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!