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My husband started his own blog. Feel free to take a look!

Grease, Gas and Wildfire

Happy Birthday to my mommy!

Today my mom turns the big five-oh. Happy Birthday! I know she's hoping for the ultimate birthday present (a grandbaby), but as of right now, I don't see that happening. There's still 12 hours left in the day though!

5 years down - many, many more to go

Five years ago today, it was cold (but not bitter), snowy (but only a little), and hectic, beautiful, and wonderful all at the same time. Our families and frieds all (jokingly) complained about us getting married in the middle of winter, but we ski. We met skiing, we got engaged skiing, and we wanted to go skiing on our honeymoon!

It's been a great five years - yes, we've had ups & downs (especially the last year), but in a few weeks, we will have a new little challenge to overcome - and I'm sure we'll do just fine.

Less than a month to go!

I know it's been a while since I've last posted, and for that - I'm sorry. I've been busy, not so busy, and just plain lazy lately. Let's see if I can cram all the updates into this one post :-).

Christmas
My Christmas was pretty much uneventful - my family did presents on Christmas Eve, which freed Justin and I up to drive to his mom's on Christmas Day. Both of my sisters stopped by, and about the only thing I can complain about is that my youngest sister, Nikki, gave me totally rude presents. Back around Thanksgiving, she called me and asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her a maternity sweater in size XL. If it looked too small, then she could get a 1x, but XL should be just fine. What did she get me? A red shirt and a red fleece jacket with Tigger on it (I'm not a big fan of Pooh either), in SIZES 3X!!!!! Regular sizes! Hell, my regular size is just XL (maybe 2x depending on the chest area). Thanks so much. Luckily she left the tags on, and I had mom take them back to Walmart and return them for store credit. His family's Christmas was the day after, and his mom's gift to everyone was a family photo. Just what I always wanted when I'm 32 weeks pregnant... to stand in the front row with my hands under my belly, and try to look happy about it. Thanks so much MIL... At least I had a cute outfit to wear.

Dec 29 was my first visit at my new OB's office. We got our family history's redone, and then Justin got to see me depants and get my cervix checked. Fun fun. "Nice to meet you too, Doc!"

New Years'
Justin and I didn't do anything - we drove back to the house in Ohio, got Chinese food, and about 10:30, I fell asleep on the couch. I did wake up around 11:30, and got to see the ball drop.
(Then we went to bed). [we're such party animals]

The guy came from VW to inspect my car the next day, since it's due back by Feb 28. (I'm not going to keep it). The only thing I have to pay for is the damn $219 dent my sister got in my car, back when she was using it to drive to work when she lived with us. I'll never see that money, so I'll just chalk it up to experience... as in, I'm experienced in not letting her use ANYTHING of mine, nor will I ever feel comfortable leaving my baby alone with her.

I got a call on Jan 9 from my new Dr's office, saying they FINALLY got the rest of my records from TN, and oh yeah, I do have gestational diabetes (the test was a freaking MONTH ago!!!) When I went back to the dr's office on Jan 13, I talked to the OB and asked for a retest. They didn't even know how much solution I had drank for the 3 hour test (75g), so they thought my numbers were inflated, and they're not, but even though I went for the retest, I still have to monitor my sugars. At least I got to go through the holidays eating sugar, but now I'm concerned that if I really DO have it, that there could be issues with the baby, since it went unchecked for a whole month. When I called the OB office to get my prescription for the test strips and lancets, they said my repeat 3 hour looked good, but I'm not going to hold my breath until after my appointment Tuesday when I talk to the Dr again.

I really hate having to prick my fingers 4x a day, monitoring how much I eat and when, and oh yeah, I have to check my ketones in the morning (it's a pee test. If you get up several times in the night to pee, just when is the "first" morning pee???) The worst part is my stepdad has a sweet tooth and he keeps asking me when I'm going to make him dessert. Yeah, I'm going to torture myself by making dessert when I can't eat it myself. Sure. Keep dreaming, dad.

We did get an apartment though! We won't be able to move into it until after the 1st of February, but that's ok. We're allowed to move stuff in beforehand, so I put all my baby shower stuff in there, and we moved some kitchen stuff in already. This weekend we have our birthing class, a friend's birthday party, and then will be driving to the house (hopefully with our friend Paul) to get a bunch of furniture in both trucks and bring as much back as we can. Next Saturday (Jan 31) is our 5 year wedding anniversary, so I doubt we'll get much moving done then.

