Time

Howdy, rowdies.  Not much writing going on in these parts, and I'm not entirely okay with that.  But there are other things, like bunk beds and book club and back-to-back Big Love episodes.  Oh, and back-to-school shopping!  You know how I love those school supplies.  They're not even for me, but I still get a thrill seeing all those pencils and crayons. 

My lil' Rosie is starting kindergarten.  How the H did that happen?  The girls are very excited for school, and so am I.  Summer break is awesome, but I also love the return to routine.  I lost/ditched all my healthy habits when the school year ended in May.  Granted I had morning sickness to survive, but I stopped my healthy eating, daily yoga, daily journaling, nightly baths, vitamin regimen, running, and meal planning.  Oy.  But that's the beauty of the new school year.  It's a fresh start.

I'm not returning to work next week.  I had to say goodbye to the Lunch Lady gig, what with my growing belly and all.  I'll have time to rest and nest here in a quiet house.  Time to prepare for birth and baby.  Time to...write? 

A Lot of Love

I'm back home in my easy chair after almost a month away.  We got to see every one of our northeast relatives, plus an uncle we never even met!  Highlights include hoagies & cheese steaks galore, Stella jumping off a high dive with no fear, Rosie's SpongeBob birthday bash, ocean & sand, late night chats, Wegman's grocery store, fireworks, and Yahtzee tournaments.  Lowlights include a power outage, the dog eating our dinner, and first trimester woes. 

Since returning I have finished watching Joss Whedon's series Dollhouse, pulled a multitude of weeds out of my garden, heard my baby's heartbeat again, watched Misery for the first time, celebrated a couple of birthdays, played piano along with four music professionals on strings (fun!), eaten Mexican food three times, taken down a wasp nest (beware anglo-saxon protestants setting up house in your bird feeder!), and officially grown out of all my regular clothes. 

Tomorrow I'm off again.  Heading to Asheville to celebrate my anniversary.  Thirteen years!  That's a lot of love. 

Vacation

Greetings from sunny Pennsylvania!  My right arm is twitching, has been for the past hour.  I don't know why that kind of stuff happens.  Like, why, two months ago, did I wake up to find two of my toes stuck together?  They've been touching ever since, where they previously did not.  But this is not the information I sat down to blog about.

We are up in PA hanging out with Grandpa, taking it easy.  We spent a few days down the Jersey shore soaking up sunshine, shaking out sand, wading in waves.  Days on the beach with Wawa hoagies, nights on the boardwalk with funnel cake and fries.  I am not eating with any kind of health-consciousness lately, by the way.  It's about fun-consciousness and/or nausea survival.  There are days I feel I cannot move and nights when I cry myself to sleep.  Pregnancy is tough on this mama.  My growing baby is about the size of a lime right now--totally adorable--and my belly is popping out like a coconut.  But this is not the information I sat down to blog about.

We saw a fox at the beach again.  This time he was walking down the road carrying a fish in his mouth!  We watched the sunset over the bay--the perfect way to celebrate the solstice.  I've got a tan, some extra freckles, and new memories to take me through the season.  I've got lots more family time to look forward to before we head home.  Hopefully my arm will stop twitching sometime soon.  Then I think we'll head over to Trexler Park today for some fresh air and frisbee.  Cool, yeah?

Big News

I lied about not much else going on.  The truth is that there's life going on, as in: life growing inside  me, as in: I'm going to have another baby!  Crazy, right?  My kids are 8 and just-about-5, and come winter time I'll have a newborn. 

I used to be dead-set against this idea; I was happy with two.  I got my body in good shape, transformed my inner life, and made some personal goals.  Motherhood was getting easier as the girls graduated toddlerhood and started school.  Life was good.  But then my mother-in-law passed away.  It was so terribly heart-breaking and sad.  Sitting in the funeral service I thought, Gee, big families are really nice, and I became open to the idea of making ours bigger. 

A few weeks ago, I left work for the day and absolutely had to have some chicken salad.  I was hungry, and I thought of chicken salad, and there was no stopping me.  I went to the grocery store,  bought a half pound, and ate the whole container.  I was talking on the phone with my sister at the time, and she asked, "Are you pregnant?" and I said, "Maybe. This is weird."  So two days later, on the last day of school, I went home and took a pregnancy test.  It showed an immediate positive. 

2012 has been about facing fears, and I can think of no bigger personal fear-facing challenge than being pregnant.  I do not like being pregnant for the headaches, nausea, and extreme fatigue that I'm experiencing.  And thinking about my last pregnancy and birth brings back painful memories.  So now, in these fearless times, I have an opportunity to trust, learn, accept support, and call on the wild feminine strength that I wasn't yet aware of five years ago. 

I'm already over eleven weeks into this.  The midwife gave me a due date of December 31st.  (So much for awareness--I was pregnant for two months without knowing it!)  We heard the heartbeat and saw a picture.  I'm already in love with the lil' peanut.  So that, dear readers, is what's really going on.

Summertime So Far

"Wolfie, bring me that bear!"  That's what I've been repeating for the last five minutes.  I love our dog.  It took no time for him to become part of our family.  It's summertime for our family, and Gershwin was right.  We're taking it easy this week, which is good because, frankly, I don't like taking it hard.  I know, I know...that's what she said.  Point is, I much prefer sitting in my living room playing with the dog to work and car pool and all that official business.  No offense, official business.  ("None taken," it replies as it tightens its necktie.  "Carry on with your bear-fetching tomfoolery; I have a meeting to attend.")  Soon we'll travel, take our dog and hit the highway north to see family and friends and waves and sand, but not before I get a haircut and a little blood work done.  Gotta fulfill my health insurance promise today and get some biometric screening.  Not looking forward to the needle entering my vein.  Haircut tomorrow--I am looking forward to the scissors shaping me up.  Rosie too, since she took the initiative to cut some of her own hair off last week.  Not much else going on, dearies, unless you count the perfectly ripe and juicy peaches and cantaloupe currently available.  Oh, and my recent desire to watch dumb sitcom reruns.  It's like I'm sincerely interested in the plots!  ("Wolfie, bring me that clicker!")