Would you forgive me love / If I danced in your shower So I suck at updating. Welcome to my life, dears.
Brianna is walking. And has a tooth. Both of these things are awesome and also scary. The good news? we mostly weaned before the appearance of said tooth.
Also, she has given up on formula. She weaned her own sweet self onto cows milk, which is early, earlier than I had intended, but I'm rolling with it. I'm just trying to make sure she gets enough iron - and we'll all be good.
And she's eating table food like it's going out of style. She took down an entire happy meal Sunday night, while we were killing time waiting to see if Chad was going to get admitted to the hospital overnight - long story. The point is, she's only 10-months old, and ate 4 chicken nuggets and all her fries. And drank 8 oz of milk. There is no way a child that small should be able to hold that much, lol.
I did NaNoWriMo this year. I didn't win, but i came really close - 43000 words or so. I blame my being sick, and out of town for the last weekend in Nov for not winning. But it was a pretty good experience overall, at any rate.
Getting ready for the Great Christmas Tour - with an added complication of a 10-month-old added to the already crazy 12+-hour drive with dog and cat and presents. If you want to get together whilst we are back home - let me know, and we'll see what we can do.
Also, Brianna will have a new little cousin (on her Daddy's side) sometime this month. Probably sooner rather than later. We're looking forward to meeting him!
There are other things, but my mind is mushy. Being sick (all the time) sucks, and I'm hopping to be done with it soon. (Probably just in time to create another germ carrier to make us sick all the time, lol).
And I want to lay my head down on you Edit (1/16): Apparently, it doesn't count if you don't hit "publish". So this has been sitting as a draft for like a week. Ha.
I'm still pregnant. Which isn't surprising, as I'm not quite 38 weeks (so depending on who you ask, I've either been full term for a few days, or I'll be full term on Sunday). But I'm about done. All my joints are swollen (had to take my watch off today... my wrists have swollen that much), and I'm super cranky, and I'm tired all the time. It's kinda annoying. So here's hoping the baby come early. I'll be trying anything (uh... anything I deem safe? I suppose) to coax the little one out in the next week or two. Not only am I seriously uncomfortable and tired of being pregnant...
I'm actually pretty scared of induction at this point. I mean, in some ways it's silly, as it happens all the time, people do it every day... but the thought of pumping chemicals into my body to induce contractions (not to mention the harder labor) seems much scarier to me than say, having my water break while I'm waddling around Wal-Mart (which is also scary). Plus, I've known 4 women who've been induced in the last 9 months - all at different hospitals - and they've all ended up with c-sections. For various reasons, mind you, not all the typical "failure to progress" that's often related to inductions. But still. Scary stuff. That being said, all the mommies and babies came through fine, so it's all good in the end... but I'm trying my hardest to avoid a c-section at this point (at least until the doctor says it's needed, anyway).
This child will not sleep through the night. I mean, we were going good for a while, but the last few nights have been kinda rough... I've been up and down all night, trying to soothe a child that I can't even really touch and coax him/her to stop throwing dance parties while I'm supposed to be sleeping. Last night was a little better, but still... this does not bode well for sleeping through the night later. At least at this point, the silence and lack of crying means that I'm the only one that's awake (in theory... Chad hasn't slept well, either, and I think it may have something to do with my restlessness).
I have had the most bizarre baby-related dreams lately (when the baby has let me sleep, that is). For instance. A couple of weeks ago, I dreamed that Angelina Jolie and I went to a spa. The kind with pink fuzzy bathrobes and everything. And we got pedicures and talked about being mommies. (Seriously. Who dreams of stuff like that?). Last night, I dreamed the baby was about the size of my cell phone, and I kept losing track of where it was - because, as it turns out, Chad kept stuffing it in the pocket of his trench coat. To replace his broken yo-yo, he said (yeah, I don't know either). Later in the dream, I tried to nurse the baby (because it had somehow morphed to normal size), but my boobs fell off. (Sorry... that might have been TMI, but in retrospect, it was pretty funny).
Work is crazy right now, as I'm trying to get a ton of stuff done before I go out on leave, which could be any day, but will probably be in like, two weeks or so. That level of uncertainty is a little unsettling for everyone, and to make it worse the girl who was supposed to take over some of my bigger day-to-day duties... is stuck in China right now, because some lawyer somewhere forgot to fax some paper to someone, and the end result is she's waiting on a visa to come back. It may well be after I leave that she gets home, and some of the tasks will be difficult for her to do so far removed from the office. So yeah, there's some amount of panic. (Not on my part, though, since I'll be gone for the worst of it. Ha!). Plus, something in the server just broke, and the sys admin is AWOL, and no one else can fix it. So there's more panic, as I'm the link between our group and the sys admin, so we're hoping she gets back to me soon.
My parents are flying in on February 2 (yet another good reason not to have the baby late...) Which will be nice, as we'll get to visit, but crazy, as I'll be dealing with a newborn and house guests and even less sleep, and I might have to remove the flash from my mother's camera so she doesn't blind the poor kid. :-) Between now and then, I have to figure out whether my dad can negotiate the stairs or if he and mom will need to sleep downstairs, if downstairs, where the mattress will fit, and how to keep the animals off of it.
