Whoops

So I've been a real blogging slacker lately. Just call me the anti-NaBloPoMo.

My mom was here last week, for eight days. The first three went just fine. That's really all I can handle of anyone who is not my spouse or my daughter. (So visit, just don't stay past the weekend. xoxo) The rest of the week was a wonderful chance for me to further develop my patience and self-control. I did summon my courage to tell her she can't stay for two weeks when the baby is born. I blamed it all on me and Dh - We're like old people, we like our routines, don't like to have any guests for very long, it's very hard for us - and she was unhappy but accepting. Mind you, all that stuff is true. We are like old people. Set in our ways. But I couldn't exactly say, Sorry Mom but I just want to scream when you ramble endlessly about your strange health ideas and quite frankly we'll be pushing it to have you over for a week. Yeah, that wasn't being said. I envy girls who get along beautifully with their moms, but I have also come to terms with the fact that my mom and I will just never be that close due to our vastly different personalities.

Let's start with bad things first, so we can end on the good notes.

• Mom's constant talking and general inability to have a point to long, rambling stories.
• The almost fight we got into about her belief that homeopathy renders immunizations unnecessary. The phone rang at a critical point. Never was I so happy to answer that phone.
• Her unsolicited parenting advice (easy to ignore, so not that bad).
• Her unsolicited health advice. It is hard to take from a woman who eats sausage for breakfast and never exercises.
  
• Her unsolicited cooking advice. VERY annoying. My mother...she can't cook. While she was here, at her request, I taught her to make a few very simple yet delicious recipes (GFF's Italian Pot Roast, oven roasted potatoes and Fake It Don't Make It Black Bean Soup.) Oven roasted potatoes, y'all. She didn't know how to make them. She burned Pillsbury cinnamon buns and blamed the oven! (There's nothing wrong with my oven, by the way.) So when she gave me advice on how to make a quesadilla, for heaven's sake, it was very hard for me to be polite.
  

Good things about her visit:

• She bought some lovely art for a long, blank wall in my living room.
• She bought smoked Gouda (the true way to Dh's heart).
• We had an absolute blast at the coast. (Oh did I mention Dh bought me a Coach bag whilst at the coast? Oh yes he did. My very first and I luuurve it. Because I am awesomely shallow like that.)
• We had fun perusing World Market with Rainbow. The tikka masala sauce you can get there is very, very good, just so you know.
  
• Between the two of us, we knit an obscenely bright green scarf for my little sister L, who has no sense of appropriate colors for her skin tone (she is 15, so it doesn't really matter).
• She bought some deliciously scented wall-plug thing so now my kitchen & dining room are filled with the yummy aroma of pumpkin spice.

Noticing a trend? Lots of shopping. I come by the shopping thing honestly. That woman has some serious shopping endurance. Anyway, it was with mixed emotions that I hugged her goodbye on Saturday, but mostly relief. During our family prayer that evening, Dh offered thanks that we had our house to ourselves again. What could I do but add a heartfelt AMEN at the end.

My pregnant belly seems to be growing at an exponential rate. This is really annoying as I am only four months along and am only going to get bigger. On the Awesome Plus side, I feel really good. Morning sickness is again a distant memory (hallelujah!!!!!) I just have to make sure to eat regularly and not stand for too long (grocery shopping is quite tiring now). The baby's kicks are getting stronger all the time. November 28 I find out if Baby is a boy or a girl!!!!! So excited for that! This pregnancy is going so quickly, I feel like I'm getting whiplash as it flies along.

This week I've been reading (I'll post some reviews later...maybe), cooking, hanging out with K, and having fun with Baby E. I made these cookies. If you haven't tried them, you must. They are soooo delicious. They are adult cookies. Don't give them to kids, they won't appreciate them. The subtle interplay of flavors is divine. Seriously. Go make them. They're easy and you already have the ingredients.

I'm also still going to the twice-weekly exercise group at my church. We seem to have our little core group established now and it's really fun to work out together. Baby E loves it too, because there are lots of little kids to watch (not really into the interaction thing yet) and there always seems to be a cart or toy stroller for her to push around. There are about 8 of us who come pretty regularly. Though one just had her baby, so I doubt we'll see her for a while. I think the exercise group is actually helping because I've only gained 5 pounds so far. Which is definitely an improvement over my last pregnancy, when I had gained 5 pounds by 10 weeks!