Ten on Tuesday (22)

I don’t intend to make this habit, but this is now the second week in a row that I have not participated in my own feature. I’m super duper lame, I know. It’s just that Stephen and I went to the rodeo last night and we didn’t get home until after midnight. Turning on the computer was the absolute last thing on my mind.

But for those of you who participated or still want to participate, here you go! And if you have a set of questions, send them my way! I’ve used everything in my folder so you’re going to be stuck with my questions until some of you submit some!

(Edited to add: I completely forgot to mention it (see, I’m very tired) but our questions were submitted by Melissa at I Has Good Grammar.)

1. Quick! Zombies are coming!! What do you do?
2. Whew, that was a close one. …I think your phone is ringing. Oh, it’s your best friend! She thinks she’s been bitten by a zombie. What advice do you give her?
3. You realize it’s time to leave your current location because it’s clearly not safe anymore. Are you going to move at night or day? Defend your reasoning.
4. During your relocation, you come across a weapon superstore. My, that’s convenient. What kind of weaponry do you choose?
5. As you leave, an old lady on the side of the street begs you to help her. Do you? Why or why not?
6. Good choice, you’re clearly a good person to have around in a zombie apocalypse. Oh hey, there’s a wifi signal here! You can’t stay long but this is your chance to gather some intel on the current situation. What’s the first website you check?
7. SHH! What was that noise?!
8. I think it’s time to get out of here. I hope you have a plan. Where are you going now?
9. Wait a minute, that looks like a bite mark on your arm… You may be infected too! Will you tell other people?
10. How does this story end?

When Good Bloggers Go Bad

Many moons ago I wrote a post about visiting the local HEB and being shocked at how friendly the workers were. You see, I normally do my grocery shopping at Kroger. The lines are shorter, the aisles aren’t packed, I can always find what I need without dodging kids or 17 carts. But the people there… they aren’t very happy. They don’t love their job. They don’t talk to me while they are checking my groceries. In fact, they talk to each other about how tired they are or how they are so happy they get off work in an hour. Not my favorite thing to hear, but I choose that over the masses at HEB.

Yesterday I even told my grandpa about how grumpy the people are at my grocery store. He goes to a small family-owned grocery store where smiles are common. How nice would that be? Nice yes. But not at the cost of higher prices or mobs of people. No thank you.

I think the Kroger gods must have overheard me. Or maybe they read my blog. Last night I went to Kroger for my weekly shopping trip and I was pleasantly surprised. I was in the produce section and had just grabbed a bundle of broccoli. I fished into my purse to find my pen so I could mark that off my list. No pen. I dug and dug. Still no pen. I sighed and zipped my purse. A young man maybe 16 or 18 was unloading apples nearby. He smiled and said, “Looking for your coupons?” I held up my fistful of coupons and replied, “Nope. Just can’t find my pen!” And walked away. About 15 seconds later I hear someone behind me, “Here. You can have mine ma’am. Have a good evening.” I wondered for about 2 seconds what he would do if I started crying. I realized that teenaged boys don’t understand hormonal pregnant women so I just smile and said, “Thank you soooo much. I really appreciate it.” He made my night. And quite honestly, I think he made his own night. It always feels good to do something nice for someone.

I walked away thinking that I needed to write about this because at one time I talked about how none of them are friendly. My apologies, my dear blog, there is a friendly employee at Kroger. And that’s on the record.

I realize that may not be the only area that I’m a bad blogger. You know, besides my complete lack of substantial posts lately because, well, sleep pretty much trumps everything right about now. I had a fantastic weekend.

Saturday morning I slept in a bit. Stephen went on a bike ride with my dad so I was free to take up the entire king sized bed until I felt like getting up. Which, due to my ridiculous bladder that can’t hold liquid for longer than an hour, happened to be about 9:15. Then we got ready, packed up the car, and drove to Austin. We arrived at some friends’ house, changed clothes, loaded back into the car, and headed to a wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. Full of love, bursting with the true meaning of marriage, Jesus was all over.

