Retreat

No I am not talking about going backwards--I am talking about the retreat I got to do with the other advisors in the education program.

We went to the Wildlife World Zoo--and if you haven't been there you should go. Yes it really is out by the loop 303 and yes there really is a loop 303. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from when I got to touch sting rays--I will have to get my friend to send me some of her pictures. She got some of me right after I came off the log ride--I was drenched!!

And here are the flamingos:

Then I went to the gift shop and got Danica a very cute hat. She is not too sure about the hat, really not sure about the flash from the camera, and enjoying climbing on me more then the hat or the pictures but here you go:

After the zoo, where we had lunch, we went back to ASU's West campus for some professional development. Overall it was a fun day--but it was really a little far from us.

Update

So I would have worked on thinking of a better title then that--but as my aunt and dad have pointed out I haven't posted in a while so I decided they would rather have an update then a catchy title. :)

Here are some updated pictures of Danica. Since last post she has mastered sitting up--and is working on standing on her own. She likes to pull herself up using our pant legs when we are sitting in the living room. She is also teething--which has not been fun. She has been getting up every 2-3 hours upset that her gums hurt. But orajel seems to help her quite a bit. Hopefully soon there will be teeth to show everyone.

One thing that has not changed--she still refuses to let us take a picture of her smiling. I keep hoping though.

At work--we have moved offices. The upside is we got to move to the new buildings and our offices have great views of the campus. The downside is that we got almost no notice of the actual move date and so we have had to meet with students in the middle of the choas. But Friday I finally got to empty out the last of my boxes. So now I feel a little set.

What Makes Us Stronger...

The past couple of weeks have really not been anything I wanted to write about--but now that I have a little hindsight I think I can share a little of what has been going on.

First, January 20 was the first day of school. This is normally a crazy and stressful time for us in the advising office. We get the people who have instantly decided they want to go to school but can't understand why all the classes are full--umm duh! And all the people who realized they didn't listen to us before and consequently don't have a particular class they need to graduate...again I say duh! And a plethora of other issues that normally come through our doors the first day/week of school. But this first week of school was particularly stressful because the Vice Provost was coming to campus specifically to meet with our school. So I was stressing for the entire weekend--the joys of being the low (wo)man on the totem pole with whispers of layoffs.

Well the meeting happened and overall the message was good. Our school was being disestablished and our programs were being combined with the teacher education college on the west campus. In fact the west campus college was going to administer all of the teacher prep programs at ASU. But our jobs were safe (for the moment) because they still wanted a full staff to help students on this campus. hurray!

And later that day we met with our new dean and she seems to follow the same philosophy that the advising office had--that the important thing was to make sure students are helped and that the campuses should not be in competition with each other.

But my lower stress level was not meant to last long. Corey went for a jog at midnight (his favorite time to run--I know he's crazy) and was jumped by three or four guys who wanted his ipod. So we got to meet the police at midnight and go to the hospital at midnight and all that fun stuff. Yes he is okay, but the experience in general left a bad taste in our mouths.

And then if that was not enough stress for just over a week period. ASU announced that in order to deal with the budget cuts that the state is requesting of the university all paid employees have to take a 10-15 day unpaid furlough. I fall into the category of 12 days. Luckily they are letting us spread it out--do a day or two a week between now and June 23. But still essentially it is a pay cut. And there is no promise that June 23 or thereabouts we won't get another message about the furloughs we need to take for the next fiscal year. If you live in Arizona and agree that higher education is important (or even if you just want to make sure I have a job), contact your representative and tell them that you don't want them to cut higher education funding as much as they are proposing.

And since I thought pictures were worth a thousand words--here are pictures of what the students put up on campus to show their feelings about the budget cuts. They had this up the day that the Vice Provost came to campus to talk to our school--and she actually said that she thought it was a great statement.

And just so you know, Danica is doing very well. She is sitting in her bouncy chair right now laughing at me. :)

I think it is becoming an odyssey...

I really never thought I would get to try so many of my quest destinations so quickly, but today I really needed to go get my back manipulated. I was in a lot of pain and having trouble carrying Danica in her car seat with everything else I have to take with her. So my dad took me to see Ron--who works in Glendale not far from another of Guy's stops.

Thee Pitts Again is a barbecue place. I tried the smoked shrimp, which was good but not my favorite because I thought the shrimp ended up with a tough skin on it. But the grilled veggies were wonderful.

