Great pregnancy and motherhood comics!
More baby bump pics.
Me at 31 weeks:
It’s snowing – times two!
There is a horrible storm predicted for today/tonight, and it has started. When I got up to pee at 3:30 it was still clear and there was nothing on the ground, but by the time Tom was getting ready to leave at 7am, there was already some accumulation. Unfortunately, I also think it might be somewhat wet, as I could HEAR it snowing when I let the dog out.
Oh, and you may have noticed it’s snowing on the blog, too. I only thought it appropriate to add that for the season. 🙂 (Hint: If you move your mouse across the screen, it acts like wind and the snow will change course. Also, if you stay on the page long enough, the snow will accumulate on the bottom.)
Last minute shopping.
No, it’s not what you think—I am not talking about Christmas shopping!
I am talking about not planning ahead and realizing we need a real snow shovel, and having to buy one IN PERSON at Lowe’s, instead of buying the same exact thing on Amazon for $15 less.
>:XX
Week 31
Baby Gaga:
Your not-so-little-one is just a bit closer to their birth weight and height at around 4 pounds and 17 inches. With each added layer of baby fat, your baby’s skin starts to look more and more like it will when they finally get to see the light of day. The heavy news: you can expect your miracle-gro muffin to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth. Great. That’s just what you needed. Even more weight to carry around!
Your baby’s still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting them in full gear to face our disease-ridden world o’ wonders. Obviously, a large majority of your child’s immune strength will be derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements. Their cute little noggin’ (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just purty peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together. As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, their “skull softness” allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labor—something both you and your little swimmer will appreciate when it’s finally time to “go!” Also, some babies will have that “soft spot” on their head for up to one year after birth.
Keys lost in the move.
So I finally decided that today was the day to finally put all our files back in the file cabinet. (Yes, unfortunately, they take them ALL out and pack them in boxes.) >:XX
Yes, I know it makes the file cabinet lighter, but what the hell difference does it make if the weight is concentrated in the file cabinet or if it’s dispersed throughout six small boxes? It’s not like they can’t pack/lift/move/transport heavy things. GRRRR. I know there must be a reason, but it still irritated me.
So anyway, Tom brought down all the boxes and I went to open the file cabinet and—oh crap! that’s right!—they had me lock the cabinet so the drawers didn’t pop open. And I distinctly remember locking it, taking the keys, and putting them….somewhere obvious so we’d know where they were. (We NEVER lock the file cabinet and the keys are always hanging from the lock.)
Of course, two months later, I have no earthly idea where the stupid keys are. I should have just put them on my keychain (obvious NOW) or taped them to the file cabinet—but at the time, wherever I put them made perfect sense.
I have searched all the places that seem obvious to me now (like my purse or the junk drawers) but pretty much every place I can think of where the keys might be are places/things that were originally packed—so I would not have put the keys there.
So I decided to check the HON website…and for $10 (shipped) I can get a new key. I figured it was worth it…and of course ordering new keys will mean I will find the original keys (because that’s how life works). But at least then we will have two sets.
I’m cruising along nicely.
I had my every-two-week appointment this morning, and things are just fine. I actually lost 4# since the last visit and the doctor was like “Are you eating?”
HA.
HA HA.
Of course I’m eating, I told her. (I wanted to say “You don’t know me that well yet, do you?” but I refrained.) She said I might have just been retaining water the last time.
My blood pressure, belly growth, and the baby’s heartbeat were all good as well.
Then it was time for all the questions I had. Nothing major, just things that Tom and I had suddenly said “WHAT THE HELL?” about. 😳
Birth classes? She gave me a list of classes at the local hospital. (We are now trying to decide. Unfortunately, there are only two available this far along, an $80 basic course and a $210 specialty course. I have to call to see what the times/dates are to see if either will actually work for us.)
Hospital tour? She said that would be covered in a class, or we could schedule a visit directly with the hospital.
Which hospital? We pretty much knew it would be Beaumont, but she asked which one. Oh, there are two? |-| She works out of both, and said one is more of a teaching hospital so there would be many more people around—and the other would be more private. The more private one is actually closer to us, so we’d probably choose that one anyway. However, if by chance I happen to deliver early early, we’d probably head to the teaching hospital, as she said that one is a BIT more advanced for early births, etc. (although the other hospital would surely be just fine). I asked if we had to pick/register at a hospital ahead of time and she said no—so we could really decide at any time where we wanted to go.
