Opening Day

Today was opening day for the Seattle Mariners. We won over the Texas 5-3. It was a COLD game (it even was snowing - thank you retractable roof!), but we basically appropriately dressed. Didn't pull out the blankets, but really thought about it. Above is the obligatory self-portrait of Marla and me.

We also hung a brilliant poster, though we did not get on the big screen with it. Perhaps on TV? Any sightings, viewers?

4 cats. 2 adults. 1 house.

Doug and I have two cats: Tinker and Gabby. With my mother-in-law being in the hospital, we've added two more to our household: Tigger and Charlie. The two pictures below are of Gabby. In the first one, she's just being darn cute, wanting her tummy rubbed. In the next, she's 'hiding' under Doug's knees. She also LOVES to help you make the bed by hiding under the sheets and blankets as you are putting everything together. She a bit skiddish around strangers, but once she warms up, she'll talk your ear off, hence the name.


Next up, Tinker. One day I put an extra pillow from the couch onto the top corner of the couch. It's been her spot ever since.


Charlie. In every picture I've taken of him, he has the super-glowing eyes. He enjoys getting brushed out as part of my bed-time routine. And he's taken to making sneak attacks on Tinker, which she most definitely does not enjoy.


Tigger, in a scratch-my-belly pose. She also enjoys spending a lot of time on my lap while I am watching TV. She is not helpful when I want to get up, however. Doesn't take a hint, to the point where I am practically standing up (which takes me a while these days) and she's still hanging on!

Now that you have been formally introduced to our pets, I'll be sure to share more stories.

Nursery Prep, step 1

Sunday we began painting the baby's room - a nice Easter project. The title of this blog entry is actually a bit misleading. Last weekend we did a bit of drywall work to prep the walls. And the taping happened last weekend, too. I love taping. I'm good at it, and have real skills with it. From what I've heard from others, they hate taping for painting. I think I could make some good money off of my talent in this area. But I digress.

In the picture below, you can see many things. The bright medium blue and yellow wall color belongs to the old room. It's been edged with a primer coat, designed to cover dark colors. I've yet to be convinced that this will actually cut down on the number of coats of paint needed, so I'll be sure to update.

In this next picture, you can see the darker blue wall. That's part of the finished project. The other walls will be green. All the walls will end up with a glazed-paint accent. The goal is to be done with the whole project by this weekend.

Pregnant Woman No-No

I did something today that I definitely shouldn't have done. Saw the warning signs and plunged on anyways.

A little back-story. A few years ago, one of the choir members from my church and his wife had a child. They knew going into the birth that the little boy had severe birth defects. Jeannie and Steve were very upfront in sharing their journey with us at church.

Well, Steve sent out an email this morning letting us know that msnbc.com had written a story about this part of their lives. Below is the link.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23682263/

Even though I knew what I was getting into, I read it anyhow. And cried, and cried, and cried. May have (okay, let's be real, definitely would have) cried anyhow, but being pregnant definitely made it more intense. It's a beautiful story, but particularly heart-wrenching when you are expecting.

What was I thinking!

The Glories of Craig's List

About a month ago, Doug and I made some executive decisions about the landscaping (or lack thereof) in our yard.

First, we planted a rose garden in the front. 7 different varieties. One of my friends who grew up working in a nursery asked what type of roses. To which I answered, "Uhhhh, pretty ones?" Clearly I am new to this. And will take any rose-growing advice that is out there!

Second, we bought 4 fruit trees for the back yard. One apricot, one Gravenstein apple, one apple tree with 4 different types of apples growing from it (thanks to grafting of branches), and one pear tree with 5 different types of pears. I'm really looking forward to the years to come when they bear fruit.

Which leads me to why I like Craig's List so much. The previous owners of our house had surrounded the back yard perimeter with raised flower beds, created with retaining wall bricks. In planting the trees, we knew we'd be taking out the back stretch of bedding to make room for tree growth. And quite honestly, short of planting a vegetable garden, the rest was too much. A very nice place to grow weeds, but those aren't so attractive.


So I counted up the number of bricks we had (around 500), and headed to the internet. Posted on the "Free" section of Craig's List that we were giving these away to anyone who was willing to come and pick them up. Within one hour, 25 people called saying they wanted the bricks. Another 15 emailed me. It was CRAZY! We went with the first guy, Chris, who was able to come out that afternoon. It took him three trips to load them all up. And he lifted every last one of them himself. WOW!

My only mistake in the whole Craig's List experience was leaving the house right after making the posting. So not only was I taking (and then later ignoring) phone calls while on the road, I wasn't able to delete the listing fast enough so people would stop contacting me.

But ALL the bricks are gone. So now the yard is ready for the next step - what ever that might be!

Holy Week Tradition

One of my traditions during Holy Week is to listen to the "Godspell" soundtrack. Over and over. And to sing right along with all the parts. I find it a wonderful way to get into the groove of the week.

I absolutely love the play, have seen it many times (see list below), and one of my life-long dreams is to be in a production of it. Oh, how I love the "Godspell". The play, that is. The movie is pretty horrible!

