I Appear to Be Getting Chubby...

Here it is: The Four-Month Belly. I think there's something growing in there...

I have one pair of comfortable pants and a couple skirts, but who really wants to shave their legs every day? Surely not me.

However, in a couple days I have a two very exciting shipments coming from Old Navy & Gap Maternity! Hooray! I can't even tell you how much I love online clearances. The clothes are so cheap! Grandmothers-to-be, you are welcome to buy me stuff from there. Just so you know.

I have still been trying to wear my 'normal' shirts just a few more times, but slowly they are all getting packed away in totes for storage. Sigh. I suppose around April it will be like Christmas!

I need some input here ladies. Men, all two of you can tune out. Course, you probably tuned out around the leg-shaving. It just doesn't relate to your life.

I really want to have a gracious attitude about the belly rubbing. But it's not really my favorite thing. I thought it might be cute and I wouldn't mind, but I think I do. I'm not one who likes to be made much of, at least not to my face. I like to be outgoing and chatty and social, but I don't like to necessarily always have attention drawn to me. Does that make any sense? You can talk about how great I am behind my back, but guess I am really bad at compliments. It just seems so weird for people to be reaching out and touching my tummy every time they see me!

I tried the nonverbal approach this morning: crossing my arms over my chest in a quiet "stay away" manner, but that didn't help at all. Someone suggested I rub the other person's belly and see how they like it, but I feel like that would be really rude. How do I have a good response to this? Or do I just suck it up and get used to it? I suppose that's the only real answer, isn't it?

The funny thing is, I'm a pretty huggy person. At least I used to be. What happened to me? Why don't I like hugs any more?

It Only Took 9.5 Hours

Sigh.

It's Harry Potter Day!!!

Sorry, no time to talk. Maybe tomorrow.

The Garden Box

I am horribly in love with my garden box.

Those beans and lettuce are growing like crazy! This week I will probably pick some of the lettuce and start planting some more. There were a couple rows that didn't come up very well. But that's why you can seed it over and over! Tonight for a grilled chicken salad!

And here is the backyard. Full of growing things and weeds too...Ugh, how I loathe to weed.


I have a question for you, dear internets. There is this one corner of my backyard garden...

...and it does not grow well. I've added new topsoil and nutrient-rich soil, but it's just not having much success. This year I left it alone and just added the dirt, mixed it in.

I'm thinking of adding some new herbs to my collection. I've got oregano, thyme and lavender sitting next to my rhubarb and asparagus. (yes, I realize the last two aren't herbs)

You can actually see the productivity of my garden slope towards that corner. The left is very green and grows well and it just declines down to the right. It's so strange.

Any suggestions as to what I should plant or do to do the dirt in my little corner? I think I've got some pretty green thumbs, but this has stumped me. I just want it to be able to be productive and green!

Christmas Cactus in July?

This is the third time this year that I've gotten flowers. December, April & July. Usually there are several blooms, but this time just the one. One lonely little summer blossom.

Same Breakfast Every Morning

Gotta give the baby what it wants. I can't seem to do dairy first thing in the morning, so this is what I make. I've become somewhat obsessive about my egg and toast nowadays.

Sunday mornings I usually only make it out the door with a piece of flax seed toast and organic peanut butter since 20 minutes is my max 'get ready' time.

Here's a question, dear internets...do any of you have a secret for making eggs over easy without breaking the yolk? See, when I put the egg in the middle of my bread I can keep it perfectly, but without the bread I break it every time!

A Long Time Coming: The Book(s) Review: Part One

There may be a lot to read through here, but so many of them are so good!

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
We saw the movie shortly after it came out on DVD and I find that I often want to read the book version of a good movie. I expected these stories (for there are actually five full novels and one short story in this collection) to be more childish and turned for a younger audience, yet I found that the humor quite often wasn't necessarily appropriate for kids.
That said, it was well-written, extremely creative and laugh-out-loud funny. I couldn't stop with just one of the stories, but had to keep reading until I had finished the whole collection. The characters were easy to relate to, even when they were aliens. These stories were utterly ridiculous and unendingly inventive. I'd very likely read through this again.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

One of my favorite non-fiction authors is Lauren Winner. I've read every book she's ever written and many of those more than once. She has admitted that the Midford series was one of the steps that brought her to Christianity and she herself finds this funny. It's not intellectual or deep and fraught with hidden meaning. It's just a lovely story of an Episcopal minister and the flock he shepherds. The life and love of a small community.

