The Time has Come, the Walrus Said...

...to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships, and sealing wax, and the fact that Tony and I are going to be parents!!! (How was that for subtle?)

That's right, everyone. You heard me correctly. Tony and I have a bun in the oven, due in March...March 6th, to be perfectly precise (for those of you without your calendars nearby, that's my birthday). We are SO excited (but I think every couple is expected to say that), and are trying to adjust to the idea of having a bean running (well, crawling at first) around next spring. Who would have thunk it???

To answer the next barrage of questions, I'm feeling pretty good now. The first four or five weeks (I knew almost right away), I felt great. I was going to the gym five or six days a week, had lots of energy, was sleeping great. A girl couldn't ask for better. Right around the sixth week, though, the dreaded morning sickness (who calls it that, anyway? Morning sickness? Try all day nausea!) kicked in and I was a pretty sorry site. I spent something like a month or so on our couch, feeling sorry for myself (what every self-respecting woman does, I'm sure), and wishing for my own demise. Nothing I ate sat well (although I only actually threw up twice), I was never hungry, and to top it all off, I couldn't sleep to save my life.

...That's all behind me now though. Tony and I have been to two ultrasound appointments, and everything is progressing swimmingly. I feel great now, the bean (the name of our future child...) is growing at what seems an astronomical rate, and we are well on the way to month four. That's about all we have to report for now...as soon as I can figure out how to crop the ultrasound pictures, I will have those posted, along with pictures of my diminishing waist line (is everyone excited now?). Stay tuned for monthly updates, because there is certainly more to come!!!


~a two month old bean...you understand now where s/he earned the nickname!~


~three months old! less beany, now kinda alieny. s/he still has time to human up!~

Some time later...Tony and I are thinking of signing this kid to our future family band (a la Partridge Family). He'd give the bean a run for his/her money!

One More, Super Important, Thing

If you guys have a minute, please please PLEASE check out my friend, Andrea's blog. She is doing a raffle for another little girl who also has heart problems (Andrea's son, Drew, just recently finished an 8 week stint in the hospital for his most recent heart surgery). Anyway, this family that Andrea is fundraising for could REALLY use some help and support. If anything else, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, everyone!

The Dawg Days of Summer

This is what dog sitting in Echo Park looks like...jealous much???

Hello faithful readers! I know that I have been noticeably absent the last few months, but since the beginning of summer, my days seem to just slip by. As I sit on the couch (in not my house, Tony and I are dog sitting in Echo Park this week) I'm realizing that I have only two short weeks left before I am heading back to work. Sigh...you blink and before you know it, summer is gone!

I wish I could start updating everyone about the wild adventures that Tony and I had this summer, with trips abound and whatnot, but that was not really the case. In the words of whatever kook came up with the new phrase, Tony and I enjoyed a lazy "staycation" in the lovely SCV. While it sounds oh-so-exotic, it was far less sexy in reality. Probably our highlight in the last few months was 4th of July weekend that we spent with Tony's family in San Diego. It was our nephew, James', 3rd birthday (who is SO CUTE!), so we celebrated with a bbq for the birthday and the 4th at his parents on the 4th, and then ANOTHER bbq at Tony's sister's on the 5th as well (it would be a sin not to take advantage of the beautiful San Diego weather). I also spent some time by our pool working on my Vitamin D/skin cancer intake, keeping up with my TiVo programming, and reading lots of books that weren't assigned to me by a professor of some sort. I LOVE reading books that aren't part of classwork, or need a paper written about them, or anything even close to that vein. My two favorites so far this summer have been Ahab's Wife and The Virgin Suicides. If you're looking for a good read, both of these are HIGHLY recommendable. I'm hoping to get to The Glass Menagerie and/or A Prayer for Owen Meanie before my new CSUN semester begins. I'm also plugging through The Count of Monte Cristo, but its sooooooo not as good as I was hoping it would be.

Tony just celebrated his one year anniversary with Razorgator, and is going strong there. His work anniversary is pretty synonymous with his move back to SCV anniversary (both are within the next week or so). I can't believe its already been a year since he started at Razorgator and moved up here, but then again, I also said I couldn't believe that it had been a year since our wedding. Anyway, he's as busy as ever with work, and is going into his "busy season" again, which means 16 hour days and high stress. It seems that this year is slightly less crazy than last summer was, but I've probably jinxed myself now that I've said that out loud. I can kiss my husband goodbye now for the next two weeks!

