Lizzie's Age!
6.24.2008
Diaper Changing
I just finished changing one of Lizzie's diapers, and it was quite hilarious. I heard her poop while she was in her bassinet, and Cara checked and commented that I get to take care of Lizzie before she fed her. Well, as I was getting ready to change the diaper, I heard her poop again. Good thing I waited. So I waited a little bit longer to make sure she was done, and continued to change her diaper. As I removed her diaper and grabbed the cleaning cloths, what happens? She poops again! But, without the diaper covering her bottom. Oh man, I never knew babies could spray things besides water that well. As I'm trying to clean the poop up, I notice that she starts to pee. Good thing she's not a boy, otherwise I would've gotten it in the face. Goodness gracious!
It's hit me...
Before Lizzie was born, I had talked to a lot of people about the whole birth process, and what their feelings were after their first child was born. One person told me, there is no cooler feeling that holding your first born child. Another told me that her husband balled everytime he called someone to tell them it was a boy. Even funnier was the amount of people who told me I was going to cry when I held my newborn girl. I've found that I'm more emotional than not, so I was prepared to let my emotions run free.
As Cara was 'evicting' Lizzie out of the womb (she was 2 weeks past due!), I was able to watch the whole process. When I could see Lizzie's head, it was totally cool! When Lizzie came out, I was just so awestruck with the whole delivery process, I don't think I thought too much about the fact that it was our daughter that I watched this time versus some person who volunteered to let them selves be filmed during labor. I walked over to the warmers where Lizzie was being warmed, and played with her a little bit. And then I realized that Cara was still in the stirrups by herself. So, I ran back, and made sure she was okay...and then ran back to Lizzie. She was sooo adorable, little hands, little face, tiny eyes... awww. But it still hadn't hit yet.
Cara and I were moved to the postpartum room and things got a little more hectic. Nurses were in and out, people came by, sleep was never at the same time, and Lizzie would cry. I think it began to sit in when Cara and the nurse woke me up to change Lizzie's diaper. I was half asleep and hear: "Dad...Dad...time to change the diaper...." Poof, there goes my sleep. I get up, start changing a diaper best I know how and in a non-medicated/tired state. The nurse helps me out here and there, and I do catch a few things it seems, cause the next time I change the diaper, she comments "Wow, fast learner." That's right... I love my daughter... :-P.
One day (wait.. this was all in the period of 36 hours..), Lizzie, Cara,.and I were sleeping soundly. We should have bee ordering our food, but hadn't had a chance to put our orders onto paper yet. Well, the food guy came by, and was kind of annoying, and basically wasn't leaving until we ordered our food. So after I finally get our orders to the food guy and he leaves, the is a knock on the door again. I think he's forgot something, so I open the door only to find its one of the nurses. To make things worse, its one of the more verbose nurses. So after she finally finishes telling what she was supposed to (it was good information) I shut the door and sit down in my uncomfortable chair and attempt to sleep. Cara check's Lizzie's Diaper and says: "Daddy... Lizzie needs a diaper change." Gargh! Not what I wanted to hear! I'm rather grumpy at this point, and so I start changing her diaper. "Lizzie... stop moving your legs. Lizzie, if you wouldn't move so much, this wouldn't be so bad." Then I think it started to hit. She's a baby... My baby... I have to be gentle no matter how tired/annoyed I am. She hasn't done anything to me. So I changed the diaper, and gave the baby to Mom, and passed out in my chair.
It really began to sink in when we were at the US embassy here in Seoul, and I had to get visa passport pages added to my passport. The lady told me to give them the passport book and to come back in like two hours. I told her that I was getting a passport for my daughter... whoa! Daughter?!?! Holy Cow! It just about sank in.
It was all complete when my dad wrote me an e-mail with just one line. "So, has it hit you yet?" Man, my dad and I are like genetically linked! Hilarious. Anyrate, just so everyone knows, its hit.
6.20.2008
Labor Story
Hello all! In case you're interested, this is how Lizzie decided to enter the world :-) Sorry for any TMI moments!
I was heading to the end of 41wks pregnant, and the hospital doesn't generally let anyone go past 42wks. Because it appeared nothing was going to happen soon naturally (I wasn't dilated at all or having even mild contractions), they had started trying to 'encourage' labor to begin. I got 3 gel treatments (Prepidil I think) to try to soften my cervix, on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. When the checked on Tuesday, my cervix was softer, but that's it, so we decided I would be induced starting Wednesday evening, and plan to start labor on Thursday morning.
