Anyone else not ready to go back to work after the holidays? I’m not. I feel like I kinda missed it between visiting ILs, visiting my side of the family and car accidents. But I did get my computer de-bugged so I can actually work when I’m back in the office tomorrow. Ugh.

Since I totally didn’t go into the holiday yet, let me do the quick version of a recap:We started with his family for the 24th – a low-key affair consisting of conversation, catching-up and presents before dinner. The Bald One finally got a book he’s been after for five years (and there was much rejoicing) and a set of monitor speakers so he can work on rocking out. I got kitchen toys that I’ve had my eye of for a while – including this way-too-cool apple peeler/corer/slicer. Yes, I’m odd.

After coming home the 25th, we did laundry and started packing for the trip to my family, which I’ve already posted about how much fun that was. My mom wanted us to open at least one thing before bed, so she handed us the Gummi Bear’s first Christmas present. I’m sure she’ll love it.

The next morning I was very slow and lazy before finally getting to the point we could open presents. We got a fan-frickin-tastic new coffeemaker. I had no idea how totally cool our new coffeemaker was until days later when Bald One explained it to me in retail-speak and using small words. When we finally got it plugged in and set up for its virgin run, the coffee was worth the experience.

I think since I just talked in glowing terms over two holiday presents that involved my kitchen, I can be declared an adult.

The rest of our time up north was spent fairly low-key. We helped get supplies for the now-annual game night, had lunch at Great Lakes Brewing Company and then lost spectacularly at Trivial Pursuit. Luckily, the drive back was uneventful – we had a lengthy stop in Columbus after a late start. This put us home later than desired, but the consequence was worth the pleasure.

The downside of the late return was that we wanted to sleep in before my OB appointment and that meant less time to prep for our party. Lucky for us, a friend was willing to trade slave labor for a ride home the next day. Between the three of us the house was dusted and vacuumed in record time. NYE was a quiet affair compared to some years (no peeing in shoes, for example) and ended with me still awake (ish) at 5am.

So while we’ve had a week and a half off from work, it feels like I’ve just had a long weekend. I’d like another few days please – can I?

0101-Happy2010

Originally uploaded by Rae Z

Around four this morning, the Bald One and I sat on our couch staring at the fire. I was sipping my water, he was finishing his beer. In the silence of our house the new year started to sink in to our brains.

• This would likely be the last celebrated at our house (unless we find a babysitter)
• This would be the last for roughly twenty years we’d be child-free
• In a few months, we’d be parents
• I have a dozen or so weeks until I’m on maternity leave
• In about six weeks I should be able to start training a temp to cover my leave

Big changes coming. Hope we’re ready for them

…can we drive before I get into an accident?

On our way to my parents’ home ten hours north of us, we had the usual batch of fun with us doing the road trip that way. We got a late start (only an hour this time), hit a random slowdown that didn’t appear to have any reason and got in later than we wanted. What was different this time around was we got hit by another car – which is part of the reason we were late. Long story to follow…

We had switched back to the Bald One driving sometime shortly before West Virginia, which was a good thing. I was dozing and watching the scenery as we approached the first toll booth. I spotted the EZ Pass only lane and the empty pay/pass lane on its right and was watching that as he says “oh shit” and I feel the brakes as he slows down more that he had been. That’s when I looked left and saw the F150 hit us. He was able to pull us over to the far right and I jumped out to look at my car and look in shock at the F150 as he headed to the pay lane he was aiming for in the first place. As I stood behind my car and stared at the guy. He apologizes, asks if we need his insurance and could he at least pull through to pay his toll first.

Next was a bunch of the standard stuff post accident – concerned official folks come over to check and call the appropriate authorities, insurance information exchanged and small talk while we copy things. The folks at Toll Plaza A in WV were wonderful to make sure we had what we needed. The other driver was younger than us – listed on his parents insurance and driving his mom’s truck. He apologized and proclaimed he missed seeing us as we were in his blind spot. Seeing as he hit the Forester inches in front of the middle pillar at a 45degree angle, I’m not sure about what blind spot…but I’ve never driven an F150. I give him his copy of our insurance and his originals back and tell him the trooper will likely give him another copy of it. He goes back to his car and oddly…leaves.

