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6.30.2009

week 6

Weekly Review

How far along? 6 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: no change as far as i know

Maternity clothes? nope

Stretch marks? nope

Sleep: can't get enough of it, though I'm now getting up to pee once in the middle of the night

Best moment this week: hmm, this might sound weird, but morning sickness showing up was actually something of a relief!

Movement: not yet

Food cravings: no cravings, but some aversions... since the m/s I'm finding it easier to stick with soups, noodles, and other simple things

Gender guess/Actual Gender: still Guessing Boy





Labor Signs: nope

Belly Button in or out? Innie!

What I miss: sushi... and not gagging when i brush my teeth

What I am looking forward to: doctors appointment on Thursday!!

Weekly Wisdom: to help with m/s don't let your stomach get empty... even if the thought of eating anything is completely unappealing. drink lots of water and snack on easy to digest things.

Milestones: our babies heart is now beating!!!!

6.29.2009

right on time

5 weeks, 6 days today and morning sickness has arrived (one day later then last pregnancy). So far its not too too bad but I'm definitely feeling nauseous, and things that I couldn't get enough of yesterday (chicken salad) make me feel pukey today. I'm trying to get lots of liquids and eat small meals frequently, which helps.

The smell of the food cart this morning almost made me barf, and I actually had to have one had on my stomach and the other over my mouth due to the coffee smell in the Starbucks.

I also have woken up to pee in the middle of the night for two nights now.

I'm so happy to be pregnant!!!! :-)

oh monday, monday

Mondays always come too early... have you ever noticed that? Because its true.

Our weekend was very nice though. I walked with Ro on Saturday, which was good because I've been feeling a bit lazy lately! I've been running out of time after word to walk to the far train station, so half the time I don't get that in... and the past few weeks something has come up to keep me from walking with Katie on Wednesdays. So! I've felt rather lazy, which made me very happy to get out and about with Ro.

The rest of the day we did some cleaning up and movie watching. It was a nice day.

Sunday we started off watching Daisy have a great time playing with her little pug friend from down the street.


Then we prepared to head to Willy's (Daisy too!) for a visit. We had hoped to see Trav's older brother and fam as they passed through on their way to Cape Cod this week, but we had to leave before they got in. We did leave their dog crate at Willy's, the one they brought Daisy in:


It's hard to believe that she ever fit in that thing!!

After Willy's we headed back home to drop the pup off, then out to Rose Tree Park in Media for a picnic and concert with Ro, Pat, & GG. RTP has a free summer concert series, basically everyday from June until August, and last night Blackthorn (an Irish band) was playing. We brought a bunch of snacks, I whipped up some chicken salad, and we met about two hours before the actually concert to eat and relax. We brought a blanket, Ro & Pat had some chairs, and we got some good seats thanks to arriving so early.



We actually only stayed for about half of the show, since it didn't start until 7:30... and we all had work today (plus a puppy who didn't want to be in her crate anymore and a baby that needed to get home to her crib), but we were there until about 9, and had a great time.

That's about all for our weekend. I can't believe how it flew by... how they always fly by. It was very nice though, a little slice of lovely, and at least this coming week is a short one (with no boss to boot).

I have to dash off to get some work done... but I wanted to leave you with some beautiful pictures from my dad and brother's trip out to the Badlands. They were all so beautiful it was hard to just pick a handful out of the ~80 he took. But hopefully you enjoy these.
(You might have to click on them to see the full image, for some reason they are coming up large.)








6.27.2009

words to live by

--Today I am pregnant and I love my baby.


--I am pregnant until someone tells me otherwise.


--My past does not dictate my future. A previous m/c does not mean I will have another m/c.


--Just because something sad is happening to another person, does not mean it will happen to you. We all know m/c and complications are not contagious!


-- Hope does not make bad things happen. Aka: You cannot ‘jinx’ your pregnancy by creating a ticker, getting excited, or telling someone. Live in the positive!


--And this is the hardest one: There is nothing I can do to prevent a m/c from happening. Worrying yourself sick doesn't prevent a m/c. And if (gods forbid) it were to happen again, I know I will survive.

