Jack Johnson

There's something about listening to Jack Johnson that soothes the soul.

It's been a productive and quite pleasant day. Guy's not napping yet, as when he was almost asleep friends came over, so I let him play.

But I had a really nice morning. Something about friendly grocery store staff, a balloon bobbing up and down in the backseat, Jack Johnson on the radio, and a coke at my side that makes life slow down just a little bit.

I like it slow.

Monday Musings

I'm stealing the idea for a Monday Musing from Katherine, my good friend and neighbor.

I went for my first midwife appointment today. I thought it wouldn't be long, just a little bit of paperwork to get things underway. I was wrong. I waited in the office for ten minutes. I filled out privacy paperwork and allergies and medications, etc. I waited for five minutes. I peed in a cup (I hate that part. It's such a hassle) and then waited another ten minutes. I went into a different room and waited five minutes. I gave a complete health and mental history, including family history and everything medical that was ever significant. I listened to the standard spiel about what the practice offers and does not offer.

I weighed myself. Only .8 lbs up, and yet I can't fit into two of my favorite pairs of jeans. Lameness. I made an appointment for next month, asked for a pregnancy verification for Medicaid, had blood drawn, and forgot to get said verification. Meaning I have to go back tomorrow to do it.

I need to get all of the paperwork together and turned in by Thursday. This means statements from all six bank accounts, the car loan, financial aid, and our tax refund information. Yuck.

It snowed today. Again. Just like last week. And I'm sick of it. There were beautiful moments of sunshine, and dark gloomy overcast blizzard-y moments. But Josh bought KFC for dinner, and Amy and Jeremy brought over the fixings for rootbeer floats. We watched the Memphis-Kansas game (can you say agonizing?!?) and then played Texas Hold 'Em. Don't tell anyone--it's my guilty pleasure.

The KFC was excellent. And we saw Tom for the last time this trip. It's been so nice having him around, and he's had such a good time with Guy, it'll be sad to have him gone. I'm getting all teary and sentimental. Stop it, Emily. You're fine.

I have lots of other thoughts floating around my head, but I think it just may be time to stop thinking, and simply go to bed. Much love, internets.

P.S. I have the best sister-in-law evah. Amy, you rock it to the awesome.

Red Tape

I've been a busy girl this morning. I started sorting through Medicaid paperwork for the pregnancy (because no one in her right mind would pay $600/month for maternity premiums when her student husband isn't working). I made two meals for the family, read a chapter in Preach My Gospel, did some dishes, bought eggs from the creamery and picked up newsletters from the office.

I still have two loads of laundry to fold, and I need to make banana bread. And clean up my hurricane of a kitchen. It's bad. Really, really bad. I just can't seem to get on top of it, especially when the smell of food plus the steam on my face as I wash the dishes make me feel miserable.

Ah, the joy of pregnancy! I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered. I'm just tired. And hungry. And thirsty. And tired. But not puking! Count my blessings, right? I'm not puking.

And I have black ants all over my kitchen.

Meatballs! Get your meatballs!

We had meatball sub sandwiches for dinner at my house tonight. They were quite tasty. But between morning sickness and horrible (and embarrassing!) gas I don't feel I had the opportunity to enjoy them much.

At least I won't be tempted by leftovers, since everything I cooked was eaten. And by cooked, I mean threw in the crockpot. You know, the frozen meatballs and canned sauce. Ah, the good life.

I'm struggling to update this frequently, as I would like to do. I feel like I don't quite have a handle on my life these days, as my dishes are never all done, my house is never very tidy, and I don't get as much reading done as I would like. Aside from the daily tasks, there are other bigger decisions looming that I won't discuss here.

It's always interesting to see the twists and turns life takes. In striving to follow the Lord's will for our lives, J and myself will prayerfully consider a decision, research all of our options, spend countless hours discussing pros and cons, and then finally choose a course of action. Then, the following day, the Lord will somehow reveal to us that, oops, we chose the wrong one. So, let's start over with the decision making process as we slowly eliminate options and others become available to us.

It's feeling a bit like an exercise in patience right now, striving to do my very best to follow the Spirit after studying things out in my mind, only to be told I came to the wrong decision. Well, I'm sure we'll learn, and I have faith that the Lord will provide for our needs.

As for right now, I'm going to bed. Because I feel lousy. And I'm a little depressed that I got less out of enrichment than I had hoped. Oh, well. There will be others.

Ten Days.

Whoa, and what a ten days they've been!

My cell phone stopped working, so I got a new one. Yay! I love VirginMobile. The last phone I bought, two years ago, cost $15. So did this one. But this one has a color screen and lots of cool features. Yippee!

Today is Pi day (3/14!) and so I went next door to my neighbor the mathemetician's house and learned all about how Pi is a constant. But not a constant. And I ate three slices of pie. Yum :-) And the kids had fun getting on each other's nerves. Woo-hoo.

Speaking of kids. Come Thanksgiving, we should have another one! I am thrilled beyond belief, and feeling impatient to have another one join our little family.

Oh, and I had Carl's Jr. for dinner. I'm hoping that nursing a toddler and being pregnant will make up for all of the calories I've consumed the last few weeks.

"Green" Smoothie

So, I don't know if frozen fruit counts in a raw diet (do they blanch frozen fruit like they do frozen veggies?), but today I had my first "green" smoothie.

Well, it was more purple, really, because I used blueberries. Add a fistful of spinach, leftover yogurt that Guy refused to eat, and some milk to thin it out a bit.

It was interesting. I'm happy that I got a full serving of milk, a serving of fruit, and a fat serving of greens in one glass, in less than two or three minutes that it took to make it and chug it down.

And Guy enjoyed eating it off of a spoon, so that's great, too! I'm sure I'll have to experiment with different fruits and greens to find one that tastes good, as opposed to decent.

All things considered? I don't think I'll drink one of these every day, but I could manage a few times a week. Especially considering how good it is for me!

Use Your Resources

This week I had two great money-saving moments.

Discount meat at Harmon's (fantastic steaks for $1.30/lb--they were even appropriate portions!)

Free day-old bread! It makes life so much better when it's inexpensive.