10 years later

So. In 2008, that is 10, yes, 10 years ago, I started this blog with 100 things about me. 
Some things in that 100 haven't changed. Such as: 

• My favorite color is pink.
• I talk all the time unless I am exhausted or mad as hell.
• I do whatever Jeanne tells me (PS: buy her yarn!)
• I'm allergic to cats (including that mother f*cking one)
• Text talk is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Some things are in the past and therefore cannot change. Such as: 

• My appendix ruptured and had to be removed when I was 6.
• I had my belly button pierced until I was 21 when a drunk wrestling match went horribly, horribly wrong. 

Some parts of things have changed. Like: 

• In 2008: I know so much random pop culture stuff, but not as much as my friend LB. 
• In 2018: I know practically nothing pop culture unless I heard it on NPR. LB still knows more than me though so I have her explain things. Or have my (much) younger coworkers explain things to me (occasionally I get to tell them stories of my youth).  
• In 2008: I don't judge my friends. But everyone else is fair game. 
• In 2018: I don't cast my judgement net as broadly. I realized for the most part no one really knows anyone's story. So when I do judge it's typically warranted or I'm just being a bit (or lot) of an asshole.

And some things are just not the same at all. Like: 

• My dad was alive in 2008. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2010 and up until he passed away in 2015 it changed so much. It changed my parent/child relationship with both my parents. It lead to some serious crisis's. I found courage I didn't know I had. The fights my mom and I got into. He died right before father's day and while I was pregnant with little turkey I'll never forget being there when he died, and how it it was one of the saddest and strongest moments of my life. I miss him so much and always will. 
• But the biggest most changing thing that has happened in 10 years is that I married the love of my life in 2012 and we have two children! 
• Because when I started this blog I had just broken an engagement. It HURT for a long time. It was hard. I grieved over my could have been, I vented. I cried. I was angry. I wished a lot. I wondered. I doubted. 
• BUT! Ultimately, many, many, much more wonderful things were a result of that broken engagement. Like having an epiphany. Discovering what I truly wanted in a a husband. I celebrated things. And came up with multiple, (often time) hilarious, random lists. So the day came and went and life moved on. 
• And life got better. I met dr.soc and we clicked pretty quick. He had 19 out of  21 of my husband checklist. I was so happy engaged to him and swirling around in the bubble of tulle. Sometimes I'm a great wife and other times not so much. Our marriage isn't perfect (no one's is) and there were tough times I didn't talk about here. But our marriage is good, it's strong, our anniversaries keep coming and I know I wouldn't love him the way I do if I hadn't given back that other ring.  
• AND, dr soc and I created our own family! Which changed everything. Parenting will probably be what this blog will be about more often than not. Sometimes I'm a great mommy and have instagram to prove it. Other times I'm bad mommy and phone it in. It's all about finding the balance. But now my future think is beyond my own lifetime. I'm willing to fight for things, to voice my opinion, and try to make the world a better place now for my girls. Motherhood is hard and very challenging at times, but it's also one of the most fulfilling and wonderful things in my life.  

So. Ten years later, here I am! I hope my life is just as happy in another 10 years. Thanks for reading y'all!  

High Hopes

Girl-2 is a burper. Which is perfectly normal but since Girl-1 rarely burped (she still doesn't burp much really) any burping, especially the juicy ones, we notice more. Dr soc and I (okay, more me than him) find burps hi-lar-ious, so we (okay, more me once again) have high hopes Girl-2 will one day give us a "Ben & Jerry's burp."

The backstory: Dr soc and I were on the patio of Ben & Jerry's one afternoon (either engaged or newly married) with a mom and her 2 kids, a boy and a girl. Out of nowhere, the girl (about 8) lets out this monster burp. I'm talking John-Belushi-frat-boy-dragon-roar-style burp, followed with a dainty "'s'cuse me!" I absolutely lost it, laughing so hard I couldn't stop. Dr soc was laughing too, but not nearly to my extent. The mom was mortified, but the girl was quite proud of herself judging from the smug smile she was giving her brother. From that moment on, that "Ben & Jerry's burp" was deemed the pinnacle of burps and utter hilarity.

