Round 2...

Is going very well.

This picture was taken at 8 weeks, 2 days and I just heard my little kumquat's heartbeat again today at 13 weeks, 4 days.

It was good.

Due date, September 21st and WE. CAN'T. WAIT!!

Tyson has been imitating the little heartbeat sound we heard, and then grinning at me all afternoon. It's so cute.

Although I am so glad to be out of the 1st trimester and all the fear that comes with it (although I know that things could still go wrong at this point) I am still waiting for that cursed "morning" sickness to end.

Oh, why, you ask, is morning the only word in quotes?

Because I am not so sick in the morning. Just the whole rest of the day... and night... and anytime I smell onions... and whenever I'm tired... and if I've been at church too long. You know, "morning" sickness.

Anyway, now that I'm not keeping this MONUMENTAL secret anymore maybe I'll blog more often! Or maybe not, you never know.

And for those of you who are struggling with fertility, I am so sorry. There was a time when I cried every time I heard about someone new being pregnant because that was all I wanted. I wish the best for you and keep a prayer for you in my heart always.

Newest additions

Well, on the heels of our little drama from the other day, look what arrived!

Couches!!

Now our guests will have a place to sit when they come visit. And look what else they can do!

Reclinium couchiosa!

5 recliners in one living room. It's almost too much to handle. I love recliners, they make me so happy. And so comfy. And so sleepy...

Oh! Still blogging. Anyway, just wanted to show y'all what's goin' on at the homestead!

rant-o-rama

Sigh.

I need to vent a little.

In general I don't love reading other people's venting because it just gets me all worked up and filled with righteous indignation and then I'm all upset over a problem that isn't even mine! So if you're like that and don't want to read this, that's ok. I forgive you.

On to the story!

So I woke up at 7:30 this morning to what sounded like men talking... in my backyard. It also sounded like the water was on somewhere but it was kinda hard to tell. Truth? This was only the second night we've spent in the house so I'm still getting used to the noises.

Tyson had already left for work so I crept out of bed and peeked out the window.

Nothing.

I figured I was hearing construction workers at the house next door and the sound was just carrying over, and I figured the water sound was maybe just the fridge filling itself up or something? I dunno.

Anyway, I got out of bed, went downstairs and got myself some breakfast. I was just getting loungy (new word!) in front of the telly when I see a man walk past the window in my backyard!

Bah!

Keep in mind that I am home alone at this point and we don't have any blinds on the window. He proceeds to nonchalantly fill up a bucket of water from the spigot at the back of the house while I'm frozen in my living room wondering what to do.

I figure a gentle confrontation is my best bet.

So I open the sliding glass door and say "Hello! Are you working on my house?" Who knows? Maybe he had some sort of legitimate reason to be there that I didn't know about.

The guilty look on his face informed me that he did not.

Basically he didn't realize we had moved in yet, although he did see the boxes in the house, and he was working on a job on the house next door, which as he explained to me, wasn't our property. Yes, thank you, I didn't realize that Tyson and I do not own the entire neighborhood.

I did get the impression that it wasn't really his fault though, he was just doing what his supervisors said to do. He also knew the name of a guy who helped us with our house (I shall call him Bim) and said that Bim was the one who told him to get water from our house.

Oh really?

Then he told me exactly how much water he had taken and that he was sorry and wouldn't come back now that he knew we lived there. Ok, no hard feelings.

About a minute after he left the doorbell rang and it was his supervisor (who's name was also Bim, confusing, no?) and he apologized profusely and told me again that it was Bim who said to use our water.

Well now I'm thinking, how many people have used our stuff while we've been paying utilities? We've only really been here a couple days and anything could have been happening while we were transitioning from the apartment. We have owned this house for almost two weeks and Bim knew it. What makes him think it's ok to basically steal water from us since our house is the only one with the utilities turned on?

Meanwhile I'm texting Tyson about the situation and he's even getting upset. You know when Tyson gets bugged about something that it is a legit claim, not just the woman hormones talking. He's mostly worried because here I am home alone in a new house with no blinds and strange men are walking around just a foot away from the house.

Now I'm thinking less about the water and more about my privacy which suddenly feels violated.

So I call Bim.

Who denies telling anyone they could use anything.

Whatever.

I remind him that we are living there and that it is not ok for construction workers to be using our house for anything. I was uncomfortable with what happened and I told him that Tyson wasn't thrilled about it either. He was pretty quiet the whole time.

So now I don't really feel like anything has been resolved although I'm sure it won't happen again. I have no idea how much the 15 gallons of water cost us, although since I used at least that much in my bath yesterday it probably doesn't amount to much in the grand scheme.

Should I be bugged?

I'mturningJapaneseIthinkI'mturningJapaneseIreally thinkso!

Oh hey guys! It's me! Yeah, your friend who used to blog all the time and now can barely do one a week. Sorry. I guess I've got writer's block or something.

Anyway...

I'm so excited because while I was home my dad taught me how to make sushi!! California rolls really, I'm not that into rawness.

I took lots of pictures so I wouldn't forget how to do it and I would love to show them to you. Shall we take the journey together?

The first thing you need to do is get your ingredients ready. Here, we have some egg, cucumber, carrot, avocado, imitation crab, and rice cooking in the background. Slice everything real thin because if you overfill these rolls you will surely regret it. Believe me.

Once the rice is cooked you have to mix it carefully while pouring in a rice vinegar and sugar mixture and you need to keep air blowing on it the whole time. We did this while standing on chairs underneath the ceiling fan. I poured the rice vinegar while he stirred the rice. Very tricky business folks. Not for the weak hearted.

Once the rice is mixed and sticky you have to smoosh it onto the seaweed paper stuff (aka nori if you really want to know. I did want to know so I wikipediad it). I love the way it smells. As soon as I caught a whiff of it I was ready to eat. Like now. Like yesterday. FEED ME!

But we can't eat without filling our rolls with all that delicious goodness. A little more avocado please... yes, now a little more, and more over there, and another slice in the middle...

Roll, squeeze, adjust, roll, squeeze, adjust...

Ta daaaa! Got one!

It was at this point that dad made me relinquish the camera and roll one myself. I was nervous about messing it up but it wasn't too hard!

Here we go!

Woo hoo! That's mine in the front, the kinda open unique one.

Just kidding! Dad was trying to do a different type of roll with that front one, mine was actually the one in the back on the right side. Looks good, no?

A little slicing and dicing and voila! I mean, uh... konnichiwa!

Verdict?

De-lish.

And do you notice me using those chopsticks like a pro? Not easy considering my roll weighed like 3 lbs. and I was wrangling it in and out of sushi sauce.

So who wants a california roll!!??