teeehehehe....

I got an e-mail from Pattie yesterday saying " I couldn't resist!" Here is what she was talking about:

I am trying to refrain until we are closer to the due date, so I know what we've already been fortunate enough to receive from friends and family. Josh on the other hand, gets near a baby store and is like a kid in a candy shop. This is my favorite that he's picked out so far. If you know Josh, this is SUCH an outfit he'd pick out! He lives in polos!

I feel him! OMG. It's real.

So, it's not that I'm in denial that I'm pregnant. I live and breathe it, it's all my spare thoughts are devoted to. But in some sense, it doesn't feel real yet. Maybe it won't until he's in my arms... but I'll tell ya. A few days ago, I felt something. I'll be totally frank, at first I dismissed it as gas. But it started to happen pretty regularly. I only noticed it at night when I was laying down. I hesitated to say anything to Josh because I had no way to know for sure what I was feeling. But I did talk to him, and we read on line all the 'tell tale' signs of what it should feel like. Days later, I can easily tell you I'm feeling him move around!!! Just like everyone says, it feels like popcorn popping in my stomach, or a butterfly... but as he's getting stronger, I think an air hockey puck panging around is a better example!!

I'm more excited for Josh to be able to feel it. I feel like so many of the experiences of bringing him into this life only involve me. I'm sure Josh is more than grateful for the majority of the not pretty side effects (ligament stretching pains, acne, LABOR!) but I do love sharing whatever I can with him. Mackenzie is also extremely impatient about wanting to feel him move! So it will be very exciting to share this with the girls as well!!

SPRING!

Ok so I'm a few weeks early, but I just can't wait for Spring to get here. I am just so sick of cold murky days and long for those few weeks in spring when it feels so good to open the house up and get all that fresh air. Your toes still get freezing without socks, but sitting in the sun makes you feel like you have the best blanket in the world wrapped around you. Then it gets hot and miserable, but lets focus on those few blissful weeks instead!

Just like Fall brings out the crafter in me, Spring brings out my green (ok brown) thumb. I long to have a green thumb, I really do. Maybe practice will make perfect. Remember a few months ago when I blogged about how the fairy gardens died again, and Pattie gracefully did not blame my thumb, but rather my dirt? Well, we set out with a plan. To dig a trench, get new soil, and start over! Well! That ended up being a MUCH larger task than we had thought. After about 5 inches of so-so dirt, we hit clay. (alas, the problem!) So three weekends later, several pulled muscles and a few disobeyed child labor laws later, we had a trench! Then it rained. And rained and rained and rained some more. We missed the window of opportunity to plant anything until Spring.

So we've watched as the mounds of dirt next to the trench have gotten packed from the rain, watched the rain fill the trenches then slowly disappear underground. However! There is a light at the end of this muddy drab tunnel. Pattie announced that in a few weeks we will be ready to plant again! I just can't wait, our front yard needs some desperate TLC. This will give it some color that it's dying for. Stay tuned for pics in the upcoming weeks!!

Does anyone work on Friday's anymore?????

Ok, I use the term "work" loosely... no pot calling the kettle black here... I'm well aware I usually blog between the hours of 8-5 on weekdays. But gimme a break.. at least my butt is in a chair AT WORK. Where is everyone? How do they magically have this much vacation time to never be here on Fridays?

As annoying as it is to be sitting in an empty row of cubicles imagining all the fun things everyone else is doing, you know what is worse? Guess who is here until at least 5pm EVERY Friday? (besides me) Yep. My boss. She is in love with working. I think if she could marry it she would. I don't mean to rag on her, it's so great to have such a motivated boss to work with, keeps things positive. Usually. But man.... there are days I wish she'd just be like "you know what, why don't you leave early." Never happens! Ever! I always vow that if I ever become a supervisor I will pick Fridays at random and let my staff leave early... imagine how much they'd love me!!! I think I'd make a kick ass supervisor, don't you?

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Let me start off by saying, I normally love rain. But it just has not stopped lately. Ok, I'm exaggerating again. It has stopped a few days here and there but just keeps coming back. Even though we are saturated beyond belief, there are parts I still really enjoy about it. Namely, being home when it hits. But that's not exactly realistic! The reality of the rain these days, is that it keeps hitting on Fridays, making drives to pick up the girls pure hell. It also seems to rain between the hours of 8-5, or 2am-6am, so I'm either at work or asleep when it hits.

