Christmas Confession

The first year we were married, we bought a roll of wrapping paper and wrapped everything in it. The pile of presents made me sad. It was all so homogenous. So boring. So plain. My grandma would buy several rolls of Christmas paper every time one of the grandkids was selling wrapping paper for school. She liked to use them all, so her presents were always in tons of different papers. My mom likes to use gift bags for all presents and since every gift bag is different the presents under our tree were never homogenous. It’s just not Christmas until there are tons of colors under the tree.

I’ve been saving wrapping paper for years. I hate waste. How can you just throw away a piece of wrapping paper that obviously can be used again? Especially big pieces. But, to get them home, I folded the paper and I always ended up with creased pieces that weren’t very usable. I couldn’t bear to throw them away, but I never used them. One day this January, I think, I was watching Friends and they made a joke about Monica ironing wrapping paper. They were obviously trying to say only a neurotic crazy-person would iron wrapping paper, but I watched it and thought “I could IRON it!! That’s how I’ll use all my wrapping paper!!” The next day I got out the ironing board and went to town. I discovered if you iron the backside of the paper, you can get the stickiness of a gift tag on the other side to loosen so the tag can be removed. I took an empty wrapping paper roll (I have a hard time throwing those away, too) and wrapped all the used paper around it. The sheets were almost like new!

This year we used the paper I’ve saved over many years to wrap many of our presents and as the presents piled up under the tree I kept getting happier. I’ve often sat next to the tree and counted how many different wrapping papers we’ve got under it. I believe the last count was 13. We only have rolls of three of those papers. Plus, there are several gift bags and a few Christmas-patterned boxes. It’s just so PRETTY and HAPPY with all the different wrapping papers!!

I know by now you probably think I’m insane, but please don’t hold it against me. I promise you I don’t need to be signed up for Hoarders just because I save wrapping paper.

P.S. Those are temporary stockings. We’re planning on buying some sort of fancy matching stockings for all four of us next year, when we know the new baby’s name. For now, we use cheapo ones.

Surprise! A good day!

I’m starting to feel almost human, again. When the morning sickness was at its worst, I thought I’d never make it to 18 weeks. With Meg (and I’m assuming with this baby, too) the nausea didn’t completely go away until week 18. BUT! Each time I turned a corner right around 12-13 weeks. I feel so much better than I did a few weeks ago, the fact I’m still nauseous almost doesn’t matter. (I’ll probably feel this way for a few days then go back to whining).

So, if I ever get pregnant again, I want to tell myself: you just may have an actually good day BEFORE 18 weeks. Yesterday was wonderful. I felt nauseous, but it wasn’t as bad. I had an ultrasound and got to see my little cutie, who tested “normal” on the scan. I made bread in the breadmaker and my favorite soup. I ate a full dinner and didn’t once fear I’d throw it up. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I might just survive this pregnancy after all!

I'm in smartphone withdrawl

Given the number of time Meg as thrown things in the toilet and how much she loves to play with my phone, I found it very ironic that I dropped my phone in the toilet today, while on a business trip 150 miles away from her. My beloved HTC Incredible is most likely kaput.

I immediately took the phone apart and dried as much as I could. I borrowed a phone from a co-worker who also has Verizon and called customer service. I was hoping against hope that maybe customer service would be able to tell me how to dismantle my phone further to keep drying it out. Or maybe connect me to someone who could tell me how to dismantle it. But all he did was say “At least you have insurance!” and gave me the number to call to make a claim. When I asked if there was anything else I could do, he recommended putting it in rice. I had already thought of that, but did I mention I’m on a business trip? I DON’T HAVE RICE. I’m in such a Podunk town that the grocery store closes at SIX PM, a fact I found ridiculous in an ‘at least it doesn’t affect me’ way last week, but that I now find ridiculous in a ‘why, God, why’ way. Guess what time I get off work? SIX. I got the phone wet at 5:30. I couldn’t exactly just leave, because there was only one (company) car for me and my two co-workers.

Thankfully, my co-workers agreed to leave immediately. I dropped them at the hotel and went to the grocery store. Turns out, when the only grocery store in town closes at 6 pm, it’s very crowded at 5:45. I found the rice (which took forever, even though there were only five aisles) and got checked out. Right now my phone is sitting in an ice bucket full of rice and I’m praying it works in the morning.

P.S. One thing I love about Verizon is that you can text from their website. I texted my husband the hotel’s phone number so at least I can still say goodnight to Meg.


Updated:  After letting my phone sit in rice overnight, it started working again.  It seems to be OK, but sometimes randomly shuts down.  I can always turn it back on right away.  It seems to be a battery issue and Andrew said a co-worker of his had the same problem.  He got the phone wet and the phone ended up fine but the battery didn't work very well.  I might have to buy a new battery.

Always Finishing Things, update

Once I gave up on NaBloPoMo, I really gave up. I wrote this post (at work) last week and couldn’t even be bothered to turn the computer on (at home) to post it. So here it is!

Since I wrote about my inability to quit ANYTHING, including not being able to quit watching TV shows or return a book to the library without reading the whole thing, I’ve been working on it. I returned several books I just couldn’t get into. 5 of them. Before that, I’d only ever returned ONE book I hadn’t finished. I checked out new ones I’m pretty sure I’ll like. It was exciting (I know. Lame.)

I also started skipping the features and/or articles I don’t like in magazines. It especially helps with parenting magazines. Even though I’m having another baby, I have no interest in the articles about babies younger than Meg. I don’t want to read an article about babies’ verbal development (crying-babbling-nonsensical words-real words-sentences). So I didn’t! I read an entire magazine in like 20 minutes.

