What I've been up to Lately

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. But, I have been busy, I swear. Mainly my time has been filled with projects getting ready for the baby.

First project: I had a friend install an electronic cat door to the outside in our laundry room door.

Now all of my cats have magnetic tags on their collars and the door only unlocks for them so it keeps random cats and animals out. I have finally gotten rid of my litter trays for good! I'm so excited. The cats took to the concept of using the cat door and going to the bathroom outside very quickly since they were already accustomed to using our interior cat door. My outside cat remains so exclusively but my other two "indoor" cats still stay indoors and mainly just go out to use the bathroom. That works for me!

We only had one scare. About 2 weeks after we installed the door Mac went missing one night when there was a big thunderstorm. He didn't come home the entire next day and night and I was afraid we had lost him. It's always harder to not know what has happened. I mean, he could have been dead or alive, scared, starving...and the list goes on. Thankfully, 36 hours after he went missing he showed up, a little dirty and very hungry. But, at least he's back and he hasn't wandered off since. I was very upset that I had possibly lost him, but I also kept thinking "There goes $1,200 down the drain" from his current medical procedures.


Second project: Painting the baby's room.

We decided to paint three of the walls a medium blue and do one accent wall in squares. We are keeping the orange and blue theme from our office and it will eventually be decorated in Broncos paraphernalia so a couple of the squares are Bronco orange and Bronco blue and the other squares are various shades of blue and orange. I think it turned out really well and I'm excited to see it all come together.


Third project: Installing the old flat screen on the wall of the nursery so I can still work out without having to clutter a piece of furniture.

This didn't occur without mishap either. While I was trying to affix the mounting brackets to the back of the tv I tightened one of the screws too tight and broke the head off and so the screw was stuck in the tv. Luckily, the same friend who installed my cat door was able to work his magic (he's a carpenter/builder) and he drilled it out and fixed it for me. So, after a wasted trip to Home Depot to find the right size screws (8s were too big, 6s were too small, and they don't sell 7s) I found other screws at home to use to get the brackets on.


Fourth project: Put together baby furniture.

I ordered a bureau and a changing table for the nursery and I finally put it together this last week and part of today. I'm really happy with how they turned out and the quality of them for the price. I had my mom purchase a crib from IKEA since she has one around her and I'm going to pick that up from her next weekend. Then all I'll need is a rocker/glider and the furniture stuff will be set. Then it's on to decorating with shelves and stuff! I'll make sure to take pictures when it's all finished. And, before anyone asks "So, where was Morgan during all of this furniture building and tv installing?" The answer is: as far away as possible. Thankfully I enjoy doing stuff like this and I don't really trust him to help since he has absolutely no interest in assembling anything besides computers. It's just better this way. Don't worry, I called on him to help whenever there was heavy lifting required.


And finally... Just for Jayna: The Amish picture.

My maternal grandmother sent me a box for the baby which included a very cute hand-knit baby blanket made by one of her friends. It also included a safety latch for a kitchen cubbard that was in a box that had been opened and taped back up and had dust all over it. I'm thinking she found it back in one of her drawers that she hadn't opened since 1985. The best part of the box was the framed picture entitled "Amish Father and Son". I honestly have no idea what to do with it. I mean, she lives in Pennsylvania and there are tons of Amish there. I asked my mom about it and she said that she got one for Christmas. So, apparently it is the gift for any occasion.


It's been nice catching up!

Moo

Stats:
Gestation: 24 weeks (16 to go)
Weight: 7 pounds "ahead of schedule" determined by my doctor (aka: fat)
Culprit: Unending consumption of orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemonade and bagels
Boobs: From manageable to you've got to be kidding me
Baby: Healthy and kicking

Desperately Seeking Sanity

I have been starting to research baby furniture on my quest to start decorating the baby's room, and, oh yeah, have a place for the baby to sleep. I bought the book "Baby Bargains" that more than one person recommended to me. My problem?

Too many choices!!! I am so lost and overwhelmed. I am looking for a very simple crib, middle of the road in price (under $400) and I'm going crazy.

I find something that I like, then I look it up in the book and it gets a rating of C-. Well, there goes that. Then I find another and its $1,500. Are you kidding me? I've been a cross referencing fool and I have determined that there are too many choices. I need there to be only three cribs that exist in the world and I will choose between those.

Can anyone help? Any ideas, advice? What do you have (my mother friends out there)?

How am I supposed to raise a child when I can't even pick out a place for him to sleep?

In the words of Charlie Brown, "good grief".

