That's One More than First...

My Mom has lived in Chicago for almost 11 years and never been to a game at Wrigley Field.

*Cue angels singing...



Remember how I work for Tribune Company? Remember how they own the Cubs and Wrigley Field?

So being that we own the Cubs, we also get first shot at some ridiculously good seats. Ridiculously good.



Yep, that would be a picture of the number 2. As in second. Like the row behind the first one.

My mom met me at the office and we bought her a Cubs shirt from the the gift shop on the main floor and then we headed up to Wrigley. We're in our seats about 20 minutes to start and it's amazing.



Here's my mom, showing off her awesome "Cubs-wear".



And here's the two of us with the scoreboard. Just so you know, we're both there. At the REAL Wrigley Field.

You know where the home pitcher warms up his arm before he goes out to do his thing? We were right there.





And this is our starting pitcher, Carlos Zambrano.

I'm not going to bore you with the game, because seriously, I don't know that many of the people that read this actually care about how the cubs are doing and whether or not they won (they did...). All in all, this was a great day and a great experience, and totally worth the insane amount of sunburn.
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I'm an Idiot

I should not be allowed to touch the alarm between the hours of 4:30a and 6:30a.

Why?

Because this whole "doing everything" situation is sort of catching up with me and I'm tired. REALLY, bone-deep, tired.

My alarm went off without a hitch this morning, exactly as it always does at 4:34am. I quickly waddle over to the alarm (because if it's by my bed I will snooze it until 7) and turn it off. I sit in the desk chair for what feels like forever (15 seconds tops) and think, I could just leave my hair curly today and get another half hour of sleep...

SO I RESET THE ALARM.

Why would I do this? Beyond wanting more sleep, I'm not coherent! I can't form a complete thought, let alone engage complex motor skills.

So, I changed my alarm, I went from 4:34 to 5:06. I put the alarm switch to on and went back to bed.

I woke up and raced (waddled) to my phone. It's 5:43. I was supposed to drive today and I had to be at everyone's house by 5:35. I'm so totally screwed...

I called TJ, the other seminary teacher and she agreed to drive today and teach alone - because I still hadn't showered, and curly hair or not, I wouldn't have made a shower and seminary this morning.

OK. Moral of the story. When you want to change the alarm, make sure your actually changing the ALARM time and not the ACTUAL time. Because this will screw up your morning. Also, just get up. A few extra minutes in a hot shower would have probably been just as effective as sleeping for another hour...man, I'm an idiot.


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More Food, More House

Mom and Dad LOVE the kitchen in this house and considering the amount of wallpaper that was in the foyer of this home when they first saw it, I'm convinced this is one the only reasons they didn't laugh in the realtors face and walk out.

This is "the stove". I think my dad has wanted one of these things since like, I was born.





And this is "the spatula". We took a trip to GFS (It's like costco without the hassle of membership) and we found this awesome institutional grill top metal spatula (I think there's supposed to be a comma in there somewhere, but whatever). *For serious cooks only - as demonstrated*



The center of the range has a flat griddle under the cover and it has a temperature gauge. I made omeletes that first morning with mushrooms, peppers, onions and cheese. I LOVE griddles.

I didn't take any pictures of the omelettes, but they were amazing. I'm convinced everything tastes better when cooked on a professional range. (sigh* someday)

Amid all this cooking, it was actually Conference Weekend. We spent most of Saturday morning setting up the television in my parents family room so that we could watch the the 179th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Since by WE, I mean Dad and DH, I took pictures. :) Here they are setting up the entertainment center.





And here is the finished product. I sure was tired after watching them move that 6-piece monstrosity into place. The outcome was impressive though!



So after all that work, we needed an amazing dinner. Right? Right.

We had skirt steak in a sesame, garlic, and ginger marinade. Once again - we used the grill, because we can.

We grilled peppers and onions and had an amazing time eating it. I still didn't get a great picture, but it is a little better than the salmon. (Maybe my awesome SILs on both sides, can give me some pointers?)

It was delicious and perfectly cooked. I love a good marinated skirt steak. In fact - we're having some this week. It'll be yummy.

After dinner Dad and DH went to the Priesthood Session of General Conference while I finally watched the series finale of E.R. I love that show. My Thursday nights will never be the same now that it's gone.

When they got home, DH jumped into the hot tub to relax. The funny thing is, that the water level was a little low and so to turn on the jets, someone had to be in the tub. And then DH's in there, hanging out, and the jets are on a timer. He couldn't get out until they turned off, because he would have sprayed the entire inside of the room that the hot tub is in. - FYI, This was hilarious at 10:00 at night. While DH was trapped in the hot tub, I made dessert.

Dad had bought some gorgonzola cheese and we had pecans and walnuts, and some puff pastry dough. He also found a can of cherry pie filling in the pantry so DH could enjoy some dessert too. :)





Since I realy like desserts, I finally made an effort with plating and remembered to take a picture. I think it turned out pretty well.

The cheese pastries were amazing. The savory cheese with the nuts was a perfect blend with the lightness of the pastry and the sharpness of the raspberry coulis sauce that we made.

We just threw a little powdered sugar icing on the cherry turnovers and they were also very delicious.

Well, thus ends Day 2. Yes, there is more wondrous cooking to be had on Day 3 - but I don't think I have any pictures. I'll post more soon.
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A Weekend at the Country Estate

Seriously.



This is my parents house. My brother and I joke about how they have given up suburban life to retire on their country estate. Did you know it has a hot tub room? I've never known my folks to be hot tub people...or so I thought. It's like a don't even know them anymore. Pretty soon my Dad's going to say how much he wants to go on a cruise...with other people near him...people that he doesn't know. My entire understanding of the universe shifted after my weekend in Kirtland.

After finally soaking in the sheer awesome-ness of their new home, I was able to get to more important matters - like the food.