Let's see how my memory is for play attendance:

Renton Civic Theater
Taproot Theater (with Jesus as a Hispanic pizza delivery person in NY)
Vancouver, WA
Yakima, WA
Pentacle Theater (I think?)
Renton Civic Theater (again, but possibly the worst production of them all - all the actors spoke WAY too fast. I had a hard time following, and I practically have the play memorized. This was my poor hubby's first exposure to the play, and I'm not sure I could talk him into going again.)

Pregnancy Poses

Here are a couple of recent pregnancy pictures. I'm a little under two months away from the due date of May 24. The kid had been quite active, kicking around and all. Yesterday while I was sitting during church, I kept watching my stomach move in odd places!

Victory with Verizon at last

When we last left off with the saga I've been having with Verizon DSL, the customer service representative told me the $200 would be credited to my credit card during the first week of February.

Yesterday, though not an entire week had passed, I decided to check my on-line credit card statement. Low and behold, there was a credit from Verizon in the amount of $170.

At first, I was annoyed, that they didn't get the amount correct. But then I looked at my Verizon billing statement, and realized that they DID give me the $200 credit, but deducted this month's DSL bill amount.

I feel like I've won the lottery, with this ultimate success over the evil corporation.

Snow day!

By the slimmest of margins, I got a snow day today. Not that the pictures would let you know how close it was . . .

All the school districts around me cancelled school. And with very reasonable notice (by 5:30am). But I hadn't heard anything from my school, which is 25 miles south of here.

In looking at the internet, it was clear there was SOME snow down there, but not nearly as much as there was here. So I sucked it up, showered, ate breakfast, got dressed. Dragging my feet while doing so, saying, "I can't believe I have to go to school/ maybe the call will still come . . ."

And then, as I was packing lunch, and a mere 3 minutes from leaving the house, the blessed phone call came. "No school today."

I believe I benefited from the fact that our school draws students from a wide geographic area, and it FINALLY was deemed not safe enough for so many of the students and their families to be driving.

It did leave me with a quandary, however. I was all dressed, awake, and ready to go. Do I stay up and do things around the house? Do I go back to bed (it IS still early, after all)?

The bed won. I read for about a half hour and then fell asleep for another 90 minutes of glorious snow-day sleep!

There's something in the water

Right now there are 4 women pregnant where I work. (Amanda actually just went into the hospital this morning, so soon that number will be 3.)

Here is a picture of three of us taken a week ago:

From L - R: Bridgett (due mid-June), me (due 5/24), and Elizabeth (due early May). It's fun sharing our experience (and lack-thereof, since we are all first timers) with one another.

A pen miracle

I'm sitting at my work computer right now.

And there are four - that's right - FOUR pens within easy reach.

It's miracle, I tell ya, as usually I'm lucky to be able to find one at this particular location.

They usually are at my other desk. Or more likely, have walked away with a student.

But today, they are migrating to the computer. Oh, what a happy day it is!

Typos

Over the past week, I've been keeping track of how many times I type my email address incorrectly. More specifically, I've been writing down the varied ways I can type "@gmail.com".

This is what I've come up with:
3gmail.com
2gmail.com
@gmai.lcom
@gmailc.om
@gmailcom
@gamail.com
@gtmail.com

Sometimes typing too fast DOES cause mistakes.

Four days of boredom

I've begun a four day stretch of extreme boredom at work.

It's the end of the semester, so the students have three days to review for their exam. I gave them the review at the start of class today. Now it's up to them to get ready. Every now and then, a student will ask me a question during class. YES! Something to break up the monotony. And then I go back to trying to find something to do around the classroom.

Often I use this time to clean my classroom, but since I did that job last week, I'm left to doing things like posting to the blog-o-sphere.

The fourth day of boredom is when they have their actually exam. I'll be proctoring tests all morning. Which is slow and painful. You can't even really do something to fill the time, like read a book, because you're supposed to be monitoring the room for cheating.

It's weeks like these where I wish I was a fully-caffeinated person.

I hate Verizon, part 4

First, a brief recap about the conversations I've had with the billing department.

Conversation #1: Oh, so sorry. The credit will show up on your next statement. Because of the inconvenience (and that fact you are obviously upset), we'll give you two weeks free.

The next statement DID give me two weeks free, but the $200 credit was lacking. (And in hind-sight, if they could press a button to give me two weeks free, how come they can't give me my $200 as easily)

So . . .

Conversation #2: "Oh. We'll credit it to your next statement." I don't believe them and insist on them sending me a check. Am told it will arrive in 3-4 weeks, and am given a reference number (and a small bit of hope.)

One month passes. No check in the mail.

Conversation #3 (this was yesterday): First, I successfully navigated the automated menu the first time around, which made me feel quite happy. Got a recording that said they were experiencing a high volume of calls, etc., and that I'd be on hold for 15 minutes. This was not to deter me.

The hold music could drive a person crazy, however. Imagine the worst, most annoying video game music that you have ever heard. Make it warbly, tinny, and fade in and out. All on a 12 second loop. I persevered, however.

When I finally get to talking with the customer service representative, we go round and round. This is the short version.

