Still alive, barely

Ugh. So I'm ringing in the New Year with what may be a cold/sinus infection/curse of the snot gods or all of the above. Whatever. I feel like crap. I have been in my pajamas since 4 this afternoon when my husband arrived home from work 30 minutes after I arrived home from Dallas. It is now 9:45 and the car is still packed with my luggage from the trip but Bear is in bed and Chinese food and mint chocolate chip ice cream have been consumed so the day isn't a complete loss.

Christmas was good for the most part. Normally I get really excited about Christmas every year and I am really sad when it is over but honestly this year I am just relieved it is over. If Santa really loved me he would have had all my Christmas decorations and my tree up in the attic when I got home from visiting my Dad but alas, he doesn't so I still have to tackle that when I feel better.

This year was relatively easy in terms of Christmas plans as everyone except my Dad came to see us so instead of visiting my in laws (who are divorced and live 2 hours apart) and my parents (who are divorced and live 4 hours apart) I only had to drive to Dallas the weekend after Christmas. Which was doubly good because Bear got a nasty ear infection the day after Christmas complete with yucky drainage and a nasty cough to boot. We ended up taking him to Urgent Care the next day and confirming my fears that the tubes we put in last October have fallen out. We got him all fixed up on antibiotics and cough syrup so its all OK now.

He also managed to have his first scary injury the day after Christmas when he decided to pull on his stocking which was held in place by a nice, heavy, metal stocking hanger off the mantel. Luckily he pulled at an angle so it grazed off his head and just left a nice scratch. It was a bit of a heart stopper for a moment there as it seemed to happen in slow motion and no one could stop him before it fell. Plus head injuries, no matter how small, bleed A LOT. Luckily no stitches were needed and the offensive decorative stocking hangers have been tossed and we will now be screwing in small hooks from our mantel instead for future years stockings.

Present wise, it was a lovely Christmas. I got 4 pairs of pink pajamas (2 from my mom, 1 from my sister and 1 from my grandmother plus matching slippers) which considering that around April I will be spending a lot of time in pajamas I think it was a good call on their part. I also managed to fry my cell phone with a leaky sippy cup in the purse so I used Christmas cash to buy a new maroon LG enV2 phone which I love. It only took 2 visits to the Verizon store and a visit to Circuit City to get it since the people at the Verizon store I went to don't seem to care about actually selling phones to people or anything. The guy at Circuit City was awesome though and the price was much better so it all turned out well. I also got a new Click Free backup drive which I love, love, love and have now backed up mine and my husband's computers. If you aren't backing up your data regularly because you think its a pain you need to buy one of these. Seriously. It rocks and takes up very little space. My husband and I both unknowingly bought each other digital picture frames for Christmas and I wonder now how I went so long without one. I really love them both. I won the wife of the year award for buying my husband an awesome universal remote to replace the 3 remotes we were using. Plus he got me various things including a Sephora gift card which I am still contemplating how to use.

Anyways, I think that about brings me up to date. Its been a crazy last few days and I need to get some rest so hopefully I can kick this cold. Happy New Years! Please drink something for me.

Another tag: 7 random things

OK, I am totally a slacker when it comes to tag posts. So I got tagged like a month ago by Erin at Beading Mom and I completely forgot about it until today when I got tagged by JP and the Boys. So while I am at it I will go ahead and do the 7 random things about me post I got tagged for. Sorry for the delay Erin.

7 random things about me

1. I hate being the center of attention. I was more nervous at my wedding about being up in front of all the people than I was about the whole till death do you part thing. This goes for all things revolving around me like birthday parties, baby showers, graduation, etc. I prefer being the person in charge behind the scenes. When I was in middle school I was the stage manager for the school play because I love being involved, planning and being in charge I just don't want to be the one out there in front of everyone.

2. I hate driving if I am traveling with other people but I don't mind it if I am by myself. I do my best thinking in the car and I love listening to my music as loud as I want it. But when you add in other people I just want to sit back and let them concentrate on the driving so I can stare out the window or read a book.

