I Gave Up.

I had been reading like mad, trying to get all my library books finished before I started the new job in a new town, and so had been making myself wait to crack the cover of my brand-spankin' new copy of Twilight. Every night I would look at it longingly and then put it down - yes, it's true, I pine for a good book and a cup of coffee like the alcoholic pines for the bourbon. Hi, my name is Megan, and I'm a readaholic. **Applause**

Anyway, after seeing the movie, and listening to the soundtrack, I started and stopped three other books before I finally gave in and said, "All right! Crap! I'll read you!!" And so last night after Lil' C went to sleep, I snuggled up under my electric blanket with a mug of hot apple cider and fell into Twilight. It's not the type of book found in my usual repertoire - although I did, once upon a time, find myself obsessed with Ann Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" before she got all crazy and dark in her other books - but I like it so far. It's definitely an easy and quick read, but it's super long, so it should keep me occupied for the next couple of days. I'm sure once I'm finished, BabyDaddy will be heading back to the bookstore to get the next installment for me. (Did you hear that BD? It would make a lovely stocking stuffer if you're not done yet!)

I. CAN'T. STOP.

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Merry Christmas from the Elves!

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Old Friends, New Music, and the Joy of the Season...

We had a splendid weekend - I would have written about it sooner, but my job is determined to suck every last drop of me before I leave, so I have been there more hours than I'd care to mention in the past two days. Only 6 more working days to go!

So now, for your pleasure, -- here are some highlights of the past few days --

Spread the Joy - but not too much.
We had our "Holiday Luncheon" here at work last Friday. It was preceded by a lovely email from our boss-man, that went to the tune of: "I hope you have a wonderful holiday...blah blah....please enjoy our holiday lunch today...blah...blah.... DON'T FORGET TO CLOCK OUT. IF YOU FORGET TO CLOCK OUT, BE AWARE WE WILL DOCK YOU ONE HOUR. THIS EVENT WILL BE CONSIDERED YOUR LUNCH BREAK. Have a delightful holiday season, and remember how much we appreciate you!" Wow. I'm totally feeling the love.

Happy Birthday Pa!
Both my nephew and my grandfather, whom Lil' C lovingly refers to as his "Pa" had birthdays on Friday, so we made the journey home that evening to celebrate with them. My grampa is now 79, but could probably blow the wheels off BabyDaddy at 30. He still goes to our family's store every day to work, and continues to farm - not taking much time to slow down. It was great to see him. Lil' C was very excited to wish him a "Hap Birday Pa!". :)

Old Friends -
We were so lucky to be able to see both of my dear friends Laura and Jess while home - it was so nice to catch up! Lil' C got introduced to Jess's mammoth of a dog -- (Love you Branson!), and show off for Laure', (it of course had the desired effect - she immediately emailed me after I got home to ask if it was normal for a not-even-two-year-old to count to 15, and know all of his colors and shapes - and speak in complete 3 to 4 word sentences, but whose bragging?) We also got to meet one of BG Town's bravest -- I know you're not into status Laure', but I think he is a delightful boyfriend/friend/date/occasional companion/person. :)

New Music --
Beloved Ames came through again. Since I have absolutely NO luck - she donated the tickets to the Philharmonic Orchestra's Children's Christmas Concert that she and DaddyJ won on the radio. So on Sunday, Lil' C and I loaded up, along with our friends J-Mama and C2, to head to the city. They had some fun pre-concert activities - including a whole section of Percussion instruments for the kids to play, which further cemented my plans to get Lil' C a miniature drum set for his birthday. Don't start with the "Are you serious?! You must be crazy!" comments. Been there, done that. Plus, I've already purchased myself a set of fabulous blue jelly-like ear plugs. Don't forget that music runs in our genes, so we're quite used to noise. Lil' C has already mastered the keyboard and harmonica, and with BabyDaddy on the big drums and me on the sax or vocals, we are slowly building our own band! We kick butt at Rock Band world tour, just in case you were wondering. When are we going to play again Ames? Anyway, the Philharmonic was awesome! Lil' C was transfixed by all the instruments, and sat on the edge of his seat the entire time. Along with the music, there was a local dance troupe who performed a Broadway-like production of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol", complete with little crippled Tiny Tim! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Now I'm ready for Christmas!

