Dreams

I've heard that pregnancy brings out the wacko weird dreams...and I completely believe it. I've remembered all of them so far...at least I remember them when I first wake up. It wasn't until the doozy I had last night did I think about blogging about it. Of course, I can only remember 2 of them now. Oh well, that should be enough.

Last week I had a dream about mine and my sister's new babies. Sis is due in 2 weeks, and I'm not due for almost 6 months, but in my dream, we were due at the same time. But, I had my baby one day, and the next day Sis went into labor. She was very calm and took everything in stride, as she always does. But the weird part is that when her baby was born - just hours after mine - my baby was running around saying "my cousin, my cousin, my cousin is here!" Yes, my baby was running and talking at only a few hours old...what a genius!

Last night I had an even weirder dream. We were living in my hometown, and next door to my parents house was an empty lot. Next to the lot was an ordinary every-day middle class house. And Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt lived in it! Yes, they were together and had a kid or two and lived in a regular house. They always had tons of people over and everyone was welcome. We started hanging out over there and became friends with them. They were just normal people...but they had a HUGE garage under their house and had a bunch of cars. Nothing fancy, but a bunch of cars. Weird!



Makes me wonder what's next? And it's amazing that I dream at all, or remember them, since I'm awake every hour because I can't get comfortable or because I have to pee...or both.

Ready Aim Fire

I did something yesterday that I had never done before. I put on my ear plugs and safety glasses like I was heading to the production floor at work...but I wasn't going to work (thank God!). I went to the shooting range with my hubby. Remember that gun he got for his birthday? Well, we got to try it out yesterday.

B has a friend from high school who did a little stint in the army in counter-intelligence (think -- hunting down and getting rid of terrorists), and he has an arsenal of weapons...so off we went to the range with our little 380 and we joined the "arsenal."

I don't ever remember shooting a gun with live rounds before. And man was it a rush! I wasn't all that great, but for my first time I think I did pretty good. Can you tell which of the targets below was mine and which was B's?



Yes, mine is on the left. At least I hit the 18" x 18" target at all! I had a little trouble with my aim. I would line everything up just right, and then once I pulled the trigger, I lost it. Or maybe I was yanking on the trigger too hard, and it was messing up my aim -- that's what B's friend said. Then his buddy let me shoot his 9mm. I did much better with that gun...but I definitely need some practice.

Oh, and don't even think about messing with my Marine husband...look at what he did with rapid fire from a 45...watch out!

Sad Day

I suppose this day had to come. I mean, I can't live as a twenty-something forever, can I? I predict that I will go through separation anxiety, that I will claw at the roof wondering why it won't come off, and that my dermatologist will jump for joy.

Don't worry, I haven't gone insane...well, maybe I have...the day has come to sell my baby...the Saab, that is. I spent hours yesterday afternoon cleaning and prepping My Joy and Sanity (the Saab) to leave me. I love my car, I really do. I've owned 5 cars since I was 16. And with each and every one of them, except this one, I was ready to give it up and move on to the next one. Oh, I missed all of them after I said goodbye, but I was always very happy with the replacement. But, I'm not at that point yet with the Saab. Little Major has accelerated the process of moving on. Remember this day last fall? What will I do now??





I wrote up an ad, made a flyer, priced my baby lower than Blue Book, and now I have to place the ad with cars.com. Once my baby sells, the plan is to purchase a used Nissan Murano...hopefully with at least a sun roof. It's a fun car, but I don't think I'll get all the sideways glances as I drive down the road as I did in the Saab. I guess it's time to act my age. Maybe in another 20 years I can get another convertible.

The Great Debate

Dr: Are you planning on breastfeeding?
Me: Yes
Dr: If it's a boy, will you want him circumcised?
Me: Yes
Dr: Have you considered if you will want an epidural?
Me: OH YES! I want one!
Dr: Will you be interested in prenatal and birthing classes?
Me: Yes
Dr: Do you want to find out the sex of the baby?
Me: Well...see, we're still --
B: NO! WE DON'T WANT TO KNOW...DON'T LET HER TALK YOU INTO IT!

That's how our conversation went at our appointment 2 weeks ago. I want to find out the sex of our baby as soon as possible. I'm a planner. I don't like surprises (unless I only know about a possible surprise for a couple days, not 6 months!). B wants to be surprised.

