So that the whole world knows (and for my records)...

Matt says I never remember when he does nice and thoughtful things for me. So, I'm going to take this moment to declare to the Internets, and you all, that Matt bought me the Tiffany's necklace I've been wanting. Actually, I've been pining for this little beaut since 1996. A gift worth it's wait (and weight- the sucker is heavy and yet I appreciate it's heaviness on my neck). Doesn't it look purrrrty??

My snow baby

Jamie got snow for Christmas!

This pic is actually before we went outside, but I couldn't stop laughing cause Jamie couldn't move her arms and legs. It really was hilarious (and maybe a little mean now that I think about it...)

And here she is enjoying the snow....

Have you ever seen a cuter snow baby?? (I don't think so!!!)

Is this for real life?

I got one of my weekly baby newsletters this week. You know the ones I'm talking about- "Your baby is 13 weeks old!"

Anyway, know how sometimes they put ads in them? Well, when I finally checked my email after about a week and half of little to no internet, I had this link waiting for me.

If you want to play a fun little game, go here first and then try to guess what it is.

As for the Tow's and Christmas....we made it on the plane with no problems. Jamie got a bottle as we took off, she fell asleep before we were completely up, and then slept until we landed. So much for all that worrying. And guess what? We had snow for Jamie's first Christmas! I'll post pics as soon as I can!

Merry Christmas!!

I've been a very bad blogger cause I procrastinated Christmas, so I had some catching up to do!

The good news is that I did indeed pull it off.

The better news is that I must have been a VERY GOOD Girl this year, cause Santa brought me that Tiffany's necklace I've been wanting!!! Can you believe it?! He left it hanging on the tree just for me!

The bad news is that I messed up my holiday cards...I didn't get enough of them, and there are about 10-15 of my friends/family that didn't get one from me. It was just too cute not to share, so here it is!

Oh Ho Ho Christmas Card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

First Family Road Trip- Check!

We took the long drive down to Miami this weekend to see my little sister graduate from Physician Assistant school. She's practically a doctor now! Can you believe it??

CONGRATULATIONS, SISSY!!!!

AND, the Tow family survived it's first 5 hour car drive. Another big milestone, if you ask me...interesting travelling with an infant...I swear someone could write a book on efficiently travelling with children and make a lot of money on it (not me- I'm still learning).

Oh, and I am seriously exhausted from this little weekend trip! Next big step- flying with an infant. Oy vey!

Jamie blowing bubbles with her Aunt Dr. Elaine

I think I got punked at Taco Bell

So I stopped at Taco Bell for a couple of taco's fresca style (only a couple hundred calories total!) and this is what happened:

"Yes, I'd like to get a crunchy tac... "

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Uh, no. No meat, please. Just beans. Fresca style."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Um, no. 2 of those please and..."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Nooo. And a..."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"No. Can I have a medium diet pepsi?"

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Yes."

"That's all."

"$3.82, please."

So, I drive up to the window and this little Asian (adorable) older woman hands me my drink and says,

"Ok. Bye."

And I say, "Wait. What about my..."

And the lady throws me my tacos and says, "Ok. Bye."

This happened to me in real life. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I might actually be pissed off about this!

The Irony

Remember when I saw the shuttle launch and got that shirt I love that says:

"Does this shirt make me look weightless?"

Well, the answer is, "No." It does not make me look weightless. It makes me look fat, actually. Hmmm....Too bad that's my favorite shirt. Looks like I'll be trying to fit into that for the next couple of months...

Anyway, I've had a bit of writer's block these day's. I tend to have this annoying habit (just ask my sister and my husband) of only being able to concentrate on one thing at a time. Since I'm currently making Christmas crafts, my writing is lagging.

(Don't ask me why I'm trying to make about 100 Christmas crafts and treats while I have a baby. I can't help it. It's like a disease..)

Which reminds me....I'm supposed to start writing this book by the end of the year. I told you I have about 3000 outlines of books I've wanted to write in the past. Can you all do me a favor and leave me a comment (either on here or on facebook) the genre of book you prefer to read. It's just a little research I'm doing so I know what angle to start at. I'm torn between a couple of different stories I've had in my head for a while.

Thanks for the help!