First appointment on Thursday and after that I can make my first ultrasound appointment. I'm still feeling good, feeling positive, but I have my moments and I'm getting a little nervous. I just want to see that little heartbeat.

6.26.2009

that point...

It appears my appetite is already adjusting... I'm at that point where I alternate between nothing sounding good, and being hungry for only one particular thing. Wonder if I'll lose any pounds before my first appointment on Thursday?

So Travis made it home last night with no incidents... be it much later than normal, since he had a meeting that ran late and needed to stop at the store. The pup and I hunkered down inside while we waited, since it was hot and muggy out. I hate muggy. While I don't like hot, I can do hot, but I can't do hot and muggy... muggy makes everything worse. Daisy had already had two walks that day, so I didn't feel bad about not giving her a third, and she did get lots of playtime.

Today is quiet and relaxed. I'm very distracted/day dreamy today and the morning has flown by without me even noticing.

We have another lazy, mostly unplanned weekend ahead of us, which is great. I'm loving all our lazy time at home to relax. Hopefully this weekend though I'll find it in me to get some "spring cleaning" done, we're getting a little cluttered again.
I also need to try to figure out what we're going to do with the pup the night of August 8th to 9th, while we're in DC for a wedding. We could board her if we can't find something else, but I would love for her to be with some one I know will give her lots of 1 on 1 time. Of course, she'd absolutely love the opportunity to play with other puppies. We'll see I guess.

Well, I'm going to go eat some lunch and get back to work. Have a great weekend!

6.25.2009

where did yesterday go? take 2

Yesterday flew by in a blur of two events and a huge mailing that kept me away from my desk for all but a few hours in the afternoon. The first event was over lunch (free pizza) and it was a slideshow about a writer's recent travels to Iran. Very interesting. The second was an intern presentation, which I didn't attend but had to set up for. I had actually brought my camera into work to download some pictures to post, but the day definitely flew by too quickly for posting at all. So! I'll give them to you now. I took these all yesterday morning when I was enjoying some playtime outside with the pup. It was a beautiful morning!

(These two are actually of one giant tree that shades the end of our yard. It grows in our neighbors yard, but we get to enjoy it.)

Our pupper, enjoying a sunny spot on the grass... what a cutie.

Then, on my ride home last night I got a call from Trav. He'd been in an accident (don't worry, he's fine). Apparently he was driving along one road that always gets very backed up... he stopped for some traffic, looked in his rear view mirror and saw that the guy behind him was coming up way too fast. So he thought fast and kind of pulled his car off towards the right a bit. Well the guy glanced off his left bumper and straight into a truck in the opposite lane! His car is okay, the bumper is banged up and dented on the one side, but its still perfectly drivable. The other two cars were totalled though, so he was lucky! What a night though... poor Trav was very shaken up.

Once he got home we had dinner then both took the pup for a long walk. I think it helped to calm his nerves a bit... walk it out. Daisy enjoyed it too since she got to meet some new puppies and people.

We've started something new with Daisy too. She always ended up going in and out of her crate all morning since we couldn't watch her while we were showering and getting ready, well she's gotten to the point that we don't have to watch her all the time... so now once we get her out in the morning, she's out until we leave for the day. She loves it and we love it. Eventually we hope to be able to leave her out of her crate all day... but it will take some working up to get to that.

Today, is much lazier then the rest of the week has been. Still lots to do, but no events settign the schedule... so much more relaxed pace. It's also supposed to be HOT! Very high 80s, maybe 90 and sunny. Tally and I are going for frozen yogurt later. :-)

Okay, off to work I go!




Ps. After hearing some little kid yell "sh!t" at one of his friends last night... then turning and seeing that he was probably about 9, we've decided that we're going to go back in time and raise our kids in the 50s. Things were much simpler then.

6.24.2009

we bought...

... our carseat. :-) It was on sale, a really good sale, so how could we pass it up!

We got it in "cowmooflage". Lol. Very fun.


I'm so excited for our first real baby purchase!

6.23.2009

where did yesterday go?

