Pink Mama's Eat Salad

(Happy 200th Blog!!)

I went on my first Mommy Play Date today. :o) Complete with sitting on a blanket in the park, juiceboxes, and nursing-then-napping babies. Of course, mine was the most contained and easy to appease one of the three of us. :o)

Kelly and Kendall and I hopped on the highway and drove up to meet up with Jen and Maddy for the first time today. We've "known" Jen via blogs for a while, but hadn't yet met her. Well, today was our day. And we picked a great one!

It's not crazy hot here anymore, so the idea of meeting at a park and chatting for a bit then walking to lunch was much more manageable than if we had done it last weekend. I admit that I was a wee bit chilly when the breeze was blowing, but the conversation was so great that it was barely noticeable. What was noticeable, though, was that today was obviously the day to mow the lawn at the park! It's not a big park, but they had (I think?) 3 big (loud) mowers out there. All at the same time. And one would mow by us, then a few minutes later another would mow by us on another side. Oh, so annoying! Thankfully, it was almost lunchtime, and I think the mower-guys figured we'd have to get up to have lunch sooner or later, so they didn't ask us to move. And we just kept chatting! :o) Yes, we did eventually get up and move...but it probably messed up their mow-snack-mow-nap schedule. :o)

Jen lives near a bunch of hip and trendy restaurants (I totally covet her neighborhood!), so we walked (and waddled) to a place that serves fancy, dressed up salads. Actually, I should say they serve fancy, dressed up salads because they were large! And good. Oh, yum. Very good. I really love a good salad. Iceberg lettuce is just watery cardboard to me, so when there's Romaine, and Red Leaf, and avocado, and egg, and bacon, and chicken all piled on my plate for just me to eat (and not a wedge of Iceberg anywhere!), I am happy bunny. Kelly had a salad with green beans and olives and Ahi tuna, and Jen had a Chinese chicken salad (I think?). I was so busy eating, I'm not even sure I asked the other ladies if there's was any good! :o)

Kelly was bright enough to ask the server to take our picture, but then later she realized that she won't be able to post the picture until she's no longer homeless and has access to (her shoes) and her computer! :o) So the best I can do is give you a photo that I took of the other Pink Mama's and their sweet, sweet babies. (and I'm not just sayin' that! Those two girls were the bestest babies I've been around in a long time! So happy and content. Just watching each other and smiling. Sweet.)

Look how the girlies are holding each other's hands. Everyone together, now...awwwww.

(I was a Pink Mama, too, because my face got a little sunburned.)

Hot Like Wasabi

when I bust rhymes
big like Leann Rimes
because I'm all about value

(gotcha singin' didn't I?)

Anyways, MAN it's hot here today! It's hot like wasabi. (see how I did that?)

Okay, here's another song for ya:

I
I was standing
you were there
two worlds collided
and they could never tear us apart

This very same Wasabi weekend, two worlds collided. Well, three, actually. Bloggie Worlds, that is.

Katie, from Roses are Red, Violets are Violet was in the "area" for a conference, and so Friday night, Dave and I drove up to Pasadena to have dinner with her, and another long-time friend, Cindy. I haven't seen them in 47 evers! It was SO GOOD to see her and Cindy again! We used to be in a church community group together when we all lived in the same area of Atlanta. When I called Dave Friday afternoon to tell him what I was doing (driving a bunch of miles, through Friday afternoon LA traffic, having a yummy dinner with two girls I could chat all night with, then driving a bunch of miles home, in the dark, after a LOOOONNNNG and tiring week)...he was not as excited as I was. I think he even used the word "worry". Hmph. So I started to whine and said something like "But I wanna! And I haven't seen them in 47 evers! And it's not just Katie, but it's Cindy, too!" (Not that you, alone, wouldn't have been enough, Katie. 'Cuz you totally are!) Then he got all wise and stuff on me and said "Well, maybe they can wait a little while longer, you can pick me up from work, and I'll drive and you can rest."

Well. We had a plan. And we carried out said plan. And we got to their hotel, recognized them immediately, and hugged like we hadn't seen each other in 47 evers! :o) The only thing different was the hairstyles! They are still wonderful, loving, funny, Godly, caring, gregarious ladies. We ate dinner and dessert and talked till our faces fell into our empty creme brulee pots. (They were tired! They are 3 hours ahead of us, and working, after all!) So, we said our goodbyes and promised to not let it be another near decade before we see each other again. (Pasadena is a wonderful place, as far as I can tell. Just so you know.) Good times, man, good times.

