Sometimes I Miss Cable

David and I decided to cancel cable and just do HD over an antennae. The cost of TV, whether it be cable or satellite, was just getting expensive and since most of the shows we watch were either on networks OR you can get online, we made the jump and bye-bye cable.

But it’s weekends like this that I wish I still had it. Why you ask? Simple. This weekend is Spongebob’s 10 year anniversary. To celebrate Nickelodeon is having the Ultimate Sponge Bash AND they are premiering 10 new episodes. And I’m going to miss it. Time Magazine likes it, too.

Enter Hulu…my rescue. You bet I’ll be catching up on my Spongebob antics this week while Zack is sleeping. Okay, maybe I’ll let him watch an episode or two.

Happy Birthday, Spongebob!

Elaboration on Sex Theory

I re-read yesterday’s post about my sex theory. I feel some elaboration needs to be expressed so that you can see just how beneficial a woman’s orgasm is to the world.

Woman’s orgasm = happy, relaxed woman = happy man (think clean house, home cooked meals, desire to have more sex) = more productivity for man = more profits for company = promotions for man = more money for family = less stress about bills … as you can see, the circle gets more and more pleasant, peaceful, light-hearted and fun.

Woman’s orgasm = happy, relaxed mom = happy children = better grades in school = higher SAT scores = better college (and possibly scholarships) = better careers = better relationships with spouses = happier grandchildren … again, you can see how the circle continues even with your children.

I hope this elaboration helps. And if you read my post, it’s not about making sure men are better lovers. You will see that I told my female audience to give a little to get some back in return. See, I’m trying to help EVERYONE out!

Not Just Love – Sex, Too

I have a theory (hold on to your hats!). I’ve had this theory for awhile now, at least a few years…now I shall share it with you.

My theory states that one way to make the world a happy, easy-going place is to enjoy some good sex. Sounds easy, right? Apparently not. I’m mostly speaking to the women of my audience since it’s a bit harder for us to, ummm, finish.

Think about the last time you truly had an orgasm. Didn’t you feel at peace, like all is right with the world? Didn’t that happy-go-lucky feeling follow you into the next day? Work was better, school was better, life – in general – was better.

I thought up this theory one day while watching some women get angry over something trivial (okay, men of my audience, I don’t want to hear “when don’t they”). It was all over the news – and it was something lame. Remember a bit ago when they had girls in bikinis serving coffee and people in the community thought it was inappropriate? Well, these group of women were upset about something as stupid as that. When I looked at the women on TV, I thought to myself – these women obviously are not getting any, otherwise they would not be upset over this.

Regularity is not the key. Regular sex does not replace infrequent good sex. It has to be good sex. Both parties have to be completely satisfied.

Sometimes you have to give a little to get a little (if you know what I mean). Suck it up (no pun intended, I swear) and you will be rewarded. Once you have, ahem, finished, you will instantly feel better. Your stress will disappear. Things that once bothered you will no longer. Your mate will also feel relieved. If your relationship was rocky, there will be smooth roads ahead.

My dear readers, I do not lie. This theory, in my experience, has been tested, tried and proven true. So that song, “all you need is love” is not necessarily true…you need some good humping, too!

Strike Over?

So it seems that Zack’s little nursing strike may be over. Today he nursed a total of 4 times, though the 2 during the day were about 5 minutes each. I noticed, though, his 4th upper tooth is coming in. The poor kid…will he get a break from teething?

With all this nursing talk, I thought I’d share with you the interesting spots I’ve had to whip out the ole boob. These places are in addition to the typical places: family and friends houses, all of the rooms in my house, etc. But here are a few that I didn’t think would be an issue:

Doctor’s office – you have to hand it to my doctor’s office…you make an appointment and you not only wait 2 hours in the waiting room, but you have to wait another hour in the exam room. This happened twice.

Waiting room at Zack’s doctor – in front of a dad, 2 moms, a young girl and a teenaged boy. Luckily the blanket I brought with me was large enough to cover.

On top of Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside – yep…we made the hike and then I had to feed the boy. This blanket was not quite big enough, but he wasn’t pulling at it yet.

Restaurants – oh yeah, take your pick. I think it’s 3 restaurants now. Yes, at the table.

Car – if not at the table, I’ve been in the parking lot. Well, the parking lot of lots of places: Cal Poly Pomona, Claim Jumper, countless others.

