Its Janene's Fault

Ok so I am bored and what did I do..... Well it is all Janene's fault. I started playing on the myspace thing and sent a hello to sona and to chris, who are people I know from my live band days in the late 80's early 90's days.
I am not into the myspace thing really so I was searching people and checking things out. Those of you that know Janene, know the story, those that don't, here it is. Janene and I know eachother from high school. We actually met during drill team try outs or something. Yep I tried out. Janene made it and I didn't. Probably would have put me in a totally different direction in life if I had. (I am sure you are amused to know this if you didn't already.) Anyway Janene and I were in photo together and who knows what else but we were really good friends, bad me.....we still are really good friends even though we live a state away from eachother. (Don't kill me Janene for the picture)

Certain friends will just be there forever and she is one of them, 23 years later holy crap!!! After high school, I got into the live rock bands, doing photography and actually was part owner of a magazine also. So I had a lot of friends I hung out with. I went out with this guy Chris when I was probably 20 I guess and at some point Janene met him also. She will know more of this story obviously than I do. Sometime in I dont know what year, Janene met Scott, through Chris. Scott is her husband and they have been together about 14 years I think. Back to the main point of the story. I was on Janene's my space page and saw some other blasts from the pasts, Chris and Sona. Sona was one of the gals that hung around the same bands I did. So anyway, then I went further and checked out Sona's profile or whatever the my space thing is called. Holy Crap, I saw the cry wolf reunion and well decided I have to go. http://myspace.com/crywolfthebandSo i bought 2 tickets. . Anyway it would be interesting to see some people from the past. Its all your fault Janene.

Now I am stuck and have to see who else I find on the myspace thing.

This Week- Jodie, J's, and whatever

So I have all the time in the world but I have not found the time to update this. Guess I have to be in the mood to do it.

Where to start.... Looking for a job and also working on the events and wedding business. Any referrals to anyone is greatly appreciated, weddings, corporate or whatever. For that matter job leads are good also. I have been using www.linkedIn.com and it is a pretty cool networking website and also helps with the job serch since there are jobs posted there. I have been trying to get people I know to link into mine profile. Have had some leads here and there for jobs and events/weddings so hopefully something works out. In the mean time, filed for unemployment and I have a wedding a month through October. Hoping I end up with more than that.

Here is the picture as requested by Tami. Doesn't have the same affect at all, I held it wrong. Oh well.......

Saturday night, I went with Jim to Dan's to see the smoking J's, yes they actually played together. I found out Jay is no longer with Notorious so that explains all the show booked coming up. We had a good time, well at least I did.

Ok, next would be Jodie. While went to visit her in the hospital I thought it was funny that she complained a little about the bruise on her arm for the blood work or IV. So I thought I would show this bruise. It was actually bigger and darker since this is at about a week old. This is from the injectease I keep using since I have this needle phobia. So there, I win. Ok so what else? Besides the fact that I am sure yu are thrilled to see my belly and bruises. The latest with the insulin pump is that I have it and it is attached as you see here this is how it gets attached. I am using with saline right now until I get used to it and how to use it. Monday I will start the insulin. It doesn't hurt and it is pretty simple to use. I just have to figure out what amount of insulin will work. The diabetes educator works with me on that thankfully. This is a good time to do it also since I am not working and stuff.

Now as for Jodie and cooper. Things are going ok. She posted pictures and stuff in her blog. I dont know how to attach the blog address becaus I tried earlier and it didn't work.

Here is a tiny picture. I can email you a link with other pictures, just ask.

Here is the latest on all

So here is the latest bit of info.
First is on Jodie. Jodie is doing as well as can be expected. She was released Wednesday from the hospital. She did have a c-section but is doing ok considering all that is going on. Child birth, baby needing surgery at 5 days old and so on. As for Cooper, he is doing "about middle of the road" as Jodie said. So this is good, not worse than expected and a little better than expected. Apparently Cooper had his surgery on Thursday. This was to move his internal organs to their rightful places and then to also close up the hernia I guess. Now I don't know any of this as well as Jodie and Mark since they are living it so don't give me a hard time for wrong information or terminology. Anyway, from what Jodie told me, Coopers "numbers" were the same before the surgery and after, so that is good. His left lung is at 50% which is better than expected, so that's also good, he has 150% of his lungs. It's nice to hear things are looking somewhat good. It's really not known how long he will be in UCSF or Kaiser once he is transferred, if transferred. Nothing is for sure right now but it is looking positive. Keep the positive thoughts going and that's all we can all ask for.

