They let us take him home!

Here's Tucker ready to come home from the hospital. I kept thinking they'd come running and tell us that they weren't actually going to let us take him home or I would wake up from this crazy dream that he came early. Even though he was over 3 weeks early, he's perfect. Aside from a bit of trouble keeping his body temperature in the first 48 hours, he had no problems.

Tucker comes early

Early Tuesday morning, my water broke, and at 8:58 pm, Tucker Franklin Thomas arrived. He was 3 and half weeks early, weighed in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He's the cutest baby on the planet, don't you agree? I'll post a few of our favorite shots, but I'm sure we'll also be sending periodic email updates.

Watching the kids play

I realize I may have been a little sneaky when I told Ryan "they do better in pairs" when we got the cats. That being said, we get some of the greatest joy from playing with them and watching them beat each other up. I completely understand the studies that show that people with animals are happier and live longer lives. It's just hard to be in a bad mood watching the animals jump, beat and bite on each other. Watching them run into the wall chasing a laser pointer is pretty funny too. I'm glad they have each other for company since we're gone most of the day.

Chief really likes the baby. He's almost always on Ryan's lap if we're both home, but for the past 3 weeks or so, he really likes to lay on or near my belly. It should be interesting to see what happens after the baby is born.

Swollen

I'm officially huge. At this point, everything is swollen. The nurse at my doctor's office even pointed out to me that my ankles are swollen (which was very nice of her, I might add). I'll definitely take this stage of pregnancy over the 5 months of puking I did, but dude, I'm ready to have my body back. Next week, I am officially considered a "full term" pregnancy.

I've been bumping into people with my belly, since I'm apparently still not aware of the extra padding I'm carrying around. They feel bad and I feel silly.

Friday is also my last day of work. I have a lot to get finished up, but I am really excited to spend some time at home, getting the nursery ready and catching up on sleep (since I'll be quite sleep deprived for a while afterwards). The nurse also told me I need to spend more time laying down with my feet up (that swelling thing again), so not working will help with that. Hooray for maternity leave!

Fanya Kaplan

My soon to be brother-in-law Brad is an aspiring (and talented) filmmaker. His short film, Fanya Kaplan just won the Best Picture award for Georgia for Campus Movie Fest. My sister is the star of the film, and learned how to speak Russian phonetically for the movie. Take a look here: Fanya Kaplan

RIP little car

Last Tuesday, I got a call on my way into work from Ryan. We had an ice storm a few days before and he was heading down a hill about 3 blocks from our house when the car started skidding. Apparently, it did a 180, hit the guard rail and did another 180, leaving most of the passenger side of the car mashed up. He's OK. He's also very very sad. The car is 13 years old, and the collision center stopped adding up the damage when it reached $4288.

When I arrived onsite, I saw Ryan picking up pieces of the car from the road. Sad. The damage looks mostly superficial, but when he started to drive away, I saw green liquid (which turns out to be normal in a car) gushing from the underside and black plastic (which turns out to be a fan) falling under the car. We don't really know how much the damage was, since our insurance company considered it a complete loss.

It's one of those situations where no matter what the insurance offers you for the car, it's not enough to replace it. It was a great little car. We knew it had been well taken car of and Ryan loved that car. Sorry little car, you were well loved.

As clean as it'll ever be ...

Here are a few completely finished shots of the nursery. How cute is it? I'm starting to feel quite oppressed by all the stuff we have. I kind of like looking at the nursery now because it's so empty and clean. Soon it's going to be filled with all the stuff that's currently taken over our master bedroom. Makes you wonder how people made do with a baby sling to cart the little buggers around.

As big as a minivan

I don't know how many of you watch Studio 60, but you should it's a clever show. Anyhow, one of the main characters is pregnant and was described as "As big as a minivan." That, my dear friends, is how big I feel right now. I've gone from cute pregnant to oh my goodness pregnant in a few short weeks. According to my handy dandy pregnancy book, I'm going to continue to get bigger for the next 2-3 weeks, when my size will stabilize. Then, the baby will just have less room in his little hacienda until he's so cramped he can barely move.

A few more

I'll add some more pictures once we've got the decorating done. That'll probably be once I go on maternity leave. 3 weeks left ... scary!

