Waiting on Little Miss Labin

BABY UPDATE:
We're officially in countdown mode until the arrival of Baby Labin this September. She's due in 80 days!!! I know as well as anyone that she could be early or late, but at least it gives you a target. The third trimester has really ramped up to be pretty miserable. I feel like I am always either exhausted, hungry, have to pee or feel sick. Productivity is a thing of the past - and so is bending over. I started crying the other day because I just didn't feel like I could reach my feet in the shower - until Jon suggested I throw my washcloth on the ground and rub my feet with it.

I feel like we've accomplished the most important things in the getting ready for baby process, but there's still so much to do. We painted the nursery and pretty much got settled into the new house. We ordered the nursery furniture and I am busy making most of the decorations myself (with some sewing help from the grandmothers.) We registered for all of the baby gear at Babies R Us, Target, and Amazon. We've done allllll of the testing and passed everything with flying colors. We also have the list of names narrowed down to four. (But this will be a surprise.)

However, we still have to figure out daycare, the dedication ceremony for after her birth, and find a pediatrician. We registered for, but have not yet taken, all of the childbirth-nursing-infant care classes. We have to figure out the cord blood banking thing, and I have to start figuring out what I'm in for when it comes to labor. So far I've managed to push this off (no pun intended) but it feels like I can't do that anymore.

We're getting the carpet replaced tomorrow, and a vacation coming up, so next post will be about all that non-baby stuff.

Upswing

Yay! No more spinny-throw-uppy-headache-like-a-mofo episodes in two whole days! After a month of a yuck, it's been a welcome reprieve. That's enough about that - wouldn't want to seem ungrateful.

Also, seeing as how we started this blog to talk about the Home Maintenance Journey Fantastic it seems only fitting to throw in a few words about the topic here.

Jason got us back on track last weekend by volunteering his time and sanity to sit in a bathtub with me and throw some mud around . . . okay wait that's not what I meant. I mean that Jason and I worked really hard . . . uh, we tiled together. And Jon cut tile. And we made progress.

(You can all stop saying That's What She Said, now. We're past that.)

Hey Jason - thanks for backbuttering my tile.

(Hehe. Okay I'm really done now.) The man helps us get this neverending project done and what reward do I think appropriate? Inappropriateness. Commence finger-wagging.

Anyway, we are expecting friends this weekend...maybe we will even have a tiled bathroom to show!!!

A Confession

Ok, I admit it. I am a baby when it comes to not feeling well. I like attention, I like being taken care of, and I am really really cranky. (My husband is Soooo Lucky!)

This all-about-me regression has been my lifestyle for about three weeks. In addition to the physical symptoms, I am now scared, frustrated, and stressed out about not knowing what's going on. I am not my usual ray-of-sunshine-self.

So, the problem is that I am continuing to feel that way despite the fact that all of these people around me have much bigger issues going on. I really WANT to be selfless, and supportive to all of the people important to me, but I am so wrapped up in my own head, my own issues, that I catch myself being preoccupied with myself instead of helping others.

Let me give you a sampling of what is going on with folks around me, the things I should actually be focusing on:

• Friends finding out they are having a boy
• Other friends maybe having life changing stuff going on
• Yet others having their new baby girl
• Friend K. had her apartment flooded and had to move her pregnant self to a temp place
• Family in car accidents
• Other family leaving for a semester abroad

I just need to get my head on straight! Maybe if I focus on the right things, karma will make my own issues disappear.

Birthday Blues

So after a week of fairly consistent headaches, waves of dizziness, and a touch of nausea here and there - we still have no idea what's going on. It started out pretty bad, then started going better towards the end of the week - now I feel like it's getting worse again. Just more frequent. Ugh.

So now, I get to go stick my head in a giant magnet for my birthday. I've never had an MRI before, and it makes me just a little more stressed out. Ugh.

Many of you know that I spent my birthday last year trying not to think about it (I'll discuss this in another post) so I was really looking forward to this year. OH well.

