Baby Love

Here's our little sweetness... sucking her thumb I think!

Snakepit

I recently experienced a close encounter of the snake kind and darn if we didn’t have another one on Tuesday. I had thought I’d blogged about the first but cannot find the post so maybe not. Several weeks ago TBC discovered a small one curled up in our hallway beside the full-length mirror. I had to have walked right by him several times during my morning routine but fortunately I avoid stepping on the dozing crawler. Yikes! All we can figure is the night before he had slid through a one-inch gap in our north door and made himself at home. Tuesday, TBC again called me at work to say he had found a three-foot black snake with bird snacks on his slithery brain draped around a rafter right next to our sliding glass door. Our barnswallows that nest on the roof of the carport were understandably disturbed by this turn of events but TBC saved the day and caught the hungry serpent before it could reach them. TBC thinks these alarming sightings so close to (or IN) the house are not related to the excessive rainfall we’ve experienced but I’m guessing they are. His lifeless body (no, not TBC’s) is currently hanging from our lightpole with a sharp knife through his head, a warning to all other hissing creatures thinking our feathered friends might make a tasty treat.

On this the last day before my extended break, things have been hectic and chaotic. The Grand Exalted Poobah’s assistant had spit out no less nine emails before noon with stern warnings regarding outages and funerals and everything in-between. Not only is my building closed next Monday and Tuesday, but late start summer classes begin and I’m gone on vacation for the next few weeks. This week I’ve been training "Svetlana" on taking over my complicated (kidding) duties in my absence thus adding to the already chaotic situation. I’m counting my blessings that I won’t be present when all hell breaks loose next Monday and all my prior campus-wide communication falls on deaf ears. Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

In deference to our dear CruiserMel, I leave you with six factoids regards my snoozing habits.

6 Weird things I do while getting ready to sleep or while sleeping:

1. I blow. According to TBC I make this interesting (annoying) sound when I’m asleep where I exhale little puffs of air. And it drives him nuts. He snores like a chainsaw so I fail to see what crime I’ve committed.

2. I toss and turn. A lot. I usually do quarter turns (clockwise) until I finally fall asleep which brings me to…

3. I have chronic insomnia. This is most likely because I tend to tally up all my worries when I finally catch a quiet moment and unfortunately that moment occurs right at bedtime. So I tend to take sleep aids on most evenings but I alternate them so I won’t be addicted. I’m not sure which is worse, taking something possibly habit-forming or being a miserable, sleep-deprived zombie the next day at work. Guess I’ll take the pills.

4. I love to read Star Wars novels before dropping off to sleep. As gripping as the critical Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy is, I never lay awake at night nervously mulling its possible ramifications.

5. I get a nasty sore throat if I sleep nekkid so I must utilize some form of sleepwear. It’s either silky nighties in the summer or flannel jammies in the winter. I also must have some form of covering on even if it’s only a sheet. Go figure.

6. I cannot hear any talking or music before falling asleep but love white noise, especially a fan or air purifier. And while I grew up drifting off to the noisy echo of busy traffic, it’s the sound of total silence I simply cannot handle. Back when I was a teenager, I spent the night with my bud Angie in the rural home her and her mom were then living in. I lay awake all night because, as I groggily informed her the next morning, only two vehicles had passed the entire night!

Okay gang. Take care this weekend and I’ll make a special effort to post before the Fourth! :)

smooches,

circe

Baby News

It is so irritating when you get started writing, get interrupted, and so you save your post then go back to finish it and it's NOT saved! Dangit! It was a good one too!

I've tried hard not to make my entries mostly like a babyblog, but this one time i've gotta talk about the little baby :)

We had an ultrasound yesterday and all indications are that this little guy is a girl! Richard is soooo excited! We left the doctors office with our video and pictures of the little tyke and headed home. I changed... headed to the gym... leaving Richard at home just grinning from ear to ear and working on editing the video.

Later, I get a text message from him.

R: I'm so in love!
Me: ok... with who?
R: Our little girl!
Me: You're screwed.
R: She's going to break my little heart
Me: Yep. You're screwed. She already has you wrapped around her finger and she isn't even here yet!
R: Yep.
Me: You're screwed.

