New blog

All right, I finally started a new blog. One that is private so I can use it as a diary without offending or embarrassing anyone (myself included!).

Send me an email if you'd like to be added to the reading list. Fair warning: not everyone will be added, just like I don't tell everyone everything in face-to-face conversations.

Bigger and Better and the Blog Status

What I see when looking down, taken yesterday.

My plan for a second baby was always that we'd try to get pregnant while I was in the editing phase of my dissertation. Of course, the universe had other plans. 

April: First my IUD was not retrievable by the local family medicine PA (let me assure you that wasn't fun) and required a sonogram to locate it.
May: Our local medical clinic doesn't have a sonogram machine so I had to go all the way to town for the scan. Once the sonogram confirmed it was still there I had to book an exam with a proper OB/GYN to have it removed.
August: And what a headache THAT was! I was warned that I'd likely require medication or a mild sedative since there'd be...um...some uncomfortable prodding of my cervix. And because of that, I'd be required to have a driver come with me. So we had to organize extended childcare for Eddie so Dave could go with me to town (4 hour round trip).  All that nonsense for the OB/GYN to easily pull the IUD right out. Dave had settled down in the waiting room with all his water exam study materials only to see me emerge smiling and drug-free 10 minutes later. At least we got to go out for a sushi lunch date before coming home. My dream of conceiving right away didn't happen and I was feeling a little lousy about it. Was I too old? Suddenly infertile? Are the hormones going to take a long time to dissipate?
December 18: filed my dissertation and celebrated with a lavish sushi dinner at Livermore's Hanabishi with a complementary glass of plum wine.
December 20: discovered I was pregnant!

I was in Mountain View when I took these tests and texted them to Dave.
 He thought they were ovulation strips and didn't bother to respond, figuring I was just letting him know my status. 

December 25: started feeling really awful (nausea, extreme bloating and fatigue)
Mid-February: finally started feeling like a happy pregnant lady rather than a sleepy bloated balloon who didn't want to eat anything for fear of barfing and heartburn.

At 10 weeks I had one of those fancy blood tests for sex determination and genetic screening. I had the OB write the sex on a paper and seal it in an envelope. We have decided to not open the envelope and will just wait for the surprise come late August.

Right now I'm 23w4d along and I've gained about 23 pounds. Ouf, it seems like a lot but I'm right on track with my weight gain compared to Eddie's gestation.  In fact, I'm only a week later in this pregnancy than I was with Eddie. The baby is due August 21, almost exactly a week after Eddie's birthday.

Even my shadow is looking pregnant these days.

I've been walking a lot...and had to get fitted for proper walking shoes to accommodate my increased weight. 

And here are a few more pictures of my belly and pregnancy shenanigans to keep the post interesting.

In the last week I've had a terrible time sleeping. My entire back has been aching after just a couple of hours in bed. I posted a want ad on the local Facebook trading post for a pregnancy body pillow. A family sold me a Snoodle the wife used only once. Dave picked it up while I was cooking dinner. The dogs approve of it and so do I! I haven't slept this well in a long time. 

I bought a fetal doppler from a friend and it's been so fun to listen to the heart beat whenever I want! Especially when I couldn't feel the baby move yet. I started to feel it at only 13 weeks this time! OB says I have a posterior placenta so it makes sense that I felt it sooner.

I'm still contemplate my return to the blog--whether to keep this one public vs. private or to start a new private blog. Living here, we've lost our anonymity and that's a combination of troubling and annoying. Most likely I'll keep this one public and just start a new one. I'll keep you "posted."  Haha.

Flu and the October-December Picture Roundup

Monday was the MLK holiday so we all had the day off from work and school. My only commitment that day was an ambulance district meeting (I'm on the board). About 30 minutes before the meeting I got a cough--it was weird how suddenly it hit me. One of the other directors was there donning a face mask and gloves because he had come down with the flu. I guess it was a sign of things to come--that night both and Dave and I got fevers and body aches to add to our coughs. My FIL called to inform us that he'd also gotten the same symptoms. A couple days later he tested positive for influenza at urgent care. So I'm sort of assuming that Dave and I have the flu, too.  