Never got around to writing yesterday, the day was just too busy. Not that I'm complaining... believe me, I love when Mondays pass by in a flash!! We had another little thing in the office already this morning, after having one yesterday in the middle of the day... but the nice thing about both of those? Free chow! LOL... yesterday there were sandwiches for lunch and today breakfast, and we got to eat whatever was leftover. So I'm full of bagel, cream cheese, blueberries, and fresh orange juice right now. Mmm.

This weekend was relaxing. More down time with movie watching (Rachel Getting Married... depressing at times, but very very good) and puppy playing. I did work on down and come with Daisy a bunch, since those are two commands that we never really purposefully taught her, and that I really want her to learn before Cape Cod. Still needs a little work, but she's doing good. Really good. And everytime she lays down when I tell her to I just want to kiss her sweet puppy face because she looks very proud of herself, and I feel so proud. :-) Yes, I'm that kind of dog owner.

The other thing I did this weekend? Tried two new things. I had my first Big Mac, and consequently, my first Thousand Island Dressing (sorry if I ruined the "secret sauce" for you!). It was good... though I'm not sorry that I spent my childhood NOT ingesting those overly large, calorie laden monstrocities!!

Otherwise, we're finally looking at some sun this week... and temps in the 80s. I know I shouldn't complain since it has been so mild so far (and hell, it's almost July!), but really I'm not ready for the hot, humid weather to come! I'm getting sweaty just thinking about it. ;-)

Well, time for me to get some work done... and make a run to Trader Joe's for some healthy snacks and lunches.

6.19.2009

i sort of wish...

I could just post all these secret entries already. We're keeping secret for a reason, but I'm just so damn excited to share already. I can't wait for our first ultrasound in just about a month! I can't wait until we share the news about a month after that! I can't wait until February!!!

If I were publishing these then you would get to read about how right now I'm already getting struck by these incredible urges to clean our entire house. I want to throw things away and make room and organize. Morning sickness hasn't even hit yet and here I am semi-nesting. I'm sure I will be a sight to behold at 9 months. Beware the crazy nesting pregnant lady!

By-the-by, had a thought: canNOT wait for Cape Cod, but wondering how its going to be not telling the in-laws for the whole week we're there? Not that I'm a big drinker anyway, but I'm sure they'll notice that I don't have one drink the entire week... not even a glass of wine. I'll probably try faking a mixed drink. Ginger ale with a little water and say its Jamison and Ginger? Or cranberry with water/lime and call it a Cape Codder?
We'll see what happens with morning sickness, etc... that may be harder to hide!

4w, 3d

3 weeks...

until we leave for Cape Cod! Booo-yaa! :-) I really really can't wait. Work etc has been tiring lately, and I am absolutely ready for 8 days of laying around, relaxing. Not to mention that Harry Potter comes out that week... you know I can't wait for that!

I already looked up the nearby movie theaters and times:


This weekend is Father's Day, but we won't be heading up to my parent's as my dad and brother are leaving for their trip cross-country this weekend. They are driving out to S. Dakota (the Badlands), staying there for a few days, then driving back. I cannot wait to see their pictures and hear all about it! Ethan is even going splunking while they are out there!

So we'll be hanging out at home, which will actually be a nice change. Hope everyone else has a great weekend!

6.18.2009

weekly review (plus before/week 4 belly pic)

I saw this on Blair's blog, and thought it was really neat... a fun way to watch my pregnancy progress. So here I go.

Weekly Review

How far along? 4 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Nothing so far

Maternity clothes? Nope

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: The same for now.

Best moment this week: Finding out we're pregnant!! :-)

Movement: Not yet.

Food cravings: Nothing so far.

Gender guess/Actual gender: Guessing Boy... has nothing to do with gut feelings or anything like that, but Trav's family has A LOT of boys so we always thought we would have boys.

Labor Signs: uh, no.

Belly Button in or out? Innie!

What I miss: Sushi!

What I am looking forward to: All of it... but for now, first doctor appointment on the 2nd and first ultrasound about two weeks after that.

