Pizza Night

Tonight we went over to my brother-in-law's house for pizza and a movie. I may complain about living in the middle of nowhere, but the best part of living there is being close to these guys. They are so much fun to hang out with. It is so nice to know they are right down the road.

J Comes Home

J came home a day early! He arrived tonight. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my dad, but wow - I sure missed J.

I was almost as excited to see him as our dogs were. Dog greetings are so wonderful. They acted like they had not seen J in at least a year, and that since he was gone he is sure to have brought them bag dog treats.

Maybe I will finally get a good night's sleep knowing that he is right there beside me where he is supposed to be!

Spending Time with my Dad

J is out of town until Friday, so my Dad came to stay with me.

Since I am pregnant with their first grandchild, my parents will take no chances with my welfare. Okay, the fact that I am not the most graceful, lucky person in the world may have something to do with their distrust.

Whatever the reason, my dad - who just happens to be the world's greatest dad - came to stay with me. I can completely deal with that, because I just happen to tremendously enjoy his company.

Today I took the day off work so that we could spend time together. We spent the day shopping for maternity clothes, shoes and miscellaneous Target-list items. It was so much fun. Really. For both of us.

My Dad is the best guy shopper ever. He can find a deal like nobody's business. And, he understands his role is to hold purchased items. J is so much different. He just whines about being in the store the whole time.

Anyway, by the end of the day we were all shopped-out. We stopped by the Japanese food place (yum) and proceeded to spend the rest of the evening taking turns playing the piano for each other.

It was a great day!

Mystery Image

Guess what this is?

Some blurry modern work of art?

No, just the crack in my windshield from the gravel truck in front of me. I stayed way back from him, but did that help?

Of course not.

The Day Cedar Learned About the Garage Door (or Why I Was Late for Work This Morning)

Looks like I have some catching up to do. My cold has improved, so now I can get back into the swing of things!

We have developed a morning routine. We distract Cedar by feeding him on the front porch. As he chows down, we sneak Molly & Max out the side of the house through the garage door. This way, Molly & Max can use the outdoors in peace.

This morning, since J is out of town, morning dog duty fell to me. I fed Cedar, and he happily began chowing down on his food just like he is supposed to do.

Then as stealthily as possible, I snuck out the side with Molly & Max. The garage door opened...and there was Cedar.

So, this morning the dog routine instantly tripled in time. Did I allow extra time to get ready for work since I knew I would be taking the dogs out? Nope. Oops.

Carrying on the Name

Today Monkey T informed me that I should be having a boy. For weeks, she has been rooting for a girl. Why the sudden change of direction?

"I've been thinking," she says. "We don't have that many boys to carry on the B family name. We really need to preserve that, so you should have a boy."

Hmmm...that sounds like something Grandma might say. Much more like Grandma than a 10-year-old girl.

If she starts telling me I have to name him "Junior" we are really going to have to have a long sit-down talk.

Not-So-Bad Family Time

This weekend, J & I attended the wedding of one of my second cousins. I do not know him all that well, since we have lived in different areas of the state for many years now. I always got along with him when we were kids, so I thought I should at least put in an appearance.

I can also confess to you, dear Internet, that certain people on that side of the family (see here, the part about the distant relatives). Because of this, I have been dreading this for a while.

Furthermore, J had absolutely no desire to go to this wedding - especially since we had to drive two hours to get to it.

To our complete surprise, the evening was not so bad at all. We almost had fun. The wedding was very low key, yet nice, and they served a complete dinner.

Being pregnant probably help, because people were really nice to us when I did not really expect it.

I was able to successfully avoid people that I did not care to talk to, and catch up with the ones that I did. If this keeps up, I might show up to a future family get-together. Who knows?

Unwelcome Visitor

I spent some time trying to weed out grass from one of my plants. This was no easy task, because I had Cedar's full attention. He thought he should be involved in what I was doing.

At one point, I looked up at Cedar for a second when something caught the corner of my eye. Less than two inches from my hand, there was the biggest tarantula-size spider I have ever seen in my life (see terrible, horrible, scary photo at left).

I grabbed Cedar away and proceeded to dump the entire can of spider spray on that horrible, horrible creature before it began to shrivel up and die.

I ran in the house trembling.

On second thought, that grass looks perfectly lovely in the middle of my plant. I have a feeling it will be there for a while.

Fixing My Roots

Today, with my doctor's approval, I was able to have the hideous color mess that is my hair fixed.

I am naturally blonde, with darker roots and lighter ends. I like the natural color of most of my hair, just not the roots. So, I have them lightened periodically.

When I found out I was pregnant, I decided to err on the side of caution and not have my hair dyed until the doctor recommended 14 weeks had passed.

My sister-in-law, a hair stylist, does my hair for me. She mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she had noticed my hair really needed something bad. This remark sent me running for the bathroom in tears, although she only meant it from a clinical/hair expert perspective. J assured me that it was un-obvious to the untrained observer that my hair was in desperate need of help. But, what do men know? Other women notice these things. And, obviously, they comment on them.

So today, I triumphantly marched into the salon and had my hair darkened. I went dark so that I would not have to mess with it again for a good while.

I also had the opportunity to do my eyelashes myself. I have this done periodically as well. (If you have never tried, and you have allergies like I do, having your eyelashes dyed black is an incredible thing. No mascara running down my face, ever!) Long story shortened - this turned out to be a mistake because I closed my eyes, they watered and I got the dye everywhere.

I left the salon with my newly dark hair and dark eyelashes - ready to take on the world again.

It Began With the Ear

Last night, my ear began throbbing. This morning my throat tingled. This afternoon the sneezing and waterworks began.

I, even though I am fighting it as hard as possible, am coming down with a cold

A cold! Me! Since I found out I was pregnant and read that my immune system would be weaker than normal, I have been crazy with the hand sanitizer and avoidance of all who sneeze, sniff and cough. And yet, it still found me.

I am in the midst of a mini-panic session, because of not wanting to do anything or get any sicker in a way that might affect the baby.