Finish This!

The last time we played this game was so much fun that I decided to do another one! Anybody who reads, writes, or breathes is welcome to play, and the more the merrier!

The Rules:

For today's game, each entry must be at least 3 sentences long. It can have any content (please keep it clean!) and it can definitely be longer than 3 sentences. The game will run until Thursday at noon, at which time a winner will be chosen. If you want to play but don't want your comment shown, feel free to email me at missjedi@gmail.com. If you want to play but don't want anybody to read your entry, feel free to copy my lead-in to a word document and type away. But we want to read your entries. Just so you know.

Today's lead-in:

I had seen it's like before, though rarely, and never quite like this. It was black...

Have fun!

Welcome!

Today, I would like to offer a great big warm welcome to everybody.

Welcome to the Christmas Season! With the lights, the goodies, the Christmas trees, the happy music, the warm smiles, and the nativity scenes set up everywhere, this truly is one of the happiest times of the entire year. Welcome to Joy!

Welcome to the Snow! For the first time in my life, I can look outside my window at my yard that is covered in beautiful snow. The pasture has horse tracks that crisscross from one fence to another, and Cruise is a beautiful, fuzzy, black contrast to the scene. I see the tracks that I made through the yard last night when I went to feed him. I see the shoveled driveway that tells me of the care, and concern, and loving devotion my husband showed last night even after a crazy weekend of traveling. I see all that, and feel the warmth that envelopes me from the house with its pretty new furnace and comfortable furnishings, and I am grateful for it all. Welcome to all that Winter means!

Last and best of all...

Welcome to My Birthday Season! That's right, friends. My birthday is on Sunday. And as much as I absolutely love Christmas, as much as the Holiday Season brings true joy to my heart, very little brings the immediate excitement and the big smile to my face like my Birthday! So if, for this week, I mention every single day that my birthday is coming up, just know that every time I do, I am singing a little song to myself. I skip and frolic. I thoroughly enjoy the anticipation of coming up to the day that is all about celebrating ME. :) Welcome to the Best Time of the Year!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!!! It's shaping up to be a wonderful one. Already, Hubby is home with me for 5 whole days. It didn't snow terribly much last night, which means getting out of the city to go to Idaho today will be a piece of cake. Yesterday, after he got home from work, we ate homemade pizza, Hubby did the dishes, we played with Schprid, then put her to bed and played The Farming Game. Then we watched a movie. We stayed up way too late and had way too much fun. Yeah, it'll be a glorious weekend.

I won't be able to post, probably, until Monday. Sorry about that. I'll try, but I make no guarantees. In the meantime, because I believe in being grateful, I'd like to give you two categories in which to post comments.

The first:
Right now, as you're sitting here at your computer reading this blog, what are you grateful for? Don't think! Just type!

I'm grateful for beach-sized bath towels, for blinds that cover big windows, for my cat who is patiently waiting for breakfast, and for indoor plumbing that allows me to take care of morning hygiene without having to brave the 15 degree weather outside. I'm also grateful to all of you for reading my blog!

The second:
As you think about your life, with all of its ups, downs, and sideways-es, what are the big things that have made an impact in your life? What are you most grateful for overall?

I'm grateful for God, and for the knowledge that He is guiding my life to places I would never think to go on my own. I'm grateful that God guided me to my wonderful husband, who is a far better partner and friend than I could have imagined or believed possible. I'm grateful that said husband loves me and wants me and that I can make him happy. I'm grateful for Schprid and Wooble and for the love that constantly grows and flows from me to them and back again. I am grateful for wonderful extended family on both sides who love and support us in everything we do. And, for this year especially, I am profoundly grateful for our house, our animals, and the comfortable life which we live.

I'm excited to read your comments. I love the exercise of being grateful, and hearing what you are grateful for always gives me new appreciation for what I have.

Write happy!

Wise Words

One day, as I was soaking in the bathtub and pondering the complexities of the universe, I stumbled upon two old sayings that, in my mind, contradict each other. The first is this:

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.

It seems simple enough: if you have not been physically harmed, then you haven't really been hurt at all. Shrug it off and go on with your life. It's a fairly effective way to get kids from retaliating against others who have been mean to them. The second, however, goes like this:

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Many a politician, businessman, public figure and child have felt the truth of this statement. Personally, I tend to subscribe more to the second statement than the first. I believe that words can harm a person deeply. At the same time, words can often be easier to heal from than a physical wound.

