Wednesday, December 15, 2004

 

"Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking into the future..."
Time is definatly moving. Seems slow to me, although it hardly seems believeable that Thanksgiving came and went already. I'm in my 36th week now so shouldn't be long, but seems like forever away. Time is funny that way, isn't it?
I look at baby pictures of Xander and cannot believe how much he has grown! My little three-year old is beginning to read too! I can't believe it. My mom gave him a "My 4th Christmas" dated ornament and James and I were shocked that this will actually be his fourth! Increadible!
This pregnancy will be a relief when it is over. Now my sciatic nerve is being pinched and my right leg feels numb, tingly or cold all over often. I've been spending some time on my hands and knees to get the baby to change position, but then everytime I try to relax in my wonderful recliner, she moves back to the back and pinches things again. Aggrevation!
My midwife is concerned that on our trip to the in-laws over Christmas will create labor. I hope not. We debated long and hard over whether or not to go. I hate to be a party pooper and keep the hubby from his family (he won't go with out me), and Xander away from his "Grammy and Papa." Besides, I WANT to go. _pout_ So, we're going, for a shorter trip than usual. My midwife won't come that far if I go into labor, so she is going to find a back-up, "just in case," midwife near where we'll be as well as a quick check on the midwifery laws in that state.
I just hope and pray that I won't go into labor. It'll be my 38th week and I'm expecting to go more full-term. Xander was a week early, but he was coerced into it by my former midwife (who broke my water without consulting me!), so I'm hoping I'll go longer than that this time. Actually, I'm praying for a Jan. 6th baby. That was my dad's b-day and the reason I aimed for Jan. Who would have thought I'd get that close!? My due date is the 11th.
Anyway, time to get up out of this recliner before my butt and leg goes completly numb! Merry Christmas to you all!

Dawn posted this at 3:27 PM.

Friday, November 26, 2004

 

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! We did. Mom and cousin Bruce came over and we feasted. We had duck (there was chicken too, in case the duck didn't turn out), sweet potatoes, fresh asparagus, green beans, sauted mushrooms and onions, and a relish plate full of black olives, green onions and radishes (always present at my family's holiday meals). The family also enjoyed cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, but I didn't. I did have a yummy dessert: 1/2 a sliced and peeled apple covered in butter and cinnamon and baked in the oven at 220 for about 30 minutes. I did put a couple of pinches of stevia (a fake sugar), but I didn't notice it at all. It was delicious! So, except for going over board on butter (it is allowed, but I try to avoid it for my asthma), I stuck to my diet and still had a yummy meal. Another good plus to the day: leftovers for dinner, no cooking dinner! We have been cooking two meals a day for weeks on this diet and it's getting tiresome. Before the diet, we were used to cooking once every 2-3 days. Now we eat a lot and are losing weight too!?!
Anyway, hope you all had a happy turkey day like we did!
More good news- Xander's tadpoles that we caught from his swimming pool are finally frogs. Well, at least one out of the two has finally changed. He/she crawled out of the water on Thanksgiving day. The other one has always been behind developmentally by a couple of days. They are amazing to watch as they grow and change. Feed them (fish flake food) in the morning and by noon they've changed! Now we have to find frog food for them, or turn them outside in the cold! I was hoping we could keep them through the winter and release them in the spring. We'll see...

Dawn posted this at 1:45 PM.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

 

Why is our society so obsessed with sugar? My hubby decided that we all would go on my yeast killing restrictive diet (My son has shown signs of yeast problems too and we thought it would be beneficial to him too). But everywhere we go there are insensitive people sticking their noses into our business. "He's too young... he needs the vitamins/minerals from (insert food item here)." It's not like we've made a lifetime diet change. IT'S TEMPORARY! These people make it out like we are abusing him. We, as capable, well-educated adults made an educated decision about the dietary habits of our family. We feel that right now it is the best for all of us.
What irritates me the most is that everywhere we turn there are people trying to force sugar on my son. If he gets a haircut, the ladies there give him a sucker. Once he came home from there with not one, but 6 suckers! At the bank drive through they give him one. At church there's usually at least one passing out candy. If you try to politely refuse they think you're a terrible parent or something. Then, if my son hears them ask and I refuse, then he'll throw a temper tantrum in public and the 'nice grandparently figures' continue to push their treat on him. It's infuriating.
Then, at a recent meal out, my own mother fusses at me for not giving Xander a piece of white bread roll when he argued with me over it. "He's a growing boy." Oh, like depriving him of white bread is depriving him of such a nescessary nutritional supplement to life! ::roll eyes::
Anyway, needless to say, I'm making it through strictly on the diet, but my hubby and son have been enticed by public eating and have been 'cheating' occasionally. Uh-well, their not the ones with the serious problems. I'm just hoping I can make it to Christmas Eve. I'm looking forward to fixing my Grandma's german fritter (fruden) recipe. Yum!

