1. How did your parents decide on your name?
My mom read a book called Hind’s Feet on High Places, which is an allegorical story about a gazelle who goes on a difficult journey to be with her shepherd (that is, Jesus). My mom loved the book, and then she learned that the name Tabitha (from Acts 9 in the Bible) means “gazelle,” so she was sold on it. (Too bad I’m not actually that graceful!) But no: I was NOT named after the character from Bewitched, and I CANNOT twitch my nose.

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
Not really. My initials are TRC. If you tried to sound it out, I guess it’s kind of like “trick” or “truck?” My maiden name initials were TRP, and when I was younger, kids would call me T.P. or toilet paper. (Yes, kids are MEAN.)

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name?
I kept my middle name and changed my last name to Joe’s. It was never really a decision I struggled with; I always knew I would take my husband’s name and drop my family’s name. (I also love my middle name — Rose — too much to change it.)

4. Will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
No themes planned at this time. I’ve known people who gave all their kids the same first letter or things like that, and while it’s cute, it isn’t something Joe and I have really considered. (It’s partly because of my answer to number 6.)

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
I cycled through a million kids’ names when I was younger, playing with dolls and pretending with my friends. I can’t remember them because there were so many. Even in the past few years my “favorites” have changed a ton.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
Joe’s family (on his dad’s side) has a tradition of naming their firstborn sons John, so we are going to revive that tradition. (Joe is the firstborn, so his parents kinda bucked the tradition, but then they named their second son John.)

I don’t think there are any solid naming traditions on my side, although my dad’s middle name is his dad’s first name. Anyway, we have two definite boy names picked out: John Arthur and Benjamin David (after both our dads). I picked “Arthur” mostly because I stumbled across it while daydreaming about our future kids, and I think John Arthur Carnes sounds super handsome.

As for daughters? We’ve talked about girl names forever but could never agree, until recently when I said, “What do you think of the name ‘Lily Michelle’?” And Joe said, “That’s actually really nice. So, we have a POTENTIAL girl name picked out.

(Not that we’ll be using any of these names in the immediate future. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves….)

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
When I was younger and kids’ names were a lot more theoretical (like, before I was even close to thinking about marriage), I thought I would definitely focus more on the meaning than the name itself. But now the meaning is sort of incidental, although I would try to avoid ones with unpleasant meanings. (Example: Did you know that Molly means “sea of bitterness?” Cute name, but super depressing meaning.)

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
I haven’t had many pets of my own to name, but when I got a cat as a kid, I named her Katie. We also had pets named Zack, Beauty, Star, Cheerio, Dracula (black hamster with red eyes), and another Katie (a dog). I think when (if) Joe and I get a dog, I might like to name it something non-human but also not too cheesy.

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
Yes. There are a few names that Joe and I have agreed are off-limits for children, namely those with whom we had serious relationships or an unpleasant history. These names include: Jennifer, Curtis (not my favorite name anyway), Carrie and Brian. On the other hand, there are plenty of names I like simply because I’ve known someone delightful with that name.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Aside from the ones we’ve picked out for our potential future offspring, I also love (for no particular reason): Madeline, Paige, Heather, Jacob, Kyle, and Henry, to name a few.

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*Seriously, look at all these lovely people playing along today!

Ashley (That Super Awesome Blog)
Stephany (Stephany Writes)
Erin (the state that i am in)
Ashley (Ashalah)
Nora (Walking With Nora)

Anyway, at one point, Pauli asked me a question. I was engrossed in the page I was currently working on, so much that I apparently turned to her with a very perplexed expression on my face.

And she burst into laughter. So, naturally, I burst into laughter too, although I had no idea what was so funny. She caught her breath long enough to say, “You look just like that photo of yourself as a baby!”

It may sound like a vague statement to you, but I knew exactly what photo she was talking about. See, my dear husband came across a photo of me in one of my parents’ albums a while back, and he thought it was SO hilarious that he scanned it and immediately posted it to facebook to see if anyone could guess who it was. In the picture, I’m about two months old (I think?) and I look like I’m about to start a fight with someone. (I also look NOTHING like “me” in that picture.)

