Happy Halloween!

How'd you like it if this bee stung you in the butt? Ouch! Happy Halloween blogland.... I hope you are all in the spirit! This was taken outside of my dr.'s office. Yes, I wore the costume. Why not, right? There ain't no shame to my game. All is well with the baby boy. Strong hear beat, movin' like he's doin disco, and growing. In the new week or so I get to do my glucose test {big fun}, get some other lab work, and get my rhogam shot. Sheesh... so much for the uneventful appointments! It's all cool though, I don't mind at all. She tried to sucker me into taking the glucose test today, right after my appt. I was like... "hello? It's Halloween... don't ya think I've already had my share of sugar today?" That darn test would put me in the hospital, no doubt.

So, obviously, I am back from Michigan. It was a great trip! I got to fly first class this time {woo hoo} and it was fabulous! Did you know they serve drinks in REAL glass glasses? Who knew? We flew in on Wednesday evening and headed straight to dinner from the airport. Turns out the owner of one of my favorite restaurants out there was financially supporting terrorists, so he was indicted and flew the coop. We went to a similar restaurant instead, hopefully THEY are not doing the same. Yikes!

Thursday was my baby shower thrown by Tina and crew. It was so cute! She had the place all decked out and the theme was "little prince"/ polka dots. I will post pics soon. It was an intimate little gathering... just perfect. We had Thanksgiving dinner, no games, lots of conversation, and lots o presents. Wowza. This kid will not need any clothes for awhile! I also asked for books in lieu of cards, so his library is shaping up too. I still hate being the center of attention, so I was pitting out when I was opening presents.... ugh, I hate that part. I love the presents, but having EVERYONE sit there and stare me is SO UNCOMFORTABLE! Overall, the party was a total hit. Thanks Tina!

Friday was a chill day. Tina and I met our friend Lisa, who happened to be getting married the next day, for breakfast. We got caught up and then went shopping. I ended up finding little dude's christening gown. The gown I got in Rome was a little on the girly side. I know, as if wearing a gown isn't girly enough? Look kids, I like to be old school and way back when, dudes wore little gowns too. They didn't have these little white tux's to sport around... so don't give me any shit, ok? I also picked up a few little unnecessary things for dude. What's new? It's my latest addiction! I want to find a tiny pair of Asics or Nike's or something. Actual miniature versions of a pair of running shoes. Not just "baby" running shoes... have you seen those anywhere? I know they exist b/c I've seen them... a long time ago... when I wasn't in need of them. I just think those would be cute. If you have any leads... please pass them to me.

Back to the story.

Saturday we went to Lisa's wedding at the D.A.C. Lovely. She was beautiful, of course. The whole wedding was very elegant and just beautiful. I'm not feeling the thesaurus today. I didn't have as much fun as I usually would... because I was all puffy and feeling fat and not drinking and tired. BUT... it was still a good time. None of that business was any of HER fault... just sayin.

Sunday I just hung out with my family and Monday afternoon we left to come back to SD. The weather was nice and cool and the tress were all changing colors and... ahhhh.... it was nice. When we got back to SD it was HOT. Not just warm, but HOT. As in 88 degrees. Oi...

I seriously think that Oprah is trying to kill me...

bring a box of tissue, sit down and watch this...

little dude's first half marathon

As per usual... the Nike Women's Marathon (and 1/2) was the bomb.  This year I did it the right way and arrived early, stayed late.

We got in on Friday afternoon dropped the bags off at the hotel (which was inconveniently located atop TWO killer San Fran hills).  I vowed that the first time I climbed those suckers would be the last for this weekend.  Thank God for cable cars!  Besides, Friday was an unseasonably warm day for SF... I mean like in the 90's... DUDE... I came prepared for cool weather...  I was so sweaty it was gross!

