Bump In the Night

It's 5am and one of the things you would NOT expect me to be doing at this time of morning is blogging, but Husband is on call and just left and I've already been awake since 3:30 and now I'm sitting here with my wee bowl of dry miniwheats blogging the post I've been writing in my head for the last hour.

This post, however, will be accompanied by yet another disclaimer: Mom, we DO want you to come and visit in July, so DO NOT read this post. If you continue to read, I'm afraid your mind will be made up that we're living in some sort of slum that you will never set foot in. So consider yourself forewarned.

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One of the things Mystery Baby will not lack in his/her early childhood is books. Though we possess no actual bookshelf for the nursery, we do have at least three boxes of children's books just waiting to be devoured by curious little eyes. [At this point, I'd like to note that my brother and I must've (<- spellcheck wants to change that word to Gustave) been raised well because although some of the books are rather beat up, I have yet to come across a single crayon or marker scribble in them.] One of the books that is a favourite of mine (not sure if this was true when I was little, but it's true now) is a book called What Was That? I was going to post a picture of it, but seriously, it's 5 in the morning; work with me here!

Anyway, the book is about - great, now I'm getting my animals mixed up - I think it's about a bear who is being put to bed and he hears all these noises around him. His mother explains that it is just all the other little baby animals getting ready for bed too. It goes on to show several little animals being tucked into their various animal beds by their mothers, as each of the bears' siblings reassure him that it's nothing to be afraid of, just other little animals getting into bed. The pictures I remember in particular are the little spider (I hate spiders, but the ones in the book are at least cute) and the little mouse, complete with matchbox bed. If I'm remembering correctly, the story somehow ends with all of the bear family in one bed and the bed breaking and all the little animals we've seen getting ready for bed look up in alarm at their mothers and say, "What was THAT?" (It's a very cute book, published in the 70s. If you can find it at the library, check it out.)

What's the point of my relating this story? Oh yes, wouldn't you like to know. It started actually a couple months ago. We were sitting in the living room one night and there was this noise in the ceiling which, naturally, being unfamiliar with the nuances and sounds of oil/hot water heat, we attributed to the pipes that heat our house. The cats were very curious, but seemed satisfied with our pipe explanation (yes, of course they understood what we were saying). Well at present, because we're just finishing painting upstairs where our permanent bedroom will be and because we just started painting on the main floor in the room where we have been sleeping, we are now on the futon mattress on the living room floor.

Three nights ago, I was awakened by the sound of scurrying, no rampaging, little feet in the ceiling. Oh. Great. We have a mouse. No big deal, I thought, as long as it's in the ceiling and not on the floor, I'm okay. It did keep me awake for at least two hours though. Then again tonight. More rampaging. I don't know where it got it, but I swear this mouse is on meth. (I know Jerry, of Tom & Jerry fame, often scurried, but he often crept too and why this mouse can't creep, I have no idea.) This time, however, 'our' 'little' mouse 'friend' made his/her way down the wall to the kitchen. We must've moved something since last time it came down because I'm quite sure I heard it collide with the recycling bin. (Now, we have a MOUSE. And it is a BIG DEAL.) Then it raced back into its hole and up the wall and across the ceiling. And back and forth.

Andbackandforthandbackandforthandbackandforthandbackandforthandbackandforth AND SO ON.

All this since about 2am this morning. Calculate with me, that's THREE hours ago! So I woke up. Then I woke Husband up so he could hear the noise and be assured that I'm not crazy, we really do have an unwanted house guest, but he naturally, after agreeing that 'yes, we have a mouse,' went back to sleep quite soundly. I on the other hand, laid here tossing and turning and fuming because that stupid mouse would not quit moving! ARGH!!! So I had a few bathroom trips, I blew my nose as loudly as I could, I coughed a few times, and I finally turned the fridge water dispenser light on, all in an effort to scare the mouse away, because by this time, I'm wide awake and Mystery Baby is awake and redoubling its rib-kicking practices for what I can only assume is an upcoming dance extravaganza (or judo lessons), and now? Now I'm hungry to boot! I can't rightly put into words how much I hate getting up to eat in the middle of the night.

Fine, so I scared it enough that it didn't come down into the kitchen anymore, but that didn't prevent it from continuing it's antics in the ceiling. I have to conclude that this is a mouse that has obviously been here for a while. Anything that can run around in a ceiling that fast without running into something must know its way around. Then again, about 45 minutes ago, I heard what sounded like a mouse colliding with pipe. So either it finally woke up ANOTHER mouse that whacked it with a pipe to slow it down for a while or it just blinked for a nanosecond and ran into it on its own. What I'm secretly hoping happened is that it ran into the pipe and cracked its little skull wide open and its now laying in a bloody heap somewhere up in the ceiling. Unless that would mean that we'd be smelling rotting mouse in a few days, in which case, I'll revise my hope to either of the first two possibilities.

I know I shouldn't be afraid of a little mouse since in reality it's probably as big as my thumb (I said "in reality"), but it sounds as big as a pack rat! Sleeping beside a Husband who sleeps as soundly as mine does isn't quite as comforting as it could be either. I sleep with my back to his so I feel like we're both on the offensive, ready to ward off any mousely danger in the night. But any sudden movement has me jumpy and terrified that I'll roll over and wake up staring into a pair of beady little black mouse eyes. *Shudder*

At any rate, I'm guessing the mouse is stealing food from the cat bowl in the kitchen. At one point in my semi-conscious musings, I'd devised a plan to rig the bowl with a little bell to be sure, but I think just setting up the mouse traps Husband brought home the other day will be sufficient. The traps are hilarious. They come with fake cheese. You just pop up the little piece of fake Swiss and that's supposed to drive the mouse wild. I guess that means our mouse has fine night vision but a truly pathetic sense of smell. Husband said we'll add peanut butter just to be on the safe side.

- 'You mean, in case the trap doesn't work, it'll stick to the peanut butter?'
- 'No. Mice are supposed to be mad for peanut butter.'
- 'Oh. I hope they like organic.'
(Do you sometimes amaze yourself at the depth of conversation you can have with someone at 4 in the morning, even though you know that someone won't ever remember saying those words when they wake up?)

What I can't understand is that we have one of those plug-in rodent getter ridder things. You know, the device that emits a high-pitched noise that's supposed to keep mice, etc., at bay? I wonder why it quit working? And won't it be funny when someday, somebody goes to redo the living room ceiling and finds a hoard of cat food up there?

Anyway, Husband will set the traps tonight. The traps have two settings, Sensitive and Firm. Screw firm! I want one tiny claw to set that thing off. Oh I can hardly wait for that glorious snap! Will I feel bad? Maybe for a second. Then hopefully I'll fall right back to sleep. As for now? I think I'll go work on that online Sudoku I saved before bed and wait for Husband to get home. Church attendance isn't looking promising this morning.

Am I Glowing, or Just Embarassed?

* Disclaimer: This post may not be suitable for all ages. Read on at your own discretion. (Yes, Mom, if you're having lunch, put it down or come back later, because I'm really going to write 'those' words and say 'those' things on my blog - because it's my blog. So there.)

As I mentioned yesterday, last night was our first Childbirth Education class. As usual, we were the last people there - unless you count the two couples that never showed up. They were REALLY late!
We got to sit all Montessori-style which was fine except the half circle was too big and it didn't feel very intimate at all. We went around with introductions so fast that we didn't catch any names and for some bizarre reason, some people didn't even bother introducing themselves.

There are eight couples altogether, including two others from our town. One couple we actually saw in December down in Bangor at the maternity store. (She looked uncomfortable at all the same spots as I did and laughed at all the appropriate times, so maybe there's some friend-potential there.) The other couple from here reminds us of a professor we had in college. They seemed really friendly (not that we actually talked to anybody) and since, again, we didn't actually catch any names, we now affectionately refer to them as The Perrys. (You're laughing now, aren't you EK?) I should point out that the only time I actually talked to anybody was during the three minutes I was standing in line in the bathroom during our five minute break and all we talked about then was whether or not all the stalls were truly full.

Of the eight, we're at the end of the line as far as due dates go (only two of us are due in June, everybody else is in May and three have the same due date!). We're also one of only two couples who don't know the sex, only we don't know because Mystery Baby (ahem...seriously Child!) isn't cooperating; the other couple doesn't want to know.

