Ki Row Prak Ter

I have been seeing a chiropractor off and on for about seven years now for an embarrassing incident in seventh grade involving a somersault. Years later I decided to go to a general practitioner, but the exercises he gave me weren't enough. My mom occasionally goes to the chiropractor so I decided to give her doctor a try. He was able to solve my problems over the course of a year. I was so grateful! Two years later I had another accident involving snow sledding that re-injured the same cervical vertebrae. I no longer live in the city of my original chiropractor so I've been hopping around trying to find a doctor that fits my needs and availability.

I think I have finally found The One (thanks to co-worker Rachel). He used to be a physical therapist for sports teams so he has an extensive background with muscle work. I was very impressed when he told me that he could adjust my back a hundred times, but it will never last if I don't have the musculature to hold the bones in place. Each time I have gone for an adjustment he has added an exercise to my daily routine that is specific to my problem area. For once, I felt like this guy was not trying to con me out of money.

To top it off, he has a massage therapist in his practice and my insurance covers it. Can you believe it?! I was ecstatic. I am going to wait another two weeks before I see her. My entire back from the shoulder blades up is always terribly sore. I'm hoping that after a few more adjustments I won't be in as much pain before I go into the massage therapist. I know I'll be crawling out the door afterwards, but I'd like to have the best start possible. Things are looking up for my neck and that's the best news I've had in a long time.

Holy Gale Force Winds, Batman!

Ok well maybe not gale force, but it was blustery yesterday! The Weather Channel said strong winds would sweep the country and I am confident it reached Galveston. I work in a group of tall buildings and they form what we like to call a wind tunnel. When I went out for lunch yesterday I was nearly knocked off my feet. Literally! It died down a bunch by this morning but it's a little more chilly. I am thankful I'm not up in Chicago at the moment. The reporter on the Weather Channel had snow blowing horizontally behind her while she reported a high of 20 degrees for the day. Yuck.

Travis and I had quite the experience last night. I was putting away the dishes and I showed him a shot glass that our friend Jenna brought back from Vegas (thanks!) when I accidentally dropped it directly on my wedding band that I had taken off while doing the dishes. The glass didn't break, but my ring fell down into the freaking dishwasher. !!! Instead of flipping out, I internalized my fear and stopped breathing while Travis crawled into the dishwasher to see if he could find it. No sign of it. He had to take the entire washing mechanism apart before he spied it in the depths of the machine. Ten minutes after the start of the hunt he was using a wire to fetch it. I got a lecture on throwing my wedding band around. Like I did it on purpose. Sheesh. Then I started to breathe again.

A week sans junk

I went a whole week without any of my vices!! Well, almost. My goal was no sweets, caffeine or alcohol for seven days. On Day 5, it slipped my mind 100% (I swear) when our friends Chris and Alexa came over for dinner and brought along fresh baked Otis Spunkmeyer cookies for dessert. I only had one chocolate chip cookie, but I was sooo mad at myself when I realized my blunder. It's a little funny because I couldn't believe how good it was. Then I realized it was probably due to the fact that I hadn't had any sweets for five days. Or maybe it's because they were Otis Spunkmeyer. Yummy. My only other goof was on Day 6. That's the day I went diving and then I had planned to go for a walk with my friend Shannon before dinner. I needed something to tide me over that could be consumed on-the-go and all I could find was a soda. I chose Sprite over Cherry Coke since it doesn't have caffeine. Somehow that made me feel better. LOL! I only drank half of it though. That also makes me feel a little better.

So maybe I don't have the will power of an ox, but I think I did pretty good. I do feel better all together. I even feel like maybe my jeans fit a little looser now, though it may not be enough for others to notice. For Valentine's Day, Travis got me a box of individually wrapped Toblerone chocolates. They are my favorite chocolate ever and I decided on Day 2, while I was staring at the box sitting on our TV room coffee table, that they would be my treat when this is all over. I'm looking forward to that piece of heaven for dessert tonight. Ahhh, vices. I appreciate them oh so much more now.

Diving the South Pacific

I finally remembered to pass off my camera before a dive! I volunteer at the aquarium at Moody Gardens in Galveston once or twice a month. It took me a year to get the guts to take the written and in-water tests. It had been so long since I'd been diving that I wanted to have a little refresher beforehand. Courtesy of my dad, Travis got certified to dive last fall and I went along to brush up on everything. That gave me the push I needed to get in the tanks at Moody.