Encounters of the strange and unusual

Apparently it has now come to the attention of strangers that I am pregnant. Today's observation took place at CVS. I had ponied up to the counter with my hairspray, gummy bears, snickers, and a couple other items (don't judge me). I was with a friend and after I had finished paying I turned sideways to say something to her. All of a sudden the woman who checked me out exclaims:

"Oh, I didn't see all what was going on up front!"

Um, what?

My friend and I were confused and were looking at the counter in front us to see if we had missed something. Finally my friend turns to me and says, "I think she's asking if you're pregnant".

I turned to the woman who checked me out and she says to me, "so, when are you due?"

Seriously?

Cat-astrophe avoided

(sorry, I had to).

Mac went in to get his sutures removed from his surgery two weeks ago. He also had an ultrasound on his heart to check for a certain heart disease that causes clots (and has a funny stripe of shaved hair on the side of his body to show for it).

Thankfully he has a wonderfully healthy heart and no clots! The vet thinks it may be have just been a fluke. I guess if this was going to happen it's lucky that the hematoma formed in his bladder and I saw the blood. If it had formed anywhere else I wouldn't have seen any signs and he probably would have died.

Here's to many more years of spunk and tail pulling from the baby...

Somebody wants to stay the baby

Miscommunication

Ok, so apparently Morgan and I agreed that we aren't going to reveal the baby's name until he is born. I think I missed this conversation since I have no recollection of making this agreement, but for those of you out there who already know it, and you know who you are, please refrain from spreading it. Morgan feels pretty strongly about not telling people so I'll go along with it.

Oops, my bad.

It's...

A BOY!!!

Picture of my belly at 20 weeks, don't I look thrilled?

We're so excited to get the news that we're having a baby boy...he'll be a little professor before we know it. Morgan is planning on starting to read the United States Constitution to my stomach. Help me!

Feline Hypertrpohic Cardiomyopathy

Well, I wasn't expecting that.

Mac went in for his bladder surgery on Tuesday. They went in to remove his diverticulum that they believed was causing the blood in his urine. But, because there was so much blood, they were suspicious that something else could be wrong so they wanted to take a biopsy of some of his tissue as well.

Right after the vet had stitched Mac up he called me with the news. When he opened the bladder what sat in front of him was a very large lesion/dead tissue that was about a quarter of the size of Mac's bladder and that was why he was bleeding so much. The vet removed as much as he could, but since it was so large it was hard to get it all because he still needed to have enough of the organ to close it up. He sent the dead tissue off to the pathology lab to find out what it was.

I got the news today that it is not a tumor, which is good news. But, what it is isn't great either. It was a hematoma and they aren't quite sure what caused it. In a couple of weeks they are going to bring him in to do an ultrasound on his heart because they believe that he may have a heart disease that increases the chances of blood clots. If those blood clots are dislodged they can travel to other parts of the body, in this case the bladder, and form hematomas. Most of the time they lodge in the lower part of the cats spine and paralyze their hind legs.

Had the vet not gone in to open his bladder, the hematoma would have ruptured and Mac would have died. What's weird is that it didn't show up on the x-ray.

In any scenario, this disease is not curable or treatable and it will eventually be fatal. If you catch it early enough you can treat the cat with blood thinners to elongate their lives, maybe by a few years, but usually they have congestive heart failure and can go very quickly.

For now Mac is recovering well and is his lovable, chipper, cuddly self and I hope that feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is not the prognosis. If it is I'll just have to hope for the best and love him as much as I can as long as he's with me.

I love you Doozer!

Swedish singing star!

Below is a music video of my cousin's band called Napoleon. They are a Swedish band and their song is on a couple of BBC radio stations. It's cool to watch my cousin, he's the lead singer (the one with the red scarf). I hope you like it!

What a Week

This week has flown by for a number of reasons, most of them stressful.

On Monday I had to drop Ady (my oldest female cat) off at the vet in the morning. I felt bad for leaving her all day, but I had to work so she had to sit in the back in an unknown cage with her bare legs. It seems that after she got over her flu three weeks ago (which took another vet visit and three nights of nursing her to health while she refused to eat) she has taken to chewing and licking all of her fur off of her front legs and some patches on her hind legs and stomach. Seriously, WTF?

Morgan and I have been working with a mortgage company since November trying to refinance our mortgage. After months of paperwork and phone calls and headaches, we finally had our closing day on Tuesday. Unfortunately it wasn't the exact scenario that we would have preferred since the economy and housing market is so down now, but we did manage to combine our two mortgages in to one and get a lower payment. But, we still had to pay some closing costs.

