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 "more things are wrought by the power of prayer than you or i could ever dream of" - d. l. moody "the only way to have a friend is to be one" - ralph waldo emerson "how can all these things happen to just one person?" - cary grant in bringing up baby [reading letter about new leopard ] " 'he's three years old, gentle as a kitten, and likes dogs.' i wonder whether mark means that he eats dogs or is fond of them?" - katherine hepburn in bringing up baby "insanity runs in my family... it practically gallops" - cary grant in arsenic and old lace "when i stand before God at the end of my life, i would hope that i would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'i used everything you gave me'" - erma bombeck "i'm going to stop punishing my children by saying, 'never mind! i'll do it myself'" - erma bombeck  email: petracarden@yahoo.com MSN messenger(NOT email): petracarden@hotmail.com Yahoo messenger: petracarden |
October 31, 2005, 6:47 pm Um... yeah... I spoke too soon. Haha! It's 42 minutes after I typed the last entry into this blog and I'm indoors with the lights off - the candy supply is depleted! And there was a LOT to start with. Wow. October 31, 2005, 6:05 pm It's Halloween evening and I'm home alone. Andy and the kids (in their cute costumes) just left a few minutes ago to go to the Pumpkin Party at church. If they get back in time, they'll probably do a little trick-or-treating around the neighborhood as well. I was thinking, this being a military base and every house having children living there, that we'd be out of candy by 6:30, but so far I've had ONE ring of the doorbell. Maybe it'll pick up soon. I am off in the corner of the housing area, so it's probably not going to be the highest traffic house, but I was hoping to have a steady stream of kids so I could just sit on the porch and pass the time. LOL Here's a photo of Darby in her Snow White costume (hand-me-down from Robyn's girls :)) - we tried the black spray paint on her hair, but she has quite a few blonde streaks in there still and she got whiny about the fumes (it was taking forever!) so I finally just gave up and we settled for a gray/black/blonde/brown combo hairdo. LOL more photos in the next couple of days...
October 28, 2005, 7:57 pm Tomorrow... Andy comes home tomorrow. I'm so excited. It's just been a week, but I really missed him! I think having to lie around so much makes me miss him MORE when he is gone. When I'm up and about I can keep myself busy to make the time go by more quickly, but lying still make the time go soooooooooo slowly. Once he leaves for Iraq, it'll be horrid and will seem like FOREVER until the baby comes - but once the baby is here I'll be busy enough to keep me occupied and time will fly. I like having him here to baby me when I don't feel good though! I can't wait to see him tomorrow. :) My parents leave in the morning to head to Houston (to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins). It was good to have them here - they were SUCH a help. I really appreciate them coming and helping me!!! (they are leaving in the morning, but mom is running around cleaning - vacuuming the steps right now, and dad is teaching the kids a Bible story - he has been giving them a homeschool Bible lesson every day and they LOVE it. He's VERY good at telling Bible stories). :) October 27, 2005, 4:37 pm Pets... My cousin, Daniel, has inspired me to add some pet photos to my blog. :D I was looking through some older photos and found some of our previous pets (a small sampling... there have been quite a few. Ha!) I thought I'd post them here (for those who are into furry little creatures... like Matt and Marci? Ha!). Okay, so here is our cat, Fiesel, that thought he was a dog. I mean, what cat sprawls out on its back and hangs its tongue out while it sleeps? Aren't they supposed to curl up?!!?! (Fiesel was stolen by some neighborhood children during trick-or-treating. Well, not actually STOLEN, he followed them home, and never came back, and wasn't brought back by them. So basically, he liked them better than us, so we didn't go after him. Oh well.)
I'm a sucker for baby animals, which is how I have ended up with SO many pets over the years (it's really quite a MIRACLE that I have not accumulated any since we moved to Texas! I did go after a tiny kitten I saw stranded in a Wendy's parking lot a few months ago, but it got away from me, much to Andy's delight, I'm sure. :D). I've tried to talk Andy into a kitten or puppy here and there lately, but he just reminds me that I'm about to have a BABY, so it's probably not the best time. LOL I'm sure he'll come back from Iraq to a house full of animals since I'm unable to restrain myself without his help. "My name is Petra and I'm a pet-a-holic."