So there's the preamble. We started the class with the teacher introducing herself (I couldn't really hear her name either but it might be Patty). Her voice sounds just like our old Postmaster and next-door neighbour, Toni [Can I just put in a plug for Toni here? She's the greatest Postmaster ever and she and Ron were truly two of the best neighbours ever! They should visit here and hold 'How to Be a Good Neighbour' seminars]. After we had gone around mumbling our introductions, she started right in talking about symptoms and what we'd all been feeling. The list ended up being pretty short, as I would expect it to be when nobody knows anybody else and who's going to admit to having an unbearable problem with flatulence, constipation, and lack of ability to pee on the first date?

Then she talked about pre-term labour and associated symptoms as well as when to call the doctor or come to the hospital. After that, we went right into The Breathing. I can't even write about it without laughing, as I couldn't keep a straight face when we were supposed to be practicing last night either. We learned four different methods (though I wish we would've gotten the handouts before the end of class so I could take notes) and I don't really remember any of them today. I do remember the Cleansing Breath part though - but I was laughing to much for everything in between. (I suppose I'll have to work on this focus thing before June, no?) Then we started in on the "Hee Hee Whoooo" breathing, the Dr. Seuss breathing, if you will. Aside from not being able to see the point of this type of breathing whatsoever, I'm not even sure I could keep a straight face using the HHW method - even if I was really in labour! On the bright side, hardly anybody could keep a straight face through this breathing practice - except for this one couple who looked more tightly wound (and significantly less fun) than a jack-in-the-box. Their expressions were like STONE.

And I should've been thankful for the retardedness of the breathing exercises, because it only got worse. After we all recovered from the breathing, it was time for The Video - Hello, Baby!

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD AND PRIVATE! I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THAT!

Aside from finding it very unhelpful at this point (I've learned much more from hearing the stories of friends, who are not also showing me pictures), I was also mildly offended and it brought back horrible memories of Grade 10 Biology and The Miracle of Life only multiply that by three. I realize it's all 'real' and these are the 'facts of life,' but really, I consider myself well-read enough to know - without seeing - how and where exactly the baby comes out.

Sidebar: As some of you may know, I have a terrible aversion to bodily fluids. I'm not as much of a neat freak as you would imagine, but if I can avoid touching any bodily fluids (barring unintentional contact with my own), I will. It just grosses me out! SO MUCH! And of course, this video was FILLED with them. ACK! You're all laughing at this point thinking about the idea of ME + My Aversion + Mystery Baby and how it can only = Complete Disaster. However, I have faith that God is merciful. Not merciful in the sense that Mystery Baby will never pee on me (one of my friend's kids already did that so I'm almost over that hurdle) or drench me with projectile vomit (*shudder*), but merciful in the sense that there's some hidden part of me that will allow me to deal with Mystery Baby's grossness; a part of me that may remain hidden until sometime around the end of June.

Moving on, what sort of woman allows herself to be filmed in the most vulnerable moment of her life? It was the 80s. I'm sure they weren't in it for the money. If they could interview those moms now, I wonder if any of the three of them would regret having 'shown' their private parts to millions of women (and MEN)? Or would they only regret those horribly heinous 80s haircuts? And what about their children? Let's just say that Hello, Baby was filmed in 1985 (I tried to find out the date but without looking very hard couldn't find anything). That would make those kids about to turn 23 this year. So those kids could potentially be in the parent-to-be boat themselves. And what are they to think when they get to their Childbirth Ed class and the instructor pops in Hello, Baby. I hardly doubt a single one of them would proudly announce: "Hey, that's me! Being born! In all my bloody, bodily fluid-filled glory! And that? That's my Mom's vagina! AND her down-there hair! Aren't I lucky that my birth was immortalized for generations to come?" Is it really any wonder there isn't a NEW version of this video?

While some of the class actually did appear riveted by the video, there were a few of us who finally, and conveniently, found our ability to focus - on the window, the blinds, the spot on the wall, or those weird chairs in the next room - anything but the actual birth of those babies. Yick! On top of all that, where was the screaming, the swearing? I didn't hear any of that! It was edited to look far to easy - especially that first lady with the super-horrid feathered haircut, and her creepy husband Jim, whose narration was so monotone, he could've been doing commentary at a tiddlywinks competition.

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My Afterthought: Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm not taking this whole pregnancy seriously enough; it's a possibility. It isn't that i don't see this process as a miracle - though it's taken me at least six months to get to that point - but humour is my coping mechanism, and if I'm not allowed to laugh at ridiculous breathing techniques, or be horrified by gross and cheesy 80s birthing videos, I think I shall greatly hinder my ability to get through this. So laugh with me...and be thankful YOU didn't have to participate in the production of Hello, Baby.

On A Rainy Wednesday

Per the title, it's raining out today; and I mean RAINING. The temperature has been above zero (always in Celsius, people, always in Celsius) since Sunday so our hoard of snow has gone down considerably. No complaints here. Only, my pessimistic side says, 'no way can this last.' So I checked the forecast and sure enough, snow is predicted by the end of next week.

'In like a lion, out like a lamb' blah blah blah. My wise friend Erin says it better: "March is mean."

so I'm trying out a new recipe today. Low fat tropical muffins. The only sugar they have comes from the coconut in the recipe, and I suppose the naturally-occurring sugar in the pineapple. But as they're finishing up baking, they smell low fat. I'll let you know how they turn out. I should be happy about the no sugar part because I'm sure I'm getting a cavity. It would be my second in almost 28 years. Just breathing in with my mouth open is hurting my poor tooth - I can't actually figure out which one - but one of those upper non-molar types.

Tonight we have our first Childbirth Education class. I'm a little nervous. It always catches me a little off guard when I sit in the clinic office surrounded by other pregnant women. Suddenly I'm not alone, which is good; but suddenly...I'm not alone. What do you mean I'm not the only pregnant woman on the planet? What do you mean it's not all about me?

I'm really hoping that we'll meet some new people and maybe - *gasp* - even make some friends as a result of these classes, but the idea of having to hang out with another hormonal pregnant woman...just knowing how bad I've been....makes me cringe just a little. At any rate, I'm sure I'll come home with lots to blog about.

For those of you stuck at home tonight, CBC is airing Stand Up in Kandahar at 8 EST. Five Canadian comics entertain troops in Kandahar, just in case you couldn't figure that out from the title. We're bummed that we're going to miss it especially since we saw clips on the news last night and it actually looked funny. Then again, it is the CBC so there's a 90% chance we'll have opportunity to see the show again by the end of the week.

Muffin Update: I don't think it's just my sweet tooth talking; these muffins NEED sugar. They LOOK nice but yikes! We'll see what Husband says when he gets home.

A Conversation...

...that took place Saturday night.

Me: Wow, we've been painting all day. I wish we'd gotten a movie for tonight; I'm kind of bored.

Husband: Well, Unlucky Joe is playing again tonight.

Me: *Silence*

*Sigh* My husband, the Comedian.

Friday Night in Dullsville

Oh, whoops. Did I erase the entire post? And the comments too?
Hm, I guess I did. Too bad.

*Sigh*...and then there was one...

It all happened so fast. I don't think I'll ever really understand the science of it....

We have (nope, make that HAD) these two really great Corpell's Water mugs. A couple years ago when we were Home for Christmas, everybody got Corpell's mugs from my Uncle because he works there. Well, actually, Husband and I didn't start out with any, but whiny pleadings of 'hey, where are our mugs?' netted us these two fabulous mugs. The perfect size for any hot beverage.

So this afternoon, I was making myself a cup of Neo Citran (thank goodness for Canadian cold remedies) to assuage some of the symptoms of this nasty cold I picked up courtesy of my holiday in MB. I added the drink mix right when the mug came out of the microwave which resulted in a volcano-esque explosion of mix and boiling water. So I grabbed the other mug and poured the first mug's contents into the second. Then I ran water into the first mug to try to salvage some of the undissolved powder and pour it into the 'new' mug. Alas, the water I used was too cold and as you can see from Photo Evidence A and B, the mug is now destroyed.

Ah, cruel world!

And my dear Corpell's mug (or was it Husband's Corpell's mug?), how I shall miss you....

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So I'm in my 25th week of this here pregnancy and we still have no idea what gender this Mystery Baby will be. Thus I've been thinking a lot about names lately. If it turns out to be a boy, the name is pretty much decided on already (at least if you ask me). On the other hand, if it's a girl, I'm close to concluding it may never have a name. Well, at least maybe not the day it gets here. If we do pick any of the names currently in the running, I'm not sure she would ever forgive us for giving her a name nobody can spell; a name she might not even be able to spell until she's got a couple of years of school under her belt. On the other hand, as I quickly learned after Husband and I got married, she'll spend all of her unmarried life having to spell her last name for people anyway (yes, that's a 'Y' not an 'I') so what's one more un-spellable name?

