Wednesday Happenings

Well book club was just fine. We discussed the book and didn't delve too deep into the cover up discussion points. For the most part we took the book as historical fiction. I was probably the most critical of the group but within the discussion people did seem to understand my points and we were able to dialogue about some of my issues.

Today I had my 30 week OB appointment where I also had an ultrasound to check on growth. I am in the clear on gestational diabetes, my blood pressure is normal and so we got a clean bill of health for the week. I am into the every 2 week visits before they turn into once a week visits. It's kind of crazy that I am already to this point!

And baby girl looks healthy and happy. She is head down (and I am hoping and praying she stays that way) and looks a lot like her big brother as an infant. 

In other news, did you know that painted cast iron reacts with bleach? I was cleaning bath toys and left the bleach water in the tub too long I guess because the tub turned kind of yellow. A quick google search told me that to counteract the bleach I needed to use hydrogen peroxide. Cue the Clorox 2. I found the humor in the Clorox vs. Clorox 2 thing. Who woulda known? 

Well the Clorox 2 worked, my tub has NEVER been whiter and as a bonus my bathroom smells like laundry. I love the smell of laundry so I am quite content with that. 

That's really all the interesting in my world. Just keeping on keeping on. Trying to stay ahead of the messes and keep C engaged and excited. Happy Wednesday friends!

Pre-Book Club Thought Sorting

I have book club tonight.

I would normally be super super excited about that. For real. But I am incredibly hesitant about tonight. I have some very negative feelings towards the book, and I'd like to say it's because the writing isn't good. That is true, but the fact of the matter is that tonight, assuming people have actually read the book (debatable, really.) is going to turn into a discussion about religion. I am not one to shy away from religious discussion. Nor do I have fears in doing so. But it's going to be intense.

The book we read was Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross.

Do you know about Pope Joan? The supposed female Pope The Church has been hiding since the Dark Ages? Woolfolk Cross states in the historical research bit at the end that she isn't Catholic and how great it is that she is not because she wouldn't have a bias. Never mind she thinks there is a massive cover up by The Church to hide Joan from us. I don't know whether that's true. I don't know that anyone could prove that one way or another. But I also know how to cherry pick my sources to get the research to say what I want it to say and I am quite certain that is what she did here. Thank goodness the book is labeled fiction. 

For the author to say she doesn't have a bias is of course only one part of the story. In this case I think the proof is in the pudding. Which is to say that in this thoroughly researched book we meet not one truly faithful individual. In a time where money spoke even more than words and education was based on whether it could be afforded, it isn't hard to imagine that some men of the cloth wouldn't necessarily want to be religious. Were there and are there corrupt religious authorities? Yep. Wouldn't you encounter someone who wasn't? Well, I didn't live in the Dark Ages but my gut instinct is to say yes. 

The most insulting part of the book is not that a female pretended to be a male and became Pope. That's almost besides the point even as that is supposed to be scandalous. Because we would be ignorant as to say that no female, seeking to educate herself, didn't pass herself off as a man. Woolfolk Cross is correct to say that the hygiene of the time would in fact permit that situation to occur.  

What is truly scandalous within this book is that she wrote a Pope who values science over faith, idolize Norse gods and attempted an abortion. Whether a Pope is male or female is meaningless here when these come to light as she wrote the POPE as someone who rarely celebrated Mass or prayed at all. I think we can all agree that even in a time of corruption like the Dark Ages the Pope would still pray and not worship other Gods. Just thinking out loud. Joan is a secular feminist in the most modern version of the word. In her reign as Pope she instituted modern court room procedures (witnesses and defense) as well inventing intinction to help not spread germs during communion. 

Just no. 

No. 

I can get past the whole female Pope thing. I can. It's historical fiction and certainly worse things have been written about The Church. But the characterization of this secularist feminist who argues for women's rights at the age of 4, that's where I tuned out. The character of Joan values logic above all else and has very little faith at all. She is educated oh yes but she uses her knowledge, like Woolfolk Cross to cherry pick lines of scripture to prove her radical ideas. 

Let's not even get me started on the cheap romance novel part of the book, where our leading lady falls for a man old enough to be her father, lusts after him for the greater part of the book even though time separates them for many many years. Gerold has the depth of a Ken doll which makes this whole aspect book read a bit like a free Kindle book. They discover each other, they can't be together even though they want to and there is one brief moment of passion. Time passes. They accidentally bump into each other and all their love burns brighter than ever but now they really cannot be together for Joan is John. They finally get together and they die before their secret is exposed. 

Those are my problems with the book. And if our discussion tonight could stick to that, I would be very content. But in a group of women, who are all active in their churches but not a lot of Catholics I fear we are going to delve more into the cover up historical discussion. I am especially burdened because the other Catholic is the one who picked the book. One woman teaches history at the local community college and she is very nice but a little intense. She of course actually believes wholeheartedly that Pope Joan is a historical figure the world has forgotten about. 

Wish me luck. 

Have you read Pope Joan? I probably didn't convince you to but if you have or you do I would LOVE to talk to you about it! 