It's a long wait for the turning clock Another seven quick takes (I'm totally not original ATM. sorry?). And also, (for those of you who don't like that sort of thing) sorry for the fact that it's mostly baby news - seriously, it's the all consuming thing in my life right now, so if it weren't for that I wouldn't have any blog fodder.
I am ready for Christmas. I have all my shopping done, all the gifts to my family mailed, and the last of the non-family gifts get mailed today (they will be a little late... sorry). I have everything wrapped, and expect for a couple of small stocking things, I'm not waiting on any more packages. Yay!
My boss organized a surprise baby shower for me this week, which was awesome. Now I have more baby stuff, including some stuff to decorate the nursery. Yay!
That same day, I got a huge box of baby stuff from William and Kim. Because they are awesome. Now I'm goign to spend Christmas week trying to organize this stuff, so I can find it all when I need it.
Went to the baby doctor yesterday, and it looks like the baby is already starting to drop. Which doesn't mean that it will come early, but means that things are moving in the right direction at least. We go in for an ultrasound on Christmas Eve, to get an idea of the baby's size and position. Yay! If the baby is big, we have to figure out the best course of action (induce early? c-section? tough it out?), and if the baby isn't big, I have to figure out why I've gained 50 pounds, and what I'm going to do with the extra weight when I'm no longer pregnant, lol.
I started this pregnancy with the greatest ideals... no induction unless there's a serious medical reason, no c-section except for the same, and I absolutely would not have them induce me early unless it was a life-or-death thing. Somewhere along the way, though... I got tired. And now I'm like... "OMG, big baby? Sure, induce. Tomorrow would be awesome. Unless you can do it today. Do you think cutting the kid out of me would be better?" Not that I think it will come to that... but I'm just tired. I'm tired of being tired all the time, and of not being able to tie my own shoes, or walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing, or get up from a chair without doing some weird back bend thing to rearrange my center of gravity. And I want to eat a rare steak. And some sushi. But it'll be like, a seriously long time before I can do either - maybe for Christmas next year or something. Blah.
I go to Babies R Us this weekend to get the last big piece of baby furniture (I have good coupons, yay!) - this one's a dresser / changing table. And I'll put off buying everything else until after my shower at church on the 4th :-)
My family, and possibly Chad's family, will be in in early February, which will be nice (but also interesting, as they may be here at the same time, and there could be interesting family dynamics there). And yeah, I'm a little nervous about my mother's parenting style clashing with mine, and the same for my mother-in-law. Hopefully, I'll make it through the visit without being told that I'm doing it wrong (in my head, this is said lolcat style: UR DOIN IT WRONG!). We shall see.
Head over to Conversion Diary if you want to read more seven bullet updates from random people, lol.
I can't find the words to pray / I'm a little down today So I've been really quiet, which is typical - and yet not typical. There has been a lot going on, but long story short, I haven't had to words to explain anything, or the emotional capacity to think through everything enough to find the words. But I'm working on it now, so this will probably be a long long post... it's been a long time coming.
So. Being pregnant. It hasn't been that bad, although I've whined a lot about it to anyone who's gotten too close to me (mostly Chad, though, as I've kind of withdrawn a bit from the rest of the world). Everything is progressing well, the baby is growing great, and the doctor seems happy with all my tests for now. The two biggest problems have been my tiredness... I'm super tired all the time, and can't seem to get enough sleep no matter what. And my emotions. Which is part of why I've withdrawn a bit... when spilling french fries or breaking a nail makes me cry, I have little reserves left to deal with people. And their problems. Or even my own problems.
My dad had a stroke about a month ago. It took the doctors like, three days to figure it out, so by the time they got around to "fixing" it, it was pretty bad. He was in the hospital for more than a week, then went home with no feeling in his right hand, trouble walking, an inability to read at all, some mild confusion, and vision loss on his right side. And a pretty serious case of depression. After a couple of weeks at home, and starting physical therapy, and improving a little... he had another stroke. This one has left him much more confused... I've talked to him a half dozen times in the last week, and every time he asks me at least twice when the baby is due. He's not always sure why he's in the hospital, or even where he is. They moved him from the regular hospital (where he's been for a week) to the rehab hospital late last week, and they're working him pretty hard there. It doesn't look like he'll be going back to work. Mom's holding up pretty well, but she's really starting to wear thin. She's trying to decide whether to switch jobs to make a little more money and keep better insurance, or to keep her current job (which she's only marginally happy with). Since she's the sole breadwinner for the time being, at least, she feels like she's under a lot of pressure.
