How did it get to be Christmas again?

First, a random question...Anyone getting a lot of random anonymous comments lately? I have gotten a bunch of things that are advertisements, and then yesterday got one that just said "Hello. And bye." I don't want to publish that because I feel like it will be a weird link when I do or something. Anyone seeing similar things?

So, let's see...the rest of the weekend was really nice. I did end up going out on Friday, and stayed out later than I had anticipated. I felt good, and it was fun, and I didn't feel any effects of it on Saturday, so that was all good. The Boy, however, had a little too much to drink so he wasn't feeling so great when we got home:-P.

Munchkin came along to The Boy's family's traditional two-day-late Thanksgiving feast, and that was really fun. He has a couple of cousins (er...second cousins maybe?) that are about her age that she always has fun hanging out with. They are cute boys that flirt with her and try to impress her...of course she has fun:-). Actually, she is going to a dance with one of them at his school next weekend, which is sorta cute.

Yesterday was spent sorting through the Christmas decorations and finishing the swap out of summer clothes for winter clothes. That entails a lot of giant Rubbermaid tubs going back and forth into storage;-). Next weekend I get my Christmas tree, which makes me super excited every year...and then I have to worry about shopping...ugh.

And tomorrow...doctor's appointment when they should tell me what kinds of babies are living in my tummy!!!!

Eating for about 7...

I have been told that, contrary to the standard wisdom of "eating for two" (or, I guess, three), a pregnant woman is not supposed to eat twice as much;-) A healthy diet is something like 500 extra calories per day, with obviously a focus on high-nutrient foods.

Well, let's just say that I am good for a couple of weeks now. I ate my extra 500 calories for yesterday, today, tomorrow and several days after that! There was turkey, of course, and stuffing and potatoes and squash and corn bread and vegetable casserole and sweet potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and apple pie and chocolate cake and cheesecake. Oh my!!! My foreign guests were thoroughly impressed with the brilliance of Thanksgiving, and they even contributed a traditional Venezuelan corn bread and cheese thing that was a valuable addition to the lineup:-)

Today I find myself in a very unique position...with absolutely nothing at all to do all day...and it feels wonderful! There is absolutely no chance on earth that I would go anywhere near a store today, and I have no school work and really nothing much else to do at all. I may take out some of the Christmas decorations to see what kind of shape they are in...or, I may curl up under a blanket and read all day, or maybe I will just watch stupid TV. The world is my oyster!!!

The Boy has a sort of unofficial college reunion tonight which I may or may not go to. I certainly won't stay out nearly as late as the rest of them, but it might be fun...especially if I have all day to nap in preparation:-). Munchkin is also not feeling great, so I may just stay in with her and do girly stuff...for now, I am just going to appreciate the complete lack of responsibility for the day!

Tomorrow...more Thanksgiving;-) The Boy's family has their traditional T-Day+2 get together...more Turkey!!!

Possibly the best thing about America...?

There is a whole lot to like about America, and I think we can probably all agree on that. By no means do I think we are perfect, but we get a whole lot of stuff right, and we have a history of improving ourselves.

For a variety of reasons, the United States has been the source of much of the great technological invention of the last 150 years or so. [To briefly get off on an almost political tangent...I would like my left wing readers to recognize that one of the the two biggest reasons is our version of capitalism, and I would like my right wing readers to recognize that the other of the two biggest reasons is our history of encouraging immigrants. OK, off my soapbox]

The steam engine, the cotton gin, the thresher, the combustion engine. They weren't all necessarily invented here (or exclusively here) but they certainly came to fame here. Mass production, oil refining, steel making...again, none of it was invented here, but it was all perfected here and the world is a better place because of it. How about the airplane? The electric light could be the single most important invention ever (OK Germans, the printing press is right there). The world would look a whole lot different without the silicon chip or the Internet, too.

A huge portion of the world's great medical breakthroughs have come from our Universities and Hospitals. Many of the great materials and chemicals science comes from American labs and school as well. We even invented the business school (eh...no comment on that).

But...you know what could well be the single greatest American Invention ever? Thanksgiving!!! Seriously, it is an entire day devoted to eating and watching football...what could possibly be more American than that? Also, it is a four and a half day weekend with no expectation of shopping or tree-trimming or any of the other pressure of Christmas. Just a day to hang out with family, eat turkey and think about how lucky you are.