A few misc pictures

Floor before and after

Nursery Fest

Nursery project: nearly complete. This time our agenda was a little less intense than with the Patio Fest and there were no OSHA recordable accidents. Well, Ryan had a splinter, but I don't think that counts somehow. I'm posting a few shots of the evolution of the nursery. I have to say, it went from a weird, non-used room to perhaps my favorite room in the house. It really makes me want to put hard wood in the rest of the house. Guess we'll have to wait until we win the lottery for that one! Thanks lots Dad and Laurel!

Much love to you Peewee

Our newest penguin

So just after we arrived home from Champbana, we came home from work to find this little guy on our lawn. As-yet unnamed penguin sparkles and lights up at night. We racked our brains trying to figure out who would've left us a penguin (and who out here knew the story of Peewee the traveling penguin). We even called people back home to find out if Chris and Wendy had been passing through New York.

The mystery was solved when our friend Sean came over to help us move our old couch and chair into the basement. We told them the Peewee story well over a year ago. While we were away Sean said they looked high and low for one of the giant, inflatable penguins (know how much we love inflatable lawn art) and finally found this little guy. I really like him. I think he's going to become part of our yearly Christmas display.

Nursery Project

Another lesson in "what were they thinking?" We are turning our second upstairs bedroom into the nursery. We found out that all the beadboard, trim and molding is some kind of weird compressed cardboard product. After tearing it all down, it became very clear to us that putting up wainscotting is our only option. Trying to re-drywall and all that is just too much effort for too little reward. The room should be very cute when we're all finished. Dad and Laurel are coming out to help next weekend. This time we're taking a day to go into New York and won't spend the entire time they're here working.

More and more pregnant

I was just looking through pictures from Christmas time and realized how much more baby there is now. This picture was taken last weekend ... and I still have 8 weeks to go!

Trying on clothes

I tried to find an outfit to wear over the Christmas holiday to church and any other dress up gatherings. This is not an easy task since there are about 3 places to shop for maternity clothes in our town, all of which apparently think that pregnant women don't need to get dressed up (unless dressed up means a big shirt with stretchy black pants ... why is it even remotely OK to wear stretch pants when your middle is twice as big as the rest of you?). After trying on every dress in the aforementioned stores, I finally found one that's as cute as it's going to get. As if going clothing shopping wasn't depressing enough ...

On the upside, we are finished with Christmas shopping aside from 2 people! It's a nice feeling considering that I'm going to Toronto Sunday through Wednesday this week (yep, a meeting the week before Christmas). It should make the week fly by though and we're leaving to go to Champaign on Friday!!!! I'm really looking forward to 10 days with family and friends.

A great way to waste time

We got the Wii on Thursday. It is the most fun I've had outside a video arcade in years. You get to create a Mii that looks like you (or not) to play the sports game. Ryan got a kick out of watching his 6 month pregnant wife kick the crap out of a grizzled dude on the boxing game. You actually have to stand up and use the remotes like boxing gloves. We're gonna bring the Wii when we come home at Christmas time. I think it will provide some entertaining stories for years to come.

We also got a game about Rabbids (yes, correctly spelled) in which you throw cows, shoot plungers and race warthogs, to name a few activities. So far it consumed our last evening (after we got home from Christmas shopping at 8 pm) and all of this morning. Ryan ran out to mail a package, and I got stuck on a level, thus the blogging. I'll get some pictures up of us playing the sports game. Absolutely ridiculous.

Ryan wins a Wii!

Ry buys computer stuff from newegg.com from time to time. Apparently, he entered an online sweepstakes a while ago for free Wiis. Yesterday he was notified that he won one! Christmas is coming early to the Thomas family. Unreal.

Finally

I'm excited to finally be looking pregnant instead of looking like I spent too long in the buffet line. I'm also excited to be feeling good again. Aside from the occasional kicks in the kidneys, it's kind of fun being pregnant. I think he's gonna run us ragged. At least we've still got a few more months. How scary is it that we're going to be parents?

The (unsuccessful) Wii hunters

All Ryan really wants for Christmas (well, the thing he wants most for Christmas) is a Nintendo Wii. As most of you probably know, this little gem is nearly impossible to come by right now. Nintendo has come up with a brilliant marketing strategy that hinges on sending only enough to stores to keep people lining up each Sunday to wait for the stores to open.

And so, on Sunday morning, I found myself outside Target at 7:50 (10 minutes before they opened) waiting for a Wii. Target had given all theirs out already, so off we trouped to Circuit City, which didn't open until 10 am. There, we thought our luck changed, as we were 5th in line. Alas, the manager came outside around 9 am to tell the unfortunates in line that he had given out the 15 vouchers in his possession at 7:30 that morning. Apparently, the serious die-hards had camped out the night before.

