As I was leaving Peet’s Coffee with some friends today, a lady on the patio commented to me, “On your way to the hospital?” Then she started laughing.
It was awkward because I was just walking and laughing with my friends. I was doing nothing to suggest that I was agonizing or rushing or anything. It just caught me off guard.
I said, “Yeah, I wish.” Then walked away.
Apparently it’s funny to see other people in discomfort. *Smack*
I’ve had some weird weird weird dreams during pregnancy that I thought I should start putting on my blog. A few of them, frankly, are way to violent to share here (I’ve NEVER had violent dreams in my life, but since I’ve been pregnant I’ve had a few that had me wake up gasping and sweating…). Anyway, this is the one I had last night.
Dream: Ocean Waves, had this one at 35 weeks pregnant.
Before going into the dream, part of it reminds me of this scene in the movie X-Men. *spoiler* There’s a part where Senator Kelly gets turned into a mutant against his will and then he jumps into the water and absorbs all that water and then ends up at Dr. X’s place where he explodes into a ka-jillion pieces of water on the operating table. Wicked cool special effects, creepy as all get out.
Anyway, I had a dream that something sort of similar happened to me last night. I was walking down the sidewalk along a beach in California and kept getting fatter and fatter. I’d look down at my hands and arms and feet and swear that I could see waves moving up and down inside of my skin. It was as though my body was just filling up with fluid and I could do nothing to stop it.
Suddenly, I was floating on a dock in the middle of the ocean with three naked babies. They weren’t my babies, but I was trying to keep them all on the dock while paddling back to the land. Nobody would help me. I kept getting fatter and fatter and filled with more fluid. A huge wave was coming toward me and I grabbed the babies. They were all screaming. The wave went passed us and I yelled at a surfer for missing his timing to get on the wave.
Eventuallly, I got almost back to shore where my sister-in-law Ronnie was waiting. She ran into the water and took the three babies. They were still crying, but at least they were safe on land.
I looked down at my body and realized I was filled with so much fluid that the floating dock couldn’t hold my weight anymore. I was like some weird, pale, veiny version of Jaba the Hut. I seemed to recognize that I was going to die and just looked down at the body that didn’t seem like mine anymore. Then I exploded into a waterfall of water droplets and my body became part of the ocean.
How trippy is that?
Tomorrow (August 12th), Josh and I will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. How cool is that? Some friends have asked if we’re experiencing the “seven year itch,” and I’d have to say no unless you count those that come with pregnancy and stretch marks.
It’s cool to be married for seven years and still really really like the person you’re with. What a joy. What a blessing. I often tell Josh that marriage has been so much better than I ever thought it could be.
Oh, and at the end of this month, Josh and I will acknowledge that this time ten years ago was when we met! I still remember going to the freshman dessert before freshman year started at Bethel and sitting with Pete Nelson (because I knew him from high school). And there, across the table from me, was Josh. I’ve liked him ever since. He was cute, but mostly I liked that he seemed very sincere and “together,” unlike most of the other freshman guys. And he was funny and kept my attention. Anyway, friendship led to fondness led to marriage (and soon to a baby in a baby carriage!).
And what better way to celebrate 10 years of friendship and 7 years of marriage than the birth of our first child? It seems crazy and sends me reeling with joy when I stop and think about it. I often stop and feel like I don’t deserve this kind of bliss, but who am I to question the blessings the Lord gives? I don’t question them anymore than I would question the hard times He’s sent my way. They are both gifts from Him, and they are both received with reverence.
Anyway, I love you Joshua and I hope the Lord will continue to bless us with abundant joy and love for many years to come! You have inspired the best parts of me to come out and shine and I continually pray that I can be the kind of wife who reflects back to you all the love you have given to me. <3
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Lord, thank you for these many blessings.
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. (Psalm 30: 11-12)
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Father God, continue to mold me into a wife of noble character that I may bring joy and confidence to Joshua all the days of my life.
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. (Proverbs 31:10-31)
Discussions like this hurt my brain. Why can’t taxes be simple?
Conversation between me and Josh:
Steph: I’m so tired! I wish I could sleep for nine years!
