Preparing for big changes...

Before someone else announces it to the blogosphere, I think I'd better go ahead and tell those of you who don't know...the biggest, blogworthiest scoop I've ever had to deliver. ( no pun intended) ...I'm tired, my appetite is all over the place, and my clothes are getting smaller. Or I'm getting bigger. No, I'm not pregnant. Oh- wait- yes, I am! I've been qualifying things on this blog by saying: "No, I'm not pregnant" for so long that it's very strange to finally say the opposite...

It's been so hard for me to not write about this, seeing as how it has monopolized our lives for the last three months...and will most likely monopolize it for years to come...You may have noticed I haven't really written much at all recently because, I mean...what else is there to write about now?! The awesome responsibility of having a child thrills, terrifies and generally overwhelms me. Seeing the baby on the ultrasound last month was the most mind-blowing miracle I have ever experienced. Thankfully, I have not had to endure much sickness to speak of...Pretty much just tiredness and general aversion to food, but now that I'm moving into my second trimester, my energy and appetite are starting to come back. That is a wonderful gift because food did not appeal AT ALL for a long time and cooking was very un-fun.

The baby is due in December - the 22nd, to be exact. I was not thrilled at the prospect of the birthday being so close to Christmas, but I'm sure when we get there, I won't care that much. And Andrea assures me that being born in close proximity to Christmas is GREAT. We can't wait to find out whether it's a boy or girl. I'm already shopping for STUFF, but can only do so much, not knowing the gender...so I've got a lot of neutral stuff.

So, anyway, that's our big, earthshattering news. We are so thankful for this answer to our prayers.

And tomorrow, Grandpa is leaving on a multi-week trip to California! I am looking forward to a break from cooking (mostly) every night...Leftovers, here I come!

Flaarider

I write to you from hazy, muggy Florida. I am staying at a major university this week attending a conference: Literacy in Augmentative and Alternative Communication. How's THAT for a mouthful?! I'm here with my student's mother. So far it's been a wonderful learning experience; I feel like I've learned more in two and a half days than I did in some of my college courses on education. The schedule is very intense but it's been very worthwhile in giving me more understanding of how to better approach my student and ideas of new things to try. To give you some kind of reference point- for those of you who know what a "Feast" ( convention) is- this makes the Feast look like a cakewalk, schedule/long hours-wise.

The biggest problem I have encountered has been the lack of available internet access; apparently, you have to be a student with a password and suchlike in order to get onto the wireless networks...Wah. I went to the library and got a temporary card but that only enables me to access the internet through the library's computers ( where I am writing this). ( I have yet to get a good wireless network connection in the dorm. Yes- I'm staying in a dorm! Weird.) It felt SO good to check my email after being deprived for about twenty four hours. I was almost jittery. Pathetic. I am way too dependent on the internet...but I have come to the philosophical conclusion that internet access is a human right.

Well- really the biggest problem is that the day is so long and FULL that I get wicked tired. (But a lot of food is provided throughout the day - niiiiice. Free foooood. Well- sort of free. Free to me.) I'm so used to only working twenty hours a week- and this conference is WAY more than twenty hours. And then I have strange dreams at night. I dreamed last night that when I got home, Brad had bought something like TEN cats - well, one cat, and nine kittens ... and the cat was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. But generally, Mama, I am sleeping fairly well. Fear not on that count. And yes, I did buy some Lysol. Rest easy.

Anyway- we will be driving back on Fridee; I am very much looking forward to being home again.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Well, today is Grandpa's 84th birthday and it's too bad he doesn't have a blog that I can direct you all to visit and leave a comment. Oh well.

I asked him if he wanted anything special for his birthday dinner, and the only thing he cared about was that at some point during the day, he have waffles. I decided to make them for breakfast. Now, I have not even attempted to make waffles since The Great Waffle Debacle back about six months ago when Stan got into the batter and my waffle iron died. So I went out yesterday and, along with my weekly purchase of groceries, bought a new waffle iron. Of course I didn't read the instructions or turn it on until this morning. And seeing as how I was not the first person to use our original waffle maker ( Brad and Andrew made the first batch of waffles on it), I did not think that anything special had to be done. A tiny, niggling voice in my head wondered about trying it out just to see if it worked so that I wouldn't be in a pickle if it turned out to be a dud in the moment of need. But that tiny, inner voice was so faint that I ignored it.

However, when I plugged in my new appliance this morning and a strange smell came forth from its innards, the small voice roused itself into a loud, "I told you so!"

I pulled out the instruction manual and sure enough, they mentioned the fact that the waffle iron should be cleaned and plugged in prior to its first use and that there would be a strange smell and some smoke perhaps...but just to let it do its thing for ten minutes or so, until the smell dissipated, and then turn it off and let it cool down before heating it back up again for its first use. ARGH! Ten minutes? Whatever! It was more like half an hour! ! ( *sniff-sniff* Nope, still smells weird.) ( It doesn't help that I happen to have one of the more sensitive schnozzes on the planet.) And to compound matters, I was crunched for time, seeing as how Wednesdays are my morning appointment days with my student. "The CURSE OF THE WAFFLES CONTINUES!" I thought to myself. But all's well that ends well- Grandpa was more than satisfied with the final product, even though he had to wait a little while and they came out strangely a little flatter than I'm used to. I did actually make it to work on time, thanks to the help of my husband, who joined us and took over the latter part of the breakfast carnival so I could go make myself presentable to the world before I left.

Let this be a proverb and a warning to all who, like me, think the instruction manual is for nerds: ALWAYS READ THE STUPID BOOKLET FIRST.

Hurray! Back on the waffle circuit!