Tempting... but no

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is scheduled to be released on July 11.

Lucy is scheduled to be released on July 11.

I really, really, really want to see HP & tOotP.

I looked into it and there is a midnight showing at our local movie theatre on July 10.

It is extremely tempting to go to the midnight showing of HP, go home, crash for a few hours, get up and go in to deliver girly. I'm gonna be tired anyways... (and I'm not likely to sleep that night)

But no. Definitely not a good idea.

But so tempting...

Cereal killer

When I was a kid, my mom had a rule that I had to eat breakfast. I could have whatever I wanted, but I had to eat something. I had many very strange breakfasts as kid. I ate salad, leftover spaghetti, cake, apple crisp... if it sounded good, I ate it.

I think in some part because of that, I am not much of a breakfast food person. I will eat cereal, Pop-Tarts, toast and things like that, but I tend to get bored if I eat the same thing for too long.

Recently, Charlie sent me a box of Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters to try. I had them this morning and they were pretty good. They seemed to have a pretty good raisin to flake ratio (I only had a couple of flake-only bites, most of the other spoonfuls had at least one raisin (which Emily picked out of her bowl)).

If you are looking for a cereal that tastes good and has a decent amount of fiber in it, this would be a good one to try.

The nap

This afternoon, Emily woke up from her nap around 2:30. I went in to get her and brought her out to the living room to cuddle for a minute.

That minute stretched to several and slowly, Emily fell back to sleep in my arms.

My Emily is a fairly good sleeper. She sleeps roughly 12 hours at night and usually takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. The only thing is, she does all that alone. She isn't one to go back to sleep if we bring her into our bed, preferring instead to explore all the nifty things Mike has on his nightstand (the flashlight is a particular favorite). When Emily was a little baby, I started teaching her how to sleep by herself. The downside of that is that I don't get to hold her while she sleeps.

This afternoon I held Emily and tried to savor every moment, every feeling. I know that my opportunities to hold my girl as she sleeps will continue to decrease as she gets older and I don't want to forget the sweet feeling of holding Emily while she sleeps.

I laid on the couch, holding Emily,
savoring the feeling the solid weight of her little body on mine,
the silken threads of her hair as it brushed against my face in the breeze,
the rhythmic cadence of her breathing as she fell more deeply into sleep,
her velvet skin against me,
the kicks and squirms of Emily's little sister in my belly,
the dark fan of Emily's eyelashes against her cheek,
hearing the traffic outside our house,
the chirp of the birds and buzz of the bees,
smelling the sweet apple scent of Emily's hair,
hearing her giggle in her sleep and feeling her twitch as she dreams.

We stayed like that for almost an hour. Eventually, the phone rang and I had to get up to answer it. Emily was still drowsy when I came back, but she never really went back to sleep. That was ok, because though I enjoyed holding Emily while she slept, I also was kind of bored. I wasn't sleepy myself and I couldn't help but think about the emails that were waiting for me, or the book I started this afternoon. I kept thinking about Harry Potter's make-it-fly-to-me spell (accio? I think) and wishing that it was real so that my book could fly to me and I could read while Emily slept. But, then I wouldn't have been able to savor all the feelings of holding Emily as thoroughly.

Fiber-licious

I was sent some fiber products to sample recently. I received Fibersure and Metamucil's new flavor, Berry Burst.

The Fibersure is a powder that you add to whatever you are cooking. I decided to do a little experiment to see if Mike would notice me adding it to stuff without me telling him it was there. I put it in our iced tea (we brew and drink a couple of gallons of iced tea a week), in pasta sauce, in a PB&J I made for him and at least one batch of chocolate chip cookies. Neither Mike nor I noticed a difference in taste in any of those things, except the chocolate chip cookies. Mike says he thought the dough tasted less sweet and more coarse and he said he also noticed a difference in the taste of the baked cookies. I think it was a placebo effect, because he tasted the dough right after I told him that I had added the Fibersure. I didn't notice a difference in the taste of the cookies at all.

