Why I Love Mike

Mike is really good at making me laugh, and he even laughs at my stupid jokes (and believe me, most of them are stupid!).

Here's a little snippet from last night's conversation:

Me: I need a punkin'!

Mike: (Looks at me with puppy-dog eyes and a big smile on his face) You've already got a punkin' right here!

Me: Well, can I paint you orange, put a light bulb in your mouth, and stick you on the porch tomorrow night then?

Both: *giggles*

Food for Thought

With election day fast approaching, I thought this was a great, albeit simple, explanation of Obama's tax plan.

Being Pregnant Vol. 2

I'm almost halfway through my pregnancy, so I thought a "Being Pregnant" update was in order. I'll start with reviewing the things I touched on last time, and hopefully have a couple more to add.

1. Morning Sickness
Gone! No more queasy afternoons for me. Although there are some strong smells that will send me reeling.

2. Fatigue
I'm doing much better with this one. I can actually make it more than halfway through a movie again! Most of my fatigue is coming from sleep issues these days (more on that later).

3 & 4. Cravings and Aversions
Still no weird cravings (although there are some things I eat that Mike has always thought were weird - like dipping French fries in tartar sauce mixed with ketchup. What? It's good, I swear!). My aversions are all but gone, except for tomato sauce (which I guess is actually a new one). It's not that I can't eat tomato sauce, but there is a frozen lasagna that my dad microwaves for lunch every so often, and for some reason the smell of it just makes me gag.

5. Pregnancy-Induced Stupidity/Forgetfulness
This one is only getting worse. Examples: I have trouble typing sometimes. This morning, I needed to turn on my rear window defroster, and sat staring at my emergency flasher button with my finger extended going, "Wait, what am I looking for? That's not it."

6. Boobs
No longer hurt, and really haven't gotten any bigger... yet.

7. Sex (Ben, or any family for that matter, again, skip this section... for real this time.)
Let's just say I haven't been waking Mike up in the middle of the day when he's sleeping for night shift any more, but things aren't bad either :)

8. Sleep
Sucks. Most of the time. Tylenol PM is my savior. I still absolutely hate sleeping on my side, and since I'm almost 20 weeks, I really shouldn't be sleeping on my back at all. I really wish I had listened to all the things I read that said, "If you are not a side sleeper, start training yourself as early as possible. It will only get harder later on." Yeah. True.

9. Child-Bearing Hips
I seriously thought I had a pretty good set of hips for this whole child-bearing thing, but apparently not. I have had a dull pain in my lower back/pelvis for the past week and a half or so, and every so often I get a jabbing pain in my hips (think ice pick straight into bone). The latter of the two is especially disconcerting when it happens in the middle of the night after I have finally managed to fall asleep on my side.

10. Pregnancy in General
I've got to say, being pregnant is not easy. It is physically and emotionally challenging, and although my pregnancy has been relatively "easy," I have had some ups and downs. I see women with 5 or more kids and catch myself thinking, "Why would you do that to yourself!?" Don't get me wrong though, there are some wonderful things about it, too - hearing his heartbeat for the first time, seeing his little face during an ultrasound, feeling him move for the first time, thinking about what he will look like and who he will take after. As with most things, you've got to take the bad with the good.

To answer some of the most frequently asked questions: I'm feeling great now (except for that hip and lower back pain), we're having a boy, we haven't picked out a name yet - although we were getting quite a laugh last night from some of the lists in Meghan's books last night, and I'm just barely starting to show - if you didn't know I was pregnant, you'd probably just think I'm getting myself ready for winter.

I'll officially be at the half way point one week from today, and I can hardly believe it. It feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago that I wandered out of the bathroom with that ept in my hand and tears in my eyes. If it didn't seem real then, it certainly does now.

Oh Boy!

Well, it's official (OK, 95% official - the ultrasound tech said she never gives 100%s) we're having a boy! Mike was unable to come with me to my ultrasound appointment, so when I was finally able to tell him the news at his lunch break, he seemed genuinely surprised - he was absolutely convinced we were having a girl. Since about two weeks into my pregnancy, I have been convinced it was a boy, so of course I had to offer up a light-hearted "I told you so!"

Here's our little man!

Neighborhood Watch

Our neighborhood is on the lookout for a salty bunch of Obama-supporting liberals. Said bunch decided that it would be a good idea to canvas Morro Bay (the north end, at least - I haven't yet had time to investigate the town further) and swipe McCain-Palin and Yes on Prop 8 yard signs. One of our neighbors happens to have a security camera in his front window (due to some previous run-ins with another neighbor who we all wish would either clean up his act or leave - but I digress) and he caught the perps on video.

Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for suspicious VW vans and hybrid vehicles sporting Obama stickers. In the mean time, to those who stole the signs: Grow up! Your socialist democratic nominee is not going to save the world.

Way to Go!

As a business owner, I do my best not to discuss my customers in a public forum (such as this), however, I have one customer in particular who I'd like to highlight.

This particular customer owns a frozen yogurt store in a busy shopping center. There is a pan-handler that hangs out in front of his store, and he has had customers express to him that they are often uncomfortable coming into his store because of this man. He has done everything he can think of, including offering the man a job, to get him out of in front of the store.

Now here's the kicker: This man is not homeless. Every day, he shows up with his cardboard sign in clean clothes. He has refused the offer of a job. He drives a Dodge truck. He has a wife and daughter that have been seen coming out of the grocery store in the plaza with a cart full of groceries which they load up into their car and drive away. People have even heard the little girl ask her mom while standing in a nearby sandwich shop (where people who have been sympathetic to their "plight" purchase food credits so they can eat) "Can we go home now?" This is clearly a scam.

So, our customer decided to fight back. He had us make him two large sign faces to put on a sandwich board that outline the details of this man's scam. I say, way to go! I am tired of seeing "homeless" people on freeway off ramps in clean clothes, holding cardboard signs asking for money while they are sending text messages on their cel phones! Yes, that actually happened. We can't wait to hear how it all turns out.

A Sad Day, Indeed

I came across this blog post today, and I was very sad to discover that Mother's Cookies has closed its doors. No more pink and white circus animal cookies, no more crunchy frosted oatmeal cookies, no more bite-sized variety bags or soft taffy sandwich cookies.

Screw the banks and Wall Street, this is who the government should have offered a bail-out to! It is the end of an era, and I am sorry that I will not be able to share these treats, especially the pink and white circus animals, with my children.