Little Kite Girl

Pregnancy, of course.  So I just got home from work and took a bath immediately to try and soothe my aching back.  It’s so sad to feel so decrepit at such a young age.  So after my bath I was getting dressed again and I suddenly remembered what it used to feel like to put pants on.  Holding the pants in both hands, leaning slightly forward, picking one foot deftly off the ground and inserting it into the pant leg.  Wiggling it up a bit and then popping the other foot in and sliding them up.  Then the grand finale- BUTTONING the button, zipping the fly.  Then of course the little twist to look at my butt in the mirror.  I wish I would have appreciated that more.

Now it’s like…hold the pants in one hand while I hold onto the dresser with the other…fling the pants around randomly til I get one foot caught in one of the holes and hope to GOD it’s the right one.  Pull that up as far as it will go while trying to bend over backwards a bit for counterbalance…This of course is followed by the other leg, which is the trickiest…and I’m not really sure how I accomplish that, to be honest.  Then I pull them all the way up and the elastic settles in around my ever-expanding belly, pushing in all the right areas to make me feel like my baby is going to pop out my back.  And forget checking out my butt.  I stopped doing that months ago.

Ah the things we do for our children.  But it was a funny little memory, and honestly, experiencing that again might be my first post-pregnancy goal.  Just putting real pants on with some sort of grace and ease would make me feel like a real person again instead of two people.

Hmmm….what else is going on?  I’m still training at work.  The replacement is seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Training is hard for me because I’m so used to just doing things myself- but it’s probably good practice.  I mean, if I do everything for Camper he’ll be 27 and still coming to me to tie his shoes.  Sure, I could do the job faster, but I only got that way because someone had the patience to teach it to me and then let me learn it.  So yes, training is going just fine.

I also went to the library yesterday and got out a couple of books I discovered online.  The one I’m reading right now is called I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies) by Laurie Notaro. Seriously funny book- it makes me laugh out loud, literally.  It makes me feel like perhaps I’m not the only person wandering around leading a sincerely ridiculous existence.  Another one I finished the other day was Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding. (I actually bought this one). I like it because it focuses on what to eat, not what NOT to eat.  It explains the extra calories you’ll need and how to deal with the hunger you’ll feel while breastfeeding.  Apparently, the way to deal with that hunger is to EAT.  But controling what you eat will help you be healthy and lose the pregnancy weight.  It actually goes through which vitamins you really need and that you baby really needs, and which ones are easy to get and which ones you have to think about.  Good info, if you ask me.

So yup.  John is in school again, my Mom is still here and helping, and we’re all just waiting for Camper to come.  Just waiting….

It’s been a silly day. I was up for awhile this morning writing and enjoying the thunder/lightening storm outside. It was seriously chilly this morning- around 50 degrees. You can’t even imagine how happy that made me. When I finally started to go in and out of the my room getting ready and doing some laundry, etc. John grabbed me back into bed and said:

“I’m abducting you. I’m an ALIEN.”

Then we cuddled. It was cute. After THAT we set out for the day, thwarted at every turn. First, EVERY BAKERY in the valley was closed. Every one. But then we went and had hamburgers, instead, so it was ok. It was kind of weird to see all the students walking around, feeling the chilly air, and reminiscing about my back to school days. Then we headed home to see what my Mom had gotten up to. But she was GONE. To WHO KNOWS WHERE. So then we went back out to rent a movie…which also failed. Seriously, good movie lately? Hard to find. They didn’t even have 3 Men and a Baby, who rents THAT? Especially when WE want it!? So we decided to drive around a bit, and then I decided I wanted to go test drive my current car obsession. But on the way to check it out we decided a) we didn’t want phone calls from the salesman for the next year and b) we shouldn’t get ourselves excited about a new car. Not even a little. So we diverted to WalMart where we stood in line for 500 years to buy Biore nose strips, some facial exfoliator, an outfit for Camper (WE HAVE TO STOP BUYING BABY CLOTHES), a three barrel curling iron (my friend loaned me hers, seriously cute) and an ice cream bar. Just laughing and holding hands all the way.

