It is time…

So I was sent an e-mail today saying that it was past my birthday and that I have to update the blog.

 

Okay, on Monday, 30 March, Betsey had her Ultrasound. We found out the we are indeed only having one baby, and it's going to be a boy. I think this is great. So now comes the drama of which I can help eliminate right now. Yes, we may know what we want to name him, and No, you can't find out. Nor will recommendations for names be taken. We have decided that the baby will be not named after anyone. So now that's being said, let's see what else is going on.

Last Wednesday, Alex and I signed up for our next running event. The 24-27^th of September, we will be down at Disney once again to participate in the Expedition Everest Challenge. We will be staying at Pop Century Resort. It is definitely a step down from the Polynesian, but as a consolation, we will be at the Beach Club Resort in October. Plus us it is only us guys, we don't need a lot of room.

This weekend, is going to be full of events. On Friday, Alex and I are going to the Braves home opener. They are playing the Washington Nationals. This is Alex's first Major League Game. It should be fun. Friday night, a lot of my family is also coming into town. On Sunday, Alex is being confirmed at Richmond Hill United Methodist Church. I know this is important to him. The following day, he is going on his Spring Break Mission Trip to Orlando. He will be working with "Give Kids The World." I hope he has a great time.

MacKenzie is also doing well. She hasn't been mentioned much in this blog, because she is just going right along with the flow. She scored a 100% on her Math test today, which she is extremely proud of, so I mention it here. She is also excited that her cousins are coming up this weekend, so she has more girls to play with. She will be spending Spring Break up in North Carolina. Hopefully she has a great time as well.

 

That's it for now. Have a great night.

A Very Happy Un-Birthday to me!

So I am sitting down writing this note on March 23, 2009. It is my unbirthday. We have 364 unbirthdays a year, and only one birthday. My birthday is tomorrow. I turn 32.

 

I do not know how I feel about this birthday. It just seems that I am being challenged so much by everything in my life. Betsey has an okay job at Cracker Barrel. Not the job I wish she had, but at least it is something. She has had two job interviews in the past couple of weeks. One has been fantastic, and alas, she did not get the position. Another she feels she did not do so well on, and she will find out next week about that one. I am an optimist by nature, but right now, my money is on "No." I think that is terrible for me to have this mindset, but it is so tough right now. I constantly have to ask myself, how bad is it out there? I mean, come on, she has a Master's Degree, and cannot find work. She is having to work with high school kids and worse yet is being treated as one as well. She is 29 years old, and until we moved to Georgia, was considered quite successful.

It is awful that everything has to do with a job, but it is becoming stressful on the family. She has to work nights mostly, and so the kids do not get to spend a whole lot of time with her. They see her in the morning for about an hour, and then maybe 25-30 minutes in the evening. I just wish she had a regular daytime job. We try to do what we can with the kids, but it is a lot of work just to plan simple things together. Because she is working at a restaurant, even scheduling time for us to see family is difficult. Every major holiday she has to be able to work. Get this, it does not mean that she will work, just that she can't ask off, because she might have to work. I can understand this, if she had a job in nuclear physics, but come on.

 

Easter Sunday is fast approaching. Alex is being confirmed that Sunday. It is a big deal for both him and us. My mom will be down from Virginia. My brother, Jerrod, his two girls, and my dad will be up from Florida. I hope that it will be a nice time.

I ask this question to those who read this. How is Ancient Rome like the United States of America in a religious context? Alex was given this comparison in his UMC Youth Group two Sundays ago. I did not sit in this class, so I don't know. I have been racking my brains trying to figure that one out. If you know, please let me know. E-mail it to me at Mitchell (dot) Brannen (at) us.army.mil.

My mother-in-law, is here visiting us now. It is nice that she is able to visit, and I know we all enjoy her company. She will be flying back up to D.C. on March 30. She will miss Easter, but other obligations prevail. We are happy to have her when we can.

 

Well, that is all I will rant on today, but I'm sure I will come up with something more sooner or later. Until then "Clean Cup, Clean Cup. Everybody move down."

Our Long Weekend Trip

So Thursday afternoon, Betsey, Alex, MacKenzie and I drove from Hinesville, Georgia down to Disney. We arrived around 7 p.m. and checking into the All Star Movies Resort. We went to Downtown Disney and did some shopping. We had dinner at Raglan Road. It was forgettable, but the Orlando Organic Ale is something I wish they had in Georgia.

The next morning, we got up and spent the morning at Epcot. We arrived before park opening and it was the first time I have seen the opening ceremony. We rode Soarin with almost no wait. We were able to finish out The Land, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends in about two hours. Spaceship Earth was about a 20 minute wait. It was nice , but as Betsey said, "We are Konkrit fans!"

Around 2 p.m., we went over to the Wide World of Sports and pick up our packets for the Royal Family 5K on Saturday morning. The WWS is a fantastic complex. They were having a Braves game that evening, and the fans were out in force.

The Expo was a nice event. Vendors from all over were there to show off new products. I only wish they had some merchandise for men. I know it's the Princess Marathon, but I would have liked to get at least a decent T shirt. Oh, well. Betsey forgot her shoes for the race, so we had to get her a new pair. She loves her UnderArmour running shoes.