We were given an estimate that we would have to bring to the table, but on Tuesday at 4:30pm, we were finally given the exact number, which was $750 MORE than the original number and we were also told that we had to get a certified check. Well, it was 30 minutes before the banks closed and we couldn't make it in time to get a check. The person we were meeting to sign the documents was driving down from Charleston (about 1.5 hours away) and so it almost didn't happen. Since it wasn't our fault that they gave us the final number so late, they decided that we could still sign the papers and just overnight them a check.

This is where it gets sketchy. Normally the "closer" will come to your house directly to sign the documents, but since he was coming so far and had another closing that night we decided to meet at a McDonald's. Yeah, real professional. Also, at the last minute we were told that we needed a witness, which we couldn't find at such short notice so once we were at McDonald's and about to sign the papers, Morgan had to coerse an alarmed man to sign as our witness. The mad did so reluctantly, but only after asking "I'm not going to go to jail or anything, right?". Why do we get stuck in such situations?

Later that night I called our mortgage person to find out that the reason our closing costs jumped at the last minute was because a third party who wasn't approved to sign some random document signed it so they didn't approve it. So, through no fault of our own, the mortgage company was forced to use a different company and their fee was higher. Well, I told them what I thought of their fee and where they could put it, and they removed it. Score!

Once that was taken care of, Wednesday I had to take Mac (my male cat) to the vet and drop him off all day because he's been having major blood in his urine. He had to have some sort of bladder x-ray which involved anesthesia, a catheter, and some white liquid. Apparently his diverticulum (too weird to explain) where his umbilical cord was attached isn't the right shape so it's causing his bladder to become inflamed and the inflamation is causing the blood. He has had a series of shots but it's not working so the next step is surgery to remove it. If the blood stays in his bladder it can turn into a pasty subtstance and end up making a plug and he won't be able to pee at all and he could die. Great.

Friday started with me thinking I was going to lose my job because of how the economy is affecting our company and there were strange rumors going around the firm about certain people being fired which ended up being incorrect, although I can see how they can get started since they did have to lay off three more people at my firm this week. Even more stress. We're now down to six people, and luckily I'm one of them. About 2 years ago we had 26 people. I feel like I'm on a reality show and I just want to be the last one standing. Hopefully it won't have to come to that. But, after a refreshing staff meeting, the rest of us left were reassured (for the time) that we would remain employed.

Today, well, today I had to take Mac back in to the vet to get another shot, and he peed on me while I was trying to get him in to the cage. I was told by the vet that surgery would probably be the best option. That will happen early next week at the price of $700.

All of this done while being 4 months pregnant. Can I have any more going on? Wait, skip that, I don't want anything else. I just want to survive.

I will, I swear

I'll get around to posting something this weekend. This past week has been crazy with two sick cats, one that might require surgery, collecting urine samples (of the sick cat), one cat that has chewed all of her hair off of her front legs, and much more!

I think my cats are as neurotic as me...

Our first big baby purchase

Today Morgan and I took our gift card, generously given to us by two of Morgan's friends and co-workers, to a baby boutique in Savannah. Normally we would never be able to afford anything in that shop, but with gift card in hand we purchased a car seat and stroller (pictured below - although the car seat we bought is dark purple and black, not the bright blue).

Now I just have to figure out how to work it.

The best Christamas present EVER...well, so far

Hello, my name is Allison...

and I am an ARCHITECT!

Watch out world, here most certainly comes trouble...

in about six months.

Morgan and I are having a baby! A baby you ask? Yes, a baby, and yes, it was planned. Some of you out there are perplexed by this notion of us having one on purpose. Most are confused because they didn't think it was in our "plan" any time soon. I want to know where people got the itinerary for our "plan", because I can't seem to find it anywhere. Of course everyone is thrilled and can't wait to witness the blind (Allison) leading the blind (Morgan...literally). It should be fun, but no one is more excited than the parents-to-be!

Here is our child, already displaying its split personality.

Nice:
Naughty:

Alright, alright

I finally got my PASS letter for my most recent test! One more to go! (I've scheduled it for December 9th).

Is it just me or is it taking forever!

It has been over four weeks since I took my last exam (not my last last, but my most recent). Normally on the multiple choice exams it takes 2 weeks, 3 tops, to get my results. So, I finally found the time to call three places, stay on hold for countless minutes to finally be told that my results were mailed from the testing place to the licensing board on Friday. For as slow as the licensing board is, this means it will probably be at least two more weeks before I get my results. And, of course, they can't just tell me if I passed or failed over the phone...they only know that the results were sent, not what they are!!! Give me a break! Of course they know what they are...they are the ones telling the licensing board whether I passed or failed!

