so long, 2009...

in the spirit of seeing 2009 out in style, husband and I had such a fun and relaxing day off yesterday! we slept in and rolled our happy selves out of bed around, oh, nine-thirty/ten-ish, and headed out into the city. *note: sleeping in was made possible by the fact that my head wasn't torn in two by jaw pain. yay, root canal! LOVE you, guy! recovery has been pretty easy, and I've not felt any need to go get the pumped up Tylenol with codeine. praise Him for relief!!* so we went out into the city and took a tour of the YMCA over by the house, because M TOTALLY GOT US MEMBERSHIPS FOR CHRISTMAS. I'm SO stoked, I can't tell you! I got such a good vibe walking around there - there were so many people of different ages and lots of kids, and I'm impressed at the variety of activities and services the Y offers. I used to really enjoy going to the gym, and I've missed it. Plus, they have a lot of low-impact/gentle/water classes that baby and I can do right now, and that makes me happy.

for lunch, we headed to Cleburne Cafeteria and if you've never been before, make it a destination soon! you won't be sorry! we'll go with you! they serve the tastiest, freshest food... it's not cheap, but it's a place with a lot of history and you feel good after you've eaten the food. I told husband after Christmas that I felt like I needed to detox and that I wanted veggies pronto, and my lunch of pinto beans, steamed broccoli, lima beans, macaroni (okay, not a veg, but soooooo good), and half a wheat roll was one of the more delicious things I've put into my mouth lately.

we killed some time walking around Lowe's, and then headed out to a studio so I could do a teensy bit of work. then we went to the Village to see if any after Christmas sales tempted us, but came home with all of our money still in our pockets. we came home, did our budget for January, M whipped up a tasty dinner out of a pretty sparse cupboard - spicy sausage, carrots with cranberries, wheat rolls, and a big bowl of edamame - and we set about watching not one, but TWO movies. Charlie Wilson's War was good - I normally have a thing with Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts-types that can make it difficult for me to watch their movies, namely that I've seen the actor so much I don't believe them in roles anymore so I'm not interested in their stories. but husband said this flick was worth it and that I should see it because it's about Houston and politics and whatnot, and I really did enjoy it a lot. then we watched 500 Days of Summer, which I also thought was pretty good. as Rob at The Movie Store said, it's a movie about love, not a love story. there were some seriously funny moments, and I want all of Zooey Deschanel's clothes. anyway, when the movies were over it was 11p, and we were all, 'wow, it's late! time for bed!' because our internal clocks roll like that now. before I fell asleep I read in our baby journal (gift from Toi!) that our little one is growing toenails right now, and I nodded off reading about my protein needs in a book called Child of Mine - Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter. the latter book was given to me by a nutritionist for NASA that we go to church with. she hunted down a used expanded edition from the 80's, because she believes this one is the best and it contains a section on nutrition for pregnancy that more recent editions don't. that she recommends the book so highly and wanted me to have it made me feel so good. so far, I really like it - it's do-able, informative, and takes a very common-sense approach to things. one of the major gifts I got for Christmas was a Cuisinart 11-cup food processor, which I hope to use in a myriad of ways (creamy soups for all!) but especially to pulverize food we make ourselves for our little one.

doctor's appointment at 10 this morning. wish us health. I'M growing, so I hope that means we're doing well. tonight we'll ring in 2010... 2009 was challenging in some ways, wonderful in others. thanks for keeping us, God. any resolutions out there, or are you all of the 'I make resolutions all year 'round when necessary and don't relegate it to one hyped-up time of the year'-ilk?

