CKY

November was a busy month!

2011-12-08T03:06:00.003-05:00

October flew by, with Halloween and Brick or Treat at Legoland being the highlights of the month. And November was a packed month with events. I also took Emi out of daycare about once a week to have a day of fun, since she should be able to take advantage of my maternity leave, too!

I took Emi to see a helicopter, since she loves Harold the Helicopter from her Thomas books. One of the moms in the group was a firefighter, and she arranged for us to go see her friends who man the one that scoops up water and drops it on fires. I thought Emi would love it, since we were allowed to get in and sit in the cockpit. But the noise of it landing scared Emi, and she didn't want to go near it. But we got some cute pictures of her wearing the helmets!

We then went on a road trip to Perris, near Riverside, to ride and see Thomas the Train. Emi still loves Thomas, and The Crack in the Track is still in the nightly bedtime routine. Scott says that he has the entire thing memorized, and can recite it without having to look at the words anymore.

And the highlight of the month was going to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live. Emi is absolutely obsessed with Gabba (she was DJ Lance for Halloween), and there are days when we watch 8 episodes or so throughout the day! Our seats were on the balcony and on the edge, and it was a little spooky to be up that high with Emi, but I think she had a good time. I think Emi was more in awe of the show than anything else, since she sat on Scott's lap the entire time with her eyes wide, and mouth slightly open. She didn't want to dance, but given how high up we were on the balcony, that was probably a good thing. For the next 2 weeks, Emi kept on asking if we were going to see Gabba Live again, so we keep telling her that we'll go again next year (if she thinks they are still cool by then...).

For all these events, Hana came and slept through them all. See, what did I tell you - easy baby! December is going to be a packed month, too. We already put our lights up, picked out a tree, and Emi helped decorate it. This weekend we are going to see Santa, we have a friend's bday party to attend, cookies to bake (Emi is taking after her dad and likes to help cook), and we'll end the year with Xmas and a visit from Theresa and family. Whew, here we go!

3 months already?

2011-12-08T02:35:00.003-05:00

Time has been flying by since we had Hana, and I feel guilty for not updating. First, I want to say that having a second baby is not easier (as everyone says it will be) because you already know what to do. Breast feeding and lack of sleep is always challenging, no matter how many kids you have. We got off to a rocky start with feeding, and it was a similar experience to Emi's first weeks. Hana lost over a pound in the first 2 days, and milk supply seems to be an issue with me. But after weeks of wanting to quit, we finally got into a good groove and feeding is going well. BUT, things are going so well, Hana does not want to take a bottle now (as Scott found out on Friday when he was at home with 2 kids). The other big challenge was that Hana did not poop, and the longest stretch we had was 14 days. Everyone I tell that to falls out of their chair, but we are on track in that department now, too!

Hana is also a very different baby than Emi was. I thought they would be identical, for some reason. But fortunately, Hana is very laid back and relaxed, and she hardly cries (although the past 2 days have been a little off for her). She was sleeping about 6 hours a night in her 6th week or so, and now sleeps from about 9pm to 5am. Since I am staying up at night to pump, I am not getting as much sleep but I hope to phase that out in the next few weeks.

I go back to work at the beginning of the new year, and find myself trying to think of any and all options to either not go back, or keep Hana home with me. Maybe it's because Hana is an easier baby to take care of, but I am finding this transition much more difficult than it was with Emi (maybe because I was flying solo at that time, and the financial aspect also weighs on me). But it's looking like there is no way I can not work, so we are looking into how we can keep Hana at home for the first year or so.

I mainly came on here tonight to see when Emi rolled over for the first time. I see that she did it at 3 months and 2 days. Hana rolled over for the first time on Monday, and she was 3 months and 1 week. But, Hana rolled over from her back to her tummy, and then from her tummy back onto her back. It's neat to see that both girls reached that milestone at about the same time.

I can't wait to see what else Hana does in the next months, and I'll try to be better about updating, in case anyone other than Scott is reading :-)

Welcome Hana Rae

2011-08-30T15:23:00.007-04:00

Dear Hana,
Your first name means "flower" in Japanese, and that is a name that both your dad and I knew you were going to be named since we found out you were going to be a girl. Something about it just clicked with us, and we knew that was your name. Your middle name is one that we both liked and thought flowed nicely with Hana.

We met you on Saturday, August 27th, 2011 at 1:26pm. I started feeling something that morning at about 5am, and actually thought it was just gas pains. The feeling was very low in my pelvis, and didn't feel like the waves (aka contractions) that I felt with Emi, so I figured this was something different. I started timing them, and they were anywhere from 15 minutes apart to 8 minutes apart, so nothing consistent. Emi actually came into our room a little after 5am (which is early for her to wake up), so maybe she had a feeling you were coming before I even knew! Your dad decided to take her back to her room, and since I was wide awake I decided to start packing a bag to head to the hospital since I figured you would come this weekend sometime.

I was still feeling the "gas pains" at 8am, so we decided to skip Emi's swim class that morning. I had a list of things to get at Costco, and your dad had a Men's Warehouse credit certificate that expired that day (I was not going to let a $100 free cash certificate expire!), so I told Scott and Emi to go out and run some errands and then check in on me to see how I was doing. Maybe that was not the best idea, but your dad got 4 very nice ties without spending any cash!

After they left, I decided to lie down on the couch and try to rest and watch some TV. I downloaded a contraction timer app for my phone, and was noticing that I was having irregular waves, anywhere from 8 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart, and that they were all about 45 seconds long. After about an hour on the couch and not being able to take a nap, I decided to take a shower. Once I stood up, I noticed that they got a bit stronger. Every time I had one, the most comfortable position for me to get into was to bend forward and lean on something (the bed, the sink, my knees, whatever there was to lean on) and gently rock side to side. I didn't think I needed to put in my Hypnobabies CDs yet, and each time I had one I just said "Relax" in my mind, and rode them out until it was done. I am guessing it was about 11am when Scott checked in, and I told him to come home right away, and that I was calling my parents to come over and watch Emi for us.

Your dad got home all stressed out because there was construction traffic and it took twice the amount of time that it usually takes. He called my parents to avoid that street, but they forgot the cell phone at home and got stuck in it too. In the meantime, I paged the doctor on call (Dr. Zaid, who also delivered your sister) and told her what was going on. I still didn't think I was in labor, and she said we should go to the hospital and they would call her if she needed to come in. Once my parents got here, we loaded up the car and left for the hospital.

I put my Hypnobabies CD in for the car ride there (with earphones), and closed my eyes and tried to listen and relax. With my eyes closed, I could still follow all the turns and pretty much knew where we were, but it seemed like a quick ride and was actually surprised when Scott said "we're here" and helped me out of the car. We walked into the L&D wing, and as soon as we walked through the doors, I had to lean on my knees and ride out another wave. A doctor came out of a room at that time, and was up at the registration desk when we got there. I gave them my name and told them that I was having waves about 3 minutes apart, and he looked at us and smiled and said "Sounds like it's coming soon!". Duh. We checked in at about 12:15pm.

They put us into a room, and found that I was about 8cm dilated and that the baby was very low. They called the doctor to come in. I told them that I was starting to feel "pushy", and they said to just breath through them. I had my earphones in and was concentrating on relaxing and breathing, so the majority of this is what your dad described to me. While we were waiting for Dr. Zaid, the nurses said that you would be here very soon. When he asked for a more specific description of "soon", they said probably within the hour. At this point, I was having waves every 4 minutes, and they were about 2 minutes in length. It didn't feel like they were that long, it still felt like they were only 45 seconds long. Dr. Zaid arrived and started setting things up. I told her that I really felt like I needed to push, so she checked me and said it was ok, and to follow what my body was telling me to do, and she started putting her gown on. She also said that you were in a position that would be better if I rolled onto my right side. As soon as I did that, I felt the next wave come and you crowned. The nurse said "Doctor, there's the head, you better hurry up!". With the next wave, you were born. You had your hand up by your cheek, and that's how you joined the world, and I still see that's a favorite place for you to put your hand. Your were born at 1:26pm, and I am shocked and amazed at how fast your birth was. I am also in awe of the human brain, and that I was able to do all this drug free, without constantly listening to my Hypnobabies CDs (like I had to when Emi was born). I didn't even have time to switch to the Pushing Phase track!

After your birth, they put you on my chest and you looked at us and eventually fell asleep. We held off on weighing you and giving you a bath, but we later found out you were 8 lb, 2 oz. I'm glad you came on your own, one day after your due date. The doctor was guessing that you might be 9 lbs when you got to be one week overdue, so maybe you knew this and decided to just come now (if so, thanks!). Plus, I could finally stop the high protein diet I got put on at 36 weeks to keep you from putting on too much more weight.

As I write this, we are home and you are sleeping in your pack and play next to our bed. It's the middle of the night, and I can't sleep. It's cute to listen to you breath and the little noises that you make while you sleep. I can't wait to see you grow up, and see how you and Emi are similar and how you are different (you look just like she did when she was born), and I hope you two become the best of friends. I wish the very best for you, and a lifetime of love, smiles and happiness.

Love, Mommy

Growing up, and the big girl bed

2011-06-02T14:56:00.003-04:00

I never thought of myself as a sappy person, but these days I can't help but look at Emi and realize that she's not a baby anymore and get all emotional about it. I see her talking more, starting to understand the world around her, and wanting to do things by herself without my help. She sits in booster chairs at restaurants now, rather than a high chair. She knows the dogs are not supposed to be on the couch and tattles on them when they get up there. She know that cars can go "crash" (that's a Scott related story for another time - no worries, not his car), that the stove is hot, and that the juicer is loud. She's in a big girl bed.

Knowing that we'll need the crib for Baby Z2 in a few months, we decided to get Emi a twin bed. We let her pick out her own sheets (she wanted Thomas the Train), and we set it up on Saturday. I was expecting it to be a long and sleepless weekend, good thing it was a holiday!

Saturday night, we put her to bed, and she didn't want to go to sleep. I'm sure it was strange for her. She cried for about 15 minutes, and when she was asleep for about 15 minutes we left the room. At about 11pm, Scott and I were downstairs watching TV. We heard a big thump (Emi falling off the bed), then little feet running, then another louder thump (Emi running out of her room and smack into a wall). When Scott ran up to see her, she was lying in the hallway holding her head and crying "owie, owie". Am I horrible to think this is funny? Emi, when you are old enough to read this, I'm sure you'll be laughing, too.

The following morning, she woke us up at 6am by coming into our room (this is the part I dreaded) and was ready to play and start the day. That day, we went and got a bed rail. The rest of the weekend wasn't bad, but she does seem to have a wacky internal clock that has her coming into our room at 6am on the dot.

On Tuesday night, she fell out of bed, even with the bed rail. The instructions say that you have to leave a 9 inch gap at the top of the bed (where the pillow normally is), but she managed to fall out of that 9 inch gap. I put her huge Pooh stuffed animal there to catch her, and Wed night she was very concerned about Pooh being in just the right place to catch her. I also stuffed a blanked under the sheet in that corner to hopefully prevent any more falls. No falls last night, but she did wake up on and off all night until about 1am and came into our room every time.

Hopefully she'll be in a routine in about a week, and we can all start sleeping through the night again. But for now, I'm glad that she still wants to cuddle and sleep with her mommy and daddy. At least she still needs us...

Baby Z #2 - first trimester thoughts

2011-04-04T23:53:00.003-04:00

We had an inkling that I was pregnant in Dec, and mid-Dec I took a test and confirmed that I was pregnant. So we got through the holidays not telling anyone, and I only took a sip of wine here and there so that no one would think I was acting odd and call us out on it. Xmas week, I got sick with a cough, sore throat and a runny nose, and it was hard not being able to take any medication. So the cough stayed with me for what seemed like 3 months (ohoh, whooping cough thoughts definitely entered my mind). I felt pretty horrible, and don't really know if it was just from being sick, or if it was pregnancy related at all.

This second pregnancy so far treated me worse than the first (again, I don't know if it was just because I was sick and it lingered so long). But I didn't feel like eating anything at all, all day long. I felt bloated, had cramping, and actually felt nauseous the majority of the time (but no sickness, thank goodness!). I knew I had to eat something, so i felt like I was forcing myself to eat every day. The only thing I felt (after the cold went away) was drastically thirsty all the time.

Given that I felt differently this time around, I started to think that maybe it was going to be a boy - "This boy is already making me feel miserable, and it's not even born yet." But in the back of my mind, I think I was hoping that it would be another girl. I liked the idea that there would be no surprises. We already have a girl, and know what the first year is going to be like. I know, everyone says that personalities are drastically different and you won't experience the same thing - but at least I won't have to buy an entirely new wardrobe for the baby, and I won't need to buy the peepee teepees if it's a girl! I think that's what I'm scared of the most - changing boy diapers, getting peed on, and cleaning IT. But just to be on the safe side, I started buying Emi all gender neutral colored clothes/shoes, and even looked at blue and brown PJs with footballs on them for her (but didn't buy the PJs because I realized I getting extreme).

Scott went with me to the first trimester screening, and everything looked right on track. The only item that we had to watch was the location of the placenta, which was low and covered a bit of my cervix. In cases like this, you normally have to have a C-section, and I would have to have an amnio to make sure the lungs develop fully. My doc said that 99% of the time it corrects itself, so she wasn't worried and said I shouldn't either. This was also the cause of the cramping that I was feeling (whew, at least nothing really serious was causing it). We'll just check again during he 2nd trimester screening.

For some reason, I'm not as excited to be pregnant this time around. One day, as we were talking about a possible work trip in July, I forgot that I was pregnant. Scott had to remind me that I would be 8 months pregnant in July, and probably couldn't go. I guess it's because the experience isn't new anymore, that the giddiness isn't here. I am not researching baby things on the Internet 24/7, and not telling everyone on the face of the planet that I am pregnant. AND, I felt like I started showing in the second month and started wearing my maternity jeans (it might be holiday weight... but hey, at least there is no guilt about pulling out the pregger clothes and feeling obligated to go on a diet!). I did have a little apprehension but the possibility of a miscarriage. I don't know why, but the thought was always in the back of my mind (don't pick heavy things up, don't exercise, just in case...). Maybe that's why I didn't really want to tell anyone that I was pregnant, at least not until we get past the first trimester.

So, Baby Z #2, coming in late August. My guess date is August 26th (hmmm, Emi was July 26th and she didn't come till August), so I am thinking it's going to be a Sept baby. We'll see!

What a difference a year makes!

2011-01-10T22:44:00.004-05:00

Sorry I haven't written in so long. I can't believe the last time I wrote was August. It seems like such a long time ago, yet really nothing significant has happened since then.

I had a girl's weekend in San Antonio in October.
We dressed up as garden gnomes for Halloween.
Emi took her first trip to Vegas in November. She didn't do too well at the slots, but Scott did!
We had a great Thanksgiving and Xmas, with a lot of face time with Scott's family.
We had a very uneventful New Years, with me falling asleep on the couch at about 9:30pm. Scott woke me up at midnight, and then I promptly fell back asleep.

What I couldn't help thinking tonight is what a difference a year makes in the life of a baby. Last year, Emi was too young to really appreciate Xmas. This year she was still a tad too young (I think next year is going to be a fun one), but she was at least able to play with toys and really enjoyed the cookies that Papa made. Last year she was eating baby food, and this year she is almost eating everything we eat (although she is a picky eater). Last year, getting her to sleep was pretty painful with lots of rocking and singing and crying, but now it only takes a few minutes to get her to sleep. She might cry a little bit on a rare occasion, but after 5 minutes she's usually fast asleep. And the biggest difference is that she's walking, and running, and trying to communicate (in the form of whining mainly).

The one thing that strikes me is how little she's gotten sick this year (knock on wood, since it's still the middle of winter). Last year, it seemed like we were at the doctor and on antibiotics almost every other week. This year, she got a runny nose and seemed pretty congested prior to Xmas, but other than that she's seemed really healthy. Even with molars coming in this fall, she did great.

Parenting has not gotten easier, but I think Scott and I are more comfortable with it. Everyday is something new, and right now the excitement of all the positive changes (I can't wait until she talks clearly!) outshine the negative (like when applesauce ends up all over the dogs after a bowl chuck).

So we had a pretty good 2010, and I look forward to a fun and exciting 2011. Happy New Year!

Emi's new haircut

2010-08-23T00:22:00.007-04:00

Previous haircut:

Meet Emi Ray Cyrus (mom and dad's attempt of a haircut):

Today:

Background: About a month and half ago (I think), Emi started pulling her hair out. It started out with just a few strands here and there, and then we noticed the receding hairline across her forehead. Then it turned into a completely bald spot spanning almost 1/4 of her head (the left front quadrant). We asked the doctor about it, and she said it was probably a bad habit that she has developed along with sucking on her finger. As she pulled the hair our, she kept going back further to find more long hair to pull. After a bunch of lab work to make sure she didn't have a mineral deficiency or anything else, the recommendation was to shave her head to break the bad habit. I didn't want to completely shave the kid bald, so we tried a half way solution. Not good, and we chose not to go with the hari krishna look either. So meet the new Emi, bald for the first (and hopefully last) time in her life. I think in about 3 months she'll have the head of hair she was born with...

Goodnight

2010-07-21T01:18:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure why I am feeling so sentimental tonight. It might be because it's so quiet in the house tonight, or that things have settled down a little earlier in the evening than normal, or because I just finished watching a relatively intense episode of "The Closer". But I can't help but think that life is short, and that it if you are not careful it can pass you by faster than you could ever anticipate.

As I turned the TV off, prepared bottles for daycare tomorrow, turned off the lights and headed upstairs, I had to fight the urge to pick Emi up and just cuddle with her for the rest of the night. If I am lucky, I will have a very long time to hug her, to show her I love her, to get to know her and hopefully become friends with her. I think about my parents and how lucky I am to have them as such a big part of my life. They are some of my favorite people in this world, and I am fortunate that our relationship has blossomed into what it is today. I hope that I am as lucky as they are. I hope I get at least 35 years to know my daughter, to see what she becomes, and stand by her every milestone in life.

35 years sounds like a very long time, and hopefully it will turn out to be much longer than that. But right now, I just feel like Emi's first year has flown by. If the remainder of the years pass at this pace, it might make 35 years feel more like 35 seconds. I can only hope that one day I will be old and gray, and Scott is by my side and we can look at the daughter that we created and know that the world is right. But right now, I just feel like I want to hug Emi and not let this moment, this age, this day, this overwhelming love I feel for her go.

July, already?!

2010-07-12T19:44:00.002-04:00

I sometimes see Scott going to this blog to see if I have updated it lately, and he sees that nothing has changed and goes onto the next surfing site on his list. Of course the guilt has set in, and I am now updating things so that he has something to read next time he checks. I am still convinced that he is the only person that reads this...

Emi has started walking up a storm. We definitely see her walk now; every day, all around the house, up the entire flight of stairs (ok, that's more crawling), and right out the back door. She seems to prefer being on her feet now, and her balance is getting better every day. She can walk the entire circle of our living room and kitchen without falling, and we can sit on the couch and listen to the sounds of her heavy footsteps on the floor as she disappears from sight on one side and comes back on the other side of the kitchen. It's the cutest thing.

We had a nice 4 day 4th of July holiday. I packed it full of activities, and maybe it was just too much because I got sick on the last day of our holiday. We went to see The Last Airbender, took Emi to her first Padres game, saw Avenue Q, and met with friends. Emi did great at the Padres game, and I think she really enjoyed it. She ate almost an entire pretzel, and bounced every time the music played. She even took a nap through the 8th and 9th innings.

I have been sick since that weekend and spent almost this entire past weekend in bed. Scott was a lifesaver and took care of Emi and let me get the rest that I needed. It seems like we didn't have quality time with each other this past weekend, which really sucks and it's going to make this week feel very long until he's home again on Friday.

All in all, things are great, and I can't believe that the summer is already half over. Where is the time going? Next things we know, Emi will be 1 year old (I am a little sad about that) and it will be fall.

Mom and Dad are the last to see things happen

2010-06-21T13:49:00.004-04:00

On Friday, I picked Emi up from daycare, and they asked me what I had been practicing at home. I'm sure I had a confused look on my face, and they explained that they thought I had been practicing walking with her because today she took 3 steps, and yesterday she walked a little, too.

So that's the trouble with daycare. Your kids will most likely take their "firsts" when you are not around to see it happen.

All weekend we watched and waited, and urged Emi to walk. No luck. She stood up on her own (a first for us, too), but no walking.
UNTIL, Sunday night when grandma/pa were over for dinner. Upstairs, grandma and I were getting Emi's PJs on, and she walked a few steps towards grandma. Then downstairs, she took a few steps in the living room. Yay!

As much as I have been waiting for this moment, it's a little sad now that it's here.
My baby is growing up so fast... I look at some of her newborn pictures and think "who is that baby, you look nothing like her anymore".

Guess how much I spent for this?

2010-05-01T21:21:00.002-04:00

Scott says I have a new obsession (this time I agree, unfortunately). But it is saving us a boat load! I paid $3.58 for all of this: 11 boxes of pasta and 4 roma tomatoes.

I always clipped coupons, but I was the person who looked through them every 5-6 trips I made to the store only to find that they were all expired. I have started following various coupon websites and blogs, and have started matching up sales at the store with my coupons. The trick is to try to get multiple coupons (mom saves the adds for me from the paper, I print them off the web, etc).

I must give credit where due:
The Krazy Coupon Lady
Money Saving Mom
The Coupon Queen, who may have a weekly column in your newspaper (she does in mine, and started this craziness for me!)

Above, Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta sells for $2.49 a box. They had them on sale for $1, and I had 11 $.75 off coupons. Each box only cost me 25 cents! And those who know me well know I love pasta, so this will eventually all get eaten.

Now, I need to hunt around for some sauce on sale and I'll be all set!

Socks!

2010-04-20T18:21:00.003-04:00

The other day, Scott said that I had a sock addiction. I think it's completely normal, you have to buy what your child needs, right?

Last week I noticed that she outgrew all her plain white socks. All the socks that she had were colored or striped, and didn't go with some of her outfits. So we went and got the 6 pack of plain white socks at Target.

Here's a pic of my sock score this past weekend. Since she's starting to stand up on everything, and Bema thinks she's going to walk soon, I figured I should stock up on socks that have the little rubber grippies on the bottom so she has some traction. It's a tile floor at daycare, and regular socks can get awfully slippery! They had a sale going on, so I figured I would also buy the next size up, to take advantage of the sale. I also found the cutest knee high socks to make more legwarmers for her. It's getting to be summer (and her old legwarmers are getting a little small), so she'll be in onesies and creepers more, and needs the legwarmers to cover her knees for all the crawling that she does.

Completely normal, right?
BTW - I am still so irritated that all girl baby clothes (and socks) are always pink! What if we don't like pink? How about some cool colors like magenta, or black, or leopard print?

Our new normal - for now

2010-04-11T23:38:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've updated this, so I wanted to get something out here since we've had a lot going on lately.

Scott:
On March 18th, Scott graduated! Emi and I went to DC, and both sides of our families were there to help him celebrate. We all flew home from DC together, and after a few days off, Scott reported to his first day of work in LA. It sounds like he's starting to get settled in, doing a lot of admin "new guy on the block" kind of work, but hopefully he'll be getting some exciting assignments soon. Until we decide what to do with our living situation, Scott is staying at Eric's place Sun - Thu night (thank you Eric!), and coming home on the weekends. His commute from the office to our house is about 2.5 hours, and his commute from Eric's house to the office is about a half hour on good days.
On April 10th, Scott had a birthday (the first birthday as a father). I didn't get him a card (oops), but we were together and had a great weekend. Happy Birthday, honey.

