Check out this horrible story!!

If you have children, or know small children, then read this horrific story from Australia. I would totally freak out if this happened to my family.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24974269-421,00.html

90's on 9

So, one of the perks of my new car is the fact that I get satellite radio for the next 6 months or so. And it's nice that it's MY car because then I don't have to be subjected to the 80's on 8, like when we have a rental car.

Anyway, I was listening to the 90's channel yesterday on my way to and from work. I heard some good ones that I like and haven't heard for a while: Motownphilly, Flip Fantasia, and No Diggity. The first one reminds me of being on the dance team, since that was one of our songs. The other two remind me of college. There are some songs that don't really remind me of any specific time, and others that remind me of very specific times: Flagpole Sitta: Dagwoods, You Gotta Be: living at the farm.

It's weird how music and smells can just instantly take you back. But it's nice to remember when once in a while.

Quotes that are too cute to delete permanently

So Amanda sent me a email today because she discovered her sent folder so I decided to look at some of my messages (over 600) and delete (some of) the unnecessary ones (since they go back to 2005), but not before taking the quotes that I like and putting them somewhere that I will always have them. (These are from the ones I have in 2005 up to the end of 2006, in case you gave me a good one that I didn't use.)

"He's like a glacier. You look and he's in one spot and you look away for a second and he has carved out some valleys and is on the move..."
-Amanda, after babysitting Lukin for 3 days

"It's out of my hands for now."
-Dave Matthews

"Ah, bingo...how I've missed you."
-Melody S., who used to work in a bar, when we went to Johnny's Lounge on Jenny's birthday to play bingo. (from Amanda's signature line a few years back)

A CASINO CONVERSATION: (that took place before Sonny and I were even officially dating)
PAUL (a guy at the blackjack table): Did your husband (referencing Sonny) leave you?
ME: He must have because I didn't even know I had one.

"I would have said more but it was hard to get a word in with you three."
-Sonny, after eating out with Amanda, Greg K., and I

"If you have more children, the minute you feel any type of twinge, get in here!"
-Heather, or delivery nurse commenting on my short labor.

"Piss is not a swear word. It's a noun."
-One of my 8th grade students

New Year, New Car

Okay, so I know that we are almost to the end of the January, but if I had a baby that was less than a month old, it would still be new, so yeah.

Anyway, as I may have mentioned last week, I was having troubles with my car. So much so that I was done dealing with it. Period. End of Story. So, even though we weren't really looking to buy a new car last week (we had had the discussion about having my in-laws drive me to work for the rest of the year (since we didn't really budget for a second car payment when I accepted the positions for this year)), we finally just bit the bullet and bought a new car. Now there's no more worry about putting more money into the car than it's worth. There's no worrying that something will break down while I am driving. But I kind of wish this would have been decided back in December before we put nearly (if not over) $2000 (more than Blue Book for it) into the car ($500 on new tires (after the blowout on I-29), and some other thing that I dont' remember). But I digress.

So, my new car is a 2009 Ford Fusion. Yes, I bought, what my father refers to as the "F"-word car brand. But he doesn't have to drive it, he will barely even see it, so it's okay. Anyway, I wonder if the dealer was expecting more emotion when I bought the car. He kept asking if I was excited. I was like, "I guess so. Sure." He had a skeptical look on his face. Apparently, he doesn't know that I am more of a cerebral type person. While the potential excitement of owning something brand new is enticing, I am more of a worrier about the payments. The newness of the car will wear off, but the payments won't. I should have told him that.

And to answer this question, I never did really mourn the loss of my Alero. I was driving it down Galaxie toward the dealer and I was thinking to myself that it would be the last time I would drive that car, and I was okay with that. It has it's memories, but most I can live without.

So, that's my exciting news for the week. I am a new car owner. Yay me.

Pre-pregnancy jeans

So today, I am wearing, as the title suggests, pre-pregnancy jeans. It feels good to wear my normal jeans. You may be scratching your head and wondering how that is even possible to wear pre-pregnancy jeans during the 18th week of my second pregnancy.

The answer is simple really: The pregnancy band. It's this thing made of spandex or lycra that you wear around your mid-section that allows you to wear pre-pregnancy clothes. The suction-i-ness of the spandex keeps your unbuttoned (and possibly unzipped) pants from looking obviously unbuttoned, and more importantly, from falling down. It's fantastic!

The only drawback is that you have to wear longer shirts to cover the fact that your pants are not buttoned. That's probably why maternity shirts are so long. Well, that and you have this ever expanding belly.

But all in all, I would recommend this to anyone who is pregnant.