I'll try to do my next post soon, and write about the baby shower.

Erie Trip, Part 2 (and one month late)

So yeah, burghbaby's mom gave me a smackdown for leaving everyone hanging. I can't help it that I'm just one lady and people at work seem to forget that (dammit).

But, hey, good news - I'm past the incredibly-tired-all-the-time stage (at least for the next 3 months), so I have more energy to post... but not necessarily more topics. :-)

Any way, let's see... where did I leave off...? Oh yeah.
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So the next day (that Friday), we woke up, got showered and whatnot, and went to lunch. Justin got a chicken parm with spaghetti, and I got a club wrap. I took ONE bite of that club wrap, and all I could taste was bacon, and it was NOT good. I sat there, turned around so I could check to make sure I knew where the bathroom was, and patiently waited and willed myself to not puke. After about 10 minutes, I felt a little better, but was not going to try my wrap again. I managed to eat some of Justin's spaghetti with no more problems. We then got the puppies and headed out to Erie.

Once in Erie, we went to Target and looked at some of the baby stuff. I found a little baby bib that said "I love Grandpa," and got a tiny gift bag to put it in. We then went to my parents house, where my mom made dinner and then I gave dad his presents. First, I gave him his bocce set, then I gave him the tiny bag. He pulled it out, held it up BACKWARDS, and my mom saw it first. She screamed, then exclaimed, "You're pregnant?" then jumped up and gave me a hug. This will be their first grandchild (I'm the oldest of 3 girls), and they couldn't be happier.

My baby sister, Nikki, came over with her boyfriend, and dad mis-heard mom (she said "DON'T tell Nikki"), and she started yelling in the house, "AMBER! Why didn't you tell me!?" Silly girl, I had just found out myself!

Saturday, Justin and I went up to the Arbys' that my other sister, Becky, works at, and she bought us lunch and talked for a bit. She doesn't have a house phone, so that's pretty much the only time I see/talk to her.

The rest of the weekend, we just hung out, went to Presque Isle to watch the sunset, then stopped and ate good ice cream sundaes. We took my mom dinner of subs from a local sub place. I ate half my sub, then it promptly came back up (and dammit, I love those subs!). On Tuesday, the day I was heading back, mom took me to Cleveland to drop me off at the Airport, and we stopped and picked up my friend Kristen to get together for lunch, and give her her birthday present. We went to another sub place, and that one didn't stay down either. So, it appears the baby doesn't like subs. Justin got the other half for his lunch the next day.

The flight was uneventful, although the walkway is sooooooooo long when carrying my carryon bag. I guess if I fly again, I'll have to start checking my bag (good thing I fly Southwest, so it's still free), as it's too heavy for me to carry all over the airport.

Erie Trip, Part 1

Well, last weekend I spent 5 days in Erie/Cleveland (mostly in Erie), and it was great! The weather was warm enough for me to wear shorts if I felt like it, or jeans if I didn't, and I wasn't freakishly overheated like I am in the south. I mean, I was able to sit outside on my parents' deck and enjoy the sun!


Any way, this post starts with my flight North from Nashville to Cleveland, and ends when I get tired of writing any more :-).


Date: Thursday evening, August 28, 2008
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I was excited to be heading north to see my husband, especially since the last time I had seen him was over the 4th of July. I got in line to board the plane (I always fly Southwest), and ended up getting a window seat (my favorite). These two guys sat next to me, and apparently they had been drinking in one of the lounges for a few hours beforehand, but they weren't annoying drunk, they were funny drunk. Right off the bat, they started talking to each other about one of the flight attendants that looked like the transvestite Lucy from Rat Race (but with YELLOW hair):
I could tell they were betting on whether the FA was a heshe or just a very manly woman, and I started snickering. They realized I knew what they were talking about, and we started talking.

The one guy apparently flies a lot, and he had a bunch of complimentary drink tickets. He asked me if I drank and I got all confused. I answered, "Yes," but then I had to amend it and said, "oh, but I can't." He figured it out, so I told them the story about our situation, and when the non-Lucy FA came by, he asked her if they had anything for "baby's first flight." I ended up getting a set of plastic wings, a certificate, and a luggage tag. :-) Towards the end of the flight, the FA asked me what my name was, and I was a bit leary, but gave it to her any way. Right before we got off the flight, she came over the loudspeaker, made me raise my hand, and told the entire plane that I was newly pregnant and on my way to tell my husband. Talk about embarassing!