I shouldn't be surprised that he wants to be as old fashioned as possible. He is Mr. Anti-Technology (except for having 7 TV's in our house and insisting on HD for sports). Cell phones, ipods, video games, laptops, cameras, GPS -- none of that impresses him. Finding out the sex of our baby - he's not interested. Being in the delivery room to help me and to cut the cord - he's not interested. He should have been born in 1940! He thinks that he'll be outside the hospital smoking a stogie until he's called in to make the announcement that a baby has arrived...and which sex it is.

I could kill him! Some guys insist that they don't want to know the sex ahead of time because it's the one thing that they get to own - they get to tell the families what the baby is...it's their thing (thanks to Daisy for pointing that out to me). If B were to tell me that that is his reason, I might be more understanding...but to just be surprised? No, that doesn't fly with me.

People have suggested that I find out and not tell him. Well, those people must not know me very well...I have the biggest mouth around. I have to try hard and really put my mind to it to keep secrets. I can do it...don't get me wrong, but I love to share good news, and I'm a terrible liar. (No need for those of you who agree with me to fill up my comments with your agreement...thanks!)

Plus, the biggest reason I want to know is that I want to get the nursery ready ahead of time, and I DO NOT want a yellow or green pastel nursery that will work for either sex. Nor do I want to dress my child in yellow or green clothes for the first year of its life. I want a cutesy original unique nursery for our new bundle of joy.

So, saying all that...I have found ONE nursery theme that I actually like that would work for either sex. It's the retro Dick and Jane stuff that is out. There are cute coordinating fabrics that go with it, and everything is in my favorite colors -- red, blue, green, yellow -- primary colors that are a little muted. It's really cute, and I think I could make it work. Here's the only thing. I think I would still use it if I knew it was a boy, but if I knew it was a girl, I would probably go with something girlier, like pink and chocolate brown, or something like that.

The debate continues...we have about 6 or 7 weeks until we have to give the Dr. our decision. B and I are both pretty stubborn, and I can usually wear him down...but should I let him have this one thing? I don't know. I feel like it's a boy...but so did my mom with me. In fact, she went so far as to call me Jeremy while she was pregnant. Boy was she surprised when I popped out. So, who knows what will happen, or what I'm carrying...either I'll know in less than 2 months, or God will have to show me in 6!

Add 3 more to the list!

Remember when I wrote about the gazillion people my sis and I know who have had or will have babies within a year time period?

Well, add 3 more to the list!

(Oh, and by the way, that original total included me, even though I hadn't told you yet.)

I got a birth announcement from my best buddy from freshman year in HS that she had her second, a cutie little girl a couple months ago. I didn't even know she was pregnant! We've have lost touch a bit, and we usually just send cards a couple times a year.

THEN, my buddy at the gym, who I hadn't seen in several weeks, told me this week that she's preggers and about 6 weeks behind me. This will be her second.

AND finally, yesterday, one of my good friends called, and after we played email and phone tag for a few hours, she told me that she's pregnant and exactly one week behind me! This will be #2 for her, also. This announcement is really special to me because I was her maid of honor, and she was in my wedding, also. She miscarried earlier this year, so this pregnancy is a wonderful thing.

Whew! And they call us Gen X...we may need to change that to Baby Boomers 2!

I had my second sonogram on Tuesday. It was so much better than the 6 week one...wow, those kids grow fast! We could see fingers and a head and the kid was moving all over. It was amazing!




B had taken the day off to go with me, and then to do some stuff around the house...and I thought that sounded like a great idea, so I played hooky. I was such a good kid when I was in school - I NEVER ditched. Well, maybe once in a while in college, but never in HS...but Corporate America just does something to me. Ya gotta get out!

Our appointment was first thing in the morning, so after we got home, B headed out to work in the yard, and I sat down to read the paper and relax. I went to the gym at noon, came home and visited with my neighbor for a bit, and then relaxed some more. B was even able to get some relaxing in...and Lucy felt like he needed company.




We headed out to dinner at a wannabe Mexican restaurant (they're all wannabe around here), then over to Kohl's to take advantage of 80% off sales. I started my collection of maternity clothes...I got 3 shirts, a pair of workout shorts, and a pair of yoga pants all for $35! Not bad!

Too bad I had to come back to work yesterday. I hate that I count the days to the weekend...one more to go!

