Crappety crap. I just lost a post due to my own stupidity. Anyways I didn't finish the earlier post like I was supposed to so here goes. Last night on my way home from work I was weirded out by getting motion sickness while I was driving! This was later fended away though by a weird craving for Scholtzkys Deli, which still lingers. The closest one to my house is about 15 minutes north, but a quick search a few minutes ago showed that there is one about 6 minutes from work! Woot! Now I should probably call Erich and see if I can get a sandwich using my Paypal Debit/CC which we earn money from everytime we use it. Anywho, met with the agent from Erie Insurance this morning. I told him that I had done some research on the company (cause he asked, since I wasn't familiar with it) and also mentioned that I had also asked my stepfather about it since he sells insurance too. (He just joined farm bureau and is in training, but afterwards he says that he is going to take care of us and even give an discount that comes directly out of his commission, isn't he sweet?) My stepfather said that Erie has a reputation for being a "one claim and you're out" kind of company. The agent denied it (as my stepdad and I both agreed he would) and said he had several customers who had filed claims and not been dropped. Heh. Anyhow, I rattled his feathers kinda like I had intended to just to see how he handled the situation. IMHO he handled it well, though I could still tell it sorta perturbed him.

I'm at work. It hasn't been so bad today. She had me print off the entire alphabet off of this site for a doctor who says that he does indeed have logolepsy: an obsession with words. It was close to 700 pages and it took up most of the morning. I ate a big lunch of stuffed shells and cantaloupe and strawberries. It made me feel great. I've also been munching continuously throughout the day which has also helped my stomach! This afternoon I created a resume for a lady using Resume Deluxe. If only I could somehow make some money doing resumes for people and typing papers/documents/etc. How would I even go about that though?

I've also been working on my FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) status. It's basically to cover my butt for the absences when I was in the hospital and for future days when I just don't feel like coming into work. Hmph. I will be quitting though before I should require Maternity Leave. I'm not coming back to this hellhole. It just isn't cost effective for us to pay for daycare and gas for me to come to work for eight hours a day just to make like $50 in the end. Thank you very much I'll stay home with my baby. (Unless I get that job as a nanny I talked about a few days ago! Cross your fingers!) Well that's all for now...

Well, there is a new picture up of me and Erich and "the belly." :) You can see it here. Of course he made it look better after I left by cropping it and turning it into black and white. Bah. I'll order some prints of the pics off of Shutterfly tonight. There is a cute one of Ella and me on the couch too! Must finish this post in five minutes... brb

