Snow!

Subtitle: ... and other sundries

Well, it looks like the snow we were supposed to get Sunday night/Monday morning has finally shown up now. Actually, they were calling for snow today earlier in the week as well, so I guess this isn't related. It's just beginning to stick to cars and stuff, but the roads are still mostly just wet. That's good. I don't need ice. No, I don't have a picture yet, my camera is at home and there are no windows in my part of the office anyhow.

Other than that, this week's been mostly boring. I've been pretty tired all week, but that's because I'm not sleeping overly well and I can't take a nap at the office. I really wish I could. It would make the day go by so much faster. It's mostly my normal insomnia waking me up at night, but sometimes it is beginning to get tougher to get comfortable. Although, that's the joy of a waterbed, it conforms to you as best it can. That definitely makes things more comfortable. Gak and I played around a little bit in Norrath the other day, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open and it was only 8:00. I tried playing with yarn a little bit last night, but I don't really have a comfortable place to do so. My computer desk is too crowded and not a good place to work with yarn, I can't get comfy on the sofa without lying down and this makes using your arms hard and since I still don't have a headboard (don't ask) I can't easily prop myself up in bed to work. Oh well, I'll figure something out. I've got too many half started projects and ideas to completely put away the yarn. (I don't dare bring anything into work or else even my vague attempts at productivity will go out the window!)

I have no idea what's going on the rest of the week or the weekend. Hopefully I'll get the Tree down so I can start trying to tame the back room so we can move the bed into there soon. I really need to get better curtains for that room though, the ones we've got in there are mostly for show, they don't really block out any light and since it's a south facing room, boy does it get bright in the morning!

Ok, I'm just so totally rambling. I'm tired. I'm avoiding real work. I'd better sign off now before I totally loose any semblance of intelligence.
Peace to all and may your weeks be good and the weather pretty.

Boy oh Boy!

This morning's ultrasound went quite well. Boo is stubborn, but we expected that, look at Gak and I.
It's so very hard to put into words the wonder of seeing this little life that's growing in your belly up on a screen. There was so much detail and you could really see what different parts are. I could count ribs, see the tib/fib and the radius/ulna as separate bones. You could see all four chambers of the heart, see the eyes and even the split in the hemispheres of Boo's little brain. It was just so amazing. If if weren't for the fact they had to press so hard to see, I could have stayed there all day looking at those pictures. Of course, listening to the heartbeat is always such magic. It was sooo cool to be able to see Boo. Know that everything is well and growing nicely. Everything appears to be in place and about where they expect developmentally. Of course, there wasn't any way to clear up the due date, since the various measurements that they take indicated between 18 and 20 weeks. 18 weeks is my guesstimate, while 20 weeks is what my OBGYN is saying. Even though the timing is a little funny with 20 weeks, I'm not going to fuss over 2 weeks. Boo will get here when Boo gets here.
Oh, you want a picture? Well, they only gave me the one and it's on really shiny paper, so it doesn't copy well. I'll see what I can do, but my scanner is still at my parents' house and I don't have access to the one here at the office. I wish they'd have given me a few of the other stills that they took, there was a cute one of Boo's hands and face, and such cute feet!

Oh, you want to know boy or girl?

Should I tell you?

Have you been good?

Maybe I'll just make something up?

Am I being evil yet?

No?

How about now?

Not yet?

Ok, How about now?

Enough already huh?

Can you tell I'm enjoying this?

I guess I'll tell you then... but only since you've been good.... and let me have a little fun...

