pregnancy post #2

Say hello to "Baby Clark!" That image is from the 18th, as you can tell, and I was at 11 weeks. Currently we're right at 13 weeks and the baby is due on July 8, 2009.

My next appointment is next week, and we're hoping that we'll find out the gender soon. Not next week, obviously, but hopefully within the next couple of visits. As I mentioned before, my OB gave me a wonderful little prescription for my nausea which has really helped me out every day. It's so nice not to have to get sick. I still do on occasion, but that's when the drug hasn't had enough time to get absorbed by my system or after it's worn off. I'm trying to only use one every 12 hours, and so it can sometimes get hard if I'm having trouble falling asleep.

The grandparents to be were all very excited about the ultrasound, and the baby got quite the number of Christmas presents this year. Lots of story books and some clothes. Zach even bought the baby a present. It came in the mail yesterday.

They're cute, in our kind of way. Zach's thrilled with them, he got so excited when the package came and that's what was in it. We're loving that we can really find things for the baby that speak to our own tastes and interests. There's actually a whole lot more baby stuff on Metallica.com, but we figure we'll start with 2 now, and get a couple more as the baby grows, because we don't want to get stuck with 9 onesies in a small size that could potentially be outgrown in month #1.

Right now, we're just waiting for me to start feeling better, and to have my energy return. I sleep more than I ever have in my life and I feel so bad about it because I'm not getting anything done around my house. It's going to be such an accomplishment to just get the Christmas decorations down, and that's with me hardly putting any of them up in the first place. My dogs are bored out of their minds when Zach's at the clinic because there's nothing to do, but I have to admit that I think Lily's loving the fact that I'm always easy to find and I'm not very active because she's been out and laying with me since November.

I think that's all for now, I'll just remind everyone to get those email addresses to me so that I can start getting them entered and ready to switch over in February!

in progress

... after an absence, I will be posting a significant post again within this next week.

I meant to post after Christmas but have been laid up, feeling awful. I finally have something to help with the vomiting and while for that it's a miracle, the drug is only for anti-nausea purposes and so I'm still left with all the other fun pregnancy blahs. I'm actually waiting until I'm in a much more positive mood to post again- you know, when I'm not cursing the little devil for what it's doing to me...



In other news...
I have decided to make this blog private on/around the 1st of February. You have ONE month to leave a comment with your email address so that I can add it to the reader list. If you don't want to do that, feel free to send me a message via facebook and I'll add you that way. As things progress, I have decided that it is important to me to know who is reading the blog. So, get me those addresses so you aren't left out!

board no more

I am happy to announce that at this very moment, my dear sweet husband is taking his National Board Exam. Thank goodness! I am so ready to have him back to his sweet, happy, non stressed self. Everyone is ready to have Zach back to normal in this house! He got up really early to be there, but thought that getting breakfast before hand would allow him to not have to take a lunch break and enable him to really power through the test and be done with is as quickly as possible. He's so smart, I haven't a doubt in my mind tomorrow will be the last test he has to take. It's very exciting.

We're expecting Zach's parents and maybe his Aunt Darlene up today to celebrate the conclusion of the board exam as well. I'm glad he'll have somebody to celebrate with, since I'm so out of commission this week. My parents were up yesterday to help my brother move back to Sugar Land for the break, they stopped by for a few minutes. They went and got me some Gatorade (I already have finished a whole bottle!) and I had an ornament to give to Mom. Too bad I wasn't in the mood for visitors. I have been sick every single day this week, at least once per day. That's getting tiresome. I had my POLS final yesterday at 9 in the morning, and was doing okay until it hit me and I had to make a run for the trash can. To my dismay, my professor happened to come in at that very moment to check on my progress. Talk about humiliating. I think he was probably glad he put me in my own room so I could do what I needed to do to get through the test. Gah, how horrible.

Zach and I plan on heading back to Sugar Land for a few days probably on Monday. We won't be able to stay too long, because Zach will have to get back for his rotation but we'll get to spend a little time with everybody around the holidays, which is nice. I have an appointment with my OB/GYN on Thursday, so we'll see how that all goes. I'm hoping for an anti-nausea medication, this throwing up twice daily and feeling like I'm going to all day is just not working for me...

happenings at home

First, I would like to apologize for the fact that I have been posting with a significant lack of photos. One reason is that a) I have nothing worthwhile to show you at the moment, and b) I am using my laptop and I don't store photos or graphics on here since the memory on my PC is so much larger. So there you have it. I've used my laptop for the last number of posts... the last one I did on PC was the graphic announcing our news. It's much more comfortable to type from the bed. The office is not someplace I particularly like to be right now, I feel like I can smell something rotten in there, and I'm guessing its probably the snake's cage since it hasn't been cleaned in a-g-e-s. We've been busy!

