sunrays

-so i really want to know how fb suggests friends. i understand if i share friends with the person, but my SIXTH GRADE teacher showed up over there yesterday. and we share no friends!

-today’s SS is about exercise.

- with ben being home, one would think that aiden would watch less SS, but not true, as now it is the morning staple so that he lets the person’s whose turn it is to sleep into sleep in. he is not a fan of doing that, so needs a lot of distraction as to not run back there yelling the sleeping person’s name.

- we watch relatively old school (and sometimes really old school) SS, and i enjoy the old celebrities that show up.

- aiden also loves to watch the opening scene of Mario Bros 2 on the DS. it is very funny.

- yes, obviously i am not one of those no tv/no electronics type of people. we believe that the future will require aiden to be comfortable with these types of things. and he is. he can use the iphone better then most. but we also don’t just sit him down in front of the tv and go about our lives (okay, so i am blogging right now during SS time). but we interact with him about the show (practice counting, identify the animals and monsters on the show). plus i don’t really believe studies that show if you do X Y will happen to your child. i.e. if you allow your child watches tv, they will have X fewer words. I seriously doubt this has anything to do with TV and more to do with the lack of talking of parents to children or other reasons. being trained in econometrics and prog eval makes one really distrust any study that involves people. too many unobservable variables. physical science is so much simplier b/c you can control everything (to a point, i guess that i had a couple of things in my ph.d. research i could not control, but could account for)

-i’m trying to decide wether i should apply for some job openings. they would be great opportunities, but i doubt i would get them, which is good b/c they would make my life a tad complicated, but great opportunities. i think i’m just going to apply and not get them. and then i won’t have to figure out the complexities, but still not kick myself for not applying. : )

my love.

i am a very strange mix of logical scientist + very liberal + free market trained economist.

it makes for interesting opinions.

also. ben and his dad braved the rain and BAD BAD traffic to pick up the new baby’s furniture i got off craigslist in april. they had kept it b/c they are trying to sell their house and needed it for staging, which was fine. they were definitely getting more utility out of it then we would. but with the cramping has made me worried (for no reason) so we got it this week instead of at the prearranged end of the month. what is two weeks? plus now ben won’t worry about it. anyways, the furniture is like new, excellent quality. it was a great deal, even with the $50 for the van rental to get it. and now it is strange to have furniture in the new baby’s room, even though we haven’t put back together the crib. i have ordered the new mattress, and once it gets here we shall be all ready.

also also. we got our present from ben’s parents: a double stroller. i love love love it. ben loves it more. it makes me feel like a yuppy. and a little bad for all those times i made fun of people paying a lot of money for strollers, but in my defense this is the only one that is like this. (also: i wanted the lower model, but ben won with his desires for the higher model b/c it folds with both seats. and since he is by far the bigger user of the stroller now with the jogging and park going so he wins.)

big week. and now, we are totally ready. and we still have more than a week until “full term”, so he’s got to stay in until them, but after that come on out. not that i am betting on that. but as i write that, the fact i could have a baby in two weeks FREAKS ME OUT. it is a strange feeling – the wanting to move on to the next thing, but also not really getting the fact i have to push out this baby, and THEN HAVE A NEWBORN. one is pregnant for so long that it seems like it is never going to end (not in a bad way), but it is just surprising when it does…

taking a picture of ourselves

well. i’ve been done for 5 days now. and already a little stir crazy. though we have filled our days. it is more weird to not have things to fill nap times when ben plays his baseball game. we had some peeps over on saturday for a cookout. yum. and yesterday we spent the late afternoon/dinner with some of bens fam. aiden is in a stage, so it probably was the best decision to take him out to dinner, BUT we picked a usually fast place and we went early; however, it took a long time to order/get our food and we weren’t in our normal booth, but at a table, so aiden couldn’t move around at the table like he normally does. plus. he is not a fan of high chairs (we have a toddler chair that sit at our table, but he also like to just stand in a chair and eat). but the ace was he was shown the water fountain. he loves to play in the water. and loved the water fountain, so just wanted to run around in the back area with the water fountain. thankfully there were lots of people to fulfill the water fountain desire.

