Stories

Before we left for Chicago, my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law showed up to check out our house. We needed to take two cars so CP went with his grandmother and I drove with my MIL. Usually when we are together, but without CP in the room, she tends to tell stories of CP growing up. They are always glowing stories (as only a mother could tell), but almost always end with, “and that’s how I know CP is going to be a great father.”

This happens ALL THE TIME.

At first it was funny. I would tell CP the story, he would laugh and then claim to not remember doing whatever his mother said he did.

Now it’s bordering on…well, I don’t want to say annoying….maybe weird is a better term? She has no idea that we are trying to conceive, so I guess it is her way of pushing us towards that point in our life? If she only knew. Not to mention the fact that she doesn’t need to sell me on CP- I already walked down the aisle with him!

The latest story was actually not about CP. It was about when she gave birth to CP’s sister (who is older), her MIL came to the hospital and wouldn’t leave. How at that point, all she wanted was her mother with her, helping her- not her MIL. And then she told me that whenever I am going to give birth that she is not going to insist on being there because she remembers how she felt.

Ummmmmm okay.

I told CP the story later on and he was like WTF? Which is precisely how I felt. I kind of clammed up and thought to myself “please let this car ride end soon.” I KNOW that she not doing it maliciously, but it would be nice to not discuss it once in a while.

So while we were in Chicago, the only comments I got from my family were the following:

*From my aunt (one cousin has 4 kids, one cousin has 1 kid and my other cousin is about to give birth next week): “So when are you two getting pregnant?” My response? “I’m still drinking right now, aren’t I?” while holding up my glass of wine.

*My mom said something jokingly after we had all had way too much to drink (which is why I don't remember the precise statement! Ha!) and I was able to reply with the same response from above.

That’s it. Even if my parents are DYING to ask, they will never come out and ask because they don’t want to seem overbearing. The only reason my mom joked about it was because she had a bit too much to drink (which she never does).

So yeah. My MIL, her husband, and GIL will all be joining us for Thanksgiving next week. Here’s hoping I don’t get any more stories…..

Cat is out of the bag

One of the best parts about the trip to Chicago was hanging out with our friends from law school. They got married two years before us, but have known each other since freshman year of college. During our marathon day of drinking on Thursday, CP casually asked how the pregnancy thing was going. (Sidenote: They have been talking about trying to get pregnant for a while- basically just waiting until he got a full time job. He got one in June.)

I had thought about what (if anything) I was going to say before our trip. If she wasn’t drinking, I wouldn’t outright ask her because if she was still less than 12 weeks she might not want to come out and say anything. I would quietly say something to her without the guys around.

However, she was drinking so she clearly wasn’t pregnant. They admitted that they were trying, but with no results so far. Informally trying since January (i.e. off the pill), formally trying (as in making sure to jump into bed around ovulation time and charting) for the past three months. Amazingly, CP copped to the fact that we had been trying too.

But as soon as the cat was out of the bag, it was nice to talk to a friend going through the same thing. Like REALLY NICE. I mean, CP doesn’t want to know about the different cycles and all of the crazy things that run through my head….but another female and a good friend completely understands.

I was shocked that CP said anything. Later I asked CP why he said something to them about us trying as he was the one that was dead set against us saying anything. He said that they probably figured that we were trying anyway.

I now know of someone going through the same situation we are. Obviously I hope that both of our situations change soon. But it’s nice to be able to turn to a friend and talk about it with her.

Time to detox

We are back! Back from our mini vacation to Chicago that is. I’m pretty sure we waddled instead of walking out of the airport last night. :-) I’ll try to keep my summary of our awesome trip brief:

Wednesday
*Walked around Michigan Avenue for part of the day. CP got a pair of khakis that have flannel lining and I am SO JEALOUS. He says they feel like sweatpants. We also stopped by Tiffany’s because we had a gift certificate from the wedding. Because it wasn’t really enough money for anything in the store, CP said that I could use it on a piece of jewelry. Yay! So I ended up getting this hammered sterling silver necklace. I love it!

*Food: CP tried the sausage pancake bites at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. He said that he specifically ordered them because he knew I would be grossed out (and I was). Ewww. For lunch we went to Foodlife which is an awesome restaurant with 14 different stations to choose from of different items: stir fry, pizza, comfort food, soups, salads, etc. I always go to the stir fry station. Yum! That night we went to Mon Ami Gabi, a French restaurant in Lincoln Park with my parents. Their French onion soup was good (not amazing), but my beef bourguignon was to die for. CP’s skate was also very delicious.