Weekly Wisdom: "Today I am pregnant, and I love my baby!" Motto of the Success after Loss board. Basically, there is no telling what will happen... so relax and enjoy every second.

Milestones: Telling Ro (&Pat) and Babs... the ONLY people we're telling maybe until the second trimester, but at least until after the first ultrasound.

what a day

Yesterday was a LONG day. The parts of it where we were actually doing the jury selection process were interesting, but for the most part it was just a lot of sitting around and waiting. From 9 in the morning until 5:30 in the evening. I was sick of reading for goodness sake. That's saying something.

My morning started out well enough. I left just a little after my normal leave time... giving me extra minutes in case of traffic, and to make a stop at WaWa for a to-go bottle of milk and some hash browns (mmm, wawa hash browns... I lurve them). I also grabbed some fruit for a mid-morning snack, in addition to the cereal bar I'd thrown in my purse (bored meegs always = hungry meegs). I got the the courthouse around quarter of 9, ready to do my civic duty*... passed through the metal detector, on to the jury lounge, where I got a bright red button that read "Juror", was handed a clipboard of papers (including a questionaire) and got all settled into a chair (with about 90 other people).

Now here's where it gets fun... because you can't just fill out this yes/no questionaire, you have to watch a video on HOW to fill out this yes/no questionaire. Uhhhh, really? So I have to spend an hour sitting in this room before you play the 20 minute video before I can fill out the questionaire that will even determine if I might possibly get selected for "round two" of jury selection? Awesome. After the video is watch and the questions are answered, we sit around for a few more hours while it is determined if any of the cases on ballot are actually going to go to trial, or if they are going to settle out of court. The news comes that one of the criminal cases is going to trial, so 60 persons are selected to be in the pool of possible jurors. Juror #50 right here people.

By this time it's already 11:30, and we're lined up outside the jurors lounge in numerical order. Then we stood there, and stood there, and stood there... for about 20 minutes, when they brought us back into the room and told us we were all being excused for lunch. But we should be back by 1:30. I headed out and met Ro for lunch, which was nice.

I was back in the juror room by 1:20... at which point we sat some more. Around 1:50 they finally put us back in the hall, where we waited for another 20 minutes before being led upstairs to a courtroom. There we were sworn in as potential-jurors, and went through a question and answer session with the judge (which I really enjoyed). We were all questioned at the same time and if your answer was Yes, you stood until your number was recorded. After about 20 - 30 minutes of that the judge put on a masking noise (it sounded like TV static) and they started calling individual people up to the stand to be questioned by the judge and lawyers. They probably called about 28 people, not necessarily 1-28, just that many total. In all it took until just before 5 o'clock. It was long... and frankly, boring, since I didn't get called for the individual questioning and you couldn't hear what they were saying. I alternated between reading, playing sudoku, and just hanging out. My butt hurt from the hard benches and damn was I hungry at that point.

After that we had to put away all of our items and sit quietly while the lawyers made their cuts, then the jurors were announced. Obviously, since I wasn't questioned, I wasn't picked. I was a little bummed about that as I would have been interested in participating in an actual criminal trial... but at least I'm done with that. Once the jurors were picked, they stayed behind to receive instructions, while the rest of us headed back down to the juror lounge. We received our checks ($12, rock on), then we were free to go! I got out at 5:30, at which point I headed to pick up Ro (otherwise she would have had to stay at work until Pat got her... around 7), took her home, then headed home myself. I reiterate, it was a LONG day.


Not to mention that when I got home I found Trav pouring over a letter letting us know that we're being audited! Argh! Without going into too many details, a few years ago I got a big check from the government of money that was owed to me, and should have been paid over a number of previous years. However since there had been a mistake and I hadn't received the money, they gave it to me in one lump sum. Taxes for that year were obviously a bit confusing, but Trav looked up every single rule on the situation and figured out exactly what to do. As that was a few years ago we thought we were in the clear... apparently, not so much. However the letter says that we'll be fine if we can just provide documentation backing up why we filed the way we filed, so now Trav had to craft a letter explaining everything, and copy all the documents that support it. Yuck.
I'll let you know what happens.

