Oh Happy Day!!

Guess what?!?! Risa Green has a weekly online column!!!!! It doesn't really apply to me so much because it's on this site that's all for working moms, but I registered anyway and just didn't fill in the occupation stuff. But now I realize that registering was kind of stupid and pointless because her column is the only thing I care about, and you don't have to be a member to read it. Oh well, more junk mail. yay.

Hmm...

I just cleaned off and redecorated the hallway, which also means that I finally put the Easter baskets away. Hm. Maybe I am nesting?

Busy Bee

Sorry about that last post showing up so late... I saved it without posting it and then just now went back to it, and decided that it was too much trouble to edit and put it up-to-date so I just posted it as yesterday's post, today.

Whatever. Nobody cares.

ANYWAY... I woke up this morning with loads of energy. Unfortunately, I haven't really done a whole lot with it. I mean, I took Martin's shirts to the cleaners and I've done some laundry... but I also spent a lot of time at the pet store looking at puppies and at various retail stores looking at cute clothes that I am unable to wear. However, I did go to Plato's Closet and bought two pairs of fat pants for my post-baby weeks. One pair of brown cords (Aeropostale, very cute) and one pair of Gap jeans. So once again, I feel as if I've taken another big step toward being ready for baby. When I got home I waterproofed my new brown Keens, which I've been meaning to do since my birthday. But I don't think all of this productivity is the nesting stuff. I'm not doing anything crazy, I'm just getting stuff done instead of lying on the couch all day knitting.

Speaking of that, does anyone know anything about carpal tunnel syndrome? I don't think I have it, I think I just have some stiff joints in my hands. But for the past few weeks when I wake up in the morning I can't really move my fingers. It goes away pretty quickly, and it doesn't really hurt, it's just weird. It's worse when I've been knitting the night before. I don't really know what carpal tunnel syndrome is, but I'm a little bit paranoid about it because don't you get it more easily when you're into fine-motor hobbies? Oh well. I don't really have it, I'm just curious about it and what's up with my fingers.

Time to switch out the laundry!

Will I Get a Major Cone-Head??

So, as I've said, the baby has dropped. I guess it's been down there for about a week now. My fear is that, if I don't deliver until my due date, or if I go past that, will my baby be majorly cone-headed from being stuck down there for so long?!?? Gosh, I really hope not.



Martin thinks I'll go into labor tomorrow because I did a lot of work in the baby room today including moving Baxter's cage to the dining room and moving all the computer stuff to the spare room and then vaccuming everything and putting away clothes and ties and organizing and stuff. What he doesn't realize is that between every small task I spent about an hour just sitting in a chair doing nothing. I don't think that counts as the "nesting" phase. Of course, maybe I'm so incredibly lazy that all that nesting stuff won't apply to me. I wouldn't be too surprised.



I put the ties and pocket squares in this super cute hatbox that I found in the spare room (which has become the Official Junk Room.) It's so adorable!! I'm pretty proud of myself and the way I've kept the bedroom closets so organized and cute looking. I am able to do that because we have a whole entire room designated for junk. I wonder how many people in the world value clean and organized closets over a clean and organized rest of their home?



I finished the best book in the world, "Notes from the Underbelly." Seriously, you all have to read this. There's a little bit of foul language in it that you'll have to look past, but oh my gosh... the writing is just too hilarious to pass up. And as it turns out she was writing the sequel to that book already at the time of the first's publication. (Evidently they were going to be the same book but it got too long.) I'm going over to the library tomorrow to see if she actually finished it or if they have it, and if they do--Hooray! A few more days of wonderfulness!

Why, God, Why?

In a few weeks, about the time Dinosaur get here, we'll be back to being a one-car family. This is nothing but a GOOD development. So far in the 10 months we've been married I've ruined the brakes twice and this morning I backed into someone in a parking lot. What is wrong with me?! When did I become such a bad driver? We had to have the brakes on the Malibu replaced over the summer and now I've been the Malibu's primary driver for the past 6 weeks. And the brakes are going again. This morning I was just backing out of my spot in the parking lot at the doctors office and I rammed into this car parked in the row behind me. Well, okay, I didn't exactly ram it--I just bumped it and then wondered why I couldn't back up any more. It's not like I'm not careful--I'm SUPER careful about backing out of parking spaces since the last time I hit someone's car when I was backing out. But that was just some hunk-o-junk in the Ivy Tech parking lot--this was a hybrid. I WAS using my mirrors--I just didn't see it. (Obviously.) And poor Martin doesn't even get mad, he just takes it all in stride. Well, he takes the brakes in stride... he doesn't know about the incident of this morning yet. Gosh, I hope he doesn't randomly decide to read my blog before returning my phone call...

So I think it's best that I take some tips from my Grandma Snoopy and just give up driving all together. Obviously it is not a talent that I have.

Okay, so since I have no clue who this lady is, I'm going to talk about her. Yesterday was the annual Fall Party at my Uncle Johnny's and there's this lady who comes and I finally remembered her from last year and then remembered that she's a little bit crazy. What made me remember her nutiness was when she started telling me how in love with my OB I'll become and that I'll think of him as God. (Not to mention she obviously thinks Dr. Genaris is a hottie.) I didn't really know what to say. She even told Martin not to worry, it's just what happens. Well gosh, lady... I think my doctor is a nice guy and I trust him... but I wouldn't really say I'm in love with him or that I even think of him as anything more than a nice guy. And as for the hottie-factor, I think he's cute in the way I think Turgay is cute... in a cute fuzzy pet kind of way. This lady also told me that Dr. Genaris is the father of quadruplets, which I thought was very interesting so of course I asked him about it this morning. Boy, he got a kick out of that. He's got twins, and he has four children, but no quadruplets. Crazy lady.

I'm so bummed about the car thing. And at 8:45 in the morning! And I had been so happy after my appointment!! Well, I guess it's a stereotypical Monday.

P.S. The baby has indeed dropped, and evidently that big pointy bump that's always moving from side to side inside my abdomen is a baby rumpus. Good to know he's in the right spot!

Risa Green is my SOULMATE!!

This book!! This BOOK!!!! She uses the word "ginormous"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW FABULOUS IS THAT?!??! Seriously, you all HAVE to read this book, as soon as I'm done with it and have returned it to the library. Which won't be long... in fact, it may be tomorrow.

Sometimes I wish everyone could have a time of being married to Martin so they would get to know the real him. Then you all could know the Martin who skips around the kitchen while he makes tea, singing "Tijuana Jail." Loudly.

Okay, this is embarrassing to admit, but here it goes: I really like the smell of Beggin' Strips. Every time I give Baxter a treat I'm really tempted to taste one becauses I think they smell SO good. Well last night Martin and I went up to the cottage for dinner, just because we wanted to, and we shared a steak and a can of beans (and a package of Starbursts.) While I was making dinner I kept smelling Beggin' Strips and assuming that it was this other kind of dog treat that was in a box on the counter by the stove. But then when dinner was ready and we were eating, I realized it wasn't dog treats at all--it was the beans!! They smelled so deliciously like Beggin' Strips!!!!!!! So now I feel like I got to taste Beggin Strips (and they were so yummie) without the embarrassment of having to admit that I'd eaten a dog treat. I'm so happy about this!

On my way up to communion this morning Mrs. Watson scooched over and said she had something for me after mass. So we went out to her car and guess what she gave me! She gave me Kimberly Hahn's book about how to be a good wife, AND she gave me... THE DINOSAUR MUSICAL PULL-TOY THAT I HAVE BEEN COVETING SINCE MARCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooooo excited to finally have this ugly little toy in my possession. You pull the handle on his belly and his neck stretches out and then he plays music. I love it. And it's a dinosaur! With a really big head!!! It was the first thing Martin and I registered for when we found out we were pregnant. And now we OWN it. I am so happy about this too!

And now it sounds like the tea is done and for some reason Martin and I have been sitting in the big room for about an hour reading our books without realizing that it's REALLY COLD back here. The kind of cold where your nose goes numb. Then when Martin got up to use the bathroom he realized how ridicuously cold it is back here and how ridiculously dumb we are for having settled in in the coldest room of the house when we could read our books anywhere! Ha!

After today there's only one more Sunday of the travel season left!!!

Happy Wet Saturday!

