Do you love it as much as I do?

Before I get down to business… I just wanted to show you all what I’ve been … yes, I’m going to say it. … lusting after. Never has an inanimate piece of aluminum brought forth such emotions from me. I am such a victim of consumerism here. I was innocently watching TV and had forgotten to mute the commercials like I usually do (I find commercials offensive to the average person's intelligence for the most part). The moment the jaunty little ditty started for this commercial my ears perked up. On screen, something was coming out of the envelope… I started salivating, and I was lost. Behold, my chickadees: (Imagine an Angelic Chorus in the background). The MacBook Air! Believe it or not, there’s a headphone jack, a USB port and a micro-DVI port (I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what that last one is, but it says it comes with adapters for regular DVI and VGA… thing). Plus, if I had a treadmill (which I don’t, and may never have) I could power this baby just by taking my morning constitutional. Sweet! I am aware of the compromises (could be a bit slower, and the battery is not removable, etc.) But, seeing as I will probably never be able to afford something like this (especially since I have higher priorities: like eating and being clothed, plus my eventual plan for world exploration), it doesn't matter anyway. This dream will remain nothing more than... a dream. That is, until someone else I know will eventually buy it and use it in front of me while twirling their evil mustachio.

Those of you who know of any potential or actual problems with this laptop, feel free to crush my daydreams.

Anywho, enough of my covetousness. On to worthier (and far more interesting, in my opinion) things.

Like, Nathan! And Nathena. That’s what Jared’s calling her these days. Yes, we’re having a girl. I think everyone who reads this knows that by now, but I still thought I’d announce it on the blog.

Nathan is doing well. He can be a huge whiner, but that’s a minor pitfall of this age, I guess. He can also be a real cutie-pie and he cracks me up on a fairly regular basis. It’s also interesting to see him explore and discover things that are new to him. It always brings me up short when I’m in a hurry and he sees something he’s never seen before (like a rock, for instance). He just stops dead in his tracks and has to figure out what it is and what it does. Meanwhile I stand above him trying not to scream in frustration (or trying not to laugh at his curiosity, depending on how much of a hurry we are actually in and how jolly I’m feeling).

Nathan’s latest accomplishments are: feeding himself his breakfast (oatmeal! With a spoon!) if he doesn’t choose to throw it on the floor, turning lights off and on, and mimicking cows, ducks, and sheep. I love the quirks he has with making the animal sounds, though. Like he wrinkles his nose and says “boooo!” for a cow. For the sound a duck makes, instead of “quack” he just kind of makes a threatening face with a slightly disturbing/threatening noise to go with it. I don’t think there’s a way for me to write a description of that particular sound. As for the sheep… he does this weird half-laugh at the beginning quickly followed by an intake of breath similar to a dolphin chirp. Sorry, that’s also pretty difficult to describe in writing. He used to do more of a “baa”, but for some reason he gave up on that after a couple of days. So that other noise is what he’s doing now. I’m sure he’ll fix it again in a little while, but I’m in no hurry. Not when it’s so dang funny.

Anyway, on to the fetus. At least, I think she’s still a fetus. I’m not positive. Whatever. She’s been kicking away and getting bigger. As I’ve told some of you, for some reason I’m carrying smaller this time than I did with Nathan. No idea why, but I’m hoping it bodes well… I’d love to carry this one full term. Jared’s only felt her kick a few times because she still doesn’t do it very often and even then, it’s mostly aimed at my internal organs. I love the kid, but it’s just annoying when someone’s softly punching your colon.

The baby brings me to a semi-related issue: the Prince family reunion. My hopes were pretty high until this weekend when Jared and I actually got down to doing some research. The doctor stipulated that he’d prefer me to fly anywhere I choose to go (if I’m even allowed to go anywhere… he wields the gavel up until the last minute). His logic is that if I fly, I’ll always be close to civilization – and a hospital – in case any emergencies arise. Never mind the three to four hour drive from the Boise airport to the campground. Anyway, so we wanted to take Southwest so that if we aren’t able to go at the last minute, we won’t incur any fees if we need to cancel and change the flight (we’re planning on going to Indiana this Christmas, so we’d need tickets then, anyway). That’s why I said Boise, because that’s the closest airport to the campground Southwest flies to. So I’m starting to realize maybe this won’t work out after all. I’m going to let our doctor know all the details and we’ll see what he says. He may be fine with it. At least the nearest hospital to the campground is less than twenty minutes away. I’d really like us to be able to go. Those of you who know me well know how I am… I’ve been worried each reunion is going to be the last for a little while now. And ever since I missed that last dinner/get-together for Grandpa’s birthday before Carly died, I’ve been trying to take advantage of every opportunity to see our relatives. Yes, I know that makes me one of those annoying people that wants to drag her family all over the place at all times of day in chase of moments and memories that may never actually take place, but I honestly don’t mind being viewed that way. I honestly believe it’s worth the hassle.

Anyway. On to other news. It looks like Jared may still get the Vancouver job, but at a cost. He’s not going to get it for nearly what he thought he would because of some rogue competitor (I’m using his words. It makes it sound a little more Old-Westish.) Well, either way, congratulations Jared!

We all went out to Outback on Friday night for a belated celebration of Barb’s birthday. She was really sick before when we tried to go out, so we had to go back home on the first attempt. Fortunately, she’s been feeling a lot better on that front lately. Nathan was charming until he started throwing pieces of chicken at innocent passers-by. I’m very hesitant to attempt taking him out again. That will last… not very long. I’m sort of a pessimist, but there’s still that old “hope springs eternal” saying that holds true for most of us.

Those of you (my mom and Marlyse) who were hoping to find out what my two embarrassing interests were, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Mom, you already know. Marlyse, if you’re even still aware that you asked me what they were, I’ll tell you later. There, disappointment averted.

Anywho, another long-winded blog is over. Off with you now.

P.S. If any of you know what that quote is from in the blog title, leave a comment with the answer and eventually you might get a prize.