Sunday: easy day

Today was a pretty laid back day. We went to church, I took a nap, and we had pizza and watched a movie. I had been hoping to get a few more chores done, but I guess that didn't happen. Oh well.

Sunday: sick

I am really, really sick of being sick. I'm in my twelfth week! I thought I was supposed to be all better by now.

Ben still has high hopes I'll be better by vacation; I'm not so sure.

Friday: forgotten things

Tonight we went to Subs 'n more for dinner. (It's kind of like Quiznos...but better.) It is on my favorite restaurants in Holland list, but I often forget about it...I don't think that I've been there since college. It was as good as I remember it being though.

Then we went to the Peanut Store and I got some pick-a-mix candy. It included Carmel cremes. Yum. I like those candies a lot too, but they aren't very main stream and so I forget about them.

Thursday: things I realize

As I sit here on my sheet-less bed, I start thinking about all the other places I could go to sleep so that I don't have to make the bed when Ben comes to bed after I've fallen asleep.

Couch in the basement. couch upstairs. Tell Ben not to make the bed. the other bed.

what? The other bed? Ben and I have both managed to be sick this past week with a cough. A loud, obnoxious cough, and so we've been sleeping in different places. This is the first time in our married lives that we've done this, but it's been necessary. Usually Ben ends up on the couch because he's nice like that. and then tonight I realized that we have a second bed. Oops.

Wednesday: blue shirt day

Today was apparently the day to wear your blue shirt. About three quarters of the people were wearing one.

I was wearing one too, even though I didn't get the memo. and I'm pretty sure there was an actual memo since a lot of the people were wearing the same blue shirt.

Did you wear a blue shirt?

Tuesday: what I'm sure you've been wondering...

Why hasn't Amanda written for so long?

well, to be fair, I did write on Sunday but somehow the post got deleted and by the time I noticed it I didn't care...

This weekend I had a business meeting up in Cadillac. There was no Internet, which is why I didn't post. We got a lot of important business taken care of.




Sunday I got home and had a terribly sore throat. We went out for Fathers day with Ben's family, which was fun. Yay for fathers-in-law!!

Monday's achievement was that I managed to cut my bagel pretty well in half using a plastic knife. I've been having a problem getting my bagels cut well, so it was exciting.

Saturday: two toilets

I need two toilets right next to each other. One to throw up into and one to pee in while I throw up. My bladder control is rapidly disappearing when I throw up.

Edit: my OB told me to cross my legs. this seems like a much easier solution than installing another toilet.

Thursday: 200 days left

Today there are 200 days left. Thats still a long time.

I feel like I popped a little bit today. My jeans suddenly weren't as comfortable...I guess only the future will tell if I'm imagining it or not.

I also made my first mess at the toilet. I made it to the toilet, but was trying to tell myself that I didn't need to throw up and so didn't have the lid open. I tried to clean it up but Ben lovingly finished as I just couldn't do it.

Thursday: work

Here I am in the clean room.

and later today I heard the following conversation. I thought it was funny.

Person 1: I'm only part-time

Person 2: Starting now, you can work every other hour. So you must go home at 2 but have to be back here at 3

wednesday: urg

Today could have gone better. I suppose it could have gone worse too. So instead I'll share one of Flurry's new favorite sitting places. I think she likes it because the pillow and blind are green, and so it matches her eyes. (Or it is far enough away from us that she won't get kicked or petted but close enough to spy on us)

Wednesday: a lime

Apparently (haha, that has the word parent in it) I have a child the size of a lime inside me. Whenever I look at pictures of the human body with the skin removed it always looks so full. How can a lime (and whatever else has grown) fit inside me and I can barely tell? I guess we're all fuller of hot air than I expected.

Tuesday: clean room

Today's excitement is that I got to go into one of the clean rooms for the first time. It turned out not to be all the exciting, but still cool. And I was a little afraid of over-heating (it's happened in the past with similar attire) but I didn't. Phew.

Monday: Amanda

There's another Amanda in the place where I'm working right now. This is one of the first times that I've had to deal with someone else having my same first name and I do not like it. There was another Amanda in high school, but I don't recall having any classes together.

What is interesting is how much of a conversation you suddenly recall over-hearing once your name gets said, even if you weren't intentionally listening and wouldn't have remembered the conversation at all if your name wasn't part of it.

