The BIG News

Todd's dream of owning his own sports bar has finally come true. Today he signed the lease to open Stein's in Newton in the old Auggie's building. He is very excited, but it is going to be a lot of work since he is changing the format and adding a kitchen. I know he can do it though! The grand opening will likely be Labor Day Weekend. I am sure we will all see you there at some point this fall :)

Birthday Wrap-Up and a Little Old Lady

Well, it was a good birthday. On Friday Todd took me out to lunch and then I went to crop in Indianola with Jen and the ladies. It was fun, but I pooped out at 11 pm because I was tired and my ankles were swollen up like tree stumps. The store owner kept telling me to get those feet up! Saturday my parents came down. We did some shopping and they took us to Johnny's Italian Steakhouse for my birthday dinner. Very tasty. We had a calamari appetizer and I had Veal Sinatra, which was veal with crab and shrimp. It was very good, and Todd loved his meal. Jackpot! Todd got me a purse and overnight bag, and my parents got me some really cool chenille thongs and a pedicure at Bella Day Spa, so I am set. Thank you to everyone for the cards, calls, and gifts.

Today we went out for breakfast, which was a little bit of ordeal. IHOP and Perkins were both on a really long wait, so we finally ended up at Baker's Square. It was really good, fast, and the server was great, but when we came out, there was trouble. The car next to us had parked diagonally in their spot, so Todd couldn't get in the driver's side of our car. Todd had the manager go table to table to find the owner to move their car. When the owner came out, it was sad. It was this tiny little old lady. It took her a while just to walk to the car, and then she backed it out. 2 feet, brake, 2 feet, brake, another 2 feet, then brake. She finally got it out so we could get in. My 90 yr old grandpa could outrun her. Poor lady. I can't imagine how she got down Merle Hay alive to get to breakfast in the first place.

This afternoon we had to go sign some papers (see next blog entry) and I am lazing about. I have to go to KC for three days tomorrow for work, and I am not looking forward to it. We go every year, and we always can't figure out how to get to I-35 from the hotel. We can see I-35, but we can never figure out how to get over there. Also, we usually wander around the parking garage dragging our suitcases for at least 20 minutes because we either can't figure our how to get to the hotel entrance, or we can't find the van. This year it will be worse because they closed the big bridge on I-35. Fun. And, the meetings are super boring and after sitting around all day, my ankles will be like stubs! Enough whining. At least we get to stay at a Westin.

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to me! I am 31 yrs old (I can finally say it) and Mr. Stein #2 is 167 days old.
So far I have celebrated by eating a BLT for breakfast (yum - homegrown tomatoes).

Better Mood

Got out of my mood yesterday, just in time for Todd to get in a bad one. We were in the basement cleaning/sorting/tossing and he hit his head on the corner of the duct work again. I swear, this is at least the fourth time he has hit his head since we started remodeling down there. Anyway, he hit it so hard that he fell down right at my feet with his body all twisted up! It took everything I had not to laugh. He ended up with a triangle-shaped cut and a nasty headache. Luckily, no broken wrists or ankles.

Later we went out to the State Fair to work on the roses. The garden was just crawling with MG's, probably because it was the first time since Wednesday that it was cool enough to go outside. We spent most of our time pulling dead chives out. Uck.

Crabby Monday

Ever been in a bad mood for no reason whatsoever? That would be moi today. I started down the path of a full baby freak out alert this morning but have managed to stop before it became a full alert. Don't know why I am freaking this time - my house is still super clean and I got a lot of sorting and tossing done upstairs yesterday. You would think the thing that freaks me out would be labor and delivery, but no, I freak out about clutter. I am an idiot.

I think what started it all is that I woke up late. I didn't wake up until 10 am (it's my day off) and I wasn't hungry right away, so that throws my whole insulin schedule off. I can't eat lunch until 3:45 pm, so I am hungry and crabby. Todd looks scared and is being really nice to me. I think he can see an eruption coming from me!

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.