Earth Day....

This is all Texas Jack's fault. You see, back when she was pregnant with her oldest son she and her husband painted her belly to look like a pumpkin (it was, after all, Halloween). Ever since we've all been intrigued by this. Ironically, just the other day Texas Jack pointed out that this time in my pregnancy is the perfect time for belly painting. Before you ask any questions-- yes, it is completely NON-TOXIC. Thanks to our friends at Amazon.com I was able to locate the "Proud Body" Pregnancy Belly Painting Kit (after the Mom and I came up short on visits to both Michael's and Ulta Cosmetics...) The Kit utilizes "Snazaroo" face paint and Voila! in just under an hour we've got a giant globe painted on my belly.
Baby G proved to be very cooperative, though I'm sure she was wondering... "What the hell is going on out there???"

More Wagon News...

Can I be annoying and sing the praises of my Wagon? Apparently, the Dad thinks I am getting in touch with my "maternal" side and am expressing this through the wagon purchase. Perhaps this is true on a subconscious level, but mostly I just like the cargo room. What can I say, I love filling up the back of a car with crap! We've already loaded it up with dry cleaning, carried home groceries and a microwave, been to the outlet mall, and I am still awaiting my cargo mat-- once I have that, my hauling capacity shall be limitless! Not to mention that it came with one of those nets that goes up behind the back seat and trunk area, in case you're travelling with pets. I may have to borrow someone's dog just to try it out!

And, let's talk about the gas tank. I know this is not a logical distinction (because at the end of the day I'll be filing up the wagon more often than the X5) but it's got a tiny gas tank. The X5 has a 24 gallon tank. The Wagon about 15. We went to fill it up for the first time (thanks to spending cash courtsey of the Dad) and it was a mere $33.00! That was for 93 octane! I've had fill-ups in the X run $70. Sure, years ago even the $33 would have sounded like a ridiculous amount of money, but hell, these days with the price of gas making you feel like you're in Europe but without the food or scenery, I'll take the $33.

Finally, I know, I know, it's a station wagon. How fun can that be, right? Well, let me just point out that for registration purposes, the State of New Jersey classifies the Wagon as a "sedan", whereas our beloved X is classified as a "wagon".

Chipotle...

I have to say, Chipotle deserves a second chance. Jenn had raved about Chipotle when she was still in Ohio, I waited patiently for one to appear in the New York metro area. I first encountered a Chipotle burrito bowl with Dave maybe a year ago. It was good. The sweet corn is a nice unexpected addition, but the local Chipotle was all the way over on 52nd street between Lexington and Third-- quite a hike from the Job. Not to mention that at lunchtime the place is packed and I hate to stand in lines... then one day I was walking back to the office and I noticed a Chipotle on 48th between 6th and 7th. I got a Burrito. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great and the workers were totally confused by the fact that I ordered one vegetarian burrito but wanted pinto beans (apparently, pinto beans aren't vegetarian, and it was beyond comprehension that I didn't want a vegetarian burrito because the Husband (for whom the burrito was intended) is a vegetarian, but just because he didn't want chicken, pork or beef in this particular burrito. The next time I went to Chipotle I realized that I could actually use the tunnel system and go from my office building all the way to Chipotle without having to go outside... (winters in midtown tend to turn everyone into moles, if possible). Unfortunately, this burrito was very disappointing. There was so much stuff in it none of it was hot, it was a pain to eat, it was just a total let down.

This afternoon I went to Buy Buy Baby on 26th and 7th (long story, especially since I took the subway to 23rd and 6th, upside is I was finally able to see the infamous Cariboo Bassinet in person and my mom was proved right-- it does look like a folding laundry hamper), then I noticed a Chipotle across the street. I figured I would give it another try. Go inside, no line, for starters (always a good thing). Decide to get back to basics and order a burrito bowl, rather than a traditional burrito. Get it with rice, pinto beans, chicken, corn, tomatoes, hot sauce, sour cream, cheese and some guacamole. Try to find a cab. Head back to the office and when I get to my desk, the burrito is still somewhat warm (this may be because it is 80 outside today, but I don't care!) and dare I say, it was as good as the first time! Finally, I'm understanding the hype. It was a damn good burrito. Maybe the key is to get it when its warm outside, get it with no tortilla, or just be pregnant (hence almost any food tastes good!) I don't know what the secret is but it was good.

Only in Georgia...

Yesterday I heard on the news someone talking about how if the Virginia Tech incident had happened at a shopping mall or other public location in Blacksburg or elsewhere in Virginia it would likely have ended more quickly due to intervention from a gun toting by-stander. Having grown up in Georgia, I would have to heartily agree with this statement (though I don't think it is an argument for permitting guns to be brought into an academic setting), more its just a fact of life in the South. Case in point, Kennesaw, Georgia (the town next to where my parents live, which is indeed just a hop, skip and a jump from their house) where it is a town ordinance that all "heads of household" own a gun.

When living in Ithaca (where there were plenty of deer hunters and you could buy a gun at K-Mart)... I didn't think much of it, but then in relocating to New York and then New Jersey, it is weird to think that for the most part the only people carrying guns or with guns in their homes or cars are either police or criminals. I don't know if the thought that practically everyone in Atlanta and environs is packing heat makes me feel safer or less safe, but if nothing else, you're always on notice to expect the unexpected.

Only in New York

Today I went to visit one of my pregnant co-workers for lunch on the Upper West Side. I needed to get from 50th and 6th to Broadway between 76th and 77th. I knew I should have taken the subway to 79th and then just walked the couple of blocks, but I said to myself that I would take a cab if I saw one first. Normally I would always take a cab but midtown traffic is never a good bet at lunchtime.

I managed to hail a cab on 50th Street between Broadway and 7th. I figured he could just swing around the block, go over 49th to 8th avenue and then up either CPW or Broadway to my destination, depending on traffic.

I get in and the first question is "How do you want to go?" I thought for a minute, "Okay, good sign, he's cognizant of the traffic issues"... and then he asks if I want to go up Sixth. On my way towards Seventh Avenue I had thought about catching whatever cab I saw on 50th but decided I didn't want to have to sit in traffic on Sixth, so I gave him my thoughts about taking 49th to 8th.

Unfortunately, the ride from 50th and 7th to 49th and 8th took approximately 15 minutes. Fine, fine, whatever. Next we get on to 8th. As we get closer to Columbus Circle my driver asks me if I want to go through the Park.

My response: "We're going to Broadway, why would we go through the Park??" I quickly follow this with, "We could go up Central Park West and over 75th, if that's what you mean..." No, my driver didn't mean that. Just at that moment he notices a sign saying "2 Left Lanes, Broadway" and at this point he admits that its his first day on the job and he thought Broadway was on the East Side.

Broadway... on the East Side???

Don't these guys have to take any sort of a test to get their hack license or what??

To be fair, he was very nice and with a little guidance up Broadway (most notably, how to make the transition from Amsterdam back to Broadway after 72nd Street--- at which time my driver cut off a FedEx truck and made a right on a red... and no, he's not from New Jersey...) we managed to get to my destination relatively safely and speedily.... which at the end of the day is more than I can say for most cab rides, even when the driver does know that Broadway's up and the Battery's down.

The Big Nor'Easter

Yeah, we got rain. While watching the 11 o'clock news last night we heard the local "on the scene" reporter tell the world that Route 1 was closed in both directions in our town, turns out, Route 1 was closed in both directions where OUR street crosses it. Further, this morning apparently our whole road was shut down due to flooding. We also had a small problem with water coming in from under the kitchen door. The husband likened having to deal with this problem to one of the tasks on the Amazing Race.

We could both imagine Phil giving the following narration:

"Build it or Bail it... a Road Block is a task that only one team member may perform... in this Task, one team member can chose between building a dam with garbage bags and with three railroad ties (which must be dragged across the front yard) in order to limit the water flow into the kitchen, or team members may chose to drag the pool pump 150 yards to the kitchen window and stand in six inches of water while attempting to drain the window well (which is quickly filling with water) with said pool pump, all while the other team member is in the house making dinner." Unfortunately, unlike on the Amazing Race, the Husband didn't actually get to chose between the two tasks, instead he had to complete both and do so before getting struck by lighting. We didn't realize the last part of the challenge until the Husband was safely back inside when suddenly we saw a flash and heard a large crash.

Let it be noted too that our phone service has been out since last night and Verizon won't be coming until Friday. At least nothing got hit by a tree branch. That's in our favor.

Baby Shrug!

This is the shrug knit all in one piece...

Here is the finished product after sewing up the seams! Now we're moving on to a Debbie Bliss stockinette stitch cardigan in denim color cashmerino aran!

One Happy Cat...

Chin scratch. Gets her every time.

Progress...

Here are a couple of pictures of the new drywall in the baby's room and the scary chimney. We're going to replaster the filled in firebox and we're awaiting a new mantle from Agee Woodworks. Tomorrow I'll update with pictures of the room as painted...

Wagon Ho!

Today we drove up to Westchester and got a wagon. Years ago, I remember that Jessica Fogel's mom had a wagon and the license plate read: "Wagon HO", these days that would I'm certain be misconstrued by most of the general public. Anyway, I just thought it had fabulous cargo space. ps. Kudos to the Mom who located it for us!!!

Improvements...

