Happy New Year

2007 is so last year isn't it? So as we welcome in 2008 I present to you a recap of my year, courtesy of pretty much most of the blogs I read, so let's just say I borrowed this and will answer all these questions, allowing me to not have to create my own entry while providing all my lovely readers something to, well, read!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? Well, I would say getting married was a pretty big one. Finding out I was pregnant was definitely a new adventure. And I went to many new places, like Dubai and Singapore and Morocco and Australia and Estonia and Lithuania and Latvia and Belgium and Iceland and Jackson Hole. And I finished my Masters, which, fingers crossed that I pass my thesis, makes me pretty damn proud.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Not having any makes it easy to not break them, no? So no, I probably won't make any. Except I am hoping for a healthy baby, so while not a resolution a definite wish for 2008.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Sadly, no. But I am hoping 2008 will give some of my friends the baby they not only want but that they so completely deserve.

4. Did anyone close to you die? A dear friend lost her dad, and Katie lost her valiant battle with cancer. Both broke my heart in ways I didn't know possible.

5. What countries did you visit? Hmm. See question 1. And add Spain and Italy to that list.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? More time with Lee. Because having him at work everyday just doesn't cut it for me :) Too bad the whole work equals money equals a way to actually live makes it difficult for him to stay at home with me every day!

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 13, which will forever be the best wedding I have ever attended. And I am not just saying that because it was mine. And a date late in May, when we discovered that our two-some would become three in 9 long months.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think finishing my thesis was a pretty big achievement, since I was so tired of it and just tired in general and yet I did it. Now I just have to wait till February to see if I actually passed!

9. What was your biggest failure? This is tricky, because while I would say it would have been nice to be working at a newspaper or magazine right now, I can't deny that the reasons I am not (hey Fizzy, thanks for the kick!) make me happier than a job would any day.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope, unless you count food aversion and extreme exhaustion from baking a baby, but I am going to stick with nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Ha. I love to shop, and coming up with one thing would be tough. Although I was pretty excited about the chocolate and bacon flavored candy bar I found for Lee for Christmas, combining two of his favorite loves into one really, really weird taste.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My grandmother has had a crap year health wise, to be blunt, but she never lets it get the best of her and she perseveres and is stronger than anyone I know. So definitely her.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Oh Britney. Enough said.

14. Where did most of your money go? Travel, travel, travel

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? At the risk of sounding repetitive, hey Fizzy!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? That horribly addictive song Umbrella and the totally unchild-friendly song SouldjaBoy (or whatever convoluted way it is spelled), mainly because I don't think parents really have any idea what the song is about and if they did they would never let their 13 year olds sing and dance to a song about supermaning the ho. It is too disgusting to even link to the definition of, but if you want to know, check out Urban Dictionary.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? Definitely happier, although I was pretty damn happy last year too; Sadly, fatter, but after the baby is born I plan to rectify that; and probably poorer, thanks to the above travel and the impeding new family member. Babies aren't cheap y'all. And ours isn't even here yet!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Working out and traveling. Oh and written this blog better, because there are so, so many people who are so very funny and I wish I could write half as well as they do.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Schoolwork!

20. How did you spend Christmas? With Lee and his family

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? How about more in love? Cause that happens every day with Lee. And even now, every day with Fizzy.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Grey's Anatomy. While I totally think the writers on strike are in the right, I want more new episodes of GA!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Since I am not 12 I am going to say no. Hate is too strong a word.

24. What was the best book you read?I really love so many books I read. But I did love A Thousand Splendid Suns and Water For Elephants

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Hmm, I am not sure about this one. Being 32 and pregnant and not going out has limited my musical discoveries I am afraid.

26. What did you want and get? A year full of love and health for my family and friends. And while some of the health roads were a little bumpy, I am happy that we are ending the year on a smooth note.

27. What did you want and not get? I am afraid if I answer this it will make me seem incredibly materialistic so I will plead the fifth!

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I really loved Knocked Up, despite lots of people thinking it was overrated. I thought it was hysterical.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I got to celebrate early with my family in a beautiful place, which included watching Landon and Wes cover themselves in chocolate icing and making my heart swell with joy. And on my actual birthday I got to spend time with one of my best friends and with Lee, and we ate Lebanese food and shuffled in my 32nd year the way I wanted, with people I love.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If all my single friends had found someone to make them as happy as Lee makes me.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? If sweatpants and uggs count as a fashion concept then I am quite stylish. But since they don't, I will say maternity wear makes fashion a little difficult.

