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.

Oh my...

Where to start? I'm such a looser blogger these days. Like Jenni said, I wait a long time to blog and then feel overwhelmed and perfectionistic about it so I just don't. sigh. And I want to post pictures. And every time I blog I say I'm going to. But alas, I still don't know how on this new non-windows computer. So I still cannot. So anyway, to ramble for awhile on what's happening around here... when did I last blog? I don't remember.

I went back to work the beginning of last week after having 2 weeks off. It was a LONG and not very pleasant week to say the least. It felt like about 3 weeks smashed into one. (This week has thankfully gone by much faster) Added to the fact that I have to drag myself out of bed at some frightfully early hour, is the fact that Dave has no early morning classes this semester and 2 days he doesn't have to be in to school until afternoon. I'm sure if I was a nicer person I would lovingly stare at him sleeping there and think how peaceful and content he looks and how nice it is that one of us gets to sleep in. But um, I don't. I fight the urge to bang pots and pans in the room and scream loudly. This also means that he has fallen into the schedule that both of us naturally like to be on, but I can't right now - staying up till all hours of the night and then sleeping in. So it feels like we're on totally different schedules now and well, it's not my favorite, but oh well. If this keeps up, he can get up with the baby several times in the middle of the night before he ever goes to bed.

Speaking of my husband, the funniest thing happened the other day and I feel compelled to share it with you. We were chatting and he was standing in the "pre-bathroom" area - there's a separate room with just a sink and mirror (lest you think he hangs out in the real bathroom eating fruit...) - eating a pear. As he tends to do, he had it whittled down to barely more than some seeds. And he says "just a second" and leaves the room, and then comes back without the pear core. I just looked at him... hmmmm.... he was standing in a room with a trash can inches from his hand. I said, "Did you just throw that away in the kitchen?" And he said, "Yes." and I said, "Why didn't you just put it in the trash can that was right beside you?" And he says emphatically, "Because it doesn't GO THERE!! It goes in the kitchen trash!" WHAT? Now I'm totally confused! Here's a guy who probably lost several college roommates back in the day under piles of um, things. I've never known him to be particular about where things go under any conditions, but apparently, he's passionate about where the trash should go! Who knew? Keeps the mystery alive I guess.

In other happenings, have you heard of the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven?" A couple weeks ago Dave and I went to hear the author speak. He was a good speaker and said some challenging and meaningful things, but I admit to my hesitance in building an entire theology upon his book. Anyway, it is an incredible story. He told about being in a head on collision with a semi and a couple of his limbs were severed, one arm was in the back seat. um, gross! Anyway, he was pronounced dead at the scene but came back. He then had 34 I believe major surgeries and is pretty good to go now. I just thought I would mention it in case anyone is a huge fan of that book and I could make them jealous by letting them know I heard the real guy.

And now today's installment of "Who Let the Idiot out of the House?" Most of my 6 readers are on facebook I think so you probably saw my status update a couple days ago. Oh my was that ever fun. So I'm driving my boss' big old vehicle. BIG! The think drives me crazy! And it's not cheap so I always feel a sense of responsibility when driving it. Anyway, for a while now there's been this big old trailer parked in one of the parking spots right outside our apartment. The spots are tight to begin with. I never should have attempted getting her SUV in there. But I just wheeled in like nobody's business and didn't even hear anything go bang, but suddenly I noticed that one of the large beams holding up our patio was flying through the air and then, SMASH, crashed into a neighbor's window. I just felt sick. You have got to be kidding me! The good news is that our patio didn't crash, the landlord paid for the new window, and the dear lady didn't freak out too much about the green paint on her vehicle, although I know she was less than thrilled. With an outcome like that, I might pick a special Friday night to crash all of those beams through windows. hmmmm.....

Things are progressing mostly well in baby land. I just can't believe that I only have 13 weeks left. Time is going so much faster and I frequently freak out over everything that needs to be done. I had the glucose test at the doctor's today. Um, it was a less than joyous occasion. I suppose most of you reading this have had that test multiple times. So I shouldn't make a big deal of it and act like a big wuss. But I will anyway. I think baby has been having a major growth spurt because I've been waking up in the middle of the night very hungry. So I wasn't thrilled about the fasting idea, but whatever. So I get there this morning and they take blood before I have to drink the nasty stuff and goody, I failed right off the bat so they said instead of doing the one hour test I had to do the 3 hour. Oh my. Then I had to drink the nasty sugar stuff. I felt so sick after it was all I could do to not pass out. And I felt just weird. Like I wanted to bawl and bawl for no reason. I hope only girls are reading thing. I felt SO dumb. But anyway, after the first hour, the number was too high and they said so sweetly (not!) that YOU FAILED so I didn't have to stay all 3 hours, I just had to stay one more hour to make sure the number came down. Reacting like any sane prego woman would, I burst into uncontrollable tears. I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS! So I had to go sit in the waiting room and after awhile this sweet older lady came over and said, "I don't mean to pry, but are you okay?" = ) She probably thought I just found out the child has 2 heads or something. This is not the place for such an outburst, but what's a woman to do? ack! Anyway, gestational diabetes is not the end of the world by any stretch, it's just a big inconvenience and more money down the drain. And I'd really prefer to not have a 10 pound child. But other than that, things are going well. = )

I'm excited to be seeing some Red Lake people next weekend at a friend's (Kendra's) wedding in Virgina. Can't believe we're making the trip, but it will be good once we're there I think. Um, okay, I think that's all for now.

I've noticed a slight slump in the blogosphere so I thought I'd do my part to revive what I can. Hmmmmm... not that I feel I have much to say, but I'll ramble anyway. Let's see... Soon I hope to post some pictures. Remember long ago when I was posting pictures of our apartment, but never posted any of the living room? That's because it has yet to come together in a manner that is picture worthy. We are on our way to changing that this week. We are trying to get a lot done around here... lots more to do, but progress is being made.

