Yesterday I went over to Hilary's to drop off two chairs and a table, and sort of help with Birthday party preparations. Anyway, while I was there, so was her husband Jason, who was celebrating his birthday with his birthday toy -- some kind of camera flash. Well, he has the whole thing set up and then asked if he could take a picture or two. At first I said no, then I thought "What am I afraid of? Why not?" So I did, and I got a few pictures with Hilary and Leta done. Yesterday I thought I looked great but today I am not so sure.

I mean, we have all this idea of what we look like, right? A sort of vague idea? Well, I try not to dwell on that too much and just go with how I THINK I look rather than probably how I really look. However, there are times when you just stop, and give yourself a moment to really take in a image and look at it. I did that today with these pictures. Do I really look like this?

I mean I don't wear makeup that often, my hair is straight, and I really do have a lazy left eye -- I have always had it and my brother Shane shares trait with me. However, how could I forget that nose is so big! And look at that chin! (thank goodness at least one of the just showed up for the party). Plus, how could people think I don't ethnic? I mean, when I see these pictures I see native american written all over the place - why is skin color the main characteristic of how ethnic one looks? Well, look for yourself. I think my main question, is .... is this how I really look? When people look at these pictures do they think "Yes, that's how Laura looks."

[Photos courtesy of of J. Samsa]

Hadjare


Hadjare and Hilary


Ladies who Lunch

Today was one of those extremely rare days where I had the day off and Tim was home sick (and kept at a distance). What did we do? We played Halo 3 and beat it...sadly. It went far to fast...and now we are going to be working on replaying it and unlocking stuff. I hate it when I feel like more time was spent catering to the online crowd. Yes, I know they play it more...but still. Halo 2 was a MUCH longer game, and I appreciate that.

In any case, it was good day. I love those spending all day playing vids with your darling days...where we drink tea, eat microwave popcorn and scavenge in the kitchen. Uh speaking of which I had leftover chicken soup (I made from the scratch for Tim yesterday) and two biscuits...and now I am starving. Managing hunger and the feeling of being overfull is difficult. Also difficult is bending over, giving and getting hugs, sleeping (the hip pain is back with a vengeance) -- but walking is still about the same, which I can't say is true for going down stairs. Going up stairs? No problem, but going down makes it feel like my pelvic floor is about to crash or fall apart.

man I am hungry. I need something to eat right now! Too bad I am all out of chocolate marshmallow mateys. A bowl of cold cereal would have been perfect. I guess I could have a waffle, even though we all know that a toaster strudel would be much, much better. Bacon Bit is moving around and demanding food! I wish I had a cake or something that the Bit would like. :P

Tim has the chills, upset stomach, nausea...he thinks he might be getting the flu. Dear lord please don't let him get the flu and more importantly please don't let ME get it. That said, I am in no hurry to get myself to bed, though I really should. I had a sleepy start to the day today. It was raining when we got up and went off and on all day. It was dark and overcast, and well I was still tired. So dozed off and on all morning until 11:30 when I got up to pay bills. I felt rested though and had energy to do other stuff around the house like peel apples (while watching Star Trek NG -- a little indulgence) and make a danish apple bar thing, cook dinner, fold laundry, clean up the bedroom, take a shower, get dressed, help paint a little, and then finally go out and get an xbox 360 and Halo 3.

I worked some extra days this past month to save up for it...and I know Tim and I will get good use out of it (playing vids together is a great date night pastime for us). In the process of doing so, we totally made a little boy jealous and green with envy at how we just walked in to buy the xbox, the game and an extra controller just like that. Ahh, my young friend, these are the joys of being an adult!

Yeah, I am one of those people that have never wanted to go back and relive my childhood. I like adulthood just fine.

This weekend was pretty good. Tim's little brother got hitched, the wedding was well done, elegant and fun and produced LOTS of piss drunk family members (myself not included). I got to drive the mean streets of Milwaukee taking them too and fro, had a great brunch at the Trocodaro, did a little shopping and had a the worst mood swing yet. I tell you, after hitting 30 of pregnancy the emotions are starting to get a little more intense and irrational. I felt terrible about my mood swing this weekend, so much so that I could get myself feeling bad about it just by thinking about it! But, I have had many reassurances from BTDT Mom's who have said that is quite normal to feel this way. I guess I just thought that since I was fine for most of the pregnancy that I wouldn't feel that way. I thought it was one of those symptoms I wouldn't get. Boy was I wrong!

