Things to Remember

I needed to write some "dad-to-be" quirky stories down so that I can share them with baby Nault when he/she grows up.

1. Your dad started talking to you when I was just 10 weeks along. He'd ask how your day was and if you were tired from growing so hard today. You never responded, at least verbally.

2. Your dad was on daily belly button watch. He couldn't wait to see if my innie would become an outie.

3. Your dad would drum on my belly and chant, "Baby-baby-baby-baby". You seldom responded to this treatment either. It doesn't seem like you will perform on command; which will frustrate your grandad to no end, should he find himself ever taking care of you. Which I am sure he will want to do this at every available time. And I will let him, since he was such a fabulous father. Just don't forget to Communicate with him!!

4. Your dad was disappointed when we never got a picture of you with your tadpole tail. :)

5. Your dad has loved you from the moment he found out about you.

Pictures!!

I finally have taken the time to upload a couple of pictures in regards to my baby! Here's me at 17 weeks:Here's the baby, at 15 weeks.In the second picture, the "force" appears to have no neck. I assure you, it is just a trick. My baby really doesn't have a floating head. :)

Having a baby

Lee and I are expecting a baby in November. We are very excited and are enjoying making baby plans. Right now, though, I am completely exhausted and very emotional. I just drove home the 20 minutes from work and cried the whole way. Not just small tears, but convulsing, almost-having-to-pull-over kind if tears. And I don't even know why. I remember thinking about how tired i was, then all of a sudden the tears came and I couldn't stop them. Even now, they are rolling down my face. I feel like the only person who has ever cried over something completely inconsequential. which is utter nonsense, and any pregnancy book will tell you that it is completely normal to be emotional. But it doesn't stop me from feeling alone. :(. In general, I can totally have peace that God is taking care of me and that He is in control of what is going on inside of me. But knowing that He is working on me, doesn't make the tears stop. And that just makes me cry harder, because I know that if I truly believe that God is in control, I should be happy. And if I'm not happy, that means that I am not trusting Him. And I do trust Him!!! So why am I not happy today? I blame it on the hormones, which have no logic...

Breaking and Entering

I just watched Lee break into our guest bathroom. When I used it last night, I left the fan on and closed the door. We heard the fan upon arriving home after work today and tried to open the door, apparently it was locked. It took Lee about 30 minutes to demolish that door handle using such random tools as a hammer, saw, screwdriver, etc. I'm so proud that he fought his way in! My hero!

Oh Deer...

A deer went on a suicide mission across a busy pike. Unfortunately, our car got in his way. I don't actually know if his mission was fulfilled, but it was definitely accepted and my car has a deer-butt imprint on it to prove it. He (I have problems thinking about it being a "her"..."her" means there could be orphans now...) ran into the side of my car, hitting in front of my passenger door and, um, damaging the side so bad I couldn't open my door when we got out to assess. I cried when I saw the damage. No glass was broken, the car runs fine, and no one was hurt (jury's still out on Bambi...). I have ask, though, what God is working on us for. I know that He is, and that's how I'm getting through all of this, but the deer incident was just the latest in a run of stressors, some good, some bad, but all taking patience. We are spending most non-working, waking hours in our new house, getting it ready for move-in and of course, not everything is going as planned. I am having surgery next month, and while it's minor, it's still scary to me. I am slowly recovering from a sinus infection, and lee got one this week. My parents are coming a week or so after we move in. This would be a terrible stressor for many people. It's not at all for us, except I want to be planning things to do with them and I can't, because my mind is too occupied with other things, so that's stressing me. Not that my 'rents will care; they're just excited to be up here with me for a bit. But I want their experience to be great, ya know? I know there's other stuff, but I'm done complaining. I just wanted to put all this out there, because some people think my life is perfect and nothing gets me down. Here's proof that I am human and God's still working on me...

3-06-09

We are closing on our house today! So begins our renovation journey. Definitely the biggest undertaking we've done yet, but I'm optimistic. We are repainting the interior and doing the floors upstairs. It's gonna look so great!! I'll try to post before/after pics.