*Bonus: That night was probably a breakthrough in the relationship between CP and my parents. Conversation was flowing, everyone was having a good time, etc. And it lasted all weekend long (yay!). At times CP has felt like he didn’t have a ton in common with my parents- especially my Dad- and it was nice to see the awkwardness evaporate.

Thursday
*This day was a bit rough. We knew that we were going to hang out all day with our friends from law school/out west, but didn’t really plan too much. We met up around 11:30 and because no one wanted to really make a decision, we ended up heading to a bar to talk about what we wanted to do. Well, we just kept drinking. For TWELVE HOURS. We did eat lunch and attend a charity function for Gigi’s Playhouse (a Down Syndrome Awareness Center). All you can drink with cupcakes and appetizers! We then went to our first Top Chef restaurant for a late dinner.

*Food: We had a quick breakfast at Corner Bakery. (Sidenote: they are not just in Chicago. If you go for lunch I would HIGHLY recommend the Chicken Pomodori.) Lunch was kind of odd due to the drinking. We had wings at Finn McCool’s (simply because that is where we started drinking) before taking a cab over to Big Star and having a pork belly taco. We knew we had late dinner reservations at The Girl and the Goat, so after the charity thing, we headed over.

The restaurant’s head chef is Stephanie Izard from Top Chef Season 4. The menu is a bit all over the place, but appealed to CP’s off the wall tastes (thank goodness our friends aren’t picky eaters!). We had a roasted beet salad with anchovies and a crème fraiche dressing (good but I wanted more beets), pig face (a little greasy- also just ODD), goat liver pate (ewww- but CP loved it), lamb merguez sausage wrapped in calamari (yum) and skirt steak (boring). We finished the meal with their bourbon apple dessert. I’m not sure what they put into it but it was like crack. I wasn’t hungry, but wanted more of it’s deliciousness. The restaurant just opened this summer and it seems to be doing well- the place was packed at 10pm on a Thursday night!

Friday
*Due to our 12 hour drinking spree the day before, Friday morning was a little rough. Luckily we didn’t have too much to do. Lunch with friends, then helped my Mom shop and prepare for the surprise party the next day. That night we went to my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday party- bowling and then karaoke. I won all three games (woo hoo!) and then CP and I bailed after only a little bit of karaoke. Just not our scene.

*Food: Every time I go home to Chicago I HAVE to have Edwardo’s. The most amazing stuffed pizza ever. CP and I met up with another law school friend and her husband who just happened to be in town. The pizza was, as always, super delicious. Before heading out to kick everyone’s butt- whoops I mean, bowl- CP and I had salads from PJ Clarke’s with my parents. I would highly recommend their brunch if you are ever in town. They bring out mini muffins before your meal which are awesome (along with their pancakes). Late night we went to Five Faces- a great greasy/drunk food place. There we saw Tony Siragusa- drunk, unshaven and generally looking like a bum, with his handlers. I suspect he wore his FOX NFL hat to try to pick up chicks (which is hilarious because the bars on that street cater to very young people).

Saturday
*Saturday was my biggest test. CP and I were going to have to get my Dad out of the condo and keep him out for 5 hours. Because we just bought a house and my Dad likes to help with interior decorating, we decided to hit up every single furniture/home furnishings store. CP and I lingered on some of the stupidest things, even making up things that we needed for our house in order to draw out the day. Four hours into it my Dad was tired and we had to do a quick switch-off with my sister. CP was convinced that my Dad knew that something was up, but as friends and family gathered at the condo and yelled “SURPRISE” when he opened the door, his reaction was priceless. Of course there was plenty of wine and champagne flowing, so we drank too much (again).

Sunday
*Once again we were hungover, so when my sister suggested heading to a bar to watch the Bears game, we agreed. Unfortunately, the bar we headed to catered to young 20-year-olds or meatheads. Despite the fact that most people around us were in their late 20s/early 30s they brought out numerous beer funnels and drinking accessories. In my heyday, I love a good beer funnel and CP and I did shotgun a beer recently. However, I don’t think that I ever brought any of those things into a bar and really, I’m a bit old for it now.

Some guy pounded half of a pitcher of beer in a few seconds using some kind of tube contraption that you pushed towards the person and I swore he was going to puke it up all over me (amazingly he didn’t). There was also a water gun that shot liquor into a person's mouth. For the most part we were able to put up with the silly antics, but right as the game was ending and we were about to leave one of the guys popped open two bottles of champagne and started squirting them everywhere. That was pretty awesome (not) because CP and I already had on our clothes for our plane trip home. We were WAY too old and hungover for that crap. After hanging out at my friend’s place in Wrigleyville for a while, it was time to catch our plane.

