Remember The Days?

A friend/co-worker of mine went grocery shopping during her lunch. It's only a few blocks from our office and she walked there to get in a little excercise as well. Since she was walking she changed into a pair of sweats and tennis shoes so as not to mess up her work clothes. On the way back, as she was walking briskly with two very full grocery bags some teenagers in a car passed by. On their way past they yelled to her, "if you quit drinking so much you'd be able to drive!" What the hell is that all about? I guess they thought she was a bag lady, but how rude! Teenagers are dumb. She says she's just going to stay clear of the high school from now on.

I remember being a stupid teen, but I don't recall yelling rude comments out the windows of moving vehicles. I do remember that we used to stuff about 6 people into little, tiny cars when only a few of us had their driver's license. That was pretty stupid. I remember being slightly obnoxious when we went to lunch at the A&W up the hill. Any good stories of your teenage years? Did you yell rude comments to people walking down the street?

Grapevine

I told my friend Bert that Brad told me that he was told by "someone" who heard from a very reliable source that the fitness room was going to be shut down. This is a very dangerous chain. I'm sure a few more somebody's telling somebody else will eventually result in the gossip that our building is being shut down and we're all getting laid off. I have heard that rumor several times before, I bet it started just like this one.

Assorted Bits of Information

Brian and I drove together this morning because we’re going to Applebee’s for dinner after work. I can’t wait. I love Applebee’s. I don’t even know why. It just seems to be the one place that Brian and I choose to go when we go out.

Brian and I were the only ones on the elevator this morning, so we were able to steal a kiss before we reached his floor. Mmmm.

Riley was sick again Friday. I was called in to pick him up. I picked up all the kids and they were able to come home early and play with their friends, outside until dinner. (Except for Riley of course.) That makes them so happy. They spent the entire weekend outside. It was so nice. The baby even had some outside time. Darby, however, was bright red by the end of the weekend. Note to self: put sunscreen on all the kids.

We revisited our “monkey with a stick” conversation. Actually this is a regular dinner time topic, I’m not sure why. Jordan is just funnier about each time it’s brought up. “If I see those teenagers again, they better watch out. They haven’t seen such and such a gun yet.” I forget which wooden gun he threatens to use on them. He has several. He still isn’t afraid of those damn teenagers, though he sounds a little sad when he notes, “they probably won’t be coming back around again.” And he said they were so rude when he pointed his bazooka at them. He says one of them was standing there exclaiming, “I’m dead! I’m dead!” I don’t think he liked them mocking him and his weapons.

It’s a funny thing about the boys. They love to play with army men and GI Joes and set up wars between the Americans and the “bad guys”. They love to play with their light sabers and Batman swords and wooden toy guns, but when it’s all said in done they are the sweetest ones in the family. Jordan loves his stuffed animals that he tucks into bed every night and Riley gets upset when one of his classmates is humiliated or made fun of. Even the girl isn’t as sensitive as the boys. In fact, she can be downright mean and I’m pretty sure she could beat the crap out of either of them. In fact, she probably has a time or two.

Speaking of the girl her birthday is coming up. Brian and I have been talking about what to get her because frankly she is not easy to buy for. I thought she might like a Gameboy because they just came out with a pink one and sometimes she uses the boys’ Gameboys. Brian asked me if I thought she actually played it and I said I wasn’t sure, but I know she watches the movies on there. Well, he thought it might be more prudent to buy her a portable DVD player than a Gameboy considering she used the Gameboy for movie viewing only. Duh, that does make more sense. I made a comment that the boys are going to be so jealous. He said that we will just tell them “that’s what she gets. That what she gets for being so picky and not playing with anything.” They are going to be so jealous.

