Bayou Boogaloo

Today we went to Babies R Us! It was so much fun! They do sell the Seventh Generation Diapers (and cleaning products) in the store, so that's cool. We saw a really cool stroller/car seat combo. It had one wheel on the front instead of two. There was a bassinet we liked and a crib too...but none of it matched! LOL I didn't see anything in the green that I like. Most of the greens were faded or pale. Are there any other big baby stores that I'm not thinking of??? The we looked at the gliders. I just want an old fashion rocking chair but they didn't have one. I like them better than the gliders I think.

Then we went to Bed Bath & Beyond and I finally got a glass iced tea pitcher. The plastic ones I kept buying I couldn't get the smell of plastic out and it made the tea taste icky. We saw lots of other gadgets in there that we liked, but we decided to save our money. Although, Cuisinart does make a Green Gourmet non stick pan that I might have to buy.

Then we went to Target and bought a few things, one of them being a set of black pillows to go on our couch. The arms are the most comfy to lean on for a long period of time. The pillows help a lot.

After that I went and hung out with my mom and sister while Bill entertained himself. Mom has a new job title and she has to travel to Memphis a lot. She was gone all this week and is heading back down there again on Monday. Then she has a week off and is back out again. So, I wont get to see her as much. I'm used to her coming up on Wednesdays for knitting. She did say that once she hits 62 (2010), she will move up here. Well, that's not soon enough for me. I love having her around, especially now that we have a baby on the way.

Bill wanted to go to the Bayou Boogaloo at Towne Point Park. So, we headed up there about 5:30 to check out the food. I got the crab cake sandwich that was delicious and Bill got the craw fish pie. Their sweet tea was pretty damn good too. Then we walked down by the Elizabeth River and enjoyed the breeze. I had to try the fried green tomatoes...they were pretty good. Later I tried the red beads and rice, but it was a little too spicy for me so I gave it to Bill (my human garbage disposal). We saw Alicia and John, and then Stephanie and April arrived. Rachel was there and then we went and found Careyanne, Wes and Blaze. Everybody was there! We stayed to hear Galactic who were pretty good. The weather was perfect! We left before the music was over so we could beat the crowd. I refuse to use a porta-potty so we had to rush home. He he!

Tomorrow we're going to a birthday party for my friend Sarah. I hope to see a few other people there too. I love summer because everybody has parties and you get to see all your friends that you can't see during the work week.

By the way, thanks for all those who were worried about me because of my last post. I'm doing just fine now. I'm just early. I think I literally took the test the day after I got pregnant, LOL! That tells you how excited I was. He he!

Oh, and yesterday was the first day of summer and today was the longest day of the year, just in case you wanted to know.

Scary Stuff

(Eric, you may not want to read this one...and don't click on the links if you do LOL)

Today I went to the doctor. For those who know anything about pregnancy, I was having some spotting. I was freakin nervous that I was having a miscarriage. I really really really want this bebe so I was freakin out. I went in to see the midwife and she did a few things to ease my mind. First, she told me spotting is normal (my mom had it and so have many friends that I've talked to). I wasn't having any major pains on my side, so that rules out ectopic pregnancy. The urine test came up positive but it was light, meaning I'm super early. She did an ultrasound and couldn't pick up a "sac" on the monitor. She expected this since I'm so early and told me it would only show up once I was futher along. It's almost like I took the test right after I got pregnant. Who knows how far along I am or when this bebe will arrive.

I'm telling you all this because this is something many women are ashamed to talk about. I refuse to be ashamed or embarrassed. Miscarriages are very common, more than you'd think. However, it's just not talked about in polite society. That's why women don't know about it and freak out! I knew about it, though, and I still freaked out.

The doctor then sent me to get some bloodwork done to test for my HCG levels which will give an estimate to how far along I am. I suck at bloodwork because I have terrible veins. As soon as they wrap that thing around my arm I usually go ahead and pass out. Not on purpose, I have no control over that reaction. So, today the lady was super awesome and drew my blood in seconds flat. My body didn't have time to shut down. She said I have good veins, they're just deep. I was a little nervous about it because I drove myself and I usually have to get Bill to drive after I get blood drawn. So, a little victory for me today. Maybe the baby makes me stronger or more tolerant of such things. I'm sure this will not be the last time they draw blood.

