Amazon is awesome, they have saved my life! In the past week I have successfully finished all of our Christmas shopping. I ordered most of our gifts from Amazon. For Peter's family I had them sent to our house with two day shipping (arrived yesterday). I got everything wrapped last night and ready to send off today! For the items I ordered for my family I am having them delivered directly to my sister's house. I can wrap the gifts when I get there on the 20th. It's so nice to have my shopping done, now I can relax, enjoy the Christmas music on the radio, and best of all - avoid the malls! Woo-hoo.
I also ordered the rest of the Twilight series to read over my vacation, and Mr.P got some boring accounting/financial books to read on our trip. Yeah, we're taking a trip....a cruise to Mexico! I'm excited, I've never been to Mexico, and I'm looking forward to having a nice relaxing time before Christmas. I am a little sad we don't have a tree or decorations, but Mr.P has promised me that next year we will get a tree.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I can't believe it's already December!
I'm back! I survived a week offline. Seriously, no email, no blogging, no blog reading, no online newspapers, just old fashion hanging out and talking. We left last Tuesday for Southern California, and just returned today. It's good to be back! I love Seattle so much.
I have so many things to blog about, so instead of rambling on with each topic, I'll try to sum them up here:
1. Not all cousins are created equally. The cousins we went to visit were my dad's sister's daughters. There are 4 of them, but only 3 were there for the holiday. The one who we were staying with, A, is the same age as me, and my closest cousin growing up. Her younger sister, D, is two years younger than us. The youngest in their family, W, flew in from her college on the east coast. I've seen A a few times in the past year, and I saw D last Thanksgiving when she came to my house. I hadn't seen W in 5 years (she's now 21). I cannot believe how rude she was! She threw two tantrums over the 3 days we spent with her (seriously, a 21 year old throwing a tantrum is just sad. I have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior). She left early Saturday morning, and I was quite happy to then have 3 full days with my two lovely and awesome cousins.
2. Twilight. I've heard about the hype of this series/movie over the past month, and I've offically jumped on the bandwagon. All 3 cousins I was visiting had read the books and they wanted to see the movie so I went along. It was great! I really enjoyed the movie. It made Western Washington look awesome! I started feeling homesick for my lovely trees, rain, clouds. On Friday night after the movie I started reading the first book, and I'm almost done with it. It's a little simple writing for my taste (probably why it's such a hit with teens/tweens) but entertaining. I want to go see the movie again after I finish the book later this week.
3. Baby making. I ovulated! Woo-hoo, the drugs worked! I was a little nervous about how things would work out with traveling and timing. I was equiped with the digital ovulation prediction kit the doctor gave me (which was handy enough to keep in my purse). One of the problems with the test is that it is most acurate if you have not peed in more than 4 hours, and it is best to test it in the middle of the day (it has to do with hormone levels). This is tough for me because I drink a lot of water and rarely go hours between bathroom visits. The doctor told me to start testing on cycle day 10 (which was Thanksgiving) and to anticipate ovulation most likely happening on cycle day 14-16. On Friday (cycle day 11) we were out and about and I didn't get to use the bathroom until about 5 PM, having not gone since 10 that morning. As I sat in the stall of the public bathroom at the Santa Monica Pier, I thought "what the heck" and took the test. On the digital test you get a smiley face when it detects the ovulation hormone that will be present the day prior to ovulation, otherwise it just gives you an empty circle. I got a smiley face! Luckily, due to overcrowding at my cousin A's apartment, Friday was one of the nights Mr.P and I elected to stay at the nearby Holiday Inn Express. So now I'm 3DPO (3 days post ovulation). The books all say that if timing is right, there is a 20% chance of viable pregnancy happening. So we'll see...at least we'll find out before our trip to Mexico.
4. California. I could never live in California, especially Southern California. I don't like palm trees, smog, or desert hills. The traffic is insane, it seemed like the LA area was one giant sprawl of suburbs and strip malls. I find palm trees to be very ugly and weird looking, and personally I don't like being out in the sun. We spent Saturday and Sunday out near Palm Springs in the real desert...it was 100 degrees there! That is crazy. I hate hot weather. It was a fun place to visit for a few days, but like I said...I could never live there and be happy. Plus, they have a black widow spider problem. Yuck! I'm not a big fan of spiders, especially poisonous ones.
5. Friends. We got to see two good friends (in addition to all the cousins we saw in California). My friend A is one of my oldest friends (our parents were friends so we were in playpens together). Even though our families have drifted apart and we live in totally different states, it is so great to still be in touch. It's nice to have a friend like her who I've known my whole life, and I wish we lived closer to each other so I could see her/hang out more often (because I'm terrible about email and facebook). We also got to see my friend M who I met through Craigslist a few years ago from a roommate ad. We clicked and ended up becoming good friends. She's actually the one responsible for setting up Mr.P and I, so we will forever be grateful to her for her matchmaking skills :-)
It's already the 2nd of December and I'm starting to feel the holiday crunch time stress...so many gifts to make and buy, and so little time!
