News from "The Incubator"

Do you hear that? Total silence. Aahh...Mr. Stein has left for his Iowa DJ Network meeting. They usually schmooze all afternoon and evening, so I am finally alone in the house on Allison Avenue for the first time in months. It is wonderful. He was acutally gone this morning too for a meeting with a prospective bride and groom, so it is a good day :)

This morning I got up early and cooked some chicken breasts, brownies for Mr. Stein, jello, and ham salad (for Mr. Stein also). I figured I would light the oven once and could feed him for a couple of days. Yesterday morning I made some pasta salad, so we are eating "cold" foods only until the weather gets bad. I finally broke my losing streak with brownies. For some reason I haven't made successful brownies from a box in at least a year. This time I made the recipe off the back of the Hershey's cocoa box and they are fabulous. I know, I know, I am not supposed to touch them, but it has been 6 months for goodness' sake! And, I didn't eat any of Gina's brownies on poker night either. So there.

Jen won poker night. I kicked ass for the first half of the evening, but I was being really ditzy. As soon as I decided to pay attention, I started losing. Oh well. Poker night was especially fun because our friend Alisa from college came. We haven't seen her in over a year, so it was really nice that she came. We missed Rachel, but she is at home with Chase and the new baby, bless her heart.

Yesterday, we got up at 8 am and went out and watered the gardens. It is nice to spend time outside together and not really talk. I picked a few cucumbers and some cherry tomatoes, but it will be another few days before we have ripe big tomatoes for BLT's, or in my case, a BT, and in Todd's case, no B, L, or T, in fact no sandwich at all. Todd's parents stopped by for a little while with some baby gifts (Thank you) and then we went to WalMart to finish our registry and to pick up prescriptions. I have been in the house ever since. I even napped for 3 hours yesterday and I never nap. 2.0 is sucking the life out of me.

The only wrinkle this weekend is that the key finally got stuck in the Vitara for good. The clock doesn't turn off, so we had to jump-start it Friday afternoon, and yesterday. When we got home from WalMart, Todd disconnected the battery, so at least it started this morning. It is a pain in the butt to connect/disconnect the battery every time though. I think we are going to have to finally pay the $600 and have the ignition replaced. Ouch.

The other wrinkle was that I am a bad sister. I did not go to the Schweitzer/Hansen Luau last night. Didn't feel like spending 4 hrs in the car to sit and swelter in her garage and then jump-start the Vitara to come home. She said I am off the hook because I am "incubating her nephew".

PS. My regular OB appointment on Thursday was fine. I have my next appointmentt on Aug 18, another full ultrasound on August 19, and then I start non-stress tests every 14 days. I am glad they are being cautious, but it seems silly to do all this when I feel so good. Oh well, my insurance pays for everything, so what the heck.

You can tell you're 6 months pregnant when...

... you pack a bottle of Tums in your lunch bag along with your lunch.
... you have more hair than your sister's dog.
... you say "Uffda" everytime you get in and out of bed.

The Farm, Harry Potter, and Poker

We had a good weekend at the farm. It was too stinking hot to go outside, we mostly hung out inside. We didn't arrive until 11:30 pm Friday and left about 4:00 pm Sunday. The whole family was over for supper on Saturday night and that was fun. Yummy lasagna and 7-layer salad, and mom made me ham balls for lunch on Sunday (Mr. Stein had a cold cut sandwich since he is a non-ball eater). Saturday night after supper I picked flowers and crawled through the grove with Nick and Christy. Getting into the grove was easy, but for a while I didn't know how I was going to get out! Not one of my brighter ideas.

Last night I got my Harry Potter book. I only got to page 100 because there was good tv on and I got really tired. I hope to get most of it read tonight. Todd is doing all the laundry, my grocery shopping, plus my cleaning for poker night so I should have some free evenings this week.

My $2 rose. 

Garden News (for those that are interested)

My battle with my sworn enemies seems to be at deadlock. I am not seen too much new damage, but I know the little bastards are still out there. I seem to have finally erradicated the evil gooseneck loosestrife. The loosestrife that escaped to the neighbor's is thriving. She even mows around it!!

My tomatoes and cucumbers are getting huge, and I have a green pepper, but I doubt we will have green beans. I keep stepping on them when I am weeding. I am excited because my lisianthus are just about ready to bloom. I have never planted them before and we grew over 8,000 of them at the MG greenhouse, so I am excited to see them. My $2 rose is blooming like crazy and the black-eyed susans are getting ready to explode. And of course, it's like a daylily explosion out there. The only other thing of note is that my hen and chicks have put out a 6 inch shoot straight into the air that can only be described as X-rated.

Garden Tip of the Month: I learned this from another MG. Plant chives with your roses. It will keep the bugs away, and it looks pretty.

Errands and Gardening

I spent my day off Monday watering/weeding and doing errands. Mostly errands. Went to the community center to check on rental fees, to the post office, to Walgreens for insulin and needles, to Fantastic Sam's for a hair cut, to Earl May for poison to kill my sworn enemies, then home for an hour. Then we went to the fairgrounds to work in the rose garden at the MG Discovery Garden. Mr. Stein #1 went with to make sure I didn't keel over and so I wasn't working alone. He's very sweet :)

Last night we vegged, and tonight Todd and I went to Kinko's and made four more copies of his business plan. Then I watered the garden.