(by the way, Katie, the word was "paradox". Yay me! The TV show Big Bang Theory confirmed it for me tonight. And Dave was watching, so I got to be all "See, I told ya so!" right then and there! Woo! Gotta love that!)

Then Saturday morning, we got up early, packed the cooler and the beach umbrella, and headed to the beach. Yum! Mike is in town for a couple of days, and wanted to play a little beach volleyball (Dave could never resist that offer!), and since Grant and Kelly just moved to the area, but haven't seen Mike in a couple of years, I thought they might have fun going along. Plus, Grant's brother lives here, too, and they're both really athletic, so it rounded out the group nicely. We have other friends in the area that know Mike, and haven't seen him in a while, so they came along, and we just made a big fort of chairs out on the beach -- the guys played while the ladies hung out and talked military wife-dom, kids, years to retirement, living in LA, husbands in school (blech), living in military housing...usual stuff. :o) Periodically the guys would come over to the shade for a bite to eat or a drink of water, and then run down for a dunk in the ccccold ocean, then go back to burning their tootsies on the hot sand playing volleyball. Eventually we decided to pack up the gear and go to dinner (for more chatting and military talk, of course!)...then we parted ways. I don't know when we'll see Mike again, but he always seems to turn up, so I'm not too worried. :o) We miss having him around, but he'll be moving back to the States in a few months -- not as close as we've were before, though. He's the only one of the three bloggers that took a picture of us, so if you want to see what we all look like together, click here. :o)

Yup. All in all. It was a hot, colliding weekend. The only thing that could make it any better w0uld be to have air conditioning in our house when it gets this stinkin' hot! (And by stinkin', I am meaning in the physical "ew, something stinks" sense of the word, not as an exclamation).

'k I don't make films
but if I did
they'd have a samurai

Peace out, yo!

Round and Round (36 weeks)

Besides it being hotter than...um...I guess it's not that hot, here...but it does make for a more uncomfortable mama, thankyouverymuch. Honestly, though, I don't have the heat-waves and hot-flashes that a lot of pregnant women have, so I feel very fortunate when it's hot outside, I'm not overly miserable inside.

Pregnancy things are fairly routine for me right now. Some lower back pain (but I've had the same pain for months), I get tired more easily (I didn't know there was such a thing as tired as I've been throughout this pregnancy!), I get winded easily (12 steps up the stairs, and I need a break! Heaven help me if I have to make 2 trips! Sheesh!). I have (finally, you say!) noticed some minor swelling of my feet, but nothing drastic by any means. And, I think, (finally, you say!) that I'm putting on a wee bit of weight around my lower half. Which is evidenced by the fact that the black capris I've been wearing throughout the pregnancy no longer fit so well. And I could attribute that to them shrinking in the dryer...except that I don't dry them. So, in honor of honesty, I think I'm packing a little junk in the trunk. (I won't post a picture of that, nosirree).

Here is a picture of my rounded side view, though. All pokey-outey. Except for the belly button...no poking out of a belly button. I wonder if it will! Baby's not done, yet, I guess!

And here's my usual measurement photo. About an inch of growth these last two weeks. I don't know how much I'm supposed to grow around, but I know how much weight I'm supposed to be gaining, and I'm doing just fine in that regard. (You don't need to know those figures...)

According to Babycenter, the baby should weigh about 6 pounds, and be the size of a crenshaw melon...whatever that is! I've got another (and probably final) ultrasound this week, so we'll see how the Yipper and I are doing on growth. Then after that, I start going to the doc once a week (as opposed to every two weeks right now)...and then, sometime in the next 6 weeks (if I go that long), we'll have a baby!

The really cute summer clothes are starting to show up on the stores now, and I am lamenting the loss of my waistline (and the growth of my, um, hindquarters!). I know there are lots of cute maternity clothes out there, but I don't see the point in spending money on something I'll only wear for a short period of time. I want to save my money for cute dresses and skirts and fitted tops and things that are flattering! I miss being able to "therapy shop" and get a few nice pieces of well-fitting clothes. Hmmm...one day. And then, when I do get to shop again, I'll have a wee babe in tow, and probably won't feel like buying much, right? Right?? Reassure me that I'm not going to go shopaholic crazy once I fit into normal clothes again! :o)

Anyways, stay tuned! I'll let you know if there's anything worth knowing...

