Sugar Sugar

Why do you always get bad news right before good times?

When I think of Easter (non-religious thoughts), I think of Cadbury creme eggs, mini eggs, jelly beans, solid chocolate eggs...

When I think of a girls weekend in Las Vegas, I think of buffets, ice cream, over indulgent dinners, snacks right before bed...

When I think of gestational diabetes, I think of crackers, cheese, grapes, skim milk, water, peanut butter and toast...

Which one of these sounds most appealing? It doesn't matter if the third option is now reality. I knew it was coming, I guess I was just holding on to that little glimmer of hope that I would survive this pregnancy without becoming best friends with medication and proper diet. I'm pregnant, I should be able to eat ice cream, candy and pizza whenever I want, right? Guess not. Not the first time, not this time, and if there is ever another pregnancy, I doubt it will be that time either. Sometimes I try to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. With GD, I keep telling myself that last time I lost 8+ pounds in my last trimester and maybe it will happen again this time. I also found that if I was a good girl with my meals during the day I could have a snack here and there. Good thing there are some good snacking moments in my upcoming future, and good thing I'll have meds to help me manage those moments!

So for those of you who might be around me during these moments, try not to wave the key lime pie, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate milk, or Easter candy too close to my face...I would greatly appreciate it! I'll be the one sitting in the back eating my crackers and grapes.

Does This Hair Make Me Look...

How do you decide on a new hair do? I've decided the mullet has been growing untamed for far too long now and it needs to be domesticated. What to do with it is the question of the day.

You know when you find that perfect picture that encompasses everything you want in a hairstyle, take it to your stylist with such excitement and anticipation, and then when it's over and you get home you realize that, for whatever reason, you now look like an 8 year old boy? (No? Maybe it's just me).

I have come to the conclusion that I just can't pull off the long hair anymore. As easy as it is, and as much as I see it being flaunted all around me, I just can't do it without it looking like I am being drowned. My hair just isn't cut out for the long, luxurious life like it was in high school. I am resigned to knowing that a life of shorter hair styles lays ahead. And that's fine, there are some great 'do's out there, I just need to find one that works for me (that is the hard part). It seems I am in for the long haul of trial and error haircuts. If there was only a way to do this without having to live through the dreaded "growing out" period. That's when the mullet comes back and sadly it usually stays longer than it is welcome.

So here I sit, appointment made, webpages searched, hair magazine pages dog eared...but no decision made. The only thing I am sure of is that when I come home, the husband will tell me it's "cute"...in that 12 year old girl kind of way.

Maybe if I wasn't so lazy, I would take on a more adventurous style or something that requires more than 3 minutes with a flat iron. But with the impending arrival this summer, the only thing I hear calling my name is a ponytail, and that is just not going to happen. Maybe I should go the wind blowing on my scalp route and buzz it off to see how it all grows in again? Ok, no that will never happen and not only because I am afraid I have a huge flat spot on the back of my scalp.... although it would be super easy to manage.

Seven days...that's what I have left until decision time. More than likely I will walk in, sit in my stylist's chair, sigh and tell her I have no idea. Then I will walk out feeling one of three ways; 1) like an 8 year old boy, 2) a 12 year old girl who is so excited to be going to the mall without her parents for the first time, or 3) like a 50 year old mom (no offense to 50 year old moms out there!). I'm going to guess option #2 would be the best of the above choices...but still, not quite my goal. I guess we will see a week from now...fingers crossed.

Ticket MASTER

This past weekend we took the wee one to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live. The show itself is a post on it's own, but until then...here is today's rant.

Ticket prices for this event ranged from quite reasonable to I don't think so. We decided to go with the reasonable $17 tickets since she won't remember this show, she isn't even 2, and I didn't want to pay $99 to see YGG.

Anyway, so for a live show, it was $51 for three tickets. Not bad in my books, especially for a once a year type outing.

Thanks to Ticketmaster however...your final price is never the ticket price.

Here's a breakdown (why they send you a receipt with the actual breakdown is beyond me, since it makes me never want to purchase a ticket from them again):

- total face value $51

- facility charge $6

- subtotal $57

- "convenience" charge $18.75 (I added the quotation marks)

- convenience charge tax $1.47

- order processing $6.08

- total charge $83.30

Yes, there were almost as many fees as the total ticket charge. And why is it a convenience charge? It's not convenient to me. Perhaps if they only charged it for online purchases, but seeing as they charge you even if you buy your tickets at the actual box office, it's definitely not a convenience! OK, I get that it's only a convenience charge for Ticketmaster, so why not call it something else then, like "I can charge as high of, and as many, fees as I want because this is the only place you can buy these tickets" fees. Sounds a little more truthful to me, and people would still buy the tickets, because they are right - they are the only place I can buy tickets.

Thankfully they had some American Express deal in place, so I was able to use our rewards points to pay for half (which basically paid for the fees) of the price, so it wasn't too much out of the wallet.

It was all worth it, but when I got the receipt in the mail it just made me laugh and shake my head a little. Oh well. I am sure next time YGG rolls through town we will do it all again, convenience fees or not!

Lost Boys

I think Corey Haim was one of the first posters ever to grace my walls, growing up. I can't even count how many I had, but there were a lot. Sure there were a couple Kirk Cameron ones along with a few other 80's teen hunks, but there were always more Haim posters than anyone else.

Lost Boys was, and is, one of my favourite movies. Classic 80's. I was a Team Haim from the beginning, none of this Corey Feldman stuff for me. Lost Boys, Dream a Little Dream, Lucas, Silver Bullet...such memories.

Am I too old to hang up one of those posters now? Not that I have any left over...

(and yes, this picture is one of the posters I used to hang on my wall).

Boy OH Boy

I realized a few things this weekend.

Maternity clothes suck. There are too many people at the Mall of America. Burger King does not satisfy. And boy clothes suck all the life out of me.

We ventured down to the MOA with the hopes of finding some clothes for me that I can squeeze myself into, a few little things for T, and some great starter pieces for the boy (yes, we are having a boy if you hadn't heard). The MOA has a few stores that are not in any other mall in the MN area, so my hopes were high for what I might find. We spent a good 4-5 hours at the mall (it's impossible to spend less when you are actually shopping and not just roaming around) and came home with 3 things boy, and all it is are onesies, a pair of pj's and a t-shirt. So disappointing. I kept drifting over to the girls clothes and Mark had to keep reeling me back over to the boy side. It's pretty safe to say that this boy will not have anything close to the amount of clothes his sister had, has and will have. Which Mark is probably excited about! Luckily we have a few months to search and scour before winding up with a small baby clad only in diapers due to a lack of clothing. Girl clothes on the other hand....oh my! It's probably best we're not having another girl or soon this house would be flooded with clothes. Why the discrepancy between boy and girl clothes, clothes-makers?? I know boys don't wear dresses, but there must be something other than trucks and animals that make boys clothes boyish, right?

Now, maternity clothes. It's either $20 for a t-shirt or $550 for leather leggings. Is there nothing in between? Of course there is, but I can't find it, and I can't justify $100 on a dress or a shirt I will wear only for a few months. Since I'm not working I don't have to worry about work wear, which is nice, but I would still like to have some somewhat stylish clothes, not just sweats and a tank top! If that was the case, I would just wear my pj pants and Mark's t-shirts outside instead of just around the house!

So if anyone has any tips on places to buy cool boy clothes and nice maternity clothes that don't cost an arm and a leg, would you mind sharing your finds with me? Otherwise this boy will be naked AND nameless!! (The name issue is a post all on it's own).