A funny thing is happening to my body as my belly gets bigger and JoJo’s due date creeps closer: I look like a special effect on a sci-fi B-movie. It’s really funny to sit on the couch, minding my own business, and suddenly feel this movement in my abdomen. I look down to see my belly visably moving! Sometimes he’ll push out in one spot, bulging out one side of my belly, then pull back. Then push out, again. It really does look – and feel – like a special effect on a sci-fi movie. I’ll be sure to post if an alien bursts out of my belly.
Robbed on the Runway
August 17, 2006 at 7:14 am (Commentary Cauldron)
I had hoped to see Allison go much farther in this season of Project Runway, but tonight one of my favorite designers got the boot.
With a great eye for silhouette and impeccable build and styling techniques, this challenge proved to be too much for Allison. What is worse is that she was booted instead of the looney Vincent. That had to be a producer’s decision. Vincent is great TV fodder because he’s borderline insane. Allison is just too normal next to him, and has not caused any controversy. So, despite the fact that I believe she was the superior designer, she got the boot.
What really gets my goat about the situation is that a couple of weeks ago the judges and producers of the show let another designer move forward, despite the fact that he had not completed the challenge. Of course, that designer was booted off the next week for cheating, but the fact remains that he did not actually complete the challenge and yet was passed on to the next round.
In real life, I don’t care for reality TV programs. But for Project Runway I have made an exception. Check it out on Bravo, Wednesday nights at 10/9!
Grr. Argh. I HATE glasstop stoves!
August 16, 2006 at 1:38 am (Commentary Cauldron)
Oh, how I miss my gas stove! For years I have had the great fortune of being in apartments with a gas stove and oven. A pain to clean because of all the little bits to wipe around, yes, but a TRUE JOY to cook on.
I think I’m going to cry just thinking about all the fun I had with my gas stove.
We moved into a house, our first home buying excursion, last year. This house has an electric stove. Grr. Argh. Okay, at least it is new and in good shape. Grr. Argh. That glasstop stove looks kinda cool and should be a breeze to clean.
OR NOT!!
Grr. Argh. One must be very careful what one uses on said stovetop or one might royally screw up one’s stovetop.
Grr. Argh.
I’ve got one eye that has a black ring…hahaha, my stove has a black eye! I just got it. Hahaha.
Anywho, I have one eye with a black ring from water boiling over. The answer is apparently to use a highly toxic chemical to wash it off. Oh, but this toxin does wonders. I am sure it does. What do the fish in the river think of this toxin all my fellow glasstop stove owners are using? Go, go water pollution! Don’t you like your glass of water with a heaping teaspoon of questionable chemicals?
Grr. Argh.
Getting Ready for Baby
August 13, 2006 at 3:10 pm (Pregnancy and Childbirth)
We had a little surprise back in February. Instead of having the flu, it turns out I had a fetus. Now at 30-1/2 weeks (out of 40ish weeks total), we are feverishly trying to finish all the projects around the house that we kept saying, “Hey, we need to do ______.”
Since June we’ve repainted most of the house, refinished half the floors, and countless little things that we’d put off. This weekend, my dear mother-in-law came up from Tennessee to help us with some projects. We thought it would be a good weekend to wash and reglaze the windows, something we should have done when we moved into the house last year. But she had another thought.
For months we’ve had floor tile for our family room sitting in the corner, waiting to be installed. We were putting installation off because it was something that could be done after little JoJo Skywalker (the fetus’ womb name, used alternately with Little Jeter) makes his appearance sometime in October; that is not the case with some of the other, more messy or comprehensive tasks on our list.
But who argues with their mother or mother-in-law?! You want to help us lay tile, let’s get to it!!
The family room is an addition to the house. Once upon a time in the 50s, the room was a carport. Sometime in the 70s (a guess based on the color of the original tile), a previous owner enclosed and finished the carport to create a family room. The people from whom we purchased the house had carpeted over the tile, but the carpet was NASTY, and we are morally opposed to carpet. It was decided that the family room would be my dear husband’s domain, so it was painted accordingly…orange and white for the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Ergo, the tile is orange and white checkerboard, just like the endzone at Neyland Stadium.
So the day began with a trip to Krispy Kreme, followed by an emptying and cleaning of said room. Once the floor was prepped, we measured off the midpoint of each direction and snapped a chalkline, my new toy. I love chalkline. I used to play with my dad’s chalkline and now I have my very own with which to do home improvement projects. Ahhh. But I digress.
Once we figured out what we were doing with the adhesive and tile, DH and MIL got to work. Here our spirits are still pretty high because progress is being made, we’re still on a sugar high from the doughnuts, and it’s early in the day.
After the center point was laid in each direction, a brief break was taken to celebrate the project, so I took a little turn on the catwalk.
As the day waned, the excitement changed to tedium to exhaustion. One of our beagles kept watch to make sure stayed on task.
When we just about couldn’t take it anymore…actually, we past that point but kept plugging away…the final tile was finally laid and we all celebrated by passing out from exhaustion.
Sore Loser or Sore Winner?
August 9, 2006 at 10:56 pm (Politics)
I don’t live in Connecticut and I am not registered with any party, but I think the Democrats’ response to Lieberman announcing his canidacy for the US senate seat as an independent is hilarious. I heard a lady on NPR this morning say something about drafting a sore loser clause in the state’s election laws. So I wonder…is this about being a sore loser or a sore winner?
Perhaps I should preface the rest of this entry with the statement that I believe American politics needs a strong third party. Most of life is lived not in stark black and white but rather an area of gray where there are more questions than answers. Why not have our political structure reflect that? Well, I suppose because living in that gray area where there are no clear cut absolutes is more unsettling than thinking you know where the lines are drawn.
So how about Lieberman running as an independent? Should he be allowed to run despite the fact that his party rejected him as a candidate. Yes, actually, he should. Our political system is based on rule by the people. Lieberman lost by a rather slim margin. There are clearly many people who still want him to be the US Senator from Connecticut. In fact, running as an independent will be more difficult for him as he faces fundraising without the support of the party. So why do the Democrats have their panties in a wad over his independent canidacy?
Simply put, he’s splitting the party. He’s splitting the vote. And furthermore, he’s put them in the awkward position of having to campaign against the man who has held that seat for the Democrats for 18 years. He makes them look disloyal.
On the other hand, I’m not altogether convinced that career politicians are a good thing for any state in the union, but these days I don’t see how you could get elected to a national office without being a career politician. I won’t bore you with a lengthy explanation of how our founding fathers never intended for politics to be a career…I’ll save that rant for later in the election cycle.
I’ll simply wrap up by saying that I find Lieberman’s actions to be more gracious and more clever than the winner’s of last night’s Connecticut primary.
Yankees Sweep Red Sox at Fenway!
August 22, 2006 at 12:37 am (Commentary Cauldron, Uncategorized)
No comment, really, except to say, “Yippee!” Go Yanks!
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