Aimless/Update/Random

So, the semester's over! I'm officially done until August, when I have to take 1 class. And I'll finish up the following spring w/ my final project class and be the Master. I'm excited, it's a good arrangement that allows me lots of time to be w/ Monkey in the first year and a half and also keep my brain alive and functioning. :)

And I'm 36 weeks. I should get this out there right now, I'm not good at waiting. And there's also this trend in my family and among my friends where babies seems to take their good ole time (comfortable uteruses must run in the family), so I've been basically assuming that I'll also go late. I figure if I set the bar up there maybe it won't be as hard? IDK. But it's also difficult to look at the calendar this month and be like "Yes, any of those days could be her birth-day. Or none of those days." I don't do well w/ this uncertainty. Oh, the other thing that doesn't help is people telling me their "early labor" stories. Like "oh, I had my baby at 35 weeks!!!" Good for you.

My plan WAS to read all the Harry Potter series in my waiting month. I read the first two so far, and it's fine. I Loved them the first time, but you know, I didn't know what happened at the end. It's slightly less enthralling this time. I'll still get to the others, but it's not like I'm devouring them at the rate and intensity I'd hoped I would. I was hoping it'd be the magic bullet that kind of made December fly by and all the sudden - I'm in labor!? Oh, I was so naive when I thought up this plan.

So now I'm pretty aimless actually. I don't have a ton of energy to go out and do social things and things I *should* do (read: clean the bathroom) but don't really have a lot of fun things to fill the time and make not doing the above things okay. I need a good book. Oh, and I realize I should be enjoying this, and some days I am, I'm just kind of bored.

I don't have an updated belly pic... I don't really think much has changed since the last one. I am looking pregnant now, but I'm still amazed at how not-giant I am. It's a good thing, the past few weeks have been very uncomf and I can only imagine what ppl who look like I do now when they're like 6 months feel at the end. I'm even kind of hoping I don't get any bigger. We'll see about that (*cough* Christmas Cookies *cough*)

Happy December!

How is it December already!? Yikes!! And at the same time... mmmmmm Christmas cookies.

Well, we've been busy busy. Here's my latest belly pic:
I'm now 34 1/2 weeks... and showin' like a mother. (haha, I'm glad I make myself laugh.) Little Quiglet's kicks have gotten WAY more intense over the past week or so. I still can say I don't *mind*... I generally like it because it's comforting to know she's in there and moving/growing/doing what she's supposed to be doing. Scott got to SEE movement this week, which is hilarious. It's like my body has been possessed. Which it kind of has... but anyway.

I've been finishing up my semester and nesting like crazy. I've washed all of her clothes and put the little darling things in the big dresser. I've organized a lot, though the crib still is kind of full of random stuff... we figure it won't be full of baby for a few more months.

Here's what the nursery looks like at the moment! We've rearranged it, bought a glider and generally filled it up a lot more since I last posted pictures of it.



Oh, and did I mention her bookshelf? Thank you, showers! I love all of the special books we have to start out with, and that each one has a close friend/family member's note to Quiglet. Though surely when she's like 4, she'll be like "Who's this Quiglet character?"

30 Weeks and Workout Update

Welp, Happy 30 weeks to me. The Big 3-0! Whoa.

Oh, and BOO! :)


I totally love swimming - I must say that it is by far the superior exercise for preggos. I am no longer running - I did my last run around 25/26 weeks. I'm quite happy I made it so far. Why did I stop? I just felt like it was too hard. *shrug* All along I told myself I'd do it as long as it was fun and I felt like I was getting something positive out of it. The most difficult part was that every time I'd run I would HAVE to take a nap that day... logistically that is just a little inconvenient, right? Plus, I realized the pace I was going was no faster than a brisk walk and, well, walking is cool too! I do miss it a lot though, and am really excited to get my groove back in the spring :)

So swimming twice a week is my new favorite workout. The most beautiful thing about it is that I jump in and stretch out a little and honestly *forget I'm pregnant*! It's quite nice, actually, seeing how it feels like it's encroaching more and more on day to day life. Things like, you know, putting shoes on and picking something up off the floor... But in the pool not very much has changed. I can still swim at a pretty respectable clip and get my heartrate up to a good zone. And smoke people swimming in the lanes beside me (chumps.)

Oh, and also - go phillies! :)

Last trip to PA: Baby Shower Time!

