Week 20
It's a girl... Good heart beat, and just the right size :) everything is going well.
and I'm still stuck on Sofia Rashell Linden
We are registered at Baby's R Us. We'll be doing a safari theme with the Lions, Giraffes, elephants, and monkeys. We're keeping all decor neutral colors for the anticipation of the second linden baby. Personalized items will be PINK of course!! :)
We are also registered at Target
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Month 4
Week 18
We finally felt the baby kick in week 18. We can feel the baby mostly right before bed when laying still and quiet. Nathaniel has been watching his Rays games with remote in one hand and the other is on the belly waiting for a kick.
June 16th
Had a Kickoff to the Summer Cookout. It was a blast. About 20+ people showed up. About a handful of pets came and enjoyed the spacious backyard. We had cornhole, bocce ball, and ladder golf games. Femal, a co-worker of Nathaniel's managed to get the ladder golf balls stuck in the tree. About 4-5 tried many different ways to get them down. Quite humorous to see how the men after a few beers conjured up a rake, a hose, and throwing footballs at the branch to try and get them down. Needless to say they all failed.
Then as these guys gave up. Tony, my cousins boyfriend, climbed the tree and hung from the branches like a monkey. Still could not managed to get the balls down. We were all amazed at his high climbing skills.
We finally felt the baby kick in week 18. We can feel the baby mostly right before bed when laying still and quiet. Nathaniel has been watching his Rays games with remote in one hand and the other is on the belly waiting for a kick.
June 16th
Had a Kickoff to the Summer Cookout. It was a blast. About 20+ people showed up. About a handful of pets came and enjoyed the spacious backyard. We had cornhole, bocce ball, and ladder golf games. Femal, a co-worker of Nathaniel's managed to get the ladder golf balls stuck in the tree. About 4-5 tried many different ways to get them down. Quite humorous to see how the men after a few beers conjured up a rake, a hose, and throwing footballs at the branch to try and get them down. Needless to say they all failed.
Then as these guys gave up. Tony, my cousins boyfriend, climbed the tree and hung from the branches like a monkey. Still could not managed to get the balls down. We were all amazed at his high climbing skills.
Blah....
So this is how I feel, take it or leave it.
I feel like this economy is going to shit. As a sales rep for janitorial supplies (toilet paper, paper towels, chemicals, trash can liners etc...) I would think that my job is pretty recession proof, everyone has to wipe their ass right?!?!? Well here's what I've been noticing throughout this past year. More and more businesses are laying off, and I see it first and foremost. I walk into my clients offices and I ask them, "ready to make your next order?", many of their responses are, "I'm sorry Shantel, but we've laid off 30% of our workforce for the second time and we're completely stocked." The on peoples faces that I see everyday are getting more and more depressing. About 3 of our company's major buyers closed down. Havatampa, which is a local cigar shop that had over 600+ employees, is to close in a month. Spring Air distribution center had closed, with no warning, 800 employees let go.
Here's also what's hurting my sales... kinda funny but not really. More and more people are putting locks on their janitorial closets. Employees are #1 thieves. But now that everyone is watching that bottom line, businesses have finally invested in a $5 lock to keep employees from taking toilet paper and other toiletries home. So more sales numbers are down.
Anyway...... mAny financial analysts are predicting that we're going to head straight into a Great Depression. I'm not talking about the dumb financial analysts that you hear on Fox News or CNN, but real people. I don't know if there right, and I'm not educated enough in politics and finance to really make a educated blurb on this.
But here's what I am doing to prepare for some hardships. I'm gardening, I'm talking real vegetables and stuff. When time are tough, gotta grow your own shit. Plus its fun, a nice hobby, and much better than store bought BS. (plus i don't have to pay the organic price) Cucumbers cost $1.00 for 50 seeds. You do the math.
Nathaniel has also started a compost bin. The next time you are at Starbucks, look at the little buckets they have on the floor. You'll see "FREE USED COFFEE GROUNDS!!" Why? Because it's there for your compost bin, it's very nutritional for your garden.
Also, I've finally sunk in and started hang drying clothes. What's nice about florida is my clothes dry in 20 minutes. BUT here's what I did find so my yard doesn't look like the slums with clothes lines hanging everywhere in my backyard. You can go to Lowes and find retractable clothes lines. So during the week when you're not laundering up your clothes, you can easily put everything away so no one see's you're the next hill billy.
I feel like this economy is going to shit. As a sales rep for janitorial supplies (toilet paper, paper towels, chemicals, trash can liners etc...) I would think that my job is pretty recession proof, everyone has to wipe their ass right?!?!? Well here's what I've been noticing throughout this past year. More and more businesses are laying off, and I see it first and foremost. I walk into my clients offices and I ask them, "ready to make your next order?", many of their responses are, "I'm sorry Shantel, but we've laid off 30% of our workforce for the second time and we're completely stocked." The on peoples faces that I see everyday are getting more and more depressing. About 3 of our company's major buyers closed down. Havatampa, which is a local cigar shop that had over 600+ employees, is to close in a month. Spring Air distribution center had closed, with no warning, 800 employees let go.