The food was delicious! My Dad and I love to cook together. We go to the store and buy obscure cheeses and weird cuts of meats and odd smelling condiments and concoct these dishes using just about every pot and pan and utensil in the house. It drives my mom crazy, but in a half smiling, "you kids!", exasperated sort of way. (Most of the time - there was is one time, we made curry...there wasn't much of a half smile that time. It smelled like red and yellow curry for about 3 days)

We arrived on Friday afternoon right around lunch time. My Dad was still at work, but coming home soon. He had bought an amazing piece of salmon and had seen a recipe on a cooking show we sometimes watch that he wanted to try. It involved pepper jelly (a family favorite), cilantro, butter, salt and pepper. It was great. We sort of had to improvise because we were all out of the yummy jalapeno jelly I had given him for Christmas - and to be honest, I think I'll start making my own just so I can up-tic the heat a little.



We mixed the cilantro, raspberry-jalapeno jelly that we did have in the pantry, and butter. We didn't put in quite enough salt to balance the sweet of the raspberry, but that was fixed after plating.



We grilled the salmon in a tin foil boat and let me tell you - I LOVE cooking fish this way. You still get the grill marks, but your filets stay intact and you don't have to deep clean the inside of the grill after cooking. Two great things.

Anyway, here is the finished product. *Please remember that I suck at taking photos and I was just so excited to eat this, that i didn't bother plating it well. That's why it's blurry and a bit of a mess*



We cooked pretty much all weekend, but you'll have to wait for my other posts to hear about the rest of this culinary wonderment.
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I Covet This.

More info about my fantabulous weekend in Kirtland coming soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the sheer awesome-ness of this. I.Want.It.



Seriously. Would this not look A-Mazing with an LBD, a patent clutch and maybe a peeptoe pump? ...Oh, maybe a pewter-y bag and shoe? I am salivating over the idea of dressing like a normal person again soon.
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Fidgety and Agitated

So I haven't starting read THE BOOK. I'm like an addict going through withdrawals.

I allowed myself to buy it mostly because I wanted to have something to read while I took the 3-hour glucose test from Satan. I have to take it in the next 2 weeks and I'm *super* excited about it.

Ok, I also bought the book because I wanted it, and I have no will power anymore - the baby has taken it all from me. This probably explains the 2 cookies I had for breakfast this morning...gosh, I really hope this glucose test comes back normal! I don't think that I can handle watching my sugar/carb intake.

As you're reading this, we are either on our way to or already in Cleveland, OH. My parents moved to a little known suburb of Cleveland called Kirtland, OH. Maybe you've heard of it?

Anyway, my mom is still here is Chi-town while my brother is finishing school, so my dad lives in their glorious new house all by himself. We're going out to see him over conference weekend, and mostly - it's because he has a viking range and my dad and I really like to cook weird food together.

I can already picture the bleu cheese, exotic spices and random ethnic findings that we will use to concoct odd dishes that only he and I will eat!! Ah...good times.
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More Random Musings

Apparently, my walking down Michigan Ave. is akin to a freak show.

I was walking to the book store today during lunch and I noticed quite a few eyes on me. I'm not completely sure if there are more than usual or if I'm just noticing it more because I am more self conscious of my shape.

Either way, I seem to be garnering attention from the suburbanite tourists that flock to Michigan Ave in warmer weather. (Not that today constitutes warmer weather, but we take what we can get out here.)

I made pointed eye contact with about 15 Miley Cyrus look-a-likes today and a handful of pseudo-business men walking to lunch. It made me laugh of little - after I made sure I didn't have smutz of my face or a giant hole in my pants.

To be fair, I am getting rather large and I had a sort of sequined top on and my zebra coat that can't really be missed. I think that's why I liked it initially, because it was a bit of a show stopper.

It's just a different kind of show now that I have expanded to the size of a large farm animal...
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Random Musings

I bought a book today.

I haven't bought a book in a really long time.

It feels really good.

I love the smell of the newly pressed paper, and the weight of hard bound, dust covered wonderment.

The funny thing about this book is that it's a pregnancy book...sort of. It's by a blogger that I read almost daily. She's generally somewhat crass, but mostly hilarious and I enjoy her insights into life.

I don't know that I'd recommend her for all readers, but for those with a sense of humor and a bit of tolerance. She's great.

The website is dooce.com and the book is called, "It Sucked and then I Cried". (I'll let you guess what the "it" is.)

She was in Chicago last week and I desperately wanted to go to her book signing, but, alas - it was on my only free weeknight and I'd already booked plans. So I bought her book today (with a whopping 10% sales tax) and am excited to get started on it.
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Well, excuse me!

Apparently, someone has an opinion about the amount of spice that I consume with my meals.

This said someone also has no trouble expressing this opinion by pointedly shoving body parts into my rib cage and decidedly moving about entirely off of her normal schedule.

Where is this kid's mother!? MY kid would never do this.
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24 Weeks and Counting

Yep. 24 weeks...and my photog still can't get the photo centered. :)



This second photo, it generally what our "photo shoots" deteriorate to, as DH makes some goofy comment or starts taking pictures of my chest.


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Cake Wrecks

It's one of those blogs that I am addicted to, and incidently where I found the photo from my previous post.

My S-I-L mentioned it in her blog and I've been hooked ever since.

It's almost as good as failblog and that blog's associated sites. HE-larious. :)
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What NOT to give me at a baby shower...

If you are my friend, and you wish to stay as such, please don't do this...



Seriously. How about a flower cake or cute little cupcakes with decorative paper wrappers? I'd even be okay with baby shaped cookies or candy pacifiers. But please, no horrific, pre-pacifiered alien babies coming out of my stomach (or what I assume to be my stomach). Also - nothing anatomical either. It's really unnerving.

I'm not even considering how this baby will get from my uterus to the outside world, and until I actually HAVE to think about it, I intend to enjoy my naivete.

?More hilariously inappropriate cake-ness? - Go here


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Holy Buckets, 71!

So, it's supposed to be 71 degrees today. That's crazy. Because just this last week, it looked like this.



