Dr. Charles

Charles officially graduated in August, but yesterday we went to the commencement and hooding ceremony. It was great! I took Reed Baby with me, we picked up Charles's mom, and met Charles's father and stepmom there, and also saw Charles's grandmother. The ceremony was about 2 hours, and Reed slept through pretty much the whole thing! He did startle awake a couple times, but he accepted the pacifier and went right back to sleep. It was great to see Charles get hooded by Dr. Williams. Afterwards we went down to the floor and took some pictures and spoke briefly with Dr. Williams, who really bragged on what an outstanding student Charles was. I talked with a couple other folks and showed off the baby. Then I drove Char's mom back to her place and went to meet up with our families for dinner at Bravo! It's a great Italian restaurant in Bearden. Unfortunately Char's mom was unable to make it to dinner, but we were joined by 2 of my siblings, Rebecca and Joseph, and my dad. It was great. People gifted Charles with stuff and cards, Reed fussed a bit (think he is teething) but then fell back asleep. The food and conversation were great. It was just nice to have everybody come together to celebrate Charles's fantastic accomplishment.
Eventually I will try to post some pictures, including a picture of  Charles's graduation quilt!

Everybody have a great day!

Christmas Time

My boss just shared with me a devotional from his church's webpage (http://www.cspc.net/devotionals/dec11?fullsite=2) that REALLY struck a chord with me. I am sharing it here.

First Corinthians 13- Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals
and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.
If I work at a soup kitchen
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another's home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return; but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and
endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust;
but giving the gift of love will endure.

Attributed to Sharon Jaynes, taken from "Celebrating a Christ Centered Christmas"

www.sharonjaynes.com

 

 

Wow, it was really what I needed to see today. I wonder how he knew that I needed that? I have been dealing with the usual holiday blahs. We have a Christmas party at work today, and another one on Friday, but I am feeling kind of down about myself. Feeling like a terrible mom and terrible person. The holidays are so much fun-- I love decorating the tree and eating tasty food and all that, but at the same time I feel so empty and lonely. I think constantly of those that have less than I do. There are homeless people, abused people, the poor, the depressed, the sick, the alone.... I can't get them out of my mind. I am just going to try to focus on the reason for Christmas. No amount of worrying will help those people, so I will just do what I can and trust that they will be taken care of.

Reed's Baptism

Over the Thanksgiving break, our little boy got Baptized! It was a wonderful experience. My sister, Sarah, and her husband, Rick, are Reed's godparents, and so they came up from Alabama with their 4 kids and we had a great time hanging out together. On Saturday morning we got together at Sacred Heart, and were joined by many of Charles's family as my brother, Uncle Brother Father Frowin/Joseph Baptized our little guy. Then we had a reception afterwards, which Charles's wonderful stepmom and stepsis put together. Jean and Ginger did an incredible job. They even got a delicious cake from Rita's. YUM. Here's a couple pictures from the occasion.

That's my silly brother making faces at Reed while Charles and I look on.

 

And that's Reed Baby smiling in the suit that Sarah and Rick got him.

It was a wonderful experience. I was so glad that our families came together to celebrate! :)

Re-thinking Bake Sales

My brother brought some delicious goodies to my house from the parish bake sale, and it got me thinking... all of the bake sales I have ever seen involve people baking random stuff, donating it, then selling the donated goods with the proceeds going to some charity. There is surely a lot of stuff that ends up not being bought. What if we changed the way that bake sales are done? I propose that customers could submit what they would like to buy and what they would be willing to pay. Then bakers/volunteers could sign up to make those things. For instance, I want chess bars. I would pay up to $12 for some chess bars. Someone could say "oh, I love making chess bars, so I'll do that!" or "I have never made that before, but give me a recipe and I'll try it out!" Everyone wins, and no food gets wasted. What about spontaneity, though? What about the baker that has some great dish that nobody knows about, so no one knows to ask for it? Well there are bound to be people that say "I would like something chocolate, and I don't care what it is" or "surprise me!" or "some type of cookie- no nuts, though!" I think this is a brilliant idea. That said, I can't wait to go home and try the Black Russian cake that Joseph brought to us. :) :) :)

AND, if someone will make me some chess bars, I will donate $12 to the charity of your choice.

Illness

My household has been sick but we are thankfully all on the mend. It started with little Reed bringing home a bug or two. Charles got it the worst though because we suspect he caught a stomach bug AND the flu. The vomiting dehydrated him so badly that he had to go in the hospital. His blood pressure was too low, and he needed IV fluids and anti-nausea medication, plus meds to bring his BP up. He spent 2 nights in the CCU and one night in a normal hospital room. When he finally got to come home, he couldn't interact directly with Reed for a few days, so it was a very rough time, trying to take care of sick husband and sick baby. I only caught the stomach bug, but it was certainly no fun, and I broke my ~20 year streak of not throwing up. Many family members came to help us while we were sick and recovering, but every single person that helped us got sick! My brother also tested positive for the flu, but everyone else 'only' had the stomach bug. So glad we are all recovering now and doing much better. I have never missed so much work due to illness as I missed in the last week. I guess it's all part of the fun of having a small child. ;) Now there is a confirmed case of RSV at Reed's daycare so hopefully he can avoid catching that. Through all of this I am so grateful that Reed and Charles are now safe and healthy. It was scary for a little while there when Charles was in the hospital.

Now we are gearing up for Reed's baptism which will be right after Thanksgiving. Still making arrangements but my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Rick will be the godparents. They got Reed a little white suit to wear. It's going to be marvelous and I can't wait. :)

This post feels a little disjointed but I'm trying to do a few things at once so that's the best it's going to be for now. :) Have a great day everyone!