-m.y.

christmas riches, travels, weather, and tylenol

we had an abundant Christmas, filled with the people we love and so many presents I have to remind myself of the riches of it all. between work and holiday we spent a lot of time on the road, but the travel was made so much nicer by husband's dependable driving (allowing me to catnap when necessary), fun books to read, and Alistair Begg podcasted sermons (M's a fan now). I totally dropped the ball and didn't take near enough pictures of anything... I didn't even break out the camera once at celebration 3.0 with all of my cousins and their gorgeous children, which is a bit embarrassing... but we seriously had an excellent and special holiday this year and feel so grateful for our families right now.

the big news was the blizzard in Hico on Christmas Eve. we usually head home a few days before Christmas and spend time at the ranch, hanging out with the family and doing last minute shopping. the storm blew in as we were opening our presents with my family Thursday morning, and we all kept looking out the windows in excitement as a few little snowflakes turned into a churling sea of swirling snow. afterward, the reality of our predicament hit - my brother's family needed to drive to Abilene, and M and I were to head for Houston. we loaded up our cars and took off around 3p. since we were headed south, the storm cleared and despite the crazy wind we had a relatively smooth trip to Houston (more specifically, to the Bell's house). Kev, Linda, and Mo, however, spend most of the night on I-20... a normally 2 hour drive took them 16.5 hours, and they rolled into Abilene Friday morning. unreal, right?! I'm sure their nerves were fried, but we were so glad they made it safely.

here's a stylized clip of the blizzard... (music provided by Bjork)... it's hard to tell because of the size, but the snow was blowing sideways and the wind took your breath away:

and a few snapshots of the day there:

Grandma, Grandad, and Sassie

Thanks for the karaoke machine, Santa!

He's not really asleep.

but HE is... I love this sweet picture of Grandad and Sassie! we got Grandad a warm, rust-colored blanket and he and Sassie were cuddled up in it most of the morning.

Mo got so many fun things, but she really liked her Ariel umbrella...

and speaking of fun things, here's my darling niece using her karaoke player to spread the love:

Christmas at the Bell's was so lovely. I slept like a ROCK at their house, and woke up to a day of feasting - first on J's delicious muffins, fruit, bacon, and apple cider, and then later on husband's salt-crusted standing rib roast, mashed potatoes, peas, corn, and rolls. drool. we had such a great, relaxing day.

so pretty, isn't it?!

M playing his Ghostbusters PS3 game.

then we got back on the road and drove up to Hico again for YaYa's Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house, and it was such a good time. most of my cousins and their families were there, and since we don't get to see one another very often it was so wonderful to spend time with them. we stayed the night at Mom and Dad's and left for Dallas Sunday after lunch (and a nap!). Sunday night we went out to eat and bedded down at our hotel, then I dropped M off at the airport yesterday morning so he could fly home while I stayed to work. the forecast looked pretty bad for today, so I ended up rescheduling the work I was supposed to do today and headed home last night (which was a good thing - they sent everyone home from the studio today at 2 due to icy roads). by the time I got in at 10:15 last night I was SO tired... M fed me a plate of food and I fell asleep leaning against him on the couch...

SO, all in all we had an exceptional holiday, and I'm so glad we made it through safely. the only bummer was that my tooth was giving me a hard time through all of it - remember the broken tooth? the temporary crown? yeah, it started hurting last Monday and I survived this holiday by downing Tylenol every 4 hours. I am still astounded at how pain in my mouth so affected the entire side of my head/neck/shoulders, and my respect for people who endure chronic pain is quadrupled. I ended up at my dentist's office at 9 this morning and had a full-on root canal. don't even bother feeling sorry for me - after the serious discomfort of dealing with pain for the last week, I was all 'yeah! a root canal for me, everybody! bring it, doctor, drill it good!' the dentist did mention that he could give me an antibiotic to 'calm the tooth down' and try to wait it out until after the baby is born, and I was like, 'hey, as long as a root canal is safe then please put me out of my misery this instant and don't tease about this lasting FIVE MORE MONTHS...' he wrote me a prescription for Tylenol with codeine, which my doctor said I could have, but so far I've chosen not to fill it and have opted to try my trusty Extra-Strenth Tylenol and see how it goes. I mean, I've already felt uncomfortable taking one 500mg Tylenol every 4 hours for the past week - I'm not a girl who takes meds much, really, and even though I got the okay from my doctor I still don't love the idea of our baby being affected at all by my pain reliever. I'd just rather not introduce the codeine if I don't have to, and honestly the little bit of discomfort I've felt so far is NOTHING compared to the ear-aching/temple pounding/neck spasming pain beast that's been waking me up every night for the past seven days. so, we'll see. if I have a bad night, I'll probably be at CVS first thing in my fuzzy houseshoes frantically waving my prescription around...