Yep. It's snowing and there are 3, count 'em 3, of the same buses just waiting. It's the middle of the morning rush hour and there are about 40 people waiting to get on at least one of those buses. It takes a SOLID 10 minutes for one of the drivers to even come back to her bus, but she just went in to get a cigarette and then come out and smoke it. I seriously have not seen someone take so long on a single smoke. She took it to a whole new level

Anyhoo, she finally strolls back into her bus and then pulls up the remaining 10 feet to the bus stop and then glares at the passengers as we get on the bus altogether much to quickly for her liking. After all, she can't be expected to look at every one's transit pass when they're getting on! We need to wait for her to give her approval before we even think about moving to the back of the bus



*I just re-read this. It sounds rather bitter. The funny thing is, that I'm not that upset. I actually find the entire CTA debacle to be hilariously inconvenient, yet necessary. Should we ever move away from Chicago, I don't know that I'll miss CTA. ever.

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Phunny Photo Phriday

Apparently you don't need to work out to get a 6-pack.



I bet it helps to be a Dale Jr. fan as well...

...classy.
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Spring Must be Coming

Spring MUST be coming. I can't really tell from looking at it outside, but it's coming. How do I know?

Well, I've started taking blog photos again. I took three separate pictures today, and I'm going to start posting them tomorrow. I have also stopped hating life. I still have pregnancy "whatever" going on, but I no longer want to curl up in my bed, watch a chic movie and cry for like 3 weeks straight. I've been able to keep the house straight for an entire week and I even pulled the vacuum out on my non-vacuuming day.

The world is right again. I can feel it!
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I Need Your Help...Yes, You!

Ok, to take my mind off other unsavory happenings in my life, I need everyone's opinions about some things...

As you may have seen from the below, I am trying to pick out baby bedding. My original thought was to do ladybugs, and while I still like the idea, I'm not sold on the all over, repressively pale pink.

In an ideal world, I would just make my own, but this world is far from ideal and I think with my current time constraints, my baby would be 2 before I finished it...SO! I have sort of narrowed down my store-bought choices to about 5 that I think are pretty good. Let me know what you think and any reasoning you might have beind your choice.

Seriously, this is a matter of GRAVE importance...take.this.seriously.

:)

1.)

This was initially my first choice. I like that there are a million accessories that I can buy that match, but again, there is a LOT of repressive pink. I think I may want some bolder colors - not ADD inducing, but bolder.

2.)

I love the femininity of the the flowers plus the vibrant punch of orange is a nice complement to the pink and light blue. It's a good mix of colors and active enough to incite interest after the initial cuteness wears off.

3.)

This one's red. It's my signature color and my go-to favorite. I'm concerned about the stark contrast between the red and white with nothing but grey to soften it. I'm afraid that after a while the sharp contrast will tire out my eyes/the baby's eyes.

4.) \

I just really like this green. I think it would look really great with my crib set. It's sort of a natural fruitwood color in a sleigh bed format. Do you think it's too much of one color? It's not pink, but there is still a lot of green.

5.)

And finally, the pink and green combo. I still get the girly pink, but with the bright punch of green it's a bit more interesting and versatile.

OK. So let me know what you think!!
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Things That Don't Taste Good The Second Time

In honor of my impending move to the third trimester my body has decided to mutiny...and I think the she-baby has joined the fight.

To finish the though presented in my blog title, here is a list of things that I apparently can not keep down...

- Chili and Cornbread (I know, bad choice)
- Oatmeal, plain with 1% milk
- Chicken Broth
- Water

This is just the 'piece de resistance' of the last two weeks that started with a full blow sinus cold, and transformed, mid-cold into all-over-my-body hives (thus resulting in blood work to check out my liver) and finally, because my sinus cold was over and hives apparently get lonely, I have yet to successfully keep anything down since about noon yesterday.

I talked to a friend of mine, wo-ing about my luck getting the stomach flu for the second time, like, EVER - and she looked at me, smiled and said, "honey, you're six months pregnant. You can think you have the stomach flu if you want, but you have skyrocketing hormone levels and a finicky baby pushing all your organs into your throat. Are you sure its not that?"

I have to laugh because she just had a baby and distinctly remembers all of this. I'm glad she's here to keep me grounded.


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Singular Focus

I've noticed some drastic differences in my life lately...

I've felt, in general, that life is multi-faceted to a certain extent. I work, I'm interested in music and art, and I like "creative hobbies". I love books and find trivia very facinating.

All this has changed. I noticed yesterday, that while I still participate in a few of those activities and many of them are still interesting to me, the only this I REALLY focus on in my life right now is...


...the bathroom.

Where is the closest bathroom? How long do I think I can go before I have to start looking for one again? I just had a tiny sip of water - I should probably not go anywhere for the next 3 hours.

Tell me, will it always be like this? Am I forever doomed to boldly go no farther than 10 mintues from the nearest facility?
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Monday, Monday

So, this is kind of funny.



I am totally a blog hog. Everyday, I just look at blogs for like an hour, it's like binge interneting. When I talk about, it totally sounds like a waste of time, but really, it makes me feel so happy some days.

I get to see interesting and sometimes even exciting pictures of friends and I get to hear about what they're doing with their lives. It's great.

I also am a sucker for dogs. It's a fatal flaw I know, and one DH has really had to work with me on. I'm finally admitting my addiction, yet still not able to curb it. For example, this lovely photo posted today. I found this on a blog that I read EVERY.DAY. The entire website comprises cutesy little photos of dogs doing dumb things with even dumber captions.

I can not get enough of this. I don't know if I'm getting sappy with this pregnancy or my problem has finally gotten to the point where I can't keep it hidden anymore, but I LOVE this website...

Although, like a true addict, I have very good reasons for doing what I do. I've noticed that the last few postings on my own blog have been blasé and sort of depressing. I'm going to change that by looking at this website and others like it as often as necessary to increase my outlook on life in general.
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NSAIDS and IcyHot

Somedays, I wonder just how dumb I am...

So, before you get alarmed, I have NOT taken any NSAIDS. I just wish I could.

Last Thursday or there abouts, I'm taking care of some compliance issues at work and I'm shredding sensitive documents and it's no big deal, right?