This past weekend we made our FINAL journey to Elizabethtown until APRIL! Wow, does that sound far away! Though this trip was hard (mainly, on me and my back), we know the next one might just be harder. :)

The main event this weekend was Quiglet's Baby Shower. It was a blast, my friends and family did a fabulous job making it a special and fun event. I can't figure out how to rip the pics off of Kodak, but here's the gallery.

We did a "Green" Shower, which I was really excited about because though I do love opening presents, the overwhelmingness of opening so many at a shower (I know, what a whiner) and the wastefulness of it made the idea of a shower w/ no wrapping paper really appealing. And it was fun, to me it was no less special!

Another awesome thing the shower planners did was ask everyone to bring a book in place of a card. Scott and I had such a fun time looking through all of the books we got to start Quiglet's library. :) It's special because of course we have our own favorite books but it was neat to see others' favorites. And who knows what baby girl will like!

This is her closet, Pre-Shower:

With the combination of ridiculous Old Navy sales and consignment sales, my mom and I have outfitted this kid for the first year. Though, I will say, most of this stuff is "cute" stuff rather than "functional" stuff... at the shower we got a bunch of sleeping items and loungewear (lol), which we definitely needed!

The Baby Hats

Things are going really well with my little wannabe baby hat making business :) I'm updating the flickr album w/ all the ones I've made and sent out (well, unless someone ordered one that was *just like* another one I've made). It's a great thing for me. Because, seriously, no hate to the Phillies (bc I'd lose half of my Facebook friends an like all of my family probably) but baseball is actually more boring than football. I didn't always think that, but now I do. I want them to keep winning, I really do, but deep down I know that every win means they'll keep playing more. *Sigh*

So, though this isn't a commercial blog or anything, I'm still loving making the hats and if you want one, let me know.

I thought I'd share some pics of hats I've made for little Quiglet. I'm planning on taking a bunch to the hospital so we can figure out what looks good on her. I mean, the pink is gorgeous, and more than likely she'll look great in it, but it's not for everyone. (This is one of the perks of having a GIRL! I'm embracing accessories)

Who is 28 weeks pregnant (already)?

Me... omg.


Into the 3rd trimester - wow that sounds scary. We have exciting times ahead... going home next weekend! Time flies, anyone can tell you this. But when you find out you're pregnant the first week in May, January 8th sounds a world a way. And depending on my mood, sometimes it still does. Maybe because it's in 2010 it adds to the far-away-ness of it. But dude, it's 3ish months away. That is all. And they're starting to put Christmas stuff in stores and all I know is Christmas = almost there.

We're making progress though... we painted the nursery and Scott put the furniture together...

And this weekend, we're tackling the bonus room. This is the room that since we moved in 6 months ago has been the go-to... "oh, just throw it in the bonus room." It's shameful, we still have (shudder) unpacked boxes. I've been pretty awesome at acquiring random baby things from all of the fabulous consignment sales Raleigh has. Things like an Exersaucer for $10, and a Bumbo for $12 (thanks Heather!). Which is all fabulous, but they live in a big pile in the bonus room. And I haven't even had my showers yet. So that's the benchmark: let's clear that out before we get ANYTHING ELSE.

It'll probably be last in line for our home renovations, as it makes a fantastic playroom. It's one of those things - it has very excellent carpet that is just not old enough for us to get rid of. BUT... it's plaid. It's not terrible (not like the bathroom wallpaper terrible) so we think we can live with it for a few years. And maybe it's actually good bc then we can just say - Ok Kids, don't worry if you mess up the carpet. :) And someday when the kids are older we can make the bonus room into a sweet movie theater (Scott's dream...not mine. Oh well, he just painted a room pink, I'll let him have it for now.)



My GOD, I wish it still looked like that.

*gag* Note to the Babe

Dear Quiglet/Monkey/She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,

Hey! I'm not one to do a big weekly or monthly note to a fetus (though I do hope to do a monthly letter to you once you're born!), but for some reason, today I was just struck by how EXCITED I am to be carrying you around, and how EXCITED I am to meet you in 3 months (or less.)

