Wheel Reminder

Tonight's the night! Watch the Wheel of Fortune tonight to see what kind of fortune my high school friend, Kari, won.

Think nice thoughts

Please send some nice thoughts to the families of my friends - Meg and Becky. Both lost loved ones over the weekend. Love you guys.

It was a weekend

It was hot. Pat decided to paint the rec room. A 1 day project turned into a 3 day project. Josie and I played. We ran errands. We went shoe shopping. Not an easy task for a little girl with thick and wide feet. But she liked it anyway. On Sunday, the three of us went to visit with a bunch of my family. It was hot. And windy. I know my blog wasn't displaying correctly. I don't know what was wrong. All I know - it was hot. No more babies in the summer. Ever.

Just call me Stinky

Okay, don't. I was just kidding.

But have you ever wondered mid-way through the day if you remembered to put on deodorant that morning? No? Okay. Nevermind. Me either.

Have you ever looked in the mirror after going to the bathroom and realized that you have a smidgeon of unidentifiable schmoozle on your chin and wonder A. how long it' s been there and B. how many people have seen it? No? Yeah - me either.

I'm a mess. But a waddling, 30 week pregnant mess, so at least I have an excuse :)

I feel puffy. Oh, so puffy.

Fingers like sausages and feet like concrete slabs.

The joys of the third trimester of pregnancy. I started to puff up a bit over the weekend - noticed I couldn't quite get my wedding ring off sometimes, and my feet were bugging me a bit more than normal, and today, it's pretty bad again. I try to drink more water - but to no avail. All that seems to do it send me to the bathroom twice as often. But otherwise, all is peachy.

I'll quit complaining now. :)

Josie is sleeping. Pat is at softball. I'm enjoying some quiet time when I probably should be doing laundry or dishes or... something productive. But then I remembered that in the not-so-faraway-future I'm not going to have a whole lot of quiet time again for a while. So here I sit, content in my selfishness.

I got Josie fed, and bathed, and in bed tonight between doses of her new favorite pastime... the chicken dance. That's right - a big, fat, sarcastic thank you to one of Patrick's old co-workers who gave him a lovely dancing turkey that plays the chicken dance and wears an apron that says "eat more chicken" last year for a gag gift. She loves the stupid thing, wants us to push the button all the time, and of course, we have to stop what we're doing and do the chicken dance.

Oh - the things we do for a laugh. I can only imagine what the neighbors must think if they can see us. Yet, I don't quite have the heart to hide it. She'd be crushed.

Holy crap. I'm watching the American Idol finale - and some sorry sap is up there freaking out and singing with Clay Aiken. They just had to bring him a stool so he could sit down. Wait - is that Clay, or kd lange? I can't quite tell. Oh yeah, it's Clay. :) Nice hair.

Gotta go. Battery is almost dead on ye ole laptop, and I don't feel like plugging it in.

Sometimes, pain is good

Like today. And okay, not really pain, but definite lethargy and exhaustion. But that just means that I had a reason to stay up late all weekend and enjoy the company of friends. And my stomach muscles hurt, but that just means that I had reason to laugh all weekend. I had the opportunity to spend a beautiful weekend at a cabin in Nisswa and was reminded that girl time is very much a necessity. It sounds like Patrick and Josie had a great time while I was gone, and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend of daddy-daughter time. So everyone in our house was pooped last night!

And in Josie news, she is now not only walking with confidence, and has been for at least a month or so, but also decided to break out in a run last Friday. Cheeks jiggling and arms held high in case of a fall, she was trotting through the house on a mission. A mission for what, I'm not sure, but she was on the run. Another tidbit to share, this morning as we were cleaning up the breakfast dishes and getting ready to leave, I, well, burped. Usually, this will bring about the "o" lips from Josie. This morning must have been especially impressive, because not only did I get the "o" lips, but I also got a round of applause! If she's going to clap every time I burp in the next couple of months, we're sure going to have a happy household, 'cause it happens a lot! :) Patrick put the sand in her sandbox over the weekend, and I'm hoping she "gets" what it's for soon, because right now all she wants to do is eat it. Yuck. Thank goodness for sandbox covers.