The one thing I did notice was that both Mike and I were ... how do I put this? ... um, stinkier when we farted. After I ripped an especially good one, I was told that I would be sleeping on the couch if I did it again. He would have had a fight on his hands, especially after he neatly punctuated that statement with a pretty stinky fart of his own.

I also tried the Metamucil Berry Burst drink and wasn't impressed. It was not very berry flavored and somewhat gritty tasting. Ick.

Of the two products, my favorite was definitely the Fibersure. I will continue to use it when I'm cooking (which is somewhat infrequent right now), especially as more and more evidence comes out that fiber is beneficial. And we are certainly not getting enough fiber otherwise. Unless you count the pizza I burned last night. : )

Silence is Golden

Alternate title: Bark already, Dammit!!!

Domino's anti-bark collar arrived yesterday. I got it all set up and put it on him and ... silence. It was late afternoon by the time I got the collar on him, so I didn't really worry about it.

I was out and about this morning, so after putting Emily down for her nap, I put the collar on him again and let him outside to go potty (or "drain the lizard" as Mike so eloquently put it a couple of days ago).

There were several birds in the yard as Domino trotted off the deck. Did he bark at them? No.
A semi went by on the road out front. Did he bark at it? No.

The wind is blowing. Did he bark at it? Of course not.

So far, this is the longest stretch of silence I have (or haven't) heard from this dog in the 4 years we've owned him. All of the things I listed above are things at which he has previously barked. Not today.

Apparently all I needed to do to guarantee some silence from the dog is put an anti-bark collar on him. He hasn't even experienced the citronella part yet!!

In other dog news, I went to Target yesterday to get a refill on his Prozac (we give him Prozac to help tamp down some of the anxiety. Works wonders. Better living through chemistry.) I also picked up a prescription for Mike. The total? $22. Which is about $60 less than I was expecting. Turns out that Target has recently added generic Prozac (fluoxetine) to their list of $4 generic prescriptions. WOO-HOO!!!! This is a very good thing.

Previously, Domino's drug habit was costing us about $75 every 3 months. So yay!

I also had a checkup yesterday at the OB's office. I am still not dilated and Lucy has not dropped. (That part I knew because I can hardly breathe. Girly is jammed up in my diaphragm. The doctor confirmed it when she was checking my cervix, as she said "Woo! She's way up there!" Great.)

I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to spontaneously go into labor. I am not going to deliver this kid anytime before July 11. My kids don't do early (Emily was 8 days late). Now that I have figured this out, I can stop thinking that every pain I have is the beginning of labor. I know it's not.

Things I don't get

There are a couple of things that I just don't understand. I've tried and ... I just don't get it.

1. Dinosaurs. They lived a long time ago. We have no idea what they looked like or sounded like or acted like. So ... why do we care? They had a segment on the Today show this morning about a new show that will feature life-like dinosaurs wandering around. (I tried to find a link and couldn't) And I want to pay money to see this ... why?
   
2. icanhascheezburger. Maybe it's because I'm not really a cat person, but I just don't get why these cat pictures are so funny. Or maybe it's because I don't do text messages, so I don't speak txt. I dunno. I really have tried, but I still don't get it.
   
3. Horror movies. I think the last scary movie I watched was Silence of the Lambs. I didn't sleep for a week. I was convinced that Hannibal the Cannibal was going to come in my window and kill me. Why would I pay (a lot of money) to be so scared I can't sleep? Someone must be watching horror movies, since they continue to be made, but they sure aren't making any money off Mike and me.
   
4. Politics. I must be too self-absorbed or something. I have a very hard time caring about the stupid stuff everyone in Washington is doing. Things like the dismissal of the attorneys general ... why should I care about this? Why does it feel like the media was hyping that for lack of other scandal to talk about?
   

I'm sure there are other things that I don't get that I can't think of right now. What things don't you get?

HP TouchSmart PC

I have had the HP TouchSmart PC for the past 3 weeks. I really enjoyed the fun features of the PC. It has an incredibly fast startup time (less than 5 seconds, which was kind of a problem when I was trying to pack it up this morning. I accidentally hit a button on the keyboard and whirrr! it started right up.)

