The end of Lisa's fabulous web page

Lisa's Fabulous Web Page will soon be off line. The web page has not been updated in several weeks (if not months) due to maintenance being conducted by the web page's host, Insightbb. It seems likely that another web page will appear in the fairly new future, though this blog is more up-to-date than the web page ever was. Watch here for more information on this and other developments.

Amelia and I are enjoying the lovely Fresno weather on our trip north through California. While outside this evening, the temperature dropped from 102 to 99 degrees. I almost considered stepping inside to retrieve a light jacket.

Of course, it's a dry heat.

Actually, the hot weather here still feels a heck of a lot better than the weather in Indiana. That muggy heat you encounter in the Midwest is just too much for me. Amelia and I enjoy being outside in the evenings here at grandpa's house. Amelia splashes barefoot in patio puddles while I hit various balls with an oversized plastic bat. Then we both rock on the back porch swing until it's time to go in for watermelon. Seems like a nice, normal summer to me.

Our journey will probably continue up to our new home on Monday. Michael is encountering some snags in Indiana, but nothing he can't overcome. Once he's on the road, I'm sure everything will fall into place.

Lisa

P.S. Still pregnant.

Morro Bay wildlife

Today I decided to take Amelia to see the seals down at the Morro Bay aquarium. On the way I noticed that enough fog had cleared for a good view of Morro Rock and thought I might try to get some good shots of Amelia on the beach (since my camera is again operational).

Amelia had a fun time on the beach. First she encountered a group of kids with their parents and proceeded to introduce herself and play with their sand shovels. This girl is so outgoing with other kids it makes me laugh. She then wanted to see the water, but she was an extremely good girl and stayed close to mommy holding my hand all the time she was near the water. She also seemed to not want to get too wet for a change, which was great since I did not want to get wet either.

Once I managed to get Amelia back up to the parking lot we spent some time chasing the small squirrels that live in the rocks and beg for peanuts. Amelia referred to the squirrels as "mice," which was pretty funny and fairly accurate. After spending some time with the seagulls and squirrels we were off to see the seals.

I got a good parking place right next to the aquarium. Unfortunately, this space was also near the entrance to a small pier that slanted subtly down toward the boats below. The pier was designed so it would be safe for little ones like Amelia, but she loves going up and down ramps so much it was almost impossible to get her to move on and see the seals. Seals, as you may know, are obnoxiously loud. When they started barking nearby Amelia perked up and said, "Elephant." I told her that was actually a seal she was hearing and she started looking around for the seals. She looked over the side of the pier and concluded the seals were "hiding in the rocks."

Eventually, I got Amelia inside the aquarium. The aquarium only cost $2 for the two of us plus $0.50 for a bag of fish pieces to feed the seals. The seals at the aquarium are being rehabilitated from a variety of injuries or other reasons that aren't clear, but they're happy to bark and slap their flippers all day for smelly fish bites. Amelia liked the seals.

Inside, the aquarium was only slightly less depressing than I had remembered. Back when I lived here the dark room that is the aquarium contained large tanks filled with fish hidden by green sludge. The sludge was gone, but you can't help but feel bad when you see a tank is almost one-quarter octopus. Yeah, it's nice to see an octopus that close up, but the poor guy obviously can't swim around at all.

Amelia and I both came home and took naps after our adventure. She's been such a good girl today! Soon, we'll be going out to eat then tomorrow we're off to Fresno for more adventures.

The happy couple

Again, I'm sure there are ways to improve the quality of these pictures...but I'm not sure I have the knowledge right now to do so.

Here's a picture of Chris with his new bride, Gloria. As you can see they look great together. Gloria's gown was lovely, and I honestly think they practiced a little bit before dancing at the wedding (Chris even spun his bride once or twice).

Oh, and the date recorded by the camera is a bit off. The wedding actually took place Saturday the 24th (not Sunday the 25th).

Wedding Photo

Here's a photograph of Adrian (Nikki) and I. Adrian was my brother's best man and he and I have known each another since junior high.