So here's hoping one day, Girl-2 (or Girl-1, really, just one of them), gives a "Ben & Jerry burp" and I laugh as hard as I did that one afternoon!

Old Wives Tales

Want to know what Little Turkey is? We do too! But until baby make's it's big debut, we're just going to have to rely on the old wives tales I've been collecting (from the internets, coworkers, and completely random strangers all have opinions) and speculate. So:

1. Sleep position: Sleep on my right side = girl, Sleep on my left side = boy
• I try to sleep on both sides, but I usually start and wake up on my right. Girl
2. Nausea: Sick as a dog = girl. Happy no nausea preggo? (those b*tches!)? = boy
• Ugh, the 1st trimester overall nausea, dinnertime puking, random breakfast second trimester puking, and now the occasional wave of 3rd trimester nausea. Girl
3. Soft or dry hands: soft = girl, dry = boy
• I have both. Dry after washing my hands (which I do after going to the bathroom every half hour. So a lot), but then soft since I moisturize right after (which also happens about every half hour as well). Neutral
4. Food cravings: sweet cravings and citrus = girl. Salty cravings = boy 
• Oh the sweet tooth! The baby does a little happy dance when I indulge (I bought a billion bags of Halloween candy (I had coupons! $2 off 3, you bet your ass I did!)) And I have a glass of orange juice in the morning which is new. But then again, I love pickles on my hamburger and I typically only like a bite of pickle every 3 months or so. And I've selected  salty treats here and there too. But the sweet tooth is the overall ruler. Girl
5. Girls steel your beauty, boys enhance 
• Zits, oh the zits. My normally beautiful, soft, smooth, unblemished skin that is the envy of many is breaking out like crazy (3 zits at one time?!). Solidly girl  
6. Graceful swan= girl. Clumsy = boy
• I'm already a little clumsy, but now I knock myself into everything. I fall over in yoga. And my tummy bumps and gets in the way all the time. And why is getting up so difficult?  Boy
7. A fuller full face = girl. Normal face = boy
• normal face Boy
8. Moody? = girl. Even keel = boy
• People need to stop being so incredibly stupid if they don't want to irritate me. Some idiots can't even breath without showing their ineptitude at life. Which, no. I've been throwing some serious shade (refer back to number 2 if you need further clarification). I spit nails the other night because I couldn't access a silver alert and possibly help someone. My grouchy levels are high and my bullshit tolerance is non-existent. And the feels! Why is anything that is supposed to illicit the feels have so. many. feels?! WHY? So..uh yeah, girl. 
9. How I carry the belly: high = girl, low = boy
• No idea. I have a longer torso and my belly is right in the middle. Neutral 
10. How I carry the belly "sports" edition: cute round basketball shape belly = boy. Not as cute wider pointier football shape belly = girl 
• Adorable basketball belly. Boy
11. Weight gain in the front = boy, weight gain that spread out = girl 
• Considering people figured out I was pregnant before I told them because my ass getting wider, we'll give that one to the girl. 
12. Conception age and the year are both even or odd = girl. An even/odd combination = boy
• I became pregnant at 32 in the year 2015. So even/odd combo is a boy.
13. Internet Chinese gender prediction: enter your age and month you conceived baby and hit the predict button (I don't know the maths/reasoning behind these calculations) They just gave me 
• boy 
14. Heartbeat: 140+ = girl 140- + boy
• All heartbeat readings have been 140+ girl
15. Mommy's dreams: whatever you dream you're having, opposite is what comes out.
• Around 20 weeks I dreamed we were having a girl. Boy  
16. Tie husband's wedding ring to a string and dangle over my tummy. If it spins in a circle = girl. Spin back and forth = boy (This one is the most accurate because we tested this one over my friend's tummy who is also pregnant and we know she's having a girl, and her spin was a definite circle) 
• Back and forth, 2 of 3 times: Boy 

So in the girl column we have: 7
And in the boy column we have: 7
Neutral : 2

So...happy speculating!