10 Days and Counting

I am pretty sure that I have never, ever stuck to a diet for 10 straight days without "cheating" before. I never believed anyone when I was told this, but it gets easier.

For example, my friend at work and I go to Olive Garden for lunch pretty often - it's "our place" to go and complain about work and load up on carbs. So we were headed out yesterday and I actually changed our plans so that we could go somewhere more diet-friendly. I don't think I would have been able to do that before.

So here I am after 10 days of substituting green beans for french fries, picking the bun off my hamburger, and snacking only on cheese and nuts. 10 days, 4 workouts and 5 pounds. That's so definitely worth it!

Don't get me wrong - I REALLY want a slice of birthday cake. I have about a dozen opportunities during the celebrations over the next week to throw my diet out the window. So I respectfully asked everyone to leave the dessert at home. Yes, even the "healthy" desserts like fruit. Though some people seem to think it's more important to have a pastry to stick a stupid candle in then to respect my goals and ambitions - for my own birthday. Oh well.

So don't be offended friends, when you want to get together for my birthday and it ends up being a casual stay-at-home affair without sweets of any kind. Because for my birthday, it's all about me!

The Nature of My Obsessions

I must have a mild form of OCD. Not to be callous (I do have a friend with OCD) but my overwhelming drive to get things done around the house may be getting out of control. I woke up this morning and spent an hour and a half putting away Christmas before Jon got up.

Yeah, so? So the thing is, I could have waited for help, I could have left it up a few more days and not started the last day of my time off in a whirlwind of glitter and tissue paper. But no, I couldn't even sit down this morning I was too stressed about the tree, weeks after it had fulfilled its purpose still sitting in my living room. No, it had to come down!!!

And this is just one thing I'm worried about today. The unfortunate part is that for whatever reason, I work really hard all the time and I never get to check anything off my list. Remember all those things I listed a couple of posts ago? NONE of them are done! NONE!

Maybe Jon will surprise me today with a voluntary 10 hours of productivity and we will check a couple things off that ever-growing to-do list.

Recap

Some quick stories of the last few days:

• New Year's Eve: For a variety of reasons (including we're old and we get tired quickly) we had a great time at Sarah's place watching movies and chowing down on junk food (low-carb wings for us!) But then we were all done by about 11:30pm - so Jon and I left! We rung in the new year in our car exiting the highway. Strange, yes. Sad? I say no.
  
  
• New Year's Day: Jen and Jason have been alternating feeling badly for about a week. By Jan 1, Jen was ready for a "care package" so I whipped up some feel good food and entertainment and headed over. We play Uno and listened to U2. Very fun!
  
  
• Jan 2 - Well, it appears that someone did a bump and grab on Jason's phone. Luckily, the somewhat shady character who was given the phone (as a payment towards what the thief owed him) called Jason and offered to give it back. Without going into ALL of the details, let's just say my imagination kicked in, and by the time the four of caravan-ed over to pick it up I had an exit strategy, the police on speed dial, and I was doing my best bond impersonation.
  
  
• The plan for today is to finish up a couple of the items I mentioned before. I have to see how long Jon can hold out. The poor guy feels like when he gets home he just has to work the whole time. I'm trying my best to give him some relaxation time, but it's difficult when there are unfinished projects everywhere you turn. We are both desperate to be done with these home projects - and we're close, but it's so hard to find dedicated time. Oh well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Filing and Tiling

Did everyone have grand illusions for this stay-cation holiday? I have been off from work since Wednesday and have not even started on alllll of the projects that I so optimistically envisioned being done by now:

1. Finish tiling and be able to use the master bathroom (7 months and counting)
2. Go through the filing cabinet, sort purge and organize
3. Thank you cards sent out
4. Christmas put away
5. General cleanliness and organization abounds

Oh to live in a stable, clean and organized house, just for a few days even! A home without a single pile of "do something with these" papers. It is what it is, right?

On the health note, today is day 5 and my net progress is.... 0. I don't know what happened. I had lost three pounds this week, went to the gym twice so far and was very faithful to the diet for four days. Then the scale this morning informs me that not only did I not lose more weight - I might as well have been eating loaves of glorious bread-type carbs all week. I am pining over the passing of my progress (again) but head up and diving back into it. Can't stop now!

