Things to do today:

1. Pack to go to big Cav.

2. Take care of some list items since I am home alone.

3. Squeeze in a tiny nap.

4. Contemplate Nas.(This one is for Amanda. I said this once in the car and she busted up laughing.)

A little of everything

1. On Sunday afternoon, I got gas because I was practically on E. I stood in awe for like 10 seconds as I realized that I got over 10 gallons of gas for $17.72. I can't remember the last time that happened.

2. "Auntie Amanda" was here this past weekend. Lukin can't say Amanda, or at least, decided he didn't want to. So instead, he decided to call her "Debuh". It was actually quite cute and Amanda was happy to have a name, even if it was wrong.

3. I completed my first day as a substitute, ever. It was on Friday and I got to work at the school that I worked at last year. It was actually pretty fun. I lined up another day for later in December.

4. Is it wrong to just mail out normal people Christmas cards if we have a child under 5? We didn't do 30 month pictures (or 2 1/2 year) pictures. And I am not paying some outrageous price for pics from the wedding that aren't really what I had in mind.

5. I am currently one glass of juice into filling my bladder before my ultrasound in 50 minutes. Fun times. Obviously the people that designed these things don't understand that it takes me quite a while to drink anything. But I will do my best. How does anyone do this without peeing their pants? This is what I want to know.

6. I wonder how much trouble I will be in if I don't make the annual calendar this year for my parents and inlaws? Brenda gave me a gift card for Archivers, but I am not feeling it this year. I don't know why, but even though I am not working, I still feel really busy and almost feel more busy than when I did work full time. It's strange.

Cities 97 Sampler Eve

So tomorrow is the Cities 97 Sampler 20th Anniversary CD release. Of course, if you know what I am talking about, then you know that it isn't something you can just waltz into a store that sells CDs and pick up at your leisure.

You would also be correct in assuming that I am not the kind of girl who goes and waits in line at 3 am on a cold November morning for this CD...however, my husband is that kind of guy.

I was telling him tonight that we make a good pair in terms of this CD. He goes and gets it (waiting in line in cold weather for hours to get a copy before they sell out 15 minutes after they go on sale). I think he does it because it's tradition for him to do it, as he has done it for years, and because the money from the sales goes to charity. I don't really believe that he knows half the artists that are on the CD.

I, on the other hand, do know many of the artists and can't wait to listen to the CD. I am super excited for it to be a two-disc set this year in honor of the anniversary. So happy Sampler Eve!

In case you don't check your email...

So, in case I have the wrong email addy for anyone, or if I don't have an email address for you, or if you don't ever check your email, here's the announcement of the day:

I am pregnant with baby number 2.

We are pretty excited at our house. Well, I am. I don't know if Sonny is appreciating the mood swings that are already occurring. And I don't think Lukin has a clue what is going on yet.

I have an ultrasound next Tuesday to tell me the exact due date since the dr. doesn't believe that I am as far along as I had suspected I was at my first prenatal visit yesterday. And I will be sure to pass that information along when I know.

Have a terrific day!

The Red Pepper

Now, I don't know if I have blogged about this before but I need to comment about the Red Pepper. So, tonight after the UND hockey game, we went to the Red Pepper. We waited in line for like 10 minutes for an available teenage boy to help us. When one was finally ready, we gave our order: A half turkey grinder, a ham and cheese, a combo tostada and two Mountain Dews.

Now I realize that mathematically speaking, there are probably a ton of different options when ordering from the limited menu at the Pep, but that's what you train for. So when someone orders, you should have the mental capacity to make these things in an efficient manner. But alas, this is not the way it works.

I swear that these are the kids who failed training at Jimmy John's. They are not freaky fast. They are not freaky anything. I swear, if anything, these kids are freaky slow. It's like they are vying for the award of slowest worker.

That and I thoroughly believe that when these kids go on break, they slip out back for a joint. That doesn't add to their speediness at all.

But what pisses me off about the whole experience is that they have absolutely no reason to change. They are not a chain restaurant. They have no standard to live up to. In fact, the standard that they have to live up to is to be really slow.So if you want Red Pepper, you will have to wait in line, and the shitty thing is, people are willing to wait in line, so they have no reason to change. It's like a very annoying cycle.

Pop Culture

So this weekend was girl's weekend. And as per usual, it involved a night of board games. (Oh I know, we are wild and crazy.) Anyway, I love doing that, especially trivia games. And I love it even more when the trivia games are based on Pop Culture. We played the Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition, and I was telling Sonny that I knew the answers for everyone else's questions, but when they were mine, I didn't have a clue.

But my favorite game of the night was The 90's Game. Brenda pointed out that she doesn't know why we even play it because she already knows that I am going to win before we start. I don't know why, but I just know and remember that stuff. Information like the medical term for flesh-eating bacteria, I don't know (and had I, I would have gotten another piece of pie in Trivial Pursuit), but things like the name of Andrea Zucherman's husband on 90210, I know.

