Random stuff

First a big woohoo! My best friend Jamie out in central KY is about 20 weeks along, and just had her big ultrasound today--she's having a boy and all looks well! I'm so excited. She and her husband want to name him Austin, but their 4 year old daughter Kaitlyn wants to name him Elmo :) She had a miscarriage just about a month before mine right around the same gestation too, and we both got pregnant again right after it happened, so maybe we'll follow in her footsteps again and have a boy too? In any case, I just hope we continue to have a healthy happy little baby in there. A Zachary would be great, but we'll love a little Lauren too.

Also had lunch with "Maggie" today and 3 other lovely ladies, one of whom has a daughter Zoe's age and they were able to play together while we had some great chat time. I also found out that all of us have blogs, so now I'm linking my new blog buddies for your blog-reading pleasure. I'm excited to expand my blog universe!

Finally, has anyone else with new school-going kids felt total burnout already? Poor Meg hasn't gotten used to such long days yet and is as cranky as a hornet when she gets home. I've had to make her take a nap after school some days just to get some peace. Then, there's all the stuff they send home every day. We're already doing a fundraiser and a book order and she's had 2 Accelerated Reading books/tests plus notes and forms and....it's just so hard to keep it all together, to make sure she has her snack packed each day and what not. I've been so exhausted by the end of the day. Poor Bryan is being neglected, because as soon as he gets home, it's supper, bath, and bedtime, then I'm just pooped out. How do you fit in "couple time"?

Ready for a Tear-Jerker?

Have you ever heard the song "God Only Cries" by Diamond Rio? Click this link for the YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHLcB3xb2ko

Couldn't embed it because it was disabled for that particular video, but man, what a tear-jerker!

A couple of prayer requests

*Edit: Our neighbor Harold is having the bypass this morning. Pray for all to go well and for him to come home soon.
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First, for my dad. He's been experiencing terrible pelvic/kidney pain for a few months now and several tests have been run but nothing has been found so far. One more test will be run in late September. There is a possiblity it's related to his back injury and the steel rods he has in there pushing on the nerves, etc. That would be bad if they have to go back in, so lift him up in prayer that the problem will be found and fixed before it gets to that.

Second, for our neighbor Harold. He's in his late 70's and otherwise healthy as a horse, but just found out yesterday he'll need at least a triple bypass soon. He's in a nearby town, awaiting the scheduling, so we're checking his mail for him while he's gone. He's the kind of neighbor everyone wants--so kind and generous and thoughtful. Pray that the bypass will be scheduled soon, will be done precisely and thoroughly and that he'll recover well. We'd love him to stick around for a long time!

Why the South will never rise again

"Maggie" posted a funny, yet pitiful video of Miss South Carolina's answer **from the TEEN USA pageant--which explains a few things**to what would seem to be a simple question. Have a look at it here:

Why 20% of U.S. Citizens Can't Find the U.S. on a Map

My first reaction:

*EDIT--If I were in the poor girl's position, which I wouldn't be because I have no desire (nor the beauty or height) to be in those things (ask me what I think about beauty pageants--go ahead :D), I might have flubbed up just as badly. So, my apologies to Miss South Carolina for calling her less than intelligent. But--South Africa? Iraq? What???!! Sorry...

What a big weekend!

First, the big news--my firstborn has lost her first tooth. The "toothless wonder", as her aunt so aptly named her received $5.00 from the tooth fairy this morning. (well, actually last night around 11pm...shhhh!)






Megan has been tuckered out every day after school. We left not long after she got off the bus on Friday evening to leave the girls with their grandparents for the weekend. She was asleep about 1/2 hour into the drive.






The 23rd Trans Am Nationals was held this weekend in Dayton, OH. After 7 years, we finally won first place in our class! Here's Bryan after he received our trophy. I do say "OUR" because I worked just as hard as he did to get that car shined up. I'm the "interior queen". I've crawled around the interior of our 30th anniversary Trans Am for 7 years now, shining and polishing, taking duct tape to get lint off the carpet, etc. I've been pregnant for three of those years too!

Together with our first "baby" and our trophy. Next year will be awesome--we get to sit in the "Winner's Circle", which means I won't be crawling around the interior...much! We'll have our new baby with us then too, which is great timing!

Last, but definitely not least, the most fun part of the show for me, aside from finally winning first place--the cruise-in at Tipp City, OH, just north of Dayton. It's a wonderful little artsy, victorian-ish community with all kinds of little antique and art shopes and my favorite place to eat of all time--the Coldwater Cafe! It's worth the trip just for that place.