I'm a fan of the name Ava, but there's already an Ava in the family - even if she is a third cousin who lives on the other side of the country and whom I've met all of once. I also really like the name Avery. But what if the girl turned out to be really short? How much would kids make fun of a short kid whose name means 'Elf Ruler' (I know I would)?? Rory is another cool name, but the likelihood of any child of ours being born with red hair is slim. Then there are traditional names like Sarah and Megan that I like (and incidentally when I was young, I was friends with two sisters named Sarah and Meghan), but Sarah just seems too plain (and in our case, not tall) and Megan has too many spelling/pronunciation variations to sift through - as in the case of the aforementioned friend Meghan whose name I had constant problems spelling and I'm still not sure I've got it right.

A couple of months ago, some friends of ours had us over for dinner one night and we played a rousing game of Scattergories after dessert. When the game was over, Wendy decided to invent a new game called 'Name Bren & Husband's Baby,' using the letter die from the game. Suffice to say, with suggestions like Enrique and Pedro, we will not be going back to those friends for real suggestions. So here's your chance. Unlike my Dream Interpretation Contest (which is going on official hiatus until I have a dream worthy of sharing and because of such decidedly underwhelming response*), this is not a contest and you won't actually win any privilege of naming the Mystery Baby. You will, however, get to offer any and all suggestions - serious or otherwise - for our general amusement.

As a bit of interesting but useless trivia for you, I had asked a friend for name suggestions a couple months ago. She already knew the pick for a boy's name, but it was almost creepy when her two suggestions for girls names were exactly the two at the top of our list. Hm...I wonder if between her teaching, prep, grading, and running schedule, she's also a hacker??

*My cousin is still bugging me that I never posted a winner, so I'll tell you today that I think it will have to officially be a tie since there were only two submissions (seriously, you people....). KB wins on the more serious, thought-provoking level and Cousin C wins on the preposterous, politically-inspired level. So hooray for winners; give yourselves a pat on the back!

** Is it pathetic that I wrote all this about names and then posted it without giving it a title? Oi vey, woman. Oi vey!

Brrrrr....

Having just arrived back from a blissful holiday in Manitoba, you'd think I would be all fresh and ready to go, but even though it was a short week, it was full and I'm tired. Monday morning I slept in until noon. Today I was actually up by 9:30 (I won't say how many times I beat the snooze button though).

I won't bother with all the little details of my trip. Suffice to say, it was wonderful. I got caught up with a friend and my brother on each of my lengthy layovers in Toronto, checked out my best friend's fabulous new apartment (she even made me supper!) I got to see some Aunts & Uncles and one of my cousins. There were also at least three marathon phone calls with friends I was supposed to go visit, but since it was snowing and the roads were bad that never happened. I helped my Dad out at work and had lunch with Mom & Dad and three of the ladies Mom does hair for. And of course, Grama (yes, that's how we spell it in my family - so there!) and I did lots of shopping for the Mystery Baby, which I might add, hardly moved at all for the entire week. So except for catching a nasty cold and all that ridiculous snow, the trip was great!

We spent Saturday night in Moncton (where I flew in) and bummed around there on Sunday. We even took a trip to the ocean (pictures to be posted later) which was rather disappointing.
Alas, now we're back to our stinks-like-oil house, painting that seems like it will never get done, absolutely frigid temperatures (down to -38C with the windchill; that's -36.4F for anyone who doesn't speak Canadian), and to top it all off, the cats have been pooping under the stairs in the garage that go down to our already scary basement. So now Husband has to rip up stairs to clean it out. And darn it if the price of oil didn't skyrocket while I was away! ARGH!!!

BABY UPDATE: We had another appointment yesterday and I had the best talk with my Midwife. We just talked for almost an hour about everything. Husband came after he was finished work and we got to hear the heartbeat again which the MW said was good and strong. Mystery Baby has hardly quit moving since Saturday morning (I guess it was time to hear Dad again) and the MW was happy to hear that too. Also, thanks to a week of Mom's cooking, my pregnant-weight is back on track and I don't have to try so hard to eat any more. Hooray!

I don't mean to just bore you all with the minutiae of my life, but let's face it, there's just not much else going on around here. This is life in small town isolated America. I need some ideas for posts although I've got multiple pictures I need to get up here one of these days. For now, I'll try to stay warm and maybe go eat some lunch.

On Assignment in Manitoba

I wasn't going to post anything this week since I'm on 'holidays' in Manitoba, but this,

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!

I mean, I like snow as much as the next person (....from Florida...), but since my flight landed last Saturday, according to my calculations, it has not stopped snowing for more than 45 minutes (and that number's up 15 minutes from this morning)! (Yes, I have taken some pictures but I won't be able to download them until I get back to Maine.)

I do realize this is part of life in Manitoba; I remember it well. This is the time of year when that age-old communal lament resonates throughout the province: 'Why, for the love of all things good, do we still live here?!?!' And yet, even as the utterers of those lamentations trudge along sidewalks knee-deep in snow or shovel the snow on their driveways onto piles already eight feet high (for the third time in the same day), something compels them to stay. Perhaps it's because their ancestors are from here and they figure since those people survived, what kind of weaklings would they be if they couldn't tough it out for one more winter? Maybe Manitobans and other Prairie-Dwellers are born with a special gene that enables them to forget the ugliness of the weather from one winter to the next. Or....maybe they're just crazy. Whatever it is that makes Manitobans stay here year after year, I salute you all.

You're crazy, but I salute you anyway.

P.S. I don't know how many of you have seen that new PC vs. Mac commercial, but isn't it hilarious?

Strike Two

So before I even elaborate slightly on the title, let me write a post-Shrove Tuesday report. I still haven't come up with anything to 'do' for Lent, but I'm considering giving up gluttony....ohh....the heartburn. Here' s a little lesson in Shrove Tuesday/German Pancake overindulgence: Just try to avoid it! The pancakes and sauce were both SO tasty, but since my stomach is 'shrinking' due to You-Know-Who and since heartburn is a regular issue now anyway, it sure didn't make my night any better. It was 2am and I still felt awful. Plus, Husband was on call last night and had to go in just after two. He wasn't even gone long enough for my heartburn to go away. Ugh.

I thought about giving up complaining about the house for Lent but realized that would just be silly - if not impossible. That's the thing about Lent though, isn't it? You make these resolutions or promises or whatever you want to call them, but whose to enforce them? If you don't follow through, what are the consequences? A stern look from Husband who saw you sneak that cookie? The only real consequence that I can see is a prick from your own conscience; that nagging guilt you 'might' feel for breaking that promise.

The way I see it, Lent would've been much easier in a bygone society when EVERYBODY participated. Like say in medieval England. It was a given that you abstained from various things during Lent (meat other than fish, weddings, sex - which by the way was already considered reprehensible on at least three out of seven days in a week). It wasn't just YOU adhering to a fish diet and it wasn't considered a fad either. Everybody suffered the same fishy fate. [I'm picking on fish because it's the Lenten tradition that I've read about the most. Good Catholics already had to abide by the Fish on Fridays rule, but for FORTY days during Lent? Nothing but fish? I mean, this was when people ate (perhaps they still do?) eels, from the Thames, in PIE. <- as an interesting tidbit, two medieval English kings (names escape me at the moment) died whilst eating an eel dish.] So, if you ate mutton for dinner instead of fish, everybody around you knew it was forbidden. There was a collective conscience to come down on you and little doubt somebody would report you to the nearest priest.

Nowadays, Sally might give up chocolate, Sue might give up pop. Larry might give up red meat (not the Larry we know, but maybe another Larry somewhere) and his next door neighbour might give up his morning bacon ration. People are encouraged to choose things which hold some personal significance. Come to think of it, environmentalists should get on the Lenten boat.

Truly! Imagine if a national observation of Lent was instigated and you had to give up driving your car! It would be just like Russian secret police, only it would be environmentalists rapping on your door demanding justice because "Er, Ma'am, your neighbour, Bob, saw you downtown yesterday...in your CAR...."