Emi:
Right before we went to DC for Scott's graduation, Emi started crawling. She is now all over the place, and the little bugger is fast. She seems to love the dog's bowls, and has more than once put her hands in their water bowls and made a mini-mess. We got her a jumperoo, and that thing is her favorite toy. I try not to put her in it too much (don't want the novelty to wear out too soon), but when she does go in, she can jump and play for about an hour. That's plenty of time to get things around the house done without having to chase Emi. A few weeks ago, Emi started pulling herself up. She can stand herself up in her crib, on the coffee table, on Bear, on us, pretty much anything. And I guess we are lucky that she also knows how to plop herself down again. I've heard stories of kids standing up in their cribs in the middle of night, and cry because they don't know how to let go.

Colette:
I've become a pro at flying with Emi (ok, maybe it's her that's become the pro). I've also gotten in a pretty good routing with work, daycare, and taking care of Emi. Things at work are pretty busy, and I'm also trying to squeeze in a bit of quality personal time during the week with Emi, with friends, and getting out of the house for errands and shopping. This past weekend we splurged and decided to get the BOB stroller, and it's great. Hopefully now I can work some exercise time into mix. At least now there is greater incentive to walk to daycare! Last week, we had an earthquake which we all felt. We were in the kitchen, and Emi was in her jumperoo. That was the most exciting thing to happen in a few weeks!

Our new normal feels pretty good for now (after Scott being gone for 5 months, this is a big improvement). I know he's sad to leave every Sunday night (it must be so much harder for him than for us, since we get to stay in our house each week), but things will work themselves out and we'll end up where we are supposed to be in a few months. Overall, the Z's are hanging in there!

Commando Crawling

2010-02-26T18:47:00.003-05:00

Emi can now sit up on her own, and she is getting very close to crawling. It's getting to the point where you can't really take your eyes off her anymore (and unfortunately, I have to vacuum a lot more!) She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks as if she's about to take her first crawl any day now. When she wants to get from point A to point B she will do her "Commando Crawl".

6 months - how time flies

2010-02-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

I can't believe my little girl is 6 months old. At our last check up, she didn't gain any weight or grow at all, so the doctor said it's time to really pick up the amount of solids that she's eating. She is getting cereal twice a day (once at daycare, and they said she's doing great with it) and veggies at dinner. I'm going to start giving her fruits in the morning, too - so she'll be eating 2 full meals a day along with all the milk that she normally gets.

So far, she has had (and loved): rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, and apples. I am trying my hand at making baby food, and I have made her the carrots and apples. Hopefully I'll be able to make most, if not all, of her food. The challenge is finding containers to store them all in. I bought little baby food containers, but the batch of carrots made so much that only half of what I made fit in all the containers. I am keeping the Gerber containers that she finishes, and I still had no place to put the rest of the carrots. Mental note: don't make so much at once, and don't throw out the ice cube trays that come with the fridge next time (no matter how much I think that I will never use them since we have an ice maker).

She also was diagnosed with an ear infection at her last doctor's appt. So she started another round of antibiotics, and she seems to be feeling much better. She still tugs a little at her ear (she finished the medicine about a week ago), and I'll have them check her ear again at her next appt in 1.5 weeks.

Emi and I went to DC to visit Scott for President's Day weekend. I came down with some sort of stomach thing the day before our trip (I blame the Chick Fil A that I had that night), but was feeling well enough to travel. I didn't take a stroller, and checked the car seat in, so it was a very easy flight with nothing more than the baby in the Ergo carrier and the diaper bag to carry. She did great on the flights, and even ate dinner on the plane (sweet potatoes) on the way home. It was a short but great trip, and of course it was wonderful spending time with Scott. We got to visit with family and friends, too.

Six months has really flown by with Emi, and I still can't believe that I am a mother and I seriously still feel like I am learning about Emi and how to take care of her every day. I guess that feeling will never go away, huh? As soon as I get use to something and we get into a good routine, she starts to do something new and we have to adjust again. Oh well, I take it one day at a time, and I love every minute of it (most of the time :-P )

Firsts (cont.)

2010-01-14T01:55:00.003-05:00

At Emi's 5 month check up, she weighed in at 14 lbs, and 26 1/4 inches. The doctor said she is definitely teething, and that she's ready to be started on rice cereal. Wow, my baby is growing up!

Firsts

2010-01-14T00:55:00.004-05:00

Emi went through many firsts, in the span of just 2 weeks.

First cold
First sinus infection
First antibiotics
First plane ride
First trip to DC
First Christmas
First New Years

Minus the sickness, we had a very nice xmas. The trip to DC was actually easier than I thought it would be. Flying with Emi wasn't bad (she was only a little fussy on the last 2 hours of the flight home). The biggest hassle was all the stuff that we traveled with. Next time, I plan to check the car seat in as luggage, and not bring the stroller. I'll just bring the Moby wrap, or borrow or buy an Ergo Baby, which I hear is the best baby carrier around.

Scott's parents drove to DC to spend New Years with us. Scott spend all xmas day and half the following day in bed - but that's the price he paid for having his sick family in town for the holidays. Even through the sickness, I'm sure he thinks it was a small price to pay for having us with him (at least I hope that's what he thinks!). Seeing him over the holidays made me miss him even more once we got home.
I've already booked my flight to be in DC for President's Day weekend.

Hopefully 2010 is a great year, and I have a feeling it's going to fly by.

Those darn kids!!!!

2009-12-17T11:35:00.003-05:00

I hate the kids in my neighborhood, and I completely blame them for the fender bender that I got into yesterday. There are a lot of elementary-plus age kids in our neighborhood, and they like to run around in the middle of streets, taunt cars, leave bikes lying in the middle of the street, and go zooming into the street without looking for cars. I secretly hope that someone runs over one of their bikes one day, just to teach them a lesson. And the worst part, is that the parents are no where in sight. If one of them ever got hit by a car, I bet the parents would never know unless someone knocked on their door to tell them. Irresponsible!

Yesterday, I was on my way to pick Emi up from daycare, and the kids seemed to be hovering around the area by our houses. It's strange, I didn't recognize any of them, and the girl from across the street was not out with them. What are they doing in front of my house! They were zipping back and forth on their bikes and scooters in the middle of the street. I then saw a black SUV come down the street, and turn the corner by the dead end. I put the car in reverse, look both ways, find the stupid kids (who are on the sidewalk directly across the street) and back up slowly. Then BUMP. I hear one of the damn kids squeal. OMG - I hit a kid! I am freaking out! I look behind me, and I backed right into my neighbor across the street, who was also backing out in that black SUV (our butts hit). First - I guess we were both in each other's blind spots. Second - what's he doing in this black SUV?

This is a neighbor that I have never talked to, but he was so nice. We exchanged info (he told me it's his daughter's car that he's watching over the holidays), and we agreed that we hate the kids. We were both watching for the stupid kids, and not looking at the driveways. What a way to meet your neighbor, huh?

So, normally I drive about .5 miles a day (to daycare, and back from daycare). And go figure, I get into an accident. They do say that accidents happen close to home - who knew it would be in my driveway? And why is it that every time Scott leaves home, I get into an accident (this makes 4!). I really am a good driver, I swear! I think this is the world's way of telling us that Scott and I should never be apart, what do you think?

To single moms out there, I salute you...

2009-12-08T00:23:00.001-05:00

And I thought being a mom was hard. I have a new respect for single moms.

When Emi was born, I related to and respected all moms out there. Being a mom is tiring, and it is hard work. Stay at home moms definitely have a "job". But I grew to like being a stay at home mom. I remember when Scott went to Iraq, many people said "well, at least you don't have kids so it won't be too bad". I actually think it was harder when he was in Iraq. I was depressed and lonely. But Scott's absense isn't as bad this go round (granted, I am not worried for his safetly and his well being). I have a reason for getting up in the morning, a daily distraction, and I have company (not that Bear wasn't a great best friend for 8 months). But, like I said before, being a mom is hard work. Every day is unpredictable (becuase Emi doesn't have a routine yet). I don't know if she'll sleep through the night, what time she'll get up in the morning, if it will be a good day or a fussy day, if she will take any naps, nor what time she will go to bed. But the giggles, the smiles, and the fun that we have together is worth it.

Now, I have found that being a single mom must be 1000 times harder than just being a mom. I consider myself a 70% single mom right now. I at least have the luxury of being able to talk to Scott daily, to vent to him if I need to, and the comfort of knowing that this is temporary and he will be home in 4 months.

I am not enjoying being back to work. It has been a busier week than normal (covering for people who are out, new high maintenance and demanding clients, year end rush), but regardless, I dream of going back to being a stay at home mom. At least I can dream about this, and if we really wanted to sacrifice a little and make that a reality, it's an option (well, maybe). Single moms have no choice but to work in order to support their family. I imagine life is a constant juggling act, with many sacrifices and compromises. Single moms need strength, endurance, and motivation. I think single moms are amazing.

Emi's first week at daycare was hard, and probably harder on me than on her. The mornings start very early. And now that she is sleeping through the night most of the time, I hate waking her up in the morning (especially on those night that she does not sleep through the night). Every book says that sleep is so important for a baby's development, I feel like I am short changing her on development time. But we will eventually get our mornings into a routine, and things will be better.

Dropping her off wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be (I fully expected to cry). But I was concentrating so much on not getting emotional, that I completely forgot to say goodbye to her (bad mommy, bad mommy). I got back into the car, looked in the rear view mirror and saw her car seat without her in it, and got a little teary. I was so anxious and concerned about how she was doing, that I went to pick her up early. As soon as I walked through the door, I could hear crying and could tell that it was her. When I walked in the room, there she was; wrapped up in a blanket in the arms of Miss Garry in the rocking chair. When I picked her up she calmed down, and the first question Miss Garry asked was "how do you get her to take a nap?" I knew this was going to a problem. I also remember thinking that she smelled different that day - strange, I know, but it kind of got to me. We chatted a little about what she likes, and I took her home. I had to do some more work, and fortunately Emi took a nap when we got home, probably exhausted from her day of crying. The evening consisted of my trying to bond and make up for the lost hours in the day with Emi, washing and preparing bottles, clothes, and mentally getting ready for tomorrow.

The next day, she was not crying when I picked her up, but she looked puffy like she had cried a lot. We got home and she took a nap. Daycare was not getting any easier yet.

Each day for the rest of the week seemed a little better. By the end of the week she was staying a full day (no more lunch time pick ups), and they said that she wasn't crying as much and that she was starting smile and giggle during the day. I think Emi got used to it a lot quicker than I did. I still hate waking her up in the morning, and hate being away from her for such a long time.

Everyone says this will get easier - but for now it's sad, it's tiring, and single moms amaze me.

Back to work, Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-12-07T23:41:00.003-05:00

This title says it all. It was a busy week - back to work, Scott's trip home for Thanksgiving, and Theresa's visit.

I started back at work, and I fully realize that you cannot get anything done with a child at home. I managed those three days with the help of the mute button on the phone, rising before the baby wakes up (gotta love those 6am meeting with the hope that the baby will sleep until 7am), and trying to get as much done during nap time as possible. Bouncing a baby on your knee makes for a lot of typos when trying to create documentation and send emails...

Scott came home on Thursday, and it was great seeing him. Emi and I went to the airport to pick him up, and she was completely asleep when we got there. I took her out of the car seat to meet him as he walked over to the parking area, and I handed her over to him as soon as we saw him. Unfortunately, (I blame it on the sleepiness) Emi took one look at Scott and started to cry. It was not the reunion we had planned for - but Scott and Emi were back to their old playful antics after an hour or two. Since it was Thanksgiving afternoon, and just the three of us, we decided to have Thanksgiving at Tip Top Meats. You can't beat the huge meal that we got for $8.99 a person. We need to go back and try some of their other platters, they all sounded so good. We then headed home for some quality family time.

The next day, Theresa and the family came to visit. It was good seeing them. The kids were so big, and it seemed like it was a very long time since I've seen them all. Scott's trip was way too short - he flew back on Saturday afternoon. Theresa stayed one more night, and headed back to Texas on Sunday. Then, another night of dread - getting Emi ready for the first day of daycare.

The night consisted of getting bottles ready, setting aside a package of diapers and wipes to take, laying out her clothes for tomorrow morning (there will be no decision making at 5:45am), and putting a bag of 3 extra outfits to keep at daycare together (went the easy route with sleep and plays). A quiet and sad ending to a busy week.

All things must come to an end...

2009-11-23T00:49:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, I go back to work. I thought I would be one of those moms who couldn't wait to go back to work; eager for adult interaction, eager to start thinking in "work mode" again, and eager for a return to "normalcy". But here it is, 10pm the night before I go back to work, and I am dreading it. So much that I would like this evening to never end - and I actually straightened up the house, put away folded laundry, went through our piles of junk in the kitchen, and I don't really want to go to bed because I know the very next thing awaiting me is an early morning of work.

Granted, being a stay at home mom is hard work (and usually an earlier start to the day than the alarm for work) - and there are definitely frustrations and days you wish you could just walk out of the house for a half hour and collect yourself (or scream swear words at the top of your lungs). I do think these frustrations are more intense than any frustration you encounter at work (with projects, with deadlines, with clients...) but they are yours and yours alone, and when you get through them you have a (hopefully) sleeping baby, or smiling baby, and a heart full of love. Even if I end up with smiling clients, I don't end up with a heart full of love.

And all these feelings don't even take into account that I will be leaving Emi at daycare. We don't start that until after Thanksgiving, and I'm sure I will have a load of different emotions next Sunday. But for now, I really don't want to go back to work. I even thought "What if I quit my job, and live on our savings for a year, and reassess at that point in time". But, I don't think we can afford that, and I'm sure that once I am back into the swing of things at work it won't be so bad. Hopefully it's just a feeling of anticipation and dread, like when I was a kid and summer break was over. Once you walk into school, it's not so bad.

On another ironic note: a lot of the cleaning tonight is because the cleaners are coming tomorrow. How come I always feel like I have to clean the day before the cleaners come? Oh well...

Roll over...

2009-11-08T19:04:00.004-05:00

The other day (3 months, and 2 days) Emi rolled over from her tummy to her back. It was at yoga class, and I didn't really see it, but the teacher did and she said that Emi had a surprised look on her face. That afternoon, she rolled over the same way 3 more times at my parent's house. It was funny, she was just using the weight of her big head to roll her over that shoulder. But since then, she has not done it at all. BUT - she has rolled over from her back to her tummy on 2 different days. Here's a clip of it. So I think this one is here to stay (although she only goes to her left side). Our days of leaving her on the couch while we do something really quick are over. Oh well...

Satisfying

2009-11-03T23:20:00.003-05:00

There is something very satisfying about second helpings. I wonder if other people think this, and do something similar. Tonight, I am making spaghetti for dinner - for one. I make just enough that I know I am going to finish it tonight, and have no left overs. But when I dish it out for myself, I only dish out half, so that I can come back and get a second helping. Even though I know I am going to eat all of it. I could dish it all out, and eat it all - but that is just not satisfying. Am I strange?

On another note - I have made it through the first week of Scott being in VA. Overall, not a bad week (sad, but not at tough as I thought it was going to be). Scott left very early on Saturday morning, and I was really feeling bad with a cold that we both caught just in time for his last 2 days at home. Emi was amazing and let me sleep a lot that day, and she was up and happily hanging out in her swing, took nice long naps, and really gave me the time I needed to start recovering. I thought the first week was going to be miserable - similar to how the first week at home after having Emi was (lots of crying, little sleep, etc). Although her sleep schedule was a little off, it was not terrible. I do think she misses Scott, because she was more fussy than usual in the evenings, but it was manageable. I've been keeping busy with the mom's group, and my parents have been life savers and have been bringing me dinner a lot. I have a feeling that time will go by much faster once I start working (which I don't want to do), but it is still going to be a long 19 more weeks...

Emi had her 3 month check up and shots today. She weighed in at 12 pounds on the dot (and Grandpa measured her at 24 inches). My baby is growing up!

Just the two of us...

2009-10-27T02:03:00.003-04:00

OK - I guess the accurate count is 4: Colette, Emi, Bear and Chewie.
Scott left on Saturday morning for the academy. The worst part of his leaving was the last 2 days, we were both sick. So rather than enjoy the time together before he left, we were both drugged up on cold medicine and trying not to touch the baby and get her sick. Fortunately, she seemed to escape catching whatever it is we have (knock on wood). I am wondering if Scott got it first - because he mentioned a scratchy throat a few days before I got mine, and he seemed to peak right around Sat/Sun. Tonight, I have started with the runny nose and have a little cough, which is where he was on Thursday. So we'll see what kind of shape I am in tomorrow morning.

The next worst thing about Scott's leaving is that Emi was sleeping when we got to the airport, and Scott didn't want to take her out of her car seat and wake her up. So he didn't get to give her a big hug and kiss goodbye. But the thought of Scott coming home for Thanksgiving, even if it's just for 2 nights, is comforting and I hope that it works out. I can only imagine how much Scott is missing Emi.

We had a good first 2 nights alone. In the evenings, every time she woke up, she woke up crying (maybe it's because she misses her daddy, and his giving her the last bottle of the night). But I was able to calm her down, and she slept pretty well both nights. This morning came earlier than usual (4:30am), but she went right back to sleep after a feeding.

Emi got her first boo boo today, and fortunately there is no mark or band aid to show for it (just the memory of her crying). There is a shelf above the changing table, which I thought may not be a good idea the first day we hung it - but managed to avoid bumping into it until now. Grandma and I were trying her Halloween costume on this afternoon, and Grandma picked her straight up without thinking of the shelf and she bumped her head on the edge of it (hard, the shelf bounced a little). For one second, it was quiet, then suddenly there was a scream (from Emi, and possibly from me) and then crying. It was the saddest thing to see her like that, even sadder than when she got her first shots. It was just unexpected, and followed by worry of red marks, bumps and lumps, soft spots on her head, and brain damage. But she calmed down, and then started acting like herself, and even smiling. So it all turned out ok, but the guilt and worry was the most emotion I think I've ever felt (not to mention Grandma who felt horrible and cried herself a little). Scott, if this shelf is no longer there when you come home for Thanksgiving, now you know why...

For the rest of the night, I have felt very protective of Emi, and even feel like I love her a little more now. There is no doubt that I loved her before today, but it's just a little more intense now. There was always a sense of having to care for her, but now it's a sense of having to protect her of things (even though I know there will be lots of scrapes and cuts in our future), and never wanting to see her cry or be hurt in any way. When I put her to bed tonight, looking at her peaceful sleeping face made my heart melt, and made me want to just hold her and kiss her and protect her from all things scary or hurtful. Wow, I never thought I would say this, but I feel like a mom.

2 months - 10.5 lbs, 23 inches

2009-10-11T14:12:00.004-04:00

Emi,
I am so amazed at how fast you have grown, and that you are developing into your own little person already. We have finally gotten over the nursing hardships, and I can tell you are definitely getting enough to eat by the way you have grown. People always say that babies don't stay small long, and it's so true. I look at your early pictures, and hardly recognize that little monkey. You are starting to outgrow your newborn clothes (which is so sad), and we'll have to start putting you into your 3 months clothes soon.

The 2 comments that we get all the time - literally, from every stranger who takes a look at you:
OMG, look at all that hair!
She is so alert, looking at me and everything around her.

You love going outside. Sometimes when you are fussy (and believe me, you still have your moments!), we just take you outside and you calm right down. You also love being in your car seat, and going for car rides. I'm also grateful for the swing that we got for you - since you love it and sometimes that's the only place you will take a nap. We have gotten the hang of the moby wrap, and we need to get you out for more walks (more for mommy exercise time, rather than for you).

You got your first shots last week, and although you cried, you recovered pretty quickly (maybe it was that bottle that we shoved into your mouth after you stopped screaming). You're still figuring out if you are going to be a big kid (90th percentile for weight) or a small kid (50th percentile for height). We need to work on getting you turn your head to the left more often, and you need to sleep on your side and get more tummy time so you don't have a flat head (maybe that's why your hair sticks straight up like a rooster where it's flat?). We also need to work on your sleep and nap routine. It's all over the place right now - but I think you'll start sleeping in your crib soon and hopefully develop somewhat of a schedule.

My heart melts every morning when I wake up and take my first look at you. We'll have a lot of daddy time in the next couple of weeks before he leaves, and I can't wait to see what the next months have in store for us.

Bad night/ Good night (trial and error begins)

2009-10-01T14:18:00.004-04:00

After talking to some of the moms to 6 month old babies about night sleeping, I decided to experiment. Boy, Emi really hated me for doing that (and Scott, I'm sure who had to go to work the next day!).

Some moms were saying that their babies were sleeping through the night (and I mean from 7 - 7 or so), and that they started doing that at about 3 months. Sure, Emi is not that old yet, but it's never too early to start trying right? Wrong! I also told one of them that we wake her up after falling asleep in her swing, take her to bed and feed her, at about midnight every night. This started me thinking - if we put her to bed instead of the swing, I wonder how long she will sleep?

Bad night:
- Tried to put Emi to bed at 8pm. We let her cry and fuss for about 10 minutes, checked and she was wide awake so we brought her back downstairs with us
- We fed Emi at about 9pm because she was fussy(she's usually asleep and doesn't eat at this time, so maybe this was a sign that it was going to be a bad night)
- Put Emi to bed around 9:45. She was awake, but tired
- Emi woke up at 12:15 (only 15 minutes later than when we usually wake her up). Nursed her instead of giving her a bottle
- Woke up at 3:30. I thought she was just unswaddled and needed a diaper change, which I asked/ordered Scott to do (I now realize that was mean, sorry hon). He put her back to bed, and she cried and howled. So I got up and fed her, then put her back to bed
- Emi was unswaddled again at 4:30. Tried to swaddle and put back to bed, but she started crying again. I picked her up and walked around with her for about 20 minutes (she calmed down when I got my glass of water, but then started crying hard again when we went back upstairs). So as a last resort, I put her on the boob and she fell asleep after 10 minutes or so. Back to bed
- Awake again at 7am. Fed and start of the day

Good night:
Maybe we changed too many things at one (no swing, no bottle, ealier time to bed), so we armed ourselves with a bottle ready for the first wake up
- Bath, then feed at 8pm
- In bed by 9:45 or so
- I went to bed at 10:30, with bottle ready to be made at the bedside for the next time she wakes up
- Woke up at 4am, completely surprised that she didn't wake up. Checked to make sure she was still breathing and alive, sigh of releif, and waited for her to start crying for about 15 minutes convinced that I jinxed it. When no crying came, decided to go down and pump since I could not roll over in bed, I was so engorged.
- Emi woke up around 5:15 - Scott and I were in shock and amazement. Fed and back to bed.
- Awake at 8:15. Fed and start of the day

So was it the bath? Was it Murphy's reverse law, that I was armed and prepared with a bottle? Or was it that she was so tired from the bad night, that she needed this good night to catch up on her beauty sleep? I guess we'll find out tonight if some kind of pattern is emerging...

Meeting up again

2009-10-01T14:06:00.002-04:00

Last summer, when Scott was gone for the month of July (link), I found Meetup.com and made some new friends and started going out more. The only group that we continued to meet up with regularly was the Brussels Griffon group. Now, I have discovered another group for first time moms.

So far, I have gone to 2 meetups, and I think this is going to be great. Last week, I went on a walk at the beach. Everyone brought their strollers, and all the babes slept through the entire walk. Emi was the second to youngest baby there (kudos to mom of a 5 week old who is already getting out and about), and it felt really good to get out of the house and talk to some other people. Most of the conversations revolved around babies and sharing experiences and tricks of the trade - but once I get to know these folks a little more I have a feeling that "adult" conversations will come soon. I must say that I was pretty out of shape, I got winded from 2 laps of Carlsbad!