My dad, however, ordered the smoked turkey, pulled pork, and sliced brisket. The smoked turkey and pulled pork were out of this world. Definitely worth the drive over there.

They use a sauce that is perfect mix of sweet, heat, and tang from vinegar. It was very yummy. And there cocktail sauce that came with the shrimp was wonderful as well--good bite from the horseradish.

We also got a Miss Piggy Brownie with Ice Cream--the brownie had caramel, chocolate chips, and warm. The ice cream and whip cream were the perfect way to finish it off.

After my weekend of stressing about Tuesday's meetings, it was a nice treat.

Flashback

Remember a while ago I promised pictures of my surprise baby shower at work.

Well I finally got those pictures yesterday (that is what happen when you leave work for months...hehe). So here are some pictures as a flashback to the end of September--wow how things have changed.

Yep they got me:

The gift table:

The infamous sideview--yep I feel better about how I look know by comparison...hehe:
My friend and my supervisor--two of the conspirators:
The whole gang:

First Day Back

Today was my first day back to work--and my first day taking Danica to the sitter for the day. It was so hard to leave her there--even though I really like her sitter (who will be known from now on as Nana) and Danica didn't get upset as I was leaving. But it was still hard.

But throughout the day Nana said that Danica was very good--she only got fussy towards the end of the day and part of that fussiness seemed to be that she was tired of eating out of a bottle. But Nana and the other girls in the house seemed to be quite taken with our little girl.

And work was good. It kind of stunk because both of my supervisors were out of the office today so there were quite a few things I couldn't do because I wasn't sure how things have changed (I just know that with the budget issues there have been lots of changes).

So overall the day was okay--but I will be so glad when I get to be with her all day tomorrow. February is going to be so hard because I will be back to work full time.

Gifts for Danica

My coworkers gave me a baby shower today--and actually totally surprised me. I really thought that we were just having an advisors meeting until I walked in and the whole room was decorated in Winnie the Pooh and everyone was yelling surprise. It was a little shocking. I will have more pictures of the actual party next week--my friend is buring me a cd of pictures. But today I thought I would share pictures of all of the cute things that my friends bought for Danica. And here is a little closer view over everything:

To sum up, we got a few blankets, a few outfits, pacifers, a crib soothing machine, a diaper bag, lots of toys (including a pooh dressed up as piglet--it is too cute), a couple of different keepsake/memory books, a kit of first aid items, and a couple of pairs of slippers.

Overall it was a super fun party--a great end to a very crazy and busy week. And a lot of fun to open lots of fun stuff for Danica.

Owie

My dad keeps telling me that I need to tell everyone a little more about what is going on with Corey. This isn't as easy as you may think--Corey is not much of a talker and generally doesn't like to share too much about himself. Seriously it is like pulling teeth to find out how his day was--which should give me good practice for when I am talking to the baby about school every night. :)

Anyway, I do have something to share about Corey. He broke two bones in his hand at work. So for the next 6-8 weeks he will be wearing the brace you can see below. Don't expect any long handwritten letters from him--yep he's a righty.

The Celebrations Continue

Third-My friend and coworker celebrated her 28th birthday today. She is horrified at how much closer she is to 30. And I am shocked to find out that I am really the baby of the office--I thought we were the same age but alas no. Anyway I have a little bit of a reputation for setting up the parties on birthdays. This reputation may come from the fact that I completely covered my other coworker's office in over the hill things for his birthday--I wish I had pictures because you would laugh at the amount of over the hills stuff I found to cover his office. It was great.

Anyway, I had to keep it up. But not quite to the same degree, afterall I have to leave myself something to do when she beats me to 30. So I bought balloons and gave her balloon animals for her birthday, and maybe some banners that say happy birthday and a few streamers and some cupcakes. But really it was subtle--hehe

Here are a couple of pics of the birthday girl:

After the morning of cupcakes and milk (we had to have something healthy), we decided to go to the new Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. Have I mentioned how nice it is that all of these restaurants are moving out to the boonies where I live and work. :)

Brandy saves the day--well sort of

Okay--so I cursed myself. Just as I was secretly (okay maybe not so secretly) celebrating the fact that the nausea part of this little adventure was over--yep you guess it--it came back. :(

So all day I have not been feeling 100%--actually all weekend. But to try to take my mind off of it I decided to buy Brandy a present. You know the kind of present that is equally fun for me as for Brandy. So I thought I would share some pictures of Brandy going crazy over the laser light--of course there were some that were moments that were even funnier but unfortunately I was laughing too hard to take a decent picture. And of course the excessive laughing didn't help the nausea issue. But it was worth it.