Well, now I'm back at work with a ton to do... so I'm going to get to it. But that's my jury duty wrap up!



* is it funny or just weird that everytime I hear civic duty I think "and I don't mean pooping in the courthouse bathroom..." *buh-dum-ching*

6.17.2009

pictures say a thousand words...

12 dpo (super super faint, but its there):


14 dpo (no doubt about it now!):


15dpo (today):

jury summons

I got one...
So today I have the pleasure of hanging out at the local courthouse to see if I get selected. On one hand, I'm excited to experience the process, as I've never done it before. On the other hand, I'm sure its going to be a long boring day. At least I get away from work for a day and get to do some extra reading! :-)

Quick rundown (for those who've never experienced it) and whether I've been selected or not tomorrow.

6.16.2009

wow... here we go!





I'm Pregnant.
It's so crazy to even type that, but its true!

new baby


Don't go looking for TTC posts before this, there aren't any. Not that I never had anything to say, any fears or hopes, I just never felt like writing about it. I was so excited to get pregnant again, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I didn't want to write about pregnancy symptoms and not be pregnant. I was scared that I would be scared.


Amazingly, I'm not! I'm thrilled, over the moon excited... and I have a good feeling about this one! :-)


Not to say that I won't be completely terrified once we get closer to our first ultrasound. But for now, I'm following the motto, "Today I am pregnant, and I Love My BABY!"


The details: I am 4 weeks exactly today... due February 23 (Pisces baby). My first appointment is July 2nd. And that's where we stand. Besides this secret post we are telling only our best friends: Babs, Ro & Pat. That's it. We'll share with everyone once we see our healthy baby and hear that heartbeat. 8 more weeks!

6.15.2009

what a monday...

Holy crap, work is AHH right now... I'm here posting to escape it for a few moments, because I don't know where to start and I'm so overwhelmed! Jan is back today, but she's easing back in... a few hours and one project at a time. So I still have a bunch of stuff that I'm doing for her (happy to do for her), but that I didn't think I'd have today. Help! What a Monday I'm having!

Jan is doing well though! And man am I happy to have her back. Tally also, back from her honeymoon in Italy. The office is back to bustling.
Very bustling, in fact, with probably a dozen interns... and hardly enough computers to put them all at!

But enough of that.

This weekend was great. Friday's lunch was a lot of fun...

(above, swing seats! below, the fun light fixture)

and so delish.

(Sorry for the crappy cellphone pictures.) I had the lobster mac & cheese... which was AMAZING.

Saturday we met Mike & Megan for lunch... the first time we'd seen them, with all four of us together, probably in years. It was a lot of fun... we ended up sitting there for almost an hour after we finished eating and paid our check, just continuing to talk (sorry waiter!!).

That night we headed into the city for dinner with a whole group of people (Apoc, Jon & Marissa, Slink & Corie, and Ed) at La Viola, a very nice BYO Italian place in Center City. It was good, but the conversation was even better. My face literally hurt by the end of the meal from talking and laughing so much, but it was great to catch up with such a fun group of people.

Sunday was much lazier... I walked with Ro in the morning, but the rest of the day was spent watching movies (I really really liked Swing Vote) and playing with the dog. It was a nice end to the weekend, especially with all the running around the day before.



Um, and it is now 4 o'clock! I opened this window at 10! Clearly the day has gotten away with me, and things have not slowed down. Wish me luck with this last hour... I'm so ready to go home!

6.12.2009

cupcakes

Yesterday all I wanted was a cupcake. I don't know why, but nothing else would do besides a cupcake. I didn't want vanilla though, I wanted something different. Well, the shops I passed in the city didn't have what I wanted. So I decided to make some. Can you tell what kind they are?:


Yup, red velvet... actually the first time I ever had red velvet. But I added something special, peppermint snow. Mmm... so good. They I frosted them up with vanilla frosting and added some more peppermint snow on top. So so good:


Of course, you can't just make one cupcake... so I made two dozen. Which I don't need to eat! That's for sure. (Though I did have one last night... then one for breakfast this morning... then one for a mid-morning snack. Opps.) So my coworkers got a treat today. And I got my cupcake(s)... which means I'm a happy girl. :-)