We had the big ultrasound last week and that was uber fun. The child continues to be very active and everything looked great according to the technician. We resisted the urge to find out the gender which required quite a bit of will power on my part. I didn't think the technician even knew, but she did say at the end that she knew what it was and everything looked good, be it boy or girl. Then it about killed me that she knew and I didn't. ARG! Oh, here's a mildly amusing story that you probably had to be present to appreciate. After the ultrasound, Dave and I were driving around and he wanted to find a specific place to eat. We found the place but were having a hard time finding a place to park. So we're driving around this building, sort of off the beaten path, there's no where to park, so Dave turns around and we're driving driving directly into the sun. It was suddenly very difficult to see anything (we're on a back road at this point, not the main street or anything). It all happened so fast, something just did not seen right to be, I saw a flash of blue, and said, um... sweetie... then I just screamed very loudly at him, "STOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!." And slam on the brakes with great haste he did. And the sun disappeared behind the flash of blue I had seen, and behold, we were about a foot away from smashing into an enormous blue dumpster. He was horrified and I started laughing and couldn't stop. Why? I have no idea, but it's better than crying. It hit me so very funny. I suppose it's all part of my role in life - keep the genius alive so he can one day make us the big bucks. ha.

What else is new and exciting? Not much. I would write something inspiring reflective about 2009, but I'm totally uninspired at the moment. So maybe I'll just go away. This seems like a really lame post. I'm sorry. = (

Not dead, But sleeping...

What? You're unfamiliar with that sacred hymn? Anyway, I don't even know where to begin and I feel just terrible for being away so long. So here I am to say Hi, even though I don't have much profound to share. Dave and I just got back from our 3 week trip last night. We had a really good trip, and it was also good to come home, well, mostly anyway. = L Due to some frustrating events while we were gone, we don't have Internet at our house right now. So I probably won't be the most faithful blogger for awhile, but I doubt you'll notice a difference. Anyway, we flew to Iowa and then headed up to Red Lake for awhile. We had a lot of fun visiting family and realized how quiet our lives usually are. Having 4 kids around is rather loud. ha. My family got together in MN for the weekend and we had some jolly good fun there too. We spent some time with my oldest brother and family after that and then stayed one night with my niece and her hubby (okay, that just sounds so odd to say... I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to have nieces getting married, but they don't seem to care. ) It was nice to see their house and chat with them awhile. Then we headed back to Iowa to hang out with Dave's family and get in on their Christmas eve and Christmas Day traditions. I passed on the oyster stew because, um, I'm pretty sure the baby would have thrown a huge fit and it would not have been pretty. Sea food and myself don't get along well at the best of times, and lately, my oh my. But anyway, the word on the street was that it was grand. We had a nice relaxing Christmas with them. One highlight (only the women will appreciate this) was going to a really great consignment store with Dave's mom and finding lots of fun baby stuff for dirt cheap! We headed to Cincy the Monday after Christmas to spend some time with Dave's grandparents and some extended family too. It was nice to see his grandparents again. We haven't really spent any time with them since our dating days and back in the day when we were awkwardly getting to know each other, we had spent time at their place. So there were a lot of memories there. I think marriage tops dating, but I digress. We flew home yesterday from Dayton, after seeing many family friends and family people. So, now back to the daily hum drum I guess. I work all this coming week, but then have 2 weeks off. So, other than the financial ramifications, I'm really looking forward to some time to get dome some serious organizing, sorting, cleaning, hanging, purchasing?, rearranging, stuffing, folding, cramming, laughing, crying, and impeding. I think that covers most of what I want to get done. We really need to clear out our guest room and make a bit of room for baby. Speaking of baby, Kumquat has changed edible objects so many times since I last updated... um, I think pepper and banana have been in there somewhere and I think we're currently sitting at a spaghetti squash. Not too shabby, eh? The little person really started to kick while we were gone and that's been rather enjoyable for the most part. Um, well, I guess I should get going for now. Just wanted to stop by and say a long over due hello. Happy New Year to everyone. I'm pretty excited about this particular year! = )

nun good titles

Well, I was going to try to post some pictures, but can I just say I've had it with the digital age? I want to go back to good ole film and negatives I think. We have had nothing but headaches with pictures lately - can't find the files, then today I was looking through my camera to see what was on there to post and for some reason, when I try to look at a bunch of the pictures, they are all distorted and it says "Corrupted data." WHAT? So I don't really want to stick that memory card in our computer until I know what's up with that. So, no pictures I guess.

I'm sort of on the computer killing time because I don't feel like doing all the things I should be doing. Like laundry and unpacking and sorting and such. I'm having a little freak out session over what all needs to be done in the next 2 weeks. I was sort of thinking in the back of my faulty brain, that we have 3 weeks until we leave. Nope, yesterday I figured out that we leave 2 weeks from today. How is that possible. Should I mention we haven't even started Christmas shopping? ha. And there's a pile of things that I've been hoping to get done with Dave's help, such as sorting out our guest room and moving stuff around and hanging pictures in the living room, etc. etc. Not to mention shopping... but today I realize exactly how much school work he really has to get done in the next little while. So I'm thinking I'm on my own for awhile. Anyway, this all sounds really boring to me, not sure how it sounds to you.

The trip up north for my niece Alicia's wedding was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I was able to be there. I should have made myself go to bed earlier on occasion, but when there's a party goin on, I can't stand to miss it. I indented to take lots of pictures, but failed miserably. = ( It was great to see family that I haven't seen in ages - the little people changed so much. And I got to meet my 7 month old nephew who is sweet beyond words. I came back Tuesday evening and it was fabulous to see Dave again. On the way home from the airport, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. My lesson learned - when your head is telling you you really should order a salad, but your tummy is lusting after the buttermilk biscuits and best mac and cheese in the world, listen to your mind and not your tummy!! Oh my. I didn't even eat that much of the food, but it did NOT agree with me at all. Overall I've had a lot less nausea but I'm finding that I have very little tolerance for exceptionally "heavy" food. And I can't eat very much at all in one setting. Anyway, I survived. = P I had the rest of the week off and also have some days off this next week which has been SO nice and relaxing. Good for the sanity, bad for the pocketbook you could say. I guess I haven't had any real vacation time other than days I was sick, since summer, so it's been nice - I've actually done some things like, um, what's that called again, oh yeah, cooking. strange. My nasty cough has gotten a lot better and the chest pain has been very gradually getting better. Now it's down to one small spot and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it did. What else can I bore you with - little tater tot has graduated to turnip status and is developing sweat glands. Time is going so much faster now, esp. with the holidays and time off and traveling. Well, I guess I should go get some things done. Thanks for letting me procrastinate a little longer.

Linen fresh muffins, etc.

