Hello Again

Pieces of my heart-my family.

I've been thinking it's about time for another blog post for awhile now, and I figured I'd get on it since I already had my computer out (I was emailing some tire company in the States that keeps sending me invoices for Larry Gidney).

Summer in Kaslo this year has meant, for me at least, hiding in the lake from the 40 degree weather, hiding in the house from the smoke, and then really enjoying anything hovering around 32 degrees or less. I've been doing a huge (very slow-moving) overhaul on the strawberry patch, buying giant quantities of soil from the Bird (aka, Ace Hardware, formerly known as the Early Bird, now referred to by cool locals as 'the Bird'), and freezing and vacuum sealing a LOT of strawberries, raspberries, basil, cilantro, garden greens, and muffins. I've been enjoying having a bit of a slow work season (and I'm definitely not minding when my English students cancel a lesson or two, because then I have an excuse to lay in the yard), crocheting under the larch tree when it gets too hot, eating a lot of ice cream (last night: chocolate peanut butter coconut ice cream with Jordie), making garden to-do lists and then recycling them when I get halfway through, and listening to our new 'Nina Simone Sings the Blues' record on repeat. We've been playing softball on the 'khaki' team in the summer league (it was too hot for anyone to come up with creative names, so we're all just colours). I play first base and Jordie is usually at 3rd base. Jeremy plays shortstop and it's an all-around blast. The smoke from all the BC fires didn't really roll into Kaslo until about 2 weeks ago right after the sweltering heatwave, and every morning it looks pretty good outside and I get optimistic that the smoke will pack its bags and leave town. And then by early afternoon, bang. It's back. In a way, the smoke makes summer feel not like summer at all because it's way cooler with a layer of smoke blotting out the sun. But when I'm shucking Chilliwack corn in the yard with CCR playing, chatting with the guy doing our drywall about how I've always liked the smell of drywall mud, it really does feel like summer again. And that feeling of the backs of your legs sticking to a chair when you're sitting at the breakfast table-that's summer, alright.

In other news, it's been about 12 weeks now since Jordie and I discovered that I'm pregnant. That didn't sound excited. But I am excited-I'm pregnant!! Maybe that's too many exclamation marks. I'm pregnant :) In other words, I'm going to have a baby. Or put another way, I'm craving pasta everyday for lunch (not that unusual, actually), eating 2 bags of chips instead of one when I'm downtown watching one of the summer league softball games, and every evening after supper I unzip my jeans and show Jordie my belly and we try to decipher whether I'm just really bloated and full, or the baby is finally showing a little. We really wanted to tell our immediate families in person, so I was so glad that we were able to drive down to Chilliwack and Vancouver to let everyone know just as travel was opening up again. I realized how fun it is to deliver good news, big news. You don't get to deliver good, big news too many times in life, and I loved it. There was a wide range of great reactions from happy tears to smiles and cheers and congratulations and excited kicks, and it was so special for us to announce that there's going to be one more cowboy/cowgirl/cowperson in the Gidney/Eisenhauer family. Sometimes I forget I'm pregnant, and then I'll burst into tears when an Adele song I've never heard before comes on the radio at a restaurant, and then I'm like...right. Forgot again! I've also discovered that the words 'Come on...I'm pregnant, babe!' have a special kind of weight to them when I don't feel like doing the dishes, or want Jordie to come with me to get a cookies n' cream ice cream from Mountain King even though he just got home from work and would rather go jump in the lake. My pregnancy cravings haven't been too wild (yet). I went through a BIG plain Cheerios phase, right now I can't get enough of stuffed tortellini, and most of the time even the word 'beef' gives me the heaves. Suddenly, the fridge and freezer stink to high hell, and I had to throw out one of our ice cube trays because I couldn't stand the smell of freezer-burnt ice cubes. I drove our garbage downtown and stuffed it in one of the town garbage cans (I know, it's not allowed) because the plastic wrap that smelled like salmon was, well, just not welcome in our house. Anyways, for the most part, I'm feeling good, and thankful to the little one (who is apparently the size of a large onion now!) for treating me well thus far.

*A note on comparing the baby to fruit: a few weeks ago, the website I look at every Monday when the baby gets a week older said the baby was the size of a navel orange. I got excited-a navel orange is pretty big. The next week, it said avocado. And I was like...an avocado that I'd buy in Kaslo BC? Or an avocado that you'd pick off the tree in a country where avocadoes actually grow? Is it just me, or is an avocado smaller than a navel orange? Then this week, it said 'large onion' and I suddenly had a better idea for pregnant women. They should compare the size of your baby to something that doesn't VARY in size! Like, week 17: Your baby is the size of a can of Coke! Week 20: Your baby is the size of a bag of Doritos. OK, clearly I've got snacks on the mind, but you get the picture. I think everybody could really relate to that. Because in my world, a navel orange and a large onion are exactly the same size, and both are certainly larger than an avocado.

I know having a kid will involve a lot of love, a lot of chaos, a lot of noise, a lot of adventure and learning and figuring things out and making boundaries and almost no sleep. But I'm not really nervous for any of it right now, because every single time I've told someone that we're having a baby, they look at me like they know something beautiful is on the way. People are so sweet, and genuinely happy to hear the news. It's wonderful. I'm excited for little things like how grimy kids hands and feet and faces get in the summertime, and how they say things like 'Today I went to the toast office,' and how their heads smell like strawberries when they're babies. I'm even finding it entertaining the things people choose to say to you when you mention you're pregnant (my favourite so far: 'Congratulations! So, does your pregnancy technically qualify as a geriatric pregnancy, or..?) I googled it, and yes. It does. I know you can never be prepared for the complete change to every part of your life when a baby comes, but for now I'm just squirreling away frozen meals for the deep freeze, crocheting baby sweaters, and (as I've been advised a few times now), "sleeping while I can." Oh yeah, one more thing I'm looking forward to: we have a corner store a couple doors down from our house, and I just love the idea of flipping my kid a couple toonies and asking them to go and grab some milk and get some candy while they're at it. Every time I think about it, I get excited.

So there you have it, folks! The big news from Washington Street. The little one is coming January 3rd (but I've heard through the grapevine that they pretty much come when they feel like it). I'm not crazy about the idea of a wintery drive for an hour to the hospital, but you know what I AM excited for? Winter snuggles with a strawberry-headed sweetie.

P.S-I'm sorry I was too lazy for photos this time. Come on, you guys. I'm pregnant. (See! It always works!)