Christmas Time Is Here

And, we're really caught up in the season it seems this year. We've been busy, busy, busy. It seems like there is never enough time in the day, the week, etc.

This week I had my 5 drops of blood taken for my AFP screening. I have to wait a bit longer for results since I'm in the middle of switching over to my employer's health plan (oh the joys of health insurance). They're holding the test for me (it's good for a year I guess - which would be a bit long to wait, I suppose) until I have some proof of insurance that they can send along to the lab so that I don't have to go through the annoyance of trying to get reimbursed since I'm now with an HMO which scares me a little, but it does seem to be quite nice for the pocket book since there isn't a deductible I have to meet this year as a result. *phew* That was Wednesday.

I really don't remember much about Thursday so it must have centered around work. I guess I did go in and get adjusted by Mark. I think we're finally on the same page so my back and leg pain seems to be decreasing. I think the missing link was that my leg bone needed to be pushed back into it's socket a bit and he and his partner in crime at the clinic thought that when I complained about my hip I was complaining about the front rather than the side. Tricky, tricky these patients can be I guess....

On Friday my office had their Christmas party. We had it at a place called Nibblers Eatery and it was fabulous...especially since the chef created a special menu just for me. Rock on. He even told me that if I wanted to come in to dine anytime just to give him a call about a week before and he'd create a menu again...just for me. Can you say this guy rocks? It really was a nice place for a light meal...though you could probably order a little more food if you were going off the menu. I am now thinking my parents-in-law may be treated to an experience at this restaurant when they come to visit...especially since I've now eaten at the Walnut Creek Yacht Club three times. It's getting a little old...even if they have been able to create three different meals for me. If you have a chance to go to this establishment, please go - it's wonderful. Tell Chef Daniel I sent you! :)

At the party, we had one of those "white elephant" gift exchanges. It was fun and thankfully, despite a bit of a scare, I was able to leave with a pretty nice gift. For quite some time there I was the proud owner of a door mat that said "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit." Um, yeah...not exactly my style. I do have to admit that I probably would have gifted it to my grandmother if it had ended up being mine...I seriously think she would have been amused by it, but I'm glad I don't have to find out! I ended up with a nice little hanging candle lantern that I think once we have "real" house I may put in our back yard on a patio table or something....not sure. I' still need to think of it's possibilities.

Once the fun was over, I had a little extra time so I went shopping. I hit Target first where I picked up a few little odds and ends for Christmas gifts including an integral part of one of Mark's gifts. I am so thrilled with all the things I came up with for him this year. He's really going to have a fabulous Christmas...and I'm guessing the gift he'll like the best will be the one that costs me the least up front (it's also the most time-consuming of gifts, though). I am dying to tell you what it is, but loose lips take all the fun out of Christmas so just in case something might get back to the dear boy, my lips are sealed! You know you'll be the first to know what he got and how he liked it when Christmas has passed.

Once finished at Target, I made my way to the mall. I needed to pick up a belated wedding gift for our friends who got married in August and a couple of things for Mark. I was totally there on the right day. They had so many great sales going on that I ended up buying a lot more than I planned to for Mark, but most of what I got are things he needs for school and what not so I don't feel terribly guilty especially since most of the things I bought were deeply discounted. I can't wait to give them to him! Once the mall had yielded all its treasures, I headed home...exhausted and ready for some food.

Today, Mark and I attended graduation for some of his original classmates. It was a very nice ceremony. One of our favorite people, Diane, was actually valedictorian - go Diane! So that was awesome. She gave a fun speech. I'm thrilled that she's going to be practicing in Colorado Springs since I know that despite how anxious I am to move back it is going to be hard to leave all the friends we've made behind. At least we can hop a plane to visit them every-so-often (or they can visit us - I hope!).

Once we returned home, I jumped into some Christmas preparations. I made enough cookie dough for 8 dozen cookies. I need to do about one more batch of that size and I think I'll have the cookie quotient taken care of for all the people we want to bestow with gifties. Anybody who lives in the Bay Area who wants to lend a nice pregnant lady a hand with baking, please stand up...I know I'm going a bit nuts here, but I can't seem to help myself. :) I'm just all about spreading the love this year, I guess.

Then this evening, we made a little trip up to Oakland to attend a Christmas party for the Lion's Center for the Blind. We had a good time and met some people who may be helpfu to Mark not only in adjusting to his new lifestyle, but also in finding new patients for the clinic. Currently, he has 5 out patients which we're thrilled about, but we'd love it if he could get a few more so that he can make sure to get the numbers he needs. :) At any rate, the party was a great time and a nice little break from studying and baking...

And, there you have it - you're now up to date on what we've been up to the past few days! I hope you're having a nice holiday season so far...it seems to be flying by for me!

Birthday Recap...

I wrote this post yesterday during a break by hand in the hopes that I could just type it out quickly this morning before heading to my appointment. Let's see if we can do it!

I had a great birthday and birthday weekend...and it started off with Thursday. This was the last day I was home sick last week. I should mention that I'm feeling much better and that Mark made a super speedy recovery (wishing the same for you LP!). The night after he was ill, he was eating normally while I could still barely manage to eat anything due to an almost non-existent appetite. Thankfully, it returned and I've recovered most of the pounds I lost during that ordeal.

All the sickies aside, though, we jump started my birthday weekend on Thursday night when a surprise package from Mark's parents arrived in the mail. I was going to wait to open it until my actual birthday (only had about 8 hours anyhow!), but Mark told me I should open them so I didn't argue. :)

Inside of the package (actually there were two) were many fun goodies but my most favorite was a cozy pair of fleecy fuzzy slipper socks. They are heavenly and will be put to good use now and in the future (I'm definitely thinking birthing room wear though maybe not when it's time for delivering...we'll see). Other goodies included a neat necklace, a dip and spreader set and a festive wreath pin that blinks.

On Friday, I returned to work - not feeling 100% but well enough to go and earn some money again. It was a pretty easy work day as things go with no real excitement to speak of.

Afterwork, I headed home to make it in time for a birthday party Mark arranged for me. Funny thing is I ran into my friend Lydia who was on her way there, too when I was on the train. :) We came together and enjoyed a fun party complete with sweet gifties and cards from our friends here. Another neat surprise was that Lydia had made some yummy brownies which were wheat free and so we had those and some ice cream. The brownie mix had come from Mark who bought what can be described as a "chocolate fest" for one of my gifts. It had tons of soy-free chocolate for me to try...and I've been trying it. Last night I had a fabulous dark chocolate with orange essential oil in it...yum!

Mark's other gifts to me were a heating pad to warm up my side of the bed before bed-time (I get really cold and have trouble getting to sleep) and tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra perform. This last one was a combo birthday/Christmas gift...and absolutely awesome.

On Saturday, we spent our day attending a seminar for chiropractors about business-type things. We gained some great knowledge that should help Mark make a good start when he opens his practice. Of course, I was close to yelling "stop!" at one point because the financial advice the speaker was giving was at times not the best, but well, I'm a financial professional and I guess I just "get" this type of stuff better than most people. Regardless, if you're paying down debt folks and want to give as little of your money away as possible, the interest rates you're paying dictate what debt balance you pay off first...enough said.

On Saturday night, we puttered around San Francisco's Union Square to see if there were any gifties we could find for those we love. I had briefly entertained the idea that buying gifts this year might bring less stress, hassle and frustration to the process. This is adventure reminded me why we ususally make most of our gifts and so we're back to plan A.

On Sunday, we went to church and then out to lunch with our neighbors. It was nice to finally get to sit and spend some time chatting with them about their careers, etc. After lunch, we ran errands...including one that was integral to our gift making. I'd tell you what it was, but then I'd have to kill you since some of our recipients read this blog! :)

That evening, we again flew the coopy to enjoy my birthday/Christmas concert. It was so awesome. If you ever have the opportunity to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra - go! My only suggestion is that you bring sunglasses. After a whil, the light show (mainly the bright white ones) starts to wear on you...we nevertheless hope to see this ensemble again.

After the concert, we headed home (thankfully, via BART!) and crawled into bed to be at least somewhat rested for work and school the next day. Not too much in the way of excitement this week so far, but as I mentioned, I am going in for a blood test this morning. Other upcoming excitement includes my office Christmas party on Friday (which Mark will miss out on :( since they do it for lunch) and on Saturday, a graduation party for a friend who's on her way back to Colorado to be a chiropractor (we're right behind you Diane!) and a Christmas celebration at the Lion's Center for the Blind. Though I have no idea when, I am also hoping to finally get started on making Christmas gifts this weekend. I may need to call in reinforcements...

Enjoy your week. I'll try to get back to tell you about anything noteworthy soon!

Uh Oh...

Well, I guess that bug I caught was a good one. It looks like Mark may have it now. I took today off from work, too, since I still just wasn't quite back to normal. I've finally been able to at least get some food in and staying in the system. Assuming Mark isn't sick, I will probably be find to go back to work tomorrow though I have no idea what I'm going to take to eat because as of yet I really can't handle much food at all.

I just feel really awful though that my Mark is now probably coming down with the bug....especially since it usually takes a pretty decent bug to bring him down.

I wonder where on earth we picked this little gem up...I sure hope it goes away completely by the time my birthday rolls around.

Take your vities people, the bugs are upon us!

Sickie Quickie

Today has been a pretty wretched day. I actually stayed home from work because I can't keep anything down. I must have caught a bug some where, I guess. It's been so long since I had a virus of this sort and this is definitely making up for the lapse of time.

