Life is Good.

It's true. I've gone blogging MIA...

I haven't done a blog in over a week, so I figured it was time to let you all get a glimpse into my world again.

Last week was my first week off work, and honestly, I can't even tell that I don't have a job! I know that I was struggling getting everything done before, but now that I have almost 40 more hours of free time- I don’t know where it is!!!

I was a busy bee last week. I put in my time at my internship, went to class, maintained my marriage, and grew another human being. All in a days work, right?

Let’s start with Friday June 17. For months I have been planning this event called “Boyd’s 2^nd Annual Pickin’ in the Pasture Benefit”. I got up Friday morning, and after an extremely rough Thursday (which we won’t even go into), I was eager to see what Friday had to bring. My mom and I ran a ton of errands all over the county in preparation for Pickin’ in the Pasture.

For whatever reason, I thought that I could put my pregnancy on the back burner while I tried to be wonder woman and work this event. I was quickly reminded that I was eating for two when I became so dizzy that I didn’t think I could drive. I reached into my handy dandy lunchbox (which if you have been around me at all in the past 3 weeks, you can probably describe exactly what it looks like) and pulled out a banana. The vitamins in the banana gave me enough strength to get through Wal-Mart and get the items needed for the event.

Let me back up a step… Wal-Mart. Have any of you been to the Wal-Mart in Decatur recently? First off, I don’t care to go to Wal-Mart much anyway, but I swear, it’s like Jack in the Beanstalk picked up this store, shook it around like a snow globe, and then sat it back down. I can’t find ANYTHING! The shoes are where there once was underwear and the towels and bathroom décor now is the home for laundry detergent and baggies. What the heck Wal-Mart? Is it not enough that I spend hundreds of dollars on you each time I leave? Why do you insist on sucking hours off of my life? I don’t get it.

 I’ve considered making a list of my needed items, and trading it with my mom. Have you heard of this? It’s GeNiUs! Seriously. It is supposed to save time and money. Step one: Make a list of what you need from the store. Step two: Have a friend do the same with the items they need. Step three: Trade lists, and make a date of going to Wal-Mart (or where ever you go to surrender hours of your life to purchase life’s necessities.) Step four: Once at the store of your choice, designate a time and checkout line to meet when you’re finished. Then you both part ways and get the items on the list in your hand. Step five: Meet at the designated spot, and switch carts. Don’t overanalyse what is in the basket, just pay for it, then leave. This is said to save families hundreds of dollars because you don’t put random things in other people’s baskets! Great idea, huh?

Anywho, I’ve thought about doing this, but Ihaven’t followed through with it. Maybe I will soon.

Long story short, we had the event ready to go at 6:00pm when the gates opened. Food: Check. Sound guy: Check. Bands: Check. People to come in, eat, and listen to the bands: Negative. 6:30 rolled around, and then 7:00. 7:30 came, and finally the people began to slowly trickle in. My nerves were shot b/c I knew how much money we had spent out of pocket for this event, and no one was coming. That was a scary thought. I was ecstatic when Max Stalling arrived and asked specifically for me. (It was a tremendous feeling to have a semi-celebrity asking for me throughout this event! I could SO be a groupie!!!) Whatever he asked, I made happen. Maybe I could be an agent. Maybe not. Or maybe if I have a girl, I can be a pageant mom. NOT! Someone please beat me with a baseball bat if I ever think that again…

Back to the benefit, Max went on, money was made, people were happy (after the sun went down), and I slept great that night. I am positive that I drank a gallon of water, and sweat 2 gallons more than I put into my body that day. It was a scorcher! We made $4200.00 profit, and I plan on doing the same, but bigger next year. (We shall see, since I will have a 5 month old on my hip…)