At least I only have one more exam to go (that is if I passed this last one) and I won't have to go through this much longer.

Twins

This happens once in a while at work, actually, it happens more than it should. This example is me and my friend Jennica. I swear we didn't plan it.

Note: Please don't look at my hair, or all of the other unflattering things about me in this photo. Let's just focus on the clothing.

Kill me

Just put me out of my misery. I've been cooped up in my office all weekend studying for my next test which I take tomorrow. It's on mechanical and electrical systems. Need I say more?

What was I thinking?

In a moment of glorious gluttony I ate an entire box of macaroni and cheese. My only consolation to myself is that it was labeled "organic". I don't think that really matters to my stomach at the moment.

barf.

Our first gift

Ady, our oldest cat, has now been an outside cat for about two months. Morgan and I knew at some point, since cats are hunters, that she would inevitably bring home "gifts". Tonight we received our first.

We were laying on the couch and heard some crying at the door. I opened the front door and sitting in front of me, with my kitty so proud, was a slice of a roasted potato with barbecue sauce on it. I nearly fell over laughing. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer this to a mouse or lizard. I'll take a potato any day.

Good kitty.

Late night pajama feast via successful product placement

I regularly have spontaneous cravings, especially at night when I'm starving. Usually I can never convince Morgan to go with me and act on my cravings, which is annoying, but in the long run better for my health and pocket book.

Unfortunately, last night was not such a night. We were sitting on the couch at 8:45 last night, getting more and more hungry. We flipped the channel and on came a program about the first McDonald's and the history of the "restaurant". Wouldn't you know it...I had to have two single cheeseburgers, fries and a coke.

We were already in our pajamas, but I didn't care (Morgan did, he put on some pants), I grabbed my keys and walked out the door in my pajamas and slippers and we drove to McDonald's (we did go through the drive-thru).

I must say, it was quite satisfying.

Life's not fair

I work out at least three times a week, including cardio and weights. Morgan lays on the couch and eats popcorn and ice cream. And yet, I still need him to unscrew the blender's blade from the pitcher when I've let the leftover smoothie/sticky fruit dry at the bottom. Why do I even bother?

I am officially a mother

Friday 9:02 a.m.:

Morgan (via e-mail, subject Urgent!): Do you know where my blue jeans are? I can't find them anywhere?

Allison: They are in the guest bathroom where you left them.

Morgan: Ah, thanks!

Seriously? I'm expecting him to be missing one shoe next.

Another reason I hate the South

Listen up dog owners

There are reasons that I don't own a dog, it's not that I just haven't gotten around to it yet. These reasons include, but are not limited to:

1. I don't have the time between work and my commute and studying for my exams and my husband to give a dog the time and attention that is necessary. Cats are much easier, and yes, just as cuddly and affectionate.
2. It would have to be shut in my house all day long and not be able to go to the bathroom.
3. Barking, like vacuuming, is not on my approved list of noises for which I want to be subjected to.
4. Licking is not an option.

Not only do I not want to be subjected to these things with my own dog, I certainly do not want to be subjected to these things from other people's dogs. Since 8am today I have spent the morning TRYING to study for my next exam, only to be foiled by my neighbor's dog incessantly barking. They either haven't been home and think it's reasonable to chain their dog to a tree in their back yard because, hey! their not home to hear the dog bark and whimper and at least the dog is outside, or were home and don't care. At one point I saw my neighbor (and her 4 month old baby) in the front yard, and as the dog was still barking, take off in their car, never saying anything to the dog or putting it inside.

So this is what I'm asking of you dog owners out there. Please, if you don't have time to actually treat your dog right, do it a favor and give it to someone who does because all you are doing is pissing off your neighbors.

note: I do like dogs, I just don't want to own one, and much to the astonishment of my friends and mother, I do have a heart.

A long time coming...

This past week I hit a milestone in my "responsible" adult life...I paid off the last of my credit cards! This last credit card (I only have two) I've had since I graduated High School and it saved my a#$ through college (especially that private one that makes you pay them every time you sneeze).

I am thrilled to say that I am now credit card debt free!!! Now if only those pesky student loans would go away.

Morgan Bonner: as viewed from the outside

After 9 1/2 years with Morgan I have grown accustomed to his oddities/hangups/quirks/eccentricities, etc. I have grown to love most of them and they are very endearing (mostly...). A lot of people don't understand Morgan very well and are perplexed that we are together and that I must be some sort of special breed or very patient to "put up" with him. I know we're not the most "typical" couple, but we don't do typical.

It's only when I step back and look at Morgan through others' eyes that I learn a little more of how he's perceived by those around us.