I feel better about it now (three days later) and I just gotta keep telling myself, this is normal. This is what happens. It is not my fault. It is not who I am, it is just who pregnant Laura is. Yeah.

My replacement started this week...today in fact. I won't meet her until next week though when she starts working on the same days I do. Her name is Laurie....ha ha. I think it's funny when the replacements have matching names. It's like a legacy of sorts...anyway I am looking forward to meeting her next week and seeing what's she like and how she'll handle the office.

Bacon Bit is awake again...I am hungry I wonder if that has something to do with it? No, maybe not. At one point during the day the bowl I had with the apple peels almost got knocked over because of a strong kick from the Bit. I laughed. Hiccups are so frequent these days too ... good! Strong healthy lungs...keep it up Bit!

The room is finished being painted, and we are stuck with a whole gallon of citrus (from Behr) paint. Anyone want a gallon of paint? It's a cool color... tomorrow we take the tape off and see how we did...I can't wait to put some furniture back in there. I am also going to eventually have to figure out how to put the crib together...yeah.

On one hand I can't believe I am 33 weeks working on week 34 --- and on the other hand I feel like Bacon Bit is still a million miles away. November seems like an eternity away. Maybe I'll feel differently next week when it's officially October and I can answer 'when are you due?' with "next month."

I'm hungry. :( Dinner sucked tonight...maybe I'll be bad and have another piece of apple bar stuff before bed. It's not for me...it's for Bacon Bit. ;)

32 Half Weeks!

I do believe, that there is no mistaking a Bacon Bit lives in there. :) It's amazing what happens after you get to the 30 week range. I also included a rare 'front image' so you can see how it looks ... well from the front. Plus there are some outside ones -- because of course, one must show how they look in every day life.

Ugh. I almost had a mini breakdown because I couldn't find the broom this evening -- I really needed to do some cleaning and the broom brings it all together, you know? I need to get a second broom, this is not the first time this has happened. You know, it's the things I can't find that I need that really throw me for a loop....I lost of over a damn lid to a pot a couple weeks ago, and before that it was finding matching lids and tupperware.

Yeah, so...second broom. Gotta get me one. I still don't know where it is, but I managed to clean up the house just fine. It's nice to have a somewhat straightened house, especially since we are going to be out for two days. I hate coming back to a dump. :P

I made an spice apple walnut cake yesterday and invited Hilary and Amy over to eat some of it. I love this cake -- it's my favorite fall cake. I even made one after work so Tim could take it to the dog sitters, who by the way, said they liked the apple pie that we made last week. I hope they like the apple cake! How could they not? It's like the most delicious thing in the entire world. Anyway, it was great to have some company over to chat with, I felt like I could have visited more, but we were all getting tired and after all, we do have to work tomorrow.

Hilary brought me over some blankets that she deemed to be to "girly." I love them. There are two crocheted ones (one a tight, washable chenille's), two cotton knit ones (great quality), a microfleece one, a quilted one....they are all wonderful! I don't think Hilary is aware that I have a blanket collecting problem. It comes from growing up in a house with too few and thin blankets. I have the same problem with towels. For example, I can't even throw away old towels because ... hey, it's still a towel. Anyway, she had to explain to me that they are blankets and no receiving blankets. I am still unsure of the difference...I guess I need to get a receiving blanket to really understand. :)

Ahh one more day of work. Why am I up right now? I am beat...my eyes feel droppy and me knees hurt from being bent.

The house seems so quiet without Pluto around. Even though I totally take him for granted, I rather like having his presence around. You know, just knowing he is there is nice, even if I don't always interact with him.

We got the cats new cat food -- and guess what? They hate it. It's some kind of diet cat food...not a new concept to them -- but even now after feeding them they are continuing to hound me. Walking me up and down the hall and meowing with Migo running towards the office as a hint. Their food sits there....I had to lock them in the office right now with Tim and his accordion (no it's not punishment) so that Innsmouth could finish eating her food in the bathroom. She has a special prescription food that the others must not eat. Well, I guess they'll lose weight now...I just hope that we don't need to buy another bag of food to cut it with, that would just be ridiculous.