- Where to start? Kumquat's is the size of an apple, 4 inches long from head to rump, and can sense light, so they say, if one were shine a flashlight on my stomach. Haven't tried it yet.

- I want to watch Home Improvement but I'm making myself update this first.

- Last week was a sort of busy and there were a couple night where I had to run around stay up late getting things done. After working a long day and not feeling the best in the evening, it wasn't a lot of fun. But here's the muffin story. I was under the impression that I was supposed to take food for the ladies Bible study on Thursday morning. I knew I had signed up one day in November but I didn't know which one. I hadn't received a reminder e-mail, like they had been doing, but I talked to a couple people and figured out by process of elimination, that this would be my week. Of course I couldn't just run to the store and buy something - the Mennonite in me is screaming NO. So I make 3 kinds of muffins. Because anything worth doing, is worth overdoing. (I actually just made 2 kinds and split one of them and made half blueberry, half raspberry, so it's not quite as much work as it sounds) But anyway, it took a long time and I was wishing so badly I hadn't made so much work for myself. I was also stressing over them turning out. I tried one when they were done and thought it tasted bland. Of course I had made them before and they turned out great, but if I'm making them for a whole pile of church ladies, they must turn out bland. The pumpkin ones turned out pretty well but I slightly over baked them, making them not as good as they could have been. Sigh. So I trotted off to Bible study the next morning with my 3 kinds of muffins and fruit. When I got there, someone else had also brought food. Turns out it wasn't even my week. My week had been last week, and the lady had tried to send an e-mail but it came back so she just brought something herself. SERIOUSLY? So all the work the night before was for naught?? Well, some of my muffins got eaten. Lots left over. So on the way home from the Bible study, I tried one of the raspberry ones. OH MY WORD. I took one bite and thought, "WHAT IS THAT TASTE? WHAT IS THAT SCENT? I KNOW THAT SCENT!!!!" AHA - Glade linen fresh plug in air freshener! I kid you not! We had been dealing with some strange aromas in our apartment so awhile ago I bought this thing and plugged it in right by the kitchen table (where the muffins had set the night before). The scent had totally permeated the muffin in question. It was like eating the scent in our apartment - the oddest thing I tell you! And not entirely pleasant. And then I start to freak out over what i just fed all those ladies! AHHHHHHH!!!!! I knew it wasn't in all of them, only some, but who knows how many. So then I took a bunch to the lady I work for. We tired one of the raspberry ones there and it was fine. She was thinking I was just having weird pregnancy smell/taste issues, but I assured her this was not the case. Later that night she texted me and told me that they came across another one! It's true. She said the 2 year old (who loved my muffins) took one bite and got a really funny look on her face. So she tried it and told me, yep, no mistaking that - it's definitely a linen fresh one! OH NO! So I have no clue how many people got one of those, but if they did, they must think I poured laundry soup in for the oil or something. Anyway, that's my long muffin saga. If you ever want to make linen fresh muffins, I can give you a recipe. How do these stories always get so long?

- In other news, the last few days have been rather difficult for me and I'd love it if you'd like to pray for me/us. After about a week or so (probably a little less) of not having this terrible cough, on Thursday, it suddenly came back, this time with a fever. In addition to just feeling yucky all over, my ribs are very sore and the pain is pretty excruciating when I do have to cough. Yesterday I felt very sick and was wondering about this upcoming trip to MN that I'm SO looking forward to and would really like to be healthy for (for which I should like to be healthy?). I was advised to see a doctor, esp. due to all the chest/rib pain. I went to the clinic yesterday and the doctor gave me more drugs, really wanted me to keep the temp down as that's not great for little kumquat, and said my breathing sounded pretty clear. She thought I had some brochitus but not pnemonia. And she thought I probably cracked a rib or pulled some muscles really bad from all the coughing. They didn't do x rays but there's not much to do for it anyway other than let it heal. In the meantime, it would be much more pleasant if the cough went away. ANYHOO... yesterday was a very low day, feeling so weary and tired of being sick all the time, and wanting so badly to make myself get better before this weekend. And being scared that I won't be able to go. I'm so thankful for my understanding and supportive hubby who prayed a lot. Thankfully today the fever is gone so overall I feel much better, but the deep nasty cough is still around. I would love for that to clear up asap. Maybe a cracked rib is good prep for labour, I dunno... = P

- I think I already posted about being excited to fly to MN this coming weekend. I'm still excited. Can't believe how fast it's coming!

- I'm so happy that muffin making is not in the plan for this week.

- I thought I had more to say but I don't. Tim Allen is calling my name. How pathetic am I?

blaa de daa

I guess it's about time I said something on here maybe... This morning went to work for a couple hours, came home, and Dave's car was still here (when he should have been in school). I immediately assumed he had had a heart attack or aneurysm or something. I started wondering, what will I do, where will I live, I will have no health insurance... not to mention I'd sorta miss the guy! Turns out his morning class was canceled. Why doesn't he tell me these things? Okay, so he did tell me ages ago, but hadn't mentioned it recently, and set his alarm as though he was going to get up. tricky. Then fell fast asleep after I left the house. the end of my story.

Time seems to be flying by instead of dragging these days. The weekend after this coming one, I'm flying to International falls to go to my niece Alicia's wedding. I'm so excited to be able to go and to see my family - haven't seen them since last Christmas, except my brother Mike who came through in January. I'm flying Friday and coming back here on Tuesday. We'll also see if Dave and I can survive without each other for a few days. I suspect we'll be okay, but you never know. I also have that whole week before (American) thanksgiving off work which I'm SO excited about. So I'll come home and then in a few weeks it'll be time to pack up and take our big Christmas trip! wow! Not sure when we'll get everything done that needs doing. I have a list, if that counts for anything.

I forgot to put this is my last post. Here's a funny story (well, at the time, to me, anyway) from our last trip to the doctor. This was the time we were going to hear the heartbeat so Dave came along. We were running sort of behind so he went to park while I went to check in. This was the first day of the clinic started a new computer system so everything was very backed up. The waiting room was PACKED full of females. So I checked in, sat down, and in a little bit, Dave came in, found me and announced (in a room FULL of women), "I had to fart..." and then he just stopped talking. I stared at him wondering why in God's green earth he felt the need to share this information, esp. given the present company. I was slightly mortified. Then he started talking again. Attempt # 2: "I had to park far away." Ahhhh, it all makes sense now. So then I sat there laughing till I probably was crying, I don't remember. I just know I laughed a lot. You probably had to be there - this serious expression on his face... (or maybe I'm just really immature) anyhoo... if anyone else heard (and I suspect they did) they were nice enough to ignore it.