Saturday night, me and Jim went to dinner with our friends Chris and Terra. We ate at BJ’s Brewhouse and enjoyed a relaxing dinner. Jim and I pulled into our driveway about 10:30 and to our surprise, we had no power. The wind had done something to a transformer or whatever, and all I knew was it was hot, and this preggo Mama to be was NOT staying in that house all night. The progesterone running rampant though my body has enough of a hayday when it is 70 degrees in my house. I can’t imagine what kind of Olympic games would be played if it was 90 degrees while I laid in bed. Oh Lord help Jim if that was to happen. For the sake of our marriage, I called my Mama. After downloading the flashlight app to my iphone ( Have I mentioned how much I LOVEEEEE my iphone?!) I threw some stuff in a bag, and me and Jim headed to Culpepper B&B. By the way, my bag consisted of a pillow, my sleeping mask, makeup remover, lotion, cocoa butter, sleeping shorts, sleeping pants, t shirt, sports bra, flip flops, socks, tooth brush, mouthwash, a blanket, and some undies. Jim grabbed a pair of shorts and his toothbrush. Seriously? That just pisses me off. Anyway, that’s another can of worms.

We wake up Sunday morning, Father’s Day mind you, and the first thing I did was crawl out of my bed, and walk across the hall to lay with the Daddy to be. (I had gone to a seperate bedroom around 3:00 because we were sharing a full size bed. If you have ever gone from sharing a king sized bed, to sharing a full sized, bed--- you understand). I crawled up next to him and whispered Happy Father’s Day. He smiled and said thank you. He went back to sleep, but I laid there envisioning our son or daughter and the next time I would wake up on Father’s Day. I thought about how next year, we would have a baby to represent our love on that day, and how amazing it would be. He was back asleep. This always seems to happen when I am in deep thought. I laughed and got up for breakfast.

We ended up going home to get ready for church, and our power was back on. It is a 45 minute drive to our church, but so worth it. Cross Timbers Community Church in Argyle. You should try it sometime. AMAZING! Anyway, we were seated and the music played, and the Holy Spirit was there. I could feel the leftover joy from this morning and was still savouring the thoughts of having a baby this time next year. I almost pictured a glow around Jim as we swayed to the music and listened to the Holy Spirit speak to us. He wasn’t just my husband and my friend anymore, but a father. We sat down, and I was feeling extremely lovey dovey. Our pastor began speaking and started out by telling all of the fathers Happy Father’s Day. My bubble was busted when Jim chuckled, leaned over to me, and whispered, “I forgot today was Father’s Day.” SERIOUSLY?! I gave him a look like he had just told me that he was joining the NASA space team to fly to the moon. All morning I had been daydreaming about our life transforming from 2 to 3, and here he forgot it was father’s Day. I couldn’t do anything but laugh, and think that maybe men really are from Mars…

Thursday morning, my mom invited to me to go with her, my Grandma, and my dad to Houston to visit my brother and his wife. I had already planned to skip class on Saturday (don’t judge me) and so Thursday evening, I decided that I was going to go with them on this 5 hour ride. Jim stayed behind to play bachelor while I was out of town, and I hit the road Friday afternoon with the fam. The ride wasn’t bad, and once we got there, it was worth it. On the way there however, here is a quick list of what was on the Dodge Ram buffet: 1 cheese sandwich, 5 tootsie rolls, 1 cup of applesauce, ¼ bag of carrots, one banana, one cup of mandarin oranges, 4 slices of turkey jerky (YAY PROTEIN!!!), one cup of peach ice cream with cinnamon peach glaze, one handful of pecans, one root beer, 20-25 grapes, 5-10 triscuit crackers with cheese, and one granola bar. Yes sir. This was all in between Boyd, and Houston. (Random- I saw Lindsay, Paul, and Suzanne Foster at a random peach stand/gas station in Fairville, Texas. I noticed her from across the room and shouted out her name. I was blown away that we bumped into each other! Crazy, right?)