The reception was in a hotel in Austin. It was gorgeous. The bride, the bridesmaids. Everything. I loved it. They even had a cupcake bar. Cute cupcake boxes were stacked on the tables. We could grab a box, head to the cupcake bar, and make our masterpiece. There were a few different kinds of cupcakes and scattered around the table were fun toppings. Strawberries, blueberries, oreo crumbs, chocolate shavings, M&M’s, etc. It was so fun! Unfortunately mine didn’t make it home with me. I ate it at my table.

We woke up early Sunday morning and drive back to Houston. More accurately, Stephen drive back to Houston while I slept and listened to him sing. We got home, changed clothes, and went to church. My sweet little niece was baptized! Stephen and I chose a prime spot in the pew behind them so we could stare at her anytime we wanted to. After church we went to my brother and SIL’s house to celebrate.

Good weekend. Very good weekend.

And like a good blogger, I’m telling you all about it. But like a bad blogger I must confess… I forgot my camera. No pictures of the bride or the cupcakes or the centerpieces. No pictures of my baby bump in a dress. No pictures of my niece in a long white gown or her little baby pearls. None of that.

So now I go hang my head in shame. And I’ll make sure to do some Google searches on how to be a better blogger.

(ToT questions will be posted shortly. They are a different group of questions. So my advice? Don’t participate if you aren’t feeling fun and creative!)

Seven Quick Takes – Does My Blog Make Your Ovaries Sing?

I’m fully aware that R&R has turned to pregnancy/baby central lately. I don’t plan for it to be like that all the time but you do have to realize that I’M PREGNANT and that’s kind of a big deal. So bear with me. Maybe Stephen will say something hilarious this weekend so I have another fun Stephenism for you on Monday!

1.
Last week I mentioned that Taryn made Avery a little Rice onesie so she’d have something appropriate to wear when her “Uncle T” pitches. She wore it last week when Rice played UT. She was precious. Also… babies in jeans? So cute I may vomit!

2.
I went to Starbucks the other day with the giftcard I got from my friend Kelly. I ordered a hot chocolate and felt like a pansy. I wanted to say, “I really do love coffee… it’s just that I’m pregnant. Please don’t judge me.” I didn’t. I just smiled and said, “Thank you dear!” so she’d be distracted with the fact I called her “dear” more than with the fact I went to a coffee shop to order hot chocolate.

3.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had the desire to either learn to knit or sew. I think knitting is a sweet skill because it’s portable. But I have my doubts about my ability to knit for a few reasons: Following patterns isn’t my favorite, doesn’t it involve counting? And I have some serious carpal tunnel in my right arm. My wonderful chiropractor keeps in manageable but I can’t imagine doing something else that involves small movement with my wrist. So I thought sewing would be my way to go… only I don’t have a sewing machine and I hear that’s an integral part of sewing. I couldn’t really see myself buying a sewing machine because I have a deep desire for a new vacuum and new carpet. However, my dad left a comment on that post with a proposition: If I take a sewing class and decide that I like it, he’ll buy me a sewing machine. In return, I have to take care of all of his and my mom’s sewing needs.

So? On my to-do list: Research sewing classes before my belly gets too big to reach the machine!

4.
I’ve been mourning the length of my legs lately as I visit maternity stores and see that the only way to be comfortable is to wear high-waters. I’ve hit the internet and Googled my little heart out. A few of you have emailed advice (thank you). Somehow in all of that I stumbled upon this website with the cutest name: Mommy Long Legs (<-that’s a link).  So I wandered around this site and of course it made my heart skip a beat because, HELLO, you guys know how frustrated I am about this long jean situation. I chatted a bit with the people over there and it looks like I’ve scored myself a pair of LONG jeans in return for an honest review of their product. So hold your breath y’all. And tall chicks, come back soon! (Oh and Canadians, they ship to y’all’s land too!)

5.
I’m thinking about quitting Twitter. I’ve mentioned about 17,000 times before that I am not really a fan. I feel like I’m boring. I think it’s a distraction. And most importantly… it’s another thing I need to keep up with. I’ll probably keep my account but not sign in very often.