Tomorrow night is trash night (also known as clean-all-the-icky-food-out-of-the-fridge night) and I will need to water the plants on the south side of the house and pack for the weekend.

Friday night is Todd's MRI at 7 pm, then we are heading to the Farm for the weekend. It will be nice to get out of town.

More Misc.

Well, I didn't get my hair cut. That would involve putting on clothes that aren't all worn out and stained and going out in public. Instead, I have been little Hannah Housewife today. I made chocolate chip cookies, ham salad, a low-fat sugar free lemon pudding pie (sounds wonderful, doesn't it?), and cooked up a 3 pound package of ground beef. Of course, I was bad and got into the cookies, so that was not good. I also did a little weeding in the garden, but it is too darn hot. I have a lot of tomatoes, but no red ones yet. I can't wait. I love tomatoes from the garden.
Probably will veg out with Todd tonight. Into the West is on TNT, and we have been watching it all summer. Hope everyone else had a more exciting day than me!

Misc.

Todd is having an MRI on Friday to see if his disc has deteriorated more. He has been sleeping on the couch all week because it is easier on his neck. Yesterday we did go on the Beaverdale Garden Walk, which was very pretty but very hot, and last night to the hospital to see Rachel and the new baby. We got him the cutest little Cookie Monster outfit and some cars for Chase.

Today I may finally go get my hair cut. It is growing over an inch a week now (and I mean everywhere). Hopefully after I have the baby I will start shedding. I feel like Bigfoot. I am also in the mood for chicken salad, but Palmer's is closed today, so this will actually require me to thaw and cook a chicken. Oy.

Some good news. We had another ultrasound on Friday and they did an echogram of the heart. Todd 2.0 has no heart defects (I am relieved) and all is well. We took bets before we left about how big he would measure, and I nailed it on the head. He is 18 oz., which is small for his age, but he has lots of time to grow.

Check out the size of this Blue Angel hosta on the Beaverdale Garden Walk. 

Todd made friends with the goats at the zoo! 

Bad Ending to a Good Day

Todd and I are proud of ourselves. Instead of spending the day vegging on the couch, we went out for lunch and to the zoo. I was a little worried because we didn't get there until 3 pm, but Blank is small, so we had done the whole thing by 4:45 pm. It was a nice day and there were very few people there. Todd and I couldn't believe we were actually at a zoo and it was less than 100 degrees for once! We didn't even have to spend $30 on drinks. It was nice.

We splurged some more and ordered pizza when we got home. It was very tasty, but by 11 pm I was hurling I am so glad I never had morning sickness because I hate to throw up (sorry Roni!). Todd was a trooper and did cleanup duty while I went to bed. I stayed home from work today and am feeling much better :) Off to the diabetes dr. at 3 pm.

Will post zoo pics tomorrow.

All lined up and ready to ride! 

When we got to Fraser, the engine disconnected, then moved to the other end of the train to take us back. 

Chug-a Chug-a Choo Choo!

It has been a good weekend, but now we are bored. Friday night we cleaned since my parents were coming for the weekend. I didn't super scrub the bathroom like usual but it was good enough to pass. Saturday morning Todd and I went to a garage sale in Clive and hit the jackpot. We got a whole bag of clothes and sleepers (some with tags still on) for $10. Then Mom and Dad came. I made tuna and noodles for lunch, then we headed out for a road trip. We went to Summerset State Park by Indianola and Summerset Winery to check things out, then stopped at DQ. On the way home, we thought we'd show my parents where Jen and Steve lived. They were home, so we did a Seinfield pop-in to say hi. Saturday night, Mom, Dad, and I went to Hu Hot for supper (Todd's neck/back was acting up, so he stayed) home. It was fun making our own stir-frys and watching them cook it. Dad doesn't even eat Chinese, so I was impressed he was willing to go.

Yesterday morning I made eggs for everyone, then ham salad for lunch and we headed to Boone to ride the Scenic Valley Railroad. It was pretty neat. It would have been cool if Todd would have worn his bibs like the engineer. The train goes to Fraser (very very slowly) then turns around a comes back (much faster). You face one way going, then you can flip the back of yoru seat over, and face the other way on the way back. I switched sides of the car too, because the smoke from the engine was blowing on me (oh, the air pollution!) We went over a bridge that was 156 ft high an one that was only 25 feet above the Des Moines River. You definitely get your money's worth as it takes 2 hrs to do the trip! Then we checked out the gift shop (Jen beware - there was more Thomas stuff than I have ever seen before), and went to DQ (again). When we got home, I had coal dust on my face and clothes. I cooked dinner (pot roast - my least favorite meal) and then we all sat down to watch tv. Well, mom watched tv, and the other 3 of us napped. Mom and Dad treated us to McD's breakfast, then took off this morning since they are having H and familia over for supper. All in all, a good weekend, and not too spendy either since I actually put forth some effort and cooked (usually we eat out every meal when we have company). Now we are just trying to find something to do other than work in the basement!

