Ok, it can be spring now.

One day in flip-flops and I DO NOT want to go back to shoes.   

We had a fairly uneventful week, which is nice. 

I was debating whether or  not to go vote after my doctor appointment Tuesday, since I ignored all political calls and I felt slightly uninformed.  Was it just me, or was there not much info in the paper about the candidates?  I decided to go... and felt like a celebrity because they were having a very slow day. Haha.  Cecily even got a sticker, which she wore proudly.  I got her a chair for camping so we  don't have to borrow one; she wanted a drink for her cup holder. 

 
This is my current reading material:

a little bit of crunchiness (but it's super interesting and is helping explain why things went the way they did with Cecily...), a little bit of fun (ok, so it's alright and I'm sure it would be a good read aloud for kids, but it's not my favorite book ever), and a whole lot of awesome.  I've actually never read TCMC unabridged before.  I think I probably should since I love it so much abridged. 

Flip-flops are wonderful.  Warm is wonderful.  Little miss pigtails decided the broom would make a good horsey.    

 
I took Cecily to story time at the Library on Thursday.  I think she liked it.  I only had to retrieve her from the front once...  And she carried around the craft- "Mise train" the rest of the day. 

We spent a few hours picking up sticks on Saturday.  Ugh.  Bob collected the piles Cecily and I have been making when we're outside and I raked.  So. Many. Sticks.  The pile is huge and I still need to rake the back third of the yard.  I'm rather fond of going barefoot and would rather not step on sticks. 

Someone took a long nap for once and I finally got our TEOTWAWNI emergency stockpile a little bit more organized...  (No worries, family.  We have no plans to move to an Idaho compound anytime soon.)  hehe.  Or you could just call it the pantry... don't mind the other random stuff on the shelves.

Saturday evening we went to the soup supper.  Lots of good food, as usual.  Sunday was uneventful, and today the most exciting thing we did was make chocolate pudding from scratch.  Somebody wanted 'mise pooding' for lunch and we didn't have any, or any boxed mixes.  *grin*  It's a little runnier than I'm used to but it tastes pretty good. 

Blessings.

Chicago

Friday night Bob and I dropped Cecily off at the farm and headed to Chicago.  First time we've ever left her over night... yeah... I know.  I suppose this trip was to celebrate our 5th anniversary, which is the end of April, maybe more just because I wanted to go to Chicago.  *grin*  We could also just pretend we decided to celebrate on my grandparent's anniversary... the Ides of March...

We stayed at the Palmer House- it's a pretty cool place and I've always wanted to stay there.  I mean, this is the lobby:    

 

Notice the green accent lights... yeah... it was St. Patrick's day weekend in Chicago.  I wouldn't recommend going that weekend in the future. 

We didn't get up into the city until 9ish and poor Bob got to deal with me attempting to navigate and playing tour guide- "oooo, there's the Calder stabile, and that building was designed by Mies Van der Rohe, and we need to turn really soon..."  hehe.   I did pay attention in ACS!  And Bob did awesome driving in the city- we drove right to the hotel.    

We headed out mid morning to explore and find lunch.  With tons of people dressed in ridiculous green outfits... yeah... the St. Patrick's Day parade was that day.  So we got to take in the sights of Michigan avenue with lots of drunk people heading to the parade.  It was like Unofficial only times 1000.  ugh.  Oh well.  Bob had never had real Chicago deep dish pizza so we went to Giordano's for lunch.  There was a little bit of a wait, but it was so worth it.  This, this is pizza.  (And Bob didn't know he was in the picture.)    

 
Then we wandered back to our car and stopped in at Marshal Field's/ Macy's.  I don't think Bob had ever been there.  Such a cool old building....  minus the prevailing smell of beer on the other patrons.... gah... did I mention I wouldn't recommend hanging out in the loop on St. Patrick's weekend?  Marshal Field's should NOT smell like beer.  *sigh*  Oh well, still a Chicago tradition.
 