On this last picture you can't really see it but Corey has the Laser Light shinning on one of the pink beads on Brandy's toy. She went bonkers--actually she is always a little bonkers, but this time it was just more picture-worthy. :)

Another side note--I finally made the plunge to maternity clothes. I am much happier because they are much more comfortable then the other clothes, and now I look a little less like I am just letting myself get fat and more like I am pregnant. But it has been funny at the office because I am still at that point that if you know I am pregnant then you say "oh you look so pregnant" but if you don't know then you are afraid to ask because what if you are wrong. So I am getting lots of second looks and sideways glances. hehe.

Travel Sparky

Harry Caray: Thank you Travel Sparky for joining me today for the interview. Can you tell the audience a little about yourself?

Travel Sparky: I am the mascot for the advisors of ASU. Whenever they leave sunny Arizona for official business they bring me along to see the sights with them.

HC: What brings you to Chicago today?

TS: New student orientation at the Hyatt Regency. I am welcoming the class of 2012 to ASU.

HC: What sights have you been able to see?

TS: Well it has been a busy trip with three separate orientations to run, but I have gone out for Chicago style pizza. The Spinach stuffed deep dish was fabulous.

HC: I am looking at your picture, why is everyone holding up three fingers?

TS: That is the ASU pit fork, all of my friends were showing their ASU pride throughout Chicago.

HC: Holy Cow! Did you have a chicago hot dog?

TS: Yes, but sadly it did not have the condiments of a traditional chicago dog. I needed to find a street vendor instead of a restaurant. So I will have to go back to Chicago for a hot dog.

HC: Did you see a cubs game?

TS: Unfortunately the game was sold out, so we didn't get to see a game. We did get down to Wrigleyville and watched the game from a bar--umm I mean eating establishment--across the street from Wrigley.

HC: What did you think of Wrigleyville?

TS: Wonderful!! It was great to be around so many spirited Cub Fans!! We got to see duelling piano players who were dueling "Go Cubs Go" versus the song for the Sox. The Cubs song was by far the loudest!!

HC: Cubs Win Cubs Win!!

TS: It was so exciting and the game broke my friend's curse, she said the Cubs always lost when she watched their games. So smashing Pittsburg was wonderful! And afterwards we found the Cubbie walking down the street and he was willing to pose for a picture with me. He even tried to do the ASU pitchfork--which was hard for him with only three fingers.

HC: Did you get to participate in other festivities during your trip to Chicago?

TS: Yes, I got to go to my first Passover Seder dinner. It was wonderful. The matzoh ball soup was different from anything I had had before, but it was yummy. And the family was so welcoming and friendly. I loved it.

HC: That is great that you got to enjoy so many different things during your short trip to the city.

TS: I will definitely be back again. It was some of the most fun I have had.

HC: Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. I am glad you enjoyed your trip to our wonderful city and we welcome you back anytime.

CHI-TOWN

http://www.kiwee.com/?c=kw3sn6391

I am so excited. I am only the final count down for my trip to Chicago. I have a new heavy jacket--I am not sure what I will do with it after I get back but that is a detail for later. I am doing a bunch of laundry so all of my favorite clothes are clean for my trip. I will be packing today and tomorrow. The Friday I get to go to Chicago!!

Now the big question is what will Corey do for the weekend while I am gone? According to Corey he is going to play on the computer while I am gone. I know--shocking.

R.I.P. to my phone

My day has been super busy--but one of the saddest part was that I dropped my phone and cracked the touchscreen which means my phone is dead.

Today was the day of the Future Educators conference on the campus that I work at. I have been working for the last few months (practically since I started) to coordinate the event. So my day started at 6:30 am (I know that Grandpa would have said that I should have already been up by then--but really I think that getting up at my normal time is early enough). And from 6:30-4pm I was running around campus checking on breakout sessions and presenters, creating certificates for the on-campus competitions, and troubleshooting. And my faithful phone was with me all day. Then as everything was wrapping up and I was making the final load of things to take back to my office, my faithful phone slipped out of my pocket for the last time.

I am really kind-of sad. And since I don't have a home phone (only Corey and my cell phones) I feel so disconnected. So if you need to contact me--you'll have to comment on my blog. :)

I am also completely convinced that the pains in my legs and feet is because I am pregnant and not a sign that in general that I am lazy and not active. And somehow that makes me feel better. I am not sure why--but it does.