The fiction lecture seems to be a hit. I think I will make it a weekend
thing.
I am currently working on composing a birthday list. It's difficult as
it seems right now that I will always be pregnant and on bedrest. So
that really limits the gift ideas. But I am putting the old percolator
to work and thinking of some stuff. If you want a list, email me.

Daniel "The Dream" Mathews bought me a porch swing. At some point,
hopefully today, it will be assembled and I shall go and porch. Very
exciting!
Note here that I have used porch as a verb. It sounds good. Maybe a
little Amish. I like it when they say I took her to wife. As a verb.
What does it mean, exactly? How do you wife a woman? Should I ask?
I wifed her. I wived her. She has been wifed.
Interesting.
We won't talk about my dreams as they are crazy magical adventures here
in the almost 6th month of pregnancy... strange.
Maybe a music lecture would be in order, some day. I have some rhymes
that I see pretty consistently.
This is the point during childhood when one parent or another would put
down their fork and say "JESSICA. Shut UP and eat!"
Good advice, that. See ya in a few. Unless I get porched or wifed.

all is well... my cervix is normal!! We knew it, but it is still so
exciting to hear. I got my nasty orange drink today for a glucose test
in a few weeks... never got the orange drink before!!

Doctor's appointment in a little while... I'll update in the afternoon.
I don't feel scared, I just want it to be over and have a good report. I was 23 weeks and 1 day when they admitted me with the twins. And this is SO different. But it's hard not to remember and compare.

Talk amongst yourselves. Maybe give Daniel advice.

"This week of pregnancy, your baby is over 8 1/2 inches in length and weighs a little over a pound. Your baby's body is getting plumper, as he or she accumulates fat. Your baby's hearing is well established and he or she can hear your heart beating, your digestive noises, as well as your voice."


I actually know what a baby at this approximate gestation looks like... so Toby and I have made an agreement that I don't want to see him until he is the size of a smallish watermelon, with flowing hair. (strange imagery, there)
I have never spent this week of pregnancy outside of a hospital... with a good cervix... so this is exciting!
Pray me through this week mentally and emotionally...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETHER! Maybe a few words on budgeting?


exciting weekend on the blog, folks... might want to catch up.

Reading a Lori Wick book today. Lori Wick writes a book every 4 days,
so there's always something to read. The problem is, after you've read
a couple, you've read 'em all.
Now, I enjoy her stories, her settings and so forth. What I have a
problem with is her women. They are all weak. (for the chauvinists
among us, this is getting interesting)
Lori's women are always getting shot, or pregnant (within wedlock) or
not eating for 24 hours and here's the kicker- they don't want to tell
anyone. Seriously, this happens every book. They end up blushing a lot,
fainting or in the deathbed, etc. And always the strong, rugged types
around just make them ride their horses or get on the train or
whatever. And THE WOMEN JUST BUTTON UP AND DO IT!
Now, maybe I come from a line of strong women. I suspect it to be true.
But I don't know any woman who would fail to mention LOUDLY that she
had been shot, jerk, and shut up and get her to Ben Taub so she could
die of infection.
Even the fasting thing. I admit my household is a little strange on the
withholding from food scale.... some people in my house don't eat
often... But still, I have gone days without eating... nearly a month
and never even came close to fainting. These women faint after a couple
hours. Even if they've had a little jerky and a hard biscuit. Not
likely. And any strong rugged type in my life knows that he darn well
better pull over to McDonalds or it will be ugly ugly.
And pregnancy... I freely admit I've never delivered a 10 pound baby
without medication... although I know some who have. But when I am
pregnant... I know. Within hours. I am pregnant from day 1. (day 15,
for the technical) And I never faint. I grow horns, maybe... and weep
profusely over WHY would he leave the toilet seat up? But no fainting.
And none of this figuring it out at 6 months because of a kind elderly
friend who just happens to see me vomiting in the chicken coop and
suggests that maybe... and I am SHOCKED and BLUSH. Not gonna happen.

Then there's Gilbert Morris... but another day, folks. Another day.

feelin pretty good today... I actually got to sit outside for a little
while yesterday. Normally, I hate going outdoors. I just very
cheerfully stay inside all the time.
But yesterday was so gorgeous and R&R were outside so I took my big
pillow and made a little comfy place on the deck.