Mike and I also very much enjoyed the HDTV feature, Mike especially. He discovered that the HD programming on our local PBS station was different from the regular programming, and it was much more History Channel-like. There were several nights during the HP's stay with us that Mike sat and watched obscure history lessons on the HP.

I found set up of the HP to be very simple. I have somewhat unreasonable expectations of both cars and computers. I want them to work when I want them to and turn off when I am done. I get very pissy when they doesn't cooperate with me, so I was pleasantly surprised at how very easy it was to set the HP up. Even setting it up on the wireless network was relatively painless (though Mike tells me that's because our router had dumped our customized settings and was unsecured when I went through the setup process). I think the hardest part of the whole set up was getting the HDTV channels to come in and that was more of an antenna issue on our end than the PC's problem.

As I said before, I really enjoyed having the HP here, but I know that Mike and I weren't using it to its full potential. I didn't want to get too attached (not having $1800 to put into a computer), so I didn't even start to use the calendar feature (where you can set up activities and reminders for all family members, along with creating audio notes and putting sticky notes on the calendar).

This would be a great computer for those fancy houses that have an office area in the kitchen. I could totally see setting up an HP TouchSmart in the kitchen and then loading it up with a good recipe management system, using the calendar feature to organize the family's schedule and even have an electronic grocery list.

For more information about the HP TouchSmart PC, go to www.hp.com/go/touchsmart.

5 years

Today is Mike's and my fifth anniversary.

I can't believe it has been five years since we got married.

In honor of our 5 years together (and 8 years as a couple) I present you with a bunch of random facts about us.

5 facts about our wedding day

• It was raining.
  
• The power went out (briefly) during the ceremony.
  
• Mike's dad was his best man.
  
• Our honeymoon was at a friend's cabin in the Adirondacks.
• The church where we were married is now a preschool.
  

5 facts about Mike

• He is 6'3". That is a full foot taller than me.
  
• He will eat just about anything. (And he thinks I'm a good cook! I really have him fooled.)
• He has a degree in Forestry from State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
• He works as an engineer. With computers and printers.
  
• He has a white patch of hair on the back of his head. He says it is just a reflection.
  

5 annoying things about Mike (well, annoying if you're his wife)

• He is incapable of completely closing a zip-lock bag.
  
• He untucks the sheet and blanket from the end of the bed so he has room for his feet.
  
• He is a horrible cover thief. He says I bring the covers with me when I come to snuggle with him at night, but I know that's not true.
  
• He puts his used glass in the sink. Not in the dishwasher. Ever.
• He is a backseat driver.
  

5 great things about Mike

• He is handy around the house. There is very little that he can't do.
• He puts up with me. And all of my quirks, freak-outs, crabby days, and irrationalities. (And that's when I'm not pregnant!)
  
• He said me being married to him was prison. And he said that him being married to me was a resort.
  
• He happily entertains Emily when he gets home from work. I hand her off as he walks in the door and usually don't have to do anything else (kid-related) for the rest of the evening.
  
• He sends me little email love notes.
  

5 things about us as a couple

• Most mornings, we take a shower together.
  
• We didn't live together before we were married.
• We met at work.
• The day after we got engaged, our company shut down the division we worked in. (I'm pretty sure the two weren't related...)
  
• We don't really have a song as a couple. The closest thing to "our song" is "Where the Green Grass Grows" by Tim McGraw.
  

Happy Anniversary, Mikey! I love you!

You have GOT to go read this!

Seriously.

I just laughed so hard.... I don't know. I was crying. I was doing the scary laughing-without-sound thing. I started to worry that I wasn't breathing enough, thereby compromising Lucy's oxygen supply. (Note: for those of you who don't like the F word or talk of poop, probably not a link you should follow. For everyone else (Mike) who still thinks potty humor is funny, click away!!)

My Technophobe parents are more hip than I am

My Michigan parents aren't what I would consider to be technical.

Well, that's not exactly true. My dad is a really good technician. He welds and designs and builds and works with wood and can do just about anything on a car that needs to be done.

But, when it comes to computers, both he and my mom prefer to let someone else handle the details. Mike is frequently asked for computer advice or repair. I can't think of a visit to their house where Mike wasn't pressed into on-site computer service for their computer.