My children are always trying to keep reptiles or insects as pets, and I must say that I'm not tempted at ALL to let them into my house! I still find jars of bugs sitting around though. I have boys, you know? What can ya' do?!? (the lizard photo is Justice's arm; both of my boys are in the snake photo)
Then there was the time that Andy and I drove past a yard where dalmation puppies were playing, and I talked him into stopping, and uh... ALL of the puppies ended up in the van with us?!?! We weren't even in our home state so we had to travel with them, we were getting ready to move out of the house we were IN, we had NO time to take care of three dogs, and I had to give them all away, but hey... they were cute?!
Okay, so having six cats at once, in a small apartment, was a bit much...
And, as much as Andy tries to talk me out of getting more baby animals... even he can't resist playing with a bunch of cute little kittens. :D :D :D
October 26, 2005, 1:38 pm I'm still alive (for those who wondered). I've just been down for the count for a few days. I was having tons of contractions, but today seems to be going okay so far (we'll see what happens). At least I'm able to sit up! I had been having a lot of contractions and wasn't able to really do anything but lie down. Fun! Hopefully things will get better, but I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm just going to have to be still for the rest of the pregnancy. :| Andy is in Poland - he comes back on Saturday. My parents have been here helping, thank goodness. Trish is going to come stay with me before Andy leaves for Iraq, since I'm unable to run the house by myself in my current condition. I so cannot WAIT until this baby comes and I can get things done and be mom and cook and clean and run errands... and basically feel HUMAN again. I wanted to do things like go to Sea World before Andy left for Iraq, not just lie on the couch!!! Oh well. I miss Andy so much - and it's just been a few days. A year is going to seem like FOREVER! We had a pre-deployment FRG meeting the other day (Family Readiness Group for those unfamiliar with the military acronyms), and it happened to be on a day that I was feeling fairly normal, so I was able to go (I was having contractions by the time I got home, but made it through the meeting with no issues). Anyway, at this meeting, a girl got up and talked whose husband was killed the last time Andy's unit was in Iraq. She was just stressing the importance of making sure the guys have a will, etc. before they go (which, duh, I know that - but trust me, there are some morons who go over there unprepared), however, it was very emotional. She tried not to, but started crying when she was talking about it. She was eight months pregnant when he died (two years ago), and it was their first child together (she has children from a previous marriage). So sad! Okay, so PRAY for Andy's safety while he is in Iraq! I do trust that God will take care of him, and I'm not the type to sit around and worry (worrying is pointless, and only causes more harm than good), but I DO believe that prayer is a marvelous tool that can and should be used! :) Okay, I can't tell how I'll feel from one day to the next, so hopefully I'll get to update the blog more often, but if you don't hear from me, I'm most likely lying on the couch or bed with a major case of cabin fever! Ha! October 21, 2005, 2:29 pm Marital advice (for anyone who needs or wants it - free of charge)... Stop focusing on what your spouse is or isn't doing and work on your OWN shortcomings. You'd be amazed at how much a change in your own attitude will spark change in the one you are married to. Many times we are simply reacting to one another, when we need to be ACTING right no matter how our spouse is acting. So try loving your spouse more than you love yourself. Oh yes, one more thing... instead of complaining about your spouse, PRAY for your spouse. Your best friend isn't going to be able to change your spouse. God is the only one that can change people, so talk to Him about it. :) That's it for today. Next session will be 5 cents. :D October 20, 2005, 10:44 pm Chocolate lasagne is only the most delicious dessert in the world! It can be found at your local Olive Garden. It is a delectable delight (you like that phrase? :)) made with layers of chocolate cake and buttercream frosting with chocolate chunks on top. It sounds simple, and normally I HATE chocolate cake, in fact, I'm not a chocolate fan at all, but this dessert beats all desserts in the world! I'm telling you... if you haven't had it, you have to try it. :)
