Got sick two more times at work today. I feel like supper's gonna come up soon too. I know you all wanted me to share that tid bit with you didn't ya? The meeting at work went well. Things will still transition the way we planned, the only real difference is the co-worker that was moving out of the position I am moving into, is moving to a different position than the one originally planned.
I am also annoyed as hell at American Idol tonight! Josh was the one that needed to get voted off and Rueben didn't deserve to be in the bottom two. We kind of figured that Josh would go, then the four left were our favorites, so from that point on, we'd grimace through it. What a shock to see Trenyce go.
Got my Texas Identification Card in the mail today, now I am credit card loaded. Look out! In case you didn't realize, I couldn't use my credit card because I didn't have any kind of ID to show if they asked for it with my married name on it. All of my ID is still from NS. Heh. I always had what I called my "magic purse". Money just always magically appeared in it without my knowing because I have such a caring, watchful husband. Speaking of money (although this is magically disappearing), we also got another bill from my Canadian lawyer. Just over a thousand dollars, which they applied the few hundred that we had just sent, so we still owe over five hundred AND that's BEFORE she goes to court on Friday for me. Sigh. Please all keep your fingers crossed for me on Friday or pray or do whatever it is you do to bring yourself luck. My nerves need this to be over.
Nursing the start of a headache. I've gotten sick 3 times today so far. I thought had this throwing up business licked. All I can say at this point is I can't wait for my maternity leave. Three more days till the next court appearance. Six more days till the next doctor's appointment. Fourteen more days till the baby shower. Eight weeks, two days till my leave. Nine weeks, one day till Mom arrives. Ten weeks, five days till baby is due.
I'm tired.
I mentioned in a previous comment that I would blog about food I miss from Nova Scotia and Polerand reminded me today that I should still do that for fun. Now let's see...where to begin.
Chinese food is a HUGE missed favorite of mine. The Chinese food here in Texas is just not the same. It's not even that I like a ton of Chinese food, but chicken fried rice, egg rolls, chicken chow mien, sweet and sour chicken balls and beef and broccoli are to die for. Especially egg rolls!!! The egg rolls here in TX are vile as hell. They don't even roll them in the same batter, they are more like what you'd call spring rolls and they are filled with god knows what kind of shit! I really miss even buying a box of frozen egg rolls for nightly snacks. I've tried all kinds of egg rolls here and I've finally given up looking! It's just not the same.
My next thing would have to be fish and chips. Now you'd think you could just walk into a restaurant here with fish and chips on their menu, order it and it'd be the same. NOT. I miss this restaurant just down the road from where I worked in Wolfville, called Joe's Food Emporium. They had the best damn fish and chips in town. By the way, the fish is haddock NOT cod. Mmmm tarter sauce for dipping! I could just cry for some good fish, battered the normal way and NOT with cornmeal. I have lowered myself to eating some catfish on occasion with Doug, but crap, why does everything here have to be cornmeal batter?! Icky. I can't even find myself some good onion rings either! Even at familiar fast food places like Dairy Queen, the batter ends up being gross, even though back home, they are yummy!!!
I miss Shreddies, Special K, Honey Comb (the BIG crunchy honey comb), ketchup chips, dill pickle chips, Kraft Onion Chip Dip (not made with sour cream as it is here, but made with cream cheese), VH sweet and sour dipping sauce, Kit Kat bar (the bars here taste different), Kraft Sour cream-n-onion Ranch salad dressing, any kind of margarine (the stuff here is vile, boiling water won't melt the crap, we now eat real butter), Christie Fudgee-o Cookies (the brother to Oreo!), Nibs (red licorice in small bite size pieces that just taste different from other licorice), Jelly Tots (mmmmm!), JuJubes (especially black ones), Humpty Dumpty Party mix, Kraft Peanut Butter, Mirage Chocolate bar, boxed beef rice, frozen egg rolls, pasta salad you can only get at Pizza Delight, Tim Horton's hot chocolate, Chocolate icy squares (mmmmm heaven on earth!), Bounty Coconut Bar, Nelson coconut fingers (popular little boxes at Christmas time, they're only 0.99/box), canned split pea soup and canned Gravy-n-meatballs (My grandmother was always stocked up).
I am sure I probably missed a hundred other things too. I found when I first arrived in TX and began eating and cooking here, everything tasted different. The hardest thing to get used to was Pepsi. It was horrible here, mind you I'm used to it now and I drink it, but it was hard. I also really missed the chip dip and the margarine was icky!