The book reads easily and quickly. You can see yourself friends with many of the characters and interested in their daily pursuits. I found myself wanting to plant some of the flowers that the main character was putting into his garden. Plus, I liked that it wasn't too short. I enjoy a book I can read through in an afternoon, but those can also be more forgetful as I haven't spent much time with them.

Poland by James A. Michener

Speaking of a long book...A Michener novel never fails to take me several weeks to finish. The first book of his that I ever picked up was The Source and ever since I have been happily hooked. He follows a few families through decades (and sometimes centuries or more) and traces history through monumental events that you may never have realized were so pivotal.

Every time I finish one of his stories, I search for more information. I want to know more about the histories I just read and I find myself almost wanting to go back to school to study. He finds a way to weave a tale through so many events, so many years and so many people that you could easily be overwhelmed, but you're not. You're just trapped inside the context and folklore and passions and tragedy. And you're very happy to stay there.

Poland did not disappoint. I learned more about Eastern Europe and the lives of the nobility and peasants in a manner that didn't feel like a lecture, but like an epic journey through the past. If this part of history doesn't interest you, there's always Hawaii, one of my other favorites by Mr. M. Next on my list from him: The Covenant, Caribbean and Mexico.

Third Class Superhero by Charles Yu

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Blindness by Jose Saramago

I loved this book--it was so interesting and different. The premise is that a man driving down the road is suddenly and inexplicably stricken with blindness. And then it becomes contagious. An uncontrollable epidemic. You can imagine the fear and terror that spread and the resulting governmental insanity. The story progresses in a horrid downward spiral as all those infected are rounded up and kept together in an abandonded asylum. No one to help them, food drops thrown in once a day, riots breaking out amongst the blind.

This was one of those books so well-written that you find yourself thinking it's really happening. When you put it down, you wonder if you'll catch the disease. It's intellectual and thought-provoking, not letting you just absorb the story, but forcing you to think it through. The sequal is Seeing and I'm anxious to pick it up.

The Dark Tower Trilogy by Stephen King

Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This is one that I believe I should have read back in high school sometime, but didn't. It's a classic and well-known by many. While I'm not given for conspiracy theories, I did enjoy the writing style and flow of this book. Plus, I always like a futuristic sci-fi story and this delivers such an interesting view of a possible future without books I was engrossed. A world without literature seems so highly unlikely to me. Especially with the advent of blogs and the new type of author that is being developed through this genre, readers are open to more and embracing the written word like never before.

Hubby and I discussed the novel after I read it as he was a fan of Bradbury years ago. It seems that our generation (and a few around us) is prone to questioning everything. To not be content with the information we are given and to want a better explanation for why. A few generations before us, one didn't discuss unpleasant or embarrassing situations, whereas now pretty much everything is open for debate and dissection. What will future generations bring? With texting the main form of communication for today's teen, does real discussion also happen face to face? I have found a couple excellent teen blogs, both well-written and thoughful. It's just so interesting to wonder what the future will truly look like. I'm still holding out for my flying car.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I'm not even going to attempt to write a review of this book. Heather Anne did it better than I ever could. It arrived in my mailbox (presumably by Owl) Saturday morning and I finished it by Saturday evening. I can't wait to read it again.

Cats on Things. Part 3

Cammie on the Marshall.

The Saturday Post

It's raining today and that makes me happier than anything else right now. It's actually chilly out. I have on jeans, socks and a long sleeved shirt. This is probably the first summer I have enjoyed such a thing!

It's not because I don't enjoy being warm and toasty. But ninety degree days have a way of tiring me out and wearing me down. I really don't know if I could live in the south.

Monday it's supposed to be very hot again. And my garden will continue to grow. Today it is soaking up the water and the coolness.

If it gets dry enough later, I'll probably do a bit of weeding. My preggo laziness has resulted in wheat-sized stalks of weeds in my flower garden and the vegetable garden is always in need of weeding.

As an example of my increasing energy and desire to accomplish actual goals, I will be posting every day this week.

You just wait and see. Pictures and thoughts and words, oh my!

