Oh, Ye of Little Faith

Mom poked fun at me about Thursday night, and just in case you are a doubter, I must tell you that yes, Thursday night did include some free food. Isn't that just a given these days? :) And here's why...

My gig as cheerleading sponsor is up, but I get to reap the benefits of the pay through the rest of my paychecks, which is nice. With all this free time on my hands, I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I needed to find a job so that we can gain some momentum with our debt snowball and start a diaper fund. Well, a friend of mine from church is engaged to the assistant director of the Sylvan Learning Center here in Auburn and when they were here playing Settlers of Catan on New Year's Eve, he mentioned that they are looking for people who can do higher math. Hey! That's me! Believe it or not, most teachers don't feel comfortable teaching math past the sixth grade level. So, I put in my application and resume' and followed up. Now, instead of doing basketball two nights a week, I'm working at Sylvan two nights a week. It doesn't pay as much as private tutoring by any means, but it does offer more hours and...

FREE FOOD.

Yes, that's right. They have bottled water and snacks available for the teachers. Every day. I had been thinking that I would have to grab something to eat after school to make it through the evening, so imagine my surprise when they had some for us. Free food is a beautiful thing.

Some other good things? This is a job where I don't have to stand up (as I would have if I were waiting tables). And Sylvan is the next building down the street from our apartment complex. So, it takes four minutes to get door-to-door, including walking time from the car. I will never again miss a 7 o'clock episode of NCIS. Haha.

Also, on the free food front, I have probably already mentioned that I prefer walking my car insurance payment into the office instead of mailing it in because it saves money (it's on the way to and from work) and because they always have cookies. The cookies are the big draw. Well yesterday I walked into the office at 4:56 p.m. and they close at 5. I apologized profusely for being so late, that I just needed to make a payment. They were very gracious. On my way out I looked in the bucket for a cookie, but was not surprised that since it was the end of the day/week, that the cookies were gone. But, Heidi, my agent rep, noticed and asked if I wanted a cookie. I nodded, and it was then that she said, "Oh my gosh! Are you pregnant?" My jacket was zipped up, so it can be hard to tell... She went back to the kitchen and brought back all the rest of the cookies (6) for me to take home. Aah. A charmed life.

And now for something completely different:

Today is the last day of hunting season, so of course, my lil' hunter is out in the woods. I am having people over this afternoon to make cards, as I may have mentioned before. I have more people than I have chairs. I think I erred on the side of too many invitations hoping that someone would show up, and didn't anticipate that everyone would come (except for 2). I had a card party in Tuscaloosa and only one person showed up. This time, I have 6 chairs and, oh, about 14 people. :) Haha. Not sure what I'm going to do. Preacher's wife may be bringing some chairs. And everyone is bringing snacks (free food!) to share since I'm providing the crafty stuff. Okay, so I guess not an entirely different subject. Except that...

After Eli got up this morning to go hunting, baby girl was crazy active. It's still a very weird feeling. Which reminded me of the conversation that Eli and I had over dinner last night. He told me that he never really had an opinion about when life started (because he just didn't know), but knew that abortion was bad. He said he knows now, and that for him, there is no question anymore, that our baby was a new life the minute she had her own DNA. That made me happy to hear. This isn't one of those topics that we've discussed before. I had, however, shared with him my dismay when hearing stories about couples who decided they didn't want children so, in one particular case, had three abortions. Then, years later, they changed their mind and couldn't get pregnant, so were undergoing in vitro. His response was similar to mine. That's all I knew about his opinions (I know--we've been married almost six years).

I told him last night about that anti-abortion pamphlet that used to scare the hooey out of me growing up, and is probably still somewhere in my parents' house, stuck in a book somewhere. I distinctly remember the picture of the person holding a baby by the feet, the baby's feet were as big as their pinky nail, making the thumb and forefinger look huge. I told him that that picture is the one that convinced me where life begins.

Anyway. Time to get my house clean before the mob arrives. Thanks for reading. Happy Saturday!

