Oops, I Forgot

But what else is new?

I forgot to tag anyone with the 8 Random Things meme. So, I'm tagging Erin over at Whitekirk, even though I realize they just moved and she's probably swamped with unpacking and all that, this could be an appropriate break. I'm also tagging Beck. She's probably done this meme a bunch of times already, but that's what makes it more interesting. Now she has to dig a little deeper to write things she hasn't written before. Hah!

Cyberspace, You Came This Close!

We keep making plans to finally take some pictures of my as-of-late ever-expanding belly (seriously, this kid took off in Month 8!), but then we keep forgetting. We were all set to actually take pictures on Sunday afternoon when I developed (this was not intentional, I promise) a really nasty itchy rash on my face. So no pictures for you until it's completely gone! Ugh! So you came this close to having your eyes assaulted by pregnancy photos!

In other news, I finally have something to blog about because Brenda (my bloggosphere twin! Exactly the same birthday and she and her Husband just had a baby girl in March!) was kind enough to tag me with the '8 Random Facts About Me' meme. I'm not sure I can compete with her divulging information about her road rage, but I'll see what I can do.

8 Random Facts About Me*:

1) The BBC version of Pride & Prejudice is coming with us to the hospital when labour hits. I like it that much. I'm not saying I'll be entirely focused on it at all, but as background noise and hilarity, it'll carry me through almost six hours, right? Plus, since I've seen it about....oh I think I'm pushing 20 times, I don't need to pay perfect attention anyway.

2) I've owned an MP3 player since February and I've never used it once. For all the technical savvy I possess, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to work this dang thing!

3) If I could spend my time owning and running a tea shop, I'd be all over that, but for now, that doesn't seem to be in my immediate future.

4) I don't know why, but I'm super anal about this: do not stand on a freshly laundered bathmat in anything other than bare feet! It's just not right!

5) Hmm...where's my soapbox? Oh, good, there it is. Just a second, let me get up there. Okay. So. I'll keep this short. While I agree that the environment is a going concern these days, I am so sick of the environmental movement. I am sick of turning on the TV or the radio or grabbing a magazine or newspaper and 7 out of 10 articles are all about 'global warming' and carbon emissions and how dastardly incandescent light bulbs are. You know what's dastardly? That there are millions of CHILDREN all over the world (seriously, check out your own backyard) who are living in poverty. They're hungry, their health is horrible, and they go to sleep one night not knowing where they'll sleep the next night. They live in refugee camps or homeless shelters. They own the clothes on their backs and nothing else. I find it unbelievably irritating that so many celebrities and the media overlook PEOPLE in favour of the PLANET. It's convenient. You can pass yourself off as a globally-conscious 'green' person without having to actually get your hands dirty caring about SOULS.
As a family who will in three weeks, with the arrival of our first child, officially fall into the 'low-income' bracket, we often feel rather impotent to do anything about poverty in our community. But can we sacrifice a few of those extra sweaters in our collection, or buy even one extra box of spaghetti or one extra bottle of shampoo to help out someone even worse off? You bet! I would rather rest peacefully knowing that one kid got some supper today than knowing that I saved three cents on my hydro bill because I switched to a compact fluorescent bulb.

6) This is definitely not a little-known fact about me, but I love U2! I was first introduced in the late 80s and I haven't gone back since. They're Irish, they're witty, their socially conscious, and even though Bono is pushing 50, he can still sing your socks off!

7) I love lemon**! Pretty much anything lemon, I'm all over it! I am rather picky though that lemon has to be the dominant flavour and the overall flavour should be sour, not sweet.

8) Yes, this is retarded, but if I could pick the one thing I miss most about life in WA, I would pick my car. Oh my little Honda, how I loved you. You were so good to me. Sometimes, I dream about you....we're cruising down the highway, U2 is playing, and it doesn't even matter where we're going, we're just together. *sigh*

*Not guaranteed to be interesting, exciting...or even things that nobody knows about me.
**This includes the giant lemon that accompanied U2 on the Popmart Tour. In fact one night they had to make their grand entrance through the Emergency Escape Hatch because the main door malfunctioned.

In a Slump

So I'm having a blogging slump. I'm reading other blogs, leaving the occasional comment, but I just don't have much to write about these days, other than taking up valuable space on the internets complaining about my present level of discomfort.

