All Is Wells

Bragging

2008-08-11T09:48:00.004-05:00

Ada was 18 months on the first of August. This necessitated a trip to her paediatrician on Saturday for a round of vaccinations.

The first thing he said when he saw her was "Look how happy!"

He's noted before, but reiterated then that she is one of the most confident babies he has (supposedly) ever seen.

She then proceeded to wow him with her vocabulary.

I had been trying to make a list of all the words she knows and uses on a regular basis while sitting in the waiting room but I ran out of room on my little slip of paper when I got to 130+. (Later counts put it at 200+).

He told me that most two year old children don't even come close to her verbal skills and that I'll probably be getting a lot of dirty looks from other parents in the waiting room from now on.

She can count to 10 (though more often than not she leaves out 8).

She's been doing the question/answer manipulation for a good two months, example -

Ada: Freezy pop?
Me: You want a freezy pop?
Ada: OK!

- as if it were my idea all along.

She uses 2 and 3 word phrases (and has been for quite some time), here's a sampling:

Shoes on! (when she wants to go outside)
Don't cry baby.
Mama/Daddy sing.
Right there (indicating that she wants you to put something somewhere for her, or possible put HER somewhere - like inside the refrigerator)
Hush, Dodger (the dog) or Hush, Baby.
Sing Twinkle Twinkle.
More _____ (fill in the blank)
Watch animals
Read book, read it
Thank you, Mama/Daddy.
Good morning, Mama/Daddy.
Push a button.
Move it!
Bubbles everywhere!
Clean up, clean hands.
Good girl!
Mess I made.

Also, just for posterity because I haven't written it down anywhere else -
on July 7, 2008, Ada was playing by herself when suddenly she stopped what she was doing and started staring into space. I watched her for a moment, wondering what was going on in that head of hers. She turned, looked me dead in the eye and said "Wuv you, Mama" then toddled over and hugged my legs.

First unprompted declaration of love! I nearly died.

Homeostasis: 38 Weeks

2007-10-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

Ada,

Today at 9:10 a.m. you have officially been outside of my womb as long as you were in it. The past 38 weeks have been incredible in so many ways. I haven't been recording everything about your childhood as faithfully as I wanted but I'm going to take time today to recap what has happened so far and record your newest tricks and likes and funnies.

The last time I wrote about you here you had just learned to roll over both ways. You weren't crawling yet but were sitting up pretty well. Then, in a matter of weeks you started commando crawling - using your forearms to drag your body - everywhere! And you could do it fast! By the end of August you had perfected sitting up. A few weeks later you could pull up to your knees. By the end of September you were pulling up to a stand every chance you could get. You're actually still doing this. You love to pull up on everything and everyone. In the past week you have completely ditched the commando crawl and you've moved on to the full fledged hands and knees crawl. It makes you that much closer to whatever it is you want to pull up on. If we had furniture that was even remotely close together you'd be cruising. Right now you sort of side step down the couch. You are very conscientious of getting back down once you are standing. You take your time to squat and lower one hand the ground before letting go with the other hand. I find this completely hilarious. You look like a little old lady with stiff joints. You rarely just plop down on your bottom - this usually only happens when you've got something in both hands and forget that you're standing up. You've also been able to get into a sitting position from a crawling position for several weeks now.

On September 19th you cut your first tooth - lower left central incisor. I was, perhaps, overly excited. I didn't even realize you were teething and then that night as I was feeding you cereal for dinner you opened wide and there it was! A tiny little tooth poking out. I have only been able to explain outburst of jubilation thusly: All the other developments so far I have seen in progress. I've seen you work out in your head how you are going to move from one spot to another, how you are going to get that toy that's out of reach, where you are going to place your hands so you can pull up. The tooth? That was a complete and utter surprise. I think you have another one coming in now - lower right central incisor - and I can't wait to see it too!

You are a good eater. You've been on solids since you were 6 months old. It may only be a coincidence but once you started solid food you jumped from the 10-20th percentile to the 50th percentile in almost every measurement, including your head. You're not very picky - you will usually eat anything I give you except for green beans. You hate them with a fiery passion. They make you gag and make awful faces. It's hilarious. I've tried several times, but each time it's the same reaction. Even though you will eat many different things, I believe you would exist on O-shaped cereal and yogurt if I would let you. You love those O's and yogurt. And you love feeding yourself. You've lately been trying to take the spoon away when I feed you. So I let you try it on your own. And it was a mess but you loved it!
So far the finger foods you've tried are:

O's
Toast
Bagels
Bananas
Avocado
Kiwi
Spiral Pasta

You are good at all of them, even the slippery ones. You've really got that pincer grasp down pat.

You just woke up from your nap so I'll have to continue later.

Love,
Mama

Long time no blog

2007-07-21T10:31:00.001-05:00

Fauxhawk
Originally uploaded by All's Wells

Hi, Ada here! How are you guys?

I've been keeping Mama busy - too busy to blog. With the whole "me-learning-something-new-everyday" she barely has time to doing anything other than gaze at me in amazement and adoration. And come on, look at me! Who could resist staring at me for hours on end? I'm stinkin' cute as my Nonnie likes to say.

I can roll over both ways now. I'm getting pretty good at sitting up on my own. I love to stand as long as someone is supporting my torso.

I haven't quite got the whole crawling thing figured out yet. I mostly just rock side to side and hope against hope that I will be propelled forward. Sometimes I inadvertently do a sort of commando-crawl, using just my arms and dragging my body along behind me but that freaks me out a little bit so I quickly stop.

I love to laugh and blow raspberries. And I LOVE it when anyone talks or sings to me. I make new friends wherever I go. Mama says I'm a good baby. Except that waking up every two hours at night thing, she says that can stop now.

There are a few new pictures of me up here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allswells/sets/72157600935050440/

More coming later as soon as Nonnie gets them to us.

Later 'gators!

Ada Zee

Puddle

2007-05-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

Last night, Ada awoke from a fairly sound sleep emitting a heartbreaking cry that can only mean she's in pain. I scooped her up from the bassinet and cuddled her while Melbourne prepared the gas drops for dosing. She slurped them down, took her pacifier and started to calm down as I rocked and shushed. Just as she was drifting back to sleep I saw a smile spreading behind her pacifier. And then she laughed.

My heart melted.

3 Month Round-Up

2007-05-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

How in the world do new mothers ever find the time to do anything let alone post to blogs? I have a good baby, a really really good baby who generally only takes 45 minutes naps and during those naps I am frantically trying to do office work, wash clothes, wash dishes, take a shower, put the nursery together (rooms are finally done, yay!), etc. So the blog has been neglected.

But for posterity's sake here is what's happened in the last 2 months and what's happening now.

Cloth Diapers
When Ada first came home she was way too tiny to fit into any of the cloth diapers we had. So we started out with preemie disposables. Once she got a bit bigger we started trying out the different cloth options. We started with the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap with a standard pre-fold cloth diaper. This option leaves poor Ada with a huge wad of cloth between her legs and when she is lying on her side she can't bring her legs together, one is always propped up in the air and it looks very uncomfortable. I've tried folding the cloth diaper is the opposite direction of the recommended tri-fold and that works better, however it is less absorbent.
Next we tried Kissaluvs snap diapers inside the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap. Guess what? The Bummis newborn size wrap will not close over the Kissaluvs size 0 diaper. Just too much fabric. I've order some bigger wraps so I'll try those out soon. Last up is the Swaddlebees All-In-One Snap Diaper. I like them for their ease of use but they have their drawbacks too. They are very bulky and I have to put in an extra insert or Ada soaks through and leaks immediately. And they do leak. I just can't get the leg closures tight enough. Actually all the cloth options leak so far.
So we are currently doing a mixture of cloth and disposable. She gets a Pampers night-time diaper that will last her a good 9-10 hours at bed time and we are trying to alternate between cloth and disposable during the day (Nana bought us 3 large packs of disposable so we've got to use them anyway) and she gets disposables if we go out. She definitely gets much fussier when she has a wet cloth diaper as opposed to a wet disposable so I think sticking with cloth will help when it comes time to potty train. The laundry for cloth is not that bad, especially now that she's older and the poopy diapers have tapered off considerably.

Sleep
Since Ada was about 2-3 weeks old she would pretty predictably sleep at least one 5 hour stretch each night. She has kept that up and some nights she sleeps as much as 7-8 hours in a stretch. The issue is of course the very late bedtime. She wasn't going to bed until midnight, but then she slowly started going to be earlier and earlier and we were down to 10:45 which was awesome. Then this past week she has been going through the 12 week sleep regression (she is 14 weeks but since she was born two weeks early she hits some of these growth spurts later). She does NOT want to go to sleep and she fights it tooth and nail. Even naps times are torture. She used to be so easy. When she was sleepy she wanted a bit of a snuggle and then she'd drift off. Very often she would go to sleep if you put her down drowsy. Not now - oh, no. There's a lot of screaming and crying involved. I've read that this should resolve itself in the next few days and for my sanity I truly hope so. For the past 3 days the longest stretch of sleep she got a night was 4 hours one night. The rest of the nights she was up every 2 hours. I am a zombie.

Developmental
Ada squeals, coos, makes combined vowel-consonant sounds like "ah-goo", smiles, laughs a little bit, mimics mouth movements, and is almost blowing raspberries - she sometimes seems surprised when she does it, like she wasn't quite sure she meant to do it. She follows me around the room with head and eyes if Melbourne is holding her. She recognizes my voice. She is holding her head steady and has been doing so for a while. She puts weight on her legs and can almost hold herself completely steady on her legs with minimal support from me or Melbourne. She "walks" - If you hold her upright she will shift the weight from one foot to the other and always brings the moving foot slight more forward than then stationary one so if you help her along it looks as if she is walking. She is grabbing toys and her little face gets the funniest look when she's concentrating. Her upper lip sticks out and her brow furrows. She HATES tummy time so we are behind on upper body strength. She can lift her head while on her tummy but can't do the mini push-up yet.

And she's awake, 35 minutes this time hooray!, so I'll have to continue later.

1 month old

2007-03-03T11:36:00.000-05:00

Dear Ada,

You turned one month old two days ago. To celebrate that auspicious occasion you decided not to sleep. At all. All you wanted to do was nurse constantly. I'm not sure it was as fun as you thought it would be. By 11:00pm you had dark circles under your eyes and you were looking pretty worse for wear. Thankfully you finally passed out and slept for five hours straight.

I think you would have slept all day yesterday but I had to interrupt your nap time to take you for your second doctor visit. And Ada, I was so proud of you! Though you screamed your head off when I had to undress you and the whole office could hear you, I didn't care because my dear girl you had gained 1 lb. 5 oz. since your last visit and you now weigh 6 lbs. 6 oz.!

Relief flooded through me. I had been afraid earlier in the month that perhaps I just wasn't making enough milk for you. We had a poopy scare when you went 48 hours without having a bowel movement (yes I'm telling the whole Internet about your bowel movements, I'll pay for your therapy later) and I was sure you just weren't getting enough nourishment. Of course this was after your doctor had told me to only let you feed for 10 minutes on each breast. I'm not sure I trust him. After the 'scare' I started letting you feed as long as you wanted to on one side and then if you still acted hungry after burping and diaper changes I'd switch you to the other. I guess we showed him because you started pooping like a champ again and look at you now with your chubby thighs!

You've gotten taller as well. You grew a whole inch and a half! Despite your leaps and bounds in the growth department your clothes still don't fit you. Everything is too big for you, my tiny baby. The doctor says you're still on the small baby scale. That's OK, though. You'll catch up I'm sure and in the meantime your Nonnie is sending an emergency package of preemie and newborn clothes. All those cute 0-3 months clothes will just have to wait.

You are perfectly normal in every other way. You grab my and your Daddy's fingers and hold on tight and stare at us for long periods of time. You love looking at contrasting dark and light patterns. You hate having your diaper changed and will let the whole world know it. You've got quite a set of lungs on you and when you get really mad you shriek. Seriously, you shriek. You love to hang out and stare at the Curious George stuffed animal that your Papa got for you.

You make some of the funniest faces that make me laugh out loud. Sometimes you look like a little old man, sometimes I think you look like Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle (I know you won't know who that is, maybe I should find a picture for you), most of the time you look just like your Daddy, but lately I've been able to see a little bit of me in you.

I've given you two nicknames, Ada Potato which was too obvious, and Ada Zee which cracks me up every time I say it. Your Daddy has started calling you Ada Zee too so I think that one will stick.

We don't have you on a set bedtime schedule yet since I'm basically feeding you on demand - and frankly I don't know when we should. Last night you slept for 6 1/2 hours before you woke up to eat and then you went back to sleep for another 3 1/2 hours. I don't know if that's because you were still exhausted from your celebrations on Thursday but I'm not going to complain about it. I'm following your lead for now. Except if you try to pull the no sleeping during the day thing again - we might have to have a talk about that.

