Fridaily with lots of updates...

[ellenmillion]

Pets

I took pity on my miserable dog (and was really worried about the woodstove/cone-of-shame interaction, given his clumsiness) and let him sleep without the cone-of-shame last night. He did NOT chew his bandage - he seems to only do that when left alone outside. Maybe getting snow on it makes it into some kind of creamy, delicious treat. He's on antibiotics, and aside from throwing up a double-fistful of straw on the floor this morning, Norway seems in fine shape. The vet said it didn't actually look that bad. The vet techs all love Norway, though he loves them less, and are very impressed by how handsome and sweet he is. (Usually followed by a breathless '... and STRONG,' as they try to hold him in place or convince him to go somewhere.)

Velcro found him very strange-smelling when he came home from the vet, and spent some time sniffing his face with disdain. She spent most of the rest of the evening hiding from his clumsy, oafish, whining self while he was wearing the cone of shame, after getting bowled off her cylinder by the giant plastic scoop at one point.

Annoyances

I REALLY hate insurance salesmen.

Specifically, extended warranty for your vehicle insurance salesmen.

I got a phonecall yesterday as I was getting ready to go to my doctor's appointment (so, already not a good time to talk to me...).

'How many miles does your 2009 Subaru Outback have on it, Mrs (Married Last Name)?' the man asked.

I patiently explained that I don't give personal information over the phone, and wasn't going to answer that question, while I struggled to find a position where I could pull a sock on my foot (already a struggle) and hold the phone at the same time (a balancing act of some impressiveness).

This arrogant salesman tried to explain that he was authorized to have this information... and I cut him off and told him I would be happy to call my dealer later and verify that he was legitimate, and he scoffed at me and said that because I had refused my extended warranty at time of purchase, the dealer had transferred to his company... something blah, blah...

(This was the first time he had mentioned why he was calling. Lightbulb moment for Ellen. We got a TON of these calls about the time Jake's Chevy went out of warranty. Same snobby attitude. Wouldn't talk to a mere wife at that time.)

Me: 'I'm not interested in purchasing an extended warranty.'

Him (in this condescending voice that rubbed me SO wrong): 'Can you explain to me why you'd prefer to pay out of pocket?'

Me: 'I find your salespitch too aggressive.'

He hung up on me.

I intend to call my dealer and ask why my information was given to this company and request that they not share any of it, ever again, and see if they understand what slimy, awful people they are supposedly doing business with. Also, I REALLY hope this was one of those 'randomly recorded customer service' phonecalls and his boss chews him a new asshole... though I rather suspect he was exactly on script, which is much, much worse. Seriously. NOT how you'd sell me anything. Quite the opposite.


Guppy

Guppy: wiggles and squirms and takes fiendish delight in torturing my bladder.

I can't remember the last time I got more than four hours of uninterrupted sleep in a row... even while sick and sleeping a LOT over the weekend, I was up every 3-4 hours with either a potty break or heartburn. I feel surprisingly okay for such fractured sleep and several days of missed naps - I get back to sleep pretty quickly, even when I turn on the lights downstairs and fill up the woodstove or sit upright waiting for the Tums to kick in, and quick chair-dozes seems to give me more energy than I'd expect. I'm very grateful that Jake has found super comfortable earplugs; he isn't even aware that I'm up during the night and my monstrous snoring no longer bothers him at all.

I am very much hoping that the dream I had of getting to 93 weeks is not prophetic.


Business

Have some business-like updates:

Sketch Fest is today! Another 48 hour event! (Just a few more hours on the currently available artwork, so grab any you've been eyeing while you can!) http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest/

Also! Have you been considering joining Portrait Adoption? We're going (almost) paperless! You can now sign up and submit portraits without sending in a hardcopy contract. You DO have to send in signed certificates to offer your work as standard adoption (which comes with a print and certificate). Contact me for details! http://www.portraitadoption.com/

EMG-Zine needs work to the theme of 'centaurs' - fiction, poetry, artwork... and we're always on the hunt for great non-fiction articles. Reprints are welcome, this doesn't have to be new work! Also, volume one of our anthology is available as a FREE pdf download! http://emg-zine.com/

Torn World is running a contest through the end of the month - the theme is 'Fashions and Fads,' and we're looking for fiction, poetry, artwork or 'meta-fiction' (in-world articles about Torn World itself.) The contest information is here: http://torn-world.livejournal.com/94622.html and more information about the shared science fantasy world of Torn World can be found here: http://tornworld.net/

Now...

I've got some programming to poke at with Sketch Fest, need some cold water and a snack, have several emails to write (it's been buggy the last several days...), and may even cram in some writing time on the next Rails installment, which is at almost 1500 words now and getting quite exciting.

Enough out of me...

Comments

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear Norway is better, if self-pitying, but he's a boy... ;)

And I cannot believe the sales man actually hung up on you. How incredibly rude!

