Pregnancy report
I'm now entering the second trimester! At 13 weeks 4 days, I'm feeling pretty good and am not as tired as I was a few weeks ago. My second doctor's appointment is tomorrow, and I expect it will be fairly routine, though I'm hoping/thinking I will get to hear the heartbeat. I have gained roughly 3 pounds, but I already feel like I've gained more. My waistline has definitely expanded, and most of my pants either don't fit or are uncomfortable. My skirts and shirts are all still fitting fine. A few days ago, Jon said I'm showing! That makes me happy. I want to look pregnant, not just tired/bloated/queasy.

If you would like to see my sideview belly pictures, taken so far at 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, and 13 weeks, please e-mail me or ask in the comments section here, and I'll send you the link to the album.

Evangelism: anytime, anywhere?
I went with several coworkers (most of our department, in fact) to a "motivational seminar" yesterday--an all-day snooze-fest with speaker after speaker attempting to get 12,000+ of us motivated by telling funny stories or telling us about how rich they are and that we can be too. After one of the speakers/assistant MCs interviewed Jessica Lynch (it was semi-interesting, but she is obviously not a public speaker), he got up and seemed to be transitioning to the next speaker. But he didn't. Slowly, he segued into the fact that we need something "spiritual" to really motivate us. He didn't use any "God" words at first. He said something like, "You just need to believe in something." I might have misheard that statement, but I do think he said that. Not 5 minutes later, he said that it does matter what you believe. "If I believe with all my heart, with all my faith," he said, "that this TV screen will fly me back to Florida tomorrow, all the faith in the world isn't going to make that happen. But if I have just a bit of faith that the airplane I board will get me home, it will happen." OK, I'm thinking, so what is the airplane? What do you believe? He still didn't say. Eventually, he worked in some "God" words and finally told us "the prayer [he] prayed in [his] heart 27 years ago"--Jesus, come in my heart, fill me up, make me into the person you want me to be (real solid). Then he had his wife come on stage, and they told the story of how they met and decided to get engaged "even though [they] didn't love each other. [They] felt God told them to get married."

While I obviously have some issues with the actual message this guy was giving (it was unclear/vague, inconsistent, and Scripturally inaccurate), I was offended (too strong a word? Maybe taken aback) by the sly, less-than-honest way in which it was offered. At our Friday night Bible study a couple of weeks ago, we talked about a book called Permission Evangelism, which, though I only read excerpts, gets a little too extreme for me but that advocates a less obtrusive, in-your-face, now-you-listen-to-me type of evangelism/witnessing. The author of that book would have definitely been squirming in his seat yesterday. At this motivational seminar for business people, we were given no schedule, no agenda, no list of the order of speakers or topics--no warning about this spiritual talk in the middle of "how to understand the stock market" and "the 40 questions to ask in sales." Then, after slowly easing his way into this very vague spiritual talk given to a very captive (and shocked) audience, the speaker then started using religious jargon ("evangelism," "I asked God to put her face before my eyes") that must have turned many off. If his talk were able to help turn one unbeliever into a believer (I say able because he never really presented the gospel and so if someone prayed his prayer for Jesus to fill him/her up and change his/her life, I don't think that does it; I say help because I know it isn't a person who causes another to believe), perhaps it would be worth it. It seems to me, though, that the talk did harm, putting believers like me into a state of dismayed awe, and turning off unbelievers and giving them another reason on their list that Christians are wacko fanatics ("We got engaged even though we didn't love each other because God told us to") who shove their beliefs down others' throats.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves
This book is hilarious. Nell got it for me for my birthday, and I read the first several pages last night. Author Lynne Truss describes me (and my kind)--sticklers--perfectly. She writes how sticklers have been "weeping friendlessly in caves" waiting for a book about punctuation to be written with a panda on the cover. In the first chapter, about the apostrophe, she writes of her meeting with a member of the (real!) Apostrophe Preservation Society (right now I can't remember if it's the Apostrophe Preservation Society or the Apostrophe Protection Society) and about how she was disappointed that the society doesn't have a militant wing to combat those who create signs like "CD's, MOVIE's, DVD's, and BOOK's" (what about climbing ladders in the middle of the night with apostrophe-shaped stencils and paint?).

I love it!

