MIA

Sorry I haven't been around too much lately - things have just been crazy around here. Some highlights from the past week:

1. My baby shower was last Sunday and everything was just wonderful and perfect. My mom really outdid herself, and I had a whole table of my friends from NJ, PA and VA who made the long trip up to NY to be part of this special day. It was a farm theme (just like the nursery!) and my mom did farm-themed invitations, cookies shaped as farm animals as favors, and oversized Bell jars with gingham ribbons and filled with flowers for centerpieces. She held it at a local country club and the food was great (not to mention the fact that there was shower cake and a dessert station - yum!). Not to mention the fact that everyone was so generous - we received some amazing and thoughtful gifts - the McNugget is one lucky little one! I didn't take any pictures, but once I get some from my friends, I will try and post one or two online.

2. Work was insane last week and was aggravated by the fact that our email went down on Monday morning and didn't come back up before Wednesday. So I haven't even had a chance to email my friends who came to my shower to thank them for making the long trip to see me.... sorry!

3. Thanksgiving was spent in NJ at my mother-in-law's house. It was a low-key day, which was nice. The only unfortunate part was the fact that I am having that sciatic nerve/leg pain again (pennance for telling everyone at my shower how fantastic I feel!) and spending 5-6 hours in the car just made things worse. I could hardly make it up the stairs on Thursday night and I was feeling terrible on Friday AM.

4. Of course, feeling awful on Friday did not prevent me from making my annual Black Friday excursion. Was up and ordering online at Walmart.com at 4:45 am - got a JVC camcorder for under $200, plus a few other odds and ends. Was in line in front of Target by 5:45 for a 6:00 a.m. opening - there had to be around 200 people in front of us; it was crazy! Since I was having problems walking, I begged hubby to come and help me out. We ended up with a digital camera, all of the DVDs we wanted, plus a few holiday gifts (top secret!). Made it to Linens-n-Things, JC Penneys and back home before 7:15 a.m. Ran out with my parents that morning and picked up a few more things - all in all, it was a great day.

5. Plans for the rest of the weekend? Digging out our Christmas decorations, writing thank-you notes and getting a start on my holiday cards.

On a final note... at dinner on Thursday, my mother-in-law asked us to go around the table and each say what we are thankful for. I spouted off a couple of things, but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how lucky I am. I have the world's best hubby; a loving, caring, supportive family; a healthy, happy, active McNugget who I will get to meet in just two months; great friends; a job that makes me feel complete; a home that I love; and (5 or so) faithful readers who I now consider to be friends. I am so thankful for all of you.

Okay, gotta scram - hubby is IMing me from the other couch... :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

... at least in our neighborhood.

Last weekend, hubby and I were running some errands when we saw him. The early decorator.

During the spring and summer, this house is impeccable - perfect green grass, thick and lush and always mowed to precisely the right height; and well-manicured shrubs (I have actually seen him out there trimming individual leaves/branches with a pair of scissors). This guy is dedicated.

But once the flowers die and the shrubs and the grass stop growing, he must have nothing else to do. When we saw him putting up lights (on every tree and every shrub in the yard) and hanging a giant wreath over his garage on Saturday, we figured that it was just because he was taking advantage of the nice weather. Surely he couldn't actually be ready to flip the holiday switch this early, right?

Wrong. That house is lit up every night on my way home from work. Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person (probably more) and it doesn't bother me when stores start their holiday decorating in October (they need to make money too), but can't you just hold off on decorating the house until the Thanksgiving turkey is carved? Seriously.

Also, it is hard to get excited about the upcoming holiday season when it is so damn warm out. It should not be 60 degrees in upstate NY in mid-November (as it was this morning). I actually saw some guy on the Northway with his convertible top down on my way into work...

TGIF!

Thank God this week is over. This morning started out just fine - plus I was leaving at 2:30 to attempt the glucose test for a second time, which meant that I would be home early - yay!

So, when I left the doctor's office on Tuesday, they handed me a bottle of glucola and a form to have my blood drawn at LabCorp. Instructions? Drink the glucola and then get to LabCorp about 30 minutes later, in case there are a lot of people in the waiting room (it's a one-hour timed test). Makes sense, right?