Dawn posted this at 11:27 AM.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

 

I performed my civic duty and sat at the courthouse for jury duty. I spent about 3 hours over two days and got paid $20. Not bad for doing nothing while they settled cases out of court.
You know, they say that we're selected randomly, but why is it that I've been called 4 times (5 if you count a postponement) and the hubby none at all. 3 of those have been in this county since we moved here. The time before this call I served on a grand jury and two of my fellow jurors were also called this time. If it is random and less that 150 are called, what are the chances that 3 of us would be called the same two times out of thousands in the county????
Anyway, I'm still struggling with pregnancy related problems. I've put myself on a very low carb diet to kill some yeast in my body. The yeast are putting up a very good fight and my symptoms have gotten worse, so I'm sticking with it. This is one battle I want to win. This low-carb thing is difficult though. According to my yeast information I can basically only have meat, eggs, veggies (minus potatoes and few other high-carb veggies), a few nuts and seeds in limited amounts and limited amounts of oatmeal. I'm finding it difficult to eat a variety and after two solid weeks it is getting frustrating. According to this info, I can add apples and pears after two weeks and then if there are no symptoms I could eat some berries. But, my symptoms haven't improved, in fact they are getting worse the last few days, so I'm sticking to the strict diet for a couple more weeks.
Thanksgiving won't be difficult, we're staying home and can eat what we want so I'm sticking to it. I'm hoping to stay strictly to the diet until Christmas Eve, but there is a family get-together the Saturday before Christmas. I don't think I could stay faithful that day, but if I get off the diet then, I may not get back to it for the week of Christmas. I'd hate to avoid the family reunion though. I've been debating the issue for weeks.
I've been seeing NaNo writers that are really getting down to business. Makes me want to write again...so my mind is thinking down that road...again.

Dawn posted this at 1:43 PM.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

 

After an exhausting fall...here I am, still around. The pregnancy has not been without its ups and downs. First, there was the morning sickness...and a lot of it. A lot of quesiness, but not a lot of actually being sick, thank God. Then, I sort of cruised through the second trimester with some fatigue. Toward the end of it however, I began to have some troubles. My sugar levels drop in the morning and I have 'morning yuck.' I don't have any energy and a few times when I've tried to do too much, I've nearly passed out. I'm dealing with it by eating many small meals throughout the day and night (which is interfering with good sleep). To top it all off, my asthma-type problems have kicked in. I'm doing all I can to keep it under control, but it seems to have a mind of its own.
On top of all that, we've spent a week in Virginia in which I got to go to the battlefield at Manansas, DC, and Pennsylvania again. Nice site-seeing. Xander loved the two 'bat caves' we went to. Then, in Sept/Oct we went on a 2 full week trip to Colorado. It was so nice seeing the Rockies again, but the trip was just a few days too long. The last few days were spent going from hotel room to hotel room and a lot of traveling back home. I prefer to go one place and settle in, rather than travel like that. But it was a fun trip, here's some highlights:
We got to go to Casa Bonita in Denver twice while we were there. It's not just a mexican restaurant, it is an amusement park! Xander loved the train ride through the mountains near Georgetown. The aspens were beautiful between Denver and Vail. We got to play in the snow at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park and Xander made his first snowman. We hiked a couple of miles total up to a waterfall and then around Bear Lake, Xander walking most of the way (He's a little trooper). He also loved all the little crevices ('caves' to him) that he got to explore and climb on rocks at Garden of the Gods in CO Springs. Then, we went to the Great Sand Dune Nat'l Park in SE CO. Xander had a ball playing in the sand, then we decided too late to hike to a big dune in the area. We were about two miles into the dunes when a hail storm hit. Xander and I were both scared of the lightning and thunder (it was close!). The hail was pea sized, but we were worried it would get bigger and really pack a punch. That was an amazing day. It started out rainy, but by the time we went in late morning, it had gotten a bit sunny. By the time we left, the ground was covered in the hailstones! We were wet and freezing too. I was not happy sitting in the van all afternoon wet and cold. My in-laws insisted that we keep heading down the road to our next hotel stop. I wasn't happy, but I guess I survived.
So, with all that having been over, and Xander's b-day festivities all over, I'm just cruising to the holidays and then the baby's due Jan. 11. We've still a lot left to do around the house to get ready and it's been difficult since my energy levels are terrible. I've put myself on a low-carb, high protien diet for more reasons than one (even though I despise a low-carb life for myself) but it seems to be helping. At the very least I'm not gaining weight: a total of 17 pounds for the entire pregnancy. I'm trying to keep that to 20 or less.
Well, that's enough for now, just wanted to catch up on what's been going on 'round here. TTFN!