Can you believe it, I actually watched MORE football than my husband yesterday! Of course, I won't watch any today. I might flip past the Texans game, but I have a hard time feeling any strong allegiance to that team. At least in college football, I really feel strongly about a lot of the teams. Firstly because such a HUGE chunk of our money has gone to the University, so automatically there's a built in bias (duh), but also I have opinions about most other schools worth mentioning. Yesterday I was rooting for Alabama and Oklahoma. Mainly because I really cannot stand Tim Tebow. I am so tired of hearing about how wonderful he is and how he's God's gift to football. I was disgusted that he was all they could talk about during the Bama/FL game, especially since I think that Alabama's got such a great story being (at the time) undefeated and with such a new coach. I just wish we'd have fired Fran a year earlier so we could have gotten Saban. I think he's the best coach in college football. And Zach tells me he played against us a while back at some point (I don't know...) and he developed quite the little crush on our program. I like that. Why can't we get a coach like that? Zach says he's a snake, but let's be honest, most coaches are. And what with us being in the Big 12, we need a snake for a coach since almost every other coach in the conference is a snake as well. Mac Brown is, Baylor's coach is, OSU's coach is, Missouri's is, KU's is... and OH MY GOSH don't get me started on what a lush, pathetic, obnoxious, horrid, disgusting excuse for a human being Mike Leach is. It's even in his name, for crying out loud. I'm getting kind of tired of being the only school in the conference who hires these old, good 'ol boy types who are too busy being the Southern gentleman to be aggressive and coach the dang team. I would KILL to see my Ags coached by the likes of Saban, Urban Meyer, or Pete Carroll. Man, and what they couldn't do in our recruiting arena. Oh, and I wanted Oklahoma to win, duh, because I don't want to give tu the satisfaction, and at the same time, I don't think either Mizzou or OU can beat Florida, but it'd at least be nice to have the Big 12 represented by somebody who can show up and play a decent game. So that's my college football Saturday wrap up. Oh, and I was sad Hawaii lost. I like a good upset.

We were sad to miss Roger's Christmas concert last night. There was no way we could make it back though, Zach's got to do treatments on his and another student's horses both morning and night. It really stinks. He was up there at 8 in the morning, and then yesterday he missed the whole first half of the Bama/Florida game doing the afternoon treatments. And they didn't exactly make that game move fast. I'm so ready for him to be finished with this 4th year. I feel like I never get to see him, and he's always so tired in the evenings, I'm lucky if he's able to stay awake past about 9:30. So it leaves for very little time to spend together, and that's hard. Especially for me right now, because I'm being very pathetic and feeling very sorry for myself. He's been a doll, though, and he's always willing to go and fetch me whatever food I'm feeling like. He went and got me a good tuna salad last night, and barbeque chips. Hit the spot. I made him chocolate chip cookies in return... well, kind of. I was craving something sweet and I decided a good hot chocolate chip cookie sounded wonderful with a scoop of ice cream. I blame the baby...

I did hear from Mom, though, that Roger was wonderful. She said at one point, he was dressed like a baby/young child and had gotten himself so cracked up he couldn't sing anymore. I heard that and figured it was probably a good thing we weren't there because Zach's whole goal in going to this every year is to get Roger to start laughing when he really shouldn't. We managed good one year, Roger had to cover with a drink of water and then couldn't look our way for the rest of the evening. Apparently Mom and Steph had a cute little girl who had toddled to the front and just stood and watched Roger and Suzanne sing. I can only imagine the ooey- gooey look on their faces as they remembered that at NEXT year's Christmas concert, they'll have one of their own... Oh, Lord!

Speaking of which, my mom found the cutest dang crib bedding, and I'm very excited about it. It's proven difficult to find things for a nursery in our theme (which, sorry, I'm not sharing) and she found a lady who will custom make your baby bedding. I found one I really like and I'm excited about it. We've decided to hold off on ordering until we know the gender of the baby and know whether we need to embroider an "E" or an "L" on the pillow. Ah ha! A preview of the names, and you're left with nothing more. Zach and I are very, very protective of the names we've chosen. Only the future grandparents, Bradley and the baby's Godparents (Hi Cory and Lindsay!!) know the choices. Because really, at this point, they're the only ones who matter. And we don't want our choices to get stolen again. We had decided on the name Hunter Lewis Clark for a boy, but after we'd shared that with people, we had one couple who made Hunter their son's middle name, and another who announced that all of a sudden it was their favorite boy's name. Ugh, that ruined it for us and so now we're not telling anybody. I also had always wanted to name my first daughter Hallie Michelle, but when TJ and his wife had Holly, I thought it was just too horrible to have "Holly" and "Hallie." What a bummer. And also because Zach and I hate cute matchy-matchy names. You will NEVER see us name all our children starting with the same first letter. It's funny how opinionated one gets when either somebody they know has kids or you start yourselves. I do love the Tichenor's name... Carson is such a sweet name. It's different, and has personality. My family, well at least my dad's side, has some original names and I quite like it. There's no confusion on that side. We have Me, spelled different, and my second cousins Tonya, Tanae and Tanille, and Tonya's son Tiegan, and Tanae's daughter Addyson. Oh and the twins, Blake and Brock. I love those two together. So it's well received, in my dad's family.

