Things I Wish The Doctor Wouldn't Say

"Huh. Well, ... I'm stumped."

"...but I don't think you have anything to worry about."

The Whole Company Knows

I actually saved this IM Conversation with Mr. Mingle that occured on April 11, because I knew that eventually it would make it to my blog. Let me provide a little background about the chain of command at my company (BS). I report to Joker, who reports to Captain Dick, who reports up to Major Dick (or CEOD - Chief Exec Of Dicks). Oh yes...it turns out I work with a cast of characters again! But I digress...more to be shared on them later...

Mingle: hi! do you have a minute?
Mr. Mingle: sure
Mr. Mingle: what is going on
Mr. Mingle: ?
Mingle: we just had a company meeting with Major Dick
Mingle: there are 103 employees
Mingle: 75 of which work in my office
Mingle: 30 of which I actually may know
Mr. Mingle: ok
Mingle: yet Captain Dick put me on the spot to announce my pregnancy to the entire company
Mingle: "ta-da"
Mr. Mingle: oh, that is so respectful of him
Mingle: i know... and what is even more respectful...
Mingle: after I announced it, Major Dick made a comment to the effect of, "you're not saying that Captain Dick had anything to do with your pregnancy are you?"
Mingle: sexual harassment 101
Mr. Mingle: wow! that's um...wow
Mingle: yeah
Mr. Mingle: I'm sorry
Mr. Mingle: that's really rude
Mr. Mingle: You should reveal something about Captain Dick.
Mr. Mingle: Hey everyone Captain Dick just wants to say, he has a hernia

Calling the Doctor

The day after taking a home pregnancy test and telling Mr. Mingle the news, I stood, stressed out, in an empty conference room at work, speaking quietly into my cell phone so no one could hear me call the Doctor's Office...

Receptionist: Hello?
Mingle: Hi, yeah um, I need to make an appointment?
Receptionist: In regard to?
Mingle: Well, um, I think I'm pregnant and I'd like to make an appointment.
Rec: Did you take a home pregnancy test and was it positive?
Me: Yes, and yes
Rec: Well, you are pregnant. Those are pretty accurate.
Me: oh. OH. huh...(thanks for the confirmation on the biggest news of my life Ms. Receptionist with no personality) so, can I make an appointment?
Rec: We don't typically see you until 10 to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, unless you are at risk.
Me: (how do I know if I'm at risk?) But where do I go for information in the meantime?
Rec: Try our website.

Honestly, we could all save money on doctors' appointments if the receptionist and websites can answer all the questions! I ended up changing doctors anyway because I needed to find one closer to the new job, but it still shocked me that most of them didn't see you until you were 8-12 weeks pregnant. I guess I thought there was something more magical that they could do to really confirm that I was pregnant. Instead, Mr. Mingle and I bought a book, "I'm Pregnant!" and hoped that that had the information we needed until the first appointment finally rolled around.

Diary of a Pregnant Mingle

Last December:
Mr. Mingle and I talked about starting to have kids in a year or two. I had decided to try to get into an MBA program this coming fall so we thought I'd give myself a chance to have at least one year behind me before trying to add kids to the Mingle household.

January/February:
Work was kicking my ass, travelling almost every week. One week in Seattle/Bellingham WA; then Salem, OR (where BeattieBeattieB asked me if we were going to have kids and I told her in a year or two); and then Ft. Worth, Texas where I was more tired at a client site than ever before. I was fighting every urge to lay my head down on the desk. I began to suspect something...

February 13:
Took home pregnancy test. Mini freak-out and then Mr. Mingle came home:

Me: "Hi...would you like to sit down and relax for a bit? Catch up on our day?..."

Mr. Mingle: "Umm...sure..."

Me: How was your day? (At which point I heard nothing he said)

Me: Well..I have some news...

MM: Okay...

Me: Oh, it's not bad! At least I don't think it's bad! Well, yeah, it's good; so um.. (he he he.nervous laugh) - how do I say this?

MM: WHAT? (he asks, a little frightened)

Me: Well...um.. I'm pregnant. atleastI'mprettysureIam.

