Best line ever

Yesterday, at my brother's house, we celebrated by having brunch.  My mom was talking about the sausage balls.  Aaron said, "Your mom just said, "Balls."  All of the siblings and spouses died out laughing.  Most of us we're sitting at the dining room table together with no kids.  I said, "I do believe that this is the kid's table."  Leave it to my husband to put a smile on our faces and to make us laugh.

How could I forget?

I forgot to mention one of my best gifts, a ticket from B to the Liz Phair concert on January 30th at Mercy Lounge. Word!  I also got some owl decals, which I'm not sure if I'm going to use in the nursery or take back, and a Target gift card.  Make that two Target gift cards, after the celebration with my family yesterday.

I was going to venture out and use the gift cards today, but I decided, due to the fact that I work the next two days and I'm already going out on Thursday, I'll wait until Thursday to use them.  I've already decided that, since I'll know the baby's sex on Thursday, I'd pick something up for him/her while I'm Target.  See, this works out much better. 

So, today, I'm lounging in my pjs, picking up the house, and putting our Christmas gifts in their new homes.  I'm still snotty, but I feel better than yesterday.  After my brother's house, I came home and fell asleep around 5:30 and slept until 8:30.  I must kick this illness before New Year's Eve or I probably won't make it until midnight.  That would be a tragedy. 

More later on the gifts I got from my Mom with pictures to boot!

Words for the New Year

    (Image from Everything Fabulous)

For the record

• I can now feel the baby move!  (B, hope you didn't just throw up in your mouth a little)  It started last Tuesday. Although, I did think I felt it around 15 weeks, but not again, so I was a tad bit worried.  Well, let me just say I usually don't start to feel it until around 9:00pm.  This baby totally has night and day confused.  That's going to be loads of fun when he/she is here.  I've been feeling it pretty much every day since.  Sometimes a lot and sometimes just a few times.  Pretty much exclusively late at night, except for last night around 7:30 when Aaron and I were watching White Christmas during one of the musical numbers.  Apparently, the child likes some music. 
• Speaking of music, Aaron bought me a Squeezebox for Christmas.  For those of you that don't know what a Squeezebox is, it's like a radio that plays different Internet and social network music.  Like, I can play the music on Facebook or on Pandora (Pandora being why I wanted it).  Ever since I experienced it at B and D's house, I have wanted one.
• I'm totally getting sick.  Ugh.  I was just bragging last Wednesday night at work that I haven't been sick, since November of last year.  Well, flash forward to my drive home that night and suddenly my throat was sore.  I'm going to try to fight it off, but I'm pretty sure my sinuses have already thrown in the towel.  Thanks for that, my friends.
• Ultrasound on Thursday.  Yes, we will find out the sex!  Woot!  This baby better cooperate.  I'm going to promise things like ponies, castles and candy, if he/she will just not be modest for one day.
• We're celebrating Christmas with my family tomorrow.  I cannot wait!  I've already had a pretty fantastic Christmas.  The family time and cuddling with Aaron has been amazing.  Not to mention that everyone must think I've been good this year because I've gotten way too many gifts.  Here are some of things that I've received so far:  the Squeezebox, Juno, a zombie video game (that I lost interest in after 30 minutes, but Aaron played for an hour), two new scarves, a Baby-G watch, a new hair dryer, my Kat Von D eyeliner, multiple sweet pea hand sanitizers, date night gift cards, one for Chiles/Macaroni Grill/Maggiano's and one for the movie theater, a meat thermometer that you put into the meat your cooking, but the base stays on the counter top, lots of lotion, felt flower brooches hand made by B, candy, cold hard cash that I used for the Portia De Rosi book and my Baby Bargains book (I still have $70+ left), a cute owl figurine/decor thingy, a new Christmas ornament, and more things that I can't think of right now.  Insane, right?  I still have tomorrow too.  
• I reached out to the Bio dad's mom, who really was the one that took care of me when I went to his house.  She's called me about a million times since and I still have not called her back, but I plan on it.  I didn't realize the bio dad lives with her, so he could answer the phone.  I did it for the baby though because I guess he/she has a right to know them.  I love my grandmother to death, so I should have reached out sooner, but it was complicated.  I'll leave it at that.  I have this bad feeling like, "What have I done?" 
• I get to drive home on slick roads. Yea!  Not.  I love snow when I'm at home and not having to drive home at 1:00am in the morning.  I love when people keep walking in saying, "Those roads are getting bad out there."

That's it and that's all for now.  I'll have something more interesting to say later, if you're lucky!

The most wonderful day of the year

That was actually yesterday when Aaron and I celebrated Christmas together.  I cooked a big meal, we opened gifts, and watched White Christmas.  It was perfection really.  I'm at work today.  Blah.  We've been slammed, but actually have become less slammed (we don't say slow in the ER or it comes back to bite us).

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you're Christmas was filled with love and was the best day of the year.  Now onto the New Year that holds nothing, but good things and happiness for us all.  I'm willing it that way. :)

One for the gratitude journal

After writing the last post, it made me start to think about about the man we saw outside of Target last weekend when my mom and I went Christmas shopping.  It was cold and raining.  He was standing out in the rain with no umbrella and a jacket, not a coat.  He held a sign that stated that he had been laid off from work, had a wife and two kids, and they had been evicted from their home.  He was selling Hersey's chocolate bars for whatever people would pay.

I learned from working downtown, that you can't always believe those signs or the people that are holding them.  It makes me sad that we live in a world where people would take money from other people based on a lie.  However, this man seemed different.  First of all, he had to be absolutely freezing.  It's almost wintertime, the temperature had drastically drop and it was raining.

I was driving and couldn't reach my purse, but my mom said that she had some cash to give him.  She rolled down her window and handed him a $5 bill.   She told him that he could keep his candy to sell to someone else.  Never have I witnessed such profound gratitude. He thanked her over and over and said that he hoped that it came back to her a 1,000 times.  He could not have been more appreciative. 

My mom and I both got teary-eyed as we drove away.  When I tried to tell Aaron the story later that night, I started to cry.  To be honest, I'm crying now.  Call it the hormones, but really I've always been a sucker for warm heart filled gestures and making/seeing people happy.  That $5 may as well have been $1,000 by the way he reacted.  The man was desperate enough to stand out in the freezing cold rain in a jacket with no hood and no umbrella to sell candy bars for his family. 

I've prayed for him and his family to be taken care of in this holiday season and new year.  I hope they are at least warm and that those kids have a winter coat, a roof, and food in their bellies.  Thinking about his situation, made me ashamed of my last post.  The post about wanting only necessities and having money to buy something I wouldn't ordinarily buy just because I have the money.   

As you can see, my momma is a really good person.  She instilled her values in me.  I've been told at work and other times that I have a really kind soul, how sweet I am, and how they can tell I actually care about people.  One of my coworkers said to me one day not too long ago, "Does your momma know what a good job she did with you?  I want you to tell her how great she did and that I said  so."  I did tell her and her face lit up.  It kind of made my day.  It's not about monetary things or huge things, it can be a smile to someone who's having a bad day or holding the door open for someone.  It doesn't take much to lift some one's spirits.

I've been told that when I smile, you can tell I really mean it.  Of course, I do!  Why would anyone smile at someone and not mean it?  I am so not fake.  Besides, I don't want that negative karma coming back at me. I completely believe that whatever energy you put out is what you are going to receive back.   

