February Lady and December Family

So my stealth knitting is revealed with possibly the worst FO pictures of all time.



The kiddos were just too darn cute and I forgot to get a photo of the Princess in her new sweater.



See, who can think about photographing sweaters when these two have the charm turned up?



Maybe she will get PBTB to take a picture of her in it and post it to her blog (hint hint!) It looks beautiful on her, and as she is hardly showing yet (at 24 weeks- sickening!) it is clear that it will look great on her after little ET is born.

Our trip to Utah for Christmas and New Years was on the higher end of the stress meter than we would have liked. It involved 8 hours in a plane (for a flight that should only take 2 hours,) two trips to the emergency room (none for our little family, W and Grandma are just accident prone,) as well as the usual stress of trying to make sure everyone feels like we are spending enough time with them (which we are never successful at, but not for lack of trying.)

We did enjoy seeing the Duke's oldest brother, his wife and their kids very much. It is the first time their two younger kids have ever been to Utah and it was a lot of fun to get to spend time with them.

And of course, getting to see my cousins and their kids and letting W and Little Sir "bond" was a highlight.

Readjusting to our daily routine has been proving difficult. Little Sir quickly grew accustom to haveing someone entertain him, play with him, hold him, and otherwise dote on him all the time. Now he thinks that I should fulfill this role. We have been having a lot more tantrums than normal. A few more days and we should be good, though.

Back to school for me was depressing. I thoroughly enjoyed my weeks off, but knowing I only have three classes to go gives me hope and keeps me going.

Lastly, we are currently experiencing a brief repeat of the 2007 nightmare. After weaning Little Sir it was time for me to find out what effect birth control pills would have on my now overly sensitive body. I was good through phase one, but upon starting phase two the muscle aches returned and tonight (day 13 or 14) the Chorea has returned. It isn't anything near the horribleness of the end of my pregnancy, but it is enough to keep me from sleeping. Needless to say, I will be visiting my doctor to discuss other options. Ah life. . .

An Econ. Quote

It is 8:51 pm on a Friday night and I am, sadly, studying for an Econ final. I never thought it possible, but there is a footnote in my text book that made me laugh out loud. . .

In 1995 the United States came close to suspending debt repayment while the president and Congress played a game of chicken over the federal budget. In the end, no payments were actually missed. (For readers unfamiliar with American slang, "chicken" is a game in which two male adolescents with more hormones that intelligence drive cars head-on at one another at high speed. The first one to turn aside is said to "chicken out"- to show cowardice. If neither turns aside, the results are much like the results of the U.S. government's failing to pay its debt.)

Nothing like a couple of economists relating US fiscal policy to an American - er "pastime" and then having to take more room explaining what that idiotic pastime is to all of their many non-American readers. But hey, they provided a temporary distraction from the drudgery that is the study of macroeconomics, so I will give them credit there.

Breath- Breath- Breath

I am halfway through my first class of the quarter. I think the prof is talking about economics, but I am focusing on not having a nervous breakdown, so I'm not entirely sure.

I called the Duke during the break and he assured me that Little Sir was fine. Lucky for him my phone died so he didn't have to endure me asking for a minute by minute breakdown of everything he and Little Sir have done since I dropped him off.

I forgot my knitting, HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake.

So, instead, I am blogging during class.

BREATH!

Ok, I am going to go look at pictures of my baby before I go into shock.

When It Rain It Pours. . .

Does living in Seattle make that statement more ironic?

I believe that right before a person is about to receive a choice blessing, the powers of hell conspire against that person to try to get them to do something that will really screw things up.

I believe that trials are actually blessings in disguise, given to us as opportunities to change, to grow, to improve.

I believe that we are here to learn and that learning means falling down sometimes. I also believe that we are here to be tested, and that being tested means being put in situations that will test us.

So I will therefore conclude the following:
1. The forthcoming blessing is going to ROCK!
2. I have reached another growing spurt in my life.
3. I may not get an A+, but I'm doing the best I can, and I am proud of that (in a tired sort of way.)

Today I:

-- Stayed up until 5 am working on the last section and the financial forecasts of my business plan. When I finally fell asleep it still wasn't done, and in my opinion, there is nothing worse than pulling an all nighter and not finishing the product.

-- Fought my body all day

-- Was frustrated because I couldn't take care of my sick husband.

-- Was deeply disappointed by someone I thought was my friend

-- Had a person we believe is trying to commit insurance fraud file a claim against our insurance.

-- Was used as someone's personal emotional punching bag

-- Had to let someone down, once again, due to my inability to say no.

-- Ate something that disagreed with my stomach

-- Picked up my dog's bedding that he had, only moment's before, peed on.

-- Had an emotional breakdown.

It was a sucky day. . . but like all rainstorms, this one too will soon be over, and there is a bright and beautiful silver lining.

This is Logan looking over three copies of my FINISHED business plan. (He is a fierce editor, by the way, tearing up things he doesn't like!)



It is a very dense 37 page, single spaced, document that I am extremely proud of.

It has a table of contents



It has charts and graphs






It has financial analysis



AND IT'S DONE and with a whole 20 min. to spare- who could ask for anything more?