The Price is Right Recap

I seriously thought I took more pictures than this! So sorry! We weren't allowed to take pictures anywhere on the CBS lot, so I left my camera in my car at about 7:15 in the morning. So the pictures you will see were taken before that.

The taping was on Monday, April 21st, and we don't know, yet, when the Million Dollar Spectacular Prime Time Special will air...but I'll be sure to let you know! :o)

Okay, here's the recap.

We got to the CBS lot at around 12:00 noon on Sunday (the day before the taping) to see how many people were already in line. There were about 3 at that point, so we just hung out and waited. I left at about 3:30 pm (to come home, to my own bed and surroundings), and my party (Cousin A, her Mom J, and her Aunt M) stayed up there. Aunt M had secured a hotel room (which was SO convenient!), so they didn't have to just sit on the sidewalk. They went down to officially sit at around 5:30 or 6:00 pm, I think. This got them to #15 (or so) in line. People showed up through the night, and even into the morning. We talked to one group who got there at around 3:00 am Monday and they got in...but that doesn't mean A THING (as we learned later). My group had camp chairs, but the group behind us brought blow-up mattresses, and slept there that night (smart!). I got back there at around 5:30 Monday morning because you HAVE TO be present whenever the Pages show up (anywhere between 6:00 and 7:00 am) to get your Order of Arrival Pass (OAP).

(Here's Cousin A, Mom J, and me at about 5:45 am.)

Then, as the sun started to come up, people started to mill around more, and get ready for their chance to win a million dollars.

(The line wrapped down the rest of this block on Fairfax, all the way down Beverly Blvd, and onto the following street. Obviously not everyone got to go into the studio!)

The CBS Pages came out around 6:10 and started to hand out purple passes (OAP) with a number on them. They then told us that we could leave, but had to be back on the lot at 7:30 to get our Priority numbers, and nametags and such.

(TPiR page with OAP tickets)

We left and came back, and then they herded us (based on our OAP) to benches, where we sat. And sat some more. At 9:00, we got our nametags and Priority Numbers. At 10:00, they started the interviews with the producers (this is where you have to SHINE if you want to get down to Contestants Row). Then we went through Security, and sat. And sat. No one tells you that you're going to spend more hours on a cold metal bench than you will doing anything else...'cept me. I'm telling you that! If you want to go to TPiR, either bring a blow-up cushion, or go with a pre-arranged group so you don't have to sit so dang long!

Finally at 12:30, they started herding us into the studio. Our Priority Numbers pretty much dictated where we sat. So #1 got the first seat on the right, we ended up being in the second row on the left... so you'll see us when it airs! :o) As we went in, there was music playing, and everyone (except me!) was dancing and getting excited. Then a little before 1:00, Rich Fields (the announcer) came out and gave us some rules, and just talked and joked for a few minutes. Then Drew Carey came out, and the show started. It was SO LOUD in the studio! They actually put the contestants' names on boards to "come on down" because you can't hear them call the names! It actually goes pretty fast. There was only one or two "do-overs" - but only of Drew announcing the next game or something, not of how a contestant reacted when they won (or didn't).

No one won a million dollars, although Drew tried a couple of times to give it away. While waiting on the benches, we got to know a couple of the people that went up...and, ironically, they both were in the Showcase Showdown. And the really awesome thing is that they were both SUCH cool people, and neither one of them was wealthy or snootchy or anything - they were both really humble, and fun-loving, and just seemed glad to be going into the show, regardless of who won. And I thought that they both deserved to win, and when the girl won, it was kinda like a friend of mine won. And the really cool thing is that she was there because it was her grandmother's wish that they go to the show (Grandma is a fan)! How cool is that?! To me, THAT is what it is all about...not someone who doesn't need it winning a million dollars. But someone that will really appreciate the experience regardless of whether or not she won.

Seriously, if you are ever thinking about going, here are some hints on how to get into the studio:

1. Get to the line early. If it's not the Million Dollar show, 4:00am should be early enough to get you in...should be. (Pre-arranged groups get some priority, and you don't know how many are going to be there. They let about 200 "regular" people in, then 135 from pre-arranged groups)
2. If you can, go with a pre-arranged group. They don't have to stand in line, and they are guaranteed to get into the audience, and at least one member is guaranteed to get called down.
3. If you can, go with at least 6 other people, and have (somewhat) matching t-shirts.
4. If you are military, police or fire department, then wear your uniform. You will definitely (most likely) be called down.
5. When it's time to be interviewed by the producers, WOW them! They only ask where you are from and what you do, but if possible, WOW them! This is Step 1 into getting called down.
6. Step 2 into getting called down is having a really good time and dancing once you've gotten into your seat. They double-check your extrovertedness at that point.