3. In my mind I am still frozen at 22. I don't know why but for some reason when I have to think about my age I have to remind myself that I am 28. Same with my clothing sizes. I pick up stuff at the store that might have fit me in college but definitely not now. I enjoy getting older and having the stability but for some reason I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that I am closing in on 30.

4. I get pedicures regularly and hate being caught with chipped toenail polish yet I bite my fingernails and never paint them. I cannot get my fingernails in good shape no longer what I try.

5. I am a beer drinker. I used to hate beer. I was always the girl at the bars in college drinking the girly drinks or taking shots but never drinking a beer. Now there is nothing that makes me happier than an ice cold Shiner Bock at the end of a long day. Obviously not right now while I am pregnant but when I am not. At a party you will usually catch me out back drinking beer with the guys while the women mix up pina coladas in the kitchen. Although I will occasionally indulge in a good slushy frozen drink if I am in the mood.

6. I love spicy food. My favorites are Mexican and Cajun. You won't catch me eating eggs without Tabasco or a sandwich without peppers. Pregnancy has actually made my craving for spicy worse. Bear also already favors the spicy food too.

7. I hate being cold worse than anything. If my ears get cold I get blinding headaches. I do appreciate a little cold weather especially around this time of year but by cold I mean lows in the 30's at most. I don't mind it if I don't have to go out in it but if I have things to do it better not be freezing outside. Good thing I live in Texas.

Tagged : Picture Post

JP & the Boys tagged me for a fun picture game. Here is how it works. You must go to your documents folder and go to your 6th picture folder, then go to the 6th picture in that folder and post it on your blog. Tell us a story about that picture. I had fun doing this one because it gave me a chance to go back and view my pictures from around the time Bear was born. I got my laptop when I was pregnant with him. The 6th file in my pictures is actually from my baby shower and the 6th picture is just a pile of presents. Sorry I don't have anything more titillating for you.


I have to share the picture before that one with you because my petits fours for the party were just too cute. They matched my invitations perfectly.



I won't tag anyone else for this but if you are looking for a fun blog post you are welcome to consider yourself tagged.

The old bait and switch

So a couple of months ago I decided to start working on redecorating the guest room for Bear since the nursery will soon be commandered by his little brother. I figured since Christmas was coming up and his birthday it would be a great way to get the grandparents to help me redecorate and not buy him a bunch more toys. I located a bedding set at Target that I absolutely loved so I trotted down to the local Target and snagged up every matching piece they had in stock. This included the comforter, throw pillow, bear paw print sheets, red lantern lamp, bear piggy bank, curtains and stuffed bear. My mom volunteered to buy all of this stuff as Bear's Christmas/birthday gift. I purchased all of this about a month and a half ago. I put all the stuff away in the guest bedroom closet until we had the room ready.

Fast forward to today. We have painted his room, assembled the much assembly required furniture, and hung the curtains. The mattress was on order and my husband picked it up today and hauled it in. I excitedly dug out all the bedding accessories and made up the new bed only to discover that I did not get this bedspread at the store but instead got this one. Now the one I ended up with is nice and goes fine with the color scheme but it is not what I thought I was purchasing. Target had put all the pieces that matched the bedspread I thought I was getting with the bedspread that I ended up with. Because it was all folded up I didn't realize it didn't have the little bear mural until this evening. Now I still like the bedspread I got but it irks me that I got something other than what I thought I was getting especially since I bought all the other little pieces that match the whole bear/camping scene. I guess I could try to hunt down the reciept from 1 1/2 months ago and repackage the bedspread and return it and purchase the correct on online. I don't know. I may just buy the other one too and keep this one as a backup as you can never have too many linens with a small child. Grrr...I will just have to learn to start paying closer attention when I buy stuff.

On a good note, I went to the dentist today and no cavities! Whew! I celebrated by making sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles cause nothing screams good oral hygiene like sugar topped with more sugar.

Yum.

Silver Bells

Bear had his first Christmas program yesterday at Mother's Day Out. I had honestly forgotten about it until the teacher asked me if I was coming when I dropped him off yesterday. Luckily it was a pretty informal little show so I didn't feel too horrible about the fact that I had forgotten and dressed him in a gap sweatshirt and jeans versus a cute outfit.

