Please don't make me EVER do that again.

Good news, everyone -- I survived that dreaded, 3-hour glucose test. Hooray! It went about how I expected it would:

• It took 4 hours instead of 3,
• Because the first attempt at getting blood from my tiny, wimpy veins required three different nurses,
• Who all had to try 2-3 times each.
• The subsequent attempts at drawing my blood were just about as pathetic,
• And now I have too many holes, which are quickly developing into too many bruises, in both of my arms and on the tops of my hands.
• It was not fun,
• And I've never been more excited to leave somewhere in order to go to work.
• Also, I've never been more eager to scarf down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich once I was allowed to eat again. Whether for religious reasons or medical ones, fasting's never been easy for me, but it's really just not a kind thing to do to an always-hungry pregnant woman.
  

On the plus side, though, the glucose drink they gave me was carbonated, which made getting it down much, much more pleasant. Also, the nurses were nice and genuinely felt really bad for sticking me so many times. And what girl, holding down an 8-5 job, gets to sit and read for 4 hours on a Monday morning?

Anyway, my doctor should be getting the results sometime later today. I think I tested just fine at each round, though, so hopefully no worries on that end of the ordeal. [Update: I passed! So, yay.]

And now I am ready to enjoy the rest of my day. After work, Blake and I will start checking items off our Things To Do Before Vacation List. Tonight's endeavors include haircuts and a trip to Target. Also, I think we will watch that PBS documentary, The Mormons. Blake has recruited several of his professors to watch it (he's such a good missionary), and it would be nice to see what's included so he can be prepared to answer questions. Besides that, it looks really interesting.

A VERY Busy Saturday

We had quite the busy Saturday. Here's the breakdown of how we spent it (because I just KNOW you were all dying to see how productive we can be on a weekend).

We were educated:

• Attended our last childbirth prep class. Hooray, it's over!
• While at the class, during our tour of the birthing center at the hospital, happened to run into my doctor (who had just finished checking on a baby in the NICU). He stopped me and asked if his nurses had told me yet about the glucose test results. I told him they had, and that I was planning on going in Monday morning to get the second test taken care of. He told me he was sorry to make me have to do it, but he just wanted to be sure (which, really, is fine), and then he kindly reassured me that he really didn't think I'd have any further problems. Which was nice to know. Also, it was nice to learn that my doctor can pick me out of a crowd of several other pregnant women, and remember at least a snippet of my medical records, all AWAY from his office. He's a good doctor.
  
• After doing a bit of research, learned that the strange tightening sensations I've been feeling in my belly lately are Braxton-Hicks contractions. Am I really that far along?
  

We went shopping:

• Found seven cute articles of baby boy clothes at a rummage sale, which we promptly bought for 50 cents apiece.
• Made a quick trip to the grocery store.
• Found a few summer shirts and pajama pants for Blake on the clearance racks.
• Also found him some dashing (and ridiculously cheap) silk ties on clearance.
• Decided that clearance racks and rummage sales are generally the way to go.

We were practical:

• Got the oil changed in our car.
• Whipped a pass-along card out of my purse to give to the guy who changed the oil because he told us he wanted to get a copy of the Book of Mormon.
  
• Got my glasses adjusted (yet again) so they can just stop falling off my face already.

We cleaned:

• Thoroughly dusted the house (which it desperately needed).
• Threw away a pile of old magazines and catalogs.
• Did three loads of laundry, which included the bedsheets.
• Re-made the bed, this time packing away the extra winter blanket (because I think that maybe spring has come for reals this time).
• Picked up approximately 12 piles of stuff, thereby destroying quite a bit of evidence that not only do we live here, but are often quite lazy when it comes to putting things away.
• Found places for our growing collection of tiny baby items.
  
• Vacuumed.
• Cleaned the kitchen (me, because I'm a whiz at dishes) and the bathroom (me and Blake, because I can't so much easily clean the bathtub anymore).

We were righteous:

• I planned a Young Women lesson,
• While Blake set up about a bazillion appointments for the Bishop (which he ended having to cancel this morning because our Bishop was sick today).

We relaxed:

• Put our feet up and watched Keeping Up Appearances, our recently discovered favorite British sitcom on PBS.
• Called my family, and because pretty much everyone was gone, spent a lovely 20 minutes or so chatting with my favorite youngest sister.

So, whew -- what a day! What a good, solidly productive, but enjoyable day. How was yours?

Stupid Sugar

Had another lovely visit with the doctor yesterday. Well, maybe there wasn't so much lovely this time. I had to take the glucose screening test. As soon as I got there, I was given this nasty glucose concoction to drink, which tasted an awful lot like a tall glass of melted orange-flavored Otterpops. Gross. Anyway, then I had to hang around for an hour to let it get in my system and do its magic before they drew blood to test my glucose levels. Not fun, but not too bad. I survived.

