I suppose it's about time I updated
Well, it's update time, gang. To spare you all the details, I'll cut these so you can just click on the links you want to read about.
As of my last post, I was trying my hand at potted herbs. Apparently somewhere in the long line of Riggins' family green thumbs, a brown one got mixed in there. My herbs are all officially dead. I blame this partly on the fact that the period of their brief life was during some of the hottest weather we've had so far this year. I also blame myself for not watering them enough. My dad told me that you apparently have to water potted plants a lot more often than what I was doing. Oh well! Perhaps I'll try again later. It might work better now that we have moved our futon sofa away from the back porch door and I could put them out there where they'd get not only adequate sunlight (another thing I blame for their death) but also would be easier to water than having to go out the front door.
We've been talking about the possibility of buying a house instead of re-leasing this apartment come September when the lease is up to be renewed. The only problem we both see with this scenario is that we don't have enough money for a down payment on a house. You can get a mortgage without a down payment, but I'm pretty sure if you do that, you wind up with much higher payments each month than if you put money down. Our friends M&B have a house in a nice area south of us that only cost them $125K for 2BR/2Baths, full kitchen, dining area, huge living room, and a finished back porch that the previous owners made into a study/spare bedroom. It also has a little bit of yard both in front and in back so it wouldn't be a huge upkeep. I doubt we'd move further south as Eric's job is in the downtown area and it already takes him 30 minutes each way to get to work. I know he'd rather move east or north of town for a better commute. We currently live south of downtown which is an area that is growing by leaps and bounds with no signs of stopping any time soon. *sighs* I guess we'll probably live here another year -- though I really don't want to! -- until we can get a bit more money saved up.
My dad is in his last week on the job at his current place of employment. He's been struggling back and forth with this particular company about his job since last summer. They told him that he was losing his job due to outsourcing it to India and then forced him to go to India and train his replacements about 2 months before my wedding. When he returned from India, they gave him one month to find another job either w/in the company or outside it. Thankfully, he found another job quickly w/in the company and was told that job would last a couple of years. Fast forward to December. The company informed him that he would be losing his job -- again, more outsourcing to India -- at some point in the spring but they didn't know when. So basically until about 2 months ago, my dad was on pins and needles all the time, wondering when they were going to pull the rug out from under him and frantically searching for a job. They told him 2 months ago that his job would be ending on June 30th. So for the last 2 months he's been even more frantic searching for something in his related field. So far, he's come up with little to nothing. He got a smallish bite by Blue Cross Blue Shield who asked him to come take a pre-hiring screening test -- to see if they want to hire him for a position. He did that mid last week and has heard nothing sense. We're not giving up hope though as I've heard it sometimes takes BCBS a while to get off their butts and offer someone a job after all the pre-hire screening crap. So if you're a praying kind of person, please say one for my daddy.
And what would life be without a surprise or two? Well, this isn't exactly a surprise to us. Here's a little clue for you:
We're expecting!!
Our little package's estimated shipment date is February 5, 2007! I am currently 8 weeks along and feeling okay for the most part. Just having the usual first trimester stuff -- nausea, very minor morning sickness, major fatigue, tender boobs, and yesterday discoverd that I am starting to enjoy the wonderous sensation that is bloating! The ultrasound image above was taken at 6 weeks at my first OB visit. Everything looks okay and my physical exam checked out good too. I'm assuming all my bloodwork was okay or at least within acceptable parameters as I've not received a phone call from my OB's office saying otherwise. My next appointment is July 12th, around the 10 week mark for me. I'm kinda hoping they'll do another ultrasound as the tech wasn't 100% certain that we're only having one baby! It's kinda hard to tell at 6 weeks -- especially since she had to do a transvaginal u/s instead of a normal abdominal one in order to get a good picture. Hopefully by that point, she can get a better picture. :)
Eric and I are so excited about becoming parents! Honestly, we're a little scared too, but I think that's pretty normal for first-timers. Of course, both sets of grandparents are very excited in addition to all our friends! It's a very happy, exciting, overwhelming time in our lives and I'm loving (almost) every minute of it! I think I'll love it even more once I hit the second trimester and lose some of the fatigue and nausea! :) Anyhow, happy happy are we!