Shame

I haven't really posted about this, but I am going to step out of my comfort zone and talk about something personal.
I love my little baby boy, but having him was difficult. Not physically difficult, although that certainly had its challenges and its recovery period. I mean that it was emotionally difficult. All the hormones, the lack of sleep, the huge change in life and priorities and routine... it was hard. Although I love Reed so much, I was not handling things very well. It quickly became apparent that I had either Post Partum Depression or the Baby Blues. I am still not really clear on where one stops and the other starts. Although I never had thoughts of harming little Reed or myself, I did have many many many unpleasant and intrusive thoughts. I thought I was a horrible mother, that Reed would be better off without me, that life was difficult and unpleasant, that things would never get better... the list goes on and on. It was bad. I went to the OB/GYN and saw the amazing Nurse Practitioner, Donna, who I had seen throughout the pregnancy. She asked me some quesetions and determined that I had some mix of both depression and anxiety, and so she prescribed Prozac (actually it was generic prozac, fluoxetine, and it was the exact same dosage that my dog gets, which amused me!). We talked a little about how long it would take to kick in, and what side effects there might be. At this time I was still on maternity leave and the timing would be such that it ought to kick in before I started back to work.
I left the doctor's office and felt so relieved because I had finally done something to help myself and maybe there was hope. But then hubby and I googled Prozac and Nursing, since I am breastfeeding. Of course we read some terrifying stuff. The baby had already been wearing me out and fussing every night (the witching hour, the period of purple crying, or whatever you want to call it). We read that prozac can cause fussiness and sleeping problems in the babies of moms that breastfeed while on prozac. Why would I want to take something that would make things WORSE? I decided to go ahead and fill the prescription but wait to start taking it. When I got to the pharmacy, the lady at the counter was giving me the spiel about the medication, and I asked her if it was OK to take while breastfeeding. She seemed so shocked and said something like, "I'm so glad you asked, because this medication IS passed through breastmilk and should NOT be taken while you're breastfeeding." She proceeded to scare me more, and asked why the doctor would prescribe this to a nursing mom. I told her that I was relatively certaint that the NP is fully aware that I am breastfeeding since we had talked about it in my appointment. She went ahead and sold me the medication (only $4, thank you, walmart!) but I started to get upset. Then the pharmacy tech offered me some advice. What if instead of taking the medicine, I just took better care of myself? "Oh honey, I was bummed when I had kids too. Just make sure you take some time for YOU every day. Be sure to take a shower every day and wash your hair. You'll feel so much better." I started crying right there in walmart. Partly because she was being so kind to me, and partly because her advice was laughably stupid. You can't treat a chemical imbalance with a shower. And the problem was partly that I had NO time for me. When you're taking care of an infant, his needs come first. Your shower can wait. Ugh. So I took the Prozac home and had a conversation with my hubby and we decided to wait and not take it yet.
A couple weeks later I had a follow-up appointment with Donna. I ashamedly told her I had not been taking the medicine. She was frustrated on my behalf. I told her about the lady at walmart and she got kind of mad. "If she was concerned that I didn't know you were breastfeeding, she could have called me! She didn't need to upset you for no good reason." We talked more about the side effects, and I decided to start taking the medication.
Let me tell you-- best decision I've made in a long time! It really makes such a difference. Life is not perfect, there are still hard times. But now I feel like I can cope with things! I feel like there is hope, and that I can get by, and sometimes even do more than just get by! This is such an improvement over the feelings of hopelessness and overwhelming stress that I had before. And other people have noticed and commented on how 'tranquil' I am. Tranquil is not a word that I would EVER use to describe myself, but whatever. I never wanted to admit that I was on medication or that I had a hard time. There is so much stigma about it. Everyone else around me that has had a baby just makes it look so easy. You never hear about the bad times, or people never let on that they are bothered. So then when it happened to me, I felt like I was broken. There was something wrong with me as a mom. Did I not love my son enough? If I loved him, why was I not happy? Now I realize that is a trap. I can be both happy and stressed. I can love Reed Baby and still feel overwhelmed. I can feel like I am a horrible mom, but also know that I am doing my best and that the little things don't matter. I don't want to fall into the trap of not talking about the baby blues or PPD or medication, and then contributing to the problem of creating an expectation that having a baby is easy and perfect.
If you read this and you ever go through it, please know that it is OK to ask for help. It's OK to take medication or to go to therapy or to need some time away. I'm so happy I got help! If you have any questions, hit me up. Ask me about it. I used to be ashamed that I needed help but now I am just thankful that help is available! Take care. :)

Thankful

I am so grateful that the government shutdown is over, at least for now. Things have been tense at work. We were very concerned we would get furloughed because of the shutdown, but luckily that crisis was averted and now we are on to face other challenges. But even though things are still somewhat up in the air, I wanted to pause very purposefully and give thanks to God for taking care of this obstacle. I am so appreciative, and I don't want to always be thinking of the next thing to ask for.

Speaking of thankfulness, I am so grateful that Reed Baby is healthy and is growing and developing so well. Things started out difficult-- I am not a great mom intuitively, and I was pretty overwhelmed. Now that Reed is getting a little more mature and I am getting better at anticipating his needs, things are improving. The ladies at his daycare really dote on him, and Charles has been doing a fantastic job of getting him up and ready in the mornings. I am just so grateful for our handsome and healthy little boy. :)

Return to Work

Yesterday was my first day back at work after my 6 weeks of maternity leave. I was really looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I had pretty high anxiety about coming back but everyone has been awesome and I am easing into things. I am so tired! Luckily Reed had a good first day of daycare, and I think he was so worn out that he slept a little better last night, too!
I am looking forward to getting back into a routine. :)
I'll have to update more later, because duty calls!

Ninja Time

So much has gone on in the past few weeks as we prepare for the arrival of our baby. I can't even begin to blog about it all. I will just hit the highlights. I can't remember if I've already posted that we know we are having a boy, and that his name is going to be Reed Edward. My apologies if I am repeating myself, but I think I have a good excuse. ;) So, Reed is my maiden name, and we are going with Reed to honor that side of my family-- my Dad's only son is a priest so there aren't gonna be any more Reeds unless we provide one! Since my Dad is into genealogy, we wanted to keep the name going. Well one of the all-time coolest gifts we have received was a quilt, handmade by my oldest sister, Sarah. The quilt is awesome first off because she is an excellent quilter, but secondly because she combined some elements that are important to us: the name Reed (which she took from one of my Dad's sets of army khakis), and my love for martial arts (Charles and I first met and bonded over martial arts, and have trained off and on for several years). So, without further ado, here are a couple of pictures of the quilt that Sarah made for us, which is called "Ninja Time."

In the top right corner is the badge that says "Reed." The fabrics include baby ninjas, foxes, Japanese style temples, yin/yang symbols, and pac man ghosts. :)

The other side has a pretty throwing star pattern, that I think was originally called something like "ballerina" or some such nonsense. It is obviously more throwing star than ballerina. ;)

Sarah did a fantastic job. We love the quilt and can't wait to take pictures of Reed enjoying it. So many people have been incredibly generous to us during this very special time. We've gotten many, many wonderful things but this ranks up there as one of the most amazing and thoughtful. Thanks very much, Sarah!