This has caused me a great amount of stress aver the last month, as I'm not exactly in a position to drop everything and run to Huntsville to help out, and not in an emotional state to really be much help even if I went. Practically speaking, I have 6 days of vacation left for the year. To match Chad's time off at Christmas, even though we aren't traveling, I'll need five of those. That leaves one lonely vacation day. Chad and I have talked about going home over a weekend... driving in to Huntsville on Friday, picking up a U-Haul trailer to hold stuff we need to bring back, and coming back through Memphis - arriving home Monday, having spent about 24 hours with each set of parents, and about 30 hours on the road. This, you might have noticed, takes two vacation days, which puts me short at Christmas, which I think at this point is inevitable. Add to this the complication that there's a wedding in Huntsville in early November that I'm kind of expected to attend (except it's not really a wedding, I suppose, but that's another story). Plus, the longer we wait, the more uncomfortable I'll be traveling. And thus the more whining Chad will have to endure on the drive.
So the long and short of this becomes... when do I go home? Later, to meet family obligations to attend a wedding, and when my dad might be a little better (if he doesn't get worse)? Or earlier, when I can (possibly) be more help, and will be more comfortable, but will miss the other family events?
Blah. To complicate this even more, I'm not sure my folks will be here for Thanksgiving, as I'm not sure they'll have the money to travel, or that Dad will be well enough to travel. And since I can't go home at all in December or January, that was supposed to be Christmas for us. And I don't know if my mom will be able to come out for as long as she was planning to in February to help with/see the baby. And Chad's parents haven't made any plans to come visit us before the end of the year, or after the baby comes (they will, I'm sure, but no plans yet). So me going home is my big chance to visit, until I'm able to travel with the baby, which will be like, the middle or end of March, at best.
So yeah, words have failed me lately. Life, it seems, goes on day by day, regardless of everything else. And day to day, life isn't all that bad. It when you lump all the days together that it starts to get overwhelming, I guess.
So, being 80 million miles away from home, I miss out on some of the good family drama. And some of the bad family drama, actually. Come to think of it, it probably evens out.
Hey girl it's me I just called to tell you hi We have 9 teachers that teach regularly. There are 9 levels of hell. We're in the river Phlegethon at the moment. ~Mandie, about one of her classes
Um... when did my siblings get old enough (educated enough?) to randomly (yet meaningfully) throw obscure culture references into conversation? It's funny. Yet I feel old. *sigh*
We'll love you just the way you are / If you're perfect I think I'm finally done Christmas shopping. For the most part. I *think*. Sheesh. I don't think it's quite Christmas in my head yet, despite the fact that I've sung the Christmas Tree song to the tree every time Chad has turned it on (and Chad is counting the days until he can ban that song for another 11 months). I'm hoping I'll feel more like Christmas when I get back to Memphis/Huntsville, where it's cold, and everyone is wearing sweaters and stuff. "Going home" for Christmas kind of helps set it apart from the rest of the year... there's something about pulling into the driveway after a long trip when it's dark and freezing cold, and being greeted by family and (warm!) food that always makes me feel like Christmas.
And then, you know, the family drama catches up with you, and then it *really* feels like Christmas. You know what I mean. You can't have a family gathering without at least a strong undercurrent of this kind of drama. And since I only come home a couple of times a year.... it all hits at once.
So what did I accomplish this year, from my family's perspective?
I once again failed to produce grandchildren for my parents (through lack of trying on my part, which makes them sad).
I left school, which is probably good, since I was getting too educated for my own good (or something like that). In any case, they're pretty sure this should hasten the arrival of grandchildren.
I sold out to the corporate man, and work for the devil. Which might not hasten the arrival of grandchildren. Since I'm now a "career woman". And stuff.
In all seriousness, I think my parents are more or less proud of me. But they make no secret of the fact that they would be *prouder* if they had pictures of grandchildren to show off. Because that's what it's all about, in the end. Or something.
Still sorting out life but I'm doing alright It's 9pm, and I'm actually thinking about just going to bed. How freakin' lame is that?
It has been a crazy week, though... or couple of weeks... geez, a month? the summer? Suffice it to say, the craziness abounds.
Chad's schedule has been crazy, doing ISTs and other cool acronyms... which has given me a couple of evenings to chill, and have the house to myself. This is in theory pretty cool, but I have yet to figure out how to make it work. For instance, Monday night I reviewed a list of things that Manda suggested doing the last time she had the house to herself... and ended up doing none of the listed things, and instead watching City Confidential, followed by crappy reality TV (WifeSwap), followed by a really odd documentary type show about a family that has 13 kids and only spend $150 a week at the grocery store. I got some cleaning done in there, too, but mostly just watched crappy TV.
Tonight I watched City Confidential, and then got sucked into a documentary about a serial killer who eventually got caught and put on death row, but they never found half the people he killed... yeah. Really healthy TV habits. But I got some other cleaning stuff done, read the first couple of chapters of a book someone lent me, and now I'm ready to call it a night I guess...
In other news, starting September 1 I'll be a real full time employee at Landmark, doing usability and like, getting paid and stuff. And benefits. Like a real person. Isn't that amazing?
