My favorite things, lately

My life is pretty ho-hum as of late. The cold weather and smatterings of snow often leave us housebound. The few parks nearby are closed for the winter. The closest stores are 40 miles away. I never used to feel boredom, but a few times lately have felt a twinge of that sort. I live vicariously through Brian, as his job brings new challenges every day, and through my single Texan sister Val. Sadly, I've also become quite attached to the Internet and to all my trashy reality T.V. shows. Therefore, I haven't much to write about. A list of what has brightened my life is definitely in order.

1. Mmmm... new full-panel maternity pants. I just don't like the feel of my growing belly hanging out over "real waist" pants; I appreciate the support of a nice panel. These are the ones I just got from Old Navy. I felt semi-chic again:

2. I've always loved Amazon.com's selection of used books, but now the website is a necessity. Just recently I ordered two books about which I am quite excited. The first? A craft book of fun projects to undertake for my little boy, whose curiosity and energy are increasing by the day. Oh yeah, and baby Kate is sure to benefit from my craftiness as well:

3. Pregnancy has brought on extra cravings for sweets, but I've also luckily enjoyed quite a few vegie sandwiches and berry smoothies. The boys in my family are harder to please in that area. My second book from Amazon is based on that obsession with getting the healthiest of foods into every dish I feed Jack and his dad. Can't WAIT to try some of the recipes in here:

4. Who doesn't love new socks, especially those for little kids? Found these at Old Navy and Target:

5. Brian hates how long his hair has gotten, but I think the little curls emerging at the back corners of Jack's hairline are absolutely adorable! I couldn't get a good picture; he moves too quickly (and likes the camera too much, especially since he can see the picture on the screen right away: "See! See!"). So this will have to do:

6. A few years ago,while we were still living in Manteca, I bought a large storage box full of sewing thread and notions for ten dollars from an estate sale. It was a great find; I haven't had to buy thread since I found it, as every color I've needed is in the box. But it has taken me THIS LONG to organize all of it. It was fun going through all the notions. The bounty of colors, I think, provided a cute little photo opportunity:

And yes, I am sewing. I've done half the curtain panels for our bedroom and some throw pillows. I will post some pictures when everything is finished.

Our day in Bishop

Yesterday, Jack and I went with my new friend Karen and her three boys to Bishop for the day. We checked out Laws Railroad Museum, where the boys exploded with energy, running all around for a good couple of hours. They were able to ring the bell of a train, climb all over old farm equipment, and watch model trains run around a track in an exquisite little village.

After the museum, we headed to a city park, where we had lunch and explored the playground. There is a large pond there filled with ducks, and a nice man there offered us the rest of his bread. Apparently, Schat's Bakery, which is just across the street, sells big brown paper bags of day-old bread for a buck. It entertained the boys for quite awhile. Especially Jack... I told him to break the bread into small pieces for the ducks, and so he made the pieces as microscopic as possible.

Et cetera

We just got back from a whirlwind trip down to the San Bernadino area. We'd originally decided to go because I needed to have an echocardiogram in Loma Linda. My doctor in Mammoth just wants to make sure that, with my heart murmur, I'll be O.K. giving birth at an elevation of 7900 feet. While we were in civilization, we also decided to take care of some necessities that we can't take care of here. And, of course, we did some major shopping. It rained buckets much of the time, and several inches of new snow greeted us upon our arrival home. We dragged poor Jack along with us everywhere, so a highlight of our trip was his reward: a night at Chuck E. Cheese!


Our first day back in town, we had an ultrasound in Mammoth. Sole purpose: to find out whether this thing kicking my tummy incessantly is a boy or a girl! Of course, the hospital is afraid of being sued, so all the technician could say was, "There are no signs to indicate that it would be a boy." Translation: GIRL! Big sigh of relief, especially on Brian's part. I would have been fine with having a brother for Jack, but my poor hubby was itching for a girl! We celebrated with lunch at Carl's, Jr.
On our way home, we spotted a dog sled expedition just off the side of the road. Two teams were readying to depart. It was an amazing sight! Two dozen tails were wagging like crazy, two dozen voices contributing to a cacophony of barking. As soon as a team would take off, their barking would stop, silenced briefly by the strain of pulling the weighty sled. I felt sorry for the half dozen dogs who had to stay behind.