This week, I went to a story time picnic at the park. Buddy Todd park is right down the street, and I have never been there. But it was so nice and they allow dogs on leashes, that this may have to be a regular spot for us. Again, Emi slept through the entire meetup - but I read the book that I brought to all the other kids anyway. I'm not reading to her yet, and it's going to take some getting used to reading out loud. I used to read out loud to my stuffed animals all the time when I played school with them - I guess I have to channel that geeky kid again.

I also enrolled in a Mommy and Me yoga class. The class starts out with singing little songs and playing with the babes - again, I feel so silly! But it's good because I don't know any kid songs, or at least forgot all about them. When we sang "row, row, row your boat" the first time, I was thinking "Oh yeah, I remember this song!". The second half of class is yoga for me, which I need and hopefully will start getting me back into shape. After 12 months of little to no exercise, my body is squishy!

So things are getting much better, I am venturing out of the house, and getting used to being a parent. This is really making me not want to go back to work! Ha - in my dreams...

A couple of firsts

2009-09-16T00:50:00.005-04:00

It's been an exciting week:
- Emi first smiled last week, and it wasn't just gas (week 5)
- I went out and left Emi alone with Daddy for the first time on Sunday. I ran some errands, and yesterday morning went to my 6 week checkup. Has it really been 6 weeks already?
- Emi discovered her tongue yesterday, and stuck it out at us, mimicking us, last night
- Today, Emi had her first blow out (poop, that is) up her back and all over her onesie, blanket and mattress cover

And most exciting, Scott and I went out on Saturday to see Spamalot. This was our first time leaving Emi with anyone. We dropped her off at my parents house (Uncle Rene and Aunt Rosa were in town to help out), and grabbed a quick lunch on our way downtown to the Civic Center. We then stopped at our house on our way home to let the dogs out and give them dinner, then headed back to my parent's for a family dinner. The show was great (so funny) and I only called home once during intermission to check in on how things were going. Everything went fine, there was minimal crying, and I didn't stress out as much as I thought I would. I knew I would either be the stressed out mom who couldn't wait to go home and missed her baby like crazy, or I would be relieved to have a baby free outing. It was very nice to get away for a little bit, and I didn't say "I wonder what Emi is doing right now" at all! I used to say that all the time when we first left Chewie with anyone (is something wrong with me that I think about my dog that much?). Grandma and Grandpa babysitting is going to have to become a monthly thing, I think!

A successful night out

2009-09-10T01:10:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a great night out! Scott came home from work, and we went to buy the swing for Emi. Updates on how she likes it to come, once we try it out tomorrow.
After going to the store, we got dinner at Fudruckers, which we figured was pretty kid friendly, and wouldn't be bad in case Emi decided to wake up and cry. But she was great all night, and did wake up for a bit towards the end of dinner, but was quiet and content. After a couple of swings in the car seat by dad, she was back asleep and I even had to wake her up when we got back home.

But the best part of the night was the beer I had with dinner. This was the first whole beer that I have had in months, and it tasted SO GOOD! And to top things off, they played a Cat Stevens song that I love during dinner. What a great night.

Things I love about Emi:
- The way she stretches and the faces she makes when we wake her up in the morning and unswaddle her. It's is adorable, and I have to get it on video one of these days.
- The way she holds her hands when she's drinking from her bottle. She makes little fists, and tucks them under her chin - which is even more adorable since we've started tucking the burp cloth under her chin, under her hands.
- The way she loves her bath, and the way she looks when her hair is all wet.
- Anytime that she is quiet and sleeping - thank goodness for these small patches of peace at home!

Our growing little monkey - ohoh, who just woke up

2009-09-04T19:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Emi weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 oz. and measured 21.5 inches at her doctor's appt. Woohoo! We are doing something right, huh. That means she gained about a pound in 2 weeks - maybe we should call her piggy instead of monkey from now on. She did seem to eat all the time (sometimes every hour) that past 2 weeks, and the doc said that she was probably playing catch up. She also said that sometime babies of little women gain a lot of weight after they are born because they didn't have the room to gain a lot before they were born. So I am little - that was the nicest thing I have heard in months!

I'm still feeling a little house bound (I'm catching up on reruns of the O.C.), but getting Emi out yesterday to visit Scott's work and go to the doctor was good for me. Although it seemed to take a half hour just to leave the house, it was good for me to do that by myself. We are slowly getting into a little more of a routing - Emi still sleeps for about 5 hours at night (which doesn't mean we sleep that long - with all the pumping, washing of bottles, etc), waking up between 5am and 6am. We feed her, change her, and then she goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. That's enough time for me to eat breakfast, check emails, and then catch a little nap. The next time she wakes up, she sometimes is very calm and sedate, which lets me take a shower. But sometimes, her crankiness starts, and she fusses unless she's held almost all day. Our afternoons are unpredictable - sometimes she's great, and sometimes it's an afternoon of feeding and rocking. Dinner time usually consists of Scott making dinner while I feed her, then she calms down but of course as soon as we are ready to eat she gets cranky. So we take turns eating, while the other holds her. But fortunately, she's been getting into the habit of sleeping after her 9pm feeding or so, then we wake her up for a bottle at midnight, and the cycle starts over again with about 5 hours of sleep and an early morning for us.

I've noticed that she's crankier when it's hot in the house, and we have been going through a heat wave for the past 2 weeks. We even had to go out and buy an air condition unit - but the improvement in Emi's mood since we got it is worth every penny. We just have to wait and see what our electric bill looks like next month! Scott said tonight that he doesn't even remember what the first week home was like (I wish I could forget!). But time is actually flying by fast, and we are all hanging in there.

Week 3 - just call me Buttercup (moo)

2009-08-28T00:09:00.004-04:00

I never imagined what it would be like to be a cow, or a vending machine. But I have a slight glimpse now. I feel like a milk producing animal, and it's constant like a vending machine. It seems like there is no break - it's just hour after hour of constant feeding. Emi seems to want to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours, and sometimes it takes over an hour to feed her, then pump for 15 minutes. Then 10 minutes later, she wants to eat again! I might as well not ever put a shirt on again!

Bema and Papa came to visit this week. It was a good visit, and they did a great job at spoiling their grand daughter (which is a grandparent's job, right?). We finally put some clothes on Emi, who pretty much stayed in just a diaper for the first 2 weeks because it's been so hot, and she was swaddled the majority of the time. She also got her first bath this week - yes we kept her dirty too (are we already bad parents?). Hopefully this is not an indication that she is going to be the smelly kid at school who always seems to have snot hanging out of her nose. She loved her bath, BTW!

Emi also seems to have come down with a case of baby acne - and I also hope this isn't a preview of her skin during puberty. If so, we might want to start stocking up on the clearasil now. She had her 2 week check-up, and weighed in at 7lbs 4 oz. Still going in the right direction, and she said we could start weening her off the supplement. I think that's going to be easier said than done - because she seems to have gotten used to the milk coming pretty fast and not having to work for her food. I also still need to work on making sure my milk supply is at the level that she needs.

The trick to sleeping at night!
We give her a bottle of formula for her last feeding of the day (usually around midnight, or 12:30am). This gets her to sleep all night, usually until about 5am. What a difference this makes for our sanity, and we figured she was already getting formula, so what the hell? I had a hard time with the idea of giving her a bottle (I was scared of nipple confusion), but a lactation consultant who came to the house courtesy of the state of CA said that there is no way to tell if she is going to get confused until you try it. She suggested giving her one bottle, and then seeing how she latches on the next time. If she seems fine, then there is nothing to worry about. So we did this, and it was the best thing ever!

So week 3 was much better than the first 2 weeks, but we are still learning how to all live in harmony. I have been pooped on, peed on, and seem to change diapers 1 minute before she goes again. She will put us in the poor house just with diapers alone! And what are these crying bouts that she has for no reason at all? We're still learning...

Welcome Home Emi! - first 2 weeks home

2009-08-14T02:45:00.005-04:00

The past weeks have been a challenge, to say the least. It's been a steep learning curve, and we have had some breast feeding challenges, and a few nights of very little sleep (did I say very little?).

First, I must say that even with a normal delivery, there is definitely recovery time for moms. Ladies - I highly suggest that you take the ice packs that the hospital offers, and stay on them the entire time you are in the hospital. I didn't like the way they felt when they started melting, so declined them after the first one. Big mistake, which I paid for, for days after coming home because I was still a swollen mess.

The first day home was kind of rough on us. I was still sore in the sitting down area (which didn't really get better for about a week), but Grandma and Grandpa Y met us when we got home, and brought us lunch. They did come to see Emi at the hospital every day, but it was nice to have a welcoming party waiting for us. Emi met Bear and Chewie - Chewie was very curious and wanted to come and inspect her all over; Bear seemed to want to give her space and seemed to go upstairs everytime she was downstairs, and go downstairs every time she was upstairs. Emi was a little jaundiced, so the doctor suggested that we put her in indirect sunlight through a window. It was so hot in the house that day, and I probably should not have done that, but she slept for over an hour by the window, and I think she got dehydrated (which may have caused what I describe in the next paragraph). But we made it through the rest of the day, and Emi woke up around 2am that night (which we expected) and we fed her and spent about 10-15 minutes rocking her back to sleep.

The one thing the hospital tells you to do is count the number of diaper changes you go through the first days. The second day at home had Scott running around town trying to find lighter swaddling blankets and Lanolin cream for my nipples. When he got home we got concerned because it was 1pm and there were still no dirty diapers that day. We called the ped, and they said to bring her in right away. They weighed her, and she came in at 6 lbs, 4 oz. They said she lost 15% of her body weight, and this was not good (but up to 10% loss is normal, so don't worry ladies if that's you). We were then told to start supplementing with formula at each feeding. That night we gave her her first supplement through a syringe in her mouth, and she was not a happy camper all night. She spent the majority of that night crying. From there, the pattern of sleepness nights started (which lasted the first 2 weeks). She would sleep great one night, waking up for just her middle of the night feeding. The next night, she would cry the majority of the night and rocking and swaddling did not help one bit. Then it would start over again with a good night the next night.

The following day we went back to the hospital (I didn't think I would see this place so soon again) to talk to the lactation consultant. She gave us a tube to help with the supplement so that we could do it while feeding, and she told me to start using my pump after every feeding. This should help my milk some in quicker, and get her off the supplement sooner. The next day, Emi had her newborn ped appt, and she weighed in at 6 lbs, 11 oz. This was a good sign that we were headed in the right direction, and she told us to keep supplementing and doing what we were doing. Otherwise, Emi checked out just fine. The ped also showed us the trick of how to tell if her diaper is wet. There is a line on the outside that turns blue if it's wet (because diapers are so absorbent these days you can't really tell if they are wet). I wonder how many wet diapers we just let her sit in because we didn't know to look for the line?

We continued with the pumping and supplementing all weekend, but I wasn't getting much out of the pump at all. On Monday, I called the lactation consultant to see if this is normal (which it was), and she said that we are probably doing just fine if Emi isn't crying of hunger all day. But she did suggest that we come in to get a hospital grade pump until my milk comes in, since it might come in quicker with that pump. So we took yet another trip to the hospital!

So overall, the first 2 weeks consisted of my recovery, changing diapers, feeding, supplementing, and pumping. Notice there is very little sleep mentioned? Scott was able to take the entire first week off work, and also stayed home on Monday. Then he went to work Tue - Fri on week 2. Luckily, my mom was able to come over almost every day to help, but it was a tiring and frustrating 2 weeks. There was a lot of crying going on - both from Emi and from me. Looking back, those weeks may have been worse than the labor itself. No one tells you about these things, and adjusting to a newborn is a lot harder than I ever imagined. Everyone says it gets easier - so let's wait for that...

Emi's birth story

2009-08-14T02:44:00.003-04:00

Dear Emi Grace,

Welcome to the world. Your arrival was not exactly as I envisioned it, but you are here and safe and healthy, and know that you are always loved. Your name, Emi, is a Japanese name that means "Blessed with Beauty", and when we saw you we knew that this was your name. Your middle name, Grace, was chosen because it starts with the letter G - in remembrance of very important people in your dad's life: his grandfather George and his uncle Gary.

Your guess date was July 25, and that day came and went and I figured that you just weren't ready to join us yet. Believe me, I did everything I could to try to urge you to come, such as eating pineapple, eating spicy foods, walking, going up and down stairs, and lots of other things. Then a week later at a doctor's appt, they said that your fluids were low and that you needed to come out. This took us by surprise, because we really wanted you to tell us when you were ready - but we went home, packed bags and headed to the hospital.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30pm on Friday, July 31. The nurses were very nice, and they worked with us in answering our questions and doing things as slowly as possible to give us time to decide how we wanted to proceed. They let me eat dinner (McD's cheeseburgers, of course), and even agreed to measure your fluids again, which were still low but on the way up. After a lot of thinking and discussing things, your dad and I decided it was best to go ahead and proceed with the induction. They started me on Cervidil at midnight, and said that I would have this for 12 hours, and then they would most likely start Pitocin at noon on Saturday. I was 1 cm dilated. That night, your dad and I watched most of a movie called "Knowing", and as the movie was playing I could feel some contractions starting, but they were mild and I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep once the movie was over.

On Saturday morning, your dad and I woke up early, and I was still having those mild contractions, which were coming anywhere between 3-6 minutes apart. At about 8am, the doctor came in to check on me, and said that I was fully effaced and about 3cm. They said that the Cervidil worked, and that I didn't need to stay on it until noon. She said the next best thing to do was to break my water, and that it might help bring on the natural labor that we really wanted. So we agreed, and very soon after that I started feeling the contractions start to increase in intensity. They brought in some breakfast. They said as long as the contractions continued and got more regular, there was no need to start Pitocin (which was wonderful news!).

Things were moving along very slowly, and the contractions continued to get stronger and more intense. By that afternoon, I needed to start listening to my HypnoBabies scripts to get me through them. I put my earphones in, put the script on repeat, and tried to relax and work through each contraction. They were coming about every 3 minutes, and Scott said I would look like I was completely asleep at times listening to my scripts, and he would watch the monitor and see that I would have 3-4 contractions like that. There were times that I would start to come out of hypnosis (which is really just a deep state of relaxation for me), but your dad was able to calm me down and get me to relax again. Your dad was an amazing support partner. He made sure that I drank a lot of water, got out of bed often, and kept me as comfortable as possible. I do remember him eating 2 hospital meals though - the nurses brought in lunch and dinner, and said that I couldn't eat it, but that he could help himself.

Your Grandma and Grandpa Y came to visit us at the hospital. By this time, I had no idea what time it was, but I think it was right before dinner time. They didn't stay too long because my contractions were starting to get more and more intense, and they wanted to let us concentrate through them. I think it might have been around 4pm that the nurses checked me and I was 5 cm dilated. What a long day, and not much progress! They came back around 8pm to check again, and I was only 6cm. The contractions started to get more and more intense, and at about 8:30 (I think), I started to feel uncomfortable and a little "pushy". Given that things were moving so slow, I was pretty sure that I only had to go to the bathroom, but your dad asked the nurses to check me again to make sure. I was so convinced that I would still only be 6cm, that I started to think about an epidural. The nurses didn't want to check me, since my water had been broken and they just checked 20 minutes prior, but after some convincing they checked and said that I was fully dilated and could start pushing. So those feelings were a sign that you were ready to start making your way into the world! It was so funny, I remember seeing your dad kick things into high gear - he changed out of his flip flops, took off his sweatshirt and got ready for some action.

I didn't really want to push like you see on TV - lying on your back, with your knees up - so the nurses said they would let me push on my own for a while and come back and check in on me. We did this for about 4 hours, and you just weren't making much progress. Plus, my contractions were starting to die down and get further apart. The nurses came in around 1:30am on Sunday, and said that since things weren't really progressing, they wanted to try to have me push with their coaching. It was uncomfortable to be flat on my back, so they let me stay in a somewhat seated position, and they had me push while they counted. We did this for about 2 hours, and I didn't feel you coming down any further and my contractions were now about 6 minutes apart. The decided to call the doctor, and she came in around 3am. She recommended I lay down flat on my back for the next push, to see how far you were coming during the contractions. Then we talked about our options - either start Pitocin to kick up the contractions again (which would take a half hour or so to kick in), and I asked if a vaccuum was an option. She said it was, and that she thought you were far down enough for her to get. I was a little hesitant to resort to a vaccuum, but I remember wanting you in this world now. If you were as tired as I was, I'm sure you were ready, too. The doctor didn't think it would be a problem, but she did say I had to push really hard because she only had 3 tries with a vaccuum. With the next contraction (which were now 7 minutes apart), I pushed really hard and you crowned. We had to wait 7 minutes, then with the next contraction you were born. You came out crying, and I remember the doctor saying she would not clamp the cord until it stopped beating, but you wouldn't reach my chest yet, so listened to you cry and Scott said you were beautiful and had a full head of hair. Once the cord was clamped and cut, they put you on my chest (where you decided to take your first poop, right on me). You were still crying, but when we talked to you, I think you recognized us and started to calm down. After such a long day, this part of the early morning is kind of a blur. I remember you looking at us with wide eyes, and Scott taking some pictures. After what felt like an hour of us talking to you and the doctor stitching me up (I remember asking her how many stitches since these were my first stitches ever, and she said "too many to count"), they weighed you and measured you and then we tried to get you to eat a little bit. You quieted right down, and all of us decided it was time to take a nap. The nurse, Minda, offered to give you a bath, and she brought you right back to my arms when she was done and we slept for a few hours cuddled together in bed.

You entered the world on Sunday, August 2nd at 3:37am, weighing 7 lbs. 9 oz., and measuring 19.5 inches. We loved you before you joined us, and we love you even more now that you are in our arms. I can't wait to see how our life together unfolds.

Love, your mom and dad

Welcome Emi Grace - our little monkey

2009-08-14T02:39:00.003-04:00

It's a little late in posting, but Emi Grace Zelesnikar has finally arrived!
She was born on Aug 2, 2009 at 3:37am, after 27.5 hours of drug-free labor. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 9 oz. and was 19.5 inches. She's a little hairy right now, thus I have nicknamed her our little monkey.

Just a side note: The panda at the San Deigo zoo also had a little baby last week. Why is it that people birth 7-9 lb babies, and a 300 lb. panda births a 4 oz. cub that is the size of a stick of butter? I don't think that's fair!

Come on already!

2009-07-30T14:25:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I had my OB appt. This one was a little different. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor, so that they could monitor the baby's heartbeat and see if I am having any contractions. I don't know if it's the position that I was lying in, or the fact that the belts were strapped onto me, but the baby seemed to get really active (you could see my stomach moving around, and I swear the monitor caught some air one time with a big movement). Maybe she's destined to be a diva on screen (or monitor, in this case). But I thought it was interesting that during my appt, I had 3 contractions that I didn't even feel. One time, the doc was talking to me, and she said "you just had one, but I didn't say anything because I wanted to see how you reacted to it". My reaction - nada, zip, nothing, total amazement that I just had one. When I asked her if it was a braxton-hicks contraction, she said "No, that was a pretty good one". So, she said I was having irregular contractions. I guess that's a good sign, and hopefully that means that Baby Z is going to make an appearance soon! Last night, I did feel more of these contractions (I also ate lots of pineapple and we went on another walk), and I went to bed hoping that they would turn into something. Maybe it's mental, but these did seem stronger than the little ones that I had been feeling so far.

I also was able to talk the doc into moving the induction date. Originally, I was scheduled to go in on a Thursday night (2 days shy of 42 weeks). I really want to give Baby Z the whole 42 weeks to come on her own, so we agreed to move the induction to Sunday night (42 weeks and 1 day). The waiting game continues.

Waiting and Waiting

2009-07-29T13:39:00.002-04:00

Ok - I am now 40 weeks and 4 days, and I have my next OB check-up this afternoon. After last week's appt, I was really hoping that I would not make it to this one - but here we are a week later and still no Baby Z. Oh well, Scott says she's already taking after me, fashionably late (but really you all, I am usually only 10 minutes late, at the max!)

Lately, we've picked up the amount of walking that we do, I've been walking up and down the stairs during the days, we've been eating spicy food (the Thai food on Friday night has us both sweating up a storm in the restaurant), eating pineapple, Scott tried to find the acupressure points, and I've been making sure to drink my red raspberry leaf tea everyday. Of course - there's the other activity that got us into this mess, so we'll see if these things really work or if it's just a bunch of old wives tales. And I thought the whole sitting on the ball was also garbage, but for the past week or so there has been no more comfortable place to sit other than on my ball. So we've been carrying it up and down the stairs from my desk at work to next to the couch at night. I didn't really think Scott would have to walk into the hospital carrying the ball, but now I think he's going to have to suck it up and carry it proudly.

The past 2 nights I could not sleep, and I thought I felt some very minor pressure waves (aka contractions, probably braxton-hicks). I was thinking maybe this is it and it will turn into labor! But no - I fell asleep eventually and they must have petered out. It's such a disappointment to wake up in the morning and realize that nothing happened that night. I have told Baby Z that she should really come today (or at least in the next day or 2) because she should have her own month for her birthday. We have a lot of family birthdays in August (3 people and Chewie) - she should just go ahead and come on out in July.

This morning, I find myself a little emotional - damn hormones -but maybe it's a good sign! There is a pregnancy blog (His Boys Can Swim) that I just recently came across, and I really wish I had found this earlier, because the couple's due date was only 2 days before mine - so we were going through many of the same things at the same time. Anyway, they had their baby. and their latest post has left me all teary and wanting to write to you all. Let's hope Baby Z joins us soon!

40 weeks... anytime now

2009-07-25T08:29:00.004-04:00

So today is my due date. I knew that it's just a guess date and that most babies don't come on their due dates. But I am still kind of hopeful. And I am ready.

Scott kept asking me when I was going to update my blog and write about the baby shower. So much time has passed now - it seems a little anti-climatic. So in a nutshell, Scott's parents came to visit and we had a great time seeing them. Then, Tricia and Kara came to visit - so we had a very full house for about 3-4 days. My parents threw us a really nice shower, and it was so great seeing everyone and Baby Z got lots of great things. We are as ready as we will ever be for our new addition to the family now (bedding and onesies are washed and ready, car seat in the car, etc). I've even got my bag for the hospital mostly packed, so it's just a waiting game now.

I did have a birthday - nice and low key. Then Kara came back to SD for a work trip, and we hung out over the weekend (Scott had a guys outing that weekend, too) and saw the new Harry Potter (I think the last movie was better, but this was still entertaining).

So, these last few weeks have been a little rougher than the rest - but still a very smooth and uncomplicated pregnancy. This is night 2 of little to no sleep - and the last few weeks have been waking up every 2-3 hours to pee. I'm having some pelvic pain (I think it's my pelvis and ligaments stretching for the big day), which makes it hard to walk/waddle and it hurts every time I stand up or try to roll over in bed (which may be why I can't sleep now). And lately it's been really hot here in SD, resulting in very swollen feet. My doc also said that I'm running hotter than most people because I'm pregnant, so I probably am affected by the heat more than most.

At my last appt, we had the post-due talk. She said that medically, they don't want pregnancies to run over 42 weeks. So we scheduled an induction date if Baby Z doesn't make an appearance by Aug 6th (2 days shy of 42 weeks). I am going to talk to her more about moving that out a few days, or what other options we have if there is still no Baby Z by my next appt. I really don't want to be induced if everything is normal and there are no risks or complications. We are picking up the amount of walking that we do, and last night had some spicy Thai food for dinner. It's time to try all the old midwives tricks in the next 10 days or so. Come on down, Baby Z!

