Books read in April 2008

1. 2nd Chance by James Patterson. (NOTE: This is the second book in the Women’s Murder Club series. Book 1 is 1st to Die. Book 3 is 3rd Degree. Book 4 is 4th of July. Book 5 is The 5th Horseman. Book 6 is The 6th Target. Book 7 is 7th Heaven.)
2. Pride and Pregnancy by Karen Templeton.
3. High Stakes by Erin McCarthy. (NOTE: This is the first book in the Vegas Vampire series. Book 2 is Bit the Jackpot. Book 3 is Bled Dry. Book 4 is Sucker Bet.
4. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.

First, I’m really enjoying James Patterson’s series. The books are quick reads and fun. The mysteries aren’t super easy to figure out, but the plots aren’t too heavy either. There’s a lot of action. Second, I generally enjoy Karen Templeton’s books and picked up a bunch of her Silhouette titles. They’re good reads in between single-title books. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like these because I haven’t read one of hers in years and sometimes my reading tastes change or an author’s style changes, but it’s like hanging out with an old friend. You kind of fall back into grace with them. Pride & Pregnancy was a lot of fun to read, and I can’t wait to read the others I picked up. Last, though there were flaws in Jodi Picoult’s Change of Heart, it did get me thinking which isn’t always a bad thing. Plus, there were some really well done moments in the book. I thought I’d finish one more before the end of the month, but it didn’t happen. Somehow, I ended up on a huge vampire kick lately. I can’t say I’m into the genre or any one book in particular, but it’s interesting to see different author’s interpretation of the species and myth.

Rise and Whine!

Actually, first, I should say that my title was a typo, but upon second thought, it fits perfectly.

Baby is a great sleeper. She always has been. We had to move her bedtime to earlier because she would sleep until 10AM at least. So, now she goes to bed between 8:30PM and 9PM and wakes up around 12 hours later. The last couple of days, however, she's been waking up at least an hour earlier than usual. I'm not actually sure what time she wakes up because it's earlier than my eyes open. Husband brings her into bed with where she talks loudly and pokes at my face and pulls at my hair until I wake up. I usually open an eye to look at her, and she'll give me a huge grin. This morning, however, she was just fussy from the word go. So, I fed her breakfast and then she was down for another nap by the time she usually wakes up. She was just so exhausted. You know what cures exhaustion? Sleeping later! Gah.

In the beginning...

Now that Baby is getting bigger and bigger by the moment, we're thinking a lot about last year. This week is the one year anniversary of when we heard Baby's heart beat for the very first time. It's nice to know there is a baby, but it's super nice to hear a little heartbeat. It makes it all a little more real. Next week marks the one year anniversary of when we shared the news about Baby to our family.

I measured big from the get go. I started showing at around 10-12 weeks. It was still fairly easy to hide wearing dresses, but I couldn't button my pants from the beginning. I was also lucky that 1. babydoll dresses were in style and 2. I didn't have to wear maternity clothes until the very end and really only bought a couple sweaters and a skirt. Oh, and a bathing suit. That was unavoidable. It's funny to see the photos now. I can barely remember being that big and awkward. I mean, let's face it. I'm clumsy without the extra pounds and size. I gained around 17 pounds and then lost 20 afterwards. I'm not the same shape though so even though I weigh less, clothes still fit me weird. I've decided the remedy to this is just buying new clothes. hehehe Unfortunately, my chest is still the same size and my feet are still the same size. The only thing that grew are my fingers. They grew like a half a size so none of my rings fit. It's a bit of a bummer.

I know all the celebrities wear their bikini around with the gigantic belly, but my belly was kind of ugly. I didn't get stretch marks and my belly button didn't pop, but it was just so big. It was just better hidden. I don't have a lot of pictures towards the end. The bathing suit one is from September, the last weekend the pool was open, I believe.

The only other photo I have is from September, maybe 3 weeks before Baby decided to make her grand entrance. My mom and I did a giant trek to Bodies: The Exhibition. This is before the controversy came out about it. We found it fascinating and really cool. That also marked the point where pretty much everything was ready for Baby. Well, except for my bag. I may have packed a bag after contractions started, but that's a story for another time...

Food, Glorious Food!

Well, sort of. Baby started eating solid foods. We use the term "solid" loosely here. I hinted at this on the last page of my scrapblog.

I should start from the beginning. She watches me like a hawk when I eat ice cream. So, last Monday, I put my spoon of Cherry Garcia to the left and then to the right. She followed it with her eyes. I put it close to her mouth to see what would happen, and she opened her mouth as if to taste. I pulled my spoon back because she's not supposed to have ice cream yet and because I don't share my ice cream. Her face fell like I just squashed her dreams. I felt horribly. So, we decided to mix up some yummy rice cereal.