I have so many things to blog about, so instead of rambling on with each topic, I'll try to sum them up here:
1. Not all cousins are created equally. The cousins we went to visit were my dad's sister's daughters. There are 4 of them, but only 3 were there for the holiday. The one who we were staying with, A, is the same age as me, and my closest cousin growing up. Her younger sister, D, is two years younger than us. The youngest in their family, W, flew in from her college on the east coast. I've seen A a few times in the past year, and I saw D last Thanksgiving when she came to my house. I hadn't seen W in 5 years (she's now 21). I cannot believe how rude she was! She threw two tantrums over the 3 days we spent with her (seriously, a 21 year old throwing a tantrum is just sad. I have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior). She left early Saturday morning, and I was quite happy to then have 3 full days with my two lovely and awesome cousins.
2. Twilight. I've heard about the hype of this series/movie over the past month, and I've offically jumped on the bandwagon. All 3 cousins I was visiting had read the books and they wanted to see the movie so I went along. It was great! I really enjoyed the movie. It made Western Washington look awesome! I started feeling homesick for my lovely trees, rain, clouds. On Friday night after the movie I started reading the first book, and I'm almost done with it. It's a little simple writing for my taste (probably why it's such a hit with teens/tweens) but entertaining. I want to go see the movie again after I finish the book later this week.
3. Baby making. I ovulated! Woo-hoo, the drugs worked! I was a little nervous about how things would work out with traveling and timing. I was equiped with the digital ovulation prediction kit the doctor gave me (which was handy enough to keep in my purse). One of the problems with the test is that it is most acurate if you have not peed in more than 4 hours, and it is best to test it in the middle of the day (it has to do with hormone levels). This is tough for me because I drink a lot of water and rarely go hours between bathroom visits. The doctor told me to start testing on cycle day 10 (which was Thanksgiving) and to anticipate ovulation most likely happening on cycle day 14-16. On Friday (cycle day 11) we were out and about and I didn't get to use the bathroom until about 5 PM, having not gone since 10 that morning. As I sat in the stall of the public bathroom at the Santa Monica Pier, I thought "what the heck" and took the test. On the digital test you get a smiley face when it detects the ovulation hormone that will be present the day prior to ovulation, otherwise it just gives you an empty circle. I got a smiley face! Luckily, due to overcrowding at my cousin A's apartment, Friday was one of the nights Mr.P and I elected to stay at the nearby Holiday Inn Express. So now I'm 3DPO (3 days post ovulation). The books all say that if timing is right, there is a 20% chance of viable pregnancy happening. So we'll see...at least we'll find out before our trip to Mexico.
4. California. I could never live in California, especially Southern California. I don't like palm trees, smog, or desert hills. The traffic is insane, it seemed like the LA area was one giant sprawl of suburbs and strip malls. I find palm trees to be very ugly and weird looking, and personally I don't like being out in the sun. We spent Saturday and Sunday out near Palm Springs in the real desert...it was 100 degrees there! That is crazy. I hate hot weather. It was a fun place to visit for a few days, but like I said...I could never live there and be happy. Plus, they have a black widow spider problem. Yuck! I'm not a big fan of spiders, especially poisonous ones.
5. Friends. We got to see two good friends (in addition to all the cousins we saw in California). My friend A is one of my oldest friends (our parents were friends so we were in playpens together). Even though our families have drifted apart and we live in totally different states, it is so great to still be in touch. It's nice to have a friend like her who I've known my whole life, and I wish we lived closer to each other so I could see her/hang out more often (because I'm terrible about email and facebook). We also got to see my friend M who I met through Craigslist a few years ago from a roommate ad. We clicked and ended up becoming good friends. She's actually the one responsible for setting up Mr.P and I, so we will forever be grateful to her for her matchmaking skills :-)
It's already the 2nd of December and I'm starting to feel the holiday crunch time stress...so many gifts to make and buy, and so little time!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Plus, plus, delta.
Back when I was an AmeriCorps volunteer, our group leader always had us do what he called "plus plus delta." This was a way for us to give feedback, but the rule was that you had to say two positive things (plus') before you could say a negative (delta). If all you had was positive feedback, great, then you'd get to say three good things. If you had a complaint, you had to start by saying two positive things. I've been in a bit of a funk for a couple of weeks now, and I'm having trouble shaking it. In an effort to sound a little more positive, I thought I would use the plus plus delta model here in my blog post today:
Plus: I have tomorrow off! Yay for government holidays. I plan on relaxing and getting several little Christmas projects worked on.