And in pregnancy news, well, I guess there isn't much. I'm over 29 weeks along, baby is moving and kicking constantly, and my old friend, heartburn is back. So the bottle of Tums is never far away. I'm up once or twice a night to visit the bathroom, and have started having trouble taking a nice, long, deep breath. But I'm practicing. I'm carrying baby pretty high, and my lungs are definitely feeling the effects. But all in all, everything is going quite well. We're getting closer!

Pick a date! And a name!

Just for the heck of it - I created a baby pool. Click on the link and give a guess, if you wanna. Date, time and weight. And just for the fun of it - throw in how long you think I'll be in labor this time around. (It was about 10 1/2 hours with Josie.) We'll keep it simple. No head measurements or length. Sorry, you're not going to win a fabulous prize, or fame or fortune, other than being forever known as the winner of the baby pool!

Oh - and I put up a new girl name poll. Again. Humor me, okay? :) I think I did it so you can only vote once, and can only pick one name. I think there may have been some shenanigans with the last one.

Braxton Hicks

And no, I'm not talking about the contractions. This is actually the new name that my husband has decided to call Taylor Hicks, the American Idol finalist! First, it was "Randy." I'm not sure why Taylor seemed like a "Randy" to him, especially since there is already a real Randy on the show, but that's what he insisted on calling him. Now this morning, I was giving Pat an AI update on the way to work, and "Braxton" Hicks is the new name he came up with. I think we might have pregnancy on the brain!

Now, you all know that I am a self-proclaimed reality tv show junkie. But last night was ridiculous. I didn't know what to do, with the season finales of America's Next Top Model and The Amazing Race on head-to-head at 7:00, then the final hour of The Amazing Race, American Idol results show AND Lost (okay - not a reality show, but still a must-see) all on at 8:00. Whew. That was a rough one. :) But I survived, so don't worry.

Miss Josie is a girl on the go these days. She loves to get her coat and hat and head out the door for the next adventure, whatever that may be. She has started to become quite stressed when one of us gets ready to leave and doesn't take her with. Last night she laid a major guilt trip on Daddy as he was rushing out the door to softball and she was standing at the screen door pressing her face up against it crying when he left. She schmooshed her little face as much as she could to watch him go down the sidewalk to the garage. Talk about heart-wrenching. And talk about stressful for me... especially as I gear up for a girl's weekend retreat with my bookclub friends. I'm completely torn between extreme emotions as I am sooooo looking forward to a weekend getaway with wonderful friends, but yet sooooo sad to miss an entire weekend of fun with Josie. I know - it's only one weekend and I deserve a much-needed break (at least, this is what I keep telling myself for justification purposes.) I just love waking up on the weekends to a happy girl that gets to sleep in and loves to see her mommy and daddy come in to get her in the morning. If you can't tell, this will be the first full weekend I've spent away from her. :( But on the other hand, alone time with my friends is hard to come by these days, and is only going to get harder with baby #2 on the way. So in the end, I am very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend of talking, laughing and sitting around enjoying some "me" time!!

Ramblings of a Mad Woman: An Editorial on the Subject of Opinions

I've entered a phase of my life where I can no longer have consuming thoughts roaming about in my head. I'm easily distracted and these thoughts will destroy any hope I have of accomplishing anything. Hence, I find myself making a lot of lists, having conversations with people to get things off my chest that have been bothering me and writing things down simply to get them out of my head. It's quite freeing. I find that I can go about my business with a clear mind after I've written down my Target list and made notes of all the things we need to buy before the baby comes.