So now I'm curious. What do you think?

Slightly Unsightly

That's a cool phrase. You should say it. Slightly unslightly. Now try to say it ten times fast. Just kidding.

So, we have a lot of manure. That happens, when you have a horse. Over the summer, we would often go out, gather it up, and place it in a nice heaping mound in a designated area of the pasture. We fully intend to use it to start a garden. It may not actually happen next summer, what with all the other things we'll having going on, but at the very least we can set up our garden area, which we already have planned out. It'll be good. Stinky, but otherwise good.

In the meantime, we've had several holes that we've used the manure to fill in. Many of them have been in the pasture, so it didn't matter anyway. We'd pull out cement pilings, then fill the hole with manure. We pulled out a chicken coop, and underneat it the ground had been scratched and pecked away and created a dangerous slope toward the garage. No worries, we filled it with manure! It was a great system. We figured that it'll turn to dirt soon anyway, and this way the ground will be nice and fertile for the springtime.

Our driveway is very long. We could probably line four cars up end-to-end from the garage to the street. There is a driveway-sized piece of dirt running alongside the driveway. It used to have gravel on it, but the gravel has gotten churned into the dirt underneat until the dirt itself is hard, and gross, and holds water spectacularly well. Last spring, when we were moving in, we utilized the dirt area a lot. Our tires left ruts, which then hardened in the summer sun and, because of the gravel, kept the shape of the ruts. There were two holes that formed and we had so many other things we were thinking about that we just never bothered to worry about it, until last Saturday.

We figured that with the snow coming on, it would be a good idea to flatten out those holes before they're just big ice pits. So what did we do? Why, we filled them with manure, of course!

It really is a good idea, when all is said and done. I just didn't think about the fact that the manure is very much darker than the rest of the dirt in the area, or about the fact that you notice the smell more when it's not out in the pasture where it belongs. Nor did I consider that as the manure is turning to dirt in our driveway, it would be subject to the weather. It rained shortly after we filled in those holes, and the water that seeped out of them was a dark, mucky color. Eww. I mentioned to Hubby that it's slightly unsightly. He responded with the fact that the rest of our yard is also slightly unsightly, which, oddly, made me feel better.

Next year, we have big plans for the yard. It'll be good. In the meantime, I get a close-up view of how manure actually turns into dirt. Yay.

Halloween Pictures- Finally!

So I don't have a lot of pictures, but the ones I do have are kinda fun. I figured I should probably get Halloween's pictures up before we head out for Thanksgiving. So, here we go. Enjoy!

This one, obviously, is Hubby and Schprid. Note the roll in her hand. We had just eaten dinner at the ward activity, and she was entranced by all the weird people wandering around. She was too interested to be able to eat much. However in this picture, they were standing right by the food table, and she's very interested in the possibilities. Little does she know what awaits her outside- Trick or Treating!

Here they are, about to head out. Note that she still has a very firm hold on her roll. (She's an M&M, in case it's hard to make out in the pictures!)


And here is Hubby, looking about as sexy as I've ever seen him. I mean, he always looks good, but there's something about the casual stance, the loose tie, the scruff, the hat, the slight smile... Mmm.


















And here I am... oh, wait. No, I'm not. We forgot to get pictures of me. That's okay, really. When all is said and done, a pregnant pirate just isn't that cool. We'll get better pictures next year.

Nail Polish

The Problem: After spending five mintes oh-so-carefully applying nail polish and ten minutes letting it dry and an hour of doing everything carefully so it doesn't smudge, nail polish chips after four hours, rendering that part of your day and time and care and energy and effort absolutely pointless.

The Other Problem: One likes to look pretty. Seeing nicely done nails engaging in any task automatically makes that task seem cooler. (I hooked up a hose to a faucet the other day. All around me was mud and muck and grossness, but my nails looked really cool as I screwed on that hose.) However, chipped nails completely negate that effect, to the point of making tasks look worse, because you can't even keep your nails looking nice.

The Other Other Problem: Manicures are expensive. Whether or not you get fake nails, it's at least $15 every two weeks to have somebody you can barely understand do your nails for you. But those manicures last forever.

Ever wonder why that is?