So, we get to Houston and enjoy the stay in Justin and Shawn’s BEAUTIFUL new home they just purchased. Saturday, the girls did some light shopping. I bought 3 items, and spent 200 dollars. Yes, me- Miss Frugal spent $200.00 on 3 items. What were they you ask? Well, a wok from Marshalls was 50.00, and the two bras I bought at Neiman’s totalled $150.00. That’s right. 1.5.0.0.0.

I’m sure you all are aware of the fact that I resigned as President of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee in on April 1, 2010. To my surprise, my girls have already shot up one cup size since Baby M has been a resident in my temple. Although Baby M’s daddy couldn’t be happier I’m sure, this is causing a bit of a problem for me.

I was fitted and broke out in hives when the woman at Neiman Marcus told me the size that I would need to ORDER in about 2 months. I literally had to sit down and text Jim when she left the fitting room. Jim was golfing with some buddies, and his response to my text was,(excuse my french) “Damn.” That about sums it up. I was thinking the same thing. “Damn…” Bye bye cute little bikini that I bought 2 months ago. Maybe we will meet again. Maybe…

I think that I managed to make my little kumquat angry yesterday. We left Houston, and like my usual traveling self, I curled up in the backseat to catch a nap while we were on the road. After about 20 minutes of various positions, I found one that was semi comfortable. Yes, the seatbelt was digging into my ribs, but I was laying down, and my legs had some room to stretch. What I didn’t consider was the fact that my little bundle of joy was all bundled up in my tummy. I sat up due to a few dull pains, and realized that I can’t get into the same positions I used to. Holy cow. This kid is already high maintenance.

The dull pain didn’t go away until my dad pulled over at a rest stop, and let me walk around for a few minutes. After that, I was fine. I shook it off as me just crowding my kumquats personal space.

Jim has shared with me the day before that he had a surprise, so I was excited to come home to see what it was. I quickly noticed a reclining lawn chair in the backyard, and as soon as I opened the door to our house, I was hit with the clean aroma of a freshly cleaned house. Every bit of dirty laundry was not only clean, but hung up, folded and PUT AWAY! Screw flowers and candy! The way to a woman’s heart is by cleaning her home! It was amazing to come home to a clean house, and have someone make me dinner. That’s right. It didn’t stop there! He asked what I wanted, and delivered exactly that! Grilled ham and cheese with a side of macaroni and cheese. (Again, don’t judge). It was amazing.

I don’t have any pictures to upload this time, but I wish you could glimpse into my mind and see all the ones I have!!!

Life is GREAT!
Keep praying…

I can't eat meat? But I live on a cattle ranch!!!

It’s been over a week since I blogged last, and so much has happened.

-          Me and Jim went to see Dr. Robbins for our first appointment. (LOVE her btw!) It was quite humorous to see this experience through Jim’s eyes as opposed to mine-which are semi-used to being in the office of a practicing gynecologist. Two parts stand out in my mind. The first was when he realized that I had to pee in a cup and hold onto the sample until my name was called. Even though it was a seal cup, inside of another cup, inside of a sealed brown paper bag, inside of my purse--- I think it still grossed him out a bit. The other funny part of the trip was when the nurse came in with the sonogram cart, and parked it next to me. There was a massive box of condoms that came with this cart, and we jokingly talked about how we could make money from selling them to teenagers. (This is possibly the first sign that we are going to make horrible parents…) I was surprised at how calm I was during this visit, and wondered what kind of thoughts were running through Jim’s head. I understand this isn’t real for him just yet, but still- he was about to see and hear his first unborn child, and I don’t care who you are, that it pretty amazing.

Dr. Robbins came in and got down to the nitty gritty right away. Jim was sitting in the chair across from me, and she nonchalantly said, “Come on over here behind me Daddy. You’ll be able to see better.” The words she uttered created butterflies in my stomach. I love the idea of our baby calling Jim Daddy. It literally makes me smile when I think about it.  

9 weeks

I was semi- relieved that Dr. Robbins wasn’t performing a vaginal sonogram mainly because I was hoping we could slowly submerge my husband into this dark world of funny instruments and uncomfortable small talk while the doctor is “down there”. She squirted a gel on me that I expected to be cold, but was surprisingly warm- almost hot actually. She explained that they warm it before putting it onto their patients, and I agreed that this was a great way to get on the patients good side. (Brownie points for Dr. Robbins!) She placed the sonogram wand on my belly and quickly reminded me that I already need to pee again. I can only imagine how much harder it will become in my future visits to refrain from urinating all over the table while she is prodding on my uterus giving me a glimpse into my body. Something else to look forward to I suppose? J

After what seemed like 5 minutes, there it was… For the first time in my life, not only was I seeing a live ultrasound, but I was watching the heartbeat of our little kidney bean. When we saw Baby M for the first time, it was absolutely heart stopping. Seriously. I was drawn back to the moment when I first shared the news with Jim that I was pregnant. Time stood still, and for those few moments, nothing- absolutely nothing else in this entire world mattered. Every emotion that came from my first kiss, to winning basketball games, to building our house, and even to getting married was surpassed in a single minute. I will never forget looking up at Jim and watching his stare at the screen. I don’t think I have ever seen such a proud look on his face. Yet another moment that no one will ever be able to erase from my memory. Click! Freeze Frame Time.

Another life changing event has occurred since I blogged last. Jim and I are fortunate enough for me to be able to quit my job and focus on my internship as well as school and Baby M. I sent my last email, packed up my office, and swiped my time card for the last time Wednesday. It was completely bittersweet. It’s always hard to leave a place of employment when you aren’t disgruntled. It almost would’ve been easier if I would’ve been mad about something someone had done, or frustrated with one of my co-workers. That just wasn’t the case here. I loved my job. I honesltly can’t think of a day that I woke up and dreaded going to work. My dad used to say that, “Going to work isn’t called going to work because it’s fun. If it was fun, it would be called going to fun.”

Tanya Davis, Chrissy Daniel, Todd Vineyard, Karen Brown, Laurie Washburn, Connie Shawn, Marc Dodd, Chad Davis, Janice Wood,  Phyllis Shaw, and Gary Clayton  truly made it “Going to Fun.” As for all of my 4-H’ers and their families- you are outstanding, and I am honored to have been a part of your lives for this brief period of time! Thank you for allowing me to watch you all grow, and for allowing me to grow because of you!!!

My empty office

My last bit of this blog is going to be short and sweet. When I was born, one of my best friends in the world was my cousin, Jared. Our moms were pregnant together, and we were born a mere 3 months apart. We were in the same grade and went to the same school all throughout growing up, and everyone knew that we were very close. (Actually at one point there were rumors that we had crushes on each other- but that still confuses me to this day…) Anyway, distance seperated us as Jared joined the Navy, but I got my regular phone calls at 8:00 most mornings while Jared was in Japan. He would call me at this time because I’m pretty sure it was party time there, and he was always out and about and would think to call me. I have to say that it is funny to hear a bunch a Navy men and women late at night in Japan while I am at work at 8:00 on a work day. Oh yeah, short and sweet... right. Anywho, so yadda yadda yadda- we’ve always made time for each other and been close. He calls me the other day and tries to create small talk. I knew something was up, but when he told me that he was going to be a Daddy, I went crazy! I was driving and couldn’t compile my thoughts because I just kept thinking about how fun it would be for our kids to be as close as we are! So funny how life happens, right? I love it.

Andrea's 2nd and 3rd tests. Not a false positive...

All in all, everything is great except for the fact that meat makes me want to hurl. Literally. The sheer thought of eating it churns my stomach. I sure hope that goes away soon.

 I have one quicker story to share, and then I will end this never ending blog. After going to dinner with many of my grad school friends Saturday evening, I left the restaurant hungry. I was dizzy, shaky, nauseous, and tired. Our food had been ordered for well over an hour and a half and only half of our table’s meals had arrived. Mine was of course included in the side that hadn’t gotten their plates yet. I had ordered pancakes and a side of bacon (trying to test the meat waters again) and 2 hours plus one angry husband telling the manager to cook his pregnant wife some dang pancakes or he would go back there and do it himself later- I had my food.

At this point, I was feeling too icky to eat. I had munched on some almonds and dried cranberries for occasions just as this from my purse, and figured I would go home and relax, then eat later. On the way home, we got an invite to go to a friend’s house and watch a UFC fight. If you are unaware this sport, then I say go ahead and keep living your life in ignorant bliss. If you are conscious of this gut wrenching sport, then you’re probably laughing right now. With an empty stomach and a light head, James and I arrived at our friend’s house. There were about a dozen people there, and they were just sitting down to eat some ribs or steak or something in the carnivore category that made me want so badly to rip into this protein that my body wanted, but I knew that I had to resist. Or else… I might throw up. I resisted, and made it through the first fight. It was somewhat entertaining. As entertaining as watching two men wrestle, cuddle, and beat the crap out of each other can be. Fight number two was the getter. These two men apparently were buddies, but since there was $100,000 on the line, they didn’t care if the other died or not due to one too many blows to the head. I watched for as long as I could, and then… it happened.

One, two, three, four, five, and then I lost count. What I was counting were the number of blows from one man’s elbow to the other man’s head. What was once a sealed piece of skin was now flesh and bone that was ejecteing a large enough amount of blood that there was literally a pool laying underneath these men. Now, I have never passed out from the sight of blood. I have never been affected by the sight of my blood being drawn, or anyone else’s blood when they’ve been injured. This time was different. I’m betting you can guess what happened next. I stood up, and tried to gather my composure. It didn’t work. I walked over to the side of the house, took a few deep breaths, and then let it all go. That’s right- I puked up the 5 bites of pancakes and one bite of bacon I had eaten at my 2 hour late dinner.

Lesson learned: I do not like UFC. Make fun if you wish, but if you could have felt what I did that night, you would understand.

Completely changing gears- Baby M is now the size of a grape!

Life is amazing, and I have never been happier.

Love you all. Keep praying.

T'was the night before Chri... I mean sonogram.

There has been so much happen in the past week that I'm not real sure where to begin on this blog. A few moments in particular stick out though. They are the ones that I referred to last time as my Blogging Moment!

I woke up and got ready for work, and noticed around 10:00am that it was going to be a very long day. I was so tired. It's funny when James will ask me, "How are you feeling?" My consistent response here of late has been, "Good. Just really tired." I think he is finally catching on that it isn't the lack of sleep I am getting that is causing my daze, but the fact that there is another human being growing inside of me. So funny. He keeps asking me if his snoring is keeping me awake at night, but I’m pretty sure that a train could come through my bedroom and I would sleep through it right now. This sleep is good. I won’t disagree.

Anywho, back to my first Blogging Moment! of the week. I meandered through the day, and reached my goal of 4:45 pm. I had set this goal around 10:00 that morning, and looking back, I'm not sure why. I suppose when you are in the trance at work where it seems like the hours are actually days, 4:45 sounds much better than 5:00. I compare it to saying that something is $99.99 instead of $100.00. It sounds better, right? (Wow, I am way off track tonight...) So, I make it to 4:45 and head to the pit of hell that we all have come to know as Wal-Mart. Here we are at 5:00, I mean, 4:45, on a school night and I decide to do purchase my laundry list of grocery shopping. I get in, and my plan is to look at the ground as I walk in hopes that I don't bump into anyone I know and spend one more second that I have to in the pit. Things are going great. I'm moving at a slower pace than usual, and am reminded every few minutes that I am starving. I keep thinking that my bill when I check out with most likely reflect the fact that my stomach is empty. I stuck to my list fairly well, but remembered upon checking out that I needed to purchase some plastic containers. You know- the ones that you give away when people come over for dinner and you send home leftovers? So I leave the checkout line and go to grab a few containers. If only it were that easy...

