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Showing posts from November, 2007

Well SOMEBODY'S getting a good present this year....

thanks to ME. Hmph. Just found an $899 fraudulent charge on my credit card for a place in Oregon selling sailing supplies... WTH. That pisses me off. I'm very careful with credit card info (although I do shop online now and then) and we burn everything with an important number on it. I'm highly annoyed by this. Of course the vendor's phone just rings & rings and then goes to an answering machine even though this is during "business hours." Luckily the people at the credit card were nice about it, reversed the charge and canceled my card. I'm still irritated that people have to suck so much. Did they think I WOULDN'T notice an extra $899 on my bill? Ha! Yeah, right.

O Christmas Tree!

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I put our tree up on Sunday (Monday?) afternoon but we hadn't had time to get the lights on and it decorated yet. Steve is the master of all things LIGHTS in our house (from lamps, to dimmer switches, to different wattages & colors of lightbulbs to Christmas lights) and he didn't want me messing with the lead-filled light cords so I waited (mostly patiently) til he had time to get the lights on so I could decorate. I love his preciseness in this task. He makes sure the tree looks lovely & perfectly lit and that makes me happy. I'm much more "slap-dash" about everything myself so it's nice to sit back once in a while and watch a perfectionist at work. Then I come in and throw the ornaments on....and then we fill in the gaps together. I'm so happy to have it up *early* (for us) this year. I wanted to be able to enjoy it before more craziness sets in. I absolutely love the mellow light it throws off and I think it's about time to pull out the Chri

Exciting News!

I've been sitting on this for a while, until it became OFFICIALLY official and now it has so here it goes... Steve got a new job - whohooo!!! (probably more exciting to me than anyone else, but still!) He has been trying to get a forestry job here in Duluth/NE MN for the whole time I have known him. It is not easy to break into this industry as once you're in (esp if you're working for the County or US Gov) you stay in until you retire. We could've moved to bumf**k no where - but we wanted to stay in Duluth, on the North Shore where we love it so much and VOILA! After about 4 years he's in!! The process was long - it involved testing (he had to test every year to stay on the hiring roster), a pre-interview assignment (about a timber sale or something...), a 6-panel member interview, a field assignment during said interview, a physical endurance test & a drug test. At long last all the hurdles have been jumped! He will be a forestry technician trainee and he will

Baby Laundry

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Ah my first loads of baby laundry! I loved it but know that will pass quickly enough. It was just so much fun to take everything out and sort & wash/dry & fold it. Now if we could just get the baby's room DONE so I can put it away. Hmph. I have 3 options for a "going home" outfit....I'm trying to decide which I think will work the best. Of course not knowing how big Baby B is that might be difficult until later but at least there are options. Wheeeee! Me? I'll be wearing my uniform of late - black velour sweatsuit (jump suit?) which I love. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs from my sister. In other news - I didn't screw up dinner last night. Thank goodness. It would've been pretty hard to screw up anyway. I picked a recipe & bought ingredients. I had Steve throw everything in the crockpot around lunchtime yesterday...I added some peas & onions and voila! "Easy Chicken Ala King" - I even made biscuits (okay - trans-fat free bisquic

Because I am an idiot

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Meigan was kind enough to send me some diabetic recipes to try out and because I'm getting sick of a slab of meat + a measly 1/2 cup of carbs I thought - why not! I love making soups and was excited to try the Ginger Carrot Soup. Plus I would get to use my oh-so-neglected food processor. It's so fun to use but I just don't have use for it that much. Martha always uses hers for everything...but I haven't been very "Martha-ish" lately. So, I got home after running some errands, chopped everything, used some turkey broth that I had been saving in my freezer for base (I'm always excited to get to use that too), threw it all in a pot and let it cook for about an hour. It smelled delish. By the time an hour was up I was starving. I cut up some crusty bread (mmmm....) and called Steve to the table. However, I didn't FINISH the recipe! DUH. I served my husband this: Yes, that's right - it looks like carrots and peeled tomatoes in a watery broth. We ate it

34w - How is this possible?