The silver lining - my wonderful husband stayed home to take care of me. Another - it looks like maybe, just maybe, the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen...I hope so, I am so thirsty and a drop of water here and a drop of water there just isn't cutting it. :(

Hopefully things will be bright and pleasant tomorrow.

Picture Famine

Well, it's been real and its been fun...and at times it was even real fun, but the picture fest seems to be over kids. Can you hear the cries of despair and disappointment?

So, yeah, we did go to the doctor today, but no ultrasound pictures. I did, however, get to catch a glimpse of our little one on the ultrasound machine. She/he wanted to be sure that mommy got a short glimpse so he/she maneuvered so that the little heart beat was hard to find. What a good little one we have. :) Nevertheless, I have nothing to show for the short ultrasound experience. I can tell you though that we look like we're growing quite nicely and we have a very nice looking spinal column and some very cute feetsies!

On the bright side, along with this decrease in ultrasounds comes a decrease in appointment frequency which is nice since I have to make up time whenever I'm away from the office. So, our next appointment with the doctor is one month from now. Prior to this, I get to go visit the screening people a couple more times. Once next week to get an AFP blood test (which involves 5 whole drops of blood...yea! I've avoided a needle again!) and then we get to have more pictures...or at least I assume they'll not be greedy! So, in 3 to 4 weeks from now we'll have our Level II Ultrasound screen which will finish up our screening for various issues that will impact the baby's nervous system, organs, etc. With any luck, friends, we'll have some show and tell after this visit.

Oh, and just cuz it was pretty neat to learn, we did find out that our risk for Down's Syndrome based upon that first scan we did is 1 in 8000. Yeah, I think we're good. The doctor was thrilled with the results since someone of my age should be around a 1/200 risk I think he said. Let's hope the rest of the screens go just as well. :)

Let's see the only other stuff we really discussed that was of interest was where the doctor delivers. I have to go do some checking since I'm switching health plans in a few days and will be with an HMO (I've never been on one of these before so I'm a bit scared of what will transpire to be honest). Since it's with blue cross, I imagine we won't have an issue, but still it would be horrible to find that the hospital I'd prefer (which based upon current info is one that works with Stanford but actually has birthing rooms that you get to yourself) was not on the provider list. In general, I think all three of us agree that me being in a room by myself is going to be much better...the idea of listening to other women give birth just doesn't sound like a good thing for me given how empathetic I can be toward others.

Otherwise, everything looks good and so we're just moving along...here's to trimester 2!

Christmastime Is Here!

We've been busy bees here at our house...and it shows!

Our weekend was great...especially since I got to leave work at noon on Wednesday. This gave me the opportunity to go to the Cingular Wireless store and switch us over to a Cingular plan (we are some of those hold out "former ATT Wireless" customers) so that Mark can use his new fangled contraption of a phone. I got that taken care of and, in the process, got myself a newer phone, too...with, I'm happy to say, a few less bells and whistles than dear Mr. Mark's phone. It seems that they would try to keep things simple for people with visual impairments, but whatever. At any rate, despite a few "issues" with converting our accounts, everything was up and running by Wednesday night.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving and we enjoyed a nice quiet day at home. I fixed us a nice allergy free (with the exception of yams which I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole if I weren't allergic to them!) meal of turkey, mashed turnips and gravy, grape salad (which I may have to make again soon), spinach and artichoke dip, broccoli with cheese sauce and a couple of desserts to enjoy. We're still eating some of the leftovers, of course. Everything was really good, but man was I tired after all that slaving in the kitchen. I was almost too pooped to even want to eat the spoils of my hard work. I guess I never really realized how much energy I expend when I cook a holiday feast. Point noted and we may be having grilled cheese sandwiches on Christmas (I'm kidding!). I'm not sure what we'll have, but it may be significantly less time intensive than a full holiday spread...we shall see.

So, anyhow, after we finished eating and cleaning up after "hurricane MeLissa" (a category 5 storm in the kitchen this time around per Mark), I decided the time to move our living room around was at hand. Um, yeah, I did say I was tired, but for some reason the mere unsightly look of two separate work areas finally took its toll and I just couldn't stand it any longer...not to mention that I am just not one of those people who does well doing nothing. This drove my parents crazy I'm sure when I was home sick as a child...

When all was said and done, Mark and my work stations are in the same area of the front room...behind the couch and, for the most part, they are organized...the parts that aren't are hidden by the couch. :) I am loving the new layout!

On Friday, we jumped right into holiday preparations which is normal for us. I have a little rule that the house needs to be Christmas-i-fied by my birthday and as you can see from that little counter on the side bar, we are quickly approaching said day! We got most of the stuff up and out yesterday and finished up the rest of it today minus the greeting card display that I usually do in the entry way. I am just not sure I'm ready to expend the amount of energy that usually takes to make it look lovely...so we may just let it go this year.

Last night, we had a little visit from some new friends, Sara and Dan. Sara and I met in a rather odd way...she called to sell me some advertising in a bridal publication. We just seemed to really hit things off over the phone and we've been trying to get together ever since. She and her husband were great company for a nice Hawaiian dinner and then a little game of Disney Trivial Pursuit which we chose after discovering that, for the most part, our selection of games isn't exactly the best now that Mark can't see what's going on. I think we might make a trip to buy a couple of games soon...any suggestions on things we might be able to enjoy together?

So, as I mentioned today, it was still go, go, go as I finished up decorating our Christmas tree (which we really must upgrade either next year or the year after - it's getting very difficult to find empty branches for ornaments!) and the banister for the entry way. When Mark came home from the clinic, we tackled the guest room which had become a "catch all" and just really needed some TLC. Thankfully, I'd started that project last week and so there was plenty to do but it wasn't impossible to finish by the end of the day. As part of the process, I went through and cleared out a lot of wedding-business related stuff. I've kind of decided that if I do continue on here in California with my business I really prefer to just do a very minimalist day-of package. I have one more bridal show to do in February and this will be the slant I take. I plan to revise my website to reflect this as well at some point, but as of yet, the motivation to do so hasn't quite hit me! :)

We hope you all had a lovely holiday and have a wonderful Chirstmas season (or other holiday) ahead of you! Perhaps I'll try to get some pictures of our house as decorated up sooner or later. Until then, let us be the first to wish you a very
Merry Christmas!

Just a heads up that tomorrow we may have more pictures to show...I have an appointment with my regular OB/GYN. I'm sure you can guess that if I have anything to show and tell, you'll be the first to know!

First Screen Results

I am happy to report that our Nuchal Translucency and First Trimester screen came out A-OK! This means that our little one has a smaller risk of having chromosomal issues. Pretty neat, eh?

We also finally got our wireless service set up so that Mark can now make his own phone calls and such...very cool! I got a new little cell phone myself which can take pictures and such. I needed one to get on our new plan.

Other than that, we're just preparing for Thanksgiving. We're not doing anything too exciting...just hanging out and having some turkey. We hope you all have a lovely holiday filled with blessings.

Pictures-a-Plenty

As usual, blogger just wouldn't cooperate last night. I guess we'll see if it's feeling a little more amiable this morning - it looks like we have pictures! :) Without further a-do...

In our first little view here, you can see that baby has a cute little nose and mouth...I could look at these all day. If we have a girl, I hope she gets my nose. It's such a silly thing but it is one of my favorite features. :)









Here's one of my "hmmm, where did all the space go" shots. If you look you can see a little baby arm on the left side there going up to his/her little head. Too cute for more words except to say that this picture was taken as the roll of ultrasound tape was running out hence the crooked bottom edge!







Here's another good view from the side. Funny thing about all of these pictures except the first one was that they had the wrong patient name on them. If I hadn't been there (which obviously I had to be, I guess) or paying attention, I would have thought they were the wrong baby pictures. You can rest assured though they are of our little guy/gal!





Our final pictures is yet another head scratching view...from the side this time around. Still utterly adorable...I can't wait until I can cuddle this little baby in my arms. :)

Feeling Deprived?

I haven't posted in quite sometime have I? I have to admit that there just hasn't been much going on this week. I did have a visit for an ultrasound/finger prick blood test to screen the baby for Down Syndrome and other disorders. Based upon the ultrasound things seem to be looking fine, but definitive results won't be in until later. As I'm sure you can guess - ultrasound = pictures. They were pretty generous so I have five pics to share today.

Our little one is looking like a human now. :) He/she (still don't know yet what we're having!) was striking some cute poses as you'll soon see. My favorites are the ones where he/she's scratching his/her little head wondering where all the room went. This is because on the day of this lovely screen I was having mild (thankfully) contractions. The doctors and nurses told me it was perfectly normal and that my body is just practicing for the birth process. Fine by me...as long as I don't have to endure pain yet!

Let's see in other news, I'm finally sporting just a wee bit of a baby belly. If you know I'm pregnant you can barely tell, if you don't you think I'm hitting the twinkies a bit too hard (which proves you're totally out of the loop since I'm allergic to them...alas!). Yeah, twinkies are sounding good...yet another allergy-laden craving that I'm resisting. There have been so many I won't even bore you!

One thing that is sort of "exciting" with respect to the whole food situation is I actually found a cracker recipe I like. It's for oat crackers and if they're rolled thin enough and baked to just the right state, they taste like a cross between a triscuit and a wheathin. Yummy. I've been enjoying them all week long and I think I might just make some more! :)

Okay, okay...enough chattering (or Jibba Jabba as Mr. T would say - have you seen his new show on TV Land? It's quite a trip...we love it!) - let's get onto those baby pictures! :) I'm not sure these scans are quite as nice as previous ones, but we take what we can get, right? :)

So here's picture number 1 of our little girl or guy. You can see the head to the left, the arm toward the bottom, etc.

