It's only money, I can get more?

Does anyone know how to escape Target without spending $50?? I bought ONE frivilous item--a $3 tube of Burt's Bees chapstick. I'm not kidding, the rest was cleaning supplies, toiletries and toilet paper for my new peeing hobby. Jeff, on the other hand, bought some gadgets to use at work which he is very excited about. He rigged up a sharpie on a retractable key chain so he can clip it to his shorts at work and whip out the sharpie with the greatest of ease. Haha. And he got a flashlight that can be seen from 2 miles away. It's all very exciting. ;)

We went to The Cellar last night for dinner with Jeff's friends Jeff and Laurie. We sat at the bar downstairs, so we got to have Nate's buddy Tom as our bartender/waiter. I ordered a pasta special, striped pasta with marscapone cheese and sundried tomatoes--it was pretty tasty. And it really was striped with red! We got to see Obama's suprise attack while we were there--everyone was pretty excited--no Republicans in that room! We also dropped by Rivermill and checked out the new music venue--The Lantern--which used to be a skeezy dance club with really scary booty dancing. The Lantern is definitely an improvement! One of Jeff's friends was drumming in the band that was playing. They played some pretty cool covers.
Okay, time to attack some homework!

Second trimester, here we come!

Well, almost! We've made it to the thirteenth week :) And still no morning sickness, woohoo! M&M should be around three inches long and now has fingerprints! Pretty cool, huh?

In other news... Doggie-Smack-Down-Week (as Bri so aptly named it) has returned. Luci has been a regular house guest since Jeff has been working so much, and Ari has decided to pee all over the apartment to establish her domain. Marty's advice to me was that I need to re-establish who the real top dog is (that would be me). So Ari is getting alphaed everytime she decides to disobey and they're no longer allowed to wrestle and run all over the house 24-7. So far, it seems to be working, no pee for the last day... Horray!
Also--this past Friday my 2.5 year internship at Danaher finally came to a close. I think I hold the record, haha. I'm actually relieved, I was pretty bored. So, the job search begins :) So far, I've applied for a bank job and a couple of clerical positions. I don't think I'll have any issues since all of my classes are online this semester. And, I should be a shoe-in for Medicaid now. Yay for free medical! One more thing, I have a new hobby--peeing. No kidding, I think it's been around 15 times today. Eek!

To Lime? To Salt?

We all like to frequent a Mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo because of their large margaritas and excellent deals on Dos Equis... Our favorite waiter will ask, "To lime? To salt?" for each drink order. It's pretty comical.
Anyway, if you haven't guessed, M&M is now lime sized and weighing in at half an ounce. This is one fast growing baby! Apparently this is a big week for reflexes.

Mom, Bri and Nate all left yesterday morning. We all had a good time, even with 6 of us squished into my tiny apartment, plus 2 dogs :) Nickie & Gene lent me their awesome air mattress--which is more like a blow up queen size bed--and it took up most of the living room! As predicted--there was much activity centered around eating. Ha ha. But we did make it to the Floyd Jamboree on Friday, the farmer's market in Roanoke on Saturday, Chateau Morrisette on Sunday, and played a few games of Scrabble and Balderdash in between.

On several car rides--Mom, Bri and Nate worked on name suggestions for M&M. They came up short. But maybe this is because they were listing off every street sign in sight--and then moved on to naming characters from movies or trashy romance novels. Such as Atticus, Scout, Trevelyan, Percival, Ginny, Harry, Ariel, Aurora--and they only got more ridiculous. Mom really likes Francesca and Olivia. I like Olivia, but Jeff and I both agree that Francesca is out--we don't like the nick name Fran, or Frannie... Too plain! Anyone have any boy name ideas? Girl names?

Biznatch arrives today!

Otherwise known as Nate :)

The Mom is arriving in T-10 hours!