And yet, for all their technophobe (or maybe it is computerphobe) traits, they have Netflix, cable and iPods. None of which Mike and I possess.

But, as of this afternoon, I am the proud owner of an account with Google Feed Reader and a subscription to 51 of the 54 blogs I read on a daily basis.

I've been thinking about doing this for quite a while and Mozilla finally pushed me over the edge.

As I said, I read about 54 blogs each day. I use Mozilla Firefox as my default browser and had been using the "Open in Tabs" feature to read my blogs. This worked really well (love that feature, by the way) when I wasn't reading so many blogs. As my daily read list grew, Mozilla started struggling more and more to get everything open and fully loaded in a somewhat timely manner, often taking in excess of 10 minutes to get some of the pages to load.

In the past week or two, I have been having a hard time getting Mozilla to load all of the pages. And when they did load, they might be missing pictures or the embedded video, or the header.

I'm excited to try out my new technology. We'll see how it works!

And, also today, in my quest to join the 21st century, Mike and I had Caller ID added to our phone line. Woo! We're really living large now! :)

Dog Update

Hey! This is my 200th post! Woo!!

I wanted to post a quick (hopefully) update of what is going on with the mutt.

The short story is that we are going to keep him for the time being. I talked at length with our vet and she had several good suggestions for us. [We go to a vet who is a specialist in dogs with behavior problems. She not only works with them in her practice, but also helps train them on her own time. And she owns several problem dogs, so she knows what she is talking about. She is never afraid to give real life advice and that is a big, big help.]

I have developed a sort of strategy. And the strategy is this:

Domino stays in the house for the majority of the day. I let him out for extended potty breaks a couple of times a day, but otherwise, he is inside with us. I leave the door from the house to the garage open, but keep the garage door closed so that if he decides he needs to run outside, barking at something, he will lock himself in the garage. Tricky, eh? Obviously, this won't work for winter, but like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about that later. [The vet said that dogs with aggression issues shouldn't be left outside unattended, because it can cause the very issues we have been experiencing.]

When we are outside, he is welcome to be outside with us. Emily has recently discovered the joys of playing outside and she rarely wants to do anything else. If we are outside during the day (on a weekday - hasn't happened yet), I will probably put Domino in his basket muzzle in case we receive unexpected visitors. Yes, this will give him a "Hannibal the Cannibal" look, but Dr.K and I both think that it will help people who come to the house understand that this dog's bite might just be as bad as his bark. (That's been a problem. Convincing people that they really need to let me get him under control before they leave their vehicle to perform whatever service they are at the house for.) And, it also gives the visitors (and our home owner's policy) some added protection, just in case Domino decides that he needs to bite someone.

For times when we are inside (like this winter) when my garage containment method won't work, I have purchased a citronella anti-bark collar. The hope is that wearing the collar for a while will teach Domino that there is no need (and a very big dis-incentive) to bark at every little thing. Especially while children are napping. The reviews I read about the collar were mixed. Some said the collar worked like a charm and was the best thing ever. Others said the collar didn't do anything for their dog (though those dogs seemed to be of the yippy bark type, rather than the deep, scary bark that Domino has).

So that is the plan ('"Hee hee hee. "Get her." That was your whole plan, huh, "get her." Very scientific.') We'll see how it goes.

One Sheet Challenge

When I had breakfast a couple of weeks ago with Elizabeth, she offered to introduce me to her PR guy. He's the one who sets her up with products to review and cool things like that.

He got in touch with me and offered me a sample of Bounty paper towels to review. They came and then sat on my kitchen counter for a week and a half while I worked my way through the rest of the roll of cheap-o store-brand paper towels (I just couldn't bring myself to take the partial roll off and start using the Bounty right away. Just couldn't do it.)

We've been down to the last cheap-o paper towel on the roll for a couple of days and today, while I was cleaning Emily's changing table, I decided to do a little comparison.

The reason that Charlie sent me the Bounty to review is that they are running a contest called "The One Sheet Challenge". The idea is to see how much just one sheet of Bounty can do, as compared to several sheets of non-Bounty.

