This is the reason that I both love and hate Facebook...the absolute ability to stalk people. I am "friends" with the son of my old best friend Tiff and through his page, I found hers. Yup, Tiff is on Facebook. She looks incredible and has been pretty active. She is "friends" with a number of people that I am "friends" with too. Ugh.
Blogging...I have found that I am not very good at updating this little endeavour. For the three people that read this, here's the rundown
(1) I have a new job! Woo Hoo!!! I fit in here and am respected. It's awesome. Before I left my old job my boos informed me that while she respects me as an attorney she did not value me as an employee. Yeah, now you see why I left;
(2) Corrin is five months and a half months old, weighs 16.4lbs and is the definition of awesome. That said I still have some serious adjusting to do. I have been responsible for only me for a very long time, and having a child changes that drastically. I know that this is sort of a "well DUH" comment, but you never really know something until you live it.
(3) The house fell through and we are not looking for a while. I'm tired of the whole thing. One year, two failed contracts and a lot of money out of our pocket is a sign to me that now is not the time for us to buy a house.
(4) I'm speaking at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference this year. There are over 11,000 members of this organization and so to be invited to speak is a huge honor. I'm terrified.
(5) I still miss Tiff and am wondering if there is any way for me to mend this relationship. On the flip-side of that, am I a glutton for punishment and just setting myself up for more hurt?
(6) Colin is still incredible and on June 9, 2010 will be turning 30!! I can imagine that this is not a big deal to many but since it is the first time since we met that we will share a decade it's pretty exciting.
Ok - I think that's it for the random updates to Random Thoughts. Hopefully this will come more regularly but considering my track record...no promises.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Awake
It's 2:22 am and I can't sleep. There is no particular reason why, I just can't. It's possible that it has something to do with the fact that I go back to work in a week and am pretty freaked out about it. It may be because I had a big dinner celebrating our two year wedding anniversary. It may be because it's warm in the house and I can't sleep like that. Who knows, all I know is I am up sitting on my blog when all normal people my age are fast asleep in bed. Oy.
The good news is the baby is sleeping well and cute as a button on her video monitor. She tends to wiggle a little at night and I love that I can see her squirming around in her little bed without bothering her at all :).
I'm sure tomorrow I will be miserable for this little bout with insomnia, and hopefully I can manage to get some good rest over the next week. Sweet dreams everyone!
The good news is the baby is sleeping well and cute as a button on her video monitor. She tends to wiggle a little at night and I love that I can see her squirming around in her little bed without bothering her at all :).
I'm sure tomorrow I will be miserable for this little bout with insomnia, and hopefully I can manage to get some good rest over the next week. Sweet dreams everyone!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Frustration
Yes...it's been months since I've posted but I have a good excuse. I have decided that one handed typing should be a resume bullet point and something that people are very impressed with.
Today's post is not going to be all sweetness and light. Being home with the baby has been amazing and she has taught me so much in the ten short weeks that she has been on this earth. The one and only dark shadow over this entire time has been my job. The first six weeks were wretched because me boss refused to leave me alone. Calling, e-mailing, asking me to attend weekly meetings, asking me to take on new cases while I am out, asking me ridiculous questions that she could easily figure out for herself and causing massive stress over money that I have earned and she is refusing to pay.
In two and a half weeks I have to go back to work. We cannot afford for me to stay home right now, as much as I would love to, and so three days a week I have to return to that torture chamber until I find another job. After seven and a half years of loyal service she has managed to lose all respect I had for her, and now I just hope to get out of there as soon as humanly possible. UGH!!!!
Today's post is not going to be all sweetness and light. Being home with the baby has been amazing and she has taught me so much in the ten short weeks that she has been on this earth. The one and only dark shadow over this entire time has been my job. The first six weeks were wretched because me boss refused to leave me alone. Calling, e-mailing, asking me to attend weekly meetings, asking me to take on new cases while I am out, asking me ridiculous questions that she could easily figure out for herself and causing massive stress over money that I have earned and she is refusing to pay.
In two and a half weeks I have to go back to work. We cannot afford for me to stay home right now, as much as I would love to, and so three days a week I have to return to that torture chamber until I find another job. After seven and a half years of loyal service she has managed to lose all respect I had for her, and now I just hope to get out of there as soon as humanly possible. UGH!!!!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Corrin Dorothy Haggerty 12/02/2009
So this has been quite a week. Monday night I started having contractions and after about four hours we decided to head to the hospital to see if I was really in labor...no such luck. They sent me home at about 2:00 am with a pain pill and a sleeping pill and instructions to "get some rest." I thought that was pretty funny considering I was still having contractions! We went home and I did sleep a little, but was still contracting about once an hour.