Yesterday Lee and I passed a cemetery which spurred a conversation about where we wanted to be buried. I decided that a Viking burial would be kind of cool (It's where you are set on a floating platform, pushed out to sea, and set on fire.). Lee decided that he wanted to be wrapped in bacon and cremated. That way, everyone who smelled the fire would be like, "Lee smells good, even in death!"

I'm just jazzed...

I've been working out 5 days a week and eating much healthier since early January, and lately I've been a little discouraged because the scale shows no change. I know I'm building muscle and that's heavier, but I haven't been able to see a physical difference, and that's been getting me down. This week, though, is better. I am wearing a skirt that I could barely squeeze myself into a couple of months ago. Yesterday, i was wearing pants that wouldn't fit over my thighs in December. I'm so excited that the early morning workouts are finally paying off. It gives me that extra kick I needed to continue on this lifestyle change. It gets annoying, having to pack all my "get ready for work" stuff the night before so that I can leave the house at 6:20 every morn. But, I'm starting to see that it's worth it. I don't have near the stomach problems I used to, I have energy throughout the day, and now I can wear more of what's been taunting me in my closet.

Here's some more strange ways I've answered the phone at work lately (usually, I say "Good Morning/Afternoon Princeton, How can I help you?):

1. Good Morning Princess (this, fortunately, was a co-worker's wife and she thought it was hilarious).

2. Good Morning, Princeton, How can I help It? ( This really embarrassed me because I'd been reading a romance novel and can't help but think that it influenced me to say "it" instead of "you").

At least I give myself something to laugh at at work...

Lee's so hot

I googled Lee's name this afternoon (after doing mine and finding muy poquito to be excited about) and found the following. It's a form online for FSA, but it makes Lee sound so important (which he IS).

Farm Service Agency
Washington, DC 20250
5-FLP
For: State and County Offices
Administrative, Chattel, Real Estate, and Property Management Costs for
the Debt and Loan Restructuring System (DALR$)
Approved by: Deputy Administrator, Farm Loan Programs
1 Overview
A Background
To determine eligibility for write-down, FSA must:
• determine the net recovery value of the security and other property by accounting for
involuntary liquidation costs
• compare the net recovery value of the security and other property with the net present
value of the restructured loan.
B Purpose
This notice provides:
• administrative liquidation costs for each loan type
• guidance for determining chattel and real estate costs
• a worksheet for determining property management costs (Exhibit 1).
C Contact
If there are any questions about this notice, State Offices shall contact Lee Nault by either of
the following:
• e-mail at lee.nault@wdc.usda.gov
• telephone at 202-720-6834.

I like the fact that all STATE offices have to call my husband for answers to their questions. I am married to such a stud. :)

2/23/2009

February 12th my 2nd nephew was born. His name is Jake Fletcher Chandler and he was 8 lb. 2 oz. I don't know how long he was. I'm terrible with numbers, so I consider it good if I can remember the weight. :) Anyways, that's apparently a big size for a baby, and he's doing really well. I love watching my sister with him, because she is so sweet and tireless and just lovely. She was born to be a mommy. Big brother, Case, loves his little brother, but it took him a little while to adjust to sharing his parents' attention. Of course, it turns out that he was still a little sick from a bout with the flu the weekend before, so that definitely contributed to his emotional state. His little world is definitely being rocked, I'm sure. My mom says I acted the same way towards her when Shannon was brought home from the hospital. I wouldn't look at mommy or really respond to her. I got over that, though, lucky for mom. :) I was really blessed to be able to fly down and help out my family for a couple of days. It was great to see them. That's the hardest thing about being up here; you miss out on all the little events that are important enough to drive a couple of hours for, but not gigantic enough to fly halfway across the country for. Shannon didn't need me to come, but it did me good to be there.

