NKOTB

Yup, you read it right folks - my all time favorite boy band from when I was a crazed pre-teen were right here at MOA today. When I heard on the radio this morning on the way to work I seriously wanted to "accidentally" go the wrong way on 494 and end up at MOA for hours just so I could see the men that caused me to plaster my walls, my bed, and most importantly, my school supplies and all-important jean jacket. Ah, those were the days! Seriously though, they will be here Oct. 21 (that's the day after my birthday) for a concert.....how AWESOME would that be?????

They can still draw a crowd: The 'New Kids' rock the MOA
They're still 'hangin tough.'
Nearly 20 years after they first hit the big time, the New Kids on the Block rocked the Mall of America Friday night.
Nearly 10,000 screaming fans filled the Mall's Rotunda. The scene very similar to the craze the New Kids created in the early 90's
The big difference now, they're older and they're fans are too.
The ladies that were girls almost 20 years ago when the NKOTB were the heartthrobs of America, waited, in some cases for an entire day, to see them again.
When The Kids, now men, took the stage, these 30 somethings dialed it back two decades and screamed like 6th grade girls.
The idea of meeting a New Kid... well, some things just can't be put into words.
The Kids were in town promoting their new album 'The Block', which hits stores next month.
If you missed them Friday, don't fret, they'll be back at the Xcel Energy Center on October 21st.

Suffering.....

From crummy allergies. Since it has been warmer outside and our upstairs gets so hot, Brice has taken it upon himself to sleep with the ceiling fan running; the only problem I have with that is that he didn't bother to dust it off before. So I have been sleeping amongst swirling allergens and I can't seem to explain to Brice (remember, paramedic??) why I am still suffering from my allergy when I am away from the house. Thank goodness Zertec is over the counter now because I will be stocking up on my way home from work.
Pictures of Karsten to come later: reading the newspaper and picking up the chicks with his cool new shades!

Quickly....

Just thought I would jot down a few thoughts before heading off to bed. I put Karsten down tonight at 7:30 and there was NO complaining. Ahhhh, the quiet, good for the ears.

I found an in-home daycare that we might put Karsten in. It is a husband and wife who are Christians and just HAPPEN to have an opening the day that we need daycare. The price is half of what we pay now at the center which is almost the car payment I have been trying to make room for.

I have been really guilty lately about not being able to be home more. I'm starting to realize that the time I am getting with Karsten lately is a couple of hours at the end of the day right before bed time and I feel like I don't get enough time to play with him. I realize that just because I have to work doesn't make me a bad mom but sometimes I feel like a bad mom because I can't be home for him all of the time. I had a really tough day last week when I ran to the mall during my lunch break to run an errand and all of these moms were there with their kids spending the day at the mall and here I was wishing that was me. Yea, these are probably SAHMs who's husbands make a 6 digit salary (I was in Eden Prairie after all) and there is no reason for them to work but I long to be able to do what these women are blessed with now. I never imagined having to go to work every day would be as difficult as it is.

I interviewed for a new position at work within the department that I currently work in and I find out if I got it next week. I'm still kind of on the ledge about whether or not I would actually accept the position. Perks: going to salary from hourly, higher pay, using a different set of skills drawbacks: mandatory overtime. If they are able to cut me a deal and give me a company laptop that I can do my overtime from home after Karsten falls asleep then I would be willing to do it but I already feel like I don't get enough mommy time with him every day. I guess I'll just see what they have to offer (if I even get it) and go from there. I can tell you right now that it will be a difficult decision to make.

