Eight months and HOME

Nothing feels as good as coming home. No, nothing feels as good as coming home and realising that the packing boxes that you'd left have are no more, that your husband really and truly cleaned and did his best to make your coming really sweet. Looking around I realised that all that's left to do is put out our albums, photos and memorabilia (wifely things to do to be sure! LOL) and I almost started to cry. I think J is bewildered by how I was gushing about the house but I guess men think differently. To me the effort he put into organising everything shows how much he cares because when I left the shippers had just brought our stuff and there were boxes piled up to the roof. Mucho brownie points, definitely.

So yup, I'm in the States. I can't wait to go and drive my car, no offense to my 240SX in Jamaica but there's nothing like a turbo SR engine (although I think J has detuned my car, can't blame him I am eight months pregnant today LOL). He's been doing work there too, my A/C is almost fixed (he bought a re-gas kit and tried to do it all himself) and he also took his amazing track race seat out his car so that I'd be able to drive if if necessary. That right there is sacrifice, people, as you can see it's a Pro seat, but he's right... I wouldn't be able to hoist myself over that side piece.

Anyway, it's off to find some food. More blogging later. I'll definitely have more time on my hands but I'll warn you, just like how the blogging took a 'baby' turn a couple months back, don't be surprised if you start reading alot about home improvement woes and my struggle with Wallieworld (Wal Mart) and other retailers as I go about making this place perfect before Moo Moo arrives :-)

Here's my song of the moment...



Matisyahu - King Without A Crown

You know you're living in 2006 when...

I know this one has probably made the email rounds many times, but I thought it deserved a post:

You know you're living in 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

The 'What Not To Do' Example

Today is Father's Day. For many people with great Dads, it's a time for celebration and joy, for the rest, it's probably another occasion to play hypocrite, but whichever side of the fence you're on, Father's Day makes for great reflection. I remember one year I actually gave my Mom a card on Father's Day... we were doing a poem in English class called For My Mother, May I Inherit Half Her Strength and I realised she did double duty with me, for which I'll always be grateful. This year is even more poignant because J and I are both looking forward to the birth of our first child together. So understandably I've been looking through all the mommy and daddy info I can find online these past few months - why should preggo moms be the sole focus of attention?

With all that in mind here's one from an MSN article on Ten Ways To Be a Great Dad:

6. Treat your kid the way you wanted to be treated when you were a kid. Take a look back on how you were raised... Look back at how your dad showed, or didn't show, his love for you. How he disciplined you, encouraged you, criticized you, and molded you. If you had a great dad, now's your chance to take everything he showed you and put it to good use.

If you didn't have a great dad, this is your chance, your golden opportunity to make up for every fatherly injustice he did to you by being to your child a much better and more sensitive, involved, loving dad than he was to you. This is your chance to show your dad, and the world, "This is what being a good dad looks like." Provide your child with a level of love, patience, understanding, and affection that shows your own dad how it's done.

Click here for: Ten Ways To Be a Great Dad

Here are a couple funny tidbits I found in another MSN article, Things a man should know: About fatherhood:
  • Don't worry, your dad didn't know what he was doing, either.
  • Your child, at birth, already has a deeply complicated relationship with his mother, and, for the first year, you are only a curiosity.

    For a couple of years after that, an amusement-park ride.

    Then, a referee.

    And finally, a bank.
  • Reason boys are better: They cannot get pregnant.
  • Reason girls are better: They're less likely to get arrested.
  • The first time you change your son's diaper and he pees all over you is not an accident. It's foreshadowing.
  • You are under no obligation to tell children the truth.

    Lying to children is, in fact, half the fun: "Oh, that tree? That's a yellow-spotted spickle-gruber, of course."

    On the other hand, they do remember everything.
  • Your bedroom door gets a lock. Your teenage son's does not. Lock or no, please knock before entering, as the disruption of a youth who is spanking his monkey will be twice as traumatic for you as it is for him.

I'll stop here but if you'd like to see the rest, here's the link:

Click here for: Things a man should know: About fatherhood

And last but not least, I found a quiz on American Baby.com Are you man enough to be a stay-at-home Dad? Have fun guys!

Click here for: 'Are you man enough' quiz

Congrats J!

Fate has strange way of working things out. Leading up to last Sunday's third JMMC dexterity I started getting worried that I was going to be so put out by the fact that I couldn't compete that I'd be no help whatsoever to hubby who's been looking forward to competing in the event for weeks. If the MBMC dexterity a week earlier was any indication, I knew I was in for some seriously green feelings of jealousy. But as luck would have it, I needn't have worried. The organiser of the event (the FWD veteran) figured correctly what would happen and I found myself under the timing tent manning the timing equipment for the whole day. Now that might sound boring, no walking around, no socialising or conversing with friends. But at seven months pregnant, I'm definitely not one to pass up a permanent comfortable seat, free food and water and a shady spot under a tent.

With me and my potential bad vibes out of the way hubby was free to shine and shine he did! Before his first run they had him under starters orders for a long time (I think that was because of the timing equipment) and I was so worried that he'd start thinking too much about the course and spazz out but let me tell you he put down a run that instantly won him the hearts of the crowd. On a course that confused the hell out of many competitors causing many to DNF on their first and even subsequent runs, hubby hit the skid pad with tyres squealing and drove his heart out. I'm sure there are other times when I've been really proud of him but Sunday saw me cheering wildly from under the tent, "That's MY babyfather... a my husband dat!" And while at first everyone around me merely smiled in that amused sort of way, by J's third run they were all on their feet as well. His runs were just that good. He swung my little car around those cones like the 240 has an LSD. Even almost battering off my fog lights and license plate didn't stop him, neither did hitting a cone break his concentration. He just went out there, neck or nothing, and I'm SO proud!

And yes, he's my husband, so it's my job to cheer J on, but you ask him, I can be very objective when necessary. At the MBMC dex he only won the class because he was the only person in the class. He also DNFed twice, he wasn't aggressive on the gas, interestingly enough, only rotating the back of the car after DNFing. But the objective at that dexterity was not to set any blistering times but for him to learn the feel of the 240SX and develop confidence for the JMMC dex. And you can bet your ass that mission was accomplished! Not only did he win his RWD class, but he also earned a place in the Championship run as one of the top ten fastest JMMC members on the day. He placed well there, once again delighting the crowd with his run. As a class winner he also competed in the 'best of the best' section where all the class winners drove one car. I don't know how he shoe-horned himself into that itty bitty car, knees all up in his chest, but he did, and even though he sprained his thumb on the steering wheel, he drove the car for a damn good third place position. Congrats on a job well done babe, a job very well done.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/TeenAge/html/
20060612T180000-0500_106826_OBS_A_TEST_OF_MENTAL_
AND_DRIVING_ABILITY_.asp


http://www.wheelsjamaica.com/wheels_forum/index.php?topic=44339.0

Somersault Central

Okay, so our child is going to be an Olympic gymnast. That's the only explanation. Well, that, or as I told J yesterday, she's busy practising some senior kung fu moves. Her favourite seems to be the Somersault Crane Style... roll roll roll, lash out hard, then jab jab jab to follow up. Lucky for me she's still cushioned inside the uterus because the Lord knows if this was an open air assault on my person I'd be in tears. As it is she's really fun to watch - my 'basketball' tummy undulates and stretches (quite painless for the non-mommies out there!) and sometimes you see what has to be her head poking out one side. Plus, J is here! He's loving watching and feeling the tummy as his daughter goes through her gymnastics or kung fu paces. :p