Still laughing, my mother-in-law said, “I never could see the grown-up YOU in that photo until you made the exact same face just now!”

Yes, friends, apparently I DO look like that old photo, but only when my brain feels like it’s about to explode with confusion.

Anyway, just thought I’d share that little story with you. Happy Monday!.!

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What? Did you guys actually want to SEE the baby picture or something?

Okay, okay. But you have to promise that it won’t change your opinion of me!

I bet the guy behind the camera was trying to explain quantum physics to me or something.

***

PS: I’m totally NOT putting off my post about getting braces because I’m not ready to show you how they look. Nope, that’s not at ALL what’s happening here….

But seriously. I’m glad this is finally happening. Unfortunately, it’s still going to cost me a rather large chunk of money, but we’ll be working out a payment plan that’s bearable and will ensure that the braces are completely paid off by the time they’re removed from my teeth (in about two years). It will mean depleting my entire savings account for the initial down payment, but don’t worry! That’s the whole reason I HAVE a savings account, is so I can handle writing hefty checks when the need arises.

The big question I’ve been mulling over today is, “Can I still pay off my student loans by the end of this year, now that I’ll have these monthly payments to my orthodontist?” And fortunately, with a few small changes to my spending habits, I believe the answer to that question is YES.

So here’s my plan (if you care):

• Continue to deposit 10% of each paycheck automatically into my savings account, and give 10% to my church. I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now, and I know that I can work with that remaining 80%. I don’t want to stop building my savings, because I want to always be prepared for special circumstances like car repairs or medical situations.
• Designate a reasonable amount of money toward groceries, gas, and toiletries, plus a certain small amount of “extra” money for things like the occasional restaurant dinner, movie, or pedicure.
• STOP shopping for clothes so much. I’ve realized lately that I spend a lot of money on clothes. Granted, I shop at Ross and I get amazing deals on everything I buy, but I’ve begun to let that be an excuse for my poor spending habits, and if I want to get these loans knocked out this year, I need to be more careful. Starting now, I want to cut back to a MAXIMUM of $60/month on clothes–basically, buying them only when I really need something.
• Pay $600/month toward my smaller loan until it’s paid off (around April/May).
• Pay $600/month toward my second (larger) loan, until the smaller loan is paid off. At that point, I’ll begin paying $1,200 toward the larger and only remaining loan, and if I stick with that plan, it’ll be paid off by November!
• Every couple of months, assess my spending and see if I have extra money that can be put toward my loans. I’m overestimating things like gas and groceries for now, because I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I’m totally out of money. So hopefully once I get into a new routine, I’ll have a more accurate feel for how much needs to be allocated toward each thing, and then I can put more of the remaining money toward the loans.

So, by the end of 2011, I’ll be debt-free, and by early 2013, I’ll have nice teeth! And guess what? Those are two of the big things that Joe and I want to take care of before we start having kids! (The third big thing is getting into a bigger place, and I’m crossing my fingers for 2013.)

PEOPLE. This means there is a very good chance I will become a mother before I turn 30. And that? THAT is exciting to think about.

On December 24, Samuel was taken off life support and, within minutes, he was gone. I’ve been deeply affected by that little boy’s life and his far too early death, and I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of pain his parents are experiencing. I feel like there is so little I could possibly write to “conclude” the story I began telling you three weeks ago, but I didn’t want to just ignore it and continue blogging as normal.

I wasn’t able to donate platelets that Saturday (but I did get a mean bruise in my attempt to do so), and I failed to be able to donate blood at the drive that was set up in Samuel’s name in my hometown. I know that Samuel’s life didn’t end because of me, or even because of a lack of blood or platelets to keep his heart and lungs going. I know that the doctors never sugar-coated the fact that he would very likely not survive for long because of the terrible condition of his organs at birth.