Wow, that was a lot. I have a lot more to talk about now, so I expect to be posting often. Zach has one more week on equine whatever it is (I can't keep the names straight), and then he'll be off for a week. We will be heading back to Houston for that week, and I'm trying to set up an appointment with my OB/GYN to start the process. Zach and I have both heard not to try to find a doctor up here because apparently they all suck, so ... Dr. Mitchell it is. Anyway, hopefully within a few weeks we can get set up for some ultrasounds and figure out how far along we really are and get a due date!

... thank goodness

So, I finally heard back from at least one of my professors about exams. Luckily, it's the professor for the class I was supposed to have the exam for tomorrow at 7:30 in the morning. Dr. Bond informed me that my "situation" is an excused absence, and I can make up the exam on Thursday morning. He said he'll even find me a room with a comfy chair and privacy so I can have my water, I can have my peppermints and I can have whatever food I need to help myself through the exam.

Once I had explained how I can start off coughing, and end up gagging, I think he agreed that I'd be a massive distraction in the exam. Can you imagine sitting next to someone with a water jug that's as loud as a sippy cup (seriously think about the sound that a sippy cup makes when the child takes it away from their mouth!)and who starts gagging if they swallow wrong. I'd say that'd be pretty gross and pretty hard to deal with. Ew.

Now I'm waiting to hear back from the rest, and I'm hoping they're all as receptive as Dr. Bond. But who knows? I can always hope. Either way, this weekend will be a weekend full of study in the Clark household. Zach's got his BOARD EXAM next Friday! It has always seemed so far away, such a distant thing, and now it's crept up on us and I think I may be more nervous about it than he is. Some of his classmates have already taken it and they've told him about the test, as much as is ethical at least. Also, his is the absolute last test day and that means he won't have to wait an extra couple of weeks for his results. I'm kind of sad I can't drink, because I was going to go and buy a bottle of Champagne to keep on hand for when he gets his results (because I know he'll pass) so we could celebrate. I wonder if he'll be receptive to sparkling cider! Sweet guy.

That's all for now! I'm going to go sit outside and watch my puppies play. It's way too hot in my house right now. As in, I think it's about 73 degrees in here, but for me, that's way too hot. I'm really liking the 60's right now. Zach's drawn parallels to the Steve Martin film, Father of the Bride, Part II, since at one point, Nina and Annie are lying on the couches and are fanning themselves and he's running around in a sweater, hat, scarf and mittens. :)

my mother, the saint

Yesterday, my sweet momma came to help me around my house. It was so, so wonderful of her to come and clean up my kitchen, clean my toilet & sink, and help with the laundry. She made my kitchen sparkle, and I now have all clean dishes and that makes me so happy! To be honest, her company was even better, so if she had just come up to sit around the living room with me, that would have been just great. She was extra sweet and helped me get all my Halloween/Autumn decorations down as well, which really needed to be done, but was a big task for me to do alone, mainly because of all the climbing on furniture and reaching and bending and what not. It was so nice to have somebody who was sympathetic also, because I had such a rough day. She had checked out her baby book from my brother and was able to give me a lot of great advice and tips for helping to stay comfortable. I see a hard candy shopping trip in my (my husband's) very near future. 

We did have some mighty trouble getting through the laundry. Lately I've had it piled all over the hallway because I cannot get caught up on it because my dryer is so horrid. Mom came with the plan to help me tackle those piles and we only managed to get a load of t-shirts dried, and a second load of whites was washed and is in the dryer at the moment because the dryer sucks so bad. It took us two hours to dry about 5-7 white shirts. Not acceptable. So mom decided that Christmas would come early to the Clark household and we went on a shopping trip to Sears and she bought me a new dryer. It's nothing fancy, no flashing lights and beeping and what not, but it's mine and its new and I can't wait for it to be delivered on Saturday. I don't know if it's the pregnancy that's done it, but I'm elated over a household appliance. I am really looking forward to tackling all of the laundry this weekend and getting everything clean. 

After we purchased the dryer, we decided to browse the store for the baby section. Mom was determined to find something for "baby Clark" so we scouted until we found some really cute, gender neutral stuff. We got a set of onesies by Disney, one with small animals printed on it and the other with Winnie-the-Pooh embroidered on the chest. Then we found a really, really nice set of Carter baby bibs that have a layer of plastic inside so that it keeps baby dry from drool/spills. My mother also hates, hates, hates barefooted babies, so she found a trio of socks to match the onesies and the bibs. Everything was in a pretty pale green with little bits of yellow and blue. Very cute. The baby's got quite a stash amassed already, especially since we have only known for a week and a half, and the grandparents-to-be have only known for a week. It was fun, we looked at strollers and at portable cribs for the grandparent's houses and/or travel. Everything they sell, though, is Winnie-the-Pooh. It's almost, almost too bad we didn't pick that as the theme. That would have made it really easy to find cute stuff. Mom's learned a lot about what's easy with infants today since she works with a lot of young, young children. She's going to be my go-to gal when we start shopping!

