Of Mice and Men

"The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry

and leave us not but grief and pain for promised joy."

  - Robert Burns

Or, in the original Scot, (read as you would Mike Meyer's character in "So I Married an Axe Murderer")

"The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!"

Petersons 1

Mouse 0

Give a mouse a cookie...

...or a bag of powdered sugar...

...and he'll move right in.

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon

I tried to find some nice headshots of Kevin Bacon, but he has a lot of awkward pictures, so I decided to post one of the most awkward ones I could find instead.

If you've ever wondered if you could be connected to Kevin Bacon in six steps, you can, because I can do it in four (that means you can do it in 5 if you know me). Here goes:

• I was in West Side Story with Jaymz Tuaileva
• Jaymz was a dancer in a scene in Legally Blonde 2 with Reese Witherspoon
• Reese Witherspoon was in Sweet Home Alabama with Fred Ward
• Fred Ward was in Tremors with Kevin Bacon

Ta Da! BTW, I get a kick out of this commercial.

Tamales and Sprite

A friend of mine recently recommended I keep track of the foods I've craved since I've been pregnant, so here's another pregnancy related post. Sorry if your getting sick of them. 

• Most recently, tamales and Sprite. I was worried I wouldn't be able to satiate the tamales craving (which I've had for about a week), then I learned that a Mexican restaurant in town sells them!  I might be visiting them more often. Tamales were all over in Utah. I got hooked on them when I lived on the farm, the Mexican employee would occasionally bring me homemade tamales and I would give him some of Scott's chocolate chip cookies. Those were good tamales.
• In the Mexican theme: I had about a two week period where I really wanted fresh churros. Unfortunately, I never found any.
• Sweet things
• Chex mix
• Cream cheese.  For about two months, cream cheese on anything sounded delicious.
• Good melted mozzarella cheese (on pizza or pasta or bread)
• Sweet and sour sauce
• During my first trimester I had a lot of anti-cravings where I didn't exactly crave a food, but the thought of eating anything but that food made me feel sick.  The most prominent of these was my party ham casserole week.  I ate this really basic casserole of egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, ham and croutons every day for a week, sometimes for lunch and dinner.
• Another anti-craving: waffles, specifically with strawberries and whip cream on top.

I wish I craved things like spinach and broccoli, because I really should try to eat better. Clearly none of my cravings have been very healthy... oh well.

The low point of American Cinema

On my way back from Kansas City tonight, a friend and I were discussing American cinema and its nadir.  I propose this.  What do you think?  You'll have a hard time topping roller skates, feathered hair, leg warmers, Olympian Muses, and Olivia Newton John.  Try it.

And if you have time, Britta and I both thought this was amazing.  Gene Kelly at his best.  On roller skates.  Yes.  Roller skates.

Bodycentric

My mom warned me that pregnant women become very bodycentric. I am constantly preoccupied with what's going on with my body. Here is my 24 week picture. I don't feel like my stomach looks that much bigger than my 20 week picture, but it sure feels bigger! There were a lot of things I was expecting with pregnancy, like food cravings, changing body size, backaches, etc, but here is a list of pregnancy related body things I did NOT know about or expect:

1. Charley horses. Who would've thought leg cramps were a part of pregnancy? I even have a book that warns me not to point my toes while I'm pregnant because I am susceptible to leg cramps. Weird. They've woken me up at night sometimes.
2. Bloody noses. Again, what's the connection to pregnancy? I don't get it. But they happen.
3. Gas. Yuck. nuff said.
4. Being SOOO hungry. I knew I would need to eat more being pregnant, but I didn't think that included hunger pangs as if I was living in a poverty stricken third world country every morning. If this is how babies feel when their hungry, no wonder they cry.
5. Wimpy joints (because of hormones not extra weight gain). I think I vaguely remember hearing about this one before I got pregnant, but it changes the way I do everything. I can't cross my legs for more than 10 or so minutes before my knees hurt. I can't run anymore because my knees hurt then, too. I can't lie on firm surfaces on my side because my shoulders will hurt. Speaking of lying down:
6. Not being able to lie on my back. I miss this one. If I lie on my back the weight of the baby hurts my spine, cuts of blood flow through my body, and interrupts digestion.
7. Insomnia. I don't think I've slept a fitful night of sleep since Thanksgiving, and it's not because I'm uncomfortable, it's not because I feel the baby all the time, it's just because my body won't stay asleep. This pattern has gotten really really annoying really fast.

