Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

My friend Amanda had her baby shower here at work today. She’s having a little boy and she’s due on February 18.

 

I’m like, more excited about this than I probably should be, like, overly, weirdly excited. It’s hysterical. Could it be because she’s my workplace BFF and we eat lunch together every day, and we can share baby stories and everything from good to bad together at lunch from now on? It’s so great.

Throughout her pregnancy, we’ve talked about it all, and it’s so nice to be able to give advice to a friend who feels your pain, literally. 

While I’m both jealous and sad that once Little Man makes his arrival Amanda will be out on maternity leave for FIVE MONTHS, I’m so incredibly freaking out happy for her and can’t wait to visit her in the hospital and talk about all things baby when she comes back to work.

Anyway.

Her baby shower was today, and we had some snacks and sandwiches. Her husband David came in, so it was nice to see him, because it’s been awhile since the four of us have been able to get together.

She started opening all her gifts and everything was just so freaking adorable.

Puppies.

Turtles.

Little Fire trucks and all things Baby Boy.  

She got infant gowns that were all beige and brown and blue, and little puppy slippers, and blue binkies, and soft white and blue blankets with frogs and blue rattles on them.

I guess I was just so enthralled with all the baby boy stuff. Everyone close to me before Amanda has had girls.

For whatever reason, I’ve ever only babysat girls.

I’ve ever only changed girl’s diapers.

I mean, I’ve got ZERO Baby Boy Part experience, and it just fascinates me, I guess.

What would I do with a baby boy?

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. Circumcision issues. And, baby boys grow up to be men. Could I raise a man? I don’t see why not, people do it every day.

I got this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, like an itch or a yearn or something weird. I walked out of her office and back into mine actually feeling like I could try for another baby!

GASP.  

Heeeeeeeelll no, Heath! WTF are you thinking?

Crazy impulsive thought, go away!

NOT possible. We’re so broke we can’t even pay attention – with one.

We’re sick constantly and stressed, there’s no time to get anything done…and I was hoping that by the time we would be ready to try for another one (maybe a boy) our friends would all be trying for their firsts, so we could all kind of do it together…

I Mean, I JUUUUUUST got back into my size 4s comfortably, (probably the chronic illnesses, but who’s counting…) and it’s a place I’d like to stay for a while. I like drinking a martini and enjoying an occasional social cigarette. I like knowing it’s not the end of the world if I miss a few vitamins.

I hate being pregnant. I hate having to limit my coffee intake and having to make sure I get the recommended amount of sleep every night.

I sat back down at my desk reiterating all these things. Remembering what it was like to get NO SLEEP at all while a two week old baby wakes up every 45 minutes to eat and poop. NO MORE BABIES FOR A WHILE FOR ME!

Still, the thought lingers…

I’d be lying to myself if I said otherwise. Thinking of Avery and all her antics, and finding an old picture of her in the hospital…MINUTES after she was born…my friend Julie (who works at Rex Hospital) took it on her phone and sent it to me.

Little Tiny Bundle of AWESOME. 

Oddly enough, Mikey mentioned this topic this morning. We were talking about Avery and randomly he came out with, “I love her so much. But I definitely couldn’t handle another one right now.”

And just to be devils advocate, I said, “Well, me neither, but when, would you think?”

(We have this conversation frequently, and depending on how the day went, the answers change just as often.)

Turning around, he replied, “I think we’ll be ready when Avery is able to take care of herself.”

Laughing, I retorted, “Honey that could be 18 years! Or MORE!”

So, it’s an interesting feeling I’m feeling anyway. I wanted to document the first stirrings to you, Dear Blog.

The mommy itch, the mommy bug. SIGH.

And you better believe I’m swatting at it just as HARD as I can.

Typhoid Avery, Give Mommy Kisses!

Avery’s giving kisses now. I can’t get enough of them. Wet sloppy drooly baby kisses. They’re so great.

You say, gimme kisses! And she comes at you with her mouth wide open. LOL. Sometimes she’ll even put her two little adorable hands on either side of your face.

I love it.

Hence why I’m probably sick again, but I don’t even care.