Restaurants were difficult to adjust to as well. So many different things on the menus, plus when I thought I was ordering something familiar like caesar salad, chicken fried rice, club sandwich or fish and chips, it would come out looking and tasting all different. I've adjusted now and eat what I eat, no big deal. To be fair, if I ever had to leave Texas, there are things here on menus that I'd miss just as much! I often wonder if by the time I get back home to visit, if everything there will taste funny to me. My worse fear was to have cravings with this pregnancy and it be for something we just can't get in TX! Doug would have had a long drive ahead of him to keep his baby happy =).
We just got back from a shopping marathon at Walmart. Poor Doug, I took forever picking things out. I usually don't go shopping with him and it goes much faster for him that way =). The lines were terrible. We waited in line for 25 mins. My back was hurting by the time we got to the car. Oh well, I stocked up on snacks for work that have a little higher protein content in them (yogurt drinks, cheese-n-crackers, Lunchables, turkey weiners...etc.). Probably not the best choice in foods ever, but heck, nothing else looks good. I've had no real bad dizzy spells since Thursday. I still wish I'd have cravings to make eating easier.
We set up the computer from work today to make sure it's going to work okay here at home. The stupid monitor is messed up and I can't figure out how to fix it. It looks like the width of the screen is way to small for the monitor. No matter how we adjust it, it won't straighten itself out. I'll have to take it back and pick out another one from work. We also need a much longer printer cable and an adapter to USB, then we should be all set. I'll actually have to start working from home this week.
I've been kind of bored today. I haven't really felt like doing anything. Every couple of hours, I browse over my daily reads again, but crap, you can only do that so many times in a day without feeling like you're wearing out your mouse. We did go swimming again at the YMCA. It was a bit on the crowded side and a few kids annoyed the hell outta me with their splashing. I nicely asked them three times to move back away from me if they were going to continue splashing. I swear I could have leaned forward a foot and touch one of the boys, they were that close to me. I stay in the corner, up against the side of the pool. I don't swim. There isn't any reason that anyone needs to crowd me in. I don't move anywhere! Oh well blah blah blah, nothing to say really today.
I got really sick at work yesterday again with those dizzy spells and throwing up. I finally spoke to the nurse about it and after a series of questions that I answered, she suggested to me that I could be hyperglycemic (although when I look up that word, it doesn't really match what her and I talked about, so maybe I have the word wrong). I thought I was eating healthy with a lot of fruits, vegetables and salads. She said my body was breaking all those carbs down into a pile of sugar and therefore causing the plummet in highs and lows making me so dizzy and nauseous. I need to include more protein in my diet to help offset the carbs.
I had been on the floor in my office the entire morning, so after the phone call with the nurse, my co-worker got me a cheese stick to eat. About 20 mins. after eating the cheese, I was actually able to sit in a chair for the first time that entire morning. A little while later and I was back to work. Amazing! I'll tell you, I'm watching what I eat more closely now. Today was the first day in weeks that I did NOT have a dizzy spell at work! Now if I could just learn to sleep at night, I'll be doing great. Again last night I woke up 1'ish for a bathroom break and it was well after 5 a.m. when I last looked at the clock. So, much on my mind and a whole lot of tossing and turning. It's so hard to find a comfortable position, PLUS, it seems we have a bit of a night owl in the oven. Nine p.m. hits and the kicking starts. On and on and on and on...
We bought Mom's plane ticket today. She'll arrive June 3rd. There wasn't much to choose from for cheap flights. We had to pick one that leaves Halifax at 6:30 in the morning. It was the only one that gave her a half decent layover time in Newark. With that nasty disease spreading itself around Toronto, I certainly didn't want her landing there! As it is, this ticket was hundred bucks cheaper than the Nov. ticket we got and hundreds and hundreds of dollars cheaper than what Doug paid when he came to see me, but heck wasn't I worth it ;).
I woke up cranky 'tis morning. Not only did Doug interrupt my morning dream in which I was just about to get some (pre-pregnancy whoopee too!) but I really did NOT want to go to work today. Yesterday kind of spoiled me, being home, able to cook and run errands. I am ready for my maternity leave!
