Dreams 7/31

I woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday to a really unsettling dream, and I woke up hysterically crying. So I was NOT in the mood to dream last night, but alas, I have no control over that...

Dream: Skip and I were hanging around in the house when it came clear to us that apparently Skip had somehow scorned Tim Roth/Thade from Planet of the Apes (yes, Planet of the Apes, very odd...). So Roth had like permanently turned into Thade, and he was really really scary, scouring the neighborhood looking for Skip. I saw him walking down the street so I frantically went around closing all the windows/blinds and doors of the house, and told Skip to stay away from the windows. We could tell that Thade had an idea that this was our house and that Skip was inside, because he kept trying to look into all the windows and "sniff out" Skip. At one point we heard the lawnmower going like he had picked it up and was trying to ram it blade-side into our back door. It was actually really scary. It turns out they wanted Skip to be in the next movie, like he had a debt to fulfill or something. He didn't want to. So later that night I go into the living room, and I see our big front window busted in and the blinds are destroyed. I was upset because I didn't want our landlords to get mad at us for the broken window, when I noticed all of these cats lying around the living room floor. Thade had put them there as a threat to us that he knew where we lived (Skip is allergic to cats). Thade was at our back door again, banging like hell to get Skip to come out. I started think "Skip, maybe you should be in the movie," so I asked him how much money they were offering him. Then I remember waking up from the dream and being very glad that my house was still in tact! It was actually kind of a scary dream-- if you've seen the Thade character, he's not the nicest guy...

Then I dreamt that I was back at my parents' house, going room to room and closet to closet trying to find something to wear, and no one would leave me alone so that I could take a shower to get ready to wherever I had to go. Then all of a sudden I was in our guest room, which now had a bathroom, and I was trying to figure out how we were going to arrange the baby's room now that a huge corner of it was taken over by the new bathroom.

Update 7/29

We had our 27-28 week appointment last Friday, and it went okay. In terms of the baby, everything is going great: the heartbeat was fine, and it's measuring right on track. I haven't heard anything yet from my glucose test for gestational diabetes, so the assumption is "no news is good news." I even got complimented on my pee (it was nice and clear)! I've never had anyone say "nice pee" to me before :). I was pretty frustrated leaving the appointment, however, because of some weight gain issues on my part. I've been trying so hard to keep everything in check, and let's just say the scale didn't cooperate with that on Friday. Chalk it up to common jumps in weight gain for many women at this point in pregnancy, or the fact that I had been on vacation and not exercising as much, who knows-- but I was kind of crabby. However, I'm pretty much over it since I've gotten back into my routine, and I'm feeling much better!

Overall, I've been a little more tired these days, but I hear that's to be expected. I've otherwise been feeling well, and "Squirrel" really moves like crazy these days! I had his/her head or something right in my belly button last week during a staff meeting, so that was pleasantly distracting. My boss looked over at me at one point and said all she could see was my belly moving :).

As for other things, I got the opportunity to head up north last week, which was great. Scotch and I hit the road early on Saturday morning, and met the family first in Mosinee (to pick up Pat and Ann at the airport), and then stopped in Minocqua for lunch before making it up to Boulder Junction and Evergreen. We had about 3 days worth of decent weather, and we got in a really nice visit with everyone. I even got to finish a book, which I haven't done in a while. Scotch was sweetly neurotic as always, and really loved swimming and exploring the Northwoods. I came home with some nasty fly bites, but that's okay because I also came home with a pretty nice tan and bleached-out hair :). I actually think I'm more tan this summer because of pregnancy skin differences, but no complaints here!

Work has been the same. Yup, that's all I have to say about that. Oh, I went and did some PR work for Meda-Care a couple of weeks ago for some extra cash, and that went well. A good way to stay in touch with MCA while I can't be working the streets. I used a lot of hand sanitizer that day, though, especially after leaving Mary Jude nursing home... yuck.

Skip is doing great in school, pulling high Bs in all of his classes. His finals and ATIs are next week and the week after, so pray for him that all goes well. He will have a few weeks off to relax and work a bit before going back in early September. We plan to head up to his parent's cottage in Algoma on the 14th, and then we'll be back in town for the next weekend-- yay for Steph and Mike getting married! SO excited :)

Dreams 7/22/09

I had a slightly disturbing one last night, unfortunately. Maybe it was because I was doped up on Bendryl from my monstrously annoying fly bites. Anyways:

I was in downtown Milwaukee, standing up where Vliet St. goes over 43 and turns into Winnebago/Juneau, where it overlooks a bunch of the city. There was some registration or sign-up for some armed forces-related thing up there, and Sarah C. and Kendra Kulans were registering. I was talking to them, and looked down towards downtown and noticed there were hundreds of "sailors" coming into the city from being out at sea, and I remember saying "no offense, girls, but it's much more interesting watching the sailors come in, because they put on more of a show." (There were all kinds of marching bands and a huge parade going on.) So I start running down towards the city, feeling good that I could still run even though I was pregnant.