I'm off to bed now - hopefully sleep comes easier tonight since the wind has calmed down (it was whipping so loud against the house last night that it was hard for me to sleep through). Don't let the bed bugs bite ;o)

My not so sick boy

Well, my sick kiddo isn't quite as sick as I thought he was going to be today. When I got home he was acting completely normal and actually playing on the floor all by himself (he must have forgotten about crying when we make him play by himself for a while). We were playing for a while and I hadn't even been home a half hour when all of a sudden, he threw up all over me....there is really something about him having to mark his territory when I come home from work! So we both had to get changed again and more laundry went into the washer. At his supper feeding we decided to not let him eat as much and to take a break in between as well as giving him some gas drops since it seems like he has some gas issues too. Then right before his bedtime I gave him a couple more ounces with more gas drops and he finally did a little bit of burping to get the gas out. Hopefully overnight the gas drops will work through his system and he can do some good tooting so it doesn't make him throw up his dinner in the middle of the night. I just feel so bad for him because I really can't do much to make his tummy issues go away.

On my way home from work I took a trip to Target to get a few items and decided to peruse the Easter stuff that was all half off. I have to say that our Target down here must sell out of stuff really fast because there was almost nothing left to buy but I did manage to find a couple things that I like. Of course, I can't leave it sitting around the house because we'll all end up eating way too much so I'll probably take it to work to help other people get fat too ;-) Brice and I had been talking about buying a new set for quite a while but couldn't really find anything that wasn't super spendy or either too large or too small but I found a set today just by walking down the isle with the dining ware (it was on sale too which was even better). So now we actually have enough place settings to go around when we have people over.

The day is finally over, Brice and I are winding down sitting together on the couch and I can hear the bed calling my name. Hopefully we can get a full nights rest and won't have to clean up a sick boy again.

A word to the wise: watch out for gift receipts

So, I finally got around today to taking a gift back to the store that I had received at Christmas. I really wasn't worried about getting the full price back (the price sticker was still on said item) but soon found out that the store was only willing to give me $2 (yes, you really heard me right) for it since that was the price it was listed at now. Having the gift receipt did absolutely nothing for me and I lost 80% of the original value of the gift. I then remembered that WCCO did a story about this exact issue. You can see the video here and read the story here. I guess we have to revert back to giving people the actual receipts since we are getting absolutely nowhere with gift receipts. It makes me wonder how much money these corporations are making by essentially stealing money from consumers....

2 headed turtle

Two-headed turtle goes on display in Pa.

Thu Sep 27, 9:50 PM ET

A pet store has bought a two-headed turtle from a collector and plans to keep it on display, the store manager said. The 2-month-old turtle, actually conjoined red-eared slider twins, fits on a silver dollar.

It has two heads sticking out from opposite ends of its shell, along with a pair of front feet on each side. But there is just one set of back feet and one tail.

The turtle is apparently healthy, and the species can live 15 to 20 years, said Jay Jacoby, manager of Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in East Norriton. The turtle has not yet been named.

The store would not disclose how much it paid.

The same exotic-turtle collector sold another Big Al's store a conjoined-twin turtle about 20 years ago, Jacoby said. The man lives in Florida, but he declined to identify him.

Where are all the crazies coming from?

I just found this article posted on Yahoo and thought I would share it with all of you. Where does this lady get the idea that governments can force upon people the length of a marriage....come on people!

Glamorous politician wants law to allow 7-year itch

By Madeline ChambersFri Sep 21, 4:00 AM ET

Bavaria's most glamorous politician -- a flame-haired motorcyclist who helped bring down state premier Edmund Stoiber -- has shocked the Catholic state in Germany by suggesting marriage should last just 7 years.

Gabriele Pauli, who poses on her web site in motorcycle leathers, is standing for the leadership of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) -- sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) -- in a vote next week.

She told reporters at the launch of her campaign manifesto on Wednesday she wanted marriage to expire after seven years and accused the CSU, which promotes traditional family values, of nurturing ideals of marriage which are wide of the mark.

"The basic approach is wrong ... many marriages last just because people believe they are safe," she told reporters. "My suggestion is that marriages expire after seven years."

After that time, couples should either agree to extend their marriage or it should be automatically dissolved, she said.

Fifty-year-old Pauli, twice divorced, is a maverick intent on shaking up her male-dominated and mainly Catholic party which has dominated Bavarian politics since World War Two.