I can't believe we are 38 weeks today. I was kind of uncomfortable and overly-emotional today, but Charles has been very nice and supportive, and helped organize the nursery. Soon we will have a baby. I can't believe it!!

Control

Some things are out of our control, and other things we think are in our control, but really aren't. Sorry for the vagueness of this post, but the 'problem' at hand, though it affects me, is really not 'my problem' to share. There is just something going on and I feel there is nothing I can do about it except pray and trust that it works out. When there is something that you really feel you need or want to happen, are you supposed to just pray about it once and assume it is taken care of? Or do you pray and pray and pray about it, thinking that more prayer is better? God only needs to hear it once, I guess, but maybe for ourselves we need to keep praying to get peace of mind. I hate to be a nag. :/
I do believe that God has a plan for us, and that he has certain things happen for reasons. I also believe there is a lot that God is indifferent about, and that there are things that could go a variety of ways. If those small things don't factor into a master plan, then isn't it OK for us to pray for them to work out the way we want them? I would never pray for something to work out against God's will, but if there is a way for things to be the way I feel I want or need them to be, it's not wrong to ask, right?
Ugh, I feel very conflicted and slightly overwhelmed.

Unrelated side note: last night I slept horribly because of some very vivid nightmares. I often have vivid dreams and nightmares, but it was a little worse than usual. I blame the combination of pregnancy, Chinese food, and cake.  I was quite glad to wake up and find that my house was NOT a home to large black widow spiders and ticks, and that I had NOT strangled a penguin to death. :/ Oy.

8 Years of Wedded Bliss

Yesterday Charles and I celebrated our anniversary. We had a wonderful time. We wanted to eat somewhere a little different, so we went to Altruda's, a local Italian restaurant that we haven't been to for years. I had forgotten how good their garlic rolls were. We had great meals and have leftovers that we can eat tonight. I got the lasagna and Charles got the ziti.
Once we got home I saw that he had fulfilled the promise of cake! He went to Magpies and got the same kind of cake that we had at our wedding. It was slightly different than I remembered, but the flavor was just exactly like I recalled. You could taste the strawberry juice in the cake, and the buttercream icing was super good and rich! Here is a picture of the cake.

I look forward to eating more of the amazing cake and to spending many more years with my super great husband. I am so thankful to have him in my life. :) I also think he's going to be such a great dad! I am excited about that. :) ♥

Fitbit One

I recently had a birthday, and my dear hubby got me a Fitbit One. I've had my mind set on getting a fitness tracker for awhile, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money, and I thought I'd wait until after the baby was born to try to really watch my weight. But we have been talking about fitness and lifestyle a lot, so he took the opportunity to get me a tracker and I think it's going to be fun. :)
The fitbit one counts steps taken, flights of stairs climbed, estimates calories burned, and monitors sleep. I haven't gotten to look into the sleep monitoring function too much yet, but it's one of the things I'm looking forward to. Last night was my first night using it, and I slept TERRIBLY. So I haven't reviewed the data yet, but I expect that last night was an outlier anyhow. The default goal for steps taken is 10,000 a day, which I think is a decent challenge. Yesterday I got about 8,000 steps, so I'm hoping for 10K today. It is neat to be able to push myself like that, and it gives me a whole new respect for my sister, who aims for 14K a day and often succeeds!
I don't think the calorie estimates are correct, either for what it says I burned, or for what it sets as a goal. One thing that was neat though was that in the setup of the device, I was able to tell it that I'm in my third trimester. So maybe it adjusted the calories automatically as a result of that? I will look into that further after the baby arrives and I am settled into a good nursing routine. For now I don't want to overwhelm myself. The fitbit also syncs with MyFitnessPal, and also has a mobile app. I have looked at the app a little, but haven't linked it to MFP yet. Again, I want to keep it simple for now. At this point I am just striving to take 10K steps a day, and I want to see how much I'm sleeping. Everything else can wait. :)

Update to my last post...

Charles got a super generous offer from a colleague for her crib, changing table, and dresser, so my storage woes are likely resolved!! Thank goodness. I don't know when we might arrange to pick up the furniture, but it means I will have a place to store all the adorable little baby outfits and blankets. It's funny how something so small can take such a load off my mind. I keep waiting to see if a nesting instinct is going to kick in; maybe this will set it off! :)

Honesty

Overall pregnancy has been pretty cool. It's fascinating and interesting. The positives have outweighed the negatives considerably. But I want to be able to look back on this blog and see what things were really like, so that means mentioning the bad stuff too. So here are a couple bad things, just so that I don't get rose colored glasses in a few months or years. ;)

First off, I will be 35 weeks tomorrow, and the hormones are finally starting to kick in. I have been a little weepy. It started with legitimate stressors just feeling overwhelming. There was a little family drama that I won't get into, and it really bothered me. But even after that was over, I just notice I have a short fuse and can't handle frustration very well. My snoring has gotten much much worse, so I have been sleeping on the couch or in the recliner from time to time just to keep from bothering Charles. When I wake up, I just feel emotionally drained. It has made me a little bit of a grump, I'm afraid. I know it's just hormones, but that doesn't make it much easier to handle. I have also been feeling a little overwhelmed. Baby showers are not really my thing, but people keep wanting to do nice things for me. Intentions are wonderful- I love and appreciate all the kind folks that want to do things for me. However, being the center of attention at a baby shower is going to be a little overwhelming and I'm a little afraid I'll cry. I hate crying in front of people.

I have been washing baby stuff and trying to put it away. People have been so incredibly generous and I am very appreciative. However it is quickly becoming apparent that I have possibly too much stuff. My house was a cluttered mess to begin with, and now I have baby stuff. As I am washing it, I see that I don't have room to store it all. I think a trip to Target for some storage containers will relieve some of that anxiety, but in the meantime I am just a little overwhelmed. Also, folding fitted sheets makes me crazy. I fold, I fail, I re-fold, I fail, I wad up, I huff, I go do something else for awhile, then I try again. I think I just need to go through some non-baby stuff and get rid of things, and then just play the baby stuff by ear. I will use what I use, and what I don't use, I will donate when the baby outgrows it. I need to separate myself from the idea that I have to use everything equally or have the baby wear every outfit. I won't know what I need or don't need until the baby arrives, so I just need to hang onto it all for now until I know better.

