Evacuation!

We are on our way out of town, finally! I am so sick of checking the weather and reading the Gustav headlines, and the storm hasn't even hit yet! I feel that the coverage has been a tad overboard, but I digress.

I am blogging in the car from Adam's blackberry. I'm unsure whether that makes me a big fat nerd or savvy and hip. You be the judge.

The highway is surprisingly clear and the rain is light. So far so good. Looking forward to a few days of nothingness at mom and dad's.

Getting closer

The energy and the buzz in the air is downright palpable. Folks are worried. Folks are leaving. This is the good news - many of the people who would be considered the most difficult to evacuate (because of being straight up po') are taking advantage of the systems in place to evacuate early. No matter what destruction lies ahead, it seems unlikely that we will see the same scenes on the news post-Gustav as we did post-Katrina of stranded people and helpless pets and looters and dead bodies slumped over in wheelchairs at the Superdome, etc.

So, I will go to work tonight, as Adam reinforces our home and puts boards up over the windows and worries just a little bit more about getting me and this baby in my belly out of harm's way. There is a chance I will be released from work tomorrow night, in which case we'll head up to my parents' house tomorrow afternoon.

Interesting side note: we are 7 blocks from the beach, yet we are in a zone marked as "least likely to flood," therefore we are not required through the state to have flood insurance. So, we are not insured against rising waters. BUT, we are 30 feet above sea level, and this house did not flood during Camille or Katrina. So any damage to our home would most likely originate from wind.

Still feeling hopeful that the storm will pass far enough west of us that these issues will remain hypothetical.

Stay tuned! Thanks for all the concern.

Disaster Preparedness

Maybe it's because I didn't live down here during Katrina, maybe it's because I am living in la-la land, maybe it's because I'm stupid and lazy, but I am lagging way behind everyone else in achieving a proper freak-out mode regarding Gustav.

I did purchase 6 jugs of water today, which was actually quite random with very little logical thinking behind it. I just happened to be in the supermarket looking for basil and thought, hey, it can't hurt to have some jugs of water, I think I'll go with 6!!

Adam is thinking things through appropriately, and I will be taking instructions from him. If we evacuate, we'll take a few boxes of important things and get ourselves and the dogs out of harm's way. Beyond that, I guess I'm pretty fatalistic. What will be will be.

I am supposed to work all weekend, so I am stuck here until Monday morning. Unless the hospital calls in the dedicated hurricane team before then, which is unlikely.

So, wish us all luck! The good people of the Gulf Coast certainly don't need a repeat of Katrina so soon.

Colorado Pics - part VI

Colorado Pics - part V

Colorado Pics - part IV

The wedding cakes, lovingly made by the bride and groom. Let me repeat: the bride and groom MADE these cakes. All of them. And they were ridiculously good!

Colorado Pics - part III - Garden of the Gods

Colorado Pics - part II

Steve and the bride, both so pretty in pink.

Liz and our beautiful Lithuanian, Lina, whom I hadn't seen since graduation and who is more beautiful and amazing than ever.

The One and Only Jeni Rinner

Ryan Pocket! (2 beds, 5 adults, tough decisions)

Pre-wedding poetry reading on Saturday afternoon at a coffee shop in Colorado Springs

Colorado Pictures

Here we are at Charlie Brown's Piano Bar in an old downtown Denver hotel. This place is now one of my favorite places on earth. It's basically live karaoke but strictly with old standards and show tunes. The lady playing the piano was a GEM. She knew hundreds and hundreds of songs by heart!! Definiely a lost art, but this woman is keeping it alive. Oh and she yodeled!
Brad and me. Rich waiting for the light rail, looking super fly.
Bowling bachelorette party. Me holding a 10-pound bowling ball and praying to sweet Jesus that my baby is nowhere near that heavy.

The beautiful Nussbaum girls

The Return

I'm back!! I had an absolutely wonderful 5-day vacation to Colorado to watch a dear person, my friend Mary Margaret, marry her man in Colorado Springs. I came back rejuvenated and inspired. I have 2 more mini-vacations to look forward to before Baby Lornitzo comes, but this was my last big trip without a child to think about (well... actually I did think about my child a lot on this trip with every margarita I passed up).

