I haven't really been keeping a pregnancy journal or anything but I have been blogging/posting a bit at the MDC forum about trying to conceive, pregnancy and birth. I'm going to lump all of the good blogs/posts together so you all can enjoy and I can show this kid if s/he ever comes out...
4/3/06
I'm 24 and ttc #1. We've only been trying for a few months, but I've wanted children forever. I'm hoping to conceive soon so that we can have a baby by early 2007!
8/19/06
DH and I have been ttc for about 8.5 months. I've never been more than a day or two late on my periods, and about a month ago I just gave up. I stopped charting, checking fluids or hpting. This past week however, I started to feel a little crampy. This is typical the day before my period. Oddly enough, the cramps continued for a couple days with no period. I hadn't been keeping track of my cycle, so I'm not sure when I should have started, but my friend and I have the same cycle, and she just said goodbye to my period yesterday. I took a hpt three days ago and saw the faintest of faint lines indicating that I was pregnant. However, the line was so faint, I wasn't sure. I went to a pregnancy center for a test, but the woman who did it, only waited 30 seconds and then sent me home telling me it was negative. She told me the test could take 5 minutes to read! I took another hpt (same brand as before) today and got the same uberfaint line. Should I assume I'm pregnant? Should I retest with a different brand? Its driving me crazy!
8/20/07
I'm Pregnant!!!!!
9/15/06
I'm not doing anything different, except trying to cut back on the junk food and caffeine and drinking more water--- which I should have been doing before hand. I weigh myself occasionally and I suppose once I get to 20ish weeks I might by a fetoscope to see if I can hear a heartbeat. I've haven't done anything though yet. I don't even know how far along I am, or when exactly I'm due. Oh well. It keeps the stress at a minimum.
10/15/06
I'm planning on a homebirth, but if neccessary I'm prepared to go to a hospital. I'm going UC and thinking maybe a waterbirth? We'll see.So far, I'm not actually liking pregnancy. I've been sick non-stop, crabby, tired and blah. My uterus is growing and pushing other stuff around, but so far I don't look pregnant- just fatter. I'm just in the 2nd trimester, so I'm looking forward to these next few months!Dh and I had been ttc for many months. I was charting and temping and fluid-checking and all that. I finally gave up and decided I wasn't meant to get pg at that time. Well, that month I conceived. I was late and I resisted hptesting because I had been doing it every month and being disappointed, but I finally gave in. There was an itsy bitsy line, but I wasn't sure if it was a bfp or an evap line. I told DH we MIGHT be pregnant. (He had heard that one before.) I hpted again- same result and wen't to a clinic where the girl resolutely told me I was NOT pg. I went an bought an expensive early detection test and sure enough it was a lovely blue line. I wanted to test with the first morning urine and that morning I woke up at 3 am. So when I got the result I turned on the bedroom light and said look and shoved the stick in dh's face. He was like "What is that?" and I said we're pregnant! It was funny. He went right back to sleep but was really excited when he woke up in the morning.
10/16/06
For a girl we're planning on Ziva Inari. Ziva means brilliance in Hebrew and Inari means successful one in Japanese. For a boy we're going with Jaden Bryce. Jaden means God hears in Hebrew and Bryce means alert.. I don't remember the origin of that one though.I work as a counselor for a group home. I'm moving to WA in a couple days though and I'll be looking for work. I'm not sure what I'll find. I work about 20-30 hours a week now and I'm hoping to keep it at 20 once the baby is born. Ultimately I'd like to be a stay at home mom.
10/16/06
I do plan to CD. I've already add some to my registry! Lol.We're not going to do a lotus birth, but I do plan to wait quite a while to cut the cord. Dh is new to all this so if I'm easing him in bit by bit. I talked to him about a lotus birth and he was shocked. He had no idea people could do that. He scared that the placenta will smell and all that, so we'll pass on it this time. I'm not planning on having an ultrasound unless there is a problem that arises. We want to be surprised, so even if we do have one I don't think we'll ask to know the sex.
10/17/06
I can't wait to do all the stuff that comes with this- birth, teaching the child to walk, talk, read, cook, clean, grow up, drive- everything. I can't wait for the first steps, words, teeth, holidays, dates, kisses and sleepovers. I'm looking forward to the awe and wonder that a child has for the little things adults forget to be amazed by- animals, snow, sunsets, rain, silly songs, making cookies and riding a bike.I'm also worried that I'll fail somehow in my duties. I worry that I won't teach them everything they need to know, I won't explain my values or beliefs well enough, I won't discipline effectively, I won't give them enough space or I'll geive them too much. I'm worried that my kids won't like me, respect me, trust me, listen to me, talk to me, miss me when they go or want to leave at all. There is so much to do as a parent, and while I know so much of it just comes and goes without a thought, its a big change and a lot of things to think about now.I think my hormones are kicking in...
11/17/06
All I've heard is "Look how much weight you've put on!" "Be careful that you don't put on too much more weight." "Pregancy is harder if you put on too much weight."I'd kill for someone to assume I was pregnant. What's worse is that I haven't put on more than 5 or 10 pounds. All my inards are just sitting above my bellybutton making me look obese. *cry cry*
1/3/07
Well, in my own defense I found out that my baby is breech. The big fat head is making myelook obese by sitting above my bellybutton, while down near the bottom of my uterus, where I'm supposed to be big I've got nothing but a couple scrawny legs... Thanks a lot baby... If it's a boy I'm dressing him in pink for this...
1/5/07
I can't feel my baby moving. S/he is breech (and has been the whole time) and rarely even turns over in there. I thought at this stage I would be feeling him/her and have that connection, but I don't feel any movement and forget I'm pregnant half the time. That sucks.Health wise everything is fine. My morning sickness lasted for 5 months (which I was not expecting!) and I didn't gain much weight at all (which I also was not expecting!) I'm peeing a lot, which I planned for and sleeping a lot too. I'm totally in a nesting phase- baking and cleaning and shopping for baby stuff. It's cool. I can't wait to meet the baby though and I'm actually looking forward to experiencing birth in all its pain and pleasure.
