Monday, March 30, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Flame Free Friday

This is a new segment for the blog o' mine. Friday is the day for confessions, so spill! Did you eat an entire can of frosting this week? Steal candy from a baby? Spill! Don't forget it's flame free, so leave the nasty comments to yourself. Here we go:

1. I think Britney Spears has reached a new personal low with "if you
seek Amy". Not only is it just a stupid song, but she is 27 years
old. Time to stop swearing in code.

2. I haven't told Andrew that we are taking part in Earth Hour
tomorrow (oh, and add the Zakim to the list of things that are going
dark!)

3. I have started lying to people when they ask me if we have a name
picked out. I just tell them no - it's easier to say that than tell
them we aren't telling people the name.

4. I ate chicken patties and tater tots for dinner twice this week.
And I don't care!


So what about you?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Earth Hour

What are you doing from 8:30 - 9:30pm on Saturday, March 28th? You should be turning off all your lights (and unplugging all those appliances that don't need to be plugged in all the time - the toaster, microwave, lamps that are hardly used, video consoles, etc) in recognition of Earth Hour

read more here

Obviously turning off your lights for one hour isn't going to make a big difference - but it is making a statement. You can take one hour to do something good for the earth, say you are ready for USA to sign on with the Kyoto Protocol (spare me the sob stories about how China and India are getting special treatment and we aren't. boo hoo). This year 2,500 cities and towns in 82 countries have joined up. Even if your town hasn't signed up (and quite honestly, if you live in the US, it probably hasn't) you can do it yourself. Its just one hour of darkness. Light a candle and play cards in the candlelight. Play flashlight tag with the kids. If it isn't pitch dark at 8:30 where you live, go out for a walk at dusk. There are plenty of things you can do without the lights on.

Small history of Earth Hour - it started in 2007 in Syndey, and last year it spread around the world. Some of the bigger world landmarks that went dark were: the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square. This year the Great Pyramids of Giza will be dark, as well as some additional Coca Cola famous billboards.

So read more about Earth Hour, turn off your lights, unplug those appliances (and don't plug them back in when Earth Hour is over. I managed to reduce my electicity usage by 35% in a month by unplugging things - that saves money!) and do something good for the world.
Honestly, to me it isn't enough. These places should be dark a lot more than just one hour a year. But it's a start.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Is that a light I see?

Last night I was in class, wondering how we could possibly be going over the industry life cycle AGAIN (honestly, if we haven't learned it yet, it's not going to happen) and I was more amazed at myself for actually taking notes. As if I couldn't tell you the 4 phases of the industry life cycle (which mirrors the product life cycle) are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. I'm fairly
certain I actually learned that in 10th grade. But there I was, taking notes like a trained monkey. I came to the conclusion that after 4 years they actually have run out of things to teach me. They are now going back to high school to find things to stretch out the semester. I'm a little afraid that next week we will go over the basics of supply and demand. Or worse, start having vocabulary quizzes.

There's some good news on the UMass front. Luckily I am graduating in a little over 2 months and this would not have effected me. But there was a $1500 proposed increase in fees at every Umass campus. UMass is famous for their "fees". They are triple what tuition is, and the fully admit those fees are just to make up the difference between what other colleges charge for tuition and what they charge for tuition. Since they are charging it anyway, why not just call it tuition? All they are doing by categorizing it under "fees" instead of "tuition" is screwing the students that are getting tuition covered by someone (work, loan, grant, etc) but not fees. And then they wanted to increase the fees by $1500. I would have been screwed if I had to pay an extra $4500 a year to UMass (I was there 3 semesters a year). I honestly do not know how I would have paid for it, but as I said - doesn't effect me. However I heard on NPR this morning that all 4 UMass campuses might be seeing some help via Deval Patrick via The Massive Stimulus Package. Patrick is proposing taking $162 million in federal stimulus money to allow
UMass officials to defray the fee increase down to as little as $380. While that's still a lot, it's much more manageable than $1500. In addition, the money will be used to prevent some
faculty layoffs and program cuts (not really sure what program cuts though).