"This is about bringing ideas into the CSU and starting a discussion," she told German television on Thursday after she had unleashed a wave of criticism from other politicians.

Former foe Stoiber said she did not belong in the CSU and European lawmaker Ingo Freidrich dismissed her views.

"She is diametrically contradicting our Christian, ethical values," Freidrich said.

Peter Ramsauer, head of the CSU in Germany's parliament, compared Pauli's ideas to "the dirt under your fingernails".

Pauli, who attracted attention earlier this year when she posed for a magazine wearing long black latex gloves, was at the centre of a snooping scandal which eventually led to Stoiber, Bavarian premier for 14 years, saying he would stand down early.

She said his office tried to obtain details about lovers and alcohol consumption to use against her.

The CSU will elect Stoiber's successor as party head at a conference next week. He will be replaced as state premier in early October.

Viewed as a party rebel, Pauli stands almost no chance of winning next week's vote. The contest has been fought mainly between Bavarian state economy minister Erwin Huber and German Consumer Minister Horst Seehofer.

The popularity of Seehofer, a 58-year-old married father of three, has suffered from the disclosure that he had been having an affair with a younger woman who recently had his baby.

Weekend and Pavarotti

It's been a pretty long and busy weekend! Friday was the usual get to work, put in your 8 hours and you are so glad to go home. Before the end of the day though I had a meeting with my supervisor to figure out some of this maternity leave stuff. After having a lengthy discussion with him about how things in our department need to change or I have to leave actually made me feel a little better. He is totally on my side with everything and dosen't see why all of this is even an issue. He said that when him and his wife decide to start their family he is going to ask for exactly the same things that I am. So now, we have to try and talk the other managers of our department into being a little more flexible. We'll see where all of this goes.

On Saturday morning we woke up and realized there was nothing for breakfast so we went to Perkins to have a hearty one (there is something about sleeping in and going for a late breakfast at Perkins on the weekend that is just satisfying). We went back home and Brice decided to do some cleaning and I went up to Wal-mart to get some shopping done. I had to go take a couple of duplicate gifts back that we got for the baby and got one of those warm sacks for taking the baby outside during the winter....he'll be nice and warm in that. After coming home I decided to tackle all of the clothing items that we had gotten for Karsten. I went through everything, took off the tags on the stuff he can wear right away, unwrapped all the blankets and unpackaged everything else that needed to be washed and I washed it all. There was so much stuff that I ended up with 2 large loads of laundry....for a baby! I was amazed at how much stuff there was. Everything is so fluffy that it took a little longer than normal to dry in the dryer and there was a TON of fuzz to deal with. So, everything is washed and put away in the dresser ready to go unless I get more. After looking at what clothes we had and didn't have we realized that he only had one pair of cord pants and a pair of jean overalls and the rest were all jammie type pants. There were also a LOT of short sleeved onsies but only one zip up sweater that he can wear over the top. So, after church today we took a trip to Target and found him 3 pairs of pants and a knitted zip up sweater. We also found a small bookshelf to put in his room that was on clearance so now we have MORE furniture to put together. Back to Saturday, we cut up some of the apples that we got at the apple orchard last weekend and made this totally yummy carmel apple bar recipe....it is SOOOOO good! I have a feeling that I will make more because we have a good 10 pounds of apples left.

Tonight we went over to the VFW for dinner because the fire department was having it's annual chicken fry. I don't quite understand the connection between firemen and being good at grilling but it sure makes a great combo. The food was wonderful and our money went to a good cause.

There was this amazing article in the StarTribune today about Pavarotti....it says completely what all of us musicians strive for but can never quite grasp completely but Pavarotti had it all. I enjoyed reading it and I think I'll have to hang a copy of it up in my cube or on the fridge or something because it is truely inspiring.

John Timpane: His talent really was that rare
There are three unusual abilities that must be wedded to become the singer he was.

