Monday, November 1, 2010

Parking lot courtesy....and lack there of

Isn't it just a basic rule of parking lot courtesy that when you see someone waiting for a spot with their blinker on, you move on and find your own spot?

I thought everyone knew that but apparently not everyone does.

Never in my life has anyone ever stolen a parking spot from me until last week, on Wednesday, someone had the audacity to take my spot. I was at the medical center for my 2nd prenatal visit. After circling the parking lot for a few minutes I realized that there was not a single spot in the whole place. So I did what most would do and I started stalking people who came out of the clinic to pounce on their spot. I made a few unsuccessful attempts as each already had someone pursuing the spot, or someone else was already waiting behind their car to take their spot. [clearly I was observing basic parking lot courtesy]

Lucky for me, a moment later I saw this lady nearing the back of the parking lot approaching her car. It was perfect timing. I waited to see where her car was and then parked behind it leaving her ample room to pull out. I put my blinker on so that others would know for certain that I in fact was waiting for that spot. Not a single car even came down that row so I was not at all concerned about losing my spot to anyone.

This lady however, took forever. I don’t know what she was doing but I think I listened to a whole song and a half and finished my Taco Bell dinner before she finally pulled out of the spot. It was probably about 5 minutes, and though I was tempted a few times to move on and find another spot, I kept saying to myself, “No, she’ll leave any second now.” Just as she began pulling out of the spot I put my car in drive, and began to turn my steering wheel and pull into the spot. I was about to make a left turn into her spot but of course she chose to back out toward her right making it impossible for me to pull in until she had actually completely pulled away. I was so busy watching her pull out of the spot that I didn’t even notice this white truck that had come from across the parking lot at lightning speed to steal my spot. As I started to pull in I suddenly see this truck pulling right in front of me into the spot. I give a light honk to get his attention but the guy completely ignores me. So I decide to lay on the horn while he proceeded to pull all the way into the spot, park and get out of the car!

I watched in complete amazement. Who does that? I was clearly waiting there, and my blinker was on. I even honked at you for crying out loud so if it had been a simple mistake he could have backed out and I would have understood it was an error on his part and must not have seen me at first. But clearly this was a deliberate parking spot robbery!!! How could someone seriously come from across the parking lot and take the only parking spot left in the whole place that someone else was clearly waiting for?

I was fuming! I’m pretty sure my blood was boiling. I was so enraged I wanted to do something really awful like key his car, or slash his tires or something. Now of course, we all know I would never do that, but I was so mad, I really wanted to. I’m not characteristically an angry person. I am usually the one who gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and assumes the best in people. I’m never the person who has that kind of rage that makes me want to do something like slash tires, or key someone’s car but that guy just really got under my skin! And of course, I was even more mad moments later that I was mad enough at him to want to key his car. That’s not me at all. I felt like he had not only beat me to the parking spot but he had uncovered an anger in me that I had not before possessed. Please tell me that all this anger was brought on by a true moment of injustice coupled with the hormones of pregnancy.

So a word to the wise: don’t steal parking spots from pregnant women because you never know when you might actually run across the one who will key your car or slash your tires. Pregnancy

Thursday, September 9, 2010

A pregnant woman's rant

Okay, so maybe I'm just hormonal but I'm going to release a pregnant woman's rant from the last 2 days.

I've already learned that once you become pregnant everyone has an opinion about everything you do. And not only does everyone have an opinion but they love to share that opinion whether you want to hear it or not. Sometimes those opinions are welcomed and sometimes those opinions just irritate the crap out of you. So here goes the story.

Every Wednesday our school has Chili Cheese Nachos on the snack bar menu. They are incredibly delicious and yes, very bad for you, but I love them. It's one of the few things on the snack bar menu that I actually like and don't just settle for because I didn't make a lunch. So yesterday, I was having a pretty good morning sickness day. I woke up feeling good and that persisted throughout the day. So at lunch time when I approached the snack bar window and realized that it was Chili Cheese Nacho Wednesday I was excited!!! I walk back to the teachers lounge with my plate of nacho's and the chili cheese is dripping off the sides onto the napkins and I was in my glory. But before I could put the first chip in my mouth the woman next to me in the teachers lounge looks at my 5000 calorie lunch, looks at me and says "You can't eat that! You're Pregnant! You're supposed to be eating healthy!" I turned and looked at her with this I'm gonna hurt you look and in the most serious voice and said "I'll eat what I want." "Oh no, no", she continues, "you have a baby in you who needs good food. You should be eating fruits and vegetables." I looked at her again as my blood began to boil and possibly steam coming out of my ears and said firmly, "I eat what I can keep down." And then I grabbed a chip smothered in ooey gooey chili cheese and crunched it right in front of her face.