I really enjoy flying. It's a great exercise in peoplewatching. I met some interesting people on the flights. I was waiting from 2:30 til about 8:00 Thursday to get on a flight flying standby with AA. I took my Venti Nonfat Chai Latte to a bench and was reading, when I noticed the guy sitting behind me was completely perplexed. His nice luggage shoulder strap had come apart at the D-ring. However, both pieces were made from solid pewter, and had no cracks. How it came apart was a mystery that we discussed heavily, but alas, with no resolution. I didn't get on the first flight out, sadly enough, but I was assured that the next flight would accommodate me, so I had to wait some more. I let this older gentleman watch my bag for a bit so that I could go blow my nose without lugging my um, luggage, around. I felt brazen for doing this, since every 5 minutes there were announcements about not leaving your stuff, either alone or in someone else's care, for any amount of time. I went against the rules, and didn't get caught....haha! No lectures, please...:) On the flight home, I met this lady who used to work in LA as a gun-handler for the movies. She would provide the guns for action flicks. So cool! She said that Tommy Lee Jones is just a jerk, and Antonio Banderas is very short. Plus, when A.B. came in, the Taco Bell dog was also there and the dog got more attention than he did. If I were there, this would not have been my reaction...

In other news, we are closing on our house next week, if all goes well, and we will have a month full of renovations in front of us! Saturday we went by the house and saw that someone had thrown a big brick through our basement window. I was kinda freaked by this, but no one was inside and my heart finally calmed down. The realtor said that the leasing agent would secure the area and replace the window, so we were glad that we didn't have to worry about it. The kitchen, after further inspection, needs some serious work. The insides of the cabinets are warped and stained. I can paint them for a short fix, but it won't fix the warpedness. The walls are a hideous wallpaper. But, all the walls in the house need paint, so we will be doing that, as well as replacing the carpet upstairs. It'll be a chore, but I'm excited about getting my hands dirty. :)

Clutzy Antics

A couple of weeks ago I borrowed a racquetball ball from the front desk at the gym. The court that I chose to play on happened to have a ceiling that was only 2/3 covered, and after playing for about 10 minutes, I hit the ball up through the opening and lost it. I sheepishly explained this to the lady at the front and she laughed and said it was okay. Today, I had to visit her again, because I immobilized one of the machines. I was running on the treadmill at a good pace and had covered the digitized part of the screen so that I wouldn't just stare at my time, wishing it would go faster. I do this a lot. But today I guess my running was harder than usual because my towel was jiggled right off, fell to the treads and immediately was pulled underneath the machine. I calmly stopped the machine and got off to assess the damage. My towel was definitely wedged, but I could still see it. So I went to a trainer and he told me not to worry about it. We put a sign on the machine, then tried to pull the towel out, and it actually came out. The treadmill worked fine after we got the towel, so I suppose nothing was harmed. Except I'm afraid I'll be seen as a gym hazard and there will be communal groans whenever I appear. Baaaaa. I'm very sheepish about my dorkiness. If you think of the weirdest thing that can possibly happen in any situation, it'll probably happen to me. Ever cramp your shoulder while putting on your bra? I have, many times. Ever find a sinkhole in your yard by falling into it? I have. Ever get multiple wrong numbers called on your cell phone by Mexican men and children? I have. Probably 2 a week. And the list goes on...

40 things...I needed to stay busy.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon...here's my list.