Little kumquat is now a lemon, which makes me think it's a girl. How many boy lemons do you know? Lemons are definitely girly. ha. Actually, for awhile now I've just felt like this is a boy and couldn't imagine anything else. Then the last couple days a girl has seemed more possible in my mind. Who knows. We are pretty sure we want to wait and be surprised but I have moments of wavering. I don't know if I can stand not knowing. Plus, I think it would just be nice to know so you can think of him/her AS him/her. If it comes out being the opposite of what you were expecting, seems like it could take awhile to get used to. But at the same time, I hate to spoil the surprise of the big day. Feel free to send me your advice or opinions. = ) I think if we can hold out for this one, if there's a next one, we'd probably find out. In health news, my cough is a lot better, allowing me to sleep at night which is a huge blessing. I'm still throwing up a lot, which um, is not a huge blessing. Each time I wonder if it's the last. One of these days...

For some deeper thoughts maybe... I've had several totally unrelated posts rattling around in my head for awhile now. Here's one of them. I'm sure this all seems more profound in my mind than in actually is and you all probably figured this out ages ago. I was reading a blog of a family who's 11 month old baby girl died of cancer. Seems pretty unreal - they have all these pictures of a perfectly healthy looking, chunky little girl and then find out at 10 months she has cancer. unreal. You have to wonder how you could go on after something like that or how you could even want to. Having a family, having close friends, getting married, having kids - it's all such a huge risk in a way. The more people you choose to let in your heart, so to speak, the greater the risk. I mean, we really have no guarantees of anything - our next breath or the next breath of those we love. Having kids hits me in a new way. Suddenly you love this tiny person more than anything, and they are so dependent on you and so helpless. Reading about this family who lost their little girl, it just made me shudder, like wow, is it even worth it? Why put yourself through that?? And then I started thinking, well, what are the alternatives? I could lock myself in a basement and shut myself off from the world, never getting close to anyone because of the risk involved. I could choose to have a family and love them to pieces, but spend my days worrying sick about them, obsessing over every little thing, and wondering when God will choose to take them from me. Or, I could somehow choose to embrace all of life, the joys, the sorrows, and the risks. It's easy to say oh, you shouldn't worry all the time. But it's another thing to really have peace and the reassurance that I don't have to worry. I can relax and be calm, not because everything always turns out exactly like I want it to, but because Someone else really is in charge. (the words sound cliche, but do I really live like I believe it?) Knowing that even if I were to face tragedy in my own family, that there would be grace for that in the moment. On Sunday I was able to talk with an older wiser lady who has 6 children (including a set of triplets), but who also went through one still birth and two miscarriages. She was a breath of fresh air to talk to - so encouraging. She told me for the most part, she really didn't have that intense worry that a lot of parents talk about when their babies are very small - "what if they stop breathing, etc." She said, no, that's not my problem or responsibility, that's GOD'S! He's the one who keeps them breathing, not me. I long for the freedom to live way! She also talked about the ways God carried her through her own grief and tragedies. It was all really encouraging. Anyway, I feel like I can't really get out in black and white what I'm feeling and thinking in my brain. This is my attempt for now. I know that for me, God wants having this child to be about learning to trust him more and more in ways that I haven't yet been able to. Sorry, that got a little long.

I'll save my other deep thoughts for a later time. = P Hope you're all having a grand week.

Saturday morning

(I stole that original title from my sister) I guess it's been awhile since I stumbled onto my blog. I guess I have nothing interesting to write about and anything I write about how I'm doing or feeling isn't that pleasant and sounds gripey. So what's a girl to write about? How much do you really want to read about nausea, coughing/gagging, throwing up, and sleepless nights? There you have my life in 5 words. I'm rather annoyed at this ridiculous cold I got about 5 weeks ago. It was getting better, but never totally gone. The cough has now returned with a vengeance and pretty much keeps me up most of the night. And it's also unsafe to cough much with food in stomach. So gross. Anyway, I'll spare you the details. So in my absence, Kumquat has progressed from fig, to lime, and finally, a medium sized shrimp with tiny finger prints. = ) Happy thoughts.

Last Friday, which seems like a month and a half ago, we went to the doctor and she was trying to pick up the heartbeat with a doppler thingy. Well, she couldn't get it (lucky for us, because of how things were positioned) so she pulled out this really old ultrasound machine that she keeps around for things like this. So we actually got to SEE the little person in there - it was so incredible. I know it's old hat for most of you, but we wanted to ask her if we could just stare at the screen for the rest of the day. Baby was kicking, bouncing up and down, and had a little arm up behind the head at one point. SO incredible. I just can't believe how someone so tiny that could never survive outside the womb is so alive inside there! I try to remember that image on the really terrible days... doesn't always work. But soon I know it will all be worthwhile.

Oh, here's something that drives me NUTS! Yesterday I was at the mall. This always seems to happens at the mall. I wonder if since the institution of the "do not call" list, many of the worlds most annoying people found themselves unemployed and took jobs in malls all across this vast land. OH MY WORD! The LAST reason I go to the mall is to be harassed about my personal hygiene! And these people just do NOT let it go! I have a little complex because I feel as though they spot me coming and feel somehow they can't let this one get away! So they approach with some ego-booster like "LAND SAKES, what are you putting on your face?" or "Oh my, what have you done to your hair?" They always strike during the day when, if I'm at the mall, I'm there with one or two kids and I actually have somewhere to go. Do I look like I want to stop and chat about my hair or face? I want to start wearing a sign to the mall that says, "LEAVE ME ALONE! I WILL BITE!!!!" So back to yesterday, which was no exception - as I'm pushing a stroller, I'm approached by someone who I think wanted to rub something into my hands (I think). I got away and she wasn't as obnoxious as some. And THEN... a lady approaches me talking very fast about hair straighteners. ugh. She won't shut up. And there's 2 of them. And I'm thinking, please don't look at my hair! It hasn't been washed today and is yucky. I'm trying to get away from the lady, when her male sidekick takes over. He brings obnoxious to a whole new level. Excuse me, do you have a hair straightener? Well, yeah, I have one, I think the last time I used it was for a wedding I went to in June... so I mumble yes as I'm trying to walk away. "What kind is it?" I have no idea weirdo! Let me pull out the wallet card I carry around that has the names of all the grooming products I use... (LEAVE ME ALONE!!) "Well, I'm sure it's the kind with 2 metal plates and do you know what that does to your hair???" do I care? "It FRIES your hair!!! FRIES it! Now, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR HAIR?? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR HAIR....." I wanted to say, "Mister, I am PREGNANT, SICK, CRANKY, IN NEED OF SUSTENANCE (in the form of an Aunt Annie's pretzel which is where I'm GOING), and have a kid with me with the attention span of a hummingbird, DO YOU REALLY THINK I CARE TWO HOOTS WHAT YOU ARE SELLING AND WANT TO BE LECTURED ABOUT MY HAIR CARE? Furthermore, your breath is sharply odorous and given the above facts, is making me want to gag and barf considerably. And by the way, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO YOUR TEETH? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO YOUR MOUTH? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS???" (I know it happens to the best of us, but under the circumstances, I felt he deserved it) Ah well, I bit my tongue and said something along the lines of "because I'm crazy I guess" and got away. But seriously, this type of thing happens nearly every time I go to the mall (during the day), although this guy was particularly offensive. It just gets really old. Where can you go to shop or eat in peace?