My TV shows are already pared down, compared to what I used to watch. Back when the season premieres started I decided to not watch Dancing With The Stars. I haven’t regretted it AT ALL. My husband and I were competitive ballroom dancers in college (it wasn’t as dorky as it sounds), so we’ve watched the show since its first season. Until this year, I’d never missed an episode. But for the last few seasons, I haven’t enjoyed watching it. I’d TiVo it and fast-forward through pretty much everything. It took me about 20 minutes to watch an hour and a half show. It feels so good to just not watch it anymore! Besides, if I really want to watch ballroom dancing, DWTS is NOT a good way to do it. I want to see professionals dance with professionals. Actually, maybe next season I should tape the results show just to see the pros…

Also, as sad as I am Law & Order got cancelled, it does make one less show I need to watch. I still have House, Law and Order: SVU, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, The Apprentice (which I haven’t watched it in a month. Is the show over now?), and Modern Family. Is that too many? All of them are on Hulu Plus and I usually watch one show a day during my lunch hour at work. Still, I’m seriously considering dropping Grey’s or Private Practice. If nothing else, so I can start watching other shows. I think I need more half hour comedies. Any suggestions?

Seven Quick Takes

1. When I asked Margaret if she wanted some turkey for lunch, she said “Gobble, gobble.” It was so adorable.

2. We went to MOPS this morning and after 10 minutes, the nursery worker brought Meg down and said “her nose was running too much.” They didn’t want her to get other kids sick. Seriously?? Its DECEMBER. What kid doesn’t have a cold? It’s not like she had the plague or something.

3. We went to Trader Joes. I couldn’t find the decaf chai. I don’t know if it’s because our Trader Joes is really small? There was only a small section of tea. They had some sort of herbal chai (naturally decaf), but I want decaf black tea with chai spice. Has anyone had that from TJ?

4. I was rather disappointed by the Candy Cane Joe-Joes. The filling was AMAZING, but the cookies were your basic generic chocolate sandwich cookies. I adore Oreos and have never found a generic that is anywhere close to the original. I refuse to eat chocolate sandwich cookies. I saw Peppermint Oreos in the store last week, but didn’t buy them. Maybe those will be better?

5. I bought the new Veggie Tales movie, It’s a Meaningful Life and I am very excited. I fell in love with Veggie Tales long before having kids and can’t wait until Meg is old enough to really watch them. She’s seen a few, but she doesn’t really ‘get’ TV yet. I am a little nervous though, because it’s a take on It’s a Wonderful Life, which I also love, and I just told you my feelings about knock-offs…

6. It turns out I’m not really a post-every-day kind of girl. There are some days (most notably workdays), when I just don’t have anything to say. Even with a writing prompt, I can’t get my mind going. If I can’t think of anything to write and want to go to bed at 8pm (which I generally do these days), I want to just go to bed. Now that I don’t HAVE to write, maybe I will be posting more than I thought.

7. Lauren, however, did an amazing job with NaBloPoMo. Not only did she post every day, but she wrote interesting things every day. She’s a rock star!

New Trader Joes

A Trader Joes opened in my town the weekend of the Blathering and I still haven’t been there. I have no interest in food or grocery stores at the moment. The list of things I’d like to try just keeps getting longer and longer, though (so far none of it is actual meal-type foods).

Not too long before the store opened I asked if anyone knew of good decaf chai. Elizabeth told me the Trader Joes brand decaf chai was really good. I mistakenly told her we weren’t getting a Trader Joes until next year. I was quite surprised (and happy) when I saw a press release the very next day telling me the store was opening the day after that. I must live under a rock or something. I’ve been wanting the decaf chai ever since, but not enough to actually go, I guess.

Then this week everyone started posting about holiday treats at Trader Joes and now I’m desperate to go get some. Somebody said Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s are like a mix between an Oreo and a Thin Mint and I am SO IN. They sound fantastic.

I also want to try Trader Joe’s Peppermint Bark, which Erik (Elizabeth’s husband) said was almost as good as Williams-Sonoma’s. I agree Williams-Sonoma’s peppermint bark is the best thing ever and sadly every year I make myself wait until after Christmas to buy it, because I’ll only buy it on clearance (that stuff is EXPENSIVE)!

Anyone have any real food recommendations for Trader Joes?  Or more sweet stuff, that's OK, too...

Oops

Well. NaBloPoMo was a big ol’ FAIL, wasn’t it? I missed one day (the 20th, I think) because all of our friends were over for a practice Thanksgiving and didn’t leave until 12:30 am. Since it was past midnight I decided even if I did backdate the post it wouldn’t REALLY count. Then the next day, I thought ‘well…I’ve ALREADY missed a day, what’s two?’ It just snowballed from there.

Basically, I have nothing to say. Things are rough. I don’t know if the nausea has been getting progressively worse or if the Unisom is losing its efficacy, but I feel worse every single day. At this point, I’ve given up and am just trying to ride it out. I sleep as much as I can, since it’s a nice break from worrying about throwing up. In the morning, I peel myself out of bed through sheer force and spend all day trying to work despite the fact I feel like death. I come home and choke down some dinner. After Meg goes to bed at 8, I generally throw up dinner then go to bed. Repeat, repeat, repeat. On workdays, I do nothing but work and sleep. It’s REALLY boring and I miss things like reading or spending time with my husband. I do a little of that on the weekends, though.

I know people don’t want to read about pregnancy nausea. Especially since I’ve already written about it too many times. So this is the last time I’m going to write about it, but since it’s pretty much all I think about, I don’t have anything else to say. For the next 8 weeks, I probably won’t write much (I’m 10 weeks now and with Meg the nausea went away at 18 weeks). See you in February!!