October 19, 2005, 8:36 pm Andrew rocks my world! Andy ended up having today off - amazingly enough. He worked about 16 hours yesterday, so it was well deserved, but I was still in shock. :) I slept in this morning (since no one woke me and I was up a bit last night unable to sleep - had a Frosty from Wendy's right before bed - what was I thinking?!?!). When I got up, the kids were all cleaning, and Andy was mopping the kitchen floor. He then proceeded to fill the next 9 hours of the day with grocery shopping, going and buying Darby her new "big" bed (she moved from her toddler bed to a twin bed), cleaning like a madman - doing laundry, mopping floors, vacuuming, etc., and hanging pictures and homeschool stuff on the walls for me. He's amazing!!! Now he and the kids are watching a movie (they've been begging him all week to watch it), and I'm relaxing on the computer. :) I had some energy today as well - and was able to walk around some without contracting, so I could actually get in the girls' rooms with them and help supervise the cleaning and organizing, and actually got a few other little things done (still can't overdo it but at least I didn't have to lie down all day!). Well, I have some chocolate lasagne calling my name - I best answer it (even though it's getting late and I know it will keep me up, but I forgot to eat it earlier and there is no way (now that I've remembered it) I'll be able to wait until tomorrow). Yes... another WONDERFUL Andy thing today... he went to buy Darby's new bed and when he got back, I came into the living room to find a big "to go" bag from the Olive Garden! Yes, he loves me!!!! :D :D :D October 18, 2005, 11:21 pm I love Burt's Bees... This stuff TOTALLY rocks. I've been buying the little sample packs for the last year or two, and I love this stuff (NOTHING beats their lip balm!). I need to splurge and buy the LARGE size products (somehow the cheaper sample packs make it seem like I'm spending less money). Okay, so if you haven't used this stuff, use it. It's GREAT for your skin, it's all natural (for those of us with sensitive skin who can't use lots of beauty products because of questionable ingredients), it's cool looking, and it smells great!! Go buy some Burt's Bees... you'll thank yourself later. (and no, I don't work for the company. ha!) ;)
Legos... I don't know about you other people with kids, but we have a LOT of legos. The kids love them! They are always borrowing my camera to photograph their latest creation. :) Justice spent some of his money on this latest lego kit the other day, and he took this photo:
October 18, 2005, 2:00 pm Day to day... Well, Saturday and Sunday were good. Then Sunday night hit and the contractions got bad. Still just shy of keeping me from the hospital (whenever I start thinking "okay, it's time to go get checked", the contractions stop - and thank the Lord they do, because I'm seriously trying to avoid having to take the nasty medicine they use to stop labor). The baby is still moving around really well, but I'm pretty much down for the count again, not able to sit up for long periods of time (at least I could this weekend and actually sat outside for a while and really enjoyed the fresh, fall air!!!). Poland... Andy goes to Poland this weekend - for a week. He is going to Warsaw with another Army dude and they are demonstrating the Raven UAV (remote control spy plane) to the Polish Army. Should be a fun trip for him; I'm glad he gets to go (wish I could go with him! Ha!). Mom and dad are going to come stay with me during that week since I can't leave the house and need someone here that CAN. LOL Then, when Andy gets back, we begin the ONE MONTH countdown to when he leaves for Iraq. Boo hoo! As of now, he is supposed to leave between November 26th and 30th. At least he'll be here for Thanksgiving (maybe he'll make me a turkey if I'm still down for the count and can't do it! Hee-hee!!!). :D A photo of my baby... he works hard and doesn't get near enough sleep (since he's being daddy, mommy, housekeeper, and working 60-80 hours per week)... he fell asleep in his comfy chair after work last night. :)