For example:

Last weekend we went to a friend's house for dinner, although it turned into more of a video game fest which I'm sure Morgan has something to do with. He brought his Playstation 3 and the 7 adults and one 4 year old turned nerd. Things quickly escalated into this:



Yes, those are $120 light sabers, and yes, there are four of them...all Morgan's and yes, 6 of the party-goers went Jedi-style in the back yard (I took the pictures-I do draw the line at some things).

Secondly, this was left on my desk at work last Monday:


It's a McDonald's bobble-head happy meal toy of "Wicket" - the ornery, yet cuddly Ewok from Star Wars. My coworker had taken his 14 month old for a happy meal and deemed it too "old" or sophisticated for his daughter. Naturally, his first thought was of Morgan and how much he'd like it. Yes, that's right, my 30 year old husband was his first thought for whom to give a happy meal toy to...and he's right, he loved it.

I love him.

boring...

I've tried, I really have, to come up with something interesting to blog about. Other people have children and trips...I have a job and cats. It's not that my job isn't interesting, it's just that nothing noteworthy happens very often.

Tropical storm Hanna is approaching and I was able to leave work early to prepare somewhat (basically bringing my cat in from outside). That's about as exciting as it gets. If we're lucky we might get a 45 mph wind gust! Not that I want anything more than that.

I took my 7th exam 1 1/2 weeks ago, but it won't be another 7 weeks or so before I get my results. I know people keep mentioning to me that it seems like the exams have been going on forever, and believe me, they have. I've been taking them for over a year now. But, I hope to be finished before the end of the year.

My best friend, Jayna, and I are hopefully going to Costa Rica in March! We don't get to spend very much time together so this will be such a great week.

Other than that Morgan's half birthday is approaching (do you see what I have to sink to?). Someone please help me.

Ooh! I also have a teeth cleaning coming up. Bonus!

Just three more to go kids!

I got my pass letter for the last test I took. I have another one this coming Monday. If I pass that one I'll have just two more!

What I'm working on at the moment

This is a house I'm designing at work. It's roughly 7,000 square feet with the interior and exterior spaces. It also has a pool. The finish materials are brick and horizontal wood lap siding. The early construction estimate is $2 million.
Front elevation

Rear elevation

Am I talking just to hear myself?

Morgan and I have an ongoing debate about our interest/participation in each other's hobbies, passions, etc. For the most part I have always been willing to partake and embrace a lot of Morgan's interests (minus a few such as video games - they totally stress me out - and Star Trek conventions) because I know he enjoys doing them and I like to see him happy and in turn it makes me happy.

We have yet to discover, really, a single hobby of mine that he has embraced or enjoys doing with me (since none of them deal with technology or science fiction). I say he needs to broaden his horizons. He does partake in said interests, but he doesn't enjoy it...ever. Nor does he apparently listen to anything I have to say if it isn't deamed "relavent or interesting" in his eyes. Case in point:

As all of you know, or should know, my career is in architecture. One of my favorite architects is the late Louis Khan. I have talked about him before at least in front of Morgan if not directly to him. A couple of years ago a documentary film came out, which I bought and watched twice in front of Morgan, about Khan's life, or more so of his illegitimate son's life having to live in the shadows of such a prominent father, and not being acknowledged as his son (more or less). 

The end of the film also included how Khan died, which is well known and I have talked about it many times.

Scene:

Monday night we are sitting on the couch watching the middle to end of "Indecent Proposal". I step out on the porch to play with one of my cats since I've seen the movie before. As is very popular in today's films, Woody Harrelson's character is either an architect or teaches architectural history.

I come back in and Morgan says to me: 

"You just missed the part where they guy is talking about architecture. I didn't know that Louis Khan died in the men's room at a train station and no one found him for three days."

I stood there and stared at him for a minute and explained that yes, that happened and I had heard about it. He then said,

"Oh, well, I've never even heard of him before."

I swear.  Thanks, hon, it's only my lifelong career that you have no interest in...or me talking. Either one is pretty bad.

Morgan's latest column...

"Take us to warp...Engage!"

A moment to breathe

I've taken my sixth ARE exam and I'm finally ready to take a moment to blog before I start studying for my next exam.

A few weeks ago Pat, Morgan's mom, and her fiance, David, came to visit. They drove David's RV down and stayed on Hilton Head. The RV park was relly nice - right on the water and it had two pools. We had a great time with them, especially getting to know David better. We haven't had the chance to spend much time with him since he lives in Tennessee at the moment and Pat lives three hours north of us.