Our new babe

We had our second appt. today and got to see our new little babe. I'm a few days over 10 weeks and the baby was very squirmy and had a nice fast heartbeat. Everything looked healthy so far and there was only ONE in there, so I'm happy ;) I tested positive for group B strep in my urine again (had it with both my previous girls), so I'm now taking a 10 day round of amoxicillin and I'll have to be on IV antibiotic during labor (again). I just can't get away from IV's. Oh well, it was so nice to see our little one moving and growing away in there. I can't wait to get to feel him/her for myself.

I'll be going back Sept 20 and I'm going to sign up for group prenatal care, which is a service the midwife group offers for women with normal pregnancies. You meet with other women with similar due dates for a couple hours each session, where you'll each get some private time with the midwife, and have some group discussion, etc. You learn how to take your own BP and weight and enter it each time. It sounds interesting. My midwife said, "It's good to have women in there like you who've done this before." Sounds like I'm an old-timer or something :) Maybe I can teach these youngins a thing or two.

Yawwwwnn!!

I have never felt so tired in all my life. Well, maybe twice before.... This pregnancy fatigue is really getting me down. I have to stop and rest all the time and if I don't get a nap in during the day, I'm just down. Getting up this afternoon was so hard, but it's time to get Meg off the school bus, so I'll drag my ever-widening behind outside and wait. *Yawn!*

Some new stuff

I've bought some new products I thought I might show you, since I don't have much else to blog about today--except for grumbling or whining and there's just too much of that around here :)

1. My new Sandisk Sansa c100 MP3 player I bought from http://www.newegg.com/.

Here's the link to the specific product:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855125028

I have discovered that some songs from iTunes wouldn't download onto it, but Napster songs work fine. I'm not sure why iTunes uses such wierd file extensions. I wish I had of known that before I downloaded. Anywho, it also has FM radio tuning, the downloaded music quality is good, it has a necklace attachment and some decent earbuds. Looks like today they have an even better deal than I got last week--$34.99 and free 3 day shipping. I paid $39.99 and $4.99 shipping.

I finally used it today when I went to our church's gym with Zoe this morning to walk. After I had went through my downloaded songs, it picked up a local station well. I'm hoping it will inspire me to keep walking throughout my pregnancy. I need it!

2. BioFresh Resealable Zipper Bags:

I've been seeing these TV commercials for Debbie Meyer's Green Bags, that are supposed to keep your produce fresher for longer. I have been intrigued by that claim and aggravated at having to throw away bananas before we get a chance to eat them. I can only make so many banana nut muffins with the brown ones. After some online browsing, I came across the BioFresh bags. They seemed to be a better bargain--24 of them for $7.95, whereas the Green Bags were 20 for $9.95.

I have used them now for strawberries and bananas. They worked really well. My strawberries didn't turn as soft and moldy as quickly as usual. They were in my fridge at least 5 days. The bananas I kept on the counter and they hardly turned brown at all. I ate the last one of the bunch today, a full week after I bought them, and only a few slight specks of brown were present on the peel. Still tasted great too. I'm definitely a believer of this product now--if nothing else, just for my bananas! I'll update you on future uses as well. I found that I can rinse them out, let them dry, and re-use them, too, so I'm not wasting money throwing them out after each use.

None of these products are BzzAgent-related, just my own personal use, but if you use or own these or anything similar, share your opinions of them with me!

Another Bzz for you!

I received a free subscription to TV Guide Magazine from BzzAgent.com a while back. Since life has been so crazy for a while now, I haven't taken the time to even think about Bzzing about it yet. I feel inspired now.

If you remember the old TV Guide, the little small, thick ones, think bigger. It's now in a magazine form, very similar in thickness to the other magazines you'll find at the checkout in the grocery store.

I can remember my mom buying TV Guide, mainly for the crossword puzzle in the back. The crossword is still there, along with an alphabet sukodu puzzle each week. My mom would have loved the bigger print in the puzzles! There are several interesting entertainment articles and reviews of TV shows and movies. And, in keeping with the progress of the information age, there is now a very nice interactive www.tvguide.com website. You can view movie trailers, reviews, celebrity news, message boards, and more, along with the weekly TV listings, of course.

Just for a treat to all you Bzz-ees, there is a special sweepstakes to attend the 2007 Emmy Awards in Hollywood. Head over to www.tvguide.com/bzz to enter the contest by 8/29/07.