Will post some pictures tomorrow! Til then, enjoy this clip that was the source of many jokes this weekend.

My Happy Place(s)

Chez Butter

Here is our house. Imagine my bliss when the doggies greet me at the gate of our adorable little white picket fence!

Yes, we have 2 front doors. It's a little odd, we admit. The house was a duplex in one of its former lives. We only use one of the doors (the one on the right). One day we will take out the left one and build a proper front porch. Yeah, one day.

Pregnancy Cliche

People say you should trust your body during pregnancy, that it will tell you what it needs. Well, today I was in CVS and my body told me to buy this bag of Hershey kisses. And then when I got home my body told me to open the bag and start eating them without keeping count and to just keep on goin'. I trust my body, so I obeyed.

Help!

Does anyone know what this flower is? There is a beautiful bush growing along our fence with tons of these little blooms on it. I want to know what it is so I can plant some more! It makes me truly happy to look at it.

How dare she!!

I would like to hereby publicly denounce my friend Lauren Gilchrist for having a blog since May 19th and never once mentioning it to me. Lauren, consider yourself denounced. P.S. I still love you and always will.

Stump stump stump my friends!

I finally got to watch the Saddleback Forum on the internets. McCain may as well have been giving a campaign speech. I found his answers way too canned and he meandered off-topic multiple times while Warren sat there gazing at him and allowing him these multiple tangents, despite initial pleadings against outright stumping. I don't think Obama particularly shined, but he was much more introspective and thoughtful in his responses and seemed to respect the nature of the forum MUCH more than McCain. Also, I was surprised to note that Obama was considerably more straightforward about his Christianity and what that means to him, whereas McCain truly seemed to dodge the issue. Strange. McCain never once mentioned Christ specifically. He just gave us a nice little story about someone drawing a cross in the sand.

I have a ton of respect and admiration for what McCain went through as a POW, but to slip in anecdotes from Vietnam as often as possible tells us nothing about his character and values TODAY. I basically learned nothing about McCain. Also, while courageous that he mentioned his failed marriage as his greatest personal failure, this seemed a trite confession lacking remorse or accountability. Interesting how he worded it: "the failure of my first marriage," as though a thing like that just happened without his involvement.

There is a lot of criticism out there over Obama's answers being too vague and indecisive. I think there is a big difference between nuanced and vague. I respect it when someone doesn't pretend to have easy answers to difficult questions.

Just my take. And now, Joey provoking me in the comments in 3.... 2..... 1.....

Fine, you win! A belly picture!

Just another day at the office

This weekend, I had the pleasure of being part of the following:

1) A 400+ pound patient who had an itch on her butt that she obviously could do nothing about since she can barely move. The itch was making her miserable, and she required assistance. To her husband, who looked like a VERY heavy Santa Claus, she says, "Sugar lips, I need you to scratch my butt." Then I had to help roll her over so he could access the itchy area. THEN, I had to listen to her moan with pleasure while her itch was being relieved. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

2) A patient was in the middle of a blood transfusion and was being taken care of by one of my favorite co-workers, K, who is black. The wife looks at K and says, "This better not be no monkey blood." K asked her what she meant and the woman explained, "I mean YOUR blood, YOU people's blood."

3) Yet another patient who is middle-aged but severely mentally retarded and was taken away from her mother because the mother had essentially been pimping her out her whole life. This abused baby requires a 24-hour sitter for safety, and she walks around the floor, day and night, in tears, crying for her mother, who sits in an insane asylum and is hopefully on her way to jail.

Sometimes my job is hard.