Punch Brothers

Another long day. And it was another computer lab day, go figure. These days are supposed to be easy, but getting my students to actually use their brains and think about something is as easy as pulling teeth. When we're in the computer lab, they just want to play games. Um, no. That's not in my curriculum. And I'm sorry that you feel I'm so mean because I actually expect you to work (or, God forbid, use your brain!). Enough of that.

I left right after school to get to Sylvan for my second day on the job. I observed the first hour, and jumped in the second and third hours. It's all coming back to me pretty quickly.

And then, the highlight of the evening, Eli and I went to a bluegrass (?) concert: The Punch Brothers. All young guys, all extremely talented. An updated version of old folks music. It's no coincidence that the Opelika Arts Association, which is endowed by all the gray hairs in Opelika, put this particular act into their subscribers' season. We naturally pigmented folk were outnumbered by the silver foxes by about, oh, 50 to 1. The judge's wife called around to everyone she knows and collected tickets from people who weren't planning to go--and then she gave them out to people who wanted to go but couldn't/wouldn't pay full price. So, we got free tickets. I had looked into this before, but they were too expensive--about $40 a pop--so this was a nice surprise.

And now it's bedtime. I'm very thankful that tomorrow is Friday. Not as thankful that Eli is leaving me to go hunting...again, but thankful that it's the last weekend in hunting season. :)

G'night.

Swagbucks, etc.

Okay, I'll start with this: I'm alive. And I'm back to about 75%, but my stomach is no longer made of steel. It's more...pewter? I'm trying to be very careful.

Now, have you heard of Swagbucks? My friend Misty has been amazing lately finding all these deals online, spending time researching ways to save money. She first introduced me to Swagbucks a couple of weeks ago. It's a search engine that uses both Google and Yahoo. And every so often, when you search, you earn a random Swagbuck or three. You can save your Swagbucks up and redeem them for gift cards, etc. Anyway, I downloaded the Swagbucks toolbar onto my school computer, and anytime I need to find something, I just plug it in. You don't win bucks on every search, and as far as I can tell you really only win once per day, but it doesn't take very much to win. Anyway, if this is something that sounds interesting, brainless, and easy...it is. If you want to sign up, use any of my shameless links in the preceding paragraph so that I can get some referral credit. I am now done with this shameless plug. (Thanks, Misty!)




And back to real life...tonight were the last basketball games of the season, and therefore the last cheerleading gig of the season. It is done. Hooray! Now, I probably have to look forward to organizing try-outs for next year, but that will be easy enough.

And Mom--my card came in the mail. And it wasn't addressed to Erin "Mush Brain" Beaver like you said it would be. :) (Thanks!)

Anyway, this is a busy week. I'll write more later and tell you about my new job at Sylvan and everything else that is going on. For now, I must remedy this monster heartburn and get some sleep.

Cheers!

Ill

I'm sick. Sick like I haven't been in the nearly 8.5 years Eli and I have been together. I would definitely remember something like this.

Eli, who is never sick, came home from work sick at lunch on Wednesday and then took Thursday off to be close to his commode of choice. I was doing fine, glad for my good immune system, until 5:30 this morning when I woke up and had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. Strangely enough, Eli also had to make a mad dash to the other bathroom about 2 minutes later, so I'm glad that we are in a 2-bath apartment, or it could have been ugly. Thankfully he has been spared the nausea.

I haven't eaten anything all day because I can't keep it down. And if I could keep it down, I wouldn't be able to keep it in, if you know what I mean. I have been able to feel baby move around, so that's comforting mostly--she doesn't know what's going on, but does probably know that I'm dehydrated. At other times, she's kicking and I'm thinking don't do that or I'll be sorry...and I have been.

I'm already making tentative plans to skip work tomorrow...we'll see how I'm feeling around 6 o'clock tonight. If I don't go, this will be the first time I missed work on a sick day and was actually sick.

Eli just got back from the drug store with some Pedialyte and ginger ale. I think I'll drink some of that and then see if I can keep down some plain toast. Ugh.

Crafty Kiddos

I posted a few days ago about how my sisters and I were crafty kiddos, remember? Mom had this box of stuff that we used to make anything and everything for our imaginary play (We even had thread spools--really, who has thread spools in their craft box these days? Few people sew anymore...).

