Movie Reviews

We’ve had the opportunity to watch some movies recently:

Slumdog Millionaire – this, of course, was the Academy Award Best Picture of the Year for 2008 so I had pretty high hopes. Plot is about a kid from, obviously, the slums who becomes a millionaire by playing India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The storyline wasn’t always fun to watch (who wants to see homeless kids?!) but the way it tied everything together was intriguing. Good acting, good directing. A

Seven Pounds – this was another Will Smith blockbuster but I had no idea what it was about before watching it. Not previously knowing the plot made it a little hard to catch on to what was happening but not knowing kept you involved and paying attention. Jim described it as a movie that he still thinks about days after watching and I’d say that’s a pretty good description and testament to its quality and message. A-

Twilight- Jenny J. has been on this bandwagon for a while so I was happy when Jim told me that’s what he picked out from Red Box last night. I can get REALLY into vampire and witch-themed things (books, movies, etc.) so this was right up my alley. While I liked the storyline in general, I didn’t think the directing was very good and the characters weren’t as developed as I’d like. By this I mean I wasn’t as fully involved with the movie as I’d like to have been. Upon conclusion of the flick I gave it a B- but I dreamt about it twice last night and have thought about it more today which is typically a good indication of how much I liked it. I’ll raise my final grade to a B but highly anticipate the next edition.

Thursday Night Fun

On Thursday, as a special treat we took Nicole to Chuck E Cheese for the first time ever. When I announced to the kids at daycare where she was going they all snapped to attention with awe and wonder. Cameron asked "who's birthday is it?" and said "wow" when I responded we were taking her because she's such a good girl.

My brother Mike actually likes the food at CEC and we had a coupon off of our Minute Maid carton for 40 tokens + 1 large pizza + 4 drinks = $20 so we didn't figure it would be so bad.

End result - Nicole really liked it. She sang and danced in the booth as the characters "played" on stage. She rode in a car, played skeeball (with help), and went down the slide many times.

We gave the 23 tickets we earned to some other little kid who would appreciate them as we have (and who really does) no need for more trinket stuff to step on and she doesn't really know the difference yet.

After CEC we stopped at the park for a while too.

Once we got home we did a little singing

and she went to bed. She had a great time but I doubt we'll be going back for a while unless it's for an occasion... Mike's enthusiasm for the food didn't really meet reality so closely and we still have about 25 tokens left over. She sure did like that mouse [from a distance] though.

(Wo)Man with a Plan

Things have been very stressful for me personally (though thankfully not professionally) lately in regard to Chris and Nicole’s daycare. Our primary sitter is still in the hospital with no ETA of recovery which leaves her two daughters to watch the kids during the day. We’ve been evaluating our short and long term options as a result which has worn me out emotionally to the point that I might be getting sick and have lost weight.

Last night, after watching Seven Pounds, Jim and I were up until almost midnight working out contingency plans and the like. I think we might have a Plan A and a Plan B that we agree upon and can move forward with. At this point, Plan A involves Nicole being at home with me through the duration of my maternity leave- something that we weren’t going to do when things were normal so that she could maintain her schedule/friends and I could devote the time and attention I need to Christopher.

Being a full-time mom was never the plan for our family but it’ll be nice to have both kids at home and the opportunity to do the stuff locally that I read about that other stay-at-home moms do like visit the local parks, library time, petting zoo, water park, etc. It’s only 7 weeks but hopefully a quality 7 weeks for all involved.

bad day

I'm on crying spell #4 right now. Feeling overwhelmed and overemotional. I'm sure pregancy horomones have something to do with a lot of this making me go overboard but I'm so out of practice of being sad/mad/frustrated/etc. that I don't know what to do with myself now that I've got a bad case of it all at once. I guess that's something to smile about.

Weekend of 4/17/09

Saturday I graded papers for 2 hours but didn’t get done with them all. Ugh. Reading the same answers over and over gets bor-ing and I ache for that one shining light of brilliance.

Lisa, Kendall and Max came over for dinner and games on Saturday night. Our first half of the visit was very kid-centric. Max’s tummy was upset, Nicole was super-excited and loud, dinner was cooking, and we were chatting- lots of activity in general going on. What I really liked about this portion of the get-together was that I don’t feel like I have to entertain them – if they want a drink they get it. If our kids are good or bad we mutually understand. I don’t have to impress them at all which makes things so much more relaxed, at least for me. After both kids fell asleep (a little earlier and later than normal for Max and Nicole respectively) we settled in for some Italian cake and Yahtzee / Scrabble Slam. Having adult conversation and competition was just as much fun. I like my friends.

