Christmas is Coming!

It's different for me, but this year I am so excited for Christmas. There really isn't a good reason for it since it will be so similar to all the other Christmases, but there are a couple of small explanations that have me so looking forward to the next holiday. The first explanation is that Josh and I are almost finished Christmas shopping even though it's not even December. We barely buy presents at all--just a couple names we draw from family and something for each other--so it's not that impressive to be almost done, but I'm still happy about it. Then there's the fact that Christmas means Scarlet is that much closer to being here. She has now officially screwed up my hips so that I have adopted a weird hobbly gait to avoid the worst muscle spasms, but that just means that she's preparing to arrive and it makes me all kinds of excited. Christmas means just six more weeks before Scarlet. Another reason is that I'll be that much closer to finishing my MBA. I'll be another month down, and hopefully another couple of classes closer to the end.

Also, Josh graduates this next month, so Christmas will truly be a beginning. Josh will be free! He'll have a job but nothing else to take up 60% of his day, so I'll get to see him more. That is the best present of all. And this year Josh and I are going to celebrate an early Christmas with my family in Las Vegas and then hightail it back up to Utah for traditional Christmas celebrations with his family. We get double Christmas this year! This is the first year since I've been married that I've been able to be with my family for the holiday, and that may be the biggest reason for why I am SO EXCITED this year.

Everything is just looking rosy right now. I hope nothing happens to ruin that because we're preparing for a great end of the year and an exciting new year. Now if only we can all make it another 28 days...

Pregnancy Brain

When I was a teenager watching my older sisters experience their own pregnancy woes, I vowed that I would not allow myself to fall into the cliche trap of "pregnancy brain". This is the mythological concept that pregnant women tend to be more forgetful, absent-minded, and scatterbrained than usual. One of my sisters theorized that because your body is working so hard to grow a baby, your brain is distracted with the more important subconscious things, and less inclined to stay tuned to your conscious thoughts. That just sounds like lazy thinking and a bunch of excuses, thought my teenage-year-old self. Fast forward to now.

On Saturday I stopped by BYU after book club to drop off a bunch of old textbooks. I was only gone for 20 minutes but when I got back to my car I saw that my driver's side door had been left open. I was so distracted by getting the books out of the trunk, I forgot to shut the darn thing. Then today I was at the grocery store and I was so concerned with reading my gift receipt for a present that I left half my groceries with the cashier. He had to call me back so I could collect them. It was a proud moment.

You guys, I'm starting to worry that I have pregnancy brain. So I did a little research and this article made me feel a little better. It stressed that pregnant women can be a little forgetful and are prone to distraction because their babies are ALWAYS on their minds (true story), but that when they are focused on a single task, they are capable of the same cognitive function as non-pregnant women. So I haven't lost my brain, but when I lose focus, I immediately forget whatever it was I was doing before I focused on the new distraction. Add to that the fact that Scarlet plays around enough to constantly remind me of her presence, and it makes sense that I can't always remember to turn the stove on when I'm making dinner (Josh figured that one out) or that I keep forgetting to take the butter out of the microwave at 7 seconds, not 30 (seriously, that happened twice just today). You'd never know that I graduated from college, that I'm a professional editor, or that I'm in a graduate program. All you can tell by watching me is that I keep losing my cell phone and I can't remember why I walk into certain rooms.

New Trend

I noticed a new trend that has me kind of worried. On Saturday Josh and I went to the mall together. This is a rare experience for us because if there's something Josh hates more than Satan, it's shopping. But he loves me, so he went with. We were at the mall and had wandered through two department stores for about ten minutes each when I discovered that I was utterly exhausted and my back hurt so much I had to find a chair to sit down in.  What the what? Shopping rejuvenates me. The last time I went shopping I spent three hours of utter bliss trying on clothes and wandering into any store that struck my fancy. I came back from that trip fantasizing about the next time I'd be able to go. Well this "next time" totally sucked. After maybe thirty minutes of tragic limping through three stores, I gave up and begged Josh to take me home so I could take a nap.

And so the third trimester begins.