I was sooooooo irritated!

Then, today I had a very rough morning sickness day. I was NOT feeling well and had already had some food that didn't agree with me. At lunch today, I decided to go for a crisp refreshing chicken salad. The snack bar also makes very good salads! I was sure that no one would have anything negative to say about a healthy chicken salad but no, I was wrong. Before I could even get the stinkin' plastic wrap off the top of the bowl, the person sitting next to me looked at me and said, "That's not pregnancy food. You should be eating something like that" as he pointed across the table to the bowl of spaghetti my colleague was eating. I looked at him and laughed and said, "Yesterday, I got harassed for eating Nacho's and today I get harassed for eating a salad. UGH!" He defended himself saying, "I'm not harassing, I'm just inquiring." He explained that he's used to pregnant women eating the typically high calorie, greasy foods. And in his defense, I didn't really feel harassed by his comment like I had the day before, but still, must everyone have something to say about my lunch!

So, for the record, if you care to know about my pregnancy eating habits I will share some. Since I've become pregnant I have only once or twice had a craving. Once it was for pizza and another time, it was for a box of Mike and Ike's which was weird because I don't really eat that kind of candy. Actually, I also craved Captain Crunch this weekend and that was delicious! I have eaten more fruit in these past few weeks than I ever have and I've for some reason had absolutely NO desire for sweets. I have turned my nose up to cookies, cakes, ice cream, Churros, Popsicles and all my usual favorites. Don't ask me why, it just happened. The sweetest thing I eat just for the pleasure of it is a pudding cup a few times a week. I love to eat bean and cheese burritos and salads with lot's of toppings. I no longer like eggs unless they are hard boiled and I no longer even have a taste for soda even though I drink it sometimes just to get something with flavor, but don't worry, I drink only the decaff brands! So there you have it, a summary of my pregnancy eating habits. They are what they are and trust me, I'm taking the appropriate precautions to avoid the no no foods.

And, I'm waiting for the day when I can go to Disneyland and enjoy a yummy churro or a wonderful bowl of ice cream in a waffle bowl drizzled with caramel!!! I can't wait till those things actually sound good to me again!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The hilarious tale of the day I found out I was pregnant

So most of you already know that Eric and I are expecting a baby. And, most of you know that it has been a long and painful road to get to this point. But setting all that aside for just a moment I thought I’d tell the story about how I found out I was pregnant. It’s kind-of a funny story.

A couple of weeks ago, I was approaching that time of the month. Actually, I was already a few days late. However, for me, a few days late means nothing, as I am often anywhere from 4-15 days “late.” My body just does what it wants. In the past few years and even more recently these past few months I have been really anxious hoping that we’d get that glorious news that we are pregnant. But in an effort to preserve myself from heartache and pain I try and wait as long as I can to take pregnancy tests. To me pregnancy tests are evil because they never have good news for me. As a matter of fact one month I took 3 pregnancy tests over the course of a few days and was so unsure because I was over 10 days late that I went out and bought a Clearblue that actually says the word Pregnant or Not Pregnant. Let me tell you, that was a bad idea for an emotionally fragile woman. When I took that test and it flashed over and over Not Pregnant I felt even more stupid and desperate. I was crushed! So for me pregnancy tests are nothing more than bearers of bad news but for some reason I can’t help but take them. I just have to know.

Okay, back to the story. I was already a few days late and it was Eric’s last day of work at the Coffee Bean. I decided to make him dinner in order to celebrate this momentous occasion but I had to go to the store to buy some ingredients. Since the month prior I had used all the pregnancy tests we had in the house I was gonna need to buy some this month. So I went to Target to buy the ingredients for dinner and took a walk down the aisle to find the pregnancy tests. I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to decide if I should buy one or not. I was arguing with myself in my head thinking, it was too early to take a test. But then again, I may as well get them now so I don’t have to come back in a few days right? Right! I grab the 3 pack and head for the cashier. “I’ll take the test on Friday” I tell myself as I walk to the car pregnancy tests in hand.

I get home, deliver that box of pregnancy tests to their specified location under the sink in the bathroom and head to the kitchen to cook dinner. But as I cooked dinner those pregnancy tests seemed to call my name. They were haunting me from the other room. I argued with myself as I cooked dinner. “I should just take one…No, it’s too early. I’ll just wait till Friday….But if I take it now at least I can get it out of my head….ahhhh.” It was 30 minutes of torture. My brain was conflicted. I was desperate to know but at the same time I was scared of the disappointment.