Only this morning they called and said that my glucose levels were mildly elevated, so now I have to go back and take the much more dramatic version of the glucose test. This one is 3 hours long and they'll have to draw blood 4 times (though with my history, this will translate to approximately 37 unsuccessful attempts at getting blood from my tiny, wimpy veins). Hopefully no diagnosis of gestational diabetes comes from this because that would pretty much stink. I really have been pretty turned off of sweets throughout this whole pregnancy, and am crossing my fingers that the fact that I don't eat many sugary things anyway will be points in my favor. Anyway, because I want this done and over with as soon as possible, and because I have to go into the test fasting, I think I'll try to go into the lab first thing Monday morning. Wish me luck.

Otherwise, though, the appointment went well. Baby still has a beautiful heartbeat, and the doctor was able to confirm that the annoying pain in my hip joints is totally normal. I'm now about a week into my third trimester, so we're on the homestretch.

We have only one more childbirth class to go, which is great. I'll be glad to get my Saturday mornings back. I think this week we're up for a tour of the birthing center, more breathing exercises, and a general tying up of loose ends. Last week we learned all about pain management, and I'm suprised at myself for coming away from it with a different opinion about epidurals. I'm not one of those organic-loving, everything should be 100% natural, including childbirth, kind of girls. Besides, I kind of consider myself to be more on the wimpy side when it comes to dealing with pain. So I've been pretty much pro-epidural from the start. But a part of me (I'm pretty certain it's the part that's not in labor at this very moment) is getting more and more interested in seeing how long I can last without an epidural because I'm a little concerned that if I'm totally numbed up I won't be able to get myself to push when it's time, which itself can cause further problems (like the need to have this kid vacuumed out of me -- yeah, I don't really see that as the ideal way to make an entrance into the world). Anyway -- to those of you who've been through this (and also those who haven't, but still have an opinion), what are your thoughts? I'm curious what other people think.

A Wet Story for a Rainy Day

It's rainy days like we've been having here lately that make me really grateful that I have a solid roof over my head. Because during one particularly down-pourish rainy spell, while I was living in a pretty crappy apartment complex south of BYU campus, I wasn't as lucky.

I didn't mind at first that my apartment that year was old and really rather crummy. I got used to the drafty, paper-thin walls that made the heater useless and turned a blind eye to the mold in the bathroom that grew at an unbelievably exponential rate. It was affordable and it attracted a lot of really great people who, for the most part, didn't rely on their parents for regular money, people who took their education seriously and held part-time jobs to support themselves. My circle of friends that year grew almost as exponentially as the bathroom mold did. It was a lot of fun.

Only it wasn't so much fun when the swamp cooler belonging to the apartment two doors down broke. Because the building was designed such that the flat-top roof over the girls hall and the flat-top roof over the boys hall allowed for collecting water to drain to the center lobby area and ultimately off the roof altogether, the drainage from the broken swamp cooler down the hall did what it was supposed to and flowed to the center of the building. Only the roof was old and the weight of the gushing swamp cooler water was too much. So it started to leak. And where do you think it started to leak? I'll give you a hint: my apartment shared a wall with the center lobby area.

It started as drip right outside our doorway, then progressed to a steady trickle. And when the early July rainstorm hit -- and stayed for several days -- it developed into a waterfall. My roommates and I put up with it for as long as we could, but soon the water started seeping into the upstairs closets. Management said they were taking care of it, but all that apparently meant was that they would put out a bucket to catch the water -- which had turned black, by the way, after it passed through the tar on the roof. So gross. On the second or third day of hard, steady rain (which happened to be several weeks after the swamp cooler broke), I couldn't take it any more. Our apartment reeked of filthy water and everything was wet. I couldn't leave my apartment without getting drenched in an indoor hallway. So I went to the off-campus housing office to lodge a BIG complaint.

If any of you have ever tried to work with the off-campus housing office at BYU, you know that they always favor the landlords, never the renters. So my little chat with them didn't go very far. I had two reasons for visiting with them: 1) to see about giving our management a good kick in the pants to get this problem taken care of before the entire ceiling fell through, and 2) to see if there was any way to get out of the contract I'd signed for the next year (because despite the good times I'd had there up to this point, I did NOT want to live there another year -- not after this mess). I was basically told they could do nothing for me.

While I was sitting in their office waiting for my turn to speak with someone, I noticed that the phones were ringing off the hook. A little eavesdropping let me in on the fact that the situation back at the home front was getting exponentially worse. After my appointment, I hurried back home to see what was going on. It wasn't good. The ceiling over the whole lobby area had fallen completely through. There was plaster and puddles everywhere. It was awful. I walked into our apartment and it smelled absolutely sour -- not to mention that it was getting quite wet in there, too. I couldn't stay there, it was so bad, though the management thought that I could deal with it. At any rate, they weren't going to put me or any of my roommates up in another apartment or in a hotel -- after all, they told us, we were all from Utah Valley -- we could just go live with our parents for a while. To which I replied that yes, that was true, but that wasn't the point.