MM: WHAT?! WOW!....How did that happen? Well, I mean I know HOW it happened.. but how did it happen??

Me: I'm pretty sure it was...

MM: ooh... huh.

...

MM: So, what do we do now?

Me: I DoNt KnOW (starting to panic). I don't have a doctor now since my Insurance CHanGed. I GUEss I NEED to find a DOCTOR to conFIRM. RIGHT?!

MM: Okay...do we tell people?

Me: Not yet. I definitely want to wait until we know for sure and I've heard 8 to 10 weeks is a good time frame.

And so, we waited. Blogging stopped. Much communication with friends and family stopped because answering the question of "What's new with the Mingles?" was just too hard to answer. Life has changed for us in a wonderfully surprising way, and now we are taking everything in stride. However, during the first couple of months we were certainly in a state of shock and just kind of wandered around in a wide-eyed state wondering, "what do we do now?", while trying to maintain the confident, "we're fine, nothing new here! ha ha ha" attitude when talking to others.

But now we are excited, and I am ready to blog about life again and the crazy things it deals us. Babies; Work; the Unexpected Random Events - I'm back!!

Is This A Compliment?

From Co-Worker to Mingle:

"Do you know what makes you good? You're a hard-ass."

Only In The City...

...will a man on stilts walk up to me and say, "Now, I can relate to you...", as he did today.

Happy Valentines Day

We Could Have Saved So Much Money

A friend from my old company forwarded this to me today. It was an actual announcement on their internal website. Names and company were changed by me, but everything else is exactly as received:

Wedding Announcements On Thursday January 25th at 1:00 pm

Mary James of St. Petersburg’s Customer Operations was married to Assan Nazrallah. Mary and Assan were married at Mingle's Old Company in a conference room, during Mary’s lunch hour. She is such a dedicated employee that she was back at work at the end of the hour. One of the MOC security guards who is also a Pastor, officiated the ceremony. Below is a comment from Mary (along w/pictures -(unfortunately I have no pictures)) as to why they chose to get married during her lunch hour, at work.

From Mary: The reason why I married at MOC is because I had been sick for two weeks with bronchitis and the second week of February I’m off all week because I’m going on a cruise, so I felt that requesting additional time off for the wedding was not appropriate, especially during peak season. Another reason was that since my husband speaks Arabic and his English is not that well, we needed someone to translate for him and the court wouldn’t allow it. We believe that a big wedding is a waste of time and money, so instead we will use the money to buy a house. Marrying at Mingle’s Old Company certainly was different, and I’m glad I did it here because a lot of my nice co-workers were able to attend, even one who was off on that day came in! My husband and I enjoyed it and appreciate everyone who attended. I hope they enjoyed it too!

Considering Mr. Mingle and I met at this very same company, we really could have saved money by doing this too... Now why didn’t we think of this before????

Loco for Lemons

Do you like lemons? I mean, really, really like them? Over the weekend Mr. Mingle and I picked lemons from the tree in our backyard. Bags of lemons. And once we were done picking, the tree still looked full. We plan to give lemons to the landlord, and anyone else who wants them. Today we started by bringing in bags of lemons to each of our workplaces. I schlepped about 40-50 lemons with me on the bus and didn’t think I’d be able to get rid of them. Turns out I was wrong – very, very wrong. First I stopped at my favorite little coffee place, and the lady there took 10 lemons off of me, calling them “organic”, which had not occurred to me. Then I got to work and distributed them between the break rooms and sent an email advertising – “take lemons!” Within an hour they were gone, and some people were upset they missed out. Turns out I’ll be hauling a few more bags of lemons on the bus in the coming week. The CEO came to my desk with his hands filled with lemons and asked,
“Are these Meyer lemons??”
“Um.. I’m not sure…they came from a tree in our backyard (we rent)”
“Because these look like Meyer lemons, and if they are – you have a gold mine! I’ll try it out tonight, and if these are Meyer – I’ll take all the lemons you want to bring!”
“Um..ok…will you give me a raise too?”
(Just kidding – I didn’t say that last part.)

