I done started something now, it’s called Baby Brain
Current mood: cooky/wacky
Category: Life
First let me say I LOVE surveys! Send me a survey and I'll fill it out. But I also read the previous person's response because you can learn a lot about people on some of these surveys.
So my ex-boss/co-worker/friend sent me a survey. Most people who read this will know who it is, she does the Tastefully Simple parties and had a baby boy about a year ago. He's adorable by the way.
Anyway, I read a question that asks if you have any news you'd like to share and her response is: "I'm pregnant!". So immediately I grab my cup of Starbucks and ran over to her cube with this huge smile on my face, thinking she would know what the hecka I was smiling about. She had no clue.
So I explain that I read her survey and she looks at me still confused like...."Yeah?". Clearly she has no idea what I'm talking about and so I blurt out "Are you pregnant?" and she's like..."Uhhh, did you read the rest of the survey?". I said NO, I stopped immediately at question 25. She said down further in the survey it asks the last time that I lied and I said question 25. She thought it was hilarious. I was kinda mad, but not really because I thought it was kinda funny too.
So I said, I'm going leave your answers and see how that goes. It's funny right....
Not so much!
So I sent it to Mom Hall and Bridget and a bunch of other friends and I get back responses immediately about how NOT funny that was. I felt so bad! It was a bad joke but for some reason this bad joke was worse than any other one I've ever made in my life.
It's been eating at me all day and I couldn't really figure out why. It was a bad joke and I knew that Halls had pretty much gotten over it....we make jokes all the time. So what's my real problem?????
On my way home tonight I realize that my real problem is that I WANT to be pregnant and have babies. I've joked about it many times before but I don't think I ever allowed myself to really admit that I want to start a family.
As teenager I had three cousins that were 10 years younger than me. So I spent a lot of time babysitting them as well as other people who had babies. It was how I spent my summers and weekends for years. So for a really long time I hated kids and babies and couldn't imagine ever wanting to have kids of my own.
Something happened to me in the past 2 years that has definitely changed my mind about babies and children in general. Part of that was getting married to the love of my life. We dated for a long time and during that time I was still very skeptical about the idea of kids. But the older I got the more I changed my mind. Better yet...BABY BRAIN kicked in.
Now I'm completely obsessed! I watch baby shows. I look at baby clothes whenever I'm shopping. I will hold any body's baby if they let me. I'm completely ridiculous.
My cousin had a baby a couple of months ago and my aunt sent pics....yep, he's my wallpaper on my phone. I went over to see my aunt the other day and got chance to hold the baby and it felt sooooo wonderful. He was so warm and cuddley and cute and he talked to me a little. When I got into my car I felt like crying. There's something in my belly that makes me baby crazy.
Let me also say that I don't jump into huge decisions head first. Ritchie and I are both rather cautious people when it comes to these kinds of things. We dated 10 years before we actually decided to get married so we don't move really fast. We take time to way pro's and con's and how much and when and where etc. We're risk assessors for the most part.
So in my head there are tons of reasons why we shouldn't start our family now. He's just starting on his thesis and has started a paid internship yet. I promised my Grandma I'd wait a year. I'm not as healthy as I'd like to be (i.e. baby-making shape). There's the whole money thing because babies cost tons of mulah! So there are a ton of con's.
But there are pro's too. We have extremely supportive family that would guide and help us with grandbabies/great-grandbabies. Uh, my biological clock is ticking. Ritchie and I are both willing to make the necessary sacrifices to raise a family. Did I mention my clock is ticking and practically beating down my door?
God help me, I don't know how to turn this off! I thinks it going to get worse, poor Ritchie. You'd think being around rowdy kids or hearing stories from Jessica about how easily kids get sick or how often they have tantrums would change my mind and it hasn't.
My thinking is anything worth having is worth working for just like my relationship with Ritchie. We have definitely had our ups and downs over the past 10 years and at no point did we ever give up. You work and make it work and keep the party moving and in the end that effort means something.