Anyway, to quickly wrap up an already long story, let's just say that they finally got someone to come repair the roof -- only they didn't do a very good job and another leak (right outside our door) sprung about a month later. Meanwhile, my roommates and I bunked with our families while our apartment dried out. We were not reimbursed us for our troubles. I'm not sure they even apologized. Oh, and I was able to sell my contract to an unsuspecting newly returned sister missionary who had spent the last year and a half in Scandinavia and had no idea that this complex was so riddled with problems.

So yes -- today, and on all rainy days, I am very grateful to have a solid roof over my head.

They like us! They really like us!

Or maybe they just like our food. Whatever.

Anyway, here are some of the birds which frequent our feeder. According to our Birds of North America Field Guide, these are purple finches. We also get golden finches, but apparently they aren't as photogenic. But anyhow, aren't they great?

Tagged Again!

Sarah tagged me again, so here are some Three's in the Style of Lindsay.

Three Things I’m Really Looking Forward To:

1. Blake's graduation
2. Going to Provo and seeing my family
3. Being able to get the next few years of our lives figured out

Three Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud:

1. The Zippy books by Haven Kimmel
2. Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
3. In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd

Three Things I'm Afraid Of:

1. Santa Claus
2. Spiders -- when they are invading my living space
3. New things

Three Things I Love:

1. The Swiss Milk Chocolate shake at Leatherbys
2. Going on walks
3. Pants that fit

Three Things I Really Don't Love:

1. Ironing
2. Being late
3. Getting blood drawn

Three Things I Don’t Understand:

1. Why the U.S. is building a wall in Iraq -- did we learn nothing from Berlin?
2. Philosophy (sorry, Blake)
3. Insurance

Three Things On My Desk:

1. A Jeopardy! Page-a-Day calendar
2. Ritz crackers
3. Lots and lots of paperwork

Three Projects I'm Currently Working On:

1. Catching up our photo album
2. Looking for the energy to start another blanket
3. Acquiring baby accessories

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Visit the British Isles. And Continental Europe (since I'd be in the neighborhood).
2. Learn to play the cello
3. Get published

Three Things I Can Do:

1. Sew blankets
2. Bookbinding
3. Keep the checkbook balanced

Three Things I Can’t Do:

1. Sew clothes
2. Enjoy shopping at Walmart
3. Talk very loud...or so I'm told

Three Recently Discovered Musical Groups I Think You Should Listen To:

1. Hungry Lucy
2. Lunascape
3. Hooverphonic

Three Things I've Done Which Were Stupid and Which You Probably Shouldn't Attempt:

1. Stapled my finger. Twice. (Don't ask.)
2. Cut my own hair
3. Observed an ant hill a little too closely

Three Favorite Foods:

1. Quiche Lorraine
2. Cheese
3. Raspberries and peaches

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:

1. Sesame Street
2. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
3. Today's Special

Three Shows I Watch Now:

1. The Office
2. 30 Rock
3. Old British comedies on PBS

Three People I’m Tagging:

1. Kristeee
2. Desmama
3. Sara

Okay, this post was more exhausting than I thought it'd be! I think I need a nap now.

Two Years & Counting

Dear Blake,

Two years?! Are you serious? Time sure flies, doesn't it. I'm glad we squeezed in a few celebrations over the weekend, seeing that today's turning into one of those crappy Monday's for both of us. Bah. Oh well, though. At least we've got each other, right? (Thanks, by the way, for spending so much of the weekend with me. The ice cream at Ivanhoe's -- it was delicious. And if the beautiful, sunny weather was your doing, as well as the fact that we got out of the childbirth class early, I want you to know that I really appreciated it. Also, the necklace is so beautiful. I don't know if you realize how thoughtful I found that gift to be.)

I'm having a difficult time putting to words how much you are to me. I mean, there are words, because there are always words, but I can't seem to conjure up the right combination that would allow me express how I feel. And besides, I think e.e. cummings can say it better, anyway. He always can say it better.


i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
by e e cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Happy Anniversary, dear! I love you!

Love,
Lindsay

Cincinnati Update

Let's just say that even though the interview went well, we both now feel that the Muncie job would be a better option, should it develop into an offer. And let's just also say that this is not the way we thought we'd feel. But you can't deny a peaceful feeling when it jumps right in front of you like this. So we'll see what happens, I guess.

Hallelujah, it is Friday at last!