husband has made me delicious soup and has promised sympathy for today's oral trauma, so I'm going to go don my pajamas and act like my mouth hurts worse than it really does (for now, anyway). things I'm thankful for:

husband.

our families.

this soup.

the dentist!

the heater.

our wonderful gifts... I had so much fun putting things away today!

an afternoon at home.

things to look forward to.

peace.

-m.y.

hello, camera!

I didn't realize I had so many pictures waiting on my camera... here are highlights:

hott. that is all.

our local Thanksgiving turkey, courtesy of a farm in Hempstead. it was very tasty.

my plate of food at the Bells. I made those rolls from scratch!

angelic.

that's snow outside!!

and here is a series taken today after church... I call it, 'A Pile of Leaves is Best Explored':

the soup for small group is bubbling away, we've got gifts to wrap and a house to right, bags and a car to pack, a dog to bathe, and all sorts of other miscellaneous whatnot that I'm glad I can't remember right now or I'm sure I'd feel overwhelmed. let the games begin!

-m.y.

cuckoo in the rain... it's never boring, is it?

I cracked a tooth yesterday whilst enjoying a pile of Jordan almonds, and last night during the Christmas Cantada part of two of my teeth decided to fall out of my head. I thought it was no big deal - they're in the back, and my teeth didn't hurt. except pretty soon my tongue, rubbing against the jagged edges of the teeth, started to feel not so good. we stopped at CVS and I patched it up with some do-it-yourself filler, hoping to get through the night and morning until I could call and make a dentist appointment.

I made it to the studio bright and early (even though I woke up twice during the night - the second time, I just got up and surfed the 'net. this would be more of a drag, I think, if I had a 9-5 job, but since I can usually count on finding time to nap I try to just roll with it). a quick call to our dentist revealled that she doesn't accept our insurance anymore. nice! so I call husband to scout around and save me while I tried to get through my session. yikes, enunciating all the words for a 19 chapter statistics course was rough. I managed three chapters, and then we called it so I could go get my teeth taken care of and come back fresh tomorrow or Saturday. in fact, I stacked tomorrow pretty full of work, but felt totally confident I could knock this out today. I headed to our new dentist and, upon arriving there, was told I needed my baby doctor's medical consent before they could work on me. makes sense. so I called my doctor's office, and got the nurses voicemail. message number one, left at noon.

message number two, left around 12:20. a little plaintive.

at 12:30, the dentist said we needed to push back the appointment to 2p. boo! but okay, maybe that would give the people at my doctor's office time to listen to their voice mail and fax back the papers the dentist had already sent over. I went to La Madelaine and drowned my achy tongue sorrows in potato soup and too much bread. then went and sat in my car in front of the dentist, staring at my phone. I might have made a couple of calls to my doctor... and I'm pretty sure the last message on the nurses' voicemail was slightly panicked and teary. I was most assuredly losing my marbles. I could just see this all taking too long... I'd lose my appointment and have to come back tomorrow, blowing my careful scheduling out of the water and prolonging my pain. I decided to call one last time for good measure, around 1:45, and a nurse picked up!! they sounded a bit like they were 'handling' me - they kept referring to me as 'the patient', like, 'Wanda, please talk to the patient first", like I was crazy phone lady, but what can I say - in my mind, this was an emergency and I really needed them to get me some medical consent pronto. once notified, Dr. Haufrect, of course, immediately sent over a wonderfully thorough consent, and off we went into the land of drills and other not incredibly pleasant instruments. the dentist praised my temporary filling, which made me oddly proud. it occurred to me that I'm soooo blessed to not have a sensitive gag reflex right now... it would have been a wretched afternoon. so it all worked out in the end... my lips and tongue still feel gigantic and my tongue is still tender, but I avoided a full-on root canal and have a temporary crown that will turn real in a few weeks (not magically. I have to go back in. but wouldn't it be cool if it could magically turn real?).

