First snow

First snow of the season, stuck inside, is as good a time as any to catch up on recent events. Sarah's confined to bed rest following preterm labor issues a couple weeks ago. She had walked the Race for the Cure that morning, but under-hydrated, and with her baby shower it had been an altogether stressing weekend. As usual, she woke up from the couch at around midnight to move to the bed for the night. But this time she found a good deal of blood on her potty break - fortunately I was still clinging to internet-fueled insomnia (also as per usual), so we scurried to the hospital emergency room.

Eleven hours later, 3 bags of saline IV to hydrate,  a few big pills  & three shots in the arm to stave off contractions, and a big fat steroid shot in the butt for the baby's lungs, the contractions had finally come under control and we were sent home.

On the big plus side, Sarah picked up her laptop and gets to work from home, so that's making her days much easier to cope with. Plus, she's not using up her vacation or sick time! So, that's a big relief. She snuck out with me to Sonic and Target yesterday, so she's breaking the rules a tiny bit.

Ciera's and my birthdays just happened, she got mostly money which she put towards a Nintendo DS and Nintendogs. I pitched in $20 for the Brain Age 2 package, for Sarah & I to play a little. It's hard. I'll be getting Guitar Hero III for the Wii, but not until it comes out in a couple weeks. On my birthday, Ciera's uncle Mike, Camilla, and grandma Dee came over with an ice cream cake and polenta dinner - free dinner yay! The next morning John & Aya came over & I made a big breakfast for everyone.

On the work front, things are changing fast again. Having just bought Biosite and Cholestech, or sales force had grown from under 100 to over 300, but not for long. Nearly 30 of our sales force, many of whom I've known for years, were put out to pasture. Good reps too, it was surprising, disappointing, and sad. As for me, I report to a newly-formed department, the North American Marketing Communication team. Right now it's only  a team of 3, and could be a good opportunity to make could change and undo the crap the current creative team has screwed up over the year while I was developing InverSell. And speaking of that ho-hum platform, the new company heads like it so much, it and just about every creative benefit I've put together for our products are now expected for everything new in our portfolio, so that's a lot of work ahead. Plus a huge national sales meeting coming up, that'll be a lot to manage with a new baby at home...

Nothing important

Just testing out this Windows Live Writer from the desktop, that's all. To make it barely more interesting I'll add a photo...

Damn that's a sexy orange man. Hey I also just set up a place for Sarah to host her week-by-week baby journal. I'm such a nice husband... sarah's "but I don't want a blog" blog

Bye bye clones

Tonight our close friends Chris and Sarah Markwell, along with 9-month old Elizabeth and dogs Bodie & Bayla (sp?) will hit the road on a 17-hour trek to their new home in Greer, South Carolina. They were our first, some would argue only, friends local to Louisville. Neighbors from two doors down in Sarah & my first condo/apartment in Louisville, Chris baited us with his then puppy golden retriever Bodie. Shortly after we were enjoying margaritas at the Rio, our pug Miles & Bodie's budding friendship, and the rest is history.

Chris's entrepreneurial attempts varied from an online consignment store, estate sale auctions, the distribution of Argentinian furniture with a bizarre, and certainly now broke, neighbor, and so on. Sarah maintained small jobs at Starbucks, a cheese emporium and substitute teaching. But Chris eventually hit it big with a tax consultation company whose operating plan he admits to blatantly stealing from an employer, and soon after they were rolling in dough.

We left the complex at the same time, us moving to a townhome on Pheasant Run, them buying a brand new townhome in Lafayette. We all considered each other pretty well off, and soon came their daughter Elizabeth (who we're pretty sure was Chris's idea), and we thought for certain they would be here to witness the birth of our first, just 11 weeks away now...

But by now they're cruising east, to a McMansion in the South. It boggles the mind both that the place is so big (they have 4 or 5 bedrooms and are now unsure if they even want a 2nd child), and that the home is where it is. With no friends and 8 hours from either of their families, we're left scratching our heads as to why they would pick up & go so soon, but we have no doubt they'll be just fine. Certainly financially.

It was eerie standing in their empty house having helped carry the last of their belongings to the vehicles, and while we enjoyed pushing their emotional buttons to tears for the weeks that preceded, it really hit Sarah and I then that this was it. At least they're sure to come back for the skiing, as rich folk are known to do.