When we went in there, we told the technician she didn't need to go hunting for it. Well, the longer the ultrasound went on, the more curious I became. By the time the doctor came in to take his look, I was really curious.
Now mind you, my niece Zoe swears up and down I'm having a boy. So does my buddy Al at work. One of my online friends thinks it'll be a girl, but I think that's just wishful thinking because she had girls.
So, I had the doctor take another look. Just to appease my curiosity mind you. You know what curiosity does to Rats... gets us eaten by cats... In his opinion, and I believe him from what we saw, Boo is a boy.
Yep, Gak and I are having a son, more than likely. I mean, there's always a chance for error, but usually a little less so claiming boy than claiming girl. (Girls don't have any obvious parts, and while boys can hid them, if you see them, you know what you're getting.)
So, Boo was being a little shy today. (His momma is notoriously the one behind the camera instead of in front...) He also wouldn't cooperate and turn around so that it was easy to measure his heart. We did eventually get all the measurements we needed though.
We have another ultrasound scheduled for March 11th. We'll have a much clearer picture then confirming Boo's boy-hood. (I almost hate to admit this, but I'm really not surprised by the results... it's been increasingly difficult for me to think of Boo in a gender neutral or girl kind of way the last few weeks...)
So, now I've got to get some more emails out of the way here at the office. Then I can go home and enjoy a night to myself. Gak's off playing Warhammer tonight. Maybe this means I'll get the "New Year's" letters stuffed tonight. I'm not going to hold my breath, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Peace to all and may your days be filled with wonder and joy.

Lazy Sunday

Today has been a good day. I'll get to it in a minute though. I want to talk about Friday first.
I meant to post this Friday night or yesterday, obviously it didn't happen.
I dislike my HR chicky. She's not helpful. She's a bit snotty. And well, she just wasn't very nice. The meeting was a lot of hot air like I suspected. The first thing you need to know is that there is no HR person in the building. Sure, Melissa does the time sheets and tracks vacation and the like, but she's not HR. We haven't had an HR person in the building (officially) since Adrianne passed away in 2001 or 2002. This person is based out of Illinois. She doesn't know me from anyone and doesn't give a rat's behind about anything other than making sure that she enforces the "neutral headcount" that we've got. (Corporate speak for hiring freeze.) Basically her attitude is that if I won't travel, I have to resign. I knew I'd have to resign the job, but she was about as helpful as taking a drill to my head to figure out what to do to keep me. She doesn't care. Actually, if I leave, that means she'll be ahead in her headcount, which would be good. My boss, on the other hand, wants me to stay and is going to try and work the system so I can. I hope it works. At least in the short term. I want to make it through to August and then we'll go from there. If anyone has any brilliant ideas for a job for me that will keep me local and challenge me and keep me earning at least as much as I am now, I'm all ears.
Ok. This is way more stressful than today has been.
Today Gak had off. We were supposed to try and get some stuff done around the house. We were going to take down the Christmas tree and some other things like that. We were going to go see National Treasure this afternoon.
That didn't happen.
Instead, we spent the entire day, and I do mean entire, in Norrath. We logged in by about 9 and we just logged off at 6. That's a full day. We ended up in a really cool group with his guild Despair and got a lot don in Kunzar Jungle. We had a lot of fun. They're good people and good players. We then tagged along on a raid. I got a cool earring out of it. Yes, it was back to Labs, but I hadn't been there in almost 6 months and 6 levels. It went pretty smoothly and we only wiped twice. Not bad for only having one plate tank with us. That would be Gak. He's not usually the main tank for these kinds of things, but he did just fine.
So, I'm off to finally put some real clothes on (I've been in my PJs all day) and go out to the diner. I was going to make a cheeseburger calazone for dinner, but they didn't have any prepared pizza dough at the store yesterday and I didn't stop and put any into the bread maker earlier. Therefore, it would be at least 8:00 before we would get dinner. Not all that helpful when we haven't eaten much today, at least no real meal. I should feel bad about not getting anything done, but I don't. (The New Year's letters are sitting here staring at me reproachfully...) I know that my Sundays like this are numbered. As in less than 20. I'm going to enjoy a few now and again while I can. Then I'll be working my tail off trying to be the best momma I can be.
I'm both nervous and excited about tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have lots to post.
Peace to all and may you have a few lazy days now and again.
Like I said, today has been a good day.

Boring Week.