This time frame also isn't beneficial for Rufus. When it rains during a work day, it means Rufus is confined to the kitchen. We have slowly been letting him have access to the entire house when we aren't home, but for an hour at a time max. I'm just not ready to trust him for an entire work day! The result in that, is he is beyond stir crazy at the end of the day. When we had the last big spout of rain that lasted for a few days, by the 3rd day he would just pace the living room and kitchen after we got home. I felt so bad!!

So today, I keep hearing the rain won't come until later today. It was semi-sunny before we went to work, so I took my chances and let him stay outside. Keep your fingers crossed that it holds off until I go home for lunch and get him set up inside! I don't want a wet, muddy shivering dog that we have to bathe tonight!!

It's a Boy!!!!!

Ahhhhh finally, we know!!! Like we really waited an eternity, I know. But seriously, it was slowly killing me to have to wait any longer. :)

Our appointment was scheduled for 2:30pm today. At 10am we got a call that there was an opening at 11am, so we rushed to get everyone ready and out the door! We were so excited!! We were ushered into a pleasantly dimmed room with lots of comfy chairs and a big comfy couch. Music was playing softly in the background and there was a giant flat screen TV on the wall with a blank ultrasound image waiting patiently for us to get settled. The girls were kind of squirmy and giggly, indecisive on where to sit. They have had a wager going for weeks.. Kali wants a boy, Kenzie wants a girl. Kali ended up on Josh's lap while Kenzie hid behind my chair and held my hand. I reclined back (seriously, this was luxurious compared to the doctors office where I have to strip down and have a paper blanket over me!) and all eyes were on the screen. One cold squirt of gel and some pressure on my tummy later, and there he was! ASLEEP. WHAT! Oh come on!!! Not just asleep, but sitting 'Criss-cross-apple-sauce" as Kenzie pointed out.. hiding everything. I had downed a ton of water before the appointment so she suggested I go use the restroom and handed me a giant tootsie roll to eat on my way out.

In the bathroom I won't lie... I did some jumping jacks, shook my tummy a lil and Teddy and I had a pep talk. Wake Up! I begged!! I gulped down another glass of water and took my seat back in the comfy chair. She moved her wand thingy around for what felt like an eternity, not saying a word. We all were stealing glances at each other wondering if anyone really knew what was going on LOL.

Finally she revealed that she was pretty sure she knew the gender, but she just needed to double check. Sounded vaguely familiar of what our doctor was trying to do. Getting antsy, Josh and I got a little distracted talking with the girls, trying to keep them excited, when the screen froze, an arrow appeared, and she typed "BOY" across the screen. Josh and I sort of did an excited laugh, Kali exclaimed in the air that she knew it! But the show stealer in this moment was Kenzie. They had a table with toys set up for little kids who might not be all that interested in the brother or sister entering their lives. The second she heard the word boy, she was done. She marched right over to the table and began playing. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was like she was saying "well I didn't get what I wanted so I don't care anymore!"

As soon as I was safely down the flight of stairs out of the building I was calling my parents. Pattie answered and I blurted out "it's a boy!!!" looking back I think she was trying to tell me to hold on so she could get my Dad but I didn't wait LOL. I guess I should have thought about that, but I was just way too excited!! Luckily he was in the same room as her and she was able to relay right away.

So! The great mystery is solved!! Hooray! Now the daunting task of picking a name. ugh! It is so much more overwhelming than I thought!

But now life can go on, back to normal for now! I am so excited to have found out, but the past few days have been exhausting. I look forward to a few less surprises over the next few weeks and a normal routine returning!

Shy? My Child? BAH!

So today was the big day, our appointment with the doctor where we might find out the gender of the baby. No matter how many times I mentally tried to prepare myself for that big might up there, I knew I'd be disappointed if we didn't find out what Teddy is. I'm only 15 weeks along and while you can see as early as 15 weeks (earlier if you decide to do the 1st trimester screening) generally you find out from 18-22 weeks. Josh and I eagerly strained our eyes on the sonogram machine as our doctor diligently moved the gadget around trying her best to find some proof one way or another. Finally Teddy cooperated and turned upside down (giving us a view as if you were looking up from a toilet, LOL thats the visual the doc gave so you can suffer through that one with us). Josh and I both held our breath, there was DEFINITELY something between the legs! But alas a millisecond later Teddy moved and there was just no way to confirm if it was the umbilical cord or not. BUMMER!!!!