The toll plaza folks call the troopers to let them know he left and we get an update on the ambulance. It pulls up moments later and asks me to step inside. Diagnosis: elevated blood pressure, but not so worrisome that I need to go to the hospital. It’s suggested I try to calm down (ha!) and if I suspect anything, I need to go to the hospital or call 911. I tell the Bald One, and we giggle over the idea as the trooper appears. Now, the trooper is old school military…ramrod straight back, hair no more than a quarter inch and all business. I let the Bald One do all the talking, as he was the driver, and go back to trying to figure out what next.

Shortly, we were back on the road and the Bald One was stuck doing all the driving as our drivers door no longer opened. We got to my parents’ without further incident. The drive back was also uneventful, which was a blessing. During our time in the great white north, we did have a few conversations with our insurance and apparently the other driver’s. Eventually it was all sorted out and we had a local office to contact once we were home. Also while in Cleveland, I got in touch with my OB’s office and set up a follow-up appointment for when we were back in town.

The initial follow up means that the Forester is off to the body shop on Monday in exchange for a rental car until the repair work is done. The other driver was found at fault (big surprise). The initial OB appointment pretty much confirmed what we thought – things were still fine but we’re going to have a blood test and ultrasound as a double check. Gummi Bear kicked the doc and the microphone as we were getting set up to listen to her heartbeat. My blood pressure is still elevated (up a half dozen points since last week), but nobody seems too concerned.

Not exactly how I wanted to spend part of my vacation, but what can you do?

Twas the week of Christmas
and all through the house
not a creature was sleeping
not even the mouse…

There are times where I think I am physically & mentally capable of doing things I really shouldn’t even consider. The latest is the idea that we’re going to visit his parents (2 hours away) on Christmas Eve day, drive back on Christmas and then the next day we’ll take the nine hour trip to my family. Normally, not a big deal and I’ve done worse while on tour. But as I start this week, knowing that I’m not at all ready for this travel and holiday, I just wonder what I was thinking.

Part of it is knowing that I don’t plan on doing anything this crazy after our gummi bear is on the outside, so I might as well get it out of my system now. The downside of doing this is that means a lot of travel on our part…which can be physically exhausting before you even add in the fact it is visiting family and over the holidays. I know that visiting his parents celebration is going to be a quiet affair with them and his sister over dinner before his mom returns to the Windy City with his sister for a nice visit. What is going to feel like a three ring circus is the trip up to the rock ‘n’ roll capital and my family. We’re there for three days, which will include (in no particular order) a family dinner, a game night and going out with my brother and his wife. Other than that, I’d love to spend time just relaxing and such with my family. I just don’t see that happening.

I think part of the contributing factor to my already-exhausted brain is that it is only Monday and my weekend consisted of Sunday – and we had people over post a clean-up and laundry. So no lazy day for me, which I’m learning I want to have in order to feel ready to face the week. Given my schedule (theater all day Saturday) and the Bald One’s busy social schedule, it was the only night we could have our fire and solstice celebration…only to be invited to another one tonight. And when I talked to the Bald One just a bit ago…he already has plans for tomorrow night. Thankfully (?!), I get to stay home after work.

Is it Saturday yet?

Na Na!

In a much cooler fashion, than the song describes, the Bald One got a foot to the head finally this week from little EA. Every time she’d kicked before this, she’d stop the second he got close. As he puts it, she’s already ignoring him.

The Bald One and I recently figured out just how we’re going to end up spending our Christmas holiday – it involves a lot of driving and hopefully discovering someone to feed the cats while we’re gone so long. But we’ll be able to see our family for several days on either side of the holiday. Because of this, and the chaos of me traveling we’re skipping the tree and the decorations this year. By the time we’d have a chance to deal with it (this week, during the week) we wouldn’t have much time to enjoy the pretties or the scent of the tree. We’ll probably go see about a wreath so we get that great pine smell in the house, but that’ll be as far as we go. It does make me feel a little like the Grinch with the rest of the neighborhood up in lights, but I have a feeling we’ll make up for it next year.