While I can't say that I understand this behavior, I have to admit it was kind of fun to talk with the people in line. It was like an experiment in psychology. What makes people stand outside in 40 degree weather and wait for a game system? In some cases (like ours) it's just a "what the heck" attitude for a much-anticipated toy. In others, it is the parents of kids who "only want a Wii" for Christmas. I'm sure there will be many tears on Christmas morn without that white box. And then there are the die-hard fans. These folks wait outside overnight (sometimes multiple nights) for the elusive Wii. I don't know what's wrong with these people. I look at them with the same befuddlement as the people who dress as Klingons before the Star Trek conventions. I've also never been one to freak out about celebrities or wait in lines for concerts. Hey, I guess everyone needs a hobby.

A Moral VIctory?

Yesterday we once again watched the Illini football team lose a close football game. The commentators kept saying this was a "moral victory" for the Illini to come so close to Ohio State. Anyone watching the game would agree that the defense played an outstanding second quarter. If the offense had showed up a little earlier, we could've won that game. At least next year we'll have the record to support the quality of the team.

Ok, but seriously ...

How cute is he?

Elf Likes to Help

Ryan put up a banister on the top part of our stairs. Elf wanted to help. It seems he has an unhealthy fascination with the tape measure. I spent most of the time cat wrangling while Ryan got the banister up. It's a good thing the cats are cute, cause they're a pain in the rear most of the time.

Lazy Saturdays

I really love weekends, especially since I'm so exhausted by the time Friday night comes. I was trying desperately to stay awake last night and still fell asleep at 8:30. This means that we wake up at 7:30 in the morning and have all day to enjoy on Saturday. The Illinois-Ohio State game is at 3 pm. That's the only thing in our agenda for the day.

Expecting

I guess most of you know by now that Ryan and I are expecting our first child at the end of March or beginning of April! I apologize for the severe lack of posting over the last weeks. It felt weird to post about stuff going on in my life when I wasn't posting about the biggest new part of my life. Plus I felt like so much crap so blogging wasn't high on my list of priorities. I'm finally feeling better, thus I should be blogging again now.

The Fam and a big pig

Just cause it's fun.

Like walking into Willy Wonka's Factory

Butchart Gardens is the most unbelievable place. The only thing I could compare it to is the kids walking into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

House boat dog

Nothing special about him, aside from that tongue.

The coolest boats ever

I have never seen house boats like these. They are literally houses that float. There are about 3 docks full of house boats. I wouldn't like living there because it's such a tourist attration. People are constantly walking by and peering in windows.

A great time in BC

This is a (much delayed) post on our vacation to visit Ry's mom in British Columbia. All I have to say is that it's really beautiful there. It seemed like everywhere we stopped was a picture spot. These are the Olympic mountains as seen from the coast of Vancouver Island.

Home Alone

I'm home alone tonight (and until Thursday :( ). I always have great plans for home alone nights. My plan tonight looked something like this:

Eat Dinner
Work Out
Do Laundry
Clean Up House
Get toes manicured

Here's what I've actually done:

Eat Dinner
Play with Cats
Find hotel online for my husband who can't stay in the smoking room he's currently booked in
Write in blog

It's still early, so I might get some of the rest of my list done. More likely, I'll sit on the couch and watch something truly revolting that hubby doesn't like (like Bridezillas). Here's to procrastination!

I'm too old for this

We had a bachelor and bachelorette party last night. It was fun, but the evening included approx 4 hours of driving and an evening that didn't end until 3:45 am this morning. Even though I wasn't drinking, I still woke up this morning (well, early this afternoon) feeling like I'd been run over by a bus. I can't do 4 am nights anymore.

There were no fewer that 6 bachelorette parties last night in Atlantic City. It's a funny little ritual we all do. The Tropicana is definitely one of the nicest casinos in AC, and I really enjoyed the fact that smoking has been banned in restaurants and bars in NJ. I got to go home without smelling like an ashtray last night. It's still allowed in the casinos, but we didn't do any gambling last night. I had a fun time, but won't be looking for any more really nights again soon.

Right

Right, so it's been almost a month since I blogged. It's one of those things that gets harder and harder to get back to the longer you've been away. There's too much to catch up on ...

