The Crying Substitute

First, it must be said that I do cry pretty easily when I really get into a story. I hear it gets worse when your pregnant. But even if I hadn't been pregnant, I probably still would have cried.

I substituted for an English class today and in the 8th grade English class I was to read aloud the last few pages of a condensed (and cleaned up) version of "Flowers For Algernon." Now, surprisingly, I've never read this book before, and though I had heard of it, I didn't know anything about it. So I started reading, out loud to 30-odd 8th graders, right at the climax of the story and we finish it. It's a "science fiction" story that really is about humanity. It's about a man named Charlie who is mentally disabled and recruited to take part in a neuroscience experiment that will triple his IQ. The entire story is his journal entries pre and post-operation. It is wonderfully written. He is a very motivated and hard working, loving man who wants to desperately to be smart. But a few weeks after the operation, and after he has achieved genius level IQ's, he discovers that the operation has actually ruined his brain and it will begin deteriorating as quickly as it has advanced. The experiment was also done on a mouse named Algernon, who becomes his pet. When Algernon dies, he faithfully puts flowers on his grave once a week. His last request is that someone else continue doing.
So I began reading the story from his discovery and continue with his descent back into mental retardation and it is painful to read and so touching. So much so, that by the second to last page I have to pause so I don't break down. that only prompted a student to ask, "Are you crying?" Which caused me to lose it. I finished the story, weeping, and them gave them their assignment. I went to lunch and joked/complained to the other teachers that that was not a very nice thing for Alissa (the absent teacher) to do to a sub. Then I went back for third period. Which was 8th grade English, and did it all over again. Now I have a headache.

Pi Day and the Burgeoning Belly

That would be an interesting book title...

For those of you not so math-minded as Ben, this past Saturday was Pi Day (it being March 14, aka 3.14 which is pi). So we made pie at our house. I think it was the first time I ever made pie all by myself. We bought some frozen pie crust, but I made the apple filling from scratch. It was pretty fun, and I must say it turned out pretty good, though I had a little too much liquid, so we spooned some if it out after we ate our Pi day pieces.
And for loved ones far away that are wondering if I'm starting to show, I have proof. This first is a picture at at 15 weeks.
And this is at 22 weeks
And this is fun times with the belly.

Just Keeping With Tradition

*First off, I would have posted a picture from the ultrasound, but I haven't scanned it yet, and they aren't really the clearest. So I thought this would be nice too.

On to the real news. We had the ultrasound on Monday and got our first peek at the baby. It was so cool to watch the doctor point stuff out. The neatest thing for me was when the baby would move I could feel it AND see it.

Of course, we wanted to know the gender (Ben is such a planner that I don't think he could handle it otherwise). And we are proud to be keeping up a quasi-family tradition by having a GIRL first.
I'm the oldest and a girl, and so is my mom, several cousins (8 of a possible 13), two nieces, and Ben as a sister as the oldest in his family as well. So we'll call it tradition. The doctor also moved up the due date from July 20 to July 15 because she is measuring a...healthy size for her age. We told him that both of our families were NOT known for small babies (Ben was 10 lb. 11 oz, and my siblings had huge heads--they still do actually).
At any rate, we are planning on naming her Eleanor Lee Lewis and calling her Ellie. It's a tradition in my family to give the oldest girl the middle name Lee, so that was a given. I had picked out Eleanor before I ever met Ben for a few reasons. 1) I liked it and the famous historical women who have been named Eleanor (Roosevelt, of Aquataine), 2) I'm a nerd and love Lord of the Rings, and in the end of the book Sam names his daughter Elanor after the flowers in Lothlorien. That's when I first thought of it as a name. Not that I am naming my child after LOTR, I just liked the name. 3) Elinore Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite literary characters (who, incidentally, was played to perfection by Emma Thomas in the film adaptation). So that's the plan.
And besides the obvious reasons to be excited about a girl (finally a girl for me to play with!), it just means that we will have a built in baby sitter for all the boys we'll probably have to keep up the other family tradition (which is to have more boys than girls).

Seriously?! (And some parenthetical comments)

