Jonathan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad (start to the) Day!

You know that feeling when you roll out of bed and your hair is in a tuffle, you have your hoodie and pj's on and you stumble into the kitchen feeling like a million dollars (and looking more like an IOU)? I started that way and was greeted in the kitchen with tears ;-( Sometimes we have those. Well, we made it through that.

Then I was on a mission to locate the perfect gift for my sister's boyfriend. I had ordered him a sweet Boston Red Sox number and when it came in the mail and I opened it a few days before Christmas I found that they sent me a Brooklyn Dodgers piece instead. So I called to figure out how to return it and asked to re-order it. A few days later, it comes in the mail and guess what it is... yep... Brooklyn Dodgers! So I go onto the website to order again. They no longer carry the Red Sox item! So here I am two days before giving him a gift of nothing having thought that I had figured out the perfect gift for him and instead I had two empty hands full of nothing but good intentions. So the mission was on. I had to find this new item. I called here. I called there. I called every possible place I could think of that might possibly have what I wanted to get him. Apparently no one in the Milwaukee area has them. New idea. I know what I'll get... I just have to run out and get it.

Before I go, I call our local Family Video Store. Elizabeth and I had wanted to bring a Wii to our Christmas gathering tomorrow. I was a bit skeptical that they would have one to rent on New Years Eve. But I called and to my great delight... they have just one! I let the guy know that I'll be there in a little while and he asks for my name and phone number so he can check my account. Good as gold. I go take a shower and head over to Family Video full of glee at the thoughts of the fun we will have tomorrow with the fam. I will be the Hero of life itself at the family party!

As I get out of the car in the Family Video parking lot, I see a mother and her son walking out of the store and getting into their full-size van. She has, in her hand, a black case and he has, in his, a plastic bag full of DVD-box-sized items. I got a sinking feeling in my tummy. I approach the counter and tell the kind gentleman that I called a little while ago about renting their Wii. He immediately gets a sheepish look on his face as he says that it was rented and the woman had literally just walked out the door. He said he didn't know that I wanted it held. Ughhhhhh. I asked if any of the other stores had any and he begins to get a look of hope and starts flying his fingers across the keyboard and he wanders over to the phone to call Waukesha. He comes back. Theirs are both due back tomorrow. My heart sinks. I say thanks anyway and wander out to the car with a bit of a somber mood. I even think to myself, pull it together man, this is a video game system! So I go on about my business figuring I can stop at other places along the way in case they might have a stray Wii laying around. Blockbuster... doesn't rent them. Hollywood Video... doesn't rent them. GameStop... doesn't rent them. Oh well. I'll just grab a coffee and go grab the present I am out to get.

I get to my coffee place and order a depth charge. "Would you like room for cream?" Yes please. He hands the nearly full cup of coffee to the barista and says I think I over filled it and he would like room for cream. Up comes my Depth Charge. I go to the mixing station to put in some half and half. I open up the cup and it is literally level with the brim of the cup. I think to myself, well maybe I can just put a touch in there. I do. As I put the cover back on I realize that the coffee is actually visible through the thin white plastic cover of the cup. It is rising above the level of the cup itself and is almost half the way up the plastic cover! I get to my car and think to myself... I know this is going to be trouble. So as I drive off, the coffee splooshes around in the cup with random eruptions of piping hot coffee shooting up into the air as I proceed to my next destination. When I get there, I carefully pick up the coffee and realize what I already knew... the white plastic covers are not meant to contain the coffee, they are only lids for the cups. So as I walked around with my coffee in hand there was intermittent dripping until the level of the coffee was below the level of the lid and was contained solely by the cup. Nothing like licking your fingers all around the mall (no I was not mallwalking... I was shopping!).

Oh the joys of New Year's Eve!

Wii wish you a merry Christmas
Wii wish you a merry Christmas
Wii wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Years Family extravaganza!


But here is the bright side, my parents are coming down and I am going to get to have dinner with the whole fam. Then we get to spend the day together tommorrow. Honestly, Who needs a Wii?!?!

So onward wii go to a full day of family fun. Now that is what I call
Living the dream!

And the ultrasound says...