Well, my friend Misty posted a link to a free photo book online (expired, sorry) and I decided that I was going to search to find all the pictures I could of both Eli and me to publish into a book. Sounds vain, I know, but if you've ever been to our apartments in the nearly 6 years since we've been married, you'd know that we don't put pictures of ourselves up. This apartment is the exception because Eli didn't take his wedding photo to work, so it's sitting on top of the TV cabinet. That's a fluke. So, essentially, our photos are in boxes...somewhere. Well, on the hunt for these photos, I came across a stash of photos from my childhood, and one in particular that I thought would nicely illustrate my earlier assertion about our craftiness...



Yes. That's me around 5 years old, and my Cabbage Patch, Lilly, back when she was clean. I wrote on the back, "1984 Basement of house in Rochester, New York".

I remember making these pig faces out of paper cups. Hula skirts out of grocery sacks. Airplanes out of cardboard boxes.

Charmed.

AWOL no more (for now)

I'm here. I'm here.

Between busy days and bum computers, I haven't been able to post recently. I think three days counts as a dry spell for me, don't you think?

TGIF. I spent the evening hanging out with the Ryans, friends from church. I left early for a Friday night because I'm going to a women's worship service tomorrow with a friend from work. Bad news: I didn't remember until, oh, about 10:30 p.m., that Valley, Alabama, where the service will be, is on Eastern time (don't ask). So that means that in church terms, it was 11:30! And that means I'll get one hour less of sleep than I had hoped because I have to leave extra early to get there on time. I'm silently shaking my fist at Valley, AL, for being so weird. I'm just glad I live and work in one time zone. My friend lives in Eastern time in Valley and works in Central time. I would freak out and be late to work every day...but home early.

Bad news, part II: The girls upstairs are having a party tonight. Seriously, there are 8 occupied units in this complex (six per building, eight buildings--you do the math) and the party girls [undergrads] live upstairs. Sometimes life is not fair. In fact, life is so unfair that there was no parking up close to the apartment because the cars are piled on top of one another in our little parking dead-end, which happens to be outside our bedroom window. I'm in bed now and they're out there revving their engines and squealing tires...oh, and swearing loudly. I did think about calling the police to complain, but what kind of grumpy old lady would I be? Yes, I know. The kind who has to get up an hour earlier on a Saturday morning because her friend lives in Eastern time. Geez.

And can I tell you how weird it was to be in my bathroom and hear someone peeing in the toilet directly above me? Ugh.

Eli's hunting, and I'm about to go to bed.

Peace.

Just another manic Tuesday

I was right. We didn't really accomplish anything academic today. We were permitted to let the kids watch the inauguration coverage on TV, so most teachers used that as an excuse to do nothing, and the kids as an excuse to talk and ignore the coverage. I do not have a TV in my classroom; even if I did, I don't have cable. I have an LCD projector and live stream capabilities from my second computer, but no sound.

So, my first two classes had to take tests today. I know. I'm the mean teacher. And then the ceremony actually took place during my planning period. About a quarter 'til 11 I went across the hall to watch it on the television with Ms. Clark's class, and to get warm since my classroom was freezing (and every classroom on my side of the hall). I ended up going to lunch with them, having no lunch responsibilities today (woohoo) and then getting my 4th period class for a total of 15 minutes. So, I couldn't make my 8th graders take their tests today. But in my 5th and 6th periods we did go over a grammar review for their test, and they all had to write a paragraph about "Where were you when Barack Obama became president?" And I live streamed footage from cnn.com to have on in the background. But, overall, a wasted day.

So, then I got to thinking...

Every lifetime has historic moments. Moments where later you ask, where were you when...? This was the impetus for my students' essay today. In my parents' lifetime, they went from 48 states to 50. They watched a man walk on the moon. They endured the assassination of a president, and then a prominent civil rights figure. They lived through the civil rights movement, and Kent State was practically in their backyard. Vietnam. Woodstock. Protests. And that's just up through my sister's birth. Then tack on the next 35 years of stuff.

