• I have to say apparently many of the fans at Nationals Stadium are twelve because it's pretty rude and disrespectful of them to boo the president. I can't think of many things I like about GW but that doesn't mean I'm going to disrespect the man and boo him off the field. Didn't these people ever learn manners? I don't like Hillary, but that doesn't mean I'm going to boo her off a field (or anywhere, for that matter).
• Keith Olberman is a little too bitter and angry for me.
• .
• Wal*Mart is the devil.
• The Kritter gets cuter and cuter. Things she's been doing lately:
• We had the most disgusting poop experience we have had yet with her. This is total payback for not having to deal with nasty poops when she was little. I'll post details behind a cut, though, as this isn't very cute... at all.
• I woke up this morning shortly after 3:30 to Sophie nursing. She went to bed in the guest room and I honestly have no idea how she managed to crawl into bed with us. It's a little higher than the other bed and she has a difficult time getting into that bed without help. She then asked me to change her diaper (I obliged) and when I tried to put her back to bed in the guest room, she wanted to nurse again. I absolutely will not nurse in the middle of the night anymore (I'm SO tired of nursing, really), so I told her she could have a cup of milk instead. She actually wasn't too difficult to get to sleep after that. She asked me to rub her back and then she asked to cuddle.
• She has not only been signing words lately, but has been taking the time to tell us how to sign words (dessert: you take two "d's" and tap them!). Cracks me up.
• She says, "Mommy, you're beautiful" and "My favorite Mommy" and "Friends with Mommy." Makes my heart melt. She also tries to sign friend with me where she hooks her finger with mine. Too cute!
• She loves to make shapes with her Play-Doh. We have lots of fun rolling it out and using my cookie cutters.
• We say prayers together at night and she alternates lines with me instead of repeating me. The child remembers so much!
• Before prayers, we read books, and she's able to read along with us (thanks to her memory, I'm sure). She gets very involved in every book we read (always the same books), including 10 Little Ladybugs, Henry Builds a Cabin, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Knuffle Bunny, and The Perfect Purple Feather.
• She loves to play in the sand. She calls it snow. She says she's making snowballs. I'm not sure why she would do that since we've never played in the snow before. Crazy kid.
• Last week we had a picnic lunch and she talked about it for days. We only took the picnic basket to the front yard but she thought it was the best fun she'd ever had. To complete that day, we took her out to Chili's with us and she talked about going to the restaurant for days afterward as well. Sometimes she really amazes me with the things she remembers.
• I hope the chicken pox disappear soon. Sophie has two new spots and I have no idea how many I have. Mine have mostly been in my hair and on my back (haven't had a lot, but enough to drive me nuts). I don't normally go many places, but I hate being confined by something I can't control. I have things I want to do this week! JoAnn Fabric is having a sale on all of their sewing notions and I want to pick up a few things. I also want to get some material for a few outfits for Sophie.
• Bibs are coming along nicely. I have more to cut out, but they're getting better and better.
• I need to pick up my needles again soon and get the blanket for my niece finished. Gah.
• I also need to get my Craigslist stuff listed. B is tired of seeing it (as am I) and we could use the money.

I think that's about all there is for now. I've forgotten things I wanted to mention, as usual.

( Poop - TMI )

Apparently Tri-County Electric isn't the only company who likes to send people out without calling ahead (although to their credit, no one actually rang my doorbell).

Today, Atmos Energy decided to send a guy out to check our meter. I shouldn't have answered the door, I know. I also should have used the peephole, but I swear, it's too high for me and B hasn't put one in lower even though he says he's going to. Anyhow, I answered the door and he announces to me the meter isn't working and that he needs to come in the house. I don't think so, bucky. So, he said he would need us to have the furnace off and he would need access to the water heater. That I can handle, even though I'm still annoyed. I called the company to complain because that's just stupidity on their part to send someone without announcing. I mean, seriously... what if he was some schmoe off the street faking it just to get in the house? How the heck would I know the difference?