In more food news, Trav is coming into the city today to have lunch with me! Yay! He took the day off because 1. he is bitter that his Philly area workplace didn't go for his request that he be allowed to wear his Pittsburgh gear today since it is game 7 of the Stanley cup finals! (they allow the whole company to wear Philly gear when our teams are in big games), and 2. because he always ends up with a bunch of days left over at the end of the year, so he might as well use some of them. So now he has off and he gets to dress for Pittsburgh as his little heart desires. I'm just excited for a great excuse to try a new restaurant in the city with my boy. I believe we're going to go to the Continental, which I've heard good things about.

On another note, I've decided that letter writing is a lost art and needs to be brought back. I actually have a few different cute notecards at home, and bought some beautiful ones from Barnes and Noble the other day, so this morning I broke out three of them and wrote notes to three people I love. Hopefully it will brighten their days a little... I know how I feel about receiving mail, so if they enjoy it half as much as I do, then I'll feel good for making them feel good.

And with that, I'm off to get some work done. Have a great weekend.

6.10.2009

tornado

Wow, and I thought our weather was crazy... look at this!:


Tornados always amazed me. I used to have nightmares about them when I was a kid. Always the same, I was out traveling down one of our country roads when tornados would start coming down from the sky all around me. Every way I turned there would be one, and I would never be able to find a place to hide. I always woke up scared, but exhilerated!

Oh to be a part of the Vortex2 project, I can't even imagine how amazing that experience must have been! I watch the weather channel every morning to see what's in store, and I've been following the Vortex2 updates... this is definitely the coolest!

6.09.2009

happenings

So you know the weather is bad when your outdoor loving pup runs out into the yard, turns around and hightails it straight back to the gate to try and get back indoors! Seriously, the weather this morning was crazy! The lightning was so close, and the thunder kept making Daisy jump. Not to mention the torrential rain! I had to force her to go pee before I would bring her back in, then it took two towels to dry her off!

It's easing off now, but hot damn was it something when I left home.


Something, right? Severe thunderstorm warnings and flood warnings. Even with my umbrella, I'm soaked from the knees down.
At least, despite the crazy weather today, here it is the second week of June and its still pretty mild! I'm not yet sweating my ass off everyday! I'll take that.

Anyway, that's enough about the weather... how about some weekend?

Can I tell you that I love Sonic? There is something about the novelty of having a chick on skates bring your food that makes chicken fingers and tatter tots so much better. And their slushies, tres yummy! Trav and I had a great time.

When we got back we had an extra roudy pup on our hands... her extra time with no one to play with made her that much more energetic.


Our "little" monster:

She's as long as me from butt to head now... thank god i have legs. ;-)

Saturday was my brother's graduation (as you probably noticed). For his graduation gift we put together a collection of items to help with dorm room survival. A brita for his mini-fridge, a hot pot, detergent, a carrier for bathroom stuff, tea, ramen, and anti-bacterial hand stuff... and we packed it all into a garbage can.

The ceremony itself was fine... not too long since there are only about 180 kids per class at our teeny high school (an aside, Ethan was #7 in class rankings!).




(We're not related at all, really.)

I did tear up some... especially when the one speaker read some stuff from Dr. Suess's All the Places You Will Go:

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

.... You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name [Justin] or [Ethan] or [Matt]
or [Molly or Stephanie, Ann or Pat],
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!


and quoted (of all people) Rod Stewart:

may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As youd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart youll always stay
Forever young, forever young


It was actually really sweet. Afterwards there were pictures outside and I checked out his diploma, class picture, and his varsity letter. That's right, my brother lettered in... wait for it, Varsity Debate! :-) Hehhehe... sorry. That just tickles me. He did so well on debate, and its such a great activity, I just never really thought of it as something you could letter in.
In anycase, next we headed to Gus' restaurant... the same restaurant we've eaten at for both of my graduations (high school and college). Dinner was great, then it was time to go our seperate ways... Trav & I home, mom & dad home, Ethan to two different graduation parties.