John Timpane

Published: September 09, 2007

Luciano Pavarotti once sang a song of mine.
I wasn't there; I had to wait for the video on PBS. He didn't sing lead; he came in on the choruses. But the way he performed even this relatively humble musical task -- compared with the mammoth spectaculars, the Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti heroics for which he had become famous -- taught me what it takes to make a Pavarotti. It's more than meets eye or ear, and that says a lot for so big a man.

Along with Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, and a tiny group of others, Pavarotti married three singular, extremely rare talents. To have a Pavarotti, you need all of them; without any one, you might have a pretty good thing, but not the human miracle in such a singer.

Thing 1: The Voice. This is the province of the Creator, and only if it pleases Him/Her/Them. You know that truism about "You can either play in the NBA or you can't"? The Pavarotti-level voice is much, much rarer than the man or woman who can dunk. Maybe a few thousand people around the world can play professional basketball. How many Pavarottis are there at one time?

Thing 2: Musicianship. People think singers like Pavarotti stride on to the stage, take their stance and just belt it out. Not so. To be a singer at that level, you must be a musician. You must learn your instrument through and through (including the athletics of it, the exercise, the preparation, the competition, the mentors and coaches). You must grow expert in the history of music, the rules, the legacies of thousands of other performers. It's a religion. It's slavery.

But then the hard part. Thing 2B. You must somehow reach through all that training and use music to explore reality, human emotion, the situation of human beings in the world.

You must learn how to challenge, touch, enlighten others. Some of this can be taught. Much can't. You have to have lived in the world with your eyes and spirit wide open. No true musician is only a technician, only a plumber with facts and techniques. You can study music all your life -- thousands do -- and "know everything about music" (thousands do) and still not have what I'm talking about. Pavarotti had the unteachables. He would have been a wondrous musician no matter his voice.

Thing 3: An entertainer's sense to match voice and musicianship. Pavarotti was the hammiest of hams, far beyond the bourgeoise overacting of the operatic tradition: He seldom hesitated to milk the moment, search the funny bone, prompt the reach for the hankies. He also, however, was a professional who honored what the entertainer does: assess the mood and needs of the audience and work to realize them. Entertainment, whether classical music or dime dancer, is a generous act, outerly, other-oriented. Watch a Pavarotti performance sometime. Watch his eyes, his body language. He's reading the audience because he needs them to need him.

Many people have one of these things -- an exquisite physical gift; mastery of music; audience connection. Almost no one, and maybe only a handful in the world in any one generation, has them all. Pavarotti had them all.

I am proud and thrilled to have helped write a song on which Pavarotti actually sang. The event was a 1995 "Pavarotti and Friends" benefit concert in Modena for the orphans left by the bloody conflict in Bosnia. The Croatian musician Nenad Bach asked me to work with him on the lyrics to a song -- "Can We Go Higher?" -- that asked whether humanity could ever live in peace, ever transcend its legacy of tribal violence. Nenad sang lead, I recall, but Pavarotti sat in on the choruses -- and he did what he always did, pitched for the home team, took that stance we all know so well and just blasted out the music -- but with earned emotion, eyes traveling the crowd, calling them in. He probably had heard the song maybe a few hours before, and yet he was laying out all his resources on its behalf, as though it were Beethoven. It was a benefit; he was either not getting paid or not getting his normal check. And there he was, not even the lead, working his work.

He did the same thing for many causes, political and musical. He was the best salesman classical music ever had, just by being himself. Remember: The miracle in a musician is mostly invisible. The miracle you hear is the miracle he or she has lived. I am glad that, if only for the slenderest of moments, I got a chance to see him live it.

John Timpane is a musician and the associate editor of the editorial board of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrote this for the Hartford Courant.

Decisions

Well, Brice and I have been talking about what to do after the baby is born. I decided to go on our site at work where all the current open positions are and found a few jobs that I could work full time from home which would solve all of our problems. We decided that I should try and apply for one while I am waiting on a response from the department that I work for. I ran into our department head today and he is still planning on meeting with me sometime this week to see if there is something that can be worked out. And to think, all of this could have been avoided if they would just have said that I could work 4 days rather than 5. I'll keep everyone updated as to what ends up happening

On another work note, please keep my co-worker Kay in your prayers. She ended up going home early yesterday because she wasn't feeling right and ended up having emergency brain surgery because the doctor's found a tumor.