Anyway... after dropping a load we took off to catch the expo.  this race is sooooo great b/c they totally cater to chicks.  I got a back/neck massage.  There also were foot massage stations, mani/pedi stations, ipod engraving, a send a postcard station, a button making station, gait analysis, and some other stuff I can't even remember right now.  Definitely reason enough to come on Friday, which is slightly less crowded than Saturday.  Then I hit Nike town... which is where all of the race paraphernalia is sold.  Oi vey.  I went a little overboard this time around.  After that and a bit more shopping around Union Square, it was time to go to dinner and hit the sack.

Saturday morning I woke early to attend the "Legacy Runner" breakfast.  I am considered a legacy runner for this race b/c I have done it all 5 years.  Kind of a kool honor I guess.  We got special t-shirts saying how special we are.  After that I headed off to one of my favorite stores in SF... Timeless Treasures.  This is where I got the letters to spell out little dude's name.  Such a cute little shop.  I would love to own something like this one day.  After hitting TT, I had a slice of Blondies pizza with Joyce, where I somehow managed to get hot pepper flakes and garlic salt in my eye.  Not a little bit either.  A big ol' pile of it.  OMG... I thought I was going to die right there in the basement of this pizza joint.  That crisis was eventually averted and I got to catch up with my friend, one eye open, before heading back to the room to rest before dinner.

Later that night we all (my parents, Joyce,  and Eilene) met up for a good ol' fashioned high carb pre-race dinner.  Yummy.

Sunday morning.  Race day.  Up early and at the start line at 6:45 a.m.  Imagine 20,000 runners/walkers and their support peeps squeezing into Union Square.  Yikes.  We were nutz to butts and that ain't no lie.  Something has to be done about the rude people pushing and shoving... but what can you expect I guess???  Other than that, the race went off without a hitch.  The weather was cool... typical SF weather I would say.  I would also say that I managed it fairly well... considering I had this big ol' belly to lug around.  At about mile 7 I was feeling the dude though.  It seemed that with every step I took, he bounced right on my bladder or something... I had to stop to pee at least 5 times throughout the race.  All in all, it went well.  Little dude was a trooper.  We got our bling bling and headed back to the hotel.  The rest of that day was pretty much a wash, except for eating dinner.  We were ALL pooped.

Sunday we woke up and basically just wrapped it up and headed to the airport.  This was the big change from previous years... I usually wrapped it up after the race and flew home on Sunday.  That was too much stress... with trying to check out on time and all... so this year was a lot more relaxing (as relaxing as walking 13.1 miles can be while 6.5 months preggo) and leaving on Monday made all of the difference.

Here are some pics:

consider this the 25 week belly shot too.

Joyce and me in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

the view from my hotel room.

Lazy days of October

I am beat! I worked my dupa off yesterday and in return my body says F@#% you... so I did a lot of nothing today. I'm cool with it. However, I say this to my body... today you rest, tomorrow you get back on the saddle bitch. According to my pregnancy book, I have exactly 8 days until my third trimester starts... and from what I hear... that is a trimester full of being tired and grumpy and uncomfortable, etc. So, I have 8 days to get things done around here. I have two closets left to clean (from the sanding mess of getting the floors re-done), some stripes to paint on a wall, some furniture to put back (from the floor project) and some MAJOR organizing to be done, which can't be started until the garage is void of all my furniture, etc.

The Nike Woman's Marathon (and 1/2 marathon) is this weekend. I leave for San Fran on Friday and return on Monday. I get Tuesday to recover from jet lag (ha ha) and then I leave for Michigan after that. My friend Tina is throwing me a little baby shower on Thursday (of next week) and then I have a wedding to go to that Saturday. A jam packed week.

When I get back I have a project for all of us to work on... are you up for it? We will all play together, so it will be fun to share what we all come up with, etc. I will tell you more about it when I get back. All you need is a camera for now... the rest of the details I will work out between now and then. Are you in? If so, leave me a comment and I will send you a small stack of supplies to get you started... don't worry... it's EASY and I will help you!!!!