I will be spending the weekend with a small portion of my actual family (Munchkin), along with my newly acquired family (The Boy's) and then my pretend one (Smoking Hot Roommate, et al). In addition, a Venezuelan girl from school and her husband are coming along to learn why we have a random five day break in the middle of the year. Boy are they in for a treat!!!

So, in case I don't get to post before then...everyone have a great holiday! And try and give thanks for living in a country cool enough to invent a holiday like this:-)

Pictures...finally (some of them)

I am rapidly becoming the worst blogger ever. Several weeks late, here are the best images from my last ultrasound. Not nearly as good as the 3-D images I got last time, but this will have to do...at least until December 1, when we get to find out the sexes:-)






They refer to them as the "presenting" one and the "non-presenting" one, although I don't know why...I generally call them "top and bottom", "frick and frack" or some other random combination of two names. Regardless, that is one picture of each of them...hey, they look a lot like twins:-)

So...geez...what am I up to now. I got some responses to my federal deficit questions, but I don't really have the energy to respond. At least I don't have the energy to really respond, since I will get totally wound up and ramble for hours. Short version...Obama's budget chief, Peter Orszag, says the deficit next year will be bigger than this year, and his motivation would be to under-estimate it right now. Obama's own projections from march (which they have already scrapped as too optimistic) call for a 10 year plan where the deficit is never smaller than it was in the year before last. The Obama and Bush administrations have spent a trillion dollars in the last year and no one can give me one tangible piece of evidence that it has had even a tiny positive effect.

(By the way...some simply math tells us that, for $700 billion, you could hire all 7,000,000 people that have lost their jobs for $100,000 a year...just nibble on that for a second). I am not looking for people to perform miracles....just balance the fucking budget. Or at least pretend you are gonna try! And don't even get me started on health care...the system is broken, so our solution is to make it bigger? How does that make sense?

OK, there I go...totally wound up. I should stop now...but I do hope someday to have a job where all of my problems can so easily be blamed on my predecessor:-)


Anywho...busy busy busy around here, but I am feeling better and not quite so tired all the time, which is good. Some fun stuff up for the weekend, I hope, include a practice Thanksgiving dinner:-) Because no one should go to Turkey Day unprepared;-)

News

I have an open challenge:

In 2009, the Federal deficit is going to be $1.45 Trillion.
In 2010, the Federal deficit is expected to rise to $1.5o Trillion.

Someone tell me why this is even remotely acceptable?

Also, George W Bush currently holds the unofficial title as "Least fiscally responsible President ever", based on 8 years of huge deficits, culminating in a record-breaking 2008 deficit of $1.0 Trillion.

So...how is Obama not way, way, way worse?

Visitors

Happy Thursday everyone...I have once again been a terrible blogger this week, which I apologize profusely for. I have been super busy with school stuff, and have been doing a little bit of work on the side (including most all day yesterday) for my dear former (and likely future) employer. Actually, kind of a nice way to pick up some extra dough;-) Should be pretty calm for the next few days, though, which is good.

I got an invite to a dinner thing tonight with a Big Name Investment Bank where they are recruiting interns for next summer, and then presumable employees for a year and a half from now. They went through the resume book, picked out people who's background matches what they want, and then invited us to dinner and then to interview formally tomorrow. Dinner is at a notoriously swanky place in Cambridge (overrated, but that is neither here nor there) and they seemed totally shocked that I declined. But seriously...I doubt I would ever work for them, and I would way rather have chicken fingers!!!

I am going to interview, though, even if I don't want the job (since this is technically only for summer internships, it is for a job in New York next summer...you can probably guess what the odds are of me taking that;-)). You never know what may come up later on in life, so I would like to at least meet them and get the chance to talk to them. It never hurts to work on the personal network:-)...and I wouldn't completely rule out the chances of working for them after school. OK...those chances are like 1%, maybe...but there is a chance...

Moving on...we are getting two very important visitors for Christmas. Well, one before and one after, to be specific. Frenchie is going to come for about a week before Christmas (December 17-23, or something thereabouts). Actually, his last day of school is supposed to be the 18th, and he and Munchkin originally proposed that he come from the 19th until the 26th, but his Mom nixed the idea of him actually being here for Christmas...their compromise was that he would skip the last two days of school before the break and therefore get about a whole week in before the holiday.

This is a big deal, since it is the first time that one of them has travelled by his or herself to see the other. The last two times they have seen each other were when his father brought him here and when I brought her there. I'll have to have a talk with her about some ground rules before then, but that shouldn't be a huge issue.

