I guess I need to get one of those creepy spinning baby graphics for the side of my blog.

[Alternate title: Oh, so this is what boobs look like...]

It's true, MD and I are going to be parents!

Finding out you are pregnant is incredibly exciting. (I know, news flash.) We found out right before we took our road trip to Charlotte in April. (Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 9:38 p.m. to be exact.) So I had 11 hours to focus on our news while trying not to blurt it out to our friends who we were traveling with. Which, ultimately, we ended up telling them that weekend anyway. There was no way I could have pulled off not drinking for a whole weekend. We were there for a wedding, it's what we do!

I took a pregnancy test after being extremely tired and late. But I had been feeling crampy so I was sure that I wasn't. (Little did I know, they were uterus-growing cramps.) I waited the designated amount of time and like the previous months, I announced from the bathroom that time was up. I glanced at it. Then I STARED at it. Two lines!?

That particular test didn't have a key on it, so I took the test and the paper downstairs to Mike, not uttering a sound. I handed both to him. We squealed (ok, I squealed) and hugged and said "Oh my God!" a few hundred times. Then I quickly drank a few glasses of water and took another one. Positive. Then I took two more a week later. Juuust to make sure. Positive and positive. No doubt about any of them.

Being a Nervous Nelly, I have been hesitant to tell people too early. But it's been a lot of fun. Seeing people's raw genuine reactions is great. I love surprises. To say that my parents were excited is the understatement of the new millenium. And my totally great sister-in-law hopped around the house. Not too many people hop anymore.

One thing (aside from the obvious miracle and growing chest) that has really pleased me about becoming pregnant is the fact that I've discovered that I don't drink because I have to, I drink because I just like it. I truly enjoy a nice glass of wine and a cold beer. And I miss them both. It's a small price to pay though. They'll be there after I have the baby. (Like, in the waiting room I hope.)

I was one of the lucky ones. I haven't had any bouts of morning, afternoon or evening sickness. Although certain foods have not sounded remotely appealing - like whole wheat crackers. There was no way I could have swallowed the one that I chewed. No way. It tasted like pure evil. And sometimes, even my lifelong friend CHEESE doesn't always sound good. Which is upsetting. I hope that it, too, will be there for me after I have the baby. However, I can't get enough apples. Bring on the Fujis! (And the potato chips and french onion dip! I'm embarrassed to share how much of those I've eaten so far.) And suddenly I'm drinking orange juice again after, oh, I don't know... 18 years? It's so random how this works. But I'm loving it.

Truth: There was a time in my life where I wasn't sure if I wanted to have kids. I've always liked them, I just wasn't comfortable around them. I wasn't around kids all that much growing up. My family is relatively small and everyone is close to my age, so I didn't have people 10-15 years older than me who had kids. But I'd say over the last 5 years or so I really started to grow fond of children. My cousins started having them and I saw how much they enjoyed them and I oohed and ahhed over them and held them and became a Godparent to one of them.

And then I met my husband.

And I saw how close he is with his siblings. He takes every other year-ly trips with his two older brothers and his sister thinks the world of him. That solidified it. I thought, "Let's do this. I want that in my life." I want to have children who are great friends and I want to build that family environment with Christmas traditions and vacations and birthday parties and hugs just because. I want to hold my kid's little hand and read them funny stories and laugh about silly things they say or do. I want to have that experience with my husband of being at the hospital looking at each other and realizing that our whole lives are about to change forever. I WANT THAT. And, I want my parents to be grandparents. It wouldn't be fair to the world if they weren't.

Not to mention how great my husband is with our nieces and nephews. I have NO DOUBT that he will be an awesome father. Loving and protective all at the same time. And he's great at impressions so he will definitely know how to make them laugh :) Why wouldn't I want to have a baby with him?

I would definitely like more than one, if we are so blessed. I've been an only child - it's ok, it has its perks, but personally I can't help but think I'm missing out on something more. I don't want that for my kids.

So, I'm 11 weeks today. I've had an ultrasound and been to various doctor's appointments and it looks like little MD3 is due December 20. What a wonderful Christmas present we will have this year!

Help us plan our vacation.

It's a milestone year for my good 'old Dad. He'll be 60 this year and really wants to take a family trip. Since MD and I had such a good time in Vegas last year, we thought that would be a good choice. My Mom agreed. But apparently my Dad was thinking bigger. He wants to go to Budapest, Hungary. His Mom is Hungarian and he thought it would be cool to go back to his roots.

