Arbitrary Day At The Ranch

Sick of All Baby All The Time here on channel 'hoop? Well here's some randomy randomness from the world of Suziehulahoop instead...

And a riddle! What closes faster than an ice cream stand in Poland when the Pope is coming to visit? OUR ROAD! Yes, the road to Yosemite was open for almost 24 hours yesterday, and then our neighbor (Mr. Imp) was on the way home from work and in line to follow the "lead car" and calmly watched some Zippy-Car-sized boulders roll down the adjacent slope and out into the road. And then watched the good folks in charge close the road and route everyone back where they had come from, around half the state, past Go (do not collect $200) and home. Better than getting besquished, I guess.

Y'all know my cat by now, I'm sure, and I even think that most of you know her full name, Molly The Mutant. So here it is, up close and personal, my cat's "variation on normal".


Gotta love a little girl with big shoes!

And one more random image of goodness. Our front lawn bursts forth in the spring with one of my favorite flowers, larkspur. They are SO purple that I'm pretty sure you need UV protection if you stand too close. And they have cute little pointy butts. But you can't see that from here so don't strain yourselves.



Happy spring/summer (spummer?)!

New Internets Technology!

So this critter in my belly is incredibly active, yet also camera shy. I've been trying to get a good film clip for about two weeks to try out this new fangled YouTube site. So I finally caught a sharp and pointy bit of the critter as it flashed by about 3/4 of the way through this short clip. But if you watch closely there are other burbles and sploshings going on before and after the big show...
P.S. If your computer loads sort of slow you might want to hit the pause button on the clip until the whole thing has loaded...

In A Betting Mood?

So guess what today is... May 23rd! And do you know what that means?! I am exactly one calendar month from my due date! (Not quite to 36 weeks out of 40 yet, due to those pesky months having slightly more than 4 weeks...) Yes, yes, I know, due dates are wild approximations and only 2% of women actually deliver on their due date, but then again half of them deliver BEFORE then! Yikes!

So Camp Double Wide is getting pretty geared up for the new visitor, we have officially cleared a bunch o' junk (and sorely neglected sporting goods) outta the guest/baby room, and oddly enough started and finished the re-flooring of The Hub's home office too. And all of this busyness and preparedness makes me think just one thing. We are way too prepared, therefore the baby will be weeks (if not MONTHS!) late! We've got our birthing kit, our birthing tub, a whole slew of fuzzi bunz, a bassinet, a crib, baby bathtub, glass baby bottles (no phthalates here!) and enough clothes for an infant army.

And that pesky road to Yosemite is still closed, so I guess I am now (gasp!) a housewife. Hmmm, that sounds way too close to "house elf". And I keep picking up discarded socks, but it doesn't seem to change anything. But then again, it will all be changing way too soon... So, you know, if you need any recipes or uh... grout cleaning tips, I'm pretty much not your woman, but I'll be here nonetheless!

So what's YOUR guess? Boy? Girl? Early? Summer Solstice? Late? Winner gets a personalized Yosemite junior ranger badge and a week's food and lodging for two at this lovely (but rustic) ridge-top Yosemite area mini resort that I know...

Time Lapse

Lovely Lisa has requested a bump update as she is coming out here to hopefully participate in the birthing process and doesn't want to be too shocked. So here is the comparison...



Shocking or not?

I Just Have Two Words For You Today...

...home office.

Six Official Hours In The Office

The Hub and I set our alarms, got to bed early and were up before the crack of dawn this morning, because the road finally opened! Yay! We showered, brushed, snacked, vitamined, drove, and got to work before the magic hour of 8 am. Two hours later the canyon landslided (landslid?) again and the road closed again and will now remain closed for an even longer time. I have been told in no uncertain terms to stay home, and work from there, as my boss and coworkers do not want an 8 month pregnant lady in the office with no expedient egress from the valley. So I'll be at home if y'all need me. Attempting to work. No, really!