Martin has this grey hooded sweatshirt that is absolutely filthy. It's so gross. We're coming up on a year of marriage and I don't think I've ever washed this sweatshirt... and I'm not sure he would ever have washed it himself before. I mean, this thing is NASTY. But yesterday I was cold, so I wore it. And I'm one of those people (as are many) who have that habit of sniffing the sleeves of the cozy sweatshirt I'm wearing. So I was sniffing the sleeves and they were kind of stinky, but kind of familiar and good smelling... except not familiar in that they smelled like Martin... so at first I thought maybe it's perfume and he's having an affair? (Yeah right, like anyone would have an affair with someone in that sweatshirt.) But then I kept sniffing and I realized why I liked it--it smelled JUST LIKE my blankie from when I was little!! Isn't that revolting?!? (For those of you who don't know, my blankie, for most of my memory, wasn't as much a blanket as it was just a long string of ratty grey fabric that USED to be a blanket that was tied to the end of a pacifier. It kind of looked like a tail with lots of knots in it.) Yuck.

We are going to have a wonderfully gloomy and lazy Saturday today. We have NOTHING TO DO for the first time in weeks and weeks. We got up early and took the cookies over to St. Boniface, then walked to Starbucks to see Laura and to do a little reading and relaxing there! It's such a wonderfully wet day. I'm wearing that orange sweater I got from Goodwill awhile back, and it fits me!!!!!!!! Hallelujia!!!!!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

So Much for Cookies--I'll be Social Instead

Okay, first off I have to say: all of you chick-lit loving girls (whether or not you admit it can remain a secret) HAVE TO READ this book. I have it right here with me, it's called "Notes from the Underbelly" and the author is Risa Green. Just to give you an idea of how funny this girl is, in her acknowledgements she thanks her "delicious daughter Harper." Ha! She calls her daughter DELICIOUS!! So I'm a little further into it now and I know what it's about: this girl who is a college admissions counselor with a Wheaten Terrier and a really hilarious husband, hates kids. Well, she doesn't really hate them, but she definitely doesn't want them. But her husband does. She is sooooo grumpy and funny, and she's got these two friends, one of which is even grouchier than she is, and the other one is Miss Cheerful Pants. There is some side story about tutoring a student over summer vacation too, but I'm just getting to that part so I'm not sure where it's going to go. But it doesn't matter what the story is. It's just so hilarious to read!!

What's not so hilarious is that annoying man that I posted about awhile back, the one who looked me up and down and said "you're getting BIG." Well I met Alison at Vienna for coffee this morning and unfortunately that same man sat down beside us and interrupted our conversation to ask me if I'd swallowed a pumpkin seed. I will fully admit that I was rude to him. I mean I didn't tell him to shut up or anything, but I think I did a fairly good job of showing my irritation. I don't think he caught on. Before he left he told me that he's the oldest of 12 children and that his mom was five feet tall with huge boobs, and he made hand motions when he said that last part. It was pretty gross as you can probably imagine. And he spits when he talks too, so he spit all over Alison and me and that was pretty nasty too. Now my baby's probably going to come out with some psycho disease that he caught from nasty, spitty man who says nothing but inappropriate things at loud volumes. Ugh.

But it was really fun to go out with Alison (as it always is) and just before I met up with her, Matt Spencer texted me and invited me to lunch! So from Vienna with Alison I went to McCords for lunch with Matt and Suzanne! It was a Catholic schools half day so all the St. Boniface kids were there and they all said "Hi, Mrs. Schap!" and it made me happy that they remember me.

On the way back to my car I ran into Adam (of Adam & Dawn) who was walking their ADORABLE Bassett Hound. I really like Adam because he's always so cheery and sweet. He told me I look adorable and I thanked him and admitted that I don't feel very adorable anymore. Although last night Martin said I looked cute. I guess that's something he used to say a lot more often... you know... when he saw me on a regular basis. Oh well, the travel season is quickly drawing to a close, thank goodness.

So I came home from lunch and was too tired to go straight out again to the grocery store. So I flopped down on the couch and started reading my book and loving it. And now it's after 2:00 and I have to make all those cookies and something quick for dinner because Martin's getting home late from work and then our breastfeeding class is at 6. It doesn't really matter if we miss it--it was free, and it's not like it's a one-on-one thing. We wouldn't be wasting anyone's time and we could get "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" from the library and read it together if we want to. Can you sense my laziness? But really more than being lazy, I HAVE to get these cookies baked.

My face is breaking out. Gross.

I am so ready to have this baby. I saw the Scoops people today at Vienna with their little Safia who is so cute and can walk now and has her ears pierced like Gracie. I'm excited to have a little friend with me all the time and I'm sick of people telling me how huge I am. Alison and I were wondering about that today--why is it complete strangers think it's perfectly acceptable to comment on pregnant ladies giganticness? I KNOW that I should embrace my belly and revel in my hugeness and enjoy my pregnancy. And I have. I've REALLY enjoyed it. And I embraced my belly for a long time, and I've had a really good time being pregnant and anticipating this new arrival. But now I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore. I'm ready to just get on with it.

P.S. Today is the full moon and the rain is moving in as we speak. And I'm not in labor. So I guess I'll be listening to people's comments for another 4 weeks at least.

An Early Morning Post

Wow. It's just five in the morning and I am wiiiiiiiiiiiiiide awake.

I turned on the heat the other day, which is always such a happy thing to do. I love the way old house furnaces smell. There are two rooms in our house that don't really get the heat--the big back room and our bedroom (which is basically the whole upstairs.) In the winter when it's REALLY cold it's kind of annoying (the big room has its own extremely ineffecient furnace) but these days it's kind of nice because you can go to one of those places and then when you leave that room you get to walk into the warmth of the rest of the house! Aaaah, it's such a good feeling. And it always smells like Christmas.

Lately I've been having really bad luck with knives and sharp things in general. I've been cutting myself just about every time I use a sharp knife. Then last night I was washing dishes and putting them away at the same time and the silverware thing was full so when I took the last of the plates out of the drainer, the thing started to fall into the sink. So what did I do? I intinctively tried to catch it with my hand and cut my wrist on either a knife or the potato peeler. So now all our kitchen towels are stained with blood and my hands make me look like a cotton picker.

The other day I mentioned that I thought the baby has dropped. Well now I'm almost sure of it. Even Martin noticed that my belly is a lot lower than it was. I guess I'll find out for sure at my doctors appointment on Monday, but I'm pretty sure it's happened.

Last night I got THE FUNNIEST chick lit book from the library. I'm only a few pages into it, but we went on a Vienna date and I was sitting there embarrassed, trying to keep from laughing out loud. This character is a college counselor at a highschool (which is who Martin deals with on his travels, and what he'd possibly like to do someday) AND she has a Wheaten Terrier!!!!! (Which she calls her "little wheatie princess.") I don't even know what the basic plot is of this book but the way she writes is absolutely hilarious. You know how all those chick lit authors try so hard to be funny, and think they are succeeding? Well, their attempts usually annoy me. But THIS girl--!!!!!! She wins. SO FUNNY. Gosh, I don't even know what the book is called. But I love it!

Too bad I'm so awake. I'd much rather be sleeping right now.

I think Martin enjoyed his t-bone steak last night. I certainly enjoyed the mashed potatoes. I made brown gravy for the first time and it was okay. I didn't really know how to make it, so I guessed, and it was good enough for me. I gave myself a teensy tiny helping of meat, a generous portion of peas and filled the rest of my plate with mashed potatoes. Martin doesn't like gravy very much ever (which is great for me!) so he put almost ALL the gravy on my plate. My dinner was swimming in it. It was AWESOME.

Last night we went on a date to Vienna to enjoy a Triple Chocolate Tart together. Well, they were out of Triple Chocolate Tarts so we got chocolate mousse cake instead, but we saw Dan Shaw and Kim, and that was kind of funny.

Today I will make cookies. Lots of them.

Thursday Grumpies

Well, I shouldn't be grumpy today, but I kind of am. I blame in on the wake-up phone call I recieved this morning from Martin, telling me that the sun was up and it was time to walk the dog. Not that I didn't specifically ask him to call me and wake me up as soon as the sun came up so I could walk the dog as early as possible... but while it had seemed like a good plan at the time, this morning it was pretty miserable. And I doubt it was any colder last night at 9:00 than it was this morning at 7:30. (I know, I know. 7:30 is not early. I'm just spoiled and wimpy, but I'm trying to live it up while I can.) So I walked the dog for the final time last night at 7:00 and made myself go out in the cold early this morning. Then I came back here and fell asleep on the couch for I don't know how long.

But other than that, it's been a productive day. I picked up the cleaning and mailed all the bills and washed all the dishes. I also went to the grocery store to get a good dinner for Martin who this week, sadly, is waaaaaaay up north in Indiana where there is not much phone reception and absolutely no restaurants. He's been living on McDonalds and gas station snacks all week! Not only is that pretty disgusting (and making him even grumpier than I am!) but it's kind of depressing, I think. So I splurged and went to the store and got him a big t-bone steak and some potatoes and I'll make him a good dinner tonight (or tomorrow, depending on what time he gets in tonight.)