Well as is all too often the case, blogger is now not cooperating so I'll bring this post to a close and try to get pictures into another. *sigh*

Scouting for Furnishings...

We decided to make good use of our time today by visiting Babies R Us and having a good look at the options available for baby furniture. Our primary focus at this point was to see what options were out there as far as strollers, cribs, changing tables and dressers. We were pretty pleased with what is available.

Perhaps the thing we like best is that many cribs now can be converted (at the appropriate time and with the addition of some rails) into daybeds and/or toddler beds and then full-size beds. Perfectamundo! Spending a few hundred dollars on a piece of furniture that will maybe work for a couple of years - not so much fun. Spending a few hundred dollars on furniture that can last the little tyke for most of his/her formative years - very cool. :) So anyhow, we have a few that we like better than others as is typical and as time draws nearer we'll figure out what it is we ultimately want to do!

Other than that, Mark finally got all the equipment the Department of Rehab has been promising to help him with school. We're pretty excited about all of that. One of the niftiest things is a GPS system that will help him get around...isn't that neat?

Work continues to go okay. It's usually tolerable and sometimes quite annoying but at least I've tackled the commute problem which did improve my mood somewhat. Nevertheless, I'm still planning to find ways to get into full-time motherhood and out of the rat race (again!) as quickly as possible.

Final little tidbit - I'm going in this week for a Nuchal Translucency scan to check for Down's Syndrome. We're not too worried about this sort of thing, but since they do scan for other things, we figured it would be good to do just in case so we can plan appropriately. That's on Wednesday...otherwise, not too much baby excitement this week (well, other than the fact that we are starting to see just a wee bit of a "baby buddah belly" as Mark calls it).

Lunch with Joe Montana

Been there. Done that. :)

Yep, I chose the restaurant to have lunch with my recruiting team wonderfully yesterday as Mr. Joe Montana was there as well. He was the next table over from us. Pretty cool, huh? We didn't pester him so I have no pictures or wise quips to share, but nevertheless it was a highlight of my day....even though I care little for football. :)

One other quick update and then I have to run to work. I think we can say Mr. Skeeter did get one good punch in. The blood that was in the little bugger was probably mine. I have a huge bite on the right side of my face. It's quite obnoxious, but eventually it will be gone and I will have won the war.

Have a fabulous weekend!

MeLissa vs. the Skeeter!

I've frequently said that excitement is very much over-rated. For those who've not yet heard my reasoning, take for example a car accident. It can be very exciting....and yet it's just not so good. Same thing about a swarm of bees chasing you - exciting indeed, but not good. Now, of course, there are plenty of things that are exciting and good, but well, just go with me on this!

So, when I tell you there was a wee bit of excitement in our household early this morning, please understand that we're speaking along the same lines. Also know, though, that we won't have similar excitement this next sleep cycle unless a) my nemesis is reincarnated or b) another takes his/her place.

Have you ever been sound asleep and were awakened to the sound of buzzing? You know that buzzing that a mosquito makes? Yeah, that. Well, last night I was peacefully slumbering (despite my seriously cranky attitude thanks to all the election stuff which we're just not going to talk about) on the couch and I awoke to said sound. I batted myself hoping that I'd killed whatever it was that had gotten a little too close for comfort. In a way the buzzer helped me out - it encouraged me to head into the bed room for a proper night's sleep. This all happened around 9:30 last night.

Around 4:00 this morning, I was sleeping peacefully in our bed and the evil buzzing came to shake me from slumber again. I batted and thrashed (waking Mark of course) and tried to kill the evil thing, but it was to no avail. In no time at all, the probable blood sucker (for I still had not seen it) came back for another fly-by and then proceded to torment poor Mark as well. After several batting attempts, we finally decided we'd go camping (i.e., we pulled the covers over our heads)...not that it mattered. The stupid little bugger continued on its quest for sustenance.

I finally was fed up with the whole ritual and got up to go to the bathroom (for like the 5th time last night...ay carumba) and drink some more water (because we wouldn't want to miss out on trip 6) and eat some food because I was, frankly, starving myself. Maybe the blood sucker was pregnant? Anyhow, I finally came back to bed and discovered that in my absence, Mark had arose and turned on lights in the hallway and the guest room to try to trick the skeeter out of our room. We didn't have a stupid skeeter...it didn't fall for it. We continued to be buzzed right up until the time that the alarm went off.

To say that I was miffed would be an understatement. For the past two nights before, I had not gotten a goodnight's sleep (the millions of trips to the bathroom are surprisingly not the problem - it's the hunger to some extent, but primarily just weird dreams...like about shaving or about telling friends whom I'm not very close to anymore that I'm kind of glad they're gone because they weren't terribly healthy for me anyhow...yeah, weird stuff like that). So, I was already sleep deprived and this little jerk was compounding my problem. I had told said jerk that it was in BIG trouble when I got up in the morning (now that I'm a bit more coherent it occurs to me that I should have just turned on the lights and found him when he was bugging us, but whatever).

Anyhow, to get to the point, I was on my way into the shower this morning when I noticed a speck on the wall over by my side of the bed. It turned out to be one VERY LARGE mosquito. I mean seriously...it was HUGE!! Now, before I continue on I would just like to say that this is one of those things that really bugs me about California. Are there mosquitos in Colorado right now? Um, no....not even remotely likely, but here we are in the beginning of November (November!!) and there is a big mamoth mosquito tormenting us - does this seem just a wee bit messed up to anyone else or is it just me?

At any rate, I popped that little bugger a good one and was pretty grossed out by the result - seriously. I had blood on my hand and all over the wall. It was uber disgusting! But, I vanquished the little tormenting jerk and hopefully tonight I'll manage to get a good night's sleep...woe be to any other creature that intrudes upon my slumber! :)

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Not Much to Speak Of...

Nevertheless I'm going to do a quick little post (yeah, sure....little) anyhow with just a few highlights.

First of all, the spaghetti episode seemed to go reasonably well. I did indeed have a bit of a reaction which is still sort of hanging on today; however, it has been pretty mild and tolerable...and therefore worth it because I'm over the spaghetti craving. I did buy stuff to make lasagna. I may make it and freeze it in case another one of these "must have real Italian food" episodes comes to haunt me.

Next up - I rode BART (rapid transit) to work today and it made going to work a much better experience. It was nice to be able to relax and just read a book. I contemplated sleeping a bit, but I fall asleep so easily lately (though I seem to not sleep terribly well despite this fact!) that I decided it would probably be a bad idea since I have transfers to make and such. I also was treated to lunch by my two supervisory people today. We went to the Yacht Club in Walnut Creek and when Mark's parents come next I'm thinking they might like to try it out. Lots of great seafood preparred in so many ways even I had a few choices as far as things to eat. :)

Speaking of Mark's parents, we've heard a rumor that they might pay us a visit either before or after the big family bash at Christmas and New Years. We were happy to hear that was a possibility since we're going to miss the party. We figure that with impending maternity leave and my planning to go down to a reduced schedule, we'll need to save as many pennies as we possibly can over the next few months...

We're thinking we may have some guests, if they'd like to come, over for Thanksgiving as well. Right now, we're kind of leaning toward inviting people from other countries to come join in the festivities. We'll keep you posted on where we actually go with it. We've also sort of decided to table the Christmas party. I am so worn out lately that the thought of adding responsibilities to my schedule isn't terribly appealing and again we're trying to save a little $$. Mark has asked if he could maybe throw a very informal birthday party for me instead (our party usually coincides with my birthday - it's my tricky way of having a party without too much of a hullabaloo) and I told him he's welcome to do so. It might be quite fun to get to sit back and enjoy something someone else has planned!

That is pretty much the extent of what is going on here...no baby pictures or news other than that my clothes seem to be fitting a little snugger this week. Since we're in week twelve (almost done with the first trimester!), I suppose it is to be expected. I've got a nice little wardrobe of clothes to step in to, but I've kind of been trying to really enjoy the last little bit of wearing my "normal" clothes. Once I actually have a baby belly to show off, maybe we'll treat you to a before picture I took a couple of weeks ago...I'm not sure most people could tell the difference if I took one at the moment. I think I just look like I have been overeating a bit! I assure you've that's not the case. I'm actually right on track as far as weight gain goes...

So here's to a great week for all of us! Time is just flying by....

It's Going...

Well, my first week at work was okay. I have to say that I like where I work, but I hate the commute and I'm pretty sure I was right about my tolerance for accounting being pretty much used up. C'est la vie...work I must so that I can provide for my family. I can't wait until Mark can take over.

Speaking of Mark, I may have already told you, but it bears repeating - he passed his second set of chiropractic board exams. Yea! Only two more sets to go until he's all done - he'll have Part III in March and Part IV in May. If all goes well, he'll be finished up by the end of December at which time we're still pretty sure we'll return to Colorado Springs...but things can always change. I sure hope they don't, though...I miss home.

As for other "stuff" to chat about, I made crackers today. They turned out pretty well and will allow me to enjoy some goodies I got today without having to resort to allergy foods. I do want to try one more recipe before I pronounce these "the ones," though. :) Also, I've broken a vow...I'm sorry and I won't make the mistake of making it again. Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti...with marinara sauce. I know, I know...I said I wouldn't give into allergy-food cravings. I'm weak. I admit it. I was hoping things would go a little better...

As luck would have it, they seem to be slightly better - I don't feel the need to toss my cookies...yet. It's an improvement. I do unfortunately have a bit of asthma and a very tingly tongue, though. I really gotta go find out more about those allergy curing techniques I've heard about....