Mom has offered to paint the kitchen (which is a HUGE job because it's currently panel) or some other room(s) for us while the kids are in camp for the week in June. She has a bad back and suffers every time she does something like that. She is an awesome painter and I'd love to have some rooms freshened up because I certainly suck at it. I just can't see agreeing to that. I've argued with her about it, not wanting to put her through that while she's here, but you know what mother's are like. They think they know what's best ;). I'll have to see after she gets here, how things go and what not. Perhaps after sleeping for a week on Justin's bed, she'll change her mind =).
I had another one of those dizzy spells at work again. I called the nurse, but didn't get a call back. It's probably nothing to worry about, just typical pregnancy stuff, but I just donít' remember these symptoms with my other pregnancies. I get so dizzy that I have to put myself down low to the floor or I swear I'll faint. It takes a long time for it to pass too. They are happening more and more lately too and usually earlier in the day. Sigh. It's always something with me, isn't it? Oh and while I'm groaning, I've told Doug that I need a 3 ft. poker, so that whenever this child of his kicks me, I can poke him in return, just so he can share with me in all the delights of being pregnant! Sometimes it feels like the baby is so excited in there that he just kicks and kicks and kicks...two hours pass...and kicks and kicks and kicks =). Doug just doesn't know what he's missing eh?
We had a good time yesterday at Doug's dad's place. They had hid eggs all around the front field for the kids to find and each of them had a basket filled with goodies and small gifts. The "Easter Bunny" even came hopping up their driveway during the hunt. Cody was pretty embarrassed and hid in the house during that fiasco =). After the kids were done, some "golden" eggs were hidden for the couples that were there. Once found, you were to turn them in for their cash value. My hubby is well trained finding 3 out of 6 eggs, so we all went home a little richer than we came.
A few weeks ago, we changed the way the kids were to earn money to give Sarah an equal chance. Instead of just being paid for chores they do (which they still can do) we decided that each weekend, they would be responsible for dusting and vacuuming their rooms (a thorough cleaning, not just picking up toys) and in return if it is finished by Sunday at 5:00 p.m., they earn five dollars. Well between doing that for three weeks, report card money and their Easter money, they've managed to collect quite a little savings. I'll be anxious to see what they decide to save up for or blow it on.
Today was my Easter day off. I slept in late, then ran some errands. I'm still suffering with a stupid head cold. Nothing annoys me more about a cold than trying to hold a conversation with your ears popping and stuffed up sinuses. It's not fun! I have found it more difficult to breathe since the second trimester and now it's even worse for me with this cold.
We joined the YMCA a few days ago and pre-registered the kids for three weeks of camp (two of which Doug's Mom graciously offered to pay for). You save $20/week off of camp if you are a member and our local branch has an indoor pool so we decided to give the membership a go. It's a little costly at $49/month, but if we use the facility a lot, then we hope it'll be worth it. Only time will tell. We've went swimming twice already. The kids LOVE it! They all swim like fish. We also saved 50% off of the first week of camp by registering early (that's $150.00 savings for us). They'll go for one week in June, July and August. The August week will give Doug and I a week to ourselves (well with baby that is).
I am currently quite a sight in a bathing suit. Do yourself a favor and DON"T picture it! It takes me quite awhile to actually get in the water with my tummy being so sensitive and I can't swim very well. Oh well. Water exercise is good for me right now. I'm also looking forward to starting up with some of the aerobic classes offered. If I can make it through the summer without strangling some little rugrat for splashing me, I'll be doing good =).
Here I sit waiting for Doug to get back with the kids. Sarah went to a sleep over last night and he had to go pick her up at 11:30. We decided to have our "easter thing" today instead of tomorrow because we'll be going to Doug's dad's place for supper and an egg hunt. Knowing we got them all bikes, we wanted them to have today to ride. We put together a bit of an egg hunt for them using Dandelion's idea. We hid pieces of a message in small plastic eggs, that once they have located them all they will have to put it all together to get the message as to where they can find the key to unlock their surprise (which awaits them in the shed outside).
I put a little message on paper from the "Easter bunny" on our back door, so when they get home they'll know right away something awaits them. I then cut out little bunny pictures and taped them to the floor as a path they can follow to each of their rooms for their chocolate treats. I think they'll be excited.