I met Justin (and the puppies!) outside of the airport, and we went to Applebee's in Steelyard Commons. Since it was relatively late on a weeknight, it wasn't all that busy, and we got a big booth. We sat down and just ordered appetizers, since I wasn't all that hungry. We chatted for a bit, then I got up and sat next to him with my camera. I started looking at some pics on the screen, and started showing him some (the network room at work, my messy office, etc). When I got to the last 2 pics on the camera, I just showed him the first one (see previous post), then the second one. Justin's eyes kind of glazed over, and I just looked at him and waited for a response. He just kind of looked at me and said something about us not having a house in Erie yet (so?!?) But, that's my husband - he always looks at things in the most negative manner first. It's probably due to his job, where he has to look at machines for failures and stress points, etc (he's a Mechanical Engineer). He doesn't even like looking at roller coasters, because he just sees them breaking apart, etc.

Shortly afterward, I sent him my crappy cell phone pic of my test and he forwarded it to all of his family that has cell phones, plus two of his friends. Immediately he got a text back from his one friend, Paul, who said, "you better not be f-ing with me, because it's late." He then hit his head on the table he was under (why was he under a table? I have no idea - I'm sure he'll leave a comment and let us all know :-) ).

We finished eating, then went home for the night. I'll continue with the rest of the weekend (a shorter version than this, I hope) in my next post.

BIG changes ahead!

Last Wednesday, I took a trip to the local pharmacy and perused the pregnancy test section. I chose a 2pack of EPT traditional tests, which also came with a free digital test (oooh).



I went home and took the first test (I had to pee any way).

As you can see, I wasn't too sure about the horizontal line, as it seemed lighter... so I (im)patiently waited until morning, then took the digital test.
Well, as you can see, with the digital tests, it's either yes or no - there's no "maybe."

So! I figure that I'm about 9-11 weeks along, based on when Justin and I have visited, which makes me due around my birthday at the end of March.

My next post will talk about how I broke the news to Justin and my parents :-).

Erie, PA

Well, I've been back in Erie, PA for a few days now, and I have to admit - it's NICE being able to enjoy summer without air conditioning or practically passing out each time I've braved the outdoors down south. I can actually sit outside and play ball with my dog, or have a nice glass of local cider (mmm cider...) on the porch without melting.

I can't wait to move back, even though the Almanac is calling for a more difficult and snowy winter than normal - but I LOVE snow, even though I won't be able to fully enjoy it this winter.

Guess I'm going to have to think of a new name for my blog now... any ideas? :-)

Home visit

Well, tonight I'm going to drive up to Nashville, hop onto a SouthWest flight, and an hour and a half later, see my hubby! I'll be in Ohio/PA until Tuesday afternoon, when I have to come back here, but rest assured, I'll be back more often until I finally am able to move back to PA at the end of December/beginning of January. (There's been a new development that's moved my timetable up. - I'll tell ya later).

While I'm home, I'm hoping to eat plenty of buffalo wings, italian subs (I swear, Erie, PA is the best place in the WORLD for italian subs), Wendy's, Arby's, and Dairy Queen while I'm there. I'll probably come back 20 pounds fatter (which I do NOT need more fat, thankyouverymuch). But hey, it's good food, and I need it!

Oh, I'm also going to wish my stepdad a very happy birthday (tomorrow), and give him this awesome present:
http://www.brookstone.com/store/product.asp?product_code=586115&search_type=search&search_words=led%20boccee&prodtemp=t1&cm_re=Result*R1C1*T

My parents *LOVE* playing bocce, but they don't usually start until the evening, and by then it's getting dark, and hard to see the green and red balls. I figure this will be a great present for him!

30 minutes till I leave work and play hooky!

Aunt Rita

Justin called me and let me know that his Aunt Rita (his mother's sister) passed away around 3:20pm eastern this afternoon. Her health was failing (due to smoking like a chimney for so many years), but her mind was very much there. She decided she didn't want to be on a pressurized oxygen machine, so she told the doctors to give her morphine and take her off of all oxygen. While it was a tough choice to make, it was the best one for her, since she absolutely hated the oxygen machines.