One of my favorite things that we did when they were here was to see Lisa Roti perform at the Jazz Corner on Hilton Head. Morgan and I went to see her when she came to town last July and we loved her so much that we went back this year. She has such an amazing voice. If she wasn't so great, beautiful, and talented I'd really have a problem with how Morgan drools all over her and was so giddy to go up to talk to her and get her autograph on a cd that he bought. He actually got mad (kind of) at me that I walked up when he was talking to her and joined the conversation. Apparently he's the only one who's allowed to say how big of a fan they are and I was cramping his style.

Below are some pictures that were taken on their trip. The landscape photos are from the view at the RV park. Beautiful.

Bits and Me

Morla "Bits" Bonner

Intermission from studying

Just wanted to take a quick break from studying for my next exam (I take it on Monday) to say that I just got my pass letter from my last exam! I'm over half way there! Four more to go...

I got my wisdom teeth out and all I got was this lousy MacBook

Seriously.

I asked Morgan to bring home a McDonald's double cheeseburger for me since I'm still recovering (I shouldn't be eating cheeseburgers either, but after being on this liquid diet for a few days now anything sounds good)...and he came home with the cheeseburger and a new computer for me. Not just any computer though, a MacBook!

I'm not complaining, but there would have been hell to pay if he had forgotten my cheeseburger.

knock on wood

I finally bit the bullet and got my wisdom teeth removed yesterday. I've been told for eight years by at least three different dentists that I should get them out, and all for the same reasons, so I didn't feel I had any right to doubt them. I mean, that's three opinions all with the same answer.

So, yesterday was the day. After hearing horror stories from friends (thanks guys) and my mom calling me over and over telling me how bad it was going to be and recounting her experiences (back then they removed them one at a time, not all four at once and she didn't get knocked out).

But, I was brave enough to toss those stories aside and was convincing myself it wouldn't be so bad because all of my wisdom teeth had actually come in all the way so it would more more like pulling teeth instead of surgery to cut them out.

I braved the pediatric IV (thankfully he uses the small one - I hate IVs - and he got it on the first try which is unheard of with me) and the next thing I knew I was waking up at the end.

On a small side note, all of the times that I've had an IV I usually end up using crude/loose language (slip of the tongue) so I was interested to know what I would do this time since I wouldn't be able to talk. It wasn't as bad I don't think. I remember waking up, asking for something to write on and with, and writing "thank you" to the doctor and nurse. Morgan is always telling me how gorgeous I am (thanks hon), so the next thing I wrote, as a joke to him since he was in the room was, "am I still gorgeous?". Then I heard the doctor say that I won't be able to talk a lot during the first day and Morgan made a snide comment about that being great and I flipped him off. Right in front of the doctor and the nurse. Hopefully they laughed because that's the last thing I remember before being wheeled out to the car in a wheel chair. I was so close to being a lady. Oh well.

So, I have to say, I have not had any pain AT ALL. The anesthesia has worn off, I was on pain pills yesterday that pretty much just made me sleep, and besides being a little nauseated from swallowing some blood, this has been much better than I could have imagined. I was even out and about today and went to lunch with Morgan (I only had mashed potatoes, though). I keep waiting for something to go wrong, but hopefully it won't. I also keep wondering if they indeed took out any of my teeth because I was told it was supposed to hurt really badly. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

Let's hope it stays that way.

I know, I know...

I'm bad about blogging. Everybody knows that. I guess that's why people check it about once a month, I don't blame them. It's sad because I'm on the computer most of the day, every day at work and I check all of my friends' blogs at least once a day and am excited when they have posted something new.

I don't have one big item to report on most of the time so this is an update:

1. I've taken another ARE, this time it was General Structures. I should know my results in about two weeks. I'm taking my next one (Lateral Forces) in three weeks. So, I've been studying a lot.

2. My Mother-In-Law is engaged! How cool is that? She met her fiance on e-Harmony in April or May. They are coming in a couple of weeks for a visit. I'm not sure when they are planning on getting married, but I don't imagine that it will be very long.

3. Morgan and I are in the middle of watching "John Adams". It was an HBO special some time ago and we're now Netflix-ing it. Each episode is about 2 hours long and there are 7 episodes. It is SO good!!!

4. We have ants. Carpenter ants that won't go away, and I have found out that I'm allergic to any type of ant bite. Lucky me. The exterminator is coming on Friday.

5. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I've been meaning to get them out for 8 years now so it's as good of time as any I suppose.

