Briana's Journal

My car's been acting up the past week or so. I haven't had AC in over a year, and my driver's side window regulator broke a few weeks ago. Last week, I noticed that it was harder to start the car in the afternoons, where I had to goose the gas to get it to start. When I was stopped at a light, the car would start shuddering/sputtering to the point I thought it was going to stall. Sometimes when I was heading down the interstate, if I let off the gas, the car kind of jolted back like a quick deceleration. So I took it to Midas today so they could check it out. Four hours later, I get a call that the engine was misfiring. They replaced cams, coils, and a modulator, and cams 1 and 4 kept misfiring. They couldn't get 2 and 3 to misfire to show that it was equipment. They decided it was most likely a computer issue, either needing reprogramming or replacing, and I'd need to take it to a dealer. And of course, once I got it back, it was worse than before. Smoking, more exhaust, no pick-up-and-go, and it wouldn't change gears easily.

Three strikes, the car's out.

I figured this was coming, so I had been searching for used cars on Saturday. I found a few that fit our needs (less than 30k miles, less than 10k in price, 4-door sedan, automatic), and today we went to Carmax. They had the car that we were thinking of looking for at another dealer, and Sean could not fit. (Biggest consideration when buying a car: Does Sean fit comfortably? Or would he get really cramped on a long drive? Can he even drive it?) He sat in a few cars, and we finally settled on a 2006 Chrysler Sebring that was 28k miles. It was slightly pricier than we wanted, but still doable. So now I have a new car, one that will hopefully last 9 years like my old car did. Fingers crossed!

I'm rapidly approaching the end of my first trimester. According to a signature graphic I got, my 2nd trimester starts this coming Wednesday. Yay! The queasiness still comes and goes, mostly in the evenings. My main problem is that I don't eat enough for my mid-afternoon snack, since the best time for me to eat it is on my drive home from work. I had a lovely talk with Mom over Yahoo the other night where she was trying to suggest good healthy foosd for my snacks. I kept telling her that the types of foods aren't the problem, it's reminding me to eat at certain times. I don't think she ever got that part into her head. I did finally get her to understand, though, why I don't always take my vitamins. The problem isn't that they make me sick, but that they make me sick unless I take it right at meal time, and it has to be a large meal, and I usually forget, since they're in my purse and above the kitchen sink.

Yesterday was my 2nd appointment. I was disappointed because I made sure to drink enough water, and they didn't need a sample. Oooh, I was hurting by the end of it! I answered more questions, got weighed (I've lost between 4-7 pounds total, depending on the time of day), and heard the heartbeat. Yay! I asked the doctor what he thought the heart rate was, and he told me not to start with the whole "If it's higher, it's a girl" thing. He said he could definitely tell me it was a boy. Or a girl. One of the two. I just started cracking up, since he knew why I was asking. :-D Everything was good except that they found a high amount of Group B Strep bacteria in my urine. This is normally fine, and doesn't affect the baby's growth. However, there's a 1-in-500 chance of streptococcal pneumonia during a vaginal birth. So he gave me a prescription for ampicillin, and we'll test again next month.

I don't get another ultrasound until between 18-20 weeks. But I forgot to post the others, anyway. :-D

So, my 8 week ultrasound:

I hope everyone had a good 4th, for those who celebrate it. And for those who don't!

I had to work until 3pm Saturday, but it was a fairly easy day. Sean had the day off, so he spent a few hours playing a video game. I came home and took a small nap, then we headed off to Fresh Market for steaks and the rest of dinner. We had checked out was going on in the area, but by the time we looked at tickets for the local baseball team, all that was left was grass tickets. Uh, no. So we watched fireworks on tv. :-D

Sunday was pizza for lunch, then we tiled one wall of the shower. Only 3 more to go, then grouting, and caulking... I had to break out my be band (an elastic band, sorta like a tube top, that goes over the top of your pants so you can leave them unbuttoned), because my shorts were just *too* tight once buttoned. We also bought Buzz! Quiz TV for the ps3, and checked it out. After the tiling, I spent several hours trying to get 5000 points in a single player game. I finally did it using all cartoon questions.