Mazada Dealership Conference Room – If you ever bought a car, you know it takes FOREVER…even if you have the price worked out beforehand (ah, Internet salesmen). Naturally, Zack got hungry. The only place that was semi-private – their conference room. So I go up there only to find out that the owner of the dealership’s office is up there, too…and he has a window that looks into the conference room. I felt sort of bad, but he left his office for a few minutes while Zack got his nourishment. Oh yeah, and he pulls the blanket now, so it wasn’t like I can just cover up easily. Oh, and they didn’t have their air conditioning on up there, either, so I couldn’t keep Zack covered for long.

I’ve got a few months still left of this nursing thing. We’ll see if I’ve got anymore to add to this list.

Strike!

At least I hope so.

I’ve said before that Zack is now 9 months old. Today, was a depressing day in the world of nursing.

He used to nurse for about 20 minutes in the morning (whether it be 5am, 6am or 7am), and then for 7-10 minutes 3 times during the day and then 20 minutes at bed time. The day time feedings have been dwindling to 5-7 minutes each, even skipping one. The big feedings (morning and night) have been dropping to 15-17 minutes.

Today was sad. He nursed for 15 minutes, but after a few pop-offs. Then, that was it. I kept offering today, but he would just arch his back and cry. I, myself, tried not to get discouraged (at least I didn’t get bit). Then finally, tonight, he nursed for 17 minutes.

He eats 3 solid meals a day. Fruit and yogurt for breakfast, veggies and grains for lunch, meat and veggies for dinner (puffs for dessert while David and I eat our dinner). Water for liquid in between. So maybe he’s getting enough in the way of solids.

I really hope this is just a strike and he’ll regain his thirst for mama. I really hope this is not the beginnings of a self-wean. My friend was right – she said that when nursing comes to an end, it’s sad. She said although its very freeing not to have to worry about nursing or pumping, it’s also depressing. She pumped until a week or two after his birthday. Her son is a bundle of energy and it was difficult to nurse him for any length of time – he always wanted to be on the move.

I’ll admit, a part of me can’t wait until I’m free from having to worry about juicing my boobs all the time. But the majority of me is in it for the long haul. If I have to only nurse in the morning and/or evening and even if I have to pump (I’ll clean dust off of my pump in case it comes to it), Zack will get breast milk until he turns 1.

7 Years Strong

On this 13th of July in the year 2002, David and I stood in front of about 100 family and friends and moved our relationship into the realm of the married. (By the way, it’s really hard to concentrate on posting while watching Wipeout on TiVo!) Today we celebrated our seventh anniversary. I should mention that we were together eight years before we got married.

I’d have to say, David and I have a really good, strong relationship. One of the strongest I’ve seen. This is especially considering that when I look at our families, one set of grandparents are the only ones who are still married and do not have a previous marriage on their record.

I’ve been asked before what makes our relationship so great. How is it that we’ve been together for 15 years, without a breakup, and we’re still going strong? Here are some things that contribute to our success:

Communication. Cliche, yes, but true. We talk all the time (me doing most of the yapping). In fact, if David finds out that I’ve been upset at something or whatever, he is upset that I didn’t tell him. He tells me when something is bothering him, I usually pay him the same courtesy. However, there are times that I’m just being a girl, so I don’t typically share those girly things that pass with my monthly visitor.

Don’t Walk Away Mad. Again, cliche, but true. We don’t usually fight. We argue. You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t argue, but we hardly fight. I can only think of, maybe twice, for sure once, that we actually had a fight (although I forget now what it was about, I remember I went to his work the next day to apologize). But when we argue, we don’t let it stew. Now, there’s a person is this relationship that holds grudges, and he knows it. He recognizes this and he works with it. But no matter what we argue about, before we go to sleep, it’s figured out, apologized for or settled. I usually am the one to get over it first (okay, I always am), but eventually David comes around and forgets about the beef.

Honesty. We’re honest with each other. You bet your ass if I ask David “Honey, does my butt look big in these pants?” I better be prepared for the real answer. David doesn’t sugar coat. He’ll tell me “yes, they do” or simply say, “do you really want me to answer that?” It goes with communication, but we speak honestly with each other. Okay, sure, there are plenty of times that David has to decipher my girl speak, but it gets out.

Bathroom Door is Shut. Don’t laugh, this is a key feature of a healthy relationship (contrary to popular belief). David and I, in the 15 years we’ve been together (12 of living together), have not peed or pooped in front of each other (okay, there was one time when I peed in front of him but I was completely wasted and David wanted to make sure I was going to make it…we weren’t even married yet). A requirement in whatever dwelling we live in is that it HAS TO have 2 bathrooms minimum. We do not share our excretions with each other. Yes, I had a baby where I pushed for three hours. My biggest concern about the delivery…the possibility of pooing on the table in front of David. I kid you not. THANKFULLY, our bodies work in a such a miraculous way that my bowels were cleaned out before contractions got really rough (well, if you ask me, after that trip to the bathroom is when my contractions really kicked in).

