Set for the Week

Well the weekend was fun, but now it's over. Joannie, Perkins and Martin are all gone now and I'm by my lonesome with nothing but Theodore, Baxter, 3 knitting books, 1 natural birth book and 5 movies from the library. Heh heh... I think I'll survive.

This is a very small picture of our Crawfordsville dreamhouse. It's much stranger looking in real life than it is in the picture. Unfortunately, it's smaller than our current house and more expensive. Not that we're moving, of course. We love our house... and it's a good thing too, since we're locked in for another 4 1/2 years at least!

One of the knitting books I got was a book of toys to knit. Last winter I bought some brown yarn from River Knits that I never used, so I'm going to attempt a knit bear or a knit mouse for the baby. I will use my own child's toy as a guinea pig project and if all goes well, I might make finger puppets for all the nieces and nephews for Christmas! Wouldn't that be cute! Of course... I have a zillion other kniitting projects to finish before I think of Christmas. For instance, Gracie's scarf! I ripped it out and started over to make it narrower and I think it looks better. My mom and Martin both insist that Gracie will love it simply because it is pink and purple... she will think it's "dordeous." (gorgeous.) I sure hope they're right.

And here for your viewing pleasure are a couple of pictures of Martin and the kidaroos. I'd forgotten about these pictures until I went to upload the group picture from the coffee shop the other night. In the first one, I don't think anyone is on the trampoline--they're all in the air. In the second one Martin is trying to cheer up PeterXavier after almost breaking his neck. It was accidental, of course. And PX cheered up pretty quickly.

I'm currently listening to the fabulous album entitled "Annie Hatke: And Her First CD" and laughing at the lyrics of the song "Everlasting Friend" that I wrote, in which I am gazing into ever-faithful brown eyes. What's so hilarious is that it sounds like something about love, but really it was about my golden retriever. Boy did I have everybody fooled.

I feel the suspicious stuffiness of an ear infection coming on. I hope it goes away.

Our next-door neighbors are named Hugs and Nick, and they are VERY nice. Hugs is quite a talker but she's really sweet, and sometimes at night when we're walking Baxter we can hear Nick laughing from inside the house. He has a very loud laugh! Anyway, today Hugs asked what kind of music I play and I told her I play folk music and we started talking about different folk artists we like and about 15 minutes after we went our separate ways, she came over with a CD she had burned for me with her favorite folk songs on it. How sweet is that?!? So I'll have to repay her with some of MY favorites....

And here is the group from the Village Coffee House the other night! I think it's amusing that Kim (who took the picture) kept telling Matt that he needed to scooch over more, but he left enough room for another person on the other side of Martin.

For anyone who doesn't know, the lineup is (l to r): Martin, Annie, Joannie, Anne, Matt.

OH NO!! HEARTBURN!!!!!

A Post From Campbell's

It's not every day you get to share a coffee shop with a whole table of princesses! Right below me there are four or five little girls dressed head to toe in princess outfits (and accessories) having lunch together. Someone's taking pictures of them and so they keep saying "cheeeeeeeese" in that really monotone voice that all 5-year-olds use when saying "cheese" and having their picture taken. It's REALLY cute. This place is always so full of kids. Every time I'm here it seems there are just loads and loads of babies and very small children. Not so much older kids, but a ton of babies and strollers. It's pretty fun and makes me feel like I'll still be able to come here all the time when I have a dinosaur of my own and am coming to Crawfordsville for visits.

Last night was GREAT!! Kim and I played at Village Coffee House and not only were there a few attentive strangers who gave us tips, but also there was a couch full of all my friends!!! Anne, Joannie, Matt Spencer and the Watsons ALL CAME!!! It was so much fun!! Kim took a picture of all of us and when I'm home I will post it. It's so good to have friends. And Joannie brought me some baby shower gifts--an adorable little teether duck named Waddles and a trio of "interactive" and "stimulating" "activities." Hahaha!! They are three of those funny little hangy things that hook to strollers and carseats. They're very cute. But nothing can beat Waddles.

Five weeks till I'm "term." I can't believe it! This is good news for a number of reasons. It means the baby will be here soon and it means that Martin's travel season will be over at the same time. Although, it's hardly really started yet, since he was only gone one week before his designated week in the office. He's leaving tomorrow morning to go down south and won't be home until Thursday afternoon/evening. Boooo. Oh well, I will be able to watch "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" over and over again and nobody will be around to make fun of me. Maybe I'll even start singing along with Donovan....

Last night Martin's insurance man/financial helper man came over to the house. I had never met him before but he was really nice!! He's a little bit old and one of his sons went to Wabash and now is a dentist. I wouldn't want to be a dentist. I don't even like GOING to the dentist.

One gross thing about last night was that we spent a time all sitting around staring at my jello stomach. I think Joannie might've been a little freaked out. But now she knows that I wasn't lying about the insane amount that Franja moves!!! And he's like that ALL THE TIME!

I'm waiting for Martin to be done working out. He had to give a talk to some baseball players down here this morning and then worked out afterward but he should be done sometime soon.

Okay, I'm bored with this post. I'm going to read other people's blogs now.

JONI MITCHELL IS A TRAITOR!!!!!!!

JONI MITCHELL RECORDED RUDYARD KIPLING'S "IF"!!!!!! IT SUCKS!!!!! HER VERSION IS TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! AND I DID IT FIRST, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN!!!! I WROTE THE MUSIC FOR THOSE WORDS BEFORE I COULD DRIVE!!!!!