In other other news, apparently my brother tore his rotator cuff at work... so now instead of stocking produce, he's greeting people at the door. So if you happne through the Sparkman Drive Wal-mart between 4am and noon (no clue what days), you should wave at him and stuff.
And for the record, I'm not terribly fond of hurricanes. Phenomenal cosmic (destructive) power aside, the build up is annoying. And people freak out, and panic, thus causing other people to panic, and it's not fun. I like tornadoes better. They destroy smaller areas, they don't tend to come with floods, and you only have a few minutes to panic and freak out.
That being said, we have an evacuation plan, and I have now put my finger on everything we would need to take with us (a surprisingly small list, really, which makes me wonder... why do we have so much other stuff?).
Anyway. I'm falling asleep whilst typing, which is always bad. I'm going to quit fighting it, and go to bed, which is pretty sad, actually).
Got up on the wrong side of life today... I'm in a really odd, kind of rant-y mood today. No idea why. Really. These are (a few) of the random things that have bothered me today:
The word data is plural. Data is literally a bunch of "things" not just one. So why do we say "the data is on the server" as opposedto "the data are on the server"? You would never say "The dogs is onthe porch" (unless you were from some geographic regions, in which case you probably aren't concerned with whether data is singular or plural.
Why is the world so concerned with having "stuff"? You know, things, stuff, toys, items that you don't need that cost extra money and then you may or may not use them... I'm fast becoming less of a "stuff" person (we'll assume books don't count, here). I'm really tired of the materialism, the "how much do you make?" implying that making more money makes you more valuable as a person. And when did living within your means go out of style?
I think the pop-up previews that outlook puts up when you get a new message are the worst invention ever. Not because I don't use them.... I do, all the time. But because too many people overuse them. Read the whole e-mail before you respond, not just the one line that displays. I try to keep it short, but really, you could take the time to read it.
Scrum uses the most bizarre terminology ever. I dislike being dubbed a "chicken" (although the alternative title, "pig", wasn't much better). And what are "sprints", anyway? Why can't they call them "iterations", like everyone else?
I'm annoyed by "news" that isn't newsworthy (imho). Bridges collapsing = news. Pregnant celebs choosing county lockup over city lockup != news. Especially when the story ran yesterday, and was rewritten (with no new information) for today's news. Stuff like this is what clogs up the tubes of the intarweb. Srsly.
I really hate the term "starting a family". Um, I already have a family started, yo. Chad + Deedee = family. If someone asked me, "do you have any family?" I would say, "yes, I'm married, my parents/siblings live in Alabama, and my in-laws live in Mississippi". Not "no, I haven't got around to starting one yet".
And since that rounds out six points, I will stop ranting.
Christmas in Huntsville So... made it to Huntsville. Had christmas with the cousins. Fixin' to get some sleep, then tomorrow have christmas with the parents/siblings, eat yummy breakfast (biscuits and gravy, and Robbie is cooking the gravy... mmmm), eating yummy lunch (grilled cheese, cooked by Mandie), and eating yummy dinner (ham, which will claim to be cooked by mom but will relaly be cooked by a joint effort of the entire family, minus mom, who will boil some water or something). Have you noticed a theme here? :-)
Should be relatively free on the 28th, 29th, and 30th (although we're taking family pictures sometime in there, and we still have christmas with one grandmother to schedule). Leaving on the 31st.
While we pray to the god of the lesser things... I talked to my mom last night... which is always interesting. Apparently, Chad and I have caused a stir with the relatives (that is to say, my dad's relatives) by not planning to be in Huntsville on December 25th. So now, the whole world (which is to say, the Glasscocks, the Jacksons, and the Cambpells) is in an uproar, and Christmas is in the process of being moved. To some unknown time. I have an equation for this...
(5 Glasscocks + 5 Jacksons + 2 Campbells + 2 Hammons) = (10 fulltime jobs + 4 part time jobs + 3 full time students + 1 business owner + 5 sets of in-laws) = impossible to find a time when we can all be together.
My mother seesm to think I really have my life in order, too, which is funny... I guess she just sees her little girl, grown-up, married, owning a house and going to school somewhere that no normal person can afford (hell, I can barely afford it, and I'm not paying tution). And I see... I don't know. Someone who's still wondering how she got a license to be a "grown-up" in the first place... I mean, who really thought that was a good idea? Someday, someone will figure out that I'm really a little kid running around pretending to be a grown-up... and they will revoke my grown-up card. And then where will I be?
I guess talking to my mother makes me introspective or something... who knows.
So I finished my final paper for I/O at like, 11:30 or so last night. Yay for meeting deadlines (by the skin of my teeth, but still). And now I have to go turn it in... this is the last week of class. Yay! (or something).
Um.... yeah. interesting image from PostSecret, sums up my thought on lots of things.
And the lyrics (or portions of them) from the song I took my title from.... one my mind since the wind has been blowing like crazy (cold wind, too.... brrrr).