3/9/07 (21 days pre-due date)
So midwife talked me into getting an ultrasound. I have resisted thus far, but she gave me no options. She said my stomach has such good muscle tone that she couldn't tell the position of the baby (breech or not). Since s/he's been breech for most of the time she was concerned. She tried sticking her fingers in, but the baby is still floating so that was no help.I had to go get the d*** u/s or she'd stop seeing me and refer me to a DR to get a c-section. Now, little does she know, but I'm not planning on calling her to the birth. I'm only seeing her now to make DH feel better.Anyhow, the u/s showed my baby is head down. I'm very glad, as I was having mixed feelings about forcing him/her to turn.The end.
3/13/07 (17 days pre-due date)
I'll try to make this brief:I'm 8.5 month pregnant with #1. I was doing a UP up until the en of the 6th month when I began seeing a midwife. I plan to UC, but possibly call the midwife after everything's over so she can check us out and get me a birth certificate. Everything's been great with the midwife up until now. She has been fine with me refusing to take certain tests, she's relatively AP, anti-vax and okay with minimal intereference. She also respects my religious beliefs and is willing to accommodate all my little oddities.So last week she said she couldn't feel if the baby was breech or not from the outside because of my "well-toned" stomach muscles.. I find this funny, since I'm fat and out of shape, but there it is. She tried to stick her finger in there but as I told her, the baby hasn't dropped and lo and behold she couldn't even touch the cervix. So she talked me into going in for a u/s which I had never had and feel VERY guilty about.This week I met with her assistant (they rotate weekly clinicals every week). She also couldn't tell the position of the baby externally either so she put her hand in there. She was so forceful that now, 2 hours later I still feel sore, but she couldn't reach it either. I told her that the baby hadn't dropped, and I know what it feels like when the baby flips and there had been no flipping in the past week. She told me to get another u/s which I refused. She said that I need to get a u/s every week until I have the baby so they can make sure the baby isn't breech.I can refuse, but she's so pushy about it it makes me angry. I'll have to see her very other week, which I do not want to do. I'm not going to have a weekly u/s. I'm not going to let the midwives shove their hands up into my body for no reason. I will know if the baby flips and from what I've read by week 38 (now) there is very little room for flipping anyways.I didn't plan to have either of them at the birth anyways, and now that I've had all the tests I plan to take and I know I'm healthy (good BP, not amenic, no diabetes, GBS-, etc.) I might just kiss them all goodbye. I love MY midwife, but I'm not going to cater to a bunch of stupid procedures and I don't want to deal with the other midwife. Should I just come in every other week so I don't have to see the midwife I don't like and keep refusing the tests, or should I just call it quits?
3/21/07 (9 days pre-due date)
My midwife can almost reach my cervix internally. Not comfortable, but at least now she can tell that the baby is head down without trying to send me in for u/s which I've been resisting. She says there is a chance the baby could go back to breech, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.My measurments have been right on par for the week all the way through, but now it looks like I'm measuring about 36 cm. I don't know what this means, but it's kinda weird. Hmm..No one is expecting me to have the baby until the first week of April (cry cry) but I'm reeeeeeally hoping the baby hurries up and gets outta there! I guess when they did my one evil u/s that's what it looked like. They put my EDD at April 6th by their measurents. We'll see though. Keep your fingers crossed that it happens a little sooner, as I'm getting reeeeally uncomfortable and sick of being pregnant! I want to meet my baby!!!
3/23/07 (7 days pre-due date)
I've been having some veeeeery mild BH contrax these past few days. Also, the baby is really running out of room and not happy about it!My maternity leave has now begun. I have 6 weeks. I really hope the baby isn't too late, as I don't want to sit around preggo the whole time! Hopefully I'll only be working 2-3 days a week for about 10-15 hours, so even once I go back it won't be too bad.I think I'm going to try some EPO and maybe nipple stimulation. I've heard those can help labor hurry up if my body's already thinking about it. I feel bad for baby because I feel him/her trying to get comfy in there but it takes forever since it's such a tight space. Plus, I think s/he wants to get back in breech but can't turn MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!I'd love to get this baby outta me now...
3/27/07 (3 days pre-due date)
You probably are getting tired of my boring updates, since nothing's really happening, but I figure I can use this for some pregnancy memories later.I had my midwife appt. today. They tried to make me go get an u/s but I refused. I met with the midwife I don't care for, but I guess the other midwife told her not to try sticking her hands or anything else in me, so that was good.I'm measuring at 36 inches and I still have a ton of movement. I've been having some super mild BH contrax and the creepy feeling that something is sinking down behind my pelvic bone. It's great. I'm so anxious, but okay with being late. My mom is hoping I have the baby on her birthday- 4/4. I'm staying positive about the timing and trying to remember that the baby will come out as soon as s/he's ready. I'm trying to enjoy 9-10 hours of uninterupted sleep at night and being able to watch 2 tv shows in a row if I feel like it.
3/27/07 (3 days pre-due date)
I'm 39w 4d and going nuts! I'm trying to enjoy being childless while it lasts, but I've been trying to have a baby for so long I can't hardly bear it. I want this baby outta me now!My midwife if predicting a 41+w birth... I think I may go insane.
3/31/07 (1 day post-due date)
So here's another uneventful update...The baby is reeeally low now... I think in the perfect position to get out of me! I'm not effaced or dillated or anything, but I have been having some mini-contrax of the BH variety. They're getting more frequent now.Also... this will sound weird but, does the baby push him/herself out using their feet? I keep feeling the baby pushing his/her feet super hard into my belly and then I feel the cervix stretching out as the head goes further down. Am I nuts?