October 16, 2005, 12:54 pm Feeling better... I feel better. Yesterday was MUCH better and I only had a few contractions, even though I moved around more. Oh, and I'm sleeping better as well. Thanks to my nutritionist (Trish ;)). Who knew I just needed a couple extra vitamins?!?! I mean, I can't say everything is perfect off of feeling a little better for a day and a half - BUT it is NICE to feel better for a day and a half and to actually get a little sleep! :) Maybe it was the low blood pressure that was causing more contractions too. Hmmm. Weird. I'll let ya'll know how it goes (yes, I said "ya'll" - I'm from the south!!!). ;) Maybe I'll go run a marathon... (okay, so I'm not quite there yet... I'm just excited that I can move around without feeling like I'm launching off into labor!). Or not? Alright... as I was finishing up typing that, I had a contraction... but it was just one... I better stop speaking too soon... ARGH!!! They better go away! I'm ready to function as a human being. I mean, I'll hit the couch again if I have to, but I'd really rather be able to go to the grocery store when I need milk, and do dishes and laundry when it needs to be done instead of slave-driving my husband and children. Ha! :) October 15, 2005, 7:06 pm Dum-duh-dum (that was a trumpet sound - FYI)... The baby has a name. Not sure of the spelling of the first name but his name is Jacob (or Jakob) Atticus Carden. We can't decide on the 'c' or the 'k'. The 'c' is more common so may make life easier for him, but the 'k' is much cooler. :) But at least he has a name, finally. :D My husband is awesome... Andy cleaned and organized the whole shed today - it looks totally awesome AND I can get to all the holiday stuff when I need it now. :) I love him. He rocks! Freecycle... Do you freecycle? We found several things to throw away today, but instead I posted them on freecycle (a yahoo group for local communities to recycle unwanted items) and had people at my house within five minutes picking things up (and thrilled to be getting them). It's pretty cool. You can post things on there that you are looking for as well and usually someone will have it and give it to you - you just have to pick it up. I recommend it. There are a lot of emails involved (it is a yahoo email group) so if you join, you may want to use a separate email address (unless you monitor your email often enough - like me - to deal with all the emails), but it's cool. Dad - I think you'd like it (email me for help with it if you want)! :) October 14, 2005, 1:09 pm hallelujah... ...I figured it out. I'm not sure why it didn't dawn on me earlier. I have low blood pressure. I think it's just been slipping lower lately (can't know for sure since I don't have the supplies to take my blood pressure), since this is how I've felt in past times when my blood pressure was low (jittery, unable to sleep, really weak, fast heartbeat, etc.). Anyway, Trish was nice enough to research it for me and found some really good tips. So I'm following all her advice, and hopefully I'll be sleeping much better soon. Last night was already a little better than the nights before (of course, I wasn't all hopped up on Tylenol PM - LOL). I'll keep you all posted on how it goes... since I'm sure you are all hanging onto the edges of your seats wondering what boring detail in my life is next. :D costumes and candy... The kids are getting excited about Halloween. Especially since we live in a military community, which means... kids at every house... which means... candy at every house! Tons of candy! Way too much candy! Of course, that means I have to buy more candy to pass out, but that's okay. It'll be fun. They all keep changing their minds about what they want to dress up as, except for Darby, who is going to be Snow White. Right now, they have Andy scheduled to work all that night, but he's trying to switch with someone (makes sense to schedule duty on Halloween for a guy that has four kids instead of one of the single guys that live in the barracks, no?). Hopefully he'll be off work so he can take the kids around the neighborhood - if not, then I'll be following them around in the van since I can't go on a hike! LOL :) October 13, 2005, 3:32 AM insomnia, part two... Two people on my comments page suggested Tylenol PM. Someone else suggested it through email. Several others had mentioned how well it worked on the pregnancy message board I am on. It's on the list (from my doctor's office) of medicines that are okay to take while pregnant. So... I thought it was worth a try, and I took some. If you'll notice what time I am typing this... you'll see how well it worked. :( Actually, I did sleep for about 30 minutes a few hours ago, but that was it. When I took the medicine, I was just thinking of it as Tylenol (mild pain killer and usually doesn't make much of a dent in whatever pain I'm feeling) - it didn't even dawn on me that the 'PM' part of it might have the OPPOSITE effect on me that it is supposed to. For some reason, medicine never works properly with me. Non-drowsy cold medicine makes me drowsy and unable to function for two days, so I guess it would just stand to reason that