ATL 2012

I was asked to go back and do some training again for work on new instrumentation back in Atlanta. I had an opportunity to go in 2006 and the whole time I was there I wished that S had been with me. So when I found out I was going again, we jumped on the chance to make it a mini-vacation as well.

Day 0.5

I flew out on Sunday for the training. S met me that Thursday. We both agreed it was really nice to fly again without having to entertain a toddler! I was so happy to see S! I had really missed him. And of course, being a worrier I wanted to make sure he found Norcross alright (I am the navigator on vacations.) I largely underestimated him. He found the place just fine. On his own. In Atlanta rush hour. And it was getting dark. After he got there, we went to Pappadeaux's on his dad's recommendation. It was so good!

Day 1

I finished up class after lunch on Friday. S met me there and was able to see the classroom which was kind of neat. We decided to head downtown and squeeze in as much as we could that afternoon and evening.

Our first stop was the Georgia Aquarium. That place is amazing! It definately lived up to the hype. Well, except for the dolphin show. They tried to do some Cirque du Soleil meets Flipper. In the back of my mind I kept hearing Simon Cowell going that was positively dreadful and You sing like you belong on a cruise ship (yes, the "starkeeper" sang for the entire show. I kept hoping one of the acrobats would accidentally knock him into the water.) But the audience was amazed by it. Everytime a dolphin even jumped out of the water they erupted into applause and it was, like, shocked and amazed applause. I told S that apparently none of them had been to Sea World before. Anyway, if you ever go (in case you can't figure this out yourself) my recommendation is to skip the dolphin show. Luckily, we started out with the show so things only got better from that point on.

They have an enormous aquarium with 3 whale sharks and several manta rays as well. I couldn't stop remarking on how huge these fish (animals?) were.



They also had several exhibits with several animals (fish?) that neither S nor I had ever seen before. I think these below were called garden eels. The director said that once they are laid in the sand, they never move. They just go in and out of their hiding hole. S asked how they mated then. The director didn't have an answer.



I have a confession. I love touch pools. I think it's as neat to be able to touch underwater creatures now as I did when I was 5. These rays were really friendly, too. I had one come out of the water and try to climb the wall right in front of me! Most would think they were looking for food. I think he just liked me.



This is the coolest looking frog I have ever seen. Ever.



After the aquarium we headed over to the World of Coca-Cola. They had the couch used on American Idol in Season 5 (or 4...I can't remember, but does it really matter?) OF COURSE I had to get my picture taken!



A lot has changed since my trip there over 10 years ago, but one thing was the same: the taste-testing room. Yup, as much Coca-Cola as you want to drink, along with beverages made by the company for different parts of the world. There are some interesting (and by interesting I mean nasty) tasting drinks out there... I was also able to get one last taste of Vault before it is discontinued. This was a sad time for me.



I probably had way more caffiene than a mommy-to-be should have, but it was so worth it.

After that we planned to go to the Underground for dinner. It was nothing like I remembered. So we decided to head back up to Norcross instead and go to J. Alexander's (my second time that week--the company I was training with had sent us to dinner there on Monday.) It is a fancy-schmancy steak house that I couldn't stop talking about so S wanted to try it for himself.

Day 2

When we were initially planning this trip for last spring/summer, one of our "must-do's" was to go to a Braves game while we were there. We were bummed that our trip ended up being during the off-season, but happy to find out that they still offered daily tours of Turner Field. I love baseball. I was very excited to go!

Here's a view of the Atlanta skyline from the top of the stadium. It really is a beautiful city.



The highlight of maybe the whole trip for me was being able to sit in the Braves dugout. I thought, who gets to do this? So I stretched my rules and added it to my bucket list--post event.



Again, I had been to a game here over 10 years ago but I was a teenager and our seats were really far away. I definately appreciated this trip here more than I did the one before. Next time hopefully things will align so that S and I can go to a game as well.



After this we headed to Stone Mountain. Looking for lunch along the way, S noticed this little roadside shack and asked if I'd mind stopping there. I admit I was a little hesitant, but it ended up being the best barbecue sandwich I have ever eaten. If you are ever in the Atlanta area, you must go find this place.



Stone Mountain wasn't as much fun as it had been when I was there in high school. The weather was really chilly and most of the attractions were closed for the winter. We did take the tram to the top. The view is still very impressive.



We were pretty exhausted by that point so we went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours. We decided that, being childless for the weekend, we should go see the Muppets that evening while we had a chance. Loved that movie. It makes me wish they would bring it back to primetime. (Does anyone else remember watching the Muppets when they were little kids?)