A Few Nods of Gratitude

Like everyone else, I use this time of year to reflect over the previous twelve months. Most commonly we think of things we want to continue to do, do less of, change, or start to do in the new year based on ourselves.

I think it is just as important to think about the lessons we have learned from our friends and family. These ideas are much more challenging to apply to our own behavior - but I wanted to take the time to highlight a few examples of how some people have affected me this year.

• K.S. - We cannot spend our whole life trying to change. The desire to do something will not keep illnesses at bay. In the end, we always pay up for our procrastination.
• N.L. - Confronting the issues at the heart of a wounded relationship is a difficult thing to do, but addressing things openly is the only way to mend it.
• J.L. - The idea of routine and stability are counter to some of us. But it is much easier to make great strides towards development if some parts of our life are not always in flux.
• J.M.F. - A healthy lifestyle can be natural, easy and free from the constant feeling of deprivation and hopelessness. It is possible to eat healthily without concentrated effort, get to a point where you enjoy exercising, and listen to your body all at the same time.
• J.B.F. - You can care for someone, disagree with them, and let them know it, all while still being genuinely kind and calm. Diplomacy is one thing - true graciousness, respect, and modesty is another.
• K.T. - Keep following your dreams, even if you have no time, no energy, and you have to take over some of the family space to do it in. (Some of us use the excuse of not having a dedicated workshop or office to put off venturing towards our goals- shame on us.)
• D.T. - Roll with the punches. While stability is something to strive for (see above) it is generally impossible over time. Things will change, sometimes very fast, and yes, you too can make lemonade out of those lemons.
• S.M. - Find humor in life every day. We will always be unhappy about work, or home, or family, or friends (or maybe several at once) but it's laughing about it that will get you through.
• J.S. - Being a grown-up doesn't mean you have to stop learning. (Okay, I already felt strongly about this one, but he does a great job of practicing it.)
• A.L. - Take charge of one-sided relationships. It's okay to put your foot down once in a while, even if it feels like you could hurt the other person.
• K.H. - Your primary purpose in life is to lead yourself and your spouse and/or children towards happiness and success. Sometimes that means setting sail for an unknown shore and changing course as you go.

This is definitely not an exhaustive list, but it's a start. A little disclaimer - the one or two people who read this might not be on here, or may be offended by my list. I hope not. But true to my purpose in doing this, I'm happy to discuss any thing on here with you - my friends and family.

Day 1 - A Cut Above

Let me tell you something - I was so on top of things yesterday! Some successes:

• Stuck to the diet despite the two gigantic bowls of christmas candy on the dining room table
• Did my Cto5k program at the gym and then Yoga-Pilates class
• Cut caffeine back to one mug of tea
  
• I even drank more than 8 glasses of water!!!

Then, well - things got a little dodgy for a few minutes. I get home from the gym, exhausted, sore, low blood-sugar levels and start making our lunch. Out comes the tomato, the sharp santoku knife, and....well I gave myself the deepest cut I think I ever had. We were actually thinking I might need stitches. The funny part was that Jon was in the same physical state as me so as soon as he saw my handiwork he almost passed out! He called it "sympathy" faintness!

Ok so here's to a slice-free but still successful day 2!

Off to a Good Start

I am very excited to report that Jon and I started on our diets today - and two hours later everything is looking up. (Come on, it's the small successes people!)

Seriously, I just read that thin or average-sized folks will gain on average 1-2 pounds just over the holidays, larger people will average 5 pounds in weight gain. (Duh, right? Well just wait...)

The kicker is, that some people think that mid-life weight gain is mostly a factor of people putting on weight over the holidays and not doing anything about it so that it accumulates. So the key to a healthy adulthood may be in kicking that Xmas Poundage to the curb right away. (Not going to cite sources here, honestly the site I got this from didn't either.)