My big boss (that’s the boss above my direct boss) emailed me:
Him: “What type of lemons?”
Me: “I don’t know…’backyard lemons’?”
Him: “We have a lemon tree too.”
And another email from the same man – “Your lemons look more uniform”

Seriously, these people are Loco for Lemons!! Although as one coworker pointed out, “you could bring in dirt, and someone would take it home…”.

Stop by for some lemons – I hear they’re worth their weight in gold.

Subject to a Special Search

This week I was in Oregon for two nights. My customer is in Salem, so that is where I stayed, but I spent the first evening in Portland visiting with JP & JD and the second evening in Eugene with BeattieBeattieBeattie. Other then two great evenings with friends, I spent the rest of the time either driving or at the bank where everything was going ‘not quite right’. (sigh)

When I got to the airport to come home I found out that my flight was cancelled, but fortunately I was able to take another one about an hour later. When I walked through airport security I found out that I was the “subject of a special search” (randomly selected). This included standing in a machine that blasted me with puffs of air and then waiting while all of my things were searched. After listening to the chatty TSA agent comment on my stuff -- purse: “This is a blackhole”; jacket: “Are you going to Siberia?”; Computer: “A laptop was once dropped and busted into pieces when a TSA agent handed it back to the passenger” -- it was finally determined:

I am, in fact, very special.

A Day in the Life of the Traveling Mingles

We spent this past weekend in Seattle and although Mr. Mingle and I were only in Seattle together for two full days, we made the most of it. And, as I had predicted prior to leaving – we ate our way through the City…

Saturday 10am: After a leisurely wake-up and get-ready, we left the hotel in search of brunch. Mr. Mingle had planned ahead and printed out a list of recommended brunch places but when we looked at where hour hotel was, compared to where we wanted to end up – the Seattle Space Needle, we abandoned the list, thinking the places were all too out of the way.

An hour of walking later, we did in fact end up at one of the restaurants, Le Pichet, but not near the Space Needle. Oh well, change of plans are good.

Brunch was delicious, but not a typical American breakfast of heavy eggs/bacon/potatoes, so although we were pleasantly full, we were not stuffed and set off towards the Pike Place Market. We visited a few quaint shops on the way, and took note of a wine tasting shop that would be open later on.

12ish: After thoroughly exploring the market, we decided that is was time to find the next food stop. After careful investigation of a piroshki shop and a couple of bakeries, we settled on a cheese shop where we could get mac ‘n cheese and a crab and cheese sandwich. While there we also picked up some special cheese to have as hors d’oeuvres later on in our room. (In other words – we like cheese)

1:30: Next stop – Pioneer Square about a mile away. We continued to amble along, stopping into shops along the way, including a gelato store where we looked (and admired) but did not buy. Eventually we made it to Pioneer Square and decided to go on the Underground Tour to get a little history of Seattle and do something different (other then eating). The tour guides were fun and informative and we enjoyed it immensely. The tour also started and stopped in a pub so we were very delighted to learn that our ticket got us a $2 beer at the end.

4:00: Left the pub after our $2 beers in search of bread to go along with our cheese for hors d’oeuvres. First we got the bread, and then we went back to the wine tasting shop to find the perfect bottle of wine to go with our cheese and bread. After tasting four Syrah’s that were recommended to go with our cheese, we settled on a different bottle for the cost and the label. (Jester’s Red)

After leaving the wine tasting shop our intention was to go to the Space Needle which was the first place we were headed when we initially set off on our walk in the morning (it was now dark). As we walked we investigated the restaurants along the way to find the one that looked the best for dinner. (Mr. Mingle may say that he scoffs at planning ahead, but when food is involved…puhlease….)
Unfortunately the Space Needle was closed for a private party (it turns out there was a convention of librarians in town who had taken over) so we walked the last 15 minutes to our hotel on Lake Union to enjoy our hard earned wine, cheese and bread.