Well, I just realized that it is Thursday and I haven't said anything since Sunday night. Oops.
It's been one of those uneventful weeks really.
Go to work.
Try and motivate to do busy work.
Go home.
Fiddle around on the computer or with yarn.
Go to bed.
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
The hard part has been the whole motivation thing. It just isn't happening. I've accepted this, but I don't like it. I don't like not doing my job. Wait, there isn't much of my job to do right this minute. I guess that's part of the problem. I'd rather be drowning in real work instead of underwhelmed by busy work.
I still haven't had that meeting with my boss and HR. It was originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, but the HR chick complained she was too busy and wanted to push it off to next week. I flat out said no, I've got to get information to marketing and time is waisting. Therefore, there was a compromise, tomorrow afternoon. I'm not really looking forward to it because I know it'll just be useless hot air and not really solve anything. I don't have anything to transition to, I can't continue the job as it stands and my boss isn't allowed to hire even half a person. Yes, I'm being pessimistic. It's the general atmosphere of this place. It's pretty poisonous.
Despite the success we had Sunday, I'm still feeling a bit down about that too. Mostly it's because I don't look pregnant. I mean, sure, I've got a belly, but I've had that for years. Sure, my pants are fitting a bit tighter around the waist, but I don't have that classic, beautiful expecting look. Normally I'm OK with my lumpy, bumpy, squishy body. Right now, I wish I was half my weight so I could show off that I'm working on bringing new life into the world. I'm really happy about it. I'm excited and terrified and thrilled all at the same time. Maybe it would be different if I was feeling Boo more consistently. I sometimes get an echo of what I think is Boo moving around, but it's very vague and not very often. Sometimes I think it's just wishful thinking. I know, I know, in a couple of months I'll just want Boo to stop kicking me in the ribs and kidneys and to stop dancing on my bladder. I'm impatient, I want it now! (At least now I'm 99% sure I can actually feel my womb when I press on my belly...)
Maybe I'll feel differently about it all after the ultrasound on Monday. I guess deep down, part of me is worried and scared. I mean, we've made it this far and I did get to hear the heartbeat again just two weeks ago, but still... this is a scary ride.
I'm sure some of you out there are going "it's OK honey, this is just first-time mom jitters" and you're probably right. But if you think back and remember, I somehow doubt when you heard those same words it made all the fears just disappear. I've been trying very hard not to take it out on Gak. Some days I succeed, some days I fail miserably and spectacularly. (It really is a good thing he loves me... and knows that I truly do love him, at least I hope he does.)
So, I'm thinking that most of this that I'm feeling is due to normal pregnancy anxiety, a crappy work situation and this weird weather we've been having... that and getting over that stupid infection, ugh. (I didn't tell you, but my business only gives you 6 weeks of maternity leave. 6! After that you have to go into vacation time. Thank heavens I have 3 weeks now. You'd be hard pressed to find a day care center that'll take one that young! This means if I deliver the day I'm due I'd have to go back to work the 5th of August. Almost makes me wish I was having a December baby because then I'd have all those holidays as well!)
Ok, enough rambling by me. I'm sure most of this will go away soon. Maybe tomorrow afternoon if the meeting goes well. (I'm still not holding my breath on that one though...)
Peace to all and may you have sunshine in your days.

Pants!

Well, today was a success. I had a good time just hanging out with mom today. We don't get to do that nearly often enough. I think the last time we had any time just the two of us was when we were in California back in August. That seems like a life time ago now.
The first thing we did was have a good laugh at the pants Michelle and I got last week. She pinned them for shortening, which will be a great help. (It's a royal pain to try and shorten your own pants because you have to keep pinning and trying on until you get it right.)
Then we went adventuring to the mall. Our first stop was Ruby's for lunch. Actually, I had lunch, Mom just stole some of my fries and had a vanilla malted. She'd had a fairly late and large breakfast.
We had some interesting adventures in clothes shopping. The first store we went into was a very high-end maternity store. Like, they had $200.00 cashmere sweaters. Or $150 dresses. I don't pay that much for clothes I wear every day for years, let alone something I'll wear a season or so and then never wear again. I guess some people do though, it was semi-crowded. We tried a couple of the higher end department stores as well. That was also funny. We finally ventured back into more sanely priced places. There were a couple of really cute shirts at JC Penny's in the plus sized section, but I can't begin to tell you how they were wrong. Well, I can start by saying the fabric was about as cheap and icky as it comes. Then trying them on was hilarious. The bottom part fit, I think, but the shoulders and arms were quite comic. The sleeves were either too small or the shoulders too narrow or to high or something. I have no idea. Needless to say it was quite comic and we didn't purchase anything there. On our way back out, we decided to give Sears a shot. For grins and giggles mostly I tried on some elastic waist pants in the regular plus size section. Amazingly enough, going up two sizes worked. They hips, butt and thighs don't look silly and there's plenty of room in the belly for expansion. And they were only $20 each! Our original thought was if they fit well enough, we would pick them up, get the panel fabric from JoAnn's and then make our own maternity pants. Well, we don't need to, at least at this stage. We may have to later on, but for $20 I'm not complaining. I mean, my regular jeans cost more and maternity pants are even worse. We got one denim and one khaki pair. I should be set for a while. (We shortened all three pair of pants when we got back to mom's... knowing full well if I had to do it, they'd sit on the sewing machine for several weeks until I really needed them, I'd pull the pins out and wear them anyhow.)
So, amazingly enough, today was quite successful. I also got a fabulous 50% alpaca/50% acrylic poncho that isn't too long! It was on major sale because the store was only in the mall for the holidays and they didn't want to have to pack everything and ship it back. I still could use a few shirts eventually, but I'm not too worried at the moment.
Well, I'm off to rot my brain on the DS for a while.
Peace to all and I hope you had a good weekend.