So the doc gave us a referral slip to an u/s technician that we needed to see anyway to perform a complete u/s to scan for down syndrome, abnormalities, etc. They also confirm the gender. We hopped into the car (and after calling Pattie and Lizzie) I called to schedule the next appt possible. March 2nd. Are you kidding me?!! We have to wait a month!?!?!

Josh and I trudged into work. In my 'open book' way of life, I of course immediately posted on facebook that we didn't find out. My dear friend Jenee (who I remember telling me found out the gender of her babies at 15 weeks) suggested finding a independent ultrasound office we could go to, to do what they call a gender check. Ya and how much does that cost? Well, not anywhere as much as you, or I thought!! Within minutes Josh and I had talked ourselves into this idea and began searching. So we decided since Kali was so upset she wouldn't be able to go with us to today's appointment to try to schedule it on a weekend. So! We are going this Saturday at 2:30! I can't wait!!!!


Just to give you a neat comparison, the first u/s picture is of Teddy back on January 7th. The next one is from today. No wonder I keep feeling growing pains in my belly!!

You are all a bunch of drunks!!!

Ok maybe not. But get this. So I keep reading how pregnant chick's noses are way more sensitive. I haven't noticed that really... except a few weeks ago at work, I started kind of getting that "whoa..." feeling when someone would be near me and breathe. I would double take. Have they been drinking? I totally smell alcohol! Over the next few days I was just astounded at my revelation that like 70% of the Amgen work force were closet drunks!!

So after my dramatic conclusion settled in the dust I decided to be a bit more rational about it. I can actually thank my boss. She is a die hard very consistent hand sanitizer. Anytime she comes back from or goes to a mtg, I hear her bottle click open. She's very loyal about it. Well after she strolled by on her way to a mtg, I noticed that faint smell of alcohol, and knowing very well there is no way she is a closet alchy... it dawned on me. Amgen is HUGE about hand sanitizer right now. You can't look out from any given location and NOT see a bottle or I kid you not, an actual hand sanitizer station (at each bank of elevators, on each floor). So DUH... everyone around here uses it a lot! So rest assured, Amgen is not staying afloat due to a bunch of bloated alcoholics.

Phew, I was worried for a sec.

Btw, I would die for a margarita. Actually had a dream about it last night.

Freak Out Mode!

With "What To Expect When You Are Expecting" as my current bible always by my side, and my daily (multiple) scans on babycenter.com, I keep reading that right around now is the freak out time for new parents. When I skipped ahead in the earlier weeks and saw this, I kind of thought hmmm... kinda too late for that isn't it?

Well hi, welcome to freak out week. I'm not freaking out about omg, we are going to have a baby and our lives are changing, that reality is here, trust me! It's the worrying. All the sudden it seems like there is so much we need to accomplish and have done and out of the way before July.. so much that there can't possibly be enough time to really be successful. It's completely overwhelming!!

On top of that I'm suddenly shockingly aware that all I have been reading about is my pregnancy. Well thats just the start of it! Reading snip its like "you aren't supposed to give the baby a bath for the first week.." really? why? What if I didn't ever know that and I did, could I harm the baby because the umbilical cord is still too fragile? Then one girl posted on the message boards that with her first born, she went to give him a bath and could not figure out how to turn him over to wash his back without dropping him and she called her mom sobbing 45 minutes later. What if I can't turn the baby? All I can say is THANK GOD Josh has been thru this. I seriously think this is the best blessing I could have ever asked for. I'm the first one in my family going thru this, so there aren't a ton of moms for me to turn to to ask those 800 "obvious" questions that once you've been there you can smile in understanding and walk a person through. So it really puts my mind at ease to know I will have Josh by my side and that we are going to be an awesome team.

However, right now, I'm going to make a list. Of allllll the things that we MUST get done before July! Wish me luck!!

Part 1 of 3, done!