We drove farther north along the lake (and saw the green river) and got parked in plenty of time for Blue Man Group so we wandered around a bit and got ice cream.  I'm really not sure how to describe Blue Man Group,  they're just fun.  I went with chorus in High School and remember it being super cool.  And they appeal to my strange sense of humor and deeply repressed desire to paint myself blue... or something.  I enjoyed it greatly, and I think Bob did too...  

It took us forever to get out of the city- between the traffic and all the crazy drunk people (don't go to Chicago on St. Pat's weekend) it was slow going.  We stopped at Portillo's and I got a Chicago style hot dog... keeping in the theme of classic Chicago food.  We are not into gourmet, haha. 

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Cecily was having all kinds of fun.  Mom and Shelly took her ice skating and it sounds like she loved it.  I am jealous- I feel like I've missed out on all of the things that make winter bearable- skiing, skating, sledding...  due to my delicate condition.  Mur. 

She did not go to sleep very well for my mom- she said she saw 2am.  Yikes!  Silly girl... but it looks like she was up bright and early demanding cocoa (with marshpillows). 

 And she got to meet Petey at Matt and Lena's. 

She wouldn't take a nap for Mom either and was still going strong when we came to pick her up.  She fell asleep almost right away in the car, silly girl.  She didn't sleep in this morning either... I ended up bringing her home from church at noon because she was so tired and stumbling around (and she refuses to sleep at church anymore...).  Hopefully we're all rested and (mostly) recovered from our fun weekend.  I am feeling really stiff today- I am so out of shape and my shoulder hurts from carrying my heavy purse all day. 

So yeah, it was really fun.  I like the city in small doses.  We were both glad to get back to our quiet street in our quiet town.  *grin* 
Blessings.

Like a Lion

*RAHR*

 

Ah March, it is still too cold and snowy for me.  At least it's light out now!  Cecily talked me into buying a bouquet out of the sale section at the grocery store because it was "bootiful" and she wanted to smell it.  Plus it looked so fresh and springy.   

 

We got out the play dough one day...  she proceeded to build snow men with it.  

 

Friday morning we went to Five Points to swim.  We saw Aunt Madelyn there.  Aunt Lena came swimming with us, and Mom came and watched.  It was fun- now she asks "Maybe t'morrow go to swimmin' pool?"  *grin*  Then we went to McDonalds for pepperfries and chicken nuggets. Mom and I stopped to see G and G and Pearl briefly and then I took a very tired little girl home... she was asleep before we got out of town.

Someone was quite excited to go outside Monday, even though those boots are getting way too small.  And mud is suddenly "icky."  *sigh*  We picked up lots of sticks and there are still more.    

 
I got her new sunglasses- she freaks out in the car sometimes if the sun is too bright.  Now she wants to wear them all the time...

 
Tuesday little miss and I went to Katie's mom's visitation... yeah... no words.   Bob had to work late, so I went when my parents could watch Cecily in the back.  She insisted on wearing her sunny glasses in, and then wondered where the princess was (it was at the fellowship hall).  O dear.  No brides this time, kiddo... "all done princess?"  I got to stand in line with Uncle Cleo, which was good, and see some family I haven't seen in a while (no one quite like cousin Bernie- *grin*).  I listened online to the funeral this morning and had to get a Kleenex a few times. 

"C'mere, Mom, play toys!" 

Otherwise, it's been quiet.  I decided to make her Easter dress, because once again I found a super cute dress on sale....  for $100.  Um... yeah.  Not going to happen.  So I'm working on that and trying to decide if it would be dumb to start any other projects around here.  If it does ever warm up I'm going to want to be outside, but there are things that need painting inside that are starting to bug me... what to do, what to do.

Blessings.

I am agog, I am aghast

Somebody is getting tired of being stuck in the house (and it's not me).  "Maybe t'morrow go to grocery store."  "Maybe 'morrow go to church."  hehe.  Poor girl.

