Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy November

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I think  because I love October so much, the start of November is always a bit of a downer for me.
To me September and October are autumn and November marks the beginning of winter, and I hate winter.
I guess the up side of this winter is that I have something to look forward to – but still.
The cold, snow, sleet, slush – ugh. I hate it all.
Except on Christmas. I do like a white Christmas, but not even Christmas Eve should be snowing in my book.
And certainly not the day after – we’ll be driving home from Chicago that day and I don’t want a slow snowy ride home.
Long trips home are the worst.
Plus, I’ll be like 30 weeks pregnant by then, so the trip will no doubt be even longer with the amount of bathroom breaks I’ll need.
Oh what fun.


I’ve never been away from home on Christmas before.
Even during my year in Africa I left two days after Christmas, and was back well before, so I didn’t even have to miss.
I’m a big girl and I know I’ll be fine – just sad to have to split up a major holiday for the first time in our married life.
But Curtis’ parent’s always show us a good time and we’re excited to get to make the best of the fact that our families no longer live within walking distance of each other.


Boy, I got off on a tangent, didn’t i?


What I was saying is that the beginning of November marks the beginning of winter to me
And winter isn’t so bad, if only it wouldn’t snow or drop below 50 degrees.


Last night was Halloween.


The official end of autumn in my book.


I made veggie fried rice and some chicken stir fry and we had my parents over for dinner and passing out candy to cute trick or treaters.
Then, unlike us, we busted out Scrabble as we ate my homemade apple pie, and I whooped some booty (as I should – the English major of the family) and beat all three suckers by quite a few points (Curtis by the most, but who’s counting?!)


And we went to bed stuffed with sugar and happy and ready for winter.
That is, after putting the electric blanket on our bed
(of which Curtis won’t let me be under the covers when it’s turned on.
It’s purely for warming purposes before I get into bed this year because he read that they aren’t good for pregnant women.
So I obliged and sat on top until my side was warm and toasty, then turned it off and snuggled down into the pre-warmed covers.
It was a delightful way to welcome winter.


Except that my bear-like hibernation didn’t last long…


I had heard that Charlie horses were common during pregnancy, but until last night I hadn’t had one since working in retail with high heels on.
But last night everything changed, and my heated sheets did nothing to ease the pain of five in a row.
Yes, that’s right – nearly 2 hours of excruciating, toe-flexing Charlie horses.


I woke up this morning and my calf was aching.
Throbbing like someone sucker punched me in the back of the leg.
Luckily the pain has subsided, but I’m kind of dreading another night of that happening again.


Oh well, the boy is worth it – but I will say that the pregnancy glow that people talk about is more like the sweat of hot flashes and enduring the pain of sciatica, Charlie horses, migraines without medicine and all the other random ailments that take over the pregnant woman’s body in these ten months.


Pregnancy is not all it’s cracked up to be in my opinion, but it is worth it.


I am now enjoying having strangers comment on my growing belly,
Asking if it’s a girl or a boy or if it’s my first,
Because, ‘you know, you never look as good with your second as you did with your first,’
As the kind lady at Target told me on Saturday!


And getting bigger is kind of nice as the weather gets colder.
The extra layer and hot flashes will keep me insulated far better than an electric blanket and space heater ever could.


So bring it on November!


1 comments:

Amie said...

Yuck to charlie horses! I have had them a ton with Mr. Owen. I talked to my doctor about them and she advised me to eat a lot of banana's. You get Charlie Horses because you need more potassium, and eating them is the easiest and fastest way to fix it. And i have to say it has really helped!!! Also, another thing she mentioned....don't massage the leg with the CH as you would be tempted to do. Just very slowly point your toes to your nose and hold it until the CH subsides. Good luck Jessie! i hope they don't linger for you- soooooooooooooo not fun!

 
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