Hospital tour

2009-06-10T14:17:00.002-04:00

On Monday, Scott and I went to the hospital tour of the labor and delivery section at Scripps Encinitas. It was a little under an hour long, and I left with a very comfortable feeling about this hospital and the things they say they like to strive for. It's very in tune with what Scott and I want (or what I want, and by default what I am making Scott want!).

First, it's very easy to get to (we estimate that it will take about 20-30 minutes to get there, depending on traffic). Parking is free, there is a drop off circle right up front (like the hotel check in area), and there are plenty of parking spaces that you can park for an unlimited time right by the entrance. I am hoping that I can make it there and actually walk myself into the hospital!

Then, once we got inside, they took us up to the Birth Pavilion, which is a separate wing of the hospital that only birthing folks and support people can get into. So, there should be no sick patients walking the hallways or anything like that. Everyone needs to be buzzed in to enter this wing. They also said that if any babies have their ID bands on and they try to go through any of the doors that lead outside, an alarm will sound.

We were taken to a LDR (labor, delivery, recovery) room, and it was as nice as a room in the hospital can be. There is a bathroom with a shower, a bed that folds in multiple ways, a CD player, TV, and maybe a DVD player in the room. They have a 100% rooming in policy, which means that babies will not be taken to a nursery, they stay with you all the time.

A lot of the things that they said line up nicely with my "ideal" birth:
- No mandatory IVs
- They promote walking around - and even let you out in the gardens if you want to be outside
- No mandatory continuous fetal monitoring, and she even said that about 20 minutes an hour is all you really need if everything is going well
- The bed changes into multiple positions, and they support moms not delivering on their back or in a lying down position
- There may be a birthing ball in the room (but she said we should bring ours with us)
- It seems that it will be pretty easy to sneak food/water if I need it
- They said that they like to put babies on mom's tummy or chest, there is no need to take it away to clean it or do tests - that can all be done right on mom, and test can wait a few hours
- And the thing that this hospital is most known (and certified for) is the promotion of breast feeding. They said they like to help start the process within the first hour or two of birth, and really try to make it successful

The only downside is that after recovery, there is a possibility that there are 2 mom's in the same room. They try not to do this, unless they really need the beds. With July statistically being a heavy delivery month, hopefully we'll luck out. If the other bed is empty, they said dad is free to get in bed and spend the night. If it's not free, you just need to get the other person to agree to letting them sleep in a chair.

So overall, I think this will be a good experience, and hopefully we'll get some great nurses that day, too. This hospital also has midwives on staff, and maybe we'll look into that the next time around...

Eighth month, and counting

2009-06-04T12:48:00.003-04:00

It's been a while sice I've written, and it's about time for an update. I haven't taken any pictures of the buddha belly lately, so maybe this weekend we will get around to one of those. I am definitely bigger, Baby Z is definitely moving around and kicking harder, and strangers on the street are starting to ask me when I am due.

Scott and I had our 4th wedding anniversary. It was low key - Scott brought home beautiful flowers (sunflowers), and we went to dinner at Poseidon in Del Mar. We had an outdoor table, right on the beach. The food was good, and although the waiter was a little cold and distant at the beginning, he sure opened up when we started talking about anniversaries and children. He even pulled out a picture of his daughter to share with us. Another waitress asked us how long we have been married, and she said that if you live in CA you can double the number because marraiges don't last out here. That's a sad thought, and I don't think things would be any different, no matter where we live. While eating, we saw lots of people walking the beach with their dogs, but one group caught our eye. It looked as if they were walking, and a duck was walking next to them. We couldn't tell if it was a random duck just following them (but we don't normally see a lot of ducks like that on the beach) or if it was possibly their pet duck.

On a sad note, Grandpa Z passed away in May. Scott went home to upstate NY to be with his family, and although it may have seemed like a family reunion, everyone wished it would have been for happier reasons.

Rob, who's stationed out in Okinawa, was in CA for a work trip, and we got together with him for dinner one night. It was good seeing him, and surprisingly it's been over 4 years since we've seen him last. I wish Scott could have hung out with him more, but the day after he got into town Scott left for NY. Oh well, next time.

We started our Hypnobabies childbirth classes on Memorial weekend. So far, we have had 2 classes out of 6. It's a bit of a hike to Mission Viejo every Saturday, but I think it's worth the drive and have enjoyed them so far. I was a little nervous that Scott would be bored, or think that the concept is silly - but he's really been supportive and actually the one encouraging me to try my hardest to practice and let the program work for me. Basically, the program tries to "re-progarm" the way we think about childbirth, and that it is a natural function of life that does not need to be scary, painful, or over medicalized (is that a word?). What I really like about the class is that it is also full of useful, educational teachings (it's not all hypnosis). The first week, we learned about the body, and what is really happening when you get close to delivery time. Last week, we discussed the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy (I have to keep a food log this week), and exercises that are helpful and ideal positions for the baby to be in at delivery (and how to try to get the baby in that position ahead of time). There is a lot of homework - basically we have to
practive our hypnosis every day, but then I also have excercises to do each day, and this week need to keep my food log. I have found that hypnosis is really just teaching yourself to relax deeply, and I am finding that I look forward to the hynosis exercises each day - it's a chance to just sit and relax for a half hour each day, listening to scripts on CD or having Scott read them to me. And in class, they said that when mom is that relaxed, the baby feels it (hormone related, I'm sure), and they start to think of it as active play time. I must say that not every time, but a lot of the time, I do notice Baby Z start kicking and moving around during the scripts. They also say it's a great time for baby to start learning dad's voice. So all in all, I am happy with this program so far.

Scott's almost done with the changing table he's making/refinishing. It's looking good. The nursery is starting to fill up - not just with furniture, but with clothing and presents that have started to arrive in the mail (how exciting, I love baby presents even more than presents for me!). Now, we just need to get a closet or armoire to put all these presents in.
Last weekend, we saw Sarah and Josh (who is 2 months old now, but was a premie and is about 2 weeks past his "due date" now). He has grown so much in 2 months, and Scott held him for about a half hour as we chatted away at a party. He is great with kids, and said that holding Jake has gotten him more excited about having Baby Z.

Next week, we will have a full house. Scott's parents, Kara, and Tricia are all coming in to stay with us. My mom is hosting a baby shower for us (thus the reason for their visit), and it should be a good time. I can't believe that we can actually say "Baby Z is due next month". Scary stuff.

Bear - our pomeranian mix

2009-05-05T14:05:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I ordered a DNA Breed testing kit for Bear. You take a cheek swab from the dog, mail it into the company, and they test it for specific breed DNA. There are about 50 or so breeds on the list, and we figured Bear fit into those (everything we ever thought Bear "might" be is on the list).

We got the results over the weekend, and they were surprising!
The results come back with different breeds, listed as Level 1-4.
Level 1 means that over 75% of your dog is from the breed listed. Bear did not have any level 1 results.
Level 2 means that each breed listed represents 34-75% of your dog. I thought surely Bear would have lab or golden retreiver here. Bear didn't have any level 2 results.

Now it gets interesting!
Level 3 means that each breed listed is 20-36% of your dog. Bear came back with 2 breeds - English Springer Spaniel and Pomeranian (WTF)! Maybe that's why Bear gets along so well with little dogs, he's one at heart.
Level 4 means that each breed listed is 10-19% of your dog. Bear had 4 breeds - German Shepherd (which Scott was sure Bear had in him), Golden Retreiver (which we knew, and the shelter said that his mom was a Golden), Saint Bernard (WHAT?), and Siberian Husky (again, WHAT?).

The results came with a little write up of the temperment and common health conditions of each breed listed.
So, Bear is truly a mutt in every sense of the word.

Our first family picture

2009-04-28T23:31:00.002-04:00

Tonight, we went to our 4D ultrasound. It was neat, and I think my parents really enjoyed being there. Mom keeps reminding me that when I was born, there were no ultrasounds.
So, Baby Z is still a girl - so that's completely confirmed now.
She has a very strong jaw line - definitely Scott's jaw and chin. Isn't it amazing how you can see things like that this early on?
She has very big Angelina Jolie lips - where did these come from?
We were able to see some hair, not a whole lot yet. But we know she's going to have some hair when she is born.
Her head is down, so we've got that going for us.

Her eyes were closed the whole time, but my mom thinks she's going to have a little bit of asian in her eyes. My dad says he can't really tell at all, but that's just my mom's gut feel. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Oh, and it seems like she had long legs.
Baby Z - Can't wait to meet you!

Fruits and Veggies - is it possible to eat too much?

2009-04-21T12:56:00.004-04:00

For over a year now, everytime we went into Costco and walked down a particular isle, I would enthusiatically say "Look, the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer!". It's not that it's just fun to say, but it has always looked like a pretty cool product.

One weekend, there was nothing on TV and an infomercial for the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer came on. Of course, I watched the entire thing (I'm having Magic Bullet flashbacks, which is also a great product), and my desire to own this juicer immediately doubled. So I asked Scott if we could get one for my birthday, but with my birthday being more than 2 months away, I asked if we could get it early. And I promised that we would never have to buy apple juice or orange juice ever again. Thus, I am now the proud owner of a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer Deluxe!

I really like this product. So far I have made:
1 - Carrot, Apple, Pear juice
2 - Carrot and Apple juice
3 - Pineapple, Grapefruit and Strawberry juice (definitely my favorite so far)
4 - Carrot and Cucumber juice
Naturally, I like the ones with fruit in them since they are sweeter. But I also figure that this is a good way to increase my fruit and especially veggie intake. And the juicer came with 2 recipe books, and rather than waste all the pulp that goes with juicing there were ideas of putting it into muffins, or making breads or cakes. What a great idea - what better way to make a carrot cake, right? So my next project will be to make bran muffins with the pulp.
BTW - The info on the box says that Jack is over 90 years old - wow, he looks amazing. If I look like that when I am 90, this is totally worth it.

I hate to sound like a sales pitch - but it also is pretty easy to clean, and it is quiet. The only thing I don't like about it is that the spout only fits our shorter glasses underneath. I would prefer to put a taller glass to catch the juice or use one of my little pitchers. So what we have been doing is holding the pitcher underneath the spout with one hand, and feeding the food and using the juicer with the other hand. And it's up on our 3 inch cutting board to add a little extra height.

Right now, I am drinking concoction #3 from above - and decided to eat the pulp straight out of a bowl. It's just grapefruits, pinapples and strawberries - and it's all mashed up and mixed together - pretty yummy. If you freeze it, I bet it would make a great sorbet like dessert. But then it makes me wonder - is it possible to overdose on fruits and veggies? This means that my breakfast conssisted of an entire pineapple, one grapefruit, and 7 strawberries. Hmmm - maybe no more juice for me today... good thing I didn't do this on the morning of my glucose test last week (still awaiting results)!

Where the ocean meets the pine trees

2009-04-10T13:42:00.004-04:00

Last week, we went on our Big Sur Trip.
Check out our picture page, The Z's Story for more pics from the trip.

We started out on Thursday morning, and drove on the highway for a bit, then cut over onto the PCH to do the scenic route. We drove through Santa Monica, Malibu and some other towns. We then found ourselves in Oxnard, which is where Scott spent about 2 weeks on a business trip. He remembered a good deli from that trip, so we stopped and had lunch there. After eating, we got back on the road and headed up through Santa Barbara and reached our first night's destination - San Simeon.

We stayed at the San Simeon Lodge, a motel of sorts, with a beach view. The web site said it was one block from the beach, but it failed to say that the street you have to cross is Highway 1... I think next time we will try to stay in Cambria, or at least across the street at the Best Western which is on the ocean side of the street. We did walk across though, and saw some people surf gliding (I don't know what else to call it), and although it was a windy day it was pretty out there. For dinner we went into the town of Cambria, and ate dinner at Mustache Pete's (very good food), and had desert at Linn's. We had a NYC flashback, where the desert was more than our dinner! But it was an awesome desert!

The next day we started with breakfast at the park/pier, and then toured the Hearst Castle. It is an amazing house - and I can't imagine having that much money to build whatever my heart desires. I'm dreaming about hitting the lottery...

After the tour, we drove up to Big Sur. It's a spectacular drive, and was lots of fun to do in the mini. Highway one curves around the cliffs and I'm glad Scott was driving, because I probably would have been driving 20 mph. We had lunch at Nepenthe, where you definitely pay for the view. We stayed at the Big Sur River Inn, a little place with motel style rooms, and no TV so that you can bee "one with nature", plus the wi-fi they advertised didn't work for us at all. I didn't think it would be bad, but we got a little bored in the room at night. We hung out at the bar the first night, and went to sleep fairly early the second night. It's amazing how dependent we have become on background distractions like TV and internet.
It was amusing listening to the bartender talk about the classes he was taking at the Esalen Institute. This is a school with spiritual retreats and workshops, and the home of hot springs that are only open to the public between 1am and 3pm. Maybe that's why the hotel rooms don't have TVs, they want you to go check this out! Scott keeps saying that the area was very "granola", and I think he is basing it on the conversations we heard at the bar that night.

The next day we started out with breakfast at Deetjen's (Mark recommended this as a place to stay, but they were booked). The food was good, and we told the waitress that we were looking for a good place to go hiking after breakfast. She recommended Point Lobos State Park, and also suggested that we park on the street and walk in to save on the parking fees. What good advice, and this was my favorite part of the trip. I felt pretty good walking and hiking, considering the buddha belly that I am carrying, and some of the best pictures were from this hike. After hiking for a few hours, we did the 17 mile drive (kind of dissapointing, not worth the money to drive through a rich neighborhood), and then headed onto Monterey, and Carmel for dinner. We weren't terribly impressed with those towns, either. They just seemed very touristy, and I guess that is not what I was looking for on this trip. We did have dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn, which was owned by Clint Eastwood at one point in time. I don't recommend it for dinner, but it's a very cool setting to grab a beer and sit at the outdoor fireplaces. On the drive home, we got back to Big Sur just in time to pull over on the highway and take in a sunset.

Sunday consisted of the drive home - again winding back on Highway One for some last minute pictures, and then cut back on the highway to save time and get home before dinner time. Mom stayed and watched the pooches while we were gone (thanks mom!). What a great weekend...

Happy Birthday, daddy to be

2009-04-10T13:28:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, hon!
It's strange, it feels like this may be our last year where the focus on birthdays are on ourselves. Going forward, I'm sure the birthdays will be about Baby Z and planning parties (I'm sure we won't forget to celebrate those, the way we forget to celebrate Bear and Chewie Bdays). So even though this is a low key birthday, just you and me celebrating tonight - know that I love you and have enjoyed being a part of your life and birthday celebrations for the past 5 years (even the one in which you were in Iraq).
I think the funniest birthday was in DC, when we all had a surprise get together and Charles was there before us. He tried to play it off saying he was meeting a date there that night - what a coincidence (plus no date showed up)... I think it took you 15 minutes to figure out this was your party! Then Billy called, and you couldn't figure out how he had such good timing to call you when all your friends were there to say hi. My silly husband...
I love you, forever.

Aging - Now, I really feel old

2009-03-23T14:09:00.002-04:00

This morning, I pulled out about 5 white hairs (I believe the term is grays, but they are just nasty, white strands of hair that seems to be sprouting from my head). As if I wasn't already having to come to terms that I am no longer in my 20's and can party anytime I want with little to no hangover the next day (plus being pregnant puts your life in perspective), I have to deal with these white hairs!

Newsweek pointed me to a radio show that did a good job at explaining the banking and housing crisis in everyday language. As much as we hear about this in the news, and as I did my taxes for 2008, I wondered what could be in store for us and the economy in the near future? I found these clips highly educational!

This American Life radio show
Bad Bank
Giant Pool of Money

Uneventful and pretty boring

2009-03-12T11:32:00.002-04:00

Scott keeps saying - when are you going to update your blog? Well, usually I wait until I have some brilliant thing to say, or updates to post, and things have been pretty boring as of late. But you are right - what kind of journal is this going to be if I write every 6 months (it's starting to sound like my Little Orphan Annie diary that I had for 12 years and only filled a quarter of the pages).

The end of February was our month of purging the things that have been accumulating in the house. We were able to sell our coffee and end tables on Craig's List (finally), which leaves us with my old college Ikea end table and bench serving as temporary fixtures (temporary will probably turn into 2 years). We decided to move the office into the "guest room" and make the office the nursery. [SIDE NOTE: This reminds me of my freshman year of highschool, when I so badly wanted to make a lot of friends at my new school. There was one very interesting boy named Tim who was in a couple of classes with me, and we struck up a conversation. He told me that he worked after school at a nursery sometimes, and I said "Oh, how nice, you work with babies!". He looked at me very strangely, and said "Uh, no, I work with plants." We did not become the BFFs that I was hoping for.] We measured the desk and the full size bed already in that room, and realized that there is no way in hell they will both fit. So we sold the bed, too. And guess what's coming back - of course, my college futon! I have a feeling that VA Tech will follow me for the rest of my life.

At the end of Feb, we had another yard sale (our second). It was a success, although we didn't have as much "good stuff" as last time, so we didn't make as much as last time. But overall the experience was the same (people lining up outside our house at 6:30 waiting for the garage door to open), and almost everything worth buying was gone by 8am. But the proceeds gives us some play money to start working on building that built-in entertainment center in the living room that we have been talking about for some time. And then, I guess we will need to get a new coffee table and end table eventually (and Scott still wants his sectional sofa). It's just a matter of priorities, and finances - can we get this AND all the baby stuff done before July? I sure hope so...

As far as my pregnancy, there is not much to tell. I haven't had any strange cravings, but it does seem like I want anything that comes on TV. Especially donuts. And Scott is being so cute, that every time I say "hmmm, that looks good" he tries his hardest to go out and get it for me. He calls them his pregnancy runs. He has gone out twice searching for chocolate donuts, and once for ice cream (which I think he wanted, too - thus the "ok, I'll be right back").

I was concerned that I may not be gaining enough weight, but my doctor said that I am doing good and she's happy with my weight. I lost about 5 lbs around the holidays, and I asked the nurse what I should count as my starting weight - before the 5 lbs, or after the 5 lbs? She said I had to start counting before the 5 lbs, so all in all, I've gained about 2 lbs so far. The doctor said I should gain about 1lb. per week going forward - putting my total target gain at 24-25 lbs, which she said is great. Given all the donuts that I have been eating, hopefully I can stick to that!

Last night we went to look at cribs, and I can't believe how expensive baby furniture is. We did find one crib that we liked, which is a convertible crib: crib into toddler bed, into full size bed. But you have to buy the rails separately, and just a quick look online made it seem like the full size rails run about $150 or more. How much are those cheap metal rails for full size beds? Can't we just use those and screw it onto this headboard? Maybe we should have kept the rails from the bed we sold on Craig's List. [SIDE NOTE: This makes me think about how expensive maternity clothes are. Thank heavens I don't have to buy a work wardrobe. But then again, when you have to buy pregger clothes, you have too - what choice do you have? So they can get away with charging whatever they want, huh?]

I have started to feel the baby move - it's a strange fluttering feeling in your stomach - a little like gas bubbles or like the nervous feeling you get before a big event. It's kind of neat, and I am now feeling it very often - maybe every 15 minutes or so. Scott even was able to feel it the other night - my doc said he is very patient to have sat there long enough to feel it. Yes doc, I've got a good one!

Throw that Chinese astrology chart out the window!

2009-02-20T22:07:00.003-05:00

Today, Scott and I went down to La Jolla for our full anatomy ultrasound.

We started the day with a nice lunch in La Jolla, then headed to the hospital for the appt at 1pm.

Everyone is so nice in the perinatal dept - makes me want to switch careers so that I can go work with these super friendly, cheery people. I think one of them was having a birthday today, because they were all in and out of the room, eating cake and laughing hysterically.

At the beginning of the appt, she was going over what she would look at today, and getting situated. After asking us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby, it did a somersault apparently (Scott saw it, I didn't) and she said, "Oh, I think I know what you are having, but I'll wait until we got to that part of the exam". Suspense, and my, she has some sharp eyes. I just see a blurry TV screen.

So we went over the head, brain, heart, lungs, umbilical cord, kidneys, arm and leg bones, etc.

Everything looks good as far as they can see, and Baby Z weighs 8 oz. (about half a pound).

Just for fun, they took some 4D ultrasound pictures - that was pretty neat.

Then she said - and here we can see that you are having a girl!

The room was silent for about 10 seconds, then we said "Oh, a girl!".

I was so sure we were having a boy. The Chinese Astrology chart said that we were having a boy, and even if I was wrong about the month that we got pregnant, the next month said it was still going to be a boy. Plus, I just had this gut feeling. The Chinese Astrology chart claims to be 95% right, so I guess we fall into that 5%. Oh-oh, maybe we shouldn't rest easy yet about our 1 in 7000 chances of having a baby with Downs Syndrome...

Anyway - it's slowly sinking in, and we are going to have to get used to calling Baby Z a "she" instead of a "he" as we have been for the past 1.5 months. But we are happy, and now the girls in the house (Colette, Chewie and Baby Z) are going to outnumber the boys in the house (Scott and Bear) - that's how it should be!

Maternity pants - it's official

2009-02-11T12:27:00.003-05:00

Well, a couple of weeks ago I noticed that one pair of jeans was starting to feel tight and that it was more comfortable to not button it. I went to Target and got a Be Band, which is just a cotton/spandex band that holds up your pants if you don't want to button them. It works ok, and now I am wearing it with 2 pairs of jeans that I can't button anymore. I was hoping that I could just go the entire pregnancy with just buying a couple more of these bands and not having to get maternity clothes. I work in PJs all day, so I thought I could get away with it.

Yesterday, I went shopping with the girls to Motherhood Maternity, and gave in and got my first pair of maternity jeans. Seeing Sarah (who is about 27 weeks or something like that), I realized there is no way this band/jeans combination is going to last if I get much bigger. Everyone says that these maternity clothes are going to become my favorites and that I'll want to wear them long after I've had Baby Z, but I just don't see it right now. Maybe I'm in denial about gaining weight, but right now there is nothing nice about having no zipper, and a band attached to your jeans that you can hike up to your boobs.

I saw the movie Juno again a few weekends ago, and I must say it was much funnier now that I can relate to some of the things she says. There is one part where her mom sews a band onto her jeans. I just can't bear the thought of cutting my jeans up - in the hopes that I will fit into them again shortly after July 27th. I guess we'll see....

First trimester down, 24 weeks to go

2009-01-31T16:23:00.002-05:00

The other day Kara asked me when I was going to start putting pictures up on Facebook, so that everyone can see how I am progressing. I told her that I would start putting pictures up when there is some evidence that I am pregnant! My body must have listened to me say that, and decided it was ready to start pooching out. Just yesterday, I felt like my stomach was pooching (and not because of the junk food I ate), and today it feels a little funny - kind of like something hard is expanding upward toward my belly button.

So far, I would say that this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful, which makes me pretty lucky I guess. I have not had any morning sickness, and have felt pretty normal most of the time. I haven't had any strange cravings, but I did experience a meat aversion for a number of weeks. Just thinking about it or the sight of meat made me cringe, and I found myself eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. That and the lack of drinking may have been why I actually lost 5 pounds at Christmas time. Since Christmas, I seem to be keeping a steady weight, and am still holding steady at the weight that I was the majority of 2008. The doc says that I will probably see myself gaining weight in the next couple of weeks.

The most annoying side effects of Baby Z have been sore boobs, break outs (luckily on my back rather than my face), and when I wake up at night (almost every night) it takes hours to fall back asleep. And of course, I miss sushi and wine. Last night I had a couple of sips of Scott's wine, and it tasted so good!

