Shortstop Update: 16 wks

Last Tuesday, we went in for our 16 week appt. We were able to hear the heartbeat for the second time at 146 bpm (last time was at 6 wks with a rate of 135). This was reassuring as I was starting to think that all this baby stuff was in my head. Crazy, I know. Everything looks great and Shortstop and captains are doing great.

We will learn the Shortstop's gender on New Year's Eve, but you will be able to read the latest information on New Year's Day ( maybe I will post early since I go to bed with the chickens). In the meantime, starting Sunday, December 21st, you will be able to cast your vote for Shortstop's gender. And as always, fell free to leave comments. We totally love hearing from you guys.

14 wks (3 months, 2 wks) 17 wks (4 months, 1 wk)

This year, my parents came up to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We had a house full of people as Eric's immediate family also joined the feast. We had a great day and ate entirely too much food, but hey, what else would you do on Thanksgiving?

These next few weeks are going to be crazy for us, but I'll try not to slack off too much with the updates. Hope the holiday season treats everyone well. Be on the lookout for your annual edition of the Sage City Sentinel due to appear in your mailbox soon.

Picture: I went to a friend's baby shower in November and made her a diaper cake. While you can't eat it, it's super cute and practical.

Sage City Presents: A Special All-Stars Announcement

For those of you who did not recieve this special announcement about announcing our PREGNANCY, you can read all about it below. Isn't our little Shortstop cute? This pics were taken at our 9 week appointment.

The Emerald Terrace Steakhouse in Sage City
Would like to invite you to celebrate the signing of the Greene Team
All-Stars Shortstop.

Join us in the month of November for our featured dessert:
“Play of the Day Shortstop Buns”

This delicious treat is baked fresh in our oven and made with
100% organic love from Mom & Dad.
There is just a sprinkling of grandpas’ spice and grandmas’ sass over top.

During the month of December,
we will exclusively highlight Shortstop Buns in either:

Handsome boy’s huckleberry smile
Or
Cherry-vanilla girl sweet cheeks

* Shortstop buns will be a permanent item on our menu starting in May 2009.

Here are some pictures of the baby bump . . . kind of.

5 wks (1 month, 1 wk)

14wks 3 days (3 months, 2 wks)

Halloween 2008

The late nights are over and the eye strain has run its course. Now to unveil for the first time the Halloween costumes of 2008! This year we nod to the greatest (and original) game alive -

The Super Mario Brothers.

Pazu as a Red Koopa Troopa

Eric as Luigi

Nicole as Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool)

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Best in Show (sort of)

Today we went to Pet Palace, a locally owned pet store (http://www.petpalaceusa.net/). Every year they have a pet costume contest. Last year Pazu went as a wizard, but he didn't place. This year, since he had such a kick-butt costume, I was hoping he would finish strong. Even if someone recognized him, that would have been a great consolation prize.

Since I'm a screw up, I didn't get my costume finished before the event, even though I tried my hardest to do so. Eric dressed up and this is what made Pazu's costume so great.

Anyway, there were about 30 entrants and some of the costumes looked fantastic. I was starting to get a little worried. There were a lot of butterflies and princesses. Eric was not impressed by these. We were #27 and Eric took Pazu to center stage. Since our dog is full of chicken poo, he didn't do any tricks. He didn't pee on anything either, so I shouldn't complain.

The judges went back into deliberation and here were the results.

Honorable mention to a dog in pj's and king of the hound dogs (yes, he was dressed as Elvis in the white jumpsuit).

4th place - Pazu as a Koopa Troopa! (did they just say our dog's name?)

3rd place - dog dressed as a fighter pilot (complete with goggles)

2nd place - dog dressed as a life guard (this was cute, he had the striped shirt and life preserver)

1st place - dog and owner dressed as reconnaissance field agents (think camouflage and ammo packs)

I am totally floored by our 4th place finish. It's nice to see hard work pay off. We were also awarded a $25 gift card to the store, so we'll be using this for Pazu's Christmas and birthday gifts. Just wanted to share this wonderful and surprising accomplishment.

Costumes of Halloween Past

Halloween is quickly approaching and Eric and I find that we turn into little kids when it comes to picking out a costume (at least we haven't resorted back to trick-or-treating). For the past few years, I have been using my newly discovered sewing talents to make Halloween costumes for Eric, Pazu and myself. Here is a quick review of what we've been over the years.

2006- Robin Hood and Maid Marion

I made both these costumes from scratch using fabric, a pattern and sewing machine.

