New Years Fun

Well, another new year is upon us and I thought I would re-share with everyone a new years eve celebration I had 11 year ago almost to the day. It was in college and it was pretty wild, so be warned.

And back in 1996, it was considered cool to wear your tee shirt inside out, so don;t make fun of my 20 year old self. And we didn't have DVDs either.

Enjoy!

The Stubbs pay a visit

Our good friends the Stubbs paid a visit to central Alabama this long weekend. It was wonderful to see them and spend time with them. My only regret was that we were not able to spend MORE time with them. With the Sips having two boys, the Stubbs having a new boy, and us having a new boy, schedualing and visit times were limited. Plus, my in laws were in town staying at our home.

Even so, we were able to have dinner with them Friday night, cook out with them at the Sips Saturday night, and go to church and lunch with them Sunday.

Here are some videos made during the visit. The first video has a few greetings to our friends the Brews over in China...

Diana's In Labor!

All elements of surprise aside, Baby Stubbs is on his way into the world! Last night, Diana called me to discuss the fact that her doctor recommended inducing labor today because of his increasing size. Now, Diana is vehemently opposed to using an epidural- she wants a natural birth, and more power to her for that. So inducing was a scary proposition, because pitocin causes contractions to come on hard and fast; trust me, I know! By the time I got my epidural with Luke, I was shaking uncontrollably and throwing up from the pain. So Diana was going to talk it out with her doctor this morning at her regular appointment, and if she and Charlie so decided, would go ahead and get on the pitocin drip, or "pit" as the nurses affectionately and appropriately call it.

Well, when the doctor examined her this morning, Diana was discovered to be in labor already! So no pitocin, just a good old natural labor. When she called, they were "killing a half hour" as instructed by the doctor, and getting their labor bags out and ready. Last I spoke to her, Diana said she was feeling cramps, but no full-on contractions.

Castor Oil

Here I am. The nursery is finished, the house is clean, the bags are packed, the birth plan written. Every thing is ready. I desperately miss sleeping normally, painting my toe nails, and, oh yeah, not being huge. So it’s easy to figure out why in a moment of desperation Monday night I tried one of the oldest old wives tails in the book. I drank some castor oil.

Castor oil, for those who don’t know, is a laxative. It is thought to “induce” labor by causing your intestines to spasm, which in turn, causes the uterus to contract. After researching it online, I learned that one of two things would happen. Either I would need to go to the bathroom A LOT or I would need to go to the bathroom A LOT and I would have a baby. Again, I’m a desperate woman.

I took the stuff about 9 pm. I mixed a two oz. bottle with half a can of coke (something someone online recommended.) It wasn’t too bad. I mean I’m not going to go to a restaurant and order it, but it wasn’t horrible. The worst part was my last swallow because some of the oil had already settled at the bottom and I got a swig of just castor oil. Ugh.

So we sat around, watched some special on the History Channel about Star Wars, and about 11 pm I got sleepy. I went to bed, only to wake up an hour later needing to…well you know. Then about 2 am, they started. I’ve already had contractions here and there, so I knew what they were. They weren’t bad but I started having a lot.

I walked into the living room where Charlie was reading and watching T.V. “Honey,” I said, “I’m having a lot of contractions, and they’re no big deal, but I think we should start timing them.” Well that got him excited. He got out his watch and a little notebook and started writing them down. My doctor has advised me to go to the hospital when contractions are about 5 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. Other doctors may suggest something else. After about 30 minutes, mine were averaging about 3 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. However, even though I was uncomfortable, I didn’t really feel in labor. So we called the hospital. The nurse said to stay home until contractions began to intensify. Then, we needed to go to the hospital.

I decided I just wanted to relax and watch The Little Mermaid. Charlie started to get ready. He got dressed, he made sure his bag was packed, he practiced cutting the umbilical cord on a hot dog. I just sat there watching Ariel, nothing changing, nothing getting more intense, and no baby coming.

Needless to say, nothing every happened. At about 8 am, my contractions fizzled out and I realized that Harrison was not coming after all.

The moral of the story: If you’re pregnant and you want your baby to come, don’t drink castor oil unless you want to poo a lot and want a big let down.

Truth or Myth?

Hey, guys. Tell me if you've heard the following story before, if it's true, and where you heard it.

