Wordless Wednesday: 8 weeks to go...

still cookin'...

28 weeks today!!

ack! & egad!

it's been more than two months since i last posted, but i've been a busy little wifey, baking the bun in my oven ;)
here's proof:


22w 1d

also i've been knittingcrocheting up a storm... i'm trying to finish up the projects i'm obligated to do, so that i can get back to my swing cardigan & knits for the baby.  here's something else i forgot to add (that we found out a couple weeks ago):

Wordless Wednesday: I almost forgot...

There's Something About Mexi...

Pregnancy has been progressing rather well, i think. I'm about finished with my first trimester and, to this point, my "morning sickness" has been more like "off-and-on all-day nausea" -- but i'm not complaining; i've heard what some other women go through!!  In fact, i'm finally getting back to the point where i have more good days than bad ones.  Today started out a little rough, but i felt better once the smell of tacos wafted down from the cafeteria.  I don't know what it is about Mexican food, but it seems to be just the thing i need when i'm feeling gross... 7-layer taco dip, burritos, corn chips & fresh salsa, you name it!  I also have been enjoying Italian (penne with rosa sauce, meatball subs), but nothing seems to hit the spot quite as well as Mexican.

(except, maybe, toast)

Pleasant Surprises :)

We had a couple nice surprises at my OB appointment this morning:

(1) I don't have gestational diabetes (yet)
(2) The OB we met with was a very nice (albeit slightly ADHD) man, who told us "God Bless You" as we left -- I continue to be surprised at the level of importance religion carries at this practice (which is not something they advertise, but is something i love)
(3) We got a surprise ultrasound (for free) today -- the OB couldn't find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler, so he suggested we pop across the hall and look at it :)

Pictures to follow soon!

Bus Driver, Move that Bus!

Time for the big reveal -- you know, that thing i was reticent to discuss over the last few weeks...

I'm pregnant :)
As of tomorrow, I'll be 12 weeks
Our Little♥One is due approx. 7 November 2011
Tomorrow is also our second appointment with the OB & the first that The♥Hubster will be attending
We were really excited for this particular appointment, since it would be the first time we heard the baby's heartbeat, but... The♥Hubster's darling sister rented a doppler for 6 months for my birthday & we were able to hear the heartbeat 2 weeks ago!! Not that the appointment is any less important -- i have to do my first fasting blood sugar (fingers crossed against gestational diabetes!!)

I guess the next *big* milestone will be the ultrasound (week 19) or quickening -- i'm not sure which will get here first :)

I think it'll come as no surprise that, in the knitting department, i've started pattern collection for a million adorable little pieces i hope to work on this summer.  There will be some I can start now & some more gender-specific pieces that will have to wait until after the u/s.
Also on the slate for this summer -- figuring out what to do for a nursery...

Ceci n'est pas une blog post

I'm not really posting.
If I were really posting, I'd be waaaay too inclined to blubber on and on about something that I shouldn't be talking about (yet), but really want to talk about (now).
So, therefore, "This is not a blog post"

Wordless Wednesday: InterroBANG!

Wordless Wednesday: Why Do I Keep Thinking I See These?

geekalerts.com



Good Ole USPS

Why is it --always-- that the packages that get "damaged" in the mail are embarrassing ones?
Usually I buy skivvies at the store, but the ONE time that I buy them online...

PS - I've decided that I watch waaaay too many TV crime dramas... I keep picturing some perv opening the package to handle my unmentionables... eww! laundry. now.

taking a step out of my comfort zone

I decided, while listening to a radio show today, that I have just let the government happen to me. Don't get me wrong, I certainly cherish my right to vote & use it every 2 years or so, but I generally avoid politics other than that.  Today I broke my silence -- I signed a petition supporting the Pence Amendment to stop government support of Planned Parenthood & keep taxpayers from having to unwillingly fund abortions.

I would pat myself on the back, but I know that this is all God's doing ;)
I really feel that He has a plan for my life and I have been making an effort to really listen for what His Will is for me. I actually took the Alter Call for Special Prayers this past Sunday (another thing that would normally make me uncomfortable). Pastor Chris prayed over me and I wept as my heart cried out to God to make me an instrument of His Will.  God is moving, folks... in my life, in the church, and in our tormented little world.
Maran atha!

I eat my peas with honey...

... I've done it all my life
It may seem kinda funny
But it keeps them on the knife

I've been saying that poem in my head (& frequently aloud, as well) every time I eat peas since I was a little girl.  It was passed on to me by my mother, who in turn got it from her grandfather.  My great-grandfather was always ready with a joke (especially a wry one) & I think he is the one from whom I inherited my sense of humor.  Granted, the jokes I make are not especially funny -- let's be honest, they're groaners -- but the important part is that I make myself laugh.  This fact is, apparently, not missed by my students. "Mrs. M," one said last year, "you really crack yourself up, don't you?!" and this year another student told me I was "much closer to the 300 mark" after learning that six-year-olds laugh approximate 300 times a day, while adults generally laugh 10 - 100 times per day. 

Whatever my daily tally, I am truly blessed to have the Joy of the Lord -- it is a comfort to me when I am down & out and always adds that little spring back to my step ... so that I can eat my peas whichever way I please ;)

errrrrrrrgh... (*dying noise*)

have to finish moving previous posts from former blog so that i can delete it.

hate this part.