 I turn down the aisle, and automatically, it transforms into a mile long stretch with every possible storage container you could imagine. At this point, I'm tired, my feet hurt, my stomach is growling, I'm shaky, and I have to pee pretty bad. (Hey, if you've read this long, you should know you’re subject to TMI). So I compare boxes and take things off the shelf, put them in my cart, put them back on the shelf--- wash, rinse repeat. After literally about 10 minutes, I looked over and saw a pillar in the middle of the aisle. As if God had built this perch just for me, I leaned over onto it. I'm sure I looked like a creeper staring at the aisle of goodies, arms crossed and eyes closed, but I didn't care. Yes- you read that right. Eyes closed. I'm pretty sure time was creeping by, but I bet I stood there for a good 5 minutes with my eyes closed. I’m 99.9% (which we all know actually means 100% but it sounds better, right?) that I dozed off. Who does this? In the middle of Wal-Mart while standing up- I dozed off?!  It wasn't until I was startled by a woman behind me that I jumped forward, heart racing, and threw some containers in my basket. I chuckled to myself as I walked to the checkout line, and thought... Blogging Moment!

School started this week, as well as my practicum. I am incredibly nervous about my practicum, and will ask for prayer on that as well as Baby M. Many of you already know that I am in the Counseling and Development Program at TWU, but some of you may not. I have every intention of graduating in May 2012, and with the support of my family, it seems to be pretty feasible. I have a full time babysitter, who has reminded me that she is on call at all times if need be, so that helps a TON! (This of course is my mom who retired when I graduated from college so that she could raise her grandchildren. Uhm… here we are 3 years later, and she finally has one on the way! Lol)

As for my practicum, I am practicing at The Counseling Place in Decatur and am looking forward to it. I am apprehensive about my skills at this point, but I try to place my feelings of being inferior on the fact that I am inexperienced. Again, just pray for me. J

I do have one more Blogging Moment! Me and Jim went to dinner at the “new” Mexican food place in Paradise- (I’m sure it’s been there a year or so now, but we are just now making our way over there.) It was about 6:00 and I was kind of hungry so I ordered the taco dinner. I have noticed that I am having some issues eating meat this past week. It’s not that I don’t like it, I do! But even the thought of it- chicken, pork, beef, whatever- almost makes my stomach churn! I instantly have to think about eating fruit, veggies, or dairy in order to keep from making myself nauseous. Weird, right? Anyway, I know that me and Baby M need the protein hat meat provides, so I am extremely cautious about getting it from other areas. I actually tried some greek yogurt and really enjoyed it. (It has 12 g of protein!!!) So I thought I would brave the waters, and ordered a taco dinner.

I ate a few chips and a few bites of queso before our meal came and I felt great. Our waitress was incredibly sweet and compassionate. She brought our food out and then went to wait on her other customers. Jim dove into his meal as I prepared the taco I was going to force myself to eat. I added lettuce, tomato, and cheese as I was planning to devour this protein and as I went to put it up to my mouth, that icky feeling returned. I took one bite and I swear I chewed it 25 times before I could muster the power in my mind to swallow it.

James mentioned that it was all in my head and I thought I was going to throw my entire hot plate of food at him. I told him that I couldn’t explain it, but that I just couldn’t eat the plate of food in front of me. I picked at the beans and rice and planned to eat dinner with my mom and dad when we got home. (Perks of living close to Mama and Daddy!!!)  Here is where the Blogging Moment! comes into play. With one bite taken out of my chicken taco, our tender hearted waitress of about 60 years comes to our table and places her hand on my shoulder. She asked me if I didn’t like what she had brought out, and I immediately looked to James for an answer. We both hesitated and then answered her inquisition with the same response. I told her I was pregnant and meat just did not sound good at all! She laughed and repeated over and over that she understood. She congratulated me, and apologized to James over and over. I got the impression that she felt sorry for  him and the way she thought I might behave on our new journey. She gave some advice and tips for a long and loving marriage, and said that no matter what, it’s all worth it.  We all laughed and for the duration of our stay, she was incredibly attentive to my weak tummy. What an experience.

