One small correction . . . July 17, 2008

Mike read my last post tonight and corrected me on what OFS stands for–it should be Operation Financial Shutdown, not Official Financial Shutdown.  Something seemed wrong with the word “official” when I typed it, but I couldn’t figure out what the right word was, so I left it that way.  We’ve called it OFS for so long and never call it by it’s proper name.  Thanks for the correction, Mike!

For those of you who want some sports-related background behind “operation shutdown,” a few years ago there was a Pirate–Derek Bell–that wasn’t playing very well despite the Pirates dumping a bunch of cash in his pockets.  He basically didn’t want to play for the Pirates anymore and went on what he called “operation shutdown” to the media and just rode out his contract until the Pirates were able to release him.  I had to have Mike repeat the Derek Bell story to me about six times before I could succinctly write a few sentences about it . . . sometimes I’m totally dense about all of the inner workings of contracts, free agency, etc.  I just think all of those guys are out there because they like to play ball.  Mike, on the other hand,  remembers who did what, when, and where, and where he was at the time, what he was doing,  and even what T-shirt he had on.  When it comes to sports, that is.  When it comes to remembering where we keep the floor cleaner or where the laundry basket is for his dirty socks, well, that’s another story.

Back to baseball.  In Mike’s words, “Derek Bell was a fucking scumbag.”  Obviously, Mike’s still a little pissed off over the whole situation.

Lead me not into temptation July 11, 2008

When Mike and I were trying to save money when our house was being built, we started referring to it as OFS.  OFS stands for “Official Financial Shutdown”.  OFS meant that there’s no frivolous spending–no take out food, less nights out with friends for drinks and/or dinner, no unnecessary expenditures.

Over the past few years, OFS has been kind of a running joke with some of our friends.  If we’re not going out with them, they’ll ask if we’re on OFS. 

Since we just took a somewhat-unplanned, somewhat-spontaneous jaunt across the country, I said to Mike that we need some OFS time to recoup.  We need to cool it for a little while and let the balance on our savings account get back to where it was, and sock some more cash away for emergencies (although I counsider a trip to Vegas to be an emergency!). 

The thing that’s hardest for me to not spend money on while we’re on OFS is shoes is books.  I love books.  I love to read.  I somehow accumulate books.  I walk into a bookstore and walk out with a big bag.  I open the newspaper and my eye is drawn to an announcement for a used book sale.  I walk into Target and walk out with 2 books, but not the toilet paper I went there to get.  It’s like I go into a trance or something.  Maybe I can blame it on alien abduction?

Mike was going to the Pirate game tonight with a friend that’s in from out of town (Pirate games and other sporting events are exempt from OFS, by the way.  They are NECESSARY).  I offered to drive him to the game and then pick him up because I knew that there was going to be an excessive amount of hops and barley consumed.  The stadium is about 45 minutes from our house in stop-and-go traffic.  That would mean 45 minutes there, 45 minutes back, and then repeat a few hours later.  A big waste of gas and time.  So my thinking was that since Mike wass having some “guy time”, I would have some “me time” and do something by myself close to the stadium instead of driving back and forth.  Healthier for the environment, healthier on my bank account at the gas pump, and healthy for me mentally.  So what did I choose to do?

Why, I went to a shoe store bookstore of course!  I actually thought about it earlier today, when I agreed to the drop-off/pick-up arrangement.  I scoped out two potential bookstores (both with adequate reading areas and comfortable chairs), looked them up online to see how late each was open, estimated the drive time and ease of access between each one and the stadium, and made my choice.  I grabbed the laptop, thinking it would be a prime opportunity for me to catch up on all of the online stuff I fell behind on in the past week.  I even brought MY OWN BOOK with me to read.  How wrong is that, to take your own book to the bookstore to read!?! I wasn’t going to the bookstore to BUY, I was going there just to vegetate and hang out and at the same time be in an atmosphere that I love.  I’m sure the bookstore would love to know that there are non-revenue generating patrons just milling about.