Dawn posted this at 6:45 AM.

Friday, June 04, 2004

 

Well, well, well.
The summer has begun. For me that means work. Yesterday we kicked off our Summer Reading Program (SRP) with a Dave Potts concert (www.davepotts.com). We had 30 people in attendence. Not as much as I'd like, but okay. Today we had 15 children at our story hour. I'm afraid going to our branch libraries will be a huge waste of time for me. My boss told me today that if there are 5 or less in the first two weeks, it's not worth them paying me the 85 miles mileage each week. I'm fine with that, I'll get Mondays and Tuesdays off!
The hubby and I are having a reading competition of our own. We are also reading some classics. He finished the Iliad earlier in the year so I've started it. Now he's reading 1001 Arabian Nights. But first we are both trying to read Harry Potter book 3 again before next friday. It's our 10th anniversary and we are going to a dinner, movie and getting a hotel room for the night in the next town over. My mom is babysitting. A peaceful nights sleep will be wonderful. My mom's not happy about doing it for us, but she grudingly agreed. I just hope she doesn't back out.
The pregnancy is going better. The morning (yeah, right, more like all the time) sickness was pretty bad for a while. I wasn't sick, just felt nauseous alot of the time. It's getting better. I had pnemonia or some sort of lung infection again, the doc didn't name it. But recovered much more quickly than normal. Also had a kidney infection. All at once. Not fun. Anyway, things are looking up and once this SRP is over, I'll be in the clear. No more work!!! Yeah! I'm sooo looking forward to only having the responsibility of kids and housework (which is 3 full-time jobs in itself!).

Dawn posted this at 6:24 PM.

Friday, May 07, 2004

 

Two bits of good news. I got my grade for the sign class: A. The other class is still AWOL on the grades, could be an A or a B. Depends on how the final went. I think it went well, but not sure.
The other bit of news is a much more Whohoo! kind of news. I'm pregnant! Bang! on the first try, too! I can't believe it. One of my friends called me a rabbit. It took two months on the first go around (first month was a early miscarriage). The hubby and I are excited, the soon to be big brother is confused. We explained to him that we planted a seed and the seed has to grow in Mommy's womb. He pulled my shirt up looking for it and asked where his womb was. He's so precious. :)

Dawn posted this at 9:43 PM.

Saturday, March 06, 2004

 

Whew! Things are spinning wildly out of control! Life is busy. I'm working on SC novel but it's moving slowly. About the only time I work on it is on the way to the gym and back and maybe a bit while I work out.

So far I've been going 4 times a week (this is the first week, though) and I've been doing a workout tape (this week was Taebo and Walk Strong!) twice and a walking workout on the treadmill. I won't be doing Taebo again, at least for a while. Man! That's a work out. I was only less than half way doing it and it was a real workout. I like the Walk Strong though. It's simple so that I can get a good workout but not too difficult. I modify some of the moves to what I learned in aerobics class in college to step it up to higher impact. I feel much better since I've been exercising. After I work out with the treadmill or video, then I lift light weights and do sit ups for the next 30 mins. Then I finish up with a great stretch and I can already see improvement in my flexibility.

Well, I've work to do for class Monday as well as get ready for two more rugrats around the house tonight. We've been babysitting a lot for a friend of ours that has a 5 year old and a 3 year old. They are having some family problems right now and need someone to watch them. It's been a long week.