I'm trying as we speak to figure out if the words were public domain when I recorded it and copyrighted that CD to find out if I'll get arrested if I sue her. If I'm in the clear, I'm TOTALLY SUEING JONI MITCHELL!!!!!!!!!!!

Wildflowers for Sale

Do you ever pay money for something only to realize later that you could've gotten it for free--and much more easily? Well today I was looking out my window at some flowers growing in the jungle and I thought, "those are pretty flowers." Then I thought... "PRETTY ON MY TABLE!!" and realized I'd just bought a whole bouquet of them from Rubia's on Tuesday!!! Arg!! They're growing crazily right at the top of our driveway, I hardly even have to leave the house to pick them, and here I paid $2 for a bunch of them AND had to get in my car and drive to get them!

Silly, silly me.

I have to brag about my new pandora.com station. It's "Nanci Griffith Radio" but I realized today that you can add other music you'd like that particular station to play, so I added Jeffrey Foucault and Peter Mulvey and now I have created THE BEST PANDORA STATION IN THE UNIVERSE. I get shivers just thinking about all the good songs this station will play!!

Speaking of playing: Kim & Annie tonight at Village Coffee House 8-10. That's not an exciting event in and of itself, but what's ridiculously exciting is that JOANNIE is going to be there!!!!! HOORAY!!!! She doesn't know it yet, but we're going to invite her over for coffee at our house tomorrow. We have this vanilla biscotti coffee that Martin just opened this morning and it was so strong and yummy smelling that it woke me up. And funnily enough, it's Folgers, so it was just like in their commercials where I woke up sniffing the air and then was happy to get out of bed to go downstairs and smell it some more. Yum.

Today for lunch I packed some sandwiches and fruit and drove down to Crawfordsville to have lunch in the arboretum with Martino! It was very nice. He told me all about the trees. I wonder if I would find Wabash nearly as intriguing if I weren't married to someone who knew so much about it? Probably not.

I'm totally going to play "Universal Soldier" tonight and see what kind of response I get... from Joannie. Haha!

The other day Martin told me I'm the biggest pot smoker who's never smoked pot. I guess he's kind of right, although I'd never thought of myself that way.

I am so in love with this pandora station. It makes me just want to sit here in front of the computer and listen to it forever.

Kitty Toes

This morning I woke up and my cat was curled up asleep under my chin. It was really great.

Yesterday I started watching "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" as a tribute to St. Francis. (And also because it's sooooo funny.) Evidently Martin has never seen this particular Zeffirelli masterpiece. He came in and saw young St. Francis frolicking through a field with the 1973 folk music in the background, gave me the weirdest look and said, "Is this Cat Stevens?" "No," I said, "Better. It's Donovan." This especially great because Martin HATES Donovan. He didn't seem too taken with the movie. I guess it is a little bit fruity, what with St. Francis crying all the time from being overcome with emotion and holding everyone's hands, but I like it. And I haven't seen it since sixth grade! I'm disappointed with the lack of animals in it though, so far. Maybe there will be more later.

Speaking of animals, the one thing I miss about having cable is the Discovery channel and the PBS animal specials and Animal Planet. All those good animal shows.

Yesterday afternoon was bad. I love making vegetable soup and yesterday I made some, enough to last us dinner for two days at least. I was excited about it--it always smells so good. So I put it on the burner and left (to watch my moovie) and when I came back to the room there was a dead fly in my soup. Boo. I'm glad we didn't eat it because when we dumped it out there turned out to be more. So we walked to Panera for dinner.

Oooh, I was just on the phone with Martin and discovered a good title for a book: "Barefoot in the Snow, Uphill Both Ways." Clearly this would be a book about the poor, miserable childhood that all memoir authors had. However, it might be funny.

I woke up when Martin woke up this morning and I've been wide awake all this time but now I think I'm going to go back to sleep.

GapMaternity

I was just looking online at the Gap maternity section, and while the clothes are just as cute as Gap clothes can be, the models don't look very preggie. They just look like they're arching their backs and pooching out their tummies. Oh well. I guess I'll remember to shop GapMaternity only during the fat stage and not at the ginormous stage.

The Health of the Ghetto

I often find myself fearing for the health of myself, Martin, our pets, and soon, our child. This is not a clean area, in any way. You can tell the social health of the neighborhood just by looking at the houses, not to mention the crack pipe Martin found on the sidewalk last winter and the list of pedophiles we looked up on the internet that are surrounding us. But when I think of the germs that are floating around the library, it kind of creeps me out. I walk Baxter around the library block and can't count the number of infectious diseases I'm passing on South Street. I'll be lucky if our child survives infancy with the number of germs milling around that bus stop. (And if alcoholism were contagious, I'd be worried about that too.) It's a far cry from the suburbs, that's for sure. I predict that either Franja will die within the first year from TB or something of that nature, or s/he'll have the immune system of a superhero!

And now I'll admit that I'm really no better than the rest of the neighborhood. Martin called a little bit ago to tell me that his insurance man is coming over to the house tomorrow. Yikes! Suddenly I'm made aware of how awful our house looks, inside and out. Martin says it looks fine but I'm not so sure. If only we had a normal couch, and not so many flies. If only the outside didn't look so trashy. If only I knew what to do with all the garbage that is covering all the flat surfaces of the house! And I hope this man isn't allergic to cats....