Day 3

While I was falling asleep the night before, S found an article on MSN about the top 24-hour diners in the country and Atlanta's Majestic happened to be on that list. So we headed there for brunch the following morning.



Wow did we eat good this trip. At the Majestic I had an omelet called the Olympic and it had spinach, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese and was served with tzatziki sauce. A-mazing. Naturally I didn't change my side order of grits to hashbrowns. When in the south, do as the southerns...

After brunch we headed to the Atlanta Botanical Garden per my request. This place was in Piedmont Park and reminded me a lot of what I imagine central park to be like but on a smaller scale. It was so refreshing to be outside in the sunshine and have things actually growing. This place was beautiful in the dead of winter. I can't even imagine how it is the rest of the year. There were also all sorts of exotic plants growing in their greenhouses.




Some trees were even beginning to blossom. Knowing I had to come back to winter at home was really hard after this!



After that we took our time getting to the airport to come home. It was hard to leave.

The best part of the trip hands-down was returning back to S&E for a short while. After being mommy and daddy for so long I think we really needed this break together. We fell right back into our pre-parents days and had so much fun together. No one to answer to. No diapers to change. It. Was. Awesome.

We thought she turned out pretty cute...

So we decided to try it again!

Yup, Bean is "welcoming" her new little brother/sister on or around July 13th!

Here's the pregnancy recap so far:

• I have been sick. as. a. dog. Far worse than with the Bean. But I've felt much better the last two weeks so hopefully I'm out of the woods.



• I am 15 weeks today, putting my EDD at Friday the 13th of July. Luckily, this kid is going to come c-section (unless he/she comes earlier than my scheduled surgery date) so we are tentatively planning on 07/06/12.



• I am 95% sure this one is a boy. Just like last time. But for real this time.



• S is an amazing Mr. Mom. My lack of energy has left a lot of areas of my "responsibilities" undone and he has graciously picked up where I've left off.



• Our growing family has necessitated (is that a word?) finishing part of our basement. So between that, a new nursery, and a yard to take care of now, this year promises to be a busy one. That's okay, making time fly is fine with me. (PS--don't worry, we aren't putting either of the kiddos down in the basement yet! A craft room for me and a bathroom to use post-workout.)



• I'm not really showing (just like Bean's pregnancy) but I feel pregnant. This baby seems to want to occupy my pleural cavity more than protrude, so I'm preparing myself to feel like I can't breathe or eat. Seriously: the only way I know I'm hungry is when I start feeling a little faint.



• My aversions this time around have included Christmas (so sad) and coupons. I can't look at coupons any more. No cravings yet.

Obviously, we are really excited. And by we I mean S and I. Bean knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy but when we ask her where the baby is, half the time she lifts up her shirt and points to her belly button. It probably won't hit Bean that she is no longer an only child until she is 5. But as long as she is willing to give the baby lots of kisses (and an occasional binki) I'll be happy.

Speaking to those parents of young children: I don't know if you've ever had those moments where you think, "I just need a break for just a little bit!" or "What in the world did I do in my free time before I had kids?!"  Chances are, you have.

This week I get a small break from my routine and, as much as I have been looking forward to a king-size bed to myself, I find myself feeling out of sorts.  It is the first time I have ever been away from Bean longer than 1 night (let alone over a week.)

I told the Bean goodbye last night as I was putting her to bed and started to cry. She looked at me with this concerned look on her face and said, "Mama Happy." It made me laugh (which made me cry harder for some reason.)

She is such a sweet girl and I am really going to miss her. But I am thankful for a break and am going to enjoy every minute of it. I am thankful that S and our parents are able and willing to take care of her so that Mama (and later Dada) can have this opportunity. It's true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think taking vacations from mommyhood ultimately make mommies better.

Also, Skype is the best invention ever.

Resolute: 2012 edition.

My new years celebration this year including eating 7-layer bean dip by myself in our break room at work. I watched the clock (which was amazingly enough synced up with the one in Times Square--well, minus two hours) turn over to midnight, gave my mom the traditional "Happy New Years" call (every year she sounds so pleasantly surprised that I remembered, even though I have called her every year since I was a teenager) and sent a text message to S--supposedly and hopefully sound asleep at the time.

S, who was at the firestation and who had been woken up just before I texted him, said that in the last 5 minutes (it was only 12:06) every single unit in their city had been dispatched.

Happy New Years to us.

Oh well, that's all you can really expect and hope for when you are scheduled to work on a holiday. My shift ended at midnight, so I crammed a sprinkle-covered Krispy Kreme and headed home.