I apologize if this photo looks a little grainy. It was scanned off of a print by someone (me) who has no experience with the scanner involved and almost no experience with Apple computers (on which I'm working these days). Still, I thought everyone would enjoy seeing my big pregnant belly. I will do what I can to get more, and better quality photos, out to y'all in the near future.

Lisa

Back to the Beach

Mommy, daddy and Amelia all arrived safe and sound in California on Thursday.

I am, happily, still pregnant - which is great. In fact, in a few short days I will be more preganant than I have ever been before. I brought my old copy of "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" to California. I had been reading the book one week at a time while I was pregnant with Amelia, but never found out how the book ends. (Remember that I found myself in the hospital during week 35.) Will the baby arrive safely in week 40, as expected? Will Jane and Matt ever get together? These are questions I have yet to answer.

Friday the family attended my brother's wedding rehearsal. That morning Amelia woke up with some amazing hair. Her grandmother has compared her, based on this photograph, to Cosmo Kramer. To me she looks like a mad genius, (maybe the next Beethoven).

Chris and Gloria's wedding was today, and it was lovely. I would have liked to have posted some photographs here, but my camera is acting up - sigh. I will post something as soon as I am able. For now just know that it was great to see my family again and some old friends I have not seen in a long time.

Right now I'm listening to a chorus of "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." It's bath time for Amelia. But, before I run off I want to assure everyone that we're all fine and happy to be back in California. Mike will be leaving again tomorrow to finish packing our apartment in Indiana. I wish him luck and safe travels, and I hope the weather isn't still as lousy as it was when I left.

Lisa

Amelia has enjoyed riding in the front seat of "daddy's car" these past few days. (For those of you concerned with safety, this is a pick-up, so there is no back seat.) 

We all want to fly

As most of you know, I had my final doctor's appointment yesterday. Well, obviously that wasn't my final doctor's appointment, but it will be my last appointment here in Indiana if everything goes well.

Here's the latest news on the little baby: as of right now, I am still pregnant. During my appointment, everything looked fine and everything was proceeding normally. Of course, the doctor had to remind me that based on my history with Amelia, I could go into labor at any time. But that time isn't right now, and as long as we can hold labor off another 24 hours or so, we'll be okay.

This morning Amelia and I were watching pictures on the computer and I made the mistake of telling her, "We're going to see grandma and grandpa and uncle Chris and aunt Gloria and daddy tomorrow." Well, if we're going to see all of these wonderful people soon, why not today? Amelia started becoming very excited and repeating, once again, "Airport, airplane, airport!"

I realized that Amelia believed we would be leaving today and had to assure her that we were going to the airport tomorrow - not today. Once she realized we were staying home today she began to cry. I felt so bad for her, but it was really sweet. She was so disappointed, she wanted to be held by mommy.

I guess getting her out the door early tomorrow morning won't be a problem.

I am still packing little by little, but I am trying to take it easy. While I was talking to a neighbor last night she reminded me that I'm at the point in my pregnancy where I should be taking it easy and putting my feet up. She's probably right, and I am really looking forward to being around family and friends again tomorrow who can help me out. (Even having someone around who can play with Amelia is a huge help at this point.)

Lisa

Mike's trip report, part two

I know everyone has been anxiously awaiting to hear about my drive through Oklahoma, so I thought I would get up and write about it first thing in the morning. Yes, I survived.

When I got up in the morning, just across the border, one thing I did not expect was for it to be raining. Actually, it was refreshing compared to the 100-plus degree weather that was forecast. There would be enough of that as the day progressed, but for now the day was off to a good start. So I filled up my tank and proceeded for Tulsa, OK.

Oklahoma signs

In Oklahoma, I saw a bunch of things I had never seen before. There were a number of interesting signs posted along the way. Apparently, just after crossing in, I was on a toll road. The funny thing was that, while I was warned that I would have only the next exit to avoid paying the toll, it wasn't until after I was committed that there was any indication of how much the toll would be. (It was $3.50.)

But another sign, "Speed Limit 75" more than made up for any sneakiness from the previous sign. Oklahoma understands that drivers like myself would like to, um, expedite our journey through the great state. (Actually, I was expecting brown and boring but it was green and pretty most of the way. Wait until next month I guess.)