Sunday was our big bowling tournament and lead to MANY hours spent at the alley. The tournament was scored on points under/over average cumulatively for a team. We bowled all three games with a nice other team who’s league is on Saturday nights (ironically their parents bowl in our league) and ended up tying with 54 pins over average which tied us for 4/5th overall. We got about $31/ea as a result! With only an hour break in between the tournament and regular league play we were all pretty worn out by the time it was over. Our team ended up in 5th place overall in the league and Dave got a pin for bowling a 600 series. We’ll be back again to improve in August!

Though my reflection doesn’t show the most attractive figure of my lifetime, I seem to frequently surprise people that I'm 7 months pregnant (I look smaller than that apparently). As of yesterday I'm officially 75% done with the process and though I’ve gained more weight than I did with Nicole overall, it’s all in my boobs and belly. Long before this point with Nicole I had swollen out of my rings and my face was fuller. This time I still have my wedding rings on and am wearing the same size shoes. Will need to be buying some more spring/summer bottoms (shorts/capris) though it pains me to do so for just 70 days of usage. Think I’ll hit up a consignment shop….

Greg is wrong.

On Monday nights I give Greg a ride home from school (he has class, I'm teaching class but we get out at the same time and he only lives 5 min away). The class he’s taking is Marketing and of course the class I'm teaching at that same time is Marketing. He and I routinely debate the value of the material. He’s an accountant and sees all marketing as fluff. I, of course, love marketing and see it as an essential part of every business. Here are my arguments to him:

1) Even if you have a great idea, if no one knows about it you won’t be able to sell it therefore won’t make any money and will cease to exist. Therefore, because awareness is essential, marketing is essential.

2) Marketing is what helps put a positive image of the company/product/service in the consumer’s head, especially in situations of recalls and negative action/reactions. Therefore, because positive perception is essential, marketing is essential.

3) Accounting is important to a company. If you sell something but don’t get paid for it that’s useless. If you in turn don’t pay your debts (to vendors, shareholders, etc.) they’ll quit working with you making operations/production cease which is deadly to a company. No arguments that we need F & A folks. HOWEVER, they don’t have a job if nothing gets sold. Therefore, because companies need customers to exist, marketing is essential.

4) Greg tries to counter-argue that companies need start-up money to even exist in the first place and that those finances are done by accounting people. However, who is often the most compelling person presenting to those money-holders? The guys/gals with business plans, short & long-term visions, and sales prospects. The people who can spin the story so it sounds so compelling the money-holders can’t wait to dump some on them. Therefore, because raising capital is essential to companies, marketing is essential.


So, Greg, fluff snuff. Marketing is more important than Accounting.

Spicy

I'm not into bland food. Salt at a minimum is a must on many dishes including mashed potatoes, turkey, beef, etc. Though I cook frequently I don’t use fresh herbs very often as the dried ones are more convenient from a shelf-life standpoint. However, almost everything I cook gets spiced in one way or another.

Turns out that Nicole has the same opinion. Though I won't salt her food, she sees me salt mine and asks for some routinely (I just shake the upright container over her food and she’s none-the-wiser).

Being a P&G family we of course eat Pringles and most recently tried these jalapeno ones which Nicole and Jim devoured. Jalalpeno, while flavorful for sure, is a bit beyond me, but the two of them were quite happy with them. Next on the Pringles docket – Buffalo Wing.

One other side note – Nic ate “big girl cereal” (Cheerios in a bowl with milk) for the first time today and was quite proud of herself. Her spoon skills have developed enough that about 70% of the cereal was scooped with a utensil and only 30% was picked up with her hands.

Behind in Blogging

This weekend was really busy with Easter, which we hosted, and general running around. A few notes about what’s happening:

On Friday Jim was off and I had a half day for Good Friday. After Nicole’s nap we went to the hospital to visit our babysitter who’s having medical issues. After that we had diner at Red Lobster, Jim’s favorite. Not that dinner wasn’t tasty, it was, but paying $40 for dinner feels crazy when our weekly grocery bill for 3 people is only about $75.

Our babysitter is probably still in heart surgery right now which means I’m home with Nicole. We took the opportunity to visit daycares around the area just in case something doesn’t go well with surgery/recovery. My sister-in-law babysits which is a very desirable option but my major hesitation is that I wouldn’t be able to visit Nicole over lunch, or, more importantly Chris (I nursed Nicole every day over my lunch break which was great as I got to see her and didn’t have to pump) ever because of the distance. It’s probably working mother’s guilt but I feel very compelled to hang out with Nicole at any available opportunity I can over my break.