So while babies are not always cute and warm they also are little versions of you and you can mold who they become as adults. You have that wonderful opportunity to give them what you did and didn't have as a kid. I look at the Halls and I look at my family and I see how we've all changed and grown and I appreciate those relationships.
I look at my cousins who are now all adults, except one, and remember what they were like when they were toothless and crawling. I see how they've grown and how those moments will never be forgotten and I want those kinds of memories of my own with Ritchie.
I want little Ritchie's running around with little corduroy jackets and button down shirts making smart comments and using big words. I want little Nicole's that are cute and shy little giggle-boxes. Family is so important to me and I really want to start my own. I just have to reconcile what the right timing to start that family is. That whole being married thing means you have to vote on nearly everything. So, I hope that holding other people's babies and our kitten will hold me down for now.
I'm going to continue working on this whole wife thing, make sure Quinn (our kitten) is taken care of and try not to kill Kristoph Flairfinn our new fish compliments of Mom Hall.
Stay classy Cincinnati and thanks for stopping by!
Don’t eat at Mac’s Pizza Pub
Current mood: grossed out
Category: grossed out Food and Restaurants
We all wen't to Mac's Pizza for family night last Thursday. We had all ordered our food and received it. Suddenly Janelle jumps back from her plate. We all thought she put too much salt on her food. No, there was a ROACH coming out from under her sandwich. You heard me right....ROACH.....ALIVE.....IN HER FOOD. He goes on about his business and walks off the table. Everyone moved back from the table. I spit my food out immediately, Krystal almost throws up and Stephanie makes gross jokes about almost eating the nasty thing.
So Janelle goes to speak with the manager or whoever's in charge and they are clearly not surprised. They say that they do see roaches sometimes but that they come from the Chinese restaurant next door. Wow, really?
So we pay for nothing, walk out and head over to our house to order pizza.
What did we learn??
DON'T EAT AT MAC'S PIZZA PUB! Just be safe I wouldn't bother with the Chinese restaurant next door either.
Unique Personality Test
Current mood: indescribable
Category: Quiz/Survey
This is a unique personality test. There are only 4 questions; but, the results are very interesting. I was rather shocked by what some of my answers meant. Be honest and honor what pops into your mind when the questions present themselves.
With good friends, old or new, there are always those people who are just plain bad friends.I don't mean fallible friends that forget to call or forget to return your favorite CD.I mean those drama kings and queens that, while initially charismatic and interesting, make everything about them and make all things an emergency.These are the kind of friends that expect you to call them every five minutes and clearly demand that you drop everything for the current tragedy in their lives….and yes EVERYTHING is a tragedy.
The problem was I got into a vicious cycle of trying to help and wanting to be there but ended up feeling emotionally exhausted and drained when it was over.It was my grandmother who helped me realize that friendships shouldn't be that way.There should be give and take and if constantly feel like you are the one giving then clearly there's an imbalance that needs to be addressed.I wished things could be different but I just can't afford those kinds of relationship.
Then there are also those conditional friends who are only your friends "in the event of".Like the kind of friends who are your best friend as long as they are your ONLY friend.Those kinds of friends are territorial and just make things weird when you want to have all of your friends together for something.
And then of course there is my favorite kind of conditional friend, the kind of friend that is your friend until you have a boyfriend/girlfriend.These are my favorite!!!You know that kind I'm talking about.These are the kinds of opposite sex friends that are down for whatever and they are there for you until you have a boyfriend/girlfriend.What's interesting is you don't realize it until you've started dating and you recognize that one of a few things happens.Either you recognize that they no longer want to be friends with you and they kind of fall off the planet or they still want to be your friend but they compete for your attention.