DROWSY medicine would make me awake. Right? No? My body is just crazy when it comes to medicine? AUGH! I guess the good thing is that the acetominophen has made the muscle aches and pains a little milder. However, the shakiness and poor blood circulation seem so much more amplified so when I hold still for more than five minutes my arms and legs get VERY restless and jittery. Who knew? And how frustrating! LOL I was keeping Andy up with all my tossing and turning (he usually snoozes throught it - ha!), so I thought I'd venture down the stairs and see if I could stay occupied for a few minutes before trying to lie back down. If I wasn't tired, I wouldn't mind being up. But I really, really want to be asleep. Relaxation techniques don't work (tried them all). I think I'm just stuck without sleep until the baby comes... oh wait... I won't sleep then either because I'll be up feeding him... haha! Ah well... I'll sleep next year sometime. :) For all you insomniacs out there... "The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to." "If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he'd make a fortune." "People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." "Insomnia is a gross feeder. It will nourish itself on any kind of thinking, including thinking about not thinking." "A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by "Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up." "The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep." October 12, 2005, 11:36 am I can't sleep at night. It's killing me - seems I'm up a little later each night. Well, not literally "UP", but awake. I'm probably trying too hard to sleep. I know they say if you can't sleep you should get up and move around... uh, what if you can't do that? Andy got up for work this morning and I hadn't gone to sleep. I had been lying in bed for almost six hours and had not slept. I finally went to sleep around 6 am and slept until just after 10 am (except for when the kids came to tell me they were up and I gave them instructions to eat breakfast and start on their schoolwork - thankfully I had written their assignments down last night so they could go ahead and start on the things they could do without my help). Okay, so if anyone has any tips on how to get to sleep, please let me know! I've tried doing mild exercises and stretches. I'm completely uncomfortable, I get these weird feelings in my arms and legs like there is no blood circulation (even with the exercises and stretches), my mind races (because I'm pregnant I guess - I don't feel stressed out or anything). So, I'm open to any and all advice that anyone has to offer. Even if I've tried it, I'll try it again. I'm just dying to get some sleep at night! I'd LOVE to sleep from 10 to 8 (I can only DREAM of ten hours of sleep!!!), but my body will NOT cooperate!!! Please help me!!!!!! :D :D :D wishing i could sleep this peacefully... :)
October 10, 2005, 8:10 pm I'm still having contractions when I move around and have had to lie down more often. Ugh. I'm getting a little cabin fever, but I'll live - just as long as this baby is staying in there and growing I'll stay on my rear as long as I have to. Have you ever watched a movie again after not seeing it for years? You remember it being funny, scary, good special effects, good acting, etc., but when you re-watch it a couple of decades later it totally sucks?!?! That happened yesterday - I felt like I wasted five days of my life watching a movie that was only about an hour and a half (but it SEEMED like five days). Andy rented The Labyrinth - the silly goblin movie from the 80s. I remembered it being a little scary and pretty entertaining, and we thought the kids would enjoy it. Oh my goodness - I can't believe I sat through the whole thing (which I only did because the kids were watching too, and I was pretty much stuck on the couch anyway). It was basically a music video for David Bowie in his grotesquely skin-tight pants and his too-cool 80s hair (the best parts were when he broke out into song for no reason at all, with lyrics that had nothing to do with the movie), and Jennifer Connelly sure has learned to act since then, and WOW - it was soooooo stupid! Okay, so this movie is NOT on my recommended movie list! By the way, the kids thought it was pretty stupid too. Go figure! :) Back to the couch... :} October 8, 2005, 6:42 pm Well, I'm still off my feet, unfortunately. The contractions are still coming if I try to get up - so I have to stay down. At least I can still SIT!!! :D Andy made a treasure hunt for the kids today - it was so cute watching them find all of their clues. They watch the movie "National Treasure" over and over again, so Andy thought they'd have fun going on a treasure hunt of their own. He's such a good daddy. :)