Final bit of news - tonight we wandered around our community and talked to residents about Mark's school and receiving care. We met some great neighbors and a couple of them seem to be great contacts for Mark...our favorite is a guy who is president of a union. If you need some nice affordable chiropractic care, give Mark a call - he's anxious to help as many people as he can!

A Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Or could it simply be an oncoming train like the one that is parked outside of our house? I don't think I've ever mentioned that we are an official train stopping place. Whether it's Amtrak, Union Pacific or some other line, it seems that many trains find the tracks outside of our home quite cozy and, thus, they stop here regularly - at least one per day - and just idle. This is, at times, rather annoying. Today it isn't really bothering me (of course, it has only been there for a few minutes at this point - if it's still there in a half hour the verdict may change), but it did seem to fit with the post title I chose. I suppose I should get onto business, though.

I'm contemplating if maybe, just maybe, I'm breaking on through to the other side of morning sickness. This is the beginning of week 11 pregnancy-wise and I haven't really felt too bad...even the heartburn issue seems to be at least somewhat under control. I'll keep you posted on whether or not we're truly out of the woods.

I have been a lot hungrier (feeling) the past couple of days which is tricky because what I'm wanting can basically be summed up as "anything with sugar." And, yet, I am a savvy preggie princess (just came up with that one this minute - I'm sure someone else has thought of it before but whatever!) and know that gorging oneself on sugary goods during pregnancy serves to make one blow up like a balloon, causes one's baby to crave nutritional sustenance and puts one at risk for gestational diabetes. My answer to all three of these possibilities - a polite "no thank you."

So, I am doing my very best to steer myself toward "healthier" goodies like dried apples that we got at Costco that have this ascorbic acid stuff on them (since I love sour stuff I wish there was more of it!), popcorn made in the Alton Brown fashion with coconut oil and butter which is just heavenly, apples (I just discovered today that despite my protests to Mark last night about how I really could just do without apples in general that he was right - I do still like Granny Smiths...even without caramel dip), fruit juice and string cheese. So, I'm doing okay, if not perfectly, I guess...

In other news, we are having a Christmas party again this year. The invite list is going to be huge this time around because we're planning more of an Open House style party. Since I'm in charge of parties around here, I decided that this format would be a bit easier on me. I have some great goodies in store for our guests - all of which I am not allergic to because, well, there's no sense taunting me with food that I can't have anymore than I am by just turning on the TV or walking down the street (I hate that KFC is all over the news today - I could soooo go for a crispy strip with or without the transfats! This is actually pretty amazing because the thought of eating chicken as of late has been rather unpleasant...that and lettuce are definitely on my "I'd rather not eat it" list). Back to the party food, most of the items can be made in advance making things even less stressful and time consuming.

As for activities, I'm contemplating giving attendees the opportunity of a lifetime. You'll totally think I'm being Tom Sawyer here (well, maybe not if you know me well enough), but I'm actually contemplating letting them help decorate our Christmas tree. What on earth is so special about this? Well, let's just put it this way - last year I made myself (yes, made myself) let Mark help me with decorating the Christmas tree...and I made myself not move every ornament that he hung afterward (I'll admit...I did move a few). That sounds bad, I know, but I am *psycho* about decorating my Christmas tree. There is a right way and a wrong way to decorate and, naturally my very systematic and neurotic method is the right one. ;) I think it was good of me to take that leap last year...I'll admit that it did make the tree feel more like "our" tree and less like "my" tree...even if most of the ornaments are still mine. Speaking of ornaments, let me just say my mom rocks and bought each of her children at least one ornament every year of our lives so that by the time we moved out we would have enough to decorate a tree - I plan to carry on this tradition with the sweet pea! :)

So anyhow, that's kind of what's been happening in our little abode...just a couple more days until I start my new job. That should provide some interesting blogging material. I hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Week 10 Pictures

So, apparently, the pictures are willing to load now after a quick break from the Blogger site. Yea! I must work on my patience...

Anyhow, here is your first view of yesterday's photo session. The little pea looks a bit more like a peanut in this picture, doesn't he/she? You can see a little wave on top there and his/her head is on the left and bum is on the right. What a cutie, huh? Well, okay, I'm a bit partial.




And here is the totally cute second shot. You can catch a glimpse of a little footsie there on the left and you can see (can't you?) that the little one has rolled over onto his/her tummy. This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever...it's just so totally adorable. Again, I'm a bit partial and a little more than silly over our little one!

This is the shot where the doctor to the "crown to rump" measurement. As you can maybe see if you squint, the little sprout is 37mm in length now...almost two whole inches across which equates to 10 weeks and 4 days...which is right one with our little counter to the left that said yesterday - you guessed it! 10 weeks and 4 days. So, I think even though the doctor finally gave me my due date yesterday and it was a day later, I'm sticking with the one I originally calculated since we're right on the money and since these things are rarely right on the money anyhow! :)

I guess that is about it for this short post....as it should be since I blogged your eyes off earlier. Have a fabulous rest of your weekend!

Miscellaneous Topics of Interest - A Very Long Post!

So, I didn't get around to posting about the true after-effects of the doughnuts the other day. Let's just say that it wasn't so much of a victory. They made me pretty sick after all...I just can't win for losing, can I?

My theory is that the oil temperature on the recipe was a bit low and so instead of just frying in the oil, the lovely little doughnuts became saturated with the stuff. It was two days of pure unpleasantness as my stomach just didn't seem to want to give up on making me feel just wretched. In the end, I actually threw the whole batch in the trash, but that wasn't before I tried to wick some of the oil out of the little buggers...after I'd went through about 3 rounds of sopping paper towels, I decided it was a lost cause. C'est la vie.

I'm tempted to try this doughnut experiment again (with an oil temperature of about 25 degrees higher or so), but I have to admit I'm a wee bit scared about that! But, we can't let the doughnuts win, can we? If they work out maybe I'll feature some little donut puffs at our Christmas party this year...which I think we're going to have but I really need to work on plotting it out if so! :) I'm guessing that will be a task for today.

In other bittersweet news, Mark's grandmother has passed away. It happened a few days ago. We're sad that she won't be able to meet her great grandchild in person, but we know she will be here watching over all of us. She is already greatly missed - she was a very special lady who had a fabulous life. :)

For today, besides contemplating the Christmas party, other tasks will include looking through the book of Hawaiian names that Mark wants me to check out. I figure since he's pretty much told me that I can choose our little one's name (I do plan on bringing him into the process so that I'm not making a unilateral decision - I don't feel that's exactly right!) the least I can do is consider the names in Hawaiian that I like to add to the list of names that have been pulled out of a couple of online baby name sites. I have about 9 each of male and female names at this point which I really like. Mark thought most of them were good as well so we have a start.

As for using a Hawaiian name (probably as the middle name of our little one), I'm not sure I'm excited about it. There are sooo many names that have special meaning to me, but other than one particular Hawaiian name (okay two if you count Mark's middle name, but for the most part we've decided we're not going to name our children after ourselves), none of them really have special meaning for me so far. I also just have an issue with picking names that will be misprounounced, mispelled or butchered and since I can't pronounce most of the names, I have to admit I'm a bit worried! With a name like MeLissa, you can probably guess why...it's abnormal and pretty much everyone I come in contact with has to be gently told that the L is not a mis-spelling. Then we have to go through the whole "so how do you pronounce that?" game. Is is Me - Lissa, Melissa, Ma Lisa, what? I love my name, but the drama that comes with it is sometimes frustrating so I'm kind of trying to shield our little one. :) We'll see what transpires as I make my way through the book...

A related name game consideration at this time is whether or not we should be only considering names which start with an 'M.' Surprisingly, there are quite a few people who seem to think this is the way to go. I can understand the concept, but well, I'm not sold on it. That is not to say that there are no 'M' names in the lists of boys and girls names I'm considering. I have 3 girl's and 1 boy's name that do begin with the fabulous letter. But I'm not a fan of limiting myself and there are a ton of non-M names that I love. Besides that, I remember how silly I thought it was that one of the families I grew up with had everyone in their family with the same first letter in their name....and I don't want to have to roll my eyes at myself. ;) I'm sure we'll figure it all out in the end...

And, now for the part everybody really wants to read and see...the update about our latest visit to the doctor. Naturally, we have more pictures. :) I'm assuming that just like me you've not grown tired of seeing how much the little guy/gal is changing in even a short amount of time. If you are tired of it, please just keep that little fact to yourself! You'll get a bit of a break, I think, for a couple of weeks since our next appointment with the doctor isn't for another four weeks. In two weeks, I get to go get a nuchal translucency scan and a first trimester blood test (which, thankfully, involves a finger prick - yea!). These two tests are used to detect Down syndrome. They tell by measuring the fetus's neck length at week twelve and then checking the blood for certain qualities. It's pretty cool in general.

Speaking of screenings, we're probably not going to pre-screen for aniridia (the eye condition Mark has). A year or so ago, we did discuss the possibility with the genetic counselling department at Stanford. We also discussed the possibility of actually having eggs and sperm combined by the geneticists to ensure that our baby wouldn't have the condition (they can detect the gene when as few as 8 cells are present). We ultimately decided against both of these routes and are leaving matters in God's hands. If our child is born with aniridia, we will ensure that they have the best medical care possible and that they grow up in an environment where they learn that they can accomplish whatever it is they set their mind to. I figure that just having Mark as their daddy will make that pretty clear!

