The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt

When Mrs. Roosevelt spoke those words, I'm fairly certain that she didn't have me in mind since, you know, I like, wasn't even born then. But darn it if my dreams weren't beautiful, albeit strange last night. I also don't know if nighttime escapes into alterworlds was what she had in mind, but I'll apply it here.

I don't remember all of them, of course, because I don't keep a dream notebook right next to me on my nightstand...first thing I do when I wake is get up to pee, not write (proof that I'm not truly a writer, that I just play one on tv). The parts I remember, however odd, were magnificently beautiful...the kind of beautiful that I can't describe to you through words (hey, I said I'm not a writer!). My family was on a farm somewhere. There were no animals, and I think we were trying to buy the land? Or had just bought it maybe? No one ever said dreams had to be clear. So we were all walking around this huge piece of land, and there were other homes on it as well, that belonged to us, but weren't livable. At least that's what we were being told by the host of our tour of the grounds (Real estate agent? Friend?). We still went inside these dwellings, and in one of them, we found 5 pairs of shoes...enough for our whole family. They were really weird shoes, made of some kind of leathery-looking material, but they were shaped really funny. Everyone put theirs on except me, and one of the kids knew exactly what they were when we were trying to decide what they were made of (and these weren't Nike type shoes, so I don't know how they knew). I had slippers on already, and although I don't remember the rest of my family going barefoot before the great shoe finding, there were no other shoes left on the floor when we left the building, so they must've been.

There were no animals on this farm, and no vegetation that I remember (meaning it wasn't a crop farm either). It had beautiful trees and shrubs and fields. We finally walked to the edge of the property, there was a road, and the town was on the other side of the road...right there. My grandmother lived in a house in town, so we went there. Oh no wait, first we went through a house that was having some sort of estate sale, but it was an old-timey house, and she had things like spools of thread and antique kitchen gadgets. I remember finding a boatload of original Hardy Boys books for BBM, and I tried to call him on my cell phone (I don't know where he'd gone by that time), and I couldn't get through, so I bought them all so no one else would get to them first. Then we went to Oma's house, and we walked in and went to the other side of the house where she was, and it was her kitchen. But her kithen wasn't really part of the house...it was like someone had knocked out a wall, and built another room on, but the walls of the kitchen were made of this fabric/plastic stuff. And no one seemed to mind at all. Oma was also the same age as she is now, but she was moving around like I remember her doing when I was little and she was younger.

I have no idea what any of this dream means. Maybe it doesn't mean anything. Maybe it means I want a new house. Maybe it means my kids need new shoes. Maybe it means that I had too much cheese on my grilled cheese sandwich last night. Nonetheless, I like waking to at least remember that I had a dream...remembering what the dream was about is just a bonus!

My dad arrives from MN today, sometime. He's not much of a scheduler, so we don't really know when he'll be here (original plans had him here late yesterday night). I'm not sure how long he's staying, but the visit will be nice. I think we have plans to do as much little stuff around the house as we can. The Master Bathroom is high on his list, hoping to get at least a working bathroom back in order...I'd much rather have to stomp sleepily into a bathroom attached to our bedroom in the middle of the night instead of tripping over everything to go out into the hallway. Plus once I open the door, Dexter the Attack Cat wants in, and I just can't handle him sleeping on me now...TOO. HOT.

So, until next time, pay attention to your dreams. They allow you to escape into a world where things can "happen"...some may be beautiful, some may be ugly, some may serve no viable purpose at all. Maybe you'll be allowed to sneak a peak into your grandmother's plastic-covered kitchen once in awhile...

28/84

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm 28 weeks pregnant!! We only have 84 more days until Little Miss Junior Mint makes her arrival! Everything of late has been fairly up in the air, so we've gotten NOTHING done (well, except for the whole growing-of-the-baby part...that's well underway).

As for how everything is going and how I feel...I feel very...pregnant. I can tell I'm older this time around, and in worse shape physically than I was with The Boys. I'm still tired, and my blood levels tell the reason: I'm anemic...woohoo!! So I have to buy some OTC ferrous sulfate supplements tomorrow and take them in addition to my prenatals. Hopefully I'll be able to feel the effects of those rather quickly, as we have so much to do in not a very long time. I am still having Braxton Hicks on top of Braxton Hicks. Way earlier than with the other two, but still "normal" according to my OB. If I have anything over 4 in an hour time frame, I'm to go in for a check. I'm up to 3 so far. I can definitely tell they're not real contrasctions, but they catch my breath just the same. Coworkers are starting to question whether I'll make it to the very end or not, and I'm totally unable to answer that question. I worked right up until D-Day with the boys, so anything other than that is abnormal to me. We shall see how things play out.