For all the students not graduating in May, I hope this goes through. I also hope the money isn't just handed over to UMass officials, because god knows they have no idea how to efficientlyrun a school system and will probably just build another dorm at the Amherst campus. We'll see - Patrick is unveiling the plan at UMB this afternoon.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Keep on truckin'

I am 26 weeks into this pregnancy, with hopefully 14 weeks to go. I am huge. I can no longer do anything with any sort of grace. Somehow, by some small miracle, I can still touch my toes when I bend over standing up. I consider that to be some sort of achievement.

One thing that has become virtually impossible is shaving my legs. Now I didn't let that bother me, since it's still winter and I wear nothing but pants, but spring is coming. Technically spring is arriving Friday, but calendars lie. So I decided it's time to start figuring out how I can shave like a normal person. Clearly my old method of doing a 5 minute hack job in the shower isn't going to work anymore. I thought I had come up with an ingenious idea - sit on the side of the tub and do it that way. If Jenn and I used to be able to shave standing up at the sink in our dorm room, surely I can now sit on the side of the tub and lean over.

HA.

Fat chance. And I do mean FAT chance (I know, I know, I know, I'm not fat, I'm pregnant. Well, spin it how you like, my stomach is the size of a small planet). I huffed and puffed and managed to shave my right leg from the knee down. By then my back hurt, my front hurt and I couldn't breathe. Time to go back to the drawing board.

14 more weeks.... 14 more weeks.

Monday, March 16, 2009

You are not above the law!

I was behind a school bus this morning at an intersection which was
clearly marked that vehicles in my direction CANNOT turn left. The
multitude of No Left Turn clue all the motorists in to the traveling
restrictions. I was behind a school bus (further punishment for being
late) which had its LEFT blinker on! No one could pull up and take a
right because the bus was taking up the entire road. So we all had to
sit there, waiting for this bus to get a green light in order to
break the law. Why is it okay for a school bus to ignore the law? I
have accept that cops can do it, because who is going to pull them
over, but now school busses can too? Why have laws in the first place?

Sent from my iPhone

Sunday, March 15, 2009

sucked in

In case you are either A) a boy or B) The Gap, Inc doesn't have your email address, and you didn't know that this weekend was 30% off your entire order at Old Navy, Gap, Piperlime, and Banana Republic, let me bring you up to speed: This weekend is 30% off weekend. I had been attempting to avoid the temptation. 30% off is not really that good of a sale, especially for Old Navy, when you can get a much better deal off their clearance racks. But this morning when I logged into my email and I got the reminder that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!!! I had to at least check. Especially since I need maternity yoga pants - as the weather gets nicer and I walk outside more often, I will need something to wear. The only thing I have now is a very old pair of grey sweatpants, that while they still do fit around the gigantic stomach, no longer have any drawstring on them, and I am very afraid they will fall down.

So I check out the site, find some maternity yoga pants... and a skirt.... and a tank top.... and I did find ONE pair of capris that actually were maternity (they are trying to pass off pants without any sort of panel as maternity. Yeah, my desire to wear "real waist" pants left me somewhere before Christmas, thank you very much! I'll have to go to Target to find some capris that are actually maternity!). But I found them at the Gap and not Old Navy, which means they were $20 more than they would have been at Old Navy. Normally I'm a Gap girl myself, as Old Navy stuff only tends to last a season or two and Gap will last longer, but right now I only need the clothes to last one season, and I am not paying $54 for a pair of capris! So I didn't end up getting them. And I did end up, with the sale price, paying $43 for my new clothes.

After all that, I saved..... $15. When if I hadn't bought anything I wouldn't have spent anything! Damn email marketing!!!

But I really did need the yoga pants! And I paid with my own "play" money, so I don't even need to hear the lecture from Andrew. HA!

Speaking of walking outside, yesterday hit about 50 degrees and Andrew and I walked Wollaston Beach. Well, Andrew walked and I wobbled. But it was quite enjoyable and the salty air did us both some good. I'm so excited that we can do that more and more often, the closer we get to Spring! (though your calendar might say spring will be here next week, here in New England we're still a solid month away from it).

