Fun in the snow

About a foot more of snow came down in Springfield, MA yesterday. DH helped his dad shovel out the walk and the cars several times during the day. But there was plenty of time for fun too. Here is DH playing in the snow with our nieces, Caitlin and Meghan.

A very long trip to visit family and friends

A winter wonderland?!?

Yesterday at 4 AM DH and I left Charlotte to drive up to Massachusetts. We were in very good spirits having gone to bed around 9 PM the night before. We managed to leave on time which is usually a good indicator of the trip to come.

The first 10 hours or so were totally fine. I snuck in an hour nap before the sun came up and we only stopped 3 times for food/bathroom/gas breaks. Charlie seemed to be OK in the back of the car; his first long trip not being in his cage. I think he liked having room to move around and we had a travel water dish that he could drink from the whole time. Of course he didn't eat any breakfast but that's par for the course when he's not sure what's going on. Too bad it's now been 36 hours and he still hasn't eaten! I blame the snow.

The drive was great as I mentioned for the first 10 hours despite about 15 miles of dense fog our first hour in. DH learned how to turn on the fog lights so it wasn't all bad. But then when we got on 84E just over the Tapanzee bridge and it all went to hell. The roads were in bad condition from about 8 inches of snow and apparently no one, even in New England, knows how to drive when the roads aren't in perfect condition. One car coming down 84W spun out and rolled down into the ditch between the two highways right in front of us! If it had had more traction it could have come across on our side of the highway. Fortunately it didn't. For all we know, the guy is still stuck in that ditch. Farther up 84 we ended up in bumper to bumper, stand still traffic for over an hour because of another accident. It was so frustrating because we were about 1 hour away! Then the snow starting coming down again. I was never so happy to see my in-laws house as I was that evening.

We were on track for a 12 hour ride and ended up with 13 1/2. Which would have been fine if the crap happened in the beginning. But by the end my ass felt like it had been sitting on a wood chair despite the comfy leather seats. I have to say, though, the SUV was a godsend. I felt very safe despite the bad road conditions. And DH drove the whole way which was awesome. I'm still not sure how we (or if we) can do this next year with the baby.

DH managed to stay up late last night shooting the shit with his dad and brother. I was in bed at 8 PM along with the dog. I slept great except DH and I were smooshed together in a full sized bed. I'm not sure I like being so close to DH any more when we're sleeping...thank goodness we have a king size bed at home!

More snow is expected all day and we have all day to hang out with DH's family. We'll probably break out the Wii later and let the two older kids create Miis and play some games. They might even convince Uncle DH to play in the snow. Sometimes it can be great to be snowed in!

What do you mean I have to go outside in this shit?!?

Friday updates

The most important news of the day is that I passed my glucose test with flying colors. Apparently I was 88 which is completely normal. Bring on the holiday food!

DH and I are very much suited in the sense that we are both very organized people and plan far ahead. We leave tomorrow on our long drive up to Massachusetts and we are basically ready to go even though we have 20 hours or so before we leave. All that's left is packing the car and the dog starts to freak out when that happens so DH will do it while I'm walking Charlie.

I know that once we have a baby we will be relying on our planning and organization skills even more. However, instead of having a couple of days to get things ready, we will only have an hour or two, potentially coupled with managing a fussy baby. But there is no way we are taking this trip up North again next year with a 8 month old. Shudder. Could you imagine?

In the meantime, I am anxiously waiting to be done with work for the next two weeks. Well, that's not entirely true. This week has been crazy and there have been big schedule changes on my project so I will likely have to do some work over my vacation. I'm trying to be as productive as possible today but the BigFinance VPN has decided it doesn't like me and kicks me off every 5 minutes. Does anyone remember how we got work done before email? I certainly don't...

I plan on posting while I'm traveling but probably not as regularly. I can't wait to see all of my friends and family for the last child-free (on my end anyway!) holiday season. I promise to post lots of pictures and tell you how DH does hanging out with Mommy, Esq.'s twins. I wonder how many people are going to tell me how "big" I look?

Time for Grey's Anatomy to go?