We had a great evening for Kim’s and my birthday last night. The guys took us to dinner at the Blue Bayou (the nice restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean) at Disneyland. We got up to D-land around 6:00 and walked to the restaurant for our 6:20 reservations. Kim ordered salmon, Scott got tri-tip, Jon got pork, and I got prime rib. It was all very good (mental note: order the pork next time--I tasted it and it was delicious). And then we ordered 3 desserts and passed them around--we were stuffed! Since the park closed at 8:00, we had time after dinner to go on one ride, so we went on the haunted mansion. Then we walked around Downtown Disney for a while. We all had a very nice time, and Scott and Kim enjoyed an evening together while Glenn and Kathy watched the kids.

I think this is the first year that we got a present for Kim, AND it’s the first year that they got a present for me--it was really cool how that worked out (I wanted to get something for Kim and didn’t expect they would get something for me, and they thought the same). I got Kim a pair of soft black-and-white-striped gloves and a khaki-colored reversible purse. She wore the gloves last night. And they got me a cute picture frame for a first picture of our baby--it is white and has little block ABC letters around the outside. And they also got me another Old Navy maternity top (my mom has already bought/sent me 3--I love them--and a pair of pants)! This one is really cute--here's a picture. It has a ribbon tie in the back too—made of the same fabric as the sweater.


Jon was such a sweetheart yesterday too… He had flowers sent to me at work (really pretty yellow, red, and maroon-yellow mix roses), and then of course he took me to dinner. When we got back to the car after Disneyland, there was a card on the passenger seat waiting for me, and that was very sweet. He had written personal/specific things next to each couple of lines of text. Then we got home, and after I showed him the gifts from my family that I had opened earlier, he took out the trash. When he came back in, he had gifts for me! I thought he was done with the gifts! He got me a really cute red-, blue-, white- and brown-striped purse (it’s reversible too to navy--in fact, it’s the same purse I got for Kim, just different colors! Jon didn’t even know this), and inside had 4 pairs of cute socks (he has noticed a lot lately how old and hole-y my socks are) and a new umbrella. He’s the best.

I had a wonderful day yesterday, spent with my husband and our friends, and couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Weekend
We had a rather uneventful weekend, which was fine with me. After eating at Taco Bell (my first pregnancy craving! More later) with Scott and Kim, we went to Bible study on Friday night, and it was very good. Then I went to a bridal shower on Saturday, but out of the 30+ women there, I knew only the bride and one other girl, so that wasn't much fun. That evening, Jon and I went to see "The Incredibles," but it was sold out until 2 hours after the show we wanted to see, so we went to Blockbuster and home instead. We watched "Waiting for Guffman"--it has many of the same actors and is in the same vein as "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind." They're improv movies, meaning there was no script, and the actors were just given ideas about who their characters were and what the story line might end up being. "Waiting for Guffman" was the first of those three movies; I liked it, but I liked the other two better. We also rented "About Schmidt" but haven't watched it yet. Then Sunday was our usual wonderful Sunday--a terrific church service (Arch and Carolyn's 20th anniversary of being at the church!), food with friends at the mall, and naps and housework at home in the afternoon before Jon's basketball game.

My first pregnancy craving
I've been craving Taco Bell and Del Taco. On Friday, we went to Taco Bell, and then Jon took me to Del Taco Saturday evening for dinner, and then Sunday after church, we drove through Del Taco before meeting everyone at the mall food court. I think I would like a Mexican pizza at every meal, please.

In other news... my birthday
I turn 24 tomorrow. I haven't been thinking much about it at all, I'm sure mostly because I've been thinking more about being pregnant/having a baby. And anyway, what happens at 24? Nothing! At least at 25, I can rent a car without paying extra (we really felt this one strongly when we went on our honeymoon 2 months before Jon turned 25). What I do know is that I will have my first baby in my 24th year, and that's enough for me. :)

I told my boss yesterday that I'm pregnant (she was excited and I think tried to be chummy by asking me what our "future plans" are re: me coming back to work. I avoided that question), and then today at the end of the department meeting, she introduced a little "announcement" and I told everyone else. That was fun.

I knew, just knew, that coworker Lori would bring up the fact that my being due May 21 means I'll be out during our proposal busy season ("out" as in I'll be returning to work 6 or 8 weeks after the baby's born--no reason to clue them all in today that I won't be returning). Those were the first words out of her mouth in the meeting after everyone else's congratulations quieted down.

