I Should Be Folding Laundry

So, I like California

It's true, I heart California.

I like the people, I like the food, I enjoy the expensive margaritas, the expensive cosmos, the expensive chocolate, the cheap burgers, the cheap hot dogs, the nice people, the crazy homeless people, the crazy people who are not homeless, the crazy Moms forcing their kids to stay up at downtown Disney at 11:00 P.M., even though the child is crying to go home and go to bed, I enjoy the shopping, I like the people singing on the streets (they seem to have more talent than those in Chicago - I'm just sayin'), I love the landscape.

Oh my God - the landscape.  Breathtaking.  Beautiful.

What I don't love is waiting two hours for a damn hot dog.

The line wrapped completely around that second building and went waaaaay back to the back of the building.  I still don't know if it was worth that long of a wait - but it was good.  I am glad we did it.

and I don't love paying $3 for 20 ounces of water.

But that's okay, I'll do it anyway.

I appreciate the strange.

I love the diversity.

I can't wait to come back.

For now, however, I have coffee to drink, donuts to eat and a plane to catch.  See you in Indiana.  If you don't recognize me, I'll be the one who just gained 12 pounds eating chocolate and chili cheese dogs and drinking $12 margaritas.  You can't miss me.

In-n-Out

Today we have spent much of the day traveling around in our rental car.  We went to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and back to L.A. for some In-n-Out.

While at In-n-Out, I decided I needed to get some documentation for the many readers who insisted we go to In-n-Out, so I withdrew my camera from my handbag, took a picture and was then accosted by the 18 year old security guard.  Because you can't take pictures inside In-n-Out.  Are you kidding me?  THEY'RE JUST BIG RED LETTERS.  Who cares?

I acted shocked (which I was), I did not apologize (because I wasn't sorry - even if I was going to Burger Prison), but I was still nice, (because I'm a softy.)  (except for the girl at McDonald's at O'Hare the other day, she told her co-worker I was ready to fight her.  And she was right.) 

The 18 year old security guard was actually very nice, we wound up chatting for a bit while our burgers cooked.  He yelled at me for not getting a double double burger when I told him I had ordered a single.  He then asked where we were from, why we were in L.A. and how many kids we have.

"How many kids to you have?"

That question I use to love to answer with pride and joy "TWOOOOO!"  I'd croon enthusiastically.  But now I answer with some sadness, "TWO. I have TWO."  And quite honestly, even though I ADORE California and will undoubtedly return someday, this whole trip is a little sad, it's bittersweet, I should say.  The fact is, if I had not lost the twins; we wouldn't be here.  I'd be sitting at home, about to start my twenty-seventh week, with swollen ankles, constipation and heartburn and probably a pretty bad attitude.  Instead, we are driving around on the 405 in a silver Mercedes with the sun roof open, our music up, soaking in California.

I'm sure you know where I'd rather be right now.

But I'm not, I'm here, in a hotel room in downtown Los Angeles - dreaming of my sweet angel baby boys and missing my sweet children who are safe and sound at Grandma's.

The security guard, bless his heart, responded to my answer of two children with "Just two?  Everybody stops at two.  Nobody has more than two anymore."

My heart fell into my stomach, I smiled politely and said "I would love to have more." 

Just another reminder that there is always more to people than we know - one should never assume, one should never doubt, one should only be kind.

We did enjoy our lunch at In-n-Out, was it the best burger I've ever had?  No, this is. (the second best burger was here.) It was good, don't get me wrong, the milkshake?  It rocked my world.   Thanks for the recommendation.
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More pictures to come right here.  Oh and check out this smokin' hot Momma who just cut her hair off.  I love it when people cut there hair off.  She looks amazing.  Makes me wonder what the hell I'm waiting for.

Pictures

My California pictures are in my flickr album - feel free to view!  The album is pretty empty so far, but I'm sure it will fill up quickly after tonight!