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Time is seriously flying. When I think back on this pregnancy I remember in June, July, August...etc that it was so far away - Baby B's arrival was just a potential date on a calendar. A date in the winter. A date when there'd probably be snow and the holidays would be over. And now....it is imminent. That is scary. I'm not ready. I am mentally preparing and we're doing things around the house but the actual thought of bringing the little one home is terrifying to me. I understand that these are normal feelings but OH MY GOD. I'm excited too. I did the first couple loads of baby laundry last night and I can't wait to snuggle up with the little one wearing these itty bitty clothes. The thought of bonding with our child - of playing, kissing, cuddling, hugging, nursing, loving Baby B is overwhelming. And when we can start doing things outside our house as a family - that is a thrilling prospect. I guess it's just a continuation of the roller coaster ride an

Victory!

Holy Cow! The Vikings actually just WON a game...and I actually watched about 5-10 minutes of it. Not that it really matters at this point in such a dismal season but hey! I guess we'll take what we can get, right?

Pooped

We're back after a few days away....visiting my family in Austin (the triplets are so yummy I could eat them), visiting Steve's extended family at a reunion full of Swedish foods & lots of family, visiting REI to spend some wedding money (!!!) which we still didn't. Oh well. Tomorrow I'm sleeping in, shooting an interview, picking up a Christmas tree and probably that's about it!

Craziness Revealed

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It's that time of year and I couldn't be happier. Time for decorating, wrapping, Christmas Carols, cards and all the goodies that go along with the holiday season. I don't get sick of it. I love it. I anticipate it. I like feeling warm-holiday-fuzzies, making gifts, giving, receiving, special meals and fresh snowfalls (hopefully!). This year obviously holds extra anticipation and I'm going to try to enjoy every minute of it. This is my super-anal Christmas card list.....going back to 2002 the send/receive list. I always *think* that I'm going to drop losers from my list who I NEVER EVER EVER EVER HEAR FROM....not even once, one time a year in 5 years...but I don't....because I like making & sending cards too much. Basically my list just keeps growing. The card-making has begun and hopefully will be concluded in due fashion.

Thankful

For Steve. For Family. For Friends. For Health. For Happiness. For Creativity. For Love. For so many things... I am thankful. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Put on the Brakes

This day is rapidly going down hill. I blame hormones, lack of sugar, insensitivity of certain people and my flu shot. My arm is starting to get sore. And sadly, that is enough to make me cry right now. Hmph.

Peeking

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This picture was taken last Thursday, but it cracks me up. That's my current view. :) In other news: Baby B is doing great and scored a perfect "8" on his/her 'bio-physical' test today (ultra sound). I also got to see some 3-d images which were cool (Steve thinks it's cheating). I did my usual pee in the cup routine and promptly spilled the pee down the front of my sweatshirt (lovely) and I got a flu shot. My first ever. I'm on the fence about whether or not I think they are *good* thing or a *bad* thing but I figured at least this way when my Mom says "have you gotten a flu shot yet?" I can just say yes and be done with it. We're off to Austin in a few hours so I better go pack!

Hair Cut

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I know, I know. Cardinal rule broken. Don't get your hair cut (short) while pregnant or it will make you look like a pin-head (according to this book )...but I couldn't handle the scragglyness any more. And it's Thanksgiving this week and I'll see my Mom and I didn't want to hear her say "You should really get a haircut." So I figured...if I get it cut "short" now then I won't have to think about it again for another 6 weeks or so..... I don't like it. I rarely do one day into it but I suppose it'll get better when I have more time, figure it out, it grows out, etc. Honestly at this point, I don't care a whole lot. I look *weird* all around so in future years when I look at pictures I'll just blame it all on Baby B - nice, huh? So I had another appointment today at the diabetes clinic. Guess what? I get more insulin! Whohoo. Another shot before dinner (I suspected this would be the case)...and I'm bumping my dosage at lun

Clipping

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to clip my toe nails. AND to put on socks. Hmmm...

Ticking.....

The ticker says 49 days... 49 DAYS!!! but really, 42 days.... or 35 days.... ACK.

That's a Wrap!