1. I live in a basement in a big house where 12 other people live upstairs.
2. I am afraid to put my head under water, so I don't swim much at all. I can doggie paddle if I have to, but my neck goes way back as I avoid the water from touching my face.
3. That being said, I absolutely love watching the ocean, and even chasing the waves...as long as they stay away from my head.
4. I have lived like, 4 miles from Arlington Cemetery for 8 months and have yet to go see it. I have driven by it, and even through a bit of it, and I saw Iwo Jima as I drove by, but haven't actually made a walking trip through it.
5. That being said, I really like walking through cemeteries, wondering about the people buried there. It doesn't creep me out, but brings peaceful feelings, instead.
6. I think the texture of yogurt and smoothies is disgusting. Flavor's great, but I have to hold my finger under my nose to keep the gag reflex at bay when I eat it. The Whips! yogurt is fine though, because the texture is different.
7. I've worked out every weekday for the past 2 1/2 weeks. It's tough, but something has clicked in my head, and I have no interest in quitting. I'm going to lose 30 pounds!
8. The only way I can drink non-Dasani water is by adding lime juice. I'm a water snob. :)
9. I went to state in Spelling in High School.
10. I also was in All-Region band for 7 years, mostly 1st chair, playing the French Horn. I went to state for that, too, but only in ensembles.
11. I could play games all the time. Anything is more fun when you make a game out of it. Lee doesn't really understand this. He thinks I'm mean and competitive. I guess he's just afraid to lose...
12. With so many people losing their jobs (4 people in my office have lost their jobs in the past month), I just want to quit my job and hide from the world.
13. I had a frenectomy when I was in junior high. Sounds cool, but all it was was the removal or the skin between my two front teeth so that they would grow together.
14. The teeth have kind of grown apart again, but I don’t mind. Unless I get a taste bud stuck in between them…that really hurts.
15. I really like to go to dine-in restaurants by myself. I sit and read and let some waiter cater to me.
16. I went to a movie alone the first year I was teaching, and some of my junior high girls saw me and demanded that I sit with them. That, I will never forget.
17. Lee and I have known each other for 10 years now, but we’ve only been married for 3 ½. It took him a while to grasp the concept that I was real and not a figment of his active imagination. J
18. I am not an animal person. Unless it is a baby, or a white tiger.
19. It amazes me that people can be so different. God created us all to be unique and that is incredible to me.
20. I dislike perfumey fragrances. I’d rather smell like a cupcake over a gardenia any day.
21. I think Crème Brulee candles smell fabulous.
22. I can’t function without something on my lips. Lipstick, Gloss, Chapstick, anything. I Don’t leave home with out it.
23. I am a procrastinator. I try hard not to be, but I often forget to try. However, things tend to work out for me regardless, so it’s hard to get too down on myself about procrastinating.
24. Also, I’m not a perfectionist. I don’t usually worry about things that I can’t change, and if I do my best and it’s not good enough, I’m generally okay with that.
25. I took a spiritual gifts test one time and found out that my gifts are compassion and faith. It means a lot to me to not only recognize what my gifts are, but to be proud of them and use them to glorify God whenever possible.
26. I could have Starbucks every day and not grow bored. My favorite drinks are Chai Lattes, Dulce de Leche Lattes, White Chocolate Raspberry Mochas, Green Teas…
27. I’m not good at small talk. Lee could do it all day, even though he hates meeting new people. I love to meet new people, but can’t think of what to say past the whole “Hi, I’m Alecia…” thing. I’m working on this, though.
28. Cheer Bear (The pink one with the rainbow on the chest) is my fav.
29. My nicknames, other than derivatives of “Alecia”, are Sunshine and Queenie.
30. I used to sit on the counter and talk while my mom worked in the kitchen. It was my throne, hence the name “Queenie”. It got me out of work because I kept her so busy with stories and questions that she didn’t notice that I wasn’t working. To this day, I can’t talk and cook at the same time.
31. I love music. Anything from Hannah Montana to Eminem, Simon and Garfunkel to Britney Spears, the Carpenters, Journey, Duffy. Lee got me an Ipod Touch for Christmas, and I walked around with it all the time. It’s like I have a soundtrack to my life now.
32. I have the best family ever.
33. I love dark chocolate.
34. I read a lot. Romantic comedies are my favorite, but sometimes I take a break from them to read something dramatic (as long as there is still some romance!).
35. I love to wear lots of bracelets. I feel like a gypsy when I wear them.
36. I hit when someone scares me. Lee’s trying to train me to react differently, but it’s not taking.
37. I love to sing. It makes me happy.
38. I am much better at Wii bowling than regular bowling.
39. I am a better at being second in command than first. Even though I love the spotlight, I know that honestly, I enjoy being the helper better than the decision maker.

Snow!!

There's actually guys out shoveling our sidewalk this morning! With SNOW shovels! Not just the garden ones that daddy would use. ;) The real thing is definitely more needed up here. We are supposed to get a couple of inches. Nothing major, but it's been coming down and sticking all morning and it is beautiful. Lee's in Kansas City all week so I'm entertaining myself as best I can. I wish he was here to see the snow! We love pointing out all the ponds up here that have a frozen sheen on them. Anytime we are driving and see one we have to ooh and ahh over it. We are such dorks.

Phone Flub

Yesterday I was at work talking on the phone with this guy. No idea who he is, probably will never talk to him again. However, if you were eavesdropping on the convo, you would have heard this:

Him: Ok, Thanks for the information.
Me: You're Welcome.
Him: Bye. Love you.
Me: Love you too.

