Sweet Summer Time

Awww sweet summer time.  Gotta love it! So many exciting things have happened or will be this summer… I can’t hardly wait!  I always thought that after you got married, life slowed down- guess I was wrong.  Since I work best with bullet points- here are a few things that have made the days go by so fast:

·         Scott started his new job!  He started the day after Memorial Day at a company that is located off Riverchase Parkway.  I’m not sure exactly what he does.  He’s explained it to me about 2 dozen times…but I still don’t understand it.  All I know is that it has something to do with health insurance and drugs.  Nonetheless, I’m over the moon proud of him and I love the fact the he loves his job!  Its always nice to have a happy hubby coming home after a long day of work!

·         Mother’s Day!  Yea, I’m not technically a mother…yet…but Scott still treated me to a spa day! 

·         Mr. Luke.  We’re going to the Doctor weekly now- which includes an ultrasound and a doctor checkup.  If there is a positive aspect to being a high-risk pregnancy, it’s the ultrasounds.  I believe we’re going on #7 now.  It so much fun to see Mr. Luke and watch him wiggle around.  Yesterday, the ultrasound tech had extra time and got some nice pictures of him in 4D.  Since I can’t drive, I get to bring someone with me to all my appointments, which means, every local family member has now seen Mr. Luke a couple times in ultrasound.  The most exciting one is Scott’s grandfather, Papoose.  He’s 87 years old and has never seen an ultrasound-I think it amazes him- heck, technology amazes me too!

Mr. Luke weighted 6lbs 7oz yesterday (34 weeks) and is measuring as if he is due June 20^th (even though his real due date is July 7^th).  This means he’s either coming early or he will be a massive kid- probably both.  The doctor wouldn’t tell me what percentile he’s in for height and weight…she said she didn’t want to stress me out- which means, he’s somewhere in the 90^th percentile.  Whatever- as long as he is healthy and happy-there is pain medicine for everything else. 

 

Sticking out his tongue

Yawning

·         Tribal Wars.  A couple weekends ago Scott participated in Tribal Wars, a crossfit team competition.  He was on team “The WOD Squad” which placed 7^th out of 21 RX teams. He did a great job and I had a blast watching (even though I was the fattest person in the building).

Mr. Macho Man.

 

·         Memorial Weekend!  The kick off tailgate to summer time! love it! I remember as a kid going to Fox Den CC and playing in the pool all weekend, since it was the first weekend the pool was open.  The lifeguards would put on games-Kelly and I would compete whose father would win the Beer Dive.  I’m pretty sure Kelly’s dad always own.  This year we celebrated by going to Laura & Michael’s wedding and our friend’s lake house up at Lake Martin- both were tons of fun!

Awwww the beautiful bride, Mrs. Grace!

·         Mom is coming intown!!!  I’m so excited I can’t handle myself.  She’s coming for my birthday on Sunday, Court date on Tuesday (gotta show proof of auto insurance-silly), and my 35 week ultrasound on Wednesday!!   Its going to be so nice to have her in town for longer than a weekend! AND I finally have an official driver! A HUGE thank you to Scott’s family for shuttling me across town for the last month!  Can’t wait to drive again!

Wow this is a long blog.  Didn’t realize so much stuff has happened in the past couple weeks.  Maybe I should blog more often.  Yea that would probably be a good idea- or just stop doing so much.  That’d be a good idea too.  Oh well- Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Weekend  and that you thanked a service man/women for their selfless dedication!



The finished product! 

Scott's handy work...at least he tried!

 

The Stages of Retirement

As many of y’all know, I work for the government.  In my 6+ years I have experienced many things - many of which I’ve tried to block out.  However, one of my favorite things about working for the government is my coworkers.  They are characters, to say the least.  We travel together, eat together, work in the same Board room together…therefore, I know my coworkers pretty well.  I know their favorite foods, hobbies, family life…most of the time I know more than I care to know.  This is the byproduct of working so close with each other.  We don’t have cubicles or walls separating us, so we make the most of it. We play jokes, brag about our children, and talk politics, sports, and whatever is on our mind at the time.