All in all, just go planning to have a good time, and you will! If you plan or expect to get called down, then you might be disappointed.

Now, for those of you who wonder about Drew vs Bob...here are my thoughts: I really liked Drew as the host. He seemed to have a ton of fun! He laughed at himself, he was cracking jokes between sets, he was laughing at the contestants -- just being a comedian. There are definitely those in the "Drew sux! Bob is the best" camp, but I think Drew did a great job. Plus, Bob was the host for 35 years. He mighta not been so charming his first year, you know? And most of the people I know that have bad-mouthed Drew as the host are older. Drew is bringing young blood to the TPiR set. I hope he stays for a while.

I can't think of anything else, but if you have a specific question, leave a comment, and I'll address it later. It really was a great experience.

Oh, and I found out yesterday that there's a pre-arranged group from our AF base next Wednesday! I don't think I can do it so soon again (too exhausting for me right now), but if they go again, I might have to tag along! :o) I had a blast!

TPiR In Brief

Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

I am so stinkin' tired.

Oh my gosh.

I hurt.

Oy.

So, the short of it is:
(a) we spent about 4 million hours on cold metal benches (and other people in my party spent 4 million more on cold concrete).
(b) my backside is still numb.
(c) we were numbers 12-16 in priority seating.
(d) so we got into the show/taping/whatever to the 1:oopm taping.
(e) no one in our party got called down to Contestants Row.
(f) no one on the show won a million this time, although Drew tried to give it away twice.
(g) we had so much fun.
(h) So.
(i) Much.
(j) Fun.

Ugh.

I am so tired.

I will give details and include what photos I have tomorrow. Or the next day. When I recover.

Oh my gosh.

It's 6:54 pm, and I'm going to bed. G'nite.

Random Ramblings

Another busy Saturday here. (sigh) It's all good stuff, though. Good stuff.

Dave is on his way home from LAX with his cousin, her mother, and her aunt. They were originally slated to come in on Sunday, but they were all flying "stand-by", and the loads tomorrow are really full, so they came a day early. Which is fine. I warned them that I am not a good housekeeper, and my hospitality skills are currently compromised. Basically, my hospitality skills are comprised of the following sentence, "Here's the bathroom, there's the fridge, and there's a Starbucks down the street. Goodnight." :o) And they're totally cool with that. They didn't come here to see me, after all...

...so we have tickets for Monday's airing of The Price is Right. They are prepared to stand on line (in line?) as soon as is necessary. I get to come home and then go back to CBS Studios on Monday morning while the other 3 wait and wait and wait. Man, I picked the right time to be pregnant, huh? I don't know how early they'll start standing in line, though. Here's something that has surprised me: I have tried and tried to find someone else's blog post about how they went on TPiR, and what time they got there, and what their t-shirt said, and whether or not they won anything, etc. Have I found anything? Nope. Not. A. One. I have found a couple that vaguely discuss it, but not the play-by-play that I'm looking for (and hoping to write once our time in famedom is complete). I'll be sure to take pictures, though, and share them with you.

We painted the baby's room this morning. And other than a few "weak" spots (where there wasn't enough paint on the roller), I think we did a pretty good job with only one coat. Whew!! We'll have to put a second coat on one wall because it's got the majority of the weak spots, but then we'll be done with that! I love the color, I really do. And Mr. White-Walls himself even said the color is "not bad." Hallelujah!! :o) It's Martha Stewart's "Anjou Pear" from Lowe's. I'll post pictures another day. I'm just rambling right now. And once the room is undisrupted from all the painting paraphernalia, then it's all downhill from there, right? We can have the baby now that her room is painted! :o)

What else. Yup. Pretty much nothing, I think. Laundry. Dishes. Back pain. Baby doing the hokey pokey in my belly. The usual.

Anyways, wish us luck for getting onto The Million Dollar Showcase Spectacular!! :o)

Was It Really That Easy?

Should I have made the clues harder? Or eliminated a few? Maybe it's because I'm not a huge Price Is Right fan that the clues were hard to come up with...who knows...