In brief: Ryan and I bought a kayak, which mostly resembles a large yellow banana. It's been fun, although getting knocked tail over teakettle in one of the area's rivers was a little unsettling. Actually, the getting knocked over part was fun, the realizing that I was having a heck of a time swimming and towing the boat was unsettling. The good news about that is that our bionic friend taught Ry more about how to get back into a boat without beaching it.

Life other than that has been quiet. Our jobs have been moving quietly along, and the travel schedule picks up again here in August. We're also going to visit Ryan's mom in September, which should be wonderful, since I've never been. It's also been a long time since we've seen her, so I'm looking forward to it.

We are attending a bachelor and bachelorette party today for one of Ryan's coworkers. His plan begins with golf, so I'm home alone for another few hours before getting dolled up to head to Atlantic City. I'm considering cleaning my house ... so far only a consideration though. We'll see how I feel after my little writing exercise. So, I really didn't need to blog over the last month, it all fits neatly into one little entry.

Kayaking Delight

Today was one of those perfect summer weekend days that only comes along every blue moon. We woke up around 9:30 this morning (ahhh, weekend) and spent the next 2 and a half hours eating breakfast and couch louging. Then we got up and did some gardening, work around the house and cleaned up.

Around 2:30 we took our borrowed kayak down to the county park and performed some self-taught kayaking. It was a gorgeous day; about 85 Degrees with light white clouds. Kayaking is pure delight. It's just you and the water, skimming by turtles and woods. Seriously, I haven't felt that much at peace in a long time. Long story short, I think we may be taking up kayaking.

We did the obligatory weekend Target run and had yummy tex mex food for dinner. I feel like we not only got a lot accomplished today, but also had a great, relaxing day. Ahhhh.

Another fun Philly Day

We spent the day wandering around Philadelphia today and got to finish most of the Once Upon a Nation storytelling spots. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the city on July 4th weekend. The Taste of Philadelphia was going on today. It was a pretty disappointing two blocks. Other than that, it was a nice day.

NJ shuts down money makers

Just another example of the idiocy of this state. Our illustrious governor and the state senate couldn't pass a budget by the June 30 deadline. Instead of cutting out some of the excess spending or corruption (your choice) he wants to pass a 1 cent sales tax increase and said that he'll refuse to pass any budget that does not include the tax. The senate is controlled by democrats, the governor is a democrat. Why can't they all just get along? Anyway, regardless of the fact that more taxes are the only way they seem to be able to pass a balanced budget, now the gov is shutting down all non-essential services. While I applaud the effort in theory, in actuality, this process is going to shut down all the things that make money for this state: lottery, casinos, state parks and historic sites. Not only are these the money makers, shutting them down means thousands of everyday working class people don't get paid. I guarantee the legislature is still drawing a salary though. Way to go gov!

On OZ

Ryan got made of pretty consistently when he first moved to NJ for talking so lovingly about Champaign. His friends started referring to it as “OZ.” While it may not be OZ, I understand the sentiment. Some days here I feel like I’m getting dumber, and not just from watching mind-wasting movies like Superman.

Growing up in a University town meant that people had a diversity of viewpoints and opinions. I grew up learning how to think and to defend why I believed what I did. (I blame my parents). I got into some really great discussions that ended with everyone’s mind stretched a little bit.

Attending the U for grad school only continued that process. Everyday I was forced to, at the very least stretch, if not exercise my brain power. As one of the most conservative people in my program, I often got into lively debate. Here, I’m a crazy hippie liberal and no one is really interested in having discussions that challenge their beliefs. People here are their group. Irish, Italian, Mexican, Catholic, Military, Union, all are group affiliations that define your beliefs, regardless of what you believe. I’m consistently amazed that people will go on about what they don’t like/believe about the Catholic faith and yet still consider themselves Catholic. Why? Because they were born that way.

The daily conversations here are about stuff and things. Women need their Coach pocketbooks. 16 year olds have birthday parties that cost more than my wedding. No one seems outraged that our Governor has broken nearly every campaign promise that he made. They’ll probably vote for him again. Because they vote Democrat. They just do.

I have a great concern that working everyday in a job that doesn’t force me to stretch is shutting down my brain. I can only hope that if I keep reading and keep trying to find new ways of looking at things I’ll stay nimble.

We’ve made some good friends here. I just really miss the people of the Emerald City.