Last night we were talking about our highschool days. It's good to be married to an old friend. (Even if you did spend a few years hating that old friend before becoming real friends again.) It's nice to have the same memories and stuff. Sort of how it would be, I guess, if you married your cousin... except not as sick and illegal. Anyway, so after we hung up I went upstairs and started looking through our yearbooks. On the inside of the cover of the 2001 yearbook (when he was a senior and I was a junior) he wrote something stupid to me about how "I've enjoyed our friendship over the last few years and hope to keep in touch in the future" or something silly like that. (A big step down from the year before when he wrote out a whole story about Sioux Falls and eating pancakes or something like that...) ANYWAY, the funny thing is that we DID keep in touch. We got married!! I bet he never expected that when he was writing his lame little entry in my yearbook. The other funny thing about that specific yearbook (which is my favorite because he had the best hair that year and still had spaces between his teeth) is that there's a picture of him at the fall Senior Night, and he's wearing his orange Crush shirt--which is the same shirt I had earlier in the day tossed into the designated hospital bag for him to wear!! Haha! Who knew, who knew?

Gee, writing this post has actually improved my mood a little bit!

Things Pregnant Girls Don't Want to Hear

We all know how annoying it is to be told how big you are, or that you look like you're ready to pop any time--(yesterday I was getting a Subway sandwich and the man working said, "the timer says you're about done." It took me a minute to figure out a.) that he was talking to me, and b.) what the heck he meant.)--but there are other sensitive topics that really shouldn't be mentioned until maybe later. Or maybe not at all, if you are a complete stranger as the clerk at Motherhood today was. I know she was only meaning to be helpful, but when she asked if I was using sleep bras and I said no and told her I never felt I needed them and now I only had about 4 weeks left so I didn't see any point in buying one, she proceeded to tell me that a lot of women use them to help with "the sagging and the stretch marks." Gee, thanks, lady. I'm sure every 24-year-old first-time mom wants to hear about how her perky boobs are about to be a thing of the past. Geeminee.

I am loving this new Kate Rusby album.

The L.L.Bean Holiday catalogue came today. One the one hand I LOOOOVE getting the L.L.Bean catalogues. On the other hand, I a little bit hate it. I love their stuff, but at the same time it always makes me wish for a life I don't have. When Martin retires I think we'll move to a cabin in Maine and buy all our clothes from L.L.Bean and hang very green and leafy christmas wreathes all over our cabin. And we'll have lots of dogs who are not wheaten terriers.

I think the baby has dropped, or is dropping. That doesn't really mean a darn thing, does it? But suddenly my hips feel achey and I'm being tickled on my hip bones (or pelvic bones? Are they the same thing?) which is a VERY weird sensation.

So I don't know if I've posted this before but sometimes Martin and I have "Ugly Sweater Dates" when we put on our ugliest sweaters and go out for coffee together. Okay, we might have only done it once, but it's one of those things that we always talk about so it feels like it's something we do all the time. Well anyway, we're really looking forward to our first "Schap Family Ugly Sweater Night" when we will put Dinosaur in some ugly sweater and we'll all go out together. Not that we HAVE an ugly sweater for dinosaur yet, but Martin asked me this morning if I'd been looking for one. Which I have... but I have yet to find a perfect one.

The Drugstore Wars

I don't understand why the drugstores are all building new drugstores next door to their competitors. There's a new Walgreens on 4th street, right next to CVS. And the Payless pharmacy is just across the street from them both. I don't get it? Well, whatever. I don't go to drugstores very often so it doesn't really have anything to do with me. And I don't intend on starting my own drugstore anytime in my life, so I guess I shouldn't let their little battles annoy me.

I had a doctor appointment this morning; I like my doctor so much. He's so chatty! He was, in my opinion, waaay more impressed than he should've been by the fact that I wrote out my birth plan by hand. But he was happy with it and is going to make copies of it and send it over to Labor & Delivery. He also is a believer in full moons when it comes to labor. He says there are no studies to prove it but if you've been a doctor for long enough you'll believe it. And he said that it would be best if dinosaur could stay in for a few more weeks, but it wouldn't really matter if he were born this weekend on the full moon. Also, he's 42 years old!!! I had NO idea!! Martin and I both thought he was about 30, he looks SO young. But, he's not.

Here is the sling!! Please ignore the skin that I didn't know was showing in the picture. Obviously the thing will fit better without the belly, and it will also look better when there is a baby in it instead of a cat, but you get the general idea. Also, I guess you can't really see the prettiness of the print. Well, just trust me: it's a VERY cute sling.

I've spent a lot of money so far this morning. I've just purchased from iTunes the newest Kate Rusby album, and before that I bought a nursing bra, so I might say I've got everything I need for Franja now! That's a good feeling. Of course, there are really a lot more things I need, for instance a changing pad for the dresser, and to bring my rocker over from my parents house, but whatever. Every time I get something else done I feel a little bit more prepared. Not that I'll BE prepared when the time comes... because seriously, when have I ever been prepared for anything? I'm not exactly what people would classify as a "planner."

And here is my table arrangement with the sweet annie on the dining room table. It's a little fuzzy because I'm not very good at keeping still to take pictures.

I think I'll go to the grocery store. But one more picture: My big giant belly at 35 weeks (and a few days.) If you look closely you can see my very sticky-outie belly button. Also, the grey sweater is the Goodwill sweater I got a couple of weeks ago that I love so much. Again, it's fuzzy, but you get the general idea of my hugeness.

Another Weekend Over

When I was in school I always found Sundays enormously depressing. I got over it a little bit when I was in college and there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the weekdays and the weekends, although if you live downtown you realize a sort of spookiness that Sundays have down here when everything is deserted. But still, it never bothered me. Now, however, I'm back to finding Sundays really depressing. Every weekend the Holiday Inn parking lot is jam packed with all sorts of out-of-town cars; I like to look at all the different license plates and see where everyone's from. I assume that everyone staying in the hotel on the weekends are in town either for a football game or for a wedding and I think of what a fun weekend all those people are having. Even if it is annoying that the Holiday Inn doesn't provide adequate parking for their guests and so we lose all our street parking on Alabama Street, I still like the festive nature of the weekends around the hotel. But every Sunday, we walk the dog around the hotel and the lot is empty and there's no one around. Everyone's gone. Sometimes we see people coming out and loading their suitcases into their cars and driving off. It's really sad. And then we go home and Martin leaves for the week and that's really sad too. So once again, my Sundays are the most depressing day of my week.

I've been a little bit worried about Theodore these days. Yesterday he was throwing up a lot and that makes me nervous. He's really not much of a puker. He's only thrown up one time before and it wasn't all that long ago. I hope he's okay.

Mrs. Schap brought me a slice of pie tonight. This morning we all went to mass up at Monticello with Joe and Pat and John and Mrs. Schap, then Joe took us to the Trails for brunch afterward. That's my kind of breakfast place--they serve mashed potatoes and gravy as part of their brunch buffet!!! And you help yourself to your own orange juice, you don't even have to wait for a server. Talk about great! And then you get to choose from 3 different kind of pie!! The only other time we've been there was for my mom's birthday and that time Martin says they had chocolate marshmallows but I don't remember those and they didn't have them this time. Too bad, cause he got me all excited for them.

I finished Dinosaur's quilt! It's all done and waiting for him in the crib. Although, hopefully it's waiting for HER in the crib because the more I look at it the more it screams "FLORAL" which, obviously, would probably suit a girl best.

I emailed Mike Prangley to ask his opinion on full moons and labor and also asked him if the rainy system we're going to have this week will mean anything in relation to that. Hopefully this time he'll answer me. Last time I emailed him I never heard back. The weather this week is supposed to be absolutely fabulous--a chilly rain ALL WEEK!! My favorite weather!!!

To be a Criminal, To Birth a Child, and the coveted RUSSIAN TEA RECIPE!

Okay, first of all, here are the measurements for the Russian Tea mix:

2 cups Tang
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Instant Tea (although I think this could be upped to 3/4 cup or more)
1 pkg Dry Lemonade
1 tsp Cinnamon (also could be upped)
1/2 tsp Cloves (also could be upped)

When I make it by the mug I put about equal amounts of tang and tea, use lemon juice instead of dry lemonade (or leave it out altogether) and give the cinnamon and cloves a good shake until I think it smells just right. But when I kept the container of mix, these were the amounts I used!

Yesterday I DID end up going back to the grocery store to buy Tang, and sugar which I had run out of and needed to make the dumpling sauce, and I bought a Dr. Pepper too... and boy was I glad I went! I ended up having a little bit of excitement!