Did you know you can even comment on pictures?  It's the next best thing next to blogging and twitter.  And ice cream.  And margaritas.  And Spanx.

I have had WAY too much coffee today.

Will iron for Starbucks

Greetings from L.A. 

I'm in our hotel room, in my pajamas, surrounded by Starbucks coffee and Starbucks coffee cake.  Yum & yum.

Yesterday, upon unpacking our suitcases, Brian and I were mortified by how wrinkled our clothes were.  I had painstakingly folding each of my shirts with precision and love, Brian rolled his shirts and threw them into his suitcase.  We pulled our shirts out and they all looked the same.  Totally wrinkled, which means I had to iron, which I hate.

However, as Brian was leaving to grab me some coffee before he headed to work, I offered to iron the wrinkled shirt he had one while he went to grab some much needed caffeine.  So, he changed shirts and I ironed.  A lot. I have fulfilled my ironing quota for many years to come.  thankyouverymuch.

Everything went smooth with our travels yesterday.  I woke up yesterday morning and cleaned our house TOP TO BOTTOM as we will have at least three showings while we are gone.  Which means one glorious thing - my house will be spotless when we return.  What a treat!

I miss the kids terribly, luckily they are having the time of their lives with their Grandma.  We called last night and Grandma and Grandpa said "Mommy and Daddy are on the phone, do you want to talk to them?"  And they were like "who?"  They finally said okay and picked up the phone and just made sure we would not come home early because they went to TWO playgrounds yesterday.  TWO.  Not one.  Not none.  BUT TWO.  I am so glad they are having fun, I can't think of anything worse then calling home and having my children cry because they miss us.  But now, I can eat, drink and be merry.  While missing my kids.

I have the whole day to myself today.  In a hotel room.  In California.  With my computer.  And a TV.  And two coffees.  I'm not sure what I'll do today, but I do know I will be heading to the gym across the street to exercise (the challenge, remember?).  Because we are staying at this hotel, we can just present our hotel key and we can gain free access to the Gold's Gym across the street.  One of the benefits of staying at this hotel.  There aren't many benefits to this hotel, the internet connection is slllllooooooooowwww (but free) and the lighting is flourescent.  I hate flourescent lighting.

I'm also close to shopping.  I will be going shopping.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and heading to In and Out Burger and probably Hollywood, but we STILL have not decided on our agenda.  We were going to do that last night, but instead we went to a bar and watched drunk people sing karaoke.

I love watching drunk people sing karaoke.

Hollywood

I have to take a break from all this laundry, packing, cleaning and Ariel reading the phone book to me to talk about celebrities.

Since we are headed to Hollywood (HOLY CRAP - WHAT WILL I WEAR??) I have to let it be known that if I could choose to meet, hug and take a picture with one celebrity, it would be...Seal.  I would ask him to drink McDonald's coffee with me while I sing to him.  or he can sing to me - whatever.

Just the thought makes me have a little heart attack.  Not that there aren't other celebrities I'd love to meet, but Seal, oh, my goodness.  I would pee myself. 

Tell me, if you could meet, hug and take a picture with ONE celebrity...who would it be?

So much to do, so little time.

Do the laundry.
Pack my clothes and a thousand pairs of shoes for the trip. (would you believe I tried on MORE jeans last night and bought another pair.  I have issues.)
Fold Brian's clothes - since he tends to roll his clothes, rather than fold his clothes.
Pack the kids for the four night stay at Grandma's.  (They could not be more excited.)
Clean my house for showings while we are gone.   (Which may or may not happen.)
Try to go shopping to find the perfect jacket or sweater.  (Why is it so hard to find this article of clothing?)
Finish watching Idol from last night.  (who do you think is going home?)
Exercise.  (I must win the challenge.)
Drink tons and tons of coffee.  (thanks, McDonald's.)
Spend time with my kids.  (The most important thing on my to-do list.)

