Adventures in Being Myself

Things I have learned: I require EXACTLY nine hours of sleep each night. If those nine hours are interrupted for, say, an hour at some point during the night, I will sleep right through my alarm for the entire interrupted portion of the nine-hour requirement. Pregnancy Senility is a very real condition. I hear it morphs into Mama Senility after delivery. Swimming is the most luxurious form of exercise and stretching during pregnancy. Bonus benefit: quick and true relief for swollen feet! Sitting in a jacuzzi (heated to exactly 99-degrees) under the stars is the best way to bliss out before bedtime. Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream tastes better during pregnancy, especially if you mix in a copious number of mini marshmallows. Fast food really IS as bad for the body as they say it is, and the effects of sodium and caffeine are swift and sure. There is no point in pre-registering at the hospital for delivery. No matter how many times you dutifully FAX the carefully completed form to the co...

International "Talk Like a Pirate Day" is the perfect day for sharing the adventure of my 37th birthday. Having been reared in the Greater Tampa Bay Area, I am a long-suffering Buccaneers fan. You may know of the loveable losers - some of us call them the "Yucks" for their tendency to dwell in the cellar of the NFL - or, perhaps you remember the unfortunate branding of their early identity: a very clearly gay buccaneer "Bruce" outfitted in creamsicle and white. Absolutely yucky! Anywhoo, in a very clear case of the "clothes make the man" the Buccaneers - yes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - actually won the Super Bowl four years ago after changing their entire identity: pewter and red uniforms, a menacing pirate logo and a fancy, shmancy new stadium in which to destroy those who dared to field a team. When the Bucs started winning, all of Tampa Bay - and her natives - rejoiced, and they actually started going to games. All except me. I was living in t...

On my way back to the office after a lovely and delicious birthday lunch with friends, I stopped at home to drop off birthday balloons and (hopefully) give my man a quick peck on the cheek. As I entered the house, I heard water running and assumed Peegie was taking a shower. But, oh no, this is the scene that greeted me. So, what DO you do when you walk in on your boyfriend as he is shaving his legs?? Laugh, of course, then take pictures and then post them to the internet!! At least he is a hottie.

Today is my birthday and, at 37, I can honestly say that I cannot imagine how life could be any better. I'm happy, healthy, madly in love with my best friend and a baby is on the way. Life really is good. I thought about that this morning when my eyes opened to another sunny late-summer day, my beloved right next to me and baby doing somersaults. If this is what it means to "grow up," I am all about it!

It's been exactly two months since Peegie and I got the biggest surprise of our lives. On or about December 29th of this year, "we" will become "three" when we welcome a child into our lives. It's a good reason to (finally) figure out the scanner feature on the printer in my office. I'm a little slow on the technology curve. Clever, but slow. Here is a picture of the wee tot we are calling "Ziggy" (a term of endearment for Zygote...) Baby looks shy in this photograph but, then again, the poor dear had to endure an hour-long torrent of ultrasound waves that day.

Aunt Ford's LOVELY cottage in Leland...I LOVE Leland. If ever I were to move north, to Leland I would point my sails. A tiny town situated on a peninsula between two lakes - Lake Michigan to the west and Lake Leelanau to the east. Summers are warm and sunny, but temperate and non-humid. The best part of Leland is Peegie's Aunt Ford. She is just awesome...that's the only way to say it! Everywhere we looked along the M22 Corridor there were wildflowers. I thought these were lilacs...they certainly smelled sweetly similar to lilacs; but I think they are just a variety of pretty wildflower. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The park is so named because the dunes resemble a sleeping Mama Bear and Baby Bear. I couldn't "see" the bears (I also can't "see" the Man in the Moon...) but, even so, the park took my breath away. We are standing on a dune that is 450' above the shoreline. There is a path to the beach below, but I was terribly afraid I...

One of my most favorite memories of our trip to Michigan is Camp Arcadia, a Lutheran Family Retreat along the shore of Lake Michigan. Peegie spent two weeks there every summer from the age of 9 until he was a sophomore in college. I have heard about this magical place for longer than 8 years now, and it was high time that I see it for myself. It was nothing like I imagined it would be. It was better. The grounds are lush and green and shaded by beautiful trees. The beaches are sandy and the dunes and bluff ripe for climbing. It was easy to see why Peegie, Mom LeB, Aunt Rochelle, Aunt Marlene, Uncle Marlowe and Derek and Dawn love it so. More than just the natural beauty of its location, I loved seeing my beloved's face light up as we walked the grounds and he recalled stories from childhood - raging bonfires on the beach, climbing the north bluff, petoskey hunting, playing games in the Wigwam... The picture at the top right is titled "New Friends Familiar Places" because...