The story that is my life

I'm back in the wonderful world of internet!  Yes, yes, I know I'm going to have to be careful about frittering away my time on that menace Facebook, but I've already enjoyed the half hour or so I spent browsing for maternity clothes tutorials.  The Harriet is in bed, the dishes are done...what else is a girl to do while she waits for her Mr Wonderful to come home?

It has been a long while since there was a proper blog post.  The funny (and relieving) thing is that my Google Reader has been very quiet lately, too.  I think that late summer tends to breed either busyness or introspection and blogging takes a back seat.  For me, blogging has taken a back seat to a tremendous quantity of busyness, insanity, logistics, stress, etc.  Things are calming down ever so slightly (at least the county fair is over and done with), and the glorious fall routine is looming in the near future.  And I'm itching to get back into the blogging world.

So, to bring you up to speed (although most of you readers know this stuff because you are a) family, b) close friends, or d) somehow connected with my family/close friends), I'm going to run through what has taken place somewhat categorically.  Or something.

My grandparents:
Probably the most difficult event of the past few weeks is that my grandparents (with whom we are all super close) moved back from Colorado because my grandad decided to stop chemo treatment for pancreatic cancer and get on hospice.  Not only did this create a bunch of logistical confusion (mostly involving a decision to go to a nursing home or to stay at home under hospice care), but it is also really strange and difficult to see my grandad physically challenged, confused due to the continuous influence of morphine and...dying.  I told Steve that we are too young to have our grandparents getting old and ill.  Thankfully, Clevi have committed to spending each night with Grammy and Grandad to help Grammy out and provide some assistance as the needs occur.  But please be praying about all of this if it comes to your mind.

The brother:
Also high on our prayer list is the finding of permanent residential treatment for my brother, Peter.  His violent behavior (which is the result of mental retardation) has grown to such an extent that he cannot live at home any longer.  This is in spite of months and years of therapy, neuro feedback, medication, alternative settings, and so on and so forth.  My parents have been working tirelessly to find and apply to residential treatment facilities that will meet his physical and mental needs and nothing has turned up yet.  (He was denied placement at what would have been a perfect place because his mental capacity was greater than the clients they usually accept.  Major bummer.)  He will be entering a special ed class at our local school which will get him out of the house for the majority of the day and also give him something to do.  Hopefully this will provide some immediate relief while the quest for a permanent location continues.

The house:
After living at the parents' house for almost three months, we were able to get back into our own place last week.  What a huge, huge, huge relief.  Don't get me wrong, I have been ever so grateful for the space, food, entertainment, pull-out couch, and support that my family provided.  But I missed my dear little house and my air conditioning.  The ironic thing is that after a blazing hot couple of weeks without A/C, we moved and we have only run our air twice.  But those two times have been splendid!  We're working on getting things pulled back together, getting our stuff re-organized, and planning on building a privacy fence for the back yard.  We went grocery shopping the other night for the first time since being back in our house and Steve and I agreed that we felt all giddy and newly-wed again.  I guess that's what it takes: any time we start losing the marital bliss, we'll go live with our relatives for a few months and then move back to our house.

The pregnancy:
It is weird to be pregnant with the second kid and just not be really paying attention to all of the What Is Happening This Week updates and such.  Sorry, baby, but you're along for the ride for the time being.  Things are going really well, overall, and I can't believe that Monday marks the beginning of the second trimester.  I never had really puke-worthy morning sickness, but rather felt gross all day long and ate nearly everything in sight.  This stopped at eleven weeks which completely freaked me out since I just woke up and felt perfectly fine.  We have seen the little munchkin on the ultrasound several times and he/she looks healthy and big and active.  Yayness!  (And as far as the craving question goes, I don't really strongly desire anything except for large quantities of meat and Subway salads.  And I can't stand anything remotely tart or sour.  *willies*)

The Harriet:
I have to talk about the HarriEd because she is amazing and wonderful and adorable and ever-so clever and takes up all of my time every single day.  She had a language skills explosion last week and while she has been saying words for several months, now she says things totally in context and without any prompting.  I almost feel like I'm having a conversation with her instead of being her Dorling Kindersley vocabulary book.  She says everything and mimics everything we say.  Now I'm going to have to curb my rather flagrant use of "crap" and "stupid."  HarriEd climbs on every surface she can get her teeny petite self up onto, but still refuses to walk despite her ability to do much more coordinated physical activities.  She is like her daddy.  And her mommy.  (Although somehow we got over our phobia of trying new things long enough to learn how to walk.)

The other things:
In case I didn't have enough to do, I'm going to be starting online classes this fall with Calvary Bible College to finish up my degree.  I was able to transfer over 90 credits which let me enter as a full senior.  I don't think I'll finish it all in a year, especially with the baby in February, but I'm shooting for graduating in December 2012.  Exciting!  And I'm also hospitality and creative activities coordinator for our MOPS group this year.  It's a lot of work but it is FUN and I'm brimming over with excitement about the craft ideas I've found online.

There you have it.  This is kind of like a Christmas card in August, but I wanted to get the bloggie up to date before diving in again.  I really do appreciate your prayers for the grandparents, for Peter, for my parents, and for the rest of us as we desire to help, support, and minister to them.  Thanks!