What I don’t know is how long it will be before I can donate blood again without thinking of little Samuel and crying. I don’t know how long it will be before I can sing Christmas carols or open presents without thinking of little Samuel and crying. I don’t know how long, if I were put in this situation with my own child, it would be before I could truthfully say, “Lord, I believe this was a part of your plan, and although I don’t understand it, I will yet praise you.” I am in awe of the faith and strength of Dan and Kelly, Samuel’s parents, and of the impact that Samuel’s life has had on thousands of people the world over.

There were blood drives organized in Samuel’s name, and many people traveled to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles to donate blood and platelets for a baby they’d never even met. People who had never prayed before were on their knees praying for Samuel. My aunt Terri organized conference calls so that people could call in and pray daily for Samuel, and almost everyone (including my aunt) who called in were people who have never even seen or heard of the Parkins family before. My baby sister (who, okay, is 19 years old and not at all a baby anymore) took the initiative to set up a donation website to help pay for the very expensive medical bills for Samuel’s short life — including the major surgery he received on December 20.

I don’t know why Samuel wasn’t miraculously healed — because I do believe that God is capable of making that happen. I selfishly hope that I never have to go through something this traumatic, but if I ever do, I want to go back to Dan’s posts throughout last month and be reminded of his words and his attitude about his son’s little life:

“[K]now this: God did an amazing work through that little giant.  He served in this life a mighty three weeks for the glory of God and serve well he did.  Countless stories surged over the internet of lives changed, humbled, and addressed to the King of kings.  Through God working in his life, I have heard of marriages getting strengthened, lives being reconciled, others coming to know Christ for the first time, suicidal thoughts changed to praises of adoration, and many other areas of healing.”

I’ll end with a song that Joe showed me the other day, which was written by Steven Curtis Chapman for his own daughter (who was only five years old when she was killed in a car accident).* I will never understand why these kinds of things happen, and call me crazy if you want, but I do believe that there is always hope, and that God is good.

*Oops. While SCC’s 5-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident, this song was actually written much earlier in dedication to the families who had lost children in a high school shooting.

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I’ll hopefully be back with some lighter posts very soon. In the meantime, go donate a little money for the Parkins’ medical expenses, would you?

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Thursday night, we drove down to Costa Mesa to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter with John and Kelly. I haven’t even seen the 5th or 6th movies (nor read beyond Book 4), so I was a tad lost. But it was still fun, and now I’m feeling renewed interest in the series, so I may actually finish reading it sometime this decade.

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Friday, I had a little laser hair removal done. ‘Nuff said.

This is me waiting for the numbing cream to take effect. I listened to Christmas music to help calm my nerves.

I’ll just say that it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected! Definitely less painful than the tattoo on the back of my neck. (And if you really want to know more, feel free to ask!) Anyway, after that, I had my eyes checked at the place where Kelly worked, and she and Joe helped me pick out some fantastic new glasses, which I should be getting by the end of the week. I’m also FINALLY getting prescription sunglasses in January, by which point I will basically be looking like a rock star 24/7. I’m also test-driving some new daily contacts to see how my eyes do, since I’ve had trouble with dryness and redness while using contacts in the past. So far, they seem to be pretty great, but I don’t want to get too excited just yet.

***

Friday night, John and Kelly had their friends (and our friends) Mark and Amy over to celebrate Mark’s birthday. Also, they just had a baby a month ago, so I got to hold him and kiss his little cheeks.

Too cute, right?

There was wine, steak, baked potatoes, and OH YEAH, Kelly made a spectacularly delicious raspberry-apple pie. I may or may not have eaten like a quarter  of it.

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Saturday we slept in and lazed about, then John, Joe and I (Kelly had to work) went to an Irish pub/restaurant for lunch. My shepherd’s pie was to die for, except I didn’t die (what’s up with that phrase, anyway?). Then we went to the Grand California Hotel at Disneyland to meet up with our Clan Inebriated friends, who were there celebrating the chief’s birthday.

This is the Chief of Clan Inebriated, Dennis. He was having a goooooood time!

