Baby Update 1

Went to see the midwife today. It amazes me how much I like having a midwife. I had one for my first birth and couldn't imagine it any other way.

Laura, the midwife, is a woman who is maybe 10 years my senior. Came from the states with her Dr. husband and now resides here working with the pregnant ladies in the area. I always wonder how that worked out that they met. Midwives tend to give more of a herbal point of view while dr.'s lean towards the prescription end of things.

So all is fine and good. There is still a baby in there. She confirmed that it didn't escape in the night and go join the circus as the bearded baby.

Whew. I'm so relieved.

This is it doing a tumble roll. Part of the circus act I'm sure:)

And here is its karate chop move in case it wants to get into action movies later on in life.

To be honest I'm not as overly excited as I was the first time. I would describe my feelings about it all as being content. Not overly happy and not sad. Just content.
Its like anything I think. Once you know the work that it takes to have one and raise one your a little more conservative with your emotions.
Overall I'm just glad my feet and legs haven't blown up with fluid like last time. And my wedding rings still fit! Yay, still married!

This Is Personal

As I pass through other peoples blogs one thing I love is to learn about who they are. In fact the more info they divulge the more interesting it seems. 
So I don't plan on being TOO personal but I thought. Hey. Lets take a tour of Erin and Tim  home. What is in their place?

This is my bookshelf in our bedroom. From top to bottom you can see my organization skills are a little non-martha stewart. However, I love what that woman can do with clutter.

On top I have photos of Tim and I from before we were married. A candle holder i got from a garage sale at a super good price. And a framed scripture of Hebrews 12:12-13. Awesome verse for those shady days.

This is a bit of a helter skelter shelf. Your bedroom is the place for books like massage and "the gift of sex", which I haven't fully read but just skipped through. Good book to skip through. 
The metal boxes tray is a gift from my friend that Tim now uses to separate change. When we married he had various containers all over the house of pocket change.

I love the Paradise Lost book but its HUGE. Its super difficult to read but its an amazing variation of the Adam and Eve story. My first copy got stolen so now I got the big book of it. :) Managing Emotions. Anyone who knows me knows I need that book. Tim's books of gardening. Yes he loves to garden. And Bury me Standing which is about the Roma in Europe.

And last. The bottom shelf. Full of old photo books. Wedding, Romania, one from an old friend when I was in my early teens and another from a friend. Some photo learning books and then my diaries. You may not know but I have kept a journal from when I was young. Many I've thrown out because of marriage. But I've kept the ones from when I decided to follow Jesus. Seems I like the story after that. Its a new kind of story.

Well that is all. Hope you enjoyed this tour of a portion of our bedroom. Hope it let you in to knowing a bit more about me.

Missing. One Sheep

Missing:

One sheep,

Part of a herd of 99 sheep, it was last seen while passing a wide slope in the road on the way to a narrow path. Owner is offering reward. Says he paid a high price for the sheep and it has sentimental value. Sheep has a reputation of knowing its owners voice but may have been misled by someone of ill manner.

If found please return to owner Jesus, the Christ. Located at the right hand of God, the Father. 

Canadian Tire Boasts Tiny Carts

Today I brought my toddler son out to the store he will later consider the only place to shop at, as many other men do. Canadian Tire.
Yes a place where men can be men. Strolling the isles like hairy long lost campers looking for a wrench.
As a woman I find the parts department to be of special interest to the male population. They all gather around the long ordering counter. And as the youth who was only hired an hour ago comes to them and asks what they are looking for they are then required to name off any rendition of their car or truck they can manage. For instance. ..
"What can I get for you?"
"Well I'm looking for a rear lamp for a 1998 Jeep Wrangler 4x4 with a 4 cyclinder engine."
A woman's answer would be....
"Well...I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler and I my back light is broke. Do you have one of those?"


And what baffles me is they almost always do. What kind of storage do they have back there I wonder.


On a different note. Why does Canadian Tire have tiny carts? If you went to another store the comparison would make the CT carts look like kiddy carts. Which is really funny looking when a grown man is pushing this tiny cart. Perhaps its so they look like they ARE bigger and stronger in comparison to the cart. Tiny cart makes for a large ego.


In most cases the men there don't use carts. No, they browse the isles looking at items and usually only picking up a few things. If they want to buy more they bring their wife who then proceeds to drive the tiny cart around for them.


In my home you wouldn't dare throw out the CT flyer. The only reason we haven't put up one of those signs on our mail box (no junk mail) is because he wants the flyer.
Sales always come up there. And not small ones either. 50% or 75% off sales. Makes me feel bad to ever buy anything there at full price.


So my son was as content as a toddler can be in Canadian Tire. Yes, we strolled the isles and avoided strange men. And young men avoided us as we were the mom with a kid routine. 
I know one day all my seasonal gifts from him will come from there. That place must be packed at Christmas time with men all over asking...what should we get mom?

My advice is leave that store and go get her a gift certificate to a spa or chocolates. 

My wife is pregnant and yelling...what do I do?

One moment your coming home, quiet and cozy to your simple home on the prarie with an ipod or whatever. Modernize that prarie home if you will. 

You take off your coat and set your feet up and WHAM! a pot gets set down in a most ugly fashion. Next thing you know a snarling wolverine woman appears infront of you, posing as your prenant wife. But could it be? NO. She was glowing earlier today. This isn't your wife. It must have ate your wife! and now its yelling at you. 

