Life at the Marriott

In the midst of all these mini-crises, there was one MAJOR event that I haven't even shared with you yet! How did I forget this one???

A pipe broke in our kitchen (behind the sink), most likely during the last big freeze we had in December. But, since our builder apparently took shortcuts and didn't make the hardwood floors go all the way to the wall and instead stop at the cupboards, we didn't notice the damage until the hardwoods began to buckle and by then it was too late. We are going to have our entire kitchen remodeled. And, because we have continuous hardwood floors throughout our downstairs, we will also be having all of the flooring replaced as well. RRRrrr....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:




I didn't get any before photos, it didn't occur to me to start taking photos until I noticed the drastic difference of the hardwood color after the island was taken out of its spot:


That's how much our floor had yellowed due to natural sunlight in about 4 years. There is no way to match that now. And now, just how much flooring will have to be replaced?


And that's just one side of the stairs. There's another walkway and hallway on the other side of the stairs. So far, the bids we received are anywhere from 25-27K to repair the damage.

So, of course, we'll be upgrading now. Might as well since our kitchen is torn to shreds.

Because we don't have a kitchen, our house is considered uninhabitable by the insurance company, so they've been paying to put us up at a local hotel. It's like a mini-apartment, which is nice for the 4 of us. And they are paying for the expense of going out to eat (over and beyond what a normal week's worth of groceries would have cost). Honestly, lovin' not having to cook right now.

But, I'm definitely ready to go home, sleep in my own bed, watch my own TV, and just feel more peace in general. We discovered quickly that life in an apartment would suck for the 4 of us, as we're constantly right on top of one another. We're all definitely used to having plenty of space to come and go as we please.

Bryce seems to be getting a kick out of our mini-vacation from home. We can't get him to go to sleep before 10 at night, though, he's too afraid to go to sleep on his own, so one of us has to go in the room with him and lay down until he falls asleep.

Kind of miserable right now, but not having to cook or clean anything for the last week has been like a mini-vacation for me!

I hate to complain...BUT...

I am lucky. I have a job. Nothing these days is secure, but mine seems secure at the moment. I work very hard at making myself an indispensable member of the office, and I think I'm successful at it.

I got a call from the big boss this morning, letting me know that I had an opportunity to help the office. Immediately my thought was, "fantastic, yet another way I can set myself apart from the pack!" and I was ready to jump on it.

Until she told me that basically, how I could help was by taking a demotion. It's not a real demotion, per se, but it a step back in my career path. It's taking my old job back. The job I HATED, that I was biding my time in until I could move up.

C: "But, you'll get your company car back, and when time comes for behavior rankings, it will look really good that you volunteered."
Kristy's mind: "F this! I already have a car payment, I can't take the car back now! I hated that job, and did worse in it than I do now, why would you let me sink back into mediocrity???"
Kristy's mouth: "I'll think about it."

So, now me and 4 others and just waiting to hear our fate. I've heard one person who wasn't on the original list did volunteer, so that means one of us five will get chosen. I have this feeling that it will be me. And if it is, prepare for the rant of your life.

But, alas, at least I'll have a job still.

My First All-Nighter

Before becoming pregnant with our new little Baby James Princess (still not sure if it's a girl or a boy yet, still have another 9 weeks to go!), I would mysteriously wake up in the middle of the night and not feel well. This usually happened once or twice a month. I'd be up all night watching TV or on the internet, trying NOT to throw up, because I HATE throwing up. Therefore, I would be exhausted and ready for bed around 5 or 6, when my stomach settled down and just in enough time to catch an hour or two of shut-eye before I had to work. Most of the time, I used a sick day, so I could sleep in and feel better.

Since becoming pregnant, this all-nighters had become a thing of the past....until tonight.

Yes, my friends, it's 3AM and I must be lonely (Matchbox 20 reference). I've been up for a good hour now, and my tummy feels like it wants to burst at the seams. I know that most of it is baby and his or her or THEIR (I've had 4 dreams now that I'm having twins....somebody tell me that it means nothing....PLEASE!) moving my organs around, just by the mere fact that Baby is growing. It could also be the very strange diet I'm relegated to, due to my disinterest in food and having to force myself to eat SOMETHING. It could also be the combination of odd foods I ate today, that, sounded good at the time, but are now sounding absolutely disgusting. I don't know, just wish it would go away. I cant take a sick day tomorrow, I'm the parent-helper in Bryce's classroom!

In other news...

Earl died. Who the hell is Earl? you may be wondering....Earl was my 5 year old iBook, my favorite little Apple Laptop that I bought right after I met Brett. Earl was preceded in death by his brother, Milton, who was also an iBook, but only made it 2 years. Milton was able to be salvaged for parts; Earl was not quite so lucky.

About 2 weeks ago, Brett came up to the bedroom when I was laying down, almost asleep.
Him: "Honey, I think you need to come look at your computer."
Me: "Why?" (half-asleep)
Him: "Um...well, it's smoking."
Me: "Like, having a cigarette?"
Him: "Well no...like smoke is coming out from inside of it."
Me: "Well, then there's no need to look at it. It's fried."
Him: "You can't do anything?"
Me: "Well, I suppose I could take a hose to it, but that would make things worse. Just throw him in the garbage."

And there, he was laid to rest. Thank God I'd done a back up on him merely a few weeks beforehand.

So, of course, the grieving process must occur. I reached several times over the past couple of weeks for a laptop that wasn't there. I tried in vain to use my work laptop, but alas, the anxiety of getting caught blogging or on Facebook was enough to send me back to therapy. So, today I made the trek to the Apple store, and after diligent question-asking, negotiating, and explaining why I name my iBooks (it's because my uncle, who is also a Mac addict, named his, but his were older female names, so I decided to go with the older male names), I came home with Bernie.

Bernie's name came about after a bit of providence. You see, the nice gentleman who worked with me at the Mac store was named Bennie (he was older, but not my grandpa's age). Bennie and his counterpart convinced me to go for the best deal and didn't try to upsell me (though I upsold myself into some more memory). So, while I was waiting for obligatory Mac techie to install my new memory chips, Counterpart mentioned I should name the new lappy "Bennie." To which Bennie and I replied almost simultaneously, " I think I will (you should) name it Bernie." FREAKY! So there you have it. The family has met and played with Bernie, and I am blogging for the first time on my new laptop. And no, the name Bernie has nothing to do with the fact that Earl was smoking (or his parts were burning), or anything like that. :)

Still Laughing...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inauguration

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Time to Shave the Nether Regions Folks...

...because there's no more Bush! Ha!

(Jumping for joy).

Actually, after seeing the movie W, I actually feel kind of bad for that sweet little puppet on a string. Farewell Bush's cronies, yes-men, and CHENEY!

And, as most of the country, I spent a lot of my day glued to CNN, bawling sporadically, and really just trying to understand the gravity of what has just happened in our country. Oh yeah, and screaming at the TV, "Get back in the CAR, Barack, get back in the CAR!" during the parade. I'm sure the Secret Service could relate. :)

Still dizzy, you may be wondering? Yes, but not as often. I did go to the ER on Friday night and they ruled out the serious stuff. So, I have perfect hearing, no tumors, no strokes, hemorrhages, and my brain looks as it should. So, I'm dizzy because I'm pregnant. It's the only other explanation. Damn. I have been feeling better in general the last few days, so I'm beginning to wonder if I may have escaped the duration of nausea that I felt with Bryce. Oh yeah, but there was Saturday.

Since during the week I pretty much park Bryce in front of the TV in the evening, I figured Saturday we should actually go do something fun as a family. SO, I decided swimming was something I could do. Bryce, Brett and I packed up and headed to the local pool for Family Swim time. From noon to 1. Normally, that's lunch time, but I owed it to the fam, so I sucked it up. We had a great time, and then afterward I took Bryce into the women's locker room (where he proceeded to tell a naked woman that her pee-pee looked like mommy's...fan-TAS-tic) to dry off. Within 5 minutes, I knew that if I didn't get food soon, it was going to get ugly.

So, off we went into town, with a sense of urgency to get mommy some fries with ranch (which was the ONLY thing that sounded good to me at the time). Within 10 minutes I had fries sitting in my lap. Brett decided he didn't want fries and that he was going to take Bryce to a sub shop to get sandwiches. While waiting at a light to make a left into the restaurant, I took a bite of a fry and IMMEDIATELY gagged. Oh.dear.God. I looked at Brett, who was looking a t me as if to say, "if you throw up in my new Tahoe, I may have to hurt you a little bit..."

Me: Brett, we need to get somewhere with a bathroom RIGHT NOW.
Brett: But I'm stuck, there's traffic every where! What do you want me to do!?
Me: I DON'T CARE, JUST GET THERE NOW!!!!

Brett jumped out of line and cut across two lanes of traffic to get me into the Taco Time driveway, where I proceeded to jump from the moving vehicle and run to the door. Now mind you, the place was packed with families eating lunch, so the thought of losing my stomach in the trashcan right by the front door just wasn't feasible. I ran into the restaurant where the smell hit me like a brick wall. I made it to the bathroom, where I found the stalls occupied and woman waiting. Boy, she was not lucky that day.

I threw up first into my hand and down my sweatshirt, then onto the floor, and finally into the sink. If the waiting woman could have climbed the wall and clung to the ceiling, I'm certain she would have. In between wretches I remember saying, "I'm so sorry," and "I'm so embarrased." A woman came out of the stall after I had finished emptying my stomach and I managed to squeak out the words, "I'm pregnant." Well, all of a sudden that was a different story! The woman climbed off the wall and got me paper towels, the woman from the stall wanted to know details of my pregnancy and reassured me it would get better while patting my back. I felt 110% better and began cleaning up my own embarrassing mess. I refused to let them help me clean it, if it were me, I know I wouldn't want to be near it. I managed to get most of it with paper towels.

Now, imagine you work at Taco Time, and you're hating life, and it's packed and busy and noisy, and you just want to go sleep off your hangover, and then this woman...this woman with puke on her shirt comes up to you and says, "hi, I just puked on your floor and in your sink...do you have a mop?" WHAT? And that's exactly the look I got from the cashier. I was pretty sure I was going to have to announce to the entire restaurant what I did in the bathroom to help make a clear picture for this woman. Finally, I was handed a mop, and told to leave the mop in there and once things settled down, they would do a deeper clean. So, there I was, mopping the floor of the Taco Time bathroom...something in a million years, I never thought I'd do.

I finished the clean-up, and went out to the Tahoe, where poor Brett and Bryce were waiting to find out what the hell happened, and if they could still go get their lunches. When Brett saw me (and my sweatshirt), he knew I didn't make it and was extremely kind and sympathetic the rest of the day. This was officially THE FIRST TIME I've ever thrown up due to a pregnancy. I'm now part of the club! :)

Hope I didn't make you too sick! Happy Inauguration Day everyone!

Dizzy, Day 17:

The ENT found NOTHING wrong with my inner ear. He said it could be hormonal (pregnancy), my thyroid (which I've had trouble with since Bryce was born), or neurological.

I called my OB's office today, who told me to come in for another slew of blood tests. And then she told me if it got worse over the weekend, to head to the ER and let them run neurological tests (like MRI's and stuff) to rule out the "really bad stuff" ...like cancer, or tumors, or whatever else could be bad inside my head.

This is getting to the point of unbearable. I've developed double vision, guarding of my head (which makes for a sore neck, let me tell ya), and some occasional spots in my vision (think a camera flash, but without the flash).

Either I'm a major hypocondriac, or there's something seriously wrong. Let's hope I'm just the raging lunatic.

Dizzy, Day 15

So, it's official. There's something wrong in my head. Besides the obvious. :)

I'm going to an ENT tomorrow to find out why exactly I'm so darned dizzy, even when I only move my eyeballs. This is crazy, and is REALLY not helping the daily baby nausea.

I yelled at Bryce today. You see, Wednesdays, I work from home and Bryce stays here too. It's an interesting balancing act, and I'm glad that I don't have to do it all week (yet, anyway), because I end up sticking him in front of movies until lunchtime, and then it's immediately naptime. At this juncture, I work on anything that may require a lengthy phone conversation of uninterrupted analysis.

Anyway, I got a really weird assignment today, and while I was trying to figure it out, I had to make some calls. And Bryce decided that was the exact moment to scream that he wanted cheese. So, I got him cheese out of the fridge. But, it was just half a slice, not the whole thing, which led to a mini-melt down. And after mommy got off the phone (trying to laugh off my screaming child in the background), I literally YELLED at my son, told him to shut up and watch his damned movie and eat the cheese I gave him. He looked stunned. And he answered, "okay mommy, I'll eat my cheese." He then sat silently and didn't even make a move.

I did apologize to him. I was downright mean. I shouldn't have yelled like that. I guess that's what happens when the phone calls can't always be made during naptime and you have a 3 year old who doesn't understand. Oh yeah, and you're also very ill all day long everyday and at your wit's end. Again, not his fault.

Just life.

Bleckh...

...is how I am feeling right now, and have felt day and night for a good week now. I forgot how utterly miserable this part is. Some days are a bit better than others, and I now have some anti-nausea medication to try (which I've tried, and does help some, but make me tired, so can't really take it during the day while I'm working!), but the feeling of being on the verge of puking is ALWAYS present.

I gagged 3 times just trying to leave the house this morning. Went through the mud room to the garage, which is where we keep the cat box. HOLY HELL! I'm pretty sure Moe saves it all up for 15 minutes before I have to walk into that room. That set up the rest of the day. Any little "off" smell is making me gag today, which is abnormal for me.