However, the 3rd gel treatment must have done something. It was administered around 2pm, and at 5:30pm I was on the computer in the library when I started noticing slight contractions. I thought they would go away when I got up to walk, but they didn't. I ran (walked?) the rest of my errands and got back to the Stork's Nest. Will was driving up after work to trade a few things for a radio I had picked up at the PX, and he arrived around 9pm. By then, my contractions were happening more often, but still weren't regular or painful. He left at midnight, and I went to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up because they were stronger and I couldn't sleep anymore. I walked back and forth in my room (it was raining outside), and rested some more. At 4am, I went to the bathroom, and then decided to see if the contractions were regular or not, so I could decide if I needed to call Will and tell him to drive back up. He planned on working Wednesday and coming up with the van on Wed pm for when my induction started. I came back from the bathroom, and wrote down a few times, but not enough to tell anything. Then, I thought I had to go to the bathroom again, so I went back. It seemed like, since I hadn't drank anything for awhile, I shouldn't be peeing that much, and thought I should start so see if maybe my water had broken. I laid down for 20min or so, then stood up, and sure enough more liquid came out. At that point, I put on a pad, and called Will (who hadn't gone to bed yet!!)to say he should probably come back soon (after a nap). Then I called the WICU (women/infant care unit) at the hospital to find out what they wanted me to do. Since I was by myself, they had me call the ambulance. I did, then went back to my room to get some of my things together. I also quickly ate a few servings of applesauce, because I figured they wouldn't let me eat at the hospital (I was right). The ambulance came, thank goodness without sirens, and I walked through the rain to the street. I sat on the stretcher, because it was the only place to sit, and we rode to the hospital. When I got there, they strapped me in and unloaded me, on the stretcher! I felt so silly, because I wasn't hurt, and could walk fine. But, they said I was already strapped in, so I may as well stay on for a ride. We arrived at the WICU, and they brought me into the evaluation room, but as soon as they saw that I was clearly losing liquid, they moved me immediately to the Labor and Delivery room. Dr Kim checked me, and I was dilated a fingertip. Because my water was broken, I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital without a baby. This was around 5:30am. I waited until 6, then called Will to tell him I had been checked in and he should head back up to Seoul.
Will got there around 7:30 or so. Everything was still pretty easy, nothing too painful. The nurses and midwife said I could walk around as long as I came back to be monitored every 30min, so I took a few laps of the WICU. Around 9:30, Dr Han came in and asked if I'd be willing to start Pitocen to make my contractions stronger. Because my water had broken and we weren't sure how long my body would take to dilate naturally, she was worried I was at risk for an infection. Plus, it could possibly take several days. As I was planning to start Pitocen the next day anyway, I figured it was a good idea. They let me take one more set of laps, which Will joined me for (he had been napping on the recliner in the Labor and Delivery room), then hooked me up to all the monitors and started the Pitocen. I'd guess this was around 10am.
Contractions started getting harder and closer right away. Every 20min the nurses would come in, see how I was doing, and turn up the dosage. By the 3rd or 4th time, I wasn't very happy about it! Lizzie's heart rate dropped a few times with the first strong contractions, so they put me on oxygen for a bit. She started looking OK pretty soon, though, and I didn't need the oxygen anymore. At first I was fine with my ipod, then I couldn't concentrate on the audiobook anymore and one of the nurses helped a bit. Will got up when he saw what he could do to help (I didn't know what to ask for either, so I'm glad the nurse was there to show us!), and he was great, doing everything I asked him to do. He put pressure and heat on my back, and let me lean on him in awkward positions, and helped me relax. The midwife came in often as well, to see how I was doing, and help out. She gave Will some ideas too. When it started getting more painful, I got out of bed and sat on the exercise ball I had brought, which was much better than sitting in bed. It was frustrating, though, because the monitors were sensitive and in certain positions (most often the ones I wanted to be in), one or both of the monitors (baby heartbeat and contraction sensor) would quit working, so I had to hold them in position. I changed positions whenever I thought something else would feel better, and they let me get unhooked in order to go to the bathroom, so that was a nice change as well. Focused breathing helped quite a bit, though I never did the 'hee hee hoo' stuff you see on tv. Long 'whooshes' and moaning helped me, because I could concentrate on the sound I was making instead of the pain. Contractions came close and hard, and when the midwife checked me at 3pm, I thought I would be decently far along. I was 3cm, which wasn't bad, but not where I wished I was! I started thinking about an epidural at this point, because although we were getting through the contractions fine, I didn't know if I wanted to keep doing it through 7 more centimeters.
Ginny Lee, the midwife:
An hour later or so, Dr Han came back, and said she wanted me to stop moving around so much, and that I couldn't get off the monitors anymore to go to the bathroom. Because the baby hadn't dropped hardly at all, there was a possibility that the cord could drop below the baby, forcing a c-section. Since I was going to be stuck in bed anyway, I started leaning stronger towards an epidural. Dr Han asked if I wanted one, saying it was only going to get worse, and I talked to Will about it. He made sure I wouldn't be mad at him afterwards for letting me get one, but once I pointed out that the contractions were fake (because they were from Pitocen), and that in a normal natural birth I wouldn't even be at the hospital yet, and that since I was going to be tied to the bed anyway (one of the reasons I didn't want an epidural originally), he agreed it was probably best. I got the epidural at 5:30pm, 12hrs after I got to the hospital.
Because I had the epidural, the nurses could turn up the Pitocen so it was stronger than I could have tolerated without the pain relief. The contractions were long and strong even through the epidural. Dr Han came in to check me 2hrs later, and I was at 5cm, and Lizzie had moved down further. Until this time, I had still been doubting that my body would respond properly, and I was worried about a c-section. On my mother's side, most births seem to be from c-sections because of big babies/small birth canals, including my mom and grandmother. So, I was expecting a continuation of that. But, because I was progressing, it was a great sign, and we were all really excited. Dr Han said she would be back in 2hrs.