Eddie was fine--totally asymptomatic--so each morning I'd drag myself out of bed to get him up and ready for school. And then yesterday we kept him home when he came down with a fever and cough. Poor kid is on day #2 and seems pretty uncomfortable, even with medication. Dave reminded me that our second day was the worst, too.  

We are soooooooooooo lucky to have our good friend and neighbor, Naomi, taking care of us. She calls or emails a few times a day to check in and see what she can do/cook/buy for us. So far it's been homemade soup (chicken noodle and pozole), popsicles, ginger tea, a face humidifier, nose ointment, juice, tuna salad from her job (which she knows is like crack to me), 7Up, Gatorade, Tylenol for Eddie, and probably more. And just now another friend of mine stopped by with some homemade carrot/orange/ginger juice. Aren't we lucky?

So....since October I haven't posted anything.  Let's see what we've been up to by skimming through my phone pictures:

October 25 we put on a pumpkin patch for the community. Although I only had about a month to plan it, I ended up getting all the costs donated by individuals, the Soroptomists, and the local grocery store (we even ended up with about $120 toward next year's event). The pumpkins were free and we sold my father-in-law's apples to raise funds for the airport.  The event was supposed to be outside in our actual pumpkin patch among the apple orchard trees but it was really rainy so we moved it inside one of the industrial buildings. Less ambiance but still fun for the kids.

It was fun to see all the little kids come to pick a pumpkin.

We made a straw bale pyramid for climbing, let the kids inside the big trucks and had a photo board painted by my friends.

In November we harvested the last of our summer garden goodies.

Whenever I harvested I took a picture with my feet in it. This time we all helped so we had 6 feet in the picture.

Later that month Edward and Jennifer hosted a whiskey tasting party at their apartment's community room.  It was awesome. They'd started me tasting whiskey several months before and it's a good thing because I didn't used to like it.  Okay...I still don't like it but I can appreciate it now.

Everyone was asked to bring a bottle. Miraculously, they didn't end up with an repeats.  I was a jerk and brought a mystery bottle (the painted black one in the middle with the orange topper) and made people guess what it was. But then I was dumb and forgot what I'd brought so poor Edward was right even though I didn't give him credit until I looked at the original bottle picture in my phone.  Oops. 

Edward's parties are always fun because I get to see these lovely people!

For Thanksgiving Dave's brother Mike and his family came up to Gualala.  Eddie and his cousins had loads of fun playing.  They all arrived while I was out delivering meals to home-bound folks through the senior center. It was a lovely, sunny, warm day and it was a nice change of pace to drive around to new neighborhoods (such as they are in the country) and meet new people.

I started cooking the Thanksgiving meal for our family a few days in advance.  Dave and I took all the dishes up to his parents' house that morning--including the brined turkey and roaster oven--and let everything cook/reheat. It was perfect: my kitchen was spotless when I left that morning and my dear mother-in-law didn't have to cook! All I had to do was make gravy before dinner.

All the Bowers (all you see of Papa is his hand and belly).

This autumn was marked by MUSHROOMS in abundance. I dragged Eddie out into the woods with the dogs several times after school. We got lucky with the abundance!

One afternoon Eddie and I went into the woods with a bucket, a latte-filled paper cup, and his school backpack (had our hats and water bottles in it).  We found SO MANY black trumpets and pig's ears that I ended up stuffing all those containers with mushrooms.

So many trumpets!

In early December I was getting oh-so-close to finalizing my dissertation. Every Wednesday I drive Eddie to school and then pick him up (rather than busing). So I get to spend a few hours in the itty bitty Coast Community Library typing away. My favorite spot is the teen section and I use some giant environmental impact reports to raise my screen to an ergonomic height.

This was my last Dissertation Wednesday in the library. (I was pretty excited about the 'last' part.)