But, Megan won!

...sorta...

See, I wasn't in the audience on Tuesday, I was merely picking up tickets to possibly have the chance to maybe be a part of the audience next Monday, when it's The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular Primetime Special. (Why such a long name, CBS?)

The drive wasn't that bad since I waited till after the morning traffic, and the CBS studios weren't that hard to find, really (Thanks, GPS, bok bok!). I played the "I'm really pregnant and just want to pick up tickets, can I please park in the staff parking lot?" (smiling uncomfortably as I rubbed my belly) The nice parking lot guard said I could park near the wall, so I did. And I walked towards the big building with the big CBS and the eye on it. And then I walked around the big building with the big CBS and the eye on it.

The following went through my head: "Hmph. I am not finding a ticket booth, and it appears that the gift shop is closed. I didn't come all this way to fail now!" So I called the ticket booth phone number, and Emily, the helpful Ticketeer directed me to the small white building, in the parking lot, across from the gate guard, next to a wall. Yup. Same wall. The tickets were available for the picking up a mere 20 feet from where I'd parked my car. Gotta love missing the obvious! It humbles a person. :o)

So, I got 4 tickets for the 1:00 taping, and 4 tickets for the 4:00 taping, which guarantee us nothing, really. Except for the chance to get a priority number, which then gets us a chance to fill out a contestant card, which then gets us a chance to be interviewed, which then gets us a chance to go into The Price Is Right studios, which then gets us a chance to be named to "Come On Down!!", which then gets us a chance to win over a million dollars in cash and prizes! Whew! So many chances!!

Here I am holding 4 tickets:

(so sorry the picture quality stinks...my car isn't the best photographer)

This all started when I told Dave's cousin (in-law), Anne (who lives in Michigan) (and is married to Dave's cousin, Bert who came to visit us in England) that she could come visit anytime and we'd do crazy Hollywierd stuff together. So Sunday night, I got an email from her saying she and her aunt wanted to try to be on The Price Is Right. And then Monday, she learned that next Monday and Tuesday's shows will be the million dollar shows, and she was pretty stoked about going to that show in particular. Her husband will be out of town, but she convinced Grandma to take care of the kids and Anne and her aunt are flying west, young man.

They are planning on getting in on Sunday, resting a bit, then heading up to start standing (?sleeping?) in line for the "priority number" giveaway at 7:00 on Monday morning. I told her I can't be a part of that crazy malarkie, nosirree! If we can figure out a way that I don't have to do all the waiting and standing and leaning and standing and waiting some more, then I'm in! I'm ready to waddle down those stairs, Drew, for shore! Dave is totally bummed because that's something he would have fun with...plus, Anne is the kind of person that makes digging ditches fun, you know? But, Dave has to work. Work. Ugh. Gets in the way of life, sometimes, doesn't it? Poor Dave.

Anyways, Anne said that she's already getting her t-shirt made for it. I had to ask her to explain that one. Back when I was watching it (like 30 years ago), people wore regular clothes. Apparently, now, if you have sporty, eye-catching phrases on your t-shirt, you are more likely to be called down. I won't tell you, yet, what Anne's shirt is going to say. I will say, however, that it is a teensy, weensy bit suggestive. I figure for me, the bump will be enough...but Anne thinks we need to have something more interesting than dribble from breakfast on my shirt. :o)

Anyways, Megan was the first to guess that we're going to be in the audience (maybe?) (depending on how I feel?) of The Price Is Right.

And maybe, someday, I'll get to take Dave for a random gameshow day. When work doesn't get in the way.

A Mystery Never...

I'm going on an adventure today that I don't know that I ever thought I would. It's another thing to add to my "Did I Really Do That?" list. Maybe when I was 8 years old, I had a vague dream of doing something like this, but not in the last few decades! Oh, the perks of living in southern California!

But I'm not gonna tell you, yet.

I'll post pictures sometime about it.

Ooh, I should be like Tink and ask you guys to guess what I'm doing, and give a prize for the winner. Ooh, and while her home-made prize is awesome and cool (and I'll tell you about that later), maybe I'll bring home a prize from my adventure and give that out. Yeah. That's a good idea.