All funny ha ha’s aside--- tomorrow is a big day for me. It doesn’t seem as exciting to James and I am aware of his mind set enough to be okay with that. I know that although he is unaware of it at this moment, his heart will more than likely skip a beat when he hears his first born’s heart beating inside of me tomorrow. Although it is 80 degrees outside and crickets are chirping, I titled this blog, “T'was the night before Chri... I mean sonogram.” It truly feels like I am getting a huge gift tomorrow. I remember the night before Christmas when I got a new car. I was 17, and I kind of had inkling on Christmas Eve that I might wake up to a car in the driveway. I didn’t sleep a wink that night. I don’t think that will be the case this evening, but I do know that I will wake up with an anticipation that I’ve never had before. It’s hard to explain…

Sometimes, words can’t explain the feelings we have. This is one of those times. I have a feeling this feeling is going to come more and more often, and I welcome it! How anyone cannot believe in God when they have a precious life growing inside of them baffles my mind. (That’s a whole other can of worms!)

In closing, the next time I write in this blog, I will have seen and heard my son or daughter for the first time. I will never ever be the same. No matter what takes place for the rest of my life, I will never be the same after I see my little kidney bean. It feels like I am taking a leap into true adulthood. Yes I went to college, and yes I got married, but truly, I don’t feel grown up. After tomorrow, I feel that I will have successfully transitioned into adulthood. The ending of a chapter and the beginning of a new is here, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever, ever been more ready.

Keep praying.

Like Sand Through The Hour Glass, So Are The...

This week has slowly flown by if that makes any sense at all. It seems like it was just Sunday, but tomorrow is Thursday. Seriously… Where did Tuesday and Wednesday go? I can contribute some of my cloudiness to being on cloud nine the past few weeks, but mostly, I feel like I’ve been stuck on my thoughts about the upcoming semester.

Next week, my life will be thrown into the bottomless pit of stress and complaints that I have come to know as “the life of a grad student”. I absolutely adore my grad school compadres, but the work load and stress that comes along with school is almost more than one can handle. This summer, here is a glimpse into my schedule:

Monday I work all day. Tuesday I work from 8:00 until 4:30 then leave to go to class until 9:30 in Denton. Wednesday I work until 12:00 and then leave to go to class until 5:30. Thursday and Friday, I have my Practicum, (pre internship) at The Counseling Place in Decatur from 9:00 – 7:00. Saturdays, I believe that I have class in Denton from 8:00 – 5:00. Thankfully, I reserve Sunday as my family day. I love Sundays. I love that me and Jim get up and go to church, and then get to come home and just…be. He usually gets tired of lounging fairly quickly, and we end up doing something besides hanging out inside. I’m usually okay with that, so long as I get my cuddling time in first. I’m a stickler for cuddling.

Over the holiday weekend, Jim and I discussed me having to hold down my job, my internship, and my 4.0 GPA all while growing a healthy baby and keeping a healthy marriage. This was the main thing on my mind that was keeping me awake at night. Okay, so maybe there isn’t anything keeping me awake at night- but it is definitely something that worries me. After much prayer and thought, we decided that it would be best for me to resign from working at Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and focus on grad school and our family.

I love my job, and I love my 4-H’ers even more. They are just… awesome kids that make it seem like going to fun, not going to work. That being said, I am so very excited that we are fortunate enough to live off of Jim’s income alone. I am aware of how rare this is these days, and I can’t tell you how much I respect my hubby for carrying the income burden alone. I admire that he understands how difficult it would be to do all of these things at once, and hope that he knows how thankful I am. (He doesn’t read this, so I suppose I could talk about him all day long, and he would never know it!!!)