So I was checking out normally and the cashier lady was acting REALLY strange... moving really slowly, giving me weird looks, and then looking past me very obviously, staring at someone else, like she was trying to get someone's attention or like someone was doing something weird behind me or something. I thought there was something mentally wrong with her. So when she finally finished (she didn't bag up my groceries right away--instead, she messed with her change drawer for awhile) ringing me up and bagging up my things, I left, only slightly irritated that a 3 item transaction could take that long. I went to my car and was messing with my Dr. Pepper and had the heat on high and the radio up loud and there was suddenly a knock at my window. When I looked up I saw a police officer standing there! After being flustered and not being able to turn off the radio, I opened the door and he said that I matched the description of someone they were looking for and could he please see my ID? He was very nice and friendly and after he looked at my license he just said, "Nope, you're not her! Sorry to bother you" and went on his way. Haha!

I am proud to say that the apple dumplings were a real hit last night at dinner! It was really fun to see Pat and Joe again; they tell some of the most hilarious stories. AnnLaura and Aurelio was there too, which was fun. But everyone loved the dumplings and the sauce and I was sooooo glad they did because you never know how first attempts are going to turn out. The best part was the pot I kept the sauce in--it was the small lidded crock I got at the Feast that has little blue fish all over it! I looooooove it. And right now I'm drinking some really funky tea out of the mug that was from the same potter. Maybe I will post pictures of them tomorrow or Monday--when I post the picture of the NEW BABY SLING that AnnLaura gave me last night, which I am modeling with Theodore as the very patient rider. It's a fabulous sling, I really love it. It's soooooooooooo pretty. She is so nice to me.

Before we went to the cottage I went to Goodwill to get John Mooney a cheap windbreaker because he'd lost his somehow and needed one for the game today (the IU-Penn State game, which is the whole reason Pat and Joe are here.) While I was there I found a cute blue baby sweater that is blue enough to be good for a boy and just ruffly enough to be good for a girl. It's cute. And only $2!

Today was our childbirth class. It was pretty fun, really. The best part was that we learned the procedures for our hospital which makes a big difference, really... you can read all you want in the childbirth books, but if your hospital doesn't allow something, then what good has it done you? So I now know that it will be a-ok for me to listen to Kate Rusby while I'm in labor. Which is very important to me. I also found out that there are hardly ever babies in the nursery because they so encourage babies to room-in with you. The only really unfortunate thing I found out was that Christopher and Gracie won't be able to visit me because they are not my children. That makes me a little bit sad--but knowing that people only usually stay in the hospital for a day or two makes it better... they can come over and meet the dinosaur at our house!

Tonight I play at the Delphi Public Library for their Coffee Beat thing. It's Kim, me, Ian and George tonight and our band name for the night is "Hoot and Annie." We never practiced so we'll see how it goes.

The Price of Being Cheap

I don't know when I'm going to realize that being a cheapskate really doesn't pay off. It almost NEVER does. Why don't I just get that fact through my head and buy for quality instead of price?? Not too long ago I bought a jug of apple cider. It was not the usual brand of apple cider I buy, it was the Marsh brand. It was cheap so I bought it. When I got home and drank a glass I was unable to drink it because it was soooooooo nasty. It was like they'd combined a little bit of apple juice with a lot a bit of sugar. It was WAY too sweet for my taste. So now I have almost an entire jug of nasty apple cider in the back of my fridge, and that very day or the next I went out and bought the brand I'm used to. So I ended up spending much more money than I should have. Then today I was out of Tang so I had to go to the store and get some (I will tell you why in the next paragraph.) Again, I went to Marsh, and again, I bought the Marsh brand of "orange drink mix" thinking it was just as good as Tang for a cheaper price. I got home and opened the container: WRONG!!! It doesn't even LOOK like Tang! It doesn't smell like Tang!! Marsh Brand Orange Drink Mix is nasty! As nasty as the Marsh Brand Apple Cider!!!! (Hmm... Maybe I should just quit buying Marsh brand?) So now I'm really tempted to go back to the store and buy real Tang, in which case I will have wasted even more money. Arg. I'm so angry with myself.

So, about the Tang. A looooooooong, long time ago my brother started making up this drink mix that he called Russian Tea that he got from the Schafer's. He brought home a jar of it or something. Anyway, it was deeelicious. Some years later I remembered its deliciousness and asked him for the recipe. It's a dry mix. Some Tang, powdered lemonade, sugar, instant tea, cinnamon and cloves. For awhile I would make huge quantities of this mix--I kept it in a plastic lidded pitcher. It was awesome. One whole winter while I worked at Latitude Zero I would make hot water in the coffee maker and drink Russian Tea aaaaalllllll day long. It was the best winter ever. (Actually, that's a lie; that was the winter that the L-0 furnace was broken--the amount of tea I drank was really just for survival.) Okay, so last weekend at the Feast my drink of choice was the Spiced Tea from the booth whose food I can hardly pronounce, let alone spell, but it's those donut-y kind of things that are so delicious that John Mooney buys us for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Anyway, they also have coffee and spiced tea, and the spiced tea is orange and it tastes a lot like Russian Tea. SO... I came home and made some. And some more. And some more. ...... until I ran out of Tang.

Russian Tea is supposed to be very orange. The tea made with the Marsh Brand Orange Drink Mix is not orange. It's dark brown. And it smells bad. And I haven't got up my nerve to taste it yet, but I bet it tastes bad too.

Boo.

Joe and Pat Mooney are in town!! This is very exciting. They are such nice people; I'm excited to see them. We're going up to the cottage for dinner with them tonight and I (inspired by Laura!!) am making apple dumplings to take with us! This is partly because I had an amazing amount of uneaten apples in my fruit bowl, and partly because Martin and I didn't get any apple dumplings at the Feast. The problem is, I've never made apple dumplings before, and I've never made an apple pie either, so I wasn't exactly sure how to make up the fruit filling. I guessed. We'll see how they turn out. Yikes.

Last night was the first night I've actually WISHED for television. The storms coming through our area were moving so fast that the radar couldn't keep up. I was being kept up to date by my sister, my parents and the Cooks, but even when Tara called to say all the storms had passed the radar had them just barely coming into our area. I felt so lost. *sniff* BUT, we all survived even though Martin didn't want to get out of bed to save his own life. And it didn't throw me into labor either, so I guess I'll just have to look forward to next Friday when my next chance comes.

Isn't this a gorgeous fall day? I'm so glad the leaves are turning and it's cold and cloudy and so great. I love fall!

Oh my gosh. I wish all you blog readers could know my precious Theodore in the intimate way that I know him. Yesterday I was lying on the couch being lazy and he came up to snuggle me. He kind of rolled over on his back and OOPS! Out came a little tooter!! This made him sit up more, in surprise, which squeezed his little belly tighter and just made more gassies. It scared him so much he jumped off the couch and ran away!! Hahahahaha!! He scares himself with his own wind!!!!! I've never known a cat to pass gas before, and he does it all the time. Sometimes you just pick him up and he's like a honky squeeze toy. What a weirdo! Martin says it's because he eats too much and that I shouldn't share all my meals with him the way I do. That's what Martin said to me last night and this afternoon he called to tell me he'd gotten a Free Medium Fries coupon from McDonalds and he was going to take me and Baxter for fries.

WHO'S THE SPOILED ANIMAL!?!?

Haircuts and Dogs and Labor and WHEN, WHEN, WHEN?

Last night in my gmail inbox I had my weekly pregnancy online newsletter from americanbaby.com. Each week they give you a little update on your current week of pregnancy, focusing on a theme. Next weeks theme (I peeked ahead) is breastfeeding. This week, week 35, was all about labor. It told you what to expect, the signs of it, the signs of false labor, gave you a list of what to take with you to the hospital and another list of things that would be a good idea to get done now while you've still got time before the baby comes--which could very well be at any moment, evidently. One of the things on their list of things to do beforehand was GET A HAIRCUT. So there's my decision. I'll get a haircut next week. But I won't get it chopped.... I'll get it short, but still long enough to wear in a short ponytail I think. Last night I took my hair down and was looking at it and marvelling at how gross it is. It's REALLY long and icky. Blech.

Something that wasn't on their list but that I've been meaning to do and am finally setting aside today to get done is wash all the baby clothes in baby detergent. I will do it today! Along with the other mountains of laundry that have been waiting for me since last week!! I always seem to fall behind on the laundry so quickly. If I don't do it every day it very quickly becomes overwhelming. Also, I need to take some of Martino's shirts to the cleaners.... well, anyway. This post is not supposed to be about housework it's supposed to be about the subject line.