PS- You'll be happy to know that I've got most of my laundry done and Elaine's gift purchased for her graduation. OH- and I cleaned both my bathrooms. Looks like I'm getting some things done finally!

PPS- Ok, yeah I know you don't care about that...LOL!

Starting to Freak!

I'm feeling stressed these past couple of days for a few reasons:

1) I'm back to work in less than 3 weeks!!!! Matt's going to be taking care of Jamie when I go back, so I know I shouldn't feel bad about this, but I guess I'm jealous. I'm not ready to leave my baby!!!! *tears*

2) I'm not anywhere near ready for Christmas. All I've done is decorate my house and sent xmas cards. Gifts are well....ah...crap!

3) My house is a disaster and I don't know where to start. Matt practically spit his tea out the other day when I told him I was breaking the house up into 4 quadrants for cleaning purposes. But, that didn't last too long....so....now I have about 3000 loads of laundry and dirty floors. Did I tell you I still need to go shopping for Christmas presents??

4) I've got to fly with a baby pretty soon and I'm totally freaked! I mean, there's so much baby stuff.... And then there's the probability my little diva will have a melt down on the plane. The horror!!!

5) I went to the Urologist and I still have another stone in my left kidney. It's also probably going to get bigger and it's not exactly small right now. I also have a kidney infection from the whole stone debacle so I'm on antibiotics for that, too. This is crap. Just crap!! Real life conversation with my Urologist (who by the way could be cute if his name wasn't Chester and his hair didn't look plastic. Poor thing.)

Dr.: "You are very prone to stones and at your age and gender this isn't normal."

Me: "No shit?"

Ok, I lied. That conversation didn't happen, but I did think that...

6) Did I mention I still need to go shopping for Christmas presents?

7) Oh, and I need to get my sister a gift for her graduation from Physician Assistant school. Any ideas???

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 6

Weight gain/loss: -3 lbs.
Fat Jean status: positive.....you know what? I think I just hate these.
Skinny Jean status: Negative

I can't believe I lost another 3 pounds. I actually upped my calorie intake this week due to a couple dinners out, some wine, and an xmas party, but the weight still came off....sounds good to me!!!

So far, I've lost 14 pounds (since Nov. 1). I have 11 more pregnancy pounds and 15 IVF pounds still left to go. I think I can do it!

I'm pretty excited because I have to honestly say I haven't been working too hard on this diet and yet the weight is melting off. This is very good! Especially since I need to be back in my work clothes by Jan. 3rd when I go back. I think it's kind of doable. I mean, I'm ahead on my goals here, but I know won't fit in all my clothes. I need just enough to get me through a week.

The goal I had in mind for Dec. 24 should be met by this week if I continue on the same streak I've been on. Yippee!!!

Next week (if I remember), I will update with a new pic.

I can't stop laughing...

I totally hijacked this off another blog I randomly ran into, but it is freaking HI-larious. (if you're around my age- you know 22...er, 32 *cough*)

OMG...I've actually told my students some of these things:

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways¦ yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car.. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!
There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over the hill Crowd

Two of my (current) favorite things and one final resolution to complete before 2011

So, I think you all know I've been on a diet of lates. Ha. Ha.

I don't know about you, but even if I'm dieting right and eating all the good foods, I'm still starving. I know it's psychological, but that's me. Tell me I can't have something and I obsess over it until I get my way. I'm spoiled. Take last night for instance. I had a dream about pizza. So unfair...

Anywho, I've got a couple little tricks I keep in my back pocket for desperate times that I would like to share with you. One I've been very vocal about and the other is a new thing I've been doing.

#1: This one won't come to a surprise for many of you, but my first trick is caffeine. I know, you're laughing your head off right now (probly cause you thought I was kidding, but I waaassssnnn'tttt- not this time). Now, before you get all high and mighty on me, today I confirmed my suspicion of caffeine with a yahoo article about 7 metabolism speedy foods that said this:

Weight loss food: coffee

The caffeine in 1 cup of joe temporarily revs metabolism by up to 15 percent, torching an extra 15 to 25 calories on average, says Paul Arciero, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise science at Skidmore College. Researchers don't know whether drinking more delivers a bigger boon (for those of us who drink plenty all day, there may be even more reasons to love our java!), but for the most benefit, order yours black; sugar and milk reverse the fat-scorching effects.