Then, I am doing my annual child-swap right after Christmas...Munchkin is going away with her friend's family again (Let's recap...2006 - sailing in the Caribbean, 2007 - Aruba, 2008, St. Maarten, and now in 2009 - St. John. I really kinda hate her sometimes:-P). But I will survive because Tinkerbelle is coming to visit again:-). That should be all kinds of fun, and I am really excited about it...this is a couple years now where she has come at Christmas, and come for a while in the summer and I get back there to see her a couple times a year, too. Obviously, I would love to see her more, but we have been pretty good about seeing each other a pretty good amount.

So, that is about it for now...I haven't forgotten that I owe you ultrasound pictures, and will get those up soon. You know...like just in time to have my next one on December 1:-P.

Waiting, Family and Girl Power

Back to my story from Friday...

I showed up for my 8:30 doctor's appointment, and was surprised that they were ready for me right away. Generally, I find that all doctor's appointments require a mandatory 25 minute wait. So, good start.

Let's flash back to my last doctor's appointment for a second...I finished, did some kind of a blood test at the lab downstairs and went on my merry way. A couple days later, a nurse left me a message about scheduling some kind of a test or another that I still needed. So, I called back, and since they don't answer the phone and this whole process requires leaving messages back and forth (since they always call during class), I ended up in a messaging conversation where the nurse asked me what test I needed to schedule..."Um, I dunno...you called me." In the end, I figured that, if it was important, they would call me back. Which they never did.

So, the doctor was looking at my records and noticed that they never did the Down's syndrome screening, which we had told her we would probably do. And, it is now too late for the initial screening (has to be done by like Week 13, and I was 14 weeks 3 days on this visit). Ahh well, they still have a few days where they can do the ultrasound, so if I could schedule an ultrasound right away, they could do it Friday.

I didn't really want to miss a whole morning of class, but who can resist the chance to get more pictures of the babies:-)? So, the radiologist said they could fit me in that morning, so once we finished up with the doctor, we headed a block away to the radiologist. Where we waited for about an hour (I did catch up on US Weekly, and discovered that Taylor Swift has managed to find herself a younger boy...how is that even possible?)

And what did we find out when we finally saw the radiologist? Oh no...it is too late to do the Down's screening by ultrasound. That has to be done before Week 14, too. So, medically speaking, that was about two hours that were totally wasted (but I did get to see the little nuggets some more:-)...I will scan the pictures when I get home today). Not a huge deal, since they can do a different blood test later on, and it is really just an informational test anyway, but super frustrating.

And for real...does anyone in a doctor's office know how to use a computer? Every freaking visit, they take an entire medical history, enter it into "the computer" and then miraculously lose it. How hard is it to operate a patient database? And, to keep a schedule, while we are at it...

Anyway, enough ranting. Had a great visit with friends and family this weekend. As expected, my surprise was not much of a surprise at all:-). They all pretended to be shocked, but it was painfully obvious that they all already knew...it's hard to keep secrets in big families;-) I managed to take it pretty easy but still see everyone I wanted to. The Boy went out with BFFb and a couple other guys on Saturday night, so he didn't survive in nearly as good a shape as I did...hee hee...they were pretty banged up yesterday.

Mostly, I was happy that I managed to make the trip and not get sick. I was a little bit worried that the change in routine, excitement and activity would get to me...but it wasn't too bad. I didn't take any Zofran, and only took a couple of Tylenol for a headache that won't go away. All in all, not too bad. Hopefully the worst of the sickness is passed for now...fingers crossed.

And finally...a little girl power from Saturday:-) I love when the girls beat the boys!!!

Doctors, Chicken Fingers, TV and more

Spent the whole morning at the doctor's, and then the radiologists. My normal appointment turned into like a three hour extravanagnza, all because, as far as I can tell, the medical profession is incapable of using a computer or making a reasonable schedule. I will go into more of this on Monday, promise:-). Also, I have some new ultrasound pictures that I will post, too...and maybe even a wedding picture or two while I am at it:-)

But on to other things...

I stayed up for an entire slate of Thursday night TV last night, which is the first time in...um...a long time? Started with chicken fingers, and despite Lisa's suggestion, I did not withhold honey mustard because Munchkin got one A minus :-). One of the guys from my study group and his wife joined us, which was a nice treat. As you all know, I consider Thursday night chicken fingers to be a sacred ritual of the highest order, and an invitation to come with us is just about the highest honor that I can bestow on someone.

