Normally, I'm a big fan of Halloween, but I'm not really feelin' it this year.
Too warm out? Too pregnant? Too tired? Who knows.
I dashed home over my lunch hour today to feed my critters and managed to carve a pumpkin without carving myself. I will offer this warning: ALWAYS WEAR SHOES WHILE CARVING A PUMPKIN. I accidentally dropped a very sharp knife on my foot, and was very happy to be wearing fuddy leather shoes.
I am going to hand out Halloween goodies (fancy pencils, stencils, and stickers - childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic, people!) but may lame out on the costume front. I look like a fashion-sense-less geriatric today in my black humpty-dumpty pants (that are are tight at the ankles and are oh-so-slightly too short), shapeless size XL orange t-shirt and black cardigan - did I mention fuddy black leather shoes? Making things more fashion-tragic, I desperately need a haircut, need to tend to my eyebrows, and I put on navy blue socks instead of black this morning. I should be happy that my hairy legs are covered up, but instead I feel like a bloated, cranky eyesore.
Let's move on to happier days, shall we?
As a child, when I returned home from trick-or-treating, my sister and I had to turn our candy in to the family stash if we wanted to collect our "Great Pumpkin" presents. The Great Pumpkin visits while you are out treating, and puts a small-but-cool present on your pillow - like a big box of crayons, lip gloss, a new hairbrush/comb set, a sticker book etc. Mysteriously, the Great Pumpkin present was ALWAYS wrapped in white tissue paper and orange yarn, and had handwriting -just- like Mom's.
Pretty sweet deal once you figure out there was no way in hell Mom was going to let you keep your candy anyway! She had a knack for doling out the candy generously enough that you never felt short-changed, and yet there were many Christmas where Halloween-harvested candy found it's way into the celebrations.
Anywho, Happy Halloween all!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
blips and bloopers: 37 weeks pregnant
Long time no type, eh?
All's well here; (at the extreme risk of grossing you out) my cervix is still in lock-down mode. Gozer isn't going anywhere anytime soon, which is good because both my doula and my mother are going to be out of town this weekend!
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Two weeks ago, my family hosted a couples baby shower, where most everyone wore a Halloween costume of some sort. Hours before Mr. Hubby and I were going to leave our house, we told our dog Suki "car ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house for party".
BIG MISTAKE
Suki immediately trotted over to her collar and leash, and upon, hearing "no, wait" she went to her window perch and looked outside, presumably to see if Grandma and Grandpa were in the driveway. Fast forward half an hour to Mr. Hubby being in one bathtub and me in the other - Suki barged in each bathroom multiple times to give us exasperated sighs, and ultimately settled on wandering the hallway whimpering and crying. As cruel as this may seem, listening to a beagle/Japanese chin pout is actually very funny. Perhaps we could have gotten away with not immediately delivering on the promise of a car ride, or a party, but adding Grandma and Grandpa was going too far.
When we arrived, we decorated the house in black, orange, pink, and light blue, which may sound hideous but is fantastic for a Halloween-themed shower. True to family form, it was a fantastic party; a fire pit in the backyard complete with hot dogs and marshmallows, beer and wine for the guests (I rocked the root beer), an ecstatic Suki-pup wandering around off leash (we were confident she wouldn't wander far from a party involving food-mooching opportunities), and relaxed conversation.
My smartie-pants brother-in-law modified the "guess the baby food" game by adding copious amounts of food coloring to the jars - purple infant mac&cheese is more disgusting than words can describe.
Absolutely everyone we invited at least stopped by for as long as their schedule (or tired toddler) would allow. None of the men present (other than Mr. Hubby) had ever attended a baby shower before, and I was especially glad to demonstrate that there is no need for baby showers to be stuffy, boring-as-hell affairs.
That evening, Mr. Hubby returned home so he could get to work early the next morning. My sister, brother-in-law, Suki, and I decided to spend the night at my parent's house - all of us were too tired to consider driving over an hour to get back to my house. Given the hissy-fit that Suki threw earlier, I should not have been surprised that I was rejected at bedtime; she chose to sleep between my parents - diagonally, because they were either too naive or too charmed to stop her from hogging the bed.