So take that, haters!! FYI- I really only have 2-3 servings of caffeine a day, so I'm not that nuts (my urologist knows and says it's fine- pfffffft). Guess who's asking Santa for a Kuerig this Christmas? (it's me, it's me!)

#2: Extra Dessert Delights Gum is my second trick. Yum! And the best part is their logo:

"Have your dessert and chew it, too!"

Me: "Why yes, I think will. Thank you."

They're clever, dontcha think?? Me thinks so, so I bought all of them and chew on them when I want something sweet. They've got key lime pie, strawberry shortcake, and mint chocolate chip (my fave).

Now, the problem here is that I think these are tried and true tricks that most anorexics use, so I know I'm not the most original dieter there is. The good news is that I actually do eat food and don't try to survive off caffeine and gum. Let's be honest though, if I could survive off these things I would. I tried being anorexic once, but I got hungry so it didn't work out. (kidding!)

Don't worry, though, folks. I won't be blogging about my dieting woes forever. I mean a long time, but not forever. Well, at least until I feel normal again. Nope, because I have one last goal I'm supposed to achieve by the end of this year, and since the year is almost done I've got to get started here.

Ready for it???

I'm going to start writing my book! Yes, indeed! We'll see how this goes- I only have about 3000 outlines of books I've been wanting to write for the last oh, 23 years or so, but I've never followed through with it. So, I need to do it now! I promised Matt and now I've told you all (to keep me accountable). A positive note here is that I already completed the first step and put Microsoft Office on my netbook. Now, I just need to get started....after I finish my thank you cards, finish sending out Jamie's announcements, mail out my Christmas cards, do my Christmas shopping, clean my house, take care of my baby, hopefully take a shower,.......oi!

Quickies

1) Jamie met Santa today! I think she was indifferent....

2) I just heard my baby do belly laughs (like 10 minutes ago) for the first time and I am so in love I can't even handle it!

3) Matt and I think I have mommy thumb. No joke.

4) I'm finally moving up in the technology world! I'm a twittererererer now. My user is @towadventures. Follow only if you expect to read ridiculously stupid things.

5) I still don't have a smart phone (too annoying).

MNO with the JLT

Ok, that's just me being silly there in the title, but what I meant was Mom's Night Out with the Junior League of Tampa.

Well, that's really an overstatement, cause I was the only mom in the group of girls I was with. But, I did go to a wine tasting courtesy of the Junior League.

Thank you JLT!

Actually, one of my favorite times in the Junior League year is the holiday's and for this reason. Wine tastings, shopping nights at Nordstrom's.....it's truly wonderful. I'm so happy that even though I have a baby, and recently had kidney stones, and with Matt's recovery and all, that I was able to have this night out with some girls to drink some wine on a chilly night. It was really fun!!

Which brings to me to this mommy business...

Isn't it funny how people say things like, "It's different when it's your child"?

I've only been a mom for a couple of months, but I've determined this is correct.

Let's take on the subject of snot for instance.

There's this little boy in the preschool who is notorious for wiping his snotty (very constantly snotty. Like a snot spout) nose on my sleeve. Well, really anyone's sleeve that is in near reach of his snotty nose. This not only makes me gag, but makes me want to dry heave a little. Usually I push him away and remind him to go get a tissue. I really hate snot.

But, guess what? Today, Jamie sneezed and snotted all over my jeans and a little bit on my t-shirt and not only did I think it was cute, but I wiped it away and then went on with my business of going to the wine tasting with the Junior League. Yes. With snot wiped off my pants (still on). I didn't care.

And, then there's poop.


There is this other little boy in the preschool who is "supposedly" potty trained and yet I had to change his poopy pants all the time. I typically try to pawn him off on one of the high schoolers to get cleaned up, but since most of them are sensitive with the gag reflex, it's usually me doing it. Frankly, I found this quite irritating since the kids are supposed to be potty trained in order to go to our school, but I'd hold my breath and do it anyway and then relish (jump for joy!) the days he does actually use the potty. Now there's the new mom me who actually looks for poop in my baby's diaper and is then upset if I don't see poop for a day. When I do see poop I sing a little song about my "Jamie poopy pants" all the way to the tub. Weird...

