What a week so far--and it's only Wednesday!

It's been a busy week, and doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon. It feels like it should be Friday tomorrow, but nope, it's only Thursday. Don't know why my days are mixed up like that--Jeremy was off Monday, but that means I should feel like today is Tuesday, not Thursday. Whatever.

Yesterday, I met my new Dental Hygenist. She was sweet, but very chatty. Not that I mind talking about babies all day, but she kept stopping what she was doing so I could respond to her questions. I got there around 2 and didn't leave until 3:30--not just because of her, but the dentist wanted to go over my x-rays from our old dentist. And then she called her husband in, who's also a part of the practice, to give me options for a gap I've got from having a tooth pulled years ago.

Kids, let this be a lesson to you: I don't care what you're parents say, or what you want to do--go to the dentist at least a few times while you're young! Otherwise, you end up in your twenties, maxing out insurance 3-4 years in a row trying to play catch up (and losing some teeth as a result...) I'm looking at YOU, Stephin & James! You talk tough now, but I guarantee you, in a few years, you'll regret having done nothing up 'til then.... Sheesh.

I'm a bit frustrated with the dentists, though... They're looking at my x-rays as if they were just taken (they weren't,) and creating a treatment plan based on old information. Today, I went in to have a couple cavities dealt with, and she tried to schedule me next time for teeth I've already had done (and I told her I've had them done--she even looked at one and couldn't figure out why my old dentist did a root canal on one, based on these x-rays that are almost three years old. Now, I don't doubt that my old dentist was a money-hungry whack job [yeah, I didn't like him much...] but I think he had a more accurate idea of what needed to be done based on the then current condition of my tooth instead of 3 year old x-rays.)

Anyways, I'm taking the next few weeks off from the dentist. At least everyone in the office is really nice.

After all that, and some drama caused by the VA Dept. of Taxation (apparently, if you don't file you're taxes in the state of VA, they assume you paid nothing, and try to take that from you. Luckily, resolution is only a fax number away...) I'm ready for a relaxing rest of the week.

Well, Jeremiah's not on the same page, apparently. He decided today would be a good day to come down with a fever. I knew something was wrong when I put him down for a nap, and he seemed unable to get comfortable, and fall asleep. I kept checking on him, but his eyes were closed, and he was laying down, just constantly tossing and turning. So I whipped out our new fancy schmancy temperal thermometer (only $30 at Costco!) did the forehead swipe, and said he must just be in a mood, since the reading was normal (actually, it was wayyy below normal the first few times, but I knew better than to think he had a temp of 74 or 81. I assumed it was the room, and that's why his head was so warm.)

We went to Harris "Tweeter" (as my Mom likes to call it), got some lunch stuff (<>deli lady was rude... I asked for the Dietz & Watson Turkey, motioning towards the sample they had out, and she said, "That's not D&W, that's HT brand. I should know, I put it out." Well, that's not what the sign said... eventually she came around, and mumbled something about still being on special from last week... Uh huh. Yeah, and thanks for only giving me half a pound of turkey, when I asked for a full pound. Oh well. Next time she asks if I need help, I'll say no and wait for someone else. < /rant>) After we came home, he was pretty whiney and fussy, so I gave him some Tylenol, figuring he had a headache or something (clearly SOMETHING was bothering him, I just couldn't figure out what.)

Jeremy came home, more whining from Jeremiah. We gave him his bath (and let him run around wet and naked afterwards, like he loves to do,) took his temp again, still normal. THEN I realized there's a cover on the temperal probe...... (Seriously, they need to spell things like this out for us preggers.... We don't always notice the obvious.) So we took it again, and bingo! 102.7 Yikes! Checked it again, 103.1. Double yikes! Checked a few more times (not easy to do with a squirmy 14 month old) and it was constantly above 101.3. Called the dr (I'm sure they love being paged at home,) and he told us just to give him Motrin instead of Tylenol, and keep him comfy. So we'll see what happens. Hopefully he'll wake up happy, healthy, and cool, and we can enjoy the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!

Yay! I'm so happy tomorrow is the first day of Spring! It's about time! Seems like winter lasts FOREVER when you've got a toddler begging to go out everyday. E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y. He doesn't understand that it's too cold, or too wet. If he can see the outside, which is impossible not to do from the family room, he wants to be out there, exploring. ESPECIALLY if the other kids in the neighborhood are out--ESPECIALLY Sean, the 5 year old that lives two doors down. He follows him around like a loyal pal already--he thinks he's just the coolest. We think he's got anger managment issues, and don't really want Jeremiah to grow up being like him, but I think that'll wean as he gets to know Nolan, who lives next door, and is less than a year older than him. Or the 3 year old down the street (can't remember his name at the moment,) who just got a new baby sister (on Jeremiah's birthday!) We'll see!

Finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GOOMBA----errr...., Stephin-bunny! He's 15! Yikes! It's all good, though. Jeremiah adores him, and he's a good kid--just a little bit addicted to video games, but hey, better that than pot or prescription drugs. "At least he's not dead." inside joke. :) Happy Birthday, Uncle Steph! You're Jeremiah's favorite Uncle Stephin--and enjoy your new gun (airsoft rifle.) Don't shoot the cat... unless it's Big Fella (impossible to make him more retarded, that's for sure. I'm kidding.... don't shoot the cat--then he'll just demand even more attention...)

PARTY! PIZZA PARTY!

Yesterday, we went to CiCi's for lunch, and all Jeremiah wanted to do was eat the toppings off his pizza. Silly boy!

Another beautiful day...

I sure am liking this nicer weather we've been having. It regularly gets up to the high 50's, low 60's now, and I couldn't be happier (neither could Jeremiah! He loves going outside!)

We've had a pretty casual week/weekend. Jeremy was sick most of last week, so that really put a blah on things, but I think he's feeling better now. He was off Friday and also today, so we've been able to get a few things done around the house that we've been "meaning to get to" for a while now. Maybe today we can go to Ikea.....? hint hint... :)

Jeremiah continues to try to talk, making the cutest little babbles that are just adorable to listen to. This morning, he was making some "creepy sounds". He was saying, "Ma ma ma ma..." over and over again, but in a raspy kind of voice. I thought there might have been something wrong at first, but then he switched back to his normal voice, and I went back to sleep.

We're 16 weeks today! Woot woot! Baby's been moving a little bit, though nothing too exciting. I'm sure that'll change in the coming weeks. Jeremiah wasn't a big kicker... He was pretty nice to me most of the time, except for a couple of weeks where I had this weird pain in my right rib. So it'll be interesting to see how much of a kicker "Jess Jr" turns out to be.

I can't believe Sunday is Easter already. Ca-razy. I just found out yesterday that it's up to me to make dinner for the family, if that's what we want to do. Hmmm... How much do I really feel like doing? I guess what it will all boil down to is how much Jeremy can clear off our dining room table, which apparently doubles as a desk for all of our paperwork.... We'll see!

And finally, this week brings us the last week of LOST until the end of April. Booo.... Also, the construction continues outside--at least it did not wake us up this morning. Maybe all the "loud" parts are done. Or something.

That's 'bout it. Oh, one more thing--Happy Birthday, Lilly! Today is her 1st Birthday! Hard to believe, even though Jeremiah is only 10 weeks older than her. Seems like he's been one FOREVER now. So happy birthday, Lilly, and happy St. Patty's day! Your birth was quite an adventurous 24 hours--your Mom and I were just trying to have some girl time, and you decided you wanted in on it, too. I don't blame ya. :) Hope we get some pictures of "face in cake" action. :) Always fun.

LOST Epi. 7 - "Ji Yeon"

While this week's installment of LOST provided more answers than last week's "The Other Woman", it was also incredibly frustrating to watch.

Some things that were promised to us before it aired:

~The identity of the Oceanic 6 would be revealed entirely.

~Someone dies (an original 815-er.)

~Michael returns.

Of those three, only the third one really held true to its statement. And even that is up for debate, depending on who you talk to (which, I have a feeling, will be quaffed next week.) Some fans are theorizing that Michael could be playing a grown up Walt. I personally think that's kinda stupid, though it would be an interesting twist. I'm pretty sure they could find another black actor to play a grown up Walt. And I think that whole idea is a bit of a stretch--It's not like the whole time thing is that off, after all.

As for the first two statements, we really didn't get any answers. Confirmed Oceanic 6-ers include Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and now Sun. A lot of folks think Aaron is the 6th, and after this episode, that seems right.... but it's not 'confirmed', just as it wasn't confirmed that Kate was one of them until "Eggtown". In the season finale last year, only Jack was mentioned. So I think it's still up in the air.

There have been numerous stories posted on spoiler sites that quote reputable sources as saying that Jin is the last of the Oceanic 6. Small problem with that--the date on his tombstone at the end of "Ji Yeon" shows his date of death as September 22, 2004---the date Oceanic 815 crashed. We know he's not dead, so what's up with that???

Few theories:

1) Jin is dead. He died before the Oceanic 6 make it back to the real world, but the date is wrong on his tombstone. Not that that would be difficult to explain away. You think the Losties are going to tell the authorities (whoever they might be) "Oh, he got killed by the smoke monster." or "shot by an Other. They're really scary people...." Then they'd have to explain everyone else's death! "Nikki and Paulo?? Uhhh, we don't really know how they died, we just found them dead, so we buried them. Paralyzing spiders??? We didn't know about those..... whooops...." Yeah... saying he and everyone else (except those mysterious "two" that didn't survive after the crash,) was dead when the plane went down is much easier.

2) Jin is alive and on the island. Some people theorize that everyone on that supposedly perrished on the plane received a tombstone (after all, their families were told they were dead... time to mourn.) But if that's the case, why isn't Sun's information filled in? (That's the '1980' '3' '20' on the left hand side.) So maybe part of the deal for Sun getting off the island was to swear to everyone that those not part of the Oceanic 6 were dead, including her husband, and that they would never be able to return to the Island--NEVER. That would explain her calling out for him while in labor, and also her tears of grief at the gravesite. Some folks say, "Oh, if she knew he were alive, she would never give up hope, and wouldn't be talking like he was dead." I'm not so sure about that... But it could be.....

3) ....Jin is alive and SUN DOESN'T KNOW! We'll find out later this season how the Oceanic 6 are chosen and what deal they make with the devil to get off. So it's possbile that those included in the Oceanic 6 were, maybe, the first chopper ride off the island, and then BOOM, someone bombs it... or something. I dunno how it happens, but we know Hurley feels really guilty about what happened on the island, and needs to "help them". So it's possible that Sun really does believe Jin is dead and just goes along with the tombstone because that's part of the deal.

The whole Jin Flashbacks mixed with Sun's flashforwards thing really bugged me. I knew that's what they were doing (I was reading a chat about the episode while waiting to watch it with Jeremy, so I kinda knew what was going on,) but that doesn't change the fact that it was annoying. And kinda pointless. I guess it was just to remind us what kind of jerk Jin was before the island, so when he forgave Sun for the affair, it would be fresh in our minds that he kinda had it coming.

But I hope they never do that again.

Also, what's up with the way Hurley said, "Gooooood." *wink wink* when he asked Sun if anyone else was coming, and she said no. For a second there, I thought, "Omigosh! It's Sun & Hurley's baby!??! What the heck!??!" Thankfully, I don't think that was the case. Maybe he just didn't want to see the other Oceanic 4, or... something... I really have no idea why he said it that way.

Oh, and where the heck were Sun's parents??? Weren't they the least bit interested that their grandchild was being born?? Or is her father so pissed off about Jin losing the watch that he won't even acknowledge that he has a grandchild?? Just a thought.

Finally, some people have questioned why no one questioned the whole pregnancy thing with Sun. If Jin died the day the plane crashed, than Sun should be further along than she is. I think this argument is kind of a waste of space. She got pregnant shortly after coming to the island. It's not unusual for babies to be born 3 weeks before or 2 weeks after a due date. That's a 5 week window to be wrong. If she conceived, say, the night before their flight, then her due date would only be off a couple of weeks. Not a stretch. Also, she probably went into labor early. It didn't seem like she was packing her bag for the hospital, but for a weekend trip or something. So she probably wasn't expecting to go into labor when she did--it was just a coincidence. That's what I think, at least.

The questions that remain are:

~Is Jin dead or alive? If dead, how? If alive, is he still on the island?

~What was with Hurley's "gooooood"???

~Who's the last of the Oceanic 6???

~What's up with Michael being on the freighter? Is he Ben's mole???

~And finally, how do they make that dharma food last so long??? There's a lot of people on the beach, yet their pantry still seems well stocked...

I'll leave ya with this thought: There's a plane wreck at the bottom of the ocean, with 324 dead bodies in it. If that's not the wreckage from Oceanic 815, who put it there and WHY??? Well, this is an interesting theory from a LOST commentator about exactly why it may not be a staged plane after all...

Okay, theory time. So I don’t believe Ben staged the plane crash, but then again, I don’t think Widmore did it either. And I’m pretty sure Oceanic Airlines can get no good press out of gruesome footage of a body-filled wreckage. So just who DID stage the crash of flight 815?

Answer: No one. The plane really did crash.

This is hard to grasp at first, but the more LOST plays out the more sense it seems to make. I think most of us agree the plane was brought to the island for its own purposes - whatever they might be. On the island virtually anything goes, which is why so many necessary people survived the crash. This is the magic of LOST.

But back in the real world, if we believe in the path of fate, the plane was supposed to crash. The people on board were supposed to die. That event played out, as a matter of the universe course-correcting itself, with the plane even sinking to the bottom of the ocean in the same three parts it broke into when it was torn apart in the air. In that one split second the plane existed in both universes: both the LOST universe, and the normal one.

On island, everyone is given a tabula rasa, or clean slate. See you in another life – and it truly is another life. The island and its inhabitants have their playlists and go through their motions, with the ‘surviving’ members of flight 815 looking on incredulously and playing their parts. Meanwhile, off-island, certain things that were supposed to happen cannot now happen… because the elements necessary to course correction are no longer in that universe. Let’s take Ms. Hawking’s man with the red shoe, for example. If you pushed him out of the way of his construction death, the universe would find a way to kill him tomorrow as a matter of course correction. But if he were suddenly gone from the universe tomorrow – the way flight 815 vanished – the universe would be screwed out of doing that.

I’m not going to beat the Donnie Darko horse again, but I will give it a quick kick. In that movie the universe got all messed up because a plane’s engine fell through a wormhole and existed in two different timelines simultaneously. I propose that flight 815 has done just that. The wreckage exists in the normal world, but it also exists scattered across the beach on LOST island. There’s no way I believe that anyone - Widmore, Ben, Bill Gates, The Wizard of Oz, or Bob the Builder with a giant Australia-sized crane actually went through the trouble of painstakingly recreating that crash site. That IS the crash site, because the plane actually crashed. And I’ll bet one day we’ll hear the black box recording to prove it.

On a final note, I’ll predict that when Frank Lapidus is looking at the decaying body of the ring-less pilot on the news, he’s really looking at a universally-course corrected version of himself in the cockpit of that plane. Because according to fate, he was supposed to be piloting flight 815. According to fate, he’s already dead. Ohhhh……

The TURDS have RETURNED!

If that was TMI for you, sorry. :) But I think the parents will understand--it makes ya feel good when after what seemed like FOREVER, your baby's poop is normal again. And boy, Jeremiah has been eating/drinking up a storm ever since! Nearly every bit of food you put in front of him gets devoured (or thrown on the floor--floor's never had it so good! If we had a dog, he'd be in heaven.) And he just kept asking for more and more bottles! Oh don't worry, I've been carrying his sippy cup with ICE water in it all day (he will not drink it if it's warm, at least, not if Mommy is drinking ice water... He's a big boy, after all. :) There were times, though, when he just wanted Mommy to pick him up and give him a bottle. So I won't say he's back to 100%, but the sickness part is definitely gone (whatever it was... definitely longer than a "24 hour bug." I had one of those the first week we were pregnant [though we didn't know it then] and it really did last just 24 hours. This was more like the "120-hour bug." It's gone though, so WHO CARES! Guess I need to throw out those bottles of pedilyte now. Nasty stuff. Hope we never need it again.)

Because of his belly issues, we didn't go to church--didn't want a volunteer to have to change "one of those," if you know what I mean... (Heck, not like I ever wanted to change 'one of those.') So the past few weeks, we've been going every other week, since he had that runny nose a while back, and then this. But we did manage to have a decent weekend regardless. Jeremy was able to put up Jeremiah's swing in the backyard (so now it's not 5 feet in the air...) and, of course, now Jeremiah could care less about being in it (I guess it was more fun high in the air...)

Right now, I'm listening to him "sing" in his crib. Jeremy's run off to Lowes to buy something for the dryer (looks like whoever installed it did a shotty job...) so it's just Jeremiah, me and the laptop. Yay.

Speaking of Jeremiah's "singing," he's getting quite good at trying to talk. While he's not repeated our favorite phrase yet ("Hi, da-da!") he likes to say his favorite phrase over and over again---"OH YEAH!" It was so funny when over the weekend, I went in his room to get him up after his nap, and the first thing he said was, "Oh yeah!" lol Sometimes we can get him to say it if we say it over and over, but usually ya just have to be in the right place at the right time.

He also says "Daddy" a lot, which comes out usually as, "Da-dee" rather than, "Dad-ee" but he'll get there. And while he can't say "light" yet (or doesn't want to...) he has named it something in his own language.... It's not "spellable" but he uses the same sounds every time when he's trying to talk about it (we know this because he'll point to a light and say it, to which we reply, "liiiiight?" and he'll reply with his word. lol)

There's been lots of other words that he's been able to mimick us saying, but has never repeated. The funniest thing, though, are his "cell phone conversations." He'll usually use my or Jeremy's phone, and walk around babbling on to someone about something. I haven't yet been able to catch it on film (got a few seconds today, but that's it,) but it's really funny... He'll go on for several minutes, pausing every now and then for a response. :) Some of the things he 'says', though... I dunno, sounds like he's been listening in on too many of Daddy's phone conversations... :) I'm kidding, none of it's bad. If he does pick up any naughty words (besides "ash" and "btch" as those may have slipped out once or twice accidently [usually while gaming, where Jeremiah usually is not,] it would have been from our neighbor, who has no reservations, whatsoever, about using profanity in front of a toddler (he apologizes the first time, and then just keeps on going. But he's a nice guy.)

Yup, that's all I've got. LOST is supposed to be AMAZING this week, so I'll probably have something to say about that Thursday night. Otherwise, have a great week!

It's been a quiet week...

Hence, the lack of new posts.

Really, it's just been kinda boring and sick.

It started off really nicely--70's and sunny on Monday! I've been waiting for that kind of weather! Jeremiah and I played on the deck in the morning (I was still in my PJ's, so that's as far as I was willing to venture,) and then outside with the neighbor's kids in the afternoon. It was really nice. The nice weather has a certain effect on a person--for me, it motivated me to get some stuff done!

We bought Jeremiah a swing to hang off the trees in the backyard. After finding a suitably sturdy branch, we strung it up, only to discover that the rope it came with wasn't long enough. Yeah, the bottom of the swing is as high as my head... But, we didn't want to disappoint Jeremiah, so we put him (not the easiest thing to do when you're lifting him above your head...) and he had such a great time in it! I don't think he wanted to get down. Needless to say, the height issue needs to be rectified. That helped spurn my trip to Lowes on Monday inbetween playing outside with Jeremiah. We got some more rope, some pebbles/rocks for the driveway (it narrows at the mouth, so when someone pulls in along side the van, it creates a muddy ditch that's really unsightly... so I filled it in with rocks. Hopefully, that'll do until we get around to tearing up the flowerbed planted on either sides, and adding some walking stones.)

I can't really remember what happened Tuesday... I think it was also on the nice side, but we just kinda layed low. Sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday, though, Jeremiah started not feeling so well, belly wise. I've never had to deal with "projectile vomit" until this week. This kid rarely spit up, let alone throw up! And he seemed much more content just sitting with Mommy and watching cartoons, than running around playing (when he's feeling well, he will completely ignore the TV... but when he's not, it's all about cuddle time!) By Thursday, whatever it was that he had was in full swing--icky diapers galore to prove it, too.

We were getting really concerned by nighttime when I went to check on him before going to bed, only to discover another nasty diaper. Of course, he wailed through the diaper change (nasty diapers tend to bring nasty diaper rash--ALL OVER! My poor baby...) After he was in new PJ's, and Daddy was trying to calm him in the glider, I asked him if he noticed any tears when he was crying. He hadn't. So even though Mommy had been super diligent about giving him lots to drink, the "Doodie Monster" managed to zap him dry. After that, I decided to wake up every couple of hours to make sure he was dry and planned to call the doctor in the morning.

Well, morning came, and I only had to get up once (on my own--he was fine.) Already, Jeremiah seemed to be doing much better. Jeremy got him some nasty Pedialyte (have you tasted it... it's gross... Jeremiah was a trooper and drank as much as he could, but he'd rather have water,) and that seemed to help, and he himself seemed to be in much better spirits. We were able to keep our plans for the day (having lunch at Sweetwater with Liz and Rachel! Though I will say, I like the Merrifield location better... The service is better. Not that it was bad, but they were semi-absent when we needed them, and overly-helpful [as in 'annoying'] when we didn't.) It was pretty rainy, though. Jeremiah really enjoyed it--I had to practically drag him in the house when we got home. He wanted to splash in the puddles (by falling in them, which he did manage to do a couple of times,) and run around rather than go inside. So cute!

And it's raining again today. I like rainy days, though--if I don't have to go out lots in them. I find them very relaxing. At least it's RAINING-RAINING, as opposed to MISTING-RAINING. The in-between rains are the worst--you don't get the full benefit of the "rainyness," but it's still rainy enough you don't want to go out. But today is not that day. Today is, as my Dad would say, "A good day for ducks." :) Yeah, he's kooky.

Pregnancy wise, everything is good. We're officially in the 2nd Trimester, which is exciting! I thought I would be less excited about being preggers with #2 when ya already have a #1, but nope, #2 is still exciting. I think Jeremiah's going to be a great big brother! Of course, lots could change between now and September, but so far, he's really good to the baby doll, and wants to give her a bottle every morning (it makes a 'sucking' sound... at least, I'm assuming it's a 'sucking' sound.) And he just loves other babies! They just make him grin ear to ear. I'm sure it'll be a little different with one that never leaves, and takes Mommy & Daddy away from you, but I think he'll be fine.

I think I've "popped", though it's tougher to tell on me since there was a bit of belly to begin with, but hey, if Jeremy can tell a difference, than I believe him. Plus, none of my pre-preggers pants are comfortable anymore, despite the fact that I weigh less now than when I bought them, so ya know something's going on. It'll probably be a few more weeks before the general public can tell (and for the really stupid, a few more months--one chic that I saw on a bi-weekly basis when I worked for Sony didn't know I was pregnant with Jeremiah until right before Christmas. I WAS 8 MONTHS! Sheesh.)

We'll probably get an ultrasound sometime in April (it's optional, but Jeremy wants "to see" his "child.") It's hard to believe that that's next month! And then we've got our trip to Vegas in May, June-August will be spent in various pools, I'm sure, and then, here comes baby! :) Yay! And now, Jeremiah is napping, so I'm gonna go get ready for the day. That was this week in a nutshell--see? Not very exciting. Maybe next week will be more fun.

LOST Epi. 6 - "The Other Woman"

Well, as many of you have probably noticed, this episode was not as awesome as last weeks, but still quite solid. This felt like a "traditional" LOST epi to me--some interesting flashbacks that reveal more about the characters we love/hate, something 'bad' on the horizon, and our Losties must go stop it. More questions answered/asked... The only thing missing was a witty nickname or two from Sawyer, and Ben avoided getting punched for yet another episode! Oh well, can't have it all.

One thing that bugged me about this episode was the inconsistency of Ben's character. Ben has always been pretty even keeled. You expect him to be smoothe, and sinister at the same time. But in Juliet's flashbacks, he was a very different Ben. For the first time, well, if you don't count his flashbacks to his childhood and his daddy issues, we see a side of Ben that makes him "human"--he's vulnerable to another's feelings for him, which doesn't happen AT ALL the rest of the time. The whole 'puppy dog love' he displays is wayyyyy out of character for him.

Maybe there's more behind it than we were given, like, Jacob told him that he was giving Juliet to him or something. That would make the whole "you're mine" thing a little more convincing, instead of just sounding like a spoiled child (which he still would be, regardless, based on his behavior.) I guess he likened it to being told you were going to get your biggest wish for Christmas, but you couldn't have it until your birthday.... or something.

Now, I'm kinda jumping around a bit, but the comment from Harper--"you look like her," was never answered. However, we know that Ben had a little best friend from childhood that is no longer around (as far as we can tell.) Emily? Was that her name? I don't remember, but she gave Ben the two wooden dolls for his birthday, and it was the only gift he ever got. Sometime before the "surge" (supposedly when Ben used that gas against everyone on the Island, as Charlotte mentioned later in the episode,) Emily must have either left the island, or died. I'm guessing she left, because we've never had clues from Ben that there was a sacred place on the island (other than Jacob's cabin) that he had to visit (assuming he loved her as much as the clues allude, he'd probably visit at least once every now and then.) And, Harper spoke of her in the present tense, though it would be more awkward to say, "you look like she did," or something. It's widely assumed that they grow up to be "lovers", maybe even married at some point, but then she disappear. Hopefully they'll go back to that at some point, and close that chapter in Ben's life, once and for all. [I looked it up... her name was Annie.]

On second thought... Looking back at the screencaps, maybe she's referring to Ben's mother (whose name is Emily, so Ben's friend has another name that currently escapes me.) If that is, indeed, the "she" Harper was referring to, that's pretty sick.

Anyways, on to the rest of the episode. I find it curious that Charlotte and Daniel had such a detailed map of the island to use to find "The Tempest." We now know that Charles Whitmore is the "bad guy" trying to find/exploit the island. If he's still in the "finding" stages, how would he have that map already. We know he has the journal from Hanso, but I doubt there'd be a map in there WITH the Dharma stations (I don't doubt the possibility of a map, just a map with stations on it.) Then again, if Whitmore was the Dharma sponsor (an organization we still know zilch about,) then it would make sense that he'd have a map. But then why abandon the Island for all that time? Why not go back sooner? We know Dharma was in place long before he had that journal... Things that make ya go hmmmm.....

Is anyone still clueless as to who Ben's guy on the freighter is??? I love how ABC makes such a big deal about it, when the whole world actually has a pretty good idea already (and has since the Harold Perrineau confirmed being back this season, and we learn that he has his own episode called, "Meet Kevin Johnson." Gee.... I wonder what all those clues could mean?!

And if you haven't yet, watch the LOST mobisodes on ABC's Lost page--they're short epi clips that were made for Verizon V-Cast users. They have some info that helps fill in a few blanks in the series (blanks from previous season--some as early as season one and as recent as last season. Very interesting stuff.)

That's all I've got for this episode for now. There's a lot more, but it'll have to wait til next time--Jeremiah wants to eat! :)

It's 74 degrees out!

Jeremiah loves hanging out outside.

Where, oh where, have my girl scout cookies gone....

IT'S COOKIE SEASON!

Yeah, man, the Girl Scouts have taken their orders, and now the boxes should be coming in, which means I SHOULD BE IN COOKIE HEAVEN SOON!

I love me some Girl Scout Cookies! Our neighbor's daughter was selling them a few weeks ago, so I ordered a bunch. Or at least, I thought I ordered a bunch. Thinking of it now, 10 boxes really isn't that much. I mean, these things only come around once a year. So how long will 10 boxes last here in the Wilcox household?? Pre-pregnancy.... probably a couple of weeks. Preggers, though.... well, we'll just say I'm sending Jeremy out now to go hunt down some sellers so we can pick up a few extra boxes (like.... maybe another 10.)

Okay, yeah, I'm not happy to be spending $70 on cookies, but they only come by once a year! And maybe once I have my fill, I'll be able to spread them out over the rest of the year (and maybe pocket a few bucks on eBay once the season is officially dead? Nah, they won't last THAT long.)

Maybe part of my desire to buy so many cookies stems from the fact that we actually have Girl Scouts to buy from this year. Part of the joy of living in "the burbs". Seriously, this baby needs to be a girl, so I can have the in-home advantage... And by then, my neighbor's kid won't be a girl scout anymore, so it should all work out perfectly.

And man, my parents NEVER ordered GS cookies growing up.... Even though we'd get multiple girls asking, we just didn't have the money to justify, at most, one or two boxes of them (which were always delivered after school while my parents were working, so they never actually got any, I don't think.) I guess this is my way of showing I'm not my parents. :) Or something.

Okay, time to kick Jeremy outta here before the GS's run outta Tagalongs and Thin Mints....

(Can ya tell I was a bit obsessed when I wrote this??? I've calmed down now. :)

I'm not crazy, right??? Nevermind, don't answer that.... :)

Lost Epi 5- The Constant

Wow. That about sums up this episode! Much better than last week, though very little actually happened. For once, though, we have some answers! And, the best part of the episode: Desmond speaking with Penelope after all these years! I almost cried... almost!

I went into this episode being only slightly spoiled. I had seen the scene where the chopper first lands on the freighter, but if you see that scene by itself, it doesn't really reveal anything. And I heard the podcast that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did for the episode, but they also don't really reveal anything.

So here's what we learned:

~We now have a good idea what this "sickness" is that affects Rousseau's (sp? silly french names...) team, when they all go crazy and die. The "antidote" given to Claire in Season 1 wasn't an antidote at all (same thing with Desmond... though what it was, I dunno... maybe the same thing that Juliet "activated" in Claire so she could look like a hero at the end of Season 3.... )

~We now know how Whitmore acquires the journal of "Captain Hanso of the Black Rock". This was used to give coordinates to the ship in the LOST mini-game thingie, "Find815" (if you haven't checked it out yet, go to find815.com. It's kinda old news now, but some neat things in there.) Whitmore knows A LOT more about what's going on than he's letting on. Heck, the whole Dharma thing, everything that the Island is probably connects back to him. I'm sure we'll see more of this in the future.

~We now know exactly how much of an UBER GEEK Daniel is--seriously, the hair, the crazy twitchiness, the nutty theories (that turn out to be true.) He's beginning to reveal exactly why he belongs on this mission to the Island.

~We find out who Minkowski is! And why "he can't come to the phone right now." See what happens when you don't follow orders. Too bad he died....

~We know that Ben's mole is STILL on the boat. When we first learned Mr. Tied Up was Minkowski, I thought maybe he was the mole, and got caught or something. Nope, he's just crazy. But we know that Michael will be back at some point.... hmmm.....

~It's Christmas Eve 2004! Merry Christmas Losties!

~As if we didn't know already, Sayid is a very handy person to know. He's your one stop torturer/soldier/marksman/communications guy/assassin/interrogator/I-know-more-than-you'll-ever-know-I-know guy... If he can cook, too, wow, what a catch, huh ladies? :)

~We learned that C.S. Lewis is still kinda a... well, you fill in the blank... I don't like her, and I have a feeling we'll learn to like her even less as the season goes on.

For those who cry "PARADOX" at the whole time travel thing that's happened, something the writers said they'd avoid (basically, paradox would be like [for those of you who also watch Heroes] Future Hiro coming back in time to warn Peter to save the cheerleader save the world, to save his world... if he's successful, than there's no future Hiro, and no one to go back in time to warn of the future without the cheerleader, and therefore, the future remains unchanged, which means that future Hiro could then exist and..... *PHEW* see what I mean??? Paradox.)

Well, they kinda built a "Plan B" right into the series back when Desmond first started having his "flashes." Remember the woman he was going to buy Penny's ring from? She then took him outside and observed that, "That man is wearing red shoes." (or whatever color they were, I don't remember.) And then said man died? She told Desmond, and I'm paraphrasing, "It doesn't matter how many times you try to change the past... the world has a way of course correcting itself." That's why no matter how many times Desmond told Charlie he would die, he would see yet another way he would die. Meaning, despite the fact that Desmond was able to spare Charlie once, twice, three times, he was still destined to die, and death was going to find him, some way or another.

There weren't many questions raised by this episode, other than those left over from weeks before: who are the freighties, what aren't Dan & C.S. Lewis telling us, who's the mole, etc. I think we'll learn more about the second question next week, it seems, and look for a mole appearance sometime before the break (Episode 8, so three more!!!)

As I said before, I was very pleased with the episode. I didn't think I was going to like it, especially it mostly took place off the Island--and Locke's name wasn't even mentioned!

Oh, and good call, Dan, getting a haircut. Desmond, can we interest you in a trim???

Where have I been???

Apparently, I've been living under a rock because I just found out that Mister Rogers is dead. I guess he died of cancer 5 years ago... I think I may have heard about it then, but I was still shocked to find this out today. Now I'm all sad.... I used to LOVE Mr. Rogers Neighborhood--it used to come on right after Sesame Street (which I also loved) and my favorite part was when he'd go to different factories to show how things were made, like guitars or trumpets. I thought that was so cool. Land of Makebelieve was neat, but not at cool as Mr. Rogers himself.

Anyways, in honor of Mr. Rogers, Mr. McFeeley is trying to get March 20th to be "Sweater Day". It's a day for each and every person to wear their favorite sweater, in honor of Mr. Rogers memory. I hope March 20th is a cool day, so I can put all of us in our sweaters! At least Jeremiah and me--I don't know if Jeremy even owns a sweater.

And did you know that Mr. Rogers was from Latrobe, PA?? I didn't. You may have heard that he was an ordained minister, but he never preached. And at one point, he moved to Toronto, where he had an understudy who would later become "Mr. Dressup" (for our Canadian readers out there.) It's amazing what you learn about a person from Wikipedia. :)

Well, he's got 33 years of Mr. Rogers episodes out there, so hopefully they still air on PBS (I haven't seen it yet, but I haven't been looking either.) I remember thinking as a child that Mr. Rogers was so great, I hoped he would still be making shows when I had kids. He's done working, but his work will definitely live on.

Anywhoo, here's Mr. McFeely and the Sweater Day challenge! I hope everyone out there who loved Mr. Rogers will mark March 20th on their calendar and wear a sweater in honor of him.

I am thoroughly weepy-eyed right now... I can chalk it up as pregnancy hormones, but for those of us who grew up with him, Mr. Rogers was like an Uncle/Grandfather type figure. When you read about the kind of life he led, it's hard to not become emotional and mourn his passing [our loss, for sure!]

Well, I need to put Jeremiah down for his nap. Thank you, Mr. Rogers, for giving us so much, and always taking the opportunity not to bask in your glory, but to remind us to be thankful for others who have made us all who we are today.

I really hope I'm not the only one who didn't know this... I was in college when he died, so maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Okay, enough of that, naptime for Jeremiah!

Oh and he got me this too...

And this wasn't for Valentine's--this was yesterday! :) Aww, he's so sweet.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I'm a little late. But that's because I got just my Valentine's Day gift from Jeremy today! No, he didn't forget or anything. It just took a little longer to ship than they originally promised him.

So what did Jeremy buy me to express he undying, never changing and everlasting love for me? How do we spell 'romance' in the Wilcox household?? Apparently, "e-l-e-c-t-r-o-n-i-c-s." :)

Yup, my uber romantic man-o-mine bought me a laptop for Valentine's Day. Not just any laptop--I "got a Dell, dude!" It was one of those too-good-a-deal-to-pass-up deals on Slickdeals the week of Valentine's. So he didn't. :)

It definitely isn't what I was expecting. We had kinda agreed to get "traditional" Valentine's gifts for each other--chocolates, flowers, cards. That's it. When he gave me the printout of the order confirmation (since it was delayed--originally it would have arrived that day, I think. So romantic, huh? :) I was a bit stunned, but didn't run out and buy him anything with a plug. He still got chocolates, a card, and a freakin' huge balloon that sang, "Hey, I Think I Love You" [by the Beatles, I think? lol, Nope, I googled it and it was by The Partridge Family] and that's it. I guess you could say the singing balloon was electronic... [And in case you ever think it's a good idea to get a freakin' huge balloon that sings, be aware that it will probably drive you crazy before it ever makes it to it's final destination. It played every time it moved, which mean it was going constantly from Herndon to Tysons, and then from the van, through the mall to Godiva, Starbucks, and then across the street to Jeremy's office, up the elevator, down the hall, and finally, by the time it arrived next to his chair, the batteries had died, and it would only say, "Heyyyyyy---" lol)

I am very happy with the new lappy. It's got some neat features that my old one didn't have (which I got for Christmas last year, so we'll probably sell it) including 4x the amount of RAM, an SD card reader built in, an anti-glare screen and NO IMPORTANT BUTTONS ON THE FRONT OF IT! My other lappy has the wireless switch in the front, so I was constantly hitting it, or it would hit a button on my jeans and turn off... sometimes, it wouldn't come back on, so I'd have to reset it, blah blah blah. Stupid. Oh, and THE SPACE BAR WORKS GREAT! After letting Jeremiah "work" on my laptop a couple of times, I noticed that the space bar doesn't always "space" when you hit it now. You can still type just fine, but I type pretty quickly, and was constantly having to backspace to add a space.... frustrating...

Oh, and can I just say that I love dissing Internet Explorer?? First thing I did when I started it up for the first time was go to Mozilla's site and download Firefox, and set it to my default web browser. Of course, IE has always had this honor, so it was a bit hurt and thought I might have been confused when I did that. The next time I opened up IE (which I'll do when I want to have various yahoo email accounts open at once.... I have a few that I never use but some people still do,) it asked me, "Internet Explorer is not your default web browser. Would you like to change it to your default browser?" CANCEL! and "Do not ask me again." Loved it. I know, I'm stupid, but I can't STAND IE, and use it only when I need to open said email accounts and don't want to log out of my primary or FF is PMS-ing, which happens every now and then. Anyways...

So, thank you, babish! (don't laugh) You're the best babish in the whole wide world! :)

Jeremiah vs. "The Bullfrog"

Okay, so here's what's going on. Jeremiah got this really cool toy from my cousin for his birthday. It's basically a tall tube with a winding ramp going down around it. It came with several balls, a peguin and a frog. The frog is the only thing designed to actually go down the tube--everything else just rolls down the ramp. To make it more entertaining, the frog has vents on the bottom and top of it which allows air to pass over a "noisemaker" which produces a "quack" like sound. Why a frog quacks, I don't know, but Jeremiah sure has a lot of fun playing with it!

His Uncle Stephin showed him that if he blows in it, it will produce the same sound it makes by dropping it down the tube. And that's exactly what he does here! So cute!

LOST ep. 4--"Eggtown"

This episode bugged me.

There were so many times when I wanted to yell, "What's wrong with you?!" at Kate. The big over-arching question (which I assume will be addressed by the end of the season) is WHY Kate left the island, knowing that she had a jail sentence waiting for her back home?! Another "WWWY???" question--what are you doing to Sawyer?? Poor guy is trying, in his own macho kind of way, to be romantic (boxed wine? lol) to win you, and you keep pushing him away. Oh but you'll go to see him when you, ahem, want some somethin' somethin', and then you kiss him as you tell him you're leaving? I do agree he deserved that slap, (why did you say her being preggers was the worst thing in the world?? Are you stupid or something? Sheesh,) but, I still think she was kinda harsh on him.

A few more "WWWY??" questions. Why so adament about keeping Aaron out of the court room (besides the fact that he's really young... but she was putting her foot down on that one. If it meant never seeing him again vs. chance at freedom, wouldn't it have been kinda worth it?) Why'd you cut Jack off during his testimony (besides the fact that it was a string of lies...??) Why'd you freak at the mention of 15 years jail (she was going to face 20 on each count before... 15 seems pretty good. Of course, 10 years probabtion is even better.) Why wouldn't you let your Mom see her Grandson in exchange for not testifying (I admit, it's kinda a messed up way how that came about, and I'd be pissed at my Mom, too, for calling the cops on me, and starting this whole mess... But c'mon... How many years have passed. Gal can hold a grudge. Guess she gets it from her Mom.) My final question for Kate is, "Why are you raising Aaron??" Now, I knew that he was the "he" she referred to at the end of last season (though I didn't know then,) but I still don't know why. Oh, and Jeremiah has the same shirt that Aaron was wearing when she woke him up from his nap (only Jeremiah's is long sleeved.)

Anyways, enough about Kate. Anyone else thought it was funny that Ben got to Locke again (and Locke reacts in the exact same way as before--smash food on wall! Smash bowl on floor! Locke smash!) I liked the whole grenade in the mouth thing for Miles. 'Bout time someone shut him up... he's so annoying. And poor Hurley keeps getting played by people. "You totally just scooby-doo'd me there." lol I love Hurley.

Back on the beach, we've got Jin & Sun trying to pick their future home. I don't know why she'd want to go back to Korea. I mean, I know she wanted to leave Jin, and that's the reason for almost moving to the States, but if they haven't yet, Jin & Sun need to have a little heart to heart and come clean about themselves. Sun is responsible for Jin's crappy job because his "mother" threatened to tell the world that Sun married the son of a fisherman and a prostitute. Jin never wanted that life for them, but because Sun needed to pay this woman off, that's the life they had to live. I don't think any of the affairs or anything would have happened if she had not done that. So yeah, they need to get all that stuff on the table and realize that her father is not interested in her happiness--he didn't approve of the marriage to begin with, and I don't think that will be any different when they return. So move to the states, kids! Sheesh.

BTW, I think it's Sun & Jin who get off as the last two Oceanic 6--I don't think Aaron counts, because he wasn't a ticketed passenger on the flight when it crashed. And I definitely don't think he'd count if the world believes he's Kate's son. Plus, they're the only other two that were on the plane that have featured episodes. Each of the Oceanic 6 we know of so far have had character centric episodes--Jack, end of last season, Hurley, ep 1, Sayid, ep 3, and now Kate, ep 4 (her appearance last year was a cameo, they never came out and said, "Kate is one of the Oceanic 6" until this "Eggtown" episode. So yeah, that's what I think. We'll see, I guess.

Oh, and any guesses on what happens to Sun's baby?? If they get off the island, will she be spared death? I'm thinking something will happen... I don't think it will be a happy ending for ANYONE who gets off the island, Sun & Jin included. So I think something will happen, either the baby will not survive, or she'll miscarry once she's off the island, or something. I guess we'll have to wait and see...

And that's 'bout all I have to say. I don't know what the whole card game with Dan & C.S. Lewis was. I don't know what's going on with the chopper. (I think they might be transported somewhere else, like, I dunno, Tunisia?? :) We'll find out next week!

Jeremiah vs. Big Fella

I've been trying to post this video for a while now, but it was always too big for blogger to handle, and I didn't want to deal with Google. So I finally got around to cutting out some of the fluff, and it's still almost 4 min long (orig. over 5) but at least it's a smaller file.

Anyways, it's pretty amusing. The best part is when he sits on him--ya don't see it coming, he just does it. So cute.

New Ticker Added!

In case you haven't noticed, I've replaced our anniversary ticker with a pregnancy ticker (it's actually been up on "Our Registry Information" post in the sidebar... I'm disappointed no one found it...) Not that I'm not proud of our marriage, but we know when our anniversary is, and it's function was really as a place holder, for when a preggers ticker could take it's place.

And now it has! And if you still haven't figured it out, yes, Jeremy & I are expecting #2 around September 1st. Unless she/he (hoping for a "she!") is timely like Jeremiah, most likely it'll be an August birth. But ya never know... :)

This pregnancy has been the worst one so far--had really bad nausea starting around 6 weeks (right around the time I wrapped up my sore throat/cold/flu thing from after Christmas,) and it's just now really beginning to taper off. I still have little appetite, and a very strong sense of smell (much to Jeremy's dismay... I kick him out of bed if he hasn't used mouthwash--freshly brushed teeth isn't good enough! lol)

Other than that, all is well! Just waiting to get my energy back so I can do more than just chase Jeremiah around the house all day (cleaning the house has been done at bare minimum. Just not that important right now. So if we've been meaning to invite ya over, hopefully soon!) Jeremiah, so far, has been really great around other babies, and hasn't gotten jealous of me holding one yet, so that's a good sign. I ordered a life-like baby doll for him, so we can practice taking care of a baby, and "gentle touch" so it won't be quite such a shock when he wakes up one morning this summer and find he's no longer an only child.

Oh, and to those people who think we rushed #2, this was part of the plan. We didn't want them to be too far apart--my brother Jay and I are barely a year apart, and we were best friends growing up. That's what we're hoping for for Jeremiah and "Jess Jr." (they'll be about 21 mos apart.) Personally, I was hoping they'd be a little closer together, but I'm glad nonetheless. And I think Jeremiah will make a great big brother! :)

In other news, it's a freezing rainy morning, and Jeremy is working from home today. I'm sure my brother Stephin is home as well. Jeremiah is still stuffed up, but it's not runny really anymore, so I think he's on the road to recovery. Hopefully by Monday he'll be as good as gold, so we can get together with a friend and her baby (we want to spend as much time with them as possible in addition to having the doll. Can't hurt, right? Plus, Mommies need to hang out with other Mommies! Keeps us sane.) And that's that. :)

Jeremiah vs. "the whoop whoop whoops"

Well, Jeremy couldn't get a good recording any one time, so here're three chances to hear the "whoop whoop whoops!"

I would have tried myself, but was otherwise occupied. :)

And if you can't guess what the "whoop whoop whoops" are, try reading Jeremiah's shirt....

"What's that sound, Jeremiah???"

That's the sound of inevitibility.... :)

It's official: HD-DVD is dead.

As you've probably heard by now, if you're the least bit tech-savvy, Toshiba has just pulled out of the HD-DVD market, handing the format wars trophy over to Blu-ray.

This is HUGE! Since Spring '06, people have been debating who was going to "win the war," with HD-DVD leading as the favorite among consumers, mostly because of it's lower price. It did launch a couple of months earlier than Blu-ray, but didn't have the giant behind it that BR had--the PS3.

Yes, folks, with each and every PS3 purchased, you get a blu-ray player. It's built into the drive--Sony's way of "future-proofing" their system. Think about it, as graphics continue to improve, and technology moves forward, that's going to need a much bigger storage medium than DVD's provide (it's pretty much 10-1, and could be 100-1 in the near future.) More storage capacity also means more "extras" for TV series and movies--more behind the scenes, alternate endings, commentaries, etc.

And, sorry to say it, Toshiba, but you didn't stand a chance, marketing wise, against a juggernaut like Sony (who partnered also with Mitsubishi, the owner of the Samsung brand. Raise your hand if you've heard of Samsung! Raise your hand if you've heard of Sony! Keep your hand up if you own a TV/DVD player/anything by them! Now, everyone who has a Toshiba-something-or-other, please raise your hand! Hello? Anyone? That's what I thought.)

What's kind of sad about this whole situation is that if you ask consumers, the people who buy this stuff, which they preferred, I would say at leat 70%, if not more, wanted HD-DVD to win. Why? It's cheaper. The players were cheaper (c'mon, you could buy an HD-DVD drive at Christmas from Wal-Mart for $99! $99!!!! The next closest in price for Blu-ray was $299!!) and the media was cheaper (though not by much, be enough for some people.) So what happened?

I'm not really sure... But I do know that Sony & Mitsubishi combined own A LOT of movie studios. So which format did they chose?? Duh. How many studios did Toshiba buy off?? Well, I can't think of any big ones that were exclusively HD (a few were both, like Fox and Warner.) Before Christmas, alliances began to change. Blockbuster announced it would no longer carry HD-DVD's in their stores (you could still rent them online, though.) Then Target dropped it (hey, these stores only have so much room!) A few others began following suit. And then a couple of weeks ago, the ball dropped--Warner is backing Blu-ray. Then Netflix stopped HD-DVD. And the biggest move of all, the writing on the wall was probably Wal-mart switching to Blu-ray only.

Poor Toshiba. I feel bad for 'em, I really do. They put up a good fight, but in the end, it's not about what consumers want, it's about what the industry will back. I mean, let's face it, if no one is going to stock and sell your stuff, it's never going to get to consumers. So they gracefully pulled the plug, losing hundreds of millions of dollars, but in the end, will probably end up more profitable as a whole.

So that's that. I'm glad we've got a PS3. As far as the HD-DVD drive we bought for the 360, well, it still upconverts nicely. And if we ever want to watch King Kong, we're set (didn't like it...)

On another note, it was absolutely gorgeous yesterday! 77 degrees at 11 am! CRAZY! Sadly, it's only about 52 today, with possible showers later in the day. But it's all good. Only 4 more weeks of winter, supposedly. Monday sure gave me something to look forward to (and I have a feeling that later today will add something else to that equation.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... ;)

Okay, time to put Jemiah down for a nap! We've got a busy afternoon, and he needs to be up by one so we can go pick up Daddy! Will probably post something else tonight, but if not, soon.

Well, don't we feel stupid, part 2.

Well, I guess this one's mostly on me.

For a few weeks now, we've been looking forward to a post-Valentine's Day dinner that our friends Allison & Kevin were hosting. It was to be a nice chance to get away and have conversations with adults that didn't involve the words, "Da-da," "ma-ma," "nose," "belly button," "poopy," etc. And we get to dress up a little bit, which is always fun every now and then (Jeremy gets to dress up all the time--me, I usually stick to jeans and a sweater or something... not like I walk around in my PJ's all day, but I definitely don't wear the few skirts/dresses that I have very often.)

My brother, Stephin, agreed to come over and baby-sit Jeremiah on Saturday for us. So yesterday, Friday, I went to pick him up in Warrenton. Brought him back here around dinner time, and we began to make our dinner plans. "Hey, let's order ZPizza!" (If you haven't had it, and there's one near you, try it! It's so good--you won't be able to eat Domino's or Pizza Hut again [at least, not without a bunch of toppings--it's amazing how little you need on a pizza when you have quality ingredients on it.] And this pizza is good for you! At least, as good as pizza can be for you.) Okay, so while Stephin & I put Jeremiah to bed, Jeremy went to pick up the pizzas.

After Jeremiah was asleep, I changed and got comfortable, ready to spend a relaxing evening at home. Jeremy came home shortly after, and I knew something was up, because he kinda shouted down the hall as he came into the house, usually when he's got something to say that will drastically change the tone of the evening. :) Can you guess where this is going?

Apparently, while picking up the pizza, he received several phone calls that he didn't notice since his phone was in his pocket. When he did finally answer, he found out that the dinner party we had planned on going to Saturday was going on right now. The first thing I thought when he started talking about it was that he was going to say the party had been canceled. Then I thought, "why did they move it up to Friday and not tell us they changed it?" Then I re-read the invite. Sure enough, it said "Fri, Feb. 15th"

........

By this time, the party had been going on for over an hour, and it'd be almost two before we'd be there. But we tried anyways--ran upstairs, dug through the closet to find something evening appropriate, put on some makeup, and tried to fix my hair (that had been in a ponytail all day, and had never seen the hair dryer.... yeah, when you've got long hair that sits all tied up all day, it gets that awesome crease in it that makes it impossible for you to wear it down, or do much else with it without making it blatantly obvious that it had been up in a ponytail all day....)

SOMEHOW, we made it just as they were finishing up the soup course, and we still got to sit with everyone and have a nice dinner.

Now, how did this happen. I don't know. I read the invite, and I do remember reading "Friday, Feb.15th." But in my mind, Saturday night is party night so I guess it translated to "Saturday, Feb. 15th" And I remembered the date, and remembered that it was the day after Valentines.... So I'm not sure how I became so convinced that it was on Saturday... I'm still baffled by it.

Jeremy tries to get out of any blame in this, saying he never saw the invite, but I did show it to him when it first came in. Ultimately, though, it was my fault. I'm the wife, after all! We have day planners instead of brains! I hope I haven't mixed up any other dates!

Sigh... placenta brain lives on, strike two!

Ya gotta wonder what's next?

We did have a great time, though, and the food/drinks were excellent, so thank you very much, Allison & Kevin, for throwing that shindig! Thanks so much! And sorry to Laurence & Katharine--we barely talked to you guys before you had to leave (that's usually what cocktail hour is for, huh? Whoops, we missed that part! Grumble grumble...) Next time, I'll have Jeremy put it in his calendar, and maybe we'll get there on time, on the right day. (I'm glad we got a phone call, or we'd be showing up there tonight, and look even more stupid....) Now that would be funny!

Well, don't we feel stupid.

As some of you know, the ice maker on our fridge stopped working shortly after Christmas. This has been REALLY frustrating, as we've had to resort to making ice the 'old fashioned way', using trays and tap water. This took up VALUABLE freezer space, causing the need to store more food in the downstairs' fridge than we'd like.

After much procrastination (it's what I do best) I finally called the repair guy from Sears. Lucky for us, when the previous owner bought the fridge, she got the extended 3 year in-home repair plan on it, which is good 'til November. So I called, scheduled an appointment for today, and waited for today to arrive.

Around 2 p.m. I got a call saying that the guy was on his way. Fifteen minutes later, he was here. Fifteen minutes later, he was gone. Wanna know what was wrong with the ice maker??? Why we haven't had ice since Christmas?!?!

It was off.

***waiting for the 'waaaa waaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' music...***

Yes, we stupid, and shoved something back there that hit the switch and turned it off. He was really nice about it though, and kept saying, "oh, it vedy comma pwobwem." (He had a very heavy Asian accent... I couldn't understand half of what he was trying to say.) He then proceeded to explain that I have too much food in the freezer, and that would cause cooling problems throughout the whole fridge, and to not put plastic bags anywhere near the ice maker, because not only could they turn the ice maker off, they could also get caught up in the pieces that turn the ice out, and jam it.

So not a complete waste. We also learned that the reason for the poor water pressure from the water dispenser was likely due to a poor install, and we'd need to call a plumber to re-drill a hole.... or something.

Anyways, I'm glad we'll have ice again, "the new fashioned way." It's so much easier to just stick your glass under the dispenser than to have to pop cubes out of trays...

The placenta brain lives on (and has infected Jeremy, too, apparently....) :)

LOST

Too funny. Make sure to let the whole thing load before watching!

Lost takes a dramatic turn... (Sorry for the auto-play... don't know how to turn that off...)

Okay, I took the player off because the auto-play was driving me crazy. So just click on the link above if you haven't seen it yet.

Sorry 'bout that!

The STRIKE is OVA!

Finally!

Okay, writers, I'm glad you got what you were looking for (from what I can tell, based on the prelim terms I read,) now get back to work!

Carlton Cuse says we'll get 5 more episodes of LOST in addition to the 8 already filmed. So 13 instead of 16, but hey, 13 is better than 8!

Damon Lindelof, though, says we may get all 8 of the remaining epis due this season. So.... we'll see! And if you haven't yet, check out Jorge Garcia's blog (Hurley) linked to the right here. He's a funny guy.

Okay, enough of that, how 'bout a video?

"Hi, Da-Da..."

The exact conversation went like this:

Jeremiah walks into the bedroom part of our hotel room...

Jeremy: "Hi, Jeremiah."

Jeremiah: "Hi, Da-Da."

Yes, he really did say that, and no, we're not just wishing that's what we heard. It was *the* cutest thing he's ever done!

And he probably won't do it again for a long time... But we both remember it! So for now, it's all we've got.

Yay, we made it!

We finally made it back to DC. WOOT! Even though it's about 40 degrees colder here than San Diego, I'm glad to be home.

Our plane arrived about 40 minutes early this morning, around 5:25 a.m. Jeremiah was the best baby ever! We got him strapped into his carseat on the plane (such a lifesaver... That flight would have been so much harder to do without it...) and he just sat there and waited patiently for the plane to take off, even though it was 3 hours passed his bedtime, and had been almost 10 since his nap.

There were babies EVERYWHERE on this flight. There was a one & a half year older sitting in front of us, and he and Jeremiah had a great time waiting for the plane to take off. It was the absolute cutest thing to see--this kid would peer over the seat and look at Jeremiah, and Jeremiah would just start laughing hysterically! They were "talking" back and forth, and it was just so cute...

That went on for a good five minutes, and then it was time to start moving. They cut the cabin lights, and we began taxiing towards the runway. As we moved, you could see Jeremiah's eyes blinking heavily and we knew he would be out soon. By the time we were on the runway, Jeremiah was fast asleep.

I can't say he got great sleep while on the plane. He was in his chair, which isn't the most comfortable way to rest, as his head kept bobbing forward, and his body wanted to roll over, but he couldn't. So a few times, I saw him wake up for a sec, rub his eyes and face, and go back to sleep.

Can't say the same about the other babies on the plane. One baby in particular (her poor mother...) just would NOT fall asleep, and you could hear it in her cry, she was sooo tired. She was about 11 months, and was sitting across the aisle in the row in front of us. Her mother tried and tried, and finally, after about 30-45 minutes of crying and fighting, she fell asleep. And there was much rejoicing.... (yay!)

I tried to snooze a bit... Once the cable shows switched to infomercials, I decided to give it a go. I think I snoozed for about 45 minutes, but was worried I wouldn't wake up in time to get Jeremiah's EarPlanes in his ears, so I ended up staying up the rest of the flight.

For those of you who don't know, EarPlanes are the greatest invention ever! There're these ribbed ear-plug type things that you put in an hour before landing, and it regulates the air pressure so your ears don't pop as the plane decends. This was always very painful and uncomfortable for me as a kid, and I wanted Jeremiah to be as comfortable as possible, so we tried them out, and by golly, did they do their job well! They also block about 20 decibels of sound, which was helpful for a sleeping baby. One of them fell out just as we were touching down on the runway, so for them I would say, "Great Success!" He was the only baby on the plane that wasn't crying when he woke up--he was actually smiling! Did his little "BIG STRETCH" and then looked at us as if to say, "I'm ready to start the day!"

All in all, a good flight. I must say, too, that the whole "bring candy for the flight crew" really was great. We brought a Whitman's sampler on each flight, and on both flights, got free drinks (the alcoholic kind.... Y'know, $5/pop? Yeah... Jeremy took good advantage of that for both of us. :) unlimited drinks and snacks, whatever we wanted. I will say that it did work better on the first flight where our attendents were mostly women, and a (possibly) gay man. This flight, it was all guys, and only the attendent we gave the box to seemed very appreciative (none of the others said anything to us about it, unlike the first flight.) I should point out that this man was pretty flaming (possibly gay... :) I think that's the key. Not that we did it to get stuff out of it--it made my day just seeing their shock and appreciation on their faces when we gave it to them. They kept asking, "Are you in the industry??" and under their breath, "do you work for another airline or something???" They just couldn't believe the fact that a "civilian" would bring them something--"no one EVER brings" them anything.

:)

Needless to say, we'll be bringing candy for the crew from now on.

So we're back! We got home around 7 this morning, changed and fed Jeremiah, and he's been asleep ever since (woke up for a little bit, but went back to sleep.) Jeremy and I got about 8 hours of sleep (thank you, Jeremiah!) so we're feeling okay now. And it looks like our Z Pizza just showed up, so I'm signing off. Will write about the trip itself soon!

So tired...

And yet, still so smiley. Only a few more min now and we'll be on our way home to DC!

Hanging out in the hotel lobby...

We've got over four hours to go before our plane leaves for VA... We've run out of things to do...

Happy 13 Months, Jeremiah!

I know, technically, I'm a day late, but here on the West Coast, it's only ten o'clock, so I'm still good.

We walked from our hotel to the San Diego Zoo today (just Jeremiah and me... Daddy was working.) When the gal at the Concierge desk highlighted the route on the map, it didn't look very far. Turns out it was about 3.5 miles, mostly uphile. Now, for those of you who are city dwellers, that's probably a walk in the park. But for us suburban types who drive everywhere, yeah, that was quite the hike. Add the hills, the stroller, and then walking around the zoo itself (which is huge, and I kept getting lost, so we gave up after about an hour... they were closing anyways!)

Was going to walk home, but the muscles in my legs that haven't gotten that much attention in a long time just wouldn't have it. So we cabbed it. The stupid cabbie, though, started the meter before we even got in the car, and then didn't stop it until we were completely unloaded and ready to walk off. I shouldn't have given him a tip... I thought I was being a stickler by giving him $2, but he seemed happy with that, so I guess I gave him too much. Oh well.

Needless to say, walking to the mall tomorrow now seems like a small feat. I wasn't particularly impressed with the zoo.... We saw a few animals, like some meerkats, which Jeremiah loved, and some birds, monkeys, otters (another fave of Jemiah's), and hippos. The hippos were cute, they were just standing underwater, cuddling next to each other. I'm serious, they just stood there, with their front legs up on a rock, and their heads nuzzling... Very sweet. I didn't think they were real at first, they were so perfectly posed, but every now and then, they'd move their heads ever so slightly. It was sweet--Jemiah could care less... They weren't very exciting to him.

And that's that. Tomorrow is Jeremy's birthday, so happy birthday, babish! The big 3-1... That's gettin' up there. :) We're going out for a schwanky dinner to celebrate--Morton's steak... mmmm.... should be yummy!

Jeremiah makes it Downtown!

Today, we took Jeremiah to the National Portrait Gallery in NW DC, in an attempt to give him a little culture....

....pop culture, that is. Yes, our main motivation for the trip was to get a picture of Stephen Colbert's portrait, hanging just outside the hall of Presidents (which we did walk through and got a few shots of as well.)

We weren't the only couple to do so, though... At least 10 other people came for the exact same reason. One guy told us that he's lived in DC 6 years, and had never been there before--until today, and only to see Colbert's portrait. :) Yes, a bit sad, but like I said, we did go through some of the other exhibits, which had some neat portraits in them as well.

I was disappointed to find out that the portrait was really just a digital print on canvas... Maybe I can get my Mom to paint a "real" portrait for him. We'll see.

The "plaque" next to his portrait.

Up close and personal with Colbert.

I couldn't get Jeremy to smile all day... Jeremiah has no problem making up for it, though!

Jeremy, striking his best Colbert-esqe pose.

Jeremiah and I with an unfinished portrait of George Washington. This was intentional, though the reason given didn't make much sense to me... Something about the artist wanting to be able to make copies easily or something... I dunno.

Jeremy & Jeremiah with an unfinished Martha Washington, not that you can see her very well.

Yes, we found these more interesting than the completed pieces. :)

All in all, it was a nice trip downtown, though I would have liked to do a bit more. We didn't get to go anywhere else, but that's alright. Maybe next time when we have more time.

CONGRATULATIONS, GIANTS!!!

You did the unthinkable.... You did what no one said you would be able to do.... You did what NO ONE else could this season--you beat the unstoppable NE Patriots, 17-14!

Okay, so I went into this game saying that I wasn't rooting for either team, even though, by default, I'm a NE fan (born and raised in RI, after all!) But y'know, I'm always for the underdog upsetting the favorite... And boy, did they come through.

I take back everything I said about the Manning family. Although I still find Peyton to be obnoxious and maybe a bit too proud at times, I would take him as a roll model for my kids over Tom Brady, any day! At least he's married to his kids' Mama!

And Eli, good for you! I'm proud of ya!

Also, way to go to Burress. Even though you boasted the Giants would win a week ago (never good to boast), you made good on your promise, and caught that game-winning touchdown to win it for your team.

Sorry to all my NE fan-blog readers. But, it was time. :)

I still can't believe it. GO GIANTS!

Can I just say, to Mr. Tom Brady...

....don't quit your day job.

I caught his bit on Saturday Night Live, and, well, dude can't act to save his life. Forget being funny, he can't even say his lines!

I know, he's a football player, not an actor, but come on... They had Peyton Manning on, too, and he did a WAYYY better job hosting.

Sorry, Tom. When it comes to SNL, Peyton > Tom. He totally PWNED you there.

Yes, I'll excuse you while you go make room for your fouth Lombardi....

Nothing good can come of this...

...except for filling the networks' pocketbooks.

In an interesting twist in the writer's strike-starved season of new shows, NBC and CBS have decided to take matters north--as in Canada.

That's right folks, both networks will be importing new scripted shows from the land of Cannucks, since all of our writers can't work until a deal is made. (BTW, any rumblings we heard earlier in the week about a possible end doesn't seem to have come to frutition... Oh well.) These shows won't actually hit the air for a while still, probably just in time for fall sweeps.

Considering all we have to look forward to at the moment is more reality tv, I guess this would be a nice change. Even if the writers' strike resolves itself soon, that's only a couple of months for studios to get some scripts written and filmed before a rumored SAG strike (for the same reasons, too...)

At least we've got 7 more episodes of LOST. And then, that's it. (BTW, I thought LOST last night was very interesting... Couple of observations:
~Jack's father, Christian, in Jacob's chair when Hurley looks in the cabin. That eye, though... who knows. Some people thinks that the 'real' Jacob, but is Jacob even real? Or is he just the "physical" manifestation of the island itself. Hmmm...
~I guarantee you that when Naomi said, "Tell my sister I love her," it was some kind of code... Why would she cover for the Losties?? What would she have to gain from that? Though I'm not sure why she felt the need to hide that info in front of Kate...
~What happens in Locke's camp that makes Hurley wish he'd gone with Jack??
~That Matthew Abbadon guy who visits Hurley in the hospital was creeeeeepy.... Is he the smoke monster? I don't think so, I think he's one of the peeps that knows what the island really is. I have a feeling that Hurley and the rest of the Oceanic 6 made some kind of deal to get off the island, and the rest of the Losties are paying the price. And if you want to know who those 6 are, highlight the following: Kate, Jack, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Sayid [and Aaron, but he wasn't officially on the plane when it went down. This is the "he" Kate is referring to when she met up with Jack at the end of season 3.]

That's enough for now. Overall, I'm glad LOST is back, but I don't miss all the questions each episode tends to add every week. Oh well. At least we know in 47 more episodes, we'll have all the answers we want. Though I can't picture what the final ep. would be like. How do you end a series like Lost??? It isn't with everyone getting off the island--sounds like it may be more like thos 6 going back somehow...

Okay, I'm done. More to come down the road...