It looks a lot like givin' up Peace we bring is a bitter cup Set our bodies down like offerings While we pray to the god of lesser things
If the wind should shake this house apart The cradle hits the ground with a broken heart Will we say we never knew a thing? While we pray to the god of the lesser things
Ash to ash and dust to dust Steel on steel or rain to rust What mortal breath blood money brings Forth from the altar of the lesser things ~ Jars of Clay
Ran to Huntsville for like, 30-something hours. Saw my sister graduate. And came home. (Also saw David and Nichole for like, 20 minutes... the only thing we chose to do all weekend) :)
Then spent a Saturday at Sixflags (while trying not to die of the worst head cold evar). Had an ok time, ate a corn dog (yay for corn dogs), and some cotton candy (but not as much as I wanted).
Friday, I'm going to a conference on Human Factors at Rice. The nSaturday we're going to Memphis, and we'll be ther until sometime Monday.
Rediscovered facebook. it is teh awesome. Found lots of old high school friends (and middle school friends, and elementary school friends)... having a good time messaging back and forth with them. Also re-connected with some college friends (or at least let them know I was still alive). Peer pressured Chad into being on facebook... working on some other people. :-)
I need more sleep, as usual, and more hours in the day.
Weekend Happenings So lots of stuff happened this weekend, which is interesting because nothing really happened this weekend...
We went to Memphis. And Chelsea turned 18. And we went out to eat... at which time Chad panicked his mother for like, 30 seconds, which was funny. We hung out with Brian, and watched Sky High (good), and ate out, and returned an iPod in hopes of getting a nano, only to discover that there are no Nanos anywhere in the south. And we played poker (and I won), and no one did any homework, really... And we visited with Krys and Manda, and ofught with the credit union, and brought home a cat who was living under Chad's mustang.
The cat has no name, yet. But we're working on that.
In other happy news, I wrote a lab for the class I'm teaching, and my instructor liked it a lot and -mail it to Dr. Reese, who used to teach the class before she was promoted to dean of education (or something like that), and she really liked it. And told me so. Yay.
And in sad news, we returned the Bose system, because it wouldn't play Indiana Jones. And wouldn't work with our current av devices, such as the playstation, or the media center. And htere was a part to mek it work, but it cost another $200, and if we installed it the system would no longer work with the TV. So we might get speakers, eventually, or something, but no Bose for us right now.
So Chelsea and Dusty came to visit for all of last week (Sunday through Saturday), which was awesome (and kept me from getting any real work done for an entire week). We ate out (until the fridge was replaced by a not-new working one), we took a walking tour of campus in the pouring rain, we played Magic (Chelsea andDusty taught me), we went to wal-mart at 2am (twice, I think)... all kinds of awesome things that we do on a regular basis in Starkville, that are made much more awesomer when other (non-Starkville) people participate. And we might get Chelsea down here in a year or so... maybe.
David and Nichole dropped in for the afternoon and visited and ate yummy Bulldog Deli desserts with me (which is great, because I seldom manage to go there and only get dessert...).
There is a chance that Hillary might be coming down this week (we don't know yet...) Which would be great... no idea what we'll do when she gets here, but we'll think of something, I'm sure.
And Big Mike is coming down Sunday night and satying for a couple of days... then he'll be back in August for school. Yay!
So yeah. fun stuff. anyone else who wants to visit, feel free to call or drop in :-)
So, we're in the middle of all this legal stuff, pressing charges against Butthead Neighbor Person, and looking for apartments, and lots of crap. Which is not really all that much fun... but it looks like there's a good possibility that the justice system will actualy work for us, which is unusual, but very good.
William is leaving for The Coast today... working a temp job at SAIC... luckily, both of our phones are free inside Mississippi, so we can still call and discuss life and the universe (and everything else, I suppose). But no more 1pm lunches in the Union :-(
In other news... I have lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks on this diet thingy. Which isn't too bad... if it keeps up, I should be back to "normal" (where I was last July) by like, the middle of August. I think I can handle it that long.
I finished all my finals... waiting for the grades to come in... crossing my fingers for the ever elusive 4.0 semester. I got an A in the class I was worried about, so I might have done it... no telling. It would be nice though... pull my graduate gpa up to something like a 3.8, make the president's list for the first time ever, feel warm and fuzzy...
Actually talked to my sister on the phone today. Which was cool, but a little strange... She's so not a phone person. But, she was in a good mood today... I guess? :-)
heh. I love Christmas break. No more spending my break rushing to drive siblings and parents to work at awful hours of the morning (and then go to work myself)... no, this year I stay up all night playing videogames... and sleep all day. Very very nice. I haven't had time to really play video games since.... before midterms. *sigh*.