32. What kept you sane? My family and friends, as usual. And celebrity gossip, which always reminds me that being young and rich and beautiful isn't all it is cracked up to be

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I still love David Gray, and will always love David Gray

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Ah. Health care. 100%. And how a Universal health care system is not the way to go in the US, despite what so many believe. Get pregnant, live in the UK and then let's talk, okay?

35. Who did you miss? Who don't I miss? All of my family and friends. I really miss Landon and Wes, because I don't get to talk to them as much and I worry they will forget me.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Does Fizzy count?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. Life is too short to worry about the little things, and while this is not news to me, it seems to have sunk in a little more this year than ever before.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. This was our first dance song, and the words couldn't be more appropriate for the two of us...



Be Mine
David Gray


From the very first moment I saw you
That's when I knew
All the dreams I held in my heart
Had suddenly come true
Knock me over stone cold sober
Not a thing I could say or do
Cause baby when I'm walking with you now
My eyes are so wide
Like you reached right into my head
And turned on the light inside
Turning on the light
Inside my mind... yea...


Here is to a happy and healthy 2008 for everyone. And for all my readers, those I know and those I don't, thank you for returning and reading my blog every day. It means more to me than words could say!

We're Getting There

With only 4 weeks to go (FOUR? Yikes) we are slowly but surely wrapping up all things Fizzy. I have chosen a glider chair to order and just have to order it. We have 99% of the clothes washed and put away. The diaper bags are packed for the hospital, the crib is put together and the batteries have now been inserted so it vibrates/lights/plays music. And Lee has mastered the Baby Bjorn. Which is good, considering the first time he put it on, several days ago, it was a little high up, as you can see from this picture where, as all responsible dads do, he tested it out with a beer and a teddy bear. We thought about putting one of the cats in it but decided the baby will be traumatic enough, and left well enough alone.



Tonight may be the first New Years in 11 years that I haven't been out drinking or dancing. Or both. And while I would love to swing by HITW it will also be the first one with my husband, so going to dinner and coming home early and bowling on the Wii will actually be pretty nice. Sure, we did spend it together 2 years ago when he proposed, so it is not only New Years but also the anniversary of the day I said 'Whatever!' when he asked me if I would marry him. But the whatever was said out of shock, not out of indifference, and I think 2 years on he finally realizes that.

January is a big month here in our household. Anniversaries, birthdays, birth days (hopefully) and lots to do. I will try my best to update as much as I can, because once Fizzy is here, well all bets are off!

Happy Boxing Day

After a relaxing Christmas day, which saw us sleep the latest I have ever slept, and realizing it will likely be the latest I will ever sleep again on Christmas, complete with wonderful gifts including jewelry from my fabulous husband, modern technology which let me watch Wes and Landon open our gifts to them via webcam, and a yummy Christmas dinner, we decided to get out and walk around today in the remarkably nice weather, and headed to Leeds Castle, which was about an hour or so away and full of peacocks and parrots and falcons and a castle that would be a lovely weekend home, if anyone felt inclined to buy it for me.

Today is also Boxing Day, which is one of those days that means nothing to me other than the stores all close ridiculously early and we don't get mail. But as a Boxing Day treat for you, I have decided to post a picture of us today that is not only a little blurry but really, really unattractive of me. But it shows how all of the sudden pregnant I look, at least to me, and while it pains me to post it I have had some requests to see what I look like at almost 36 weeks, so here you go. It will be followed by one of the castle alone, so your eyes will have time to heal. And one of our Christmas table, which I was so excited about since we got to use our Christmas china for the first time ever, only to realize the really ugly exercise bicycle in the background pretty much ruins the whole look.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and that Santa was as good to all of you as he was to us.

Super Sweet TV

I am pretty sure Fizzy is going to be born addicted to trashy reality television and bowling on the Wii, based on the only activities I seem to have any interest in these days. And to make me a happy pregnant lady MTV has started airing two episodes a night of My Super Swee t 1 6 UK, which is all the shockingness of the American series wrapped up in a nice British accent. Although I have to say that it is clear to me now that either American teens really are incredibly spoiled rotten brats or the really rich kids in the UK are too posh to bother being on tv, so it is sort of middle of the barrel in terms of who is on these episodes. Minus the girl who was given the house for her 18th birthday, cause I am pretty sure that hasn't happened yet on the US version. The girl last night could have been very rich but since I couldn't understand 95% of what she was saying it is hard to tell. And here? Every episode involves drinking, which would never fly in the US.

