No Louisville stand-outs, bool club, CA, and marriage

I should clarify from my last entry that I didn't know GOING IN to last Wed that anyone I knew could potentially be trying out for American Idol. I was just HOPEFUL. I went to a high school with a Youth Performing Arts program that knocked the socks off of any local school. For this reason, I just assumed some aspiring artist from little ole Louisville would hit it big time. But I my hopes were dashed. No such luck! I did see someone from Columbus, OH dancing like a mad man. It was not pretty.

So I started a book club. YEY. Last Thurs was our first meeting - just to organize. We giggled and got to know each other. What a fun bunch of ladies! Isn't a group of women a powerful force. I'm gonna harness that kind of energy one day and turn it into a perfume fragrance. I'll be the next bagillionaire. The club will be picking its first selected reading next week. Anybody got any ideas?

Also big: I'm going to CA this weekend. Me and my 31 week pregnant self are going to sunny LA to have a little vaca with my hubby. He'll be working and I guess I'll find something to do with my time while he's making millions for Mayo. 68 degree weather? Heated pool? Lots of pleasure reading? Lots of journaling? Lots of ME time? I think I'll find a way to survive without him. But there will be great moments together when Scott's free too... like bonding with some of our long lost friends who live there: Phil Verhoff (Scott and Phil were inseparable when they lived in Cleveland... Phil educated himself at Case Western and subsequently found himself residence-ing in LA... he's a brilliant doctor), Sam and Amber Jaeger (Sam is a buddy of Scott's from OC days who dreamed big to make it amongst the Hollywood dreamers... and he did! He was 2nd leading man on the hit show Eli Stone... at least it was a hit in my book... but ABC just took it off the air. Darn them!), and Shad Hart (another of Scott's college friends who is SUCH a good friend... he is the BEST at long, real conversations and that's exactly what we'll do after he picks me up from the airport in the midst of LA rush hour traffic... Scott has already left and I leave tomorrow). So, as I'm sure is coming across loud and clear, I'M PUMPED!

Did I mention Jackson's staying behind? Sitter Cassie, who has faithfully committed to add Jackson into her family plans for the long weekend, is our lifesaver for this trip. I'm already a BIT droopy thinking about going away without him. But - believe me - my droopiness is MORE than compensated for by ENDORPHINS at thinking of hours on end of free time! Yippee!

Lastly, I have been sharing this with people for awhile now. So I'm just going to get it out there... I want to be able to marry people. I'm not interested in committing to a Masters of Divinity (YET, anyway... ). But, according to Joey's (on Friends) path to marriage licensing, there are more informal routes. I still have yet to research the stipulations individual states have in place, but it appears that becoming "ordained" and capable of marrying a couple is as easy as 1, 2, 3 on the internet. More to come on this. I clearly am at the VERY beginning of my research. Like so many other things...

It's been a random entry. But that's the beauty of blogging.

Waiting for one of my long lost childhood friends...

... to show up on American Idol's try outs tonight.

They're taking place in Louisville, my hometown... at Churchill Downs, no less. I have this crazy feeling Paula, Simon, Randy, and that new chick are gonna come across someone I know. I'm waiting on the edge of my seat.

Girls just want to have fun

What a delicious weekend I just had. The group of girlfriends known as "The Girlfriends Club" entered my life as a collective entity in 2002 (i think?). I remember the first "retreat" happening during a very melancholy and confusing time (some, including me, call it the "Quarterlife Crisis" - so does John Mayer in one of his songs!). That three-day retreat filled my cup back up in ways I didn't even realize until months, even years after.

It amazes me that although I enter into these Girlfriends Club Retreats in different personal places, I always come out feeling the same: filled up. Jackson and I arrived Friday night and stayed till Monday. Grandma Lynette took the testosterone (Jackson) out of the mix on Saturday afternoon so that it could be "just girls" from there on. We met in Circleville, as we often do, in Carey's amazing home.

Thank you Becky, KK, Carey, Beth (and Delaney, Beth's newest baby girl addition) for always filling me up. You are forever friends, without whom I'd be far less of a woman.

If Jackson's moments with Delaney are any sign of what kind of big brother he'll be, we're looking at one curious, affectionate, in-your-face sibling. (but he showed only a very small sign of jealousy, which is good!). Thanks, Delaney, for giving Jackson a head's up for what's in store!

Tomorrow is the big day!

I called Dad's cell, and he and Nancye are in Charlotte safe and sound. They will be staying there overnight, where my aunt and uncle (dad's brother) live (Aunt Donna and Uncle Glenn). And tomorrow morning Dad and Nancye will be wed! They take off shortly thereafter for Hilton Head, a favorite vacation spot for both of them, for their honeymoon.

Since it is designed to be such a small occasion, the Arthur's will not be in attendance. But I wish them well. It is all new for me to have a stepmom. Nobody THINKS that they are going to have a stepmom. But I have one now. And she is great. Nothing is certain in life except for change... isn't that how it goes?

Is it bad....

...to heat your oven to 350 degrees JUST to bake 2 blobs of cookie dough?

