Thoughts for a Sunday

My sister is irritating as hell. When she moved from a house to a townhouse/condo a year or so ago, she “gave” me a bunch of things that she wouldn’t have use for. Most of these things, I didn’t want, but they were brought over for me to deal with anyway. One of the things that I did want was her mini rotor-tiller machine. This is the one I haven’t used this year in preparation for planting my tomatoes because I can see a big frown on my OB’s face when I even think about it. She just called a few minutes ago and is sending her husband over for it, like I had borrowed it and never returned it. It just pissed me off. I told her, I am working and not dressed. She said, oh, he can just go into the garage and get it. Doesn’t she know that I have naked swimming/sunbathing planned for this afternoon that now can’t begin until he gets here and leaves? And, their “few minutes” could mean anytime from now until dark. Why do I let her get to me? I was having a perfectly nice day, now I am irritated and pissed off.

I am coming to terms with the fact that I will need to become a recluse and never leave the house in the later stages of my pregnancy because I will have to be naked due to lack of clothes that fit. I went to Target this morning for a few things and decided to look through their maternity department. I don’t know why I torture myself this way. They had ZERO shorts and only a few bathing suits. I tried on the largest size in each style. Why do I bother? They didn’t even come close to fitting…hence the need to go naked this afternoon…because it is fricking hot here this weekend and even with the a/c on, I think I need to break-in my new deluxe floaty. Okay, I am not REALLY going to sunbath naked today, I usually reserve that for late evening when it is dark. Plus, don’t you know it is too easy to burn some of those private parts when you go sans clothes in the middle of the day? I am going to wear this really thin cotton baby nighty that is almost as good as nothing when it is wet. It is only good to protect modesty in your own mind and not something to do if anyone could possibly see you. Plus, it dries fast.

I have decided over the years that I should never, ever go make major purchases on my own. I have this problem. I don’t get, exactly, the top of the line…but, pretty darn close. This is why I spent close to $1K on a new washing machine yesterday which will be delivered on Monday. Hey, it is energy efficient and reduced water. I will get a rebate from the Department of Water and Power (DWP), the gas company, and on delivery. This will make it only $200 more expensive than the other model I was considering. It has all of the soap dispensers that I wanted and all of the pre-soak and rinse features/options I wanted. Plus, it will save me in the long. Right? I probably would have been happy with the $500 model. I could have lived with it. But, now I have a better one. Of course, if I hadn’t bought the top of the line model 10 years ago, I would have been able to upgrade to a lesser model. See, this is a viscous cycle.

Of course, the new washer needs a special “HE” (high efficiency) detergent that I was told that all “major” detergent makers offer. As I found out at Target, this is true, BUT none in the “free” of inks, dies, and perfume category that I buy. I must now call all of these manufactures and request that they begin doing so to meet me and my new needs. Sigh. I will do this right after I line up a painter and request all of my rebates.

After I went to Target, I stopped and got a few groceries. Tuesday is a local election here and I have started a tradition of making dinner for the poll workers. After much pondering over the menu, they are getting meatloaf, red potatoes, and sliced tomatoes/cucumbers. Instead of asking the bagger to “not make the bags too heavy” I asked if they could “keep the bags light”. Still not perfect, but an improvement. Or, maybe it was just a better bagger to start with.

I don’t think my tingling wrists and hands in the middle of the night are carpal tunnel. I was reading in my OB text book that in a small percentage of women, this can be caused by rounded/hunched shoulders. I think this is the more logical explanation since I have been seeing a chiropractor (remember the lovely Dr. Dan?) for the last 6 or 7 years for that exact reason. I sit over the computer all day hunched over and the stress just knots up all of those shoulder and neck muscles. Pre-pregnancy I was lifting weights a few times a week to strengthen the muscles and help keep everything in alignment. I have always been bad about doing my associated stretches if I am not in the gym. But, after reading this, I have been doing at least some of the stretching at home and it has made a difference. Interesting, that I couldn’t find anything on the internet to support collaborate the OB Text book, but it does make sense and doing the stretching that I should have been doing all along seems to be working.

For the first time in a long, long, time I didn’t feel like getting up and hiking the dogs this morning. I spent a few minutes pondering just NOT doing it. A few things got me moving. One, the dogs were up and being loud chasing squirrels around the backyard so I would not be going back to sleep anyway. Two, the longer I wait, the hotter it will be. Have I mentioned how hot it has been? Three, I really needed to get a few groceries. So, off I went. It was a nice shady trail with lots of water/streams (that Shadow just LOVED). It was still hot.

After hiking, Target, and groceries, I got things put away and put myself on one hour of bed rest. The one hour lasted two hours. It was very nice and I think I needed it. I did a bit of work work. I had two or three things that I wanted to try to do, but only got one done. Oh well, the other two will keep.

Brother in law has come and gone. At least he realizes that they gave me the tiller, because when I mentioned wanting to use it to prepare to get tomatoes in, but hadn’t he said, “I’m sure Julie would be happy to do that for you when she brings it back”. I just smiled because when I mentioned it to Julie she said, “some things just have to slide when you are pregnant.” LOL. I do love my sister. I do.

Anyway, off to eat lunch, find a trashy novel, blow up my new pool floaty and float for the rest of the afternoon. One of the nice features of my top of the line car is that it has a built in air pump to blow up your tires if they get low that can also be used on sports balls and pool floaties. See, I do use and enjoy my top of the line features. You get what you pay for (still trying to make myself not feel guilty over the washer). Anyway, really, I am off to float. I guess I better working in putting on sun screen into the schedule before I get in the pool. Ta ta.

Edited to add….as I went to make my sandwich for lunch, I realized two things. One, I bought the wrong pickles. I got the Valasic Bread and Butter “spears” instead of sandwich stackers. This is not a terrible tragedy (because they taste the same/I will still eat them), just a pain because I had to slice them to fit on the sandwich. It is a bit too much pickle for the sandwich, but not bad. And, after all pickle IS a vegetable and I struggle getting enough veggies in these days. Two, I think for the first time ever I had pickles and ice cream on my shopping list. How funny is that? I mean, I am not eating them together or anything, but I have wanted both separately quite a bit lately. Too funny!