This brings me to my point of why I'm writing today. I'm writing today to clear my head of consuming thoughts. I'm not going to go into detail about what events bring me to this point because, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I now have things bopping around in this skull of mine which are distracting to my efforts to get anything done at work and are in turn raising my blood pressure to unsafe levels. Read on. Or don't. I really don't care. This is my forum to express my thoughts and opinions and I'm happy to share with you. You may take what you read with a grain of salt and write it off to the mad ramblings of a pregnant woman with too many hormones raging through her body - and that's fine. It's your opinion, and you have a right to your opinion. I expect you to have an opinion.

What I don't expect is that you will actually tell me that MY opinion is wrong, and then list the reasons it is wrong, mainly because it differs from yours. There are a lot of people out there who work this way. And I find it quite infuriating. Perhaps I am a person who just does not derive any pleasure from the art of debate. I am so ingrained in the position that we are all entitled to think what we want that I cannot see the point of trying to persuade someone to my point of view. This is exactly why I am not good in arguments. And now that I think of it, perhaps I'm just not a very interesting person to have a conversation with, either.

Don't get me wrong - I AM a very opinionated person. I guess I don't know if I come across this way or not. I don't want you to mistakenly think that because I don't express my opinion in conversation that I don't have one. But I think what I think, and I don't really care to discuss it. You will never find me in a heated political discussion, especially after I find out that your opinion completely differs from mine. I can listen to you, I can try to see your point of view and I can try to see why someone in your situation would come to that opinion. But I will never try to tell you that what you think is wrong. You have a right to think it. Sure - I may think to myself that you're a moron, but I'm not going to tell you that. Unless you're drunk and won't remember anything I said in the morning.

On the flip-side, I'm quite wishy-washy on a lot of issues. These issues probably don't have much impact in my daily life. I will shamedly admit that I remain an ignorant person on many topics - most of national and international news levels, simply because it is easy for me to turn off the news or not pick up a newspaper and be confronted with these issues. But once something is going to have an impact on me or my family, I will have an opinion. Until that time, I remain blissfully ignorant. It's not an especially good stance to take, but it's my right to take it.

In all of my musings throughout the morning, I came to try to understand the WHY behind my inner-workings. Why don't I tell you why I think you're wrong? Why don't I throw my hat into the discussion ring? What am I afraid of?

I think I came to the conclusion that the point of origin for why I am the way I am is due to the fact that there weren't a lot of peers my age around growing up. I had a couple of cousins that I'd hang out with on occasion who were close to my age, but otherwise, we lived out in the country and until I was older and could drive, I was with adults most of the time. And I certainly wasn't going to speak up and voice my opinion to a bunch of adults, especially if it differed from theirs. So I think this lack of interaction with others my age started my shyness, which fed into a fear of rejection later on once I started interacting with kids my own age. I wanted to be liked and accepted, so didn't speak up. Which is quite possibly the same motivation behind my actions now, as an adult.

Now if you asked my husband, certain friends or certain members of my family about all of these ramblings - they'd probably proclaim that I'm too opinionated. I guess what it comes down to is that I have to have reached a certain comfort level with you before I'm okay to speak openly and freely with you. I have to know that you accept me unconditionally. Others, apparently, do not have this safety zone, are probably more confident in themselves, or just don't give a damn and feel okay saying anything to anyone. Which is fine. It takes all kinds.

I still don't understand how someone can just say whatever comes to mind without any thought for who it may affect or offend, but again, I guess it's their right to say it. I don't understand how someone can think that every action and opinion they've ever done or had is the correct one, but again, I guess it's their right to think it. I don't understand how someone thinks so highly of themselves that they push and give their advice to everyone, but again, I guess it's their right to give it.

I stand firmly in my positions on politics, abortion, mothering, breastfeeding, voting, women's rights, animal testing, the death penalty, guns, Heinz ketchup vs. Hunts catsup, and many other important topics. You may not know where I stand, and may never know where I stand. And that's okay. You may ask, and I will tell you. But I am not going to offer up my opinion merely for the sake of debate or dish out advice merely because I think I'm right. That's just not the kind of person I am. And I'm okay with that. You can think what you think and I can think what I think. It's what makes this country great. Or something.