Your Nonnie went home last week after spending nearly a month with us. She cooked and cleaned like a champ (I don't think I've ever had so many clean clothes at once, I had to buy more hangers!) but more importantly she held you and rocked you and sang to you and told you stories and showered you with love and kisses. Your Daddy and I weren't sure what we were going to do once she went home. Heck, we're still not sure what we're doing. We've only had one home cooked meal since she left and I've only had one real shower. We miss Nonnie! But we're getting the hang of it.

There's so much more, little girl. You've packed a lot into this last month and I can't even list it all. We love you more every day and your Daddy and I can't wait to see what the next month brings.

Love,
Mama

Hwyl Annwyl Mam

2007-02-25T14:14:00.000-05:00

The birth story took 20 days to write. This entry took just as long even though I will not drag it out into multiple parts.

I gave birth to Ada on Thursday, February 1st, and we all returned home on Saturday.

For two short days Ada had both of her grandmothers in the house with her.

On Monday, February 5th, Melbourne's mother, Anne Jillian, passed away.

It still hurts, it still stings, and it still seems like a very bad dream. To have such joy be tempered so soon by such sorrow is a very hard pill to swallow.

I still don't know what to say.

Jill was a character - full of ideas and stories. A thinker and traveler with a sharp wit and a sharp tongue. I am glad that I knew her.

For a long time I didn't think she liked me. How could anyone be good enough for her only baby boy? But in the time that we spent together before Ada's birth we bonded in a way that I hadn't thought would ever be possible. It was so good to have a woman around to talk to during that time. I got to hear stories of Melbourne's birth and childhood, stories of her travels around the world. I'm profoundly grateful that I had that time with her.

At the same I am profoundly saddened that Ada will not get to hear the Welsh accent tripping off of her grandmother's tongue. I hope that the fact that we gave her a Welsh middle name will inspire her to learn more about the land of her grandmother. I hope that we are able to keep her memory alive.

We miss you, Jill. As your dear husband said so eloquently at your service, travel in peace.

Ada's arrival: Part IV

2007-02-20T16:28:00.001-05:00

Complete Breech
Originally uploaded by All's Wells.

My doctor began talking to me about the baby being breech and too high to deliver. I was trying to concentrate on what he was saying but the contractions were so close together and the pain was so intense I had trouble doing so.

Even though I was dilated 10 centimeters I hadn't felt the urge to push because the baby hadn't moved down at all. The doctor asked me to push a few times anyway to see if I could get the baby moving. Despite my best efforts with three hard pushes nothing happened although I can say that pushing during the contractions definitely helped the pain. After that my doctor told me that he was going to have to take me in for surgery. It was 8:30am.

A gurney was wheeled into the L&D suite and I had to scoot from the bed I was onto the gurney. I heard people in the room saying that my pediatrician was stuck in traffic and that it was going to be at least 20 minutes before he got to the hospital. My doctor told the midwife to get the pediatrician that was on call - we couldn't wait 20 minutes. The midwife finally, finally gave me more of the epidural meds and they started wheeling me to the operating room. I was still feeling painful contractions as we were passing through the nurses station. The anesthesiologist met Melbourne and I outside of the operating room and asked if I'd been given any more medicine. Melbourne and I both told him that I had just been "topped off".

I heard someone ask Melbourne if he wanted to come in with me and he said yes. They told him they'd have to get him scrubbed and gowned. I was whisked away from him and the anesthesiologist accompanied me. He gave me another injection and then I was moved onto the operating table. They put up the sheet so I couldn't see anything that was happening. I realized that I couldn't move my legs at all and I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I heard the anesthesiologist chastising the midwife about the dose of meds she had given me. It turns out she had given me a double dose which he had followed up with a single dose so I was medicated to the gills. She told him I had been screaming for it. I wanted to protest but then I supposed it was close enough to the truth.

I remember my doctor coming in and being able to see his face above the curtain but the next thing I remember after that is Melbourne telling me that we had a baby girl. I don't even remember him coming into the operating room but there he was pointing out our daughter to me.

"Are you sure? Are you sure it's a girl?" I asked him repeatedly.

I heard someone saying 9-10 over and over again.

"What's that? Are those her scores?" I asked Melbourne.

"No, that's the time," he answered.

9:10am.

I looked over to see Ada for the first time. She was so beautiful. One of the nurses brought her to me and I kissed her sweet little face. Melbourne snapped a picture of the two of us together, my daughter and me.

Ada's arrival: Part III

2007-02-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

The L&D suite was just around the corner from my room and I was there in about 5 seconds. I slowly made my way out of the wheelchair and onto the bed in between contractions. This is where things start to get a little fuzzy. My blood pressure had been steadily rising. The last readout I remember seeing had the top number at 210 but I don't remember what the bottom number was.

I remember asking about Melbourne because he still wasn't in the room with me.

The nurse proceeded to tell me that I wasn't in active labour yet.

"If this isn't active labour, what is?" I asked. She didn't respond but proceeded to hook me back up to the monitors. Only this time they had faulty equipment - one of the monitors didn't have a way to hook it onto the belt so they were trying to tie an elastic belt around my waist to hold the monitor on.

Melbourne finally arrived and began timing my contractions. They were lasting about 45 seconds and were coming every minute and a half. Best part? I had back labour. The nurse told me that Ada's spine was pressing against mine. Every time I had a contraction the pain in my low back was nearly unbearable.

I was miserable. And dehydrated. I remember telling Melbourne that I was dying and he and Mom told me later that I apparently said that I didn't want to "do this anymore." I don't remember that at all.

I laboured for another couple of hours (I think) - my nurses changed shifts and I got a new midwife. This one pissed me off in the beginning. Melbourne and Mom had been counting through the contractions for me so that I knew how much longer the one I was currently having was going to last. She actually told them to stop doing it because it was making me "wound up". I basically told her to shut up, that it did help, and that they'd been doing it for hours before she got there. Melbourne added "So we're going to keep doing it."

(It turns out she was freaking out because she was the baby's heartbeat was slowing down a bit every time I had a contraction and apparently the counting was distracting her. Of course I didn't know any of this at the time - they had turned the sound down on the monitor so I couldn't hear the heartbeat at all.)

I remember the nurses asking if I had a preference for anesthesiologist and I was able to recall the name of the one that my earlier roommate had mentioned. She said he was really good and had been checking in on her repeatedly afterward. Sounded good to me and I was ready for an epidural at that point. I wanted a break. I had Mom rubbing my low back through contractions and I was already on the third breathing pattern (the hee-hee-hoos) and neither one was helping at all. He arrived around 6:00am just as they were doing another internal exam and I was at 5 centimeters that that point. My contractions were coming every minute and they were lasting about a minute. Fun! He told me to tell him when I was having a contraction so he could try to get the line in when I wasn't in pain. Ha! There wasn't enough time, the contractions were getting closer and closer together as he stood there talking to me. So Melbourne stood in front of me and braced me while the anesthesiologist placed the epidural. He asked me what I was feeling and where and then told me to expect something cold down my spine. It didn't take very long before I was feeling blessed relief. It was amazing. I could feel my uterus contracting but I was no longer in pain! My back was no longer in agony! I thanked the anesthesiologist profusely and repeatedly and he told me I would have a couple of hours of pain relief and then he would top me off again.

I was on top of the world - for about 45 minutes. Then the contractions came back worse than before. Breathing at that point was a joke. I would try to breath through the majority of the contraction but at some point I would start moaning/growling/screaming and then I would apologize. My Mom kept telling me that I didn't have to be sorry, to just do whatever felt right. I kept begging the midwife to tell me when I could have more of the epidural meds. And then I felt another gush of amniotic fluid. I remember trying to tell someone that it had happened so they could change the pads under me but wasn't sure if anyone had heard me.

But soon the midwife and a nurse were hovering over me and I heard the nurse say "Is that meconium?"

This is when the real hustle and bustle started. They did another internal exam - this was around 8:00am (still no more epidural top off at this point) - and discovered that I was 10 centimeters. Just then my doctor walked in.

"The baby's breech," the midwife said.

"She turned again? Don't scare me like that," my doctor replied.

At that point I knew that a c-section was going to be inevitable.

Ada's arrival: Part II

2007-02-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

When I last left off my doctor had arrived at 9:00pm just as I'd settled in for a long night. He checked all the readings from my NSTs and then said he'd be doing an internal exam. Ahem, that was uncomfortable. He told me that the baby was still very high and that he was going to give me a Cervadil suppository that would "ripen my cervix". He told me if I had any pain to let the nurses know so they could hook me back up to the NST monitors. For the sake posterity I'm putting this next part in - After he inserted the suppository he pulled out his hand and held it up so I could see the blood.

"This is nothing to worry about," he said, "I've just had my finger in your cervix."

He left and I settled back in bed hoping to get some rest. By midnight I could no longer deny that I was in pain. I was having what felt like really strong menstrual cramps and I couldn't get comfortable. I thought to myself "If I were at home I'd take something for this." I figured that meant I should call the nurse.

I was once again strapped to the monitors which meant getting comfortable was REALLY, REALLY out of the question. I had to stay still so the monitor wouldn't lose the baby's heartbeat. I tried to let the sound lull me to sleep but the pain was getting more irritating and intense and I was getting nervous. I didn't have a watch to time the contractions but they were coming close together.

At 2:00am I felt a gush and knew that my water had broken. I called the nurse and then called Melbourne.

"Are you asleep?" I asked.

"Not yet," he replied.

"You and Mom might want to go ahead and get dressed just in case. My water just broke," I told him.

Within minutes my contractions had intensified immensely. I kept looking at the monitor every time I felt one but nothing was showing up on the read out. I called the nurse and told her that I was definitely having contractions but they were low in my abdomen (the monitor was placed really high on my abdomen). She asked how much pain I was in and I told her it was getting really bad. She gave me a shot of some pain killer - I have no idea what it was - and told me to relax.

I was really, really nervous at that point and called Melbourne back. He asked me what was going on and I told him that the nurses didn't believe what I was telling them about the contractions - I was unable to talk through them at that point - and were just giving me drugs. He told me he was on his way.

By 3:30am Mom and Melbourne had arrived. They didn't want to let them in the room since I was sharing it with someone but my Mom put her foot down and came in. They told her that they didn't want to move me to the labour suite just yet because the bed was uncomfortable. She told them that my husband was on his way up and she thought I'd be more comfortable in a room with the him and her so they'd better go ahead and move me.

They brought in wheelchair and whisked me off to the the labour suite . . .

Ada's arrival

2007-02-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Tiny hand
Originally uploaded by All's Wells.

I had a follow up appointment with my OB/GYN at 11:45am on Wednesday, January 31st. My weight had stabilized, which was good, but my blood pressure was hovering somewhere around 180/110 (this on 4 doses of 500mg of Aldomet a day) and I was spilling so much protein the little sticks in the office couldn't really calculate it. I had no option at that point.

My doctor talked with me about induction and how he would proceed. He also told me that C-Sections are always a last option for him, reiterating a point he made at the very first appointment I had with him.

"If I say C-Section," he began.

"You mean it," I finished for him.

Melbourne asked how soon the induction would begin. The doctor told him that we would know something by 6:00pm.

I was already prepared this time. I had my bags packed and Mom was with me. We made a quick stop at the market for snacks for Mom and Melbourne and we headed to the hospital.

I checked in and waited, and waited, and waited. I knew I was supposed to be getting lab work and the baby was to be monitored but it took several hours to get that all accomplished. We asked a nurse what time induction would happen and she said that I would be moved to a labour suite around 6:00am and then induction would start around 7:00am. So I sent Melbourne and Mom home - no point in them waiting around in an uncomfortably crowded room (I was sharing a room at this point and we only had one chair on my side and my roommate had about 6 or so visitors at one point.)

I decided to try and get some rest and put in my ear plugs and turned off my light around 9:00pm. Minutes later my doctor (who I hadn't seen since my appointment earlier in the day) walked in.

To be continued . . .

I made this!

2007-02-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to introduce Ada.

February 1st, 2007
9:10am
5 lbs. 6 oz.
18 3/4" long

Labor story in the works.

By the skin of my nose

2007-01-21T18:55:00.000-05:00

So I spent the weekend in the hospital.

That's right.

On Friday my blood pressure had sky rocketed, I'd gained 6 lbs in 2 weeks and I was spilling +3 protein in my urine. The doctor told me the chances of having the baby this weekend were 90%, either by induction or c-section. Preeclampsia was the word of the day. Needless to say I was a bit freaked.

However, it seems 2 days of forced bed rest bought me some extra time and I got to come home today. So now I'm waiting for Tuesday. And if all is well then we'll try to get to the next Tuesday. And so on, and so on.

So now I'm on bed rest at home, not to leave the house except for doctor appointments.