And in my lifetime:
1. The Challenger and Columbia space shuttles exploded (almost 20 years apart).
2. The Berlin Wall came down.
3. The Soviet Union fell.
4. Terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.
5. Virgina Tech shootings.
6. Branch Davidians in Waco.
7. Free trade in Cuba and China.
8. Fall of Saddam Hussein.
9. Hubble Telescope/Mars Rover
10. Nintendo releases...especially the Wii
11. Barack Obama was elected and peacefully installed as the first black president.

These are just events. Don't even get me started on technology. I still can't quite believe it that when my nephew was 3 and someone was on the computer, he would ask, "Are you checking your e-mail?" He's 13 now. And he has a cell phone. And has had one for a couple of years. And he'll probably drive an electric or hybrid car when he grows up. DVDs will be passe', and a DVR will be a standard feature on cable packages (if cable even still exists). iPod technology will be standard in vehicles, and having 12 gigs of storage space will seem so tiny--how did we ever survive with so little storage space? he'll say. And some other technology will come along which will cause him to say, "What did I do with my time before I had a _____________?"

Amazing. I feel old already.

Inauguration Eve

Not much to post about. Spent a lazy weekend reading and napping. In fact, it was quite wonderful. Went to church yesterday and then back again for our EPC induction service and reception. Someone noticed how much I eat during morning snack at church (between Sunday school and the service) and I was volunteered to bring morning snack in two weeks. Oh, well. I guess free food isn't always free.

Today I did some cleaning around the house when Eli went to work (on a state holiday, I know). He came home at lunchtime and brought donuts. They were left over from the jury this morning. And then I went and tutored. I'm in the process now of scanning in old photos of us to maybe put together in a photo book? I haven't decided.

Tomorrow I go back to work, but I think that it's going to be a strange day because of the inauguration. I think there are plans to get the kids together in the gym and watch the live coverage. This means that I may not get anything academic done tomorrow.

Brass Opportunity

Last night, Eli and I went over to our friends' trailer and played some good ol Wii. They got a Wii Fit board for Christmas, so that was the major enticement for going over there. Though I know Eli is sometimes reluctant to go (this couple is about 10 years older than we are, engaged to be married, and are somewhat extreme versions of ourselves), I know he had a good time. :) At some point when we were talking, a comment was made that Eli and I have done a lot together. And you know what? As much as I sometimes lament how much time we have spent apart over the last 8 years (including the 2 years I lived in Austin), we have done a lot of neat things together. And I hope that even when our family changes we will continue to do so.

Today, we went to the Auburn vs. Alabama men's basketball game. I'm pleased as pie that Eli wanted to go to a basketball game to begin with. When I first met him he didn't know anything about the sport. Now, he knows more, but still thinks it's a stupid, arbitrarily refereed game (which, okay, it is). And yet he's willing to stomach it--even suggest it as an outing--because he knows I enjoy college basketball. (When I first met his parents, his mom's comment was something like, "She's just like you...except...she likes...basketball?" Very confused-like.) Today's game was not very good. Auburn isn't very good, but Bama lost to them, so what does that say about Bama? I'm not even going to go there. Auburn did have a 3-point ace, though from our seats in the nosebleed section I couldn't keep track of who that was. It was still pretty impressive. I wore my University of Alabama shirt, and I didn't get assaulted, so I would say that it was a good experience overall.

The last thing I want to comment on is Auburn's courtside pep band. Wow! I could hear them from the concourse and wasn't sure if it was a recording or a live band. Turns out that it's only a drum-and-bugle ensemble, which was surprising, a little upsetting, and then eventually satisfying. Every single horn was shiny silver--8 tubas, 10 mellophones, and around 15-20 trumpets and trombones each; plus they had a standard drum section. Every player wore a sharp navy polo shirt (sporty, not plain), and wore white gloves. Again, wow! They were very impressive as a group.