I'm rambling. Needlessly. Let's get to the title. I had another ultrasound today. This was the 'fun' one that Husband's coworkers did. They didn't spend as much time as the Midwife because obviously, they're not looking for all the same things when it's only for fun. Believe it or not, though, we had zero cooperation yet again! This child must be camera shy. It was moving all around when I was in the hospital parking lot, but from there to Husband's staff room, it must've fallen asleep. P and W couldn't even get a decent shot of the face nevermind seeing through curled up little legs. Harumph! The nerve of some people's children! (And for those of you who know me, you will know that I HATE SURPRISES! HATE! HATE! I can hardly think of a worse 'joke' than a HUMAN BEING coming out of me and something as life-affecting as its GENDER being a surprise! The horror!)

So we will have to continue on our little sojourn here based on the assumptions gleaned from the ultrasound in January. Maybe by the next one in March, Little Being will be getting used to it and will give us a little peek. We did get to see an ear though. That was kind of neat. We also got a CD with about a billion pictures on it - labeled, I hope.

Tuesday

I wasn't even going to post today at all because I couldn't think of ANYTHING even halfway intelligent to write (and I still can't), but I have exciting news to share!

No, we're not suddenly having twins (THANKFULLY!). My good friend Erin, as true and Canadian as they come, just started a blog! Please check it out: Erin's Blog.

Also, as I've been reminded several times this afternoon, today is Shrove Tuesday. I completely forgot. This happens every year. I usually forget about Shrove Tuesday until Ash Wednesday when I must hastily contrive some sort of Lenten promises that usually all go out the window within a week. It's sad when you think about it because Lent only lasts for 40 days. When we make resolutions every New Year (well, some of you still do, don't you?), we go into it optimistically expecting to pursue them for a whole year - at least - but realize after about a week that they were really just that - good intentions, not really resolutions.

So I guess tonight I will have to set aside some time to think about Lent and my own Lenten intentions: giving up sweets would deprive the baby of much-needed...sweets. Giving up blogging would simply be a travesty. Giving up reading other peoples' blogs would be equally devastating. No, I will have to come up with something much more meaningful.

All this thinking, will of course take place AFTER I finish revising the menu for the week (yes, KB, we've been faithfully writing up and following a menu for more than a month now! It's such a RELIEF!!!). Thankfully, the spaghetti sauce I've been inventing in my head all morning hasn't been started yet; which also means I've still got another day to get some celery. I had been planning on making a double batch of my Grama's (tasty) Waffles on Thursday so Husband would have leftovers to toast while I'm away next week. But pancakes and waffles in the same week? In my family, we're no strangers to having breakfast foods for supper; in fact it's a favourite little habit (I suppose it really could be a sort of tradition) of ours, but I'm not sure so much fun should be crammed into only one week.

No, tonight we'll celebrate with pancakes and leave the waffles for another time. Not just any pancakes, mind you. "German Pancakes." Most of you will be familiar with them as 'crepes,' but in our family, they have always been and always will be German Pancakes. I realize they're flat which defeats at least a portion of the Shrove Tuesday Pancake purpose (using up the leaven so it's gone before Lent officially begins, right?), but that's just the way we do things in my Menno kitchen. Oh, and forget maple syrup or Aunt Jemima's or any of that other crap. Nope, we go all out in my family. Pure cream and brown sugar cooked up into a tasty sauce. And no, for the love of all things good, we DO NOT for any reason, RUIN our German Pancakes by eating them with any sort of 'savoury' filling(s). THAT is an abomination of the worst kind! You have pancakes and brown sugar cream sauce, maybe bacon and a fried egg ON THE SIDE, but nothing else goes inside the cake, with the possible exception of some sliced banana.

I should at least tell you that we didn't exactly eat these Heart Attack Cakes every week growing up. Because of my brother's and my dad's combined inability to LIMIT their sauce per pancake ratio to something at least somewhat reasonable, Mom would make German Pancake meals only on occasion. Maybe when I'm home next week, we'll even be lucky enough to have one of those occasions. (Did you catch that, Mom?)

So now that my brain is thoroughly ensconced in the culinary dreamland that is German Pancakes, I'll go and clean up my spaghetti sauce ingredients until tomorrow and haul out the frying pan. Mmmmm....I can hardly wait till supper!

**********************
Also, in other news which I alluded to a paragraph or two ago, I'm headed Home for a week on Saturday. If you're 'lucky' (or probably more like if I'm looking for something to do to kill a half hour), I'll post a blog 'on location' in MB. Otherwise, I'm forewarning you that after this Friday, you may see nothing new from me for a week or so.

Happy Lent!

A Wee Bit of Advice For Yous

Okay, well if any of you were thinking of ever moving to Northern Maine, on behalf of Husband and myself, we offer you one word of advice:

DON'T!!!!!

All the nastiness you've seen on the weather reports is true! Even the Farmer's Almanac predicted such a monstrosity of storm! We had at least 6 inches (about 12cm?) yesterday. I woke up at 4:45 this morning to go out and start shoveling/cleaning off the car while Husband got ready for work (he was feeling well enough to at least try going today and it's after noon and he isn't home yet, so I'm guessing he's faring all right). So I shoveled those 6 inches away this morning (and rewarded myself with a lime popsicle at 5:50am) and since then, we've had at least another three or four. Now, however, to add to the mix, the snow is blowing all around. You know, just to make things more interesting....*grumble, grumble*

I've been watching the neighbour kid across the street try to push out his little Honda for the last two hours. He got it hung up on the snow the plow left at the end of the driveway. Ah...the inexperience of youth. It's really been quite hilarious. And for those of you who think I'm being cruel by watching and laughing, remember this is the same neighbour that didn't even come to the door when we brought over his grandmother's (?) package the other day.

In other news, the wee clothes I ordered from Old Navy came today. So I'm going to post a picture of one of the 'onesies' we picked out. It's actually from the girls' section, but we figured it would work for either. It's darn cute, we think.

Hm, I think I'll also post a picture of the bagels we made the other day. We need to perfect the shaping a little, but they tasted fabulous! (We've been rather industrious in the kitchen lately.)

The Meeting That Almost Was

Yesterday, we got a package in the mail. Only it wasn't for us, it was for the neighbours across the street. So as soon as Husband got home from work, we bundled up and trudged *all the way* across the street. The first door we went to had a table on the other side, so we went to the garage door and rang the bell. No dice. We could hear those two terrible little white dogs yapping away inside, but no answer. We left the package and headed home quite disappointed that yet another perfect opportunity to meet another neighbour was foiled. Nobody home.
However, not ten minutes later, I could hear the dogs. They were outside and the package was gone and what the heck? Somebody was home after all! ARGH! What is with these people!?!? Seriously, the sign on the way into town - from all THREE directions - says "Friendly" on it...could've fooled us!!

In other news, yesterday I made Husband his Valentine's present - chocolate chocolate chip cranberry cookies which turned out fabulous! And it turns out it's a good thing he ate them yesterday. As much as I love the idea of spending all of Valentine's Day with Husband (though we weren't planning on celebrating today anyway), I hadn't figured he would spend the whole day sick. Boo! He's been up and down since just after midnight.

I should count my blessings that since lately I haven't felt much like eating either, I don't have to whip up some fancy-pants Valentine's dinner since he likely won't be eating by then anyway. We will look forward to our pizza date on Friday and I will have a baked potato for supper.

So here's hoping this V-day finds you doing something for or with somebody you love - sick or otherwise.

P.S. EK - can you email me? Something's wrong with that email address and I can't find your address!!

An Original Quiz

Last week the CBC evening news showed a series of segments about driving, focusing particularly on bad driving. They asked viewers to write in and tell them where in Canada the worst drivers could be found (in my humble estimation, that would be Vancouver, but since I'm no longer a Canadian resident....). When it comes to which city or province has the worst drivers, one could find many differing opinions, I'm sure, but today, I'd like to present to you my a quiz to exhibit my findings about driving in Northern Maine. This quiz, cleverly titled "Am I Qualified to Drive in Northern Maine?" will, by answering a series of questions, enable you to find out if YOU are qualified to drive in Northern Maine.

Quiz: Am I Qualified to Drive in Northern Maine?
For each question, choose the answer that best represents your own driving habits.

Question 1:
You are driving down Main Street where the speed limit is 25mph. You:
a) drive 25mph because that's the speed limit and you are a law-abiding citizen (even though you too secretly agree that the limit should be more like 40mph).
b) drive at least 40mph because that's what they really meant to write on those signs.
c) honk your horn and tailgate, barely missing the bumper of the car in front of you, just so you can arrive at your destination 30 seconds sooner than 'the slow guy.'
d) Both b and c are correct.

Question 2:
You are approaching a stop light that has just turned yellow. You
a) start slowing down and prepare to stop.
b) curse at the car in front of you whose driver was too stupid to rush through the light so that you could still make it through at the beginning of the red light.
c) wait for the car in front of you to go through the red light and then do the same.
d) Both b and c are correct.