8:00: Arrived for reservations at Twist. The food was good, I guess you would call it Asian Fusion, and I particularly enjoyed my cocktail – a Mojito with a twist. When we were finished, we weren’t yet ready for dessert so went in search of the next stop…

9:30: Enjoyed dessert at another restaurant across the street: BellTown Bistro. This was the perfect place to end the day – it had a lounge with comfortable leather chairs where we relaxed and traded questions from the Trivial Pursuit box that was sitting next to our chairs. We ordered S’mores which turned out to be just that – flaming sterno, graham crackers, hershey’s chocolate bars and marshmallows. Relaxing in leather chairs making s’mores over a flame – it’s a good life.

(The next day we made it to the Space Needle)

Christmas in Hawaii

This year Mr. Mingle’s brother and sister are both living in Hawaii, so rather then fly to Indiana for the holidays, his mother, and we, flew west to spend Christmas in Oahu. We had a wonderful vacation and it was nice to catch up with the family. We even had a chance to visit with Manoa Missy before she flew back to California to spend the holidays with her own family. Many, many thank yous to Missy for loaning us her apartment and car while we stayed in Hawaii!

My best memory of the trip is also a surprising one, because it doesn’t involve surf, sand or sun. Instead, it was about getting to know my sister-in-law’s mother-in-law. Wait, say that again? Mr. Mingle’s sister’s husband’s mother (got that now?) flew out to Hawaii from Bangor, Maine to spend Christmas with the family as well. I had met her once before at sis-in-law’s wedding in Maine last year, but didn’t get to talk to her much then. Lady M is 80 years old, going on 50. I am absolutely fascinated by this woman’s life and she is sharp as a tack. She certainly likes to talk, but I found her stories so interesting that I really didn’t mind the constant narrative. I especially enjoyed her story of how she went to Norway for her 80th birthday (by herself!) and her luggage didn’t arrive for 4 days. She joked about telling the tour group that she would soon have to resort to wearing her only other piece of clothing – her nightshirt – which she promptly whipped out to show us. A massive nightshirt covered in African safari animals. (She’s also been on four safaris…) We dropped Lady M off at her accommodations a couple of times while in Hawaii, which was at the University down the street from sis-in-law’s house. One of these nights she even invited us up for a nightcap to try some of this special liquer she likes from South Africa. I never thought I would be invited up to an 80-year-old’s place at 11pm for a drink! I hope to be like her when I’m that age.

Although we still had the traditional turkey meal with all the fixins’ on Christmas and opened gifts with the family, it felt very odd being in Hawaii because it was so warm and sunny. On Christmas Day Mr. Mingle and I dawned shorts and t-shirts and hiked up to the top of Diamond Head for the view. The only chance of a white Christmas there is on the beach! Sadly, within two days of returning to an unusually cold SF, Hawaii already seemed like a world away - but luckily there are pictures to remind us of the good times:

Manoa Missy and The Mingles

Spending Christmas Eve at the Beach

(That is our niece playing with the sand)

Brother R with his wife and Sis-in-law (front)

Mr. Mingle and Mom

Mrs. Mingle enjoying the wisdom of Lady M

Happy New Year!

Every year (or so) I write some resolutions for myself which I’m inevitably doomed to fail. For example, there’s the one about, “I will not pick at my fingers” – I’ve been trying to quit this nervous habit since I was in the eighth grade. However, it’s to the point where I don’t even realize I’m doing it, so there is no way a resolution at the start of the new year would get me to stop that cold turkey. And then there’s always the one about “I will get in better shape”…I honestly have the best intentions when I write this one – however, there’s one fatal flaw in my plan. I hate going to the gym. Hate it. The gym to me is just one step above torture. Mr. Mingle on the other hand likes working out so much that he will go to the gym twice, sometimes three times a day, in order to insure he gets his full workout in. If only I could have a quarter of his “I love the gym” energy.

So, this year I have decided to make some resolutions that I can keep. Ones, that at the end of 2007, I can look back and honestly say – “I kept all my resolutions!” I like to call these, Resolutions for the Modern Woman.

I will drink beer.
I will watch the CW channel.
I will wear sweatpants in public.
I will not go to the gym every day.
I will pay a lot to get my hair done.
I will not drink coffee without half & half.
I will stay in bed so the cat can sleep longer.
I will not make a home-cooked meal every night.
I will blame the cat when I belch (or emit other sounds).
I will use my feminine wiles to get my husband to do the chores.