After looking at these pictures, I got the notion in my head that the Maid Marion dress made me look quite overweight. So, I went to the thrift store and bought a velvet dress for like $7. I added a satin cowl and drapes and instantly became a Greek goddess. (I know, I cheated. I got two costumes this year).

2007- A Journey through History

Pazu-Purple Wizard (medieval period)

Eric as Young George Washington-1757 (he was often mistaken for Mozart)

Nicole as a Geisha-Japan 1922

So we were invited to a Star Trek party this year and went as holograms from the Holideck. I made this Star Trek cupcakes which were a big hit!

What we will be for 2008?

Here's the wind up and the pitch

Last Saturday, I went to my first writer's conference in Castle Rock. There were tons of people there, mostly from the Denver metro area. I could go on and on about the sessions I attended and the keynote speaker, but that would be boring to "normal" people. What I really want to tell you about is my meeting with a literary agent.

Now I signed up to meet with this agent out of New York. To prepare for this meeting, I first had to have a "pitch" and not one with a baseball. This is the opportunity to sell your baby to a complete stranger. A little nerve wracking. I had a good hook, so I just winged the rest of the presentation. Then I had to prepare a one page synopsis of the novel. I don't think Houdini could have pulled this off. I was sick all week, so I wasn't motivated to work on the thing during the week, so Friday night I'm pulling a college-all nighter. By the time I had reached the third chapter, the page was already half full. Uh-oh. I still had 20 chapters to go. So instead of killing myself, I just wrote until I was done. It was a mess. Thankfully the agent didn't want it. He wouldn't have been impressed.

What did impress him though, was my story. He seemed very excited about my approach to gaming and video games and asked me to send a formal submission to his office. Woo hoo! It was a good interview and I managed to make him laugh (always a good sign). Now I have to get off my butt and knock the socks off this guy.

*btw this picture is of Olympic softball player Jennie Finch. Its a pretty cool pic.

Working Girl

So now that I've finished my novel, I decided now was the time to work on that job thing again. While I enjoyed my year long sabbatical, there are things that we need that unfortunately require money.

I interviewed with a preschool and was offered a position as an assistant teacher. I accepted and was sick, right from the get-go. I am working with toddlers 18 months to 3 yrs and never thought that mucus could flow so freely. Yeah, gross. I've only been working for two weeks and have been sick twice already. I even came down with a fever yesterday.

But I'm having a good time and the kids are really smart. I bought a beta fish and they named him Mr. Boots. Even I can manage to stay healthy, then I might actually enjoy my time there. I'm hoping that this experience will give me some pediatric experience when I rejoin the world of exercise phys.

Pazu and the 5K

So like way back at the beginning of August, Eric's employer (the city) had its annual employee appreciation extravaganza. This included a morning 5K run/walk. Mr. Competitive-Eric, of course ran it, because he had to win. He totally had an unfair advantage; good thing it was only for fun. He did win by the way and took home a pretty cool trophy.

Pazu and I, on the other hand, were there for support (being part of the support team and all). Pazu then had this great idea for us to participate. It was only 3.1 miles (maybe a little more) and we had walked that distance before. So the dog convinced me to sign us up and I marked by workout outfit with my first Colorado race number.

We finished the course and took the honors of being the absolute last ones to cross the finish line (hooray for the Tortoise crew). As we rounded the last corner, all the other runners were cheering us on. At least that's what I thought. Yeah, they were rooting for the dog.

Four Years and Counting . . .

In celebration of our four year anniversary on Thursday, September 4th, I have arranged this music video about our honeymoons (yes, that's two) to Jamaica. Thank you all for your support over the years and we hope you enjoy our vacation in paradise. You will be jamming to UB40's "Looking in Your Big Brown Eyes." Here's to many more anniversaries to come!

Emergency

I think that if you can have a mid-life crisis (around 50 yrs old), what's to stop you from having one in your quarter-life (sometime around 25)?

I think I'm having a quarter-life crisis.

May factors have contributed to this psychological assessment, but ultimately, I think it comes down to three main events.

1) role as a not so desperate house wife- I have been out of work for over a year and while I enjoy being at home with Pazu, my sense of self worth has been swirling down the toilet. Most of us dread going to work on Monday mornings, but you know you have a place in the world. There is someone who depends on you to enlist your intellect and charm to get a job done. Even if you get paid peanuts, its a good feeling to be wanted. Applying for a job online seems to be a waste of time. Unless you mention key words somewhere in your application, your resume gets sent to some digital graveyard. Good luck trying to contact human resources to follow up. What's is so wrong with my resume that someone hasn't said, "What a gem! This girl is gold. Someone call her immediately."