Election Day!

So today was an oddly busy day. I was surprisingly busy at work today because lately I've had quite a lot of work to do and it's been awesome. I love being busy at work because it makes the time go so quickly and I feel so productive and useful. I currently have a project with actual meetings and items to upload and all of that takes time, so I'm pretty happy these days while at work.

Then I had a few hours after work to focus on some schoolwork. This is less cool, because I got my resubmitted task returned AGAIN and I can't for the life of me figure out why these evaluators are asking for specific things that are not requested in the task or the rubric. But whatever. I'll keep resubmitting until they admit that I'm incredibly thorough and their job sucks. Or at least until they pass me. It took me several hours to submit two tasks today, but that's two tasks, so that's great progress on school for the day.

Then Josh came home and we walked to our library and voted! I love voting! It makes me feel like a good citizen. Last night for FHE, Josh and I researched each individual candidate for EVERY office until we could come up with valid reasons for voting for certain people. Then I wrote down all the people I decided I liked because there's no way I'd be able to remember everyone by the time I voted. We even looked up the pros and cons of the Utah constitutional amendments and that one proposition. By far the most boring research was determining whether each of the seven judges up for their next term should be retained. So boring. So long. But it all paid off, because tonight I was able to bring my little cheat sheet to the library and vote for all the people I had chosen. I also got a voting sticker and shall wear it as a badge of honor.

When we got back home, we ate some dinner and both sat down to do our respective homeworks. I really need to get this term finished before Scarlet comes and she's big enough now that she constantly reminds me of her impending arrival. So I spent another couple of hours working through some assignments for my third class. I didn't start any of the tasks for this class because I figured two and a half hours of work is enough for one evening (not counting the task submissions from this afternoon) and I gave myself the rest of the evening off. Poor Josh is still working on his schoolwork because Wednesday is the day that he has all his classes so all of his assignments are due that day. He usually spends all Tuesday night working on homework so I know to just ignore him for the evening.

He has been periodically calling out updates about the presidential race, though. Earlier on, Romney was ahead but now Obama is ahead. If California goes to Obama, which wouldn't surprise me in the least, Obama could win this. Josh keeps pulling up individual states' data and the polling information from CNN. It's making me anxious every time he announces some new fact. I just hate this part of the process--waiting without knowing whether to be happy or distraught. I guess we'll know for sure tomorrow morning.

In any case, I hope everyone voted and that everyone is having a marvelous evening. We'll soon find out if we have reason to celebrate tomorrow...

On Growing Larger

So it's partly my fault. I have really come to appreciate the AWESOMENESS that is sugar and this being the holidays and all, sugar is all around me in beautiful abundance. I also blame Scarlet a little. She makes me crave sugary snacks on a level that I never experienced before she came around. But whoever gets to take credit for my getting bigger (baby and sugar), it's indisputable that I have grown larger.

This is what happens when you're pregnant so I'm not totally freaked out, but I am a woman so this affects me psychologically on a daily basis. Now that I've finally outed my pregnancy to the world, I feel vindicated for having a chubbier face and bigger arms and a waist that doesn't look like a waist anymore. The worst part? People tell me all the time that I don't look any different. Even people who knew I was pregnant way back before I was showing. That is probably true--maybe I don't look any different to them. But I am tying rubber bands around my largest-size jeans so I can squeeze into them still. I have gained 15 pounds. I have broken the zipper on my favorite dress trying to wedge myself into it, and I have an entire wardrobe of high-waisted zippered skirts and dresses that I can no longer fit into. So just what did everyone think I looked like before I was pregnant?! Did they always see me as this obese, sugar-eating monster who tips the scale each week and cries into her donuts?

Wow, I could really go for a donut right about now...

It begins...

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NANOWRIMO! I did it last year with some friends and although I never reached the 50,000 word count goal, I got several tens of thousands of words added to my novel and that makes me ecstatic. I am committed to making this year's goal a win by starting on time and meeting the daily 1600+ word count so I can actually finish this time around. I'll be meeting semi-regularly with those same friends and this time I won't have any excuses of travel or broken laptops or anything to stop me from writing those words.