Anywho, so yes, I am excited about quitting my job and focusing on school and Baby M and Jim. What else… ?

I don’t feel pregnant. Let’s go with that. I’m apparently retaining a “food baby” that only makes its appearance in the evening hours. It is the strangest thing. I’ve had various medical professionals tell me that it is my uterus stretching but I’ve come to understand that the average Joe thinks they know better than them. According to “Average Joe” I’m retaining water or I’m just bloated. What. Ever. I know that there is something there that wasn’t there a couple of months ago, and I am very ready to hear what Dr. Robbins has to say. Lol. I’m not bitter, just chuckling at the multitude of opinions that are coming from every which way. I often catch myself re-playing the “advice” that I am getting, and it just makes me laugh. Maybe I’m just weird.

What's left of the scorpion on the wall...

It’s funny how things happen in my day to day life that cause me to think, “Ohhh! I should SO write about this in my blog! I think I am going to begin referring to those moments as, “Blogging Moment!”

Here is my first “Blogging Moment!”: Last night, James and I enjoyed a nice dinner with our friend Terra at Chili’s. It is so nice to have friends that don’t have the expectation of going to dinner and getting smashed. (Again, I’m seeing a theme here. The whole growing up thing is coming into play again I think…) Anywho, we came home and I went to get into the shower. I turned on the water and went to step in when GASP!!! There it was. The first scorpion of the season. Now if you know me, you know that I can handle spiders and bugs – to an extent. But when it comes to scorpions, I FaREAK!!! They terrify me. Seriously, I think I might wet my pants and go into convulsions if one ever touched me. Needless to say, I ran out of the shower screaming to Jim to come kill this evil creature. He gets in the bathroom and has the audacity to say, “It’s just a baby.” I thanked him as he disposed of the carcass in the trashcan (the toilet is much more effective I think, but it seemed to be dead), and went on about my business. It was while I was in the shower that it occurred to me… “It’s just a baby”… Hmm. That means that is has brothers and sisters and a Daddy and a Mama somewhere. Lord help… I did have trouble falling asleep last night just so you know. You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll do the scorpion shake with every shoe, blanket, and article of clothing I own before I use it too. (My sheets are in the dryer as we speak. Lol)

My Final Blogging Moment! of the day:  This morning, James had already left for work, and I was sitting at the kitchen table staring off into space. Sleep was still on my mind and I was debating on whether anyone at work would notice if I didn’t brush my hair, but just threw it back in a messy pony. (Which I totally got away with by the way.) I was spooning Cream of Wheat into my mouth when I heard a buzzing noise. Suddenly, my house transformed into a set off of Saturday Night Live, and as I dashed to find the fly swatter, a red wasp was dive bombing me! (My house must be on the bug version of hotels.com as a hot spot to go for the Spring). I found myself shrieking and yelling out for Jim to come help me, but I had forgotten that I was home alone. It’s times like this that I set aside my feministic beliefs and leap into the domestic role of housewife and expect James to be the strong strapping husband. I forfeited my right to complain at Jim for letting flies in when I propped open both the front and back doors hoping that this creature would just bebop his way out of the McGilvray Inn. Of course, that didn’t work.

By this time, it was 7:00 and I needed to get ready to go to work. I shut the doors as well as each door in between me and my living room. I thought about shoving a towel under the door to keep unwanted guests out, but I thought that would be too crazy, right? WRONG! The little terd somehow managed to find its way into my bedroom and dive bomb me as I was putting my makeup on. I went to work with less makeup than usual and figured I would just deal with the wasp when I got home.

Well, I’m home now. Jim just informed me that he killed a wasp when he came home for lunch today. (My big strong man saved the day-again!!!) Pray for me… Seems that my house is being invaded...

Well that’s all for now. It’s only Wednesday, so there is much more to come before the weekend gets here. Until then…

Keep praying. :-D