White Night
I finished reading White Night, which is the latest book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. I borrowed it from Craing a week or so ago, and it took me about 5 days to go through it. It’s not his best book, but after watching The Dresden Files on the SciFi Channel, it was quite refreshing. I got to see the real Harry, Murphy, Bob, and host of other characters. It was great!
Craing had an advantage over me in that he could read in very long stretches, and I could not. I had to get in a few pages here and there when I had a chance. Since all of the Dresden Files books are mysteries (usually murder mysteries) it really helps to be able to sit and read as much as you can in one sitting. I’m certain that this is why Craing enjoys the books much more than I do. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the books, but it’s very obvious to me that it’s not as much as Craing does.
I’m not going to give away any of the secrets of the book for those of you out there that are still working your way through it, or are still waiting to buy it. If you enjoy Harry Dresden, then you will enjoy this book. Like I’ve already said, it’s not the best, but it’s still good enough to pick up and spend a day or five reading.
PS: I love Thomas’ new profession! It’s perfect.
Last Few Days
I worked a half day on Tuesday because of the first appointment with the baby doctor. I also worked half a day on Wednesday because of a dentist appointment for getting some serious dental work done. This meant that I was behind Thursday, so I busted ass until we left early because of the snow. I got home, and I was burned out from the constant grind of the past few days, so I kicked back and finished reading White Night by Jim Butcher. I got up this morning to tons of snow, so I’m working from home today. I could have probably gotten out to work, but if it snowed any more, then getting back in was going to be tricky. We decided to play it safe, and stay at home.
The baby doctor went well. We asked quite a few questions, and got some good answers. Like I’ve already said, I like the doctor.
The dentist appointment took longer than I thought it was going to. I originally went in for a root canal and a crown. I’m getting reading to do some implants, so I needed x-rays for those. Turns out that I needed two root canals and three crowns to really get my teeth back in shape. All three crowns are next to each other, so it was lots of work all in the same area. It took 4 hours to get it all done, but in the end, I’ll have stronger and healthier teeth. I just have to wait two weeks for the permanent crowns to come in, so that I can have them put in. My gums are a little bruised and sore where they did the work. It really hurts to brush my teeth, and any sudden change in altitude (like going from lying down to standing up) really hurts me. That really sucks because I was up and down all night last night because I was on call for work. I got called four times total, and my longest stretch of sleep was from around 4:45 until 10:00 this morning. The rest of my “sleep cycles” were anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours long. Each time I was in pain because I had to get out of bed to answer the damn phone. I wasn’t a happy camper last night.
White Night was a pretty good book. I’ll probably save my comments on it for another blog posting…
I’m starting to get a little cabin fever already today. I’m not really trapped in my house, but I like getting out. I may go to a movie this evening just to get out of the house, but only if there is something good showing. I haven’t looked at the list today, so I’m not sure what is showing that may catch my eye.
Dentist
I went to the dentist today for some pretty major work. I’m going to wait until tomorrow to post the details, so that I can see how much I need to cuss him out for inflicting (or maybe not) pain on me.
You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to get the details.
First Doctor Appointment
I met the doctor that will be delivering my baby today. He’s a nice guy that is very confident in his mannerisms. I always love that in a health professional. We often only go to doctors when something is wrong, and when they present an air of confidence, knowledge, and surety. then they tend to put us (or, at least, me) at ease.
Kiara had told me that he has big, strong hands. She wasn’t kidding! I could feel the strength in his grip when he shook my hand, but he seemed to know that he was strong and didn’t exert his full power into the grip. I like that in a man. A handshake should be firm, but not bone-crushing.
Just before that handshake, however, my first impression of him was that he looked quite a bit like George Hamilton. He has the same complexion, and almost the same face. The doctor was quite a bit bigger (mostly muscle, you could tell) and several decades younger.
We asked him all sorts of questions about how to proceed with the pregnancy, and when I should come to appointments and such. He was very clear in his answers and very honest with us. That was also appreciated.
There is a history of Downs Syndrome (1 cousin) on Kiara’s side, so that is a concern for us. We’re going to get an ultrasound done next Wednesday to get a firm date on how far along Kiara is. This will allow the doctor to schedule an ultrasound between the 12th and 13th week to check for signs of Downs Syndrome. It has something to do with some measurements in the spacing between the neck bones and the folds of skin on the neck. There are also some blood tests that go along with it. The results of the ultrasound and the blood work are plugged into a computer, and it spits out a probability of Downs Syndrome being a possibility. If the probability is low, then we continue on normally. If it’s high, then we may do an amniocentesis to do further testing. Even if the tests tell us that our child will have Downs Syndrome, we’ll have the baby. It just means more challenges after the birth.
Enough doom and gloom. I’m getting down a little just typing this out. I’m sure that everything will work out in the end.
I was also there during the “woman exam,” and, no, I didn’t watch! I don’t think I want to be there for another one. Poor Kiara squirmed and grimaced the whole time. It hurt me to watch her in pain. I could barely stand it. Kiara has told me that this doctor is the gentlest and best that she’s ever been to. I couldn’t image the pain and suffering that a careless doctor can cause if this guy is one of the best!
Of course, when it comes time for labor, I hope that I handle it better than I did the exam. We’ll have to wait until November to find out.
BBQ Results
We had a ton of people (16 counting Kiara and me) over at the house Saturday for a neighborhood BBQ to celebrate the start of Spring. Funny thing was that we had to chip the ice off of the grill before we could start cooking. Good thing it fired up right away.