That's all for now. I'm waiting for replies back from my professors about final exams. I doubt any of them are going to be overwhelmingly thrilled with my current situation since it'll put them all out a bit, but I need to make sure that I am able to take the tests to my full ability and I'm not hampered by the fact that I'm miserable and fighting morning sickness because they weren't aware of the situation and I couldn't be accommodated. Here's to hoping!

pregnancy post #1

So I figured this is the absolute best way to keep everyone updated on our baby news as it happens. Right now I'm pretty sure the only people reading this regularly are people we care about, so I'm willing to leave the blog public for now. If things start to get too personal or I feel that the privacy of our little *growing* family is being breached, then we'll come back to that.

I know of so many women who just sing the praises of being pregnant. How wonderful the whole experience was, how easy their 9 months turned out to be... blah blah blah. They can kiss my ever widening butt. I have not had an enjoyable experience thus far. I have morning sickness. I hate throwing up, and I hate that this kind of vomiting is something completely different from anything else. Once I start, it's hard to stop. Gross, I know. You can pity my poor husband who has to listen to it. Actually, it's quite cute, Jethro is very much bothered by my sickness so while I'm in the bathroom, he paces nervously outside before he's brave enough to come into the bathroom and whine in my ear. He is such an affectionate animal. I have already told Roger that I think we may have to put a dog bed in the nursery for him. This is the dog who also can hear me crying, no matter how quietly I try to do it, from any place in the house and is not happy until he's in the room with me, with his nose firmly pressed against my cheek. I so love him.

That's another thing. The emotions. I suppose it explains why I've been so moody lately. I feel like I've been lashing out at people, and usually I'm not like that. Usually my poor baby brother bears the brunt of my fury when I need to really dig at somebody, and he's such a sport for doing it, but I also know he can take it and not overreact. Well, lately, I've noticed that if one person does one itty bitty little thing wrong, I'm mad for no (real) good reason and I never want to speak to them again, rawr and so forth. And the crying. I watched Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys the other night and cried. I cried during Home Alone 2. If you know me, you know I do not cry during movies. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was an exception, let's not bring that back up. It really isn't fun. Zach's been a champ about it though.

Eating is horrible. I don't usually eat very much in a day, now if I don't eat at least every couple of hours, I get a horrible stomach ache and a lump in my throat that makes me gag every time I swallow. But I hate the excessive eating. I feel like such a whale already! I am super, super sensitive to smells and so far, if something smells wrong, be it food or a household smell, it's bad. I asked Zach to go get me two burritos from Rosa's the other day and when he got home with them, one of the tortillas on one of them had been singed a little bit and the smell of that slightly burned flour dough made me sick to my stomach. I had to just throw them out because I couldn't bear to eat them. I had to resort to a bowl of Honeycomb cereal and was so nauseated by the smell of the burned tortilla, I couldn't even finish that.

Right now I'm really into pretzels, and my sweet parents came up today and my mom insisted on going to the store and getting me stuff to eat. She got me pretzel rods and cream cheese and I've already gotten them out twice. They got me tortillas and sour cream as well, but that's not as appealing as the cream cheese. They brought Zach a stack of Thanksgiving left overs so he's pretty much set too. And the smells from those foods didn't seem to bother me too much, so it's safe for him to heat up with me in the house. He got some chicken tender things from Dairy Queen the other night that were just awful smelling, but he'd gotten me ice cream, so I held that close to my face and didn't let the fried chicken smell get me too much. Oh and I also am fond of peanut butter and white bread, but I forgot to tell my mom about that so I think Zach will be going to the store for some white bread tomorrow. And more pretzels. :)

All in all, I am spending my days on the couch and in our bed. Zach can't stand to sleep with me right now so he's moved onto the couch until the First Trimester is over and I'm easier in my own skin. I'm restless and have trouble falling asleep, so I keep him up with my tossing and turning and kicking and constantly throwing the sheets off and pulling them up again. Poor guy. I really do have a great husband. He is the best. I am hoping that my next "pregnancy post" will be much happier and we'll have a due date and some more concrete information. Right now, though, I'm dealing with the discomfort as best I can, because it's already been so worth it. The reaction of the 4 *future* grandparents was priceless. They are all so, so excited and I'm so happy that they are all so pleased. There really is nothing in the world like telling parents that they're going to be grandparents. This baby is going to be so spoiled! Roger's already gotten the baby a teddy bear, I've gotten the baby a stuffed lion from the same line as my precious bunny and a bib, Mom has gotten the baby a "tickle" that's just as cute as can be and my parents stopped at the Academy in College Station today and bought the baby a beanie. They've known since Thanksgiving Day! Haha. Roger's already thinking about murals for the nursery-- we already have a theme-- and Mom's already picked out the stroller she wants to buy. Dad's already looked into a time share at Walt Disney World. We're very excited, and as things start to really progress and I start to feel better, I know we're all going to have so much fun preparing for our little guy/girl.

no knife!