After we got back to our desks from the meeting, Lori said something like, “So, it’s so exciting!” and then she said that me being pregnant explains why I’ve been so testy and moody lately. Next, she said, “Because you’ve nearly bitten my head off a bunch of times in the past few weeks!” She says all this with her stupid smiling face and plays it off like she is half-joking but she really isn't.

That made me want to bite her head off now. My patience has just worn thin with her over the past few months--starting well before I got pregnant. However, I held my tongue and did not say anything rude or mad at her comment... I just played along with it like, "Yeah, so now you know why! Yeah, I haven't been feeling good."

Although her comments had me seething, and I'd still prefer not to have to interact with her (ever), they did point out to me that I haven't been acting correctly toward her. I have not "nearly bitten [her] head off," but I am impatient with her. I need to remember that I am the Christian here--and she isn't.

It's hard to deal with people you don't like.

Dreams
10/20 - I dreamt that I was Lorelai from Gilmore Girls. (Well, half the time it seemed I was Lorelai, while the other half I was a third party watching the events.) We were in some sort of old-fashioned, wood tavern or restaurant facing a river. Nothing major happened except that Luke and Lorelai kissed and, apparently, made their love public. I wouldn't have written this one down except that it was the second night in a row I had a dream (the night before was the miss-the-wedding-rehearsal dream).

10/24 - I dreamt first that I had to do some quick shopping at Ross, and two of my coworkers from my real work apparently also worked there. Debbie helped me find what I needed, and Lori kept bragging about how she had brought up the idea to get the store the automatic diaper cutter so that the employees no longer had to cut the leg holes in each diaper with scissors. Then the dream switched to me being in a big grocery store with Kim. We kept finding cool items and putting them in our cart, but I couldn't find peanut butter anywhere. We found Jif barbecue sauce. Kim found a different brand of peanut butter, but I specifically wanted Jif so I didn't take what she found. That's all I remember.

11/2 - This dream is a little more difficult to describe, because it was all over the place. I started off sitting in the living room with a mother and daughter I met the evening of 11/2 for a flute lesson consultation [they're very nice and I will start teaching the daughter lessons starting 11/16]. But that scene quickly changed to a restaurant and dinner party that included my dad. A demanding bride came in and started ordering me around, including telling me to go get her dancing clothes. Apparently, I was the reception coordinator. I ran through the restaurant and into a large lobby (of a hotel), with several children following me. We ran through lobbies and stairwells, passing some NBA players (mostly retired ones) posing for a picture along the way. I never did make it to wherever I needed to go to get the dancing clothes...

Election results
Excellent results this morning! I was able to stay up until they gave Bush 269 electoral votes around 12:15 or 12:30, but then I fell asleep. Jon was out of town last night (in Sacramento for one day), so he wasn’t there to keep me up. But I woke up this morning, and he still had 269! Looks like Kerry has made his concession call and will make a speech at 1:00 today. Woo hooooooooooo!

Some of the California propositions we didn’t want to pass did end up passing (of course), including the one providing $3 billion for stem cell research (the worst) and the one taxing 1% of all income over $1,000,000 for hospitals (darn, looks like I will have to turn down that $980,000 raise I was offered here at work). However, the one forcing companies to provide healthcare coverage for employees did not pass (good), and the one lessening the strength of the 3 strikes law also did not pass (good).

David Dreier, the congressman John and Ken (radio hosts) were trying to get out of office, still won his district at about 54%.

This was/is so exciting!

In other news...
I’m thinking about when to tell work I’m pregnant. I feel like I’m showing a little bit! But I don’t know. I wanted to wait until at least 12 weeks to tell, and I’ll be 12 weeks on Friday/Saturday. We have a departmental meeting tomorrow (but I would tell my boss before then and have her segue into any sort of announcement). What do you think--comments?

Election day
I voted this morning before work. Jon seems confident that our presidential candidate is going to win, but I'm not so sure! My presidential vote doesn't mean much in the state of California anyway, but I also felt it was very important to vote on the many propositions on this election's ballot, including ones on stem cell research, forcing companies to pay for employees’ healthcare (can you say, "Drive companies out of California"?), and lessening the strength of the 3 strikes law. I think there were 14 or 15 propositions, and I voted no on most, except for about 3 that had no fiscal impact. The only prop I voted yes on that will cost some money is on DNA testing for all convicted felons.