*Food: The only good thing about The Stretch Bar was their burgers. I had a burger with BBQ pulled pork on top and it was delicious (not to mention super duper healthy I’m sure).

To conclude, we ate and drank WAY too much. CP and I will subsist on salads, stir fries and water for at least a week. But boy did we have a good time. :-)


(Note: Blogger is not currently uploading pictures which is extremely frustrating. I had a few to put in this post, but I guess not today.)

Tuesday bullets

Only bullets today…..

*Remember the “party house” neighbors only two doors down? Well, we finally met them and ended up hanging out with them both Friday and Saturday night. They were nice, but CP and I agreed that despite being the same age as us, they are in a different place in their lives. Not that we won’t hang out with them, but they are engaged and partying like they are in their early 20s. If I get knocked up I’m sure they are not going to be banging down our door to hang out. :-)

*I used a Groupon on Saturday to get a much needed pedicure and manicure. I hadn’t had either since my wedding over a year ago! It was three hours (yes THREE HOURS) of bliss. I wish that I could do that more often….

*The ridonkulous problem with the Holiday Inn Express has not been resolved. Despite calling the customer service line and filing an official complaint, the general manager refuses to refund our money. I have now called my credit card company to dispute the charge AND filed a BBB complaint AND posted a review on Trip Advisor. I simply don’t understand why they are not refunding our money! I will certainly never stay at a Holiday Inn Express again!

*I read a lot of blogs and Facebook postings complaining about infants not getting the point of daylight savings time (i.e. not letting their parents sleep in the extra hour). Well, I can say the same thing about Fuzzy Britches. With the lighter mornings, she has been waking up earlier than my alarm to nose us because she thinks that it is time to eat and go out NOW. Not cool FB!

*CP has been receiving a subscription to Parenting magazine lately. At first we thought that it was one of his groomsmen sending it to us as a joke. When asked, the groomsman denied any knowledge of the gift subscription. We can’t figure out the culprit…..

*The rest of this week I will be relaxing in Chicago. I can’t wait to hang out with friends and family! It has been over a year since I have seen my parents and that is simply unacceptable. It is my Dad’s 60th birthday so we are throwing him a surprise party on Saturday night. CP and I are the ones that have to get him out of the condo and keep him occupied while food gets made and the guests arrive. *Crossing my fingers that the surprise does not get ruined!*

*Relaxing in Chicago= no blog posting because I won’t be near a computer. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Ridonkulous

Update on yesterday's post. To my surprise, one of our friends did respond to the email (not me though! Silence was my tactic as to not stir up trouble/add to her attention-seeking ways.). Her response basically said that he should leave his wife before starting a new relationship. If he is not going to leave her, then CS should move on.

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Right now I am hopping mad at Holiday Inn Express. Their customer service is ATROCIOUS. Here is the story….I made a hotel reservation for my 10 year reunion at HIE. After talking to J, we realized that she was probably going to arrive a few hours before me. I called the hotel to add her to the reservation so that she could get into our hotel room before CP and I arrived. I was told she was added to my reservation.

That Friday she arrived and was able to check in with no problems. Because she showed up first, she had to put her credit card down. We spent the weekend there and we decided to leave the room on her card and I would send a check.

I check my credit card balance yesterday and oddly enough, there is a charge for half of the hotel room. J informs me that the entire balance showed up on her credit card.

Okay well this should be simple enough to get taken off, right? I called the hotel and informed the woman that we had been double billed. She then informed me that we had two different reservations and that I was a no-show for my reservation. That is why I got charged for the first night. Ummm but we didn’t book two rooms. I called and added J to my room. She was able to see the note in the computer adding J to my reservation. I informed her that I never made a second reservation and that I shouldn’t have to pay for a room I never reserved. I also informed her that I never received a second reservation number. How was I to know about the second booked room? It was clearly the hotel’s fault. She said there was nothing she could do about it. I asked to speak to her manager, she said that she was the general manager.

I wasn’t going to get anywhere with the woman. I then called up HIE’s customer service line to complain. The guy on the phone sympathized with me, wrote up the complaint and said that they have to send it down to the owner and general manager of the hotel to try to get a resolution. So now I am waiting to hear from the hotel to see if they are going to do anything about it. If they haven’t reversed the charge by tomorrow afternoon I will be calling my credit card company to dispute the payment.