Thanks, guys, for your summer reading suggestions. Feel free to keep 'em coming!

Well, today's Blake's day to shine in Cincinnati. He'll be interviewing very shortly at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital for the research position he's so intrigued by. We're all crossing our fingers that things go well, though I have no doubt they will. I don't know if Blake fully realizes this about himself yet, but he is one impressively hard worker. He is one of the only graduate students in his program who even thought to initiate his own research -- and he's spear-headed not just one, but THREE projects. He takes his education very seriously, and he uses every class assignment as an opportunity to learn something new, and he always makes sure to challenge himself. His professors treat him more as a colleague than a student, and his fellow students are in awe of the quiet ways in which he has excelled -- as well as the fact that he spends so much time devoted to his education. He's worked so hard these last two years, it makes me proud. He definitely deserves any good thing that comes his way as a result of his experience here because he certainly has earned it! [Wow, that was a bit of wifely gushing, if I may say so. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of gushing every now and again, especially if it's well-deserved.]

Anyway, he should be down there even as I write this, assuming, of course, that he didn't get lost en route. As the navigator of the family, I can only do so much to prep him when he has to travel solo. I'm sure he made it there fine, though. I'm anxious to hear tonight from him how it all went.

Last night I went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital. It was good for me, in that it focused on the positive. Because seriously, the thing that scares me most about having this baby is the whole feeding him part. The idea of nursing makes me nervous for a variety of reasons, but I recognize that it's best for the baby, so I'm willing to give it a shot. But at the same time, I know that formula fed babies also grow up to be contributing members of society, so if nursing doesn't work out, I plan to not feel bad about it.

Summer Reading

You know, in the not-so-distant future I will no longer be working an 8-5 job. I will instead be taking care of an infant -- which will undoubtedly keep me more busy than my current position does. But it has occurred to me once or twice that during those home-bound weeks (or, perhaps I should say, months), I will need something to help me keep my head about me and connected to something beyond my own four walls, as well as something to keep me from nodding off during late-night feedings. So I've been compiling a reading list.

I was informed this morning that Shannon Hale is releasing her first adult novel at the end of May (and by "adult," I simply mean "not a children's novel," so don't get any weird ideas). You might remember Hale from such gems as The Goose Girl series and Princess Academy. This new novel, called Austenland, sounds equally charming. In the words of Hale herself, here's the gist of the plot:

Jane Hayes is fairly obsessed with Mr. Darcy, particularly as portrayed by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. She goes on a three week vacation to an Austen-themed resort, where she dresses in empire-waist gowns and interacts with a cast of actors. Other women go there to live our their Austen fantasies, but she goes as therapy to get over her obsession. Also, it's funny.

So I plan on getting my little paws on that one sometime this summer.

Also on the reading list:

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling
• Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan (Part 2 in the trilogy...the first one, An Assembly Such as This, was fantastic.)
  
• These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan (Part 3 in the trilogy.)
• Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (thanks, Amyjane and Kristeee!)
• Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange (thanks Kristen!)
• A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (thanks Desmama!)
  

Any others I should be including here? If I'm totally won over by your suggestions, I'll definitely consider adding them to the list.

O, the Irony!

So I had to run an errand this afternoon for my co-worker to the Parking Services office to pick up some pre-paid parking passes for the guests attending an event we're coordinating tomorrow. The office is on the other end of campus, so I decided to drive. I took our departmental parking pass, which sticks in the window above our regular parking passes, so that I could park at a meter without paying. No big deal, right?

But here's the thing. While I was taking care of my business at Parking Services, the departmental parking pass came un-stuck and fell off my window. When I got back to my car, I had received a ticket. A parking violation from Parking Services. What painful irony, I'm telling you. And so frustrating!

Of course, I'm contesting this. Sure it's only $10, but it's $10 I'm not going to pay. It's not my fault the departmental parking passes distributed by Parking Services don't stick to windows well. When I got back to my office, I called down to see what I needed to do to get this cleared, and my formal protest about the unfairness of it all is now in the mail on its way to them. Hopefully this will get resolved soon and I can move on with my happy little life. Because seriously -- this little incident was NOT something I needed to happen today. My Wednesday's lately have had a tendency to be stressful enough as it is.

But anyway...on another note, yesterday Blake interviewed for a position in business analytics and intelligence at a large Indiana/Ohio financial company which is headquartered here. He went into the interview thinking that this really might not be the job for him, that, if anything, it'd be good practice. But he came home from the interview singing a totally different tune. Turns out he IS interested in this job. Which is all well and good because, after all, a job is a job. But it makes the potential of our staying in Muncie for several more years a stronger possibility. And, even though staying here would make a lot of things easier in the short run, I'm not so sure I like that.