 

We, well, Bob, replaced all the outlets in Cecily's new room on Saturday because I like white outlets better than almond.  They just look prettier and cleaner, especially with the blue-gray paint.  That evening we went to Flat Top for supper with Bob's family because Susan was home for a wedding.  Cecily actually ate a lot of noodles and 'tatoes and 'trees' (aka broccoli).  Which was good, since stir fried green beans are apparently too crunchy and she was not interested in the bread. 

 

Sunday morning at 4 am we woke up to the sound of our neighbors leaf blower.... yeah....  they were blowing snow off of their cars. Um.  OK.   Did I mention it was 4 am?!  ugh.  Anyway, so none of us slept very soundly after that...  and then someone refused to nap that afternoon... the older she gets, it gets more and more unpleasant when she doesn't sleep so we didn't do anything that evening.  She did get to climb the snow piles with Daddy for a little bit.

 
Tate came over on Monday morning to hang out while Fred and Di went to the funeral.  Cecily was pretty excited to have someone fun to play with, since she's usually stuck with just me.   

She wanted to stay wrapped up in her towel "like a princess" after her bath.   Whatever.  This is how we eat ice cream in a bath towel.

Tuesday we spent most of the day in P-town.  I had an appointment so little miss and I went to Chik-fil-a for pepper-fries and did some shopping while we were there.  O man.  One of the very few perks of being pregnant in the winter is that winter coats hide a lot for a lot longer.  Until this week.  I'm suddenly getting comments from total strangers...  someone tried to touch me at Menards... someone asked if I was having twins (whaaa??).  Omygoodness. Absolutely aghast.   I'm wearing a lovely, thick (and delightfully warm) winter coat and carrying a two year old- how can you even have enough visual information to make a comment like that??  Plus I don't know you and that's creepy. 

*sigh*  So yeah.  NOT doing much for my self esteem... even though the Doc says I'm right on track for weight gain and fundal height is measuring exactly at 32 weeks... so statistically I'm no bigger or smaller than any other woman at this point.  Which really, is interesting to me because it means that perceived size is dependent on body type and height and therefore there is no basis for comparison between women... apples and oranges people.

And while I'm on a soap box... 
... comments about weight and size are not appropriate.  Ever.  I know way too many people who have had issues with eating disorders.  It's scary to watch.  So I will probably never comment on your weight loss.  Or gain.  Plus it's just plain rude. 

... gestational state is not anyone else's business.  Seriously.  I was talking to some of my sister's newlywed friends at her wedding and we were discussing how people will say Hi, look down at your abdomen (hello, I'm up here!), or just flat out make comments about having kids (It happens when your kid is getting close to 2 also...), and how awkward and uncomfortable it makes them.  So stop.  It's not your business unless they tell you.

... And that weekend three different people asked me when I was going to have another one, if I was pregnant (gee thanks, I'm already feeling like a frumpy matron up there with all of Shell's cute friends...), and that it was 'time for another one.'  What do you say to that??  Um... well, gee, see, I was unexpectedly not pregnant this month so no, and I don't know when we're going to have another one, and it might be time for another one, but there's no guarantee it will ever happen.  Granted, one month does not secondary infertility make, but what if it had been months?  What if I had recently miscarried?  What if I was someone who really, really, wanted a baby and it wasn't happening?   So not cool.  I can't imagine having fertility issues and then having to deal with insensitive comments on top of it. 

For the record, I don't care what your current gestational state is.  *grin*  However, if you're dealing with morning sickness (or just plain sick) and the thought of cooking makes you want run to the bathroom feel free to ask me to bring you supper (or if you're far away, I can at least order pizza or take out or something!).  I won't assume.  Pretty sure there's nothing worse than 10 solid weeks of 24/7 nausea when just the smell of the fridge, let alone cooking, sends you over the edge...      

And no, I am not 'counting down' yet.  I don't count down to things I'm not really looking forward too.  Labor and delivery?  A newborn?  Ugh.  These are things to be gotten through.    

Alright, off the soapbox.   I should try and come up with something fun to do with my poor bored little girl so she will quit using her hair as a dust mop on the floor...
Blessings.