The Jeep is still not fixed.  The garage is still a mess.  Eric has my car again today.  The radiator seemed like such a simple fix…but apparently not!

Last night after work, Eric took the hose/connection he needed to match to a Napa Auto Parts store (recommended by another Napa from Monday).  He got back about 5:00 pm…no luck.  They took one look at it and said they couldn’t help.

So about 5:30, we drove down to Jeg’s Performance on Broad Street…he sympathized, even brainstormed possible places we could go (up on Sawmill or Home Depot), but no luck.  The connection was non-standard, and therefore, hard to match.

Next, we tried Home Depot (it was right down the road). We looked in their fittings section.  A sales guy tried very graciously to help.  No luck.  Turns out the Chinese-made radiator came with metric fittings.  No one carries those.  His suggestion: go to a plumbing supply place out by the airport.  His question: What kind of car is this?!?  (um…a Jeep).  He was expecting some old foreign thing, I guess.

Before we left last night, Eric had boxed up the radiator and brought it along.  We stopped at Advance Auto Parts.  Eric explained what he needed.  They had one radiator in stock.  They guy let him look at it before purchase.  It had lots of fittings for a variety of needs.  Perfect.  We bought it. 

Then we drove across the street to AutoZone and returned the other one.  The guy seemed confused that it wouldn’t work (so were we!), but he did take it back.  We drove home. 

Where we stand now:  The new radiator will work.  The new fittings will work.  But Eric needs more hose before he can finish the project.  He will be stopping on his way home today to pick some up.  The Jeep should be fixed by tomorrow.

Sheesh!

    We got our first baby gifts this weekend while we were out visiting the family farm. 

From a family friend:

From my husband’s grandma:

And from my MIL (I think she actually bought terry cloth to make these):

Of course, I do hope that we don’t get EVERYTHING in pink and blue for the next three months (I won’t hold my breath).  I’m a firm believer in putting children in a variety of colors, regardless of gender.  Actually, I told my MIL that what I need next is 2 pairs of green booties so that no matter which one I grab, I can be sure it’ll work!  But that being said…they are all pretty darn cute (and the givers more than generous!), so I need to watch my attitude and not complain!

As for the weekend itself…here’s the recap.

Friday: We made homemade pizza for dinner.  And I think we just vegged out some, too.  I don’t remember…

Saturday:  As my in-laws had a lunch engagement, we didn’t hurry out to the farm.  I did get to watch some of the OSU game, so that was fun.  Then we threw our stuff in the car and headed out.  There was a birthday party for Eric’s grandpa that night, so we actually got to see a lot of the family and a couple of younger cousins we rarely connect with.  The one sad part was that they made homemade ice cream, and I couldn’t have any (uncooked custard made with raw eggs and unpasteurized whole milk almost straight from the cow).  It would’ve been fantastic…I think I’ll need them to make some in January when I can have it again…

Then (at 9:30), the guys started to watch a movie projected on the barn.  It was fun to sit outside and watch Spiderman 2 on the “big screen” with huge numbers of stars overhead, but it was almost midnight before we got to bed.  Yikes!  I can’t stay up that late anymore!!  Oh…and we discovered that our girl is a night owl.  Either that, or she really likes Tobey Maguire as Spiderman.  She moved more than ever before while we were sitting out there! 

Sunday:  Church in the morning at my in-laws’ little country church.  It was good to see everyone out there, of course, but I had trouble focusing (the message was admittedly “borrowed” from another pastor – good thoughts, but hard to follow)…oh well.  Then my FIL wanted to take us “to the airport” after church.  We had no idea what that meant, but we went along.  It turns out that some very extended family (Grandma Hogue’s sister’s daughter and family, I think) runs a grill at a little area airport where small planes can refuel or stop for a bite.  So we got dinner (very yummy burgers and chicken with Velvet ice cream for dessert) and watched planes take off and land.  Actually very fun!

