Birthdays and Adventures, not related

First, and most importantly, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kate!!!" There are so many great things about being 24: you can celebrate one year of your life for each hour of the day, you're now officially in your mid-twenties (according to "Betsy's official designation of decades"), you're old enough to be respected but young enough to not have wrinkles (ok, obviously I've run out of ideas...). Anyway, the point is, you're a great sister, I love you, and I hope you're having a wonderful birthday!

Not that I always have to talk about pregnancy, and perhaps I can blame this more on the inspirational weather (sunny, for a change!) than on "nesting," but I woke up with a mad motivation to clean, clean, clean. So I did. It's so nice to sit in a clean apartment with the windows open and the sunshine and crisp Fall air streaming through. It will be even nicer once the gentleman outside is done mowing the quad. ...Air streaming through...that means more dust! oh dear. Yes, something unusual is definitely happening to me.

Speaking of which, for the second time in the past month, and perhaps the 4th time in my entire life, I did what I honestly thought I would never ever ever do. I ate ramen noodles... voluntarily, and today, even eagerly. (May I please blame pregnancy?) Oh the shame! Mark was quite shocked, as he used to eat them in his single days and, once he met me, heard no end of my tirades about how ramen noodles aren't food, or if they are, are a VERY poor excuse for it! Well, I have to admit, just before I devoured my bowl for lunch today, I said, with a little smirk, "Thank you Jesus for this poor excuse for food" and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy every last one of those stringy noodles (chicken flavor, in case you were wondering).

Well, pregnancy-related or otherwise, that won't be the first crazy thing I've done since carrying around this little boy....
My adventures with cups: In case you doubt the authenticity of these accounts, my sister Heidi was witness to at least a couple of them.
- I poured myself a can of pop. Literally. It ended up on me. I completely missed the cup I was holding in my left hand and poured it right onto my shirt - and this was no near miss, there were a good 4 inches between the cup and me.
- I attempted to fill a glass with water from the dispenser in the door of the fridge, ...but the cup was upside down. Guess where the water DIDN'T go.
- For at least a week, I wore a sample, on the front of my shirt and/or lap, of whatever beverage I was drinking. Thankfully, I mostly stuck to water.

I think perhaps there should be a warning from the surgeon general on every pregnancy test that reads something like this: "If this test is positive, avoid driving or operating heavy machinery for nine months."

"Why?" you may ask. well, I hesitate to mention, as I know my mother will be reading this post, but I will anyway (don't worry, mom, I'm fine!)
-The front license plate on our car is now hanging askew, as the result of a little collision I got into ...with a large pipe, ...in our parking garage, ...before I had so much as touched the gas pedal. Impossible, you say? Not so, my friend, not so. If there's a pregnant lady, there's a way, and I discovered it. Ok, this one is understandable (at least that's what Mark told me). Friends of ours had driven us to the airport and then parked our car in our parking garage until we returned. Upon returning, I got into the car, failing to notice that our car, a manual, had been left in 1st gear without the parking brake set (we always leave it in neutral with the parking brake on). I turned the car on and promptly lurched forward at what seemed like death-defying speeds, right into a 10-inch diameter steel pipe labeled "sewer." Thankfully, the pipe survived with not even a scratch; I survived with no scratches and no sewage shower (!!!), the car survived with no other damage beyond the license plate. Thank you, Lord!
- Last night, I drove 3/4 of a 10-minute drive home, at night, before realizing I didn't have my lights on. The car that was about to pull out in front of me clued me in. Thankfully, that was as eventful as it got, so I'm fine, the baby's fine, the car's fine, and the other car wasn't a policeman. I count my blessings. I also ask Mark to drive whenever I have the option.

Now, back to that beautiful weather. I need to go enjoy it. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe, spill-free, ramen-less day!