So, once those results come back Tuesday, I will know exactly what is going on and if it really is because I'm so early. You can't imagine how frustrating it is to want something SOOOOOOOO badly and think that you've lost it. I keep telling myself that miscarriage is the body's natural way of getting rid of an abnormal or unhealthy pregnancy. It still doesn't make sense to my heart though. So, until I know for sure, there will still be some uneasiness. But, I refuse to curl up in a ball and be embarrased by it.

May be more than you wanted to know, but there ya go.

To keep my mind occupied, Bill and I will be going to see Get Smart tonight. My favorite old tv show...I used to want to be a spy you know...more on that later....

Diaper Mania

I'm only 6 weeks along, but I'm already thinking about diapers. This is mostly because my mother-in-law wants to stock up on them for us so by the time baby gets here we will have enough to last. Good idea. However, I am looking for a more earth friendly option. So far I have found three online, but the problem is I am not so sure she can find them in the stores near where she lives. And, she is not internet savy so she's not about to order them offline. A friend has suggested that it is possible to ask stores to carry a product if they don't already. What a novel idea!

Seventh Generation, Tushies, and Nature Babycare all sell earth friendly diapers and other baby products. They all seem reasonably priced. The diapers are non-toxic and chlorine free, woohoo. Some Farm Fresh Supermarkets carry Seventh Generation products, and I have yet to go see if the others are carried there. Not EVERYTHING is online yet.

So, whenever we start to accumulate baby stuff, I'll be looking for earth friendly products (and gifts) incase you were wondering.

Our first doctors appointment is still on the 27th. It's closer now, but still so far away. I'm not sure what all will go on at the appointment. Some friends have suggested that I'll hear the heartbeat, some have said I'll get a sonogram. And, everybody has pretty much said I'll get blood drawn. They have to check for the Rh factor so I wont have complications at some point. Fun.

I am really excited about all this though. I love looking up baby stuff for real and not just because I'm baby crazy. :-)

Smokey

If you live in VA or NC you've noticed it's super smokey outside several times a day. On my way into work this morning I had to breathe through my sweater. Pregnant women are supposed to stay away from smoke. I've having a hell of a time avoiding it seeing as how it's everywhere! The smell of smoke has now seeped into the office building where I work. So, it's not "smokey" but it smells like it. Yuck! Luckily the smoke hasn't gotten into our apartment. We started to smell it right near the AC this morning so we shut that one off and made sure the vent was closed. Then I turned on the kitchen one so the kitties wouldn't get too hot while we're at work. Well, I did something and blew the fuse on that one. Bill had to go downstairs to change it. Luckily we had an extra one. (Note to self: buy more fuses to have on hand for when I do stupid stuff.) So, he fixed that and the kitties will be fine. I'd much rather be at home playing with them than sitting here in this smokey air. This is ridiculous. And it sounds like there is no end in sight. In fact, they're going to set more fires to stop the other fires. More smoke. Hopefully that will work and this will be all over soon. The wind is supposed to shift by Noon, but it's still gonna stink like smoke in here.

Still waiting for my OB appointment on the 27th. Wish that was today!

The Breeders adventure

I've been out of town for the past few days. I drove to Asheville, NC to visit my friend Sara and go to a Breeders concert. IT WAS AWESOME!! Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

After knitting on Wednesday I had dinner with Mom and Jonna (my sister). Then I drove to Capron and stayed the night with "Aunt" Gayle (Sara's mom) to cut an hour out of my trip the next day. I woke up Thursday morning and got on the road about 8:30am. I had enough gas to get me to South Hill, VA. I filled up there for $3.82 a gallon...what a deal. I decided to not let my tank go below half so I wouldn't run out of gas on the side of the road somewhere. It was a nice drive. I enjoy being on the road and listening to my kind of music (and not Lamb of God, or Slayer, or Drive By Truckers...which Bill likes). The smoke from the fire in the Dismal Swamp was all the way down to Greensboro! It was ridiculous. I only stopped two more times, for gas and lunch, so the smoke didn't bother me much. By the time I got to the mountains it cleared out and I had a beautiful view. Driving up the mountain is not as much fun as driving down the mountain...more on that later. I got to Asheville about 2:30pm so I was making good time. Probably because the speed limit was 65-70 most of the way.