6.
Thanks for all of your comments yesterday. I haven’t been nauseous, I’ve just had a general yucky feeling. Maybe it’s heartburn? I don’t know. I’ve never had heartburn before. But it’s not always right after I eat. For now, I’m just blaming hormones. If it keeps up, I’ll call the doctor. The only problem is that I don’t even know how to explain it. So I’ll just moan and complain and pop Tums!

(I wrote that paragraph yesterday around lunchtime. Last night I had my first pregnancy vomit session. Hopefully that’s just a one time thing… It was not fun!)

7.
I’m so very excited about this weekend. For many reasons. I’ve been quite hormonal this week. Grouchy, sad, excited, etc. etc. etc. at all different times for no real reason. It’ll be nice to not sit in front of a computer for two days and enjoy life. We have great great plans that I’ll share with you on Monday. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

Pregnant Pause – Yeah… Again

Second Pregnant Pause of the week. Sorry friends. I’ll blog a bit more often when someone can convince my body that it’s in the second trimester and I shouldn’t be feeling more sick than I was in the first.

Things just aren’t feeling right the past few days. At first I thought it was my new prenatals because I’d start feeling bad shortly after taking the pills. But last night I started feeling bad before I took them. So now I just don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have a parasite in my body (according to my husband… who also says that when the baby it is born it will no longer be a parasite, but a roommate. He’s so funny I forgot to laugh…)

I have been compiling my Seven Quick Takes throughout the week, so I promise to have something for you tomorrow.

Do any of you know if pregnant women can eat canned tuna? I vaguely remember my doctor saying to only eat the Albacore kind… I need to call and ask. Have any other random preggo tips? I’m all ears today!

Loser 9.08: For Some Reason I’ve Always Wanted To Pull A Semi

We start with a review of last year and O’Neal’s reaction to Sunshine possibly going home. Sheesh, I thought he was going to have a fit. I like him but I’m getting an odd “Ron the Godfather” sense from him… like somehow someone crowned him and he’s the wise team leader. Hopefully that’s not true.

It’s Work Week. They will be working full time jobs this week. Intellesting! They will have to commute, bring healthy food, and fit workouts into their new schedule. I am confused because Alison said, “Just like in real life, the gym won’t be open 24 hours.” But wait, isn’t your MAIN sponsor 24 Hour Fitness?? Yes I think so.

The teams have a challenge- they have to pull a semi-truck. Along the way they have to pick up crates that are puzzle pieces that spell “Groceries for a Year.” I’m thinking this is a pretty unfair challenge. There is seriously no way the black team can win. Except somehow they pull ahead. Then the black team gets ahead again. It literally just comes down to the puzzle making. And… wait for it… the blue team wins.

Bob and Jillian meet with their teams to learn about the Work Week. And then Bob tells Sunshine and O’Neal about Biggest Loser Protein Powder. Blah. Then they all go work out. Is it just me or is Jillian wearing more makeup this season? Is it because she’s a much bigger deal now?

Time for work. A couple people had to work the phones to thanks people, a few people worked distribution, and a few people worked inventory. We all had a little chuckle when Michael said, “I don’t consider myself the most smartest person.” One of the workers came in to talk to the group. He was an overweight man and told a bit of his story. I hope he got a little something from this group. I know that this is all about promotion and advertising, but I really thought it was a great message and enjoyed seeing the GOOD side of these contestants.

Why would the gym close at 7:30??? No gym in this COUNTRY closes at 7:30. Oh wait, except the one I used to go to. But that was the size of a cracker box and was mainly for people over the age of 60.

Sam “forgot” his lunch but it looks very fishy from the beginning. I instantly said, “This is staged.” Sure enough, there was NOTHING in the vending machine that was nutritious but conveniently there was a Subway on the end of the street. Lookie there.

Cheryl + Sherry = BFF

Last chance workout. It was short because the gym was going to close. Atleast they had their Brita water filter. There was a lot of sweat. Not much cussing or weird activities… but lots of sweat. Sam was literally steaming. Icing on the cake, I’m a lion, Jillian is my prey, It’s an electric fence… So many metaphors.

There was a pretty extensive background on O’Neal and Sunshine. They seem like pretty great people. Although I wonder if he may be going home this week since they are spotlighting him.