As of my last post, I was trying my hand at potted herbs. Apparently somewhere in the long line of Riggins' family green thumbs, a brown one got mixed in there. My herbs are all officially dead. I blame this partly on the fact that the period of their brief life was during some of the hottest weather we've had so far this year. I also blame myself for not watering them enough. My dad told me that you apparently have to water potted plants a lot more often than what I was doing. Oh well! Perhaps I'll try again later. It might work better now that we have moved our futon sofa away from the back porch door and I could put them out there where they'd get not only adequate sunlight (another thing I blame for their death) but also would be easier to water than having to go out the front door.
We've been talking about the possibility of buying a house instead of re-leasing this apartment come September when the lease is up to be renewed. The only problem we both see with this scenario is that we don't have enough money for a down payment on a house. You can get a mortgage without a down payment, but I'm pretty sure if you do that, you wind up with much higher payments each month than if you put money down. Our friends M&B have a house in a nice area south of us that only cost them $125K for 2BR/2Baths, full kitchen, dining area, huge living room, and a finished back porch that the previous owners made into a study/spare bedroom. It also has a little bit of yard both in front and in back so it wouldn't be a huge upkeep. I doubt we'd move further south as Eric's job is in the downtown area and it already takes him 30 minutes each way to get to work. I know he'd rather move east or north of town for a better commute. We currently live south of downtown which is an area that is growing by leaps and bounds with no signs of stopping any time soon. *sighs* I guess we'll probably live here another year -- though I really don't want to! -- until we can get a bit more money saved up.
My dad is in his last week on the job at his current place of employment. He's been struggling back and forth with this particular company about his job since last summer. They told him that he was losing his job due to outsourcing it to India and then forced him to go to India and train his replacements about 2 months before my wedding. When he returned from India, they gave him one month to find another job either w/in the company or outside it. Thankfully, he found another job quickly w/in the company and was told that job would last a couple of years. Fast forward to December. The company informed him that he would be losing his job -- again, more outsourcing to India -- at some point in the spring but they didn't know when. So basically until about 2 months ago, my dad was on pins and needles all the time, wondering when they were going to pull the rug out from under him and frantically searching for a job. They told him 2 months ago that his job would be ending on June 30th. So for the last 2 months he's been even more frantic searching for something in his related field. So far, he's come up with little to nothing. He got a smallish bite by Blue Cross Blue Shield who asked him to come take a pre-hiring screening test -- to see if they want to hire him for a position. He did that mid last week and has heard nothing sense. We're not giving up hope though as I've heard it sometimes takes BCBS a while to get off their butts and offer someone a job after all the pre-hire screening crap. So if you're a praying kind of person, please say one for my daddy.
And what would life be without a surprise or two? Well, this isn't exactly a surprise to us. Here's a little clue for you:
We're expecting!!
Our little package's estimated shipment date is February 5, 2007! I am currently 8 weeks along and feeling okay for the most part. Just having the usual first trimester stuff -- nausea, very minor morning sickness, major fatigue, tender boobs, and yesterday discoverd that I am starting to enjoy the wonderous sensation that is bloating! The ultrasound image above was taken at 6 weeks at my first OB visit. Everything looks okay and my physical exam checked out good too. I'm assuming all my bloodwork was okay or at least within acceptable parameters as I've not received a phone call from my OB's office saying otherwise. My next appointment is July 12th, around the 10 week mark for me. I'm kinda hoping they'll do another ultrasound as the tech wasn't 100% certain that we're only having one baby! It's kinda hard to tell at 6 weeks -- especially since she had to do a transvaginal u/s instead of a normal abdominal one in order to get a good picture. Hopefully by that point, she can get a better picture. :)
Eric and I are so excited about becoming parents! Honestly, we're a little scared too, but I think that's pretty normal for first-timers. Of course, both sets of grandparents are very excited in addition to all our friends! It's a very happy, exciting, overwhelming time in our lives and I'm loving (almost) every minute of it! I think I'll love it even more once I hit the second trimester and lose some of the fatigue and nausea! :) Anyhow, happy happy are we!