Forgot the pic!

17 1/2 Weeks

Friday Afternoon Weekend Control

On Fridays I start thinking about the weekend. Since my usual cleanup routine isn’t followed over the weekend, I always try to endeavor to get the house especially clean and ready for the weekend on Friday. So that’s what I’m about to do, but first I’m procrastinating!

Today for lunch I cooked mini shells, mixed in a couple cans of drained tuna, a can of mexi corn, a dash of Tabasco & onion powder, and some mild cheddar cheese. It’s surprising what bizzare and simple pantry concoctions taste amazingly good and hit the spot when you’re pregnant!

I just searched eBay for cardboard books for C and put several auctions on my watched list. Hopefully I can get a few at a good price. It’s so cute to see C sit down and “read”. He really likes it!

I didn’t really like the way the belly pictures turned out the other day, so I took some more. But I’m not sure I like those so well, either. It’s hard to take a good timer pic in the trailer without an unsightly background.

E came up to me a few minutes ago and planted a kiss on my cheek. Then she took my face in her hands and kissed me on the other cheek. After intently studying my face for a few seconds she announced, “I’m not gonna poke your eyes!” How thoughtful! Then she went on to babble something about poking a “bad guy” in the eye. Yesterday we were talking about what eyes were for, and one of the things they weren’t for was poking.

I’m not sure what exactly our weekend plans include… M has been going to bed at about 7pm every night and we’ve hardly talked all week!

Gotta tend to my household now!
JJ

Random Thoughts

My friend Jennifer over at Homekeeping Heart did this so I thought I’d steal her idea since I’m tired.

Outside my Window… it is a little cooler and humid tonight. My “yard” is kind of messy with two camping chairs, stroller, inflatable pool, and toys strewn about that didn’t get picked up yesterday.

I am thinking… about the chocolate cake from Jack-in-the-Box that is sitting on the counter calling my name! I really wanted some kind of rich chocolatey cake but didn’t see anything that wasn’t mega sized at the store.

I am thankful for… my children who actually went to bed without a peep tonight!

From the kitchen… there’s a sinkful of clean dishes and a bit of clutter on the counter. I made grilled meat & cheese sandwiches for the children and just ate yummy pita pocket sandwiches with hummus, salami slices, lots of lettuce, italian dressing and pepperonchini peppers!

I am wearing… a black t-shirt and an orange skirt with some sparkly threads throughout it.

I am reading… among other things… An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers. I picked it up at the thrift store but didn’t realize it was the second book in a series. I’m reading it anyways and not finding it to be mattering much, at least to me.

I am hoping… to be able to find out the gender of our baby within a week! I was much more nonchalant about it, but as my ultrasound date draws nearer I’m getting more excited about the possibility of finding out, and picking a name!

I am hearing… the A/C running. I’m a bit chilly and I would turn it off, but it’s acting like white noise for C who is sleeping.

Around the house… we are starting to get on a schedule and get school going. Today after about 45 minutes of school (the first session) we went out. I wanted to go to the library and pick up a ton of books (I did.. 32!) but if you ever plan to go to a library in a small town you might want to check the hours first. We got there at 11-something and it didn’t open until 1pm. So we went to Wal-Mart because I wanted to pick up a couple more things for school and the isles were so packed I didn’t even bother.

One of my favorite things… is the new silicone spatula scraper thingie I bought at Wal-Mart a couple weeks ago. It is great for so much! It’s kind of like one of those wooden spatula thingies with the flat edge, only made out of that heat-resistant silicone. It’s great for scrambling eggs, cooking ground beef, stirring… I was even going to blog about it last week but spent a long time looking online for a picture of it and couldn’t find one. Maybe I’ll just take my own.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… read lots of library books! And settle more comfortably into our new routine, as well as get into the swing of school.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you… I did take belly pictures today but I still need to transfer them to the computer. I’ll try to get to that tomorrow!

JJ

Back and feeling better!

This weekend went better than I expected. The picnic was nice and not too akward. They had a few different teambuilding competitions throught the day with different prizes. M won a maglight flashlight.

At the beginning of the week I started feeling very bad. I was exhausted, dizzy, incredibly nausious 24/7, and had a headache that lasted 3 days. Finally a friend mentioned that my symptoms sounded like low blood pressure. I looked it up online and indeed, I did have several of the symptoms. It said that dehydration can be a cause for it. So I decided I should get some water in me.

