Dogg Wilcox" (ditto), "Will Cox Wilcox" (yeaaaah....), curtesy of Lisa Jones, "Venis Agina Wilcox" (that's just cruel), "Master Wilcox" ("Master, go clean your room!"), "Lord Vader Wilcox" (really? that's a character in Star Wars? Never seen it!), of course, "Darth Wilcox", "Water Wilcox" (I don't know...), etc. Then we started thinking we could do like some towns are doing around the country, and get a company to sponsor the kids name for a set time, and then we'll change it again, like, "DirecTV Wilcox" (free Satelitte!), of course, they're halfway there with "Cox Wilcox", or "Sony Wilcox" (free PS3 baby!), "Nintendo Wilcox", "Microsoft XBOX Wilcox", maybe "Dell Wilcox" or "Apple Wilcox" (oh wait, Gwenyth Paltrow already took that one...), the possibilities are endless! If you have any good suggestions, please leave a comment and let us know! We've got a little time, Jan 7 is still 7 months away... Vote now! :-)

Nothing to report!

Hullo, all.

Well, this week is, amazingly, almost over. I guess it really didn't take much to begin, seeing as we had a holiday Monday, so work didn't start 'til Tuesday, and here we are at Thursday. Crazy. We had a nice, leisurely weekend. Spent it at the 'rents house, poolside mostly. In between swimming, Jeremy played video games with the boys, while my Mom and I cooked (beer simmered brats on the grill Sunday, smoked pork ribs on Monday!) It was nice to not do anything except relax, and occasionally, rotate the food on the grill. I don't think I got any sun, though. Had the sunscreen on all the time--don't feel like burning. Jeremy was more daring, going out unprotected, and then he'd turn red for the day, but now he's back to normal. With all the research being done on skin cancer nowadays, no longer to I desire to lounge in the sun just to "soak". Besides, I get enough color from my genes. :-) And driving around all day for work. At least one of my arms is nicely tanned.

Holy crap it's been hot! Every time I get in my car the past 3 days, it reads at least 90, and sometimes, 101, 102, 103, even 104! I'm normally not an AC person, but this week, I've made an exception! I wouldn't mind it cooling off a bit--don't get me wrong, I love the warm weather, but this is sick... with the humidity that sticks to you long after you've gone indoors... yuck!

That's alright, though... I'll be poolside again THIS weekend! Tomorrow night we're going to a "Jason-is-leaving-VA-and-moving-back-to-NYC-see-him- one-last-time-before-he-goes" Party at TGI Fridays in Sterling. It'll be nice to see him and the old gang (the guys I used to work with when I worked at EB Games in Dulles) again. Juan (John) Barbados... Barraldo (Barry).... yeah, it'll be a nice night. Only downside is that it doesn't start 'til 10 pm--I'm usually in bed by then. So Jeremy's gonna hafta drive, and we're sleeping in Saturday!

Saturday is party time at the parents house again, only this time, it's several baptism, and then lots of food. My Mom can't do things the simple, easy way, so you know there'll be lots of good food, and plenty of pool for everyone. Sounds relaxing.

On a sour note, I've 'bout had it with the cat... I was thinking about it last night, about when the baby's here and what that's going to be like... Well, I only see the cat getting in the way. If I were one of those "cat people" that didn't mind the cat being everywhere, and on everything, including the baby's crib, or stroller, then all would be well in the land of Jess. But I'm NOT one of those people. I'm one of those people that freak when I see him jump on the kitchen chair because he may jump again onto the table... or, jump on the couch, and walk along the back of it towards me, just to try to sneak on my lap while I'm busy uploading stores for work or something... Okay, the abomination MEOWS at the top of his lungs every time he hears me get up to pee in the middle of the night (which nowadays is at least 2x a night, usually 3). Yesterday, I was on a conference call for work, and he was trying to pull himself underneath the door to get in (there's about a 1.5 inch gap), crying like he was DYING the whole time! Jeremy just says, "Well, you should have just let him in." Yes, I could have, but then he'd be jumping on my bureau, or on the end tables (both no-no's), or attacking my foot under the blanket, or trying to get under the blanket, or lay on my legs and dig his long talons into my flesh, all while purring ("'cause he loooooooves me"). I don't know what to do... I'm at wits end. I'm not gonna be able to have my Mom come over and help with the baby because of the damn cat. I won't be able to have all my friends over to see the baby because of the damn cat. And gosh darnit, there's no way I'll be able to fall back asleep after getting up every few hours for feeding an diaper changes in the middle of the night, because of the damn cat (oh you KNOW he'll be meowing up a storm every time, thinking it's play time for him.... no no no...) So I don't know what to do. It's not like I can make him "disappear"... Jeremy would know I had something to do with it, and that would probably harm our marriage a bit... I've thought about taking him to meet the 'puppies' across the street at the dog park, but the damn cat is afraid to step a paw outside this house, let alone downstairs and across the street. Maybe we'll just take him for a long car drive... he freaks out in the car... he does this meow-panting thing... It's actually pretty funny... it's like, "Meoooooow-pant-pant-pant-pant-pant-MEOOOOOWWWWW-
pant-pant-pant-pant-pant-MEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!" Well, funny in a sick, twisted, hateful kinda way I guess. CAN YOU TELL I DON'T CARE VERY MUCH FOR THIS CREATURE?!?! CAN I BE ANY MORE CLEAR?!?!! Jeremy's still in denial. He says I just need to get over it and learn to control my temper.