I should also say, that last week, I succumbed and joined the Evil Time-Sucker that is Facebook. Addictive? Yes. Fabulous? Yes, quite! I was skeptical because I didn't really understand how it functions, but now that I'm on it, it's great! I've already reconnected with six people (and counting) I haven't talked to for at least 5 or more years! But what does that mean? Does that mean I'm now obliged to communicate with them regularly? And what qualifies as regular? And how long is this phenomenon going to go on? Will we stay in touch from now until eternity? Will we still care five years from now? Will Facebook even exist five years from now? Regardless. It's been an intriguing discovery. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Presently, it's lunchtime, or something like that. Probably time to put more laundry in the dryer.

Oh and just so you don't feel completely ripped off by this lame-o post, check out this hilarious story of Labour & Delivery I read last night.

We Blinked So of Course, We Missed It

Missed what, you ask? The perfect sunrise? The Sasquatch? The "Biggest Ever" sale at JC Penney? (Silly, those happen every Saturday!) No,

WE MISSED SUMMER!

You'll recall about a week ago I was singing the praises of spring in Northern Maine and rejoicing in the 20C+ weather (I guess I should've sung those praises a little louder over the internets because I can't even find a post where I say enough to warrant putting a link right here, but trust me, it was PERFECT and WARM). We were all excited about walking down to the Dairy Bar for ice cream on a 'hot' summer night, sitting on the porch in our lawn chairs swatting at mosquitoes the size of grapefruits. Alas, it came and went. It's all over. The trees will be dormant by week's end, no doubt, because this morning, there was this:

That's right. Snow (please note today's date on your nearest calendar). So you see here all you Global-Warming Proselytizing Jerks! That's right! David Suzuki, you get your ass over here! And bring your friends: Al Gore, Peter Mansbridge, Wendy Mesley (Dianna Swain and Ian Hannomansing - you're safe! We like the cut of your jib), and your countless other expert and professional friends! Get 'em over here and line 'em up because I'm lacing up my football cleats.

That's right, just like that. I'm not even going to use a blindfold on any of you. Just line up, because my pregnant self is going to go all Bruce Lee on your shins! And then you turn around very slowly (this ain't no Hokey-Pokey, Al, so quit giggling like a school girl), and I'll kick 'em from behind! What's that Mansy? You're too old for this? Well, if you'd been following David's diet plan and "Health Regimen for Life in This Global Warming-Forsaken Country" (TM), you'd be healthy as a horse, no doubt, so too little too late. Turn around, Mister!

Indeed, instead of picnics and barbeques, our thoughts now turn to Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas lists. At the top of mine:

1) A really warm bathrobe. And not one of those kind that barely covers your ass. We're talking Dumbledore-style here: floor-grazing, fur-lined, we'll skip the fancy hat.

2) A supply of heating oil like manna from heaven. Said supply should require about as much effort on my part as actual manna, so in fact, all I should have to do is wait quietly at the door so I can collect the bill when the oil delivery guy brings it over. The bill that says "Paid, by God." And then the delivery guy would say, "Oh, and we sampled some of the manna on your lawn. Good stuff!"
"No, Sir," I would reply, "that's snow."

Wednesday

So I haven't posted in a couple days. Things have been pretty uneventful around here. It's been cloudy and raining and Husband and I have felt very unmotivated to do anything. I haven't been feeling well - as much nausea as Trimester numero uno. Ugh. (Who knew I'd ever see the day when one wee fajita and two cucumber slices would be too much food?)

I've been sitting here this afternoon fighting the nausea and being horrified by recent pictures of old high school acquaintances on Facebook which I just joined today and I'm not sure I really want to be a part of. I'm also trying to eat a grilled cheese sandwich on homemade wheat bread with lactose-free cheese and a bowl of applesauce. It's slow going.

Oh, and did I mention it's supposed to snow this evening? What's that you say, Bren? Snow? On the 16th of May?

Yes. I feel a funk settling. Blah.

A Bowl of Thankyous and Tiramisu for Dessert

Hey? Do you like that (over there, on the side)? Kind of creepy isn't it? A cyberbaby floating in a bubble....

Some of you know how I've always prided myself (yes, yes, it comes BEFORE the fall, I know) on my lovely 'innie' belly button. Well I can officially see more of it now than ever before in my life (there's a little mole in there!). It's uncomfortable and unsightly, but when I cough, it pops out even more which we find amusing.

