Road Rage

I have a dream ... of one day living in a city where people don't honk at you repeatedly, flash their lights, get out of their cars in stopped traffic to bang on your window, and order you to move up 2 inches so they can squeeze by in a lane that doesn't even exist.  Yes that happened to me tonight.  Unbelievable.  I was livid.  I was at a traffic light 1 block from my condo.  The light was red, traffic stopped all around and I was in the far right lane behind several cars.  There is another right lane that develops a little past where I was stopped, and sometimes small cars can squeeze through into the far right lane before it actually exists, and go on their way.  There was a gas guzzling Cadillac Escalade behind me, who wanted to squeeze into that soon-to-exist far right lane, that started honking his horn and flashing his lights.  I knew this jackass jerk wanted to get past me, but I really couldn't move up much more, and he only had to wait maybe 45 seconds before the light would change and traffic would start to move again.  Besides, I think it's so rude when people honk or flash their lights to tell you to move out of their way.  As if where they are going is more important that where you are going!  So I stayed put.  Apparently 45 seconds was too much for this jackass jerk to wait.  He took it to the next level.  He got out of his gas guzzling Escalade, in stopped traffic remember, and knocked on my back window and yelled for me to move up.  I saw him coming in my rear view mirror so when he knocked, I swung my head around with so much rage, pointed my finger directly at him, and yelled at the top of my lungs "don't you DARE touch my car!"  I was shocked at my own level of rage at this person but I think he was even more shocked to see the pure anger in my eyes.

The dumbest thing about the whole incident: After he'd taken the time to get out of his car and harass me, the light had changed, and I drove on.  He, on the other hand, still had to walk back to his gas guzzler, get back in the car, shut the door, put the car in drive, and then pull forward - all while the cars behind him waited.  He actually lost more time by harassing me, instead of just waiting 45 seconds for the light to change. 

That is L.A. drivers for you.  L.A. drivers make NYC taxicab drivers look like puppy dogs.  And L.A. traffic, well, that's a whole other post.

Who makes the bed in the morning, anyhow?!?!

Whew!  We had two impromptu showings of our condo today.  One was completely a surprise and one was scheduled to come this evening but showed up 1 hour early.  Learning to keep the condo in "show condition" has been a challenge for me.  I don't usually go around making sure everything is in its place, and sometimes, okay most of the time, I don't even bother to make the bed in the morning.  (My mother will not be surprised to hear that confession).  So it's a good thing that as I dashed out the door for my lunch appointment I decided to make the bed.  By the time I'd turned my phone back on only one hour later, someone had come and gone through my condo and the only indication I had was my agent's message on my voice mail telling me a buyer was in the neighborhood and was coming.  Fine by me.  I just want to sell and if that means I have to make the bed every time I leave the house, okey-dokey. 

Four Months

Four Month Picture.  The little peanut is about 5.5 inches long from head to rump.  This photo makes my face look fat although I don't think I've actually gained any facial weight yet - at least that's what my law school friends tell me, so I'm sticking with their story!

Four Months (18 weeks)

New Things: 
I feel huge already.  Sleeping is getting a little uncomfortable.  I don't enjoy wearing pants anymore.  I've discovered that the little peanut loves McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffins.  I still easily fit into my size 4 maternity jeans so even though my behind looks like it's growing at the same rate as my belly, it's really not, which is a relief.  If I continue to eat McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffins my behind will likely start growing at the same rate as my belly.

Check out the fudge cake BA decorated HIMSELF to celebrate the news!

It tastes as good as it looks!

Hotel Living

I love hotels.  In fact, if I could afford to, I would probably live in a hotel.  A nice one, of course - I have my standards.  Think about it: your room and bathroom are cleaned for you everyday, there's an on-site gym and pool that's maintained for you, if you have noisy neighbors or the plumbing isn't working you just call the front desk and they "take care of it", and if you are hungry you order room service.  Room service is like food delivered from heaven's kitchen - it just appears at your door, you eat it, then it goes away.  No preparing, no cleaning up. 

We are staying in a hotel right now because we had a leak in our condo that's started to smell like mildew to my super-sensitive pregnant nose.  Luckily we have enough hotel points so that this stay is completely free to us (even more reason to love hotels).  So until our little leak is fixed, hopefully tomorrow, we are "living" at the Marriott and I am loving it. 

