Dead to the world

Lately I have been so very sleepy all the damn time. When I first started working out I felt a new surge of energy and I didn't feel lazy anymore. It is great, except now I'm seriously sleepy by 7pm. Like eyes burn and everything. If I sit down at this time to read or watch TV I just pass out. I have been passing out every night for the 2 last weeks. even on the weekends!

I know that it's just the new way of life for me. A baby gets you pretty tired, now throw in working out. I guess it trips me out because I use to be a total night owl. Midnight was my bedtime...on a good day. Now I'm up by 8am every day [most days it's way earlier than that]. Pre-baby I was sleeping in till 11am! It's just such a change for me. But I'm surviving. Slowly becoming a morning person. I have to have my "happy face" on for baby.

Last night I stayed up to watch the Grammy's. G actually went to bed before me. I think I made it to 11ish and then woke up just after midnight...still on the couch. My Sunday paper horoscope was right! It was a late night! LOL.

I am taking some vitamins....but maybe I need to add another kind. G and I are sharing a jar of Centrum. We should probably get the Performance kind instead of the OG kind. Performance has more B-vitamins and ginseng. Any thoughts or tips?

One more thing - Saturday night I went to hear Ray Bradbury speak at the Sierra Madre Elementary auditorium. A, Rob, and Chris came along. This guy is OLD [89] and it was great to hear him talk about his book Fahreinheit 451. He has a great sense of humor. He kept stressing to "Do what you want and love what you do." Can't get better advice than that. He also said college was full of crap and libraries are all you need. Read! Read! Read! I love books, and libraries, and reading, and I hope to instill this in Andy.

Andy has enjoyed being read to since he was just a few weeks old. We keep a habit of reading to him nightly. His current favorite book is "Where the Wild Things Are." And I must say it's my fav too and I don't mind reading it night after night. In the middle of the book there are a few pages with no words, just pictures depicting the "wild rumpus" as Max calls it. I made my own little [wordless]tune for this section and Andy loves it! As soon as I turn the page he looks at me with this little grin like saying,"Here comes the music! I love this part, mommy." :-p Or at least that's what I think he's thinking. He just gets this big ole smile on his face. It melts my heart.

I do hope that this love for books continues to grow. I'm thinking of changing my "work from home" day to Tuesdays so that we can go to Storytime at our local Library in the mornings. It'd be nice for him to see other babies too.

Oh - we didn't get our book signed. They said only the first 100 people and there was a mad dash. His words have been imprinted into my brain and that is enough for me. :)

A month? No way!

Can I use this for an entire month?

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post here. I always think of things to blog about, but finding the time to actually write out posts is tough. I've also been reading a lot lately. I had stopped for a while, but now I'm really into reading during my free time [instead of my usual watching crappy TV]. I'm hooked on the books by Emily Giffin. I have a whole bunch of other books lined up. Pretty much all chic-lit right now. I need the light reading right now. I have some heavier stuff sitting on my book shelf, but I can't tackle that just yet.

What else has been happening? In all honesty, taking care of our new baby is all I have time for. Most of the time I'd rather be do nothing [aka watching crappy tv] when Andy is napping. Now I read. So internet time is sparse these days. But 6 weeks into this new routine I am finally settling in. Now I actually want to be out and about with Andy instead of wasting my days away. This may be because my maternity leave is quickly coming to an end. I have settled on an exact return date, but it's looking like it may be October 6th. That would take me back to work just shy of my 12 week allowance. I mostly want to go back because we really can't afford to leave on one full paycheck and one 60% [disability]. Sad...but true. If it was up to me...I'd TOTTALY be a SAHM [stay at home mom]. I would LOVE it. Serio. Never get bored. I have so much I could be doing every day. :-p Being a mom is hard work! I get it now.

So no promises, but I hope to blog more often. Even my baby blog has been neglected with all my reading.

