THE AMANDA SHOW

So Little Time, So Many Little Miracles!

MandyE-worth — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:56:00 GMT

It feels like life is so surreal. There is so much going on lately. My morning sickness, I sadly say, is not over, but it is so close. I didn't throw up for over a week, and then yesterday morning I threw up, but felt great afterwards for the rest of the day. This morning, I threw up, but I feel fine now. so hopefully this means that it has only bounced back a teeny tiny bit. I can deal with this, piece of cake!

Yesterday, I went to lunch with my friend Travis. Today is his last day at the company. I told him that since I owed him a lunch, I'd take him anywhere. Just like a man, so indecisive. I decided to go for spicy Thai food. That really got the babies going. I might eat Thai food every day now!

Anyway, I had a Dr appointment last night and it was great, no ultrasound, but these precious babies make me laugh. The second the Dr put the doppler machine against my tummy, Baby A just started kicking at it over and over. Then Baby B was just relaxing for about 20 seconds, then the Dr said, "Come on baby, kick your Mama", and like a good little baby, he or she started kicking away too. It was adorable.

I cannot believe I am moving into my house a week from today! I am so excited. The builder listened to every request and is working on fixing everything. Matt and I went to the house last night. We have carpet now. It really makes all the difference. Except for our door lever handles not being attached yet, it looks like a complete house. There was something so cool about walking into the house, kicking off my shoes and walking bare-foot on my own carpet. It isn't rented carpet, isn't someone else's carpet, it is mine and Matt's.

I was looking around at everything and thinking the other day, and I thought, maybe I had made a mistake about the colors we painted everything, but with carpet and trim, and the electricity being turned on with all our light fixtures turned on, everything just looked perfect. Matt and I sat in the living room floor and just looked around and took it all in. It is so nice to think of myself as a homeowner.

Matt and I are in such a good place right now. For once since we've been able to vote, our favorite candidate looks like he has a shot which makes me comfortable in knowing that finances will stay okay. I paid $3.15 a gallon for gas this morning, and even though it isn't great and we are being gouged still, I filled up for less than $50 which hasn't happened in awhile. We are buying our home and we have a good interest rate. There are no worries about not affording anything we need. The babies are being pretty good to me and as my belly is getting bigger, it is starting to become even more fun to sing to and talk to the babies. The babies give me good kicks when I sing them some Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song"

Matt is being a big goof. He reads sports highlights to the babies now. These babies are going to come out knowing everything there is to know about Mizzou football. These babies are going to be Tiger fans like their parents! He wants them to be interested. He has been listening to a podcast religiously, I think it is called "Jumping Monkeys" it is all about babies and having kids. Cute and interesting stuff, but I prefer to read.

I don't know what else to say, life is good!

True Test of Friendship

MandyE-worth — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:08:00 GMT

Ah, it is time to see who our true friends really are. That is right, we are moving and we need some help. Now, I can't tell you how many people I have helped move in the past, some with some notice, others without any notice at all. I never expected compensation past pizza and beer. Isn't that the standard rate for friend's help?

Anyway, I have my best girlfriend and her fiance recruited. I have my best friend from high school and her husband recruited, and there are two other couples on Matt's side that I think he needs to get. Our friends Chris and Jackie have offered many times to help, and her husband Chris helped us a ton the last time we moved, but we are really hoping that we get them this time. His wife keeps saying, can't wait to help, can't wait to help. We will see, just how badly she can't wait.

Then the last person Matt has to get to help, better darn well help us. It is a requirement. And I mean a requirement. I didn't want Matt to help him move because I was having a really hard time in the pregnancy, but this friend begged and pleaded and promised he would help us when our time came up. On October 18th, I told Matt, if he doesn't show up to help, I am going to hunt him down and force him to help us. It is mandatory.

Anyway, other than that, Matt and I have our list of complaints we already have with the house.

-They haven't trimmed this weird piece of (drywall) mounted to the floor that overhangs the hearth area. They better not try to carpet over that.

-They have to patch every spot where they have screwed up our drywall. They better not think that just because we painted, that they are done. They have seriously banged up a ton of corners. We are willing to touch up the paint afterwards.