I have had a rather bad case of tendinitis in my right wrist since about the end of 2005. It's not really a big deal anymore, but something that I definitely have to watch.

Anyway, I'm feeding papers into the shredder, using my right hand of course, and I "tweak" it. I don't really know what happened, i just grabbed some papers and when I fed them into the machine, my arm went numb. Immediate pain from my wrist to my elbow and then radiating up to my shoulder and neck.

I'm a complete genius somedays. The choir is performing on Sunday, I still have to work on Friday, and DH and I are moving food storage and a crib to our storage unit. I don't have time for this. PLUS I CAN'T TAKE ANY ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES!!!!

I get home on Thursday and I put on icyhot. DH works it into my forearm and I take two Tylenol (as IF they would do anything). It's not too bad on Friday, but I definitely can't do anything like type or use a mouse or your know, normal stuff.

On Sunday, I'm practicing my song for the choir and it starts hurting again. I finally suck it up and wrap it knowing full well that it will get tons of unwanted attention from people, when if I could have just taken an NSAID all would have been right with the world.

So, as predicted, I go to Church to play in the choir and I get comments about my ACE bandage. The real kicker is, when the choir gets there, they don't actually know the song well enough to perform it, so we sing a hymn instead and have the organist accompany us. So all that practicing and bandage wearing was for nothing.

This baby better be really nice to me for not taking NSAIDS and giving her 3 heads...
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Soothing Colors

I think gray is soothing.

Does that make me weird? There's something about the muted, graphite intensity that just mesmerizes me.

I'm currently not sure if it's the color or my mood, which has become increasingly despondent as the hours of rain continue, that has encouraged my thinking this today.
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Missed Trains and Make-up

So I've missed my train for the past two days in a row...

It's not such a big deal, because there's another one after it that I can take. I just have a schedule and I don't like to deviate from it much (I know, WAIT until I have a baby...)

So on Monday, I went to replace this eyeshadow that I have and I got sucked in by one of the "make-up artists" and I ended up with a 2 hour lunch break and a whole new face to go to work with. It was fantastic. I found some really gentle cleansers for my skin - something I was pretty sure didn't exist. There's no tightness or dry spots and it doesn't make me break out. It's like a miracle.

Anyway, I bought some eyeshadow and lipstick (and the skin care) I know, I know, that is one expensive eyeshadow replacement...and I've missed my train for the last two days because I have spent like 15 mintues putting on make-up.

I'm still using my concealer and foundation (powder) that I bought awhile back and I'm just integrating my purchases with what I already have.

It's always funny to me how much better I feel when I put even a few extra minutes into my morning make-up routine. I don't even think it's the new colors (which are great by the way), it's the fact that I'm taking the time to put on the concealer and focus on the eyeliner for more than 30 seconds. I just feel like I look better and more put together, which is kind of important since I gained like 7 pounds at my last appointment and I feel a bit "portly"...

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A Celebratory Confection

In honor of the big news...


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I hate people.

I realize, that this is not a great title for a blog post.

Ok. So remember that little incident with the windshield back in December? I drove all the way up to their shop in Wood Dale (you know, home court advantage) so that they could replace the windshield.

I sat in their horrific waiting room for 3 hours with a "sweat pants are good pants" kind of family and a super self-inflated business man.

They still couldn't get it right. I still had condensation on the inside of my windshield and frost the on inside of my windows. NOT. OKAY.

I call them back and in the most pleasant voice I can muster I ask them to fix it. We schedule a time for them to come see me and my house so they can fix it on site. We decide that this morning will be perfect. I will take the day off and they will come by between 8 and noon to fix my windshield.

They call today at 10:15 to confirm my appointment for tomorrow...

I have no pleasant voice left. I explain to them in controlled measures that this situation is unacceptable. It was decided that they would come TODAY, between 8-12 because the car would be unavailable for service tomorrow. They want to reschedule and I explain that I have a job and can't be around for another half day to get this fixed.

Rather exasperated the attendant tells me they can come to my office. (Like, duh, we make on-site visits...).

At this point I lose patience. I tell her I take a train to work and so coming to my OFFICE doesn't help because there is NO CAR THERE!!

I'm put on hold.

The attendant comes back and says they could come out this afternoon. I tell them that's fine, except that I have made appointments for this afternoon (because you were coming THIS MORNING). I will be available after 3:30 and they can come by then. Apparently they can't guarantee that they will be there after 3:30 and I'm like whatever. You are SO not getting a good review from me and my insurance company, who recommended you, will be hearing about this as well.

The icing on the cake? I was told to "have a blessed day". I think I need a nap and maybe some meditation after this...
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Cleopatra, Queen of De-Nial

So, I've finally reached a point where I am giving in to the maternity wardrobe.

I broke down and started wearing maternity pants a while ago, but I was holding out on the maternity shirts. They wouldn't be so bad, except that they totally make you look pregnant!

I know, the reality of my situation still seems to elude me. I bought some maternity shirts while I was in Utah with the help of my excellent SIL, LF. She helped me see the light and get some cute tops.

I'm still a bit self-conscious in them, mostly because other parts of my anatomy have swelled in addition to my belly. I was always very fine with my standing in this matter, but have become increasingly jealous of my more delicately endowed friends.

Oh well, it is what it is, so here's a picture of me in one my brand new maternity shirts looking TOTALLY pregnant.

I'm not going to lie, I look like I haven't had a good night's sleep in about 5 months and that's because it's true.



You'll have to forgive my photographer, he's not really into details like keeping all of my head in the shot. :)
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5 years

So, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary last Friday (the 30th)

DH and I are a really great fit. After 5 years (including a sort of rough 1st year) we still like being with each other. In fact, we like being with each other so much that we don't have to do anything on our anniversary. :)

So we got home from work and were about to go out to dinner when we both realized that we were beat and we didn't want to have to deal with "restaurant stuff". So we made home made pizza (see, I DO love him) and watched TV. It.was.awesome.(not the pizza part, that was just whatever...)

We also decided that this would be the last year for gifts because we've finally reached a point in our relationship where it is no more validated with something than without.