Plus: There is a beer I've had twice now on tap, but have not been able to find in bottles. It's a special release by New Belgium Brewing Company called Giddy Up. It's an amber ale brewed with espresso, giving it a nice light body with a strong coffee flavor. It is unique, and delicious. Today at lunch I found it in bottles at the little grocery store near work. Tonight after my class I'm coming home to drink one (or two) of them.
Delta: I heard a Christmas jingle on the radio today and it made me realize how I am not ready for Christmas. I have no idea what to buy/make for people, and I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit yet. It's become more frequent that I have had people ask me, "When are you and (Mr.P) going to have kids?" I realize now how horrible it is to ask or be asked that question. It's actually quite personal, and then to currently be having trouble getting pregnant, it makes me feel bad to hear that. Christmastime means lots of parties and gatherings, and I am dreading hearing that question, which I know is inevitable. I can be polite or make a lighthearted joke in response, but really inside I want to cry when I hear that question.
P.S. I did a little housecleaning on my blog...I decided to make it a little more "anonymous" by removing real names. I'm not completely sold on the background design yet...more changes to come.
Plus: I have tomorrow off! Yay for government holidays. I plan on relaxing and getting several little Christmas projects worked on.
Plus: There is a beer I've had twice now on tap, but have not been able to find in bottles. It's a special release by New Belgium Brewing Company called Giddy Up. It's an amber ale brewed with espresso, giving it a nice light body with a strong coffee flavor. It is unique, and delicious. Today at lunch I found it in bottles at the little grocery store near work. Tonight after my class I'm coming home to drink one (or two) of them.
Delta: I heard a Christmas jingle on the radio today and it made me realize how I am not ready for Christmas. I have no idea what to buy/make for people, and I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit yet. It's become more frequent that I have had people ask me, "When are you and (Mr.P) going to have kids?" I realize now how horrible it is to ask or be asked that question. It's actually quite personal, and then to currently be having trouble getting pregnant, it makes me feel bad to hear that. Christmastime means lots of parties and gatherings, and I am dreading hearing that question, which I know is inevitable. I can be polite or make a lighthearted joke in response, but really inside I want to cry when I hear that question.
P.S. I did a little housecleaning on my blog...I decided to make it a little more "anonymous" by removing real names. I'm not completely sold on the background design yet...more changes to come.
Friday, October 31, 2008
(Un)happy halloween.
When I was a kid, I loved halloween. Not the scary parts of it (I've always been a whimp about scary movies, ghost stories, etc). What I loved was the costume part, and of course the candy. My mom is a crafty lady, and she would always sew us really awesome and original costumes (we were not allowed to be witches, ghosts, goblins, or anything resembling something satanic). We usually participated in church halloween festivities, and of course trick or treating. I loved going to school in my costume and seeing what my classmates were dressed as.
Last year I was really excited to be in my own house and to pass out candy. We bought a ton of candy, but only had about 10 trick or treaters. So because of that, I'm going to hide out in the back room of my house with the front lights off to avoid buying or passing out candy tonight. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and it's too exhausting right now to make chit chat with people and to smile and act happy. I know things will get better in time, but for now I just want to lay low.
This has been a strange halloween. I have not been excited at all today (partly because I am so tired from getting a crappy nights sleep last night, and I feel like I'm coming down with a nasty cold). It was sad going in to work knowing that J wouldn't be there, because he always had some sort of halloween surprise and he had a special halloween music CD he'd play all day the past two halloweens. On the radio station I listen to (Spirit 105.3) they were playing Christmas music all day. At first I thought this was a brilliant idea, but by the drive home from work I decided I'm not ready for Christmas yet.
I'm glad the week is finally over (it felt like a really long week) and I'm looking forward to just relaxing and spending a quiet weekend at home with Mr.P.
Last year I was really excited to be in my own house and to pass out candy. We bought a ton of candy, but only had about 10 trick or treaters. So because of that, I'm going to hide out in the back room of my house with the front lights off to avoid buying or passing out candy tonight. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and it's too exhausting right now to make chit chat with people and to smile and act happy. I know things will get better in time, but for now I just want to lay low.
This has been a strange halloween. I have not been excited at all today (partly because I am so tired from getting a crappy nights sleep last night, and I feel like I'm coming down with a nasty cold). It was sad going in to work knowing that J wouldn't be there, because he always had some sort of halloween surprise and he had a special halloween music CD he'd play all day the past two halloweens. On the radio station I listen to (Spirit 105.3) they were playing Christmas music all day. At first I thought this was a brilliant idea, but by the drive home from work I decided I'm not ready for Christmas yet.
I'm glad the week is finally over (it felt like a really long week) and I'm looking forward to just relaxing and spending a quiet weekend at home with Mr.P.
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