I've been doing some reading on hypno-birthing, and am looking into the Hypno Babies program. I must say, I am terrified of labor. But I just have to keep thinking that it is going to be hours of my life (yeah, like 36 or something like that - eek), but once I get through that we have a new family member to love. I found a Chinese Astrology chart, and according to it we are going to have a boy. We'll find out soon enough, we have the ultrasound on Feb 20th, and we'll be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl. We are defnitely going to find out - I'm a project manager for pete's sake, I need to start planning!

You can't play the Mom card - no fair

2009-01-07T16:58:00.003-05:00

I am very fortunate in that I have not experienced the common pregnancy symptoms. No morning sickness, no nausea, not even peeing a lot. Watch, once I put this in writing, all hell will break loose.

One thing that I am going through is some strange eating behavior (for me, at least).
Normally, I hate fruits and vegetables. I mean, really hate them, and I don't eat them. But lately, I'm on a fruit kick. At least it's a healthy kick, right? It's almost likely I'm thirsty, and the only thing I really want to eat is cold fruit - apples, melons (and I'm normally not a cantaloupe person), cherries, clementines. And not just a little - like half a melon in one sitting!

But lately, I am also just not that hungry. Especially at dinner time. The thought of Scott making a nice dinner is really a shame, because all I really can eat before I am full is one salad plate of food. Even rice - one helping, not my usual 5. And when Scott suggests going out to dinner, I have been telling him to pick the place because there is really nothing that I am dying to eat (except sushi, go figure). And he hates picking a place to go eat - so I still usually end up picking the place.

Last night, after Scott named about 15 places to go, I decided on Fudrucker's. Once we get in there, nothing really looks appetizing. So I settle on the Kid's Cheeseburger Meal (because I want something that is less than a 1/2 pound of meat). BTW - Adults get screwed when ordering a kid's meal at Fudrucker's. Even though it says it comes with a cookie, drink and fries - they make you pay for the drink because you are an "adult". Whatever. Even with this being a kid's size meal, I manage to eat about 3/4 of the burger before being full. I even shared my cookie with Scott!

And I also made the mistake of telling Scott that I skipped breakfast that morning. I was just too busy at work, but at least I had a whole glass of OJ. And he says to me, which I think was kind of mean, " If you don't start eating better, I'm going to tell your mom that you're eating like crap. She'll knock some sense into you". That's low, and not a card you pull out of your pocket too often. I see how the next 7 months are going to be...

BTW - Where did the whole pregnancy is 9 months long come from? They lie - it's really 10. Another advertising gimick to get women to think this isn't going to be that bad.

Baby Z - the beginning of the story

2008-12-30T14:43:00.003-05:00

Well, after a number of weeks of letting the news sink in and digesting it all, we are ready to share the news! We are expecting Baby Z in July (July 25th to be exact)!

Highlights, thus far:
- After a week in DC, I came home and told Scott that our family will be growing. I'm sure he believed me, but we went out and got a pregnancy test anyway (my third), just so he can see the proof with his own eyes.

- Phone call to Mom and Dad Z: After calling them Bema and Papa the entire call (and they didn't catch on), we told them that August would be good time for them to come visit. We will need a baby sitter by then. Bema, voice rising: "A baby sitter? For a baby? For a baby!"

- We gave Mom and Dad Y bibs that say "I love Grandma" and "I love Grandpa". They unwrapped them, said "That's nice" with confused looks on their faces and started to put them back in the bag. Since they didn't catch on immediately, we had to go on and say "Guess what!?"

- First ultrasound, Scott comes with me to the appt. The doctor said that the ultrasound is next, and I start pulling up my shirt to expose my belly. Little did I know, that's not how the first ultrasound is done. Hey, this isn't how they do it on TV!

- We told the family on our trip to DC for Christmas. I gave my mom a framed picture of the ultrasound with a note that said "I can't wait to meet you in July". There were lots of tears and hugs, and it was a great Christmas.

- Erica telling us Leo's birth story (before we told anyone we were preggers), and she said anyone having a baby in July needs to watch out, the hospital is full of residents and interns waiting to stick you and poke you and get some practice in. As soon as we told everyone, she says "The residents aren't really that bad!". I'm scared.

A season of friends and family for Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T19:56:00.005-05:00

November completely flew by. Not that we were exceptionally busy, but it just seemed to have gone by in a whirl.

Tricia came to visit around the middle of the month. It was great to see her, to show her where we live, where we hang out (not often enough), and the things we do out here (nothing too exciting). I always think it's strange, with some friends you could go years without seeing them or spending quality time with them, yet the friendship always feels the same. Different things are going on in our lives, our priorities are different, but hopefully our friendship will never be different. We ended up at our favorite vineyard out here, South Coast, and finally joined the wine club. After 3 times of nearly filling out the paperwork and dropping it off, we finally gave into the temptation.

Immediately after Tricia's visit, I had a work trip in DC. I got off the plane, got into my rental car, and got a voice mail from Tricia saying that it was supposed to snow that night. Coming from a weekend of frolicking in the vineyard in shorts and flip flops, to cold weather was not what I had in mind. But the work trip was ok (some of it felt like a big waste of time, but overall the change of pace was good), and I made it back to the warmth of CA safely.

I should say that I luckily made it home! Everyone knows I am the queen of last minute when it comes to airports, and I did not leave enough time to catch my flight. I came up to the rental car return facility with 35 minutes until take off, and missed the exit ramp for National. So I proceeded to circle all the way around the facility one more time, return the car and run to the shuttle bus. I then sat in the shuttle bus for about 10 minutes while the driver had a smoke (the nerve) and made it into the SouthWest terminal at 20 minutes to go. I had a bag that I normally check - loaded with 3+ 0z. of lotion, shampoo, conditioner, makeup, etc. It was a TSA nightmare. But I decided that the cost to replace all of the items TSA was going to make me throw out was worth not having to spend one more night in this 30 degree weather (of course, mine was the last flight of the night to SAN). I put the bag on the belt, and proceed to set off the metal detector. My belt was not friendly, nor was the 3M employee badge I still had hanging from my belt loop. I take them off, go through the detector, and shockingly grab my bags that TSA did not choose to open or enforce the "no liquids or gels" rule. As I am putting my shoes back on, I hear "This is the last call for Colette Zelesnikar at gate B10". I grab everything and run like a mad woman to the gate. I got there as soon as he was shutting the door, and he let me in. I sat down (in a middle seat, of course) sweating, and as I cooled off I realized my pants are kind of loose. Oh no - I forgot my belt and my 3M badge on the security belt. The next day my faith in TSA was restored. I called lost and found at BWI, and when I said I left my belt, the lady on the phone proceeded to describe my own belt to me and happily said she would Fed Ex it to me (with my Fed Ex account number, of course). So I got to keep my lotions and shampoo, and got my stuff back in a matter of 3 days. All in all - a successful trip.

We wrapped up the last 2 weeks of November here at home (home sweet home). Scott's high school friend came to visit for a weekend. Scott and I ran the Turkey Trot again this year, which I definitly tried to weasel my way out of running a number of times. We had my parents over for Thanksgiving. Then Eric finished out November with a weekend visit. We have had a lot friends and company - all things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Next stop: Christmas in DC.

An election for the history books

2008-11-05T14:50:00.007-05:00

Yesterday's elections were historic and I am so glad to have been a part of it. All day, I spoke to coworkers and clients on the phone, and everyone had a buzz of excitement in their voice. I have clients in Florida, and they all made sure to go out and vote, knowing that their state would play a big part in the elections. All day, everyone talked about the importance of voting (no matter who they were backing) and I am amazed how polite everyone was to each other (even opposing Prop 8 sign holders on the same street corner). I also think this has forever changed how campaigns are handled. I truly hope the young voters of today become the well-informed, active voters of tomorrow. If they can teach their children in the years to come that their vote counts, democracy will thrive and grow.

Last night we went out to watch the election results. We started the night at Pizza Port, our first time there, and had some great grub an grog. We then headed to the Village Pub, where the final results came in and we saw McCain's speech, and listened to Obama's on the drive home. I must say, the Village Pub had about 10 people in it, and I couldn't think of a better place to end the night. I really like that bar. They had John Stewart (with the volume turned up) on one TV, and CNN on the other TV. I thought it was funny when the final projections came in, that someone said "turn it to Fox news, let's see if they are saying the same thing!". Of course they were, and we all knew the election was over. And personally, I thank God it's over - this has seemed to be the longest 21 months ever, and I'll be glad to stop hearing the Countdown to Election '08 now.

On a sad note - it appears that Prop 8 has passed, installing a ban on gay marriage in CA. I am very surprised with this outcome. I truly believe that this has passed because of homophobic ideas and a lack of understanding that marriage does provide legal rights that everyone should be entitled to. If you can't have a legal marriage, then you can't have a legal divorce. All gay couples do not choose to have civil unions, or the equivalent of pre-nups when they decide to move in together - and if straight couples don't have to think about these things in their relationships (they can just get married), why should gay couples have that extra burden put on them? In the back of my mind, I hope that some of these YES to Prop 8ers end up with gay children, and in the future realize what they have done today.

Happy Howloween!

2008-10-30T14:06:00.004-04:00

Almost another month has gone by, and it's already Halloween time.

My mom and I went to see the So You Think You Can Dance tour at the end of Sept.

That was a lot of fun, although slightly on the cheesy side. I was hoping that they would have some new dances, or some things that were not done on the show - but it really was just a 'greatest hits' tour. They threw in some little skits and funny introductions to the dances, but ultimately, if you have recorded your favorite dances it would have been just the same as being there. I must admit though - seeing them perform in person really shows you how talented these folks are. Joshua's jumps were so high, and Katie is just an amazing dancer all around.

Then at the beginning of October, Scott and I went to see James at the HOB in San Diego. We went a little early to eat dinner at the restaurant, which was really good. Their happy hour specials are worth checking out. The opening band was Unkle Bob, and when one song came on Scott said he knew it. I thought he was smoking crack because I have never heard of this band, and they are not the type of music that Scott would listen to on his own accord. But lo and behold, we looked them up on YouTube a few days later and saw that their songs were used in Grey's Anatomy, and they did have some radio play. So Scott - you are turning into a well rounded musical aficionado! Then James took the stage, and it was such a good show. This was my first time seeing them in concert, and I am glad that they got back together for this tour. Tim's dancing was adorable, and it sparked my attraction to bald heads again. I told Scott he should shave his head again, it was a good look for him. Scott asked if I was as into James in their heyday as I am now (I couldn't stop talking about him, looking up vids on YouTube, etc for about a week), and come to think of it I wasn't. I guess I am a late bloomer in this arena, too.

Saturday, Chewie had a howloween party at Muttropolis in La Jolla. It was just for Brussels, and it was fun. She looked adorable (she didn't win any contests), but I think she had a good time. It's neat to see how different BGs can be - she was not the biggest one there, definitely not the smallest one there, but I do think she was the fattest one there. So Chewie's diet continues. After the party, we had dinner with some of the members and their dogs at the restaurant next door, and it's nice to also see that Chewie is not the most spoiled of all the dogs there. I didn't see it, but Scott said that one person took his plate off the table, and put it on the ground to let their dog eat the scraps and lick the plate. In public - how horrific!

Looking forward to a fun Halloween night - and maybe we'll even go out since it falls on a Friday this year. We don't have any costumes - but a couple of beers into the night, I'm sure it won't matter anymore.

And BTW - a note to anyone who actually reads this - go out and vote on Tuesday!!!

Fall is really here

2008-10-01T15:17:00.002-04:00

I am having a hard time accepting the fact that this year is flying by. I can't believe it's already October, when it seems like yesterday that I was looking at one of my projects that had a target completion date of July and thinking that is so far away and we still have plenty of time. Needless to say, that project did not complete in July and we are still working on it...

Today, I purchased our Xmas flights to DC - we are already planning Xmas!

I haven't written in a while, and that's because August was a very busy month for us, and Sept had Scott on another business trip for 2 weeks. And now finally all the fall TV shows have started (it's amazing how little things like that can make me happy). Although I was pissed when I found out that Moonlight was canceled. That was my favorite show last year, and it even won a People's Choice Award for best new drama - how can they do that? I hope another network picks it up.

August was the month for weddings:

We went to San Francisco for Charles' wedding. We went a day early and got to tour the city and rode the ferry, typical tourist stuff. It was Scott's first time in San Fran, and I think he really enjoyed it.

We then went to NY for Katie's wedding. We spent a week up there, and spent a number of days at camp on the lake. It was a good trip, other than the bug bites, the wasp sting, etc. We took Chewie with us, and she is a great traveler. She stayed in her bag, didn't make a sound the entire trip, and even weathered the delayed flights, missed connections, and minimal potty breaks very well.

We ended the month with a fishing trip with my dad and his Anglers Club. It was a neat experience, although Scott was the only one who caught a fish (again)!

Then, Scott was in Riverside for a 2 week work exercise. Now it's October, and we are having a heat wave - it was 100 degrees in some North County areas yesterday. Hopefully you can understand why I am having a hard time believing that fall is here, and it is so strange to see all the Halloween items in the stores. We have a Halloween party for Brussels Griffons later this month, so I have to start getting Chewie's costume ready...

What a great weekend!

2008-08-04T20:56:00.002-04:00

It was truly a great one - nothing out of the ordinary, but just felt really great.
I think it's mainly because Scott came home on Thursday night, and we had a 3 day weekend to catch up and relax, and do nothing at all.

On Friday, we went to see the new Batman movie. A lot of people had been telling me that it was excellent, and it was. Very dark, full of action, yet it did seem long. About 3 times, I thought it was almost over, and then it continued on. I wonder if Heath Ledger will be nominated for an Oscar for this role? I think he deserves is.

We met a very nice couple who just moved to this area last week, and they told us about a lagoon in Carlsbad that "allows" you take your dogs and let them go swimming. We took them on Sunday, and I think Bear loved it. He drank a lot of salt water - but it was worth it seeing him swim in the deep water and enjoying himself. Chewie did step into the water, but I don't think she liked it much. We are going to be taking her to NY this month when we go visit Scott's family, and we'll see if we can get her to go into the lake. Maybe we should buy her a little puppy life vest and just throw her in. but it seems strange that someone who has only lived here one week is telling us cool places to hang out.

I did something different last week - I went to a belly dancing class through my meetup group. It was fun, although I don't see myself going to any more classes. It is very hard to do - but it seems like you are just shaking your hips and doing rolls for 1 hour. I need something that's a little more stimulating for my brain, involving footwork and remembering the sequence of a dance. But the belly rolls that she was teaching us are hard - you have to separate your lower abs from the upper abs, and move them independently of each other. My big tummy just moved in one direction all around!

On Thursday, my folks and I went to the Del Mar race track. That was fun, too. I did place some bets (just $2 bets) and won on almost every bet I placed. On one, I more than doubled my bet (to a whopping $4.60). Maybe this is what we need to do: start betting thousands of dollars, and if we double our money it's a better day than if we were at work...

Becoming more social, but I am still such a geek

2008-07-14T14:47:00.003-04:00

A couple of things have recently made me take a look at my life (and our life as a family) and do some soul searching. Three years ago, we picked up and moved our entire life to a new and strange town, knowing only 2 people (my parents) in our new city. I have found that as I get older, it is harder to make friends. I am no longer single and going out as often, which really did open up the door to meeting lots of new people and friends-of-friends. We are thirty-somethings (although I am still in shock about that, and is the term DINK *Double Income No Kids* still being used), and it seems that most people our age have children and the types of things they do is very different from the lifestyle that we live. They have to deal with babysitters and being home early, having to plan outings in advance, and I am in a way not looking forward to making those kind of sacrifices yet. Moving here and working from home was also not an ideal situation for me, as I didn't meet coworkers and establish those types of relationships which has always led to some of my closest friends. I also think that while Scott was in the USMC, I was in a way afraid of making friends in this area and getting too settled because the job would have us moving in 3 years. I just didn't really make any kind of effort at all.

Well, Scott got out of the USMC and we thought that deployments and long separations were behind us. As it turns out, Scott (not happily) got assigned to work a ship excercise which has him gone the entire month of July. In comparison to an 8 month deployment, this is a walk in the park - but I miss him none the less. But I am actually doing ok without him here (I miss him like crazy, though) and I am using this as an opportunity to try to find the person that I was before we moved out here.

First, back in college I was always a little bit of a tomboy (I liked hanging out with the guys and spent all nighters PC gaming instead of studying). So for my Bday, Scott got me an Xbox 360. I forgot how addicting these things are, and maybe it's a good thing that I don't do drugs because maybe I have a personality prone to addiction. So far, I have purchased (all used, being the frugal person that I am) Guitar hero 3, DDR2, and The Orange Box (which makes me think back to my Doom and Quake days). All 3 games are so much fun and it's amazing how the hours just fly by as I work on perfecting my score. I am still such a geek. At least if we end up ever having sons, I may be the cool mom who plays games with their kids (1 hour limit per day FOR KIDS, I have already decided - that's why it's going to be in my bedroom hee hee).

Second, I have decided that I need to become more social and start meeting people in this area. How is this truly going to be our home, if we don't have any close friends? I came across Meetup.com, which I think is truly an amazing idea. For those of you in different towns, take a look and see if your area has any groups. This is a site where you can find people with common iterests and they plan activities (called Meet ups) and it's a great way to meet new people. I always thought of myself as a pretty shy and conservative person, but then I think about how much fun I had when I took a chance and joined my first Dewey Beach group house. Again, I found myself alone, and joining a group of complete strangers who became my good friends. I found a North County Happy Hour Group - which tells you a little bit about my interests - and met 2 friends at the first happy hour. So far I have been to 3 Meetups and had fun at each of them. On Sunday, I plan to go to a Meetup for Brussel Griffon owners (that's Chewie's type of people). They are meeting at a vineyard in Temecula and have arranged for everyone to bring their dogs and an area to let them play while we do a wine tasting (how right up my alley is that, huh?). So I hope that Scott comes home to a new group of people that we can hang out with and get to know. It's about time that we start becoming a part of this community. When Scott gets home, we can look for some hiking or other team type of activites to join in (that's more his type of thing, where as I just want to socialize).

18 days until Scott gets home - I am missing my best friend...

Water Bottle Woes

2008-07-01T12:32:00.002-04:00

I just read an article about water bottles and BPA. That's the stuff that has been on alert in baby bottles for a bit. I don't have babies, so I thought I was in the clear on this issue - but alas, it has crept into our lives...

Last Christmas, it seemed that I became water bottle obsessed. I got 2 water bottles (3 if you count the replacement that we had to buy because Bear ate the top to one), and a travel mug for xmas. Scott has had his nalgene bottles for awhile, and I thought it was a great way to get me to try to drink my daily allowance of water (the Hydracoach was really great for that).

Well, it turns out that depending on the type of plastic used to make your water bottles (and pitchers, and Tupperware, etc) you may still have the potential of BPA being present.
Here is a good article, and there are links that you can follow to give you even more information.
Basically, if you look at the bottom of your water bottle, there is a number in the middle of the recycle symbol. Try to avoid plastics with a #3, #6 or #7 (of course, all of our water bottles are #7). This does not mean that all #7 plastics have BPA, but there is a chance. Look for brands that say BPA free. The best plastics are the ones with #2, #4 or #5 recycle codes.
If you have #7 bottles and don't plan to replace them - basically, don't put anything hot in there, don't let your water sit in it and then still drink from it, and don't put them in the dishwasher. Heat seems to release BPA into the contents...

Here are a couple that look good - time to replace all of our water bottles! And I am drinking my required ounces daily, for the most part! Here's a trick to calculate how much you need to drink - basically, take your weight, and half of that number is how much you should be drinking in ounces (for a person with average activity levels).
Camelback - now BPA free
Nalgene - now made with a new Titan material that is BPA free
Klean Kanteen - I think I'm going to go with these - they don't hold odor either...

Starting to feel more like home

2008-06-27T10:24:00.004-04:00

The first year here, I hated it. I think it was in anticipation of Scott leaving for Iraq, and all the massive changes that we went through those first months (newlyweds, moving, intro to the Marine Corps life, working from home, learning to drive a stick shift if I want to go out...). I remember our only true big fight out here, which ended with me yelling "I want to go home" and running up to our room for the rest of the night.

We have come a long way since then. And now this really does feel like home, and I can't imagine moving anytime soon. Of course, it all depends where our jobs take us, but as long as I can stand this job I have the luxury of moving anywhere and keeping it. That is a convenient things as Scott continues his soul searching for his true calling.

Kara asked me the other day how the job planning was going, and that she didn't want us to move, since they are trying to get back here in about 2 years. I said "We just got our backyard done, we're not going anywhere anytime soon!" And I truly believe it, because we are enjoying our house so much more now that the yard is not a disaster.

Just last summer, I thought of this house as a place to live and nothing more. I was not attached to it, and I didn't even like it. I was getting tired of it - and we actually talked about renting it out and moving into another house that we liked better. But now that the yard is done, we have eaten almost every dinner outside. And Scott comes home most of the time to me sitting outside reading or playing with the furry kids. I think Chewy loves it out there, and Bear is coming around. I think it might have changed the acoustics because he barks a lot more when he hears people walking behind the house. He barks in the wrong direction though - maybe the sound is bouncing off the walls in a different way. And he can't dig holes anymore! That is the best part.

So, last time I went home, everyone thought that we should do our yard ourselves. We considered that for about a week - and I am so glad that we didn't go that route. We got one company to come and do the pavers, and another to put in the turf. The entire job took about a week (3 days for the pavers, 2 days for the turf) - with lots of jackhammering to remove the old concrete, and sawing to put the pavers in. We kept the sprinkler system live so that we can water down our fake grass, and they put in a new drain in the pavers and moved the sprinkler valves to the front. Overall, I think they did a great job and this project would have taken us a year to finish - if we ever actually finished.

So as we slowly get the house fixed up, I am starting to feel like this is home. I am getting more used to the area, I can drive with confidence, and I love being able to eat dinner outside all year long. What more can someone ask for? Well, maybe for the Weinsafts to come back! Here are picks of the yard, and of K&K's latest visit.

Look Ma, I caught a really bad sunburn!

2008-06-25T12:17:00.003-04:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we went fishing in Baja, near Cabo. This was Scott's first time in Mexico (he's never been to TJ, can you believe it?) and my first time going "big boy" fishing. It was a great trip, although the fish were not really biting those days.

We flew into the Cabo airport and took a van to the hotel where we stayed, Rancho Leonero. It was quaint, and perfect and exactly what we were looking for in this trip. The rooms were very nice, and they had a little outdoor patio that we spent the majority of our time on when we weren't fishing, sleeping or eating. All meals were included in the price, and I have to tell you that the food was really good. Every dinner was amazing, and it was the first time that I tried a Chile Relleno (loved it and haven't found one as good as that one since). There were no TVs in the room, which was a nice change of pace. It truly was a place where people come to go fishing, and drink, I guess.

We went fishing 2 full days. We chartered a boat and headed out each morning at about 7am. The hotel packed us a cooler with beers, water and lunch - and when we got on the boat, the bait boats came by and we bought the bait that we would need for the day. The first day we started with some rock fishing (bottom fishing) and caught one Cabrera.. We then decided to try our luck at Dorado (mahi mahi) and Marlin. Almost immediately, a Marlin started to trail us, but we never got a bite. Then, Scott got about a 15 lb. dorado (see pic). The next day, we started out trolling - but things were incredibly slow. We then headed out for some more rock fishing, and brought in about 10 different types of fish. I will admit that the boat captain and deck hand "caught" the majority of the fish, but they let us reel them in and take the credit!

