There was supposed to be a maintenance outage for blogger today -- I wonder if it messed things up.... [test one...pass] [test two - photos...pass] [test three: template change...pass] Hurray!

Today was a good day. I kind of wish today had been yesterday for Tim and Morella instead of that rainy, depressing day we had. Morella was an absolute gem. A little wonder. Happy, ate well, drank well, energetic, napped on schedule and was so friendly and outgoing. This morning we went to Lazy Jane's to meet up with someone but they didn't show. Instead I had a glass of iced tea while I watched Morella play with the toys and interact with the older kids there.

Hold on...I have to switch to the desktop while Tim downloads and installs GIMP onto the laptop so I can have some kind of photo editing program. There. Here are the toddlers from this afternoon's playdate at Elmside Circle Park. We like to check out different parks around Madison. We are going to be experts by the time summer is done!

So yeah. The person I was going to meet didn't show up at Lazy Jane's so after an hour of Morella playing, me watching and having the other kids eventually all glom onto me -- or as one of the Mom's said with a strange tone "They seem to be drawn to you" we left and headed over to Woodman's to pick up a few things like milk, fruit and potatoes. I am very proud to say that I didn't buy any sweets at Lazy Jane's (even though they are so delicious) and I didn't buy the usual array of junk food I've been indulging in at Woodman's. Why might you ask?

Because I went and failed the one hour glucose challenge test for gestational diabetes yesterday. I was 7 points over their cutoff and so now need to take the 3 hour challenge, which I plan on doing Monday. Let's be clear, I am 95% certain I do not have GD -- it's really just a matter of bad eating choices the day before (waffles, brownie, cinnamon rolls, chocolates....). At first I was really bummed about it and even shed a few tears about how stupid and far off track I've gotten. I mean, for the longest time, until week 22 to be exact, I felt like I had no appetite and so I was happy to eat anything -- whether or not it was good for me. I didn't care because for 20 weeks I had barely gained anything. Obviously that changed, I started to feel better but instead of slowing my sweets pace, I kept at it. This really was sort of a wake up call, to quit it. Go back to one sweet a day -- no more multiples. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted.

But then Hilary said she would baby sit, and then I got to thinking about how nice it would be to sit in one place for three hours with minimal interruption (to get a blood draw every hour for three hours -- a total of four blood draws that include the fasting one to begin with), and work on a project. I could work on cross-stitch. I could write a letter or two. I could work on finishing some cards I have been trying to finish for months. I could read. I could do puzzles. I could stare into space. I could look at the folks there. I could ... well you see, it's like a mini vacation! The only price is time, blood and hunger pains. I know, I could have asked to have the 1 hour again, but really that is why there is a 3 hour challenge -- to make sure. So, we might as well make sure, right? Besides, I needed to stop the sweet binge otherwise I would have gained a gazillion pounds and that wouldn't have been fun.

Crouton is kicking up a storm lately! I woke up this morning with a foot being jabbed into my rib cage. I don't remember that particularly happening with Morella, probably because her placenta was attached to the front and muffled sharp, pointing movements. But Crouton, this active little bugger is getting to places I don't think we should talk about. ;)

For three days I have to eat at least 150 carbs a day. This is the first time I have ever taken notice of carbs, and luckily a friend of mine gave me a handy little book that I can look at over the weekend to count carbs. I think I hit the 150 mark today as practice...so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's been a bit of an education, I'll tell you that.

Well, I should hit the hay. I gotta spend some time paying bills tomorrow and looking at finances and go to the bank to deposit a check. I have mostly moved to paying most of our bills online and saving a stamp -- stamps I'll throw on postcards and send out. Oh speaking of which, I don't think I've sent a single post card out this week! I have been busy working on two packages. Both are boxed, but but still need cards, to be wrapped and addressed and then taken to the post office. Maybe those should make my top 10 goals for tomorrow.

1. Take Pluto to dogsitter.
2. Find and write cards.
3. Wrap Mom package.
4. Wrap Jessie package.
5. Go to post office to mail.
6. Playdate with Hilary and Cullen in the morning.
7. Update spreadsheet for May bills.
8. Pay some bills.
9.
10.

The last two can be filled in later....yeah. Okay. Night!