Back to lesson plans - right now I'm working on getting all of Brittany's Science and Health assignments done through the rest of the school year - I'm about halfway there and hoping to finish today. We'll see if it happens. I actually had a couple of contractions while SITTING today and a couple while lying down yesterday - so hopefully I'm not having to get on the labor stopping drugs anytime soon (I hear they're nasty). Brittany is making bacon and pancakes for dinner - YUM! (she's SO helpful!!!) Jarvis just said they were the best pancakes he EVER ate, and Brittany asked "better than G-ma's?!", and Jarvis was like "uhhhh". They LOVE G-ma's pancakes. Brittany was still flattered - even though she hasn't beat G-ma's pancakes yet. :D edited to note: I was mistaken... it was Justice who said G-ma's pancakes were better. Jarvis said Brittany's were better! Uh- oh G-ma. You've got competition!!! :D :D :D October 7, 2005, 11:15 pm HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY! Today Brittany is twelve years old. Time sure does fly! She is an amazing girl, and I thank God every day for her. She really could not be more helpful. She is always asking me "mom, do you need anything?" and she is ready and willing to pitch in and help whenever. She helps with her younger siblings, even giving Darby her baths most of the time now since I can't do it. God has really blessed us with a kind, mature, loving, helpful, intelligent, sweet, giving daughter. I cannot imagine life without her. Happy birthday Brittany! I love you! :) October 6, 2005, 7:39 pm contractions, a much needed long weekend for Andy, and a tirade from me... :) Well, I'm officially stuck. I cannot stand up without having contractions. :( I am very thankful that I'm able to SIT though, and don't have to remain in a laying down position! I'm getting lots of school stuff done on the computer (some of the time consuming things that I wanted to get done for the entire school year, such as printing off worksheets and typing out tests that I only have the teacher key for), and I sat down on the couch and folded about five loads of laundry (Andy's been doing the laundry at night and then putting it in the living room - we were accumulating quite a pile, which doesn't take long for a family of six!). :) So hopefully the contractions will subside (and as long as I don't stand up they are few and far between - but when I stand, even if it's just to get a drink of water - the contractions start). I'm a little over 24 weeks - that is, if my due date is correct. I can't be over 28 weeks, so even if I AM further along, it's still way too early to be going into labor! So I'm just sitting all day trying to keep this baby in there for as long as possible. :) Andy has a four day weekend! Hallelujah!!! He has been working CRAZY hours lately, and we weren't sure if he was going to still get the 4-day, but he did. We're so excited (if I only I could GO places - ha!). He and Brittany just took a trip to Best Buy so he could get a look at some of the things he's planning on getting online to take to Iraq with him (mp3 player, portable DVD player so we can send him videos of us, GPS, etc.) Brittany's birthday is tomorrow, and she and I were going to have a girls' day out this weekend, but we may have to have a raincheck on it if I'm still contracting. We're planning on having a little party for her next weekend (with just us). One more year and she's officially a teenager! That seems crazy to me - that I almost have teenagers!!! Am I old enough to have teenagers?!?! Well, maybe I'm not - I did start rather early. LOL :) Okay, I just went online to find a photo of a 24 week fetus to show how big the baby probably is, and of course, looking for something like that, I came across some abortion and anti-abortion websites. So I figured it was time to make my blog controversial... Not that the subject of abortion SHOULD be controversial, but unfortunately it is in many circles. I believe that I can speak with ANYONE about how abortion is NEVER the answer. I was a pregnant teenager... and I did NOT have an abortion. I realized I was pregnant when Andy and I were about to get a divorce... and I did NOT have an abortion (God had other plans and I ended up miscarrying that time, but I would NEVER have aborted my baby). Abortion is murder, plain and simple. The fetus is a BABY as soon as the sperm fertilizes the egg. I think a great deal of abortion activists might change their mind if