Anti-Ice Cream

I think Baby Girl Cheney is going to come out never wanting to eat ice cream. We met some friends at Cold Stone on Friday. The restaurant was clean, everything was stocked (yes, sweet cream!) but ... it just didn't hit the spot like I had hoped. I'm going to have to investigate other mixins.

Anyway, we all sit down and start talking when this little kid, assuming the owner's son, comes over and passes out birthday coupon cards. We all remark how cute and what a great job he did with his sales pitch (the kid was young, I'm guessing under 7). We tried to go ahead with our conversation, but every 2 minutes, the kid came over to say something else. The cute wore off really, really fast. In fact, he basically ran us out and forced us to Starbucks next door so we could have a decent conversation.

The ice cream experiences have just been lacking. I'm thinking next craving, I just go to the damn store and buy some Blue Bell. Or maybe Joe's for a chocolate shake.

Weekend

I don't know how I'm going to ever go back to work after being off for maternity leave. Having 4 days off is heaven, imagine what 3 months will be like???

Anyway, though all the driving back and forth sucked, it was great to see everyone. My nephews are as adorable as ever. Matthew and Stephen spent a lot of time "in their room" reading books. Stephen is on the third Harry Potter and Matthew was reading something called "The Titan's Curse," some kind of fantasy or somesuch that would make his uncle quite proud. I asked him on Saturday if he had finished yet, and he said, "Oh yeah, I'm re-reading this one. I've already read it once."

:) (Aunt beams with pride)

Ben, the kindergartener, is going to be tested for the G&T program. I've never seen a kid more eager to learn. While we were playing Uno, he and Cory were playing Q&A on a piece of paper because he wanted to practice his writing and spelling. He read the baby a book, for which he had made "props" in the car on the drive up.

We love those kids. Those boys are the reason I have a little girl in my belly right now. Had I never known them, I probably never would have had any desire to have a baby of my own.

Let it Snow

Did anyone else get snow? We went over to some friend's for dinner Friday night and when we went to leave, there was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. No one had even known it was going to snow, much less noticed when it was happening. Wild!

Next appt.

Our next appt. is the first week of December. My stomach is big and hard now, it's crazy. I'm getting tired a lot easier these days and sleep is my enemy again, much like the first trimester. Up to go to the bathroom all the time, right side, left side... ugh. Naps are great but sleeping straight through just isn't happening. Sleeping on my side with all this weight is killing my hips.

Anyway, I'm getting sick of it now. I'm tired of people asking me the same questions over and over. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad to ask a woman these things, but I'm being honest here and answering over and over and over "how are you feeling? when are you due? is it a boy or a girl? Do you have a name picked out?" gets old. As self-absorbed as I am, can't we please talk about something else for once?

Maybe if my ice cream was more satisfying, I'd be less cranky...

Daddy's Little Girl

Yes Bean. For a few more months, you are Daddy's Little Girl...

My sister saw Baby Cheney kicking last night! I was so excited that someone else saw it, we both squealed. Cory has yet to see or feel her, but I'm sure he will at some point. :)

We went to see my friend Susan and her new baby tonight. Andy weighs about 7 pounds now, he was born a week ago. Too cute! He was sound asleep when we stopped by. Susan and her husband James assured us that labor wasn't as bad as they were expecting. Of course, she pushed for like 25 minutes and he "popped right out." :) Let's hope for that for us as well!

Paula & I took Ripley to her first training session today. Unlike obedience school, we are just working with someone to try to get her to stop growling and attacking, not really training for specific "tricks" or things, though she said she is so smart, we could train her to do almost anything. I'm very hopeful, and so was the trainer. It's not going to be cheap but I think it will be sooo worth it. She said like most reactive dogs, Ripley is not really aggressive, but afraid. My baby has trust issues. :( I got her a new leash and halter to work with her and will do the next session with all three dogs.

