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May 31, 2004

Red and White Stripes for the Holiday
We went to a Memorial Day parade this morning. I had my usual moisturizer with sunscreen on my face and neck, but totally forgot about the arms (and farther down the front of the shirt). And the parade was long. Itchy ow.
05/31/04 06:10 PM |  Comments


May 29, 2004

But It's Only a Cute Widdle Sodee Pop
Brought a straw this time (what would I do without the 'net?), much easier to chug the glop. Had some spare time to read the label, something to the tune of "Warning: may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or headache." Lovely stuff, really. Oh, and it also said "To be administered to diabetics only under direct supervision of a physician." I could be wrong, but wouldn't something like that send a diabetic into shock?

I thought I'd made it through without incident, but on our way to a much-needed breakfast, I nearly passed out three times. Stomach felt much better after eating, but I've slept most of today.

I was lucky enough to have the same phlebotomist. I adore people who are nice and are skilled enough not to have to jab me over and over to get a couple ounces of blood. In which case I don't have a problem with needles (as long as I don't have to watch). Someone was talking about their needle phobia online, and was awarded with the idiot quote-du-jour: "If you hate needles so much, why did you bother getting pregnant?" Too bad that "pregnancy as a disease" is an idea that really has permeated our culture (I guess I've made my slant on this pretty clear by now).

French toast for breakfast, with strawberries. Pancake Circus can temporarily assuage any suffering.
05/29/04 03:57 PM |  Comments


May 28, 2004

Knows When to Fold 'Em
PhD robotics student develops an origami-folding robot! via Adorablog.
05/28/04 08:40 PM |  Comments


Friday Free-Form
Tomorrow is the retest, so no sugar today, which is more difficult than you'd think. And I'm not even talking Twinkies or cola here; I've actually been good about empty calories lately, considering. But giving up bananas, and yogurt, and even my soy milk... Luckily it's only one day, because the potassium and calcium I get from those things are apparently crucial to me not waking up in the middle of the night with screaming charlie horses. Yeouch.

Almost Memorial Day, and aside from freak early hot spells, the weather has been, well... nice! I think it's because I got a pool (and who knew reverse psychology worked on the weather?). The cool mornings are just bliss. It even rained a little last night, and it was all so damp and fresh. There's a 30% chance of precipitation again today, and I've got my fingers crossed we'll see a little more.

The border in the nursery is half complete. There are bits that insist on not staying adhered to the wall, and I'm not quite sure what to do about that, having followed the directions for installation. Get some wallpaper paste and inject a little from the edge with a little syringe? Re-soaking it with a sponge certainly doesn't seem to work. After this, I probably won't be trying wet-and-stick wall products again.

Yawwwwwn.
05/28/04 08:48 AM |  Comments


May 27, 2004

Trying Not to be Cranky
I had my one-hour glucose test over a month ago. Never got a call, assumed all was well. I was, as I found out today, at 142 (140 is their upper limit). Now I know that after fasting, and drinking that horrid warm nastiness, and keeping it down for three hours while sitting in a hot lab - I'm going to pass out and/or throw up. There's almost no way around it; I nearly did the first time, and I hadn't been fasting then. After reading today that "a majority of women fail the one hour," and being borderline, and reading about other women on one of my boards with higher scores who didn't take the three-hour, I decided to refuse it, and reduce my sugar intake (not a bad idea in any case). I'm sick to tears of my normal pregnancy being over-medicalized and fraught with unnecessary discomfort and subsequent worry, and I put my foot down. Deciding directly afterwards that if there's ever another pregnancy, I'll be seeing a midwife exclusively.