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

It never gets easier

Everyone knows that marriage is difficult. It's drilled into our heads from the time that sparkly ring goes on her finger until you walk down the aisle. " It's not easy, you have to compromise, blah blah blah". However, I haven't found it to be very difficult, at least not yet. Sure, there was a time when Andrew kept moving around all the plates in the cabinet and putting them on the top shelf even though I can't reach the top shelf.... but they've been on the bottom for a few years now. So while every day hasn't been sunshine and roses, in general, marriage hasn't proven to be as hard as some people might want you to believe it is.

What is nearly impossible is splitting the holidays. It causes unhappiness with all sorts of people, feelings get hurt, people get insulted, parties are strained, and I'd bet too much alcohol gets consumed because of it! Andrew and I have been splitting the holidays for about 4 years. It has yet to become any easier for us. Every year something comes up that throws our schedule off and the whole cycle of unhappiness is started again. We don't host any of our own holidays for 2 reasons:
1. We live in 900 SF
2. Everyone in our family already has their own holiday schedule and I don't think anyone would come.

So every year, no matter what the holiday, one of us is missing out, annoyed that we are somewhere we don't want to be, and in general not in a very merrymaking mood. 2009 is no exception.

I will say (and this might make me a bad person - but I don't care), I will NEVER be in Keene, NH on July 4th ever again. I've made that one pretty clear. I'm willing to compromise on all other days, but to spend July 4th in Keene instead of Falmouth is asinine, and I won't do it. Nor will my daughter. Any other holiday I will share, but not that one. End. Of. Story.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Test

Blogging from my iPhone to see if it will work and the format comes
through correctly.

By the way, it has snowed more today than it did last Monday. Last
week was a snow day, today is not. Hmmm

Okay, let's see if this works!

This is not good

I don't know if it was the daylight savings time change, the walk I took around Castle Island, the fact that I am 25 weeks pregnant, or what, but I barely slept at all last night.   Okay, maybe "barely slept" is a slight exaggeration,  but I was awake from 2:30 until 4am.   I got up, got some water, finished a book I was reading, and just layed in bed trying to think happy sleep thoughts.   Nothing worked.   Luckily for me, Andrew was having sleep issues of his own and had long since moved to the couch.   So I was all by myself when wide awak for an hour and a half in the middle of the night.   I have had that happen once or twice before - just be wide awake in the middle of the night with no chance of going back to sleep.   However, the previous times I was lucky enough to go through that lack of sleep on weekend nights - so I could just sleep later when I finally did go back to sleep.   One of those times, I got up and watched a 2 hour special on National Geographic about how the world was going to end because eventually we were going to hit another asteroid, like the one whose collision with the Earth actually formed the moon.   But last night I thought watching TV might delay my body's ability to go back to sleep, so no such fascinating shows.  
 
So now I'm ready to fall asleep sitting at my desk.  And I have class tonight so I won't be home until about 9:30pm.    Of course this happened on a Sunday night, when Mondays are my long days! 
 
Am I crazy?  Has this happened to anyone else?  How do I get my wide awake body to get back to sleep in the middle of the night?

Sunday, March 08, 2009

change of pace

It's amazing what a little change of scenery and fresh air can do for you. It was 60ยบ this weekend, and I actually got outside. Courtney and I walked around Castle Island today and it completely turned me into a different and happier person. A little fresh salty air today and now I don't even care that it's Sunday night and I have to go back to work tomorrow. Oh, the joys of spring!
Daylight savings started at 2am this morning. And though I hate getting up to go to work when it is still dark, I love having that extra hour of light at the end of the day. It's still too cold to do anything with that extra hour, but at least it is there. Spring is so close, the snow is practically melted, I might be able to open a window in my house soon... this is the start of good things to come. I am going to ignore the fact that it's supposed to be cold and snowy tomorrow. Those days are going to be few and far between for right now.