Volunteering means that I get to do the grunt work first, fun stuff second. A usual day at the South Pacific exhibit consists of cleaning the acrylics ("glass" on the front of the tanks that the guests view through), preparing food for the day and then diving the tank. I've only dived twice in this exhibit before: once for my check out dive and to observe a feeding and once to observe then feed a little. Yesterday was my first chance to feed the entire time. I still had to go with a buddy, Robin, so she did the bulk of the feeding. I got to do the herbivore broadcast, where I throw a bunch of herb gel into the water for all the small fish, and then I fed the sting rays. They are my favorite! I've fed them from the surface before, so I already knew what to do. Unfortunately, they were mobbing my dive buddy the whole time, so I had to catch them as the swam by me.

The bulk of the feeding occurs in front of the main viewing acrylic, so that the guests can watch the show. After that, we swam around and searched for the moray eels. Robin used to work at Moody Gardens, but now she teaches at a middle school. She missed the diving so much that she now volunteers every other weekend. Since she knows what she's doing much more than I do, I observed the eel feedings. They are hand-fed strips of salmon filets. We don't feed them when they are swimming in the water column because we don't want them to come to us for the food. That would make broadcast feeding much more difficult!

I was surprised to see that they had moved some Lionfish into this exhibit. They are gorgeous slow swimming animals, but they have poisonous spines, so we constantly have to be aware of our surroundings. Their spines are strong enough to go through our gloves! I learned to pay attention last time when I was trying to move backwards a little and accidentally hit a moray eel. He gave me a warning "bite" that didn't puncture my skin. It felt more like I hit something hard, but when I turned around the eel was floating there with his mouth open. Yikes!

I finished my feed training in the South Pacific exhibit. My next task will be to dive the Caribbean exhibit. I'm nervous about that because they have brown sharks, sand tigers and juvenile blacktip sharks. Before you enter the water you have to learn their swim patterns. That way you know something might be wrong if they stray from their normal path and you can get out of the water before it is too late. I think this is the one thing I can do where I enjoy the adrenaline rush. I cannot stand roller coasters and the idea of jumping out of a plane makes my skin crawl. But throw me in a tank with sharks and I get excited. Thank goodness I still have some reach into the world of marine biology.

My goal in the Caribbean is to become a safety diver. They are the divers who carry a T-bar and watch for oncoming sharks. They warn the feeding diver of any approaching predator and use the T-bar to divert, if it is unavoidable. That is a little ways into the future because I have to first be trained as a cleaning diver, then to feed, then to be a safety diver. And with me only going once or twice a month that may be a while. Plus I think I'd like to be comfortable feeding in South Pac before moving on. Hooray for diving!!

Cheating Dreams

It's Day 5 of my week-without-crap-in-my-diet and I'm still going strong! The funny part is that for the last three nights I have had dreams of severely cheating and gorging myself with chocolate or alcohol. The first night I dreamt that I accidentally drank Ariel's beer instead of my water before I left for work. Not only was I mad at myself for drinking, but I was freaking out about having to go to work. The past two nights I've dreamt of eating loads of chocolate. Chocolate oranges, chocolate bunnies, you name it. And I'm a little pig about it too. I don't feel these urges while I'm up, thank goodness, but they are absurdly overboard in my dreams. When I start to wake I am always so disappointed in myself for not being able to make it just one week. Then I get up and realize it was all just a dream. This is ridiculous.

Lingering Sweetness

The other night when the smoke detectors went off, Callaway was frantic. I was so sleepy, yet wired from adrenaline, that all my focus was on the possibility of a fire. As soon as the chaos was over, I was determined to go back to sleep. Therefore, Callaway fell through the cracks for the moment. Last night, when Travis was putting the smoke detectors back up Callaway started walking back and forth around our bed with his ears perked up. Travis had to test them to make sure they were still working. The moment he pushed the tester, Callaway ran over to where I was sitting in bed reading. I know it is bittersweet because he was scared, but he sat down with his head resting on the bed and let me pet him!!