After a quiet afternoon, then the Hogue side joined us for a supper meal.  We had a lot of fun, Grandpa Hogue told very bad jokes (very badly!), and the last group left around 9:30 or later.  So it was after that when we could finally gather our things and head home.  We got back around midnight.  

Monday:  I did not do much all day.  I made a menu/grocery list for September, but it took a long time because I couldn’t focus on it.  I did finally finish it though.  I also did run the dishwasher and read a bit and put some of the travel things away.  But other than that…nothing. 

Eric, however, was very productive.  The radiator in his Jeep has been leaking, so he went and bought one in the morning and spent the day fixing things.  First he fixed our garage door (which breaks periodically) and then he worked on replacing his radiator.  He got it drained, removed and the new one partially installed when he discovered that one last connection wouldn’t work.  The hose from the old radiator that runs away from the radiator (to who knows where…) can’t be connected to the new radiator.  And no one sells the hose.  So one step from being completely finished…and he was stuck.  Grrr!

So hopefully, the Napa Auto Parts we heard about will be able to help by creating a new hose for him (soon).  But until then, he’s driving my car to work.  Which means that I’m stuck at home again.  Not really thrilled about this fact, since I have errands I could run.  But c’est la vie, I guess.  Hmmm…I wonder how the babies and I will amuse ourselves today…I guess we shall see!

Happy Tuesday!

     Finally, as promised, some pictures from Wednesday’s appointment:

Our BOY (arm by the face and a foot):

And our GIRL (profile and leg/foot):

Yesterday, I did finish canning all the peaches I will be canning this year.  I still have a few peaches left for eating or maybe freezing.  But we shall see.

We’re planning to head to the farm for a visit this weekend.  I think we’ll be leaving tomorrow, so I don’t have to get ready to leave until then.

Last night, I did not sleep well.  Not sure why.  I just tossed and turned all night.  Crazy.  Of course, my restlessness was not helped by the fact that a neighbor’s car alarm kept going off.  It went off twice before 11 p.m., once sometime in the very early morning hours, and once more about 7:30.  Not a good sound at those time, I assure you. 

Today, my agenda currently consists of sweeping/cleaning all the non-carpeted floors in my house (kitchen and bathrooms, mostly).  They are dis.gus.ting.  Time to get on that.

Other than the floors (and recording my recent purchases in our Money program, per Eric’s request), I have nothing much planned.  I think Eric might have taken my car to work today (the Jeep is having radiator issues), but I haven’t looked to be sure.  If he did, I’ll pretty much just stay home.  If not, maybe I’ll think of someplace to go. Or maybe I’ll read.  Or perhaps start knitting baby blankets for the afore-mentioned babies.  Or maybe I’ll just turn on the the TV and sit in front of it all day.  That sounds good, too.   We shall see…

Happy Friday!

It’s amazing how much better you feel after a good night’s sleep.  One bathroom trip, non-weird dreams, no leg or hand cramps…lovely!

I managed to can two canners-full of peaches yesterday.  One jar didn’t seal.  I probably have about two more canners worth of peaches to do.  I need to finish them today, tomorrow at the latest.

My favorite part of working with peaches is peeling them with a hot water/cold water bath.  It really speeds up the process.  And it’s cool!

My floors are in desperate need of being mopped.  They are disgusting!  But there’s no point cleaning them until I’m done throwing sugar water (from the peaches) on them…

The babies were very active since the ultrasound yesterday, even the girl!  She’s started stretching more, but doesn’t kick nearly as much as the boy does.  It was fun to see them again yesterday.   If we only have one the next time, I’ll miss the regular visual connection.  But I’m not sure I necessarily want twins again either…  Hmmm…

It’s sad that I have nothing terribly interesting to say this morning.  Maybe I’ll try to add some ultrasound pictures later.

Happy Thursday!

So this morning (8:30 am) I had another ultrasound with the high-risk doctors.  That was the reason for the very quick post this morning.  But I’m back now.  I have more pictures, but those will need to wait a bit.