Last night Martin and I went on a date to Starbucks. Now, no judgie (as Lisa would say.) It was a FREE date to Starbucks with some giftcards that Martin got from work. So we walked over to the Wabash Landing Starbucks and I got to enjoy a caramel apple cider (yay!) and I don't know what he had. This was when we were sitting in the window and that whole Sheila Klinker thing happened. (Don't get me started on THAT again..) So anyway, we really weren't gone for very long, maybe an hour or an hour and a half. I doubt it was two hours. We walked Baxter before we left, and again a little bit after we got home. And as we came down Alabama Street on the library side, we noticed that one of the parking signs had been COMPLETELY smashed down! Flat into the sidewalk with tire skidmarks on either side of it, as if someone had run over it head-on!! It would be quite a challenge to hit it at such an angle. But anyway, we were bummed that we missed all the action, I bet it was really loud. There was car paint down at the bottom of the sign. I just walked Baxter again a little while ago, and already it's been straightened out and put back up. Which is good, because it was blocking the sidewalk.

I'm wearing a shirt that doesn't exactly fit me but I like it. It's this red shirt that some of you might remember from Sarah's pregnancies. She wore it all the time because it's so cute and comfy. She wore it right up to the birth of PeterXavier. But now I'm wearing it, and it doesn't quite fit. I don't know what's to blame, whether it's my giant totties or the fact that I am more ginormous with my first baby than Sarah was with her third, but whatever it is... it's a slightly depressing. Especially since it wouldn't be hard for me to admit that the only reason I got pregnant in the first place was so I could wear this shirt. And now it doesn't even fit!

Before we were married I was making this quilt as a wedding gift to Martin. Well, the quilt never got finished. In fact, the quilt TOP never got finished. But I still have it all organized as it was, so I figure that while he's gone for the next few weeks it will be a perfect time for me to work on that quilt and possibly finish it, or at least finish the top. I have to finish it because the fabrics are gorgeous, they are Moda which is a really nice brand of fabric. Sooooo soft and nice to work with. And GREAT colors. I love it. Whenever I get it out to work on it again I will post a picture of the colors, although a picture won't do it justice I'm sure.

Speaking of quilts, last night was cold enough to sleep with a quilt on the bed. Hooray! My mom bought us a bedding set awhile back and the sheets are really cute--tan with green and brown stripes. Since our bed has yet to evolve from a mattress on the floor, the dust ruffle and comforter aren't getting much use, but I did fold up that floral quilt I made a few years ago at the end of it and last night we used it, and it is sooooooooo pretty. If there was one good thing that came from me working at the quilt store, that is it. I love that quilt. It it's so soft and snuggly!! Perfect for fall. Or spring. Or winter, with another blanket or two on top.

My old apartment was so cold last winter that I would sleep with two quilts, a blanket, a down comforter, a sheet, and an electric blanket. Before bed I would put all the blankets on top of the electric blanket and turn it on so it'd get reeeeaaaallly warm in my bed. Then I'd crawl in. Aah, winter. I love it.

Move your car, Sheila!!!!

Alright.

It already annoys me enough when visitors to Wabash Landing park their cars on the yellow curb right outside of Starbucks and put on their hazard lights while they go into one of the stores, as if having your hazard lights flashing means that you're not actually parked. It really, REALLY annoys me when people do that. Not only is the curb painted yellow in that spot, but there is also a very visible sign that reads "NO PARKING HERE TO CORNER" in nice big red letters, posted at a very reasonable level. So it strikes me as very inconsiderate and arrogant to park there.

And then tonight, who of all people but SHEILA KLINKER, our own State Representative, parked her official State Representative car on the yellow curb right outside of Starbucks. (I know this because I was sitting in the window at Starbucks, watching.) She turned on her hazard lights, left Vic in the passenger seat with his big cigar, and walked away from the vehicle. HELLO, Sheila, you are our State Representative!! So, REPRESENT WELL!!! Do the rules not apply to you because you're old and crazy, or because you're too special?! What makes you think that you should be able to park underneath the "NO PARKING HERE TO CORNER" sign with your hazard lights flashing while you go in to get your take-out dinner from Panera, instead of having to drive through the lot a thousand times before finding a parking spot like all the other suckers who are shopping there at 7:00 on a Wednesday night?!?!?! WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL THAT YOU CAN BREAK THE LAW??!?! And of all people!!! You're not an emergency vehicle! You're a Subaru Outback with a Tony Roswarski bumper sticker and a license plate that claims you to be the representative of all peoples of Indiana. Well, Sheila, let me ask you this: Do you want all the citizens of Indiana parking on the yellow curbs? Do you want the state of Indiana to be full of hazard lights and illegally parked vehicles?? I JUST BET YOU DON'T!!!

Aaaurgggh!!!

To Smell like a Hippie

I love to go to Nature's Pharm. I like how it smells so good and is full of all those pretty labels. I like to go there and even if I don't buy anything I have a good time looking around at everything. Today I bought some shower gel because I ran out of mine and have been looking for organic to avoid the plastic gay-making products. I also got a couple bottles of that raspberry ginger ale. Mmmm...

Thanks to those who commented on my last post. It was very helpful! Seems like I'm actually among the majority, which is good.

All I can think about these days is the Feast and how great it will be. I'd like to get some good looking clay bowls and maybe some small wooden spoons, and OH MY GOSH I CAN'T WAIT FOR RABBIT STEW AND APPLE DUMPLINGS!!!!!!

A Post for the Ladies

Okay, this is going to be a poll-style post. All you mommies out there can reply to the poll as a comment. You don't have to, of course... but I'd REEEALLY appreciate it. (plus, I'm nosey.)