One guy bought a glass of McCallan 18-year single malt and gave it to the three of us to share. That stuff is expensive, and also very tasty and smooth. After a couple hours with the clan, we said goodbye and headed back to John’s to get ready for his birthday-slash-wine-cellar-opening party. John recently built a wine cellar into an old closet in their townhouse, so there was plenty of wine sampling happening that night. I think about 20 or 30 people came throughout the night, and it was a ton of fun. There was awesome food, good conversation, and a few fun games like Things, Apples to Apples, and my favorite of the night: Pictophone. It’s a combination of Pictionary and Telephone, and if you’ve never played it, you’re missing out. I was laughing SO FREAKING HARD for basically two straight hours.

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Oh, which reminds me. John and Kelly have a cat, and I’m kind of insanely allergic to cats. Thankfully, they also have this amazing air filter/purifier thingamajig, and it’s so efficient that I can actually be in their house for more than an hour without wanting to die a thousand asthmatic deaths. But there was still a small amount of allergic activity going on the whole weekend, and all that laughter during Pictophone set me off pretty badly. Once I stopped laughing long enough to realize I could barely breathe, I had to run to get my inhaler before I completely passed out from a lack of oxygen. But it was totally worth it.

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Today, we slept in until noon. NOON, people. That was pretty glorious. However, it meant that we somehow didn’t eat our first meal until about 5:00, which was weird. We came home to Santa Barbara, and I was welcomed with this:

This is the first time I won’t have an excuse not to do jury duty, like being in school 120 miles from where I was registered. Bummer!

Now it’s 11 and I’m probably ready to fall asleep again pretty soon.

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Anyway, that was my awesome weekend. And in three days, I’ll begin a longer, probably even MORE awesome weekend. Hooray for holidays!

*Today, a bunch of ladies from work are dressed as characters from a Where’s Waldo picture, a la:

No one is actually dressed as Waldo himself; we’re just all red-and-white stripes and similar “gear” (like binoculars and striped hats). Most people around the office have easily recognized our costumes, but I’ve been asked several times if I’m Pippi Longstocking (because my hair’s in braids) or a candy cane. Still, I’m having fun being dressed up today!

*Yesterday, the power went out at work (20 minutes after we finished an emergency drill, ironically), and after waiting around for over three hours, they finally decided to let everyone go home since they didn’t know when the power would come back on. (It ended up being several MORE hours before power was restored!) Now, I’m not saying it’s a GOOD thing that I get paid for a full day’s work even though I was permitted to leave at 1 PM…but it was kind of a blessing because I really needed the break.

*Last night I went to Ross to return a whole mess of stuff, and I ended up shopping for THREE HOURS. I had a $100 gift card, though, so it was like I actually “made” money, since I the refunded money went directly into my bank account, and then I used my gift card for the new stuff. Anyway, I got some really cute cold-weather stuff, like a cowl-neck sweater dress and an adorable lime green cardigan.

*The babies are coming! I’ve mentioned before that I have upwards of 20 friends (both bloggy and “IRL”) who are pregnant, and it’s getting to be that time when they’re all beginning to pop out. My college roommate had her baby girl earlier this month, Nilsa had little Gavin just this week, and a few other girls I know are all due in the next 3-4 weeks, so it could happen ANY DAY for them! I’m pretty much in love with all the baby blogging and baby photo albums going on right now.

*Sunday might be Halloween, and that’s fun and all, but it’s also Joe’s birthday! We still haven’t made a solid plan for how we’ll celebrate, but we’ve got lots going on this weekend already, so whatever we decide will be fun, I’m sure.

*I’m getting pretty excited about NaBloPoMo, and I have quite a few ideas swimming around in my head. Hopefully that means I won’t be posting quite as many boring, pointless posts as I did last November. I’m still looking for more ideas and suggestions, so if you think of anything you’d like to see me blog about, let me know!

*Oh, and here’s another reason to get excited about November: I’m planning a sweet giveaway! More details will come, but let’s just say I think you guys will REALLY like it. I know I would like the prize I’m giving away, anyway.