Tuesday was restful as possible, we stayed home and tried to relax but it was very difficult. The baby was not moving, and we got really concerned and so made another trip to the hospital just to set me up on the monitors and make sure she was ok. As soon as we got there and got all hooked up she started kicking away like nothing was wrong. Ugh...7:00 pm and we are home again, exhausted and ready for bed already. Luckily our good friends Travis and Tracy had picked Ruth up and so we didn't have to worry about getting her exercise for the night, and decided to go to bed early.
At this point I am still contracting every hour, and have not had any hours of solid sleep since Sunday night. 3:00 am rolls around and I have a very strong contraction and decide to get up and take a bath, walk around the house, read and just try to relax. By 4:30 the contractions are coming more than four times an hour and by 5:30 am I was contracting about five to six times and decide to wake up Colin to start timing for me. We go along like this for six hours, me in pain, contractions getting stronger but never at regular time intervals. The doctors, books, internet, and everything else we have ever looked at says we have to wait until the contractions are at five minutes apart for an hour.
I decide in mid-contraction that I can't handle this anymore, and we call the doctor, who kindly says to come in. WOO HOO!!! We get to the Labor & Delivery triage and they check me out and HALLELUJIA - 4 centimeters!!! They are checking me in! I'm in LABOR!!!!! Wait...I'm in labor????? WHOA! They take me upstairs to the Labor & Delivery unit and we meet our team of medical professionals. Brad, the best anesthesiologist alive, Lea, the fantastic non-cheerleader nurse who reminds me of "Berta" from the T.V. show Two and a Half Men, and Dr. Kandal, my OB-Gyn.
Can I just say here that epidurals are miraculous. Six hours of labor at home that were supposed to be the easy ones and then another eleven at the hospital and the hospital ones were stronger and closer together and the hospital ones were not too bad at all (until I started feeling them and then Brad really took care of that). The problem was that while things were progressing, Corrin still was not dropping down to where she needed to be for me to deliver her. The doctors suggested we push for an hour to see what we can do. After an hour, nothing. She is still riding high and not wanting to go where she needs to for me to deliver.
This is where the doctor says medically, they do not think delivery the normal way is going to work, and recommend a caesarian section. This was a bummer to me, but I understood the risks to the baby and to me and this was the right way to go. We went into the room at 11:00 pm and by 11:55 Corrin Dorothy Haggerty was born and with us.
Colin, during all of this, was truly incredible. There with me every second, supporting me, helping me through contractions, supporting me when the doctors mentioned the dreaded “C” word, helping me feel like everything was going to be fine. He is amazing, and in the three days since she was born, he has proven every second that I could not ask for a better partner, and that he is an incredible husband and now, Daddy.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Words of Wisdom...
Recently I was e-mailing with a very good friend of mine lamenting about how I cannot prepare or practice for what it is going to be like with a new baby in the house...here is the advice she gave me:
"Of course you can prepare! Here's all you need to do to practice:
Eat pudding only with the opposite hand you usually rely on while holding a water balloon and swaying back and forth, cooing in between bites.
You already get up a zillion times/night to pee, so you're already prepping to replace those with feedings or to just check on her to verify she's doing all right.
Carry 7 different bags, containers, coats, water bottles, etc so every arm/hand/neck is filled, then, when you can't carry anything else, add in that water balloon and then set everything down to run back to the kitchen to get whatever 10 things you forgot.
Begin going to the store with a burp rag on your shoulder b/c there's a good chance you'll forget to remove it more than once.
Breastfeeding? Squeeze your nipples with a wrench every few hours for a few seconds then spray your chest with water to prep for those moments when you realize you've forgotten to place a liner in your bra.
There are lots more but this should give you a mini-boot camp. :-)
Oh, and find something you love more than anything in the world then imagine loving it a trillion times more every time you think, hear or look at it!"
"Of course you can prepare! Here's all you need to do to practice:
Eat pudding only with the opposite hand you usually rely on while holding a water balloon and swaying back and forth, cooing in between bites.
You already get up a zillion times/night to pee, so you're already prepping to replace those with feedings or to just check on her to verify she's doing all right.
Carry 7 different bags, containers, coats, water bottles, etc so every arm/hand/neck is filled, then, when you can't carry anything else, add in that water balloon and then set everything down to run back to the kitchen to get whatever 10 things you forgot.
Begin going to the store with a burp rag on your shoulder b/c there's a good chance you'll forget to remove it more than once.
Breastfeeding? Squeeze your nipples with a wrench every few hours for a few seconds then spray your chest with water to prep for those moments when you realize you've forgotten to place a liner in your bra.
There are lots more but this should give you a mini-boot camp. :-)
Oh, and find something you love more than anything in the world then imagine loving it a trillion times more every time you think, hear or look at it!"
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Missing a Friend
Once, a very long time ago, I had a friend named Tiff. She is beautiful, absolutely hilarious, and I have known her since I was four. We have gone through some of the hardest times of our lives together, we have been there to share joys, sorrows, laughs and tears that are countless.