If you've made it to the end of this - welcome to my ramblings. Now you know what kind of stuff is floating around in my head. I didn't really have much of a point to all of this except to clear my head, to get it out and written down so that I don't have to think about it anymore. Now I can get back to work. :)

Are you a Wheel Watcher???

Well, you'd better be on WEDNESDAY, MAY 31st! My good friend, Kari, from high school, got to live one of her dreams and be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. We always knew she was destined for greatness! You can click on this link the week of May 29th for more info on the contestants appearing on the show during that week. For the local newspaper's coverage of Kari's exciting trip - click here.

I've been Snoogled!

And I'm loving every minute of it! I received the BEST GIFT EVER for Mother's Day. Of course, there's always the undying love of my husband and child - yadda, yadda, yadda - but what I'm talking about is the Snoogle Total Body Pillow. :) Patrick surprised me with this gift on Friday night (that's right, I got treated to a whole weekend of Mother's Day bliss!) because he had gone to buy it and was feeling really bad thinking that he would have this gift in the house that would help me sleep better and wouldn't be able to give it to me until Sunday. And let me tell you - he's going to have a hard time ever topping this one. I can't believe the difference it's made in my comfort level at night.

Besides the fabulous body pillow, I got treated to crepes and biscuits and gravy for breakfast, a salmon dinner, a date-night package promise for a babysitter / dinner / movie, AND got to spend all day Sunday with many members of my family (and neighbors who have become family!) for a birthday / Mother's Day celebration at Grandma Janet's. I can't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day weekend! I hope you all were able to enjoy good food, good company and good laughs as much as I was.

What's Up Pussycat?

This post would be a LOT cuter with a picture.

But here's the deal. I think our hard drive died. (Oh - I'm using Pat's work laptop, in case you're wondering.) I went upstairs a couple of weeks ago, and the power light on the hard drive was flashing, and it was making a clicking sound. I know, you may be thinking that was just me hearing things again, but it really was. So I turned the power off at the surge protector and left it so I could go take a nap. I was assuming we'd break out the manual or something and take a look at it after I woke up. Well, Pat decided to unhook everything from everything and carry the darn thing downstairs to the kitchen where he was going to "take a look at it." Considering all of his expertise in Computer-Related Things, I'm not sure what he was going to be looking at or looking for. So I gently urged him not to take it apart, and so there it sits, next to the stove, right where it belongs. Long story short, we have no way to download our pictures from the digital camera now, since the program is on that computer. I suppose I could be adventurous and go to Target or Walgreens or something, but I think we all know that's just not going to happen. So you'll have to stay picture-deprived for the time being.

Anyhoo. Josie was digging in her toybox before we left this morning, and found a headband with kitty ears that I had gotten at a bachelorette party a couple, okay - a few - years ago. She decided that kitty ears were exactly what she needed to complete her ensemble for the day and proceeded to put them on and wear them to daycare. Super cute. You'll have to trust me. Someday I'll have a picture to post to prove it :)

28 week update

Weight: Up 3 lbs. from last visit 1 month ago.
Belly measurement: Right on 28 cm.
Blood pressure: 122/70.
Baby heartbeat: 160.

Doc did decide to check me, and thank goodness, there's nothing going on yet. "Thick and closed," if you want an exact quote. As long as all continues to go well, I won't go back for another visit until 32 weeks.

Uffda

This was a harsh Monday morning for all of us. For Josie, because she was able to sleep in for the last 5 days in a row - and given this opportunity, she will sleep until 8:00 or 8:30. 6:30 in the AM does not bode well for my little girl after getting to sleep in. For Pat, because mornings are just hard. And for me, because I got up for a nightly bathroom visit at 2:30, came back to bed, and heard a noise. Not a loud, startling noise, but a constant, ticking or dripping noise. I thought maybe Pat was making this noise somehow (I guess I didn't really stop to think how he might be ticking or dripping,) and asked him if he was making noise. He wasn't. And not only was he not making the noise, he didn't volunteer to either get up and figure out what WAS making the noise, or to lie awake beside me in my misery and see if he could hear the noise. Jerk :) So I got to lie awake, listening alternately to Pat peacefully slumbering away and this mysterious noise - the cause of which has yet to be discovered. So, all of us were moving a little slow this morning. If Josie could talk, she would have told us to get the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of her room and let her go back to sleep!