Question 3:
It's winter and the blue paint of the 'handy spot' is nearly obscured by snow. You:
a) realize you've parked in a handy spot and promptly move your car.
b) realize you've parked in a handy spot and stay where you are - you're only going to be five minutes.
c) realize you've parked in a handy spot but decide to ignore the blue paint and secretly congratulate yourself on scoring such a great parking spot at the MALL on SATURDAY.
d) Both b and c are correct.

Question 4:
You're backing into your garage just as you notice your neighbour is leaving. You:
a) smile and wave and think, 'hm, I really should go over and introduce myself one of these days.'
b) glare at them.
c) hope that by pretending to ignore them, they'll go away, even though they've smiled and waved at you four times since spotting you - you're too busy trying not to hit your garbage can anyway.
d) Both b and c are correct.

Question 5:
You are a cop out on traffic patrol in Northern Maine. You
a) get all excited when you see a car pull through a red light. It's your fifth ticket for such an offense just this morning!
b) decide to follow the law-abiding, non-speeding, non-red-light-running station wagon in front of you, just because it will make the driver nervous.
c) decide to go for coffee - somebody else will catch traffic law violators today.
d) Both b and c are correct.

Question 6:
You are a Northern Maine resident. Your most frequent driving dream is:
a) to have just one safe, uneventful commute to work. Just once a month, even one-way will do!
b) getting that handy spot at the mall every Saturday.
c) successfully talking your way out of tickets for speeding and running a red light - on the same day!
d) Both b and c are correct.

How Did You Do?
If you chose all A's, under NO circumstances should you attempt to drive in Northern Maine if it is at all avoidable. You could be involved in a serious car accident.

If you chose mostly A's with maybe one B thrown in, you should probably stay where you are, though venturing into Maine once in a while could prove quite the adrenaline rush for you.

If you chose mostly B's or C's, you should seriously think about what kind of driving hazard you present in your very own town or city of residence. Consider staying home today and giving other drivers some much-needed peace.

If you chose mostly D's: It's YOU! YOU!!!!! Shame on you! Shame!!!! You park in handy spaces, don't you?! When the only thing you're probably handy with is a butter knife! I'm appalled! (So...when are you moving out here?)

Are YOU a Superhero??

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Magnetic Hornet Your Superpower is Meditation Your Weakness is Kittens Your Weapon is Your Lunar Catapult Your Mode of Transportation is Cable

What's your Superhero Name?

I'd really like to SEE this lunar catapult...

For Enquiring Minds....

So the 'results' were leaning, but not conclusive.

Another ultrasound is scheduled for March to look at something else, so the midwife will check again then.

Sorry to disappoint. You'll all just have to wait in suspense a little longer. In the meantime, we're still hoping for our little Ben.

You're Going to Watch the What??

Before I even officially start this post, I'd like to preface it by telling you that when I originally wrote it - in my head, at about 2:30 am this morning, it was much funnier and it made a lot more grammatical sense than it's about to. So just pretend it's a better post, okay? Okay. Here we go.

So up until yesterday, I was under the dillusioned impression that we wouldn't be subjected to any SuperBowl hoopla since Fox is not among our three tv channels of fuzziness. Unfortunately, it finally dawned on me - after seeing I don't know how many ads for the game - that it will in fact be broadcast on CBS. And yes, there's a good chance, that like all good Brandonites, former or present, I will watch SOME of the game, in all its heathen, commercialism-driven, yet 'family-friendly' glory. Luckily this year's half-time show promises to be a glaring departure from...was it last year's debacle? In an attempt to regain some of its family-friendly wholesome appeal, the powers that be bypassed the likes of Christine Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and even The Wiggles, in favour of the class-act who is Prince. Yes, Prince.

I can only imagine the conversation in the decision-making boardroom went something like this.

After hours of banishment to his desk to contemplate his suggestion of a grand halftime performance of Circque du Soleil, Gary, the newest chimp on the block has come up with a real winner of a suggestion. He runs to the boardroom, where he finds the rest of his comrades planning the SuperBowl with intensity, amidst multipacks of Budweiser, cheese doodles, and Popeye reruns.

"I've got it!" cries Gary. "I've figured out a way to spend less on the Half Time show AND have money left over for more cheese doodles!"

His fellow chimps grunt but barely look up as Gary explains his plan to hire Prince to perform live. "He's older, washed-up, and he still has bad hair. But he's cheaper than The Wiggles and I'm sure the kids will love him! Parents too! Not to mention that one song will give everyone a chance to refill their beer and popcorn before the second half!"

"Aye! The lad is brilliant!" responds the group in chorus. "It's settled then. Prince it is!"

Okay, it might not have been exactly like that, but seriously, what were they thinking!?!? Prince?!?!

I have seriously digressed. The REAL reason I'll be watching - or attempting too, since the tv is so fuzzy, there's little chance of actually being able to see the ball let alone any of the players - is that one of Brandon's hometown heroes will be right there in the middle of all the action. Yes, it's true. All of Brandon will be tuning in to catch Chicago Bear, Izzy Idonije in action! So I'm using this blog post to fill you all in on MY (albeit remote) connection to Izzy.

It all started in elementary/jr. high school and on Izzy's part, is a bit of a rags-to-riches story. Israel (or "Izzy" to probably anybody other than his parents) comes from a relatively large family. From what I remember, his Mom is a super-sweet lady and his Dad has one of the best afros around - still! His Dad used to be the principal of a very small private Christian school called The Potter's Wheel and the pastor of a tiny church. Every year, the Christian schools in Brandon would get together for a track meet. Yes, an actual track meet, with starting pistols, stopwatches, broken bones - the whole bit. I don't even remember what events Izzy competed in, I really only remember some big athletic kid. I DO, however, remember his older sister, Praise. She had amazing hair (I think it might've been in cornrows at the time) and by gum! She was FAST! That girl could run! Plus, she was super nice and pretty to boot. So there you have it, my - I told you it was remote - connection with Izzy Idonije. (My best friend from Back Home was actually friends with him in high school so I'm sure she'd have some good funny stories to share, but since she doesn't have a blog, well, my grasping at straws will have to do). Izzy started off playing basketball in high school and then either because they needed another player or for some other reason, was recruited by his high school football team. Then he played uni football in Winnipeg for the Bisons and now he's in Chicago. Cool!

For a moment though, let me head off on a rabbit trail and lament this so-called track meet. It was awful. Some of the worst memories of my elementary education. Every year we'd have this horrible track meet. I'm not entirely certain, but I think it was supposed to make us feel better that we were only competing against maybe three other schools so our chances to win ribbons and trophies were better. The problem was though, that we HAD to compete. Everybody - athletically inclined or otherwise (a la your's truly) had to choose at least two events in which to embarass his/herself, er, compete. I always chose the ones I thought would require the least amount of running or effort. Oh, I think I tried the 100m a few times, but with minimal success and progressing asthma, it was only a matter of time before even my teachers realized I was doomed to fail in anything that required sprinting more than say, 50m. So I ended up in long jump (I never could get a handle on triple jump, and I still don't understand it) and shotput. Altogether, a waste of time.

Preparation for the track meet consisted of two weeks-worth of gym class 'practices,' wherein most of the time was cunningly devoted to the students the teachers though would actually do well. Steve had a gift for shotput. Dale was an ace at high jump. Anthony ran 100m with decent success. Doug, also the most academically gifted individual I've ever met, was always winning anything involving distance running. Then there were the girls. Christina was also good at shotput as I recall. One year, at least, Maria managed to be 'sick' on track meet day. A fate, even if it WAS true, envied bitterly by Olivia and me, who competed half-heartedly in our events, then felt it was our duty to either cheer on whoever we were crushing at the time (so, really every boy in our class) or sit and gossip about the 'nerds' from Bethel. It's not that Olivia and I were completely athletically inept, it's just that Olivia's talent for softball (she was GOOD!) and my childhood passion for soccer and skating really fast, didn't figure in as track and field events. So that was track and field at CHS. I think I might've gotten a ribbon once when I was quite young. Probably a leftover ribbon given as a consolation prize.

So, this post has really turned into a mishmash of 'stuff,' but when I think of the Idonijes, I think of track meets and then I'm forced into some childhood reminiscing. And if there was another point to anything I was saying, I can't remember it now anyway.

