Good Day Sunshine!

Tweet I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day
-The Beatles


So, I'm temporarily over my hatred of snow SOLELY because the sun is shining.  It's amazing what the bright, Vit D creating beams of light can do for my general attitude.  Plus, the dogs gave me plenty to laugh about as they ran wild in the yard earlier this morning.  (yes, Boomer is scratching his butt on the snow...maybe I need to get his glands expressed)

I will say that I saw the "results" of all of the idiots in this area who have no clue how to drive in snow last night.  I ventured over to my sister's for some tasty turkey chili in our big beast of a truck (Ford F-150 FX4 supercrew).  I have had more experience than I would like driving in various 4wd-required situations so I wasn't too concerned.  What did concern me was all the local yahoos flying down the road (no salt or sand, no plowing, nothing) in their stupid little compact cars.  One idiot came flying around a corner (I say "flying," but in reality it was only "flying" because of the road conditions) and I thought to myself, "if this moron slides, he's hitting my jacked up truck and dying."  Heading back to my house after dinner, I saw mountains (okay, molehills) of evidence of even more drivers losing control and sliding all over the road and into embankments.  Lucky for them, I assume they were able to keep driving since there was no police tape or vehicle left in the car shaped snow indentions.
Tip:  If you only see snow every 4 years or so, please stay off the roads.  Even better, if you are any number of the Hampton Roads drivers who can't drive during perfect weather, please trade your driver's license for an idiot card and let's call it a day.


Keeping in line with the Beatles theme for today:
They say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you


Today is Chris's birthday...and, evidently, the birthday of 4 other sailors on his boat and two of our friends.  Popular day!  This is not the first time he has been at sea for his birthday, sadly.  However, we had a "mail drop" take place for the boat since they are at a liberty port for a bit.  He won't get his cards on time, but at least he'll get them...hopefully.  I was able to speak to him on the phone earlier and he pointed out the fact that we would both be much happier if we could switch locations.  He enjoys the snow WAY more than I do and he's actually sad he is missing it.

Snow Pics

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Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

Tweet Well, for the first time this year, the weather has been correctly predicted by the local meteorologists.  It's is snowing, snowing, snowing out here!  I initially woke up around 5am and looked outside.  To my dismay, there was snow on the ground.  However, the grass was still peeking through, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.  Flash forward two more hours when I get up to let the dogs outside, the entire backyard & deck are completely covered in white.  Samson was even caught off guard and this is the dog that will lie down in snow like it's his job!

It is now mid-afternoon and the snow has definitely not eased up at all.  However, during the most recent doggie outing, Boomer & Samson ran around and played.  Boomer's skinny little golden retriever feet are not built for this snow.  He can beat Samson on dry land, but Samson's huge paws have a distinct advantage in snow.  It was funny watching him run around the backyard...and to watch the normally graceful Boomer trying to run around but tripping every few steps.

I'm going to try & post a few of the pictures I've taken via my phone...hopefully, this will work (I'm still learning how to work this blog).  I'll take more pics later with my real camera.

Just when I least expected it...

Tweet I recently got a phone call from Chris.  It was unexpected and it made me incredibly happy.  Although I have been able to send him emails and he seems to have been receiving them, I can't always count on hearing anything back from him when he's at sea.  Partly because it's hit or miss if email communication will be up & running and partly because he (and most of the guys) are usually running on fumes by the time they are able to even bother checking email.  Any communication received on this end is so incredibly appreciated.

I've been asked this several times, so I'll answer it here:  Chris may or may not be here for the birth of our son.  His boat is being commissioned March 27 (public knowledge, so I can state it!) and it's safe to assume the boat will actually be here for the commissioning.  My EDD is March 23.  Chris will be here sometime before the commissioning and he will leave again sometime after the commissioning (no, I can't be more specific).  So, as you can imagine, there is a very small window of time where he will be available under the best of circumstances.

It's been a while since he was last at sea and I can honestly say it makes a huge difference being pregnant.  It's very hard to be as independent as I am accustomed to being when I'm tired, slow, and quite sore at times.  Managing a household by myself was far easier when half (maybe more?) of my energy wasn't being used to grow a baby.  I am very thankful that I do not have to work right now and I have an ever increasing amount of respect for the moms & moms-to-be who do work.

JACKPOT!!!!

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Well, we've gotten a lot accomplished during Chris's leave period.  He's been busy moving furniture, painting & putting furniture together.  We've both run ourselves ragged traipsing about Hampton Roads to buy baby necessities, attend our Hypnobirthing class, look at other furniture we need, etc.  However, my favorite part of this whole slew of activities has been our visits to local area thrift stores.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good deal (Mom hates it when I say I'm cheap).  We hit two Salvation Army Family Stores & two Goodwill thrift stores.  We purchased 45 articles of gently used clothing and spent approximately $1.42 per article, running the gamut of sizes between newborn & 24 months.  You can't beat that...and I haven't even visited all of the thrift stores around here (luckily, my sister knows some more good ones so Chris will be off the hook if he so chooses).  So, I feel good knowing we saved a TON of money AND we supported good causes.  When the time comes, I will gladly pass these clothes on to friends or donate them back to the local Goodwill so other people can use them, too.

Side note for more deals we've taken advantage of recently:  the NEX has a convertible crib, changing table, & chest of drawers set for ~$250, our Graco TravelLite stroller/car seat system was on sale almost 40% off at Babies-R-Us, & our Fisher Price Little Lamb Cradle Swing (~$150), also at Babies-R-Us, currently comes with a 50-pack of diapers, any size.

Good Riddance, 2009!

Tweet In order to be a better daughter & friend, I am going to attempt to keep a blog about our little family as up to date as possible.  I figured January 1, 2010 would be as good a time as any to get this party started.  Maybe this counts as a New Year's Resolution...I don't know.  I stopped making resolutions a long time ago when I realized I always forgot about them by February.  Fingers crossed that doesn't happen again.  Maybe Chris will even join in with the blogging every once in a while...

2009 in a nutshell:
Holly died.
Mocha died.
Friends died.
Chris's boat was christened & finally made it out to sea.  Bonus:  The boat made it back even though there was a ton of drama getting her seaworthy (thank you, Newport News Naval Shipyard - grrrrrrrrrr).
I had a weak moment and much to everyone's surprise, became pregnant.  Much sickness ensued.
Dad moved back to the states after DECADES in Germany.

2010 Hopes:
"Klaw" will be born healthy & easily (please!) sometime in late March - preferably while Chris's boat happens to be in port for the commissioning.
Chris's move to Connecticut will go without a hitch and we will be able to afford two households (or Chris will enjoy camping for a year).
Our remaining 4 pets (Callie, Nixie, Samson & Boomer) will remain relatively healthy.

I don't think I'm asking for too much...