Things I've read and liked lately

Kind of brings together the other three books on this list. Truly, the stories of history are about the oppression of one people by another. Unfortunately, these are the stories that don't get told in history classes. If I had known history could be like this I'd probably be earning my PhD in history right now instead of working in HR.

School made history dull. You learned about dates, places and wars. These books bring to life what it was like to live, love and die during these times.

Things I've read and liked lately

Follows the story of a slave woman in 19th century New Orleans trying to prove that she is instead a German immigrant lost as a little girl. This one is complete with notes from court rulings, newspapers and diaries from the period. A glimpse into what it meant to be less than human and how it was decided. Slavery attached through the mother so if she was a slave, so were you.

Things I've read and liked lately

A truly fascinating look into Hawaiian life and culture, beginning in the 1800s. It follows a family of women through the annexation of Hawaii by the U.S. and though modern times. Made me understand the Hawaiian independence movement.

Things I've read and liked lately

This is an excellent narration of what it was really like to be one of the pilgrims and what it was like to be an American Indian at the time of the Mayflower. I liked that it shows how cruel and kind both cultures were.

Keep your $17

Disclaimer: Stop reading if … 1. You liked Superman 2. You don’t want to ruin the “plot” of Superman 3. You don’t like reading rants.

We just got back from Superman. It was the most boring action movie I’ve ever seen. Not only did it clock in at 2 hours 30 minutes, there was only about 1 hour of actual movie material. The new Superman did a remarkable job of looking like Christopher Reeve. That was the good part of the movie. About halfway through, I started wondering if anyone was going to grow a personality. Lex Luther, arguably one of the greatest villains ever, was buffoonish. Lois Lane was shrill and unconvincing. Richard, her fiancé came in as an adorable doormat and the Superson spent most of the time mutely staring around the room. The only likable character was Jimmy. Give that kid a raise!

To be fair, Superman has never been my favorite superhero. The whole invincible except for kryptonite thing gets old, as does the Lois Lane/Clark Kent/Superman mistaken identity crap. If Superman is so great, why doesn’t he just incinerate all the kryptonite? This story is no Oscar-winner. Lex gets ahold of some super crystals and decides to grow his own, kryptonite-laced continent. The only problem is that it's going to kill pretty much everyone in the US. Also, Lois is Supe's Baby Mama. Too bad baby needs a personality.

Keep your $17. As a matter of fact, keep the $5 blockbuster fee or the $3.99 pay per view. Watch this movie on HBO with a good book. Truly, a terrible movie.

Goat gets demoted

This is the funniest story I've read in weeks. I especially enjoy what Billy does with his cigarette allottment.

A fun but strange night

Last night we went to a fundraiser concert at a firehouse on the shore. It was a good time, but ultimately, a very strange night. First of all, the evening started at 5. What kind of a concert starts at 5? I have to believe it's because they fed us overcooked hamburgers, potato salad and meat shaped like ribs. I guess 5 begins the dinner hour. The tickets were also "all you can drink" if you like beer. There were literally 20 different kinds of beer (including something called Golden Monkey that several of the group got schemed into) and 2 boxes of wine. Mmmmm, box of wine. I had one glass of something pink (I think the actual name on the box) and decided it wasn't worth the calories.

The band itself was fun, although it felt strangely like a wedding where we didn't know anyone. There were 3 year olds and 70 year olds on the dance floor. The 3 year olds by the way, had watched waaayy too many Britney Spears videos. It was fun to see some friends we haven't seen in a while and the band was a good time ... but I'm not sure that I'll go next year.

And so it begins

I don't really enjoy driving. Anticipated for years, it quickly lost its appeal after the errand running, sister driving, and parking space hunting final years of high school. Even in college, I didn't mind driving. It was certainly better than trying to drag home 8 bags of groceries on the bus. I never understood my husband's obsession with cars. As much as I enjoy my truck, I still give up driving whenever possible.

It's pretty ironic then that I ended up in a state where the average commute is over 30 minutes and mine comes in at 45 on no-traffic days. For the past three summers, I have dreaded the end of the school year. In NJ, school doesn't end until the 3rd or 4th week of June. Each week of the month means more schools out and more families traveling "down the shore" to their weekend slum houses. Now, I don't begrudge people their summer vacations, but I do get a little tired of 90-120 minute commutes every Friday during the summer. It doesn't really matter if I leave early. Today for example, I left the office at 3:30. Commuting time: 90 minutes. It sucked only slightly less than the 2 hours it would have been had I left at 5 pm, as usual. My options on Friday are 11 am or 8 pm. Not great options, if you want my opinion. Stupid shore anyway.