Needless to say, DH got me this:





and because it was a custom ring and he had it made over Christmas - he couldn't wait a WHOLE month to give it to me, so I got it on Christmas day.

On our actual anniversary he got me lovely roses. I really like flowers. There's something about the complete frivolity of flowers that feels so decadent.



So...what did I get him? Well, like a genius I ordered something that was on back order so it's still not here. In the off chance that DH might actually read this post, I'll have to write about it later, if it ever gets here.
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Transportation Woes

I like to call them Toes. Prepare yourself, this is sort of long...

So DH and I take the train to and from work. It's generally not that big of a deal, because we get to save on gas and don't have to fight traffic or pay for parking (both REALLY great things).

However, with the record breaking cold we had the week prior to our leaving Chicago for Utah (it was warmer at the North Pole, btw), riding the train became increasingly difficult. On Wednesday, the 14th. I got out early. I was going to get home and maybe do a load of laundry and start packing. It was going to be great. I arrived at Union Station to find a sea of people milling about the tracks. It sort of reminded me of those pictures you see of the corrals in denver with all the cows. It was kind of like that.

I call DH and I'm like, hey, you should leave early and so should your boss. Our train line is NOT working!!!

It turns out that metal, when left in sub-zero, frigid temperatures doesn't work as well as we humans would like it to. So Amtrak (which also uses our tracks) tried to get into Union Station and lo and behold, the metal switches that allow trains to "switch" from one track to another stuck. The train derailed (no injuries) and shut down ALL THREE TRACKS for the rest of the evening.

I live off one of the busiest lines leaving chicago and so for our track to not work delays 10,000+ people PER COMMUTE and pushes all those people to other train lines or other forms of transportation. It is not pretty.

So I head to the OTHER train station that we have here in chicago and find a line that will take us mostly close to home and if we hurry, we might actually get a seat!

Now, normally, this is bad enough, but because DH and I both work downtown, we have another transportation dilemna once we depart from this alternate line. We are then stuck at the train station with no way to get home...

For this, I would like to thank my Mom. She came and picked us up with ultra heavy traffic and the fact that she was having the LDS missionaries over for dinner that night! My brother stayed home and finished dinner and played host while my mom spent over an hour of her life driving to the middle of some super packed, podunk little town to pick us up and then drop us off at our house which is in no way close to where she needed to go. So...Thanks, Mom. I don't know what we are going to do when you move to Cleveland!

So, with us leaving for Utah that friday, we are thinking, geez - one more day and then we are SO out of here!

Please remember bad things generally come in threes.

On Thursday night, we are completely packed and ready to go. My mom, once again, is saving the day and driving us to the airport at 4:00 Friday morning so we are sleeping at her place to make it easier. We leave our apartment and start driving to my parents house when DH notices this odd thumping noise.

We stop at a parking lot and yep...we have a flat tire. Please remember, it's like 20 below. DH stays out in the cold to change the tire and I go inside the store to shop and whatever. DH's out there for like 20 mintues and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. When we finally reconnect, he tells me that he couldn't get the tire off. It was frozen on! Some good samaritan took pity on him, grabbed our spare tire and proceeded to throw it at the frozen tire. That was the only thing that got it off. :)

So, DH was freezing and couldn't feel his fingers or toes or really most of his legs, but we made it to my parents house and my mom (our savior once again) said she's take our car in to get the tires fixed while we were gone.

And Finally...

We get up on Friday morning and load the car. As we're driving the temperature is -18 (without windchill) and so we were VERY cold for a VERY long time until the car warmed up.

We get to the airport and check our bags, no big deal. Very typical airport stuff. We shoot through security and find our gate, nbd. We are sitting there, waiting to board and they finally open the gates. They call the first zone (we're on Delta) and then stop them before they can board. Something seems to be wrong...

Apparently the emergency lights didn't work. Our crew was working to fix it, but then 30 minutes later they mention something about how they won't work because it's too cold. (It get's better)

We're on the north side of the tarmac and there are no buildings to block the wind from the rest of the runways. It finally comes out that some genius at O'Hare thought it would be a good idea to leave the plane out.overnight.in record breakingly cold weather.

Essentially, we weren't boarding a plane, we were boarding a plane shaped block of ice with a metal frame. About an hour after we were supposed to leave our gate attendant got on the PA and very proudly explained that they got the emergency lights situation fixed! Almost as an afterthough, he added that we still won't be boarding because the plane needs to be de-iced and that can't happen until someone de-iced the de-icing trucks.

Go ahead, you may need a minute to think that one through.

My guess, is that the same brain trust that thought it would be a good idea to park a plane outside, also thought to leave the de-icing trucks out in the same weather.

Finally, we board the plane. It's almost two hours late for departure, but at least everyone was already there and waiting to board.

Ok. This is REALLY long. Congrats on reading that. Now drink some hot cocoa and wrap yourself in a blanket, because that made me cold just writing it!

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Brrr....

I wear commuter shoes to and from the office.

And, like a moron, I left them at work today. I got halfway to the bus stop and I couldn't figure out why I was so amazingly cold. It was like I couldn't feel my toes anymore.

I then looked down and realize it's because I'm wearing "inside shoes" not "outside shoes".

Serious genius at work folks.

Also, I'm totally putting off writing about Utah mostly because of the transportation escapades prior to our trip and the fact that I have like ZERO pictures. Who goes on a trip and doesn't even turn on their camera!?
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Ok. This one's even better.

I really need to get back to work...


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Funny

Ok. I'm getting around to updating the last week or two, but until I do - this is funny.



Who knew you could buy it so cheap?

Try this website. It's full of really fun things that weren't meant to be funny.
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I've had enough!

When I left my house this morning it was - 18 degrees Fahrenheit. With the horrendous windchill it was probably closer to the negative 30s.

Since I'm pregnant and I have next to no patience for ANYTHING, we left. We flew out of town and touched down where the scheduled high was almost 50 degrees warmer. Walking off the plane I thought to myself are your kidding me? Why didn't we do this sooner!?