I could still feel the contractions through the epidural, though they were almost painless. My left leg didn't go as numb as my right leg, and I could feel some pain there, but I lay on my side for awhile and the medicine evened out a bit more. About an hour after Dr Han left, though, I started feeling more pressure and pain, and it felt like Lizzie was moving down. At this point, Lizzie's heart rate dropped a bit again, so they put me back on the oxygen. Her head felt like it was pressing against my bottom with every contraction, and it was very uncomfortable. Will came over to hold my hand. I watched the clock closely for when Dr Han was supposed to come back, and felt like I was very close to feeling the 'urge to push'. I almost asked for her to be called earlier, but kept waiting. When she arrived at 9:30pm, she was surprised, and said I was 100% - ready to push! 2hrs to go from 5cm to pushing, pretty crazy.
The nurse came in at that point to help us start pushing, and set up a mirror at the end of the bed for me to watch (at my request). She took one leg and told Will to take the other, and we started pushing! It was hard at first to focus on the muscles that needed to do the work, but the mirror helped a lot with that and when she told me to relax my legs and not push into them, I started doing better. Will counted to 10 several times during each contraction while I tried to push Lizzie along. Will said he could see the bulge of Lizzie's head move down inside my belly, and at one point could see her hair. Then she rotated to move through the tight spaces, and we had to wait awhile to see her again.
An hour into pushing, Dr Han came in to check out my progress. She felt all around Lizzie's head (not fun for me!), and said she was in a good position to come out. I got scared for a minute though, because it had hurt to have her hands in there, and her hands weren't nearly as big as a baby! For a few minutes, the room was a flurry of activity as the end of the bed was taken off, the stirrups set up, a light came down from the ceiling, and Dr Han got all her equipment ready. Pretty soon we were ready for the real thing! Dr Han sat at the end of the bed, and Will had my leg. They still had the mirror set up, but it was hard for me to see because everyone was in the way. Dr Han kept checking Lizzie's progress, and told me when I wasn't pushing enough, and at some point was able to hold her head to keep her from going backwards in between contractions. Her heart rate was still going down with every contraction, but would go back to normal in between. Dr Han thought she might have the cord around her neck. I kept pushing, and her head was almost out. It was stuck on a piece of skin that Dr Han was going to cut, but on the next push it tore itself so she didn't have to. Later, I pushed Lizzie to the point where her head was halfway out, and the contraction stopped so I couldn't push effectively anymore. It hurt pretty bad to have it just sitting there stretching me! But, I had to wait for the next contraction. When it came, I pushed, and then Dr Han said to stop pushing. I felt her unwrap the cord, and thought I would have to push again to finish getting her out, but there she was! Born at 11:05pm.
Dr Han with Lizzie:
They put her on my stomach to clean her, while Will cut the cord, but because she had the cord on her neck she was a bit blue and they had to take her over to the warmer. She cried right away though, while she was on me, so I wasn't too worried. Will went wither her, and watched them do tests, give her the standard medications, etc., while Dr Han stitched me up in two places (nothing too bad, she said). I had to wait a bit to get Lizzie back, but they finally brought her over and I got to hold her and start to feed her while the epidural wore off. We moved into the postpartum room around 5am.
In the Labor and Delivery room:
I was heading to the end of 41wks pregnant, and the hospital doesn't generally let anyone go past 42wks. Because it appeared nothing was going to happen soon naturally (I wasn't dilated at all or having even mild contractions), they had started trying to 'encourage' labor to begin. I got 3 gel treatments (Prepidil I think) to try to soften my cervix, on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. When the checked on Tuesday, my cervix was softer, but that's it, so we decided I would be induced starting Wednesday evening, and plan to start labor on Thursday morning.
However, the 3rd gel treatment must have done something. It was administered around 2pm, and at 5:30pm I was on the computer in the library when I started noticing slight contractions. I thought they would go away when I got up to walk, but they didn't. I ran (walked?) the rest of my errands and got back to the Stork's Nest. Will was driving up after work to trade a few things for a radio I had picked up at the PX, and he arrived around 9pm. By then, my contractions were happening more often, but still weren't regular or painful. He left at midnight, and I went to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up because they were stronger and I couldn't sleep anymore. I walked back and forth in my room (it was raining outside), and rested some more. At 4am, I went to the bathroom, and then decided to see if the contractions were regular or not, so I could decide if I needed to call Will and tell him to drive back up. He planned on working Wednesday and coming up with the van on Wed pm for when my induction started. I came back from the bathroom, and wrote down a few times, but not enough to tell anything. Then, I thought I had to go to the bathroom again, so I went back. It seemed like, since I hadn't drank anything for awhile, I shouldn't be peeing that much, and thought I should start so see if maybe my water had broken. I laid down for 20min or so, then stood up, and sure enough more liquid came out. At that point, I put on a pad, and called Will (who hadn't gone to bed yet!!)to say he should probably come back soon (after a nap). Then I called the WICU (women/infant care unit) at the hospital to find out what they wanted me to do. Since I was by myself, they had me call the ambulance. I did, then went back to my room to get some of my things together. I also quickly ate a few servings of applesauce, because I figured they wouldn't let me eat at the hospital (I was right). The ambulance came, thank goodness without sirens, and I walked through the rain to the street. I sat on the stretcher, because it was the only place to sit, and we rode to the hospital. When I got there, they strapped me in and unloaded me, on the stretcher! I felt so silly, because I wasn't hurt, and could walk fine. But, they said I was already strapped in, so I may as well stay on for a ride. We arrived at the WICU, and they brought me into the evaluation room, but as soon as they saw that I was clearly losing liquid, they moved me immediately to the Labor and Delivery room. Dr Kim checked me, and I was dilated a fingertip. Because my water was broken, I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital without a baby. This was around 5:30am. I waited until 6, then called Will to tell him I had been checked in and he should head back up to Seoul.