It seems like, for me at least, you go through life, and if something is awful or bringing you down, you think about it a lot, even take drugs for it. I find it completely unfair that when something is lifting you up and making you overjoyed, it's not equally celebrated and addressed. Well, Quiglet, today I'm saying it: you are making me THAT happy. Like I could be taking depressants because I'm so overjoyed most of the time and it feels so different from normal life. I'm totally annoying and irritating even to myself, as I lay reading on the couch and can't focus because I'm just smiling like a fool thinking about you. How crazy is that?

So, we're about to enter our final trimester... wow, did the first two fly or what? I've very much enjoyed the most recent one. You decided to I guess inhabit what (mostly) already existed of my stomach, making me wait to really look the part of the 6 months pregnant lady. I think I needed the lesson in patience anyway, and I'm sure you'll continue to teach me. But now you must have run out of corners of my belly to inhabit because - pop - now I'm showing. I even do that annoying pregnant lady thing when I'm out and about where I rub my stomach, just to eliminate any doubt strangers might have about my condition... And I was simultaneously shocked and not-shocked to find out you already weigh 2 pounds and are over a foot long. And I'm still loving your kicking and flipping and whatever the heck you're doing in there. I was thinking about it today while I was swimming - what ARE you doing? From the pictures it seems like you must not have much room, does that suck? I was thinking how miserable it'd be for 9 months to be so cramped to not do anything. But I guess you're doing a lot... you know, becoming human and getting ready to be self-sufficient. Don't worry, we'll help you out on the self-sufficiency thing. Might actually take a few years, but we're prepared for that.

Oh, and I hope you like hats. I made you one today, and true to form, was smiling like a fool the whole time thinking about you. *sigh* Do you like it?


Love,
Mama

Random Updates with pictures

We were up in PA this past weekend for our niece Sophie's 1st birthday party and christening! She is too cute, and because of this overabundance of cuteness, we didn't take a picture of ANYTHING ELSE other than her. Oh well. you know kids. She's at such a cute age, so fun to be around. Though I will say, Scott and I came home exhausted. Note: all comments that read "Ohhhh, just wait" will be deleted. :) So, Happy Birthday (Tomorrow), Sophie Monster!


And this is me, mid 25 weeks. Fall has arrived in NC, and it's a freaking blast! It's almost noon and still not 70 degrees here. I'm LOVING it! So this morning I got all ambitious and decided to go for a little run, but remembered, oh yeah, it's cool out! What does one wear to run in 60 degree weather? And once I zipped up the jacket, I had to take a pic bc... my oh my, it was tight. Also, as soon as I went outside I ditched it and went with short sleeves and pants. And ran 1.5 miles. Cause I'm still a rock star.

Things are going well with the pregnancy, this past weekend was the first few days where I really *felt* pregnant... like I had a belly that was observable and I've started this thing where I can't get up out of a chair or sofa without saying "uuuuuuugh." It's adorable, really. Stuff like that. It just felt more real and different this weekend. (Again, comments saying "Just you wait, missy" will be deleted. I. Know.) :)

After a really long weekend, I was kind of irresponsible and put off a lot of schoolwork, which I'm catching up on this week. School is going pretty well, and surprisingly hard with only two classes this semester. I love what I'm studying though, I was just thinking this morning about what my *favorite* class has been within my program and I'm not really sure! I'd have to pick at least 4 or 5, and I've only taken 9. So yeah, good choice, good investment, good use of time.

I love this semester also because with two classes and no job, it does give me time to keep up with life... like keep the house generally cleaner than I've ever been able to do before, and read! I'm enjoying it while it lasts :) Cause, you know... juuuust wait. I just read The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb and, though it was long, I ended up LOVING it. Absolutely love and recommend it.

One more random thing - I am getting a seasonal flu shot on Friday and have already started dreaming/nightmaring about it. I'm such a shot wussy, I'm screwed.

Baby update

Here's two 23 week belly pics. I really think it shrinks for the pictures... like she has stage fright or something.

Here's me in my new dress, for Kyle & Laurie's wedding and Sophie's baptism. Oh, and maybe my shower. I feel obligated to wear it as often as possible... bc it's too cute.
And this is today... (Please ignore the laundry... I still haven't figure out how to get it to put *itself* away. Seriously, any one have any tips on that?)


So, we got our nursery furniture delivered yesterday - wow! We're just leaving it in the boxes though, until we can get the room painted, but that kind of makes it all feel a little more urgent. Even though we do still have a bunch of time... it's exciting. I keep seeing little babies out and moms are probably like "why is that slightly fat woman staring at me and smiling wistfully?"