So where is this land of sunshine and warm rainbows? Salt Lake City, UT. Yep. A Prim ski destination is where we chose to warm up. That's the particular brand of crazy we subscribe to out in Chicago.

I have to say, I'm glad to be here and I hope to see any of you that are out here! We have a week of fun and sun and NOTHING ELSE!


***As an aside, I've been asked recently if I've noticed any mood changes with my pregnancy and I have to say I haven't. The only thing I've noticed is that almost everyone that I come in contact with has simultaneously decided to annoy me. a lot.
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weather

It's like this...only no Jake Gyllenhaal


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Oh Lindsaylou, Why do I ever doubt you?

Oh Lindsaylou, why do I ever doubt you?

Your twice pregnant and 3 times a mother-ly wisdom always wins out in the end.

I feel much better than I did on Sunday. I'm still somewhat nauseous, but compared to Sunday, this is an absolute cake walk...on a warm sunny day...with a cool breeze...and slow music...with extra chairs.

I think it was only the stomach flu (as you correctly deduced), which I have never really fully experienced to this magnitude. I'm not surprised I missed it, just embarrassed that I took to my blog to curse mother nature.

Now we're probably going to have an extra long winter.
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I thought this was supposed to get better?

I thought my second trimester was supposed to be the good one!? (warning TMI ahead)

Ok, so some of you may know that I was mostly nauseous almost the entire first trimester. No vomiting, just this desire to do nothing but eat until I felt better or puked (and then felt better).

That never happened...

I am now solidly into my second trimester and I vomited so much and with such intensity this morning I about blacked out. (I warned you about the TMI)I couldn't breathe and I've burst capillaries in my face. I look like "Crater Face" from Saved by the Bell! (Anybody? Obscure SBTB reference?! - I know you all watched it, so don't even act like you don't remember the zit cream episode.)

I'm due on June 23, and I'm seriously not interested in having this continue for the next 6 months. I still have seminary for another 4.5 of those 6 months and I'm still working through all of that.

Not cool, mother nature...not cool.
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A hitch in my get-a-along

I have come to the realization that I can no longer wear heels.

This is distressing to me since most of my shoes have at least a 1in heel or higher.

Why can't I wear heels anymore?

Mostly because for the past four weeks it feels like my right leg is trying to detach itself at the hip and walk away on it's own. I now sleep with an abnormally long pillow between my knees and ankles and have only recently (this morning) realized that heels make it worse. Today is the first day in many that I can get up from my chair at work and not walk like an 80 year old woman. It still has a distinctive pain to it, but it's much less than it was, say yesterday.

You know, times like this cause me to think back to the not so distant past when my view of pregancy was less than flattering. I would look at these women and although I was generally sympathetic to their pains, I was thinking, "Your uterus is expanding will you get a grip? It's not like your leg is going to fall off or your stomach will eat itself".

At this time, I would like to say, I'm sorry. My thinking was so horribly wrong that it's almost laughable. I'm sorry for my unsympathetic thoughts, because now I realize; Pregnancy isn't just about your uterus, it's like a virus that takes over your whole body.
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Tagged by LZA

LZA,

I'm not completely sure that I'm the R that you tagged in your post, so since I'm in doubt, I'll do it anyway and give you all the benefit of my amazing answers! *heavy dose of sarcasm*

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial - it's the only way to go.
3. When do you put up the tree? this year? Last week :(
4. Do you like eggnog? Alcohol free please!
5. Favorite gift received as a child? wow...my memory is awful.
6. Hardest person to buy for? DH
7. Easiest person to buy for? My neice, MM
8. Do you have a nativity scene? I made one in highschool?
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? neither this year (I know, bah humbug)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Large & In Charge - a workout video from the 80s for the more plump aerobicist.
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas -are there any others?
12. When do you start shopping? December 15
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? cookies
15. Lights on the tree? white
16. Favorite Christmas song? All I want for Christmas is You - with the video that has that guy with the weird hair.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Target commercials
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? My mom had purple berries and green pears one year. That was really great.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? turkey
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? China

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Candi, This is for You.

Tag 1: Six Random things about me.

1. I moved 6 times in college.

2. I broke my left arm at age 6.

3. I have 6 winter coats in my closet. (Sadly, it hardly seems like enough!)

4. I teach seminary which STARTS at 6am.

5. Dave and I take the same train home which get's us to our apartment at 6p most nights.

6. 6 of my coworkers were fired on my very first day at Tribune Co. (Boy that was weird)
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*Disclaimer*

Please read before opening the following two posts.

I am readily willing to admit that I am over using the italics, bold, and capitalization functions in the following two posts. I also overuse the !!!exclamation point!!!

Consider it part of my pregnancy. As I share my little adventures (Here I go AGAIN!!!) I will occasionally be more emotionally attached to certain memories, like cereal and ice scrapers.

There is no explanation for this, so, as a collective blogging community, let's work together and hope this doesn't continue for another 6 months until little Schlomo or Bertha Jo arrives.
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The BEST day EVER!!!

Be Prepared for the awesomeness to come...

Sunday was a really warm day. It was like 51 degrees. In December, in Chicago, you just can't beat that. There was a little rain, but nothing a good wiper blade couldn't handle.

Anyway, I should know better seeing that I'm from here, but it got cold Sunday night.

Really cold.

But don't worry. It kept raining. And then icing.

I wake up on Monday morning for seminary and remember that I'm driving. Oh man, I'll need to make sure I leave early so I can scrape my car. I bet it's going to be just covered!

So in my mind, I'm having this dialogue: "Self, you better hurry.", "I know, Self, I'm going to give myself 10 extra minutes to scrape my car.", "Good thing, Self, because you're probably going to need it", "Self, don't be such a pessimist, you'll be fine with 10 minutes. It's not like someone dipped your car in ice and then froze it like an ice cube".

I walk outside and practically fell on my face. The parking lot is covered in a certifiably skate-able sheet of ice. I get to my car and I look at the windows. "Self, I think you are totally screwed", "Self, that doesn't help right now. How 'bout we open the stupid door and turn on the defroster?"