Thanks to all of you who left comments regarding co-sleeping and birth plans. A couple of you have emailed me copies of your birth plans which has been super-helpful! We haven't made any sort of 'decision' about co-sleeping, but it's been good to read about all these different experiences - husbands snoring and the like.

We're foregoing our planned trip to Saint John for my post-birthday celebration as I've been feeling rather strange the last couple days and Husband is up painting the nursery. We ARE, however, heading out for pizza and tiramisu tonight. Yum!

And Furthermore

I'm looking for opinions (Whoa! Really!? Bren! YOU are looking for opinions!?!?) about two things (for now). Please leave your opinion(s) on the following baby-related topics (hey, we're coming down to the wire here, it's time!) in the comments section.

1) Co-Sleeping. Did you try it? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Would you do it again? How long did you co-sleep? What did/does your husband think?

2) Birth Plans. Did you have one? Was it helpful? Was it followed? Laughed at? Burned? What would you change next time?

Also, if you read my blog and have one of your own, would you mind very much putting in a plug so I can borrow some of your readers for more opinions? I'd like to get as broad a spectrum of responses as possible. THANKS!

I Should Also Add...

So last Friday, I celebrated a birthday. As an old friend recently reminded me, 'now that we're 28, we can't hide behind the 'mid-20s' label anymore.' Ah, so true.

Husband was finally awake enough to remember to wish me Happy Birthday at breakfast. He also had brought me flowers a few days before. Anniversary/Birthday/Mother's Day flowers. See the picture - tulips are my FAVOURITE!!!

The day was cold and cloudy and it looked like it was going to snow so I wore my new flip flops in defiance. We are only just in the last couple days getting the weather I should've had for my birthday. Sunny and warm (24C yesterday)!

That morning, the Mystery Baby had her sixth ultrasound (lucky girl). The midwife said everything looks great. She's in the 50th percentile in everything which means she's average (except of course, in her intelligence, because we all know you can't measure intelligence with an ultrasound and we also all know that our Mystery Baby has above average intelligence. How do we know? We just know). But I scored an 8 of 8 on...something. I have no idea what, but I understand that's good. We also got a neat picture of her face. She's traded in her regular glasses for sunglasses and it looks hilarious. Then there was the profile picture. Oh no. Mary, the Midwife, said, "Don't worry. All parents are horrified when they first see the nose and lips sticking out like that but it never comes out that way." I'm not worried about the lips, but I know the Loewen/Hamm nose I got stuck with....poor child.

In the afternoon, I was feeling rather down about the whole birthday thing. I think after you graduate from high school or maybe college, fun birthdays are a thing of the past. It's like the world has deemed you a selfish person if you insist on celebrating your birthday by giving up chores for the day. You don't get fancy birthdays with sleepovers and fairy dust or pirates, just laundry to do and dinner to make and bathrooms to clean. Luckily (for both of us), Husband caught the hint and made dinner, which was fabulous! Our first barbeque of the season! Cilantro Turkey burgers - so good! He had also bought me a frozen chocolate cake for dessert. No McCain's Deep 'N' Delicious this time, but it was still chocolaty and fudgy and quite good.

Oh and I got a card that plays sounds! It's Goldie the Goldfish wishing me Happy Birthday and it's supposed to sound like bubbles only it sounds a little more like a turkey. So a kind of ho-hum birthday ended up pretty swell. This Saturday we're heading down to Saint John, NB to explore and celebrate (and go for high tea)!

Our Trip & Two Wishes

I 'promised' last week that I would fill you in on our anniversary trip, but now that I've gotten lazy and haven't posted in several days, I don't feel like it anymore. So I'll just tell you that we left on Thursday and got back on Monday night. We went to Vermont, visited the King Arthur Flour Company (a little disappointing in person), Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (a very disappointing tour, but the ice cream was good), a couple of breweries (no, I didn't imbibe; I was good, but we did share the most unbelievable Guinness brownie we could ever imagine from a hippie shop in Burlington!), and checked out the Vermont Maple Festival in St. Alban's, VT. Oh, and we had one very intimidating and accidental trip to Dartmouth College. Ooohhh....ivy league....

We also found some great deals shopping which always makes us happy and Husband fought one of his greatest self-admitted-hereditary-impulses and did not buy the North Face jacket he found on sale for $60, regular almost $400. Yes it looked good and it fit well and it was one quality jacket, but Husband doesn't need another jacket. Talk about a moment of Parsimonious-Wife-ly pride!