As part of the insanity of the holidays, we spent this weekend partying. Saturday meant fun with some of the Bald One’s former employees and we ended up skipping my work celebration because I wasn’t up to it. Today was our friend’s birthday which meant a feast of enchiladas. Unfortunately I had actual work to do afterwards in preparation for trying to wrap up everything tomorrow at the office, which put a bit of a cloud on the evening but it wasn’t overwhelming. There was some fun with television and cuddling on the couch before bed. Not a bad way to end it in this chaos.

I woke up with a nightmare this morning. Panicked and half-awake as I pushed away the fog of it I realized that I was in my own bed, curled up with my husband and being kicked by my unborn daughter. In that moment, I realized the nightmare was just that…and remembered that a friend was living just the horror I dreamed. It took me another ten minutes to finish crying and reassure myself that it was, in fact, just a dream for me. And then my heart broke again for her.

I’m in the middle of the three women that unintentionally announced their pregnancies together, with one due two weeks before and one due two weeks after me. I thought of them at odd moments, wondering how they were doing and if they were having some of the silly things that I was experiencing. How one was doing with her crazy travel schedule, how the other was handling having her in-laws so close by…just random little moments as I went through my day. I set off on the road for my second stop of the touring season and laughed at the dealing with airports while six months pregnant, wondering how our jet-setter managed. I had Sunday off this week in Chicago and spent part of the day catching up with my online friends as the previous week had been a long one with little time for fun. It was then I learned of Jilly’s surprise birth.

Jillian was due two weeks before me, which makes her three and a half months early. Odds weren’t good from the beginning, but we all were hopeful that this one could beat the odds. I know I cheered when she had her first sign of hope…but not too long afterwards things started going for the worse. A brain hemorrhage and a tough decision later and I’m crying with her hundreds of miles away. My friend wrote eloquently of the few days they had and what this meant for her. I’m not sure I could be that coherent.

I’ve been a wreck today while trying to work. I cried through both shows today and telling a friend what happened. I’m going to join another in making a quilt for the NICU in Boston where Jillian spent her life. And while the tears stream down my face, a small voice in a dark corner thanks the gods above that it isn’t me. And the rest of me hates that part for managing to even think that.

We’ve hit the road again, and the way the schedule worked out DzB and I have a free day in Chicago. Actually, in Aurora. Mind you, I’ve got a college friend, a former coworker and a sister-in-law in the Chicago area so one would think I could find something to do with myself. SIL is sick, haven’t heard from the other two but haven’t tried too hard either.

Instead, I spent the day quiet. I haven’t done that in a while. My parental phone call was fun as I related stories from the road and they told me of the neighborhood mischief. Afterwards I finished the book I was reading before heading off to swim for a while in the pool while ignoring the cheerleaders. Then it was more reading after becoming a human again and now goofing off online.

Granted, I should go see Chicago since I’m here. Or find something worthwhile to do other than sit in a hotel room. But really, there’s nothing I’d like more than the quiet and a nap. Plus, we’re far enough out of Chicago that it doesn’t feel worth the bother to go into town. We’re really in suburbia with a touch of cornfields are across the highway from my window. The highway is one of the major arteries going around the city. And we’re right next to a shopping center. Which I don’t mind too much – I’m thinking I’m going to wander off to Panera’s for dinner in a few.

It’s times like this that I really realize suburbs really make it not matter too much where you are – the offerings are all the same. There’s a Home Depot, Target, and a few other big box stores in the strip here as well as the requisite Starbucks, Chili’s, BW3’s and usual suspects. It’s like almost any other town you could find.