I got one sheet of Bounty (well, two because the Bounty roll is the select-a-size type) and liberally sprayed the changing table with the Clorox Hard Surface cleaner. I started cleaning with the Bounty and got through 2 of the 3 shelves on the changing table before I felt like I needed a new paper towel. (This is kind of gross, but I hadn't taken everything off the shelves of the changing table since before Emily was born, so there was nearly 2 years worth of dog hair, dust and other yuck on the shelves, especially the lower ones where the changing pad wasn't.) The Bounty wasn't physically in bad shape, it was just covered in dog hair and dust and I was leaving more behind than I was picking up.

I tossed the Bounty in the garbage and grabbed the last sheet of my cheap-o paper towels (note to self: cheaper is not necessarily better) and tackled the 3rd shelf. The cheap-o paper towel held up for that shelf, but was also completely covered in dust and dog hair and wouldn't have been any good if I had needed to keep using it.

So, over all, I have to say that I liked the Bounty paper towels. Not a terribly big surprise there. Especially when they are held up next to a much less expensive option. One thing that bugged me about the Bounty is the select-a-size thing. I hate that. One sheet isn't enough, but two feels wasteful. And two select-a-size sheets aren't quite the same size as a regular paper towel.

********************
One of the other people Elizabeth got me in touch with is a group who is offering the HP Touch Smart PC for a 3-week demo.

I have had this beauty for just about a week now and am trying not to get too attached. It could happen very easily.

Mike helped me set it up so that it is doing the HDTV thing (with an unbelievable picture and TiVo! (which is giving me a serious "we need satellite TV" jones)), along with wireless internet and about a billion other nifty features. I'll be posting another review (or two) of the Touch Smart before I send it back.

Ready for Baby

My mom offered to take Emily for the day today, so I am babyless kidless (she's not a baby anymore. Sob.)

Mom and Emily took off from here around 8:15 and I got to work. In just about 2 and a half hours I did the following:

• started Emily's laundry, including washing Oscar and Doggie and the changing pad cover.
• took all the covers off the baby things (swing, bouncy seat, car seat, exersaucer and play gym (Gymini)) and washed them.
• installed the new car seat straps.
• installed the recall kit on the car seat.
• took the changing table out of Emily's room and moved it to Lucy's room.
• took the rocking chair out of Emily's room and moved it to Lucy's room.
  
• moved Emily's bed to the opposite wall (so that we can more easily peek into her room while she's sleeping. Right now we have to open the door and stick our head into the room to see her. Plus it looks better over there.)
• vacuumed Emily's room where her changing table and bed used to be.
• moved the furniture in Lucy's room around so that it makes more sense.
• brought up a table to put next to the rocking chair in Lucy's room.
• organized Lucy's room a little more so that the stuff I had been piling in her crib is now put away. Mostly. (Hey - does anyone want/need lotion or soap samples? I have a bunch of baby appropriate (according to my pediatrician they're baby appropriate, especially if kiddo is prone to eczema) lotion and soap samples that we're not using. Specifically, I have 2 boxes of Eucerin lotion, a partial box (15 bottles - 1 oz each) of Cetaphil lotion, and a partial box (17 bottles - 1 oz each) of Cetaphil cleanser. If you are interested, email me at erinlooneybin[at]yahoo[dot]com).

So with all that done, the nursery is pretty much ready to go. Woo-hoo!!

Below are the final pictures. I'm pretty pleased.

Looking into the room from the doorway. Crib and dresser are directly to the right. The pillow and blanket on the rocking chair are the ones I won during NaBloPoMo from JavisDavis.

Standing by the closet and changing table.
(My mother-in-law thought it was funny that my tissue box matches the room.)
I might have chosen that box specifically for its matchiness. Anal much?

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. The lamps and shades are from the Christmas Tree Shop. They were less than $5 each. And they match the room and have butterflies and flowers on them!

So, even though I specifically told my body to back off with the labor prep, should it ignore me and decide to go into labor early, I think we're ready.

Well, as ready as we'll ever be. :)

Dear Body

I would like to commend you on your exemplary performance during this pregnancy thus far.