Will got there around 7:30 or so. Everything was still pretty easy, nothing too painful. The nurses and midwife said I could walk around as long as I came back to be monitored every 30min, so I took a few laps of the WICU. Around 9:30, Dr Han came in and asked if I'd be willing to start Pitocen to make my contractions stronger. Because my water had broken and we weren't sure how long my body would take to dilate naturally, she was worried I was at risk for an infection. Plus, it could possibly take several days. As I was planning to start Pitocen the next day anyway, I figured it was a good idea. They let me take one more set of laps, which Will joined me for (he had been napping on the recliner in the Labor and Delivery room), then hooked me up to all the monitors and started the Pitocen. I'd guess this was around 10am.
Contractions started getting harder and closer right away. Every 20min the nurses would come in, see how I was doing, and turn up the dosage. By the 3rd or 4th time, I wasn't very happy about it! Lizzie's heart rate dropped a few times with the first strong contractions, so they put me on oxygen for a bit. She started looking OK pretty soon, though, and I didn't need the oxygen anymore. At first I was fine with my ipod, then I couldn't concentrate on the audiobook anymore and one of the nurses helped a bit. Will got up when he saw what he could do to help (I didn't know what to ask for either, so I'm glad the nurse was there to show us!), and he was great, doing everything I asked him to do. He put pressure and heat on my back, and let me lean on him in awkward positions, and helped me relax. The midwife came in often as well, to see how I was doing, and help out. She gave Will some ideas too. When it started getting more painful, I got out of bed and sat on the exercise ball I had brought, which was much better than sitting in bed. It was frustrating, though, because the monitors were sensitive and in certain positions (most often the ones I wanted to be in), one or both of the monitors (baby heartbeat and contraction sensor) would quit working, so I had to hold them in position. I changed positions whenever I thought something else would feel better, and they let me get unhooked in order to go to the bathroom, so that was a nice change as well. Focused breathing helped quite a bit, though I never did the 'hee hee hoo' stuff you see on tv. Long 'whooshes' and moaning helped me, because I could concentrate on the sound I was making instead of the pain. Contractions came close and hard, and when the midwife checked me at 3pm, I thought I would be decently far along. I was 3cm, which wasn't bad, but not where I wished I was! I started thinking about an epidural at this point, because although we were getting through the contractions fine, I didn't know if I wanted to keep doing it through 7 more centimeters.
Ginny Lee, the midwife:
An hour later or so, Dr Han came back, and said she wanted me to stop moving around so much, and that I couldn't get off the monitors anymore to go to the bathroom. Because the baby hadn't dropped hardly at all, there was a possibility that the cord could drop below the baby, forcing a c-section. Since I was going to be stuck in bed anyway, I started leaning stronger towards an epidural. Dr Han asked if I wanted one, saying it was only going to get worse, and I talked to Will about it. He made sure I wouldn't be mad at him afterwards for letting me get one, but once I pointed out that the contractions were fake (because they were from Pitocen), and that in a normal natural birth I wouldn't even be at the hospital yet, and that since I was going to be tied to the bed anyway (one of the reasons I didn't want an epidural originally), he agreed it was probably best. I got the epidural at 5:30pm, 12hrs after I got to the hospital.
Because I had the epidural, the nurses could turn up the Pitocen so it was stronger than I could have tolerated without the pain relief. The contractions were long and strong even through the epidural. Dr Han came in to check me 2hrs later, and I was at 5cm, and Lizzie had moved down further. Until this time, I had still been doubting that my body would respond properly, and I was worried about a c-section. On my mother's side, most births seem to be from c-sections because of big babies/small birth canals, including my mom and grandmother. So, I was expecting a continuation of that. But, because I was progressing, it was a great sign, and we were all really excited. Dr Han said she would be back in 2hrs.
I could still feel the contractions through the epidural, though they were almost painless. My left leg didn't go as numb as my right leg, and I could feel some pain there, but I lay on my side for awhile and the medicine evened out a bit more. About an hour after Dr Han left, though, I started feeling more pressure and pain, and it felt like Lizzie was moving down. At this point, Lizzie's heart rate dropped a bit again, so they put me back on the oxygen. Her head felt like it was pressing against my bottom with every contraction, and it was very uncomfortable. Will came over to hold my hand. I watched the clock closely for when Dr Han was supposed to come back, and felt like I was very close to feeling the 'urge to push'. I almost asked for her to be called earlier, but kept waiting. When she arrived at 9:30pm, she was surprised, and said I was 100% - ready to push! 2hrs to go from 5cm to pushing, pretty crazy.
The nurse came in at that point to help us start pushing, and set up a mirror at the end of the bed for me to watch (at my request). She took one leg and told Will to take the other, and we started pushing! It was hard at first to focus on the muscles that needed to do the work, but the mirror helped a lot with that and when she told me to relax my legs and not push into them, I started doing better. Will counted to 10 several times during each contraction while I tried to push Lizzie along. Will said he could see the bulge of Lizzie's head move down inside my belly, and at one point could see her hair. Then she rotated to move through the tight spaces, and we had to wait awhile to see her again.