Today we were watching the Eagles dominate the Panthers and Monkey was kicking up a storm... I think she's an Eagles fan. Scott said that better not mean she is going to be a cheerleader. (oh SNAP! there go all my cheerleader readers.) I think she is also very excited about usability, as she also tends to jump up and down in my Usability Studies class. So, a geeky football lover? Does that sound like anyone we know? (No paternity tests necessary.)

Babies in Hats

My niece Sophie in the earflappy hat! She looks so cute in it!

My friend Heather's son Luke modeling the blue newsboy :)
I love how it makes him look like a little boy... so adorable!

This one might be for keeps... it's a newsboy + BIG flower.
I am starting to like big flowers on hats.

What's that you say?

... the nursery fan HAS a dimmer???

OMG, I wish I was joking. Yesterday, when I was going to turn off the fan, I inadvertently held the button in too long. My jaw drops as the light, instead of going off, grows dimmer. Whhhhaaaa?

If you haven't visited our house, or have forgotten this teeny part of the one teeny room, here's what the super space-age light switch looks like:


We usually point it out when giving home tours... and I swear, each time we find a new function. The seemingly silly part is the up/down thinger you see is for the fan speed. And all the buttons along the left side are for the fan speed. Only by holding the big button in do you get the dimming function. It's the weirdest thing ever, and we've been living here for almost 5 months and just yesterday discovered this.

This is the mixed blessing of a new home that's actually quite old: we have a dimmer, woohoo. But it's a lame switch so is it even useful? If we accidentally turn the light on FULL BLAST and wake the baby, does that defeat the purpose? These are weighty questions... and I'm not allowed to have enough coffee to really think about them so early.

So What, I'm Still a Rock Star/I wanna start a fight

Sometimes I feel like this is my theme song. When I'm running, though I'm sure Scott would refer you to the "Na-na-na-na I wanna start a fight" part. Since he told me "I know you're all pregnant or *whatever*". I'll get to that part :)

First off, this song by Pink always jazzes me up so much when I'm running. Especially now that I'm knocked up and running all slow and feeling like each run could be my last. It's empowering, bc it says "I'm still a rock star." That's just the sort of thing I want to hear when I'm running, motivational and simultaneously a tad cocky. And while I know it's not like a SUPER mega rock star, running 2 miles at 22 weeks is way more than I ever thought I could or would want to do. And whatever, if I want to be a little cocky about that, I will. Cause I'm a rock star. And I don't neeeed you...

So, oh yeah, the "I wanna start a fight" part. It's not a serious marital spat or anything, just a point of disagreement we had yesterday concerning the nursery fan. You might recall, there is a fan in EVERY ROOM of our house. Which is great, energy saving wise. I'm okay with the FAN part. I'm not saying blindly rip down all the fans (a la Trading Spaces, circa 2000). But, they annoy me because they have lights on them. And look like this:
I crouched down to where I estimate the crib mattress will be, so I'm doing an impression of a baby. And I'd just hate for our child's first words to be "Ooooh, my EYES! Turn off the damn light." Cause we have the same light over our own bed and those are my last word every night :). And I was trying to get my point across yesterday when I was told I was "all pregnant or *whatever*" and might have said it'd make the child blind. I mean, I'm no opthomologist, but that is some bright light action that can't be good for the newborn retina. Or cornea... whatever.

In all seriousness, my point is it's TOO BRIGHT and the way the light shines down is just not nice. At all. I originally wanted to just take off the light part and put a cap overtop, keeping the fan. Now I kind of want a new fan, one that has a light that looks like this:


(and for those of you who might live in PA where all the ceilings are gloriously smooth, this is what popcorn ceilings look like. You can contrast it to the smooth beauty underneath the scary ceiling fan.)

So, that's my point. And I'm not saying it's a NECESSITY, but a dimmer would also help a lot.

If anyone is so brave as to weigh in, I'd love some internet opinions. "We're all gonna get in a FIGHT!!!"

20 Weeks = Halfway = OMG.

So, instead of getting Scott to take a respectable, normal belly pic... I've decided to take you on a tour of my home with my iphone. This is the downstairs bathroom - like the new shutters? :) I like that guests can now shower without fearing Peeping Toms. It's the little things.

(And evidently I need to clean the mirror.)