I had a really busy day last Thursday. I did a full day of substituting at the junior high, where I was an English teacher and got to teach about Romeo and Juliet.
Sidenote: I love Shakespeare, and I think that R & J is a fantastic play, if a little over-done and over-studied (why don't more of us read Titus Andronicus in school-oh yeah, it's really really gorey). However, I had forgotten what a dirty little rascal old Will was. As we read/listened on CD to Act I scene i (and I was probably the only one who got it all), I noted again how as the two Capulet servants banter back and forth rather wittily, that they spend most of their jesting on less than savory subjects. Basically they joke around about beating up Montague men and raping montague women. It's fabulous. But again, these ninth graders don't get it. They have no idea what maidenhead means.
Okay, back to the original story. Ben had Parent/Teacher Conferences that night and we had signed up to can beans at the dry pack cannery in Lindon at 5 and then I had to go to a meeting-thingy at 7 down at BYU and then go pick up Ben at about 8:30. So I thought I had a few spare hours between the end of school, 3:00, and canning at 5. I decided to be proactive and take our car in for an oil change (it's probably overdue).
I hauled myself down to Wal-mart and a very nice mechanic-man checked me in. I was the second car in line, and I knew that an oil change shouldn't take that long so I should be fine (I'm sure you see the problem coming). I wandered around Wal-Mart (and I'll admit to looking at baby stuff and wondering what it is that is kicking around inside me). After an hour I headed back over to the auto section. My car hadn't moved. At all.
So I sat down in their little waiting room and watched the end of National Treasure. I like that movie. It's fun. But 40 minutes later, my car still hadn't moved and it was time to go. Additionally, I had noticed sitting there that there didnt' really seem to be any mechanics around, except for the girl who came in with another wally-world employee to get coffee and she complained about the laziness of the current employees. Fantastic. So I found coffee girl and told her that I needed to leave, though I had been waiting for over an hour and a half. She kindly took my name off the list and I left fuming. Clearly I still haven't recovered.
On the upside, canning was really fun and we are now the proud owners of 60ish pounds of black and pinto beans and two cans of hot chocolate mix. And on the radio to the cannery I heard that Autozone is having a deal on their oil changes; I just hope their customer service is better.

Babysitting Sugar "Babies"

This weekend we babysat, or pet-sat I guess, our friends' sugar gliders. We've known Steve and Melinda since we were all in the same singles ward together, so it is really fun to have them in our regular ward.


Well, they went to St. George, so we watched their pets, Ginger and Rambo. I keep calling them sugar babies, maybe cause they are tiny but maybe cause I like candy.


Sugar Gliders are nocturnal marsupials native to eastern Australia. They have a flap of skin between their limbs that allows them to glide around. They move super fast. One of our favorite things is to watch them zip around in circles in the cage.
I've learned to wear long sleeves because they have tough claws that help them hang in all sorts of precarious positions.


Initially Ben had the most success luring them out of the cage to play in the evening with yogurt treats, but since then I have become their favorite jungle gym.
I find that this happens with children too. Maybe I have some sort of "jungle gym" pheromone that only children and animals can smell.
At any rate, we've had a lot of fun looking after them. They are really easy pets and very adorable. I'll be sad to give them back, but glad to get the floor space back (since we didn't have much to begin with).

The Fully Automated Bathroom

I recently experienced the newly remodeled Fully Automated Bathroom in the Wilkinson Center. Here is how it goes. Sit on toilet and place hand under the toilet paper dispenser and voila! it dispenses itself into your hand. Then stand up and the toilet flushes itself. Exit stall and place hands under faucet and water turns itself on; place hands under soap dispenser and it dispenses itself. Rinse under self-running water. Here is the best part-approach new Airblade hand dryer (seen left). Insert hands into hollowed out area and slowly pull out (the air turns on when you stick your hands in). Unfortunately, it doesn't really work very well, but it sure looks cool! Now all we need is the automatic sanitary toilet seat cover and self warming toilet seats and we'll be set.

PS Ben recently informed me that they replaced the urinals in the mens bathroom in the WILK, and they are "water-free." That's right, they don't use water, it just all goes straight down the drain. I hope someone is cleaning them regularly.

Recent Obsessions

So as my pregnancy progresses (I'm officially at 16 weeks today), I find myself craving and obsessing over things previously overlooked. Some of my most recent things include:



Palmer's Lotion for stretch marks. It's not that I'm afraid of getting stretch marks, since I've never been one to bare my stomach anyway. I've always gotten very dry skin during the winter, and now it is ten times worse and my skin is more sensitive. Thanks to my sister-in-law Melissa introducing this lotion to me because it hasn't given me any trouble. And special props to Ben for putting lotion on my back every morning after I shower. Not only do I get moisterized, but I get a little massage out of it too. I have the best husband.





Maternity Pants. I'm only just starting to show, but I only have two regular pairs of pants that still fit (as long as there is an elastic in the buttonhole). So I've bought some maternity pants. I'm in love. And I can breathe. And now there is alittle less pressure on my already taxed bladder (I know, it's just going to get worse).















Sour Patch Kids. I just think they taste really really good. Sour and sweet all in one. I'm a happy camper.
















Chips and salsa. Now, Ben will tell you that I was already obsessed with chips and salsa, which is true. But now I really need it. Yep, it's a need.













Arby's Beef and Cheddar. I've always liked Arby's, but I have never craved it before. And now I do. Too bad I crave the most expensive fast food out there. Oh well, it's tasty.











Beef. I've never craved beef the way I crave it now. Chicken tastes funny to me now, so give me beef. It's what's for dinner.















Nalgene/Water. The junior high I work at gave us all "green" Christmas presents. The best part was the Nalgene bottle. I drink two of them every day, if not more. That could partially explain the frequent trips to the bathroom. But water is great. And so is knowing that I've downed 64 ounces of it! Go me.