I really could use at least 2 more weeks.

If you're reading, send good thoughts this way.

Au Revoir 2006

2007-01-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

December was a hard month and I can honestly say that I'm glad to see 2006 go.
My cat of 18 years died on Friday before Christmas. Mel E. B.'s mom had a heart attack on the Saturday before Christmas. We spent Christmas in the I.C.U. She's doing much better now, things could have been so much worse I know. But we're all glad to get a new start.

There is so much to bitch about but I won't because it's all about keeping it in perspective. Right? Right.

So 6 weeks to go and here's what I know I need to do:

Unpack stuff from showers and wash baby clothes
Get a changing table/dresser to put all newly washed clothes in
Pack my bag for the hospital
Put together crib
Get replacement arm for rocking chair
Find a ped
Make sure car seat works in our vehicle
Set up Pack-n-Play
Move desk out of current spare bedroom/future nursery in prep for re-tiling

Anything else you mothers who've been through this before can think of? What am I missing? What do I NEED to do before the baby gets here?

For all intents and purposes

2006-12-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

It's done!

It's done!

It's done!

More whine

2006-12-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

So I still haven't been able to unpack any of the boxes from my baby shower. As such, I'm having a hard time remembering what in the world we have and what we still might need.

Things I know we definitely need:

Dresser/Changing Table
High Chair
Baby Gates (More to keep the dog out of the nursery at this point)
Books!

The sun room should be finished (fingers crossed) this weekend and then we'll be able to start on the nursery.

Tile must go down first - planning on having this done by the end of next week. Then we'll put together the crib and the glider rocker - this should happen the week we are closed for Christmas. Then I have to buy the dresser. Then, then, then I can unpack the boxes.

So much to do and I'm running out of time.

Now for your entertainment - sun room progress pictures! I had belly pictures but our camera ate them. I'll try again tomorrow.

A word of advice

2006-12-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

If your husband decides one night that cooking steaks on your griddle sounds like a really good idea, please, for the love of all that is holy, make sure that griddle is squeaky clean before you next use it to make pancakes.

Mmmmm, beefcake, beefcake!

R.I.P. Grady

2006-12-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

I don't ever want to do this again

2006-12-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

I'm not talking about being pregnant. Nope, I think I've had it pretty easy compared to some in that department.

I'm talking about the additions to the house. I don't know how you people who built entire homes from scratch ever did it. The excitement has definitely waned and I'm so sick of it right now.

Too bad for me because there are two more rooms to go!

The finish work for the sun room is what's killing me now. The nit-picky stuff like non-split window frames and level door jambs and WINDOWS that are the CORRECT design and in the CORRECT place. Yeah, I know that last one isn't really finish work, but since it's happening now with the rest of the finish work I'm lumping it in.

The last window to go in the sun room is an interior window between the sun room and the dining room. I wanted a pass through window so we could use to pass food, drinks, what have you easily between the two rooms. When talking to the contractor I specifically stated that I wanted it to be the same size as the rest of the windows in the room (current window was about 10" longer) and that I wanted it to be at the the same level as the rest of the windows. This meant that the current window opening would have to be filled in, top and bottom, to make a proper frame/sill. I also wanted one big window to fit the space. (Picture the take-out window at Ruth's Ice Cream Shoppe if you will but blow it up about 3 times.)

This morning when I woke up I found two small windows that slide one way each and have fixed screens. These windows were attached to the very top of the current window frame. Ummmm, no. No, no, no, no, no, no. Everything about that is wrong. W-R-O-N-G.

When I spoke to the carpenter/mason/handyman he acted as if it would be impossible to make a new frame and drop the window down and it was if it was the first time he'd heard such a suggestion. Even if he tried it, it would take him 2 extra days! His response was to call the contractor and tell her that I wanted a bigger window. NO I DID NOT! I wanted the same size window and I wanted it to be even with the rest of the windows. Is that so much to ask? (I'm sure you all could care less, but that's okay. I need to vent.)

Anyway, I took the phone away from the carpenter and told the contractor that, NO, I did not want a bigger window. I wanted what I had asked for earlier but the carpenter seemed to indicate that was just going to be too hard and take too long. If she could find a bigger window I'd settle for that but baring that we were going to have to come up with another solution.

So of course no bigger windows were to be found and the carpenter is going to have to come back tomorrow to finish the job the way I want it finished but the window still isn't what I want. It's not going to be effective as a pass through unless I permanently take one of the screens out. And the carpenter is acting all put out because he has to be here an extra day and the contractor thinks I'm off my rocker because "there's just not the same selection in The Bahamas as there is in the States." Fine, fine, fine - but you know what? Tell me all that beforehand. Don't nod your head and say "Yeah, that'll work. We can do that," when you can't.

Le sigh.

All this is compounded by the fact I have some sort of sinus thing going on again and so much fluid in my ears that I can barely hear.

And I'm highly emotional right now. HIGHLY. Last night I had my first real breakdown of the pregnancy I think (I don't remember any earlier ones anyway). Around 1:00am I somehow convinced myself that I was going to be the worst, most horrible mother ever. I cried so hard my LIPS swelled to twice their normal size. And you don't even want to know how much bigger my nose got. Luckily, Mel E. B. was able to talk me down and convince me that I was being an idiot. How many more of these breakdowns do you think I have to look forward too?

Third trimester's got me down . . . already

2006-12-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

So I know I promised pictures - but I keep comparing the 25 week belly picture I posted below and the 27 week belly picture and the only noticeable difference is that my ass looks like it's grown two sizes. My belly looks the same and since I'm not growing baby in aforementioned ass, I'm reluctant to post the photo on a public web page. I'll take another one today (29 weeks) and see what comes of it.

At my last dr. appointment I had lost 3lbs. (again) so I'm still down 7lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight. Dr. seems to think this is okay - belly is still growing even if it doesn't look like it (he measured), baby's heart is still beating loud and clear. However, my blood pressure was a little high so he's upped my meds to 3 x day and ordered some blood work. I have no clue what he'll be looking for. I haven't even bothered to Google it. Which should tell you just how freakin' run down I am.

I feel like it's way too early in the 3rd trimester to be feeling this slow - but there it is. 11 more weeks to go and I'm barely moving which is horrible because there's so much to be done. I just don't have the energy or inclination to do any of it. I'm exhausted.

I don't sleep well at night for the following reasons that I'm sure all you who have been pregnant before are familiar with:

Hip Pain - It's really, really bad. I've got a pregnancy pillow that I use to brace my back and keep my knees aligned but nothing stops the hip pain. Rolling over is torture. I'm sure it will only get worse.
Frequent Urination - Let's just be blunt about this shall we? I think the baby has flipped. There's no longer dancing on my bladder - now it's a constant pressure that gets worse depending on what position I'm in. Nothing stops this. I am spending more time in the bathroom than anywhere else.
Acid Reflux - This is one of the things I wish I had known about before hand. Did you know that during pregnancy, the muscle at the top of the stomach that usually prevents digestive acids from splashing up into the esophagus relaxes which lets digestive juices flow willy-nilly back up into your esophagus, throat, and mouth? It's not that you produce more acid or something it's just that you can't stop any acid from rising. When it does start to rise it burns so badly it wakes me up. So then I take some Tums and the acid stops burning me to death but the digestive juices are still riding high. Do you know how bad liquidy Tums residue tastes in your mouth the next morning? It's bad, bad, bad. Some nights I think I'd rather just deal with the burn than wake up with that taste in my mouth.

The additions have sort of stalled - I'm supposed to meet with the contractor today so we can schedule the remaing work but it looks like it's not going to be completed until the end of January. Obviously this is horrible timing but I'm too tired to even get upset about it.

Just writing this has made me need a nap . . .

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Once, twice, three times an anniversary

2006-11-21T16:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the cheesy title, but here are the obligatory food shots from our anniversary dinner! We went to The Poop Deck West (the same restaurant where we ate dinner after our wedding). The food was, as always, excellent.

For the main course, Lamb and Lobster:

For dessert, Rum Cake with Rum Raisin Ice Cream:

And now for something really scary, I give you . . . my nose!

Seriously, the picture here on the top is our 3rd anniversary. The one below is our 1st anniversary. Pregnancy has reshaped my nose, people! It was once a petite little thing sitting unobtrusively on my face - but now, it's a ginormous monstrosity threating everything in it's path!! This is not MY nose!

I don't even look like the same person. Melbourne kept telling me how big it was, but I didn't believe him. Oh no, it couldn't be that bad! Then I saw these two pictures side by side and could no longer hide from the truth. My nose, she is huge. Please tell me it will go back to normal after I have this baby. Please, please, please.

Stay tuned: New belly shot and latest baby info to be posted tomorrow!

2006-11-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

What a difference a week makes, huh?

The room is coming along beautifully. New windows in, paneling almost done, conduit for electricity is in, doors have been purchased, tile has been purchased, light fixtures have been purchased, painter/interior decorator is bringing me samples based on a picture I showed him. BTW, I love him! I met him for like 5 minutes and I wanted to be his best friend.

A/C is going in first of next week and then will be able to start wrapping everything up and start dealing with the finishing work. This room probably would have been done by now but I insisted that the paneling run vertically. I HATED the way it looked horizontally. So that slowed things down quite a bit. Sorry, Matthew!

It's amazing how fast the money goes once you start spending it though. It's like water. And even though I know this is what we've been saving for all this time it's still hard to see the account start to dwindle. Makes me kind of queasy.

Snapshots

2006-11-11T15:00:00.000-05:00

Construction on our addition has started. We changed our plans slightly. Instead of going up 2 stories on the left side of the house we decided on just one story and then decided to make our screened porch a proper 'sun room' with real windows, doors, insulation, electricity, A/C, etc. They only thing we'll be missing is a half bath that we had tried to work in. But we'll be saving money and it will get done quicker. I'm all in a twitch to get started on the nursery (Mom and Dad shipped those 8 boxes of stuff this week) so this plan will help me get a move on that.

This is the left side of the screened porch 'before'. We had cleaned almost everything out already so you don't get a good idea of what the room actually looked like but just imagine a covered storage area and you've got it. That's what this porch had turned into because it got so dirty so quickly. This is what the room looked like when I went to bed Thursday night.

This is what it looked like when I woke up Friday morning. Those guys are fast.

Left side door area for more comparison. Thursday night.

Friday morning.

And now for something completely different:

That was last week. I'll try to get another shot this week so we can all compare. The baby is kicking me like crazy. S/he is STRONG!

3 days later

2006-11-10T12:12:00.000-05:00

I'm still in shock.

And January seems like a lifetime away.

The day before

2006-11-06T16:50:00.000-05:00

So far today I've spent about 30 minutes of my time calling potential voters - urging them to get to the polls and make their mark. I have been calling on behalf of Democratic candidates because that is my desire for this election, but I've been trying to let the people I speak to in person know that the most important thing is that they just get out and vote.

I have to tell you, it wasn't easy. Cold calling people like this makes me really nervous. I was fighting an anxiety for the majority of that short 30 minutes.

But I did it. And I'm going to try again this evening to see if more people are home - leaving messages on an answering machine was easier, but seemed less helpful.

I still find it hard to believe that there are people now who don't know if they are even going to vote.

In the North American region the Bahamas has the highest voter turnout - it's ridiculously high, like 80% or higher. The ten countries with the highest voter turnout in the world are: Australia, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Nauru, Bahamas, Indonesia, Burundi and Austria.

Doesn't that seem crazy to you? Are we just lazy? Where's that competitive spirit? Come on America, vote!

First Photographic Evidence of Pregnant Belly

2006-11-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

First Photographic Evidence of Pregnant Belly
Originally uploaded by All's Wells.

Long ago promised belly shot. This is me and my friend Felicia at the baby shower my Mom, Nana, and sister-in-law Anna threw for me.
I'm exactly 22 weeks pregnant in this photo and you can see my belly - it's no longer a bump.

Voter Resources

2006-10-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

My Mom asked for this info and I thought some of you might find it useful as well.

This site will tell you about the offices up for election for North Carolina in the 2006 Midterm Elections. You'll have to scroll through a lot, but it's pretty thorough.

This site will tell you about the offices up for election specifically in Wilkes County, NC in November 2006.

Each site will tell you who the incumbent is if you are interested in that sort of thing - or if your parents are :)

There aren't many high profile elections going on in NC this year - but if you're in District 5 can I just beg of you to please get rid of Virginia Foxx?

Thanks.

It's been a long time

2006-10-23T10:17:00.000-05:00

I'm back from week long trip to NC and my Mom just left on Saturday after a week here with me. I had a great time visiting and chatting and going completely nuts with the baby shopping. Seriously, it's amazing how much money you can spend on a tiny baby. My cousin Traci tried to rein me in, but it was no use. I was a mad woman.

