Idiots At Work

We have an open position where I work and there is an ad in the paper for the job and we are getting dozens of resumes. However, if you've ever looked through a stack of resumes for a single job opening, you will find that about 90% of the applicants are in no way qualified. Since I'm HR, I'm in charge of handling the resumes when they come in. I pass them off to the supervisor of the position and he's supposed to review them and then let me know which ones he wants to call in for an interview. So, if we get 50 resumes, theoretically, we should interview about 5 applications.

That is what should happen. However, said supervisor is an idiot.

I gave him the first stack of resumes and he gave them back to me with no notation indicating whether or not this applicant is a potenial candidate or I should simply file the resume away. When he gave me the first stack back, about a dozen or so resumes, I asked him what he wanted me to do with these resumes and he said, "Well, I have a few more to look through and then I'll get back to you." Ummm...okay. Wouldn't it be easier to just make a mark on the application at the time you're reading it? So then I ask him when he wants to start interviewing as I hand him another two dozen resumes and he replies, "I thought we could do two interviews a day starting after Thanksgiving." And then, it dawns on me. He wants to interview every...single...applicant.

Oh...my...God.

I did not have to say, out loud, "You're an idiot" because I'm pretty sure the look on my face was SCREAMING it.

High Five Friday

This week has been a little busy so I haven't been able to keep up with my blog reading like I want to, but I've been able to drop in a few of my favorite blogs and some of them definitely deserve a high five.

High five to The Mrs. at Trying Our Best - She has revealed to us all that she is expecting a little Dash-3 in July! Congratulations!

High five to Sara at When In Rome - She made it back to the gym this week and ran an impressive mile!

High five to Army Wife at ArmyWifeToddlerMom - Her and the DH are finally going to have some alone time for the first time in 7.5 years!

High five to Jrzy Army Wife at View From the War(Home)Front - She has decided to continue blogging!

The First Snow!

I walked outside this morning to find the first snow of the season!

My fluffy snowball!

My poor Sarge! It's too cold for him.

Nintendo DS v. Sony PSP

For Christmas for Stonewall I'm getting him either the Nintendo DS or the PSP. The plan is for him to be able to use this while deployed as he loves his video games. He already has an iPod and a portable DVD player, so once he has his portable video game system he'll be set. However, I don't know which one is going to be the best buy. Anyone out there have any opinions/reviews about these two systems? They would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The Joys of Pregnancy

Before getting pregnant I had heard that being pregnant makes you pee like never before. It's not that I didn't believe that when I first heard it, it's just that I had never experienced it, so I was like, "Whatever." Plus, I've always been known as having a "pea bladder," so I really didn't think it could get much worse.

Silly silly me.

So around month 2 of this pregnancy it hit me: I had to pee about every 2 hours. I would pee and then an hour later I felt like I had to pee again, but I knew if I tried to go nothing would really happen so I would wait a second hour so as to make the trip to the toilet worth my time. At night it seemed even worse because I would have to get up every 2 hours.

I kinds got used to it after awhile and figured I could deal with this for another 7 months.

Once again, silly silly me...because this only gets worse.

Now the feeling of having to pee NEVER GOES AWAY! Apparently, I have a head sitting directly on my bladder. Not just an oversized uterus pressing down on my bladder. No, my child's head is grounding down on my bladder making it thinner than a piece of paper. I pee, I stand up and it feels like I still to pee. If I sit back down and try to pee some more, nothing happens. I have a better chance of pushing out my baby at that point, than acutally producing any amount of urine.

This part of the miracle of life is so not cool.

Maternity Portraits: Heart and Soul Portraits

Even though I was sick last week I did manage to make it to my Maternity portrait session. The session had been scheduled for a couple of months, so I wasn't about to cancel and then have a sudden baby debut before I could reschedule.

I went to Heart and Soul Portraits photographer Amy McDermott. She was fabulous! She made me feel totally at ease and comfortable. The examples of maternity portraits that she has on her website are beautiful, so I was really excited to have photos like that of me! I realized a few months ago that I have never seen a photo of my mom pregnant. I wanted to make sure that I had photos of myself pregnant to show my kids and grandkids someday.