It takes me the 1st 5 minutes of my extra 10 minutes to OPEN THE DOOR. I turn on my car and let the defrosters start working. Has anyone else noticed the futility of blowing barely warm air on a piece of glass that is covered in almost 3/16 of an inch of ice?

So I start scraping. I realize my lame-o scraper from Utah (where they get normal snow) isn't going to cut it, but I don't have any other options. I'm hardly making a dent and after another 15 minutes (5:40) I have 4 inches of visibility on the drivers side only. Awesome.

I call the other teacher that I carpool with. Her car is in a nice dry garage. Can she drive today? TJ says yes, because she's awesome. I turn off my car and go inside. I can't believe that this is happening. we are SO totally late. TJ calls me back at about 5:45-5:47. Her garage door won't open. It's frozen shut. She has a clean car, but she can't get into it.

I go and start scraping again. By 6:00 (BTW, we start seminary at 6) I have 12 inches of visibility on my side and 5 inches on the passenger side. Good enough. I go and pick up 2 students and TJ. We get to church at 6:20 and some students have already come and gone. It's a sad day.

Hilariously enough. That's not even the best of it. As we are driving to seminary. We're talking about how those dumb seminary teachers should have cancelled seminary, and that we are never going to get there when out of nowhere, my windshield cracks.

Yep. starboard to port in two swift pops. It's taken me till today to write this post because if I wrote it yesterday I would have used words that would STILL get me in trouble with my Mom. And NO ONE wants to make her mad. (j/k mom) :)

So, as a recap, the best day ever included a car shaped ice cube. three stooges like antics, and a broken windshield. And it's not even 6:30am.
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Lots of goings on.

Okay, so I'm probably going to have to post something like a million entries. I've been tagged 3 times, and I've had some very interesting happenings in the last few days.

Okay (this is no the most eventful happening, but it is certainly on the forefront of my mind).

So I eat cereal for breakfast. This is a fairly recent change from my normal breakfast intake of...air. So I have purchased a few options. I have an old box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch that I absolutely can NOT touch (more on that later), a box of honey nut cheerios, and a brand new box of flavorless bran flakes. All good choices.

I had bran flakes yesterday so I was feeling pretty fiberful, and thought I'd indulge in a big bowl of yummy honey covered oat rings. I got my milk, my bowl, my spoon and my cereal. I said my prayer, because I don't like soggy cereal, and what if my prayer is long!?

I then open that glorious box of cereal to find...Cinnamon Toast Crunch!!!!!! Oh, the horror!

Here's the problem. Due my particular condition, I have a rather strong aversion to things, like bean soup, and oatmeal, but most of all CINNAMON! I can't stand the smell or even thinking of it. *spine shudder*

Remember, I have seminary so it's like 5:15 and I yell DH's name in vain! HE must have done this!! The EVIL FIEND!! (OK, so maybe I'm a little hormonal) He comes running thinking that I've fallen to my death on the kitchen floor and then I feel bad. I tell him to go back to bed and that he wasn't supposed to hear that.

I then settle for bran flakes, day 2.
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teeth

So, remember this post?

Well, the filling just fell out. How's that for awesome? Now I have a giant hole on the side of my tooth and absolutely no contact between my two teeth. It sure makes food fun to eat. I invariably save some for later.

Luckily, my appointment isn't for like another week. *sarcasm*
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hmmm....

So I don't really know how to approach this topic. It requires some delicacy and forethought, neither of which are core competencies for me.

This happened,



Then this happened,



and then this happened,

and then finally, this happened...


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Bankruptcy...

Big news at the office...

Yep. Tribune Co., and almost all of it's subsidiaries, is filing for bankruptcy. Chapter 11 to be exact. That means we have a crapload of debt and a really poor way of managing it.

Thusly, we were given the option to file for bankruptcy or post our Q4 ad sales and have our debt to profit ration exceed the allowable limit set forth by our many creditors.

Needless to say, it has been a very busy afternoon. I'm very tired from all the conversations that I've had with vendors and contractors trying to calm them down. No one is losing their job and no one will be defaulting on payments (hopefully...), it's just a mell of a hess.
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Tagged

Okay, so I've mostly been putting this off, because I don't think that I have any fun pictures on any computer that I use. I finally found this one and thought is was pretty good, so here you go. BTW, no 4th folder anything, I'm lucky I have a "photos" folder let alone anything organized inside it.

This is DH and I at the Thanksgiving Point gardens back in May. Obviously the sun is in our eyes, hence the goofy expression on DH's face and the mildly annoyed expression on mine.

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Dear CTA...an open letter

Dear CTA,

I want to tell you how much I love you. For 2 dollars I can go practically anywhere and at practically any time.

You are so great. Your drivers almost always know where they're going and your suggested, but not quite accurate, schedule always keeps me guessing.

I have to say though, today was a bad day. I hopped on your 151 to Union Station thinking to myself, "what luck! I only had to wait a few minutes and I even got a seat!" Then you disappointed me CTA, your bus crapped out in the middle of Michigan Ave., only two blocks from where I was picked up.

I would have had a picture to show you, but it was so cold there was no way I was stopping. Besides, I needed to find a new bus to get me to the train station. You see, CTA, I have a head cold. A very nasty one, that required me to leave work early. It was so nice of you to accommodate my needs on the quick pick-up, but to then dash my hopes of a speedy trip two blocks down was abominable.

I would like to propose a solution. We are in this together and so we MUST work this out. How about you check your buses on a consistent basis for things like working batteries, and even alternators, and I'll not look for alternative transportation.

Deal?

All my love,

Rae
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scheduling

So, being that I'm a little behind the times, I just figured out how to schedule posts.

Seriously, this is awesome. I wrote this yesterday. I am that cool.
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Pizza

Do you ever have those days?



I got home on Monday, DH had class and wouldn't be home until long after I went to sleep. I didn't feel like cooking and there was no food in the house (i.e. nothing I thought I wanted to eat).