i am very annoyed with old navy’s maternity return policies when you order online. you cannot return in the store and the do not pay return shipping! so annoying. and, i found out the hard way, that you have to return the stuff in 45 days! which is usually doable, unless one is trying to find a pair of pant that won’t FALL DOWN, and so was collecting stuff until i gave up. oh well. i got the expensive gap ones back in time, but not a shirt, which i have now just taken to wearing, and like. and a pair of the only jeans that don’t fall down in the wrong size. so ebay for them. haha. may i’ll actually get around to listing them; however, i lean to waiting until the fall when people are looking for jeans. anyways, i’m done with old navy/gap ordering online stuff i can’t return in the store (okay, so that is just maternity).

today has been a great day.
i got up with aiden (who is on a 6 am wake-up call). and hung out with him until ben got a bit after 8. then i went back to bed and slept until 10. it was awesome. my body really needed it. then i worked out (not awesome, but my body does need it) and had lunch. i laid around on my left side all afternoon watching random DHC shows i’d taped. and almost took another nap. seriously. i have definitely hit the fatigue wall, and can feel that my body is getting ready to (HOLY CRAP) birth a baby. it is funny how it is right on schedule with those this week blah blah blah emails i get (i.e. the baby dropped this week) and also how that was the case with aiden. and how i remember the general crampiness with aiden at week 35. i went into the hospital last time (as the dr. office told me to do b/c crampiness can be a sign of preterm labor), but this time I’m just waiting until my appt tomorrow morning. it was nothing last time. and i’m sure it is nothing thing time, just probably need to drink more water.

it is SO NICE not to have anything hanging over my head AND have ben home as that i don’t have to entertain the child alone. and tonight we are going out to dinner, so i don’t even have to cook. okay, not that i would have b/c it is ben’s one night of the week that i release control and let him cook. this is from me not being home every thursday night prior to this one and him having to cook. he likes it, plus it is good practice to be to not micromanage the cooking as it will be hard once current resident makes an appearance. lots of burritos for us then. ; )

my dog is so funny. and cute.
the weather has not gotten much past 65 this WHOLE YEAR, and so that question is, will my tomatoes grow before the first frost?

ben had never been to texas before this past weekend; therefore, he was surprised and amused to find such things as garden & gun magazine and pick up truck with testicles hanging off the back. (FOR REALS). also – the amount of elevated roadways in houston is ridiculous. seriously. WHY? like why does NASA parkway need to be elevated as to miss ONE LIGHT? okay, i was also surprised by those things.

i turned in my final paper this afternoon. i hasn’t quite sunk in, but i am a little overwhelmed by all the stuff i have been putting off until i finished the paper. hahaha. not really. i’m just currently tired, so the thought of anything overwelhms me. i am VERY happy to be done at this moment.

i’m tired today b/c in addition to finishing my paper and driving down to UC to turn it in and turning my parking gate opener in, we also did a lot of aiden playing. this morning we had a playdate with a daughter of a guy ben works with. his daughter is just a tad older. and his wife is very similar to me, so it was a very enjoyable morning. then this afternoon after i got back from my trip to UC, pepper and i met ben and aiden at the park. Ben had run his 1.5 miles (!) and they were swinging. i sat on the edge of the playground with pepper, who became a big attraction. 5 kids came up and gathered around to pet/stare at her. it was very amusing. i think pepper is the best, but i still was like, have these kids never seen a dog? pepper is awesome with kids. she loves the attention, and is so good with kids. she’s the best.

i like when airlines take me and return me on time. it was the first time i few continental in a long long time, and we were quite happy. they are in the low key terminal at ord. we flew at noon down and back and both times they served us FREE sandwiches on the plane. I’m impressed simply b/c we flew EIGHT HOURS to hawii on AA and not an OUNCE of food did they serve!