Well, we can all be thankful that the doctor didn't tell me I have to have my appendix/tonsils/{fill in the blank} out. I was so afraid I was going to go in today and find out that I needed surgery. What can I say, I'm paraniod.

beutel

Going to Beutel on Monday. This is my first real appointment with them. I'm nervous that the "generic" Beutel diagnosis will actually be my diagnosis. Here's to hoping.

down, down, down and up.

I'm still on the mend, and it's been slow going. Zach's been a sweetheart, and it's been nice to have him home. He's gone to get me soup for lunch two days in a row now, and I'm thankful he's here to help me. I have to go to school tomorrow and I hope that I'm able to make it through the classes I have to be there for. I also hope that I'm at least partially better for Thursday morning, since I have an exam at 8 am. It'll be torture, I won't be able to sit down for 2 hours, either. What a time to get sick.

We got Roger's Christmas present in the mail yesterday so I wrapped the daddies presents last night. TJ and Jessica's presents came in the mail today. I'll wrap them tonight, probably. It makes me a little sad to wrap them though, I feel really down about that whole situation. With what I'm dealing with with Grandpa Rodney, this just makes things really difficult for me. I'm just so sad. I just have to hope it works out. What else can I do?

Please keep the prayers going for my Grandfather. He's had a really hard time since his quadruple by-pass surgery and he's having a rough time at the moment. This has been especially hard to handle for me, because every year on my birthday he's told me I'm the reason he's lived as long as he has. We're day to day with him, and are trying to stay as positive as possible. I cannot even explain what an emotional drain this has been, especially since this has been going on since August. Zach's been so supportive, and when I have my week long lapses where I just want to keep to myself and not talk to anybody, he's been so understanding. It's nice to have Zach, because I don't like to talk about it to people because it's upsetting and because he understands how bad things are and doesn't pry or feel the need to ask me to elaborate.

I'm registered for my final semester of college, thank God! I'm taking 17 hours, 9 of which are Geography: Geog of the US, Geog of TX and Geog of Latin America. I like to keep it in this hemisphere. Ha. I've also lucked out because they're offering 2 sections of a class I must have to graduate. One is being taught by a teacher I've had problems with, and the other is taught by a professor that I adore, who also happens to be the department head. Wonderful. And then there's Chemistry and Fencing, but that'll be okay. Well, fencing will be okay. Chemistry's probably going to kick my rear end.

That'll be all for this post. Sorry it's really very negative, but a) I'm sick and don't feel like sugar coating it and b) it's what's on my mind, so... yeah. I'll be better next time. :)

11.18.1999

Today, we in Aggieland take the time to remember those who died 9 years ago in the horrible collapse of the bonfire. 2:42 am. Healing has been long and slow, and we pray that peace has come to the 12 people killed, their families and their friends. We also hope that one day, we may see the great tradition that those Aggies believed in, loved and died for return in some way to our University. We are not the same without it.

down 'n out

This weekend has kicked my rear-end. I've spent about 80% of my time since Friday afternoon on the couch. I don't know what I've got or who gave it to me, but I am dragging. Fever, cough, nausea, upset stomach... and I had such plans for getting my house in order this weekend.

burn dust. eat my rubber.

I am so ready for the Holiday Season that it's not even funny. I know it's not cold outside, but after a certain point, I just can't use that as my "it's-time-to-start-feeling-like-Christmas" indicator. Mainly because it was so warm last year, but I'm hoping for a serious cool off within the next couple of weeks.

I am so proud of myself this year, I have my Christmas shopping done for my husband, both our fathers and all 3 Dostals. That leaves me with less people to buy for than I already have. I'm pleased with that, and I'm glad that I feel good about everything this year. We aren't going to get Mom booze, but that's okay. Haha, we're actually not going to give anybody alcohol this year, and I like that. I always have felt like that's kind of a last resort present. Or a man present. If I leave Zach in charge, most people would be bought for at Spec's. I'm ready for the packages to start arriving in the mail so I can get to wrapping. As it stands, I am only able to wrap Zach and Holly's presents. Within the next week, though, I'll have plenty to do. I think the saddest thing is decorating your tree and having nothing to put underneath. I hate an empty Christmas tree.

