Ramble Ramble

Looks like I’m finally coming up for a little bit of air. And the angels sang out from the heavens.

But since I’m not quite 100% through the hell on earth that has been work lately, my brain is just a mishmash of stuff, sooooooo bullets it is:

• I really, really want to update my blog with a new theme and some new functionality (hello threaded comments!). Especially after working on these website redesigns at work. And I’ve been toying with the idea of trying the Thesis theme, even though it’s kind of spendy, as a treat for my little ole blog. But when I get home and have a free minute after the kid is asleep, working on the blog is invariably trumped these days by Battlestar Galactica DVD’s or new episodes of Lost.
• I consider one of my major accomplishments in life my ability to sing along, in time, to the Garth Brooks song Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up). I can almost keep up with the crazy long notes…but I usually *just* run out of breath.
• Sometimes I really miss driving a stick shift. Until I’m stuck in traffic.
• I inadvertently wore a shirt with a hole in it today. My bad.
• I’ve been trying out Threadsy.com, thanks to Anna at abdpbt. It’s kind of a cool way to consolidate email, twitter and facebook in one place. The interface is perhaps not totally my ideal, but since I have 4 email address on top of my twitter and facebook pages, it’s a handy little way to combine everything (perfect for checking at work!). If anyone is interested, I have some invites left that I’d happily share!
• The most used parts of my iPhone? The clock, the Facebook app, a Weather Channel app, and the Safari browser. Yes, I am that boring. The phone part? Waaaaayyyyyyy at the bottom of the list.
• I had someone at work correct my word usage 5 times in one conversation. He knew he was being a jerk–even said so–but continued to do it. I finally told him that if he didn’t knock it off, I was going to stop working on his website. Not that I would actually do that, but it felt nice to pretend.
• I go to New York in a week for a conference. I am not excited. Usually I like my little trips back to New York–they let me visit with friends and old co-workers, revisit favorite restaurants, and peruse the few parts of the city that I miss. This year? Not so much. I’m not looking forward to trying to figure out what the hell to wear in the cold for 4 days, I’m not looking forward to potential snow, and I’m definitely not looking forward to being away from the kid for the first time (well, overnight away from the kid. We’ve left him with babysitters plenty).
• I have had a crazy neck/shoulder/arm pain for the last few days. I dunno what I did, but it hurts to reach for the radio in the car. I’m afraid I have a pinched nerve…
• I really miss reading. I haven’t really read much over the last year (GASP!), in the way of real books anyway, and I’m starting to get the itch. I’ve always been a bookworm (there were times when I probably read upwards of 100 books a year), and I kind of can’t believe how much I’ve gotten away from it.  I think I’m going to start using my time pumping at work to read rather than stress about not working for a double bonus.

What mishmash is on your mind?

Oh, do I have things to say! I’ve got about 18 blog posts started, with more percolating in my brain every day. There’s baby things and family things and pop culture things and work things and holiday things and just random things.

I have photos to post too! Yes, I do, I’ve broken the camera out a little bit more, and am getting the itch to take even more (and not even just of the baby!). I’m excited about my camera for the first time in months and months (almost a year if we’re honest), and can’t wait to bust that thing out.

But of course, this all comes right as the holidays hit, and I get sick (yes, again), and family is coming in town, and work has gone batshit insane, and basically, it’s all going to be a slow trickle until December 28th. And for the first time in a long time, it’s killing me to not have time to post on my lovely little corner of the internet.

After Christmas, though, I’m headed back, strong, into this little blog. Get used to seeing me around a lot more folks. And in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a disapproving baby, who makes everything better.

I’ve been MIA this week, thanks to being knocked on my ass by some sort of sickness on Monday and Tuesday. Cue high fevers and lots of sleep.

Of course, when I started feeling better, things kicked into high gear because getting sick 2 weeks before Christmas? After only 2 weeks back at work? Yeah, crazy pants. I haven’t even started my shopping (hello Sunday, I hear you calling), I desperately need to finish a few major things at work before the holidays, and oh yeah, I have family coming in town exactly 10 days from today. It’s the most wonderful time of the year and all.