So now I’m here.  Surrounded by books, all of which look more appealing to me than the one I’m reading or the 258 that I own and haven’t read. Oh wait, two more came in the mail today thanks to bookmooch.  260 books?  Yup, I counted.  I counted because I wanted some justification other than OFS for not buying any new books.  And isn’t it enough that I have hundreds of books at home to read?  Isn’t that enough to keep me in my comfy chair in this bookstore, reading my own book, or stalking people catching up on my blog-reading?

No.

I want to check out the sale books, the newly-released books, the “look what’s hot now” section.  I want to get up out of my chair, and browse.  And browsing leads to buying.  And buying leads to me walking to the car with a bag of books.  Or two.

So instead, I’m typing this long rambling post about my bank account and my book addiction.  It’s keeping me in my seat.  Away from all of the books that I want to explore.  I feel like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Maybe just one bite book won’t hurt . . . .

Unimportant July 10, 2008

Therese at Musings of a Mom tagged me for a meme last week, and I’m finally getting around to doing it.  Here we go!

The rules are:
1. Link back to the person who who tagged you.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Share 6 unimportant things about yourself
4. Tag 5 other bloggers to participate.

Here are my 6 unimportant things:

1. I can’t stand butter or margarine. Looking at it makes my stomach turn.

2. My lucky number was always 28.  But after hitting on the number 20 3 times at roulette over the weekend, I’m seriously considering a change. 

3. I always hated my name when I was growing up because it was different.  Now I like it because it’s different.

4. My blood type is A+.  That’s not important right at this very minute, but that little bit of information comes in handy every once in awhile.

5. I love to paint.  Walls, not masterpieces.

6. I always put my left sock and/or shoe on first.

That’s 6!  Thanks for the tag, Therese!

In lieu of picking 5 others (since I’m a big lurker and that would totally “out” me), feel free to do it if you’d like!

Our trip July 9, 2008

We started off with dinner and a few Guinness at O’Briens at the Pittsburgh airport.  After checking to make sure that our flight was still on time, we stopped at a bar right by our gate and had another beer.  I knew I was at my limit for pre-flight alcohol consumption, so we headed back to our gate.  While we were waiting, I called my friend Amy and congratulated her and her husband on the birth of their daughter.  Welcome to the world, little Phoebe!  I can’t wait to meet you!  I also rubbed it in that I’ll be partying in Vegas while Amy is trying to figure out how to take care of a newborn, but she took my teasing well.

Our flight was uneventful and I was even able to catnap for an hour or so.  We got to Las vegas around 10:00 PM Pacific time, got our luggage, and headed to Planet Hollywood.  When we checked in, we were asked if we wanted to be upgraded to a larger room facing the strip.  Um, sure!

Our room was bigger than what we had the last time, and did have an awesome view of the Bellagio. 

We headed back downstairs to the casino and walked around, checking out things that had changed since we were there last in November.  Our typical tradition is to go to P.F. Chang’s for dinner, but since we got in so much later than we had on our previous trips, we decided to save P.F. Chang’s for later.  The casino is busier at night than it is in the daytime, which makes it harder for Mike and I to find slot machines that are away from smokers.  But there’s a section of machines on the mezzanine level overlooking the casino floor that we really like because there’s hardly ever anyone up there.  There’s also a bar area that stays open because the high-limit room is on that level, so we even end up with dedicated waitress service.  We headed up there and proceeded to drink and play the slot machines until after 4AM (7AM Pittsburgh time, so we had been awake for over 24 hours!).  We fell asleep quickly once we got back to the room, but got up again at

For some reason, only 2 1/2 hours sleep in Vegas doesn’t bother me like it would anywhere else.  We had a nice big breakfast at Planet Dailies

and then hung around the casino for awhile.

Anxious to get our day going, we showered and wandered up the strip, carefully watching the clock to make sure that we were back at Bill’s for the Big Elvis show at 3:00.   The lounge area was packed, but we were able to get a spot on the fringe, right at the bar (of course).  Despite the number of people there for the show, no one was quite as anxious as I was to volunteer to be part of the show.  I had done this on our November trip and it was a lot of fun.  Elvis sings “Viva Las Vegas” while another girl and I shake maracas, and then they dress up the male volunteer in Elvis gear and give him a blow up guitar to play.  I don’t mind being the center of attention when I don’t know anyone around me other than Mike!