Now, Bzz me about TV Guide. Check out the website and if you want to pick up a copy of the magazine, I have $1.00 off coupons for you to use next time you're at the checkout stand.

A boy named "@"???

Trendy names are one thing, but naming your kid a symbol? A Chinese couple wants to name their child "@". Read about it here: Yahoo News

Remember that old song "A boy named Sue?" Here's Johnny Cash's 1976 rendition to take you back to my birth year. Enjoy!

Thanks to our hometown webpage!

I wrote a thank-you email to our hometown webpage today and they have posted a nice article about my dad's dog return and even plugged my blog. I'm not going to post the link here because of privacy issues (trying to be discreet with my full name and location, etc), but if you e-mail me, I'll be happy to share with you! They even came out and took pics of my dad and his dog and spoke to him about the home invasion to do another write up soon. My family is now semi-famous in a website read by tens of people everywhere :) No, really, it's a great publication and I'm proud of my small hometown for such a great website.

Some HAPPY news!!!

Sometime last week or early the week before, my dad's little dog, Charlie, came up missing. Now after the incident this past Tuesday, my dad figured the same party responsible for the break-in took Charlie too. We never thought we'd see him again....until today, that is! Bryan happened to look on our hometown's local webpage and right there on the front page was a picture of Charlie!! He had been brought into the local shelter and was up for adoption. Bryan called me to tell me to pull up the webpage, and when I saw him, my first reaction was, "That's a cute little dog--wait a minute! That's Charlie!" I called the shelter, who said someone had brought him in last week and that he would be adopted out soon if he wasn't claimed, so then I called my dad and had him look at the website, and he knew it was Charlie. He had some friends go down there with a picture and when they called for him, he came running, so he's now back home! As soon as he came in, he ran up and jumped in my dad's lap. I'm so glad his little friend is back home. Praise God for such a blessing!!

It's been a zoo around here.

Literally. Yesterday afternoon when I got up from playing my computer game, on my way to give Megan a bath before church, I entered the hallway from the dining room and--much to my surprise--there's a rat snake making his way into my kitchen. I screamed, forced the children to stay in the living room, then grabbed a shoebox and cornered him. He shook his tail like a little rattlesnake and released a really stinky musk (both are defense mechanisms). I realized I didn't have anything to actually grab him with, so I ran to get a hanger. My plan was to hook him up, put him in the shoebox and take him far away from here.

Well, when I got back from the bedroom, he had disappeared under my stove. I immediately called Bryan, who was almost home, and when he got there we moved the stove trying to find him. We couldn't find him anywhere and couldn't figure out how he could have gotten out of there. After searching nervously all over the kitchen, the garage, etc, we just gave up and came on to church supper, after calling a game warden for some advice (not much help).

When we got home, I got a flashlight and made sure he wasn't in the girls' rooms anywhere while we got them ready for bed. Then I saw in the dining room, the black camera bags against the wall, and thought, "Hmm, he might blend in well right there." And sure enough, there he was, tight against the wall between a bag and a statue.

I screamed again.

Then after making sure the girls were a safe distance away, Bryan found some good leather gloves and we boxed him up, but this time, Bryan had had enough of snake handling, so he decided to take him outside and kill him. He cut off his head and that's the end of that snake. I really didn't want to kill him. I like to have non-venomous snakes around--not in my house, of course, but they're good for killing rats and mice and other little pests. If I ever spot another snake in my house (non-venomous, of course), I'll make sure to grab him up right away and take him far away from our house.

Bryan had caught this same snake a couple months back in our front yard and I made him release him way down in the field. I guess he just liked us. Actually, I think he was trying to get out of the horrendous heat that's going on. 100+ temps for a few days now. I don't blame him for trying to get cool. Here's a neat website about rat snakes that I found this morning. The pic above is from that site, not our own snake. I was too freaked out to think of getting my camera. Enjoy!

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Blackratsnake.cfm

I can't get the door shut...

Because another one popped out this morning. My stepdad called me this morning around 7:30 am and told me someone kicked in his kitchen door last night around 9:30 and began shooting down the hall with a shotgun. My dad, luckily had his own handgun nearby and was able to get into his power chair (he's disabled) and stick his gun around the wall and shot back 4 times. His thumb was hit by some shot, but otherwise, thank God he's ok. I'm still in shock. This is the home I grew up in, where I daydreamed and played, where I made Christmas cookies with my mother. Now it's been vandalized. Police came out, took evidence and will be patrolling the area. My dad refuses to leave though, even though his door is broken. I hate him being there all alone. Is there a plane to New Zealand I can catch or something? Maybe just move there and start over...get some sheep...eat some fish...no telephone or anything. Seriously though, send up some prayers for him. This is just too scary.