Since the Clarks are going to be spending Christmas in College Station, I'm looking for Christmas-y projects to keep me occupied while Zach's working. I'm particularly excited to get started with baking projects. I am determined to rock out some wonderful gingerbread men this year, and am even trying to decide if I should attempt a gingerbread house. I have the best recipe for gingerbread, and it's a closely guarded secret. However, it's not a crispy gingerbread, it's a good, chewy gingerbread and I think it might be difficult to build a gingerbread house with it, and I really just can't bring myself to make a sub-standard gingerbread cookie for the sake of a house. I am also determined to make a cookie tree. It's something I remember from Norway, but I can't tell you why, I just associate the two together. Maybe they used to sell them in the grocery stores? Anyway, you make cookies in the shape of stars of gradually decreasing size, and then decorate and stack them. Or you can stack and then decorate. Either way, I see it as another excuse to really get into a good Christmas project.

We have been trying, with all our might, to resist watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation until after Thanksgiving. It's tradition. However, it's getting harder and harder as we find ourselves increasingly quoting the film and really feeling the need to sit down and have a good laugh at Clark, Aunt Betheny and the squirrel.




I have been trying to come up with fun things for our little family to do over Christmas to keep ourselves in the spirit, since we won't be with our family much, we won't have a fire to sit by, and we really won't have the space to decorate to our full Clark potential. However, Santa's Wonderland is a favorite. It's rather expensive for one car to go through, but we enjoy going to Starbucks on our way out, getting hot chocolate/vanilla creme/spiced apple cider and then driving out with the dogs to go through the park. It's so much fun. I can not wait. I'll start pestering Zach to go the day after he's finished with his Board exam. With that, I'll sign off, but remember...

daniel craig

Daniel Craig is the current, sixth, Bond in the series. His films include:

Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)

Casino Royale is the last Bond novel/short story to ever be made into a film. The story was fleshed out severely, with the whole story line about the terrorist planning on bombing the new "airbus" being created for the film. The torture scene is tame in the film compared to what it is in the novel.

Daniel Craig is the only actor to play James Bond who is younger than the series is itself. He is also the first blonde Bond, and as Zach says, is the only Bond who is believable in his ass-kickery. **see below** Daniel Craig is nipping at the heels of Roger Moore as my favorite Bond of all time, having surpassed Sean Connery on the mere fact that he's attractive in a bathing suit and Sean Connery is hairy. Really, really hairy.

Enjoy the pictures below as a little celebration of all that is good and right in the world of James Bond right now.

Go see Quantum of Solace today!

pierce brosnan

The fifth Bond in the franchise, and the last to work with Desmond Lleweyn. His films are:

GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)

Brosnan is my least favorite Bond. His films are, in general, some of the absolute worst in the series. I have never seen Die Another Day all the way through, invisible cars and Madonna make it too horrible to bear. I loathe that film and the way it almost killed the series with a passion seldom found in a person/movie relationship. These films did allow for the introduction of John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, as "R" the replacement of Q as Bond's gadget supplier. Sadly, Llewelyn died after the filming of The World is Not Enough.

Brosnan's Bond also introduced us to Dame Judy Dench as the new "M." We have yet to find out what her "M" stands for, as the M through Moonraker, played by Bernard Lee, was named Miles, as we discovered in Moore's The Spy Who Loved Me. Bernard Lee passed away in 1981 after filming Octopussy... nobody remembers who was M between 1981 and 1995. Much like nobody remembers who plays Moneypenny between Lois Maxwell and Samantha Bond (1995).

timothy dalton

Timothy Dalton was Bond number 4. He picked up the franchise in 1987 with:

The Living Daylights (1987)
License to Kill (1989)

Timothy Dalton is my second least favorite Bond. I prefer The Living Daylights to License to Kill, but the second of his films is fun to watch as it features an appearance by the King of Vegas, Mr. Wayne Newton, and a young actor named Benicio Del Toro, who plays one of the villian's henchmen. This film also features the marriage of Felix Leiter, CIA in the beginning. There is a brief reference to On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Mrs. Tracy Bond.

roger moore

Roger Moore was the third Bond, and also the one with the longest list of films to his credit:

Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)

Moore may be my favorite Bond to date. My favorite of his films is The Man with the Golden Gun. He played opposite Christopher Lee in this film, who was the cousin of the author of the Bond novels, Ian Flemming. Flemming originally had wanted his cousin cast as Dr. No in the first film but was not granted his wish. Maud Adams was also in this film as Scaramanga's frightened mistress, and acted again with Moore nine years later in Octopussy. Moore's final film saw him playing opposite Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, who played May Day and Max Zorin, respectively.

For Your Eyes Only was the first Bond film that was my own, my parents bought it on video for me when we were still living in Norway. Topol, of Fiddler on the Roof fame, is one of the main characters in this film. It's interesting to think of all the big name actors who have been in these films over the years. Barbara Bach, who played Major Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me, married Ringo Starr of the Beatles. He is not the only Beatle to be associated with the Bond as Paul McCartney was the artist who sang the theme song to Live and Let Die (and also had a huge hit off the song as well).

george lazenby

George Lazenby was the second actor to play James Bond. His only film is:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

He took over for one film from Sean Connery, and never reprised the role. His agent advised him not to do any more Bond films for fear of his being typecast. He never made it big. George Lazenby is the only Australian to play the part. He played opposite Telly Savalas and Diana Rigg of "The Avengers" fame.