So, aside from all this screen stuff, we watched the little baby on the ultrasound. As you see from the pictures I've posted, he/she is looking more and more like a little human every day. The doctor said he/she looked like a little monkey yesterday - rightly so. He/she (have I mentioned lately that I'm anxious to know where we have a he or she coming so I can stop writing both genders?) was squirming and rolling around the whole time - it was pretty cute. The doctor did actually try to get a glimpse at the baby's sex, but it was still a bit too early to tell and our little sweet pea apparently also got mommy's modesty and just wasn't letting anybody have a look. ;)

Well, as usual, I can't seem to get the pictures to upload - curse you Blogger. I'll try again later....

Victory!!!!

Woo Hoo! I have conquered one of the "issues" that surrounds my pregnancy and allergies. Homer Simpson would be proud and a craving has been foiled without resorting to making myself ill!

I have made doughnuts!!! They're technically more like beignets which I am totally mispelling, but without eggs and without wheat (for those who aren't aware cuz I've had a couple of people ask this recently, regular all-purpose white flour is made of wheat). The only thing I didn't accomplish is making them good for you, but well...you can't everything!

So anyhow, this is today's major accomplishment and after having secured victory and nibbled on a few of the spoils, I'm exhausted and heading off for a nap with my little kitty, Pixie, who probably thinks I've lost my mind given the extreme display of happiness that I participated in after tasting my first doughnut and finding that it was very good! :)

An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

Well, after giving everything a good amount of thought and after giving the larger firm I was interviewing with the opportunity to make me an offer, the offer from S&s ended up being the offer I couldn't refuse. I now am slated to start working in their office on November 1. How exciting!

Even better news is I did breech the pregnancy info with them and they are already coming up with viable alternatives so that I can still support us and be at home most of the week with our little one. What will probably happen after the sweet pea is born is that I'll work 3 days per week and have 4 days off total. This makes me feel sooo much better. I was just really upset the past few weeks over not being able to be a stay at home mom. It seriously was tearing me up. Although this is not the perfect situation, it is so much better than the alternative of working 5 days per week and having someone else raise our child. So, with that and all the other wonderful things that come with this firm, I am very pleased with my decision and they are also tickled pink that I'm coming aboard. :)

In other news, please keep Mark's grandmother in your prayers. She's currently in the hospital and not doing the best. She's lived a wonderful life and is tired, but we'd love for her to be here as long as possible. She is truly a special lady.

Finally, to end on a more upbeat note, I suppose I should tell you that our little soiree on Saturday night went beautifully. Mark even received a couple of offers for assistance as far as finding someone to work with once he graduates in Colorado Springs. We are thrilled about this. My dress earned me a few compliments and we made quite a handsome couple.

Shop Till You Drop...

Today was a pretty decent day. We attended a few lectures at Mark's school for their spa days first. With the exception of one recent graduate who is a complete idiot when it comes to accounting and taxes who basically insulted my profession (never guessing, of course, that there was a CPA in the room) by saying that all CPAs who do not have a degree in Tax Law - which frankly most CPAs do not...though we may have a Masters in Taxation are equivalent to H&R Block employees. I was furious to say the least...and had to do everything in my power to not go all postal on him and punch him after the session. I guess I'll just wait until he gets acosted by the IRS for some of the shady things he was suggesting the students do. Then we made our little trip down to San Jose for some shopping (as promised) at Japanese Weekend Maternity.

As I suspected, it was hard to not go a bit crazy in this store! When all was said and done, I left with 2 pairs of pants (both suitable for working), a cute brown (oh my goodness...yet another brown article of clothing in my closet - what is this world coming to? I'm sure my mother would like to know since I wouldn't wear it for years!) lace top with a cami, 2 awesome long skirts that double as strapless dresses. Since these two pieces are reversible, I actually ended up with 8 articles of clothing by buying two...not bad, eh? I also bought one other very lovely red top that will be awesome once I'm breast feeding because it has secret little breast feeding flaps...very very cool all in all. I won't tell you how much I spent, but it was much more than I spent at the Motherhood store the other day...and so terribly worth it! And, as with the Motherhood clothing items - most of what I purchased does not look like maternity wear so I shouldn't have to desert these adorable things once I'm back to my "normal" figure...

In other news, I was innundated with recruiter calls today. Sheesh...these guys really want their commissions. I don't blame them...we all like to get paid. I told the one who's working with the larger firm that I interviewed with yesterday that if they want to ensure that I go with them, give me a salary in the range I've specified and let me telecommute 3 days per week once the baby arrives. I hope they go for it. If so, I will give the other smaller firm the opportunity to match the telecommuting part of the offer and any other disparate features. They may not be able to, but since I really like them I feel it's the right thing to do. If I have to go back with a counter offer, I will be sure to tell them about my impending pregnancy to explain why it is that telecommuting is of utmost importance. If the larger firm doesn't go for the telecommuting, I think I may just go with the smaller firm because I am a little more familiar with their personnel... I may also ask to meet more of the people I'll be working with at the larger. We'll see what course I want to take once I get the second offer.

This weekend we're going to take things a little easy. I'm still having a bit of spotting and we want to make sure I don't overdo it - even thought the doctor said everything was okay, it seems that being cautious isn't a bad thing! So, rather than go to the expo tomorrow as planned, we're going to hang out here and then tomorrow night we'll go to our little dinner dance thing for the school. I'm going to wear one of the dresses I bought today - I can't wait to show them off. :) I still need to pick an outfit out for Mark. We may be a bit underdressed, but I think everyone will understand...and if they don't we'll just tell them that Mark picked out what we were going to wear! ;)

A Bit of a Scare...But All's Well That Ends Well

We had a bit of a scare this afternoon, but not to worry. I had some spotting and a few little mild cramps and so I called my mom (since I couldn't get a hold of Mark) who suggested, wisely, that I should give my doctor a call. I did so and was told I should make my way over to their office. Since it was almost closing time, I was a wee bit scared to say the least!

On the way, I stopped by the school to pick up Mark since I defintiely didn't want to go through something like this by myself. I think he has a lot of classmates that are going to be dying to get details tomorrow since I looked a bit panicked and even let out a few tears at one point.

Once the doctor was able to get in and do an ultrasound we were able to see that all was well. The little one's heart was a beating and he/she was even waving a little bit...especially when I chuckled because his/her little hand was so cute. :) Our cutie pie is still growing strong, too - today he/she is 28mm which equates to a bit over an inch long. The coolest part of the visit, though, is we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat. It was pretty cool sounding and very special since daddy Mark could actually enjoy one of the parts of our visit! :)

And, of course, we have more pictures because, well, we just love sharing pictures even if a lot of our faithful readers can't figure out what they're looking at.

So here's picture number one. In this one you can see a little wave toward the top of the little baby blob. Cute isn't it? :)


Here's picture number 2 which also kind of shows off the a little arm or two. As you can maybe see, we're looking more and more human all the time!

So, yes...all's well that ends well! Baby and mommy are doing just fine. Baby's little home just happens to be right near mommy's cervix which is probably why there was a wee bit of bleeding. We may have a little more due to its placement but they're keeping a good watch on me. Our next visit is on the 27th of October...

In other news, I had a fabulous interview with the other accounting firm today. I should be receiving an offer from them soon, too. I'm kind of excited about maybe working the offer with this one so that I can telecommute several days out of the week which would allow me to work but also stay home with the little lovie that is on the way. I'll wait to see what they offer originally and then see if we can add it to a counter-offer. I'll keep you all updated!

Shopping

After putting on an outfit for my interview Tuesday and noticing that the pants fit perfectly at my waist (which they never should - one of the tricks of this tall woman is to buy pants that are a size too big so that I can push them down further on my hips to give me length without having to redo the hem!) and that my jacket was a wee bit tight, I decided to be proactive. Rather than wait until the last minute when I woke up and nothing in my closet fit, I decided to buy a few things to wear once I have that little baby bump look going on.

Today's shopping trip was pretty fun, frustrating at times (but then, when you're picky about what you'll wear and you're trying to keep from just screaming "I'm pregnant!" to the world with your outfits, it's bound to happen), but overall very satisfying. Since I didn't feel like driving to San Jose today, this was not so much of a splurge shopping trip. That we'll probably be having on Friday...when Mark will have the pleasure of accompanying me to Japanese Weekend's store on Santana Row. I figure every mom-to-be deserves to indulge a little and since I received a job offer yesterday (haven't decided to accept or decline yet, but I'll probably accept) I have double the reason to buy myself a couple of nice things, right? Maybe I even have triple the reason since I noticed they're having a sale right now! :o)

So, today's trip was to Motherhood Maternity at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton. I ended up having great luck - pretty much everything I liked was on sale. There was only one top that was not, but it was so cute that I had to get it. Now you can call me silly, but I was really looking for some cute clothes that would possibly make it as "normal" clothes as well. I have no issues with wearing maternity clothes if they don't scream "pregnant woman coming through!" and most of what I found counts, I think...though, post pregnancy one or two of them will need a little tweaking perhaps. We'll see if I still want them in my closet since my selection of clothing is going to probably be somewhat limited over the next few months.

At any rate, I ended up with 4 tops and 2 skirts. I didn't have any luck with slacks, but since when I was having hormonal issues a couple of years ago I purchased a few pairs of jersey maternity pants from Target (which I'm always getting compliments on...he he!) I'm not totally sunk in that area. I figure I'll see if I can find some at the JW store or at the expo I'm going to on Saturday where they're supposed to have a bunch of gently used clothes from places like the Gap, JW, etc.

In other job news, I have a second interview with the other, larger accounting firm today. I will see if they have anything that excites me greatly. So far, I've felt pretty lukewarm, but maybe since I'll be meeting some actual tax people rather than HR people, things will improve. This will probably be the deciding factor as far as whether I take the aforementioned job offer or not. I'll keep you posted, of course...