*I’ve missed going to the gym the last couple of days, so I’m really looking forward to taking on the treadmill tonight. Monday, I ran out on the track and managed 2.81 miles in 30 minutes! I haven’t had the guts to run on the treadmill any faster than 5 MPH, but now that I know that I can run outdoors at about 5.6 MPH, I think tonight I’ll shoot for at least 5.5 and see how it goes.

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That’s all I have time for right now, and I probably won’t blog again until Monday when NaBloPoMo starts!

What’s bringing you a little bit of grace today?

We’ll see if I manage to start posting more consistently after this whole thing’s over, though.

Anyway, speaking of being halfway there, I spent some time this weekend making the earrings for my Truth Tuesday winners — something I should’ve done weeks ago. Out of the four pairs I need to make, I got two done (hence, the halfway trend of this post). The other two, unfortunately, will have to wait because I don’t have the right materials for them. There is a bead show in a few weeks, so I’ll stock up then and hopefully get these things finished before Christmas. But I’m pretty happy with the way these first two pairs of earrings have turned out, and I might just make a bunch of each of them and see how they fare in my Etsy shop. I guess maybe I’ll see how the winners feel — maybe they don’t want anyone else wearing their earrings, eh?

And on another “halfway” note: Have I mentioned yet that HALF of the couples in our small group are “expecting” right now? Joe and I went to a baby shower today for one of them, and there are two more who will be having showers soon, too. All three are expecting within the next two or three months, I think. Talk about a baby boom, right? (Don’t worry — we’re NOT getting any crazy ideas over here. Not for another couple of years, most likely.) But it’s exciting to have a group of friends who are all getting to share their experience with each other, and I’m looking forward to holding some babies.

I can’t think of any more half-type things to write about, so I’ll call that a good excuse to end this one and go play with some more beads. Hooray!

Progress
I’ve come up with 39 items so far for my 101 in 1001 list, and I’ve decided that instead of waiting to start the countdown until I have all 101 things listed, I will start it today because a) there’s no time like the present, and b) starting it today, November 11, 2009, means that in 1001 days it will be August 8, 2012, also known as MY THIRD WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. And that really made me feel like this thing is tangible. I can do 101 things by my third anniversary, no sweat. Right?

Oh, and I’m also contemplating starting a separate blog just for the 101 in 1001 stuff. I just need to decide whether I’d rather try to integrate it into this blog (potentially allowing it to take over for periods of time) or give it its own special home. Courtney, any advice as a person who maintains multiple blogs?

Procreation
We found out yesterday that my cousin Sarah had her baby! They decided to let the baby’s sex be a surprise, so it was SO exciting to get the call about the new little GIRL who joined our family last night. And it got me to thinking: I wonder what percent of the population prefers to be surprised by the sex of their baby, versus what percent decides to find out during the pregnancy? What would you do? I think I will probably want to find out…but I hear that a lot can change when you’re actually pregnant and thinking about the excitement of having a who-knows-which-sex.

Peter Pan
I’m still pretty immersed in my current reading kick, and since I just finished reading Crazy Love (which, by the way, rocked my world), I scoured my very small amount of books-that-aren’t-stuck-in-a-box-on-top-of-the-closet for one I haven’t read already. And I came across a book I had forgotten I even BOUGHT: Peter and the Shadow Thieves. If you’re into science fiction/fantasy at all (and/or if you love the story of Peter Pan), I think you’ll like this series. The first book is called Peter and the Starcatchers (and I’m kind of sick of finding links for this dang post), and I read it while I was in Romania in 2007. If it weren’t for the fact that I finished reading the SIX or SEVEN books I brought with me on that trip, I never would’ve walked into a Romanian bookstore to search their teeny tiny section of books printed in English, and I never would’ve discovered the genius that is Dave Barry as a children’s novelist.

So, needless to say, I’m pretty excited to start the second book tomorrow. It’s sure to be a nice break from the more serious, introspective and depressing sorts of books I seem to have been drawn to lately.

