she brought to my attention that either i'm completely blonde (times 10) or the glitch that wouldn't allow me to sign on is now fixed. 

WEEEE...

and as she knows (although no one else does yet), we found out late last month that we're expecting a baby BOY! 

more WEEEE...

but rest assured, i WILL not let my journal buddies be the last to know everything, lol.  sorry    i will let you all in on a little secret that NO ONE else knows.  bwa ha ha.

only recently (i.e. early saturday morning, after hours of lying in bed awake, contemplating) did we decide on a name.  i'm not sure if i'm going to tell anyone.  this a.) keeps it a surprise and keeps everyone anxious and b.) assures that i won't have to hear anyone's negative opinions or reactions to the name we've chosed (for example, i don't care if it was your ex boyfriend's name, my baby's not your ex boyfriend!!  UGH)

so, here's the secret name:  but, SHHH, don't tell anyone and don't let them know you know, lol.

his name will be...
...
...
...
...
Connor Bradley.

WEEEEE, he's still expected in March (but of course, mommy knows better) he'll be here in Feb.

Long time no talk.  Stay in touch everyone, missed you.

is UNPACKING.  lol.  you spend days wondering, "how the hell did i store all this stuff in a house that was half the size of this one?"

and you never get an answer.

mr. or ms. basketball is causing mommy some SERIOUS heartburn.  i've never had heartburn before, not that i can recall.  maybe minor uncomfort, but man. 

we went to the doctor yesterday.  it wasn't my usual nurse (i liked this one better), my blood pressure was MUCH lower not having to deal with the evil nurse i normally have.  so far everything is great.

160 beats per minute.  basketball's hearts just beat right along, eh?

i also had the (ummm...brain fart) APF4 testing.  i think that's what it is, to help discover neural tube defects and down syndrome.  i'm worried.  i think it's a mom thing (eewwww, that's a weird thing to say, lol).

our next appt was schedule in 3 weeks (the 24th) for my 20 week sono.  hopefully my already stubborn child will play along and let us figure out whether i need to buy pink or blue material for Keesha's cape/jacket thingy.

**anyone in my family who wishes to know the sex of MY baby will have to work for it, they'll have to make a special trip to my house to trick or treat, where Keesha and Blimpo (my self-acclaimed nickname) will answer the door.  Her wearing her outfit or either blue or pink, when asked about it, i'll simply inform them that she's dressing up as the baby.  hmmm, why be straight-forward?  it's not near as much fun.

and of course, my apologies to everyone, we moved to the new house forever ago (seems like).  but our cable (including my internet) couldn't be switched until today.  so...i'm baaa-aaaack!

keep in touch everyone!

Yuck.  Packing. Bleh.  Ick.  Ugh.  YARGH!

Well, I think I've made myself perfectly clear.  Packing is just God's way of saying, "HAVE FUN.  NOT!"  Lol, I shouldn't make jokes about God, but it's an inevitable process who NO ONE likes.  Sorry God.

We're 15 weeks today (Thursday).  It was just 2 months ago that we found out and it seems like last week. 

Here's the funny thing. 

We'll start moving stuff in starting Monday and hopefully be staying there soon after.  We picked up some pretty kickin Halloween items a week or 2 ago.  I told Danny (who wasn't nearly as excited as I was) that if we wouldn't have been getting ready to move, I would have had said decorations up THAT NIGHT.  Meaning, that's right folks, I'd be one of the 3 houses in my town that put up Halloween decor during the first week of Sept.

I don't care, I love Halloween.  I can't wait to decorate the other house.  I've even planned (God willing, it rained both nights of trick-or-treating last year) to put a stereo outside playing creepy sounds and music.  WEEE!

Danny thinks I'm weird.  I think...I was due on Oct 31.  My blood runs orange.

Our local volunteer fire department brought out their aerial truck (the kind with the lift up bucket) for a salute to our 9/11 heroes on the 5 year mark.  A large storm in the area (plus loss of electricity) caused them to take it down a little early, but I got there in time to get a couple shots.






in this second pic, note the helmet and boot hanging from the flag



I'm always proud to be an American. And every once in awhile I'm proud to be from my little, hick-ish hometown. We appreciate everything they do. Although we jokingly call them the "Foundation Savers", they really do keep people from losing everything they have in a fire. And this isn't their job. It's just something they get up in the middle of the night to do, to help people, voluntarily.