Birth plan? She said I could just tell her what I wanted and she would put it in my file. I said I was easy: Give me drugs, cut me open, do whatever makes it easier/safer for me or the baby. She said that’s how she works anyway—so not really a big need for a birth plan (if you have really specific requests, a birth plan is a necessity).
Breastfeeding consultant? She said there are classes you can take before and after, but there is always someone at the hospital to help with that and it doesn’t necessarily have to be done ahead of time.
Pediatrician referral? She gave me the name of her own pediatrician, but I have to find out if she takes our insurance. Otherwise, the place to start is the hospital referral line.
And last but not least, her emergency phone numbers? I now have her card with her information.
So I feel a little better about things…
The crib is put together!
Thanks, mom and David!
Now we just need the mattress and bedding! (Is it ironic to say “baby steps”?)
🙂
The Mapping of a Cat’s Brain
Baby clothes!
We couldn’t resist buying a few things on sale! Sooooo cute! Tom was even getting into the spirit of things!
And…then there was pain.
Owen must really be getting on my nerves. My sciatic nerve, that is. |-|
Yesterday I tried to run some errands, and out of nowhere, in the middle of the aisle, I received a jolt and could barely stand, let alone walk. I managed to shuffle through checkout and out of the store (so much for wandering) but that was NOT fun.
Sitting in the car it felt like it kind of went away, so off to Kroger I went. Then I experienced the whole bottle return issue and while standing was a pain, I really had some grocery shopping to do, so I thought “Hey, this shouldn’t be too bad if I can lean on the cart.”
Ha.
HA HA.
I didn’t make it halfway down the first aisle before I decided there was NO WAY I could make it through the entire store, so I limped back to the car and went home…where I sat on my butt the rest of the afternoon.
The pain lessened a little throughout the night, but not enough to say “Wow, I’m glad that’s over!”
This morning it’s not AS bad, so I might try hitting Kroger first thing. (Well, first thing now being about 10am, since I was wide awake from 4a-6a for no apparent reason.)
I knew this could happen around this time, but I was holding out hope it wouldn’t…or that it wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded. I will go absolutely stir-crazy if all I can do is shuffle around the house between the bed and the couch. Granted I don’t go out too much, but since Tom has no time, I have to do the shopping and errand-running.
Hoo boy.
I hate Kroger bottle return.
I was SOOOOOO damn frustrated today, I would have rather just thrown every last bottle and can away.
We had two FULL garbage bags of returnables. I assumed beforehand that there might be one or two that made the trip from North Carolina—so I was prepared for that.
So imagine my surprise—and frustration—when the very first can I put in got spit back at me.
Well, wait.
First, of the four self-serve stations, only two were working. And of the one plastic station that was working, it didn’t seem to be working too well. (Once I moved on to the glass bottles, and saw that the plastic guides were constantly moving once you started putting bottles in, I realized the plastic station wasn’t working right.)
So my first can got spit back. I looked at it, and it had a Michigan deposit. Ooooo-kay. So I tried again, and it spit it back at me again. Fine.
Bottle #2. Ditto.
Bottle #3. Ditto.
What the hell? These were ALL Michigan cans and bottles!! >:XX
Then I remembered that stores won’t take the bottles if they don’t sell the product…but these were like 2-liters of Faygo and Coke that I KNOW we bought there.
So I tried some of the rejected bottles again. And what do you know? THIS TIME they worked. So with each can I tried, I had to try it two or three times before it finally took. >:XX
And since the moving guides weren’t working, I had to practically shove my entire arm down the chute in order for the machine to read the bar code. And then, of course, 75% of the time it would spit it back at me anyway.
I started to try to flick them back there (so I didn’t have to stick my arm in) and then I got the error message “PLEASE DO NOT THROW CANS.” >:XX
I finally gave up on the plastic and moved to glass, which worked like a charm (as smoothly as I had expected the whole process to work from the beginning).
Then it was back to plastic for another go-round with my Michigan rejects.