-They didn't install the humidifier on the furnace that we paid for.

-They didn't run the water line to the fridge like we paid for.

-There is a vent duct leading to nowhere in the basement. If they try to scoop it down and back up and over, it will lose so much efficiency. If they even try that crap, I am going to rip them new @ssholes because I begged them to move that furnace over a few feet and they wouldn't because of "efficiency". I will be so freaking pissed.

-Also, if you paid for a wood laminate in your foyer and that was the exact words, "wood laminate in the foyer" wouldn't you expect that it would cover the foyer. I am so pissed. They have started at the door and stopped the wood midway into our hall closet. Basically, it is like saying, "if you have shoes on, don't think you can walk to the f-ing shoe closet, we are carpeting that." Just wait until I throw my unholy sh!t-fit about that one. This is my house. I want it freaking perfect, and the reason why, because I am paying an arm and a leg for this house, during the worst economic crisis since I have been born. And I am paying for a f-ing perfect house.

Also, something I choose not to make a fuss over that pisses me off. They screwed our toilet paper holders into the side of our bathroom cabinets. Did they think that when I come home, I would really like to sit in a bathroom that reminds me of a Motel 6. They put f**king holes in my cabinets, so now I have to live with their painfully tacky bad taste. Who the heck gets off putting holes in someone elses cabinets? I can't fathom a person so dense.

New Concept: PLANNING AHEAD!

MandyE-worth — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:54:00 GMT

Ok, so after talking with my darling husband about my ride to work this morning, he sprung some news on me. I'd love to dive into telling you exactly the news, but I wanted to share with you my eventful car-ride. So the ride to work was typical until we finally reached downtown. Driving in front of the courthouse, the whole carpool looks over at a man who is peeing on the side of the courthouse. We noticed him because there was a security guard running full-out towards him yelling, "Hey, Hey, You pull your pants up right now!" It was very funny, not your typical St. Louis morning.

Anyway, I tell Matt my amusing story and he tells me that he had a message on his phone this morning from his brother that didn't register yesterday when he had actually called. His brother said that he won't be able to make it to Thanksgiving because he is going to his girlfriend's house for the holiday. Fine with me. But he said that he is going to come up and stay with us a week in November and a week in December. I asked Matt, "Did he say he is going to, or that he wants to know if he can?"

Matt told me that he gave us the dates he was coming down and told us the days he is staying with us. I thought, you know, when we plan visits with the family, I usually ask. Especially during the holidays when people are always in and out of town. But, Oh well, I won't make a fuss. However, there will be far more rules with his visit now that we will be homeowners. So when I say, take your shoes off in my house, he better take his shoes off. And if I have work, there will be no bringing guests over to our house. Matt is completely on board.

I am actually surprised his brother wants to come stay with us after how awful the last visit was. And I am really shocked that he made his plans without asking us after last time when we told him that he was coming to stay with us while we were moving all the furniture out of the apartment and would not be able to stay in the apartment, but could sleep in my parents basement. I don't think we can take in his brother for these long trips once the babies are born. He requires too much care himself. I guess that is what happens when a 28 year-old never moved out of the house. Heck, even when he was married, he just moved the wife into the same bedroom he'd slept in since he was 7.

I know Matt and I moved in with my parents for 2 and 1/2 months, but in no way was this ever to be permanent. It was only a place to stay during the time after our lease was up and before our closing date. Other than that, Matt and I know how to live on our own and never expected my parents to wait on us hand an foot. You would think a 28 year old would want to get out of his parents house. Matt and I have lived at home 2 months now and it has driven us crazy! I wish his brother would take it easy on their Mom. She just recovered from surgery and is just trying to get back to normal herself.

Feels So Good!

