The Intimidator

Yep, NASCAR. It might surprise you that I decided to write about Dale Earnhardt. But I remember where I was when he died. It's like asking where you were on 9/11 (a bit of sarcasm here:)). I was in college, living in the dorms--gosh, that makes me feel OLD. It's the 10th anniversary of his death. The floor I lived on was checkerboard; every other room was boy/girl. So the guys on my floor took it upon themselves to memorialize "#3" in the dorm hallway by duct taping the words "INTIMIDATOR" and talking in strong, thick redneck accents. They appropriately wore trucker hats and cut off flannel shirts. I don't think they even knew much about NASCAR; but college kids are known to be overly passionate for sake of being involved in something. How long did NASCAR fans hold up the number 3 on the third lap of a race? Or the broadcasters go silent during that infamous third lap? Number 3, Never forget.

Enough of that! I'm surprised my post yesterday didn't prompt a response from some of you. There are a lot of people that have believed for years that it isn't "fair" for governement workers to get "free" pensions/health benefits. And while it is mostly true that state/local employees are paid less than private equivalents, the trade off was that they were compensated with significant benefits. Teachers are a little different; most of us know private school teachers rarely make close to what the public schools are. But all teachers have had to make concessions recently and as of the next school year, they were already preparing to contribute to their health benefits. And talk about suffering--Craig has 32 students--teaching alone--10 of those students are classified with some learning impairment/disability. I'm just saying you would see my mug shot on the news if I were in that situation.

And on to HAPPIER thoughts:) I finally had an appt where I wasn't asked to return the next week for a follow-up. No funneling (no baby membrane/sac dipping into my cervix), the cervix length was relatively the same as last week, passed the diabetes test--which is huge, considering I've been eating/I mean inhaling Craig's valentine candy all week! I actually have to wait until March for my next appt; which has its pros and cons. The appts get me out of the house, which I enjoy because life still happens when you are laying in bed all day. And now I have to wait 2 wks before I leave again. Although the anxiety of "what are they going to find wrong this time" is non-existent. Baby girl weighs 2lbs7oz and baby boy weighs 2lbs3oz and he seems to be taking up most of the space.

A shout out to Craig's sister Cher; it was her birthday yesterday. Tonight is Bob Uecker bobble-head giveaway at the Admirals game. Monday is President's Day and end of the semester, so Craig is off and we can finally get our online childbirth class finished before the babies show up:)