I try to live my life in a way that I can be proud of and hold my head up high.  In a way, that I hope my children will admire and follow after.  After all, I had an excellent role model that steered me in the right direction. And for that, I am forever grateful. 

All this cheddar and nothin' to buy

I got some money for Christmas from the O parents.  Do you know how sad it is for me that I can think of nothing really to buy for myself, besides some Itunes songs?  All I can think of are necessity things that I can buy myself, like maternity clothes, new scrubs, new bras and underwear or things for the baby/nursery.  Things that I would have bought with my own money.  How sad is that? 

I may buy some new black boots, but even that idea is just ho hum.  Last year, I had a list of things that I wanted.  I guess I'm truly turning into a mother now, necessities and things for the kids only.  Pretty soon, I'll be in Mom jeans and a sweatshirt with my hair in a ponytail with no makeup on. 

It makes me curious to see what other people bought for me, especially my mom and Aaron, since I really didn't tell them anything that I wanted, besides some Sephora Kat Von D eyeliner that I know I'm going to get from Aaron because I begged for it and complained about my current eyeliner until he asked me if I just wanted it now, which means he already bought it and because the little Sephora bag is peaking out from under his nightstand, but don't tell him I know, he hates ruining the surprise of presents.

Calling all crafters

Can I tell you how much I love waking up at 5:00 am to go to the bathroom, only to have the husband's alarm go off when I crawl back into the warm bed?  Now, maybe I could have gotten past those two things if my dang stomach would have stopped growling so loudly.  Did I mention that I worked last night? 

I did finally manage to fall back asleep after playing on my phone (reading blogs, emails, facebook, and craigslist) for three hours!  I totally killed my battery.  What did I do again before the iphone?  It definitely wasn't lay in a warm bed with the whole world of the internet at my fingertips.  That phone is like crack when you have nothing better to do.

Speaking of crack, most people who are in the Brentwood/Franklin area are smoking some crack with their prices of their furniture on Craigslist.  I'm sorry that you over paid for your furniture, but I'm not paying $600 for your used and not that impressive furniture. 

I did find something that caught my interest.  I've been scouring the internet looking for a rocker for the nursery.  Let me say, I want a rocker that looks like a regular chair with rockers on the bottom and not one of those gliders.  Think Pottery Barn, but I'm steering clear of their $1,000 price tag for one. 

I found this chair on Craigslist today. I like the size, though it may be too big, and style.  Surprisingly, it's in Brentwood and only $50. 

Now, you're probably wondering two things:  1.  Do I actually like that color?  and 2.  That chair doesn't rock, does it?  No and No.  I want to get it reupholstered, but I have no idea where to go or how much it's going to cost.  I need some advice.  As far as the rocking, my mom's boyfriend asked to speak to me the other day when I was talking to her on the phone, turns out, he had a fantastic idea.  He told me, since it's going to be hard for me to find a rocker that I actually like the fabric of that isn't $500+, he suggested that I find a chair that I like and he can add rockers to it, as long as the legs are attached in a way that they can come off easily.    He's a great woodsman/craftsman or whatever you want to call it.  He told me that the rockers would probably cost about $50 to make, depending on the wood I choose.  I'm telling you, he and my mom are all about this baby.  I'm thankful for his suggestion because I wouldn't have thought of that. 

Now, as far as, the reupholstering, has anyone ever had anything reupholstered or know of anyone that has used a local company to do it or even that has done it themselves?  Ask your friends and family (hide yo' kids and your wife...if you haven't seen this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54yESyq6Io, watch it now.  It's high-larious!) for me, please.  I realize it's probably at least $200, not counting the fabric.  If anyone wants to learn how to reupholster and help me, let me know too!

Token pregnant blogger post

 -  This heartburn/reflux is ridiculous.  Seriously.  I've heard it's only going to get worse.  Thank goodness, I can take Tums.  Otherwise, I'm sure my esophagus would already be eroded by now.  I can no longer drink soda or hot tea.  They are by far the worst at producing burning results on my poor throat and chest.  Hmm, maybe it's your body's way of making sure you don't ingest any caffeine.

-  I want this stroller so badly.  Too bad it's the price of our house payment.  The PA that is also pregnant at work bought the more expensive stroller in this brand.  Who knew I could get so jealous over a stroller!

-  I'm having really vivid dreams.  I wouldn't say that they are all nightmares, but they aren't laid back ones either.  The one where the baby was born premature at a pound and 6 ounces and the doctor's just stood there while her lips were turning blue and I started yelling at them to do something and then finally jumped up and started CPR on my own child.  Yeah, that one wasn't a good one.  I bolted awake and when I fell back asleep, I went right back into the dream, only this time the doctors said they had to keep the baby underwater in the ocean in a type of pod to keep her alive.  Most of my friends were there helping us out at the beach.  By the way, Beaz you feel in love (or like) with my ex-boyfriend, who was also there helping us.  See, completely bizarre.  Last night I dreamed I was not married, but instead pregnant by a guy who I had only known about 4 months or so.  We were living with two of his best friends.  It turned out that all three were criminals.  I was trying to explain to the cops that yes I was pregnant with his child and living with these guys, but I had no idea that they were criminals. They left me high and dry too.  Though, the baby daddy did call and apologize to me.  I ended up finding them and running from the cops with them.  We held some girl up by gun point and made her ride with us. I don't remember why now.  Oh yeah, in the dream, I propositioned the baby daddy's best friend to sleep with me. You all know I'm such a slut and all.  He told me that he would love too, but that he knew that I would regret it later.  Um, what guys says that?  Apparently, the gender roles were reversed in that dream, fo' sure.  I wonder what tonight will hold for me?

-  Last time I checked I was up 6 pounds.  I haven't weighed again, since Thursday.  I know, I've gained more.  I'm afraid to look.  My stomach came out of no where in the last two days.  Granted, I still don't look pregnant really, but the belly pooch is much more noticeable now.  It looks like I've been enjoying the holidays a little too much!  I think it's probably because I'm enjoying milk a little too much.

-  We're, hopefully, going to find out the sex of the baby on December 30.  I am so excited.  No, I don't have a feeling either way.  People keep asking me that like I'm supposed to know.  I don't have a clue.  The only thing that I have is that the baby is always a girl in my dreams.  I'm sorry to my son, if "she" turns out to be a boy. 

-  I feel much better than in the beginning.  My energy has returned.  I'm able to stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 without a problem, which is great, since that is my work schedule and all.  Speaking of that, I'm totally dreading returning to that schedule when I get back from maternity leave.  I won't see the baby or Aaron at all on days I work, unless I have to get up and feed the baby early, which I probably will.

-  I still haven't felt the baby move yet.  Though, I do think I did about a week ago, but that was the only time.  I'm hoping that I start to feel it soon. 

Now, on to 17 weeks on Thursday!  Time is really flying by. 

A puzzle smack down

Oh yeah, Saturday night we went to Aaron's boss's party.  They always do a dirty santa, where they supply all the gifts.  I scored yet again this year because I came home with two different serving pieces and last year I did the same.  Aaron sacrificed for me, two years in row. 

The highlight of the evening was not the dirty santa game, it was the big gift giveaway, which was a tool bag, which costs $130 alone, filled with hundreds of dollars worth of tools.  Aaron told me that he really wanted it and that whatever we had to do to get it, he wanted us to do it.  No pressure, right?  Well, finally they explained what we all had to do.  We had to work a 100 piece puzzle in teams of two, which worked out because just about everyone arrived with their wives or girlfriends. 

Well, let me just tell you guys, we won!  We worked a Sponge Bob puzzle so fast.  We came from behind too.  There was another couple there and they were ahead of us, but they didn't use our strategy.  I told Aaron that I would build the edges, if he would start building the main characters in the puzzle, Spongebob and Gary.  It turns out, that was the way to do it, because when I finished the border and he had what he had done, we were over halfway finished and then just worked to fill in the gaps.  We were both shaking by the end because we knew it was close.  It was exhilarating to win too!  Everyone needs a little dose of competition every now and again.

I think I have the happiest man alive right now.  An Xbox, his bag full of tools, and a baby on the way, it's been a pretty great Christmas for him already and it's not even Christmas yet!

A mini adventure!

Aaron and I braved the snow tonight.  It wasn't the snow that made it such an adventure, it was the other drivers.  Oh my goodness, we almost wrecked twice because two different people pulled out in front of us, so that we had to swerve out of the way.  It was ridiculous!  People had lost their minds out there.  Not to mention, our neighborhood, the one full of hills, had people stopped all over the place in the center of the lane with their flashers on.  Who does that!?  All because they couldn't, or should I say, didn't try to make it up the hills.  It took us an hour to get to Providence.  Seriously.  We did turn around and come home to get my car.  His truck wasn't such a good idea.  Plus, the back way we took to Providence was blocked by cop cars, so we had to turn all the way around and go the main road way. 

After making it out of our neighborhood and into Mt. Juliet, we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some tape, so that I can finish wrapping gifts, and to pick up one of Aaron's gift from me.  I went ahead and told him what I planned on getting him because I wanted to make sure that I was making  a good purchase.  Needless to say, not at that Wal-Mart because they were sold out, but at the other Wal-Mart across town, I bought him a Xbox 360.  I was dead set against this in the beginning because we have a Play Station 3 and a baby on the way, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized, that we aren't going to be able to get everything we want when the baby gets here, so this is his last big gift for a little while.  Plus, I want this to be a special Christmas, since it's the last time, it'll just be the two of us.  Yes, I know, presents don't make Christmas special.  I don't need a Christmas lecture.  Giving does make it special and I gave him what he really, really wanted (a baby and an Xbox :) ).  He's so excited.  He's setting it up now.  He's not one of those guys that plays all the time though and for that I'm grateful. 

Oh and just so you guys can think that I've completely lost my mind, I asked him to get me a video game for the Play Station 3.  I was actually going to buy it for him, but I kept talking about it.  It's in my stocking now.  It has zombies!  Yes!  I know, you guys are shaking your heads in shame now.

Speaking of zombies and zombie lands, I loved being out tonight.  The later we were out, the less people were out. It was just us and the salt trucks driving in the white snow.  I would love for it to be like that all the time.  It was so peaceful and everything looked so serene. 

We went to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie.  I also loved being one of five people in the theater watching it.  Snow is great time to catch a new movie.  I can't wait to read that series to my kids.  We have the Ordonez family set from when they were kids and the O mom read it to them. 

Tonight was perfect.  We laughed, cuddled, and enjoyed each other's company.  I'm going to savor every night that we have left like tonight.  Speaking of which, on Christmas Eve, we plan on it just being the two of us.  I'm roasting a chicken, making mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted carrots and parsnips, rolls and an apple pie.  We're going to feast and then watch White Christmas (and maybe The Polar Express), play Scrabble, drink hot chocolate and open our Christmas gifts.  It will probably be the best night of the year.  It's definitely something I've been looking forward to for a while.  Have I mentioned lately, how much I love my husband? 

A little of this, a little of that

The O parents are no longer in the building.  Let me say that I love them dearly and I'm so glad that we got to see them.  With that being said, Aaron's mom rearranged my spice cabinet and combined things, not to mention insulted my dish at Thanksgiving.  I have to now rearrange the spices back to the logical order that I had them in, not her logical order, which is just confusing to me.  I would never touch some one's cabinets without asking them.  I told Aaron that this better not happen when she comes in to help with the baby.

Thanksgiving was otherwise very good.  Audra made some great sweet potatoes and Amara used a recipe out of one of my cookbooks for squash casserole.  It was so good!  It kind of soured my mood at Aaron's family after the comment, but at least Aaron and I got to come home alone that night.  That made up for it. 

My family's dinner was great.  My mom's boyfriend brined and fried a turkey.  I had never had one before, but it was delicious!  I didn't like the fried skin, but the meat was so tender. I love my mom's dressing too.  I look forward to it every year.  It's typical southern cornbread dressing.  Oh yeah, my sister informed us that she is pregnant too.  I think it's awesome that we can be pregnant at the same time and that our babies will be practically the same age.  I just hope it all works out.  She doesn't go to the doctor until the end of December, but as of right now, we believe that she is around 7 weeks, which means she'll be due in July.  I somehow managed to go through this holiday time without a single picture.  I need to use my camera soon.  I need some pics on this blog.

We celebrated Aaron's birthday on his birthday.  Of course, he requested his mom make enchiladas.  Well, she finally showed me how to make them!  I'm going to try my hardest to get them the same if not better.  Aaron also requested that I make him strawberry shortcake and eggplant ratatouille.  I made the shortcake on his birthday.  I made ratatouille on Monday and we ate it on Wednesday.  It's so much better on the second or third day.  It was delicious!
We started putting up the Christmas decorations.  Aaron and I are going to finish the tree today, hopefully.  I love being in the house with glowing Christmas lights everywhere.  I absolutely love Christmas time.  I love the decorations, the spirit of it, giving gifts, and, of course, the food.  I kind of dread finishing my Christmas shopping.  Usually I'm excited about it, but I think I have to many gifts left to buy.  I'm usually almost done by this point.  It's overwhelming, knowing that I only have today and next Saturday and Sunday.  Oh, and whatever days in the week I have off.  I have to work the last three Saturdays of December/January.

In other news, I'm still up 5.5 pounds.  According to one of my many pregnancy websites, it said that I've probably gained 5 pounds by week 15, so being only 0.5 pound more than that makes me feel good.  My belly defiantly has a pooch, but I think my boobs are way more noticeable.  I haven't noticed anywhere else growing yet.  I hope it stays that way at least for a little while!  I go to my doctor on Monday. Finally, I get to see her.  I know she'll be happy for me.  I'm going to try to get her to schedule the next ultrasound for the end of December.  My insurance changes in January.  It is not in favor of the pregnant woman.  I thought working for a hospital that I would have great benefits.  Well, my benefits with the state and with the American Heart Association were way better than these. Can nurses get any love, fo' reals?

I'm wrapping Christmas gifts right now.  Aaron got called into work today.  Boo.  I hate that when I'm finally off after two days, where I only see him sleeping, he has to go into work.  We're supposed to go to a Christmas party tonight, but now, we may not be going.  It all depends on when he gets off and if he feels like going.  I was looking forward to it too.  A nice cozy night at home decorating the Christmas tree sounds good too.

Oh, I watched Eat, Pray, Love the other night.  It was excellent.  You should see it, if you haven't.  So random, and there you have it.

Happiness in November

November was another busy month, but any time near the holidays is busy.  The busyness brought with it lots of smiles and good times.  Here's some of the things that made November so great.

*  celebrating Mr. O's birthday  *

*  homemade enchiladas and learning the recipe..finally *

*  putting up Christmas decorations  *

*  nighttime farmer's market events with friends  *
*  Suzy Wong's House of Yum  *

*  pumpkin butter  *

*  Thanksgiving and having a lot to be thankful for  *

*  being loud in coffee shops full of quiet people  *

*  spending quality time with the fams (both sides)  *

*  finding out my sister is pregnant too  *

*  phone chats with my bro while we're both making dinner  *

*  family pics and lunch out with the fam  *

*  movie nights with the nieces and nephew  *.

*  Toy Story 3  *

*  celebrating good friend's birthdays  *

*  checking people off my Christmas list  *

*  sleeping until 11:00 a.m.  *

*  outing ourselves out on Facebook and getting such wonderful comments  *

* lunch with THE one and only beaz  *

*  dancing in the shower to pop music  *
* lunch with my some of my lovely coworkers  *

*  seeing the baby moving, swallowing, and being stubborn via an ultrasound  *

*  having that ultrasound come back normal  *

* my mom's cornbread dressing  *

*  seeing the O parents  *

*  My brother asking, "Who's the daddy?" in front of my sister's boyfriend when she told him she was pregnant.  He is one funny dude  *

*  getting my brother the perfect Christmas gift  *

*  The Walking Dead  *

*  not getting the stomach virus that is rapidly taken over Hendersonville and the ER  *
*  popcorn and movie nights with Mr. O  *
*  chocolate and regular milk, I seriously can't get enough  *
*  lunch and shopping with Marcia  *
*  receiving The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a gift for Baby O  *
* surviving a hellish night in the ER without a tear shed  *
*  having my niece say, "There's a little girl in there."  We'll see if she's right  *
*  five days off of work  *
* pleasure plans (I'm not elaborating on this one)  :)  *
*  finding a babysitter/daycare in our neighborhood..hopefully, it turns out to be great  *

Lots of goodness happened in November.  I'm sure December will bring much of the same.

Hey, Santa!

Can you believe Christmas is around the corner?  I'm so far behind on Christmas shopping.  That's my next priority after Aaron's parents visit.  I can't wait to put up our tree, which will probably be while his parents are still here.

On Thursday, I did go shopping for Aaron's and his sister's birthday gifts and I ended up buying most of Aaron's Christmas gifts.  He is so picky, but I somehow lucked out.  Thank you, T.J. Maxx and Sears! 

He hasn't read my blog in months, so hopefully he doesn't now.  I ended up getting him a tape measure (don't worry he asked for it), a shirt and zip up gray DKNY sweater for his birthday.  And for Christmas, I got him a really awesome plaid backpack that he can use as a diaper bag, a pair of flannel pajama pants, a pedicure kit that's more manly less girly, a green Columbia hoodie (I showed him this.  He wanted a different kind), and a wool hat, which he's been wearing a lot of to work.   It seems like I'm forgetting one thing.  Oh well, you get the idea.

I still need to get some stocking things, but I'm almost done!  He's usually one of my hardest.  I think he'll be pretty pleased with my selections too.  I'm sure he'll take something back, but I'm used to that.  Now, I just have to get presents for everyone else.

Here's what's on my Santa Wishlist:

Portia De Rossi's new book

Kat Von D liquid eyeliner in Turbo Lover

ITunes gift cards

(I need to make a labor playlist and downlaod new music for my ipod!)

Jeggings from Old Navy

(or any comfortable leggings for my expanding waist)



Cookbook holder.  I know, like I really need that!  I saw one on Franklin square last year and I have not stopped thinking about it.  It had a bird on it too, but wasn't exactly like this one.



New bras.  I'm going to have to get new ones soon.  I have no choice. 


New scrub tops. I'm going to need some of them too for the above reason. Bottoms are still doing well so far.  Aaron's mom gave me money for one set of maternity scrubs.  I'm trying to hold off for now.

A new scarf.  I think I want gray...at least I do today.

 

Black boots.  I really like these. 

New sleep pants.  Aaron made me go through my pajamas.  Now I don't have enough pants!  Well, I have quite a few, but not nice warm winter ones.

I'm debating about holding off on getting this.  The new version should come out next year, but it may be too late for Baby O's arrival

 I need this letter, if this baby is a Nola. :)

Not pictured items:

 - My collage finished.  Yes, I need Mr. O (or Santa!) to get busy!

- Someone to finish my Christmas shopping or go with me!

- a painted guest bath, kitchen, and bonus room

Giving thanks

I am thankful for so many things this year.  A list of some of them seemed appropriate for this time of year.

• This baby that we have waited so long for.  Everything is going splendidly at this time.  The 12 week ultrasound showed no abnormalities.  Everything looked perfectly normal.  Seeing him or her swallowing, moving, and kicked back relaxing has been the highlight of this month.  I cannot wait until May!  Wait, I can't wait until the first week of January when we get to find out the sex either.
• A pregnancy that, so far, as been void of sickness.  I am so grateful for not being nauseous.  I was so afraid that I would be, since I get car sick and queasy so easily.  I hope the second time goes this smoothly!
• A job that I love and enjoy going to, just about every day.  Now, after the rough Monday I had (more on that later), I really dreaded coming in today.  When I got here, my first two patients got admitted, one to surgery and one to the floor.  I was seriously on the verge of tears, but I sucked it up and changed my outlook and things started to improve almost instantly.  I really do love it.  Not only the job, but the people are fantastic.  I think some of them are just as excited as I am that I'm pregnant.  It really feels like a family here, instead of just coworkers.
• A husband that is the peanut butter to my jelly.  I love him so much.  He makes me feel loved, appreciated, smart, beautiful, and happy.  You guys already know that because I blab about him all the time.
• My health.  Seriously, with as many sick people that I am around, I am so grateful that I have not been sick.  I figured that with working at an ER, which I've been told, I would be sick all the time.  I haven't really gotten any sicknesses from patients.  In fact, I believe the last time I was sick was last November.  I better knock on some wood.  I have a pretty strong immune system.  I like to think that it's because I eat pretty healthy on most occasions.  Down with the sickness.
• Great friends.  Seriously.  I have some of the best friends that a girl can have.  They (you guys) bring so much happiness and laughter into my life.
• My family.  I love them so.  Aaron's family too.  It's pretty amazing when you find an amazing husband who has an amazing family. 
• My house.  I complain about it all the time, but I really do love it.  There will be changes to come to make me love it even more.  Who isn't grateful for having a roof over their head?  Especially, a place that feels like home and that you miss when you are away from it.
• Income.  In these economic times, I am so thankful that Aaron and I both have jobs and have a steady income.  We've dealt with a layoff before and it is no fun.  I feel sorry for the people that are out there looking for jobs to help support their families, but can't find them. 

My life is pretty amazing right now.  I have no complaints.  I could list a million things, but I'll spare you.

Tick tock

So, the clock is ticking and let me tell you what we have left to do before Aaron's parents come into town:

- paint the bathroom (yes, we decided to paint the bathroom)

-rehang the shower curtain rod (a house guest pulled it out of the wall..yeah, really)

-fix the leak in the guest bathroom/replace faucet

-finish cleaning the bathroom (lets just say I spent over an hour cleaning base boards..I don't want to talk about it.  It makes me so angry.  You should keep on an eye on things whenever you aren't using them, if you own them and will be responsible for them later.)

-change the guest sheets, dust and vacuum the room

-vacuum the stairs

-basically vacuum and dust the whole house

-mop

-clean the half bathroom

-clean out the refrigerator (I just did this about a month ago, but something got spilled on the second shelf)

-make sure the microwave is in perfect clean condition (it's my mother-in-law's pet peeve)

-make sure the washer and dryer aren't dusty, since they might use them.

-wash the kitchen cabinets

-let's not even mention the mess that is our room and our bathroom, which will get neglected to finish everything else.

See, we have a lot to do!  They get here in two days and I work the next two days.  I'm at work right now too.  I left my husband at home today and he informed me that he didn't get much done.  I'm trying really hard not to stress out.

Now, our house isn't as messy or dirty as it seems from this list.  It's just my mother-in-law is a perfectionist.  I basically "spring clean" the entire house when they come into town. 

I had Friday off and I can't think of what I did for most of the day, besides the cleaning the bathroom and baseboards and picking up any clutter.  I should have done more and we would not be where we are right now, which is way behind.  My only hope is that they come in late Monday night and I can do somethings before work and Aaron can do some things after work.

Does anyone want to come clean my house or better yet, anyone know any cleaning fairies or magic genies? 
Desperate times call for desperate measures!

We're outed...

..on Facebook.  Of course, we did it to ourselves.  We are just so stinking excited!  I feel much better now that we are almost into the second trimester.  One more week and a few days and I'll be in the 2nd trimester, otherwise known as the safety zone.  I still know that anything can happen, but it puts my mind at ease a little.

We had the big "first" ultrasound yesterday.  Of course, it wasn't our first.  In true Ordonez style, it took one hour for the baby to position itself so that the lady doing the ultrasound could get the shots she needed to see any signs of Down Syndrome or other abnormalities.  One hour, people!  All the baby wanted to do was kick back, legs crossed and up and hands behind his/her head.  It was cracking us up.  I told Aaron that the baby was already taking after him.  Meanwhile, my bladder was filling and I was extremely uncomfortable.  Thanks, baby! He/She is already testing me.

Everything looked great to me.  Of course, I'm no expert on ultrasounds, but you better believe I looked up what abnormal ultrasounds look like, so that I would know when I saw it.  They basically look at the nuchal folds behind the baby's neck and at the nasal bones.  Down Syndrome babies don't have nasal bones or at least not the correct nasal bones and they have larger nuchal folds.  Both of those things checked out on Baby O! 

Now, how am I going to hold out for 7 more weeks to find out the sex? It's driving me crazy. I don't know how people wait to find out.  There are so many things to plan for where you need to know that little piece of information.  Plus, I can't wait to stop saying it or he/she.

Okay, off to get ready for work.  Blah.  This is going to be a very busy week starting on Thursday.  The O parents are coming into town next week for Thanksgiving and they are staying with us.  They also informed us that they will be coming earlier than anticipated, like as in Monday of next week, instead of Wednesday.  It's too bad that I took off Tuesday to clean.  Now, I have to clean on Thursday and Friday of this week, since they are the only days off I have before they get here.  My lack of energy has left this house less than clean, so I have my work cut out for me.  My energy has started making a comeback and I feel great, so I think I can handle it.

Words of wisdom

I read on a couple of other blog entries recently that were letters that they wrote to their 16 year old self.  There are so many things that I would like to go back and tell my 16 year-old self.  I thought, "Why not?" and decided to do it myself.  So, here are my words of wisdom.


Let me start by saying that you are not invincible.  You will do some incredibly stupid things in the coming years.  I know, it's what teenagers do and lucky for you, you will come out unscathed, but you will be incredibly lucky that you do not end up as one of the missing girls on flyers at Wal-Mart.  You need to not trust every cute boy or interesting older person you meet.  They do not all deserve your trust.  Do not follow them or worse yet, ride with them to their house or some unknown destination, where you have no idea where you are.

I get it, you want to have fun.  Who doesn't want to have fun?  Fun sometimes comes at some other expense.  You will learn that later in life.  What you need to do is hold on to your family tight.  Go on the last few family trips.  Don't stay home in order to have your friends come over.  You can see your friends any time.  Choose your family.  You'll find out later how much your mom and siblings missed you because you locked yourself in your room and spent every waking second that you weren't at school or work with your friends, not to mention greeting them with a cold shoulder when you were home.  You're not even going to talk to most of those people after high school.  You will spend years over the guilt of not being with your family more and you will struggle trying to make up for lost time, especially after Dad dies.  He dies and you should know that.  The guilt will bring your knees and cause so many tears.  It's not your fault.  You think, nothing will ever happen to them, but it does.  Hug them more and tell them that you love them more.  They need you and more importantly, you need them more than you'll ever know.  Quit, being so damn independent.  You're only sixteen, for goodness sakes.

Yes, they aren't like you at all.  You've always felt different and like you didn't belong.  You want to grow and see and do so many things.  You feel like they hold you back.  You've known that for most of your 16 years.  They, on the other hand, are content with what they have and where they are.  That's not going to change.  It doesn't change the fact that they are the ones that would do absolutely anything for you and the people who love you the most.  Dad's death brings everyone closer.  You'll hold onto each other for dear life and truly appreciate what you have with each of them.  You'll pray that no one else gets taken from you too soon again.  Your mom and brother will be two of your closest friends.  You'll work on your sister.  You'll figure her out evidently.  She will act her age, just when you think it's a lost cause.  You'll feel like a weight has lifted off your shoulders and you will be grateful.  You know, you couldn't have helped carry her forever.

Okay, I promise, there are positive things you need to know, but first, one more thing, you have got to stop the obsession with your weight.  It's just truly began over the last four months.  Sure, you think you're only counting calories and it's not that big of a deal, but it's going to start to consume you.  It's going to drive you mad in the next five years.  It's going to go down to barely eating and exercising like crazy.  It will make you hate yourself like nothing else.  Look around you, you are skinnier than most people and most of your friends.  You are skinny already.  The most important thing is that you are healthy.  You won't be in the coming years.  You'll look sick.  You'll be far skinnier than you ever should be.  You can stop it all now.  Go eat pizza and ice cream like a normal teenager.   Who cares if you aren't perfect?  FYI, no one is perfect.  It's time you learned that.  People are going to stop telling you how great you look and start worrying about how skinny you are.  They will forever worry that you are relapsing years later if you drop a few pounds.  It will annoy you, but you, my dear, brought it on yourself.  You can stop it.  It hasn't started spinning out of control.  You have time.  You really do look fantastic.  What you see in the mirror isn't reality.  Look past it, look deeper.  See what the world sees.

You are amazingly smart.  Much smarter than you think you are.  You're not going to try that hard later in high school because you'll think, "What's the point?"  The point is that you can do anything that you want to do.  Don't doubt that.  You'll drop out of college and regret that later, but you'll go to nursing school and be one of the top students in your class.  You'll look back then and think of how amazing you were when you were young, in college, and staying out until all hours of the night and still pulling A's and the occasional B.  You were so smart and had no idea.  So, believe in yourself now.  Believe that you can do it.  You have no idea what you are capable of.  You could have been the doctor that you wanted to be.  It would have been hard work, but there is no doubt in my mind that you would have done it beautifully. 