When Medications Make You Worse...

So, some good news and some bad news today...we'll start with the bad, of course! The doctor gave me that Rx for prevacid this past visit to help with heartburn issues, right? (As an aside, I haven't had heartburn for soooo long since I stopped eating all my allergy foods and it has been so pleasant!) Well, unfortunately, said medication comes with some side effects and yours truly, having the sensitive constitution that I have, is experiencing some of them - or was. The added nausea and "other" symptoms were so awful that I stopped taking it. I figured I'd clear it out of the old system and then start taking it every other day. Apparently, everything was cleared out yesterday...misery is back. So, today I took another dose of the meds and hopefully I'll be able to experience some relief.

Onto the good news - it's a two-parter since I just received an email that confirmed a "suspicion" I was having. So, the first is that I have a follow-up interview this afternoon with S&S (the firm I'm all into) to meet one of their managers and one of my peers. I'll also be spending a wee bit of time with one of the partners before I head out the door. The possibility that an offer will be tendered today is there...so maybe I'll have even better news than before. I'm really looking forward to this interview.

The second piece of good news is the other larger accounting firm I was interviewing with also let me know this morning (after I finally got a thank you note out to them - I was interviewed last Friday so it is within reasonable time limits, but I usually like to send them right away...just wasn't feeling so hot Friday due to the whole prevacide situation) that they want to do a second interview as well. This interview will be in their Walnut Creek office as well so it looks like I will be working in Walnut Creek regardless of where I plan to go. At least location is removed as one of the deciding factors! I don't mind too terribly...I really like Walnut Creek. If we could have lived in that area, I would have been thrilled, but it would have been such a pain for Mark and school. Hayward isn't that bad in all honesty, but Walnut Creek has more of the same feel as Colorado and we always like the familiar right?

November 1

May be the beginning of a beautiful partnership. I had a fabulous interview today with S&S and am pretty sure they will be the lucky employer that gets to make use of my talents. They are very generous with compensation and understand that I'm going to need a little time to get up to speed. As an added bonus, their least busy time (as is the case in most CPA firms) is from mid-May to the beginning of August which is very important given that a certain little someone is planning to arrive in late May.

I do have another interview tomorrow with a larger firm and will be hearing very soon about interviewing with the other corporation that I just had the phone interview with yesterday. This firm has set the bar high with their benefits of employment so these other two are going to have to really wow me to lure me away. Here's what this particular firm has to offer:

• a small, close-knit environment...just the kind of firm I've always felt most comfortable in
• generous compensation in the form of a standard salary, paid out tax season overtime, as well as a discretionary tax season bonus
• the ability to bank up to 80 hours of tax season overtime as added vacation
• 17 paid days off (for sick leave or vacation) after 6 months of employment
• the usual holidays (minus things like MLK Jr. day & President's Day) plus an extra day off to recover the day after tax season concludes
• Semi-flexible work hours (be in by 9 a.m. and they're happy campers)
• casual Fridays (including jeans!)
• Paid medical, dental and vision for me...Mark is a bit extra
• Oh, and did I mention I'd have an office with a door again because I got the sense that that is a possibility. Woo hoo!

So anyhow, there are lots of benefits to this firm and the two partners and I hit it off very well. They've indicated that they'll get back to me next week through the recruiter I'm dealing with and I would be shocked if an offer wasn't coming my way that is quite difficult to refuse. :)

I'll keep you all posted....

What a Lucky Duck!

They're going to ban us from Chamber of Commerce meetings. It's true.

The reason? Mark is too lucky! For those not familiar with his history, Mark has always been a lucky guy. My first experience with it was on our first trip to Las Vegas (which wasn't terribly lucky for me, but we'll just not go there) where Mark won $1,195 playing a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. Very cool. Since then, he's stayed true to form bringing me fun little moments of wonder!

At our first Chamber meeting which happened last month, Mark won me a little Bank of the West bear. I was thrilled! For those of you not familiar with our guest room, let me just let it be known that I have a slight "addiction" to stuffed animals. I had seen these cute little bears when we walked into the bank where that mixer was held and thought "oh I want one!" What a good hubby to bring one home, huh?

Well, tonight at this month's mixer which was fun as well, I had a look at the door prizes available just for kicks. I like looking at stuff because I am always looking for ideas for gifts we might need to get for others. There was only one basket that seemed of interest to me...it had a few movies and a bottle of wine in it. Wouldn't you know that when the basket came up to be won, Mark's business card was drawn again! Very very cool! So, we have a nice collection of movies to watch which is great since we are spending rather calm nights lately.

Now as far as this recent string of luck goes, Mark thinks maybe the little baby started it all. :)Sounds good to me!

Persistence

If nothing else, I am definitely persistent and it appears to have paid off. Here's a picture of the pea, the sprout or whatever you'd like to call it from yesterday's ultrasound. Since he/she is a bit bigger now (and since this picture has some good magnification going on), I'll try to direct you a bit better as far as where to look and what you're looking at.

So, in the middle of the picture you see this dark half circle thingie...right about it is the baby kind of looking like a little blob. His/her (man, I can't wait until we find out whether we're having a boy or a girl so I can use one pronoun!) little head is on the left side (look for the plus sign like I mentioned in the last post) and the little bum is on the left side. Use your imagination and you can kind of see that we do have a rather human-looking being here now. :) Still just not getting it? Well, there will be other ultrasounds....and as we go along here our little one will look more and more like a little baby and sooner or later, I have faith, you'll be able to make out all the major features. :)

Now finally, in case you're not up on your metric measurements (as I'm not), I have pulled out my handy dandy ruler that has both inches and centimeters so I can tell you that 2 weeks ago the baby was a bit shy of 1/4 inch in size...about the size of a little pea hence the nickname. :) Now it's just shy of about 3/4 of an inch (which is pretty impressive if you think about it!) or about the size, let's say, of a rather plump raspberry. I'm not sure I mentioned in my post yesterday that this is great news that we have a healthy little grower like this. It means it's about 90% sure that the pregnancy is viable. The only hurdle left is making it past trimester 1...which is only one month away (thank goodness - this morning, noon and night sickness is killer!).

Still Growing!

We had our follow-up appointment with the OB today for the sweet pea. We're happy to report that s/he is doing well and growing! And, we're happy to share the latest photo of the little tyke! Yeah, it's still hard to see anything (especially since blogger, wretched blogger, isn't letting me upload anything - WAH!!!), I know. Sorry. But, there is now a head and bum...the head is to the left (marked by the plus sign on the life) and the bum is on the right (marked by the other plus sign). As far as the actual increase in size - in a mere two weeks our little one has grown from 6 mm to 19mm! The doctor was quite pleased about this!

Other things we learned at the appointment are that we can travel up until February 1...then we're cut off and need to stay around here. That's pretty exciting since it means we can go home for Christmas. I also am free to travel to the seminar that is in Colorado in the middle of November, but because going home at Christmas time is more important to me, I think I may forego this jaunt to bargain for another couple of days during the holidays. Depending on where I am working, it won't be a big deal.

We also found out some things that should help with some of the unpleasantries of pregnancy that I've been experiencing. I'll spare you the details beyond that. We've also been given the go ahead to do up to 30 minutes of whatever kind of exercise I want to...which means I am going to start working on being a lean, mean, baby carrying machine! ;)

Other than that, on the job search front, I have three interviews this week. Two are with CPA firms and one is with a company that offers telecommuting for its employees (I would love this job since it would mean I could probably work my schedule so I could be home for most days after the baby arrives). I'm still waiting to hear back regarding Mervyn's to whom I'm being presented by another recruiter. I also have a few other companies out there that I've been introduced to and haven't heard back on. All in all, the hunt seems to be going well.

As for the wedding business, it is in a bit of a lull. I have a difficult time putting energy into things that I can't really do much with (don't we all?). I have a few clients I need to follow up with, but to be honest, I've kind of been slacking on this. I guess now that I have what I've been wanting for quite some time (a baby in the belly!), my need for excitement has waned a bit. Who knows. At least in a few short months I will have the pleasure of assuming the most important role (in my not so humble opinion) any woman can assume...that of mother!

On a final note, Mark has renamed the pea to the sprout. I'm sticking with pea for now...I like it. :)

Pixie's Ponderings...

Pixie here....

MeLissa, my loyal typing, food and most importantly, pet slave has, thanks to Meankitty's typing slave, realized that *I* am who this family revolves around and that you all are seriously feeling deprived and depressed about not having an update about or from me for months! The shame of it all. Let's hope she behaves better in the future...if not, maybe I'll just have to find out how one makes morning sickness, whatever that is, last for 9 months (perhaps Meankitty knows...).

So enough about all this...let's talk about me shall we? I have been having a fabulous year, my friends. It's been several months since the demon (aka Banshee) vacated the premises. I finally have mom and dad all to myself again...and mom's even been home a lot for the past few months so I've been getting pet and tended to throughout the day. I'm finally being treated like royalty. Life is perfect.

I have heard, though, talk of a couple of things which I'm not terribly thrilled about. Until they actually happen, I'll assume it's all talk. First, there has been talk of a DOG joining our household at some point. Hello?! What are you thinking? A Dog? Ewww. Should this happen, I refuse to come out from under the couch until said ruffian is banished to the garage or sent away...