Now, here is the latest of wildlife at our house. Yes we had 6 wild turkeys in the backyard. Crazy!!! They were not there long, long enough to get a picture. Whats next, should I ask??

So the next thing I can tell you is regarding my job. I am now unemployed. Due to lack of work in the office I was in, I was going to be transferred to a Sunnyvale office. Then due to changes unknown to me, it was decided to eliminate my position and I am now unemployed. I figure everything happens for a reason so I will eventually find out what that reason is. Right now I will look for a new job and I will work on increasing the wedding and event business. Any leads for weddings or events or jobs in my area are greatly appreciated.

What else? mmmm, oh yes, I got the insulin pump approved and received in the mail. I will be given a training on that and then in about a week or so it goes "live" on me. Lets hope I don't freak out.

Spring is coming and great weather yipppeeee!!

New update on Jodie & Cooper

So Jodie seemed to or Cooper maybe, one of them decided on St. Patricks day to be Coopers birthday. Cooper was born at 12:36 Am on March 17. He is 19 1/2 inches long and unknown weight right now. They had to stabilize him and hook him to machines and such so they didn't have a weight yet. Apparently he is doing ok right now and they will be monitoring him. His body will have to adjust to his new environment and then the doctors can see how he is doing. Jodie was sent home Thursday after being in labor 2 days. Friday she was to come back and start again. I don't have the full story yet. All I know is her water did break Friday and she started having contractions on her own. So maybe Cooper was starting to think he was getting ready. Anyway, they did do a c-section. I will go tomorrow and see her and have more information and a picture then.
** Update on 3/18****
I talked to Jodie today. She was not up for visitors. She seemed to be doing ok and I think she has family there with her. I got some more information. So she was sent home on Thursday to rest and gain some strength back so she could be induced again Friday. Thursday she did however have contractions naturally. So Friday when she went in she was having contractions but they did give her something to help the process along, so some sort of inducing pill. Her water did break also on Friday. Later in the evening she was still only dilated to 6 or 7, she wasn't sure. Apparently Coopers heart rate started to drop so as they watched that, they did decide to do an "emergency c-section". She seems to be doing ok, but also on painkillers. As for Cooper, she said "all thing considered with things wrong, he is doing ok". He did not need to be on the big ventilator machine after all. (This is why she delivered at UCSF was because they had this large machine that her Kaiser did not) So that is a good sign for him. I guess now its just watching each day to see how the progress is with him.
I asked if there are any pictures she can get Mark to send out or something. I will contact her tomorrow and maybe go see her tomorrow or Tuesday. I asked about coming out and she was not up for that. I even asked if she needs something to eat and she said the hospital food is not all that bad. (She is drugged up so maybe that is influencing her hehehe)
I will send out a picture when I can. Oh and we was around 6 1/2 lbs. They didn't weight him due to that is another thing that will agitate him and doctors were avoiding that.

**Update** 3/15 Jodie and the new baby

Here is the update*** I got a call that Jodie was in labor 2 days and Cooper had other plans so he didn't come out. (Looks like maybe a ST Pattys day baby) So Jodie was sent away to rest and get some strength back. She goes back Friday 3/16 to be induced again. Poor girl

Well as you all know, the new baby has a name and he is Cooper Alexander Gerhardt. Jodie went in to be induced Tuesday and since it is Wednesday at 8:51 pm that mean she was induced 37 hours ago. So now baby yet and she has been in labor 37 hours. Lets all have good thoughts for Jodie to pop the little guy out real soon. Let's have even better thoughts for little Cooper, hah, mini Cooper, and hope he comes out and does well. As you probably know he has a diapramatic hernia http://fetus.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/cdh/ so he is probably having surgery when he is a week old or so. Sending you all positive thoughts Jodie and Mark and Cooper. Waiting to hear when he is born so I can tell people more.