We all had a good time hanging out, talking, and eating some roasted meat. Kiara’s potato salad was a hit, and there was none left after we were done eating.
Our “tractor neighbor” had three kids over with him. One is about 20 years old, and the other two are around 10-11 years old. All three of them were incredibly polite, and were a joy to be around. All three of them made a point to come over to Kiara and I and thank us for having them over. It was quite refreshing to find children that were polite and courteous. It made me quite happy to have neighbors that have raised children like that.
“Tractor neighbor’s” wife was talking about a book that she was reading about the local history of the area. It was pretty interesting stuff. Turns out that our area had been settled in the late 1800′s, and the main purpose of the area was to grow potatoes. I noticed that the rolling hills of the area have been terraced a small bit, and I bet it was so that the farmers could grow their crops.
I just hope that our house wasn’t built on an ancient cemetery that the potato farmers used.
Snow Removal BBQ
Kiara and I have invited our neighbors over to the house to thank them for all of their hard work during the winter to dig us out of the snow on many different occasions. We’d like to wait until further into Spring for nicer weather, but one of our neighbors is an airline pilot. This means that he gets very few Saturdays off of work. He and his wife just had a new baby girl a few weeks ago, and he took a month off of work to help with the baby. Tomorrow is his last Saturday off, so we have to do it tomorrow or not at all.
The funny thing is that we’re predicted to get some snow tomorrow! How ironic is that? Should be quite amusing if we do end up getting some snow during the “snow removal BBQ.”
We know our neighbors fairly well, but I’m looking forward to this opportunity to get to know them even better. I think we’ll have a good time with burgers, brauts, chicken, potato salad, and some beer.
Missing In A Liquor Store
I had a strange dream last night. It still has me befuddled. I’m sure there’s some meaning behind it all, but I’m not sure what it is….
I found myself riding a rocket powered bicycle around my hometown. I was mainly riding down the oddball street that runs NW/SE through the city. My hometown is pretty much laid out on a grid because there’s very little terrain to require roads to curve and shift. This NW/SE street has three lanes going in each direction, and a turn lane in the middle. It’s quite busy, and it’s very dangerous to be on a bicycle on this road.
I was going from store to store in search of something to drink. I was in luck. Most of the stores along this road (in my dream that is) were liquor stores. There were even liquor stores next to other liquor stores. I would go into one store, buy some vodka, then head off to the next store. I would only buy one item at each store. Sometimes it was whiskey. Sometimes it was tequila. Sometimes it was beer. I bought all sorts of alcohol while hopping from liquor store to liquor store.
About every third liquor store, I would browse the goods, and then leave without buying anything. For some reason, I knew that in my dream Kiara did not want me to buy any booze. Some of the stores were run by her friends, and I knew that if I made a purchase there that word would get back to Kiara that I was buying stuff that I wasn’t supposed to.
One of the stranger things about the dream was that every time I reached for my wallet to pay for my purchases, I couldn’t find my wallet. It’s always with me in my back, right pocket. No matter how much I looked for it, I could not find it. It was missing! There were a few times that I thought I had found it, but it always turned out to be something else. I would always pull something out of my pocket that couldn’t possibly fit there. The things that I got out of my pocket were bunny rabbits, baby ducks, toads, red bricks, small blocks of wood, a Viking long ship, and, the oddest one of all, was a solid rocket booster from the Space Shuttle.
Despite not having my wallet on me, the owners of the liquor stores would allow me to open up tabs at the stores, so that I could leave with my purchases. As I would leave the liquor stores, I would try to put the bottle(s) into my back pocket, but it wouldn’t fit because my wallet was in the way. What the fuck? I couldn’t find my wallet in the store, but as soon as I step outside, there it is!
Lastly, when it came time to start up my car (which always seemed to be with me at the stores), I could not find my keys. It was quite frustrating. By not having my keys on me, I had to resort to riding the rocket powered bicycle around town. Every time I would leave a liquor store, my car would be there waiting for me, but I couldn’t find my keys to start it. It was quite torturous to go through this several times a night.
When Kiara finally woke me up in the morning to go to work, I was quite relieved to be rid of this dream.
Smoke Away
I started a new round of Smoke Away Monday night. This is day 2 of me not smoking. One thing that is making it easier this time around is the fact that I threw away all of my smokes. I didn’t do that last time “just in case I needed one.” Well, I’ve needed a few here and there, but since I have nothing to smoke, it’s much easier to not smoke.
I know that I’ll always want a smoke from time-to-time, but I can’t wait until the urges to smoke come every few weeks instead of every few hours. I think it’s going to be a rough time for a while, but I can manage.
Big Red
We’ve been planning on buying a 1993 Chevy Suburban from one of Kiara’s coworkers. It’s big. It’s red. It’s name is Big Red. Makes sense, eh? We had it checked out by the Chevy dealership, and there are a few minor things that need to be repaired. Now that we have our tax money back (we got it last night), we have the money for Big Red and the repairs.
I also want to put a new stereo into Big Red because it just has AM/FM/Tape. No CD player, and our tape collection is, of course, tiny, outdated, and the tapes probably aren’t much good anymore. I’d like to add a stereo that can interface with an external mp3 player through an alternate audio input. I’ve found one that has the features that I like, but we’re looking at another $250 to $300 after installations and parts and stuff like that. I guess I should talk to Kiara about doing this.
I’m not sure when we’re going to be getting Big Red, but it’ll probably be in the next week or two.