MandyE-worth — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:08:00 GMT

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. Matt and I usually get home right about the same time as each other, but on Friday when I got dropped at home, I had forgotten my keys, I called Matt, and he was at work late. It sucked so much, but his co-worker Kristen fell way behind and the whole 8 person staff was trying to finish all the work orders. I can't wait until Matt starts the new job. Anyway, I go ahead and open up the garage, grab a popcicle out of the deep freeze, climb over the fence into the back yard and took a nap on the deck. I even brought the dog up on the deck with me and she was a sweetie. I kicked off my shoes and she fell asleep laying on my feet. I called Matt to see where he was and I could still hear his office freaking out in the background and he told me he probably wouldn't get home until 7.

I figured since it would be dark by then, I called my aunt to bring me over to my Grandma's house. When she picked me up, we went and got ice cream and I ate my first chocolate malt that I could keep down since being pregnant. It was yummy.

Then I got to my Grandma's house and we watched TV and talked for awhile until we heard a man scream from the porch. I got up to run to the porch to see the funniest thing. My Aunt and Uncle live with my Grandma and they just got a new kitten. This is the friendliest cat, but he does something funny. He really loves to sit on people's shoulders and nuzzle people's faces. When Matt walked up on the porch, the kitten, 'Smokey' was sitting up on the ledge by the roof. Smokey jumped on Matts back and dug in his claws to hold on. Matt freaked out until he realized that it was the cat, but Smokey spooked Matt and Matt's reaction spooked Smokey, so the cat was just climbing all over my husband while Matt was trying to just get a hold of him and pry him off. Poor kitty, poor hubby!

So we went out to eat after Matt picked me up and we went home. I was so tired. I decided to sack out early. Then Matt and I slept in Saturday morning and just stayed in bed talking for awhile. I got the best back rub I've had in a long time. When I rolled out of bed, I called American Furniture and got our deliveries set up for the day I wanted. They were such a pain in the butt, but glad it is taken care of.

We went to the house that morning and we were so shocked, when the construction workers painted our trim, they were so careful to not get our nicely painted walls too splotchy. We only have a few touch-ups so we are going to wait until next weekend.

Then, Matt and I went to Lowes. We got a pretty doorknocker and peep-hole set. Then we looked at rod-iron mailboxes. And while we were there, Matt mentioned that once we are in the new house, he really wants to buy a bigger Christmas tree. I am so excited. Maybe I will consider that my Birthday gift this year instead of going out to eat. Matt and I also got some really pretty glass ball ornaments.

While we were leaving, we choose to go to Pasta House for lunch. It was positively yummy. I haven't had a good eggplant parm in awhile. After we left, I decided to go with Matt to get his hair cut. Matt hates getting his hair cut though. He doesn't like spending money on it when he says I could just cut it with clippers. While he was getting his hair cut, I walked over to Sally's Beauty Supply and bought a guide on cutting men's hair and bought a really cool clipper set. I have been starting to think I have 2 little boys in my tummy. If I have a family full of boys, I decided I better save on haircuts. I know it is silly, but Matt and I started talking about how much fun it will be to have the boys or girls get their first haircuts. (There were 2 little boys getting their hair cut for the first time at the barber shop we went to.)

Anyway, after that, Matt and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and Linen and Things and bought a new bed set for the third bedroom. Afterwords, we decided to run to American furniture and we got a entertainment stand for the flat screen, we brought the purchase straight home with us. No shipping!

After we got home, Matt played his video games for about 30 minutes and I reserved our moving truck at a really good rate. Yay! Then my parents left to take my sister to a hay ride and corn maze with the rest of her gymnast friends. So all that evening, we had the house by ourselves. We watched 2 great movies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and 88 Minutes.

It was nice to have some time by ourselves. It has been really nice of my parents to let us stay and save money for all the little home expenses while we build. I miss our apartment at times, but building the house has been cool. Now that it is almost finished, I see this all as being so worth it. However, over our lunch at Pasta House, I asked Matt, "10 years down the road, do you see us building the house of our dreams, or buying a house that is close to what we want?" Matt told me he'd rather get a great house and gut it to make it perfect. I think I might agree. However, this whole customize your home experience has been very cool.