Weekly is Ok, Right?

First, a post about me. Since this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I choose.

To update my preggo woes (they're not really woes, but it rhymed) the aching has gone away for the most point. In its place I find headaches and weird blotches on my face. Not really zits, but new coloration anyway.

I honestly don't want to sound at all like I'm complaining about any of my symptoms. I just find them interesting. Some I have for only a day or two and others tend to hang out for longer periods of time. It's so curious.

There have been a few predictions of what the baby will be. Mostly girlish in nature. Though I have a feeling that since everyone else I know is having a girl, I won't get that privilege this time around. All will be told in a few more weeks anyway.

Several friends have offered maternity clothes, which I am ever grateful for. I have only bought a couple normally-sized things that are currently in style which also appear to hold my belly for a good long while.

I'd like to extend a similar offer to those of my non-belly-bursting friends. I am boxing up all of my pants and shirts that aren't going to fit me until sometime next March. (fingers crossed) There will be an open-house-type event here where you can rummage through my clothes at your leisure and choose what you would like to make good use of for a few months. Someone might as well get to wear them! So long as I get them back in the end, you are welcome to them!

Once my camera battery charges, there will be a few growth pictures.

Of my garden. What were you thinking?

I Feel Old

I'm hoping to only have another week of the fatigue and nausea. Please, oh please, let it only be one more week! There is so much I want to do and get done!

Today I watered the plants. That's all so far. I did pick up the house yesterday. I really need to put away last week's clean laundry. Truly, I don't know how I would make it without the cleaning fairy.

A very strange new development: aching joints. From what I've heard it's not a normal pregnancy symptom? And I don't want to be a whiner, I try to keep quiet through the cracks and pops. It just seems so strange. My knees, ankles, elbows and this morning my shoulders joined the crowd. I'm waiting until Monday to find out from my doctor if I'm allowed to take Glucosamine supplements which has helped in the past.

Anyone have any ideas why this has cropped up so suddenly? I don't think I've done anything to aggravate my joints or done anything strange. Who knows!?

Ok Fine

I haven't used the treadmill once. Not one time.

I have read a lot of books. The stack I have to recommend to you is towering on my desk. Plus, I'm currently in the middle of at least two more.

The rooftop garden just got planted a couple days ago. Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as I see a sprout. Probably this weekend.

I have also gone to a lot of movies. Ocean's 13, Spiderman 3, Pirate's 3, Shrek 3, Evan Almighty. I thought they were all fabulous. I haven't previously gone to this many movie's in a year's time!

I have watched the first three seasons of The 4400 as well as the first two of Rescue Me. Not to mention all the movies I've seen from my couch.

My crowning joy for a day is if I get up the energy to make myself a smoothie.

We won't talk about the lack of cleaning and laundry and cooking that gets done around here. My husband is a saint.

I can usually get the plants watered. However, I often have to email my brother to ask him to. Turning on the faucet tires me right out.

Sometimes I'll take three naps in a day. For example: Get up around 9 or 10. Take a shower (or more likely just eat breakfast and forgo the shower for the day). Take a nap on the spare bed. Get up and have lunch. Read a book. Fall asleep on the couch while reading. Get up and snack. Nap out on the hammock. Watch tv. Eat dinner. Watch tv. Go to bed. Yep, that kind of day actually happens once or twice a week around here.

I eat a lot of snacks. Fruit snacks, granola bars, string cheese and especially crackers. It's pretty sweet, cuz I haven't gained an ounce so far. I eat all day long.

Really, that's all that's been going on around here. I don't usually have enough energy to blog. You're really lucky when I comment on yours. It's unbelievable that there are two for today.

I'm blaming it all on the baby in my belly. Silly baby. Making me all tired and sicky-feeling.

Lucky for me, there should only be another week or so of this tired sicky-ness.

Caller ID Spoof

I need to know if any of you have heard of this before.

It's a situation where someone uses a prepaid phone card, internet dials, or uses a * program to dial a number as well as dial in what they want the caller ID to list for the receiver.

Apparently, this has been going on for years. And it's not illegal?

My husband has had this going on for a few weeks now. He just gets angrier every time it happens, because the recipient will call him back and ream him out for the horrible call they just received.