I ended up bringing half a bag home and only getting about $2.00 in actual returnables.
As it also happened, I think Owen decided to sit on a nerve or something, because I could barely stand, let alone walk, so my actual planned shopping trip was out the window, and I hobbled back to the car, fuming all the way.
Needless to say I think “bottle return” now falls under Tom’s Honey Do list. |-|
Paranoia is starting to set in.
For the first time during this pregnancy, I am starting to get all sorts of paranoid. (It doesn’t help that I picked up a pregnancy magazine, which revved me up even more.)
I am now thinking about the million things I don’t know, the things I need to write down in a list so as not to forget (helpful hints about what to take to the hospital), the things I still have to search for (pediatrician, daycare, etc.), the things I have to buy (I didn’t even think about winter stuff—I’ve just been thinking onesies-onesies-onesies), things to ask my doctor (to clarify what hospital she is associated with, what about a birth plan, etc.)…and the list goes on.
Good god.
29 Weeks
WebMD:
Your baby measures about 10.4 inches from crown to rump, or a total length of about 16.7 inches from head to toe, and weighs about 2.7 pounds. At this stage a fetus’ eyes are almost always blue and can distinguish bright sunlight or artificial light through the wall of the uterus. Baby is performing fewer acrobatics as conditions in the womb have become cramped now that he is getting bigger. Your uterus is about 3.5 to 4 inches above your navel. Weight gain is probably between 19 and 25 pounds. If born now, your baby could probably survive outside the womb—although in a neonatal intensive-care unit. As your due date approaches, you may be feeling relieved and excited, or anxious about motherhood, your baby’s health, and labor and delivery.
Baby Gaga:
If you’ve been feeling butterflies moving around in your belly, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill pre-birth performance anxiety. No, it’s your amazing baby with a case of the hiccups: a fairly common occurrence at this point resulting from practicing breathing for their big birthday. In addition, to getting a round of butterfly-like hiccups, your little swimmer has arduously managed to accumulate enough baby fat to account for nearly 3.5% of their overall body weight. Yeah, compared to we adults, it’s not a lot, but when they’re little like that—it’s certainly a healthy (and warming) accomplishment in its way. Another fantastic accomplishment: your baby’s spleen is now in charge of hematopoiesis—the 10 dollar name for the process involved in building up certain important blood components. Another fantastic-accomplishment: your little monkey has been peeing into their amniotic sac for a little while now (this is why potty training takes a while) and if you didn’t know, actually swallows it along with the rest of the amniotic fluid. Although the concept is nasty, their urine is sterile and as part of the amniotic fluid base, is replaced several times throughout the day. So if you didn’t know before, now you can tell people, that yes, you drank your own urine—you were still in the womb, but nonetheless, you’ve been there.
Baby bump!
I don’t plan to take many pictures of myself because I don’t really like how I look, but I thought since I am really starting to show, I would showcase it here for you (of course, in the outfit that shows it off the most):
For those of you that might think my boobs look ginormous, they aren’t. They haven’t gotten any bigger at all yet (still wearing my regular bras, although the 40s are now in the closet and I’m on the 42s). Hubby is a little upset by that. I told him we still have 2.5 months to go.
Every two weeks now…
I had a checkup today, and apparently I’m now on the every-two-week appointment schedule. No big deal, as it’s less than 10 minutes from the house (and it’s not like I have a job to work around, HA!). :-/
As of this morning, I officially weigh 1# more than my highest weight ever (5+ years ago right before we started our low-carb eating plan). I know one thing really has nothing to do with the other, other than I had hoped to not ever get above that weight again. I know, I know, I know—pregnancy doesn’t count. But in the back of my head, I know that had I not regained most of the weight I lost during that low-carb phase, I would still be WAY under my top weight at this point.
Oh well. There’s always next time. Right? :yes:
Not much else to report on from the visit… my blood pressure was a bit high (so they took it again at the end and it was fine), I got a flu shot (the doc’s recommendation), they measured my stomach and said I grew 2cm, and the baby’s heartbeat was about 150bpm. Oh, the glucose tolerance test from the previous appointment was fine—no problems there.
Everything looks good, so I’m all set for another two weeks!