This has given me a good insight into what Lee will be like as a dad, since he stops whatever he is doing during each episode and says 'No. Our kids will never have a party like this.' Followed by an episode of H0gan Knows Best (see, Fizzy is destined for bad tv, I just know it), where Lee claimed he would totally follow in the Hulk's footsteps in interrogating any dates our fictional daughter brings home. Somehow I think the Hulk probably presents a slightly more intimidating facade than Lee, but don't tell him that.

It's Like Turning 21 All Over Again

It's official. I can legally stay in the UK for 2 whole years without fear of being harassed every time I land at the airport. And all it took was 2 trips to the Home Office, 1 'denial', 2 new letters from my University, 2 lectures about why I should have switched to the spousal visa immediately after my wedding, despite having a year left on my student visa, a silence from the lady helping us this morning that was actually deafening, $1200, confusion as to what floor to actually be on leading us to missing our appointment and someone kindly getting us back in the queue, and 6 hours of my time spent in the lovely building that decides the fate of so many. But you know what? I got it with 41 days to spare, and that is all that matters.

I am so tired, and neither of us slept well last night, although for one of us it was because of something kicking their ribs combined with a horrendous backache and bi-hourly trips to the bathroom. For the other it was because of too much food consumed that was prepared by a Michelin rated chef in one of the poshest hotels in London, followed by drinks at a bar so frequented by celebrities that the paparazzi were outside the whole time. I will let you figure out which one of us was in which scenario.

And with that? I am off to nap. Sometimes being a stay at home wife/soon to be mom does have its advantages. And I am going to curl up with my passport in my hands, out of fear they will change their mind and come back and take it from me.

Santalot

After facing our vices and braving the intense cold (me) and the crazy-almost Christmas time shoppers (Lee) I think we may finally be almost done with our Christmas preparations. Almost. And so to celebrate we set off on Saturday night to see Spamalot.

However, what we saw when walking to the restaurant ahead of time was, literally, hundreds of Santas. Big ones. Little ones. Female ones. Male ones. Ones dressed in red. Ones dressed in black. A few people dressed as elves. A couple dressed as reindeers. All drunk. It was surreal, and of course when I whipped out my ever present camera to document it all? It was dead.

Apparently we had stumbled into the middle of a Santa pub crawl, and it was the most surreal thing we have ever seen. I hope no children were scarred by seeing this many stumbling Santas through Soho on Saturday, because I am not sure how you explain to a Santa believing child that these people were just dressed up like Father Christmas to experience a little inebriated fun while being part of what looked like a big red orgy, because these Santas and Santa-ettes were holding back very little. And this was at 6.

Spamalot was really, really funny, and I would recommend it to anyone with the caveat that if you see it in London they may have put it in the theatre with the smallest seats ever, so if you are okay squeezing yourself in and playing armrest-war for 2 hours then it is totally worth it. Or maybe that was just my pregnant self. But either way it really was a funny show, and since we are trying to get in as much culture as we can as the last 6 weeks slowly tick away I am glad we ventured out on such a blustery night to see it.

Dear Fizzy...

Dear Fizzy,

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is 34 weeks of you being a part of me. 30 weeks since we got the surprise news that threw us for a loop while making us happier than we knew possible. Which means that technically, and only technically, in 3 weeks you could enter this world and be full term. But I think we should try to hold out until at least 39.5 weeks, don't you? It never hurts to grow a little more, and we really, really want Grammy to be here when you make your arrival.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited your daddy and I both are to find out if you will be a boy or a girl and based on motherly instinct, and lots of input from those around us, I am guessing your clothes will be more pink and frilly, but I have a feeling you are sneaky and will turn out to be the football loving boy your dad is hoping for. I keep telling him that girls can play soccer too, so if you are a girl I hope you prove me right. (By the way, if you don't come out cheering for Newcastle United, regardless of your gender, we could have some serious problems!)