Okay. First, Rules. (1) The first correct, most specific comment wins. (easy, no?) I'm going to be very very brave and just for today I'm not going to monitor my comments, so whatever you type should show up immediately. (2) Please limit your guesses to 3 (for now, may change later if no one gets it). (3) The most specific guessing winner will be determined by midnight Tuesday (tonight), or when someone guesses correctly, whichever happens last. (4) If you don't have a profile, then you have to put your first name on the comment..."anonymous" won't cut it today.

Now for hints. (gosh, this is difficult!)

1. It premiered 6 months after I premiered.
2. There's a new guy, a crew-cut guy, holding the reins.
3. There's a book written about it, even! Man, who knew?
4. Are you good at the grocery store? You might be good here, too.
5. The big wheel keeps on turning, but I don't know of anyone named Mary there.
6. Who wants to be a millionaire? We might have our chance next week!
7. I've seen women lose their shirts over this, and men fall off of mountains.
8. I've seen clocks, and plinks, and jars of Ragu. And lots and lots of dollar signs.
9. And finally, if you think about the fact that we live in southern LA county, I have to go up north to be able to come down.

Did that help? Or hurt? Do you need more clues?

Okay, one last hint:

Good luck! And may the best contestant win. Check back tomorrow for an update.

**Update** (12:30am EDT April 16, 2008) -- I have closed the commenting, and reset "moderate comments."

Another Milestone (34 weeks)

Warning. Shield your eyes. There was nothing Photoshop could do about the color of my skin in this photo.

This was taken at the beach party this weekend. I did not "take the bump out" and display it in a bathing suit, thankyouverymuch. Although we did see a gorgeous, and very pregnant, lady who did take her bump out. I spent most of the day in the shade of the umbrella (not doing much for the tan, eh?) but the temps were HIGH (in the low 90s), and I didn't want to cook and look like a lobster! Dave has some lobster-like splotches on his legs, poor guy. He splashed around in the water a bit -- said it was c-c-c-cold (therefore, refreshing). T'was a nice day.

And here are the latest belly shots of me and The Yipper. 38" - another inch in 2 weeks...not bad! 34 weeks along is a major milestone. According to Babycenter, she's about the size of a canteloupe, and she's laying down layers of fat, and her nervous system and lungs are almost fully formed. The next big milestone is Week 37, when I'm considered "full term."

I have noticed a funny thing, though. You can't see it in either of these photos, but my left side is rounder than my right! Only slightly, and I don't know that anyone else would notice it, but it's disconcerting because I like things to be symmetrical, and my bump is just not! Oh, the shame! :o)

And here's a side shot. I had to kinda Photoshop the top a bit...hope you don't mind. :o)

Yesterday in church I had a few people come up to me and say things like "Wow! You are really looking pregnant!" Hee hee. Who says that?! I'm sure they meant it as a compliment, but I just found it funny. And then there are the people that stop us and say "Oh, yes. We've heard about you two. I'm So-and-so. It's nice to meet you." One or two couples every week! We go to a big enough church that we don't know everyone yet, so I think it's funny that our reputation precedes us. It's probably just that we're the only pregnant family at church right now, and you know how church ladies are...babies are good gossip fodder, right? It just makes me feel bad that they all remember us from one week to the next, and I don't hardly recognize any of them! I just smile at them, then grip my belly and make a bee-line for the restrooms. :o)

Anyway, that's us! Hope you have a great week while I keep cooking this little girl!

Well, I Never!

Today was a day I did something I have never done before.

Well, two things, actually.

One, I know I will do again, and I have been tempted to do in the past, but never felt right. Or worthy. Or bad enough.

The other? Well, I just never wanted to. And I don't know if I really wanted to this time, either, it just seems to make some sense. And I hope it turns out like I intend it to work out. Otherwise, I'll have proved myself right. Or will I prove myself wrong? Huh, I've confused myself. (not hard, I know)

Curious?

Both occurred at my local Target store.

Does that help?

Probably not, since most of my adventures of late occur at my local Target store!

Okay, enough delay.

The first "never before" (and, oh boy, it really made a difference!) was that I used one of the "Rascal" mobility scooters to get around the store while I did my shopping. Normally I am hunched over the handle of the cart after being in the store for about 8 minutes. No one told me that shopping would wear me out while pregnant. Shame on you for with-holding that critical piece of information! Well, anyways...you will be pleased to know that I did not run into any people, and I maneuvered through the aisles just fine. The only time I had a problem was when I was trying to turn beside one of the racks of baby clothes, and I caught my wheel on it's wheel, and, well, I was being followed by a clothes rack for a few feet before I stopped and realigned everything. :o) I'm sure the guys watching the security cameras got a kick out of that! My only disappointment was finding out how slow they go. I wanted to go fast! At least faster than if I was walking in my current state of un-grace! All in all, it was a really good thing. This baby of mine does not seem to like shopping, and makes my life difficult when I must shop.

