Ahhh... the aromas.

I'm often asked if I have any major cravings now that I'm pregnant... and I don't think I do. It's not that I don't have any sudden cravings for chocolate cake or pickles now and then, it's just that I had those cravings even before I was pregs. Since then, it's been more about what doesn't sound good... than what does.

Smells on the other hand are a whole different story. It's true what they say about your sense of smell being heightened... but what I didn't expect was to have everyday things that I'm used to smelling suddenly smell FANTASTIC! Sure, I occasionally experience the yucky smells too (Steve's gas is even more unpleasant nowadays), but it's more common for me to be surprised by how wonderful certain smells are now.

For example, Michael and I are less than snobs when it comes to hair products and regularly use Dove shampoo, conditioner and body wash. We've been using it for years. Out of the blue, I noticed one morning that the smell of the shampoo was overwhelmingly fresh and wonderful. Same goes for the conditioner and body wash. We also have some hair gel that smells splendidly like Elmer's glue. I love it! No, I don't feel an urge to eat any of it (as I've heard is also common in pregnancy) but boy do I enjoy getting ready in the morning a lot more now!

Another example, and perhaps a far more disturbing one, happened on the bus a few weeks ago. Already sounds strange, right? Usually that's where one would experience more of the yucky smells. Not this time. As I sat in my window seat with an open seat next to me, a BIG, BURLY, HAIRY man dressed in jeans and a leather jacket came walking down the aisle. As much as I wished against it, he of course sat right beside me. Of all the things involved with riding a bus, having to sit so close to strangers is my least favorite part. I leaned as far as I could against the window to keep some distance between us. But as annoyed as I was, I couldn't help but notice the delicious, chocolaty sweetness I was smelling!! I was drawn to it and found myself actually narrowing the distance between us. Soon I was taking slow, luxurious whiffs of this big ol' man. It made no sense at all... but MY did he smell good!! After awhile the bus started to empty and, to my dismay, the man moved across the aisle to an empty seat. I snapped out of my trance and began to worry that he noticed my odd behavior. An Herbal Essence commercial came to mind - where the woman is fantasizing about washing her hair and starts shouting "YES! YES! YES!" in the middle of her office meeting...

I pretty sure I didn't do that though.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!!

I'm gonna "turn and face the strain" by sharing it with my job tomorrow - so there's nothing else preventing me from posting it here. I'm 14 weeks pregnant! I am sooo nervous about sharing it with my job... I just started working with a new team and I doubt they'll be thrilled to have me leave for 3 months. But we'll save that for another entry...

So far so good for the most part. I did go through a nauseous stage, but that seemed to subside around 10 weeks. I also developed an overwhelming aversion to Asian food - mainly Chinese and Thai. My all time FAVORITE kind of food! If I caught a whiff of something that smelled like Chinese food, if someone talked about curry, if peppers or sesame seeds were an ingredient in anything, even if I just saw chopsticks - I would feel nauseous. I was so disappointed and worried that it would be become permanent. Luckily, I surprised myself the other day by wanting Chinese food for lunch, and I'm totally craving some GOOD phad thai now. I still think curry and cooked peppers sound disgusting... but baby steps work for me :)

My new stage seems to be regular and sometimes debilitating headaches. Last night, I was in bed before 8pm with an icepack on my forehead. Unable to even watch American Idol! I managed to avoid a repeat today - but I'm worried because I think the preventative trick is caffeine... something I've been trying to avoid. I've read just about everywhere that small amounts of caffeine is okay - so I'm gonna allow myself just that in hopes of not missing any more of my favorite shows!

Here's a really great picture of me displaying my growing belly (you can practically see in my eyes the headache that is lurking behind them). I guess I'm kind of an early show-er... but if you can believe it, I am "sucking it in" in this pic.

I am so completely thrilled to be pregnant and I love every single experience that comes with it - good and bad. Okay, maybe I don't LOVE the headaches... but soon I'm going to have a tiny little baby to love with all my heart. That's worth more than all the Chinese food in the world :)

What about my blog?

Okay, so it's been almost 3 months since I last posted a new blog. Yes, Merry and Sarah, I realize that :) But I don't have kids yet and I didn't just build a house - so really, blog entries from me seem so boring by comparison. I only have so many worthwhile things to share in my everyday life. For example, I could tell you about how my old cell phone died and I had to get a new one, or about how cute and sleepy Steve was this morning when I left... or, I know, did you know my favorite berry flavored sparkling water is no longer on sale and now it's a total rip off?

See what I mean? I just don't feel like I have much exciting stuff to share right now. I don't want to blog just to blog. Not that there is anything wrong with doing that - it's just not for me is all :) But I do promise that as soon as I have something remotely interesting to share, you'll find it here.

Sincerely,

Boring McBloggerson

P.S. Interesting and exciting? Not really. Happy as can be anyway? YES :)

Something Meaningful

We just got back from spending several days with my family in the Bay Area. We had two very special reasons to celebrate over the weekend. Saturday was my cousin's wedding. Sunday was the celebration of my Grandma's life. It was pretty amazing the way the two occasions could share one weekend - but truly stay separate. Both were joyful in different ways.

