Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat
I'm a mutt
Turn around
I'll sniff your butt

(hattip Patty K)

Craving of the Week

I haven't had many cravings in this pregnancy, but last Thursday I discovered this tasty treat, the Twisted Frosty from Wendy's. I like mine with chocolate ice cream and Oreo. They're far superior to the flurry or blizzard because of the Frosty base. I liken it to a frozen milkshake. I've had three in less than 7 days and I see no end in sight.

30 weeks

Today I start my 30th week.



Boy have things changed a lot. I don't feel that large until I look in the mirror. Charlotte moves all the time now and it seems to be more of a squirming and adjusting than just small kicks. Heartburn has also started, but it's not too bad. I still sleep through the night just fine. I can't see my feet, but I can still reach them to get my socks on. Maggie's walks are getting a bit more cumbersome, mostly because I wish I could squat and pee on the neighbor's lawns just about as often as she does. I have started nesting a bit, which I find a whole lot of fun because I'm getting so many random things done. I've dusted fan blades, cleaned out the medicine cupboard, and repainted our entry door. I don't think Brian's fond of the nesting, because I rope him into the projects too.

Brian is attending the "Just for Dads" class at the hospital tonight - he'll learn diapering, stroller know-how, and hopefully some ways to support me during labor! I'm excited to hear how it goes.

Tiny head

This afternoon I knit up my fresh handspun into a little hat for Charlotte while I watched Charlotte's Web (the remake). Charlotte was a very nice spider. I hope my daughter is that kind.
The hat is a simple stockinette with a rolled brim. I followed the basic instructions from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Knitting Rules." She says newborns have a 14" head and 5" to the crown. Since my gauge was 4 stitches/inch, I cast on 56 stitches. I then knit in the round for 5" and made three rows of decreases with a plain row in between each decrease row. I finished it off with a purse string cinch at the top. It was a quick knit - I finished it before the movie was even over. I also love that the purple stripe showed up conveniently in the middle of the hat. I did try to get Maggie to model the hat for the blog, but she wasn't having it.
I won't have enough left to make me a hat too, but I think I'll make a hat with a matching stripe or mittens.

I'm taking what they giving

cuz I'm working for a living.

Today is my first weekend shift at the family practice in Grand Haven. So far so good. I've seen about 4 patients already. They've all been nice and straight forward urgent care type visits. I should be home by the time Brian gets home from church and get to enjoy a nice afternoon with him.

I have a new nephew!

The newest addition to my family was born yesterday - Matthew Richard. He looks just precious. You can see Jacqueline's recap here. I can't believe she's found time to blog already. I just love that she calls the labor "serene." That gives me hope as I enter my 30th week. I can't wait to meet him.

Zombies

Grand Rapids is doing something cool, how bout that? On October 30th, bring your best zombie costume and meet us at Rosa Parks Circle to help set a new world record...unless you're too scared that is. Then you can stay home under the covers and watch Grey's Anatomy.

Are we bad neighbors?

The house across from up was up for sale most of the year and finally sold about 2 months ago. About 1 month ago the neighbor to the left put her house up for sale. Today, our (favorite) neighbors just to the right of us listed their house. Do we smell?

The exam is over and all is well with my chunk of the world. I won't get my results for a couple of weeks, so I'll try to put it out of my mind. It took me 3 1/2 hours, but afterwards I got to join my husband for lunch in downtown GR and visit his office. He was amazed that I haven't seen his office after almost two years of him working there.

After spoiling Maggie with a trip to the park, I sat down to get acquainted with my wheel and catch up on some Desperate Housewives and Heroes. I really need to think of a name for my wheel. I'm feeling like it's a she, but I don't have any ideas for a name just yet. I spun up half of my Bluefaced Leicester. This is a really nice fiber to work with because the staple length is nice and long. The colorway is Spring Garden. I can't wait to finish it so I can see how it knits up.

The time has come

Saturday was the big day. We dropped Maggie for a free day of daycare and drove to Howell to get my new spinning wheel from The Spinning Loft. The fall colors were just gorgeous all along the highway. I can't help but think how any other year we would go on a wine tasting tour on a weekend like this. I can't wait to have a nice glass of Chardonnay after this baby is born!

As soon as we got home, I popped my new Kromski Sonata out of the travel bag and assembled it. One of my favorite features about this wheel is how it collapses so nicely for travel.


Here it is, folded right in half. All I have to do is unscrew one knob, pull up the wheel, and reinsert the knob to hold it upright.


Then I drop the maiden onto the top of the wheel and pull up the elastic driveband.