2008 Official USMC Birthday Ball Photo
Icky photo. See? I look fat, not pregnant. And my hair? Looks good, but it should have been arranged differently.
Oh well. |-|
I hate computers today.
Everything was working peachy when I decided to run Windows update and install whatever it needed (important stuff). I also ran Secunia and updated the things it told me were insecure.
I rebooted.
A while later, I realize I can’t print. Interesting. It says I have no printers installed.
Huh? What?
I check, and nope, no printers. :crazy:
I reboot, just because that’s what you always do first when something like that happens. RIGHT? RIGHT!
Now I had printers, but I got Windows error messages about the “spooler subsystem app has stopped working” and you couldn’t actually manage any of the printers…meaning I couldn’t add a printer or delete a printer. Not even in safe mode.
Well, this is when I realize that maybe it had something to do with the updates, so I did a system restore to before the updates. It didn’t work. I tried another, earlier, restore, and there were errors during the process, so nothing was changed. >:XX So then I tried to revert back the initial restore I did—and there were errors with that, too—so who the hell knows where my system is at. All I know is now there are like two more programs that aren’t working, antivirus being one of them. >:XX
After some googling and an attempt at a solution (that didn’t work) I just kept rebooting I did manage to get the printer installed again, but it still won’t print and I haven’t the first idea why. (Of course, this all started because there is something we HAVE to get printed out.)
Then, after one of these reboots, Outlook decides that it wasn’t shut down properly, and when it finally comes up after checking the “bad file,” all of my email account passwords are gone. WTF? (I get the popup boxes asking for my password.) I mean, how the hell does that happen? I assume since Outlook thinks I shut it down incorrectly, which I am pretty sure I didn’t. So I fill in what passwords I know and have to login to my admin stuff online to change the passwords I don’t know/can’t remember. GRRRRR. >:XX
In the midst, of course, I am trying to receive a lost password from HP, but the email address I used? I no longer have it, so the password reset email is lost in the ether…so I either keep guessing at passwords (it’s not one of my three major passwords for sites like that) or create a new account (major pet peeve of mine).
So I email Tom to tell him to print out what we need (it’s for him and he emailed it to me this morning) because my computer is hosed. He calls and asks what’s up, and I briefly try to tell him, and he gets a little snotty with me (sorry hon, you did!) because I can’t print it for him and he’s busy and can’t talk. |-| Well, I didn’t call him to tell him what was wrong, did I? He asked! (And with these pregnancy hormones? Watch out!)
So at this point I still can’t print, my antivirus isn’t working, I can’t get my HP password—and I am ready to heave the computer into the garbage.
Man I hate cold sores.
You get used to not getting/having them (I maybe get one or two a year anymore), so when one pops up, it’s very disheartening.
And unfortunately, not only did one pop up, but TWO popped up. One huge one that’s about half my upper lip (it seems) and a tiny one on my lower lip.
>:XX
I even started putting Abreva on both right away, and it hasn’t seemed to help at all.
I hate canker sores, too, but at least they are inside and no one else can see them. :'(
My first maternity clothes.
Well, so much for there being a lot of choice here in the big city. (Granted, I am not looking at high end stores, because we can’t afford that.)
I searched out Motherhood Maternity Plus stores, and was excited about going…I was thrilled that there would be a whole store of plus-sized clothes to choose from!
How wrong I was.
It’s just a regular store with a plus-sized SECTION. And a pathetic section, at that.
Seriously, there were like three racks out of the entire store, and half of it was clearance summer stuff. >:XX We did travel about 6 miles farther to go to a second store, where they did have a few more racks, but still nothing to write home about.
The prices weren’t TOO horribly awful, but I still had a hard time spending $50 on a sweater. And I just hope any future weight gain is in my stomach, and not in the legs or butt—because the jeans (the largest size they carry) just fit.
They do have quite a bit more online, so that’s where I will probably end up shopping if I have to. But in the meantime, I need to search out other maternity stores and hopefully find a few more pieces, otherwise I will be wearing the same two sweaters, two tops, and two pair of jeans for the next three months.
General Tso’s in a packet?
This was one of those Big Lots finds that I just HAD to try. I mean, we LOVE General Tso’s chicken, so why not take a chance on a 50c packet and $2 worth of chicken?