Today was *much* better than yesterday-- thanks for the many well-wishes (and vicarious chocolate consumption). Today I "worked" from home. This included an hour long conference call at 10:30am and Loan Agreement revisions. Luckily, after that I escaped the house for a bit. Yes, I got to go to the dry cleaner, pick up the pictures from the photographer (some of which are cute, some of which are clearly karma's way of making up for the fact that I made fun of Tori Spelling-- I swear I didn't know those double-chin pics in US Weekly were taken days before she was about to give birth) and make various returns (all I can say is try never to go into a Kohl's unless you absolutely have to...). Came home and started on dinner-- it was an exciting evening with Mahi Mahi (marinated in a citrus dill sauce) over saffron rice with a mandarin orange, pineapple and cilantro salsa. I also made cole slaw! The Husband insists that cole slaw is one step above something that would be found in the garbage chute scene from Star Wars Episode IV, but what can I say, I like it and so long as I'm making it myself I feel like there's considerably less of a chance for salmonella.

Two random thoughts:

1. I vote for Ana to adopt Martha... and

2. If we ever get another cat we can name her Obi-Wan KatNobi.

Bad Day at Black Rock

Today was one of those days. We had to get up at 6:30am because we had a hospital tour at 9:30 and given that the hospital is at 165th Street and Broadway I was going to need some time to get up there by cab. We go to get on the 7:24 train and of course it's like bedlam and so the Husband and I couldn't sit together. Did I mention it was raining? It was raining. I'm sitting in the train seat for the next hour wedged between two people and of course I start to get the excruiciating pregnancy back pain and because it's cold and rainy outside the train is heated (which normally would be a good thing) but because it was so packed full of sweaty humanity the train car seemed to have its own weather system and was about the same temperature as the inside of a rice cooker.

Then we get to Penn Station. Seemed fine, a little crowded, but it held no indication of the fact that there were hurricane force gale winds hurtling about outside of Penn Station. We went outside so I could be put in a cab up town and went to the end of the cab line (which stretched about half a block long) and proceeded to be pounded and pummeled by a driving rain/wind combination. People's umbrellas were turning inside out left and right and on more than one occasion I almost had my rain hat blown off my noggin. Rain was getting *inside* of my wellies-- do my wellies have a leak you ask? No-- rain was coming in from the top of them (you know, where you stick your foot into!) Rain coat? Soaked. Skirt? Soaked. Tights? Soaked? Underwear? Damp-- after all, the rain did have to penetrate 4 layers to get there. Finally, I managed to snag a cab (after I had to yell at (x) one woman in front of us that she needed to *walk down* to get into the next available cab, not just stand there like a stone image until the cab drove up to her and (y) one man who decided that lines weren't for him and he would just cut in front of the 75 people waiting for a cab.)

Hospital Tour. (This is where I discovered that, no, I wasn't just cold, all of my clothing was actually wet). Tour went fine, but for the fact that Columbia "lost" my pre-registraion application and they can make no guarantees about getting a private room. Okay, fine, you may say, but what if you want to "room-in" with your baby? Well, that's encouraged. So long as you have a private room. If you don't have a private room you can't room-in with your baby but you will be able to room in with some stranger and their family. Your baby, on the other hand, will get sent to the 6th floor. But no worries, because Columbia is kind enough to put a big security tag on your baby (as if your child were something you might try to purchase at a Best Buy) and "alarms" will go off if anyone tries to take your baby off of the floor. Then, however, I got to see a baby being wheeled out of the 6th floor as we opened the door with my escort's security pass-- the nurse involved then said: "I have to move quickly, before the alarms go off." Not so confidence inspiring.

Fine, fine, fine. I go to leave, back out into the monsoon, and as I'm standing on Broadway I manage to hail a cab just as my umbrella flips inside out. I open the cab door and am trying to close my inside out umbrella and a big gust of wind comes and slams me in the side of my big pregnant belly. Yeah, that's great. Love when things like that happen. Get into the cab and then suddenly feel really, really nauseous. I'm sure a big part of that was the fact that I was in a cab for 110 blocks back to the office (with windows rolled up because of the hurricane) and I'm sure it was psychosematic as well, but regardless... not feeling well. Had a good pep talk from the Mom and arrived back at the office. End up calling the doctor's office and they had me come in for an ultrasound-- everything checked out (as Thisbe had expected!), but of course, on my way to the ultrasound I realized that I had forgotten to change back into my wellies and I was wearing the infamous pepsi-soaked ballet flats which were then letting in water from the wet sidewalks of New York.

Did I mention at lunch time I managed to drop macaroni and cheese on my boob? It rolled off, but still. That of course, was after I knocked over my glass of ice water all over my desk (all that great crushed ice, GONE!). Glad it's not like I had anything important sitting out there... Then, after the ultrasound, while I was in line to pay (for a self-pity cookie and iced tea) at Au Bon Pain I knocked over my second cup of ice all on to the cashier station. I appear to be some sort of a danger to both myself and others. I rue what the commute home may bring.

Rainbows, Unicorns and other Mythical Things...

It seems to me that practically every conversation we overhear on the train between strangers begins with how crowded the subject train is. Case in point, today, Joe (the guy we know who is always practicing his latest comedy routine) started talking with the folks in his five-seater... it began with how crowded the 8:23 is. "Is it like this every day?" "It's a short train, it's always a short train", "The 7:44 is great, it's a long train, there's always room." "This one has been short for a year." then, as is also typical, the conversation shifted to the infamous 9:04. The 9:04 is a double-decker train, one of the few, in fact, I think it is the only double decker train. Man from across the aisle says to Joe, in wistful terms, as if he's speaking about some wonderful childhood memory: "Have you ever taken the 9:04? It's a double decker." "Really?"

Yes, Virginia, double decker trains do exist, they run them at off-peak hours.

Image...

On Friday I visited with Julian at Frederic Fekkai for a hair cut. While sitting in the salon chair I noticed one of Julian's counterparts on the other side of the mirrors cutting a woman's hair. He had that very european hair stylist look-- spiked up hair, prada-esque thick frame eye glasses. He looked possibly German or maybe even French (though not really thin enough to be French) however, as time passed I overheard a bit of the conversation he was having (quite animatedly) with his client-- he was going on and on about how he collects comic book action figures and that he often trolls Ebay looking for them. All being said in a very non-european, quite middle-american accent. He was a comic book geek! I'm sorry but when you're cutting women's hair at Frederic Fekkai on Fifth Avenue, and you've got the euro-trash hair cut and glasses you *can't* talk about how you collect action figures. Did you miss that day at stylist school? It ruins the entire mood!

Negotiation Skills...

Everytime I call Pink Nails in town to get an appointment for a manicure/pedicure the appointment time is always a negotiation. It starts like this:

Nail Lady: "Pink Nails!"

Me: "Hi. I want to make an appointment for a manicure and pedicure"

Nail Lady: "Okay what time you want come in?"

Me: "How about 11:30?"

Nail Lady: "10:00 or 12:30?"

Me: "Okay, 12:30"

Nail Lady: "How about 2pm? See you then!"

I'm not the only one...

Who knew, me, 410e9th and Scarlett all have something in common... now if only we could do something useful with the fact that we know all the words to Salt-n-Pepa's songs.

Snowing in April...

Okay, so earlier it was sunny, now its snowing. What's with that?

In other news, when I came home today with my lunch from McDonald's I was getting all sorts of attention from Miss Kitty. I felt truly that I was only loved because of my proximity to and control of french fries. However, Miss K has redeemed herself, as she is now napping next to me with her back up against mine (her head is turned upside down in a position which can only be comfortable for a cat)... she is snoring a bit. There is no food in sight, but I am throwing off heat so that may explain things.

Thank God its Wednesday...

So, Wednesday before Good Friday... what is that? Decent Wednesday? Not-to-Bad Wednesday? I'll just say I'm glad its Wednesday because it means I'm that much closer to the weekend.

Also, on the job front, while I haven't quite gotten it across to my boss yet that I have the magical "modified bedrest" note from my Doctor, I did invoke trying to "leave early" (by which I mean, take a half day) for Good Friday. He mentioned to me that he wasn't "committed" yet to being out of the office on Friday but that he was concerned that certain parties would try to schedule a conference call, so I countered with, "I thought about the same thing, because I want to leave early." Truth be told, the only reason I would actually come in at all is because I've got a hair cut with Julian at 12:30 (and eyebrow treatment with Victoria at 1:15). All in preparation for my "photo shoot" on Saturday. Yes, I am one of those people who decides to get pictures taken while pregnant. If you saw the last pictures I appeared in you would probably be thinking that I should maybe reconsider this idea, but we'll see how it goes. And, just so you know, I'm not intending to take any goofy new age belly pics. My appointment is with Pryde Brown in town on Saturday afternoon... I was hoping to do some pictures both inside and outside (preferably in fun, flowy, spring clothes) but of course its supposed to be in the forties on Saturday, so I may end up having to find some sort of stylish pregnancy parka instead.

29 weeks, five days...

This morning we went to our latest doctor's visit. We learned that Baby G is already head down and this supposedly accounts for the odd abdominal numbness I've been experiencing lately, as apparently when this happens it means Ms. G's butt and/or feet are pressing up against some vital organ (as I must say, my Mom predicted). We have to go back in two weeks for an ultrasound to determine Baby G's size, and as with my last visit I've been told that I've gained too much weight between visits (if only they knew what the scale said mid-last week!)... but what am I supposed to do, Whopper Eggs are only made at Easter time and I certainly can't give those up!