I guess I have neglected to write about the "great insurance stink" which I have to come to refer to it. So here goes. Remember back in February when that awful lady hit the truck while we were in the house ? Well, we filed an uninsured motorist claim with Geico, our insurance carrier at the time, to pay for the damage. Because that is why we have insurance, right? To cover accidents. Anyways. We were unhappy, both coming from smaller towns, to have to deal with a big giant like Geico. Never did we speak to the same person on the phone, each time we would have to explain the entire situation over and rattle off numerous numbers, dates, times, places, etc. The insurance carriers I had had "growing up" never put me through this. They knew me by name and if something happened they took care of it. I hardly ever had to follow up because they called me before I could call them. Anyways. We weren't terribly thrilled with Geico. So in May we closed on our house and purchased home insurance through Sentry. We were then told, as most are, that if we moved our car insurance to Sentry that it would be cheaper for both home and auto. So we did with the fact that it was cheaper and that we would have an agent who, in theory, would be more readily available to help us! woot! So we switch over, then trade in the truck for the Vibe. When I call to switch over the vehicle I want to know the difference in insuring the vehicles, as most would, right? Well, the agent promises me he will call back, does he, nope. When we ask him what form of contact is better, phone or email, he says cell phone and email. So Erich and I start this wild soap opera of emailing and phoning this guy. To make a long story short, the dude pissed me off by not returning phone calls or emails and lying to me directly on one of the few occasions I was able to reach him. I'm mad and ready to switch (even though it is tons of hassle) but we agree to talk to his manager and see if another agent is a better "fit". So we go on vacation and leave our great insurance stink soap opera behind. We come home, for me to find a letter from Sentry saying they are dropping us as of 08/07/03 because of the accident in February. You remember, right? The one in which it was not our fault and WE WEREN'T EVEN IN THE CAR? I mean, this is why I dutifully right those check for large sums of money every six months, right? To leave worries behind, have peace of mind that if some idiot hits me I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DAMAGE! Anyways I'm mad so I call my lovely agent, does he call me back? NO! It is now a week and half since I left the message for him to call me IMMEDIATELY. Urgh. So E and hop into a very speeded up process of finding insurance to cover our a** before 08/07 (Thursday). I have since found Erie Insurance. The agent I speak with is very cordial to me (doesn't mind if he speaks to me instead of Erich. Sentry agent treated me like I was the **wife** and would rather speak to Erich.) He returns my phone calls, generally within the hour and quoted us at a price of $400 less than Sentry, $600 less than Geico. Sign me up! I meet with him in the morning to give him a check and sign the application and I couldn't be more than thrilled! Also we are checking into home insurance through Erie and through State Farm. I'm done with Sentry. And I'm going to write a nice long complaint letter with my large quantities of time here in the library to the Sentry guy's manager, corporate office, and better business bureau of Indianapolis. I'm one ticked off pregnant woman, let me tell you!

I have that little nerd counter at the bottom of this page. Every time I am looking at my page though it says 1 user. I just looked a minute ago and it said 2! wowee! Someone actually reads this! :)

Dishes are done! Woot! My list is coming along nicely I do believe. Scratching them off one by one. I'm off to do the tub now. Need to put new tile treads down (Erich got the old ones all stained when he stained the deck.) To put the new ones on, the tub must be clean clean clean, and then they have to stay dry overnight!

To Do:

Tub Treads

Look at my cleaning list from Friday! It feels so good to cross stuff off, even if it is just in cyberspace! :) Now I'm off to do dishes...

I'm behind again...


Unconscious Mutterings
Week 25

1. Partner:: love
   
2. Goddess:: child
   
3. Village:: people
   
4. Relationships:: counselor
   
5. Irrational:: behavior
   
6. Volcano: joe vs. the volcan
   
7. Fabulous:: people!
   
8. Unencumbered:: person
   
9. Coyotes:: Ugly
   
10. Fulfilled:: dream
    

Week 26

1. Hook:: captain
   
2. Greg:: t*******
   
3. Sixty:: something
   
4. Breakfast:: yucky
   
5. Dollar:: days
   
6. Unpredictable:moods
   
7. O:: oooooooooo
   
8. Bathing suit:: blues
   
9. Inconsiderate:: jerk
   
10. Marx:: brothers?
    

No cure for cancer? :(

I love my husband and hate my job. Yup, that about sums up my day. More later.

We have a new couch! Well, it's new to us at least. Passed down from my mom, it's a bit nicer (though I went ahead and put my sofa slip on it) and it is lighter (it doesn' thave a sleeper in it). So that's nice. I do dream of the day when I can go buy my very own sofa from the store, to match my house, and not have to cover it up. And I dream of the day I can buy a DR set, but that will be a while. Oh well, back to cleaning!

I have a lot of stuff that needs to get done. I'm going to post on here for accountability. I am not titling this a "to do list" but

Things I'd LIKE to Get Done!

(in no particular order)

1) finish laundry
a) carry upstairs and put away
2) wash dishes
a) put away
3) sweep/vacuum LR, DR, hall, and kitchen
4) mop kitchen
5) mop wood floors on main level
6) sweep upstairs
7) mop "nursery"
8) steam clean carpet upstairs
9) dust LR
10) windex windows
11) finish blankets
a) Mel
b) Rachel




After all of this posting, it is still barey 2:30. I'm going to go nuts!

So other good news on the home front is that my wonderful husband got his review back. He got a 4 out of 5 (they never give 5 out of 5) and received a 5% raise! Thank you Lord!

The lady I regularly babysit for called me on Monday morning to ask me a question. Long story short, she is currently a SAHM. She was offered to interview for a job position with the company she worked with before kids. She would like to take the job as her husband wants to go back to school and concentrate on their "side" business of building $500, 000 houses. She says she wouldn't think of taking the job unless someone she knew and trusted could come and watch their two (fabulously adorable) babies. They instantly thought of me (and why wouldn't they! ha!) and offered to pay me what I make here at the hospital. 40 hours a week, though she would most likely only work 3 days a week after she was "settled." They offered paid vacations, coverage for maternity leave, and offered to help pay for COBRA until the baby was born. What am I, stupid? Of course I'll do it! She interviews with the job on August 14. She says there will probably be a couple of interviews and she expects to start (as long as the situation works for EVERYONE) by the end of September early October. WOOT! Please keep me in your thoughts and hope that she ends up with this job. It would get me out of this hell hole AND I'd be able to continue working WITH my baby after s/he is born, which would be a definite bonus!

Okay so I definitely need to do a bit of catching up. It seems I only whine about how sick I've been, but I'm feeling a ton better. Morning sickness is almost definitely gone (knock on wood.) I look pregnant and feel a bit better. Since the beginning of the pregnancy I've lost 15 pounds! Wow. No wonder people keep telling me I look thinner pregnant! My arms and thighs and even belly look thinner, except for the part of my belly that my uterus is growing in to. Did that make sense? I'll post a picture sometime soon. :)

The trip was a lot of fun though we did a TON of driving. We loved being in our new car though, and it was fun to have Ella, my puppy, with us. We started off Friday by heading to Kansas City, MO to see E's aunt. She took us to a place called the Golden Ox. It was quite pricey (gotta love her for paying!) at about $25 a plate, but it sincerely was an awesome steak. Baby and I quite enjoyed the ENTIRE meal. We headed that night to see his grandma and stay there. I love Nadine to pieces, she speaks her mind and is hilarious! She is in kidney failure and goes to dialysis three times a week, and I was glad to visit with her since she hasn't been well lately.

Saturday we took Nadine for a ride in the car. She doesn't really get out much, just to go to and from dialysis, so she loved it. She showed us her properties. Her husband and her were quite successful and she owns quite a bit of land IMHO. Erich and I have many times discussed how the land will be divided out and such. Obviously Nadine is in this for the long haul, and though quite sick, doesn't show signs of giving up any time soon. And we obviously don't want her to die it's just one of those things that are always in the back of your mind. Anyways, the land would go to his parents and aunt first (we think.) There is some talk of it going straight to us (the grandkids) but who knows! We did go to Sonic that day. I had been craving it but the closest Sonic to Nadines house was a half an hour away, so we had decided (in our telepathic communication) that we wouldn't go and I could just wait till one came along the way, but Nadine piped up that she wanted a cherry limeade (hahaha) so we had to go.

After Sonic, we dropped Nadine off, said our goodbyes and headed to the other Grandmas in Dixon, MO. We were there way before dinner which generally sucks because it is just as boring there as it is here at work. Dinner was fabulous though, I'm not sure if it was just because baby and myself were so hungry or that it actually was good. We had pot roast, baked potatoes, sweet carrots, and green beans from the garden. Not to forget the homeade dinner rolls and three different kinds of pies! We spent that night looking at family trees and discussing girls names. I really like the name Madeline which comes from Magdelana of the bible. There are at least 2 Magdelenas in the family line, so I could win that debate over Madeline, though Magdelena is growing on me now since it has a Spanish flair to it also. Though we are pretty sure in our guts that this is a boy, but we could be wrong! We'll find out in September at 20 weeks!

