Defying Gravity

Quick review of Wicked: IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!
It is so rare to anticipate something as much as I was anticipating seeing Wicked, and actually have it live up to, nay, surpass my expectations. The costumes, the music, the scenery, the dancing, the VOICES were all simply amazing.
We had kind of a scary trip downtown -- we left Mom & Dad's house at 5:45 for an 8:00 show, and the traffic report actually said that the traffic on the part of the Northwest Tollway that we'd be traveling was "horrible and awful" (or something like that, Jean what was the direct quote?). And, I mean, for those of you who know that Chicago traffic is generally horrible and usually awful... to actually hear the announcer describe it that way, well, we were getting VERY nervous about making it down there in time.
Jean set us a goal (apparently having goals is important to nurses these days) of hitting the River Rd. toll plaza by 6:40, which we (barely) made, and then we ended up being about 1/2 hour early for the show. We got our seats (7th row!!!!) and ran into Sarah (Radel) Rudeye (omigosh I have NO idea how to spell that) and her sisters. (Sarah went to WSU and dated Tom Hawbecker for a while, so while I'd never met her, I knew OF her. Joel's the one who recognized her.)
ANYWAY, like I said the show was fabulous. Ana Gasteyer played Elphaba, and who knew she could sing like that?? The rest of the cast was great, and the costumes were totally brilliant (Exhibit A: there was a scene-change where some ensemble members dance across the stage in these extravagant, huge ball gowns that you NEVER SEE AGAIN; Exhibit B: in the "Emerald City" scene there's one ensemble member doing the same choreography as everyone else, but wearing lime-green toe shoes).
The whole show was just gorgeous -- loved it, loved it. All righty, back to work.

The Big Lake They Call Gitchigumee

Hi gang!
Happy Thursday. Guess what? I'm 25 weeks preg today. How the heck did that happen? Other miscellany, with links to things more interesting than this blog:

1. Happy 30th Anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Does anyone know where the love of God goes?
2. The main thing occupying my mind these days is my job, which I will not be blogging about.
3. We're going to visit my folks this weekend and we have tickets to Wicked. I CANNOT STINKING WAIT.
4. I really love MPR's 89.3 The Current radio station. And I am so glad I can get reception at my desk now.

The Edge of Reason

Am reading "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" and so inner monologue is in stunted weird diary-speak. So blog entry will follow. Apologies if v. confusing.

Not exactly rollicking, child-free wild fun of days gone by, but lovely nonetheless.

Friday night
Had nice dinner (Green Mill) out with Donna, John, Julie, Jamie, Jeff, and Doris and the girls on Friday night. Dinner enjoyable despite having to navigate "The Shoppes of Arbor Lakes" (obviously a misnomer; "Seven Circles of Hell" much more accurate what with curving streets and approximately 400 different strip malls all crammed into one "shopping experience." V. stressful having to navigate; not sure what insidious, evil force would allow such atrocious monstrosity of commercialism to be constructed.)
Was kind of exhausted after that, so just went home instead of to movie.

Saturday, 7:30 a.m.
Awaken and realize nobody in house is wearing a wet diaper and needing to be fed.
Is weird.

8:30 a.m.
Finally haul self out of bed. Enjoy leisurely bowl of cereal but no coffee since out of creamer. Attempt to create homemade "creamer" by steaming milk and adding shot of hazelnut flavoring. Not same. Joel kecks (how do you spell that?) and refuses to drink it. Later gripes about scalded milk stuck to bottom of pan. Sullen uncaffeinated conversation ensues.

9:25 a.m.
Depart for Roseville to pick up my car from my work, where it was left last night despite driving through Roseville on way home from Maple Grove.

10:04 a.m.
Arrive at Amy Jane's Bridal in St. Paul, approximately 15 seconds before Mandy. Yay not late! Fun wedding-dress-trying-on ensues! Meet lovely girl Karen who escorts us through many levels of dresses hidden in cool old building. Have private fitting room with pretty decorating and cup of sweet tea. Just delightful, v. romantic and elegant establishment.

11:15 a.m.
Except I am not the one trying on dresses. Not as much fun.

11:45 a.m.
And pregnant woman getting a little hungry.

12:00 p.m.
Oh dear now we're going to another shop rather than to lunch.