anyhoo, this is life, right? I'm thankful it all worked out, thankful we had the funds to handle it gracefully, thankful to work with people who'll bend as they're asked to. we have a full weekend ahead of us and then, early Monday morning, I head to Dallas to work for a couple of days. Michael will join me Tuesday night and we'll head to Hico for Christmas 1.0. followed by Houston Christmas 2.0 on Friday, driving back up for YaYa's Christmas 3.0 on Saturday, and then more Dallas work the following Monday/Tuesday. happy holidays! actually, they really are, since of course I have Michael as my co-pilot and sweet baby to give me something nice to think about and hope for.

speaking of, I'll share this piece of advice: a chick at my agency, whose baby is 8 months old, got a bladder infection when she was 4 months pregnant and it was so awful she told me I must, MUST drink cranberry juice every day. I can't stress how serious she was about this tip. not the Ocean Spray variety... the real deal. so I got this stuff:



and it is STOUT. like, screw up your face and make a funny noise stout. but sure, I can totally imagine that it's killing off anything that might be trying to infect me. life was made easier when I mixed it with my Simply Orange orange juice... now it's more like a super-sexy mocktail! that cleans you out!

enough of this post. I feel myself beginning to lose focus. byebye, train of thought!

oh, I do think Jakob and Katherine were somewhat robbed on SYTYCD last night... I like Russell and all, but he's not as good a dancer, IMO.

and first baby gifts from the Rice's today!!! precious books!! so sweet and thoughtful...

**shutting down**

commercials in the can!

oh yes, Fiesta and I (and baby) tangoed today and it was mostly lovely. a long day - 6:30 call out in Tomball, and I got home around 7:15 tonight - but so very good overall. the spots all went well, my brain held up like a magical trooper, the client/director/crew seemed really happy, and my wicked girdle kept everything from jiggling around too much (not pleasant, but effective). the biggest boo of the day was that the store was FREEZING. freezing, I tell you. consequently, I'm still cold. my bath will be so delicious, it almost hurts to think about it.

husband just brought me dinner! asian noodles with mushrooms and veg! he totally treats me right. I dedicate this song to all the ladies out there who show up with their game faces and push through 'til the end of the day.

the afternoon sleepies

it's been a long day so far. long, but good. I'm eating a sliced jazz apple and wondering if I should work in a nap before husband gets home for Indian food/DVRd Castle night. the song of the day is inspired by our Sunday morning Bible class - we're currently looking at the life of Peter, and I really enjoy Sufjan Stevens' take on The Transfiguration:



our Bible class stretches my brain, and I really appreciate that.

I'm shooting four Fiesta commercials tomorrow, for which I'm very thankful. that means an early call time and a packed day of quick changes and shooting. I got my scripts today and am fervently hoping my pregnancy brain will be able to focus and spit the lines out all awesome-like, because that's the name of the game if you're me and trying to make the nice people who hired me happy. seriously, the worst thing ever is when you're on a deadline, the lights get set, the camera is set, everything's finally ready to go, and the actor gets flustered and blows the lines. my goal is to try to always be the opposite of that guy. thoughts to banish: 'do I look fat in this?' and 'is this the last commercial I'll shoot?'. begone self-conscious, fearful, and generally unhelpful thoughts!

Christmas gifts are falling into place... just a few more, and we're home free. while shopping for additional items, I picked up my first $10 maternity shirt/sweater - it's a gray, v-necked, lightweight sweater thing that's roomy, longish, and loosely gathered on the sides. It's sort of classic looking, totally comfy, and I liked it a lot... plus I LOVED the price. :)

I had other things to write, but sleep is taking over.... one more handful of caramel popcorn (high-five, write softly!) and I'm over and out.

-m.y.