Josh: But then you would have missed the first nine years of our son’s life. And, who knows, we might’ve had more kids by then.
!?!
I’m a huge Amazon fan and pretty much just love the entire site and service. One part about it that I love is that I can get used books! My issue now is that it is mostly standard that shipping is $3.99 for every book that I get. So, I found a book that was $0.67 used, but then it was $3.99 for shipping. There were three different books that I wanted that totaled $2.16 used price, plus $11.97 shipping for the three. That’s a total of $14.13. That’s pretty nice.
This is what I want:
#1 – I want shipping choices. Most books I get I’d like to just pay the Media Rate and let the books get here when they get here. That would be way cheaper than $3.99 in most cases.
#2 – I want cheaper shipping costs if I choose a bookseller that’s near me. Why do I have to pay $3.99 for shipping if my bookseller is in Vermont, and still have to pay $3.99 for shipping if my bookseller is in Modesto, CA? Shouldn’t the costs reflect location?
#3 – I want to be able to view other books that a bookseller has available. For example, if I choose to buy a book from “Bobo322” bookseller, I want to be able to see what other books Bobo322 is also selling. That way, I could lower my shipping costs and potentially get all/most of my books from that one location. This would reduce my overall cost of used books.
Come on Amazon! Work with me! You’re SO CLOSE to being my favorite!
As I said before, I am now playing with my new Flickr account. Anyway, I’ve been playing with it and decided to try to set some locations of the pictures I had. So, I was looking on their map and then I thought, “Hmmm… Um. What continent do I live on??? I’m confused…”
See what I saw.
I figured it out eventually. It was just like some bizarro world for a little while!
Josh recently bought me a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because he’s sick of not being able to discuss the finer points of the series with me. He has been trying to get me to read it since the books started coming out and I have always pushed off his harrassment claiming that, while I genuinely do want to read them, I simply haven’t had the time to do it.
Well, the book had been sitting on my nightstand for about a month, with Josh making little chants at night, “Harry! Harry! Harry!” Or, he’d even look over at me and impersonate Lexi.
So, a few days ago, Josh came home and woke me up from a nap. He saw the Harry Potter book on the bed next to me and exclaimed, “Yeah! You started reading Harry Potter!”
“No,” I replied. “I just used it because I couldn’t reach the snooze button on the alarm.”
His face dropped. Then, in typical Josh “switch gears” fashion, he got over his disappointment and made his personal connection to my comment, “Yeah. I did the same thing with my high school diploma.”
Josh has been pestering me since podcasting came out to do a podcast with him. But, we’ve never been able to come up with a good idea that would really fit us. We’d debate about all the things our *show* could be about, but it always ended up as a big messy podcast that contained a little bit of everything. But, now I think I’ve come up with the best idea. It’s a two part show:
I think that could work. LOL.
Since volleyball and surfing went out the window as exercise/athletic activities, I have been struggling to find something that works for me. I’ve already shared why yoga doesn’t work.
After much searching, I finally settled in on water aerobics at the YMCA. It’s mostly older ladies and pregnant women since it’s way low impact and even kind of hokey at times. (My favorite move is “happy crab”). I love that I get some sunshine and don’t worry about falling or hurting myself. I miss the competitive, push-yourself aspect of my old sports, but I suppose I can pick up some volleyball again in a few months. (I hope!)
The only *bad* part about water aerobics is that the Y’s pool is right next to a public park and the outdoor pool only has a chain-link fence separating the two. There is almost always a volleyball net set up in the park and some decent players are usually hacking out a nice little game. Yesterday I was doing my water workout while also watching their volleyball game. I noticed that their setter wasn’t very good and I kept getting mad at her poor footwork. They were playing a real rough game and calling their own shots. At one point, the girl set a double and the other team was like, “No way! That was a double!” Then both teams got in a huge argument over it. I almost shouted to them in the middle of my water aerobics class, “It was definitely a double! I saw it and her hands did not have a clean release!” But then I didn’t because I still have tact.
I wonder if I’d like water aerobics if I couldn’t watch volleyball during the class…