The best part of the past two weeks is that I was able to spend two days with my sister Alie and my brother-in-law. As if throwing a shower wasn't enough, the woman helped me clean my fish tank! And it was her idea! Talk about love.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Last Friday, a friend of mine from work hosted an office baby shower for me (yes I've had _three_ total). It was sparsely attended, but I had a very good time regardless. I think/hope the problem was that we gave people paper invitations in their mailboxes, rather than emailing them. I knew that a few people had schedule conflicts that afternoon, but did expect more than three people (out of 12 invited) to show (6 attendees total, counting me, the hostess and her adorable 3 year old son). I did receive a very apologetic email and gift from a gal who thought the party was this Friday, a explanation and gift from a gal who had an appointment at the same time, and a apologetic explanation from a friend of mine who has a very young child (she's completely not allowed to gift anything to me since I've already received an absolute glut of gently-used baby supplies from her).
I'm not writing about this to pout, but rather to point out how fantastic pregnancy hormones have been to me lately: under normal circumstances, I would probably feel stood up, unliked, ignored, whatever - but instead, I simply don't give a crap. I do feel bad for the hostess who put time, money, and effort into throwing a party for a bigger group, but as it turned out, I got to really visit with everyone there and had fantastic leftovers to take home that evening.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
On Saturday, Mr. Hubby and I go to be stats-takers for my derby girls. This was the first home bout I have attended without being the volunteer coordinator. I thought that I would feel disconnected, or less "important" to the bout production, but I *loved* every minute of it. Three 20 minute periods go by in a blink when you're keeping track of who is on the floor and what they're doing at any moment. My teammates played a phenomenal game, and lost by two points, which is a ridiculously close margin for roller derby. I'm convinced that they would have won if there were a few more minutes left on the clock.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
These days, besides continuing to work full-time, I've been keeping myself very busy getting ready for the baby to arrive. I visited a lactation consultant today and bought new parts for a gifted (used) breast pump. Yesterday, I started packing my hospital bags, and my project for this weekend is to make sure I've got all the baby toiletries/medicines/gear I need so I don't have to send people out on errands once we're home from the hospital. (Okay, slightly fewer errands . . .)
And, I kid you not, at this moment I'm getting fantastic mommy practice:
as I type this, my friend's 5.5 month old is draped over me, fast asleep. What particularly cracks me up, is that she has to straddle my belly in such a way that her foot visibly moves when my baby delivers a good kick.
All's well here; (at the extreme risk of grossing you out) my cervix is still in lock-down mode. Gozer isn't going anywhere anytime soon, which is good because both my doula and my mother are going to be out of town this weekend!
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Two weeks ago, my family hosted a couples baby shower, where most everyone wore a Halloween costume of some sort. Hours before Mr. Hubby and I were going to leave our house, we told our dog Suki "car ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house for party".
BIG MISTAKE
Suki immediately trotted over to her collar and leash, and upon, hearing "no, wait" she went to her window perch and looked outside, presumably to see if Grandma and Grandpa were in the driveway. Fast forward half an hour to Mr. Hubby being in one bathtub and me in the other - Suki barged in each bathroom multiple times to give us exasperated sighs, and ultimately settled on wandering the hallway whimpering and crying. As cruel as this may seem, listening to a beagle/Japanese chin pout is actually very funny. Perhaps we could have gotten away with not immediately delivering on the promise of a car ride, or a party, but adding Grandma and Grandpa was going too far.
When we arrived, we decorated the house in black, orange, pink, and light blue, which may sound hideous but is fantastic for a Halloween-themed shower. True to family form, it was a fantastic party; a fire pit in the backyard complete with hot dogs and marshmallows, beer and wine for the guests (I rocked the root beer), an ecstatic Suki-pup wandering around off leash (we were confident she wouldn't wander far from a party involving food-mooching opportunities), and relaxed conversation.
My smartie-pants brother-in-law modified the "guess the baby food" game by adding copious amounts of food coloring to the jars - purple infant mac&cheese is more disgusting than words can describe.
Absolutely everyone we invited at least stopped by for as long as their schedule (or tired toddler) would allow. None of the men present (other than Mr. Hubby) had ever attended a baby shower before, and I was especially glad to demonstrate that there is no need for baby showers to be stuffy, boring-as-hell affairs.
That evening, Mr. Hubby returned home so he could get to work early the next morning. My sister, brother-in-law, Suki, and I decided to spend the night at my parent's house - all of us were too tired to consider driving over an hour to get back to my house. Given the hissy-fit that Suki threw earlier, I should not have been surprised that I was rejected at bedtime; she chose to sleep between my parents - diagonally, because they were either too naive or too charmed to stop her from hogging the bed.