I will say our performance venue was a fun surprise yesterday. We performed at the Fermilab in Batavia. For those who aren’t hip to particle physics…it’s kind of the precursor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) over in Switzerland in CERN. We actually got to look at the room where they’re a remote lab for CERN so we (US Dept of Energy) can take advantage of the time difference. Pretty cool. The whole place is open to the public, but they do card you as you come on to the campus. Since we were there on the weekend, we’re going to stop by on our way out of town tomorrow to see about a tour and hitting the gift shop.

I think I blinked. October and November seem to have disappeared in a flurry of work, meetings, bills and general insanity. December starts this week, a prospect I’m really not ready for by any means in my head.

Let’s see what all happened:

• We went to the U2 concert, which had to be the most obnoxious experience in bad traffic management known to man.
• I attended our group’s meeting in Vegas to help run logistics. What happens in Vegas can be entertaining.
• Halloween was a party, as usual
• Our Californian Apple came home for the holidays, which means we’re all catching up and settling in for the season. This means more random gatherings and time to play with babies.
• Year end wrap up is in full speed at the day job – meaning I’m spending a large part of my day spending someone else’s money.
• Our first tour stop of the Night Before Christmas Carol went well and was well received. We’ll just keep it between us that it was a lovely brush up.

There’s a lot that I thought I’d get accomplished this year that just hasn’t happened. I started taking part in a 365 project on Flickr, which was a sure sign (I think) that I should have been declared crazy. I wanted to start eating better, which I have somewhat accomplished. There was an idea that I’d actually get around to putting together our wedding album – which really hasn’t happened. The Bald One and I thought we might finish working in the front yard, but still a garden island remains the domain of weeds and mess…and the little baby trees from errant seeds or squirrels are threatening patches we had cleared.

But I did bake my first apple pie. I did start to lose weight…until I started gaining for a good reason. My hair has gotten longer and I’ve even learned how to deal with it like an adult. I even have the start of a professional wardrobe with button down shirts and nice slacks instead of cobbling together work clothes from comfort instead of what can work in a theater while still looking “nice.” I have girlfriends at work, which feels wonderful.

It’s those that I should concentrate on…and not the things I haven’t finished as the year closes up. Next year is soon enough to tackle that list.

You may have noticed something strange in my last post – a disclaimer at the FTC. As you may have seen elsewhere, the FTC has decided to watch out for you, the consumer, by making us Wild West critics fess up that we may not be completely honest with you because we are swayed by the big bad corporations.

I know, I’m exaggerating. But for a reason…do you really think 90% of us sit here and go “yes, free stuff! I promise to say I love it and have my throngs of followers worship you even if it’s crap!” In a word, no. But the FTC is worried about that 10% who might not be so scrupulous.

I know I’m a tiny little flea in the world of swaying the almighty consumerist dollar. I don’t have a large following, if I even have any following. I more often tell strange tales of my life working on shows and having a day job or the strange things that pass as “normal” in our family life than I do tell you about the books I read, products I buy or other things that qualify as a product review. Heck, I’ve even started to get a little snarky on book reviews because it’s fun to crack my girlfriends up while being honest about a book plot.

I can honestly tell you the only ARC I have ever reviewed here is one I blatantly said was an ARC. The books I’ve received as a give-away, either as a prize for a contest well-won or the one time I’ve gotten something from an author, have been noted. Unless stated otherwise, my books come from one of three sources: my local library, a PaperBackSwap trade or my own hard-earned cash. My husband works in retail – formerly for Linens ‘n’ Things, Best Buy, a wine distributor and various movie theaters. As such, we did receive discounts on some purchases but never have I received something for free because of this connection from the retailer. He now works for a retail servicer, and as such we get pretty much nothing. Any product reviews (like how I love my wash machine due to it’s delayed start), are based on experience and not because somebody gave me something to make it sound awesome. In the event this ever changes, despite my tiny influence, I’ll make sure to warn you.

And while I love the government…I’m siding with a folksong here (and if you’re really curious, I’ll go figure out which…but my recording is at home): Judge, the good folks don’t need your laws and the rest won’t listen.