The first day out, I didn't do a good job of applying the suntan lotion. We came in that night, and parts of my legs and shoulders hurt more than any sunburn I remember having. When we got home from our trip, Scott headed out to Hawaii for work and asked about my sunburn one night. I told him that after the hurting stopped, they turned a deep purple color, then they turned black. He didn't believe me, but laughed his head off when he came home and saw that they really turned black. Then they peeled, and now I'm back to normal.

We had a great time, and actually talked a little about the hotel last night and thought that it would be a perfect place for a family reunion. There are only 35 rooms, and our families could overtake the place.

3 Years down, forever to go...

2008-05-27T15:45:00.004-04:00

Well, we have celebrated our 3rd year anniversary (yes, this post is a little late).
I can't believe that I have known you for over 5 years - it seems like you have been in my life forever. We may not be the same kids who used to go out partying every weekend in DC and Arlington, and we may not be the same kids who used to get all dressed up for a night out on the town, but I like the people that we have turned into. We no longer have to egg each other on to find out about each other (like I did on our first date), or stress about what the other is thinking and why the other one is upset or distant (I take the blame for that one, too). We have turned into people with the same likes and dislikes, and who know what the other person is usually thinking without having to ask. We have turned into people who don't need the fancy restaurants and who enjoy grabbing a local bite out in our flip flops and shorts (OK, SoCal has a lot to do with that change).

Although it may seem that things have become less exciting, and we have more responsibilities now, things have gotten more comfortable with you. I love doing simple things with you, like grocery shopping. I don't think many other couples take the time to do these types of things together or enjoy doing them together as much as we do. It's a luxury to have you home and near me, to be able to do these types of things together. I love our family with the furry kids, and can't imagine what a life without you in it would be like. I love you, and look forward to all the changes life has to throw at us, as long as you are with me. Happy Anniversary, hon.

Gunter glieben glauten globen

2008-05-06T21:01:00.003-04:00

Last week was concert week.
And as I sat through Friday night's concert, I realized how musically diverse I am. Does that mean that I like all genres, and am an educated and well-rounded person? Or does it mean that I can't make up my mind what genre I like, thus listening to a little bit of everything?
I almost asked my self if I am just a trendy person who jumps on the bandwagon when something becomes popular - but then I have to argue the fact that I am not cool and have no idea what is popular these days. The only reason I know Madonna has a new album out is because Ellen dances to it on her show.

Last Saturday, we went to see Def Leppard at Coors Amphitheater (now it's being called Cricket Amphitheater). REO Speedwagon and Styx opened up for them, and although I still don't fully know who Styx is, Scott says he recognized every song they played. I only know the "I'm Sailing Away" song because Cartman sang it on South Park. Def Leppard then came on, and it was a great show. They sounded great - maybe too great, making me think they were lip syncing or that the background vocal guys took voice lessons - and it was definitely worth the wait to finally see these guys in concert (My mom would not let me go see them when they toured back in 1987). Eric and Julie came down for the weekend, and while we tailgated prior to the show the doggies got to spend some quality bonding time at home.

On Friday, we went to see Michael Buble at Cox Arena. It was a good show, and he is very funny. Of course, all the ladies were drooling over him, and he made a couple of funny jokes about not being a piece of meat. Then about 3/4 through the show, he started to let people come up to the from of the stage and that just opened up the throngs of women running down the aisles to get to the front. He then started joking that he needed to change the mood and perform for the men in the audience, and he broke into "Young Man, there's no need to feel down...". Too funny!

So it's been a great week, of concerts and I must say that I truly enjoy the diversity of music that we go to see (aka: that I can talk Scott into seeing with me). He really is a trooper and I will never forget how much you love me, enough to even go to a Cindy Lauper show with me. The only show I couldn't talk him into going to was the Dixie Chicks. I guess you do have your limits!

Just like old times

2008-05-01T12:44:00.003-04:00

Last week, I had the rare opportunity to go back to DC for an in-house meeting. With all of the budget cuts and changes in policy, I didn't think I would ever get to go back home on 3M's dime, but they actually approved this training trip and decided to bring all of the PM's in-house.

I dreaded having to go into the office. Firstly, I don't fit into any of my old work clothes. Yes, it's nice to have an excuse to go shopping, but it's also a little sad to think of all those cute things taking up 75% of my closet that are just a little "too tight" now. Second, I have gotten very complacent working in my PJs and not having to add in the extra time to get showered, dressed and commute to work. Getting up at 6am (East Coast time, no less) to be dressed and ready for work was definitely culture shock. I have gotten used to hitting snooze 3 times, then being able to "be at work" 15 seconds after jumping out of bed. But once I walked into the building - with new 3M signs out front and having to scan a badge to get into the front door - it actually felt kind of nice to be part of society. And it was great seeing my coworkers and finally meeting those team members who I spend hours every week on the phone with, but not knowing what they look like. When I met Tim for the first time last week, he said "Wow, you do sound like the person on the phone!". I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, considering we all hate how we sound on answering machines...

It was great having a reason to catch up with family and friends.
On Monday, I met up with my Uncle Rody and Frank, and got to meet their new dog Castor. He is adorable, and the sweetest puppy I have met in a long time. He is so cheery, that just being in the same room with him puts you in a good mood. Frank and Rody are doing well, too - although I think Rody has too much free time for hobbies than is healthy for him. He has another cut on his hand from a mishap with a drill.

I then met up with the majority of my friends in Pentagon Row on Tuesday. It was great seeing them, and hearing of all the things that have been keeping them busy over the year (most of them now have kids!). As I was driving to Virginia from Silver Spring, I took my normal route from work to my old house - 295 to South Capital Street. As I was coming down the strip with the Capital Building looming at the end, I drove by National Stadium, right there smack on the side of the street. What a big change, and I can only imagine what my commute would be like on game days... But this did make me very nostalgic for the grandiose of living in DC. How many people can say they drive by the Washington Monument and the Capital every day to work? And I really missed the hustle and bustle of traffic - strange, I know. And of course, the endless opportunities to just go out any night of the week and find yourself amidst plenty of people and good friends and food.

I still don't think I want to move back to DC, but this feeling surprised me. I think it was just a memory of the old times, the old friends, and the place that will always be home to me.

Surf Dogs

2008-04-17T16:22:00.004-04:00

We have been here almost 3 years, and we have finally taken our kids (Chewie and the Bear)to the beach. On Sunday, we decided to drive down to Del Mar, where they have an off-leash dog beach. This is going to have to become a monthly family outing - it was a lot of fun.

Bear was a little hesitant of the waves at first. But once he got used to it and started seeing all the other dogs in the water, he really got into it. Scott was playing catch with him, throwing the ball out into the ocean and Bear would run after it, jump the waves, swim out to the ball, and bring it back. A couple of times the wave would catch the ball and start bringing it back to shore (now it's behind Bear), but Bear didn't realize it so he just kept on swimming out to where he thinks the ball is. I got a little freaked out, just imagining my dog continuing to swim out in the Pacific in search of the missing tennis ball. But Scott was able to call his name, throw another ball and get Bear to start swimming back.

I was a little hesitant of Bear taking a run for freedom and not being able to get him back. But he was great off leash. He didn't get too far away from us, and would turn around every now and then to make sure that we were still with him. It did take a bit of chasing to get him to put the leash back on and go home, but that's how kids are when you tell them they need to leave the park...

Chewie on the other hand kept us on our toes. I thought she would stay right by us, but she turned out to be the runner. She would head up to anyone and anything that caught her eye, with no regard of how far back she was leaving us. Fortunatley, she tires out quickly and we can catch up with her. At one point, she found a shady spot and dug a hole in the sand and lied down. I had to pick her up to get her back into the water to cool off. She is not a water lover - she saw a wave coming and would run away from it. I think I used to do that when I was little too.

Once we got home, both dogs passed out and remained stationary for the rest of the day. What a great way to tire them out! The 90 degree weather that we had this past weekend didn't help, either. Each year seems to get hotter and hotter, earlier and earlier...

Scott said that Bear was eyeing the kids with boogie boards - I'm sure he was thinking "That's a really big chew toy, I want it".
Next step - surfing lessons for theBear .

Out with Patrick Swayze, Hello Matt Damon (now 35 years old)

2008-04-17T16:00:00.004-04:00

After about 10 months of not cutting his hair, Scott had started to look like the Dirty Dancing version of Patrick Swayze - brown waves that move when he salsas.
It got on his nerves.
Now - I am married to the Matt Damon version (much sexier, hon) and my adorable husband turned 35 years old last week.

Scott didn't want to do anything special for his birthday, which was good because I was starting to run out of ideas for surprise get togethers. So we opted to stay at home and have me attempt to cook him a nice romantic dinner. For those of you that know me well, this is a very generous gift as I don't like being in the kitchen much.

Menu:
Artichoke dip as a starter - I forgot the bread, so had to ask the birthday boy to stop at the store on his way home without trying to spoil the surprise menu.
Blue Cheese crusted Fillet Mignon - Scott likes Blue Cheese, so I thought this was perfect for him
Spinach and Onion sauteed
Chocolate Lava cake - which did not come out exactly as I hoped it would, but it was good and we have been eating leftover cake for dessert every night since.

On Saturday, my parents wanted to celebrate Scott's birthday with us and we ended up at the Greek American Family Restaurant in Encinitas. We ordered the flaming cheese dish, and went through 2 bottle of wine. That's a first for the 4 of us. They didn't have the Tilapia, which is what Scott really wanted, but it was a good night out none the less.

Happy Birthday - and many mooooooooooore!

The world of Podcasting

2008-03-14T16:03:00.005-04:00

In the past month or so, I have discovered Podcasts (and ebooks).
I mainly started listening to these with the idea that I could listen to them at the gym. I have ended up mainly listening to them while I am working, and not at the gym (that's another topic, entirely, see below).

Podcasts are kind of fascinating. I have started listening to:
The LOST podcast with Jay and Jack
The Dawson's Creek podcast

Those that know me know that I love D.Creek, and I think it's intersting that this podcast is aired by another D.Creek fan. What's more intersting is that this just started airing last year (even though the show has been off the air since about 2003). That means that there are other D.Creek fans who still love the show, and there are other D.Creek fans who actually listen to this even though the show is in syndication. Amazing, and see, I am not the only freak. Although I may be 10 years older - but hey, it's keeping me young!

I have also realized that I cannot listen to something well, and do anything else at the same time. I'm not counting mindless listening to the radio or humming along to a tune while you do chores. I should have known I would have this problem when I noticed that I cannot talk on the phone and have anyone else talk to me at the same time. I can only listen to one person at a time, and usually the one who is louder wins. But while I have this podcast on - I notice that I stop typing, then I sit back in my chair, and then I realize 20 minutes has past and my screen saver is whirling around. And when I notice that I have been able to keep tying and get some work done, I have not listened to a word of this podcast and must rewind the entire thing. Those people that work and listen to eBooks, how do you do it?

Anyway, I have found another mindless way to pass the time, and I need to start listening to these at the gym - that is my March resolution!
Also , does this mean that any old Joe Bloe can air a podcast? Will there someone in the universe who will listen to any silly old topic that someone wants to talk about? Hmmmm, maybe I can start "A day in the life of Chewie and the Bear"...

A walk in the clouds

2008-03-04T09:45:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, Scott decided we needed a weekend away. He just got back from his 2 week business trip, and had a 4 day weekend to enjoy. I didn't have a 4 day weekend, but we decided to kennel the dogs and spend the weekend in Temecula wine country. We have been meaning to do this for a couple of years, and finally made it out there for a tasting.

We stayed the night at the South Coast Winery, and their villas were very nice. I loved how they were each separate rooms with no sharing walls. This means that you had no neighbor's walking heavy above you, or loud neighbors next door (like we do at home most nights...). There was a bottle of wine for us in the room, and Jacuzzi tub.

We started Saturday out with a wine tasting, and it shocked me how Temecula wine country has turned into the bar scene of he SD area. It was packed, and you had to fight for a place up at the tasting bar. There were people drunk, and loud, and just hanging out. Granted, I had a buzz going after our 5 tastings (and the 2 extras that she gave us), but I don't think I would just hang out in there. There is a separate area with tables for Wine Club members, which we were considering (and still are), and I could see myself hanging out there for a few hours on a nice day. If we actually lived in Temecuala (which we did find our dream started home out there 3 years ago), we would definitely be part of the wine circuit.

We then headed over to the restaurant for a little appetizer and a bottle of wine. After relaxing for a bit, we headed back later that night for a superb dinner. Scott had the Lamb chops, and I had veal and beef riggi's. It was excellent, and worth the drive out here for a nice dinner out (more reason to become a club member).

Sunday was our tour of the winery, and it has sparked the dream of having a vineyard in both of us again. We learned a lot from the tour guide, and ended the tour with a tasting and tips about pairing wine and food. We learned that the sweet wines I like (like the white Germans that we always buy) go really well with spicy food. Scott knew a lot of the workings of the winery because of his Gallo experience, and I think we should start looking for jobs or ways we can become active at the wineries in Temecula (it's not that far of a drive).

On our way back home, we stopped at one other winery for a tasting, and in comparison to where we just were, it was on a different scale completely (small, with 2 people working the tasting room, and nothing fancy about it at all) and the wine was not as great in my opinion either (I didn't say, let's buy a bottle to any of them). Maybe I was wine'd out by this point in the weekend, but I wouldn't want to go back there.

The man who owns the vineyard for South Coast bought the land only due to his father's pressure to buy it. It sat there for years, and he saw the movie "A Walk in the Clouds" and thought that his land looked a lot like that setting. So he went out and tested the soil and now has this thriving vineyard (the largest in Temecula).
I think I'm going to go out back and test our soil now :-)

Jan, Feb, March - oh my!

2008-03-03T14:02:00.004-05:00

I bought this little planner (pocket size, really) so that I can keep track of the things that are happening, the things that I need to do, etc. I am managing to write things down in it, but then forget it on my desk and end up never taking it with me. But it's a start, and I have 10 more months this year to perfect the idea of keeping a planner (right now, I just know that I need to go to work at 7am, and then my Outlook calendar keeps me in check).

But it's nice to see the things that we have done, and the things that are coming up this year. Now, there is no excuse for forgetting to put key events in Scott's Xmas letter. I will proof read his letter with my planner in hand.

After our great trip to NYC, I got sick - the worst sick I've been since moving here. I blame it on the East Coast weather, which is why I am even more adamant about not moving away from SD :-) It knocked me out for about 2 weeks, and I spend a good number of days in bed.

I was still slightly ill, but recovered enough to head over to a NFL Playoff game (to watch the Giants win) and then we headed to the House of Blues to see Social Distortion. It was a sold out show, and I was glad to see the mix of demographics in the audiense. I didn't want to be the oldest in the crowd (which we definitely weren't since this band started when I was 2 years old), and we weren't the youngest either (since they can still sell out every show). It was great, and Scott really liked them. I wasn't sure how much he would enjoy it, since he didn't know them too well, but he is now a big Social D fan.

They have Reastaurant Week here in SD, which they also had in DC and we used to love it. Basically, restaurants put together a fixed price 3 course menu, so that you have the opportunity to dine at some really nice places for a reasonable price (although one of our restaurants still came out to a $200 dinner with wine). We ate at the Hotel Del, 1500 Ocean Restaurant. It was very good, and we each had a wine sampler which I think was the best part. We each left dinner that night with 3 glasses of wine, and I have a new favorite Chardonnay. At the end of the week, we went out with some friends to Pacifica Del Mar, a seafood restaurant in Del Mar. It was highly recommended, and the food was excellent. My only complaint is that I thought it was going to be right on the water - but the pictures were deceiving and we were actually off the 101.

We decided to throw a Superbowl party at our house, and went all out with over 100 wings, pizza, lots of munchies, and Giants decorations. I think it was our balloons and good mojo that sparked the win. Way to go Giants!

The week after the game, Scott left for a 2 week business trip. You know, 2 weeks seems like nothing now, and it's actually kind of a nice change of pace to have 2 weeks to myself (with dogs, who slept on the bed with me of course). I lost 4 lbs that trip - I think it's becuse Scott wasn't home to cook for me. But by Wed of week 2, I was definitely ready for my hubby to come home. while Scott was away, I drove up to Santa Monica to meet up with Tricia who was in town for the Grammy's (I know, how do you get her job, right?) and I caught up with Steven, who I hadn't talked to since our wedding. Needless to say, we had lots to catch up on!

That pretty much takes us right into March, and I can't believe how fast time is flying! We ended the month of Feb with my parents over for dinner, and Scott made his (now becoming a fav) lamb stew. My parents then left for a trip to Alaska, and I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back.

Having a planner is coming in handy - and it is making me plan lots of fun things for us to do! We've got Def Leppard coming up this summer, and hopefully many more fun things to come.

Happy New Year! a little late, I know

2008-03-03T13:33:00.005-05:00

I know, but better late than never, right?

To catch the 1.2 people who read this blog up to date - we spend New Years in cold New York city. It was soooooo cold, but a very fun trip! We got to see lots of good friends and family, we ate spectacular food, and overall it was a great way to bring in the new year (although no one wanted to play Singing Bee with me).

Day 1 and 2:
We had a very easy and drama free trip for San Diego to LaGuardia. Poor Keith and Kara just got back from their cruise that day, and this was their second trip to LGA which was the most crowded I have ever seen it. That's what you get for flying on a holiday, huh?
The next Day (New Years Eve) we toured around Queens and Garden City. We then celebrated the New Year at Casa de Weinsaft. Kara made an amazing dinner that night (which I still need the recipe for).

Day 3 and 4:
On New Years Day, we recovered from the night before, and then headed out to see Jeff's apartment near Mid-town. It was very nice and very small. Just yesterday, Scott and I were in a hotel room (I will post details of that shortly, not to worry), and said - Man, I think this hotel room is just a little bit smaller than Jeff's apartment. We concluded that as a single person, we could live there and get rid of all of our earthly material possessions. But married, no way in hell would we fit. That night we headed to Chinatown and had another great dinner with Bryan.
The following day consisted of walking around NYC, and finding the Saltena place in Queens. Mixed into our sightseeing was Keith's cupcake break - yummy, although when did cupcakes get so popular? We ended the night at Gotham Bar and Grill for dinner, another great meal.

Day 4 and 5:
The following day was the coldest day that I have experienced in about 3 years. It was miserable. And of course, that's the day that we walked all over the place in NYC (Pomme Frites was our wonderful break!). We had real coal over NY style pizza for lunch at Lombardi's, and ended the night in Brooklyn for dinner at Peter Luger. OMG, this was the best steak I think I have ever had, although it might have been the 2 drinks in me altering my perception. This was totally our kind of place, and we took the T-Bone home for the dogs to enjoy. They are big Peter Luger fans, too.
The next day we flew home (again, hassle free) and recovered from the trip and picked up the doggies from the kennel. Then, it was back to work and the start of 2008.

We'll have to see what kind of surprises 2008 has to bring - although it's been a very low key year so far (knock on wood).
Happy New Year!

Christmas came and went

2007-12-28T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, Merry Christmas.
It seems to have just come and gone in a flash. All the preparation, and the high hopes for "traditions", gone in just one day.
It was hard to get in the holiday spirit this year (as you can tell by my t-shirt). Scott says it's because it's so damn hot here (it was 75 on xmas day), but I think it's because we are getting older and that magic of Christmas is just gone. It might also be the fact that we are away from our families, and although I love you honey, us and the furry kids do not make a large and exciting family.

What was a very nice treat for me this year was that I got 2 whole days off work this year. SoftMed was a grinch and only gave us the 25th off, but 3M gives us both the 24th and 25th off! A 3 day work week is so nice, but I do seem swamped with trying to get everything taken care of and covered while we are out all of next week. There is only one site that I feel that I am leaving high and dry, since they are going live the week that I get back to the office - but I think they can handle it and they will be fine. If everything is not perfect for go-live, I really don't care too much - they will be little things anyway...

So we started the holiday season with getting a tree, and decorating it. Bear and Chewie had their fill of some ornaments, which you can clearly see the next morning on their bathroom breaks. I thought I was doing so well with Xmas shopping, and my goal was to get everything in the mail before Dec 15th. Well, although everything was purchased, it was the boxing and packing up that took us longer than expected. So after 3 trips to Postal Annex and 1 to USPS (and the equivalent in shipping costs than the total presents), we finally got everything packed and shipped only to learn that most things would arrive the day after xmas.

I really wanted to bake some bread (I got these adorable mini-loaf ceramic pans) and make some cookies (I actually bought a cookie press), but these did not get done in time to mail out to family. I finally made the bread on xmas eve, and guess who ate 2 whole mini-loaves of bread... Bear of course. I was pissed. So these cute ceramic pans will wait until next year to be given to a human. Another tradition that was not fulfilled this year was our snowboarding on xmas day. I woke up late, it was 75 degrees, and it just didn't seem worth it to make the trek out there. Oh well...
Scott's xmas letter this year was just not very funny - I really married more of a comic than comes across in the letter. And we missed some key highlights of the year! We went to Vegas (Scott's first time there, you think he would remember it and all those boobies), and he went sea fishing with my Dad in June. The summer was not entirely a boring job hunting summer.

We did have a very nice xmas eve with my parents and their friend Rich. It's very sad, he was all alone on xmas so my parents invited him over. He brought pictures of his grand kids to show us (they are in NC), and he was wearing a very festive red vest. Mom made a pork dish that was excellent, which is a traditional Bolivian dish. Who knew we had Bolivian traditions?! Needless to say, I have never had this pork dish at xmas.. so much for traditions, huh? It's funny - I am completely 100% my dad's daughter. We gave each other the same thing - a wine decanter gadget that decants as it pours out of the bottle. So we did a taste test and this thing really works! I love it!

Scott and I exchanged presents xmas morning - Santa was good to us, not so much to the naughty dogs. We then proceeded to chill the rest of the day and actually found an open grocery store to make my lasagna for dinner that night. Overall, a great xmas!

Now - onto 2008, and I am totally looking forward to our trip to NYC to ring in the new year with the Weinsafts. Woohoo!
Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-25T21:49:00.000-05:00

My husband is making me update this blog. I am not doing thus under my own free will (those of you who know me, if I was doing this on my own this post would not show up for another 2 weeks).

We had a great Thanksgiving and the had a good past couple of weeks.
We started out Turkey day with the Oceanside Turkey Trot (5k). This was our second year running it, and my goal was to run the entire race without walking. I met my goal (it was not fun, considering we hadn't really trained in the weeks leading up to it), but we got through the whole thing in 36 minutes! That is great for me, and Scott's calves were sore the next day because he's a trooper and ran at my pace the entire way.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house (just for a lowly 4 people and 2 dogs). My parents came over and we had a great meal:
Smoked turkey breast, smoked on the outdoor grill
Honey Glazed ham
What is becoming our traditional stuffing (Scott calls it dressing)
Mom's whipped sweet potatoes
"Healthy" mashed potatoes - really, it's cauliflower
Colette's favorite Oceanspray cranberry sauce (jellied, of course)
Pumpkin cranberry bread
Pecan and pumpkin pie
Overall, a great time, and we finished off the evening by watching "Mr. Brooks", which was a very good movie to my surprise.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we went to LA to watch the Ohio State/Michigan game at our friend Eric's. It was a good weekend and we even brought the dogs. Billy and Amy had the baby over the weekend, but hopefully we'll get to meet her in the next week or two. It seems as if everyone we know is popping out babies this year.