Sunday was lazy... I slept in until after 9, late for me, but man was I exhausted last week. We did lunch at Ro & Pat's and got to play with GG who is getting so big. That night we watche Slumdog Millionaire (finally!). What a great movie! I would recommend that tenfold, to anyone.

Yesterday it was back to the grind. With Jan out work has been busy, and overwhelming. I always appreciate what Jan does, but now more so then ever. I can't wait for her to return. The current plan is for next Monday! My fingers are crossed.

Well, I should get back to it... though it makes me exhausted just to think about all I have to tackle. Wish me luck!

6.06.2009

so proud

Today my "little" brother is graduating from high school. Its hard to even wrap my head around that. Hard to imagine that this little baby:

Has grown up into this handsome, funny, smart, sarcastic man:

I absolutely could not be more proud of him then I am right now.
He has become such an amazing person, so great to be around. When I see pictures of him and his friends, I get a little teary knot in my stomach. Its so neat to think about the guy he's become, and I can't wait to see all that he accomplishes at American this fall... and in all the years to come.

These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you*


Travis and I are heading up to Lehigh University this afternoon to watch him get his diploma. Then we'll head out to dinner with family. I'm sure I'll have pictures to share with you... and I'm sure I'll be teary eyed in most of them. He's embarking on such an amazing him in his life. And I can't wait to see it all through his eyes.

These are days
These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning*



Ethan,
Enjoy ever second of what is to come. The time flies by so quickly, and before you know it you'll be a grown up with a job and a mortgage (not that that is so horrible...). College is amazing and you will learn so much, not just from books, but about yourself. I'm a little jealous that you are just starting on this amazing time, I sometimes wish I could go back to it. But it will be even cooler, I think, to watch you experience it for the first time. Be open to all new experiences, with one eye to your goals. There will never be a time in your life quite like this one.

Congratulations on your graduation Ethan! We're so proud of you!


Love forever and ever.
Meegs & Trav




* Lyrics by 10,000 Maniacs (These Are Days).

6.05.2009

worth celebrating

Today is my best friend Babs' birthday.

My wonderful, spunky, fabulous Babwa. How I love this girl!! And I just hope that this coming year is even better for her then the past one. I know this lady has great things in store for her... and I hope you'll join me in wishing her an amazing birthday.

Happy Birthday my Babs, I love you!


In other celebratory news... tonight Trav and I are having a date night! :-) Or, at least, that's the current plan. We're going to the Sonic (our first time... we've been wanting to check out Sonic for ages, but the closest is about a 35 minute drive on 95), and I might just get dressed up. It's just a Sonic... but its something new and different! So why not make it a celebration!


Yesterday ended up being such a productive day. Busy, a bit stressful, but productive. Besides renewing my license (which was so fast! i was happy about that), I cleared anything the needed to be processed from Jan's mailbox and email, so its not waiting for her return, and worked on an upcoming program we're cosponsoring. I'm so glad that I have an intern coming (also from Lehigh) for Jan, Miyano, and I next week! So damn glad. I have a whole stack of things for her to file for Jan, and odds & ends for her to do for me so that I can not be bogged down in the small, nitty-gritty things anymore, and can get the big things done.


Today is rainy and cold. High of only 60... this is the weirdest spring. We get sweltering for a few days, then rainy and cold cold cold for a while. I don't mind though, at least I'm not sweating my ass off yet. :-) Well, I have to get back to it now. So much more to do!



Ps. Just for fun I took this quiz on facebook, and thought I would share the results... since I thought they fit me well. Vacation to South Dakota anyone?

Megan completed the quiz "What U.S. state do you belong in?" with the result South Dakota.
You prefer pine trees to palm trees, rivers to oceans, and mountains to skyscrapers. You pride yourself on your independence and open-minded attitude. You consider yourself extremely self-sufficient, but you have an extremely close-knit group of friends and family that you would do anything for. Everyone that knows you adores you and you have absolutely no enemies. You don't envy those with money, nice cars, or huge mansions, because you know that "the finer things" in life aren't material. You are extremely well-educated and will most definitely end up in a career that will make a difference in the world. Although you know you don't need to be in a relationship to be happy, you will be completely and entirely lovestruck by someone that is enamored by your inner beauty. . .