Stickler about Grammar

I know that we all make mistakes. But when I think about it, I am more tolerant of mistakes at lower levels. Let me explain. If a student comes in and is writing a narrative for some class, I expect there to be errors. However, if you are in academic administration, I expect more. In fact, if you are in administration, I expect perfection.

So this is why I had to write this entry. Just moments ago, I received an email from administration talking about class size. While this topic is irrelevant to me, I read the email anyway. By the second line, I had to stop, roll my eyes, take a drink of water and collect myself because it was talking about "advisory class sizes getting to big." There were two more errors in the next few words. I had to stop reading it all together.

I take issue when people who are supposed to know stuff don't know stuff. For example, knowing the difference between to, two, and too. I should think you learned this in basic grammar (say elementary school) and it should have been mastered long before the decision to go into academic administration.

Now this isn't supposed to be a rant about the person on an individual level. In fact, I don't even know the person who wrote it. I have never met him. But I don't like when grammar is misused, either in spoken or written form. I don't know if this is a quirk of my chosen profession, or if it's just a regular irritation with the general population.

A new President and my old car

1. The inauguration: I watched as our 44th President became the 44th President. It brought a little tear to my eye to realize the magnitude of what was happening. It was the first time I can ever remember watching that process. I have to confess that I was excited to watch it. I guess I am a fan of democracy in action. I didn't vote for the 44th President. But I appreciate the fact that I had the freedom to vote for whoever I wanted.

2. The buzz in Washington, DC: To quote a teacher that was in the hall after the inauguration yesterday, "He's not the second coming of Christ. He's just a man." I agree with her. I get that it's an exciting time in our country for the civil rights movement, but let's not pat ourselves on the back to briskly. We are waaaaay behind other countries in electing someone who isn't Caucasian.

3. My car: So as I drove home, on the freeway on Friday, my engine overheated. I got off the freeway and called my husband, and my dad who was en route to my home. On Saturday, Dad and Sonny took my car to the shop. They ran their tests and everything was apparently fine. They believed I was low on antifreeze and having added some fixed the issue. Come Monday morning, I am driving to work and it happens again, on the same freeway. I call my dad and he comes to pick me up and take me to work. I am now without car until we decide if it's worth fixing or if we should donate it and get a different one.

4. Pregnancy and Stress: I was a ball of fun last night. I couldn't help but cry about my car as we drove around the dealership lot. I know most people are happy to shop for new cars. I'm not. I am pregnant and attached to the car I have. I wanted my mom. A lot. And I was sad that they left during the day while I was at work without a car. Like I said, I was a ball of pregnant fun last night.

Everything and nothing

I should write an entry. But I have a headache, and therefore don't have a lot to say. I would comment on the inauguration, but I want to ponder my thoughts on that first.

My parents came to see me (and my family) this weekend. We had a good time. They are leaving today, as far as I know.

My car is being naughty. That's about all I know for now.

Seriously?

So this morning it was hard to get up. Well, I have to confess that being pregnant, and having the weather this cold (-18) when I wake up does little to motivate me to get out of bed in the morning. But anyway. So at about 5:08 am, I throw the covers off and get up. I sleepily go check on Little Man to see if he has any covers on at all (and he never does because he kicks them all off, but his room is warm so I don't worry too much). Then I come back and grab my stuff to head into the shower.

I do the regular necessary stuff and then go upstairs to "watch the weather", aka: take a 20 minute nap. When I see that there are school related announcements at the bottom of the screen, I don't hold my breath because they are on there everyday, and our school never runs late or closes. So once the R's go by, I nap for the next 15 minutes until the alarm goes off again. I crankily get off the couch to go get ready the rest of the way (which frankly, could be eliminated because it's the hair and make up part, but I digress).

Then I go and have some breakfast and go and get Lukin up and help him get set up in his frog tent that he got from Santa. He needs a pillow and a blanket and his little yellow monkey. Once that is all set up, I leave to go out to my really cold car that has already been running for 10+ minutes.

I then begin the task of driving to work, in the cold car. It's times like this where I wish that I lived in ND still because when it's that cold, they might consider running late or closing.

So I finally get to school and realize that I am almost late, but not as late as many other people because there are hardly any cars in the parking lot. I get the best spot I have ever gotten! I get out and walk to the door to see a sign that says: Late start Classes will start at 10 am.