Aaand, I wish I could tell you that you can catch up on sleep once Guppy decides to be born, but from what I hear it doesn't work like that. :p

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

He is the biggest ball of wuss with the cone of shame on. I suspect he walks into things on purpose to make us feel sorry for him...

[mary elaine (from livejournal.com)]

Sleeping???? So sorry to tell you that you will never get a real good night's sleep again until Guppy grows up and moves out......lol. As parents we always worry.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Doooooooomed! I'm doooooomed! :P

[mary elaine (from livejournal.com)]

;) wait till Guppy learns to talk and turns into a teenager.....lol

[ryokomusouka.livejournal.com]

I suspect your robocall insurance salesman has only what's on public record - that's why he sounds just legit enough to rope people in. It's a SCAM. I doubt your dealer had anything to do with it.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

It's quite possible it's a scam... either way, I had no intention of giving that company information OR money. Scumbag.

[ariestess]

I hate salesmen like that. There's a reason I don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the number. And damned if 99% of the time, those callers never leave voicemail either. If it's not important enough for voicemail, it's not important enough for me to answer the phone over.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

This was my home phone, which doesn't have caller ID - I have the same policy on my cellphone as you do... if I don't recognize the number or the name, and they won't leave a message, they are sore out of luck.

[ariestess]

Ahh, okay. Yeah, in that case I suppose answering would be the best bet...

Heartburn

[pseudopagan.livejournal.com]

I dunno if you've given it a try, but I find Zantac infinitely better than Tums for dealing with heartburn. It's schedule B for pregnancy, meaning it's not believed to cause any harm, and causes no harm to the fetus of pregnant animals, but hasn't been tested with pregnant humans. That said, several of my friends who've been pregnant swear by it, taking one half an hour before dinner, or laying down to sleep as preventative measures.

Obviously I'm not any kind of doctor, so double check with yours, but it supposedly works wonders for not waking up with heartburn while pregnant.

Re: Heartburn

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I bought some Zantac yesterday to try - my OB also recommended it. I still had heartburn, but it was a little different than usual and less disruptive, I think. I'm willing to try it again tonight!

[jenny heidewald (from livejournal.com)]

Poor Norway! But I had to laugh at the "Cone of Shame" knocking Velcro over. :D

Ugh, I hate sales insurance calls! My bank has given my information to some insurance people, and they keep calling! I have to say it was handy for finding an insurance thing, but having to call and cancel for the ones I didn't want was annoying. I hung up on one that wouldn't listen to me. I didn't get any calls for a long time after that. I've never known one to hang up on a potential client...I'm leaning towards scammer.
---
93 weeks is the end of Feb? :) I'm sorry you aren't getting very good sleep, and there is more of that to come... :( BUT you'll be able to jab Jake in the side and say groggily, "YOUR TURN!". Tell him it is his turn for the first nine months. ;)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Lol... 40 weeks is Feb. 93 weeks is almost two years. It was a very disturbing dream....

Alas, with breastfeeding, I will rarely get to 'your turn!' to Jake. He gets to do bathtime, though...

[jenny heidewald (from livejournal.com)]

Then 93 weeks is definitely bad! XD

Hmm, that is a problem....Though if you do the breast pump thing, maybe he could help with bottles? Can babies switch back and forth? How about diapers? :)

[redokapi.livejournal.com]

I think wet bandages are just more annoying than dry ones, and thus more prone to being chewed off. You can also try putting something bitter-tasting on the bandage to discourage chewing. There are commercial sprays available, but I've found a bit of dish-soap dissolved in water works just as well (at least, with horses it does).

Also I hate cold-calling salesmen. I don't know if they're a scam or actually offer a legit service (possibly some are legit and some not), but they make me so very angry.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

That could totally be part of problem. (Wet bandages = annoying)

Or bored. He chewed TWO of them off last night, and walked around in cone of shame today in penance. We're trying without the bandage at all right now, with him in plain sight so we can watch him. The pad may be healed up enough that he'll just stop licking it.

[ramurphy.livejournal.com]

I feel confident you will give birth before 43 weeks of pregnancy. It'll be nowhere near as long as 93. It'll just feel like it. Your friend MizKit was due May 19. She was born June 1. It happens.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

*laughs* It already feels like 93!

But yes, they've already talked about induction at 41 weeks - my practitioner can't deliver after 42, so we don't want to push that too closely. (Which is right on schedule for a leap year baby!)

[raventhourne.livejournal.com]

The sleep thing...I think it just prepares you for being up with the baby. Natures way of breaking you in early for the sleep dep...strange but I think true.

I never dropped.

This was me 2 days before my boy was born and I'm still really high.
(http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f230/raventhourne/?action=view&current=DSC_0166.jpg)

Also, most folks didn't think I was 39 weeks then either so it just mean that folks like us are good carriers for babies and my boy was only 7lbs 2oz.