I did. It frustrated me to no end. So, one day, I went to the repository of all knowledge (thank you, Google!) and looked it up. I learned some tricks, and I will now share them with you.

I know. I'm that kind. ;)

First, nail polish remover is an important first step. It removes the body oils from your nails and makes it so the polish has a clean surface to stick to. (I'd always seen manicurists do this, but figured they were just paranoid that I had some remnant of nail polish left over on my nails. Who knew there was a purpose to it?)

Second, use a base coat. Not a base/top coat, because they have different purposes, but the base coat is like primer. It gets your nails ready to take the color. Use a thin coat.

Third, do your color when the base coat is still slightly tacky. This gives the color a little more incentive to stick to your nails. Do thin coats (I often do two) rather than one thick coat.

Fourth, cover with a top coat. This is not clear nail polish; this is a clearly labeled "Top Coat." Let all the layers dry thoroughly before doing major construction or taking a shower. At this point, it's the normal nail polish routine... the blowing, the not smudging, the reading a magazine for half an hour or so until they really are dry.

Each manicure lasts about a week before you start to notice serious chips. This is a week of hand-washing dishes (we don't have a dishwasher, so I wash a lot of dishes by hand!) and taking care of a horse and a cat and doing laundry and chasing after a 1-year-old with all her messes. It's still not quite as good as professional, but it's a loooooong way better than pre-trick manicures!

Now, the Base Coat and Top Coat I found at a grocery store for $6/bottle. It's a little expensive, I'll grant you. At the same time, it's waaaaaaaay cheaper than getting professional manicures! I got the Revlon brand. They work great. And I get many good manicures for $12 instead of one for $15. Great deal. Still a somewhat frivolous expense, but worth it, in my mind.

Happy Painting!

No Deal

We're going to Grammy and Grampa O's house for Thanksgiving this year. It should be a lot of fun. Thanksgivings usually are.

Just a note about Grammy, Hubby's wonderful mother, my Mother-In-Law...

She's crazy.

She's delightful, and bubbly, and happy, and a morning person, and crazy. Everyone in the family knows this.

She asked us what we wanted for Thanksgiving dinner. Because I am who I am, I replied, "A purple cow." Across the room, Hubby was shaking his head. "Don't say that," he muttered. "She'll get it for you!"

Grammy laughed at me. "Okay," she said. "Anything else?"

"Umm... I think I also want a pink sparkly sheep." Grandpa O, in the background, could be heard, "Grammy! Don't get it for her!"

We're fully expecting to receive both a purple cow and a pink sparkly sheep sometime in the near future. They may or may not be living creatures that have been dyed.

A few days later, she called me.

"I have a great idea!" she exclaimed.

An idea? Should I be worried?

"Do you know the game Deal or No Deal?" she asked.

"Uhh... I think I've played it once upon a time at a camping trip..." I vaguely remember that winning money is involved.

"Okay, well, we have the DVD version of it! It's fun! We're going to play it at Thanksgiving!"

Okaaaaay....

"Girls against guys! And then, if the girls win, or even if the guys win because we're going to take their money anyway..."

I've got a bad feeling about this.

"And then we're going to go shopping on Black Friday!"

Eww.

"At 5:30 in the morning!!!" (I swear I could see every single exclamation mark.)

Aack!

"Isn't that a good idea?!?"

What's a good euphemism for "No friggin' way!"? "I'm pretty sure I have to wash my hair that morning, Grammy. I'm so sorry I'm going to miss all the fun."

Seriously, people get trampled to death going shopping on Black Friday. That's not worth it to me at 5:30 in the morning. I'll do my shopping online, thank you very much. In my pajamas. At 11:00, after I wake up. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

But thanks again for the invite.

Disneyland Pictures

So, a couple months ago, we went to Disneyland. Remember this post? Yeah, here are the pictures from that! Yay! (A note to the other members of the family who were there: I'm sorry I didn't post pictures of you. I love you dearly. The pictures I had were either not flattering, or I was afraid you would not appreciate having your face in such close detail plastered on the internet.) (A note to everyone else: There were other family members there. We had a great time. I'm sorry you won't get to see the fun pictures of my brother's bald head, or my Mom holding Schprid and both of them with huge smiles on their faces. Both pictures are classic.)

Anyway, on with the tour!



