Welcome!

My brother, Ben, and his wife, Ariel, started a blog! They just returned from 16 days in Rwanda, and bought a house the following day! They are referring to their new home as The Upper Cove. Give them a good welcome to blogosphere!

On the Hunt

I have always had a very difficult time spending money on clothes. It seems like a luxury to buy new clothes for myself, and not something to be taken lightly. I even feel guilty when I buy myself clothes at the thrift store. So instead of feeling guilty about spending Jared's hard-earned money (our money) on something that benefits only me, I came up with the ingenious plan of asking for cash for my b-day. It worked! I have over $100 in cash and almost $50 in gift cards from which to create a new post-pregnancy wardrobe. Frankly, I am still feeling guilty that I have such a large sum of $$ to be spent solely upon myself. But on the other hand, I have been feeling very uncomfortable and unattractive trying to squeeze into clothes that don't fit right anymore.

This special birthday money will not be spent quickly or flippantly. I will shop all the sales, and find treasures on the clearance racks. Of course, the thrift store will get a visit too. I am on the hunt for new clothes to flatter my new mommy figure. (Wouldn't trade it back for anything!)

Purchases to date:
Long pink beaded necklace: $4
Adorable blue and gray striped sweater: $12
Feeling beautiful in both: priceless

(Man, I have never paid so much for a sweater! Or a necklace! Uffda!)

Tummy Pains

I need help. After I eat (actually before I am even finished with a meal) I have been getting sharp, intense pains in my stomach. It started yesterday. Since then, it has happened three times, and it hurts like crazy. It is not food poisoning-- I have had that before and this feels different. What is happening to me? Anyone have any thoughts?

Rear Window

I have taken up where Jimmy Stewart left off. I sit on my couch next to the window for so many hours a day (with baby attached, if you know what I mean), that I have become the neighborhood snoop. I know what is going on in almost every house across the street. Three doors down, the boyfriend with the long, stringy rattail got kicked out, and there is a new very Abercrombie-looking boyfriend that has taken his place. This new boyfriend has a fiery temper and threw out their friend with the neck brace in a string of f-bombs that would make a sailor blush. Neckbrace walked down the street and rounded the corner, never to return again. (I was waiting for him to come back an hour later and start digging a hole in the garden, just like in the movie. Didn't happen.)

On to the next house... Jersey (thus named because I never saw him wear anything besides a football jersey), and his smoker girlfriend just moved out. The house was up for rent for 5 days before a new couple moved in. Their names are Muscleman and Trampy. Muscleman got his name because he has yet to appear wearing anything besides a ripped-off, too-tight T-shirt. (His muscles really aren't that big.) Trampy is a classic trailer-trash woman. She has bleach-blonde hair constantly pulled back in a ponytail, a cigarette always in hand, long, garishly painted fingernails, and always has on extremely tight jeans, with an over-sized sweatshirt. This couple has taken up the habit of hootin' and hollerin' in the middle of the night. Whenever I am in the nursery breastfeeding (again, next to the window) at 3AM, I am regularly greeted by a "Woooooo!" from across the street. It is one of those sounds that only a very drunk person makes.

I am discreet in my spy game, but if anyone ever caught me peeping through the slat of my window shades...