With the arrival of spring, my pregnancy is winding down. I still have 15 and a half weeks left until my due date (like that means anything!) but seeing as 24 and a half weeks are behind me, I'm sliding towards the finish. I can see the baby move from the outside now. That is freaky. To be honest, the fact that being pregnant means a living thing is growing inside of you has always freaked me out. And it still does - thinking about it makes me somewhat queasy. But when you can see something punching you from the inside... there's no denying it. I told Andrew yesterday that mammals are gross. This is no way to procreate - I think whatever supreme force created mammals was actually having a joke at our expense.

Spring also means that school is winding down. I have nothing good to say about school other than the fact that it is almost over. I'm trying not to let things get to me this semester because it is almost over, so I will just leave it at that. May 29 is going to be a happy day for me for more than one reason.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

varius and sundry items

ie, the inner workings of my brain

#1 (I apologize, but you won't understand this if you aren't familiar with the interstate highway system around Boston) On Monday, a coworker of mine asked me how I get to work. I told her I get on 128. This confused her greatly, which confused me because she grew up in the town next to where I live now. How can she not get this? She asked me if I meant 95. No... I mean 128, before it merges with 95. You know, where I live. Also known as 93 (are the non Massholes confused yet?). I then explained in great detail how I take 138 to 128/93. She still didn't get it. She then decided that what I call 128 is actually 95 and went on her way. I just stood there, making my decaf coffee, wondering if we had just had the same conversation, because we reached two very different outcomes.

#2. I have to drive to Worcester for some pointless training tomorrow. I'm not happy about it. That's all I have to say about that. But I might have a cold cut sandwhich tomorrow and I'm insanely excited about that prospect.

#3. I'm 24 weeks pregnant. The fuck? Where did the past 24 weeks go? And you're telling me I only have 16 weeks left? eeerrr..... can we pause time for a second? Also, my baby furniture is in. Which would be fantastic, but I have no where to put it. The room that it is going in is still completely furnished. Anyone want to buy some fabulous white wicker furniture? We're putting it in on Craig's List this weekend, and I'll give anyone who mentions this blog 1% off the final price. BARGAIN! I have to sell it in a week though - other wise it's getting cut up and thrown away. On the same pregnancy topic - I'm huge. I don't look like a woman who is starting off her 6th month of pregnancy, I look like a woman who is 40 weeks pregnant with triplets. Or at least that's how I see myself. If I wasn't in my pajamas, I would take a picture and post it. Maybe next time. Maybe before I hit 30 weeks.

#4. I don't want to brag.... yes, I do, who am I kidding. And this is my blog, so I am going to. I got promoted last Friday, and it came with a pretty nice pay raise. (okay, so "pretty nice" is a relative term, but I am going to be taking home a bigger paycheck than before. And by "bigger" I do mean "marginally bigger"). So, to toot my own horn, YAY FOR MEGHAN!!!!

#5. I haven't had chocolate today. I think the last time that happened, I was not in the family way.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Update

No class for Meghan tomorrow night!!

lousy Smarch weather!

We are supposed to get up to 15 inches of snow by tomorrow at 5pm. I am praying to every deity that I can think of that UMass Boston will cancel all classes tomorrow. This is my 4th winter at UMB, and I have never had a snow day. Fate has never brought a snow storm on the same day I have had class. Tomorrow is probably my last shot at a snow day, and I'm hoping against hope that it will happen. I'm already checking the UMB website every 10 minutes - nothing yet. Come on UMB! Do something for me before I graduate! Unfortunately, the storm is supposed to completely gone by 5pm tonight and night classes don't start until 6pm, so I don't think my chances are that good. But that will not stop me from checking every 10 minutes until I leave work tomorrow.

Apparently March is coming in like a lion, so I really hope it goes out like a lamb. I am so not feeling any more snow. Right now I'm only tolerating the storm because there is a small chance of cancelled classes tomorrow. Other than that small chance of a school free week, snow does nothing for me in March. I'm so done. so. done.

In other news, I have 16 weeks left in this pregnancy. Where does the time go?