In mid-December my dad and brother kindly came to town to help Dave finalize some of the new kitchen installation things. We're turning this giant house into 2 residences and the first step is to install a second kitchen downstairs. It's been...a lot of work. I can't wait for it to be done.

Eddie sure likes having Grandpa and Uncle around.

There was lots of reading going on while they weren't working.

And lots of snuggling.

On December 18, 2014 I officially changed my title to Doctor Mama!  My dad went to Davis with me for the day so he could photo-document everything: getting signatures from my committee, filing the dissertation with Grad Studies, etc. I'll definitely do a proper post on this soon.

This is immediately after it became official--me holding my new UC Davis alumni pin!

The next day, I collected Eddie from Dave and Santa Rosa so we could spend some time in Livermore with my dad.  Then we packed up and went camping (in a cabin) with Dyani's family and Edward and Jennifer in Morgan Hill. The kids had fun biking in the mud and horsing around.

Batiste and Eddie...gosh they used to be wee babies!

Gaudilliere-Bower-Levie-Whitney family dinner!

 I love shopping at the Asian and Indian markets of the bay area. So of course Eddie and I had to make a pit stop at 99 Ranch market before heading back up to the coast. He really wanted to have fish for dinner so we got (way too many) 2 trout and 2 snapper. Papa John was very, very happy--he loves seafood.

Happy Bowers with their fish dinner.

 Suddenly it was Christmas 2014!  We kept it small as usual, just the three of us. I am always amazed (grossed out a little?) by how many presents my friends' kids get for the holiday. Luckily Eddie doesn't know what other families do and he's overjoyed with his 3 "big" gifts.

Happy Christmas big boy!

Just for documenting, here's what we got.  Eddie received an 800 piece LEGO set (airplane, boat, helicopter), a Transformer LEGO book, and a flip-over RC car. Dave received a coffee cup warmer for his office, 2 belts...and I don't remember what else. (Mental note: I've really got to step up my gift giving effort for him.)  He gave me a Burkey water filter for my emergency supplies stash, a digital kitchen scale, and 4 types of kitchen thermometers (I'd just been complaining about how my cheese and meat thermometers go missing all the time).

The Saturday after Christmas we had dinner at my in-law's. John actually did most of the cooking, surprisingly.  Peggy said she sent him to the store for a turkey and he came home with a TWENTY SIX pound turkey! For a 5-person dinner. Oh my. The whole meal was delicious.

Christmas dinner at Grammy and Papa's.

The Bowers Still Exist

Hi!

Long time no blog, eh?  Well, we're still alive. We're just busy. I promise I'll hop back on here after I file my dissertation.

In the meantime, here's a very quick look into my life at the moment.

I'm currently house/garden/18-year-old-cat sitting for my dad while he and my brother are up in Gualala helping Dave work on the house. This is my dissertation station on the kitchen table.

I set up a work station in the studio apartment of the property my dad recently bought in Gualala. It's just two doors down from the Coast House and makes a nice retreat. And since there's no wifi I tend to get a lot done!

On Wednesdays I drive Eddie to/from school as a treat to him. While he's at school, I write in the teen section of our local library.

This handsome guy went mushroom hunting with Eddie and me on Monday. We found LOTS of king boletus. He's pointing to one. You really need a keen eye to find them among the pine needles and grass.

Eddie is now in kindergarten. How did that happen?!  I cannot figure out where the time has gone.

He seems to be doing very well academically. For the last month he's been having some issues pushing his friends and sometimes not listening well to the teacher in the afternoon. I'm hoping it's a phase but I do worry that it'll get worse so we're trying really hard to nip it in the bud (role playing, talking about using verbal communication instead of his body language when he's frustrated, advice from the local family resource center, talking with the teacher every few days for updates, etc.). This behavior coincides with a new, annoying habit of chewing on cloth--like this backpack straps or shirt collar. So it might be stress...? Sigh, parenthood is not always fun or easy.

But dang if he ain't the handsomest boy ever!