Today I'm going to finally roast that free Holiday Turkey. Yes, the pantry and fridge are looking a little bare so we're 'cracking open' the turkey early.

Plus, later this afternoon is our ultrasound when we hope to finally 'meet' this child. Keep your fingers crossed for a clear sighting of that certain part of the anatomy....I'll post the 'results' later tonight.

Our 'Lucky' Saturday...Morning

Luke had to have some blood drawn yesterday morning, so we slithered out of bed and left the house at around 9:30. We got the hospital and I got caught up with my favourite registration clerk, Dee (I'm sure I've been seeing her at least once a week as of late). Then on to give some samples.

We had previously planned to stop at Tim Horton's for a Breakfast Sandwich since Luke had been fasting and we had a bunch of other errands to do in town. When we got there it was quite busy and the sandwiches were going to be a bit of a wait because they were still cooking the eggs. So we got coffee and a donut to share in the meantime. It took FOREVER to get our sandwiches. The owner guy was running around like a crazy man - I think he sucked all the craziness out of every one of the other six employees up front and was channeling it all into caring about these silly sandwiches.

Eventually, the eggs were finished, but he came out to inform us he was terribly sorry but they were out of sausage and the best he could do was either bacon or ham. Well! Ham isn't even normally an option, but I'll take it! (We'd gotten one of each - sausage and bacon - so Luke could have double meat on his.)

ALL THIS TO SAY, since it took so long and since I had to have ham instead of sausage (no complaints here), we got a 'coupon' signed by the owner-guy for a FREE BREAKFAST SANDWICH!!! FREE!!!! I'd wait every time if it meant getting something free. Good thing for uptight owners who care about their customers. And they say Tim Horton's customer service in America is crap! Bahhh!

I'm a Cookie!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?


I need to make a revision to a recent tidbit of information. I mentioned in a previous post that we were supposed to find out this Wednesday who we should be expecting in June (boy or girl) and in fact, upon closer inspection (read: actually paying attention to) the date, I find it's actually Wednesday, the 31st. So we have nine more nail-biting days ahead of us. Argh!

I am sincerely hoping NOT to repeat the experience of a distant cousin of mine, who had a rather eventful ultrasound during her third pregnancy. She had been scheduled for an 'extra' ultrasound (before the 'main' one where the actual purpose is to check on the condition and development of the baby - if you're the doctor. If you're the parent, the only real reason to have said ultrasound seems to be to reassure you that #1) yes, there really is a baby in there and #2) it's a boy/girl!). So she goes in for the ultrasound, gets all comfy on the examining table and the ultrasound tech comes in.

Tech: I'm not sure why the doctor wants this ultrasound. The heartbeats sounded fine last week.

Cousin: Excuse me, did you say "heartbeatS," plural?

Tech: Yes, you're having twins. Didn't you know?

I'm not entirely sure if Cousin was only shocked or slightly horrified as well. What I do hope though, is that this isn't a 'fun' surprise that runs in the family.

More importantly though, what kind of cookie ARE YOU?

And more importantly still, the response to my dream interpretation contest has been underwhelming at best. What is wrong with you people!? This is a chance to exercise some creativity here! Use whatever bits of imagination haven't either dried up or given way to college-educated cynicism yet! What good is a contest without any entrants? Ahem. Ahem.

Dream Interpretation 101

The medication I take for my allergies/asthma brings with it the potential for a number of (medically speaking) relatively minor side effects. I've only ever really noticed one of them and it's one I think is great! "May cause vivid dreams." I've always thought my dreams were rather vivid. This medication kicks it up a notch though!

I've been told by many flattering friends that my memory seems to be above average and where dreams are concerned, this is no less true. It's an ability that provides Luke and I with much amusement from time to time as I can often remember them for days and sometimes weeks afterward.

So I've come up with a new feature for my blog. I think I'll try to make it a monthly 'contest.' I'll tell you about a dream I've recently had, and YOU get to be the Joseph to my Pharoah (strictly for fun, of course. I'm not about to actually make any life-altering changes because of any of these interpretations. I'm just curious what other people think is going on in my brain since I can rarely figure it out myself!). And yes, there will be prizes. For example, this month's prize is a rather unique one and it almost makes it necessary for the 'contest' to be won by a Manitoba resident. If you can come up with the best interpretation, you'll win a surprise visit from your's truly when I come Home at the end of February! As a bonus, if you live in the Toronto area and you win, we can try to make plans during one of my multi-hour layovers on the way to and fro. (If you don't live in Toronto or Manitoba, we'll have to figure out something else.) So without further adieu:

This Month's Assignment:
Once upon a time, in a city darkened by night (think Brandon skyline but with London fog and chill) there lived an Irish king. He was a good king who ruled vast lands. As with any king, however, he had a problem. One evening, he discovered his son, the prince and the prince's royal guard, was missing. He called in the best sleuth in the land, The Dreamer, to solve his mystery.

The king carefully explained his problem to the Dreamer and volunteered a score of his own men to aid the sleuth. The sleuth and the king's men made another thorough search of the castle and all the kings lands, but nothing could be found of the prince and his royal guard.

One evening, while the Dreamer and the king sat alone at the supper table, a plate appeared before them containing a strange assortment of gummi candies - a pile of green and white worms, one green, white, and orange worm, and three quite odd little gummies. One was black and bulbous, like a beetle or a strange ball, with a red gummi cape and a pointed stick. Another was indistinguishable except for the colour, it was green. The third gummi, that remained always between the black and green gummies, was yellow and can only be described as a ladder with eyes. There was a note attached to the plate that read: "Here is your prince."

Of course, the Dreamer understood straightaway! 'Aha,' she thought, 'Here is the prince, the green, white, and orange gummi set apart. Here is his guard, the pile of green and white gummies. And these three, these are the villains with their evil eyes and evil intent!'

She explained herself to the king who looked shocked and gravely ill. By this time, a crowd had gathered to see the gummi prince on the plate. Nobody could figure out what had happened to turn them all into gummies! The king dismissed the crowd and pulled the Dreamer into a darkened corner to speak quietly about what could be done.

Only a few moments later, they returned to the table and a scene of utter destruction! All the green and white gummies had been cut in half! And the green, white, and orange gummi had been cut in four! The Dreamer and the king looked up just in time to see the black beetle with the red cape and stick, the green blob, and the ladder laugh their evil laugh and fly off into the night over the 18th Street Bridge. The king and the Dreamer tried desperately to stick the gummies back together again, but it was an effort wasted. It could not be done.
****************
And then I woke up. As a background, I should mention that I'm presently reading a book about the legend who was Brian Boru, an 11th century Irish King who united much of southern Ireland with statecraft and war tactics never seen in Ireland before his time. Also, I like gummi worms, but if you set a plate of them in front of my, you'd notice that the only ones to disappear would be the green/white or green/orange ones. I'm not a fan of red gummi anything! (And yes, I DO dream in colour.)

I should also submit some rules which are very simply: 1) Don't take this too seriously. I won't. 2) Interpretations should be kept on the appropriate side of things and not include any "farm language" no matter how much you want to use it.

Okay, so there you go! Interpret! And no, Mom, you're not eligible here, because I know you'll just shake your head and say, 'Oh Daughter Dearest, you ARE crazy.' And I'd only reply, 'Yes, Mom. I know. It's been our little secret these 27 years!'

In the News this Week

I'm getting further and further between posts here so I thought since it's Saturday, I'd at least make an attempt.

Baby Report (Skip this paragraph if you're uninterested.)
We had another appointment yesterday with the midwife. Everything appears to be going rather smoothly (I'm having an EKG next week to get some answers about the heart thing). We finally got to really hear the baby's heartbeat. That was funny. It was kicking but it sounded to us like it just had quite the case of hiccups. The sum total of the midwife's instructions, give or take a few supplement adjustments: "EAT!" How I will ever cram as much food down my throat as she's suggesting is completely beyond me at this point, but we'll figure it out. On the 31st, we get to have the first 'real' ultrasound (with the first one you couldn't see anything but a white blob, so it hardly counts), when we'll find out the gender of this Kid, so we can finally stop referring to it as 'It.'

In other news, Luke got himself a new camera - some fancy digital thing that I have no hope of learning how to use. The cats have so far proven quite accommodating subjects. We can only hope to have a child who's not camera shy because it will be the most photographed being on earth when it gets here.

Honestly, things have been rather dull around here otherwise. According to the latest weather report, a Polar Ice Cap or some such thing is signaling our impending doom and the end of this mild winter we've been enjoying, so we ought to be preparing to experience the harshness that can be "A Maine Winter." It's a good thing we have lots of puzzles around and have made nary a dent in our Northern Maine Survival Kit (courtesy of DKB & Co.).