This is one of my favorite Bond films, it is the only one in which James is (legally) married. We used the theme song to this film, We Have All the Time in The World by Louis Armstrong, for our first dance at our wedding. Everybody thought it was very silly, but it means a lot to me that my first dance was to the song from the only film in which there is a Mrs. Bond. Also, the song is sweet and sentimental, and Louis Armstrong's last song he ever recorded. He left his hospital bed to sing this song, and died shortly thereafter.

sean connery

Welcome to the start of Bond week on the Blog. Enjoy.

Sean Connery was the first Bond, but took a break after his fifth film, and then reprised the roll in the seventh film in the series. His films are:

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Widely regarded as the best Bond ever, my favorite Sean Connery film is From Russia With Love. The first film made is not, in fact, the first book that Ian Flemming wrote about James Bond. This proves difficult later in the series as they killed off a character on the island of Crab Key who makes a rather big appearance in Live and Let Die (Roger Moore, 1973), which they fixed by swapping the dead character for his "son." Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny from 1963 to 1985 was so emphatic on taking the role in Dr. No that she volunteered to wear her own clothing for the role as they did not have the money to clothe her. Miss Moneypenny made her appearance in the Bond franchise before Major Boothroyd, better known as "Q," the Quartermaster.

Q didn't appear until the second film, when he brings James his briefcase with gold sovereigns, bullets and exploding canister of tear gas, triggered by opening the case incorrectly. Q was even beat to the franchise by Felix Leiter, who also appeared in the first film. Desmond Llewelyn is the actor, though, who appeared in the most films in the franchise, from his first appearance in 1964, to his final appearance in 1999. He died shortly after filming his last James Bond movie. You can also see him in another film adaptation of an Ian Flemming novel, in the Dick Van Dyke film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- he plays Mr. Coggins, the man who sells Caractacus Potts the eponymous car.

last day at home

Just to get a few things out of the way first... For weeks, Cory, Lindsay and Brad have been telling me I can customize my facebook to determine who can see what on my profile and I just figured it out today! Hooray me! Lindsay will be proud of me, for finally figuring it out!

So I'm working on figuring out Christmas presents before a) the stores are picked over and b)Internet prices get jacked up. The last present I bought didn't go over very well, even though I'd spent one heck of a time trying to find the right gift, had ordered it about two months in advance and was very proud of myself and thought it was a wonderful idea. Apparently, I was wrong. So. I'm trying to do better with people at Christmas. I have Zach finished. I told the Mommas what I got him and they're both convinced I couldn't have done better. Zach always wants a hint, and instead of a hint, it's more a riddle, because that's what Aunt Darlene always did for him. So I told him:
It usually comes as a pair, but you are only getting one.
I thought that was pretty good. He wants it to be one of those things that you really can't figure out but makes total sense once he's opened it. I'm trying to get better about giving him hints- he's pretty good. Years of Darlene training, I think.

Tomorrow we tailgate! Tomorrow is the last home game of my college career. Ever. The next time I am in the vicinity of an Aggie football game, I will be an Alumnus. That sucks. I mean, it's about that time, but at the same time, I really do love it here, and I love Aggie Football. Even when we stink, because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter to me whether or not we're the best in the big 12 or the worst (cause we're neither, thanks) because I so love my school and I so love my football team. I know it sounds snide, but I love that my degree is from one of the two flagship universities from the greatest state in the union. I love that my university has integrity and class, strong beliefs and character. I love that our former president became the Secretary of Defense. By the way, I want Dr. Gates back. I loved his Affirmative Action policy. I love that Shrek was almost maroon because of how many Ags worked on the film, I love that Pixar has so many Aggie animators they've dubbed them the "Aggie Mafia." I love the "saw 'em off" in Troy... I love my Aggie ring. I am finally realizing that my time here is quickly coming to an end. I see that light, and it's getting bigger and bigger and I just don't want it to. There's something in being here that doesn't make me feel vulnerable. I know when I'm in town and when I'm on campus, I'm not going to be looked down on for being an Aggie, people aren't going to automatically think I'm stupid because I will be an A&M graduate. I love how safe it is for us to be ourselves here and how our silly little things that seem so trivial to everyone else make us so happy. I love that today, my best friend and I got lunch, found a bench under a tree and sat and ate together and watched all of our classmates walk by. I love that Zach's friend proposed to his girlfriend under the Century Tree. I love that we have our engagement pictures from there. I love that we sang the War Hymn at my wedding, I love that we sang it at my cousin's. I love that we'll sing it at Lindsay's wedding, and at Cory's and at Brenton's...

