After 11 months of inactivity, I have decided to return to the blogging world - as a mother. Yes, my husband and I welcomed a baby daughter on May 13th, and couldn't be happier to have her here!
My pregnancy was awful - I was sick for the first 4 months, followed by 5 months of doctors visits to try and diagnose my mystery illness; which, by they way, merely turned out to be pregnancy itself. Due to my "mystery illness" my doctor recommended that I be induced in order to guarantee she would be able to attend the delivery. I jumped at the opportunity to finish being pregnant at 39 weeks and scheduled the induction for Friday, May 13th and this was the first of my 3 mistakes. I will never be induced again - girl scouts honor. I won't go into details, but lets just say that the morning of the induction, magically my platelet count dropped and in combination with my "mystery illness" I was unable to receive and epidural. I was not informed of this little...inconvenience...until I was 4 hours into the induction. Be that as it may, I was not at all prepared for childbirth...mistake number 2...I was sure to call all my pregnant friends immediately after I scarfed down my Burger King double bacon burger and large fry and try and convince them to take childbirth classes no matter how much hooey they thought they were. I didn't want to wait to let them know, lest I lay eyes on my new, beautiful daughter and magically forget all the pain. P.S. I still remember the pain.
You may be wondering what mistake number 3 was...evidently, it was not keeping my cell phone on during the delivery. My mother, clearly worried that I hadn't called her every step of the way, took it upon herself to call the delivery ward of the hospital. You wouldn't think that you could be embarrassed after the delivery of a baby...not at all true. When the nurse entered my room moments after delivery and asked me if I knew "so and so." I felt my face flush as the entire room erupted into laughter when I admitted that it was my mother and shooed my husband out of the room to answer her call. Needless to say, she arrived the next day.
So far motherhood has been pretty decent. In the beginning it was more or less like I had reverted to college - only without the booze. There was no sleep, numerous outfit changes in a day and I tried to read all the books I should have read before she was born in mere days. No matter how hard I tried, historical fiction always beat out the parenting books. Evidently, I felt as if parenting would come just as naturally as the childbirth I also failed to read up on.
After a little trial and error on our part, we have pretty much settled into our new life with the little girl. She is slowly, but surely, starting to sleep through the night and everyday it seems she does something she didn't do the day before. I think I might be okay with this new role...
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
To Mexico and back again...
Well we made it...I'm not going to sugar coat it; living in Phoenix we are constantly barraged with the going ons in Mexico along the border and frankly I was just a {smidgen} scared of venturing into the country. But I was pleasantly surprised.
The husband and I landed in Cancun on a Wednesday to 90 degree temperatures and 100% humidity. At first it was a nice change from 108 dry heat of the Sonoran Desert. Waiting for our transport to Playa del Carmen we enjoyed an adult beverage from the over-priced airport cantina under wispy palms, relishing the soft ocean breeze. The transportation representative was reassuring us that it would only be two more minutes before our resort van would be there to pick us up; this would be our first taste to just how different time is viewed from country to country. Two minutes passed by, then ten and fifteen. "Just two minutes more, Senor," we were assured. My drink was gone in the first two minutes and now I was left with a lime and melting ice, but we were not let down and soon we were being ushered to our awaiting van and swept off to our resort, a mere 50 minutes from the Cancun Airport.
Upon reaching our resort we were met with friendly faces and some sort of appletini...I think. Another {short} two minutes and were being led to our room. I was impressed by the room, albeit the bed was a bit hard, but after a scrumptious dinner filled with Italian fare of linguine and clams and a couple more beverages any bed was a welcomed sight.
The next morning after breakfast we made our way out to the Caribbean to catch some rays and enjoy some reading. This didn't last very long as the pages in my book begin to look as if someone had given them a perm. Note to self: Paper and humidity do not mix. I would have to finish the book I renewed from the library, four times to date, another time. This did, however, free our time to enjoy the "tranquility pool" on the roof where little did I know I would incur the most epic sunburn of all time.
Yes, my nose was purple, but that does not compare to the disaster that used to be my chest. It was so burned it was white. I didn't even know this could happen! Regardless, after encountering the dry, freezing air on the plane coming home, my skin has begun to look like a broiled chicken thigh, the kind with the crispy skin.
With a burn of such epic proportions, I felt it was important to try and avoid the sun as much as possible for the rest of the trip, but we were in Mexico. Outside of the water the sun and humidity started to become a little oppressive, so I found myself applying sunscreen every 15 or so minutes and submerging my body as far as I could into the water. I managed to not re-burn the already too burned portions of my body and I am content with that.
For the rest of the trip I managed to stay virtually unscathed, outside of the infamous toe stub that landed me a date with a paramedic. Just for the record, it wasn't at all serious; I think that all other countries must view Americans as a liability. I feel silly that I was afraid to visit this country - I even ventured off the resort and into the marketplace. If I would have skipped it, I would have missed a very beautiful wedding and missed out on seeing what a wonderful country Mexico really is. Next time I visit Playa however, I think I will skip the resort, stay in the shopping district and visit in the winter.
The husband and I landed in Cancun on a Wednesday to 90 degree temperatures and 100% humidity. At first it was a nice change from 108 dry heat of the Sonoran Desert. Waiting for our transport to Playa del Carmen we enjoyed an adult beverage from the over-priced airport cantina under wispy palms, relishing the soft ocean breeze. The transportation representative was reassuring us that it would only be two more minutes before our resort van would be there to pick us up; this would be our first taste to just how different time is viewed from country to country. Two minutes passed by, then ten and fifteen. "Just two minutes more, Senor," we were assured. My drink was gone in the first two minutes and now I was left with a lime and melting ice, but we were not let down and soon we were being ushered to our awaiting van and swept off to our resort, a mere 50 minutes from the Cancun Airport.