So I ordered pizza. In general, I don't like pizza, it's greasy, cheesy, and heavy. Most pizza places are dark, serve root beer and beer, and all their appetizers (veggies included) are batter dipped and fried.

Often DH has to do something extraordinarily nice for me to even consider the thought of eating pizza. So you can imagine how DH felt when he got home and saw a pizza box with pizza still in it and he didn't suggest that it be purchased.

It's like I'm compromising my morals.

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He Won One

So Saturday Morning, we were in the car on the way to my parents house. It's pretty much what we do on Saturdays.

We were driving along as we normally do, and DH decided to take a different road than we normally took. Right as he was turning he asked me if I thought it was a good idea. I told him, "No, this road is longer than the other one, it will take us longer to get there". To which he replied, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Often this is how our driving conversations go. To most it would be sad, but it's just normal for us.

So anyway, we were talking about other things and he explained why he picked the road he did (he just can't let things go...) and he started talking about speed limits, and traffic and it actually made sense. I looked at him and said, "That makes sense, I rescind my previous comment" - because that's how we talk to each other.

To which he replied the following...












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Working from home

Have you ever had one of those morning?

The alarm went off, and I was having the seriously most WEIRDEST dream ever! (I know, bad grammar - I'm trying to prove a point!!) I didn't even eat anything weird last night, but there were people in my dream that I didn't even remember I forgot.

DH was moving around a lot last night too so I kept dreaming in this half awake/half asleep daze. I start moving and get reading for work and seminary. Everything seems to be normal. I'm driving this week and I'm actually on time (shocker).

The goofy part comes in when I get home. There are a LOT of people at the train station outside our window...too many, in fact. I turn on the news and, yep. The trains are delayed.

I decide to make myself some breakfast. As I'm stirring my cream of wheat, I think about my day and realize every meeting I have is on the phone. I can do this anywhere! Gosh, those pajamas sure look comfy.
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My 3 Saviors

So I passed out on the bus today.

Yep. I'm just standing there minding my own business when it feels like my internal body temperature just jumped about 800 degrees. I start peeling off my scarf and unzipping my coat. I put my mp3 player away and try to keep my knees bent.

It's not working, lights are looking really bright and everything seems "over-developed". My peripheral vision is fading to black so I finally turn to the man standing next to me and I say, "excuse me, I'm about to pass out, can you help me?"

My voice sounds tinny and then there is just a jumbling of words all around me. The bus has stopped. We are at an actual bus stop. I feel hands and arms around me as I am unceremoniously shoved off the bus and made to sit down on my new bright red coat.

I slowly realize that there are still 3 people around me. They are asking if I'm okay. One of them is running to the nearest store to get juice and water, another is hailing a cab. After 5 minutes, I can thank them for their help. After another 5, the cab shows up. I am personally mortified at this point and they then offer to pay for my cab. I have no cash, so I accept.

As I'm walking to the cab, we finally introduce ourselves. So to my Saviors of the day, Jeff, Juliana, and Brandy...Thanks.
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Cute...Overload!

Baah! I Love tiny dogs!!



Anyway, I thought this was hilarious. Get it? A Dachshund? That's where the name "hot dog" came from?

Does anyone else besides me appreciate the humor of this?

You can find more awesome-ness here.
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So Tired

So, in honor of Veteran's day, there was no seminary.

I still planned a lesson last night, made DH buy ribbon for an object lesson on his way home from class, and then I woke up early, showered, dressed, and walked down to the lobby of my building. I waited there for 15 minutes before I realized...we don't have seminary today.

I was a little frustrated with myself. :) Now I'm super tired and can't get out of the funk I picked up from my confusion this morning. I just need a good nap and maybe a book.

My boss probably won't mind, right? It's not like I'm paid to work or anything...
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...For Amy

So this post is for my friend Amy (AD from here on out)..

AD - I've sent you emails, but I have the sneaking suspicion that they are not getting to you. It may be that I can't type to save my life, or I have the wrong address or something equally silly. I'm posting my email address so that you can invite me on your own, since I can't seem to get my act together...

rachelmossferguson@gmail dot com

You're great. Thanks for dealing with my technical ineptitude. :)
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Copper-Bopper

This is what my mom calls the dog. The dog that loves me best...:)






As you can see, Copper loves her costume. It's a black t-shirt (very slimming) with a spider cape attached at the collar and then a hat that conveniently covers ears with a giant spider on top.

By the look of pure joy on her face, you can tell she's glad that I'm there...making her put on a stupid costume...that doesn't really fit...
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Numb

So I had another dentist's appointment today.

Has anyone ever tried to put make-up on when your face is numb up to your eyeballs? Applying concealer required a whole new skill set...
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He-larious

So I forgot that I had like this hugely important vendor meeting today, so what did I wear to an office that no longer has a dress code?

Yep. Jeans and a cotton v-neck gap sweater in orange...seriously. I had my hair in a ponytail and next to no make-up on. It was not pretty.

So I did a quick search and figured out when the nearest Ann Taylor opened (10am, perfect for an 11:30) meeting and I found the closest sales person and told them I needed an ensemble.

It was fantastic, 20 minutes later I had a glorious pair of wool slacks, a synthetic blend plum colored sweater and a creamy undershirt. I looked professional (except for the shoes, but I hit a payless on the way back and got a cute pair of kitten heels in a goldish cream.

I fixed my ponytail, put on some make-up from my emergency work stash, and off I went.

Anyway, as I was racing to Ann Taylor I saw this guy walking along Michigan. Now I get it, we all have to have a place to put important things and sometimes pockets are just not big enough. Besides, what better way to show your manly-ness than with a camouflage fannypack!




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The infamous cord

A-ha! I found the mini-usb to usb cable to connect my card reader to my computer and I "stole" it back. I'm pretty sure since DH never reads this blog, he'll never know it was me who went into his super secret hiding place and took out like the only white cord there...

So does anyone else always want to spell cord with and h, i.e. chord? As in chord for music? Maybe it's just me and my musical geekiness (I did play 3 instruments in jr. high)

Anyway, this will probably mean tons more posts with lots of pictures (hopefully).

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