Goings-on

Last Friday evening, Casey and I sold my little Mazda, the car I owned for more than ten years. I always knew it would be a sentimental thing for me, so thankfully I haven't really driven it much in the past year-and-a-half. Nevertheless, I took pictures of "The Egg" before it was driven away, and even thought I felt tears welling up. I certainly did feel a sad little place in my heart. The crazy thing is, we were driving by a public gym the very next day, and there it was! I was happy to see that my little car was okay. But then things got a little strange, because the following day, we were leaving church, and there it was...parked across the street...staring at us. I'm not joking! It was like the thing was watching us.

I thought I would wait long enough to make sure it was really true before I share this, but here it is, folks: the belly has made its appearance. I'm sure it's different for every single person, but for me it was a subtle thing until one day last week. Then it was like, "Okay...here I am!" I'm not saying that I walk around looking obviously pregnant, but things do not fit like before, and I had enough of a belly for women at church to notice. I know all of this will feel more and more real each day, but even now it's still difficult to comprehend that an actual human being is growing inside my body. Just to type that out sounds...I don't know, unbelievable! But next week, Lord willing, we'll see our baby on the ultrasound monitor. We saw him or her when I was seven weeks pregnant, got to see and hear the heart beating, but when it's that tiny there's not really movement or a way to really discern what is what. This time, though, there will be a spine and legs and arms and hands and feet...and movement! I'm not sure I've recognized any movement yet -- that is probably still several weeks away -- so just getting to see arms and legs waving all around will fascinate me, I'm sure. Casey and I are both excited about it...and mostly because we do want to try and see if we're having a boy or girl. It's so hard to believe that we could know so soon!

I've mentioned before that my decorating skills are not quite up to par. I know plenty of people who just love to decorate, and will help their friends decorate...but I'm just not one of them. I think either you have it or you don't. For those of us who don't, there is an abundance of ideas floating around on the internet. But when Casey and I decided to buy our first house this year, it was Casey who wanted at least one of the guest bedrooms (soon we'll just have one because the other is designated for the nursery) to be a very peaceful, calming room. He went on an elders/ministers retreat last year and stayed in a room that I suppose inspired him. I was able to see the room, and stay in it myself, on a ladies' retreat earlier this year. He was right...it was just so relaxing and calming in there, and why wouldn't we want our guests to feel this way when they visit? So, I've focused on a blue and white color theme, mostly because those colors plus greens and naturals are all suggested for a tranquil sort of theme. They are actually supposed to decrease blood pressure, how about that? And I'm trying to think back to my days of watching Trading Spaces -- you know, to the episodes where they would have one item and decorate the entire room around that. It's actually a good idea, and I can get into it, but I'm afraid of getting part of the way through and just throwing my hands in the air and giving up. I'm going to give it a whirl, though, and just try to have fun. The key is simple, blue and white, and peaceful. Oh, and fun.