Anyways, there was no lost licenses or delayed flights, and only one being late (due to our over dependence on the phone’s directions). it was simply a great weekend.

the weather was awesome, which was good since the rehearsal dinner was outside. it was warm, yet comfortable with low humidity. friends of liz and mike’s cooked for the dinner and it was the best food i’ve ever eaten. or at least some of the best. smoked rib eyes and pork chops. baked potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus. bacon wrapped shrimp. homemade cobblers. a beautiful night. and as matron of honor we got to sit at the awesome table with the awesome chairs, which was great for my body.

saturday ben and i slept late (to 8 AM! with no mom, mom, mom, to wake up to!) Oh yes, we did stay in clear lake, at the CL hilton, were our awesome room was on the 11th floor overlooking the water and the pool. ben and i got breakfast and hung out until he took me to meet liz at 11. ben went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool while liz and i lunched, got our hair done, went to SONIC, and got ready for her 5 pm wedding. i was the only person in the wedding party, which made life simple. (though the large stage at the church could have accommodated a courtney size wedding party (7 or 8 on each side)). the ceremony was simple and sweet. mike had filled the worship center with a million candles, which was sooooo beautiful. (and, turns out, amusing, as some of the hanging candles dripped wax on liz’s cousin).

the reception was at the hotel. the food was good. the cake was awesome. my toast seemed to go well. and ben and I danced most of the evening away. (to all the non-country songs). we even pulled out our very rusty swing dancing skills and swung to jailhouse rock. i think i freaked people out all dancing and stuff so pregnant. no so much freaked people out, but they were like damn. you are going to have that baby on the dance floor! hahaha. as if! i was like I WORK OUT. EVERY DAY! this is nothing! anyways. it was a lot of fun. ben is awesome. i love that he also like to dancing. i think he was really the only boy on the dance floor sometimes. except during the country songs which had quite a few older couples two-stepping.

it was a lot of fun. it was also nice to sleep in until 8 again! together! unheard of!
all in all great weekend. i’m so happy for liz and mike!

today: 34 weeks (well, tomorrow 34 weeks)
i’m getting old and curmudgeonly on pretty much every subject; however, one of the current things:

1. I HATE the paragraph of papers that say: in section 1, i’m going to do this, in section 2, blah blah blah. I find this to be lazy writing if your introduction is well writing, your readers should know what you are going to do. i always skip these paragraphs. also: i never write them. they are very rare in science, though seem to be standard in those fields where people write about what other people are writing about (political science MA). so annoying. I also had sentences are the beginning of sections that say in this section i’ll talk about blah blah blah. LAZY. LAZY. don’t writing papers that need roadmaps. write concisely, well introduced papers and readers will know what to expect. Even writing for the general public doesn’t involved waste of space sentences like that.

i feel sorry for my future graduate students.
i’ll insist on all sorts of crazy things like commas in lists. e.g.: a, b, c, and d. NOT a, b, c and d. the dropping of this comma makes so sense at all.

in the end, i’m just data driven. i don’t understand ma thesis that just look at other people’s theories and don’t actually have any data themselves (the crappy MA thesis parts i was forced to read in my writing class).

It is the last day of class. and someone sat in my seat in the first one. i did not have my second class (thanks undergraduate reading week), and then i came into my third, not started, and almost had to kick someone out of my seat. dude almost sat in it. i’ve sat there EVERY CLASS this quarter. seriously. it is where i sit. and i’m picky with the whole need an escape route problem. and this dude knew. he has some to at least some of the classes. this should be an interesting class b/c people will be here.

so strange to be my last class. still have a paper due wednesday, half done, slow due to lack of motivation.

i think it strange that only 4 out of 150 people are not walking in graduation. that is low in my view. but people just cannot believe i am not walking. i guess people get more invested here then i did. there are some good people here, but there are also idiots who i do not need to spend another day with.

one thing i would like to change: that some women/girls would quit feeling that they are important because they are the only woman in a situation and not because they are inherently valuable in themselves.

things i’d like to ask:
to people when they tell me that they don’t eat a certain thing for a “health” reason – for example- high fructose corn syrup: do you work out?
to people who say they never watch tv/don’t own a tv: do you surf the internet?
to the world: why does my brother in law dress so strangely? seriously, does showing his chest hair help his music?
why do some people have their facebook profile picture as only their children?
though can i really judge since my twitter profile pic is my dog?
why does traffic is chicago rarely make sense? this past tuesday was awesome traffic getting home at 4.30, but that has not been the case in like a month.

random thoughts:
i have cravings for margaritas.
in the mornings, while i am really tired and either doing the elliptical or trying to get myself on the elliptical i really want an iced coffee.
i have cravings for ice cream and unlike these other ones, satisfy them every evening after dinner.