2) the degree field - both of my degrees are in exercise physiology. In undergraduate school, I had these crazy ideas about promoting health and wellness and keeping up with the sports world. But is this what i want to do with the rest of my life? What do I want to be when I grow up? Who do I want to be? Hecked if I know, hence the crisis situation. This might be tied into event #1 with not being able to find a job in the field, even though I'm 100% qualified. I know that I want to be a writer (please see post title "screaming hallelujah"), but unfortunately it might be a year after you complete a book before you see one red cent. Bummer.

3) motherhood- so I thought that my next adventure might be in the role of mother, but the road to baby bliss has been a recurring nightmare of the Atari game "Pitfall." I'll post the more intricate details of this in a later post. While Eric and I know that our day will come, we've been trying for 2.5 years with marginal success. I try not to get upset, but what really burns me is when two people, who may or may not love each other, who probably are not married, mess around and end up pregnant. It seems that the people who most desire a child are denied, while those who don't end up with one. It's funny, so where's the punch line?

So what do I do now? Pray. And pray some more. I have to believe that God has a plan for me, but I've never been a good student of patience.

Screaming Hallelujah!

So I'm going to borrowing ( modify) lyrics of Paramore for this entry.
"This time I didn't give,
I 'd thought it last forever.
Now screaming hallelujah.
I didn't last forever."

The Paladin of Mariposa is D-O-N-E! Stick a fork in that baby!
So here are my crazy stats.

Date started: 5/7/2007 Date finished: 8/11/2008
Total time on project: 1 year, 3 months, 4 days
Longest chapter: 13,096 words, 49 double spaced pages
Shortest chapter: epilogue- 338 words, 1.5 double spaced pages
Average length of a chapter: 24.2 double spaced pages
Most words written in one day: 3,537 words
POM's total word length: 117, 978 wordsPOM's total length: 435.5 double spaced pages
I ended up with a prologue, an epilogue, and 16 chapters. All these numbers and chapter set ups are subject to change during revisions. Especially since I have an itty-bitty epilogue, I may combine this into the last chapter.

I thought that when I got to that last period, I would give a big sigh of relief, but it was like, "Shoot, I'm done." That means there more in me for the sequel.

What a journey! I have learned so much about writing and reading and the power of one's own mind. There were days I wanted to set my computer on fire and on other days, I stayed up until 2 in the morning because I was having an inspiration surge.

Two things have to happen now. 1) get minor corrects and clarificationst taken care of, 2)let the darn thing simmer for 1-2 months. Hands off completely; it'll be torture I tell you.

Now comes the fun part of trying to get this puppy published, but it can't be as hard as writing a novel. Right?

Here is the Paramore video in case you were interested.

Tri Me

Eric and I volunteered for My Way or the Tri Way Triathlon. We volunteered last year, working the "bike out" and had a lot of fun. This year, we helped set up the transition area (at 5:30 am!) and organized the food tables for after the race. We got snazzy neon green shirts and a free pair of Crocs! Oh yeah, we also get to feel good about giving back to the community. I also had the opportunity to catch up with some former co-workers who were also in attendance (1 athlete, 1 support crew member). Eric and I have so much fun at this race, we might make this our annual "couples' activity".

Afterwards, we went to Littleton for a family gathering. This part of the family is from Eric's maternal-grandmother's side. There was a wedding for one of the cousins, so a bunch of the fam were down from Nebraska. We got to see people who we haven't seen since OUR wedding. It's amazing how quickly time gets away from us. At good time was had by all, and it is unfortunate that it tookso long for us to reunite.

I should've taken a nap today, but the ship has sailed on that one, so I'll just have to go to bed early. Oh well.

Food for thought: Life is too short not to call or send a card to someone you're thinking about. You just might contact them when they need you the most.

Buyer Beware

OK kids, here is one of my Rants of Reality (based on personal experiences). There is no jazzy music, so make up a your own tune as you read.