Finally, I cracked. I mean, I really had to pee so it was perfect. I walk into the bathroom, grab one of the pregnancy tests and took the test. But just my luck, that full bladder feeling was nothing but a hoax and I only peed like 5 drops and only about 3 of them actually landed on the pregnancy test! “GREAT, PERFECT! You just had to do it today! You just couldn’t wait a few more days. UGH!” I was so mad. I watched intently to see if those few drops would make the test read and of course, nothing. “Okay, so I’ll just save it and use it later when I have to go again.” That was my logical solution. So I went to the kitchen and started working on dinner undistracted.

About 30-40 minutes later I walked into the bathroom and the pink lines caught my eye. I walked over to the pregnancy test I had left laying next to the toilet and noticed that there were 2 lines, one line really dark and the other line a little less dark but definitely there. You would think that when I see that I’d be jumping for joy, but NO, I’m so accustomed to a negative result, I’m so used to the bad news that I didn’t even notice. The only thing I noticed was that this stupid pregnancy test read! I mean, how could only 3 drops have made that test read? “Oh crap. One line is darker than the other! What does that even mean?! Ugh! Stupid. You just wasted a test!” So, to spare myself the embarrassment of having to explain this whole story to Eric, I grabbed the test, placed it inside an empty box of pancake mix and put it into the trash at the bottom where Eric would never know and never ask me about it.

And that was the end of it. I was so crazy that day that I didn’t even notice that I had a positive pregnancy test. I went about my week as if nothing had happened until 3 days later!

So now it’s Wednesday night and I’m in bed. In the first 2 hours in bed I got up to go to the bathroom like 5 times. I was starting to get really frustrated. On one trip back to bed as I cuddled back into the covers I had this little mini flashback in my brain. I heard myself say “One line is darker than the other.” Over and over in my head I replayed Sunday afternoon. Half of me was convinced it was all in my head and the other half of me was almost certain it was real! I jumped out of bed, ran to the kitchen and began digging through the trash. Of course, we had already taken out that trash so I went back to bed. But my mind was racing and the possibility that I was pregnant kept me awake. I was so restless I had to go watch a movie in the living room to get my mind off it until morning when I could take another pregnancy test.

I finally got to bed at 3:30 in the morning. But my anxiety woke me up at 6:30 in the morning. I ran to the bathroom, ripped open a pregnancy test and then awaited me fate. Sure enough, within minutes those two lines appeared. I was completely in shock. It wasn’t the reaction I thought I’d have. I was just paralyzed by the reality and couldn’t believe it was finally a reality.

There was no way I could wait until Eric woke up to tell him so I woke him up and shoved the pregnancy test in his face before his eyes were even open. He was so confused about what was going on and it took him a few minutes to realize what I was shoving in his face. “Is that two lines? What does that mean?” “I’m pregnant. Can you believe it? I’m pregnant!”

It was a glorious morning indeed! Although I don’t know that Eric was too happy that I woke him up an hour before his alarm but I know he’s excited about being a dad. And I can’t wait to be a mommy!

Monday, August 9, 2010

A not so KODAK, kodak moment.

Have you ever been in public and seen a kid do something crazy and think, "Where are that kids parents?" only to find that that the parents are watching and don't seem to care? Oh man, do I have a good one! A little over a week ago the hubby and I, along with a few friends went to Universal Studios. In the afternoon 3 of us decided to take a little rest in a nice shaded area a little hidden from all the excitement. We were waiting for Claire and her husband Bryan to get back from riding the Jurassic Park water ride.

As we walked into the seating area we saw this little family of 4 enjoying a late lunch, or should I say, the parents were enjoying lunch while the two kids, a girl and a boy, were off in their own world. Instead of eating lunch with mom and dad, I see their little boy, maybe around 6 or 7, pressing his lips to a nearby hand railing and rubbing his face back and forth across it. At first glance, I thought, "that's gross" and looked to see if the parents even noticed. Of course, they didn't. Not only was their kid kissing a dirty public railing but he was climbing over it putting himself at risk of falling into the stream of water below all the while, mom and dad were just minding their own business as if they don't have any kids with them at all. At first I kept my parenting critique to myself but the next thing I just couldn't keep quiet

A few minutes later I see dirty lips walking closer to our table where a large trashcan was situated. At first he's just looking at it, then he gives Mr. Trashcan a little hug, and next thing I know he has his hands at the lip of the trashcan bringing his face toward the swinging window you throw your trash in. With both hands grabbing the lip he begins to stand on his tippy-toes and presses his face against the trashcan window. "Oh my gosh, look at that kid," I whisper to April and Eric. "He's putting his head in the trashcan." As his little blonde hair begins to hit the trash window I frantically look around to see if mom and dad are even watching. Nope, just talking, minding their own business. So I keep watching this kid and at the next glance I see this kid has his entire head, blonde mop of hair and all hanging over the lip of the trashcan all the way to his neck. Oh my gosh, that kid's about to climb in!!! I look back over to mom and dad and now they see him, but instead of reaching over to grab him by the arm and rip their kids head out of the trashcan, dad grabs the camera and proceeds to take a picture! I don't know about you, but there's nothing about my kid climbing into a trashcan at an amusement park that screams KODAK moment. They, however, seemed to think this was the funniest thing and took a few pictures before dirty lips poked his head out of the trashcan and saw that dad was taking a picture.

And, as it is in many families, younger siblings often take their cues from the older ones so about 5 minutes later I see 4 or 5 year old baby sister reaching her hands up to make her climb into the trashcan. Dad, once again reaches for the camera but as many of you might already agree, girls are a little smarter than boys, so baby sister changes her mind after placing her hands on the brim of the trashcan and runs back to mom for a little snack.

I don't know what it is about people sometimes. I know everyone thinks their kids are the cutest and that they do and say the darndest things but I'm pretty sure climbing into a public trashcan is not cute, it's just dirty!!! YUCK!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A walk down memory lane with the senior edition of the Titan Times, my high school news paper.

It's amazing how sometimes cleaning turns into a time to reminisce.

Eric and I were both cleaning last night preparing for a few friends who are coming to stay with us for a while at the end of the week. Eric and I have a tiny apartment so our dining room doubles as a storage facility. In an attempt to make our dining room a place where we can actually eat Eric and I decided to go through our storage closet and get rid of some stuff to make room for the boxes that are piled around the dining room table. As I was cleaning I came across a bag of stuff that had some old journals from high school. I used to write a lot in high school and gave detailed accounts of everything that happened so it was hilarious reading some of those journal entries. In the other room Eric was going through a crate that was literally filled to the brim with papers, most of which looked like study guides and powerpoint print-outs from his Chiropractor school days. I was so tempted to just through it all out over the weekend without telling him but I decided not to. Just the thought of throwing out a box of Eric's stuff brought back memories of a recurring argument my parents used to have about a garage cleaning episode gone wrong. While my mom was at work one Saturday my dad was cleaning the garage and this woman walked up from the street and asked if he would like to sell the doll that was laying on a pile of stuff. Of course, my dad sold it to her for like 3 dollars or something and it turned out to be my moms Ragety Anne doll from whose knows when, that was worth a lot of money, but more importantly had a lot of sentimental value. After that flashback I decided not to do it and now I'm so glad I did because in that box Eric found some GEMS!

As Eric was going through the box page by page he found a few copies of our old High School newspaper called the Titan Times. One of the issues he found was the Senior Edition from our Graduating class. You see, at my old high school the newspaper used to put out a Senior Edition right before school ended that had a few great columns dedicated to the seniors. For instance, one column was a list of each Senior with their college of choice and their major. Another had advice to the underclassman filled with embarrassing moments and what NOT to do. But the column that left me crying with laughter and at a few points about to pee my pants was the column entitled "Senior Predictions." In this column the newspaper staff wrote a list of predictions for the future for every single senior. It was hilarious!!!! I remember back in high school this column cased A LOT of drama because some of the predictions were offensive, obscene, hurtful or just plain rude. Some of the predictions referenced peoples most embarrassing moments, highlighted major character flaws or poked fun at some of peoples unfortunate awkward years. Just to give you an idea, some predictions involved future porn stars, getting a doctorate at a local community college, beauty school dropout, being a spokes person for a major fast food chain and the list goes on! According to one of the writers, he said he remembers getting threatened to not be able to walk at graduation for some of the things that were written.

Thanks to the digital age I was able to scan the paper and upload it into a FB photo album so that the whole senior class could relive those memories and laugh again. Eric did not really want me to do it because he was afraid I would open up a can of worms or incite anger all over again but I just had to show everyone. Despite his reluctance he helped me scan everything into his computer since mine isn't really working with the printer right now. It was definitely great for a good laugh again and so far most people have appreciated the walk down memory lane or were good natured about reliving those rude comments.