Today marks the first day of the 2nd trimester! YAY!!! This is overwhelmingly dubbed the best trimester in all the books. Done with morning sickness, and not whale-like enough to be uncomfortable 24/7 yet. I am so look forward to the next several weeks!!

I never thought I'd be excited to have enough energy to do the day to day stuff like just cleaning up the house, etc. I just miss my normal routine. I miss my bed being made, clothes actually getting folded out of the dryer and not ending up in a wrinkly pile in the basket for days, and poor Rufus needs a bath like no other. I don't mean to imply that without me these things don't get done, but Josh has had his hands full taking care of not only his usual stack of stuff he maintains, but all of mine! Theres no way I could do it all either! The girls have also been AWESOME in cleaning up their toys, making their beds and all that fun stuff. We really are lucky in that respect that they like to keep their stuff organized!

Something else I excited for... is the idea that in a week from tomorrow, we might possibly find out what Teddy is!! I have been reading all these tips and tricks you can do to try and increase your chances of "seeing the goods". The one that makes the most sense is to drink something like orange juice about 30 minutes before your appointment. The sugar rush makes the baby a bit more active, giving you more chances to see all the body parts. I'm trying to not give my hopes up. I'll only be 15 weeks so it is a little early by "their" standards.... but it would be so cool if we found out next Thursday! Keep your fingers crossed!

Baby Dreams

So I've heard from a lot of people that when you are pregnant you have all sorts of crazy dreams. I'm not one too read too much into dreams or remember many of them, but I have noticed that they have felt a lot more real. I will wake up and actually be surprised I'm not wherever I was in the dream, so thats kind of cool.

However, last night, I went into a new category. I should say, part of me still doesn't feel pregnant. I'm not showing, I don't feel anything kicking, I just feel like I've been sick for 3 months. So I always kind of laugh to myself that one of these doctor visits she's gonna say what you talkin' about... theres no baby in there. Well, last night I had my first dream that the baby was here. Josh and I were laying on Mackenzie's bed (not sure why!) and I was cradling the baby in my arm and we were both laying on our sides just looking at it. I say it because I am extremely frustrated that I do not remember what it was!! I just remember thinking omg it is so tiny. I also remember being highly concerned about a rash on his/her face. But that was it, we were just laying there, in this quiet moment watching this tiny little creature. Kind of gives me the chills!!!

Weird things happening to me: I am a human garbage disposal. That is all.

I'm waiting.....

For that glow everyone talks about LOL. It's sooo not happening. Right now I currently look like I spent a month surviving solely off pizza and beer. There is no cute "baby bump" I just look lumpy. And you can giggle and say "aww I'm sure it looks cute" but I assure you, it does not. Anytime it wants to turn hard and look cute, BE MY GUEST!

That's all.

Wait, I thought I was done with this part?

So for the entire month of December, I think I mentioned I was completely nauseous. I actually lost 3 pounds from eating crackers and ginger ale for 5 weeks. Trust me, I'm not bragging. I love food like I love to breath air. It was so frustrating. I felt like if I was gonna feel queasy at least get it over with and barf so I can eat. But no. Never, ok maybe once. But just once and no relief! So, last week when all the sudden my stomach growled a monster of all growls and magical cravings for real solid non processed foods start swirling in my foggy head, I was elated! FINALLY! Yesssssss..... Suddenly the thought of grocery shopping wasn't so awful again. I wouldn't have to plug my nose through the meat and bakery section, I could actually pick out food besides crackers and milk. Life is lookin' good. I even started getting a little energy back, probably because I was getting some real nutrition, and not just from those horse pill prenatals too.

So last night after an easy trip to the store, I went to make our favorite weight watchers friendly pizza. You know the one.. I blogged about it last year. Well as I'm preparing it.. I start to think hmm... gosh this just does not sound good tonight.. Ah well, already making it. Then, when I'm cutting it up to put it on plates I'm thinkin man.. I just really do not want this. Again, ah well, suck it up. I plop down next to Josh, take one bite, and my nose just instantly turns. BLEH.. what is this and where did our favorite pizza go?!?! Feeling like I was over reacting, I ate one piece, but it was a very strong effort, and I immediately regretted it. I spent the next 5 hours praying for the stomach Gods to just get this pizza out of my system. I began that awful salivating (another one of those things no one tells you about) where my mouth filled endlessly with spit.. its really truly awful and I do feel partially bad telling you about it because its gross, but I'm the one who had to deal with it, so get over it. ;) This went on thru most of the night, and when my alarm went off, I sat up.. kinda laughed, said ya right, and went right back to my pillow. As I'm laying there moaning and complaining (my new favorite past time) it pops into my head that I've read time and time again, don't be fooled... just when you think morning sickness has passed, BAM it comes back with a vengeance!