In Honor of My friend J.....

Wednesday Confession:

I just got copies of BOTH! (Oh yeah, oh yeah!) Don't tell BabyDaddy or he would so steal the Britney. I am normally what you would consider a hater of all things Brit-Brit, but I actually found myself nodding my head a little to the "Circus" single. So, one of my oh-so-lovely-and-compassionate office friends burned me a copy of her new album, along with the Twilight Soundtrack, which I am certifiably obsessed with. Thanks JD!

It's a Great Day for a Pap Smear!

Come on now ladies -- don't we all just count down the days until our next annual exam?! Right. Not so much. I had put mine off for so long this year that they cut off my pills and refused to give me any more until I marched my happy butt into their office. (I took off work yesterday to go and get it over with.) As I was signing in and filling out the little info sheet, one of the questions was when my last cycle ended. I started to think back, AND THEN I REALIZED I SHOULD NOT BE THINKING BACK, BECAUSE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPENING RIGHT THAT VERY MOMENT. Ummm, kay. Houston? Are you there? I think we have an issue here. My face immediately started to heat up, and I could feel my heart start to race. I hadn't been on my pills for a few months, because of this whole, "you have to come in for your appointment, and we mean it this time" thing, but.....surely not! It would be such bad timing with the new job, and Lil C still in diapers, and, and, AND I JUST AM NOT READY!

When they pulled me back I asked if they could test me before we got started. Sitting in the room waiting for them to come back and tell me what the heck was going on was like sitting on nails. (Literally -- I had forgotten to shave my legs that morning. Could things BE any worse?!) Beside the fact that I can never remember from year to year if you are supposed to tie those "gowns" in the front or the back -- I'm always afraid to have it wrong and look like an idiot.

My OB/GYN sidles in and asks me how I'm doing.

"Fine, but I'd be better if you could tell me whether or not I've gotten myself in a family way again..."

"OH!" (She seemed surprised, and began frantically rifling through my chart). "Are you all trying to have another?"

"Not really, but I couldn't find my brand of BC on the black market after you cut me off."

"VEEEEeery funny. We had to do this last year too if I recall? I know you hate these appointments, but they really are for the best. Now, do you want me to go find out, or would you rather finish the appointment first?"

I shot her the super stink eye.

"All righty then. I'll just be right back."

I heard her squeak off down the hall in her doctor clog things.....mumble mumble. Have results? Mumble, mumble...(I had my ear pressed to the door, but that's all I could make out) Sure? Okay, thanks! Mumble, Mumble. (Squeaky shoes approaching the door again - I hopped back onto the table.)

"The test results were negative."

Surprisingly, I felt..........sort of disappointed. What the heck? I didn't want this -- I wasn't ready! I didn't think I was ready. But what if I was? Realistically, I don't think we're ready yet for another one. I want to get good and settled at my new job and then look at getting a bigger house before we're ready for numero dos, but for a second, the thought of being pregnant again kind of made me happy. I really did love being preggers with Lil'C, but it's that thing that happens after the pregnancy, (no sleep, crazy expensive infant diapers, no sleep, spit-up, no sleep), that I have a problem with.

So, no bebe' for now, but you never know what may happen. I may just boycott those pills for another month.... :)

This is why it's frustrating to be a (relatively) new, young, non-celebrity mommy.....

Please see Exhibit A (Above Left), and Exhibit B (Above Right). The original raw picture is at left, and the picture that was actually published is on the right. Granted, Jessica Alba is not the ugliest gal on the block, and is in completely fabulous shape after giving birth 6 months ago, but even then -- they airbrushed her hips away, gave her a shimmery St. Tropez tan, slimmed her legs and arms, and did you notice her boobs are like three inches higher? How are the rest of us 'average' schmucks supposed to compete with that?! (Not that I am - trust me, I am not delusional. I understand that I am not even in the nosebleed section of the same ballpark with Jessica Alba, but it's the point darn it.)