1:45 p.m.
Second shop less spacious but with MANY more dresses, so not as fairy-taley an experience. Plus mother, grandmother, and friend-of-other-bride-in-store keep piling coats/purses/whatnot on only available chair for v.-weak-from-hunger-pangs pregnant woman to sit on. Pregnant woman having to keep asking if OK to remove said coats/purses/whatnot so could sit down in-between dresses being tried on.
Hooray! Pregnant woman found leftover Halloween fun-size Snickers bar in purse. Gobbled quickly, being careful not to touch chocolate with fingers as said fingers might be needed to fondle wedding-gown-train at any moment.
And Mandy found a dress!! Double hooray!! She was so happy and it was really fun getting to share the experience with her. Will have to remember to call Mandy to ask if she went back today to check on dress. Is really beautiful gown and makes Mandy look stunning. Wish her much much happiness on wedding day and always.
And she bought lunch (actually breakfast foods, yum yum YUM!). Hoorays all around.

2:30 p.m.
Arrived home, dropping off special-request three soft-shell Taco Supremes for Joel and then heading out with intent to purchase SHOES for SELF.

3:30 p.m.
Did not buy shoes; bought new shower curtain and liner. And coffee creamer and cereal. IS NOT ADMISSION OF LOSS OF YOUTHFUL EXHUBERANCE. SHOWER CURTAIN WAS IMPULSIVE AND UNNECESSARY PURCHASE!! Ignoring fact that old one was super-mildewy and definitely at least 5 years old.

12:30 a.m.
Just returned from v. wonderful evening out with JG. Dined at Joe's Crab Shack in Roseville (had been craving shellfish despite having shrimp Friday night at Green Mill... but is not a pregnancy thing as shellfish ALWAYS fave food, next to pie and homemade caramel corn and candy-corn-with-peanuts and what was I talking about?). Right. Went a little crazy, ordering virgin daiquiri and extra crab and even dessert. Could really eat crab from now until end of world and never ever tire of it, as long as neverending conveyor belt of crab periodically punctuated by pie.
Went to see Jarhead after; kind of a different flick; I really liked it. Kind of bummed that Child-Free-Weekend did not coincide with release of Rent or Memoirs of a Geisha or Walk the Line or about six other movies I really want to see.

SUNDAY
Met Gronaus and Briners at Bakers Square in Maple Grove (v. grateful this particular restaurant located on very fringe of Arbor Lakes Circles of Hell so did not have to navigate horrid commercialist mess) and had a de-lish brekky. Took Lulu home (v. good to see pudgy little face, missed terribly) and had an afternoon nap. Went to Watsons' for a playdate and watched as Lucy detached self from Watsons' couch and took about eight solo steps toward me before crashing to bottom. Spent entire evening encouraging Lucy to walk from me to Joel and back, which she did with great relish and enthusiasm. Little hoot v. proud of self and rightfully so. Caught a bit of it on video for posterity. But v. difficult to hold running video camera and catch tentatively-toddling 14-month old at same time. But v. v. fun and would not trade for eternal conveyor belt of crabmeat.

Oi!

What a week. It's a good thing those New Deal guys didn't decide on a 50-hour workweek; I'd be toast.

Lucy's going to spend the weekend with Joel's p's. While it makes me sad, since I get to spend such little time with her all week... I am REALLY looking forward to:
a. napping.
b. taking a bath, or four.
c. reading a book, or three.
d. shopping. Joel doesn't know it but I aim to buy some very cute shoes.
e. wedding dress shopping with Mandy!
f. going out to dinner with Joel tomorrow.

Yay.

Last couple nights, JG and I entertain ourselves by standing Lu up on her little stockinged feet and then gingerly backing up, to try to get her to walk to us. Just watching her work to keep her balance is amazing -- I feel like she's a Barbie doll, and there's no way she can hold her balance for even a few seconds... but that little inner-ear of hers is obviously working, and I can see her catch and re-catch herself. Super cool.

One ultrasound more -- 24 weeks

Hi gang.
Had another U/S this morning to check on that placenta of mine. (Or rather, of Gus's.) It has moved (and the tech actually said that "moved," AKA "migrated" is a misnomer, since it's really attached to the side of the uterus, and the uterus just grows (like a balloon blowing up) so that's why it looks like it's moving) a whole nother centimeter away from the cervix. The doctor says it's probably fine, and explained that the "PR" is still in effect but that it doesn't have to be quite as, erm, restrictive as we thought... um, that's too much detail. Anyway.
Everything else looked fine -- Gus was moving around in there and that's that.

Big sister, however, has been a BEAR. Maybe it was too early to think about taking the nuk away -- oi she's been a very large handful the last couple of days. My friend Nikki told me that when you have 2 kids, taking it "one day at a time" is impossible and you just take it "one minute at a time." I guess she's got a point -- I should just worry about the kids being clothed and fed and safe and let everything else just go by the wayside.

I have another headache. I NEVER had headaches with Lucy. If Gus isn't a boy she's going to have a lot of 'splainin' to do.