Funk

Well, I guess I should post something.
I can tell when I get into a funk, I stop writing.
Yes, this week has been a bit of a funk week. But that's OK. We all have those. Part of it was being sick. Part of it was going back to work and part of it, I have no clue. Since I'm pregnant, I'll just chalk it up to hormones and leave it at that I guess. Who'd know the difference? Not me.
Work went well, for work. I didn't get a whole lot of productive work done, but nothing new there. I was supposed to have a meeting with my boss and HR Friday, but that didn't happen. My boss is even better at not getting meetings done than I am. Oh well. I told him we really need to have it this week because I need to know what we decide about regionals so I can get marketing done and time's slipping by fast. Maybe we will, maybe we won't. I don't really have a lot of control over it at the moment, so I'm just not going to worry.

Ok, shift in subject time.
Can I tell you exactly how annoying it is to be plus sized (and not really all that plus sized, but enough) and pregnant? I don't look pregnant at all and I'm at about 19 weeks. My Dr. said my womb is about 2" below my belly button, but I'll be damned if I can tell. It looks and mostly feels like the same roll of fat that's been there for years now.
I do feel a difference in my jeans. One pair is right out, the other two fit fine most of the day. I have put on some weight, but to me, I just can't see or feel the difference.
I guess it's not a bad thing, not looking pregnant, but for once, I have a reason to have a belly and it doesn't show.
That and shopping is horrible. Target only goes up to size 18. I, unfortunately, need a 20. Koles is even worse. Good Will didn't even have a single stitch of maternity clothes, let alone something approaching my size. Last week Michelle and I went shopping at the mall. We struck out at all stores except the one maternity store. In reality, we struck out there mostly even though I did buy a pair of jeans. There they went up to a 3X, at least on the tags. According to their online (I think it was theirs) sizing chart, I should be in a 1X. Nope, the jeans I got were a 2X. And at that they expect me to be at least another 4-6 inches taller, have no thighs and massive calves. (I happen to have large thighs and respectable calves...) That and the rise is too short and they barely come up over my butt in the back. You want to know why. Spandex. For some reason, most designers think that if you're using a stretch material, you can cut it 1 size smaller and it'll fit right. No, the spandex is there to give you a little bit of ease, not forgive an entire couple of inches! Oh, I do like the fact that there is a drawstring on the spandex belly cover bit, but, while I understand why, the tie is on the side which makes it very difficult to pull and tie off.
I'm sure a bit of my crankiness has to do with hormones or the like, but most of it is due to society and stupid designers. I'm not a size 6, I haven't been since the middle of high school. I was a toothpick growing up, but when I got boobs, I got hips and thighs to go with them. (My brother on the other hand, went from slightly husky to stick thin... some days I hate him...) I honestly don't mind being the size I am. Sure, I'd love to be a size 14/16, but at this rate, that's never going to happen again. I can live with that. Just because I'm a little rounder than "average", doesn't mean I'm 6' tall to go with it. If I was 6' tall, I'd only look a little heavy, not round. I'm 5'3" (4 if I stretch real tall), which puts me just an inch or so shy of "average". I want nice clothes. I want things that cover my butt and don't make me look like a sausage squeezed into a casing. Heck, I'd be happy with things that didn't look like they were made with the cheapest material possible for a colorblind hippo of a grandmother. (I apologize to any overly large grandmothers out there who actually do have fashion sense!)
I just hope tomorrow goes better than last week did. I somehow doubt it, but I'm willing to try. (Not that I have much choice if I want to remain clothed for the next 6-8 months until well after Boo is born...) You see, mom is taking me shopping. She wants to get me some pants and tops. I have no doubt we'll be able to find tops. I usually don't have a problem in this area. A 1X fits me very well, but an ordinary XL will work too. A 2X is nice and roomy, without looking too bad. Therefore, I'll be able to find something to wear on the top. Maybe I should just get over hating skirts and make myself several. Scratch that, I looked at the 3 maternity patterns they had at JoAnn's last weekend and they were all about as flattering as a mumu. And that was on "normal" sized models. Just because I've got a growing belly doesn't mean that all shaping and style has to go out of what I wear.
Well, at any rate, wish me luck tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a happier post soon.
Maybe I'll actually get around to unpacking the dishes that go into the china cabinet and get pictures of the dining room furniture. I forgot to mention it, but last Sunday Kat, Andy and I went down to MD to load up the last of the stuff from Gram's apartment so Mom could turn it back over on Monday. I came home with a few extra pieces, but that's OK. Andy also picked up a few things, and I'm glad he did. He got the old radio my Pop Pop (Gram's father) turned into a curio cabinet. I'm very glad he did. He told me he was going to replace the bottom and add some lights to the inside. I know he'll do it respectfully and neatly. He may be a bit of a jerk at times and a royal pain, but he understands and respects history, especially family history, and hand made things. He also told me that whenever Gak and I get our own house, when we want it back, it's all ours. For now, I'm just glad the piece is staying in the family and will be well taken care of.
Well, I've been rambling and ranting long enough. I've got to get my butt in gear and go pick up some groceries before I go pick up Gak from work.
I have no idea where the day went, but it's not here any more.
Peace to all and may you have clothes that fit and funk-less weeks.