1 month picture

WEEKEND RUNDOWN

This weekend was pretty chill. Friday we had dinner at my parents house [yummy sopes!] and then had "the guys" over for a Wii game night. Our friend Mike brought over his Wii and we played bowling, tennis, and golf. Wii is so much damn fun. I want one so bad, but we really can't afford it right now. I thought about adding it to our baby registry, but I got the stink eye from G. :( I was able to stay up till 12am! I guess it was because I was busy, otherwise I tend to crash way earlier.

Saturday I was all alone as G had to work 8-5pm. I made myself the most bangin' french toast using Trader Joe's Cinnamon Swirl Bread. OMG! Soooo good! Everyone must try this sometime. I had 2 giant pieces. i was only missing some fresh strawberries and powdered sugar to top it with! MMmmmmm...sugar. After watching some Food Network TV, I got my lazy ass up to get ready for the Festival of Books @ UCLA. I went with A and her mom. After struggling thru bad LA traffic, we finally made it around 2:30pm. Might've been closer to 3pm. But it was so damn hot on Saturday that by 4:30pm we were done! The festival was cool. Tons and Tons of tents with all kinds of books. Each tent has a specific topic. We even got a free English Qur'an, study bible, and Buddhism guides. :) I'm all about learning new things.

I did buy a couple of books, however, both A and I thought there would be way more discounts on books. Most stuff was full price unless you went to a specialty tent that was selling random books for about half off. Any how, I bought the cutest children's book - "Abuelita Full of Life/Abuelita Llena de Vida" by Amy Costales. It is a bilingual book and it is beautifully illustrated. This one was full price, but the author was there and she signed the book. She was totally cool too. She told me the stories behind her books. She has 2 other books and is working on her 4th. I plan to get her other book "Hello Night, Hola Noche."

I am starting to build our baby library. I have tons of books, but my focus is totally shifting on to our baby. I want him to have all the classics that I grew up reading, plus some new ones. Especially these bilingual books, since we plan on teaching him Spanish first and then English.

At one of the discount tents where all paperbacks were $7.50 I bought 2 books I've been wanting to read. "Paula" by Isabel Allende and "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. I wanted to and should have bought more, but my stack of books to read is getting too high.

That night we had a carne asada dinner at my father-in-law's house. Good times.

Sunday G worked till 1pm. I made more french toast [:))] and had a lazy afternoon. G and I had a late lunch at Tops. It was so hot! We drove by a few perspective apartments. I really liked one of them. Really nice, gated, and even though it's 3 stories it has an elevator [Big plus with a baby], and I think it's 11oos q ft. But we would also have to pay around $275 more per month for this place. Rent is not cheap in Pasadena! We want to move into a 2 bedroom before baby arrives. And a house is so not an option for us right now. Sad, but true.

We topped of the day by not making it to the 5pm mass and instead making some crab ceviche for dinner. It was too hot to make hot food. I also made myself some frozen virgin strawberry margaritas. So good! We watched A Scanner Darkly on Cinemax OnDemand. Weird movie, but interesting.

Nice weekend overall.

So is everyone ready for the Lakers to make their sweep today?!? Bring out the brooms!

Haitus

I've been wanting to blog for a long time. I mean my last post was over a week ago. Time is short these days, and when I do have time I don't really want to spend it thinking about a post. I thought that having a blackberry would allow me to post more and want to post more, but it hasn't worked that way, unfortunately. This pregnancy shizz has just got me so tired all the time. So I apologize my peeps. Not even my Baby Blog has received any love. :(

I have a plan for the month of May. To post every day! Can you imagine that? A whole entire 31 days of posting. I'm scared, but I really think this will help me get back into it. So get ready folks!

I'll leave this short as I am starving! I need a snack.

BTW - I plan to attend the Festival of Books @ UCLA tomorrow with my friend A. If you have nothing planned for this beautiful Saturday afternoon you should totally check it out!