So that's basically it: hormones and feeling overwhelmed. All in all that's not too bad, right? People have been extra super nice to me, which is a huge perk to being pregnant. Charles has been AMAZING. Seriously-- he was a fantastic husband before but now I *really* see how lucky I am. This is a lucky kid, too, cause no matter what shortcomings I have as a mom, Charles is going to more than make up for. ;)

One last word about weight in case I want to look back on this. I am about 171 pounds now. That means I am 3 pounds away from the max of 174 that I was supposed to end up at. I think I'm going to go over by a few pounds, but it is what it is, right? I am not going to starve myself or the baby just to stay at that magic number. If I go over, that is just a little more work I have to do later. So I was 174 before I was pregnant, then I lost 20 pounds (or finished losing about 20 when we got pregnant), then I got preggo somewhere in there, and have gained back almost 20 pounds. So... that's that. I'd better go put more baby clothes in the dryer.

Les Misérables

I only have a moment to blog as I am not feeling well and am going to go lie down shortly. However, I wanted to take a moment to say that I had a great time with my girlfriends, Anya and Erin, this weekend. We like to have our little theme movie dates, you know, so this event was a viewing party for Les Misérables. We drank sparkling cider (a nod to champagne), had cute little croissant sandwiches, crackers with fancy cheeses, fresh fruit (so refreshing!), and adorable Napoleons (puff pastry with nutella, whipped cream, and strawberry jam). We had a great time catching up on what's going on in our lives, eating delicious food, and watching the musical.

I had grown up with a few of the songs from Les Mis but had never heard the whole soundtrack, or seen any version of the movie, play, or musical. I read a brief synopsis a few weeks ago (maybe on wikipedia?) just so I'd have an idea of what was going on. I really enjoyed it! The singing was great (better than I expected), the scenes were impressive, and the story was wonderful! I was surprised by how much religion was in the movie. I had read or heard that Hugo was anti-religion, maybe even anti-Catholic, so I had zero expectation of a favorable view of religion. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see how much of a role religious themes played in the production. It was very touching and very well done. :)

Next up for our theme parties is Anna Karenina. I have no idea how we will find something delicious that has any kind of Russian theme. Russian food does not seem to appeal to me, but we are creative people so we'll figure something out! :)
Gotta run, but everyone take care!

Cake cake cake cake

One of my all-time favorite coworkers, Dave, did the sweetest thing. He brought be a cake! Lemonade Cake, to be precise. His wife made it, and I have to say, it smells so good, looks so moist, and promises to be so delicious that I can barely stand it! Here is a picture:

I can't wait to start eating it, but I am trying to make myself wait until after lunch. Any readers of this blog are welcome to start placing bets on how long I can hold out. :)
I am so excited that there are really no words for it. I expect I will be eating a lot of cake in the next couple days. I did offer to share with some of my coworkers. Now I am sitting here wondering what Jesus would do. Isn't the *right* thing to offer to share it with all my library colleagues? But then when I think of what Jesus would do, he would make it last-- sharing one cake with everybody and collecting several bushels of remnants after everyone has had their fill. So it's not really a practical thought exercise, is it? :)

In tangentially related news, my dear husband has started counting calories. That means that he will sample some cake, have a small slice or two or three, and the rest will gradually disappear over time, imperceptible sliver by sliver. :D I will have to perfect the ninja-like art of opening and closing the microwave without making a sound. I think I'm up to the challenge!

In completely unrelated news, last night some friends and I watched "Django Unchained." It was a great movie, but man was it heavy! There were some great characters, and it's a great vengeance movie. Typical amounts of Tanantino violence, humor, and language. Overall I would recommend it. But don't do like I did and watch it late at night. It kept me up, partly all the excitement, and partly thinking sad things about slavery. :(

OK, gotta get back on task. Have a great day!

A gift from my friend

One of my closest friends is an artist named Chrissy Clark. She made this picture as a gift for me and Charles; isn't she awesome? I have a higher quality, non-watermarked version that I hope to include in a baby book for Baby G, as well as another picture that I'll share after the birth. She did a great job of flattering me, and capturing Charles's cuteness and enthusiasm. Chrissy and I have been friends since 7th grade, which is about 20 years! She is also the one that drew the picture I use as my profile pic on this blog:

I just wanted to share. I don't usually post pictures but these are too good to pass up. :) If you like these, check out Chrissy's webpage: http://chrissyclark.com/

Star Trek Into Darkness

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I went to visit my sister and her husband and 4 kids in Alabama. We had a wonderful time (we always do!). We rested, ate great food, had wonderful company, and saw the new Star Trek movie at a cool old theater. It was my first time seeing a movie in 3D. I didn't think I'd like 3D, and the extra expense always puts me off so I had avoided ever seeing a 3D movie, but it was actually pretty cool!
As for the movie itself, I *loved* it. I loved the one that came out a few years ago, too. I think the casting has just been amazing in the franchise reboot. I liked the plot of this movie better than the last one, though. There was a lot of action, which many people have listed as a criticism, but I enjoyed it. I was never bored. The characters are all so likeable. Many of my supernerd friends thought that this movie didn't feel "star trek" enough, but I disagree. I had a great time and thought it put an interesting twist on the old Star Trek without just crapping on the whole history. I thought it was fairly clever, and I especially loved Benedict Cumberbatch. He's just so much fun to watch (and listen to). I don't really use a consistent rating scheme or anything, but I would arbitrarily give it a 5 out of 5. Not because it's that perfect, but because it is perfect enough, and it is a ton of fun. Will it win an Oscar? No. Will I buy the DVD and watch it repeatedly? Heck yes! :)
Special thanks to my sister and her family for being wonderful hosts to us. Oh, and on the drive home, I got to stop at Dairy Queen for a blizzard. Perfect ending to a great weekend. :)

Sorry, this is another baby-related post...