Thursday night Sara and I went to dinner at Carrabbas, an Italian chain restaurant. I got Chicken Bryan which had goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and basil. Tasty! (Sorry Eric :-) Then we went back to her place and put our feet up (pregnant grrrls need to do this often) before the concert. The Breeders were playing at The Orange Peel. The venue was pretty nice. It had hardwood floors and a huge fan with like 8 foot blades. It was wider but smaller than the Norva. It was not nearly as crowded as the concerts I've been to in such a venue, and most of the crowd was women. That was a nice feeling too, because you didn't have all the jackass guys pushing and moshing and such. I actually got to enjoy the experience, what a concept!

The opener was The Magic Wands and they were pretty cool. It was one woman and one man and they both played the guitar and sang. They said they met on Myspace. She had a great voice and even threw in a scream or two. Nice. The were a little kooky too, which was fun.

So, The Breeders came on stage and we all went crazy. It's the fucking Breeders for god sake! They played "One Divine Hammer", "No Aloha", "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Last Splash", "German" (one of their new ones), some other ones I can't remember the names to, and then "Drivin' On 9" my favorite Breeders song. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I know I've said that already, but it's true. Kim and Kelly were great on stage and really interacted with the crowd. They were pretty damn good on the guitar too. Kelly also played the bass at some point. Sara got a few pictures of me with them in the background and I got a few pictures and videos of them on my phone. I didn't know we could take regular cameras in there, damnit! So, the show ends and Kim reaches down and grabs the set list and hands it to the girl next to me. I've got my arm stretched out because I want the damn set list. She instead grabs my hand and shakes it and we share a glance. I'm looking at her like "you're freakin' awesome" and she's looking at me like "Hi how ya doin? I'm awesome" (kidding). Kim Deal shook my hand!!!!!!! How awesome is that? She only shook one or two other hands so I feel pretty special. It was the BEST concert I've ever been to. I'm so glad I went, even if some of my toes started to go numb from standing up so long. I had the best time!

I got even more excited when I saw they had a onesie for sale, but then was disappointed when I saw that it was for the venue and not for The Breeders. They also had a tote bag for The Breeders, but they didn't take cards and I never carry cash on me anymore. No ATM in sight of course! I'm having a hard time finding any merchandise for The Breeders online. Anyone have ideas where I might find a Breeders onesie or tote bag?

The next day we slept in, which was wonderful, and went to bruch at Tupelo Honey. A lot of their stuff was organic or locally grown. I got the omelet with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and mushrooms. Incase you didn't notice, goat cheese is now my favorite cheese. Then we walked around downtown Asheville. They had a lot of local vendors who made some cute stuff. Then we went to 3 yarn shops!!! Purl's Yarn Emporium, Yarn Paradise, and Asheville Home Crafts. I got this really cool yarn by Comfort. It's a really pretty lime green (like the outside of an actual lime, not neon green). Actually, now that I look at the website, the color is called Seedling. How appropriate! It's acrylic and nylon and super soft. It's for the baby blanket. (big grin) I also bought myself some more expensive yarn to make myself a scarf. It's cotton, hand-dyed, and many shades of purple.

That evening we rented two movies, Ratatouille and Mad Money, and ordered food from Bonefish where Sara works. It was tasty. The movies were ok, it was more about the knitting and visiting than the actual movies for us. The next morning I got up early and drove to Boykins. I picked up Daddy and we drove back to Norfolk. We went to the Tides ballgame for the Father's Day celebration. Well, it was smoky and the Tides were very sucky for some reason. It was fun though. They had to cancel the fireworks because of the smoke so that part sucked.

This morning we got up and went to Ihop for breakfast. Then me and Daddy and Jonna went back to her place and played cards while Bill went to shop for a few FD presents. Then Bill's dad got released from the hospital (maintenance chemo, hopefully the last round before they cure his Lukemia). He wanted Outback so we went there for a late lunch. Then we came back and now we're relaxing.

And now I think you're all caught up. Picture time!

Me and Kim Deal

Me and Kim again

Me and Kelly Deal

Me working on the baby blanket