On Thursday night, I started getting a sore throat. Late that night, I tossed and turned hurting and finding it hard to breathe. I eventually got up and got sick. Meanwhile, poor Doug, had been awaken around the same time with a nightmare that he couldn't shake off. He finally had his first dream about the birth (that he could remember) and it went bad. So, the two of us were pretty pathetic that night not being able to sleep. I think it was after 3:00 a.m. when Doug finally turned the light off.
The next morning was no better for me. I called my doctor to find out what I could take. I had little white spots of infection on my tonsils, but it hurt even further up behind my nose. I was pretty worried about running a fever. I came home early after stopping to get some cold medicine. I went with Doug to pick up Justin's bike which I never should have gone. I had taken the medicine and it hit me like a brick. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and I ended up in their bathroom getting sick. How embarrassing! I was even sick again last night before going to bed. Nothing has really stayed down (for what I've been able to eat) since Thursday noon. Aren't you glad I shared that with you? =)
Didn't sleep well last night either and I still feel pretty crappy today. My throat isn't sore, but it seems to have moved up into my head and ears. I'm all stopped up and my ears are starting to pop. I feel flushed. Funny thing is no one around me has been sick at all. I have no idea where I picked this up at. I want to go so bad tomorrow, but I'm going to feel pretty shitty if someone there catches my cold. I thought maybe I should stay home, but Doug says I'm going and that's that. Well right now, I'm going to go search the cupboards for something easy to eat. Happy Easter everyone!
I was standing by the photocopier in my office today when a co-worker came in. She looked at me, then proceeded to tell me that when she was pregnant with her daughter, everyone would ask her if she was carrying twins. I hated that, she said. I wonder if she was perhaps trying to tell me something. Heh. Ironically, Mom asked tonight if there were twins in Doug's family. I said no. She said well you know there are twins in yours. I said yah. She said your grandmother has been having dreams of two babies. Ha! Well the second one ain't comin' outta me. I don't think I'm THAT big, am I? *glances over at hubby for correct response* Anyway, that's what they have ultrasounds for and ours shows only one penis!
Doug's father has invited us down this weekend for an Easter egg hunt and supper. The kids are going to have a lot of fun. I haven't seen his Dad since the holidays. It'll be nice to visit. I hope I feel ok. It's hard to balance the whole bunny/Santa thing with a 13, 10 and 8 year old. When Doug and I first talked about Easter this year, I said ya know, they're getting a bit too old for the Easter bunny, why don't we just get them a bunny and a gift. We normally would buy a bunch of candy and hide it around, but I feel a bit funny hiding candy for a 13 (almost 14) year old.
They have been squawking for bikes since we arrived in Texas. At first, I figured bikes would be good for their birthdays, but I think it would be better if they got them all at once. When we talked to the kids about getting a present instead, the two oldest were okay with it, but Cody says "hey I'm only eight, I'm not too old". Don't get me wrong, he knows the difference. It's not like he's now been traumatized by finding out there is no Easter bunny, but how are we supposed to work that? I know he'd want a bike if he knew what we planned, but he's pretty defensive about the whole age thing too.
He has a point. I tend to treat him older than he really is because of his maturity, especially when compared to his older siblings. Anyone out there with older kids (of course there is!)? Did they believe in Santa and the Easter bunny? How did you change the holiday to suit different ages? At some point, don't holidays change for older kids? How can I make it fair? I hate falling into the old "can't do for one and not the other" parenting trap.
I came home from work early today. I got really sick. I spent a good part of the morning with my head either hung over the toilet or flat out on my desk. It finally passed enough that I could drive home. I wish I knew what causes that; it comes so randomly now. I was real sick Friday night too. A co-worker offered to drive me home, but I couldn't really leave my car there because Doug doesn't necessarily have to go in early on Tuesdays, so I would have ended up making him drive me in which would have sucked. Anyway, I'm home now and trying to eat something before I lay down for a bit.
I was reading my hubby's blog today and have come to the conclusion that I am boring as hell. Anyone who reads my blog, then reads his blog, must wonder what the heck the two of us even talk about. heh. My blog is full of every day stupid stuff, complaints and absolutely nothing interesting while his entries are intelligent posts about politics, sports, education and now investments (of which subjects I know barely anything about).