Well, a few people have asked me about whether I am having a baby shower, and my answer is always "no" because I am really not into being the center of attention, I feel bad asking people for things, and there is just a lot of social pressure associated with that stuff. I think it's amazing that I have such good friends and family that want to do showers, but it's really not my scene for the most part.
Then a few of my girlfriends threw me that surprise shower, and it was actually really nice because there were only 4 people there including myself. It was so sweet that they were so thoughtful, and I really appreciated it.
Well now there has been *another* surprise shower. I am just overwhelmed by how nice people can be, but I feel a little silly cause I told my good friends and my coworkers that I didn't want a shower. I feel like a little bit of a phony because I feel like I lied to people, but I assure you that was not my intent. So yesterday I was at work and got an email from Hubby saying "there is a thing at work tomorrow at 8:30 and I've been asked to get you to come." After a lot of back and forth, I swapped reference desk shifts with my coworker and got the OK from my boss to come into work late today. I met my hubby at the Middle School and we found that the special education department was having a "last day of school" breakfast event which included a little shower for us. :) It was so incredibly nice and thoughtful. They gave us cards, some hand-knitted adorable little monster pants, and a couple diaper cakes with lots of little baby stuff like spoons, diapers, blankets, teething rings...
I was just blown away by how hospitable those ladies are. It was fantastic to finally meet some of the women that Charles has worked with in the past year. Really, really, great people! And what was especially charming was how much they seemed to like and appreciate Charles. One woman said it was her goal every day to make him smile, by saying something funny or embarrassing to him. It's great to see firsthand how appreciated he is. I am so proud of my smart, funny, kind, hard-working husband! He is going to be an amazing dad.
Anyhow here I am thinking about how blessed and happy I am, but feeling a little guilty because I didn't intend to have a shower at all, and now I've had 2! I fear that another one might be on the way from coworkers of mine, but we'll see. I've told them that I really don't like to be the center of attention, but you know how people love to embarrass those that blush easily (read: me). I just need to focus on the gratitude. Speaking of which, I have more thank you notes to write!
Also found out for sure the gender (and name) of the forthcoming baby, so I will share that here on the blog after I've told my family.
Lastly, as one last bit of gratitude, I am so thankful for my brother helping us to prepare the office/nursery for the arrival of baby Galyon. Charles and I have been wanting to get crown moulding in our office for ever and we are just not handy at all. We were going to pay a contractor to do it, but it was so expensive. Then my bestie and her husband said they would help us with it (THANK YOU CHRISSY, btw!), but once I found out that my brother was going to be in Knoxville and was able/willing to help, it just fell into place that he is going to help us with it. We borrowed a mitre saw from a good friend (thanks, Josh!) and even though it will take awhile, we hope to have crown moulding up soon. Thank you to everyone for coming together to take care of us. We are so grateful!!

Quilting

Wish I had more time to learn about quilting and sewing. I need to practice, but I just can't find the time and/or energy. Reading about other peoples' quilting projects makes me want to make my own baby quilt! There are so many things I want to make! Oh well, it will have to wait.

Surprise Shower

Things have been going fairly well and progressing normally. I am tired and somewhat uncomfortable, but I am excited and healthy so I really can't complain. On Friday I went out with my girlfriends Sharon, Nicole, and Kristi. We get together every couple months to catch up and be girly. Well this time, after we ate, we went back to Nicole's beautiful new home and the girls surprised me with lots of wonderful baby gifts! I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity. I now have lots of gender-neutral, cute and useful baby stuff! It made me really think about how appreciative I am of my good friends. I used to not get along with other women very well, having been burned by catty behavior, gossip, and backstabbing. I am slow to trust other women, so it's been especially amazing over the past several years to make some good female friends! I am so thankful that I have been blessed to meet good women, and that they are willing to spend time with me. ;) I still feel a little like an outsider in most groups. I am not appropriate, and am a tomboy, and don't know how to dress nicely or do hair or makeup. But having women friends has helped me feel more feminine than I used to. Being pregnant definitely helps with that too!

Thank you to all my girlfriends- not just Sharon, Nicole, and Kristi, but also Chrissy, Erin, Anya, Nancy, Mary Catherine, Anne, Kim, Jiun-Fei, my sisters, sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, aunts.... there are so many good women I can't even name them all! Sorry for leaving some people out. Thanks for letting me be one of the girls. :)

In totally unrelated news, I can't wait to go see the new Star Trek movie. I am super excited but don't know when I'll ever make it to the theater. I have had a lot of things going on, between errands (baby and non-baby related), trips (ELUNA in Athens, SLA meeting in Nashville, upcoming trip to see family in Alabama), and tiredness, I'm not sure when I will get to see Benedict Cumberbatch in a Star Trek movie! I hear good things about it, so I guess I'll just sit tight until hubby and I can sneak a movie in. :)

Gratitude

Charles and I went to Nashville over the weekend primarily so that I could attend a chapter meeting of the Special Libraries Association. I was so glad Charles decided to go with me, as it gave us several uninterrupted hours to spend together talking and laughing, and planning for the future. We also got to eat at the Calypso Cafe (Charles's favorite place to eat, I think), and Dairy Queen (one of my favorites!). One thing that really stood out though was how lucky and blessed we are. I want to savor the appreciation, because even though I try to always be mindful of how blessed I am, I often get wrapped up in anxiety. Reading the blogs of friends and acquaintances the past few days makes me grateful that my husband and I are both in such good health, in careers we enjoy, and expecting a healthy baby. I sometimes take for granted the struggles that other people are going though, so I just wanted to pause for a moment and focus on how grateful I am.

Baby Bump

Yesterday I got up around 2 am to feed the starving cat who hadn't eaten in a whole 3 hours. Cruel and unusual, right? However, while I was on my way down the stairs in a sleepy stupor, I slipped and fell, bouncing on my tail bone 3 or 4 steps. It hurt. I am so, so, so thankful that I fell on my butt and not on the baby's residence. But still, it hurt. Not amazingly high pain, but that pain of "oh that's not going to feel good over the next few days" mixed with stress and embarrassment. It got my heart racing and took me about an hour to fall back asleep. Yesterday was a rough day as a result. I was tired, and yes, my butt is bruised. :( Sorry if that is too much information.

I was telling my Charles that I just just read the day before that I would start to get clumsier as I get bigger and my center of gravity shifts outward. I wonder if I am just that susceptible to information-- did I make myself fall because I let myself believe I'd be clumsier? Or was it just coincidence? I get up between 1 and 3 most days to feed the starving cat and I never fall. I decided I am going to use positive self-talk. I won't beat myself up for slipping on the stairs, but I will tell myself positive things. Such as:

They said I would be clumsy, but I really haven't been very clumsy at all!
Compared with other pregnant people, I am doing quite well!
I am keeping my weight in control. Some gain is necessary and desirable, but I have done a great job of not going overboard!

