50 days & A new blog

I can't hide it anymore. I'm having a baby in 50 days.
Even though he is not here yet, he already has a blog.

I'm a dog stalker

When I was growing up we had a Saint Bernard dog named Buffy. She was such a nice dog and great around us kids. When she got old, it was very sad for everyone.

I do not consider myself to be a "dog" person. After Buffy, my family did not get another dog. As an adult I've never even considered getting one. BUT-

There is a couple in my neighborhood that has two Saint Bernards. The first time I saw them (a few years ago), I came running out of my house. "I love your dogs!" I told the couple. I told them all about my old dog. I did not see them very often, but when I did it made me so happy.

Once they were walking by our house and I was near the window talking to David. I stopped in mid-sentence and screamed, "Look! The Saint Bernards are outside our house!" A few days later, David left to run an errand and called me from his cell phone to let me know the dogs would be walking by our house shortly. I waited by the window.

One day I was walking down the alley and I found out where the dogs live because I saw them in their backyard.

Yesterday, when driving out of the neighborhood, I actually gasped aloud when I saw that their house is for sale.

It took me 30 years to see a pattern

With my recent illness came some insight. Last week I had a craving for some sort of cherry dessert. I browsed the grocery store and settled on a cherry turnover from the bakery section. I had never had it before and it was pretty good. I ate the last one on Tuesday, which was the day I got sick.

Now the turnover had nothing to do with why I got sick, but for some reason I cannot even think of this pastry without strongly holding back my gag reflex. I know I will not be able to look at or eat one for a long, long time. So this food is now added to my list of things that I cannot eat anymore due to illness:

plain marshmallows
fresh apricots
peanut butter/chocolate candy (like Reeses)
ranch flavored crackers
craisins
cherry turnover

Now I have been sick plenty of times over my lifetime, so why do I have such a strong aversion to these foods? Why not some of the other foods I have eaten before getting sick like: pancakes, cheeseburger, yogurt, Starburst, Sprite, etc.?

I think I figured it out. Those foods on my list I had only eaten once or twice before getting sick. Therefore my brain/stomach is falsely associating the illness with the food. The other foods I had eaten many times before so my brain/stomach knows that they are safe. This is just my theory but I think it is true for me.

A Rock Feels No Pain

Otherwise titled: Getting sick during a power outage.
Or: Losing 6 pounds in one day.

So yesterday I was not feeling well for most of the day, but just ignored it. In the evening Tommy let me know that his stomach was hurting and went to lay down. Tommy quickly fell asleep and as we say about Tommy, "He sleeps like a rock." At about 9:30pm the storm sirens went off in our neighborhood. There is supposed to be some subtle difference in the sound of the siren that indicates either severe storm, tornado or air raid, but they all sound the same to me. So David got on the computer to check the weather report and within a few minutes our power was out.

We got out the flashlights, and I started to feel really sick, so I rested on the couch while the other kids ran through the house with flashlights, despite me saying, "Time for bed" or "Please go to bed" or "Why don't you get in your bed?" every time they ran past. Tommy slept through the whole thing and I was so jealous because I wished I could sleep.

Finally the kids went to bed and few minutes later I made my way to the bathroom in the dark and, well, lets just say there was a big mess. So I tried to clean the mess in the dark, while holding a flashlight. I had to stay up the whole night due to running to the bathroom approximately every 20-30 minutes.

In the morning I weighed myself and and I was 6 lbs lighter than yesterday. I went to the doctor today to learn the (not) surprising news that I am dehydrated.

Can't trust that day

Sunday, that is. Near my house there is a Chick-Fil-A, a fast food chicken restaurant, which is closed on Sundays. We also have a large craft/fabric store called Hobby Lobby which is also closed on Sundays. It just seems to happen that every Sunday I get a hankering to eat at Chick-Fil-A and then go to Hobby Lobby to browse around. Then I have to remind myself that I can't.