Here We Come!

Here's my beautiful friend with her snazzy new cut! (Check out those eyes-- aren't they amazing?)

I am so excited! I get to fly to Washington DC to visit my dearest and best friend Cheryl in only a few days! Riley and I head out next Tuesday, sans Eric, to stay with Cheryl and her hubby and son for a week. Although I'm more than a bit nervous for the flight with Riley, I am SO excited to see Cheryl. We'll get to be there for her son, Zac's, first birthday, which is just an added bonus! We have been friends for years- since junior high- and have lived on opposite sides of the country for the past five, so we don't see each other nearly enough. Frequent phone calls, the Internet, and far too few visits have helped us stay close-- she keeps me sane. So, hopefully, I'll come back and more calm and peaceful person. I've got a lot of pent up rage, and Cheryl helps me work though things.

So, if you have any suggestions about where to go or what to do in DC, send 'em my way! I'd be happy to sit on her couch and talk to her for a week straight, but I doubt either Riley or Zac (not to mention her husband, Mike) would be wild about watching that. Also, if anyone has any tips for keeping a crazy toddler entertained on a plane, PLEASE pass those on!

My Tudor Craze!

It all started with the random thought that I'd like to see the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" with Scarlett Johansen and Natalie Portman. But it's not out to rent yet. So I tried to get the book from the library- it, of course, is checked out. (I'm #12 on the hold list.) While looking for it, I saw other books by the same author, Phillipa Gregory. I decided to give "The Constant Princess" a whirl, just for kicks. It's a fictional account of the life of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. I actually really enjoyed it! So then I read "Mary, Bloody Mary", a fictional version of the life of "Bloody" Queen Mary, Catherine's daughter with Henry. So this is getting me all interested in the Tudors (and not because I've ever watched that trashy HBO show- I think it looks skeezy). Now I've moved on to biographies to try to gain some information that might be close to the truth. I've got my paws on Catherine's, and then will probably move on to Anne Boleyn, the second wife, who Henry had accused of infidelity and incest, and then beheaded. Incidentally, she's also the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, who I find fascinating. I think I'll make my way though the wives before moving onto their children-- namely Mary and Elizabeth, the only ones to grow into adulthood. If anyone knows of any books that are interesting and well written about these people, please pass them on.



This is an actual portrait painted of Catherine in 1503 when she was 19, by Michiel Sittow.




Call me a nerd if you want, but I find all these people intriguing. Catherine was born Catalina of Spain, daughter of the great monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. She was betrothed to Henry VII's older son Aurthur when she was only 2 years old! She married him at age 15, but he died within months. She lived in England for 7 years, a bargaining chip for both her father and Henry VII, before they finally arranged her marriage to Aurthur's younger brother and heir to the throne, Henry VIII. What a chain of events that set off! I'm all excited about it!

It's Been A While...

What a slacker I am! I haven't posted almost all month- not too much has happened that's blog worthy, but to all my faithful readers (all three of you), I apologize.

I have had a WONDERFUL past few days-- so wonderful that I felt they needed to be preserved on the web. Eric and I both arranged to have Memorial Day and Tuesday off, hoping to go camping or something. The horrible weather prevented it, so we were left to amuse ourselves... indoors. We went to the aquarium in Sandy for part of the day, which was a lot of fun. Riley loves the animals, but even they weren't enough of a pull to keep her attention for extremely long. We went to Eric's mom's house for dinner that night- delicious steaks!- and Eric and I got to watch a movie together after Riley went to sleep. Tuesday is a pre school day for Riley, so after we dropped her there at 11, we headed off to Home Depot to furnish our garden with flowers. We've done quite a bit in our backyard, but mostly in the form of beans, pumpkins, herbs, strawberries, etc. It's satisfying, but not aesthetically so. We need flowers. Novices that we are, we spent a good two hours wandering around the outdoor nursery making our plans. We finally selected what I feel is an excellent mix of beauties. I don't know most of the names, but once we get them blooming, I'll post a picture. I do know we have salvia, poppies, Asiatic lilies, and some nice desert grass. Beautiful-- aesthetically pleasing. After dropping a wad of cash at HD, we took our loot home and went to lunch at the Red Robin. I love that place! Most of you know me as a massive carnivore, always ready for more meat. Alas, this pregnancy is leaving me wanting less meat and more fruit (thankfully, this doesn't seem to apply to steaks, although I do eat smaller portions). Not a bad development, but sad for me. I normally get the Royal Burger- the nice juicy burger topped with a fried egg. Love it. But that's not working for me lately, so I got an equally tasty seafood pasta dish. Also love it. It's been a while since we've been out to lunch not at Wendy's, so this was really nice. Eating without having to urge Riley to eat or reprimanding her for throwing food, etc. is always a welcome change. After lunch, we went on to Lowe's- HD didn't have a satisfactory watering can or the Asiatic lilies we wanted- and then home to plant. It was early afternoon by this point, and not an overly hot day, so it was pleasant to work outside. Eric and I both figured out that our dislike of gardening surely comes from our childhoods, where our parents had us weed and pick up their pruning clippings, and called that gardening. We're finding- especially Eric!- that it's a lot of fun to make plans and carry them out. I still don't care for weeding, but what can you do? So anyway, we got Riley from school, fed her dinner, and then picked up her first ever non family member babysitter. My mom had given us movie tickets, and I figured it was high time that she had a hired sitter. We asked a girl from our ward, and she did a great job. We went with my parents to see the new Indiana Jones movie- not bad. Not a classic, but who was expecting that? It was cheesy and fun, which I'm pretty sure is what they were going for. We got home after the movie to find Riley sound asleep. What a perfect day! (I don't mean it was perfect because I hardly saw Riley, but she's been kind of... hard to handle lately, and this was a most needed break.)