Happy Saturday to you all.

Ooh! Ooh! It's Back!!

I can't even remember how we stumbled upon this the other night, but now I have even more to anticipate when I head Home next month for a brief visit!

This is sweet, sweet news for all our Manitoba friends. Remember Pic-a-Pop of old? Well it's back! We found a discussion board based in Winnipeg that lists several stores where it's available. http://www.newwinnipeg.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=food;action=display;num=1126805660 Now available under The Pop Shoppe label and exorbitantly priced compared to 50 cents, they've changed the flavours just a little. You can now get pineapple and instead of plain old Lime, it's now called 'Lime Ricky,' and it also appears they've decided to add colour to the cream soda. Still, I can only drool over how worth it that wonderful lime taste will be.

Yes, Manitobans, rejoice with me! http://www.thepopshoppe.com/flash_site/main.html

One More Thing

I just entered a draw for a fancy-pants house. So if we win, I guess we're moving to Winter Park, Colorado, in which case, you are all invited over for some part of your winter vacation next year. Just don't book your tickets yet. I think our chances of winning are slim. If we'd have won last year, we'd presently be basking in the firelight in our giant 'cabin' in Lake Lure, North Carolina.

Oh, is it a New Year Already?

Funny how it just sort of sneaks up on us, isn't it? It's Christmas Eve one day and New Year's Eve the next. We had a very quiet NY Eve ourselves. We ate a few treats and watched a few of the CBC's offerings, then went to bed at 10:30. Yes, I know, how 'Old' of us, but we are both getting sick, so sleep prevailed.

Yesterday, Luke worked and I spent most of the day reading and coming up with some tasty dinner.

I think I had a whole lot more to say than just a review of our New Years 'celebrations,' but now it escapes me. I often lie awake at 5:30 in the morning writing blog posts in my head and then by the time I get to the computer, it's all lost. So rest assured, my ability to write anything interesting really is more brilliant than you are witness to by reading these lame-o posts. For example, Luke and I are presently working on a post devoted wholly to the topic of names, so look for it soon.

Otherwise, Happy New Year!

Oil Haiku, Round Two

*Sigh*
Yes, again. Enjoy the haiku.

**********************

Out of oil again.
Winter is cold without it.
We paid, they didn't come.

**********************

Haiku ("high-KOO") = Japanese form of poetry in seventeen-syllable verse form, arranged in three lines of five, seven and five syllables. Each haiku has at least one word indicating the season. (The last Oil Haiku I posted wasn't so true to form. This one, I think, is more so.)

This'll Only Happen Once

Well, I only get to publish this news once. We'll never have a second first baby to tell you about, so here it is. Confirmation: the rumours are true. (And for those of you still baffled, yes, this was planned.) We are indeed going to have a baby. He/She is due around the end of next June. And yes, we are mostly excited. We do occasionally have days when we sit here and wonder, 'What in the world are we doing??' It's gotten much better since I've started feeling better. The first three months I can only describe as The Blob Months. I felt like an utterly useless, lazy blob. I never dreamed a human being could be so tired and if I hadn't known I was pregnant, I would've been convinced I had some sort of sleeping sickness. At any rate, almost all of you that read this have probably already heard this news so I won't dwell on it, but I AM giving you almost six months notice to find yourself a new blog to read, particularly if you're squeamish about hearing baby stories all the time. Where else will I be able to rant about our cute little alien being - where nobody will offer advice and nobody can tell me to shut up already. Ahh, the sweet world of blogging. :)

In other only slightly less shocking news, it's Friday and we actually have plans tonigh!. Yes! Whoa, easy! It's true so keep your socks on! We're actually going out. We got invited out for dinner and we get to see the newly renovated bathroom at our friends' house. Seriously, they are so excited I promised that as soon as I walk in the house, I'll make a beeline for the bathroom. They are a really cool couple. They just got married last month and since Chris is from Central/South America (I'm forgetting exactly where at the moment), we get to swap lots of 'great' stories about the Department of Homeland Security and how much we 'love' those 'people.'

Also, my cousin just got engaged two weeks ago and the wedding date is set - 28 July. We are SO excited! (So this lucky little baby will be born just in time to head home for his/her first trip to Canada and the most anticipated wedding of 2007! Hooray for Shelley & Randy!!!) What's more, her fiance proposed in a quinzee he built! If you don't know what a quinzee is, then I'm sorry to say, it's not likely you're Canadian, but check out this website: http://www.call-wild.com/quinzee.html

It's been nine days since my last post and you're probably all vastly disappointed that I finally posted something on here and I just go on about weddings and a baby, not even bothering to post a picture of the Holiday Turkey. It came home and it went in the freezer. However, be ye not dismayed. As soon as we have a picture, I'll post one. I asked our friend Wendy how long turkeys keep in the freezer and she said some people keep them for up to a year. So I guess I know what we're having for next Thanksgiving. :)

I suppose I should also include a note about Christmas. Christmas Eve was superb as usual. Luke got the new U218 singles CD from me and I got the new U2 By U2 book from him, so we're happy. Also, new toothbrushes and slippers so we're set for the year! We ended up having a green Christmas (seriously, it could've been March out there), but it did finally snow on the 27th. We had at least four inches that appears at though it will stay now. It's been rather cold the last couple days.

Anyway, Happy Quinzee Building!

Odds & Ends

Well, I figured if I didn't post sooner or later, I was going to start getting nasty emails from my adoring public. :) So I'll fill you in on the latest.

When we got home from church on Sunday, we were sitting in the driveway still in the car and I made some comment about our neighbours being like icicles since we still hadn't met any of them; we rarely even see them. We tried waving to one we passed on the way down the street on Sunday, but only got a scowl in return. (Luke reminds me we should start seeing more people in the spring when they venture beyond their houses to work in their yards.) Well, of course, what irony. We went in the house and hadn't even been inside for five minutes when there was a knock on the door *GASP* A neighbour! A real, living honest-to-goodness neighbour! Marsha from down the street. AND, she brought us a cake. But not just any cake - a Santa cake! Anyway, it was the weirdest thing, but now, we know a neighbour!

Sunday night we went to a sort-of church Christmas party after evening service. It was quite fun. Luke has now been familiarized with all the ins and outs of snow shoveling in Maine - what types of implements work best for which types of snow. Various types of shovels and the proper techniques for their use.

In other news, I'm sitting here eating my very first Clementine. This is the Eastern Seaboard's excuse (I must emphasize the word EXCUSE) for a Christmas orange. It is awful. It tastes like my Grama's pickles. There was never anything wrong with Grama's pickles, but this is supposed to be an orange. *Sigh* One down, only a 15 more in the box. :(

Days Until Free Holiday Turkey Pick-Up: 2!!!!!

Ahead by a Barrel of Monkeys*

*Brownie points for Luke for coming up with a superb title for this post!

Settle in for a weekend saga.

Everything was fine when we went to bed on Friday night. When we woke up on Saturday morning, however, the air had a certain unfamiliar nip to it. Luke got up to get ready for work and tried to wash his face, but only got cold water. Our oil tank was empty. He had just gone down to pay for oil and delivery on Friday after work and thought we could make it till Monday, but evidently not. BRRRRR!!!!! Oh it was so cold! It got down to about 61F downstairs and 42F upstairs (but the heat isn't on up there now anyway). So I drove him in to work for 7 and came straight home. At 8:50, the oil man came, put a deposit in our tank and restarted the furnace. Nice and toasty in a half hour! Hooray for emergency oil men!

At noon, I went to a womens Christmas dinner at church. It was really fun. I met two more people that work at the hospital (seriously, already, who doesn't work there?!?). We had all kinds of tasty treats (even a chocolate fountain!) and a Yankee Swap. That's where one person picks a present and unwraps it. Then the next person unwraps another present and gets to choose if they want to swap with number one or keep what they get. Slightly different rules than back Home in MB, but better rules, we think. I ended up with this mug/hot choc. gift set. Yum. Then at the end, they had a whole table full of wrapped gifts and we were all just supposed to go take one. No swapping, just pick something and if you don't want it, give it away or wrap it up and bring it back next year. So there I got these truly hideous potholders. I won't even justify them with a picture they were that bad. So I sent them Home to Mom. :) Figured she can use them at their church. And another lady gave me her gift which was this candle holder that melts these peppermint smelly wax things. AND I got a mini box grater.