Ok, great! When do we leave!? I mean, how cool does this building look? We're in!


Not so fast.

Once he discovered there was a possibility of a 12-hour layover, he quickly dismissed that idea. My dad is not a very patient man. He's nice, but impatient. And a 12-hour layover simply will not work. In fact, he may find himself vacationing alone if the rest of us must endure that time with him.

So now he's thinking England. And in his words, "Not London, more like where the Beatles are from. " I'm thinking that means Liverpool. Which is cool, too. I guess.

Budapest just seems more exotic. And we would be incredibly lucky to get to go there. It's definitely not a place you go very often. There aren't too many flyers for Budapest in the airports.

So, what do we think? Do we go to Budapest and risk breaking up with my Dad? Do we go to the place where the Beatles are from? Or do we go to the place where you can see Paris, New York, the pyramids of Egypt, the volcanos of Hawaii and the pirate ships of Somalia all on one big street... otherwise known as Vegas?

Celebrate!

Happy Birthday to my BFF, Turtle Parade! Hope your day is EXTRA special this year!

How is that you are 31 and I will be 29 in June and we were born the same year? Hmm. Weird.

Love you!

If given the option, I would prefer to fly the friendly skies.

This evening I will be embarking on my third road trip. Which to me is anything over 6 hours.

My first road trip was a family vacation to Niagra Falls/Toronto/Syracuse, NY when I was nine years old. The parts where we were far away from the car were by far the best memories of that trip. Riding in a car for 10 hours with my Dad still gives me nightmares. Let's just say he isn't winnning World's Most Patient Driver awards any time soon. He has very little tolerance for other drivers. Which, who don't?, but when you're 9 and you're thinking you're heading for some family fun, and you see your Dad give the finger on numerous occasions, you put your head down and sleep the rest of the trip. It was the last time we ever drove to a vacation destination.

And I really didn't do much road tripping in college. I majored in Psychology my freshman year, so I can accurately determine that it's because of the experiences I had driving with my Dad that kept me away from them. I didn't need that stress in my life at the time.

My most recent road trip was to New York City two summers ago with MD, Turtle Parade and Mr. Turtle Parade. I'm happy to say that that road trip was far less painful than my first one. It was fun, we didn't get lost once (not even in The City!), and no one got pissed, everyone kept their fingers to themselves.

So let's hope this streak continues as we head to Charlotte in a minivan tonight.

I got all my road trip snacks, the Garmin, the portable DVD player, the laptop, the laptop adapter, the iPod, the iPod charger, everything you (now) need for a road trip. We're bringing the paper map, but only to use as toilet paper if we have to stop along the side of the road.

So unnecessary.

If Levi Johnston is hoping to have a relationship with his son with Bristol Palin, I would suggest he keep his mouth shut and stay out of the press and talk shows. Especially the Tyra Banks show. Are you kidding me?

I'm sure it's difficult for him to not see his son as often as he would like, but he's not doing himself any favors by airing his dirty laundry to the nation. Methinks he has ulterior motives. Like he's hoping to get on a reality show or something.

It's just an unfortunate situation all the way around.

One of my favorite days of the year.

Twenty-nine years ago TODAY, in southern Indiana, a wonderful man was born. A man who is witty, handsome, more intelligent than a person should be allowed to be, thoughtful, fun to travel with, dog-loving, great dishwasher loader, fantastic lawnmower, unfearful of fires, fixer of anything, lover of beer and a heartwarming family man who has great taste in television, music and wife-choosing, but not so much in birthday restaurant choosing. And lucky for me, he is my HUSBAND.

And I am crazy thankful he was born because he has brought so much to my life that I can barely stand it. Most notably, goat cheese. I'm only kidding! But the other things are 'schmoopie' things that I shall keep between us.

So today, I honor him and celebrate him and marvel at what a great man he is.

Happy Birthday Mike! I love you. You mean THE WORLD to me.

Roadies.

I've never been much of a concert-goer in the past. I enjoy them and all, but they just weren't something that was ever a priority to me. In fact, the few concerts that I've been to embarrass me and would certainly cause you to question my musical tastes and probably my overall character.

Things have changed, however.

Now I absolutely love seeing people perform live. Before I see a concert I listen to their cds ad nauseum so that I know the words and can sing along. And after the fact, I'm usually so enthralled with whoever I just saw for about a month. So I continue to listen to the cd to bring back the fun and excitement of seeing them in concert. I love it. Perhaps it's because I've been seeing bigger acts who put on more of a show? I dunno.