I know he loves me (more than anyone ever has) and I love him with every inch of my being despite the fact that we have not been exposed to the same things in our lives. I can't help but think sometimes that he is soooo beyond me that it's a wonder I even interest him. He always has his nose buried in some sort of article or something of interest, meanwhile, I'm scratching my ass or reading Christian fiction (not because I'm religious or anything, but just because I really enjoy Janette Oke's books). I laugh sometimes picturing what you see on TV. where you have this intelligent, business type looking man with a dumb blonde cheerleading type woman on his arm with that stupid, glossy look on her face. lol. Now I know I'm in for it by saying that, but crap, I AM boring and ignorant about a lot of things in comparison to what interests him and he can't argue that! =P
Quick puppy update: Bella basically slept off and on all night Friday. She woke up on Saturday and greeted me with her usual "biting of the hand - I love you Mom- ritual" which made me very happy. We watched her closely all day Saturday and she didn't appear to have any discomfort at all. She was hungry and seemed to miss us all. Sunday she seemed back to normal. I'm very happy I didn't have to hear my pug whimper in pain. I think that would have killed me.
Court did not go fine. He showed up with a really good lawyer which he obtained by sucking someone's ass for another legal aid certificate. He doesn't even have to pay legal fees now while I'm being sucked for all mine's worth. Of course, his lawyer says he only just met with him yesterday, so he needs an adjournment to review the case and prepare his submissions. Our next appearance is May 2. It's been real upsetting to me all day. I now have a lot more to worry about. It'll be his lawyer against mine. God knows what we'll have to fight or for how long. I just don't know what will happen if the Judge favors him, I don't know what to expect in worse case scenerio and my lawyer says lets not worry about the "what if's" yet. Easy for her to say, she can sleep at night. She also says the Judge is adament about making a decision without further delay on May 2nd, but I've heard that so many times before, I just won't believe it until I hear the decision.
I was also upset over Bella having to have that surgery today. I worried about her a lot. The vet determined that Bella was not in heat yet, so they proceeded with her bloodwork and the surgery. Doug picked her up around 3:00. She is so sad looking, real shakey and drowsey. We aren't allowed to feed her yet which is pure torment for me. Dexter knows something is up with Bella too, he has spent a lot of time staring at her in her pen...snif snif snif'ing and whimpers for her. =(
The nurse called 'tis morning leaving a message that she needed to speak with me about my bloodwork results. I worried about that too because I wasn't able to reach her until much later. As it turns out, my bloodwork is fine, everything is normal and I'm not low on iron which we had suspected, but knowing that later didn't help me get through 'tis morning without weeping like a baby to my husband. It was all just too much at once and with hormones like mine right now, it doesnt' take much to get me going.
And now we are going to watch Harry Potter II with the kids right now. I am going to hold and cuddle my dog and try to forget about the events of today.
I tossed and turned last night from about 4 a.m. to 6'ish. It was a long night. Doug said he woke up feeling like he didn't sleep well either. Of course he didn't because every time I switched sides with all my pillows, he moved too. I've been getting indigestion like nuts now, a lot of heartburn too. Rolaids aren't doing too much for me. At night it feels like I have this big lump in my chest, I've even been eating lighter meals at night, but it doesn't seem to matter how much or how little I eat, results are still the same.
I've got some crap going on at work that I wish I could blog about, but it's just not worth the risk of having someone read it. It's just causing me grief I don't need right now. Tomorrow is going to be nothing but a big, fat, worry day. Not only do we have a court appearance tomorrow morning, but my little baby, Bella, is going in for her surgery. It took me darn near all afternoon yesterday to finally schedule it. I'm just so worried about her. I'm not sure which event I should worry more about. I shouldn't be worried about anything, who needs additional stress when just looking down at my growing waistline causes enough anxiety in me. There's not a moment that goes by that I'm not thinking about the birth of this baby in some way, all the "what if's"...
In other news, Justin is finished with Track and Field now, his school came in first at the Districts. He had his team photos taken yesterday, so that'll be a nice keepsake for him. Sarah has come home this week very happy. It was the first time her teachers told her how proud they are of her (pathetic eh?). She finally owes them no work, everything is turned in. She actually even got a recess yesterday and earned herself a pizza party on Friday (mind you we have to pay for it, but we're proud of her too, so no big deal)! She came home yesterday beaming that she only had a couple of things to do for homework and no late work. She asked me "Mom, do you think Doug will be so proud of me too?". I grinned, "of course he will, Sarah".
