It seems like forever since I last wrote anything of note, but yet I still don't have anything even remotely scintillating, or non-baby related. Even though I still am having issues remembering that I am pregnant sometimes-OK, this morning m protesting hips reminded me, but still-it still seems to be on my mind a lot. So do a lot of other random things. To start this post before I go to bed probably isn't the best idea, but since I am solo mom for the next six, count 'em, six days, I might as well make use of the time that I have.....

• Son has been in an interesting place lately, and I don't know quite what to make of it. One day at daycare he can be all smiles and energy, and the next the teacher is talking to me about three biting attempts. He NEVER does this at home. Every once in a while he will grab my hand and bring it to his mouth, but his mouth is closed. Not quite a kiss, but not aggressive either. The weird thing about the whole deal is that he isn't doing it when he is angry or upset, but during downtime. The one example that I got yesterday was that he was part of a group of kids that were standing by the gate from the play area in the room waiting to go wash their hands and get ready for lunch. He gets upset after he is told not to do it. I'm really at a loss. Nothing has changed at home, although I have a feeling that he knows that something is going on with me-there's no denying that my lap is shrinking and I'm not picking him up as much as I used to. However, there is still book reading, and a lot more playing outside at night with Husband and the dogs, which he loves. I'm actively suppressing my worries about adjustment after Daughter (first time I've typed that one) gets here. Oy.
• Another highlight of my day. Tired and hungry Son and I had to stop at T*rget on the way home for milk and juice, and to pick up one of Husband's myriad of prescriptions. He's just cranky, and making that irritating whining noise (with absolutely no tears, so I know that he's full of it) while we make our way to the checkout. I was playing with his hair when I came across something on the back of his head. I think that it feels like a scab, but I'm not going to go all primate in the express lane to make sure. We get out to the truck, and lo and behold, it's a tick! EWWWWWWWWWWW. (As she feels creepy crawlies all over.) I frantically call my mom since this is what moms are for, and she gives me some suggestions of what to do, and in essence tells me to suck it up and just do what needs to be done. I bribe Son into the highchair as soon as we get home with juice and a Rice Kr*spie treat (don't judge me, he had a real meal later). In the end he had TWO of the nasties. One had attached, but I was able to get it off with nothing more than a dirty look from Son after I swabbed the site with alcohol. The one in his hair didn't like the alcohol wipe that I used, and didn't have to remove any of Son's hair, to the relief of us both. A necessary evil, but....ewwww. They didn't look like deer ticks, the carriers of Lyme disease-it's prevalent enough around here that we have both of the dogs inoculated every year-so we should be OK. The daycare play area backs up to a field, and they have wood mulch under the play equipment. I guess that we are lucky that Son is so fair, so it was really easy to find them on him. For any kid that has darker hair/complexions (over 50%) of the kids in his room, it would have been tougher. I'll ask them to do checks from here on out.
• Husband is on a business trip/boondoggle until Sunday in Washington, D.C., and left to the sounds of me melting down. Either its the Benadr*l that I've been taking whenever I want to spend some time outside (I've pinpointed that it's tree and lilac pollen that is driving me nuts) or I'm losing my mind. Another panic attack this morning, great amounts of sobbing before he even got in the shower this morning to get ready to go to the airport. Again, he still doesn't know what to do with me when I get like this-his tack on it seems to be to downplay it, which makes me feel even worse. The other part of his reaction I attributed to his dramatic tendencies. He kept telling me that me crying and telling him that I didn't want to be alone was telling him that I was scared of losing him forever since something would happen to the plane. Not really what I was getting at, since that never crossed my mind (until now, thank you). His fear of flying took over on that one. I'm the one with issues, and I end up comforting him. Ugh. However, I managed to rein it in before I went to that place where I have totally lost control and there is no recovery. The dry heaves in the shower helped to snap me out of it. If I hate anything in this world, dry heaves when I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours is it. I've shelved my plans to have Yellow Dog sleep with me tonight, at least for now. She is just too restless and it will take her a while to settle each time that I have to get up to pee (yes, same time and channel every night-oh, to get more than four hours in a row!) If I find that I start to melt down later tonight I may relent, and hey, the coverlet is machine washable, so the hair/essence du Yellow Dog won't be a big deal. I would let the cats out to have full dominion over the night, but since Big Boy is such a klutz, it would only cause things to go bump in the night-the last thing that I need.