This weekend was pretty good. It was good enough that I felt like I was away longer than just an overnight. I decided not to make a decision regarding my brothers reception until I was well on the road. It was around Tomah that I decided...yes I will go. So I called my Dad and left a message that I would arrive around 7 later that night. I drove straight until Menomonie and showed up at around 3ish.

My Mom, Frank, Shane and Josh were all there, as was Ditto and some of his friends and new family. There were about ... I don't know maybe 20 -25 folks? But they had enough food to feed an army. I was the object of slight disappointment in that I am apparently much smaller than they expected me to be. It's sort of like Liama said a while back, the belly shots photos make me look bigger than I actually am -- well I guess that is the case. It really looks like nothing when you put a hoodie on ... though I certainly feel like it's there. I also know that in the next eight weeks or so it's going to exponentially grow. But I had a nice visit with Mom and Frank, and only said one or two sentences to Josh because he was busy talking video game stuff. I talked a little with Shane too. Ditto (aka James) talked to me and Tim quite a bit...and showed me around the house and the back yard where there are concord grapes growing. He is thinking he wants to try his hand at wine making this year. He's really into subsistence living (like finding roots and berries, and that sort of thing I don't know what you would actually call it).

We left after a few hours so that we could make it to Dad's....I was driving again because Tim had a few drinks while he was there -- Ditto had a 1/2 keg! Geez, either he was overestimating how much a small gathering of folks drink .... or his friends are big drinkers. :D We got slightly lost on the way there because we tried to take the backroad shortcut from Osseo to Hatfield. An entire part of the highway was closed, so we were forced to drive around on even backer roads. Ha ha. Thankfully we eventually found ourselves some signs and made it to my Dads at around 7.45. He was already in bed after a long day of hard work apparently, so we visited with Barb for awhile. My Dad, he goes on and on about how early he gets up -- like at 4.30am. But you gotta realize he goes to bed at like 7, or even if he stays up later than there is at least at 3-4 hour nap taken somewhere in the day. He can't really judge other folks on when they get up when he has such a messed up sleeping schedule himself. I think there is actually a name for it when old people start getting up too early and going to bed too late...I know that my grandma did her best to fight it when she alive.

Sunday, we spent all day visiting. Barb went off to church and while she was gone, we ended up by the apple tree and picked some apples. Then we decided to make an apple pie and an apple crisp....and that is just what we did. Later on Barb did come back and we had a lunch of grilled cheese and pork and squash soup that Barb had made the day or two before. It was good and just right. Tim later on mowed part of the lawn that was difficult for them to do and played a game of horseshoes with Dad while I went through the rest of the apples by the tree and sorted out the good ones. I ended up bringing a 3/4 paper bag of apples back with me to make some german apple cake. Oh I love that stuff...I have more than enough apples for more apple crisp or a pie.

When we left, Barb sent us off with an awesome baby gift (though she didn't intend it as one, I made it one) of commodity food. I got a crapload of flour, corn meal mix, baking mix, corn syrup, beans, rice, egg noodles, elbow macaroni, canned tomatos, some peanut butter, mashed potatos, dried milk, government cheese, amish eggs --- and my crowning prize -- a big fucking jug of real, 100% maple syrup!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I still can't! Actually, I might in a few minutes. I am cooking some squash to go with the dinner of pasta with fresh tomatos (from Barb), basil (from our garden) and parmeasean/asiago cheese. I want to put a little maple syrup in the squash though I should ask Tim if he wants more of a butter and pepper squash. Hm. Anyway, I was VERY happy to get anything that she was willing to give us. Oh speaking of which I think that the squash must be done...

All in all it was a great weekend -- and Bacon Bit has become so active! It's like a whole baby moving around in there instead of a random kick or two. Though sometimes there is a kick these days that could kick something off my belly it's that strong! I can't help but to think it's funny -- at least it isn't on my bladder anymore. :) Bacon Bit has also been getting the hiccups quite a bit...in fact the Bit has them right now. Okay..gotta go and finish dinner and eat.

I had my first "Oh shit we're having a baby" moment yesterday. I was taking a midmorning nap, and had just woken up and gave myself a few more minutes to lounge in bed. I was thinking of that xbox 360, the glider, and the dirt we need for regrading the house, a carseat...and then I realized "After Mid November I will no longer be bringing in an extra $600 a month! What is our budget?"