Since we’ve moved into the trailer, we’ve had a little difficulty with the drink situation. Our refridgerator is so tiny I can’t keep enough drinks cold, and our water comes out of the tap very lukewarm and disgusting. It’s bad enough when you’re not pregnant, but being pregnant makes me feel like throwing up when I drink straight from the tap.

I had posted about not feeling well on a friend’s message board. Within 20 minutes she called, offering to bring me a cooler with ice and water. At first I turned her down, but almost as soon as we hung up I regretted it. She reiterated her offer on the board and so I accepted. I sometimes have a hard time accepting help from other people. I guess I need to work on that. But afterwards I was so thankful for her! She also brought me a Starbucks drink!

When I first started getting water in me I couldn’t keep it down. But shortly I started feeling very much better. Yesterday I felt SO good. When you are sick it really brings home how good it is to feel well! It was a little scary to me to see how bad I let things get before I figured out what was wrong with me. For now, we are going to keep the friend’s cooler and see how that situation works out. We may buy a cooler or possibly even a second fridge for outside. But we definately need to figure out a way to keep cool drinks. Any suggestions are welcome!

Yesterday I went to the bank. M decided it would be better to withdraw a certain amount on a monthly basis that I will use to pay for groceries and everything else than to try to balance our finances with me spending little amounts on the debit card all over town. So, it will be better for him and also will be a little tricky for me to try to budget everything properly so I don’t run out before the end of the month.

Thanks for your continued readership!
JJ

Birthday Date!

Well, I had a very nice birthday, thank you for asking!

I had slacked off with the housework a bit this week so yesterday I pretty much spent the entire day doing damage control. It was nice so I had the children play outside most of the day.

I was looking forward to a little ‘date prep’ of getting myself ready. The day before I had been in Walmart. I must have checked my brain at the door, because when I was browsing the cosmetic isles and came across the glue-on fingernails, I thought that it sounded “fun” to buy them. I was actually looking forward to putting them on! I guess pregnancy zaps more brain cells than I thought. An hour later and a supergluing my fingers together incident, they were finally on. I hated them. They felt weird, they looked fake, and they weren’t all on straight. So I decided to ditch them. I had to soak my fingers in nail polish remover (*shudder*) and pry them up for about 20 minutes before I finally got them all off. And now there’s still dried superglue on my fingernails. I wanted to make them prettier and ended up making them worse than before. Guess I should have left well-enough alone!

Anyways, I barely had time to squeak out a shower and quick mascara application and the babysitter was here. Thank you, Mrs. P! I am very greatful to her for taking the time off from her move preparations to come and serve in this way. She even brought me beautiful potted purple crysanthemums.

We took off around 7ish. We went to Red Lobster. M had grilled trout with rice pilaf & broccoli. I had steak on mashed potatoes topped with lobster bits, shrimp, asperagus and butter sauce. It was yummy! It was nice to have uninterrupted time with him. We’re going to start trying for two dates a month/ every other week or so. I hope it works out.

Today my “Tuesday Friend” came over. She’s going to be gone camping next week. *Sniff* I’ll miss her! She brought me a yummy lemon blueberry coffeecake and a wonderfully inviting memory foam pillow!!! It was so thoughtful of her! I’ve been plagued by headaches ever since moving and I think my pillow is the culprit. I KNOW this will be better, and I hope the headaches will soon cease! We had a very nice visit.

Tomorrow we’ll head out to a nearby lake for the day. M’s company is having a weekend camping trip. We’ll just come for the day and do the activities. (I’m not sure exactly what’s planned.) I’m not really looking forward to it, honestly. I hope it goes better than I expect.

Sunday is fellowship meal at church. I’m not sure yet what I’ll bring or if I’ll have a chance to bring something if we’re gone all day Saturday. I was thinking roast whole chicken in the crockpot but I can’t buy it ahead of time because there’s no room in the fridge. We’ll see. I might just cop out and not bring anything and then try to not eat much.

Well, my children need me before bed, so I need to go tend to them.
JJ

Housework day

Today I have to catch up on some housework that I’ve slacked on last couple days. I have to get ready for Mrs. P to come over to babysit, and get myself ready for our date tonight.

