A Co-Workers Top 10

In the words of my friend and co-worker Amanda at Olson Communications... a Top 10 List for "How you can tell I'm ready to get this baby OUT!"

10. Dana considers underlayers and tank tops optional and lifts them off or up by day’s end.
9. Dana shows up with a pony tail more than once in a month.
8. She sighs with joyous relief – as if receiving manna from heaven – when putting on a headband that pushes the hair off of her face.
7. She is so visually chaffed by seeing people with baby-free bodies in non-maternity clothes that she asks the team not to wear belts or anything that indicates the existence of a waiste.
6. She makes an afternoon habit of sauntering down the office midway, barefoot, with a look of sadness and purposelessness, staring blankly into the cubes.
5. She considers sleeping the least fun part of the day.
4. She greets office mates with a mildly irate "I’m still here" vs. a bubbly "good morning."
3. She slouches so low in her chair, she’s almost prairie-dogging at her desk.
2. She falls out of her chair, and considers going to the printer a long-distance commute she cannot imagine making -- but feels bad about it and sort of tries to get out of the chair until the nearest Olsonita tells her to "park it" and scoots to fetch her docs.
1. She considers sex to be too much work – and admits it freely to the peanut gallery.

Pregnancy: Pros and Cons

Please indulge me while I try to maintain some sense of humor (with 1.5 weeks left to go in my pregnancy). Here is a quick hit-list of the pros and cons of gestation.

Pros:

- People encouraging you to eat - and thinking that the bigger your belly is, the cuter you are

- Strangers assisting you with doors, carrying bags, doing anything

- A constant source for conversation - no lulls with a belly like this!

- Bonding with the new baby before anyone else gets to

- Feeling like you're a living miracle every single day and being amazed at the awesome things your body is capable of

Cons:

- Having your hands, feet and ankles serve as a human barometer for the humidity that day (or how much salt intake happened in the past 24 hours)

- Purchasing parachutes instead of bras to accommodate the new size of your boobs (which is only a con because if the "full body package" of growth that accompanies these knockers)

- A limited wardrobe - which is primarily dedicated to flat shoes and tops that cinch at the ribcage and have lots of bows, ties and ribbons

- Calf cramps throughout the night (to make sure you're REALLY not getting enough sleep between that and the fact that you're up pee-ing at least twice)

- Comments from complete strangers about your weight gain - as if it really isn't your body at all, but a fat suit that you've rented for 9 months

- Knowing that just around the corner... you're going to have to diet again (and ice cream has become such a fun reward at the end of the day)

But to be honest, if someone told me that Keith could do all of this in my place - there is no way that I'd want that to be the case. For all these little "nasties" in the cons section... there is something so special about pregnancy!

Maine Vacation

Ok... so we have been back from vacation for a month. But, there was a lot of catch-up to do. Here are some fun photos from our ventures in Boston and Maine. Lots of great family photos, rest and relaxation. Seems like decades ago!! Doc and Frankie picking wild blueberries; GG with Kamili and Frankie; The Ofobike Family; Keith and I; Keith with Norm at Cheers and my personal favorite... him with dinner on the 4th of July - his second lobster meal while there. For the record, he gained nearly 12 pounds while we were on vacation... no doubt it was from having clam chowder with every meal!

Vacation Begins...

We started our two week vacation last Friday (at least Keith gets two weeks). I was working from Ohio this week... which means a drop in temps by nearly 30 degrees which is GREAT by me. Frankie's been eating up his time with Nana, Papa and Aunt Jenny... doing lots of fun Ohio things. Even though it isn't that sunny out, I swear Frankie's neck is starting to turn red...

Here he is sitting on Nana's lap during band practice (she and her 10 brothers and sisters have a band), riding on the 4-wheeler with Papa and sitting on Aunt Jenny's lap. Good times!

One for the baby book...

I went to Dallas recently for work and had to participate in some fun activities with some editors... had to share one of the photos of me skeet shooting. Good thing baby is so insulated in my belly! Two of the editors were so impressed that I did that pregnant - they asked me if there was anything they could write about my clients. I'd say that's a good day in a PR person's life. :)

Did I also mention that I hit four out of five clay pigeons??!

Q-tip Disaster

I frequently get emails from friends that show the worst of the worst photos of what kids can do when left alone for a few minutes. Well, we had one of those incidents ourselves yesterday... 750 Q-tips don't really belong in a box, do they? Not according to Frankie. In his words, "Oh No!"

Rest in Peace Jasmine

Princess Jasmine Weidaw-Arnold

March 23, 1993 - May 31, 2008

On a warm Saturday morning, Jasmine left this world to enjoy her version of heaven... where every day is 60 degrees and sunny, the season is always fall with lots of leaf piles to play in, and pizza is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She is survived by her original Weidaw family (mom, dad and Blake) - and now her more recent Arnold family of "mom" and "dad," her loud and tail-pulling younger brother Frankie, a step-brother Chuey (from the wrong side of the tracks - who is in Chihuahua bliss at his new home with EIGHT other Chihuahuas), and the soon-to-arrive younger brother or sister. Her cousins Brewster and Rufus also must be listed here - as beloved Bichon Frise counterparts in other parts of the country.

For those of you who only knew Jasmine during her retirement in Arizona, I am sad for that. The first ten years of her life were much more robust (and friendly!) - with many people thinking she was just a puppy for most of it. What should have been the sunset years for Jasmine in AZ were far from it... she endured several desert attacks - a jumping cholla cactus, a King snake, a near Coyote massacre, and a terrible brown recluse spider bite that disabled her for months.

I prefer to revel in her spunky youth of running through Ohio grass, loving to snuggle, her disdain of men, serving as a pillow for a teenage girl's tears, and always, always greeting those she loved with complete body-convulsing happiness.

Some lessons that we can learn from my sweet Jasmine:

- No matter how much pain or suffering you may be enduring, pizza helps.

- Any place can be a vacation, even if that is simply hiding under a bed for eight hours.

- Fight rarely. There's very little that is worth getting that worked up over.

- Love fiercly, but be selective with who gets to be on the receiving end of that love.

- No matter how terrible your day has been, joy can and should always be found in spending time with those that you love.

- Even in old age... with few teeth, no vision or hearing, arthritis in both hips and very few "good moments" - you can and will be appreciated and celebrated by somebody.

I will miss you, Jasmine.