On other fronts, I received my Rho-Gam shot. Let's just say I didn't have to take off my cardigan for that one, so needless to say it was far too reminiscent of childhood immunizations for my taste.

Also, cross your fingers for me, we have theoretically scheduled a hospital tour! The folks at Columbia weren't very keen on offering a tour despite what their literature says and when I spoke with the administrators in my doctor's office I learned that I wasn't the only one who was told that I should just take the "virtual" tour on the internet. I pointed out that it would be useful if I knew where to go in advance of actually being in labor. They agreed and one of the office staff has volunteered to lead a tour next Thursday. We'll see if the tour itself materializes... it may just end up being the Husband and I wandering the halls...

For now it's back to the coal mine.

Resistance is Futile...

Have you seen those bluetooth headsets that people wear in conjunction with their cell phones? Well, one of the secretaries at the Job always has on her bluetooth headset (or as I affectionately refer to it as, her "borg headset"). She's always on the phone with either her husband or her kids or any other number of people. I've gotten used to walking past her desk and hearing her speak without a phone visible and I no longer have to wonder whether or not she's crazy, I know she just has on her borg headset. Well, this afternoon I walk into the ladies room and I hear her voice speaking. There is no one else in the ladies room and one of the stall doors is shut. Yes, that's right, she was on the phone, using her headset in the bathroom, while in an actual bathroom stall. A few moments go by and there is a flush and then she just keeps right on talking.

Hey, you know, if you want to use the bathroom while talking on the phone at home, fine, multitask all you want, perhaps you even want to do this while you're out in public at a restaurant or otherwise. It's not for me (outside of my own feeling of being constrained by proper phone etiquette there is always the tricky issue of there being an open water hazard which is ripe for the phone to fall into), but I'm not going to judge if you feel like the anonmity of a public restroom makes it okay to conduct a phone call within that space, but at work? Please. Leave the borg headset at your desk. Whoever you're speaking to will understand.

Quality Meats...

Last night we had dinner with David and Emily at Quality Meats-- which was *very* good! Of course, today I went to a Filene's basement that just opened near us and while trying on clothes in the dressing room I got a good look at just how gi-normous my stomach has become (not that Quality Meats significantly contributed to that), I'm just saying...

Husband wanted a Blesson in Mobile Blogging

Here we go Blogging from the Blackberry again!!!

Real-Time Blogging

So right now I am sitting in the first aisle seat on NJT train 6034. For some reason the engineer has left the door to his cabin open (and I can see that shockingly we are traveling at 98 miles per hour-- noting if we kept this speed up we could get from PJ to NYC in a flat 30 minutes, but of course, why could we do that?) Most importantly however, the enginer has been reading the New York Daily News-- not just while at a stop, but while operating the train as well.

And why not? After all, yesterday our conductor went to the vestibule in between two cars for a cigarette break. This wouldn't have been so bad but for the passenger standing in the aisle, leaning against the vestibule door who kept inadvertently pushing the "open door" button. (This was after she spilled her coffee on the floor, too). Its amazing to see so many violations of both common sense and homeland security all at once!

The Great American Dream Vote...

So we just saw this new show on ABC The Great American Dream Vote. I'm not even going to discuss the whole "Donny Osmond" as host aspect of this show, mainly, I just think they need some contestants with really good "Great American Dreams" such as: (i) moving to France, (ii) Running for President (i.e., would you fund my exploratory committee?), (iii) wining the MegaMillions Cash Payout? What do you think?

Six Weird Things... here goes...

So Ana tagged me to come up with six weird things about myself. Here goes.

1. Boo Boo Kitty: Ever since I was about seven I have had this stuffed Kliban "Momcat" pillow which I affectionately named "Boo Boo Kitty" (after Shirley's stuffed cat from Laverne & Shirley). Boo Boo Kitty is uniquely shaped and perfect for shoving under your neck for additional support when you sleep. The original Boo Boo has long since disintegrated and thankfully my parents have scoured the globe and ebay to replace it many times over. I have quite a collection of Kliban pillow cats these days. Let it be known that I brought Boo Boo to the top of the Eiffel Tower and I also have a picture of Boo Boo next to the Grand Canal in Venice. Yes, I'm 31 and I sleep with a stuffed animal. Sue me.

2. Miss Kitty's Secret Life: I think it's perfectly normal, but often I get odd looks when I talk about my cat as though she were a person. I like to imagine that my cat has a secret life (including having worked at Taco Bell-- she had to take the bus there, and once there wear a full-body hair net), she has a small gambling problem (too many nights left alone to play poker with the deer who live in the back yard) and she did, after all, graduate from Sarah Lawrence. What? It makes life more fun. Trust me, if you knew her, you'd agree.

3. Jeopardy!: One of my life goals (as yet unaccomplished) would be to be a contestant on Jeopardy. This all stems from the fact that I used to read the Book of Lists and World Book Almanac as a child. I was also the quiz bowl captain in high school, not to mention that at my first quiz bowl competition in middle school I will never forget that we lost to Mabry because I let the team go with "Patton" instead of "Montgomery" as to who was the head of the Allied Forces in Europe during WWII. I knew it was Montgomery and I said as much but the group wanted to go with Patton. That's the last time I allowed my destiny to be governed by mob rule.

4. Apocalypse Now: I saw Apocalypse Now when I was four. My dad and I always went to the movies on Saturday afternoons and that was one of our picks. Though some might find this a bit drastic for a four year old, I was much more scarred by the fact that one Saturday I wanted to see "The Main Event" with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal and instead my dad got us tickets for "The Champ" with Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder.

5. Speaking of Barbra... I do a damn fine rendition of both Barbra Streisand's and Barry Gibb's parts in their duet "Guilty" (that being said, I can also sing the Bee Gee's part, too...)

6. Mel Gibson: Before Mel went crazy, I was quite a fan (actually, my uber-fan Mel Gibson status actually started to wane long before he went crazy and more along when he started to age badly...) none the less, my mom and I did the "College Tour of the East Coast" when I was a junior in high school and we included a visit to Bowdoin in Maine. This was mainly because (a) we had wanted to go to Maine, and (b) Mel Gibson was filing "The Man Without a Face" in Rockport. On the day of my Bowdoin interview, mom and I snuck onto the movie set. I never made it to Bowdoin.

And an extra odd fact, for good measure:

7. Upon admission to Cornell I learned that I would be entering the class in January, with about 80 other students in the Arts College. We were given the names and addresses of everybody coming into the class in case we wanted to coordinate or get to know some of our fellow classmates before attending. I wrote a form letter and sent it to everyone on the list. It was a great ice breaker when I got there-- suddenly, I was the wacky girl who wrote the letter. Ironic, because I am totally anti-social and hate to talk to people I don't know, yet at the same time, I tend to be self-destructive in this vein and do things like writing a letter to 80 people I don't know, joining the college's PR club, working as a tour guide and an RA. I'm like the classic agoraphobic/claustrophobic.

Next I tag Texas Jack and 410E9th. Ps. I didn't go into pregnancy related oddities here because the list would far exceed 6 items. Btw, Ana, I totally hear you about the wide feet.

Discrimination, at a law firm?

I hadn't heard of this guy Aaron Charney until Thisbe mentioned it. That brought me to Anonymous Lawyer's March 26th post which I think accurately sums up a lot of law firm culture. Law firms discriminate against a lot of things-- one of my favorites from Anonymous Lawyer's list includes: (i) people who like to spend time with their families, (ii) people who have hobbies, (iii) thin people, (iv) fat people, (v) people who laugh, (vi) people who don't laugh. Basically, the point is its a club, with an ever changing set of criteria for admission.

Birthday Shout-Out

It's Alitheia's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Lithe!

Giada's Onion Soup...

On Sunday afternoon we were watching "Everyday Italian" with Giada-- the episode was the "best of GDL Foods" and included reciepes from her days as a personal chef. While the Husband was horrified by the sandwich cookies that required three whole sticks of butter, we were both intrigued by Giada's onion soup. It seemed easy enough to make-- sautee thinly sliced onions, a tablespoon of fresh thyme, some salt, some pepper and 4 cups of beef stock. Serve with a piece of chunky bread (with some fontina melted on top)... I made french onion soup a few weeks ago, but I thought I would go ahead and try Giada's version. I picked up the needed goodies at Wegmans and when I got home tried it out. I used one and a half really big sweet onions-- sauteed in a bit of olive oil and butter--- don't tell the Husband!, one box of beef broth, one tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme, a dash of salt and a dash of pepper. Unfortunately, I left the stove for a few minutes too long while the onions were sauteeing and they got a bit stuck to the bottom of our stock pot, but as I said to the Husband-- that's what wine is for! I deglazed the bottom of the pot with a bit of marsala wine and then added the beef broth. All in all the soup was very easy and very tasty (and I was also very excited that I was able to use the broiler to melt our fontina while at the same time baking brownies in our top oven and *not* blow a fuse!)

For next time I would recommend trying a mix of fontina and gruyere-- gruyere is a bit sharper, and the addition of the marsala wine was nice too. ps. the Brownies (straight from the Duncan Hines box) were tasty too!

Car Shopping...

We went car shopping again this weekend. May I just mention that Ray Catena's Mercedes dealership looks like the interior of Scarface's mansion? I actually thought Al Pacino would come out of the back and snort cocaine off the floor (except it might be too difficult on the red shag carpeting). I can actually say I've never seen a car dealership that looked more gaudy. As for the cars? Who needs satisfactory braking capacity?