Oh, and Sunday was a day we spent in bed, lazily making love and napping. A perfect day, absolutely perfect, and True Blood was really good. And on a side note, Desperate Houswives is kinda sucking this year. I don't think I like the 5 years skip-ahead. I find myself feeling so sorry for Gabby and her hair bugs me so much. Lynette's kids bug me. I really liked Mike and they just pushed him to the side, and Bree is the most dull character on the show. And Edy is just annoying and the actor who plays her husband bugs me.

To Be Mature or Not To Be Mature?

MandyE-worth — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:45:00 GMT

Ok, so I was checking my email and I had a Live Nation Concert Update. I usually delete, but I thought, it could be interesting to see what all is coming to the Lou.

I bought Matt really great tickets to see Metallica for 2 days before my birthday. I bought them for him on our anniversary. He was super-excited, but with the house and baby expenses I planned on us just having a nice night in for my birthday. We usually don't do anything to celebrate mine anyway. I don't really remember the last time I got a birthday present from anyone but my Mom and Dad. And it is during the middle of the week, so no fun anyway.

But, the day of my birthday, there is a Sammy Hagar and the Wabos show in town. I love Sammy Hagar. If we have a boy and a girl, I want them to be named Samuel and Sophia. Sam after Matt's cousin who passed away from a friend of his playing with a handgun while they were 6 or 7, but I would call him Sammy because I love the Red Rocker. The tickets are 100 dollars each. I want them so bad, but I don't like buying things for myself, and I think it would be especially pathetic to buy myself a birthday gift. Normally when I did get stuff for my birthday, people would give me money and I'd use it to buy people Christmas gifts.

I feel bad for wanting this so badly. I feel that if I went to it, it would just be taking clothes off my children's backs. I hate being a grown-up and making responsible choices.

Exciting Update/And One Bad Night

MandyE-worth — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:47:00 GMT

Well, I guess it is just exciting for me. I haven't thrown up in 2 days.

In worse news, I got into a fight with Matt last night. I did everything to get the loan together for our house. I took care of the insurance and I have been getting the utilities ready for set-up. I have had so much on my plate lately that I just feel overwhelmed.

I just wish he would acknowledge what I am doing. I have been dealing with so many people lately, my head is spinning and work was crazy yesterday. I just wanted to enjoy my husband's company a bit, but I had to run our completely finished loan packet to our lender's office and put it in the drop-box. I told Matt that I wanted him to come with me and I wanted a nice dinner.

He complained that he never gets time to himself and that he doesn't see why he should have to waste his time going to do a job one person can do. I reminded him that this wasn't only my resposibility, I was just the one who took the initiative. I never get time with myself or with him. I just thought it might be a nice evening together and I have finished most of my to-do list. I just wanted to celebrate by enjoying time together.

He came with me and complained every second. I told him about my day, and he told me his day was crap and even crappier now that he is wasting the trip. He was just in some kind of funk yesterday that really made me want to leave him on the side of the road. After I dropped the loan papers off, he said, I just want to go home, I don't want to spend anymore time out today.

So I ended up celebrating with a Lion's Choice Roast Beef. I told him that he was really hurting my feelings by acting the way he was. He said that maybe I should have left him at home. He was a big baby. I seriously haven't asked for much from him lately. I know he is busy with work and school, but there are times when I think he forgets that I need him too. He treated me like a chore last night and my feelings were really hurt.

By the time we went to sleep last night, it was obvious that he was trying to be nicer and make up for his bad attitude. He apologized, but I told him that I really worry about him. He thinks he's stressed now? Wait until we've got screaming babies! I think he is giving himself anxieties. He only has class a few days a week, and he has his weekends off. Last weekend we spent all of our time working on the house, so he just thinks that we are overwhelmed. But in fact, we are just fine, just a bit busy.

His friend Mike is freaking him out because his son is sick and he is having problems with his ex and unloading on Matt. So I think Matt comes home and unloads on me. I think that once we are in the house with everything in place, it will take a bit of weight off his shouders.

My Normal Blog + Politics at the End

MandyE-worth — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:46:00 GMT

Ok, so I was planning on moving into the house either the end of Sept or beginning of October. They were very close to that target. I wish I had planned for the weather though. It has always seemed like I could get away with a light jacket until Halloween, sometimes all the way to mid-November.