they actually CARRIED a child. The ones who HAVE carried a child and are still for abortion blow my mind... they must be some of the most selfish people in the world. I mean, even if you do NOT have the means to care for a child... think of how many couples can't have children that would LOVE to adopt your baby. You got pregnant - now face the consequences - suck it up for nine months and if you still do not want the baby, give the baby to someone who would LOVE it. There are websites out there that show a video of the womb during an abortion - I can't bear to watch - but from what I've read and heard from others that HAVE watched, it is so evident that it is a HUMAN life in pain during the process of his/her death. So anyway, I'm sure there aren't many "pro-choice" people that read my blog, but at least everyone now knows where I stand on the topic. :) On that note... here's a photo that shows the approximate size of my cute little baby: October 5, 2005, 11:53 am It was brought to my attention that some of the things on my "before I die" to do list (see yesterday's blog... below) did not belong on that list. Apparently they belong on a more short term list (things such as using the breadmaker)... *insert eye rolling here*. Whatever... it's not like I'm writing the column for a national magazine - it's just my blog! Maybe 20 people total will see it. :) I think my scrapbooking motivation is coming back. I was sort of in a rut for a while - just staring at blank paper with no new ideas. But I've got ideas now. If only I had TIME. :) I decided that the more scrapbooking websites and magazines that I browse, the LESS creative I am. Weird, I know. I think seeing all these other sooooo creative layouts makes me feel like my pages have to be more perfect, more original, more creative. I can't just be 'me' - I have to 'keep up', and that's not what scrapbooking is about (for me). So I'm going to stop 'looking' and start 'creating'. :D
October 4, 2005, 3:26 pm 44 things to do before i die... As I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office yesterday, I flipped through a travel magazine. In there was a column by Andy Rooney or someone of the sort... he had forgotten to write his column that week so he made a to do list. It was pretty amusing. His numbers 1 and 2 were, 1)be nicer to people I don't like, and 2)stop disliking so many people. He said most people had a to do list and at the top of his for a long time was... to make his to do list. Anyway, I'm always making lists, but thought it would be fun to make one for the blog... a "before I die" to do list. Some things are practical and some things will never happen but are fun to dream about. So here is my list: 1. Use the breadmaker that Josh bought for me last spring (after I had wanted one for years, I still haven't used it) 2. Finish organizing my house 3. Figure out a way to make the kids keep their rooms clean 4. Figure out a way to keep dust out of my house forever (tips? anyone?) 5. Go skydiving 6. Travel through Europe 7. Get Lasik eye surgery 8. Get really toned and buff, if only for a little while (like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2) 9. Raise Godly children! 10.Take more photos (I know this will seem odd to some who think I already take too many) 11.Make everyone happy :) (if only people would realize where to LOOK for happiness!) 12.Win the lottery (although I've only bought one lottery ticket in my life so my odds are not great for winning... it is still fun to dream about having $250 million landing in my lap) 13.Buy and train a pure bred puppy and make it part of the family (my family members and I disagree on which breed so that has to be settled first) 14.Ride on a motorcycle (never have done this) 15.Not die while riding on a motorcycle (see # 14) 16.Learn how to swing dance, and be good at it 17.Take a photography class (and while I'm at it get a super-duper-fancy-shmancy camera) 18.Take an oil painting class 19.Write several books 20.Go see a taping of Oprah (preferably one of the tapings such as "Oprah's favorite things" where she gives each audience member like $50,000 worth of loot!) 21.Lay on a beach in the Caribbean ('lay'? or is it 'lie'... my grammar skills are lacking lately - blaming it on the pregnancy; lots of things get blamed on the pregnancy) :D 22.Travel across the USA visiting all the dorky sites such as 'the biggest ball of twine' or 'the largest spoon' 23.Leave the country (see #s 6 and 21) - my 1 hour trip to Mexico six years ago doesn't count 24.Take photos of all the places I've lived (excepting places such as the tent at the Stone Mountain