I had two wonderful baby showers and left my Mom and Dad's house stuffed with boxes to ship to me (7 0r 8 boxes) and Mom and I each stuffed a suitcase full of baby stuff to bring back with us.

Luckily, demolition/construction on our addition is starting next week so I'll soon have a place to put all this stuff.

I know I promised pictures but they're all on Melbourne's computer and I haven't taken the time to transfer and/or sit at his desk and post. I'm a slacker, forgive me.

Big news - Melbourne finally felt the baby move! It happened last Sunday night. I was feeling a volley of flips and kicks and punches so he decided to but his hand on my belly to see if he could feel anything. And boy did he ever - the look on his face was priceless! This little baby is getting strong. Melbourne has told EVERYONE that he's talked to about feeling the movement. He's so cute!

As many of you already know, the baby was too shy at the ultrasound to show us its goods so unless we choose to do an elective (read not covered by insurance) ultrasound we won't know if it's a boy or girl until he or she makes his or her entrance into the world.

Emotions are high around here - happy, happy, happy I am!

Ketchup

2006-10-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

My Mom had a birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!
My Mom had laser eye surgery! She can see, she can see! (When she's not losing her bandage contacts and having horribly dry eyes)
I had a chunk of my foot cut out! It hurt! And bled! A lot!
I'll be in NC in 6 days!
I'm forcing Melbourne to take a vacation after I get back!
Everything is exciting! See all the exclamation points!
I can feel the baby move occasionally! He/she's really active during my chiropractor visits. I think the positioning is just right. Other times I have to be completely still and usually on my left side to really feel anything.
However, we can hear all kinds of things going on in there with our little amplifier thing-a-ma-bob!
My belly button is getting shallow!
The scars from my belly button ring are moving and it's bizarre!

Belly picture, picture of my stitches, picture of our aloe plant that flowered(!) coming soon.

Why does Newsweek want to keep me in the dark?

2006-09-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

Melbourne was browsing the news sites this morning when he stumbled upon this:

Do you see the left hand side of the page? No? Click on the pic below to get a closeup.

I don't know what to make of this. Either Newsweek doesn't think we should know what the rest of the world knows about Afghanistan or Newsweek doesn't think news about Afghanistan will sell in the U.S because Americans don't care/don't want to know. I don't know which is worse.

Echo, echo, echo, echo

2006-09-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

Sorry no writey. A new sickness is here. First I thought it was just a sinus infection, but it's a full blown cold. Ah, the summer cold. I'm the envy of the entire neighborhood.

Long story short, head goes 'wuhm-wuhm-wuhm' in a pulsing, rythmic beat that you can dance to (but really why would you want to?), there is no breathing through the nose but oddly enough still lots of sneezing (air can get out, just not in), the throat is coated in itching powder, and I've completely lost my appetite.

So you see, no energy to write. Back when the fog clears.

17 week check in

2006-09-12T12:47:00.001-05:00

Retching continues apace thanks to me and my big mouth.
The bones in my feet hurt. I can feel them spreading, it's weird.
My belly is starting to get in my way.
Already having a hard time finding a comfortable sitting position, especially in the van. Two minutes into a drive and my butt is NUMB.
Having trouble sleeping unless it's in the middle of the day, 'cause nap time is awesome (this is really nothing new though).
I sneeze all the time. Pregnancy related? I haven't googled it yet.
Keith Olbermann makes me cry.
Sappy emails from Amanda make me cry.
Joshua Norton makes me cry.
I call my mommy nearly everyday.
I try not to - I don't want to stalk her.
But I can't help myself.
I called her today and started crying as soon as the phone started ringing.
She wasn't there.
I cried some more.
I want my mommy.
Wah!
Stupid hormones.

Zip it, zip it good

2006-09-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

Bahamians have a saying - "Don't put mouth on it."

Which basically translates in American English to "Don't jinx it."

I bragged recently about how the vomiting was down to every third day! And then at my doctor's appointment on Friday I was so happy to report that I'd been vomit free for 5 days! The doctor knocked on the wooden wall for me.

Too late. Yesterday and today I've given new meaning to putting mouth on it.

17 week checkup

2006-09-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

Dear Sprocket,

Today marks the 17th week of my pregnancy. 17 weeks! Can you believe it? Can you believe you've been gestating for 15 weeks now?

Just 23 weeks to go, we're practically half way there baby.

I had a doctor appointment today and, let me tell you I was ready for it. Waiting 5 weeks to hear your heartbeat again was too long. As this last week stretched out I was getting more and more antsy. I needed to know you were still there, still going strong.

And guess what? You didn't disappoint.

As soon as the doctor put the Doppler on my abdomen there you were - your heart was beating away LOUD and clear at 150/bpm. There was no waiting this time, no searching around for you. You wanted to make your presence known! As soon as your Dad heard your heartbeat he laughed out loud, broke into a huge smile and then kissed my forehead. It was a great moment. He was so excited! I was so excited! The doctor even giggled I think! He said you are growing just fine.

Your Dad and I can't wait another 5 weeks to hear your heartbeat again so we've ordered an amplifier to try and listen to you from home. It should be here any day. Try to be nice and loud for us okay? Your Dad's not beyond poking at my belly to wake you up.

I love you little pea.

Love,
Mama

Good night, and good luck

2006-08-31T15:37:00.000-05:00

Dissent and disagreement with government is the life’s blood of human freedom; and not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as “his” troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq.

It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile it is
right and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.

. . .

And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes?

In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised? As a child, of whose heroism did he read? On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight? With what country has he confused the United States of America?

The confusion we -- as its citizens— must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note -- with hope in your heart — that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light, and we can, too.

A must read:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12131617/

It's that time again

2006-08-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I've kept this thing going for a little over a year now. But here's the proof:

Happy Birthday, Melbourne!

32 years ago you were sleeping in a drawer. You've come a long way, baby.

I guess it was getting crowded over there

2006-08-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to see a new chiropractor.

Last night I was sure I had killed my unborn baby.

The chiropractic appointment was great. She was very gentle, she used many different techniques and she even massaged my back and my right round ligament (beside my uterus). She couldn't really feel the left round ligament because that's where the bulk of the action seemed to be happening - My growing uterus and baby seemed to be covering the left side of my abdomen.

I came home so relaxed I immediately took a 2 1/2 hour nap.

When I woke up felt some sharp twinges in my lower left abdomen.

Twinges that kept getting worse. Sharp pain that eventually stretched from my waist to my pubic bone.

I cried. I was sure that I had dislodged the baby. How would I tell people? I kept running to the bathroom checking for traces of blood.

Eventually I exhausted myself from the crying and the running and I crashed on the bed, curled up in a ball on my left side.

And the pain? Miraculously stopped.

So then I felt like a total idiot.

This morning I have a visible, palpable baby 'bump' - right in the middle of my abdomen.

Scroll to the bottom of this page

2006-08-21T20:58:00.000-05:00

I added a pregnancy ticker so those of you who are so inclined can keep up with the progress of our little pea. My next dr. appointment is not until September 8th, until then there's not much news to impart on the pregnancy front. I had actually made it 4 days without throwing up and was planning a big celebratory post for today about how I had been puke free for 5! whole! days!, but I jinxed myself. Back to square one.

I've decided that early pregnancy is a very lonely time. You're not showing and it's really hard to get people all fired up about the fact that you've thrown up an average of once a day for 7 weeks straight. Even though Melbourne was there for the first ultrasound and heard the heartbeat last time, I still think sometimes it doesn't seem real to him. I think when I start showing, and perhaps when I start feeling movement (which should be in the next 5 weeks), it will start to seem more real to him and the people around me.

The world is not black and white

2006-08-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

I read yesterday about the ruling against the warrantless wiretapping and checked out the live vote at MSNBC to see how the people were reacting. Last night 39% of the people who had voted there did not believe that warrantless wiretapping was unconstitutional.

I was shocked until I started reading the responses. Apparently, there was no distintion in their minds between NO wiretapping at all and the government needing WARRANTS to carry out the wiretapping. In their minds, if you are against warrantless wiretapping then you must be against all wiretapping and for the terrorists.

Somehow the word WARRANTLESS was glossed over.

How did this happen? How can it be so skewed?

I've been over this before, but the 4th Ammendment protects U.S. citizens from WARRANTLESS searches and seizures. That includes wiretapping. As a U.S. citizen who is against WARRANTLESS wiretapping, all I'm asking is that government make their case, prove that they have probable cause, get a warrant first. Then they can wiretap away.

I am an American. I believe in the Constitution. I am not for the terrorists. I am for America and everything she stands for.

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new Guards for their future security." (From the Declaration of Independence)

Vanity Blah

2006-08-17T13:07:00.000-05:00

This morning I dreamt I was reading a magazine.

Could I get any more boring?

Kamikaze

2006-08-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

I was just attacked. Not once, but twice. By a cockroach the size of my thumb and the sucker could fly (My father so quaintly refers to them as Palmetto Bugs - dude, a cockroach is a cockroach).

I was just minding my own business, tying up the kitchen garbage bag, when evidently I interrupted this monstrosity's late night snack. It tried to scale my arm. I did what any sane person would do.

I screamed my fool head off and waved my arms wildly in the air.

Melbourne of course came running to see just how badly I was bleeding, because with a scream like that you just assume there's blood I guess. While convulsing and writhing, I reported on the initial attack and he asked where the assailant had gone. How was I supposed to know? I flung it toward the heavens. (That's foreshadowing for those of you playing along).

He finished the garbage for me and took it outside. I went to the restroom to scald my hand and arm in hot water and lye.

Then, I stupidly returned to the scene of the crime.

I was so shaken up that I pulled the entire roll of paper towels off the holder. Melbourne returned from outside and started helping me roll the paper towels back up.

And that's when !@^&$*# cockroach dive bombed me. It must have been on the light fixture because it came from above. It landed in my hair and dropped to my shoulder. More screaming and flailing of limbs ensued. I then ripped my shirt from my body and continued flailing right through to the living room.

Luckily Melbourne found the assailant and disposed of it in a manner most befitting.

Stupid cockroach.

Project Update

2006-08-04T17:47:00.000-05:00

12 weeks today and we heard the heartbeat. 141 bpm.

Took the doctor a while to find it and I was starting to cry.

But then, there it was. Steady, loud.

I think I can start working on my book now.

Hydrangea

2006-07-29T12:45:00.000-05:00

Hydrangea
Originally uploaded by All's Wells.

I've started a Flickr account for my photos. Click on the beautiful flower to see more pictures that I took while vacationing at the Outer Banks.

Let Me Get That For You

2006-07-28T20:22:00.000-05:00

Today I had some mandatory lab work done. I don't remember what all they are testing for - I heard sickle cell, something about Rh, yada, yada, yada. I'll find out next week I guess.

I loved the guy who drew my blood! I know that's not something you hear everyday, but seriously, he was awesome. He really took his time and and was amazingly gentle. He found a good spot that wasn't right smack dab in the middle the crook of my elbow. It was way to the left and it didn't hurt AT ALL. I told him when he was done that he did an excellent job and that I didn't feel a thing. He smiled shyly and said, "I'm sure it hurt a little bit."

"No, no, the band around my arm hurt more than anything!" I replied.

So he gave me cute little round bandage. It was blue with a green race car on it! How cool is that? Melbourne joked about it probably glowing in the dark, I haven't tested it out yet but I'll let you know if it does.

Afterward, Melbourne and I went to look at some shirts for the company. When we walked up to the counter to ask the clerk about some of the shirts we had found she reached over and yanked my bandage off - HARD. I looked at her sort of shocked.

"Was it falling off?" I asked.

She just sort of blinked.

"That's my band-aid," I said.

She slowly turned it over and saw the bloody stain.

"Oh God, I thought it was a sticker! Here, here, here!"

Bringing new meaning to the term Salad-Shooter

2006-07-20T17:08:00.000-05:00

This post is of a sensitve nature. If talk of bodily functions offends you click away now.

It's taken me two days to be able to talk about this. Even remembering it now is making my eyes water a little. But it's my duty to document it, you know, for posterity's sake.

On Tuesday I sent Melbourne out to Wendy's to pick up lunch. I hadn't been eating very heathy foods because only junk food seemed appealing. To demonstrate please see a small list of foods I can't and can eat.

Can't
Strawberry Pop-Tarts
Orange Juice
Green Apples
Ginger Snaps (Oh, the heartburn)
Cranberries (Juice or dried)
Sesame Sticks
Absolutely could not touch raw meat to even pretend to make a healthy homemade dinner

Can
Wendy's Chicken Nuggets
Wendy's Chicken Sandwich
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop-Tarts
Entire vat of Kozy Shack Real Chocolate Pudding
Ritz Crackers
Dried Salami
Cheese on Wheat Crackers

So you see, my list of can foods was pretty small and not looking good. A few weeks ago I was scarfing down salads like crazy because lettuce and cucumbers were good, yo! So I decided to try salad again. A Wendy's Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad to be exact.

