ok..before anyone jumps the gun…no, i’m not pregnant…hahaha i happened to be reading an email that had a link to baby names and it just got me to thinking…

when i was pregnant we went through a “process” to figure out what his or her name would be. at the time we did not know if we were having a boy or girl so trying to choose a name was a little hard. all the names we originally wanted were already taken by family and close friends and we did not want there to be any mix ups when we got together so we went on a mission to find a different name.

once we found out we were having a boy, you know mel jumped on that name list quickly! the deal was if we had a girl, i would name her and if a boy, he would name him. he printed out literally a list of over 100 names and we went through that list…at first taking off kids names of family members and close friends then we did the thing where you say the name out loud and if it didn’t sound right in our ears we crossed it off. i know right…so scientific, huh? hahaha

we finally narrowed the list down to…i wanna say 10 names…then i took over the reins and looked them up to see what their meanings were. that took off a few of the names off the bat and we were left with two…jaden and tobey.

jaden meant “god has heard” and tobey meant “god is good”…..i loved the name jaden but ramel wasn’t as much of a fan…at the same time, ramel loved the name tobey but i wasn’t much of a fan…go figure.

so what did we do? mel said both names to my tummy just for fun and the baby reacted to one of them…TOBEY! we just smiled at each other and pretty much knew that his name had been chosen. my only request was that we come up with a middle name so that when he is older he could decide if he wantsto keep the “childlike” name (hahaha) or go with his initials for something a little more “adult”…TJ…(hahaha)

so there you have it…our little one…the one that reminds us on a daily basis that “god is good”…truly

i know this is a little late in the month to be blogging about this but i finally asked my brother to help me figure out how to change backgrounds on this blog!

as you know, websites will go PINK during the month of OCTOBER to bring attention to BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH - get people talking about breast cancer and raise money for research. here are some blogs and articles worth reading…check them out!

(1) PINK FOR OCTOBER - a website that encourages blogs and other sites to “Go Pink” for october in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

(2) BOOBIE-THON - its a fund raising campaign wherein most of the funds received is donated to Komen.

(3) SUSAN G. KOMEN - a site dedicated to research and finding cure for breast cancer. they also have many affiliates in each of the states in the US that helps cancer patients, survivors and their families to find strength, courage and hope.

SUSAN G. KOMEN DONATION PAGE

(4) HOW TO DO A MONTHLY SELF EXAM

i am helping my brother sell some of his furniture as he will be renting out his townhouse and has decided keep a few things and try to sell the rest! thought i’d send this out to family and friend first before listing it on craigslist. please see below for a list of items, descriptions, dimensions, price, etc. if you’d like to personally see any of the items, please contact me ASAP so that we can schedule a time.

items range from brand new to 1yr old and are priced accordingly using an estimated 5-yr depreciation straight line method…ya i know, i’m a dork! i believe he is willing to negotiate on pricing but please be fair.

(A) QTY 1 — dresser 6 drawer (see attached pic) - espresso/cappucino - 1 yr old - $495
—> sleek contemporary styling and dark, rich Cappucino finish; features beautiful beveled edges, tapered legs, smooth euro glides, roomy drawers for ample storage and brushed metal drawer handles. Measurements 61″L x 19″W x 31″H

(B) QTY 2 — matching retro nighstand (see attached pic) - espresso/cappucino - 1 yr old - $235 EACH/$420 if BOTH
—> features beautiful beveled edges, tapered legs, smooth euro glides and roomy drawers for ample storage; drawer handles are brushed metal to complement the exquisite hardwood Cappucino finish of this beautiful piece. Measurements 22″W x 17″D x 26″H

(C) QTY 1 — mirror (see attached pic) - espresso/cappucino - NEW - $130
—> large, elegant Wall Mirror; beautiful hardwood frame has a dark, rich Cappucino finish. Measurements 40.5″ x 30.5″