I WANT TO HAVE LOTS OF MONEY TO HIRE MY OWN PERSONAL NUTRITIONIST TO MAKE MY FOOD, AND A PERSONAL TRAINER TO MAKE ME SKINNY, AND A PERSONAL SHOPPER TO BUY CLOTHES THAT MAKE ME LOOK SKINNY, AND A PERSONAL STYLIST SO I HAVE CRAZY BOMB HAIR, AND AN ASSISTANT TO SCHEDULE IT ALL.

And so I say, for all of us (relatively) new, young mothers -- is the above too much to ask really?

Photoshop Experiments

So exciting -- I finally started grasping this thing! (Thank you Public Safety Brandon!) Here are just a few of the pictures I have been messing with. (And yes, I did mean to have those black stripes on BabyDaddy's helmet -- I don't want any frenzied feme' fatales hunting him down for his firefighter hotness. He's mine hussies!) Now that I've got the basics down, I'm looking at some online tutorials for help with more features!

Yay Me!

As a result of my newly acquired job, BabyDaddy treated me to a "Yay Me!" weekend. I had to work on Saturday morning, (the last of those, thank goodness!), but after I got home, he took me to the town Christmas Parade. As most of you can guess, this is a big deal -- BD would just about rather be anywhere than outside on a snowy sidewalk watching the county marching band play a barely-in-tune version of Jingle Bell Rock. The Muffin got to ride with my in-laws in their snazzy 1930's coup, so I insisted we go for moral support. He was so cute! Both he, and our nephew C-Al wore little matching Santa hats and threw hard candy at the unsuspecting spectators. We met up with Ames, Daddy J, and my fave Lil' Diva, (they're gluttons for punishment too), and conveniently set ourselves up right outside the local coffee shop. My dear Ames and I of course immediately demanded hot cocoa, for which the boys were more than happy to scamper inside into the warmth to get for us. Once the cold turned us numb, we had a delightful time, really - but I was happy to get home and thaw out. My lovely in-laws took the muffin on to spend some QT time with them at their house, and BabyDaddy and I got spruced up and headed out for a date night. We made our first stop at Best Buy, (I love you BD!), and picked up a new camera ---I hadn't got the chance to mention the unfortunate demise of my beloved Kodak Easy Share last weekend. Lil' C found it and was just a little too enthusiastic in his foray into photography. He pretty much broke it to bloody pieces. At the thought of the upcoming holidays and no camera, I began to hyperventilate, but luckily Mom found a fabulous deal at Best Buy, and I am, (thanks to BD and my Yay Me! weekend), the proud owner of a new Canon Power Shot! I love it! The pictures are amazing.

After our big purchase - which had BabyDaddy swooning a bit, I won't lie - we went to one of my favorite eateries, The Olive Garden. I had an absolutely perfect peach sangria along with my meal, and so was a bit giggly by the time we were finished and heading to the movies. I was so excited to see Twilight, as I have heard nothing but the most fanatic praise of both the movie and the book. I'll have to say, (don't shoot me), but I was a bit disappointed. I didn't really get into it until almost past the half-way mark. It all seemed a bit melodramatic for me. Lots of smoldering looks and biting of lips in teenage angst.....I was almost gone until they started fighting each other. THAT was kind of cool. Before all you Twilight friends of mine decide to boycott my blog, please understand that I didn't think it was a bad movie - just a little slow for me to get into. But I am obsessed with the soundtrack, and will be purchasing it on my next trip to the mall. BTW, in the midst of the movie, BD got a bad case of the "tummy upsets" and left the theater to go sit in the Trail Blazer. At least that's what he said....

Sunday, we had a leisurely morning. I worked on some Christmas crafts I had been meaning to get done, and ended up making a 'drum' for Lil' C out of an Oatmeal carton. It's amazing the things that interest kids - I bet he hasn't put that thing down all day.