 

We checked out of All Star Moves, and checked in to the Polynesian. What a fantastic resort. We have a great room. It was 20 feet from the volcano pool and 30 feet from the quiet pool in the Samao Building.

We went back to Epcot in the evening for Extra Magic Hours. We spent the evening in World Showcase, and had a wonderful time. We had Chinese at the quick service in where else, but China. We finally got back to the room about 10:30, and starting getting ready for Saturday morning.

Alex and I got up around 5:30. We got dressed quickly and headed to the bus for the race. It was very cold but nothing that a cup of coffee couldn't help. The race started right on time, and it was fantastic. In almost every country there was the princess to go along with it. We both received a nice medal at the end. We were back at the room by 8.

We spent the day exploring the area. We had breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Café. We had never been to the Wilderness Lodge. What a neat resort. Betsey thought the prices at Artist Point were very reasonable for dinner. For example, $10 for a steak. It is at that point, I had to show her that she was looking at the glass of wine that was recommended to go with the Steak. J

On Saturday evening, Betsey, my aunt Dora, and Uncle Bill went to the California Grill. We had a 7:40 ADR, so we were able to watch Wishes from the Balcony. If you ever have the opportunity to do this, do it. The dinner was fantastic. I really recommend the Peeky Toe Crab Salad for starter.

Sunday morning, Alex and I got up early and hit the Magic Kingdom. The park was very reasonable. With the opening at 9:00 and by 11:00, we had done all three mountains, the Haunted Mansion, Buss Lightyear, Pooh, Snow White, and Peter Pan.

Betsey and MacKenzie came into the park around 11, and MacKenzie fulfilled her mission of meeting Daisy Duck. We had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, and then went back to the resort for a swim. We came back to MK for Extra Magic Hours. It was a nice way to end the day.

 

Monday morning, we checked out of the Polynesian, and went over the Beach Club. We had lunch at Beaches and Cream. I don't see how some can eat the No Way Jose all by themselves.. We have also decided that when we come back for our next race, we will be staying at the Beach Club. It is our new favorite hotel. At least until we find the next new favorite hotel.

Then we just took the long ride home to GA.

Tornado Watch

So, it's 3:18 a.m. and I wanted to write a short note. We did it . We did it. We just survived our first (and hopefully our last) tornado watch. Betsey was awoken by the wonderful sirens that came blaring into our house to let us know, that there was a Tornado Watch. For those of you who are playing at home, a Watch is when a tornado has been spotted in the area.

So, she wakes me up. I hardly ever wake up to sirens because when I was a kid, we had a fire department down the road and the sirens went off all the time. Back to the story, I have to go get our daughter, MacKenzie from her bedroom. She is eight, so I didn't think I would have to wake her up. Low and behold I did. Why you ask in this time of supposed crisis? Because she made a "pillow fort" last night and got too hot. So to remedy this situation, she decided her best course of action was to take off her pants. That's not big deal, but she was also "commando." So I had to wake her up so I could get to her blanket, so she was wrapped in something before I could take her to the interior bathroom. This is a good time to point out, that if you ever think it is a good idea to sort laundry, in the interior bathroom. It's not. A Tornando could get you. We being the smart people, don't do that, but wanted to add this friendly tip.

So we get everyone into the bathroom including our dog, Lucy, and then Betsey decided she wants to see what is going on in the news. This is where we find out the Tornado Watch covers about 150 miles. I was under the impression that there was someone looking outside your door, yelling and screaming saying, "Get your ass up, it's coming to get you. We gotta go." Ala Twister style. This was not the case.

We came out alive on the other side, and wanted to share our little 2:45-3:15 adventure.

Photo's

I was asked to post some photo's of Alex training for his race, so here they are.  He was running at night, and it was freezing.  I still can't understand why he wanted to run in a short sleeve shirt.  However, I give him mad props for sporting his WDWRadio.com T-shirt.

        

End of the Weekend

It is 6:50 a.m. here in Georgia, aside from the fact, I am still tired, I am happy to report that last night's dinner stayed in my belly, instead of in the toilet or trash can, where most of my meals have been making their appearance lately.

Not that anyone has a desire to hear about a pregnant woman's morning sickness, but I think this is something seriously "underrated" in most of your pregnancy journals, i.e. What to Expect When You're Expecting.

I think everyone expects or "waits" for the nausea, so often heard about, when they are pregnant. I know I did. I had heard stories about family members who had morning sickness or had certain aversions to foods. This is all, of course, coupled with the desire to eat many other items.

That ALL being said, I had NO IDEA it would be like this. I think God definitely knew what he was doing when he had me "lose" my job in January. There is no way on this Earth that I could have held a normal 9 to 5 job this past month. Granted, I'm a Cracker Barrel server, a position not a lot of people with a master's degree consider. However, considering the fact I can sleep in, I have an infinite number of foods from which to choose to eat, and most of your customers are sympathetic to the fact that I am expecting. Since, I don't wear my wedding ring to work, they probably think I'm another unwed single mother and therefore need to leave me a bigger tip. Personally, I'm okay with that.