Quick Takes: All the Things

1. Theme Thursday: BBQ

I don't know where my head was, but apparently I forgot that yesterday was Thursday. Here are the pictures for Theme Thursday. The Theme of the week is BBQ and because EVERYONE knows that guys take BBQ more seriously than girls in many many cases, I assigned this week to Husband. (Cari says there's no rules for Theme Thursday so... I can assign a week out here and there yeah?)

In the interest of full disclosure, these are pictures Husband took for work but they still fit the theme and I am not making pulled pork until tomorrow or Sunday. So... there's that. 

2. Edel

I have referenced it before but when we got married we had to take a temperament retreat and then spend all day discussing the results. Everyone likes those Meyers-Briggs descriptions of themselves and I have a heck of a time with those. I always switch between 2 results depending on my mood when I take the quiz thing. But THIS profile was spot on. For both of us.

My profile basically says that I want to be invited to the party but I don't want to go. I like to do things on my own terms. So I admit, that when I first heard about Edel I was kinda... whatever about it. Pay all that money to go to Texas. In July. And have to socialize? Yeah I was perfectly content following the hashtags and reading the recap blog posts. And, okay. I'm going to say it. I don't like Tex/Mex food often, so while I am thrilled there was enough sour cream so no tears were shed and the breakfast tacos (what does that even mean?!) were plentiful, it wouldn't have done it for me.

But I may gear up and go sometime. I'm hoping for Edel Chicago. Hot Dogs and Pizza. I'm SOLD!

3. Toddler Activities 

How is it possible that when I plan a whole day's worth of fun activities they are done in 20 minutes but if I plan nothing we somehow make it through the day just fine? That seems backwards.

4. 30 Weeks

I will be 30 weeks along on Sunday. That's crazy! I have the nesting as far as the clean allthethings goes but not in the actually have anything for the baby yet way. I should probably get on that.

5. Big Boy Bed

We transitioned to the Big Boy Bed this week. It's going really well. The crib is still in his room and is serving as the threat of not staying put. So far so good. Only getting out once a night.

Double bed on the box spring on the floor, so pretty low to the ground.
There is a side rail now as well.

Next is getting rid of the nuki but one step at a time. I can only take major life changes in small doses.

6. It's August 

August is my very favorite month of the year. Though I will admit, July was not nearly as painful as expected, probably because there was only ONE day above 90!

7. Book Club

I have book club on Tuesday. I finished the book Wednesday and I have a lot to say. I am sure my book club won't want to get into the discussion I want to so you're all going to get lucky and have to hear about it. So stay tuned for that post.

Linking up with Conversion Diary and Clan Donaldson.

Theme Thursday: Trails

I'll be honest here for a second and when I first glanced at the theme I thought it said "trials" and I was like "strange." But fascinating. We haven't had an abstract theme since the reboot and... oh wait. It didn't say trials. It said trails. 

Which is awesome too. Sort've. Except for the fact I don't really hike. Or bike. So I do not frequent the trails around here. So what to do exactly? I could just skip a Theme Thursday but I don't like to skip Theme Thursday.

Here is my most often tread trail. The Deep Blue Something Trail. 

And I am #sorrynotsorry if you now have Breakfast at Tiffany's in your head. Because I absolutely named my staircase personal hiking trail from the band name. And their one hit wonder about a movie they both kinda liked. So they should probably stay together then.

The Deep Blue Something Trail gets me from humid to cool in a 16 step descent. This works in reverse if you head up, it starts off cool and gets more humid. Because our AC doesn't do as good of a job up on the north summit. Only 6 of the 16 mini-plateaus are aided by a handrail much to the chagrin of my mother. Apparently in 1920 they didn't care much for holding on. 

A common question of The Deep Blue Something Trail is what in good gracious is the door on the Sherpa's landing up there before the sharp turn in the path? It is not a laundry chute though most people open it to check. It is the plumbing access. I haven't needed plumbing access since moving in but I find it safe to say if I ever do I'll be glad for the door and not tearing a new hole in my wall. 

Often the trail is best negotiated with a toddler, a basket of laundry or a full bladder but can be accessed any time. Unlike most public trails, because this one is privately owned it is open 24/7. It is also groomed regularly to keep debris out of the path. If a guide is required reservations must be made in advance otherwise the trail is open on a first come, first served basis. 

Happy Thursday Friends! Link up your far more natural trails with Cari and go forth and HIKE! 

Root Root Root for the Home Team!

Husband has been working HARD. His promotion involves a lot more meetings and this time of year is just an all around busy time for the company. With the end of the fiscal year, then a kick off of the new fiscal year and all the stuff that comes with that, he's had a lot of nights gone lately. 

Fanatics contacted me about writing for their Family Fanatics Initiative, a blogging challenge to find how sports can bring a family together. Fanatics is a leading online retailer of all things sports. From adults to infants if you need it in your preferred sports team they probably have it including an abundance of baseball hats. They even have things for the canine sports fans that you may or may not have. Either way... good selection abounds. 