Father's day

Today will be the hardest father's day for me. Next year I will tell my baby what a wonderful grandpa they had, but this year I am just going to miss my daddy.

I will tell them: 

How he could always comfort me.

I guess 80's babies were allowed to sleep on their stomachs...

How he was always willing to help and had the biggest sweet tooth.

Making one of our birthday cakes (both of our birthdays are in July)

How supportive he was and how we had so much fun.

Swings, roller coasters and building sand castles, dad had our back

 And that he always listened to me chatter on.

And on... (I'm sure he tuned me out at some point, but you can't blame him)

He was so proud of and loved both his girls so much

Even if his signature look was just shaking his head at our teenage girl antics

But most of all, I will tell them how much I will always love him, and how much I know he loves them. 

CHEESE!

So next year as we're wishing dr soc a happy fathers day, I will also tell them that before mommy was a mommy, she is and always will be my daddy's girl.

I love you daddy. Happy Father's day.

Grown Up

There are several signs that point to being a grown up. Some of the ones I have experienced are:

• I am willing to pay for convenience rather than find the cheapest option possible.
• I have nice cookware and know how to use all my kitchen appliances.  
• Guests stay in my guest room with a real bed and don't crash on the couch anymore. 
• Eleven o'clock is when I want to be home from a night out, not when I start my night out.     
• I will leave a place when it is "too loud."
• My grocery list consists of real food and is not entirely made up of cheap wine.
• I prefer to be addressed as ma'am. 
• I have no idea who is "singing" on the radio, and I'm not going to bother to find out either.
• I have my 20-something coworkers explain slag terms and current social media to me. 

But I think the biggest grown up significance of being a grown up is:
When I tell people I'm going to have a baby around Thanksgiving (yep!) the response is: Congratulations!

Skill Set

So my niece is growing up so fast and no sooner that she mastered crawling, she figured out how to pull herself up on anything she can, walks along furniture, and pushes things around to use as a walker! She's also screaming just to scream, babbling just to babble and melts my heart when she blows kisses through the aunt machine (ipad).  Wasn't she just born, like 2 days ago?

She also has figured out how to take everything out of her toy basket. She's really good at that. What she hasn't quite mastered yet, is how to put things back into the toy basket. But honestly, she may never really master that skill. Because truth be told, putting things back is not a strong skill for the women in my family. If Birdie takes after her mom and aunt (and she already looks like me as a baby so she's off to a good start), she's going to be a great sprawler.

Half Tiger

I just finished the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua:

After all the press about this book a 2 years ago, when it came through my library I figured what the hell I'll read it. At the very least it could be an interesting read.   

I was absolutely fascinated. But not in an OMG-this-is-the-way-to-do-things way. More in an... OMFG this woman is insane. I just didn't understand the mindset and culture of the tiger mom and Chinese-style parenting. I thought maybe being half-Chinese I may have some frame of reference, but nope. Before reading this I also thought being half-Chinese, maybe I would go half tiger-mom on my kids when the time comes for me to parent. But the more I read, I realized, there is no half-ing anything when it comes to tiger mom-ing. 

Oh well. so much for that plan.   

Football Words

My husband is a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. So watching football with him (and the rest of the men in the family) is amusing because it's peppered with colorful phrases and curse words. It just comes with the territory. I don't really bat an eye because I don't have the most pristine vocabulary either, so really it's only a matter of time before our future children hear something we would rather have them not repeat. But rather than us be adults and try to change our behavior and make an attempt to curb the ingrained language of football season, we'll probably just tell them those are "football words" that we only say during football games.*

Anyway, twenty minutes before the second day of the 2014 NFL draft, the story of Josh Gordon's failed drug test/suspension breaks and dr soc was pissed. Actually, pissed is really an understatement, because the regular "football words" were replaced with some really bad ones even for him. And because I am an awesome wife, after I picked up my mouth from dropping in surprise, I just pointed and laughed. 

*This is a flawless plan brought to you from my childless parenting skills. 

