A Little Catch-up

The visit with my Mom and Anton went great.

We went to a baseball game and watched the fireworks afterwards. Of course the Redbirds went into triple, quadruple overtime from hell, and I was just rooting for either team to win by the time 11:00 pm rolled around.

The concession stands closed after the 9th inning and I was starving. Alan kept checking to see that I wasn't passed out under my chair, along with the drunk guy named Ian who was sitting in front of us, from hunger.

The fireworks were worth the wait.

I am currently hanging out in the big KS with my Mom. It's so relaxing here. I made meatloaf and asparagus for supper and, um, yeah. That's about the extent of the excitement! It's a wonderful, wonderful place in this little corner of the world. If it weren't for missing Alan and Grace I would just stay forever.

Sonogram

We just got back from a fun appointment at the doctor. We got to see the baby waving its little arms and kicking its little legs. We even saw a teeny tiny hand. So cute! The nose is especially predominant. But we expected that. Alan and I both have narrow, straight noses.

The heartbeat is 168 bpm and everything is looking healthy and right on track. Oh! And we got to hear the heartbeat for the very 1st time. So cool.

Baby

The baby is now the size of an IPod Mini. How cool is that!

Veet

I found out that the little blonde hairs on your thighs, the ones that always get missed when shaving, because they are little, and blonde, actually do have a purpose. They are there to keep your legs from sticking together when you walk. I used to have SPACE that kept my legs from sticking together, but that was BP. Before Pregnancy. heh

I know now that these hairs have a purpose because I effectively removed them today with this:

The box says to leave the product on 3-6 minutes. This is the same type of stupid instruction that's on hair dye. It takes 5 minutes to apply the crap, so when are you supposed to start the timer? Both treatments are super-duper time sensitive, yet the manufacturer comes up with the most vague, useless wording. These instructions are there to prevent chemical burns and baldness! The manufacturer should be a little clearer.

I got carried away. Back to Veet.

I stuck my leg up on the counter and kept testing the same little hair waiting for this stuff to work. When it came off, I started scraping as fast as I could. I wanted to get the hair-meltie-stuff off my legs as fast as possible because I still had my girlie-bits to attend to. Yes, I applied it there at the same time. I was afraid of taking too long on my legs and cause my labia to melt off. How would I explain that to the doctor tomorrow at my appointment?

Like when I used to dye my own hair, I skipped the step that said apply a test spot 24 hrs before smearing all over your lower half - just in case a mind numbing rash breaks out. I mean in case of irritation. These directions are very low key. So far no itching, but the night is young. I just hope a rash waits to happen after I climb in bed. I love feeling freshly skinned legs on soft sheets. It's been a long time since that's happened. Poor Alan.

Necessities

I have decided to take a few household issues into my own hands. I went shopping for some pieces of furniture that we have been negligent in purchasing. Alan just does not have any sense of urgency when it comes to decorating.

He doesn't understand that a home needs furniture, that an empty house is a cold house. That furniture makes the rooms in a house make sense.

Our house has both a formal living room and a family room. When we moved in, Alan was so confused why we would ever need two rooms that both have couches. He wanted to store his bike in the front room and add some exercise equipment. When I looked at him like he had lost his mind, he quickly stated I could store my bike there, too! He's so astute sometimes.

Yeah, I won and the bikes are in the attic.

When I told him that I wanted to put a chair and table in the hallway at the top of the stairs, he said , "Why? Nobody would sit in it. It would have no purpose." I told him that the purpose would be because it would look pretty. And that sometimes pretty is a piece of furniture's purpose. He just looked at me with lost eyes and said to have at it. He said he is just not meant to understand decorating.

He was befuddled as to why we needed a kitchen table. His reasoning was that our formal dining room table is 20 feet from the kitchen. No amount of words could convince him that we will never eat in the formal dining room except for holidays or when we have company. We have been here over two years and have never eaten in that room if it's just the two of us.

I'm tired of eating on a coffee table in the family room. I'm tired of worrying that I'm going to ruin my pretty family room rug by spilling a meatball sandwich on it. And finally, it would just kill me to have to beat our child because he threw chili on my pretty family room rug. I want someplace to eat as a family when this kiddo comes. He understood that reason.

This table with four chairs and a matching buffet will be delivered Wednesday.

I also got a new light for the entryway. It's pretty. It will be delivered in 4-6 weeks. Just enough time for Alan to forget that I bought lots of stuff all in one trip.

Alan had been taking about needing someplace to sit to stare at his fish. So I got him this bench. It's very guy-like with crazy heavy steel supports with bronze finish.

In my shopping defense, the place where I went shopping is 2 hours from Memphis and I wanted to get everything at once so I didn't have to make another trip anytime soon.

Of course, there is still our bedroom to furnish... and the baby's room... and I still need that chair for the upstairs hall...