Gah, that just really makes me hoppin' mad.

So, I'm curious if I just can't get the video posted because I'm using Photobucket (which I've done before) or because LJ is full of fail tonight. I can't even post the tiniest video I have which is only 27 seconds long and a very tiny resolution. I have to admit I'm a little more than annoyed. I'll try again later with YouTube to see if that resolves the issue.

Apparently I've had a low-grade fever for the past few days. I knew I have been feeling flush lately, but didn't realize there was a fever to accompany that until I took my temperature this afternoon. It's hovering around 99/100° F. I know it's not terribly high or anything, but I'm a little concerned that I've had it for a while now. I haven't really felt ill, but just haven't had as much energy as I normally do and wind up sleeping a little later than usual. Looks like I'll be calling Dr. Hoffman on Monday to see if I can get in to see him. I really should start going to the office closer to me, but I love my doctor too much.

All I can say is, this is certainly not the time for a fever. I do not have time to get sick right now. I hope this is as bad as it gets.

Completely unrelated to being sick, why is it that some underwire bras are fine all day long and then all of a sudden the underwire starts poking into the armpit? How annoying!

I am pretty sure I've posted about this before (although I can't find it), but I'm so annoyed I have to post again. This does not stop! I am so frustrated with myself for becoming annoyed, too.

About every two or three weeks, I get a phone call showing private name/private number on the caller ID. I almost always answer these calls (why, I have no idea). When I answer, I hear a recording saying that because I'm a credit card customer, I have a great opportunity to lower my rates. I'd like to know who the hell is selling my information because I am on the Do Not Call list.

The last phone call I had before today gave me an option to press a number to talk to an agent, or press a number to be removed. I pressed the number to be removed, but apparently that didn't work. Today's phone call gave me only one option, that of talking to an agent. Of course, I press that number to see if I can talk to someone and get my number removed. The agent asked if I was on hold for lower rates. Dummy me said, "Actually, I have a question..." CLICK. The agent hung up on me! This happens every time! I should know this by now, that in order to get any information out of these people, I have to lie just the same way they do, but that's just not me.

Of course, the only information I have is "credit card services" which I'm sure isn't anything at all. I have no number, no company name, nothing. I can't report them to anywhere because I have nothing to report other than some rude agent hanging up on me after some stupid recording tells me to talk to the agent.

I am just burned up over this.

This morning, I was in the bathroom about to shower, and all of a sudden I heard a *boom* that made me stop cold. No more than five seconds later, our electricity was off. My first thought was silly (I am a little paranoid at times). I thought someone had done something to the electricity to force the alarm to not work. I dismissed that as quickly as it entered my head. My next thought was of the box outside at the end of the cul de sac. It's come close to being hit before. Perhaps someone finally managed to hit it this time.

I opened the front door to see if I could figure out what was going on to see the Tri-County Electric truck driving off. At that point, I was pretty miffed, because some dolt from the electric company came out here, banged on the box, and caused our electricity to not work. What the hell?

I called B to get the number from TCE and let him know the electricity was out. I then called TCE to discover we had been cut off for non-payment. !!! At this point I was absolutely fuming mad. Nearly every month they to send us late notices because they haven't received payments from our bank. We have no idea why of all the bills we pay with online banking, TCE is always the slowest. For whatever reason, it seems they get the payments well over a week after we make them. I assumed this was what had happened this month, although I don't recall seeing a notice for this month.

B had apparently forgotten to pay the bill on time this month (he can't find record of it at the bank, at least), but TCE has almost no grace period for late payments. Not only did we not receive written notification from them this month (the one month we actually forgot to pay), but we never received a phone call. Ridiculous! To make matters worse, even though Texas has deregulated electricity, we are some of the unfortunate souls who are stuck with a co-op without a choice of which company we want to use. Because of this, they know they've pretty much got us all over a barrel and don't seem to care even just a little about their customer service.