See, I've been reading pregnancy books and articles for the past 7 months (approximately) and every time I come across something that says "by this time you will ____" I think to myself, well gosh, that's been going on for a couple of months already. It makes me curious. I know that every pregnancy is different, blah blah blah, and I am by no means EXPECTING to have an early baby... if anything, I'm expecting to go late, just because. But I'd like to have something solid to compare myself to, something other than "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and FitPregnancy magazine.

So anywho, here we go. These questions can be answered for singular babies or multiple babies, or not answered at all if you don't want to share:

When did you feel baby move for the first time from the inside?:

When did you feel baby move with your hand on your belly?

When were you able to see baby moving?

When did you start leaking?

Did you ever have any pregnancy symptoms that magically went away, such as backache, or squished lungs? And if you did, did it mean anything that they disappeared?

When did your belly button pop out, if it did?

When did you start having Braxton-Hicks contractions, and did you get them a lot?

At what point were you unable to sleep?

How much did your baby move throughout your pregnancy?

Was your baby a boy or a girl?

How early/late/on time was your baby?

This concludes the survery portion of this post.

To anyone who answers, thanks. I'm just getting very curious. The most recent thing I've read is that "by the end of this trimester" your baby's bones will be strong enough that you'll see him move from the outside. But I've been seeing him move from the outside for weeks and weeks already. And the whole leakage thing has been going on since about 20 weeks.

So anyway, sorry for the nasty "Ladies Only" post. It's almost midnight and I really don't have anything else to say, but I can't sleep. Boo.

Monday Mumblings

I can hardly believe it!! Look who's got a blog! Not quite as literary as I'd have expected from an English major, but whatever. It's still always fun to win a convert. First facebook, now blogspot... he's just as bad as I am, even though he won't admit it, heh heh heh.



Speaking of blogs, thanks to mine Martin and I got some leftover chicken and noodles for lunch yesterday! HOORAY!! My mom read my last post and called me to tell me to come up and get the leftovers! I didn't know there WERE leftovers!! If I had known there was more on the stove that night, I would've had a second helping!



I'm starting to feel heavy. I had an uneventful doctors appointment this morning. I've been doing towels and sheets laundry and washing dishes and I'm all sweaty, but the nesting thing must be kicking in more, because as much as I want to stop, I can't!! I was putting away clothes upstairs and sweating so much, but I just couldn't stop. I put away way more stuff than I would usually bother with. This is a good thing, I know, but I am surprising myself with my productivity these days.



GermanFest on Saturday was fun! The band was great! I felt a little bad only working for an hour, but we kept wandering back to the brat booth until 8:00 and they were never especially busy, so I guess they didn't need us. It sounds bad to say they weren't busy... I think the reality was that they had so many volunteers, there just wasn't enough work to go around! But it was a fun party.



And just for kicks, here's a picture of Martino and me
on Christmas night 2005. Pre-engagement, pre-marriage, we'd only been dating for about 3 months. Obviously we were both real big dirtbags during that time. This was the day I got my digital camera as a Christmas present from my parents, and I was super snap-happy. What a wonderful present! Last year, our first Christmas as married peoples, we got a video camera, which I intend to also use like a mad-woman once dinosaur is here. You all can look forward to pictures AND videos of our child!! Wow, who could ask for more?

Online Window Shopping

While Martin is working out for awhile in the backyard I've been sitting here in the big room doing some online window shopping on jcrew.com. I fell in love with very few things. None of the dresses or skirts really wowed me, I wouldn't ever buy JCrew pants because I'd have to have them tailored anyway, and sweaters from anyplace other than the second-hand stores will have to wait until next year when I'm [hopefully] back to my usual size. However, I did fall in love with a couple of things. One was a long navy blue coat and one was a similar long brown coat. It was not chocolate brown it was more like horsey brown. They were both so elegant looking and pretty. Then there was this pair of gloves that were long and white, but they were winter gloves. They might've been cashmere. I fell in love with them too. I thought of how gorgeous it would be to wear the navy coat with the long white gloves and to go places with my perfectly dressed, doll-like baby and be the model of style and perfection. Then I remembered what babies are really like and told myself that to even think of buying anything white between now and twenty years from now would be a major mistake.

Heck, I have a white scarf and I can't even keep THAT clean!

Last night we had chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes at my parents' house for my sister's birthday and ever since I finished my meal I've been craving more. Yummmmm yum. That's one of the best meals in the whole entire world. Next to yummy pasta, of course.

I am now 31 weeks pregnant. That leaves me 6 weeks till being "term," 9 weeks till my due date, and 11 weeks till I actually give birth. It also means two weeks till my birthday, three weeks till the Feast, and 5 weeks till Halloween. I'm thinking these last weeks will fly by!!

As for my quilt, it is in the binding stage, believe it or not. I did a crappy job quilting it and didn't want to make it worse by trying to quilt every outside square without a hoop, so I just left the edge unquilted and am hoping what I did will hold it together. The binding looks good, I think. It was just some that I had leftover from a different quilt. I haven't measured the quilt but Martin was surprised at how big it was, he had seen the picture online and thought it would be more baby-sized. It's actually a little bigger than baby size and it's a perfect square. And ridiculously girly.

Walking on Eyelashes

I had a very strange experience this morning. I was in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror putting on my makeup, barefoot, and I stepped on something. It felt like I had stepped on a little piece of glass. My first thought was, "oh, fantastic, now we've got glass all over the bathroom floor" as I hobbled to the toilet to find it and fish it out. Well, I found it--and it wasn't glass at all--it was an EYELASH! It wasn't mine, it wasn't a person eyelash at all. I think it was a Baxter eyelash because it was all white and Theodore's eyelashes are grey. Isn't that crazy?! Who knew that a little doggie eyelash could be so sharp! Well, I pulled it out (kind of cool, really) and that was the end of my weird experience.