Mom calls her Typhoid Mary. Ha.

I didn’t know what that actually meant, so I did a little research:

Apparently Typhoid Mary was a real person. I  She was a cook in a restaurant at the turn of the 20^th century and unknowingly was a carrier of typhoid. She never exhibited symptoms herself, but through her cooking infected, like, hundreds of people and lots of them actually died from typhoid-infected food.

Yum-O.

When it became obvious that she was the problem, she vehemently denied she carried the disease (apparently she was born with it) and spent the rest of her life in quarantine.

How terrible, right?

Wawh, wawh. Debbie Downer alert.

Okay, maybe Avery’s not that bad!  Although she has been the root of all sickness evil for the past five weeks.

Oh, well. Not her fault!

After all, how can you resist those sweet little eight-month old baby kisses? Even if they happen to be laced with cold-and-flu causing poison at the time? 

Even if.

:P

A Series of Sickness

Since we’ve started daycare on January 4^th, I think our entire household has had every common sickness known to man. Seriously, we’ve run the gamut from stomach bugs to colds, flu symptoms and croup to ear and sinus infections.

And every time one of us gets better, another gets sick. GAH so frustrating.

We’ve taken Avery to the doctor for sick visits twice this month. The first in her life.

Mikey and I took her in on 1/11/10 to have her cough checked out. The doctor (not my fave) said she seemed to be doing fine, a little croupy but as long as she was able to breathe well, then she’ll be okay.

Really?!?!

This kid sounded like a barking seal and has a deeper voice than my husband. And he’s telling me that she’s fine as long as she’s breathing? Um, DUH. And what, pray tell, would we do in the event that she stops breathing? Geez. New mommy anxiety pops up in me.

For the next two weeks we watched her day and night to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. How frustrating it is when she can’t explain what hurts, or what she needs.

She woke up about 2AM on the 26^th and cried NONSTOP. Pain crying, and didn’t stop. For two hours. Mom held her and rocked her and we both tried everything. We didn’t know what to do!!

She wouldn’t take a bottle, and she was coughing, and just SCREAMING. I’ve never heard this kid do this.

Again, ever grateful for my mom’s presence because after about an hour or so of this, I buckled a bit. I began to cry too and became really stressed out. My mom held in there and rocked her until Avery passed out with exhaustion, just shy of a two-hour screaming bout.

(I guess it takes a while to build up a tolerance for long-distance crying…my mom had four of us with colic, so she’s a seasoned pro, whereas I’m a beginner in this game. Thanks again Momma. <3)

We spoke with the doctor a little after 4AM and she said that the “magic” number is 2 hours. If she cries less than that, its not an emergency. If she cries more, than it’s good to give them a call. She told me I did the right thing, and just see how she reacts when she wakes up.

(Side note: why do I feel like all these doctors and nurses are WAY too flippant and nonchalant about baby sicknesses? I mean I know they’re desensitized, but GEEZ.

Um? Sick kid here? Crying? Nonstop?? Help, please!)

Anyway, she said if I’m still uncomfortable with it, we can take her in to see her doctor.

I was uncomfortable, of course. And so Mom took Avery to the doctor again at 11AM on the 27th.

She saw Dr. Gessner  (my FAVE there) and he said that she’s got a helluva ear infection. Also turns out that she has a really good sinus infection going.

It makes total sense now why she kept rubbing her nose and eyes and face constantly for days. I’m sure it itched and burned in her little sinus cavities and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Makes me feel like a bad momma for not doing something sooner.

But after a week’s worth of antibiotics, she’s doing so much better.

(OMG, there’s NOTHING better in the world than a sick baby pulling out of a sickness. My heart just feels lighter. I can sleep better at night now knowing she’s sleeping better at night. Her voice has returned to normal and, aside from the common baby snifflies, we’re back in business.

She’s been such a little trouper too, the entire time.

With the exception of that one night where she cried forever, she’s been smiling, and kicking and trying to be as happy as she can be. It makes me so happy.)

Which brings me to my sinus infection now.

SIGH.

I’ve been saying to God, please…I’ll get sick if it means she gets better…let me have it, let me have it all…I’ll take it if she starts feeling better.

Like they say, be careful what you wish for! Ha. I don’t care though. I meant it and I still mean it.

For the past week I’ve had the worst sinus infection I’ve had in a while. Of course, being stubborn, I’ve decided to tough it out with some saline nasal spray to flush things out and Mikey’s antibiotics from his sinus infection last year. I mean, he’s got most of his scrip left, and why spend 35 bucks to get the same thing? It’s a little less potent than I’m sure it was, but it seems to be doing the trick.

My momma’s less than pleased, seeing as how up until last night my right eyeball felt like it was going to fall out, and my right ear was ringing, and a couple nights ago I had a fever of 101.

My top teeth are like throbbing.

And most interesting, is that I’ve lost my senses of smell and taste. Like, TOTALLY. I mean, you could put a bouquet of roses under my nose, or a steaming pile of  dog poo, and I wouldn’t know the difference if my eyes were closed. It’s such a weird sensation, nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. I’ve experience appetite loss as a result, bc food isn’t the same when there’s NO taste.

It’s been great for dealing with stinky garbage cans or Avery’s poopy diapeys, but baaaaaad for delicious dinners like last night chicken soup Mom made, or smelling my favorite lotion.

But hey.

I woke up this morning feeling MUCH better, better than I have in days. I chalk it up to my diligent nose-flushing and secondhand antibiotics.

I’ve just got to hurry this process along!

Ski trip is in 7 days, and there’s still SO much to do!!! First thing is get rid of this sinus problem.

(Seriously, what the hell are sinuses for anyway. Ew. What’s coming out of my nose these days is like, SO gross it makes me want to vomit.

I almost want to like, have my sinuses removed. But then I remember that sinuses are cavities behind my nose, and you can’t remove empty spaces. Ha.)

So I guess they’ll have to stay…but they better start cooperating!)

But thankfully, everybody seems to be in the clear for now. (Knock on wood.) We’ll soldier through the sick season, and welcome spring with toughened immune systems!

Five Things Friday 1/22/10

Welcome to Clothing Chat.
Put your hiking gear on, because today I’m taking you on a trek through the ancient archives of my closet!

1. I do believe I’m wearing the OLDEST shirt in my closet today.
Racking my brain and I’m having trouble thinking of any other shirt I’ve had longer. I bought this shirt 12/1998 for Christmas that year.

HA!
It’s a deep burgundy button-down collared shirt, with almost a matte iridescent metallic sheen to it. It’s actually perfect for this season’s “shine” trend, paired with a light grey cropped sweater vest and jeans, and it’s proof that everything old is new again.
This shirt is 11 years old!

My sister, who turns 21 in a couple weeks, was ten when I bought it.
Titanic had just come out and I saw it 7 times in the theater. (For free, I had a buddy who worked there.)
When I bought this shirt, the World Trade Center was still standing, we weren’t even worried about the Y2K bug, and Avery Isabella was just a twinkle in my eye.

See why I don’t get rid of clothes?
I’m wearing a veritable picture from my closet photo album!
It makes me chuckle.

2. I pulled the shirt from the waaaaay back of my closet, in the archives. Lately, I’m trying to come up with new outfits from combos of old stuff since I can’t afford to buy anything new.
How very “Pretty in Pink” of me. Ha.

For example, I bought this muted blue cardigan with yellow sparkly buttons, like six years ago. I hadn’t worn it in probably five.

I’ve mixed and matched the sweater three separate times since I “discovered” this treasure two months ago:

It’s become a really fun game, and it’s got me looking forward to “closet spelunking” every night. I’m making use of things that havent been used in forever, and that makes me happy, too.

3. Top three awesomest items of random clothing I’ve found?

*A black faux fur stole.

Seriously. I bought it for a couple dollars at a store’s going-out-of-business sale. I thought it might come in handy one day for a New Year’s party or a formal occasion. I was wrong. It didn’t, it’s ridiculous looking and I wouldn’t wear it on a bet. CHHUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

* A pair of high-heeled gingham sandals.