You have so many things going for you.  Don't let the few bad things drag you down.  You are so kind and loving.  You deserve some of that love yourself.  Don't be so hard on yourself.  Love yourself like you love other people.  Want no pain or hurt, like you want for everyone else.  Take care of yourself, like you try to take care of everyone else.  There is nothing wrong with putting yourself before others.  That one will take years to learn.  Learn it now. 

You are funny and have a light that glows when you smile.  Don't lose that.  You are passionate and artistic and have so many things going for you.  Don't worry about what everyone else has or does.  Who cares?  You should be your top priority.  The world is so much bigger than you can even imagine.  Don't be in a hurry to see it and do it all.  Take it all in slowly.  Breathe and live in the moment.  Don't be thinking about what's next, because it'll come eventually.  Enjoy where you are and who you are.  Each little moment will lead you to who you are and if it goes by too quickly, you'll miss something important.

Oh, and by the way, you do live to be thirty. In fact, you're thirty-two.  I know, it's hard to imagine that because it's so old to you, but it is so much better than you could have imagined.  So much better, than 18 or 21 or 16.  It's the best age yet.  You're going to get married.  Yes, you who tires of boys so quickly and instead has crushes*, because you don't want to be controlled or tied down.  You, who yells at your dad, that you'll never get married and instead live with your boyfriend.  Oh, you'll get married and you'll know it within a couple months into dating him, that you would want nothing else than to have this boy tell you he loves you and to live happily ever surrounded by your kids.  Yes, you want kids too.  Crazy to you, I'm sure, since you want no kids and want the furthest thing from marriage.  Do you know what?  You are the happiest that you've ever been.  You husband truly sweeps you off your feet.  He is so kind, and loving, and one of the best things that has ever happened to you.  He helps pick up all the pieces.  The pieces that started falling down at 16.  This life is nothing like you imagined, but it so much more than you ever could have imagined.  You will be so blessed and happy and content and full of love.  You'll know in your heart, that life will just keep getting better.  Sure, they'll be the bumps in the road, but you can handle, you can handle anything. 

Love,
your older and wiser self

*One of the crushes you have is a douche bag.  You will have Speech and Drama with him next year and you will realize that you wasted two years of your life obsessing over him.  He is nothing like the perfect person that is in your mind.  He isn't even close to someone that you would date.  In fact, forget about the other crush too.  He'll get arrested for drug possession, later this year.  Oh, and the third crush will also be in your Speech and Drama class too.  You'll be over him in no time.  He'll ask Bridget out.  She'll go on one date with him and tell you how lame and boring it was and you'll be happy that you dodged that bullet too.  It might just be better to focus on studying.  You're choice in boys right now isn't so great.

Confessions of a pregnant 32 year old

• I have no energy, but I'll take that over nausea any day of the week.  I haven't been nauseous at all, not even one day.  FYI, there is a stomach virus going around.  Beware and wash your hands.  I'm praying I don't get it.  I saw three patients yesterday and those were just mine.  The ER was full of nausea and vomiting yesterday.
• My HCG levels went from 97 on Friday to 500 on Monday when we first found out.  We were scared that there would be two, but there is only one.  Though my sister swears there is one hiding because she keeps dreaming I'll have twin girls.
• I have no food cravings really, but I have food aversions.  I cannot even look at hummus or yogurt without my stomach turning.  I hope I regain my love for them.  Oh and if I don't want to eat something.  I don't eat it.  Sometimes nothing looks or sounds good.
• On the opposite hand, I have been loving some orange juice and cinnamon raisin english muffins.  Neither of which, I loved before this.  I hate raisins!
• We have eaten out far more than I would like to admit.  Partly, because I'm too lazy to cook and partly because nothing will look good to me.  Aaron has been a trooper.  He's eaten at Chik fila several times, even though he doesn't really like it.  I've also stopped at Taco Bell after work more than once.  *hangs head in shame*
• I'm off one of my pregnancy meds and will come off the other one in a couple of weeks.  Finally, I'll be a normal pregnant person, just be taking prenatal vitamins, if my body does what it's supposed to do.  Prayers are still welcome, we're not quite out of the woods yet.
• I've already gained 2.5 pounds.  I'll say that Halloween and Gatlinburg had a part in that though because I'm up a pound from before they occurred.  Plus, I don't usually eat all the crap I've been eating.  I will say though I ate great until the last two weeks.  The yolk sac that nutritious the baby was too big and we were warned about miscarriage, but I knew it's because I was eating so much protein and folic acid that I knew the baby just couldn't take in all the nutrients. 
• The heartburn/indigestion is horrible.  Tums is a really good friend now.
• Wait, I'll take the craving part back, because I am craving two things:  a nice cold beer and a sub sandwich.  Neither of which, I can have.  I've made Aaron promise to bring me a firehouse sub to the hospital after I have the baby.  Every time he drinks a beer I ask, "How's the beer?" and he usually responds "So good," and I say with a frown, "I bet."  Sigh.  He'd sneak in a beer to the hospital, if I wanted him too.  He's such a great husband.
• I tried drinking half a cup of coffee in Gatlinburg.  I drank a few sips and gave it to Aaron.  I'm sure that love will come back though.  I wouldn't give up coffee for just anyone.
• The reason word got out at work was because I had to tell my director and assistant director and they had to tell the charge nurses, so that the can prevent me from going in rooms I shouldn't go into.  It was supposed to be a secret, but one charge nurse said something to me in front of someone, and they said something in front of someone else, etc, etc.  It was spiraling out of control, so we knew we had to go ahead and tell everyone.  I'm glad I don't have to hold it in anymore though.  It's a lot to hold in.  Oh yeah, at work, I've had not one, not two, not even three, but four patients that possibly had meningitis.  I never realized how dangerous my job is, pregnant or not.
• I have nursery ideas in my head.  I've already been picking some things up, including the dresser from the flea market.  Most of what I'm drawn too is girly, so lets hope it's a girl or I have one at some point. Don't expect it to be pink, yellow, or pastel colors.  You know, I don't roll that way.  The walls up there are already aqua/robin's egg blue and the baby bed will be painted bright red or bright yellow, but probably red.
• I really don't care one way or another if it's a girl or boy.  I, honestly, think boys are more fun and way less demanding than girls.  I just want a healthy baby.  Aaron wants a healthy baby, but wants a boy first.  Go figure. :)
• We have some names picked out, but they will remain a secret for a little while, at least until we find out the sex.
• It's amazing to think that this baby went from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a prune.  The human body is amazing.  I see it everyday at work, but this truly shows what it is capable of.
• I can't wait to make my own organic baby food and I want to learn how to sew.  Baby clothes don't look that difficult to make.  You'll be happy to know that I've refrained from buying any more clothing since becoming pregnant.  I didn't want to jinx it, but I also know that I'll receive a lot too.

That's all for now.  I'm going to shop with the oldies (it's senior day at Kroger).  Time to pick up some food that actually appeals to me.

Happiness in October

Someone was a blog slacker this month.  Many happy things were left unblogged.  Here are all the things that led to smiles and happy hearts in October.

.  breaking the silence on baby O to our parents  .

.  seeing baby O, not once, but twice (and hearing the heartbeat!)  .

.  weekend trips to Gatlinburg with good friends  .

.  throwing muffins in hopes of seeing bears  .

.  one-eyed horses named Twinky  .

.  treats from the Chocolate Monkey  .

.  carving pumpkins with friends  .

.  black, glittery skeletons  .

.  celebrating one of my favorite little (or not so little anymore) boy's birthdays  .