So, Vermont is beautiful. Burlington, in particular, was quite appealing to us. We did come back suffering from a bit of PHOWHTBBHN (that's Post-Holiday-Oh-We-Have-to-be-Back-Home-Now) Syndrome (similar in all respects to The-Grass-is-Always-Greener-On-the-Other-Side Syndrome). We had a slow, rather uneventful trip but it was relaxing and we had lots of sweet moments and a couple nights, Husband even fell asleep with his hand on my belly communing with the Mystery Baby. Perfect. And that's all I'll say about that.

Now for two wishes I'd love to grant for the pregnant population at large (pun intended):

1) King-sized beds for all! Talk about a let-down (again, pun intended) going from sleeping in all those king beds on holiday and then coming home to the 'measly' old Queen. You're on my SIDE. Move over! Yes, I really DO need another pillow! With a king-sized bed, you hardly know the other person is there! There's plenty of room for a growing pregnant belly AND all the pillows necessary to support it and if you have a husband with long arms (as I do), you don't have to miss out on any cuddling.

2) Expectant-Mother Parking or a temporary handicap parking permit. There were just so many times on our anniversary trip that I wanted to benefit from a closer parking space but so many times it didn't happen. At this point, I don't think the state of Maine has ever heard of Expectant Mother parking so I'll never even get to take advantage of it during this pregnancy. Bummer. It goes to show we should've been in Manitoba this whole time....

My Three-Stone Anniversary Ring*

*Otherwise known as "Sharing a Bit of My Sentimental Self, Two Posts in a Row and Putting Off Telling You About Our Anniversary Holiday Until Tomorrow"

When Husband and I went to pick out my engagement ring in July of 2001, he told me to choose whatever I wanted - "any size, any cost - it doesn't matter." I, in my Menno frugality, chose the 'middle-size diamond' in a ring style that had three size choices. I don't regret my choice because I still admire my ring, it's beautiful (though perhaps due for a cleaning). At the time of this ring choosing, Husband and I decided that since I was choosing a diamond solitaire for my engagement ring, he would hunt down or design the perfect three-stone ring for our fifth anniversary. Some people might think a fifth anniversary is a little soon to be reflecting on the past-present-future by way of a ring, but we thought it would be just right.

So here we are. We just celebrated our fifth anniversary last Friday and my right hand ring finger is still devoid of a three stone ring. Five years have come and gone and if/when the day comes that either one of us will ever be able to say "any size, any cost - it doesn't matter" again, that will be a sweet day indeed. I'm not missing a ring because my Husband forgot, we just couldn't afford it. But more importantly, I've come to the conclusion that as nice as a shiny new ring might be, I don't need a ring to remember why I married Husband five years ago, why I'm happy/grateful/content/lucky to be married to him now, and why I will still want to be married to him five years from now.

These past five years have not always been eventful or perfect. We've discovered a lot of things about each other that drive us crazy: Husband is capable but unwilling to get ready for bed in a decent amount of time every night; I am completely anal about standing on a freshly laundered bath mat with BARE FEET ONLY. Generally, I thrive on multi-tasking; Husband generally can't stand it.

We've also discovered that we are relatively boring people. We don't go out much, we hardly ever rent movies (we can't remember the last time we saw one in a theater). If we're getting together with close friends for dinner and games or going on a day or weekend trip somewhere, we're happy, but usually, we like to stay home.

When we were dating, I enjoyed Husband's sense of humour. Now that we're married, I've learned that he can be downright goofy and I love it! He likes to do silly dances (and recently did one on camera at work which I hope I will never have to see). He likes to laugh and be childlike. I can make anything into a song, which Husband enjoys (perhaps not so much the Getting Ready for Bed Song which includes the words 'oh, why must you be so slow/i can never really know'). And we both have a talent for animating our menagerie of stuffed animals (Boy, that Mr. Bear! He's got talent!).

There are a host of other discoveries about us and things I could share with you about why I love my Husband and why I love being married to him, but I already wrote my longest post ever last time and I have other things to do today. Suffice to say that I'm okay with not getting that ring. We have memories and sentiments that no ring can ever fully symbolize.

Year six is going to be FULL of changes and big events for us. We don't like where we're living, it has been a huge emotional and financial struggle, but we are learning to love each other better and more deeply. And when it comes to our marriage, we are happy. We are content. We are in love. And to the person who once told me that "your husband can never be your best friend" - I'd like to officially tell you - what a crock!