A farce of stupid proportions

So yesterday my boss comes flying into my cube at like 11:40 -- she's been in a meeting with a Mystery Client all morning. "Have you eaten? Can you be bribed?" she asks.
Me, and free food? Uh, yes. Now, we work in Roseville where there are approximately 5,000 restaurants within a 3-mile radius. But for some crazy reason, Susan and the Mystery Client just had to have Panera. Panera's good and all, but the closest one is practically in downtown Minneapolis. At best, a 10- or 15-minute drive.
But I hop in my car and tear off, my mind filled with all the brownie points I'm earning, and the free lunch I'm getting. And I don't even mind shelling out a quarter for meter parking, or trotting across the city street in my 4" heels, or standing in a line 50-persons-long to order my sandwich. I finally get my food (three sandwiches, one lemonade and six cookies (apparently Mystery Client requires MANY cookies) for the low, low price of $28.13!!) and drive BACK to Roseville.
And I'm dashing down the freeway at 70 MPH and I realize that in order to avoid the embarrassing scene of "Gee, which sandwich is mine?" when I arrive at the office, I'd better take MY sandwich out of the large brown paper sack. So (still driving) I grab the topmost sandwich, and as soon as I have it up out of the bag and over my lap...

It explodes.

And there is sammy EVERYWHERE. My (black) skirt is covered in flakes of cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, friggin' "artisan" bread chunks and mayonnaisey chicken.

Oh... and I had ordered the roast beef.

So I am swearing and laughing and crying and SWEARING and still driving and I have NO idea how I'm going to re-assemble this sandwich so it even faintly resembles the Handcrafted Delicacy which I'm sure Mystery Client is expecting.
I pull into the lot and try to cram the sandwich back together, and get the Artisan Bread with its fancy diagonal cut re-aligned with the other unscathed sandwich half, and wrap the mess in the paper wrapping, and wrap my coat around my mayonnaisey skirt and head on into the conference room.
Where I smoothly and professionally place the bag on the table, then turn tail and run.

And the roast beef wasn't even that good.

I don't even like Halloween that much!

I seriously don't. I mean, I like candy corn (I really like candy corn) and I don't mind scary witches and goblins and whatnot, but I've never been a Halloween fanatic. Like some people I know, PEG! :)

I like to dress up, but I'm not especially entranced by the whole "becoming somebody else" thing -- which is probably why I'm a dreadful actor too. I'm too self-conscious (and I mean that literally; as in, I am too aware of ME being the person in the body in the costume) to really lose myself in a character, or another self. This is probably another reason I don't write fiction. :)

Right, so I've been at my work for three Halloweens. The first one, I didn't realize people dressed up. But they did. The second, I was on maternity leave with Lucy and the third one is today. And there have been some weird things going on at work, some not-happy-vibe things, some layoffs etcetera, but I frankly didn't see that as a good enough reason NOT to dress up. So I dressed up! I'm a pregnant disco dancer, and it's a pretty funny costume for just having come up with it at like 6:30 this morning too. And I am The.

Only.

One.

Dressed up.

At work.

Yup, it's a little embarrassing. Kind of a lot embarrassing. Sort of like those scenes in "Legally Blonde" and "Bridget Jones' Diary"... except at least I'm not in a Playboy-bunny costume. I did bring a "biz-casual" outfit to wear, just in case this sort of thing happened... but I don't know, I guess that would be admitting defeat. And ooh, I am stubborn about that sort of thing. But in a way I truly don't care. I'm having fun and my head isn't that itchy... yet... from the wig, and there's a certain pride I can take in knowing that maybe I was the bravest one.

Anyhoo! Thanks to EVERYONE who came to our house for the party yesterday -- it sure was fun watching those kiddos roll all over each other! And if anybody is hungry for any leftover bean soup, we have GALLONS of it at home. Hope everyone has a great day. :)

Josie, Owen and Lucy at our party yesterday.

Halloween Party

Hey there --
If you didn't get an invitation to our party this Sunday (10/30), I'm sorry, the slight was unintentional and you are more than welcome to attend. It starts at noon-ish on Sunday at our place. Many babies will be in attendance, but there will be beer, too. Wear your costume!

Joel and Lucy and I will be dressing as crew members from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. If you want to agree with us that we're funny (because we ARE, duh), you should rent the movie. It's a pretty good movie.

Goin' through the big PR and I don't mean Puerto Rico

Had my 22-week checkup on Friday -- it was one of those 30-second "weigh-me, measure-me, listen-to-Gus's-heart and go" appointments. So no big shake. I gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks, Good Meggo, and Gus's heart is going just fine.