Don't get me wrong -- Muncie has treated us very well for these last two years. But it's hard to get excited about staying in a place that 1) you were initially planning on leaving after two years, 2) all of your ward friends are leaving, and 3) really is a dying community anyway. Nothing, obviously, is certain yet, so I still have some time to get used to the idea. Or at least time to firmly remind myself that wherever we end up is where we're supposed to be.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Eighteen Fun Facts About My Sister Because Today She Turns 18:

1. Her first and middle names, Katie Ellen, can be spelled out as KTLN. Pretty cool, huh?
2. She's been a dancer since she was three years old...
3. ...And now she's on the Provo High Dance Company, which is about as prestigious as it gets in our neck of the woods.
4. Because she's a dancer, she has amazing poise, even though her elbows are double jointed and sometimes look funny.
   
5. She plays the violin AND the piano.
6. She also teaches piano lessons to some neighbor kids.
   
7. She's one heck of an awesome employee at the Boys and Girls Club.
8. She graduates from Provo High in May.
9. And has been accepted to BYU as a freshman this fall.
10. Where she wants to study to be a nurse.
11. She is a social butterfly -- everyone likes Katie.
12. She squeals when she gets excited.
13. When she was a baby, she had the cutest deep throaty laugh.
14. The word "cha" features prominently in her vocabulary. (And that makes me giggle.)
15. Despite all of her fabulous qualities, she has a hard time keeping her room clean.
16. It's easy to tell when Katie's upset about something because the skin under her eyes turns pink.
17. She can whip together a beautiful friendship bracelet like no other.
18. She has recently taught herself how to knit, crotchet, and quilt. Seriously, this girl is amazing!
    

Katie was my first sister, and oh, was I EVER relieved to welcome her to the family. I mean, brothers are great and all, but I was desperately ready for a sister. Even if that meant giving up having my own bedroom (which I suppose, in retrospect, wasn't that big of a deal, seeing as I hadn't had my own room for that long anyway).

She was born on a Monday when I was seven years old. This Monday was no ordinary Monday. It was the Monday my mother had signed up to eat lunch with me at school, and I was really looking forward to it. Only then she had to spend her lunchtime at the hospital with Katie instead of in the cafeteria with me. I remember being pretty (selfishly) bummed. But I got over it when I came home from school and learned that the stork had brought me a sister instead of another brother. Yeah, that pretty much made made my day.

I wish, Katie, that I could tell you this in person, face-to-face, but seeing as I'm in Indiana and you're in Provo, you'll have to take a raincheck (only a few more weeks!) and accept this instead:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE!!!

Have a perfectly wonderful day!

Because I like to bore you all with baby stuff.

Yesterday morning Blake and I spent two and a half hours chilling at the hospital with about six other pregnant couples learning about the finer points of childbirth. Yeah -- definitely my idea of a good time. ...Or something like that. Anyway, here are some highlights and lowlights of the whole affair:

Highlights:

• Watching a video of the delivery of a baby. Thought I'd be freaked out, but I wasn't. Instead I just cried and then had to think about different ways I could blame the tears on my raging hormones when I realized I wasn't the only pregnant woman in the room dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex.
• Learning some deep abdominal breathing techniques to keep my mind off the pain.
• Watching one husband get strapped into a pregnant body suit and try to pick socks up off the floor.
• When the instructor pulled out of her box of visual aids a lovely blue knitted uterus. I wonder how whoever made it responded when people saw her knitting and asked what she was making..."Oh, I'm just knitting a uterus." You know, the usual.

Lowlights:

• Watching a video of the delivery of a placenta. Grossest thing ever.
• Being taken on a relaxation journey to a perfect little "Happy Place" full of perfect little flowers and fluffy floating clouds. Kill me now.
  
• Listening to one pregnant class member share more details about her pregnancy than I cared to be privy to. Because, really...do I really need to know?
  

And this was just the first class! Aside from feeling a teensy bit overwhelmed, I'm at least happy to say that I now have a better idea of what labor is and how to recognize it. I suppose that will come in handy soon enough.

Blake and I have discovered that there are hours of pleasure to be had in the Social Security Administration's baby name website. So while Garrett still ranks as our number one favorite name, we've had a lot of fun trying to think of other good boy names that will work with the middle name Blake and our last name. Here's what we've come up with:

• Nathan (good, solid, and would give the kid the initials of NBA, which wouldn't hurt, I'm sure, on the playground at school)
  
• Forrest (it's a family name on Blake's side and would be especially appropriate because this baby would be his Grandpa Forrest's first great-grandchild to carry on the family name)
  
• Holden (because Catcher in the Rye is awesome)
  
• Atticus (since we were on a literary theme for a while...I'm not so sure how serious I am about this one)
• Linus (Blake suddenly told me he really like this one...I need some convincing)
• Owen (no special reason except I really like the name)
  
• Curtis (this one just came out of the blue)
• Caleb (we've both long liked this name, so we still entertain it a bit, even though it's gaining incredible popularity)

So, what do you guys think? Stick with Garrett or consider further one of the above?