I know there are dozens and dozens of other symptoms that some have and some don't during pregnancy, and there will probably be more that I experience. So far it's been a fascinating adventure, and it's only just beginning.

Feisty little girl

Scott's mom and sister stopped at our house last night on their road trip accross the country, and I got to play with one of the newer babies in the family. Lily is half Jack Russell terrior, half Pomeranian, but 100% action! She hardly stood still for a moment. I was surprised and delighted I got this picture. It looks like she posed, but it was seriously a split second pause as she ran past me.

Random ramblings of a pregnant lady

Ok, I seriously ate an hour and a half ago and I have hunger pangs as if I haven't eaten in days.

This morning as I was lying awake in bed and thinking of many things, I wondered how to spell the letters of the alphabet. Many of them are obvious, but I got stuck on H and W... aitch? eightch? For W would it just be double-you -ewe -yoo? Is there a proper way to spell letters? It's a pointless thought, I know, but it made me curious. Has anyone else ever wondered this?

It's cold outside

It is 6:30 am.

The temperature is -9 degrees Farenheit.

We have ice coating the inside of our old windows.

Our car won't start.

It is a cold day.

Life before baby

What a week! 50+ hours at work, 20+ hours with church responsibility, and 100+ hours of exhaustion... and I'm still not done. Sorry for the lack of a real post this week. Hopefully next week will be less hectic!

20 Weeks

Happy New Year everyone! For documentation sake, here is what I look like at 20 weeks. I'm in that slightly awkward phase where I don't quite fit into most of my regular clothes anymore, but I look like I'm wearing a tent in maternity clothes.

Thanks for all the guesses on gender... and we have an announcement: it's a girl! Well, we're pretty sure. We have a very modest baby. During the ultrasound she had her legs crossed at one time, her legs tightly together at another, and the umbilical cord between her legs at another time. The tech said she was pretty sure it looked like a girl and pointed out to us what we should be looking for in the ultrasound. It was neat.

Now, on to the name game...

What you don't want to see at 7:15 am...

...especially when you have a 7:30 test.

Keyhole iced over

Car door completely sealed shut

Entire car encased in 1/2 inch thick ice, some of it even thicker. This car isn't going anywhere fast. Luckily, Scott had a nice friend with a garage who picked him up for his test.

bits and pieces

A visual depiction of why new windows are a Spring priority for us.

Yes, that is ice building up on the inside of my window. Yes, the wood is so wet from years and years of this that it won't hold its paint anymore.

Ok, now for some pregnancy information indulgences, because I know you all want to know about me. (Ha ha, ok, I just want to tell you.) I think I felt the baby move last night, which was fun. The heartbeat this morning was at 147, and I have an ultrasound scheduled for December 31st. So what do you think we should have, a boy or a girl?

Last night I had another pregnant dream. I was a teenager back in the church building I grew up in and my youth leader was performing brain surgery on me as a birthday gift. My skull was just hanging open, and I felt really privileged because this was the only birthday gift I was getting that year. During her "surgery" I was sitting in a folding chair making small talk to all the other young women around me. Then the church meeting started and my leader went up to sit in the front row. I was near the back, but my skull was still hanging open. I was patient for a few minutes, but then I kept trying to get her attention so she could close up my skull. I didn't want my brain to dry out. I ended up closing it myself, but then got scolded by my mom because of it. Strange.

Chocolot

We have some good friends in Utah whose mother is a candy making artist!  She is starting her own artisan chocolate company and needed to test shipping methods.  Since we wanted to try her delicious masterpieces, we were lucky enough to be shipping guinea pigs.