I dug into that salad like I hadn't eaten in weeks. It tasted so good. Mana!

About halfway through the salad, I popped another bite in my mouth and started chewing. But wait! What's this? I couldn't swallow. Things were suddenly and without warning working in reverse. I had to spit my half-chewed bite into the bowl and make a mad dash for the bathroom.

And people, that's when salad came out of my nose.

When you blow your nose and see something green in the tissue you just never expect it to be lettuce, do you?

Ctrl+Z

2006-07-13T09:39:00.000-05:00

Nausea/Vomitting - Check (Back on!)
Fatigue - Check
Overly Emotional - Check (re: deleted post)
Pregnancy Brain - Check, check, check. To be fair I've always been fond of asking Melbourne to bring me the thing that's on top of that other thing, but I always knew what I was actually asking for and could add the appropriate words if he couldn't read my mind that day. But recently, umm, not so much.

Scene: Interior, bedroom, night
Melbourne and Melanie have just finished watching Gladiator (Melanie's never seen it)

Melanie: It was pretty good. The ending borrowed heavily from that other movie . . . with that guy . . .

Melbourne: {Stares at Melanie, waiting for clarification}

Melbourne: {blink, blink blink, blink}

Melanie: Uh, never mind.

Melbourne: That's it?!? That movie with that guy?!?

Melanie: Yeah, I got nothing.

Don't even bring it near me

2006-07-07T10:27:00.000-05:00

No longer hungry.

Just sick. All the time, sick.

Please not to talk about the food.

The big news

2006-07-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

For those of you that don't know yet, let me introduce you . . .

Meet our blurry, little blob.

Ultrasound on the 29th of June confirmed a tiny little spec of something with a fluttering heartbeat of 139 bpm. I'm not convinced it wasn't a prawn.

I'm not as far along as I had thought initially, because, well you see I just don't do math and this whole 40 weeks starting from the date of your last period but wait, how long are your cycles! la de dah threw me for a loop. As of today I am 7 weeks 5 days pregnant.

My two dominant modes are starving and exhausted.

I had just found out via a home pregnancy test before I went on my nearly two week long vacation to NC.

I had an amazing time, but my dear friends and family kicked my ass. I only got to nap twice, TWICE, the entire time I was there! It was inhumane to say the least.

More to come when I can keep my eyes open or when I'm not stuffing my face.

Something Different

2006-06-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

Just something to move the rant down the page. Tired of seeing it at the top.

Why?

2006-06-05T15:31:00.000-05:00

Why would the federal government attempt to prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriage?

I just really, really don't understand how same-sex marriage effects our national security, our economy, or our education system to name a few. So how is this a government issue?

Same-sex marriage pushes the buttons of the 'religious'. Why? Because it's a sin for a man to lie with another man? Okay, then it's a sin. But does that mean he gets to be punished by government? Homosexuals have committed a 'religious' sinful act and as such government now thinks they are entitled to take away the 'civil' rights of an entire group of people?

Fine, why don't we do that for all sins? Much too hard, much too time consuming you say? Well, what if we focused specifically on sins that might effect the rights of married people?

All you adulterers out there, you don't get to the right to refuse to testify against your spouse. You sinned, you should be punished by the government.

All you people who engaged in pre-marital sex, you don't get share the health or insurance benefits of your future partner. You sinned, you should be punished by the government.

All you people who got divorced, well, well, well, you're sinners too. And if you got remarried I see no reason why the government should recognize your second marriage as valid. You shouldn't have the same rights as people who stick it out, work through it, stay married. Nope, you should never be allowed to adopt children. You should never be allowed to make medical decisions for incapacitated partner. You should never be able to visit hospitals during visitation hours and be notified of a partner's condition. You should never be able to sue for wrongful death, the emotional distress caused by a partner's death or injury, and loss of consortium caused by death or injury. You should never be able to collect Social Security benefits upon death of a spouse. You will be denied all 1,049 rights that good, non-divorced, non-adulterous, non-premarital sex having, married couples have. You sinned, you should be punished by the government.

Got that? Good.

Look, if you want to be opposed to homosexuality on a religious level, fine. But don't push that over into government because it's your hot button issue. Because if you do it's only a matter of time before the next hot button issue comes up and that issue might just have to do with taking away your rights. There are 667 sins mentioned in the Bible, which one is next, which one is yours?

When the government starts legislating the denial of rights to it's citizens it's time to start asking yourself some serious questions about the country you call home.

Dirty Little Secrets

2006-05-21T14:45:00.000-05:00

My first dirty little secret? Melbourne and I have a cereal problem. Do you see this photo? That's the entire bottom shelf of one cabinet. 7 boxes of cereal are visible, and you can only barely make out the box of oatmeal that's hiding behind one of the cereal boxes and we have a box of cereal bars that won't even fit in the cabinet. Two people do not need this much cereal. It's uncalled for. I blame the cereal industry of course. They make the boxes too big. Sure I might want some Raisin Bran this week but I don't want it everyday for the next 2-3 weeks. So I must buy something else because only Raisin Bran will not do. So then I get tired of Raisin Bran and the second cereal so I must buy a third. And Melbourne and I rarely ever agree on cereal which means I have to do the same thing for him. You see how we got into this mess. Why, oh why, don't they make smaller boxes? And I'm not talking about those single serving things. A) Those are too small and B) The selection in those is atrocious. I have decreed that no more cereal will be purchased until every last bit of this is gone. And then we will probably do it all over again.

My second dirty little secret? I love this show. I laugh and laugh and laugh. I guffaw even. I will laugh so loud Melbourne comes in the room to check on me. I will stay up late at night to watch the reruns back to back. When I thought it hadn't been renewed for a second season I was distraught. When I first saw the preview for the second season I got a little giddy. And you know what? The second season is even better than the first. Don't look at me like that. I'm serious. Try it. You'll like it. And then you'll have 7 boxes of cereal in your cabinet.

Things that may or may hot have happened

2006-05-11T20:21:00.000-05:00

I got drunk!

James got married!

Guess which one is true!

Cheers!

Some Relief

2006-04-24T19:38:00.000-05:00

Court date one has come and gone (yes, it was today, not this coming Friday like I thought, anxiety ratcheted right up this weekend) and let me just say, "Whew."

It's not over - we've got to go back on June 13th (to celebrate Nathan's birthday!) because some of the witnesses didn't show up, but we are very, very, very confident. And we are very, very, very lucky that we can afford good legal representation. We love our lawyer. I think I want to marry her.

He always made me laugh

2006-04-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

My uncle Carley died today. I will miss him. My whole family will miss him. Carley brought so much spark to our family gatherings. There is no one else in the world like him: A little mysterious, a little loony, and a lot of fun. He was always, always willing to help. His death is a real shock to me. I didn't know it was coming. I'm sorry I didn't get to see him more these few past years. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell him that I loved him. I hope he knew.

It is so cliched - that you should tell everyone you love them as much as possible because you just never know if it will be the last chance you get. But it's true. Do it.

I love you all. I miss you all.

Miss me?

2006-04-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the silence - there's just not much going on. Things are pretty still at the moment.

The very bad thing that happened some weeks ago is still weighing heavily on our minds and there is a court date next week to address part of the very bad thing. We've really just been holding our breath until that court date. Life is temporarily on hold.

I'll let you know as much as I can as soon as I can. (If any of you want the abridged story, write me an email and I'll try to catch you up).

We have been out to fly kites again though and came back with lovely sunburns for our effort. This weekend we hope to get out to Adastra Gardens. I promise I'll take my camera and snap some photos of the marching flamingos if I see them.

Hope you all had a happy Easter!

What's that sound?

2006-04-06T15:03:00.000-05:00

Mr. Bush said of the Libby investigation, "Let me just say something about leaks in Washington. There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks." "And if there is a leak out of my administration," Mr. Bush said, "I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."

CNN.com: Libby court papers: Cheney said Bush OK'd intelligence leak - Apr 6, 2006
CBS: Libby: Bush OK'd Secret Intel Leak - CBS News
MSNBC.com: Libby: Bush authorized leak on Iraq

It's like two wooly caterpillars are attacking her forehead

2006-03-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

Does any one else scream "For God's sake pluck your eyebrows!" at the TV whenever that haircolor commercial with Penelope Cruz comes on?

The no good, very bad week

2006-03-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

This last week has been a rough one.

Catherine passed away yesterday. For those of you who didn't know Catherine, she was RJ's mom, but more importantly, she was my friend. Catherine always treated me like one of her own. She celebrated with me when Melbourne and I were married, she gave me free chiropractic treatments nearly every time I saw her, and she always had a huge hug for me. She treated Mom and Nana the same way. Always a laugh on her face, always a warmness in her presence. She was a strong woman, the center of her family, and she will be sorely missed.

Some of you know about the other no good, very bad things that happened last week. Right now, it would be unwise to write about them publicly and it's not entirely my story to tell. If and when I can, I will fill you all in. Until that time, please keep Melbourne and me in your thoughts. All positive energy will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Wait, wait, I forgot to tell you this!

2006-03-21T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today after the appointment Melbourne and I stopped to get gas. Here you always get your gas pumped for you, it's like the law or something. Anyway, when Melbourne went in to pay one of the pump guys walked up to my open window, gave me a big smile, and asked me how I was doing. I smiled right back and told him I was great today! He laughed and started cleaning the windshield of the van.

About this time, another car pulled up beside the van and an older man got out while another employee was pumping his gas. He looked over at the young guy who was at this time wiping down part of the windshield and said, "Buih (it's a Bahamianism, I have no idea if I spelled that right, just try to say buddy without the d's and you've got it) you're going to break that glass. What you do? I know you ain't lookin' at the glass, you lookin' at what inside!"

The boy just smiled and hung his head down. The man then turned to me and said, "I think he lookin' at you. Where you husband?"

"He's inside," I replied

"Good thing he inside or this boy get hurt! You like what's inside don't you boy?" he asked.

The boy smiled and nodded his head, the old man cackled and said, "See, see I tol' you!"

"It's the smile," I laughed, gesturing at my face, "it always gets them!"

The boy moved around to do the rear window while I was getting the keys back from the guy who had been pumping our gas. I looked over and saw the old man paying his pump guy. He looked up, caught my eye, and then looked to the boy cleaning the rear window.

"Sheesh, now he do the rear? What you do this boy?" he asked laughing, "All right, I'm going home. You have a good day now!"

"You too!" I replied as he climbed into his car.

And as he started to pull away I heard a loud CLANG! I looked up and saw the hose and handle, which had still been in the man's car pumping gas, come snapping back toward the pumps.

"What happen here?!?" the old man cried.

The pump worker that had taken the old man's money to the store came running out to survey the damage. The man had to drive around to another pump to finish getting his gas because he had completely destroyed the one he pulled off with.

About this time Melbourne came back out of the store and said "I see there was a little incident out here."

I pressed a dollar into his hand and made him give it to the boy cleaning the windows.

When he got into the van I was laughing and gesturing wildly.

"This is all my fault!" I gasped.

The boy came back to the open window with an even bigger smile and said "Thank you, thank you. Have a great day!"

I already had. How could it get any better than that?

We have a go for launch

2006-03-21T17:26:00.000-05:00

Are you people really interested in all these details? Let me know if I'm boring you.

Anyway, just got back from an appt. with an ob/gyn and we've been given the all clear to start trying to have a sprout.

Yeah, I said sprout. I can't say the b-word just yet.

Feels like I've waited a million years and should have a kid right now!

Feels like I need to slow down, take in the scenery, there's no rush, who needs kids anyway?

But in the words of those undeniable genius rockers, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, never been a better time than right now.

Yo

2006-03-20T11:44:00.000-05:00

Last week I found out that I was wrong about all the times I thought my blood pressure was really soaring - sort of.

I was having a panic attack when I got to the doctor's office on Thursday. I thought the shortness of breath, the feeling like something heavy was sitting on my chest, the tightness of muscles in my neck were all just symptoms of the high blood pressure. Nope. However, the panic attacks do make my blood pressure go up. In the middle of this panic attack my blood pressure was 120/100. So I guess the new medicine is working somewhat. Apparently I was just getting myself into a horrible cycle - I thought it was my blood pressure so I would worry more and just prolong the attack.

My new goal is to work through the anxiety, but to tell you the truth I don't know how and I don't always know what triggers it.

For instance, I'm fighting an attack right now. Maybe just sitting down to write this and talk about it made me have one.

All I know is that it's scary. And painful.

. . .

In other news - yesterday was the three year anniversary of my moving to the Bahamas.

Draw any conclusions you wish.

Because my husband never traveling to the U.S. again is not an option.