Afterwards, we got pictures taken with Big Elvis (Pete) and Conway Twitty (Chuck). 

We wandered around some more and then headed back to Planet Hollywood for a sandwich at Earl of Sandwich (the Ultimate Grilled Cheese rocks!).  I was in bed that night before 9:00, finally worn out from lack of sleep, my cold, dancing with Elvis, and all of the walking.  Oh, and all the drinks I had!

Mike stayed up after making sure I made it into bed and was fast asleep.  He woke me up at 2:30AM to tell me he was bored and wanted me to go back downstairs with him.  We went downstairs and he got a big meatloaf and mashed potato dinner to go that he ate while I was winning money on a slot machine

We went back upstairs around 4:00, but I was restless and couldn’t sleep very well.  I wanted to go back downstairs, and Mike decided to come with me.  We wandered around for awhile, but Mike wasn’t feeling very well, so a few hours later we found ourselves back in the room for a nap. 

After naptime, we headed out into the heat to walk down the strip to New York New York.  Neither of us was feeling up to having a Guinness at Nine Fine Irishmen, so we skipped that and opted to play some of the different slot machines that our hotel doesn’t have.  I actually hit for $95 on one 30 cent spin on a Star Wars machine!  We played for awhile longer and then walked across the street to the MGM Grand.  

We hopped on the monorail and headed up the strip to the Sahara.  We stayed there for quite awhile before heading back to Bally’s and walking back to Planet Hollywood from there.  Mike was exhausted by this point and wanted to go to sleep, so I stayed downstairs in our casino and he met me there a little while later, although by that point I was starting to conk out.

The next morning we awoke refreshed and well-rested.  We anxiously waited for P.F.Chang’s to open for lunch and had a delicious meal before catching a cab and going downtown to Fremont Street.  So many people think that the downtown area is dumpy and not worth the trip, but we had a fun time the last time we were there, so I insisted that we go again this time.

We wandered around to all of the casinos and had a lot of fun playing roulette.  At the one table, I walked away up $135!  We ate at a seafood buffet, where Mike discovered crab legs. 

 

We saw an awesome band playing on the street and stopped to watch them.  I was dancing like a crazy person.

And then the light show started.  The first one we saw was a tribute to Queen–the lights and the music were fantastic!  And the second one–an hour later–was a Vegas montage.  All of the casino’s outside lights go out and the only lights are on the canopy overhead.  It’s quite an experience!

Let me preface this next sentence by letting you know that I was quite drunk by this point.  .  .Mike and I went into the Glitter Gulch. 

Yes, a strip club (although just topless–not the whole shebang.  I don’t think I could have handled that!).  It wasn’t nearly as skeezy as I thought it would be.  Some of  the girls that were dancing were very beautiful.  I wasn’t the only female patron there, and I didn’t feel awkward or out of place.  The way I look at it, they don’t have anything different than what I have.  It’s just that mine’s not on display.  It was definitely worth the experience, and from what I understand it was much cheaper to go to a downtown strip club than to one on the strip (would that be called a strip strip club?).  Just a little tip in case you want to save a few dollars.

And thus, our adventure came to an end.  We headed back to Pittsburgh worn out and ready to come home.  A few days in Vegas is enough.  But by the time our plane landed and we walked out into the oppressive humidity, we were ready to go back.

The good news?  I’ll be back there in a month on a girls-only weekend with 3 friends.  It will be a much different trip–going to clubs, spa treatments, and sipping fruity drinks by the pool–but I’m definitely looking forward to it!!!

You can see the rest of the blurry pictures here if you’re interested.

Wow July 9, 2008

Wow. What a crazy, wonderful weekend we had!  Despite waking up with a cold on Thursday morning (boo hiss!) and Mike having a rough day on Saturday after drinking Heineken AND Absolut Mandarin with Sobe all day on Friday (beer before liquor, never sicker . . . ), we had such a fantastic time.

We made a point of doing some of our favorite things while we were out there . . .seeing Big Elvis at Bill’s Gambling Hall, eating at P.F.Chang’s, taking the monorail to the other end of the strip and wandering around, and going downtown to Fremont Street.