The best part of the past two weeks is that I was able to spend two days with my sister Alie and my brother-in-law. As if throwing a shower wasn't enough, the woman helped me clean my fish tank! And it was her idea! Talk about love.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Last Friday, a friend of mine from work hosted an office baby shower for me (yes I've had _three_ total). It was sparsely attended, but I had a very good time regardless. I think/hope the problem was that we gave people paper invitations in their mailboxes, rather than emailing them. I knew that a few people had schedule conflicts that afternoon, but did expect more than three people (out of 12 invited) to show (6 attendees total, counting me, the hostess and her adorable 3 year old son). I did receive a very apologetic email and gift from a gal who thought the party was this Friday, a explanation and gift from a gal who had an appointment at the same time, and a apologetic explanation from a friend of mine who has a very young child (she's completely not allowed to gift anything to me since I've already received an absolute glut of gently-used baby supplies from her).
I'm not writing about this to pout, but rather to point out how fantastic pregnancy hormones have been to me lately: under normal circumstances, I would probably feel stood up, unliked, ignored, whatever - but instead, I simply don't give a crap. I do feel bad for the hostess who put time, money, and effort into throwing a party for a bigger group, but as it turned out, I got to really visit with everyone there and had fantastic leftovers to take home that evening.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
On Saturday, Mr. Hubby and I go to be stats-takers for my derby girls. This was the first home bout I have attended without being the volunteer coordinator. I thought that I would feel disconnected, or less "important" to the bout production, but I *loved* every minute of it. Three 20 minute periods go by in a blink when you're keeping track of who is on the floor and what they're doing at any moment. My teammates played a phenomenal game, and lost by two points, which is a ridiculously close margin for roller derby. I'm convinced that they would have won if there were a few more minutes left on the clock.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
These days, besides continuing to work full-time, I've been keeping myself very busy getting ready for the baby to arrive. I visited a lactation consultant today and bought new parts for a gifted (used) breast pump. Yesterday, I started packing my hospital bags, and my project for this weekend is to make sure I've got all the baby toiletries/medicines/gear I need so I don't have to send people out on errands once we're home from the hospital. (Okay, slightly fewer errands . . .)
And, I kid you not, at this moment I'm getting fantastic mommy practice:
as I type this, my friend's 5.5 month old is draped over me, fast asleep. What particularly cracks me up, is that she has to straddle my belly in such a way that her foot visibly moves when my baby delivers a good kick.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Ukulele bliss
This is the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britian playing the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".
My fellow farkaholics have probably seen this already, but I feel compelled to share this with everyone else - I got a full body buzz from it. As a reference point, I've been known to tear up at the sound of a badass pipe organ, visibly twitch at the sound of poorly-tuned instruments and quite possibly take music too seriously.
On a personal note, I still prefer my younger sister's rendition of this theme, which she played maaaaany years ago on an oversized plastic bendy straw while sitting by a campfire - I'll never forget it. Love you very much, Alie.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
nearly 35 weeks . . . .
It used to be that every contraction caused me to panic a little:
"Not yet! Too soon!"
My current attitude?
"Bring it ON baby!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
This weekend, my sister and parents are throwing me a baby shower in my hometown: we've invited couples, encouraged people to BYOB (and will have some available), we plan on roasting hot dogs in my parent's backyard fire pit, and best of all I was just told that it is a costume party!
The invitations my sister sent out specified that the costume part was to be a surprise, but then figured that Mr. Hubby and I would be bummed to be the only costume-less people there, and we might be suspicious of all the Halloween decorations early on.
Now I'm SUPER impatient! I LOVE Halloween parties!
It is such a relief to have something to focus on other than chronic heartburn!
"Not yet! Too soon!"
My current attitude?
"Bring it ON baby!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
This weekend, my sister and parents are throwing me a baby shower in my hometown: we've invited couples, encouraged people to BYOB (and will have some available), we plan on roasting hot dogs in my parent's backyard fire pit, and best of all I was just told that it is a costume party!
The invitations my sister sent out specified that the costume part was to be a surprise, but then figured that Mr. Hubby and I would be bummed to be the only costume-less people there, and we might be suspicious of all the Halloween decorations early on.
Now I'm SUPER impatient! I LOVE Halloween parties!
It is such a relief to have something to focus on other than chronic heartburn!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Happy 4th Anniversary, Mr. Hubby
even in the scariest of times, we laugh together
yes, even the Pastor was cracking up, so much for a solemn service!
we continue to be patient with each other
Marraige isn't always pretty, but it's absolutely worth every effort!
Marraige isn't always pretty, but it's absolutely worth every effort!
I am so happy to share my life with you!
Mr. Hubby's suit was black, not dark blue as it appears in this picture,
and yes I am an Amazon. Fear me.
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