It's a baby! I knew it! I knew it was a baby. We didn't really know why we were being scheduled for an ultrasound at this time in the pregnancy and we found out today. You may have noticed, if you have seen Elizabeth lately, how stunning and beautiful she looks! That is because she has a beautiful baby inside and so the beauty is magnified! Anyways, at our ultrasound today we found out that there is less fluid than we would want in the amniotic sac (She is at about 7. "7 what" you ask. I'm not sure, lets call them amniotic sac fluid units. Yes, she is at 7 ASFU's). That means that when there are contractions, the baby gets more than a hug, the baby gets downright uncomfortable! There is still enough fluid but it is low and unlike getting an oil change and having your windshield wiper fluid topped off (which I did yesterday) the fluid will not increase in the amniotic sac. When there is not enough fluid, contractions can cut off the flow from the umbilical cord. So we have another appointment on Friday and we will have another ultrasound (to measure the fluid) and a nonstress test to make sure that the baby is doing alright down there! P.S. I think they call it a nonstress test because it sounds better than a stress test but who knows, I'm no doctor!

Now you ask "Then what?" Go ahead... ask.

Then if the fluid level is down to 5 ASFU's, she'll need an oil change and she'll be induced into labor. What labor?!?! She'll have a baby?!?! You have to be kidding. I was joking when I said we were all ready!

Yes, she would have a treatment done on Friday night to prepare and then would be induced on Saturday. Now we had been hoping that she would not have to be induced, so prayers would be nice. Being induced is not the end of the world, though we had hoped for a natural birth and our understanding is that if she is induced, she would likely have an epidural as the drug used to induce causes stronger contractions (more painful). So that is where we are at. we are praying that the baby gets tired of the womb before Friday so that she doesn't have to be induced.

Well, for those of you trying to guess baby's gender, this may help or it may not. Kind of looks like Elvis to me! Thank ya, thank ya very much.



I'll keep you posted and you keep
living the dream!

P.S.

Ok, before we begin, I start looking for the Brookfield Square logo, I happened upon the Brookfield Square code of conduct and I am glad I did. I almost found myself in blatant disobedience to the code in the following area:

"24. No fishing, swimming, or boating without prior written approval of shopping center management.
This list is not all inclusive..."

Little did I know that my plans to troll around the penny pond in my bass boat might be cut short by the mall security force!

So I almost forgot the most exciting thing that happened today. I officially took part in a form of exercise that I had publicly sworn never to participate in. Earlier today I went mall-walking!

That is right, I joined the ranks of all those who traverse the corridors of malls with no intent to purchase but rather with the hope of getting some much needed exercise in the controlled climate of... THE MALL!

At first I thought I could excuse myself from officially mall-walking by explaining that we had made a purchase within the limits of the mall property. After closer investigation, the truth comes out. We did make an official purchase and were ready to leave. But then, the word lap was used in conversation. More precisely, the word was used in the following manner:

maybe we could just do one lap.

On it's own, this would not necessarily indicate that one is mall-walking. When the lap is intended not for window-shopping, not for checking to see if any stores had fabulous sales, not to find a lost loved one, but for exercise... this is when it becomes indicative of mall-walking.

If you have any interest, please do check out:
The Complete Mall Walker’s Handbook, by John H. Bland, M.D., Jenna Colby, R.D., L.D. Copyright © 1999 John H. Bland, M.D., Jenna Colby, and Fairview Press. Excerpted by arrangement with Fairview Press.

Then proceed to the nearest mall and begin
living the dream!

Merry Christmas! ! !

Well folks, Christmas is here and what a wonderful time of year! Leading up to Christmas day we had quite the weather! We had, what seemed like an endless barrage of snow. I was running out of places to put it and was starting to worry that we would no longer be able to get out of the alley (it had been getting thinner and thinner as the snow piles began creeping closer to the side of my car as I drove through the alley).

Luckily, we had a warming trend and quite a lot of rain to melt down the vast majority of the snow we had. I love not having to shovel!

Christmas day was nice. Elizabeth and I spent Christmas morning together and it was nice to have a relaxed morning together. We turned on some Christmas tunes and exchanged stockings. It was really nice.

Since Christmas we have had a bit of down time and I have to admit, it has been marvelous! I am still waiting for Elizabeth to decide to go into labor. OK, I know that is not how it works, but I am just ready for the baby to come. Can't wait.

I was watching the Packer Game yesterday and I had to chuckle when I saw this one sign...
Go Pack Go!

Look how cute Elizabeth is!

So on Christmas eve eve, we decided to take another picture. I say that like it is this momentous thing... We decided--to take--A PICTURE! (dun dun dun!) She had just gotten home from work on her last day before break and so here she is... the cutest thing in the world.