You have kept the weight gain to a minimum, while allowing me to indulge in ice cream nearly every evening. While Hips and Back have protested the extra weight, they are not as painful as they were with the prior pregnancy. Additionally, the expansion of Uterus has been such that Emily is still able to fit on my lap. And even with Uterus's expansion you have seen fit to avoid pressuring Bladder too much, especially at night. Feet and Hands have experienced some swelling, but you walk a fine line between allowing swelling and preventing me from wearing shoes.

However, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that it will not be necessary for you to go into labor. Please cease and desist all labor-preparation activities, especially the Braxton-Hicks contractions and random sharp pains in the Girl Parts. These are neither necessary nor appreciated. In particular, I would ask that you never again awaken me with sharp pains to the Pubic Bone. That kind of stretching at 3 am is just plain rude.

Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

The Management

What to do, what to do...

I have mentioned our dog and his issues here a couple of times. And now I'm doing it again.

Basically, Domino has anxiety issues. He is afraid of people he doesn't know and other dogs. The problem is, his fear manifests itself in the form of ferocious barking.

For the most part, we can keep him away from other dogs (except when he goes to the vet and even then we leave him in the car until the very last minute and do a quick sprint through the lobby, stop at the scale to be weighed and then dash into the exam room). However, keeping him away from people he doesn't know is a problem.

People come to our house all the time. The propane delivery guy, the mailman, Jehovah's Witnesses, UPS delivery men, the garbage guys, the meter reader from the electric company... I'm sure there are more, but that's a pretty good sample. For some of these people, I have an idea when they might show up and I can keep Domino inside so he isn't frightened by them and they don't have to worry about the 50-pound dog who is running circles around their truck barking at them, is going to do more than just bark. (And Domino has started jumping up into the cab of the UPS truck while he's doing his circles of fear and barking. Grrreaat.)

For others, it isn't as simple. The propane guy just came and I had no idea he was here until I realized the truck sounds were getting closer to the house. (It's garbage day, so when I heard a truck and the dog barking, I assumed it was them.) It took me nearly 10 minutes of standing outside waving dog cookies enticingly at Domino before I was able to grab him and put him downstairs in his crate.

When I have 2 kids, I am going to be less able to do that. I can leave Emily alone for a few minutes while I run to do something, but I don't know what it's going to be like when Lucy arrives.

What if I was in the middle of nursing Lucy when the propane guy showed up?

Domino loves to be outside and I usually encourage him to hang out outside. But, I am very worried that this intimidation act of his is going to get us and him in trouble some day.

I don't know what to do, but I feel like we need to do something before Lucy arrives.

Mike will roll his eyes when he reads this because I have said we are going to get rid of Domino at least 80 times in the past 2 years, but I really think that it is time to seriously consider the fact that Domino's needs as a dog don't exactly coincide with our needs as a family.

He is an incredibly good dog. He loves Emily and puts up with so much from her. He would protect us to the death from any perceived threat (Birds? Not allowed in our yard, by decree of the dog. And woe betide any squirrel who dares venture into his territory. To say nothing of the horrible people who drive into our driveway with their large trucks and have the audacity to try to deliver something (or take something away, as was the case with the septic cleaning guy)).

Before Emily was born, we spent a considerable amount of time and money taking Domino to obedience classes for special-needs dogs to work on some of his issues. And we have pretty much taken care of the major problems. His two biggies now are the barking at strangers thing and counter surfing (if any food or food-like substance is left within his reach, it's gone). When we got him, he wasn't crate trained, he had major dominance issues with me (he would put his paws on my shoulders while I was sitting at my desk and generally ignore anything I told him to do), he got up on furniture, he chewed anything in sight, he paced constantly and would never lie down and go to sleep... All of that has been resolved. Some of it through medication, some through training.

My MI parents, especially my dad, have talked of taking him when/if we decide that we needed to get rid of him. But, I worry that they don't fully understand how to deal with him. If we take him to the Humane Society, it is very likely that he would be put down, because the chances of finding a family who is willing to take him and his Prozac habit on are slim.

I don't know what the solution is, but I think we need to do something. And that kind of breaks my heart.