6.04.2009

frustrations

Yesterday was frustrating. I forgot my lunches for the rest of the week at home, got a ton more work piled on me, felt so unsure about where to start all this work that I ended up getting very little done, ran out to the store to grab something (and just to get out of the office for a few minute) to find that was the one thing the store didn't have... plus I ended my work day with a raging headache. It didn't help that I hadn't slept well the night before, nor for about three nights before that. I was scheduled to walk with Kate, my three-day buddy ("breast friend"), after work... and I found myself just wishing for rain so that I could just stay home and curl up on the couch!

It didn't rain however (though it looked super threatening all night, and it is raining today), so Kate and I met up. It ended up feeling great to just get out and moving. The air was cool and my head cleared up quickly.

Today seems to be better. Still so much work to do, but I slept well and remembered my lunches! And I'm about to take a break to run out and get my photo done for my drivers license renewal. Wish me luck... my last picture was good, but the one before that made me look like an escaped convict!! Tip for you all, do NOT wear an orange polo shirt to get your license picture taken! ;-)

6.03.2009

dreaming big and what if

I've had two friends come to me recently with big dreams that haven't found their match in real life. I, gentle readers, am an expert in this arena. I'm such a dreamer, a look-aheader, a next big thing girl. I'm always saying that things will be awesome when xyz. But it gets to you sometimes, as my two friends are finding, when the dreams you've had don't match the reality of your current situation. One friend is finding that her job is leaving her unfulfilled, and that the promise of what it could have been is going to need major supplementing. Another friend is finding that her marriage is harder then it ever has been before and she's measuring out what she imagined it would be vs. what it is vs. what else could be.

Yet another friend has been stuck in cycle of saying, "it will be better when..." So stuck there, in fact, that he forgot to see where he was right then and almost lost his marriage in the process. He's learning to embrace the day a bit more and see what he has, not just what will be.

It all really got me thinking about the reality of day to day vs. the dreams we carry for ourselves. My dreams and my reality are so divergent in some ways, yet pretty spot on in others. Its hard not to imagine that everything could be so perfect if only I could just change "this." You find yourself asking, Is this all there is? Would it be so much better to leave this behind, or is this really as good as it gets? If I stick it out will I find that perfection I'm looking for, or will I be missing the opportunity for something even better?

Ironically, for me, the fact that these friend's approached me with their what ifs, made mine fade away just a bit. When you are looking at the parts of your life that don't add up, its easy to imagine that everyone else is happier or more fulfilled then you are... but the fact is, we all have these question, we all have these doubts, and we all have a part of our life that could use some improvement. And just because I have these thoughts as well doesn't mean that my life, my marriage, my job isn't good... or isn't where I am supposed to be.

Ahh, perspective.

What do you do when you have your moments of "my life isn't supposed to be like this?!"?

6.02.2009

low-key

I would do my normal "weekend wrap up" but honestly our weekend was so low-key that there almost isn't anything to write about. We went out for an impromptu sushi dinner on Friday, I had a hair trim on Saturday, and walked with Ro on Sunday. That's mostly it. Trav did manage to give me the worst night's sleep on Saturday night, with three wakings... but that's not worth writing about really... and it wasn't on purpose. Otherwise it was a lot of relaxing, playing with puppy, movies, reading, hockey. And more grilling, of course.

I can't believe May is over already. Where is this year getting to?

Last night was more of the same. Playing with the pup, relaxing. Got to see some pictures from Tally's wedding (beautiful!!).

Jan is doing better. Still sore and tired, but feeling a little better everyday. She was hopefully going home yesterday afternoon, but I haven't heard the update yet... so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

And that's all I have for now. There is so much work for me to do... I need to run. But something more tomorrow, I promise.

6.01.2009

today, in israel:


Congratulations on your wedding day Tally & Sam!
Hope the day is beautiful, and that you have years and years of beautiful days to come!