campground, which would be an impossibility), and make a scrapbook of them 25.Own a corvette 26.Become famous (either a comedic actress or a country music singer) 27.Own my dream house near water and mountains (the actual house changes constantly in my mind so whatever my dream house is at the time of purchase) :D 28.Get better at sending cards and gifts BEFORE the person's birthday/anniversary/new baby/etc. 29.Learn to play the guitar that I've had for six years 30.Be the best possible wife, mother, Christian, and friend that I can be 31.Stop procrastinating (see #s 1, 28, 29, 35, and 39) 32.Become a gourmet cook 33.Get back into genealogy and trace every line of our family tree back as far as Adam and Eve (maybe I'm overreaching a little there) 34.Be completely unselfish 35.Be better at staying in contact with old friends 36.Manage my time and energy more wisely 37.Eat healthier 38.Learn more about history (I didn't listen in school and didn't discover until I was an adult that history interests me) 39.Get a family portrait made before Andy leaves for Iraq; get one made every year (we have had ONE professional family portrait made in the 11 years we have been married and that was when we only had two kids - I'd say it's time for another) 40.Send at least 100 Christmas cards every year (the last few years I haven't sent out ANY) 41.Hand-make all the greeting cards I give/send, including Christmas cards and birth announcements 42.Quit cutting my hair every time it gets long and just leave it alone, for crying out loud! 43.Become a morning person (Ugh!) 44.Keep an online journal for a very long time October 3, 2005, noon I can't believe October is here. Crazy! The holiday season is pretty much HERE - can you believe it? Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. And I get to bookend those with Brittany's birthday and the baby being due - and Andy leaving for Iraq comes in the middle! But, as hectic as the holidays are... I love them. I love all the feasts, the presents, the decorations, the costumes... so fun. Not that I'm READY for the holidays... I always wait until the last minute to do everything (with good intentions of preparing everything months in advance - haha!). I did, however, already buy my halloween candy for trick-or-treaters... how on the ball am I with that?!?! :D On another note - I have to go to the doctor this afternoon - one of my least favorite things in the entire world - always feels like SUCH an invasion of my privacy. I have to see the doctor I don't like one more time (today) and then starting with next month's appt., I see the new doctor (who is supposedly much better than the one I have) and he will be the one to deliver the baby. I'm soooo ready to deliver... oh, and Ali, I have to disagree with your comment in my guestbook LOL (about the real work being when the baby comes out) ;)- the HARD part for me is now - I'd MUCH rather be up all night with the baby than have it taking over and torturing my body! :D I think maybe I just have rough pregnancies though - excepting Justice - he was my "oh I'm glowing... oh let's go to the beach... oh isn't it fun to be pregnant" baby. My ONLY one. However... he is my most difficult child... hmmm... maybe there is a correlation (he was an easy baby, but the most challenging once he hit age two). Haha!!! The pregnancy is NOT fun, though, when, if I just walk to the mailbox I start having contractions... I CAN'T sleep on my left side (the recommended position for sleeping when pregnant) because of my sciatic nerve pain, and any other position is so uncomfortable that I get relatively no peaceful sleep... I'm so exhausted I can barely function half the time... blah, blah, blah... :) I'm done. I'm ready. But, I have 16 more weeks until my due date. So I'll be miserable until then... I'm sure my blog will reflect it, so please excuse all my complaining. :D I AM very excited to be having the baby though - I cannot WAIT to hold him, see him, breastfeed him, hold him on the OUTSIDE of me. I LOVE having a newborn baby... I don't care how much they keep me up at night (I'm up all night anyway now). I think it's probably my favorite time ever... having a little bitty baby. I love it. I love their soft skin. I love when you touch their cheek and they open their mouths and turn their whole head towards you. I love to breastfeed (one of my favorite mommy/baby bonding moments). I love all their little, tiny body parts (toes, fingers, hands, nose, mouth and lips, belly, scrawny legs and arms, soft fuzzy cheeks). And I can't wait! :) [Read Comments][Make Comments] |
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