I fed her the first bite. She ate it cautiously. She did chew and swallow really well though. The taste and/or consistency didn't exactly please her. She had an odd look on her face as if she expected the sweet goodness that is ice cream and got wallpaper paste instead.

Husband fed her the second bite. She really wasn't into it much, but I think it's also because we tried to feed her too late. She was really tired.

Last night, we tried again. She ate the entire bowl. Keep in mind, the bowl is only about 1TBS. At this point, the eating is more for practice, but she's like an old pro! She opens, chews, swallows. I suspect she may be doing it more for the attention. We applaud her every biteful. She'll start to love it more once we incorporate yummy food. That rice cereal looks and smells nasty (well, it's more the formula with which we are mixing it than the cereal itself). Here's chunker with the portion of food she did not want to swallow.

Waiter, there's a fly in my salad...

Yesterday, I got lunch at a fast-food restaurant chain named after the founder's daughter. I got the salad. I had been looking forward to it. It is, and despite the incident remains, one of my favorite fast-food restaurants. Regardless, yesterday, I was halfway through my salad and I saw a squirming fly! Now, if you know anything about me, you know that bugs are not my friends. I would have the graphic of a fly, but all of them were too icky so I chose the little fingerprint ladybug instead. Anyway, I don't know if it is better or worse that the fly was alive and flapping. Being that it was alive, it made me wonder if the fly came with my salad or joined my salad already in progress after I sat down at my cube. Either way, I didn't care about the fly's origin. At that point, I was done eating. I threw my salad away, fly and all, and snacked on my honey whole wheat pretzel sticks. Plus, despite not swallowing the fly (or a spider to catch the fly), I felt something that "wriggled and jiggled and tickled" inside me. I'm sure it was my imagination. Or was it?

Don't you hate it when...

...the vending machine is out of Diet Coke? I'm so tired today. I pop into the kitchen to grab some caffeine, and the soda machine gave me the "Try another selection" response. I did bring juice into work because it's obviously healthier, but I needed the jump start. I'm so bummed out.

I ended up getting a regular Coke, but it's just not the same.

Sanna inspired me...

It is not a birthday or an anniversary, but Husband and I have been like a well-oiled machine lately. Except for procrastinating and not cleaning the house (on my end, not his), we've cooked really yummy meals, taken turns watching and playing with the baby. Everything has just gone really smoothly. Of course, the optimist that I am, I keep waiting for that shoe to drop. Anyway, it got me thinking about our wedding. First, I should apologize for the quality. Sanna inspired me to try to take a photo of a photo (as I don't have a scanner). These are the photos that came out the best. Darned flash!

Here we are at our rehearsal dinner. It's so weird because I don't feel that much older (though I am 8 years older!), but I look so much younger. Husband doesn't look too nervous about the next day! I kind of felt that the rehearsal didn't really help prepare us at all. I remember still being super confused.

Here is my dress. I really loved that dress. It's very plain. It was just a scoop-neck, short-sleeved dress. It had beading at the waist, but it had a really pretty hem. It was all scalloped lace. It cost as much as the dress to get it altered though. White on white is very difficult to show in a photo though.

Here is a couple photo. It's totally posed, but I always liked the photos where you can see the dress all fanned out. Plus, my church was always so dramatic with the red carpeting. I liked the posed pictures a lot because of that. My attendants wore hunter green which I chose because of the red of the church. These things are very important!

Anyway, 8 years later and still going strong. Well, 8 years in October. I guess I'm jumping the gun. We'll see if I remember our anniversary this year. I tend to get the date wrong a lot.

Finally, a scrapbook I have the patience to complete...

A lot of useless information...

If you click here and enter in your birthdate, it will tell you all sorts of useless information. First, it's weird that Sagitarrius is my opposite sign. That's what Sister is! Also, one time I called a radio station to play a song for me on my birthday and they played the Captain & Tennille for me so I have a soft spot for that song. I've taken an excerpt of the information provided and inserted it below:

You were born on a Wednesday under the astrological sign Gemini.

The year 1975 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/11/1975 and ending 1/30/1976.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 30 March 1975.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 12 February 1975.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 11 February 1975.