***For those of you that do not read my baby blog here's a quickie update.
How far? 26 weeks! [6.5 months]
Complaints? I cant remember shit! Pregnancy brain is NOT an urban legend. Also, legs cramps have begun. This SUCKS to wake up to when you can barely reach your legs.
Love? Feeling our little man move all day! We can now feeling him wiggling around inside with our hands [not just sporadic kicks]. It's the coolest weirdest feeling ever. And I'm really getting use to my growing belly. I love it! I don't even notice my gigantic boobs anymore! :-p

The Kite Runner

Last night I finished my first bookclub read. I've decided not to review it. More like, give it a half ass review. It's just such a powerful and haunting book, and I don't have the right vocabulary to do it justice. A story of love, friendship, forgiveness, and tolerance that is guaranteed to open your mind. I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone! EVERYONE. It really is one of those books that stays with you for a long time. I must warn you though, it is really sad and depressing. The entire book. And still, it seems not to end. Most of you have probably seen the trailer for this film in the theaters. Well, this morning I read that the release date is being pushed back to December because the actors are being targeted for violence by their own afghan people. This book never ends! Just thinking about it makes me want to cry. I cried in so many parts of this book. Just when you think things are looking up, you get punched in the stomach. It sucks. The author's [Khaled Hosseini] writing style is perfect. I sucked up every word like crack. I plan to read his second book, but a break from depression is in order.


Our next book club read is Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. Really looking forward to this book after seeing the author on Oprah.

Random thoughts...

- blogger decided you can't add pictures today. Good thing I didn't want to.
- need to go to Joann's to return extra ribbon spools.
- we have no food in our fridge for dinner tonight. not feeling like take-out
- Not happy about the weather warm up
- my birthday is 10.5 days away
- looking forward to the possibility of going to Disneyland next week. I love the "nightmare before christmas" time of year.
- need to schedule a hair trim
- still thinking I should go to the social security office to change my name...the forms are all filled out...just need to go.
- crossing my fingers I get a call for a job interview in the coming week. [my co-workers who read this might not like the sound of that]
- on the verge of dark mexican + super white anglo = cute ass baby
- need to order wedding pics from our Photographer....almost a year later!
- last nights TJ's old fashioned cheesecake was bangin'!
- need to finish laundry before I run out of undies
- hoping to finish "The Kite Runner" tonight
- speaking of thursdays...i've fallen off the "Grey's Anatomy" wagon.
- happy tomorrow is friday

Presidential Honor

I've been dicking around all morning searching for different airfares and hotels and vacation spots. G and I are still trying to figure out a vacation spot for our anniversary. More on that later. Fuck me. I know see that blogger has scheduled an outage at 4pm!! That's in 4 minutes! I'm screwed. I guess this post will have to wait till tomorrow.

Last night we went to the book signing at Caltech for former president of Mexico Vicente Fox. It was assome! I loved his talk. Here's a quick pic. More to come tomorrow. Dang it! Now it's too late to upload an image! Well just go to my flickr page to see them.

Peace Out!

Becoming Literate

This year I set out a goal to read 25 books. I have always loved reading for pleasure [never for school], but in the last few years I had only read 2 or 3 books a year. So, for me, 25 was a high number. The year started off great, but it has slowed down this summer. With only 3 months left in the year and only 13 books read so far, I have a lot of catching up to do! I honestly do not believe I'll make my goal, but that doesn't mean I won't try! I am halfway thru my current read [on the right column of the blog], but now I fear I will never finish or pick up another book with my favorite shows back on with new episodes! You see, I'm also a TV whore and I'm not afraid to admit it. So finishing my list will take some serious effort, but I'm up for the challenge!

As if I don't have enough on my plate, I have also decide that I want to read the top 100 books of all time as voted by the public. No time line for this though. Here is the list stolen from a friends blog.

The books I've read are in italics ["bold" seems to be out of the office today].

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) [half assed read in HS]
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) [seen all these movies too!]
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) [seen all the movies though!]
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) [on my bookshelf collecting dust]
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)[fucking hilarious!]
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible [snooze]
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She's Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones' Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) [Love the movie]
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

24% -hmmm.....thought I would have read more. I must credit my HS AP english class for forcing me to read a few of these. Although I do feel there are many great books missing from this list, i.e. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury).

Wish me luck!