We have had a tough week, this 33rd week, and although everything is okay it made both of us realize how much being a parent is going to change our world. We knew, instinctively, that it would. But emotionally? It hasn't seemed to sink in too much until this week, and I hope you know that we are going to do the very best job that we can do. So hopefully you can cut us a little slack and maybe give us some sleep in the first few weeks. Because the fact that you seem to be sleeping quite a bit now doesn't bode too well for when you are actually here, since I think you are saving up all your energy to unleash it onto the world. Be kind to me; I really love to sleep and hope that is a trait I pass on to you, and not one of my less desirable ones, like my clumsiness!

It's just been you and me the past 3 days, and I keep telling your daddy that we clearly miss and love him more because together you and I have two hearts filled with love and he only has one...but I think it is probably a pretty close draw, since I know how much he loves feeling you kick for him every morning before he goes to work, and finding out when you are moving, and talking to you.

So 6 weeks, give or take some days. Just remember, let's stay in January, okay? I am not sure I can hold off till February at this point. And if you could move slightly away from my ribs that would be wonderful as well.

Love,
Your incubator, also known as your mom

13 Days

Is there really only 13 days till Christmas? Because for some reason it seems like it is much, much further away. And that is even with me having finished the majority of my shopping, the tree is up, the cards are out, and the cookies are...well, not made. But that is one of my activities I have planned for next week. Because these days my daily plans have to include some sort of daily activity that will either get me out of the house or keep me from watching repeat episodes of Judge Judy.

It is funny that all it takes is a picture to make your week, right? And these two did just that, well these 2 and the 466 others that Grove sent me. But the one of Landon cracks me up because not only has he mastered the self photo at the age of 4 but he does it with such finesse. If there was any question he was my nephew it has now been confirmed!

Oh Christmas Tree

Because we don't have a car, and because we are spending Christmas in London this year, we decided to order our tree online and have it delivered to our door. While we didn't know exactly what we were going to get, it was clearly the best decision, because I am not sure the bus driver would take too kindly to us dragging a 7 ft tree onto a double decker.

It came all tightly wrapped, and under strict orders I was not to move it. So when Lee got home we set out to put it up. 4 hours later we had a tree! A slightly crooked tree. A tree that had twinkling lights that at one point made both of us so queasy we almost gave up and took the lights off so I could search for better lights the next day. Because who does twinkly where the red and yellow go off and the blue and green stay on? But my brilliant husband figured out how to dismantle the twinkle function and solid lights we have. Then we had to rearrange the furniture, because squeezing the tree between the tv and a chair would have been next to impossible, but I think it turned out just lovely, not to mention the smell of a real tree is enough to put anyone in the Christmas spirit!

And the cats have only managed to knock off one ornament, although there is one precariously close to Tyson's eye level and while he enjoys batting it around he actually hasn't knocked it off the tree yet.



Some photos of York Minster, the only enjoyable part of York last weekend, when the market was erroneously labeled 'Christmas' and should have been labeled 'Crap'.





And if any of my friends didn't receive an email from me with my new email address, thanks to the complete breakdown of my old one, please send me a message at the address up there to your right and I will send you my new one...because with my lost email is everyone's addresses, and while I tried to remember as best as I could I have what is commonly referred to as pregnancy brain, or what makes me wish someone Happy Birthday when they, in fact, have merely sneezed.

Have A Funky, Funky Christmas

I am waiting for our Christmas tree to be delivered, which in theory is awesome since we don't have a car and I can't carry anything heavy. In reality it can come anytime in the next 7 hours so I have to find something to occupy my time until it shows up. And then I have to just look at it sitting in our hallway since I promised Lee I wouldn't try to move it, since I am, well, stubborn. But I am not stupid, so I won't try it.

And since it is raining, AGAIN, I really don't mind so much staying in, other than the fact I haven't left our apartment since noon on Tuesday, but hey, that's neither here nor there. I now have laundry done and Christmas cards addressed and lots and lots of tv watched. Pregnancy? Is fun.

I was racking my brain to think of something to write about and I decided to write about what should be known as the 2 most embarrassing years of my life, or my New Kids On The Block phase. This was triggered by Alice's Christmas carol post and my realization that I still know, and enjoy, the New Kids Christmas album. And that is just so sad.