I had to come in to eat my steak and baked potato.
Toby has it pretty good.

I remember, as a kid.... the wonderland that was mama's bed. So many
pillows, heavy blankets.... just the comfiest place in the world. It
did not belong to Daddy, although he slept there. During the day... or
when I was sick... I would creep in and burrow underneath the covers...
maybe watch a little hurricane TV....
For a while they had a waterbed. I had a waterbed the first year I was
married. If you (a skinny) sat on one side, you would jettison your
spouse (another skinny) into the air. When you fell asleep, you would
be snug in the middle, then wake up wedged in the side of the frame,
with a sort of dome of waterbed mattress in the middle. Mama's waterbed
was not like this. It was a cocoon. Maybe even heated... I did not ever
have a comfy just right bed until 1999.... what changed? I became a
mama.
Now I am a mama, and I have a mama bed. To me, my mama's bed is still
more comfortable... good for what ails ya. But to R2, this bed is
Mecca. He casually lays down in here every night around 8:30. Like
"Whew, what a day. Well, this is where I sleep." And then he puts on
the cute show. He tells jokes and giggles and kisses... (see:
Thanksgiving Turkey Syndrome) And if anybody suggests that maybe he has
his own bed, the lip comes out and panic begins to set in in the
eyes.... He flips over and burrows down.... already asleep, you see. No
moving him.

Interesting, I am the mama now.

I read a lot of books. I like fiction, but every now and then something
nonfiction catches my attention. This week I read one of my dad's
books- How Do They Do That? published in the oh-so-current 1981. So
some things are waaaayyy outdated but some probably haven't changed.
Like how they put stripes in toothpaste. Or how they shell peanuts
without breaking them. Now, how the copy machine works is beyond me.
It's chemistry, folks... photons and chemical reactions and so forth.
So that book was very interesting and I shared a great deal of it with
my husband who has a bad habit of falling asleep when we aren't talking
about a.) the Lord b.) studio equipment or c.) none of your business.

So here I am with another random collection of facts. This is why
people think I'm smart. I just walk around (well. I used to walk) and
my brain is like der-der-der--coooookies- and so forth. Then person A
(not my husband) says, "Man, I wonder how they shell peanuts?!" And
some little random fact gear kicks in and there you go.
And everybody says, "Man, you are so smart!" But I'm just thinking,
"Cap'n Crunch....mmmmmmm"

and speaking of the good Captain, I must bid you good day.

I have been sleeping so great lately. Don't you love sleeping? I can't
nap, however. My brain won't shut down. I always get in nap posture and
lay still for about 5 minutes before I think of something else to do.
This is a pattern my whole life.

Some people don't even have to close their eyes and they're already
asleep. Natalie Hernandez can go to sleep at will. Anywhere, anytime.
Sometimes on accident. I NEVER fell asleep in school. I wanted to,
plenty of times.... just can't do it.

Richy and I have had many "discussions" about the necessity of naps. He
takes 'em. I consider them wasted life. It's a little easier now for
him that I have to lay down all the time. Although I don't let him nap
in here. Why? Because I like to pretend that someone is watching
Kamikaze Kid as he explores the wonders of climbing, etc.
Kamikaze doesn't take naps, either. I vaguely remember him taking them
when he was smaller... but I can't ever remember when anything happened
with him because I have all these different clocks in my head. He's 6,
but he's 2. And over here, he's 4. So that confuses my memory.

But overnight, I sleep like a normal person. Well, kinda. At least I
don't have "fright syndrome" like my mom and Leah. Out of a sound sleep
they will hear a.)a door close somewhere b.) a branch against a window
c.) breathing in California.... and sit straight up, hair wild, eyes
wide. It's pretty frightening. I never wanted to wake Mama up. Noooo
sneaking in her room, nohow. I do sleep lighter than Richy. I will
hear, for example, bandits removing our front door with a chainsaw.
"Wake up!" I whisper. Nothing. "I mean it, I heard something!"
zzzzzzzzzzz..... I usually have to go disarm them myself.