4/5/07 (6 days post-due date)
So, I'm 40W6D today. I'm sick of not knowing what's going on. I don't know what these sensations I'm feeling are. Maybe contrax, maybe nothing at all. It's frustrating!My midwife is trying to talk my into getting my membranes stripped net week. I don't know how I feel about that. She's also preparing me to lie to the Drs. if and when I hit 42 weeks and I "have" to go in for a stress test and/or induction. I'll fake my own death and vanish into the mountains before I do in for any of those idiodic tests. Blah. My midwife is also trying to prepare me for the chance that I might not be able to get the baby out how I want to. She's afraid that in a pool she won't be able to get her hands in there... She thinks she's going to have the chance. She's also predicting that since I'm not singing with delight everytime she tries to shove her hands up into my cervix that I might not be able psychologically to open my legs and let the baby come out, which will injure him/her. Of course this all had to be said while DH is in the room (the 2nd time he's gone to one of my appts.) and now he's panicking again. She thinks she'll have to get me out of the tub and onto the bed and they'll all have to force my legs open to let the baby out dso I don't kill him/her. Great. Thanks for the image.I think if anything, all my discomfort stems from foreign objects and people entering in my body when they don't belong there. I can't imagine any reason that I won't be able to let my body work and produce a baby when the time is right if I don't have people hovering around, freaking me out and putting things in my vagina. Blah. Very frustrating.Next time I WILL NOT go to a midwife regularly. If anything I'll go in, get the test I want done and then vanish. The whole reason I wanted a midwife as opposed to a Dr. was so that I could avoid pressure, guilt and fear. I should have listened to my instincts at the begining and just continued my UP. Thank G-d I did it myself for the first 7 months or who knows what I wouldn've been talked into. I've already had a u/s, internal cervical checking- neither of which I wanted. Grrr...Well, I'm trying to be positive and just hoping this baby comes before my appt. is scheduled next week. If not, I might just "forget to go" so I don't have to be pressured about the membrane stripping. I'm just not sure anymore. A part of me feel like I've been pushed further than I wanted to go anyways, so I might as well let her do it, but another part of me is standing by my long-time belief that babies will come when they're ready. I don't know...
4/9/07 (10 days post-due date)
I think I've decided to forgo the membrane stripping. I know a lot of women stand by it, but I've always advocated waiting it out and letting the baby come when it's ready. I've pushed the limits with this by trying to use sex and activity to coax him/her out, but I just can't feel good about messing around in my uterus.Today is 41W3D with still no sign of labor. I'm trying to be patient and positive!
4/10/07 (11 days post-due date)
I'm now 41W4D. It's been a blessing in disguise because DH and I were able to get through Passover/Unleavened Breads without having the baby. He had a couple of days off and we got to spend some quality time together (which is a miracle since he works and ges to school full time and we NEVER see each other). Plus, another Messianic friend was lamenting about how she was born during unleavened breads and thereofr never gets a decent birthday cake. I hadn't thought about that, but I suppose that's a good point too!Also, our icky roommate moved out, which has put some financial stress on us, but has taken a ton of emotional stress off of us and I welcome that wholeheartedly. DH and I finally feel like we can be at peace in our home and view it as a spiritual refuge instead of a tense prison.I forgot to go to my midwife appt today... Seriously, I did. It's the first one I've missed. I think my subconscious chose to block it out because I didn't want to deal with them trying to pressure me into stripping my membranes. I've been wrestling with it all week. I didn't (and still don't) want to do it, but the impatience and pressure were tempting me seriously! I'm happy with my decision.I've been having more consistent cramp-feeling contrax (I hope!). They're just right down in the pubic area still, but I feel lots of them everyday, so I'm hoping the time is approaching. Also, the little one keeps scooting further down. I don't know if I'm dilated at all, but I've been feeling things stretching out down there for a couple of days now, so I hope that means dilation is in the near future.Thanks for the support. This thread has actually really helped me sort out my feelings and maintain some sense of perspective!
4/12/07 (13 days post-due date)
Is it normal to want to go into hiding because I'm tired of people saying, "Still pregnant!" and asking when "they" are going to induce me???
4/13/07 (14 days post-due date)
Keep you fingers crossed for me today. Against my better judgment I've agreed to go take a non-stress test. Supposedly the people who will be doing the test aren't as nervous and pushy with 42-weekers as some places, but my midwife told me to lie and tell them I might only be 41 weeks just in case. I'm already preparing to defend and refuse everything they say, but I'm kind of wondering why I agreed to go. Hopefully DH will be able to get off work and come with and he can help me keep my resolve...
4/14/07 (15 days post-due date)
So, I'm mad...I had my non-stress test and everything was great. The baby's fine and I'm fine. However, I had to drive an hour and a half to get to the only doctor who is willing to "let me" continue without induction. She told me that I have to continue driving out there EVERY OTHER DAY for these stupid 2-3 hour tests. I called my midwife's office and they told me that if I refuse I can't see the midwives anymore.WHAT A BUNCH OF BS!!! What kind of sense does that make??? How do I suddenly go from no-risk, totally healthy to high risk and losing my midwives over the period of one day??? What could possibly happen that would make me and the baby go from "doing great" to dangerous in three days? I'm obviously planning a UC anyways, but DH and I agreed to have a midwife that we could call if we had a question or if there was a situation we couldn't handle. Now I feel like I'm letting him down by refusing to cave in to their demands. And to top it off, all the joy and pleasure I had during the end of my pregnancy is gone. All I can do is be mad that I'm still pregnant because its complicating everything. Next time I'm going to do my UP the whole way thru. This is totally ruining the last few weeks of my pregnancyThe US sucks. I wish there was someone I could tell who would come and straighten everything out.
