Gametes In Love

For a short period of time we are a one car family.

My little Civic got driven away this morning by a new owner. While this was a transition we were expecting, it didn’t exactly happen on our time-line.

On Monday my “check engine” light came on. Since we already were planning on taking it in for it’s next mileage milestone service the following day, in it went.  Interestingly enough, that night I had a dream that the service department would say that fixing it would cost too much, and the car, for all intents and purposes was done. My dream was right. Just to assess the actual problem was going to be a $700. On the low end of their suspicious of what was wrong with it, I would walk out with a bill of anywhere from $1700-$2500. And that was before the service check I needed anyway. On a car that was worth maybe $4,000, spending more than half of it’s value on repairs seemed unreasonable. Especially since we knew we wanted to sell it, to make room for our next mobile in the next 2 months anyway.

So we made some calls, and posted it on Craigslist “just in case”, as-is. Shockingly we had a bunch of interest right away, and this morning it found itself a new owner, who will fix it up and use it.

This little Civic was my first “big girl” car. I chose, negotiated and paid it off all on my own. Well, S was there for the negotiating bit, but I guess I was enough of a hard-ass, he didn’t really need to chime in much. The down-payment for that car came from me selling an engagement ring. Yes, I was engaged prior to S. Obviously (and looking back, thankfully) things didn’t work out, and I was left with a beautiful ring that I couldn’t wear. So, one day, I had an epiphany and decided I needed to put the ring to more useful purposes: i.e. drive me around 🙂 It sold (my very first eBay transaction ever), and along with some other savings was converted into a comfortable, sexy, screams-of-independence-and-maturity black 2001 Honda Civic. (I always did want to take a photo of me on the hood of my new car and send it to my ex, saying “Thanx!” I never did though)

So I guess that’s it for that chapter of my car driving history. Next up? The monster mobile. We haven’t officially called it, but we’re likely getting a Honda Pilot. I hate the mileage and how ginormous it is, but we could really use a third row, and no small vehicles give you that option.

Vroom, vroom!

G (when he’s in his sweet mood) likes to share his food. A cheerio for him: a cheerio for you. It’s nice… except for when:

1. Said cheerio was first chewed a bit by him. Unlike birds, I’m not a huge fan of previously chewed-up food. Thanx, buddy, but this is one I’d like to skip.

2. It’s a fish-cracker. I really, really dislike the taste of them.

It’s just hard when you have him genuinely want to do something sweet for you and heads his little fingers towards your mouth. I’ve said “No, thank you!” with no success. I’ve also considered pinching my lips tight (so he doesn’t succeed in shoving said food item in it), but then have to remember that I could only be teaching him to do the same to me in a few weeks. All this means is that I end up with some sort of grossness in my mouth, that I have to smile and “graciously” accept. “Thank you!” (and then try not to gag).

So yeah, sharing is awesome.

It’s no secret that I’m NOT a good singer. I’m not embarrassed to share the fact that I won’t be auditioning for American Idol anytime soon. Unless I want to end up on the blooper reel, that is. While I can dance well, draw and act alright, the singing muse somehow decided not to bestow her gifts in my general direction.

But I’m a parent, and with parenting comes self-humiliation, and I have sung to G many a time in the privacy of our family unit. Occasionally I have subjected you, too in some of my horrible renditions of the ABC song over video. For this I apologize, but it was done for illustrative (of G’s skill) purposes only.

So imagine my surprise when today in the car, I was singing “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol (it was on the radio), to G, and I had paused to drink some water, G looked at me and said “Again!” Yeah… imagine my surprise. No person has ever asked for an encore.

So he must be tone-deaf, right? It’s really the only logical explanation.

How far along: 30w. 30 people!!!! That only 10 more to go.
Weight: 144lb
Sleep: Good. I’ve been sleeping through the night the last few evenings, and it’s been great. Unfortunately, G waking up promptly at 6 hasn’t been helping on the other end.
Gender: No change… I hope
Movement: Still a wiggly monkey. I’m actually pretty convinced S2 is practicing the head-spin break-dancing move in my belly. If there was a way a to get a camera in there, I’d prove it.
Feeling: Good. I’m sleeping well, feeling hungry within reason, and not overly tired. However, the Relaxin is really kicking in these last few days and my hips are really getting stretched out. I feel like someone kicked my in the crotch and I’m still recovering from the soreness. Yeah, for those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of feeling what Relaxin does to you, it’s the best analogy I can come up with.
What I miss: G seems to want to be carried around more these days. Or maybe he doesn’t, but my discomfort makes me feel that way. I miss being able to pick him up without thinking twice about whether it would hurt. I miss my general snuggles with him. Between fear of kicks to the belly, aches to the back, I feel like I’m not being there 100% for him, physically.
Food cravings: More watermelon. More sugar.
Fetal development:
Your baby’s about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it’s not very keen; even after he’s born, he’ll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he’ll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face.

