Can't sleep, might as well blog...

So tonight around 7 I curled up on the couch to read about the joy of giving birth and woke up at 11. SHOOT! Now it's almost 3 and I'm wide awake. I tried to sleep, but Kumquat was rearranging the furniture I believe, while doing gymnastics and hubby was snoring ... and I got myself worked up by things I read before going to sleep. SO, here I am. I'm sure I don't have much coherent to say, but felt like floating some things out there. I went to bed feeling bla and sad about life. But I probably can't explain why very well but maybe I'll just ramble a bit (and regret it in the morning? who knows...) I got so discouraged on Facebook tonight, I think I just need to stop for awhile. So health care, I'll just utter the forbidden words - yikes. I felt like commenting all over the place and letting my opinions be known, but it just felt like what's the point really? The thing that got to me and felt quite depressing is how polarized this country really is and how when we should be working together and looking for solutions to a problem that everyone knows exists, we're not. There just seems to be so much anger and it feels like people will never ever agree and what's the point and it all seems really depressing to me (nice sentence, eh). It's like you can barely even discuss it rationally with people of differing views. It's maybe is a dumb thing to be depressed about, but right now at this moment, feels very real. One of my facebook friends posted this on her page and I really can't improve on it at all, so I'm just going to repost it here - some really good thoughts I think:

"So, healthcare reform passed. I hate to say this, but I'm really disappointed with the way much of the Christian population has responded to the news. Hear me out. I listened to a sermon on Friday about a Christian's submission to government. You can listen to it here. I urge you to listen to it. It will be 40 minutes well spent. The speaker is the lead pastor of the church James and I have been attending.

The main point of the sermon that I want to write about is found in the following verse:
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. - 1 Peter 2:17 (ESV)

The person who was the emperor when Peter penned those words was Nero. Yes, Nero. The very same Nero who executed Christians. The apostle Peter says to honor that man. Take a minute to think to think about the things you have said over the past few days about President Obama, Nancy Peloci, and your own congressmen/represenatives

over the past few days. Was it "honoring" when you compared our president to Lenin or when you compared him to a murderer or when you called the Madame Speaker a liar? I don't mean to offend you, and if you are getting angry at my words your beef is not with me. Your beef is with the Man who penned the Holy Scriptures.

Here's another thing to think about while you are steaming mad about healthcare reform. Go back to the first century in Rome. You are standing in a Roman Amphitheater. It is loud and crowded. There are Roman soldiers and lions. You see a woman on her knees in the middle of all the chaos. You go to talk to her. Her name is Blandina. You start to tell her about how bad things are here in the US in the year 2010 because we are going to have some changes to our healthcare system. After ranting for a while, it occurs to you to ask her what is troubling her. It turns out that she is about to be fed to the lions on account of her faith. How's healthcare reform sound now? Honor the emperor. Honor our President.

I do understand that the new law may result in more abortions, which is a travesty. If that is what your main problem with the legislation is, then take up the cause for the unborn. . .but "Honor Everyone." And remember God has placed our leaders in authority, and it is God who is in control of all things.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1"

Okay, back to me writing again and I can't change the font or italics for some reason. Anyway, I know that my hope is not in some health care plan, but I have to remember that my security is also not in living in a country where debate is always fair, where each party always wants to listen to and respect the views of the other, and where people, especially Christians can work together striving for justice and real solutions to the issues. All of those things are what really bother me right now more than the health care issue itself. Okay, moving along...

I also read some really sad and/or traumatic birth stories right before bed. Why did I do this? I know not! It either causes a lot of fear or I just feel almost guilty at the thought of having a healthy baby when there's so much heartache out there. And then I remember I'm not guaranteed that and the fear starts again. Mostly, I just prayed for the people I read about which I think is the wisest thing anyway. I couldn't help but feeling really sad though. I can't imagine what they are going through and I hope there is an extra amount of grace for them!

Oh boy, I have to get up in 3 hours. This is going to be such a fun day. yippie! I'm really excited that this is my last week of working full time. After this week, I'll be working probably 2 - 3 days a week. I'm also excited that my brother and niece are coming to visit this weekend. I'm sure they'll love hanging out with me and my wild pace of life these days, and stopping for potty breaks every half hour. But we shall have fun regardless. Well, I should try to sleep now. Thanks for listening. I'll probably read this tomorrow and find it doesn't make much sense...

nothing much...

32 weeks and thrilled with life, yes indeed. Don't have much to say really, just thought I'd share this since the last one is about 6 weeks old. In other news, oh yeah, there is none. I'm glad it's the weekend so I have more time to stress over how there's so much to do and I'm not getting any of it done. It was nice to get out of the house bit tonight with the hubs. We skipped down the aisles of whole foods. They don't have many samples in the evenings. = ( Just some crackers that looked like they were full of bird seed, so no thank you. I'm sad about losing an hour tonight, but happy that it will be lighter longer in the evenings. Well, I should work on my list a little longer, that might be good. Next item - organizing the desk and filing important papers. And helping my poor, former roommate figure out what to do with her clock tonight. The poor dear is from Indiana where they all are still bitter that they now have to change time with the rest of the country. It's a tough concept to grasp and some need some special guidance. (if only I had the video of one such session when I still lived there. I could be rich indeed. comical I tell you!)

It's a springtime miracle....