As of 4/8/2008 9:41:10 AM EDT
You are 32 years old.
You are 394 months old.
You are 1,713 weeks old.
You are 11,990 days old.
You are 287,769 hours old.
You are 17,266,181 minutes old.
You are 1,035,970,870 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Shia LaBeouf (1986) Caroline Quentin (1961) Hugh Laurie (1959)
Joe Montana (1956) Adrienne Barbeau (1945) Chad Everett (1936)
Gene Wilder (1935) Vince Lombardi (1913) Jacques Cousteau (1910)

Top songs of 1975
Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille
Fly, Robin, Fly by Silver Convention
Island Girl by Elton John
He Don't Love You by Tony Orlando & Dawn
Bad Blood by Neil Sedaka
Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell
Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John
That's the Way (I Like It) by KC & the Sunshine Band
Jive Talkin' by Bee Gees
Fame by David Bowie

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.69275929549902 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Wednesday.
Your lucky number is 5.
Your lucky dates are 5th, 14th, 23rd.
Your opposition sign is Sagittarious.
Today is not one of your lucky days!
There are 64 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 33 candles.

Those 33 candles produce 33 BTUs,
or 8,316 calories of heat (that's only 8.3160 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.77 US ounces of water with that many candles.
In 1975 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.

Your birthstone is Alexandrite

Your birth tree is Hornbeam, the good taste of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, tends to egoism, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads reasonable, disciplined life, looks for kindness, an emotional partner and acknowledgment, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with her feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Oh, TV, how I missed you!

It was truly a disaster! Tuesday morning, I woke up and turned on the tv and a warning popped up. I followed the instructions and then got ready. When I came home that night, there was still a warning and then tragedy of tragedies struck! The tv would not work! I should clarify it was the satellite receiver that would not work, but the television is useless without actual programming. The only way we could remedy the situation is to buy a new receiver.

Normally, it's not a big deal. I don't watch television often in the bedroom. However, this week new television started. I record all my television shows in the bedroom so I can occasionally watch something starring a person not wearing protective padding and wielding a stick or throwing a ball. In addition to not being able to record new shows this week, I also lost all the programming I had recorded. It was devastating. Luckily, today is my television equivalent of Christmas! The new receiver came today. It is already hooked up and ready to go. Well, with some minor programming, it'll be all ready to go. I think Husband is through with having to share a television with me. It's amazing we're still living together. Not only did we share a television, but he's afraid the television will somehow be infected by my inferior taste in programming.

Now, with separate tv's, we'll be able to greet our ninth anniversary this Fall. Couples definitely need separate televisions and separate bathrooms. That's the secret of a long marriage.

Salutations!

Charlotte A. Cavatica: Templeton, haven't you ever heard that good things come to those who wait?
Templeton: No. Good things come to those who find it and shove it in their mouth!

I watched Charlotte's Web tonight - the 2006 remake, not the original cartoon. I did miss the musical numbers. I did shed a tear or two, but I didn't find it nearly as sad as the original. It actually reminded me more of the book than the cartoon though.

Speaking of the book, I bought the book last December. It was an anthology of Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan (my favorite). I like to think it's an investment for Baby, but it was for me. It was a bargain book anyway. You can't start great literature too soon. Baby is pretty quiet when I read to her which is promising. It'll be interesting to see what interests her.

From Teble's blog...

Um, I'm not sure what this means... I guess I just know my alcohol except tequila. I got that one from the process of elimination. Oh, well... cheers!

98%ALCOHOLIC

Partied Too Hard, I guess...

...OR got too close to Daddy!

Either way, Baby is sick! Husband was battling something over the weekend, and it looks like Baby has something similar. She had a fever all day yesterday and was generally fussy and miserable. Luckily, she now sleeps on her stomach unlike the last time she was sick. I won't go into details, but we'll just say it's better off this way. She's taking a little Tylenol for the fever and sleeping a little more than usual. When she's awake, she's fussier than usual. She's also a little more cuddly or needs to see her people around her at all time. Luckily, she's still eating and everything else is in working order. Hopefully, she'll be as good as new soon!

Celebration!

Husband got a new job! It's been a long journey, and he's more than ready to leave his current position. So, in order to celebrate, I stopped by Starbucks this morning. I am rarely running close to on time, but this morning, the gods smiled down on all of us. I got my Strawberries & Crème drink and a cinnamon twist. A victory for one is a victory for all. Yay for Husband! He deserves some good news and something positive.

Sidenote: What is it about Starbucks and its whipped cream? It's super yummy! I mean, Husband made whipped cream before for me, and it tasted good, but this is so rich and creamy. I could eat it with a spoon. You know, if my finger didn't work so well. OK, yes, I know the fat makes it taste so good. Whatever. Thanks for ruining my little taste of heaven.