Anyway, there’s my post for today. Check out my 101 in 1001 list (right up there between “About Me” and “Features”) and let me know if anything needs to be more specific, measurable or if it sounds like something I already do pretty regularly or easily. These are supposed to be at least a little bit challenging! Oh, and weigh in:

Should I start a separate blog for the 101 project, or keep it all here?

I’m pretty sure this calls for a joyous rendition of “Oh Happy Day” a la Sister Act 2:

Pretty sure the combination of my nephew’s face and this song makes for an impossibly huge smile on ANYONE’S face. I dare you to tell me I’m wrong.

Tagged: babies, family, music, photos ]]> http://probablytabitha.com/2009/10/23/oh-happy-day/feed/ 6 Tabitha Levi http://probablytabitha.com/2009/09/24/tmi-thursday-my-love-hate-relationship-with-the-o-word/ http://probablytabitha.com/2009/09/24/tmi-thursday-my-love-hate-relationship-with-the-o-word/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:28:13 +0000 Tabitha http://tabithablogs.wordpress.com/?p=480 ]]> It’s TMI Thursday, peeps. Be afraid.

This morning I was trying to think of any awful/awesome TMI fodder I might have, and was about to declare it a non-TMI Thursday, when my genius husband reminded me:

It’s that time of the month.

Yes, dear readers, my period came this month! And if you haven’t been reading around these parts, that may not mean anything to you, but it’s significant because last month I did NOT get my period, and was all, “Ack! I’m not ready for a baby! And what’s the point of this stupid birth control if I’m gonna get pregnant within the first MONTH of having sex?!”

So when I noticed those first little traces of menstruation juice in my knickers* a couple days ago, to put it in the words of Monty Python: “There was much rejoicing.”

(unenthusiastic “yay…”)

Then came the cramps.

And also the insane moodiness, followed (of course) by irrational BAWLING at the kitchen sink last night while washing dishes with Joe.

And some more cramps.

And some annoying tampon-shoving-and-removal-and-putting-in-and-taking-out…

And then I decided that I wished I WAS pregnant, just so I could avoid this week of getting beaten up by my ovaries.

(Clearly, I’m a very rational person when I’m on my rag.)

But anyway…kind of a mild TMI, I know. Except, didn’t I throw you off a little with the title? “My love-hate relationship with the O-word”? Admit it: you totally thought it was going to be about oranges? Oklahoma? (DUH) orgasms.

Maybe next week.

Oh, and in case this whole post was the lamest thing you’ve read all day, let me rephrase it in the form of a letter.

Dear Ovaries,

We’ve been through a lot together in the last eight years**, and usually when you kick into high gear for that week out of every month, I want to rip you out of my body and stomp you all to pieces so that you will Stop Trying To Kill Me.

But when you didn’t come last month, I almost missed you. Twisted, right?

See, as much as I hate to admit it, I need you in my life. I want kids SOMEDAY, so I have to deal with your monthly beatings in the meantime.

Anyway, this week, I still want to rip you out of my body and stomp you all to pieces. But I’m conflicted, because I also want to become freakishly flexible so I can bend down and kiss you, and say, “Thank you for respecting my wishes and succumbing to the birth control I’ve been force-feeding you. I promise that someday, hopefully before I’m 30, I will make your hard work pay off by giving birth to at least 17 children. But thank you for being patient, and letting me be a childless newlywed for a little bit longer…And hey, Ovaries? Not to kill this sweet moment, but if you don’t EASE THE HECK UP in the next 30 seconds, I’m going back to the wanting-to-kill-you bit. Seriously, OW.”

Simultaneously grateful and downright murderous,

Tabitha

—–

*I never call my underwear/panties/chonies “knickers” — but the girl at Fredrick’s of Hollywood kept calling them that, and it makes me giggle. Does ANYONE really call them knickers anymore?

**Yes, I’ve only had my period for eight years, meaning I didn’t start until I was 16. I was a late bloomer…don’t judge me.