Odds & Ends

Happy Belated Birthday to me! In honor of my 33 years I thought I would share some strange coincidences, odd stories and interesting facts about yours truly.

I spent four days in a hospital in this french city. For four long days I'd look out my hospital window to see this and wonder how in the heck I ended up so far away from home.

George Clooney & I had a "moment". This is 100% true! I was 22 at the time & looking pretty cute in a tight green sweater. Believe it or not, I was hip, thin and cute at one time. Maybe one day I'll dig up my headshot & post it here to prove it. Anyway, I was having drinks with some friends at The Dresden in Hollywood. I looked across the bar & saw Clooney himself sitting at a table. We locked eyes for a few seconds & he gave me smile and I smiled back. End of story.

Before we moved into our new house with lived directly next door to a school for hearing impaired children. This is the school Sydney currently attends. I never gave the place too much thought prior to Sydney's diagnosis. When Sydney was two months old I went next door to speak with them and get advice. While in the audiologists 2nd floor office I happened to glance out the window & as I looked down I could see right into my bedroom window. It's hard for me to put into words what it was like to see my bedroom from that perspective.

I love love love holiday decorations!

When I was 14 I went to Europe with my mom and older brother. We stayed in an old hotel in Bruges, Belgium for one night. That night I dreamt that I was wearing knight's armor. I was out of breath and running down a long hallway draped in dark red velvet. It looked like blood dripping from the walls. It felt like it was becoming harder and harder to breath. I woke up from the dream and I had this feeling that there was a man sitting in the corner of the room on a chair. He seemed angry. I was completely terrified even though my mom & brother were sleeping in the same room. I was paralyzed with fear. I hid under the covers until the sun came out.

I make a mean strawberry shortcake.

In my entire life I have only been without a pet for 3 months. It felt strange to me. My animals drive me crazy. Tonight Woody ate a diaper & Lily was chasing a mosquito and ended up spilling milk on my camera. I was so mad but I still love every crazy moment in this zoo. I think maybe I secretly love the furry chaos.

I swam in the Indian Ocean.

I'll share more stories in the future but now it's your turn! Share something about yourself with me.

Skeleton Baby Madrid! 18 weeks and 4 days.

My fur babies!

My belly between 19 and 20 weeks

Charlie Brown Madrid - 18 weeks & 4 days

Sorry I've been M.I.A. Work has been stressful & crazy and the last thing I feel like doing is logging online once I get home. Things have been busy at home as well. Stephen & I have been organizing the house and rearranging furniture. I even did some gardening & replaced our dead potted plants. The nesting instinct has come early! We're also busy preparing for Christmas! Yippeee! I love Christmas! The only bummer is that I'll be working over the holidays. My office is closed but they need two of us to be there to collect & process donations. Grrr...Oh well. It will be the last year of that B.S. At least I can slack off & maybe even bring Woody to work to keep me company. I'm really frustrated with work right now and even though I know that I'll be out of there soon I can't exactly have the attitude of a "short timer". I still have to act as though I care. It's hard to care about anything else when all I can think about is this baby. I'm daydreaming about the baby all day. I can't wait to be a full time mommy!

I had my BIG ultrasound last week. We held strong and did not find out the sex. I didn't even see anything that gave me any idea of what it might be. They did all the measurements & then the tech brought Stephen in to show us both the baby moving around. It was so cool. The baby was moving it's arms & waving at us. At one point the baby turned it's head and grinned at us. It was so funny! The ultrasound photos weren't that detailed but they were still pretty amazing. One of the photos the baby has a Charlie Brown profile and on the other it looks like a little skeleton. We also got a photo of the little legs and feet which is so cute. After the ultrasound Stephen and I went to dinner at the mall & I bought some maternity clothes & belly butter. My belly is growing leaps & bounds and I'm terrified of stretch marks - among other things! I got a glimpse of my naked self in the mirror and I was like Whoa, whose beer belly is that!!!??? My body has changed so much and despite the warm and fuzzy feeling I am having about having this little baby growing in my belly I am feeling a little self conscious. I can't wait to get back on my mountain bike again. I'm hoping to be riding again by July...but we will see how I feel and if I have the time and energy.

The other news in the Madrid house is that our little dachshund Woody was neutered. Poor guy! He really needed it though. He had become quite the little nightmare and was enamored with the cat. He had his surgery on Friday and by Sunday my little man was back! I forgot how sweet and loving the old Woody was! Those hormones made him a terror. He's healing up nicely and hasn't exhibited any of his bad behaviour. The only problem now is that it's raining and he refuses to go outside to pee! We keep puppy pads for him but the little devil peed in his bed this afternoon. I guess it's better there then on the carpet!...My pets are so lovable. I know that they are inevitably going to have to take the backseat when the baby comes but I am going to really try hard to give all my babies love. I've been doing some research about introducing the baby to the animals. Luckily they are angels with my baby nephew. People keep telling me how the animals will be kicked to the curb when the baby comes but I think any loving and dutiful pet owner has the responsibility of making time for their pets as well. The baby will come first but I am adamant about making time for the fur babies as well.

Tomorrow I will be 20 weeks! That means I am officially at the half way point. Boy, does time fly! I am just over the moon with excitement. By the way, I have had 4 baby dreams! Here's what they were about:
1. I had an indian baby girl

2. I had the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen

3. My belly grew like a pyramid (it was a Boy)

4. I had an adorable baby boy & Stephen grabbed him & ran off. (LOL)..

So far...I'm 2 and 2 with dreaming of the sex of the baby. My mother's intuition stinks!