This is just after we got there. Hubby, Schprid and I entered the park about half an hour before the rest of the party, due to transportation issues. We walked up and down Main Street and had a grand time watching all the fun vehicles they have. We also had enough time that I was able to take more pictures than I did of the whole rest of the park. I like this one because they have a freaking huge horse pulling a trolley car. How cool is that?!? I knew I liked Disneyland.

Schprid was intrigued by the fire truck.

Here we are, waiting to go on our first ride! Have you been on the submarine ride since they renovated it? They still have a bunch of the old stuff, but they've taken out the mermaids (thank goodness!) and added a bunch of things from Finding Nemo. It's really cute now. Schprid loved it and went "lap-hopping" from family member to family member throughout the ride. Here she is getting a pre-ride snack. Understandable, really. At 10:00 in the morning, after having walked into Disneyland, I'd be a bit peckish, too. Come to think of it, I think we all had a snack at that point... but she's the only one who can get away with eating in a picture.
Her first ride on a Merry-Go-Round! Ponies! Woohoo!
Smile, child, smile. You're on camera.

Yeah, like that. Isn't she adorable?
Okay, so I'm biased. But still, she's pretty dang adorable.
She was also getting very tired at this point. She was still too wired to sleep, but it was naptime for sure.
I'm pretty proud of this picture. You can't tell, but they're actually moving right here. It was their first time flying around, and none of my other pictures of the Dumbo ride turned out nearly this good. Of course, Schprid is completely hashed at this point. After the merry-go-round, we'd taken her on Peter Pan, and Mr. Toad's wild ride, and I think a couple of others. She was either shocked and amazed by them all, or just didn't have the strength to keep her mouth closed. So... much... fun! Mustn't... sleep...

We took a break shortly after this and she got an hour long nap in one of the walkways in Adventureland. And I got an iced lemonade... Ah, that was a good day.


The next night, we went to Medieval Times. Again, Schprid was hashed. I swear she barely slept all weekend long. She was a great sport, though. Here she is waving the flag that Grandpa splurged for. Shortly after this picture was taken, she threw it over the front of our table, and that was the end of the flag. Thanks, Grandpa!

Medieval Times was fun, as always. There were horse tricks,

and great battles, and a king and princess, and gallant knights, and BBQ potatoes. Awesome.

So, we went to Disneyland for three days, and because you pretty much have to sell your soul to get a hotel room in Anaheim, we went camping. That was eventful in and of itself, what with sprinklers going off in the middle of the night and such. But one afternoon, I woke up from a nap and looked outside to find this scene. In case you can't tell, that's Hubby, my brother, and Grandpa all sitting in camp chairs reading a book. I thought it was funny; it's good to know that Hubby fits right in with the rest of the family.

And of course Schprid is there looking adorable, if somewhat unadorned.

The Results...

First off, I would like to thank everyone for voting. It's fun to see what you all think! And now... drumroll please... the results!

Apparently my babies don't like ultrasounds. Schprid's took 45 minutes; Wooble clocked in at a solid hour.

...keep the drum rolling...

There were difficulties. This little child of mine stretched out very nicely for a good view of the spine, but that was where cooperation stopped. We got a good picture of one hand, but the other was very firmly hidden. Same story with the toes. And the top of the head, although there's only one of those. And the legs were, in the words of one of the technicians, "glued shut". Yup. This kid didn't give up anything easily.

...faltering drumroll...

And so, as a Mommy, I have to wonder if this stubbornness will be indicative of the child's personality later on. I'm already pretty certain the kid has a mind of its own and is not afraid to voice its opinion, which is part of the reason I'm pregnant now instead of in another, oh... five or six years. Am I afraid of this one? You better believe it.

...still drumrolling?...

Anyway, we got a call from the doctor's office yesterday after the appointment, and they said everything looked good. No cleft palate, size looks good, ect. We're on track to have a baby around the end of March.

...rat-a-tat-tat...

What was that? You want the verdict? Well, I don't blame you.

...Oh, here we go! Strike up those drums again!...

But I had to wait until my appointment was almost over before they were able to figure it out, so I figure it's only fair to make you sweat a little bit, too.

... tat? ...

:)

I know. I'm so nice.

:)

If I knew how to work my scanner better, I'd scan in the telling picture and see if you can figure it out from there. I sure can't! I tell you, those technicians are well-versed in what they do.