You see, we lived VERY frugally on Tim's wee salary when we moved to Madison. I think back on it and am amazed we did it and yet didn't feel like we were suffering too terribly. We are doing much better now that DH is making almost twice that amount -- so it was time to assess the situation. I got out of bed and drew up a budget that keeps the same amount of money that we funnel into savings. I felt better after that and thought "We can do that...we just have to go back to accounting for money spent on a weekly basis."

However, today my coworker brought up one expense that WILL be a fixture in the budget that I hadn't thought of -- diapers. ( She also said formula, but I am hoping that I will be able to breastfeed without any issues so I am not going to worry about that). Anyway, diapers.

I looked at Mothers Nature Diapers online today, and am sort of confused. How do we know how many diapers to get? What is this about a velcro cover? What does one need for diapers again -- what is this prefold business about??? and are the prices listed here really comparable to buying disposable diapers that we can use to destroy the enviroment? I mean, we were planning on using a combo -- like diapers for the first few weeks and then switch over to cloth, and use disposable for traveling and the like.

It's just diapering seems to have changed so much from when I was a kid and diapered my stupid brothers. :P

I guess in particular I am referring to these two things:

--Offer a Velcro® diaper cover rental program* so that you do not need to use
pins and plastic pants! A $15 one-time fee will get you a package of 4. Then a
$3 per month rental fee will allow you to trade them at any time--for instance,
when you child grows to the next larger size.

--Provide you with a hamper, scented bags and scented disks while you are on
the service for a one time fee of $15!

--Deliver an all-natural, hypoallergenic, alcohol-free refill of wipes at a cost of $2.75 for each 80 count tub. Free tub of 80 wipes to start if you choose to have a standing order each month.

Would four covers be enough? Is that what you were talking about Carla? I would have to make or buy those from someplace or is renting them just as easy? Is this enough wipes? Is that price comparable?

Do I need to worry about this now? Or should I wait until there is a baby around before really getting into this? Hm.

------------------------------------------------------

In other news. We went to see a 3:10 to Yuma on Wednesday and it was fun. I like going to the movies during the week. The last movie we saw was Stardust in Portland, ME. Tim got popcorn and soda -- and no extra salt...though you know the popcorn has enough it it. Man, but the end of the movie my hands were hurting. It took a good 36 hours for it go away and back down to the normal level. I can't believe even that little boost of sodium had that much of an immediate effect on carpal tunnel. That's just crazy!

Sil Sarah called us the other day and said that Bekah and Greg (and their three french friends) were flying into town today and that they were going organizing a last minute BBQ at Mark's new house on Saturday. BIL Mark is the youngest Hoff getting married next weekend. Anyway, I said I already promised my Dad a weekend visit but would see if we could squeeze it in if it was switched to Sunday (which she offered as an alternative). The DH and I talked about it and decided "You know what? We are tired of dropping everything for these last minute plans, and it's really not fair to my Dad, or ourselves." So I said we couldn't make it.

Well when it rains it pours, right? Because I got a depressing letter from Mom. I had just sent her a big letter on Monday complete with belly photos, montage, etc....and so I called her to see if she had gotten the letter. Shane answered the phone before she did, and told me that he went James (my third youngest brother) up north camping for his bachelor's party. He is getting married today.

Okay I knew that. I knew it because I called him before we left on vacation to ask him if was getting married, if he was having a ceremony and whether or not there would be a reception. He said no to everything. He was just going to have a little JOP ceremony at the courthouse afterwork one Friday in September and that was it. Of course I was disappointed. I was looking forward to attending my little brothers wedding all freaking year. We chatted some more and that was that.

So what does Shane tell me? "So you are visiting Dad this weekend?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Did James call you?" He asked.
"No," I said.

So I guess you aren't going to James reception on Saturday," he stated.

"What reception?" I asked. "I called him last month to ask if he was having one and he said NO he wasn't."

"He said that never said he wasn't," Shane replied.

"He didn't invite me either!" my Mom interupted, having picked up the other phone line.

"Mom," Shane said. "Yes he did."

"No he didn't," she insisted, and got that petulant, whiny tone in her voice that implies she has been personally insulted. "I never got an invitation."

"Mom you don't need an invitation!" replied Shane, getting annoyed.

"I don't know what time it is, or where it is. He didn't invite me. I don't know why he didn't invite me," Mom continued, warming up to the subject.

"That's because you aren't invited!" Shane shouted and hung up.