But occasionally, it’s nice to take a little break and remember that I have a blog, and that I used to like to post here (oh, and hey, I used to get traffic here too!  Hi to the 5 of you that still read–love you tons!!), so I thought I’d have some fun with Google. Ah, yes, the ever popular “searches that brought people to this site” post! Enjoy!

The top searches lately are:  “husband is a douchebag”, “boyfriend is a douchebag”, “is my husband a douchebag?”, and my favorite “is it ok to call my husband a douchebag?” (and about 80 other iterations of the question/statement including douchebag). These all land on one of my favorite pregnancy posts: Signs your partner might be a douchebag (Childbirth class edition) . Of course, if you’re asking the Internet, I’m sure you already know the answer…

“Excuses for not voting” is another top contender, which references this post: Top 5 Excuses for Not Voting on November 4th. I guess people are always looking for a reason to not get involved, right?

“Why the Internet is bad for pregnant women” is one of my all-time favorites. I mean, I think the Internet should practically be banned while you’re pregnant, at least if you’re even a little bit into researching what could be happening, as it inevitably turns into “OMG your baby is going to DIE if you even think about having a single slice of deli meat.” Anyway, I think that search leads folks to 6 surprising things about pregnancy, all of which still surprise me even having gone through the whole shebang.

I’m willing to bet the people who are searching for “boobies” don’t get what they’re looking for here: i love boobies.

I’d like to hope that the people who search “crazy neighbors” don’t have the stories I do. For their own sakes! Crazy Neighbors

And, of course, I’m getting lots of c-section searches. Lots and lots and lots all asking about tips for c-section. I’m nothing if not helpful: Tips for c-section recovery.

I love…

snuggling down into the duvet on a chilly night. diet coke. getting email that isn’t spam. the feeling I get when I totally rock something at work. the smile that my baby has started to show. cooking with my husband. a warm cat in the lap. a good book. rockin’ out in the car with the music blaring. tacos. spending time with family when there’s no drama. paying off bills. not feeling buried financially. a good massage. previews at the movie theater. DVR. my slowly renewing interest in photography. reading a good blog. my alma mater actually winning football games. casual entertaining. baby feet.

…focusing on the good stuff.

I thought I’d do a happy post today after so many that are a little more on the downer side. So how about some things I’m excited about?

• My mom is in town for the weekend! It’s the first time I’ve seen her since last Christmas, so I’m totally thrilled she’s here, even if it’s only for a few days. My mom is super cool, and like I said last week, sometimes a girl needs her mom around.
• The nursery is done being painted, and OMG, it’s entirely too cute for words. N.C. has been working on it for about 2-3 weeks, and he finally finished it up yesterday, and I just might die from the cuteness. I’ll post pictures probably next week, because…
• The crib bedding should be here by Monday! We got the bedding custom made by a seller on Etsy, and the pictures I’ve seen are too adorable. I can’t WAIT to see it in person. Once we have it, we’ll take some photos of the nursery since it will be about 90% done by that point.
• Since my mom is in town, we’re getting stocked up on baby stuff. She hasn’t even been here 24 hours and she’s already bought the little man a trunk full of supplies. We had to drag her away from the Target baby section last night (we went to Target for creamer and a watch battery). We tried to tell her no, but since this is her first grandkid, we apparently have no say in the matter. Resistance is futile, so we’ll graciously accept her gifts. Although I hope she doesn’t follow through with the threat to buy all the noisiest toys she can lay her hands on since she won’t be around to have to listen to them…
• My 3 biggest projects at work have all been approved, with budget set aside, and work has started on them. My goal was to have these in the works before I have this kid, so they can be in progress while I’m on maternity leave, and I managed to accomplish that. Everything is rolling along on them, and I’m super proud to say that I was able to get them started after 2 years of battling for them. It’s also nice to show all my coworkers/bosses that just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m checked out–I think that knowledge will go a long way during my maternity leave.
• I won tickets to see Julie & Julia next week–yay for free movies (and air conditioning)!
• It’s Friday, it’s cooler outside, and I’ve got a wonderful weekend in front of me. What’s not to be excited about today?

Have a great weekend everyone!