I love potatoes.

and today I managed to make a pretty rockin' potato soup. I read a few recipes online and concocted this one:

5 red potatoes
onion
2 smallish carrots
stalk of celery
2 cloves garlic
leftover 1/3 of a zucchini
1/2 can of kernel corn
shredded kale
3 c chicken broth
2 pieces bacon
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
1 1/4 c milk
basil
dill weed
salt and pepper
chili oil

brown the bacon in a skillet. in the bacon grease, saute the diced onion, carrots, and celery. when they're almost done, add the garlic, saute for a minute, and turn off the burner. combine peeled and chopped potatoes, diced zucchini, the chicken broth, and the contents of the skillet in a soup pot; season with salt and pepper. bring to a boil and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. in the skillet, melt the butter, add the flour, and then add the milk, incorporating them all together. add the milk mixture to the soup pot, and bring back up to a simmer (the soup will start to thicken). add in the corn and kale, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. I wanted a moderate kick, so I added a dollop of chili oil at the end. serve with crumbled bacon on top, and cheese if you want it (it was actually so good by itself that we didn't go for the cheese... crazy, I know).

I'll happily accept other potato soup recipes, because I love the spud and all it stands for.

-m.y.

ahh, the lips....

commence dancing around.

the postal service and ninja baby

so this was the opening song on one of my favorite albums ever by The Postal Service...



seriously, this cd lived in the player in my car for a loooooong time.

other miscellany:

we went to the doctor today for the nuchal translucency test, which is essentially a chromosome test that's told in ratios... they take pictures of the baby in certain positions to measure an area behind it's neck, draw my blood, and factor in my age and come out with a ratio of how likely our baby is to have a chromosomal disorder. it's very non-invasive and is meant, if the results are satisfactory to the doctor and patient, to keep you from getting an amniocentesis (which carries more risk). when the technician started the sonogram the baby was sleeping there, all curled up and comfortable, so she started jiggling it around to make it move. it took awhile (heavy sleeper??), but finally as she was dragging the whatever-it-is across my abdomen the baby bucked like, 'whoa, okay fine!'. it was kicking like a little ninja with it's little skinny legs, it's little hands were stretching and moving around, and then it did a flip and ended up on it's head facing the other way. how fun to see that! and what a wild thing to not feel it at all! our doctor was pleased with how everything looks, and we're headed back in 3 weeks (we should get the results of the test in about a week). if anyone is counting, I've gained about 4-5 pounds so far, which is right on.

have you heard the phrase 'an idle mind is where the devil works'? I think it's true... or maybe I just think we're meant to do something and not lay around all day. I say this because, after our doctor's appointment, M and I came home to just enjoy the rest of the day since we'd gotten our work-work done early, and after watching a couple of X-files episodes, eating lunch, taking a nap, catching up on SYTYCD and an episode of Glee, I felt... bored. not bored really - I actually really don't like for adults to talk about being bored, as though we don't have the power to go do something - I just felt in need of action. cleaning the kitchen and doing some laundry made me a new woman. I guess I like a little accomplishment in my day, it makes me feel better.

as to the question from yesterday... I appreciated the comments, ladies. when it comes to trying to see things from the perspective of others, I suppose it all depends on what our intentions are. I do believe that, on a very basic level, if a person wants to effectively communicate with another person or group of people, learning where they're coming from has obvious benefits both interpersonally and informationally. you simply have a greater chance of being heard and understood and creating a receptive space if there's a bridge of understanding and respect between you. sadly, I think sometimes we decide that the message as-understood-by-me is more important than the hearer. I've been there, and it's not a good feeling. I've also been on the opposite side, where I felt I didn't say enough or wasn't bold enough because I didn't want to offend someone.

from my own experience, I can easily spend my time taking in information and formulating my own beliefs about things and then looking for an outlet or soapbox to express them... for example, my family's always been very open about discussing all manner of things, and debating politics, current issues, and faith has always been a part of our fabric. I'm glad of it and I enjoy the sharpening, but I'm also aware that sometimes my feelings about various topics and the way I want to express them have the potential to get in the way of my respecting and loving others... usually not horribly or hurtfully, but I'm aware of it anyway. I want to be known more for my love, my faith, and my spirit more than my opinions, but that's tough when everything gets so easily intertwined.