(D) QTY 3 — bar stools (see attached pic) - mahogany/espresso - NEW - $95 EACH/$250 for ALL
—> Rich mahogany finish and mocha macrofiber upholstered seats (spot clean only); Made of beechwood; Seat height is 30″ measurements 44.1Hx19.68Wx18.11D”

(E) QTY 1 — round dining table w/4 chairs (see attached pic - table is GLASS top, not wood) - espresso - 1 yr old - $900/set
—> Table: espresso finish with GLASS TABLE TOP; dining chairs also have a solid birch frame with micro-fiber seating. Measurements Round GLASS top 48″ x 30″ H. Chairs: 19.5″ W x 22″ D x 33.5″ H

(F) QTY 1 — round end table (matches dining table) - 1 yr old - $150
—> espresso finish with GLASS TABLE TOP. measures 24″x22″H

(G) QTY 1 — sectional couch - espresso - 1 yr old - $1890
—> microfiber (for easier cleaning), espresso upholstered couch; consists of love seat, corner and 3 single pieces; configure as L-shaped, traditional living room or individually. measures 102″x133″x40″H

(H) QTY 1 — round lounging chair - espresso - 6 months, barely used - $390
—> microfiber (for easier cleaning), espresso upholstered lounging chair that swivels; measures 46″x30″H

(I) QTY 1 — leather ottoman - espresso - 1 yr old - $375
—> measures 49.5″x29.5″x17″H

(J) QTY 2 — rugs - 1 yr old ($200 for both)
—> measures approx 7.5 feet by 11 feet MULTI COLOR - $170 (pictured above)
—> measures approx 6 feet by 9 feet SOLID - $85 (pictured above)

* ALL PURCHASES MUST BE PAID BY CASH, CASHIER’S CHECK OR MONEY ORDER.
* IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD A 3% FEE WILL BE ADDED TO YOUR TOTAL.
* ALL ITEMS MUST BE PICKED UP, SORRY NO DELIVERIES.
* ALL SALES ARE AS-IS AND FINAL. SORRY, NO REFUNDS.

whew…never thought i’d hear myself say this but….i’m glad the weekend is over! i miss just having relaxing weekends where i can just relax and veg out with my two favorite boys. lately it seems that there have just been so many family and personal obligations on the weekends that i’m seriously drained. add to that a crazy workload and you have a girl just ready to disappear to a spa for a few hours! i have to make that appointment soon!

today started off kind of stressful…continuation of software issues from last week that lasted 2 days…that of course put me behind which wasn’t fun. deadlines…deadlines..deadlines….month end, quarter end, board meeting…again, i’m ready for the spa…

i’m actually tired and it’s only 10pm..usually i’m up til about 1am or 2am or lately 3am…sleepy…good night…

though i can’t really say this is the first actual day of rain, i can say that this was the first day of “storm” type rain. it hecka POURED! i feel bad for those out there that had to drive in to work at all… i’m sure traffic will be a nightmare tonight considering it’s friday and people are probably headed out for various weekend getaways.

glad i’ve got on my pj’s and am inside the house in front of my laptop working on some monster spreadsheets (ugh, quarter end).

hmmm….ok…taking a break to make dinner soon…lasagna and fish sticks…i know right, what a weird combo, what can i say…what my boys want, my boys get!

…was in celebration of my dad’s 65th birthday! he’s usually a low key kinda guy and he’d rather have a nice quiet dinner with just family than a big celebration for his special day! his actual birthday was last week but we’ve all been busy and finally settled on tonight. as usual mom brought on major grub…i swear wearing sweat pants would have been good tonight…hahaha!

birthdays always make me reflect on life at that moment in time…and tonight i caught myself staring at both my mom and dad and just thinking that although physically they look older, they always seem young at heart! i am so lucky to have such wonderful, supportive, caring, loving and funny (at times) parents!

it has been a crazy past few days!