Well damn. Then Mom spent the next few minutes telling me how she is never invited to anything, is always the last to know, and blah blah blah. I told her I wasn't invited either and I had practically ASKED to be invited last month.

Whatever. I am disappointed that I'll miss his reception but I waited for a freaking long time, and did my best to go ... but you know what? Fuck it. If he can't call me (never has) then I am not going to go through heroics to go to this.

For the record, James didn't come to our wedding, and in the process of staying home made Frank (my step Dad) stay home because he couldn't be trusted. James was in the habit of stealing stuff and hawking it at the pawn shop back then.

Whatever. I'm just gonna focus on having a nice, relaxing weekend at my Dad's and getting some stuff done around the house.

EDITED TO ADD: Guess who just called at 12.20? James just called me to invite me to his reception on Saturday at 2:00 -- you know, since I am gonna be at Dad's. My Dad lives about an hour to an hour half away ..... so if I try to make this....fucking a!

I asked if he invited Mom, and he said yes he did but they aren't going. Why? Because Mom doesn't want to be around big groups of people.

Uh. What? Damnit Mom, you infuriate me!

Now, you know, if I go, Mom only lives like 20 minutes away and will probably have her feelings hurt if I don't go make a fucking special trip to see her while I am there....and ...

Laura.....getting...............................angry.........................

You don't like it when Laura get's angry.

So I figured out why I got that headache -- the temperature was in the process of dropping 20 degrees and it was gonna rain all day on Monday. How do you like that?

Today was a very productive day. Together the DH and I cleaned out the guest room and stacked all my stuff nicely on our new shelf downstairs. We are sorely tempted to go out and by another self because it's so freaking nice, easy to put together and heavy duty. Too bad they are 60 buckeroo's each...still...it would make things even nicer downstairs .... I might feel a splurge coming on.

Speaking of splurges...I gotta tell you. I really really want an xbox 360 so I can play Halo 3 with my sweetie. I also want to get BioShock. Why do they have to be so freaking expensive?! Sigh. Tim's birthday IS coming up....and we could just combine our xmas presents to each other for this....oh decisions decisions. I wonder if this is Bacon Bit related...I don't normally get obsessed with wanting something like this. I can usually wait until they are cheap.

Anyway. So in addition to emptying a room full of crap, I helped tape a little, did two loads of line dried laundry, dishes, took a shower and got dressed, went grocery shopping (which started to be very painful because ...well the crotch pain just gets worse as the day progresses and the more I walk and am on my feet), brought the food home, put it away, made dinner which was tatertot casserole tonight with a root beer float for dessert. I am just very tired now and am actually thinking of going to bed after I post this. Who knows if I will fast asleep before 10 or 10:30 or if I decide I want to read more...but do it in bed... I don't know.

I do know that I am tired and I have to work tomorrow. Oh crap..I should put the food away too. :( Maybe I'll pull a Tim, and go to bed without doing it so that he will do it. Plus, my bladder is getting poked and it's sort of uncomfortable.

Oh I forgot to mention, Bacon Bit got a package today! It's a snowsuit set from Finland! If anyone knows cold...those Fin's sure do. It came with mittens, booties, a hat, a thick sleeper type thing that can be used for cooler weather or as a liner to the heavy duty snow suit. It's super plush, thick and warm! It's sort of a light blue with parts that are brown and pink striped...totally NOT PINK! Here are some pictures of it:






I tell you, there is a lot of freaking pink out there. The finnish government sets up new babies with a complete care package of everything that baby needs. I have a friend who is now expecting her second child, and offered to send the first snowsuit our way since she is going to be getting another one (and the first kid grew out of it). How cool is that?

I wish the US would do something cool like that....check out the all the gear Finnish babies get this year (notice how it's nicely gender neutral? And not all pink for girls or all blue for boys).

I don't feel good right now. I'm having another headache day. I think it happened because yesterday I thought to myself "Hey, I haven't had a bad headache since we got back from vacation." See? I totally caused it.

I started a headache journal for real this time. I hope I can figure out what caused it today. It's mostly likely the weather though honestly, it's a dramatic change from yesterday.