Happy Birthday to Sarah! How old are you this year... a quarter of a century?... again?

Just Like the Olden Times

Well... sort of. Except now I have these crazy animals mauling me every time I have something to eat. It's officially autumn at Einstein Bagels--they have their pumpkin products! So I'm back to my old breakfast of a pumpkin bagel with honey almond cream cheese. Yuuuuuum yum! It so reminds me of last fall when I would eat breakfast while checking my email before going to work. Except last fall Theodore wasn't very big, nor did he seem to be quite as interested in people food. But now... wow. Now he's a real weirdo. I got home, came in with my breakfast to eat it while I checked my email (and blogged) but Baxter kept whining from the kitchen. Stupid me, I thought that meant he needed to go out. So I took him for a walk and came back to eat my breakfast (again) but Theodore had gotten it!!! I looked all over the house for it and found it, all the paper in shreds, behind a chair. He didn't eat much of the bagel, he probably just licked it... so I went ahead and ate it anyway. And now that I'm back eating my breakfast and checking emails (and blogging) Baxter is STILL whining in the kitchen. He just wants to come back here. But clearly, he's not allowed back here because he breaks windows because he can't control himself.

I'm glad Anna got her package from my parents because now I can post about the sheepskin booties that my parents also got for my baby!! They are soooooooo cute. I adore them. And soft!! I am so excited for my little baby to wear them. I'm kind of glad to have a fall/winter baby. It sounds cozy. I would like to have more overalls for him though... right now I only have one pair and they are not newborn size. I'd like to have lots of overalls, ESPECIALLY if it is a boy.

Martin comes home tonight! Four days is a long time. Last night the phones weren't working either, so we couldn't call each other or text each other. I even went over to the neighbors house and tried their phones, but they are also on cingular so they didn't work either. And the Cooks seemed to be asleep, otherwise I would've tried their landline.

I went to coffee with Alison yesterday afternoon. That's always fun! They've built an awning at Vienna over the patio and I can't really decide what I think of it. Turgay was there and told us all about his new puppy!! She's not really a puppy, she's a dog, but her name is Franny! How cute is that!!!

Today Kim and I are doing a podcast for the J&C. I don't know what a podcast is, but I'm doing it anyway.

New Poll

I hope you all take the time to notice the new poll at the bottom of my blog. It is VERY IMPORTANT to me that I get lots of feedback on this question!! The future of my head is at your fingertips, dear readers!! Vote with honesty!!

Chipmunk Emergency!!!

Today started out much better than yesterday. After many phone calls and texts from Martin trying to drag me out of bed, I was showered, breakfasted and to the car place by 8:45. I sat in the waiting area next to this nice old lady who admired my knitting. Well, she didn't really admire it at all... she just said it was good thinking to have brought it with me and asked what I was making (a scarf) and if I go to River Knits. She was very nice. The car was done by 10:00 and I picked up Martin's shirts from the cleaners on the way home. Now I feel as if I've been productive today and it isn't even lunchtime yet!

However, when I got home I got a sad surprise. I pulled into the driveway and noticed that there was a chipmunk in the driveway who was not moving. So I backed up and watched him. Then I parked on the street and went up for a closer look. In fact, I took a picture:

His little eyes were closed but he was still breathing. Then Tara came outside and we agreed that I should call the Wildcat Wildlife Center and ask them what to do. So I came inside and called, but had to leave a message and they haven't gotten back to me yet! I will go check on the little guy soon. I feel really bad though. Sometimes he moves his head a little bit. I'm really afraid that I somehow backed over him on my way out this morning, except he doesn't look squished at all... he just looks like he's sleeping.

I love chipmunks.

Fetal Franja has been crazy today... as usual. I wish I knew which little body parts are where. I've read that they move the most between weeks 32 and 36 or something, when they are very strong and still haven't run out of room to move. I'm only 30 weeks! Eek! I can't imagine him being more active than this!

I just checked on the chipmunk and he's turned around. Poor little guy. Ugh, I wish those people would call me back!!

This morning at the car place I had the rare experience of watching morning talk shows. First it was the end of The Early Show and the guest was Barry Manilow who CREEPS ME OUT. He's so icky looking, especially when he sings. Then the next show was Regis and Kelly. Wow. What a retarded talk show. I think that show should have gone off the air with Kathy Lee Gifford. It's so not funny--their jokes are lame and their sentiment is just dramatized garbage--and Kelly Rippa isn't even cute! She just looks like one of the middle-aged soccer moms you see at the bagel store who wears too much pink and kind of makes you sad because it's obvious how hard they try. Sorry if this paragraph is judgemental and complainy... I guess now I know how my mom feels when she goes to rehab and has to watch Dr. Phil every day. (although I think she secretly likes it!!)

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day!!! I was reminded of that in a voicemail from my dad. I like having a dad who is somewhat technologically savvy because it means I can send him text messages. Even if he isn't very good at texting back, at least he knows how to read them.

I'm really excited to meet our dinosaur. I keep wondering if it's a boy or a girl and while most of me thinks it's a girl, I don't really trust that feeling. Whenever I guess on the gender of other people's unborn children I'm always wrong. If this is a girl I have lots of cute things for it to wear. Girly little things and some pink booties. However, if it's a boy... we have a pair of toddler-sized Adidas Sambas to match his daddy's. It would be pretty darn cute to dress Fran up in brown cords, a plaid flannel button-down and his sambas next fall. !!!!!!!!

