July 2005

So I did it. Last night I got to quasi-meet my hero. I say quasi, becuase we only exchanged a few words and there were about a MILLION people there to see her so I’m sure she didn’t remember me from Joe Schmo, but it was still a giant thrill for me.

And a ton of kudos go out to K, otherwise as known as Fabulous Husband, because he was a doll during the mayhem that was the 2005 Literacy Signing. First off, he thought nothing of being in a room largely (LARGELY) populated by chattering females and not only that, but holding my purse and bag of books for me. THEN, when it finally came time to meet the queen (naturally, there was a line) he took the camera and took pictures for me. HOW SWEET IS HE? No, you can’t have him. I saw him first.

H was also well behaved too, staying by my side and being quiet and while not entirely un-fidgety, he was as good as one could possibly expect for a five year old boy. I was very proud of him. To reward my special men, I took them out to dinner at Chevy’s afterward where K and I shared a mixed grill that was :fab. Then it was on to Sonic (America’s Drive-In) for sundaes and milkshakes for desert. Do I spoil my boys or what?

And on the way home, I couldn’t resist taking a snapshot of our nice, newly blackened interstate that I mentioned yesterday. Are you impressed yet? Aren’t you jealous?

(BTW, As you had to purchase at least one book to get signed, I had to buy a book I already have. So if anyone would like to have a relatively good condition, almost new, UNSIGNED copy of Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts, I have one free for the taking. Just leave me a comment and I’ll email you to get the deets on where to ship it.)

Better late than never, right? I know, I’m awful late. But this is my THIRD post today? Aren’t you at least impressed by that??

How far along am I?
14 weeks and 1 day. 12 weeks and 1 day gestational. 181 days until my due date. 32% of the pregnancy is done and there?s 68% yet to go. This second trimester stuff is NICE.

Signs and Symptoms

• Pooch - yep, I have a pooch. And I don’t even bother not wearing maternity clothes anymore. The belly laughs at non-maternity clothes in a very scornful manner. I still wonder how much of that is FAT.
• Fatigue - But I haven’t really had time to be tired. Isn’t that the sad thing? Between H Potter, shuffling the boy to school and back, design work and other goings on in real life, nap time has been drastically reduced (let’s try NONE). But I have found at about 10:30 my battery is dead is there’s no stopping me from falling into a deep sleep then, no matter where I am.
• Hunger - Pretty much the same as last week. Still those conspicuous *sudden* hunger pangs that come from no where. At least my appetiete is smaller.
• Could it be? - This last week, a couple times while I’ve been laying down reading or resting, I could swear I felt a little “squirming”, just above my pubic bone. I’m pretty sure its movement but am amazed I can feel anything this early. I guess I could be imagining things, but I don’t think so. Woot!

How much have I gained?
Damn. I really should write this down. I’m either down a pound from last week or I’m holding steady. Either way, its better than gaining, right?

Observations

• A lot more positive now. It helps being so busy with other things but I have a really good feeling. Of course, whenever I consider my appointment I feel a cold wave of fear wash over me. But I guess that’s pretty normal.
• Speaking of appointments, my next one is next week, Wednesday August 3, at 1:40. Perfect timing, if you ask me. Right while the boy is at school. I hope we can hear the heart and maybe talk about scheduling the big ultrasound.
• Speaking of doctors, mine called this last week, the results from my urinanaylisis were in…apparently I had a bladder infection. She wasn’t surprised I hadn’t noticed it, apparently you’re pretty assymptomatic when pregnant. However, I should have known. I haven’t been pregnant yet that I haven’t had a bladder infection. Antibiotics for me! Wee!
• I’m sleeping with the body pillow. Yep, it starts. Hard to get too comfy and I still find myself waking up on my back during the night. Darn me.

That’s it. I gotta go watch Brat Camp.

Normally I have no compunctions about swearing in my blog, but in the title… well. That’s a different story. I know, I know. I’m a total nerd. :nerd

So I went for a (long overdue) haircut today. She did something fantastic with my bangs. If I wasn’t so adverse to posting pictures of myself I’d share it, they’re so nice. I’ll look nice for Nora too! Yay! Anyhow, they’ve been doing all this road construction on the interstate that runs near our house lately. Very frustrating, because it’ll often get really backed up. And all they’re doing, that I can tell, is pouring oil on the pavement. Not entirely sure what all that does, but it makes the road all nice and black again. And the fresh paint for the lines looks nice. It just seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through and put people through for cosmetic reasons. I’m just sayin’.

On my way out to this hair appointment, I noticed that westbound traffic (going at that time, the opposite way I was going) was having to get off the interstate at my exit and promptly get back on. Maybe they were pretty up that section of the interstate. I wrote it off as “strange” and went on my way. Now, on the way home, everything was fine and dandy until I started going up over the hill after the first potential exit that would lead me home. It was a little backed up, but it’d been that way for the past week with all this “construction” so I didn’t think much of it. Then, as I was nearly to the exit, about 300 meters from it, I saw a sign: “Exit Ramp Closed” soon followed by a detour sign, pointing further down the interstate. I know (because I live here) the next exit is about three miles down the road. As opposed to the previous exit 1 mile back. Here, perhaps I need to illustrate this:

The blue circle is where I would normally exit the interstate to go home. The red circle is the previous exit, back over the hill. The green arrows show which direction I was driving. The pink box, that’s where the “ramp closed” sign was. And the teal path marked with the star, those are both ways I can easily get home. Now I normally get off at the blue circle because while it looks like backtracking, and it is to an extent, its quicker, nicer and easier. But getting off at the red circle is just as simple and had I know blue circle wasn’t an option, I would have taken it. As it was, I had to continue west (through yet more “construction”) and turn around and come back. SIX MILES out of my way because some retard couldn’t have put a sign up nearer to the red circle exit. :sigh

Aren’t you glad my life is so boring now that something as silly as this is important enough for a blog post complete with graphic proof?

I’ve always been a big reader, ever since I can remember. And almost just as long, I’ve wanted to be a writer. I even joined “Romance Writers of America” once upon a time for about a year, hoping that would kickstart my ambition. That vision has sorta wavered over the years as I’ve realized that when it comes to writing, I have A LOT to learn. So in the meantime? I blog. But I still read, read, read.

One of my favorite, all-time authors is Nora Roberts. She is my queen. Not only can she write a good, soggy romance when she puts her mind to it, but she writes some excellent women’s fiction as well. Not to mention her talent for writing an excellent murder-mystery under the pen name J.D. Robb. I anticipate the release of her books with a fervor only surpassed by my anticpation of the next H Potter book. She is my idol, she is who I would like to be someday. If I only had as much talent as she has in her little finger.

For years and years, I’ve wanted to go to one of her book signings, meet her, get her to sign a book or two. Shake her hand. Stand in the presence of greatness, basically. But book tours don’t often come through Reno, NV and whenever she’s been down to the Bay Area, its always been when I’ve been unable to go down and see her. But someday, I promised myself.

That someday is today. :woot The Romance Writers of America have a conference each year and this year it is in Reno. And tonight, they’re having a special signing to raise money for literacy programs. Among the over 450 authors :blink participating this year, Nora is one of them! So you better believe your sweet bippy I’m gonna be there, front and center.

I’m so excited I could just BUST. Ooh, I better remember my camera. If I do remember said camera, I will be sure to post pictures tomorrow. This is a big day for me, something I’ve been looking forward to for so long I’ve lost track.

So, to help me pass the time, anyone want to share stories about their idols? Who they’d LOVE to meet and perhaps share a story if you have met them, you lucky dog?