I'm having a baby...

Elephant!!

Yup, a soft plush little baby elephant...

Just kidding, that was mean.  I'm having a baby people.  I real live human.  That's what's been brewing this whole time.  No, I don't know the gender of the baby yet.  I'm pretty sure that it isn't going to change.  It's pretty determined by the time the seed has been planted.

I've read some posts lately where people are getting offended because people have asked what they are having.  This is the second time that we haven't found out what the baby was going to be.  I think it is natural for people to be curious and to ask.  I don't think that you should be offended that someone has asked you about it.

Side note: Yes, I called the baby an it.  My doctor laughed at me yesterday because at 27 weeks, I'm still calling the baby an "it".  Haha!  I mean they don't really look like one gender or another until they're much older.  Usually the only way to tell is by what they're wearing or asking.  Look at this face, if I didn't tell you this was a girl would you really know?  What if this were a little boy?  He'd be just as cute.

To me it also seems unfair to be mad if people ask you if you want the other gender.  I have a daughter.  I love her with every ounce of my being.  If I'd had a son instead would I feel different?  No, absolutely not.  I would still love every bit of him even if I didn't like every mess they made or tantrum he threw.

Don't get me wrong there are plenty of people who were dead set on having one gender over the other but at the end of the day, I'm sure a good majority of those people can't imaging having the other because they've been so fulfilled in other ways.  Really you get what you get.  It's ok to want one gender or another.

But really, I just want a healthy baby...

No one in their right mind thinks, I want to have the sickest baby with the most problems.  I mean really, I think it should go without saying that you want to have a healthy, strong baby that grows into a healthy, decent adult that won't have to be put through traumatic experiences, ever.  I would think that you automatically wanted the best for the life you've been growing.

Boy??? Girl???

Of course I want a healthy baby but don't judge me if I say that I want a boy.  I already have a wonderful daughter and no I wouldn't be mad if I had a little girl again. I would be over the moon.  Plus if I have another girl, I wouldn't have to buy A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G because they're being born around the same time of the year and everything.  Judge me if you want, but I would love to have a son as well.  Is that going to change the love I have for my unborn child, no.  Be real.  I'm going to love this kid just as much as my daughter.

Dinner

I used to be really good at planning dinner and knowing what I wanted to eat.  Since I've been pregnant with this baby I have been struggling.  I thought last week that I'd gotten my flow back but today the library is closed.  I want nothing that I have in my arsenal of recipes.  

Of course I could just pick something up, but I don't want to.  I feel like when you order food from restaurants it's all about the meat and the starch.  Where are the vegetables people???  I actually like vegetables and don't tell me something silly like potatoes are a vegetable.  Yes, technically it is a nightshade vegetable, however when planning meals, I consider it a starch.

Sometimes when I have days like this I have to text my friends and see what they are having.  The first response I got was, "Fish in lemon aioli, rice and baked cauliflower."  It didn't take but 2 seconds for the response to come back.  Ugh!  That sounds good but I don't have fish out or aioli...  sounds great but I'm not making that tonight.  Second text back was, "chicken and broccoli lasagna."  What?? Is that a real thing??  Well, I guess it is because the recipe shot back to me in record time.  Ok, but I'm not feeling that either...

What to do...

I wish that my husband had more of an opinion about what he wanted to eat.  I'd say the same about my daughter but she'd probably want to eat oatmeal or pizza for dinner every day.  Cooking is something that I love to do and enjoy while doing it but sometimes I just can't think of what to cook.

Hours later as I finish this post, something finally clicked and I got dinner under control.  We ended up having bison burgers, beef burgers with bacon and cheddar, hot dogs, bbq chicken, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, baked beans all on the grill and cole slaw made with napa cabbage.  Everything turned out pretty good but clearly I wasn't really sure what I wanted because I cooked everything!  We also had fresh strawberries and nectarines on the side.  

Yup, I blew it, I don't think I took a picture of the food as I cooked or even after.  Whoops!

If you would have stopped by my house you would have thought I was having a real cookout, not just dinner. It's funny how that happens sometimes.  It took me getting to the grocery store and wondering around for an hour to gather everything I needed to make it happen.  

I really hope that my brain starts getting back to where it needs to be for dinner.  I used to be creative and good at it but now I feel more like I'm slapping things together hoping that my family doesn't think that it, "tastes like wood."  <-- If you are old enough you will get the song reference... if not well... damn I just aged myself.

A week of Mondays

This has been one of those weeks where everyday has felt like Monday so far.  I'm trying to figure out how I pissed off my karma keeper.  Three of the four days this week were not Monday and they have felt just like what you would imagine a Monday should be like...

Monday was well Monday.  There were two things that happened at work that could have been corrected after the fact but it was one of those things that could have been bad if someone hadn't caught it for me.  I was super thankful that they were caught before it was an issue.  I probably should have seen it earlier but I didn't.  Of course no one wants to mess up at work but it always concerns me when it happens; all I can think is how could I have caught that?  I should have caught that.  Oh well, it was caught and it was fixed.