This was a once in a lifetime treat, I'm sure of it. If you have met Callaway then you know how he can be, but to those of you who do not know him he is a licker. He constantly has to be licking someone. It is extremely obnoxious and it drives both Travis and I nuts. Not to mention anyone who comes to visit. If you try to pet him, his mouth follows your hand until it is within licking distance and then you get a bath. I've told Travis before that I think all of the bad things Callaway does would not bother me as much if he would just let me love on him. I can't pet him or hug him without the risk of being slobbered on. Actually, you can't even pet his head without holding his muzzle in place. I've mentioned this before, I think in my first entry. He's been on fish oil for many weeks now and I don't think it's working for him.

So last night was a fleeting look at the dog I wished I could have. It was nice while it lasted.

Oh and a random thought... check out these pics I took the other night of Logan at Travis and JR's softball game. He can eat cereal on his own and drink out of a straw now! His birthday is coming up - March 23rd.

House Guest

Do you know what is scary? Waking up at 5 in the morning because your smoke detector is going off. I suppose that might be scary at anytime of the day, but it seemed increasingly threatening when it woke Travis and I up this morning. Travis was in such a hurry (and I'm sure his body was still asleep) that when he attempted to open our bedroom door he couldn't get it to budge. He tried unlocking the door, which in turn actually locked it because we don't lock our bedroom door. After much fumbling, he finally got the door open and searched the house. There was no fire to be found. Thank the stars. But then we hear my sister Ariel from our guest bedroom mumbling something about her candle burning out. Come to find out she must have fallen asleep with a candle burning and when it finally burnt out, it filled her room with smoke. That set off the smoke detector, much to our morning excitement. Travis immediately removed all smoke detectors from their braces so that the horrible high-pitched beeping would cease. This means that if there is a real fire today, nobody will be alarmed. Hopefully that doesn't happen, since Ariel obviously can sleep through a fire.

My sister asked us in the middle of January if she could stay with us for a week. By the end of that week she asked if she could pay rent and stay for a month. (It's more like she is using our guest bedroom as a closet, that she visits a few times a week.) I want to help my sister, so we agreed. The terms were she had to get a second job and save up for her own apartment by the end of February. Here we are 8 days until the end of the month and she has done neither. I wish that I could help my sister more, but I feel that by letting her stay with us longer we are just enabling her to avoid getting her own place. I don't think she does this on purpose. I think it's more an act of laziness. I truly hope that she can get back on her feet soon. If not only for Ariel's chance to grow, then for Travis and my sanity.

Ya, and try falling back to sleep for an hour after waking up to that adrenaline rush!

Purge

I know the title to this entry is not the most pleasant, but now that I thought of it I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else! You'll understand what I mean in a minute:

Recently, there are two things that have been bothering me to no end. One is the difficult task of fitting into my jeans every morning. I do not think I'm fat, but I don't believe that I should just go buy new pants everytime my weight fluctuates. The second irritation is my complete and utter loss of memory. I've always had long term memory problems. For example, ask me what Travis and I did for Valentine's Day two years ago and I won't be able to recall. Lately, my short term memory has been suffering also. I have been taking Ginko Biloba for over a month and haven't noticed any changes. Now what do these two items have to do with each other, you ask? I have decided to go a week sans alcohol, pop (soda - to my Texas friends) or sweets. I feel that this will help with my over-the-jeans-bump and hopefully have an effect on my memory. If it does not, I will set up an appointment with my doctor. I have a few miscellaneous issues that should probably be addressed anyways. I'm on Day 2 now and things are going smoothly so far.

Surprise Date

What a wonderful date! Travis told me last week that he wanted to reserve me Sunday from 3pm on. I was a little suspicious of this because the only times he picks our dates is on Valentine's and when he proposed to me. This is not because I am the date-Nazi who controls everything. It's due to the fact that Travis would prefer to go with the flow. Therefore leaving all stressors on me. ;o)

Anyhoo, we left the house in Travis' truck at 3pm on Sunday (after he'd spent two hours cleaning the vehicle) without me having any idea of where we were going. I figured out our destination as soon as he took the off ramp. It was either the grocery store or the nail salon. Woohoo it was the nail salon! We have been to this place for pedicures once before when my family was in town for Christmas. We chose the pedicures again. They have this wonderful deluxe package where you can choose a salt scrub or hot stone rub in addition to your choice of beverage. I drank a mimosa, Travis had a glass of Chardonnay and we both ended up with the salt scrub (last time we tried the hot stone). The woman I had this time was a little rough on my sensitive skin, but I still enjoyed it. We sat in massage chairs and watched some horrid Lifetime movie in subtitles while the ladies took care of our peds. I chose Bubblegum polish instead of my usual French pedicure. I pleaded with Travis to try a beautiful shade of fuscia that I thought would go great with his complexion. Instead he chose au natural.