Okay, so after that, I raced to finish up Christmas shopping for Luke. I was rather impressed with how quickly I got it finished. I just need one more thing - though it's not imperative for the completion of the stocking. Then I picked Luke up (watched part of National Velvet while I waited. Never seen it before - thankfully! Sheesh!) and we raced home to get ready for his dept Christmas shindig.

This was a semi-fancy affair at a hotel in town, so we 'got to' dress up. We got there a little late as usual, but not late enough to catch some of his colleagues at their drunken best. Oi. Terry had been drinking since 8am!!! Talk about 'three sheets to the wind.' We had a really good meal and got 'free drinks.' Yippee. It was much more amusing watching everybody else drink.

Then for the Yankee Swap. Hooray! Same rules! I was number 41 and Luke was number 4. For whatever reason (I've heard his explanation twice now and I still don't get it), Luke traded his snowman ornament for a bottle of wine - which he was sure to hold on to for all of three more unwrappings! Way to take the most popular present! Argh! So lucky Luke, he ended up with a Santa-shaped box full of cookies. Ooh. Exciting. But me? Well! I fared MUCH better! I started out with a cheesy Christmas picture frame and two lottery tickets (not guaranteed to win, so why keep them?). I was going to trade them for a movie bucket (popcorn, pop, candy, and a free movie rental), until I caught Starla's eye and remembered the Barrel of Monkeys (you were wondering when that was going to be relevant, weren't you?)! Not just any Barrel of Monkeys! Nope, this one had a secret prize! A nicely folded $20 bill taped to the bottom! Hooray! Free cash! Sort of. See, we spent almost exactly $20 on the presents we brought for the swap, so we broke even there, but we still got the Barrel of Monkeys! So we're ahead by a barrel of monkeys! Brilliant! So Luke is stuck with his Santa cookies and I'm left to ponder what to spend my $20 on. :)

Sunday, was no less eventful. We ended up sleeping in because Luke had been on call the night before and ended up going to the hospital just after midnight and didn't get home till almost 3am. We got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to find the tree farm. We're a week or so late on getting our tree this year, but as you'll recall, we were in Bangor last Saturday so weren't able to get a tree them. After driving down a few rabbit trails, we finally found the tree farm! Oh it was just like the movies! Complete with free hot apple cider and a horse-drawn wagon ride! And we didn't even have to cut our own tree! They had a bunch pre-cut and we found our perfect one (the lady we paid said she'd never seen anyone choose one that fast....didn't know we were being watched....). It's just over six feet tall, ridiculously bushy (this is no five dollar tree from Loup Loup Pass), and essentially, swallows our ornaments. We even had to break out the second strand of lights this year!

We wolfed down a hot dog when we got home, then headed to church and that was the weekend. Whew! Luke was on call on Sunday night too but never even got called in. $2/hour just to sleep! Cool!

Days Until Free Holiday Turkey Pick-Up: 10!!!

Oil Haiku

Should've checked the tank.
Forgot and now we'll pay
$80 for after-hours service.
It is cold. Brr.

Another Year, Another Birthday

Last Sunday, Luke celebrated his 26th birthday. He didn't want a big shindig (he never does) so we decided to go out for drinks and appetizers in the evening and pick up a movie.

The day started off well. Every week at church, we end up singing the Birthday Song for everybody celebrating birthdays during that week. We spent the afternoon grocery shopping and at Lowe's checking out Christmas tools for Luke.

As soon as we got home, we grabbed ID so we could race over to Canada to pick up Luke's cake. We felt a little silly going across just to pick up cake, but on the other hand, it was McCain's Deep 'n' Delicious Double Chocolate Cake. MMmmmmm.......so tasty! On the way back, the Customs guy didn't even ask for ID (yes, CL, I have a new favourite customs officer!)...he just kept eying the cake in the back seat. :)

So Luke had heard from somebody at work that Slopes has the best bacon-wrapped sea scallops (come on, say it like a pirate or it doesn't count) around. We got there at 6:30. We decided to sit in the dining room instead of the lounge. It was gigantic! And empty. (Could that have been our first clue?) We at least got to sit right beside the fire and since we were the only people in there, the service was attentive to say the least. Luke got a beer sampler, and even to a novice taster such as myself, the only difference between them all was colour. He was NOT impressed. Even the root beer that I got was terrible. There could've only been 2 ounces in that glass and at least one of them was water. Yuck.

Then came the appetizers. Luke ordered the sea scallops (no, no! like a pirate!), and we also got nachos and crab cakes. Well I broke my sea rule and tried a scallop. I got two tiny bites before I realized it smelled like....well I won't say what it smelled like. I did break my crustacean rule and ate a crab cake - perhaps the only redeeming item on the table. And the nachos? Oi. One entire jar of olives and jalapenos later, they were so soggy, I was sure they'd been left outside in the snow all day, they just threw them in the oven for five minutes to try to dry them off. They were awful! The funniest part of this whole deal is that on the way out, Luke grabbed a comment card and sitting right beside them? The chef's own business cards!

Then home for the movie. We rented A Prairie Home Companion. We had such high hopes for that movie. We persevered and watched it till the end, but even by then, we still hadn't found a plot. It was a confusing, Lindsay Lohan-filled mess. I can't remember the last time I've checked my watch that many times during a movie.

Luke's highlight was however, his birthday present: a carve-your-own Dala horse kit from Sweden, complete with Swedish carving knife and Swedish bandaid! We'll post a picture once he's got one finished.

For now, no drooling over the cake!

Headin' Down South

We spent almost every evening last week debating about whether or not to go to Bangor on Friday night and get in some Christmas shopping on Saturday morning. Thursday night, we finally made up our minds to go. We made our reservation and decided to leave as soon as Luke got home from work on Friday.

Well it was snowing when he got home so we raced around trying to get everything ready so we could leave. The drive down wasn't that great. There was already a lot of snow stuck to the road and it was sleeting. There were a few cars in the ditch and we passed a number of plows (I still don't think there was enough snow to warrant plowing, but this is Maine - they do things differently here). I don't know what time we left, but we made it to Bangor by 8:30. The last 45 minutes of the drive, there wasn't any snow at all, but it was POURING rain, and windy!

After depositing our stuff at the hotel (Motel 6 - wouldn't recommend it. I'm nearly positive they were pumping cigarette smoke IN through our bathroom 'fan'), we went out to get something to eat. The Seadog Brewery is our latest favourite. It was crowded in there because, well, Bangor is a university town, the Seadog has good beer (supposedly....of course....), and it was Friday night. I had a big ol' juicy burger and some of the craziest ginger ale I've ever had - it burned! Luke had a giant tuna steak burger. Yum! Then 'home' to bed.

Saturday was a great! First, we headed downtown to find this bakery I'd found the address for online - The Friars' Bakehouse. Well, Friars they were indeed! Dominican monks, complete with brown habits, sandals,....and the requisite SUV??? We're not sure if they were actually supposed to be open or not, but there were lights on and people inside and goods in the case and hey! They're monks! They're not going to tell us to leave are they? We got some scones to take home (the richest most cranberry-filled scones we've ever eaten) and we each got a cinnamon bun for breakfast. But not just any cinnamon bun. Nope, they gave you a choice: Venial Sin-ammon buns (just icing) or Mortal Sin-ammon buns (nuts too). Hah! Monks with a sense of humour even! (We went for the mortal sin.) Then when we were getting in the car to leave, we spotted two monks getting into an SUV across the street. *gasp* I saw part of the monk's bare leg! Is that allowed? Or the better question, aren't they at least allowed to wear longjohn's in winter? It was COLD out! (LK, we'll defer to you, our Seminary Student Friend, for confirmation about Official Monk Attire.)

Then on to the mall. Got some Christmas shopping done, ate some pizza at Sbarro's ('Non-punks need not apply'), and had Starbucks. Oh Starbucks. How wonderful to have commercially prepared espresso again. (Yes, it's true. It's nowhere to be found up here.)

Our last stop was the natural foods store. Now that was a store! I've never seen so many foreign products under one roof before. Lots of things we'd never heard of - or at least never dreamed we'd have the opportunity to buy (though we didn't). Sweets imported from India, fancy preserved lemons from China, and lots of packages with writing in other languages. It was a great!

The drive home was much more pleasant. The roads were dry and hardly slippery at all until about an hour from home. And then it was cold too, but we stopped at Tim Horton's to get tea for the rest of the drive home. Overall, a very enjoyable trip 'down south.' But the moral remains: when in Maine, always travel with a raincoat!