Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Poor, Pitiful Pearl

I will readily admit I am usually an optimistic person. I come from the "old school" where I fully believe in such mantras as, "Life is what you make it," "Crying never solved a problem," and "Buck up, sista, and move on!" I try very hard to be the go-with-the-flow girl that can find the silver lining in almost any cloud. Usually, if I'm upset, not many people know it except for my very best friends, my husband, or maybe my parents.

And even then, it's got to be something pretty rough. I guess I just feel like there are so many other people in the world with real problems that mine seem kind of silly in comparison. I know I am so blessed to never have experienced any sort of real heartache, and that is not a blessing I take for granted. I have had it easy, and I will be the first person to admit that.

But sometimes....I just want to wallow. Sometimes I have bad days. Sometimes things don't necessarily go my way. And those days, well...they are crappy.

I consider myself a people pleaser. I do things for other people that I sometimes don't really feel like doing. I go out of my way to make something easier for someone else. I try to follow the Golden Rule as much as I can. Why? Because I guess I just think it's the right thing to do. If I can do a little something, even if it might inconvenience me a bit, why not do it if it will make a significant impact on someone else? Or even if it's an insignificant impact, it's still an impact. And I swear to you, dear reader, that I don't do that hoping to get something in return. But I do, however, believe that the big karma bank will someday make a deposit back into MY account--or at least I hope it will. Sometimes I just want someone to go out of their way for me, you know?

Everyone deserves to be made a priority, and everyone deserves to have someone else throw a little sunshine their way. I don't think that's a selfish thing to want. I do have some selfish tendencies, but I TRY not to let my only-child demon out too often. (Even when it rattles the cage and scares the dogs)

Today I am just having a Poor, Pitiful Pearl Day. A day when I want someone, ANYONE, to justify the way I feel. To speak out and say, "It's perfectly fine to wallow in your self-pity today, Pearl. Here, you can even use my violin to play the world's saddest song..."

I just need to "Buck up, sista!"

Even though I don't really know if I feel like doing much bucking today. It's probably a mixture of crazy hormones mixed in with this melancholy feeling of insignificance, and like most things in life, "this too shall pass".

I just need to remind myself that it's okay to be Poor, Pitiful Pearl sometimes. As long as Fabulous, Sunny Tiffany comes back soon.

TDC

Thursday, January 13, 2011

NYE, a National Championship, and The Crud

It's been a while readers. Or reader, as I should probably say! We are not only pregnant and unmotivated, we are also sick. (And I use the term we very loosely, as usual-especially on the pregnant part)


Let's start with New Year's Eve. My former NYE celebrations have consisted of one or more of the following: cocktails, H, live music, fireworks, friends, sore feet, and a hangover. This NYE consisted of only two of those things: H and friends. Although I must admit of all the things to carry into 2011, those are by far the best of the bunch! We had a wonderful and slightly uneventful NYE, which was totally okay by me. After a little lunch date with the ladies, I tagged along with them downtown to The Battlehouse Hotel.

Talk about luxury! This place is awesome--especially if you are just crashing the party and not paying the bill. The Battlehouse is only about 3 miles from our front door, and since I was the designated driver of the evening, I figured we might as well save our money and sleep in our own bed. I did not, however, want to miss out on girly time with three of my favorites so I hung out with them to gossip, giggle, snack, and get ready for the evening. H met up with us later, and he was (as usual) the lone dude in our group of fabulous gals! We saw the Moon Pie, but missed the drop. I heard some fireworks, but missed the show. Went to our usual stomping grounds, Boo Radley's, and didn't have a drink. And they didn't even a band, just a DJ that would play 30 seconds of a song before jumping to the next one on his playlist. Not my scene. But...we rang in 2011 nevertheless, made a run through the McDonalds drive-thru, and were asleep by 1!

And I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning!

The next week was back to work and back to reality! Boo! For some reason Mondays are just much easier when you know it's only followed by 3 more days of work rather than 4. But...life must go on. And the last time I checked our mortgage payment was still due on the 5th, so back to work we went.

And then it all went to hell in a handbasket quite quickly. H got sick with a cold, then he passed it along to his lovely wife. Now don't get me wrong, I can be a little needy when I get sick. I want to be cuddled and waited on hand and foot. But what's so wrong with that!?!!? Not a darn thing as far as I'm concerned. I wait on others hand and foot (not that I'm naming any names) so when I'm sick I like to be pampered. But apparently because SOME people got over their sickness pretty quickly (before passing a much stronger, crueler version along to me) I was supposed to bounce back like a tetherball as well. Except for the fact that I can't take meds like NyQuil or antibiotics to ease the pain.

Now is the time you should feel very sorry for me because I had some serious crud. I still have the lingering aftermath of it now, although I am feeling much better thanks to Tylenol products, lots of orange juice, and plenty of complaining.