As luck would have it, we were in need of some quality family time! And again as luck would have it last week was Husband's departments turn in the corporate suite! So with plans to go to the baseball game anyway I said yes to the challenge of writing about sports. We got an all expenses paid evening to watch a game, eat ballpark food and enjoy some time together care of the good people who employ my Husband. That is a pretty nice perk especially considering all the time he's spent away from us lately. We had a really good time. Parking was a breeze! 2 weeks ago the river ate the parking lot:

See those trees on the other side of the bridge? We parked there this week. It only smelled like river but the water was back where it was supposed to be! It was a crowded game, partly because we were still reaping the benefits of the fake polar vortex so there was no humidity, it wasn't even 80 and it was sunny! It was also free hat night, and free stuff brings all the kids to the yard. But then it was ALSO $2 beer night so... yeah. 

The Ferris Wheel is new this year and this is the first time we had been to the park this season so it was the talk of the night from the 2 year old. He did sit and watch baseball for a few actual minutes but mostly he wanted to explore, chat and play with the free flags that came with the hats. 

See the fruit plate that just happened to be at toddler height? That is pretty much his preferred buffet. If I had moved the bowl of popcorn down there it would have been the best night ever for him. 

We finally sat down as a family unit and watched the whole 7th inning including singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." And while the home team did not, in fact win, we had a great time. We are so lucky to have had this time together as a family and it was nice to mingle with the co-workers and their kids too. 

We had one happy toddler the next day. Talking about baseball and playing with his little flag still. He so enjoyed his family night doing something different than usual! We will have to make this a more regular thing. And coming soon is hockey season which I like even more than baseball. Hopefully we'll be able to make that happen this winter too! 

AMT: 7

It's Sunday. So another Answer Me This where we all link up with Kendra and get to know each other. It really is great fun. 

1. What’s something you've won and how did you win it?

You know how in elementary school they have book fairs? Well... every year in elementary school there was a poster contest about loving reading. In Kindergarten my poster won and I got to pick a book. I picked a Jetsons book about Elroy. There is a plot to the book but I am currently being lazy and I don't want to go find it in my basement. 

2. Do you save old greeting cards and letters, or throw them all away? Why?

I used to save them all. Now I only save ones that are special or meaningful. I have a small collection of them from really exciting moments. I did save all of our wedding cards. I also save cute card fronts to use for decoupage or things like that. 

3. When you’re at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

Barefoot until I get so cold I have to wear slippers. But slippers make my feet hot. Then I found these.

Mine are red leather not brown but apparently L.L. Bean doesn't make the things I have previously bought in red anymore. (They don't have my diaper bag in red anymore either...) I love these, because they keep my feet warm but not sweaty and because they have actual rubber soles you can go out on the porch or to the garage quick without worry. 

4. Who’s the most famous person you have ever met? 

In the theater world I have met Edward Albee, William Luce and Phil McKinley.

I have met Ed Begley Jr. He was very funny.

In the music world I have met David Cook, Ryan Star, B.J. Thomas, Jen Chapin, Jim Brickman, Bobby Vinton, Kelly Clarkson.

In the random celebrity world I've met Kevin Bacon. I met him while he was being a musician but really, he's Kevin Bacon and so frankly he is in a category all his own.

I feel like I am missing some people. But these are definitely the big ones. So... take your pick. Bobby and Kelly were like at meet and greets so... not that exciting. But the others were like actual conversations and time spent. (Or guiding them through hallways/bringing them stuff.) 

5. What has been your best work of art?

In 2006 I directed Alan Ball's Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.

I have directed many things but none that I am quite so proud of. It was truly one of the best things I have ever accomplished. 

6.  What’s your strongest sense?

Oooh... um... I will defer to Husband for his opinion.

Smell.
Pregnant me is a real joy to be around I'm sure. I smell everything.

Theme Thursday: Vacation!

Exciting times around here.
We are dog/house sitting.

We've declared this our swan song but we both know we'll probably get talked into doing this again.
But maybe not. Every time it gets more and more difficult. And with two kids? A lot of hassle for dogs. I would be a terrible dog owner. I am not a dog hater but I just don't have what it takes to be a dog parent. 

We packed up all our essentials and headed across town for what is essentially... a week long vacation. Only Husband is going to work. And we are proceeding like normal. Only not normal all at the same time. Because we're not at our house. (Most of the time, we are still stopping over daily.) 

But still... it's kind of like renting a furnished house for a week.

Which makes it almost like a vacation.

Which, funny enough is the Theme for this Thursday. Go figure.

If you need me, you'll find me here during the first hour of rest daily. 

It helps that it's the most perfect weather week ever. In July of all times. Again. Go figure. 

So. It's Thursday. There's a Theme. I gave you a picture from my fake vacation. You should tell me about your vacations. I am a vacation coveting girl. Unless you're camping. I don't really get camping. But I'll still look at all your pictures anyhow. 

Linking up as always with Cari and Clan. Enjoy your Thursday!