In other pregnant-person news, we had our regularly scheduled visit to the midwife on Monday, and due to my Horrible Wharfing Episode last week not only did I not gain any weight these last two weeks, I lost three pounds! She says its fine and not to panic, but panic we did. And then we drove straight to the Kentucky Fried Chicken. Man o man is that stuff gross, but good, but gross. but good. And we got a bucket to take home too, with mashed potatoes and gravy as well! And Hagen Dasz for dessert. So I think we're back on track. And now I won't have a two hour commute either, so maybe I can (gasp) "cook" some wholesome (read "butter-filled") foods! Or at least thaw them with more regularity. Mmm mmm good.

Ma Nature's Ultimate Smackdown Card

"Hey Suz," you say, "you are posting more these days, are you still at home from The Sickness?" To which I say no! We are in a world where there are sometimes even bigger and better reasons to not make it to work. Our latest is this:


Photo Credit: Jim Cyr of the National Park Service

It seems that despite the actual streak of dry weather we've had, a section of the canyon decided to slide down across the road anyway! From what I hear this is a pretty big slide and will keep the road closed until at least Tuesday next week. As far as I know no one has been injured although it has made life rather inconvenient for many, many folks. There is some danger of another section sliding after support toe of this one is removed so keep your lucky flippers crossed.

The Hub made the "Three Buffalo Girls Go Round The Outside" commute to his job yesterday, about 2.5 hours each way, and picked up some work for me to do too. So we will be home officing for the next few days.

On the other hand, I have to say that yes, I know it is inconvenient and potentially tragic when Ma Nature takes a stand, but I can't help but have a tiny internal cheer when she stands up and says "We're not gonna take it, never did and never will..." After all we put the poor girl through she deserves her day in the sun (or rain, wind, hurricane, snow, etc.). Despite any engineering we attempt (see large mesh screen behind landslide zone) She will always hold the final ace. And what with the building in flood plains and fault zones, the destruction of tidal wetlands, global warming, ozone holes, mercury (and all other toxic) poisoning, nuclear waste accumulation and proliferation of mountain top mining, She deserves to be a little pissed. Happy commuting.

A Dickens and Steinbeck Day

During sophomore year in high school I was in the play "A Christmas Carol," better known to most as just "Scrooge." Ours was a school with more of an emphasis on football and cheerleaders than artistic or musical pursuits, so the drama department was a bit neglected. I had a fairly small part, but was in the front row for all the musical group scenes, because I loves me some singing. But that is actually beside the point of this story.

Due to our slightly underfunded department some of our props were not the most structurally sound. In the very end of the play there is that scene where Scrooge jumps out of bed after he finds out that he is not actually dead yet. So when our Scrooge goes to jump out, the bed does a full-on taco on him: the bottom falls through to the ground and then the headboard and footboard come crashing in on him as well. Somehow this 17 year old thespian manages to make this work to his advantage and crawls his way out of the rubble, jumps to his feet with arms raised and shouts "I'm Alive!" And that, boys and girls, is how I feel today.

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend (which will be blogged about as soon as I talk the sister into loaning me some pictures) followed by an absolutely horrid flu episode. I'd like to get this out right now, I am not a barfer. I think the last time I hurled was 1995. So we all know that vomiting is no fun. And for me it is almost always accompanied by what Steinbeck refers to as the skitters. Which is, of course, also no fun. Add to that the fear that the subsequent dehydration will cause the onset of contractions and a possible early labor and you have my Monday morning.

I had taken the day off to drive my sister back to the airport after her Surprise (for her) Birthday Visit out here, but then of course couldn't even dream of doing it. Therefore The Hub had to do the 6 hour round trip, leaving me to call on our (incredibly wonderful) neighbors for such personal favors as... rinsing out my barf bucket, cleaning the vomit off my glasses and regaling me with stories of their own personal regurgitative hells. I'm not sure I can express how nice my neighbors are.

So I made it through yesterday without the onset of labor by drinking one sip of soda or gatorade every 10 minutes, as directed by my midwife. She had said that if I got too dehydrated, she would have come over and popped an IV in my arm. House calls, you gotta love that. Fortunately it did not come to that and as I crawl from my bed today, arms thrust heavenward, I'd like to call out for all to hear "I'm Alive!"