4/16/07 (17 days post-due date)
More of my never-ending midwife saga...I'm now officially on my own. My midwife told me that either I get the tests or they're done with me. I told her I wasn't going to get the tests and that (gasp) I was going to have a UC with my husband and I was fine with that. She was nervous about that and tried to talk me out of it, but as I told her, if driving an hour and a half every other day is my only option and it's NOT an option, what else am I supposed to do? She didn't really have an answer for me, but was really worried about my choice. She is the most natural midwife in western WA, so of course I can't just go elsewhere and I don't think she's had a patient who found her to be too "medical" for their tastes. ANyways, DH is supporting my choice, but I know he's scared out of his mind. I told him that I'll do the fetal movement monitoring this week and if nothing's happening by Friday (assuming all else is well) I'll start castor oil. If that hasn't started the ball rolling by the end of the weekend I'll think about going to a doctor. I'm REEEEEEALLY hoping that this baby shows up before that! I don't want to give up my dream birth, but I think that three weeks late is a little much.Now I'm just struggling with my feelings of guilt and failure. If I have to go to a doctor and give up my birth plans I don't know how I'll feel. I'll feel like a fraud and like I let my baby down. I understand how soe of the other mamas who've gone thru a similar experience feel now. I hope everything works out, but either way I just want a healthy baby.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, March 9, 2007
Ranting and Raving Mad
So here's my sad story:Malachi and I have a roommate who has the 2nd bedroom in our apt. All three of us are on the lease.I'm planning a homebirth and am due within the next couple of weeks, so Mal knocked on her door to ask her if she and her boyfriend were going to be around during my due date. She says, "Well, actually, we're getting married in about two weeks, so I'll be moving out."So we now have 2 weeks to move out (as we can't afford the rent on our own) and Mal has work/school 60 hours a week and I'm 8.5 months pregnant. Plus, there's a $500 fee for breaking our lease and some huge fees for leaving without giving 30 days notice. And I know she won't pay any of those fees, which means Mal and I will have to even though we don't have any extra. Plus, now that we'll be roommateless we'll have more expenses and I'll have to cut my maternity leave short and go back to work asap to cover our expenses. I'm so angry and frustrated I could cry. I don't want to move 8.5 months pregnant and be living out of boxes when I have the baby. I don't want to put my baby in day care and have to go back to work. I don't want to be stressed out this far into my pregnancy. Why can't anything just go the way its supposed to? Why are people willing to screw you over and leave you in a hopeless situation without a care in the world? How come even though I do what I can to help other people out I'm always theone getting kicked back and dicked over? Why does it feel like even when I do things right and try to make wise decisions everything blows up in my face? What do I have to do? Be a bitch? Be lazy, quit work and sit on welfare? Take advantage of people? What do I have to do to have some stability and peace? What do I have to compromise? My integrity? My faith? My morals? What do you people want from me???
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Pissing and Moaning About Work... I Know- Already??
Its so frustrating to me that we Americans have to have our butts kissed everytime we go out. In other non-Western countries if you need something you just go out and buy it. You don't ask a bunch of questions, you don't complain about the condition of the store, you don't expect people to be smiley and accommodating. You just get your crap and go home. Even if you did wish the service was better or whatever, you knew (as did the store) that you didn't have any other options, so you suck it up and you move on.
Here in America we have to be coddled and supported throughout our shopping trips. If the lights are too dim or too bright, or the employees bother us too much or ignore us, or if we don't like the price, the selection, the store hours, the reurn policy, the lines, the music playing or the distance from the parking lot to the door we'll leave and go someplace else.
Now I like to be treated well just as much as the next shopper, but every day I work retail I shake my head in disbelief at the audacity and spoiled rotten behavior I have to put up with. If I'm rushing down the aisle to attend to one whiny "guest" I'll have two others grabbing at my apron strings on the way. It doesn't matter if I'm on the phone, helping someone else or removing my apron and pulling out my keys to leave- people will whine and fuss and expect me to serve them.
Our store policy to to call our customers "guests" and to make them feel welcome and invited into our store. But how many guests would tear up their host's stuff, leave horrible messes and have the nerve to complain about anything after it all?? What guest would let their children run amok knocking things down and causing a commotion? Would you take something off of your host's shelf, lay it out on the floor and then leave it there? Would you pull something that belonged to your host apart and then dump it somewhere else in their house? Would you bring your filthy, nasty rat-dog into your host's house and set it on their furniture? And do you think that if you were repulsive enough to do these things that your host would want you to come back? No. No one save a classless clod would do these things. I wouldn't treat a state park that way. However, all day long people treat customer service worker like this with no clue that they should have a little respect.
Do you think it's easy to smile and pretend to give a crap about everybody and to happily accommodate the most ludicris of requests after you been standing, walking, kneeling, squatting, reaching, climbing, lifting and kissing up to people for 8 effing hours making crap for money and getting no thanks or appreciation for any of it? Do you think anybody working retail really cares if the comforter is for your daughter who just go accepted to UW or if the towels are for the guest room of your new condo? Do you think anybody making 9 bucks an hour to lick people's butts wants to hear you talk about how you need a massager for your back or a pillow for your jaccuzzi or a memory foam mattress topper because you ache after a long day at the office? NO!
The fact of the matter is for most store employees customers are an unwanted nuissance. Sure, somebody at the corporate level wants you to show up and spend your money on the crap we're selling. But for the girl behind the counter, the guy in the freight room out back and the sales rep escorting you from bed skirt to measley bed skirt we really just wish you'd get your crap and get out. We don't make any more or less money if you buy the Egyptian cotton versus the flannel. We don't care which towels or rugs you pick- we just want you to quit unfolding our crap and buy something. Sad, but true.
Here are some instances that really make me mad:
We have every color of every towel in every size displayed for guests to see and touch, yet every effing person has to unfold each and every towel they are considering. And do they fold it and put it back? OF COURSE NOT! They wad it up and dump it in the first open spot they see. Or they drag it around until they find something better and then dump it there. Or they leave it on the floor. They don't care.
This condescending loser asks me to climb a 10 foot ladder to get her a sheet set she can't reach. The offensive part is that there is an identical set sitting in front of her within reach. However she doesn't want that one because it is partially unzipped and she doesn't know if it has all the pieces. So I take it, I open it and I pull out every piece. It's all there. Oh but she still can be made to take that one because it was opened at one point. Jerkoff. Do you not realize that most of our day is spent putting thinkg back into theirbags, wrappers or boxes because people pull stuff out? Newsflash- most the stuff you buy wasprobably pulled out of it's package and dumped on the floor at some point. Deal with it.
The lame, pampered princesses who ask me to hand them this comforter or that rug. They of course can't lift it because they're pregnant. So I pick up the crap and ask them when they're due. "September," they smile. "Oh, congradulations," I smile back. "I'm due in March. You have a nice day now."
People who ask stupid questions should be released through a trap door into a pit of sharks. This guys asks me if I would buy a pair of shams he's holding for sixty dollars, with some sort of cocky, ass-face look. "No," I think to myself. "I work here for a living. If I want sixty-dollar shams I'd have to steal them." Then he goes on to tell me that Bill Gates makes a lot of money but he probably wouldn't buy them. Here's an idea, lame-wipe: DON'T BUY THEM!!!! If you don't want to shell out 60 bucks for bed decorations, what the hell are you doing in Linens N Things? GO AWAY!