Sunday: family gatherings

Today I went to a family gathering on Ben's side to meet distant relatives. I went by myself because Ben wasn't able to go, so I feel as though I should get extra bonus points for that. However, I only talked to one of the relatives for about one minute, so that probably removes most of the bonus points I just gave myself.

the food was good though!

Friday: Ben and job

Ben's home! Yay!

I also accepted a job today at Shape Corp as a quality engineer. I'll be starting July 11 after I finish my current contract and go on vacation.

Thursday: a story

This is an old story...it happened the week we moved back to Michigan. Ben and I were getting groceries and were in the produce section of Meijer. there was an older man that looked exactly like...guess
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...a garden gnome. Obviously he wasn't wearing the traditional garden gnome hat, but the beard and the body type were perfect.

Wednesday: bran muffins

Today after work I made some bran muffins. yum. And then I decided to have some for dinner. and they were as good as I remember them being. I was also smart and for once didn't bake all the muffins at once, but froze some batter so that I can have fresh muffins within the coming weeks.

Tuesday: maybe a record

I haven't thrown up at all today. I know there's still 1.5 hours left to go of today and I'm only feeling ok, but I'm hopeful. It would be the first time in about three weeks..Ok, I now need to stop thinking about throwing up.

Tuesday: happy birthday again

Dad came over tonight to celebrate his birthday (again!!). We went out for Mexican and then I beat him at Dominion. I guess that wasn't very nice of me on his birthday. Well, I gave him some ice cream to make up for it. Hmm, he was the one that brought the ice cream over here a few weeks ago. Well, I had a lot of fun on his birthday!!

Monday: vitamins

My OB said I could take Flintstone vitamins instead of prenatal vitamins. I immediately latched onto that idea because I love Flintstone vitamins. they taste so good and remind me of my childhood. And so I keep taking them instead of the swallow prenatal ones...and I haven't had to taste them a second time (yet) which is also a huge bonus!

Monday: the house tour continues

Today I wanted to show you an architectural gem in our bathroom.

That's right! There is a heating/cooling vent that blows onto your head exactly where you stand to take a shower. The guess is that the house started out with only a tub. We could put a better vent on it to direct the air...or we could just leave it for the next people to deal with.

Sunday: happy birthday

Today was a pretty nice day. We went to church and then I took a nice nap in the afternoon. This evening we celebrated Dad's birthday with the family...it was low key but still nice. I was going to bring the camera because it's been a while since I've posted a picture, but I forgot it at home.

Friday: donut day

Today is national donut day. And donuts currently sound disgusting. how sad is that???????????????????????????

friday: work

Today was my first day back at work. It's just for a short contract job, but it's nice to get out of the house. At one point there was a plant meeting and they were talking about how they needed to work really hard this next week to get some batteries started...so that they can make more...so they can put more batteries in more cars...so that they can lower emissions...so that they can SAVE THE EARTH!!!!

The work seems fine. Not too difficult but still interesting. I got to wear a reflective vest and hard hat for a little bit so I felt cool. And I'll get to go into a clean room so that will be...hot. you have to wear so many covering garments going into a clean room.

Friday: throwing up - TMI

WARNING: this one really is gross. You may want to skip it.

I started taking my new medicine yesterday and it is good. but I need to try and ration it so that it will last the whole month, which ends up being about a half pill per day. The effects last for about eight hours.

so it wore off after work today and I had a headache. I don't know if it from the medicine or general life. But I went to throw up and whatever I had had was really bitter. So my throat closed off and a little bit came out my nose. Gross. and I was trying to get my hair back in a pony tail and things were just not going well.

Wednesday: a good day

Today was probably one of the best days I've had in a while. I got a lot of chores done, had an interview for a short term job, and made a good dinner. Oh, and I watched So you think you can dance since Dusty let me know it was on

Tuesday: unanimous

Unanimous.

I don't like reading this word. It looks like un-animous, as though people are not of the same mind. Silly...uh, I don't remember the word...word starter thingies.

Tuesday: in reveiew

So this week wasn't much better than last week. Some days I kept most food down, some days I kept no food down. And seriously...throwing up is hard work. I'm always exhausted after the bigger ones.