Quickie

Just a quick little update. I was fiddling around a bit at work today and found this neat site where you can make these count down graphic things. On the right you will now see a ticker counting down until Boo's arrival. I went with the Dr.'s due date of May 30 when setting it up. (Personally, I think Boo will get here closer to the 10th of June, but that's just me...) I'm not sure if it seems like such a long time or not enough time...

Happy New Year

Sorry for the lack of postings the last several days. I've been sick. Ask Gak. I'm sure he's tired of listening to me cough. That and he's coming down with the crud I've got. So much for starting the new year healthy!
Yes, I did go to the doctor yesterday. She put me on some antibiotics and told me to take regular Robitussin. I haven't taken too much of the cough syrup because it doesn't really help me much on a good day and wow does it taste nasty!
Yesterday was good otherwise. Michelle came up from Virginia. We did a little shopping, ate some and just hung out. Well, mostly she and Gak hung out, I took a nap after dinner and crashed early. Or at least I tried to, stupid cough.
I'd made some beef stew in the crockpot for dinner because it was easy. She'd brought up this caramel/chocolate popcorn stuff from her mom called Moose Munch. That was yummy while we were watching Transformers. (Michelle hadn't seen it.) We also finally used the S'mores thing Mom got us a while back. They were yummy and you could get nicely melty marshmallows, but it just wasn't the same. Cooking over an almost invisible blue flame in the kitchen just isn't the same as a camp fire. They were yummy though, and we may have had a little more fun with it if two of us weren't feeling icky. It was a very quiet evening. It didn't seem like a holiday or even any fun. But it was good to have Michelle up.
Ok, I've been rambling enough. I'll sign off now. Poor Gak's leaving for work now.
Peace to all and may your new year be healthy, happy and suicidal air conditioner free.