And now the moment you have all been waiting for (or not)... my thoughts on Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Actually, I like it. Which is good, since i went through Hell, two Wal-marts and a Best Buy to get it (I am begining to think that hell and Wal-mart resemble each other somewhat...). But I digress. The new combat system.... is ok. I like it, I manage to kick butt with it (most of the time). I guess they couldn't manage the exploding menu thing from the first one on the GBA. But they worked the card system into the plot very nicely. The plot is also very cool, at least as far as I've gotten in it (I'm between the 10th and 11th floors, there are 13). And rumor has it that once I beat the game as Sora I can play the Riku part of the game (which is different than Sora's game). This makes me happy. As far as time spent... it's about an hour a floor for the lower floors, about an hour and a half for the upper floors so far, and about 15 minutes for the Winnie the Pooh floor. I think I've spent about 12 hours on my ten floors. All in all, I think the game is success (but not sure how well everyone else liked it... Chad hates the card system).
In other news, Chad and I are in Huntsville for another couple of days. We're leaving the 23rd or 24th. And we'll be going to Memphis for a week or so, then home... For school to start :-) (I have to finish Kingdome Hearts before then).
Anyway, gotta run now... need to like, visit with my family or something. :-)
Plans have changed, yet again. We will be extending our tour of Huntsville this week in order to replace / do repairs on parts of Chad's Intrepid's cooling system. Which failed today, though not spectacularly (like, nothing acutally blew up or melted, thank goodness). Car + repairs = -$$$. Sucks. But, it might not be too much, we hope, if the problem is what we think it is, which it might not be.
So. No spiffy cool setting up Linux boxes or rearranging the apartment for me tomorrow. Chillin in Huntsville. Not at the Holiday Inn, either. *sigh*. So, if you happen to be in Huntsville and are bored, call/e-mail and we might can hook something up. If you're in Starkville and you're bored... sorry? I'll be back in a few days :-)
On to local news: there are some cool new things apearing in Starkville this year... among them Lowes (where the old Wal-mart was... they leveled it... left Penny's and Kroger there, though)... and Zaxby's Chicken (which I might could convince Chad to try, although I'm sure it won't replace Abner's). And Mississippi has new driver's licenses. They are green. And I have one, with my new name and everything. And... um... that's about everything going on in the world of Starkville. School starts the 18th, which should be cool and all... I still need a job, but I might have something lined up the the ERC (engineering research center, not the teacher thing) :-) We'll see. I should know by the time school starts.
Chad's rejoining the band this year, which means a couple of cool things and a couple of "eh" things (but over all cool)... I get to go on the band trips and stuff, as it is mean to seperate married people and such... I've been offered some work down at the band hall if I really need it... I have an excuse to go to all the games (now if I have time....)... and we're spending Thanksgiving Day in Oxford. But... that doubles for a good excuse not to spend it with either family, and for me to cook a turkey and lots of other food on Wednesday. Yay!
Honeymoon. It was great. We spent a couple days in New Orleans, and ate lots of cool places... walked down Burbon Street a few times... hung out and enjoyed the creepyness of the town... and needed about another month to do everything we wanted to. I have pictures, and since I've got some down time, they may make it online pretty soon... we'll see. Then we got on a boat (read: ship), and had a great time there, too. We boarded at like, 1pm, and started eating, and finished eating about 9am the day we had to get off the boat. We ate a wonderful five course meal every night, shared a bottle of champange with our table the last night, ate breakfast and lunch at least twice every day, and drank so much diet coke and sprite it's a wonder we didn't float away. We spent a day in Cozumel, Mexico, which was awesome. We went snorkeling (cool), and scuba diving (really awesome!). Scuba diving pictures may be online, too, if I can get my new super spiffy scanner (bought with Best Buy gift cards from my Aunt Dorinne and the NASAexplores team) set up and scan them... then we went shopping, and brought home two bottle of Kahlua, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a huge block of Cadbury chocolate, various souvenier things for our siblings, color change nail polish (it really does change color in the sunlight, too!), shot glasses for Chad's collection, and a stone pig for mine. The alcohol was really the best deal, which is why Chad agreed to bring it home. :-) All in all, we had a wonderful time. And we were exhausted by the time we got back (because we weren't allowed to bring out LiveWire on the boat!), except we ended up driving up to Southaven, as they were still heming and hawing about painting the apartment. I think it's all done now, though...
And I have been drinking lots and lots of LiveWire, due to the four boxes of it in the office :-) Unfortunately, it's in the office in Starkville... and I'm not. No LiveWire for me. *sigh*
Anyway. I guess since I'm here for another day, I should go socialize with my family or something. ;-)
So. Wedding news up to this point. We have a Photographer. Yay. I have to run and put the deposit down today or tomorrow. I have a dress, shoes, petticoats, underwear, stockings, a veil, a tiara, a travelling outfit, and an entire box of stuff to wear on the honeymoon. We have a Unity candle, a guest book, and a fluffy feather pen. Two of the bridesmaids bouquets are done, and the other two are close... my bouquet is short one flower, and it'll be done. My Aunt has volunteered as wedding director, if we need one... and I'm going to take the pianist the music today. 9/10 of our invitations are out... I have to get more stamps today (and Chad need to get me the last 4 or 5 addresses). We have toasting glasses and serveware... We've ordered printed napkins. So what's left?