Where oh where did I come from?

That's the question of the day. I have only a little more information on the search for my paternal background. It's been a couple weeks since I mailed the pictures of my father to the family "spokesperson". I hadn't heard anything, so I gave him a call tonight. Scary as it was for me to do, I'm glad I did anyway. Most importantly, I found out that the man in the pictures was indeed the man that they knew. Also, I found that he died in his sleep at the age of 51 (possibly heart attack or stroke), as did his father. The only other medical condition he had that he knew of was high blood pressure. So, at least I can fill in that gap in my medical history.

I'm still kicking myself for not being brave enough to get more information out of my mother when she was alive. This would have been much simpler. I did also find out that my father's widow DID know about my mom, and that they supposedly had an affair. However, the "spokesperson" still insists that he never left his wife, so could have never been married to my mother. I have seen with my own eyes their divorce papers, and all the times and dates match up as to when she was married, from what I was told years ago. Still, no one from that side wants to meet me, and that's fine. I am going to send the "spokesperson" a picture of us. He says he wants to see a picture before he decides to meet me.

You know, it's normal for people to have a skeleton or two in their closets, but with my family (both sides now), does there have to be so many???? Skeletons falling out the door as you open it, kicking them back in. I'm starting to wonder if I wasn't just left on a doorstep. I'm so normal compared to most of them. Well, enough of the illegitimate child rambling. I'm going to just love life the rest of this week....love my own normal, good, honest, sweet family...until another skeleton pops out.

I'm a scared mommy

Yesterday, when Megan got off the bus, I asked her if she liked it, and she said, "Yes, but these two little boys picked on me." My heart just sank. She was so excited to ride the bus, and here she is getting picked on the first day. I said, "Well, maybe you shouldn't ride the bus." She said, "Mom, it's ok. I told the bus driver and he moved them. I still want to ride tomorrow." She's so brave. Much braver than I am. I just hate the thought of my child being picked on. I know she's bound to experience it at one time or another and I can't protect her from everything, but I'm sending her to school to LEARN, not be teased. I guess that may be part of the learning process, though, learning how to deal with it. I told her today to sit close to the bus driver and tell him if there's a problem. I won't let it get out of hand--I refuse!

It happened when I was little too. I just never understood why some kids do that. I never picked on anyone. I will raise my kids to never do that either. There's no excuse for it at all. Just bad manners and bad child-rearing.

My little school girl

Here it comes!! Megan wanted to ride since the first day of school last Thursday, so we're letting her do it. It's quite early, though, but she wasn't the least bit nervous.

Right on up she went, sat in her seat, and waved at us out the window--she's my little confident girl!










On another note, I had my first prenatal visit today for this pregnancy. I'm right at 8 weeks,

and unfortunately, we couldn't get a heartbeat with the doppler, but the NP said it's really hard to pick up before 10 weeks. Everything else seemed normal. After I had 5 tubes of blood drawn (I think I felt my cheeks sinking in), we left for lunch with Zoe at Tumbleweed. Bryan and I don't get out with just Zoe that much, so it was nice. I'll go back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound to check if I'm progressing normally and to date. Now home for naps before Meg gets back home on the bus. My how things change.

It's so quiet in here...

Because my Megan's now in Kindergarten. She's 5 1/2 and she's ready for action! We got up extra early this morning and took her to school. Here she is posing with her new backpack. Bryan had to head out early back to our hometown because his oldest aunt passed away and he was asked to be a pallbearer.

So, it's kind of a bittersweet day all around. Of course, Megan wasn't the least bit nervous or upset about going. All the kids piled into the gym and they called each class out one room at a time. She went right to her room, put her backpack in her closet, and went straight to her desk to color a picture. She's sitting by some good buddies from preschool, so I'm glad about that, but hope she doesn't get in trouble talking too much. I'm afraid that will be her vice. Anyway, Zoe and I attended the so-called "Boo-Hoo" breakfast in the cafeteria so we could meet the principal and ask any questions we had. After that, just some minor paperwork, and now she's on her own. It's hard to let go, but I haven't cried at all! I almost teared up when I had to leave her room, but of course she wasn't upset at all, so that made it easier I guess. I almost wish she'd miss me just a little though...