I got googled

Have you guys heard about the DENTIST who is in danger of losing his license for giving "chest massages"?? And he is defending himself saying it's a necessary and successful treatment for TMJ. What?! Yes, it's true. And his lawyer is saying that the judge shouldn't take his license away because he needs to work to support his family of 7. Oh yeah, that's a reason to let him keep his license.

Anyway, I would never let my dentist give me a "massage," but apparently, I don't have any say over who googles me. Here are the latest searches that brought up my blog:

* how do it fil when a girl and a girl have a wedding (Ok, this one is the scariest...I was the FIRST page to show up on this search!)
* blogspot wisconsin "wrap around porch"
* red on bathtub bad
* red burning eyes when i don't wear contacts
* the importance of women friends
* My contact burns when I put it in
* midwest girls weekend
* wedding guns
* midwest girls pictures
* importance of sisters

Watch out...you never know who is googling you!

20 years

Hubby graduated from high school 20 years ago...wow...that's a long time. I graduated from 7th grade when he was graduating from high school. What a cradle robber he is! =)

His 20th high school reunion was a week ago. I think I was more excited about going than he was. My class had 550 kids in it, and I don't keep in touch with a single one. My 10 year reunion was a total bust - everyone reverted back to their high school cliques as soon as we got there, and only about 50 of my classmates (out of 550!) showed up. I decided then that I will never go to another one of my reunions again...that was $100 down the drain.

B's class, on the other hand, had only 60 kids. More than 75% of them have stayed within 30 miles of their small hometown - some are still in the same town. About 30 of them showed up at the reunion. B saw people he hadn't seen since high school...of course, all of them said the same thing, "I ran into your mom a few months ago, and she said you were..." It was really funny. We spent the night eating yummy BBQ, chatting it up, and drinking water. Well, I was drinking water...I was downing it by the glassful since I couldn't have a beer or a glass of wine...man, did that stink!

Thank goodness B's good buddy brought his girlfriend, otherwise I would have sat there all myself all night, since B was busy reminiscing with his old friends. "Remember that game when we score the touchdown in the last 3 seconds?" "Remember when Joe Bob wrecked his 1972 Camaro on the dirt road?" "Remember when you won Basketball King?" It was too much for me...and I had NEVER seen my husband be so social.

But, that wasn't the end of it...the socialness, that is...ever since the reunion, all week last week, B has been on the phone (he HATES the phone) or on email with about 5 of these guys. I'm getting a little scared...I smell a mid-life crisis coming on. Over the weekend, we went to the high school football game with one B's buddies. I was feeling like crap, the home team was losing, and pregnancy hormones kicked in BIG TIME. To sum it up, I was not a nice person. I made us leave in the middle of third quarter when we were losing 49 to 0...and then B and I argued the whole way home.

Then on Saturday night, he went out to dinner with another guy who hadn't been able to make it to the reunion. B left at 6 and said he'd be home before too long. At 8:15 he called to say they were going to a movie. I broke down (by the way, how many crazy episodes can I blame on being pregnant??). It's not that we had big plans for that night, but I was sitting at home alone, expecting him to walk in the door anytime. As it turned out, he didn't get home til 1am...and I was awake, and we argued again. This made for a really lovely weekend...um, not really.

Thankfully, we patched things up yesterday...more so because I was tired of fighting than anything else. I'm glad he's found some buddies again, but I'm a little nervous that they're not exactly the kind of buddies that he needs. I was hoping that we'd get involved in a Bible Study and our friends would come from there. I still hope that happens, but in the meantime, I need to trust B. He was always the good kid growing up, so I have no reason to suspect he'd be any different now. I'm just not used to seeing my husband be the social type. Weird!

Here's a picture of the guys at the reunion (B is in the middle, and the other 2 guys are 2 of his best friends from growing up - they've been friends since kindergarten!). I need to scan some photos of them 20 years ago...it's hilarious!!

Making Progress

I got my hair done last weekend. I was trying to wait a bit more to be ultra safe with the chemicals and pregnancy and everything else, but I couldn't wait any longer, and I really don't think it's a serious risk, anyway. So, as I walk in the door in my super-cool new fall color -- think auburn and blonde (and if I can get a picture taken of me where I don't look like a hippo, I'll post it)...I look out the window to see a wonderful sight...

A flower delivery truck is pulling up to my house! I got all giddy...someone sent me flowers?? It took all my will power to not throw open the door and shout, "Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee," before the poor guy had time to climb my steps. I waited until he rang the door bell to open the door, and this is what I saw...



My dear friends, Shell and Terry, sent me this wonderful arrangement congratulating me on Little Major. Thanks so much, guys...I love it!!!

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday...and I managed to drag B with me. The doctor was running behind (about an hour behind, to be exact), so I was a little irritated by the time we got called back. Good thing I love my doctor so much because my attitude changed as soon as she walked in the room.

On the agenda for the day was to listen for the heartbeat and to do the oh-so-fun pelvic exam. B insisted on hearing the heartbeat first so that he could beat it out of there ASAP...and what do you know? The doc said that many many hubbies have the same reaction, which kinda surprised me.

So, up on the table goes I, and what do you know...I heard my baby's heart beat!! Doc said it sounded perfect, and was beating at 157 beats/minute. The doc also said that I was pooching out a little more than she expected to see at 11 weeks, and I told her that it was either because my bladder was full (from waiting in the lobby for an hour!) or I was carrying twins. She asked if twins ran in our family, and when I said I didn't know (B is adopted), but I'd been praying for twins she didn't even pause and scheduled me for a sonogram next Tuesday. Yay!

That's what I was wanting all along...another sono so that we could see something besides a little speck on the screen. Now, I'm working on getting B to go to another appointment with me with less than a week in between. I think I can do it, though. New pictures of Little Major in less than a week...stay tuned!

Happy Birthday, Gram!

Yesterday, October 9, was my Grandma's birthday - my Dad's mom. When we were young, we called her Grandma, but somewhere along the way, we shortened her name to Gram...and she'll always be Gram to me. She grew up in Oklahoma, one of many many kids (I can't remember how many), and during the Dust Bowl, she and her family traveled west and settled in the San Joaquin Valley of California -- just like the Joad family in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Some of her remaining siblings still live in the central valley.

Here is Gram after work one night...check out that cool purse!



Gram and Grandpa have an interesting story. The bottom line is that Grandpa was a hellion, was in the Navy, and somehow found God and Gram, and he became a southern Baptist preacher. I loved going to his church and sitting next to Gram when I was a kid. This is a picture of Gram and Grandpa in 1953, about 16 months after my dad (their oldest) was born.



Gram and Grandpa had two boys, who had fun tormenting their mom, but also loved her deeply. Here are those "boys" with their mama when my dad (on the left) was 18.



Grandpa got cancer and passed away when I was in 4th grade. I remember only sketches from that time. I remember hearing the word cancer. I remember hanging out in the parking lot of Stanford University Hospital in a motorhome while Grandpa had treatments. I remember how skinny he got. And I remember the day that my parents came and pulled me out of 4th grade to tell me Grandpa had died.

I also remember how scared I was to go to the funeral and see him lying in a coffin, but I knew I had to do it. I remember how different their house felt without him there. And I remember how sad Gram was.

My dad was only 32 when this happened - younger than I am now. I have NO idea how he dealt with the death of his father at that age, let alone how he explained it to his 3 kids age 9 and under or how he was able to handle the estate and all of Grandpa and Grandma's affairs. But he did.

Gram moved to our town and lived for a while in an apartment a mile or so from our house. I spent a lot of time riding my bike over to her place where we'd make cookies or chat or watch TV. She eventually bought an AWESOME house a few more miles away. It had a HUGE back yard with trees and a garden and a dog run and a secret hiding path along the back fence. We planted grapes and watermelon and pomegranetes and green beans and figs (yuck!), and we worked in the yard and we had BBQ's and she was still close enough for us to ride our bikes over.

I don't know why this timeline is so hard for me to remember, but it is. Over the next 10 years (it seems like a lot longer than that), my parents and my brother and sister and I moved to Texas, moved back to CA but to another town, Gram moved to Florida to be close to her other grandkids, and then she got cancer. It wasn't diagnosed in a timely fashion...Gram didn't like doctors much, and she ignored some of the symptoms. She went through some treatments, lost her hair, lost tons of weight, and eventually Dad convinced her to move back to CA so he and Mom could help take care of her.

But before she got too sick, I graduated from college, my brother had a baby boy and got married (in that order), and my sister moved to Virginia for college. Gram made it to all of these events. That fall while she was still living in Florida, I flew out to visit, and then we flew up to VA to visit my sister. We couldn't move at the same pace that we had years before, but it was still an awesome trip. While Sis took classes, Gram and I went sightseeing around Virginia. It wasn't long after this trip that Gram's health spiraled downward.

Dad moved her back to CA and into our house with he and Mom. I was living about 3 1/2 hours away, so I came to visit as often as I could. Gram was terminal, and we all knew that we would have to say goodbye shortly. Her time came in June of 1998. Dad says that she passed away peacefully, and all of us had made it home the week before to say final goodbyes when she had been surprisingly alert and coherent. She was 69. She had been a widow for 14 years, but she had been brave and created a new life for herself...and she was finally reunited with Grandpa that June day.

I miss her dearly. It's not every birthday that I think about her and get this sentimental. I don't know if it's pregnancy hormones or knowing that she will not meet my child until we're all in heaven together, but I miss her very much this year. She wasn't able to see me walk down the aisle on my wedding day. She wasn't able to make my wedding cake like she made my parents' cake (I always told her growing up that she had to make a cake for my wedding that was as tall as me!).

As I sit here typing with tears streaming down my face, I am remembering all the fun times we had, and the arguments in her kitchen. I think of all the fun recipes that came straight from her - recipes that my sister and I have to call each other for a couple times a year (what else goes in Orange Julius, Sis?) because we can't remember exactly how it goes (I just made bananas with sour cream and toasted coconut...yum!). I remember how I used to chastise her for going to the grocery store at 3am after she got off her shift at the IRS. I remember the wonderful cards I'd get in the mail from her while I was at college, and the visits when she would drive over to see me at school and take me out to eat or to the grocery store. I remember how strong in her faith and beliefs that she was, and it's because of that that I KNOW I will see her again one day.

I love you, Gram! Happy Birthday!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Terri totally called me on the rug...I've been staying away from my blog for the last few weeks so that I wouldn't spill the beans. But, now that they're spilled, I have no reason to keep away.

There may be some out there who will think what I'm about to share is TMI (my hubby, for one), but I think there are a few of you who won't think that, and so what, it's my blog, right?? =)

Anyway, I'm finishing up week 11 of my pregnancy. And I'm feeling GREAT, except that I still have to go to work every day, and that in itself is enough to make someone feel nauseated. I've been one of the lucky ones who has had very little nausea. Several weeks ago, I was feeling a little ill in the mid-morning, but a little snack high in carbs and fat seemed to cure that...but not donuts, they made me feel worse! For the last couple weeks, I've felt really good...and, knock on wood, I haven't thrown up once!

I am, however, exhausted! Every afternoon, I slump down in my chair at my desk and just try to keep my eyes open. All I want to do is run home and crawl into bed. And sometimes as soon as I can leave work that's exactly what I do. B will come home and find me curled up on the basement couch and poke and prod at me to make sure I'm still breathing. But, here's the funniest thing. If I can drag my butt to the gym right after work, even though I'm exhausted, I feel a whole lot better than if I let myself go home and veg. So, my goal is to make it to the gym as many days as possible. Of course, my 5 workouts a week is down to about 3, but that's still not bad.

Next week I head back to the doctor, with B this time, and we will get to hear the heart beat! I'm also going to BEG the doctor for another sonogram. We had one at 6 weeks, and I think she will make me wait until 20 weeks for the next one unless I beg.

B is so cute about all this. He gets a little queasy when I read to him from my books, but he's getting better. Every week I read a chapter about how the baby is developing, and each week there's a picture of what the kid looks like. Now B leans over to see the picture. This week we learned that it's no longer an embryo, it's a fetus, and it's the size of a small plum. Early on we were calling it a tadpole because it had a tail (who knew??), but now B calls the baby "Little Major." See, we were watching ESPN and there's this dude on there who's first name is Major. I think that's kinda weird, but B LOVES it...so now he wants to name our kid Major (for some reason, we both feel like it will be a boy). I joked back with him and said what if he goes into the military and becomes a major, do we call him Major Major?? B can call the kid Little Major for now (and maybe that will become his blogging name), but I'm not so keen on that for a real name.

When I found out I was pregnant, I told B by giving him a gift I had bought MONTHS ago - a shirt and hat that say Rookie Dad. Well, about 2 weeks after I gave him this gift, and about 4 weeks sooner than we planned to tell ANYONE - even family, B walks upstairs to get ready for birthday dinner at his parents' house, and he tells me he wants to wear his shirt and hat to dinner. I was floored!! I'm the one who has a problem keeping secrets, so I couldn't believe that he was the one who wanted to spill the beans. But, I was ecstatic, so of course I agreed.

