almost over

not summer, but my pregnancy. it has gone by really quickly. I'm officially about a month away from my due date, so in my mind it could happen any time between now and then. I'm hoping to make it to at least Aug 18th (start of school for teachers anyway). Nothing fits anymore. I can't really get away with wearing tank tops and shorts to school, unfortunately, so that means I'll have to go get some new clothes for like three weeks of being pregnant. It is becoming more and more difficult to shave my legs and I can't even think about painting my toenails.........its hard enough to see my toes let alone get down to them. the only shoes that are comfortable are flip flops. if i'm on my feet too much they swell up to the size of a cantalope (each one) and I have cankles. heartburn is a new word to me. i never had it before i was pregnant, but now i'm surprised if i don't have it when i go to bed. tums is one of my new best friends. my ass has grown exponentially. i've started to do the pregnant waddle. i spend more time in the bathroom than in any other room in our house.........not even the kitchen. i make sure that there is plenty of room between me and the table when we sit in booths at restaurants. i've begun to crave anything that contains alcohol...........even a straight shot of tequila. those horribly mean people that drink around me should have a one way ticket to hell for that kind of torture. i used to not mind it so much, but now after eight months of being alcohol free, i'm ready for some damn alcohol. breathing has become more difficult also. i'd rather not take the stairs because i don't want to huff and puff when i get to the top. and to think people call this a miracle and a special time in your life and some even go so far as to say that you're at your most beautiful when you're 'with child'. ha! forty pounds ago i was a lot more beautiful. i didn't have this thick, coarse hair and all these pimples from lovely hormones either. its a wonder that people have more than one child!

summer is almost over

As I acknowledge the fact that today is Aug. 1st, I realize that school is just around the corner. This summer has gone by extremely fast; it feels like yesterday I was packing up my room for the summer break. Now I will be unpacking it for the start of another year. So many things will be different this school year: new principals, old friends not being there, new people in our department, new baby, etc. etc. I must confess that I'm kind of ready for school to start. Don't get me wrong, the idea of having to wake up at 5:30 makes me want to hurl, but I guess I'm just ready to have a 'purpose' again. Besides there is nothing good on television during the day anyway, so why not work? I'm sure two weeks into school starting I will regret ever having said that I was ready. And I don't dare say it in front of my friends; I think they would kill me on the spot. My summer has been good, very very uneventful but good. I definitely needed the break. I guess another reason I'm ready for school to start is because that means the closer I am to my due date. I'm ready for this baby to come out and see me and his dad. I haven't hated being pregnant. I've had a very easy pregnancy for sure, but I'm ready for it to be over and I'm ready to hold him in my arms instead of in my uterus. Now if there was just some way I could skip the whole labor and delivery portion of this process and just go from being pregnant to having a baby, that would be fantastic.

The other day Andy and I were at Babies R Us (our new favorite store) shopping for some things and we stumbled across some Halloween costumes for babies. I am shocked seeing as how it is only August 1st, but I guess the earlier the better. We found several cute costumes for our unborn child, but decided to wait. This whole experience sparked a conversation between my husband and me on the subject of what we dressed up as for Halloween. I must say that every once in a while as an adult I unlock one of those treasured little gems in my memory that I've completely forgotten about (or blocked) and get to laugh about it now that I'm older. This is exactly what happened when we were talking about our old costumes.

I remember vividly that one Halloween before I was in school I wanted to be a ballerina. My cousins who were a few years older than me were having a big Halloween party at their house and I was invited of course. I was super excited because I had never been to a Halloween party before and because I got to wear my costume. I'm not really sure what possessed my mom to do this (probably lack of funding I'm guessing) but she went out and bought a pajama set that looked like a ballerina costume. It had a shirt and matching pink pants that were footed and it had been screen printed to look like a ballerina costume. It even had a flap of a "two-two" built in. I didn't know any better so I thought this costume was awesome. I was a ballerina just like I wanted to be. Well the night of the Halloween party came and I excitedly dressed in my costume......err.......pajamas and my mom informed me that I had to wear tennis shoes over the footed pajama part because she didn't want my feet to hurt or for me to get stickers. So reluctantly I put my tennis shoes on over the faux ballerina slippers and we went to the party. Everything was going great until my future arch nemesis Carrie Mullins showed up to the party. She was also a ballerina, except her mom didn't buy her pajamas. She had on the real deal with a real two-two and real ballerina slippers (that bitch). I was so envious and devastated all at the same time. Here she was an actual ballerina and here I was some kid in her pajamas with her tennis shoes on. Come on! And that is my very first memory of Carrie Mullins and I never liked her. I told this scarring story to my husband and I was laughing so hard I was literally crying. Thank God for being able to look back on parts of your life and laugh, even if it involved wearing pajamas on Halloween. Thanks mom!