Today I took Bear to the vet for vaccinations (poor Bear). We went to lunch with the MIL, then went to Alltel to check out phones. We had ones picked out would change the plan, so we wanted to talk to her first, since it's under her plan. Sean decided to wait, since the "online special" was only for new contracts, but I got myself a Blackberry Pearl (Amethyst) for 99 cents. It did raise the plan a bit since it requires a data plan, but it's really neat. I've been playing with it off and on all day trying to get used to the keyboard, and checking out the different applications. I couldn't get gTalk to connect, but I downloaded a Twitter app for it. I'm still debating on setting up my Yahoo account on it. Then we hit Target and Babies R Us for maternity clothes. Yes, it's just about that time! So I got a pair of shorts, a pair of slacks for work, a few shirts, and *gasp* a dress and skirt. Now I have to figure out what shoes to wear with those, since I don't think my black shoes will go well with it.

I have an appt on Thursday, so I'll have a baby update then.

Wow, what can I say about Transformers? Not a lot good. Even the bad reviews didn't prepare me. Yes, the action sequences were good. And the CGI (except for one part with the twins). But that's about all that was good. The lame jokes were lame and totally unnecessary. I totally could have done without the twins and the roommate. Or the leg-humping robot. It was so bad that Sean was thinking about walking out of the movie, but didn't want to waste the $5 we spent per ticket. I would have wanted to see the end, anyway, despite the badness. There were too many times I was shaking my head at what was going on in the movie.

This movie is barely worth dollar theater ticket prices. I'd say only go if you really want to see it on the big screen.

Of course, the real question isn't whether or not to get a new iPod.

It's why am I even fucking contemplating this when I still haven't called for quotes to fix my driver's side window regulator? Again?

And do I even bother fucking trying to get it back up, or just throw some plastic up that I can remove on the fucking hot days we're going through right now, so I'm not fucking burning up in the afternoons?

Yes. I'm fucking cranky.

I somehow lost my iPod on Thursday night. I remember putting it into the side pocket of my purse when I stopped at the grocery store. Now, the zipper is broken on side pocket (happy that happened after I got a new wallet that no longer fits in said pocket), but I try to shove it in there fairly well. That night, we went to the mall for tuxes, Big Lots where I sat in a couch, and TGI Friday's. I called all three places, but no iPod. I have a feeling it dropped into the couch, and some customer picked it up. So I'm feeling sad and stupid. I also cleaned out and looked in my car and under the seats, in my drawer at work (I didn't notice until my way home on Friday), and all over the kitchen table. No dice.

So, now the question is do I live with my stupidity and just load the car up with CDs, or buy a new one (Classic, the Touch doesn't have near enough memory) with my credit card? I'm leaning towards Option #1 for right now.

Of course, my weekend isn't quite over yet, but it's also been completely full. This weekend was the roomie's wedding. He's also slowly been moving out since his house is done. So Thursday, we helped him move a couch. (Late dinner, late night). Friday was the rehearsal dinner at Buca di Beppo's (good food, okay tummy), then I went out with the happy couple and some of their friends/coworkers for a few hours. Saturday, I got up early to hit the yard sales, and found a car seat and stroller for $15/each. The stroller has a wobbly wheel, so I have to look into how to fix that. :~( Then we went to the wedding, and had a good time at the reception. I've got some lovely pictures that I need to upload. Today was the annual comic book convention, which Wore. Me. Out. We completely filled 2 bookbags, and still had to bring some more back in plastic bags. I love $1 comic booths and $0.50 comic booths! I was so tired, I came home after we ate and took a nap. I'm still tired, but I had phone calls to make before True Blood. I think I'm going to collapse afterwards. zzzzzz

Wednesday was our 9th anniversary. I got Sean another sword, this time Ichigo Kurosaki's sword Zangetsu from Bleach (normal form). Sean got me a fondue pot, which can be used for cheese, meat, or chocolate, and heats with sterno (unlike my previous which used a votive candle(!)). I grinned at it and thought of the strawberries in the fridge. All I need is cream... hmm, plans for tomorrow night. Then we went to dinner at the Village Tavern, which we'd heard about on the radio. The food was good, even though I couldn't eat a whole lot of it. The clam chowder, though, was *excellent* even on my tummy.

I also had my first real doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I got poked and prodded and had a nice discussion of what's going to be happening to me over the next few months. The doctor confirmed that he (and the rest of his practice) only deliver in the hospital near me (a concern after he started practicing in another town). He gave me a pamphlet for the hospital, and they have whirlpool and free wireless in the delivery rooms! WOO!