I pat myself on the back that I lasted this long without having to take a day off of work. One day isn't going to kill anyone!!


On a less gripy note... another weird sensation going on, is the feeling of my insides stretching. Take a sheet, towel, something like that, and pull it tight, like they do on the paper towel commercials... and it feels like thats happening inside my stomach. All kinds of stretching and pulling. It doesn't hurt necessarily, but I'm definitely aware of it!

So now I'm going to go curl up under my favorite blanket, snuggle with Rufus and wait for Josh to come home. :)

Guess Who's Back....

Ok, so there I go ranting and raving about how I L-O-V-E Fall and have so many plans and will blog about it all along the entire way in grave detail. Ya so it didn't quite pan out like I had thought. We did do tons of crafts and had lots of fun, and the holidays just flew by! Like I'm sure they did for the few of you that might actually still be checking my blog, hopeless waiting for me to post something terribly exciting.

I could sit and recap about the projects, christmas lights, debacles and Santa suprises, but I don't know about you... I'm just a tiny bit SICK of the hoildays! LOL what a scrooge.

So instead of that, I'll talk about our biggest suprise of the holidays. You probably already know.. yep! Josh and I are having a baby! Holy cow! We found out the Monday before Thanksgiving..... which I can use an excuse for why I had no energy to remember to post anything, ha! Here come the excuses already. It was pure torture being around my family, my sister who doesn't live locally anymore and I never see, and keep this giant secret. But, it just didn't feel real yet. We wanted to wait until we went to a doctor, someone certified who could say, yep, that there is a baby inside ya'! Once we did, we told our parents and immediately family, and it's just been a whirlwind since then.

So I'm pretty much positive that the majority of my future posts for the next 6 months or so are going to be all about this journey we are on.. the ups and downs, scaries, surprises... so if you like to read my rambles you have come to the right place!!

Some fun facts:

Today, Teddy (the unofficial nickname as the latest ultrasound strongly resembles a teddy bear!) is the size of a fig!

Some gripes Teddy is causing: Bloating, exhaustion, dry skin, a sore tail bone (who knew), and lots and lots of happy tears!

Weekend Cooking Adventures

So this last Saturday, we planned to have Dad and Pattie over for dinner. I had gotten this slot on their social calendar almost 6 weeks ago! Who knew they were such a hot commodity. I don't often get the chance to make a meal for them, so I didn't want to just make any willy nilly meal. There were a few things I knew I wanted to cover. I got my obsession with green onions from my Dad, so I knew I wanted to make Asiago, Potato, and Bacon Gratin with green onions. Yep, its as amazing as it looks, guaranteed. Seriously, its one of our favorites!

I could NOT think of what to make with it. I turned to my new dear friend Scotty and asked for suggestions. He graciously offered me Mama Perry's (his mama) roast recipe. Guys, this was TOO easy. Salt, pepper, bay leaves. Thats it. MP said to wrap it tightly in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 6 hours. I'd never tell her (Scotty, you are sworn to secrecy) that I strayed from that last part. I needed the oven for the potatoes and I got a smaller roast so I was worried that 6 hours was too long. So I crock potted it. Folks, it was delicious! Simple, tender... yum! I just wish I would have thought to make a gravy with the yummy juices left in the pot. Anyway, Scotty and I affectionately named him Mr. Chuck Roast. Sorry theres only a before and no after.. we ate it too fast!

We couldn't forget the veggie. Josh and I have become obsessed with fresh green beans. So when I saw this recipe in this month's issue of cooking light (an awesome subscription my parents gave me for my birthday!) I knew I'd want to try it. More bacon.. you can't go wrong. Seriously, its a crime for this to all be healthy!! Green Beans with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Lastly, I knew I wanted to make cheesecake for Pattie. Not just my usual stellar cheesecake, but I wanted to get into the fall spirit and make a pumpkin cheesecake!! This turned out to be an ordeal. I did not want to stray from my tried and true recipe. But I've never done substitutions. I spent a good hour researching the right spices and amounts of what to add. I have to say.. it turned out PERFECT!!