The thing that made me want to work with Amy (aside from how great her portfolio is) was her willingness to work with me and the birth of my baby because I also want to get newborn photos taken. Other photographers I had contacted told me that since there was a chance the newborn photos would have to be taken between Christmas and New Year's they either a) didn't schedule appointments during that time because they took a vacation or b) would charge me a huge after-hours fee and required photo purchase fee (some which were over $1000) because I would have schedule during the holidays when they were on vacation. I was not a happy camper that I was being punished because my baby is due during the holiday season.

However, when I contacted Amy she said that it didn't matter when we had to schedule the newborn photo session, her rate would stay the same. She adores photographing infants and she realizes that parents want to take the newborn photos within 2 weeks after the birth to capture that newborn essence, no matter what time of year that may be.

I am so excited to see my photos! As soon as I'm able, I'll be sure to post the link to them.

In the meantime, if anyone lives in the area of Heart and Soul Portraits and is interested in scheduling an appointment, let me know and I can send you a referral card that is also a $50 coupon.

Swollen Fingers

For the first time since I've been pregnant I'm not wearing my wedding and engagement rings. My poor little fingers have finally gotten too swollen.

A Sicky No More (Well, Almost)

Well, I'm back. Not 100% better, but we're getting there. It's probably going to take me a few days to get back into the swing of things and catch up on all my blog reading. Going a whole week without reading any blogs, I feel like I missed a week of all my favorite TV shows.

I spent a majority of last week in bed. Like I mentioned in my previous post being sick while pregnant is pretty miserable. I found out I was allowed to take Sudafed, but I might as well have been swallowing sugar pills for all they seemed to have helped. On Thursday, I finally went to my regular doctor and he said I could take Mucinex-D and Afrin nasal spray. Afrin was a miracle. Not quite as good as what, say, Nyquil or 5 shots of vodka would have been, but it cleared my nose so I could finally breathe. So aside from a very red nose, a few sniffles and lingering cough I'm feeling much better.

During my time at home I managed to finish three books. I'm normally a fast reader, but I think I outdid myself this week. I'm hooked on the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse and now I have to go out and buy the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. Apparently, there is a fifth book, Midnight Sun, in the works. Ms. Meyer needs to hurry up and finish that since I'll probably have read "Breaking Dawn" by the end of the upcoming weekend. I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed the books. At first, I was like, "Okay, this is a little too much L.J. Smith and The Vampire Diaries (which were really popular when I was in like 8th grade), but the more I read, the more I had to admit I was wrong. The Twilight series was definitely better and I've been surprised quite a few times by the twists and turns of the stories.

Having A Cold + Being Pregnant + No Meds =

ABSOLUTE MISERY!!

She said, "Yes!"

We had a very excited day yesterday. My little sister got engaged!! Everyone is so happy for her and her fiance, Dru. He popped the question yesterday at sunset at the same park where they had their very first date. It was an awesome proposal! Dru gave Meg a poem he had written and then he gave the "signal" and my mom and I (we were hidden under a picnic table and filming the entire thing) let Meg's dog run out with the ring attached to her collar. It was so romantic and sweet! They had a bit of trouble getting the ring off of the collar, but, in my opinion, that only added to the proposal. Dru got down on one knee, asked Meg to marry him and she said, "Yes!"



And the ring is gorgeous and very sparkly!

High-Five Friday

I'm starting a new Friday post...well, at least I'm gonna try to start one. Hopefully, I'll keep it up every Friday. So here is my first of many High-Five Fridays!

High-five to ASW's daughter at Quiet Moments Busy Lives - She's 18 today! Happy Birthday! And another high-five to ASW for being the awesome mom that she is.

High-five to Mrs. SSgt at Married To The Military - Her beautiful family is complete and all are finally safe and sound at home.

High-five to d.a.r. at the student and the soldier - She's running in a 5K tomorrow. Good luck!

High-five to Super Girl at A Super Girl - She got an unexpected promotion yesterday! Congrats!