An hour into pushing, Dr Han came in to check out my progress. She felt all around Lizzie's head (not fun for me!), and said she was in a good position to come out. I got scared for a minute though, because it had hurt to have her hands in there, and her hands weren't nearly as big as a baby! For a few minutes, the room was a flurry of activity as the end of the bed was taken off, the stirrups set up, a light came down from the ceiling, and Dr Han got all her equipment ready. Pretty soon we were ready for the real thing! Dr Han sat at the end of the bed, and Will had my leg. They still had the mirror set up, but it was hard for me to see because everyone was in the way. Dr Han kept checking Lizzie's progress, and told me when I wasn't pushing enough, and at some point was able to hold her head to keep her from going backwards in between contractions. Her heart rate was still going down with every contraction, but would go back to normal in between. Dr Han thought she might have the cord around her neck. I kept pushing, and her head was almost out. It was stuck on a piece of skin that Dr Han was going to cut, but on the next push it tore itself so she didn't have to. Later, I pushed Lizzie to the point where her head was halfway out, and the contraction stopped so I couldn't push effectively anymore. It hurt pretty bad to have it just sitting there stretching me! But, I had to wait for the next contraction. When it came, I pushed, and then Dr Han said to stop pushing. I felt her unwrap the cord, and thought I would have to push again to finish getting her out, but there she was! Born at 11:05pm.
Dr Han with Lizzie:
They put her on my stomach to clean her, while Will cut the cord, but because she had the cord on her neck she was a bit blue and they had to take her over to the warmer. She cried right away though, while she was on me, so I wasn't too worried. Will went wither her, and watched them do tests, give her the standard medications, etc., while Dr Han stitched me up in two places (nothing too bad, she said). I had to wait a bit to get Lizzie back, but they finally brought her over and I got to hold her and start to feed her while the epidural wore off. We moved into the postpartum room around 5am.
In the Labor and Delivery room:
Lizzie is Here!
Well everyone, it is a pleasure to introduce to you all Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ruth Jones. Baby Lizzie came into the world @ 1105 PM on June 18th, 2008. She weighed 7lbs 11oz, and Cara was able to deliver her without getting a Cesarean! She is a very pretty baby, with a lot of hair, and likes to look around. We have some pictures here for you all to look at. Please enjoy!
6.10.2008
The Kitchen is alive!
So, Cara has been at the stork's nest for the past week and a half, and I've gone up there quite often to visit her. When I'm not at the stork's nest, I'm back here at the apartment pretending its 2006 and Cara and I are separated again. The only difference is that Cara cooks a lot of food and there are leftovers.
Well, this past week, I looked at the kitchen, but never ate much in it, or cleaned much for that matter, and just went about business as usual. We had a few warm & humid days this weekend as well, and to keep the house safe, the windows were closed. Today, however, I was determined to eat into the stockpiles of good leftovers in the fridge (the leftovers in the fridge aren't the problem, so don't worry about those). Cara made some shrimp(s) with some olive oil and spices, and suggested that I pour them over noodles for a good dinner dish. So, I figured I'd give that a shot.
Around 9:30ish PM I turned the water on to the sink, and noticed that gnats started flying around. Great, must be mold in the sink trap. I open it up, and voila, mold. Ick. Followed by more gnats. Ug. So I promptly take the sink trap to our food trash, open it up and get surprised by some more gnats. At this point, I hold my breath, tie the food trash shut, and take it outside. Boy, that was nasty.
I start to fill up a pan to make noodles, when I notice the gnats migrated over our kitchen table. As I ponder what could be over there, I soon find our banana bread bananas have begun to mold as well. I throw those away, while attacking the gnats with table cleaner. Now, I have set myself to clean this kitchen. Its attacking me!
Well, this past week, I looked at the kitchen, but never ate much in it, or cleaned much for that matter, and just went about business as usual. We had a few warm & humid days this weekend as well, and to keep the house safe, the windows were closed. Today, however, I was determined to eat into the stockpiles of good leftovers in the fridge (the leftovers in the fridge aren't the problem, so don't worry about those). Cara made some shrimp(s) with some olive oil and spices, and suggested that I pour them over noodles for a good dinner dish. So, I figured I'd give that a shot.
Around 9:30ish PM I turned the water on to the sink, and noticed that gnats started flying around. Great, must be mold in the sink trap. I open it up, and voila, mold. Ick. Followed by more gnats. Ug. So I promptly take the sink trap to our food trash, open it up and get surprised by some more gnats. At this point, I hold my breath, tie the food trash shut, and take it outside. Boy, that was nasty.
I start to fill up a pan to make noodles, when I notice the gnats migrated over our kitchen table. As I ponder what could be over there, I soon find our banana bread bananas have begun to mold as well. I throw those away, while attacking the gnats with table cleaner. Now, I have set myself to clean this kitchen. Its attacking me!
So while I'm boiling the noodles, I fill up the sink and start to soak some of the dishes and open an old salad bowl. Mold. Ugh. But its salad? Oh, that's right, there was feta cheese in it. Realizing that the salad bowl was pretty nasty, I remember the container sitting next to it.