Let's see - what else is new with us...

Pat:
Hockey season is over. No more 10:00 pm ice times and coming home at 1:30 on a Tuesday night - well, Wednesday morning. For now. But softball has now begun, so instead, he'll be rushing to the fields from work to make 6:00 and 7:00 double-headers. He's even been hitting the batting cages this year - what's up with that??! I'll keep you posted on how many homers he racks up. Work is going well, and that's about it for him. Other than the aforementioned lactose intolerance, which is still a sore subject :(

Josie:
Like all little kids, she LOVES to be outside. So we spent a good portion of the weekend enjoying the beautiful spring weather. I don't know if this is normal or not, but all she wants to do outside is find things to climb on. Steps. Chairs. Plastic pool/sandbox turtles. We climb up the steps. We climb down the steps. Then back up. Then back down. Over. And over. And over. I even stopped at the park on the way home from a walk with her in the stroller, which has quite lovely play equipment, and all we did the whole time we were there was to climb up and down the steps in front of the community center. Her feet never even touched the sand in the playground. This isn't that big of a deal, except that she's not quite proficient at climbing down or off things yet, so mom or dad must be close by to prevent her little head from smacking the little concrete. We're successful most of the time. :)

You all know that Josie resembles her daddy very much, but she also takes after his mannerisms, as well. I have to laugh when sitting at the breakfast table with the two of them, and I look at Pat and he's staring blankly out the window, then I look at Josie, and she's staring blankly across the room, captured in whatever daydream has her attention at the moment. I also busted the two of them licking off their dinner plates one night a while ago. *sigh* Oh, and of couse, don't forget the "not-morning people" thing, too. Very much takes after daddy on that one.

Watch out if you're around her any time soon - she has a fascination with my belly all of the sudden, and is constantly lifting up my shirt to take a look. But then she's lifting up Pat's shirt and daycare Betty's shirt, and a tucked-in shirt won't stop her quest to see your tummy! She'll pat my belly nicely for a minute, but then gives a little pinch or scratch now and then, too. Why do I have a feeling this may be the way with the new baby, too?

At almost 16 months, she's in personality-plus development mode right now. She's developed quite a sense of humor, will laugh when we laugh and do things to "tease" us, dances all the time - music or not, will make funny faces and noises and "pretend" plays. Pat and I were cleaning yesterday, Pat had finished vacuuming and I was sweeping the kitchen floor when I found a empty roll from wrapping paper behind the garbage can. She took this great new toy and pretended to vacuum for the next few minutes. Of course, she also hit the dog with it and poked the cat, but that's a given.

Me:
Closing in on 7 months preggo, and doing fine. I think I was on my feet a bit much the last few days as I'm kinda sore today, but all in all, am doing well. Getting a bit uncomfortable from time to time, but I'm sure I felt the same way with Josie. I have a very short memory for that type of thing! I think I'm in full "nesting" mode as I am making lists of things to get done and constantly thinking about what the new baby will need. Offer Pat a kind word as I'm sure I'm already driving him up a wall. And we've still got a ways to go! I have my 28 week appointment on Thursday. My last doc checked me at 28 weeks and that's when she discovered that I was already dilated to a 1, but I'm not sure if this doc checks yet or not. Guess that will be a surprise. Since my only personal frame of reference is my experience with Josie, I am already mentally preparing myself for the same experiences I had with her, i.e., Terbutaline, bedrest and delivering a month early! It's going to be a rough end of the road if I end up going over 40 weeks with this one, but I'm hoping for a smoother last couple of months than I had last time. Time will tell, and of course, I'll keep you posted, whether you want me to or not! :)

Exhausted. But happy.