Apparently some members of my practice don't take kindly to refusing tests. Luckily it wasn't a doctor pitching to me in that condescending stupid-patient tone, or I'd consider walking now. I still got talked into another one-hour on Saturday. This time I'll fast, even though it's not required, just to make absolutely certain I'm under. At least D. will be able to drive me, so I don't pass out on the road afterwards.
05/27/04 05:21 PM |  Comments


Last Batch for Now
Photos from the top of the Argent and The Palace of Fine Arts.
05/27/04 11:17 AM |  Comments


May 26, 2004

Rock, Hard Place - Meet Acid Rain
While Democrats fret over the possibility of Ralph Nader causing them to lose another election by stealing votes on the left, President Bush may face an even greater third-party threat from the right wing. The Libertarian Party nominee could cost Mr. Bush his job in 2004.

Maybe this election will turn out to be a bit more interesting than I'd thought.

I found this bit particularly amusing:
But so far, indications are that the Bush-Cheney campaign is not keeping it in mind. A senior adviser to the campaign, who did no[t] want his name used so he could speak more frankly, said there was no concern in the campaign.

None, none, the adviser emphasized. [Mr. Bush is] as strong as Ronald Reagan was in 1984.
Hrm. Obviously, no delusions there. But I think Nolan has it pegged:
Their biggest chunk of vulnerable voters are the fiscal conservatives and I know they are looking for a place to bail, Nolan said of the Bush campaign.

What used to happen is we had to deal with a wasted vote for Republicans. Theyd say, 'Well I agree with you and I actually like you better than Bob Dole or George Bush, but if I vote for you thats a vote less for Bush and the Democrats are going to get in and they are going to spend like drunken sailors,' said Nolan, considered the favorite to win the [Libertarian] nomination. But now Republicans are spending like drunken sailors.
In the end we'll still be stuck with a yahoo or an ass, but at least the race'll be fun.
05/26/04 04:42 PM |  Comments


Adobe Un-Reader
Does anyone else have as much trouble with .pdf files as I do? My (very much up-to-date) pc chokes on them at least 60% of the time, no matter the browser. And when it does work, loading/rendering takes a ridiculous amount of time. It makes me so angry when a site keeps its most important info in a .pdf, and I need to read it, and I can't. Grrr!

Update: I found a way (albeit a crappy one) to get around the problem. Save the doc, and then open it with Photoshop. At least it works.
05/26/04 12:26 PM |  Comments


May 25, 2004

And If I Think it's Fun Now...
Simple tasks once taken for granted, now becoming difficult:
  • shaving
  • doing anything pertaining to feet (putting on socks, cutting nails, scratching)
  • in fact, some shoes are almost unwearable (thanks to swelling, woot)
  • putting on pants
  • getting laundry out of washer
  • opening doors (I keep forgetting I have a stomach!)
  • rolling over in bed
  • sleeping more than three hours without a trip to the bathroom
  • getting up into the RAV
  • getting up out of the Breeze
  • sitting up after an exam (this month is my last "reprieve," then I start going every two weeks)
  • not thinking about labor every half hour (!!!)
    • 05/25/04 10:26 PM |  Comments


    May 24, 2004

    And More Photos
    From Monterey last month. No tide pools again [pout], but Mission Carmel was beautiful.
    05/24/04 10:41 PM |  Comments


    So Very Addictive
    I don't know how long I played with the Kaleidodraw demo last night. It was a bit hypnotic.

    Courtesy Metafilter.
    05/24/04 11:08 AM |  Comments


    A Series of Fortunate (?) Photos
    Most recent letterboxing exploits here. Where my belly, and parts elsewhere, are among the subjects D. chronicled.
    05/24/04 08:02 AM |  Comments


    May 23, 2004

    Housekeeping
    Just cleaning up the camera Flash card:

    Mischief wears a tuxedo. She knows well enough she's not supposed to be on the furniture, but is unfazed until you actually make a move to sweep her off. Spoiled little monkey.

    Black widow and [last] meal. Former tenant of our backyard foundation. I'm more conditioned to seeing these now than when we first moved out; the new library building was apparently the coziest nesting spot on campus. Even though I know they're not aggressive in the least, I still don't want any around in conjunction with curious cats and future toddlers.