I also found out that I have an umbilical hernia. Fun! Which explains why my tummy gets so POINTY when I pick up something heavy or try to use my ab muscles. Mine is large, so there's apparently little risk of strangulation (where part of the bowel pops through the hole in the muscles and gets caught and it hurts a LOT). Doc made it sound like it was no biggie.

Because of the location of my placenta (the doctor showed me a photo; it's, like, 1 cm from my cervix, which is CLOSE), I'm still on "pelvic rest," much to Joel's chagrin. When I go in for that next ultrasound next week, they might be able to tell if the placenta is moving the right direction.

Anyway, everything else is great. Having a REAL tough time staying awake for the end of the World Series games, though. Oh! Lucy took about five steps on her own, without falling face-first, the other day. It was SO exciting! Then last night she walked from Joel to a chair, about four feet. She was so pleased. Other than that, she thinks she's a total genius for crawling all the way upstairs and down all by herself. And that's the report! Happy Wednesday.

SuperGrandpa!

My dad called yesterday: "Do you want me to come up tonight and watch Lucy for the rest of the week?"

YES. Holy buckets, yes. I was a puddle, grappling with losing more PTO (vacation/personal/sick) days, and staying home with Lucy, who so obviously needed me. Aggravated with my work, aggravated with having to GO to work, aggravated with Walgreens for NOT HAVING ANY CHILDREN'S COLD MEDICINE, aggravated with myself for not dealing with the whole thing well.

Anyway, THANK YOU Dad for literally flying in and saving the day. You are an angel.

Lucy update: we gave her some Dimetapp Cough & Cold last night and it knocked her right out -- her first night of sleep in 3 days that wasn't punctuated by more than 1 or 2 coughing fits. Thank goodness. Dad says her snout is dried up too (no more face explosions upon sneezing). We've been so lucky that she's been so healthy thus far... I suppose she was overdue.

In other news: my mom's been having trouble seeing so she is going in to have her eyeballs scraped on Monday. Apparently her corneas are waffle-shaped and they're going to file 'em down. Ew ew ew!!! Good luck Mom, I hope it all goes well -- I will be squinting all day Monday in your honor. Oh, Mom I made your cranberry/sour cream scones again the other day and MAN are they tasty.

Happy Thursday, everyone...

Sorry no blogging -- Lucy still sick

And as you know, I have no computer at home.
Yeah, so that's another day of vacation I lose AND we're of course still paying for the daycare we can't use this week. I'm so irritated I could scream.

And I might just do that, since I get to get back in my car in about 15 minutes and drive BACK home so Joel can get to his 10AM meeting.

Grrr.

Goofy fact of the day

I just found out that Joel still holds the Monticello HS football record for longest kickoff return (97 yards). That is SO hot. :)

Sick Hoot

Lucy came down with something this weekend; fever upwards of 103 and a nasty hacking, barky, semi-productive cough. Poor little pants! Her fever's down to 100.2 this morning, and Joel is taking her to the doc in a bit. News to come.

However, that was the ONLY bad part of the weekend -- we were in Perham, Minn. for Mark Bensen's wedding (childhood friend of Joel's). It was one of those rare and wonderful occasions when every new person we met was... AWESOME. We didn't know many of Mark's friends very well, but each and every one was friendly, nice, and easy to talk to. Plus, Joel and I were *on*. SO on. :) It was amazing, going to this wedding in the middle of nowhere and coming home with a whole passel of new friends. Just fantastic.

Not even to mention the gorgeous fall weather, the tasty food (real crabmeat on a toasted english muffin smothered with hollandaise... and that was just lunch!), and the wedding itself, which was simply lovely. Congrats Mark and Amanda, and thanks for a beautiful weekend!

Guess little Gus.

Jump in the baby pool! Click here and post a comment (I know, I know, it's asking a lot) to make your guess as to when Gus is coming, what (s)he is and how big. I'll keep a tally or something.
www.guessgus.blogspot.com

Caramba! It's the Samba.

OK it's Monday. I start teaching my swing and latin dance classes tonight down at the Dayton's Bluff rec center. Once again, I get myself committed to these things and I have to follow through and I live to regret it.
I had a dream last night that the latin class was cancelled but replaced by tennis. And I still had to teach it. And I remember thinking "well, it's a good thing everybody had to bring a partner!" And I also remember thinking "I'm a lousy tennis player but I can probably come up with something to work on for the next eight weeks. Keep your wrist straight!" I have no idea.
So I'm working on my "syllabus" today at work. I think I've only got two or three couples in each class -- what a bargain for them! $30 for eight weeks of essentially private lessons. Not too shabby. I am REALLY hoping I have enough material to teach them. I hope they're bad. :)

Alley Joel and Cara's wedding on Friday was really, really beautiful and nice. Joel and I gave it high marks overall. We've been to a LOT of weddings, but this was one of the first where I'd known both the bride and groom independently before they got together. Somehow that was especially moving. Joel and I now have to try to remember to feed their fish while the newlyweds are in Acapulco this week -- they might be in trouble.