Topiary Llamas

I think this explains how lottery winners lose their fortunes.

Goody's Jamaican Fish Fry

Yesterday I was in the kitchen on the 27th floor getting cups of ice (as 27th floor ice is far superior to 38th floor ice) and hitting up the snack machine. Out in the hallway I heard two office workers chatting up Goody's Jamaican Fish Fry in Queens. I was quite surprised to see that Goody's is actually recommended by the NY Times.

Sticky Feet

Sticky feet are generally two words that you'd prefer not to hear together. This morning on the train I was sitting in the middle seat of a three person bench and the Husband was facing me in the two-seater immediately across from where I was. There was a woman asleep next to the Husband. What this means is that five people were jammed into an area where really two, maybe three at most should be. Given that I had on the puffy coat and the women on either side of me also had on winter garb, were carrying large bags and one even had a laptop out there wasn't much room to move around. A few minutes after leaving PJ I felt a plastic bottle roll and hit my feet. Around New Brunswick I sort of noticed that my feet felt cold and wet. This whole time I was engaged in coversation with Wendy from Click! Modeling Agency, so my mind was not fully focused on my feet, but as time kept passing I started to realize, "wait a second, my feet don't just feel wet, they *are* wet".

I looked down and through the throng of body parts filling up the void between the two sets of train seats I notice liquid and the tell-tale plastic bottle. It seems as though someone behind us had brought a Pepsi with them and then gave it the old heave-ho, with or without the cap affixed. This probably wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't been wearing my Patricia Green ballet flats with the leather bottoms.

(Truth be told, I had seen that it might rain this morning and I had intended to wear my converse clown shoes or my keds but didn't have time to pull them out of the closet thanks to the fact that Miss Kitty had decided to go into hiding in order to avoid being sequestered to the kitchen while the contractors are roaming free inside the house...) had I been wearing the converse, the keds, my wellies, or just about any other commuting shoe I would have been impervious to the Exxon-Valdez of Pepsi spills. Instead I got wet, sticky feet.

I had to sit for the rest of the train ride with my feet suspended so as to limit the amount of Pepsi-shoe seepage. What was the worst was when I got off the train and had to walk on my heels from Track 4 to the Subway (and then to my office) trying not to actually step on the part of my shoe now inundated with soda.

I tried to console myself by thinking: "I'll go to JCrew and buy those leopard print ballet flats" but then the more prudent side of me said: "Not for $225 you won't" I went on the Gap's website to do some shoe scouting and found that they too have leopard print ballet flats (are we sensing a theme?) and they were only $49.50. Unfortunately, my local Gap didn't have my size. I settled for a plain pair of black ballet flats (with a RUBBER sole), down side is they are elasticized and that doesn't mix well with pregnancy feet-swell.

Progress....

So, we're slowly making progress in the Smallest Nursery in Middlesex County! Don't you just love the bare lightbulb chic? We have ordered a semi-fixed chandelier thanks to the folks at Capitol Lighting... now I'm just on the look-out for light pink silk chandelier shades. I have small obsession with chandelier shades and am hopeful that the Pottery Barn will unveil new colors for spring! Also, we've tentatively selected Benjamin Moore's "Voile Pink" for the walls, alas, the yellow paint chips we selected, when set off against the exposed brick made the room look way too much like the interior of Serafina.

Next mission, BR Perone is painting the trim (once its installed, that is), and we're having the floors refinished. Let's not forget, too, Carol at Agee Woodworking has been given specs and pictures of our scary chimney and I'm hoping to get a decent quote for a mantle...

Wanda Sykes

More and more often lately upon receiving a good kick or whack from Baby G, all I can think of is Wanda Sykes saying the following line from "Monster-in-Law": "I think you dislocated my vagina!"

ps. How Cool is This?

I just posted that last entry from a mobile pda. I'm actually on the train right now (traveling through Elizabeth, of all places)! I feel very technologically connected. Now if only I could figure out how to get my tiVo to work right...

Rumble in the Bronx

Last night at about 12:30am I was up in the bedroom getting ready to iron clothes for today. As I'm standing there about to plug in the iron I hear this gigantic bbbbbrrrrrummmmmmmppppppth! Rumble that sounded like a freight train.... Accompanying this noise was a clear vibration of the entire room. It scared the hell out of me. It actually sounded like all of the slate fell off of the roof in one fell swoop and that if I wasn't careful I would soon be falling through the floor to the living room. After a moment or so I realized that it had to be snow coming off the roof. ALL of the snow. Ever, even some snow left over from 1972. I peered out the little window in the front of the bedroom and couldn't see much. I went downstairs and looked out the front window. Damn if the entire walk wasn't now covered in a giant layer of ice and snow, which continued across the whole front of the house. Note to self-- after a snow/ice storm, go in and out through the garage for a week of so.

More Random Thoughts...

The Post Office is going to paint 430 Mailboxes to look like R2-D2 for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars (and as a promo for the launching of Star Wars stamps)... okay, how many of the 430 mailboxes do we think *aren't* going to be stolen?

Saw 300 this weekend. It is truly a film crafted for 13 year old boys. I managed to get through it though by being in a movie-food induced haze thanks both to a jumbo hot dog and nachos. The irony is that the nachos go stale after about 5 minutes of being exposed to air so you really have to act quickly and decide-- do I want to eat the hot dog while its hot or the nachos before they go stale? A true question for the ages.

Two other important things I learned while at the movie theater: (i) Ocean's Thirteen opens on June 8th. While this pregnancy may keep me away from my 10 year college reunion, I will be at the theater to see George and (ii) for any movie I go see between now and my due date I so totally need to sit in an aisle seat. You just can't have access to a gi-normous soda and not have to pee within twenty minutes of the opening credits.

The contractors are at the house today putting up the drywall. By the time we get home we expect that they'll have put up the rest of the drywall and begun the whole messy joint compounding process. The cat is keeping an eye on them. She already has construction foreman experience from when we did the master bathroom. At this rate, she's going to ask for a raise and better benefits (all to support that small gambling habit)...

This morning on the subway I encountered a man wearing a black and gold lame puffy jacket with a man-fur collar. Who needs a subscription to Vogue when you ride the MTA?

My SuperSweet Sixteen

Many women, while pregnant, watch those shows on Lifetime and The Discovery Channel like "World Birth Day", "A Baby Story", etc., etc. and get freaked out by the various difficulties shown on each episode. Me? The show that has so far freaked me out the most about being a parent-- MTV's "My SuperSweet Sixteen". I guess I'll have to start saving now for that trip to Paris to buy a "Pink Barbie Dress" and to hire 3 Six Mafia out of retirement. Let's not even discuss the cars.

What on earth has being a teenager become? For my sixteenth birthday (or it may have been seventeenth, I really don't remember)... we all hung out at my house having Domino's Pizza and then we went to the Dollar Theater to see Thelma & Louise. Texas Jack then emulated one of the scenes from the movie in the Volkswagen-wagen after the show in the parking lot. (Power backwards!) This was as exciting as it got, and damn it, it was good enough for us!

I Scream, You Scream...

I find that Baby G really seems to enjoy when I eat Ice Cream Cake.

To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before...

The other day when I visited my obstrician, she essentially told me that every ache and pain I'm experiencing is "normal". While she did give me a few symptoms that, if experienced, should warrant a call, I really can't tell you how many times I've heard the same spiel about the "round ligaments" and how they're causing all of my various cramping, back pain, leg pain, etc., etc.

Given this, yesterday I had a little imaginary conversation with Dr. Perez. You see, I was generally stressed out, having to do too much stuff before getting on a conference call which I knew was going to last forever (indeed, the conference call lasted for 3 hours, and I was the leader...!). My whole stomach/abdomen area felt like a rock, hence, the following imaginary conversation:

Me: "I feel like I have a Klingon in my stomach."

Dr. Perez: "Oh, that's normal. Now, if you suspect the Klingon may be ready to launch a Bird of Prey out of your stomach, or if you think it's harboring a Romulan in there, then call me."

Me: "Damn, I knew I should have mentioned a Romulan."

More Things You Don't Want to Hear...

Email Chain from the Job:

From: Member of One of Those Perky Southern California Offices
To: All US!
Re: [Insert BigFirm Name] Bicycle Jerseys and Shorts

We're working with a client of the firm to produce bicycyle jerseys and shorts with the firm logo. We did this in years past at [California Firm that merged with BigFirm] and everyone can attest to the quality of these jerseys. See link below for a picture, we may or may not be able to use the Lance Armstrong Foundation Logo. Due to price constraints, we have to charge $50 per jersey and $45 per pair of shorts, but they're really worth it! Let us know if you're interested in placing an order!!


From: Tax Partner
To: All US!
Re: [Insert BigFirm Name] Bicycle Jerseys and Shorts

On behalf of those of us whose physique is better suited to sports other than bicycle racing: if you're going to order Sumo loincloths (sorry, I don't know the correct Japanese term) with the firm logo, let us know.

From: Random Woman Employee #2213
To: All US!
Re: [Insert BigFirm Name] Bicycle Jerseys and Shorts

And what about Moo Moo's [sic] for the ladies!

The RomBer Debacle

Last Week MSNBC ran a little reality show blurb about how viewers reacted to Rob and Amber being chosen for the Amazing Race All-Stars. This week MSNBC post's more reader responses... Personally, I liked Rob and Amber. They're both troublemakers, they're tough, they have fun and they make the game a real competition. That being said I think both when they lost the $1M the last time around it was fixed and I think when they were booted off on Sunday it goes to show that the Amazing Race is fixed. I really can't believe that Mirna and Charla could not be beaten by RomBer in a foot race...