We left Grandma on Sunday early AM. We ate lunch at Lamberts Cafe : Home of the Throwed Rolls We had a 45 minute wait at 1130am but it was worth it. All you can eat everything. And of course there were throwed rolls from across the room, the first one hit me smack dab in the forehead, priceless huh?

We left Lamberts throughly stuffed and headed to Nashville, TN and checked in to our hotel. We wandered around Nashville and visited the Grand Ole Opry much to my delight. It was big and beautiful and I swore I'd be back to sing there someday, ha!

Monday we left for my Nanas house. She lives on a lake in Sharps Chapel, TN. The lake is Norris Lake. The lake is truly beautiful and a sparkling emerald green. We had time for a boat ride before an evil storm came in and took away our fantasy's of swimming. Ella seemed to enjoy the boat ride though.

That night we headed to Lexington, KY to stay in another motel. Tuesday we took our time getting home and just lazied around. My cousin Matt from CA was in town and visited with us that evening. It was great to get away from home, we just wish we had had more time!

I really, truly hate work. I have to tell you all about a job offer on the horizon that would be oh so wonderful! More on that later. Going to read some more blogs. :)

I've got beef cooking in the crock pot. I will add noodles before I go to bed and we'll have beef and noodles tomorrow. Yum.. my favorite. Is it wrong to eat beef noodles in the morning for breakfast? I think now for dinner, I'm going to make hamburger helper beef stroganoff. Another favorite of mine. It's been at least 12 hours since I have puked last. My appetite is strong, I may take some phenegran right before I eat just in case . Saturday I will be 14 weeks~ yahoo! Maybe I will be one of those lucky duckys who start to feel quickening around 15 weeks. Oh and I just think that Rachel is the coolest most awesomest girlie ever, don't you?

I think the worst part of being pregnant with the flu has to be that I am still hungry. I know that baby is feasting off of my "maternal reserves" (and I have plenty) which is why I'm losing weight so fast, but I'm still hungry. A bowl of cereal looks good, and right now spaghetti sounds delightful. I may try the spaghetti later, Dr. King said I should be feeling tons better. And I am, it's just that eating is hard on a weak stomach, ya know?

I forgot to say that we heard a much stronger (stronger=louder, obviously cause babys getting bigger!) heartbeat at the doctors office. Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh. Baby must have been asleep to stay so still! :) She says baby sounds great and is tougher than we think. I just love my doctor. She is so awesome! Okay sick or not sick, I must get laundry done. You know it's bad when Erich asks me to do laundry. I'm usually much more on top of it! :)

I have the flu and I've lost another pound and a half.

Well, plans changed. They had me go ahead and come into the office to get a shot of nausea medicine (I refused to go back to the hospital) and told me to go home, lay down, and try eating clear liquids. So after the shot I came home and had some beef noodle soup. After I had just finished putting the bowl in the kitchen sink, my stomach cried out "oooo food, go away go away" and the soup listened. At least it was something light and not substantial. I hate puking. My mom is on her way down to go with me to the doctors office at 3. I'm hungry again, I may try eating some more soup in like half an hour or 45 minutes. The way I figure is that even if I puke it up, I may be getting some nutrition. That baby is probably hungry! More later. Hope all of you feel wonderful.

I'm puking again. Dangit. Awful awful puking. I'm tired of feeling awful. :( Boo. They are having me come into the office today at 3. I would have to leave work by 2 I'm wondering if I can make it here until then. At 12 o'clock I'll have been here for four hours, which is counted as a full day of work. I can just tell them I had a doctor appointment (which I do) and that won't be lying. I'm probably close to be laid off with me being on limited duty and sickly this last week or so. Especially since they are "cleaning house." I don't care. There is another great opportunity on the horizon that I will have to tell you about, when I don't feel so stinking awful.

I'm here on vacation. We've made it to Tennessee~ just online to check up on my favorite ladies, then time for dinner. Going to Lexington,KY tonight, then to Cincinnatti tomorrow, we'll be home tomorrow night~ :)