A perfect example of this is one of the more recent episodes of Grey's Anatomy.I hate this show by they way.I used to love it but how many times can we see Grey make stupid decisions.Bailey rocks of course but there isn't enough of her on the show to keep me watching unfortunately.Anyway, Izzy and George were friends and she was a pretty good friend to him.But she never looked twice at him and I believe there were many times that she told him she wasn't interested in him because he was "just like a brother".At any rate, Callie becomes interested in him and she and George start to date.Now not only did Izzy start acting a fool but so did Grey….of all people.Really?They never thought twice about this boy and as soon as he starts dating this girl they are all over her.Get it together girls.Either you like a guy or you don't.Don't be that kind of chick that keeps that guy around as a back up plan and then get mad when he decides to go on with his life and no longer worship the ground you walk on.It's not about sex or even attraction for these people as much as it is about the attention that you receive.
I've seen it with both sexes so it absolutely goes both ways.Guys don't be lame. When you ask a girl for her number and she says she has a boyfriend, don't ask if she's allowed to have friends.Let's be real……you don't hardly want to be her friend!And, unless she's a complete retard she's completely aware of what you DO want. You might actually do better being honest.Some girls get down like that.
Anyway, soon enough bad friends do show their true colors and you have to learn to let them go.Sometimes you can call them on it and some people mature and change.Others don't.
Particularly for those in relationships or those that are married bad friends can ruin a relationship.They can cause conflict, divide and conquer and exhaust you.It's not worth it.
Ritchie and I have learned the art of letting those kinds of relationships go.Fortunately we see eye to eye on what we consider good and bad friends to be.Again, as I said in my other blog, we are surrounded by such good friends it makes it easier to let go of the bad ones.
Don't mistake me though I have definitely been guilty of being a bad friend and I have probably done some of things that I am ranting about.But I am learning how to be a better friend or just a better person in my relationships in general.The cool thing about being with Ritchie is that often times he is my mirror.Sometimes that is good and I like what I see and sometimes I don't.The key is to change the things you don't like.So, like a lot of people, I am a work in progress.
Good Friends
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Friends
I recently read an article about the top 10 errors even the smartest newlyweds make and one of those is forgetting about your friends.Apparently what happens is you want to spend time with your spouse and enjoy that alone time together. But you still have to continue to cultivate those relationships/friendship outside of that.
What's really cool is that we both have really great friends and we enjoy spending time with them all for many reasons.What's even cooler is that since we have been in a relationship for quite some time his friends have become my friends and vice versa.
Ritchie and I are at a time in our lives where we realize that we are truly surrounded by a great bunch of people.Some are co-workers and some are school mates, some are male and some are female.
We have some friends that we have known forever.You know the friends that have the most dirt on you and remember when you had a crush on New Edition and you used to wear jellies and stone-washed jeans.
Jina and I were best friends since junior high.We used to have the friendship heart necklaces and used to dress alike and have slumber parties.Unfortunately we fell way out of touch when college began.She went to WrightState and I stayed here and attended UC.But recently, thanks to MySpace we have found our way back to each other and I have never been so excited!We talked on the phone a couple of weeks ago and it was like no time had passed at all.We jabbered and laughed for almost two hours.I'm hoping she'll come up from ATL for the holidays.
In addition to that I have run into many of the friends that I had in high school, again thanks to MySpace.I'm so excited about that as well.I look forward to cultivating these relationships.
I can't believe how cool it is to discover that even though you haven't seen each other that some friendships can stand that test of time.Or better yet reconnecting allows you the opportunity to create a whole new friendship.People change and grow and while I can say that I am still that goofy chick that loves purple that I am not the same woman that I was 10 years ago.I'm not even the same woman I was 3 years ago and I guarantee you that I won't be the same woman next year or the year after that.My core values and morals and such haven't changed I'm just growing as a person.Going through some things and learning some really hard lessons will do that to you.
So ultimately, for us at least, marriage hasn't changed our relationships with our friends and since we value that interaction with everyone we are continuing to maintain these friendships. They enhance our lives.
cooky/wacky
amused
adventurous
blissful
indescribable
sad
cheerful