Cuz that's what I am doing right now.

I needed two cookies, what can I say? And by need, I mean NEED.

Note: I am generally very conscious of waste, including energy waste. But need, is need.

I'm an idiot

I made in impromptu stop to the grocery store on the way home from work a couple days ago. Picking up Jackson, of course, then comes next. Between him, his backpack, my purse, and my school bag, you can imagine my hands are usually pretty full.

Do you know where this is going?

My rotisserie chicken, two gallons of milk, tortilla shells, and hair mousse sat in the trunk until 10pm that night, when I yelled down (i was already 3/4 of the way to bed) to Scott, "YIKES [or something LIKE that!] - There are groceries in the trunk!!!" He, dutifully, retrieved them and placed in the appropriate INDOOR places.

Thank goodness Minnesota provides a nice ice box for a garage...

A normal third trimester?

What's that look like?

It was this very time (today, to be precise), at the 28 week mark, in my first pregnancy that a visit with my OB resulted in bed rest. I believe it was called "Level 2" bed rest at that time, which meant I could be on my feet for short intervals and could still do steps, but otherwise needed to take it easy (I later was escalated to Level 3 bed rest, which literally meant BUMP ON LOG - no walking accept to the bathroom! As you can imagine, I broke the rules a bit from time to time!). I stopped teaching at 28 weeks. I stopped cooking at 28 weeks. I stopped cleaning at 28 weeks. It was heaven and hell all at the same time!

Not to mention, as I look back, this was when Mom was failing quickly. I made the last trip to Louisville before she died during the 28th week of pregnancy (my OB raised her eyebrow pretty high at my insistance to make this trip, but compromised by making me promise not to drive - instead Lynette drove me to a half-way point, where Dad picked me up and finished the drive... then Theresa did the same for the way home).

What a weird third trimester I had with the twins... not only was it cut in half, due to premature delivery, but those 6 weeks were spent feeling pretty darn helpless. And yet I knew in my helplessness to do ANYTHING else (be with my mom, prepare the nursery for the babies, cook for my husband, NEST, or do anything productive) that I was helping my babies ( be letting them cook a little longer). And I that's all it took to keep me grounded and sane.

So here I am in pregnancy #2 experiencing from this point forward a new side of being pregnant... I plan on teaching up till this baby pops out, and it's strange to think I'll be doing all the other normal tasks till then too (I have to clean my own house? I have to cook my own food? I have to run to Target and buy the newborn diapers myself? I have to pack my own hospital-prep bag?). And I also get to experience another first: getting so uncomfortable and sick n tired of being pregnant that I'll WANT to deliver. I've heard women gripe in their 38th - 40th, 41st, 42nd weeks... but I do not know what that's like (cuz all I ever wanted to do was KEEP THOSE BABIES IN!). Yeehaa. Bring it on, third trimester!! I'm ready!

Transition in the Making

The sailboat/lighthouse theme

We have officially finished Jackson's BIG BOY room. Isn't it cute? We initially fell in love with the "Cape Cod" theme at Babies R Us, and Grandma Lynette helped buy a few of the starters.... then Scott and I took the ball and rolled with it, accenting on our own. I ESPECIALLY am proud of the paint job we did on the little lamp table and Jackson's chest. We're talking HAND ME DOWN, RAGGAMUFIN, DONE-PUT-IN-THEIR-TIME pieces of furniture that, with a fresh coat of paint, look like a million bucks! I could give you more evidence of the STEALS of DEALS I got along the way (lamp, curtain rod, etc), but you'd be bored. Bottom line: I'm proud of myself.

Speaking of BIG BOY, look at the new addition to our half bath:

We are training the little tike to wash his hands before every meal (it'd be a lot easier as parents to encourage Jackson to do if we were any good at it ourselves!). Both for this purpose and the purpose of potty training down the road, I bought this little wooden step. From TJ Maxx Homegoods store. I got it fot next to nothing because it read "Nicholas." Not a problem for a thrifty gal like me - a little paint and the Nicholas stool became the Jackson stool!

Bow-Legged Boot-Wearer

I got these AWESOME, spunky little treat of a pair of boots for Christmas from Dad. My thinking is that they will serve the purpose of post-snow-slush wear. Whenever snow actually melts around here, anyway.

Jackson expressed such interest in them that I decided he should give them a go.

Welcome 2009!

Happy NEW YEAR! We had a wonderfully relaxed and fun evening at the Dieter home last night. And when we are at the Dieter home, there too will be karaoke. This time, the American Idol Wii came got busted out for the first time. As you can see, Scott confused the New Year's Party for a Christmas sweater party. Not sure what was going on in his head during his outfit prep time.

It was our first New Years in the Central Time Zone, so it felt weird to bring in the New York New Year at 11:00 our time (watched the ball drop and the whole bit)... then to have our own private little moment when it was officially midnight.

Hope everyone was safe and cozy last night!

Jamie, a know-the-words-to-every-song wizard was rocking the girl's team in this pic

Arthurs, Dieters, and Rosses