Trying to keep it positive. It is discouraging when my clothes don't fit right, but I need to remind myself that it is normal and healthy. And I can be careful without being an alarmist.

I have a lot of obligations coming up in the next month or so. A chapter meeting for the Special Libraries Association in Nashville on Saturday, dinner with librarian friends next week, hosting an SLA trivia night for the student SLA chapter next week, then a week out of town on travel to learn about SFX e-journal management. I am feeling a little over-committed. There are some other things coming up that I would like to do: the JDRF walk in early May, and the Rossini festival in late April. However I think I need to build in some down-time so I don't overdo it and stress myself out. This is a happy but hectic time, and the more things I schedule, the more hectic it becomes! That leaves a little less room for happy!

Need Decluttering Advice

As I've blogged before, clutter is a HUGE problem for me. One of my super sisters has sent me several links to great blogs that have helped to start to make a tiny dent in my clutter, but I still have so far to go. What I am asking for help with is one special area of clutter: stuffed animals.
This is so stupid, but I am 32 years old and still have a ton of stuffed animals. Last weekend I was able to part with half a garbage bag full of stuffed animals-- I went for the low hanging fruit: the animals that I had the least attachment to and fewest memories of. They were all in decent condition so I took them to Goodwill with the hopes that someone else will want them.
Now all that remains is a ton of stuffed animals that mean a lot to me or used to mean a lot to me. Many of them are in very poor condition, enough that I don't think they would be able to be sold at a thrift store. I have been through several thought experiments in my head. I know that if I could only keep one thing from childhood, I would want it to be my blanket. But I just can't bring myself to part with these animals. I read a great blog entry today that suggested taking photos of them, making a scrap book and then parting with the actual items. I just can't seem to get myself to do it. Even though the stuffed animals are obviously not alive, I can't shake the feeling that they will be sad if I let them go. Does anyone have any advice for how to get over this? I am willing to take photos and part with some if I feel like they will continue to have a happy life or some dignity after I let them go. I just can't bear the thought of them in a landfill or something. :( This is extra crazy: I almost want to give them a funeral and bury them someplace so they would at least have some dignity.
I have been thinking a lot about needing to get rid of much of the things I have stored at my Dad's house, and also making room at my own house for the baby. I know in my heart that parting with these guys is the best thing I can do, but it's just too hard. Someone please give me some advice because I am a 32 year old crazy hormonal lady and I can't make a decision on my own.

Movies, movies, movies

First things first before I get into the movie discussion. Extra extra extra big and special thanks to my friend, Bridget, for the beautiful baby blanket she crocheted. It is so soft and snuggly, and the colors (green and purple) are perfect. It will come in very handy and I am so grateful to have you as a friend, Bridget! :) Now, on to the movies...

I wanted to blog about this sooner, but I've been a little busy and distracted. Recently I got together with a couple of the greatest girlfriends in the world to watch the final installment of the Twilight series- Breaking Dawn pt.2. We've watched all of the movies together. I haven't read any of the books but somehow the movies are a very guilty pleasure. That is probably partly influenced by the awesome company I am keeping when I watch them, but I also like teen-oriented dramas, supernatural stuff, and action movies, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I actually enjoyed the series of films. What also helps is the delicious food traditions we partake in while we're watching-- Bloody Bellas (a punch with a mixture of fruit juices and ginger ale, I think), Werewolf Kibble (better known as Puppy Chow- a new favorite snack of mine!), fresh fruits and veggies, and sometimes other stuff too. I'm a little sad that the series is over since it was so much fun to get together with the girls, but we are working on a new movie list. I think Les Miserables is next up. :)

During the same weekend as the Breaking Dawn shindig, hubby and I bought the DVD of the Hobbit, which we never got around to seeing in the theater. We had a great time watching that, and I expect we'll add it to our annual viewing of the LOTR trilogy. Martin Freeman as Bilbo was great. Since I've actually read the Hobbit (unlike the other Tolkien works) I didn't have a terrible amount of suspense or anxiety about what would happen. Several liberties were taken and much was added, but I didn't have to worry about what would happen to Bilbo, which helped me enjoy the movie a lot more. I definitely recommend the Hobbit if you haven't seen it already. :)

Later in the same weekend, hubby and I got the Hunger Games DVD through the mail via Netflix. I had read the plot of the Hunger Games on Wikipedia ages ago, so I also didn't have too much anxiety while watching that movie. I guess I'm weird but I like those kinds of spoilers because then I can relax when I'm watching something. Certain spoilers I do NOT like, for instance romantic ones, or ruined punchlines to jokes. But I do like to know who lives and who dies. I enjoyed the Hunger Games overall, which surprised me because I am not big on dystopian and post-apocalyptic settings. Katniss was cool and interesting though, and the fights were pretty good. It was a lot more subdued than Battle Royale, which I was grateful for. Battle Royale was quite good but very intense-- it still haunts me a bit, so I'm glad the Hunger Games was lighter. :)

It was a good weekend for watching stuff. Now hubby and I are watching season 2 of the Game of Thrones. It is incredibly good, though overly graphic in its violence and sex. I understand it's HBO and they want to shock us, but there is no need to beat us over the head with it. There are some characters I really care about, and I read about them on wikipedia after season 1, but I'll need to revisit their entries to make the show watchable. Too much tension for me!

I'll also randomly mention that we had a doctor's appointment Monday and everything is good and healthy. The baby got measured in a bunch of different directions and is a good size (has a big head, though!). The ultrasound tech did a marvelous job of avoiding all gender-specific pronouns, and letting me know when to close my eyes so I wouldn't find out the gender. She did confirm it for Charles, though, so the baby is still thought to be the same gender as it was the last time they checked. :D Yay. I think now that we are 21 weeks along we might go register for some baby stuff either at Babies-R-Us or Target or Amazon. Don't really know the best place to go for that but I heard that Babies-R-Us will give you a list of recommendations so you know how many of certain things you 'need.' That would be handy for me since I know virtually nothing about babies. Hoping my oldest sister and some friends can advise me some on what I actually need and what is crap. I want to avoid getting a bunch of useless stuff, or stuff that is only good for a very short time. Alright well I'd better get on about my day. Have a good one, everybody!