When I was 12 I didn't have very many friends, due to an unfortunate fight with my best friend who I had known since I was 6 and her subsequent custody of all of our friends. It was fine...well it really wasn't, because in eighth grade who doesn't want friends? But I made it through, and somehow, in the midst of it all, I discovered Joey-Joe.



In retrospect I don't know what I was thinking. He wore rings on every finger. He wore a leather jacket with a green shamrock airbrushed on it. He had bushy hair and he sang like a 12 year old girl. But I knew, deep down, he was going to meet me and marry me.

I dragged my poor mom to a concert, where she sat and listened to 20,000 girls scream so loudly she claims she couldn't hear any of the music. It is possible I was one of those girls, but I am pleading the fifth on that one. I collected magazines like Big Bopper, Tiger Beat and Bop. In fact those very magazines have been moved approximately 6 times, along with about 15 video tapes of different commercials/cartoons/appearances that I taped. I not only taped them, I kept a tape in the VCR ready to record so if that Coke commercial came on that I had taped alreayd 763 times I could tape it again. And again.

And then I went to high school, where I became friends with Merrill, Maya, Julie and Stephanie...and it worked out perfectly, because we were all equally obsessed with them. We fed off of each other, and when we were way too old to be infatuated we shrugged it off and didn't care.

My parents drove us around downtown Atlanta one night for 2 hours when we somehow found out they were in town a few days before their concert. We found their hotel, and camped out in the lobby, convinced they were being shuttled into the hotel in suitcases and trunks. We came back the next night, and saw one of them getting on the elevator. The next night at the concert one of my friends was convinced Donnie was shouting at his hotel room number at her during a song. Just at her, not the 20,000 other people around us, of course!

Merrill and I were driven to Auburn, 2 hours away, by my parents to see them in concert. We didn't have tickets, we didn't have a plan, we just HAD to be there.

I am not sure when we stopped liking them, or how I went from them to bands like Dinosaur Jr, Bad Religion and Green Day, who at that time played at clubs that held 200 people maximum and they had never thought about being mainstream, but I think the transition made my parents breathe a sigh of relief. Until the realized that meant I went from liking clean cut boys to skaters, but fortunately for all of us I outgrew that phase as well, although that one took quite a bit longer.

There are certain entries where I wish I had access to all my pictures, because oh the pictures I could show. I am sure my friends are actually grateful that I don't, because I would not be the only one hanging my head in shame!

I will leave you with some words of wisdom from my dear friend Rachel, who was way too cool to be a fan of New Kids, and who said as much in a letter that I still have from her:

'I can't believe you like New Kids On The Block. They are so lame Andrea. Vanilla Ice is SO much better.'

And there you have it. Clearly Vanilla Ice was the way of the future, right Rach?

Tuesday Ponderings

*Saying goodbye is never easy, even when I know I will see my mom again in a month

*York's Christmas market? Sucks. SUCKS.

*Maternity pants should be uber-comfortable with that wide elastic band and extra breathing room. But some days? They just really aren't. Which leaves few options when I am 32.5 weeks pregnant, even when I am not visibly pregnant to many people.

*Except the nice older lady at the grocery store who asked me when I was due today and made my week, since I am feeling a little sad I am not a cute pregnant lady.

*When I show my mom how to bowl on the Wii I shouldn't be surprised she is now contemplating getting a Wii, particularly now that she knows there is also an archery game and a pool game.

*Christmas shopping online for my family in the US is not as easy as it should be, particularly when I have to label the packages appropriately so my mom knows who should open what and wrap what and when you start labeling them with 3 or 4 names it is just confusing to all.

*I spend entirely too much time at water aerobics when I am pointing out people from my classes to my mom as we walk through Wimbledon, and see the teacher at lunch and these are the only 'friends' I have in Wimbledon. And they are all a good 40 years older than I am.

*Hearing my grandma has had a tough week of it and is still perserving and going strong can simultaneously break my heart and make me so proud of her.

*Listening to my nephews sing 'Who Let The Dogs Out' on my voicemail will automatically make my rainy day sunny.

*Sleep is really underrated. I love it. And I know it is about to be taken away from me in 7.5 weeks and while I am scared of many aspects of labor and delivery and being a mom this is pretty high on my list of things I am nervous about. Does that make me lazy or normal?

*Lists like this are much easier when I am feeling like my mind is an empty slate and I know I have The Hills waiting for me on Tivo.