So there you have it. Four tricks to my happy relationship.

Happy Anniversary, my babe! (even though you are sitting in the same room with me on your laptop)

Who is This Cranky Kid?

Seriously…who is this cranky kid that has replaced my son? Anyone that has met Zack will tell you that he’s easy-going and happy. Starting yesterday and continuing through today that easy-going, happy go lucky child has been replaced by a crazy, cry at the drop of a hat baby.

Okay, I know it’s his teeth. He already got 2 bottoms in. A top one off to the side surprised us, he seemed to not care about that one. His first top middle came in with minor crankiness. But this second middle one…OH MY GOD!

He’s driving me nuts. I have to carry him everywhere (he knows how to crawl) and he’s heavy. He wants to take lots of little naps. He wants to nurse more often for shorter amounts of time (or he does the opposite and waits 7 hours). He gets frustrated at the smallest of things. But then, there’s a glimmer of hope…he smiles, he laughs, he plays. It’s just those few times when he’s not his happy-self. He’s even learning how to clap.

When will this end? His tooth has broken skin. It’s almost there. No more cranks!

I also think he’s going through a growth spurt…

To Switch or Not To Switch

We have been loyal Verizon Wireless customers now for…a few years. I can’t remember. I think 5 or 6 years. We had Cingular (now AT&T) which sucked in Pomona where David went to school and worked and I worked…the Sprint which seemed to suck in Corona where we lived. We’ve been perfectly happy with Verizon until lately.

First complaint…well, that’s easy…they don’t have the iPhone. Nope, only AT&T. And I heard a marketing dude on some local radio station one fine morning that it was because AT&T was the only carrier that wouldn’t put their crap on the phone. Is anyone familiar with V-Cast? (haha)

Second complaint…David says it takes 3 tries to call me. It rings once, disconnects. Rings once, disconnects. On the third try…viola! It rings to me. I only hear the third try. This is becoming quite a nuisance.

So, it’s contract renewal time (if we upgrade our phones). Do we take the plunge and switch carriers? I should mention that most everyone we know has Verizon and we don’t have a land-line. We’re thinking about switching and David wants to play with developing apps for the iPhone. I don’t really need the Internet on my phone since I’m home most of the time, oh yeah, and I have a nine month old. But it would be cool to get rid of my Razr. It doesn’t hold a charge for a long time and the pink is wearing off. Oh yeah, and the fact that it takes three times to call me.

Inhale…Exhale

This post from one of my favorite bloggers came through about the same time I put this into practice.

Breathing. We all take it for granted, yet, taking the time out to just breathe is so beneficial.

I had posted sometime go about how much easier it is to put Zack asleep when there is nothing else going on and I just focus on the present…on him relaxing. Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life, that simple little task is forgotten, or hard to do. Sometimes when he is super cranky, and not going to sleep, I take a deep breath, maybe a second, and I relax myself. Once I relax, he seems to follow. We are then both at peace and sleep finds him sooner.

When we go to Costco and all those people are stressing me out (people claustrophobia, I call it), David reminds me to breathe.

Next time you are feeling even the teeniest of bit of stress, try taking a deep breath…it’ll help, I promise.

Curse the Red Balloon

Or the woman who gave it to Zack in line at the grocery store this afternoon.

Zack gets a lot of attention when we go to the store. No doubt, he’s cute (well, I’m partial, I guess) and the old ladies love making him laugh. He gives them his almost toothless grin and they get a kick out of it. Today, a lady who works there, a lady I see all of the time and who always seems to be right there cleaning the floor around me, was making Zack laugh while we were in line. Then she disappeared.

She came back with a balloon. At first Zack doesn’t know what to do with it, then by the time I’m done unloading the cart into the car, he has figured out how to actually touch the balloon and play with it. So when I pick him up out of the cart to put him into the car, he cries when the balloon doesn’t come with him. At first I was going to give him the balloon to play with on the way home, but then I changed my mind. I didn’t want him to pop it, only to scare the crap out of him (and me) and hurt our ears. So the balloon didn’t make it in the back with him.

Oh my God…for the 10 minutes it takes to get home, crying. Then at home while I unload the groceries and he’s in his pack n’ play, crying. Then while in the rocking chair, crying. A total of 35 minutes of crying, all because of that damn balloon.

I mean, who the hell gives a baby a balloon anyways? Without asking the mom first? Or at all? All I could think of was, why? WHY did she give him the stupid balloon. WHY??

Finally he went to sleep.

I guess it also doesn’t help that his second top tooth is breaking through, also.