I mentioned the all-brass-ness of it to Eli, and he told me it sounded like it was missing something. But, for that venue, I thought it was perfect. I always felt redundant in a sports atmosphere anyway because the clarinet line was always carried somewhere in the trumpet section.. I think if Baby Beaver is interested in playing an instrument, I'm going to steer her toward the brass section. There are just so many more opportunities for brass players. And I'm sorry if this sounds like blasphemy, fellow woodwind and percussion players, but it's how I feel. :)

Rafal Olbinski

Tonight, Eli and I met after work for a cheap date at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. We always pass by the gorgeous building on our way in and out of Auburn, but have never been there. They have a Third Thursday Late Night which is free to the public. Tonight, one of their artists, who has an exhibit running through the end of February, was speaking about his work. I had never heard of him before, but I saw some of his paintings in the newspaper (with an accompanying article, which is how I found out about the event) and decided I wanted to know/see more.

Rafal Olbinski is Polish, but has lived in the United States for the last 27 years, since he was about 40. His style of art is mainly surrealist, reminiscent of Rene' Magritte, whose work I love to ponder.

Wow! I don't think I could be an artist because of the need for sheer patience and precision. How do they get such detail with a brush?? Perhaps some day I will take a painting class and get a glimpse into the world of the artist, but for now I will remain ignorant and in awe.

What I love about surrealist artwork is that it is so bizarre that you can't even imagine where the artist got his/her ideas and vision. Olbinski started in the 80s by creating covers for magazines, including Time and Newsweek. He aslo did covers for foreign publications. Later, he moved on to do commissions and work on canvas. Perhaps his most striking artwork is his huge collection of Opera posters.

Here are a couple of links to Olbinski's work. Amazing. (And yes, there are a few naked women...)

Rafal Olbinski Paintings
Optical Illusions
Opera Posters
Jule Collins Smith Museum -- Olbinski Exhibit

And, just because I feel the need to state what was probably obvious to you from the beginning, there was, of course, a reception for the artist and attendees in the atrium of the museum. That is, free food. Good food -- pita chips with hummus and olive spread, calamata olives (already pitted!) and other great stuff. If you can't tell, I was especially excited about the olives. Love that salty purple olive taste.

Great artwork. Great food. Great date. (Thanks, love!)

13

People always say that 13 is an unlucky number. I, in fact, have always thought the opposite since I was born on the 13th of June and I turned out great. And, as I may have mentioned before, I live a charmed life. I can't help it.

Well, today is January thirteenth. It marks a couple things. One, I am now officially 5 months away from my 30th birthday. Zoiks! And even sooner, I am 4 months away from my estimated due date! Sounds like a long time, but after teaching for 8 years, I know that the spring semester always seems to fly by.

I spent most of the day on my feet helping helpless 8th graders (my 7th graders weren't so needy, interestingly enough) follow pre-printed directions, which I pain-stakingly put together so that they wouldn't ask so many questions (why do I even bother?) as they worked on the computers. Really. I was tired of 8th graders today. And at the end of the day, I thought, gee, I haven't felt her move yet today (she still doesn't have a name, so she only gets feminine pronouns). But, as soon as I got home from school and tutoring and sat still for one moment, there she was... She's very perceptive, I can tell. Or maybe she was moving all along, but I was just too harried to notice.

Tutoring tonight was pretty awful. The textbook that MW is using tells theories and basics on how to work the trig problems, but doesn't give nearly enough opportunity to PRACTICE applying the theorems and solving sample problems. It drives me crazy! I'm about to go out and buy another trig book just to figure out what the heck is going on (I bought the same one MW has so that I can help her muddle through the madness). Today, I felt like trig was a foreign language. I wasn't very much help, but to my credit, neither was the book, or her semester-long substitute teacher (per MW). I'm thinking I may not accept payment for the disaster that was today.

In other news, I'm about two or three chapters away from finishing this book that I got from Mom, The Saving Graces, by Patricia Gaffney. I've muddled through it, but the story line is depressing. Talk about an existentialist, dreary storyline. I guess it doesn't help that it's about middle-aged women in the midst of life crises. I will say, however, that it was more readable than Little Women, which is why I still haven't finished that book. I know! I really need to finish that classic just to get it over with and quit complaining.

Well, happy four months until Baby Beaver is due. She'll probably come late. Or early. But probably not on the 13th. I'd settle for any day, but preferably a prime number. :)

Isms

In Sunday School, the women are watching a series by RC Sproul called "Christian Worldview." It's left over from the 80's (he mentions that this year's Best Picture was Chariots of Fire) but the information is still valid.