Space-Time Continuum....

Last night while we were watching Baby G move across my stomach, the Husband says that, if she lives a long and healthy life she could get to see the year 2100 (we had, after all, been watching the Star Trek Enterprise marathon on SciFi)... I reply: "Yes, it's very exciting, but then she'd have to buy all new checks."

Misconceptions...

Yesterday I made my weekly jaunt to Wegman's. Part of my shopping trip took me into the Wegman's World of Wine department. I needed vodka. While looking for Vodka I managed to find a small bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio that I thought the Husband would like. I picked this up and then continued my search. Not only did I need vodka, but I needed little airplane bottles of vodka. As a search through the whole place turned up nothing but giant bottles, I asked one of the sales people (and I was rather surprised... though perhaps I shouldn't have been... when he opened his mouth and sounded like a life long patron of Moe's Bar...) he advised that they keep the little bottles up at the cashier's stand. Let me just mention that due to my current state I am no longer able to wear my wedding band and over the weekend also was not wearing my engagement ring. So, there I go, six months pregnant, no wedding ring or engagement ring, heading up to the counter with my bottle of white wine and my request for two airplane size Vodkas. Needless to say the look on the cashier's face was priceless. I seriously think that she was under the impression that I was going to be knocking back the airline bottles *while* I grocery shopped. (Not to say that a weekend visit to Wegman's wouldn't drive someone to drink).... but I really felt like I needed a sign around my neck saying: "Making Vodka Sauce, will burn off!" Honestly. Before I go shopping I usually like to have two or three meals planned out for during the week. The plan for Wednesday is Penne alla Vodka. Page 215 of the Gourmet cookbook. Honest.

Who Killed My Blackberry?

Daylight Savings Time.

More Contractors... and car dealers...

This morning a representative from Julius H. Gross Painters came by the house at 8:30 on the dot to give us an estimate for interior trim painting... we got a quote from the folks at Julius' establishment a few years ago for roughly $5250.00. We're hoping that since we've replaced the bulk of the windows since then (meaning, no need to paint all of the window grills) the price will have come down. At the end of the day, I'm expecting it will come in at $5200.

Next on the schedule was to be Maryanne Applegate from Applegate woodfloors. We had originally arranged for Ms. Applegate to come by the house last week at 7:30am but she was a no show. We gave her a second chance (noting that she made no effort to reschedule with us)... today she was supposed to arrive between 10:30am and 11:00am. We joked that we would be annoying and call her by varying names such as Appleseed, Appletree, Peachtree, etc., etc. but unfortunately we didn't get the chance. Again, a no show. Not even a call! So much for customer service!

ps. on another front, today we went looking at cars... visiting the BMW dealer in Flemington was good because they had a ton of different models on the showroom floor and no one even once approached us to ask if we needed assistance... (normally that would be offputting, but we generally don't like to talk to people and since we had no intention of actually making a purchase from this particular dealership, being able to sit in all of the cars and critique them unbothered by a sales associate was a good thing).... next I convinced the Husband to go across the street to the Porsche dealer since I had read in last week's NY Times that the Cayenne now comes in 3 price points... The only problem with this scenario is that the Porsche dealer in Flemington is also an Audi and a VW dealer and I guess the salesmen there are more informed about those other brands because we walk in to the showroom and they have only 2 Porsche (no Cayenne) on display and a slew of random VW's... One of the salesmen approaches us and it actually appeared that I knew more about the Cayenne than he did. I made the mistake of starting off by saying "I saw in the New York Times..." and then things went downhill from there. He tells us that he may have "one" new one outside but that it's being testdriven. We go outside and there are actually 3 in the lot-- one at each of the three price points! I guess they must not sell many of those in Flemington...

Bored out of My Mind...

Okay, it's 2:01pm. When can I leave here???

Tripp Trapp Chair by Stokke

Design within Reach has been having a sale (through Monday, I believe) whereby mostly everything they carry is 10% off. This was a perfect opportunity for me to buy our high chair, the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair. What made it doubly exciting is that for some reason all "DWRjax" kids products benefit from free shipping! Since I love a good sale I ordered the chair over the weekend and was promtply told via email that some part of my order is on backorder and won't be available for at least a month. Fine, I think, no big deal, we've got time and then yesterday part of the order arrives. Tonight, the rest of the order arrived. So much for that whole "backorder" thing. But no complaints from me in that department. However, it was rather disappointing when I noticed that the Tripp Trapp chair arrived in essentially a flat box.

"Welcome to parenthood!" the box exclaimed-- if it doesn't require a AA battery, then it will require an allen wrench. Get used to it.

The Ever Changing Landscape of Route 1

This evening on the way home I noticed that Carkhuff's Garden Center in North Brunswick has gone out of business. I guess that "firewood and birdseed" business model just didn't pan out.

Laugh and the Whole World Laughs With You, Sneeze and its Goodbye Seattle!

The elevator doors at the Job seem to be pretty thick. As I was heading down for lunch this afternoon, just as I arrived at the ground floor I heard a loud SNEEZE! (this was somewhat troubling as I was the only person in the elevator car (other than Baby G) and neither I nor Baby G had sneezed. The doors opened and there was the sneezer. It's never good when you can actually hear a sneeze through 6 inch thick steel doors. You just know you're walking into Germville on your way out.

Heroes...."The Parasite"

As Dave noted, I have more questions than answers... either way a few things to ponder... thoughts?

First: Linderman-- I was hoping for someone more rough and tumble (James Coburn perhaps, but he may be dead). Either way, do you think Linderman has some special power?

Who is Nathan and Peter's mom working for? Do you think she is the person who gave Claire to the Company in the first place?

Is the Company working with Linderman?

What's the story with Nathan.... Everytime he seems like he'll be an okay person, something else happens that makes him slimy.

How could Bennett not have seen the whole episode with his "wife" unfolding?

At least Simone is really out of the picture....

Poor Suresh-- he's such an idiot!

Does Sylar not realize that Peter can heal?

And, what triggered Niki to snap out of it vis-a-vis Jessica? She could use Claude's help!

Vanilla Sky...

We buy some sort of Glad Odor Shield kitchen garbage bag. They come in a box of 40 and are 13 gallon, or thereabouts. Usually the "odor shield" is presumably some sort of invisible, odorless odor shield because I've never particularly noticed it before. On Sunday the Husband accompanied me to the grocery store and while I was stocking up on a variety of cat food he volunteered to pick up the garbage bags. When we got home I happened to notice that the box of garbage bags was just ever so slightly different than our usual box. This one had a picture of a vanilla bean and a vanilla flower and stated: "New Vanilla Scent!"

Okay, who at Glad decided this would be a good idea? I hate the smell of vanilla generally (its too musky and always reminds me of the inside of a nasty cab...) now we're going to try and mask the smell of rotting garbage with this scent? Are you crazy? And, I don't know what sort of Roswell technology they've used to imbue the scent of Vanilla in these plastic bags but whatever they've done it works-- you can't air them out. It's potent. Everytime now that we open up the lid to our kitchen trash can you're slapped in the face by a combination of last night's dinner and vanilla. Needless to say, we have about 37 bags left if anyone wants them.

Cereal Olympics...

I've recently been eating Frosted Flakes for breakfast once I get to the office... we have a little newstand in the lobby of our building and they stock a bevy of snack foods and other goodies including little cups filled with various cereals. There was a short span of time where they kept running out of Frosted Flakes and I would have to buy Corn Flakes and manually frost them, but lately they've had a good stock. (What can I say, I can't do cheerios or Special K.... bleech!)

Each cereal bucket is $1.75. I usually have $2 tucked away in a secret pocket of the puffy coat, but every once in a while I actually have exact change. This morning was one of those days.... I walked in the north entrance of the newstand, saw a woman dawdling next to the travel magazine section and knew that if I wanted to get to work on time I had to beat her to the register. I reach up with my right hand and grab my Frosted Flakes, while at the same time continuing to walk through the newstand and getting out my $1.75 in exact change from my pocket with my left hand. I make eye contact with the cashier... he rings me up as I approach the register. I hand him my cash and am out the south entrance in record time. I have left the magazine browser in the dust. It was like a cereal-retreival time trial. Who says Wheaties is the only breakfast of champions?

The Smallest Guestroom in Middlesex County

As a companion piece to the "Smallest Bathroom in Middlesex County" shown early last year, above are pictures from the "Smallest Guestroom" soon to be "Smallest Nursery in Middlesex County". The initial pictures are the "semi-before"... I got in with the camera just as the Husband had begun demolition, and the after speaks for itself. The electrician is finishing his work tomorrow so we will no longer have wiring from the time of Thomas Edison (not to mention, the electrician has already separated out the guest bathroom from the original circuit which included the guest room, library, dining room and guest bedroom... thankfully the guest bathroom is now even, gasp, GFI! And, this means too you could theoretically dry your hair in the bathroom and iron something in the guest room and *not* blow a fuse! Woo-hoo!) This time around we're using a contractor (pictures and stories to follow, I'm sure...) and they've advised that they should be starting at the end of this week. The plan is to keep the brick chimney exposed and paint the walls a light buttery yellow (I'm thinking something from the Benjamin Moore palette). Thoughts?

Baby Sweater!

Above is my first baby sweater! Of course, as usual, it seems to be much larger than it should be... it is being passed on to a co-worker and in theory hopefully her little boy will be able to wear this before he turns 5! Now I have to make at least one vegetable hat and a blanket for other expectant moms out there.... I'm also starting work on a little pink shrug for Baby G! :)

Battered and Bruised

This morning's train adventure started with me getting an elbow to the eyesocket while trying to board the 8:23. Luckily there was no swelling or bruising, but I did loudly say multiple times to the man who hit me "YOU ELBOWED ME IN THE EYE!" Needless to say this caught the attention of the other riders and the Husband who then spewed a few choice expletives at the offending individual. I know that it wasn't done intentionally, but when you're boarding a train with a bazillion other people try not to readjust your shoulder bag by raising your arm and extending your elbow out as far as possible because the likelihood of hitting another individual is inordinately high.

Next came the subway. Just as a fun surprise for this morning's riders they decided to run the #1 local train on the #2/3 express track (though it appeared it may have just been a change of equipment because then the #2 express train was running local on the local track). This confused everyone but was a fun experiment as it appeared that they hadn't actually run any trains within a 45 minute increment so essentially the equivelant of the entire population of Central America was standing on the platform. We managed to make it on board the train miraculously, though completely smushed up against the "closing doors". Of course, at 50th street (the first stop where the doors which we were becoming so intimately aquainted with opened) we had the wise guy behind us say "Excuse me, coming through" the minute they opened, as if we didn't intend to also exit at that stop!

Jammies

Today I am wearing what I like to call my Pregnant Ninja outfit from Liz Lange. It's all black, very ninja-esque and feels like I'm still in my pajamas. I have to say the Liz Lange clothes (from her real store, not the crap that's at Target and designed for Amazon Women from the Moon) has really been terrific. When I was at the store on my small spending binge (thanks to gift card money from the Mom and Dad) the sales lady claimed that I would "live" in the pants I am currently wearing and I have to say, I can see what she means. My outfit consists of black pants made out of some sort of Roswell technology microfiber and a matching black v-neck top with a criss-cross front that ties in the back. It is super comfy and yet at the same time is actually presentable enough to wear to work (noting, however, that to get to work I was wearing my ninja outfit with my purple converse clown shoes (too much salt on the ground en route to the office to wear my ballet flats with the thin leather soles...) hence I had to quickly change shoes upon getting to the office... I wouldn't recommend the purple converse low tops in an office environment). Anyhoo, props to Liz, the clothes are comfy, stylish and very wearable!

5am Eternal

Last night I awoke at 5am. I was overly warm and tired of laying on my left side. I slowly turned on to my back, but since we pregnant folk aren't supposed to lay on our back it was just a quick stop on the way to laying on my right side. When you're laying down flat and have the equivalent of a basketball glued to the front of your stomach shifting position becomes more like a dead lift or boulder toss (like in the World's Strongest Man Competition). As I attempt to hurtle my body on its side, I immediately get a cramp in my abdomen in what I can only imagine is the place in my body where my former abs have relocated to. At this point I'm in pain. Actual shooting muscle cramp pain. So I hit the Husband awake with my free arm and feebly ask for help. The Husband is half asleep and disoriented and at first I don't make it clear that it's not a back cramp or a leg cramp but a belly cramp. He manages to prop me up at which point now the cramp gets worse every time I try to breathe. I also happen to notice that at this point in time the inside of my mouth feels like I've swallowed wallpaper paste. Eventually I managed (with help from the Husband) to get back on my left side where after a few minutes the pain subsided. Husband then trekked down to the kitchen and got me a drink and we opened a window so that our bedroom was no longer the same temperature as the surface of the sun.

I manage to fall back asleep by 5:30am only to be rudely awoken at 7am for a visit by the contractor. Then on the train we managed to encounter a very nice gentleman who we've met before, only problem is he likes to test out his latest amature stand-up comedy routine on fellow riders and so he talked the *entire* way from PJ to NYC. Then I had my review at The Job. It went fine, but all in all it meant that after a bad night's sleep and no breakfast I had to be sociable for over 2 hours straight. I'm too much like Howard Hughes to have to be that sociable.

Dinner... with nods to Jamie and Giada...

Last night we managed to get home at an unreasonably early hour thanks to the general sloth of our co-workers (meaning one didn't bother to come in, one was in California, presumably recovering from an Oscar party, one's last day is on Wednesday and one was sequestered to jury duty)... this was the perfect opportunity to make dinner! I had been perusing Jamie's Italy (Jamie Oliver's new cookbook companion to his Jamie's Italy tv show that the MOM got me for Christmas) and had seen a picture of these really neat looking "silk purses" (i.e. big handkerchief sized pasta) in pesto sauce. I had been inspired and when I was battling the Mongolian horde of food shoppers at Wegman's on Sunday I picked up the necessary ingredients... or at least the best I could do. I had to substitute Pappardelle for the silk purses, but either way the end result was a really nice looking dish.

I made the pappardelle, in a pesto sauce with fresh cut grape tomatoes tossed in with a little grated parm on top... Adding the tomatoes was my own thing because who doesn't like those little baby tomatoes? (Leda, but Leda doesn't like any tomatoes.... she's the exception which proves the rule). As an accompaniment I roasted asparagus (very thin ones!) in olive oil, salt and pepper and then wrapped the asparagus in prosciutto. (Giada's recipe!)

Tonight: Time permitting we'll be having angel hair pasta with italian sausage in a lemon artichoke pesto (with sauteed artichoke hearts). We may or may not have graffiti eggplant on the side, I have to see if I can find any creative recipes... but don't fret. The rest of the week is looking like (i) tuna-- though lemon pepper tuna with capers, on toast, (ii) frozen manicotti and (iii) frozen pizza. One can only muster so much culinary stamina during the work week.

Chocolate-y Goodness...

The Husband came by this afternoon with a handful of change on his way to visit the newstand/snack bar downstairs at the Job. I was generally indecisive suggesting that something like a hostess cake or a devil dog would be good. A few minutes later the Husband appeared with a bag full of goodies. First choice-- Famous Amos mini chocolate chip cookies... second option... OREOS! Who doesn't love Oreos? (well, the Dad for one after an incident back in the '70's where he ate an entire box... but everybody else pretty much likes oreos!) So, I'm here with a little box of oreos and what ho! The office has a supply of milk in the fridge (mainly for coffee drinkers, but hey, I've also been hitting up the milk stash for cereal in the mornings, so why not a mid-afternoon cookies and milk-fest?) Yay! Cookies and milk! Now if only I could manage to take a nap under my desk...

ps. the new desk chair finally arrived. The stuffed cat is very happy that it is no longer needed as lumbar support.

Oscars and Obama...

First, Kudos to Marty Scorsese for finally winning an Oscar. And, was it just me or did Lucas look pissed? Okay, Alan Arkin? I mean I'm glad Eddie Murphy didn't win as everyone was predicting because Pluto Nash still does exist out there and I don't think you can give an Oscar to someone who's current box office topper is Norbit, but come on. Alan Arkin? Marky Mark should have won based on Planet of the Apes and the historic underwear ads alone.

What about the fashion? Reese Witherspoon's dress was great, so was Nicole Kidman's, after that nothing struck me. For the most part I thought the folks at E! (Ryan Seacrest included) were pretty annoying and petty, though I do have to agree with their assessment of poor Meryl Streep. When you've been nominated for any film that has "Prada" in the title, please, go and borrow a beautiful, gorgeous couture dress from someone, anyone. Don't try and raid Georgia O'Keefe's closet. It's just not becoming.

Next-- how long was that show? Jerry Seinfeld was the only funny part and I totally could have done without the Philobus dance troupe.

Finally, on a totally separate topic... I just received a letter asking me to donate money to Barack Obama's '08 campaign. Can I just say, I *still* don't know what the man's views on the issues are. It seemed from the form letter that he's opposed to the war in Iraq and that he has spent a lot of time "talking to people in coffee shops."

Breakfast with the Beatles, kind of...

Yesterday was one of our coveted Weef Days! The Husband planned out a great day for me in New York, including a pre-natal massage at Cornelia Day Spa. We started off the day, however, at Sarabeth's at the Whitney for a little brunch. Amazingly, when we got to Sarabeth's they were able to seat us immediately-- no wait! A few minutes after we were seated and placed our orders who walked in but Yoko Ono. Yoko was with an older european looking gentleman and a young Japanese woman kept taking photographs of them. Ironically, three women seated at the table between Yoko and ourselves (who seemed to be Swedish) at one point asked Yoko's photographer... "Will you take our picture too?" I don't quite think they understood both (i) that Yoko was at the next table and (ii) that the woman taking the pictures was taking pictures of YOKO. Hi, we're not on a Celebrity Cruise, pictures of you and your guests won't be posted by the door on your way out for purchase! By the way, apparently, Yoko is a fan of the Farmer's Omlette.

Fashion Forward

Why is it that 95% of my pregnancy wardrobe makes me look like a Jedi?

Daily Dose of MSNBC...

Have you heard yet about the latest Clinton-Obama issue over David Geffen's donations? Is Hilary for real telling Obama that he should give the money back??? I'm not an Obama supporter (though I know he's running for president, I certainly haven't seen anything yet that actually says what his stand on any issue is)... but I do have to say that the Clinton's stand on this issue is a bit ridiculous. Somebody tell Hil that she's not running the world yet, okay? And, you heard it here first (much like with Julia Robert's pregnancy).... if David Geffen dies in a mysterious crash/fire/earthquake, etc. something's telling me I think we have an idea who was behind it....