Whew. Patrick and I just spent the last two days purging the basement and closets of useless items that had been taking up valuable space for much too long. We did a good job. You can actually walk around the basement now without tripping over a box of my clothes from 1997.

I'm tired. My feet are tired. And my legs are tired. I think I'll go to sleep now. At least until my 1:00 am bathroom trip :)

P.S. Congrats to the Rosenbaums! Baby Vivian Jade made her debut this morning and I wish all three of them the best!

Everything That Is Lovely

To my sweet Josephine:

We're home from work now.
It's time to go inside.
You cry. You scream.
We wipe the tears away.
There are your eyes. They're lovely.

The meal is done.
Spaghetti sauce on your face.
Potatoes in your hair.
A moment to clean you off.
There is your face. It's lovely.

Your diaper needs to be changed.
Running, crawling, squirming, turning.
Fighting, twirling, wailing, laughing.
Quickness of a parent's hands.
There is your smile. It's lovely.

Playtime is here.
You walk and run, hide and seek, laugh and dance.
You fall.
You get up.
There are your hands. They're lovely.

Bedtime has come.
Lullabyes and a soft blanket.
Rocking and snuggling.
Your face against my cheek.
There is your breath. It's lovely.

You are my light. You are my love. You are everything that is lovely.

Random Stuff on a Rainy Monday

Yes, Daily Dose fans, I did find my stapler and my lowly box of belongings on the same desk where I left them last Thursday. Although I am still quite skittish, and only unpacked the bare necessities in case another move rears its ugly head any time soon. Which I think is not far from the truth since I saw a notice that a position has been filled in the department I'm sitting in, and I have a feeling that's going to result in my homelessness once again. Perhaps this time I'll put my belongings in a red kerchief and tie it to a stick. Or maybe if I started sneezing all over the desk all of the time, or wiping boogers on the cube walls or something, they'd decide just to leave me be. Hmm - I might have to brainstorm some good "leave me alone and don't make me move" ideas...

I have a crabby husband this dreary Monday. No, not because it rained all weekend and not because the Twins suck right now. Because it would appear that he is lactose intolerant. He saw a doc a couple of weeks ago, and was told, due to some stomach issues, to lay off dairy products and see what happened. Unfortunately, the stomach issues were not as much of an issue after a week of being dairy-free. We came to this conclusion after he binged on cheese yesterday and, sparing any disturbing details, was not in a happy place afterwards. It's going to be an interesting adjustment period for us as we consume A LOT of dairy products.

Josie has discovered Brewster's food and water dishes. The food dish isn't a big deal since it's always empty as our chow-hound consumes every niblet of food the second it's put in his dish. But the water dish has been a battle. We often will catch her being "sneaky" and going over to the dish, dipping her hands in, and licking the water off her fingers. Yummy. Dog drooly water. And of course, just for the heck of it, sometimes she has to tip the dish over.

Why do the makers of maternity-wear insist that every pregnant woman simply MUST want to show off her bountiful bosom every moment of every day? I was looking at the maternity shirts that I have, and almost all of them appropriate for the weather during spring and summer are v-neck and low-cut. Which would be okay if I had more "undershirts" with a higher, rounded neck. But I don't have that many. I do have some lovely cami-type shirts which work quite nicely, but leave a little more hanging out at work than I would really care for. And I really don't want to invest more money in more maternity clothes, but for the sake of coverage, will probably have to. I don't want to give people more to look at than my growing belly is already offering. :)

I'm quite excited as I only have a 2-day work week this week. Patrick and I are taking a couple of vacation days to get some projects done around the house while Josie is at daycare. Nothing really fun, just getting some closets cleaned out, cleaning the basement and perhaps staining the privacy fence, weather permitting. These are the projects on my "to do before-baby" list that just never seem to get done on the weekends. Oh oh - and we got to cross off an item on our "to buy before-baby" list as one of Pat's co-workers gave us a toddler bed. Yea!