... silence ...

I'll tell you another thing. This little baby must have some pretty strong vibes, because most of you guessed right. We're having a little boy!

...Ba-da-BOOM!...

I'm scared and glad at the same time. On the one hand, I have to acquire a whole new wardrobe, get a new set of blankets, buy a blue diaper bag, do scouts, put up with leaping off the roof (which Hubby assures me will happen)... on the other hand, it'll be good to have some more testosterone to balance out all the estrogen in this house. (Even the cat's a girl. The horse is a boy, mostly, but he has to stay outside...)

The next challenge: figuring out a name that starts with R. We're still struggling with this one. We had an R name picked out for a girl. Dumb boys. ;)

Last Day

Well, my friends, today is the last day to vote. In one hour, I get to go find out if Wooble is a he-Wooble or a she-Wooble. Woohoo!

Tell you friends! Come and vote!

Results will be posted tomorrow!

And the Winner Is...

The clouds seemed to come together in odd formations, filling the mind with thoughts of...

Ronnie! She gave us this gem:

...wild horses, invigorated by the crisp fall air, racing across the barren mountaintop.

Congrats, Ronnie! You are the proud new owner of 50 points! Treasure them well, my friend, treasure them well.

Honorable mention goes to Cameron, who piped up with this entry:

...clouds.

It made me laugh. And Hubby liked it best.

My entry is this:

...tomorrows, of yesterdays, of half-formed dreams, of joys and dangers yet unimagined.

Thanks to all who participated! I had fun seeing your entries, and we'll probably do this again sometime soon!

Finish This!

Okay creative people! Let's play a game. I'm going to write a sentence, and I want you to finish it. You can either post your entry in a comment or send it to me in an email at missjedi@gmail.com. All entries are welcome, as long as it's clean. Length does not matter. Content does not matter. Tomorrow, I'll post the winner (aka my favorite), along with my finished product. The winner gets 50 points.**

Today's sentence is:

The clouds seemed to come together in odd formations, filling the mind with thoughts of...


Good luck!!!

**Please note that points are not redeemable for anything at any time, and are used for the sole purpose of fun, frivolity, and perhaps boosting one's self-esteem.

Picture Time!!!

So, remember how I want to start adding pictures to my blog? Well, here we go! I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera, so now I can start making my posts more interesting to look at. For right now, because I'm still working on getting creative juices flowing, I'm just dumping a bunch of them on here. I'm sure eventually I'll start adding captions and such and eventually it'll be fantastic. In the meantime, anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can learn how to do it well, right?

These are pictures from when we went camping this summer. It was one of the best camping trips I've ever had. We didn't do anything special, except try out our dutch oven for the first time. We didn't go on a hike or even a walk. We got there late, set up our tent, cooked dinner, put Cara in bed and looked at the stars. The next day, we slept in, took down our stuff, found a lake, decided it was way to crowded to try to do anything, learned about how to find and reserve better campsites for next time we want to go, and went home. But it was just us. We were relaxed. It was a calm, fun, simple evening... in my opinion, the very best kind.

Heat!

Once upon a time, Hubby and I bought a house. Generally, it was a good house, but it needed a few repairs. We worked on those all summer long, and got all sorts of good things accomplished.

Then, the cold weather hit. Technically, we had a furnace. Technically, it would warm up the house. Unfortunately, we didn't dare turn it on because in the basement, where the furnace was, the previous tenants had kept little chicks -that's right, baby chickens- down there with a bunch of other trash, and all sorts of nastiness had gotten pumped into the vents. Plus, we didn't know the condition of the furnace, and figured it would be wise to get it tuned up before turning it on for the winter.

So, we found some coupons for a $49 tune-up with Any Hour (fantastic company, btw!) and settled in to wait a week to be warm. We tried to stay warm by bundling up, baking, taking long showers, and huddling next to the space heater. It worked... sortof.

Monday was the blessed day of the tune-up. Unfortunately, the technician had an emergency and couldn't come when he said he would. They tried to reschedule me for a different day. I put my foot down. I explained the chicken dust/crap/nastiness situation and insisted they come that day. He finally showed up at 5:30.

After a few minutes down in the basement, he called us down and explained the situation. As expected, it was dire.