But here we are, 8 years later, looking back at the good ol'days of high school. Though most of those predictions were laughable and almost have no basis in our actual lives today some actually played out. My senior prediction read, and I quote: Jeanette Amezquita - married to Erick with 12.3 kids and a pet chiwawa." The spelling errors make me laugh. I remember having mixed feelings about that in high school because I was always known as "Eric's girlfriend" by the underclassmen who had crushes on my incredibly cute boyfriend so to be predicted to just be his wife and a baby machine, at the time,though not hurtful or offensive, was definitely a little bruise to my ego. Needless to say, at least part of that prediction came true. I did in fact marry Eric and get a dog, though not a "chiwawa." As for the 12.3 kids, Eric and I have always wanted A LOT of kids but so far God seems to be laughing in our faces about that wish. At this point I'd be happy just have one cuz the way things are going that would be a miracle in itself.

Well, I do hope that 8 years later people are still not reeling over what was written about them in their high school newspaper but you never know. And frankly, I really hope some of those predictions did NOT come true! Either way, I enjoyed my little walk down memory lane and just think, in 2 years we can do it in person at our 10 year reunion! Boy does time fly!!!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Eric's coffee slinging days are DONE!!!

For the past 4 years Eric has been working for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. He started working there while he was in Chiropractor school because it was fairly close to his school and they were able to work with his schedule. He fit in perfectly. For those of you who know Eric, he totally fits the coffee shop atmosphere. He's a perky, smiley guy who is great around people. When we got married 3 years ago he was still in school and of course he continued working there.

The perks were great. As a brand new teacher I would spend hours in the coffee shop. While he worked, I worked. I would find a spot and grade papers, write lessons plans, read, etc., all the while there was a steady flow of caffeine coming from the cute barista behind the counter. I got to know the workers there and felt like one of them most of the time. I made great friendships with some and some of them would even help me grade papers on their breaks or share my table with me just to hang out. I watched Eric as he suggested coffee's and tea's to the Coffee Bean Virgin's and I watched him say things like "hey _____, will that be the usual?" I even sometimes caught a glimpse of some of those regulars who I'm positive had a crush on him. It was so funny to see some of those girls faun over him giggling and complimenting his smile, nice eyes and long eyelashes. I would crack up as he would casually put his left hand over the register as he punched in their order showing off his bling but of course, those girls were so enraptured by the sparkle in his eye to even notice that he happened to have a band of sparkling diamonds fixated on his left ring finger.

After Eric and I had been married for about 6 months Eric quit coffee bean in order to focus on his studies because he wanted nothing more than to be the best possible Chiropractor he could be. We made the decision for him to quit together but I will be honest, I did not want him to quit for two reasons. For one, I was not that excited about being the bread winner on my Catholic High school just-above-the-poverty-line salary. Secondly, who would supply my bottomless cup of latte's and iced blended coffee drinks? I was devastated but there was an obvious weight lifted from Eric's shoulders and that was enough to give me some peace about it. However, those glorious days of focusing on school quickly came to an end when our rent went up and I lost a few thousand dollars in my salary due of low enrollment. So off Eric went to ask for his job back and thankfully they took him back.

Well, those days are finally over. After a good 4 years Eric's coffee slinging days are done. Earlier this month Eric was given a job as a Chiropractor just a few miles a way from home and just around the corner from my school. He now works 3 days at the Riverside Chiropractor office and 3 days at another clinic. Eric is officially a full time Chiropractor and can finally put that old college job aside and start working a real big kid job. I'm so proud of him for working so hard these past few years and especially these past 4 weeks as he worked 3 jobs spending only a few hours at home each day most of which was spent sleeping. He has truly won my heart over again and I can't wait to actually have my husband home in the evenings with me.

Eric also inspired me this weekend as I watched Eric work his last few days at Coffee Bean. I began to realize how much of an impact we make on each other every day as we go about our lives. On Saturday, I went with Eric to work and I watched as customer after customer came in to the Bean just to say goodbye to Eric. One couple, that I frequently see at the bean, walked out of the shop promising to return the next day for Eric's last day of work. It was so neat to see the friendships that were made with customers after just a few years of making their coffee. For some there were tearful goodbyes and congratulatory remarks as Eric moves on from the Bean to his career in Chiropractic.

So, we have finally arrived. We are finally big kids with big kid jobs.