*****
Earlier last week, I had dropped off Cara at the stork's nest, and she told me I had to try the potato salad, cause it wasn't too mayonaisey, and it tasted pretty good. So one night, I was looking for regular green salad, and took out the potato salad to get to the green salad. I polished it off and threw the empty container on the countertop. The next day I set myself to try the potato salad. So I pour a glass of Kool-aid to wash it down, open the fridge, and look for the container of potato salad. The only problem is, I can't find it. So I look a little harder through the fridge, and then I realize what I did. I look on top of the fridge, and find the container of potato salad that had been left out for a day or so. Annoyed at myself, I throw it on the sink counter telling myself that it is 'off limits' for food. But I never moved it or emptied the contents after that...
****
Anyway, as I sat there next to the kitchen sink trying to convince myself to open the 1.5 week old potato salad left out in the heat & humidity. It takes me a while, and then I hold my breath and open the container. I jump a little. Wow... it was a total colony. So, I did what any man would do. Ignore it. I washed just about everything else except that.
I even contemplated throwing the whole container away. I took the potato salad outside with a garbage bag, but then I realize that's just a tad wasteful. At about this time, I realize I need more dish soap. So I run to the shoppette real quick and get some soap and juice.
So after telling myself that it is only mold, and I can wash my hands, I grab a food
trash bag, go outside and dump most of the potato salad without looking at it. I figure I should actually see what it looks like, so I take a look, and get semi-amazed about how much mold grew, and the different types that grew. So, what do you do with something that looks cool? That's right, you take a picture of it! So I did. (still freaks me out kinda). So I take the tupperware container back inside, make fresh sink water and let that sucker soak for a while. I do some more cleaning to rid the kitchen of more mold, but as far as I can tell, it'll be a while before the gnats retreat.
trash bag, go outside and dump most of the potato salad without looking at it. I figure I should actually see what it looks like, so I take a look, and get semi-amazed about how much mold grew, and the different types that grew. So, what do you do with something that looks cool? That's right, you take a picture of it! So I did. (still freaks me out kinda). So I take the tupperware container back inside, make fresh sink water and let that sucker soak for a while. I do some more cleaning to rid the kitchen of more mold, but as far as I can tell, it'll be a while before the gnats retreat.6.09.2008
Bragging...
Hello! No Lizzie yet, still waiting. And getting impatient, and running out of ideas of what to do each day, but that will end soon enough, I'm sure!
Re: the below post, I thought I'd publish the file of Will's recent creation. He created/played/sang/recorded all the parts, which is pretty cool.
Enjoy!
Majestic
Re: the below post, I thought I'd publish the file of Will's recent creation. He created/played/sang/recorded all the parts, which is pretty cool.
Enjoy!
Majestic
6.05.2008
My Music Studio
Well, borrowed at least. Its real fun too. I can mix my own music, and harmonize myself. Its not easy.
In the picture you can see what it looks like. One of the guys I play with in our praise band used to be in a bunch of very good bands back in the day. Knowing this, I asked, in an e-mail, for some advice on getting a sound board to help me mix music to my computer. His reply was a tutorial on sound boards different kinds of sound, etc. He mentioned that he also had some recording equipment that was collecting dust in his house that he could let me borrow. So, like anyone who finds something cool... I jump on it! He let me borrow a digital mixer board, a Roland SC-55 Synthesizer (which I had to fix to use...), a PCI interface board, a SWEEET microphone, cables, and so forth.
Its all in the picture below.
Oh, and if you want to hear a song I worked on, let me know. I'll e-mail it to ya.
In the picture you can see what it looks like. One of the guys I play with in our praise band used to be in a bunch of very good bands back in the day. Knowing this, I asked, in an e-mail, for some advice on getting a sound board to help me mix music to my computer. His reply was a tutorial on sound boards different kinds of sound, etc. He mentioned that he also had some recording equipment that was collecting dust in his house that he could let me borrow. So, like anyone who finds something cool... I jump on it! He let me borrow a digital mixer board, a Roland SC-55 Synthesizer (which I had to fix to use...), a PCI interface board, a SWEEET microphone, cables, and so forth.
Its all in the picture below.
Oh, and if you want to hear a song I worked on, let me know. I'll e-mail it to ya.
Update on The New Guy
He's doing okay, and is taking it well. He's actually pretty jokeful about it too. Today we went to the boss's office first instead of our main office. When we walk up, our boss says hello and he says: "I've told everyone not to ask you how your trip was...There's a pun in there somewhere..." I think my boss thought about that all day long. But I could be wrong. Anyway, we get things taken care of, and head over to the shop. I drive in this time vs parking away from the main building. Jokingly he comments, "Why didn't we do this yesterday?" Oh, I wonder the same thing. When we got to the office, he introduced him self as 'Trip' At that point, I figured he wasn't embarrassed much anymore. But just letting everyone know, the new guy is indeed OK. :-D
Oh even funnier are some of the jokes about the situation I've heard.
New Guy (to me): Okay, so I've come up with the story that I'm going to tell everyone. You and I were talking about politics, I'm a die hard Clinton supporter, and you're a Obama supporter. While we were walking, I said something bad about Obama and somehow I'm on the ground....
(He's joking, I assure you!)
******
Sergeant: Hey dude, don't trip me!
Me: Ha ha, sorry, I'll try not too.
Sergeant: Hey, did SF come out to the scene?