The furnace, if it had been well taken-care-of, would have lasted about 15 years. It was 17 years old and had not been given the TLC it so craved. Poor furnace. Poor, poor, disgusting furnace. Oh, and by the way, there were several things that were illegal about how it had been installed.

Long story short, if we had tried to get it repaired, it probably would have cost us several hundred dollars, plus the $300-400 it would have cost on top of that to get the ducts cleaned out. Or, we could buy a whole new furnace that would work for 15-20 years, get the ducts cleaned out for free, have a 10 year warranty, and only spend $4000. (Yucky price, but hey, there's financing! And rebates! And tax credits! So really, we are only going to end up spending about half the final cost when all is said and done... not too bad, really.)

Yesterday was the big day. The guy showed up at 8:30, worked until noon, came back after lunch, brought two other guys with him, ended up charging us an extra $900, stayed until 7:00, and now we have a blessedly warm house. Seriously. I was too hot last night, and right now I have bare feet. It's glorious.

Oh, and don't worry about the extra $900... we sortof opted for that. There were a couple of things he couldn't see until he moved the old furnace out, and they needed to be moved in order to put the coil in that will allow us to put in A/C later. They would have needed to be moved later, anyway, and this way we'll save $500 later on. So, that was $300. Also, it turns out the old furnace was attached to several other electrical circuits throughout the house, and leaving it like that could very easily lead to shorts that would damage our pretty new furnace. So, the electrician came and one hour and $600 later, we have a new switch in our electrical panel that leads only to the furnace.

And really, I'm able to say all this with peace in my heart and a great big smile on my face, because I'm warm. I'm warm, and Schprid is warm, and Wooble will be warm, and Hubby will be warm (not that he's ever got a problem with being cold) and we'll all live warmly ever after until 20 years down the road, or we move away from this house. And life is good.

Personal Brand, Part 2

So, on a lighter note, I've made this decision:

When I'm rich and trying to get famous, I want the people in charge of Breast Cancer Awareness to market me.

Think about it! It started as baby pink ribbons. Then, everything pink was telling us to help with BCA. Now, you almost can't go grocery shopping without picking up something pink, whether or not you care about Breast Cancer.

I think the world needs to be aware of me that way.

Cheers!

***I would like to mention that I am neither promoting nor complaining about Breast Cancer Awareness... just appreciating their campaign. Way to go, guys!

Personal Brand

A few nights ago, Hubby and I were talking about random things before going to bed. I mentioned, as I sat here at the computer, that I would like to be a better blogger. He asked me why, I told him that I think blogs are cool. I think it's a neat way to practice different styles of writing. It's a good way to connect with people. It's more personal, and at the same time more private, than social networks. Blah, blah, blah. I don't know that I really have a good reason, I just like them.

After a few minutes of silence, Hubby brought up the idea of the Personal Brand.

"What's that?" I asked.

He explained that for much of Earth's history, people have lived under family crests, house symbols, national flags, and company logos. Nowadays, however, with blogs and websites and social networks, each person can have their own "brand."

I thought it was an interesting idea. In some ways, it puts the pressure on to create a cool logo, catchy theme, compelling mission statement. On the other hand, even with a personal brand, there are so many out there that it would still be easy to sink into complete anonymity, to get lost in the swirl and color and fun that is the blogging world.

I have more to write on this topic tomorrow, but for today:

If you were to design a symbol that represents you, what would it be and why?

I'm honestly not sure what mine would be, and I've thought about it a lot. I would probably have some kind of a horse representation, possibly a quill, and wild flowers.

Mmmmm!!

Schprid gets excited when we talk about getting food. Often, when trying something she's unfamiliar with, she will take a bite and then either spit it out or say a very enthusiastic, "Mmmm!" and dig in for more.

Yesterday, just after her Daddy came home, we were all sitting in at the computer and talking. Finally, he mentioned dinner and I agreed it would be a good idea. He turned to Schprid and asked her if she wanted food. She got as excited as a little one-year-old body can convey, almost jumping for joy, really. Then she turned and headed for the kitchen. That reaction had both us old people laughing. It's wonderful how excited a child can get!

But the story doesn't end there. Schprid, not wanting to arrive in the kitchen alone, kept her head turned to watch us and make sure we were really coming to get her food. She kept walking but, alas! she had miscalculated when heading for the door of the bedroom. She headed instead straight for the nightstand. I told her to watch out, but she didn't understand. She ran straight into it, rebounded, fell backwards onto her hiney, and didn't cry, which made us old people laugh even harder.