* mel went in for surgery last wednesday. we originally thought it was only a tear on his miniscus and a torn acl…after the doctor went in they found that he had 3 tears total on both his miniscus (what’s the plural for this word?) and a torn acl. the surgery slated to only be 1 hour turned out to be almost 2+ hours. mel thought that since it was an outpatient surgery that he would be up and about in no time.

uh wrong…sooooo wrong! they ended up giving him a general anesthetic which kind of freaked him out a little bit. when i came back to the surgery center to pick him up there were a couple of people in the lobby saying that their surgeries were delayed because one of the patients needed more work than the doctor thought….little did i know that patient was my hubby!

i finally got to see him about 5ish…poor guy, he looked tore up…hahaha…almost reminded me of how i looked after giving birth! he was sluggish, sleepy and hungry and all they really had was water and crackers. he was prescribed medication that i finally found at the 5th pharmacy! don’t ask me, i’ll just get irritated explaining it.

the first try out of the car proved frustrating and difficult. he was groggy still and was in pain. it didn’t help that i sounded irritated mostly because i was hungry, tired, frustrated and sleepy. we finally got home and to my surprise he maneuvered himself out of the car quicker than i thought, headed up the stairs and got into bed. thought it was kinda cool but poor guy was in soooooooo much pain.

did i mention this was all in the first 10 hours only….

* it got a little better day by day…he’s on this flex machine for like 8-9 hours a day to help with his leg extension and there’s also an ice machine that automatically ices his leg as needed. they took off the excess bandages the following day and drained his knee…which i got to see! totally cool and gross at the same time…hahaha! he felt a little better after that.

he’s got a couple of weeks with a brace, then 3 weeks on crutches then physical therapy 3x a week. i’m glad everything turned out well…just taking it day by day now as he recovers…

…why do guys love to do stuff like this?

* photo props (JENN & EDISON) - golden gate bridge

* disney california - paradise pier

…the answer is…not to ball! ok, so my dear hubby, bless his heart, loves to play basketball. he tries to play at least two times a week but in recent months has not had too much of a chance because he sprained his knee about 3+ months ago. that stopped him from playing for a little bit. he had been wanting to play again since his knee was feeling better but i kept having him postpone it because we had a bunch of stuff coming up…moving, our son’s birthday, our disney trip, etc….and i didn’t want him to “get hurt” again..=) he was a sport about it and was like…*sigh*, “okay..okay”…almost sounding irritated.

our schedule cleared up a little and he was able to play a few times…then last tuesday, i got his usual “i’m on my way home” call followed by “guess what honey?” with that smiling voice he always uses when he’s about to tell me something he knows i won’t be happy about. i already knew what that meant having heard it the past handful of times right before he sprained his pinky, got surgery on his pinky, sprained his right knee, then his left knee and i could only imagine…what now?!? he had hurt his left knee..AGAIN. he came home that night limping and normally it gets better but it was progressively getting worse and he could not keep his leg straight nor put any weight on it. it is 1 week to the day and he is on crutches because he cannot put any pressure on it.

he scheduled an appointment yesterday with a specialist. i went with him this time since the other times he just went to the emergency room and they told him to just ice it and rest. ok..excuse my lack of knowledge on this topic but from what i heard the doctor telling him, it could be something to do with his miniscus or acl. he still could not extend his leg fully and was told he needed an MRI. so he got one. his follow up appointment was today and to his surprise…his injury has to do with BOTH the miniscus and the acl. the MRI was so interesting to the doctor that he called another doctor to say…”hey check this out”…indicating he doesn’t see that too often! in either case…here he comes SURGERY. so…surgery tomorrow, follow up the day after, at least 3 weeks on crutches and of course a lovely 3 times a week of physical therapy…UGH!

i know people go through this type of surgery all the time but…i’m a wife…i worry…i’m also a virgo…so you know what that means…I HELLA WORRY!

tobey has taken in seeing his dad on crutches all week and is learning about empathy…this morning on the way in to work he goes…”mommy, my knee is hurting just like daddy’s. i need to buy spiderman crutches okay?”

those are my boys…you gotta love ‘em!