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!