I've still been having my queasiness (those that follow me on Twitter have been subjected to my tummy complaints) but not a whole lot of actual sickness, which is good. Definitely tired, to the point where I just want to nap instead of finishing the concrete board in the shower. (Maybe this afternoon? We'll see.) I have lost about 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks, though. (Doc said that was fine. Didn't care if I didn't eat for 3 days, as long as I'm able to keep liquid down.) Every time I step on the scale, I think "Wow, my new diet is really working! Too bad it's going to go back up." ^_^

This has always been a conundrum for me. While I love the innocence of the 50s, the 60s also has a huge appeal. And I love the music from both decades. Sometimes I feel like I could have been a flower child, but Sean insists I'd fit more in the 50s. The 70s, however, are out.

I just couldn't stop giggling over the pegged pants.

So I told Dad and Shannon Monday, and Grandma and Sarah on Tuesday. Jim, sadly, was at work, so I had to call him Thursday. Which went a little like this:

"So how are you?"
"Oh, I'm okay. Just a little sick. Well, not really sick."
"Morning sickness?"
"Yep"
"You're pregnant?"
"Yep."
"Hey, guess what. So is Sarah!"

So now my mom is over the moon. Sarah thinks she's due somewhere around Feb 6th, which is 2 days after Alyssa's birthday. So now not only will I be a new mom *knock on wood*, I'll also be an aunt again. :-D

I've been keeping mine quiet from Mom's family, wanting to surprise them at the reunion in August. Though Mom talked me out of that since she wants to throw me a baby shower, so I told her if everything was still good by 4th of July, she could tell them then. Though I think that's now backfired. Mom's been bragging to her family "Someone's pregnant, but you won't find out until the reunion!" My aunt messaged me the other day...

"[Daughter] said that your mom said someone was pregnant, but didn't say who. Is it Jim and Sarah?"
"If they are, they haven't told me." (Note: They hadn't found out yet... they didn't find out until Thursday, and this was Tues or Wed, I think)
"it's not her is it lol" (meaning Mom)
"Heh, no, don't think so."
"Oh, well, guess we'll wait then"

Gee, thanks, what am I, chopped liver? So since Sarah put her pregnancy on her facebook, which the aunt saw, she thinks it really was Sarah. Now I'm going to have to set them straight before I wanted to. *sigh*

BTW, found out tuna melts are on the bad list. Thank goodness everything else has stayed down.

Well, I'm sure stmcole already guessed from my tweets, but I've been trying to stay quiet on this until I made sure everything was okay.

So, drumroll please.. *whales on the drums* AN-I-MAL! AN-I-MAL! er... sorry about that. *tries again*

I'm pregnant!

I'm about 6-7 weeks along, and I had my first ultrasound this morning. (Which freaked Sean out a little, since it was an internal ultrasound. heh) We even heard the baby's heartbeat, which was really cool, and made it real for me. It's taken us awhile to get to this point that I didn't want to get my hopes up too far. So it seems we're looking at mid to late January as a due date. We'll find out more when I meet with my regular doctor.

I wasn't sure this was going to happen, since I had an ovarian cyst removed back in '02. The doctor ran some tests last summer and started me on some pills to help raise some hormone levels. It didn't help much, so he finally referred me to a fertility specialist. We went through the battery of tests, but it turned out it wasn't necessary. The day we got the test results is the day I got a positive test. And yes, this is what was behind the State of Me post and my tiny blowup on #uf one night.

So we're both excited. I'm not experiencing too many issues, and no real morning sickness. Just a little queasiness when I don't have food, and a lot more upper gas issues (a minor issue for the past 2 years, but the gastro doc didn't believe me. Stupid doc). Sleep is also a little bit more of a problem for me because I'm more comfortable sleeping on my stomach, but it hurts right now (chest, not stomach). It's hard to get used to sleeping on my side/back, so I've been waking up more.

I'm also still a little worried, but since the ultrasound looked good this morning, I'm a lot more positive about it. :-D

My yearly MTV viewing, watching the Movie Awards. Fucking fangirls ruined the best category, Best Kiss. There were two, TWO! male-male kisses nominated, and what wins? Goddamned fucking Twilight. Broke tradition. Fucking fangirls. When New Moon comes out, I say we slam the vote for some other movie.