Hot, tired, cranky and huge

It's one of those days where everything should go smoothly and nothing does. What was the one thing I had to do today? Take the car in for an oil change. I didn't even have to pay for it because we got a complimentary one last time we were there. All I had to do was take the car in, sit there and knit while they changed the oil, then go home and continue with my day. Except instead of getting up when I woke up to take the car in, I fell back asleep and slept until ten o'clock! By the time I was ready for my day it was after 11:00 and I didn't want to take the car in then because I'd be waiting on it for the rest of the day.

Also, when I woke up, I found Baxter had been into the basket of diapers and had eaten one. It was one of the cute rolled up ones tied with green ribbon. I hate that dog.

So then I thought I'd work on my quilt. But I had to go out and buy batting and basting spray and possibly the backing fabric as well because I didn't REALLY want to mix the flannel and the smooth cotton on the same quilt. So I went to JoAnn's and found the batting but it isn't the good kind like at the quilt store, it's completely synthetic which is kind of gross. But whatever. Also, one can of basting spray was fifteen dollars and I didn't have that kind of money, so I just skipped it. Hopefully the synthetic batting will be enough to hold stuff together until it's quilted. I found some really pretty fabric for the back and bought it even though it wasn't on sale. I figured it didn't matter because I didn't need very much of it. At the end of the trip I spent $25, which isn't bad, and came home to put my quilt together and start quilting.

But when I got here and got it all put together and cut to size, I got out my quilt hoop only to discover that the wingy nut and washer had fallen off sometime since the last time I used it, which was... what, two years ago? Four years ago? It's been a good while since I've quilted something. I looked through Martin's toolbox but none of what he had fit the screw. So I went to my mom's house to borrow her hoop.

But I couldn't find it. By now it was about 90 degrees outside and I would have liked to have been back in bed. So I called Martin and he told me to go to the hardware store and buy what I needed. He said to take the whole hoop with me if I wanted and anyone working there would be happy to help me. Well, I didn't take the whole hoop, I just took the screw; I put it in my pocket. And then somehow on the drive from home to the hardware store the screw cut my leg and then my pants were rubbing against it and it was very uncomfortable and I hated everything.

At the hardware store I thought I'd be able to try the little wingy thingers on the screw, but no such luck. They all were in individual bags! And all the workers who were there seemed very busy and I was too shy to ask anyone for help, so I guessed. I bought two wingies that looked like they fit and went back to the car where I tried them on. And they didn't fit. They were too small.

But I was too scared to go back in looking so dumb, so I went to Target instead because we needed orange juice anyway and I thought Target might have some hardware. But they didn't. So I wasted a trip there too. Well, not a whole trip... I just didn't need to walk around the whole dumb store looking for hardware that I'd never find. So I got my cheap bread and my two cartons of Tropicana Homestyle orange juice and I went home. Except I didn't go directly home... I went to JoAnn's AGAIN and bought a quilt hoop. One that I thought would be smaller than the one I have so at least I wouldn't have two of the same size. (the size I have though is perfect.) So I finally got home, all hot and sweaty and tired of wandering around town in a car that should've had an oil change two weeks ago, feeling guilty for not waking up to take it in this morning, and I came back here to finally do the quilting and the hoop I bought is BIGGER than the one I already had, and I don't know if it will even work for the quilt, since the thing isn't basted together. If it's too big, it won't work. Ugh.

And most of the time I like being pregnant and when I think about ten weeks from now it doesn't seem very long, but when I think that I'm only 7 months and 3 days pregnant and I have to get to 9 months before I don't look like this anymore, I get kind of discouraged because I already feel so huge and gross.

Grr!

This is the quilt, anyway. Well, the quilt top. I took this last night when I finished the top, before I had bought the back fabric today. There isn't a border because I didn't have enough fabric for that. So it might end up looking kind of dumb, I'm not sure.

Also, I finally got my engagement ring off my finger. That's depressing too. But if my fingers puff up during labor I don't want to have to have my engagement ring cut off because it means too much to me and I will worry about it. I'd rather have it here at home, safe in its box, until I can put it back on again. I've been trying for awhile to get it off with no luck, but then finally yesterday I was able to squeeze it off. If they cut off my wedding band that will be sad, but not such a big deal. Is it bad that my wedding band doesn't mean as much to me as my engagement ring? It's just that I love my engagement ring because Martin picked it for me and he gave it to me and he worked hard to save the money for it, and so on... The only interesting thing about our wedding bands is that we had a hard time getting them on each other at our wedding because we both had such sweaty hands. Which is not to say we were especially nervous.. (well, I was nervous because I had this vision of me dropping his ring and it rolling away and me having to chase it down the aisle and look like a moron) we're just sweaty-handed people. Martin especially.

Anyway, that's my grumpy day. I don't even want to do the quilting anymore, I just want to have it magically finish itself.

Also at JoAnn's I bought the yarn for Gracie's birthday present. I think she will really like it.

Oh, HOORAY!! It's FALL!!

