negative nancy

There was way too much going on here at work yesterday (mostly non-work-related conversations about severance packages and where Lockheed’s offices are located) to write a decent post about our 4th of July beach trip… so here it is, albeit a day or two late.

We had a great time down in Holden Beach (again! – second time in a month). I didn't get scorched like I did on our last trip down there… in fact, Peter and Steve were more burnt than me! Since we didn’t have any sunscreen mishaps the first day, we were able to have two full days on the beach and we also made it up to Wilmington again for a little bit of shopping… and to the movies to see Hancock. Sunday’s drive home took forever because of the holiday traffic and a thunderstorm, but it was nice to get away. We missed the dogs a ton... although Luke is going through grandma-withdrawal right now because he has such a fun time playing outside all weekend long at Steve’s parent’s house. He’s usually so exhausted that he sleeps for a day or two and putts around the house being grumpy. This morning he was dragging Lila around the living room by her tail so I think it's safe to say he’s back to normal.

Work is soooo weird now. We definitely have jobs through the end of October… but possibly longer. I’ve heard rumblings that we could be here through the end of the year… or not. It’s all very up-in-the-air… and frustrating. We’ve been told they’ll help all of us (300+ employees? Really?) find new jobs either internally or with the new contract or elsewhere, but I’m in a unique situation as I won’t even be here during that transitional period. My main concern is getting my full maternity leave. When I was job-hunting last fall I decided to stick it out here because I’d been here awhile and, if we did get pregnant (surprise! It can happen quicker than you think!), I would have a good amount of maternity leave. Here we are now, uncertain about our future within this company and the tentative end of our contract is smack in the middle of my leave… just weeks after the baby is born. Perfect. Secondary on my mind is the fact that I might not have this flexible working mother-friendly atmosphere to come back to… and with that, the possibility of working part-time may go right out the window. I guess at this point my plan of action is to just wait until our HR person comes back from vacation this week so I can hear her opinion on the maternity leave situation… and keep my eyes and ears peeled for possible opportunities elsewhere. Try and stay positive, right? Positive positive positive...

Oh, we watched Knocked Up on the way back from the beach. The movie is still hilarious but it is entirely different to watch it now - Steve is officially freaked out by labor and delivery.

happy monday

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080707/lockheed_martin_contract.html

First thing I hear as I get off the elevator this morning - we lost the rebid for our contract. Today is going to be really weird...

six hour drive

This is my first week in my “new job” at work and it has been wonderful. My new team isn’t micromanaged and miserable like my old team so it has been a welcome change. I’m unfortunately still sitting at my old desk until program management can figure out where our new team will be, but at least I get to do my work and be left alone! It’s great. I’m leaving work around 3 or 4 today so I can get home and make sure we have everything packed… because we’re leaving for the beach tonight! It’s a long six hour drive but it’s worth doing it tonight so we can wake up and head straight out for some breakfast and the beach tomorrow morning. I will not get burned like I did last time. I did some research (after I got sunburned, of course) and discovered that, among everything else that changes during pregnancy, your skin is more susceptible to sunburn when you’re pregnant. Especially your tummy. Good to know. My stomach usually tans more than the rest of me so I was pretty surprised when it turned bright red last time. Suffice it to say, my sunscreen is already packed.

Ryan is a little ball of [constant] energy. Last night Steve and I were trying to imagine what she’ll look like and there really is no good way to know until her birthday… but I’m so excited to see her. I bet she’ll be as cute as a button (babies always are) with dark, dark hair. Our 3d/4d ultrasound is next Friday – hopefully she’ll cooperate and let us see those cute chubby cheeks!

I had two gigantic bowls of Cap'n Crunch (crunch berries) last night for dinner... and the roof of my mouth is sore. I shoveled them into my mouth pretty quickly but did I really have a cereal-induced injury? They're pretty crunchy until they soak up some milk and I'm not sure I really allowed them the time to soak since I was pretty hungry. Rather than inhale giant spoonfuls of basically dry cereal and scratch up my mouth, I might want to slow down... it just tasted so good.

...Be back on Sunday night! :)

oh em gee

I am so sleepy! Guess the third trimester sleepiness is kicking in... I was hoping to have left that behind in the first trimester but apparently I'm not so lucky. Steve and my grandfather have been working hard all day putting up the chair rail and shadow boxes in the nursery. It looks amazing. Funny how such small details change a space entirely (I learned that from HGTV, but it's fun to see it in person). What a handy husband I have!

I made myself useful by occasionally using the level and the studfinder... but eventually gave up and cleaned the house instead. I was far more useful picking up meatball marinaras from Subway and baking cookies. Since I've had my Kitchenaid I've been annoyed by the fact that I only had the wire wisk attachment to mix dough... all along I could have sworn it came with the flat beater attachment. I've had that thing for two years and only today did it magically appear in one of the kitchen drawers... but it sure made baking cookies a whole lot easier.