And she's waiting to board her plane right about now! Nine more hours of traveling and she'll arrive in good old Roanoke. Sans Cleo. Don't let the picture confuse you...
Tonight we won't get to do much since she gets in so late--but hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get some quality mother-daughter time in :) Jeff is going to take her hiking to McAfee's Knob on Thursday--it has a great view, I think she'll enjoy it. Nate is coming in on Thursday (i already have cheese & crackers waiting for you Biznatch!) and Bri on Friday morning. My apartment is going to be packed! Ari will be so excited.
Speaking of Ari--she's been mopey lately, so yesterday I bought her three new toys. Her favorite, of course, is the new nyla-dental bone. She likes to sit on the couch with me and chew her bone--which I'm not crazy about, but tolerate because I'm a sucker! She's also making out in the food department. I cut her new food back too much and her little ribs started showing. So I kind of freaked out and have been feeding her lots of tasty snacks.
Jeff has been working like a dog--yesterday he worked from 9am-midnight. He said he smelled like a chicken wing by the end. Luckily, I didn't have to find out if that was true! I won't even see him until Thursday. But he's off for the weekend after that--so plenty of quality time with Mom, Bri and Nate :)
Side Note: It really annoys me that I haven't gained any weight--but my jeans barely close. WTF??

Eleven weeks and counting!

M&M has now reached fig status. Are figs any bigger than a kumquat? Well apparently this measures about 1.5" long. M&M is almost fully formed (crazyness!). Bones are hardening and apparently M&M is having a good time kicking and stretching--and could even be hiccupping.
Side Note: Jeff thinks I'm jinxing us by refering to M&M as a "she"... and we can't have that--so no more she talk!

My mom is coming in tomorrow night--so guess what I'm doing tonight?! That's right--crazy cleaning. I've already warned Mike to look out for the scary cleaning machine (me). Alright--time to forage for food... ;)

The Return of $10

My roomie has returned! And he's sporting a new haircut! I barely recognized him when he took his hat off. He looks so young--he hates that! Ha ha ha.

Yesterday Jeff and I went to visit some of his good friends who had a baby girl yesterday morning. I was afraid to hold her--but Jeff was pretty comfortable with it--at least one of us is!! I just kept looking at her the whole time thinking, how in the HELL am I going to squeeze that out??!

Later we went to Thai with Eric, Nichole, Nickie and Gene. I don't think M&M likes Thai food--which is unfortunate for me :( I hated my dish (Orangy Cashew Beef), but everyone else tried it and liked it. Boo!

And even later, after Mike arrived, we went for a celebratory beer at the Rivermill(don't worry, no beer for me!). Coincidentally it was Jeff's last night working at the Rivermill, which is kind of sad. He's an institution in that place! Rivermill just won't be the same without him.

Another Theory... (just for bri)

Have you ever sat down to a tasty, steaming stir-fry--and suddenly it hits you... What's the deal with the baby corn? Why is it so tiny? Where does it come from?
I have the answer. Baby corn is the stunted, reject corn from the regular corn crop harvest. Yup--it's not baby corn at all! More like, the outcasts of the corn community. Never to reach the full potential of the regular, normal corn. Forever stuck in stir-frys and pasta salads.
I hope you won't discriminate against baby corn because it's a stunted reject. Personally I'm an equal opportunity corn eater.

In other news...
Mom is coming in to visit the 'Burg on Tuesday night--with Bri & Nate also visiting the following weekend. I'm not sure what we're doing yet, but I've got a feeling it's going to involve copious amounts of eating :) Mom turns into the queen of snack whenever she leaves Phoenix (it's true Mom!) and I'm sure Nate & Bri will be happy to follow her lead!

Possessed Dogs
Last night around midnight, I'd just settled into bed, cozied up with a Janet Evanovich novel. A few minutes later, Ari started growling and barking from her crate, which is right next to my bed. Luci responded with a deafening bark. I didn't hear a thing besides the whir of a/c units from the apartment complex. This barking back and forth continued for about ten minutes, with me yelling at them in-between to shut their traps. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and shoved both of them in the hallway and slammed the door. It worked! Ahhh, beautiful silence.

I have a theory...

Have you ever wondered why we have all of these pointless states in the middle? How on earth did they ever come to be? Who exactly would deign to live there? Do we need them? I have a theory that answers all of these questions:
The Oregon Trail!
That's right!! The people who settled in the boring, pointless states such as: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas(sorry Tara!), Missouri, Idaho... These were the people whose wagons broke down. They over-packed their wagons and broke the axles. You might be thinking, well, what about Arkansas(sorry Ash!) and Oklahoma? How in the hell did they come about? Those states were settled by the people who chose to take the "road less traveled". Yup, they were trying to avoid traffic--and it backfired. The wagons broke down. So not only were they too far from the trail to get help--they were stuck in Arkansas and Oklahoma. So there you have it--the mystery is solved! You're welcome! ;)

158 minutes of my life are forever lost...