As requested

A few shots of the final version of the patio.

In remembrance of Tufty

Pat is new to our family and hasn't heard all of our stories. To Pat ... I'm so so sorry. We got started talking about the Crapmobile this weekend. I had to bring out some of the pictures of Tufty just to warn everyone again why you should never, ever buy a 6 year old car from a maker that doesn't exist anymore from a cardealership with less than two dozen cars on the lot. Dad, I've learned my lesson.


Guess which picture earned Tufty his name? Of course, car from Hell was already taken.

In Law Tales

Frank and Pat left this morning, after visiting since last Thursday. All in all, it was a great visit. On Saturday we went to the beach, which was only OK since it was overcast. We also exposed Pat to Jersey Boardwalk. I don't think she was impressed.

Sunday was a great day. We went into Philadelphia to go to a Phillies game, but took in some of the historic stuff first. An organization called Once Upon a Nation has storytellers at many of the famous historic sites. They tell stories about living during colonial times. Some are even dressed up like famous people. Ben Franklin told us about traveling in a stagecoach. It was really fun. We only got to about a third of the sites, so I think Ryan and I are going to go back over July 4th weekend and try to do the rest of the locations.

The Phillies game was good fun. I had forgotten what a good time live games were. I think we're going to try and catch a few more games this summer. I really enjoy Philadelphia. The city is much more approachable than NYC. It's a great walking city and the people there are actually nice. It's also only a 40 minute drive, which is a huge bonus for me. I think we'll be spending a lot more time in Philadelphia now.

Patio Fest is Complete

32,000 pounds of stone, 2 OSHA recordable accidents, 7 people and 3 days later, we have a patio. I didn't realize how crappy our lawn looked last year at this time until I looked at the before and after pictures. A huge thanks goes to my Dad, Becky, Laurel, Sean and Paul. It rocks!

On Immigration

I'm already tired of the immigration debate in this country. I frankly don't understand why it is such a long, difficult process to gain legal status in this country. For the first time in several years, I find I actually support the President's plan for a guest worker program. I'm not sure where all the vehement opposition to this program comes from. The high strung, type A ninnies who like to scream about how illegal immigrants are "Breaking The Law!!" would be the first ones to cross the border if it meant providing food, shelter and safety to their families. Seven years is too long to wait to provide for a family. Thank goodness I had the fortune to be born in the US.

Not anti-blog

Just not too much going on in my life lately. It's been pretty quiet around here. Neither of us has been traveling and there's been no drama. Aaahhh.

Congratulations to my little sister Becky, who recently got engaged!

Ryan and I are putting in a patio. Well, to be completely honest, Ryan, my Dad, Laurel, Becky and I are putting in a patio. We lured the family out by cleverly calling Memorial Day "Patio Fest." We decided we had to put in a patio (with paving stones) because our township doesn't allow a deck within 10 feet of the property line. Since we're putting it on our side yard, we would have had a ridiculous decklet. The township doesn't regulate patios, so voila!

American Crackhead

Are you an American Idol watcher? Why is Paula Abdul on crack?

Today was administrative assistant day

And this is a funny story. These are the flowers I received for Adminstrative Assistant Day today. You might be thinking to yourself, "Self, Jenn isn't an administrative assistant, she's an HR Representative." Well, you'd be right.

Our mill manager is in his 60s and Brazillian. Today he had a luncheon to celebrate AA Day. The honorees? All the women in the mill, including myself and the mill accountant. He proceeded to give a lengthy speech in front of of the senior management staff about how the ladies in the mill enable them to get their jobs done on time and keep them organized.

I realize of course, that his heart was in the right place. I also had a hard time today deciding if I was going to be offended. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to be. What do you think, am I reading too much into an innocent gesture?

Lasanga = Loneliness?

I just returned from a business trip to Atlanta yesterday and Monday. The meeting, while still an exercise in frustration, was more productive than most. On Sunday, I made a lasagna, thinking that there would be enough left over for Ryan to eat lunch/dinner while I was away. It was then that I realized that I often make him a lasagna when I'm leaving for travel. I think he's going to start associating lasagna with loneliness, which is just too sad for words.