Then we came home and took the air conditioner out of the front window. The air conditioner that John put in and then squirted some kind of weird foaming, hardening stuff around to keep the spiders out. Cut to my Mom and I trying to KICK the air conditioner free of the cement foam while John prepared to “catch” the air conditioner as it pops out on the inside. Then we had to figure out how to remove the foam. Turns out non-acetone nail polish remover was useless…as was vinegar. Which is when my Mom started telling some story about a sad, sad Easter when her cat got attacked by a raccoon and they had to take him to the vet.

I wonder what we’ll do tonight?

And welcome to September.  I can’t believe it’s September.  This month, this very month, John and I will have a child.  It’s kind of crazy to think about.  I’ll get to posting more of my thoughts on September, I’m sure, but first there are some others things I wanted to write.  Warning: The following is blatantly religious material.

Yesterday was pretty good- we went to church.  I’ve been having a hard time sitting through it so I did a bit of wandering in the halls/standing in the back during meetings, and then there was the “run home” during the very middle to get something to eat, but I’m glad to say we made it.  I very rarely write publicly about my personal, spiritual impressions (feeling that they are just that, personal), but yesterday I felt like I got something I needed.  I had a little time to sit and think about the times I’ve felt the most connected to God in my life.  Interestingly enough, I don’t think it was when I was growing up, although I’m sure during that time I had kind of a naive/passive happy relationship thing going on.  My greatest times of spiritual growth and comfort seem to accompany times of greatest purpose.  When I was in Scranton and had to choose what I believed- to follow the traditions and faith that I had grown up with or embrace something else, that was my first quest.  I remember feeling very keenly that God knew who I was and that he approved of my desire to know Him.  As a budding philosophy major (oh my) I remember asking a lot of questions of a lot of people- some that could be considered irreverent or old-school “blasphemous.”  Scranton is where I learned to be mad at God, and where I learned to get over it, and where I realised that through all that, He wasn’t going to get over me.  It was a very interesting realisation.

Also, when I choose to go on a mission.  Missionary work encompasses so many things that it overwhelmed me at first.  I very quickly found out that I was pretty selfish and that it was difficult to care for the people around me.  I had to pray, a lot, that I could love and serve the people I met without thinking of myself, my lack of luxury or my physical discomfort, and amazingly, it was given to me.  I got so wrapped up in taking care of others that I often forgot myself entirely.  (Just as a side note, this is probably how I got to the point that I looked in the mirror and realised I had lost about 20 lbs. and was skin and bones…don’t worry, I gained it back no prob later on.)  When I got home from serving in London I felt like a Princess- my house was so comfortable and there seemed to be pancakes everywhere I turned (hence gaining the weight back) and when I got to BYU I felt a huge letdown.  What next?  What now?  How can I feel purposeful and close to God when all day every day all I had to do was work on my education, go to my job, work on my happiness…It was a trial for me.

Finally, though, I found another purpose in friends and family.  Funnily enough, I think there were plenty of purposes I could have found to get me through that time if I had been willing to work at it hard enough, but I was able to meet a few friends who, at the time…needed me.  Then I met John and start thinking about my family- a husband and a marriage and you better believe that through our year long dating/engagement period I learned a lot about what God thought about me and had planned for me.  Throughout that year my heart was enlightened and changed and encouraged in all new ways and I felt, again, like God was working with me in my life to find happiness.

And now.  Now now now.  For a couple of months, or maybe even longer, I’ve been a bit sick.  Things have been happening in my body that are hard to deal with- being pregnant was my very first concern and excitement, but when I found out that my baby was healthy and fine and that whatever was wrong with me affected really, only me…there was a part of me that stopped worrying about my Camper so much and started just worrying about me.  When people ask you a few times a day how you’re feeling and you have to go to special doctors to try and figure things out, it’s easy to turn inward and start to focus on yourself.  Not to mention the fact that I have an amazing husband who is incredibly concerned with my comfort and happiness, and a mother who flew across the country to live with me and make sure I got through all this ok- it makes it so easy to feel like I’m not doing very much for anyone else.

So back to yesterday…at church…we were sitting there preparing to take the Sacrament and I was reading the words of the hymns and thinking about things and I started to feel, just a little….braver.  It’s difficult for me to “contemplate Christ,” or claim “Christ as my friend” as so many people talk about.   But yesterday as I really thought about what I truly believe he did for me, I was overwhelmed with how physical it was.  His sacrifice was emotional and spiritual, but also very, very physical.  He bled, he hurt, and although I don’t deign to know or understand his feelings when facing the Atonement, I believe he even feared.  It’s possible he felt trepidation.  Here’s the thing, he did it anyway.  For Christian people this is what holds everything together- the fact that Christ sacrificed his life and suffered for us makes it possible for us to get through this life 1) with someone who understands our pains and hardships and 2) with the knowledge that we can be forgiven for all our sins and live again.  That’s pretty big.  He had a purpose, and just then, it happened to be all of mankind.