Ten grand

In another bout of long-term insanity, Sarah's boss has given her a $10,000 raise, for no apparent reason. Sarah contends that it may have to do with their discussion of daycare and the high price tag, and that this raise may equalize that burden. We guess the boss really wants her to stick around, and it just might work.

Today we'll be spending some quality time with our friends Chris & Sarah, before they hit the road to South Carolina in a matter of days. We stayed up late last night and put together a sideshow DVD that is sure to turn on the waterworks, which of course is our #1 goal. Can't wait. Sad to see them go; while we don't spend all that much time together, we're not exactly stocked with friends. Especially ones with family situations like ours (current and forthcoming). Sarah's been trying to strike up conversation with strangers, but it's a very awkward experience. We thought our birthing class might have provided a reasonable selection, but at first glance everyone else seems either much older (too well off), much younger (too white trash), too dumb (too dumb), or too ugly (not hot). Clearly the problem lies with everyone else.

We're neither homeless nor jobless

So the landlord came by (half an hour late) last night, and while the owner does want to sell the place, the good news is our verbal agreement with the landlord is good through June of next year. Plus the owner already has a buyer in mind, so while we will have to open the place for "tours," it will be just once or twice to the same person(s).

A company meeting was called this morning, and 5 employees were laid off - a couple in finance, a regulatory VP, a recently demoted engineer and a nice guy in Receiving. What's left of Marketing (Susan, Margie & I) continues to be safe for now. Plus it sounds like the recently-mergered Biosite is very interested in the online learning sytem we've put in place, so if their demo goes well (which I put together & launched live earlier this week) then I should be set for a while. Of course that could always change, software is really easy to move after all.

Sarah must have heard about her latest promotion by now, her boss must be forcing her to enjoy a long celebratory lunch or some crap. Can't wait to hear!

How time flies

My goodness, look at that. Only a couple years between postings, and yet it seems I set up the account only a few weeks ago. That's old age I guess.

Well last time I wrote we were engaged, and here we are just following our 2nd anniversary. Needless to say she didn't leave me standing at the altar, in fact the whole event went off pretty well. We have a great photo DVD the photographer put together, which we're sure to pop in a couple times a year.

Ciera moved back in with us about 2/3 through her last school year, in the hopes that we can pull her back out of the ho-hums and exposure to the yet-another-rotten-relationship her mother had gotten herself in to. It's been 5 months and the douchebag is still around, but apparently hides in their room when Ciera's over. Very odd, and uncannily similar to the relationship between my own mother and sister...

So Ciera is now in her 2nd full week at Louisville Middle School (LMS), and things seem to be going swimmingly so far. She rides her bike daily which is great on a number of fronts. She tells us she's making friends, though she doesn't seem to be interested in noting any of their names - Sarah & I are just thrilled that the majority seem to be girls. Of course we're still waiting to see how that situation plays out - is she just a hopeless tomboy or... either way she has been a bit of a snot, simulatenously talking "down" to us for inane reasons and crying at the drop of a hat - but I guess that's pre-teenagism for ya. I thought we had a couple years. Nonetheless, we now know it's not just her mom that sets her off, so that's a big fat relief (sarcasm). Still, in the big picture she's a pretty easy girl to live with, and as long as she can manage her homework better than last year we should survive.

Of course the biggest news is that Sarah & I now have our own little girl on the way, due in late November. The name in progress is Myra Katherine High (hmm, haven't typed that out before, odd experience), which is still a bit unnerving as the only Myra I know, and Sarah's inspiration for the name, is a very good friend of 5+ years. A less trusting & secure woman than Sarah would be uncomfortable with the frequency we hang out, though it is and always has been purely platonic. Still, she is dually flattered and a bit weirded out, which I can't blame her for - it's creepy to hear someone referred to as "Myra High," and will surely be worse once it gets around the office...

The registries are set, the baby showers here and abroad are scheduled, and the baby room is stocked (well, furnished) and painted. Speaking of which, our landlord is coming by tonight to discuss our lease renewal and the owner's "plans," whatever that means. Either we're on a dwindling timeline to be booted, or they're going to redo the bathroom or something. The place isn't exactly too big for us with one on the way, and we're all slightly allergic to something, but we have done a lot of painting the place and moving anytime soon with Sarah either pregnant or holding a baby wouldn't be terribly fun. Or affordable.

Guess we'll see.