Week 10 - Milestones

Good Evening Humble Readers ...

I hope that you all are having a good weekend, and that where ever you are on your road to motherhood you have peace and joy in your hearts.

This week has been interesting, in a mellow sort of way.  Some of the yucky symptoms have been slowly fading.  A week ago Friday was my last real bout of morning sickness, and it was a doozy.  But since then, I have been getting less and less nausea.  It's still there, and can sneak up on me at the worst times, but it's getting to be manageable. 

My sinuses don't seem to be as stuffed up any more, and I'm not needing to use the nose strips to sleep. 

If it wasn't for the killer constipation, bloating, and fatigue, I might just be a little worried.  But I'm trying to stay very positive.

I've noticed some changes in my skin.  I have some really bad dry patches on my face (I'm normally an oily girl) and on my arms too.

I had an appointment with my GP (remember, my OB wants me to see my GP for the 'regular' prenatal stuff) on Thursday that was frustrating in the extreme.  After waiting for more than an hour after my scheduled appointment time, I get weighed *shudder* and then, I expecting to have the pap test done that was the purpose of the appointment.  Instead, Dr. B comes in, gives me more paperwork for blood work, and tells me to book another appointment in a month.  I did manage to get him to answer a couple of questions for me before he left the room (seasonal allergy and sciatica related questions), but that was it.  Grrrr... 

So, milestones. 

I've talked about milestones before.  About those pauses on the road where we take stock on our journey thus far and look ahead.  This week has been a milestone kind of week.  Ten and a half weeks marks the longest I have ever carried a pregnancy.  With Emily, I started spotting at the ten and a half week point (the pregnancy had ceased to be viable weeks earlier, but I didn't know).  Two days later Dr. U did the D&C.  I'm still feeling optimistically confident about this pregnancy, but I have had some very reflective moments this week. 

Another milestone that was passed this week... my body is sufficiently changed now that one pair of my work pants is now impossible to do up.  This is a pair of pants that fit, albeit a little snug, at Christmastime, before I lost 18 pounds.  Maybe it's just all the bloating and constipation, but I had to use one of the bella  bands I purchased back in the early naivete of my first pregnancy.  I actually had to dig to the back of my underwear drawer to find them.  It was the first 'really' pregnant thing I have had to do.  I mean, doctors appointments are just doctors appointments, and even the sno.ogle body pillow that I bought can be shrugged away.  But a bella band... that means I must really be pregnant. 

Who'da thunk it?

Picture Tag

Good Morning Humble Readers...

I have been tagged!  By the wonderful Mrs. Dreamer at The Dreamer and the Realist!  The world cannot go on until I tag others!

So here's the deal...

1) Go to your photo files, select the 8th photo folder.

2) Select the 8th photo in that folder.
3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.
4) Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same!

Now the eighth picture in my eighth folder is one that you all have already seen.  It was a picture of the beautiful evil pot that crushed my toe a few months back. (btw, my toe still bears the marks of that pot, and it aches from time to time.  Cast iron and human flesh should never come in contact.  Full Stop.)

So, instead I played a little picture roulette.  Just spun my little mouse around until I landed on something... and it ended up being this.

So, obviously this is a shot from Christmas time.  It's a close up on one of my 12 nativity sets.  Yes, I said twelve.  This is my cutesy little snowman nativity set.  Pretty darn adorable if you ask me. 

I got started collecting nativity sets several years ago when I was working for a Christian bookstore.  I ended up being the gift product buyer for the store, so I was always able to bring in different and interesting sets to add to my collection. 

My favourite set is my Jim Shore set.  (You've probably seen some of his work in your local Hal.lmar.k store)  It always gets set up under the tree.  I still need to get the completer set for it... the little drummer boy, the palm tree and the camel.  Too bad I don't have a pic of it, huh?  Maybe next year.

Now, because I'm a little short on time today, I'm going to just toss this one out to all my bloggy friends.  Check out your picture files... you know you've got stuff you haven't shared! 

The Hobbit Does Tex Mex (Sort of...)