DH and I finally watched the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy last night. All I have to say is, "Ugh." There was so little I liked about it we were talking about taking it off our Season Pass. Here's what I still like about Grey's:

• They still make me care about patient's stories. Except for last week's episode (that teenage girl was very annoying AND an over-actor, never a good combination) I usually find myself crying at some point. How is it that they can show a patient's story for 8 minutes and I'm still asking for a tissue? Of course they are usually heavy on the tragedies but sometimes it's good crying.
• Christina rocks. She is probably one of the most complex characters on TV.
• Little Grey. Yes, she's grown on me. I thought I would never like her from last season but despite the despicable intern self cutting storyline (come on!), she's been very cute this season. A nice bubbly contrast to her half sister. I don't even mind that she and McSteamy are getting together; although I could have done without the whole throwing herself at him. Why does Grey's always rush into the sex? Let them date first...
• Derek and Meredith are together. Finally! Sure it makes for a more boring relationship and I've seen Derek be a lot more manipulative than I thought he was but I'm OK with that.
• Dr. Bailey rocks. Is there a more kick ass character on TV? I think not.

Not a bad list, right? Well, check out the negatives:

• Die, Denny, die! DH and I chanted this the first time around that Denny was on the show and it is no less desired this ridiculous second time around. Now he's hanging out in the hospital with Izzy? Gah. Hate it. I kind of hope that she does have a brain tumor so that they can kill off her character. Remember strong Izzy from the first season who ripped off her clothes to prove a point? Where has she been?
• George. He used to be my favorite character but now he's just pathetic. Yes, he grew a small pair to retake his intern test but other than that, he's just a mumbly mouthed blob wandering the hospital. It was all downhill after he and Izzy got together. I'm not sure if they can redeem his character.
• Revolving door of new characters. Remember the good old days when we could keep track of who was on the show? I barely learned Han's name before she was gone. And don't even get me started on Addison leaving (too bad Shonda Rhimes ended up creating such a crappy vehicle for her; and yes, I do watch it). There are just too many characters around these days plus all the patients of the week.
• Lesbian storyline. I don't object to showcasing lesbians on network television. I am from Massachusetts after all! But I hate that they had to "turn" Callie into a lesbian. It wasn't really gradual or authentic feeling. And now they have her falling in love with Melissa George's character? Terrible. Absolutely terrible. It's a good thing I like Callie and Mark's friendship so much. Or Callie would be crossed off the list of redeemable characters. By the way, I hated Melissa George on Alias and she's even worse on Grey's.

What about the rest of you? Are there things you like or hate?

Tuesday thoughts

It is supposed to be in the 60s all week in Charlotte. This geography rocks! Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy snow. Small amounts of it that disappear after a few hours, but I do like it when it's all pretty. But here in Charlotte people can't even drive in the rain, so imagine how bad it is with a few flurries coming down. I haven't worn a coat in days. If this is global warming, I'll take it.

Can restless leg syndrome also be restless arm syndrome? I've been having numbness/tingling in my left arm (all the way from my neck down to my fingers) for months. It really only happens when I'm lying on the couch or in my bed. I've been OK for a while but it woke me up half a dozen times last night. I'm going to have a baby doing that, I don't need a weird feeling to do it too.

Even though my retirement funds are down 40% I am impressed with the reduction in prices for every day things. I just heard that our natural gas company will lower rates by 7% next year. And gas prices for cars is the lowest it's been in years. We filled up the SUV the other day and it only cost $28! I bought a big, framed mirror at HomeGoods for only $40. $40 for a nice mirror! That's crazy.

DH and I are apparently mind readers. Seriously. Twice last night he said something random and I was completely thinking the same thing. Perhaps we are actually ready to have this baby.

My parents didn't have power for over 72 hours this weekend. Aside from warm weather, I love Charlotte because a lot of the neighborhoods have had their power and other lines buried before the neighborhood got built. So if there is a big ice storm then we don't have the same risk factor that everyone enjoys in Massachusetts. Our house was built in 1972 so someone was thinking ahead. We do still have occasional brownouts but I'm going to blame Duke Power for that.

Enough ramblings for today.

The home stretch to vacation

Two weeks off! Two weeks off! Granted, it will also require a 14 hour drive to Massachusetts and similar return feat but two weeks off from work will be wonderful. I'm already in planning mode (as is DH because he is more organized than me) for what needs to come with us. The list is already a page long. Thank goodness we bought an SUV in August or we could have been in trouble! And, I'm very happy with the downward trajectory in gas prices. Buying an SUV doesn't seem so dumb now!