Me: No...
Sergeant: (jokingly..I hope...) Man I'm surprised they didn't come out, see the guy on the ground and report "There's a white male down with a black guy over him!" and then come out with the Humvees and 60 cal guns!
*******
I didn't even think about that fact (black guy/white guy) when it happened... but it goes to show you, that racism is still in a lot of peoples minds, whether we talk about it, or not.
Oh even funnier are some of the jokes about the situation I've heard.
New Guy (to me): Okay, so I've come up with the story that I'm going to tell everyone. You and I were talking about politics, I'm a die hard Clinton supporter, and you're a Obama supporter. While we were walking, I said something bad about Obama and somehow I'm on the ground....
(He's joking, I assure you!)
******
Sergeant: Hey dude, don't trip me!
Me: Ha ha, sorry, I'll try not too.
Sergeant: Hey, did SF come out to the scene?
Me: No...
Sergeant: (jokingly..I hope...) Man I'm surprised they didn't come out, see the guy on the ground and report "There's a white male down with a black guy over him!" and then come out with the Humvees and 60 cal guns!
*******
I didn't even think about that fact (black guy/white guy) when it happened... but it goes to show you, that racism is still in a lot of peoples minds, whether we talk about it, or not.
6.04.2008
"Funny story about the new guy..."
That was what I told my co-worker this afternoon when he asked about the arrival of the new guy to our office. What is that story? I'm glad you asked.
Well, I was asked to pick up our new guy from his hotel and bring him by our office. So, I got up kinda early (for me at least) and headed on over to the hotel. I let him know I'm there and introduce myself when he comes down to the lobby. I then drive him on base and give him a mini tour of the main street (BX, Hospital, Family Housing, etc...) and then head toward and park as close as we can to our office. As we're walking into our office compound, we're talking back and forth. I'm not sure why, but I looked behind me just in time to see his head, in what felt like slow motion, hit the curb and bounce a little. It seemed so slow when he was falling because I could process the fact that he was falling, I could tell where his head was probably going to hit, and focused on that spot. When his head hit, I looked at the spot to make sure it wasn't hurt to badly. I felt like I was (Warning: Geek reference ahead!) Piccard in the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection." (Told ya...)
"Ahh! Dude, you okay?!" I ask as I help him up. I looked at the spot where he hit, and it looked like is was only scraped, so I figured that everything should be okay. Then I noticed the blood dripping from his nose. Not good. So I suggest that we go to the hospital, and he agrees. He had a handkerchief in his pocket and so he's already applying pressure and all that good first aid stuff. He even gives himself a self diagnosis: "I think I broke my nose... " along with some other choice words. So we do 180 right back to the car. I drive pretty quick to the Emergency room and drop him off. I park, walk in and don't see him anywhere. Turns out he walked in, and they took him right away. Thank the Lord. So I sit down and watch whats on the TV. After an hour of waiting, I figured I should tell someone at the office that we're being somewhat held up . I didn't want to tell everyone the new guys business, because word around the office spreads like the wildfires in SoCal. (I lived there during a few of them. I can say it. :-P)
An hour and a half later, the new guy finally comes out and doesn't look too happy. That and he's got scabs on his hands, face, and surgical tape on his nose. He sighs and asks that I take him back to the hotel. So I call our boss and tell him that the new guy broke his nose, and wants to return to his room. When our boss asks what happened, I try to gloss over exactly what happened to save the new guy some face, but he tells me to tell the whole story. So I tell the entire story to our boss, and he doesn't mind letting the new guy go back to his room to rest.
Well, at this point, past experience tells me that whoever was at office now knew what happened.
So, as I'm walking back to our office, I enter the compound and a random Sergent walks out towards me and is like "Don't trip me man!" I chuckle. Apparently one of the Sergent's shop mates saw the new guy fall.
When I walk into our office, what's the first thing I'm asked? "Will, why'd you trip the new guy?" I chuckle again, cause I expected it. So I explain to the two guys there what happened, and while I'm explaining it, a coworker exlaims "Dang, you couldn't write that, that sucks!" So true.
I go to lunch and come back, and another coworker was present. I explain the story again. He chuckles, but agrees it sucks. 5 mins later, he chuckles randomly. "Sorry, I'm gonna be chuckling all day about that," he says. "Yeah, just not tomorrow though," I reply.
I tinker around on the internet, and then walk to our secure office, and another coworker shows up.
***** POP QUIZ TIME! *******
Question: How many people are currently at my office? No Peeking!
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. I don't care just finish the story!!!
Acceptable answers are:
C (Me, ****, ****, **** & ****) or
D for those who don't care. Kidding.
*** END OF POP QUIZ ****
Anyway, CW4 (coworker 4) shows up and asks me a question.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a new guy coming in today?" He asked.
"Funny story about the new guy..." I replied.
"Oh, I like funny stories, lets hear it."
So I explain what happened, and he can't believe it at first. It just seems so crazy. It was like he got all the way to Korea, just to trip right before getting to his job. In essence it was: Welcome to Korea! *WHACK*.
So, CW5 walked in the room, and CW4 says to him: "Hey, Will took out the new guy and broke his nose!" Now, don't worry, I expected that comment as well. Oddly enough, I think I was looking forward to it.