Here is what I learned the other day:

1) if you're short, look up occasionally

2) read the fine print

3) learn to speak Spanish

OK, here's the accompanying explanation. Eric and I decided on our Halloween costumes (which will be revealed at a later date), so I thought that I would go out and see if I could start collecting some items we would need. I ended up at a thrift store, as I'm trying to cut corners. I found a dress that I thought would work for my costume, but after I got it home, the darn thing wouldn't zip. Rats. So I went back to the store to exchange it and as I walked through the doors, I saw a HUGE sign hanging over head that said "No exchanges, no refunds. All sales final." Double rats. Who does that at a second hand store? There is so much that could be wrong with things, but I'm stuck with it, whether it works/fits or not? That's pretty shady.

I went home and called the store to speak to a manger about my situation. I got a lowly supervisor who was quite rude on the phone. I explained my situation and she said, "Our policy is . . . blah, blah." I wanted her to fix the problem/offer a solution, not quote the stupid policy. anyway, she said that she would let me do an exchange. Great. I hustle my booty back down to the store for the 3rd time today(I was doing a lot of running around). I asked for the woman I spoke to and she acted like we never had a conversation. She didn't know who I was. So she asked another supervisor over and I had to explain things to her as well. Then they started talking in Spanish which I find rude and offensive, especially in front of people who don't speak the language. I got my store credit and got the heck out.

I will never go this store, EVER again! The employees were rude, their return policy was hanging from the ceiling, which is great if your 6 ft tall. They should also post notices at the registers for assurance. If I had seen the signs as I walked in, I would have walked right back out. It's not a friendly way to do business. Afterwards, I come to find out they had a fitting room, that was conveniently unmarked at the front of the store. Could have saved myself a lot of hassle, had I know it existed.

What a horrible experience. Learn from my mistake. Do not repeat.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

OK, I'll give you three chances to guess who we invited for dinner tonight? Nope. Try again. You're silly, no. It was Angela and baby Phoenix.

I've been in a crazy entertaining mood (we hosted dinner on Sunday night as well for 6). Tonight, I made pecan crusted chicken with tangy bbq dressing and baked potatoes. For dessert, we had ice cream sundaes.

It was so nice to have our friends over. Phoenix is such a mellow baby, but boy can he poop. Angela was right int he middle of changing him and took the diaper away too early and he power pooped all over the front of her shirt! Ewwww! The sad thing was, Angela and I couldn't stop laughing. As gross and horrible as it was, we almost had our own little accidents, we were laughing so hard. Poor baby.

So Eric fed his first baby tonight and he did a great job. Seems to be quiet the natural. Hmmmm . . . maybe we should think about having one. Anyway, Phoenix is getting bigger by the day and Eric can't wait to take him on a godfather-godson outing.

Angela with our "furry baby"

Saying Goodbye

This week we lost a Eric's uncle to an act of violence. He is survived by a wife, two sons, two step daughters, and four grandchildren. He was the sweetest man and was the first to welcome me into the family. Because of the nature of his death, I'm not saying much because I don't want the media or media junkies to stumble across this blog and use the information to continue to harass the fam. Eric and I are in a state of shock and just feel that this is happening to "someone else's family." It is very tragic indeed and if you are taking to God on a daily basis, please keep us in mind.

Eric, you are an Ironman!

So, I'm just getting around to posting our trip to Couer d'Alene, Idaho for Eric's first ever Ironman triathlon. We drove through Wyoming and Montana. I just fell in love with Montana! It was so green and it seemed that if you just reached out, you could touch the mountains. It is more "wild" country than Colorado, which is why I gravitated towards this state.

Anyway, after two days of driving, we arrived in Idaho and barely had time to unpack the car, before we were off again.

Eric is part of a triathlon blogger community so we met up with like 30 people in an already crowded brew-pub. His crazy online friends were super nice and I must say, super sadistic. The highlight of the evening was when an anonymous benefactor paid the bill for the entire group! What a way to support Ironman athletes.

If you ever have the opportunity to be part of a Ironman athlete's "support crew", bring a chair, a cowbell, plenty of drinks and snacks, and good cheering voice. Race day, I got to hang out the the Bloggers' mass support crew. We spent the day searching, cheering, and photographing our athletes. They were an awesome bunch.


Eric finished in a time of 11 hours and 38 minutes, which is a great finish for a first-timer. He was very pleased with his performance, but after he crossed the finish line, Eric said, "This is my first and last Ironman." I seriously doubt that. Maybe in a couple of years. The Tri Bloggers had a post Ironman bbq on Monday and a good time was had by all.

One the way home, we decided to sight see through southern Idaho and northern Utah. While it was very pretty and scenic, it added 3 hours to our total drive time. Yikes! We'll plan better next time. Despite my grumpy, irritated days on this excursion, it was fun to be around so many goal driven individuals and their totally rocking support crew!