The most interesting sign was one that would appear several times as I drove through Oklahoma: "Do not drive through smoke." Um, okay. This is one of those occasions where maybe little bit of context would have been helpful. Is Oklahoma known for its brush fires, or exploding cars? Or do things that burn in Oklahoma turn into toxic fumes that can overpower the unexpected out-of-towner? Fortunately, there was no opportunity for me to find out. But at least the sign was interesting.

Brushes with fame

One thing I didn't know was that there were so many "world famous" attractions along the route of my journey! And here I thought it would just be a boring drive I would seek to complete as fast as possible. But no! Even before reaching Oklahoma I passed a "world famous" cavern where the outlaw Jesse James hid once. But that did nothing to prepare me for what was next... there was this "world famous" antique store, a "world famous" largest barrel-making facility in the world, and - the granddaddy of them all - the "world's largest McDonalds" in middle-of-noplace, Oklahoma. Although I suspect that, since it billed itself as "still" the world's largest, there must have been some controversy over whether or not that title still applies. All I know is that, as I drove under the restaurant, I thought to myself, "That's a freakin' big McDonalds!"



My so-called lunch

As I proceeded through Tulsa and to Oklahoma City, I noticed that both the car and I were hungry for fuel. I didn't really want to stop, but I figured I may as well get it over with. So just on the west side of OKC I saw an exit with both gas and food and decided it was time.

One thing that enticed me was one of those large, built for maximum visibility signs posted just off the freeway - this one was for "Wendy's." I like Wendy's because you can get lots of 99-cent stuff and make a meal out of it - including a side salad and a baked potato, more healthy than the usual fast-food fare. Unfortunately, Oklahomans must not feel the same way, because when I got there it was all boarded up. But, lucky for me, right next door was this burger joint called "Braun's" that looked like it had potential. It served real ice cream products, and was a non-smoking restaurant. So I thought I would give it a try. Big mistake.

I'll spare you many of the details, but I got the steak sandwich combo. They should have called it the "steak" sandwich - with the quotation marks included. When I saw the sandwich, I thought they made a mistake. Their "steak" was nothing more than a hamburger which was dipped in batter or something before it was slapped down on the grill. It looked like one of those chicken sandwiches - now I wish it was. It tasted like sawdust.

Ah, but it was a "combo" meal - including fries and a shake. They could have put those in quotes, too. Then I could have included the finger-quotes gesture when I ordered. (I would like a "steak" sandwich, an order of "fries," and a vanilla "shake" please. That would have been fun.) The fries were obviously straight out of the freezer and had exactly zero taste. And the shake seemed like it had been out in the sun for an hour before they served it to me. I couldn't get out of there soon enough.

So, should any of you ever find yourself in Oklahoma, heed my words. If you see a sign for "Braun's" - and there are a few of them - just keep driving. Your stomach will thank you.

So I finally hit Interstate 40 and was on my way to Texas. Next post, I'll write about my brief but interesting time at another "world famous" location in the great city of Amarillo. Take care!

Mike's trip report, part one

Greetings from Albuquerque! It has been a fun and exciting adventure so far, as I drive Lisa's car to California.

It's hard to believe, but it was only yesterday morning when I left Indiana. My plan was to get through Missouri and I was successful. I even had an opportunity to stop in St. Louis and see a Cardinals game in the new ballpark. After parking directly across the street from the stadium, I went in and was presented with a free commemorative baseball for the ballpark's inagural season. Then, because it was dog day, I got a bag with free dog food and dog snacks. Actually, for me the bag was the most useful part of that package since I had stuff to carry.

My seat was in the upper deck on the third base side of home plate. It was a great view with the St. Louis skyline in the background. Mind you, I could have spent $250 and sat right behind home plate, but I went with the inexpensive option. I bet those $250 ticket holders would have gladly traded places with me when the sky opened up and it started pouring - I was under an awning during the 45 minute rain delay. I shared a three-seat row with a nice couple from Peoria - it was nice to talk some baseball and to see the Cardinals win.