.  lunch with Toni & B  .

.  the movie, Adam  .

.  talking on the phone with my bro  .

.  weenie roasts and smores  .

.  naps  .

.  falling leaves  .

.  fall weather (finally!)  .

.  successful yard sales that pay for cabins for weekend trips .

.  spending the day in pajamas, not once, but two days in a row  .

.  hanging out with Mr. O from morning until night without a single interruption (in pajamas!)  .

.  catching old episodes of Gilmore Girls before work  .

.  What to Expect When You're Expecting..I like to know what size fruit my baby and my uterus are for the week.  Prune and grapefruit, if you want to know  .

.  pumpkin spice candles  .

.  new scrubs  .

.  finding out I'm not the only pregnant person at work  .

.  Halloween, though I had to work and drive home from Gatlinburg in the same day  .

.  sweet potato pancakes  .

I'm sure there were many more, but this month kind of felt like a blur.  October is always so busy, but full of lots of happiness!

I survived Migraine '10

So, thirty minutes before I left for work I started to get a headache.  "Weird," I thought, but I kept getting ready for work and popped a couple of headache relievers.  Well, flash forward to my car and driving to work and suddenly there is a streak mark in my right field of vision.  What ensued was a tearful call to work, mass panic, and having to turn the car around before I completely wouldn't be able to drive anymore.

I haven't had a migraine that bad since I was 22, possibly 23, years old.  Let me tell you, if you suffer from migraines, you remember the ones that are really bad, always.  The last one like the one yesterday was when Aaron and I were dating.  I was at his house.  I had no medicine to fight it, which is what happened yesterday.  If you don't catch them right at the beginning, you can forget it.  I remember laying in a fetal position on his bed and crying and crying.  He was so sweet.  He didn't know what to do, but he laid with me and rubbed my back and I finally fell asleep.

People who don't get them don't really understand and the people that call their headaches "migraines" would drop to their knees if they really had one.  It's without a doubt the most pain I've ever experienced at one time.  I cannot even describe how bad it really is or how it feels.  All I know is the hangover after the migraine is gone still feels like a pretty awful headache.  My head and eyes are still sore from yesterday.  I slept from around 1:30 until 7:39.  I did the only thing that I knew to do was to drug (Benadryl) myself so that I could sleep through it.  I still felt like crap all last night until I went to bed.

I'm feeling much better today, but I swear I deserve a t-shirt that states, "I survived Migraine '10."  It was that bad.  I will not forget it.  I'm praying I don't have another one for a really, really long time.  I swear, I almost called Aaron to come take me to the ER for drugs. Heck, they offered to come get me from work and bring me in so that I could get medicine.  Of course, they were hoping that I could come in, I'm sure, but that was still very nice.  Aaron and I decided that we could do without the ER copay of $50, plus whatever else they charge you. 

Headaches are no joke, but I survived, just barely.

What I'm falling for

A room with a view

I had B send me the link to our cabin.  Here are some pictures.  I think we're going to have a pretty good time!

Get in my belly

I made the most delicious sandwich for lunch.  I thought I would share, so you all could experience the scrumptiousness. 

A Delicious Sandwich

-bread of your choosing

 (I used sandwich thins..I think Arnold's, which ever ones don't have high fructose corn syrup in them)

-sharp cheddar

(I used block cheese and thinly sliced it)

-two slices of cooked turkey bacon

-avocado dip (recipe to follow)

I baked the bread, turkey bacon, and cheese in the oven at 350 until desired doneness.  I spread the avocado dip on one of the slices of bread.  Then I enjoyed it!

Now the avocado dip recipe is one I got from Ingrid Hoffman on the Food Network.  On a side note, I cannot stand her show.  She is so annoying, but she can cook.  I own one of her cookbooks.  Girl knows how to make some sweet potato fries!  The avocado dip is used as a side to her sweet potato fries, which I made two nights ago, which is why I have leftover dip.  We usually use it on sandwiches or as a dip for other things, because the dip outlasts the fries.  Here's a link to the recipe.

My one suggestion to make the sweet potato fries crispier is to soak them for an hour or two in water before you bake them or add the seasoning.  It really does work.  Just dry them off before you add the oil and seasoning.  I'm still working on perfecting them.  I find them still a bit limp for our liking.  I'm going to try them on my pizza pan or stone to see if that helps add crispiness. 

Pumpkin Carving Party

Oh yeah, we're having a Pumpkin Carving Party this month.  I've been planning out a menu.  I've had a lot of people say they were coming, but who haven't RSVP'd yet, so I may scale the menu back some, if less people are coming. 

Here's what I've come up with so far.  What do you think?

Main Course

Chili

Sweet Potato and Hominy Soup

Breads

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

Jalapeno Cornbread

Drinks

Spiced Apple Cider

Sodas

Water

Possibly an alcoholic drink (I told everyone to bring their own, but I may buy pumpkin ale or something along those lines)

Sweet Treats

This is where I haven't completely made up my mind yet

Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin Whoopies

Caramels & assorted Halloween candy

Pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting

Mini apple pies

I bought black little gift bags for the guests to take some of the desserts home with them.  I know I don't need to eat all of them myself!  I need input.  Sound good?

I plan on cooking every bit of it (well, maybe not the apple pies) the day/night before, so that the chili and soup will taste even better and I can just focus on cleaning the day of the party.  I hope that it works out.  I have a doctor's appointment that day, so that may take several hours out of the day.  Plus, I'm actually eating lunch with my husband that day.  I know, crazy! 

I haven't really focused on decorations right now, but I have an idea of what I'm going to do.  So far, I've bought a small, glittery black skeleton.  I do like him.  I'm sure it'll all come together.  I've been thinking about making a Halloween wreath too.  I know, who is this person?  I was thinking the other day that I need a hot glue gun.  Pretty soon, you'll see my in very own handmade bedazzled kitten sweatshirts.  Don't be jealous.

Tired eyes and news reports

Seems like someone is slipping in the blog department lately.  I can blame on it a lot of things, but I'll spare you.  I guess I should do a little catching up.

Our yard sale this past weekend went okay.  I mean, we did make enough money to cover our cabin in Gatlinburg (more on this later!).  We ended up making just shy of $200.  Most people would think that is great for a yard sale, but we've had times where the grand total of the yard sale (with four different people providing things) was $1200.  My sister-in-law and my mom had things in it too.  The grand total for the whole thing was like $460.  This actually was our (mine and Aaron's total) second lowest profit.  This past Spring we had a yard sale and we hardly had anything in it and still made $170.  I'm still really happy with having enough to cover our room.  I don't want to have another yard sale for a while though.  They are so much work!  I think I'm still tired from only sleeping 4 hours the night before the sale.

We're going to Gatlinburg with B & D and another couple over Halloween weekend.  I'm supposed to work on Halloween, but I'm working on getting out of that.  I'm hoping I can sweet talk one of the guys at work to switch with me.  I have a good feeling that he will. 

I wanted to post pictures of where we are staying (the view is amazing), but I can't find the email that B sent me.  We're planning on doing the zip line through the trees and lots of other fun things.  It should be really fun.  It's the second trip of the year.  I like it!

The next few weeks are full of friends and lunches.  Yes, Beaz, I know we need to have lunch.  I have to leave at least one day off to clean my house or it'll get worse than it already is right now.  Tomorrow, I'm cleaning the mess that is my house.  That is, if I can muster enough energy.  Someone needs their Ovaltine!