2006-03-15T16:55:00.000-05:00

Sandra Day O'Connor recently warned American citizens about the U.S. edging towards a dictatorship because of the right-wing attack on the judiciary. I believe President Bush's refusal to go to the FISA court for wiretaps is just another example of this administration strong-arming the judiciary, and worse yet he has abused the Constitution. The 4th amendment may be beyond resurrection if Congress does not take this opportunity to censure the President.

From MoveOn.org:

President Bush already had the authority to wiretap suspected terrorists - he could even wiretap first and get warrants 3 days later. But he chose to get no warrants at all, clearly violating the law set up to protect innocent Americans and then he misled the Congress and the public about his program.
Censuring the president means Congress officially acknowledges that the president broke the law and condemns him for doing it. Given the scale of the president's problem, it's a very reasonable first step to holding him accountable. This is a key moment for Congress to show that they're serious about checks and balances.
Our country was founded on the idea that everyone—even the president—has to follow the law. Supporting censure is the best opportunity we've got to keep that ideal alive. Can you sign our petition today?

No, I am not my mother's daughter. Why do you ask?

2006-03-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

After 2 1/2 days of the newest medication, my bp has fallen to 130/85. Hopefully it will continue to get a bit lower, after all med #2 had it down to 115/75. Either way it's better than the 140/100 it was hovering at. Yeah, that's right, 140/100. Every time I say that out loud people gasp. I haven't looked it up to see how bad it really is. I don't want to know.

Now that I've bored you to tears - we flew the kite this weekend! The conditions were perfect. Melbourne got our lovely pink kite up into the air for over an hour. And he's such the skilled kitesman (is that a word?) he got the kite to actually land in his hand. It was a really nice day. I of course forgot the camera, so no new pictures of the great pink kite.

Lastly, been having a bit of problems with the ol' bread machine. The latest loaves have all come out lopsided. They seem to rise more on one end so we wind up with a sloping loaf of bread. I told Melbourne that the dough ball always seems to end up on one side of the pan and not the middle so perhaps we should physically move it to the center. He replied "Physically? As opposed to what? Mentally? You've got psychic powers now?"

So I called Mom to ask her for some advice. I told her about the dough ball always ending up in the corner of the pan. She said . . . wait for it . . . "You should physically move it to the middle."

Another One Bites The Dust

2006-03-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

Blood pressure medication number #3 is a no go.

Let's recap, shall we?

#1 - Do not take if allergic to sulfa drugs. Okay!
#2 - Made skin in mouth peel off and was Category D for pregnancy. Okay!
#3 - Makes my face feel like it's on FIRE and did not reduce my blood pressure at all. Okay!

So my doctor just called in #4. This is my last medication option. No other bp medication is deemed safe for pregnancy. And it causes fluid retention so I may have to take a fluid pill too. It's all getting to be just a little too much. If I ever have a kid I'm going to make sure they know what a pain in the ass it was just trying to prepare to even get pregnant. Sheesh.

So I'm contemplating this. FDA approved and it has a money back guarantee. Thoughts?

$1 = 1 Vote

2006-03-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

Melbourne and I have been buying organic for quite a while now. First it started with eggs, then juices, some cereals and jams, then pastas and sauces, then canned vegetables, then chips and dried fruit, then milk and cheese, then cookies and ice cream, now condiments and anything else we can get our hands on. I'll admit it is expensive, but it's worth it. I bought a gallon of milk last week that has a use by date of April 10th - and it will stay good that long. The snacks and canned vegetables don't have any preservatives and they also last for months. The orange juice is the best I've ever tasted - so fresh. And the more we buy, the more choices we seem to have and the lower the prices become. The store we go to is recognizing the popularity of organics. They now carry organic baby food, organic shampoo and conditioner, organic grits and rice, organic soups and vegetables and finally hormone and antibiotic free chicken. There is a grocery store that's closer to our home than the one we visit normally. We call it the ghetto store because it's in a lower income area and there's generally not a good selection of anything. But we ran in a couple of nights ago to pick up some mushrooms and decided just to stroll around to see if there was anything else we needed. Lo and behold, they had organic milk and eggs! We were so excited! Melbourne asked the cashier how the organic stuff was doing and she said it had really taken off. We were completely surprised because of the high prices (even higher than what we pay at our regular store) but these people on limited budgets are finding out that it's worth it to pay a little more for organic. When your milk lasts way more than a month, and your eggs never seem to go bad, and it all tastes so good you really are getting your money's worth.

Okay, this was a really long intro to what I'm about to delve into.

For the past three years that I've been here I've been bombarded with outsider's views of the U.S. And I've been asked continuously "What are they thinking? Why are they doing this?" about topics ranging from GWB to the environment to foreign policy to whatever else you can think of. I'm the American chick who must know why Americans behave the way they do. Melbourne is the worst one for this (Hey sweetie! I love you!) but he's not the only one. I've learned so much about the U.S. while living outside it's borders and I've grown increasingly dismayed with what I see happening. And sometimes when people start asking me questions about what's going wrong in the U.S. I start to feel like they are blaming me, like it must be my fault. And I want to do something about it, dammit! I want to join in one of those protests that Americans never see on CNN or MSNBC or FOX(ha!) anymore, you have to watch BBC to see anyone protesting GWB these days. I want to march in the street and go door-to-door and go to rallys and hold my sign up and whatever else it would take to make me feel like I'm making a difference. Because my 1 person = 1 vote just doesn't seem to have a very loud voice and I feel so overwhelmed. I know many of you think that nothing is wrong with the U.S., that it's fine, the constitution is alive and kicking. I just don't feel that way anymore. And I want to feel that way again, I really do. So I'm frustrated 4 out of 5 days and sometimes think I just know too much. I should just stop listening, reading, learning. I should just stick my head in the sand because I can't do a damn thing about it.

But yesterday, while reading this (the March 8th entry), I realized that I am doing something. It's not loud. It's not earth-shattering. But it's something. I'm using my money to vote on the environment and politics. I don't buy any sodas anymore and I'm pumping half my grocery money into organic products. We conserve energy as much as possible considering the business we are in. I line dry our clothes. We do not buy food from fast food joints (I haven't eaten at McDonald's in 2 years). These days $1 = 1 Vote. Ask any lobbyist. And I'm trying to put my money to what I feel is good use. And evidently more people are doing the same - and for some people this may be the loudest voice they'll ever have. It may be mine as well. But that's okay. I don't have to roar to make a difference. I just have to try to make a difference.

How you doin'?

2006-03-03T15:02:00.000-05:00

List of things that have happened since last post:

Doctor cancelled Friday appt. - was practically on death's door anyway. Stayed in bed all weekend.
Developed some sort of stomach bug on Tuesday. Painful stomach cramps lasted until Thursday morning.
Had to cancel my Thursday morning dentist appt.
Discovered that the last blood pressure medication I was on made the skin inside my mouth blister and peel off. Now have lovely raw patches that I can't stop poking with my tongue.
Went to doctor on Thursday - blood pressure down to 115/75 but have to change medicine. (See above - also the skin peeling medicine isn't safe for pregnancy and since we are thinking about starting a family soon I had to change it anyway)
After having cut out fast food, fried food and sodas and drinking only unsweetened tea, water and occasionally fruit juice and eating healthier for the past two months, I have now lost 10 lbs. (Exercise has not gone so well, what with all the sickness - need to pick that up again).
Have decided that I really need to find another doctor.
Made appt. with architect on Monday to move ahead with blueprints for addition.
Made this list.

TMI

2006-02-23T14:16:00.000-05:00

I'm sick. James gave Melbourne a cold and then Melbourne gave it to me. I have a scratchy throat, a dry hacking cough, fever and chills, and eyes that won't stop watering. I also have some sort of stomach thing and am running to the bathroom ~~every 15 minutes~~ more frequently than I'd like. And the kicker - avert your gaze those who do not want to know about every minute detail of my physical being - I just started my period and the cramps are vicious. I would like to go to bed and never get up please. But I can't, because fortunately (I guess) I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for today. Now I've just got to get up the energy to go. Wish me luck.

Update: The Doctor was two patients behind when I got there. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting and waiting for quite probably over an hour, plus Melbourne was kind enough to drive me and he was going to wait with me and I couldn't do that to him either, so I rescheduled for tomorrow. It's sad when you feel too bad to wait to see a doctor huh?

R. I. P.

2006-02-17T14:59:00.000-05:00

The 4th Amendment is dead.

V-Day Lament

2006-02-14T13:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day soda. I miss you. I wish we could be together. But we both know you're bad for me and that it's best that I cut you out of my life. I'll always remember the good times, the way you made me feel so bubbly and fizzy. Don't tell tea, but he just doesn't make me feel the way you did. Hope you are doing well. Please know that you're always on my mind.

Love,

Melanie

I'm so high

2006-02-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hahahahaha! I'm funny too.

No really.

It's my blood pressure. It's high. And nothing I seem to do is helping it. So today my doctor prescribed medication. Unfortunately, I was just doing some research on the drug and it says not to take it if you have an allergy to Sulfa drugs. Well, Sulfa drugs make me vomit with astounding frequency and violence so I won't be filling the prescription.

If I had, this would be the second time a medical professional gave me a drug that I had explicitly stated I was allergic to. Last time I wound up in the ER hooked up to and IV for half a day.

How was your day?

Excuse me, sir, but I do believe your pants are on fire

2006-02-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

I know if I continue to make political posts I risk losing some of you as readers. But people, it's an election year and you need to be informed. Look at it this way, at least I'm not filling up your email inboxes.

I belive this is very important. I believe that the President has misled the American people once again. Please read the excerpts below taken from Knight Ridder Newspapers, emphasis is mine. The date links will take you to the complete article.

January 31, 2006

Vowing to break the nation's "addiction" to foreign oil, President Bush called Tuesday for cutting oil imports from the Middle East by 75 percent over the next 20 years.

Bush was blunt about the need for action on oil dependence, but his proposal offered no near-term relief from high gasoline prices. The president's plan, released a day after Exxon Mobil reported record quarterly profits of $10.7 billion, calls for a 22 percent increase in federal spending for research on ethanol, electric cars and other alternatives to fossil fuels.

"To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants; revolutionary solar and wind technologies; and clean, safe nuclear energy," Bush said. "We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen."
He said his goal is to develop alternatives to the point where they can displace 75 percent of the oil that's now imported from the Middle East.

February 1, 2006

One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

What the president meant, they said in a conference call with reporters, was that alternative fuels could displace an amount of oil imports equivalent to most of what America is expected to import from the Middle East in 2025.

"This was purely an example," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said.
He said the broad goal was to displace foreign oil imports, from anywhere, with domestic alternatives. He acknowledged that oil is a freely traded commodity bought and sold globally by private firms. Consequently, it would be very difficult to reduce imports from any single region, especially the most oil-rich region on Earth.
Asked why the president used the words "the Middle East" when he didn't really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that "every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands." The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him in trouble.

. . . we'll still be importing plenty of oil, according to the Energy Department's latest projection.
"In 2025, net petroleum imports, including both crude oil and refined products, are expected to account for 60 percent of demand ... up from 58 percent in 2004," according to the Energy Information Administration's 2006 Annual Energy Outlook.

So what do you think? Do you think this was a deliberate attempt to dupe the American people? Do you think it was harmless? Come on people, I know you have opinions! Share them with me.

Now who's getting fired?

2006-02-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

It's going to be me, my friends.

For the second time in about 4 months I have ordered a server that has the wrong chassis orientation.

This happened in spite of the fact that I took (what I thought were) great measures to ensure that I wouldn't order the wrong server ever again.

This is what turning 30 has done to me. I think my brain is dying.

How was your weekend?

2006-01-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

I spent my weekend tethered to my email account and the VoIP phone line contacting Democratic and Republican Senators alike urging them to support a filibuster against Alito - and if they couldn't support the filibuster to vote NO for Alito.
I do not trust Alito to uphold the tradition of judicial impartiality with regard to the present or future administrations. There is no doubt in my mind that he would undermine the Supreme Court's critical role in putting a check on presidential excesses.

56% of Americans polled don't want Alito on the Supreme Court.

But it looks like it's not going to matter.

I promise I'll return to regular blogging soon.

Who's protecting my constitutional rights?

2006-01-25T01:24:00.000-05:00

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Certainly not the president and certainly not General Hayden. He doesn't even know what the constitution says.

If you do one thing for me in your life, please read the following exchange.

QUESTION: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue, and that had to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Do you use --

GEN. HAYDEN: No, actually -- the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But the --

GEN. HAYDEN: That's what it says.

QUESTION: But the measure is probable cause, I believe.