Once it was a handicapped woman who had been dialed several times and was getting harassed. Today it was someone who was cursed out and harassed.

The Cingular representative he spoke to said they had never heard of such a thing, but then I decided to Google it and see what we found. It is unbelievable. There are several websites out there selling the phone cards and ability to use this service.

So we have to change his phone number. Now that this has happened so many times and it isn't stopping, we've decided to get it changed. It has never happened to me, so I imagine someone just swiped his number and is fond of using it.

Have you heard of this? Do you know anyone that this has happened to or has done this before? Because it seems like it should be illegal. It's harassment and it is only used for pranks or for telemarketing-type purposes. Not to mention it's technically a form of identity theft.

What is this world coming to...

A Few Questions

*What is the one thing you are most excited about planting in your garden this year? --Jean

I couldn't possibly say just one thing that I am looking most forward to out of my garden. However, I am ecstatic that I get to plant MORE garden this year. You may or may not know that I have one of the smallest vegetable gardens known to mankind. Seriously.

I am able to grow a surprisingly abundant crop out of said small garden, but I am always looking for more space. A grape vine crammed into the flower garden, some raspberry bushes snuck into the side of the yard. This year I received one of the best gifts a green thumb could ever ask for. A rooftop garden box. Four feet by six feet and five inches deep with an adorable flower-shaped sprinkler built right in.

Anxiously I wait for our roof to get a bit of repair work done so that I can have the drainage rocks, peat and top soil lugged up through the house onto the roof and get started. Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and probably some strawberries. Maybe a cucumber or two.

This week (tomorrow?! tonight!?) I'll be planting my peppers, peas & beans. Next weekend, if they're big enough, I'll transplant my tomato plants. They always grow on their own from last year, but never where I want them to be. The onions are still growing strong from last year.



*If you went back to school, what would you major in and why? --Scrapnqueen

There are certain things about schooling that I absolutely love. Finding an amazing professor who imparts the passion of their subject, filling your brain with stuff you have always wanted to know. And then there is the homework, the studying, the cramming, the papers, the essays. Yuck.

Yet going back to school is still enticing. I could have been an art student, I could have studied culinary skills, another language, ancient history, business management, dance, photography. I am learning to play guitar and to direct a band. Life lessons sometimes can be the best kind.

A few of you I know still take classes here and there and I do envy that. What I wouldn't give to be able to take that dance lesson, photography class, audit a language class or learn to cook better. Unfortunately, the budget at this time prohibits these kinds of costs.

But maybe.

Maybe someday soon. The fact that it's on my mind at all means it's a desire. I'll keep it there in the back, simmering.



*Are you watching Heroes this summer? --Shawn

Oh buddy, you'd better believe it. I was quite excited to find that they are all online now...and can be watched while I'm putting the miles on my treadmill.


*Have you used that treadmill yet? I think you owe me some money. --Husband

No. Shut up. *ahem* I mean, I love you.

Madaraka Day

"Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence."

When I think of Kenya, these are some of the images that immediately come to mind.













One of the most beautiful countries I've even been in. The scenery, the animals, the smells, the people. Emotionally & physically challenging, but it draws you in. Regardless of how much time you spend, you feel as though you could stay forever, it could be home.









It is lush and green. Greener than I imagined Africa to be. It can be cool and it can be sweltering. It is rich and it is poverty-stricken.

I want to read every book and watch every movie about Africa and Kenya. To understand the history and know where it has been.







I'm just a lowly American commemorating an amazing country.

Summery Things I Did Today

*Watered the plants so they don't wither away from thirst. Darn weatherman keeps saying there's going to be rain, but I don't believe a word of it!

*Made suntea with fresh sprigs of mint. Anyone need mint? Seriously, I have a ton of it if you could use some! I cannot get it to stop growing!

*Rode my bike to the ice cream shop for ice cream.

*Grilled sausage and made macaroni salad. Summer soul food.

*Sat inside the air conditioning and read a good book.

That's all. It's summer...one really shouldn't do too much. Take it easy. Enjoy it!

Running and Going Nowhere **Plus! Can You Believe I Wrote Two Posts in One Day!?**

That's what happens when you run on a treadmill. You run and you run but you don't get anywhere. In case you didn't know.

