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Monday, March 29, 2010

The Gold Standard

Yesterday my family and I went to The Old Spaghetti Factory (the new one at Southcenter) to celebrate my birthday. As you might recall, we already had celebrated my birthday with Jamaal's in February. But, I ended up in tears and my brother, who says he "felt bad for me" was eager to go out to dinner again.

At dinner, my dad tells me "I had an 'Aubri dream' the other night" and then proceeds to tell me about a dream he had. It wasn't too crazy, so I asked why it was an "Aubri dream," and I guess the answer is that it was vivid like mine are nearly every night. My dreams have become the gold standard, and not only in my family, but also at work. They are pretty crazy...

The other night I had a particularly vivid dream.

I was going into labor, so my mom and left for the hospital. We were unable to take a vehicle for some reason, and so we had to walk about a mile. Fire engines passed us a couple times, and we waved at them to have them stopped but they waved right back at us and kept on going.

It was the middle of the night, and so it was very dark out, but we just kept walking. Finally, we arrived at the hospital, and there was an issue with the elevators. This hospital required a hospital staff escort in order for people to use the elevator, and there was only one escort at work, so there was a huge pack of people trying to use the elevator, and only one elevator in service. We didn't have time for this nonsense, so we took the stairs. We had to get from the 1st floor to the 6th. By the end I was crawling up the stairs in tears. I don't remember pain, but I know from the tears I was in pain. During this part of the dream, I was watching myself climb the stairs.

We finally arrived at the 6th floor, the labor and delivery unit, and they cannot accept walk ins. Plus, the did not believe that I was in labor. I was furious. I told them I had to pee really bad, and asked for a basin. (We have these at work, they are a circular basin about a foot and a half in diameter and about 4-5 inches deep.) They provided a basin, and I squatted down in front of the nurses station, and out popped my baby. I was scared to look, but when I did I found it was a boy. I told my mom, in a sad voice, that it was a boy. She kind of slumped a little. My mom, was like 8-10 feet away from me, and remained that far away. I had no help whatsoever. I said to my mom "I guess we should call Jamaal." But this was the first time I had even thought of notifying him. I picked up my baby, and proceeded to ask for suction, and someone handed me a suction bulb, and I had a hard time getting the babies mouth to open so I could suction everything out of his mouth. I never did hear him cry.

I woke up. Then I proceeded to lay in bed thinking how I should have clamped the umbilical cord. Never mind the fact that I had my baby in a basin, because no one would help me. ;)

I had another intense dream last night, but I really cannot describe it in a way that would make sense. So just take my word on it. ;)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Nearly 25

My DH loves me. A week ago, he gave me a card and a new video game for my birthday. The video game (Final Fantasy XIII) was one I looked at, and nearly bought for myself the day before. (I didn't buy it because I knew that my birthday was coming up and someone might get it for me.) The card was cute, it has a monkey on the front and says "Happy Birthday to my wife!" On the inside there is a boy monkey hanging upside down and a girl monkey looking at him, and says "...the woman I love to monkey around with."

It made me smile.

Friday, the husband installed a fancy radio in my car that has bluetooth in it, so now I can use my phone and drive at the same time. It also plays DVDs...I don't know who he bought the radio for, me or him?? :D I have a feeling I'll be driving a lot more now...

Today, we went and saw Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3-D, and I really enjoyed the movie. The husband thought it was okay, but he didn't really want to see it. I thought they did a really good job.

The only complaint I have is that a couple sat next to me (we sat in the very back row) with a 6-8 month old baby. I'm sorry, but that isn't something I'm okay with. I understand that parents also want to watch movies, but I think an infant would have a better time with a family member for a couple hours.

Or, visit your neighborhood RedBox and rent the movie and watch in the comfort of your own home.

Thankfully the child went down for a nap, after the dad took the babe out of the theater for 20 minutes or so. But still, my belief stands.

On my birthday, my mom, sister-in-law and I will be getting manicures and pedicures and a Free pastry from Starbucks, because it is "Free Pastry Day." Celebrate my birthday, and visit your local Starbucks on Tuesday! :D

I'm starting to feel old....

Monday, March 15, 2010

My Cone head

Today I thought I would share a post about my darling girls. Mostly, about my poor Bella girl. She has a slight problem: she chews and scratches herself uncontrollably. So, Jamaal and I decided to put a cone on her to make her stop. Bella has had this problem for a while. She has a spot on her right hip, one on the middle of her back, and also likes to lick her armpits in the front. When we were still in Tukwila, we tried medications and I put the cone on her then, but at the time I was on night shift, and Jamaal felt guilty putting the cone on her. But now, we are on a united front. She actually wakes us up in the middle of the night with her chewing and scratching, and we think "enough is enough." 

So I thought I would show you all my little girl with her cone, but needed to take a few pictures to do so. What I found was not good.  This might be one of the last times I use our old camera. I picked it up and noticed blue painter's tape was on it, I didn't know why the painter's tape was on it, so I took it off and the front case of the camera popped off. So the painters tape is holding our camera together. We knew the end of the camera's days was coming soon, since there is a black hole on the view screen. It is very small, but once the screen starts to go, that's it for this camera, since there is no other way to see what we're taking a picture of once that screen goes. But I digress...