• I was out sick yesterday-no, really, felt like crap. In hindsight it probably was due to my building anxiety about Husband leaving. I did however, get in about three hours of morning naptime after I prevailed on Husband to take Son to daycare. I could have used three more, but I'll take what I can get. I'm still feeling lousy in the mornings. Not really morning sickness, although the nausea is mixed in the background, but just really weak, like my legs won't hold me. I haven't checked my morning sugars in several days, so I could be spiking high again, but I'm not feeling the way that I normally do when they are over where they should be. It really doesn't make any sense. This morning was better, however, and by the time I get to work it's gone. I haven't been able to handle taking my prenatal lately due to the size of the pill, but I doubt that I'm anemic with my spinach habit.
• I have my 20 week OB appointment with Dr. Wonderful on Friday morning. I've got to make sure that I make up a list of the things that I want to cover. He's one of the few docs that will actually take the time to talk if you have issues. It usually results in him running 30 minutes late on average, but it's worth it. I can't believe that I'm halfway there already.
• I've agreed to participate in the neighborhood garage sale the first week in June. As in have just my stuff in my garage and driveway. Usually, we would ship a couple of things over to our neighbor to add to her sale (we've disposed of a couple of couches, exercise equipment, etc.). However, this time, I think that we will have enough to stand on our own. It's also a good way to have a set date for Husband to get rid of the junk that he's been hording in the office/Daughter's room. Old monitors (2), printers (2), different peripherals, etc. It will also force me to go through all of Son's old clothes and sort out what to keep for Daughter, keep for sentimental reasons, and what can be sold. Get rid of the 20 gallon fish tank that I won't have time to set up any time in the near future. Whatever doesn't get sold over the three days will already have a designated disposition; either donate (Son's clothes can go to the county crisis nursery and good will) or trash. We have two, yes two functioning microwaves in our garage that are just taking up space, TVs from the hotel that we will never use, etc. We HAVE to get moving on cleaning out this office as well. Five months until B-Day seems like a long time, but I've lived the reality of what a pregnancy can do to the time/space continuum. We need to recarpet and paint, and since Husband most likely isn't going to have a lot of time off again this summer (employee issues yet again-I hate his job some days), if I can get the major grunt work done, I can prevail on my parents and brother/SIL to get the rest done. I think that I've come up with a color scheme that won't involve the walls going pink, but should still be nice. Let's just hope that Pottery B*rn doesn't discontinue what I like.
• Oh, and one last thing. We took the boat, you know, the one that Husband has been spending a ton of time on replacing carpeting, re-wiring so the lights and radio work, that boat? Yeah, we have a 21 foot canoe. We tried to take it out on Saturday afternoon, and the damn thing refused to start. Not one of the six cylinders would even cough for us. Because it is an inboard, you can't start it dry (on land without a water source for the intake) and we didn't have the right tool to do it with a hose, we hadn't tried it out yet. However, after spending almost $200 to get it winterized last fall and having it come back with half a tank less of gas than we had dropped it off with, we didn't think that there would be an issue. Wrong. After some trouble shooting, Husband was able to determine there is no spark at all, and we can't figure it out. Great. Oh, and the marital strife that occurred in front of a very busy public launch when I interpreted "get out" to mean pull out of the boat ramp so the boat can float off the trailer and go and park and bring Son to the dock instead of "get out of the truck to hold onto the boat so if it doesn't start we can just pull it back out" was one of the newer low points. In the end, since the behemoth couldn't be moved with an oar even if you tried, some nice guy in a wetsuit waded out to pull the damn thing in to beach her while Husband went and got the Jeep and the trailer to pull the freakin' POS out. Fortunately, the wind was blowing the right way, so when we finally had our turn on the ramp, it wasn't too bad to line it up on the trailer and get it hooked up. Not bad in that Husband had to wade in to thigh high and the water still isn't that warm yet (hence the guy in the wetsuit) and I had to go in midcalf in my BRAND NEW tennis shoes to help winch the damn thing up. Oh, and since I haven't mastered the art of two footed driving (and hence not lurching when the 4x4 that I am pulling the trailer and the now loaded up boat (oh, weighing a combined ton and a half) slips on the sand-covered concrete ramp before it gets traction), I got yelled at yet again. Loudly. So not in love with that. Yet I bawl like, God I don't know what, when he leaves for almost a week. Either its love or, well, something else.

There is probably more to put out there in order to get my head organized, but I am dead tired after getting up 45 minutes early this morning and spending an hour and a half in rush hour traffic-my southern suburb to the airport, all the way across the metro, and south to an outer ring suburb for work. Plus, since I was out on Monday, today was like cramming two Monday's worth of crap into eight hours of time. I still wasn't completely done, but with a late 5:00 meeting, and having to get Son from daycare by six, needing to stop at the store for milk and juice, and all of the other fun of running my house by myself, it's been a long day.