The drive to the hospital took over 30 minutes.  The roads were wet.  People drive like idiots when the roads are wet.  I saw 2-3 fender benders pulled off along the highway which were caused, I’m sure, by people not paying attention to the stop-n-go traffic.  It was insane.  I don’t know how people drive that every day.  I asked Eric if it was always that bad…he said no.  Still…

As for the babies, all looks great.  My cervix is still long and closed.  The babies are developing normally.  Our boy is the “mover and shaker” of the pair (heart rate in the 140s), and our girl is apparently biding her time until after they’re born to pay her brother back for all the dancing he’s doing now.  She’s pretty calm for now (heart rate in the 130s).  But they have no major problems at all. 

As for weight, she’s 1 lb., 7 oz, and he is 1 lb., 5 oz.   That makes almost 3 lbs of baby in there (plus ‘amenities’), which explains why, all of a sudden, my belly has actually felt heavy.  Just in the last few days, I could tell a difference in how they were pulling on me.  Of course, then I got thinking that we’re aiming for at least 5-pound babies in the end.  Which means we’ve got another 7+ pounds to look forward to in the next three months.  Yikes! 

But that’s what we know.  All looks good, so we get to wait another 4 weeks before we see the specialists again.   Praise Jesus!

I’ll have more later.  I promise.  But I wanted to start this morning with a happier post than yesterday.

• Thanks for the kind, wonderful comments from yesterday and all the prayers.  You guys are the best-est!!
• I have some perspective (can we say “hormones” anyone?) and my sense of humor back.  It feels good.  Still a ways to go, but much better than yesterday morning!
• Dinner with the girls last night was very much fun.  I’m glad I went.  I needed the chatting and laughter.  We had slightly bad service, but with 8 girls out for a night of fun without husbands/babies…we didn’t mind!

Happy Wednesday!

Today I’m sort of down.  And I have nothing else to blog about, so here’s my list of things I’m whining to myself about right now.  I will get over it.  But if you’re hoping for a happy blog, don’t read this one today!

• I realized yesterday that I’m desperately lonely.  I am aching for connection.  Real interaction.  Something that I was expecting to get over the weekend (when I actually had social activities planned) and didn’t.  Can’t really explain it other than that.  
• This week, the reality of leaving CU finally hit me. They’re moving on without me; I know they miss me, but they don’t need me.   And now everyone’s starting back to school (I know a ton of teachers), and I’m not.  I’m sitting at home.  All of this is as it should be.  But it hurts today.  I miss being important.
• I don’t know if you other twin moms ever felt this way, but all of a sudden, I feel like a freak show.  Instead of having conversations with people on the rare occasions that I do get together with them (like church), we only have enough time to cover the “How are you feeling?  How are the babies?  How big are you getting?!?” questions.  It’s starting to feel as if I show up places just so people can get their once-a-week fix of gaping at my belly.  (Of course, that is unfair.  They are genuinely interested, I know.  And I love my friends dearly.  This is just how I feel today…remember, I’m whining.)
• I miss being me.  I miss being able to snuggle with my husband easily.  I miss being able to do whatever I want around the house.  I miss being able to do the chores on my to-do list without running out of energy or losing focus.  I miss having things to talk about.  I miss having opportunities to just chat and catch up with people. I miss having people to chat and catch up with.

Okay, enough of that.  Sorry for starting off your Tuesday with such muck.  Obviously, I can do things to help myself deal with all of this.  And, don’t worry, I have been praying.  And I’m choosing to go out to dinner with some girls tonight (even though dinner in a public place is not the kind of connection I’m really in need of).  Mostly I just needed to get it off my chest and out of my head.  Thanks for listening…

The email kind, not the “meat” kind.

My inbox is currently being flooded regularly with the same email with the subject “Solution for your Sexual Life.”  Now, I realize that pregnancy does affect one’s sex life, but seriously, I don’t think some guy named Abelard should really be so concerned.  I mean, I haven’t mentioned any issues to him, so why is he so interested?!?  I think he just needs to mind his own business.

