a life beyond running shoes.

okay....so it was NOT complete misery. let us now praise famous men. this is one of those books that shows up on lists of influential books of the twentieth century. so, my book club decided to give it a try. also, one of our members is going to be teaching a course this fall on the depression & post-depression era. she had a list of books that she is trying to get through before solidifying her syllabus and we thought we would help her out. we all choose this one as it sounded interesting. i almost gave up around page 20 BUT then i got a character name around page 50..... but then finally gave up around page 130. i only made it a quarter of the way through the book. no one finished. **i feel as if i need to clarify though. it is not that it is not a good book or worth reading..... it is just a tough writing style and was not what we were expecting. it is the story of three tenant farmers & their families..... i expected their story. not really so much plot.... again, i...

i am 4 days from my due date. i thought i would go early..... i have not so far. i realized around 4:00pm on friday that i had not thought through my dinner menu past thursday. i just assumed that i would be in hospital having baby girl..... we decide to go out for dinner. celebrate our family of four before we get to celebrate becoming a family of five. that is a strange thought - a family of five which means that we have three kids. that sounds strange to my ears. i am excited to meet this little lady that is joining our family. i can't wait to see the ways that she makes our family more complete... the ways that god will bless us because she is becoming part of "us." i am excited to see how the boys grow and change with a little sister.... i am excited to see how my husband is a different kind of dad with a little girl.... how i am changed as a mom.... but for one night, we ate as a family of four in our favorite restaurant and enjoyed the ease of just being with ...

what i thought was going to be a rough day ended up being so much harder than just rough. my husband had an early meeting so i was on breakfast duty...no biggie. i can give up an extra half hour of sleep. honest i can! while the boys watched their tv time, i made homemade blueberry muffins. YUM! i figured out that my littlest does not like actual blueberries, so i thought i would be a genius and hide them in yummy muffins with a bit of banana and lemon zest. survey says: neither boys liked them. dandy. proceed with day....head upstairs to get clothes on. peanut locks the bathroom door just as i am about to shower locking us all out of brushing hair, teeth, or using the potty. wonderful. husband is still in meeting so we have to wait about 45 minutes to reach him to figure out how to get the door unlocked from the outside. thankfully, no one was locked on the inside! door unlocked! mommy gets a shower....just as water heats up, little bit clocks the snot out of peanut....te...

just in case you got all excited that i had delivered.... or got angry that you had not heard the news.... good friends of our had their baby 10 days ago.... i am 8 days from due date. we took the boys over to greet her to the world and see what they would be like around a baby. these are some of our closest friends and so it was a both boys wanted to hold her and didn't want to give her back even when she started to cry. i'll take it as a good sign that maybe there wont' be any biting of the baby for at least the first few hours she comes home from the hospital. for those interested, i have had a few contractions - in the middle of the night - but nothing to wake anyone else up. it will be a long week trying to find things to be creative with the boys especially since it looks like a cold week. thursday and friday look warmer but with rain. we'll keep you posted!!!

in my attempts to become more of a lover of my home...... as i have been venturing over the past couple of years in learning how to cook seasonally, bake, and take care of my home.... i have come to a new depth. i tried to make my own bread. i have many friends who do this and have done this for years. for me this was scary, uncharted territory from my grandmother's generation. well, it is a work in progress but one that i think i enjoy. i'll keep you posted.

i in fact finished this 700 page book in less than the time allowed by my local library. when i was checking it out i thought to myself.... i will never be able to finish this. i was completely forgetting that it is juvenile literature, that half of the week i spend at least a couple of hours awake in the middle of the night, and that i have very little else going on as i wait for baby #3.... and i always enjoy a good adventure story no matter how tedious and long winded i think his battle scenes can get. also, some of the "history" in this episode got a bit... whatever... having to do with the dragons power tied in with the elves history and blah, blah, blah. it is a good thing that i don't feel compelled to run out and finish up this series because the fourth installation is not out yet. of course, i will read it when i does come out.... but i can wait. and just to clarify....it does make for good middle of the night reading!

today we adventured our way to the brooklyn botanic gardens. i'm not sure we really saw anything since spring is far from springing..... forecast was a high of 44 but we never really got there while we were outside in the weeds and bamboo trees...especially since we had spotty sun with mostly clouds. of course, i don't think the boys really minded since little bit never once put his gloves on. we did venture into the green houses today..... which i had never been in since we usually go when the weather is warm and sunny and who wants to go inside on those days. i wanted to go inside today!!! the boys could have cared less! we saw banana trees, mango trees, the desert oasis, and lots of folks doing water colors. then we had a total melt down getting off the bus and walking the one block home. ah.... can anyone say naptime!!!

we have had beautiful weather this week and got to go out to the playgrounds after two months of almost never going outside. this is peanut and one of his friends. they are about six weeks apart. of course, little bit thinks his is in the mix with them. we actually got to ride our scooters & bikes plus didn't have to put jackets on. i mean who doesn't have to wear a jacket at the beginning of february. i realize that this week will be short lived! the weather will get cold again and i am sure that we will have more snow.... but for this week it was such a nice reprieve from all of our indoor projects.

my hubbie got to go to long beach this past weekend to attend his cousin's wedding. of course, i was totally jealous since he was a mere 40 minutes from my mom, an hour from my dad, and just about and hour and a half from my sister......but then again, that makes it about me. he had a great weekend and got to hang out with one of his sisters and brother-in-law who was officiating. of course i am thankful: 1. to not have been on a plane for six hour 2. to not have to find something to wear 3. to not have to figure about what to do with my two kiddos here at home the boys and i watched lots of movies!

so this morning the boys and i hovered around the house until it was time to head out to my doctor's appointment. we got all bundled up with hats, gloves, sweaters, extra shirts. it was 18 degrees outside. we left early because parking by my doctor can be non-existent. we got ourselves loaded in the car that we have been hosting all winter. as we pulled out of our street, we saw our favorite UPS delivery man, carl. i rolled down the driver's side window (the only one of the four that works) to wave hi. of course, we exchange pleasantries of how long till i am due (4 weeks), how are the boys (fine), and see you soon. we turn the corner and i try and roll up the window. it doesn't. all i can do i laugh... i mean really?! i call my husband to see what i should do. without being able to offer any help, he suggests i come by his office to see if he can pull it up somehow since i am limited in my ability to exert any energy or any leverage. he couldn't do it...... what...

someone has requested to see what the belly is doing these days..... despite my love for all things maternity right now (especially underwear), here you go. with only 4 weeks to go, i am getting to the point where i am uncomfortable all the time. she is pushing up on my ribs and makes it extremely difficult to find any position worth staying in for any amount of time.... but as i complain, i am thankful to have gotten a good night sleep last night, sinus infection is dissipating, and i feel rather good... finally!!!