The dogs didn't contribute at all today. Luke licked up a lot of sawdust (followed by a lot of hacking and coughing) and ran out of the nursery every time they started up the saw. Lila licked a lot of toes and just sat around looking cute since she was just groomed yesterday. Then they slept... all day long. I'm pretty jealous. Stinkers.

junebug.

My boss was in Hershey, PA last week for vacation (what you would do there for an entire week, I’ll never know) and brought back pretty much every size and type of candy bar that Hershey has ever manufactured… I’ve already stashed a Hershey bar with almonds at my desk. On my last pass, I swiped a Nutrageous. Hopefully the candy buffet will be gone by the next time I go near her office… thank goodness I went for my glucose test a week early!

I got to spend an afternoon with Ashley and Kara on Saturday – sitting outside of the Starbucks in Clifton reminded me why I need to get out of northern Virginia. I don’t think I’ve seen so many people from high school since graduation. Not fun people, either. They fell into one of two categories – those you completely avoid eye contact with so you can avoid any interaction at all or those you are forced to have awkward “wow, it’s been soooo long” conversations with. How uncomfortable. Makes me question whether or not we'll actually ever go to a high school reunion. Other than that, I had a great day with them and a great time with Morgan earlier in the day… and yesterday, Steve and I finally went to Home Depot and bought all of the wood for the chair rail and shadow boxes in the nursery. Who knew wood could cost so much? I was naïve prior to this home improvement trip. I just can’t wait for Ryan’s nursery to start taking shape – right now it’s just a halfway painted room with two dog cages in the middle.

I cannot believe it’s almost July. I’m looking forward to it because it’s going to be a great month – I start my new job… we’re going back down to the beach in NC for a few days… we’ll be in Florida for an entire week… we get to see Ryan in 3d (and 4d!) at our next ultrasound… but I have a feeling that with being so busy, it will be August before we know it. The baby will be here before we know it. Speaking of babies, my friend Jenny had her little boy Logan on July 18th! Congratulations, girl. :) Babies everywhere!

P.S. Next weekend I’ll officially be in my third trimester!

P.P.S. Looks like sending your comments several times works!

husband-less for the day!

Well, I am without the husband for the entire day today! Plan of attack: slept in (Steve wakes up at the butt crack of dawn on the weekends), make pancakes (the boy hates pancakes, how strange is that), shower, manicure/pedicure with Morgan, lunch with Smashley... then perhaps a little shopping (if I really want to stick to the whole theme of doing everything I possibly can that Steve doesn't enjoy, I should make it baby clothes shopping).

I had to go for my glucose tolerance test yesterday, which checks for signs of gestational diabetes. You basically have to drink a water bottle-sized amount of orange liquid and sit for an hour until they take your blood. Gross. If I fail, I have to go back for the three hour test. I had better pass.

P.S. I know my blog is screwy and rarely posts comments... but I can't seem to fix it. So if you're posting comments (sorry, Lauren, Taryn and Bails!) and they never show up, I promise I didn't reject your comment. Try try again!

happy father's day...

...to my dad, your dad, dads-to-be! Steve spent some of Father’s Day helping his dad work on his car… we also went out to breakfast with his family. I got to talk to my dad this morning (all the way in Kuwait!) to wish him a happy Father’s Day, as well. I'm not sure if they celebrate Father's Day in the Middle East - he couldn't say for sure but he had forgotten it was today so it must not be all over the place like it is here. There are Father's Day sales everywhere! This is also the last year Steve will ever have where he’s only celebrating his own father… next year we’ll be celebrating him, too!

The baby is growing like crazy and I'm six months pregnant now. It was pretty scary when we realized she would be here in three short months. We haven't even ordered her bedroom furniture yet! Need to get on that. The baby is "sporting a fresh pink glow, thanks to tiny new capillaries … She’s the size of an eggplant! Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes." Mmmm, I do love eggplant! Especially when it’s tempura-style at a Japanese restaurant or grilled in my pasta. Ryan is all over my belly now – even though she prefers my right side. If I lay down she goes all over the place from left to right and sometimes just underneath my bellybutton. If I push in around my belly button I can actually FEEL her underneath my fingertips moving around… it’s pretty crazy. I haven’t taken a new belly photo since I was about 18-20 weeks so once I stop peeling (gross) I’ll put one up here because I'm so much bigger than I was.

P.S. Not sure if I mentioned that I had put in for a promotion at work, but I did. And I got it. I am so excited to be on a new team that I can’t even explain it. It makes my summer. My last few months of pregnancy will be a little less stressful on my new team and I get the promotion increase and my annual raise just in time for my maternity leave. Score! :)