So that whole newsletter on labor really made me realize that it COULD happen at anytime. Not only could it happen any time, but there probably wouldn't be any huge complications either. Even if the baby came TODAY, he'd hardly be preterm, and might not be considered premature at all. So then I got to thinking about when I would choose to go into labor if I could make that decision. And I decided it would be next Thursday night. Next Friday is the October full moon, and I'm a big believer in full moons making things happen. But if the baby is BORN on Friday, then my own doctor would probably be the one to deliver it. And Martin would be home, which is THE most important thing. Also, if I got to choose that it be on a weekend, I'd much rather have the baby early than late because then when Martin went to St. Louis I wouldn't care; I wouldn't have to worry anymore about going into labor while he was gone.
Anyway. If I had to make a bet, I would say that I'll go on my due date, which is the November full moon. But if I got to CHOOSE, I would choose next Friday, when there would be virtually no risk of complications, and Martin would be here, and I wouldn't have to be so nervous about myself while he was travelling for the last few weeks.

Another thing we talked about on the phone last night was getting a dog. We really want a dog, but we don't know WHEN we want a dog. Christmas would be the absolute earliest, and sometime in the spring would be the latest. I guess we'll just have to play it by ear and see how the winter starts out and if it gets to be New Years and we just can't live another day without a dog, we'll start looking for one then. But until then I guess our plans will remain in the air.

Surprise!!!!!

Guess who surprised me by coming home from Indy for the afternoon before going to Terre Haute?!? MARTINO!!! That sly fox called me today around noon and made me think he was on a break from his conference sessions, when in actuality he was completely finished! Not too much later while I was out buying pumpkins for the porch, he sent me a text saying "Where are you?" and when I told him I was in the car after having bought some pumpkins, he texted me back: "Meet me at Vienna?" HOORAY!! What a great surprise!!! And what made it really great was that I was supposed to drive Kristof home today, but last night that got cancelled. I was bummed at the time because a cancelled drive means cancelled cash, but what a stroke of luck! So we had a little date at Vienna then came home and put the pumpkins out and hung around for a little bit before he took off again. Only three and a half more weeks of the travel season. I can't wait till it's over.

Tonight I'm going out for ice cream with Mrs. Schap and Tara. Mrs. Schap has my pottery from the Feast (my birthday present from her) that got taken home to her house on Saturday night for safekeeping. So she invited me to ice cream and to give me the pottery and she told me to invite Tara, so I did, and she's coming along.

Martin and I were talking about different kinds of people and different kinds of marriages and we're glad we're us. Last night he went out to dinner with the guys from his office since they were all down at that conference together, and he said it was fine--two bachelors and a married guy who isn't much like him--and that he had a good enough time, but that he would've rather been at home. We talked about how some people live for their guys nights out or girls nights out, but that we kind of have to force ourselves to go to those things. Which is fine... we're just glad we have the same opinions when it comes to that. We also have the same opinion about people telling us that things WILL happen once the baby comes... the thing that bugs Martin the most is when people tell him that he won't work out anymore after the baby comes. Well, why wouldn't he? Why would he give up his favorite hobby that doesn't even take very much time just because we've started having kids? That's like if people told me I'd never play music anymore once I have kids. What? Why not? Music will still be important to me when I have children and Martin's working out will still be important to him when he has children and those are the two hobbies that we have that are separate from each other. It's not like his working out takes him away from home for long periods of time... it just takes him to the back of the house and occasionally to the backyard. And that's only on Saturdays! During the week he's long finished working out before I even wake up! Sorry for the rant. But some people are annoying.

So it's not unusual for Martin to be mistaken for a Jew. I think it'll be interesting to see if our kids look especially Jewish in that stereotypical way. They have a pretty good chance... odds are they'll grow up to have dark curly hair and big noses. Of course, look at Aurelio. I guess you never really know what you'll get... but it'll be interesting to see.

I went to Rubia today to get flowers for half price, and I think they forgot to give me the half price discount. I thought I was spending my usual $7 or $8 but they rung up as $15!!! I was too chicken to say anything so I just paid for it and left, and the girls there are so nice--they always remember me--I would've felt guilty making a stink about it. And maybe I misunderstood what I was buying anyway. Anyway... I would never intentionally spend that much on weekly flowers so I feel a little stupid, but oh well. They make the house look nice.

Weird Happenings

In one unsuccessful trip to the post office, a couple weird things happened to me. First I was driving up South Street, near the park, going about 40 mph, and the car behind me passed me! First of all, that area is DEFINITELY a no-passing zone. Duh. And aside from that, I was clearly driving over the speed limit, and how much faster does one need to go? Well, first I got mad, but then I told myself to give him the benefit of the doubt and I assumed that he was on his way to the hospital which was right ahead. But nope! He drove right on past the hospital and I ended up sitting behind him at the red light at Earl Avenue. I got a good look at him then--he was just some young thug with a (supid looking) crooked baseball cap. But the funny part was that at the 52 intersection, HE got stopped at the red light in the turn lane while I, who was going straight, breezed right past him!! HA! Look how NOT far ahead of me he got by passing me on a double yellow between the park and the hospital!! What a stupid kid.

The other funny thing that happened was that on the way home I saw a garbage can completely full of pinatas. You don't see THAT every day!

However, the post office trip was unsuccessful, as I said before. I need to mail back my brother's glasses that he left here a couple weeks ago and they are all wrapped up and ready to go, but when I got to the post office it was absolutely jam packed. Tomorrow I will go in the morning when nobody else goes.

I spent a big chunk of my afternoon making sweet annie creations. I made two wreathes and a door swag and hung a bunch above the corner windows. I think it looks nice. I don't think Martin likes it when I decorate the house with dead plants, but he never really says anything. Probably he doesn't think he should, since I let him decorate the house with dead animals. My mom is very vocal about her dislike of my decorating tastes though--I think she thinks it's gross. But I like it, and when the sweet annie is fresh, it makes the whole house smell good! Anyway, the swag above my door looks especially cute because from the middle I hung a little bunch of tiny corn cobs. Sometime this week I will buy some pumpkins for the porch and then our house will look very autumnal. (and cute.)

Also today, surprisingly enough, I found the cord to Martin's digital camera!! It was in a box in the extra bedroom. And here you have one of the pictures from that camera--Christopher, Angelica and Grace, winter 2005!

Hoo-Rah! Pictures!

A few favorites from Gracie's birthday party:

And some from the Feast:

Black Boogies

What a very fun and exhausting weekend! Friday night we ate a speedy dinner of beans and chicken sandwiches, then loaded up John Mooney's truck and drove out to the fort to set up the soap booth. It didn't take long at all--and Martin and John unloaded everything while Mrs. Schap and I went and did some pre-Feast shopping. We found and purchased some VERY cute pottery pieces. After setup Martin and I went on to Gracie's BIRTHDAY PARTY where she loved all her presents and happy face cake. I got some cute pictures.

Speaking of pictures--also on Friday night, Martin went to his mom's house to do a deep search for his Feast shoes which mysteriously went missing 2 years ago. He didn't find them, but he did find his good wool feast pants, some nice ties, a few cute shirts, and his digital camera! This digital camera includes pictures from TWO Thanksgivings ago, and Zita's 6-month bowl pictures!! Along with the digital camera came the memory of why the Zita pictures never made it OFF the camera.... the cord seems to have not been returned to the camera bag, so the pictures are stuck. His camera is a Canon, mine is a Nikon, so the cords don't match. But I promise, as soon as I find a cord that I can borrow or buy for that camera, I will get some good, but old, pictures on here.

So Friday night we went to bed late and woke up ridiculously early. We got gas station hot chocolate and coffee on the way out and started our weekend at the Feast!! Yaaay!! Lots of people worked at the soap booth this year--the Meek ladies came from Culver, AnnLaura, Aurelio and Alicia came down from Chicago, CJ was there... well, I can't remember who else showed up. But anyway, we made some devilishly good stew over the fire and I had a fabulous day sitting bundled in a quilt next to the fire, letting people tell me "wow, you're getting big!" and "not long to go!" and all those sorts of comments. I ate rabbit stew and loved every bite.

On Saturday night we went home to let Baxter out and got to doing other things at home so we missed the workers party, although we realized we didn't really care that we'd missed it. We went back out to sleep though, in the tiny little tent we borrowed from our neighbors, the Cooks, and for which Martin negotiated a trade for our first-born child. He loved the simplicity of the tent setup and take down, and we marveled at the fact that no matter how complicated your tent is to set up and take down, the hardest part is ALWAYS the task of getting it all back into that skinny bag. One of the great mysteries of the universe, I guess.

Sunday (today) was fun too. Home early to let Baxter out again, then back for morning set-up and mass, and it was another day of fun! This time we spent most of the day walking around and trying to spend our money. It didn't really work. Neither of us came home with much of anything--I got a few dried pretty things, but only spent a few dollars. Mostly we just ate ourselves silly!