In spite of it, we did attend a neighborhood Packer party this afternoon. We brought a savory appetizer, but since we were an hour late it wasn't eaten much. That's okay, it's a good recipe to keep for future use. Because of this I showered, got dressed up a bit and even did a few dishes. At the party everyone knew I were pregnant -- which was kind of cool. We got lots of congratulations and smiles. I had my first belly touch by a neighbor I generally try to avoid because she's a chatterbox -- but it was only a tentative poke...so I'll let it go. I think overall, the neighbor's are excited that there is starting to be more kids in the neighborhood. Not that we regret living in a mixed age neighborhood -- after going to a neighborhood garage sale this weekend where it was ALL young families -- we rather like ours.

After the game was over and the Packers won, we went home and took a nap. I got up about an hour later because the headache returned and tried some facial massage and meditating for an hour before deciding to get up and do something productive. Tim woke up at that point and together we put a metal shelf together in the basement so I can get started on emptying my stuff out of the guest room. That is my goal this week -- I WILL NOT get caught up in going through all my stuff like a hoarder generally does. I think I am also going to leave the sewing machine upstairs...babies won't be getting into that for quite awhile, right?

Well, I think the pain is subsiding a little. I am going to move into the living room and watch the 4400. I missed it last week because of our Labor Day BBQ. This weekend we are looking at visiting my Dad. Tim was thinking he might be able to get the room taped and painted this week -- but a the rate we are going ...that may not happen. Then the weekend after that is Mark's wedding (Tim's youngest brother). Then the weekend after THAT is two parties -- one of which is out of town. Then the weekend after that is a wedding reception and Bacon Bit's baby shower... Yikes.

The best part of this weekend though, was Tim suggesting we go to garage sailing yesterday. So we woke up, got breakfast and large decaf coffee's from Mc Donald's and strolled around looking for treasures. I bought a white crib sheet, a cute onsie with bugs on it, some clothes for a friend of mine, and two large plastic storage bins for 50 cents each! I also got a cross-stitch kit and some xmas cards. I think I might have all the cards that we need .... I think. With the rising cost of postage, how can one continue to buy cards brand new?

Photo Bonanza!!!

30 1/2 Weeks

Tim came home and helped me narrow these down and said...."Man you're getting big."
"Uh thanks," I replied.
"No, I mean your belly," he explained.

Pause.

"Uh thanks," I said. But you know, he's right. This belly has totally exploded the past month. It's incredible. I noticed yesterday while walking to the bus that I am starting to get looks directed towards the belly from strangers.

I got back from my doctor's appointment and learned I gained 7 pounds for at total of 23 with Bacon Bit so far. I do have carpal tunnel -- but I am doing what I should be doing, wearing my wrist guards. I also need to lay off the salt shaker because I am retaining the water. :( But the good news, is she said that it would go away after the Bit is born. In my defense (in regards to the weight gain in a month) was that I did spend part of that on vacation. Dude...but I guess my goal or the next two months is to only gain an additional 8 pounds....uh....okay. We'll see about that

Bacon Bit is head down facing my right side. I can't believe she can feel the head and spine...that just amazes me. I think the Bit moved into this position today. I felt lots of movement next to my upper right rib this afternoon -- and this is completely new.

Heartbeat in the 150's.

Blood pressure fine at 126/76 and I passed the protein test -- yes! I graduated to the group of women who get to pee in a cup every time they go into the doctor's office. I also got myself a green VIP pass that means I don't have to check in at the front desk anymore. Cool. :) It's like they are taking me seriously now! In two weeks I meet the OB for the first time -- the one I picked to deliver Bacon Bit -- who is due in October herself. After that I am meeting with Dr. Henry -- the one that WILL deliver Bacon Bit (I hope) .... at least all of my remaining appointments are scheduled with him. I hope he's not a creep.

The stitch pain that I feel after riding a bumpy bus, or walking fast is NOT a contraction. It's round ligament pain. Truth be told, I am so far contraction free -- and she said is normal. Hurray!

I got a refill on my tylenol with codeine so that I am prepared when the next big one hits. Hopefully it won't, but you know, better prepared than not.

And because, if you are anything like me -- then you would want to compare the 30 week to previous pictures...so here is the updated montage. You can also see any of the photos in the montage in bigger, individual detail in the picture file named Bacon Bit Progress to your left.

The skeeters are terrible. While waiting for the bus this morning I got bit three times, and I am am wearing long pants! I felt a little sorry for the other person because she was wearing a skirt and a sleeveless shirt...she was being swarmed! She said that she had even put some Cutter on her legs before leaving, but we all know that is worthless.