Well, for this weekend anyway. I was only on set for about 6 hours today which was great. We got everything cleaned up, put away, returned to normal, packed up and unloaded. I sent our actors off with gas money and memories of a fun weekend. I think the scenes turned out really well and I'm looking forward to reviewing the footage. But I'm taking tomorrow off. Never have I looked forward to a Monday more than this week! Whohoo!

On Set

10 hours on set today...hopefully 8 (or less) tomorrow. We shot 16mm today which is so fun although a lot of "hurry-up-and-wait." The pizza's done now though and Baby B and I am starving so I must go!

32w, 4d - Don't Mess With this Mama

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I think the above photo says it all. Actually I'm feeling pretty good - both mentally & physically - the usual aches, pains, injections (the injections HURT when I do them on the left side of my body, but not my right...weird). I am sort of figuring out what I can eat and what time of day and I *think* some of my BG numbers are more normal. Some are not...I'm sure by Tuesday I'll be on another dose of insulin (before dinner). I still marvel at all the movement and when my belly is lopsided it cracks me up. Sometimes there is such intense pressure & changing of position it's just weird. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't feel bad and it doesn't feel good - it's just weird. And something sort of new yesterday - kicking or punching towards the back...it's weird to feel something on the inside of your body in such a new & distinct way!

Curry

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I made chicken curry last night for dinner. Steve had been requesting it so I finally acquiesed. I'm not a huge curry fan (I'm more of a bland girl) but decided to give it a shot. I used a crock pot recipe. It turned out - okay. It had sweet potatoes in it which I really liked but Steve didn't care for. He really liked the chicken, but I thought it was dry and too spicy (figures). There was also not much sauce...and when I tried to make more (ala water & corn starch) it got too corn starchy and had that icky texture. Then Steve re-heated & added more water to make it more saucy and less starchy but then it lost it's "good" flavor. I think we were both kind of 'eh' about it. I do love jasmine rice and probably ate too much (even though I only had 2 1/2 cup servings which fit into my meal for the night). I ended up way over on my BG levels which leads me to believe I will be on insulin before dinner before too long. *sigh* And I smelled like curr

Injection

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Last night I gave myself my first insulin injection. I am a BIG wimp. The needle is BEYOND TINY. I was about a half-a-step a way from hyper-ventilating and working myself into a tear filled frenzy as I sat in the bathroom with my alcohol swabbed belly exposed, injection pen in hand and Steve encouraging me. I knew it wasn't going to be a big deal but there is something about stabbing yourself with a needle that causes a mind/hand disconnect and I was frozen. Steve offered to do it for me, but I knew I would be alone mostly and would have to suck it up and do it then. Finally after about 5 minutes of NOTHING I said, I can do it but you can't watch. So he left and I did it and it was nothing! The needles that they gave me are tiny. It hurts far less than prick #4 of the day for the BG testing. It goes in, you count to six while holding down the trigger, you take it out. I had a tiny bit of blood and some itchiness afterwards but I think that's normal. This morning's injec

Giraffes!

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Since Baby's B's room has a "jungle animal" theme going on and since we don't know the sex, Laurie chose an entirely WAY too cute shower invitation that featured a giraffe with lots of bright colors. I loved it. At the shower, there were lots of jungle animals - particularly giraffes! Gift bags, clothes, toys, stuffed animals. All so cute - giraffes on outfits, elephants on sleepers, monkeys on toys, full jungles on blankets, etc. The irony of it all is that Steve and I's collective height is about 10 1/2 feet. ha!

A Hypothetical....

What if, say, I accidentally broke something that I had just bought. And yes, that means I'm a total idiot (apparently common WARNING SIGNS and picture labels mean nothing to me). How terribly unethical would it be to just package said hypothetical item back up, return it and repurchase a different one....? Is that beyond terrible? I am having trouble reading picture warnings so something as difficult as navigating a moral compass is way beyond my current capabilities. I blame lack of sugar. Thoughts?

A Rainbow of Fruit Flavors!