Take Out Part 2

Back in July we gave our kitchen a facelift by changing the counter top color and putting in a tile back splash. I posted pictures of my "new" kitchen here, but we knew we weren't done quite yet.
We painted. We put "art" up, on the walls and on top of the cabinets. I made curtains! (major craft points for me!) And though you can't see this part I put new shelf pins in most of the cabinets so I can easily change the shelves heights and use my cupboards much more efficiently. (expect the Tupperware cabinet, the bane of every organizers existence. I hate my Tupperware cabinet). All those changes were a pretty big task combined, so we figured we were done with the kitchen for the moment.

Except.

I got it in my head that I wanted a new kitchen table. Well, ok, not exactly. I started pushing/really looking for a new kitchen table set is what really happened. See, for most of my adult life. I've wanted a real, vintage Formica kitchen table set. The kind that was built in the 1950's and made to last. But dr soc didn't see the need to get a new table set since we had a perfectly functional one already, he thought a retro table wouldn't really go with our old red kitchen, and he likes things new shiny (except his wife, that he has to like even old and busted), so vintage isn't his ideal look. But we were going for a somewhat retro look in the kitchen facelift, so now a retro table look wasn't a look out of left field for him. Plus, I knew we would have to change the counter top height table to a standard size table once we have kids.

Because a counter-top height table requires higher chairs, and if my kids are anything like me not only will they want to climb* things, they will also want to jump off said things and/or fall off said things. And that's long way for a little kid to fall, plus having to help them get in and out of a chair every. single. time they need to sit at the table is going to get really old, really fast.  And we can't use the higher chairs with any other table in our house.

So...it really was only natural that we get a new kitchen table set that we were totally planing on getting anyway at some point and one to match our pretty new kitchen! So I give you:

Our Christmas present to ourselves!

 

Also pictured**: the curtains I made and some of the aforementioned "art."

*Still do.  And squeal "and I go WEEEEE!!!!!" while leaping.
** not pictured: me giggling and clapping and squealing with absolute delight over how much I love this table.

Guess Who

My husband and I have names picked out for our future children. Because, well, of course we do. And while we know this is very much putting the cart before the horse, it's still fun to toss out names and speculate every now and again. After all, who knows what names we'll like when the time comes. And for all we know, we'll have a name picked out, meet the little one and they just won't be that name.

But anyway, one of the current trends in baby naming is a name from 2 generations back, so grandma and grandpa's names. And since we like the trendy* names, we have quite the selection from our grandparents: Emil, Otho, and Edna. But if none of those work, I can always look on the family tree, my grandmother's siblings were: Ray, Gladys, Ola, Elbe, Helen and Elaine.

But I do like the idea of naming my family after family. So while Edna Ola may not be the right combination for Sharktopus's legal name, the name Amy is on my list of possibilities. Mike's pretty neutral on the name, he's not all about it, but he's not against it either. It's just a maybe, one day, something to consider possibility. Which is fine, because really, who knows? But at least he knows who the name belongs to and that it isn't out of left field.

Some other people, not so much. Because when I tossed out the family name Amy to my ex his reaction was "who's Amy?"

Yep. He didn't remember my sister's name even when we were engaged. Then again, my family was always an afterthought or a figment of my imagination to him, so not remembering my sister's name was pretty par for the course.  Dodged a bullet there.

*Both the names we like are in the top 10. We're so trendy.

Lack of Silver Linings

I'm looking forward to some very bright spots in the next few months, mainly weddings and lots of babies (though none of them mine). I'm super excited about these. But they don't relate to any of the dark clouds in my life and won't do much to pull me out of the factory of sadness and woe I'm going through.

I'm stressed with school. I had to drop a class this semester because I couldn't keep up with the work. And on top of that I'm easily distracted from the work that I can keep up with. This semester ends soon, but a week after that I start summer classes that are even more fast paced and intense. And the week after summer classes I start fall with another very full, very stressful schedule that I have to get done in order to graduate by May 2014. I want to have a baby in 2014 but I don't want to have one when I'm trying to finish grad school. I mean, if happens it happens, people have babies/children while they are in school all the time and they make it work. And I'm not opposed to being pregnant that last few months of school, imagine how cute and happy I'd be waddling as I receive my masters. But I can barely keep up now and I've already deferred a semester before, and I know myself well enough that if a newborn is added into the mix I'll crumble due to me already being stretched too thin. And I cannot crumble when I'm a mom.

But having a baby means I'm going to need maternity care somewhat soon. And insurance companies don't start coverage right away and don't always pay for anything when you actually need it. So when I actually need maternity coverage in a few months, I need to add maternity care to the private plan that I have now. Except my private plan doesn't have that option, and there's only one semi-affordable private plan with a different company out there that does offer it. And the problem there is that the company that does offer maternity I already applied to right after I was married. They kept my info and approved me for coverage, but then they lost the application and froze my account, so I never actually received any coverage in general. And because of my frozen application, I can't apply with them again. Seriously, I tried. That was the reason I went with the company I'm with now. I could get a job that offers benefits, but those are really hard to get in general. And right now I work full time between two part time library jobs that I really really like and had a very very hard time even landing in the first place, and I don't want to leave either one. There was a small hiring frenzy for full time staff a month ago for one of the systems that I work for, and I was impressive enough to interview for 2 of the positions, but not impressive enough to actually get them. And now the rest of the full time positions that I applied for have been frozen, so there's no longer any opportunities to grow. I know how lucky I am to be where I am now, and I know it is incredibly ungrateful for me to feel stuck in a holding pattern.

But the darkest cloud I'm in is over loosing Bailey. Dreading isn't a strong enough word and I can't find the words to describe the amount of pain and hell I'm going through. I wish she was gone already so I didn't have to live like this. But what I really wish is that I could change the past and not saved her 5 years ago. I wish I had understood unconditional love and that I had the strength to let her go then. Even when Bailey is living happily ever after somewhere else, her memory is everywhere. And I don't know how well I'll be able to move on from this loss when it does happen when I still have to live with that other dog rubbing salt in my wounds.  

And I know this is life, it moves on, time heals and all those other cliche adages people are so found of saying when you are grieving are true. But I don't want to be told to cheer up. I don't want to be comforted as I cry. I don't want to be fixed at the moment. I don't want to talk to anyone either because the last time I went to a counselor they said everything my husband wanted to hear. And while I will be genuinely happy when I need to be, I don't have much of a silver lining to look forward to. I. Am. SAD. And I get to be that way for a while.

Period

My husband and I planning on having a family in the not too too far off future. But we're not trying to have a baby at this moment, despite the fact that my baby fever is to the moon and there's no way it's coming back down. Which, you know what? We're both super educated good looking nice people, the world should be begging us to populate it with more of our awesomeness. (God I hope my kids aren't assholes.)

Anyway. The key word there is planning. And to plan, we need to figure out a pattern. So after talking to my doctor, the place we start is just making sure stuff is working. And because I'm super exited at the thought of planning, that means I haven't been this excited to get my period since I was 14. But that excitement quickly wore off when I remembered: god I hate hate my period. Oh well.

Distraction

We currently have our 2 dogs and we don't want a 3rd dog. Seriously, no third dog. However, we do plan on getting another one after Bailey and Jules have left us. And Mike wants that future dog to be a puppy.

I do not want a puppy. Not now, not ever again after the wringer that is Bailey and I am adamant about that.
But! I do want a baby. And since everyone but me is having one (seriously), my baby fever has gone through the roof.  My husband is trying to tamp it down but he's pretty much failing miserably.

However, I have become somewhat addicted to pintrest (which I really should stop because some of that shit is bananas), and post bubble of tulle I have been looking at the animals page. And whenever I see a puppy picture too cute for words (so, you know, all of them), I squeal: "I want it! I want it! Let's get this one now!" Knowing full well that we are not going to get a puppy. Not ever, but especially not now.

Mike's reaction is always an emphatic: "NO."
So my reaction is always to fain disappointment with a sad: -sigh- Fine. But then I cheer up with a bright: "Oh! Let's have a baby then!"

I may be trying distract my husband from getting a puppy by convincing him to have a baby.
So far my plan is failing.

20/20

coworker: And he's (my husband) is pretty easy on the eyes too.
me: Yes he is, thank you. So, speaking of eyes, do you know what he wants to do to his?

My husband is very nearsighted and has worn glasses since he was 5. (He'll disagree but I think his coke bottle glasses make his little kid pictures just adorable.) He started wearing contacts in high school and he's looked into lasik, but because he is so nearsighted and his corneas are thin he's not a good candidate for it. Which bums him out because that means he has to wear contacts or glasses if he wants to see. I think he's sexy as hell in his glasses (though he disagrees with me again for some reason) and since I wear my glasses all the time this isn't a big deal to me. 

However, there's a somewhat new surgery that is like getting a permanent contact lens that he could be a good candidate for. It's an out patient thing, they put something in his eye and voila he can see! Dr soc is thrilled. And I am....not.

It's not that I don't want him to be able to see 24/7 without some sort of corrective lens, but as his wife I'm nervous. I mean, these are his only eyes! What if something happens? Plus this doesn't solve the genetic problem of both of us passing on poor eyesight to our kids, but when they are 30 and married with someone to worry about them besides their mother they can figure out their own eye surgery.

Because it's a newish surgery it may end up being cost prohibitive which solves the worry problem. But he meets with the eye surgeon today to get more details and we go from there. But still...

Lady Vitamins

My husband and I are not planning to be childless. We're not in any rush to start our family, but I also have a known case of baby fever that makes the previous statement not the most believable thing. My husband doesn't have the same baby fever as I do. But he has a little case of it in his own way. Just a little.

The reason I say this is because he wants me to take my vitamins. And not my dinosaur gummie vitamins either, he wants me to take "lady vitamins" with folic acid. He also really wants me to talk to a doctor so my body can be in optimal condition for baby incubating should incubating occur. And apparently you should be taking prenatal vitamins before you actually are pregnant to gain the most benefits from them, something I did not know. Though I still don't quite understand how he knew that little tidbit about pregnancy, but when I told him about pickles and ice cream he looked at me like I had two heads. He's also not thrilled with me running another marathon in the fall and putting that much stress on my body, but that also could be in part to that he's less than thrilled about having to carry me post marathon. I'm surprisingly heavy when I'm dead weight. 

Anyway, he really wants me to take the lady vitamins. Just in case. Just a little. Like his little baby fever.

Year of the

So with as big of a year that I had in 2012, I'm not exactly planning anything super huge for 2013. I won't be done with school, no big exotic trips, and no huge announcements for myself. (No, seriously no. Even if and when something happens to put me in the family way that's nobody's business but mine and my husband's.)
I'm cool with 2013 being fairly uneventful.  

Though, I haven't put my money where my mouth is yet (meaning I haven't paid), but I'm planning to run a half marathon in April and full marathon in October. The full I'm a little freaked out about, but the half, ehh, as long as a I train it'll be fine. So there's that. You know, I never thought I would consider running a half marathon not that big of a deal.  

Look like 2013 is the year of the run for me.  I guess that's something!

Baby Fever

I'm sure it's not a huge surprise that I have a slight case of baby fever. I've always wanted children, I'm happily married, and I just turned 30. My husband doesn't have the same case of (ok, any) baby fever as me, so whenever he see's it start to rise, he tells me not to get any ideas at the moment. Right now there's this whole thing about getting my masters, starting my career and getting a job with benefits before actually having a baby. Apparently children completely change things?

Anyway, two of my friends told me they were pregnant on the same day. I am absolutely thrilled for both of them and can't wait to be an auntie (and let the kids get away with stuff). But here's how the day went:

--mike comes home--
me: So, Priya called...
mike: Is she pregnant?*    
me: YES!!!
mike: Awesome! Don't you be getting any ideas now.
me: Of course not! (lie)

--a few hours later I get an email--

me: Oh my god! Jeanne's pregnant again!
mike: Really? Well awesome for them too! 
me: Two of my best friends on the same day!
mike: Wow. But seriously, don't get any ideas.
me: Of course not dear. (lie!) But you know these things come in threes right?**
mike: uhhhh....