Looks a bit yellow in that pic, but thats an iphone in a dark room for ya. So Brittany, I hope this pleases you... everything we made! It was a feast.. Josh and I were passed out fast asleep before 10pm that night!!

Are You Ready For Some FOOTBALL???

Last year, I probably would have said ehhhh..... but I learned very early on when meeting Josh that if I wanted quality time with him on the weekends, I had better get interested in football. I've been acutely aware that once a week Josh's Dad calls for his "picks". Josh's Dad, Steve, works with Josh's Uncle, Joe. Joe gathers everyone's picks along with $5 and at the end of the weekend, whoever picked the most winning teams gets the pot, around $125! Not a bad deal. Last year I set out with a goal to understand the game of football. I really just did not get it. I think I drove Josh absolutely insane, asking what the different 'downs' meant. I must have asked about 10 times. But I FINALLY get it! I still ask questions about some of the rulings but Josh doesn't seem nearly as annoyed.

So about the 4th week into this season, I started to feel a bit over confident. While not submitting my picks to Joe, come on now, it's a bit early for that, I made my picks for Josh and Steve to see. The first week I hung my head in shame, I think I got 7 games wrong. But it didn't take long for me to start actually listening to the commentators, and following along with the Mark and Brian radio show when they spent all Monday morning talking about the games over the weekend. Little by little, whether Josh likes it or not, my picks are improving!

Last week was a bit busy, so Josh hadn't followed the games closely that weekend and assumed he was out of the running. Sunday night, we were casually watching the game between commercials of "I Survived..." (love that show) when Josh's cell rang. It was Steve letting him know that if Dallas won, that was it, Josh won the pot this week! I could almost physically see Josh's blood pressure rising. Trying not to jinx it, we peaked at the score every so often. When we were fairly certain that they had won, my faulty light bulb finally popped on. How did I do this week? Josh rolled his eyes, snickered, and dug my picks out of his pocket. Hoooollly crap.. whats this? We are tied!!! We both had the same pick for Monday night's game, so it came down to points.

In the even of a tie, Joe has each person pick a number that they think will be the total number of points scored on Monday night's game. Josh shot high, I shot low. He shook his head at me and said "amateur". All day Monday I talked some serious smack of how if I had really bet with Joe's betting a silly little girl would have knocked all these old men out of the running. I am proud to report that the final tally of points at the end of the game was 38. I'm proud because my "amateur" guesstimate was 41 while Josh's was 49!!!! HAHA, I WIN!!!!!!

Either way, its $115 (Josh involuntarily provided the entree fee for himself and Steve haha) in the Christmas shopping fund so I'm a happy camper. If I do well this week I'm placing a real bet next week!!

Would the Ex-Pageant Queen please SHUT UP!

If I said the name Carrie Prejean, most of you would, like me think.. sounds familiar... who's that? If I said the Pageant winner who was dethroned after not meeting her obligations, having nude photos leaked, and most recently and under age sex tape... you'd say oooooooh ya and roll your eyes. I get it that she is embarrassed but I am so tired of hearing her excuses and lies. What cracks me up the most, is how last night on Larry King Live, she turned off her mike and threatened to walk off because he mentioned the sex tape. What illusion is she under that she is there, on the Today show, on The View, on Larry King Live for any other reason than her scandal? That she has brought on herself! I would have much more respect for her, if she said you know what, I fell thru on my duties... I did things in my past that aren't supportive of a pageant lifestyle, but I have no regrets and want to move forward. If she had said that, I'd be 100% supportive of her. But it seems like shes so hellbent on her 15 minutes of fame, she could give a rats hoot-n-hollar what is being said about her, so long as SOMETHING is being said.

I think I have the support of the general public when I say please Carrie, go find a deserted island to park it on for a month or two, work on your tan and let anyone besides you have some air time!!!

Driving Under A Microscope

Why does driving with my boss feel just like driving with a cop behind me?