I know it's important to all the kids to have Doug proud of them. He spends so much time teaching and guiding them, that it's natural for them to want his approval for things they do. It's the first real family environment these kids have ever had. It's so nice to watch them develop and relax over time. I think they are finally letting their guard down. I'm very fortunate to have what I have here with Doug. I am a very thankful and happy person and ok, maybe a bit of a worry wart too, but that just comes with the territory of having such a great family.
I called around to a couple of places today to make arrangements for Bella to be spayed. We do have a vet we use for the dogs, but I'm just not fond of her. She seems ok enough as a vet, but her bedside manner is just not something I'm comfortable with. So, I called a place today that a friend from work recommends highly and I called our regular vet for something to compare it to. Both places it will cost roughly $140.00 (includes blood panel) and about $175.00 if she is already in heat. It makes the surgery a little more complicated if the pup is already in heat, but I got one place telling me that if she's in heat already, they won't do the surgery, while the other place says they'll do it, it'll just cost a bit more. hmmm... We'll take her in on Thursday morning. Poor little thing.
It's getting worse now, everytime we turn around, there's Dexter humping the air basically. God, if he's going to do it, the least he can do is learn how to put it in. How embarrassing for him. It's getting tiresome though to constantly be after him to leave her alone. Bella is still showing no signs of being in heat yet, so heck, it might all just be wishful thinking on his part heh. Between me, the teen and now the pugs, this house is stocked full of raging hormones. =)
Anyone know when a dog normally will come into her first heat? I imagine with different breeds it varies. Dexter has been particularly interested in Bella's back end lately and we've caught him a few times between yesterday and today trying to hump her. I wonder if it's close to that time for her? Should we have had her fixed already? She's seven months old now and I kind of figured we had a few months yet before it needed to be done. Dexter's shootin' blanks even if she was to actually let him, but that is unlikely considering she bit his bird yesterday and made it bleed. She is the boss and we are kinda figuring she has no intentions on any hanky panky with him.
I probably shouldn't even be posting right now. I'm tired and bit on the cranky side. I did not want to go to work today. I tossed and turned half the night, even knocked over my water from my tossin'; soaking the bed and floor in the process. The baby kicked kicked kicked and I had indigestion that finally made me sick 'tis morning. I went into work about 45 mins. late, I say they were lucky I even bothered with how I felt. MOAN GROAN COMPLAIN.
Doug took me to sign the declaration at the lawyer's office today at 2:00, so that part is finished now. All I hope for is a ruling on Friday in our favor. I just don't want this dragging on any longer.
We finished registering at Babies-R-Us on Saturday night. My lip started bleeding while we were there and it took me ten minutes or longer to get it stopped. It wasn't just a little blood either. Embarrassing too. I probably could have told staff that my husband just smacked me and they would have believed me. Hehe. I'm not that impressed with the baby registry so far. The list is a bit difficult to read. Oh well.
Doug's Mom came down to visit and to take us all to supper. It was nice seeing her again considering I hadn't seen her since Christmas. Doug earned himself a whack and a hard time after telling his mother on the phone that I was "big". Of course he explained himself afterwards with a lot of groveling and teasing. *wink* He's lucky I love him and am horny or he would have been doghoused for a week!
Doug's Mom wants to put the kids into daycamp for two weeks this summer and take them during her vacation for a week after the baby is born. What fun for the kids too. Now they'll have something to look forward to doing this summer aside from listening to the baby cry =).
We went to see the doctor early 'tis morning. I had to choke back an orange dextrose drink for a glucose test. I am hoping that'll be my last blood work. I hate needles. A couple of hours after drinking that slop, it made me feel icky. My weight gain and growth is going fine and baby's heart beat is strong. We're at 26 weeks now and belly measures at 26 as well. Right on target. We actually got in pretty fast for the initial work up they do because my blood had to be drawn 1 hour from drinking time, but then we had to wait for the doctor and she was late, so Doug ended up having to leave to go teach his class. She was out delivering a baby.
During our appointment, we were able to talk some about the birth and what we both want/hope out of it. I'm not going to get out of having an I.V. unfortunately, but she is willing to look into the numbing patch I told her that was used on me once for dental work. I asked her if my body will act like a first birth all over again because it had been so long between children. I guess giving birth is like riding a bike, my body should bounce right back into the swing of things. Although, she said, we do have a different genetic mixture which could mean different sized baby, which could result in a different birthing experience for me. All I could think of was Doug's Mom telling me Doug's measurements when he was born. The words "BIG HEAD" flashed in my mind. Oh god, ouch.