So, let me give you some 10 frustrations, facts, comments about being pregnant.

1. The belly touching thing is weird. I don't even have a belly yet and when people find out I'm pregnant, they suddenly want to tickle, touch, or otherwise "rub" the house for your unborn child.
   
2. You are tired, exhausted, worn-out, pooped, or another word that describes this feeling, for the first…well, for a LONG time. I'm in week 13 right now, and I still could sleep like Rip Van Winkle. Right now, it's 7:01 a.m. and I cannot wait for MacKenzie to leave the house at 7:40, just so I can crawl back into bed. After I drink a gallon of Maalox.
   
3. Maalox becomes your friend very quickly. Even vegetables give me heartburn these days. Some foods do not give me heartburn…here I have a 50% chance of them ending up in the trash can.
   
4. Throwing up sucks! I had not thrown up a long time until Christmas. I got the stomach flu right after Christmas at my parents house and spent a lot of time in the bathroom (along with my Dad and Mitch, mom, ironically enough was spared). Morning sickness is different. When you have the stomach flu, this little part of your brain goes "Hey! Don't eat for 24 hours and you'll be just fine." Sure enough, 24 hours later, you are back to normal (or close to being back to normal). With morning sickness, you are still really hungry. At least I am. You also get sick at the mere sight of some foods (chicken, pork, and green beans, for me, right now). And crave others as if they were the best things on Earth.
   
5. Cravings. I don't have too many. Except for Whopper Junior Cheeseburgers. They are REALLY good. As are the French fries. The bonus is, this food, always stays down and doesn't cause me heartburn.
   
6. So, in 9 months, my cholesterol is going to be through the roof. Who cares?!
   
7. And I might be as big as a house, probably not, but again, who cares? If one MORE person tells me that pregnancy is not about eating for 2, I'm going to rip their eyeballs out. I KNOW THAT! My girlfriend in Germany said "People who say they are eating for 2, are eating for themselves, and their fat asses." This is true, this second person, currently snacking on whatever tidbits of food end up I the umbilical cord weighs about 2 ounces. It's quite natural to say they probably need less.
   
8. But, regardless, I am using this pregnancy to eat whatever I want. I have spent the past 6 years of my life, shrinking my body down to the point where I could fit through the holes in a screen door. So, give me a break, if I suddenly desire an ice cream sundae. Do you know when the last time was I had one and DIDN'T feel guilty? Back off.
   
9. Names…ahh names. We are naming her LaFonda Moongazer, if it is a boy, it will be Ta&ji Deliverance (not a misspelling, the & is silent). Are you kidding me? Of course we aren't going to name them after a Napoleon Dynamite character or a military base in Northern Iraq. Just don't ask or give advice, you'll find out after the baby is born.
   
10. We are up in the air about finding out the sex. I would love a little girl, but I'm fairly certain I'm having a boy. That being said, some days we want to know, others we don't. Does it make shopping easier for family and friends? Of course it does…but I didn't know this was about them.
    

I'm not trying to be cynical or mean, there is just a lot of stuff that you don't expect when you are pregnant. I just wish the books covered it more, such as a good response to "Is this Mitch's baby?" I almost want to say, "Nope, he was gone 13 months, but I waited until he came HOME to cheat on him and get pregnant." In the words of the great Maury Povich, "Mitch Brannen, you…..are the father!"

As Mitch has detailed, we are headed to Disney world, in less than 2 weeks. Right now, I am still scheduled to run the 5K Saturday morning, although I will admit, sleeping in until 8 a.m. or so, does feel like a much better option right now, so we'll see. Even pregnant there is a lot of stuff I can do at Disney, minus the Tower of Terror or drinking my way around Epcot. Mitch and I have actually discussed getting me a wheelchair in the evenings, mainly because I get so exhausted so easily.

So, I'm bidding you all adieu now, so I can get MacKenzie off to school to take her Terra Nova exams. It's good to see modern day schools still using the archaic, mass, standardized testing module, proved ineffective so many years ago.

Till next time,

Betsey

An Interesting Weekend

Friday, we drove down from GA to Lake Butler, FL to visit my dad and step-mom, Nancy. We had a pleasant drive down, and were able to make good time.

Saturday, Betsey, Alex, MacKenzie, and I went to the Florida Gators Basketball game. We arrived in Gainesville about 30 minutes before tipoff. We were able to find decent parking for $5, and made our way to the Arena. This was our first college basketball game with the kids. I was surprised to find that simple things like pompoms, and programs were included. I was figuring that these items would cost a small fortune. Nope, that was reserved for the concession stand. Small drinks were $3.50 and popcorn was $4.00. Oh, well. The game was great. The Gators beat the Vanderbilt Commodores 82-68. It was a good win.

 

On Sunday, we drove back in time for Alex to attend youth group. Alex sent in a video for a Lip Sync Contest. He chose the song "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General." He was tied for second place. I thought it was great for his first attempt.

We are only 12 days away from going to Disney. We are staying at the Polynesian and we are completely excited. We currently have ADRs for Bomas, Ohana's, California Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, and Le Cellier. We should have a great time.

 

Not a whole lot else going on. We will keep you posted.