Motherhood....trials and tribulations

Everything had been going so well and we thought we would start our wonderful role as parents with not a care in the world....until I hit the brick wall. I had to have a meeting this week with a couple of the managers at work so that they could give me a verbal warning about being sick too many times....yea you heard me right, what kind of crap is that???? #1 - I get sick quite often #2 - I have a personal philosophy that you don't go to work when you are sick so you don't spread it to other people and #3 - I'm pregnant, I have to take care of myself and I can't use all of the possible energy I have when I'm not feeling well to go to work and then who knows what would happen? I'm not going to put my unborn child at that kind of a risk. So at this "meeting" I was told that I shouldn't come to work when I'm sick but that I SHOULD come to work anyway if I'm sick.....ummmm, yea, whatever. So then I decide to ask what is going to happen before and after my maternity leave. I asked very politely to spend the last week or two working at home and I got the "No because if we do it for you we have to do it for everyone else"....ummm, I'm the only one in my department pregnant. Then I got the, "well, we can't have you working at home because it's a HIPPA violation"....yea, I'm not giving you credit on this one either because it's not any more a HIPPA violation to work in an office building than it is in a home. So then, I asked to work 4 ten hour days when I come back from leave and I got the same crap excuse....yea I got a big fat pile of poop at work yesterday and I have not been happy about it because it screws up all of the plans that Brice and I had set to take care of the baby.

All of this of course, makes me feel like crap and I feel like it is all my fault and it's impossible for me not to be upset about it (of course, the horomones probably don't help the situation any). I feel lied to and used at work....I took that job because I knew that we would be starting a family and the options were there for flexible working hours and possibly working from home only to find out now that apparently the office I work in doesn't follow those corporate policies. So, of course, that gets the wheels turning - is it worth to continue to work after the baby is born if I can't have what I thought I was going to? Do I try to transfer to a different department that would allow me to have a more flexible schedule? Do I try going down to part time? What is going to be the best situation for all of us? I wish that I could just stop working for now but that just isn't going to be possible because we don't have enough income coming from Brice in order to pay all of the bills and be able to eat (ah, the crummy income of a paramedic!) so I have to keep working. Do I keep my job or do I decide that I'm going to stop working for corporate America to work for a more mommie friendly company? Am I over-reacting? Is the stress of there only being 8 weeks left getting the best of me? I don't know what the answers to all of those questions are. All of this is tough enough for me but then I have to deal with my always worrying about having enough money of a husband and with the fact that my short term disability policy at work only pays for 6 weeks of wages when I get a total of 12 off through FMLA....where is the cash for an extra 6 weeks off of work going to come from???? It's been a rough couple of days.

I have so many things going through my head right now that I don't know what I should be feeling. I already feel as though I have failed my son because I thought I had everything all set and ready for his arrival. I feel as though my employer has let me down and I have lost hope of ever enjoying my work again. I feel angry and upset that we now have to come up with an alternate way of taking care of the baby when both of us are at work (nanny or daycare?) when all we wanted to do was to take care of him ourselves. Will things eventually work out? Yes, but not without a little extra cash out of the wallet and a little less time watching my son grow. I think that is what is upsetting me the most....I just want to be there for him day in and day out and watch the little miracle that we created explore, learn and grow. I know that I'll probably always feel that way but I think this is the most difficult thing I have had to deal with my whole life. I can't wait for him to make his appearance but I don't think I'm going to want to leave him after that.