Because you only turn 91 once.

I learned this morning that today is Beverly Cleary's birthday. She was born on this day, April 12th, in 1916. Which would make her 91 this year. Wow. That's impressive. Happy Birthday, Ms. Cleary!!!

For those of you who are sadly unaware, Beverly Clearly is one of the most fantastic children's book authors EVER. She's the woman responsible for characters like Henry Huggins, Ribsy the dog, Ramona Quimby, Ellen Tebbits and Otis Spofford. She grew up in Portland, Oregon and set most of her stories in that city. I have many fond memories of ploughing my way through her books, and a few particularly personal memories from the nearly-annual childhood trips to see my grandparents in Portland.

On almost every visit my family made to Portland, we made sure to drive through the neighborhood of Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby. When I was little, I remember wishing very hard that I, too, could live on Klickitat Street. One time, as we were driving down that favorite street, my mom said excitedly as she looked and pointed out the window, "Look, kids! There's Henry Huggins!" We all plastered our faces to the glass, looking hard for Henry. I remember being very sad that we missed him. And I remember also feeling a wee bit gullible a few years later when I realized my mom was just having a little fun with us. But honestly -- for all I knew, Henry Huggins and all his friends were as real as the siblings sitting next to me in the car.

About 20 years ago, Portland artist Lee Hunt sculpted three statues of the three most adored Beverly Cleary characters: Henry Huggins, his dog Ribsy, and Ramona Quimby. In 1995 they were placed on display in Grant Park (which is only four blocks from Klickitat Street). And so visits to this park were added to our "Beverly Cleary Tours of Portland." They're fun little sculptures, each one just a tiny bit bigger than life-size. Plus, there's a fountain in the middle (the statues were sculpted to look like they were having fun splashing in water) that we liked to dip our summertime toes in. And what kid doesn't like a water fountain to play around in on a hot summer day?

On one of my most recent visits to Portland, we made a stop downtown to the Multnomah County Library. In their gift shop I discovered what was to become my absolute favorite t-shirt. I mean, who wouldn't love sporting such a classic Louis Darling illustration of everyone's favorite pest splashing in the rain? And what could be better than claiming Ramona as your friend?

Anyway, so go find yourself a cupcake and wish Beverly Cleary a happy 91st birthday.

Playing Games with Baby

I know I've mentioned before that I think it's one of the neatest things ever to feel -- and watch -- the baby move. But it's even cooler when I can poke my belly and the baby pokes back. Which he did last night. More than just once. It was pretty awesome.

Also, I think that maybe he might have had the hiccups yesterday. At least, I think that's what it was. For about five minutes or so, I kept feeling this faint, yet strangely constant and steady kicking...kind of like a small on-and-off vibration deep inside my gut. The fact that it was different than any other movement I've felt from him before, combined with the propensity to frequent hiccups this child is sure to inherit from me, led me to make this informal diagnosis. I wonder if my conclusions were correct.

Energy, and what I do with it.

I'm not sure where it came from, but yesterday evening I had a whole truckload of energy. And -- you'd be so proud -- I even used it to do something more than stay awake longer reading.

Right after work, we drove home and stayed long enough to grab Blake's suits and a few ties which we then dropped off at the dry cleaners. Back home again, we whipped up a delicious -- and might I add, incredibly healthy -- dinner of fish (talapia grilled with a bit of butter and lots of lemon), vegetables, and salad. After we ate, Blake started tackling a mound of homework while I: washed a sink full of dishes, packed sack lunches for the next day, AND turned our three mushy bananas into banana nut muffins. And THEN, because I STILL had energy, I worked some more on catching up our photo album, and read the rest of my March Real Simple magazine (I've gotten a little behind).

And then, and only then, was I pooped enough to go wash my face, brush my teeth, pull on pajamas, and curl up under my covers with a new book until Blake came and woke up me to read scriptures and say prayers. It was an incredibly productive day. Even work was productive, albeit mildly so given the fact that it's a slow time of year. BUT, it was something.

From what I can tell, it was a productive day for Blake, too. And the only reason I say this is because he turned in his thesis to the graduate school. Hooray!! It's out of his hands. We spent a healthy chunk of Saturday on campus trying to get it printed out all nicely onto his 100% cotton paper. And now it's turned in! All he has left to do is to get himself to commencement -- which should be a piece of cake, assuming he can make it through a potentially harrowing next two weeks. Wish us BOTH luck.

Some books you should get your hands on quick.