It was HOT.  VERY HOT.  Like, 112 degrees hot.  But it felt so good to have the sun beating down on me (and drying out my sinuses–I swear the desert heat works better than any OTC cold remedy).  When we walked out of the Pittsburgh airport last night to 80 degrees and 75% humidity, I wanted to turn right around and get on the next flight back out west.

This was my fifth time to Vegas, and definitely my favorite trip yet.  Mike and I made a point to leave all of our emotional baggage behind and to turn this past weekend into a party–to be carefree and not think about work or about anything that happened in the past month.

It worked.  I do feel better.  A weekend in Vegas is certainly no consolation for losing the baby and Giz, but it was healing to get away and to focus on the two of us as a couple.

Pictures later, I promise!

Vegas, baby! July 2, 2008

We’ll be boarding our flight in 24 1/2 hours and I have a ton of stuff to do between now and then, so I just wanted to write a quick post to say goodbye!  Of course, everything at work exploded this week and I’m back to 10 and 11 hour non-stop days and feeling stressed out.  Just the thought of this trip is getting me through this week.  I’m looking forward to it now even more that I was before!

Hope you all have a nice weekend and a Happy Fourth!

Puzzled June 28, 2008

I’ve always been good at puzzles.  Word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, you name it.  My mother and I used to put together a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in a span of a few hours.  We’d go on excursions to Goodwill and thrift shops and load up on puzzles, and then go home and race each other at putting them together.

On a whim, I bought a photo mosaic puzzle at Barnes & Noble earlier this week.  It looks hard.  It IS hard.  I worked on it for an hour on Monday night and an hour tonight (yes, I know we have exciting Friday nights at our house).  I got the outer edge done on Monday and 25 interior pieces done tonight.  It took me an hour to put 25 puzzle pieces together.  Wow.  As difficult as it is, I’m enjoying the challenge.  But it’s so frustrating to go so slowly!  What a completely different puzzle strategy than your typical scenery puzzle.

In other puzzle-related news, I kicked Mike’s ass at Othello tonight (and tonight was the first time I’ve ever played!  Once again, exciting Friday nights at our house . . .).  I took a picture that I’m too lazy to upload, but in summary, he had 8 pieces on the board to my 56.  I think it was a fluke that I did that well, but it totally makes up for my frustration at the Marilyn Monroe puzzle!

Eeyore, Fred Mertz, and Cliff Clavin June 26, 2008

I stumbled across a personality test today, and thought I’d give it a try.  Turns out I’m an ISTJ according to the Jung Typology Test.

Every damn word of the description fits me perfectly.  And then I got to the very end, where there was a list of fictional characters who share the same traits.  Apparently I’m just like Eeyore, Fred Mertz, and Cliff Clavin.

How nice.

The next steps June 24, 2008

Mike and I went to the doctor yesterday for my follow-up exam to my D&C and also to discuss the results of the genetic testing that was done.

Basically, there was too much deterioration for them to determine any genetic problems.  Maybe if they had done the procedure SEVENTY FOUR HOURS EARLIER INSTEAD OF MAKING ME CARRY MY DEAD CHILD AROUND INSIDE OF ME ALL WEEKEND, it would have made a difference.  Am I still disgruntled about that?  You betcha.  Note to self: do not schedule any doctor’s appointments for Fridays EVER AGAIN. 

I didn’t go there expecting any concrete results, and I didn’t get any.  But we also didn’t get any BAD news.  I was happy to hear that we’re free to try, try again starting in late July/early August.  Our worst fear was that the doctor would tell us that we shouldn’t attempt to have children together.  We’re so compatible in so many ways (and have long ago accepted the few incompatibilities as the other’s “quirkiness”), that it would be nothing short of ironic for us to not be able to even try to have children together.

My doctor is also doing additional testing on me to see if he can find anything that would prevent me from having a healthy pregnancy in the future.  He made the comment that most doctors wait until after the third miscarriage, but his philosophy is “why wait?”.  Might as well do it now.  If nothing else, I’m becoming a pro at getting my blood drawn.

My biggest concern with attempting to conceive again is my age.  I went almost two years between miscarriages.  I’m 34.  If it takes me two more years to get pregnant again . . .well, you do the math.  Dr. L wasn’t concerned at all with that.  He said that he’ll give us 3-6 months (Mike and I both heard “3 months” when he said that), and then we’ll discuss fertility medications.  This doctor has already done more for me in one month than my previous doctor did in the 12 years I went there.

Dr. L told me to start charting my cycles and bring him everything when I come back in 3 months (assuming all the testing they drew blood for yesterday checks out OK).  So on the way home, I stopped at Barnes & Noble and bought my own copy of a fertility book that I had previously borrowed from a friend.  This book is awesome.  It’s “dumbed down” enough for people who don’t want to be bothered with medical jargon, but it’s also very thorough.  So let the charting begin. I had always been insistent that we would never resort to timed intercourse, but damn it, my biological clock is ticking.  Mike is going to hear the words “ovulation” and “cervical mucus” until his ears bleed.  Forget the romance, we have a mission to accomplish!

On the road again June 20, 2008

I’m beginning to think that my concentration on this month’s NaBloPoMo theme should center around “never at home” rather than “home”. 

Last weekend I went back to The Sticks to spend some time with my family.  My father plays in a band, as I mentioned previously, and his band was playing at an all-day jam on Saturday.  It’s a really neat event–the bands play in a garage while all of the spectators are on the front lawn of a house that’s set way back in the woods, less than a mile from my father’s house.  There are tents set up for when it rains (which it did for a few hours this year), and a vendor selling hot dogs, hot sausage, etc.  A lot of the people that show up are friends of my Dad’s that I’ve known since I was a toddler.  Mike went with me last year, but opted not to go this year because his allergies have been hitting him hard and sitting outside all day would have been torture for him.

Tonight, as soon as I get home from work, we’re leaving for Virginia to go to Mike’s brother’s house for the weekend.  We always try to make it down there to spend time with them at least twice a year–in June for our nephew’s birthday and in October for our niece’s birthday.  So Mike, his sister (JLo), and her fiance (AT), and I are cramming ourselves into my car and making the 6-hour trek.  Be prepared next week for a photo extravaganza of our nephew’s 3rd birthday celebration (unless I get lazy and don’t upload the pictures in a timely manner).  My sisters-in-law and I are also spending some time on Saturday looking for a wedding gown for JLo.  She and AT aren’t getting married until next August, but it’s rare that the 3 of us girls are together, so we wanted to make the most of it.  And it’s never too soon to start looking!

And in 2 short weeks, Mike and I are headed to Vegas!!  I know that doesn’t count as being “on the road” since we’ll be “in the air”, but you get the idea.  We just planned this trip within the past week, and we’re so excited about it.  For us, Vegas is the perfect vacation.  There’s always something to do, we’re never bored or restless, and we always have a great time.  For us, Vegas is a relatively cheap vacation.  We can’t agree on most of the shows, so we don’t go.  We get cheap flights.  Our hotel room is free.  Neither of us care about fancy dinners so we don’t blow money on that.  Drinks are free when you’re gambling.  So the only real expense is the money we’re gambling with, and we go out with a budgeted amount of money and stick to it–no exceptions.  We’re not high-stakes players anyhow–I’m happy as a clam on a penny slot machine for hours at a time.  This will be the first time we’ve been there in the summer, but even the desert heat (weather.com is telling me that its 102 there right now–gasp!) can’t ruin my enthusiam!

I’ve been running around like crazy every day after work this week, shopping for birthday gifts for our nephew, running miscellaneous errands, and finally getting my hair cut and highlighted (we were both overdue, Sydney!).  I hadn’t had my hair highlighted in over 3 months and hadn’t had it cut in 8 weeks, so I was starting to feel mousy and messy.  I left the salon last night feeling like a new person.   I kind of have a stacked/bobbed/wedged thing going on.  My stylist cut it in basically the same style that she had done before, but this time it’s REALLY short in the back–she actually SHAVED MY NECK!  I really didn’t want to spend an hour and a half at the salon when I had so much other stuff to do (like cleaning the house, which is so neglected that it’s getting to the point of becoming a PROJECT instead of a TASK), but now I’m so glad I did.  And after all of the running around this week, it will almost be a welcome relief to sit in the car for 6 hours tonight.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!