The wedding was fabulous and tons of FUN! It took place in my aunt and uncles beautifully landscaped backyard and the weather was perfect (I'm not bitter... I swear!). I helped my mom decorate about 300 cupcakes to use as the cake for their garden themed wedding. I loved every minute of it - but if I never see another cupcake in my life, I'll be okay with that! It's always so awesome to have an excuse to be with my wonderful family. :)



For my Grandma's memorial, we sat in the shade of a big tree, in the same beautiful yard where my cousin had her wedding the day before. A wedding she hoped to attend (and we think she did). A picture collage of my Grandma throughout her years was propped before us and several people shared stories and memories. The commemoration concluded with playing her favorite song - Mr. Bojangles. As we sat in silence, listening to the music and thinking of my Grandma, a breeze suddenly swooped in. It circled all around and caused her pictures to flutter. I know it was my Grandma Jayne - dancing to her song and breathing freely. Something she hasn't been able to do for several years.

She left a wonderful mark on my life and I will be forever grateful :)

Oh Sunny Day!

2 years ago today, I woke up around 7:30am to the lovely sound of Sarah's cell phone alarm going off. My intention was to TRY to sleep in until 9, but we were sharing a hotel room and Sarah was ignoring the alarm - leaving it up to me to search for her phone and figure out how to turn it off. It was my wedding day, and there was no chance I was falling back to sleep. It turned out that I had forgotten to finish putting together the ceremony programs - so the extra time was actually a good thing (thanks Sassy). July 29th has notoriously been a hot and sunny day in Seattle. It had been like 20 or so years since it rained - which is in part why we chose it. On this day, it was overcast and threatened rain. Luckily it didn't and after a whirlwind of a day, around 6:12pm, I officially became a Thompson.

1 year ago today, I woke up on the floor of our new house. We had just moved in the day before and everything we owned (which at the time was not much) was scattered everywhere. We spent the entire day in sweats, unshowered, painting the walls and ceiling of our new home. We laughed at the difference between how fancied up we were one year before - compared to how dirty and stinky we were on this day. Around 6:12pm, we poured some wine into two plastic cups and toasted to our year as a married couple. Outside, it was overcast and raining.

Today I woke up to my alarm going off at 5:20am. I snoozed until almost 6. I'm at work now- but clearly not working. I look forward to a nice evening at home with my husband of 2 years. We're not going to do much of anything special - but the past 2 years have given us a LOT of something special... so today we'll probably just appreciate it all :) Outside it's gray and raining.

Sorry Seattle, it looks like we jinxed July 29th. But I can't say I regret it!!

Dog Blog

So I don't have any meaningful experiences to share yet... but I just know there are some pending for a later date. Until they arrive, how about some Steve stories? Sarah told me I had to write another blog... it's not my fault.

Here are 3 stories that come to mind. They're sorta funny, sorta gross, and sorta dumb... but that's Steve for ya!

Too Many Dogs in the Kitchen

While we're away at work, Steve hangs out in our kitchen. We're still not sure we can trust him with full run of the house. It's not uncommon for me to come home and find something (a tupperware bowl, a dishtowel, sections of the floor...) chewed into smithereens and scattered all over the kitchen. So when I walked in to find a plastic bag ripped to pieces the other day, I just assumed he remembered how to nose up the lid to our garbage and find a "toy." Later that evening, after Steve had his dinner and we were all sitting around watching TV, he began whining and was acting really strange. Finally, he got up and BARFED the biggest pile of undigested food I've ever seen! After he did this 3 or 4 more times we started getting concerned. Then I remembered the plastic bag - a scrap of which said "Hot dog Buns." I asked Mike if he happened to leave a bag of buns on the counter and, sure enough, he had. A FULL bag. No wonder he puked.

Vanity Can Smack You in the Head

Steve is fully aware of how pretty he is. The location of his bed provides an unobstructed view of the full length mirror down the hall. Sometimes he'll lay there and gaze at his beautiful reflection - or walk down the hall for a closer look (leaving wet nose smudges all over it as proof). One day, while on a walk around our neighborhood, we passed a shiny black car parked on the side of the road. Steve noticed his handsome reflection on the side of it, and watched in awe as he trotted by. So captivated by the view, he neglected to watch where he was going and ran straight into a tree! I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the clumsy dork... he was obviously very embarrassed.

Don't Fence Me In

It's been about a year since we moved into our house - and it took almost that long to build the fence in our backyard for Stevie to play in. We imagined he would be eternally grateful for the leash-free romping room it would provide. Not to mention Mike's and my freedom from always having to take him on walks. However, as it turns out, he DOES love the backyard... as long as we hang with him. Expect him to stay back there by himself?? Never. At least not until we fill some gaps.

Well there you have it. It may not be meaningful but hey, it's a blog!

Getting my feet wet...

I don't really know what I'm doing here... I find blogging intimidating because I've always worried a bit too much about what other people think. I don't have the best writing skills and I'm not really all that funny (well, sometimes I think I am, but thinking this probably makes me even less funny). Recent events in my life have helped me decide to say "screw it" to that mentality. Life is short. It's time to try new things even if it's a little scary. So here I am :)

I highly doubt many will read this who don't already know me and my life story for the most part. But just for fun, here's me in a nutshell: grew up on Vashon Island, moved to LA (Santa Monica) for 6 years, married my Michael in July of 2006, moved back to Seattle in March of 2007, bought a house last July, live in my house with my Michael and my sweet/crazy pup named Steve.

I recently realized that I need and desire more meaning in my life. I'm not sure what that means, but I figured I should start a blog so that maybe I can mention some of my more "meaningful" experiences. Hopefully this blog will capture important moments for me and my family. Entries that I can look back on and retrace my path to a more enriched, fulfilling life.

It's very likely it will be filled with funny Steve stories though.

Only time will tell :)