So here's our recent and upcoming concert tour schedule*:

Just saw Ben Folds in concert last Sunday. It was great fun! I love any band with a piano. (anyone ever seen Harry Connick Jr. in concert? The man is not human, his piano playing skills are ri-dic-u-lous!)

We just bought tickets to see Coldplay in June in Detroit! They have definitely been on my list of concerts that I MUST attend.

And then in July we are going with my brother and sister-in-law (and two family friends) to see Billy Joel and Elton John in Chicago. Together! Tickets were definitely not easy to come by. This one was on the husband's list of concerts he MUST attend.

So, needless to say, we're excited for this summer.

*These concerts may or may not be better than the time I saw Michael Bolton in concert. I'll let you know.

Well, I'm taken anyhow.

David Letterman married his LONGTIME girlfriend and baby mama over the weekend.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20267367,00.html

I would be upset except for the fact that I have my very own Hoosier at home. And I kinda like him.

So this is joyful news! They have my blessing.

I think I just might.

Our ALWAYS smiley niece, Tess. A truer shirt has never been worn.

Enjoy the day! If you're into that drinking green beer and eating cabbage thing.

A must see.

I'm sure you know that "Slumdog Millionaire" won the Oscar for best picture the other evening. I am far from being the world's biggest movie buff, but with all of the hype surrounding this movie, I had to see it. I was hoping that it wasn't one of those movies that gets so much hype and then turns out to be a ginormous disappointment. (See: "There's Something About Mary" as example.) So I went to see it on Saturday before the Oscars so that when it won, I could understand why. And then I could speak intelligently on its merits and worthiness of the award.

And thus my following statement is one that is educated and informed and one that you can take to heart - this movie is fantastic.

The premise: A boy from the slums of India gets on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Then there's some stuff that happens and you learn some stuff about that stuff and in the end you leave thinking that you can't believe people paid $10 to see "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" when they could have seen THIS! As an added bonus, there is a lovely Indian dance number at the end while the credits are rolling. Stay for that. I cannot get the song out of my head. Thank goodness too because it has replaced "Single Ladies" which has been there for 3 weeks now.

Although a lot of times the Oscars are self-congratulating and unnecessary, a movie like this truly does deserve to be recognized. It was originally developed to go straight to dvd alongside Jessica Simpson's "Private Valentine". Now, I have not seen Private Valentine, but something tells me these two movies are polar opposites on the 'good' scale.

I recommend you do yourself a favor and go to the next matinee showing of Slumdog Millionaire as soon as you can. In these difficult economic times, the matinee is the only way to go. I paid $5.25. (But then dropped an additional $8.50 on a pop and pretzel bites. D'oh!)

And if it sounds like I have built it up too much, I can assure you I have not.

It doesn't match.

I have a real big problem with the match.com commercials in which the woman riding a horse says that she is "just a goof looking for her ball". Now, I'm not sure if they were going for the obvious anatomical reference to "ball" here or not. I get the term goofball and I know what they were trying to do with the play on the word, but they failed. Hard.

It's like saying, "I'm just an idi looking for my ot".

I hate it.

My 25 things.

Here are my 25 Things. I don’t want to post it on Facebook because I think there are too many people from high school who I wasn’t really friends with back then who have wanted dirt on me for the last 16 years. So to spite them, I am only posting it on my blog for you, my faithful readers. The majority of whom I’ve never met. Don’t argue with me on the logic – it makes perfect sense.