I used to date this guy and we would send each other trivia type emails every day. And most of the time, the questions we would pose would be pop culture questions and so if I ever got stuck on one, Peter would be like, "Come on Jen. This is an easy one. It's Pop Culture."

I wonder why Pop Culture information sticks with me, but other stuff doesn't. Maybe it's an issue of whether or not I care about what the topic at hand is...and for many years, I didn't care. But I don't think that I care that much about pop culture stuff either, but perhaps in the 90s, I did. It was the world around me, and I was immersed in it.

Hodge Podge

Things that have crossed my mind today:

1. I must really like the color brown. Today I was wearing my brown pants, a brown sweater, (even a brown bra) brown shoes, brown leather jacket, carrying a brown purse and my brown umbrella. Who knew I liked brown so much? I guess I must have because I know I don't like black (in terms of shoes, jackets, or purses, and scarcely in my clothing) very much at all.

2. I was remembering last year when we went to Vegas for my Dad's 50th. It was Mom and Dad, Gigi and Nils, and Sonny and me. I remember Gigi making a comment about how I could take as long as I wanted to get ready (if you know me, you know it's a lengthy process). And that she was proud that I still took good care of myself and didn't stop getting ready the way I used to once I had a baby.

3. Tomorrow is my last day at FRMS. I'm not really sad. At least not right now. I know I won't miss getting up at 4:55 every other day. I think I need a week of sleeping in to recover. Amanda asked me once if I really believed that getting up 40-45 minutes earlier every day really had that much of an impact on why I am so tired all the time, and the more I thought about it, the more I believe that yes, it does. That'd be 160 minutes more of sleep Monday through Thursday and I didn't work Fridays last year, so yeah, it makes a difference.

4. I am waiting for some information about Girls' weekend which starts tomorrow. But if I don't get any for tomorrow, I have a backup plan, at least for dinner tomorrow night anyway.

5. Gotta go. Little man wants to snuggle with mommy. It must be the 'nuggle shirt.

Election Hangover

Today I am suffering the election hangover. I was up at 3:45 to get ready to work the election, plus staying up to see the results trickling in equals being exhausted the next day. Everyone who asked me how it was today, that is the response I gave: "I'm exhausted." I truly am. But like I mentioned yesterday, it was a great thing to have the opportunity to be a part of, and I am looking forward to filling my civic duty again in 4 years, or two, if they should need me then.

Civic Duty

As you all SHOULD know, today is Election Day. And all of you who are eligible, SHOULD have voted. What you may not be aware of is the fact that I served as an Election Judge today.

This is a new experience for me, and I have to confess that I was a little freaked out after I took the training class, but once you get there and get rolling, it's really not so bad. You kind of find a groove and it works for you. I was a Roster Judge (R-Z). I kept passing the page with my in-laws names on it, and I kept thinking it was my name...silly rabbit. I don't vote in that precinct.

Around lunch time, the Head Election Judge dismissed us two by two to grab some lunch during a lull. (The school that we were working in provided lunch for us.) And while we were going to get lunch, the Challenger for our site, came with us. She put her arms around Kristen (the girl I was sitting beside) and me, and said that she was glad to see young people volunteering. She also added that she hopes we do it again.

I mentioned that fact to one of the guys I was sitting by and he asked me if I noticed in the training video that all the workers were older, retired folks. I didn't even notice. But after the Challenger said that, I realzed that Kristen, Suzanne and I were the youngest three there, except for the high school volunteers.

I had a good time. It felt good to be part of national decision making process. It was nice to have a couple people thank me. I thought that they were thanking me for helping them, and they were really thanking me for volunteering. That made me feel good. I would recommend that experience to anyone. It's your civic duty.

Amanda's sense of humor

My BFF Amanda has some interesting names for some of the restaurants that we have taken her to when she has come to visit. I was thinking about this yesterday when we went out for lunch. We didn't go anywhere that she has ever been, at least not that I remember, but it still made me think of her inventive names for the following restaurants.

1. Genghis Grill : Amanda's name: Ghenghis Khan

2. Panera: She calls it: Pandora's Box

3. UGH, there is one more, but I can't remember what it is! Amanda help. Please remind me what your interesting name for the 3rd place is. Was it East Meet West? Or LeAnn Chin? Maybe neither. I can't remember.

First time to the store?

So today we did the usual Sunday grocery store trip. And for some strange reason when we got to the check out line, there was a girl in front of us, who decided that she had to go to the bathroom before she paid. So we had to wait there until she came back? Really?!? Isn't there some kind of button you can push that will let you put that order on hold and move on?!? There was when I worked in a G. store back in GF.

So after about 3-5 minutes, she finally came back and then she paid for her stuff, which was all rung up by this point, and then she pulls her cart to the end, but doesn't feel compelled to get it out of the way. So, she leaves it sitting there at the end while Sonny waits at the other bagging section to put the bags in the cart.

Seriously? Has this girl never been to the store before? I don't get how you could not get it...at all... But it didn't help with my crabbiness factor for today.