Are you kidding me? I had to get up and drive here to find out that I didn't have to get up and drive here for two more hours? I could have slept until the time when I was about to walk out the door. I could have napped on my couch for an hour or so. But no. Here I am at school two hours earlier than I need to be. I could have went home but quickly ruled that option out as I recall how bad traffic is on Cedar going north at 7:30 am. So I go to my office to take a nap. But I don't think office chairs were made for sleeping. So instead, I run to McDonalds for breakfast and dink around on the computer.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the announcement was on the three other channels in the metro, but not the one I watch. Great.

Tums Virgin

So in case you have been living under a rock and know nothing about what's going on with me right now, I am pregnant. Therefore, I am more prone to get heartburn, or so the websites say. Anyway, I got heartburn (or what the online symptoms describe as heartburn) yesterday for the first time EVER in my life.

I have to say that I am not a fan. So, I bought some Tums last night, but then talked to my mom after I bought them but before I took them and decided that I better consult a nurse in the morning before I took one. And I have to add that if I hadn't been extremely tired last night, I don't know that I would have fallen asleep because it hurt a lot.

Of course, I checked with the nurse this morning, but by this time the heartburn was gone. That was until after lunch. Then it returned. So I got to open my little 8-pack of Tums and take one. It wasn't as bad as I would have envisioned. Maybe it's because I bought flavored ones. Either way, if all I have to do to feel better when this happens is take one of these candy-flavored Tums, I think I can handle it. But we'll see how it goes.

Try again

Here's the widget for a second time. Please let me know if it says I have already had the baby.Then I will get concerned about why I can't button my winter coat all the way anymore.

Widget-less

So I tried to look at the widget at home and those who commented that I was 40 weeks pregnant were right...that's what it said. So I didn't know how to fix it (seeing as it said one thing on my work computer and a different thing at home), so I got rid of it.

Fortunate Fool

Before I start this entry, I want to mention that when I used to deal blackjack, there was this guy that I worked with that gave me a Jack Johnson CD with the song "Fortunate Fool" on it. I don't really even like that song. But the title bodes well for today's entry.

So, on Monday, as I was lying in bed, sick, I realized that every January since I have moved to Minnesota, I have had to use sick days. The first January that I lived here, I missed most of the first week back after the break because I was sick and the doctor thought I had gall stones or kidney stones...some kinda stones (but they weren't). The next January, I missed a couple days the first week back from break because I think I got food poisoning. Sonny doesn't think it was food poisoning, but whatever, I never ate at that restaurant again. Last January, I think I just got sick, as in run down. This January, I got some kind of stomach flu or something.

But even more ironic than the fact that I have gotten sick every January is the fact that this time when I went to the Dr., she put me on a medication to control the nausea (that had preventing me from keeping some of my meals since Friday lunch), but now I am sick from the side effects of the nausea medication. So my choices are to take the medication (which by the way is typically given to those going through chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or who have just had surgery) to control my nausea, and suffer those side effects, OR I can not take the medicine and be nauseous, and gamble on whether or not I will get to keep whatever meals I choose to eat.

I know. I know. The easy answer is to take the medication because then I don't have to worry about the baby getting enough nutrients and such. But seriously, I would like to feel healthy again soon. Oh what a fortunate fool I am.

Check out my cool new widget!

So I was trying to update myself on TR2's blog, but it wouldn't let me see the newest entry that my blog says should be there. Anyway, I went to the website anyway and noticed that she has this cool widget counting down the days to her pregnancy and giving a little tidbit of info to go with whatever week you are in. So I decided that I needed to add that too. Thanks TR2 for being a trendsetter!

Gimme a Break, Norm Coleman

Now, forgive me for not writing about my holiday break. But I need to rant.

Also, forgive me for my short-term memory problems while I am pregnant. But am I the only one who remembers Norm Coleman asking Al Franken to just concede, back in November, and, save the state time and money by not dragging the election out any further? Um, anybody?

Well, I do. And although, I come from the red state next door, I can't help but get angry when I think about those words of Norm's. What exactly would he be doing in protesting the final results and going to court with that? Would that be saving the taxpayers (aka: potential voters) money? Somehow, I think not.

Think about it. In November, he claims that he want to save the state time and money and have the election be over. People believed him and sympathized with him. But the recount was automatic, not Al Franken's personal decision. However, going to court and dragging this out further is a personal decision. As far as I am concerned, Norm's credibility, is gone.

As for Norm, I kind of thought he was of questionable character before the election, and now that suspicion is just cemented for me. We were supposed to elect him to do what's best for Minnesota, but at this point, it appears, he just want to do what is best for himself. That seems rather selfish and not in Minnesota's best interest. Perhaps Minnesota's best interests are not why he wanted to be elected after all.