Theidea is that we are missionaries in our own land. Missionaries spend months, even years, studying the culture they are entering before they ever set foot on foreign soil. We're in our own mission field already, and probably don't know much about our culture. That's an understatement. We live in a Christian-ized culture, but not a Christian nation.

Last week, we started off with an excellent discussion of secularism, which was the overview for the whole 10 weeks. This weeks we talked specifically about existentialism and how it has manifested itself in popular culture. I can't imagine what life would be like if I didn't think that my existence mattered, that there was no purpose to my life, and that I was accountable to nothing and no one in the long term. What despair, emptiness I might feel!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this story. In the future we are going to be exploring humanist, pluralism, relativism, hedonism, a few other -isms, and then art, science, and literature. I'm especially looking forward to those last three.

Account Closed

It was a giant step for me, but when I realized I haven't used the account since last February--12 months--I decided to call and close my Discover card account.

It was in February 2008 that Eli and I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU) at our church in Tuscaloosa. It was in February that I put that card in a bag full of water in the freezer to see if I needed it. I thawed it when we graduated FPU and did "plastic surgery" in front of everyone at class. But... It was emotional, and I couldn't close the account just in case. After all, I had some sort of sentimental value attached to it. It was my first card. And now, a year later, I haven't needed it. But, more importantly, I don't want it. They sent me a new card right after we moved here, but I never activated it.

When I called customer service, he gave me a hard time. Started talking to me about my FICO score and how closing an account that I've had for 11 years would adversely affect my future credit. But here's the thing...I don't want future credit. From anyone. My goal is to be debt free. Eli and I are going to work to pay off our student loans and save up for a house. Not a down payment. A house. And yes, that may take us until this baby is in kindergarten, but that's the plan. And if, on the off chance that we find a house that costs more than we save up, we'll only get a mortgage for the amount we need. Our "down payment" will be greater than 60% and we won't have to borrow much, which means we won't need to have that much credit extended to us, which means that Discover can eat it. I don't need no stinkin' credit cards.

I'm eligible for my free credit report in a month or so, and I hope to go through that and make sure that I've closed all my inactive accounts--I'm pretty sure I have. And those wouldn't make a difference anyway since they were/are probably store accounts with only $100 credit limit or something. I was 18-22 when they were opened (haven't opened any since college, except for the Rooms To Go account 3 years ago, which we paid in full in a couple of months) and so they have long since been forgotten/closed/unused.

I will also have to go through Eli's credit report. He cut up a couple of credit cards in front of our FPU class (I did, admittedly shed a tear when the Tiffany & Co. card met the shears) but I don't think he closed any of the accounts. That is, obviously, his prerogative, but I do want to talk to him about it.

And yes, I'm a hypocrite of sorts, because I still have my USAA credit card. I'm not ready to be a 100% Dave Disciple yet, but I foresee that that card (another 11-year commitment) will go away within the next year as I pay it off. And Eli's Citi card will go away, too. We'll be debt free except for student loans. But, not, as I had hoped, consumer-debt free by the time I turn 30 (Eli will be by the time he's 30, though!).

Now onto something totally related, but different topic:

I've already decided that I will fight to become immune to baby-itis--the need to buy all new things for Baby Beaver--and have already accepted many second-hand items, including strollers and clothing. I know there are a few things that will need to be new and will purchase those accordingly (car seat, specifically), but for everything else, I'm going to stay strong. The baby won't know the difference. And I already have tons of children's books and games, so I won't be spending much money on entertainment for the baby. Simple toys. Nature. Imagination. Books. These are the things I want for my child to experience.

Shoot--I had a charmed childhood, and I don't remember having much. We played outside; we built forts with blankets; we did crafts (loved the Childcraft encyclopedia volume Make and Do); we pretended the bunk bed was a ship, a limo, a castle, a hospital; we made goodies (chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies...mmm...I need that recipe, again); we invented our own games; we played kickball with the neighborhood kids; we ran around the playground; we did science experiments (again, thanks, Childcraft); we played board games and card games; we went camping as a family; and went to watch the 4th of July fireworks as a treat.

Yes, we had toys, but thankfully we didn't have everything we ever wanted. I had some My Little Ponies and a great imagination. I had two Cabbage Patch Kids. I played with my sister's Barbie dolls (when she would let me) and with my friends' Barbies (when she wouldn't). I had a bike that I rode it everywhere. The greatest treat for me was being able to get a book from the Scholastic book order. As I said, I had a charmed childhood. I think that's one of the greatest gifts a parent can give.

Run along, now

Yesterday was a looooong day. We got up late--Eli jumped out of bed, took the quickest shower on record, and sped off to Bible Study, where he was 30 minutes late. I left at the same time to get to school and was there all day, followed by an away game for basketball/cheerleading, followed by the Young Women's Bible Study for church. We were there until almost 9 o'clock just chatting up a storm. And when came home, Eli had our friends over watching the BCS championship game, so it would have been rude to go to bed, so I stayed up and watched the second half of the game and didn't make it to bed until 11. Loooooong day.

I'm excited that tonight we are going to a gymnastics meet. The three years we lived in Tuscaloosa, I somehow never made it to a meet. Bama is one of the top ranked gymnastics programs in the nation. Well, tonight, Bama is competing at Auburn, the Iron Bowl of gymnastics, if you will, and it's the breast cancer awareness night (known as the "Pink Meet") so Eli got us tickets to go see two stellar gymnastics teams--his idea, no kidding. And he's going to wear his pink shirt. :)

Before that happens, though, Eli is going running. Yes, I said running. He HATES running just to run (running for soccer is another story) and I pretty much stopped running when my running partners graduated/moved away and Eli wouldn't run with me. I don't know if I'm miffed about this or not. Part of me is a little ruffled because I can't go run with them in my present condition, not even considering the fact that I'm out of running shape. So, after we have the baby, he probably will be sick of this renewed hobby, and again, won't run with me. Gah.

He's running with his friend Colin, who pretty much ran the Azalea Trail Run 10k with him last March. Colin is training for a half marathon. I'm jealous. Both of his ability to run (and a half marathon at that), but of his ability to get my husband to run with him. Oh, well.

Bah! Technology

Yesterday, the computer just wouldn't turn on. Not at all. Thus, breaking my streak of posts. Oh, well. C'est la vie. There are more important things in life. You know, like catching up on ALL the missed episodes of NCIS. I realized on Monday that we get the channel ION and that they show old NCIS episodes from 7-10. Well! That was good news, indeed, because USA shows old episodes of NCIS from 4-7. I can easily catch up with the missing links.

Now for something less pathetic. We went to the doctor today for our 22 week appointment. The nurse tried to get the heartbeat, but the baby was moving all over the place and she couldn't get a really good read. I mean, I heard the heartbeat loud and clear, but not for long, because then the little one moved. She would find it, then the baby would move again. It was actually quite amusing.

Anyway, the doctor wanted to know what questions we had. We had none. That part was weird, but mostly awkward. Next time I go I get to take the glucose test. Woohoo. I hear it tastes great (and I'm being sarcastic).

Okay, so, if I fall off the grid again, you'll know that it's because the computer is still having problems.

Power Probs?

Okay, so I am still going to try to post in this blog for 100 consecutive posts (my new goal before I give up the daily thing), but we're experiencing technical difficulties. Eli got a new battery for the laptop thinking that would fix the problem, but it has not. There is something else going on here.

And I had something in mind to post about today when I was driving home from work, but I honestly can't remember what it was. It was so clever, too! Oh, well. On a bright note, I had cheerleading practice and every single one of my cheerleaders was picked up on time! I was home by five and was able to "make" dinner tonight [that is, I boiled pasta and heated up some pre-made sauce]. I even went the extra mile and broiled some homemade garlic-ish bread. It would have worked better had I had access to Italian bread instead of sandwich bread, but I think it was the right touch.

I'll get back to thinking what I was going to blog about. It's going to drive me crazy! I'll let you know if I remember.