The second "never before" stems from a recent sleeping (and non-sleeping) trend of mine. It seems that my belly is no longer willing to tolerate waistbands. The belly doesn't like them at all. Two feet wide, surround the bump? Nope. Millimeters wide, underneath the bump? Uh uh. This is just not cool because, well, I'm kinda a modest person, and prefer to wear clothes. When I'm sleeping, this includes shorts or long-pants, to be exact. Now, during the day, I can situate my shorts or pants in a way that's moderately comfortable because, well, I'm conscious. At night? Not so good. I wake up way too frequently as it is, I don't need more interruptions to readjust my waistband! Sheesh! I've pretty much always been a pajama's kind of girl. I know I had nightgowns when I was a kid, but once I started making my own sleeping-attire decisions, they always involved two pieces. One on top, and one on bottom. With legs. I guess I'm a fidgety sleeper, because nightgowns always ended up around my neck, or twisted 4 times around my body. And I would have got get up out of bed to rearrange my nightgown before I could get back into bed to finish sleeping. So, I have come to a point of dilemma. I, being the modest one, must wear something to sleep in. (Make whatever comments you like, think whatever you want...this is just the way I am wired.) Do I continue wearing pj's that irritate my belly? Or do I venture into the land of nod wearing an actual nightgown? Well, today at Target, I drove my little Rascal through the...um...nightwear? department, and came to a rack of nightgowns that I thought I might could tolerate. And I wanted one that would continue to grow with me. And I wanted one that was (maybe?) long enough to not end up around my neck 13 minutes after I go to sleep. And I wanted one that I thought was pretty. And I wanted one with a particular kind of bodice layout. And I wanted one that wasn't too expensive. And I wanted one that... :o) Whew! I found a couple that I liked, and tried them on. One was not so good, and the other one looked like a pretty dress. That I could wear out (with a slip, mind you!). And it met all my other criteria.

So, today, for the first time in all my adult days, I purchased a nightgown.

And I put it in my little Rascal scooter.

And went on my merry way.

Tomorrow? It's a beach party. And the weather looks fab. F. A. B. Mmm...gotta love southern California!

Surprise!

(courtesy of dcrmom)

Things that surprise me:
- when I see people I didn't expect to be somewhere;
- when the phone rings during my nap-time (GRR!);
- when interweb quizzes are pretty close to right about me;
- that I am a colon (not nearly as exciting as an exclamation point or a comma).

You Are a Colon

You are very orderly and fact driven. You aren't concerned much with theories or dreams... only what's true or untrue. You are brilliant and incredibly learned. Anything you know is well researched. You like to make lists and sort through things step by step. You aren't subject to whim or emotions. Your friends see you as a constant source of knowledge and advice. (But they are a little sick of you being right all of the time!) You excel in: Leadership positions You get along best with: The Semi-Colon

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Please feel free to click that link above, and find out what kind of punctuation mark you are, then come right back here and tell us all! :o)

Howzabout A Mug o' This?

I just got finished with my (32 week) ultrasound, and the good doctor was kind enough to take some extra time and find some shots where the Yipper looks more human than alien! Her little face was pressed up against my uterus, so these aren't perfect shots, but they're something! :o) Hopefully you can see the half of her face that's showing!
And here's another shot of her profile. Whenever he gets close to her face, she covers it with her little hands. Always has. As if to say "Stop looking at me. And stop waving that noisemaker at me! I'm trying to take a nap here."

He said her vitals were great. She weighs 4.0 pounds, having gained 20 ounces in the last 3 weeks. (I've gained 5 pounds). Her legs and arms are long, and her heartbeat (both to brain and heart) were good, and consistent with each other. He said everything else looks on track, too...so that is definitely a praise in my book!

Now, I'm very aware that I've been posting a lot of baby-related posts lately, so I'm going to try to refrain from boring you for a while, and post about other things! Like the glorious weather in LA. Or how well my kitty is adjusting to life in LaLaLand. There's pretty much nothing else going on! :o)

Anyways, hope everyone has a great weekend!