It's beautiful here too! Even the cicadas are humming today. So sorry about your trip, Moore. We've had a few funerals to attend lately too, and it does bring about a melancholy, no doubt about it.

Ted's off at our son's house putting together Quentin's new crib (Tony is still away), then out on a gazillion errands. Later we're going to our friends' house for dinner on their new deck, so we really hope the weather holds out for us.

Tomorrow, Marilyn's dropping by with a bribe bottle of wine for Ted as she needs a lamp rewired. If it's red, no way will we be downstairs on the new furniture, lol. One splotch on the new fabric and I'd have a freaking fit.

Traffic's a mess this weekend with the Red Socks in town and the main thoroughfare closed for resurfacing. Getting anywhere will be a nightmare if you need to be downtown or across it. Argh. We do.

That's amazing and wonderful news, Shelly. A million hugs and congratulations to you three, soon to be four!! So if you NEED a truck, sobeit. It's the characters that drive Hummers for car pooling kids to soccer and school that make me nuts. There are good sound reasons for having that kind of vehicle, and you guys have one. No guilt, okay?

I've been wasting tons of time today just goofing off while Ted took 4 hours putting that darn crib together and has just now started all the shopping errands. We still have to be at Piers' place at 6 so something will have to be left undone until tomorrow.

Nick e mailed from Las Vegas and his computer, an ibook, I think, crashed on him. A blogger expo and no computer. Not good.

Mike said that he's going to leave for Auckland directly from Dulles at the end of next month - cheaper air fare from LA than from Vancouver by far. He said the fare from LA is the same as Auckland to Fiji. I doesn't make sense, but there it is.

Oh, Shelly -- that's such great news! Congratulations. I'm very excited for you, and we'll all be cyber aunts and uncles to the newest little one! How are you feeling?

I'm glad that I didn't go to Staunton. I'm really tired, and just want to have some carry-out Chinese, and then climb into bed to do some reading. It really killed me to have to cancel those reservations, though. I ought to post a picture of the room...well, suite...they'd assigned me! Later.

OH -- we thought for a couple of hours that A-D's car was stolen (just to add more car drama to our lives), but it turns out that it's all okay. Her battery died yesterday, and so she called AAA to tow it to the local VW dealer. Jim told her to go ahead and have it thoroughly checked out because she'd been having some assorted minor little problems, and also Jim's going to be out there for a couple of days in October. He and A-D plan to drive the Apache Trail, and he doesn't want her darned car to break down in the middle of nowhere!

Well, this all happened late yesterday afternoon, and she didn't think much of it when the dealership didn't call her last night. So, she went to check on it this morning, and they told her they couldn't find her car, and had no record of it! She went back and forth with them for several hours (we were getting ready to report it as stolen), when they FINALLY found it. It turns out that the AAA tow-truck driver had parked her car in the VW lot about 9:30 pm, and had left her keys in the ignition!

???

Not only could the car have been stolen, but this is why VW didn't have record of the car. He was supposed to deliver the keys to the office (through a secure box) with the car's information on a tag.

Jim plans to yell at AAA on Monday, not only because of the driver's negligence, but also because it means that A-D won't get her car back today, but will have to wait until Monday.

You know I grew up in Arizona but don't think I have ever done the Apache Trail. Though I feel like I must have. My father is very outdoorsy. I have an aunt though who is a preacher of some sort to some of the Apache Indians there in Arizona.

And thank you ladies for that congrats. I am actually feeling pretty good. Waves of nausea run through me but never make it all the way to the throwing up stage. Which is weird for me because with Jolene I was sick what seems like from day 1 all the way until the day before Jolene was born. Weird huh. Anyways, I am going to try not to complain because I figure it will hit me at some point. Now i have to watch what I eat because I never lost as much as I should have. I just have to watch the sodium and on days when I go to the doctors I have to try and be as less stressed as possible. I learned with Jolene that I could make my blood pressure go down just by being really calm and relax even for just a few minutes.

Jojo, I think that you're going to be much happier in the Turks and Caicos Islands!

Shelly, here's a link for some really nice pictures (and bits of advice) for driving the Apache Trail. Really pretty! It's also apparently a trip that can easily be made in a day.

The Apache Trail

Yes, it's quite a bit warmer here. Heh.

That trail looks nice, but I'm not much a driver, so I think I'd be rather nervous driving it.

KaeEll, I'm so sorry about your bad dreams, and upset stomach. The dinner sounds delicious!

I'm finding that some foods (all the ones you listed) play games with my stomach these days too. We had ribs about a week ago, and I had the same problem that you did. Carrots will do it too, as will lamb. Nevertheless, I don't have any intention of giving up any of these, and am fully prepared to suffer the consequences!

It's disappointing. I used to have a cast iron stomach, and now I never know from day to day what's going to turn me into a delicate female who is temporarily indisposed...

The weird thing for me is that when I was pregnant with Jolene I was seriously sick at least once a day everyday. Not I get small waves of nausea but nothing yet. I keep waiting for some food to trigger it. I do get insane amounts of heart burn already though

KaeEll said what I was going to say about the fact that every pregnancy is different. It's not just the morning sickness that can change either, but the way that the baby behaves.

As for morning sickness, I was fairly lucky with that. It was usually over for me within the first six weeks, and I only had a couple of incidents when it was really serious. Otherwise, it was always just a nagging threat, but then went away. I always had crackers to munch, and tried to eat small meals or snacks throughout the day. I was also a huge milk drinker, so that helped too. My worst experience with the morning sickness was with A-D. That's because my early stages with her were during one of the hottest summers we'd had, and my two existing kids were still really little. I remember keeping them inside a lot, and lying on the couch (feeling wretched with the queasies and headaches) while they played nearby. If moaning wouldn't have freaked them out, I probably would have been doing that too! LOL...

My oldest daughter was an active baby, all the time. You could watch her playing basketball inside of me from across the room. On the positive side, she would go to sleep when I went to sleep, and would stir in the morning at the EXACT MOMENT when I'd open my eyes! I always thought that was a little odd... In life, she has always been very intense, and very high energy.

My son was the opposite. He slept the entire time, and on one occasion was still for so long that I was about to call my doctor. Before I had the chance, he moved just enough for me to know that he was still alive! He's a very laid-back guy in life, although he has clear direction.

A-D was the one who gave me the most trouble pregnancy-wise, and certainly with the delivery. In life, she has probably been the most "normal" of the three, in certain respects. Not that the other two aren't, but A-D always made friends very quickly, and always had more of a survival instinct than the other two. That may also be a factor of being the youngest child who had to break through a very close relationship between two older siblings who weren't all that happy about having the little intruder arrive on their doorstep! It's a good thing that they both adore her now...

KaeEll's right about trying to get some additional rest too. Those first few months are really crucial for that. It's difficult when you're working, and already have a young child, but even a few little naps can help.

We're all very excited for you, Shelly!