I'll don't recall all the details, but it goes something like this: a railroad bridge operator (don't know if that's the correct term for it, but you get the idea) has to lower the bridge for an oncoming train. The guy's son is playing on the gears and gets stuck. The guy doesn't have time to save his son, so he has to lower the bridge so the train can go by, thus killing his son in the process.

True or false? Any takers?

Hey, Guess What?

Diana is pregnant! We found out last night. We are very excited, as you can imagine. It still hasn't quite sunk in for me yet. My mind will occasionally fast forward, and I'll think about the birth-day, or holding the baby, or imagining Diana at nine months, or me pushing a stroller around, or....well, you get the idea. Anyway, that's it. Discuss.

Prayers Needed

It looks like Diana's dad is going to get a divorce from his evil shrew of a wife. It's kind of a long story, so I'll leave it to Diana to explain it if she wants to. He's staying with us for a few days. So, pray for him that things will work out okay. I know it's a weird thing to pray for, so whatever you can do is much appreciated.

A Strange Twist of Fate

It was Saturday night, and it was raining.
Diana and I were on our way home from a rare night out to eat at a sit-down restaurant. We stopped by Target to buy a digital camera, partly paid for by a gift card Diana’s mother had sent to us. All in all, an enjoyable evening.
We had just got onto Highway 17 Bypass from Harrelson Boulevard. I moved over into the far left lane, as is my custom. I misjudged, due to the rain, I suppose, and got a little to close to the median. Diana blurted out something, and I jerked the wheel to avoid going off the road.
That is when the car got out of my control.
I tried to stay in the left lane, but the car kept skidding over to the right. The more I kept trying to hold everything together, the more the car seemed to get away from me. I believe Diana was saying, “Charlie, Charlie…” over and over. I do not remember what I was saying, but there were probably more than a few curse words coming out of my mouth. Then the car started to spin.
There seemed to be nothing I could do. I’m sure there is some protocol for getting out of that situation, but I do not know what it is, and even if I did, I probably would have forgotten it anyway. At this point, I realized that we were spinning to the right, towards a wooded area. I seem to recall seeing a pole, or at least thinking that we were probably getting close to one. It is amazing how many thoughts can go through your head in a situation like this, almost all at the same time.
Diana was grabbing my leg and yelling, “Charlie!” I had my head down, and started screaming, like a running yell. I was getting ready to hit that pole, or a tree. I knew it was going to happen. At the same time I was thinking something along the lines of This is it I was also thinking This is like a rollercoaster.
Fortunately for us, we slid off the road, down into a ditch and into an erosion barrier us by construction crews. We also ran over a small orange barrel as we went off the road. The point where we skidded off the road was about ten feet from a pole.
The most dramatic part was behind us. We were okay and the car was okay, except for a slightly messed up license plate. Diana had her cell phone, so we called my parents to get a phone number for a tow truck. Police arrived, of course, as did a fire truck and an ambulance. I had just bought some new shoes earlier that day, and got mud all over them when I had to get out of the car. We eventually got pulled out. Then we went home, got settled, and went to bed. We prayed to God for protecting us and watching over us, and fell asleep soon after.
It is scarier to recall and reflect on the situation now than it was to actually be in the situation, because it happened so fast. What is really amazing was there were no other cars around us when we went off the road. It really could have been a whole lot worse.

LOOK AT ME!! I'M POSTING ON THE BLOG!! GLORY BE!!

I decided to post something because no one else had for a while. You all are probably too busy to check this, but I have nothing to do. I really don't have anything important to discuss. So, here are some topics we can choose from:

George W. Bush: Worse Than Hitler?

Why Everyone is Going to Hell Except (your name here)

Why Doesn't Charlie Like "Lord of the Rings" as Much as the Rest of Us?

New Orleans: They Had It Coming

I Hate (insert ethnic/racial/social/political group, etc here) Because...

Why People Who Don't Think This Post is Funny are Stupid

What's With The Weather?

Should We Run People With Cell Phones Off The Road?

Comic Books are Cool, and so are People Who Read Them

Yankees Who Don't Like the South Should Just Go Back Where They Came From...Am I Right, People?

Seriously, What's With the Weather?

Which is Better: "Citizen Kane" or "Batman Begins"?

Irony: Is it Dead?



That should give you guys something to chew on for a while. Later.

-Charlie



P.S. I will not be offended if this post gets deleted. This is (I hope) an obvious attempt at humor on my part. Sorry if this actually hurts people's feelings or is taken the wrong way. Crybabies.