But in better news, I had I first real OB appt today. And I got an ultrasound!! I wasn't sure I was going to get one. The head is on the right, the legs on the left, and the bright spot is part of the umbilical cord. The length measured around 9w0d and the heartbeat was 180...high but normal. And the legs were kicking all around!

Monday: Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! Today we drove back. The car doesn't have air conditioning, so it was rather hot. :( But some friends that are going to Papua New Guinea as Wycliffe Bible Translators came over this evening, so it was nice to see them before they take off.

Sunday: all by ourselves

Ben's parents left with Scarlet this afternoon and Ben and I decided to stay here another night. I'm pretty sure that we did almost the exact same things that we would have done at home, but it was nice not to have to drive this afternoon.

I expect one of these days my posts will become more interesting again.

Saturday: still up north

Ben came up last night...while it's been nice to be up here, it's really nice to have Ben up here too. Nothing special happened again...I had a donut for breakfast, watched Scarlet enjoy the motorcycles, ate, napped, watched TV, read, and played Dominion. I know; it's a rough life.

Thursday: up north

Today I slept in really late...guess I was tired. Then I ended up coming up north a day early with Ben's parents and Scarlet. So in the end it was a rather uneventful day, but still nice.

Tuesday: curry

Tonight my plans for dinner got changed at the last minute, so I thought I'd take out a frozen curry and eat half of it. Then Ben could have the the half tomorrow for lunch. It was delicious, so I had seconds. There was still enough for a lunch. It was still delicious, so I ended up finishing off the container.

Luckily there was another container in the fridge so Ben will still get some curry in his lunch tomorrow.

Monday: recycling

This morning I wanted to get the kitchen all clean. We don't have a good place to put the recycling, so it just sits on the counter until I bring it out to the garage. So while cleaning I took out all the recycling...it ended up being two trips because I brought some pop cans out too.

Then I found a can lid I missed. Trip three.

Then I found four pieces of paper I missed. Trip four.

Then I went into the bathroom and realized I had recycling there too. I decided that since it was still in the bathroom I could leave it there for another day.

Sunday: I guess I was tired

So after Dominion we got home around 6:30. Ben and I were reading in bed, but I decided to take a nap because I was so tired. Three and a half hours later (10:15) I finally woke up. I continued reading and whatnot, waiting for Ben to come to bed. He came to bed a little later than normal, but it worked well. So I was asleep again around 1am. I woke up briefly when Ben got up for work and got some raspberries, but was feeling tired so I thought I'd just close my eyes. When they finally opened again at 10:45 I was rather surprised. I guess I needed a lot of extra sleep.

Saturday: telling more people

Today we told most of the rest of the family (sorry Nathan). In the morning we surprised Dad and Pat at their house, saying that we stopped by because Ben had to get some recordings in the car. But they were obviously very happy once we told them. I didn't really have a cool way to tell them.

Then we told Ben's siblings while waiting for the pizza to arrive...Ben brought up how it was nice to see the room where Autumn had been born since we'll be there in January. It was fun to watch the faces as they comprehended what Ben just said.

Sunday: Dominion

Good evening! Today we went to a church called Calvary that we liked...we'll probably go back again at least once. I think it'd be interesting if we ended up at another church called Calvary.

In the afternoon we played Dominion with Travis and Allison. It was interesting playing it with four people instead of two. Some of the cards work better (or worse).

Saturday: yard work

Today we helped with some yard work at Jamie's. I won't call it fun, but it wasn't bad either. It was nice to do it with family. We were going to grill, but it was raining so we had pizza instead. It actually was a light rain for most of the time we were there, but not enough to stop us.

Friday: a first time for everything II

Today was also the first day we told anyone we were pregnant. We went to a movie (Fast Five) with Larry and Cheryl and then out to dinner. In the movie one of the women is pregnant and so Ben goes...

"Well, they did get some things in that movie correct. Like how morning sickness isn't just in the morning, as we've been finding out recently."

They were pretty excited. :)

Friday: a first time for everything

Today I mowed a lawn for the first time. Ever. It might not have turned out great, but at least most of the weeds (and grass) are shorter.

Thursday: semi-successful

Well, today was only a semi-successful. I managed to get groceries and go to the bank, but that was about it.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Thursday: ugh

So yesterday I wasn't feeling too bad. The afternoon wasn't great, but besides that I was feeling pretty good. Not so today...