When we got to the 'Rents, his mom and my SIL were on the phone in a very serious conversation...so we ended up having to coach them to look at his shirt. MIL was so confused for a minute, and then she was so excited. She ran into her craft room and came back with a gift for B...a pillow that says "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad." How sweet! Who knows how long she'd had it for, but she had to give it to him right away.

We took pictures of ourselves that day and sent them to the rest of the family. My SIL in CO figured it out right away, my very pregnant sister needed some help, and my Mom got it right away, but I had to call her to get her to check her email. Needless to say, the entire family is excited for us!

Back to Work?!

Yes, I had to get up and go to work today, and it sucked! After such a great LONG weekend and trip, it was nearly impossible to drag myself out of my comfy bed. But, here I am...blogging...so, obviously I'm not working. Oh well...at least I'm here!

Even though this trip was 2 days longer than my last one, it went by just as fast. Where does the time go??

Our girls weekend away was wonderful. One of our buddies volunteered to cook for ALL 9 of us all weekend! Even though we wondered what had come over her, we were absolutely thrilled to eat her yummy gourmet cooking all weekend long. Making decisions about food in a group of 8 or 9 people is like making decisions about world peace in our group -- NOT EASY!

We woke up on Saturday morning to a gorgeous day! The sun was shining, the air was cool and clear, the sky was blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. We ate breakfast on the deck, and this was our view...



After a leisurely morning, we got dressed and headed into San Luis for lunch and shopping. After we parked the cars, we walked out of the garage to find 5 interesting folks occupying the bench on the street. We couldn't resist taking pictures with them.



I have no idea WHY they were sitting there with black suits, masks, and newspapers, but we didn't care. Hey, it's SLO - a college town - anything is possible!

After dinner that night, we were sitting around with full bellies, trying to decide what to do with the rest of our evening when the power went out. We scrambled around looking for candles and matches, and while Amanda was next door bugging the young firefighters for some matches (actually, she went over there SEVERAL times asking for things...hmm, what's up with that?), we found a lighter and lit all the candles in sight. The beach house took on a wonderful glow, and we spent the rest of the night talking, dozing, and eating cookie dough. Yum! I was a little sad when the power came back on, but by then we were pretty pooped, so most of us turned in early. Proof that we are not as young as we think we are!

Sunday morning was our usual routine for the end of the weekend. Get up, clean up, and head home. It was only then that I realized we had taken almost no pictures (except for our group photo that I don't have yet). So, out came the camera for snapshots while we were loading up.

Here are Amanda and Marge trying, not so successfuly, to pull the heavy trashcan up the driveway.



2 of our buddies, Agnes and Paulette, are sporting cute bellies right now, so we had to get a shot of that.



BUT, that's not all the preggers buddies...there are 3 right now...here's the whole group. When these babies are born, there will be 19 kids, 10 buddies, and 10 husbands...crazy!



So, did you catch that? That's me in the middle of the photo above. =) One of the fun things I got to do on my trip was to FINALLY let the cat out of the bag about the bun in my oven (hey, that was kinda fun to type). I'm 10 weeks along, and I've known for a while, but we wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while. But, now we're ready for the world to know. I'd appreciate all your prayers for a healthy baby and a healthy pregnancy.

Ok, back to the weekend...Mom and I met a bunch of my old co-workers and their families at a local Pizza and Brewery on Sunday afternoon. It was fun to watch my Chiefs kick the Chargers butts AND visit with some old friends. Again, I forgot to pull the camera out, so I don't have pictures of everyone and their ever-growing kids. Dinner was great, and I got to spill the beans again.

Monday was my last day in CA, so I visited a girlfriend in the morning, had another fix of Jamba Juice, ate lunch with mom, did a little shopping (oh, and had a George's Special - it's chocolate ice milk with chocolate syrup, bananas and walnuts all mixed into a yummy milkshake...ooh baby!), and then Mom and I ordered take-out Chinese for dinner because we were SO tired.

I had to get up at 4am to catch my 6am flight home yesterday. I'm glad to be home, but the trip was way too short! Oh, how I wish for unlimited vacation days!

All in all, it was a great weekend...only to end with the inevitable...back to work.