GEN. HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But does it not say probable --

GEN. HAYDEN: No. The amendment says --

QUESTION: The court standard, the legal standard --

GEN. HAYDEN: -- unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: The legal standard is probable cause, General. You used the terms just a few minutes ago, "We reasonably believe." And a FISA court, my understanding is, would not give you a warrant if you went before them and say "we reasonably believe"; you have to go to the FISA court, or the attorney general has to go to the FISA court and say, "we have probable cause." And so what many people believe -- and I'd like you to respond to this -- is that what you've actually done is crafted a detour around the FISA court by creating a new standard of "reasonably believe" in place in probable cause because the FISA court will not give you a warrant based on reasonable belief, you have to show probable cause. Could you respond to that, please?

GEN. HAYDEN: Sure. I didn't craft the authorization. I am responding to a lawful order. All right? The attorney general has averred to the lawfulness of the order.

Just to be very clear -- and believe me, if there's any amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. And so what you've raised to me -- and I'm not a lawyer, and don't want to become one -- what you've raised to me is, in terms of quoting the Fourth Amendment, is an issue of the Constitution. The constitutional standard is "reasonable." And we believe -- I am convinced that we are lawful because what it is we're doing is reasonable.

Now, do you want to know what the fourth amendment really says?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The president has broken the law and disgraced the constitution. He has violated the rights of American citizens. It doesn't matter if he informed congress or congress 'approved'. If congress approved, they broke the law too. The president swore to uphold the constitution. He's doing a piss-poor job and he should be handed his pink slip, along with General Hayden, posthaste.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

2006-01-21T02:01:00.000-05:00

Melbourne and I just had a little row. It was solved quickly and without many tears.
I used to be afraid of fighting with him. I was sure that every argument would lead to divorce. I'm not sure where I got this idea. I don't know if every newlywed goes through this sort of phase, assuming that every harsh word will surely be the end of everything. But the longer we're married the less scary it becomes and I realize that we learn more about each other when we push these boundaries. Not that I want to have an argument everyday, I'm just not as afraid of them anymore. We can craft the argument now. We can direct it . . . sometimes. We rarely ever end a fight these days without apologies and declarations of love. We've left behind, for the most part, the long drawn out silent treatments and slamming doors. I feel good about this.

It gives me hope for many reasons. Two people from different cultures, different educations, different beliefs, we are able to listen to each other and to learn from each other. I know that we are in love and that goes a long way toward making it easy. But if we can do it, surely others can too.

Is it just me?

2006-01-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

I have been having touble posting all weekend. Anyone else having trouble with Blogger?

Anyway, let's recap:

Thursday night I was home alone while Melbourne was out working. I had just finished walking on the treadmill and had my cd player blasting away. I started washing dishes, singing at the top of my lungs, when suddenly there was a voice saying "Hi," from right in front of me. Those of you who have not been to my home must now know that our kitchen is in the front of the house and our sink has a window above it that looks out on to our front walkway and yard. So this voice that I heard was on our walkway, right outside the window, mere inches from me. And because it was dark outside and all the lights in the kitchen were blazing the man behind the voice could see inside, see me, but I couldn't see him.

I slowly backed away from the window. "Hello," I said tentatively.

"Hi," the voice said again.

I reached for the volume knob of the cd player and turned it down.

"Can I help you?"

"Is this where Grant lives?"

"No."

"Grant Thompson?"

"No."

"Sorry to bother you."

And the voice was gone. I have no idea who the voice belonged to.

Now, the door is a mere three feet to the right of the front door. Why didn't he ring the doorbell like a normal person? Why did he have to scare the poop out of me?

In other news, this weekend was TOO windy to fly a kite. Someone is trying to tell us something.

In other, other news, I read this today and thought of my mom:

"But I know I'm going to be stellar at being a mother to children in their teens and 20s and 30s and 40s. So mothering them now is the hard work I have to put in to get to the good part. You can't become a star litigator without grinding through law school and the learning curve of the first years in practice. You can't run a marathon without doing long, lonely runs in all kinds of weather, even when your legs and back hurt. And you can't be the kind of mother your adult children call whenever something funny happens without putting in the time wiping more butts than you can count, answering "why?!" thousands of times, setting up hundreds of playdates, and preventing fingers from poking themselves into all sorts of places they don't belong. "

Love you Mom.

Rip off

2006-01-09T15:02:00.000-05:00

So I'm going to copy Devone and say - Good news: I've lost 5 lbs.

Bad news: The bread machine works. Hello 5 lbs, I've missed you so.

This mix said it would work in a 1.5 or 2 lb. machine. Since ours is only 1.5 I'm guessing that this was as big as it was supposed to get. [Edit: I just realized this makes absolutely no sense. Sorry, I've not been sleeping well. So does anyone know? Does this size look right? The consistency is good] The crust is a little too brown for sandwich bread I think. But it worked great under the broiler as garlic bread last night. So I'm happy with the results and will definitely be trying more recipes. If you have any good ones send them my way.

Sunday

2006-01-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

We were going to fly kites today, but several things conspired against us. Yesterday we went shopping for all the things to make new kites but the hardware stores were all closed so we couldn't get everything we needed. Then we thought we'd just take the trusty old Pink Kite out for a run, but for the first time in a while there was no wind. So kite flying was a bust.

So I did this instead. Aren't they cute?

While we were at the craft store yesterday I picked up some things to make refrigerator magnets. I need to trim the pictures behind the stones a little bit, they're sticking out around the edges. But other than that I think they came out great. I made one with a kite (upper right) in lieu of actually flying a kite.

We're also currently trying out the bread maker that Melbourne's parents gave us for Christmas. I can smell the bread baking now and it smells so good! 39 minutes left and we'll have freshly baked bread.

It's been a good day.

Carbonated Sugar Water: Gateway Drug or Harmless Liquid Refreshment?

2006-01-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

Hello, my name is Melanie and I'm a caffeine-aholic. It's been 9 days since my last soda.

But I'm still chugging the tea.

BOAT OF DEATH!

2006-01-04T18:40:00.000-05:00

So, ummm, yeah, I was supposed to write this yesterday. But, see, it was the first day back at work after a long weekend, and dude, I was busy. Please forgive the delay and without further ado I give you . . .

BOAT OF DEATH!!!!

It looks perfectly innocent sitting out there, doesn't it? Don't be fooled for when I am finished with my tale you shall know the true nature of the beast.

It all began way back in September when we were planning this Christmas trip to Abaco. The rental house I was looking at said that they had a "fishing boat" that you could rent by the day. Fishing? My dad and mom like fishing! Boat? They like boats! So I rented the "fishing boat" for 2 days.

Fast forward to a week before the trip. The owner of the house called and said that she wouldn't be on the island while we were there but she would gas up the boat and we could ask her brother for information about getting it started and general boat info.

Okay, so we arrived, yay, yippee! We saw the boat, but we didn't really worry much about the boat because Melbourne was sick with a nasty cold. Since he was the island boat man we put off thoughts of boating for a while.

A couple of days passed and Melbourne was not feeling any better. So Mom, Dad and I decided that we should just go for it. On the afternoon of Christams Eve, we went out to inspect the boat and found, ummm, nothing really. Certainly no fishing gear. No matter! We would pack a lunch and boat around the point and back! So we tracked down the owner's brother who showed Dad how to start the thing up and he said (this is not a direct quote because I was still standing on the shore at this time) "Yeah it's got some gas, it doesn't use much."

Now, Dad commented earlier that the boat didn't have any oars and perhaps we should take a broom. I made a mental note of this and after we packed a light lunch, I grabbed the broom as Mom and I made our way down the beach to meet Dad. He pulled the boat up to the shore we all crawled in and the broom came in handy immediately. He used it to push us out into deeper water and we were off!

We headed straight ahead to avoid some of the sand bars and then hung a left toward the point. We were out pretty far, but didn't know how close we could get to some of the smaller islands around because we were unsure of the water depth. So we turned around and head back the other way toward the other end of the beach. We stopped briefly to think about eating lunch but the wind had picked up and the boat was rocking a bit, and, well I am a wimp. I get sea sick very quickly if things aren't smooth. So mom snapped this picture and we took off again.

Do you see how far out we were? Yeah, that's far. Anyway we kept going (left in the picture) and mom pulled out her new video camera. We had just started to turn back and head toward shore when suddenly, and without warning, the engine STOPPED! Just stopped. No sputter, no nothing, just dead. Mom said, "That's not good" and turned off the camera. I can't wait to see that movie. So anyway, Dad confirmed that, yes indeed, we were out of gas. Completely, utterly out of gas. "Doesn't use much" gas indeed, sir! So picture it: We were on a tiny little boat, no oars, no whistle, no people around. It was around 1:00pm. I had told Melbourne that we'd be back by 3:00pm. Two hours to drift steadily west, away from our house.

I have to admit, I was on the verge of panic. But, aha! We had a broom and Dad set to work, rowing away with this tiny pathetic broom. Mom remembered seeing flippers. So we dug around and she found one and I found a piece of wood. She knelt down on one side of the boat and I was on the other. I soon found the wood was way to heavy so I scrounged around and found the other flipper. As soon as I put the flipper on my hand I started 'rowing' like a mad woman. Faster, faster, faster. I started turning the boat in a slow circle. Dad made me slow down, pace myself, and told me to watch the rocks on the bottom to gauge our progress. Sure enough we were moving, and quite fast too! Thank goodness for the clear waters of The Bahamas. Mom would occasionally send out a whistle and I tried to flag down a boat that was so far away I couldn't even see it. But we kept moving, slowly forward. My right arm was getting tired so Mom and I switched sides of the boat. I almost convinced myself that I could put the flippers on and push the boat while swimming. But I stayed in and we kept rowing.

I occasionally made Dad test the depth of the water with the broom and eventually we were in shallow enough water that I wanted to jump out and pull the boat. I thought everyone needed a break from rowing and that it would be easier to pull. I wanted OUT of that boat. So I jumped ship into some seemingly harmless sea grass and felt a sharp pain in the bottom of my foot. Thoughts at that time? "Not good, not good, not good. Don't let Mom in the water." She had wanted to jump in too you see, but I couldn't let her hurt herself so I demanded she stay in the boat and started pulling. Dad navigated me through the rocky terrain (there was a long row of rocks coming right out into the water, and can I just say here, ouch) until we got to a completely sandy bottom and I gave the okay for them to get out. And we walked, and walked, and walked. Once again, thank goodness for the warm waters of The Bahamas. Hypothermia would have been the icing on the cake.

My foot didn't hurt too much as we were walking through the sandy bottom water and we finally made it back to our house and 'docking' point. Dad tied up the boat and we stood on the beach for a while discussing our journey. And this was when I started to get a little worried about my foot. We had to walk through the backyard of the house which was home to two dogs that used it as a toilet. I knew that I had cut my foot, I just didn't know how bad. So I hobbled quickly through the sand and asked Mom to pour some water over my foot. When I picked my foot up and turned it over it was pretty much covered in blood.

So Mom and Dad went into Child-Protection-Mode and started worrying. I wasn't concerned about the depth of the cut, I just didn't want dog pee in it so I made Mom keep pouring water over it. Melbourne heard the commotion on the deck and came out to see what was going on. What he saw was me holding a bloody paper towel against my foot to stop the bleeding. Turns out there was more than one cut. Two pretty bad ones and a couple of smaller ones. Mom found the antibiotic ointment I had been smart enough to pack and we made a makeshift bandage out of paper towels and a sock. We almost made a pact never to tell anyone about our crazy boat trip, but really it's too good not to share. So that's my story: How I Spent Christmas Eve with the BOAT OF DEATH!

PS - Not to worry, Melbourne took good care of me and the cuts healed just fine.

What I Did For Christmas: A Photo Essay

2006-01-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

This is what the water looks like in Casurina Point, Abaco. It's so shallow in some places you can walk for what seems like an eternity and it never gets above your knees. For a more accurate description of how far you can walk, ask my Dad. I don't do distances.
This is the view from our back porch.
This is a picture of The Sea of Abaco taken in Marsh Harbour. Marsh Harbour is 'the town' in Abaco. One stop light, two grocery stores, and a liquor store on every corner. Just kidding . . . kind of.
PS - See all those rocks? The ferries that run to the Cays (pronounced keys) maneuver through all that.
This is a dead sea grape leaf washed up on the limestone. I thoght it was pretty. That is all.
If you look closely you can see water droplets on the cord. The water is there because . . .
The only day it rained was, of course, Christmas Day. We were eating dinner on the farm so we snuggled in under beach umbrellas.
Sunset on the beach.
M is for Merry. We found all of these along the beach. They were not alive. Mom found the only conch shell that hadn't had its inhabitant removed by force.
Conch close up. You can see the hole in the top where the conch has been forced from its shell by fishermen or perhaps some hungry locals.
I fell in love with this particular conch shell that I found. It had such a huge lip (even though it was cracked). I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.
Love I tell you.
I was obsessed. No, I didn't bring it home with me.
Haul Part One: Pen Shells and Urchins and Sea Biscuits, oh my!
Haul Part Duex: Urchins galore! Sand Dollars! Get your Sand Dollars right here!
This was our final haul including all the fan coral. We found all of this on the beach, most of it in the last 2 days of our trip. Please excuse the upside down sea biscuits. We were trying to dry them out in hopes of not stinking up the van.