Along those same lines, why be surprised when we tell you a comforter set is $249.99 or a sheet set for an extra deep matress is $129.99? Our competitors are Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy's, JCPenney's and Sears. We do not compete with Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Liquidation World, Goodwill or EBay. If you "don't care about color, style or quality," as one customer told me then why are you here? You won't find 100 thread count cheap sheets here! You won't find $5 dollar crusty towels here! You won't find McCooking products here! If you want cheap stuff go to Wal-Mart! "Oh, I don't shop at places like Wal-Mart," the guest told me...
I'm pregnant. However the customers don't care. They will unroll an 80 pound rug, look at it, leave it, move down the aisle and watch as I whimper and grimace, easing myself down to the floor, leaning over my belly to roll the rug back up and them pull myself back to my feet, holding my stomach, stoop to pick up the rug and struggle to stuff it back into it's place on the shelf. And if it doesn't fit- surprise, surprise!- they will watch as I do it all over again and have the nerve to pull some other crap down or ask me to get a ladder and get something for them. They only words I have for this are profanity. You get the idea though.
Well, I guess that's enough for now, but the next time you're out shopping remember this post and give the store employees a break. Leave the store in no worse condition then when you found it. Treat the employees with the same respect they show you. Say please and thank you if someone is helping you. Chances are they don't want to and it will make them despise you much less. If you aren't satisfied with something tell a manager- not the poor slob unpacking boxes in a random deptartment. Chances are that person will just think you're a bitch and they won't tell anybody or do anything about your problem anyway. A manager hasn't been kissing up all day and they might have it in them to help you. Just be nice. It's not so much to ask.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Kristi
Here in America we have to be coddled and supported throughout our shopping trips. If the lights are too dim or too bright, or the employees bother us too much or ignore us, or if we don't like the price, the selection, the store hours, the reurn policy, the lines, the music playing or the distance from the parking lot to the door we'll leave and go someplace else.
Now I like to be treated well just as much as the next shopper, but every day I work retail I shake my head in disbelief at the audacity and spoiled rotten behavior I have to put up with. If I'm rushing down the aisle to attend to one whiny "guest" I'll have two others grabbing at my apron strings on the way. It doesn't matter if I'm on the phone, helping someone else or removing my apron and pulling out my keys to leave- people will whine and fuss and expect me to serve them.
Our store policy to to call our customers "guests" and to make them feel welcome and invited into our store. But how many guests would tear up their host's stuff, leave horrible messes and have the nerve to complain about anything after it all?? What guest would let their children run amok knocking things down and causing a commotion? Would you take something off of your host's shelf, lay it out on the floor and then leave it there? Would you pull something that belonged to your host apart and then dump it somewhere else in their house? Would you bring your filthy, nasty rat-dog into your host's house and set it on their furniture? And do you think that if you were repulsive enough to do these things that your host would want you to come back? No. No one save a classless clod would do these things. I wouldn't treat a state park that way. However, all day long people treat customer service worker like this with no clue that they should have a little respect.
Do you think it's easy to smile and pretend to give a crap about everybody and to happily accommodate the most ludicris of requests after you been standing, walking, kneeling, squatting, reaching, climbing, lifting and kissing up to people for 8 effing hours making crap for money and getting no thanks or appreciation for any of it? Do you think anybody working retail really cares if the comforter is for your daughter who just go accepted to UW or if the towels are for the guest room of your new condo? Do you think anybody making 9 bucks an hour to lick people's butts wants to hear you talk about how you need a massager for your back or a pillow for your jaccuzzi or a memory foam mattress topper because you ache after a long day at the office? NO!
The fact of the matter is for most store employees customers are an unwanted nuissance. Sure, somebody at the corporate level wants you to show up and spend your money on the crap we're selling. But for the girl behind the counter, the guy in the freight room out back and the sales rep escorting you from bed skirt to measley bed skirt we really just wish you'd get your crap and get out. We don't make any more or less money if you buy the Egyptian cotton versus the flannel. We don't care which towels or rugs you pick- we just want you to quit unfolding our crap and buy something. Sad, but true.
Here are some instances that really make me mad:
We have every color of every towel in every size displayed for guests to see and touch, yet every effing person has to unfold each and every towel they are considering. And do they fold it and put it back? OF COURSE NOT! They wad it up and dump it in the first open spot they see. Or they drag it around until they find something better and then dump it there. Or they leave it on the floor. They don't care.
This condescending loser asks me to climb a 10 foot ladder to get her a sheet set she can't reach. The offensive part is that there is an identical set sitting in front of her within reach. However she doesn't want that one because it is partially unzipped and she doesn't know if it has all the pieces. So I take it, I open it and I pull out every piece. It's all there. Oh but she still can be made to take that one because it was opened at one point. Jerkoff. Do you not realize that most of our day is spent putting thinkg back into theirbags, wrappers or boxes because people pull stuff out? Newsflash- most the stuff you buy wasprobably pulled out of it's package and dumped on the floor at some point. Deal with it.
The lame, pampered princesses who ask me to hand them this comforter or that rug. They of course can't lift it because they're pregnant. So I pick up the crap and ask them when they're due. "September," they smile. "Oh, congradulations," I smile back. "I'm due in March. You have a nice day now."
People who ask stupid questions should be released through a trap door into a pit of sharks. This guys asks me if I would buy a pair of shams he's holding for sixty dollars, with some sort of cocky, ass-face look. "No," I think to myself. "I work here for a living. If I want sixty-dollar shams I'd have to steal them." Then he goes on to tell me that Bill Gates makes a lot of money but he probably wouldn't buy them. Here's an idea, lame-wipe: DON'T BUY THEM!!!! If you don't want to shell out 60 bucks for bed decorations, what the hell are you doing in Linens N Things? GO AWAY!
Along those same lines, why be surprised when we tell you a comforter set is $249.99 or a sheet set for an extra deep matress is $129.99? Our competitors are Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy's, JCPenney's and Sears. We do not compete with Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Liquidation World, Goodwill or EBay. If you "don't care about color, style or quality," as one customer told me then why are you here? You won't find 100 thread count cheap sheets here! You won't find $5 dollar crusty towels here! You won't find McCooking products here! If you want cheap stuff go to Wal-Mart! "Oh, I don't shop at places like Wal-Mart," the guest told me...