Thanks to my great husband. I love you for lots of different reasons, but I most of all love you for being such a good friend to me. I love how much fun we can have together. Thanks, babe!

Nothing Worse...

There isn't anything worse than finishing up on the toilet and knowing that you still have to pee. I go through this each time. "Having to go" is a constant state with me, so I try to hold it as much as possible, to make each trip as productive as I can. (Also, the bathroom at my work is on a different floor, so that's no fun.) But even so, every time I finish, I STILL have to go. Not urgently, not even enough to get anything out, but enough to make me feel it. I just thought I'd let you all know.

It's A Girl!

So Eric and I found out that our budding baby is, in fact, a budding baby girl! I've been meaning to find a way to scan the ultrasound picture into the computer so I could show all of you. Not having a scanner is making that kind of a daunting project. So, "Screw it!", I said, and am posting about it sans picture. (Like anyone can tell what those pictures show, anyway. Eric claims he can- yeah right.)

The ultrasound lady was pretty positive about the gender, so we've started to think about names. (I shouldn't say "started"- I've been thinking about names since long before I was pregnant.) We're almost set on Iris for a first name, and are debating between three or four middle names. At least I'm debating- mentally. Eric doesn't seem to feel the same sense of urgency to have it settled as I do. Wonder why?

The ultrasound lady also said that my due date of Sept. 15 was a little off. She estimated that it should be closer to the 22, but since that isn't 10 days from my original date, they wouldn't officially change it. Strange, but oh well. At least it's later rather than earlier. I have a friend whose date should have been NINE days earlier than the original estimation, and because it wasn't the full 10 days, they didn't officially change it. So, when her unofficial due date came, she wanted to be induced, but her doc wouldn't do it "so far away from her due date"! What?! I would have been so mad. So she had to wait the nine days for her incorrect/ original date to come around before they would schedule an induction. Lame. I don't want to be induced anyways, and like I said, my new estimated date is later rather than earlier, but still. Totally lame.

Anyway, if anyone has a good idea for a middle name to go with Iris that they wouldn't kill me for using, please suggest it. We'll add it to the pool. (Not that the name matters much- I'm sure she'll be known as "Harvey" the same way Riley is known as "Moe"- see Eric.)

This Is What I Woke Up To

My poor little frozen car.









This is a picture of our little baby raspberry bush. Poor thing doesn't stand a chance.












Picture taken of the bench outside my work- brrr.





OK, these obviously weren't REALLY taken in Utah in May- they're from Switzerland in winter. But still, you can imagine my feelings when I stepped out the door this morning in my hopeful flip flops to find snow on the ground. I had this mad desire to burst into hysterical laughter. "This isn't real- it's some sadistic joke gone horribly wrong. Maybe Eric stayed up the whole night sprinkling powdered sugar onto the lawn and cars. That's something he would do and think it was hilarious. (He would be wrong.)" But then I felt the telltale nip on my bare toes and knew the truth. It had snowed on May Day. What the heck.