Weird Dreams

Rachel's news about the estimated size of her baby must have rubbed off on me. Last night I had a weird dream. I had just given birth and was living in college dormitory with a guy from work. (That's weird enough). Then they got my baby mixed up with someone else's. When they finally brought her over, she was like The Big Enchilada. Did you see The Big Enchilada in the newspaper on Wednesday? She was 13 lbs, 2 oz, and had siblings called The Whopper (11 lbs) and Whopper Jr (10 lbs). Her mom wasn't even diabetic and he babies were that huge. Anyway, when I finally got my baby, it was gi-normus! The biggest baby ever. And I didn't have any diapers to fit, so I just held her over the sink and let her pee into that. Then I woke up. Was 20 mins late to work, and I still am pretty foggy, but at least my nightmare is over!

PS. No, I did not have pizza or bologna before bed.

Emma, Angie, Anna, and Ben 

Angie and me with Emma (L) and Anna (R) 

Heading to Grinnell

I'm excited. This afternoon I am heading to Grinnell to meet up with Angie Henderson, her twins, and the new baby. I haven't seen the baby yet and I don't think I have seen the twins for almost 2 years. We are going out to eat (should be an adventure) and then to the park. Her mom is also coming to lunch to help with crowd control. Will hopefully have pics tomorrow.

Also, I just got the wheels on Old Blue reallinged, so I am excited to take her out on the open road. She has been cooped up in Des Moines for too long. Mr. Stein offered the Vitara with air conditioning, but I declined. It's time to haul butt up I-80 with all the windows down. I am being nice to Old Blue. Tuesday I mentioned getting a new car, and on Wednesday I found out the transmission needs flushed. I think she was insulted that I was thinking of getting rid of her. So, I have apologized and she is purring like a kitten again. Still only at 90,000 miles. Not bad for 11 years old! Especially when I have only put on 33,000 in the past 7 years.

I Survived The Art Fair

Well, I survived the art fair. It was hot, but it helped that we were in a tent. We were also next to Embassy Suites where they had a hospitality room with free drinks and popsicles, so that helped too. I spent three hours asking little kids if they would like to draw something that is outside (flowers, bugs, etc), coloring flowers, or folding those paper dream catcher things. I'm not sure they are called dream catchers, but they are those paper things we all made in elementary school that you move with your thumb and index finger. When we did it in elementary school you had to pick a color, then a number, and then when you opened it, it said what name your husband will be. Well let me tell you, these kids yesterday were not thrilled to find out that on theirs you had to pick a vegetable, then a number, and then when you opened it up, it gave you a gardening tip. Real fun for a 4-yr old. At least they had fun folding it. I did have one mom that home-schooled think it was the coolest thing ever, but she also told me that Friday night she had her kids do a scavenger hunt about nutrients. Fun.

The cool part was that Todd actually went too. We went down early to walk around and eat. Then he stayed another 2 hours to listen to some bands. After we got done in the garden tent, Diane and I got to walk around some more. It was a good day, but I was in bed by 10 pm. In fact, I went to bed so early that Todd had to wake me up at 11:15 for my shot. He came to bed at 11:15 too. I think that is the first time in 18 months that he has gone to bed like a normal person. He is all messed up today. He was up at 8 am and actually ate lunch at lunch time. It's like the twilight zone for him.

Oh forgot to mention, Sunday morning I looked at my confirmation letter and it said I was supposed to work from 1 - 5 pm on Saturday. Whoops! I called Diane and hers said Saturday too, but neither of us had noticed (we asked to work on Sunday). So we headed downtown anyway, and it turned out fine. No one on the Art Fair Committee, at the ISU table, or in the booth had a clue who was supposed to be there and who wasn't, so we just pretended we were supposed to be there.

Nothin' doin'

Whew! It's 3:30 pm and this is what I have accomplished today: nothing!!! If feels good too.
I did go over to Dahl's to buy some ham and buns. Todd has a wedding today and won't have time to eat, so I made packed him 3 sandwiches, some Little Debbies, and some juice boxes to take with him. Usually I worry hysterically when he is doing a wedding, but Steve Hansen is helping him tonight, so I am almost worry free. I'm just a little concerned because he left an hour later than planned and he has to unload equipment in this heat. I am thrilled that I didn't have to go with him though. Thank you Mr. Stein #2 for getting me out of the dj biz.

I guess I did talk to my mom, read the paper, and watch a documentary on the Travel Channel about the Colorado River. That should count for something.

Last night I went and cropped in Indianola. I had to take Old Blue and stop at the dry cleaners, home, WalMart, and to get something to eat before I got there, so by the time I finally arrived I was hot and tired. I accomplished one page in 4.5 hours. Big whoop. I was frazzled all day yesterday at work though, so I feel lucky to have finished one page.

Tonight is my bonus nephew Fred's birthday party in Wloo. I thought about crashing the party and surprising everyone, but it is too darn hot and muggy to travel far in Old Blue (bless her heart) today. My 90 yr-old Grandap is even going. I think it is cool that H has b-day parties for everyone. This is her 5th and final one this year, then she has a break until January.