After the salon, Travis drove us to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I was starting to get nervous about money when I realized that Travis had saved cash from his overtime to pay for our evening! That was probably the best treat of all. Dinner was delicious. We both had steaks and iced tea. I had a little bit of a hard time once my dinner arrived though. I'm not usually one to complain about my food, in fear of an agitated server spitting in my dish. But they brought me mashed potatoes instead of a baked potato. Since I was really looking forward to that and I hadn't touched my plate yet, I said something to the food runner. He quickly came back with a baked potato in addition to my mashed. THEN when I cut into my "medium" steak it was more medium rare - which I cannot do because I need my meat cooked. I was tempted to just save it for home, but Travis came to my rescue and took care of it for me. It was brought back to me by the manager with my original order of a baked potato. That meant that I now had TWO baked potatoes. I was quite happy with my "second" steak. This all happened in a matter of minutes, so it didn't overtake our night. We finished off the meal with Caramel-Cinnamon Apple Cobbler. Yummy!

After dinner we stopped at Barnes and Noble to kill an hour before our movie was to begin. I LOVE that place. I could spend all day there, honestly. I think I found 5 books that I absolutely need. Travis had let me pick the movie and I went with the Golden Compass. I was a little disappointed, perhaps because I read the book first. I need to stop doing that. Travis and I were home and in bed by 9:30, which made for an early evening. That was nice because I was able to get up at a decent time and do some stuff around the house on my Monday off for President's Day. Hooray for 4-day work weeks!

Happy 1st Birthday, Callaway!!

Our little monster is one year old now! When we got him, we counted back to determine what his date of birth was and it happened to land right around Valentine's Day. So we're using that as an easy way to remember it by. Since our day was so busy, we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate. I really wanted to get a birthday hat for him, but I didn't have time. We mixed some canned food into his normal dry dinner as a treat before we left for dinner.

I also wanted to have a quick flashback to before we knew the terrors of puppydom. He seemed so sweet and innocent...

Valentine's in Houston

To celebrate Valentine's Day, Travis and I decided to go to PF Chang's in Houston. Usually for this holiday Travis surprises me with something that he has planned. This is always a huge treat since I'm generally the one to choose and set up our dates or other plans. This year I REALLY wanted to go to PF Chang's because I have heard so many good things about it. It's been difficult to get up there because it's in the middle of Houston and a little more pricey than we usually do. So what better time to make the trip than Valentine's Day?!

Anyways, I left work a little early so that I would have time to get ready. Our reservation was at 8pm and we had no idea how long it would take us to get there (ie, because of traffic). We got to the restaurant 30 minutes early and I was very impressed with the atmosphere. We were seated within 15 minutes and even in a choice location. One of my pet peeves is being seated near the hostess stand, restroom or kitchen. I blame this neurosis on my father. Because we were STARVING, as soon as the server came to greet us I ordered water and steamed shrimp dumplings, thanks to pre-reading the online menu. While we were waiting for that we perused the menu. I chose the Dan-dan noodles and Travis chose egg drop soup and Chang's Spicy Chicken. To drink we ordered a bottle of Cabernet.

The food came and everything was delicious - wine, food and all. The server was awesome and we even each had a mini-dessert shot. Our only hiccup was when the bill came. We were shocked to see that our bill was twice the amount we were expecting. Turns out, we ordered the Seven Oaks Cab, but were brought the Silver Oak Cab. There is a large difference between the cost of these two. Silver is three times as much as the Seven. That was bad for us because Travis okayed the wine when the server presented it to him. The manager was nice enough to only charge us for half the cost of the wine we drank That means we still had to pay more than we had expected. But it was better than our original bill. We still tipped our server generously, as she was good to us. This all put a damper on the end to our evening, so we didn't leave as excitedly as we came. We will go back again and I still very much recommend PF Chang's to anyone who lives in the area. I just advise paying full attention to the wine you order. Especially if it is a Cabernet Sauvignon.