Well, my New Year’s resolution of losing weight is actually coming along very nicely. I had high hopes to be over and done with it by the end of February, but it turns out I wasn’t that dedicated. I’m almost to the end of April and I still have 2 pounds to go. Actually it’s more like 5 because I tried on my old pants and they still don’t fit right. I can zip them, but they’re still snug and my butt looks big. So I figure I’m going to have to lose five more just to be able to fit in my old pants and look good. Oh well. Brian, on the other hand, is a weight losing fool. He’s lost over 20 pounds already. It’s crazy!!! He has more will power than I do. I don't mind though because he looks delecatable.

Communication

This is a conversation I just had with the ex.

Phone rings, sees that it's ex, answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, has the school contacted you?"

"No, why? What's going on?"

"They just called and Riley is puking. He needs to be picked up."

Since it's my week I knew that it was my responsibility to leave work and go get him. "Okay, I'll leave in a minute."

I hang up.

I start to tie up loose ends, go complain to my favorite neighbor because I have to leave to get "puking" Riley and write a message to let the rest of the department know I would be out for the remainder of the day. I was also a little upset because Brian had taken a half day today to run errands and do some yard work. I know he would be annoyed that we were coming home, interupting his peace and quiet. Ugh!

Just as I writing the message to send out to my department the phone rings. It's the ex again. "Hello?"

"Just letting you know that my dad picked him up. You don't have to hurry."

"Okay, well let your dad know I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Well, he'll either be with my dad or over here. My dad can only watch him for about a half hour."

"Why what are you doing? How will he be with you?"

"I have the day off today."

"You have the day off?! Then you watch him loser! I thought I had to hurry!!! What are you doing?"

Eventually we figured out that he will pick him up from his dad's, watch him, and I would come pick him up after work. "I have the day off." Oh my God!

My Simple Life

As I was watching American Idol last night I came to a realization. It wasn't actually during the American Idol show, but rather during a commercial break. A Nextel commercial to be exact. One advertising a new, small phone with a million features available. I realized that Brian and I lead such a simple life. We have done away with little extras such as cell phones and satelite and internet. It is so weird. If we were to get cell phones, we would have no idea how to use them. It would be like a couple of 80 year olds trying to use the phones and getting frustrated with all the menus and screens. I can't even imagine trying to take a photo using the phone. I'm pretty sure it would end up a disaster. The most I could probably muster is text messaging and that's because they had that feature when Brian and I still had phones. In fact, we were pretty good at texting one another.

The funny thing is I don't miss any of those things. Especially the phone. I used to get so mad when people would call my phone. Why are these people calling me? Don't they realize I'm shopping or driving or eating out? If they want to talk to me they can call me at home. Hence, the reason I was willing to give up the cell phone. I threw a bit of a fit about the internet and satelite, but have since learned that those too have not been missed. Instead of flipping through 200 channels not being able to find anything to watch I only need to flip through 5. Most of the time spent on the internet was during the weekend. However, I have a paper to read and coffee to drink and a conversation to have with Brian on Saturday and Sunday mornings. And during the day I can hang out and watch a movie or play with baby or catch up on laundry.

I thought I would be so upset not to have the lastest phone or the fastest internet or not being able to discuss the hot new MTV show, but really those things aren't as important as I once thought they were. Brian is always telling me that we need to cut back on these nonessentials, make our lives simpler. Something about it being key to a happy life according to some philosopher or something like that. I always thought he was trying to dish me a bunch of crap. Blah, blah, blah. I guess he isn't. At least not about this. I'm still finding out if cutting back on my spending is going to make me happier. So far, no. Only time will tell.

What The Hell Just Happened

So, I'm sitting at work Friday evening, right around 5 o'clock when a co-worker walks by. This is the co-worker that starts out every single story with "I was working late the other night when..." or other similar variations. So, it's right about 5 o'clock and I'm working away trying to finish up so I can go home. I think she was looking for one of the women that sits in the cubes behind me, but I can't be sure about that detail. Anyway she spotted me on her way back to her cube and turns, "wow, your here late?!".

"Well, I came in a little late."