Good job guys.  Thank you, and bless you for everything you do.  May God keep you safe.

This is the weirdest thing.  You go to this site, enter the information and click Place Call Now and it actually calls someone.  I tried it with my phone number.  The only thing is, that after you click, you have to leave it on that page for until the phone rings (or 30 seconds if you're calling someone else). 

Visit here.

embarassed to be from illinois...

i recently found on a illinois department website something that not only shocked me, but made me want to move to another state all together.

while i won't name this website, i WILL however provide a link to it.  haha.

this unnamed website provides a section known as 'deadbeats' which i find completely distasteful.  in this section, there's a list of parents who are over $5,000 behind on child support.  now keep in mind, my father didn't keep up on child support, quit paying before his set date and didn't pay everything he was supposed to.  i never saw my father as a deadbeat, he just didn't have the money.

this list not only lists a picture (if they've got one), but their birthdate, race, how much is owed, last payment and even their last known address.

also, there are people listed who no longer reside in this country.  knowing this, there are few other countries that will cooperate with illinois child support and will not comply with the recording of payments made.

i'm just aggrivated, "non-compliant" is fine, but "deadbeat" is, in  my eyes, rude and obnoxious.  i think the people at said department are in my opinion (not for the deadbeat reason, but from previous experiences with them) uninformed and illogical, not to mention they spend alot of the state's time and money unnecessarily.  i know my dad got letter after letter after letter, mostly stating the same stuff, but at least 5 letters in under a month.  that's where part of my state taxes are going to?  scary.

visit the said page here.

i am...at 12:15 am...just now getting a break from my busy night.  danny took off to work early (at 7 instead of 11).  so at 7 i started painting.  painted again at 8:30.  and i'm getting ready to put on the last solid coat.  unfortunately, the stripes that i love so much left lines where the each colors was and the lines are visible through a solid color. 

the bad news: aside from the 3 coats it took to cover my lovely pink, we're going to have to sponge on top of it to camoflouge the lines.
the good news: when i got out the curtains that we replaced as soon as we moved it, the ones that belong here, i found that the green that i used (left over paint from my mom's bathroom) to paint the soffit matches them perfectly.

i've also spent alot of time fighting with the curtains we've put up.  they've begun their trip to be cleaned and packed (hoping most of them can be used in the new house).  and the old ugly ones are on their way up.  the new curtain rods for our curtains have been removed.  i haven't got the old ones up yet, they're old like 60's tan and white ones that run on a track.  i don't know how they work (lol, pathetic, i know).

the bad news: everyone can see in the HUGE window in the living room.
the good news: keesha (the dog) can now see the reflection of us walking around in the house and she either freaks out or barks, and it makes me laugh

i've sprayed the carpet with downy (fabric softener helps de-static the animal hair and makes it easier to vacuum).  and vacuumed that.  i had to lock the dog in the bedroom because she's scared of the vacuum and barks non-stop at it until it's off.  then, i sprinkled my magic carpet dust (arm & hammer baking powder & allergen reducer), but i RAN OUT!  so i didn't vacuum again.  i'll wait until tomorrow when i can get some more.  instead, i scrubbed the floors (the high traffic spots).  and used a fuzz trimmer to get the spots keesha's paws have rubbed on too much.

the bad news: there's white powder on the floor still and i also ran out of the spot cleaner.
the good news: it smells nice. 

back to work...

so, background:  When my parents first divorced when I was in school, my mom moved in with my aunt.  Once she started dating my now step-dad, we moved into a red house.  We then moved into a duplex.  Then my step-brother came from his mom's to live with us, so we moved BACK to the red house for the extra room.

i moved out and in with danny in our house now.  my mom (who had been renting that house, both times) moved out because her and my stepdad bought a smaller house since they didn't need the room anymore. 

well, with danny's 2 kids we've been looking for a bigger place to get them in seperate rooms since they tend to terrorize each other at times.  and with another one on the way, our 2 bedrooms aren't going to cut it.  guess where we're moving?