Yep. I don't really know if he actually said, "love you," but that is what I heard and I automatically responded in kind. So some stranger got the warm fuzzies after talking to me yesterday. Or the warm creepies, perhaps.

funny email

I sent out emails to our YA class today regarding our ski trip this weekend. The first one I sent out just said "Hi" because I hit the wrong button. Well, Lee sent out the following to everyone, in response:

Things that could have finished Alecia's message of "Hi":
-Ya!!! (followed by karate chop)
-Ho, Hi, Ho, its off to work I go (get it, because she is short)
-Waii (said with a Texas twang)-& Lois (her favorite Sunday newspaper comic strip)
-gh School Musical 4 tryouts were today and I am in!!!!
-tler movies are so much more interesting when Tom Cruise is involved.
-illary Clinton and Hilary Duff should totally do a song together. They could call it "You're the Secretary of the State of My Heart"
-lton Hotels are so overated. I much prefer when Lee books America's Best Value Inn
-Five! Very Nice!

Have a great day, See you all Saturday.

I'm married to the funniest guy around. :) Maybe I'm biased, but I had tears coming down my cheek from trying to suppress all my "LOLness" at work.

Lee's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day

Lee called me at 7:30 yesterday morning stating that today was his "terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day". He missed his bus by 10 seconds and had to walk half a mile to catch his next one. Then he missed his train by 10 seconds as well. When he got to work he realized that his lunch of barbecue sausage and black eyed peas had leaked all over his Spiderman lunch box, which was open just a crack, so it also leaked into his leather bag he carries to work. Then at lunch he realized that black eyed peas and barbecue sausage don't really compliment each other, which was odd, because sausage goes good with every other bean. (When he came home and told me this, I laughed as I told him that black eyed peas are "Peas, not Beans" and his eyes widened as it dawned on him that I was correct in this assessment). I called him from work and asked if he wanted a videogame that was on sale for $10 dollars, because my friend and coworker was going to go buy it and would pick up one for him. but alas, they were all sold out all over the area. so I got his hopes up, then came home and told him I didn't get it after all. Hmmm, also, his stomach hurt all day. All of this really started on Sunday, when he dropped a cherished and rarely-bought half-gallon jar of big pickles all over the concrete as he was carrying them into the house.

I think today is going better, but it's not over yet! Poor baby!



In better news though, we put an offer on a house yesterday. Yay!



Last week we were watching TV and Lee thought he saw something run across the floor. However, we were listening to the ghostbuster song and the phrase, "If you're seeing things, Running through your head...Who ya gonna Call? Ghostbusters!" So we figured it was his imagination. But then, I saw it. One of the alien cousins (AKA a house centipede), ran out from under the TV, made a wide circle and went under the couch. A bit later, Lee saw it go from the couch back to the TV. Then a few minutes later, we saw him repeat his little jog. It's like our living room was a race track for squiggly little creatures. I'm sure you are wondering why we didn't kill it, since we saw it so many times. Honestly, the first time we realized what it was, we were so entrance watching it, we forgot. Then, it was just too fast for us.

Oh, here's a good story! Last week Lee found this recipe for chicken tortilla soup and made it for me (he cooks a lot now, because I get home an hour later than he does). So sweet! However, he made a few "learning experience" errors that were quite humorous. First, he used cream corn instead of whole kernel, because that was the only canned stuff we had. Of course, we did have some frozen corn, but he didn't think to check the freezer. Second, he thought the tortillas were supposed to be 2 inch strips, not 1/2 inch, so they were huge! Third, we didn't have canned black beans, so he used dried ones. Which is great, but basically triples the amount of time that the soup cooks. That brings us to the most crucial mistake. The recipe said to "set aside" the tortilla strips after cooking. He thought that meant "set aside in the same pot that the soup is cooking in". By the time the beans were done cooking, the tortillas had turned into huge slimy masses, plus the beans had dyed the tortillas and the chicken this nasty blue-black color. It actually tasted ok, if you ate around the tortillas, but it looked disgusting! And for some reason, by the time we had it for leftovers it was so salty it was inedible. I think Lee learned something that day...