6. We went to an Obama party last Saturday and there was a German reporter from Frankfurt covering it. Kind of weird.

And that's about it. Isn't that sad? I have one friend vacationing in Costa Rica, one on a brief residency for three months in Washington, D.C. sent there by the government (her husband is a border patrol officer) so she's visiting all of the museums and historical sites, and I'm sitting here in South Carolina in the blistering heat and humidity getting my teeth pulled out. Something's wrong here.

Happy Father's Day, Morgan

Don't get excited, I'm not pregnant (sorry, Jayna). I know it's customary on Father's Day to recognize the men in your family who are fathers and as I called my own father today to tell him I loved him and my brother who has a young son, my thoughts drifted to Morgan.

In the last few days I have been perusing my friends' blogs and most of them have posted cute entries about their own fathers and most commonly, their husbands, since most of my friends have children. I read their kind and heartfelt words towards their men as they listed all of the attributes they love most about their fathers and husbands and again I thought about Morgan.

As I stop and reflect on what this day means to me, every middle of June, I think of all of the cards and hugs and kisses that I've been able to share with my own father and how much joy this day has brought in my life.

We all have been so blessed to be able to share in this day and look forward to it each year.

Yet, Morgan has not had the chance to celebrate Father's Day in 21 years. Each year this day arrives and passes much like the day before. His father passed away when Morgan was 8 years old. He has not had the chance to reminisce about his camping trips and the life lessons his father taught him, and I feel sad, in the pit of my stomach sad. Morgan doesn't seem to be bothered by the passing of Father's Day, or not that he has expressed. So my post today is not about my father (you know I love you Dad!) or Morgan's father, but Morgan, and the father that I see in him and know he will one day become.

Years from now, when our children crawl into bed and into his arms on a Father's Day much like today, with a homemade card and possibly glitter falling into the sheets, this is what I know they will have already taken from him:

1. His undeniable thirst for knowledge, the importance of reading as much and as often as you can, intelligence and understanding, the art of learning.

2. His pride in his work, no matter how small the task, whether it's doing the laundry, or fixing a problem at work. His work ethic is unmeasurable.

3. His decency, integrity and trustworthiness.

4. His inability to eat ice cream without having some left on the corners of his mouth.

5. His love of sports (Go Broncos!). I'm sure he will be buying our children sports equipment that is five years too advanced for them because he will just be too excited to teach them what he knows and loves.

6. The importance to take time for yourself as an individual.

7. The importance of loving and respecting their mother like he does his own.

8. His love of all cereal that comes with little toy surprises.

9. His unending passion for the Apple Computer. Our kids will be computer whizzes by the time they are able to crawl.

10. His capacity for love...and most importantly his love towards them.

So, to you, honey, I wish you a Happy Father's Day today for the man that you are and the father that I see in you and the father that you will one day become. I look forward to spending many Father's Days with you.

I love you.

Permission to laugh

This is what we do in our spare time, just in case you were wondering...


My three cats are indoor cats, but they look like they long to go outside. So, just to start, I bought this harness to take the cats out one by one to see if they like it. I mean, they are cats, why wouldn't they like it? My biggest fear is them getting hit by a car.

Mac was the first one we took out. From the minute he stepped in the grass he was howling this ungodly sound, very loudy, and was scared as...well, you know. Morgan was very disappointed in this and let Mac know that he was now officially the biggest pussy of our three cats, and he's the only male.

Next it was Morla's turn, and although she faired better, she did not seem at home. She didn't scream, but she also didn't jump for joy. She mainly hung out on our back stairs or next to the house.

We took Ady out last and it took her a few minutes to get used to it, but she warmed up to it and started to really enjoy it. She walked all the way around the house, and even tried to take on our neighbors huge dog. We always knew she was the leader of the pack.

So, this is how we tortured our cats on Saturday. I picked Ady up when we got around to the front of our house because I was so embarrassed to have a cat on a leash and harness.

So, what's up with our other cats? What cats don't like to be outside? I guess they are too used to being sheltered from everything. Another case against home schooling I guess!

Please, have a laugh on me.

North Cackilacky

I just returned from spending three full days at my mom's in Concord, North Carolina. We spent most of the time running around looking at stuff for her house and working in her garden which is coming along nicely.

We did take in some local flavor including the old man who has a "auto parts and gift store" that is located in a small shack with eight weed wackers out front and twelve more inside, not for sale, along with random cheep toys that have probably been rejected by the dollar store. The inside has no light, no air conditioning, and smells like gasoline. The man spoke some sort of English dialect that I don't believe has been discovered by man.