We just bought a used treadmill this week for a great price and I'm very excited to start using it!! I haven't really had a chance quite yet, but I have tried it out enough to know that I love it. It's up in my sewing room/spare bedroom/office and is right in front of the computer so I can watch tv while I run, an important component.

Carbon has a countdown of uses until she has 'paid off' her treadmill and I think that's a fabulous motivation for myself. My husband has declared that I need to set a goal of how many times per week I will use it and if I don't, I will owe him $5. Yikes. I'd better get to it.

The thing is, right now is the perfect time of year to actually be outside being active. It's perfectly warm and breezy and unbelievably beautiful. Michigan doesn't provide many times like this so I'm trying to take advantage of it. In fact, tomorrow I have a lunch meeting with my mentor and I'm riding my bike the two miles to get there.

Which brings me to something exciting for me. I have a mentor! A few months ago, it was brought up to all of us 'younger' staff members that we could select someone else on staff for mentoring meetings. Tomorrow is our first meeting and I am really looking forward to it. This is a woman whom I have admired as long as I have known her. She has the kindest heart, most genuine care for people, and an excessive amount of wisdom. I only hope she can impart a smidge of that onto me.

Fine & Dandy

Thank you all for your good thoughts and advice about the hives! For those of you who have had them before, I'm sorry. Ugh, that was so annoying!

My feet are still a bit itchy. It's as if all the hives just slithered down there and decided to camp out around my ankles. But they're almost gone so I'm really not complaining at all.

Oh, and who is already dreading the six-month wait for LOST!? It's cruelty! I do have to say it was definitely the best season finale of the bunch. Grey's Anatomy was horrible for one, though Desperate Housewives was rather good. The Office was also good, however not as gut-wrenching as last year. I want to be fulfilled with closed story-lines, but also motivated to watch it again next season. DH was perfect, TO was great, while GA was just dreary and depressing. Ah well. At least Hero's is online for my viewing pleasure for this summer.

Let's see...

I have gotten a couple tags for memes lately, but haven't applied myself to working them out. I can never think of any more 'things about me that you don't know'.

So, put a question about me that you don't know in the comments and I'll answer that, k? That'll be more interesting and creative anyway.

The Horror of Hives

For the past couple days I have been thinking that I've been getting an awful lot of bug bites.

"Geez, maybe the cats have fleas." I treat the cats, I treat the fabrics, I treat the couches, I wash the sheets. I have changed the sheets at least three or four times this week.

That doesn't help. I'm seriously hating sleeping in my bed. Last night I was awake from 3 to 6 trying to sleep on the bathroom floor and then eventually go down to the couch to watch a movie. My scalp is a mass of bumps and itchiness. My knees are practically one big red blob. My arms and hands are covered in welts, my neck, my thighs, my ears. One of my eyes is half swollen shut.

We go to the doctor today and I'm afraid at first I have chicken pox. It's 'just' hives. I want to rip my skin off of my body, but all I get is a couple little white allergy pills. I've taken an oatmeal bath and coated myself with cortaid.

There's no obvious cause. Maybe it was a flat of flowers I just planted? That's my best guess. All I really know is that it is agony. Good thing I haven't cut my nails lately.

I'm going to be camping on the couch with movies, books and ice cream. Whatever I can find to make me feel a little bit better. You'd think they'd use this as torture in prisons. I'd crack for sure.

No Excuse Like a Lame Excuse

I've been...busy?

• getting ready for a garage sale
  
• pricing, looting, rummaging, etc.
• having a garage sale
• spending garage sale money on a new coffeemaker from ebay for less than half the price
• potting new plants for the front porch
• not cleaning the house
  
• not doing laundry for two weeks
• finally getting around to doing laundry
• needing to do laundry again since I waited so long the first time
• reading fabulous books but not getting around to writing fabulous reviews for them
• knowing that reviews should be written
  
• regular work stuff
• extra work stuff including fun events that really tire one out
• flying to Atlanta for a conference
• being in Atlanta for a conference
• trying to catch up on bills and cleaning after being in Atlanta for a conference
• taking a nap
• watering my plants
• feeding the fish
• petting the kitties

I think that's enough good excuses for now. The kitty is imploring me to take a nap with her. For your entertainment, go here. You can thank me later. We all have to do our part to pass on the funny.