It seems mean to have a cone on a dog, but really she doesn't seem to notice it much. She can eat her food with it on, she can drink water with it on, and as you can see in the videos I took, she can play with it on. I think I notice it more than she does, as she hits me with it all the time. She gets my shins and face the most with it. :D I have 3 videos that I'm going to share today, I hope you enjoy them. :D



This is a video I took of Bacardi a while back. Every time we put an ice cube in her water dish, she will not rest until she gets the ice cube out. This particular day she was really quick at getting it out, usually there is a lot more spillage...



This is proof that my little girl is not suffering...she acts exactly the same as she did before the cone was on. She is very adaptable.



This video focuses more on Bacardi, but also features my Cone head as well. :D

So glad you called.



If you haven't heard this song, it's a good one. Makes me cry everytime. The video is good too. I heard this song yesterday and thought I should share it.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Finally, a visitor.

Day 2.

After a 54 or 55 day cycle, I am happy to report that Aunt Flo has finally arrived. No other details are really necessary at this time. Though I'm finding this "independent" period is a little different than my "dependent" periods were.

Last night, Jamaal, his dad, his dad's friend and I went to see Charlie Murphy at the Moore Theater. It was funny. We laughed a lot. Jamaal especially enjoyed it, which is a good thing since it was his birthday present.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Desires

Day 49/50.

A few things.

I've been thinking about taking classes lately. One day, I hope to return to school for nursing, but at this moment in my life, I, one, cannot afford it, and two, cannot fathom writing papers again.

I am still paying off college, and cannot imagine taking out more loans.

The classes I've been thinking about taking are more for fun.

1. Quilting
2. Cooking
3. Photography
4. Spanish

Quilting
I am already taking some quilting classes, one will be continued this week on Thursday, and another will be on March 14th, which is a table runner class.

I really am excited to quilt/sew. Though I don't think I really have any ambition to sew clothing. Since I have an embroidery machine, I have ambition to embroider, but not to actually piece together an outfit. Perhaps this will change in time. Perhaps a mini-me, might persuade me to sew a beautiful dress or Halloween costume. But at this time in my life, I feel it is simply easier to buy said dresses. Why, do I feel it is easier/better to quilt or sew my own quilts, table runners etc? I do not know. It makes absolutely no sense to me either. ;D

Cooking
I would love to take some cooking classes to learn some new techniques/recipes, and I think it is uber romantic to take said classes with someone you love. However, I do not think that my DH would ever take a cooking class with me. It (cooking) is not something he enjoys doing. He doesn't care what he eats. A bag of chips is okay in his book. Sandwiches everyday, that's fine. He likes most of the food I make, and I think is grateful that I make it, but if I didn't he would be fine with that too.

Growing up, my family had home cooked meals. We sat around the table, prayed before every dinner, and ate together. We asked "may I be excused" when we were done with dinner, and if we had successfully made a dent in our meal we would be allowed to scrape our plate and wash our hands. I have fond memories of dinnertime. It was family time. Every Saturday night, my extended family would have dinner at my Grandparent's house, the cousins and I would play, and then eat together, sometimes outside if it was nice out.

So for me, food is very comforting and reminds me of family, love, and friendship. But DH does not share these thoughts on food. If I spend all day cooking something special, he does not understand why I have done it. To him, food is simply a necessity. For me, sharing a meal is an extension of my love, and a way to bond and grow as a family. He knows how I feel about dinner time, and that once we have children things will be changing in our house. Currently we eat every dinner in front of the TV. This will not be okay for my children. I fought for a while to eat dinner at the table, but eventually he won, and we have the horrible habit of eating in front of the TV. I'm not proud of this. I'm terribly ashamed actually...

Photography
I want to learn some photography techniques so that I can take beautiful pictures of my crafty projects. Also, I am mesmerized by the talent of people who take abstract photographs that are beautiful enough to be framed and exhibited.

I hate posting photos of my cards or other projects when I feel that the photo doesn't capture the essence of my work. I want to be proud of my craft both online and in life.

Spanish
A language that I did well with in high school, and one that I encounter the most at work, has always been something I wanted to be fluent in, well since I started classes. I had to choose between choir and Spanish senior year of high school, and in order to be in the musical, I had to go with choir. My Spanish teacher was very upset with me for not continuing, as she knew that I grasped it well, and enjoyed the language. After that, I never went back. I wished I took some Spanish in college, but since my schedule was jam packed with multiple sciences pretty much every semester, I didn't have time for the studying involved with a second language.

I find myself understanding most of what my Spanish speaking patient's say. And one particular Spanish interpreter, can tell that my grasp of the language is pretty good for only having 2 years of high school Spanish under my belt. Patient's have told me that my pronunciation is pretty good as well, though sometimes they have to correct me as I once said something about a "bull", instead of whatever it was I was trying to say. ;) It would be incredibly helpful if I could speak with my Spanish speaking patients, at least at an elementary level if nothing else, so that I could determine their needs without an interpreter present. 


What fun classes, if any, would you like to take??