Kumquat, yer grounded!

I guess Kumquat has graduated to fig status this week. nice. Kumquat is more fun though. So, a few more ramblings from these parts. Dave took his exam on Tuesday and did very well and passed. I need to teach him some things about perfectionism though, because he tends to only focus on what he missed, instead of all the things he got perfectly right. I just don't get that. (ha. I've been realizing how much both of us, at least in certain areas, have such crazy high standards for ourselves. I'm sure it's a deep seated spiritual issue. Now we get to wonder how all our faults will warp our offspring. hooray!) Anyway, the night that he passed, all I wanted more than anything else in the world, was just to go out to eat, celebrate, and have a good time. But alas, I instead laid on the couch with a very upset tummy. I was so bummed. This little kumquat...er.. fig, has sure been a little pill lately. When I got the cold, I noticed that the nausea was getting better, but as soon as the cold started getting better, the nausea came back in full force. What's with that!?! Anyhoo, we have plans to celebrate the first night I can tolerate the thought of going out to eat.

I feel like this is all boring rambling about preg. type stuff. I guess I don't get out so much these days so what else do I have to write about? A couple days ago Dave and I were talking about Thanksgiving and suddenly I head the urge for a cold turkey sandwich, you know the kind you make with the left over turkey from thanksgiving. oh man... the urge wouldn't leave. Actually, that and one of Rita's home made cinnamon buns were about the only 2 things in the world I felt like eating. So last night Dave went searching for turkey. Isn't he sweet? Comes home with a turkey breast for us to cook. haha. we didn't' really know what we were doing and in the end, well, I fell fast asleep and woke up at 11 to eat (it was nice and cold by then) but it was sorta grisly and I had to gag it down. rats. Next time we'll try to prepare it differently as well I think. just didn't do it for me.

There is a doc at the ob/gyn office I go to now, who's name is Dr. Peek. I'm just immature enough to find that hilarious.

Yesterday I was able to go to Bible Study finally and it was great to be there again and get to share our news with a few people who didn't know it yet. And it was a great discussion as well.
= )

It's Friday and that makes me indescribably happy.

Oh, I'll just answer the questions from the comments from the last post here: Kendra - May 7th, Sabrina, you ask me for suggestions for names, but the thing is, being the youngest is a large line of fertile siblings, I have had so many names that I liked snatched away. It grieves my soul. So I offer you girl names I like - Hazel, Gertrude, Begonia, and Veranda. Wait a second, I guess it wouldn't matter if we had kids with the same name, since we only see each other about once a decade...hmmmmm..... but I can't list the ones I really like either. = ) Althogh I do think a little Rachie would go quite nicely with your boy's names. = P Robyn, haha, yes we have tended to difer on name selections, although I pretty much like your girl's names. I'm always open to suggestions (unlike Dave).

Well, I think I've bored you all long enough. More to come.

Our little kumquat...

Well, I've been meaning to update this thing for quite some time now and there's always something better to (like lay on the couch?). Anyhoo, thanks for all the congratulations. = ) That is a great way to get comments, but somehow, not sure if it's entirely worth it, for that reason alone anyway. So, a few more details on our lives - I'm 10.5 weeks along. I feel like time has started to pick up a little bit and is going faster than it did the first month, which is nice. I love reading what's going on week by week - week 10 - your baby is the size of a kumquat, a little over an inch long, and weighs a quarter once... BUT, already you could see finger and toe nails! How cool is THAT. Until I think there's toe nails inside me, then it sorta creeps me out. But anyhoo... I continue to struggle with this nasty cold that won't go away. It has been 2 weeks and yesterday there was still a knife in my ear and throat. So I went to the doctor and of course, he wrote me a prescription. I did not want to take anything like that! Now the symptoms are getting better, but I feel strung out on drugs. And the nausea right before bed is pretty bad - not sure if that's from the drugs or not, but I don't think they help in that department. Anyway, I've missed so much work, church, etc. lately and I can't wait to rejoin life again one of these days. A word about dreams, because I hear you're supposed to have weird, vivid dreams when you're pregnant. Well, Dave dreamt a long time ago that our unborn had an iphone in the womb and was sending him text messages! I guess he's taking over the strange dreams department for me. What else? Oh yes, a word or 2 about baby names. tee hee. After watching my siblings fight over this issue for years and years... well, Dave and I have this thing when it comes to making decisions. any decisions. I like to keep options open as long as possible. He liked to seal the deal as quick as possible. Yes, what a nice match. So, this is really dorky to admit, but I will.... way long ago last Christmas, long long before we ever even had a little kumquat, we drove to Red Lake from Baton Rouge and then back home again. All this translated to hours and hours in the car with not much to amuse ourselves. So, on one stretch, I got out the paper and we started writing down names we sort of like. Boys first, then girls. We got a ton of boys names, then we developed this highly technical rating system where we each put a certain number of stars by each name, based on how much we liked it. Then we counted all of them and chose the ones with the highest total number and picked middle names and everything. (side note - we could have about 8 boys but only 1 or 2 girls) So anyway, it was fun and a great way to pass the time. Now, fast forward to a time when naming a child is actually reality and not a road trip game. In Dave's mind, it was done and decided months ago and he doesn't even want to talk about it anymore! In my mind, now that I'm actually pregnant, we have to fight... er... discuss names more and pour over the name books because that's what you do when you're pregnant! ahhhhh!!!! He even said, "I've been looking forward to meeting my son Bueford for the past 8 months! Don't take this away from me!!" (only it's not really Bueford, in case you thought otherwise) ha! So he'll probably win, since he's so dramatic and all. Speaking of Dave, if you read this today before 2:40 EST, say a prayer for him. He's taking his oral comprehensive exam today, which is a big hurdle in getting his Ph.D. I'm not sure which of us is more nervous. But I'm sure he'll do fine. Then he just has to write his little paper and he'll be done! Or book thingy or what have you. Okay, well I think I've prattled on long enough. Have a great day!