"I'm surprised, it's not fun being here late is it?" At this point I am certain there is a look of utter disgust on my face because I was disgusted and I'm horrible at hiding that face. At which point she exclaims that she loves my hair and the blonde highlights makes the dark brown look stunning.

"Thank you, thank you so much." She completely insulted me and by the end of the conversation I'm thanking her profusely. I have to admit I'm impressed. It's ingenious actually.

The best thing about blogging is as long as I have my blog I have memories of all these little moments of my life that may at the time seem unimportant, but I when I look back I’m glad I wrote it down for me to remember. This is going to be one of those posts. So much goes on in our lives that little things are often pushed aside in our overloaded memories.

Last night after the baby woke up from her 8:00-8:25 nap, she spent the rest of her evening on my lap, watching American Inventor. She didn’t wiggle, squirm, or whine. She just sat on my lap next to her dad, while we ate popcorn. Then she fell asleep and went to bed without any fussiness or crying. It was so relaxing.

I had to go potty at about 2:30 am. I tried to fight it off, but I knew if I didn’t just get up and go I wouldn’t be able to sleep. So I did. And I still couldn’t go back to sleep. I was up for about an hour. During this hour of sleeplessness Brian was changing positions but all the while had his legs either on top of mine or somehow entwined with mine. At one point he turned over, threw one leg over both of mine and put his hand on my butt. After that I fell asleep. Maybe I just needed his hand on my butt. It was cute and silly.

Because I Don't Come Up On Naughty Searches

Thank you for all your help on the tube tying issue. I think I may go ahead and get it done. After reading your comments as well as talking with a woman who has had the procedure I am satisfied that I can go through with it and it’s not nearly as scary as I thought it might be. Now I just have to call my doctor.

I told Brian that I really just need to have it done. Jillian is the type of baby that makes you think you can have another one. Once she starts getting older I can imagine the baby pangs starting to set in. She’s just such a good baby and so damn cute. I need to have this done.

Speaking of my cute, sweet baby she had a doctor’s appointment yesterday. She weighs 16 lbs. She’s a heifer. I can’t believe when she was born she only weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. How did she get so big? She’s also in the 90th percentile on her height. She is gigantic. I don’t know why she’s so long. It just doesn’t seem possible. She’s also a little defective. Apparently she prefers her left side because the left side of her head is noticeably flatter than the right side. She’s a freak! Now I have to make sure to put her to bed on her right side so it evens out a bit. They were talking about her wearing a helmet. No I’m sorry, she isn’t going to be wearing a helmet. We’ll just let it fix itself while her head is still pliable. Also, they told me she has a heart murmur which is completely normal. So I have to wonder why they have a name for something that’s completely normal. Why call it something if it’s nothing to worry about? Is she going to die in her sleep because of this completely normal hear murmur? What the hell? “Don’t worry about it.” Give me a break.

This morning I was listening to the radio and they had a list of unusual places people are having sex. It was a pretty good list, but they left out a very important place. A few years ago, when Brian and I were both going to BSU, I think it was the year I graduated, the power went out. Since classes were cancelled we decided that would be a good time to engage in some extra curricular activities, we just needed the perfect spot. Well, since most people had left the campus the parking garage was pretty desolate. We drove to the very top floor and, well, you can imagine the rest. Or not. That was pretty unusual but in retrospect we probably should have parked on the second to last floor since there were buildings in the area with more floors than the parking garage. And it was so hot outside. We were all sweaty and normally that makes for a nice time, but in the car? Not so much. So that’s the most unusual place, but I wouldn’t pick it as my favorite. I actually wouldn’t even recommend it unless your in a very big car with tinted windows. Anyway, the spots on the list were the bathroom, a garden, a public park, and at work. Weird, but I do know one of you have had sex at work.

