A Mess of Randomness

- I really like that new Jordin Sparks song with Chris Brown: No Air. SO pretty! (And I like her because she's got some meat on her bones... bah-ha-ha!) The harmonies are beautiful - and the words aren't too bad, either. (Kurt asked, "Do you think this song is about someone dying?" and I was like, "Huh??" LOL)

- I think I'm hooked on the new McDonalds iced coffees... vanilla. Very refreshing - and unlike the Tim Hortons Ice Cappuccino (which I also love) you can drink the whole thing without desperately sucking the bottom of your cup because it bunches into a frozen lump. That's my experience, anyway...

- Speaking of which: the state of fast-food restaurants in Saskatoon is seriously awful. What is with hiring all the 13-year-olds? And why do they shuffle their feet when they walk? Is it really necessary to yell to one-another (in front of a dozen customers) how much they want to go home? I exaggerate not - we stood there 10 minutes waiting for our iced coffees. When we left I told Kurt how much I appreciate my parents teaching me the value of being a good worker (I have a vivid memory of my dad trying to teach me that a $10 job would be worth more an hour if I worked faster... it went over my head when I was 10 - but now I get it), and how important it would be for us to teach our kids that, too. Especially now when the labor shortage doesn't make it necessary to be a good worker. I doubt that will turn around within the next 20 years... sigh. Rant over! :)

- Our dog is shedding. Usually I like the fact that our seasons change - but drat it all! I'm sure he's shed at least his weight over the last month. I said that to Kurt and he was like, "That's a little exaggerated, Kendall - he's over 110 pounds." I married mister literal. But to illustrate my point - a short story: Kurt was dragging his hand over the carpet the other night and made a "hair mountain- range". (I have my gag face on.) I asked him to refrain from doing that while I'm in the room because some things I just don't want to see. (chuckle) I'm fearing for my new carpets. For now, we've made the pact that he'll only be allowed on lino in the new house... here's hoping.

- Yesterday, Kurt turned on our sprinklers... then looked at the weather and found out it was supposed to be below freezing most of the weekend. So today we rented a air compressor and blew out the sprinklers. If I was a smug-type wife I'd mention that I said, "Honey... I don't think it's necessary to water the lawn until May..." but I'm not - so I'll say instead that I enjoyed the ride to the rental place, watching the sprinklers blow out - and returning the compressor. :) In his defense - he had to turn on the sprinklers because he put down fertilizer... if he hadn't watered the lawn there was a chance it could have burned - so it was a good choice. (chuckle)

- I am - maybe - starting to feel better. (As I type that my stomach lurches...) My doctor (when I told him how nauseous I was) said something along the lines of, "In my personal opinion, the more queasy women are the more that baby is securely stuck in there." Yay!! (cough, cough) :)

- Seriously, though: some days I go and look at my prayer journal from the last 5 months and count how many times I asked the Lord for another baby. It's such a good reminder to see the valleys He has brought us through - from my first entry after Autumn had died (I wrote it in the hospital on the 20th of October), to the first after we found out that B-Manz II was conceived (to quote George W: "Shock and Awe"). I just wish I could remember that easier when it the doubts loom high and mighty. He doesn't forsake... and I praise Him for the days it is easy to rest in His hands....

- I took a pregnancy profile picture today. Funny how you can feel so pretty before the picture - then look at it and hear "Ompppphhhh..." That is the sound an ego makes as it is deflating! ;)

- Kurt got me the neatest gift! Okay - let me backtrack for a moment before I give more details about that...

- At the very start of this pregnancy we knew it would be different. I don't know if I ever said it on the blog - but I never bought anything for Autumn - by way of stuffed animals, or outfits, or anything like that. It wasn't because I felt something bad would happen (as I have previously posted) but more that I was going to wait and see what the baby was, and (to be honest) what I got for gifts. (Plus my mother-in-law had already got everything! :-D Love you, Lori!) :) There is a part of me that knows I'm going to have to allow myself to be enthusiastic about this baby... and plan for him/her. For example, we are going to buy a "coming home" outfit for the baby ourselves. Not a "this could also double for a funeral" outfit. Does that make sense? It sounds so morbid... (chuckle) It's hard to explain: I wouldn't' even call it a 'step of faith' as much as a positive plan. (small smile) It's acknowledging that although we've lived the worst-case scenario, and have been statistics... that doesn't mean it will happen again.

- Okay, so back to my other gift story. I had told Kurt about these neat books I had seen at McNally Robinson. They're pregnancy journals - and they come in all shapes and sizes and formats. But the basic gist is that they're a week-by-week memory-making kit for the mom (and dad) and could obviously be shared with the child someday. Thanks to this blog - I have a lot of memories cataloged from Autumn's pregnancy - but I really wanted a hard-copy for this pregnancy... and for this baby - so he or she could know that I anticipated and planned for them even though I was still sad about their big sister not being here. Proof, so to speak.

- Anyway, after out prenatal visit at the start of the month, we got back in the car and Kurt handed me an envelope saying, "This came in the mail for you." It only said "To my Sweetheart Kendall" so I had a good laugh at the efficiency of the postal system. :) I read it - and cried a little bit - and then he reached over with a mighty flourish and opened the glove compartment to reveal... a McNally Robinson bag containing a pregnancy journal! :) The one I got is a cute one, too. It isn't too "pregnancy is the most mystical and powerful experience a woman can have" (:-P) and it's more about asking each week, "how do your jeans feel?" MUCH more my style. (lol!) Oh - and there is a place for a weekly picture (which is why we took one today)... so I can (ahem) track my development. (wince!)

- We've really been enjoying the care-package Kurt's mom made for us. Except for the night that we ate the cabbage rolls (they're made with sauerkraut). The eating - in and of itself - was a really good experience. It was later, when I got sick, that it was unpleasant. :-P Yeah... whatever you've inferred from that statement is correct. (Shudder...)

- And some have wondered why I don't have their blogs linked: I just feel awful linking private blogs! It's like dangling candy in front of someone and then saying they can't have it. :) So for all the private blogs I read, I just keep them in my bookmarks. :)

- Did anyone else feel a sense of shock last week when the American Idol contestants sang Shout to the Lord? My jaw was hanging...

- Aaaannndddd.... it's April. Which means it's playoff season. Which means that in Canada there will now be hockey on every night until the start of June - it even bumps the national news. Seriously. And local news does an abbreviated version in between games. I love this country. (Ha, ha...) My plan is to cheer for anything Canadian (sigh - Ottawa) and then move on to cheering for the players I like best (Sid the Kid!). Never thought I would ever say this - but go Habs. (Janelle - I know you're a Leaf's fan... and that cheering for Montreal is probably tantamount to blasphemy... and if we see each other we just won't mention it, okay? ;-D) I like Calgary and Pittsburgh for the final. Just saying... (I'll refer to this post when I'm right. Heh-heh...)

- Thanks for reading!