On our way home we stopped by a genuine bbq dive to pick up lunch to go. Along with our bbq salads (shredded lettuce and tomatoes with bbq piled on top) came three hush puppies. In a lapse of judgement, my mom showed signs of back country hick when she unwrapped them and when we had to go into a store, stored them in her cup holders (seen below). I think she's been there too long, especially because she's starting to drop her g's in her speech. Hopefully she doesn't learn the old man's dialect or I'll need a translator.

We had a good time together and we also went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, which was pretty good, if you know how to suspend belief.

So, here's to you crazy weed wacker man, it was fun!

I'm so proud...so you better go read it!

Morgan gets asked every once in a while to write a column for The Guide which is the Entertainment Publication that comes out every Friday in The Island Packet (the newspaper where Morgan works - just in case we have any new visitors to my blog who don't know anything about us). He has written columns on Star Wars and High-def t.v.s before, but this one takes the cake, in my opinion. Go read it!

Brain Freeze

In case anyone was wondering why I fell off the face of the Earth when it came to blogging...this is what I've been doing:


I spent last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (an average of 10 hours each day) in Jacksonville, Florida cramming Structures into my brain at a seminar that is designed for ARE candidates, such as myself. I can't believe I have to know this stuff. The last time I looked at this/studied it was four years ago in school.

There are two Structures exams of the ARE. I just got my pass letter from the last test I took (brings my stats up to 4 for 4) but I still have five more tests. I'm going to take the Structures exams next. If my brain doesn't permanently freeze first.

Don't. Just Don't.

No questions. Don't ask. Just trust me.

Lila has arrived!

My best friend Jayna had her third (and final, so she says) baby on Monday, April 21st. It is a girl, officially named Lila McKay Haws. You can read about her ordeals here (they are pretty bad/funny) and see more pictures. To the left is a photo with her two big sisters Grace, almost 5, and Caroline, 2 1/2.

Congratulations to the Haws Family!

Closer to 30 than 20...

but, still closer to 25 than 30!

This past tax day I completed my 27th year on the 3rd planet from the sun and started my 28th. People keep trying to make me feel bad by saying, "You're closer to 30 than 20!". These people are all over 30 and I'm convinced they want to make themselves feel better, or make me unhappy because they wish they were younger. Too bad, it's not going to work on me, because I am one of those people who believe turning 30 WILL NOT be the end of my life, unlike others I know who have just turned 30...Morgan.

I had a lovely birthday regardless of people's jabs at me. My coworkers took me out to lunch and I received two bouquets of flowers (one from my Dad, Lynn, and Katy, and the other from Morgan) - see below. Morgan gave me the one with the teddy bear! Awww.


After work Morgan took me out to a very nice dinner.

I think any day filled with flowers, free food, family, and friends is a good day.

One of my favorite gifts was this quirky, but appropriate, tribute to me by my best friend. Read it here.

Hometown Holiday

Morgan and I just returned from 7 days in Boise (my hometown) and two Days in Denver (Morgan's home away from home). Morgan was kind enough to spend his 30th birthday with my family (I thought I'd make it as painful as possible - ha!). We had a nice time at an Idaho Stampede (semi-pro) basketball game accompanied by 11 of my family members. The best part was when the announcer wished Morgan a happy 13th birthday. He looks good for his age, I think.

The rest of the vacation was spent visiting children, literally. My brother and his wife have two children, my best friend Jayna has two girls and one on the way (4 more weeks to go!), another high-school friend has 3 children, and another just had her first in January. That's in addition to my little sister and various family members' babies. There were gymnastics classes, dance classes, softball practices, singing rehearsals, and just hanging out.

One thing it reminded me of is that kids are hard! I feel as though I'm not ready for kids, but that's it's too late to start because they take so freakin' long to raise.

I was also thrilled to get back in touch with an old friend from England that I haven't seen in a very long time.

On our way back to South Carolina we stopped through Denver to go to a few sporting events for Morgan's birthday. We stayed with my Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck. If Morgan hadn't been sick I think he would have enjoyed it more. But, we still had a great time.

Here are some highlights:

The fam at the Idaho Stampede game

Goofy Wyeth (my nephew)

Grace and Caroline (Jayna's girls)

Jenny and me (England friend)

Ben, Wyeth, Kate and myself at Kate's softball practice

Chuck and Carol at the Rockies game

Unfortunately when we got home we were surprised to find cat fluids (from every imaginable hole) all over our house. Not a fun thing to come home to. So, since I caught Morgan's cold, I stayed home from work and spent the entire day cleaning up liquidy poo, throw up, (none of which was mine) and taking my cats to the vet. They are pretty beat up, but I think they'll pull through. Hopefully in a few days I can recover from my traumatic experience and then get over this cold.