All the daycares didn’t live up to my expectations – while the proximity to work is great, the cost is roughly 2X what we pay now and I instantly didn’t like the odor that seems to linger in all daycare centers. I appreciate the activities they did – one classroom was learning shapes during our visit, but felt the the home atmosphere we get with a private sitter at half the cost outweighed the benefits of structure from what I witnessed.

They were probably just being polite, but each of my tour guides commented several times how impressed they were with Nicole’s manners, language skills, and general cuteness. I never get tired of hearing my kid is great.

I got my results back from the 3 hour glucose test – I passed. No gestational diabetes and no restricted diet – hooray!

Easter was nice. We went to church, cleaned up the house and started cooking for company and entertained from 4-10 or so. We gave Nicole some coloring books, an Elmo sing-along movie, and of course some eggs with surprises inside. All of which are a big hit. Because I feel that she gets enough TV accessibility at the sitter’s all day we don’t really let her watch any here at the house. The Elmo movie and recent permission to watch Sesame Street clips on hulu.com have her fascinated and she signs and asks frantically for “more more Elmo/Abby/Zoe/Big Bird” when the clip is over. It's cute but hard to tear her from the computer chair when she's had what we feel is enough.

Too much business this morning lead to Nicole falling asleep on the way home from the tours. She's in bed now, sans lunch, and I'm making the most of the quiet time by heating a chicken cordon bleu, munching on waldorf salad and contemplating some sauteed mushrooms.

What's happening

Things on our end are staying consistently busy but a comfortable busy rather than frantic busy.

Nicole- is saying a lot more words lately and I’ve noticed that most of the new ones over the last month have been verbs – “come here”, “see”, “look”, “sit”, “wake up”, etc. Of course she has no idea what Easter is but I'm pumping up the fact that she has a bunny dress for Easter, a fancy Easter hat, and we’re having an Easter party.

Chris- the fibernectrin test came back negative which I expected but was happy to officially hear. This means I have less than a 1% chance of having pre-term labor. The pressure has subsided a bit but not gone away. I take the 3 hour glucose test tomorrow and I'm prepping for passing this one by not eating any sweets yesterday and today and drinking lots of water.

Work is really busy right now but it makes the time go faster. I’ve not gotten to see Nicole for lunch but one day this week which makes me sad but more appreciative of our evenings. Bosses are happy with the job I'm doing and it’s nice to be appreciated.

Jim’s been extra sweet lately and I don’t think he even did anything wrong. *grin* he brought me flowers last week, restocked my cotton facial pads, and has been a great guy in general. Getting married to him specifically remains the best decision I ever made.

I heard a quote I liked this morning – “In the world there are givers and there are takers. The takers eat well but the givers sleep well.”

I don't like that Jenna & Martha's blogs are private because it's therefore at the end of my blogroll and I consistantly forget to check it. This is especially frustrating because Jenna writes often and I like like both of their writing styles so when I do remember to go look I normally have like 3 each to catch up on.

Hi Chuck & Kristi – I randomly thought of you today. Miss you both and hope you’re doing well.

Tuesday Night, Wednesday Morning

Last night after dinner we went shopping – something that’s not normally done on a weekday night but we had things to get. For Christmas Lindsay and Mike got Nicole this really cool projector that shows view-finder slides (remember those!?) and has coordinated music. Jim loves/d it. Unfortunately the mechanics didn’t work quite right and it just zipped through all 20 slides continuously. We got a credit from Fisher-Price for $20 off of any of their products and have been looking at various times for just the right thing to replace it since. Jim wisely suggested we hit up Toys-R-Us as where better to find a toy?

Every time we go to TRU Jim comments about how much he loved the store as a kid. I didn’t go all that often so while we shop at the exact same store I did as a kid I'm not in as much awe as he is. Still makes me smile when he gets reminiscent though. : )

Anyway, I found these skates that clip over your shoes, something I did have as a kid, and Nicole’s feet will be big enough (size 6) to fit them by her birthday. Since they were on a shelf randomly I didn’t know the price and needed a check. To my amazement they were not only $24.99 but they qualified for the BOGO promotion Fisher-Price was having that we didn't know about. We ended up getting the skates and a learning vacuum (a favorite pastime of Nic’s) that teaches colors, alphabet and opposites, $50 in toys!, for $6.69 out of pocket! Nicole’s will get the vacuum now and the skates as part of her birthday present. THANKS LINDSAY!

After toy shopping we went to JC Penney where I might have found our curtains for the family room. OK, let me clarify, the curtains that I'll adjust and make my own as I never seem to be satisified with off-the-shelf draperies. I must have bad taste as the things I like/want don't seem to be sold anywhere and always need to be custom-created.

This morning Nicole was a terror. Breakfast was fine (how nice it is that she can use utensils and feed herself almost completely now) but then she wanted to fill her arms with books and take them all upstairs with her. Letting go of said books to lay down and get her diaper changed and clothes on led to fits, thrashing, yelling and crying. Ultimately she got a time out, stern talking to and smacked on her hand for bad behavior which did the trick and she calmed down. Sometimes I wonder if punishing her will make her mad at me but I’ve found that it typically has the opposite effect – she realizes she’s bad, thinks I'm mad, and then works extra hard to get back in my good graces. She was clingy, lovey and well-behaved the rest of the morning. Oh how I wanted to ring her little neck though!

Ironically Jim and I discussed what our morning schedule with Chris and Nicole will be the night before and I went to sleep feeling pretty confident of having a plan in place… clearly that won’t always work….

Videos of the Monkey

I bought Nicole an Easter hat at the dollar store this evening. She was wearing it around the house as she "hung out" with her friend Max.

A new fun activity that gives her mother frets...

Weekend of 4/3/09

Saturday morning we woke up early and prepared for Nicole’s second Easter Egg Hunt (this one at our church, last year we went to Mason with Meghan and Tom). We got there a little early and discovered that fashionably late would have probably been better as 1-2 year olds (Ryann came too) aren’t interested in too many activities like the Easter Bunny, face-painting or extensive coloring that would have filled the time. Oh well. They had a nice spread for breakfast and when the big moment came for Nic and Ry’s age group to be released to get the eggs… both girls headed straight for the slides and ignored all the plastic shells all over the ground. With a bit of coaxing I guided them back to the task at hand and they started filling their baskets.

Following the hunt we went to the grand opening of the neighborhood UDF where they were having 49 cent ice cream cones and hot dogs, 25 cent soft serve and fountain drinks, $1 gallons of milk, and 3/$1 Krispy Kreme donuts. You know your life is exciting when I'm reporting on our attendance of a convenience store’s opening.

That night we went to Rob and Shirley’s for about 2 hours to socialize and headed home to finish assembling Nicole’s furniture. We didn’t put the box springs in so the bed was low enough for her to get into without a step-stool but it wasn’t all that stable for an adult’s weight (just fine for her) with just the mattress in there… we need to get some cross-beams for extra support.

On Sunday morning I presented Nicole with her new room and she was SO excited. She immediately got on the bed and climbed all around, put her head on the pillow, etc. Mom suggested that we let her start napping there on the weekends to get used to it… that would kill my painting time but it’s probably not a bad idea….

I also went to the Aronoff to see Cirque Dreams: A Jungle Fantasy which was tremendous.

Bowling went perfectly with us winning 4/4 games and my bowling a 123, 151, 167 (average = 127) which made me quite pleased. Next week is the big tournament!

Life Documented 4-3-09

Went to my routine OB appointment this morning and told them about the pressure. They did a Fetal Fibronectin test on me which will determine if I'm at risk for pre-term labor. He wasn’t too concerned after the initial pelvic exam but this test will tell for sure what’s going on and if I need any lifestyle changes (bedrest would be the most extreme solution). I'm not really worried about this but eager to hear the results either this afternoon or, more likely, Monday.

I also failed my Glucose test which is not surprising because 1) I failed the first one with Nicole too and 2) sweets are a daily indulgence for me in one capacity or another. So, I have a 3-hour test for diabetes on 4-11 at the hospital starting at 7:30am. Boo!

Allergies are getting better but my ears get clogged up and require popping several times a day. Its amazing how much comes out of my nose still when I blow 2/hour.

Jim is 95% done with the deck planning stage and is prepared to submit his plans to the county next week!

Nicole’s night stand and dresser are assembled. Perhaps tonight we’ll work on her bed and have the room, furniture-wise, mostly ready. My grandfather is sanding and painting a bookcase for me and that will be the last component. I found coloring pages on the internet that I'm going to use as templates for the walls in her room (curious george). I'm going to borrow the projector from work and shine the images on the wall. Only work-around needed is that the pictures are from the current Curious George and I like the image of the classic George better. Will require some tweaking when it comes time to paint. Fear not – I’ll take pictures!

Hosting Easter this year 2X for both sides of our family. Previous conversations regarding hams that we had with Kendall are floating in my head….