37 1/2 weeks

Jon and I modeling our bellies for the full term photo shoot. Oh, and we both got haircuts.

Seriously

How many more people need to lose their homes? Perhaps submerging large birds into boiling oil in the garage is NOT the best plan.

Veggies and Fruits

Summer is the time to hit up the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market. On Friday, Jon and I bought zucchini, yellow squash, and a tomato (not the poisonous kind) and made them into a delicious side dish for dinner. The recipe we used was adapted from one I saw in the Journal on Thursday. We also bought blueberries, rolled oats, and black walnuts that Jon crafted into a blueberry crisp. It was quite the successful trip and the peaches, cherries, and green beans we saw while we were there inspired us to come back.

We ate lunch while we were at the market at The Moose Cafe. The meal started off strong when 2 huge buttermilk biscuits were delivered with a side of some sort of apple chutney. I had the burger, which was huge! It was really good and tasted like actual beef and not just meat. Jon had the fried chicken sandwich, which he also described as tasting like chicken and not like the bland white meat one often gets from restaurants.

Unfortunately, we missed wing day at the market on Saturday and ended up at the movie theater to see Get Smart. It was a good, solid, funny summer movie. You'll find Maxwell Smart a little smarter and a little more with it than he was in the show. An appearance by Hymie the robot at the end of the movie made me wonder if a sequel may be planned.

My new album

I wanted to announce on my blog, as is the custom these days, that I am releasing an album of songs dedicated to my husband's profession of educational measurement AKA psychometrics AKA assessment. Here's a bit of the lineup:
The first, poppy single and title track: "Don't Make Me Get Psychometric" (Featuring Justin Timberlake and the Neptunes)
The followup ballad: "Our Love (is Statistically Significant)"
Also featuring: "The Theta of Our Love is +4"
"Correlation (Not Causation)"
"Let's Make This Multi-Dimensional" (Featuring Clara and Lucy)

The album drops this fall. Thanks to Jon for inspiring and producing this collection of hits.

36 weeks

Summer has officially started, and we have 4 more weeks to go until the due date. Jon had 4 cousins who were expecting babies this spring/summer, and they have all had their babies. Thus, we're next!

The plan today is to go to the Winston-Salem Warthogs noon game and have lunch at the park. Afterwards, a haircut for me, and possibly one for Jon too.

In about a week and a half, Jon will make a pilgrimage back to our old haunt of Dover, NH. He's making a presentation in Durham. We've already discussed the logistics of bringing back a slice of La Festa white buffalo pizza, which is harder with new airport security measures. My mom is coming to visit while he's gone and to also be on hand in case I should go into labor or have some sort of issue. We're going to go to Lexington BBQ for sure, and I'm trying to think of all of the W-S spots we need to be sure and hit while she's here. Suggestions?

These diapers they will be a'changin'

Thanks to G&P, we have a beautiful new changing table. The swing from S&H is also in the picture, complete with Jo Monkey. I think we have almost everything we need now. All that's left to do is wait. Jon and I walked a couple miles this morning to keep building our endurance. I'll be 36 weeks on Wednesday, and the doctor said 37 weeks is considered to be "term." As long as he's born after 37 weeks, they won't do anything to slow him down.

The garden is doing OK. The banana pepper plant is doing well, but the green pepper plant looks sad, as do the grape tomatoes. The gerbera daisy looks fantastic, but my day lilies aren't quite right. One thing that is really doing well is the ornamental grass. Here's a pic of our first banana pepper from our garden.

Wilson Brothers, OG's

Ok, this is out of the typical topics of this fine blog, but I can't pass this up. I'm experiencing my annual "Brian Wilson writes the best melodies on Earth"-fest, and I came across this Youtube gem.

The following video is of a performance of The Beach boys doing "I Get Around" on some television show in the '60s. A few things stand out to me:

1) Brian Wilson, musical genius, appears to have no rhythm when lip-syncing and should never make the rubbing-the-fingers-together-to-simulate-holding-money gesture while singing or otherwise.

2) Mike Love looks like an angry, creepy uncle.

3) Dennis Wilson clapping to the beat looks exactly like I expect that Eli Manning looks when Peyton tells a joke. Seriously, if you watch nothing else, check out right around 1:06 of the video.

4) On a serious note, these lyrics are very much the equivalent of modern pop hip-hop. Basically, they say "My friends and I are awesome, we get all the girls, have all the money, sweet cars, nobody messes with us, and we don't keep girlfriends, because we're too busy." Witness:

We always take my car, cause it's never been beat
and we've never missed yet with the girls we meet...
...None of the guys go steady 'cause it wouldn't be right
to leave your best girl home on a Saturday night

- The Beach Boys, "I Get Around"

When I pull up out front, you see the Benz on dubs
When I roll 20 deep, it's 20 knives in the club
(People) heard I (hang out) with (Dr.) Dre, now they wanna show me love
When you sell like Eminem, and the (women), they wanna (enjoy my company)
But homie ain't nuttin changed (women) down, (my friends) up

- 50 Cent, "In Da Club" (edited for content)

Enjoy:

Yea for lists

I wanted to make a lists of things I've loved during pregnancy or that have made my pregnancy easier or more pleasant in some way. It's been a great pregnancy, and I only hope my next is this great.

- Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter
- YoMommy Yogurt
- Prenatal Yoga at the Yoga Gallery
- A towel, folded in half twice, under my belly for support while I sleep
- wearing supportive shoes (Merrell)
- Naps
- Lots of water
- Never eating something that doesn't sound good to me at that moment
- Kashi crackers
- Raisin Bran Crunch
- Warm showers
- Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy
- Baby Center.com weekly emails
- Bananas
- Chocolate Milk (especially instead of junk like a brownie)
- Walking
- Applesauce
- A positive perspective
- Remembering that the magnitude to which I am feeling some emotions is due to hormones and not real feelings
- "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" makes for an efficient way to get a good cry in (It's better than just letting it happen because you could be anywhere when it strikes!)
- Pug dogs laying on my belly
- Feeling Jude move around
- Coming home to find Jon has done the laundry or any number of other domestic wonders
- Ignoring negative tales of pregnancy and childbirth and anyone who calls me, "Big Mama," or any other such asinine remark

This is all I can think of at the moment, but I may add more later.

Nursery

The nursery is taking shape. Jon painted it Summer Wish with De Jour trim i.e. yellow and white. This is a pic of the crib and bedding.

First strawberry of the year

We planted strawberries in the garden this year, and our neighbor, we'll call him "Bun," usually beats us to them. So, in order to actually eat something from our garden, we harvested this little guy a few days ago and let him ripen in the window. Jon added it to a delicious hot fudge sundae.

Ben Folds in Raleigh!

And that's what it looked like from the front row.

Shower Part III

We had a wonderful shower in da'ville over Memorial day weekend. We received many generous gifts, ate delicious food, and reconnected with friends and family.