I'm pregnant. However the customers don't care. They will unroll an 80 pound rug, look at it, leave it, move down the aisle and watch as I whimper and grimace, easing myself down to the floor, leaning over my belly to roll the rug back up and them pull myself back to my feet, holding my stomach, stoop to pick up the rug and struggle to stuff it back into it's place on the shelf. And if it doesn't fit- surprise, surprise!- they will watch as I do it all over again and have the nerve to pull some other crap down or ask me to get a ladder and get something for them. They only words I have for this are profanity. You get the idea though.
Well, I guess that's enough for now, but the next time you're out shopping remember this post and give the store employees a break. Leave the store in no worse condition then when you found it. Treat the employees with the same respect they show you. Say please and thank you if someone is helping you. Chances are they don't want to and it will make them despise you much less. If you aren't satisfied with something tell a manager- not the poor slob unpacking boxes in a random deptartment. Chances are that person will just think you're a bitch and they won't tell anybody or do anything about your problem anyway. A manager hasn't been kissing up all day and they might have it in them to help you. Just be nice. It's not so much to ask.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Kristi
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
How Could I Have Eaten This Garbage??
Here's another non-personal blog... I promise I'll actually write something sometime soon...
I didn't write this but I am reposting it. Whether you're religious or not, if you eat pork you should be aware of what you're eating. I'm not a Christian and I'm not using this to get on Christians' cases (although the original author I'm sure was)- it's strictly informatonal. If you aren't religious at least consider the nastiness factor...
Kristi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pig or is a very popular food item with most Christians. Yet the God they profess to believe in had condemned the eating of swine's flesh. The condemnation was based on some very sound biological principles. Here are some facts on pork that prove it to be a very unhealthy food to eat: A pig is a real garbage gut. It will eat anything including urine, excrement, dirt, decaying animal flesh, maggots, or decaying vegetables. They will even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals. The meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins like a sponge. Their meat can be 30 times more toxic than beef or venison. When eating beef or venison, it takes 8 to 9 hours to digest the meat so what little toxins are in the meat are slowly put into our system and can be filtered by the liver. But when pork is eaten, it takes only 4 hours to digest the meat. We thus get a much higher level of toxins within a shorter time. Unlike other mammals, a pig does not sweat or perspire. Perspiration is a means by which toxins are removed from the body. Since a pig does not sweat, the toxins remain within its body and in the meat. Pigs and swine are so poisonous that you can hardly kill them with strychnine or other poisons. Farmers will often pen up pigs within a rattlesnake nest because the pigs will eat the snakes, and if bitten they will not be harmed by the venom. When a pig is butchered, worms and insects take to its flesh sooner and faster than to other animal's flesh. In a few days the swine flesh is full of worms. Swine and pigs have over a dozen parasites within them, such as tapeworms, flukes, worms, and trichinae. There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts,and eggs will be killed. Pig meat has twice as much fat as beef. A 3 oz T bone steak contains 8.5 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork chop contains 18 grams of fat. A 3 oz beef rib has 11.1 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork spare rib has 23.2 grams of fat. Cows have a complex digestive system, having four stomachs. It thus takes over 24 hours to digest their vegetarian diet causing its food to be purified of toxins. In contrast, the swine's one stomach takes only about 4 hours to digest its foul diet, turning its toxic food into flesh. The swine carries about 30 diseases which can be easily passed to humans. This is why God commanded that we are not even to touch their carcase (Leviticus 11:8). The trichinae worm of the swine is microscopically small, and once ingested can lodge itself in our intestines, muscles, spinal cord or the brain. This results in the disease trichinosis. The symptoms are sometimes lacking, but when present they are mistaken for other diseases, such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, gall bladder trouble, or acute alcoholism. The pig is so poisonous and filthy, that nature had to prepare him a sewer line or canal running down each leg with an outlet in the bottom of the foot. Out of this hole oozes pus and filth his body cannot pass into its system fast enough. Some of this pus gets into the meat of the pig. There are other reasons grounded in biological facts that could be listed to show why pigs and swine should not be eaten. But a true believer in Yeshua should only need one reason why not to eat this type of food- because God prohibited it. "And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase." - Leviticus 11:7,8; Deuteronomy 14:8 Those who say Yeshua abolished the law condemning pork are motivated by their stomach not Scripture. The problems with pork are biological, and Yeshua never changed the laws of biology
I didn't write this but I am reposting it. Whether you're religious or not, if you eat pork you should be aware of what you're eating. I'm not a Christian and I'm not using this to get on Christians' cases (although the original author I'm sure was)- it's strictly informatonal. If you aren't religious at least consider the nastiness factor...