Thursday i had a dr. appt, and so had time to waste at one of my favorite restaurants right by the condo. it is always a little strange to go down there, but since i do it every two weeks, then it also seems normal. my restaurant is awesome. i’m excited about my sandwich for lunch and the other half for dinner. i think this is one of the only places i’ve sat is every booth/table at some point. the owner is here at 11. he does the water. and the same waitress has been her since at least aiden was born. despite being open only now for 13 mins, there is more than just me here. we’ve also been here with many of our friends. it is like where we take people. great brunch. great lunch. and great dinner if you want brunch or lunch stuff for dinner. and great iced tea. yum.

so it was yummy. and the waitress which was been her forever just got into an argument with the owner. it definitely sounds like they are more than employer/employee…like i think they might be dating as the owner just said “[something] pasta is not a reason to give me the cold shoulder for 24 hours!” random!

i’m home from a short 27 hours in houston. yay for all my flights being on time, despite thunder storms in houston (they can actually deal with rain down there, unlike chicago where a drop of rain shuts everything down.)

But my time on the ground in houston was very strange.

it started at the car rental counter where the lady demanded proof of chris’s u saa membership for the “discount”. ben and i have rented under the discount a fair many times and NEVER has anyone asked us. I had a debit card with them, and ended up having to put the car in my name, despite chris returning it today without me. which wasn’t a big deal at all as usaa members can be an additional driver with no charge at this certain place. but it was so strange. and involved a conversation where i let the lady believe we were married in hopes she was take my “proof” for chris, but she wouldn’t. oh well. not that it matters since, as i mentioned, since chris is a usaa member, he would be covered anyways. And, of course, nothing happened. though we were surprised to get out to the car and find the funny looking red car pictured above.

the next random thing happened when we went to Pei Wei (an asian place) and the 16 year old girl asked chris what kind of rice he wanted. she meant white, brown, or fried. chris answered: is it jasmine rice? she had no idea what he was talking about. it amused me greatly.

then this pretty small red thunderstorm followed us all the way from the airport to liz’s. driving rainstorm! crazy rain!

liz was gracious enough to host us, despite it being 2 weeks before her own wedding.

the next random thing was parking in downtown houston where sarah was getting married. it was very confusing and resulted in us walking into the place and finding becca talking to cops about it.

the wedding was very nice. (naked man junk on the ceiling in the form of a mural amused the hell out of me). it was nice to chill with kent and carter, whom i’ve actually seen more in the past 6 months this the previous 5 years. and it was very nice to see sarah so happy. congrats to her and jose!

this morning/early afternoon I got to hang with liz as everyone else left earlier. it was really good to chill with her. plus i got to see her fiancee in action at his church.

liz dropped me at the airport. as i went inside and opened my wallet i remembered that my license was in the rental car, which chris had returned 4 hours before hand. i had dropped it between the seat and the middle thing and had forgotten to get it. thankfully, i had 1.5 hours before my flight. so immediately went to the rental car shuttle to the HUGE complex. As i was waiting for the shuttle i called the company, and the lady couldn’t tell me if the car had been rerented b/c i didn’t have the contract number. she said that i should just go to the space we got it from and look. (the complex there has all unlocked cars.) she said it was very unlikely the car had been rerented.

so i got back to the complex. went to the area, where there are a MILLION cars. of course, there was another car in the space we had gotten outs from the previous data. Thankfully our rental car was VERY distinctive, so i just walked to the return area where all these cars were lined up all washed and ready and looked for our BRIGHT RED bread box car. i found one, but the black interior said NO LUCK. I walked some more. and some more. hoping at this point to find someone to help me in this sea of cars. seriously, beside the complex in pheonix i’ve never seen so many rental cars. and then i find it. and i open the door and look and there it is. my ticket to a trouble-free way home. YAY. i get it. call ben. and do a little dance.

i got through security. and the mcdonald’s didn’t have ice cream! so i had to have a frozen yogurt cone. subpar.

and thus ended my random 27 hours in houston.

i’ll see you again houston, in 12 days, but this time i’ll have my real husband. which always makes my life better b/c he makes most things better.