So this morning I go out in my nice light soccer jacket and it was freakin freezing! It was 38 degrees at my house. It has warmed up a bit here now, but I was so cold. I packed all my heavier jackets too :( I am totally bummed out. Sometimes I think I am getting sick, but my nose is just constantly running so it irritates my throat. A runny nose in pregnancy is normal though, so I don't think I can count myself as full-blown miserable.

Anyway, I have a couple of updates. I felt a baby move! It was so exciting. I am terribly afraid of fish, so I won't call it a fish flop. It really felt like one little kernel of pop-corn popped in my belly just below my belly-button towards the left side. I was so excited. I wish I knew if that was baby A or B. I told Matt, I realize, I have no idea where either baby actually is in my tummy. It was so much fun knowing that my little one just kicked me. I had the giggles for about 20 minutes after it happened. I was absolutely giddy!

Another thing, I had been so busy lately and with feeling ill during parts of the day, it just seems so hard to get things done, but I have it almost done. I just have to have Matt sign a few spots on our loan papers. That includes the Patriot Act paper stating that we are not terrorists (I got a good laugh out of seeing that. So if you are a terrorist, do you not sign that paper?). I got my car registration renewed. I just have to get the homeowners insurance company to call me back. I hear good things about this company, but they never returned my call when I asked about car insurance about 6 months ago, and they haven't called me back yet on the homeowners, but they took more information from me on the phone this last time. so I will give them until noon today before I go with another company.

And one other update. I tried to get the pictures of our side by side last night. I will be 16 weeks tomorrow. The thing is, Matt got really down on himself. He said he was ugly and felt horrible. He said he didn't feel attractive. I said I didn't feel attractive because he keeps turning down sex. He said he turns it down because he thinks he looks disgusting. I told him I didn't think so. I knew he needed to feel better so I had him lay in bed with me and he rubbed my tummy a bit while I told him about what the pop felt like. He is so sweet about the babies. He really wants to feel them move, but admits that it will also totally freak him out.

After being sweet for a bit longer, I kissed him, and I kissed him good. That is when it became apparent to me that if Vince Vaughn isn't upstairs to do the job, dangit, Matt is going to get it done. Matt was reluctant to let me take him, but I mention the word "suck" and all is well in the land of Matt and Mandy. The only bad part, as the night progressed, he got his and I was so close to getting mine. And I mean so close to one of the most mind-blowing orgasms I'd have ever felt. I just know it would have been. It had the best build-up ever. Matt better get over his body image issues quick because I need a side-by-side, and I need to get satisfied!

I talk about politics for the rest of the blog and don't want to fight so if you want to quit reading here, this is your warning. If you are a Democrat, you will probably enjoy it though. If you read on, I truly hope this doesn't spark a lot of hatred. I love politics and believe no one should have to hide their opinions to keep things civil. Unfortunately, in day-to-day life, that isn't the case. On my blog, I talk about what I want. When it comes to Republicans, I don't think they are stupid. I don't think they are bad. I just think I have some major differences of opinion as to the best way the country should be run. I feel bad to have to preface this with such an explanation, but I rant a bit, and want everyone to know that I respect all the women on here who make an effort to stay informed, I may not agree with the opinions of everyone, but I certainly agree that you are entitled to them. I don't mean to offend. And the Canadians probably don't care about it!

Tonight however is the VP debate. I don't think it will put me in the mood. In fact, hearing Sarah Palin talk just tends to put me in a rage. In all honesty, I might ditch America if McCain/Palin win. As Bill Mar said, every Democrat needs an escape plan. I don't mean to spark anything by that statement, but I don't like what she says, I don't like her attitude, and I don't like that she talks like Frances McDormond in the movie Fargo. I'm not saying that she doesn't have a right to her opinions or her beliefs, or the right to say it. I am just mentioning that everything she blabbers inspires a feeling in me that calls out, "A bit of anarchy ain't so bad."