This weekend we had a BBQ on Sunday and had a few folks over. We didn't go to my Dad's like usual because we were dog sitting Jack. A favor that will be repaied on the weekend of the 22nd for Tim's little brother's wedding. Anyway, since we were in town (a rarity) we decided to have a little get together with some locals. Our biggest obstacle was the mosquitos. We bought a flying bug fogger and sprayed the surrounding area before it started, and then light one of those Off Lanterns, and then had a various array of bug repellents available. Later on we lit a campfire and for the most part, I think we were pretty bug free. Well, maybe no FREE but definitely lighter than usual. Just walking outside is sure to get you a swarm of at least 10-15 of the little buggers within a minute. Ugh. Terrible!

We had grilled corn, fruit salad, brats/hotdogs, potato salad, a lemon sponge cake thing I made (and I have hence decided that I am TERRIBLE at cakes and from now on I should just focus on what I AM good at -- pies and other pasteries...but particularily pies). Though, folks were polite and said the cake was good, but I know better.

Amy was kind enough enough to drop off some baby stuff: a crib, bath, play pen, umbrella stroller and a bouncinette (like a little bassinette....except cooler). I am so glad that she passed that on to us! It's crazy to see the room starting to fill with Bacon Bit items .... a few bags of clothes and now this?! We are going to be getting some other hand me down goodies from my friend Kathy this month: cosleeper, pack n play, running stroller, exersaucer, high chair, and I think a swing. The generosity of our friends just amazes me!

The invitations went out for the baby shower, set for Sunday, October 7th. I kept the list mostly to Wisconsin folk and two from MN, and a few from the Chicago area. Of course, I wish I could have invited everyone I knew for this celebration, but I had to be realistic on who I thought would make it. You know, I don't often have parties for me. The last party for me was....well I think it was our wedding! I prefer to throw parties for other people or for my friends. Now of course, I am convinced that no one will want to go and be there and my co-hosting friends Hilary and Liama will be terribly disappointed that no one showed up and they wasted all that time and effort for nothing. Just remember guys, it's not your fault...it's probably mine --and really that would be more cake for me. ;)

Bacon Bit wise, I realized I have a new symptom Monday morning. It started a few weeks ago with a little pain in one or two fingers but by Monday it was both hands and it hurt hurt hurt! I developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome! I always thought it was a wrist related injury not .... not your hands. I did some research and after after accepting that this is what my problem was, I went to bed wearing my wrist guards for Inline skating. I felt like a complete nerd doing so -- but in the morning -- my hands were cured! They didn't hurt at all! I can't freaking believe it!

Today, with the high humdity, I am swelling. My hands/feet are retaining some water and are a little bigger than usual. Nothing like plump sausages though...I am doing my best to drink TONS of water today and try to combat it as well as keeping things elevated. This morning's walk to work whooped my butt..it's the combo of a hill and three flights of stairs that make me gasp for breath. How am I gonna have a baby if I am tired like this already?! To my credit it is humid out there...but I think I might have to start working in more walks...if only the skeetos would abate so that I could!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow -- I even have a few questions to ask: what do contractions feel like? Am I having a contraction when I am walking fast and my belly starts to really hurt on one side (like a stitch) ... it doesn't feel like the whole belly is contracting...just parts of it, and it doesn't seem to happen it waves. I guess I just figured it was the uterus acting up telling me to take it easy, not that it was a contraction.

I forgot my other question, maybe it was related to the carpal tunnel. Oh wait, I remember now, I want to ask about what position she thinks Bacon Bit is in right now. Yeah. I should write those down.

I am also trying not to be worried about weight gain. For some reason I keep thinking my last appointment was only two weeks ago, but it's not. It was a month ago. I need to keep *that* in mind. I guess since the belly has grown the fastest i the past month that I feel like this must be reflected on a scale. I am also sure that there is some pretty good water retention going on -- at least there is today.

We rearranged the bedroom and ever since it's become the favorite place in the world for the cats to hang out. This morning I decided to go back to bed and read for awhile after I declared Tim being in a bad mood. You see, I was eating this blueberry minimuffin with some cream cheese on top and started gagging...so I went to the garbage to spit it out and got a whiff of cat stench (from cleaning the cat box), plus you know the garbage is pretty full I guess. ANYWAY I needed to get out of the kitchen for a moment and stepped into the living room to compose myself. Yes, I perhaps gagged a little more and Tim hollered at me "Go to the bathroom! I don't want to clean up that mess!"