Weigh In– I love Alison’s hair.

Blue Team
O’Neal – 5
Sunshine – 7
Michael – 9
Koli – 10
Daris – 9
Lance – 10
Great numbers for the blue team! Love seeing them do well!

Black Team
Andrea – 7
Ashley – 8
Cheryl – 5
Sherry – 5
Stephenie – 3
Sam – 4
Some good numbers but not great numbers.

Blue team won the weigh-in. I just love Sam and Koli’s relationship. They do cry a lot though. The black team is chatting a bit about their decision. My guess would be Stephanie. I think it would be RIDICULOUS to vote Sam off. Sherry has immunity. Ashley won’t go, Cheryl is bffs with Sherry. I think Andrea is still big enough to save her spot.

First two votes go to Cheryl, second to Stephanie, next to Sam, another to Cheryl. So Cheryl is out. Why exactly? I’m not sure why it wasn’t Stephanie. But whatever. Now I feel bad for Daris.

She started at 227 and now weighs 164. She’s quite the yeller now! She looks great and is so cute.

Ten on Tuesday (21)

So here’s the thing. Monday nights I go to Bible Study at my church. We got out a bit late last night. Then I was instructed to stop at my parents’ house to pick some leftover casserole for my lunch today. And, well, I don’t pass up free food. When I got there we had to stare at the pictures of my little baby and then I had to tell them, in detail, about my doctor’s appointment incident and why I cried. Then I came home and my husband needed to show me the new doorknob he installed on our garage (we live thrilling lives, let me just tell you), and then I needed to stare at my little baby for a few more minutes before bedtime.

All of that to say that I didn’t even participate in my own weekly feature. I know, I know. I should be kicked out of blogland. But YOU should participate. Here are the questions again. Mr Linky is posted below.

This week’s questions were provided my my hubby. The father of the child growing inside me. I’m excited to read your answers. Stephen has been known to visit random blogs that I read so he may even make an appearance on yours.

1. Of your current hobbies, which would you choose to spend more time, money, and effort on? Why?
2. List the two other hobbies/habitual activies (not chores) besides the one listed above that you regularly do now and didn’t choose in question one.
3. Why are you spending time on the above two hobbies/habitual activies at all if you really wanted to spend your time on the first one you chose?  …or to put it another way, what are these two hobbies/habitual activities fullfilling that the first one doesn’t if you don’t want to put all your effort into the first hobby?
4. Ready John 3:16 in the bible… In what way does this passage affect you?  What are your feelings towards these words, positively or negatively?
5. M&M’s: nuts, no nuts, or peanut butter?
6. Putting away the feeling of pride being a bad thing; what secretly/openly are you proud about yourself?
7. Given one room in the house to do with what you want, not changing the actual size of the room and with all the money you would need, what would you do, and be specific?  (this can range from bouncy floor,walls & ceilings; to hard wood floor with wood paneling and purple ceiling with a chair; to nothing)
8. What’s the next movie you’re going to see?  Not what you’d LIKE to GO see, but the next movie you realistically are going to watch.
9. Use the keyboard only and make your best smiley/funny/cool face –> like this! 8^)
10. What makes you cry? What makes you pray? What makes you laugh?

Pregnant Pause – 12 Weeks

Goooood morning everyone.

This morning Stephen and I went to the doctor for my check up and ultrasound. We got in there and did the ultrasound (amazing, by the way) and then after I peed in a cup and was waiting in the waiting room, they proceed to tell me that they have no record of me having an appointment with the doctor today and the doctor is in surgery all day today. Brilliant. “Actually, Mrs. Hurst, you should have had an appointment last Monday based on timing, but we have no record of that either.” UGH. “Yes. That was the original plan but I was out of town last Monday so they said I could see the doctor today since I was already coming in for my ultrasound.” Crap crap crap. “Yeah, we have no record of that. It’s not in the system.” So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I cried. And then I got embarrassed so I kept crying.

They took some of my blood and sent me on my not-so-merry way.

I apologized to Stephen for my first completely irrational cry. He did the Husband of the Year thing and replied, “That was not irrational. They screwed up and you were frustrated.”