Hmmmm....what else? We're still kicking it in Saugus, and laying low in the condo until 1) a miracle happens and the housing market picks up again, 2) a bag of money falls into our lap and we can afford to move with selling our souls to do it, or 3) we can finally work out the logistics with my dad and MAYBE move back into the house where I grew up (this is no small feat...organizing with my dad--however much I love the man--is remarkably similar to herding cats). It works for now, and when Tony and I are supposed to move, we will. For the time being, now is not the time, and we're (mostly) ok with that. On another note, I start CSUN again in a couple weeks (although I couldn't for the life of me tell you what day...) and will be taking a class in Literary Criticism. I've decided that two classes while working full time is INSANE, and that I don't actually have to finish my master's program in some sort of super-human amount of time. Finishing in 2-3 years is fine with me, and whatever career opportunities that will be available post-Literature degree will still be there when the time comes, you know?

See? Like I said, we've had a pretty low-key summer this year. I'm sure there will be more to report once the school year starts up again. Stay tuned!

Connections to the Man Upstairs...

I got a call from my sister-in-law, Ellen yesterday afternoon. Apparently my niece, Jessica (Ellen's stepdaughter) had a pretty big scare yesterday. Dacodah-- my new grand-niece, Ellen's grand daughter, Jessica's daughter--stopped breathing twice yesterday. The kind of stopped where her little face was blue, and her body went limp. Scary. Jess was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center, and the doctors ran a gauntlet of tests to see what the deal was. At the end of it, they couldn't find anything really wrong, and Jess and Dacodah went home yesterday evening. So my request is for those of you with connections to the Powers That Be, if you wouldn't mind throwing in an extra prayer or two to make sure that Dacodah is okay, that would be great. Two week old babies shouldn't have to worry about whether or not their breathing apparatus is working correctly. That should be a part of the warranty, you know?

The phone call got me to thinking though. On a completely selfish level, Jess' experience made me concerned about my own future. Tony and I are not all that far away from starting our own family. When I think about having kids, I always think about the good stuff. I remember the moments of absolute sublime sweetness of holding one of my little cousins, or one of my friends' kids and rocking them to sleep, smelling their head, their little hands and feet. My heart melts, my uterus contracts, and I can barely stay inside of my skin thinking about how badly I want to be a mom. What I don't usually think about is all the scary stuff. The things that can keep a girl up a night, drenched in a cold sweat from the fear and horror of something (anything) going incalculably wrong. S&@t happens, and while I'd like to think that I am a 'roll with the punches' kind of gal, I'm usually not. What is more, is that I COULDN'T be if something as terrible as what might have, could have, happened to baby Dacodah. I've been a spectator into my friend, Andrea's life with her son, and she's SO calm and collected most of the time that you would hardly know that Drew has any problems at all. She is the kind of mom I would like to be some day.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this one, to be honest. Just some general musings that have been swirling around upstairs that I needed to expunge. I am thinking that this has turned into my new journal, a sort of virtual catharsis, and so in keeping with tradition, I needed to make my entry for the day. Keep Dacodah in your thoughts, as well as her mommy. While you're at it, send a shout-out for Drew and Andrea as well (he's on day 21 of his hospital stay....its starting to be REALLY not fun anymore). Happy Friday to everyone, and I will talk to you next time around.

My Norma Rae Moment

So its Friday, 8:30 in the morning. I am sitting in my classroom feeling a little bit like poo BECAUSE I am sitting in my classroom while some of my fellow teachers (the good ones) are outside with picket signs and sandwich boards, donning their union red, and informing the general population of Schwarzenegger's latest brain trust moment.

Let me back up a bit. For those of you who aren't in the loop, or don't live in California, or don't give a crap (I tend not to, don't feel too bad...), our Governor has proposed a $4.8 billion (that's right, BILLION) cut to the education budget. This means TONS of teachers are at risk for losing their jobs, our benefits are being threatened, there will be no new books, this list becomes more depressing the longer it gets. Just think 'sucky ad nauseum'. In an effort to protest these potential cuts, LA Unified teachers across the board instituted a one hour job action for this morning. We will sign in one hour late as a way of letting the district and the State know what these cuts would bring about. New strikes, higher teacher turnover (who wants to stay when we hardly get paid decently as it is???), less effective instruction, blah blah blah. Its pretty bleak.