We need a cake. We need to fght with my mother about whether we're getting premade mints, or making them ourselves. We need programs, and program paper. We need to tie ribbions around all the bottles of bubbles. And there's one bridesmaid left that hasn't tried on her dress. and, closer to time, we need to order food trays. We also need plates and silverware, and cups, and pretty trays to put the food on.... and someone to put the food on the prety trays. And I think that's it.
We're making it. Slowly but surely. It's all coming together.
In other news, my brother got his drivers liscense... and my sister got her permit. But... Rob having his liscense means I don't have to get up at 5am any more... and i can make him drive places.
It looks like I may be in birmingham on Wednesday, just for the day (or, afternoon and evening)... I may be bringing both of my siblings, we'll see. Plans while I'm down there: Go to the cemetary, maybe squeeze in some shopping, eat dinner with William, and *Maybe* watch Harry Potter (finally).
Blah. Sorry I disappeared for a couple of days. Things have been wild here. I went to Memphis for the weekend, came back on Tuesday... then Chad and I tried to make wedding plans and reservations and stuff here...
And now I'm tired. I haven't had time to sit down in like, three days. I haven't spoken to very many people (except a couple of very short im conversations)... I haven't even had that much to say to my family. I've just done wedding stuff.
So. I'm going to bed early tonight. And going out shopping for shoes and stuff like that with my mother tomorrow. Yay.
Ok... back in huntsville, cooling my heels in town, trying to get wedding stuff done. Yeah.
Gripe of the moment: The entire world is on an Atkin's Diet kick.... low (or no) carb, high protien.... which is ok, I guess, for most people. But. As one of the apparently five people in the world *not* on the atkin's Diet.... enough. I am sick of eating out and being asked if I want to low carb alternative to my food, or whatever. Alcohol is even low carb now.... Bacardi and Diet Coke? I mean really. It is great that there are lots more low carb alternatives out there... I just am tired of them being in my face all the time. I want to be able to eat a bowl of pasta at a resteraunt without feeling guilty because it itn't labeled "smart eating" (like the 16-oz steak). Blah.
Anyway. Better now. If I can survive a week at home, I'll be doing great! :-)
I slept until like, 10am this morning. It was wonderful. When I got up, breakfast was ready... (actually.. that's probably what got me up)
S... plans for the day. Either: a) Prune trees all day long (need to find climbing shoes... don't think I can do it in boots) or b) work on my sewing/ other indoes stuff all day (I can stay in my jammies for this one!) We'll see what Daddy feels up to.
I'm back at school. Yay. My car is broke again. Not yay.
ok. So here's my life at the moment, in a nutshell:
Daddy is done with chemo. We think. For now. But we don't know, because the insurance is making a fuss about paying for another PET scan to find out how the cancer responded. At some point, in the future, after they decide it really is cost effective to pay for it... then he'll have the test, and find out whether he needs more chemo and whether he needs stronger (read: worse) chemo.
I have buttloads of stuff to do in the next three weeks. This week, I have a 20 page lab report to compile... like, tonight, so i can show the draft to the group tomorrow. And turn it in on Friday. Next week, I have at least one test, several homework assignments due, and two major programs due. And I'm missing class one of those days. The week after that, I'm going to feel like crap, and I have another major program due, and more homework and crap.... it never gets any better. I'm going to be doing homework until I die.
The doc thinks he's figured out what's wrong with me... and hopefully, this will be the fix-all cure. No more sick Deedee. We hope. *sigh* I hate being sick. It sucks. A lot.
Chad's going to Tulane this weekend for the game. I'm not. I'm doing homework... and maybe watching some movies or something. We'll see.
Meanwhile... I will either get like, no blogging done in the next week or so, or I'll blog insessently (spelling, anyone?) to relieve stress. meanwhile... I must code, for I am supposed to be in class in like, 30 minutes.
P.S. hacking computers can get you in trouble. So. Hypothetically. If you were going to hack. Don't get caught. :-)
No, I’m not dead… I’m home for break, which is close, I suppose. So here’s a rundown of what’s going on in my life:
Family wise, I guess everything is ok. My Granny is home from the hospital… but it looks like we’re going to have to hire someone to watch her… Aunt Dorinne can’t do it all the time, and Granny has no awareness of the fact that she can’t just get up and do things, like walk without a walker, or go downstairs. We’re still trying to figure out what we’re going to do for Christmas Eve at her house… I know we’re eating dinner, but I have a feeling it won’t be the 4-6 hours thing it usually is.
Personally… life is ok. I’m working, trying to juggle my work hours with my family life and Chad time (sounds suspiciously like the real world, huh?). Work is nice… I have a cushy government job, which means I’ve worked two and a half days this weeks so far, and two days of that were spent in meetings and Christmas parties. And now I’m blogging. Yay for me! Chad is coming to visit sometime Christmas day… not sure what time yet, but hopefully by 2 or so, to be in time for dinner. And Presents…. I got Chad the coolest thing… at least, I think it’s cool… I hope he does.