Needless to say, concentrating on work will be hard this week. What's great is that BigFinance doesn't begrudge people taking vacation. In fact, it encourages it. We just have to make sure that someone can cover for emergencies. I'll probably check email every once in a while so I'm not overwhelmed but that's about it.

In other news, apparently our baby is about the size of a rutabaga and is adding some baby fat. Unfortunately this doesn't include being more aggressive in the movement department. Still more flutters than anything else. I am hoping that DH will get to feel something soon...I plan on asking the doctor about it now that I'm 25 weeks. Of course I've been trolling the message boards at WebMD and BabyCenter and am now totally paranoid. Yes, I know better than to compare my pregnancy to anyone else's but I can't help it!

I go in for my GD test on Wednesday morning. I'm already thinking about what I can have for breakfast that won't interfere. Probably eggs and tomato slices. The test is at 10:30 which is the worst because I have to eat something beforehand or I will be a total grumpy bitch. The best part is that my practice trusts it's patients so they gave me the syrup ahead of time. That way I don't have to wait in their offices for an hour. Woo hoo! DH is coming with me so we can go out to lunch after.

If I fail the test I am going to be totally pissed. I plan on not eating any sweets for the next two days and I only had one Christmas cookie yesterday. A three hour follow up would be required if I fail. Ideally before we leave on vacation but that wouldn't give me a lot of time to schedule. Which means it wouldn't be for a few weeks and I'd have to be good over the holidays. Grrrr. Totally not interested in that! As you can see, I'm already thinking worst case scenario. Mostly because Mommy, Esq. failed. However, she was pregnant with twins and my other sister, A. passed with no problem. So hopefully I'm OK.

While I don't want to necessarily "game" the system, I don't want to have to focus on everything I put in my mouth for the next month and a half. That's what weight watchers is for after I stop breastfeeding. So, any types from women who have been there? I have two days to get into fighting form.

eBooks - friend or foe?

Those of you who know me know that I am an avid reader. In fact, I'm not sure avid is a strong enough adjective. Voracious, perhaps? I can't go anywhere without something to read. Preferably a book but a magazine will do in a pinch while waiting in line at the post office or at the nail salon.

For my honeymoon, 2 weeks in Hawaii required about a dozen books. And I think I ended up buying a couple more because I ran out. Books are an investment to me. I typically re-read books because I read so much fantasy and authors are constantly continuing a series. Robert Jordan has 10 books out right now and I will re-read all of them before the final book in the series comes out (and it's the final book only because he's dead). At 500+ pages a book, that's a lot of reading! I think I've re-read some series as many as dozens of times.

I visit the library constantly to reduce on book expense and have been known to frequent used book stores and Amazon Marketplace (particularly for hardcovers). I could spend hours in Barnes and Noble but find they are somewhat lacking in the Fantasy/Sci Fi area. Online is typically how I purchase my books these days.

DH and I had a contractor build 17 feet of bookshelves in our "formal living room" which has now become the library. I'm sure it will eventually be the baby's playroom but for now, it's all mine. I've done a decent job filling the shelves and will probably have them all filled in a couple of years. DH gets one small section of shelves for his books. And I've taken them over with old MBA text books. Sorry, dear!

Library built-ins, in progress. They are complete now but this was the only picture I had handy. It's small because Snapfish now requires you to pay for full size downloads! What a rip off!

I read an article recently about Amazon's Kindle product. Apparently the small niche for eBooks is growing. There are quite a few advantages to eBooks. Weight alone of all my hardcovers can overwhelm my luggage. Not to mention the valuable clothing space they take up! They are also significantly cheaper than the typical $25 I spent for a hardcover. But despite those advantages, I'm not sure I will ever go the eBook route. I love the feel of books. Paperback, hardcovers, big, small, there is always room on my lap for a book. I wonder how that will fit with a baby too???

How about the rest of you? Should I be more open to the eBook trend? Are we going the Star Trek route when Kirk is viewed as "quirky" because he reads real books rather than computer screens?