Oh! And how about puke??

Well, many of you know that I have a true phobia of vomit. I mean a real. terror. of. throw. up. I'm seriously terrified by doing it, hearing it, or seeing it. But, Jamie gagged when I put her pacifier in her mouth the other day and guess what I did? I called Matt over to take a look at how funny it was.

This mommy business is a funny thing!

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 5

Weight gain/loss: -3 lbs.
Fat Jean status: reluctantly positive.....well, they fit. But, not like they used to.
Skinny Jean status: Negative

SO. I lost weight this week, but I think only cause I didn't eat for the two and half days I was dealing with kidney stones. Remember when I said I hoped for a 48 hour bug or something? Ah, well....looks like wishes do come true, I guess. I think this is where that saying, "Be careful what you wish for," chimes in. Ooops!

I didn't really work out at all cause I was still kind of sore from the whole stone thing, but I got back on the wagon today. Let's hope I keep on my 2-3 lb weekly weight loss so I can make it to my goal by Christmas! I'm down about 11 pounds since I started this on Nov.1 Woo-hoo!

This time no 48 hour bugs, please....

***UPDATE***
I forgot to mention that I haven't worn maternity clothes for two days now!!

We're already lying to our baby...

Today, we took Jamie to the International Mall to see Santa. Except, the line was too long (Santa took an extra long time "feeding the reindeer." Uh, I think we all know what that means. *cough* Alchi* cough* But, anyway, that's what they really told us- he was "feeding reindeer" and the girl even giggled when she said it) so we nixed that little idea and went shopping instead. Terrible, isn't it?! We're going back on a weekday in the morning when no other people are there to get Jamie's first picture with Santa.


Jamie was an absolute angel for the 5 hours we were at the mall. 5!! This is something I haven't done for a while, but Matt and I had a good time browsing through the mall and even got some Christmas shopping done. I purchased my yearly ornaments there. I started a little tradition for our family that we have an ornament made for every year with our names on it. This year we have three names! I was so excited to do this! You have no idea how long I have waited to put three names on an ornament (or maybe you do, if you've read this blog for a while). I also got one made for Jamie's First Christmas. I love them both!



The only time Jamie got fussy was while we were in Tiffany's, but honestly I don't blame her. I mean, why tease a girl by taking her into a store full of sparkly goodness and then not buy her anything??? I tortured my own self by trying on the matching necklace to my oval tag "Please Return to Tiffany" bracelet I have, but a girl can dream. Actually, we were in there for more than window shopping, though.


Want to hear a funny and embarrassing story about me? It has to do with the reason we were in Tiffany's. I promise.


So, one day during the summer I was sitting on the couch watching one of those VH1 popup video shows where people call in and make comments. All of the sudden on the screen I see my sister-in-law's name pop up with her phone number. I was like "Wow! Jenny's calling in to VH1 right at this exact moment I'm watching tv. No WAY!" And then I realize, that it was the new caller id we had installed that shows up on the tv. YEP. So, I ran to the phone and got my Tiffany bracelet caught on the door handle and broke the clasp.


Anywho, that's why we were there. I was finally getting my bracelet fixed.


Want to hear something else funny and embarrassing I've done recently. No? Well, tough shit! This is my blog and I'll write what I want to....:-)


So, I had made plans with our friends Rhiannon and Dave (the other West's) to come over for dinner. My mom is out of town, so I also called my dad over for a nice warm meal. I made TONS of food. The West's were supposed to come over around 6:30, and at around 7:30 I'm thinking something must be wrong cause Rhiannon is never late for anything. Well, guess what? Somehow things got confused and I thought dinner was for Friday and they thought it was for Saturday. So, yeah. We had three people for dinner and I made dinner for 10! (I have a strange talent for making army loads of food.) The good news is that this dinner party prompted me to decorate my house for Christmas. So, my tree, wreath, precious moments manger scene, advent calendar, Christmas table centerpiece and various other little decorations are UP!

I'll spare you more Christmas decs pics as I'm sure I've posted those the previous years on this blog. I haven't bought any new decorations in a year or two.