--a few hours later my brother-in-law gives dr soc a call and we face time with the baby. (she wowed us with her new motor skills of waving her arm.) Mike runs up the stairs to show me and we coo over her--

mike: Hi Ella! We love you!
me: Dude, you know how you said don't get any ideas. This? This right there? All you.

*He came to that conclusion much faster than me. When she left me a message to call her back, and since we really don't talk on the phone, my first thought as I was calling her back was that something was wrong. Then I realized that we are now at the age that a phone call is an announcement.
**They do! A few days ago another dear friend told me her third child will be debuting in June.***
***Yes, my husband is breathing a sigh of relief that 3rd isn't us!

Safety First

My husband is the most cautious man in the world. He didn't have some major childhood trauma as far as I know, so I've always kinda wondered what made him so cautious and think of some things as much more fragile then they actually are. I've also told him he'll have to toughen up a little bit by the time we have kids because he is going to have a heart attack every time Sharktopus falls down or Dinocroc skins his knee and that will weaken it and eventually it will just flip him the bird on the way out the door screaming "I give up!" and leave me a widow and I will have to kill him if he does that.

However, he is also the best sociologist ever and has this thing about gender equality, so he thinks my sister's husband's plan to build their (eventual) son a tree house, but their (eventual) daughter a play house safely on the ground.is a tad on the sexist side. So in this case his sociology side outranks his safety first side.

This Thanksgiving, both my parents and my in-laws were here and somehow my brother-in-law's tree house/play house plan came up. My mother in law however, jokingly (well, I hope, jokingly) thinks this is a good idea. And then she says, "well, we were very cautious parents."

And suddenly, my husband made so much more sense!

Easiest Job Search

So. I got an additional library job. No biggie.
--snort-- I'm totally kidding y'all this is a huge 'effing deal for me!

The librarian at my husband's branch heard that the circulation manager at UNCC needed some part time non (UNCC) student (I'm UNCG). She thought of me, I gave her my resume to forward along, and I just accepted the job a few hours ago! Easiest job search yet!
I immediately went down the chain of command squealing my news. First Mike, then my mom, my sister (via gchat) and then twitter. And then I emailed my new boss at the public library with my new availability. Fortunately, the academic library job has set hours, and my public library job will work with me.
THANK GOD.  I can do both! And go to grad school! And quit my retail job!

Things are starting to really, truly line up for me right now.  I'm in school to start my career, I have not one but 2 jobs in places I want to be.  I don't want to be boast too much because I don't want to jinx any of this. But I do feel like I can breath a little easier now!

Name Game

--scene: at my bridal shower--
priya: if sharktopus and dinocroc, and I should clarify I mean the creatures, not your future children, were to get in a fight, who do you think would win?
me: I'm glad you clarified the syfy creatures and not the kids, because that was totally going to be my next question. Ok, I think Sharktopus would win in a fight, because not only can it walk on land, hide in shallow water despite it being a ginormous creature, and swim in the deep sea, so it could drag Dinocroc back to the sea and take it out there.
priya: Who do you think mike said would win?
me: Sharktopus
priya: Yep. He said the tentacles give sharktopus a tactical advantage.
my (at the time future) mother in law: Wait, what are those names again?
me: Sharktopus and Dinocroc.
mil: And how did you come up with that?
me: It was actually Mike. When we were battling for the naming rights of Jeanne's son one of my suggestions was Sharktopus, and Mike loved that one so much that he said really hoped it wouldn't get picked* so that we could have it for ourselves. He was quite adamant in that.
mil: Oh dear.
me: Yep.

I don't know if she was afraid that her future grandkids would actually** be named that, or that she was happy that her son found someone just as dorky as him and indulges his sea creature obsession. Probably little from column a and a little from column b. 
*It didn't. Eventually Scipio Africanus won out. Or 'Skip,' for short. Like you do.
**We're completely serious about this. Don't be stealing our names now.