Another quick Lent thing and then I'll stop... ;)

In Mass yesterday the priest was urging us, for Holy Week, to perform one corporal act of mercy (here is a guide if you aren't sure about what those are, because I sure wasn't! http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10198d.htm)
He mentioned that one thing you can do is free a prisoner. We were all a little puzzled I think, but he said you don't even have to set foot in a prison to free someone- you can free someone from the prison of your mind. My first thought was of Superman II for some reason, but I digress. If there is someone that you are holding a grudge with in your mind, you can take this opportunity to let that person go. Quit keeping them locked up in your mind with a little mental scorecard of all the ways they wronged you. I feel like this is a wonderful idea. There is someone I have been having a difficult time with in my every day life. I am going to try really hard this week to pardon her, to give her the benefit of the doubt, and to be merciful. She really doesn't need my judgment on top of everything else she is probably going through. I hope I can make it through Holy Week being more charitable towards her. I am blogging about it to keep myself accountable. I hope I can do it!

In unrelated news, I still haven't felt the baby move. I have felt a few little flutters that I can't identify. It could be baby movements, it could be stomach gurgles. I am getting anxious. Well, time will tell. Duty calls but I hope to come back later to blog about girl time with friends this weekend. Until then....

A Catholic Thing

Last night I went to a penance service to prepare for Holy Week. I hadn't been to confession in a few years. It usually surprises me how small the penance is for all the tons of stuff I've done wrong, but last night was especially striking. Have you ever had a penance that was so small that you wanted to ask for seconds? But that isn't how forgiveness works. The penance doesn't need to somehow outweigh or even balance all the sin. It's just funny how as a human I viewed the whole confession process last night as somewhat anticlimactic. I am so glad that I went. It's kind of like a really great workout--- I dread it and dread it and dread it, and then after it's done, I feel so great! Kinda the opposite of eating a giant meal of fast food... I look forward to it, and look forward to it, and then when it's done, I feel so yucky. Why??? Human nature is so weird! :)

In other news, looking forward to a good weekend with some girlfriends in addition to my usual weekend hanging-out activities. I'm starting to think more about how much life will change in a couple months. It's kind of surreal. I am so thankful to be so blessed with great friends, family, a great job, good health... I hope I can always appreciate it, even when things aren't going as well as they are now.

Well, better get my nose back to the grindstone. TGIF everyone!

Pregnancy Update

Feel free to skip this if you're not interested, of course, but I wanted to be able to look back and see what I was going through, so I am going to make some random observations about how pregnancy is going so far.

I am 18 weeks along-- almost half way and it really doesn't feel like it! The nausea has improved a lot, though there are still bad times here and there. I am still somewhat tired, but since I was always tired before I was pregnant, I don't think it's been too bad. What *is* surprising is how much 'pregnancy brain' has affected me. I always kind of thought that maybe pregnant people were exaggerating things a little. I figured hormones would certainly influence one's emotional volatility, but I didn't think the cognitive effects would be so dramatic. I really feel like a bimbo a lot of the time. Yesterday I misspelled the word 'they.' It just didn't look right for some reason, so I tried it the correct way, then I tried 'thay' and couldn't decide which was better. Luckily I snapped out of it. :)

I find it more difficult than usual to concentrate. Church has been especially difficult for concentration. Last Sunday I spent most of the homily thinking about baby names. :/ I feel a little guilty for that one, but it was better this week.

For the most part, I don't "feel" pregnant. I am gaining weight, and it mostly seems to be around my waist. I was overweight to begin with, so I'm only supposed to gain 15-20 pounds during the entire pregnancy. At my last visit I had only gained 3 pounds, so the NP told me to increase my calories (yay!), and by now I think I have gained a total of 7 or 8 pounds. So I am about half way there on the weight gain. My next appointment is on Frodo and Kenobi's birthday: April 1. It is a big appointment- the 20 week 'anatomy scan' (I will be at 21 weeks, I think, but whatevs). I am hoping my hubby can make it to the appointment with me. The NP said that is a good one for a SO to go to. There will be more measurements, a longer ultrasound, and who knows what else. I'm kind of excited. Last time I went they didn't do measurements because it was just a "gender scan", but the ultrasound tech did a quick informal measurement and everything was normal. Yay. :)

Last time, they wrote all over my charts "DOES NOT WANT TO KNOW GENDER" so they could all make sure they wouldn't tell me. Miraculously I still don't know the gender (though I have a good guess!), so I will also need to make sure I don't 'accidentally' find out the gender when I go back for the anatomy scan.

I do notice that physical activity exhausts me more quickly than it used to. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up with my walking and my martial arts. Due to some extra duties at work, I have missed a couple of my morning walks. Yesterday I did some karate stuff on my own, just to practice, and although I didn't do much, I am very sore today. I noticed that my knees hurt a lot for the first time in a few months, so I think I'm getting to that point where I'll need to slow it down. I also have to pee frequently. I was amazed I was able to complete a 5K walk a couple weekends ago, because when I walk or jog on the treadmill at home, I usually have to take a pee break. The NP said I could keep up my usual activities with some modifications as long as I felt like I was able to do it. I think between the fatigue, need to pee, and joint soreness, I might be approaching my limit.

Hubby and I have also been looking at daycares. We have been to 3 so far, and we really liked one of the 3, but need to look at some others.

That's all for now, but thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Lent

I don't know why I am even blogging about this, but I guess it's sort of a confession. I gave up soda for lent on a spur of the moment decision. I knew I needed to cut back since I'm pregnant, and I know it's really bad for you in all sorts of ways, and I just lacked the determination to do it for myself. So I thought that as a Lenten sacrifice I could give it up. I am really, really struggling with it! Like, to a surprising extent. I actually don't know if I can do it. :/ I've tried switching to iced tea (half sweet, half unsweet), but I just really don't like tea. I like it better than water, otherwise I would just give up all together. I don't know if it is just my normal human weakness that makes me miss soda so much, or if it's a pregnancy craving. A lady I work with that is a vegan health nut told me that she had to drink a coke every day of her pregnancy. If she didn't get her coke, she would throw up. And she HATES coke. She thinks it's basically poison so she was really surprised at herself. I don't feel like I will die if I don't get it, but I feel like there is a whole in my heart that only soda can fill. Its absence affects my enjoyment of each meal. I guess that is what sacrifice is really about, but at this point I am wondering if I am strong enough to make it. I am sorely tempted to switch and give up something else instead. Or to start doing something else instead, maybe adding something to my daily routine. I guess I just needed to blog about it to get it off my chest. I feel like a very weak person right now!

