Popping in for a Recap...

Well, I've been absent for quite some time again. For some reason this working at a job where I actually have to work (whether it's my own business or someone else's), being pregnant and trying to keep up with all my normal activities and Christmas preparations is really cutting into my blogging time! ;)

So, first things first...I have made the switch. You'll probably notice some changes around here at the blog as time goes along. I have to say that I think I'm going to like this new format. I will admit that I was a wee bit scared to switch over, but several "buddies" of mine have done so and so I followed suit...if for no other reason than that I can't post any comments to their blogs. One of the features I'm definitely going to love is the label feature, though the thought of going back and labeling some 200 posts is a wee bit daunting, but then I need to go put all of them in 1st person anyhow, so maybe we'll just kill two birds with one stone there.

Anyhoo....on to what's been keeping me occupied for the last few days starting with Sunday the 10th. Wow! it really has been a long time since I've posted! This one post should make up for it - you may need to space your reading over a few days. ;)

At any rate (I'm tired, forgive me for my tangents), on Sunday of last week, we went to church and then I became a cookie-making monster. I made 11 dozen sugar cookies with peppermint glaze which I bagged and tagged (with holiday greetings) for all the sweeties at Mark's school who've helped him and are still helping him make his way to graduation (less than one year away my friends - woo hoo!). By the time I was finished with this task, I was beat. This pregnancy thing really does a number on you...

On Monday, we delivered the goodies to their recipients when I dropped Mark off at school since I needed to kill a little time prior to my dentist appointment. I find it rather amusing that right before visiting the teeth doc I was encouraging cavities in others....muwhahahaha! :) Everyone was so appreciative of the goodies...and apparently a few of Mark's classmates took the hint that buttering up teachers is never a bad thing since I've heard there've been other goodies floating around the school lately! :) As for my dental visit, I got a thumbs up. Everything is improving from the last couple of visits when the hormone therapy I was on was doing a number on my gums. So, I guess I'll keep flossin' and a-brushin'.

This, by the way, was the beginning of Mark's finals week which he wasn't too terribly nervous about, with the exception of one class which he pretty much just studied like a madman for. It appears to have paid off since he missed five on that test and garnered himself a much better grade than when he went in to the test (especially since the teacher threw out his 2nd exam after realizing that he probably only did poorly on it because a "lay" person was trying to read him the questions). All in all, the Mark passed everything to our knowledge so we're one step closer to being home. Yea!

Tuesday and Wednesday are a blur. I can't remember anything except for the fact that I was supposed to go to a Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday for my biz but ended up just going home when I started feeling nauseous...no idea why, very glad it didn't amount to anything! I imagine everyone was happy that Mark and I didn't show up since they had a better chance at the door prizes...we Roccos are lucky you know! ;) Incidentally, I think Tuesday was the night that Mark was taking a case history on a former bodyguard for MC Hammer...kind of funny, huh?

On Thursday night I was in full pregnancy hormonal glory...much to Mark's dismay. Whoa nelly was I depressed, upset, etc., etc. I was just really feeling overwhelmed with life, Christmas, being a mom, etc. I guess we're all allowed our moments....mine is, thankfully, over for another spell. And, that's all there is to say about that! :)

On Friday at work, they had a little birthday celebration for me and one of my coworkers. We had sorbet for me and carrot cake for her. What is funny is that the mango sorbet (which they'd chosen after I mentioned that I'd really liked it at the Christmas party) had carrot juice in it. I think everyone was amazed that something like that would be hiding in sorbet...is it any wonder that I read labels religiously?

On my way home from work that night I picked up a few more gifts for Mark and also got some rice pasta at Whole Foods. I also bought myself a little treat since I found some fudge with walnuts that I'm not allergic to. It's really good stuff and is almost gone! :)

As for Saturday of this past weekend, we were again just crazy busy. I was making Christmas gifts (I could tell you what they are but then I'd have to kill you since some of the recipients read this blog). I'll just say it was a pretty fun process and toward the end I was getting pretty good at my technique. I can't wait to see what people think of my creations. If someone reminds me, I'll tell you all about these nifty gifties after January 5... I also mixed up another batch of cookie dough on this day and set it aside for baking later.

Mark occupied himself with shopping for my gifts. He's very efficient and finished all his shopping in one day...he even got everything wrapped. He rocks and I was impressed. He's even such a sweetheart that he got Pixie a present. I was shocked. I haven't even bought her anything (and I'm sure I'll pay for that later if I don't get it done soon - I'm going for culinary delights!) and I actually claim to like her. Methinks maybe she has a closet fan. ;)

We were supposed to go to the Carols and Lessons night at our church on Saturday night, but Mark's shopping trip didn't bring him home until it was too late to go. *sigh* I was really looking forward to it. I guess I'll just have to torture (?) him with two services on Sunday of this week - normal Sunday service and then the 5 p.m. Christmas mass. I dont' think I can make it to 11 o'clock for Midnight Mass.

Since we weren't going to make it, I tried a new cookie recipe and it flopped. It tasted great but looked, well, not so great. Luckily, men are rarely concerned with how things look and so the sweetheart that took Mark on his second shopping excursion of the day (Colby whose middle name is not Jack...yeah, he gets that a lot) was quite thrilled to go home with a nice bag of raspberry walnut floppers. I'm going to try these again sometime using the actual cookie dough that the recipe calls for rather than trying to substitute regular sugar cookie dough cuze they were actually quite tasty and I know people will like them, but that's for next year!

On Sunday because we'd stayed up really late and I was pretty much beat before even getting out of bed, we stayed home and slept in. Then we got up and made oatmeal waffles (these are the best!) and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. After that, I jumped into cookie-baker mode again and busted out 8 dozen (or so) more cookies...this time, though, I substituted jimmies (sprinkles, if you will) and colored sugar for the icing because it seemed like a good way to decrease my workload. It was, but I was still exhausted after I was all done. So, I did the smart thing and took a nap!

Then I arose, packed the gifts in boxes that needed to be shipped and put them and most of our Christmas cards (I'm a wee bit behind this year) in Mark's care for mailing on Monday. We went to the grocery store and then came home, ate dinner and I finally wrapped Mark's gifts. Our tree is looking quite cheery now. The hard part now is waiting a whole week to see how much he likes his goodies.

Oh, and the grocery store provided some annoyance since we discovered that Trader Joe's no longer carries the chicken broth that I could actually eat. This means that the one kind of canned chicken broth that I'm not allergic to isn't available soooo now I am forced to make my own. It's a good thing I didn't discard that chicken carcass from the chicken we ate this past week. *sigh*

Okay, so we're now almost caught up. Yesterday, Mark mailed the gifts and the cards. Today he went to Berkeley and hopefully made some contacts which will result in some clients. I worked.

We do have a wee bit of excitement coming up tomorrow, though. :) We'll be going in for our Level II Ultrasound which we're hopeful will give us comfort that our little baby is developing appropriately and maybe even let us in on the secret of whether or not we have a he or a she. I'm sooo looking forward to only using one pronoun. I have to admit, as awful as this may seem, that I'm pulling for a girl, though, of course, I'll still be thrilled with a little boy. :) I have to admit that part of my desire stems from the fact that we're not having a lot of luck coming up with boys names that we like...I'm sure we'll do just fine if we are informed that we better figure it out! :) Oh, and don't ask what name we're planning to give our bundle of joy. We'll share what gender we're having but the name is our little secret. :)

Other than that, the rest of the week will be spent readying ourselves for Christmas. We have at least one guest scheduled to join us for Christmas dinner which will include, as of this time, ham, cheese fondue, other dippy things and probably a caramel fondue treat for dessert...I may also do an apple crisp and ice cream. I'm pretty psyched that on Friday I don't have to go to work since the partners have decided to just give us the full day off, too...nothing like a four day weekend to make the season bright, eh?

In the unlikely event that I don't make it back to post before Christmas (I have every intention of at least telling you whether the verdict is boy, girl or still unknown), we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!