Chewie got a new crate, and it lasted less than one week. She ate through the zipper on the front, so I had to sew it up, and now the only way in or out is through the top of the crate. Somehow, she still managed to get out of it last night. Scott is now calling her "Chewdini", a fitting name.

Well, it's time to bring out the "Ba humbug" t-shirt, and see what the rest of the year has in store for us.

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-29T12:07:00.000-04:00

As much as I think that my life if very ordinary and ho-hum, a lot has been going on in actuality.

First and Foremost - my wonderful husband's job search has come to an end! He has decided to play professional poker, and is going on tour starting in Nov. When he is not doing that, he is going to spend his days at the beach surfing :-)
Seriously? Seriously.
No - he is working for L-3 Communications as a defense/military contractor. He is working on base (again) and doing logistics/planning (again), but this time he gets to go to work as a civilian, and he can grow facial hair to his hearts content. He actually is clean shaven at the moment and is growing a nice head of hair in. Just this past weekend he complained about how "conservative" he looks with hair - but I think he's just getting used to it. All these month of hard work growing it out will pay off one day, and he'll find himself looking like Sawyer from Lost soon enough (speaking of Lost, I can't believe they are making us wait until Feb to start the new season!).

Next, on a sadder note - there were some "wicked" wildfires here in San Diego last week. We actually drove right into the fires in Ramona/Julian one day (out of pure stupidity). We were going to Julian to look around, buy some pies, etc, and as we were driving there we did see a huge smoke cloud in the distance. As we continued to get closer we knew it was a fire somewhere, but the roads were not closed. We kept driving, and we were about 10 miles from Julian when the smoke started to get very thick. People driving started to turn around, and people were pulling over and getting out of their cars. We thought we could continue to plow through, especially since we were so close, but then the car filled up with smoke and you could not see more than 1 foot in front of the windshield. Scott says that about 10 feet away there was a blaze - but I missed that. I think I would have freaked out if I actually saw fire. So we managed to turn around and then headed home. It wasn't until we got home that we learned the true gravity of the situation, and we were right there at the start of the Witch Creek Fire. For almost a week, every station has 24 hour coverage of the fires, the evacuations, and the disaster of it all. I must say, NBC San Diego is my favorite news station out here, and they did a great job.

Just to mention some of the things that we have been doing lately:
I just learned how to link URLs to my blog, so watch out!
We went to see the "Last Comic Standing" tour at Pala Casino. Very funny, although we wee bummed that Jon Reep was not on tour - we'll have to catch him later.
We went to see Colin Hay at The Belly Up - he is great, and puts on a wonderful show.

A big congratulations to the many people in our lives who are having children!
It seems like everyone is pregnant right now...

Here is a pic of our fat little devil - Happy Halloween!

Have you ever shot your gun in the air and screamed?

2007-09-15T16:13:00.000-04:00

We have been trying to get out and about and do more things around here.
Since we are trying to stay in this area, and my big excuse for not wanting to leave has been "But I want to be close to the beach", we have tried to go to the beach more often. I do like it. Scott is trying to get into surfing and has bought his first surf board. He's not a Point Break surfer yet, but I'm sure he'll get there.
Talking of Point Break - we really liked the movie Hot Fuzz.

In the past couple of weeks, we have gone to see "Mama Mia" downtown, and have also gone to "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Moonlight Theater. It's kind of like Wolf Trap, but on a much smaller scale. The shows were excellent, and I really miss doing things like that. We are heading to a Padres game on Monday - so we really are trying to keep busy and entertained.

I can't believe fall is already here, and we are starting to train for the Thanksgiving 5k again this year. But what I'm really looking forward to our stuffing, yum!

Where is the time going to?

2007-06-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

I am sitting here waiting for a phone call from someone at work, and I have a feeling that it is not going to come. But you know how as soon as you start doing something that you probably shouldn't be wasting your time on during working hours, the phone rings... and there you go, the phone just rang!

Anyway - The most exciting thing in May was Scott finally had his last day of work at USMC! He was able to take leave starting on May 15th, and we promptly went on a week vacation to Upstate NY to visit his family. Although his brother in law, Mike, is in Iraq right now, the family was once again intact.
On a sadder note, a week after our visit, Grandpa Major passed away. So Scott was back on a plane, and this time for a much sadder reunion. The family is doing well though, and everyone is back into their daily routine.

June - What a June! I had a birthday, and I am feeling slighly older. I think it's mainly due to the 10 lbs that I put on since Thanksgiving, but I am definitely feeling like I am well out of my 20s now.
Our good friends Keith and Kara moved away - so so sad. So we tried to see them as much as possible and had many dinners and "So you think you can dance" nights. But it didn't feel like goodbye at all - maybe it's because I know we will keep in touch with them and these are friends that we will surely have well into a ripe old age. They just happen to live a little further away now, that's all!
And Scott is winding down to his last official day in the Marine Corps on July 30. Kinda scary, considering he doesn't have a job lined up yet, but overall I am feeling fine and confident, and we won't be eating ramen noodles for at least another 2 weeks or so - so things are good!

I'll post some pictures shortly, and keep everyone updated. I think I have a pic of Scott with a beard somewhere around here...

Yard Sale Mentality

2007-04-24T13:20:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we had a yard sale. It was one of the strangest things that we have experienced out here.

I put an add in the paper to run on Thursday and Friday. We made signs, and have been collecting things to sell in our garage for the past month. We then got little price tag stickers and spent Friday night pricing all of our items. I must say that we were very organized for this yard sale. I went into it thinking that if we at least made $28, I would make back what I spend in the add.

The sale started at 7am on Saturday morning. I am not a morning person, so Scott was out of bed at 5:30 and getting things ready. He came up to wake me up at about 6am and said that we had stalkers in the front of our house. Of course, I didn't believe him - so it was finally that statement that got me out of bed and peering out of the window. No one was there - ha, I knew he was kidding.

Scott put the garage door up at about 6:45, then came inside to get his cup of coffee. When he went back outside, there was a man in our garage already looking at all of our stuff. When I came outside 5 minutes later, our entire set of pots and pans were already sold and the man was loading them into his truck. Over the next hour, a mass of people (mostly Mexicans, I think) came and bought the majority of our things. They really wanted to bargain, and we got talked down on most of our things. I found it odd, but the main tactic seemed to be for them to make a pile of things and say "If I buy all of this, how much will you charge me?". We added everything up individually, and normally lowered it by about $5, and that seemed to make them happy. Our best sale (although I think we could have gotten more money for it) was our 27" TV, the TV stand, and an old microwave for $80. Very quickly, we watched our belongings drive away...

People also came up to us and asked us if we had specific items. One person asked if we had any sleeping bags, and if I had found Scott's sleeping bag in the garage, it definitely would have been sold. Another person came looking for lamps, and another person asked for clothing. We didn't intent to sell any clothes, but when asked I immediately went upstairs and raided the closet for shoes and clothes that I could get rid of. Selling things is so addicting!

Overall, we made over $400, which is amazing! By 10am, people were just trickling in and we decided to shut down early at noon. It is strange though - they really just wanted our electronics and junk. All the nice thing that were in unopened boxes (picture frames, music boxes, wedding gifts) they couldn't care less about. They really wanted things like Scott's old suitcase that went around the world and had a 2" layer of dust on it. I wonder if we go to the flea market next week, if we will see all of things for sale for twice as much as we sold them... Oh well - I think we are going to have to this at least once a year to clean house!! It's so refreshing!

Latest updates

2007-04-18T11:07:00.000-04:00

Scott has been bugging me for a while to update my blog. He said that there are so many things that we have done lately that it needs to be posted. OK - here goes.

First, I do want to say that I am horrified about the shootings at VA Tech, and that my thoughts are with Hokies everywhere, especially those in the Burg.

At the end of March, we went on a trip to Vegas with our friends Keith and Kara. It was a lot of fun, and it was also Scott's first time in Vegas. We stayed on Freemont, in the Golden Nuggett. It was so much nicer of a hotel than I imagined! I guess I was expecting an old hotel, since it was in the old part of town, but it was really nice and they just revamped the pool and put in a shark tank with a water tube slide. I did go down the slide - totally under duress. We gambled and lost a little - nothing too severe, but we are eating Ramen noodles for a couple of months :-) We also went to go see a show called Fantasy at the Luxor. Kara had a friend in the show, who hooked us up with tickets. We were in the second row, and yes, we saw lots of boobies (16 to be exact, over and over again). But it was a very funny and well put together show (we had no idea what to expect when we sat down). I must say that the grand finale of our trip was getting a bit tipsy at the pool bar while checking out of the hotel, and then going for dim sum at Ping Pang Pong! We had seen the billboard for this restaurant starting about 50 miles outside of Vegas, so we had to go see what it was all about. Overall, it was a great trip, and we need to go back again before we leave SoCal.

Scott had his Birthday last week - the big old 34! He didn't want to do anything special for his birthday, so we went out to dinner on Tuesday to Claim Jumper and got him a fattie steak. He asked "Are there going to be people waiting for us when we get there?". I didn't plan anything for your Birthday today, sorry hon. But notice the key word - Today. On Friday we went downtown to pick up my friend Kelli from the airport, and then moved onto Karl Strauss where his surprise party was waiting. I think he had a great time, and it is always wonderful to see him actually surprised and taken aback when things like this pull together. I must say - Kara and Keith went above and beyond ensuring that Scott had a great Birthday, with presents, balloons, and a cake. And of course, their company!! Kara and Keith - you have become such wonderful friends - I am really going to miss you a lot when you move this summer :-(

Scott went to a job fair this weekend, and things are looking ok on the job front these days. I think Scott was able to practice his interviewing skills, and feels much more comfortable with it now. I knew it would only take a couple of times for him to start feeling normal, and less nervous, during interviews. But as the weeks progress, I'm sure there will be more job hunting, interviews, and I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Chewie updates

2007-03-12T15:51:00.000-04:00

Our little girl is getting big, and she is such a little devil. I think Bear is scared of her, sometimes!

Chewie got fixed at the end of February, and she did wonderful. She wore the cone for about 24 hours, and looked so adorable! She also had 4 teeth pulled, poor little thing. They said she was looking like Jaws, with adult teeth already all the way in her baby teeth right next to them. But by Day 2 she was a little devil and running around and hopping over gates. The vet said to keep her calm with no stairs or jumping for one week - it was impossible.

Yesterday, Chewie got her first grooming. I kind of miss her old hair - I even asked Scott if he was sure we got the same dog back. She just looks so old, and dare I say MATURE! But underneath it all she is still the same Chewie - who woke me up by howling in her crate as soon as Scott left for work.

Bear, on the other hand, is doing great, although I can tell he is suffering from Big Brother depression. He is much more docile, and he hates it when she runs after him and pesters him. the other day, he was trying to get away from her and he ran into something and split the side of his eye open. It was bleeding and looked nasty for about a day, and now it looks pretty touch. He looks like Poochy Balboa (our version of Rocky).

It's starting to get hot out here - it was 80 degrees yesterday. It's time to get the puppy swimming pool!

It's been a little dreary out here

2007-02-20T13:45:00.000-05:00

Well, the past 4 weeks have brought much rain to the SD area. Although it seems like it has rained the majority of the days out here, it beats the 9 feet of snow that some areas of the country are getting. I have no complaints about rain.

We have had a busy past couple of weeks:
We have remodeled out downstairs bathroom, and I must say that it looks great. I think we should think about careers in general contracting. When we get done with this house, we will definitely have some good experience under our belt! The bathroom is now a deep red, has all new fixures, and we call it the "Rome" bathroom.

Chewie still provied daily entertainment, and furstrations for poor Bear. But she is a fat little monster now, and she has learned to go out of Bear's doggie door, and also to scale the baby gate that used to keep her confined to one floor of the house.

My friend Carrie came to visit for a weekend. It was great to see her and catch up, and it's also a little sad to think how different our lives are now, in comparison to those days that we saw each other every day in the old Bell Atlantic building. We are both married, living in different states, and have just been though career and life changes - with many more to come. I think I am just starting to feel old now, and this aching in my knees only reinforces that fact.

We did go snowboarding one more time with our friends Keith and Kara, who push us to our limits and past them. I think that is what we needed, and hopefully we will get at least one more day of boarding in before the spring weather catches up to us. We did make the drive out to Big Bear one weekend, but remember what I said about all that rain...

I had a very short (1 night) trip to DC for work this month, and I do not miss the constant travel that I used to do for SoftMed. It looks like there may be more frequent travel in my future, but it shouldn't be too bad just yet. Our company was acquired by 3M, so there are some changes in my immediate future. I am still finding out what all of those entail.

I think the most significant change that we are looking to make is Scott finding a new job. He was working on his resume yesterday, which is always the hardest and most tedious aspect of the job hunt. Don't worry honey, in a month there will be so much activity that time will fly by! So we are seeing where the job hunt will take us, but I have no doubt that we will find ourselves together and happy (just hopefully not cold the majority of the year!).

Come Here, Girlfriend

2007-01-31T18:38:00.000-05:00

It cracks me up to hear Scott say this to Chewie. This seems to be his greeting everynight when he comes home from work, and he picks her up and says hello. I love seeing his interaction with her, and it puts no doubt in my mind that he is going to be an excellent dad one day.

Chewie, on the other hand, has become our little monster. She lives up to her name, and has all 3 of us (Bear inlcuded) crying out in pain when her sharp little teeth bite into us. She is so just so darn cute though, and with a swat of a hand(or paw) we can send her flying. But she always come back to try to get one more nibble at us.

Scott has been wanting me to post our snowboarding adventures. I think he would also love it if I posted pictures of my black and blue, swollen knees.
On MLK weekend, we rented a cabin at Big Bear and spent the weekend there with the dogs. The cabin was an adventure (we had 5 blankets on the bed), and we have discovered that the dogs do not like snow. They have been Californiazed. Bear would pick up one paw for 10 seconds, then switch paws, then switch back - too funny.

Scott is really picking up the boarding. Me, not so quickly. I still spend more time off my feet than on them, and if I don't fall getting off the chair lift - that makes for a good day. We did get helmets which saved our lives on these trips, and I am surprised that the helmets are still in one piece. But it is a lot of fun, and we are planning another trip next weekend. Maybe we'll be tackling the blacks be the end of the season!

Happy New Year

2007-01-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

Well, our New Year celebration was very uneventful. Actually, one of our more mellow ones - but at least we were awake at the stoke of midnight.

On Thursday the 28th, we headed to LA for a couple of nights. We started the weekend off with a George Lopez concert. Scott likes to say he was the only gringo in the audience, but I'm sure there must have been at least one other. At the very least, the opening act was as gringo as you could get and he was very funny. George of course was hilarious, and once the girl sitting in front of us got kicked out in the first 10 minutes for being loud and rude, we enjoyed the rest of the show. She seemed to get very irritated when George made a comment about Taco Bell. Maybe she works there, but she was very offended and let everyone around her know she was offended.

We spend Friday at Universal Studios, which was a lot of fun. We then met up with my friend Adrian and his fiance, and Eric and his friend for dinner and drink. I somehow ended up drinking way too much and had a horrible hangover the next morning. Scott said that I fell asleep in bed sitting up with all my clothes on, holding a glass of water. I'm a talented drunk - there were no spills! We were your typical tourists on Saturday, then headed home for a relaxing rest of the weekend.

The hotel in which we stayed at was very nice, and infested with Storm troopers. Yes, Storm troopers (oh yeah, and lots of Rose Bowl parade band members). But Scott rode the elevator with 2 storm troopers, and I felt that of all places to be in the galaxy, this was definitely the most intersting. I will post a picture soon of a car that was parked in the lot - R2D2 was watching the car while it's driver was checking into the hotel. Strange, but it was a very neat experience. Apparently, there were hundreds of Storm Troppers in town, since George Lucas was the Rose Bowl parade grand marshal.

Happy New Year, and may the force be with you...

Christmas #2 - another success

2006-12-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

We had a great Christmas. This is our second Christmas since we got married, and I think we are off to a great set of traditions.

We started the season by getting our Christmas tree at the same lot on El Camino.
The guys there are nice, and they had a big selection of trees to choose from.
We bought a new stand this year, which is exactly like our old one that we threw away, and just as difficult to screw together. The tree is on the side table in the living room, where we attempt to keep the lower branches and ornaments out of dog reach.

We decorated the tree with all of our ornaments, and we got some new ones this year from Scott's mom. We decided that the Outdoor Santa ornament is going to be the first one we hang each year. We even wrote it on the bottom of the ornament so that we don't forget. It's the ornament that we got from Scott's mom the year that we got engaged, appropriate me thinks. Then we decided that the last ornament to be hung should be the Xmas pickle. The piano again holds all the cards that we received, even the one from our realtor.

Scott wrote our annual letter, and we got most of our cards in the mail by Dec 15th. That is a great accomplishment. It was a challenge to take the picture this year, though. Bear was not cooperating, and when we finally got a decent picture, it came out blurry. So after about 20 tries, we got one that isn't great, but we are at least all looking at the camera.

We baked cookies this year, and although we baked in complete silence because we were both in bad moods, the cookies came out great. Last year we didn't bake any cookies, which explains why we have 3 full bags of sugar in the pantry just waiting to be used. We need to remember not to buy any more sugar for the next 2 years...

We had Xmas eve dinner with my folks, and the meal was excellent. We had ham, a new recipe for sweet potatoes, a modified version of our mashed "potatoes",and of course white rice... :-)

And what is becoming my favorite Z-tradition, we went snowboarding on Xmas day. This year we went to Mtn. High, which they advertise as the closet mountain to us. It was a good day, although we never made it off the green slopes. Scott is doing great and can carve his way down the hill now, but I can't seem to get comfortable on my toe edge. So I just C-turn all the way down using my back edge. Inefficient, but it gets me there. By the time the sun started to come down, it started to get cold and icy, so we called it quits and went for hot chocolate. Today, I can barely walk and my arms won't go past shoulder level, but it was a great time.

Merry Xmas, and here's to a wonderful New Year!

Doggie in a mousetrap

2006-12-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

So, have you ever heard of those mousetraps that you put down, and they are just flat with lots of glue? The objective is to have the mouse run on it, get stuck, then you throw it out.

Well, we put one of these traps in between the counter and the fridge, since we though we saw a mouse in the house. Of course, Bear couldn't get his big toe in this spot to save his life. But Chewie on the other hand, not so bright.

Maybe it's because we give our dog's peanut butter and the glue is Peanut Butter scented.
Maybe it's because she is becoming a little monster and runs around the house like she owns it.
Maybe it's because she's little and just doesn't know better.

But yesterday I hear Scott yelling for my help, and when I come into the kitchen he is holding the mousetrap and Chewie's front paws are glued to it. He peels her off, and puts her down on the floor, and she gets stuck to the floor. It is hilarious. She pulls really hard, uunsticks one paw, then puts it down and gets stuck again.
So we had to wash her paws and ended up having to cut all the hair with glue off. I was looking at her this morning, and she still has lots of glue on her right paw. I guess it will eventually wear off.

Chewie, the purchase of the month

2006-12-04T17:45:00.000-05:00

Well, we have added a new member to the Zelesnikar household. We picked up a little Brussels Griffon, and have decided to name her Chewie. She is a 5 lb. puppy, who is about 4 months old. Bear doesn't really know what to do with this new addition, but he is handling it very well so far.

We started the morning at the store in Escondido, and they had a Brussels that was already sold. They said that they have a wish list that I could put my name on, and one of the girls suggested that they call the other store in Carlsbad to see if they had any Brussels. They did, put her on hold for us, and we went to go take a look.
When we got there, they brought out a little black and tan Brussels, who was very tiny. We played with her for about a half hour, and were trying to decide if we wanted to take her home. We weren't in love with her, but I was seriously considering it. When we asked for more information and the price, they took us by surprise and said that there was another Brussels in the back who was recovering from kennel cough. They brought her out, and Scott's attitude perked right up. I knew then that this was the little puppy that we had been waiting for. She also has a little shaved part of her leg, where they have her an IV when she had pneumonia. I don't know what it is - maybe we are just suckers for little dogs that have been sick.

Anyways - we decided to take her home, and now Bear has a little sister. I have the feeling that she is going to terrorize him once she gets used to the house. She was pretty calm and sedate all weekend, but is now starting to perk up and want to play a little more. She seems to like biting Bear's tail and then running away.

I was really looking for a boy dog - but I am so happy that we got her. It is so much fun to be able to buy pink items and dress her up. I got her a little pink carry case (that looks like an Uggs bag, with fake shearling), and I got her a little sweater. She is so cute!! As much as I hate to admit that I have a little purse dog, I am really enjoying this...

My first 5k - woohoo!

2006-11-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, I actually put on a pair of shorts and sneakers and went running.
This summer I got the brilliant idea of running in the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K. It was Thanksgiving morning, and the slogan was "Move your feet before you eat". I thought it was a great idea, it would give me a goal to work towards and would maybe make me loose some weight.

So of course, I didn't train as much as I wanted to. I went running maybe once a week since Scott got home. But as much as I didn't want to run this anymore when the big day came, we went out there and did it. I did walk a little bit each mile, but got through the 3.1 miles in 39 minutes. That's a record for me!

Scott got me the cutest little running shorts, and I want to continue running. It would be nice to do another 5K (with the goal being not to walk at all), then do a 10K, then maaaaaybe work my way up to a marathon. I heard the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego is awesome. We'll see - baby steps...

James Blunt night

2006-11-15T14:02:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to see James Blunt in concert. It was a really good show, and it was not as mellow as I expected. Most of his songs are on the mellow and slow side, but he threw some fast paced songs in there, and he is a highly entertaining performer. And the best part of the show is when he wipped out "Where is my mind" by the pixies, with a set background behind the band of a blazing fire. This definitely makes me think of James Blunt in a new way - not only do I think of him as a person who must constantly be high (with a last name like Blunt, it was destined), but he also has great taste in music and he must have a little bit of an alternative rock side.

I though for sure we were going to be the youngest people in the audience - I had images of what a Celine Dion concert audience is like, and pictured us right in the middle of it. But we were not the youngest or the oldest in the crowd, which was conforting. We got general admission tickets, which worked out fine. We were pretty close to the front (it was not a packed house by any means), and there was an opening between the heads so that I could see almost the entire stage. The only drawbacks were:
- Someone near us had very bad BO
- Someone farted, and everyone around us looked like they were going to pass out
- Scott had a screaming teenage girl standing behind him. He fondly refers to her as "yeti".

All in all - a good night, a very easy commute and we had Chick-Fil-a for dinner in the car on our way there! Yum.

Scott is home - an overdue post

2006-11-10T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well, this post is way overdue.
The only person who reads this is Scott - and he knows that he is home, so I don't know why I keep bothering...

Recap of the past couple of months:
Sept - Tricia got married, it was a beautiful wedding. Go figure, on the same weekend, Scott got home. We were both massively disappointed with the timing for a couple of weeks, but in hindsight it all worked out fine. I left for DC on Thu afternoon. Scott got into CA on Fri afternoon and my dad picked him up from the base. Scott then spent the weekend at home (without Bear), and then came to pick me up at the airport on Sunday. Our reunion was much more emotional than I thought it would be. He brought me flowers, and all sort of emotions that have been pent up for months came flooding out when we saw each other. It was great.

Oct - Scott and I finally went on a honeymoon trip. We went to Venice, Rome, Athens (for just one day) and Santorini. It was an amazing trip, and we saw way too many things to list here. I am posting one of my fav pics from the trip.

After getting home, we have just been getting into a daily routine. Scott started his new position, and things are starting to calm down with work. Bear is an absolute spaz now that Scott is home. Maybe he thinks that his playmate is home - but you can see a differene in his behavior when he is alone with me during the day, and he does a 180 when Scott comes home.

Overall - things are good (minus these allergies that I can't seem to get rid of).
We have some concerts planned for the winter, and Scott's parents are coming to visit in a couple of weeks. The rest of the year should go by quickly, and I can't believe it's almost the holidays.

I am such a geek

2006-07-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

Guess what Kara and I are doing on Sunday?
I know you will all think I should be in highschool, but we are so excited about this! I'm sure all of you other children of the 80's secretly wish you could trade placed with me.

We are going to LA for the day, and we have tickets for a taping of RockStar Supernova. How fun is that? We have to be there at 3pm, so we are going to drive up a little early, get some lunch somewhere, and then go to the MAC store to have our makeup done "Rocker" fashion. We also have to go the store and buy some rocker clothes.

So we will see:
Dave Navaro - who is awesome
Tommy Lee - I adored Motley Crue
Jason Newsted - we all know Metallica rocked
Gilby Clark - Kara and I were both like - who? We looked it up and he played in Gn'R for a bit apparently, and was also in Slash's band afterwards
JD Forune - the winner of last season, who I am guessing is coming to make a guest appearance and hopefully perform. I guess there is no chance of INXS being there, they would have hyped that up.

So I will definitely fill you in on how the day pans out, and where we stood and such. I'm not that excited about being on TV, I'm much more excited to be going to see some live music performed, even if it is these relative nobody's. I am really missing the live music, going to see band play scene. In SoCal, who would have thought that I would have problems finding places like this around us?

Rock on...

Long overdue for an update

2006-07-12T14:39:00.000-04:00

I know I have not been good at keeping this up. I think it's because I email Scott regularly, and he is very up to date on what is going on our lives. But it sounded like he missed the blog, so I will try to do better.

Right now - work totally sucks. I am so busy I want to cry. Another PM is going on vacation for a month, and I have "the wonderful opportunity" to take over all of her projects. So my workload has doubled. AND there is a client who is driving me crazy and making all or our lives at SoftMed hell. They are going live this week, but I don't see them going away anytime soon. And I think it is completely manipulative for client to call managers and Directors when they feel they are not getting their way, or to just complain. It is the equivalent of being whiney and a tattle tale - and no one ever liked those kids. I guess this is what they grow into. To top it all off, the PM who is going on vacation is coming back in August and switching to part-time hours. So I'm sure she won't be getting all her projects back...

In June, I celebrated my birthday, and Bryan came to visit. It was wonderful. And we had many great nights out and many great meals.
On the downside of the birthday weekend:
I broke my new sunglasses, expensive sunglasses
I got into a fender bender in the Mini, and the old hag who hit me is denying responsability and lying through her old rotting teeth
We have to cover 50% of the damages to both cars
The car is going to be in the shop for 4 weeks. I will not remember how to drive a manual by the time I get it back...

We got our new granite countertops put in, and the sliding shelves. How quickly the excitement of home improvement wears off. I promised to keep the counters clean and clutter free since they are so pretty now, but the piles of mail are back again. My weekend project: to vacuum and clean the counters off. Organize, organize, organize.

I have decided to sign up to run a 5K on Thanksgiving. I bought a sports watch with a stopwatch and everything. I found this 8 week beginner training program on the internet, and am starting on it this week.

OOH, and one of the best presents that I got for my B'day: the Magic Bullet. For all of you other infomercial geeks out there, this thing is awesome. I now have a reason to look forward to making the stupid protein shakes that I should be drinking. It's such a fun gizmo, and Scott: watch out, cuz Margarita are served when you get home!

BTW - I love my husband, bald head and all. I got to see him on a Video conference last week, and it just made me miss him so much. He's so cute! Can't wait to rub your bald little head, honey. 2 more months to go...

Addicted and pathetic

2006-06-09T13:26:00.000-04:00

Ok - so I am picking up some bad habits now that my husband is not home.
Drugs, Sex, alcohol, rock and roll - just kidding.

I am addicted to those stupid PC games that you can download from the internet. For the past couple of months, I've been downloading the free trials or web versions of these games. You know what they are: BeJeweled, Collapse, Mah-jong. Don't even pretend that you don't know what I am talking about.

So these trial versions allow you to play for an hour, and then they expire and you have to move on to another game or buy the full version. The games were not entertaining enough to pay $20 for them - so I didn't mind when they expired, I just moved onto the next game. These kept me entertained when work was slow.

Well, these games have gotten much better. And I have gotten much more pathetic.
I have now found a game that I cannot resist, and have actually downloaded the full version of the game. But - I fell for the marketing ploy. If you sign up to buy at least 6 games, they are only $8 each, rather than $20.

I bought my first full length game 2 days ago - Wonderland Secret World. It has 4 characters and you need to navigate them through levels and find all the friends and save them from the aliens who have kidnapped the town. It is very similar to Mario Brothers (I know, retro, huh?)

I have had this game for 3 days, and I am on level 33, and I was up until 3am last night playing this stupid game. I just couldn't stop, and couldn't will myself to go to bed. I have a bruise on my hand from leaning too long on the keyboard and desk. I need to go buy one of those gel keyboard wrist pads now - I am turning into a geek. I always knew there was potential for this - but I now understand why I cannot live alone anymore.

This weekend - I will return to the land of the normal. My friend Kim is coming to visit, and we have a b-ball outing planned. Wonderland - until next week.... level 34 awaits.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

2006-05-15T14:34:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it through our first year. Actually, this year has seemed to fly by pretty quickly. And I am more in love with my husband than the day that I married him. This is a rough 1st anniversary since we are not together, but we have done so much in one year, and there are so many more things to look forward to in the years to come.

One year ago, we kissed under a rainbow and promised to be the most important thing in each other's lives.
We then packed up both of our apartments, closed on my condo, and loaded up the pickup truck with some clothes, food, and Bear.
Then we had a great trip cross-country, managing to take in the sights of Lake Erie, the Painted Desert, the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, and the Flagstaff ER.
We stopped and saw Carrie and Chris in Colorado, and had our first house guests in CA when Bobby and Tracy stopped by.
We moved into our very first house.
We went to Billy and Amy's wedding in LA, and have caught up with them and Eric a couple of times.
We met my dad's side of the family, who live in LA, and Scott had a cake made in his honor to welcome him to the family. Sadly, we all met again at Aunt Katie's service.
Scott was able to meet my grandfather, and we had a lovely service when he passed away, out at sea.
We got to go snowboarding on Christmas Day in California.
We spent a weekend on Coronado Island (or is it a peninsula?)
Scott's sister, Theresa came to visit as they made their way to New York.
We went to New York for New Years, and celebrated Mark's wedding in DC. What a great visit, and a time to reunite with old friends.
We had countless great dinners out, and went to see the Lion King in San Diego.
We drove up to Santa Monica to see the Barenaked Ladies, and had a sighting of Kelly Kapowski.

All in all, it has been a great year full of exciting, happy, lonely and sad memories. The year has been complete, and full of love. I love you honey.

Bear's first shoe

2006-04-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

I was going to write how nice Bear has been lately, and how well behaved. I thought that maybe he had finally grown up since he turned 2 years old. Last night, I even took him to my parent's house, and he did great.

Until - Bear got his first shoe.
I was rather impressed at the fact that our dog has not gotten into any shoes. No destroyed tennis shoes (ok, the flip flop doesn't count), no pee or poop surprises in the shoe, nothing. He has gotten wallets, credit cards, glasses - but no shoes. The one complaint of all dog owners in the world - my dog destroys shoes - and Bear has managed to stay away from shoes for 2 years. Or rather, we have managed to keep him away from shoes for 2 years. Until today...

I though Bear was being really good, being quiet, and even letting me get some work done on the computer. When I finally take a break and go to see my surely sleeping dog in the hallway - I find him on our bed, surrounded by the pieces and the strap and buckle of my only pair of work shoes (notice, no strap nor buckle in this picture). And he looks at me, as if to say "hi - look what I found, this is really nice. Why haven't I ever seen a leather shoe before?" I'm guessing he also learned how to open doors today, because the bedroom door is always, always closed.

Man - we had such a good track record.

Big Love or Big Trouble

2006-04-04T19:28:00.000-04:00

I have started watching the new Showtime series called Big Love. It's about a polygamist family with one husband and 3 wives. They live in a suburban neighborhood, and have 3 houses next door to each other. They have taken down the fences in the back of the house, so all share one huge back yard. The wives make a monthly schedule and have their own "nights" with the husband, and he spends each night in a different house depending on who's night it is.

I wouldn't call this a good show, but it has sucked me in for some reason. It is rather interesting to see how each person in this relationship feels about the life they are living - from the husband, to each of the wives, even to the older children who are old enough to know what kind of family they live in.

I think most people have the notion that polygamy is a sick way to take advantage of younger girls. They have been viewed as sick perverts, and the show definitely is playing on that idea with some of the characters. But the main family is not like that, and they are trying to show that they are normal people with human emotions and problems. The husband is trying to keep his business afloat and his family happy and secure. The wives are trying to raise their family and keep their separate identities and personalities within this relationship.

But this show has made me think that Polygamy is just more trouble than it's worth. We all know how women can get jealous, catty and emotional. Sometimes women can also be downright irrational - I think I've only gotten like this once or twice :-)
I call this my "Ness". It's my moodiness, my bitchiness, my stupidness, my laziness, etc. And to think this poor guy has 3 Nesses to put up with, and you can see how it is running him ragged. One is contantly spending money and running up credit card debt, one is complaining that she needs a new car, one has more loyaty to her father than to her husband, and one is just trying to keep everyone from hating each other. I know I can give Scott a run for his money sometimes, can you imagine if there were 3 of me? All complaining about different things? I don't know - maybe that's why you never hear about women having more than one husband. They are just way too smart to get themselves into the kind of trouble and headache that being married to more than one man holds.

Ryan -vs- The Bear

2006-03-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of babysitting Ryan, a 6 month old little angel. I noticed that evening, that I was very relaxed and had a nice quiet evening. Man, taking care of Ryan is so much easier than taking care of Bear. I know that this won't last, and once Ryan starts to crawl and walk he will most likely give Lori a run for her money - but right now, he is such a pleasure to watch.

If you put Ryan down in one spot, 30 seconds later he is still in that spot. If you put Bear in one spot and tell him to stay, 30 seconds later he is nowhere to be found, and most likely has one of your belongings in his mouth.

When Ryan starts to cry, he either needs a diaper change or needs to be fed. Then he stops crying. When Bear barks at you, he maybe wants to go out or maybe wants to play - but most of the time he will continue to bark at you for no reason at all, for about a half hour until he gets tired.

If I leave a cell phone, sunglasses, remote control, keys on the table - Ryan doesn't care that they are there and will leave them alone for the most part. Bear can grab these items, not matter how far back on the counter or high you put them, and will take them out in the backyard and destroy them.

Ryan doesn't jump on the couch. Bear jumps on the couch, and even pushes you over if he thinks you are taking up too much of his space.

When you put Ryan to bed, he only takes a couple of minutes to fall asleep. When you put Bear to bed, you can hear him ripping up his bedding and his new thing is to pull the carpet up and away from the wall.

When Ryan has an accident, he has a diaper on and you just go change it. When Bear has an accident - which he was doing a lot when Scott left home, you have to clean up the carpet and eventually steam clean the thing.

When you go outside with Ryan, he sits in his carrier and enjoys his surroundings. When you go outside with Bear, you end up with muddy paw prints on your shirt and many holes in the backyard.

This list can go on and on - but overall, I think Ryan is the clear Low Maintenance Winner. Or could it be that we just ended up with Satan's spawn as a dog.

Strange thoughts

2006-03-15T18:36:00.000-05:00

I find myself counting the strangest things, now that Scott is gone. I go through my daily life and routine, and wonder how many of these things Scott's going to miss.

For example:
- how many bottles of hand soap will I go through before Scott gets home?
- how many tubes of toothpaste will I have to buy before Scott gets home?
- I wonder how many bags of dog food will Bear go through before Scott gets home?
- how many bottles of cascade will I buy before Scott gets home?

I have been doing this for the past couple of weeks, but only realized it today when I was washing my hands in the bathroom and the bottle of soap is getting low. And I don't think these things about the smaller items that I buy often. I don't think "How many cartons of milk will I buy" - it's more those things that last a while and that we don't replace all the time.

Since we've moved into this house, I think we have gone through 2 bottle of soap in our bathroom, and maybe 3 or 4 in the kitchen. I wonder how many items will I,just me (one person), go through in the next 6 months? I'm strange, I know.

I am heading to the post office to mail my first package to Scott. I hope I don't have any hassles about the way I packed it, and I hope I did everything right. I ordered a bunch of flat rate boxes from the post office, and they delivered them to my house. I think I have enough boxes to last us 10 years.

Hon - I thought of somthing for your B'day present - so be on the look out for my package and I hope you like it! I miss you sweetie.

What do you do?

2006-03-08T14:40:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading Jimmy Carter's book "Our Endangered Values". This is a book that Scott bought and started before leaving, and now I have gotten quite a bit through it. He makes a lot of good points, that I agree with, but he doesn't seem to be offerring any solutions to the issues that he points out. It doesn't seem productive to me, but it is making me think about my beliefs and opinions. Maybe his solutions are yet to come in this book.

So what do you do when your husband is doing something right now that you morally disagree with? And I have had this opinion for a long time now, but reading a chapter in this book has put my thoughts on paper and backed it up with facts.

Part of me thinks - well, he doesn't have a choice but to be doing this. But really, he does. It was his choice to joing the military. And it was the American people who made the choice to put this president in office, and re-elect him. And it was my choice to marry Scott, and become a part of all this.

So what do you do?
- I guess right now we don't have a choice that Scott is deployed, but he does have a choice when he comes home. So I deal with the days and nights right now, and just hope that the time flies by quickly. I would be very interested to take a poll of the younger people in the military and see if they know and understand the history of the US, the treaties that were made by previous presidents, and see if they really understand what they are all a part of and what it could potentially do to this country. I bet they don't have a clue.
- We all have a choice to educate ourselves on current events and public policy. I admit I am not very up on it, but reading this book has sparked my curiosity and I will continue to read about it and form my own opinions.
- We all have a choice to vote for the people who are in office, and vote for the people that will represent you and your beliefs
- And I guess we all have a choice of what country we live in and what we support. This may be a little drastic, but I do have concerns about the future and American sentiment throughout the world. Maybe buying that vineyard in Canada isn't too drastic of a thought, if we can just get the Canadians to stop hating us.

As soon as I actually make up my mind...

2006-03-06T19:40:00.000-05:00

OK - On Saturday, I ended up hanging out at the pet shop for about an hour, SAD - I KNOW! But there was this really cute little Chia Rat in there, who was literally the size of my hand. They said she was the runt of the litter, and that they don't expect her to get over 8 lbs. I just watched her, and tried to play with her (she was more interested in looking at the other dogs and barked a little when a spazzy one came up to her). She was so cute - yet seemed so delicate. So I went home that night debating whether or not I should grab Bear, take him to the store that night before they closed, and be done with dog hunt.

I got home, and then thought - I really need to think about this. I will think and sleep on it, and on Monday I will take Bear in to the store and have them meet. All weekend, about every half hour, I changed my mind.
- I really want this dog, and it seems to be "THE" dog that I am looking for
- I really don't want Scott to miss the puppy stage (not the poop, but the cuteness), and I want him to feel like he was a part of this
- Bear really needs a friend because I just don't really make good friend material these days
- What if Bear eats it?
- I've looked at every add for months, and have not found another dog with this personality and size, and it may not present itself again soon
- I don't want Scott to come home and have to meet our new dog. It doesn't seem fair
AND THEN AGAIN - What if Bear eats it?

So today, I finally decide - OK, I'm getting it. If Bear and "daisy" get along, I will bring it home and it won't be bad. I finished work up early, and even decided to shower before 5pm. I then called the store, and they said she was sold on Sunday.
Of course - that is how my life works. Always.

As much as I like to say I am done looking - you know I will not stop. I'm addicted to the Pets section in the classifieds. SAD - I KNOW.

And they are off

2006-02-21T18:32:00.000-05:00

Today was hard, but not as hard as yesterday. Watching Scott pack and knowing that this was his last day here was really tough for me, and I found myself moping around and tearing up a lot. As much as I wanted to be in a good mood, it was hard to be in a good mood knowing that the countdown was coming to an end. We ate such fatty and horrible things all weekend - but my consolation was that this was our last In N'Out burger together, our last pizza together, our last Hawaiian plate lunch together - before he left!

This morning we got up bright and early, and I drove Scott to base where they loaded buses to take them to Riverside to fly out. They are going through Maine, then Ireland, then into Iraq. It was kind of nice seeing all the families and the dogs out there, and sad to see some of them with no one there to see them off. I held up ok, I think. I figure: Scott takes such good care of me and doesn't let me get into stupid situations, that I know he's going to take care of everyone and himself out there. I just hope the time goes by quickly and they return with the same enthusiasm that some of them had as they boarded the bus. There were a few that were not deploying for some reason or another, and I was surprised to see how emotional they were to say goodbye to their team and not be there with them. It's not all relief when you find out you can't go - I guess. I wonder if they feel like me - saying goodbye to someone that you see day in and out and the mystery of what life has in store for you without them.

We had a good weekend though - We started it off by going to Roy's Restaurant (Hawaiian Fusion) in La Jolla. The meal was amazing, probably the best meal I have had since we moved here. We are going to have to keep this place in mind and try it out on special occassions. On Saturday, Scott did some repair work and cleaned out the garage. I can finally park my car in the garage - woohoo! We BBQ'd our last steak - no way am I grilling on my own, I'm sure I would set the dog on fire. On Sunday, we took the dog for a bath at Petco, saw an adorable Chia Rat (Chihuahua/Rat Terrier) which may become a part of this family in the next couple of weeks, and went out to dinner with my folks. Monday night was spend with Scott on the phone with his entire family and friends, call after call after call....

I forgot to mention that we saw Eric, Billy and Amy on Thursday night in Laguna Beach. It was nice to see them, and they wished Scott a safe and quick deployment. I think these are the friends that Scott is going to have for the rest of his life, no matter what county, state, or planet we all end up living in. It's nice to see him feel so at home with them. People you can just be goofy with.

Here are a couple of pics - one Scott took of me as he was packing with his 50 lbs. of gear, and one that was taken right before he got on the bus this morning.

Honey - I'm going to miss you like crazy - I love you.

What a week..

2006-02-03T17:42:00.000-05:00

This week seems to be lasting forever, although many things have happened. It's a strange feeling.

We had a pretty chill weekend. We started out by getting together at our friend's house for a goodbye party to Virgil, who deploys to Iraq next week. But it really felt like a goodbye party for Kara, who left the following day for Spain. She is over there for a 4 month study program, and I am so jealous. On Sunday, we went to see my grandfather in the nursing home, and he didn't look good at all. We all knew he was in the last leg of his life, but it was a shock to me when my mom called and said that Grandpa passed away on Monday morning. All I could think of was - I am so glad that I got to see him the day before. And I hope he knew that we were there with him that day, if only to say goodbye.

My parents and I had made reservations to go whale watching on Tuesday, and we decided to still go. It was nice, and I would have been happy just getting out of the house and getting on a boat for a couple of hours. But we did see some whales, which was cool. These are the CA Grey Whales, and they are on their annual migration to Baja. We followed 2 whales for about an hour as they kept moving South.

I wanted to also attach an article that Scott sent to me. I know it sounds like something I would tear out of my Newsweek and force him to read, but he was the one who brought this home one day. I thought it was interesting and it's a good piece to spark conversation - I will allow ours to remain in our kitchen, only for Bear and the Cookie Monk to know what was said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stein24jan24,0,3682678.column?coll=la-util-op-ed

Happy New Year!

2006-01-08T23:05:00.000-05:00

Wow - I have been keeping this blog for a whole year now. This year, I think I am going to use this more as a place to write to Scott, and keep him updated with the things that I am doing and thinking. I am going to write the things that pop into my mind, and the emotions that I am feeling - even if I know that Scott won't want to hear/read them. I would hope that he would feel comfortable telling me things that I know he wants to protect me from, and tell me things that I don't even want to hear - but I think I need to in order to keep myself sane while he is gone and keep things in perspective. Otherwise, I will become even more bitter than I currently am - and honey, I know you know the extent of my bitterness and I am really trying to keep those feelings at bay. I love you and as pissed off as I am at this situation, my love for you will not change.

Scott flew back to CA today (we were in DC this past weekend, more details to come in the next paragraphs), and for some reason it made me very sad to say goodbye to him. It's almost like every day that comes to an end is just one day closer to the time that he leaves. I'm going to have to work hard to not get down, and make the best of this next month. We might as well get this hurdle over, and move on with the rest of our lives which will hopefully not include any more time apart.

We had a great Christmas and New Years. We started the festivities on 12/23 with dinner at Aqua Al 2 (Thanks Kelli and Chris - the meal was amazing!) After dinner we went to the San Diego Civic Center to see The Lion King. What a great show, and it's neat how they stuck to the dialogue that was in the movie. The costumes were the best part - and seeing them all parade into the stadium onto the stage was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eves with my parents, with a whole lot of good food and quality time together. We then went Snowboarding at Big Bear on Christmas Day. Kinda strange to be out in snow (man made, of course) when it's warm enough to be out there in a T-shirt. We came home with lots of bruises.

On 12/30 we flew to upstate NY to spend a few days with Scott's family. There were 21 people in the house for 3 whole days - cozy, but fun. I can't believe how fast the kids are growing, and Megan is absolutely adorable. We took Jordan snowboarding, and she was getting the hang of it by the end of the day. Scott got really good, too - I guess it's just going to be me on the bunny slope next time. I need to work on my toe side - it intimidates me so much. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone in NY, knowing that the next time they see Scott will most likely be this time next year. Of course there were tears, and Theresa also had to say goodbye to Mike as he heads to training until March in AL. We drove him to Bingamton on our way out of town - so it felt like we were stealing him from his family. We then went to DC for my cousin Mark's wedding - which was an entire weekend affair. The rehearsal dinner was on Fri, the wedding on Sat (which was beautiful and interesting, as it was a Jewish ceremony), and then brunch on Sun. I had not idea that Erica's dad was an NPR show host, of "All things considered". I am not an NPR junkie, but I am now very intruiged to listen to his show. He was very captivating to talk to, and thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. Of course, Scott was the popular guy at the wedding. Everyone wanted to talk to him about his work, his upcoming deployment, and of course tried to get him to talk about his opinions. You're captivating hon, face it!

This year, I am not going to make any resolutions. I have some good intentions, which I am not going to commit to writing, and will do my best to follow through with them. I think we have a lot of challenges this year to get through, without the added pressure of resolutions. But I am confident that at the end of this year, Scott and I will be a stonger couple, and hopefully better people individually as well. Happy 2006!

Meet Juanita Yoshida Zelesnikar

2005-12-28T19:21:00.000-05:00

The other night, we went to Dave and Busters, the Chuck-E-Cheese for adults. I rock at the first person shoot em up games. I kicked Scott's butt on Ghost Machine and made it up the ranks so much faster than he did - ha! I need to buy one of these machines for our dream house.

There is another game in there called the Gene Machine. It takes pictures of 2 people and spits out what your kids will look like. This is kind of scary, but it was so much fun. Our friends (who are both very fair, and blondish) ended up having two children which they named Pedro and LaFonda. It's amazing how race has nothing to do with what your children will look like! We have fondly named our daugter Juanita Guadalupe Yoshida Zelesnikar. I'm just glad this child didn't get my egg shaped head - which I swear is not like that in person!