I replied "NO! I can stand here if I want, I am not going to throw up. It's just a little gagging. Sheesh." I stomped back into the kitchen and muttered "baby."

I only threw up three times -- once when I was very ill with that stomach bug, the second time with that nasty special K cereal with chocolate bits, and the lastly the other month when I got overheated on the bus (got off early, was sick and then cooled off enough to walk the rest of the way to work). A little blueberry muffin isn't going to do anything. :P

So yeah. Tim christened the new water heater with a shower, tried to get the dogs ready for a meet and greet (but outside is SO full of hungry skeetos) and then packed up and left. I have a wonderful time at home when there is only me and the kitties...I can only imagine how I will feel after 10 years when Bacon Bit (and maybe crouton?) are at camp and we have the house to ourselves. Ahhh.

After a few more chapters and finishing my decaf coffee, I took a shower and thought about what I need to do today. I have some folks coming over for a bbq tomorrow afternoon/evening and need to: clean the kitchen, living room, bathroom, deck....hm. I am not going to kill myself over it though. It's not like it's the Holiday party where everyone is inside the whole time, and I have to do decorating and cooking to boot. I washed two loads of dishes and then decided to take a break while the latest rack is drying to hop on the internet and look around.

I don't know why I am so chatty lately. I just am. I hope you don't mind.

Anyway, I think I'll finish the dishes, brush my hair so it can finish drying straight and wipe down the counters. I also want to pop in some music and light some incense... I love incense burning with the windows open. By the time I am done with that, Tim should be home. I wonder what else is on his list for the day. He was thinking of painting Bacon Bit's room this weekend...I wonder if he will.

Oh so yesterday, I exercised my right as a driver and drove around the immediate neighbhorhood looking for garage sales. I only found two. The first on I got two anthologies of science fiction (I love short stories) and a pair of sunglasses, and the second .... well, the second one I had to ask if the woman would accept a personal check, and assured that I only lived two blocks up and she could come after me if she wanted. Anyway, they had a HUGE collection of the mint quality baby and kids clothes all priced between 50 cents to a dollar. Most of the baby stuff was girls...and so I started looking. I asked the ladies there how fast babies grow out of that 0-3 month clothing, and they said in about a month. They said that they spend a good chunk of time in the 3-6 range, and more time in the 6-9 range...so I focused my search on that since those are winter months. Looking for long sleeved sleepers and outfits...man...it was such good quality clothing, with no stains and in great condition! I ended up getting about 15=20 outfits I think and a cute little green frame with bugs on it for 19 bucks. I would say about 1/2 of that stuff had never been worn. I was pretty pleased with this... :) It was my first real shopping experience for Bacon Bit. I asked Tim if he wanted to see the clothes later and he said he would rather be surprised when Bacon Bit just starts to wear them. What a typical dude.

I got some information from the plumber who installed our new water heater yesterday on who to call for pulverized dirt to be delivered to our driveway. We need to regrade three sides of the house with dirt. I am thinking I want to do this in October when it's cooler, but I am going to need help. I am actually thinking of asking Tim's brothers if they would be willing to help us with project. Normally I would think nothing of rolling up my sleeves and attacking it with the DH...except in October I will hardly be in a position to be hauling dirt around. I would like to do this before winter so that when I move stuff to the basement I can be assured that it will stay dry. I am sick and tired of seeping. :P I think the cost will be about $200 bucks. Not to bad.

Okay. I guess I should get going and do something...it's almost one and I won't be done before Tim gets home now. Hm. I need to look up how to grill corn, and go and buy it today so that it can soak overnight. I know that much in the corn grilling process. I also need to call Phil and tell him he and his family is invited...or maybe I can pass that one off to Tim?

I'm kind of hungry now...that lame carb light bagel I had this morning isn't cutting it. I wonder what I should make for lunch? Do I *want* to cook? Last night I ordered a margarheta pizza and fries from Glass Nickle for dinner. It was just enough for dinner so no leftovers. I did buy a bunch of green beans at Woodman's...I could eat steamed beans with butter for lunch...that sounds awesome! I should also check the mail, but first I should prepare to be underwhelmed.