our world seems so polarizing now.. it doesn't appear to be very popular to try to lay aside your own opinions and thoughts to try to comprehend that of people you disagree with... or, just lay them aside out of respect and to avoid fruitless argument, when that's the inevitable outcome. maybe to some it might smack of weakness. I see it like this... I have some ideas based on information I have, but I'm guessing I don't have the full picture. others are looking at other puzzle pieces on which they've founded their ideas. it's not weakness to be open to more potential picture, even if what I learn and hear muddies my own water a little and makes me have to re-think. critical thinking is so necessary, especially now that there's so much information and mis-information at our fingertips - we must keep testing and verifying what we learn. I thought of this excerpt from Robert Kiyosaki's book 'Rich Dad Poor Dad', when he's discussing investing in education:

'I love audio tapes. the reason: I can rewind quickly. I was listening to a tape by Peter Lynch, and he said something I completely disagreed with. instead of becoming arrogant and critical, I simply pushed 'rewind' and I listened to that five-minute stretch of tape at least twenty times. possibly more. but suddenly, by keeping my mind open, I understood what he said. it was like magic... I gained tremendous depth and insight into the vast resources of his education and experience. the net result: I still have the old way I used to think, and I have Peter's way of looking at the same problem or situation. I have two thoughts instead of one.'

he goes on to say that the only way to accumulate more information in this way to be humble enough to seek it out or listen to it, and that 'listening is more important that talking'. financial matters are his specialty, but I got a lot out of this book when I read it, oh, three years ago... just pulling it down to look up that quote makes me want to reread it.

not that I think you can't hold personal Truths that are unchanging. I certainly don't believe everything is relative. but in terms of dealing with the rest of the world, the questions for me at the end of the day sound like: 'is how I'm living speaking that Truth? do others get it by how I behave, the words I say? what's really important to me, and am I communicating that?' honestly, parts of me still feel splintered, like there are some areas that are still sort of renegade and reactive, flapping in the wind and not doing anyone much good. but I do know when I hit the Spirit groove, when I feel that I'm operating in the way I'm meant to in my convictions, and the freedom, peace, and control of that place makes me want to conform all of my life to that channel.

thanks for reading... if anyone has more ideas and food for thought, I'd be happy to hear them.

-m.y.

while my face is full of noodles...

this is a shins song called 'sleeping lessons' that, frankly, just rocks. musings about the meaning of the lyrics can be found here.



I was prompted to think about this while reading Godgrown's latest blog... how important do you think it is to try to understand where other people are coming from while engaging in the world we live in? whether we're talking politics, faith, family interactions, social issues, what have you? husband has rented more X-files and I need another helping of this delectable chicken & noodles he made, so I'll reserve my thoughts for tomorrow... but I really think the question has merit. the actor in me wants to rephrase the question as, 'how important should my audience's opinion be to me, and how much should that change my communication choices... or is it about what I have to say from my worldview, regardless of how others feel?'

happy Lord's day. everyday.

-m.y.

if I fall, would you pick me up?

this song will always make me think of the mix cd mgb made me when we started dating... he put both this song and 'San Francisco' on the playlist, and that was my first introduction to Hello Saferide (and his soft spot for Swedish pop singers).



my other favorite from this album is probably 'Get Well Soon'... great song.

two more gifts bought today! plus a ton of groceries, as our cupboard was bare, the dog is almost out of food, etc. going to the market this morning was fun - it was so cold, but outside there were still a couple of booths of vegetables with gorgeous greens and gorgeous red/yellow carrots, the meat and eggs booth, the knife sharpener people, and some crafty things. inside were the usual suspects, and everyone seemed happy to be there. we got into a fun conversation with one of the farmers and learned a few new tricks. did you know that the best bird deterrent for your garden is a big blow up snake? for real, they sell them at Wabash Feed Store. after t'afia, we headed to Central Market for a few things (which was miraculously not crazy crowded) and then rounded out the trip at the newly renovated Kroger on Buffalo Speedway. that Kroger is seriously awesome. I'm not ashamed to admit that I found some organic Frosted Raspberry Toaster Pastries... or A Sorta Better Pop Tart... that almost made me do a dance, they looked so good to me. I haven't really craved specific foods, but I do want something sweet every now and then and boom! this fit the bill today. Most of the time right now, food is just sort of ho-hum more than anything. I can eat most anything and I'm definitely eating enough (and, I think, a pretty good variety), but if I think about it too long not much sounds awfully appetizing.