Ice cream, cat teeth, people teeth and whatever

Not a lot to report, just little stuff here and there.
I have found out that the Safeway near my house carries much better ice cream then the Albertson's I usually go to. Now don't start giving me a hard time on eating ice cream. I can eat anything, in moderation. So here is the deal.... Dove makes the little miniatures they sell in a box (i don't know how many make a serving, i guess probably 2) but I haven't bought these, because I had not seen them in years, until last week. Then I found out our Safeway has them. Now, better than that, our Safeway carries these little individual size servings of Ben & Jerry's. Yep, that's right, individual size, even comes with a plastic spoon. (about the size of the taster spoon at Baskin Robbins) Not all the flavors, just like 4 (cherry Garcia and Chocolate fudge Brownie and 2 others) Better yet they on sale 10 for $10 dollars so we bought 4. Its perfect size!!!! Ok the big problem is this. At Albertson's they have self check out, so I don't have to stand in line and can just scan my stuff and its simple. At Safeway there is always a line, no matter what time of day I go. I hate that. So there is that and now the ones that read this are going to kill me for that info. Sorry but maybe you will luck out and your store wont carry it that way and you won't go buy it.
So, I think I posted something about the visit to the vet last week and Jasper on tranquilizers. Anyway, Shannon keeps saying the cat has "kitty breath" so I asked he vet for a quote on teeth cleaning. Hah, $425 to clean the freakin cats itty bitty teeth??? I don't think so. So I am trying to find a way to do it cheaper. Apparently its the sedating or putting them out that cost so much.
So... i found a non sedating way that it is done. Apparently the pets stores and grooming places do it for $45-100 and the reason is they don't put them out to do this. Now that would be great but........ I had to tranquilize the beast to take him to the vet, so I only wonder what would happen if I tried to take him for a teeth cleaning with out tranquilizers or putting him out first. Kinda makes me laugh to think about it. I guess I will need to call and ask the opinion of the places that do it. Can't wait to hear about it now can you?? Pancho would love my cat all tranquilized.
Ok so I went to the dentist myself. No big deal to me. However due to the change in jobs, I decided I didn't need to continue to drive to Walnut Creek to go to the dentist. So I looked up a San Ramon dentist on my coverage and called it and made an appointment. Then I had to find the letter they sent and call them and change the appointment. Now I found the letter and called and didn't really think anything about it. Then I thought I saw something on the letter and had to find it again. I noticed the name on the letter was Kristyn Woodson. Now Tami and Kristyn or Krystin her co-worker (i forget which way to spell it) and I are always commenting on the ways to spell Kristin (the correct way). Then I saw this and told Tami and thought it was funny to see it that way. I didn't even look at the last name. Now anyone reading this that has known me since high school or soon after is already knowing where this is going. I looked a second time and thought, this couldn't be Chris Woodson's wife could it? I hung out with Chris and a group of Monte Vista students in high school and after. So when I called the dentist office back, I asked if this was the same person, and sure enough given Danville is such a small (or was) a small area, it is the same person. So off to the dentist I go, yesterday. I had not seen Kristy (she goes by Kristy) in a few years, maybe 5. She looks great, the same and I would have totally recognized her in a second. She also had her daughter in the office with her. I think she is about 14-18 months and I forgot the name sorry. Wow I can not believe how much she looks like Chris, totally has his eyes and just looks like him. Pretty baby girl. So that was interesting and now I know Chris also works down the street so I will check in with him also. It doesn't surprise me too much to run into people I know, it used to happen way too often hardly at all anymore.
Ok what else? Well I know I am liking my job. I seem to check my email for it from home to make sure I have not missed anything (or screwed it up)
I just finally got the diabetes educator to order an insulin pump so that is progress towards my goal. (www.minimed.com) if you want to see what it is and how it works or whatever.
Then last part is that Pearl and Jim are moving, so we are getting some people together with them to go to dinner tomorrow night. After that, we are going to good old Dan's. Apparently one of my co-workers is in a band and he plays his first show with this band at Dan's tomorrow night. Hope it goes well. I will give a report on it if I can.

So.......who is reading this and did you all get the link to Jodie's blog?

Down South

So its off to hurricane country I go. This is the first time I have been to my Mom's since Hurricane Katrina hit.