(Please pardon the darkness and graininess of the photos; the only thing we had to take them was Brian's cell phone, and I had to zoom it a bunch to get the shot of the dogs.)

First snowman

Having grown up in the "banana belt" of Idaho, where as soon as it snows it's slush, I don't remember ever having the experience of building an actual, honest-to-goodness, snowman. I'm sure there were times when we attempted to form a pile of snow into some sort of snowman-ly shape, but there was never the actual carrot nose, button (or coal or rock) eyes, stick arms, and clothing articles. And now, living in the Eastern Sierra, where we were told we'd have plenty of snow, we've actually been disappointed by the lack of it so far this season. So yesterday, when I peeked out the window and saw a good six to eight inches of powder, my first thought was, "SNOWMAN!" For a true experience, we pulled out the boots and snowpants (and yes, I just barely fit into mine). Jack helped me out by bringing clumps of snow in a shovel. He also designated a flat pile of snow as a "train," and spent a good amount of time "riding" it. And, of course, afterwards we rewarded our hard work with the obligatory mug of hot chocolate. It was a perfect winter experience, one that every kid--and mom--should have.

The great head shave

Brian was looking for an excuse to shave his head anyway, so he told his basketball team that if they won a game, he'd do it in front of the school. The girls got all pumped about that, and finally won their first game, 25-17, at Round Valley on Thursday night! Yesterday morning, Jack and I were witnesses to the event, held during morning assembly at the elementary school. Francisco the custodian did the honors:

The final product:

On the finger again...

I haven't worn my beloved wedding ring since November of '07. I'd lost so much weight after having Jack that it kept falling off (see a Myspace blog entry, below). I never had it re-sized because I wasn't sure how much weight I'd lose. Then, when I became pregnant again, I realized the ring would have to wait a little bit longer. Poor thing has been sitting, neglected, in my jewelry box! But, after playing with my engagement ring this morning--which I've been wearing in place of my wedding ring--and noticing that it was getting a little tight, I went right to my jewelry box and switched the two out. No more sliding up and down my finger, no more falling off accidentally, no more fear of losing the most precious piece of jewelry I have. My wedding ring is mine again! Well, for a few months more, at least.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Two Blogs in One Current mood: indescribable Category: Life I was thinking the other day about writing a blog about my weight loss. Since having Jack, I've lost all my baby weight... and then about 25 more pounds after that. (The last five was due, in part, to the flu I got on Thanksgiving, but hey, it still counts!) Everyone keeps telling me how great I look, and I do feel wonderful, but I also feel guilty because I haven't really done anything to lose the weight. I eat whatever and whenever I want, and I don't work out. I am, however, still nursing, and I do have to run around all day after a toddler. My jeans are all too big now, and when we can afford it, I'll have to buy some more (but am kind of waiting to see if I'll lose some more weight before I do!). So, I was planning on writing that blog yesterday, but then realized, hey, my sister's moving to Texas! If anything, that's what my blog needs to be about. She left today, actually, and will spend the next couple days driving to Dallas, where she'll stay with our mom's cousin for awhile, until she finds a job and a place to live. I am so excited for her, to be young and single and without anything holding her back. But I am also extremely sad to see my sister, my best friend, Jack's "T.T.," leaving California. No more Sister Nights, no more walking the dogs around the neighborhood, no more shopping or just coming over to hang out. It hasn't quite hit me yet, but when it does, I'm sure there will be plenty of tears. Anyway, Val stopped by this afternoon on her way TO TEXAS. She needed to drop off a few things that just didn't fit in her car. And as I was waving good-bye to her from my doorway for the last time, my wedding ring flew off my finger and landed in the bush! Yes, because of my weight loss I need my ring re-sized, but just haven't had the chance to do it yet. After Val drove off, I had to get down on my hands and knees to find the ring, buried among all the crunchy fall leaves and dirt and empty snail shells and seeds from the tree overhead. And all I could do was laugh, because somehow, I'd found a way to bring my two blog topics together.