So hungry!

So here is a little tidbit of what life is like these days. I'm 13.5 weeks along in the pregnancy, and the nausea, which is slightly better overall, is very bad today. But I am STARVING. I even stopped for McDonald's for breakfast before work this morning so that I wouldn't be as hungry as I was yesterday. But it is now 10:42 am and I've already eaten half of what I brought for lunch.
I am going to be 600 pounds for sure by the time this is over. :/

I suck.

I'm having the first (only?) hard day of pregnancy so far. This is the worst I have felt, physically and emotionally. I just want to vent about it a moment because I am really disappointed in myself, and because I want to have an accurate record of how things really were. I want to look back and see accurately that for the most part things have been pretty good, with dark spots being the exception rather than the rule. I am only 12.5 weeks along, and though I have been super nauseous every day since before Christmas, I haven't thrown up and can mostly function. Today I thankfully didn't throw up, but for the first time I was unable to take my daily 30 minute walk before work. I was just too nauseous to walk any more than absolutely necessary. I was tired, too, because I have been going to bed early this past week, but last night was up til 9:30. I know, life on the wild side, right? I just feel so disappointed in myself for not maintiaining that minimal amount of activity. On top of this, I had a bad day at work. Nothing seemed to go right. Emails from unhappy people, a computer that wouldn't start, being behind on a project.... Finally I did the unthinkable and snapped at a coworker. One that I really like a lot, too. :( instant regret. I thought "maybe he didn't notice that I tried to bite his head off..." no. He noticed. He mentioned that I have had a sharpness to my voice. As in not just today, but lately. :( oh God, have I been snapping at people this whole time and I didn't even know it? I feel like a crummy person. Everyone is cutting me slack since I am pregnant, which is super kind of them, but I don't want to turn into an unkind person. I feel awful physically and emotionally. I just need to hope that tomorrow is better. In general I am very, very happy with my life. I am so blessed, and so excited about the future. Just for today, though, I really suck.

Clutter brag

I just have to say that I spent about 45 minutes getting rid of a medium sized bag of PAPER. Yes, that is right. They were miscellaneous papers, mostly from Library School. I kept some assignments that I had completed and some syllabi, but said goodbye to most of the articles that I had printed, and tons and tons of powerpoint printouts. I had been keeping them partly for sentimental reasons, and partly because I have this fear of "what if I lose my job, and I have to find another job, and I have to review my old notes from library school on Digital Libraries, User Instruction, Information Technology..."
Well, do you know what? I am a Librarian, gosh darn it! If I have to find information about any of those topics, I think I have the skills to locate more relevant, more timely articles! So take that, clutter! What is really sad is that if you know me at all and were to walk into my home, you wouldn't even know that a dent had been made in the clutter. That bag of paper might as well have been air for all the difference it made in how good my house looks. But *I* will know. I will know that today I took a step in the right direction to part with some things that I didn't really need. I have plenty of fond memories from library school without having to read the lecture notes. I am patting myself on the bag because I want to feel really good about what little thing I have done, so that next time I am sitting around thinking of what I should be doing, I can actually get the motivation to get up and de-clutter some more. So GO ME! *cheer*

Struggling with Stuff

I have been having a problem for quite awhile with not being able to get rid of sentimental things. Every gift, every reminder of a happy time, or a hard time that I made it through, or a person I care about... I just can't seem to part with them. I am in a place in my life (literally a place- a 2 bedroom condo) where I can't sustain this level of sentimentality. I have struggled with it, and with well-intentioned friends that insist on giving me more and more things. My friends are coming from a good place-- they care about me and they want to do a nice thing, and so they give me stuff. But what starts out as a great intention ends up as a sort of emotional shackle for me. I find it impossible to enjoy something for a little while and then let it go.
Today I read a great blog entry that I wanted to share here because I want to try to implement the baby step method, and I thought others might like to try as well. Here is a link to the blog: http://www.theminimalists.com/sentimental/
And here is a little excerpt that I am copying and pasting:

1. I am not my stuff. We are more than our possessions.
2. Our memories are not under our beds. Memories are within us, not within our things.
3. An item that is sentimental for us can be an item that is useful for someone else.
4. Holding on to stuff weighs on us mentally and emotionally. Letting go is freeing.
5. You can take pictures of items you want to remember.
6. Old photographs can be scanned... 
   
 

I hope others find this helpful, and I am open to more advice if anyone has some to offer! I am not trying to get rid of everything, I just need to reduce.

 

 

 

Potty Humor

Most of you should probably skip this post. I have a very immature sense of humor sometimes and I just had to have a record of a great moment in bathroom humor/geeky puns. Unless you are like me and have the mentality of a 12 year old boy, you probably won't want to keep reading. Consider yourself warned.

This weekend I was with my dear hubby and some friends playing a Star Trek RPG. We somehow got on the topic of Harry Potter when my husband excuses himself to go to the restroom. "I'm going to the Chamber of Secrets," he says. One friend makes a Goblet of Fire reference that I unfortunately can't recall. Someone else says "Careful not to drop the Sorcerer's Stone." Then I chime in, "I hope he doesn't leave any half-blood prints...."

I guess you had to be there, but we were all quite proud of ourselves. :D What can you expect from a bunch of grown people playing a Star Trek dice-rolling role playing game???

Happy New Year!

2012 was a good year in many ways, though it did have some very dark spots. I think that for me and my hubby, 2013 will be better and more interesting. I'm so glad he's enjoying his School Psych Internship. It should continue on until August or so. Then he will hopefully have a postdoc position, but even if he doesn't, he'll be out of school with his PhD.
I am not big on new year's resolutions, but I do have some things I'd like to do for fun this year. First up on the list is to see The Hobbit. I can't believe I still haven't seen it! I hope it's a good year for Frodo, too. His anxiety has been very problematic and it's unlikely that it will resolve. I think I'll be happy if it just doesn't get any worse.
I did get to go to a great New Year's Day get-together yesterday with some old friends and new friends from my karate school. I'm looking forward to getting to know people better. :) All-in-all things are good.