Kristi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pig or is a very popular food item with most Christians. Yet the God they profess to believe in had condemned the eating of swine's flesh. The condemnation was based on some very sound biological principles. Here are some facts on pork that prove it to be a very unhealthy food to eat: A pig is a real garbage gut. It will eat anything including urine, excrement, dirt, decaying animal flesh, maggots, or decaying vegetables. They will even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals. The meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins like a sponge. Their meat can be 30 times more toxic than beef or venison. When eating beef or venison, it takes 8 to 9 hours to digest the meat so what little toxins are in the meat are slowly put into our system and can be filtered by the liver. But when pork is eaten, it takes only 4 hours to digest the meat. We thus get a much higher level of toxins within a shorter time. Unlike other mammals, a pig does not sweat or perspire. Perspiration is a means by which toxins are removed from the body. Since a pig does not sweat, the toxins remain within its body and in the meat. Pigs and swine are so poisonous that you can hardly kill them with strychnine or other poisons. Farmers will often pen up pigs within a rattlesnake nest because the pigs will eat the snakes, and if bitten they will not be harmed by the venom. When a pig is butchered, worms and insects take to its flesh sooner and faster than to other animal's flesh. In a few days the swine flesh is full of worms. Swine and pigs have over a dozen parasites within them, such as tapeworms, flukes, worms, and trichinae. There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts,and eggs will be killed. Pig meat has twice as much fat as beef. A 3 oz T bone steak contains 8.5 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork chop contains 18 grams of fat. A 3 oz beef rib has 11.1 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork spare rib has 23.2 grams of fat. Cows have a complex digestive system, having four stomachs. It thus takes over 24 hours to digest their vegetarian diet causing its food to be purified of toxins. In contrast, the swine's one stomach takes only about 4 hours to digest its foul diet, turning its toxic food into flesh. The swine carries about 30 diseases which can be easily passed to humans. This is why God commanded that we are not even to touch their carcase (Leviticus 11:8). The trichinae worm of the swine is microscopically small, and once ingested can lodge itself in our intestines, muscles, spinal cord or the brain. This results in the disease trichinosis. The symptoms are sometimes lacking, but when present they are mistaken for other diseases, such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, gall bladder trouble, or acute alcoholism. The pig is so poisonous and filthy, that nature had to prepare him a sewer line or canal running down each leg with an outlet in the bottom of the foot. Out of this hole oozes pus and filth his body cannot pass into its system fast enough. Some of this pus gets into the meat of the pig. There are other reasons grounded in biological facts that could be listed to show why pigs and swine should not be eaten. But a true believer in Yeshua should only need one reason why not to eat this type of food- because God prohibited it. "And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase." - Leviticus 11:7,8; Deuteronomy 14:8 Those who say Yeshua abolished the law condemning pork are motivated by their stomach not Scripture. The problems with pork are biological, and Yeshua never changed the laws of biology
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Moving?!?!
So, yes, we are moving. I guess I hadn't noticed before but southern CA kinda sucks. Most the friends I had here moved away, changed into people I don't really care for or just don't keep in touch. We don't like any of the congregations out here and it's too hot and too expensive. It's pretty much been an all-American let down, so we're moving on. This month we'll be moving back up to Washington. I'm beyond excited. I love WA. I love the climate, the smell, the nature-loving atmosphere and the congregation I attended while I lived there before. My pastor from WA married Malachi and I and we just love spending time with him and his wife. I'm going to head up in a couple weeks and Malachi will join me at the end of the month.
So that's all. If you live in WA you can come visit me. We will probably be in Everett (where I loved before) because it's cheap. I'll keep you all updated.
Kristi
So that's all. If you live in WA you can come visit me. We will probably be in Everett (where I loved before) because it's cheap. I'll keep you all updated.
Kristi
Thursday, August 24, 2006
That took a ridiculously long time and is now a little stressful...
So, in case you haven't heard, I'm pregnant. I'm very happy about it, as we've been trying for about 8 1/2 months. I have no clue how far along I am exactly, but I think it's somewhere in the 5-7 weeks range. Everybody said as soon as I stopped trying to get pregnant, I would and that's pretty much how it worked.
For months I checked fluids, took my temperature, charted my cycle and recorded everytime we had sex. It was so freaking irritating! Then eventually, I was like, "screw it!" and I stopped doing anything to check for fertility. Somewhere between then and now I got pregnant. Sigh.
It kinda sucks because if I had been charting I could have told you the exact day I conceived. However, I suppose its better ths way because I'll be less neurotic about the due date, since I don't know when I'm really due.
So here's a sticky situation-- Malachi and I have totally different notions of what's best for the baby. I'm waaaaay more crunchy than he is and its begining to pose a few problems.
Problem 1: I want to do my own prenatal care at home and to get a doula or midwife in a few months to help monitor things and attend our birth in an observatory manner. I really want to allow my body to do what God designed it to do (grow and deliver a baby), without a bunch of interference. Malachi wants me to get an ob-gyn and have them do all the tests and monitor everything so we'll know if something's wrong.
Malachi is sweet. I know he wants what is best for the baby just as much as I do. I'm very fortunate to have someone who cares and wants to make sure everything goes perfectly. Unfortunately, the idea of going to an ob-gyn sends chills down my spine. I tried to go once right before I got married because my mother made me, and I was so tense she couldn't do the exam. I was shaking and nauseous the whole time and on the ride home. I felt degraded and sick. I don't want to go through that again.
I believe that if I take care of myself, eat right, get some excersize and monitor the baby via protein tests, fetoscopes, keeping track of my weight and cervical measurements, we'll have a good idea of how the baby is developing and growing.I don't want some doctor poking around inside my body or hooking me up to machines. I don't want an ultrasound or any of that stuff.
I have a million and one reasons why I don't want a doctor's care, and just so you all know, I've researched it thouroughly and heard all of the mainstream arguments against it (So I don't need anymore!). I'm not looking for an argument or anything, but just trying to vent.
Hopefully we'll be able to come to some sort of agreement. I'm not really interested in "being flexible" or compromising on this issue for the sake of my baby and my body, but I want Malachi to feel comfortable that the baby will be taken care of. Anyhow, there it is.
Kristi
For months I checked fluids, took my temperature, charted my cycle and recorded everytime we had sex. It was so freaking irritating! Then eventually, I was like, "screw it!" and I stopped doing anything to check for fertility. Somewhere between then and now I got pregnant. Sigh.
It kinda sucks because if I had been charting I could have told you the exact day I conceived. However, I suppose its better ths way because I'll be less neurotic about the due date, since I don't know when I'm really due.
So here's a sticky situation-- Malachi and I have totally different notions of what's best for the baby. I'm waaaaay more crunchy than he is and its begining to pose a few problems.
Problem 1: I want to do my own prenatal care at home and to get a doula or midwife in a few months to help monitor things and attend our birth in an observatory manner. I really want to allow my body to do what God designed it to do (grow and deliver a baby), without a bunch of interference. Malachi wants me to get an ob-gyn and have them do all the tests and monitor everything so we'll know if something's wrong.
Malachi is sweet. I know he wants what is best for the baby just as much as I do. I'm very fortunate to have someone who cares and wants to make sure everything goes perfectly. Unfortunately, the idea of going to an ob-gyn sends chills down my spine. I tried to go once right before I got married because my mother made me, and I was so tense she couldn't do the exam. I was shaking and nauseous the whole time and on the ride home. I felt degraded and sick. I don't want to go through that again.