Over the years Tiff developed a drinking problem that became too much for me to handle and watch. As she slid into the depths of alcoholism we grew further apart and eventually, I had to cut off all communication with her. It was one of the most heart breaking moments of my life, and to this day I still feel some regret for it. That was February of 2008.
I am still close with her parents and little brother and hear that she is sober now, which fills me with a joy that is unimaginable. Unfortunately, our friendship has not mended. I call her and send texts on holidays and birthdays. When I told her I could not speak to her anymore I told her I will always love her, but refuse to support her in killing herself. I told her that I will be there for her the second she wants me when she is sober, that no matter what I support her and love her, just that I cannot watch her do what she was doing to herself and her children.
On days like today, when I am feeling nostalgic, and days away from having a baby I think a lot of Tiff, of how she has two beautiful children who are amazing little kids. How she will not be there when Corrin is born, and how I am crushed that our friendship did not endure. I miss her so much, and want so badly for her to be a part of this baby's life. My heart is forever with her, and I hope that she is happy now.
Over the years Tiff developed a drinking problem that became too much for me to handle and watch. As she slid into the depths of alcoholism we grew further apart and eventually, I had to cut off all communication with her. It was one of the most heart breaking moments of my life, and to this day I still feel some regret for it. That was February of 2008.
I am still close with her parents and little brother and hear that she is sober now, which fills me with a joy that is unimaginable. Unfortunately, our friendship has not mended. I call her and send texts on holidays and birthdays. When I told her I could not speak to her anymore I told her I will always love her, but refuse to support her in killing herself. I told her that I will be there for her the second she wants me when she is sober, that no matter what I support her and love her, just that I cannot watch her do what she was doing to herself and her children.
On days like today, when I am feeling nostalgic, and days away from having a baby I think a lot of Tiff, of how she has two beautiful children who are amazing little kids. How she will not be there when Corrin is born, and how I am crushed that our friendship did not endure. I miss her so much, and want so badly for her to be a part of this baby's life. My heart is forever with her, and I hope that she is happy now.
Friday, November 20, 2009
One week?????
How is it possible that my due date is just a week away? Seriously? I mean, here I am tripping along and the next thing I know I have a baby coming in a week (two weeks at the most). A baby...a human being! That little thing that's been punching my bladder for the last 39 weeks is going to finally be here among us. A new soul for the family, new experiences, new joy, new fears, new emotions that I have no idea I even am capable of yet.
My entire life I have been a runner (not an athletic runner - a mental runner). I tend to get bored with a place easily and have never lived longer than four yers in one location until now (seven years, it's a record). I always told myself it was because being in new places with new faces and new challenges was what life was all about. Travel...experience...feel something new and exciting. The reality is it is easier to move somewhere else when life is not great than to stay and figure out why and fix it. Don't get me wrong, I am forever thankful for the experiences I have had, and the places I have lived, and the lifelong friends I have been blessed to make along the way.
But, for the first time in my life I feel that living in one place for such a long time, putting down roots and watching them grow, sharing the joys and tragedies of family and friends is possibly the greatest blessing imaginable. Staying put for once has given me an incredible husband, a true partner who loves and respects me as much as I do him; a family that is not only close, but great friends who support all of the decisions and mistakes I make; and finally, a group of friends who are so incredible, so supporting, so loving that I did not think this type of closeness was possible until I met them.
To all of these people, thank you. To those friends who are not in the same state anymore - thank you for your support and love from afar, you have been amazing too and I wish you were here still. Corrin is blessed to be born into this support, and we are so excited for you all to meet her.
My entire life I have been a runner (not an athletic runner - a mental runner). I tend to get bored with a place easily and have never lived longer than four yers in one location until now (seven years, it's a record). I always told myself it was because being in new places with new faces and new challenges was what life was all about. Travel...experience...feel something new and exciting. The reality is it is easier to move somewhere else when life is not great than to stay and figure out why and fix it. Don't get me wrong, I am forever thankful for the experiences I have had, and the places I have lived, and the lifelong friends I have been blessed to make along the way.
But, for the first time in my life I feel that living in one place for such a long time, putting down roots and watching them grow, sharing the joys and tragedies of family and friends is possibly the greatest blessing imaginable. Staying put for once has given me an incredible husband, a true partner who loves and respects me as much as I do him; a family that is not only close, but great friends who support all of the decisions and mistakes I make; and finally, a group of friends who are so incredible, so supporting, so loving that I did not think this type of closeness was possible until I met them.
To all of these people, thank you. To those friends who are not in the same state anymore - thank you for your support and love from afar, you have been amazing too and I wish you were here still. Corrin is blessed to be born into this support, and we are so excited for you all to meet her.
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