...............




......................




.....................................

I'm in control. :-)

So what will the future hold for this Spawn of Satan, this 'Big Fella'?!?!?!?!?!?! Only time will tell (I certainly will! Jeremy's either going to 'let it go' and find a good home for him to be happy in, or we'll just go for a nice....... looooooooong........... ride..... Surely someone in West VA would like a cute kitty to play with... or to eat... do they eat cats in West VA? I'm sure someone does...) :-)

I'm kidding of course.... ;-)

Whoops... Forgot to write.

Hee hee heee.... I'm getting in trouble for becoming a blog-stranger by certain other bloggers... Whoops... So I will post something in the moment that I have.

Today ended up being a decent day, and the week a decent week, despite the business that surrounded it. And even though today started EARLY (well, for me anyways... I don't normally get up and go to work before 8), it ended up being an okay day--maybe I can say that now, because it was a long day and now it's OVER! The weekend is here, lots of warm weather abound, and we'll probably "go away" for most of it. Of course, I'm done travelling for a while... So we're going to my parents house out in Warrenton... Do a little swimming, a little grilling, and lots of chilling... (Remember when rhyme used to be cool? Why do I feel like that last line was a little lame.....)

I'm curious to see which of our friends reads this blog, so I'll put some "interesting news" up here and wait to see who calls. ;-) I went to the dr's this week, with Jeremy, and had that old fun yearly "exam" (woot), they took BLOOD outta my little tiny veins (okay, so outta three nurses, no one could find a good size vein in my arm... they did it from the top of my hand instead... waaaaa! I'll hafta ask Judd if I really do have small veins or if they're just vein-ingly-challenged... ) and then we had an Ultrasound. Yes, that's right, an ultrasound. And guess why we had an ultrasound? So the dr could say, "You are definitely pregant!" Woo-hoo! There, I said it. We're gonna have a baby in January! Though with my luck, it'll be a Christmas baby instead of a new years baby. Oh well... Looks like we'll be celebrating "Half Birthdays" instead of both at once (I've always felt bad for those types... they may be told they're getting Christmas/Birthday, but they always get jipped... At least it seems like that sometimes with James [whose birthday is Dec 12]). So! The next time you see us, ask us for pictures, 'cause we've got 'em! I mean, it's just a tiny lil' peanut right now, but it'll grow... Jeremy's been callin' 'em "Jeremy Jr." since we found out. If you hear him mention the name, that's what he's talking about (we will not be naming any children of ours "jr", though... just a nickname for now.)

Alright. Let's see who took notice and decides to call us. :-) I'm just curious, I really am. I feel like no one but Paige and my Dad read this sometimes.

Anyways, that's enough news for one post. I'll (try to) write more over the weekend.

Have a happy Memorial Day! Enjoy the bah-b!

This is probably really long....

Hi all!

First off, let me just say that it was brought to my attention that the previous post had appeared twice. It's not doubly good news, so I've deleted the duplicate--it should be fixed now.

Here's where it will get long... A LOT has happened since the last post, and I'm gonna cram it all into one, because I can. :-)

Okay!

Now I don't know where to start. I'll just start with the week of the last post.