Also, as you would guess, Matt and I are sitting warm and cozy with some tea tonight! Matt is having his tea with the Godiva chocolates he bought himself at the mall. He has quite the palate, doesn't he? Me? I'm imagining what my tea would taste like with some Godiva chocolates, but since I'm down 10 pounds since Nov. 1, I prefer to stay strong and get into my skinny jeans one day in the near future.

By the way, we were at Teavana today sampling some teas. I haven't been as diligent about my tea drinking since my kidney stone. I'm getting it tested and hoping they don't ban me from tea (Tea made from black leaves has tannins which cause kidney stones in people like me). But, guess what? I learned the combo of tea I purchased a few weeks ago has no black tea leaves in it, so I'm back on the tea wagon! Also, Javier- the sweet boy who swindled me into $50 worth of tea saw me at the mall today and says, "Hey, didn't I sell you tea recently."

"Why, yes sweet swindling gay boy you did!" (smiles)

Ok, I didn't say that. But, if I see him again I may ask him to be my gay husband. No joke. He's that good!

Thoughts on Teaching

I'm supposed to be putting up my Christmas decorations and tree up right now, but it's too much. I can't.

Instead I'm going to blog a little. Stare at the mess a little longer, and then do it.

Yesterday, I went in to school to turn in the monies we made from the car wash on Saturday. I got there the last 30 minutes of the last period class, so naturally I see some of my students and they eww and aww over the baby. They tell me they hate the sub and so on.

They REALLLLLLLLLLYYYYYY hate the sub. This does make me feel bad, but not bad enough to come back to school any sooner. Actually, they flat out told me they hate the sub and then asked me to come back sooner, and I actually responded with a "no." Plain and simple.

I have these two students that I've had for a couple of years. One of them for two years and she's a really good girl. The other I've had for 3 years, and she's well, not bad, but not exactly innocent and sweet. They've been getting in a lot of trouble and are now failing my class. So, I say (in my teacher voice):

"Ladies, what's going on? You're both in level 4 now. You can't afford to fail the last level of this course your senior year. It would be detrimental to your certificates to teach in a preschool and/or possibly your graduation."

Response from the not so sweet one: "Mrs. Tow, we hate the sub! He's mean. I refuse to listen to him."

Me: "What's wrong with him?"

Not so sweet one: "Well, nothing I guess. I just don't like how he talks to us."

Sweet student then sighs and says, "Mrs. Tow- He's just not YOU!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ok, I didn't laugh in real life, that was in my head, but, really that was a good one....

I *almost* smiled sweetly and gave them all the money in my billfold to repeat that all around school, but instead I used my teacher voice and said sternly,

"It doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. You have a job to do in here. Please be respectful while I'm gone. I'd like to see you both finish my course with the "A" I know you can earn in here."

Ha! I'm still laughing hysterically at this one cause both of these girls are notorious for giving us a hard time and not doing their work. So, all I had to do was go on leave for a few weeks and they would feel like that towards me??

Here's actual conversations I've had with them in the past:

"Mrs. Tow, I like this guy and he says that he likes me and is dating me, but I looked on his Facebook page and he says he's in a relationship with another girl."

Me: "Uh, no. He's lying. He's Facebook Official with the other girl. Dump him. Now go do what Mrs. Hanson told you to do." (puke, I can't believe I said "Facebook Official!")

"Mrs. Tow, little Johnny won't do his activity that I'm trying to teach them. What should I do? I've tried everything."

Me: "He's 4 and your 16. Make him do it."

"Mrs. Tow, who's that guy who picked up little Sally? Is that her dad? He's cute!"

Me: "It's her uncle and he is cute. Now get back to work. Didn't Mrs. Hanson tell you to do something?"

"Mrs. Tow, you didn't tell us we had a test on this! I didn't study! I can't even find my book."

Me: "Um, not only did I tell you every single day for the entire semester that you had a test on this, but I also wrote it right here on the board in big bold print for you to see. And, you've taken this course for 3 semesters already, so you know we have a test on this. Don't worry, though. It won't affect your grade. You just won't be able to work in a preschool if you don't pass. No biggie. Oh, and your book is sitting right here on my desk where you left it 6 weeks ago."