Its like a game of hot at cold. The more comfortable you seem in that chair the more she yells. drop the feet to the floor and stand up and wolverine woman backs down and festers to the kitchen again to bang some pots.

What was that yelling you think? What did I do wrong? 

 First off. Realize  that even if it isn't your fault, its just easier to take the blame for a while. It will pass whatever it is and you can prove your "rightness" at some other time.

Next, do not proceed to try to negotiate or fix the problem. Obviously it is too late and any denial will only make any arguement continue on longer than you want.

Please, get out of your chair, go after your wife, sit down and say nothing at this point. Just sit. Your presence in the room is enough. A woman in essence is able to complete an argument almost fully all on her own.

There will be some key points that you may have to grit through just because she pregnant and probably out of her mind because of the hormones. Otherwise this would be a fair fight. 

She'll bring up the problem, then the problem of last week. She may then continue onto that problem that you thought was settled from the last fight but obviously she's and her fierce hormones have been festering on it all this time. 

Next you'll be brought to the part of the wreckage that may include anything from failures in your marriage to how you love your mom more than her and how having a baby is all going to be on her shoulders.

Trust me when I say...just let this phase in the arguement pass. You don't have to agree with her. You just have to keep looking her way and don't loose eye contact. If it helps you may want to jump on the table at some point and act larger than her by stretching out your shirt. I've heard that is how to deal with a mountain lion. Whatever you do, don't run. They only run after you. And although pregnant they are very quick.

In the end she'll give up in a frenzy and cry and then is your chance to quickly step in and offer a hug. Remember that if a hug is not taken or pushed away you'll need to wait another moment until the cookie has fully crumbled. Then move in for the save. And Voila. You've survived the attack of the hormones. 

Put your feet up. You've worked hard.

Virgin at 30?

Are you offended by my gray hair? Does it make you giggle to see a 30 year old with gray hair? I have a bunch. And I've had them since I was 20. I've just been dying them all this time.

You never knew did you? You just though my hair was naturally a beautiful medium brown with high lights of red here and there. That occasionally it would change with the season and get stunning sun lite high lights. Sure. I'm sure you believed that.

So you didn't. The same as I don't believe that your hair is fully ....whatever color it is. Virgin hair is a term used to describe hair that hasn't been dyed ever or is fully grown out. And as rare a thing as a virgin is over 20 these days, so rare is it to find a woman with such hair.

Nevertheless. I'm letting mine grow out and I have gray hair. And you'll notice it. Yes, there is plenty of it. And I'm okay with that.

Why can't I age? Why can't I have gray hair? Why do I have to stay striving for the beauty of youth for the rest of my years? I won't do it! Nope. I'm giving up on that race.
Lets face it. Are old people ugly? Do they reek of a slobb-ish look. No not at all. In fact a well dressed senior or even 40 year old can reek of sophistication if taken care of and being courageous to be who they are.

A cool guy once wrote:
Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.
Proverbs 16:30-32

I'm going to be who I am. Maybe next year I'll dye my hair but right now I need to be okay with me. Okay to have gray hair and glasses. Okay to see a wrinkle and not freak out. Okay that when I go to doctors appointments they now refer to time as "while as we get older".
I want to age with class and not some gripping handle hold on a photo in my brain when I was 17 and 120 lbs. (man, that was an awesome time...if only I knew now...blah blah blah)
And just a note of thank you to a good friend named Lisa, who has for years been sporting her beautiful gray hairs with pride. Who I thought was so courageous when we were 25 for doing so.
Beauty is only skin deep. After that I hope I can boast of having guts!

Network Ettiquett

Ever knock someone off your social network and wonder if they even noticed? Oh, you live far enough away that you won't bump into them any time soon. And surely at some point they may notice that your gone. Yup, gone for good. Out the internet door with your coat and your hat and a stiff "I've had enough".
Like dumping someone you shyly click that "take off friends list" and secretly inside wonder how long it will take for them to notice.
Relief sets in. They're gone. No more of those sarcastic sayings on your pages or rude comments. No more of their bad jokes or annoying groups that they've joined. Your free! Free from all of that!

But will they notice? What if they never notice? What if it never even crosses their little mind that your gone? What kind of a dumping is that? Its like you left with the the big door slam and the last word and they just stayed on the couch and ordered pizza with no blink of an eye. They didn't even notice your toothpaste was gone from the bathroom sink and you took your most favorite snugly blanket too. Man, the nerve of those people! Not even to think that perhaps your little comments of what was going on in your life each day could have even been of any importance to them. Their so self involved. Really!

....

The reality sets in that you can't go back. You can't go and hit "friend request" to them. You can't turn around. They'll then KNOW that you deleted them from your exclusive list of friends and no dead beat excuse of "oh I must have hit that button by accident" will ever save you. Nope. Your out of their gossip ring. You'll never know who their dating now unless through some other friend. The drama of their day to day life that you used to secretly love creeping is a long lost memory to you.

In light of it all your a better person in the end. Sure why not. Out with the old and keeping on with those true friends you have. The ones that really matter. Loyal and loving. Well just the other day I had Kendra on my mind as such a good friend. We haven't spoke in a bit but I did email her that really funny joke. Well I wonder what she's up to.....that's odd. Where's her name on my list?