Ramblings from my neck of the woods

Ack! I've been the most terrible blogger lately. I don't know where to start to try to actually update you on our lives soooooooo...... let's see... This past week has been BLA! Child care has one huge draw back - getting sick. Those turkeys kept getting sick and I thought I was going to be able to avoid it, but alas, it struck and struck hard. Right now I think I have the worse cough I've ever had in my life. I've never coughed to the point of throwing up, but that is life right now. Ugh. sorry if that's TMI. I'm heading back to work tomorrow for the first time since last Tuesday so we'll see how it goes. I'm open to prayers for health around here. And Dave is supposed to take his big huge oral exam a week from tomorrow (a major hurdle in getting his PhD) so I've been so paranoid that he'll get it. It would be pretty rotten timing. Also, about this cough, I feel like I've tried everything and nothing really helps- Vicks (even on my feet, Rita), lemon juice and honey, cough drops, etc. Steam does help for awhile so I've been boiling water and hanging my head over that and it helps for maybe a half hour or so. yeah. So the other night, it was sort of a joint effort between Dave and I - I asked him to turn the burner on that the water was sitting on (so many poorly placed prepositions) so he did and when I went to check on it, the living room was filled with smoke and there were terrible sounds coming from the burner. Turns out the burner was fire red hot, but all the water had steamed out and the empty pot was sitting on the burner. yikes! It was not pretty. Then the smoke alarm started going off. Nice to know it works in case we ever need it. ah well, at first I thought the pot might be ruined, but I think it'll be okay. What else is going on here? football - BORING! So tired of hearing about football. This Saturday, LSU is playing Florida something and apparently it's a big fat huge deal because right now, LSU is ranked # 4 and FL is ranked #1. If LSU wins, they will be #1. And it's a home game. The town shall be in crazed uproar that could only possibly be brought on by the combination of the south and football (I think it's worth than the North and hockey, if you can imagine). We are finally, slowly getting things together in the living room area of our apartment. It's taking forever, part of the reason being that we had to get some new furniture and get rid of other stuff to make everything work in the smaller space that we now inhabit. Anyway, I want to post pictures of it sometime soon. When this place is finally in order, I shall be beside myself with glee. And I spose we don't have as much time to waste as we once did, since come the beginning of May, there will three of us crammed in here. Okay, so that's still a ways off, but... that also explains why this nasty sickness has been particularly unpleasant. Alrighty, well, on that happy note, I think I'll sign off.

"Go to the MATTRESSES!"