So now I have to go in Wednesday morning for my check up and hopefully to hear the heartbeat because they don’t do it with ultrasound at my office. A trip to the doctor twice in one week. Convenient.

It’s not all bad news today though. We saw our baby. It no longer looks like a blob but like an actual baby. And we were literally able to count 5 fingers on one of the hands! It was being quite the wiggle worm this morning. At this stage the baby should be between 2-2.5 inches and it’s measuring 6 cm which is right on track! YAY HURSTLING!!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, my baby.

First is a close up of the cute little face! The second is a full profile of the entire body.

You are free to make your gender judgments but just know that it’s too soon to know for sure! For now, just tell me how beautiful it is!

This Is What We Call A Filler

I’ll have another post later on Monday after my OB appointment.

For now, I just wanted to let you know that the Ten on Tuesday questions are posted.

Seven Quick Takes – Lots To Cover

Friday is here again! Isn’t that great? No matter how long, short, wonderful, crappy, exciting, or mundane your week may be, Friday always comes.

1.
Confession: I was out of town Saturday through Tuesday. Through the magic of Wifi and auto-posts, you never knew! Stephen’s uncle was promoted to Colonel in the Air Force and we were invited to attend his pinning ceremony in Pennsylvania. We had a fantastic time with the family. On Sunday we split into groups- half went to Gettysburg and half went to Hershey. I’ll give you one guess where I went! It’s a good thing too, because I later learned that all the bathrooms were closed at Gettysburg. That would have been a disaster. A very messy disaster.

2.
I have raved about Target’s maternity clothes even before I was pregnant. I’m no longer in love with them. Their jeans don’t come in long lengths. That’s just not okay. I have never ever owned a pair of jeans that weren’t longs. It would look ridiculous on my 6 foot body. My next stop will be Motherhood and Old Navy Maternity. I hear there are some trendy maternity shops out there with great jeans but I just can’t bring myself to spend a lot on money on maternity jeans. I shop at Old Navy for my normal body clothes, I don’t need designer stuff for my pregnant body clothes.

3.
Tonight marks the beginning of college baseball season for me. It’s actually already started (which you should know) but tonight will be my first chance to go to a game. I’ll be attending three game this weekend. My lovely niece will be at at least one of those games wearing her Rice Owls onesie that Taryn (<- that’s a link) made her.

4.
Earlier this week I was seeking advice on Twitter from some of my fellow preggers or used-to-be-preggers. Incase you aren’t on Twitter or aren’t following me (follow me here!) I’m going to address it here. Do you have a pregnancy pillow that you recommend? So far it sounds like the Snoogle will be the best fit. I normally sleep on my back so I need something that will cradle me and keep me on my side.

5.
Did y’all like the guest post yesterday? I just love her! I’ve talked about her before, long long ago. She was my journalism teacher in high school but quit my senior year to be a mommy and a writer. She has some young adult Christian fiction books out. They are near and dear to my heart because I was one of her “testers” as she was writing them. You can see her books on Amazon by clicking here.

6.
I hope everyone has received their books for the Swap. There is no deadline to read your book. Just whenever you finish it, write a paragraph or two reviewing it. If you’re a blogger, post it on your blog and send me the link. If you’re not a blogger, email it to me. I’m anxious to read reviews. I wonder if people will say “This wasn’t my style but I loved it!” or if it’ll be more like “This wasn’t my style and I wouldn’t even recommend it to my worst enemy.” I’m almost done with mine, remember I had a flight last weekend. I’ll review soon.

7.
In other Swap news, my blog-friend Pippy is co-hosting an Easter Swap. It’s called the Bunny Hop Swap, which I think it a pretty stinking cute name! So head on over to her blog by clicking here and sign up if you’re interested. I’ll be participating! (If you draw my name, you better buy me some Robin’s Eggs! Which, by the way, are made by the Hershey company.)

On to the weekend!!! Whoo hoo!

Predictions For Chelsea’s Life

This is a guest post from Tina. She was my journalism teacher in high school, now she’s just my friend.

I’m interrupting this love-fest between Chelsea and Stephen to guest blog about their baby on the way. Who am I, you ask, to barge in on you enjoying Chelsea and Stephen’s adorable his-and-her-posts of how they fell in love? I’m Chelsea’s high school journalism teacher–so in a small way, you owe me a few minutes to read to the end of this. After all, surely I influenced her in some small way. What is high school yearbook but a precursor to blogging? I’m sure that Big Mama and PW and all of Chelsea’s favorites were also editor-in-chiefs of their yearbooks.

Besides inspiring Chelsea’s love of sharing her daily drama (totally high school journalism, I’m telling you) ten years ago, I’m now a mother of three kids, and we have number four due in August. I’m no longer a teacher. Now I’m home with a five-year-old and two-year-old twins. Yes that’s a pair of two-year-olds. Who are in the throws of potty-training. Wow. That looks even scarier when I write it out loud.

But this isn’t about me, it’s about Chelsea, and you, if you’re still reading. You, loyal readers of R&R, have learned a lot about Chelsea through this blog. But I’m here to tell you that your life as a R&R reader is about to change. My guess? When Chelsea has a baby, she’ll learn a whole lot more about herself. It’s inevitable. Becoming a mother adds this entire other dimension–no, other galaxy–to your life that you didn’t even know was possible.

Here are my predictions:

Chelsea thinks she loves her parents. She has no idea. By the way, I’ve known her parents for years and she does love them. I love them. They’re wonderful people. But love for your parents, after you yourself have become a parent adds a whole new level. Or actually about four-hundred new levels. Yes, Chelsea comes from a good family–but there are two kinds of those. The first is the kind that does everything a good family should–celebrates holidays together, calls each other once a week, and tries not to end public restaurant outings by screaming at each other. And then there’s the second kind, the kind Chelsea has. This is the kind of family that likes each other too. That’s very handy when your life is suddenly dominated by a crying, adorable newborn. It’s I-can’t-find-the-right-words-and-I-love-words comforting to have a mom and dad who will come over and take a shift so you can sit on the bathroom floor for a few hours and read a People Magazine cover to cover. In a year the words, “I love you, Mom” will mean something completely different when Chelsea says them to her baby’s Nana.

And you’ve probably heard about this Chapstick obsession Chelsea has. It’s not an obsession until you see that you’ve passed your passion on to your child. The first time that little girl (I’m betting it’s a girl–you?) slips a cherry LipSmacker into her pocket–at nine months old–and cries if poor Stephen tries to pry it from her, Chelsea will see her obsession as it really is. It’ll be the feeling a potty-mouthed mommy gets when her son uses his first four-letter word on the playground. How a smoker must feel when his son sticks chalk in his mouth and tries to light it. “Oh, wow. Is THAT what I look like?” It may even be enough to break her tube-a-week habit.

Do any of Chelsea’s colleagues read this? Maybe I shouldn’t break it to you that Chelsea may not love her job. My guess? When the baby is about two-months-old and Chelsea hasn’t slept for more than an hour at a time and she’s still wearing Stephen’s sweatpants and has cut her finger trying to open a can of Spaghetti-Os she plans to eat for breakfast, but didn’t even notice the blood because she’s THAT tired–when all that happens, her years sitting across from the men’s bathroom blogging will seem like a vacation. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of motherhood–if I weren’t I wouldn’t keep having all these kids. But let’s face it, the emotional and physical wallop it does will make your life B.K. (before kids) seem very nice.

I’m so glad you’ve read this far, because I have good news too. If you’re worried that this new baby will distract Chelsea from Roots and Rings, you’re fine. Chelsea is a dedicated blogger, and there’s something about seeing your beautiful baby do–well, anything–that makes you want to tell the world. Brace yourself for pictures and posts and stories of Baby Hurst. I can’t wait.

I could go on and on, but Chelsea told me that if this is too long, you wouldn’t read it. She even gently suggested that I could divide my entry into several smaller ones. I can imagine those now…”If Chelsea thought her house was messy before, just wait until it’s covered in bibs and bottles and really obnoxious rainforest-printed swings” and “Chelsea thought she was cheap until her baby would only eat organic pomegranate apple sauce.”

Oh, this baby will be so much fun!