Well, let me tell you what I'm wearing on this gorgeously chilly day!! So last year on my birthday Martin gave me a blue Gap sweater, brown socks with blue and white argyle, and a bouquet of white and blue flowers. Super cute! I love being married to a girl! Anyway, the sweater is very adorable, but it's a little bit big, and a little bit strechy so it's always been a little baggy on me.... UNTIL NOW!! Hahaha!! So today I am wearing my blue sweater with my brown tank top underneath, my favorite [pouch pants] jeans, the matching argyle socks and my clogs. I LOVE FALL. I was going to wear my white scarf but I didn't think of it until after we'd already left the house. We drove down to Crawfordsville this morning because Martin had work to do at his office before he leaves for Wisconsin tomorrow. I didn't mind because it gave me a good excuse to sit there and knit while he worked. Then we took a walk around Crawfordsville, to the Lew Wallace study and around all the pretty neighborhoods with the gigantic houses. Love it, love it, love it. For lunch we went to Culvers where we spent some peelers that my dad gave us. This is the first time I've had peelers that I've actually used... Martin and I use them all the time! It's great! Soon we'll be as big as a Crawfordsville house!

I'm pretty sure that if Theodore had hands and was able to dress himself he'd go around all day every day in cammo. He stalks everything from carpet fuzz to Baxter. He thinks he is so stealthy and quick... I'm not sure he's aware of his weight problem. Should I tell him? Or would that be too mean?

I'm thinking about cutting my hair short again. I mean, I'm definitely going to do it, but I was going to wait until after the baby comes. Now I'm thinking of doing it soon. I'm kind of sick of my long hair. I know it looks gross and the only reason I grew it out in the first place was so I could wear it up for my wedding, but I've been married for 9 months now and I've still never had a haircut. No, that's not true, I got one before Easter, I think.... sometime when I worked at the courthouse. Well, anyway, I'm kind of craving my short hair again. I miss it. And it looks so cute with my hats in the fall and winter...

I spent the majority of yesterday afternoon working on the nursery! FINALLY! There are still some major things to be done... for instance, getting a crib mattress, bringing my rocking chair from my parents' house, and finding a home for the microwave. But for having two months to go, it looks pretty good. I love the crib we got. I love it. I've got all the diapers in baskets with green ribbon and all the stuff from the shower set up on the dresser or the shelf above the dresser. I have all the blankets and sheets and clothes and hats put away in designated places, and all the nursing accessories I have in a drawer of their own. It feels so good to be getting stuff done in that room.

Kim and I played at Java Roaster last night. We lounged on the couch while we played around the single mic and the place was packed and we made some good money and had a really good time. We played "Me and Bobby McGee" and everyone sang along, it was great. I'm glad I learned to play mandolin because it really makes a boring song rockin'. It's like a drumset with strings!

During Martin's final week of travel he's only going to be staying in a hotel for one night because everyplace else he's visiting is close enough to home that he doesn't need hotel rooms. I am sooooo glad of that. He'll be at most a couple hours away that week, which is great because that's getting very close to the due date, and even if I go three weeks past due I'll feel better in the couple of weeks before if he's close. Just in case.

I love Saturdays. I love fall. Today the sky was full of my favorite kind of clouds, the kind that are white on top with grey bellies. Although if you read "Girl with a Pearl Earring" you'll realize that clouds aren't white at all, they're a bunch of different colors. I did like that book. However, "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" was boring and lame. Well... at least the first two chapters were. I didn't get past chapter two.

The only thing that makes livejournal better than blogspot is the moods you can choose from. There aren't any moods on blogspot and I'm not always sure what my mood is without having a list to choose from.

Apple Cider, Anyone?

Today I talked to Martino on the phone while he was making a 2 hour drive from one highschool to another. He was going to stop at a Starbucks and get a cup of coffee and relax because he was reaching his destination town about an hour early. Even though we both don't like Starbucks, I have to admit that I adore the caramel apple cider they have. I really love it. So after we talked about it, I hung up and drove to the grocery store and bought two gallons of apple cider and a squeeze bottle of caramel from the ice cream aisle, came home and made myself some hot caramel apple cider. And then I made some more! And it was really great.

I can see that having the internet has potential to be a bad thing for me. Not in the way that I won't get any housework done--as far as housework goes, I think it will make me more motivated. (I'd feel pretty bad if the whole day went by and I realized I hadn't done anything because I'd been reading a book or knitting all day long. With the internet I feel guilty if I'm spending too much time on it, so I hurry and do extra housework to try and make up for my time wasted online.) No, but I can see my knitting really suffering. I can see myself not getting Dinosaur's blanket done. And I can see myself never finishing my Falling Leaves scarf, and never making Gracie's birthday scarf. (Actually, I'll definitely make Gracie's scarf because it isn't going to be Falling Leaves. It's going to be something pink fuzzy, made on large needles.) So I have to be careful. Because getting my knitting projects done is important to me.

I love our Big Room and I'm glad that the computer is back here so I am using the room more. Right now Martin is working out in one corner and I am typing this in the other. The window is open and we can hear all the crickets and our fat cat is lying on the floor watching us. And Baxter is in his cage because I caught him eating trash out of the garbage can.

I'm really excited for the Feast! When I wake up and it's cool in the mornings I get very excited for it. It's my favorite Fall event. And even though I'm glad it's later this year and not until mid-October, it's hard to wait that long knowing that it HAS been in September in the recent past... like, say, two years ago when it was in September and Martin and I went to the workers dance together and drank aaaaaalll that plum wine! And then last year the Feast was on my birthday and Martin bought me what is still my favorite mug and we tried to drink plum wine again out of the same clay jug from the year before.... except that the same clay jug had never been washed until the night before and when we drank the new wine out of it it tasted funny (like mold our like dishsoap we weren't really sure) so we dumped it out in the grass and danced without being drunk.