Swim Trunks or Hula Skirt - Part II

I had my 16 week doctors appointment today.  This appointment was supposed to tell us the sex of the baby, if the baby wasn't being "modest."  Well, for the first time in its life, the little peanut was being "modest" with one leg tucked under, but my doctor was able to make an educated prediction based on what she could see.  This isn't 100% for sure, but it's pretty good.

Before I reveal the doctor prediction, here's a reminder of my family prediction poll.

Haley - Girl
Mom - Boy
Dad - Boy
Wanda - Boy
Priscilla - Boy
Frank - Boy
Me - Boy
BA - Boy


So it turns out that Haley really is the family genius after all!



We are PROBABLY having a HULA SKIRT!!!

 

I have a confession to make.  We've known it was probably a hula skirt for about 3 weeks.  When I went for my first trimester screening I had a high definition ultrasound done and both the ultrasound technician and the doctor independently predicted a girl based on a very clear shot of "the area" during two screenings.  Because it was so early, 13.5 weeks, I wanted to wait for a 3rd confirmation from my doctor today before we announced the sex.  Because I had 2 independent predictions in high-def, plus my doctor's educated guess today, I felt comfortable announcing that IT'S A GIRL, even though we couldn't get a clear shot of "the area" today. 

Needless to say, we won't be buying any pink furniture yet, but BA has started saving $$ for her wedding :)

Swim Trunks or Hula Skirt - Part I

We've been planning a trip to Hawaii with BA's parents for next year after the baby is born.  When I found out I was pregnant I wondered if I would have to buy a hula skirt or swim trunks for the little peanut to take on the trip.  So before we found out the gender verdict, I wanted to see what everyone's guesses were on what we are having.  So here is the Swim Trunks or Hula Skirt Family Poll.  (*this is not what people are hoping we have, just what they think we will have)

Haley - Girl
Mom - Boy
Dad - Boy
Wanda - Boy
Priscilla - Boy
Frank - Boy
Me - Boy
BA - Boy

So far the Swim Trunks have the lead in my completely non-scientific, and totally irrelevant, family prediction poll.  I'll (hopefully) find out tomorrow if I'll be buying exhibit A or exhibit B.

Real Estate is Not for Me

I used to think flipping houses would be fun.  Not anymore.  We are trying to sell our condo and it has been ... an experience.  I don't want to say much on the subject, because frankly I'm exhausted, but trying to organize, stage, and clean our 1 bedroom has been way more stressful than renting ever was.  We spent Saturday moving all our extra stuff into a storage unit.  Actually, BA spent most of Saturday moving into the storage unit - I'm not supposed to lift more than 25 lbs so after carrying two loads of pillows I was done.  He did most of the work.  It will be nice once the sale is over and we can move on to a bigger place.

Margaritaville

BA and I went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries for lunch on Saturday.  Now just being able to go there and eat a cheeseburger was a huge step for me, because just 1 month ago I couldn't stand the smell of the place.  While we were eating, the Jimmy Buffett song "Margaritaville" came on the radio.  It's always a treat to hear Jimmy Buffett because for some reason they don't play him very often in California.  Growing up in Florida, I heard Buffett practically everyday, all day.  And I really miss hearing those classic Jimmy Buffett songs out here.  So "Margaritaville" came on and it made me think, naturally, of margaritas.  I love margaritas, especially the ones my Granny D. makes - they are super strong ;)  But of course, I haven't had a margarita in over 3 months and it got me thinking about what foods and drinks I miss most.

Believe it or not, I don't actually miss alcohol.  I know some of you out there find that hard to believe based on my past love of mojitos and margaritas (and I do love them), but really, I don't miss the hard liquor.  Back in early November BA's parents came to L.A. to visit us.  We went out to eat a couple times over the course of the week and I kept coming up with silly excuses not to order a drink (like, "I need to do some studying when I get home so no wine for me.")  I didn't know I was pregnant then, but I knew it was a possibility so I was playing it safe.  Apparently, BA's mom suspected that something was up because after we announced the baby news at Christmas, she revealed that she suspected I might be pregnant because I wasn't drinking back in November when they came to visit!  I'm impressed at her attention to detail, but slightly concerned about my reputation as the "family lush" (my words, not hers).  I'm just kidding, I actually got a good laugh out of it. 

So what do I miss?  I miss the occasional glass of red wine with dinner.  I miss sushi.  I miss Italian food (haven't been able to bring that back into the mix yet).  I miss regular Coca-Cola (although I sneak some every now and then).  And I miss Jimmy Buffett!