After the game, I proceeded to drive through the great state of Missouri. It's bigger than I thought - fortunately there were several nice rest stops. And a Subway restaurant. There's more to Missouri than that, but nothing sticks out in my memory. A good preview of Oklahoma - but more on that later. At sundown, I stopped in Joplin, MO, which is right on the Oklahoma border. I knew I was in the South when I heard "how y'all doin'" repeatedly. Everyone there was very friendly and the Best Western where I stayed was quite nice.

I'll write about my journey from Joplin to Albuquerque tomorrow. I'm glad these hotels have internet access, because it is nice to see pictures and movies of Lisa and Amelia, and to send and receive e-mail. We'll be reunited in California on Thursday - can't wait.

A matter of perspective

If you check today's date on the Internet Interactive Pregnancy Calendar, you'll see that today is a good day to pack a bag for the impending birth. Ha! If they only knew...

Today we had a thunderstorm. It was brief, but it brought a lot of rain and enough thunder and lightening to interrupt Amelia's nap. Shortly after the storm, the skies became remarkably clear and the weather got warm.

Amelia had been grouchy all day, so though I wanted her to be able to walk around a bit after dinner, I did not feel like taking her out in public. Instead, I decided to let her wander around our familiar apartment complex. When I saw that one of Amelia's favorite spots to play had turned into a giant puddle, I thought she would be disappointed that she couldn't play there without getting wet. I also thought about all the blood-sucking mosquitoes the puddle would produce.

Amelia had no such concerns. She loved walking though the muddy puddle that had settled on her favorite bit of lawn. She kept walking back and forth, back and forth through the puddle soaking her pants and socks. She kept asking me to accompany her, but I politely declined. I'm just not interested in muddy wet socks.

Eventually, I had to pick Amelia up and carry her away from the water. Funny, but we had the same experience at the beach when Amelia got soaked to the bone with freezing ocean water. She cried when we carried her away from the beach. Maybe Amelia's really part mermaid?

Lisa

Amelia Mae - card shark

Michael invited friends from work over for a friendly game of Texas Hold'em tonight. They were scheduled to meet at seven, so Amelia and I dropped by the clubhouse at eight to make a friendly appearance.

After finding "Lady and the Tramp" on the clubhouse television I was invited to sit in on a couple of hands of poker. Michael counted out some chips and I joined the men at the end of the table.

Well, it wasn't long until Amelia decided that she'd rather sit with me than watch TV. She enjoyed playing with my chip stacks as I threw away hand after lousy hand.

At some point I decided to show Amelia my cards. I know she can recognize some letters and numbers, but didn't think it likely that she would reveal much to the table. Looking at a lousy five/seven combo Amelia said, "Ooh, triangles, butterflies." I thought that was pretty good, since diamonds do look a little like triangles and clubs do resemble butterflies somewhat. I pitched my lousy cards quickly, but later noticed that had I stayed in the hand I would have made a full house; who knew?

I was dealt two spades the next hand (including the ace). Amelia looked at my cards and said, "One bird, two birds." I can see how spades might look like birds. This hand was good enough to keep and was a winner when I managed to get the nut flush.

Then I got another matched set with an ace. This time my cards were hearts. Amelia apparently knows hearts and pointed to my cards saying, "One heart and another heart." Luckily, no one was paying much attention and I won yet again with another nut flush.

So what did I learn by playing cards with Amelia? First of all, she seems to bring good luck, which is great. Secondly, she isn't shy about telling everyone what she sees in your hand. That may be okay with a couple of fellows playing Hold'em poker for the first time, but it won't work well with Mike's parents who are good card players and very attentive to Amelia's every word.

Lisa

Kitten with a Whip - Uncle Mike found this photo of me from January 1996 during his move. Yep, just a typical Sailor on a normal day in Spain. (Yes, I've changed a little over the past ten years.) 

The move moves forward

Though things are progressing slowly, with regards to our move to California, they are progressing. Every day a little more gets packed, dumped or given away.

All along the way important decisions have to be made. For example, what should be packed first? I guess it's pretty obvious that no one would pack their toothbrush a week before moving, but do you pack pots and pans? Which ones? Which spices won't you be using this week? What DVD's might you watch before you leave?