I get down by one of the bands, and I manage to jump on one of the wagons, right behind the tuba player. As I'm listening to him, everyone notices the horses pulling one of the wagons ahead of us start taking off running, and the tall wagon tips over (like one of the 12-footers from the Circus Parade). Well, all of the people on the wagon get flung off, and the conductor of that band smacks the ground, and everyone knows he's dead (because, not to get graphic, his head splits open and "stuff" goes flinging...). Well I go running up to him, and no one wants to look at him-- his shirt had come up over his head. I start saying "well, someone has to look at him, because if he's not dead, then he needs help!" So I take huge deep breath, pull down the shirt, and put it right back over him because, yep, he's definitely dead (it was gross). So then I start yelling at people to cover up all the bodies and call 911 to help the others and to control the scene from onlookers.

I don't remember the rest of the dream, but that was enough disturbance for one night.

Sousaphones and Circus Wagons

Yesterday was the Great Circus Parade on the streets on downtown Milwaukee, and I was a participant riding on the Adam Forepaugh Stringer wagon #201. I had been asked months ago to be in the parade by a colleague in WASB, and although I anticipated being pregnant, I thought it would be fun-- not to mention a pretty darn well-paying gig for the type of "work" I would be doing. So yesterday was the day. I got to the festival grounds pretty early so that I wouldn't have to battle with traffic. I had plenty of time to get my horn ready, get all costumed up, and walk to meet my group at the wagon. My "costume" consisted of a teal long-sleeve t-shirt, a fringed vest, a scarf around my neck, and other on my head (a cowboy hat wouldn't fit with my sousaphone)-- I was in the Wild West section of the parade. I had some time to get an ice cream and wander by the lake and festival grounds, then I got my horn ready and met my group at the wagon. Walking that distance made me glad that I was NOT marching yesterday. I found my group, we went over the music, and then a few of us decided to take a quick stroll to the port-a-potties before the parade rolled out (fyi it was the 3 people in our group over the age of 70... and me-- the 4 of us with limited bladder control... :)). Well, we realized that the wagons had already started to load, so I decided I would run into the woods to pee REALLY quick before loading our wagon. Why is it that whenever you have to pee in a hurry, you can't?? So, I managed a little, and it went straight on my pants. Yes, I pulled a nature, right off Lincoln Memorial Drive, and I peed on my pants. Wonderful.

I managed to get back to the wagon, and the Nazi wagon men almost left with me barely onto the wagon. (Keep in mind I'm dressed in Wild West garb and carrying a sousaphone.) So we get moving, and boy is it different riding on a wagon when it's being pulled by 4 draft horses (Percherons, to be exact). Interesting parade issues:

1.) Lots of jerky starts = mouthpieces jabbing into teeth. Owee.

2.) Wind + sousaphone = Danger. Every gust of wind that blew through caught my "sail" (i.e. sousaphone bell) and threatened to fling me off the back of the wagon. I felt like I was getting such a workout with trying to keep myself stable! Someone from the front of our wagon asked at one point: "Everyone in the back okay?" And someone responded: "I think the question should be: Have we lost our sousaphone player yet?!"

3.) Drawbridges are really scary when you're going over them in a wagon pulled by horses who don't want to go over them.

4.) The 5-foot high wagons are so much more inviting than the 12-footers. Thank the Lord I was on a shorter one. I wouldn't have climbed my ass, pregnant or not, up a 12-foot ladder any day of the week. No sir.

All-in-all it was a really great experience, despite the fact that my tush and shoulder are pretty sore, tush from sitting uncomfortably and shoulder from the horn. However, the pay was definitely worth it, and it was so cool to see all of the horses, wagons, elephants and various other acts up close. And the people lining the streets cheering for us just gives you a big high, which makes you feel good. It was something I will definitely take part in again, should I have the chance. Just remind me not to do it if I'm 6 months pregnant again. I was SO exhausted afterwards.