And, then my humans have been all happy and buzzing about some other thing they say is coming to live with us. It's referred to as "the baby, the pea, the sweet pea" and other stupid names. I don't like the sound of it. MeLissa keeps making stupid comments about how she's always wanted to be the pregnant lady with a cat on her lap and keeps making comments to me about how I better enjoy all the room I have there to roll around in ecstacy while she pets me because it won't be there forever. She's crazy. That's my assessment. She doesn't strike me as the kind to go on an eating binge...especially since recently she doesn't seem to want to eat much of anything and when she does she whines about how her tummy is feeling. She probably just needs some catnip or some tuna. That seems to fix everything for me.

Speaking of tuna, I have been introduced to its yummy goodness by Mark, but after introducing me to this stuff, he's been quite a pill. I implore him to give me my share and what do I get in return? Water droplets. Sorry dude...I don't get the connection. Just give me the tuna and I'll stop whining. Which reminds me...it's sure been a long time since we've had tuna (MeLissa's note - because it stinks!!! I can't handle it!)...

I have other tales to tell, but this post is getting lengthy and, frankly, I don't wish to relive the experience I had the other evening. Let's just say I was tortured because I was scooting my bum across the floor. It's not myyyy fault that certain glands of mine don't work as they should. They seem to work fine now, though...thanks Mark for fixing my "issue" - you kitty molester you.

Hope everyone is doing well...I think I'll go make MeLissa pet me again. Or perhaps we'll play some more ball. We've had a grand day today while the Enforcer (Mark) has been away.

Update...

In terms of an update, first things first. I will be ignoring all future cravings that involve allergy foods. The chili tasted great but it was quite evil. C'est la vie!

As for the job search, things are coming along. I have an interview next week with a CPA firm in Walnut Creek and there are a couple of other interviews also possible. I'll keep you all posted on how things are going.

Other than that, we've been busy this week with various things. Mark is learning how to use the internet and seems to be enjoying his first week of the new quarter. I've met with a few different wedding-related vendors (despite the fact that I am not sure where I plan to go with my business now that we have a little one on the way). I'll probably keep things pretty low key until January when I have one final bridal show. I am thinking I will basically just start being very selective about who I "hire" as my clients. With a full-time job I will be able to serve as many or as few clients as I want. I do really like that aspect of returning to corporate life.

Not too much else is going on so this will be a very short post today. We will be going for our first official OB appointment on Monday so hopefully we'll have some new news to share about our little pea (who is probably closer to the size of a raspberry by now) and how he/she is doing.

My First Craving...

Which is, of course, something I shouldn't be eating has taken over my body. I MUST HAVE CHILI. Must, must, must!!! And lest I forget...said chili must be accompanied by real fritos (corn tortilla chips just aren't going to do it tonight my friends!) and by cheese...and lots of it.

Now what is the likelihood that the very first food that I absolutely *had* to have (to the point that I was actually considering how yummy eggs and chili would be if combine and hamburgers and french fries...oh yeah, I have it bad) is something that has oh, about 4 or 5 allergy foods in it? Chili powder, garlic, onions (these last three are coming purely from the chili powder...I didn't add any additional garlic and onions trying to at least behave a little) and, of course, tomatoes in two forms (tomato sauce and diced canned tomatoes).

Well, at least I'm approaching it from a semi-smart stance. As I mentioned, I removed all the extra onion and what not. I also diluted the tomato sauce (what good that will do who knows...but it sounded like a good idea at the time). But the really smart moves I made? I took a Claritin and I took a dose of my preventative asthma medicine (advair) because otherwise I will be basically in big trouble. I may be anyhow.

Note to Sweet Pea: Try to make future cravings things your mommy isn't allergic to...because breathing is good and when mommy can't breathe, you can't breathe!

Note to Chili: Please go easy on us, will ya? I mean, come on, I'm pregnant here....do you actually expect me to say no to one of my favorite foods when I crave it and I'm pregnant? Please! ;)

In other non-pregnancy news, I have two mini-interviews tomorrow with recruiters. I know one of them from a prior job search - he's a goodie. The other is a new one but seems like a nice guy. I'll be treking into the city and I might just make a little stop by good ol' PG&E to say howdy. If you're a PG&E-er and want a visit, put your request in prior to noon and I might just grant your wish! ;)

Happy October and The Pea's First Blessing...

We went to church today - the first time since we learned our little pea was with us. It's possible that the pea was with us on other church outings, but this was his/her introduction day and the first day she/he received a little blessing. Oh how it warmed my little heart!

We announced our "news" during the thanksgiving portion of the ceremony. I let Mark do the talking. Everyone was, of course, thrilled to hear (we even were applauded!). Then during communion, I went up for my typical blessing (since I'm allergic to wheat, communion bread or wafers are kind of off limits) and the priest made sure to extend the little blessing to the pea...very sweet and very worth remembering (hence, it's in the record now!).

Other than that, today is a rather nondescript day so far....the day is young!

Preggie Pops

I now have them within my possession. They're not bad. They actually even fit into my allergy profile (which is amazing in and of itself). As far as their ability to quell morning sickness (which, by the way, has calmed down ever so slightly), I'm not sure how effective they'll be. They do pretty well at meeting their claims of curing dry mouth...they definitely make you salivate. They're quite tasty, too (based soley on the one I've eaten which was actually a lemon flavored "Preggie Drop").

Now I do have to relay one concern should anyone else who's expecting decide to try these little goodies. My concern - one of the Preggie Pops is peppermint flavor and includes some amount of peppermint essential oil (all the flavorings seem to be essential oils...perhaps the reason they may calm the tummy?). For those who aren't "in the know," peppermint can increase the risk of miscarriage. So, I might just save that pop for post pregnancy (or the delivery room...if you're delivering, it seems like you're probably safe from miscarriage, right?). At any rate, just keep it in mind.

While on our Preggie Pop mission (which was at Babies R Us), we did have a look at some cribs and other implements so we can think about what it is we're going to want for our new little family member. Since there is some possibility that we'll move back to Colorado soon, we want to pick furniture that moves easily. Since we don't have a lot of space in our current living arrangement (the baby's room will probably be a corner in our room so that grandparents and others who want to visit the little one will have a place to stay), we're also looking for smart solutions that will allow us to make good use of our space rather than stub our toes regularly. :)

Other than that, we took a huge load of stuff to Goodwill today. The new little guy/girl is a great motivator to start clearing out some things that we've been on the fence about whether we want to keep or not. I alone got rid of probably 4 bags of clothing....and amazingly, we don't have much under our bed now. Hee hee!

Last little tidbit for today - strawberries. Frozen ones that have been thawed. We bought a big bag last week at Costco and we've (that means primarily me) have eaten almost half the bag. So, you can add frozen strawberries to my list of "can't get enough of them!" foods. On the other hand, bacon is on the "ewww" list. Also on this list is hamburger which hasn't been rinsed. The cow that we bought at the beginning of the summer is pretty lean so we usually just cook it and go from there...that is no longer allowed.

We hope you're all having a great weekend!

Morning, Noon & Night Sickness...

If only this took the place of the temper tantrums, the terrible twos and adolescent attitude...but alas, the challenges of parenting only begin with "morning" sickness which is more of a 24/7 ordeal it seems. At this very moment, I'm in one of the worst waves of the day so forgive me if poor grammar plagues this post.

Yes, I am definitely in full sickies mode...without, knock on wood, the need to pray to any porcelin idols in the bathroom. As is the case for many moms-to-be, I have been given many tips on how to help myself through this time. Because I know a few moms-to-be stop by here, I'll share!

First up - the things I'm plan to try or have tried but haven't yet decided on their effectiveness:

• Frozen red grapes sans skins - Supposedly you just nibble on them like a squirrel. I've had a couple and they're quite tasty, but I don't know about their effectiveness yet. This came from one of the doctors at Mark's school.
• Preggie Pops - a tip from Angela. These are available at Babies R Us and must work given who recommended them. I have nothing to complain about after hearing about Angela's morning sickness - 4 trips to the hospital and 14 lbs. lost - ay carumba!
• Ginger Tea - I tried this back in the "false" pregnancy days. It's vile to me since I'm not a fan of straight ginger, but I'll probably give it another chance anyhow. It can't hurt. This came from the doctor who is responsible for the false pregnancy problems (he's been fired, of course) and so it's lower on my list of options.
• Tortilla Chips - a substitute for saltines suggested by mom. Tried these with the false thing but haven't tried them really since we've been truly pregnant.

Second on the list - Things I Think I'll Pass On:

• Seaweed - Anyone who knows me knows this just isn't going to happen. The smell alone will ruin my record as far as "praying" goes.
• Flat Soda - We don't drink soda very often anyhow. The ginger ale I have been drinking isn't flat, but the bubbles seem to help ever so slightly.
• Saltines - This is always the first recommendation out of every person's mouth...but I'm allergic to wheat so they aren't a good choice. :)

Next Up - Things That Seem to Work for Me

• Ginger ale - I've not decided between cold or warm, but it seems to calm the angry stomach quite well.
• Oatmeal cookies - yep...believe it or not, one cookie has done wonders on several occasions...more than one usually cancels some of the benefit. We're out. I need to make more and plan to do so with a bit less sugar to try to up their healthy quotient.
• Fruit - strawberries and peaches seem to be the favorites right now.
• Eating small meals - this one isn't a food, but it has been very helpful. I eat a little somethihg about every 1 to 2 hours (not much at all!) and it seems to keep things a bit less grumpy...

And now, because it's rather amusing to me, the foods which I normally go gaga over that taste less than stellar:

• chocolate - say it isn't so!!!
• toast with cream cheese - even adding cherry jam made no difference
• dried apricots - vile to the highest degree
• pizza - which is not like the pizza most of you eat, but nonetheless it was a favorite and is not simply tolerated
• green olives - they taste like campho phenique. They are vile. And, they used to be snack food.
• sugar - amazingly anything with too much in it is less than appealing.