And tonight we were both exhausted. We came home and took showers and then went next door to the Cook's where they fed us dessert and we gave them tea and we talked and talked until it was so late that I thought Martin would fall asleep on the road to Indianapolis.

...which is where he went tonight and will be for a few days before going from there down to Terre Haute for a few days, and coming back on Thursday. BUT, he just called and told me about the soaps and lotions in that hotel that he'll be bringing home for me, and YUM YUM!! I can't wait!! Orange Ginger! Citrus Spice!!

Tomorrow I will post pictures from the weekend and any more good details that I can remember from the weekend. It was a good one! But now I'm very sleepy.

The Advantages to Having a Traveling Husband

There are a few advantages I've found to having a husband who travels five days a week. One of these is that you appreciate it when he's home. Last night was the best night EVER--I put extra quilts on the bed and we all snuggled up, Martin on one side, Theodore on the other side, snug as bugs in a rug all night long. Even when I woke up with an achey hip and a full bladder, I couldn't make myself move because it was just too cozy!

The other advantage is all the free stuff I get. Martin always brings me home all the lotions and shampoos from the hotels where he stays. The best kind is from the Holiday Inn Express because all their toiletry products smell like cinnamon!! It's PERFECT for fall!! And he brings home about four bottles of each (shampoo, conditioner, lotion) for me every time he stays. Also, sometimes the schools he visits give him little appreciation gifts. Last night he came home with a bag of pumpkin taffy! Talk about YUM!

The raccoon came to visit again last night. This time Theodore noticed, and that's how I noticed. Theodore jumped into the window and was going nuts at the screen and I went to get him and there was that fat raccoon, looking in at me. This time he wasn't scared, but he didn't stick around. I said hello and he looked at me for a minute then waddled off. I don't think he liked Theodore very much.

I love October. I really like November too, but nothing beats October. Martin really likes May also, he says May and October are tied for him, but for me, October beats out every other month. I look forward all year long to this exact time of year. I really love May when it arrives, but I never remember how much I like it until it's here, so it can't be classified as my favorite. I love going over to campus at this time of year in the morning when it's all cold and quiet. I drove over there this morning and got a chai from Vienna with a free card I've been saving. This fall reminds me so much of last fall when I was planning my wedding and going to school. I really, really love it.

Today I'm wearing my blue sweater with the brown tanktop underneath and my new brown Keens, with my white scarf to keep me a little bit warm and to cover up a little bit of my cleavage that I can't seem to hide. I know I probably don't look cute; I probably look like the giant whale that I am--but I feel cute, and that's what matters. Yesterday I washed all of our fall clothes that have been in the laundry basket since last year; all the corduroy pants and sweaters and heavy socks. It makes me SO excited to not be preggie anymore and to be able to wear my old cute clothes! Only 6 weeks to go! (Three weeks to term!)

I have so much to do today to ready for the Feast tomorrow!!! Happy things. I have to dig out the pack baskets and make sure we each have everything we need. I might need to wash Martin's shirt and socks. I'm going to make cookies to take, and I might run out and buy a few more apples. I have to pick up Martin's dress shirts from the dry cleaners and mend a quilt that has a big hole in the middle (thanks to butthead Baxter.) I can't remember what else I have to do, but I have a list on the kitchen table. And it's all very exciting!! Tonight we're going out to set up and register for our camp spot, and *hopefully* we'll be done early enough that Martin and I will both be able to make it to Gracie's birthday party tonight, but if not, I'll have to go without him. Gracie is FOUR YEARS OLD today!!! Happy Birthday, Gracie Girl!!!!!

And tomorrow is my sister-in-law's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANNA as well, because I won't be home tomorrow to post!

If anyone makes it out to the Feast this weekend, be sure to stop by the soap making demo booth and say hello!!

It's here!! It's really HERE!!!!

I love the weather, I love the weather, I love the weather!!! It's so wonderfully cold!! It's so damp feeling!! So shivery!! Such sweater weather!!!!!! When I got dressed this morning I was not happy with what I was wearing--khaki pants, white button-down, red silk scarf in my hair and my new brown Keens (of course.) But I felt like I needed to dress not so much like a homeless person to go to St. Boniface to sing for the kids, so I wore that. But as soon as I got home I changed into jeans and this cute stripey shirt that looks like a t-shirt with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath it, but really it's all one piece and very comfy. And I'm still wearing my Keens. But I'm much cozier now!! I'm in the big back room and the window is wide open and all the leaves are blowing all over the place and it's getting nice and cold in here!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Last week Mrs. Hasser called me and asked me if I would be the guest composer for the music classes today at St. Boniface. I have never thought of myself as a composer, but I agreed. I woke up this morning not knowing what I was going to play or what I was going to say to these kids to fill 40 minutes of music class, but luckily it all worked out (as it always does.) When I got there Mrs. Hasser had written out some questions and it was more like a little interview session than a speech. The kids asked questions, and I played 4 songs for each class. (There were 3 classes.) The kids were all so good! And so interested!! They started asking questions as soon as they sat down, before Mrs. Hasser and I had started talking at all. It was really funny. It's also funny how 4th graders seem so much younger than 5th and 6th graders. They haven't yet grown out of that "I'm going to say something completely random and you have to smile and pretend it made sense" way of conversing. Their questions were more like comments, and their comments were things like, "I have this friend, his name is Jackson, he's my best friend, his dad is in a band." Funny stuff. Very random. But I liked them! Of course in the 6th grade is Clay, the Child Prodigy, so I felt a little stupid telling HIM about writing and playing music. It's funny to feel completely inadequate next to an 11-year-old.

I'm beginning to feel a lot of jealousy toward Theodore. I know that if he had hands and feet and wore shoes, he would definitely be able to tie them. Unlike me. I sit on the couch struggling to get my shoes and socks on every morning while Theodore sits there with one leg in the air, effortlessly licking his private parts. And while I obviously would never actually do that, I find myself wishing that I could at least have the option of being able to, if I really wanted. And Theodore is morbidly obese!!

Last night I was sitting in the living room talking on the phone with Perkins when I heard this crash out on the porch roof and the tree was shaking. At first I thought a branch had broken, but then I thought it might be the raccoons! So I ran upstairs to the bedroom and sure enough, there on the roof outside our window was a big fat raccoon! I'm glad they're still hanging around. I like them.

What I do when I'm putting off folding the laundry....

Assume Positions!

I went to the doctor yesterday; everything is normal and fine. Our friendly fetus is in the head-down position, which is good news for me, although it kind of throws off our Guess the Baby Body Part game. I'm glad he's the right way though. Now I'll just hope he doesn't change his mind!

Yesterday I had a wonderful surprise! Mary Schnerre came over to my house--with a present!!! She brought "the Essential Eloise!" How cute! And how NICE of her! I've known OF Eloise, but never read her until now. Hooray! My favorite part is "Kleenex makes a very good hat." Mary says reading Eloise is like reading my blog, but I think it's also like talking to Angelica on the telephone.

This picture is of PeterXavier eating my birthday chocolate meringue pie! Yummmmm yum!

And here I am with Christopher and Grace and their birthday presents for me--they are holy water fonts! (Don't ask me what Gracie's doing... that's just how she wanted to pose for the camera.)

And finally, here is Theodore in the mug cupboard. I know, I know.... it doesn't look like a mug cupboard. That's because his fatness is blocking all the mugs. It also looks like our countertop is full of trash, but actually all that stuff you see is my spice rack. It's really very organized and the counter is clean and clear, but you can't see it in the picture.

And that's that for now. I was over at Tara and Doug's house late last night eating lemon ice cream. Then I had to wake up early to meet with the insurance man. So I think I'll take a nap.

Jelly Belly

Alone Again

Last Sunday after a fun weekend, Joannie, Perkins and Martin all went home to their own places and I was left alone with Baxter and Theodore. This Sunday Martin left again as well as Ben and Bill, our weekend guests. Booo! But it was SUCH a great weekend. And it was good to have Ben and Bill as guests in our house (our first long-term house guests!) because they didn't mind the messiness and dirtiness and the dog and cat running around. In fact, they said our house was CLEAN!! The only thing that was supposed to happen that didn't while they were here is I was was supposed to play a song for Ben before he left, and then I forgot. Whoops! But it was a good weekend.

Today between church and Martin's taking off, we went for ice cream with Mrs. Schap and John Mooney. Mrs. Schap gave me a birthday present that was really from Baxter--a wonderful old quilt! My favorite part of it is the stripey homespun backing. Loooove it.