I have no idea what led me to the blog...I was just finishing a lit review for my calorimetry chapter...I think it's time for a coffee before I get back to work....

See you in December!

Why no blogging?

I wrote this last week and forgot to post it...the story of my life.

Goodness, have I ever gone a whole month without posting anything?  Probably. I looked at the archives on the blog recently (looking for a recipe I know I posted in a partiuclar month) and it was interesting to see how many posts I created for every year. It has gone down, down, down steadily.

Why?

It seems that life never slows down, lets up, gives in, or calms down. There's always more more more going on. More commitments, more distractions, more house to deal with, more people to deal with, etc. It seems to happen without my consent!  Just kidding. Since moving up here my schedule is less predictable. And our giant, disorganized house is a lot to keep up with. Add John and Dave into the meal mix and I'm always busy.  Plus, I'm trying to save the airport, volunteering on a board of directors, TAing at Davis (I had to be registered as a full time student to qualify for graduation after being on leave), and working with a local group of folks to start a daycare in Gualala. Oh yeah: and my dissertation isn't done yet. (Closer than last month, though!)

Last week was slated to be very productive. I had a load of gardening planned, a goal of submitting another chapter to my committee for review, and more. But then I got strep throat. With a 103.5F fever and so much pain in my throat, the week was lost. I was so sick I couldn't even consider watching a show to pass the time. I just laid in bed trying to sleep but mostly staring at the ceiling.

This week is going better. On Wednesdays I usually spend the day in Point Arena. I drive Eddie to school (instead of have him take the bus) then get breakfast at the co-op. Once the library is open I work there until the afternoon movie starts at the theater (if I want to watch whatever is playing). Today is Le Weekend. The description sounds like something my mom would have LOVED so I'll probably go. I always get a small bucket of the organic popcorn with real butter (swoon!) instead of eating a proper lunch. The movie gets out just in time to pick Eddie up from daycare. Wednesdays are pretty awesome.

Tomorrow I'll spend the day planting our garden. I know, I know, it's nearly June. But we didn't have time to get it done any sooner...and better late than never.

This weekend Eddie and I will go to my brother's house to visit and so Jennifer and I can "run" in the Bay to Breakers. I put "run" in quotes because--let's be honest--there's no way I'll be running the whole thing. I can do 3 miles straight and only SLIGHTLY want to die. Seven miles would kill me. But I'll try. It'll be a run-walk-run-walk situation I'm sure. And besides, it's like a fun costume parade so we definitely won't be the only ones walking!

Thursday Eddie will get his last kindergarten shots. I can't believe he'll be in real school in a few months. Most people already have a second or third child by the time their oldest enters school. People keep asking us when we'll have another baby and at this point we often look at Eddie being crazy (whining about everything, bouncing off the walls with so.much.energy., refusing to do anything when asked, etc.) and think, "Do we really want to have another one?  We are exhausted with THIS ONE!"  Four-five year old boys are definitely a good form of birth control.

Kayaking, Fishing, Horse Puppets, and Cupcakes

A couple of weekends ago we had a jam-packed fun time.

Edward and Jennifer came up to visit us the weekend after my birthday. They arrived Thursday night and Jennifer worked remotely Friday while Dave worked. I did some school stuff, errands, took Eddie to school, etc. and then spent a good amount of time getting our fishing gear organized. We all bought fishing licenses that afternoon after having an adult-only (!!) lunch downtown. Fishing didn't work out on Friday because we failed to check the tide calendar.

That evening we had a hot dog and deli salad dinner at one of John's burn piles in the woods. We've done these a lot recently and it was fun to have more people with us this time. I love these dinners because preparations are a snap and there's virtually no clean up!

Papa John and Eddie messing around while we got dinner organized.

Saturday morning I went up to Point Arena to the school to be a judge for the cupcake wars fundraiser. I had to taste all 28 cupcake entries...ouf. Luckily our friend was there selling his coffee and there was a kid selling hotdogs to cut the sweetness.  The event was a raging success, selling out of cupcakes and raising just over $2000 for the school.  I'm glad I participated and hope that I can do it again next year...unless I enter in the adult category!