My Symptoms Part 1

1. Crying at the wedding Target commercial.

2. Thinking I can eat two Whoppers with cheese without violently vomiting immediately after.

3. Learning that brownie batter tastes remarkably similar with or without eggs. It does change the texture significantly, but not negatively enough for me to not eat it again.

I hope you can read this...

I like to listen to talk radio. This morning I am delighted to report that the morning DJ, Bobby OJ, on AM1070-WDIA Memphis said that anyone who has ever seen the books a fifth grader reads knows that a fifth grade reading level is more than adequate for an adult.

This is the article the DJ was commenting on.

Parental Illiteracy Could Be Part of MCS [Memphis City Schools] Problems

FAST FACTS:

• One in three adults in Memphis cannot read above the fifth grade level.
• Studies show that parents who don't read well are likely to raise children who don't as well.
• The Memphis Literacy Council offers free reading classes.

Theo.Travers@wreg.com

(Memphis - 5/12/2008) One of the challenges the incoming superintendent will have to face extends beyond Memphis City Schools. Studies show that a parent's reading level to a large extent determines how well their children perform in school. Illiteracy among adults in Memphis is high. Nearly one in three adults in Memphis cannot read above a fifth grade level. According to the Memphis Literacy Council, that's more than 200,000 folks who struggle with filling out job applications, medical forms, and serve little to no help for their children with school work.

Debra Hall, the director of development and marketing for the Memphis Literacy Council says, "The problems with reading are not an isolated problem with one person, it's a generational problem. If parents don't read well, children are likely to not read well. They're likely to do worse in school."

Adult literacy is the big elephant in the room when it comes to improving the way schools perform. Raising the bar in the classroom means improving the reading skills of both students and their parents. "Whoever the new superintendent is is going to have to face the fact that for many children in the city school system, their parents are unable to help them with homework," says Hall.

The Memphis Literacy Council offers free classes to anyone over 18 who wants to improve their reading. Only a small percentage of the folks who need the help are taking advantage of this resource. So far, the Memphis Literacy Council does not have a formal partnership with Memphis City Schools, but they welcome joining efforts to combat this problem of illiteracy among adults.

The Memphis Literacy Council offers morning and evening classes six days a week. If you'd like more information, their number is (901) 327-6000.

I want to repeat the DJ said that a fifth grade reading level is all anyone really needs. Nothing like high expectations.

Internet4Classrooms lets you test yourself. Try it. It's an eyeopening experience. I had to look up what alliteration means.

Things To Do While Visiting Skye

My Mom's coming to visit! Yay! I'm compiling a list of fun things to do in the outlying Memphis areas. We've exhausted Elvis and all that entails. Sorry Anton. Anton is my mom's newest exchange kid from Germany.

Of course if Anton really and truly wants to go see Graceland (oh God, please poke my eyes out now) we will, of course, take him to see Graceland (we'll drive by super-duper fast and point out the gate. "Don't blink Anton! You'll miss it!").

So far I've come across a few things I would like to do.

1. Tour the Belmont Mansion in Nashville about 3 1/2 hrs away. Click on this link and see what you think. Click on this one, too.

2. I checked the Grand Ole Opry and there aren't any shows the weekend my mom is here, but we could drive by and wave. It's in Nashville, too.

3. There's a big parthenon we could pop into while in Nashville. What a strange building to have in TN. I'm still trying to piece together what Greece has to do with this state. Of course, if it was in Memphis, well, it would be painted flipping pink. That's just the way we roll here.

4. The Pink Palace in Memphis. heh. See? Told you so.

5. Kayaking on the Mississippi River. Just kidding. How about a leisurely float down the Mississippi on a boat from a dock in downtown Memphis?

6. We could dig for diamonds at The Crater of Diamonds in Murfreesboro, AR about 5 hrs away.

7. This place looks cool. There's cave tours and panning for gems and go-carts. But if it's go-carts that gets the German kid all excited, them we can find somewhere closer than the 5 hr drive to Chattanooga, TN.

8. A mere 4hr drive to Lynchburg would get us to a tour of Jack Daniels distillery. I've heard it's a pretty cool little tour.

Or we could go shopping. I know Anton would not be opposed to going to the mall.

Or antiquing. Or we could just driving around the countryside aimlessly. I'm up for anything. Just remember I will be 13 weeks pregnant and possibly still peeing every hour and randomly puking my guts out. I'm hoping both issues will be resolved by the time my mom visits or the drive back to KS with me will be very annoying.

Back from Florida

We're finally back! It was a long trip filled with lots of naps. I just didn't feel much like vacationing. Morning sickness started full force to the point that for breakfast I could only eat a bagel with cream cheese with a side of pancakes.

I gained 6 lbs. I mostly think that's from the irregularity of bathrooming. That's code. You're going to have to figure it out for yourself. Here's a clue, first thing I did when I got home is eat a BIG bowl of shredded wheat with lots of milk.