Also, I will be looking forward to seeing what happens with a little “controversy” ("Political Human Sacrifice") being stirred up by AM 640 talk radio hosts John and Ken--they’ve been trying to get Congressman David Dreier out of office because, even though he’s a Republican, he has a horrible voting record on illegal immigration. Dreier's district is very Republican, so it will be interesting to see if anything comes of that.

How deep the Father's love for us
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold, the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
-Stuart Townend

OK, I'm ready for the second trimester, please. All of the pregnancy books and websites and traditional wisdom say that with the second trimester come renewed energy, no more queasiness/nausea, and a greatly reduced risk of miscarriage, among other desirable improvements. I bought new lip gloss and nail polish for myself at Target on my lunch break today as a mini-celebration of almost reaching that milestone and in anticipation of that extra energy I'm supposed to get. I can paint my nails.

I came down with a sore throat/stuffy nose cold yesterday (woke up with it all of a sudden), so I'm not going to go over to Joe and Ricci's house like we'd planned to visit the parents and new baby. Even though I feel OK, I'd just as soon wait a few days to make sure Ricci feels comfortable with me coming. I keep looking on Mission Hospital's "View Our Newborns" page to see if there will be a picture of little Jeremiah (Miles), but I haven't seen anything yet.

I must be very busy to have not posted in almost a week. But I am as far away from busy at work as I've ever been. The past couple of weeks have just dragged by. If the proposal writer position weren't basically indispensable, I would wonder how much longer we'd be around, because no work is coming in for us (the reason being the sales force has been recently reorganized, and we work closely with them and depend on the sales people to bring proposal prospects to us). But really, if they were going to lay off any proposal writers, it would be proposal writer S and/or proposal writer J before me. They are slackers, slow learners, one of them has ADD and says the most nonsensical things all the time, and their proposals are sub-par. So there.

Phil and Katrina's wedding was this past Saturday. It turned out great. I had Friday off to do the bridesmaid stuff and go to the rehearsal and dinner... even took a few "girl talk" minutes with Katrina as she was quite nervous about the wedding night. The wedding was on Saturday at 11:30, and the reception was at the Summit House in Fullerton, which was really nice. Katrina was a beautiful bride.

This past week, I've had a few "sick" pregnancy days. They haven't been bad, but I'm definitely counting down the days 'til the second trimester. I'm at 10 weeks 3 days today--over 1/4 of the way through the pregnancy already.

One more tidbit of news: Joe and Ricci Brosseau's baby boy, Jeremiah (Miles) Tobin, was born late on Sunday, October 24. He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces, was 19 inches long, and has light hair! Congratulations!

Pregnancy Dreams
For a few weeks now, I've been having very vivid dreams. I've read that this is a relatively common symptom of pregnancy. Weird! The dreams have mostly had nothing to do with our baby or babies in general. They've just been vivid and I've remembered them (strange for me). Last night, I dreamed that I completely forgot about the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner this Friday for Katrina's wedding--that I just showed up on Saturday for the wedding thinking everything was going fine.

A couple of weeks ago, I dreamed that Jon cheated on me and was not remorseful about it (I woke up sad but then realized that I'm actually married to the best man in the world). (I also read that "spouse cheating" dreams are common in pregnancy!)

Of course, now that I'm thinking about it, I can't remember the other vivid dreams I've had. I'll update periodically when I have them, though. I think they're interesting.

The cruise was great! The food was of course the best part. We were scheduled for the 6:00 "main seating" for dinner each night, and you dress up kind of nice and sit at the same table each night with a different menu. You can order as much as you want (it's free!--all except alcohol and soda). Each night, I ordered 2 appetizers, a main entrée, and a dessert. One night I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri--yum. Saturday night was the "formal" dinner, so we all dressed up.

We also went to the different comedy and musical shows, and Jon and Neil spent some time in the casino. The weather was just perfect, and we spent a couple of hours each day at the pool. Sunday was our day in Ensanada, Mexico, but we didn't stay off the boat long: Ensanada is only about a half notch above Tijuana in cleanliness and niceness. It was nicer to stay on the boat. We slept in Saturday and Sunday mornings and just had a very relaxing time!

We had the "inside information" on how to get off the boat early on Monday morning: we requested white "early debarkation" tags for our luggage and were the first called off our ship. We found out that Jon's and my deck, #2, was going to be the last to get off the ship, and that would have been around noon, even though everyone had to be out of their cabin by 7:00 or 7:30 or so. Anyway, we got off the ship by 7:30, and Jon went to work while Neil and Casey drove me home. It was all very fun!

So that was our weekend! I had yesterday off work too, and I unpacked, did laundry, went to the grocery store, and went to a tailor to get my bridesmaid dress altered for Katrina's wedding (which is this Saturday!). Now I’m back at work.

Our cruise is tomorrow! We've been planning this trip for over a year, so it's very cool that it's actually here. Neil and Casey are picking me up from our house at 1:30 tomorrow (I'm working a half day first), and we're driving up to Jon's office, since he's relatively close to the port. We'll probably make it over to the ship by 3:00 or 4:00, and I think we sail at 6:00. Saturday is our day at sea, so I hope the weather's good for doing activities. Sunday is a day in Ensanada, where Neil, Casey, and Jon have all been but I haven't. Then, we sail back to Long Beach/L.A. Sunday night and arrive Monday morning. One of the evenings is "formal" for dinner, so I'm bringing a long black dress with a silver spider webby design. I haven't worn it since 1999, but I tried it on last night and it looks just OK. It doesn't make me look like I'm pregnant--it just makes me look like I have a poochy tummy (it's a drapy/clingy fabric). Oh well!

Jon and I have never been on a cruise before, so I'm hoping Jon doesn't get seasick. :)

The doctor's appointment went well yesterday. It was basically just like an annual exam. The doctor also did an internal exam to determine how big baby is/when I'm due, but (maybe TMI for some of you guys) she said my uterus is tilted (I guess very common), so I'm going in today for an ultrasound! I get to see the baby and baby's heartbeat! I don't think Jon can come down for this appointment--it's at noon and he has a meeting at 10:00, so that's a bummer since the ultrasound is the cool thing. Anyway, just wanted to let you know everything went well yesterday!

Edit: the ultrasound was SO COOL! I saw our little baby and the heartbeat. The tech said the heartbeat is nice and strong, and I think she said it was beating at 167 (that's right--beats per minute! They're fast little tickers). After measuring the size of the baby, she said my due date will probably stay where it is at May 21--the computer calculated May 20, so we were pretty darn close with our own calculations. I got two little pictures of our bean-shaped kid, and Jon sounded excited to see those tonight. You can actually tell where the head is and even where the arm buds and legs are in the pictures. :)

A nice weekend
I think getting off work early on Friday started everything off right. We spent Friday evening at Scott and Kim's house for dinner and a rented movie ("Big Fish"--Jon and I saw this in the theaters and liked it even more seeing it Friday). On Saturday, we did lots of housework and yardwork (I used my new mop on our tile floors--loved it), but not until after we went out for a late breakfast at Ruby's (so late, in fact, that they had stopped serving breakfast, so we got lunch). Chris and Sabrina came over for dinner on Saturday night; we grilled tri-tip and had salad, potatoes au gratin, and French bread for dinner and Sabrina's homemade pazookies for dessert while we watched "Bourne Identity." (I've just noticed my tendency to sometimes italicize movie names and sometimes put them in quotations--oh well.) (Also, I did tell Sabrina that I'm pregnant--she was very excited and happy. When they came over, I told her that she was one of the only friends I'd known who had been trying to get pregnant--most of my other friends either got preg by accident or didn't tell me they were trying--so because of that, I had expected it to take a lot longer for us. I think she respected the fact that I had taken her experience into consideration.) Sunday was our usual nice Sunday: church (music, sound), lunch with friends at the food court, naps at home (and I am definitely pregnant--I slept for 2 hours!), and Jon's basketball game. We went to Scott and Kim's after the game (Scott's on the team too) and watched the Dodgers lose (sad for Jon). Also on Sunday, I told Katrina that I'm pregnant--and she too, of course, was excited. It's good to have that done now, because I can just focus on her wedding and helping her day be special.

Now I'm back to work for another week, but this will be a shortened one: I'm leaving work early again today, AND I'm only working a half day on Friday, because on Friday we go on our cruise! It's finally here! But more on that later this week...

Today is my first doctor's appointment. My cute husband is going to go with me, despite the fact that the appointment is smack dab in the middle of the day and is located nowhere near his office or any of his stores. I'm excited to talk to the doc!

Ahhhhh, Friday.
This is going to be a nice weekend. The past two have been busy (Katrina's bridal shower on the 25th; memorial service at church--Jon did sound and I played flute--on the 2nd followed by a fun but long 2nd birthday party for Sierra). And I even get to start out my weekend early today: I'm taking 3 hours of paid time off to leave at 1:30 and go get my hair cut/highlighted (I checked into this, and it's OK for me to do that while pregnant--just can't sit around inhaling from all the bottles and chemicals). Mmmm, and I think I will treat myself to a decaf frappucino afterwards (4 weeks of no coffee--even decaf--has already made me miss it a bit!).

I think we've told most everyone (besides my work) about our news... except our friends Chris and Sabrina. We met them through Nate and Louise (and although N & L know, I know they didn't tell C & S), so they are a separate set of friends from most of ours. (Chris and Sabrina go to a different church.) Anyway, I tried to get in touch with Sabrina yesterday but couldn't. I'm just a little bit worried about telling her, though, because I know they have been trying to get pregnant for well over a year. I don't know how to show my excitement and share the news but also be sensitive to how that might affect her (or not affect her--I mean, I know she'll be excited, but I'm not sure how much or even if it will hurt her). I don't think I'll flaunt the ease with which it happened for us. I was expecting a much longer wait. But, anyway, this is what I'm praying about and thinking through today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Edit: I just remembered that I've also been wondering about whether or not to tell Katrina (college roommate who is getting married in 2 weeks). I don't want to "steal her thunder," though I don't think she would take it that way. I just don't see her in person very often, especially now. With her, I think I just need to call today or this weekend and tell her. That way it won't be a big deal on her wedding day, but she'll also know in case I don't feel good or something (then I wouldn't have to try to explain that on the day of).

A new, great, exciting update...
or The reason I haven't been posting lately

I couldn't just keep blogging as usual, when things haven't been as usual. And I couldn't start blogging about things that were going on--that wasn't the right order of events. Am I being cryptic enough for you? Here we go... I found out on Friday, 9/17, that I'm pregnant. Yes! I had to tell family and close friends before I posted on here--I don't think my grandmother would have appreciated finding out about her next great grandchild by reading it on my blog. As of today, I am about 7 and a half weeks pregnant (baby is about the size of a raspberry!), and my first doctor's appointment is Monday (this doctor group waits until at least 8 weeks). I am so excited! This is something I have been looking forward to for years. My due date is somewhere around May 21, though I'm sure the doctor will give me a bit firmer date after my appointment.

Some of the reactions of my family members and friends:

~From my mother - an actual squeal (I don't think I've ever heard my mom do this) and lots of happiness
~From my dad - "Well shucks, how did that happen?"
~From my grandmother - "Well, Katie, isn't that just absolutely perfect?"
~From Lucy - a couple seconds of silence. Then, "You are? Yaaaaaaayyy!"
~From Greg - after I told him not to cry: "Too late."
~From Scott and Kim - We were with them in the mall parking lot while they put their kids in the car, and Jon said, "We're thinking we're going to have ourselves one of those [kids]." Scott replied, "Yeah, any time in this lifetime?" and I said, "Around May 21st, actually." Kim popped her head back out of the car and asked, "What?! Are you pregnant?" Lots of smiles, hugs, and questions ensued.
~From some of our other friends - Some happy tears! They know how much I've been looking forward to this.

As far as pregnancy symptoms and morning sickness, etc., I'm feeling pretty good. There were about 10 days to 2 weeks there where I was feeling queasy or nauseous all day every day, with it being especially bad in the mornings. That made being at work all day very difficult, especially since no one at work knows--try explaining why I'm so tired and haven't felt good for so long AND that I'm not contagious, all without telling I'm pregnant! I won't announce it at work for several more weeks probably--probably until I'm just showing. Anyway, ever since last Wednesday, I've been feeling much better. I've learned I must have food in my stomach or else I start feeling bad, so I'm eating a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That helps. It looks like I'll be feeling good when we go on our cruise next weekend (yes we're still going! Of course! Not like I would have really had that much alcohol anyway), and I'm hoping I still easily fit into the bridesmaid dress for Katrina's wedding 10/23--so far so good on that front.

So, that's the news! And, as long as work stays under control (it has been busier this week and last week), I'll be back to posting more regularly.
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I promise a new, great, exciting update within the next 48 hours. Well, don't hold me to the "great" or "exciting" parts--but I'll try.

For now, here are two (digital) pictures from our trip to Europe:

In front of the cathedral in Strasbourg, France:


Heidelberg cathedral: