Wedding/BabyMoon/Anniversary/Business Trip, Part 4?

I've lost count...

Anyways, here're some more Vegas pics from my excursion on our Anniversary (little did I know it was a 1.5 mile walk to CVS/Walgreens.... it looks a lot shorter than that on a map, or looking down the strip. At least the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!)

The Coca-Cola & M&M store on the Strip--I haven't actually had a chance to go in, yet, as I was a woman on a mission that day and didn't have time. Hopefully we'll have a chance later today.

The Fountain in front of the Forum shops at Caesars Palace.... These two guys walked with me up and down the strip, carrying my bags so I wouldn't have to. Sweet, huh?? I'm just kidding... I have no idea who those guys are.

South Strip--that's Toni Braxton up there on the side of the building. And you can see the Eiffel tower, in the distance.

*sigh* Ignore the showgirl next to the Bally's sign... There's stuff like that everywhere.

Planet Hollywood! They have the Mile Shops within it--1.5 miles of shops and restaurants, all indoors. Crazy.

The Eiffel Tower and Paris Hotel & Casino. It's pretty neat, they have all these famous french monuments, including an Arc de Triumph, though I didn't take a pic of it.

The gondola's at the Venetian (our hotel is part of their resort.) I don't have a pic of it, but will have to get one--inside the Venetian, they have this "city square" complete with stone floors and a faux sunny sky. It's very surreal... You go in there, and it does feel like daytime, and then you realize it's really 11 p.m.... The gondola's take you right through there and back. Pretty neat.

The Phantom tower outisde of the Pallazzo.

Outside the Venetian.

Treasure Island. They've got a pirate ship and stuff out in front. I'll have to go walk by it later.

Wedding/BabyMoon/Anniversary/Business Trip, Part 3

Well, the past couple of days have been fairly lo-key. Nothing too exciting, just the same old, same old, at least for Vegas.

Jeremy had to work Tuesday, so I only saw him briefly throughout the day. I mostly chilled in our hotel, trying to recover from walking the strip in 100+ temps the day before (it just sucks the life outta ya.) I tried going out for lunch, and was pretty beat afterwards, so that was the end of my excursions for the day.

Decided to check out the pool, in hopes of finding a decent cell phone signal so I could call Jeremiah at Grandma's. No luck. I have yet to find a place on the strip, whether inside or outside, where my cell phone would have a full signal and KEEP a full signal. It starts out good and strong, but usually by the time the other end picks up, the signal is all but gone, and then, *beepbeepbeepbeep!* So we continue the practice of "ringing" my parents, and they call us back in our room. Very annoying.

Tuesday night was interesting. :) Jeremy ran into some of his clients while visiting me at the pool, and they invited us to tag along for dinner. That was fine with me, as I'd rather go to a business dinner with Jeremy, than dinner by myself. So he was able to skip most of the "closing ceremony" for Tuesday night, and we met this "colorful" group at Carnevino, Mario Batali's steakhouse here in the Pallazzo (I say colorful, because they asked Jeremy if I would be uncomfortable, as their conversations could be considered, to some, "offensive".... Well, I've had dinner with some pretty interesting folks before, from my days with EB and Sony, so I was game. And for the record, they weren't that bad. A few remarks here or there may have been unnecessary, but as the only sober person there, it was understandable.) One look at the menu let us know that this would be the most expensive meal we have ever eaten--ever! We didn't really want to spend a lot of money, so we tried to stay on the conservative side as much as possible. But, yet again, it was good.

I was a bit disappointed, though, with the appetizers. We ordered these fried duck eggs, and I don't think they tasted all that different from a regular chicken egg. But hey, for $19, it must be good. Our salad was great, though, as I have never had mozzarella cheese that was so tasty! I mean, I've had fresh mozzarella before, but this was in a league of its own--it actually had flavor! So good!

Our entree was a bit disappointing, too. It is a steakhouse, but the cheapest steaks started at $35. Most were $50 or $75. Plus, that didn't include any sides, just steaks. Sides were all a la carte, and that adds up. We ordered a pasta dish to split, and I swear, they charge at least a $1 PER PIECE of pasta. Yeah, we had maybe a dozen shell type pastas (handmade by 4 guys all week) each, and that's it. Everyone else ordered steak, and were stuffed as a result. Yeah, we weren't stuffed. We didn't leave hungry (though the meal was over 3 hours long!) but we definitely weren't stuffed.

Surprisingly, the clients we were out with picked up the tab for the whole thing, which was great (though we had planned on paying for ourselves,) as the tip alone was almost $200 (20% charged automatically for groups larger than 6 people... there were 9 of us... you do the math. At least they said, "hey, that's not bad," when they saw the check...) It was good, but I don't feel the need to return. :) I can't say Morton's was as good, but at least you get your money's worth in food. You know portions are going to be meager when your server tells you over and over again, "small portions but big flavor." Ah well. It was still quite the experience, one we would never have on our own.

Yesterday was nice, for the most part. Jeremy played hooky in the morning, and we had a nice breakfast together. That was about all I saw of him after that. I took a 2.5 hour nap, which was desperately needed, and then had to leave so the cleaning crew could come through. Feeling re-energized, I decided to hit the strip again for some souvie shopping. Stepped outside, it was sunny, high 70's/low 80's, with a nice breeze. Perfect! I felt like I could walk all day! And then I had both arms full of bags, all the way down the strip... Suddenly, walking was exhausting again. Ah well. It's amazing how heavy t-shirts, a few mugs, and a stuffed bear can get! But I made it back okay! Took a quick bath (had to use the garden tub at least once!) got dressed and tried to figure out dinner plans.

I had hoped Jeremy would have been able to get out of working so late, but that didn't happen, so I had dinner by myself in the Grand Lux. I was trying to be good, so I ordered a pasta with lots of veggies, but it's not what I really wanted (should have gotten the shrimp pasta... the heck with veggies.) It was still good, but not good enough for me to sit there and stuff myself with it, so I brought it back to the room (not sure why... it just sat there all night... can't fit it in the fridge, because of all the booze in there... And it's weight sensitive, so you can't take stuff out to make room, or you'll get charged for it.) I should probably eat it for breakfast, but I dunno... I guess we'll see.

That brings ya up to date! Jeremy got me a spa gift card for our anniversary, so I'm having a pregger's massage and pedicure today. I'm not real big on massages, though, so I'm a little nervous... I dunno, the thought of being naked on a table while some stranger rubs oil into your skin kinda weirds me out... But I was beat from walking when I booked it, so it sounded better than paying the same price for a facial. Now I wish I'd gotten the facial. Oh well, too late to change it now. Guess I'll have to be brave!

I think tonight we're seeing Penn & Teller. Tomorrow's Blue Man Group, and then Cirque de Soleil's Mystere on Saturday before we leave. And then we come home! Yay! Jeremiah's been getting spoiled with Grandpa, so I'm sure he'll be disappointed we're home, but oh well! :)

Breakfast

Fried chicken and waffles, with pecans and honey butter syrup. Mmmm... I couldn't eat it all, but it was good.

Because he's my baby...

And I miss him, though being away from him out of town is easier than being at home--there aren't constant reminders everywhere that he's not there!

Wedding/BabyMoon/Anniversary/Business Trip, Part 2 - Vegas, Baby!

Hello again, folks. I'll try to keep this a bit shorter than the last entry. This is what happens when I don't have good, reliable, fast internet access for a few days--it all stockpiles. Luckily, we are in a beautiful 4-star resort suite now and it is definitely the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. I mean, there's a guy who walks around the pool offering sun bathers chilled cucumber slices for their eyes! And then he came around again with orange slices (not sure if they were to eat, or put on your face, so I politely declined...) Crazy...

You know you're in Vegas when a bottle of water sets you back $3 (unless you buy it from someone selling out of a cooler... then it's just, "One dolla! Ice cold water, one dolla!" Looking back on it now, I wish I had stocked up on the dollar waters, but oh well.) And we can't even move stuff around in the fridge, because it tracks it based on weight, and you'll get charged as soon as something moves... Booo! At least the ice down the hall is free. I've been noshing on it all afternoon, since I can't bear to bring myself to shelling out as much for a water as I do for Starbucks...

Thankfully and sadly, Jeremy's conference (the whole reason we came) started up today, and they have drinks available to attendees. So he's starting a little room stock for us, which should help keep me hydrated (I woke up at 4 this morning, PARCHED! I had to drink lukewarm tap water--it was all we had, but boy did it taste good.... Jeremy says it has a funny chemical taste, but y'know what? When you're thirsty, it's the best water you've ever had.)

Sadly, though, he's gone most of the day so I'm all by my lonesome. I thought I'd be okay with that, since this city is cool to just walk around in, but we did that yesterday, and boy, I'm still beat. Walking around in 100+ degree temps (35+ for those who prefer Celsius) just sucks the life outta ya. We kept ducking into casinos for drinks and a few pulls on the penny slots (Jeremy won $6 playing $1 on the penny slots! Woot! We promptly spent it on Starbucks. Well, at least I was able to get a drink with that. :) Our whole goal for going out was to hike to Tropicana, which is only a couple of blocks down the strip on a map, but it took us over 2 hours to get there. Why did we want to go to Tropicana?? Because they're the only casino left on the strip that dispenses coins when you win. Everyone else gives you a voucher that you can then use in another machine, or cash out for cash. Really, though, who's going to play the penny slots, win, and cash out their $.20 winnings? Well, not us. :) But if it's in nickels, then you're more likely to keep your winnings instead of playing them away.

Well, wouldn't you know it... After all that walking, we found out they too had switched to a voucher system... BOOO! Not all was lost, though. They had cheap souveniers at least (even cheaper than what I was going to buy at CVS! Score!) And then we had to head back, because....

We saw Phantom last night! This is the "Vegas" version, so it was different than the Broadway show. Different doesn't necessarily mean better... Being a Phantom purist (I grew up listening to the Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman version) the changes were kind of annoying... The big changes included moving the "chandelier" crash to the end of "Don Juan Triumphant" (and so the lyrics in "Masquerade" were changed from "to a prosperous year! To the new chandelier!" to something else...) cutting out the rehearsal completely for the "Don Juan Triumphant" (the scene right before we see Christine go to the cemetary to sing to her dead father,) and rushing what dialogue their was. At least, it seemed rushed to me. Reactions that would normally take a few seconds to give were given immediately, and it sucked some of the magic out of it for me.

Couple of good changes, though. Since the theater was designed to be a "Phantom" theater, the sets were larger and more brilliant, the chandelier being raised to the ceiling at the beginning was awesome, as it was in 5 different pieces that all swung around above your head before settling into its final position at the end of the overture. And more pyrotechnics. Lots more than on Broadway.

Was it good? Yes. Better than Broadway? No. But I would have probably enjoyed it more had I not seen it on Broadway previously. I tried taking some pics after the show (none allowed before or during, obviously) but it was really hard to get a good shot of the chandelier, with the lighting as it was. But it gives you an idea of how much work went into the theater itself.

We've definitely been eating better since being in Vegas. They have a cafe called "Grand Lux Cafe" that is a spinoff of the Cheesecake Factory, and it's definitely a great bang for your buck. I had a Tuna Niciose Sandwich with Cauliflower Cheddar soup, and a "small" salad with REAL blue cheese dressing. And it was SO GOOD! I couldn't finish it all, there was so much food (hence the "small" salad... it was NOT "small" by any stretch of the imagination... unless you're used to eating the whole salad at Olive Garden, or something.) Only $11. I paid that today for a less than impressive chicken philly with fries. Needless to say, I'll be having my lunches at the Grand Lux from now on. Ya can't beat the deal, and I'm sure it was healthier.

Last night (and apparently, tonight as well, since we'll be dining with some of Jeremy's clients,) we ate at one of Mario Batali's restaurants. Normally, I would never consider it, since those celebrity chef restaurants tend to be really pricey, but we were satified with the pricing options, and ended up getting a lot of food for a decent price. And it wasn't stuff we'd normally order, either--walnut salad, lentils, aparagus (raw) w/ ricotta cheese (not the stuff you buy in the store, that's for sure!), marinated olives, and a pancetta arugula pizza (very rustic, stone oven style.) It was so good! And we managed to spend less than $50 before tip (this is Vegas, remember...) Now the question is, do we get the same thing tonight, or try other things on the menu.... Hmmm....

That's been our trip, thus far. Getting here wasn't too bad. Remember I said I had planned on blogging on the plane? Well, that didn't happen, because the stupid people sitting in front of us chose to put their seats back. No way I could have the laptop open on my lap like that. I tried sitting sideways, but that was even more uncomfortable. At least we got our headsets for free (and more snacks than everyone else... HAHA!) since the attendants (and pilot!) were very appreciative of the Lindt truffles we brought them (I didn't think we'd get anything, since you can buy Lindt bars from them as a snack, but I guess those are off limits to the crew...) One of the attendants even told the other who was passing out the headphones, "We won't charge them, they brought us chocolates," right in front of the other passengers! They gave us a look as they handed over their $3 each for their sets. :p It pays to show your appreciation!

Oh, and going through customs in Canada vs. once stateside was so much easier. They even have their own security checkpoint, so there was NO wait at all! And I learned that Canada doesn't consider the US an "international" destination, but a "trans-national" or something. I was confused because they kept telling me to go somewhere else when I would get in line for WestJet's international check in, and they kept saying, "No, you have to go over there." I know now, though. Next time, I'll get it right. :)

Arrival in Vegas was crazy, though. We waited in line for an hour to get a cab (only option, shuttles had stopped shuttling by the time we got there, and we didn't want to pay $70 for a limo,) which would have been less had I not gotten the bright idea to try to walk to the domestic terminal instead, but I digress... At least we made it to our beautiful room, with a nice view, and expensive water. :)

You wanted it, you asked for it---PICTURES!

Our Hotel suite (there are no "rooms" just suites...) Yes, there are steps there leading down to the sitting area. (Not shown, 32" LCD HDTV in hutch.)

Jeremy wasted no time trying out the bed after traveling for 8 hours... It may have been only 1 a.m. here, but we were on Eastern time, so it was 4 in the morning! (Not shown, 42" LCD HDTV on wall.)

The bathroom, complete with double vanity, a dressing table and bench, and separate toilet room. I plan on trying out that tub at least once before we leave! (Not shown, 19" LCD HDTV on wall, in case you want to watch the news as you shower... Or something.)

Las Vegas Blvd, a.k.a The Strip, as seen from the southern end. Our hotel is that pale building right in the middle of the pic, to the left of the "Eiffel tower" at Paris.

The statue of liberty, at New York New York, and yup, that's a roller coaster.

New York New York, one of the gaudy, but cool, hotel and casinos.

MGM Grand. They have a lion habitat inside, though I have yet to see any lions during either trip to Vegas.

Excalibur Hotel and Casino. They have a Tourney Dinner Theater every night here. Definitely one of the more gaudy places to stay, but fun.

The Chandelier at Phantom. That was the best I could do, sorry.

The Phantom theater, complete with dummy patrons in the box seats.

Ditto.

Wedding/BabyMoon/Anniversary/Business Trip, Part 1

Well, it's been 5 days since we waved goodbye to Jeremiah and flew off into the sunset... Actually, we flew off into the drizzly night sky. And not without a few bumps along the way.

Our flight to Toronto was originally set to depart at 10:25, with an 11:40 arrival time. For some reason, the flight coming in from Toronto was delayed by a few minutes, so we didn't get to board until 10:50. That wasn't the only hiccup, though...

Apparently, (we're still learning these things ourselves) when you're travelling with an infant, even if he's a lapper, ya gotta have a boarding pass for him. Normally, you don't, but since it was an international flight, not only did Jr need a passport, but also a boarding pass. Well, for some reason, United let this family through without one (parents with three kids, the baby being the same age as Jeremiah, so they only needed 4 seats total, and that's all the boarding passes they had.)

So while we waited to board, United decided they would check passports for everyone on the plane. When this family went up, the gate employees realized they were missing a boarding pass for their little youngin'. OH NO! HUGE SECURITY THREAT HERE, PEOPLE! Let's hold up the plan for an hour until we get this family a boarding pass!

And that's what happened. We took off at our 'arrival' time, and didn't get into Toronto until around 1 a.m. It's not like we had to get there any time in particular, y'know, like to rent a car or something..... <~sarcasm

The boarder.... that was a whole other story. Normally, we get through the boarder just fine. They ask a couple of questions, and you're on your way. Nope, not so easy this time. I personally think the guy was just in a pissy mood to begin with because Jeremy crossed "the red line" without being called up first. It's not like the dude was doing anything else besides waiting for people to check in! That did it though. "What is your business in Canada?" Wedding. "Where's the invitation?" Uhh... we don't have it (we copied down the info and left it at home, so we wouldn't have to worry about losing it... silly us, huh?) "What's your friend's name?" "What does he do?" "What do you do?" "For what company?" "And what do you do?" (looking at me...) Uhh... I'm a housewife? "Where are you staying?" "How long?" "What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow??" (Okay, he didn't really ask that, but at that point, he might as well have!)

FINALLY, we get though, get our bags, and are on our way. We were able to get our car, drive to our hotel, and finally got to crash around 2:30-ish. Sheesh. The shortest part of our trip ended up taking just as long as the next part (which started at 8 p.m. Sunday, and didn't end until 12:30 a.m. PST. Okay, maybe it didn't take as long as that, but geez... the flight itself was only 50 minutes [normally 95, but they hooked us up and flew a little faster to make up for the silly canadian family and their bay-bee.])

Friday day, we hung out in Toronto with Jeremy's buddies from high school, including the groom to be. Lunch was at the worst pasta joint I've ever been to (okay, I know I ordered a highly complicated spaghetti and meatballs, but seriously... how do you screw that up?! It's freaking spaghetti.... meatballs... and sauce... How do you make the sauce taste so bad, you don't want to eat it. And then they put that same foul tasting substance in the meatballs themselves. I have never EVER sent something back because I didn't like it, but it was either that or not eat any of it. So they brought it out just with buttered noodles, and I still could only eat the spaghetti itself. At least we had ordered some mozzarella sticks, so I wasn't starving afterwards... Very disappointing. If you're ever in Toronto, stay away from the "Old Spaghetti Factory" Not worth it.) After lunch, we stopped at the St. Lawrence Market, and got some souvies for "the kids" (my brothers.) And thankfully, there are Tim Horton's along the way, everywhere you go. Their Timbits cannot be topped (they are gooooooood, but only when they're fresh.)

That was Friday in a (large) nutshell. Saturday was the wedding, which we arrived late for, so we missed the entire ceremony. How late were we?? 10 minutes. No joke. Jeremy was pointing some hill out, and accidently drove right past the exit. The next one was 5 miles away. Grr... So by the time we got there, we got to witness the prayer (which no one had their heads bowed and eyes closed for, so we didn't know that was what was going on until we sat down and the priest said, "Amen.") and the signing of the marriage certificate/license, whatever. And that was it! Wedding over! Short and sweet, I guess.

That was the only part that was short and sweet, though. There was a two hour break between the wedding and the reception, so once again, we ventured to Tim Horton's, after a brief stop at The Beer Store for some Rickards Red.

The reception was nice. Good food, lots of drink options, good times with our table (it was us, Ben & Emilia, Jeremy's buddy from HS and his wife, and a buddy of the bride's with her fiance.) Dessert was lacking, but everything else was really good (the best part of the wedding cake was the fondant, at least in my opinion. They had other desserts available, too, but I wasn't in much of a desserting mood.) We left around 11:30 (yes, it took 6 hours to get to dessert, and the party wasn't over yet,) and crashed in our room.

Are ya still with me? We're almost done so hang in there! :)

Lastly, Sunday. Went to a yummy breakfast/lunch place with another of Jeremy's buddies (I had a tuna sandwich with a huge side of fruit, and a choco banana crepe.... Mmm... So good.) I was able to experience "Canadian Tire" which is not a tire shop, believe it or not. They're a really random homegoods store (really random... like, chocolate fountains, next to flashlights, next to weed killer, incase you want to dip the weeds you're killing at night into some liquid chocolate?) It was a dump, even moreso than Walmart, and now I never have to go back again. :) The curiosity has been quenched!

Final stop was at the mall for some poutine from New York Fries (supposedly, it's the best you can get without driving to Quebec.) We were still kinda full, so we walked around a bit, only to find out that the mall closed at 5, and we missed our opportunity to get the poutine that we had gone there for... Booo... I did get some, though, from KFC, but it was just okay (it's best when the cheese is melted, and it wasn't here.)

That's 'bout it for Canada. Part two will cover our trip to Vegas and beyond!

Oh yeah, and I have no pics. Sorry. :)

The view from our suite.

Not too shabby... Current temperature, 93 degrees at 11 a.m.

And now, off to find brunch!

Off to Vegas!

We are currently sitting in Toronto's international airport, waiting to board our flight to Vegas. We should be arriving around 10:45 local time. Yay! I plan on "blogging" whilst en flight, so I'll probably have more info to post upon arrival.

Oh, and I've been informed by my Mom that Jeremiah doesn't miss us at all. yay.

New Haircut!

Last week was the "Week of Haircuts!" in my family--Jeremy got his cut, then I got mine cut, then we took Jeremiah to get his cut----duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhn.....

Yeah... it was a bit crazy.... He screamed the ENTIRE TIME! You'd think he were being attacked by something (I guess in a way he was--scissors and shavers...) We tried giving him lollipops (he knew something was up, since he had one in each hand and didn't taste either of them,) sitting on Daddy's lap, being held by Mommy, sitting on Mommy lap... That last one broke my heart. He kept putting his head on my shoulder, trying to calm down, and then the shaver would be back, and he'd pop up, screaming again, while we tried to hold him down. Ugh, it was terrible. I think we're just going to invest in a really good shaver, and do it ourselves from now on... Maybe we'll have to take him to space "where no one can hear you scream..." :)

I must say, though, he's pretty darn cute now (not that he wasn't before!)

Before:

After:

Such a handsome young man!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there--did you try to take today "off", only to find yourself still doing as much (or almost) as you normally do?? :) Good times, eh?

Hope everyone had a blessed day, and remembered to do something nice for your mother, too! Don't forget to tell her that ya love her (I know I don't say it enough!)

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Mother's Day--the traditional gift to give back then was a single, white carnation. And there were no "cards"--they wrote their own letters! Moms really dig that kind of stuff. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the crib!

Jeremiah never has "good days" on rainy days... And the rain isn't going to let up anytime soon! :(

This morning, he was really whiny, getting mad at me for not letting him play with the straw in my drink, or the cd's in the Office 2003 case (I was trying to install it this morning...) When he's in that kind of mood, I let him watch a little more TV then I'm normally okay with. Not that he actually watches it... more like watches it, then walks around and finds something to play with, then glance up at it again, then find something else to do, etc. You know he's having a really rough day when he'll actually sit with you and watch it completely still. Yeah, we had a few of those moments today.

I tried giving him his lunch, but he was more interested in his milk, and throwing his sandwich on the floor rather than eating it. All he would actually 'eat' were some crackers that he likes to stuff in his mouth, chew, then spit back out again. Oii...

Okay, fine, naptime, then! He whined through his diaper change, even though he had his bottle, and then whined again when I tried rocking him--he just wanted to go in his crib! So I put his blanket down, and he laid down on it, sooo happy!

Of course, he didn't fall right asleep. Nope, Jeremiah is notorious for pooping when he should be trying to nap. I can hear him "pushing" over the monitor, so I gave him a few minutes to wrap it up, and went to check his diaper. Well, he did NOT want to be bothered. As soon as I stepped in his room, he started whining at me (he was laying down with his eyes open, though they may have been shut before I opened the door...) As I got closer, he scooted away, still laying down, and whined even louder. I got the picture, and left, and now he's sound asleep. I guess he's more interested in sleeping than having a clean diaper (of course, he may not have been dirty, either... his nose is stuffed up, so his breathing can sound more forced at times. Guess we'll find out when he wakes up!)

Hopefully he wakes up on the GOOD side of his crib after his nap. Speaking of naps, don't mind if I do... :)

LOST Epi. 10 - "Cabin Fever" Part 2

Okay, so a few more things, now that the TV is off and I'm less distracted.

Abbaddon showed up tonight, which makes for an interesting twist. Seems everyone knew there was something special about Locke--just had to convince him of it. So now I'm really curious--what is Abbaddon's role in LOST? When we first met him, he was talking to Hurley, post Oceanic 6, and asking, "Are they alive?" or something along that line. We assumed, based on the little we knew about him, that he was on the "wrong" side. After all, he hired Naomi, Daniel, Charlotte, and Frank... I think we can be pretty sure that they really mean no harm. They may have some idea that Keamy and his guys (hired by Widmore) do but to what extent eludes them. I think that Abbaddon is on the same team as Richard Alpert (nice to see him again after such a long time... sorry about your other show not working out and all,) and both are ultimately on "Team Island". Widmore is the "bad guy" and while Ben is no angel, I don't think he poses any further threat to the island itself. Maybe Locke steps into his role, as he was meant to all along... Ben just got there first, but now takes orders from Locke. After all, Locke is turning into a Ben-like person (the whole manipulatory scene with Hurley, anyone?)

I wonder if Ben's "grandmother" was lying when she said she'd never seen "that man" before and didn't know who he was (referring to Richard Alpert.) I wonder if Alpert had anything to do with Emily's "accident". And was he "the father?" I don't know if we'll ever learn the answers to any of those questions... They don't really seem that important in the grand scheme of things, but it is kinda curious to know.

Oh yeah, and I don't understand why Sayid thinks the only way "to keep our people safe is to get them off that island," when Keamy alludes to the fact that he's going to kill each and every one of them... Unless Sayid plans to dispatch Keamy himself.

Also, I'm disappointed in Captain Gault. He was such a hardnose earlier this season. Remember the whole, "Don't trust the captain," and him beating the heck out of that guy who wanted to go for a joy ride? Should have pulled the trigger, dude... Now you're dead. Oh well. Not everyone can be a hero. Let's hope Frank shows some more guts when it matters most.

How are they going to move the island??? The joke on the message boards have been, "via fleet of dolphins..." Riiiiiight. :) Amusing, nonetheless. I'm sure we'll find out next week.

And that concludes the last regular season episode of Season 4! Next week is finale, Part 1, with Parts 2 & 3 on May 29th. Should be good! We'll be in the air when next week's episode airs, but I plan on watching it first thing Friday morning, online! Should be good!

LOST Epi. 10 - "Cabin Fever"

Wow. The beginning of the end begins!

Couple of things:

Been thinking about the smoke monster, and why he didn't "kill" Keamy and his guys. I think he was pissed that he was bothered. Think about it--Ben runs down and calls him out of his "slumber", saying, "Hey! There are guys trying to kill us! Come help!" Begrudgingly, he agrees, but he's not all too happy about it. I mean, look at it, he was zipping through there, all fast and crazy like. Usually, when we see the smoke monster, he creeps in and sneaks up on ya. Not this time. That's why he didn't kill the whole crew (we learned tonight that one did die, but he was alive when they left.) He just flipped them around a bit. At least, that's my idea.

Also, revisiting the whole "Claire" thing. Tonight, we saw her with her father in Jacob's cabin. Uhh.... first of all, Claire, your "Dad" is dead... and you're hanging out with him in a creepy house, waiting for John Locke? Yeah... I think this confirms that there's "something" up with Claire. My guess, as some other have hypothesized---she's dead. Sounded kinda crazy last week, but this week it seems far more than plausible. How else could a mother give up her child to the care of "Sawyer"?? She's not human! :) "He's exactly where he should be." <~ Christian Shepherd. Well, if the psychic was so adament about Claire raising him, and Hurley says that Charlie says, "You're not supposed to raise him," then what the heck is going on??? Why is he with Kate? Is that "exactly where he's supposed to be??" Hmm...

That's all for now. We're keeping an eye on a tornado watch just south of us... If nothing else, we're getting lots of rain right now! My plants will be happy! Hmmm... what's going to happen to my flowers while we're out of town... Guess they're going to Grandma's, too! :)

LOST Season 4, Epi 10 - Something Nice Back Home

Well, I had a lot more to say about this last week. Then the busy weekend came, then I read all of the different analyzes and comments, and the only thing I really have to say about the whole episode is this:

What the heck was up with Kate's voice in the "shower" scene?!

Okay, I know they were trying to trick everyone, and wanted to surprise us with the fact that it was Kate, and not Juliet (or some other random person...) But c'mon... Jack says good morning, and we get a creepy, "good morning yourself" as a response. Maybe it's just me, but she just sounded weird and man-ish... Not sexy and seductive, that's for sure (unless Jack's into men, which has been discussed and debated many times on the message boards.)

At least we know what sets off "Hillbilly beard Jack" from the Season 3 finale. How he got from the courthouse ("Eggtown" epi) to Kate's house, we don't know. But we do know he's following right in his father's footsteps--things don't go smoothly, hit the bottle!

Speaking of Christian Shepherd, dude gets around, huh? He's haunting Jack, cuddling his grandson (before convincing his daughter to leave him on a palm leaf before gallivanting off into the jungle...) And what's going on with Claire? Baby Aaron gets kidnapped almost as often as the smoke monster makes an appearance, and she decides he can hang out on a palm leaf by himself? There are many opinions on what is going on with Claire. Some people thing she didn't survive the explosion at all, that the Claire walking around now is actually an illusion, or the smoke monster (or something else) in Claire form (which would also explain Miles' sudden interest in her and Aaron...) But, I don't think that's the case... I think she just got hit on the head a little too hard. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

Back to Jack. Did anyone else want to slap him silly when he insisted on being awake for his surgery??? Talk about control issues... I'm glad Juliet took control and made Bernard knock him out. But how/why did he get sick in the first place, as Rose pointed out? Well, "Darlton" (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) did explain this, briefly, in an interview--basically, the more in tune you are with the island, the less sick you get. Fall out of that communion with the island, and things happen (Ben's tumor, Jack's appendix, etc...) So then I gotta wonder: Why the heck are Keamy and his "boyz" still alive?? Did the smoke monster not feel like going on Mr. Eko on them??? Did he not feel threatened by them as he did by the pilot (from the pilot episode... poor guy lasted 5 minutes awake on the island.) If that's the case, then maybe Smokey would rather they did their job, and get Ben off the island? I don't know, but all I know is I'm disappointed to still see them alive. I hope Keamy gets an awesome death, a la Ben (or Sayid... dude knows how to kill, that's for sure.)

And that's all I've really got for this epi. Not being a guy, I didn't think it was that great (geez, Kate, put some clothes on already... she had one scene, post-island, where she was fully clothed... The other 4 or 5, panty shots all around (or less!) Whatever.) This weeks episode looks like it'll be awesome! Locke centric, going all the way back to his birth, I hear. And, someone we haven't seen in a while will make an appearance (in Locke's past, no less!) Plus, we're headed to the cabin! How can awesomeness not ensue???

Next week: Part 1 of the Season 4 finale! It's a three parter, with parts 2 and 3 taking place May 29th. So two more episodes, one week off, and two-hours to finish off our Losties adventures on the Island, at least for 6 of them. It will be interesting to see what they do next season with the Oceanic 6 off the island, struggling to return, and everyone else still on the island. Good stuff!

Good day!

Today was a fairly successful day, if I do say so myself.

Jeremy was able to sell his Accord, finally! YAY! Thank you, Jesus! :) We've been trying to sell it for a while, but everyone always low balls us, and then we don't want to sell it to them... They nit pick EVERYTHING, every little scratch, every tire that will need replacing in a couple thousand miles, everything! So annoying. They ignored the fact that Jeremy just replaced the timing belt, and did other maintenance on it that would cost them well over $1000. They ignored the fact that he's been the only owner, and has almost all maintenance receipts. "Oh, the bumper's dinged up, we'll give you $800 below your asking price."

Uhhh... no!

Finally, we found someone who didn't make Jeremy an offer over the phone (never a good sign), and actually appreciated the fact that the timing belt was done, and he was the only owner. He was so happy with the car, he didn't even negotiate--he's paying our asking price! Woot! Of course, we felt the asking price was fair, so we're very happy about that. Major stress factor, GONE!

And the day gets better...

We were going to head out to Warrenton and hang out with my family, but they kinda had a lot going on. Since we were already on the road, I was able to convince Jeremy to take us to Buy Buy Baby so we could get a crib for Jess Jr. We had a 20% off coupon that was going to expire soon, so I was anxious to go.

Got there, and look around a bit. Showed Jeremy my two choices, and tried to get his opinion (silly idea, but I was trying! :) We were just about to say, "Okay, let's get that one," and another crib caught my eye. It didn't have a price on it, and I was curious, so I asked Jeremy to find out how much it was. Turns out, it was on clearance as a three piece set--crib, dresser/changing table, and armoire, for $800 (originally $1800.) Well, that was a little more then we wanted to spend, especially since we really just wanted the crib.

Long story short, we ended up getting all three pieces for $512. It's complicated, but we'd be more than happy to share how it happened if you ask. I'm not going to attempt to explain it here, though :) My Avo would be proud. :) We were able to bring the crib and dresser home, and will go back to pick up the armoire. Hey, considering the only furniture we bought for Jeremiah was our glider, I'd say this was a super deal! Here's a pic.

Only downside to today was the fact that we had to spend so much time at BBB that Jeremy didn't have a chance to mow the lawn. He says he'll do it in the morning... we'll see! :) Now, though, it's time for bed!

Oh yeah!

And one more thing...

We're in the 6 month window! WOO HOO! Time is really flying by... I forgot that it's May--we leave for our trip is less than 2 weeks! Come back, it's a week away from June. July, August, BABY! Crazy. I had all the clothes I had purchased laid out on the bed, and it was pretty funny to look out--I wanted to take a pic, but didn't have a chance to before I needed to clear it all off. I realize now, though, that I have PLENTY of newborn/6-9/12 month dresses, and that's about it. In the 3-6 month range, almost nothing, but that's mostly because everyone's clearancing spring/summer clothes right now... All the winter stuff is gone, and most likely, Jess Jr won't need summery dresses in the 3-6 mos range (since, if she's like Jeremiah, would be in those clothes from October to January, or if she's small, December to February... yeah, not short sleeve weather.) That's alright. It'll give me something to shop for after she's born--gotta get out of the house for some reason! :)

Here are a few dresses I recently got for her from Children's Place. So cute (and each less than $7!)


Actually, we didn't get the pink dress... we got a couple similar to it, but sans polka dots. They didn't have the other one in stock anymore, so I couldn't find a pic of it. :)

Boos and Woos...

It's been a rough week for Jeremiah.

On Thursday, he woke up with a pretty significant fever, which hovered in the 102/103 range thoughout the day, despite giving him Tylenol (he wouldn't take the Motrin.) All I can say is, "Thank God for Tylenol Meltaways!" They're like chewables, but fall apart without much effort. It's probably not a great thing that he thinks they're candy (look like big smarties,) but he willingly will take them, so that's a plus.

By the time we had to pick Daddy up (we were going to dinner to visit a former professor of his from Geneva), and after having the AC blast on him the whole way there, he was back below 100 for the first time that day! Seemed to be feeling better, too, as he was very well behaved, and not the least bit whiney during dinner (unlike the rest of the day.)

Unfortunately, the next morning, it was back. But other than that, he seems fine, and seems to feel okay, so it's been alright. Today, he still has a small fever, but well within an acceptable range (103's and 104's are scary numbers to see on a thermometer...) Thanks a lot, stupid vaccines! And apparently, this is only the beginning, as that fever was likely caused by the chicken pox vaccine, whereas a fever from the MMR will be showing up in a day or two... And then possibly a rash to follow. Yuck.

Other than that, the weekend is going well so far. Uncle James is in town, so hopefully we'll get to see him after naptime. It is absolutely GORGEOUS out today--sunny, 80's, and trending to be similar the next few days (a bit cooler, though, in the mid-high 70's! I love it!) Jeremy's got someone who's seems to be serious about buying his Accord, so he's dealing with that right now (keep your fingers crossed! We really don't need three vehicles...) I went with a friend to Dani's Duds last night, and scored a bunch of really cute sleepsacks for Jess Jr, along with a booster seat, some baby gates, wooden puzzles, and a few other odds and ends. It was a lot of fun, though a few things I really wanted were long gone. Oh well. I'm going back tomorrow to try to score some clothes, since it's half off then, and pick up a few things I don't want donated to charity.

That's all with us. I've got a LOST write up in the works, though there's not much to really say, so if you're waiting for that, it's coming! I've got to go get ready for the day now. :)

Do you feel a draft??

Today has been an off day for us. The monitor was turned down, unbeknownst to me, so when I woke up at 9, I figured something was up. Sure enough, Jeremiah was up, blabbing to himself in his crib.

After some breakfast (which he eats mostly in the buff, since he makes such a mess,) we went outside for a few minutes. He ran around in his pajama bottoms and a diaper, and that's it (it was in the 80's by 10 a.m.) I was finally able to get him dressed, and we hung out in the play room 'til naptime (noon.)

Naptime rolls around, so I changed him and left his shorts off, since they tend to wick away moisture from his diaper if I don't. Gave him his bottle, put him in his crib, and left, with him still sitting there, like he always does.

After about 30 minutes, I didn't hear him playing anymore, so I went in to put a blanket on him. "Hmm..." I thought, "did he push his shirt up? He looks naked..." Sure enough, there on the floor in front of the crib was his diaper, along with all the blankets that was in there with him. He was bare butt, sound asleep. And let me tell you--it's not easy putting a diaper on a sleeping baby, especially when their on their stomach. But it also wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. :) Needless to say, I think it's about time we got the whole potty training thing started--he enjoys taking off his diaper way too much!

Sure was cute, though. :)

The fun stuff.

In more interesting news about his visit, he's still just shy of the 30 lb mark, weighing in at 29 lbs, 14 oz--almost too big for the scale! I'm sure next visit he will be.

He's also about 34 inches tall, and still barely on the charts, stat wise. 96/97+/96 were his stats (weight/head/length) I guess Dr. Atiyeh feels he's growing just fine, so he's having us switch him to 2% milk. And, "he can eat the same things we eat, but still avoid nuts (ooops), and shellfish, like shrimp (ooops) and lobster..." Well, I'm sorry, but peanut butter and honey sandwiches are his favorite (on whole grain bread, no less...) And while he doesn't have it often, I have given him small pieces of shrimp without any kind of reaction (he's had worse reactions to apple cinnamon oatmeal...) so I think he's alright.

His favorite things to eat are cheese (any kind, really, though he's never had American, as far as I know... maybe at a restaurant, but we don't buy it. We prefer cheddar or muenster, both of which he loves,) veggie cream cheese on toast, turkey, freeze dried fruits (I think he prefers them to the real thing, at least in the case of bananas...) peanut butter, any kind of fresh citrus (he makes Daddy share his grapefruit with him, every time...) oatmeal, miso soup, scrambled eggs and milk, of course.

There're lots of things he likes to eat, but he's more picky about when he'll eat them, like corn, tomatoes, cheese quesadillas, chicken, ground beef, hotdogs, rice, cooked red peppers, umm... that's about it for now. He's really become a "picky" eater, compared to what he used to be (used to eat anything! Not so much anymore.) Makes getting a balanced diet in a little tough, but he's growing just fine, so I guess he'll make up for it more later. Maybe it's time to break out Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, and start hiding veggies in foods (though the veggies that you hide in the foods he would eat, like squash in mac n cheese, he'll eat on their own, so it's not necessary to 'sneak' them in.) I think I'll start making my own veggie cream cheese--at least I know there'll be plenty of real veggies in it, then. Might get freeze dried veggies, too, since he likes the fruits so much. Looks like we need a trip to Whole Foods!

The doc kinda freaked us out a bit, when he asked us how many words Jeremiah was saying. "Usually around this age, they can say 10-15 words." Ten to fifteen?! Jeremy: "Uh, yeah, he can say about 10 words." Oh really? Hmm... I only count 4 or 5... Mama/Nonny (for Mommy), Dada, "o'er dere" (over there or outside... usually he's point to the outside when he says it,) "o dat" (what's that? or can I have that?) and that's about it. He did say "duckie" once, as I mentioned in a previous post, but that's all... So yeah, I was wondering where "10" came from. :) Dr. Atiyeh: "Wow, if he can say 10, that's really good." Jeremy: "Well, actually, I guess it's only 5." lol

And that's about all. I need to go sort stuff I'm going to sell at the sale this weekend, and run a few errands before the "6 days of rain" shows up (opening this weekend! YAY! <~ Sarcasm...)

Aww... My poor little baby...

Jeremiah had his 15 month appointment today... It didn't go very well... He screamed when the nurse measured his head and checked his height... He screamed as soon as Dr Atiyeh started touching him to use the stethoscope, and didn't stop until Mommy was holding him again. And, of course, he cried when he got his shots. Now, 20 min later he's conked out in the van while Daddy runs into Chipotle to get Mommy some food. My poor baby!

"The Middle Wife"

One of the gals on a message board I frequent posted this story. It was really cute, so I thought I'd share. :)

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second-grade classroom a few years
back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that.

And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me.

The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!'

This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was to much!

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten.

Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside
there.'

Then she stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

LOST Epi. 9 - "The Shape of Things to Come"

Well, we got what we were promised--a whole lot for a whole little. Seriously, was it just me, or were there more commercials than show??? It's supposed to be 41/19, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more like 33/27... They're milking it for all it's worth.

That being said, great episode! Lots of action, lots of different sides of Ben, lots of questions answered/created... My absolute favorite part was definitely when Smokey showed up (seriously, who didn't love that...) I mean, you knew Ben had "a see-cwet weap-en!" when he told Keamy, "How 'bout you turn around, go back to your helicopter and never come back here again." I don't think he had actually planned on using it until "........he changed the rules..." But man... that was awesome. I'm gonna have to watch that again a few times. :) You don't mess with Ben.

I was a bit disappointed with that whole encounter with Alex, though... We weren't sure if he really cared for Alex as much as we now know he did until this episode. Who knew that he really did love her so much... more than anyone was willing to give him credit for. That's why I was so disappointed with the whole encounter. I expected them to bring her out and for him to say, calmly, "That's not my daughter." But his emotions got the better of him, and by the time he actually started trying to play that card, it was too late, Keamy saw right through it. Did Ben really think he would care that she wasn't actually his birth daughter? The whole point of having a hostage is to play on the emotions of the person you're trying to manipulate. Oh well. Ben's human, we have proof now.

Another "bumming" fact is that we'll never find out (or least, it's unlikely) about the $3.2 million that Miles wanted. Gee, ya think they know he's alive now?? We wanted to know WHY it was $3.2 vs. $3 or $3.5 or $4 million... Kinda a cheap way of getting out of that one, writers.

Now we know why Sayid is working WITH Ben, vs. for him... He practically begged Ben to let him kill a few more for him. And I'm glad to see that Ben has some cred outside of the Island. It would have been kinda dumb for him to be this big baddy on the island, and just some schmuck off. "I'm pretty good with a bo staff" is what I was thinkin' when he was taking those guys down in the desert. Awesome. Ya have to wonder, though... Ben didn't think twice about using that thing (whatever it's called... collapsible club or something? Whatever.) Yet he likes to keep referring to himself as "one of the good guys". So either Widmore is, like, the Lex Luthor of the LOST world, or they're BOTH Lex Luthor's and it's a race to the kryptonite (the Island) FTW! I'm very curious as to why he can't 'kill' Widmore... What are these unspoken rules that they have... And who set them?? Jacob?? I bet Richard Alpert knows!

And finally, can I just say, dang, Baby Aaron, you sure do cry a lot! Seems like that kid is never happy... You'd think he'd be used to all the chaos as someone who "was born on this island." And I'm sorry, Clair should be dead. I mean, her house was shot with a rocket launcher, and she's just "a bit wobbly"??? I guess Jacob/The Island really likes her and doesn't want Mama to kick the bucket yet. (Was kinda funny that the stupid 'red shirts' kept coming out of the house, and getting shot... That had to have been frustrating for Sawyer to watch.)

That is all. Time to read what the 'pros' have to say. :)

Oh no, wait! I forgot. My subconscious decided to continue the episode in my dreams with what it thinks would happen next after Ben, Locke & Hurley go looking for Jacob. Ahem: So they're walking in the woods, and they come upon this control panel of sorts. It has all these different hieroglyphics on each button and of course, they light up... Ben pushes one, and a bright light emerges from the ground, revealing a platform that rises up. On it are two women who look... well... dead... Actually, they kinda look like they belong in "Little Monsters". Have you ever seen that movie?? I have, unfortunately. Anyways, they're pretty messed up looking, kinda like the corpse bride (Tim Burton's, not that I've ever seen that one...) Apparently, one of them was Ben's wife, and the other one? I dunno, her sister, maybe? Yeah, I guess Ben "imprisoned" them because they have greater control over the island. But, they don't appear to know that he was responsible for that, since they're so happy to see him.

And that's all I remember for now. Ben's got an undead wife who lives underground... Yeah, I don't know where these things come from... :)

Yay!

LOST is back! WOO HOO! And at its new time, 10 p.m. Booo... Oh well. I'll take it, since The Office is on at 9. Speaking of, I need to make sure the DVR is programmed... We just lost power for a couple of seconds, so it's resetting itself right now... Hopefully it'll be done before I need to make dinner.

In baby news, baby's been moving around a lot lately! It took a little longer than with Jeremiah, but that's okay! Better late than never. It sure is fun to feel her moving around, though not so much when she decides to kick my bladder... That's NEVER fun (though Jeremy thinks it's funny...)

Next week is a HUGE consignment sale down the street. Like, 100,000's of items... Crazy. I tried volunteering, but the spots I wanted filled up... I was just going to buck up and pay the $5 to shop that weekend, but after talking with my neighbor, I think I may consign a few things. She does it every year and you only need 10 items to consign. They deduct $5 from your total (and keep 50%) but you get to shop a day earlier. I plan on selling all my old maternity clothes that don't fit anymore. They're still in good shape, and I've got a bunch that I'll probably never get to wear again. It's just taking up space in my parents' and my basements, so might as well get rid of it. If I make some money, that's a plus! :) So we'll see how well that works out.

Okay, time to cook.

@ the farm...

Took Jeremiah to Frying Pan Park this morning, before naptime. It's so nice out, but all the kids around us are in school or daycare, so we headed across the street to look at the animals instead. He had a great time! We've taken him before, but this was the first time he seemed genuinely interested in the animals we were seeing. He found the turkeys funny, wanted to play with the goats (he probably thought they were dogs...) and was especially interested in the "duckies" (one of the few words he can say now! Though it kinda comes out like "dook--eees")

I think he was a bit confused at first, since the duckies he's used to seeing are all yellow, and these were black, brown and gray, but he warmed up to them, and kept trying to stick his fingers in the cage.

After a quick stop at the country store, we headed back home. He was pretty relaxed, and I thought he had fallen asleep. Nope! He's asleep now, though, and will probably take a nice long nap (hopefully!) After naptime--Walmart!

New Holiday!

Man, I wish we had one of these around here...

Stir Crazy, a 'crazy' asian restaurant, is hosting the very first "Expectant Mother's Day" on Sunday, May 4th. All expectant Moms get a free entree that day!

Unfortunately, we'd have to drive to Ohio or NY to take advantage of it... I just don't think a $13 meal is worth the drive to either state (though I'd love to go to NYC!)

Ah well. Guess I'll wait for Mother's Day a week after.

Ouch!

That was THE most painful American Idol moment I've ever had to witness...

Brooke White sang "You Must Love Me" from the movie version of Evita. She started singing it, got through the first line, started on the second, and totally lost her place! So what does she do--"I'm sorry... can we start that again?" And she did.

Had she been on Broadway, she would have never been able to get away with that! I mean, c'mon, can you picture the Phantom beginning "The Music of the Night" and two lines in, "Oops, can we start that over?" Totally kills the mood!

Anyways, I'm sure it'll be up on Youtube soon... I'll put it up here if I can find it. :)

Oh, and David Archuleta---"Think of Me" is NOT a POP song... As a die hard Phantom Phan, I couldn't bear to listen to it. Of course he gets props for making it modern, but he killed it for me... Don't mess with my Phantom!

And to be fair, Jason Castro, leave "Memory" to elderly 'primadonna pussycats'. Not a strong performance from America's favorite stoner.

Thumbs up to Syesha, David Cook, and Carly (even though I can't stand her.) I thought they did really well with all their songs.

Bottom three prediction: Definitely Brooke (who will probably go home, though she may have the sympathy vote this week,) Jason, and... I don't know. Probably Syesha, just because she doesn't have the fan base that everyone else does. Guess we'll see...

Found it!

The Dramatic.... groundhog?

We've had a visitor overstay his/her welcome recently... It started as a brief encounter, one of those, "Hey, how's it going, good to see you! Sure, make yourself at home! We'd love to have you!" And now... well, it looks like he's moved in and made himself quite a home... forever...

Or, we could just be a pit stop that appears to last longer than it does... Only time, and my flowers, will tell...

"Jess & Jeremiah Go To Krispy Kreme"

Sounds like a great movie...

And yes, we really did go to Krispy Kreme today. It wasn't planned, it just kinda.... happened.

Okay, well, here's what happened.

So I've been trying to get Jeremy to go to Buy Buy Baby with me so we can pick out a crib for #2. I've got their "Golden Ticket" (a.k.a. the elusive and rare 20% off coupon) that expires on May 12, so of course, I think we're running out of time! The rain made going out yesterday kind of a blah idea, so I was informed that I should "go while I'm at work tomorrow."

So I did.

This morning, Jeremiah woke up around 6! I know why, though... he's a light sleeper, and Jeremy had to get up early. All his rustling around ultimately woke Jeremiah from his gentle slumber, and he played in his crib for an hour or so before falling back asleep. I was also awoken, as Jeremy doesn't like to set his alarm for the time he needs to get up, but has it start going off at least 30 minutes prior. Ergo, every few minutes his alarm would go off, and wouldn't get turned off until I had punched him in the arm enough to wake him (at which point he would jump up in a frenzy thinking he had overslept... and then hit the snooze button for another 5 minutes...) Needless to say, by the time he was actually out of bed getting ready, I was wide awake and having a tough time returning to my previously blissful state.

Eventually, I did fall back asleep, and we (Jeremiah and myself) got up around 9. After a quick bite to eat (yeah right...) we were on our way to Buy Buy Baby! There was almost no one on the road, and with the rain falling, it was a very relaxing trip. Apparently, too relaxing for Jeremiah. By the time we were on the highway, he was fast asleep, even though nap time wasn't for almost two hours! So the decision to be made is do I wake him up once we get there, or try to extend our driving time to give him a longer nap? Well, I chose option 2, and decided that we need to keep moving, since any chance of a formal nap at that point is zilch. So where to go in Rockville? Krispy Kreme!

Well, it worked. Jeremiah and I got got there about 15-20 minutes later (Google was giving me a hard time with directions... said it couldn't understand my "start location" or something...) and as if on cue, he woke up as we pulled in. :) Got a few doughnuts, and headed on back to Buy Buy Baby. And that's house we ended up at Krispy Kreme.