A few weeks ago, Blake and I received an Amazon.com gift certificate. With it we bought the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series (which Blake is currently laughing and snorting his way through), but because we got those so incredibly cheaply, we had enough money to also buy both Nicholas and Nicholas Again by René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé.

I was originally introduced to Les Aventures du Petit Nicolas in a few of my French classes, and just recently discovered that they've been translated into English. Last night before I fell asleep, I also discovered that the English translation is just as hilarious as the original French. Here's the gist of the books according to amazon.com:

This classic book about a mischievous schoolboy and his friends, originally published in French in 1959, is now available in English. The expertly translated text is enlivened by artwork by a New Yorker cartoonist to create the unforgettable milieu of Nicholas and his rowdy friends. [...] The stories introduce the protagonist and his cohorts as they wreak havoc out of simple, everyday situations at school, on the playground, and at home. Pestering the substitute teacher, trying to adopt a lost dog, and quarreling over soccer positions (only to find there isn't even a ball) make for hilarious and timeless anecdotes that will have readers giggling. Adults will also appreciate Nicholas's childlike perception of each troublesome situation through his comments at the end of each adventure. These charming vignettes beg to be shared aloud.

I agree -- they do beg to be shared aloud. So allow me to share the opening sentences from the chapter I read last night. The chapter is called "A Photograph to Treasure."

When we got to school this morning we were all feeling pleased because we were going to have a class photograph taken and it would be a memento for us to treasure all our lives, like our teacher said, and she told us to be sure we were neat and clean and we'd brushed our hair.

My hair was all plastered down with pomade when I arrived in the playground. All my friends were there and our teacher was yelling at Geoffrey for coming in his Martian suit. Geoffrey's dad is very rich and buys him all the toys he wants. Geoffrey was telling our teacher that he'd be photographed in his Martian suit or not at all, so there.

The photographer and his camera had arrived, too, and our teacher told him to be quick about it or else we'd miss math, and Cuthbert, who is top of the class and teacher's pet, said it would be too bad to miss math because he did like math so much and he'd got all his problems done, and Eddie, who is a very strong boy, wanted to punch Cuthbert's nose, only Cuthbert wears glasses so we can't pound him as much as we'd like to.

Are you hooked yet?

Oh, and yes, those Portuguese Irregular Verbs. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- these books are So. Funny. There are three books in this series by Alexander McCall Smith: Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances. If you can appreciate subtle, academic humor, these books are definitely for you.

So will I be seeing any of you at the library today?

Good grief, April!

Don't get me wrong -- I love the month of April. It's beautiful, full of new-ness and sweet-smelling blossoms. And this April, perhaps more than any other, has much to offer me. But sometimes....

April is a writhing twist of weeds that are unnecessarily growing in your stomach.
Knotting and gnarled they mangle your insides.
Motions of incomprehensible nature.
Sometimes maybe, sometimes no,
Always April.

-- "April" by Samantha Felix

Enough with this "writhing twist of weeds unnecessarily growing in [my] stomach" which, in the process, "mangle [my] insides." (And not to mention my brain and sometimes also my heart.) I think I'd just rather skip that, thank you very much. None of this "sometimes maybe, sometimes no" business. Give me certainty. Give me answers. Give me settled-ness.

Is that too much to ask?

100 Days

According to the baby ticker at the bottom of my blog, there are 100 days left until my due date. I think this is one instance when the number 100 doesn't seem so big.

I went for my monthly check-up yesterday. These visits are very routine: the first event of every appointment involves the nurse calling me back and putting me on the scale (actually, I put myself on the scale; I'm a big girl like that). As I shed my coat yesterday in preparation for this little ritual, the nurse turned to me and said, "Oh yay -- you're finally looking pregnant." Yeah, I thought something looked different about me. Also, I suppose it's nice to have a visible reason for weighing more than I ever have in my life.

The doctor gave me a sparkly clean bill of pregnant health and said (multiple times) just how low-risk this pregnancy is. That's nice to know. He asked if I felt the baby move often and I confidently told him that boy howdy, do I ever! Like two nights ago, for instance: I was up battling a horrific charlie horse in my leg and couldn't fall back asleep because I swear the baby was busy doing a twilight synchronized swimming routine. His night customs are starting to make me a little nervous of what's to come! He also listened to his tiny heartbeat again and it was the fastest I'd ever heard it: 166 beats per minute (as opposed to 144 a week ago at the ultrasound). The doctor was a little surprised. I wasn't.

After a brief discussion with him about the strong possibility of our moving away from the area before the baby comes, I'm starting to feel a little better about the potential transition to a new doctor. Though I really would hate having to abandon my current -- and totally fantastic -- doctor in the middle of the third trimester, I might not have a choice in avoiding doing so. He told me to go ahead and get signed up for prenatal classes at the hospital, which I did this morning. And so, in order to make sure that I get to take them before a move would interrupt them, I've arranged to have them all under my belt before we head to Utah at the beginning of May. (Because, you know, childbirth really isn't something I'd like to go into blindly.) Now, if I can just get the issue of medical insurance taken care, I can really sit back and relax.