Thinking about all of this I decided to go on a little walk through the halls to ease the pain in my back, and I just looked at all the pictures of Christ we have in the building.  I realised that although I can’t do everything I love to do for my family or the people around me, that I AM doing SOMETHING.  It’s not like I’m just lounging around reading books and eating my Mom’s cooking (although to the naked eye…that IS what it looks like) but that the hardships of pregnancy and birth, added even to the hardships of just being sick are working towards a family, a baby, a new life for me AND for John and for our families.  All I can do is what I can, if that’s working just part days until I can’t anymore, trying to make sure my husband eats some of the good food my Mom is cooking and have the time and energy for school, trying to let my Mom know how appreciative I am of what she does for me…if all I can do is have deep, tremendous gratitude for being allowed to have this baby and have the time I need to get through this process, then that’s good enough for now.  That is my purpose.

John’s parents are in town, just a quick trip, and while we were visiting last night his Dad said something that had been on my mind all day long.  Often we take the best care of ourselves by taking the best care of other people.  So often what we need is what someone else needs- and while I have been the recipient of so much service the last 9 months, I just need to focus on how I can serve, too.  If I can focus on my baby and my family and not worry so much about the changes in my own body (yes, the source of much angst, I must admit) and my own pain, then perhaps this whole process can help lift me out of myself and focus on Camper and John and my other family members.  I’m hoping that is the kind of experience this is- something else to add to my list of times in my life where I was able to take whatever was happening and be closer to God because of it.  But those things don’t happen on their own.  Closeness with God comes when we take our own personal circumstances and figure out how to focus on how we can grow and live His purposes more fully.

I love the scripture:

Mosiah 5:13

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?

We can know God in one way- by serving Him.  It is through serving Him (i.e. the people around us, in whatever way we can) that we grow close to the thoughts and intents of His heart.  Theologians and philosophers have spent centuries trying to prove (and disprove) God, to find Him, to know Him…and it all comes down to directing our lives outward in service towards others.  He’s told us where to find Him, it’s just up to us to look and to do what we can.  And that’s enough.

Soo…I am a zombie.  I laid down to go to bed last night and knew it was going to be fruitless.  It’s amazing how I can tell.  So I read Stepford Wives to see if I could make myself tired, or at least be entertained.  (It’s a short book, doesn’t take long to get through.)  After that I was still wide awake with an achy back.  John brought me the ice pack and that helped for a bit, but I soon noticed that every time I moved or shifted I was waking him up a little.  I think he’s convinced that the baby will pop out any minute.  So I went out into the living room and watched TV for a couple of hours and then laid back down.  6am seems to be the magic hour where I can sleep for a bit, that was a relief.  But I’m starting to HATE going to bed!  Sleeping during the day seems to work out ok, I can get comfy and sleep soundly, but when it gets dark and quiet and TIME to sleep, my body rebels.  I have to go to the bathroom, I have brackston hicks, the baby kicks and keeps me awake, I can’t lay comfortably for my back.  Last night my belly was just sooo harrrrddd.  So pregnant ladies- what do I do?  I hear this is normal, but what do you DO so that you don’t go crazy watching infomercials at 3am?  I considered going out for a walk, but figured if I was eaten by a horse or ran into a crazy stalker or even just fell over John and my Mom would be very mad.  So in the house I stayed.  Suggestions welcome.

Today we slept in a wee because we had a morning appointment with our baby doctor.  I was told, through her examinations, that Camper is indeed head down (although the ease with which she was able to figure that out made me a little scared that he has a monster-sized dome), that I’m pretty much ready to go any time (we did the strep test today in prep for birth), and that she’s ready to discuss the birth-plan type arrangements whenever we are…although she says, “Most of them, honestly, are pretty much the same.”  Which actually comforts me a little.  She seems to favor a sooner than later labor situation, which is comforting as well.  Although my iron is up (as is my weight ) I am still on the low-side of nourished, so we’ll just keep working on it as we have been and hoping it gets high enough to sustain me through the birthing process.  She also indicated that we can do whatever we want with regard to immunizations at birth, but her opinion is that they rarely cause the problems that people claim them to cause, and in some cases could not cause the problems that people claim they cause.  She’s a big advocate of the Vitamin K shot, and I think the only other one we have to yay or nay is Hepatitis…I think they save the other ones until later checkups.  We will see, I’ve got to find out a little more info about it.