In addition to cleaning the trailer I need to see how many quarters I have so I can do a load or two of laundry. The laundry facility is on-site approx. 1 1/2 - 2 blocks from where our trailer is. They only have four washers and four dryers, so sometimes I have to wait until they’re free. The evenings seem to be a prime time for laundry, so hopefully doing it this afternoon will be easier.

So, anyways, I guess I better stop talking about it and get going!
JJ

A ‘moving’ morning!

Yesterday morning as I was on the phone with a friend, the trailer started shaking back and forth pretty violently. At first I thought maybe the children, who had just gotten onto my bed, were jumping on it. But when I saw that they weren’t doing it, my next thought was someone was outside shaking our trailer. My friend who was about 30 minutes south of me felt it happening too.

The coffee in the coffeepot was sloshing all around. It was pretty weird. I’m not really used to earthquakes so I always kind of stand there like a doofus going, “What’s happening?“

We saw some kind of cool video on the news last night from stores with junk rattling off the shelves. Nobody was hurt and there wasn’t that much damage to buildings, mostly just broken things inside houses and stores from falling off shelves.

C is so cute! Earlier I was giving the kiddos high fives for doing a good job brushing their teeth, and C came over because he wanted one, too. Last night when I was helping them finish up brushing and telling them to say “Aaahh” he came toddling over saying, “Aaahh”. He brings me his bottle when it’s empty, and loves to sit and read his board books. He’s really growing up lately! *Sniff*

I’m going to get back on track with grocery shopping in August. I’m going to work on getting my coupons in order and finding a source for store adpapers / sales. I have to go to the store every 2 or 3 days and I haven’t been doing very well with it.

Thanks for reading!!
JJ

Summer Daze

Hello friends!

Just a quick note to let you all know I’m back in the blogging world.

We’re settled into our new travel trailer. We’re at a trailer park on the lake.

M is still working in Orange County, he’s started carpooling with another guy most days.

C is walking… it’s so cute!

I’ll be 16 weeks along on my birthday… Thursday! Things seem fine although I’m still dealing with a bit of morning sickness. I have an ultrasound to check on how the baby weathered the chicken pox in mid-August.

I’ve been having chronic headaches, I think I threw my neck out of whack on our new pillows when we first moved.

M and I are going on a date night on Thursday. He said he wanted to have a weekly date night. So hopefully if I can find a babysitter(s) on a regular basis it will be workable.

Now I really must go get a shower and start lunch. My “Tuesday Friend” is coming today.
JJ

Muddled…

Oh my! Going through papers is mighty tedious. I hate this part of moving probably the most. I have a headache from going through so many papers, seeing what needs to be thrown out, sorting, sorting, sorting into all kinds of piles.

I’m feeling very overwhelmed right now. Things have just been piling up… I’m under so much stress. I feel almost as if the brunt of it is falling on my shoulders. Ahh, those were good old days when I was a kid, not responsible for anything when we moved! Moving is very stressful!! Even more so when you have to go through every. little. thing. And make decisions about everything because you don’t just have the luxury of putting the “junk drawer” in a box, sealing it up, and dealing with it after you’ve moved into your new home.

We are going to have such little storage it’s going to be very tough fitting five people’s belongings into it.

We’re having an indoor moving sale this Saturday. As in, tomorrow is the last day to prepare for it. It’s not coming together as well as I am hoping so far. It’s a very tedious process.

My Mother-in-law is coming to vist us in a couple weeks, too. We’re all excited for her to get to come. Last time we saw her was 5 years ago! I just hope she’ll be comfortable in our “bare bones” house! Practically as soon as she leaves we’ll be moving. I’m still not sure as to the exact date that we’ll actually be moved into our trailer. Our lease is up June 14th, so at least by then. We’re planning a final sale June 7th, so I suppose it will be very shortly thereafter or possibly before even. I kind of wish we had dates finalized. I don’t like not knowing specifics.

Well, I suppose I need to get back to work. Keep plugging away. There’s lots happening but I don’t have time to blog it all.

JJ

MORE books!