Fucking fangirls.

On the other hand, Sasha Baron Cohen landing facedown in Eminem's lap, causing the rapper to get pissed off and leave in a huff? Awesome. Even if it does turn out to be staged.

On a quick count, I've lived in 3 apartments, 2 townhouses, 2 barracks, 1 dorm room, and 7 houses, in 5 states. The shortest was 2 months in a rented house right before my parents divorced, right after we moved to Mishawaka. (Unless you count the week in the hotel while we were looking for a place to live) The longest is a tie between Harrisburg IL and the house we live in now, which is 7 years. My favorites, aside from my own little house now, are a tie between the townhouse in PA (my bedroom was the whole attic, hot but isolated) and the mennonite-owned house in OH (lovely huge rooms, house needed work). Least favorite... I can't think of which it would be. Most of the places had some drawbacks, but they didn't have anything to do with the house, just the situation. For instance, the first apartment was after my parents split, and my first stepmother moved in. The house in OH was in the *worst* school system I've ever been to.

Happy Memorial Day! For me, it's a normal Monday, except that Sean has to work today. Blech. So, on my agenda today is chores. Yay.....

So I can remember, in no particular order:

• Go to the gym (First, find out when they open today 8a-4p. Better get moving)
  
• Clean up the bedroom
  
• Do laundry (Work in progress)
  
• Vaccuum everywhere
  
• Mop the kitchen
  
• Put dishes away
  
• Make banana bread
  
• Work on removing more wallpaper backing from the bathroom walls
  

I really do need to plant my garden, which I should have done a month ago, but it's raining again today. Bah.

Yes. When I moved to Lititz, PA, there was another girl in my class with the same first and last name. The teacher had to distinguish us by our middle initial.

Growing up, I was never much of an Original Series fan. My dad would watch old reruns, and I'd leave the room. (Hey, I was 7, the outside was calling my name.) However, when TNG started up, I was there in front of the TV with him, watching the shows. I watched some DS9, but since we didn't have UPN, the only station that aired it put it on Saturdays at 2am. Dad recorded it, but I missed a lot of it. Voyager and Enterprise, similarly, were hit-and-miss viewing.

That said, when I heard about the Star Trek prequel, I was intrigued. And then I got scared. Harold as Sulu? Shaun as Scotty? I decided to reserve judgement, but not my worry.

We did go this morning, a little bit later than a lot of other people I know. When we got to the theater for the 10:15 showing, the theater was about half full, a lot more than usual. So you know there's a lot of good hype to it.

I really enjoyed the movie. The changes in the movie make sense in light of the events of movie. And the acting? Let's just say I'm no longer worried. Zachary Quinto was perfect casting as Spock, but I'd been saying that since he was announced. (And no head-cutting!!!) All of the rest of the cast were also great in their roles, both paying homage to the original actors and bringing their own spin into the role. There were also a few lines from most of the characters that were just perfect Star Trek, that made me giggle each time. The action was also great.

If you're a Trek fan, or even if you're not, I definitely recommend this film.

I'm sad, though, that I didn't catch Paul McGillion (Dr. Beckett from Atlantis) in his cameo. But I swear, hand to heaven, that Kal Penn was on the bridge in the background. Had me giggling for at least a full minute. Harold and Kumar Go To Starfleet!

I'm bored. I downloaded and burned some linux cds to upgrade a work computer, but there's not enough time today to actually do the upgrade. I'm waiting for a customer to email me back so I can do more battle with him (en garde!). I ought to research more in IPTV troubleshooting, but it's just hard to find stuff that's not for the backend or for computer users. So I'm stuck. And I can't watch movies or play games like my coworkers, since I'm not on the phones and I have to look busy. So I'm stuck. :-P

I had my last session with the personal trainer on Wednesday. Sean signed up for more sessions, but I want to go at it on my own for awhile. I'll probably get another session down the road so I can benchmark. I really liked my trainer, but geez, it's expensive! It's working, though. I'm getting a little bit of definition in my upper arms. Now if only I could get some in my thighs and abs!

I'm going to be lazy and just post the original link. *whistles* Icons were picked by cassandramorgan

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