I could sit down and diagram packing decisions in a spread sheet, but that would waste more time. However, if I were to think everything through logically I would add a new dimension to my decision about whether to pack or not pack an item. That dimension is the annoyance factor.

For example, today I packed away my mixer. You wouldn't think a mixer would be annoying, but the mixer is in a low cabinet in the kitchen where Amelia can reach it. Nearly every day Amelia pulls all of the beaters out of the mixer bowl and scatters them about on the kitchen floor. I don't want anything on the kitchen floor I might step on, but I particularly don't want to step on a bread-kneading attachment, for example.

If I thought I could get away with it, I would pack Amelia's crayons and blocks. But it's tough when you know she uses something every day and will ask after it if it disappears.

Another tough decision to be made each day is, "Nap or pack?" When you're nearly eight months pregnant, nap wins out over pack almost every day. This further slows the progress toward our eventual move. But, again, we are all slowly moving forward and regardless of what has or has not been sorted Amelia and I will be on a plane to California next week...

Unless the doctor finds that labor has started when I visit him next Tuesday.

Lisa

P.S. My Internet service provider still hasn't resolved it's web page issues. For those of you who would like to see an updated Lisa web page, it may not happen at all. Though I will keep trying until I leave Indiana.

Mike and Amelia enjoy a Mexican lunch at La Torre (Amelia loves chips, beans and rice). 

Slowly making progress

Our family is slowly moving toward moving. Each day a couple of new boxes are packed and stacked. All boxes are being sorted through and items are being designated as keepers, Goodwill or garbage. Personally, I am trying to cut deep with the knowledge that within a few short months of moving we may move again to either a larger apartment or a home.

Uncle Mike, who recently moved to Ohio, was in town today to work on his place. He had lunch with Amelia and I and watched her throughout the afternoon while I packed and sorted. It was a big help and I hope to see Mike again tomorrow.

So, progress is being made. Our kitchen is getting to the point where, well, we're going to have to find someplace else to put boxes - and that's okay.

This may be my best organized move ever.

Lisa

Selling our washer and dryer left room for these lovely boxes. 

Amelia visits the neighbor's cat, Fluffy (a.k.a. "kitty cat"). Fluffy is very patient with Amelia and allows her to pet her over and over again and exclaim, "It's soft." 

Amelia - coffee shop aficionado

Amelia woke up hungry at six a.m. this morning and asked for some raisins. After a bowl of cereal with raisins, she was fine. She stayed up until nearly her normal nap time and after two hours of sleep woke up hungry again. Her first request of the afternoon was for jelly beans. Now, jelly beans are not a staple in our house. In fact the only time we have had jelly beans available was after Easter. Once I convinced Amelia that there simply were no jelly beans available she asked for her second choice: pound cake.

There for a while I was stopping at Starbuck's with Amelia and picking up tea and pound cake on my way to get Michael from work. I think she became very accustomed to the pound cake and now asks for it every time we go through the drive through at Starbuck's (and sometimes when we go through other drive throughs at places like Steak and Shake).

I was craving a coffee drink and needed to pick something up at Borders so I thought, "Why not?" Amelia and I got our shoes on and went out for pound cake.

When we reached Borders Amelia wandered up and down the aisles while I tried to find her a new "My Little Pony" DVD. As we were walking through the center of the store, Amelia heard the sound of an espresso machine. She visibly perked her ears and took off in the direction of the Seattle's Best cafe. When I caught up to her she was looking at the pastries saying, "Pound cake, pound cake." At one point she even looked at the girl behind the cash register exclaiming, "Pound cake."

Luckily, they had lemon pound cake. So Amelia and I sat in the cafe and she had cake and water while I had a cold coffee drink. It was nice - almost like having lunch with a girlfriend. Though I do wonder if two is too young to be into the coffee scene.

Lisa

Lisa's ever-growing belly. Last pregancy we took pictures once a month, and therefore didn't get any photos past week 32. This time we'll get the shots while we can. (This is me 33 weeks pregnant.) 