Time for me to close my computer for a few hours and get to work and love on my kids.  I have blogged here today.

Thank you to everyone for your help with things to do in L.A., we have extended our rental car from one day to two and a half days, so we'll have more flexibility with our agenda.  I am very excited to see California.  We have not sat down and planned every detail, but I do know that having a burger at In n' Out is on the itinerary.  (You don't have to tell me twice to eat a burger.) 

I will be blogging while I am away, since I'll have time alone and I will be taking seventy million pictures.  And you must sit with me and look at every picture - it's what good friends do.

For those that I promised postcards to, I have your addresses handy in my laptop. (if you would like me to send you a postcard, e-mail me your address.)

Wish me luck or come and help me, whichever you prefer.

Los Angeles - Help Me

Time seems to be flying by, which is good for me.  Apparently tomorrow is Friday - how did that happen?  No, seriously, it's like this week has been a time warp for me and I haven't really done much.  I washed my jeans, I started exercising, sent out some thank you cards, I successfully avoided sweeping my floors, cleaned out my freezer, cleaned out my fridge, drank too much beer on Wednesday night, I went grocery shopping, we dropped the price of our house, I went to therapy, it may seem like a busy week, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. 

Either way, one week from today Brian and I are leaving for our four night stay in Los Angeles.   I'm nervous, anxious, terrified, sad and excited.  All those emotions wrapped up to make one big confused mess.  I'm glad to be going, but I am still having a hard time doing lots of things and going to lots of places in everyday life, so the idea of leaving my humble routine and kissing my beautiful children good-bye makes my heart race.

But the thought of sleeping as much as I please and enjoying the warm California sun makes my heart race, too.  (There is a sun in California, right?  Because there isn't one here, apparently.)

I have a question to those who have visited in L.A., who live in L.A. or have lived there...what should we do? What do I HAVE to see?  I have never been west of Las Vegas, so I know there is a lot to see and seeing as how Brian is working some of the time, our time is limited.  So - help me.  Direct me.  Tell me where to go.  I want this trip to be memorable, I want to have FUN.  I want to come back mesmerized and exhausted, I want to know that we made the most of this trip, just Brian and I.  The last time we traveled for this long alone together, we went on an amazing cruise, but we were SICK AS DOGS, so hopefully we'll be able to maintain our health for this trip.

Let me tell you a few things about our trip and a few things about me that may help YOU help ME:

-I'm a very basic food kinda gal.  Chicken strips?  gooood.  Cheeseburgers?  yummay.  Pasta? loooooooooooove. Sushi?  vomit.  Indian, Thai, Chinese food?  like, gag me with a spoon.  Vegetables? no, thank you. 

Boring, I know.

-I would love to spend the day in Disneyland on Sunday, our only full free day.  That would be what I would want to do, but we can't afford it.  So, keep in mind that we are poor (thanks to buying all of the iPods.)

-We only have one day with a rental car and it's on Sunday.  (I told you - POOR.)

-We are staying on Wilshire Boulevard.  (I hear that road is very long and that may not tell you much, but I feel funny giving away my hotel information.  Paranoid much?)

-I do not want to dress up - much.  I want to wear jeans the whole time, I would love to buy a cute dress or something to be cute for a night, but I'd rather spend the money on things like cheeseburgers and I HEART LA t-shirts.  And plus, my legs?  They would blind you.

Thank you so much for your help, I'll send you a postcard to thank you.  (no really, I will, just e-mail me your address, I love sending mail.  GOOOOOO POST OFFICE!)  If you have never been to L.A., feel free to tell me what you would do if you were going to L.A. without your children.  I need all of the help and ideas I can get.

Hopefully my jeans will be stretched out by then. 

City of Angels

One of my favorite movies is City of Angels, I don't know what it is about that movie, if it's the music or Nick Cage as an angel or Meg Ryan as a heart surgeon or just a great story line that makes you think about life and death, but I have seen it a million times and I feel the need to watch it again, someday. 