One of the reasons that men in general (and my husband specifically) are so much more successful at losing weight/getting in shape/attaining goals - is that they tend to be far more disciplined and unemotional about the whole thing.

Here's a little side by side comparison:

Her	Him
"Well, everyone else ordered dessert so obviously I had to."	"Everyone else was ordering dessert so I left."
"I've had a terrible day, I need comfort food."	"I've had a bad day, I don't want to make it worse by ruining my diet."
"I'll make myself a big breakfast so I won't be so hungry."(And then you're still hungry so you eat a big lunch too.)	"I skip breakfast and eat my calories later."

So, there it is. Stop making excuses! Stop worrying about other people! Take a lesson from my dearest - skip breakfast, eat as little as possible, and STICK TO IT! We'll see if I can take my own advice.

Prepping for 2009 Part 1 - Diet

So Christmas is in full swing, but I have some thoughts before we head into next year.

I made some darn good progress on the health front during the summer/fall of this year. Exercise was probably a 2.5 out of 5, but once Jon started dieting with me, things started going really well nutritionally - maybe a 3.5 or 4.

Well, once turkey day came, all bets were off and I quickly saw progress disappear like a doughnut at an eater's anonymous meeting. I've gained back most of what I've lost year and that couldn't be more depressing. So, Jon and I are getting our action plan in place to regain our previous success and continue on towards the ultimate victory. To that end, I think we are going to have a "Carbo-Load" party on Sunday. More on that later.

A Feeling I Hope I Never Lose

Tonight I experienced a rare autumn joy - driving way too fast, down a very dark road, with my music up way too loud. There are few things in the world that make me feel this cathartic.

Night driving always makes me feel a little surreal as it is, but add in an inspiring rhythm and the perfect chilly temperatures and I remember what life was like before a mortgage, marriage and full time job. Not that any of those things are less than blessings - however, you have to admit, your typical 9-5 gig+white picket fence+"Honey do list" tends to change the way one looks at a dark reckless drive down a two lane road.

We (meaning any of my friends reading this) are all getting older but I really suggest the next time you find yourself driving home alone late at night, turn the music dial just a little more to the right, and slip a little more pressure onto that gas pedal - it's worth it.

Calling all Names

Okay - as you all know, I am on my fourth ipod in three years.

The first one had my name engraved on it - a gift from Jon for our engagement. It got stolen.

The second one I named simply, "Jenn's Ipod" - it was a refurbished 20g classic that lasted me about two years until it finally broke down magnificently like a marathon runner at the end of his career.

Number three was "Rosebud" my red 8gig nano that I purchased right before vacation and lost right away.

So it's YOUR TURN to name my ipod. I'm looking for a clever name for my new 8gig red nano. JFreddie - I have high expectations for your entries.

Thanks! Jenn

Chivas Win!

And now a post from our sponsor...

Chivas Win! Chivas Win! Everybody! Gather up the entire family and pile onto the scooter and we'll go cruising in the parade of cheering fans, waving the flag and plush goat mascot, and honking the horn setting off car alarms all along the street.

Apparently, the Chivas del Guadalajara beat América two to one while we were eating our dinner. This partially explains the comparatively empty streets earlier while were were out looking for somewhere to eat. Only one in every 7 or 8 shop owners was desparetly trying to get us to take a look at what they had to offer (Sorry, I still don't belive you that you have silver jewelry for free).

Now, however there is a true celebration going on outside our hotel. Waves of honking horns from vans, cars, trucks, mopeds, and scooters are driving up and down the main street. Everybody is in the color or jersey of the Chivas and most cars have a huge flag stuck out the window.

The most striking part is that it seems the whole family is included. You'll see a mother and child riding on a scooter driven by the father. Or a group of 5 crammed into a little hatch-back. A clowncar's worth piled into a van. All wearing jerseys and cheering for Los Chivas!

An exciting close to the lazy (recouperation after all the diving), last full day of vacation before travling home.

Pictures are Up!