Ramblings

Colds stink. Especially when I can't really take anything. Not like I've had much success with things in the past. Oh well. Mint tea, while not a favorite of mine does clear the sinuses a bit... and the warm helps the cough. That and since it's only mint leaves, I can drink as much as I want. (That is unless I put too much sugar in it...)
Both yesterday and today I "worked" from home. I was actually quite productive, just not with work related things so much. I didn't get any less than usual done, but definitely no more. It looks like I'm actually going to get my annual New Year's letter out this year. It's been two years since I've sent one out. Hopefully I still have every one's addresses. (If you're in doubt and want to make sure I've got it, drop me an email...) I'm just finishing up printing it out now. Now to stop at Staples and pick up envelopes. Oh, yeah, I guess I need stamps too. I got so spoiled when Gak was working at the UPS Store because he took care of the mailings. That and I don't actually mail out any bills any more. They're all either electronically submitted, walked over to the Borough hall across the street or handed to my landlady who's office is downstairs.
I also got some crochet work done. I finally found my missing hoddie I was working on. I may still be able to wear it when I finish. I'm almost done the front now, so it's just the sleeves and hood yet. Yes, of course you'll get to see pictures when I'm done.

And speaking of crochet, here's a picture of the as yet unblocked piece I made Mom. I really can't wait for it to be blocked so I can finish the pillow for it I'm so happy with it. I'm just impressed I stuck with something that used such fine thread. And this wasn't fine compared to some I've seen. I've seen very beautiful pieces done with sewing thread. That's right, sewing thread.
Ok, back to the topic I was originally posting about... today.
Today my cold has all but settled into my chest but my sinuses are still clogged. Luckily most of the drainage isn't down my throat any more. This means I was actually able to sleep a bit. I'm feeling pretty good if I drink enough to keep the cough under control.
Today Boo and I also had another doctor's appointment. This was with a different doctor in the practice. She's nice enough and friendly. She didn't want to adjust my due date even though I'm about 99% sure I'm right. Oh well, its OK. Everything looks great and listening to Boo's heart will never get old. Gak couldn't come today because of his schedule. Hopefully he'll be able to make the next one in four weeks. He should be if he can get the closing shift (or off). I just can't wait for the 14th for the next ultrasound. So very exciting.
Well, I've got to wrap up here because I've taken enough time writing this that I've got to get moving to go pick up Gak from work. (Ew, now there's a run-on for ya!) He's doing Mike a favor and closing over at UPS so he can get home in time.
Peace to all and may you avoid the bugs.