Okay, so I know you're all going to roll your eyes at me, and believe me, I rolled my own eyes at my own self when I pulled this DVD off the library shelf and actually kept it with me until I was up at the counter... but I got "In Her Shoes" last week, and watched it... twice. Now, I didn't mind the movie so much. It was cute, it had good (although typical) side characters and even though it was an all-around predictable and stupid chick flick, what made me angry was the chick LIT book on which it was based. Which is, (STOP JUDGING ME!!!) written by Jennifer Weiner. The same lame-o author who wrote the past two or three chick lit books I've read and complained on and on and on about. And this is where I start complaining again, about the movie eventually, but first about the book.

They're all the same. I don't know how many books this woman has written, maybe six? But they're all the same. I mean, the plot lines aren't anything alike, but the characters are all exactly the same. The main character is always an overweight, funny, successful jewish woman who has real issues with her weight, yet scoffs at the idea of exercise and also has a terrible relationship with one of her mother figures. Always, ALWAYS the best friend of the overweight main character is a skinny, slutty, carefree girl, pretty much the opposite of the main character herself. Her male characters are generally pretty flat. They're either nice or sleazy, and that's about all there is to them.

What bothered me about the movie, knowing that it was based on a Jennifer Weiner book and knowing what her books are like, is that it TRIED to portray the story the way it is--that the fat girl wins. The fat girl has this handsome guy fall head over heels in love with her, despite her outside appearance and the eye candy competition that is always lurking around in the form of the "fat" girl's best friend. It's like that in all her books. But what really makes me mad about the movie, knowing all that, is that they cast the "fat" girl as a perfectly normal sized girl (the mom in "Little Miss Sunshine" and also the mom in "About A Boy") next to Cameron Diaz. Why did Jennifer Weiner allow this? It totally slashes the whole point of the story. I mean, not the main point of the story, but that aspect of the character's story. Grrr. Why do I waste my time with this crap anyway though? GEEmiNEE.

Anyway, enough of that rant. I finished one arm of my teddy bear. That makes a head, two ears, a tummy, one arm and two paw pads. My week is going to be somewhat busy (which is good because it'll go by fast, and then this weekend is the Feast!!!) but maybe I'll get the other arm done and start on the legs?

I am soooo excited for the Feast, but before that, we get the excitement of the big weather change!!! HIGH OF 58 ON WEDNESDAY!!!!! I am soooooo excited. Excited to wear my new grey Goodwill sweater and my new brown birthday shoes... and those might be the only things I can wear in the cold weather. I think I have a total of two long sleeved maternity shirts. And next week I'm going to buy pumpkins for the porch!! I'm so glad the fall weather is on its way!

It's My Barfday!!

Today I am two dozen years old! And so far it's been a FABULOUS day, thanks to my wonderful manfriend! Martin woke me up early to give me my incredibly perfect birthday present: Brown Keens!!!!!! They are too adorable for words, in my opinion. They have red stitching that you can't see in that picture. They are really great shoes. They are just like my green shoes, except brown. Which is great, because my only other brown lace-ups have holes in the soles and so I can't wear them when it rains. It will be really nice to have a good pair of brown lace-ups again. And these should last my whole life, and not make my feet hurt! I love, love, love them.

After the receiving of my present, we went to the Farmers Market with Ben and Bill where I bought a lot of concord grapes. They are very, very delicious.

From there we walked home and bummed around for awhile. I knitted the beginning of a bear arm while Martin did some work. Then he was taking me to lunch at O'Charley's at 12:30 for my birthday meal together....

TOGETHER AND WITH ALL OF MY FRIENDS!! That sneaky devil had secretly called all my friends and planned a little lunch party for me! When we pulled in the parking lot he said, "I hope you don't mind, but I invited some other people along to lunch." I asked who he'd invited, and the list included pretty much all my favorite non-family people in town AND EMILY who just happened to BE in town this weekend! What luck!! Those silly friends of mine brought presents and cards and it was a really fun lunch!

I'm telling you, that Matt Spencer is one of a kind. He not only brought for us THE best diaper bag on the planet, but also a bottle of Urine Gone (as seen on TV!) which eliminates urine odors and stains, and works for pets AND people!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! How great is that?

And my good friend Alison is now engaged and her ring is soooooo shiny and pretty. I hope she doesn't mind me spreading the word, but the story is pretty darn cute. Her manfriend (now her fee-yawn-say) was her math teacher some years ago (four years ago?) at Purdue. That's how they met, but they didn't start dating until some time after that--like two years or something, when they just happened to re-meet each other. So anyway, their engagement was sort of pushed off for reasons unbeknownst (is that how you spell that?) to Alison, and as it turns out, he'd had her engagement ring specially made for her at a jeweler's, and what should've been a 3 week wait turned into a 9 week wait for it to be done!!! But it's sooooooooooooooo pretty with filigree and a gorgeous diamond and teensy butterflies on the part under the diamond. It's really, really adorable and perfect for her. So anyway, the place he proposed was the classroom where he had taught her in math all those years before. ISN'T THAT CUTE?!?

And Charles Neulieb was there too, which is always a treat, and loads of other great people. SUPER FUN. Martin is so good to me!

And I got an E-card today from our insurance man! He's such a nice old guy.

Boy, chocolate milk is so good. Not that I'm drinking any right now... I'm just thinking about it and how delicious it is.

Okay, I have to leave the room now because Martin is lifting weights and I'm afraid he's going to kill himself and I don't want to be in here to watch him die. And I won't be able to help him if something happens because when I'm sitting in this particular chair it takes me awhile to get out of it.

Tonight we'll be having a family barfday dinner--ROAST BEEF AND BROWN GRAVY!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! My favorite meal ever!!! Birthdays are so good.

If you're leaky and you know it, clap your hands!

If you're leaky and you know it clap your hands
If you're leaky and you know it clap your hands!
If you're leaky and you know it, then your shirt will surely show it
If you're leaky and you know it... you don't need to do anything because the rest of the world can see for themselves.

I know it seems like I talk on and on and on about pregnancy as if I'm the first person in the universe to ever have a baby and that all this stuff is news to everybody. I know it's not. But I have never been pregnant before, and I just find it all so amusing. (p.s. Can you tell I recently found the italics and bold font buttons for posting?) So I'm sorry if I annoy anyone and everyone with my constant pregnancy posting. I just can't help it though. I am constantly amazed by the utter weirdness of this state.

Surprise! My brother is in town with his friend Bill. They got in last night just after a long escapade involving a different kind of milk. Tara's husband Doug left for Boston yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon they got in a little car wreck and now they can't drive their car. Even if they could drive their car, the driver's side door doesn't open. I asked Martin later why the bad stuff always happens as soon as the husband leaves, and he told me it doesn't really. It happens all the time but you don't notice it until it happens when the husband is gone because everything is easier to take on as a team. So anyway, I asked Tara if she needed anything and she said the only thing she might need is milk because they were almost out. Well, oddly enough, Hugs, the neighbor on the other side of us, had just asked us for milk earlier that day, not for lack of vehicle reasons but for lack of money reasons. So Tara said that if I went to get the milk, she'd pay for milk for Hugs as well. After this milk conversation, Martin was craving milk so he drank a bunch and then WE needed milk too!!! So we went to the store last night and got 7 half gallons of milk (on sale!); four white whole milks, one white 2% milk and two white chocolate milks. Then we brought it home and delivered it to the neighbors. It was pretty funny. Just as funny was that Martin insisted on double bagging each individual half gallon so that we'd have lots of poo-poo bags for Baxter walks. We weren't sure if the fact that we were basically stealing grocery bags negated our good deed toward our neighbors or not. Probably it did.

Ben and Bill got to our house just as we got home with the milk. I fed Ben some vegetable soup and they'll be sleeping on the floor in the big back room until they decide to go home! Good thing we have so much floor space!

I had THE CUTEST DREAM this morning. So Ben wanted to wake up at 7:00, so I went down and woke him up and he wanted 15 more minutes so I went back up to my own bed where I heard this weird scratching noise at the window. I thought it was Theodore but Theodore wasn't there. I looked outside and the raccoon was back! But I wasn't expecting to see it and I was right there at the screen when I did, so I jumped and might have made kind of a little noise or something, and scared him away. Okay, wait, just to clarify, the things I just wrote actually happened. But then I fell back asleep (after calling Martin to tell him the raccoon had come back!) and had this adorable dream where these animals were coming in through our screen to live with us. One was a friendly raccoon and one was a super adorable white anteater with black spots. he was so soft and snuggly and he slept in my bed with me. I loved that dream.

Every year I try to plan out the clothes I'll wear on my birthday with great precision and care. Usually it's easy; since it's the beginning of fall I usually have lots to choose from that all feels new again. But this year since it's going to be ninety-zillion degrees out on my birthday, I don't know what I'll do for clothes!!!! I'm kind of bummed out about this.