THE RED HOUSE.  we're upgrading from out measly 2 bedrooms to 4, which will be nice.  one of the bedrooms (my old one, when i lived there) was a completely finished basement that was HUGE.  there are 2 bedrooms upstairs (danny's boys' rooms), one on the main floor (nursery, and our room until the baby sleeps by him/herself) and the basement (where danny and i will stay after we get the baby situated, mostly because it's impossible to heat the downstairs, which is good, we like it cold).

so i'm so excited, everyone in their own room.  i love the house and i can't wait. 

OOOH, holy moley, i just about forgot why i posted this.  -----I'm very upset, because since we're moving out of this house, I must tame my kitchen soffet and paint it a normal color.  I painted a coat of primer over my beautiful stripes and now it looks BLAH.  the whole time i was painting i kept sighing at danny, telling him how ugly it was.  lol.  my poor pink....

I don't know if any of you ever watched Welcome Back, Kotter.  But that "oooh oooh oooh" that titles my post is meant to sound kind of like Arnold "Oooh Oooh" Horseshack. 

No, I'm not really old enough to have watched it.  But when it was on Nick at Night and now TV Land, I have always loved it.

ANYWAYS - I'm "oooh oooh"-ing because today marks Week 13.  Which is, according to some, the beginning of the SECOND TRIMESTER!!!  (although some take week 13 in the first trimester, i prefer to think of it the other way for the sake of excitement, hehe)

Anyways, next Dr. Appt Tuesday, the 5th.  Can't wait.  Time is flying by and except for the fact that I can't eat french fries or pizza (2 of my FAVE foods) I'm doing well.  And Danny, he's always rubbing and kissing my belly, and talking to the baby (sometimes telling it to quit making Mommy sick, lol, isn't he the best).  It's rough with Danny working midnights for a few months, I get sad sometimes just wanting to spend more time with him while we can, but he should be done with that shift around the time he'll be able to feel the baby kick.

He's just the best (I know, everyone's is the best), but I guess better wording would be, "He's the best for me!"  And he already loves our baby.  Although sometimes I wish he'd quit baby talking to my stomach and converse with me, I can't bring myself to make him stop.  It just makes me giggle. 

And I love to giggle.   

Well, the normal CO at our facility is dual trained.  Both as a CO and dispatcher.

As a CO: you make checks every 1/2 hour to make sure all inmates are accounted for, make sure they're not misbehaving (which actually NEVER happens), and move inmates if it's visitation or if they have court, etc.  Also, there is normally a trustee who doesn't have to stay in his/her cell and gets to make meals and wash cars, etc.  If there is no trustee, you have to make and distribute meals, commissary (where inmates can buy crossword puzzles, soda, ramen noodles, stamps, extra envelopes, phone cards, etc).  You also,as a CO book in all incoming arrestees.  Lockdown at night, and I think that's it.  Hmm, just the regular inmate stuff, I guess.

As a dispatcher:  You sit in the control room all night (unless relieved by another officer) because the radio can't be left alone.  You take emergency calls, transfer medicals and fires to the proper facilities, and dispatch officers (depending on location and county/city jurisdiction) to those calls, also determining at time of dispatch if additional units may me needed.  You also are responsible for knowing the locations of any or all of your officers if they are on calls or traffic stops.  You run the leads computer, where you locate warrants, run license plates/driver's license, get criminal histories.  There's also another computer that has every address in the county, so you must be able to give directions to a call if needed.  All the doors in the facility are run by a button panel in the control room, if an officer wants into the jail, dispatch pushes a button to temporarily unlock doors, so you have to run the doors (also including cell doors) and the intercoms through the facility.  Umm, and handle the walk-ins, when people come to the jail to report a wreck, fire or other emergency, or just make a complaint about someone in general.  And, I think that's about it.  This job is pretty hectic, although CO's have it rough too, especially when an inmate or arrestee is being troublesome.

But like I said, because there are certain risks posed with being a CO...I'm stricly dispatch.