They looked perfect and tasted delicious!  This picture doesn't do them justice.  I wanted to wait until Scott came home to share them with him, but I couldn't resist.  I ate three and three halfs before he got home!  I REALLY liked this one, this one and this one (which surprised me because normally I don't get too excited about peanuts) and I enjoyed gazing in awe at this one and this one... they tasted good, too, but they looked amazing.

Britta it's your birthday! Happy Birthday, Britta!

Imagine the title being sung by an overweight, middle-aged, escaped convict who thinks he's Michael Jackson and you've got the song playing in my head. This is your beautiful birthday picture taken at 6:09 am. You are even winking at me!

Happy Birthday, Britta.  Here are some things I love about you:

1. Your smile
2) Your eyes
3)Your smarts
4) Your arts
And since we are like two birds of a feather

we will always be so happy together
Happy Birthday, Beautiful Britta.  I love you.

If I were a celebrity...

...everyone would be talking about my baby bump.

But as things are, no one notices yet (except me!)

I had a funny dream this week and I'm blaming it on pregnancy. I dreamt I was craving the taste of cigarette butts. And I ate like 8 of them in my dream! Just chewed the filter, paper, burnt end and all, and it was totally satisfying. But I had to sneak them when no one was looking because that's just gross.

It was a dark and stormy (AND COLD!) night

Last night, Britta and I returned home to Missouri. Before we left for Minnesota we turned down our heater and so we expected to return to a chilly house.

Oh, boy. Was it chilly.

In sifting through our mail, Britta discovered a note from our local gas company which told us they had turned off our gas on Tuesday.
We weren't too bothered by that, and I'll tell you why:
When we moved into our house in late July, we called the city to have our water turned on. No problem.
We called the power company to have the account set in our name. No problem.
We called to set up internet service for Britta's work. No problem.
We called the gas company to have the account set in our name. Here's a transcript of the conversation:
Me: Hi. My wife and I just moved in and need to set up an account for our gas service.
ATMOS Energy: No problem. I'll just look up the current account. What is your address? (I give them our address). . . Okay. Well I'm not showing that we have any gas service going to that address which means that there is probably no hook-up to worry about.
Me: So, there is no gas line here?
A: Nope.
Me: So our heater is not gas? (btw: our water heater was electric and there was not a visible pilot light or gas line to our heater that I noticed at the time)
A: No. It could be electric.
Me: One less thing to worry about.
A: One less thing to worry about. Can I help you with anything else?
Me: Why would you ask that question if you knew we didn't have a gas line? Weirdo.

Okay, that is just about verbatim. Except that last line, which was really, "Nope. Bye".
Turns out that our heater was gas. Turns out we never set up an account. Turns out that the coldest week of the year was this week. Turns out our house was just above freezing last night.
So when Britta and I investigate further, I discover a gas line to to the heater hidden behind it and wedged between it and the wall. I pull off the panel and: no pilot light.
No heat

We called about eight friends/various leadership in our ward. No answers. We called one more and asked for a space heater. Luckily, he had two. With our oven on and two space heaters going, we bundled up in about five layers of clothing and three blankets (including our down comforter) and made it through the night.
The gas guy is coming back today.
I can't wait to have a warm home again.
Ah, the lessons I have learned (i.e. never trust customer service reps; OF COURSE it is a gas heater!!) and the story we now have to tell our children.

This is what makes marriages sweet.

On Wednesday, Britta and I went to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. We had some fun. It was cold. Here are the pictures. The end.

What I'm grateful for (cheese-y)

You help to make life fun and exciting.
Knowing that your compliments and expressions of love are sincere fills me with happiness.
Britta, you are what I am most grateful for. You are the greatest part of me. All that I do is for you and our future together.
I trust you.
I believe in you.
I love you.

Impetus

im⋅pe⋅tus [im-pi-tuh s]
–noun, plural -tus⋅es.
1. a moving force; impulse; stimulus: The grant for building the opera house gave impetus to the city's cultural life.
2. (broadly) the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.

Have you ever been involved in a conversation and a word pops out of your mouth that fits perfectly into what you're trying to say, and it's a cool word that you don't remember ever using before? That happened to me today. I feel cool cause I used the word 'impetus' and it was just what I meant to say.

(This makes me especially happy considering my speak impediment.)