Daisy Duke called, y’all. She wants these back, but she’ll have to wrassle me for ‘em. Yeehaw.

* A little basic black blazer.

I totally forgot I had this. I bought two suits a year or two ago from Express when they were rock-bottom price (because you always need a suit, right? Why not two in different colors, I always say, heh heh.)
In addition, there was a plain black orphan blazer whom I immediately adopted and then forgot. I recently plucked it from the back of the cave and since have paired it with everything from collared shirts to sequined tanks. Yaaaaay for my old/new black blazer.

4. Ever since the safe conquered the back wall of the closet, I’ve had a significant amount of space compromised. This did not deter me, however, from keeping the majority of my clothes.

Only now, they’re packed in three and four deep. It’s like there’s secret hideaways with hidden clothing treasures, you guys. Good times.

I’m actually astonished at what I’m finding. I have more things with tags still on them than I care to admit here.
Some of it I don’t even remember buying, which probably means they’ve been sitting in there for years.
It’s like an adventure every night. My closet has become super fun, like my own secret clothing store.
All I need is a hardhat with a headlight and I’ll be a veteran closet spelunking pro.

5. I’m just reflecting on how I could actually write this much about the clothes in my closet.
I’m surprised I’ve got this much to say about clothes in general.
Wait, no, I’m not.

That’s all for now. Discuss.
What are your favorite pieces of clothing?

Yes, folks…Diaper Wrestling IS a Sport.

And I’m definitely getting my practicing in so I can hopefully compete in the Diaper Changing Olympics. Changing this little wiggleworm’s diaper has become a two-person job.

At least.   

Every time the diaper comes off now, Avery flips over on her tummy and tries to crawl all over the counter. She is strong too, boy, let me tell you. Trying to hold her down as she pulls the ninja flip-move is nearly impossible, since she’s so wiggly.

After the diaper struggle and the clothes are finally back on, the counter looks like a bomb went off. Vases and bottles of toiletries toppled over, stacks of diapers in disarray, and I’m sweating hard-core.

I’m loving the adventures this little kid is sending me on.

Daycare Progress Reports

Betcha can’t guess what my favorite time of the weekday is?

6PM, when I get to leave work?

Close.

6:30PM, when I pull into my driveway at home?

Even closer!

6:35PM, when I get to put down my things, hug my beautiful daughter hello, and read her daily progress report from school?

BINGO!

These progress reports are sooo cool, guys. I mean, they seriously detail every last minute of her day, from the minute Mikey walks her in and plops her on the floor, to the minute Mom packs her up and out for the day.

There’s detailed lists of when she pees and poops, and what she ate and when, and then there’s my favorite part at the bottom, where the teachers write entire PARAGRAPHS on exactly what she did each day.

I get to live vicariously through these sheets by finding out which books she read and what activities she participated in.

Listen to this from 1/8/10:

“I had a great day playing with my friends and crawling a little more to new areas. I listened to stories all about Baby Colors. It is a word and picture book about food,. Vehicles, and objects in red, blue, yellow, green, pink, brown, black, white and purple. Avery ate very well during her a.m. feeding. She had a great day at school.”

How cool is that? Makes me so happy.

Check this one out, dated 1/5/10, a date that burned into my mommy brain, because this day was the day Avery figured it all out, and moved her little butt across the floor for REAL for the first time:

“Avery is Crawling!!! Avery is Crawling!!! She was trying to reach an object which was a little out of reach. She rocked on her knees for a few seconds and crawled forward. :) We were all excited for her. We were clapping too. She just looked at us and smiled. :) That’s Great!!! What and accomplishment! Yay Avery!!!”

I love these teachers. They got as excited as I would’ve been (almost), had I been there. And I almost feel like I was!

Emotional Anvils

I’m really distracted today.

I’m really busted up about my sister. I can’t believe she feels the way she does about me, how she thinks I feel about her, etc…it’s all such crap and I can totally see where she’s coming from but I can’t see how she thinks I don’t ever give a crap about her. I’m just stressed about it all.