Okay, it's not a miracle at all, but unusual that I'm not waiting a month before blogging again. Anyhoo, through a complicated chain of events that I won't bore you with, I have the day off today. It's SO nice. I have a list a mile long of things to do, and I'm fighting the urge to not crawl back into bed. But I thought I'd start the day off right and update my blog first and then tackle the list. Well, I truly started the day off right with an ultrasound appt. Oh man, so now I'm a little giddy. Here's all the baby news - this is probably boring to some so feel free to skip. My doc said I should start having ultrasounds every week starting at 32 weeks, because I failed that glucose test. However, my numbers have been fine since checking at home and she's not even convinced I have GD. But just to be on the safe said... so anyway, I went for the one today, but I think I'm going to request getting out of some of them. It seems like total overkill! The one this morning was fun though, since everything is looking perfectly great and normal. And it was so fun to see that little person in there. At one point I got to simultaneously see and feel a kick - SO neat! Little feet and hands, saw all 5 fingers, and some good close ups of the face. At one point the arm was in front of the face and then he/she moved it and I could see the face as plain as can be and the mouth was opening and closing very wide-like. It was terribly cute, but I'm sure I'm more excited about it all than the average reader. The estimate is that baby weighs 4 pounds 1 oz. FOUR POUNDS? And it's going to be in the oven another 2 months? Yikes. And the technician said she could see quite a bit of hair already so by the time baby arrives, there's should be lots and lots. = ) fun. And the head is only "slightly" larger than average. Oh Father have mercy!! So that's what's new in baby land. Can't believe how fast time is flying and how much there is to do and such. I've been feeling okay, but so ready to be done with this. I have discovered, among the many prego symptoms, 3 that I really like. 1) Obviously feeling the baby move around. And now we can actually watch it move around which is pretty neat. 2) Clear skin. 3) Okay, so no one told me about this one and it came as a total and pleasant surprise - hair that does not get greasy. Sorry if this is TMI. But seriously - I've always been a religious every day or occasionally every other day hair washer. And if I ever skip one day, it's pretty nasty by the end of that second day. Anyhoo, I started to notice that I could easily go every other day while pregnant. Then I started to realize that my hair has no oil and feels more like a wire brush, and even at the end of the second day, it's not dirty yet. Oh joy of all joys. Might as well save the time and money! I won't admit how long I go now, but it really doesn't get dirty forever. So lovely. And according to my head sniffer, never smells funny either. I hope only girls are reading this. Other random things - I could eat 40 oranges a day - LOVE THOSE THINGS. And I could cry 40 times a day. For no reason. Or maybe a 4 pound reason, I don't know. Last night I slept pretty much all evening except for a couple hours, and then went to bed and kept sleeping and got to sleep in longer than usual because of not working - so very nice. Um, so this has all been about me and baby. I'm trying to think of other interesting things that have happened lately, but not coming up with much. I'll try to keep you posted. In the meantime, I hope I haven't seriously bored the life out of you. Now I'm going to go work on my list. That way maybe the weekend can be somewhat fun and relaxing.

Hodgepodge of pictures

Here's some random pics that aren't in order from last fall and Christmas and such.
Caleb and I from the Virginia trip. Random. Had to post it cause he doesn't usually smile this beautifully for pictures. = )
Jumping back to Christmas. Our family Christmas dinner. Dave was trying to get a good picture of Hannah. And trying and trying....
BINGO! oops, sorry Jenni.
Virginia trip again.
Hannah giving a little kiss to Amanda and Andy's baby.
Back to Christmas again. I sat beside James and he positively grossed me out with his gravy overindulgence. Oh my stinkin cows. He poured it over all his food until the food was unrecognizeable, then ate the rest with a spoon. I tried to not throw up on him. He's still a cutie though. I'm wondering how many years he took off his life in that hour.
Way last fall sometime - Dave's first attempt at making pancakes. We remembered them more disastrous than this picture shows. I think they tasted okay though, if I remember correctly.
As if you cared, but Dave noticed one day long ago that we have 14 different colors of hangers hanging in our closet. So he took a picture. There you have it.

Another country heard from....

I hang my head in shame once again over how long it's been since I've been on here. A month? Seriously?? How can this be? Anyway, I'm FINALLY figuring out how to resize and post pics on our borrowed computer. I did more than this, but gracious, I have to get to bed so this will have to do for tonight...
Me at 26 weeks. Yeah, a whole month ago. I was going to post awhile ago. Anyway, I don't think much has changed since then anyway.
Dave and I in TN on our way home from Kendra's wedding. We spent 2 nights in Chattanooga, TN and stayed at a motel that used to be the famous train station there. This is us eating pizza in a train car.
More TN - it was COLD when we were there and we didn't do a lot - tried to take in some scenery without having to pay to do it.
At Kendra's wedding. Didn't know that Merle and Carolyn were going to be there! Fun surprise.

Okay, so that top picture - me at 26 weeks with the help of some baby blankets and such. This is the real me. Not as impressive. People still say, oh, you're pregnant? when are you due? Um, 9 weeks?? Hello.
The dining room and living room that finally look a little more homey.
Yeah, I know, the picture to the right is too high.

I don't really like the big speakers on top of the entertainment center, but haven't found a better place for them so there they sit. There's only 2 candles in the candelabra because we can't for the life of us, find the rest. They do exist somewhere. They were all sitting out at our last place. For some reason the pics seem more grainy than before - not sure why. Anyway, I hope to post again soon, but for now, good night.