Check out our pics from the trip. I'm hoping this other couple will supply us with some underwater photos soon also.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smock9/

Cozumel - Highlights

Cozumel Parts 3-5 (Just the Highlights)

Basically we've been silent due to extreme exhaustion - sun + diving + touristing. So here are the highlights of the middle of our trip.

Cozumel Downtown
Everywhere you walk downtown is like running a gauntlet of falsely-charming peso-hungry dudes. On every block there are at least 3-5 silver jewelry stores, some tourist t-shirt places, and a tequila store. "Hey, Honeymooners! Special for you! 99% off!" - "Hey Amiga, Amigo, come try my store please!" - "What are you looking for honeymooners? Cuban cigars amigo?" For Jon and myself, this is like a new personal hell. I am already known for feeling bad about NOT buying stuff (I know it doesn't make sense) so we had a lot of personal growth this trip. I now feel like a Gold Medalist in the Aggressive-Shop-Owner-100meter.


Food
Well we went to the beautiful Wynston restaurant at the top of one of the taller condo buildings on the shore. The view was capital "A" - Amazing. We got to watch a spectacular sunset so it was wonderful. However. The food was lower case "o" - as in okay. Definitely the exception to the "Get what you pay for" rule. Maybe we should have known when they had Chilean Sea Bass (BIG NO NO) and Maryland Crab on the menu.

Today we went to La Mission for "real" mexican food as Jon likes to say. Holy crapola was that good. A couple margaritas, mariachi band, and some almost-orgasmic quacamole later - and I barely have the energy to finish this post. We plan to return to La Mission tomorrow for lunch!


Diving
Jon's been a little worried that when we get to the states, people will say, "What else did you do besides diving?" and we will say, "Ate and slept." However, please take into account that this has been the BEST diving experience we've had - or at least tied with Hawaii. First of all we have seen just about every species of fish that exist in this area of the world and amazing 80foot+ coral formations that make you really understand the precarious balance of life. We've done some beginner cave diving/swim throughs that actually made me hold my breath in wonder - ok not a great reaction underwater, but what can I say I was moved! We've seen 5-10 sea turtles, a couple of nurse sharks, some rare fish, a huge crab....and I'm not lying here, yesterday we saw a SEVEN FOOT MORAY EEL. Do you know what that is like? This guy could fit my head in his mouth if it so desired. It looked like a DINOSAUR!!! Definitely the scariest/most awesome thing I have seen below water.

Let's add to all of this the thing that will impress all of you non-divers out there. Between our morning and afternoon dives, the boat takes us to a local resort beach, feeds us, and then we spend an hour playing in the crystal clear blue water - and there really wasn't anyone else around.

Plus, when we get back from diving - smelling of old sea water, dripping wet and walk back to the hotel - no one wants us in their shop!

Cozumel Part 2

Day 2 in Cozumel was even more wonderful than Day 1. We woke up early and went down to the complimentary breakfast on the terrace. On a non-diving day I plan to take advantage of the omelet chef - but you have to be really careful what you eat before diving. Coffee, sodas, and many other things can kill a dive. Most people have had the misfortune to have to use the restroom when at the beach - imagine that when you have a bathing suit plus a couple layers of neoprene and scuba equipment on - oh yeah and you're in the middle of the ocean, 60feet under water and it takes 10 minutes to surface safely.

So after desayuno we made our way to the marina on the south end of the island. Everyone was so friendly! They were all helping us find the "Maximus" our boat. Blanca, our divemaster was extremely safety oriented which is great - we were also her only clients that day which was amazing. We saw little christmas tree worms (image) which retreat and hide when you swim by. Also a big sea turtle, a five-foot barracuda (image) which freak me out, and some HUGE Queen Triggerfish (image) and an incredible variety of fish and coral. On our second dive we saw a cluster of big spiny lobster (image with relative size) and Jon's favorite, the very elusive nudibranchs (image).