Crystal is the youngest of the four of us, youngest by far. She’s 5 years younger behind Danny, the third oldest. There are 8 and a half years in between Crystal and me, and I’d be lying if I said the age difference didn’t make for some wide gaps through the years.

Crystal turns 21 on February 11^th, a day she’s looked forward to for years, not only for the same reasons everybody does, but because in her mind she’s fiiiiinally at the same level with the three of us. Now, we can all do the same things together.

I totally agree.

Every year, Mikey and I and our friends plan a ski trip over Valentine’s Day Weekend. I had NO idea, in planning it, that I would again be infringing on Crystal’s big moment.

Not that I didn’t know when her birthday is, you understand…it’s just always been that she does her thing with her friends.

But, this year is different to her. Its her BIG MILESTONE, and we’ve all forgotten it. No one is planning a big party (Danny and I are going on the ski trip) and she feels like none of us cares that she’s turning 21.

She’s smeared me to all her friends, telling the world how incredibly selfish and and self-centered and terrible I am, and how I’ve stolen her thunder throughout her entire life. She’s incredibly pissed that I didn’t know she wanted me and Mikey to go downtown with her and drink away her 21^st.

How was I supposed to know that she wanted me, her crusty, older than dirt (according to her), old fart sister to come along?

Me, the same one Crystal busts on because she’s about to turn THIRTY this year, the same one who’s married and has a 7 month old, and a mortgage and chores, etc, who hasn’t gone downtown in a cute outfit in God knows when.

She never mentioned a THING. Honest to God. How was I supposed to know?

But then, the facts hit me.

I missed Crystal’s Senior Prom because I planned my Bachelorette Party for that same weekend.  

I missed Crystal’s high school graduation because Mikey and I were on our honeymoon in Jamaica.

And now, I’m set to miss her 21^st birthday.

It’s a series of unfortunate events and yes, they make me look really, really bad.

But in my defense, (if I even have any!!!!) it truly isn’t what it looks like. My friends didn’t know about her prom when they planned my party. Her graduation happened to fall in that same week of our honeymoon…but the honeymoon had been planned for a YEAR, and they told her the date of her graduation a couple weeks beforehand. Nothing I could do!!!

I LOVE my sister. From the time she was born, she was my little treasure, my little doll, my shadow. I’ve always been so proud of her, showing her off, bragging about her.

As I got older, in my teens, she was my kid sister who would get into my stuff and annoy me sometimes and make me crazy, but I still loved her. I loved having her around (most of the time), and my friends always loved her, too. My girlfriends and I used to make up games to play with Crystal, always considering her a part of things.

There aren’t many times in my life that she wasn’t an integral part of it. It’s true.

As I headed toward my twenties, it was Crystal’s turn to become annoyed with me, I guess. To her, I was old as the hills, and like, soooo lame. My clothes were gay.

(…I mean HOW oh how could you wear pointy toed pumps and jeans! I cannot believe I’m hanging out in the mall with my oooooold sister who’s actually sporting a crop top and cardigan. GAH! I hope I don’t see my friends!)

Funniest thing though.

We got past this stage and now she raids my closet. I bitch about it sometimes, but secretly I’m overjoyed. I’m supremely flattered that she likes my clothes, and I don’t know if having Avery changed my perspective on things, but I like it so much more than I ever did.  

And so, I’ve been hit with a gigantic emotional anvil. My baby sister actually feels like I don’t care. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

Could it be that my mind’s eye is so skewed that I see things differently from the way they actually are? Regardless of how I happen to see it, she doesn’t see it that way, and that’s what matters here.

We’ve invited her and her boyfriend to join us on the ski trip, and Danny convinced her to come. And so it’s become my sole mission to ensure that it’s the best vacation she’s ever taken.

Danny and I are going halfsies on her portion of the house payment, and were also renting her skis and gear.

I plan on bringing all the fixings for a couple of her favorite drinks, and making her favorite dishes while we’re there. I’m going to make some confetti cupcakes (her favorite) and we can eat them up there and maybe sing Happy Birthday (incidentally, two of the guys’ birthdays also fall on this weekend, but I’m sure they won’t mind Crystal having the spotlight for a hot second, ya know?) I’ll make sure to bring enough cupcakes for everyone’s birthday, though…

I’m trying to figure out what else I can do…friends, any suggestions are welcome!!

I think I will make her a little scrapbook album with a bunch of baby pictures in it, and sister pictures, complete with pretty pages and shapes, etc.

I think she will be really appreciative of something handmade like that, and I think it will show that I do love her and I do care to take the time and effort for her, always. I can go through that big tub of pictures in Avery’s room, and print out some more recent pictures at Walgreens.

I’m hoping the pictures will remind her that she was (and still is!) my baby sister and best treasure and how much I’ve loved her thru the years… and still do.

Somehow I’ve gotten off that path, in her eyes, and haven’t been able to take the time to show her how much I appreciate her. I know a scrapbook itself won’t do it.

Oh my god, have I been a crappy sister all these years?

Has she felt neglected and in my shadow, and I’ve actually allowed that? Have I allowed myself to push aside her special moments in favor of my own?

Can it actually be that I’m that sort of person and never realized it? What can I do to make this better? I’m completely humbled and heartbroken.

Gimme That Binky!

Proof positive that Avery is my daughter and totally owning her sassypants attitude even at the early age of 7 months:

Mikey brought Avery into daycare this morning and set her on the floor among the other babies. He proceeded to put away her food in the fridge and diapers in her drawer.

Meanwhile a little baby boy was just chillin’ in his Boppy pillow, minding his own business, sucking away on his Binky.

Eyeing him for a second, Avery crawled over to him, yanked the Binky out of his mouth and popped it in her own. Mikey and Miss Karen tried to run over to stop it from happening, but Avery was too fast.

Thanks, A.

Cute and funny as it sounds, it obviously causes concern for more trips to the doctor in the near future. Kids are germ greenhouses. Ew. Even as I shudder, I cant help but smile at my little girl recognizing a toy and wanting it for herself.

Little Miss Bossy in the Making, or an Assertive Young Lady who goes after what she wants?

You decide!

Daycare Blues

We put Avery in daycare for the first time this morning, for her “trial day.” To say I’m dealing with it is definitely sugarcoating things a bit.

We took her in and she immediately took to the director, Maureen. Avery was all smiles and even reached for her. I ignored the pangs of envy and impending dread and told myself we were off to a good start.

We went back to the Infant Room and found where we would be bringing her food everyday, and where we’ll put her belongings, including diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes.

We put her down on the floor amidst all the Boppys and babies, and she was just fascinated, sitting up by herself like a big girl, taking it all in.

And then? The domino effect happened. A smaller baby began to cry, and everyone started to cry. And then my Avery Isabella started to cry, just sitting there by the Boppys, with real big girl tears in her precious eyes.

I couldn’t get over there fast enough. I scooped her up in a snuggly Mommy Hug, and whispered sweet things to her, soothing her, all the while wishing SO hard I could do this all day.

We finally got everything settled, and it came time to go. By this time, Maureen had taken her from me (with an Avery reach…ouch my heart) and had her cuddled up in the crook of her arm with her purple butterfly blankie that smells like home.

And then Mikey and I left. Mikey and I just left her there.

I’m sure she’s fine. She seemed to do really well overall.

Me? Not so much. I cried all the way to work, and I’m still fighting back tears even as I sit here writing this. I keep chastising myself for being such a softie. And then I laugh when I think of the blubbering mess I’ll be in five years on her first day of kindergarten.

I know this is actually the best thing we could do for her, for so many reasons. She’ll be challenged and learn new things every day. She’ll make new friends and learn what it means to share and socialize. She’ll even have a lot of the exposure to common baby sicknesses out of the way. They keep a minute-by-minute record of every little thing she will do during the day, so it will almost be like we’re with her.

Yeah, right, I know.

I just can’t explain the way I feel…it’s like I miss her more today than any other day since I came back to work. Could it be because I knew she was safe and at home all those other times, and today she’s with people I barely know, with kids I’ve never met?

Will they pick her up and sooth her if she cries?

Will they know what to do or how to react when she does something so typically her?

Part of me even feels like I may not ever see her again, like they won’t give her back or something. Completely silly and totally irrational, I know, but it’s the best way to describe it.

Mikey told me on the day Avery was born that he sure loved her, but he still loved me more. I laughed and told him, “we’ll see. Let’s just wait and see.”

We’re here now. We’re both so in love with this little child, this funny, vivacious, crazy little person, so engrossed in everything she does, every laugh, every cry, every special little noise or movement she makes.

And now we’re paying someone else to enjoy the wonderfulness of her. I feel so jealous and sad today.

I think I’ll give them another call this afternoon to check in, see how things are going. They said I could call as many times as I would like, and I think I’ll make good of their offer.

12/18/09-Five Things Friday

Christmas is a week away today! I cannot believe it!

Haven’t had the opportunity to check in all week…BUSY at work. What’s with the people coming out of the woodwork at Christmas, applying for disability knowing they aren’t disabled? Sheesh! Leaves me NO time for blogging!

Anyway, I thought I’d change things up a bit and post one of my many email meme forwards I’ve gotten through the years. I added a few questions of my own, too.

Happy Friday!

 

Five Jobs I’ve had in my life.  

            Worked in a Coffeehouse in the NC Mountains

            News Director for TV62 at WCU

            Brew Thru Girl

            Data Entry Clerk at Beyond Fitness

            Disability Specialist

 

Five movies I’ve watched more than once:

 

                 Dumb and Dumber

                 Friends Till the End (this silly Lifetime Movie starring Shannen Doherty that I just LOVE for some reason!)

                All the Terminator Movies

                Titanic

                Twilight (yes, I’m a closet Twi-hard. I admit it!)

                The Notebook

               All the Friday the 13^th and Halloween movies. I think I know every cheesy line by heart!

 

Five places I’ve lived: 

              Utica, NY

              Wake Forest, NC

              Wilmington, NC

              Cullowhee, NC

              Raleigh, NC
 

Five places I’ve been on Vacation:

                   The Bahamas (twice)

                   Boston

                   San Antonio

                   Jamaica

                   Washington DC
 

Five people whom I regularly talk to:

                       Mikey and Avery :P

                        Kelly

                        Ellie

                        Kat

                        Julie

                        Brooklyn

Five of my favorite foods:

                    Spinach Enchiladas (or anything Mexican)

                    Sushi

                   Gyros (or anything Greek)

                    Spicy Chili or Stuffed Cabbage Soup

                   Any kind of seafood

                   Pasta

 …I think I’ve listed more than 5….

 

Five places I’d rather be right now:

Home and not at work

In a cozy cabin by a lake in the mountains, with a mug of hot apple cider and brandy and Mikey in the chair next to me

On a beach in some exotic location, a drink in my hand and Mikey in the chair next to me.

At the mall, shopping with tons of money to burn.

Anywhere at all that Avery Isabella happens to be.

 

Five things I’m looking forward to this year:

Avery’s First Birthday!

Putting Avery in daycare

Doing some rearranging and consolidating in the house this spring

Putting a lot of stress behind us

Getting our finances under control

Five T.V. Shows that I regularly watch:

            Glee

            Rachael Ray Show

            So You Think You Can Dance

            The Vampire Diaries

            Grey’s Anatomy

            Lost

 

Five Things I’ve Learned About Myself in the Past Year:

            * I obviously cannot count to five…most of these questions have more than five answers.

            * I’m best under pressure. And I’m one HELL of a multi-tasker.

            * I’ve learned to accept things I cannot change right now and try not to stress myself to death about it, but to put forth tiny steps in the direction to eventually change it.

            * I have a sleeping problem. My name is Heather and I’m a narcoleptic sleepaholic. (This isn’t something new; I’ve known it for awhile.)

            * I am a better mother to my child than I ever thought I was capable of. I’m proud of myself.

…And I love her more than I ever thought my heart and soul could. And that’s saying a LOT!