When I got back to the office, there was a message from Cody's teacher. He'd been getting himself into trouble for not working all morning. When I called her back we decided that if she needed to call again, I would come and speak with him. Sure enough an hour later, she called, so I left work early. There's always a reason for Cody's behavior, good or bad, it usually doesn't take long to figure it out either. I didn't feel great anyway and will probably lay down for a nap. I tried to talk hubby into coming home early to get "some", but guess he wasn't interested. (just kidding, he had too many appointments to come home early =( ).
Speaking of getting some, I told my doctor today that for the past few months, I'm either dreaming about having sex or giving birth. We both laughed, what a combo for Doug (mind you, both dreams are very normal), but, hey what's wrong with a horny, pregnant wife anyways?! Could be worse, I could be cutting him off for 9 months =). Tomorrow night is Professor's Night Out again, so we will be kid free from 5:30 to 11:00 and it won't cost a penny. We'll go eat of course, then maybe head back to Babies-R-Us to fix our registry. Overdose of hormones coming right up!
Doug and I went to see a Texas lawyer yesterday morning. He had been recommended to us by a friend I work with (her husband is a lawyer). As you know, we had our first court appearance in Nova Scotia on March 14. We had retained a lawyer to represent me there (the same one who has handled this case since I left the ex in '97). Well the ex's temper sure didn't let us down any. I received a detailed account of what happened during court from my lawyer last week. He did a lot of ranting and yelling, complaining about cops, lawyers, judges and the whole justice system. They are all out to get him. He claims he's never been told why he can't see his kids and they have rights, he has rights, blah blah blah. He wants to re-open the whole case again and prove the cop was lying (this officer testified during the first trial about him using Sarah (who at the time was 4) as a shield when they tried to arrest him). He seems to think it is the cop's fault he can't see the kids. Actually, it doesn't really surprise me that he still can't get it through his head that he only has himself to blame. He fits the profile, that's for sure.
Everyone involved in this case, whether it was lawyers, cops, evaluators, therapists, teachers or even Judges, all thought it was in the children's best interest NOT to have contact him. It's all been explained to him over and over again what he should do to try to improve his chances of supervised access and he does NOTHING, yet he still rants about it being everyone else's fault and there must be some huge conspiracy against him. I do wish this was over though. I don't like facing this every year. Our Texas attorney seemed interested in the whole terminate parental rights thing. As final as that would be for us, it's also a huge can of worms. Let's just hope after NS court dismisses the application (assuming they will), that I never hear from him again!
Nevertheless, the Judge was NOT impressed with him or his temper. He was warned they'd have to remove him from the court room if he did not sit down and be quiet. He quipped back that he'd gladly remove himself from the court room. At one point, the sheriff had to "assist" him in taking his seat. How funny and how good for us. Here's a guy who basically doesn't get supervised access to his kids because of an abusive anger problem and he claims to have "bettered" himself this time (just like always) and yet again, he STILL can't control himself.
So, my Canadian lawyer feels very positive about the outcome. The law is on our side. Jurisdiction is where the children reside. The Judge agreed to a continuance to allow my ex time to seek legal advice (he's currently representing himself because legal aid has refused any further assistance to him - too many cases - too much money spent on him) and for my lawyer to obtain correspondence from my Texas attorney containing Family Court contact info. Our next appearance is April 11. We won't count our chickens before they hatch, but we're pretty sure the Judge will pass the contact information along to the ex on the 11th and wish him luck in pursuing it in Texas. Which I'd put my money on him not coming to Texas. He doesn't even have a job and his family is broke too. He'd never be able to afford a lawyer, let alone cross the border with his record. Shame eh? =P
My lawyer blew through our retainer already and submitted another bill for 324.00 in disbursements. I had to email her to inquire how much more she thought this would cost. She's estimating at least another 650-800 in legal fees (translation - at least $1,000.00, she sometimes forgets I used to work for lawyers) assuming the ex doesn't spring any surprises and that the 11th will be her last court appearance. We can only hope. Paying two lawyers this month hurts. Doug, in doing our taxes tonight, did discover a nice child tax credit that he didn't know about (never having to claim kids before) which increased our tax refund this year. It helped a lot. I made jokes about pushing out another little tax credit this July. Nasty. LOL.