Today my boss asked a "huge" favor. (I quote huge because she acted like she was putting me out but really I got to spend an hour of work time driving listening to music, not a bad deal!) She asked me to follow her to her husband's work to drop off his car, and bring her back to Amgen. Sweet, lets go! I set off on the freeway first and as I was nearing the exit, I had a hmmmm moment... her car was waaaaaay back there. I made a mental note to not drive too fast when she got in. We got to his work, they made the trade of keys, and she hopped in. I should stop and say, my boss is kick-ass cool. She's laid back, down with the times... she has her things she's uptight about, but so do I. We set off, and I began rambling about the show "I Survived..." that Josh and I watched last night. A man was scalped by a bear, had his butt bitten, a lady had to convince a rapist that he was "really good in bed" so he'd leave her apartment, and 2 kids relived the horrors of the Virgina Tech Massacre... crazy episode! Anyway, we are flyin down the 101 when I catch her looking at my speedometer. oooooooooooooooops. I was speeding. I tried to act natural as I slowed down a little but I saw her smirking behind her sun glasses. After that, you better believe my hands were at 10 and 2, and I didn't even so much think about turning before my blinker came on.

What is it about an authoritative figure being in your car that makes you drive like their is a cop around you? I've NEVER gotten a speeding ticket, let alone a traffic violation ticket, and I've never (knowingly) caused an accident. Why am I making such a big deal about this? I'm weird.

But seriously, the dude with the bear.. that was some crazy stuff!

Yummy Stuffed Peppers

Ever notice a meal always tastes better when someone else makes it? I do! I also get a kick out of watching Josh in the kitchen. It's interesting to see our styles.. I'm more of a .... "sure, that looks like 1 tsp." and he's more into getting the spoon out, leveling it with a knife to make sure its exact. Ok, he's not that precise but he's much more structured about it than I! Last week he decided he wanted to try something from the Cooking Light cookbook we have. He made a stuffed peppers recipe. It wasn't as dry as the picture looks, at all!

Also, while it was baking in the oven, all of our peppers slid to their sides... but the flavor was there, it was delicious!

While we were waiting for the peppers to cook, it sparked the conversation, how exactly do you attack this once it's time to eat? Do you immediately break down the pepper and have a little with each bite? Or treat it as a bowl and only eat the insides? Well we did both. I dissected it (I love bell peppers) and Josh was happy to just scoop it out. Either way it's a definite do-over in our book!

Through Their Eyes

Last Friday, we were driving home from picking up the girls. We take PCH home... gonna sit in traffic, it may as well be a pretty view! We had the windows down, the iPod blaring... not too bad eh! I was singing along to some song, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. We were at a stand still, so I began looking around. My eyes caught Kali in the rear view mirror. She was watching me, quite curiously. It was such a familiar gaze, it immediately sent me into my own world of memories.

I remember being Kali's age and watching my parents with that same curiosity. What is it like to be a grown up? It wasn't so much an "I can't wait to be older" feeling, but looking back, it's more the comfort I felt by it. I can close my eyes and picture Dad is his old Ford pick up, one arm over the back of the seats, one casually steering the car... and either a classic rock radio station playing quietly in the background, or classical music... I guess it depended on his mood. I've begged my Dad to quit smoking ever since I found out it was bad for you, but I will admit that the sweet smell of the old smoke that is forever stuck in the upholstery of his truck is a reassuring scent to me.

I could easily write a list of the mundane habits of day to day things my Dad has.. even now that I haven't lived at home in 6 years, I'd bet he still goes about his daily tasks the same way. There is a level of familiarity to it that creates that wonderful contentment of being "home". To this day, I always sleep better when I'm in the same house as my Dad... sure it's limited to family vacations now a days, but when I'm drifting off to sleep and can hear Dad shuffling his feet in his slippers, filling up the coffee pot for tomorrow, muttering to the dog, and the TV humming quietly in the background, it's a guarantee for a great night's sleep.

Snapping back into the flow of traffic on PCH, I began to wonder how this same dynamic played out between the girls, and Josh & I. Is Kali watching my fingers drum to the beat, and later in life thinking back on all the times we drove on PCH with the wind in our hair, singing our favorite songs? While they lay in bed at night, does hearing Josh laugh at TV shows, and mutter to Rufus as we go to bed give them the reassurance that all is well in the world? It's kind of neat and scary all at once.