I think because Travis was unable to plan a surprise date for me this past Thursday, he reserved Sunday afternoon with me. He won't tell me what we are doing, but that I should dress as I would to go to work (which doesn't mean much since I can wear pretty much whatever I want to work - the joys of not being in the hospitality business). I hope the end to this date is more successful than the last. I will update on you on this as soon as I have more information.

This is a photo of us before our trip into Houston. I crouched a little because I'm taller than Travis when I wear heels. ;o) I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

PS - I added a photo to my February 11, 2007 blog. I didn't have the photo handy when I wrote that one...

PostSecret

First off - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! Hooray it is finally here! The day is just starting and I have already received a bouquet of red roses from Travis and a mini box of chocolates from my boss. That man cracks me up. He grew up in west Texas and is 100% Texan. For Christmas he gave me a country Christmas music CD. He wrapped it in tin foil and used autoclave tape to close it up. Strange fella. But he has been a great boss thus far.

Second - I put up another link for you to check out, it is called PostSecret. It's been entertaining me weekly for a few months now. Sometimes they are very sad though. My delightfully entertaining co-worker Rachel showed me this site when I first started working in this lab. People anonymously send in postcards with their deepest, darkest secrets. A few are posted every Sunday, but there are books out in case you'd like to read them en masse.

On a totally different and final note... I was talking to my friend Shannon last night when I was reminded that she had all three of her children WITHOUT ANY DRUGS. She is one tough cookie. In case you do not know Shannon and therefore do not know the insanity of this, you need to understand her petite stature. Here is a picture of me with Shannon at the bike rally this past year. I look like a giant.

I was hoping that this story would give my pregnant friends strength for what is to come. If Shannon can do it without pain killers, then we are all capable of doing it with or without it too! I am still undecided about what I will do when it comes time for me to give birth, but I'm leaning towards no drugs until I see what those contractions really feel like. The scary part is that once you pass a certain point, you may not be able to have an epidural. My mom had my younger sister without any drugs and she said it was the best experience of her life. She was on Demerol with me and she said it was horrible because she was not fully aware of what was going on. I know for sure I won't be having that, but the thought of an epidural is still in the back of my mind...

Dreaming of Chinese

Travis and I have reservations to go to a Chinese bistro in downtown Houston called PF Chang's for Valentine's Day. I'm so excited because I've heard a lot of great things about this restaurant. Plus we get to go into Houston, which we haven't done in a long time! I've been drooling over this menu.

To anyone who's been there: any recommendations, food or wine?

Soon-to-be

Here are some photos of our soon-to-be neighbors. We used to be neighbors when we lived above the bar in downtown Galveston - that's how we met! Actually, it was right when Sara found out she was pregnant with Logan.

Here's a more current pic of Logan. He's such a pimp.

2 days until Valentine's Day!!

New Neighbors

We have some fun news - our friends Sara, JR and their son Logan will be moving into the house next to ours! Our original neighbors were elderly and had to be moved to a retirement home so they can have 24-hour care. This couple's son was looking to either rent or sell the place so he gave me his phone number in case I thought of anyone who might be interested. Turns out, Sara and JR are! It's perfect timing for them because the lease they have with their apartment is up at the end of March and they were planning to rent a house. They came over Saturday to look at the place. It is a little outdated, so the owners' son said he would refinish the hardwood floors and repaint the walls whatever color they want. After they found that out (and that they get to use the washer and dryer) they decided to rent it. The best part of this is that we will know our neighbors. We won't have to worry about a family moving in next door that will get angry when Travis and I have people over, which is only about once a month. We're not a rowdy group, but the smokers do have to go outside which is basically in our neighbor's backyard. They won't move in until the end of March or the beginning of April, but we're excited!

Travis and I had a fulfilling weekend. Friday night I went out for dinner (Mexican) and a movie with Sara and Dana. We saw 27 Dresses - it was cute. Travis hung out with the guys at Chris R.'s house. It sounds like he had a good time too. It's been a while since we've each gone our own way for the evening. Here's a photo from my view at the restaurant:

Travis worked all day Saturday to make some extra cash and I went into work for an hour. In the afternoon I went over to the neighbor's house to check it out with Sara and JR. They hung out for a few hours afterward. Then in the evening we went over to Shannon and Chris' to do our taxes. We didn't get nearly as much back as we had hoped for, but at least we don't owe anything!