Oh, and I also think that he should stop sending this same email to me so many times in a day.  It’s so annoying to see up to ten new emails in my inbox, only to find out that 7 of them are from “Abelard,” and that after deleting the other two that are begging me to buy something, only one is an actual email that I wanted to get.  *sigh*   I apparently need to have more contact with real people so that my email “needs” become less significant!

Of course, having brought up Spam, the meat kind, I feel as if I should give it some blog-time as well.  So here is my take on Spam, the “meat.”

• Spam is disgusting.
• I once heard that someone found a can of Spam from WWII, and when it was opened, it was still good.  Um…ew!
• Eric really likes Spam.
• I refuse to buy it for him.
• Hawaiian McDonald’s restaurants serve Spam on their breakfast sandwiches.  Apparently, it’s an absolute necessity in Hawaii.  Which does make you wonder whether Hawaii really is a ‘paradise’ after all!
• I had a student who grew up in the town where Spam is produced.  They have a Spam museum there.  It’s their claim to fame.  That might be worse than C-ville’s claiming to be the “home of Labor Day.”

Okay, that’s all I can think of relating to Spam right now.  The weekend wasn’t too interesting. My in-laws dropped in on Saturday which was good, and they brought me a bushel of fresh peaches.  YUMMY!  We also had a baby shower on Saturday afternoon.  Kimberly’s cake turned out SOOOO cute (and yummy, as well)!  Sunday was very laid back and quiet.  And today is not looking much more exciting yet.  Maybe something thrilling will happen very soon.  But I won’t hold my breath!

Happy Monday!

Eric and I just hung out and watched television for a while last night.  And he spent much of that time with his hands on my belly feeling all the movement.  It is so cute to watch him get all excited when one kicks or stretches right where his hand is (and it’s pretty sure to happen these days if you just wait 30 seconds or so).  He was talking to them, too.  I’m glad he’s so excited about them.

Of course, we also noted again how big my belly is getting.  It’s just crazy.  That’s less fun for me, but necessary, I guess.  But if I make it all the way to 38 weeks, I have 16 more to go.  And I can’t even wrap my brain around how big I’ll be by then.  Yikes!

I’m pretty sure I have carpal tunnel issues in my left hand.  It’s quite painful at times.  Of course, when I came to that place in a book I have, the suggestion that they gave (other than braces) was to try to sleep with my hands above my heart.  How in heavens name am I to “try” to keep my hands above my heart while I’m sleeping?!?

Anyway, I was very productive yesterday.  I put the garbage out, watered the plants, cleaned the kitchen (again!), did the laundry, made cookies, made dinner, and cleaned up the kitchen (again!).  And in between all those things, I even took time to do a lot of sitting.  It felt really good to put my feet up and read a book for an hour or two.  I need to remember to do that more often…

We got new next-door neighbors a week or so ago.  They are a military family who just retired after he was stationed in Egypt for the last four year.  I chatted with her briefly yesterday morning.  She’s been cold during the last few days, even wrapping a blanket around her shoulders to walk her son to the bus stop in the morning.  I’ll bet she doesn’t leave the house come February!

Okay, that’s all the fun I have for today.  Enjoy your Friday and the weekend! 

• Today just feels like a bullet day.
• I bought shoes yesterday.  Brown flats for church.  Heels are getting to be more difficult than they’re worth.
• Got some laundry done yesterday.  Still about 5 loads to do today.  I should start on that before lunch this time.
• Eric and I went to the library last night.  He got a book; I didn’t. We also dropped off the recycling and bought a new headlight for his Jeep.  Not terribly exciting, I guess, but it was nice to drive around and chat about whatever.  Almost like a date.  I guess we’re sort of boring…oh well!
• LOTS of baby movement this week.  O.my.word!  Of course, in a couple of weeks more, they probably will be too big to move much.  So I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts…
• I have no interest in making what’s on my dinner menu for tonight.  I will have to think of something else.
• I can’t think of anything else to tell you. 

Happy Thursday!