The story ends happily. Daddy picked her up, we all had a great time laughing down the hallway, and eventually we made it to the kitchen where Schprid had the best yogurt of all time.

Personal Policy

I like baths. They're soothing. They're warm. They're personal and private... except that I'm currently blasting about them on the internet. Still, it's an hour that I can spend being warm and soothed by myself.

Since getting pregnant, I've decided that baths are an absolute must in my life. I take my time. I usually sit and read for an hour, just soaking in mildly hot water and scented Epsom salts. Then I use pretty soaps, shave everything, pumice the rough spots, and for a couple of hours afterwards, even in my ever-expanding body, I feel pretty. It's a nice feeling. And so, I've decided that I need at least one of these a week.

So far, it's going well. My husband has even taken to asking me if I've had my bath yet. I love that he wants me happy.

Wednesdays

It's the big day. It's the day when I open up my iGooogle page, check my email, look at the healthy eating tip for the day, admire the beautiful picture of nature and the one, right next to it, of the adorable puppy. I check the weather and any pertinent news stories. And then, down at the bottom right, I find that my baby looks like this:


This is a big improvement, really, over some of the other pictures I've gotten. Wooble really is growing in there... I'm not just eating too much cereal. Yay!

And, I'm down another week. I'm officially in week 19, now. Next week I'll be halfway through and get to find out what gender Wooble is.

Now that I've incorporated a picture into my blog (I'll get better at this, I think!) Now I'm going to branch out and try something really crazy... a poll!

Searching... searching... searching...

Huh. Does anyone know how to put a poll in an actual post? Do I need to just do that on the sidebar? For now I'll do it on the sidebar, but I'd appreciate any help with putting it in the post itself! Thanks!

Feelin' the Love

It's normal, I think, for children to say some variation on "Mommy" or "Daddy" as the first of their words, right? It indicates what is most important in their little lives. It shows, in some measure, appreciation of all that we do for them, if only because they are able to ask for us directly.

My daughter's first word was "pup," spoken at Grammy's house when we were playing with the dogs. Cute. Fitting. I'm really okay with that.

She got tired of that word in a big hurry and didn't say anything for a couple months after that. Then, she started saying "bye-bye." I got excited. Words were forthcoming! Soon she would be saying "Mommy!" So cute... I drooled in anticipation.

At this point, her verbal repertoire has expanded to this:

"Bye-bye"
"Hi!"
"Uh-oh"
"Ki'i"
"Cheese"

Endearing.

What, I ask you, has cheese done for her? Well, okay, so it fills her little belly and tastes yummy going down, but really? Cheese? Never has any block of cheese changed her little diapers or made her feel better when she falls down. And if one did, I would either be completely weirded out or completely thrilled and hire the cheese to babysit for me.

Hurray for Mommy adventures!

Schprid and Trunk-or-Treating

At first, she was traumatized. People were milling around the parking lot, in strange outfits, and she had to walk away from Mommy. (I stayed at the car to give out candy.) Daddy took her by the hand and led her to the first car. When she got there, Daddy instructed her on the protocol.

"You say trick-or-treat," he told her, "And hold up your bucket..." he helped her to hold her bucket out. And then... she got something in the bucket! All of a sudden, this was a fun game. They made their way to the next car, where she held out her bucket without prompting. She got something else in her bucket! What fun! She didn't even know what she was getting at that point, it was just fun to collect things!

They went to several cars, getting new things at each one. Then came the tricky one. She held out her bucket at the car, but instead of putting something in it, the person there just put a large cauldron down so she could reach in and grab her own prize. She couldn't see all the way down to the candy, but that's okay. She had this gig figured out. She reached down in, fished around, and pulled out... something! Woohoo! At that point, she hadn't quite figured out that she then needed to put it in her bucket, but Daddy was able to help with that.

When they were done, her little bucket was half-full of candy. She came back to sit at the car with Mommy and enjoy the fruits of her labors. Twizzlers! Oh, boy, this trick-or-treating stuff is cool, guys. Can we do this every night?

"Of course, little one, just as soon as we get Disneyland set up in your bedroom, we'll go trick-or-treating every night."