Sunday we stayed at home. I was supposed to volunteer at the aquarium, but I took the day off to get some stuff done around the house. Travis finished putting up the gutters (I heard a few grunts of anger and frustration coming from his direction - I may have also seen an entire gutter thrown javelin-style into the side yard). This is very exciting because that means that I can now put mulch into our flower beds. We couldn't do this before because the water would roll off the roof and land directly in the flower beds. Then it would carry all the mulch and some dirt away. While Travis did that I weeded the yard. It's about time for some weed and feed!

That morning when I let Callaway in he tracked mud all through the house before I realized what had happened. I shooed him outside and nearly broke down. We have white carpet and it has been very difficult to keep it clean. Travis decided to go rent a carpet cleaner and now we have beautiful carpet again! We'll see how long this lasts. We already bought a carpet runner and cleaned another rug to put on top of the carpet. It seems so silly to cover up our carpet, but we want to sell this house in a couple years so we have to keep everything in tip-top condition. It's proving difficult with all the animals we've adopted...

I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day! 3 days and counting!!

Perfume

Travis and I sat down with our dinner in the living room last night to watch a movie. We chose Perfume: A Story of Murder out of our stack of Blockbuster movies. Let me tell you what, that is one of the wierdest movies I've ever seen. Travis stayed awake for the first 10 minutes of disgusting-ness then he fell asleep. It was a very slow film, but it kept chugging along. Here's the synopsis: A young man is born with an amazing sense of smell. His favorite scent is that of a woman. He finds out how to capture that aroma (through murder) and then learns that the scent of a woman is a very powerful thing. The movie was stocked with everything from a village orgy to not-so-graphic cannabalism. I'm not sure that I would recommend it, but if you're looking for something off the beaten path this is your way to go.

Leisurely Evening

Not much going on tonight and I am sooooo excited! I went to my friend Shannon's house last night for dinner. Our friend Lynda came over too and Shannon made us Chicken Tetrazzini. She says she's not a good cook, but that meal was awesome! We drank delicious red wine and then headed out at about 11:45pm. !!! Woh. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. I'm so exhausted today. Her kids Caty (age 12) and Dylan (age 15) were there too so we all hung out and had a great time talking. What's even better is that I'm having the leftovers for lunch today. Yummy.

Shannon and I are planning to start walking together two nights a week. Ifigure that's better than not exercising at all. I hope we can keep up with it because I'm still working off that Christmas weight. I might bring Callaway every once in a while... if he's good. Not when I need to destress though because walking him is way stressful. Especially with all the stray dogs in our area.

So tonight is our leisurely evening. Travis is going to take a break from studying for his Journeyman's license and we're going to veg out and watch a movie. Thank goodness for Blockbuster Online!

Travis has been dealing with some bad news at work right now. The contractor (Bay Ltd.) that he works for was supposed to do a bid for Valero and because they don't usually do that Bay WAY overbid an outrageous amount. That made Valero mad so they pulled all their contracts. That means there's no work for everyone. SO Bay started laying off employees. Travis is a hard worker, so hopefully he'll be one of the last to go. In the meantime he's applied for four permanent positions directly for Valero. He got an email asking him to come in for an interview on Friday (which works out because he works 10 hour days, Monday through Thursday). He has to take a test at the interview and then he should find out by February 16th. It's a tough move because he will have to go down in pay initially which will REALLY hurt us financially. Then he would get a raise every three to four months. Down the line, he'd get paid a lot more than he's getting now. Plus there's supposedly great benefits. It's just a matter of time and if we can handle it. Here's hoping!

Baby Boom

It's official. Travis and I are the last of our friends to have a baby. Hell, even my cousins are doing it. This is going to be a tough one to write since most of the friends I am referencing here read this blog. My best friend Chrissie (from Illinois) called me just after Christmas to tell me that her and her husband were going to start trying to have a baby. Well, here we are one month later and she's pregnant already! I am so excited for her, but I had this little person in the back of my head reassuring me that she might not get pregnant for another year. I know that's a horrible thing to think, but I am so sad that I don't get to be there to experience that with her. I told her I will be home in June, so she's going to try to get her baby shower set for around that time. I'm REALLY hoping I'll be able to make it to that.