I went to the farmers market the other day. I scored on some fresh local fruits and veggies for our bbq yesterday (more on that later). As I was leaving, I passed by a little table full of flowers and plants and other such lovelies. I noticed some really tall plants, and when I took a gander at the sign, it said "Tomato plants - 3 for $1"!!! So I snagged 3 of them, cherry tomatoes, simply because if they don't give me any fruit, I'll only be out a buck. I got them planted in one of the sunniest parts of our yard today, so we'll have to wait and see what comes of them. I also grabbed 3 pepper plants (also 3 for $1), but planting the tomatoes really took it out of me, so I'll wait until tomorrow evening after work to make a spot for those. 3rd find was this flower...I don't know the name of them, but I remember them from my youth, and I love them. I think they'll be better as container plants, so I'll have to find a container to put them in, lol. I'll try to post pics of them in the future, and maybe someone can identify them for me.

Our bbq was a great success yesterday. A few friends, wonderful weather, good food. Heck, someone even brought a bottle of wine that I can't drink! (But I'll be saving that bad boy for after LMJM is born). I had to duck out early, as I had a birthday celebration for a friend that had been planned for ions. And only one couple didn't show up, which was dissapointing since we se them so little to begin with (he's out of town a lot). I can't remember the last time I even saw their girls...they're probably huge by now. But hopefully we'll be able to catch up with them soon.

I will admit to laying around on the couch today. BBM has to work (yup, on Father's Day), and The Boys are in solitary confinement for a heavy infraction. Dexter the Attack Cat and I have been lounging; that's his normal routine, and I'm trying to relax my sciatic nerve before I have to go back to work tomorrow. I still have laundry to do, although BBM has graciously advised me that he can get his done tomorrow on his only day off this week. So I'll have some extra time and energy, I hope, to make him his favorite cookies: chocolate chip without the chocolate chips.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Dad's Day!

Who on God's Green Earth?!?!?!

Yeah, who pointed out that I had double digits to go until Little Miss Junior Mint was born? Lisa, was that you? Look, I'm already bitter because not only do you have freshly shelled peas, but strawberry goodness and fresh baked bread?? And since you reminded me, ever so excitedly, that I have less than 100 days to go before my precious little package arrives, time has slipped away and I'm now down to 87 days. Thanks. A whole bunch. Really. :P

That being said, do I really need to explain to you all why I haven't posted for {GASP} two whole weeks??? I mean, I will if I must. But I don't think it's required. I think your imaginations will do just fine. I will tell you this though: there are no signs of a slow-down anytime in the near future. In fact, if anything, I will busier than a one-armed paper hanger between now and the time that LMJM arrives, gift wrapped in a soft pink blanket.

So...I have news. Actually, Big Boss Man has news. But I'm not allowed to say anything yet (okay, so my family knows, but I'm not allowed to say anything to the general public yet). Folks, don't worry, it will be soon...like probably mid-next week soon. Aside from the usual falling in love, getting married, having babies sort of news, this looks to be one of the best things that has ever happened to us as a family. It will also be one of the most stressful, but people go through it all the time in one capacity or another, so we will fare just fine.

Is your interest peaked yet?!?!?

Well, I still can't tell you. How's that for a cliffhanger???

*********************************************************

So the IRS website finally has a mail date for our stimulus check. Granted, we haven't gotten The Letter that says how much we're getting, but still, it's a start (we know how much we're getting, but we haven't gotten The Letter). Depending on what happens, we might not have to use that money for LMJM's room switcheroo, but we'll have to wait and see. Either way, the money is spent already (isn't it always), and will go to good use.

Our closest local "farm" shut down a couple days ago. Now don't get weepy, I don't mean the actual farm itself shut down. But the parking lot they take over with all their plants and flowers and such every year had it's closing sale on Tuesday. The flowers were dirt cheap, but I resisted and only bought one (and that was for my mom for her birthday...happy Birthday Mom!!). They had a whole table of 50 cents each plants, and they were all so sad-looking that I wanted to buy them all. Their tomato plants were pathetic, dried out and falling over. It made me sad to see that they hadn't been bought by anyone. I should've asked what they did with them when they closed...if they just threw them out, I could've rescued a few of them and tried to get them going again. They have another stand that's a little further out, in the other direction from our home...maybe I should drive by there and see if they're still around.

The weather here has been INCREDIBLE. And I don't mean that in a good way. Hot, humid, and more hot and humid. I know that people have had this weather for awhile in other parts of the country, but still...it was so nice for so long, I'd even take the rain back if it meant the humidity would go away. Oh wait, I think it is supposed to rain later on today. Luckily, BBM is off work, so I get the van to drive tonight. Whew! And somehow, the male end of our hose got bent, so it won't attach to the spigot on the back of the house. I will have to replace that before long so The Boys can continue with their sprinkler play. We have been planning a barbecue this weekend for a few of our friends, and I just don't know how we're going to survive it without melting! That, plus the fact that our A/C has been acting up. The condenser line freezes completely, and we have to turn the "cool" off and just leave the "fan" on to defrost it, all the while, sweating ourselves to oblivion. We think the A/C just needs recharged, but God help us if we get someone in here and they say they won't recharge it because it has a leak somewhere. I just want to turn on the A/C...I don't want to know where it's coming from! (a nod to one of my favorite movies, Baby Boom...if you haven't seen it, get it...it's cute).

Well. I think I'm off to do another load of dishes, and maybe a couple loads of laundry will find their way to the washing machine before I head off to work. Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!!