Edward and Jennifer brought Eddie up to the school once the cupcake thing opened to the public at noon. Dave had met up with a fellow daycare dad to haul big rig loads of donated wood chips up to the preschool. He met us at the school for cupcake treats when he was done.

As soon as we had gulped down our coffee and hot dogs, Jennifer and I met up with my friend Naomi and went down the street to the Arena Theater.  We saw a showing of the London Theater's War Horse play, using the most amazingly engineered puppets. The story is sad but the puppetry was just incredible. You should check out this video of a horse puppet meeting real horses--the acting done by the puppeteers is so life like!

After getting back to Gualala that afternoon we lazed around a bit before having a nice dinner.

Sunday morning we took off to Cook's Beach for another fishing attempt, this time at low tide. Edward, Jennifer, and I biked there (it took all of 5 minutes down Highway 1) while Eddie, the dogs, and Dave drove.  We climbed out onto the rocks to fish, using squid for bait. No one caught anything but we did get some nibbles. I'm not sure if they were from fish or crabs, though. Regardless of the lack of fish for supper that night, we had lots of fun. Eddie had a gaggle of adults to build castles in the sand, the dogs convinced random people on the beach to throw sticks for them, and we all enjoyed the warm sunshiny weather.

Auntie Jennifer fishing!

Eddie, the dogs, and Dave prepping the fishing gear. Well, I guess the dogs are just there to lick up the squid juice.

Edward and Jennifer.

Edward immediately hooked his line on the rocks below us. He spent about a half hour dealing with it, including a climb down the rocks to the water's edge. I would cut the line!

Eddie's pointing to a purple star fish we spied on the rocks in the tide pools. 

That afternoon we rented kayaks and took them up river.  Eddie and I were in a double and it was his first time kayaking. He did great, even paddling a little. Mostly, though, he collected sticks on the beach and then launched them like arrows from the elastic cargo bungee on the front of the raft. We were happy to run into Naomi and her two doggies playing in the river. Eddie wanted to go home with her and the dogs!  But we convinced him to keep playing in the water with us.

We picnicked on a gravel beach just south of a fly fisherman. Our egg salad and chips lunch was delicious.  Just nearby the beach we saw an otter, which was very cool.

Me and Eddie!

Our picnic on the beach.

Edward.

Jennifer in her single and Eddie and I in our double.

After getting home from the river, our visitors packed up their stuff and took off down the road. I sent them off with butterscotch lattes to go so they could have an enjoyable ride. It was a busy, fun, and somewhat exhausting weekend...I can't wait to have them visit again soon!

Dave Quiz

Let's play a game.

You might be married to Dave if (select all that apply):

A. You get emails like this:

B. You get calendar event invitations like this:

C. Everything in your husband's office is at least 20% larger than normal (desk, chair, mouse, monitor, computer tower), leaving you unable to use the office in his absence because you are not 20% larger than most wives.

D. You have to set the table with cocktail sauce when it's taco or burrito night because it's a must-have condiment for your husband (and his dad).

E. You find yourself refusing to pack food into his lunchbox because you're grossed out that there is mold growing inside and you are teased for being dramatic and overly concerned as he throws his food into the box himself. Ew, mold.

F. You find a zillion extra pictures on your phone if you let him be in charge of taking the picture. You discover that he just snaps away, even when you're not ready yet.


G. Your 5000 square foot house routinely uses only $70 in electricity in a month. Related: you are used to hearing your husband spout off how much money it costs per hour to run such-and-such light fixture and seeing him daydream when he talks about LED fixtures for the garage and kitchen remodel.

H. He asks you to plot the propane usage so he can calculate how much lower the electric bill will be once we switch from the electric stove to the propane stove. And you do it.

I. You fear for your life when you have to drive his truck.

You should have answered all of the above.