    Look for bigger batches this week - I've still got stuff from Monterey/SF, and some from our latest letterboxing pursuits.
    05/23/04 07:58 AM |  Comments


    May 22, 2004

    Some Tea for the Little Lady and Her $90 Doll?
    Wendy and Shylo vamp up an American Girl doll impostor, and bring her to Chicago's American Girl Place (which borders on outright creepy. And I tend more to liking dolls than not. No, not in the HSN collector way). For, erm, tea. Hilarity ensues.
    05/22/04 10:18 AM |  Comments


    May 21, 2004

    Speaking of Nostalgia, eh?
    It's finally on Netflix - Escanaba in da Moonlight!

    Added clarification: You may have to be from Michigan - and more helpfully a Yooper or possibly a northern Cheesehead - to get many of the jokes. Which is probably why the movie was never distributed outside the Midwest.
    05/21/04 10:56 AM |  Comments


    No More Corner Store
    Driving to Bel Air to pick up a couple of forgotten items yesterday, I felt a strong yearning for a small-town neighborhood store. When I lived in Escanaba, we had seven (seven!) small markets within walking distance to choose from. There was even one right across the alley. Each had a particular specialty - the best candy counter, or bakery, or butcher, or ice cream window. Some retained a homey, general store feel through the years, with creaky wooden floors and clunky old cash registers. Others were just smaller and friendlier versions of the big supermarkets springing up out on the highway. There's no substitute here, and I miss them. Sigh.

    See my map o'nostalgia
    05/21/04 10:49 AM |  Comments


    May 19, 2004

    Still Mewling For a Dedicated Fiber Optic Teat
    Having the internet connection suck butt all day has done wonders for my IRL productivity. That, or my suspicion that the famous third trimester "nesting" instinct has kicked in is correct. In any case, the parquet flooring is shinier now, and smells vaguely of orange - if at the price of my lower back (ow!). Lots of things getting swept, washed, watered, etc. I'm also thinking of finally hanging curtains. And maybe even making some more. Huh.
    05/19/04 04:34 PM |  Comments


    NaCl + ??? = $$$
    A bit about specialty salts - and why they may be better than that cheap and everlasting canister of Morton's.
    05/19/04 09:58 AM |  Comments


    May 18, 2004

    Get Your Map On
    Now it's time for some global geography fun! I already sucked hard at Canada.
    05/18/04 09:49 PM |  Comments


    Carbohydrates = Serotonin
    The Amateur Gourmet sez:
    I DECLARE THIS THURSDAY, MAY 20TH, NATIONAL CARB AWARENESS DAY.

    That's right. Spread the word. This Thursday everyone--including you--will eat a gratuitous carbohydrate. No, not your daily dose of granola; we're talking a mega-cupcake, or a big black and white cookie. Thursday, we're going start a revolution and start it right. And if you have a website, please spread the word. The more people who know about it, the greater the impact we can make. Plus what else do you have to do? It's not like you have a vibrant social life. I'm just saying.

    So, in conclusion, don't do it for your country. Don't do it for your God, or your mother, or your accountant. Do it for the organ that matters most. No, not that one. Do it for your stomach. Only you can save the carbs, America. Won't you?
    Well, I'm there (but, c'mon, when wasn't I?). I think I'll have a nice big platter of simple old spaghetti and meatballs, inspired by last month's issue of Everyday Food. Maybe carb it up a notch with another attempt at machine bread. Bam!

    via Rawbrick!
    05/18/04 09:55 AM |  Comments


    May 17, 2004

    Ice Always Helps, Too
    But then all is well, because there's recorded Best Week Ever and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. And the bread is oddly appealing, in a dense, doughy sort of way.
    05/17/04 10:20 PM |  Comments


    Break Out the Waterworks
    I suck! And so does everyone else!