For lunch, we decided to do the obligatory "WOO-SPRING-BREAK-CANCUN-WOOOO!" eating experience when on a tropical island/cruise ship stop. We ate at Carlos N Charlies - a total tourist trap situated conveniently between Senor Frogs (tourist trap) and the Hard Rock Bar (tourist trap.) At CnC the balloon guy comes around and makes everyone a "hat" in the shape of various naughty objects and the shot girl comes around blowing a whistle and tweaking guys' nipples to get them to chug. I am not making this up - whatever, the food was find and I have a balloon crown sitting in the hotel room. We will post pictures of this place later this week.

Let's see - at this point I was mucho overwhelmed people-wise and pretty tired so it was back to the hotel room for a nap and a couple of hours of reading. On the way we passed one of the stranger things I had ever seen - and avon convention on the hotel terrace. A couple of hundred hispanic women milling around in pink tshirts trying out cosmetics. Avon is scary enough when I understand the language. We steered clear of this particular event.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that this was our 3 year anniversary? We (I) decided that we (I) was too tired to go for a fancy meal so we basically ended the evening with more reading and some room service nachos. Hah! Happy anniverary....snoooore.

That's okay - we went out for the big expensive meal on day 3. I'll post that tomorrow.

Cozumel Part 1

So, welcome back to my semi-annual blog. This is a medium that takes literally seconds to create and deliver and I can only get around to it twice a year....oh well. However, let me repeat a fairly accurate conversation that happened on the streets of Cozumel, Mexico today.

Me: "You ready to go diving!??!"
Jon: "Yep. Are you going to keep some sort of record or journal about this trip?"
Me: "What like a log?"
Jon: "Yes, a log."
Me: "As in...a WEB-log, or a 'blog' if you will? As in... the one I already have that I don't post to?"

And so, here we are.

Cozumel Trip - Monday, October 21, 2008

The van picked us up at 4am. Well, 3:57am. It's the first time one of those things has ever been early - but we were ready. Very, very tired, but ready. We hauled an incredible amount of luggage out of the house and climbed into the van behind a very forlorn looking driver. The man looked like he had just been given some very bad news - kind of like he didn't care about anything anymore - like he had bigger issues than our petty vacation and he sure as hell wasn't going to use turn signals thank you very much! But despite Suicidal Steve we made it to the airport with our spirits soaring to FINALLY go on this much deserved vacation. We even zipped through security in MINUTES!!!

So, yeah, we're traveling internationally. And it took us about 10 minutes to clear everything. Yeah.

Well, anyway, both plane trips were fine. Even the layover wasn't too excruciating. 2.5hours/3hours/2.5hours - not short, but not long enough to want to choke on airplane pretzels or smash your inadequately small plastic cup of soda in an attendant's face. The second plane was a prop plane - not exactly a smooth or quiet ride. But I played with my ipod and tuned everything out.

Oh my ipod. My brand new gorgeous, finally configured Rosebud red ipod. I left you on the plane and I will NEVER see you again. And now someone is listening to Tiesto on you with MY ear buds. How disgusting and unfair life is....

Anyway. Even getting our luggage and going through "customs" was easy. Do you want to know what customs is in Cozumel? The "agent" says, please press this red button, and you do. Done. Finito.

Grabbed a crowded shuttle to the hotel. Not too bad. And definitely not the crowded broken down school bus with chickens on the floor you might expect if you watched "Romancing the Stone" too many times. Arrived at Casa Mexicana which is on a beautiful waterfront.

We checked in with no problems (see a trend here) and tracked down our dive shop. Blue XTSea is on the same block as the hotel so we went there and checked in....and guess what...no problems there either. We must be on vacation.

Our final adventure of the evening was finding and eating at Kinta - a new "modern mexican cuisine" restaurant in town. The trip there threatened to ruin my diving potential as the sidewalks were extremely slippery and my cheap flipflops might as well have been greased on the bottom. The food was worth it though. Panko-crusted gulf shrimp over mashed plaintains, Seafood risotto with scallops - freakin' amazing.

Okay enough....the rest of the posts should be a bit shorter!

P.S. If anyone finds an 8gig red ipod lovingly placed in a clear plastic case with a set of music on it that no one else on the planet would ever listen to - please notify me.