Other than these things, I've been making a lot of soup, taking naps, enjoying the cooler weather, and spending many a night with Mr. O.  October has been splendid, so far. 

We're closing the week with a weenie roast at B and D's house.  I think that's the perfect thing to do on an October night.  Like always, October is proving to be the busiest month of the year.  Of course, the next two months will probably be just as busy.  We're quickly approaching my favorite holidays!

One more hour and can rest my weary head.  I'm glad I have tomorrow off! 

My treasures!

So, a little over due, but here is the post of all the things from the flea market.  I took pictures right after I made the other post, but have been too lazy (and working too much) to download them. 

The deerish animal head bookend.  Awesome, right!?

Ah, the turtle necklace. Be still my heart.

An upclose of mr. turtle

One of the two owl trivets.  They look exactly the same.

The apron.  I love it.  I washed it and it is now hanging with the others.

Here's the dresser.  It is majorly dirty.  Notice, Esther, it is not dark green.  I don't know what Mr. O was thinking when he said.  It's just a really dirty black.  The mirror is laying on top.  I did not put it together, since I would just have to take it apart to move it inside later after we clean it up. 

The secret skelton key drawer.  It dawned on me to just take the drawer out beside it and push it open.  Obviously, there was nothing inside, but this tray that can be pushed to the back.

All the drawers are lined with the craft paper that can come out.  They are the exact colors of the dividers that are in this drawer.  There are no flaws inside the drawers, probably because the paper is there. 

So, what do you think?  The dresser really is so pretty all put together.  I can't wait to clean all that dust and dirt off of it.  I couldn't show a picture of B's Christmas present.  Though she doesn't show up as a follower, she reads it and follows me on Google reader. I'm sure she was hoping that I would slip up!  

Happiness in September

Here's a monthly round up of things that made my heart happy in September:

.  amazing flea market finds  .

.  steaming cups of (a variety of) teas  .

.  quality time with my mom  .

.  dinner with the Rices  .

.  hanging with the Eddys  .

.  5 day long stretches off work  .

.  being told I get to work one less Sunday a month  .

.  sunshiney fall days  .

.  opening our windows up for days  .

.  breaking out one of my hoodies  .

.  cozy days, curled up in owl pajamas  .

.  journaling (yes, every day for like 3 weeks)  .

.  James and the Giant Peach (I'm currently reading it again)  .

.  spicy oatmeal cookies  .

.  Supernatural marathons  .

.  being home to catch a leak, just in the nick of time  .

.  a freshly cleaned house  .

.  unfortunate date nights that are great just because of the company  .

.  homemade pot roast  .

.  Lucky magazine  .

.  celebrating 8 (craziness!) years of marriage  .

.  Mr. O starting school  .

.  breaking out the boots .

.  going through my closet..it was beginning to feel suffocating in there  .

.  plans for a yard sale next month .

.  going to lunch with my nephew  .

.  phone conversations with my sister and brother  .

.  promises of new things to come  .

.  strawberry dream cake at Nana Rosa's in Hendersonville  .

.  Mondo on Project Runway (I.love.him.) .

.  first day of fall  .

.  the return of Oprah, House, and all the good shows  .

.  plaid shirts  .

.  my hot husband  .

. surviving Labor Day weekend at work  .

.  lunches with friends  .

. listening to my celebrity boyfriend (Chevelle)  .

.  my sister having a seizure while she was NOT driving.  I'm so glad that they pulled her license, even though she is less than thrilled about it  .

.  late evening walks with Mr. O  .

.  having a little toddler boy on one of our walks say, "Hi, neighbor."  So cute.  .

.  adorable little patients  .

.  bowling and doing it well  .

.  an unexpected dinner with my most amazing (former roommate) sister-in-law  .

.  getting some long over due home projects started/completed  .

.  free days at the Science Museum, though I didn't get to go  .

.  Kat Von D eyeliner (I don't like her, but girl can make some makeup..and wear every one of her products at the same time)  .

.  a pregnancy for a girl on a blog I read (she has PCOS too, so it makes things very hopeful for me!)  .

.  Make that multiple pregnancies and births on the blogs I follow  .

.  the return of my winter/cooler weather scent, Euphoria by Calvin Klein  .

.  living, breathing, and smiling every single day  .

September did live up to August.  It even said, "Watch how I do this."  Have I mentioned I love fall!?!

The windows are open

and a cool breeze is blowing in.  Have I mentioned how much I love fall?  Oh, I have.  Funny.   I had my first hot chocolate last night at the Predators game with the Eddys.  It was delicious.  I've also been enjoying caramel apple ciders from Starbucks, but don't let them fool you, it's just steamed apple juice.  It's still very tasty, minus the whip cream, which makes it terribly sweet. 

Speaking of tasty hot drinks, I no longer drink coffee!  It was hard, but I weaned myself off of it.  Now, I've been drinking hot tea instead, which has way less caffeine than coffee.  I even went one day without anything and I had no headache at all. I love coffee, but we'll see if I go back to it after this.  It was so hard to wean myself off of it.  I don't know that I could just drink it occasionally either.  It would be like an alcoholic taking just one drink.  I'd be a full fledged coffee-aholic in no time again.

I went to the Flea Market this weekend.  It was fantastic!  I got so lucky.  I'll have to do a post of all things I got.  Of course, that requires me to actually take pictures of them. First off, I got a vintage apron for $2.  I know, like I need another apron, but it spoke to me and it was only $2.  Next up, the best find of the day, a beautiful dresser from the 1950's (though it could be from earlier).  It's black with a gold/silverish detail on it.  It has a swing mirror.  One of the small drawers opens with a skeleton key, which we don't have, but I can't help, but think maybe there is something inside the drawer, a hidden treasure.   It will be Baby O's changing table/dresser.  Want to know the price?  Only $125.  I couldn't believe he went that low on it, but I would have taken it for $150, though I didn't want to.  It's solid wood, has numbered drawers, and is in pretty good shape, minus a tongue-and-groove in the back coming loose, a nick on the side of the dresser, which needs to be filled with wood filler, and missing one of the details of the dresser pull.  I found a Christmas gift for B.  It's awesome.  I also found myself a gold turtle necklace.  It is huge and I love it!  I also got two little owl trivets.  I think I'll use one in the kitchen and hang the other one somewhere on a wall.  Oh, and I got a gold deer/reindeer/some other curved horned animal head bookend.  It is pretty fantastic too!  I spent $38 on the other things and that includes the $4 for parking!  I got some great deals.  I'm still kicking myself because I didn't buy this old utensil holder or that I didn't buy this pair of horseshoes.  Oh and I also found a cabinet that I loved that I wanted to put in our kitchen, but it was $275.  Maybe next time.  I'm definitely going in October.  Anyone want to go with me?

Here's a picture of a dresser that is kind of similar, but mine is so much better!  Perfect for a changing table, right?

Oh, my anniversary is today.  Eight years.  It's absolutely mind blowing.  More on that later.  Right now, I've got to hit the shower and go to the store to pick up some things for dinner.  How about roast, macaroni and cheese, and cabbage?  It sounds like the perfect dinner to me.  I've almost perfected the mac and cheese thanks to watching Barefoot Contessa make about five different versions of it and tweaking it to make it mine.  Aaron has to go to school tonight, so it has to be ready by the time he gets home.