Yes, I know you are asking yourself, is that stocking right behind her the "body stocking" he was talking about getting? Yes, that is the stocking I ended up getting. I got it at Target and I knew that Elizabeth was shopping for my stocking yesterday. As I stood there in the store, I thought to myself. This is definitely the stocking for her... $101 says she is going to get me the same stocking. Sure enough, she comes home and I ask her, did we get the same stocking. She says, probably... did you get the one at target (mind you, there were about 100 different ones at Target). I said yes,knowing that by "the one at Target, she meant, the one that I bought. Half hour later, she comes downstairs with the exact same stocking stuffed and ready to hang! Too funny!

Well, here we are on Christmas Eve morning and as I wake up, we look out the window at the most beautiful white-huge falling snowflakes! So beautiful. I thought to myself...I do NOT want to shovel today! Ok, so that wasn't my first thought, but it did cross my mind. But I came downstairs, threw on the Christmas tree lights and the Pops Christmas music. I thought about making some coffee or tea, so I could just sit here and enjoy the morning. As I am typing this last sentence, Elizabeth comes downstairs and says, would you have some coffee if I make it...
living the dream!

Christmas Break Rocks!

So here I am, sitting at Caribou, enjoying my morning cup. I have a couple of books and the computer. Christmas music playing, fire firing, coffee steaming! What a morning!

So we budgeted for making some investments this year. We had a portion that we planned to put toward retirement and a portion that we would put in more liquid investments. I am finally putting my finance major to work... I love etrade. I have been researching and researching to find the things that we will invest in! I love that etrade lets you filter through the many with options like projected risk, projected return, and socially responsible companies! I am letting it filter for me and then doing my own research on the results from my searches! I feel like a stockbroker... maybe right now is not the best time to feel like a stockbroker but luckily, we haven't invested much yet and I think the market is pretty low, in general, at this point! What an exciting time to buy.

I think we are just about ready for baby. (I know I keep on saying that but then we do more to get ready!) Yesterday we packed our hospital bags and today I got the car seat installed. Elizabeth got diapers washed and rewashed and then washed again . I think they are ready to go. I don't know if I mentioned that our glider came. If I wasn't here at Caribou, I would surely be sitting in the nursery!

I found a new radio station on our tv... Sirius Holiday Pops... Love it. It is wonderful Christmas music that focuses not on the gifts and the jolly fat man, but rather on the holy newborn. It features choirs and classical instruments... just lovely. I love leaving it on and sitting by the tree.
P.S. I got a kick out of Timothy Dolan's ad on one of the MKE radio stations when he referred to the station as Milwaukee's Advent radio station. So true... they play Christmas music all through Advent and then it is gone on the 26th!

hang on... need a warmer upper!


What else... We went to a fancy schmancy restaurant and you know I like to do my restaurant critiques! Coast is the name of the place and we only went because we had a pretty sizable gift card. Coast is, as the name suggests, a seafood joint. Swanky decor with views of signature pieces of the Milwaukee skyline set the stage for a meal to remember. I had the Strip Steak Au Poivre. It was very good. Elizabeth had the Gorgonzola Tenderloin Filet: also very good. I must be spoiled though, or not sophisticated enough to appreciate the two meals for the price they were. I have been to restaurants that are pricey and thought to myself, "man, if I was going to splurge on a meal and spend more than anyone should spend on one meal, I would totally do that here." I guess that was not the feeling I had after Coast. It was good, but not THAT good. If the price was paying for the window seat looking out at the Calatrava, the US Bank Building, the Art Museum, and the rest of the Milwaukee skyline, the marvelous atmosphere and the popovers that were served as an appetizer, then it went to the best parts of the meal. My entre was, as I said, very good, but the popover was the highlight--with it's choice of pesto, strawberry or cream butter. Well, I won't recommend the place as being worth the price but I guess you wouldn't go there anyway... they are closing right around the beginning of the year.

Well, I suppose I should get on with things. I have some Christmas shopping to do. Elizabeth and I agreed to do Christmas stockings this year. Anything we are going to get for each other has to fit into the stocking that we get for each other. I think I am going to get her an enormous stocking that she could fit her whole body in! A Body Stocking! A Body Sock! This should be fun. Now that is
Living the dream!

Darn you snow day!

So earlier today when I was so excited about a snow day... yeah, I forgot a couple things. I forgot that we have one husband, one pregnant wife, and one shovel!

Darn you snow!

It was almost two feet deep in some places! On the bright side, one of our neighbors hauled their snowblower up and down the alley. After I shoveled as much as I was going to shovel, they cleared out the area that the plow normally would clear. Somehow, with the amount of snow we got, I wouldn't be surprised if the plow didn't make it through our alley until tomorrow.

Well, the day was fun. Elizabeth and I lounged around a bit, cleaning here and there. We made apple cider and the whole house smells delicious!

This evening we got to go out to the store to pick up the glider that we ordered a while back and now I think the nursery is completely done! How exciting is that!

Disposable diapers came in the mail yesterday and Elizabeth washed them all today! Holy Laundry!

Well, rumor has it we are going to get a few more inches tomorrow. I am not sure where we will ever be able to put it. Maybe we will just have to resign ourselves to staying indoors until it melts!

that would really be
Living the dream!

It IS a snow day!

And it is a good thing... I don't know that I would have made it out of the alley! I woke up at 4:00 and came downstairs to watch the news to see if there was any chance school would be canceled and as things turned out, it was for both Elizabeth and myself!

A Snow Day---living the dream!

Let it Snow!

Well they say it is supposed to snow tonight! Part of me says let it drop on us like a ton of bricks! Who doesn't want an early Christmas break... we woudl likely cancel school if it comes like it could. Snow days bring out the kid in me. There is nothing like waking up early to check the news and see if school has been canceled. Don't get me wrong. I love being at school and everything I get to do there, but there is no better surprise than an extra holiday!

The other part of me says please don't drop that snow on us... I don't need any more to shovel! Again, don't get me wrong. I don't mind pushing some snow, but like everything, I think shoveling should be enjoyed in moderation!

In other news, I don't know why I derive such happiness from success in fantassy football! Think about it... you pretty much win or lose completely by luck! And then when your lucky horse comes in, you try to take credit for the success! Too funny! Well, I am in the championship game and I am
Living the dream!

Am I Excited?

Um, Yeah! We did laundry today and were finally able to put bedding on the crib! I definitely spent a little bit of time bent over the crib imagining a little one laying in there!

Less than five weeks until the due date and we cannot wait. We are spending all our time doing the things we need to get done before the baby comes and all the things that we may not have as much time to do once the baby comes. Tomorrow is another date night! How fun is that?!?!?

Baby is not doing more turning and wiggling than kicking... baby is running out of room in there!

What a wonderful way to experience Advent! It really is a season of waiting, preparation, and anticipation. On we go...
living the dream!

Dish!

So I think I have been a bit delinquent in posting here. Lots of good things are happening.

First, Elizabeth is doing great. We are in week 34 and preparations are well on their way. She is actually at a shower right now with some friends that are blog/knottie/book club friends. I can't tell you how grateful I am for all the crazy cool things that came our way through the first baby shower. My mom and dad brought the van over to our house afterwards and I couldn't believe the gifts that had befallen us. So thankful for such generous family and friends.

So preparations like having the room ready and having the things that we need are well on their way. We do have much of the nursery ready at this point. We are waiting for the rocking chair to come in and a couple of volunteers at school are providing us with a mattress. I think once the crib actually looks like a baby could sleep in it, I will feel much better.

We went shopping at Target, my favorite store, yesterday. We went nuts getting all the different pieces that we need but haven't really thought about. For instance, we have only one set of outlets in the nursery and in order to have a night light, monitor, alarm clock, and space heater in the room, we needed a surge protector. Those are the little types of things that we picked up yesterday.

Today, I am getting another major piece ready for the baby, DISH network! Ok, maybe that is more for Elizabeth and Me than for the baby. Well, it has been off and on for quite a while now and I called the other night to try to get it fixed again and the tech person said, "You know what you need? You need the supertech guy! You need the field tech who has been doing this for 30 years and who can fix anything.

So that is who is here right now. I thought the customer service guy was just patronizing me when he said he was going to send me the pro. Well, he wasn't. This guy is awesome. I was worried that, like usual, the problems that we have been facing off and on for quite a while, would not happen while the pro was here, but luckily, he has seen the crazy things that we have been experiencing and seems as baffled as we are. He was doing a test and the machine just randomly shut down. He would push buttons on the remote with no response, so then resorting to using the buttons on the actual machine, he found that they didn't cause anything to happen either! Well, needless to say, he has been here (with the trainee) for about an hour or so now and they have been working diligently to try to get things working. We've had three different receivers hooked up, we have repositioned the dish itself, and we're still going.

The only bummer is that the Packer game is on now and I am going to miss the beginning! Oh well, I will live.

Back to baby... We had our breastfeeding class and so now I feel totally prepared... to not be the one breastfeeding. But I know what to expect and how I can help. I know we have a little over five weeks left but I also know that with holiday stuff happening all the time, those weeks will fly by.

I hope you are as excited as I am to meet the baby!
Till then, I'll be
Living the dream...
with the dish network people!