In other news- I think we are seriously ready.  We took a little trip to the store tonight for some butt cream and wipes and changing table stuffs…and really…I don’t think we should be allowed to buy anything else.  So bring it on, Camper!  We’re ready!!

Work today felt a little long- getting ready for payroll next week.  I’m now training my replacement, which is a lot of work.  Don’t get me wrong, she is so nice and I’m very VERY glad she accepted our offer.  She is very capable and my favorite candidate for sure.  I just didn’t realise that training in general… is hard.  I don’t think I’ve ever had to explain such a large amount of specific processes and information with someone before.  Everything I do I have to talk through- and I didn’t really realise how effortlessly I go through the tasks of the day.  I guess I have been doing all this for awhile now, and again, I’m reminded that I do like (most of) the work.  I’m just glad that I randomly got this payroll job with a bunch of fun people and was able to learn and gain confidence in a new skill set.  Another little something that has expanded me a bit that I just stumbled into.  I’m sad to let it go…but I’m working toward it.  Maybe in a couple weeks I can cut down a little more to make sure I’m not overtired for when the baby comes.  It’s amazing how much I can want to be lazy and not work at all, but be so reluctant to let it go, too.
I guess it’s just so final.  I just won’t be working.  And even if I wanted to, we’d have to figure out what to do with this new little person we’ve created.  Crazy, huh?  We are going to have someone else to worry about.  Someone who can’t drive or stay home alone…or even eat without me giving him food.  A litttllee tripppyyyy if you ask me.

So yes, we’ve got a restful long weekend ahead of us.  We’re probably going to hide tomorrow, seeing as how BYU is playing the first game of the season down the street.  Traffic hell, anyone?  My Mom cleaned the entire house while I was at work today (I asked her what her plans were for the day and she said, “Oh, I don’t know,” and was TOTALLY planning on cleaning everything, I KNOW it) so we can all relax tomorrow.  She’s a good one, huh?  I’m totally spoiled.  Maybe I’ll read something.  Or watch a movie.  Or lay in the backyard.  We’ll see.  I just know I’m NOT going to work, and I’m NOT buying baby stuff.  Or any stuff if I can help it.  Just reellaaaxxxx…..

It’s actually been a good couple of days.  Camper-centered, like usual.  He’s been on the top of our minds and people have showered us with gifts for our little baby to be.  Yesterday we got a HUGE box from our Groton family.  TONS of clothes, I can’t even believe it.  Looks like BabiesRUs exploded in Camper’s room.  When my cousin Sara’s baby was born he kind of just “skipped” the whole newborn clothes stage- he was a big one- and has just gotten bigger, so he was kind enough to share.  Thanks Sara, Auntie and Melissa for sending your love this way!! Then today the girls at work threw me a shower.  It was amazing- they got me tons of bath stuff and clothes and baby pruning tools and the cutest baby book ever.  My Mom came too, and even though she’s given me a gift at my other two showers (one in MA and one in Herriman with family), she came with even more!!  I thought it was tricky yesterday when she came home from “the park” without the book she always takes to read, and then wouldn’t look at me until I stopped asking where she had been ;)  She’s a tricky one- she got me the warm jumper I wanted for Camper AND the cutest PJ’s with bears and moose and racoons on it AND a breast pump.  I actually can’t even remember all the things people have given us, it’s an amazing show of love and support.  So thanks to all our family and friends that have given us so much from the very earliest stages of this pregnancy!

Pregnancy is once again changing on me.  I’ve gotten hungrier again, even waking up feeling like I want to eat in the middle of the night.  I’ve tried to stifle that urge a bit…I want milk ALL THE TIME, and I’m starting to get more tired at work again.  I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we’ve hired my replacement and I’m in the beginning stages of training her.   My back is also killing me…but I hear that’s to be expected.  More exciting, though, is that Camper is getting really really strong.  I felt him stretching the other morning and it was so slow and deliberate, he is such a real little person.  I’m hoping that we’ll have good news with regard to my iron at my appointment tomorrow, but honestly, it’s nice to not have to worry about Camper’s health anyway.  Just don’t beef up in there too much Little Man…

John goes back to school next week, and I’ll keep on working and doing as much as I can.  I think the time might be approaching when I’ll need a little more rest.  I got home last night and asked John, “What if I go into labor at the end of a day and am already exhausted?”  I think I need to try a little harder to not get so run down.  We’ll see what I can do about that…

But as for now, I’m just enjoying life with baby internal.  I’m really, really enjoying having my Mom here.  I tried to explain to her today that I’m actually starting to feel spoiled- do you know many people who have someone there to help them get the food they need and do the cleaning that needs done and drop them off and pick them up and basically just lives life in a constant state of, “What can I do for you?”  I hope that I can be as good a Mom as she is, selfless and patient.  Cause I know I’m not an easy one to help.   At least I’m giving her a pretty grandbaby boy to say thanks.  The only thing that’d make it even better would be to have my Dad close by.  I don’t like the idea of them being apart for so long.  Thanks for letting me have her for awhile, Dad.  She helps me so much!

Oh yes- and since I’m naming people I love- I have a pretty good husband, too.  He is amazingly good at finding the exact food I need before I decide I don’t need it anymore, and very, very good at making me smile when I wake up in the morning.   Enough mushiness for now, I think it’s time for a bath.

Hello!  I’ve (well…John the handy internet husband…has…) finally done it!  I’ve been wanting to switch the location/name of my blog for some time now, and so here it is!

World, meet

LittleKiteGirl.com

LKG meet the world.

Natural Sceptre has treated me very well, and for awhile you’ll be able to get here from there, but this my main locale now.  I’m going to be making some other changes (slowly but surely) so you if feel so inclined to update my name and url on your blogroll or link lists, I’d truly appreciate it.

Thanks everyone!

I was just browsing some sites and found this one: http://www.savvyauntie.com/.  Finally, a site that realizes that Aunties are amazing, vital parts of our lives!!  It’s a community site for Aunts who don’t have children of their own, but might as well with all they do for their nieces and nephews.  So, my Auntie Paulette, maybe you should check it out!  There are other Aunties out there, too!  But none as good as you

So, I was up all night last night and sorely tempted to stay in bed allll daaay long today.  Contrary to this impression, I did get up and go to work, which is where all the ridiculousness started.  I sat down and started updating my spreadsheets, all normal-like, just enjoying a plastic container of blueberries my Mom sent me with.  Then it turned out that we had an interview coming in for my position, which went REALLY well (we ended up hiring her, I start training her tomorrow, but that’s another story), but took half the afternoon.  So afterwards I went back to my desk expecting to get a few things done when I get a phone call- it’s HR.  They inform me- get this- that I’ve been selected for random drug testing.  I get to pee in a cup, yay!  So I waddle down there to find a tall, blonde, frantic woman following me into the bathroom.  The first thing she says to me is, “Are you sure you have to pee?  Because I only have so many cups.”  Ummmm….is it not her job to provide the cups?  Plus, I’m pregnant.  It can feel like Niagara Falls is waiting to be released only to give way to a few measly drops.  Gaging my ability to pee isn’t first priority these days.  Anyway, so I do my business only to have her bang on the door and inform me I only have 4 minutes, and then WALK IN ON ME.  Seriously- I was only in there for like…2…max.  Then she proceeds to chat about how I’m pregnant and should be able to pee on demand, etc. etc. etc.  The BEST part, though, and the part I’m actually going to report to HR tomorrow, is when I told her I was on Prednisone so that if my urine came up all full of drugs she’d know what they were, and she said, “THAT IS A HORRIBLE MEDICATION.”  In front of everyone- as if I’m some kind of horrible woman for taking it.  It was as if the doctor said, “Here, to cure your horrible, uncomfortable mystery disease we have either a) steroids or b) fruit loops and kitten kisses,”  and I said “Bring on the hard stuff.”  Feeling the emotion rise in my everything I turned to her and said, “Thank you very much for judging my medication.”  That is when everyone turned to look at me like, “Uh oh, Erin’s going postal.”  The woman balked and floundering a bit said, “Oh, it’s just that my sister was on it for a long time and it turned out really badly.”  To which I replied, “And amazingly, your second comment worse than your first.  You should just stop.”  Ok- so it’s a sensitive subject to me.  I don’t want to be on medication, and the only other meds I Could take cost almost $300 a month.  And my OBGYN and my GI have said it’s ok, and honestly, I just avoided a colonoscopy, and I’m just sick.  And all of those feelings came to a head on this woman who felt the need to treat me like a criminal and then judge me openly.  So anyway, after that, I went home.

We decided to take my Mom to Applebees for a THANKS MOM dinner treat (because she is so amazing, and takes care of me so well, and deserves some Applebees sometimes) and thus commences weird experience number two.  The waiter comes up and takes our drink orders and follows it up with, “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to look at your rings.”  I immediately felt confused, wondering if there were some new law in place that required me to be married to have a Pepsi.  The waiter then GRABBED MY HAND and stuck his face down close to my rings- apparently he is looking for one for his finance.  But still, he touched me, it was weird.  He was actually a good waiter…but…the only word is weird. He asked my Mom if she didn’t like veggies because she didn’t finish all her millions of broccoli, and she said, “I ate a few trees.”  In all seriousness he turned to her and replied, “In that case, would you like some dessert?”  I about bust a gut.  The crappiest part of it all was that John and I both got endless plates of various things and neither of us could make it through even ONE serving of dinner.  The waiter said “we didn’t prepare.”

So yeah.  It was a weird day with lots of weird feelings.  And I think it’s probably about time to go to bed and just read some stuffs.  And that’s it.  Because I can’t deal with any more full bellies or pee cups or waiters touching me.  I just hope hope hope I can sleep tonight- because I don’t want to be wandering a dark house looking for bagels at 1am again.  Not good for me, yo.

The weekend is dying down. It’s another one of those Sunday afternoons that I can’t really remember what it was that I’ve been doing for the last couple of days…

Friday was work and then we all stopped by my friend’s wedding reception to give our congratulations. It was just up the canyon, so we stopped in, said hi, had a brownie, and high tailed it back down. I can’t believe last summer it was me standing in a reception line thanking everyone for coming to see us. From receiving line to receiving blanket in one year. I’d say we don’t waste any time.

Saturday was pretty restful. We went and saw Alicia, Chad, and new baby Spencer. Spencer is such a cutie- 7lbs. and 7 oz. I can’t believe 7 lbs. can look so small. He seems like a pretty laid back baby. You know, most newborns are until they figure out the hunger situation and learn that crying gets people’s attention. Holding him made me want Camper on the outside even more- it’s so close to time. I’m anxious to hold him and wrap him and feed him, and see if with him on the outside this pain in my back goes away…But mostly just to hold him. It was funny during church today- John poked him and Camper poked back. They’re already playing around.

So yes…there was church today, more time checking up on Alicia and family, and then a nap. Hmmm…re reading this post I think I might be boring…but I HAVE been reading a lot more lately! Of the books I’ve really enjoyed there was The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laure R. King. I didn’t think I’d like it at all, it’s kind of a mystery/coming of age type novel complete with Sherlock Holmes and kidnappings, etc. I really liked it though- and it’s a series- so perhaps I’ll have to pick up the rest. Then The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. (What’s with the bee theme?) I can’t believe I had never read that one before. Sad, but real. Then there was Little Men, Louisa May Alcott. It was really sweet to read, but one of those things that you can only take so much of before the sheer goodness of the characters starts to make you feel depressed. I’m kind of excited, because we started a book club at work, and the first one we chose was My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I really wanted to start something with the girls at work so that after the baby comes I still have an excuse to see them and get out a bit- maybe even a deadline of something to read. So I’m in the middle of that one, which seems a little weighty, perhaps. But good. And then last night I started reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged again. I meant to lend it to a friend, but when I got it out I wanted to remember what makes me so mad at it and still like it so much at the same time. So I guess if my posts seem a little low-action, it’s because most days if I’m not at work or taking a swim with John or my Mom, I’m laying in bed or in my chair and reading something. Here’s to justified laziness as I finish growing my baby :)  But as for now, I’m thinking a little walk around the canyon might be in order before I come back home to resume Sunday restfulness.