Overly Sensitive or Jerky Co-Worker?

Today we had a homeroom. My homeroom is way down the hall and on the first floor, so I was hurrying to get there.

I was rushing down the hall and a co-worker (who is 5'2" and gained 70 lbs with her pregnancy, not that I am spiteful...) was walking toward me. She giggled a little and said, "I think you are waddling."

Ouch, that hurts. Am I being overly sensitive or is that a comment that is just better kept to yourself (even if it has a shred of truth)?

Oh well, I am off to the doctor's office, so he can tell me my feet are puffy.

Happy Friday (only 5 days of school left)!

Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower last Saturday. It was wonderful. The two ladies who planned the even are Sara and Mary (dear friends and extra mothers to me).

Mary and Sara were so thoughtful (and they knew our baby room has a farm theme) and asked another lady from our church if we could have the party at her "home." Her "home" is pictured below. To me, it looked like a medieval castle, but it is actually a renovated horse stable that was used to house the horses for a nearby quarry. It was built in the late 1800's. It was beautiful. I couldn't imagine a more picturesque setting.

This is the view from the front door. It is of "the office," which was built the same year.

This was the view as I was pulling out of the driveway. A beautiful old church. All of the buildings were made from rock out of the local quarry more than 100 years ago.

I don't know how to enlarge the picture (sorry). This was one of the gifts. A lady from my Bible Study made this blanket for me. I received lots of wonderful presents.
All of the ladies watching me open gifts. As I opened them, they each told something they remembered about their firstborn or first birth. I learned a lot...
I think I am officially ready (as ready as I will ever be) to bring home a baby. Lee and I spent part of our holiday weekend setting up the baby room. I will take pictures soon.

Would you want to be related to these people?

During our family graduation celebration, I started to look around and notice the physical builds of Lee's relatives. They are 100% Dutch and I guess Dutch people are know for their height.

I am of average height; 5'6". I am the tallest female in my family. My grandma was 4'10" at the pinnacle of her growth and the grandma I can remember had already shrunken to 4'8".

I have always liked tall boys. I had a strict 6'0" height requirement in any potential mate. My husband is 6'1.5". Strangely, in his family he is kind of a runt.

My father-in-law, Jerry, is about the same height as Lee. The photograph below shows Jerry's younger brother, 6'6", and Jerry's younger sister, 6'0".

The tall relatives don't stop on Lee's paternal side. His mom has two older brothers. This is one of them, 6'5".

Papa, Nanny and Lee's grandma, Gert, flanked by the overgrown relatives. Nanny and Papa aren't really that short, but the picture begs to differ.

The tall relatives don't stop there...This is Lee's 19 year old cousin, 6'0".

I think it will be easy to tell which side our child takes after. It could be tall and lean like its father's side or short and stocky like his mother's side.

Also, would you ever want to be in pictures with this group?

Congratulations Lance!

In lieu of a traditional high school graduation party, Lance, Lee's little bother, had a "Come Watch Me Play Soccer" party. During the summer (he plays for the University of New Mexico during the school year), he plays for a PDL team called the Menace. The invitation list consisted of family members and Nanny and Papa. Before the game began, the announcer asked for all of the kids to come and form a human tunnel that the starting players run through as their names are announced. As you look at this picture, see if you can find a 65 year old, rather large kid wearing a purplish shirt near the center. Yep, Papa wanted in on the action.

Lance, the party's honoree, is the guy in red. I thought an action shot would be nice...

Lance signing autographs for all of the family members after the game.

Jackie, my partner in crime the South Dakota wedding and Lee's cousin, showing off her new Menace t-shirt and seat cushion.

After all of the soccer fun, the whole group went to the Cheesecake Factory to enjoy some dessert and conversation. These are the group shots. As a former waitress, I felt so sorry for our servers. trying to accommodate 29 people at a busy restaurant on a Saturday night.

Lee and mini-Lee...I mean Lance bonding at the end of the evening.

And, on our way out of town, I got to visit Mike, Maggie, Critter and Harvey. Which was, of course, the highlight of the weekend.

Rough Day

How would you feel if:

• one of your students loudly exclaimed, "Man, you are huge...it happened, like, overnight. You weren't this big yesterday."
• when you went in for your 34 week appointment, your father-in-law/OB told you that due to weight gain and swelling he would like to see you in one week rather than two?
• the aforementioned OB also said to cut salt out of your diet (one your favorite foods).
• your baby in utero is estimated to weight more at 34 weeks 2 days gestation than your niece weighed at birth.
  
• at a restaurant with your husband, the hostess seating you shows you a booth and says, "Do you think you'll fit over there?"
• while laughing so hard at the hostess's comment you lean over and put your head on your purse and the waitress comes up and says, "You aren't in labor are you? That would be a great story to tell later tonight..."
• then when the two entrees arrive, your husband says, "They are both hers," and the server actually puts them both down in front of you!

Tomorrow is bound to be better, right?

Foot in Mouth Syndrome

I am not sure if any of you suffer from this debilitating disease, but I do. It is most likely to occur when a person is trying to be funny, they are opinionated or occasionally when a person is pregnant.


I had an episode just yesterday. As you all know, I have fairly strong opinions about names. Lots of people have been asking Lee and I about potential names. The official party line is "we don't know for sure" (in reality we have some favorites but will wait until after it is born to decide for sure).


So...one of the girls in the counseling office likes to rub my belly and try to feel the baby. She asked if I had a feeling about the sex of the baby and I said no, but Lee was pretty sure it is a girl. She asked about names and I gave her the party line. She said that is fine, as long as you don't use Name 1 or Name 2*. I said, "Yeah, I know. Everything third kid is named Name 1 or Name 2. I am not a fan of those trendy names either."


She didn't say anything for a second and then she said, "Those names aren't trendy." I realized then that she was protecting her favorite names and not criticizing their over-usage as I had thought. I thought we were commisserating and of the same naming philosophy. Oops.



I backtracked as best I could. I said, "You are right; they aren't trendy, they are just super popular right now."


Do you think I got caught?



*names have been changed so as to limited the potentially offended*

Summer Haircut

Lee bought us the cutest puppy about 2.5 years ago. She grew to be an adorable dog as well. As an adult she grew hair profusely, earning her the names Oofta Poofers and Puffalump. As you can see, after a long winter she fits the nicknames quite accurately:

Every spring she starts to pant and overheat. She has also formed so many mats that it made her doubly hot.

So, we do what the Olde English Sheepdog book told us to do, "Shear her with the sheep." So, today she got her summer haircut. She is not the same huggable dog, but she is just as sweet (although not as pleasant to look at). I guess she now has the face only her mother could love...

And yes, I am sure it is the same dog in both pictures.