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Although I'm not a SUPER huge fan of Jello I don't mind it and thank god for that because it's about the only sweet thing I can eat with wild abandon. No, it IS the only sweet thing I can eat with wild abandon. I am averaging about a box a day right now. Sad, but true. Unfortunately they don't make the 0g carb sugar-free Jello in as many flavors as they do with the regular but ah well. At this point I will take what I can get! I also picked up a few boxes of different flavors as sugar-free pudding. Although the puddings contain a few carbs, every once in a while you've just got to mix things up a bit. In other news, I went to the OB today and it looks like I'll be going every week now (w/ultrasound) until Baby B comes! Yay! More doctor's appointments! My OB also said that if we get the blood sugar numbers under control, we won't go past 39 weeks (!) (crap that's only 7 weeks away!) and if we DON't get the numbers under control, I'll be induce

Oatmeal

I just ate a bowl of oatmeal (27g of carbs) for my before bed snack and I'm STILL hungry. Hmph.

Thoroughly Showered

Yesterday was so much fun. Laurie and Sarah did an awesome job on the shower. The Chick Pea's room is sort of a "jungle theme" and the invites to the shower had a very cute giraffe on them....lots of the stuff at the shower also fit that theme - from sleepers to stuffed animals (the stuffed giraffes are SO CUTE), to jungle toys & a 'jungle chicken' - so cute! I am so grateful and so showered with love it's awesome. What a great feeling. and the BABIES!!!! Holly was there with Miss Claire, Sarah was there with Miss Aurelia, Freya was there with Mr. Johan, my cousin Lindsay was there with Gavin and of course Laurie's little one Kate was there too! It was the first time I got to meet Claire & Aurelia which was so cool! It was a lot of fun to see all the babies. They were all REALLY GOOD too. The food was fantastic. A bit too much so...my numbers were BAD yesterday. Part of me says "eh, whatever..." I'm about 99% sure I'll be on i

Forecast: Showers

I'm off to the Twin Cities today as my lovely & fabulous friends Laurie & Sarah are throwing me a baby shower! I cannot wait to see these lovely ladies and all the fabulous lovely ladies that are there (whom I haven't seen in ages!!) and some family too! I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Afterwards the "girls" in my family are going to stay at a hotel to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday. I am so looking forward to girl time, family time, pool time, no-working-time. Eeeek. And Now...I must be off! Til tomorrow...

The First Snow Fall

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We had our first snowfall this morning. It was such a treat to wake up and see the frosty whiteness. The trees are gorgeous. It's not much and I'm sure it'll disappear but it's very refreshing, nonetheless. Last night Miss M & I went to see BEE MOVIE . I thought it was very cute. I loved the animation and the story - although silly - was nice. Miss M & I had a lot of time to sit and chat which was good. She's so darn cute. Next week we're going to the Mentor Duluth 10-Year Anniversary celebration so that'll be another opportunity to catch up with her.

Better...

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I think today is better but I've been staying far away from the allotted 60g of carbs for meals and relying on more of the above for fuel. Eggs, peanuts, carrots, meat sticks. My numbers yesterday were all over the map - mostly way too high. Last night after dinner though I was in the range. This morning when I woke up - too high. After breakfast & lunch? In the range. So who knows. I'm still starving and I think that is the thing that worries me right now the most. I just want to make sure Baby B (and me!) is getting enough to eat.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

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Today is my Mom's 60th birthday! Whohoo! Happy Birthday MOM!!

31w, 3d - There's a Baby in There!

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"There's a Baby in There" is often what Steve & I will exclaim to each other when we're watching Baby B move around, or when we're marveling at the growth of my girth each day. It's sort of a HOLY SHIT moment that we can't quite get over. I'm running out of clothes to wear....doh. Hopefully I'll get through the next 2 months with enough pants & shirts to not embarrass myself. My jacket situation is sad - my winter coat is no where near zippable and the cape is just not working for me. Not shoulders (to sling my bag) and it's hard to drive, etc in it. oh well. At least it was on sale.

Starving...