Here's also what's hurting my sales... kinda funny but not really. More and more people are putting locks on their janitorial closets. Employees are #1 thieves. But now that everyone is watching that bottom line, businesses have finally invested in a $5 lock to keep employees from taking toilet paper and other toiletries home. So more sales numbers are down.
Anyway...... mAny financial analysts are predicting that we're going to head straight into a Great Depression. I'm not talking about the dumb financial analysts that you hear on Fox News or CNN, but real people. I don't know if there right, and I'm not educated enough in politics and finance to really make a educated blurb on this.
But here's what I am doing to prepare for some hardships. I'm gardening, I'm talking real vegetables and stuff. When time are tough, gotta grow your own shit. Plus its fun, a nice hobby, and much better than store bought BS. (plus i don't have to pay the organic price) Cucumbers cost $1.00 for 50 seeds. You do the math.
Nathaniel has also started a compost bin. The next time you are at Starbucks, look at the little buckets they have on the floor. You'll see "FREE USED COFFEE GROUNDS!!" Why? Because it's there for your compost bin, it's very nutritional for your garden.
Also, I've finally sunk in and started hang drying clothes. What's nice about florida is my clothes dry in 20 minutes. BUT here's what I did find so my yard doesn't look like the slums with clothes lines hanging everywhere in my backyard. You can go to Lowes and find retractable clothes lines. So during the week when you're not laundering up your clothes, you can easily put everything away so no one see's you're the next hill billy.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Italy Day 3
Italy Day Three
May 21 - Sight Seeing in Rome
We wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. After 2 days of travelling it has been nothing but dissapointments and bad news so we're looking for something to get this vacation going in the right direction. This is nothing that a little Michelangelo can't cure. We take the Metro to the Vatican City. If you were approaching the Vatican Museum (which holds some amazing paintings, of which the crown jewel is the ceiling of the Sisteen Chapel) entrance on that day you probably would have heard me say things like "Man, this is awesome, there's usually a line around the corner to get in the museum!!" and "Wow! I guess you can beat the tour groups by getting here before 9:00".
We reach the door and a nice gentleman in uniform informs us the museum is closed...it's Ascension Thursday and they'll be closed all day...OF COURSE it's ascension Thursday, why didn't I think of that? Excluding Sundays, the museum is closed 13 days a year and lucky for us we hit one of them right on the nose. We are leaving for Florence tonight so it's obvious we're going to have to catch this during our next trip to Italy (5 years from now, maybe??)
We get lunch at a great pizzeria and finish our stay in Rome cruising around the Forum and Colliseum. Shantel does not have walking shoes, since they were in her bag that is still lost, and I carry her half of the afternoon after she develops some blisters. On a side note, I HIGHLY reccomend taking the tour given by the study abroad students. We wish we had a longer stay in Rome, but we've got big plans, and it's time to head to the train station.
We get on the train and arrive in Florence around 7:00 pm. We go to a great Trattoria by 8:00 and Shantel has her favorite meal of the entire trip. Pasta Fagioli...it's so good in fact that she doesn't mind so much when it's coming back up around 8:30. Poor Shanny Poo was having a bout with pregancy, and it kicked her ass this time, making her vomit in the bathroom. My appetite remains undeterred so I wolf down a portion of Lasagna for first and roasted baby pig for second. Nice!
A funny thing happens when we get the bill. It comes to 37 euro, I give our waitress 40 euro and wait for the change...and wait, and wait, and wait. I finally make a point to check the bill, the waitress notices this and sheepishly brings me the change. For those of you that do not know, there is absolutely no tipping in Italy, it's always included in your bill. It was an obvious attempt by our waitress to "keep the change"...which in all honesty I wouldn't have minded except that it was a pretty big insult to assume I didn't know any better. Especially after the waitress asked earlier how it was that my italian was so good and I explained the whole Vicenza thing.
End of day 3, Shanny's bag has still not arrived.
May 21 - Sight Seeing in Rome
We wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. After 2 days of travelling it has been nothing but dissapointments and bad news so we're looking for something to get this vacation going in the right direction. This is nothing that a little Michelangelo can't cure. We take the Metro to the Vatican City. If you were approaching the Vatican Museum (which holds some amazing paintings, of which the crown jewel is the ceiling of the Sisteen Chapel) entrance on that day you probably would have heard me say things like "Man, this is awesome, there's usually a line around the corner to get in the museum!!" and "Wow! I guess you can beat the tour groups by getting here before 9:00".