Childbirth Classes

I started my Childbirth classes on Tuesday. I don't know if they'll be helpful or not. I guess after I give birth I'll know if the information they provided was helpful or not. The lady teaching the class seems pretty knowledgable and she keeps the class from being boring, so that's a plus.

Since Stonewall isn't here my sister, Megan, is going to the classes with me and she'll be my coach on the big day. However, I've already forbidden her to use some of the techniques that are being taught in the class. For example, a card was handed out that included some of the things that can be said to the laboring woman to help keep her calm during her time of immense pain. These include, in the most Susie Sunshine voice, of course: "That was a good contraction." and "Your body knows what it is doing." Um, no.

We learned some relaxation/breathing techniques. While I'm not against using these techniques, I prefer drugs which we will be learning more about next week. These techniques included Megan telling me to "Relax you thighs. Feel how your feet and ankles and calves and thighs are relaxed." Yeah, okay. The teacher also made sure to let us know that in the area that we live, babies tend to be bigger than the national average when they are born. Crap.

I got a little miffed at some of the dudes in the class. We were on a break and were waiting in line for the unisex bathrooms. There were two guys, another pregnant woman, Meg, and I in the line. Now, granted the two guys were ahead of me and the other pregnant woman, but when the bathrooms finally opened up you would have thought they would have been courteous enough to let us go ahead of them. After all they live with a pregnant woman they should know that our bladders are about as tiny as their...well, that's just an assumption on my part. But, no. (If there is one thing I've learned during this pregnancy it's that if someone doesn't personally know the pregnant woman, they don't give a crap. I have never had anyone, who isn't friend or family, offer to help me carry heavy grocery bags, offer to let me go ahead of them in a bathroom line, or offered me their seat if I'm standing.)(Actually, what made me realize this was when I was at the Armory a few weeks ago and I was carrying boxes from my car upstairs to the FRG closet and not a single person offered to help. This included other wives and even some soldiers. I was just like, "Wow.")

Moving on...

There was one part during the class that I got a little teary eyed. We were watching a video about the early stage of labor and throughout the video and the class one of the topics is how to offer support to the pregnant woman. They only refer to the father lending support and being there for his pregnant wife. This made me incredibly sad because I know Stonewall will probably not be there. Not that I won't have all the support I need from Megan, my mom, Dani (SIL), and Deb (MIL), but I want Stonewall to be there. I want him to be the one rubbing my back and holding my hand and saying, "Your body knows what it's doing."

It's so confusing sometimes. I know that the reason Stonewall isn't here is a very good reason and I'm so proud of him for what he does for our country. However, there are times I want to say, "F*** the military. F*** Uncle Sam. I want you here. You should be here with me." I want to be a good military wife, but I also want Stonewall with me on the biggest day of our lives, of our son's life. I know I'm not the first military wife to go through this without her husband and I know I won't be the last, but that's doesn't make it any easier for me right now. That doesn't make me less confused and less sad and less lonely.

100 Essential Resources for Military Spouses

I received an email about this article, "100 Essential Resources for Military Spouses", the other day and wanted to share it. With all the links that are included in the article there is bound to be at least one that every military spouse would find helpful.

Plus, I can't help but be very excited and flattered that number 90 was included among so many wonderful sites.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I have quite a few photos to share from the past few weeks, so let's get started!

Last week Stonewall sent me flowers, just because!

My mom, sister, and I went to a spa to get foot massages and pedicures. We also got to enjoy delicious teas and muffins. (Sorry, no feet pics as they are so swollen right now I couldn't get them to fit in one photo :))

A few weeks ago we celebrated my father-in-law's 50th birthday! My sister made the awesome cake. Earl received a lovely new golf bag (somehow this will better his golf score) and a collage of his trip to one of the last games played in Yankee Stadium.

Happy Voting Day!

I voted! I'm really excited to have voted this year because it was my first time voting in my township. For the past two elections I was at college so I would vote by absentee ballot. This year I stood in line, signed my name in the book, used a voting machine and received my first "I Voted" sticker!




PS. I also had a doctor's appointment this morning. Everything is looking good!