I guess I never realized that it was the Alaskans keeping Russia in line all this time. Those Alaskans really dropped the ball during the Cold War. In Palin's first interview, people claimed that they didn't prep her on what the Bush Doctrine was and it wasn't fair. Out of one year of being a Poli-Sci major before switching to Communications and Advertising, I knew what it was without a refresher. But was Katie Couric wrong as well to blind-side her by asking what political magazines the possible, and hopefully not, VP, reads? Is it a mean question to ask a candidate if they freakin read a book!?! And I think it is perfectly okay to ask a question about the bailout, but she didn't have a clue about it. Hell, it is pretty relevant to know a teensy bit about it. Am I wrong? How the h*ll does the bailout have anything to do with the jibberish she rattled off. I wish she had said one thing that made sense. I watched the Couric interview and I almost crapped my pants, I was so terrified.

All I want for my birthday this year is for Barack Obama to be president. As a mother-to-be, I think it is important for my future children, God forbid they ever need a use for it, to have access to treatments only available through stem-cell research and I will try to donate my babies' cord blood in hopes that it might help save lives. It is important for me to know that if either of my babies grow up to be gay, that they will be able to get married and experience a wedding like thier father and I enjoyed. I do not want to deny my children rights to be healthy and happy no matter who they are.

This election, I am more emotionally attached to the issues than ever before. I have to think about the country that my babies are growing up in. And one other thing, in the first presidential debate this year, McCain started off almost all his answers by saying, "What Senator Obama doesn't understand..." I just want to say that Barack Obama went to Harvard, McCain would have an awful hard time finding something that Barack Obama doesn't understand. It is a horrible thing to peg a brilliant person as an elitist because they worked hard for everything they have, earned his or her way into one of the top schools in our nation and persevered against great adversity to an amazingly successful outcome beyond most people's wildest dreams. So if you are an elitist because you work hard and possess a knowledge more vast than McCain/Palin, then I would say that 100% of loyal Democrats and all the swing-voters who have done thier research in order to find out what is better for the future of this country, are the elitists that need to squash the Republican party in this election.

My IM Friend

MandyE-worth — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:54:00 GMT

My IM friend at work always talks to me about his girlfriend problems. I finally told him to break up with his current girlfriend. Normally I don't like to pry, but I felt like I had to.

He has been talking about maybe breaking it off for quite some time. I have felt bad for the poor girl because they dated for a year, then he broke up with her and led her along for about 3 months. I told him he was a crappy person for it. She took the breakup hard and he would keep calling her to talk, never to get back together. Finally he says he wants her back. The girl is so smitten with him that she doesn't realize that he is just using her for entertainment.

When they got back together, she said, I want to know that this is going to last this time, and he said he wanted to marry her. When I got pregnant, I saw a new side of him. He would say things about how badly he wants to be a dad and settle down. But he said that he is not sure that his girlfriend is the kind of woman he'd want to have a baby with. I told him that she expects to get married, so he better make up his mind and keep her or let that girl go before she drives herself crazy.

Well, for the past couple weeks, he has mentioned how he doesn't like her and how he constantly plays golf to get away from her. He started talking bad about her too. I told him I wasn't going to listen to him trash-talk her when, even though I am not terribly fond of her, think that she has always put him first and would never say anything bad about him. I said if you don't like her, break it off and stop lingering on the subject.

He asked me last week for a good way to break it off. He asked me while I was in a hormonal state and I literally cried about it. He was in my office when he asked me so he saw me cry and put his arm around my shoulder and said he was sorry that he upset me, but really didn't know why I was crying. I told him that "I am crying because you are my friend and you are going to be an a-hole that is going to break that poor girl's heart." The reason he decided to finally break it off is because she mentioned that she'd like to set a tentative time of year for the wedding since she has to schedule her rounds. I am so sad for her. In the span of a week, she goes from thinking she is going to marry her boyfriend to dumped.

I gave my friend advise to cut it off clean this time and not to stick around and comfort her. That is her friends' job to do. I said that he had to not keep calling her and let her actually get over him. This past weekend he was supposed to tell her and we were to go out to lunch on Monday because I wanted to know how it went. He didn't show up to work. He hasn't been in yet this week. I left him a voicemail. I am starting to wonder if she killed him or has him tied up in her basement?