Personal Information Request

As much as I love the all kids I know that I absolutely do not want any more babies. Of course, I take precautionary measures to ensure I do not have any more babies, but these are not fool proof. Especially with this fool. In order for these things to be effective you must be on a strict schedule and be consistent. These are just not my strong points. The only time I ever remember to take my stupid pill is right after I have sex. I lay there and think 'boy, I sure don't ever want to be pregnant again' and that reminds me that I forgot to take my pill. It is so damn annoying. I can't do it. I can't rely on my unreliable memory any longer. I want something permanent. Sooo, has anyone had their tubes tied? I realize this is very personal information, but I don't know much about it and before I go to my doctor and request this procedure take place immediately I want to know exactly what happens during and after and everything. Not from a doctors perspective but from someone's actual experience. So if you know of someone whose had it done or you've had it done could you email me or leave a comment if your not shy? My email address is jolynn_newell@excite.com

Mean Girls

Last Friday I wasted an hour chit chatting. Which is unusual because the people I might normally waste such time chit chatting with weren’t even here. I spent an hour talking my work day away with someone new. I know, it’s an amazing feat that I conversed with someone outside my little clique, but try not to be too impressed. She actually is in my little clique, but for some reason we just never clicked. Until Friday, when it was basically just the two of us and the other co-workers who we usually gossip about, except with other people. Get it.

I don’t know why we don’t talk more. She’s nice and from what I can tell pretty funny. She’s a little younger than me, but not so much that I find her annoying or immature. I think that we have that same personality problem. The one where we don’t make friends unless they make friends with us first. This is a problem I have had my entire life and what I describe as shy, but unfortunately can come across as snobby. Which I am not a snob. Okay, sometimes I am, but sometimes, to a certain degree, everyone is. I am a very nice person, at least I try to be and it may not sound that way because of the gossiping that I do at work, but I read an article that gossiping is good for office workers. And I honestly believe that it helps reduce my stress. And sometimes you just need to unload to someone who agrees with you whole heartedly. Otherwise, you might just unload on the person causing you the stress and believe me, that does not make for a cohesive work environment.

Speaking of snobs and me being such a nice person, reminds me of one of the girls that works at the video store I frequent. Most of the girls that have worked there a year or more are so nice and friendly when I come in. They help me find my movies, they remind me to come in on my birthday for my free movie when my birthday is approaching, they don’t ask me for my id anymore. They’re just nice. Except one of them. She is so mean. I do everything in power to be nice to her. I have everything ready for her when I reach the register, I don’t dawdle, even when I have three dawdling kids with me. I smile and I’m friendly and I’m the perfect customer.

Except one Sunday a couple of weeks ago. Brian had dropped off our movies that morning around 10 or 11. At around 2:30, I decided I would pick up some movies on my way home from grocery shopping. We’re on this program where we pay a monthly fee and we’re allowed to check out unlimited movies for the month, but we’re only allowed three at time. I figured since he dropped the movies off that morning that they should be checked in by now. I find my movies and go up to the register where one of the nice girls is working. I feel relieved because mean girl is behind the counter, but she doesn’t seem to be helping customers (what a surprise). One more person and it’s my turn. And then, mean girl looks up at the line, stops what she’s doing, and says she can help the next person. Which of course is me. Damn it! Oh well, at least I’ll be outta there quickly. Wrong!! I give her my DVD’s, as well as my phone number and then my ID. She scans the movies, and says that will be such and such a dollar amount. My heart sinks. The reason they are showing a balance due is because the other movies hadn’t been checked in yet. The movies that are in the outside video drop. Nooooo!!!!! I tell her with a huge smile and a sweet tone, that my other movies were returned, but I think they must have been returned outside. At which point she sighs heavily and takes the movie basket out to the drop box. I sit and sit and sit for what seems like hours, but it is probably only a few minutes. She finds my movies, checks them in, and sends me on my way all the while glaring and growling. It was horrible. What luck! If it had been any other girl it wouldn’t have been so bad, but it had to be the mean girl. Why me??