I so love being an AGGIE. Thank God for my school, the friends it has given me, the confidence it has given me, the things I have been exposed to and the pleasures we've all shared together. This last home game feels like a death sentence for me, like after tomorrow, everything that is great about college is over. And that makes me sad.

and now for something completley different

I hope Cody and Edyta don't get voted off tonight! Haha, yes, more VOTING! But this time, it's for a hot couple. Edyta is Zach's favorite female (well, she may have competition from Lacey) and Cody is so much fun, he's got such a personality and he's entertaining. Unlike Brooke Burke who has yet to prove to me she's got more than rocks in her head.

I'm also hoping Lance and Lacey make it through okay! I love them, I love Lacey and I love that she just takes the conventions and throws them in the judges' faces. They need more professionals like her, she's spunky, she's fun and she's talented. Of course, the judges treat her like garbage, but when your last big screen job was as Fuk-Mi from Austin Powers... (twins, Basil, twins!) *Carrie Ann Inaba* you shouldn't really bag on people too much.I'm actually hoping that Lance and Lacey pull it out for me this year and win.

Also, I'm sad Cloris and Corky (how cute was he!?) are gone because I loved her, but I'm ready for Susan Lucci to go. Gah- talk about boring! The girl can hardly move and she is the reason that her whole team suffered on Monday in the team cha cha cha because she can't move the way Lance & Lacey and Cody & Edyta can so they had to dumb down the technique for the team parts so that she could keep up. Oh, don't get me started on the team dance. The cha cha cha was so much more fun to watch and the Paso Doble was not as good as all that. I'm so ready for them to get rid of Warren Sapp as well, he just looks like a lumbering bear. Maurice has a personality and I love Cheryl so I don't mind seeing them hang around. Realistically, I can't expect it, but I would love to see Brooke Burke go home. She is so dull, so boring and just so fake. She just disgusts me, and I really, really, really cannot stand Derek. You put them together and you've got like, 30 strikes against you already.

So there, my little Dancing with the Stars rant. By the way, I thought Rocco DiSpirito was a cutie-patootie and I was SO happy to see Kim Kardashian go home. Compared to Kim, Brooke Burke looks like personality central. Ha. If you've not gotten into the show, I wouldn't pick it up now. This season is, talent wise from the celebrities, extraordinarily lackluster. Last season and the season before that there were perfect scores given out WAY before Brooke and Derek earned theirs this season. Zach still holds that Kristi Yamaguchi had an unfair advantage, and that Sabrina Bryan (the dancers previous to whom I refer) had a lot of training already in dancing... which may in part be true. But none of them can touch what Apolo Anton Ohno was able to do the season BEFORE Sabrina Bryan's. And I miss Mel B. Talk about a firecracker on the dance floor. She used to grab Tom Bergeron's butt every day after she'd been judged, on her way back to the "holding room" to get her scores. She should have won- not the tax evader!

Alright, I promise I'm done now. I just felt things had gotten to heavy on my blog and I needed to lighten the mood. Because really, that's why it's here, to make people smile. :)

oh the politics of facebook

Hello sweet friends from here and there!

I have attempted to write a "post-election post" a number of times. I even posted one and then instantly regretted it. The post came down, needless to say. I don't want to talk too much about the election, actually. I have a lot of opinions, I have a lot of thoughts, but I really don't like to share them. Also, I don't like to hear them.

I have to say, I enjoyed the last election so much more. Not because my candidate won, not because it was my first time being a big-girl voter, but because there was no facebook. Facebook is well and good in its place, but what I liked so much about my last election was the anonymity of it all. I didn't have hundreds of people know who I was voting for, also, I was not forced to see hundreds of people's views. I have always thought that voting, especially for the President, is a very personal thing. It's your own personal opinion reflected in a very public way, and I like that it used to be that you were spared hearing much out of anyone but the media and the candidates themselves. Maybe it is my generation and its outspoken nature (which, if you're not careful, comes across as excessively bratty), but I really do not need to hear/see some of the things I have on facebook in the past week. It makes me uncomfortable. I hate the underhanded jabs back and forth, I hate that there are people that I like, that I had/have respect for that have made me rethink their attitude just because of the way they reacted to this election tonight.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I long for the way it was my first time voting. I really, really wish that I did not have to have my friends political views forced on me in such an abrupt manner. To be honest, it's one of those taboos. Politics and Religion. You'll never convince the opposition that your views are more right than the other, you'll never convert, you'll only end up angering the other person, getting offended yourself and leaving uncomfortable and unsure of the state of your relationship. Why do you think the only two people I talk Religion with are my mom and my husband? Why do you think I hate to talk about politics with anyone but my parents and my husband? Because I don't want disagreements about something so personal and personally important hanging like a cloud over my friendships.

I hope that I don't get approached about this topic tomorrow. Thank God the one person I see the most of on Wednesdays has never brought the subject up. He will be a welcome companion on a day like tomorrow will be, especially when we have a test in Political Science: over Political Parties, Interest Groups, Public Opinion & Participation, Voting Behaviour & Political Participation and Nomination & Election of the President, no less. Gag me.