between outings, we finished watching the movie version of 'Rent' that M brought home... we'd gotten to talking about it one night, and I tried to describe the waves of excitement some of us in the theatre community experienced when that musical opened back in the early 90s, and why it was a big deal. I think it reads pretty dated now, but it was a new thing to have a show that openly dealt with AIDS and alternative lifestyles as Rent did, and the message of bucking the system, artistic freedom, and seizing the day while you've got it was powerful for a young, emotional actor. I never saw it live - or the movie, for that matter, because I was skeptical of it translating to screen - but I totally owned the original cast recording, and while watching the film I was surprised to remember so many of the lyrics. thought of you, Bethy. have you seen Neil Patrick Harris as Mark try to save Broadway on SNL??? AWEZOME.

I get to go to my meeting tonight and rejoice with my family there in happybabynews. woo-hoo! the only downside to the cold weather is that I can't seem to get my feet warm enough.

-m.y.

in honor of the white stuff...

I'm trying to figure out how to bribe my hubby into watching White Christmas with me again. :)

happy Friday, everyone! and happy birthday, ms. mc d!

it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me...

go nina!



quite a few things on the dance card today. corporate voice work and another VO gig, then I'm doing a shoot for a teaser for a film being produced locally - the only catch is, the audition was by personal request last week before we'd made it publicly known that we're expecting (so I didn't feel wholly comfortable saying 'oh, you should know that I'm pregnant, just in case that monkeys with any schedule issues or whatever - but don't tell my folks, 'cause they don't know yet), but I figured that since it was shooting this week it wouldn't be a big deal. sooo... one more day of trying to suck in my stomach for them, but after this I'm not playing for anyone else. or if I do, it's with my whole belly.

-m.y.

december musical shenanigans...

so, whilst driving back to Houston from Dallas tonight, I was shuffling through songs on my iphone (too loud, but that's how I roll) and had such a good time I decided to bring the funk to my blog this month. I know I've been remiss in posting, but for awhile there it felt hard because I couldn't talk about *whisper* 'thepregnancy' *end whisper* yet, and to NOT talk about it seemed weirdly semi-duplicitous, so it was easier to not post much at all. anyhoo, it's all out in the open now, so let's kick off the month with the title track from The Young Machines, an album by Her Space Holiday.



items of note:

I've eaten more junky today and last night than in the rest of the past 11 weeks. yikes, it really does make a huge difference. sorry, baby, I'll do better for both of us.

our little bambino is the size of a fig.

we've bought two - count 'em - two Christmas presents so far.

tomorrow night we have a date to go get the tree!

it's hard to live fully in the present right now... I keep wanting to think ahead and plan...

my sister-in-law is seeing New Moon as I type this... did I mention that, based on the movies alone, I'm totally on Team Jacob? I think it's just because Edward is so hard to translate to film well... and, for me, Bella is profoundly maddening in print or on screen... Jacob gets to be a good, interesting, character-driven dude with personality. and then there's how he's totally gorgeous and all in his boy-werewolfdom - oh, sorry, I'm WAY to mature to think of such shallow things... especially about children so, SO much younger than myself...

but don't get me wrong. Bella and Edward are 4-ever. fated. sealed. done.

I LOVE the stuff with the Volturi.

Mama needs some new books.

I'm thinking of starting the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. I put the first book on my Christmas List. and I asked for Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I'm currently rereading my well-worn copy of Little Women, and it's like visiting old friends.

husband is singing 'where's my wife' in the other room. must fly to him.

-m.y.