A quick note

Just thought I would blog a little note to let everyone know that Brice and I are off for a weekend trip to North Dakota to spend some time with my family before the baby is born. It might be a difficult one for me since I have been at home sick (AGAIN!!!) for the past 2 days. I feel terrible in more ways than just being sick because I want so bad to be able to be at work and actually be productive but when you have body aches, hot/cold flashes, a fever and a sore throat you really shouldn't be doing much but resting anyway. I'm happy to know that my son is obviously oblivious to the fact that I have a cold right now because he has been kicking me non-stop since about 4am. I'm going to try to do as much resting as possible while we are there because I want to get better; and with only 2 months left, I want to stay healthy! Brice is working an overnight tonight and will probably be home around 5:30 tomorrow morning after very little sleep I'm sure so the trip might be difficult for both of us. At least he's planning on making a good pancake breakfast in the morning to get us going. Well, I guess that's all for now. I'll post some pictures of the trip when we get back.

A couple random items

I was watching the news the other day and they were talking about this video on YouTube about a laughing baby so I had to check it out for myself. This baby has the best laugh I have ever heard - Brice and I had a lot of fun watching it. Here it is for your watching enjoyment.




My second random item is that it is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen. You can go to DQ today and buy a blizzard and all the proceeds go to the Children's Miracle Network. I already took my trip today and got a cookie dough blizzard with a shot of peanut butter in it and it was really good that way. I highly recommend everyone trying it that way because it was REALLY good!

Brice is working tonight so I have a quiet night of relaxing at home by myself. Well, I guess I'm not really by myself, my very active son reminds me of that every time he moves around. It sounds like they are getting farther on the search for the missing people from the bridge collapse. When I was getting out of the car after work I heard that they for sure found 2 bodies with a possibility of a third. Hopefully the families will be able to have some closure.

TGIF!

It was definately a Friday today at work. I had an issue with people being complete morons and not actually using their brains....these are the people "above" me, mind you. I was about ready to scream at them and tell them to wake up and smell the coffee.....UGH! After I finally got done with work I went over to Kohls before coming home. I actually went to the mall to find a pair of slip on flats that I can wear because I've been having issues with one (yes, just one) of my feet getting swollen and my sandals don't really feel all that great when my feet are all swollen. I didn't find what I wanted at Payless (I was trying to go the cheaper route) so I ended up in Kohls. I found a pretty cute pair that are kind of a mix of a tennis shoe and dress flat if that makes any sense (Sketchers brand....they are actually pretty cute - and comfy!). They were on sale so I guess that made it all worth it. While I was down by the shoes I had to walk by the baby clothes to get back up the escalator so I HAD to stop and look. Stopping to look ended up buying because everything was half off! I got Karsten a little long sleeve polo shirt onsie, a zip up sweatshirt and a sleeper that is made of this really soft, fuzzy and warm material. I figured that it would be really nice for him to wear when it gets cold out. Brice will be mad because he keeps telling me to stop buying clothes but I just can't help myself. I want to make sure that we have plenty for him to wear plus, how can you not buy a shirt that is $5.00?

Brice has to work all weekend so I'll probably just stay home and get some cleaning and laundry done and maybe some movie watching too. We'll probably get something to eat tonight since Brice will stay up a little later because he has an overnight tomorrow. Well, that's all....I'm REAL interesting today I know. I hope everyone is as glad as I am that it's Friday.

Baby's room is getting complete

So, Brice and I went shopping yesterday for a rocking chair for the baby's room and ended up coming home with crib bedding. We had actually settled on a different pattern than what we wanted because they didn't have exactly what we were looking for at Babies R Us. Well, we were at Sears yesterday and found Noah's Ark bedding in the right color scheme we were looking for so we bought that, an extra bed sheet and a mobile. Babies R Us doesn't have the exact same design so we can get the matching blanket, window valance, rug, lamp....stuff like that and they don't have all of that at Sears either - I'll just have to mix and match different sets but it should end up looking fine. Here is what the set looks like - I think it will go really well with the blue and purple walls.

If anyone would like, there is a blanket that I would like to go with this set and I've only found it on the Sears website so it should be in the stores as well....hint, hint!
Brice is off today to see Spamalot with his dad - I'm sure he'll be talking about that one for a while! Other than that, we don't have much going on. We need to finish hanging the wallpaper border in the room and then start cleaning up so we can set up the room. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I have to do the gestational diabetes test - I've heard the sugery stuff they give you to drink is not really all that great so we'll see how it goes. Only 3 months left until Karsten makes his appearance - I can't believe how fast the time has gone!