We met up with the family S. again this evening to go look at Christmas lights. Dearest Ames, you know I adore you, but I believe I am going to start a closet hate group about your mini-van. We all decided to ride together in order to save money - you're charged by the car- and because of the way we had the car seats for the kiddos set up, there was a teeny-tiny opening between the web of seat belts and the door to get to the back seat. God love him, Daddy J had to lay down the seat to get our preggers Ames in, and then I had the joy of literally squeezing through the little seat belt semi-opening. I felt like Catherine Zeta-Jones going under the lasers in that Entrapment movie - only not near as attractive, and with no where near the butt. I had to exit the van in the same way, and Daddy J so helpfully pointed out that it looked like the van was giving birth. I'll have to admit, once we were all sardined in there, we laughed until our tummies hurt. Of course, the entire evening was narrated by BabyDaddy/Borat. (He found the DVD for $2 in a cart at Wal-Mart on Black Friday - no wonder they only wanted a couple of bucks. I would have paid somebody to take that crap.) "That-a veeery nice. I like-a you. That was-a great suc-seeessss!"

Let's Dance!!!

Cause I got a new job! Sorry to disappoint -- I got a ton of emails and messages asking if I was preggers again. However, this change may allow me to get started on that! This job has the potential to be amazing -- I will be working for the state, which means state retirement (Yay!), state health benefits, and most importantly, every bank holiday off! (I always did want to celebrate Flag Day....)

My hours are 8am to 4:30 -- no more nights and weekends -- I could just squeal! The responsibility is much greater than previous jobs I've had, so it makes me a little nauseous to think about it, and I will miss my friends here like crazy, but hopefully it will be wonderful. (Oh my gosh, Ames, what will I do without our mid-day jaunts to Applebee's for unlimited soup and salad?) I'm not starting until the first of the year, which is great; I get time to wrap things up here, and get through the holidays and our Disney trip.

I'll have to admit though, (and I know you'll all snark at me about this), the first thing I did after I got my job offer, (before I even called BabyDaddy), was to Map Quest the nearest library. :)

The times, they are a' changin'.....

Big news to distribute!

Stay tuned.........

"I Want!"

Lil' C is getting supa-psyched about Christmas this year, (as long as that dirty Santa Claus doesn't try to sneak up and give him a hug or anything - Just leave the toys and skram Santa!) Every time we go to Wal-Mart, BabyDaddy and I are peppered with the muffin's "I Want's". So, I thought I would share one of my "I Loves" and one of my "I Want's".

I LOVE -- I am obsessed, (read me, OBSESSED), with the new C.O. Bigelow Apothocary lip line from Bath & Body Works. Mom had given me a buy-something-get-something-free coupon, and so after the Santa debacle yesterday, we breezed through the B&BW. Country Jess is my go-to gal for all things lips -- I think it was even her that got me addicted to Burt's Beeswax in high school, the dirty tramp. Those dang bees better be living in a luxery hive with all the money I've spent on their lip products. When she came up for her last visit, I comandeered her chap-stick. She prefaced with, "If you try this, you will be addicted. Don't say I didn't warn you." Sure, sure Jess, just give me the darn stuff. She was right -- I picked up two tubes, (one of the plain "mentha-shine" and one with a medium pink tint). I am infatuated! They are the perfect combo. It's not sticky or gooey like other lip glosses. It wears really light and feels like chap-stick on, but gives a super-cute gloss that you don't get from a chapstick or other lip balm. Plus it's got a spendidly tingly feeling from a good dose of peppermint oil. You must all go out and purchase a tube!!!!

I WANT --

Fekkai Spray Hair Crystals (Also to be found at B&BW BabyDaddy -- It would make a lovely stocking stuffer!) These bad boys are the perfect thing for winter-yucky hair, which I happen to suffer from. When talking about my newest B&BW loves, a gal at my office told me about this product - and I have to say, her hair looked smashing! It basically looks like natural shine/sparkle. I'll admit, when I heard "spray-on crystals", I had an immidiate flash back to an unfortunate 80's dance-a-thon, but the name really doesn't do it justice. It really does just give your hair an extra umph. So, in Lil' C speak, "I WANT"!