    My bread didn't rise and I'm a generally an awful housewife. I have to go shopping so I can get bananas so the excruciating cramps in my calves will stop, but I don't want to. The rednextdoorneighbors have hung their horrid laundry over our divider fence for eight days running (I've thought of throwing over a nylon clothesline). And the clueless wonders across the street have the car alarm on their lowrider at such a sensitive setting that passing bass-y stereos set it off - over and over and over again.
    05/17/04 06:18 PM |  Comments


    May 16, 2004

    Making Bath Night Fun
    Elli is a tough little tiger. She whomps on the boys, she hunts scary bugs, and she plays rough-and-tumble, like a puppy.

    Unless she's a) threatened with a bath, b) put into a car, or c) heard a scary noise, such as very loud thunder. Then she wails, and... well, she pees. And sometimes more. She's done this since she was a tiny kitten.

    I've never heard of this behavior in a cat before, much less such a normally aggressive one. Have you?
    05/16/04 08:38 PM |  Comments


    May 15, 2004

    The Daily Uterus
    The kidlet is moving what seems like all the time now. Though no longer exclusively in kicks and jabs (those feet to the bladder are a doozy) - lots of wriggling, and a little hiccuping, too. Very strange, almost alien-ish, but reassuring nonetheless.

    It's getting more and more difficult to do simple things, like take walks, or dig in the dirt. I get tired and breathless fast. I can't sit too long without moving, or my butt and lower ribs ache. Sometimes I wake up with my hip bones on fire. One day when we were walking into Home Depot, I temporarily "lost" my right sciatic nerve, and my leg nearly buckled out from under me. The past few days I've been getting ravenously hungry just before bedtime - and I mean that in the "no way I'm going to sleep unless it stops" hunger. Lots of things your mother never tells you about pregnancy, apparently!

    I've also learned that you can religiously slather yourself with elastin and collagen and cocoa butter, etc., etc., ad infinitum, until your stomach is as smooth as that baby-to-be's cushy little tushy - but the scary purple stretchmarks they show in those Palmer's commercials really are too deep within the skin, and genetic. It's best to just accept upfront that you will never be caught dead in a two-piece swimsuit again, and move on.

    I had my first Babies R Us experience this week. Even though shopping hasn't been high on the fun list lately, I was kind of looking forward to it (or, at least getting a bunch of the medium-ticket items out of the way in one fell swoop). But moms with very expensive purses and big carts of Pampers and Enfamil, it seems, are kind of fast and pushy and rude. And I think I've already discussed how me and my big scary hormones are dealing with irritants right now (generally not well). Maybe I should just stick to Target. In any case, I scored the Diaper Champ and long-range monitor I had trouble finding elsewhere.

    Still need:
  • Stroller/car seat system (with extra base for second car)
  • Co-sleeper
  • Milking machine
  • Rocker
  • High chair (though no rush on that, really)
  • Crib mattress


    • Pretty much set on clothes and other small things, since I've been making a point to pick an item up here or there over the past few months.
    05/15/04 03:58 PM |  Comments


    May 14, 2004

    Whee, I Passed the Third Grade.
    For funsies, a little timed US geography quiz. They should really think about country quizzes for continents, too. Now that'd be telling.
    05/14/04 12:43 PM |  Comments


    May 13, 2004

    Another Pointless Opinion from a Not-Terribly-Wealthy Person
    I don't believe in a good free ride. Which is why I voluntarily ponied up what I thought was a reasonable sum ($50) when I downloaded MT in the first place.