Sleep Deprivation

So I've been home from work for the past 2 days because I have been hit with some pretty severe insomnia. I've had it on and off throughout the pregnancy but the stuff I have this week is really bad. I've gotten about 2-3 hours of sleep every night since about Sunday. By yesterday I was so exhausted that I didn't feel it was safe for me to even try to go into work. I did manage to get a couple of naps in yesterday (about an hour and a half each) but it did not help much. I was really exhausted by the time bedtime rolled around I thought that I might actually sleep some....wrong!!! By the time I fell asleep it was sometime inbetween midnight and 1am and I woke up at 3am. I was not happy about that. Of course, I stayed in bed until my alarm went off so I could get to work but I found myself in the same exhaustive state I was in yesterday. Brice had just gotten home from work and after cuddling and talking about what I should do he suggested that I really needed more rest. So, I decided to stay home today as well. Brice must have been the help that I needed to get some rest because I slept for a whole 5 hours in a row without waking up. I actually felt better after that. I still feel pretty groggy and without much energy but am feeling better than I did yesterday. I think I will try to go into work for at least a while tomorrow to get some work done. Hopefully I can put all of this behind me and get back to normal.

Blast from the past

Have you ever occurred a blast from your past? I found one of mine today right here on the internet! I decided to google myself and found a webpage that I built when I was in college. Check it out!

http://www.angelfire.com/hi/bobbiekopp/index.html

Good news x 2

Good news #1

Yesterday I had the dentist appointment I really did not want to go to. If you can remember, I was told that I might need a root canal and that was really freaking me out. So I went in yesterday and told the nurse that I was freaked out and that this was my first filling and she promised me that I would not feel a thing. I was especially freaked out about the injection because I've heard that it hurts. Well, it turns out that they do the injections different now; the doc puts the needle along the length of the tooth that needs the work and you don't feel a thing - I was really surprised by that. After the drilling got done, the doc told me he couldn't see the nerve and he could just fill up my tooth, no root canal needed. I felt so relieved! So I ended up getting the tooth colored filling so you can't tell that I have metal in my mouth which I just think is totally ugly. I had a little bit of pain last night when the anesthesia was wearing off but it eventually went away. Brice took me out to DQ for ice cream last night since I was such a good patient - I actually ate the whole thing this time and didn't need for Brice to finish it off for me like he usually does! Anyways, I do have some pain today in my tooth because I ended up getting a bruise on my gum where the doc put the injection. Even though it sucks to get bruises every time I get a shot or blood drawn, if that is the worst pain I get, I can handle it!

Good news #2

I didn't know how my maternity leave would work since by the time I deliver I will be a month short of the 1 year employment requirement to qualify for FMLA leave (3 months off of work). United Healthcare has what they call first year leave that you can take before this time but you only get 6 weeks of time off. Well, it turns out that I will get 4 weeks for the first year leave after which I will switch to FMLA and be able to be off for an extra 12 weeks. So total, I will be able to be off of work for 4 months! I am so excited about that!!! Thank goodness for short term disability insurance that will pay my wages while I am out on leave otherwise this would not be possible!

Week in review

Since it has yet been another week since I have posted, I will do another week in review. Of course, nothing has really happened much this past week but I will do what I can!

I will start with American Idol on Tuesday/Wednesday. I did not catch all of it on tuesday but was very happy about who ended up finally going home on Wednesday. These are 2 guys that just have ok voices and have some serious issues. Phil doesn't know how to raise his soft palate and has some SERIOUS issues with staying on pitch most of the time. And then there is Chris who obviously thinks that somehow, singing nasaly is ok. I want to smack him and say that no, it is not ok and you shouldn't just be using your nasal passages for your resonance. It still amazes me that these people actually have a voice coach on the show because I honestly can't tell!

I went to my voice lesson on Friday and was 15 minutes late because of the hideous traffic that I had to face. It usually takes me about a half an hour to get there but it took me an hour!!!! The reason traffic was so horrible? There was a stalled van in the middle lane of north bound 35W just sitting there - there was no trooper there with toe truck to get it out of the way. And the thing that really torked me off is that the traffic people on the radio say absolutely nothing about it!!!! Anyways, by the time I finally got there, it was good but I lost 15 minutes that I paid for because of the stupid traffic.

On Saturday we met Brice's dad and wife for dinner at this little hole in the wall restaurant in Webster, MN which was only about 20 minutes from our house. Webster is only about 3 or 4 blocks long but there were a ton of people there! Food was pretty good but the scalloped potatoes were wonderful! The drive down there was really nice. We passed a lot of really pretty farm land, lots of cows, horses and one goat farm (they were so cute!).

Sunday was pretty usual, went to church, then out for breakfast, grocery shopping and then home. We did have some fun trying to drive and walk through the crazy winds. I wanted to take some video but by the time we got back from the grocery store, the winds died down.

Yesterday I had another OB appointment and all looks good. I did loose yet another pound which I can't believe because I feel I eat like a pig! Baby's heart beat was good and strong, between 158-160 beats per minute. Next month is the big ultrasound and I'm really excited for that! Brice and I are trying to decide to find out the sex of the baby....I always said that I wanted to wait but now that we have the names all picked out, I just want to know so I know what to call the little peanut.

Today is the dreaded dentist appointment. Hopefully I'll walk out of there with a filling and not a root canal.

Saturday projects

Happy Saturday everyone! It feels so good to be in the weekend with such beautiful weather ahead of us. Probably like many of you, I have some outside chores to do which won't be all that hard to accomplish - especially with the sunshine and warm weather! Brice and I have been wondering what to do with our patio area and I have a few ideas but just need to pull it together. I have had A LOT of huge weeds to pull out that are growing along the fence and in between the bricks, a couple of which are these dandilions that have already gotten huge so I won't be able to just pull them out. So, after I have that done, I thought I would get a nice potted rose bush to put back there and then plant some veggies and herbs. It will be really nice to have some home grown veggies this summer! Brice has to work again this weekend since they are on their new 6 month schedule so I should be able to do most of this myself. Other than my patio project, I'll have to go down to the pond and give a treat to the ducks and visit Digger, the dog that lives on the corner. He is like the best dog ever! His owners just let him sit outside all day (with no leash) and he just watches people walk and drive by and he watches the ducks across at the pond. He's just too cute not to say hi to.

Well, I think thats all for now. I have to get the gumption up to actually get up and do something now!

Another Trip to the Dentist

Well, as the title says, I made another trip to the dentist today for opinion #2 about my tooth. Unfortunately, the new doc said about the same thing as the first one did although he did seem quite a bit more positive that I will just need a filling. He also said that if I get back within the next couple of weeks he should just be able to fill it - I'm hoping that it will stay that way because I'm just too young to pretty much lose a tooth! And of course, the only reason these docs are saying that I "might" need a root canal is because the cavity is getting "close" to the nerve. You know, I was looking at the same x-rays that they were and I wasn't seeing that! I mean, how close is close? I would say that the cavity is about half ways inbetween the top of the tooth and the cavity....if that is too close what isn't???? GRRRR!!! Anyways, this dentist office was all high tech - they don't have paper charts, everything is on the computer and they take your picture to store along with your chart. Then they have these big flat screen tv's mounted to the ceiling that you can watch while they are doing work on you. They have these wireless headphones that go with the tv's - it's actually pretty cool. Anyways, the doc said I can bring any DVD to watch when I go back to have the (hopefully) filling. Please pray really, really, REALLY hard that I don't need a stupid root canal!

Ok, I think I'm done ranting about my stupid tooth now. This is the only tooth I have ever had a cavity on and I'm just really upset about it.