(It's from the Godfather - I've never seen the Godfather, but I've seen "You've Got Mail" um, several times...) Anyhoo... I guess it's been awhile so I thought I'd share with you some of the great perplexities of life that we are pondering in our search for a new mattress. Warning - this will probably be long and boring and you can stop now and I won't be offended. You can even post comments pretending like you've read the whole thing, and I'll still be your friend. I know your time is precious. Okay, with that disclaimer, Dave and I have been in the market for a new mattress for awhile. I frequently wake up with neck, back, etc. aches and it's pretty difficult to get comfortable on the one we have. So we've been keeping our eyes open for awhile, but yesterday we did more of a serious hunt. Oh my, where to begin? We've met some interesting people and have had some interesting discussions about life and our role as good stewards through all of this. Okay, to back up, a few weeks ago, we were browsing a furniture store. This is how it works, in case you have never done this before. Upon you arrival, a person grabs you, introduces themselves, asks for your name, and starts showing you around and telling you to lay down on the mattress. Of course the mattresses they start with are 2 - 4 thousand buckeroos and you lay down in them and it is as if you are floating in the heavenlies. Upon seeing the look of pure bliss combined with relaxation that settles upon your face, your personal little helper then convinces you of all the reasons you must have this mattress, you can't live without this mattress, you are really doing your back a disservice without this mattress, and any other decision you make will just be poor long term planning on your part. Not to mention the amount of money people spend on their cars that they only drive 15 minutes a day. You spend a third of your life on your mattress, you're a fool to not invest in a quality one. Okay, so anyway, we were browsing through this store, humbly complying and laying on pure-bliss-but-way-out -of-our-price-range mattresses when the sweet lady (I think this was all the same lady, but maybe a couple different ones combined in my brain) quipped, "You know, you can't put a price tag on a good nights sleep!" To which I thought, "REALLY? looks like you just did! Why don't we just take this one for free then. hello!" And she gave us a coupon for 20 percent off that could only be used TODAY of course. Anyway, that was all awhile ago. We have laid on our share of mattresses that we will never buy. Yesterday we went to a store that was recommended by someone and she said they have memory foam mattress but not the really expensive brands like Tempurpedic. She said they have very reasonable prices. So there we were greeted by Elaine, who, to her credit, was very helpful, courteous, and not too pushy. She'd leave and let us shop around without hovering and barking out mattress knowledge. They indeed were much cheaper and we found one there we really liked but still, it was more than we wanted to pay. I'll just throw out numbers here, even though it's very unAmerican to let your friends in on your financial affairs. It will just make more sense that way. So there was one there for 698 that we liked. One for 898 that was even better. = ) We told her we liked that 700 one but that was a lot of money, he's a student, etc etc. So we were going to keep shopping and think about it. Next we went to another furniture store and were greeted by Rebecca. She was also nice, not quite as fabulous as Elaine, but still very nice and helpful and let just look on our own. That store had some closeouts that were more reasonable, but of course, we weren't ready to get anything, just looking around. There was another store we wanted to go to because I had this memory in the far recesses of my brain of a really really good sale there on an amazing mattress. In retrospect, I must have been seeing the price tag for the night stand next to the bed or something of that nature because there is no way that store would have been selling the mattress I remember for the price I remember. So anyway, at store # 3, we were greeted by THE MATTRESS NAZI. Oh my good gracious. She was not kind, she was not friendly, the corners of her mouth did not turn up, and she had an extremely poor bedside manor. She immediately commanded us to lay on Tempurpedic mattresses, way outside our price range, one after the other. Yes, we know they are amazing, no, we won't buy this in a million years. But she was just a peach. When we wanted to look at some of the lower end ones, she practically scoffed at us, told us we would hate them, told us everything wrong with them, bla bla bla. We were thinking, sheesh lady, a 600 sale is better than NO sale! But with everything she was saying, we both started to think about the 689 mattress at the other store and how they sounded very similar and maybe that one was terrible too. Well, we left that store and the mattress nazi and both had the same thoughts - good gracious - only in America (maybe some other places too, I dunno) will people make you feel like you're living in absolute poverty if you don't spend 3000 bucks on a mattress! And make you feel like a total looser if you can't spend that kind of money! And convince you that anything under 1000 bucks isn't worth owning! So here we are, not wanting to spend much money at all, even the 700 one seems like way too much to us, and pondering things like, is there a point when sleeping on a $4000 mattress is just complete indulgence and pointless and a waste of good resources? On the other hand, one of their main selling points is that people buy low end mattresses and they don't last, when you can buy one for 2500 or so and it comes with a 25 year guarantee - so it's the only mattress you'll buy for the next 25 years at least. So maybe it is a good investment - if you know that you'll in living somewhere in the US for the 25 years. Who knows - in 5 years we might be selling our mattress on craigslist or giving it to someone who needs one because we're moving across the ocean. who knows. Dave was saying how even if we could afford it, he's not sure he would feel right about sleeping on something like that, given the way that most of the world lives. (not that I stand in judgement of anyone out there who might have a $3000 mattress! those things are amazing!) He was saying how he saw photographs of orphans in former Yugoslavia (a long time ago) who were sleeping on bare coils - those were their mattresses. It just made me ill. But then I had the thought that unless we buy a 500 dollar mattress and send them the other 1500 to buy beds, what difference does it really make to the rest of the world what we sleep on? ack! I feel like I'm totally rambling here, but these are real and honest questions we find ourselves asking. Where is the balance in things like this? Buying something quality that allows you to sleep well is great, but at what point do you cross the line into greed, indulgence, and having to have the best? How do we honor God with purchases like this? Side note, we came home and I was checking on Overstock.com and they have memory foam mattress for 370 - 600. One they have right now is 37something and comes with 2 memory foam pillows! whoo hoo. But the big risk with that is buying it without laying on it first. Anyway, I think, lucky for you, that I am near the end of my mattress rant. Feel free to weigh in with your profound words of insight. That's all for now. I'm ready to toss and turn on my much much much less than $2000 mattress. g'night!

more hum de dum...

I feel like I should update because it's been awhile, but I don't really have much to say. Soooooo.... I'm going to write a little bit of boringness just for the fooie of it. Ummmmm..... let's see.......

Dave and I went to this local produce market on Sunday and now wonder why we haven't been going there since we moved. It was amazing - we got tons of fruit and veggies for not too much money. and local. whopdee dipdee!!

For some odd reason, Dave and I both feel like time is DRAGGING right now! I mean, it does seem crazy that it's already September, 09, but things that happened a week and a half ago seem like 3 months ago and things that happened 3 months ago seem like a year ago. Don't have a clue why. But at this rate, I won't be old until like 3008!

I want to make muffins tonight, but I want more to recuperate from my long long day. But if I don't do things like that in the evenings, they don't get done. Unless Dave does them. He's cooking a butternut squash as we speak. Don't you feel healthier just reading that? Today I had the blissful opportunity to grocery shop during my work day. Not that the experience was blissful, but it was blissful to not have to come home and do it.

It is just starting to feel beautiful weather wise here, in the mornings. When I leave the house at quarter after 7, this morning I wouldn't have melted with a sweatshirt on - that is new! Usually it's already cooking at that time. I can not WAIT for fall here. Of course fall here is like, well, imagine the perfect summer day in Red Lake and that would be fall here. wonderful.

I'm a little too excited about a long weekend coming up. Not that I don't like my job or dread going to work in the morning, cause I really don't at all. I'm just really looking forward to the break.

Well, I think we're going to have a bit of din din now, so maybe I'll sign off. Hope you're all having a fabulous week. Speaking of which, the other thing I don't get is that one week seems to go by really fast, but then when I think back to a few weeks ago, it seems like forever ago. Okay, that's all, sorry you had to read this, good bye.

hum de dum...

A random assortment of thoughts and happenings as of late:

-- Today is Dave's last week day before school starts. So I thought today might be a nice day for him to accompany the kids and I to the zoo. How fun it would be. It seemed as though it wouldn't be as scorching hot today as some days are in Aug. And the forecast was calling for rain mostly in the afternoon. So off we plod. At first it seemed so nice and shady with a little breeze. Within an hour, we were so miserably hot I just wanted to get out of there. There was little shade and it was unbearably humid. Oh my. The sweat that was produced. Then it sprinkled a little. Then as we were wrapping it up and heading back to the entrance, the skies opened up and water gushed forth. Not only that but it was thundering like I have heard few times in my life. It was so loud it was insane! There was no where we could go to get out of it so we just had to walk. I was pushing a stroller with one kid and Dave was carrying another who was understandably crying. We finally made it to cover, and were so soaking it was as if we had just gone swimming with our clothes on. Now what to do? Eventually it let up and we ate in the back of the vehicle (well, the small people did) and headed for home. totally soaked and exhausted. When we arrived at their place, the power had gone out and the elevator wasn't working. The 2 year old was sound asleep (in a stroller) and it's a lengthy walk to get to their place on the FOURTH FLOOR. ARG! So Dave and I ended up carrying the stroller up all 900 flights of stairs to avoid disrupting her precious little sleep. I spose it doesn't sound as grand after the fact, but I came home and slept a long time. What a crazy day.