Can't say it was worth it, though. Maybe it's because they went trans free or something else, I don't know, but what I do know is that I remember KK doughnuts being much better. Or maybe it's that I'm used to Shopper's doughnuts now (they're the best!) To me, KK just tasted 'overkooked', and kinda blah... AND the glaze fell off! As soon as ya took a bite, there goes all the glaze.

Yeah...

So I'm sticking with Shoppers for my 'donut kravings'. It's not worth driving 20 miles to KK to get overcooked and overpriced doughnuts. MAYBE if their "HOT" sign is on, but otherwise, I'll stick with my twice the size/twice as good/half the price Shoppers doughnuts.

Oh, and I didn't find a crib. Grr... I did finally get to see the crib I had planned on getting for Jeremiah, but after seeing it in person, I'm not sure if I like it anymore... It just seemed kinda cheaply made. So now I'm looking at a very simple modern looking crib, but it's not very tall, so unlike a normal convertible crib, I'd probably have to put something on the wall above it to fill the space (like her name or something, I guess...) I'm a little wary of that, even though I've put stuff above our bed (and our heads...) It's different when it's your baby... So we'll see. Jeremy promised he'd come with me to look at 'em, so I'm going to hold him to that! Otherwise, i'll just end up coming home with a Oeuf crib they had there... it's only $890 normally. Hey, 20% off, not so bad... ;-)

And there it is...

Canada takes lead in declaring BPA "toxic"

While Jeremiah's almost out of the "danger zone" (the small risk that there is...) we'll still be replacing our bottles and sippy cups with BPA-free versions in time for Jess Jr. Our Breastflow bottles definitely have to go--the risk is highest when the bottles are sterilzed in boiling water (which we did with those) and even higher levels are released when the plastic becomes scratched and cloudy (such as when using a brillo pad to wash them, as the kind maids in Mexico did while we were there.)

Since we never heat his bottles anymore (and haven't in a long time!) the risk for his Avent bottles is probably very small. But we will transistion out of those, as well as his sippy cups, over time. The only annoying thing about having to do so is that no one else makes 11 oz bottles... There are a couple of 10 oz bottles out there, but Jeremiah can polish off 11 oz and still ask for more, no problem (though he is starting to grow out of the 'bottle stage', so it may not be as big of a problem as we think.) Hopefully Avent gets with the program and makes a BPA-free version of their bottles soon, so we won't have to worry about it with Jess Jr.

There's a first (and probably last) time for everything!

Last night, Jeremy came home and mowed the lawn FOR THE FIRST TIME! When we bought the house, it was the end of August, and the summer heat had pretty much killed the grass. Well, not killed it, but there wasn't a lot of rain, so little growing occured. Needless to say, it did not require pruning last year.

This year, however, mother nature has been heaping helping after helping of rain on our lawn, and guess what??? It's grown out of control! Our neighbor's lawn care service were unwilling to negotiate a better rate for having three lawns to do all right in a row, so Jeremy decided he would try cutting it himself to see how bad it is. So we borrowed our neighbor's mower, and he got to work!

Well, he got the front done. :) It didn't take too long, maybe an hour or so, but that was mostly because he had to keep stopping to dump the trimmings. As you can see from the pic, there's quite a bit of grass there... If we stay on it, my guess is we won't be emptying the bag every five minutes or so.

I'm hoping he sticks with it. I wouldn't blame him, though, if he wanted to hire someone else to do it when it's 100 degrees out this summer. For now, it's a good workout for him (and saves us $30/week.)

Only problem is that Jeremiah seems to be quite afraid of the mower... Everytime Jeremy would start it up, Jeremiah would start crying, and wanting his Daddy. Nope, not even Mommy would do, he wanted his Daddy. He seemed very concerned... like he thought the mower was hurting his Daddy or something. I dunno. I hope he gets over that! Today, I turned on the handvac to clean out the groves on his highchair, and he started crying with that, too! He's very sensitive... :)

Of course, he has to pose for the camera, despite his tears...

Woot!

It's going to be in the 80's today and tomorrow! Sweet... Looks like next week will be slightly more normal, with highs in the high 60's, low 70's, but I'll take it all! In another month or so, it'll be in the 80's and 90's with high humidity, so we'll enjoy this while we can.

What's a Mom to do???

As a parent, our number one concern is the well-being of our child(ren). Especially as Moms, we're wired to protect our child at all costs. In this day and age of product advancements, recalls, and safety concerns, it's becoming increasingly difficult to know what's best for your baby. Well, things are about to get even more confusing.

Before I became a Mom, I'd never heard of "BPA", or bisphenol A. This chemical is used the production of many MANY different baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, and even line formula containers. The FDA declared it safe, but new reports are showing that they may be wrong:

The National Toxicology Program went further than previous U.S. government statements on possible health risks from BPA.

It said: "There is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures." The findings expressed concern about exposure in these populations, "based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females."

The National Toxicology Program expressed "negligible concern" that exposure of pregnant women to BPA causes fetal or neonatal death, birth defects or reduced birth weight and growth in babies. It also had "negligible concern" that exposure causes reproductive problems in adults.

So far, the FDA hasn't budged, but an announcement from our neighbors to the north may begin to change that.

In Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper said the Canadian health ministry was ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination. The newspaper said the ministry could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday.

Now, just because Canada says it's dangerous doesn't mean it is... but! They're not the only ones expressing concern. Other industrialized nations have also said that BPA could be harmful, and many companies have already decided to make the switch on their own (after they finish selling out of their current non-BPA Free stock.... like Nuby... we love their sippy cups, but they aren't switching to BPA free until later this year after they've sold through their current supply...)

Other companies have known from the beginning that BPA-Free was the way to go, such as Born Free, Adiri (they make the breast shaped bottles,) Medela, etc. These companies offer safe plastic alternatives, for those parents who don't want to switch to glass (yeah, I'm one of them... those things are tough, but I'm sure Jeremiah would find a way to break one...)

So what's a Mom to do??? I've got, probably, 2 dozen plastic battles that could be unsafe, at least 4 or 5 sippy cups, let alone the plastic plates and cups I've purchased to stave off the constant replacing of broken glasses and plates. I dunno... If Canada does make that announcement, it's gonna be tough to stick with what we've got...

In the mean time, I'm switching all of our registry items that could be "unsafe" to BPA free. Might as well start off right the 2nd time. Obviously, there is some concern there about the safety of these products, and even if problems are a rarity, why take that chance? Jeremy's not going to be happy if we have to replace everything (that'll be at least $100... better swing by Babies R Us and pick up more coupon books...) But, I think this is getting to big to ignore...

What's safe, what's not?
Plastic bottles may be harmful
BPA Free Portal

On a slightly related note, I recently learned that hot tap water isn't the safest thing to drink--lead from the pipes leaches into the water when it's hot. The concentration is not as high in cold water. Short lesson learned: don't use hot water for drinking or preparing food. Even in newer pipes that claim to be "lead free" can cause water to have higher lead levels than safety standards recommend. So for washing dishes, fine. For boiling pasta or having a cup of tea, start it cold.

What's next??

Oh yeah...

We've recently discovered that Jeremiah has several new teeth coming in! I counted 6 that have already broken through, with another one or two on their way. This probably explains why he's been waking up a lot at night, crying, for no good reason (usually falls back asleep on his own, but sometimes we'll pick him up to reassure him before putting him down on his "blankee".) My baby's growing up! :)