Ok, so these aren't the exact words in my conversations with them. I'm a little nicer although still sarcastic with them. But you get my point. Sounds annoying, doesn't it?

Except I kind of miss it.

Yep. I miss those pesky little teenage conversations I have.

And, therein lies why I love teaching high school.

I'm sure going to miss my little munchkin when I get back to work, but I feel pretty blessed that I have a job I love to go back to.

Darn you, teenagers......"He's just not you!".....Got me! AH! (tugs on heart strings)

I got a new friend...er, stalker...

Meet my new friend. He (she?) waits for me by the door most days.

I try to yell at my friend to go away, but instead he does this....

Isn't he cute?? He wants to come live with me, I know it! If that doesn't say, "let me in, I love you!" in cat language then I don't know what else does.

If I didn't already have a baby and two neglected kitties (now that Jamie is here) at home I would totally steal this one from the neighbor.

I think I am a cat lady reincarnated. I love love love cats!

Alright, so all the town houses in my neighborhood look EXACTLY alike. The cat could be confused. I would like to believe, however, that the cat is trying to get in because it loves me dearly and can't stand to be away from me for even one second. That's a much better explanation, don't you think??

You'll never believe it and why some of my posts are late

Ok. So, I told you guys that on Saturday I was at a car wash all day with my students from the Florida Future Educators club raising money for a conference they want to go to in January. What I didn't tell you is that I the day before I had started not feeling that great. *TMI* One thing that happened was that I had noticed blood in my urine.

Now, this should be an alarm for most people, but because on Saturday I had a "female" thing happen to me, I didn't think anything of it. That night I was feeling kind of sick and exhausted, but again I thought it was related to my lady problems. On Sunday, I was feeling worse. That afternoon I had a couple of dizzy spells. Late in the evening when I woke up to feed Jamie I was feeling extremely sick- I was clammy, sweaty, and dizzy. That morning I woke up early to take Jamie to the pediatrician. While we are there, I start feeling super sick again. Very nauseous and dizzy. Only this time, I start getting a pain in my lower back. By the time I'm in the car and ready to get home, I am in ALOT of pain. I somehow manage to get Jamie out of the car, into her swing, and me on the couch. I tried to wait an hour before I woke up Matt to take me to the ER, but I couldn't do it. The pain was unbearable and I literally felt like I was dying.

Cue in my mom. I call her and tell her to come over right away and that I need to go to the hospital. I wake up Matt and explain to him what's going on. FYI- I have had 5 kidney stones in the past, so at this point I have already diagnosed myself with another kidney stone. I remember that feeling well- I will never forget it....

I get to the ER and explain to them what's going on. They, of course, say stupid shit like "Are you sure you just didn't lift anything heavy?"

Um, guys, at this point I am crying from the pain. I feel like I'm going to vomit my insides out and they are questioning my pain. You can imagine the thoughts running through my head. Anyhow, the PA indulges me in a Catscan and some bloodwork. I will say that they were quick to give me an IV with Zofran and Diloted for the pain and nausea, which was nice. Then they come back in the room and tell me the inevitable- I have a kidney stone.

Actually, they come back and tell me I have two kidney stones. One is 4 mm and in the right kidney on it's way out- this is the pain I'm feeling. The other is a smaller 2mm in my left kidney and is not trying to move anywhere at this point. The good news is that they sent me home with a painkiller stronger than they gave Matt for his surgery and that I was pretty out of it for two days. The best news is that I passed the big 4 mm stone tonight! Hooray!

I went to a Urologist this afternoon who will be testing my stone this time to see what's going on. I obviously have a predisposition to these as it's genetic and I'm about 30 years younger (and the opposite sex) than the average person who gets kidney stones. I've known for a while that I don't metabolize calcium very well so that's part of the answer, but I'm hoping we can get down to the nitty gritty so that I don't ever have this problem again!

Here's the latest "baby" I've given birth to...

And by the way, as a person who has given birth to a baby and a kidney stone in the last two months, I will say that the actual pain of the kidney stone contractions are worse than labor pain contractions. HOWEVER, the actual birthing of a baby is way worse than peeing out a kidney stone. AND, I do consider myself an expert on this. ;-)