Yesterday was the feast of St. Francis, my favorite saint ever. I missed the transitus on Wednsesday because I'm a moron. Oh well, maybe next year I won't be so forgetful.

I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO COLD WEATHER!! (which is coming... next week!)

A Quick Post

I'd like to call your attention to the new poll at the bottom of my blog page, as well as a new link in my list of friends' blogs. You won't be disappointed with this one!

Our cat is so stinky. He has some litter box issues, the biggest being that since he has no hands, he can't wipe. It's pretty gross because he walks around all day every day with a really poopy behind. Sometimes I find little poo spots in random places in the house where he's been sitting. It's really kind of nasty. And sometimes when he comes up on my lap to cuddle me I have to put him back on the floor because he smells so bad. His other litter box issue which is much more annoying to Martin these days than it is for me because Martin is the one who has to clean out the litter box (and everything around it) is that if it gets too full (which it does, since Martin cleans the litter box and Martin is only home 3 days a week) he just poos on the floor next to the litter box. When he first started this trick, he'd hide it behind the sink, but since then he's become much more vocal and just goes right beside the box. He is a spoiled cat. A very spoiled cat.

And now this personal message goes out to my sister, in case she doesn't read the comments on her own blog:

Dear Sarah,
YOU ARE A BIG NERD. You never called me about the date night to The Godfather, and when I tried to call you (surprise surprise!) nobody answered. I called Mama's house looking for you as well, and no one answered there either.

Also, I went to buy your birthday present, which was going to be this funny book I had seen, but then I started reading it, and it really wasn't very funny at all. It was kind of boring and lame. So I didn't buy it for you after all, and I'll just have to get you something cool at the Feast. But I still have your birthday card in the back of my car and also in the back of my car is the tray from my diaper cake. Maybe if you weren't such a big nerd you'd get these things delivered to you.

From, Annie

Now if anyone goes to that new blog link you'll all be happy to discover that this stupid summer weather pattern is drawing to a close. Well, eventually. They are predicting a wet November, which is just how I like my Novembers. Yay!

My dad and I went out to lunch today; we went to Khana Khazana, and it was deeelicious!

Mrs. Schap stopped by this evening and brought with her a sleeper for the bebe, which is green and fuzzy and has on it one little embroidered... DINOSAUR!!!! It is too cute!

And let's not forget the importance of this Saturday which is MY BIRTHDAY. I'll be 24 years old. That means I'm two dozen years old. I'm hoping someone gets me one of those oversized cartons of eggs for my birthday to symbolize my age.

So here's something kind of silly: I've gone my entire life believing that my birthday was EXACTLY two weeks after my sister's birthday, when in fact, it's two weeks and a day. What a bummer! It took me 24 years and a husband who can count to figure that one out. Do I feel stupid? Yeah, a little bit.

The Rat: An Update

Turns out the big event wasn't so big after all. I called the vet this morning and the nice lady told me to congratulate Baxter a lot for doing his job so well and that since there was no blood he probably wasn't really eating it, and since he killed it like that the rat probably didn't bite him. She said the biggest threat was fleas, and if he HAD actually eaten any of it, maybe a case of worms. So I threw the rat coffin in the garbage and now the exciting story is over. Baxter did a good job of cleaning himself off in the night and he's acting completely normal. However, when I described the rat to Martin as being about the size of a big chipmunk, Martin said that's probably not a baby rat, just a not very huge rat. He said he'd been thinking a pink furless rat when I said "baby" but in reality this guy was very ratlike and hairy. Just kind of small for what I had imagined a rat to look like. I'd never seen a real rat before last night.





Anne asked for pictures of the bear, but it's too early for pictures yet because the pieces have to be held together to be recognized as body parts, and I don't have enough hands to hold the pieces together and take the picture. However, sick as it might be, I did take a video of my active belly that I might try to post sometime. For now though:

Howard

The Rat

I spent most of the evening tonight over at Tara's house eating brownies and chatting. I left when Martin called and while he was on the phone I let Baxter out in the yard for awhile. When it was time for bed I hung up and went to let Baxter in and found he'd caught a playmate on the patio... a rat! It was just a baby rat. So I wouldn't have really minded except for the fact that Baxter looked REALLY dirty like he'd really given an effort at eating this thing, and maybe even dug it out of the weeds and possibly rolled in its deadness. I didn't know what to do, so I called Martin. Martin said that Baxter would probably be fine, but I said I didn't want to touch him, and what do I do with the rat? Martin said keep Baxter in his cage for the night and call the vet in the morning, see what they want me to do. He said if they want to see the rat, call Doug to come get it for me. So I hung up, put Baxter in his cage for the night, and called Doug right then.

As it turns out, when Doug was in China for the summer a couple years ago, the dog they had killed a raccoon in their yard! The vet had them bring in the dog and the raccoon but they had to keep the raccoon cold, but not frozen. So Doug came over and put the rat in a ziploc bag and we fixed it up a nice coffin in a garbage bag-lined cardboard box with ice in the bottom, then a rag, then the bagged rat. Now it's on top of the refrigerator until morning. Evidently when this happened to Tara, the vet suggested putting the raccoon in a tupperware container and keeping it in the fridge. I might be an animal lover, but I draw the line at keeping dead baby rats in my refrigerator.

So I guess I'll wake up early tomorrow and call the vet. It's sure a good thing for neighbors! I don't know what I'd do without Doug and Tara. Well, I'd probably be less fat. They do feed me a lot of desserts.

GEEPERS!! It's one in the morning!! I've completely lost track of time! I think it's bedtime for me now. I'll keep you all updated as the situation unfolds.

I'm a Little Bit Folky, I'm a little bit Techno

So remember my really nice neighbor who burned me the CD of all her favorite folk artists yesterday? Well, I've been listening to the CD and I really do like it, I like it a lot... but I wouldn't exactly classify the music as being "folk." At all. It's more like techno. Or girl indie rock. One of the artists on it is Imogen Heap, who, I believe, is the same singer as "Frou Frou" that Matt Spencer got me stuck on about the time the movie Garden State came out. I love her voice, I love her techno music... but folk? Not quite. Still, the intentions were good and I like the music on the CD even if I would put it in a different genre, so I'm not complaining. Just smiling.

I finished the bear's head today! It looks GREAT!! It actually looks like a bear head! And this teddy bear is going to be quite large, surprisingly enough. I was expecting it to be more of a bite-sized toy, but it looks like it's going to be a regular sized teddy bear. Whoops! I will run out of yarn before I finish it, so some of it will be brown and some of it will be green. I have to pick and choose carefully which beary body parts will be which colors.

RUDE!

Where do people get the idea that they can be as rude as they are? I'm happy to say that I don't usually come across blatantly rude people, but when I do it really ticks me off. There is this guy who's been around town forever, he used to come into Its a Theme Thing and Latitude Zero when I worked at those shops and he would talk to me foreeeeever and I was always pretty nice to him, but he sometimes he got out of hand. He would try to start talking politics with me and he'd get really angry. Then one time this ex-girlfriend of his came into the shop and started asking me questions about him and telling me how crazy he was. (As if I didn't know. As if she weren't a little coo-coo herself!)

Well, anyway, since I don't work on Main Street anymore I haven't seen this guy in... what... a year and a half, at least? Probably longer. I am SURE he doesn't remember me. He never remembered my name when I told it to him, certainly he doesn't remember me now. But I remember him because I remember all of the crazy customers of those years. (really interesting years, looking back. Some of the things that happened while I worked at those two shops were really amazing!)

So anyway, last night on the phone Martin made me promise him that I'd get myself a fun and yummy breakfast this morning, so I went over to campus and I parked by Morton Center and made a trip around the block, going to Einstein Bagels (I accidently typed "beagles," haha!) and getting an asiago bagel with pumpkin cream cheese, and then to Vienna for a vanilla chai, and back to my car. A nice, but noisy walk due to the construction. But that's not the point. The point is, as I was coming around the block, this man got out of his car and came up on the sidewalk and stared at me for a minute, so I just looked at the ground. And as I passed him he said, "You're getting BIG, aren't you." in a statement kind of way. And he didn't smile and he didn't even know who I was, and it was just really not something that he needed to say. I wanted to stop and say "Well, yeah, Mister Crazy Man, that's what usually happens when someone has a baby. She gets BIG."

Okay, I realize reading back on this story that I haven't done a very good job pinpointing the rudeness of this situation. By what I wrote, I shouldn't be offended. But it was his TONE, and the fact that he stared at me before he said anything, and just the fact that I know he's crazy and judgemental and not an especially nice guy that makes it so annoying.

I think that unless you're complimenting someone's cute shoes or skirt or bag, your opinions of strangers should be kept to yourself. Chances are they really don't care what you think anyway.