I woke up and soon started to dry heave and fart at the same time. It was almost funny. I finally got some food in me and went to the grocery store. I was exhausted half way through getting groceries. Oh my goodness. Luckily I found a bench so I sat on it for a while. The store also didn't have dried apricots, which I thought was odd. I was feeling rather useless, but the argument didn't hold much weight (even with me) since I had managed to get groceries and go to the bank.

The rest of the afternoon didn't go very well either. Lunch came all back up. I started crying near the end of the day only to realize that I was hungry. I got crackers and peanut butter (which hasn't given me problems yet) and that helped a lot. A hungry Amanda is a sad Amanda.

Wednesday: light haunting

A few days ago, I noticed that the light on the garage was on. "Odd," I thought. The next day the light was out. Since I had seen it flickering a bit, I figured the bulb had burned out. Last night I got up to go to the bathroom and the light was on. This morning when I finally got up the light was off.

Yesterday I also heard a scratching from one of the cabinets. I figured Flurry had gotten into one and couldn't get out. So I opened all of them, only to find no cat. Then I somehow convinced myself that the table was just wobbling. (It had never made that sound before, but hey.) I finally remembered there was one more cupboard in the hallway that I had forgotten to check. Out popped a cat. At least one of the mysteries was solved.

Tuesday: welcome Autumn

Our niece was born yesterday, Autumn Lynn. I only took one picture and you can't really see her. But Ben is cute.

She was the sleepy recipient of the random triangle quilt.

Her sister Scarlet also got a quilt for her baby doll. She kept covering her legs and having her mom tuck her in, but it wasn't quite big enough. It was cute though.

Monday: tulips

Not much happened today, so I thought I'd share some of the pictures of tulips that I took last week. Tulips are my favorite flower, and this is a wonderful week because they are all over the place! My favorites tend to be red tulips, but it almost seemed like every time I saw a new color they were almost my favorite. There were some pink ones closer to our house that were very pretty. So in the end I decided that I liked it best when colors were mixed instead of just solid.

Monday: seven

Happy seven weeks!

I keep thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner and it is making me queasy. I've even identified the problem...last week I made a chicken cordon bleu and it was super salty. Somehow I've managed to identify that meal with all dinners and it is a serious problem. Luckily we have enough left overs that I can do something easy like chicken and tots tonight and hopefully that will work.

I also have a sleeping problem. I either sleep a lot (which isn't really a problem) or I have a hard time sleeping (which is a problem). Two nights ago I slept eleven hours and last night I had a hard time getting to sleep and then was awake for an hour or two in the middle of the night. Plumbers also came first thing this morning, so I didn't get to sleep in.

Sunday: seven

Happy Anniversary to us! We've been married seven years. They've been a good seven years.

We skipped church this morning, but because of that Ben made some donuts and brought them too me in bed. I also finally won some Dominion games. Phew. Then we went to Wild Chef for some delicious food with family (we were also celebrating Jamie's birthday!).

Saturday: dominion, movie, and dinner

It was a very nice day...Ben and I spent more time together than normal, which was a nice change. we played several games of Dominion, but I still haven't managed to win any. which is probably fair because I used to win all the time. although Ill admit that the game where Ben won by 60 points was maybe not my favorite.

In the afternoon we saw Tron. It was a good flick. it's fun seeing some of the back stories of the characters before they all get put together in movie later.

finally we had dinner with some of my family at CityVu. We had never been there before but it was good.

Friday: early gift

Ben gave me our anniversary gift tonight so that we could use it all weekend...an expansion to Dominion! I had been thinking that would be a good gift for him, so it ended up being our gift to each other. We've only played it once so far, but it was fun. It's nice to have some new cards.

Thursday: Dutch Dance

This evening we went with family downtown to eat at the junk food vendors. I had a corn dog and part of an elephant ear. I really wanted a fried banana, but didn't see the stall. Oh well, I still had plenty of fried food.

Then we went to see Betsy Dutch Dance. It made me a little sad that I wasn't dancing, but not too sad.

Thanks to our new windows, Flurry has found another favorite spot. From here she can watch the chipmunks and wait for Ben to get home.