I'm not normally a go-getter social activist. I have plenty of friends who are, and while they are more than inspiring, I never really found my moment were I was inspired to stand up on the table and cry "union!". And quite honestly, I am still not sure that I agree with the action that is going on right now. I'm not sure I see how a one hour walk out, which ultimately puts a few million dollars back in the district's bank account (all the teachers not being paid right now and all...), is going to solve this problem. I do know, however, that I would much rather be walking today than standing in a strike line next year. And like I said, I feel like poo because at the moment of crisis, I was informed that due to my part-time status last semester, my contract would be in jeopardy for walking today (how anti-climactic).

What I do know is that it is going to take MANY voices if there is going to be any resolution to this. I've put my two cents in (here and to the state), even my students are writing letters of protest to Schwarzenegger, and now I am hoping that a few of you might feel inspired as well. Consider taking a moment to either email or post your own letter protesting these detrimental cuts to the education budget. This is not about me, in the end. Its not really about any one of the teachers, quite honestly. This is about what is right for the future of our kids, effective and meaningful education, and lazy/rash decision making at the state level. If anything, thank you for taking a moment to listen to my rant.

525,600 Minutes...

Ok, I know. Totally cheesy. In my defense, that is my favorite song from one of my favorite musicals, so I figure that I am entitled to a bit of cheese every once in awhile, as long as its Tony-winning.

So what year would I be referencing, you may be asking yourselves???? What could have possibly happened one year ago today (well, yesterday, if we're being precise)? One year ago yesterday, I was eating breakfast with Tony in a Starbucks on the corner of Manchester and Chapman, right near the Ayers Hotel. About an hour from now, one year ago yesterday, I was heading up to Downey with Amy and my good friend Kirsten to have our hair done together. One year ago yesterday, I got married to my best friend.

I can't BELIEVE how quickly this year has gone. All of my fellow smug marrieds have all told me how quickly the first year goes. They were also the ones to tell me that your wedding passes in a blur (I didn't believe them about that either). So much has happened in this past year! Tony and I were reflecting on it, and assessing our first year together. To make a not very interesting conversation for any of you short, we decided that we've got a pretty amazing thing going here, and that we pretty much rocked our first year together.

Tony and I both took a looooong weekend to celebrate our momentous occasion. There were other circumstances involved in our weekend plans, however. Tony's good friend, Brian, got married on Saturday (52 weeks from our day!), and Tony was a groomsman in the wedding. Between bachelor parties and rehearsal dinners, we managed to celebrate our friends kicking off their new life together. After the wedding-ness died down, Tony and I headed back to the Ayers hotel and stayed there on Sunday night. We had champagne delivered to our room, and we went out for a yummy sushi dinner to celebrate our first year of marriage. It was all very nostalgic, and I had more than one moment where I got a little teary eyed thinking about the events from a year before (ie. playing poker in the lobby until all hours, certain of my nearest and dearest breaking into the pool area at 2 a.m. and breaking toes, signing my marriage certificate in the lobby the next morning...). SO MANY memories from that weekend, and so many more that we have shared in this past year.

Thank you all for all of your love and support this past year. Thank you for being a part of our wedding last year as well (although I think I might have already thanked you for that...), and thank you for being the amazing friends and family that you are. Stay tuned for what year two will bring!

The Bloggiest Blogger in the Entire Blogosphere!

...I just wanted to say that, as it seems I have really turned a corner when it comes to updating my friends and family. Its a veritable cluster of the carnal knowledge variety!





Anyway, I just HAD to share my Tuesday night with you all. As a part of my birthday, Tony bought us tickets to the Police concert (that's right...the Police). Last night was the show and IT. WAS. AWESOME. Next to U2, probably the best show I have ever seen (and for those of you who know me at all, that's saying A LOT). Every great song, I don't think there was a single one that I didn't get to hear (that's because Sting loves me and didn't want to disappoint his biggest fan).












The best part of this entire event however, was our location. Our original seats were somewhere in the far west valley (seriously, sooooooooo far away). My super rad husband, however, worked his job mojo and managed to score us seats at the last minute maybe, oh I don't know, 20 FRIGGING FEET AWAY FROM THE STAGE!! Sting could have spat on me if he wanted to. I think he did, and I might not ever wash that spot on my hair again. :-)


The 700000000000 pictures and videos that I took on my camera phone ('cause I'm that fancy) are pending. Just have to send them to my computer. Well, that's about all I have to share. Anyone jealous yet?