Nose whacked ... the update

I have it on good authority that yesterday I did not, in fact, whack my nose on my chair. Instead my nose whacked itself on my desk. The evil chair has been banned to the storage closet and I have a new, less tippy (although still potentially a nose wacker) chair.

I also have a pretty impressive new bruise on my hip the size of my fist. Seriously, I never knew work was such a hazardous place.

Stupid ways to hurt myself

I have now gotten hurt in two of the most ridiculous ways possible in the past 5 days. On Easter Sunday, Dad and Laurel's cat, Sophie was investigating a heating vent. She got her paw stuck in the vent, freaked out and streaked across the room, vent intact, and whacked me in the ankle as she ran by, thereby dislodging the vent, scratching the floor, and leaving an impressive welt on my leg.

This, however, has nothing on my adventure at work today. My office is being moved from the back of the building to the front, near our new learning center. My old office has carpet, my new one has highly polished tile. You might be thinking I tripped and fell ... it was nothing that graceful. My computer's hard drive got loose in the move and one of the guys in the office was helping me fix it. I sat in my chair and leaned to get something (what, I can't remember) when my chair slipped out from under me and came down on top of me, nailing my nose with the hard, plastic arm. I don't actually remember what happened, but this is what the obversers later told me. Here's what I remember ... "Oh crap ... ow ow ow ow ow." As I was lying on the floor holding my now very painful nose, I remember thinking about how in self-defense you are supposed to push attacker's noses into their brains and what a stupid way this was to die. Luckily, all I ended up with was a swollen nose and wounded pride. We called one of the mill's first responders and they wrote an "incident report." Now I'll be the topic of discussion at the next staff meeting. I'm just hoping I don't end up with bloodshot eye(s) tomorrow.

Dirty Jobs

Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel is my new favorite show. I think you have to have a slightly warped worldview to truly enjoy it, but I laugh until it hurts every time I see it. I would put the schedule up, but I can't seem to keep track of when the show is on. Luckily for me, I have TiVo to do that for me.

Some of the dirty jobs profiled are waste treatment center maintenance guy, mushroom farmer, dairy farmer, compost maker and my personal favorite, turkey farmer. The show (understandably) deals with a lot of poo and pee, and the host's comments are priceless. One of the funniest things I've heard this year was from a mushroom farmer episode ... and I paraphrase "So you want me to climb on top of that pile of poo and carry this bag of pee to put on the top?" Yeppers. Apparently on a turkey farm, approximately 10 turkeys die per day. To find them, you walk into the crowd and wait until one doesn't move. Chances are, that's the dead one. Then they compost the dead turkeys with their poo until they become liquid turkey. Hmm, sounds a little grotesque when I describe it, but trust me, it was hysterical!

If you have a lot of time to monitor the discovery channel or a TiVo, I highly recommend this show.

Tower of cars

Here is a tower of mercedes in Kehl, Germany. Khouray mentioned a smart car dealer with a similar set up. I couldn't see the point (except maybe the coolness factor) since they didn't seem to have a real estate problem.

My brain hurts

It's been one of those weeks where I ran from one meeting to another to an interview to another meeting. I don't realize how tiring it is to think until I have a week like this one. Boss is out of town visiting Mouseland, so I've also been interviewing people for a few open positions at the mill. I'm enjoying the increasing responsibility, but I'm wiped. Luckily, tomorrow is all day training, which ironically, means I don't have to think so hard.

Ha!

Strousbourg

This was the cathedral in Strousbourg, France. It's beautiful. A lot of the glasswork and sculture reminded me of Notre Dame. This cathedral took 600 years to build, from 1100 to the end of the 1700s. I can't imagine starting something that I knew my great great grandchildren wouldn't live to see. I have to think they didn't believe it would take so long to build.

French Cars

Are really small. These were everywhere over there. Of course, gas was also 1.13 Euro per liter. That's about $5.50 per gallon, boys and girls. I'd drive one too!

The kitties are a year old today

Or so. They were born the first week of April last year. I hope they're full grown, because feeding them is getting really expensive. Here they're playing with their birthday mice. Dad, you'd be horrified if you saw under our couch or stove on any given day. Nothing but mouse skin carnage. Strangely ... we never find the tails ....

Happy Birthday!

To my husband! We're the same age for 7 months again. Yes, that is two slices of carrot cake with swirly candles. I'm a bad wife. He got a cool new air compressor. The work bench downstairs is starting to look like a real man bench.

It's Spring!

And I have flowers! Well, and some dead stuff in the background. Planting these tulips and daffodils last fall was torture. We have very bad dirt. It all paid off about a week ago when the very first hot pink bud opened. Like the stone border? I walked like an 80 year old for two days after we put it in. What happens to us when we become home owners?

I'm a bad blogger

But in all fairness, I was in Germany for most of my non-blogging time. I finally downloaded my pictures and will get some posted here. The trip was pretty good. We stayed in Kehl, Germany and spent most evenings in Strousbourg. I got to practice some French. Funny thing about these two countries: people literally live 20 km away and French people speak no German and German people speak no French. They're both more likely to speak English. Once explanation I heard was that the two peoples started fighting each other 200 years ago and have been ever since.

We went to a French castle and to Zurich, Switzerland. The castle was unbelievable. Zurich was big, dirty, and exhibited a disturbing fondness for strip clubs.

This week went disturbingly quickly. I'm glad it's the weekend.

Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow is the big trip to Germany. We have to be to the airport around 7 pm tomorrow for the redeye to Paris. From Paris to Strousburg, France. Kehl, Germany is right across the border from Strousburg, so we'll drive from there. From all that I'm hearing, Kehl is pretty westernized. It has the GAP, McDonalds and an 8 tiered car dealership. Strousburg on the other hand, is supposed to have some really interesting (and old) churches and fun little shops and markets.

The trip should be a little more relaxed than Brazil was. We're staying in one place the entire week, and the evenings will be ours to do with as we choose, rather than being forced into 4 hour dinners every night. I imagine we'll spend most of our free time in Strousburg. We also have a "free" day on Saturday and I hear that the Black Forest in Germany is pretty interesting.

I'm excited to be going, although I'll really miss Ryan. If only he'd fit in my suitcase. So far, working for Gerdau has added two new countries to my traveling and many new cities. Cool. It's nice to see the world on your company's dime!

Ha ha, I'm winning!

This just in ... I'm whooping Ryan in the NCAA BB Tournament Bracket. Not that I'm entered in any kind of illegal office pool or anything.

Having a heat wave

Today it was 75 degrees outside. Love love love that it's almost spring time. Of course there's supposed to be another snow storm the first week of April. There are several things that bother me about this. First, who has a snow storm in April? Second, how can the pathological liars known as meteorologists possible know what the weather is next week, let alone 3 weeks from now? Are .... you .... kidding me? Donne moi une .... break.

In other news, I'm catching a cold. I'm really freaking tired of getting random illnesses this week. My company nurse and our admin assistant have started taking bets on what I'm bringing home from Germany. Yeah, I'm a side bet. Meh.

An honorary Canadian

So I made it back from Toronto with no ill effect. Our training was actually very good ... actual training, not just talking about issues. I also really enjoyed being in Canada.

The Toronto airport is huge, and when I got in on Wednesday I literally walked for 15 minutes before getting to the customs agent. Then I had another 10 minute walk to the rental car place. After getting off a flight, it felt really good to walk, but it made me realize how coddled US travelers are. Aside from O'Hare, most US airports are more compact or if there is any walk they have a train to get you there.

Getting used to driving in kilometers was a kick. It makes you feel like you're really getting somewhere! Most of the highways around Toronto were 100 km/h, but like all big cities, no one was going slower than 110 km/h.

I also got a lesson in Canadian temperatures while I was there. Our trip was about 10 Canadians and 3 people from the US. The first afternoon of the training we were discussing the temperature. I'm not bad at converting C to F in my brain, so I actually knew how cold it was. Anyhow, we were discussing the temperature and I said that my car said it was negative 5 C ... and oh how my Canadian counterparts laughed. It's minus 5, they told me. As I listened to radio stations for the next two days, I realized that indeed, no one says negative 5. Another of my US colleagues said the same thing about 5 hours later ... so at least I felt better about that.

It also seems that Canadians are far more concerned about environmental issues than most in the US. As we toured the mill, our tour guide mentioned several environmental issues that they were working on. About 50% of the energy they use is provided by methane from a landfill a mile from the plant. Cool huh? They said that have about 20 years of methane left.

I really enjoyed my trip and my colleagues made me an honorary Canadian (they were going to give me a hat, but alas I had to leave and come back to NJ). All in all, I liked Toronto better than NJ. Of course, they all wanted to come to NJ so they could visit New York City. I guess you always want what you don't have.