Baby Watch...

My sister-in-law is giving birth, if she hasn't already had the baby. It's been about 12 hours since anyone has heard anything.

GO CRISTINE! GO CLAIRE! Woohoo!

(no subject)

It's going to be a scorcher here today, folks. So very rare for the Pac NW, but also kind of uncomfortable, considering most of us don't have air conditioning.

Ah well. I'm used to it. We haven't had air conditioning in 6 years, and it got this hot in Germany sometimes too.

I've got the fan going. The windows are still open for now because it's still cool enough to make that ok. Once it's hotter, I'll close them, since the new windows are supposed to block the heat from coming in. It feels quite cool in here right now.

Reece and I ventured down to the park today for a game of fetch. It didn't last long. She got overheated pretty quickly because of the full-on sun. It feels pretty hot out already if you're in direct sunlight...much cooler in the shade.

I need to venture out to the grocery store today. I need to be able to feed myself over the next few days. I'm not cooking up a whole package of ground beef or sausage or chicken that we have in the freezer just to feed myself. I want to get a couple of potatoes to make myself some baked potatoes (in the microwave, of course...too hot to use the oven). I want cold salads. I crave produce! I may even make some of wendywoowho's tangy cucumbers. And I need yogurt. And cereal.

I'm going to experiment again with leaving Reece out of the crate while I'm gone. It's been a couple months since we tried it, and we stopped because she went crazy and tore up a bunch of paper. If I can look around and remove any and all temptation from her reach, she should be fine. She's passed out on the floor right now anyway, thoroughly wiped out.

Anyway, I better get a move on. I need stuff for lunch too.

Oh...and I got more good news today, from friend of mine. June appears to be a lucky month for people close to me. I hope that luck rubs off on me. Got a few things to take care of today to try and make that happen.

the heat is on

The outdoor thermometer reads 88 degrees. I don't buy it. It seemed really inaccurate to me yesterday. I really don't think it got that super hot yesterday, but then again, I sat in a hot tub most of the afternoon, so the air felt cool when I came out. Plus it was breezy yesterday, and it's breezy again today.

It's 76 degrees in the house, so all the windows are now closed and the fans are going.

I am done with my quick errands for the day. I dropped a bag of clothes off at Goodwill. Stopped at Top Food & Drug for groceries. I actually hate shopping there because they seem ridiculously expensive to me, but luckily, I got a lot of good deals today. A half gallon of milk was $1. A 5 pound bag of Russett potatoes - $1. I grabbed a couple of nectarines, 2 bananas, 2 cucumbers, sliced mushrooms, vinegar, Tillamook yogurt (huge sale on that, and they had lemon flavor!), hot dogs, a couple snack-size cups of ice cream, and a package of mixed berry bagels from the bakery...I think that was it. And I walked out of there only spending about $20. Not bad, really. Although my hot dogs weren't free. The coupon was only worth up to $4.59 and the hot dogs were $4.99. Ugh. That seems really expensive to me.

I came home and found Reece had been good. The only destruction she caused was to take the pillows and blanket off the couch. She does that a lot anyway, whether we're home or not, so that's no big deal. I'm not sure why she does it. Just one of our doggie's weird quirks, I guess.

So I'm home for the rest of the day, methinks. Responded to a freelancing ad...hopefully a legitimate one this time. Posted an ad of my own, offering services as an academic proofreader and editor. I need to apply for unemployment this afternoon. I contacted them yesterday and they encouraged me to apply, so I hope that means there's a chance to get it.

Just had lunch (a berry bagel smeared with cream cheese and strawberry jam), although I think I need to supplement it with something else. Tonight's dinner will probably be a mini mushroom pizza (I have mini pizza crusts, sauce and cheese in the house at all times) with a side of tangy cukes. I already threw the cukes together and they're marinating in the fridge. Yum! I'm kind of wanting a nectarine right now.

Still no word from Guam. I doubt I'll hear anything until my brother reaches my mom or stepdad.

Birth Announcement

Claire Sophie England

10 pounds (exactly)
21 inches long

We don't really know the time of the birth because we still find the time difference confusing. Mom didn't know if it was 6:30 AM or 6:30 PM when Claire came forth into the world. So I think the question is right now, is her birthday June 3rd or June 4th? I'm going with June 4th, and I think she was born in the morning. I believe it's about 7:30 am or so on the 4th in Guam right now, so this would make more sense, since Mom just got the phone call a short while ago.

Cristine and baby are doing great. Eva is a big sister!

I hope to have a picture soon.

ETA: She was born at 3:15 AM on June 4th. I already have pictures posted, if you want to be on the filter.

WTF Food Network?

For the past 2 days (at least), Food Network has been featuring rib-sticking, cold weather comfort foods. Soups, stews, heavy casseroles...

Last time I checked, it was 85 degrees outside. I realize it's not that hot everywhere, but it IS late spring in the northern hemisphere.

Get with the program, Food Network. Morons.