Baby Registry

Moms, or Nanas-To-Be, can get away with this, whereas Parents-To-Be feel a little strange broadcasting this info. Heather and Jared are registered at:

Babies R Us: www.babiesrus.com
Babyworks: www.babyworks.com

Heather will be using cloth diapers and prefers the ones from Babyworks. The nursery theme is sailboats, and the colors are all shades of blue.

Can't Swing -- But Can Do The Limp Step

I'm improving each day. I now can walk around all day without crutches, at work and home. I have a limping gait. I plan on resuming my walking workout next week.

Can't Swing

I watched Greta and her friends swing dance for a few moments... on my crutches, with strong pain medication.

I've been walking two hours or more per day since I have started loosing weight again. On Wednesday this past week, I noticed I had a minor pain on my left leg in my inner thigh, next to my groin, as I concluded my morning walk. I showered and drove off to work and walked to my desk. I had some slight discomfort as I walked about the office. But as I sat in my chair in my cubical, the pain started to intensify over a period of an hour. I tried standing up. Sharp shooting pain shot through my inner thigh. I couldn't walk straight. I sat down -- it was painful to sit down. I talked with my coworker next to me. He's a sports jock, and he said it sounded like a strained groin and I should just tough it out. In ten minutes it was getting unbearable, and I knew if I didn't leave right away, I'd have to be carried out. So I packed up my laptop and walked down very slooowly to my car. Each step was accompanied with crushing pain.

I finally got into the car. Fortunately it was my left leg and I am driving an automatic, so my right leg was doing all the activity. I called my doctor from my cell phone. His office is within a mile from my house and he had an immediate opening.

As far as anyone can tell, I have a severe pulled groin muscle. I've never had one of these before. It feels dislocated. The next day, Thursday, was my worst day, I could hardly move, strong pain medication didn't help at all except making me sleepy and allowing me to get some cat naps. My pastor graciously loaned some crutches. I am feeling better today, Sunday, but it is still very painful. I am seeing another doctor Monday morning.

Swing!

It's Friday night; do you know where your kids are?

Mine are in the dining room right now ~ swing dancing ~ with, oh, about eight friends. This was supposed to be a patio party, but the weather didn't cooperate. After an entire summer without rain, we're finally getting some this week, with lots of thunder and lightening. Lightening and dancing in the backyard just don't seem to go together, so the party was moved inside.

Greta will dance with just about anyone, while David is a bit more bashful and keeps his requests to "safe" girls. Maybe tonight he'll be more bold.

Funny thing: there are more guys here tonight than girls!

Youtube

An update from the band concert on August 4: David posted one of his solos on youtube (For those of you who aren't familiar with youtube, it's a place where you can post videos of yourself). Just click on this link, and it will take you there and start playing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PKi4BcwDOIg

The Bible According to Secular Professors

"Odysseus killing the cyclops is a classic example of a Samson and Goliath story." ~English prof

"Moses brought the whole Bible down from Mt. Sinai." ~Art History Prof (He even had the Gospels!)

"God does not send people to hell. The church does." ~ Art History

"[Medieval] Painters often painted Christ's life, the Passion: carrying the cross, the crucifixion, mourning over the dead body, the resurrection, the transfiguration." ~ same professor

Summer is Winding Down

Greta and David are presently off at a park picnicking with friends. I can't imagine picnicking in today's 100 degree weather, but this is their last hurrah of summer before school starts tomorrow.

David has been busy with plenty of piping this summer. Besides piping school and two competitions, he has done several funerals, a rehearsal dinner, a scout event, and two band concerts. The scout event was the 100th anniversary of scouting, begun in England on Aug. 1, 1907, by Lord Baden-Powell. The photo below shows David piping in the Scottish flag at the beginning of the ceremony. He also played at the end. Notice the mix of scout uniform and kilt uniform! It was quite exciting to see this segment make it on the news.

The band concerts were last Saturday ~ one in the afternoon and one in the evening. David opened each show by stepping onto the stage playing a solo. Then the curtains opened behind him, and the full band joined in. Later, he played a fast-fingered solo, and still later, he played the opening solo for another band piece. His name was rather prominent in the program. The Professor was the band's official videographer, and I agreed to man the still camera.

David's opening solo

The full band

Greta has worked at the bookstore about 30 hours each week this summer. She begins school with enough in her bank account to cover textbooks (hopefully). She has also gotten in several swing dance nights, and sometimes she successfully dragged her brother along too.

That leaves The Professor and me. We do about the same: work, work, work, and drive, drive, drive!

Chattanooga update

Well, Mr. Peep is getting stronger and more active. We went to the doctor for another checkup on Monday, and the doctor had a hard time keeping track of the heartbeat because Peep kept zooming around! He is now nearly 12 inches long and probably weighs about 1 pound. How that translates into 8-10 pounds on me is a mystery.

I can feel stronger movement, and it is now much more frequent and constant. Instead of little flutters at lunchtime and late afternoon, I feel like my whole belly is hiccuping and jumping around all day. I think we need to rename Peep to "Giant Jumping Bean." Sometimes I can even watch a little section of my tummy poke out from the kicks. Jared hasn't been able to feel any movement though - as soon as he puts his hand on my belly Peep stops moving altogether.

Other news:

-Jared starts training for an additional position at the bank this month. In addition to being teller, he will also be able to open accounts and loans and do all the other mysterious things those desk people can do. We are hoping that with the increased responsibility comes a decent pay raise.

-Chattanooga is re-opening an old drawbridge this weekend that has been under renovation for 2 years. This bridge will cut our commute from 15 minutes to little more than 5 minutes. Our section of town likes to celebrate anything, so they are throwing a big festival on the bridge. That is, if they can lower it - the drawbridge has been raised (hopefully not stuck) for the past 36 hours.

-The World's Longest Yardsale comes through Chattanooga this weekend! A thrifter's dream! I will be looking for baby things (and a dresser inexpensive enough and small enough to cram into our car).