31 Weeks

I've only been really surprised one time in my life - when Brian showed up at my door step in North Carolina the day of my college graduation. He told me he couldn't make it .. and there he was. I was totally shocked, to say the least.

Well, last week I had another one of those jaw dropping, knees shaking, sweat rolling down my back surprises - at work, none the less. My friend and boss, Lisa and good friend and colleague, Kate managed to pull off a surprise shower with several of my New York colleagues, in the New York office. My conclusion - they are damn good liars. They had me going for weeks - - planning fake meetings, fake updates with our partners, etc. etc. At 3:00, I was with Lisa and Kate, having just enjoyed a piece (well, two pieces as Lisa pointed out) of King Cake - sent from New Orleans - we were off to our 3:00 meeting with our partner and a couple other colleagues. Lisa led the way and opened the door to the conference room - right when I said, "I don't think this is the right room Lisa, there's too many people in there!"

But when I walked in I saw our partner and everyone yelled "Surprise!". Or so I am told - I don't really remember because I couldn't figure out why there were 20 extra people in our "scheduled" meeting for five! Literally, I could feel my brain reeling "I know these people, but why are they in our meeting?!" Lisa and our partner had to repeatedly tell me that there was no meeting... and there weren't other meetings which we were suppose to "prep" for.
The rest of time was filled with great company and great food. Honestly, I never would have expected anything like this in a million years! And at the end of it all, I walked away with a real appreciation for how incredibly lucky I am to work with such wonderful people. I really felt special and can't wait for Baby "g" to meet all these great people in the coming months. Here's a picture of some of the folks that attended the shower - - unfortunately by the time I rallied the troops, a good chunk went back to the grind... just call this group "the slackers". Hee hee.

Front row (L-R): Danielle, Rachel, Laurie, Brooke, Kate, Dom, Richard
Back row (L-R): Liana, Raquel, Carrie, Dan, Lisa, Paul, Dave

Spinner also got a little something at the shower from Kate - a "muscle" shirt that says "I'm the big brother". It's so cute! He tried it on the other night - he was less than thrilled to wear it, but was a good sport none the less.

Oh, and my "emoticon" made its debut. Dan, back row, white shirt and tie, is the culprit. Everyone has an emoticon that he has created - and they are damn funny. Here's mine - - I "grew" over the past few months and my "quote" changed.

This weekend Brian and I (and Spinner) got out of dodge and took a mini-trip to the shore. Nothing like eating out for every meal and not having to do dishes! (Our dishwasher has been broke for almost two months now. We have been waiting (and waiting) on parts from Sears and I'm just about at my wits end!!) Saturday night we had a great dinner overlooking the ocean (in a closed room with heaters!) with steaks and crab legs. It was great to just see the water again - I am sooo looking forward to the summer! Sunday we took the long, scenic way home from the shore in our new digs. We still love it - which is a good sign. And Spinner loves it to - -he is KING of the back seat, check this out! Wait till the baby comes....

Last but not least....(although, I'd like it to be.. it's getting harder and harder to hide the triple chin! groooossss!!!) .... 31 week belly shot.