1. I do not understand people’s addiction to chocolate.
2. I like to clean my ears and look at the gunk on the Q-tip.
3. I am relatively bitter about being an only child. And I’m thankful to have married into a large family.
4. As much as I want to be a Mom, I’m scared that I won’t do it right.
5. My fear of mayonnaise goes back to when I was 4 years old and would not eat the egg salad sandwiches my daycare served for lunch. Naptime was after lunchtime and they wouldn’t let me take a nap unless I ate my sandwich. I very distinctly remember sitting in the dark by myself with an egg salad sandwich staring at me. To this day, I don’t want the stuff anywhere near me.
6. I’ve loved David Letterman for about 15 years after I read an article that said women found him sexually attractive. I tuned in one night to see what they were talking about and found him hilarious. I’ve been a fan ever since. And I still can’t believe I sat in the FRONT ROW of his show!
7. I wish I had spent more time with my Dad’s side of the family growing up. They are very funny people whose company I really enjoy.
8. I regret not ever living outside of Ohio.
9. I love television.
10. Whenever I need to be creative, I get out a pencil and paper and write down ideas. I don’t feel I can be creative on a computer or with a pen.
11. My husband and I were set up on a date and I think it’s cool that we both remember the details of that evening very well.
12. I like it when people think I’m funny.
13. I went to 3 colleges and still graduated in 4 years.
14. I love the dictionary.
15. If there were only five foods I had to eat the rest of my life, they would be: cheese, crackers, beefstick, grapes and gummi bears. And water to drink.
16. I like winter better than summer. Fall is my favorite time of year.
17. I almost always fall asleep when we watch a movie at home.
18. I am indecisive to a fault. I will probably think of 18 things I should have said instead once I finish this.
19. I am on a perpetual hunt for the perfect pair of jeans and sunglasses.
20. I have always liked my body, but there are a lot of things I would change about my face.
21. I lose it when people chew popcorn loudly at movies. I have to sit in the very back row to make sure no one sits behind me and chews in my ear.
22. I feel my life will not be complete if I don’t catch a foul ball at a Detroit Tigers baseball game before I pass.
23. I’m married to the smartest man in the world who can fix anything. And everyday I am grateful that I met him.
24. My Mom always told me that it’s not always about being popular, it’s about making sure that you’re nice to everyone. That wisdom has served me well.
25. I love immediate gratification.

Dear Mike,

Although I am an only child who has always hoped (and still do) for a brother or sister, I promise you this will not be me:

"Suleman (the Mom of the woman who had 14 kids) suspects that Nadya (the woman who had 14 kids), a divorced single mom who conceived all of her kids via in vitro fertilization, took such a drastic step to compensate for being an only child. "She was always upset about not having brothers and sisters," says Suleman, who previously questioned Nadya's decision making. "

I love you more than that. And will set aside my own sibling-less issues because I don't believe that having 14 kids is the answer. While I agree and understand her perspective, I'm pretty sure having 2 (aka, more than one) kids would solve that only child predicament. Maybe I'm just better at math than she is?

Love,
Michelle.

Ding Dong, HGTV calling! (Or at least they should.)

The final stage of the not exactly extreme house makeover was completed this morning. Please stay tuned for photos. I don't have many 'before' photos, but the 'after' photos will blow your mind. I suppose it blows my mind more because I live there everyday, but I'm telling you, the place looks amazing!

I will post photos soon and then I will regale you with a story about a new console table for our living room. You won't want to miss this!

Under construction.

It's an exciting time around the D household. We have many home improvement projects in the works, which is excellent for a HGTV-loving (read: obsessed) woman such as myself.

• This week we got our basement ceiling drywalled so that we can have a finished basement. I've always wanted one of those. I will probably only go down there to play the Wii or to lose at darts, but it's nice to have nonetheless.

• Then in early February we are getting our fireplace tiled. This is project that we are doing out of necessity thanks to a lovely fire in the fireplace that went wrong. Way wrong. Like, burning log fell OUT OF THE FIREPLACE and onto the what-we-thought-was-marble-but-turned-out-to-be-not-marble-because-it-burned wrong. Thanks to some quick moves by my husband who ripped off and sacrificed his sweatshirt to smother the flames, the fire didn't extend to the new carpet we have in the family room. That would have made me flaming angry. (sorry.) So we have a toasted not-marble hearth that needs removed and we are putting tile in its place.
  
• And we're getting new carpet in 2 of the bedrooms, including the master boudoir. Nothing turns me on more than new carpet smell.

Everything should be done by early February. It's so fun. I could home improve until we ended up in the Poor House. And even then, I would probably want to redo the Poor House.

I would invite you over to see all of our improvements and enjoy a glass of wine, but you'd probably spill it on our new carpet, so I'll just post pics instead.

Suze Orman would be proud.

In these tough economic times, it's wise to know just how much you owe people out there. By people, I mean creditors. I admit, I was one who would open a credit card at a store to save the extra 10% on my purchases that day. But then I would never use the card again. BUT, I also never canceled the card. Not a good idea. Luckily I carried zero balances on almost all of those cards, but to those who you may be asking to give you a loan, it don't look good.

So my husband ran credit reports for us both. Not on F-R-E-E, that spells free, credit report.com, baby but on A-N-N-U-A-L credit report.com, tootse. Go here if you want one. Apparently Free Credit Report.com, while darn catchy and fun, charges your credit card for using them. WTF!? Annual Credit Report does nothing of the sort for your basic credit report. Like, where do you have cards to, when did you open it, what's your balance, what's the amount of your last payment, and the date the card was last used.