PS. If you want to see more pictures and view the video of Eric crossing the finish, visit Eric's blog at ironeric.blogspot.com or click on the link under "blogs we like."

Happy 4th of July!

As we celebrate our nation's birthday, let us remember the sacrifices made along the way so that we can continue to call ourselves "the land of the free and the home of the brave." May your Independance Day be safe, healthy, and loaded with fireworks. God Bless America!

Sing along if you know the tune.

My Country Tis of Thee by Samuel F. Smith

My country, 'Tis of Thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of Thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride:
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.

Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

IronMan Adventure

So, we're headed off to Cour de' Alene, Idaho for Eric's IronMan Triathlon. It's about a 16 hr drive, but I'm sure we'll enjoy the road trip. Wish us luck! I'm sure there'll be much to blog about when we get back.

* * Oh yeah, we have pictures of the finished yard work project. Enjoy! * *

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day with Eric's fam. We feasted on tasty steaks and potato casserole. I made a strawberry and cream cake, but it was nothing like the monstrosity I made for Eric's bday.

This year, we had an extra guest as Jesse's friend, Olga, was visiting. She is from Kazakhstan and she had a 24 hr flight just to get to Colorado. I give her mad props, I'm such a wimp when it comes to traveling by plane.

Roger got a new digital camera from the crew. I'm kicking myself right now because I forgot to take a picture of the card Pazu gave to his "grandfathers". It had the feel of a scrapbook page and Pazu's picture was on the front and it said "Happy Father's Day" in stickers. On the inside, I put a quote by John Steinbeck that said,

"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that dogs think humans are nuts."

.Then I wrote something Pazu would say on the other side. I think the grandma's were more in love with the card.

It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful visit. (This is the picture on the front of the card).

Showering Baby Phoenix

Friday night, I went to a baby shower to celebrate the approaching arrival of our friends' (Jow and Angela) baby. They are having a boy and at the time of this posting, the plan is to name him Phoenix. As we have mentioned in a previous post, Joe is deployed right now, but there is a good chance he'll make it home for the birth. They are scheduled to induce labor Tuesday night.

We met at a Mexican restaurant, El Tequileno, and enjoyed some tasty margaritas. There were only a handful of us, so the evening had a very "ladies' night" feel to it.

Angela's mom, Judy, read us this cute story about the baby in the womb, complaining about being bored. He's was tired of playing tag with himself and can't wait to see if his new room has a view. I believe the title is "Ma, There's Nothing to do in Here" by Barbara Part (don't quote me on this).

Angela got hooked up with a ton of baby stuff and I was very happy when we started to chow down on cake.

Joe and Angela have asked Eric and me to be the godparents, so we're super excited to see our new godson.

A jewel and a legend

Friday, Eric scored tickets to the Concert for Kids charity concert. They were free to us, so that made it superfaboulus. The concert was held at Fiddler's Green, an outdoor amphitheatre. We were in the "balcony", but overall, they were decent seats.

The opening act was none other than Jewel. I have to tell yall, she's great in concert and she cracked me up with her jokes. I didn't believe it was her at first, because they hadn't yet turned on the Jumbo Tron. I was like "This is a really good impersonator." Then the screen came on and I saw her teeth. Confirmation. I think she had to tone things down, because some of her music is a little on the controversial side. It was a concert honoring kids, after all. Jewel's my girl.

The main act was the very handsome and talented, John Legend (here's a napkin for that drool). John electrified the audience when he walked out on stage and I thought the girl next to me was going to hyperventilate. He played a great set with lots of rhythm, soulful vocals, and that killer piano. He reminds me of a male version of Alicia Keys.

We had a great time on our free date night.

Good Luck, Cheyenne!

I just want to give a shout out to my girl, Cheyenne, Miss Otero County.

This Sunday was the start of Miss New Mexico pageant week. Cheyenne will be competing for the title of Miss New Mexico and a chance to compete for Miss America. As you all remember, I won the title of Miss A back in 2002.

Last summer, I volunteered for the Miss Alamogordo/Miss Otero County pageant as a Hostess Mom. Cheyenne was my girl and I was her personal support team (not unlike what I do for Eric, except much girlier).

She was amazing and I was so proud that she won. I have never met a woman so confident and self assured. She is more mature than most adults I know.

This young lady is only capable of greatness and I know that she will do well in her first state pageant. Rock the house, Cheyenne!