I believe that if I take care of myself, eat right, get some excersize and monitor the baby via protein tests, fetoscopes, keeping track of my weight and cervical measurements, we'll have a good idea of how the baby is developing and growing.I don't want some doctor poking around inside my body or hooking me up to machines. I don't want an ultrasound or any of that stuff.
I have a million and one reasons why I don't want a doctor's care, and just so you all know, I've researched it thouroughly and heard all of the mainstream arguments against it (So I don't need anymore!). I'm not looking for an argument or anything, but just trying to vent.
Hopefully we'll be able to come to some sort of agreement. I'm not really interested in "being flexible" or compromising on this issue for the sake of my baby and my body, but I want Malachi to feel comfortable that the baby will be taken care of. Anyhow, there it is.
Kristi
Sunday, July 23, 2006
New Stuff and Other Stuff
This was originally a bulletin due to technical difficulties... Now it's the blog it should've been...
So, much has happened in the past however long it's been. I really should've blogged sooner, but I've been busy and lazy and forgetful. Let's see... I got a new car. I love it VERY much. It's a beautiful white 2005 Chevy Aveo. It makes me happy. The A/C works, both blinkers blink and it doesn't make gurgling noises at me on long trips. I'm thrilled. I'll show you CAians whenever somebody calls me or comes to visit. *tear Malachi has finally been corrupted! Muwahahahaha! He got a tattoo and his tongue pierced. I'm pleasantly surprised as I figured he'd put it off until I was old and senile. He actually decided he wanted it. We were in Vegas with Retzer et al and he just started talking about it. He wanted something pierced and blah blah blah. Erica said she'd get him a piercing as a wedding anniversary present. Haha. She while we were on the way to get that done, he then said he wanted a tattoo too. So anyhow, he'll have to post pics up for you all to see. He's very pleased with himself. Of course Retzer couldn't let me be left out, so she talked me into getting a septum piercing. I like the way it looks, but it hurt BADLY! I teared up like a little baby. Of all the things I've pierced and all the tattoos and other stupid things I've doen to myself, this was BY FAR the most painful. I don't recommend it unless you've been drinking heavily or bathing in novocaine. Yes, you heard it right-- Malachi and I have been married for a year. 7/17 was our anniversary. All I can say is the first year HAD BETTER BE the hardest. Seriously though, despite the rough roads, it's been a good year. I'm happy we've hit a milestone in our marriage. We've been together almost three years too, which is cool. So yeah, we're moving again. I HATE moving, but it has to be done. SoCal is so ridiculouly expensive... I hate it. I A part of me is wondering why we moved here anyways. I love the beaches, the events, the cheap shopping, the familiarity and my college friends but I have no idea how we'll ever be able to get ahead financially living here. We certainly won't be able to ever buy a home here. We probably won't ever have the money to even rent a decent sized apartment in this area. Even with Malachi working 40 hours a week and me working 25-30 hours a week, we're still barely scraping by. Blah. We'll be moving in with Erica and her parents. Hopefully after a few months we'll be able to get current on everything and find our own place. We really value our privacy and independence, so I know it will be interesting. I'm grateful to be able to rent a room and all the from them, but I'm hoping it will be a short-term arrangement. Hmm... What else can I say... Ah yes, I've started substitute teaching. I've only had one gig yet-- a 5th grade class. It was interesting. I like the group home so much better. I feel like I have more control. Plus, at the home we have to maintain a 4/1 ratio between kids and staff. At the school I had somewhere between 30-40 kids. It was chaos. I could never be a teacher. What a revolting and terrifying thought. Anyhow, I guess that's all I know... Ciao.
So, much has happened in the past however long it's been. I really should've blogged sooner, but I've been busy and lazy and forgetful. Let's see... I got a new car. I love it VERY much. It's a beautiful white 2005 Chevy Aveo. It makes me happy. The A/C works, both blinkers blink and it doesn't make gurgling noises at me on long trips. I'm thrilled. I'll show you CAians whenever somebody calls me or comes to visit. *tear Malachi has finally been corrupted! Muwahahahaha! He got a tattoo and his tongue pierced. I'm pleasantly surprised as I figured he'd put it off until I was old and senile. He actually decided he wanted it. We were in Vegas with Retzer et al and he just started talking about it. He wanted something pierced and blah blah blah. Erica said she'd get him a piercing as a wedding anniversary present. Haha. She while we were on the way to get that done, he then said he wanted a tattoo too. So anyhow, he'll have to post pics up for you all to see. He's very pleased with himself. Of course Retzer couldn't let me be left out, so she talked me into getting a septum piercing. I like the way it looks, but it hurt BADLY! I teared up like a little baby. Of all the things I've pierced and all the tattoos and other stupid things I've doen to myself, this was BY FAR the most painful. I don't recommend it unless you've been drinking heavily or bathing in novocaine. Yes, you heard it right-- Malachi and I have been married for a year. 7/17 was our anniversary. All I can say is the first year HAD BETTER BE the hardest. Seriously though, despite the rough roads, it's been a good year. I'm happy we've hit a milestone in our marriage. We've been together almost three years too, which is cool. So yeah, we're moving again. I HATE moving, but it has to be done. SoCal is so ridiculouly expensive... I hate it. I A part of me is wondering why we moved here anyways. I love the beaches, the events, the cheap shopping, the familiarity and my college friends but I have no idea how we'll ever be able to get ahead financially living here. We certainly won't be able to ever buy a home here. We probably won't ever have the money to even rent a decent sized apartment in this area. Even with Malachi working 40 hours a week and me working 25-30 hours a week, we're still barely scraping by. Blah. We'll be moving in with Erica and her parents. Hopefully after a few months we'll be able to get current on everything and find our own place. We really value our privacy and independence, so I know it will be interesting. I'm grateful to be able to rent a room and all the from them, but I'm hoping it will be a short-term arrangement. Hmm... What else can I say... Ah yes, I've started substitute teaching. I've only had one gig yet-- a 5th grade class. It was interesting. I like the group home so much better. I feel like I have more control. Plus, at the home we have to maintain a 4/1 ratio between kids and staff. At the school I had somewhere between 30-40 kids. It was chaos. I could never be a teacher. What a revolting and terrifying thought. Anyhow, I guess that's all I know... Ciao.
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