Sunday

Tomorrow I go back to work. I'm having mixed feelings about this. I don't want to go, but I'm ready to go. I need a little diversion from the mundane. Also, believe it or not, I do miss my kiddos. For now. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow after school.

The next two weeks are chalk full of cheerleading and basketball. And I think I have another doctor's appointment this week, but I'm not sure, so I'm going to have to call and check on that tomorrow.

Not much to report today except that a friend from church told me I should write a book about how this pregnancy is not really affecting me. I laughed. What would I write about? There's nothing to write about, and that's the problem with the pregnancy journal I've started.

The nice little old lady who sat in front of us turned around and said that we needed to sing a duet together in front of the church. Um, no? We've never sung together, just the two of us, and I think they'd be hard-pressed to find a duet that accommodates an alto and a bass. Seems that both our parts are harmonies. Oh, well. :)

Ticking Down

Every day that goes by, I feel more and more like going back to work--at least for the diversion! Would I ever make it as a stay-at-home mom?

Eli and little sister came home today. We played Settlers of Catan (and I still rule).

And Eli got a new battery for the computer and I need to finish letting it charge. So, we'll talk more later.

Cheers.

Hum-dinger

I'm not usually at home this much, so it's weird that my cats have habits I've never noticed before.

The one I want to write about today is just weird (in a cute? way). Coco. Unlike Timmy, he has unconditional love for me (whereas Timmy just loves me when Eli is gone, or when Eli's lap is already occupied). He's the nicest cat I have ever met, hands down. He loves people. He loves life. And...

He loves digging in the litter box. This I knew. When we first got him, we had to get a large plastic tub with high sides to use as a litter box because that cat could dig to China. Most of the litter would end up on the floor when he was done. The high sides helped to keep most of the mess in the box. But he sure does get into it.

Well, before he left yesterday Eli cleaned out the litter box (one aspect of pregnancy that is just wonderful) and later in the day I heard Coco in there digging around. Searching for treasure? Who knows?

But, get this...

He hums to himself while he's digging. It just sounds like he's in there murmuring little meeps and meps and other Coco sounds--happy, contented sounds. It was really weird. So that's my weird, clingy cat.

And Timmy's little quirk--one of them, anyway--is that in the middle of the night he likes to check out the acoustics in the living room...a la Heathcliff. Eli never hears it because he's a sound sleeper, but I hear it more often than not. Timmy can go for 20 or more minutes, just making loud, strange sounds. He also can whisper meow. He does this when he's trying to wake us up. And for some reason, he likes to massage my belly, trying to make himself comfortable. This is the only time that he purrs for me. Really. And it happens only once in a blue moon.

Aah! I'm being cat-piled right now. I can't see the keyboard. And Coco is trying to chomp on Timmy's fat rolls. Gotta go get out of the fray. G'night.

New Year, New Waves of Boredom

Happy New Year!

I tried to sleep in this morning, but I just wasn't tired. I only made it to 8 o'clock. Eli was up and at 'em, getting his belongings together to be gone for two days. He went hunting this afternoon. No meat. :( And then he drove to Mobile. I won't see him again until Saturday sometime. And he's bringing lil' sis with him, as she'll be on her way back to Duke for the semester.

I'm not ready to go back to school, but man was I bored today. I decided to take a pattern for a stuffed bunny and morph it into a beaver. Why? Who knows. I was bored. So, here's the pictures of my stuffed animal. He's a tag toy. I was inspired by the Taggie line of toys that you can find on amazon.com.

From the back:



And, from the front:



I stitched the cute face all by myself. And now, I'm tired of sewing. I spent yesterday making blankets for some friends who are having boy/girl twins any day now.



And then I used the extra fabric to make the beaver. A Baylor beaver, if you will.

I'm lonely. And I'm bored. And I'm now able to feel the little one kick around my insides, and frankly it's just weird. I felt it for the first time two days ago. I had definitely not felt anything like it before.

And the cats are so clingy. I can't sit down without them sitting on me (and the baby).

I would already be in bed except I was waiting for Eli to call and let me know that he made it to Mobile safely. He's called. Now I'm going to bed.