We reach the door and a nice gentleman in uniform informs us the museum is closed...it's Ascension Thursday and they'll be closed all day...OF COURSE it's ascension Thursday, why didn't I think of that? Excluding Sundays, the museum is closed 13 days a year and lucky for us we hit one of them right on the nose. We are leaving for Florence tonight so it's obvious we're going to have to catch this during our next trip to Italy (5 years from now, maybe??)
We get lunch at a great pizzeria and finish our stay in Rome cruising around the Forum and Colliseum. Shantel does not have walking shoes, since they were in her bag that is still lost, and I carry her half of the afternoon after she develops some blisters. On a side note, I HIGHLY reccomend taking the tour given by the study abroad students. We wish we had a longer stay in Rome, but we've got big plans, and it's time to head to the train station.
We get on the train and arrive in Florence around 7:00 pm. We go to a great Trattoria by 8:00 and Shantel has her favorite meal of the entire trip. Pasta Fagioli...it's so good in fact that she doesn't mind so much when it's coming back up around 8:30. Poor Shanny Poo was having a bout with pregancy, and it kicked her ass this time, making her vomit in the bathroom. My appetite remains undeterred so I wolf down a portion of Lasagna for first and roasted baby pig for second. Nice!
A funny thing happens when we get the bill. It comes to 37 euro, I give our waitress 40 euro and wait for the change...and wait, and wait, and wait. I finally make a point to check the bill, the waitress notices this and sheepishly brings me the change. For those of you that do not know, there is absolutely no tipping in Italy, it's always included in your bill. It was an obvious attempt by our waitress to "keep the change"...which in all honesty I wouldn't have minded except that it was a pretty big insult to assume I didn't know any better. Especially after the waitress asked earlier how it was that my italian was so good and I explained the whole Vicenza thing.
End of day 3, Shanny's bag has still not arrived.
Italy Day 2
Italy Day Two
May 20th - Arrival in Rome
Due to the delay out of Philly, we miss our flight from Venice to Rome...no big deal though, this happens all the time. Alitalia re-books us on a later flight. Unfortuately they failed to rebook all of our luggage, which means Shantel is SOL as they try to track down her bag.
After about 30 hours of travel we finally reach the hotel around 6:00 PM. We're exhausted but head out on the town to check out the Spanish Steps and get some dinner. The Steps are cool and we grab dinner at a nearby Restaurant. As we walk in we were discussing the misfortunes already accumulated on our trip: So far we've lost one piece of baggage, 1/2 day of sight seeing in Rome, and Shantel is getting a migraine...... I end the conversation saying "Well things can only go up from here". On cue, Shantel hands me her camera after trying to take a picture of our first restaurant in Italy...the batteries are dead, and the charger doesn't work with European outlets.
The guide book said this restaurant was decent...and while the food is actually o.k. the atmosphere is definately not. ALL tourists and the waiter trys to offer me a salad buffet. A salad buffet?? This may not be a big deal to most of you, but I lived in Italy for 18+ years and had never even heard of a salad buffet up to that point. Anyway, unlike most Italians, our waiter seems a little upset when he quickly realizes we speak impeccable Italian and aren't really tourists. It was pretty confusing at the time, more on this later.
The day uneventfully winds down from there, we head back to the hotel, catch a nap and wake back up around 11 for a stroll around the city, some more food, and talk to some american architectural students who have spent 6 days in a convent and are looking to make up for lost time.
End of day two, Shanny's bag has still not arrived.
Due to the delay out of Philly, we miss our flight from Venice to Rome...no big deal though, this happens all the time. Alitalia re-books us on a later flight. Unfortuately they failed to rebook all of our luggage, which means Shantel is SOL as they try to track down her bag.
After about 30 hours of travel we finally reach the hotel around 6:00 PM. We're exhausted but head out on the town to check out the Spanish Steps and get some dinner. The Steps are cool and we grab dinner at a nearby Restaurant. As we walk in we were discussing the misfortunes already accumulated on our trip: So far we've lost one piece of baggage, 1/2 day of sight seeing in Rome, and Shantel is getting a migraine...... I end the conversation saying "Well things can only go up from here". On cue, Shantel hands me her camera after trying to take a picture of our first restaurant in Italy...the batteries are dead, and the charger doesn't work with European outlets.
The guide book said this restaurant was decent...and while the food is actually o.k. the atmosphere is definately not. ALL tourists and the waiter trys to offer me a salad buffet. A salad buffet?? This may not be a big deal to most of you, but I lived in Italy for 18+ years and had never even heard of a salad buffet up to that point. Anyway, unlike most Italians, our waiter seems a little upset when he quickly realizes we speak impeccable Italian and aren't really tourists. It was pretty confusing at the time, more on this later.
The day uneventfully winds down from there, we head back to the hotel, catch a nap and wake back up around 11 for a stroll around the city, some more food, and talk to some american architectural students who have spent 6 days in a convent and are looking to make up for lost time.
End of day two, Shanny's bag has still not arrived.
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