Tuesday was even more fun than Monday.  I arrived to work about an hour and 15 minutes later than I normally because I couldn't get my car started.  I had to start another one of our vehicles that we don't drive often to give myself a jump.  I dropped my daughter off at her great grandparents (who normally watch her) and headed off to work.  After I got to work, I turned off my car and just tried to restart it before I when in.  *click* Nothing.  At least I made it to work.  After work I tried to start it again and again, nothing.

It did actually end up starting without a jump after I had already called someone to help me.  I felt a little silly for having asked for help but oh well.

Yup, see that battery buried under all those nifty safety brackets

Once I got the car home I wanted to see if my battery was bad or if there were a bigger issue.  After 7 bolts and a few bruises on my arm because of the way the battery is in the engine compartment I got it out.  Whew.  I did have to go to the auto parts store to see if I had a bad battery or not.  Since my husband was at work, I drove the truck that I used earlier in the day to jump myself to the store... mind you it has no current plates or driving insurance.  Whoops.  Well, the choice was either use the unplated vehicle or walk... I wasn't going to walk with that heavy battery to the store.  It's close but not that close.  Luckily for me it was a bad battery...

Wednesday was another day of fun work corrections to do.  I got in and found that I had made a similar error to the one we caught on Monday.  I could not have been more frustrated with myself.  Again, I had to apologize to my boss and tell her that I would definitely be more careful.  I know we all make mistakes but I get so frustrated with myself when I make the same mistake.  Oh well, she understood and I made some changes to try to ensure that it won't happen again.

Thursday, hasn't been bad but today has been so slow.  I mean I feel like every time I look at the clock it's only moved one minute.  I really just want this work week to get done...

It definitely wasn't the worst week ever but man has it felt super long... super long...

I'm glad it's Friday and it no longer feels like a Monday.  Whew!

Request denied

I got a comment on a blog post I did that prompted this post…

Remember that for the most part this blog is nothing more than random thoughts that make no sense anywhere else in life but here.  Most of it isn't about anything important...

The best thing about this little place is that it is mine… well, kind of but you know what I mean. 

If I write a blog post, it is perfectly ok for you to have an opinion about what I wrote but instead of taking the defense about something that may or may not pertain to you, you can make a decision.  That decision is to read or not read this blog.  I mean it’s social media, if you don’t like it feel free to stop being on social media or at least mine.

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing people read this blog (Thank you!!) but it isn’t a complete necessity to life.  I barely have enough time to finish a post.  How can I expect you to read it all the time if I can’t consistently provide you with content?  I have drafts upon drafts that I have begun that I haven’t finished because I ran out of time or got busy.  I really do love seeing that someone read my randomness because I know that I’m not the only person who had that thought. 

I do hope that aside from providing a bit of entertainment that if there is something that you don’t agree with that you can at least respect that someone has a different point of view than you.  I’m totally open to hearing other people’s opinions however it doesn’t mean that your opinion is necessarily right or wrong and neither is mine.  I also hope that if they don’t necessarily agree with my thoughts is openness to possibly see another point of view about why or how something happened. 

Just remember that there are places to insert your decision and there are places that you shouldn’t.  If you are going to give your thoughts about a blog post that hasn’t requesting any be prepared to be denied.  

I blew it

Do ever have that moment when you are talking to someone and you are thinking, yup, I could really hang out with this person.  Then you leave, never grabbing their number or any way to contact them only later to think, well that was dumb.

Clearly it happened to me.  A few months ago I went to a mom-to-mom sale and ended up talking to one of the moms who was selling clothes there for like 30 or 40 minutes.  We had a great conversation.  I actually had to leave to get to a surprise birthday party so I was the one who had to cut it off.

After I left, all I kept thinking was well that was dumb.  I would have loved to hang out with her later or something.  Not in like a creepy, stalker kind of way but you know, sometimes you just meet someone and think, "wow, I could be friends with them."  She also had some of the cutest little girl clothes that I would have loved to have bought for my daughter and my niece.  Double Fail...

Although, I'm not sure what I would have said.  "Would you like to get coffee?"  Um, what?  Is this like me asking a girl on a friend date?  Oh dear, this must be how guys feel when they are trying to pick up a girl who just won't approach them.  Thank God I'm married because I would suck at the meeting people to date thing.  It's a wonder I am married... thank goodness for good friends who saved me from becoming the crazy dog lady in my old age.  Whew!  Narrowly missed that life fail.

Maybe this thought keeps coming up because my husband and I were talking about how small my circle has gotten.  Don't get me wrong, I'm kind of a loner and I know that.  I'm perfectly ok with that most of the time.  Every once in a while I think to myself, you are really a loner and you need to get out of the house more.

Getting into a routine of not associating with other people is easy for me.  I work full time, I have a daughter, we have a side business, and not to mention just regular life things happen.  I know there are people who are better at doing all of those things and more.  My problem is that I get so wrapped up in trying to get all of those things done in addition to keeping up with the house and every other loose end that I've been putting off that my social life takes a dive.

I'm not totally sure where this story was going but maybe it was just a reminder to myself to not be so stuck in my box and the next time an opportunity presents itself that I should remember not to blow it.  We all know making friends can feel like we're the new kid in the new school.  It passes.