And it was just as fun, because you don't need alcohol to have fun, kids.

The Clusterflies are disappearing, which is great, but a little spooky at the same time. Did we really kill them all? Or are they going someplace to hide and hibernate and procreate, only to come back in greater force in a few weeks? I'm slightly worried.

Time to check the weather for tomorrow... because I can.

In the Chilly Big Room

This morning I am sitting cozily in our comfy recliner chair wrapped in a fuzzy blue blanket, enjoying the smell of the leftover cold night that got trapped in the big room when I left the window open all night!! I'm listening to "Kate Rusby Radio" on Pandora.com and every song that comes on I LOVE. Including Donovan's "Universal Solider" which is a song I've always loved. I was singing it all night last night. Martin doesn't like that song. Well... he's never actually heard it except to hear me singing it on our walk with Baxter... but I know that he wouldn't like it. I don't think my mom likes it either. It's sort of late-1960's political, I guess.

Anyway, I'm about as cozy as I've ever been right now.

Here's a FABULOUS coincidence!!!! The other day I told Martin that I really hope Kate Rusby comes out with a new album before the baby is born so that I can listen to it while I'm in labor and our child can come immediately into the wonderful world of Kate Rusby. So I checked her website and GUESS WHO HAS A NEW CD?!?!? It came out in March, and I had no idea! (because I never had internet, so websites like katerusby.com were neglected.) Unfortunately, it's an import so it's more expensive than usual. But I might get it anyway. I can get a little bit cheaper price on amazon. And guess what the album is called? "Awkward Annie." Isn't that funny? That's my name!!

In relation to the title of my blog, "Livin' it up in the Ghetto..." You know you live in the ghetto when you come home from someplace and there is a police car parked directly in front of your house and all you think is, "Ahrg!! He's in my parking spot!!" It took me like an hour to realize that if I didn't live on Alabama Street and I came home to a police car outside my house I would probably be nervous. But not here!

Kate Rusby Radio is awesome. Pandora.com is the love of my life.

Oh, but speaking of the true love of my life..... sometimes when you pick up Theodore you get a little toot-toot surprise!! I think it's probably because he's so big you have to kind of squeeze to make sure you've got a good grip on him. Last night I picked him up and I was lucky enough to get TWO tooters! He's so cute!!!!! And now some pictures.

A frog we found at the cottage (note: this is a frog, not a toad!)

Okay... this turns out to not be the picture I'd wanted to post, but now I can't figure out how to delete it. Whoops. Oh well. It's still the right frog anyway. He was underneath the johnboat when Martin was putting stuff away. He was a cute little guy. The other picture is better. Oh well.

And this second picture is of Martin and PeterXavier the day of the garage sale. Martin came out of the house carrying PX in one hand, my mom's iced tea in the other and wearing my mom's glasses... and a really silly expression.

Wow, blogspot is great. You can just fill up with pictures and write your post like a magazine article!

Okay, and finally, here is my lovie boy:

Well, here I am. At Blogspot.

I find Blogspot posting and editing etc. much easier than LiveJournal. Which is depressing. But I'm sick of the frustration that comes with trying (over and over and over again) to post pictures on LJ only to go back and see they didn't post. I got it on the first try with blogspot! :( It makes me sad to leave my old friend, LiveJournal.

But, as long as I'm here, I'll give you all an update on the cluster flies. We've figured out how to contain them to the bathroom by leaving all the rest of the lights in the house off. Which is only a little bit annoying because unless you're wandering around the house in the dark, you've got swarms of cluster flies following you everywhere you go.

So I guess I'm a few weeks into my third trimester now. And it's GREAT. My backache has miraculously disappeared and I have more energy than I have the entire pregnancy. The other day I ran up the stairs to the bedroom! I RAN up the stairs!!! I haven't done that since March! A few weeks ago it was only 10 weeks till I was term. Now it's 10 weeks till my due date!! YIKES!!! Well, close to ten weeks anyway... I spent the whole day thinking it was Wednesday, so I'm a little bit ahead of myself, but oh well. Anyway, I'm super thrilled about the energy boost. The backache has been gone for awhile, but you know how it's hard to realize when something bad has disappeared? I can't believe how fast time has gone by. It's crazy!

I hope you all liked the picture in "Test" post of Martin and Theodore. I'm so happy to be able to post pictures on here that I think I'll post another:

This is me taking a picture of my own belly. Martin takes pictures of my belly sometimes but in all of those pictures you can see my fat face, while here in the mirror it is nicely covered by my camera. Sorry it's kind of dark... but you get the idea. I certainly don't feel as big as I look in this picture.

I'm so excited for the weather this week. Wonderful fall weather!!! WOOHOO!!!

As for the BeanieSchapini, it's the only thing I could come up with. Martin wanted me to call the blog "Heartbroken in Hoboken" and I'm not sure if he made that up or not. His only explanation for it was that it sounded like someone who would write in to Ann Landers. And he's right! But the beanie part is fun because my mom has an uncle Beanie and if Martin and I get two boys, the one after John Francis is going to be Benjamin Hafford and I'd like to call him Beanie and I don't care how gay that sounds. I think that boys should be called by ridiculous nicknames more often, like they were in the old days. And anyway, it rhymes with Schapini which is cute. Beanie Schapini.

So that's it... welcome to Blogspot!

This is a Test

I will now attempt to post a picture.

It did not work out exactly as I'd hoped. I will now post this and see if it worked.