Last night we subjected ourselves to "There Will Be Blood". At first, I thought it was going to be a pretty good movie. There was creepy string music which was apparently composed by a member of Radiohead--it was reminiscent of the "Ravenous" soundtrack. (side note: "ravenous", a civil war movie involving cannibals, had me so freaked out i was afraid to use the movie theater bathroom alone, for fear of being attacked and thrown into a stew!) There was also a crazy religious cult leader and his creepy followers. Sounds promising, right? WRONG!! The movie went on and on and on--without any real change or climax. Or maybe that was the movie magic I missed--perhaps they were just trying to drive home the misery by keeping the same dreary monotony? I just expected more plot-wise I suppose.

On a positive note--this pregnancy stuff isn't so bad thus far! Other than constantly feeling the need to shove food in my face and nap--I'm feeling pretty good :) I don't think I've ever been so food focused. I wake up hungry, which is totally abnormal for me, and I'm pretty much hungry on the hour all day. I'm a bottomless pit!

Drum Roll Please!

Yes, M&M is now comparable to a kumquat. What a strange little fruit! Apparently you have to chew the sweet skin to counteract the super-tart juice inside. I've never tried one, but I think I'm going to pick one up next time I'm at the grocery.
Back to the subject at hand... M&M is an inch long this week! Her kidneys, intestines and brain are beginning to function--and her liver is even making red blood cells. She has a giant head--it's half the size of her body! I'm amazed that so much action takes place in so little time.

In other news...
I made some blueberry and walnut pancakes yesterday that were yummy--and it was my first pancake attempt without the aid of Bisquick--which is FULL of trans fats FYI!
Jeff & I went to Kabuki for dinner last night to celebrate the closing year of my twenties. Boo! But dinner was tasty, and we were the only two at the table--it was nice to have our own personal chef :) Jeff claims he rented out the place--haha.
I received a new cactus(one of my gifts from Jeff), Seῆor Spiney, who is chillin villain style in my windowsill. So now I have a little bit of my beloved Arizona in this overly green state of VA :) I got a bunch of calls and texts yesterday--it was nice to hear from everyone--thank you!!
We've been watching a lot of movies instead of going out--this weekend we watched Charlie Bartlett, 21 and Death at a Funeral. Bri talked me into renting Enchanted--which was cute, I admit. But it would have been a lot more entertaining twenty years ago! Sorry Bri! :0

Spoils

The Captain (Captain Peanut) was in! We also found some organic honey and lemon crumb cookies--made by Mennonites. According to Jeff, if someone wearing a bonnet made it--it has to be good. Maybe it's a valid theory, they're pretty tasty :)

Tatatouille

So, you think the baby's arms will look like Jeff's?
photo: Christina OConnor, 16 Blocks Magazine

"The baby? I don't really know much about it other than, I mean, it has fingernails, allegedly." (Juno)

M&M may not have fingernails as of yet--but she (my wishful thinking) is starting to grow some microscopic teeth! Her heart is also almost fully formed, and her "tail" is about gone. She's also been compared to several different kinds of foods--which are doubling in size each new week. Last week (week nine), she was a kidney bean. Now, towards the end of week nine, she's a grape or green olive. Stay tuned to find out next week's mystery fruit... ;)

In other news... (those of us who have all of our body parts)
Jeff is starting his new job on Monday. After six years at the Rivermill--he's pretty excited for a change of pace!
My last day of summer school was yesterday and I'm happy for the break. I managed to finish up well, despite the recent distractions! Finally, I can read the pile of books I've been wanting to read, guilt-free :) Bri sent me some new vampire books I'm excited to try out.
Steppin' out is happening this weekend in the 'Burg and Ian's girlfriend Sedef is in town from Turkey for the weekend--so Jeff and I are going to hang out with them at Steppin' Out Saturday and possibly check out the wine tasting at Vintage Cellar. I will be living vicariously through the three of them of course--maybe I'll bring a snack to keep M&M satisfied. Or maybe I'll just camp out at the peanut stand--they have like 10 flavors of roasted peanuts--yum!