One of the outcomes of G’s transition to preschool are all the “big kid” things they do. For example, they eat with utensils (which he’s been doing for awhile) and drink out of cups. CUPS people! No lids.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that G is getting bigger, but… how should I put it? I’m not sure I’M emotionally ready for bigger messes. He wants milk, and then gets mad when it’s served to him in a sippy cup. “Mama, top. Off” Uhmn… yeah, not in the car, kid.

But now we have to do open-top cups (at home or at restaurants). It’s a scary thing.

Well, we’re a far cry from being done, but there’s progress. We’ve spent the last (what feels like forever) weeks packing up the office so that we can move G in. And when I say “we”, I really mean S, because one of us has to keep an eye on the monkey while the other gets the actual work done. I never imagined that moving out of one room could take so long and be so painful. In effect the office has been a storage room for us for the past 3-4 years. S’ school stuff is still there, boxes of electronics, extra cables, folders… you name it.

Oscar came in to paint today. It actually kind of accelerated getting the rest of the stuff cleared up, even if it meant dumping it in boxes, and just hiding it away.

G’s room will be kind of a safari theme, but the colors will be orange and gray (yep, where have you seen THAT before?). I don’t have any pics to show just yet, so instead here are most of the elements that will be in the room when all is said and done:

… Now, wanna help us find some cool-looking orange bedding?

In audio format (yeah, some day I “might” get lucky to get it on video too, but for now, just audio will have to do):

How far along: 29w
Weight: 143lb
Sleep: Decent. I can’t sleep through the night without feeling like my bladder would immitate Mt. Vesuvius, but it’s not bad. My only complaint is that my AM pee run seems to happen between 5 & 6 a.m. and I can’t fall asleep afterward.
Gender: Winer? No weiner.
Movement: S2 is one active kid. S was watching him shift around this week-end (if you stare at my belly for at least 2-3 minutes you’re guaranteed to see him do “something”) and acknowledged that it must be really difficult to pay attention to anything when I’m constantly being tapped from the inside for attention. Yep. Welcome to my world, buddy!
Feeling: Good. Joint pain is likely going to hang around until the end, but it is not constant (thankfully) and manageable. I’m stiff, but I can now go 2 weeks without seeing a chiropractor… I think. This is the first week we’ve alternated, so we’ll see.
What I miss: My mind. Specifically my memory. I can’t remember stuff too well. I think babies are like zombies. They suck your brain while they grow. Eh, as long as they get smarter in the end.
Food cravings: Still watermelon. G’s enjoying this craving though: watermelon is one of his favorite fruits, so he’s shoveling it in as fast as I am. I’m going to need to start buying more than the 1/4 slices.
Fetal development:
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you’ll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby’s hardening skeleton each day.

So we’ve got a little spider situation going on at work. Actually, let me take this back. We have a BIG spider situation going on at work. Those suckers are HONKIN’ huge. I’d take a photo of one for you with my hand in it for scale comparison, but I’m seriously creeped out by these guys. Their bodies are the size of a dime. They’re black (not Black Widow, thank goodness) and just generally yucky-looking.

They’ve gotten quite happy with our campus grounds. I think they’re having a convention since there is one on EVERY.BUSH.AND.TREE (and we have a lot of trees and bushes).

So today I had enough and filed a request to our maintenance team. Here goes:

Dear Facilities Team,
Can you please help resolve the spider situation we have going on outside of building E? I’m specifically referring to the sidewalks between E and A/D buildings. Have you SEEN those spiders? They’re not hard to miss as every tree and bush has a spiderweb big enough to capture a sheep and the spider is hanging out in the middle of it.

The spiders especially enjoy connecting their webs between the trees on one side of the side-walk, to the light posts on the other side of the side-walk. I think they’re getting ready to feast on the Yahoo!s.

I’m especially anxious because of these critters. I’m 7 months pregnant, and am a little creeped out by the idea of being bitten. While it would be cool for my unborn child to have super-powers, I’d prefer a Superman vs. a Spiderman.

Anyway, can you please get rid of the spiders?

Thank you!

So I should be spider free by next week, right?

Update: OK, one of my colleagues took a photo of one: