June 5, 2009

Honestly, Who Drives Without Pants On?

I don’t want to be sad today, I’ve got dinner plans with Doug tonight, and a graduation party and wedding to attend tomorrow, and I keep reading my last post over and over again and it’s making me cry. 

So, I logged on to the StevensPointJournal.com and read this local news story and nearly peed my pants laughing.  Perhaps I’ll hang them out my car window later to dry them off.

Pantsless woman arrested

A 29-year-old Plover woman who was talking on a cell phone and driving without pants was arrested for drunken driving following a crash in the town of Port Edwards, according to the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Jessica L. Jackson, who was driving her pickup truck east on Highway 54 just before 8:50 a.m. Sunday, had her pants hanging out the window to dry when the vehicle hit the highway shoulder, and Jackson overcorrected, according to the Wood County Sheriff’s Department Accident Report. Jackson crossed the centerline, entered the ditch and rolled the vehicle.

Jackson was transported to Riverview Hospital, where she was treated and released. She was arrested for drunken driving, Wood County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Dave Laude said. The preliminary breath test showed an alcohol concentration of 0.18, more than double the legal limit.

Now, the act of drunk driving itself is not funny.  Not funny at all.  I’ve lost many friends to this kind of tragedy.

But when I read the headline and then the part where her pants were hanging out the window, I could not stop laughing.  I can’t help it.  I just find that part hysterical.

I can’t imagine the look on the cop’s face when discovering a pantsless woman in a car accident.  Maybe because this woman is from Plover (where I live) that made me laugh even harder. 

Only in Wisconsin…seriously.

He Was Only Thirty-Nine

A friend’s husband passed away on Sunday after a long battle with cancer.  He was 39 years old.

Thirty nine.

Ever since I heard the terrible news, I’ve been in a state of shock.  Even though he was sick, even though he battled the illness for three years, even after doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his brain and gave him a month to live (and he died just days later), I cannot believe he is really gone.

I cannot imagine the grief his wife and children are going through.

I cannot believe that someone so young was taken from this Earth so soon.

My husband is only a few years older than our friend’s husband.

Doug and I are 10 years apart in age, and it was never a concern of mine until Dawson was born.  Then I became afraid that he would die unexpectedly and leave me a young widow.  It was an irrational fear, and I knew it.  But I still worried about car accidents and heart attacks and homicidal maniacs taking my husband from me.

I worried about what I would do if I were forced to raise Dawson alone.  I remember waking up in the middle of the night and making sure Doug was still breathing.  Maybe it was postpartum depression or out-of-whack hormones, but I still remember being frightened about all the morbid thoughts.

Eventually my fears subsided and I began to realize that Doug was alive and well and we would grow old together.  But when R. passed away, my fears came back to haunt me.

I cannot bear to think about it, and yet it’s been on my mind these last few days.

Thirty-nine.

I don’t know if this is affecting me more, now that I’m 30 years old, but I keep thinking about how young R. was.

Why do tragedies like these happen?  Why do we have to lose those we love?

I think I’m going to cry again.  It’s just too painful to think about.

June 4, 2009

A New Hobby

I’ve joined the world of digital scrapbooking.  I may never crop again.  Traditional scrapbooking has always been my hobby, but I confess:  the time it takes to complete an album is just too much for me these days.

When I started playing around with the software and creating different pages, I was hooked.  The page above was one of my first experiments.  That’s a photo of me and my BFF at her birthday dinner.  It was also the day I discovered I was pregnant, hence the nervous smile on my face.

I’m working on a book for Dawson, to catch up on all those photos I took but never printed.  Stay tuned.

June 2, 2009

Books and Bras

A few days ago Dawson and I made a trip to the library.  The main branch is in Stevens Point, but the smaller Plover branch is less than a block from our house, so we walked over there to kill some time.

While Dawson played Reader Rabbit Preschool on the computer, I went on the hunt for books on labor, delivery & childbirth.  One of the books I checked out was called Breastfeeding Sucks: What to Do when Your Mammaries Make You Miserable by Joanne Kimes.  The book is awesome.  I finished it in 2 days (only 224 pages) because it was so easy to read.  Joanne’s take on breastfeeding is humorous and honest and since I had some troubles with nursing when Dawson was born, I wanted to learn as much as I could.

Initially, I was going to check out a 400-page monster book written by a La Leche League advocate, but some of the information seemed outdated and not very interesting.  Breastfeeding Sucks was published just a few years ago and seemed more up to date.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book not only for the content value, but because of the great resources Kimes references in the back of the book; where to find the best maternity and nursing wear, and how to donate excess breast milk (most NICUs have procedures and regulations on this),  and which books to read when it comes time to get your baby to sleep at night.

I was thrilled to find the website Motherwear.com listed in the back of the book.  I’d not heard of it before, and I’ve been looking to purchase affordable nuring bras.  Motherwear.com has a great selection of nursing bras and tanks, as well as clothing for post-delivery as well.  They even cater to plus-size women which impressed me very much.  We all can’t be size 2 in maternity clothes.  I’m looking at you, Target.

I bought a few for less than $20 each, much better than the $68 bra I saw on another maternity site.  Who pays more than $50 for  a freakin’ nursing bra?  It’s not like it’s made by Victoria’s Secret.

Anyway…the whole point of this post was to tell you about the online measuring tool for nursing bras.  I had Doug help me measure (which he thought was too much fun, I was rather uncomfortable) and plugged these measurements into the online application.  When I clicked the “Find My Size” button I nearly peed my pants laughing at the results.  According to the site, I was a 44H.  Yes, you read that correctly.  44!  H cup!  What the hell?

I didn’t think that was correct (and no I’m not posting the numbers here, too embarrassing) so I made Doug re-measure (and again he was thrilled, I was not — I’m sorry, but there’s nothing sexy about being fondled measured for bras by your husband) and it turns out he was holding the measuring tape incorrectly across my back.  I tried to show him how to do it correctly and finally, we got a more accurate reading.

Thankfully, it was a 40D this time, and I ordered the 42D just because I’m sure I’ll grow a little more in the bust when the milk comes in after delivery.

So, two great finds:  the book Breastfeeding Sucks and Motherwear.com.  Check them out!

(And no, this post is not paid.  I’m just thrilled to finally find things I need!)