Salt and Pickles

We have friends who have had a lot of bad luck (which sounds so.. mild compared to the truth of it) this year.

Their story here

I can only offer babysitting where I can, and casseroles where I can. and donate a little to help in the financial burdens.

I am so impressed with their brother and how he saved that little girls life.

Hi there. I’m a bad bad blogger. 

The baby is still growing and kicking away in my belly. I had one day where I was positive she was moving more sluggishly than normal and didn’t sleep much that night. But the next day she was back to moving like the jackrabbit she usually is

apparently my grandmother is convinced I’m having a boy, still. I have an ultrasound on wednesday… so we’ll see if ’she’ is still a girl! (i find myself hoping so, only because of the 3 or 4 little dresses I couldn’t stop myself from buying. i have control issues. or rather.. lack of control issues)

I’ve gone to minnesota and swum in a lake, I’ve shopped at the farmers market a lot, i’ve cooked a lot of healthy yummy meals, I’ve done far less to the loft than I’d hoped to by now.

right now we have a friend visiting.. potentially for awhile, although I got her a few house sitting gigs over the next few weeks. Will be nice to have some help with the physical labor part of getting the house in order. We’ve known each other since 1977.. so she is family. Going through a rough patch and hopefully we can help her get through it and established here in the bay area

I should really get out of my pajamas and into real clothes, as noon creeps up on me!

Today we let our pugnacious little godzilla go.

He had been deteriorating for weeks…and in a much more profound way for the past few days.  We’re going to miss him oh so very much. The house will feel empty. 

Godzilla was a pugnacious, goofy, dominating, crazy animal. he ripped the throats out of stuffed animals, he growled when people rang the doorbell, he never took no for an answer if he wanted on your lap, he liked to sniff your ear, he was so clumsy that a baby gate would actually keep him out of parts of the house we didn’t want him.. he had no idea that other cats could actually jump something like that, he had short stubby legs and a round body and pugnacious little face, he liked to walk around the tub while i took a bath.. batting at my toes under the water, back when he was an outdoor cat.. he’d chase cats out of our yard into theirs.. and then right on out of their own yards too but he always came when he was called. and he drooled when he was being pet.. prolifically.

photos from when he was a baby: photos

and here is what i mean by pugnacious - he would crush your city with no thought:

So i don’t think i’ve mentioned here. I’ve been obsessed with watching online clips from 1986-1992 Days of Our lives. In particular the Steve(patch)/Kayla and Jack/Jennifer story lines.

when i say obsessed, i don’t mean mildly. 

in 1986 I was 16. I think the last time I watched a soap opera was around 1992. oh the power of nostalgia. 

I still can’t stop myself from going through piles of watermelon & nectarines every day. I just scarf it down. 

I had an appointment with my midwife this week (I hit 24 weeks yesterday) and I’ve lost another 3 lbs since my last appointment. I find this funny, because I can feel the solid dense weight that is growing in my belly. The rest of me, however, seems to be carving itself away. I think it’s because I don’t snack. I don’t want butter (my biggest weakness). I barely crave animal protein. I mostly subsist on pre-natals, stone fruit, smoothies, salads and fish.  

This morning I made  scrambled eggs with basil & parmesan. I ate two bites and then gobbled my way through the bowl of sliced fruit. I did have one slice of freshly baked bread with cherry/apricot jam on it. Delicious. 

I’m trying to keep to my chores and lists, but it’s easy to suddenly find that I’m depressed and grouchy because I fell off the wagon and haven’t really done anything but sit on my butt for two days. Being a stay at home person is , in some ways, harder than I expected. Mainly because I have to police myself, i guess.

;The squiggle is wiggling and kicking with great constancy. Hans has only managed to feel her a few times, though. I adore the feeling of laying on my side in bed and feeling her kick at the bed. (we know our next ultrasound could change the pronoun… but for now it’s just easier to say ‘her’ based on the anatomy scan)

It’s almost my boy’s birthday. I got him lots of little goodies and we’re having a bonfire party. I’m thinking about trying to make grilled pizzas with from-scratch dough. We’ll see how gung ho i stay on the idea as the week goes on.

one nice thing about the constant (3x a week!) farmers markets has been that I’ve cooked most nights. sometimes just a glorious salad, sometimes fresh local caught fish with another glorious salad. I love farmers markets and I love summer. I’m realizing now that I’m eating this good, I’m going to be very very sad when the summer fruits and veggies are gone. 

our kitty is pretty sick. He has chronic diarrhea and it’s not cure-able, just treatable. only problem is, none of the treatments have worked yet. Basically we are giving it a last go.. and in 2 weeks if treatments still aren’t working, we may have to let him go. We’re very sad yet in mild denial. He’s only 4 and we’re very much hoping his body gets into the groove of things from his diet and medicines and he starts gaining weight again and pooping solid. The poor lethargic puppy (he’s always acted more like a dog than a cat)