This is the 20 week pic. I was on my way to go run 3 miles with my running buddies yesterday morning. I'm running way slow these days (think brisk walk), but still having fun with it! I'm actually considering doing a 5K next weekend. That's like the ultimate test of if Jamie has lost her competitive drive completely. It was a big challenge in the beginning to "run for fitness" and not time or distance or improvement... just to do it. It felt like slacking. But I do feel like I'm thinking of it differently now, so we'll see how I feel midweek.

I also wanted to officially state that we are keeping the baby name a secret until she's born. You can call her Monkey or Gertrude... we call her Monkey. It's endearing, though I might be a little petrified if she IS a monkey or something. I think we do it because of The Office, when Dwight and Angela call each other Monkey as a pet name. It's a terrible reason, but I think that's where it comes from. Gertrude, or Gert, is what we told my parents her name is. I think they bought it.

Well, it *feels* bigger.

18 week belly pic.

Excuse the swimming paraphernilia drying on the tub and my makeup-less and expression-less face. And in obvious news that I didn't realize, taking pics in a miror makes my bathroom look reversed. And the apple logo.

A Girl!

AAAAAH! We had a great appointment yesterday, got a nice long ultrasound where we got to see our teeny baby GIRL (from all angles!) It was amazing. It was the most fun day, I feel like a grinning fool. In some ways, yesterday was even more fun than the day I found out I was pregnant - I'm further along and it all just feels more REAL now. I'm so, so, so excited.

The ultrasound tech had me all greased up and was showing us various body parts and all of the sudden she's like "here the legs are spread, yup, it's a girl. You see, there's here labia." And I have to say, part of me thought Scott might want to run and hide outside, I mean, anatomical terms like that - ESPECIALLY in reference to his daughter? I just didn't thin

k the ultrasound tech would get away with that. But honestly, he didn't flinch. And he made me text that we had a pic of the labia to his sister. I think he's growing up... :) *sniff sniff*

I also feel like in the movies when they do this ultrasound, the women are usually WAY more pregnant than I am. There you go again, never trust Hollywood.

Also, you can't trust polls on blogs, evidently. 54% of you were wrong :)

After the appointment, we went out for lunch and went to a nice little baby boutique and bought a pink lovey. I don't intend to buy much from a boutique for me and the child -we figure a savings account might be more beneficial to our daughter than a $45 onesie - but I'm excited to have an adorable lovey with the memory of when we found out she was a she attached to it. We're overjoyed.

"And my feet won't touch the ground,

It's such, it's such a perfect day."

-Strawberry Swing, Coldplay

Here's some pics of our girl :)

A profile, full body. (Head at top, you can see the brain. Whoa.)

Now she's LOOKING AT YOU! In all honesty, this one kind of weirds me out.

An up-close of the profile. This is just the head, though you can see her heart (that small black dot at the far left.

Her little feet! Isn't it the sweetest?

It shall become He or She... tomorrow

I'm SO excited for that - giving my child a respectable pronoun referrant (dangit, I wish I remembered what I learned in Linguistics last year...) So yeah - we have our big ultrasound tomorrow! Pray that the child isn't all demure and leg crossing. That will make the "news" substantially less newsworthy.

I'll update the blog tomorrow evening, and I should warn you, voting ends tonight at midnight in the poll over there-->. So if you've been holding off on voting... 'tis your last chance. And it will make a difference.

I still don't have much of a belly to speak of... my friend Kathleen said she noticed a difference on Saturday, but I think she was just feeling bad for me (although I appreciated it). I think I'm still stuck in the "Gosh, that girl must eat a lot of pizza" phase. Which, let's be honest, I really do. Like... a lot. I'll get another bump pic up soon :)

The countdown is on!

We find out on August 12th if Baby McQ is a boy or a girl! I put a little poll in the sidebar - what do you all think? This is a really scientific method, I know.

If anyone has any old wives' tale questions in which the answers will determine your poll response, I'll probably answer them.

Oh, and PS: I'm not voting. :)

3 pictures + 3 stories

A Tale of Lots of Yardwork
This weekend we did lots of yardwork. We're both very sore. This is all of our yardwaste bags. Scott decided to declare war on the ivy... which, if you've seen our yard, is a pretty insane declaration. But he fought hard and is prepared to do so for many, many months to come. It's on, Ivy.