But, just to make sure, I tell the story again of what happened. CW5 is also in disbelief. They also wonder if the guy is clumsy or something. I try, as best I can, to erase that thought from their minds (Jedi Mind trick... no, not really). Okay, so tried to convince them that it was just terrible 'luck'.
Well, after that everyone who wasn't off that day or on vacation knew what happened. I just felt bad for the new guy since he could already have a 'klutz' stigma against him!
*** DISCLAIMER ****
While this story is funny to some, It's not funny to the new guy. I realize that. Its less funny to me than the coworkers, since I watched it happen. I feel sorry for the guy that this happened before Day 1.
*** END DISCLAIMER ***
Oh, and I have curbophobia at the moment.
Oh, and I didn't use any names, so It may be a bit confusing. Apologies in advance.
Well, I was asked to pick up our new guy from his hotel and bring him by our office. So, I got up kinda early (for me at least) and headed on over to the hotel. I let him know I'm there and introduce myself when he comes down to the lobby. I then drive him on base and give him a mini tour of the main street (BX, Hospital, Family Housing, etc...) and then head toward and park as close as we can to our office. As we're walking into our office compound, we're talking back and forth. I'm not sure why, but I looked behind me just in time to see his head, in what felt like slow motion, hit the curb and bounce a little. It seemed so slow when he was falling because I could process the fact that he was falling, I could tell where his head was probably going to hit, and focused on that spot. When his head hit, I looked at the spot to make sure it wasn't hurt to badly. I felt like I was (Warning: Geek reference ahead!) Piccard in the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection." (Told ya...)
"Ahh! Dude, you okay?!" I ask as I help him up. I looked at the spot where he hit, and it looked like is was only scraped, so I figured that everything should be okay. Then I noticed the blood dripping from his nose. Not good. So I suggest that we go to the hospital, and he agrees. He had a handkerchief in his pocket and so he's already applying pressure and all that good first aid stuff. He even gives himself a self diagnosis: "I think I broke my nose... " along with some other choice words. So we do 180 right back to the car. I drive pretty quick to the Emergency room and drop him off. I park, walk in and don't see him anywhere. Turns out he walked in, and they took him right away. Thank the Lord. So I sit down and watch whats on the TV. After an hour of waiting, I figured I should tell someone at the office that we're being somewhat held up . I didn't want to tell everyone the new guys business, because word around the office spreads like the wildfires in SoCal. (I lived there during a few of them. I can say it. :-P)
An hour and a half later, the new guy finally comes out and doesn't look too happy. That and he's got scabs on his hands, face, and surgical tape on his nose. He sighs and asks that I take him back to the hotel. So I call our boss and tell him that the new guy broke his nose, and wants to return to his room. When our boss asks what happened, I try to gloss over exactly what happened to save the new guy some face, but he tells me to tell the whole story. So I tell the entire story to our boss, and he doesn't mind letting the new guy go back to his room to rest.
Well, at this point, past experience tells me that whoever was at office now knew what happened.
So, as I'm walking back to our office, I enter the compound and a random Sergent walks out towards me and is like "Don't trip me man!" I chuckle. Apparently one of the Sergent's shop mates saw the new guy fall.
When I walk into our office, what's the first thing I'm asked? "Will, why'd you trip the new guy?" I chuckle again, cause I expected it. So I explain to the two guys there what happened, and while I'm explaining it, a coworker exlaims "Dang, you couldn't write that, that sucks!" So true.
I go to lunch and come back, and another coworker was present. I explain the story again. He chuckles, but agrees it sucks. 5 mins later, he chuckles randomly. "Sorry, I'm gonna be chuckling all day about that," he says. "Yeah, just not tomorrow though," I reply.
I tinker around on the internet, and then walk to our secure office, and another coworker shows up.
***** POP QUIZ TIME! *******
Question: How many people are currently at my office? No Peeking!
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. I don't care just finish the story!!!
Acceptable answers are:
C (Me, ****, ****, **** & ****) or
D for those who don't care. Kidding.
*** END OF POP QUIZ ****
Anyway, CW4 (coworker 4) shows up and asks me a question.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a new guy coming in today?" He asked.
"Funny story about the new guy..." I replied.
"Oh, I like funny stories, lets hear it."
So I explain what happened, and he can't believe it at first. It just seems so crazy. It was like he got all the way to Korea, just to trip right before getting to his job. In essence it was: Welcome to Korea! *WHACK*.
So, CW5 walked in the room, and CW4 says to him: "Hey, Will took out the new guy and broke his nose!" Now, don't worry, I expected that comment as well. Oddly enough, I think I was looking forward to it.
But, just to make sure, I tell the story again of what happened. CW5 is also in disbelief. They also wonder if the guy is clumsy or something. I try, as best I can, to erase that thought from their minds (Jedi Mind trick... no, not really). Okay, so tried to convince them that it was just terrible 'luck'.
Well, after that everyone who wasn't off that day or on vacation knew what happened. I just felt bad for the new guy since he could already have a 'klutz' stigma against him!
*** DISCLAIMER ****
While this story is funny to some, It's not funny to the new guy. I realize that. Its less funny to me than the coworkers, since I watched it happen. I feel sorry for the guy that this happened before Day 1.
*** END DISCLAIMER ***
Oh, and I have curbophobia at the moment.
Oh, and I didn't use any names, so It may be a bit confusing. Apologies in advance.
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