Oh, what are you all going to be for Halloween? Please share.

as if you ever needed a reason

It's in times of tragedy that we always remember that life is too short. You can hear me say it ALL OF THE TIME (not always in the face of tragedy, but b/c I need to remind myself a lot). It especially became my mantra about 4 1/2 years ago when a very good friend of mine... same age as me... we grew up together riding bikes in the neighborhood... passed away from some "freak" disease that was never really pinpointed.  Dennis,  this is a shoutout to you my friend.  Life is too short not to enjoy it as often as possible.  Well... as if any of you needed another reason to live by this rule... here is a story I found that will rip your heart out.  I have been reading this blog as of late, as these people have the best attitude EVER.

Please, people... seriously... We just never know what is going to happen... live life with flair and laughter... please. (quote by Maya Angelou).

I heard this might happen... but c'mon!

OK, so it is known that pregnant women have crazy dreams, often bad or scary dreams about their baby, etc. This is supposedly normal and stems from the worry that everything is ok, yadda yadda yadda. I've had those and although not very fun, you wake up shake it off, turn over and continue to sleep.

NOT THE CASE LAST NIGHT.
So my dream goes like this...
I'm in some sci-fi scene... some mad scientist (or just some creep) needs to test the amniotic fluid on a woman (not me thank goodness). He promises to be gentle and just poke the needle in ever so slightly and only take a bit of fluid. He proceeds to gently stick the needle in (apparently we're watching this on an xray b/c I can see where the needle is poking, etc.) and then without warning just rips the needle through the whole belly, making everything gush out and I'm guessing things don't end well. So my reaction is to grab that same needle and stab his face 3 times, into these little pods on his face that look like little blisters but supposedly have little babies in them???? So my revenge on him is killing his pod babies on his face? WTF is going on in my freaking head?

SO THEN I WAKE UP...
There is just enough light glowing in the backyard from a not so distant light post that I start to see cartoons (Pepe le Pew, Roadrunner, Wilde E. Coyote, etc.) in the backyard, looking at me through our sliding glass door that I had open for ventilation (remember the floors were re-finished). I kept blinking and each time a new character would appear. They weren't necessarily mean or scary, just watching me. So I had to turn on the lights, turn on the TV, shut the door and curtain (it was hot last night too, damn) and shake it off for about 2 hours, watching TV.

I was able to fall asleep and luckily no more crazy dreams, but really? What in the hell was that all about?

Biden vs. Palin...

Halloween 2008

I got this in an email today and thought I'd share.

Awwww... poor kids!

OB appointment

I just got back from my latest OB appointment and all is well with the little dude. He kicked the doctor when she was listening in on him, I thought that was funny. Right smack on the microphone (or whatever that thing is called). Quite uneventful, but I ain't complainin'!

So since Tuesday I've been perched on my friend Kevin's couch because we are having the "original parkay flooring" in the house re-sanded, re-stained and re-varnished... which basically means it is a toxic waste dump for the next week and I'm not going to subject myself or my baby to that nonsense. It sucks so hard to not be at home... so close, yet so far away. I feel like a total squatter and such a nuisance to him. And... it's been hot as hell here in SoCal lately and although he lives near the beach it's been HOT and HUMID. DID YOU HEAR ME?? I'm hoping to be back in the house by Tuesday of next week.... which seems like an eternity. Here is a pic of what the floor looks like so far (this was taken before the varnish was applied)...
The picture doesn't do it justice... but you've got the idea. It's a helluva lot better than the gray/blue indoor/outdoor carpeting that WAS in there.

What else? I tried to buy a pair of shoes from Antropologie and I thought I was being smart by ordering a size 8 (my feet are swollen, etc.) and they were STILL TOO SMALL... DID YOU HEAR ME? OMG... the only reason I even care is because I have a wedding to go to in 3 weeks... otherwise I'm fine with my 2 for $5 flip flops from Old Navy. Hey, if these suckers don't come in on time, I may just have to bedazzle some flips and MAKE IT WORK.

Have a great weekend.

our next Vice President

need a good cry?

Read this...