On the Anna Nicole theatrics in Fort Lauderdale, I think Dan Abrams said it best with the following quote: "I feel like it's an episode of Seinfeld. Like they are going to decide over Newman and Kramer, who gets Jerry's bike," Abrams said. "It's a hearing about nothing."

And, finally, just what we've been waiting for... Prince Harry is being deployed to Iraq... didn't Tony Blair just talk about upping the return rate of British troops?? Yet we're going to send the person who's third in line for the throne to Iraq? I see a sequal to "The Queen" in the making, Helen Mirren, clear your schedule.

Pain in My...

My desk chair at the Job has never been very good. I've had this chair since about 2004 now and I had taken it from another office when we did a move and essentially it looks like something salvaged from 1983. The back is completely not adjustable, neither are the armrests and because of the height of the armrests the chair can only get *so* close to my desk-- not really enough for sitting here hours on end to be comfortable. Things finally came to a head earlier on in my pregnancy where between my naturally bad posture, even worse sagging pregnancy posture and the total inflexibility of my office chair I had begun to get a sharp pain in my right-middle back. I noticed that it got worse when I had to use my computer (something that I realized after having not needed to use my computer extensively for a couple of weeks where the pain subsided...) Finally at my January doctor's visit I asked for a note so I could get a new chair. Preferably one that's adjustable and not seemingly designed by angry Shakers. I turned in my note and was told I'd get a new chair. So far, nothing. Today the back pain started in at 11am. I sent an email to the chair ordering big-wig and have received no response so far.

I have a number of strange items in my office, including a Hartland statute of Warren Spahn, an Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure from Burger King and a number of stuffed animals. Luckily for me the stuffed cat that I received a few Halloween's ago with some Godiva chocolate works well as a lumbar support substitute. Yes, for now, I am sitting here with a stuffed cat behind my back.

Coinage

The Dad has informed me that he has sent me a roll of the new $1 coins. This is very exciting as I am a bit of a closet coin and stamp geek. We got a good laugh over the fact that Jimmy Carter is currently gumming up the works for a Ronald Reagan $1 coin since the "rule" for currency is that a president has to be dead for at least 2 years before they can appear on any form of currency and apparently for these purposes the Mint won't skip Carter. Anyhoo, this brings me to mention my all-time favorite U.S. Coin, the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. First off, it appears to be a hendecagon (which is cool, though often confusing for coin-operated machinery) and what says goofy currency like having a suffragette on one side of the coin and a tribute to the moon landing on the other???

News of the World...

So is it just me or are people going crazy all of a sudden? First off, what's with Jet Blue? Personally, I'm not a fan of discount air carriers (not that I'm particularly a fan of any air carrier given my fear of flying) so I don't think there would ever come a time where I would be flying Jet Blue to any one of their fabulous destinations such as San Juan, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas or Orange County, but still they seem to be suffering from some sort of complete and total corporate breakdown. And, more importantly what is the deal with all of those passengers who were stranded in their planes (on the runway) at JFK during last week's ice storm?? I think this is indicitive of the latest problem in our country-- a lack of that pioneering American independent spirit.

Granted, to be fair, I wasn't on one of those planes so I have no real idea of what it was like, but I will tell you this, had I been on one of those planes I sure as hell wouldn't have been stranded on the runway for upwards of 8 plus hours. No, more likely I would have been escorted off of the plane in handcuffs well before then. Now maybe the allure of being told you may or may not still get to Cancun this century is enough to brainwash people into sitting in a cramped cabin awaiting word as to wheather the "weather is going to break" but not for me. Pull that sucker back up to the gate or inflate the damn inflatable ramps and get me off. Why didn't the passengers throw a collective fit and make the pilot, crew, etc. do something short of the 8 hour mark??? I recall a few years ago when I was stuck on an Amtrak train just outside of the station in Newark and while my calls to the local police and Amtrak police went unheeded, finally, when we were all suffering from undue heat I pulled the emergency exit lever and took out one of the windows. The conductor came over, fuming, saying "you can't do that, only in an emergency". Well, I'm sorry, last time I checked being stuck on a train for three hours with no ventilation seemed like an emergency to me. Exactly what is your definition of emergency if holding people captive on mass transit isn't it?

Given this history, had I been on one of those planes and in an exit row I so *totally* would have opened the door and pulled the lever on the inflatable ramp!

Next item: Ralph Fiennes bathroom encounter with a Quantas stewardess. I don't think I need to say much more than-- seemingly very uncharacteristic. Would that be indictive of very good service on Quantas' part or bad service? I'm not quite sure.

Next: Martha Stewart-- geesh that woman can be a real (well, fill in the blank here...) yesterday she had on as a guest a 10 year old boy who had climbed Mount Kilamanjaro. All Martha could do was talk about her own experience scaling the mountatin and how wonderful it was that it was snowing when she got to the top. She tells the boy-- "well, you're young, maybe you can go back..." When he starts to tell her about the climbs he has lined up for the rest of this year she actually says: "Well, I have it on good authority that that climb isn't very hard." Martha, he's 10. Why don't you give the kid a break, huh?

Finally: Britney Spears. All I can figure is that she is doing everything in her power to get the State of California to take those kids away from her. Either that or she's thinking about opening a Supercuts franchise.

Music and Lyrics...

Last night the Husband and I enjoyed a late night showing of Music and Lyrics. It was pretty harmless lightweight fare, but I will say, it took on a new level of depth given that on Friday we saw Rick Springfield in concert. There's a scene in the movie where Hugh Grant's character is performing at a Class of '87 high school reunion and the women in the audience are totally throwing themselves at him and I have to say, after having seen Rick's fans, it wasn't really an exaggeration by any stretch. Yes, to get full appreciation of a movie about a washed up '80's singer it's great to have been able to see one in person.

On another note, yesterday I watched An Inconvenient Truth. I'm still not quite sure what possessed me, other than that I've been in a documentary phase lately. They really shouldn't let politicians try and explain scientific concepts. That's all I have to say.

Goldfinger...

I'm in line at Cucina with the Husband and I remark that I am mesmerized by Eartha Kitt's rendition of The Girl From Ipanema playing on the stereo. The woman ahead of us in line looks at me and says, "I don't think that's Eartha Kitt. Shirley Bassey maybe." With this thought I am intrigued as indeed it could be Shirley Bassey and I hadn't even thought of Shirley. We're called to the next cashier and I ponder this point. Once we've paid we encounter the woman again at the napkin/utensil area and she says: "Eartha's voice isn't that good, do you know who Shirley Bassey is?" and I respond, "Of course, "Goldfinger"!" I then get back in response, "Very good, and you're so young!" I do have to say though, I think I was right the first time. A quick scan of Shirley's material on Amazon suggests that none of her currently available albums have The Girl from Ipanema, but Ms. Kitt, she's got one.

Scarlett Johansson

Babycenter informed me this morning that I am now 23 weeks pregnant. So far one of the physical upshots of pregnancy has been the mythical breast enlargement. Thinking back on that last sentence, I can say I believe this is the only physical upshot (aside from the whole "creating a person" thing)... because really the swelling feet, morning sickness, etc. just don't count for any fun. For those of you who know me, you well know that I didn't have much going on on top to begin with. To be fair, compared to other pregnant women the boob growth that I have experienced certainly pales in comparison but, overall I have been feeling like all of a sudden I've got Scarlett Johansson's boobs. Again, I know in reality this is just in my head because I'm sure Miss Scarlett's are still much larger than what I have now but compared to the A- cup size I had been sporting I feel like I've made significant progress. To paraphrase Jessica Simpson, clothes just fit better. I had actually started to feel boob when I put my arms at my side-- yes, my cups runneth over beyond my ribcage. Speaking of ribcages, my breasts now actually stick out beyond my ribs (sad state of affairs pre-pregnancy, I know, when your regular boobs compete with your ribcage for outward dimension)... Now, however, I am reaching the downward spiral where even if I have inherited Scarlett's boobs my stomach is quickly overshadowing anything on top.

Westminster!

Yesterday I had a fun filled day with Thisbe and the Wee Kraken! We started off with a ladies lunch at Saks (nothing like the half tuna sandwich-- on toast-- and cup of corn and crab chowder!) followed by a bit of Wee Kraken and Baby G clothing shopping and then we headed to MSG for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show! We were able to hang out in the "benching area" and check out all the exciting dogs and then we actually got to walk out on the green carpet of the center ring! It was very fun and exciting and I think we have a yearly tradition in the making!

I did feel a bit of guilt, however. I think Miss Kitty could tell where I had been.

Docu-Drama...

This weekend, for some reason, I decided I was going to watch some new documentaries on pay-per-view. I'm not quite sure why I didn't just wait for these gems to appear on STARZ! but it could be partially attributed to the fact that the weekend before the Oscar nominees were announced Little Miss Sunshine was available on pay-per-view and I didn't get the chance to see it, and the minute it was named a Best Picture nominee it quickly was pulled from the line-up. I figured I'd get the documentaries while the getting was good. I watched Who Killed the Electric Car? on Saturday (and even dare I say, got the Husband sucked into it too...) and Word Play last night while I was making lemon chicken stir fry. I'm actually surprised that Who Killed the Electric Car didn't get an Oscar nomination-- it was actually quite intriguing and with Marty Sheen as narrator easy to listen to. Word Play on the other hand was a glorified PBS special. Interesting, kind of, but really just fluff. Mad Hot Ballroom (also on the fluffy side) was much more "inspirational" and enjoyable to watch than a bunch of cross-word puzzlers holed up at the Stamford Marriott. But, what do I know, I don't even do Sudoku puzzles.