The last week of April was a whirlwind week, to say the least. During it, Jermy wrapped up things at his old, crappy "school" (if you don't know what I'm referring to by that, you haven't been a longtime reader of this blog... you've got some catching up to do!), and got ready to depart for "orientation" at his new, awesome "school"! On his last day before his departure, we ran around all afternoon, looking for new apartments, since our current lease is up in June (and they want us to pay 10% more this year... seems a bit steep, if you ask me!) and Jeremy wanted to wrap that up before he left. We also ended up running out to Herndon to pick up a suitcase Jeremy didn't realize he needed until 9 o'clock that night. Needless to say, it was a late night, and a semi-early morning the next day.

Sunday, we woke up, got some 'interesting' news (which I will share at a later time), and then Jeremy was off! I ended up vegging at my parents house until later that night. And then it was business as usual: I got up and went to work everyday, while Jeremy hung out in NE without me. My evenings consisted of American Idol, Boston Legal, Lost, South Park, and lots of soup making (I had soup every night last week! Homemade, of course...) Not very exciting.

Friday, however, was different. I worked 'til about 1:30, then rushed to BWI to catch a flight to visit Jeremy. With traffic on 495/95, I barely made it there an hour ahead. But then, I was able to relax, just chilling on the flight, on my way to my hubby.

It was a nice weekend... We got up Saturday, and drove to Fall River/Tiverton (where I grew up), got so-so Chinese food from China Star (I remember it being so much better when I was younger...), then drove around the old neighborhood after stopping at Tim Hortons (apparently they bought out Bess Eaton [which had the best donut sticks, by the way...], but this one was a bit disappointing... Timbits are just no good if they're not fresh...) The best part of Saturday was going to Fogland Beach. We used to go there every year as a kid, and try to dig up clams for my Mom (usually, successfully...) Jeremy and I had no such luck this weekend. But it was neat pointing out all the periwinkles and mussels, showing Jeremy what holes to look for to find clams to dig, and so on and so forth. It was a nice time. We'll definitely be bringing the kids (not that we have any yet, but plan to eventually) there to visit for a summer vacation, if only for a few days. It's just a nice time (and much cooler, at least 10, 15 degrees than inland).

Sunday was nice because we got to hang out with my old boss, Steve, and his family (he's the guy that hired me back when I started at EB Games.) Before we did that, though, we had to go back around the old neighborhood again, because we'd forgotten to charge the video camera for Saturday (it died while we were filming the "new" Super Stop and Shop.) Then we spent an hour driving around Fall River, trying to find a Portuguese store that was open, so we could buy my Mom some chourico (sorry, Mommy, didn't happen... we tried, we really did... I've got the footage to prove it.) Needless to say, we were ready to just relax and chill with Steve and the family. We played Mario Party, drank Del's Lemonade, at grilled food, and just visited. It was very nice. By the time we returned to the hotel (around 9) we were pretty beat. I went right to bed (sooo tired), so I would get at least a decent night's sleep before waking up at 4 the next morning to catch my flight.

I didn't make it at 4. I got up at 5 instead. So tired... Got to the airport in plenty of time to catch my flight. Even had enough time to grab a bagel for breakfast. People were cranky, though. This one guy was frustrated because of the small packages taking up all the space in the overhead bins, that he took one out and tried shoving it in another bin. Well, that package belonged to this lil old lady who looked like she was ready to fight the guy! She probably would have too, if the flight attendant hadn't broken it up. She didn't follow the attendants instructions, though, for placing the package under her seat. She found somewhere else to put it instead. Oi vey... people.

I had an aisle seat, which I hate, because I enjoy looking out the window. I'm also rarely the type of person to get up during a flight, and hate having to do so for other people. Well, the gal at the window decided her bladder needed relief more than I needed my nap (I was sleeping on the plane, trying to catch up), and woke me up so she could go. Grrr... seriously, it was only an hour flight. Could she not hold it?!? How rude.

And that brings us to now. I have yet to recover from the sleep thing, and it's rainy and cold here in DC. After sitting in traffic for two hours, I was unable to motivate myself to go visit stores today. So I'm making today an office day, and am going to use the time to create feng shui in my apartment again, organizing all the boxes I've received recently to better prepare for the work week ahead.

Things are only gonna get crazier this week, I know it. I'll be glad when Jeremy comes home and can give his stupid cat the attention he needs, because I sure don't want to. He's been meowing ever since I came home, and I know he won't stop come bedtime tonight. If anyone wants him, I'd sure love to save the $400 pet deposit!!! Let me know! :-)

And that's that. Did you make it all the way through? Hope it wasn't too boring. :-)