Scare Tactics

I had a doctor's appointment today, and everything went well, up until I requested that we defer the Rhogam shot (I'm Rh negative) until my husband determines his blood type. The look on her face at the moment was total, utter disapproval. She asked me why. I stated the obvious: that if Adam is negative, our baby and all future babies will be negative, and it's an unnecessary treatment. She asked me how Adam was going to determine his blood type, to which I responded that he had donated blood at the Red Cross. She looked at me dubiously and said that they have been known to make mistakes.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A blood bank getting a donor's blood type wrong? Wouldn't that completely shatter the reliability of one of the most basic and important treatments in medicine?

I like my OB doc. She is ok. But this truly annoyed me. She said she really disapproved of my choice, and I reminded her that I hadn't actually MADE the choice yet and that I was just waiting for more information.

Aggravating.

They must get paid well for administering Rhogam shots. Anyone know anything about that?

Bed Bath & Beyond Stupid

There I am, minding my own business in Bed Bath & Beyond, innocently looking for a new shower curtain to compliment my turquoise walls, when all of a sudden I hear a cacophony of deep, bass, male, jock laughter of the "huh huh" variety. I look up to see 3 young military dudes absolutely roaring and doubled over with laughter. I'm at a total loss as to what could be so funny in this ridiculous box store full of rugs, paper towel holders, and bathroom scales, when I finally get a peek at what they are looking at.

A very oversized universal TV remote.

I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and think, "well, maybe it's related to an inside joke they've had for years." But then one of them goes, "It's like a PIZZA!!" which sets the other 2 to laughing even harder. Um, ok. I guess in that it is a flat object, it is like a pizza. But in no other way is it like a pizza.

Then I started laughing, most definitely AT them and not WITH them.

Don't Care

Huh. Whaddaya know. Another politician and his sex scandal. Neat.

Really Don't Care

grrrrrrrrr

There is this girl at work that really loves to comment on how I'm growing with this pregnancy. She is the only one who sort of bothers me when it comes to pregnancy remarks. There's something in her tone that is just not 100% well-meaning. This morning, she says, "Oh man I just can't believe how much you are showing alREADY, this early on!! That is going to be one BIG baby!! And this being your first, too! Oh man!!" And so on.

First of all, BACK OFF SKANK!!

Second, "this early on"? I am 7 months. Thanks. Pretty sure it's ok that I'm gaining some weight now.

Third, comments of this nature are simply not appreciated until I am literally about to pop. Then it will be a more reasonable thing to say, and I can deal.

I guess what I'm getting at is that really, the only acceptable thing to say to someone who is starting to show is "You are so cute!! Wow you look great!" or something of that nature.

The End.

p.s. I am so afraid I have been guilty of telling pregnant ladies how big they are getting. I am truly sorry for that.

The joys of home ownership

I now have a turquoise bathroom, and it makes me so happy!

Nerd or Rock Star?

BOTH!!

It's not often anymore that a band that I want to see live swings down my way, so when they do, we go if possible. So last night Adam and I made a 2-hour trek to Baton Rouge to see The Hold Steady. They were pure charisma, and we had a blast.

I did call ahead to make sure it was a non-smoking facility. But when the opening band came on, well, it was really really LOUD and I started to worry a little about the fetus. The place was small and we were basically right up at the stage. Adam told me Baby L would be fine, so I relaxed and just enjoyed the show. I did a little research today that backed up Adam's hunch. It is totally ok to bring your unborn baby to a loud rock show.

Evil Urges

I actually had to resist the temptation to buy this thing yesterday at the drug store:

So bizarre! I NEVER crave that kind of total crap.

I am entering my 3rd trimester and will be trying desperately not to blow up like Shamu. I am now one week without soda or anything fried. However, I am drinking loads of iced tea, which I don't think I can do without. Wish me luck people!

Fleas

Vile creatures!! DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I daydream about murdering them. I think about torturing them before I murder them. I want to know the most painful way for them to die, and then that's how I want to kill them. They are torturing our dogs, therefore I want to kill them slowly, one by one, while the others watch.

That is all.

Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now!

I just made our very first mortgage payment. I think about $2.00 of it went towards principal, or something ridiculous like that. Good times!

100th post. Happy Tuesday!

Remember superglue and flip-flops next April Fool's Day! (Thanks Mary)


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