The kick-off pizza party is this Monday in Provo and Megan and I are totally going. Here's to next month's NANOWRIMO event! I hope it's a huge success for everyone!

October? Already?!

So it's been almost exactly six months since I last wrote in this blog. I am duly ashamed. To commemorate this miserable milestone, I pulled this little gem from Single Dad Laughing (which is a kind of cool blog, btw). Enjoy.

THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER SAY TO SOMEONE WHO'S SINGLE (complete with what would be awesome responses from Dan Pearce, SDL):

• So, why are you single?
  Ummm, maybe because I don’t shower and I hate puppies.
• Just have fun with it!
  Thank you. You’ve just solved all my problems. I was purposefully NOT having fun with it.
• Have you tried online dating?
  Match.com didn’t work so I guess my next move is Craigslist.
• It just wasn’t meant to be.
  Thank you. I’ve been hoping to find somebody who knows the complete plans of the universe. So tell me, all knowing, who IS meant to be?
• It will happen when you least expect it.
  How can I expect it less than never?
• There are plenty of fish in the sea.
  Thank you for rubbing my nose in my inability to get any of them.
• You’re just too picky.
  So, you’re saying I should settle?
• Are you kidding? I wish I was single and in your shoes.
  Poor baby.
• You’re so attractive! What seems to be the problem?
  How do I answer this without making you or me look like a jerk?
• Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.
  Oooooh. That must be it. I think what you’re really saying is that I’m not easy enough.
• He just hasn’t found you yet.
  Oh, well, then I guess I’ll stop looking and wait for him to come to me!
• When are you going to get married?
  When are you going to let me kick you in the teeth?
• There  are so many great guys/girls out there.
  So, are you saying that I’m not one of them since they’re so readily abundant and I’m still alone?
• You have such a pretty face, I bet if you lost weight you could find a man!
  And I bet if you gained weight you’d be mistaken for a Manatee. 
• I’m sorry.
  For what? Making me feel like a piece of crap?
• You’ll be complete some day.
  Yes, because I’m so incomplete now. Thank you.
• You’ll always be single until you fix yourself up.
  Meaning… I have to be someone other than me?
• At least you don’t have any responsibilities.
  At least you don’t have any tact.

You’re not getting any younger!
And you’re not getting anything in my will. 

Oh, you’re the unmarried one.
Oh, you’re the one with a ridiculously large forehead. 

From married moms: oh, it sucks that I am going to be a single mom for the next three days while my husband is out of town.
From single moms: Oh, I’m sorry. You have to go three days without help while somebody goes somewhere to make some money for you. If you need anything, let me know.

Your kids will give you all the love you need.
Yes, because who needs a partner to hug, kiss, and have awesome sex with. Certainly not me.

Are you gay?
If I told you I was, would you get off my back?

You’re too skinny.
You’re too fat. Let’s hug and pretend we don’t despise each other. 

Good luck, all the good ones are either taken, gay, or still attached to their mothers’ breasts.
First of all, that doesn’t make any sense. Second of all, huh?

It must be so nice to be single.
It must be so nice to be stupid.

You know, your biological clock is ticking.
Thank you for the reminder. So is yours, which means a drop kick to your face won’t heal as quickly.

Maybe if you didn’t look like a mom.
That’s right… I’m trying to trick people into liking me and then I’ll spring my parental status on them at the last possible moment.

Come on over…you won’t be a third wheel!
Well, I wasn’t going to feel that way before, but now…

You’re smart and independent and already have kids, you don’t need a man anyway.
I can see your reasoning. So are you saying that you are dumb and dependent? Cause that’s all I hear.

Beggars can’t be choosers.
So, I’m officially at beggar status. Please sir… can you spare a girlfriend for a guy down on his luck?

It’s going to be hard to find a man who wants an instant family.
It’s going to be hard to find your contact lenses after I punch you in the face.

Your self confidence scares guys off.
I think you’re onto something. I’ll start acting like a pushover doormat. That’ll bring me the right kind of guy.