Christmas Coughing

Well, Christmas Eve was an interesting gathering. We couldn't get a hold of Joanie to bug her about showing up, so she never did. That annoys me. She's always complaining we never get together, and when we try, we can't find her! Ed, Buffie, Katie and Nik were there, as were Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jerry. Al and his daughter were a no-show, but that's OK, I'm sure that his schedule is a mess. We had a good evening, even though I was fighting off a cold.
By Tuesday morning I had been hit hard. At first, I wasn't going to go down to my parents' house. But after a shower and another short nap, I was feeling quite a bit better. Mind you, not 100%, but not like death warmed over. That and my fever had appeared to be broken, so I felt like I could afford to go out.
Gak and I exchanged gifts in the morning. He got me this really cool digital photo frame. Biggest problem is it doesn't have internal memory, so I've got to pick up another card. No big deal, they're pretty cheap these days. He also picked up the Zelda for the Wii and three crochet pattern books. Yes, my dear, sweet, wonderful husband braved either JoAnn's or Michael's and bought me patterns. Yes, he broke his own rule and bought me baby patterns, but he figured they were for me as much as for Boo. I got him a couple of new non-video games and I'll let you know how fun they are once we've played them. It looks like this was a game-oriented Christmas. I also got him a subscription to White Dwarf, to feed his Warhammer addiction. It works out great in the long run since we don't always make it out to the store to pick it up and it'll actually save the cost of an issue or two over the course of the year. That's always a nice thing. He was thrilled with that.
We got down to Mom and Dad's just in time to go out for lunch. We'd been to this place a few times before in the past when t hey had a buffet kind of setup. It was good and the service was good. Not this year. Last year they switched to a seated dinner (and I think the price per person went up at least $5-10 by doing this). The food was good but not outstanding (what I could taste, my sinuses are clogged and running down the back of my throat) and the service, well, there's no other way of putting it other than it stank. It was down right horrible. Next year we'll go somewhere else or maybe, if I can convince GradmaSue to watch Boo, we might try having it here.
After our lunch we went back to the house to do presents all over again. Mom, Dad, Becca and Jon had all done presents in the morning, now it was time for Gak and I to get the goodies they had for us. I honestly wasn't expecting anything else from Jon and Becca. I figured the game was plenty. They had all kinds of neat little goodies. I got more warm fuzzy socks! I love them. They're blue and have penguins on them. So cute. Jon gave Gak this great Lego catapult. I laughingly chided Jon for giving my husband something that could throw projectiles at me. (Knowing full well that I'd end up stealing it and tossing them right back!) Mom gave us some framed work that she'd done for us. The most special to me was the one she did of Gram's Girl Scout stuff. It will get a place of honor when I redo the family wall. (I've still got a handful of pictures from Gram's apartment waiting for me at Mom and Dad's.) Mom also gave to me the matching angle music box to the one Jon and I had when we were little for Boo. I always thought it was mine, but Mom thinks it was Jon's. Gram had bought two at the time and kept one. That and the angles she chose for us from Gram's collection were wonderful and touching. Dad, of course, gave me a new Michael Chrichton book with homework. I love that he gives me these assignments. Yes, I really am nerdy that way.
I ended up giving Becca another gift myself. Sunday when she and Jon came up she was going on about the blue scarf/wrap that I'd made Gram two years ago. Mom had it in a basket in the living room. Well, with a little prompting from Mom because my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders, I gave it to her yesterday. You should have seen the look on her face! You'd have thought I'd just given her the winning lottery ticket or something. She all but ripped the scarf she was wearing off and wrapped up in the one I'd made. It even matched what she was wearing. It really made me smile to see how much she really loved it. I know she'll enjoy it for quite some time. I always get a smile when I see someone enjoying my work.
I also gave something special to my mom. I have pictures, I just haven't downloaded them yet. My friend Michelle over at Crochetville was kind enough to design a thread pattern for me. It's an angel with my Gram's initials underneath. It's about 10 inches square. I gave it to mom with "some assembly required". The actual crochet bit is done. It needs to be blocked though. I figured she not only has the setup to do it right, but much, much more practice than I do. I also told her my original plan was to attach it to a pillow, but that it would look nice framed too. She decided that the angel definitely needs to go onto a pillow. I'll try and post the picture I have of the unblocked piece tomorrow.
We played Apples to Apples for a little bit yesterday afternoon and then Gak and I came home. I was beginning to feel crappy again. My fever didn't return, but not only do I have gunk running down the back of my throat, but my sinuses have closed up, my ears are clogged and it's begun to settle in my chest. Thankfully I had today as a vacation day to begin with. I'm not going to push myself very hard tomorrow and Friday I've got a baby appointment around 1 and am working from home in the afternoon. Gak's got to work, or he'd go with me. He's been so very good about actually wanting to go with me. I told him it was OK if he didn't go to every appointment. There will be plenty. I just told him that if he didn't make the big ultrasound appointment on the 14th, I'd kill him and his boss and the other (insert favorite curse word here) ASM .
Only, now I don't have to kill the PIMA of an ASM. She quit.
Today.
The day after Christmas.
Leaving Gak and Tallon high and dry.
I don't have enough bad words in my vocabulary to describe her and what she's done to these two and the store. She's been nothing but trouble, and lazy trouble at that.
Ok, that was an interesting little detour.
Anyhow, yesterday went well, even if I didn't feel all that great. Today has been mostly useless, but that's OK. I wasn't planning on getting much done other than my New Year's letter printed and maybe some crocheting. Instead I've been playing that stupid Puzzle Quest until the silly DS needed charging. Yes, that's about as motivated as I've been. Of course, I haven't even put it down long enough to take a nap. Silly game.
Well, I'm off to go stand in a warm shower and see if that loosens everything up a bit. I can only take Tylenol and cough drops at the moment. I think I can take normal (non-DM) Robitussin, but I don't have any and I'd have to check the lists again. That doesn't usually do much for me on a good day anyhow. Not much does when I'm feeling like this. Lots of liquids (including warm, not hot, tea), plenty of naps and a warm shower seems to work best.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas Day no matter what you celebrated.
Peace to all and may the cold bugs leave you alone and you have wonderful family around.