Every other electric company I've ever had (even outside of Texas) has always given a reasonable grace period (at least 30 days) along with written notice and phone calls to make sure the money is paid and the notices/bills aren't lost.

Of course, I'm seriously upset that I was inconvenienced, so I'm probably blowing things out of proportion. I'm tempted to find various news bits like Watch Dog or whatever to see if we can just make the co-ops disappear. I'd rather have Green Mountain Energy back anyhow.

So, apparently OneSource is having issues. Yesterday I had problems hitting anything but Google sites (gmail, google, blogspot, etc) and even that was a struggle.

Now, I'm having issues getting to the Google sites. Just about everything else is fine. Nice.

So much fun.

I'm posting this from my phone, only because I am beyond annoyed. I planned to catch up today on my f-list, but our internet connection is down right now. Ugh.

Edited to add:

Internet connection is back but all the tabs I had saved in Fx are now toast (history only saved part of them). This has not been my day. I am going to try to go through each friend (alphabetically because it's easier) and catch up that way. zyada, I swear I will comment on your recent posts sometime this year, but it might take me a while to get there. :(

*sigh*

ETA: Posting from the phone again. My internet is now only letting me connect to gmail (seriously). Ugh. I am not meant to catch up today. Sorry guys. I have lots to say to you all, too. Figures.

Apparently companies are hiring monkeys to deliver various items from door to door now. Actually, now that I think about it, it's likely they're not even hiring monkeys since monkeys are more intelligent than this. I'm not sure what they're hiring to do the job.

Today, we received a Verizon phone book. I'm not sure why since we don't have Verizon. This is the third phone book from as many companies within the past few months. We don't use phone books. I don't understand why now, when we don't use physical phone books, we're all of a sudden getting what seems like thousands of them, and years ago, before computers and internet access were standard in every home, we had to fight to get just one phone book sent to the house.

I'm not so upset by the receipt of the phone book (although it's an unnecessary waste of resources). I'm upset with the delivery of the phone book. Whoever (or whatever) delivered the phone book threw it at the front porch (most likely standard practice). However, in doing so, the phone book hit the front door and literally shook the house. I checked the door on the way in from getting the mail this afternoon and noticed there is now a large chip of paint missing. Nice. If they're sending out phone books to entice people to switch to their service, perhaps they might want to hire competent people to make that first impression.

Urgh. Sorry for the rant.

This (somewhat graphic - weak stomachs need not click) is absolutely awful! This poor woman! I've verified with Snopes, the story is quite true.

This is yet another reason I absolutely despise Wal*Mart and refuse to shop there.

Meh.

Of course, they wait to take these off the shelves (I don't think they even did a recall) until they have more than one complaint about this and they wait until September when most people are done buying flip flops, just to make a stupid buck or two. That company just disgusts me.

This isn't going to be a long post with me going on and on about how much I love Christmas, believe it or not. I've done that recently and don't plan to do it again for at least another week. ;) This post is actually me being frustrated with the retail sector trying to increase shopping time by starting sales in March!! What!?! I see Christmas as a very special time, and that specialness is partly due to the fact that Christmas happens once a year and isn't celebrated all year long and thereby turned into a regular day just like any other. Every year, some store or another puts out Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier and it is SO frustrating!

Don't get me wrong. I love buying Christmas decorations and wrapping paper and such (in December and January). I love making Christmas gifts for people all year long. I love getting my Christmas shopping done early, even if I don't save the big money that sales on Black Friday can offer me. I am just annoyed that stores are putting Christmas merchandise out earlier and earlier. Every year they do this they scrape a little more warmth away from the holiday, a little more spirit.

I realize Christmas means different things to different people. I realize it doesn't mean anything to some people but means everything to others. I don't know many people on either side, though, who believe that Christmas items should be in stores starting in February or March. I think it makes the people who dislike Christmas hate it that much more, and the people who like Christmas become complacent about the holiday and not care if they celebrate it or not. Isn't the loss of wonder partly due to the over commercialization of the holiday in the first place?