And I still find myself kinda guarded about my non-school life to people at school. The Boy has met a bunch of them by now, but I don't really talk to most of my classmates about non-school stuff. I can't really explain my rationale for that. There are a couple of girls that I would call good friends already, but the huge majority of my classmates know very little about me (I'd say that 10 people know I am pregnant). But the guys in my study group are awesome, and I spend a ton of time with them, so they seemed worthy of an invite and the right to meet the divine Ms. Munchkin. So it was nice to give him a little view into my world, and to get a chance to hang out with his wife a bit, too. Hopefully, the rest of them can join us sometime in the future:-)

OK...back to TV:-). I watched Community and then Parks and Recreation...eh. I love Joel McHale, but that show wasn't impressive. Bad episode maybe? Kinda the same on Parks and Recreation...love Amy Poehler, but the show is a little bit forced. I did laugh a little bit, though.

The Office is still awesome...it got kinda weird for a bit last year, but it is back to its hilarious roots. I think that Andy may be my favorite character on that show now...he just completely cracks me up. And just the whole idea of Pam and Michael scheduling a time for her to punch him in the face is brilliant.

And 30 Rock is still awesome, too. Just really, really well-written, clever and all over funny. And, I even caught a full first-run episode of Project Runway. Love the three finalists, they were clearly the best of this group from Day 1 through last night, so I was glad that they picked them. I think Irina will win, giant-teethed bitchiness and all...but Carol Hannah is my favorite. She makes the prettiest, most wearable stuff, and Althea makes consistently neat things, too...but Irina is the most visionary talent of the bunch, and I think she will be the winner.

We are off to Chicago for the weekend for the first time in a LONG time. Munchkin wants to see her niece and her brother, and I have a lot of family and friends to catch up with. Technically, I am going to announce to them all that I am pregnant, but I don't know how much of a secret it is. Tinkerbelle and her Mom know, which means that the rest of my father's family probably knows, too. And I have told one of my Mom's sisters, and I have a feeling she told the rest of them...so I expect a lot of pretend surprised looks;-)

I am going to try and take it easy and not wear myself out too much...but we will see how that goes. Definitely going out with the BFFs and their significant others (new girlfriend for BFFb, the same boyfriend that I found her for BFFg) Saturday, but likely not real late. Beyond that, just some general visiting.

So, until Monday...

Still perfect:-)

Munchkin brought home her first term report card, which read:

8th Grade English and Literature: A
8th Grade World History: A
9th Grade Biology: A-
9th Grade Algebra: A
Spanish II: A
French I: A

Also, all A's in her non-academic courses: music, art, drama and phys ed. Since she is in two 9th grade classes, her GPA is actually 4.23 out of 4.0, which is good for #1 in her class. And she is taking an extra course because she picked up the second language (hmm...wonder why:-)?).

All this on the day that she scored her first varsity goal in soccer, too.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I let her do whatever she wants;-)

You Asp Hole!

It turned out to be incredibly warm on Halloween...and I was just a little bit sad that I am past the days of getting dolled up and going out in a super-slutty Halloween costume. It reminded me of the year that I tried (unsuccessfully) to get Smoking Hot Roommate to go out with me in body paint. Ahh well...maybe if I lose all the pregnancy weight, we can slut it up next year...lol.

Munchkin did end up going out with the girls on Friday night...they really wanted her to come, so a couple of the girls promised to pick her up and then bring her home before the rest of them went out for the night. She was cool with that, and they had her home by 9:30, which was fine by me. Much of this was actually related to a sophomore boy with a crush (figures)...and typically, she is not all that interested. That actually explains why she was not totally bonkers about going all week long. She is a funny kid sometimes;-)

Busted out some sweet togas and went to the party as Anthony and Cleopatra...easily the most comfortable Halloween costume I could have come up with! And it was actually a pretty fun party...people definitely let loose a little bit away from school. It is very much the same kind of feel as people in an office being different away from work.

Let's see what else...um...kind of a nice weekend. Soccer on Saturday morning, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Warm, sunny, all kinds of spectacular color...I could have sat out there all day long. SHR stopped by at the end of her morning run to watch the second half, which gave us a chance for a nice visit:-)

Semi-annual drinks with the school Mom's tonight, which I am hoping to have enough energy to go to. I haven't officially told them all that I am pregnant, but I think they probably all know already...and if not, I get to tell them. At least two of them have twins of their own, which will be nice.

And...um...class is over, so that is all you get for today;-)