-- Tonight Dave and I went out and about (after the lengthy sleep) and were cruising down the multi-lane road, (in the dark) when all of a sudden out of NOWHERE, there's this big, orange cone right in the middle of our lane. He slams on the breaks, stops very close to the thing, and here's the best part, has his hand on the horn and is about a nanosecond away from HONKING AT THE CONE. I just stared at him, and was like, yeah, honk at it, that'll help. poor Dave. Then it all struck me so funny that I laughed my brains out for the next very long time. I think he's starting to see the humor in the situation. The cone out of nowhere, slamming on the breaks, HONK... the cone yields and shuffles off the road.

-- We think the ceilings here are lower than our last place. I fear our heads may someday end up in a ceiling fan. shiver. Speaking of which, I have this phobia of ceiling fans. I'm just sure that as we lie asleep some night, our fan is going to fall off the ceiling, while still madly oscillating, and chop us to bits as we sleep. But we'll surely wake up and who wants to wake up to such terror? Gives me shivers.

-- Unpacking our place is sort of at a stand still. Things are pretty much unpacked, but we don't have all the needed things to make everything look like it eventually will. So it doesn't look the prettiest, but it's functional.

-- I went to sleep around 9:00 2 nights this week. I don't think I've done that since I was 7. Not that that is even remotely interesting news. 2 other nights this week, I slept after getting home from work and it felt more like a coma than sleep. I would have to lay there around a half hour in order to wake up enough to feel vaguely human. Is this normal? so odd. It's like the effects of anesthesia with no anesthetic.

-- Last Saturday I went shopping with a friend to a town close by that has one (at least) street of antique shops. Oh the money I could spend. It was so neat. I haven't just browsed antiques like that for, um, maybe ever, not sure. I love old stuff like that. The furniture actually has character and what not.

-- I guess that's all. We don't have a lot going on this weekend and that's fine with me. I'm pretty sure we won't be going to the zoo.

One Year Ago...

... I wanted to say today, but I didn't get around to posting on the actual day, sooooo, on Sunday Dave and I celebrated our first anniversary. Doesn't really seem possible, but then I look at these pictures and in some ways they seem like a long long time ago. Time is so funny that way. It's been fun looking back and remembering the big day. It inspired me to post a bunch of pictures - some of the behind the scenes fun stuff that you might not have seen. Or maybe you have. Or maybe you haven't but you find them entirely boring, in which case you should stop reading immediately. This feels sort of self-centered for a happy anniversary post because Dave's not in most of the pictures. It's all about what I was doing the day before and the morning of the wedding. I also hope that's okay and the marriage gods don't unleash their fury. Anyway, what a crazy time. I would never want to do over the stress and craziness, but once we got down to about the day before, then it was just fun, because there were so many people around to visit and everything was coming together. (credit goes to Jenni for I think all of these pics)
I think this was Thursday - Jenni and I getting our nails done. Incidentally, they did a terrible job on my fingernails and they were pretty chipped for the wedding. ah well. (I don't know why some of these pics turned out sorta grainy)
What a total blast - seeing people I hadn't seen in ages! We had breakfast on Friday morning - mostly Red Lake people, but a few other great friends as well. (side note - I think Robyn and LaRonda were so overcome by joy at seeing all these wonderful people that they reverted back to the 12 year old practice of calling each other up and saying " hey, what are you wearing to the brunch? Brown? Cool! We can MAAATTTCHH!" They were also really cute and coordinating in black shirts at the wedding... hmmmmm....sorta makes ya wonder. Actually, they probably just have similar good taste, but I couldn't resist. I remember calling up these girls before Sunday night church (about 400 years ago) - hey, what are you wearing? such silliness)
Rhonda praying that the cake will turn out alright?


Rhonda singing a song over the wedding cake. A traditional Israeli blessing maybe?
Twila and the tater salad.

The morning of - doing make up in my empty Indiana bedroom.
At the hairdresser - my sweetie had flowers sent there for me! (yikes - I think the theory behind all the make up was that some of it is bound to come off by picture time, so better pile it on good and proper.)
Alabama - didn't look like she was suffering too badly.
wowzers
So pretty! - Jenni and Alabama

Getting ready at the church



Fast forward several hours -

It's sort of weird for the first year to be over. Now we're just old married fogies. = ( haha. No excuse to do something fun on the 9th of every month anymore - one year and two months - whoo hoo. = ( But it is fun to look ahead and wonder where in the world we'll be in 2 or 3 years from now. As for our weekend, let's see. On Saturday, we went to see the Julia/Julie movie. It was pretty good and quite humorous at parts, but by the end, I was ready for it to be over. Then we had a really nice dinner a place called the Grill Room. It was the best blueberry iced tea I've ever had. Sunday afternoon we were going to go on this safari thing. It sounds really neat - you take a covered wagon ride and there's all these animals that'll come up to the wagon - zebras, giraffes, etc, (but no elephants = ( ). It sounded like it would be a lot of fun, but Sunday rolled around and it was so hot that the thought of sitting in a covered wagon, just wasn't the happiest. We still want to do it, but maybe in November or something like that. So we ended up going to the Houmas House plantation about an hour from here. It was SO neat and I kept thinking of all my friends and family that I'd love to take there. = ) The tour was led by a jolly black lady and she was phenomenal - so very funny, she had some amazing pipes and sang a couple times, and played a piano that was there. I don't remember the name of it, but there are only I think she said 60 in the States. She had a lot of interesting history to share as well. For instance, she was talking about how you don't hear this, but there were actually free African Americans who owned slaves. She said her father's side of the family came from slavery, but her mother's side of the family owned slaves. All very interesting. And the place was beautiful and here's the really really terrible thing - I remembered the camera but forgot the memory card! We were so bummed. We might have to go back sometime just to take pictures - probably won't pay for the tour again though. Anyway, it was all really fun.

In other news, we are finally making some serious progress in unpacking. The living room isn't the best and is covered in empty boxes, but the empty is a good sign, right? We got a lot done in the spare room - Dave got more done than I did. I unpacked a bunch of our books, then sat and stared at the mess and wondered what to do next. I've been doing that a lot lately. I can't believe how fast my vacation time has flown by. I'd like to get a bunch more done before I go back to work, but I also want to swim in our pool and have some fun too. hmmmm... Well, I'm sure I've bored you long enough, so I should let you go now. Have a happy day.