I was the only parent there without a video camera and/or camera. I am such a slacker. The program was basically each class from toddlers to older 4s getting up and doing some kind of Christmas song which none of them actually sang and most forgot to play their instruments for. Bear's class was the youngest so they basically sat on the stage and shook little felt mitten things with bells on them to Jingle Bells. I am turning into such a mommy sap because I was almost in tears over 2 minutes of my kid shaking bells on a stage. I imagine he won't be able to take me anywhere by the time he does some serious accomplishments. He was really cute though and I am totally not biased. He was one of the few kids getting into the music and he was swaying and clapping and shaking those bells. He was even waving to the audience.

Seeing that makes me so proud not just because of what he did but because he wasn't shy. I was so incredibly painfully shy until sometime in later elementary school that I would have never been able to do something like that. At my first dance recital when I was 3 they never got me on stage. I stood on the side of the stage and wailed. My sister was always the one that hammed it up and I always hid behind my mother. So it was a proud day for me yesterday. Which totally made up for the fact that I was sick as a dog the night before with what I think was a less severe one of my gallstone (or whatever) attacks. Plus it was cold, wet and gross yesterday and the lady checking me out at the grocery store was rude about my coupons and wouldn't take some of them. I really needed that little bell ringing pick me up.

Wordless Wednesday : Let it snow!

Misc.

So it has been a crazy past week or so. We survived Thanksgiving with both of our families. My husband got sick Saturday night and spent Saturday and Sunday with fever, chills and a sore throat. Besides that it was a good trip. I did not get up and brave the Black Friday morning shopping but my husband did. This Christmas is now officially sponsered by Sears, at least for him.

We had already put up the Christmas tree/decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving so I could return home and relax in my newly festive home. I still have to convince someone to go up in the attic and get down the lighted reindeer for the front yard but besides that we are covered. My parents gave us our family Christmas money in advance this year (my mom was too lazy to buy gifts so we all got money) so we hit Target this week and bought Bear furniture for his new room. Dear Lord, it should be illegal to require a pregnant woman to assemble furniture with her husband. They should just include do it yourself divorce papers in the box along with the allen wrench. Actually, it really hasn't been that bad, yet. We are only half way through putting together the dresser then we have to do the nightstand and bookshelf.

I had an experience this week that left me really upset. I really don't want to go into details but basically I got scammed. Not completely scammed but more mislead into purchasing something for what I thought was a good cause only to find out that the guy lied through his teeth and was just telling me a good story to get me to buy his product. Every word out of his mouth was a lie and a ploy to sell his product. I ended up sending in a cancellation on the order, reporting it to the BBB and stopping payment on my check. It wasn't a large amount of money but it was the principle of the matter. His story was really good but after he left I just got the feeling that something wasn't right so I started looking into the organization he said he was raising money for and found out it didn't exist. Then I looked up the company that I wrote the check to and found several complaints of other people all over the country who had been fed almost the exact same story by these guys.

I am usually a very suspicious person and I scoff at those who fall for obvious ploys like the Nigerian letter or lottery schemes. But this was a nice looking college age kid who said he lived in my neighborhood and told me his major and what church he went to. I felt like such an idiot I cried myself to sleep. It wasn't the money just more the fact that there are people like that out in the world who can scam people looking them right in the eye standing on their front porch smiling. At least I figured it out before he cashed my check but still, it really bothers me. Then I watched Oprah today and felt a little better since she did a show on professional scammers and those people had lost thousands. And the poor woman who was waiting at the airport in a white dress for six hours for a guy she met on the internet who had proposed? Broke.my.heart. I hope karma bites these guys on the butt. Reminds me of the movie, Matchstick Men. If you haven't seen it you should.

Anyways, that aside everything else is going well. I saw the Twilight movie with some girlfriends right before Thanksgiving. I didn't love it but I knew it would be hard to top the book. I didn't feel it was very well cast and I thought the whole movie was a little rushed to try to hit all the high points of the book. It wasn't terrible but I hope the next movie is a little better.

I also haven't forgotten I got tagged for a meme, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll get there.