The Grumpies

I got the grumpies yesterday, big time.

First of all, the doctor (as I expected) told me Baby Girl wasn't doing much - and that I would probably be back to see him on July 1st. He said at that time they would do a non-stress test, checking the baby's heart rate and amount of space & fluid inside me (through a fetal monitor and ultrasound - nothing invasive). Apparently Baby Girl needs to still be swimming comfortably, or they get worried. Then they would decide if/when to induce me. My 41 week mark will be July 5th - and I assume the induction, if it has to happen, would be sometime in my 42nd week.

I don't really want to be induced. The 5 or 6 of you who actually read my blog, please pray that she decides to come before then. My actual due date is this Sunday. :)

After the appointment, I came home and found out that our neighbors have officially begun building the fence around their backyard. We live in such a tiny house, the fence feels very close - I'm not even sure we have the space to run a lawnmower along our side yard. I'm not worried the fence will be ugly - the couple next door has good taste. But I do feel a bit insulted. I know our backyard is ugly, but is it really so terrible to look at? I feel like we're being shut out.

Then I began to make banana bread (another goody for the freezer). Long story short, our oven is not heating. It lights up, and it tries... but gets nowhere. It's got to be 15 years old, so I guess I'm not surprised that it crashed. But now I need to know - who do I call about the oven?

Can anyone tell me...?

What else am I supposed to be doing?

I mean, with my time. I'm not quite sure how to fill it. I feel like I must be missing something. Last week was great. No problems filling the day with cooking, cleaning, getting some exercise, running some errands.

This week has been slower. Although I spent Monday afternoon having lunch with friends (which was lovely!) I've been rather wanting for things to do since then. (I know, I know, I shouldn't admit this, right?) It's way too hot to go out walking. We don't really have TV. One can only read so much. Granted, some of my inactivity was involuntary - yesterday I accidentally locked my keys in the car and was tied to the house. But, I mean... what do I do?

The baby clothes are washed. Diapers, etc, are stocked, as well as my "goodies" for after L&D. The house is clean (enough). The hospital bag is packed (minus PJs for D). I prepped a dish of lasagna today that I mean to freeze and save for after Baby arrives. Tomorrow I'll make & freeze some banana bread. The phone number for the food ladies from church are stored in my cell phone. The car seat is installed, the bassinet set up. There's gas in the car.

My mother and sister are emailing or calling every day to find out what's going on. And what do I tell them? NOTHING. Nothing is happening. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment, and I expect more of the same.

Come on, Baby, come on.

My guess? July 4th.

Summer!

I hate bugs. I'm a big bug wussy - very bad at killing them, and very grossed out by most all of the insect world. I can't get over my phobia. I always call on Vid to play exterminator.

A few weeks ago, D killed a jibblie bug on our bathroom ceiling. (What's a jibblie bug? It's one of those grayish, hairy, fragile looking millipedes that hang out in damp places in our house. We hate them. When you squash them, all that's left is a gray blob and some million quivering legs.) Since then, every time I've walked into the bathroom, I've scanned the ceiling and the floor for gross things. To my relief, I've never seen anything.

So yesterday, D left for work. I get up, turn on the shower (bleary eyed, no contacts, etc) and climb in. I turn my face towards the water, look up at the shower head, and crawling around on top is a JIBBLIE BUG. I watch it crawl frantically back and forth near the spray. It's clear I've startled it as much as it's startled me. I don't want to stick my head under the water, because if Jibblie Boy decides to head towards the spray, he'll be knocked off the shower head, onto my head, and get tangled in my wet hair. And that might be the worst thing EVER. So I shut off the shower and jump out to put my contacts in. My thinking is I'll be able to see him better, and then I can reach up and throw a rag over him or something and squash him. Only, by the time I have my contacts in, Jibblie Boy has crawled OFF the top of the shower head, down in between the faucet and the cap. (You know, where the water comes out.) I know he's in there, because he's his antennae and the tip of his head are peeking through the gap. There are two long feelers wiggling around, threatening me.

What do I do? There is no Vid to save me. I'm half wet and need a shower. Can he fit through the holes? Will he climb back out? I decide to get back in the shower. I figure since I have my contacts in, at least I'll see him make an escape, and I can hop out. To my relief, he stayed put. But I took my shower eyeing those antennae with a scowl, tilted as far away from him as my baby belly equilibrium would allow. It was a fast shower. Now he's gone. I don't know where.

It made me realize that summer is here. Why? Because summer in Illinois is about humidity and bugs. Not only are the jibblies making an appearance, but we have earwigs EVERYWHERE. And the crickets are out in force at night. This morning it was 80 at 8 AM, and it's supposed to reach 93. Despite the bugs, I actually love the heat. If I were not so fat and pregnant, I'd go out and enjoy it.

Of course, if I weren't so fat and pregnant, I'd be at the office, working. So, never mind.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Last night my husband was asked that question more than a few times. It was our first taste of what it really felt like for him to be a "performer". DYB's concert/album release party was this Friday, and by all counts, I think it was a success.

Despite tornado warnings, rain, and hail, we had about 100 people show up to celebrate with us. I was so glad to see so many people come out. It was great to have so much support.

The band performed a sort of laid-back, pseudo-unplugged set. David "revealed" a new-old song Psalm 115 which a lot of people seemed to like, and the band covered a song by Paul Stookey called Love Rules.

The aside picture was taken the night before the gig, when I was messing with the camera, and David was working on the new Martin. You'll notice it's missing a string. He was busy sanding the bridge as I was clicking away, and had to loosen that string to do it.


Take a look at some of the photos of the night.

Laundry Issues

When I went to visit my sister over her birthday weekend, she told our family a hilarious story about hot water in the toilet. Basically, when some plumbing work was done on the house, somehow some pipes were switched, and the toilet was hooked up to the hot water pipes. Consequently, every time she or N had to use the facilities, it was quite comfortable. (No chilly toilet seat in winter, right?) Only, for whatever reason, it took them a while to notice the mistake. I believe the toilet might have been steaming one day - and it tipped them off.

Well, we don't have a steamy toilet bowl, but we do have some laundry issues. I did three loads of laundry yesterday. The first was a dark load, so I set it to cold. When I went down to the basement a half hour later to load the laundry into the dryer, I noticed all the clothes felt warm. (Usually I forget about the laundry and everything turns cold and clammy - moving the wet clothes to the dryer is an unpleasant experience - kinda like accidentally stepping in a small puddle on the bathroom floor when you've just put on clean socks.) "That's funny," I thought. I checked the washer. It was indeed set to cold, and our display says, "Cold Rinse". So we should have been good.

I shrugged, started loading whites into the machine, and went to set the washer to hot. This time I decided to test things and stuck my hand in the flow. The water was (you can guess) anything but. So I clicked it over to cold - and the stream immediately heated up to the correct temperature.

This wouldn't really bother me (I mean, it's easy enough to reverse washing instructions) except that I have no control over the rinse cycle - it is ALWAYS going to be hot - and my brand new supply of Fuzzibunz cloth diapers very clearly state they must be pre-rinsed, and then rinsed after washing in COLD.

PS I am aware of how long it has been since we had our basement plumbing work done. Why am I just noticing this now?