Now that everyone I know is pregnant or already with child, many of them have started to ask when Travis and I will be starting our own family. There are a few reasons why we are choosing not to get pregnant yet. One - Travis is not ready. He is two years my junior and this might be the first and only time this age difference has affected us. Two - We decided many years ago that we wanted to wait until I was in my late 20's before starting because we want to get all our selfishness out of the way. By selfish, I mean we want to go out to dinner or a movie whenever we want and go to the bar with friends. Or whatever else comes up randomly. Now here's the HUGE fault with this selfish plan: we can't go out with our friends like we used to because they all have kids. When we made this decision I didn't think about the fact that everyone else might not be in the same boat as us. Don't get me wrong here. I am soooo excited for everyone. If anything I'm borderline jealous. I guess this is number three - it is so important to me to be near family whenever Travis and I start ours. Growing up, family has always been a large part of my life and I cherish that. I want this for our children as well.

I suppose that maybe this is all a good thing. Travis and I won't have as much pressure to go out, so maybe we'll be able to pay off some of the credit card debt that's been looming over us. Although, I'm going to have to buy stuff for all the new little ones that will be running around. I can't go into Target anymore without perusing the baby section. I had a dream last night that I was pregnant. In this dream, I went out into the garage and because it was so quiet out there I could hear the baby crying in my belly. It was the strangest thing. Then the baby dropped and it hurt, like a gas pain. Then I woke up and realized I was really having painful intestinal movement. Awesome. The night before that I had a dream I was babysitting someone's infant and I fell asleep. The mother was so livid with me. She showed me around her house to see all the dangers I left the baby open to. She had cliffs and mountains in her house. Who doesn't? When she was showing me around, her baby fell off one of these cliffs and her feet fell off when she hit the bottom but she was alive. There was no blood, she was more like a doll. Can anyone tell me what these dreams mean? Too wierd for me.

Babies and My Babies

Travis FINALLY finished his newest tattoo! Thank goodness. Going in the first time wasn't so bad, but three more times over the course of five months was getting redundant. The new part is a lot darker than the older parts, so we're going to wait to put up all the big photos until it fades a little. In the meantime, here's a teaser. Don't ask me what it is, because I have no idea.

Yesterday I went to a Lamaze class with Alexa. Her husband Chris is a pilot and he was out of town so I got to be the substitute hubby. I was very scared walking in there, but it turned out to not be so bad. I watched the infamous videos of childbirth (vaginal and c-section) and I wasn't freaked out. If anything I was moved at what these women go through and then are thankful! I am a people watcher so it was very interesting to see all the different couples that came. There was quite a variety! There was only one couple besides us that wasn't husband and wife. They were mother-daughter duo and the husband is a figherfighter, so he was on duty. Lamaze is different than it used to be I think. They don't focus so much on the type of breathing as much as they do promoting things that take your mind off of the pain.

After thinking about that class and the people in it I think that I am now more afraid of raising a child than giving birth and having a baby. That part doesn't seem so bad to me. What I want to know is how do women change from woman to mother? I'm hoping it comes naturally, because I don't know how to be a mom. I know the basics of child rearing (most my friends have kids), but the idea of me being in the mother position scares the crap out of me! How do you know how to act? Do you decide in advance what type of a mom you want to be? Or do you take it one day at a time? I expected fear when I left that Lamaze class, but this isn't exactly what I was thinking!

Back to current life... I'm going to a friend's house to watch the Super Bowl on their big screen TV. I have to run home and make some finger foods before we head up there. I'm not too excited about the teams that are playing this year, but I'm always up for some beer and Super Bowl commercials!

For your entertainment, here is a photo of our dog after a pillow fight he had all by himself (note the guilt on his face):


Ariel has been staying with us for a few weeks now and I got used to being able to leave Callaway out of his kennel when I leave for work in the mornings. What I didn't realize on this day is that Ariel was not home. So we got a taste of what Callaway will do if left out of the kennel all day. When I got home and realized my mistake I opened the door expecting the place to be in shambles. Amazingly it was not! There were no accidents anywhere and nothing was chewed up. That is until I reached our bedroom. Callaway had torn open my new down pillow and spread the feathers all over our room. When I was cleaning up the mess I found that he had peed on the pillow and it was still warm. I'm thinking he was trying to hide one mess with another. What do you think? =)