*sigh* REALLY? Is Holiday Inn Express really THAT hard up for money that they have to make up reservations and then refuse to refund bogus charges?????

What to do?

Thanks for all of your supportive comments yesterday. And life continues…

This morning I received an email from someone I have talked about before. A formerly very good friend that, well, I just don’t know where we stand right now. We still have many mutual friends, she came to my wedding, but I think that she is harboring ill feelings towards me because I am blunt with her. For the most part, that is just my personality. If I think that you are living in a dream world, I point it out. I like to think that although the person doesn’t want to hear it at the time, that they will appreciate it at some point.

So my problem is this. I, along with seven other people in the email chain, get an email this morning that reads the following:

The short is that I've been carrying on with this one guy. We had a long talk about our feelings towards each other last week. I spend nearly every moment with the guy- gym before work, drinks on the weekend, constant emails, etc. He's smart, funny, hot, and sweet. Ok, so what's the problem? We're coworkers...and he's married... I know, I know. I'm telling this to a bunch of married people. Trust me, I almost didn't for that reason. It's bad and it's wrong, and I keep telling him that we can't carry on. Only, we can't seem to keep away from each other. I'm so conflicted. His marriage isn't the best, but I don't want to be "that girl". I'm so conflicted. I know he's crazy about me, but he's also not available. FML. HOW do I always find myself in these situations?!?!?! We've had an ongoing flirtation for a year, but we broke not too long ago after we worked out together and then had drinks. Oh ladies. As if my life isn't complicated enough. No judgment please!

She is writing this to seven women that are married, four of the seven have kids (one is pregnant with her third kid). AND one of the seven had her husband cheat on her about a year ago.

Ummm how can I not judge? CP suggested telling her to see a therapist because she obviously needs help, but I can’t be that blunt. I want to point out that she ONLY goes for guys that are unavailable. I pointed it out with her last “boyfriend” and it didn’t go over too well.

I don’t want to condone this behavior at all. I want to tell her that she needs to figure out why she goes for unavailable men. That this guy probably wouldn’t be interested if he wasn’t married (then there is no sneaking around). That even if he left his wife for her, why would she want him? Wouldn’t she be worried that if he got bored with their relationship that he would start cheating on her too? That she should break it off with him and pull away. If he is still interested, then have him get separated/divorced from his wife and then starting dating him.

But at this point is it even worth it to say something?

Post for future months

Thursday I woke up expecting my period. Every time I went to the bathroom I expected to see blood. Nothing. An entire day went by. I began to get excited. I kept checking the calendar to make sure that today was the today that I should have gotten my period.

I couldn’t sleep that night. When I woke up Friday I again expected to see blood. Nothing. My temperature was still high. Could this be it? Could I really be pregnant? I casually mention to CP that I am two days late. To him I am casual…in my mind I am already thinking of how and when we will tell my parents (their first grandchild) and CP’s parents. The stuff that I wasn’t going to be able to eat for the next 9 months. What lies we could tell our friends when we saw them in two weeks. They would definitely notice if I wasn’t drinking (mainly because they are trying themselves). I head to the DMV to get my drivers license and the entire time waiting I am trying to focus on my book, but every once in a while smiling to myself.

This could really be the month! I didn’t feel any cramps so I was positive this was the month. I didn’t feel pregnant, but at this point it is still dividing cells right? I wouldn’t feel that anyway. I didn’t see any implantation bleeding, but most women don’t so that wasn’t a big deal.

On the way home, I decided that it was safe enough to buy a pregnancy test. I knew that I was going to take it as soon as I got home, despite the fact that it was not the first time I went to the bathroom that morning. It just couldn’t wait. Not surprisingly, it was negative. I dismissed it and told myself that I would take another one the next morning.

That night I again told CP that my period had not shown up yet. He said that I should wait a few more days to take another pregnancy test because I might just be a little late this month. I was adamant and told him that in the past six months since getting off birth control I have been on a strict cycle. He said that he didn’t want me to get my hopes up too much.

In the end, CP was right. I woke up the next morning to my period before I could even take another pregnancy test. I hate the CP was right. Mostly because it means that we are not pregnant, but also because he was right about the fact that MY cycle was simply late. As CP woke up, I told him the news before I headed off to work.

Note to self for future months: wait longer than two days late to take a pregnancy test. Also, try not to get hopes up for the first few days you don’t have your period.

Another note: These two things will be VERY hard to do.