And maybe one foot massage that I convinced H miraculously made my throat feel better, too. And my headache go away. :)

In the midst of my traumatic illness, Auburn played in the National Championship game. And in case you missed it or have been living under a rock....WE WON! Yay! I almost got a divorce because not only does my husband try to set my clothing on fire during an Iron Bowl, he also likes to cheer for Oregon. To which I say this, "If you don't know the capital of the state you should not be allowed to cheer for them in any capacity!"

Sidenote: Yes, we quiz each other on states' capitals and neither of us knew Oregon last time we played. We have weird games, what can I say?

But anywhooo....Auburn won! H can eat a turd! I think we should name the baby Cam Chizick Carrigan, what do you think?

Speaking of the bambino-It has been cooking for 16 weeks! I call it an "it" which people think is weird. But "Peanut" is just too conventional, and nothing else seems to fit. I call it Tupac sometimes, which I guess is kinda weird, too. We have chosen not to find out the sex of the baby, so I don't know if it's a he or she. So far the consensus is "he", but I haven't really had any sort of feelings leaning one way or the other. Although I feel like I would be more comfortable with a girl (cause we have the same parts and such) I would love to have a little boy for H and my dad. My dad has lived the past 28 years with just me and mom (God bless him, it would have killed a lesser man) so he deserves a lil dude to fish with. And H is already planning the kid's football, basketball, golf, and fishing outings so I know he's wanting a son. Pink or Blue, I don't care. Just as long as it's cute! I kid, I kid--just as long as it's healthy and looks like me, we're cool!

Happy (and Healthy) 2011!

TDC

Friday, January 7, 2011

What to Watch

Just as I promised, here is my wonderful list of what to watch on television! As if you didn't have enough people telling you what to do and where to do, let me suggest a few different shows that ARE worth your time.

Well, I guess I should say "are worth SOME of your time" because technically the less time we spend watching TV, the better off we will be. But if you are like me, sometimes you are just too tired after a 40-hour work week to do anything besides veg out and get some much-needed hours of relaxation compliments of your DVR. Ahhh...technology can indeed be our friend sometimes.

The Last American Cowboy--I stumbled upon this show on a new channel called Planet Green. It is awesome, and not just because there are cute cowboys in Wranglers. (Although that is never a bad thing!) The scenery of America's plains are truly God's country (no offense Auburn, ya know I love ya dearly) It is so vastly different than what we typically see in our neck of the woods, yet it is not hard to find the similarities. These cowboys have a work ethic that is pretty hard to come by nowadays. When you get an up-close view of what these wranglers are doing on a daily basis, you can easily see the relationships between man and beast, man and the land, and man and world for what it really is. This show is wonderful for the whole family--no cursing, no inappropriate dress or sexual innuendos--just pure, good reality television that is truly reality in the utmost sense of the word. P.S--The cowboys in Wranglers aren't bad either!

Glee--Now I realize that this show isn't for everyone, let me warn you. H would rather pluck his toenails out with a pair of pliers than watch 30 seconds of a musical, but for anyone who enjoys musical theater or music in general--PLEASE check this out if you haven't already. The music is awesome and I promise you will find it hard not to sing along. And even though some of the characters are quite different than what I was used to in high school, I have no doubt that it is a pretty good cross section of high school life today. I like the way the characters interact and I generally like the lessons of tolerance and acceptance they push.

Taboo--I am a big fan of NatGeo (National Geographic for those who aren't interested in learning more about life in general) and the wide variety of programs it airs. Taboo is one of my personal faves simply because of the craziness that lies in other people's homes and lives. There are people who eat paper, have sex dressed in animal costumes, put objects under their skin to make "art", and even live in Christian nudist colonies. I don't understand it, I don't want to understand it...but it fascinates me nevertheless.

Toddlers and Tiaras--Go ahead and laugh. I have no excuse. I was a former pageant participant, but minus a crazed pageant parent. I had the opposite problem--my parents didn't want me to do pageants. They thought they were a waste of money. But I loved them and I totally understand why these little girls are obssessed. You get to dress like a princess, win stuff, and show off in a front of a crowd. Who wouldn't want to do that!?!?! But the parents...ahhh the parents. The crazed Pageant Moms (and occasional Pageant Dad) are hilarious. If you ever wonder how a person can justify spending upwards of $5000 to POSSIBLY win $1000 (or a cheap crown or trophy) just check it out. And I am continually amazed at the amount of crap these parents will put up with. Don't get me wrong, I had a "mouth on me" too, but my mom would have smacked me into next week if I said some of the things those little divas say. It's a great lesson in "What not to do as a parent of an outgoing little girl who loves the limelight!"

Other faves without my two cents...
Basically anything on Bravo because I don't like my mind working too hard while I'm watching TV
Modern Family
Jersery Shore
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
Teen Mom
19 Kids and Counting
Dateline on ID
Big Love on HBO
True Blood on HBO

Now I understand that we aren't all alike. And you may not like what I like, and that's okay too. I would love to know what my friends are watching!