And that was my Christmas vacation in pictures. Tune in tomorrow for a story about the - dunh dunh duuunnhhh - BOAT OF DEATH!

Beware the barrenness of a busy life

2005-12-15T16:15:00.000-05:00

Hi! Long time no blog, huh? A quick catch up.

First there was the trip to NC and all the preparation for that. I had a wonderfully busy time. How do we manage to stay so busy when our intent is to do nothing? But it was so good to see everyone.

I spent 6 hours with all my girlfriends and it wasn't enough. I love talking to them. I learn so much from them every time I see them. I learn about their jobs, about what it means to be a mother, and I relearn how important it is to have girlfriends. Devone couldn't make it but she did call and we all got to talk to her via speakerphone.

Also, Amanda made me an awesome CD. I made my parents listen to it as they were driving me to the airport and then I made Melbourne listen to it as soon as I got home. It's in my CD player in the kitchen right now and I listen to it while I'm making dinner. I love it!

Mom gave me the perfect hair cut. It's the best hair I've ever had. Seriously. And it's red again. (This didn't happen until after I saw the girls, so I'll have to post a picture soon).

We had a Christmas get together on Wednesday night and Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I ate . . . a lot.

Anna and Nathan were there for basically 24 hours, again, not enough. I miss them so much! I don't talk to them as much now that they're in Raleigh. I don't know why this is. Must rectify.

I even got to see Tate, for a minute. Seriously, it was like a minute. He as walking in as we were walking out. I teared up when he hugged me. Miss him like crazy. It's so weird to have someone be such a huge part of your life and then suddenly, it seems like the blink of an eye, you don't even know each other any more.

I of course developed a huge fever blister. Travelling stresses me out.

Since I've been back, Melbourne and I have been working like mad. He was just up for 45 hours straight. We're trying to get as much done as possible because we will be closed for a week for Christmas. And this is a busy time of year. Everyone is trying to spend their IT budgets and make sure that everything is in proper working order to start the new year.

Mom and Dad are coming down next Tuesday and we're going to Abaco for Christmas! This will be only the second time that Melbourne's and my parents have met. Will definitely post pictures.

Also, and don't read if you are squeamish, we've suddenly been invaded by mice AND rats. It gets a little bit chilly and they all run inside apparently. So far the tally is 2 mice , 1, rat. The rat was in the attic and the mice were in the front room. I knew about the rat because I heard it running around up in the ceiling, but the mice had me fooled. There was no evidence. I never would have known had one not decided to streak across the floor in broad daylight. Stupid mouse. Anyway, hopefully we'll have them all eradicated by the time Mom and Dad get here.

So really, that's about it. Travelling, working, mousing. Nothing to write home about but just wanted to let you know I'm still here.

Check back after Christmas for pictures from Abaco.

Harping

2005-11-16T12:36:00.000-05:00

10 days now. 10 days and I'll be 30.

Mom says it gets better after 30. Well, what is it? Aging? Life?

I think it's hard to swallow, not because I'm afraid of aging or getting older, but because I don't feel grown-up. I don't feel ready to be 30. I don't think I'm going to be good at it.

I don't even know if that makes any sense. I keep coming back to the thought, "I'm going to be 30 and what do I have to show for it?"

Does everyone feel this way? That their accomplishments are never 'right' enough for their age?

I've convinced mysef that starting a family sounds like just the thing to kick me out of this limbo, the get me moving foward, to get me growing up. But I have to be honest, I'm petrified. What if I'm not good at that either? What if I'm a horrible parent?

I hope it gets better because this insecurity is driving me mad.

Images from our second anniversary dinner

2005-11-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

Miss me?

2005-11-04T16:23:00.000-05:00

Man, I'm horrible. I practically begged some of you to come read my site, and then just as you started leaving comments I stopped writing.

There must be something wrong with me.

Truth is, I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, booorrrrrrr-duh.

This is the first time since 1998 that I haven't been about to move, or change jobs, or drive cross country, or leave the country, or well, you get the picture.

Couple this with the fact that I'll be turning 30 in 22 days and you've got a recipe for disaster.

I had a little meltdown today. Really, it was tiny. I swear! But I think I'll probably have another one tomorrow and then another the day after that if I don't do something. Anything!

So I've called and left a message with the American Women's Club here in Nassau. Hopefully I won't be joining a bunch of old, blue-haired women. We'll see. (No offense to any old, blue-haired women that may be reading this.)

Reason #3,192 why Melanie needs a video camera

2005-10-24T11:43:00.000-05:00

I wish I could show you guys the winds gusting through here. We aren't in the path of the eye and the winds here probably won't get out of tropical storm range, but still it's something to behold. We have a large dog crate that we keep on our back walkway - this morning it was already in the yard along with an outdoor chair that's made of iron. We have to keep the screen doors on the back porch locked because if we don't they bang around and will probably rip off the hinges. Coconuts are flying off the trees. Garbage cans are rolling down the road. Every time I hear a thump I run out to see what's happening. Not the smartest course of action, I agree. But, c'mon. This is fascinating. This is nothing like the hurricane we went through though. I'm not scared and it's not as loud. :) We are having a party. We're eating cake and potato chips and dip. It's like a snow day with a lot more wind.

Power is dipping and humming. I expect it will go out any second now.

We are safe.

(There's a link over there on the right hand side for the weather channel that will take you directly to a page with local Nassau weather if you want to keep up.)

Visitor

2005-10-13T10:41:00.000-05:00

Melbourne was working late in the office one night last week when he stumbled upon this beauty. It was huge!

He rushed into the house and asked me if we had a light around. We have 3 headlamps, 3 flashlights, 2 oil lamps . . . and I couldn't find any of them. After much cursing and searching, I found a small flashlight and followed him outside. There it was, on the screen door of our porch, not moving an inch. I quickly turned around and headed straight back inside for my camera. We took a million pictures of this butterfly. With flash, without flash, zoomed in, far away, from the back, from below. It never moved. Throughout all the door openings, flash bulb flashings, and flashlight spotlightings it just sat there.

I know nothing about the life span of butterflies. I wondered if it had come to our door to die. I guess I'll never know. The next morning it was gone.

Slacker

2005-10-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

Nearly two weeks have gone by since I last posted. I only have this to offer as an excuse:

My girlfriends and I have been planning a vacation!

It's been a long time coming. A few of us have traveled together in different combinations, but this will be the first time all six of us take to the road and leave our mark.

Heads up, Gatlinburg. You've had fair warning.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2005-09-30T22:51:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to the most amazing woman I know. Thank you for raising me to be the person I am. I like me and that says more about you than you will ever know. Thank you for being patient and kind. Thank you for being funny. Thank you for loving music. Thank you for singing. Thank you for loving to read. Thank you for sending me to my room. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for letting me love you.I wouldn't want any other mom. Never have, never will.

Crab's Eye View

2005-09-29T17:45:00.000-05:00

We had this whole stretch of beach to ourselves on the two days we went. This is the same beach where Melbourne and I were married. It really is beautiful and peaceful and relaxing and . . . hot.

I got the sunburn of my life on the first day. Let's just say when my bathing suit got wet it also got a little heavy and it dropped a little and parts of my body that haven't seen sun in years were exposed during the absolute hottest part of the day.

Thankfully we have an aloe plant growing right outside our front door. Unfortunately, I'm still peeling. I'm down to the third layer now. I believe you can safely say I was cooked.

(Click for larger view)

The only proof I have that she was here

2005-09-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

Mom was here for 11 days of fun, sun, and . . . karaoke. But this is the only proof I have that she was here. Please admire the beauty of her sandy feet. And then, ask her about the coral.

I had so much fun. She made me laugh until my stomach hurt on more than one occasion. As usual, I feel like we didn't get enough time together.

Next time, just you and me, Mom. Let's take off together like Thelma and Louise. But not the driving off the cliff part. Or the robbery. Or the guns. Okay, maybe not like Thelma and Louise.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love Ya, Tomorrow

2005-09-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

Guess who's coming to my house tomorrow?

In My Backyard

2005-09-11T14:01:00.000-05:00

A crazy storm blew through here last night. More thunder and lightning than I'm accustomed to and heavy, heavy rains. Even after the rain had stopped and the winds had died down, the sky continued to flicker like a strobe light for well over an hour. I've never seen so much lightning. I sat out on our back porch for while just staring out at the sky - mesmerized by the incessant flashing. When the power finally came back on I noticed that I could see a window of our neighbor's house that I had never been able to see before. This morning I found out why.

We lost two good sized privacy shrub-tree like things. I really have no idea what they are.

But I'd like to get something to replace them ASAP. I don't think I need to be able to stare directly into my neighbor's bedroom.

How do you move on?

2005-09-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

I've come here and started at least 3 different posts, but then deleted them. I suppose it's some sort of survivor's guilt.

How can I talk about how hot it is here when I have power and A/C?

How can I talk about how I want the rain to stay away for mom's visit when my house isn't under water?

We've made our monetary donations to relief funds and have donated clothing, bedding, and towels locally but some days it doesn't feel like enough.

Life goes on, for most of us, and I suppose I'll shake this funk soon enough. But my heart is still breaking everyday for the Gulf Coast residents.

Doctor, Doctor

2005-09-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

Here's the news: Health care in The Bahamas is laid-back.

This was my first trip, as a patient, to Melbourne's family doctor. I've been assured by Melbourne's mother that he's a wonderful physician and a wonderful human being. I don't doubt either one, but let me tell you about my visit.

Exhibit A of the laid-backness:
My urine sample was collected in a styrofoam cup with my name written on the side in blue ink.

Exhibit B of the laid-backness:
My appointment was held in the doctor's 'study'. Not an exam room. And the phone rang constantly. And he answered it. And the people calling were patients. And he talked to them. And wrote prescriptions over the phone without seeing them.

Exhibit B2 of the laid-backness:
One of these prescriptions was for Percoset. I heard him tell the guy to, "Take one or two. They're pretty strong."

Exhibit C of the laid-backness:
He wrote an order for some lab work to be done and said to me, "Go on a morning after you've fasted the night before - nothing but water after midnight."

Did you catch that? Go on a morning. Not tomorrow morning or perhaps next Tuesday morning, just a morning.

"So I could go Monday?", I asked.

"Sure, sure. If you go on Monday, come back to see me on Friday," he replied.

If I go on Monday, come see him on Friday.

My healthcare, it seems, is in my hands.

Politics

2005-08-31T21:02:00.000-05:00

You know me, I could probably blame the Bush administration for anything. Don't hate me because I'm a bleeding heart liberal. I don't want to turn this into a political blog, however, I think this may be important.

"Bush Administration Cut Back Flood Control Spending Questions are also being raised if the federal government could have done more to protect the region from the deadly flooding. In 1995 Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project. Over the past decade the Army Corps of Engineers has spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations. But another $250 million in work remained. According to press accounts, the federal funding largely froze up in 2003. Over the past two years the Times-Picayune paper has run at least nine articles that cite the cost of the Iraq invasion as a reason for the lack of hurricane and flood control funding. Earlier this year President Bush proposed significantly reducing the amount of federal money for the project. He proposed spending $10 million. Local officials said six times as much money was needed."

source: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/31/143245

Any thoughts?

The Times

2005-08-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the time we have spent glued to the television watching the news and frantically refreshing web pages to gain information about the devastation that Katrina has wrought. We have been so lucky here. Katrina skirted right around New Providence when she was just a tropical storm - we had some rain and perhaps 2 gusts of wind. We had no idea that she would go on to destroy so much.

Last night we sat together after dinner and cake and watched the news, silently holding hands. There were only occasional sharp intakes of breath or mutters of "oh my god" until we saw a man talking about how he had lost his wife in the water, how he couldn't hold on and she told him to take care of the children. I broke down and cried. I hope that they find her alive somewhere. I hope the man finds someone other than a reporter to talk to.

LA, AL, MS - you are in our thoughts.

2005-08-30T20:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday!

2005-08-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

The ugliest cake you ever did see. Tip: Don't put Cool Whip in a plastic baggie thinking you can make it look like pretty swirls. You can't. And it won't.

UPDATE: This cake rocks my world. It may not look pretty (even though my mom says it does, but she has to say that, she loves me) it tastes divine. It's a black forest cake and I swear to you it tastes like chocolate covered cherries. Also, it was one of the easiest cakes to make ever. If you'd like the recipe, leave a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you.

2005-08-30T20:42:00.000-05:00

The gifting. Melbourne does not rip wrapping paper. Do not ask him to do it. Do not!