ETA - done & done.

Wordless Wednesday: ♪♫ No School Tomorrow If It Snows ♫♪

Crafting Frenzy

I've finished a whole slew (4? 5?) of knitting/crocheting/jewelry projects in the past 2 weeks. I promise I will post them as soon as I get some pictures taken!

Also of note: Last week of the Daniel Fast!!

Recent Adventures

Okay, so i promised some more stories as soon as i got a chance, and here i am.

Squirrel in the Basement
     A few weeks ago, The♥Hubster was startled by a squirrel in the basement as he left for work.  He called up the basement stairs to warn me, but i saw neither hide nor hair of the beast all that morning or evening.  I did however see some of the wreckage its wrath incurred (ceiling tiles down, various things on the floor that should have been on shelves, etc.), not to mention squirrel poops.  That night, we figured out that the squirrel had gotten in through our woodstove chimney -- we had not lit a fire the night before -- & had dislodged a piece of the pipe, through which it escaped into our basement.
     Our gameplan was to leave the basement door open (to the outside world) for a few evenings in hopes that "Lucky," the squirrel, could get away... on reflection, that decision could have been disasterous, should we have inadvertantly invited in more squirrels, the neighborhood family of skunks, or one of those creepy, glowing-eyed marsupials with a rat tail (whose name i refuse to write, lest it conjure one of them from night's abyss -- eww)! We thought our gameplan worked, but little did we know...
     The day after we quit leaving the basement door ajar, The♥Hubster returned from work to find the squirrel sitting on a box in the laundry room.  Our "fearless lioness," La Femme Nikita (or Kiki, for short), entered the house on The♥Hubster's heels, eager for her canned dinner, until she saw the squirrel (which was apparently fairly large) and she turned tail and ran the other direction. Some hunter.  The♥Hubster called me to let me know that we still had a visitor (who had shimmied into the bottom of the box on which he sat) & then took our "hellhound," Oscar, with him to the basement.  Oscar is too smart for his own good sometimes.  The♥Hubster pointed out the squirrel in the box & told Oscar to get it.  Oscar sat down & looked at him like "i'm not sticking my nose in there! it might bite me!!"  So, The♥Hubster decided to make a trap using our cat carrier & some peanuts.  It didn't really work, so he took Oscar back up stairs because the dog kept trying to eat the peanuts in the trap (not to mention that he's so socially inept, we can't allow for the chance he might escape the house through the basement & scare/hurt one of the neighborhood kids) before he came down to move the box (& squirrel) out of the basement.
     Naturally, as soon as The♥Hubster started moving the box, the squirrel shot out of it, ran into The Studio portion of the basement, scurried up a wall & hid in the rafters.  Visitor = 5, Home = 0
     When i got home, The♥Hubster and i spent more than an hour standing on the woodstove, trying to poke, prod, lure with food, dog-catcher noose, squirt-gun, reason with, make squirrel noises at, & sweet-talk the squirrel out of his hiding spot (a space in the rasters about 8 inches wide & 2.5 feet long).  The poor thing was not looking well, but we think it was just dehydration and/or malnutrition -- he had been down there about 3 or 4 days with no water or food. Finally, after switching from a cat carrier to a bankers' box with peanuts & using a piece of narrow PVC with a little plastic hook on the end, we were able to sweet-talk/poke him in the tush to urge him out.  He hopped into the bankers' box & we popped the lid on & rushed him outside.
     We stood back after opening the lid, but nothing happened.  We crept forward... the little bugger was contentedly eating peanuts & not interested in leaving at all!  Gently, we tipped the box onto its side & Lucky reluctantly hopped away (we think he may have broken one of his hind legs in the original 3-storey fall).  The♥Hubster says he has a better survival chance outdoors than indoors. I agree, but i hope he got to his tree, since it snowed later that night.  We know he was able to climb well, since he scurried up the wall of The Studio, but i hope he got to his nest in time!

The Daniel Fast
     This isn't much of a story.  I started The Daniel Fast with HCAOG on 9 Jan 2011.  It's been difficult when i'm away from home (lunch at work, traveling with Chosen, etc.), but i'm finding that a lot of the recipes in the paperback are pretty good -- naturally, if i weren't on the fast, i'd add some cheese to many of them (or chicken, or honey), but i'm especially loving the herbed sweet potato fries & the black olive tapenade for snacks.  I have enjoyed having more fruits & veggies in my diet, too, so i'm going to try to keep that up after the fast, as well. Today is Day 9 of 21. :)

Erm... Happy New Year?

Okay, okay, so i haven't posted in a while...
... it's not like i haven't thought about posting...

Christmas came & went. I got to see my family (which was awesome). I got presents (which is always nice). We did a lot of driving (which is to be expected). I got a bathrobe from The♥Hubster (which i super wanted). I got a yarn yardage meter from my Aunt, who drew my name (which is the only thing i asked for). But i have to say the best presents were from my oldest younger sister: a comb (my comb -- the one i lent her years ago & now i finally have back), a magnet ("If yarn were meth, I wouldn't have any teeth"; i about died laughing), & a witty knitting tote (not to mention yarn!).  Good job, Chutchy! I hope you enjoyed my present as much as i love yours!!

More later -- when i find the time...