The latest baby news

Today I had my second-to-last doctor's appointment here in Bloomington. As usual, I waited an hour to spend 10 mins. talking to my doctor. I like the doctor a lot, but it isn't easy chasing Amelia around for an hour.

We (mostly Michael) have finally gotten Amelia back on a reasonable sleep schedule. Yesterday she took a nap at one and went to bed at nine. Today's appointment was, of course, at one; so, Amelia fell asleep in the car on the way to the doctor's office.

When my sleepy daughter woke up she was magically transformed into her alter-ego, perpetual motion girl. She walked around and around the waiting room, playing with a 14-month old toddler boy. Luckily, the office had closed it's outer doors today. On the flip side, they had blocked the door leading to the examination rooms open, so I had to chase Amelia down the hall several times.

Everything I mentioned to the doctor was completely normal and the little baby's heart rate was strong and steady as usual. I felt pretty good, until the doctor pointed out that my next appointment would be in the 35th week of pregnancy. "That was when you went into labor last time, and I had just seen you and there was no indication it was going to happen."

Thanks for reminding me. I still have daydreams about hitting the call button on my flight to Phoenix and asking the steward to call ahead for a paramedic...let's keep our fingers crossed.

Lisa

Amelia plays with uncle Mike at Texas Roadhouse. I know I've said this before, but these two are going to miss each other once we've all moved away. 

Playtime at the park

While Michael was off helping uncle Mike move, I decided that the weather was so nice it would be a shame not to go to the park (plus, my back actually felt pretty good for a change, so I knew I could pick her up and slide down the slides).

At the park Amelia met a two-year-old boy named Pedro. Pedro decided it would be fun to tickle Amelia. He would reach out, touch Amelia's belly, and she would giggle and say, "Oh, tickle!" It was really fun to watch. The two of them were almost the same age and the same size and followed one another around and around the playground.

And, of course, I didn't have my camera on me.

Regardless, Amelia and I had a good day together. We went out for ice cream and played ball outside on the patio for a while. We also went across town to look for a storage bin for gift wrap. Apparently, no one carries them in the summer. I don't know, buying one in summer makes sense to me. After all, I'm using the gift wrap at Christmas time - wouldn't I store it away during the summer months?

Lisa

Chances of making a profit at Once Upon a Child - good. Chances of leaving without buying anything at all - zero. 

1 introvert + 1 introvert =

Today, I earned a little money toward our move to California by selling some of Amelia's baby clothes to Once Upon a Child.

It's amazing how many baby clothes Amelia has collected over the course of her short life. She already has so many clothes that she couldn't possibly wear everything, and when we pass these clothes down to her new baby sister...Well, I think we all know that we will be buying her little sister even more duds. So, many of her good quality clothes went out for sale today (and, yes, I kept quite a few favorites as well).

So off we went with three and a half Trader Joe's grocery bags full of clean used clothes. Once Upon a Child is across town on the west side, so it was a bit of a drive. Amelia applauded and sang out, "Yea!" when she saw we were in the same neighborhood as Olive Garden and Petsmart. I think she was just happy to be out doing something fun and new.

She was even more excited when she saw the store full of used baby and toddler toys. While I discussed trade-in issues with the sales staff, Amelia had a great time playing with a large, wooden Thomas the Train set they had constructed in the store.

But none of the toys at the store were as exciting as the children playing with them. Amelia seemed to desperately want to interact with every youngster she saw. She would follow a little boy or girl around for a bit, looking to get their attention, and repeating her name to them enthusiastically: "Mia...Mia!" At one point she even said the same thing I know she's heard me say to her when other children were around, "Can you say, 'Hello'?"

The funniest moment came when Amelia decided she wanted to shadow a little boy slightly older than herself. She and I were at the front of the store when the boy took off for the back and his sister. This caused Amelia a little distress and she called out to him, "Where're you going?!?"

Bottom line, I think Amelia needs to join a play group. She seems to be much more of an extrovert than either Michael or I ever were. I'm glad she wants to play with other children. Maybe we can make that happen when we reach our more permanent home in California.

Lisa