School… Well, school actually got a lot more interesting in the last few days. Weird, but interesting. So here’s how everything played out: I was really upset over this whole circuits thing… went to Nosser’s office, I bawled all over the place, nothing happened with my grade, he couldn’t do anything. So he calmed me down and reminded me that God is still in control… and told me to drop all my courses that depended on Circuits and sign up for half ECE and half CS courses for next semester. So I did. And I stressed a lot. But I looked more into CS, and learned what cool courses I can take if I go that route (AI, Computer Forensics, Software Engineering, stuff like that). I looked at taking 4+ semesters of straight hardware courses in a department that is known for failing students… or 3 semesters of programming courses in a department that is at least somewhat more cordial. And I decided that the CS route wouldn’t be that bad, I would enjoy it more, and I would get out on time.
Then I got a flood of e-mails from Hamaker saying that due to a misprint on the syllabus, I actually have a C in the course. Which means I could, with some schedule tweaking, still go engineering. But the question now becomes this: is the word engineer (it’s not even a title) worth 3+ semesters of hell in the ECE department, taking courses I don’t particularly like from professors that don’t want to be there? What does it mean to be and “engineer” as opposed to a “scientist”? Am I copping out by taking the CS route?
My life is suddenly more complicated. I hate complicated.
Chad said he would make my decisions if I made his…. So I told him he was coming to State *grin* But he didn’t make my decision yet…
school is finally over. But somehow, I'm still behind. Blah. Ok, so this was my week last week:
Monday: I have no clue what I did, but I think it involved finals. Two, If I'm not mistaken. Oh yeah, i attempted to start packing and cleaning... and I have a vauge rememberance of being extremely busy, but i have no clue exactly why. hmmm.... Oh yeah, I went to Wal-mart, too.
Tuesday: Spent the morning coooking spagetti sauce. took a karate final (made an A) :-) Went to William's, made lasagna with the spagetti sauce i had made that morning (Yep, that's me... June Cleaver). Ate dinner, hung out with William, watched office space, stayed out late.
Wednesday: Took a final, and then packed and cleaned until I was (literally) sick. Went to dinner with Ian and ELisa, watched Ocean's 11. Went to bed. Elisa ran a red light :-)
Thursday: Got up early, Mom and mandie picked me up at school. We loaded all my crap into the van, went to lunch at Oby's, did some shopping, and headed home. As soon as I got home, turned around and left again to go to a baby shower for one of mom's friends.
Friday: Got up, organized dad's dvd collection. Woke the kids up, started unpacking my stuff out of the van, into the living room (because my sister took over my half of everything... the room, the closet, the dresser. grr). Mom and I went shopping... Then I did some laundry (after I dug my way into the laundry room... I swear, no one does it while I'm gone). Then it was time to get ready for Robbie's Varsity Banquet. So I showered, dressed, and we left for the banquet. Brag time: Rob completed his manuel and four electives... about 2 1/2 years work... all this year. :-) I ran into Joseph Bearden... Hadn't seen him in ages. College seems to have done him good... he doens't seem nearly as shy and frail as he used to. anyway... we had a good chat. Everyone told me I looked good, and how much they had missed me, and asked me how school was, yada yada. And I didn't even have to make a speech :-)
Saturday: More shopping, more laundry, and more Awards banquet. This time it was Mandie's Junior Varsity Banquet. Brag time: Mandie finished the requirements for her Meritorious Award this year... That means she's completed more than six years worth of handbooks. :-) Nothing terribly interesting happened that night...
Sunday: Mother's Day. Went to church, went to dinner with Mom and Granny and Grandmother, smiled till my face hurt. Came home, cleaned out closets, did *more* laundry, moved a second dresser into my room, so i would have a place to put my clothes... folded laundry while watching Fifth Element... contemplated hammering things into the wall, decided to go to be bed instead.
Today: Got up early for work... had to put water in the radiator of dad's car... it leaks. Again. grr. Had to stop by the hospital and pick up my lisence plate, which dad forgot to put on the car. Parked in the tower, only to find out that I couldn't get out without a validation or an employee badge... couldn't find daddy... had to go upstairs and get mom, who was just getting off a 12 hour shift and was pretty tried and a little short tempered... so she helped me get a screwdriver from dad's office, and let me out of the tower... but not before yelling at me and dad (when he showed up) for awhile. So I finally made it out, got to work, got caught up with what's happening here. My cube is in the back corner of the office now (yes, I still have a cube) and it's really quiet. They may move me again in a couple of days. And I htink someone took my stapler. :-) I've been working on a reading list all day long. Hopefully I'll finish the reasearch part of it tomorrow, and can start formatting and coding it.
FYI -- I'm putting a link to William's blog on my page for my benifit... but his page requires a user name and password. If you really want to read his blog, you can e-mail him and ask him for access. :-)
And on that note, I'm going to get back to work. Or something like that.
Oh yeah, for those enquiring minds: I actually did manage to pass everything this semester. Even my evil physics class. :-) Yay for me.
This is my brain..... in part, at least.