Finally, a list of foods I simply can't get enough of:

• cottage cheese - we bought some on Sunday and had to buy more yesterday which is unheard of.
• cucumber - I never grow tired of these - it's too bad they aren't more nutrient filled.
• chicken broth with chicken, rice and peas - of all the combinations, this is a favorite...soothing, soup-like (I miss the days when Campbell's was an option), easy on the tummy and very comforting

I'm sure there will be more revelations such as these as we go along....and now it's time for a nap while I can still take them.

I don't think I've mentioned that I'm probably going to be returning to the corporate world quite soon. The doctor wants me to take it easy and devote more time to things like accounting and what not rather than running all over for weddings and the like. The wedding and event business is still up and running, but it will be sort of "on hold" until probably September of next year. I'm ramping down a bit.

What is funny is Mark and I had decided prior to even going to the doctor or even suspecting that I was "with child" that I would try to rejoin Safeway since he's doing well and we believed it would be good fiscal policy for us. I even called my old boss on Sunday evening...so we'll see what happens, but hopefully they will let me return very soon! If not, I suppose I'll have to find another position that I can assume that will be low stress...but hopefully, everything will work out with this.

We're Expecting!!

We just received some terrific and exciting news today! It was a big (or maybe we should say little) surprise to us. Yeah, I had missed my monthly, but since I'd also made some changes to my medications, I figured that and the tiredness were all due to that. How wrong we were!

Here's our cute little sweetpea. I had the pleasure of seeing its little heartbeat flutter yesterday...it truly is the cutest little pea I've ever seen. Look in between the pluses to see the little tyke!

The doctor estimates we're about 6 1/2 weeks along and using that little (and rather inaccurate calculator thingie), our due date is approximately May 21, 2007. We look forward to bringing you many more updates as our little pea grows into a nice healthy little boy or girl!

It's Been a While, Hasn't It?

Wow - it's been more than 2 weeks since I've provided an update! Does that tell you how busy we've been here in the Rocco household?

At any rate, let's see if I can bring you back up to speed on all that's transpired over the past couple of weeks (the good stuff, of course!). But before I do, I think I owe you a few things like pictures. But, of course, the photo feature on blogger is giving me grief again so we'll resort to the easier to upload quickly (and so you'll get more pictures in the end anyhow!). Go here for pictures of my new hair do which are included in wedding pictures from Jackie and Jason's day, pictures of my lemons of which I am terribly proud (and they're way bigger than in that picture, a picture of Mark at his clinic entrance ceremony and pictures of my recent booths. Unfortunately, you don't get to see the final rose booth yet because I spaced bringing my camera with me to the show, but hopefully one of the people who took some for me will come through....

So - onto the recap. We left you with details that we were going to have a party for Mark after all. It was a fun time! I made a yummy (yes, I did eat a piece - and I paid for it for days!) spice cake with maple frosting. YUM. For such short notice we had a pretty decent turn out and everyone was so sweet and brought Mark a little card or gift. Very thoughtful indeed. This all happened on Friday night (Sept. 8).

Now earlier that day, I had a pretty thrilling experience (in the good kind of thrilling way). I now have a way to get flowers at wholesale for my clients. If you looked at the pictures from my shows, you've seen some of my work. That's about as good as it gets folks. I can do simple arrangements.

At any rate, earlier that day, I bought about 200 roses (which was thrilling in and of itself!). Unfortunately, as we well know, every rose has thorns (or at least they do when you buy them wholesale). So, I had the pleasure of dethorning all 200! It actually went pretty well once I figured out how to use the dethorning tool I bought. The roses were a big hit at the show, too...especially for the 7 people who signed up for appointments to discuss their event with me. Very cool! These 7 people actually represent 10 events. My first meeting with one is this coming Thursday and I'm very excited because the bride I'm meeting is a total sweetheart! Hopefully everything will work out better than they have with another bride I've been talking to.

She's in Germany right now (as is her fiance) with the AF, but is getting married in ND. Her budget, was, I thought enough to accommodate my services, but after doing some checking, it became clear that it simply wouldn't work out. I told her I would try to work something out with her, but I haven't heard back. I took about a week to play with numbers and see if I could make things go, but to no avail. C'est la vie. On another bummer note, the bride I was supposed to meet on Mark's birthday ended up being a no-show. I haven't heard from her either....I may follow up again, but I don't want to be too pesky.

On the night of Mark's birthday we went to a Talent and Treasure auction at our church. Last I heard, about $9000 was raised that night. We played our part with the gift certificates we offered. Mine was won by a dear lady whom I adore. She and her husband are contemplating what they'd like to do with their certificate - whether to use it to plan a party or a vow renewal. Either will be a blast! :) We're not sure who won Mark's certs yet.

We didn't end up winning anything in the auction, but we only bid on one thing and another lady really wanted it so that's cool. We truly didn't need to be spending $$ anyhow...but it was for a 2 night stay at the Embassy Suites in So. Tahoe and we thought it might be a nice little getaway during his break. As things are shaping up, we might not have been able to go then anyhow!

On Sunday was the first of three bridal shows in a row for me. I have 10 possible events from this show to discuss over the next few months with people. Very exciting stuff...especially since every one of these people actually wants to hear from me. It's nice to call and find someone receptive on the other end!

On Monday, Mark's dad and brother celebrated their birthdays (kind of a bummer to be born on 9-11, but hopefully they had good days despite the tragic things that happened a few years ago). I did a little tax work on this day to earn a little $$ and then later that evening had a nice little meeting with a pianist who is trying to increase his wedding and event business. We met at Red Lobster and had a great discussion and I'm now the proud owner of his newest CD. On our way out, I grabbed some dinner for Mark and I - belated birthday fare. He enjoyed his for lunch the next day since I was a little tardy in getting home.

On Tuesday, I attended the networking meeting I've been helping plan. It was a fun time meeting other bridal consultants in the area...even if I did get lost on the way there. The precious (the GPS system I use) sometimes takes you to old locations. *sigh*

Then, on Wednesday night, Mark and I attended both a new member reception and a mixer for the Chamber of Commerce. Mark's luck is always the best. They were having drawings and one was for a cute little Bank of the West bear...he won! I was so happy. Not two seconds before had I said "oh, I want one." So, I now have little Cali the bear in my possession. Some people said I should have wished bigger, but they obviously don't know about my obsession with stuffed animals...

The mixer was great otherwise, though, too. I met a photographer from here in town whom I'm actually meeting today to see if we can work together. It should be a great meeting, I think.

Then, of course Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent doing last minute preparations for my next bridal faire at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds. That one went very well also. Everyone adored the mum arrangements I did. In fact, one person told me she now has a new appreciation for just how stunning they can be. I'm glad it was such an outpouring because they took longer than the roses. The biggest compliments I got, though, were from brides who thought at first that I was a florist. Does it get any better? The final talley on this show was another 6 people to speak to about wedding services. It looks like a majority of people are looking for day-of coordination and some are looking for dates earlier next year so that is nice since I'll be able to continue marketing to brides who want summer weddings.

And, now we're finally to this week. Mark has been studying for finals (another quarter is just about done!) and I've been trying to send out a lot of emails to people who attended these past two fairs. We did go to a little function for teachers on Monday as well...

So, as you can see, we've been busy beavers here and that is why you haven't heard from us. I have one more show this weekend and then, hopefully, things will slow down enough that I can catch my breath, but not so much that I'm lacking in things to do. I don't see that every happening again with my little business venture...and since it doesn't feel like I'm actually working, that's just fine with me! :)

Hope everything is going well in your respective locations!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you're all enjoying your 3-day weekend. Mark and I aren't doing much that's out of the ordinary. He's at school laboring away on test reviews while I am at home doing "business stuff." We know you're all jealous. :)

Mark's second board exam is quickly approaching (as is his birthday (see the counter down below on the side bar). I guess we're going to have a little soiree for him (despite his telling me on countless occasions that he didn't want a party for his big 3-0 birthday). So, it's going to be very informal - we're inviting friends to join us on Friday of this week at the O'Hana grill down the street from our house for a dutch-treat birthday dinner. We'll supply the cake and ice cream...and, of course, the birthday boy!

Other than that, on Saturday of next week (Mark's actual birthday if you're doing the match), we plan to attend our church's Talent and Treasure auction. We've even donated a couple of items - 2 hour long massages from Mark and 3 hours of wedding and event consulting from me. Exciting stuff sure to garner at least a few dollars for the church!

On Sunday the 10th, I have my next bridal show. I'm approaching it from a different standpoint and hope it will be a bit more successful than shows past (which haven't been too bad, really). Speaking of shows past, I was supposed to meet with a client this weekend. It has been pushed back to Mark's birthday as well which is just fine. There's another potential prospect I need to get back to as well. At this next fair, my focus will be to schedule as many actual appointments as possible. I have something up my sleeve to at least get them interested in stopping by my booth. ;)

Other than that, I have just been sending out information about my company and it seems to be driving traffic to the website. I've also received a ton of traffic from a wedding planning article that has been published on Wed Plan.net which I've linked the post title to. :) What's super duper about this is that they actually chose my article to send out to brides in their monthly newsletter so now, brides and other vendors from all over the country are learning more about my business. How cool is that? I've even made a few new contacts from it. Pretty neat stuff!

Today it will be more of the same for me...emailing clients and entering more vendors' info into my wedding planning software. It seems that I'm meeting people faster than I can get them in my system, but sooner or later it should start to dwindle. I actually really enjoy the meeting process much more than the inputting so keep them coming! :)

Hope you all have a great week!