There was a time when many of our every day items were reserved for special occasions, when certain events were special because people didn't have access to the items they offered all the time. There was a time when children would be excited to go rollerskating or to a bounce house or even to get a snow cone because they didn't have access to those things at home. There was a time people didn't eat dessert all the time and it was just reserved for holidays. There was a time when family gatherings and various holidays actually meant something because of all the excitement in the air of special treats to be had.

While I can't say some of these things are necessarily bad ideas, it just makes that excitement so hard to find again. If the retail industry is going to take the excitement of all of those special times away by offering funnel cakes at restaurants and corn dogs in stores, or by making bounce houses affordable so every Joe Schmoe can buy one, the least they can do is leave Christmas alone and let it remain a special time of year. Let people be able to experience the excitement they had while growing up. Let them be little kids again. Don't ruin that by selling Christmas items nearly all year long. It does nothing but kill the excitement for those of us who truly love Christmas and make the people who hate Christmas hate it even more.

All I can say is Facebook is being pretty freakin' lame over this.

Between the Applebee's incident and now this (among other things, I'm sure), I swear people are working pretty hard at pissing off a lot of mothers.

I don't go looking for articles like this, really I don't, so when these articles reach me, I figure it's pretty much global news. I wouldn't consider myself a lactivist, but I am very much pro-breastfeeding. I don't hold it against anyone if they choose not to breastfeed. I understand it doesn't work out for some people. Heaven knows we had our fair share of issues with nursing. I just get so frustrated that people can be so closed minded to think that breastfeeding might be considered obscene.

I posted a similar entry last year after the whole Baby Talk cover incident. I just wish people would freakin' grow up already.

Having a baby must have made me a complete computer idiot. I have a web cam on this laptop. I see the web cam in the device manager and can find the uninstall feature for the web cam. What I can't seem to locate, however, is how to turn on the bloody thing!

I see no mention of it in any of the programs installed on the computer, in any of the help files on the computer, or in any of the literature that came with the computer. Has having a baby reduced my brain to absolute mush that I can't figure out something as simple as a web cam? Have I been out of the tech world too long?

It seems as though we have new neighbors. It also seems as though these neighbors have a dog. From the dog's barking, it sounds like a somewhat small dog that likes to yap all the time, even more than Chui. Between the dog and the baby teething, I'm sure we'll be getting plenty of sleep tonight.

I really hope this is a temporary thing related to the neighbors moving into the house and not a permanent fixture. I'm not sure which is worse, listening to the dog yap or listening to Chui whine to be let outside so he can make a break for it and boff the dog.

I might be using a pair of B's earplugs tonight....

I am so tired of seeing Simpsons everywhere. There was a time years ago when I actually liked The Simpsons, back when they were still on the Tracy Ullman Show. I even recorded the first season of The Simpsons in its entirety because I loved the shorts so much on the Tracy Ullman Show. After the first season I lost interest, and now whenever I try to watch it I just become aggravated that it's even still on the air.

I do like some of Matt Groening's other work. I'm not overly fond of Futurama, but I love Life in Hell. I'm a little disappointed Groening decided to not use Life in Hell on the Tracy Ullman Show.

At least people aren't still saying "Eat my shorts" all the time.

• Little Miss Thang is teething. She has four molars all trying to pop into existence at once. I suppose it's best this way, but this can make for a seriously cranky baby.


• I *really* need to purchase a new cordless mouse. My feet keep getting caught on the cord of my old mouse.


• .


• I need a vacation from life. Would someone please stop the merry-go-round and let me take a breather?


• I still need to get the pictures transferred from my camera to my computer from my trip up north.


• We made a little trip to IKEA the other day and have found the new furniture for the office. I'll probably sell our current desks on craigslist or something.


• Once B gets the drawers installed in the bathroom cabinets I'll be able to do some serious organizing in there and then we'll be ready to paint. I've picked a serious red, but I'm not sure if we should do the entire bedroom/bathroom or if we should do one room and not the other, or if we should just do an accent wall. Thankfully, it's only paint and isn't permanent.


• After the master suite comes the new office. That means tearing down the old guest bedroom and moving it into the dining room. I do not look forward to the work involved in this project. We'll have to make another trip to IKEA since we didn't purchase the office furniture yet.


• When the new office is finished, we'll tear down the old office and move everything (only what is necessary and in a very organized manner!!!) to the new office, sell off what we don't intend to keep, and then paint the new guest bedroom and reassemble everything.


• The dining room is last on our list, but I'm pretty excited to do that room since we found some interesting window treatments and lighting at IKEA as well.


• We have shelving that needs to be hung in the living room and a message center that needs to be hung in the kitchen.


• Sophie's signing is out of control. I have no idea how many words she signs. I can't keep up with her.


• She jabbers all the time (which I love to hear). It sounds like she has some pretty serious stories to tell.


• Big words seem to be her favorites when she's talking. Butterfly and watermelon are words she loves to say. I need to take video.


• She's walking everywhere now. She still crawls from time to time or wants to be carried every now and then, but she really loves to walk. She walks in circles just to be walking sometimes.


• I love when she sits on the floor (on her big cloth diapered gBooty) and spins around in circles. The kid cracks me up.


• I need a haircut.


• I will be making cherry freezer jam. I hope it's not a total train wreck.


• I believe I've done this before, but it's been a while. It is not:


• CPU unit


• ATM machine


• NIC card


• ICU unit


• LAN/WAN network


• PCA anywhere

Oy.

I am awful about critiquing writing I see everywhere, from blogs to actual websites, from email to snail mail, from cereal boxes to children's books. Anything that is meant to be professional is critiqued more harshly, but I still have issues with basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation found in casual writing. The only two media that ever really escape critiquing from me are instant messages and text messages. It's pathetic of me, I know, but I seriously can't help myself. I don't understand how it can be so difficult for people to know the basics, or to let spell check work for them. I understand spell check won't catch words like your and you're, but it will catch many other mistakes.

Of course, this isn't to say I'm perfect when it comes to my grammar, spelling, or punctuation. I know I make mistakes, some of which I'm sure I'll never catch. I have no problem with someone pointing out my mistakes, and wish more people would. I know a lot of my attitude about basic writing skills stems from teaching it for so long. Sadly, I've made mistakes while teaching (big mistakes, like teaching "it's" and "its" incorrectly!) and I'm probably overly cautious now because of this.

I know I have several complaints about various abuses that annoy me to no end, but my major annoyances are listed below:

• imput - This word does not exist. The correct word is input.


• should of - This includes might of, could of, and others. The second word is not of, it's have.


• all the sudden - I know this is an idiom and I'm sure this usage is most likely regional, but I simply cannot accept all the sudden as being correct. This is more personal preference than anything. The only thing that sounds right to me is all of a sudden.


• they're, there, and their - I am amazed at how many people honestly don't know the difference between the three. I understand honest mistakes (I've made plenty myself), but some people just don't know it.
• they're - contraction of they are
• there - not here but over there (shows location)
• their - belonging to them
  
• whose, who's - This one always makes me stop and think, so I understand how someone might make a mistake with these two words.
• whose - belonging to someone
• who's - contraction of who is or who has
• it's, its - I know this one very well, especially after teaching it incorrectly to a group of third graders years ago.
• it's - contraction of it is or it has
• its - belonging to it
  
• who vs. that - I make this mistake more when I'm tired than any other time and sometimes I miss it when proofing. Who refers to people while that refers to things or groups. I know I'm being vague, so here is an example:
• correct: "I am a mother who does not work outside the home."
• incorrect: "I am a mother that does not work outside the home."
• who vs. whom - I make mistakes with this all the time as well. I was taught a neat trick years ago that helps, though. If it is possible to replace the word with him, then the correct word is whom. I'm not entirely positive this works in all situations, but from what I can tell, it does.