Upon reaching our resort we were met with friendly faces and some sort of appletini...I think. Another {short} two minutes and were being led to our room. I was impressed by the room, albeit the bed was a bit hard, but after a scrumptious dinner filled with Italian fare of linguine and clams and a couple more beverages any bed was a welcomed sight.
The next morning after breakfast we made our way out to the Caribbean to catch some rays and enjoy some reading. This didn't last very long as the pages in my book begin to look as if someone had given them a perm. Note to self: Paper and humidity do not mix. I would have to finish the book I renewed from the library, four times to date, another time. This did, however, free our time to enjoy the "tranquility pool" on the roof where little did I know I would incur the most epic sunburn of all time.
With a burn of such epic proportions, I felt it was important to try and avoid the sun as much as possible for the rest of the trip, but we were in Mexico. Outside of the water the sun and humidity started to become a little oppressive, so I found myself applying sunscreen every 15 or so minutes and submerging my body as far as I could into the water. I managed to not re-burn the already too burned portions of my body and I am content with that.
Surprisingly I made it through the wedding with only several people commenting on the unhealthy hue of my skin. I must give credit where due and most were quite couth simply stating, "Oh, my, you got a little pink, dear." Indeed I did.
For the rest of the trip I managed to stay virtually unscathed, outside of the infamous toe stub that landed me a date with a paramedic. Just for the record, it wasn't at all serious; I think that all other countries must view Americans as a liability. I feel silly that I was afraid to visit this country - I even ventured off the resort and into the marketplace. If I would have skipped it, I would have missed a very beautiful wedding and missed out on seeing what a wonderful country Mexico really is. Next time I visit Playa however, I think I will skip the resort, stay in the shopping district and visit in the winter. Wednesday, July 14, 2010
113 and still climbing...
It was 113 today; it will be 115 tomorrow and 116 the day after. People often shake their heads and say, "Oh, but it's a dry heat." Yeah? So is an oven - just think, your food warmer is set at 120 degrees. Now comes the time every Phoenician dreams of moving to the north where there are seasons and the summer season temps top out at 100 degrees - and that is HOT. Every summer we dream of moving, every winter we are thankful for the absence of the ice and snow. Nothing beats cruising in your car the day after thanksgiving with the windows down, shorts on and Christmas music blasting. I'm trying to let this luxury distract me from the fact that tomorrow I will wake up to 91 degrees at 5:30 a.m.
The heat is especially noticeable to the husband and I now that we have returned from our vacation in Montana. We cruised into Montana on a rainy Saturday where the temperature topped out at about 60 degrees. For the first half of the week we enjoyed 60s and 70s with rain showers off an on. By the end of the week the temperature rose to a balmy 85 degrees just in time for Boat Float.
What's Boat Float, you ask? Boat Float is the one weekend of the year that puts Big Timber, Montana on the map. Hundreds of miles of river are tackled every year by a horde of drunken sailors during the second weekend of July. I'm pretty sure all 50 states and several different countries are represented as rafts, drifters and hand-crafted boats alike float down the river sounding the universal call of BOOOAAAATTTT FLLOOOAAT! This year I had the pleasure of sailing with some of the finest as three rafts were tethered together creating our own little floating island of fun. We were in want of nothing as our chef prepared bistro style sandwiches with turkey/pesto and ham/tapenade; beer was aplenty and I believe I even saw homemade margaritas!
We pulled off the river after 7 hours and 40 miles to mingle with old friends and taste some home-brewed beer. Sun-kissed and drenched, we stumbled about gaining our "land-legs" and gawking at all the other sailors - most of which are still calling out BOOOAAATTT FLLLOOOOAAATT in desperate attempts to rally the troops - their fallen comrades who aren't answering back can usually be found passed out in the rafts, back of pick-ups or off in a grassy ditch somewhere. It is best to let them rest, because tomorrow is another day of sun, floating and beer.
Only 360 days left until next year's boat float - you stay classy, Montana. I promise we will be up again next year - hopefully having recruited a new batch of boat floaters.
The heat is especially noticeable to the husband and I now that we have returned from our vacation in Montana. We cruised into Montana on a rainy Saturday where the temperature topped out at about 60 degrees. For the first half of the week we enjoyed 60s and 70s with rain showers off an on. By the end of the week the temperature rose to a balmy 85 degrees just in time for Boat Float.
What's Boat Float, you ask? Boat Float is the one weekend of the year that puts Big Timber, Montana on the map. Hundreds of miles of river are tackled every year by a horde of drunken sailors during the second weekend of July. I'm pretty sure all 50 states and several different countries are represented as rafts, drifters and hand-crafted boats alike float down the river sounding the universal call of BOOOAAAATTTT FLLOOOAAT! This year I had the pleasure of sailing with some of the finest as three rafts were tethered together creating our own little floating island of fun. We were in want of nothing as our chef prepared bistro style sandwiches with turkey/pesto and ham/tapenade; beer was aplenty and I believe I even saw homemade margaritas!
We pulled off the river after 7 hours and 40 miles to mingle with old friends and taste some home-brewed beer. Sun-kissed and drenched, we stumbled about gaining our "land-legs" and gawking at all the other sailors - most of which are still calling out BOOOAAATTT FLLLOOOOAAATT in desperate attempts to rally the troops - their fallen comrades who aren't answering back can usually be found passed out in the rafts, back of pick-ups or off in a grassy ditch somewhere. It is best to let them rest, because tomorrow is another day of sun, floating and beer.
Only 360 days left until next year's boat float - you stay classy, Montana. I promise we will be up again next year - hopefully having recruited a new batch of boat floaters.
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