 

Also, one of my favorite things about where I work is the generational gap.  I don’t think the agency did this on purpose.  I’ve heard stories about some hiring freeze in the 80s and 90s.  Anyway, I work with a bunch of ‘more seasoned’ and a bunch of ‘less experienced’ examiners…which means, we have a HUGE generational gap.  The older people teach us about how the agency was ‘back in the day’, and we teach them about Lady Gaga, fashion, and how to use their phone.  Seems like an even trade….that is until one retires. 

 

I have been through many retirements and have slowly learned the stages of retirement.  Here are stages that I have witnessed (through the eyes of a 20-something year old).

 

1.      Denial- They say “I’m too young to retire”.  I’m sorry, you’re not. News flash, you’re 62 years old.  Go home and enjoy taking it easy, watching the news, the Weather Channel, and the grass grow.

 

2.      Acceptance- This is when they set a date.  Then, they usually ask us to download a countdown app on their smart phone they don’t know how to use.

 

3.      Data Dumping- Of course they know more than us ‘less experienced’ examiners, so they feel like its necessary to purge all information, regardless of its usefulness.  Examples of data dumping are: giving away handbooks from the 1940s, telling stories about other coworkers that have been forgotten, sending emails with outdated regulation information, giving us secret spreadsheets, and constantly asking questions as if they are quizzing you to see if you remember the data they have dumped on you.

 

4.      Reminiscing about the past- This one is my favorite because this is when they tell us more stories about the glory days.  9 out of 10 stories are entertaining and take up work time, which is a win-win situation.

 

5.      General complaining- This is when they are about 3-4 months away from their retirement date and they start getting ants in their pants and they can’t wait any longer to leave.  Therefore, they constantly remind you how many days they have left with the agency and how much better the world was when they were a kid. 

 

6.      The end- This is about a week before they leave.  They usually start getting sad and feel bad for all the complaining they did earlier.  Nobody wants to be remembered as a complainer…so they usually apologize and try to make it up by saying nice things-but we all know they are lying through their teeth.

 

So for all those people who are about to retire, know that we appreciate and respect the stages you must go through before you can retire…and maybe you could leave out #5.

chipperness

Hello everyone!

Hope y’all are as chipper as I am feeling today.  If not, that’s ok.  I understand, sometimes it takes till Wednesday for people to recover from the weekend.  My chipperness (is that even a word?) comes from an exciting weekend!  On Friday, Scott accepted a job with Prime Therapeutic…which means, we’re staying in Birmingham!!!! I know how hard he has worked for the job- heck he’s been in school for the past 10 years studying for a job like this- so I’m so unbelievably proud of him!  I’m not sure exactly what his job is, but it has something to do with pharmacy and managed care.

 

In other exciting news, Luke’s nursery is 98% completed.  The only thing its missing is mom’s rocking chair and Luke himself.  Last Thursday I went for another check-up and had an ultrasound.  Mr. Luke is a healthy 4.2 lbs.  According to my baby book, he should only be weighing about 3 lbs right now.  Looks like we should be expecting a 9 pounder….ouch.

 

Last night I officially became a new member of the Jr. League of Birmingham.  I’m super excited about it. Although, I might be a bit crazy to be starting JL and a new baby at the same time…guess we’ll see if I can do it.

 

I’ve learned how helpless and dependent it feels for elderly people to get their license taken away…because I got mine taken away (but only until the pregnancy is over).  I guess it wasn’t technically taken away, but to be on the safe said, until the doctors can get my medicine under control, I can’t drive.  This means I have to hitch a ride with people.  At first it was kinda nice not driving…then the reality set in. I have a new found respect for elderly people who can no longer drive.  Mom, Dad, if you read this, I will never take away your license- I would never want you to feel helpless and dependent…I will, however, take away your car. Hahaha

So, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!  This coming up weekend is Tribal Wars at the gym!  Scott is on an Rx team!  I’ll be there being his biggest cheerleader …and to rub icyhot on him all day Sunday!!