If we were to meet up for coffee…………
I would likely be drinking some sort of fluffy decaf latte that
tastes nothing like real coffee because well, if I can’t have the benefit of caffeine,
I might as well make sure I’m really enjoying my drink.
Then we’d probably catch up on life things and this is what
I’d likely share with you:
·
My office is moving next month and I’m hoping my
commute will improve as a result. I
anticipate the morning drive to be about the same but the afternoon drive
should be almost a half hour shorter and any improvement is a plus in my book!
·
I’ll let you in on a secret; summer is probably
my least favorite season. I’ll give you a
moment to gasp in horror……..Ok moment over.
It’s not that I don’t like summer; it’s just my least favorite of the
four seasons. Two things I do love about
summer though are the long daylight hours and walking out into our garden to
pick fresh vegetables. This year we
planted: zucchini, crook neck squash, corn, cucumber, butternut squash, watermelon,
pumpkins, tomatoes, a blueberry bush and a strawberry plant. We also have an apple tree with fruit on it,
but our nectarines and peaches won’t produce until next year. Naturally the week after we plant the temps
have been in the 70’s-80’s during the day and then hitting the mid 30’s at
night! I hope our little crops stay
strong because I can’t wait for all of the delicious organic produce we’ll have
this year!
·
Our new patio is in and despite not having real
patio furniture yet; we’ve managed to enjoy dinner outside 4-5 evenings a week and
love it.
·
We’ve moved on to planting our lawn and I had no
idea what a process that can be. This
weekend we (and when I say we I mean Aaron) have plans to possibly rototill the
space and then the sprinkler system will go in.
We have to water the space for a week to see if any weeds grow and if
they do, we have to kill them. Once the
weeding phase is over we can plant the seed (25 pounds worth!) and watch it
grow…..for 6-8 weeks. Apparently we have
to start mowing the “lawn” after the first 10 days but it takes almost 2 months
to fully mature. Looks like we’re still
on track to have it ready before Evan gets here but like most things this time
of year, we’re just taking it a day at a time.
·
Speaking of Evan, he has a crib now and some
pretty sweet t-shirts. Aaron has a small
collection of favorite shirts that I would classify as “unique”. I figured it was only fitting to start a
small collection for Evan. The kid moves
all over the place and kicks or hits or knees or elbows hard enough for others
to feel now too. He’s about 13 inches
long now (the length of a celery stalk) and weighs over a pound. According to the baby books Evan knows my
voice and the voices of other family members now but I think he prefers Aaron’s
voice over mine these days because whenever he’s talking Evan becomes really
active.
·
On the mom front, I’m at 25 weeks and 10 pounds
gained. My hip isn’t bothering me anymore
which has made sleeping much easier and aside from feeling hungry ALL the time
with occasional bout of heart burn, things are still going pretty great.
The other night I had a dream I was eating
Lucky Charms and woke up starving at 2AM.
Needless to say I bought my first (and probably only) single serve box
of Lucky Charms the next day and ate them for dessert that night. I’m also particularly fond of stuffed green
olives these days, so weird, and these mini little ice cream cones have been a
go to for my post dinner treat.
·
And now for a miniature pregnant lady rant. I’d like to preface this with the fact that
as a whole, the general population has been incredibly kind and supportive of
me as a pregnant lady for which I am incredibly grateful. Also, if you read this and find you’ve said
any of these things to me, I mean no offense to you, I’m very much aware that
you were likely coming from a good place.
That being said, this rant is more of a PSA in case you find yourself in
the presence of a pregnant woman and would like to spare yourself from the
daggers that could potentially pierce you as they shoot out from her eyes while
she tries to politely smile after one of the below comments is made. It seems like people turn their vocabulary and
judgment filters off the moment a pregnant lady walks into a room.
o
The words “big” and “huge” tend to be ill
received and shouldn't be used to describe a woman who is currently busy GROWING
A HUMAN BEING. She already knows she’s big;
she’s the one who can’t see her feet anymore and has to buy stretchy clothes because
going to work or out in public naked is frowned upon. Something like, “Wow, I can’t believe how much
you've grown” is received much differently than, “Oh my gosh! Look how big you are!” or “Wow, you’re huge.” Ask Google, they’ll tell you the same thing,
you've been warned.
o
If you are the partner of a pregnant lady
(husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend, whatever) I would not recommend
describing a new beer as, “Smooth and full bodied like my wife.” Luckily I've maintained most of my sense of
humor so far and found this one liner particularly hilarious, but it’s risky to
make such comparisons so if your other half has temporarily lost their sense of
humor, tread lightly.
o
You ate what? With what? She’s pregnant, if she wants to dip non-organic
potato chips into non-organic ranch dressing one time, just let the woman do
it. She really does not need to hear how
many calories that must have been or how those chips were full of hydrogenated
oils and the ranch dressing probably had genetically modified ingredients. It’s not like she’s out doing cocaine or
smoking or drinking, you might think it’s all the same but I promise you, it’s
on the list of things she doesn't want to be lectured about. In general we eat as many organic and/or
natural things as we can in our house and even I would never have this
conversation with a pregnant lady. I ate
Lucky Charms for heaven’s sake. Lucky Charms! No stone throwing from this glass
house.
o
And last but not least, you probably shouldn't
ask, “Are you exercising? Because you know that’s really important when you’re pregnant.” What even posed that question in the first
place? Is she SO big that she just looks
like she hasn't gotten off her pregnant butt to move around so you felt inclined
to subliminally project your thoughts on pregnancy and exercise through a
question? OK this one was said to me,
not once but twice. For the record, this pregnant lady ran her first half
marathon in under 2.5 hours with a strained IT band and an SI joint injury during
this very pregnancy, so yes, she exercises.
On that note, after I talked your ear off and politely
listened to you talk mine off we’d part ways until another time. I hope
this finds all who visit my tiny space of the internet doing well!
–Until next time