"I see that you do have the credit"

"But I don't actually have the money yet. I have a reference number . . . " (I have to refer to the reference number 3 times before he actually asks me for it)

After some pausing and talking . . .
"Let me fill out a check request form"

"NO - that has already been done. Where's my money?"

"These things take 2-3 months to resolve. It should show up on your credit card during the first week of February"

"Then why did the first person say I'd be getting it on my next statement. And the second person said I'd be getting a check in a month."

"Trust me, you'll get your credit in the start of February."

"You'll have to excuse me for not trusting you, as obviously the previous two people have lied to me. It is totally unacceptable for Verizon to be keeping my money this long. I want to talk to your supervisor."

"They are all on the phone talking with other customers. Do you want to wait?"
"Yes. I do."
"Okaaaaay."

So I go through two periods of waiting only to be told "It looks like they've all gone home for the day. You can call back tomorrow."

UGH.

"Has Verizon provided you with excellent customer service today?"
"No. You haven't. Goodbye."

I hate Verizon, part 4

First, a brief recap about the conversations I've had with the billing department.

Conversation #1: Oh, so sorry. The credit will show up on your next statement. Because of the inconvenience (and that fact you are obviously upset), we'll give you two weeks free.

The next statement DID give me two weeks free, but the $200 credit was lacking. So . . .

Conversation #2: "Oh. We'll credit it to your next statement." I don't believe them and insist on them sending me a check. Am told it will arrive in 3-4 weeks, and am given a reference number (and a small bit of hope.)

One month passes. No check in the mail.

Conversation #3 (this was yesterday): First, I successfully navigated the automated menu the first time around, which made me feel quite happy. Got a recording that said they were experiencing a high volume of calls, etc., and that I'd be on hold for 15 minutes. This was not to deter me.

The hold music could drive a person crazy, however. Imagine the worst, most annoying video game music that you have ever heard. Make it warbly, tinny, and fading in and out. All on a 12 second loop. I persevered, however.

When I finally get to talking with the customer service representative, we go round and round. This is the short version.

"I see that you do have the credit"

"But I don't actually have the money yet. I have a reference number . . . " (I have to refer to the reference number 3 times before he actually asks me for it)

After some pausing and talking . . .
"Let me fill out a check request form"

"NO - that has already been done. Where's my money?"

"These things take 2-3 months to resolve. It should show up on your credit card during the first week of February"

"Then why did the first person say I'd be getting it on my next statement. And the second person said I'd be getting a check in a month."

"Trust me, you'll get your credit in the start of February."

"You'll have to excuse me for not trusting you, as obviously the previous two people have lied to me. It is totally unacceptable for Verizon to be keeping my money this long. I want to talk to your supervisor."

"They are all on the phone talking with other customers. Do you want to wait."
"Yes. I do."
"Okaaaaay."

So I go through two periods of waiting only to be told "It looks like they've all gone home for the day. You can call back tomorrow."

UGH.

"Has Verizon provided you with excellent customer service today?"
"No. You haven't. Goodbye."

Why not everyday?

Today, January 7th, is my first day back to school after the Christmas Holiday. Things are going alright, if you disregard the vomit splatter on my black pants. (Sigh).

But the point of this entry - I've spent most of the day (while students have been working on assignments) cleaning the many piles of papers found in my classroom. The computer desk had 2 piles. The main overhead desk had at least 4. The secondary overhead / cart had 2.

And everything is now in it's place. It's all so nice now. Why can't I live like this everyday?

Bagels

If you ever have left over food, just leave it on the facutly room table, and it's sure to be gone in a matter of moment.

I know this. Yesterday, I bought two bagels. One for breakfast on Monday. One for Tuesday. I put Tuesday's bagel on a side table. Out of the way. I've been doing this two-bagel process for about 3 weeks.

Today (Tuesday), I arrive at work to find my bagel is gone. My breakfast is gone. It wasn't in the public domain free-for-all area as described above. And yet, it was gone.

Very annoying. So I had to head back out into the cold morning to get food. I've had two dreams recently about Sausage McMuffins with Egg, including one where they renamed it an "Austrailian Toaster Biscuit with Egg". So I naturally just had to go to McDonalds for my semi-annual gut-busting breakfast.

And once I was back at work, I put up a snarky note near where the bagel was last seen:
"I bought 2 bagels on Monday. One to eat Monday. One to eat Tuesday. I left Tuesday's bagel here. Tuesday morning it was GONE. The pregnant lady's breakfast was GONE! Shame, shame, shame. -- Jill"

Is it a baby . . .

Below are a few pictures from an ultrasound a had about a month ago. (Sorry about the delay in posting).

Definitely a baby . . .

Or is it an alien? . . . .

Much like it's father?

Just kidding about the father part. Doug is actually to the right of the alien. It's a scene from "Mars Attack", when Doug was doing acting in Hollywood.

Is it a baby . . .

Is it a baby, or is it an alien. Below are pictures from an ultrasound I had about a month ago. (Sorry it's taken me so long to post them.)

Definitely a baby . . .

Meet Jim

I'd like to introduce you to Jim, my garden knome. Marla got him for me for my birthday from Flamingo Jim's in Rockaway Beach. He weighs about 30 pounds. No joke!