    The new pricing scheme is simply too much, too soon, for too little. True, I'd personally pay much less than the "introductory price" to upgrade because of the donation. But I can well understand the general sense of WTF happening today. The sheer surprise of it, paired with the fact that it shoves a whole class of non-commercial group sitemasters out in the cold (you know, unless they happen to have, say, a spare $600 lying around), does leave one with a certain bitter aftertaste. And the "Well - don't upgrade, then!" or "Use something else!" aside from irking in a peevish way, ignores the whole flagrant abuse of the bordering-on-rabid loyalty issue.
    05/13/04 07:53 PM |  Comments


    May 12, 2004

    Sure, Where Do I Sign My Kid Up?
    Quite often, there's a pickup truck with a camper top parked next door. I think it belongs to some kind of inlaw of the neighbors. The window of the back door sports an advertisement for a day care center. And the front bumper... hosts two silver nekkid lady medallions.
    05/12/04 05:41 PM |  Comments


    May 10, 2004

    Feng Shui, Baby
    I don't know how it came about, really, but Saturday most of our living room was re-imagined, and suddenly, just by moving three large pieces of furniture, it feels like a much larger room. Of course you didn't have the benefit of ever seeing the old space (and the pool table makes it difficult to see, too), so you'll just have to take my word for it. Creating an extra wall from thick velvet drapes and two window panels helped, as did the resulting removal of the couch from the middle of the room. We even had enough space for a coffee table from Cost Plus World Market (super sturdy, and no sharp corners!).
    05/10/04 10:08 AM |  Comments


    May 09, 2004

    Happy Freakin' Mother's Day
    For you and yours, I mean that only in the nicest possible way. Myself, I'm going to sit in the corner and dream of Valium.
    05/09/04 12:45 PM |  Comments


    May 08, 2004

    This One's For John
    It's Spam. It's Jello. It's Spam Jello.
    05/08/04 10:49 AM |  Comments


    May 07, 2004

    Navel Novelty
    Hee! Hiccups! Nearly a half hour of tickly hiccups. Just a little jab-jab-jab left of the bellybutton.
    05/07/04 07:41 PM |  Comments


    Not Spoiled
    If I were a cat, I'd beg for my people's food, too. How satisfying can hard brown pellets really be? Probably, for me, something akin to gnawing on Grape-Nuts all day.

    So I take pity on them sometimes, and get them a little people food-esque treat. Funny, though, how the only place I can generally buy it without remark and "crazy cat lady" eye is Petsmart.

    You'd think I was buying dog water, or something. Sheesh.
    05/07/04 01:58 PM |  Comments


    May 06, 2004

    Pagophagia. Who knew?
    I could be craving anything. Peanut butter and pickles. Strawberry Pop-Tarts. Necco wafers dipped in grape Kool-Aid powder (bad imagination! bad!). Anything. So what does my boring old self want, and want to its very marrow?

    Ice.

    I've read that pagophagia can indicate low blood iron, but my supplements/diet provide more than enough, and the tests are always normal. I'm just weird. And drinking enough water in boring liquid form is difficult at best these days, anyhow.

    The ice here is good, but I'm thinking of going to the McDonald's drive-thru and ordering up a yogurt parfait and a cup of ice. Because they've got some damned good ice.
    05/06/04 09:52 AM |  Comments


    May 04, 2004

    Embracing the Boredom
    Not much of note here. It's quiet (unless you count the long-distance familial infighting, on which I refuse to dwell, except to say that this pregnancy has at least granted me a long-needed backbone). Lots of sleeping, reading, and eating. Trying to muster energy to make headway on the nursery today; just the stripes and pasting of the border left. Pretty boring for you, but not bad for me.
    05/04/04 12:21 PM |  Comments


    May 02, 2004

    Pardon My Smoker's Hack
    I think I'm finally out from under the cold. So unbelievably difficult to have something large growing into the bottom of your respiratory system while it's being attacked upside, too! Exhausting. I'm glad it was only a cold.

    I couldn't find a small but deep inflatable pool anywhere in town, so I ordered one. Even then, it was a challenge locating anything that wasn't ridiculously expensive (it's a vinyl wading pool, fer cripes). I'm past caring what it looks like - I just want the soak.

    If you give me a sure-fire way to keep rotten little Elli monsters off my kitchen counters, I will repay you in love and cat-hair-free cookies.
    05/02/04 11:39 PM |  Comments