• wierd - Plainly put, weird is not spelled wierd.


• alot - This really is two words (a lot), not one.


• good vs. well - Good is an adjective (and a poor one at that). Well is an adverb.
• correct: I am well. My dog eats well. The dinner was good.
• incorrect: I am good (while it might work, it does not mean the same thing). My dog eats good. The dinner was well.
• ect - I assume when people type ect they mean et cetera (etc.).


• misuse or abuse of punctuation - Commas and apostrophes are the two most abused punctuation marks in my experience. Some people feel the need to use more of both of these marks than necessary.


• ending sentences with prepositions - I make this mistake a lot, especially when I'm speaking. I think this might be partially due to region. It's easy to confuse prepositions with phrasal verbs, but a sentence typically does not end with a preposition.
• correct: "Where are my keys?"
• incorrect: "Where are my keys at?"

Useful links:

• The Elements of Style
• Commonly Confused Words Test
• The Write Source
• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
• Pain in the English
• Common Errors in English
• Business English Lessons
• Writing, Clear and Simple

The purpose of this post is not to offend. I understand that personal blogs can be just quick journal entries and don't necessarily need to be proofread. My biggest gripe is with anything professional that allows poor grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation. This post was prompted by a poorly written children's book in Sophie's collection. I really need to remember to contact the publisher of this book since this is how children wind up learning poor habits.

I had quite the entry going when my APC backup decided to crap out and kill the computer in the process. This has annoyed me enough that I don't care to retype what I'd already typed. Thanks for autosaving there, Semagic. It autosaved the links I posted in a comment somewhere else but cleaned up in Semagic.

*grumble*

• I finally caved and joined the masses at MySpace. Amazingly enough it has put me in touch with people I never thought I would see again, even some people I had almost forgotten. I don't know if I'll bother to copy the blogs from here to there or if I'll just leave the blog there blank.
• Cordless mouse death makes me sad.
• .
• We are going to go to Abilene to see Signing Time! Live at KidzFest. I'm pretty excited. I hope Sophie enjoys it.
• Yesterday while at Target Sophie signed shoes when we passed the shoes and clothes while we were in the clothing section. She also signed bananas when I put some in the cart, but big surprise there.
• Apparently, some wanker is trying to phish for credit card information via phone. I received a phone call today from 561-204-5441 (probably not the correct phone number) with a pre-recorded message stating something about being eligible for a lower APR and to press one to speak to an agent. I pressed one and the man asked me for my last name. Before giving him anything I asked for the name of the company and promptly heard a distinct click.
• I have the headache from hell right now and just want to go to bed and sleep it off, but Sophie would much rather play. Silly kid, what is she thinking? ;)
• The critter is trying very hard to drink out of a big girl cup now. She doesn't want to have anything to do with those silly sippy cups when she's trying to drink water. It's very cute but can also be very messy if I'm not careful.
• In Texas, all students are required to take the TAKS test at some point (several times, if it's anything like the standardized tests we used to take when I was in school many moons ago). I have no opinion one way or the other about the TAKS test in particular since I don't know enough about it, and I'm not going to voice my opinions about standardized testing right now. I just hope and pray that the person in this picture isn't one of the students trying to graduate without passing the TAKS test.

Hmm. I've got a whole lot of nothin' right now.

Edited to add: This was actually written June 1, 2007, but failed to post until June 4, 2007.

Okay, whoever is hitting LJ with DDoS attacks is really starting to annoy me. I'm only going to assume that's why I can't post again today (longer post, not this).

LJ hates me today. I can't seem to get longer comments or posts to go through. Maybe this is a sign and someone is trying to tell me I talk too much.

Nah.

• Other drivers really annoy me, especially those who feel it is unnecessary to pay attention to traffic lights.
• Poor grammar on professional websites offends me and typically leads me away from said websites.
• .
• Alarmists need to relax more than I do.
• Sophie amuses me quite often. She loves to play with the keyboard, and prefers it to be the one I am using and not the extra one I set out for her.
• During nap/nursing time, I have found that she enjoys it when my leg pushes her leg up. She starts to laugh and can't nurse when she laughs.
• Nap times are starting to change and I'm not ready for that.
• Dora the Explorer is evil.
• We had radiant barrier and more insulation sprayed in this past week.

I'm sure there's more but Sophie's nap takes priority.

At this particular moment in time, I actually like Sprint a LOT more than I like Cingular. While the reception was less than perfect, the user interface on the Sprint phones is much friendlier and I was actually able to do more on my old Sprint phone than on my new Cingular phone.

Customer service for both companies still stinks, but the local store for Cingular is very helpful at least.

Hopefully, my opinion will change soon since I have a feeling we're stuck with them for a while. B loves his new phone. Maybe I should just stop using the phone the way I do and exhange mine for a freebie.

Nah.

If you have a LiveJournal account and care to comment on anything I have posted, feel free, but please sign into LiveJournal first. If you don't have a LiveJournal account, please at least sign your name at the end of your comment.

Please. :)

I wish people wouldn't get so bent out of shape over things like this. Personally, I would much rather see a woman breastfeeding than a couple swapping spit. I'm not saying breastfeeding is right for everyone or that it works for everyone (heaven knows I've had my share of problems with breastfeeding), but if a family decides to breastfeed, they should be allowed to do so wherever they may be. The baby doesn't only get hungry at home, and the mother shouldn't be expected to be a prisoner in her own home while the baby is still nursing.

With all the crap that is on television now, one might think that people wouldn't be such prudes.

I am so beyond tired of dramatic bullshit in my life. I wish people could just figure out that not only did I just have major surgery and need time to recuperate, but I gave birth to a baby and my hormones are all out of whack.

Just because I don't offer you a chance to hold the baby doesn't mean I don't want you to hold the baby or think you're incapable of holding the baby. Believe me, if I didn't trust you with the baby you wouldn't be allowed within miles of my child. I don't care if you're the president or Mother Teresa or Dr. Spock. She is so tiny and so helpless and so reliant on me that I will do whatever possible to protect her. If you're even in my house, I trust you enough to hold her. I'm tired and am not thinking clearly. Just because I make some remark that can be taken multiple ways doesn't mean I intended the remark to be taken in a bad way. I'm not out to hurt anyone right now, especially since I can use all the help I can get. If I don't seem appreciative, I'm sorry. I only have so much energy, and right now I'm trying to use as much of that to heal my body and care for my baby as possible.


Cut me a little slack here, please.

Thank you.

I read somewhere that a pregnant woman's biggest pet peeve is often having other people touch her swollen belly. I have found I don't mind this at all, but complete strangers aren't touching my belly, either. That might bother me. I also read somewhere that many women become irritated by the repetition of questions such as "Are you ever having that baby?" and "Are you having twins?" and the like. Those questions don't bother me quite so much because I like to believe that the person asking the question may be genuinely interested.

What does bother me, however, is the incessant advice (most of it well-intentioned, I'm sure). The know-it-all parent who can't contain all of their information and feels the need to pass it on to me unsolicited simply drives me insane. I don't care if this person is a family member, a friend, a co-worker, a stranger, or a flippin' expert in child care or parenting, if I want advice, I will seek it out. Anyone who knows me well knows this to be true. I've asked plenty of questions along the way, and when I do, I am able to look at the responses with an open mind, knowing I'm still in the information gathering stage. If I've passed that point and have already made a decision based on pros and cons from opinions from friends and various other research online and in books, it just serves to annoy. Too many people (nearly everyone who stops to talk to me) assume I am just like them and therefore will want to do everything exactly the way they did it. It gets old, people. Really.