I started with a flight from Oakland to Houston Hobby. The gal in line with me to board the Southwest Flight is picking something out of her zip up sweatshirt. Nope..... She is afraid of flying, lucky me! She is picking out her fingernails. She peeled them all off while waiting for this flight. The rest of the flying to Houston is uneventful. Then I go from Houston to New Orleans. Sat next to a normal gal from Mendocino. I gave her a ride to the hotel she was staying at. That worked out because it was a few blocks away from where Shannon was and she was able to read the directions while I drove.

I met Shannon at his hotel and we went out for a nice dinner. The day before was actually our 6 month wedding anniversary so we made it a nice dinner. We went to G.W. Fins and had a nice dinner. He had told them it was our 6 month anniversary and they made us a personalized menu and brought us an anniversary "plate" and decorated the table with glitter. We went and gambled at Harrah's for a while and after traveling all day, that was all I was up for. This is what they give you now instead of coins when you win. (since hurricane hit)

Thursday we went and ventured in to the French Quarter and checked out Cafe du Monde for some Beignets and coffee. Shannon had never been to New Orleans and I had not been in a long time so it was a fun day to just wander and check out some things. Next time we will go on the tours. I want to go on a swamp tour! Alligators, yay. We checked out the touristy things like Jackson square, Bourbon street (of course) and actually had to pick up something for a co-worker so it gave us a mission. We had a great lunch at the Gumbo Shop and had Gumbo and Jambalaya. Yummmm. Later we headed to my moms house. We have to drive across that I-10 bridge and it got torn apart from the hurricane. It had just opened in January of this year. While driving we saw the HUGE cemetary. (Sorry Tami, I didn't go check it out. I will wait until you go with me and we can go on the Haunted tours and stuff) On the drive we saw a huge amount of hurricane damage before crossing the bridge. The pictures did not come out very good of this. (i was in the car) The houses were structures still standing, looked like houses, no doors or windows and just a mess. The water had just been pushed through. There were FEMA trailers through some of the neighborhoods. Some places are starting to rebuild, others have nothing to really come back to. It looks like a war zone.

My mom's house is coming together. There are only a few things that are left and noticable that there were any problems. (no pictures) Friday we spent the day with my Mom. She came up with a great idea that Shannon loved. We went to the Stennis Space Center. This is where NASA tests all the rocket engines. Its about 15 minutes from my mom's house. We saw pieces of the moon, huge rocket engines, rocket testing platforms and all sorts of stuff. If Shannon tells you, it would be more technical so that is the best I can do.

We also went to Silver Slipper Casino. We had lunch and gambled a little. Lunch was great and the gambling was.... not so good. This is a new casino that went up in the fall of 2006. It is labeled as Lakeshore MS. It is right on the Bay Saint Louis. This is an area that is basically wiped out from the hurricane. I was looking out in the bay after driving in the area and wondering how many washers and dryers and refridgerators were out in the water, amongst everything else. All that remains of these homes is the cement foundation. Its that way by my mom's also. Last time I was there she showed me the houses with the little airplanes in the yards and boats and such, over by the bay. This time there is a cement foundation and actually there are still clothes in the trees, flipped over boats in the trees and furniture. There is nothing to go back to and the Mississippi side is not getting covered by Insurance. Don't get me started on that, its another story. I didn't take pictures here as my mom was with me and we didn't stop. It is hard on her and actually really overwhelming to see.

Saturday we went back to New Orleans, just Shannon and I. We went to the Sculpture garden and then attempted to get into the Museum of modern art. On the way there, I noticed we were right by where one of the levee breaks were in New Orleans. (its marked on a map) So we went over to check it out. So here is the levee and the wall that has been rebuilt and the neighborhood.

Most the homes are just ruins and then right in the middle of all this would be someone rebuilding. It just blows me away to see it. I don't know how someone must feel mentally to come back and rebuild right in the middle of this.

The sculpture garden was kind of neat to see. The weather was just beautiful that day.

We tried to go the the Modern Art museum but it was a members only viewing and we didn't want to pay that fee to get in.

We did a driving tour through New Orleans next. Its marked on the map and takes you through the college/university areas (Tulane and Loyola (or something)) then through the Garden district and back to the French Quarter. We went back for more beignets and had more beignets and spicy cajun foods for lunch.

After that we went back to Diamondhead (where mom lives) took her and Randy for a nice dinner and that was it. Up early Sunday (5 am) to get to the airport. We had to go home since the kitties were missing us.