Wha-la. It's ready to go! I picked up some new roving to add to my stash too, so I can't wait to get spinning. I found some beautiful blue faced leicester made by Chameleon Color Works. There's plenty there to make a hat for baby and have more left over to put into a project for myself.


But for now, I just have to look at the wheel because the most important thing I have to do is study for my recertification exam. I'm taking it this Tuesday. Send positive thoughts and prayers my way on Tuesday morning!

Rudeness

Oprah talked today about rude habits that people have and I have to say, although I feel I can be quite abrupt to the point I may come off as rude, I do not feel like I am rude in my actions.

Some examples of rude behavior she brought up included:
Checking out in the 10 item grocery lane with more than 10 items.
Stealing another person's parking space.
Answering a non-emergent cell phone call while talking to someone face-to-face.
Texting while driving or having a conversation (Brian!)
And my personal favorite....being habitually late. I've always hated this one, because as Oprah brought up, the late person is behaving as though their time is more valuable.

The only one I could really admit to was e-mailing while I'm talking on the phone. I just see that one as time-management, but perhaps I'll refrain next time. Oh, and that I gossip. But it would take a saint to not gossip.

Does anyone else have any rude behaviors that they hate to see?

She overstayed her welcome

This weekend Maggie went with us to Chicago. While there, she slept, passed gas, and chewed through a few speaker wires. Yesterday, one of Brian's friends sent him this "found" photo. Do you think Maggie is no longer a welcome guest?

My husband is a marathon man!

Brian successfully finished the marathon yesterday at 4:23. It was a tough go, especially with 90 degree heat plus that great Midwest humidity. I got to cheer him on as he trudged across the finish line. I am so proud of him! He's had great support from many friends along the way, whether they helped him with a training program, ran with him through the race, or donated money to the Alzheimer's campaign. This was really a team effort.





Meagan's knee did not cooperate with her at all. She's had knee pain for the last couple months. She did the best she could to get it better, even let a doctor put a cortisone shot in. (Anyone who knows Meagan knows that takes a lot because she hates needles.) She suffered through the pain until mile 10, but had to drop out. She's already planning her next marathon, though.

We're headed out to the great Chicago today for the marathon on Sunday. Brian will be running it along with my little sister (if her knee will behave). She is taking the train in to Chicago from New York today, so we both took the day off work to meet up with her. Nothing like sleeping in on a Friday! I have studying to do this weekend as my recertification exam is rapidly approaching, but I also have some Christmas knitting projects for fun.
So, think of our runners on Sunday. I'm sure I'll have photos to post next week.

I finally did it

I stumbled out of bed at 6:30 today (on my day off no less), pulled on my bathing suit (thank you for the miracle of Lycra), and drove to my first water aerobics class. I was more than a little hesitant when I walked into the locker room and found all women at least twice my age. I immediately thought that the class synopsis which read "low-medium impact" should say, "about as much exercise as a stroll around the block." It turned out that I had a lot of fun! The teacher and classmates were very inviting. I even found some fellow knitters! The work out was decent and the teacher promised to step it up a bit next week. She claimed she took it easy on us this week since it was my first class.
It definitely felt nice to be weightless, although a bit cold, in the water. When I stepped out of the pool, I felt as though I had gained an extra 100 pounds. I'll definitely try it again next week.

Finished Knitting

I've had a lot of small knitting projects on my needles. I'm overdue to share some of them.

This week I finished a pair of baby mittens from leftover sock yarn. They're quite simple as they're thumbless. You carry two strands of fingering weight yarn so they're warm enough. I found the pattern here.



(I put them next to Maggie so you can see their relative size. You can see she was not too thrilled to be bothered from her nap. She just had a good romp at the dog park.)

This baby blanket is something I have been working on since July. The stockinette center was quite a bore and I really ought to have used a knitting machine. The lace edge was knit separately and stitched on. This is actually a gift, and I won't say who for just now. The pattern is the Queen of Heats lace-edged Newborn Blanket, free at Lion Brand Yarn's website.



For Jacqueline's baby shower, I made her my favorite strawberry hat as well as some Better-than-Booties Baby Socks. I hope to make my nephew many more handknits, but now that I'll have two nephews and my own child, I'm dreaming to think I can knit everything I want to for them.





That's all for today!

Today...
I proudly accomplished conflict resolution in the work place. It felt great.
I managed to finish work by 5 pm, and walked out smiling.
I gave in to the chill of fall and turned on the heat.

All I want to do now is snuggle with my puppy under a blanket, fall asleep on the couch and sleep in until the sun shines. Alas, it's only Thursday night, so maybe tomorrow. Instead, I'll watch the debate and laugh at the silly corner Palin dorks herself into.