I drink the glucola on my way over to LabCorp, getting there about 35 minutes before blood needs to be drawn. Luckily, there is nobody there, so I should have no problem getting the test done. So, I go to the counter and hand the not-so-pleasant tech my paperwork. She reads it and starts screaming at me, telling me that she can't perform this test, and I was not supposed to take the glucola before getting there, this is not the way LabCorp does this, blah, blah, blah.

I hand her the typed instructions that the doctor has given to me, and she continues her rant (um, I am not a doctor...why are you yelling at me?). Then she calls my doctor's office, yelling, telling them that she is not going to perform the test.

Now, for those of you keeping track, this is the second time I have taken the glucola and have not had my blood drawn yet, not to mention the fact that I have left work early twice this week and I don't want to do it again.

My frustration + her pure bitchiness + my pregnancy hormones = a freakin' nervous breakdown. I just started crying and couldn't stop - not only could I not stand the idea of going through this again but I was scared of what the tech's reaction would be when I told her that I wasn't leaving until she performed the damn test. I don't know whether it was my pathetic blubbering or the phone call she got from her boss, telling her to perform the test, but I ended up getting my blood drawn. Thank God. Now, if I have to take the three-hour test, I will kill myself.

Bleh.

What an f**king crappy day. Seriously.

I won't even get into all that's on my mind today, but let's recap the afternoon's events:

1. Doctor appointment. The good news? All is well with the McNugget and I have gained the perfect amount of weight (the doctor's exact words - hooray!). Bad news? Today was the glucose test. The drink wasn't so bad, but the 25 minutes they spent prodding my arm, trying to draw blood, was. End result? I have to do it all over again - another glucose test, more prodding and more time off from work.

2. Voting. After the appointment, hubby and I drove over to our local polling place. Hubby gives his name, signs the book, then gets in line. I give my name... and they have no record of me. That's impossible, since I registered to vote when I got my NY license back in July, right? A call to the Board of Elections determines that I am registered to vote - but they have me at my parents' address. I haven't lived with my parents since I graduated from college, I have never lived in their new house, we don't even have the same last name anymore! I tried to explain this, but nobody cared. So, I got to go to a second polling place and wait in the longest line ever to finally vote - but I did it.

On the bright side, I bought myself a lottery ticket tonight... my luck is bound to change sometime, right?

Breaking news!

Does anyone still believe in the sanctity of marriage?

First Reese and Ryan, now...

Britney and Kevin!

Yes, according to reputable news sources (PerezHilton.com), Britney Spears has filed for divorce from K-Fed. They have two kids - a one-year old and a two-month old. Check out the story here.

Guess that she finally heard K-Fed's new album...

Let your voice be heard!

Today is Election Day.... get out and vote!

You really can't complain about the way our government works if you don't do anything to try and change it.

48 Hours

Is anyone out there watching "48 Hours" tonight? The story is about a college kid from a suburb of Albany accused of killing his father with an ax.

If I tell you that this is the most exciting thing that has happened in the Capital Region since the actual trial of the kid over the summer, I am not joking. The newspapers and television stations have been covering it incessently - this is a HUGE story around here. So, even though we know almost every detail of the crime and subsequent trial, hubby and I are tuning in and watching it tonight.

On a side note, when we were looking for a home in the Albany area next year, our agent tried to show us the home where the crime took place - nice, huh? Never told us that it was the Porco house, but we recognized it from televison coverage. Guess that the person who actually bought the house is getting sick of all the gawkers driving by and staring (and taking pictures) at the house.

That would just be creepy.

Grrrr....

Okay, during my years in corporate America, I have had every type of colleague you could imagine. The good ones - who appreciated my work, were kind/friendly, and who were constructive with any criticism. And then there were "the others" - the ones who would shove you under the bus at a moment's notice, who would take all of the credit for your work, and who were generally rude/surly.

Now, I am a very sensitive person - I take things personally and there have been times that I have had to talk myself out of bursting into tears in my office. But you develop a thick skin and deal with it.

However, when it comes to the people I love, it's easier said than done. I can rationally talk myself out of being mad/upset at my own colleagues, but when someone tries to screw over someone that I love? Forget about it. I call them every name in the book (not to them, of course, but to myself) and put all sorts of Italian curses on them (actually, I leave that to my mom and my nana). How dare they treat my loved ones that way?

Sorry, just needed to vent. People should really learn to do unto others, because karma is seriously a b*tch...