My sweet sister-in-law emailed me the other day and offered to give me a baby shower while I'm in Provo. I'm totally flattered and very excited -- especially because so much family will be in town to be there. So now, instead of just prenatal classes to get hopped up about (if one can indeed get "hopped up" about being educated on the finer points of childbirth), there's also the week of family festivities -- a brother's wedding, another brother's Eagle Court of Honor, and now a baby shower -- to look forward to. I knew I liked vacations for a reason.

They're biting!!

After sending out close to, oh, a bazillion cover letters and resumes (or what seems like that many, anyway -- at least to the gal who gets to proofread each one), potential employers are finally starting to take the bait.

As of this morning, Blake has 2 job interviews!! Hooray!

The first one is for a job in business intelligence at a bank corporation here in Muncie that a professor referred him to. While it's starting to look like the job description is not exactly what Blake was initially told it would be, he's continuing to investigate. Because, well, you never know.

The second interview is for a research position at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. This option is by far our favorite. We hear great things about CCH -- they apparently really like to recruit graduates from Blake's masters program. He'll drive down on April 20th and hopefully we'll know soon after whether or not we could be calling Cincinnati home for the next few years.

We are both so excited! And to celebrate, we've been watching our favorite Homestar Runner cartoon, "The Interview." Of course, we'll all hope that Blake's interviews are not as painful as Homestar's was.

What is this? Norway??

Seriously. Yesterday it was a sunny 75 degrees outside, and today it's 29 -- with an incredibly strong wind making it feel more like 16. And tonight there's a freeze warning. What the heck?!

Good grief.

What a day, though. My co-worker, Lisa, picked me up at my apartment at 6:15 this morning and together we drove to Indianapolis to do administrative work for one event, and then onto Bloomington to check out the facility for another event. (And can I just say... the Bloomington part of Indiana is really pretty. I had no idea that rolling hills existed in this state!) It's been a long day in the car and my back is killing me and my stretching gut feels ready to explode. I got a doctor's note to skip out on mutual tonight (or, rather, the kind permission of the Young Women's president to stay home and get some rest). So I will soon be heading to my bed to curl up and get warm and comfortable underneath a mound of blankets and pillows.

Before I go, though, I need to send out a great, big public THANK YOU to both my family and Blake's family for making our cold, wind-blown trip to the mailbox this evening totally worth it. Our baby boy got some pacifiers, some cute, little onesies and matching rolly pants, and a tiny hat, knitted with love by my mother. But it wasn't just the baby who got pampered -- Blake's family sent a lovely Easter package with items for us as well. Along with a few various small gifts, I now have more than just the five or six maternity shirts I've been rotating through, and Blake's tie collection was beefed up a bit. We also have enough Easter candy to last us till the 4th of July. Which is fabulous. Because chocolate is a good thing. So, thanks, everyone!!! We feel so loved!

Okay -- I go now. I'll be in my bed if you need me. But please don't need me until tomorrow because I don't think I want to get up until then.

Sometimes reality makes me dizzy

Well, I'm back from my little weekend getaway to an ultrasound-induced Cloud Nine. I had a lovely time -- what could be better than cooing over the precious little being featured in your ultrasound DVD multiple times, talking with family members who are just as excited as you are, and venturing out with your husband to purchase your first adorable baby boy outfit (which meanwhile restored my faith in the fact that there is such a thing as cute baby boy clothes)? It's been nice.

But I don’t think I so much like coming back from Cloud Nine. Coming back means Facing Reality. My Reality right now is rather complicated, and I don’t so much want to delve too deep into it here. Let’s just say that there are a lot of Whats, Whens, and Hows of things like employment, graduation, moving, new baby, and insurance that are currently living (and hogging an awful lot of space) in my Reality. It’s making me dizzy. I’m trying to remember that I know everything will be fine, that all I can do is take one step at a time, and things will work out. But that’s making me tired.

So I think instead I’ll put my feet up and work on little projects that will distract me from thinking about it all too much. (Don’t get me wrong – I plan to think about it. But if I think too much about it, I just get overwhelmed. And that’s not so much a good state for me to be in, pregnant or otherwise. Let’s just take this one step at a time, shall we?)

Here, then, is to personal mind-numbing projects like catching up my photo album, dabbling in another quilt project, putting together a fabulous graduation gift for my husband, rummage sale-ing for baby stuff, and getting ready for a long drive to Provo. Here’s to not letting my Reality make me too dizzy.