Good Evening Humble Readers...

I was feeling creative today.  And inspired.  It is Cinqo De Mayo (did I even spell that right?) after all...

My experience with cooking mexican-style food is on the pretty basic level.  I can do tacos and burritos, fajitas and a pretty good 'mexican lasagna'.  But I wanted to try something a little bit different tonight.  So made a mish-mash of things. 

First up, I made guacamole.  First time ever.  I followed a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com (avacado, lemon juice, garlic, onion), but I found it a little bland, so I added a package of guacamole mix that I had picked up just in case.  Not ideal, but it gave me something to shoot for next time.  Still, it looked pretty good, and tasted okay.

Next, I made enchiladas.  Again I used a powdered mix for the enchilada sauce.  It's been a while since I had any real enchiladas, so I didn't have a flavour profile to work from, to try to recreate.

I spread a bit of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of my casserole dish.  Then I browned up some ground beef, threw in some thinly sliced onion, chili powder, a can of refried beans, and about half a cup of salsa.  Then, using flour tortillas and some shredded cheese, I rolled the enchiladas and lined them up in the casserole dish.  Then I poured the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkled on some more shredded cheese.  Tossed it in the oven at 325 for 20 minutes... turned out pretty yummy for a first time, and without a recipe.

Next time I'll use shredded chicken or pork I think. It might even be a good way to use up the shredded beef left overs from the beef dips I make. 

So, Humble Readers, what should I do different next time?   Do you have any enchilada secrets you can pass along?

Spring On the Flatland

Good Morning Humble Readers...

Before you scroll down, I want you to take note of the date at the top of this post.  It's May 4th (Star Wars day, as I learned earlier... May the Fourth be with you!)... well into spring, wouldn't you say?

This is what my world looks like today.  I just took these shots from the warm-ish comfort of my cozy condo ten minutes ago. 

Not very pleasant, don't you think?  They are saying that the snow will be gone by tomorrow mid-day, but sometimes I really wonder about this place.  Nuts!

So, instead I choose to look at a little taste of spring that my Beloved brought home last week.  Have I mentioned that I adore him?

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Week 9 Zzzzzzzz

Good Morning Humble Readers...

Your friendly neighbourhood hobbit is living in a fog these days.  I'm so exhausted that I can barely function.  As I sit here, I can barely keep my eyes open.  Sleep has gotten a bit better tho, I'm sleeping most of the night in bed, thanks to my new body pillow. 

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The wierd dreams have continued, with scary overtones.  Most recently I had a long rather convoluted nightmare about being at an airport (why all the traveling?) and being robbed of $15K while going through security.  And that was just the beginning... there was a weird dance club for little people (ie people with dwarfism) and I ended up being chased by a balrog (the fire monster from the mines of Moria... Lord of the Rings). 

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Is it possible to have sciatica this early?  A couple of times I have fallen asleep on my left side, and when I wake up I'm in agony. 

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In other news, my Beloved has demonstrated a new level of handy-manliness.  Keep in mind that he is an accountant, who is at his best in front of a computer working with numbers.  About a month ago, I bought a new shower head, but hadn't gotten around to changing it yet.  This past weekend, while I was at work, he not only went to the hardware store and got the pipe tape we needed, but actually did a great job changing it out.  I'm VERY impressed.

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I still can't get my halfling-ticker thing to correct itself.  It always changes on Thursday evening, but my new week doesn't start until Monday.  Hmmmm....

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We've decided that we are going home to K-town for a week in July.  I'm excited because I haven't been home in more than two years, but I'm not looking forward to the drive or being there at the hottest time of the year.  Mom and Dad have a pool now, so I might see if I can find a jumbo extra huge swim suit so I can just float for the week.  We had planned to go out there this month, but Mom and Dad are going to be in Vegas during the week we were able to take off.  So, in just over a week we will be havig a stay-cation.  Going to get some stuff done around the house and maybe go on a couple little road trips.  Oh, and we get to have Sunny the Pug for a few days.