Questions Couples Should Ask....

This morning I was cruising around the New York Times website and I found an article entitled "Questions Couples Should Ask (or Wish They Had) Before Marrying" Though I have recently passed the five year married mark, I thought, "hmm, this sounds intriguing" and figured I'd check it out. As to be expected the list included things such as how many children do you want, how will you raise your children vis-a-vis religion, who will do chores and are you a penny pincher or a spendthrift. The question, though, that I thought most silly (in comparison to the rest) was: "Will there be a television in the bedroom?" Apparently this is quite a sticking point for people. For me, it's not "will there be a television" but more, "how big will the tv be?"

I don't know about you but when I am at home sick in bed nothing says "sick day" more than a bowl of chicken and rice soup and watching Regis & Kelly or The View in bed. Not to mention what about those nights when the Husband is stuck at work and I should be asleep, but instead am waiting up for him and am immersed in bad television, like the time I actually elected to watch the Al Pacino classic "Author! Author! Or even last night. Sure, I may have fallen asleep on the couch in the family room while the Husband watched "Jet Li's Fearless" on pay-per-view, but the minute I headed upstairs to the bedroom I was suddenly refreshed and decided to see what was on TV. I found us two travel related shows, one more entertaining than the next: Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe and the old fave Globe Trekker (Indian Ocean Islands episode with Ian Wright as the host)... We then spent from 2am to 3am flipping back and forth between these shows. Francesco (visiting northern Italy) was just comical with his floppy mop of grey hair and bad Italian theme music and Ian's accent (very Jamie Oliver, but without the lisp) was entertaining in its own right, regardless of the locale. But, for purposes of couples bonding time, the best part came after the shows were over. On The Travel Channel, at 3am, we shifted to "Paid Programming" the first seven minutes of which was a pitch for The Bible on DVD, which went (seemingly without any segue) into an infomercial for an Evinrude 2 stroke outboard motor. I ask you, what says couple time more than watching bad infomercials at 3am? Things such as this just would not be possible if a TV wasn't in the bedroom!

Higher Education...

We've recently learned that our cat, Jules Verne Kitty Van Winkle, will be receiving a degree in 17th Century French Literature with a minor in Balls of String later this spring from Sarah Lawrence College. It appears that she has been taking correspondence course while we've been at work and this also would account for the rather large sums which seem to be disappearing via wire transfer from our bank account.

Voiceover...

Five days a week we take the number one train from 34th Street to midtown. Often when riding on the subway the loudspeaker announcements are completely unintelligible (even the recorded ones). However, every now and again we get to the platform just at the right time to ride on the train that not only has a working loudpseaker but also has a conductor/engineer with a voice made completely for late night jazz radio! He is my favorite loudspeaker voice... very calm, soothing-- almost makes riding the subway pleasant, but for the inability of the MTA to regulate temperature inside the cars properly, the unflattering lighting and of course, the other passengers.

"This is a Bronx Bound Number One Train, Next Stop 42nd Street, transferrrrr here for the A.....C.....E......N......R......W.....Number 7 train and the Shutttttle to Grand Central...." It's almost like a semi-Barry White purr. "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors" no longer sounds like a hasty threat.

This morning, however, we had to come in early which put us on a totally different schedule for the subway. However, I wasn't disappointed. While our voice this morning wasn't my soothing jazz radio host, instead it was someone clearly trying to break into show business.

Upon entering the train at 34th street we were all greeted with:

"You look good out there today, Manhattan!"

Geesh, flattery will get you everywhere-- one good look around the car I was in clearly meant he wasn't talking to us in particular.

Then as we approached 42nd we not only got the usual recitation of the various train lines which converge at this station but we also got directions, "Up stairs for the A,C,E" "Downstairs for the N,R,W, 7 and Shuttle" "Acrosssss the platform for the 2/3"

Next, between 42nd and 50th we were given the time and temperature and told to have a "Long, Warm, Friday." I guess he's a comedian too.

Nick & Jessica

Jessica Simpson has recently shared with Elle Magazine that a plane ride viewing of The Notebook helped seal the fate of her marriage to Nick Lachey. All I can say is poor Nick. Why would you come out and say that your divorce was inspired by a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book? Please, tell me there was something more!

Hemlines.

I'm short. It's obvious. For a very long time growing up I would struggle when buying pants to find ones that actually were the appropriate length. For a good stretch the Gap carried ankle length jeans that worked, then I had to shift to Old Navy and finally, once I got out of college and law school I just broke down and recognized that a) yes, you can have jeans hemmed, despite what my mom used to tell me, and b) essentially every pair of non-jeans, non-capri pants I might ever want to buy will be manufactured for a giant, so I may as well just get over it and get everything shortened, professionally. "Professionally" in this context is a bit of a strong word because it rarely means actually having a real seamstress do the work (like the time I managed to snag a Burberry skirt at Syms and then took it to Burberry claimed it was a few seasons old and that I got it at the outlet and they took it down two whole sizes for me, shortened it and it only cost $10)... no usually it means taking your stuff to the dry cleaners and hoping for the best.

Now I ask you, why is it that whenever you take pants to get them shortened the person doing the shortening never wants to make them short enough? Even if they mark them short enough, when you come back and get them and try them on with the same pair of shoes they're always longer than you wanted. For a while I thought maybe it was just me, then I was at Banana with Dave one day and he was getting pants hemmed and the woman there gave him the same argument--- "wait until you wash them, they'll shrink." "Sit down and see how far they come up".... okay, fine but when I'm sitting I'll most likely be behind a desk or behind a table so I don't fricking care how short my pants are when I sit down, I want them to be the right length when I'm standing up! Who wants to have a pair of Burberry signature plaid pants with cuffs that drag on the ground?

Needless to say, on Saturday when I picked up my maternity jeans (the ones from the garbage bag incident discussed below) and my lined, wool Liz Lange pants (thank god these were ready since yesterday morning it was all of 9 degrees on the train platform) they were of course, both too long. Sure, I could take them back and ask them to be fixed, but that would be another week that would go by without having the pants to wear and I'm afraid at this stage, I don't have that week to spare.

Subway Etiquette

Item #1: To the blonde woman with the iPod nano who just had to get into the last car of the #1 subway train this morning at 34th street, when you see a woman of child bearing age standing inside the "closing doors" please refrain from hurling your body at full speed towards this person with the hope that you might be able to make yourself fit despite the bulging pool of humanity which is already shoved inside the car, as alas, said woman may actually be with child and she really doesn't need to get your hand/elbow/sherpa pack in her kidneys. Thank you.

Item #2: To the kind folks at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-- why is it that now the bulk of the public service announcement signs on the subway dealing with preventing terrorism, etc. are solely in Spanish, yet the sign which indicates that carrying a loaded weapon on the subway will get you a minimum of 3 1/2 years in jail is only in English?

Weekend Movie Stupor....

Last night we found ourselves watching Roll Bounce (yes, the Lil' Bow Wow tour de force) and though we missed the first hour of the movie, I'd have to say it actually wasn't that bad and relatively entertaining, as entertaining as a "coming of age" story set in a 1970's roller disco can be. I didn't even know they still made moves about roller discos...

Pot Pieeeeee!

Last night we made pot pie and it worked out well!

I started with one box of chicken stock which I heated on medium and tossed in about 4 boneless chicken breasts, three large leeks (chopped-- white and light green parts only) and two large shallots, chopped. I separately boiled four good sized yukon gold potatoes (skins on, roughly diced) and a bunch of carrots-- also diced.

I added herbs de provence, basil, salt and black pepper to the chicken stock and simmered until the chicken was cooked through. Once the chicken was cooked I removed it from the broth and cut it up into good sized chunks. I put the chicken cubes back in the broth and drained the potatoes and carrots and put them in the broth as well. I then added whole baby onions and frozen sweet baby peas to the broth and continued to simmer. I added some cream and a good bit of corn starch to thicken the mixture.

Separately, I used pillsbury pre-made pie dough to line the bottom of an emile henry bowl... once I was happy with the consistency of the broth, chicken and vegetable mixture, I filled up the bowls. I then used another piece of pre-made pie dough to cover the top of the pot-pie, making a few slices in the top for venting and then putting an egg wash on the outside.

I baked the pot pies on 400 for about 15-20 minutes or until the pie crust was golden brown a bit puffy and the insides were bubbling.

My favorite part were the baby onions! We downed these while watching an episode of Black Adder (which, while Hugh Laurie was entertaining, just will never be one of my favorite "britcoms"...) All in all, though, a good dinner, especially on a chilly winter night! :)

Next time, I would maybe add some white wine to the broth... we just didn't have any handy...

Misinformation...

This morning I received two emails. One was from a contractor giving a quote for a remodel of the soon-to-be nursery (and by remodel I mean take down the existing drywall and replace it with new drywall-- not a difficult task by any means but one which in my current condition I can't be of much assistance with and fairly I think it is a two man job...) the estimate clocked in at just over $10,000.

Next was an email from Tiffany's with the subject heading: "Give Tiffany's Diamonds for Valentine's Day".

Clearly someone thinks I'm making *way* more than I actually do.