I've never been to Los Angeles, I've actually never been to California.  Have you?  Do you like it?  Brian and I just spoke and he has an opportunity to go there in April for work and wanted to know if I wanted to go along.  We would be gone for four nights over the weekend, away from the kids, in a nice hotel, with warm weather.  And the thought freaks me out.  Three weeks ago I would have jumped at the chance, but now?  I'm not so sure.  Am I ready?  Should I go?  Do I think Brian and I need time alone?  Yes.  But right now I'm having a hard enough time going to the grocery store, let alone going somewhere two thousand miles away.  But it's a month away, a lot can happen before then.  Will I be ready for such a trip by then?  Would it be good for me?  For us?  (by the way, when Brian goes away for work, he has a lot of free time - so I would not be alone that much.)

Brian initially told me he needed to know by the end of day today.  But after my panic attack he said he could probably let them know by Monday. 

Should we go?  You know, assuming we could get someone to watch the kids.

Sleepy Hollow

I find it important to tell you that my blood pressure was still grossly high today, like the highest ever.  Which is fun, you know, if you are into strokes and stuff.

I kid.  But it was high.  (157/113)  So, after spending the early part of my day worried about my SKYROCKETING blood pressure, which only increases my blood pressure and after spending my day feeling "cold medicine (night time formula) fatigue", It was time to head to the doctor.  Because I love spending $20 to sit in a waiting room for 75 minutes before getting weighed, then having a grouchy nurse take your pulse and temperature and then talking to a man for four minutes just to leave confused.  The price I will pay for a little adventure.

I'm still having the choking sensation, which means I really need this ultrasound done on Friday.  I won't get the results back until Tuesday.  Until then, my thyroid meds will be increased again and I have been placed on a diuretic, which equals mucho pee.  good times.   

Kids, what have we learned today?  Higher dose of thyroid meds and higher thyroid levels means better chance for quality blogging. (although unlikely) No more of this blood pressure crap.  You think you are tired of it, think of me.

Did you know when we were in Southern Indiana (Brown County, to be exact) we purchased lots of things?  Big things, little things, good smelling things, Christmas things, all sorts of things.  See?

She's very strong.

I have another picture of the guys carrying stuff, too.  Big stuff.  But I'm much too lazy to show you the picture.  What did I carry?  My camera, of course.  I'm all about sharing the responsibilities.  (it took me 2 minutes and 62 tries to spell that work correctly.)

And here is a picture of my sister and I having breakfast at a new favorite restaurant of ours.  Our bill came to $5.50 for both of our breakfasts.  We felt like Rachel Ray on $40 a Day, except we are way less annoying.  Usually.

I'd love to stay up and talk shop with you tonight, but I have fallen asleep three times since starting this post.  No really, like head bopping, mouth open, snoring sleep.  It's attractive to say the least.  I can't even imagine how interesting it will be for you when you've read it.  I hope you've had some caffeine.  or a pillow nearby.

so very lazy

Back in July, we returned home after an eleven day trip to North Carolina with the children.  The trip included lots of driving, hotel stays and family visits.

It was divine.

After we pulled in the driveway, we began unpacking and within the hour we had totally unpacked and I had already started the laundry.  Within 90 minutes we had take the kids to a nice restaurant and within 2 hours I had gone grocery shopping.  The efficiency and energy were disgusting.

We returned home tonight from our three night trip sans children and my bed is covered in items that I have not yet unpacked.  I've been home for four hours.  Granted I did make dinner, but that's about it.  Which means tomorrow will be very difficult, unless you want to come over and help me unpack and clean.  I would appreciate that very much.

My blood pressure is still alarmingly high and I'm not sure what to do about that.  A visit and a phone call last week and I'm still having issues.  And when I say high, we are talking 153/109.  High.  So, I'll call again in the morning, in the meantime, I'm going to bed.