I can see it all now... I'll be the mean one. haha

I hope to get a few sonogram pics posted. She is so sweet... sucking her thumb and stretching those legs. She has Richards toes. He is the only man... person... i've ever seen who can stretch all of their toes apart like fingers! She did it!!!! hahahahahahahha

Buy Me Some Sun

I'm going to Cozumel, kids!!!! *cheerleader jump*

Richard called me at work and asked me about a trip and we got to looking and decided to jump in and take off before school starts. I'm ready to see some sun and sand! No more of this monsoon weather! Yipppeee! Today marks the 15th consecutive day of rain.

Oh yes.... and it seems we'll be buying pink for this little baby ;)

Let's Make a Deal

You know how some people are at the right place at the right time, unearthing all the genuine bargains and never paying full price for a single thing? EVER? I’m not one of them, but my sister is. It doesn’t matter what we are talking about, from toiletries to handbags to clothing to house furnishings, she manages to sniff out any advertised or unadvertised sale, and top it off with extra discounts or coupons thus further lowering its already reduced price. She can wade through a garage sale or secondhand store and uncover real gems sprinkled throughout the superficial dross, totally skipping over the worthless junk. I, on the other hand, will either find nothing but crap, select the most expensive items when I do find anything of worth, and no matter what I’m buying, will have totally missed the sale by sometimes only a day. Sis bought a leopard purse just like mine recently and plunked down a whopping dollar for her second-hand twinkie. This comparison could have been worse as I only paid five bucks for a new one but as we shall see, this is a very rare scenario. Much more common are the next two examples proving this startling monetary deviation where she made out like a bandit and I paid through the nose. Both of us have duplicate prescriptions for a certain tube of medication from our shared dermatologist. And just how much does yours truly shell out for this green cylinder? $97 smackeroos. Almost one hundred dollars and that’s generic mind you. And how much does Mz WaaayBetterInsurance cough up? $10. Ten measly dollars. For the exact same medication. And I don’t think hers is even generic! Now I realize that the obvious reason for this wide discrepancy is the huge gulf between our respective insurance companies (mine bites) and that my state insurance won’t pay jack on something they don’t view as ‘medical’ (which indeed is now) and federal insurance is considerably more accommodating, but still... The most recent instance was a few weeks ago when we both selected almost duplicate frames from our optometrist’s office. Same brand, same color, just a slightly different shape. Thanks to my sucky insurance, I am completely left at the mercy of retail prices and the full cost of those attractive frames was $150. And just how much out-of-pocket money would dear sis need to purchase the exact same pair? $20!!! I think I can be excused for feeling taken advantage of, a clueless neophyte in a sea of savvy shoppers. It’s the story of my life. I will admit to green-eyed envy directed at those blessed with the gift of sniffing out true bargains and making impressive deals. All I ask that they occasionally stop and remember the hapless paying-out-the-wazooty souls who offset their seemingly effortless consumer transactions.

Where Have I Been?

I didn't realize it's been several days since i've posted! wow how time flies!!

It's raining flipping cats and dogs. We're supposed to get some 4.85 inches by 5pm tomorrow... so in just about 36 hours it will be flood levels again. Wait... the flood from before really hadnt lowered because it had nowhere to run off to because of the rains before that! I'm building an ark!

Sunday we spent a good part of the day at the lake with a coworker of Richard's and his wife. We took the boys out tubing and with the first run, the material on the tube - ripped! It was the first time Jack had used the tubed too... so it was a real bummer. We did about three rounds and decided to head to the local wal-mart for a new tube or something else to play with. Richard, Jack and C headed to shop... and the rest of us stayed in the boat soaking up some rays. Within no time they were back and we went for round 2 of jetting around the lake. We got about three miles from our launch site.... killed the engine to let people in and out of the boat... the sucker wouldnt start again!

The guys pulled this, tugged that, took this and that apart, etc.. but it was a no go. We contacted lake patrol... which was actually the local police department (they patrol the lake too) and got towed in. It was an action packed day for sure! The lake was up about 6 feet too. Picnic tables were covered, docks were under water... its crazy! And now its pouring again. Lovely.

My friend Deb, that went to Vegas with us, text mess'd me last night and she's going to be a grandma!!! Congrats to you Debbie! This will be her first grandbaby - of many more to come I think :) I'm so happy for her!