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Death March: The Survivors of Bataan by Donald Knox (482 pages) –$4.00
 
The Road to Berlin by John Erickson (877 pages) –$4.00
 
Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals’ Plot Against Hitler by Pierre Galante –$2.00
 
Dictionary of Scientific Literacy by Richard P. Brennan –$2.00
 
Math The Easy Way Third Edition (Barron’s) –$3.00
 
The American Dream: The 50’s (Time Life Book) –$5.00
 
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2201 Facinating Facts by David Louis –$3.00
 
Good Old Days: On the Farm: Treasured memories of life on the farm in those happy days of yesteryear –$3.00
 
The Old Time Art of: Thrift –$3.00
 
Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times by David Rubel –$3.00
 
Homemaking Booklet: 1983 –$2.00
 
Gifts from the Kitchen by Jean Pare –$2.00 (Book is spiralbound on the inside, outer spine was taped, otherwise new)
 
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When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul, Jr. –$3.00
 
Homeschooling The Early Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 3-8 Year Old Child by Linda Dobson –$2.00
 
The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger –$3.00
 
Taking Care of Your Child: A Parent’s Guide to Complete Medical Care -fourth edition –$2.00
 
The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century by Jean Anderson –$4.00
 
Seven Years of Highly Defective People: Scott Adams’ Guided Tour of the Evolution of Dilbert –$2.00
 
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 Wobegon Boy by Garrison Keillor –$2.00
 
The Cure is in The Cupboard: How to use Oregano for Better Health by Dr. Cass Ingram –$5.00
 
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis –$3.00
 
Through Gates of Splendor -40th Anniversary Edition –$4.00
 
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan -complete & unabridged –$3.00
 
Fearfully & Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey –$4.00
 
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The Generations of Corning: The Life and Times of a Global Corporation by Davis Dyer & Daniel Gross –$4.00
 
Mason Jars in the Flood & Other Stories by Gary Carden –$2.00
 
The Iron Time Bomb: How Iron Adversely Affects your Health by Bill Sardi –$3.00
 
The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal & Vegetable-Based Soaps by Susan Miller Cavitch –$5.00
 
Blood and Honor by Reinhold Kerstan –$2.00
 
Home and Child Life in Colonial Days by Shirley Glubok (ex library book) –$3.00
 
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Mr. Bell Invents the Telephone by Katherine B. Shippen (copyright 1952) -back cover missing –$1.00
 
At School (Teacher’s Edition) copyright 1957 –$2.00
 
In The Neighborhood (Teacher’s Edition) copyright 1958 –$2.00
 
Magnets by Bertha Morris Parker copyright 1952 –$1.00
 
My Happy Book: Naughty Friends & Kiddy’s Primer (vintage board book with adorable illustrations) –$4.00
 
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The Beer Essentials: The Spirit Journal Guide to Over 650 of the World’s Beers by F. Paul Pacult –$4.00
 
Buying Country Property: Pitfalls and Pleasures by Irving Price –$4.00
 
Wine for Dummies by Ed McCarthy & Mary Ewing-Mulligan –$3.00
 
The Furniture Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Guide by the editors of Family Handyman Magazine –$4.00
 
Traditional American Crafts: Colonial, Country, Victorian (BH&G) –$4.00
 
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Pocket Book of Integrals & Mathematical Formulas 2nd Edition by Ronald J. Tallarida –$1.00

Cliff’s Notes on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew –FREE with purchase

Writing in the Disciplines third edition Harcourt Brace –$2.00

Doing Research: The Complete Research Paper Guide by Dorothy U. Seyler –$2.00

National Geographic Society: Atlas of World History by Noel Grove –$7.00

National Geographic Society: The Wonders of the World: The Ancient, Midieval, Natural, Underwater & Modern World –$5.00

The Big Black Book (advice/tips/hints on practically every topic known to man!) –$4.00

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Irish Proverbs illustrated by Karen Bailey –$1.00

Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., & Erestine Gilbreth Carey –$1.00

She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall by Misty Bernall –$1.00

Italian Without Words: Now You Can Communicate in Italian Even if You Don’t Know a Single Word by Don Cangelosi and Joseph Delli Carpini –$1.00

How to Make a Pregnant Woman Happy: Solving Pregnancy’s Most Common Problems — Quickly & Effectively by Uzzi Reiss, M.D. & Yfat M. Reiss –$5.00

As Far As You Can Go Without a Passport: The View from the End of the Road by Tom Bodett –$2.00

The Redemption of Sarah Cain by Beverly Lewis (novel) –$3.00

The Prodigal Cat by Janette Oak (children’s novel) –$1.00

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Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey by Anna Zilboorg –$5.00

Crossword Puzzles for Dummies by Michelle Arnot –$2.00

Amish Life by John A. Hostetler –$3.00

Across America on an Emigrant Train by Jim Murphy –$3.00

The Buck Stops Here: The Presidents of the United States by Alice Provensen –$2.00

Sleep Sound in Jesus: Gentle Lullabies for Little Ones and Inspirational Devotions for Parents by Michael Card –$4.00
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The Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

Mustang Men (#10 The Sacketts) by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

The Sky-Liners (#12 The Sacketts) by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

Buckskin Run by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

Bowdrie by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

Last Stand at Papago Wells by Louis L’Amour –$1.00

Blue Feather by Zane Grey –$1.00

Or All seven for $5.00

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ExpressWays 2 -Second Edition by Steven J. Molinsky & Bill Bliss –$2.00

ExpressWays 3 -Second Edition by Stephen J. Molinsky & Bill Bliss –$2.00

ExpressWays 4 -Second Edition by Stephen J. Molinsky & Bill Bliss –$2.00 ea (3 copies)

Or all 5 for $7.00

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Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H. A. Guerber (copyright 189 –$3.00

History Stories for Primary Grades by John Wayland (copyright 1927) –$2.00

Stories of My Country’s Beginnings by Merlin & Jesse Ames & Odille Ousley (copyright 1944) –$2.00

Speech For All by Lyman M. Fort (copyright 1954) –$2.00

The Scientific Living Series: The How & Why Science Books: Through the Year (copyright 1947) –$2.00

Growth in Arithmetic 3 (copyright 1952) –$2.00

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What Would You Do? by Mel Poretz –$1.00

Decorating Dreams on a Budget by Emilie Barnes & Yoli Brogger –$2.00

The One-Minute Organizer Plain & Simple: 500 Tips for Getting Your Life in Order by Donna Smallin –$3.00

Stephen of Philadelphia: A Story of Penn’s Colony by James Otis (copyright 1910) –$2.00

Poor Richard by James Daugherty (copyright 1949) –$3.00

White Tail: King of the Forest by Nell Stolp Smock (copyright 193 (beautiful pencil drawings) –$4.00

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Homework Helpers: Critical Thinking Skills: Classification - Context Clues - Analogy –FREE with purchase

Frank Schaffer: Critical Thinking Grades 2-3 –$1.00

Basics First: Capitalization & Punctuation (Frank Schaffer) –$1.00

Basics First: Grammar (Frank Schaffer) –$1.00

Basics First: Vocabulary Development (Frank Schaffer) –$1.00

Living Language: Spanish All The Way: Conversation - Grammar - Culture - Reading - Writing
Eight 60 minute Cassettes - 416 page Manual –Basic - Intermediate –($15.29 lowest price on half.com) –$10.00

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Animals You Will Never Forget (Reader’s Digest) –$3.00

Homework Helpers: Time, Money, and Measurement Grades 1-2 (Frank Schaffer)
Homework Helpers: Phonics: Consonants - Blends - Vowels Grade 2 Book 1 (Frank Schaffer) –$1.00 for both

Classic Curriculum: Arithmetic Book 4 Series II Workbook (Mott Media) –$2.00

Young Observer: Tiger Sharks and other dangerous animals –$1.00

Young Observer: Black Holes and other space phenomena –$1.00

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A Teacher Resource Book for Middle & Upper Grades: Critical Thinking Skills: Math by Marilyn Neil –$3.00

How to do Models for Science Fair Projects Grades 2-6 (Frank Schaffer) –$1.00

Explode the Code 1 1/2 –$3.00

Rod & Staff Curriculum Sample Grade 1 –FREE with purchase

First Grade: Learning at Home by Ann Ward –$3.00

Folder of misc. worksheets –FREE with purchase

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Noodles and Pasta by Joy Davies (color pics) –$4.00

Better Homes & Gardens: Making a Home: Housekeeping for Real Life –$4.00

Taste of Home’s Light & Tasty Annual Recipes from 2003 (color pics) –$3.00

Fresh Ways with Pasta (color pics) –$3.00

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