Well, honestly, it sat in the pantry for a good year or so—and recently made the move to Michigan—so I finally decided to try it.
And you know what? It wasn’t half bad! Meaning…it was better than some actual Chinese restaurant General Tso’s I’ve had!
I would definitely buy this again (it’s available at regular stores, so it wasn’t just a closeout at Big Lots—in Michigan it’s available at D&W, Farmer Jack, Felpausch, Kessel, Kroger, Meijer, Spartan, and Wal-Mart) and now I am more willing to try the other packet mixes they have!
Appointment
So today was the day for my glucose tolerance test. From everything I had heard and read about the test, the sugary orange drink was hideous and awful to try and get down—so I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
And you know what? It wasn’t that bad. I swear some regular pop is worse than that stuff was. The hardest part was fasting four hours before—which, for a 9:15 appointment just meant I couldn’t eat anything after getting up…hard because I am RAVENOUS when I get up in the morning. Oh well, I survived.
And I still like the doc’s office, but it is somewhat different than the military clinics I have been used to for the last seven years. The two most noticeable things today were:
- They had me test my own urine (it is apparently expected before you even walk in for your appointment). There are test strips in the bathroom and you do your own test and then tell them the results! (Of course, if you are unsure, you can give them the strip, but still.) I cannot see that EVER happening in a military clinic.
- When it was determined I had a yeast infection (#2 this month—yippee), I fully expected a prescription that wouldn’t cost me anything (or maybe $3 co-pay) to fill. Well, apparently the wonderful pill Diflucan is not recommended during pregnancy (although my What To Expect book said it would be okay) so the doc said “Just buy a 3- or 7-day Monistat.” Huh? What? No prescription? GRRR. I am 99.99% sure I have seen military pharmacies hand out Monistat (or at least something similar) that would be FREE. Instead, I had to pay $15 for it. >:XX
In other news, the nurse was very impressed with my blood pressure, so that’s a good thing!
I have another appointment in two weeks. I forgot to ask if every two weeks is my new schedule (I can’t imagine why it would be, but she didn’t say anything about it).
Irritating coupon usage
It irritates me when you use a coupon at a store (say, $10 off $50) and it takes a certain percentage off each item you buy—instead of just a generic $10.
Why?
Because when you return something, you “lose out” on part of that $10 you saved because they return the item at what you paid for it.
Now, I am sure they do this to make the cashier’s life easier—that way they don’t have to wonder “Now, with this return, did the customer still qualify for the coupon?”
But it screws the customer.
We spent $150 at Lowe’s last night. Used a $10 off $50 coupon. Today we returned $30 worth of stuff—still enough to qualify for the full amount of the coupon—but got penalized for returning something because now our $10 coupon was really only worth about $8.
No, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things…but irritating nonetheless.
This has also happened at Lane Bryant, and I’ve fought it before (and won) but it wears you down and it’s almost worth losing the $2 or $5 not to have to deal with it.
This is when I hate having a car.
I take good care of my car—if the dealer tells me I need something, I pretty much go along with it (spacing out the $500 recommended options as much as I can). So when the check engine light comes on, off I go.
Yesterday, however, it was the check engine light PLUS the ABS and BRAKE lights. 88| The ABS and BRAKE lights did eventually go off, but I still made the appointment.
The first |-| is the $95 just to diagnose the issue. Then the >:XX came with the return call:
- THE MUST FIX: $595 to replace the ECU (electronic control unit)—oh, not life or death, but “your speedometer may not work correctly”
- RECOMMENDED: $470 to change the timing belts (due soon)
- RECOMMENDED: $598 to flush all the fluids (due soon)
- RECOMMENDED: $94 for a new battery (apparently mine is still original and they’re only supposed to last for 5-6 years—and the car is on 7)
Of course we don’t have the money to do any of this right now (otherwise we may not have rent next month)…so I am in the process of making another appointment with another place to see what they say (and what their prices are).
It just stinks because I trusted my last dealership wholeheartedly and never questioned them…but in a new city with a new dealership, I am leery. I hate to pay another diagnostic fee, but I guess the benefit is it will either tell me that the Toyota dealership is dead on (and I can continue to go there) or they are way off and I just saved myself a lot of money and found a new, trustworthy place.
Hey—I wonder if I could pay them in office supplies? 😀
Office Supply Overload
I have now unpacked enough NEW index cards, staples, sticky notes, and paperclips to choke three horses.
You think I’m kidding?
Try 35,000 staples (seven boxes), 1000 index cards (10 packs), 1500 sticky notes (15 pads), and 1600 paperclips (16 boxes). Good lord. This is why I need to be organized—they all came out of the same storage cabinet but obviously different drawers that I didn’t pay attention to.
Oh, there are also three glue sticks and three rolls of invisible tape, but those are minimal quantities I’m not really concerned with.
And I’m not done unpacking.
Egads.
Pierogi
We now live in the middle of Polish country (well, 20 minutes from Hamtramck, which is the real center). This is good news for me since I now have easy access to pierogi—at the grocery store—other than Mrs. T’s!
Don’t get me wrong, I fully enjoy Mrs. T’s when I don’t have Len pierogies in the freezer, but those are rare—and few and far between. So I have to make do.
Since we have been here, I have been tempted a few times by other homemade-looking brands I see in the stores. And today I succumbed: I got the Kowalski brand Farmer’s Cheese version, even though they were easily 4x as expensive as a bag of Mrs T’s from Costco.
I was excited.
I came home and cooked them for lunch.
And…
YUCK.
They were just about the most hideous things I’ve ever tasted. >:XX
They were SO bad I struggled to eat the four I had put on my plate—then tossed the rest. I know—normally sacrilege—but they were THAT bad.
They had some bizarre sweet taste, and the cheese had no resemblance (taste or texture) to any farmer’s cheese I had ever eaten. (Out of curiousity, I dug the package out of the garbage and the ingredients listed—are you ready?—COTTAGE CHEESE! How cottage cheese equals farmer’s cheese I have no idea.)
So, it was a big big big big disappointment.
Now I am scared to try other brands, although I am sure I will…eventually.
And we might have to have Mrs. T’s for dinner, just to get the other taste out of my mouth.
Pregnancy Manifestations
So much for strong nails…apparently my prenatal vitmins are not helping too much in this regard. My nails are the same as ever—if anything, they seem worse.
And hair? Ha. It’s not growing quickly or getting thicker as pregnancy books like to tell you will happen.
I don’t have the wonderful pregnancy glow, either. My skin is the same as it’s always been—crappy.
Interestingly, my boobs haven’t changed much—much to Tom’s chagrin.
Gas? Oh yes, I have that. Not bad and not all the time, but I do have it.
Heartburn? Of course! That is neverending!
Shortness of breath? Add it to the list.
Trouble sleeping? Every night. I desperately want to sleep on my stomach (I’m mostly a stomach sleeper to begin with) so it’s a night flipping side to side to side to side (spend too much time on one side or on my back and something goes numb—fun!).
Am I having fun yet? |-|
Missing our friends…
I was going through some pictures on my computer today and ran across the group shots we took before we left… Man, we miss everyone. :'(
2008 USMC Birthday Ball
Incredibly, this was probably the best birthday ball we’ve been to—and I say incredibly because neither of us originally wanted to go!
Tom was actually in charge of planning his ball (in Jacksonville) before his PCS orders—and, truth be told, we were actually a bit relieved at not having to go. Honestly, it’s a wonderful tradition and something neat to attend, but usually (in our experience) just not worth the money: tickets are usually upwards of $40-$50pp, drinks are extra, and if it’s outside your city, you have the added expense of a hotel (or you have to drive home at midnight).
So we got to Michigan and didn’t think much about it. Hell, we didn’t think ANYTHING about it. That is until Tom started his new job, and was told attendance was mandatory. And tickets were $40pp. Wonderful—$80 we didn’t really plan on spending. But then he found out that included the overnight hotel stay! Wow, okay, that was cool. And luckily I had dresses that still fit (see earlier post) so I didn’t have that expense. And it was an open bar—so we didn’t have that expense, either. So we thought maybe this ball wouldn’t be too bad.
Well, as it turns out, because it’s a Recruiting Station, apparently they aren’t under the same rules and regulations as normal Marine Corps balls, in the respect that they can have sponsors and/or donations…which is why the tickets were so inexpensive, why the hotel night was included, why there was an open bar, why there were door prizes, and why there were 4-page full-color programs. 88| They had two major sponsors, plus about 30 minor sponsors. Very cool!
But before I get to the ceremony, I have to tell you about the hotel room. First, it was the Crown Plaza which sounds really ritzy, but it was an airport hotel so we weren’t expecting that much. But the pictures on the website were nice, and it was impressive when we pulled up. So we get to our room and go in and wow, nice big room—nice closet, bathroom, king bed, and sitting area:
And then we noticed an open door at the back of the room and we had NO idea what it could be:
Well, turns out, we were attached to a huge conference room/suite! 88|
We obviously had no need for it, hadn’t asked for it, and had no idea why we got that room. There was another connecting room, but that side was locked. We only wished we had a need for that room, because it was awesome! We just kept saying Wow, really? Wow. All this included in our $80 ticket price! Wheeeee! Of course we never used that room for anything.
And then, here is the best of our pre-ball in-room self-portraits:
We did get professional pics taken, but I looked yucky (not that I even look pregnant, which would be okay—I just look fat). I will post that one when we get the online version in a few days.
There were some differences in the event, compared to previous balls we attended, which we found interesting. Aside from the obvious free hotel stay and open bar, the smaller marine population (attended from all of southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio, for a total of maybe 100 marines) played a noticable part: Typically at a ball on a marine base, you have a LARGE contingent of marines/ranks/ages in attendance. Your “host” is usually a General, the special guest is usually another General, and the oldest and youngest marines (part of the cake ceremony) are usually like 92 and 18. This year, the host was a Major (one rank above Tom!), the special guest was enlisted (he was the recruiter of the year for the district), and the oldest marine couldn’t have been more than 46 (they didn’t tell the age, but said she enlisted in 1991 and I think you have to be in by age 30) and the youngest marine was probably 20 or so.
I also found the cake ceremony a bit…head-shaking. It’s customary for the cake to be rolled out by four marines. At the other balls we’ve been to, they roll out these monstrous (albeit fake) cakes with one real layer to actually cut a piece from. Well, they aren’t surprise-stripper-jumping-from-inside-the-cake huge, but they are probably a good 3′ long by 2′ wide by 1′ tall. Somewhat impressive to see rolled in on a cart by four marines. So last night, I see the marines walking the rolling cart in, and…where’s the cake? I couldn’t see it. OH! It’s a tiny half sheet cake! Heh. It worked perfectly fine, it was just NOT what I had been expecting!
The actual ceremony and speakers went quickly, the food was pretty good, and then it was time for dancing. I wasn’t feeling great (by this time it was like 9pm—just about my bedtime!) and of course I wasn’t feeling very social—I knew no one, while Tom had to flit about and meet all the marines he will be dealing with. (He basically works at the recruiting station headquarters, so he deals with all the recruiters from the entire district, so it was in his best interest to meet and talk with all of them.) I stayed by his side for some of it, then finally just told him to go do his business while I sat at the table. He also made sure to use full use of the open bar. 🙂
I did manage to dance a few songs so I wasn’t a total stick in the mud. In a small-world scenario, I also spent a little time talking to an old Grayling chum… 🙂 One of the guys that works closely with Tom graduated from GHS in 1987 and we knew each other. Granted, I probably knew him more than he knew me (he was a senior and I was in 8th grade) but of course he remembered my dad and knew he had a daughter. (We knew about the coincidence before the ball, but this was really the first time we had to chat.) It was just funny thinking that 20 years ago he was the hot senior football player/phys ed assistant for my gym class…and who would have guessed we’d someday be at a Marine Corps Ball together? Here is Tom with Scott:
At midnight when the shindig ended, it was all I could do to force Tom up to bed (he still wanted to “make contact” with all the marines). But I wasn’t about to take the chance of actually having to drag his drunk ass up to the room and get him into bed. 😉
Peas & Peanuts
I had a hankering for Peas & Peanuts the other day—and thought I had all the ingredients.
Whoops.
It’s just not the same without the smidge of red onion.
I always forget the red onion.