I'm starving and afraid to eat. I guess I will go home and have more cheese, veggies and anything else that I don't have to "count" for my pre-dinner snack. *sigh*

Poked & Prodded

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Yesterday I met with the OB Diabetes Clinic staff - well, it FELT like meeting with the whole staff. I was there for 3 1/2 hours. I met with a Diabeteologist, an RN and a Nutritionist. I had a medical history taken, a physical exam, labs ordered, fingers pricked; I was walked through a booklet on what GD is and how it can affect me and Baby B; I learned how to use the blood testing "gear" - the meter and test strips, how to load the lancets into the thing and get them ready for action. I learned how to use the insulin pen, change the needles, etc. We talked about what I eat in a normal day, we talked about what (or how much) I should (can) eat (carbs). We made a "plan." I had three tubes of blood drawn (thyroid okay? vitamin D defincient? and something I can't remember) and then FINALLY I got to leave. It was informative, a bit scary (I REALLY don't want to have to use insulin; I'm a wimp and afraid of stabbing myself in the side), overwhelming, etc. I f

Success!

Don Ness is our new mayor - whohooo!

VOTE!

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Today is election day. I hope if you have local elections happening you've gotten out to vote! Or will before the polls close tonight. We have a big race in Duluth this year. Mayor. The candidates are 33 year old Don Ness who is energetic, young (duh), progressive, endorsed DFL candidate, a HUGE doer in the city - organizing many arts events, young professional organizations and tons of side projects. He's also been on the City Council for the past 8 years. I did some video editing for his campaign website and well, you can guess who I voted for. The other candidate is Charlie Bell - a business man in his 50's who ran for mayor last time 'round and lost. He's very pro-business and has a lot of ideas about that but never seems to have any answers in debates or concrete plans. He's a nice enough person (or so it appears) but not a lot of umph, in my opinion. He's the Republican in the race. There is also a City Council at Large race, a couple of amendments to

Baby Baby Baby

I'm starting to sound like that's all I think about! Well....it sort of is! So, yeah, 31 weeks today; 9 weeks to go. I think it will be less. My gut has always been "New Year's Baby" but now I just have this feeling that Baby B will be coming sooner rather than later. I don't know why I have this feeling I just do. Probably because Mama wants a big glass of wine & some chocolate cake! (just kidding....sort of...). I think I have noticed my first few stretch marks (I can't see them that well though due to the angle...). Damn that pisses me off. My Mom & sister have NONE and I'm about to cry foul!! Steve says it doesn't matter to him, but I say it matters to ME. *sigh* I continue to lather on the belly butter although I'm pretty sure that's only to make me feel better mentally. Steve's Mom bought Steve the "Christmas Snoopy" from Hallmark (it has a Charlie Brown Christmas tree on his t-shirt & lights up/plays the Pea

Park Point

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Steve & I went out for some fresh air before starting on the baby's room this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day - especially for November in Duluth. The sky & lake were so blue, the air crisp, the temperature mild. It was lovely. I didn't walk as far as Steve - I opted to bring my blanket and book and spent some time relaxing on the beach. The sound of the waves was fantastic and it was a beautiful day.

Back to the Rez

We have one more small shoot on the Rez today. It should be fun. It should be painless. It SHOULD be the last time we go to the Rez. We're about 85% in the can for this film, thank god, as I'm getting seriously burnt out. We've been in production (on two films) for going on the 6th month now and it's getting old. I need a break. I need to clean my house. I need to work on Christmas presents. I need to finish (start?!) the baby's room.

Now You're Speaking My Language:

Click

The Birthday Boy

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Steve's birthday was on Wednesday - Halloween Baby. :) He had his interview that day, he visited his great-aunt (those events were up on "the Range"); he had to do some work and he took a hike when he returned home. I picked him up and shuttled him back to his car after his hike...we got pizza from Papa Murphy's, handed out some candy to trick-or-treaters (where Steve re-learned the "don't-let-them-grab-candy-themselves" rule), we had a Chocoholic Bundt Cake, he opened presents & we watched a creepy show on the Travel Channel. By time we had eaten & he had opened his gifts we were sort of pooped. He had a long day and I'm generally a dud these days. So we didn't go out for that b-day drink - the thought of hanging out with drunk, dressed up people just wasn't that appealing after a long day. I don't think he had that GREAT of a birthday but I tried to do what I could. Hopefully next year we'll do something more spectacular for