Friday Grammar Fun

White House denies Bush God claims

This was a headline on Yahoo! Let's have a little fun with punctuation and word emphasis, shall we? What do you think this means, anyway?

White House denies Bush, God claims
God has issued a rare press report asserting that the White House is denying the existence of George W. Bush.

White House denies Bush, God claims
The White house refuses to accept claims made by both God and GWB.

White House denies Bush God claims
Did GWB claim he IS God? If so, the WH is denying it -- good for them.

White House denies Bush-God claims
The Bush-God (not to be confused with the Tree-God and the Shrubbery-God) is making claims! The White House says No, It's not!

White House denies Bush; God claims
The WH has finally decided simply to up and disown GWB. "He just wandered in here one chilly night," a top WH official said today. "We gave him some milk out of a dropper and told him he could sleep in the rose bushes... well, that was almost five years ago. Now that we've handled him, his mother won't take him back. But we don't actually want him anymore... do you know a good family?"
God replied, "Aw, crud! I was looking for that one!"

Anyway, I haven't read the story yet so I haven't the foggiest what it's actually about.

What must!

Can I even begin to mention how difficult it was to get this uploaded. Kind of akin to saying "Albert Pujols" without giggling. DIFFICULT.
A. Gus DOES have eyes. The 3D ultrasound can only focus on one plane at a time, so here you get mostly nose, mouth and chin.
B. Gus DOES have ears. Ditto.
C. Joel says "Kissable lips, just like mine!"

New thing you have to do to leave comments

So I've been getting a lot of spam comments and I think the way to fix it is to add "word verification". So now, when you leave a comment, you'll see a semi-garbled string of letters that you will have to type in. It's not that big of a deal, so give it a try, fer cry-eye, and leave me a comment. Thanks.

Ultrasound -- 20 weeks

It's a... baby!

We were strong and decided not to find out Gus's sex, though the tech said "oh, yeah" when we asked if SHE could see the gender. Stinker! My clinic got a brand-spankin'-new ultrasound machine with 3D, so we got some really cool pictures.
My placenta is lying a bit low, so I'll have to go in for another ultrasound in 4 weeks to make sure I'm not at risk for placenta previa. The tech was very upbeat and said everything looked great BUT, of course, the doctor will look at the pix and make the ultimate determination whether there's any cause for concern with anything.
I don't think I'll be able to scan in the photos but I will have them with me, so if you want to see them, just ask! :)
Our crazy week is 1/2 over! The real estate guy cancelled on Monday, we completed our estate-planning stuff yesterday (followed by a simply delightful lunch of soup, tea and a scone at Sweet William & Tea downtown St. Paul; I highly recommend the place), and we had Mandy and Shawn over for a lovely dinner last night, which was punctuated by a SUPER ROCKIN' thunderstorm that knocked out our power for several hours.
So! We just have to get my dad in town, play some volleyball, and get to the Wuertz/Christopherson wedding on time, and get my mom in town, and get to St. Cloud on time and heck! It'll be next week already. :)

Welcome Ryans

Hi to anyone who is reading this after getting the Ryan-Family Yo!Yo! -- I'm glad you stopped by! First, a clarification regarding softball -- I play OUTFIELD and not third base. (So Mom, don't worry, I'm not diving for grounders!) I must have mistyped something along the way.

Lucy was kind of a bear this weekend. We think she might be transitioning away from two naps a day, or maybe she's just growing more teeth. She was standing up in her crib when Joel and I went to get her this morning, but she was NOT awake yet -- just kind of swaying there, like she wasn't quite sure how to get back down. He gave her her morning milk in the dark living room, which I think they both appreciated.

It's a crazy week for us coming up here. The real estate agent is coming over tonight (he promised to bring dinner; YESS!), we're meeting with a lawyer to execute our estate documents tomorrow, plus we're having some friends over for dinner... we have our 20-week ultrasound on Wednesday, and then my dad's coming in for the rest of the week... Volleyball Thursday... wedding on Friday (it starts at 4, how the devil am I going to get there?)... like I said, a little crazy. BUT the house is clean and the laundry caught up, so we're as prepped as we could be.
Happy Monday!