I don’t know why, but I just want this girl to like me. It’s like some kind of challenge now. I just don’t know what to do. I can’t help myself. And normally I’m not one of those people who are upset when someone doesn’t like them. I’m fine with people not liking me. It’s their frickin’ loss. But for some reason I am desperate to have this girl like me. Desperate!! I would try being mean to her back, because some mean people like other mean people, but I’m a little afraid of her as well. She could seriously kick my butt and I would rather not have that happen. What a quandary!

I Am Being Reviewed?

I'm not happy with Jillian's current pediatrician and yes, it's because I'm a total snob. Let's just leave it at that. Anyway, I decide that I'll find another one, in another nearby city, that won't be as convenient, but will surely be better. I look up the doctors on our insurance and find the office that I like. I call. "Hi, I was wondering if any of your doctor's are accepting new patients?"

"Well, I can take down your information and send it on to the doctor's. They'll review it and then decide if they can handle any more patients."

"Um, okay. That will work." I guess. I tell Brian about this process. He informs me that their probably checking on our insurance to make sure it's adequate. He asked how that made me feel. I responded that it makes me feel nervous. I want her to go to nice pediatrician's office. I hate going to the current one. It just doesn't feel right.

So I wait for the response. And wait. And wait. I even had a dream about it. I dreamt that they declined Jillian because the life time limit on our insurance wasn't high enough. I was stressing about it for days. Partly because I had given my name and insurance and didn't even mention that she's on Brian's insurance. Anyway, I finally called them yesterday and she was "accepted" as a new patient and I can breathe a sigh of relief. Ahhhh. All is well at our house once again.

In other news it has finally stopped raining. Finally! I walked out of work yesterday and it was sunny and warm and there were flowers on the tree. When did those flowers get there? It was as if they had blossomed in the hours I was at work. I didn't even notice them on the way in. It made me smile to see them on the way out. Except they're the stinky flowers. Oh well. They're still pretty, I'll just admire them while holding my breath.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

I wish it would stop already! Ugh, I hate the rain. I hate driving in the rain. I hate walking to my car in the rain. I hate that my hair goes so frizzy in the rain. It makes life messy all around. Stop the rain!

My favorite American Idol moment last night..."That song was peculiar." Simon's response to Katharine McPhee's performance of Faith Hill's Bringing Out The Elvis. But, it was a good performance, Simon is just silly. I personally like Chris and hope he makes it to at least the second spot. He definitley has his own style and he's pretty good looking. He's no Ace, but Ace doesn't really have "it". So, Chris is my fav this year.

I suppose I should get ready to go to my bi-weekly department meeting. Ugh! Oh my God, I just wrote that and a Brian from another department (not my Brian) just walked by and said, "don't forget your 2:00 meeting." Why? How do you know about my meeting? He just started laughing. I am so not looking forward to this. I am very afraid.

I Am Frazzled

And I don't have anything to post. I really shouldn't post anything, but I feel like it so I will. The only news I have is Brian started riding the bus to work. He's a weirdo. He says he likes it and I absolutely believe him. It seems like the type of thing he would enjoy. Someone else maneuvering through the morning traffic, while he sits back and annoys the woman next to him, whom so obviously didn't want anyone sitting next to her. Yes, that is definitely his thing.

I did do nothing this weekend. That was nice. I can't wait until I can do nothing in the mountains. I love going to the mountains and hanging out and reading old magazines and watching movies and sitting by the campfire drinking a beer. It is so nice. It's about as close to actually, truly doing nothing one to get. Seriously, even when I plan to do nothing on a weekend but watch movies I always end up throwing in a load of laundry and doing the dishes. There's always something, but in the mountains, all you can do is relax. Ahhh, I'm relaxed just thinking about it.

Okay, I'm going to end this and hopefully I can figure out what I want to write about tomorrow, because I have all these thoughts they're just rambled right now and I can't seem to get them out.