On the bright side, I've found that if I suck on Jolly Rancher candy constantly, I don't feel as bad.
My favorite right now is Blue Raspberry and Green Apple. Just enough of a tart to keep me out of the bathroom.

And THANK GOD you can do your grocery shopping online now. There's no way I would have made it through the store, and even just looking at the pictures of food online made me want to yak. Just gotta wait out those free delivery cards you get in the mail!

I am very sleepy. It's only 1:27PM. I'm still on the clock. Can't sleep, must work. Well maybe a 20 minute cat nap while Bryce is napping...

Introducing...

...Peanut Monahan!!!


We got a picture of our baby bean today. It is healthy, has a strong little heartbeat, and is on schedule to enter the world at the end of August of '09 if all goes well.

It's amazing how a teeny tiny little life can zap so much spunk and energy from its mama! Thank God it craves fresh fruit and water! :)

Aggravation Nation

I'm not perfect. I'll admit it, I can be lazy. I mean VERY lazy. But, I can also hunker down and get things done when they need to be. I don't enjoy living in filth, so I fight my urge to pop in a movie, and instead pop in earbuds and listen to some upbeat songs and get down and dirty.

However, with this pregnancy and all the joyous nausea that comes with it, I just need to sit sometimes. Or more. I get thirsty, guzzle too much water, then feel like I'm going to yak, so I gotta sit and let it work through my system so I don't toss my cookies (or water, as the case may be). About the only time I don't feel nauseous is first thing in the morning. Once breakfast hits, it's on like Donkey Kong.

Why is it that my husband doesn't get this? We've already gone through this once, and I'm FAIRLY certain he thinks I faked every ache, pain, and nauseating minute of my pregnancy. That would include the modified bedrest I was placed on, which is where I believe Brett's resentment began. I wasn't able to do ANYTHING but lie on the couch for hours at a time (which should be a lazy girl's dream!), when all I wanted to do was clean, organize and put baby stuff away. This pretty much placed Brett in a position of working all day, coming home and doing almost all of the housework. He'll never admit it, but I know some resentment boiled over by the end. It showed pretty clearly within the first 2 weeks of Bryce's life.

Before we even got pregnant this time around, I got the distinct impression that I was being tested in some aspects, to see if I could work full-time, take care of a 2500 square foot home with only sporadic help from the rest of the M Clan, a 16 year old (who, to her credit, is remarkably self-sufficient, but still needs some gentle guidance), and a 3 year old (who usually does a FANTASTIC job of helping to re-create the messes I've just cleaned up). I think for the most part I passed the test with flying colors.

However, add in pregnancy, and we've got a whole different ballgame.

Now, even my best laid plans are thwarted by bouts of nausea, the kind you get when you ride a roller coaster backward with your eyes closed...all day long. So, I've gotta sit, or do something besides even mild physical activity to focus on ANYTHING else but how crappy I feel.

I knew I'd physically feel this way again, at least until week 13 or 14, but I guess I had just hoped I'd be cut some slack, given some sympathy, and be treated more like a woman who's carrying her husband's child and less like that chick who lives in the house, cooks dinner, cleans (or tries to, but gets sneered at when she doesn't feel well enough to do it), takes care of the toddler, and bakes a new bun in the oven.

Oh yeah, did I mention I work full-time too?

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve for us this year was DEFINITELY a transitional point in our marriage, life and family. Normally (when I'm not pregnant), Bryce goes as stays with his Aunt and Uncle and Brett and I go and party it UP all night long with friends at Brandon's house. Usually around 1 or 2 AM on New Years, we head home, sleep in, and then get a nice, greasy hangover breakfast at McDonald's and pick up our kiddo.

This year, Brandon decided to do something different, so there was no party at his house. Brett attempted to host the party here, but about half of people who said they were coming didn't come. One of our friends got tired around 8:30 and went home. So, it was us (including Bryce), our friends Dan & Nichole, and Tamur. Brett bought Guitar Hero for the Xbox, so we all took turns playing (MY NEW FAVORITE GAME EVER!), and eventually around 10:30, we put Bryce down to bed. At about 11:30, we could still hear him talking and playing upstairs, so we brought him back down, poured him a glass of sparkling cider (in a real glass, not a plastic one!), and we all rang in the new year together. We watched the Space Needle broadcast, counted down from 10, screamed Happy New Year and clinked glasses with our friends. Bryce was so mesmerized by the whole event, he just stared at everyone clinking his glass. He gave his daddy and me smooches, polished off his cider, and then back to bed he went. Our friends stayed another 45 minutes or so, and then headed home also.

What a difference a year and a pregnancy can make. I honestly think (for the time being) we may be done with the partying it up on New Year's and may actually be able to handle a quiet evening at home!