Anyway, she's my first baby girl, so I thought I'd write about her a little. :)

Marble Slab is the Devil

Some of you have heard my rantings about Marble Slab. I love their freaking ice cream. It's fabulous. So when we got one here this summer, I was pumped! After trying a few things, I decided that Sweet Cream was my favorite flavor, no matter what the mixin.'

Diane and I would meet up there around 9ish - they close at 10 - and almost every time, the tables were dirty, the staff was rude and they were ALWAYS out of something I wanted. Sweet Cream? "Sorry, we ran out." Chocolate Swiss? "we're out of that too." Ok fuckwad, how about vanilla with caramel. It doesn't get easier than that. "Oh, we're out of caramel. and hot fudge."

This particular asshat is rude, and I think he just says this to piss me off.

The last time, the no caramel, no hot fudge time, I was livid. I left and immediately got online and wrote a scathing email to Marble Slab. I swore never to return. But sitting outside with the flies and bugs at the outdoor frozen custard place just doesn't cut it. And while I love me some Braum's, Marble Slab ice cream still wins. So i returned.

The Return

I gave in and told D I wanted some Marble Slab, I think it was Monday night. We met there at 7:51 p.m. They didn't close til 10. I know, because I checked.

I walked in, they weren't too busy so I was excited. "mmm... sweet cream with caramel and almonds. Yeah baby!"

The same steaming fuckhole is working. I avert my eyes and hope he'll go help someone else.

But no.

After wandering around trying to look like he's doing something, he comes over. "Can I help you."

(The punctuation there is not an error but an indication of his lovely, helpful tone)

I decide at the last minute to go for one of their mixes. "Small Snickerdoodle."

Shithead: "We're out of sweet cream."

Ha! gotcha, asshole. It's not made with sweet cream!!

Me: "It's not made with sweet cream. It's made with vanilla."

Infantile assweasel behind the counter: "We're out of vanilla."

He won again!

What kind of ice cream place runs out of vanilla 2 hours before closing? What kind of ice cream place keeps running out of the same shit and never adjusts their inventory to fix it?

I say he's just fucking with me. Next time, that little shit is going to get an ice cream scooper up his pooper.

Don't mess with a pregnant woman who wants a creamy frozen treat, dammit.

My Doc Appt.

We had a doc appt. today. Normal routine. The wait was kind of interesting though...we were in the lobby maybe 5 minutes before they called my name. We went through the motions (I gained 6 pounds last month, my blood pressure is 118/64 and my glucose screen is normal) and then sat and waited on the doctor.

About 15 minutes later, we hear her voice in the hallway, thinking "wow, this is a good appointment. She's already coming in!"

But no.

We hear our doc yelling, "Ma'am! You will NOT disrespect me in my office. You are not welcome back here again."

At first we think she's giving her staff a hard time. Then I hear a woman mumble, "This is why I prefer men doctors."

"Well, that's fine, but you are no longer welcome here. Not ever again."

Cory & I are sitting there in disbelief, going, "Yeah! You tell her!"

I don't really know what the whole story was, but she was still on edge when she came into our room later on. She tried to explain but I'm sure we would have had to be there to really get the gist of why she was so perturbed, but something along the lines of pregnant white trash trying to get disability and bitching about her job. Great parent-to-be, I am sure.

My class last semester at OSU touched on the topic of "firing" customers who treat your staff poorly. I'm all for it. I think it shows people that money isn't everything, that you've "got their back" and are more important than some whiney-ass, trouble-making customer/client/whatever the case may be. Of course, there's the whole "the customer is always right" mantra, but I don't buy it. If I know for a fact the customer is wrong, screw 'em. This woman probably yelled at staff for something every time she went in.

Guess that's why I didn't like being in management.

The Registries

Open up your wallets, people. We're registered. :)

Search under my name, Stephanie Brown, or Cory as the spouse. If you search for Stephanie Cheney, you ain't gonna find anything. :D We did everything online at target.com and babiesrus.com. The only thing we no longer need is a breast pump. We got the awesome hookup courtesy of a friend of Cory's who got us the primo model for the price of the middle model. Sweet.