Oh, our van will cost more than we thought (not really a surprise there). For 2,500 he'll replace the entire engine for us. The bright side is that we'll get a 3 year warrenty. Also, he has proof that the water pump was installed improperly last fall. We're hoping the mechanic that did it might stand behind his work and give us at least something! Not counting on it though.

Dawn posted this at 5:27 PM.

Thursday, February 26, 2004

 

Oh, an update about the below mentioned financial situation:
We were set back this week. I had a meeting for the library in Montgomery. (Side note: I started getting sick Sunday, had little sleep that night, went to school sick all day Monday and got home at about 10. Then left that same night for Montgomery, only to get up early the next morning for the meeting, so I was already tired.) We stayed with reletives there that were so nice to let us stay. The plan was to stay Tuesday night to be able to visit with them some. Tuesday morning, James dropped me off at my meeting. He was planning to take Xander to the park, have a picnic and feed the ducks. They went to the store to get peanut butter and when they came out, a woman said, "What's that coming out of your van?" Needless to say, he made it to the Ford (never again will we have another) dealer for them to say, "There' s too much pressure in the water pump. You've likely got a cracked head gasket. We've had problems with this model before and I'd recommend a whole new engine." WHAT!?
So, we called a friend of ours who is a mechanic and he said that he could replace the gasket and check the water pump. He said he could probably do it for $1500. We're hoping that we won't have any more problems until our bills are paid off. Then we'll save up a few months and pay cash for a nearly new van.
We've had this van for 2 years and every 4-6 months we've had to put money into it. It is very frustrating! We have a second car, a Nissan Pulsar (tiny, but good). James has had that car for about 13 years and we've put a lot less money on it than we have put into the van in 2 years!
So, we got a rental car ($40 a day) for a day and drove home in it Tuesday night. But it was not one-way and it was due back in Montgomery by 12. So, I got mom to baby-sit and we headed back up there before 8 AM Wednesday morning. Mom had a fibromyalgia exersise class at 1:30 that we needed to be back to relieve her. So we dropped the rental car off, squeezed into the Pulsar and headed home to make it around 1:15.
Well, anyway that was our adventure! We'll have to work harder, but I think we could still do it. ;) TTFN!

Dawn posted this at 10:52 AM.

 

So, I was reading Erin's new blog (welcome back Erin!) and realized it had been a while since I posted myself. I didn't realize just how long until I logged in. I can't believe it's been since Thanksgiving!

Had a great Christmas! I got a computer game, Baldur's Gate. Awesome game. Although since school hit full swing this month, I get to play it less and less.

School is going great. It keeps me really busy. Between that, chasing a two year old and work at the library I have little time for much else. I'm getting ready for the summer program at the library. This year, I'm hoping to take a second job (why do I do these things to myself?!?) teaching summer school. So, I'm trying to be more prepared for the library stuff.

It never fails that when I'm the most busy, my brain would rather churn around the cauldron of writing ideas I have rather than focusing on school work. So, I've been developing a Sci-Fi/Fan story that I call Saurian Chronicles. It's coming along pretty well, but I want to flesh out the outline better before I actually start writing. I've been burned too badly by beginning writing too soon and having things fizzle out.

Also, the hubby and I are collaborating an awesome crime story. So far, it seems it will be funny, intriquing and a bit romantic. We have thrown around a bunch of ideas from making it YA to adult and back again. But I think last night we finalized what we want to do with it. I told him that we could always re-write it as YA, if we wanted to later.

The other thing that's going on is our finances. We are working hard this year to pay off our debt. We have less than $15 thousand. Last year we paid off about $10 thou and we weren't trying too hard. So, this year we want to knuckle down and get it done. Hence, the second job and, oh, I'm substitute teaching now every time I'm able.

Also, I won a free trial week to a gym here. I went 4 times last week and loved it! The last time, however, I overdid the sit ups (it's so easy on that special bench) with 5 pound weights. I didn't keep track of how many times I did it, but I alternated with arm exercises and I've estamated that I did at least 80. Plus, I've been working on hanging from my arms (I was always embarrassed every year because I could not do the arm hang for girls). I realized that it was pulling my stomach muscles too.

So, I've decided that I will take one day's worth of substituting to pay for a month at the gym. It's time that I get this weight off and keep it off...but it won't be long before I'll be adding pounds of baby weight.

Anyway, I'll try not to take so long to get back here. ;) TTFN!

Dawn posted this at 10:35 AM.