Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Return to WW...and Seminary & Baby News

I made it through re-joining WW & weighing in, officially, for the first time in months. My fear that I would be over my personal threshold of fat was unfounded. I am under that. Not by a comfortable enough margin, but at least not over. My leader welcomed me back, but I get the feeling she doesn't expect me to stick with it. I sure hope I do. I stayed on program yesterday & took a 4-mile bike ride as soon as I returned from the meeting. Steps in the right direction. On the way home from the meeting, I saw the new dog at the dog, duck, pig place. It was armpit deep in the pond & looked exuberant!

At the library yesterday, I found a Nevada Barr book on tape for J to listen to. She is thrilled to have another of her books. She really enjoyed Blind Descent, so I hope she feels similarly about Deep South. I got several books for myself, including Ariel Gore's Hip Mama book on teenagers (really enjoying it so far) & Isabel Allende's Zorro. I have always loved the Zorro story, so this should be a real treat. I hadn't even heard about it, so I was quite excited to see it. I also got an Elaine Pagels book on CD, as well as Nickel & Dimed. The Pagels is shorter, so I am listening to that first. On the way back from the library, I heard a horn & saw B waving at me, probably on his way out to grab some lunch. I love running into people I know around town...makes me feel more as though I am part of a community. I have missed that since moving away from my hometown. Of course, I have been part of communities, but not of the communities I have lived in, if that makes any sense.

Also on the way home, I saw gorgeous irises & the first peonies of the season, red ones a couple houses down from us. I love all the flowering things this time of year. Out the window at Bible study today, there were a number of things in bloom, including yellow & burgundy irises. My grandmom told me that when they were in Montana, everything flowered at once because the season is so short. Interesting.

Once home, I found a letter from the seminary. I figured it was some kind of registration info, so I was astounded when I opened it & found that I have been awarded a scholarship! It will pay about half my tuition for the first year. I'm not sure if it's renewable, but I find that just remarkable! What a blessing! I am almost unable to believe it. It makes me feel as though I am in the right place in my life. My buddy, L, says that what you put out comes back to you thrice & that this is a direct result of my good actions. To me, it seems as though God really does want me there, as though I am truly called. It seems such an enormous amount, as though they really want me there, too, & think I'll be a great asset. I hope to prove them right.

I was looking at the website & see info about the women's center, about one of the profs hosting a picnic for the women graduates, about a class on homosexuality & the Bible being taught by a prof, all kinds of things that make me feel as though I am really landing in a good place for me. It seems as though I will be able to do some important community-building while I am there. I think the alumni association is pretty active, too. I wonder what kind of job Spirit will lead me to.

I just had time for some hot & sour soup before the boys got home from camp. They had a good time, but were exhausted & hungry. I fixed them a pizza & gave them free screen time. Boot fell asleep in his bedroom for awhile. They were pretty wound up, no meds & lack of sleep & routine. I spent the afternoon talking with Pie about the things he did at camp & cooking dinner. I made light chimichangas...which the children didn't eat. Oh, well. They can't adore everything I make & tonight they get cheeseburgers.

J brought me a sweet card & a little purse with a cat that looks like Jasper on it. The cat is adorned with a jeweled collar & a pink feather boa. Very cute. It was my congratulations-on-the-scholarship gift. She liked dinner, as did I.

Right before dinner, I got a call from L. She said, "I have news" & I shrieked. Yes, little RR is here, born Monday. L went into labor Sunday night & was trying not to go to the hospital right away. However, she started throwing up & couldn't stop, so they went in. She was given phenergan to make her stop puking & IV fluids since she was dehydrated. Because of the dehydration, she ended up with no breaks between contractions, leading to a 2-hour contraction. I cannot imagine! So, they gave her an epidural, saying that if she didn't do something, she was not going to make it to the end. She was able to get a nap, then. When she awoke, the contractions were normal again, so she was able to do the rest naturally. RR & L are both fine. He weighed 7 lbs & 9 oz. & was 20" long. Much smaller than she had anticipated, with B's family tending toward 10 pounders. Whew! B caught him, with L's mom assisting & B's mom taking photos. L said that yesterday morning, B was holding RR at the window & crying. She asked him what was wrong, why he was crying. He responded that he was just sharing R's first sunset. Wow, what a guy...I am so glad she has found him. We get to go meet the baby this weekend! Yippee!!!

It must be the week for babies because this morning I got news that my mom's customers have their first grandchild. He was born yesterday & is absolutely darling! B & T's son & DIL haven't named him yet because he won't open his eyes & they want to look in his eyes before they name him. Makes sense to me. When I mentioned it in Bible study today, though, people laughed like that was a silly thing to do. Oh, well. I wonder if E & B have had their bambino yet...I hope all went smoothly, if so. I haven't heard from grandma L yet.

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