In case you haven’t noticed today’s post is a bit late.  I am so mixed up that I thought today was Wednesday and the day before Tuesday and so forth back to Monday which was such a perfect holiday, I almost didn’t want to start the week at all.  And that makes me think about other things that sometimes come late. 

It used to be a woman found out she was pregnant when she started to see a distinctive bump form around her middle.  Oh, she might have suspected before that time but only then did she know for sure.  Then, from that time she would think ahead and others would guess with her and eventually they would settle on a date for the anticipated arrival.  “Sometime in the spring.” or “Around harvest.”  or “Most likely before the first snow.”

Now, even home pregnancy tests are so accurate we can know of the life growing within us weeks before any outward sign exists.  This is a blessing.  It allows us more time to eat better, exercise, prepare our homes as well as our minds for the birth of our babes.  But this knowing is also a curse.  In such a highly calculated world DUE DATE is king.

I remember pregnancy and I remember the number one asked question.  “When are you due?”  With Sister I answered with confidence, “September 19th.”  I had read variations were possible but was certain that referred to women whose cycles weren’t regular or who didn’t keep track of such things.  Neither of those applied to me, therefore my child would be born on September 19th, 2001.  Fortunately, by the time September 19th came (and went) I had done a little more reading.  I wasn’t so confident at that point but surely… surely she would not go more than a week past.  At 10 days I gave up even guessing and having had a good laugh at the expense of her mother, Sister appeared on Oct 2nd (12 days past her forecasted due date.) 

With Brother I was smarter or so I thought.

“When are you due?”

“Around the end of July.”

I smiled secretly at how clever I was.  No one would get an exact date out of me.  Saying “the end of July” kept the parameters so much more open than saying July 25th. (Oops, how did that slip out?)

Somewhere around August 9th thoughts of castor oil, black cohosh, spicy Thai food and a number of other natural induction methods started playing on a steady reel through my mind.  A few more days past.  I walked for miles (or at least blocks… okay one block and back) trying to encourage his entrance.  We rode on bumpy roads.  We made love. (which is by far the most pleasant induction method, BTW)  Would this child ever arrive?  Even by the most generous adjustment he was already 2 weeks “late.”  That was two days more even than his sister.  Somewhere around day 18, I drank the nastiest, “NEVER fail to give birth within 24 hours” Chinese herbal potion ever.  Two days later feeling as large as a house, I gave up.  “The baby will come when the baby will come.  I’m through trying to make something happen.”  Brother laughed just as Sister did and greeted us the following afternoon - three weeks to the day past his due date.

I know my experience is not a typical one at least not in these times but it deserves some thought.  Your baby will come when your baby will come.  No amount of calculating will give you the date.  Your baby will not be “late.”  Given the opportunity, your child will arrive exactly on schedule. 

There was a lady I used to work with who repeated me to daily, “Don’t be in such a rush.  They are a lot easier to take care of in there than they are out here.”  And so I leave you with those wise words.

Good night.

She refused to actually touch one though it was her idea to capture them in the first place.

A while back my internet connection kept dropping at random…very frustrating.  Even though we have two connections on the property (DSL in the house and cable in Will’s office) my little wireless connector could only see the unreliable one.  (That would be the DSL in case you didn’t know.) My night in shining armor purchased a super-de-duper mega antennae to solve the problem but left the installation up to the little people … literally.

I don’t have a pic of the finished product but I think the fact that you are reading this post should be proof enough that they did a good job.

I have a couple of articles scheduled to post this weekend but if you really miss me check out the archives.  My sweety wrote a nifty little script that pulls posts from 6 months ago and conveniently titled it “6 Months Ago…”  Scroll down and look in the sidebar.  You’ll see it…eventually. 

Have a great weekend!

(Or Just One More Reason Why Living With the Granparents is Good)

A couple of nights ago we had a slow drain in the bathtub.  No big deal, right?  Probably a hair clog or something.  Will pumped the drain a couple of times with a plunger but nothing seemed to happen so we decided to put the kids to bed and deal with it later.  “Later” came in 20 minutes as we were marching down the hall chanting our bedtime rhyme… “To bed, to bed, to bed we….whoa!”  Where did this puddle come from?!  Brother crying from the fall on slick tile.  Sister running to get towels and asking a gazillion questions.  Me holding Brother wondering, “Can I put him to sleep or do I have to wait for signs of a concussion?”  and Will mumbling over and over, “I shouldn’t have used the plunger.”  All in all it was great fun.  The water, as it turns out, was is coming from the wall.  See that change in tense there?  That’s important because even though we had a plumber out and he confidently called his septic guy and even though the septic guy cleaned the tank and confidently declared the problem solved, there is still a leak.  The second plumber came last night  (late) and has promised to return this morning but we won’t be here to see him work his magic - hence the subtitle of this post.  We are going to dig some graves and visit the relatives hopefully we will return to a peaceful home where all plumbing troubles are sucked into the vortex of a properly draining tub… hopefully.

We celebrated Hubby’s birthday at a double bash with Uncle B. a couple of weeks ago but I thought I’d do something special today too.  So in honor of the day an idea I borrowed from somewhere.

I like you because…

1. you are the only person I know that ever requests a lemon cake for his birthday.

2. you are thoughtful.

3. you are kind.

4. you are compassionate.

5. “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” seems to be your personal motto.

6. when I am standing on the ground you are the perfect height for hugging.

7. when I am standing on a step you are the perfect height for kissing.

8. you intentionally only own or rent video games that are kid appropriate.

9. you make me feel safe.

10. you understand my jokes and 

11. you think they are funny… mostly.

12. you opinions are always honest and

13. they are tactfully given … mostly.

14. you play the guitar.

15. you started learning to play my favorite Alison Kraus song a few days after I mentioned that would be nice.

16. you are the one I think of as you play it.

17. you are tackling Chopin on the piano.

18. you bring me chocolate on Fridays.

19. your propensity for loyalty has gotten a diner special named after you.

20. you take care of things like life insurance and retirement investing and such.

21. you get along with my parents.

22. you have taught me much about patience and

23. slowing down and

24. living simply even as

25. you go to a busy corporate world each day just to provide for us.

26. blue is your favorite color and I think that says something about your peaceful nature.

27. you know how to listen.

28. you are quixotic.

29. you are an HSP and you have taught me how to recognize and accomodate that trait in others (especially our daughter).

30.  you won’t mind that this post is a day late.

For this week a wonderful post I came across while Googling “women in labor Gerber commercial”. (which is quite good but nowhere to be found on the internet … yet).  Anyway, the post I came across was written by Anne at Olives on Monday and tells of two births: one cesarean and one vaginal.  She has articulated both experiences so well I see no point in trying to re-invent the wheel here.

So without further ado: c-section vs. al-natural

You can find more Birth-Day posts here.

I had two problems.  First Grandma had me order an acrylic tea bag holder from an online catalog.  Unfortunately, it arrived chipped and Grandma decided to return it.  Rather she decided to have me return it.  I HATE returning things.  It’s such a hassle.  So the box sat and sat and sat and would have sat some more except for my other problem:  too many little girl hair clips.

Look!  Here’s the solution we all liked.

Sister loves the box because it’s pretty.  I love it because she is actually using her hair clips now that they are not tucked in the dark recesses of some drawer.

There’s more (and even better) tips over at Shannon’s! 

Can I just say that I am so tired of cleaning up dead things? You will recall the unfortunate event regarding the chickens and the coyote. Well, since that time there have been a few small snakes (most of which weren’t dead when I found them but met their just end soon thereafter), numerous worms (All of the rain we’ve been having washes scads of them up on the driveway where their slimy little bodies bake as soon as the sun comes out.) , one mouse (courtesy of the cat), a rat and 2 birds (courtesy of the dog) and today a bunny whose tiny head had been torn from its body and dessimated by an ant crew. I never really thought I would find, much less pick up a rabbit skull covered in ants … but there you have it.

Oh and here’s another somewhat unexpected twist on the theme:

True story (only the names have been changed… to protect the innocent, you know):

Hubby got a call tonight from Aunt So ‘n So.  We are going to visit his family this weekend in small town central and she was wondering, since he was going to be there already and all, could he make it by 1:30?  Why that critical time?  Because that’s when another So ‘n So from the family will have his electric post hole digger down at the cemetery.  Someone else is bringing Quickcrete and several gallons of water and another somebody has some irregularly shaped granite and the ashes of Great Aunt Whose It.  They’re going to dig a four foot hole (because apparently that’s standard for do-it-yourself ash burials), fill it in and then set the stones in cement prepared on the spot.

We had a good laugh over this one but I guess the last laugh is on us because don’t you know where we’ll be at 1:30 on Saturday.

In pursuit of simplicity in the kitchen I’ve started making breakfast casseroles twice a week.  Here’s the one we tried this morning.  Will and I loved it but the children only ate the apples & craisins.  “Because I didn’t really care for the eggy-bread part,” said Sister.  …. Yes, that’s really what she said.  Such the diplomat.

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 apples - cored and cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup craisins
• about 3/4 loaf of a French baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Lightly grease a 8 X 11.5 inch (or 2 quart) baking dish. (The original recipe called for a 9×13 inch pan which is much more common but the original recipe also called for another apple and the rest of the baguette neither of which I had.)  In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar and the first tsp of cinnamon.  Mix in melted butter.  Stir in apples and craisins until evenly coated.  Pour into prepared pan.  Arrange bread cubes in an even layer over apples.

In the bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and the remaining cinnamon.  Pour over bread, making sure every piece is fully soaked.  Cover with aluminum foil.  (Stop here and refrigerate if you are doing this the night before.)

Preheat oven to 375.  Bake covered for 40 minutes.  Remove cover, and bake 10 minutes more.  Let stand 5 min before serving.  These times may be totally different for you.  Our oven is tempermental and most recipies must be watched rather than timed.

How much does it make?  Oh, I’m so glad you asked.  Here’s what was left after breakfast for four.

Enjoy!