Natural Sceptre

So- I’ve decided to move on from the song title thing. Mostly- they were only amusing- or even made sense- to me. So I think I’ll give it up for awhile.

So, this morning we slept in (Saturday, soooo nice) then got up and proceeded to do the house cleaning we do each week. We then went on a “date,” meaning….Taco Bell, the carwash, and Walmart. Haha. We got a TON of cleaning products- and one pair of weeee pantalones for our impending baby. I think I’m finding out that I’m loving the whole “frog prince” baby thing. The pants I found were on $3 and had teeny little frogs and turtles on them. I think $3 is great for something Little Camper will probably be able to wear for what, like, two weeks? before he starts putting on weight and popping out of the newborn clothes. To be honest, I’m not sure how that works. I guess I’ll find out.

But I DO have a question- so there are all these “green” cleaning products in WalMart that advertise all natural products, safety on cooking services, etc. My only issue is, they don’t say antibacterial. I’m a big fan of antibacterial….but is it really necessary? So tell me, have you gone green? And if so, do they clean as well? And if not, are these bleach products going to poison Little Camper’s little body?

So, then…on the way home…John and I started into a conversation that we actually have quite often. It is a continuation of conversations in which we have figured out that a) he can’t read my mind and b) he won’t notice (by nature of his boy-ness…or just his particular disposition) when it’s time to move the laundry to the laundry room, or do the dishes, etc. What we’ve decided in the past is that I just need to ASK him to do things. I was cool with this- until it started to go one of two ways. Either I figured I shouldn’t ASK him to do something I can just do ( I mean, how lazy is THAT?) or I did ask him, but apparently in a way that made it sound like he needed to drop what he was doing and do what I asked him to do. The funny thing was, I was taking EXTRA CARE not to sound like that, and in all my trying and question preparation time, I was actually just setting him up to be annoyed…somehow…which is turn, was setting me up to be frustrated. Finally, at the end of the conversation when I had decided that I just couldn’t win I sarcastically said, “Fine, what do you want me to do? Make a list of all the things that need to be done and just stick your name next to half the stuff and write when it needs to be done?”

His answer:

“Yes, yes actually. That would work out really well.”

I started laughing. Turns out, in trying to treat him in a way that I thought I was being super nice and polite, I was actually just being annoying. (At least to him.) One more adventure that teaches us that sometimes we just have to figure out the best way to communicate, and not expect the best way to be the way we think it’s going to be. The one thing that I thought would be demeaning and/or a throwback to the living with roommates days might actually be exactly what he wants. It’ll be a clear, consistent expectation that we don’t have to “talk about” all the time. Sweet. I’ll keep you posted. It seriously cracked me up.

So….the little brother has been with us since Tuesday. It’s been pretty good. It’s nice to actually see him, although I rather not see him at 7am walking through my bedroom in his underwear (the bathroom is through our bedroom). But I like having him around. Gives me time to check up on him and see what he’s up to. His girlfriend is nice- and doesn’t seem to mind hanging around with us, which is a good thing. He works a LOT, so he’s not around enough for me to get bugged. Haha, oh little brothers.

Last night- as well, we went and registered for some baby stuff at Babies ‘R’ Us. It was harder than I thought it would be, that’s for sure! There are so MANY things to think about….and they gave us lists and reading materials to figure out what’s what…so once I go through that I’ll probably get online and revise the things John scanned. We’ve got a few months to get it all figured out, but I love registries because it let’s you feel like you’re shopping without spending money prematurely or filling your house with stuff you don’t need yet.

My biggest questions right now are

a) what kind of bottles do you think baby would like? We’re planning on a mixture of breast and bottle feeding that will allow Little Camper to get super amounts of super nutrients but also give me some freedom. So while your thinking about it….what do you think of pumping? Cause that scares me to DEATH.

and

b) Is it cool to wait for stuff like a high chair and a circle thing with the toys and the teetering (I don’t know what those are called) because really…he won’t be able to hang out in those for awhile.

Yeah….this whole experience has been rather enlightening. First of all, I realised that there is a good chance that I’ll be pumping breast milk like…at work…at school….in PUBLIC. Which I didn’t realise. Cause if I was home, I could just feed the kid directly, right? Apparently John already knew that…or had realised it somewhere between the isle for the breast pumps and the “naturally” shaped bottles that allow Little Camper to go back and forth between the two without getting all confused. I DID educate him on one issue, however, in a discussion in which I told why we should definitely circumcise Little Camper. John was apparently thinking either way would work…but I informed him that we’re definitely going for it, because otherwise we’ll have to teach him some hygiene tips that are altogether avoided with a timely snip snip after birth. I mean….I know boys and the effort they like to put into “self-care.” It’s best if everything is as easily cleanable as possible. I know people who would disagree with me, but just check out this article and the interesting, yet clinical word “smegma” to know what I mean. Seriously. Smegma.

And yes, this is now what we talk about on Friday nights. Fun, huh?
Ok- time to switch the laundry and then go wash MY car. I heart Saturdays.

Yeah.  Outside my window.  I was just chillin’, about to use the new elliptical, decided to open the window and POW.  There she was.  Just looking at me.

I was scared that she might be hurt- because even when I opened the window and said, “HELLOOOO” she didn’t run away.  2 hours later, she still hadn’t moved.  Even with the flash.  So, worried that she was having babies or had her hoof stuck in the fence, I suited up and went outside to see if she’d run.  Hoping she wouldn’t run into me.  And sure enough, she got up and ran away.  I think that she hid because of the wind.  I hope she comes back!

So- I was watching TV (what else to do when you can’t move your BODY) and I see a commercial for this medication that is supposed to treat restless leg syndrome.  First of all- what the HECK is RLS.  If you have it, please tell me so that I start to take it seriously.  Anyway- so they go through the whole thing, finally getting to the side-affects.  I’m sitting listening them go through the normal ones…”Naseau, upset stomach, blurry vision, dry-mouth,” and then ALL OF A SUDDEN they hit me with this:

“Also, if you experience a sudden, uncontrollable urge for sex or gambling, please alert your doctor.”

Trading in an uncontrollable urge to move your legs for an uncontrollable urge to drive to Vegas.  Great deal.

OK, I totally went to their site and got this as the offical word:

Most people who take MIRAPEX tolerate it well. Some of the more common side effects can include:

• Nausea
• Headache
• Tiredness

When beginning to take MIRAPEX, you should be cautious until you know how the drug will affect you. Some people who take MIRAPEX can become sleepy or fall asleep while doing normal everyday activities like driving a car. It is possible that MIRAPEX treatment can cause someone to feel faint or become dizzy when standing up from a seated or prone position. There are reports of some people having hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting something that does not actually exist) while taking MIRAPEX. However, hallucinations are uncommon in people taking MIRAPEX for primary restless legs syndrome and occur more frequently in people over 65 taking MIRAPEX for Parkinson’s disease.

There have been reports of patients taking certain medications to treat Parkinson’s disease or RLS, including MIRAPEX, that have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive. It is not possible to reliably estimate how often these behaviors occur to determine which factors may contribute to them. If you or your family members notice that you are developing unusual behaviors, talk to your doctor.

Phew.  I feel better.  Don’t you?

I’ve seen the scariest things on TLC this evening.  First of all- have you ever seen the show about the couple that have, like, 8 3 year olds and a set of 6 year old twins?  That is seriously chaos.  That’s usually full of cute stuff that I just eat up, though.  Like for instance, when they were having a birthday party for the babies and they were getting them woken up and changed and dressed, and the Mom asked one of the girls “Who is the party for today?” and she looked around and in her little three year old voice said, “God!”  That was cute.  Or how about how as the Dad was carving pumpkins, and as he emptied the pumpkins into a big bowl one of the other little girls was going behind him, filling her little pumpkin back up again.  Heart….melting….

But THEN…all of a sudden this show comes on of a family with SEVENTEEN children, from the age of 30 to the age of 3…and they actually showed their laundry room.  No.  Uh uh.  That’s crazy- I don’t think they had that much laundry to do in the ARK.  Ok, I don’t know what that means.  But it was scary.

This is the dog my little brother FOUND at work today. He “named” him Rain. That is, if the dog doesn’t already have a name. I’ve never seen anything like it. If Jonathan moves, the dog follows him. Rain can be totally passed out, and if Jon gets up or goes outside, he’s suddenly AWAKE, and waiting for him to come back. It’s almost kind of heartbreaking, really. I told Jonathan tonight that he is really, really good at loving things. I think the girl that marries this boy is going to be quite lucky. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother.

ANYWAY. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. We’re going to put forth some effort to see if anyone is missing a dog, and then try to place it with family, and then see about some other options. But like I said, we’ll see.

In other news…let’s see. Well, I went to school again today. The natural disasters class. We were asked a few questions to get us talking about our feelings about the Tsunami of two Christmasas ago…and a few other disasters, and the class began to share comments like, “Sometimes Heavenly makes these things happen so that people can learn to love people, and reach out, and be more charitable. I know a lot of people who didn’t pay fast offerings, but then, after the Tsunami, they did.” All I could think (and something I DID say to a certain extent, without the condescending tone) was, “If there were a person, sitting right here in front of you, who lost her entire family, home and all of her belongings, her livelihood, her security, and even her faith because of this Tsunami, would you really thank her for providing your neighbor with the opportunity to gain a testimony of fast offerings?” It just seemed so, small. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason. I think some things, just sometimes, just happen. It’s not for punishment, it’s not to make us remember, it just happens. This is a tempestuous world. We are fragile beings. I DO believe, however, that God can GIVE things a reason. He can take bad, such bad, and consecrate it to our good. And that takes some big effort on our part, and some big open-heartedness, and more strength than you could possibly imagine without having to muster it. It was interesting.

The class was interesting. Interesting in the way that there were a lot of things to talk about, but they weren’t things I hadn’t thought of before. Interesting.

SO, the rest of the day. Work is good. I have a new workspace. I’m not at the front desk anymore, which is nice. We made some pretty aggressive goals, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep the momentum up. I think it’ll be fine. Not too bad at all- and I’m getting excited about the end goal again. It’ll be crazy this semester, with all the reading and writing, but hey, I claim to want to make this my life. So I should just work harder, and see how far I can go.

Tonight I also had the chance to go out with Becca- we went to the Olive Garden and had the unlimited pasta bowl. We actually did that same thing last year around this time…and it’s amazing to think how much everything has changed. It was so nice to talk to her, about EVERYTHING. We don’t even keep it too coherent, just jump from topic to topic, and I love talking to her about my book ideas. She’s always so supportive. I’m lucky, I have a lot of people who support my ideas, but it’s different when it’s someone who isn’t part of your family- and who can readily understand the point you are trying to make. We are simply, often, on the same wavelength. For instance, this evening I was wearing a new sweater, I told Becca, “I got this new sweater, it kind of makes me feel like, uh” and she finished, “DEVIL wears PRADA!! Cerulean blue!!! I KNOW!” and I said, “But am I the before?” and she said, “NO! And even if, she was still pretty!” And if you were able to get that conversation, it probably means you’ve seen the movie. It wasn’t that she understood me, it’s that she READ MY MIND. That’s all. It’s nice to spend some time with a good friend.

Ok, well, my husband is almost home, and it’s almost sleep time so I can wake up tomorrow and do it all again. Night