I'm wearing maternity pants, and I may never take them off. :) Special thanks to Kathleen, Megan and Heather for the donations/loaners. I'm pretty stylin'... and also very comfortable. A related thought: All pants could benefit from a stretchy panel. I'm serious. (This pic is a 15 week'er)



If you were wondering why there's cat hair in your Peaches...

We just learned Smarty loves peaches, like catnip style! I went to the Farmers' Market this weekend, a new hobby I think. And look at all the fabulous stuff I got! And Smarty was doing a little photo shoot for me, begging to have her pic taken.

My changing relationship with Running

The day before I found out I was pregnant, I ran ten miles the Philly Broad Street Run. And that's the most hardcore thing I've done "during my pregnancy." :) It has always been a goal of mine to remain active during pregnancy and though it's been hard, I've been able to maintain some level of fitness. Not *nearly* what it used to be, but that's pretty much what they tell you to do.


Running while pregnant seems to be a vastly misunderstood thing. It's okay, and I'm going to do it for as long as I want to and feel good doing it. I realize that at some point the belly will interfere, and I'm down w/ that. But for now I'm still enjoying it, just in a very different way. For instance, last night I ran 2 miles at an average pace of 11:30. It has taken me a few weeks to come to terms w/ these numbers. I kind of had to abandon the way I used to think of the numbers - constantly wanting to get a good pace or go farther - and think of them as merely a gauge that I am putting forth the correct amount of effort and hitting a time threshhold (run for 30 minutes) rather than distance threshhold. It's different. In some ways, it's not as fun, but in others, it's a lot less pressure. I'm just going for a leisurely run with my child. :) The new challenge is getting myself out there!


I've been going to the gym at work too, which is good because, let's be honest, it's hot as crap outside in July here. I've been doing more on the treadmill than I typically like over the past few weeks, but it is helpful because it keeps me at a respectable and advieable pace without requiring much monitoring on my part. And it's climate controlled! I've been doing *some* lifting, but that's not my favorite. But the upside is of all the geeky nerds that work here, very few workout. ;)

I'm going to transition to using the gym at Scott's work in the coming weeks. They have a POOL! I'm kind of excited to start swimming again. Should be fun and it's a highly recommended way for pregnant women to work out.

Back with a Big Post

Well, I've certainly been a bad blogger, haven't I?

here's my excuse:

Hopefully you'll cut me some slack!

Here's some info to get you from A to B. A being "WHAT? Jamie updated her blog, I'm so mad she didn't write for so long." to "Wait, what? She's growing a human?"

Being that I'm getting a bunch of good experience as a technical writer this summer, how about some FAQ's (even though I don't see any FAQ's on IBM's website, so I can assume that it isn't quite a cutting edge technology in tech comm...)?

You're Pregnant?

Yes. Yes I am. And I'm excited too.

What did Scott say?

I think the direct quote from when I got back into bed after peeing on the stick was something like "oooh, good."

When are you due?

I'm due January 8th, 2010. Of course we'd love the tax deduction in 2009, but it'd also be great to get it in '10. That's pretty much the main reason we're doing this. Woohoo, money!

How are you feeling?

Ah, this is popular. While I understand and appreciate the sentiment, I never quite know how to answer it. When I say "Pretty good" or "Okay" I can feel Scott cringe. Some days, I felt like absolute crap, and am not ashamed to say I dug up some of the plastic bags from last year in my pre-reusable bag days as a just-in-case bag for the car ride into work. Yeah. Mornings weren't the best, I'm not going to lie. But it's now the second trimester and everything I've heard about it is true, most the energy returning and nausea vanishing. So, rather than focus on how iffy life was the past two months, let's focus on how excited I am now. And how I can eat fruit and drink water again!!!

Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Will you find out?

Oh heck yes we'll find out! This is one thing we didn't even really discuss, we're both pretty sold on it. We should be able to find out mid-August. I don't have a huge inclination one way or another at this point. I really hope it's a girl ...or a boy. That's all I really want.

So that's the skinny. With the combination of the end of the 1st tri, the coming and going of Ashley's wedding and just a random TOTAL slowdown of weekend events, I hope to dust off the blog and ... you know... blog on it. Our schedule was pretty insane in May and June, but it's minorly hilarious how there's next to nothing planned for most of July & August. I'm really pretty excited about that, quite honestly!