I have been listening to advice for the past nine months and have been trying to couple it with my background in childhood education and everything I learned while I was in school. I understand I haven't been a parent before, but these people need to understand they haven't been me before. They do not know my background most of the time. They do not know my experiences with my family while growing up. They do not know if I ever babysat or changed a diaper, even. They have no clue if I know how to warm a bottle or burp a baby. They don't know my annual income or ask about ways I plan to supplement that income if I stay at home. They don't know what sacrifices I am willing to make to watch my child grow up and spend time with her helping her learn about the world. The most annoying part of it all is they don't even bother to ask, and sometimes I don't think they care. People just automatically assume everyone wants to listen to what they have to say.

Newsflash: Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all happen to stink at some point or another. Yes, this includes me. Don't be surprised if I tell you that your opinion stinks if I didn't ask for it in the first place.

As a mommy-to-be, I have had almost nine months to worry about thousands of things all pertaining to my little bundle of joy. I am scared to death she may not be healthy, or she may not be intelligent, or she may be ugly as sin. I am worried she won't make friends and will have a difficult time growing up or will hang out with the wrong crowd. I am concerned she may be lazy and lack ambition. I know there is a possibility one of the detergents we've bought for her laundry will irritate her skin. I know she might wind up being allergic to dogs. I realize she might not like the breast or can't quite figure out how to latch on. I have given great thought to the fact that she may hate my taste in clothing or may despise my growing love for all things pink. I understand that what I believe now, what I want now, that my opinions as they are right now, may (and most likely will) change. I'm ok with that. I am prepared for a lot more than what people actually give me credit. That doesn't mean I'm going to worry less, or that I am going to change my opinions based on what they have to say right at this moment. That also doesn't mean I haven't considered what they have to say already. Most likely, their opinions have made it to my lists of pros, cons, and miscellany, several times even. This is the most difficult thing for mothers to handle, letting go and watching their children learn for themselves, to make their own mistakes and flounder a bit.

I have spoken with my sisters about this. I'm sure they have tried to give me advice, or will try to give me advice, whether I ask for it or not, and they'll feel bad when they realize what they've done because this annoys them as well. They have learned that in dealing with babies, all the mothers come out of the woodwork to give advice, whether requested or not. It seems to be what mothers do best. It's almost like an infestation. They smell that baby and immediately flock to impart words of wisdom, whether wanted or not. Of course, I come from a family of know-it-alls, so I am just as guilty as the next person of doing this. My sisters and I know when to spout off (usually) and when to clam up (again, usually) and we tend to argue a lot because we all know everything (right). I'm sure that when I found out about their miscarriages that I spouted off some general knowledge about how common it was and that it annoyed them to no end. I know I'm guilty of such things. Maybe this is why it annoys me so much. I try very hard to catch myself, but it doesn't always work.

It is difficult to sit and listen to advice for any length of time when it arrives unsolicited. To my advice giving friends and family (and I have a lot): I appreciate your concern, I really, really do, please believe that. I do not want that you should discontinue providing advice, but please, limit it to when asked. Please do not be offended by this entry because you are not what prompted it, believe me. Unsolicited advice from strangers is by far the worst advice ever (whether it's good advice or bad, it's more annoying than anything).

To all the mommies-to-be I know: Take this to heart. As one of my sisters told me, just ignore the annoyances. Let them roll right off your back. Don't let what others have to say affect you so much. While this may be my biggest pet peeve of pregnancy, it may not be yours, so you may not even have to worry about it. You may have to worry about the tummy touchers instead. If that's the case, so be it, and tell me to shut up. Really.

I promise to try not to touch the tummies or ask those silly questions or provide unsolicited advice again. I'll probably slip up at some point, but please know I'll be trying to behave!

:)