I guess somewhere along the line I had opened about 17 credit cards. Yowza! Some of those were for furniture that I bought and had financed or for my car or for my freakin basement waterproofing, things of that nature. So they weren't ALL The Limited-type cards. But a decent amount of them were. We are considering refinancing our house and in order to show them that I'm not going on some crazy shopping spree at Lerner (which isn't even called that anymore!), I canceled them. And even if we weren't thinking about refinancing, they needed to be closed. I never used them. Now I only have one general credit card - it's recommended that you keep open the card you have had the longest to show that you have established credit.

I think it took all of a half an hour to close them. It was so easy! Once you finally get to talk to someone and they try to throw coupons and discounts at you to try and keep you and you politely decline (although you desperately would love to have 30% off a new outfit) , it takes them all of 25 seconds to close your account. But then it takes 30 days for notice of the closing to be sent to creditors and show up on your report. It was time well spent.

This is just my public service announcement to all of you who may be in the same situation. It's something to think about doing and really it takes little to no effort at all.

No ceramic goose for my Grandma!

In the past I've mentioned my 82-year-old Grandma and how small and feisty and hilarious she is, but I don't think I've mentioned how VERY politically opinionated she is. Behold the doormat on her front porch:

This was a Christmas gift she bought herself. A CHRISTMAS gift, NOT a 'Holiday' gift, she was careful to point out. For those of you not aware, this is Bill O'Reilly's (from FOX News) "catchphrase". My Grandma loves this man and wants all who visit her to know it. In normal conversation, she's not overly aggressive with her political views but you certainly don't want to enter into a discussion with her if you take the opposing side. She and my Dad got into some pretty hairy debates before the election.

Some may agree with her, some may not. But I think it's pretty cool that she is as informed and 'with it' as she is.

This is one Grandma who won't be shopping at the local craft store for a Christmas dress for her porch goose. This decor is more her style.

Unbalanced.

Over my Christmas break, I was diagnosed with Small Ear Lobe syndrome. A problem that has resulted in tear in my pierced left ear. It's a woe that I've lived with for the last 10 years or so. It's prevented me from wearing any earrings heavier than a small post and I've worn the same ones every day for the last 10 years. I even wore the few cute clip-ons they make for ladies under 60. Trust me, I've searched far and wide, they are hard to come by. (The best place to find some - Francesca's.) I even tried the stickers that Turtle Parade got for me, they worked pretty well, but I can't wear them forever. So I decided to have surgery to fix the problem.

Did I need the surgery? Probably not. Am I tired of wearing the same earrings every day for 10 years? Hell yes! Do I think people are tired of seeing me wear the same earrings every day for 10 years? I'm sure of it. Do I really think people care what earrings I wear? Duh, of course they do.

Ultimately, what it comes down to, I am bored. And insurance covered it.

So the day after Christmas, I went under the knife. The procedure took all of 30 minutes. They gave me the option of being put under or getting a local. Being such a tough cookie, I went with the local. (Please. I knew why I was there, I wasn't receiving anything serious. The 3 needle pricks in my ear were my punishment for having this self-fulfilling surgery.) They sliced all the way through the hole in my ear and then sewed it back up with 3 stitches. After a few months, I'll have to get it repierced, this time only higher up on my small lobe. And a few months after that, I can wear cute and fun earrings like all of you with healthy, well-pierced ears.

In the meantime, however, I will be wearing one earring. It doesn't feel right not to wear any. So I wear one in my right ear. My hair covers up my left ear pretty well, so you really can't tell, but I do feel slightly off balance. It's totally worth it.

January.

Boy, you give a girl 12 days off and she forgets all semblance of real life.

I resolve to be bloggier in 2009.

Happy New Year everyone!

December.

There's just so much I love about this month. The snow, the warm and happy feelings, being with family, fireplaces, coffee and hot chocolate, all the Christmas activities including the tree, the lights, the gift wrapping, etc...

Another one of my favorite traditions is shopping in Columbus with my Mom. As avid shoppers, we do it this time every year. It's a nice mother-daughter tradition to throw ourselves in with the not-quite last-minute crazies. Perhaps that makes us crazies too? And somehow we always manage to go to Easton (the outdoor mall) on thee coldest day of the year. We'll be there on Monday, I haven't seen the forecast but I'm guessing it'll be 15 degrees and snowy.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.