I've actually been thinking about this post since November. My last New Year's post left me feeling more productive than on previous New Years. Rather than write an entirely new post about how well I did on holding up to last year's goals, I edited the original post. I'm not saying that you, the readers, aren't smart enough to figure this one out yourselves, but my accomplishments are posted in red.

So here are this years goals. (I am linking up to this post on the side of this blog and I will updated my accomplishments as they happen. In case you follow my life that closely. And if that's the case, well, that's a little creepy... j/k.)

Eat an apple four times a week. I would say eat healthier, but let's be honest here. I have a sweet tooth that cannot be satiated. I finally figured out an easy way to cut them--that didn't involve using a stupid apple-corer--and found myself eating a lot more than normal this last fall. I don't know if the "apple a day" adage is true, but I certainly felt a lot better. And I would say eat an apple a day, but this is about improvements--not perfection.
I actually did really good at this one!  Although I have to admit apples don't taste as good as they did at the beginning of the year.  Oh, well.  I usually am eating them in the car on my way to work anyway so I don't really think about it.

Complete Jillian Michael's 30-day shred in 30 days. I've done the whole series before, but not in 30 days and I have a feeling when she says "30-day" she means in 30 days.
I did this one, too!  When I wrote this post I knew I was pregnant and I knew that I would be taking 3 months off of work.  I planned on doing it all of the month of September, which gave me 8 weeks to heal from surgery and a month before I had to be back to work.  I only ended up missing a few days.  The only disappointment was that I didn't necessarily feel "shredded" after the 30 days.  I did have better endurance, though, so I guess that's what counts.

Read the entire Harry Potter series. I have a confession. I've only read the first and half of the second Harry Potter books. I have had no interest to read the rest. I don't really respond well to hype. To be honest, if Twilight had been made out to be the big deal that it is now while I was reading it then, I probably wouldn't have read those books either. But I have enough reliable sources telling me that I really ought to read them. And I also promised a friend I would. So this year, I will.
I made it to book 3.  Stay tuned.  Finished 2013

Make a decent batch of brownies from scratch. S will tell you that I should just give this one up. And when my last batch turned out completely flat and tasteless, I can understand why. My mom made her homemade brownies for us a few weeks ago and they were So Good. So I'm going to try it again.
I tried 3-4 new recipes but none of them cut it.  So I'm going to keep looking.  Two really great batches, but nothing like my mom made so I'll just consider hers the unreachable standard (2013)

Project Life. I have read about this from Ali Edwards blog and just found out today that it started from Becky Higgins. It seems like such a great, low-key way to scrapbook a "year in the life of..." I'm not sure I'll keep up with it weekly, but I am going to buy photo-divided 12x12 page protectors and a new album this week. This is probably the most time-intensive goal I am making. Watch out. I mean business.
I stayed with this longer than I thought I would: I made it to April.  But deconstructing my craft room made it hard to keep up with this.  I kept everything, though, so hopefully I can finish it this year.

Sign Bean up for dance classes. Okay, this one won't be that hard to accomplish because I've literally been dreaming of this moment from the time I found out The Bean was a little girl.
Done and done!

Win a game of chess. After my coworkers' refascination with Chess, I've realized just how much I suck at the game. It is my goal to change this.
I am so terrible at chess that I felt guilty playing with anyone--I didn't even provide a challenge.  So maybe I'll try the computer thing first.

Start a Bucket List. When we caught a shark last year (yes I'm bringing this up again but when the most adventerous thing you've done in your life involves mixing sprite with apple cider these things become sort of big deals) I mentioned that if I had a bucket list, catching a shark would totally be on it. I've thought since then, well, maybe I should have a bucket list. So that will be linked up to the side as well.
I did this too!  I will continue with it as well.

Bucket List

• Celebrate New Years Eve in Times Square.
• Watch the Yankees play at (the new) Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox at Fenway Park and the Cubs at Wrigley Field (double points if I get to eat a Chicago dog watching a Cubs game!)
• Read A Tale of Two Cities (we were supposed to read this in 8th grade. I read the Cliff's Notes version instead.)
• See Sarah McLachlan in concert.
• Sit in a Major League Dugout (Accomplished 01/14/12.)
• Ride a bicycle built for two.
• Swim in jellyfish lake (somewhere near Palau)
• Participate in a flash mob.
• Learn to tie a balloon animal.  (A snake doesn't count.) (Accomplished 10/12/13--a dog in case you were wondering...)
• See a rocket launch in real life