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PEOPLE WHO I REALLY, REALLY LIKE

1. The pharmacy assistant at Bartell Drugs. First of all, she gave Bean a sucker when I went in to get my H1N1 vaccine yesterday, which never fails to keep him quiet, still, and occupied for decent periods of time. But the clincher was when she asked when number two was due.

"Number two and number three are due in April," I replied.

She gave a big, genuine smile and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! You are going to have..."

(I started nodding, finishing for her in my head: my hands full. This is the response from 99% of strangers.)

"...so much fun!" she finished.

Love her.

2. My college roommate of three years and the Maid of Honor in my wedding, Kristin. She turns 30 today!! Not that that is the reason I like her, but any friend who is older than me (even if it's only by three months) is a special friend indeed. Happy birthday, K! Wish I could pop over to D.C. to help you celebrate.

3. My friend (of almost 25 years) Sarah. I just love getting mail, who doesn't? I'm so twisted that I even find pleasure in the cable bill showing up with my name on it. But even better is fun mail. The other day she sent me this super cute little person to start my obligatory "family decal" collection for the back window of Big Bertha.


The best part is that she added a belly! I thought, "Wow, how realistic, she even included stretch marks." But no, I looked closer and saw that she drew in two little babies baking away in there. It was a great laugh, and it meant a lot to know she was thinking of me.

4. My Mom. Because Bean grew out of some pants and I have no time to go shopping to replace them, my Mom did me the favor of buying some new clothes for him and sending them out to us. In fact, when I called her cell phone to ask her if she had a trip to the mall planned anytime soon because I was in need, she immediately detoured to the nearest mall, even though she had just left a different one a few minutes ago and was on her way home. Her dedication to me, Bean, and commercialism is always appreciated.

5. My friends at preschool. Wow, that makes me sound mature, huh? But last week DH was out of town on business, and I mentioned this in class on Wednesday. Within an hour, Bean and I had an invitation for dinner on Wednesday and one for Thursday as well. ROCK ON! While I hate when DH travels, I also hate making dinner, and getting out of two of them in a row was a special treat. Not quite worth having him gone, but it did go a long way...

6. And last, but definitely not least, my friend Kate. We also go way back to the days of wearing corduroy jumpers and singing along with The Letter People. She has her own blog, as you can see, where she dishes about everything food. (Ha ha, get it? Dishes about food? *sigh* I crack myself up.) Anyway, after hearing of my lack-of-weight-gain plight, she promised to help with some recipes. The two meals that she came up with are perfect for my picky tummy! So far we have only tried the Grilled Chicken and Avocado Sandwich -- the quesadillas are on tomorrow's menu. But GOOD GOD were those sandwiches delicious last night, a combo of Kate's amazing recipe and DH's flawless execution. You know how when you are at a restaurant, and the chicken sandwich sounds really good, but when you order it, it's actually pretty dry and flavorless, and then you get upset and think, "I really just paid $8.50 for a sandwich this boring and unappetizing?" Well, this is totally not that sandwich. In fact, as we both continued to exclaim over its yumminess as we chowed, I asked DH several times, "Are you sorry you are married to me instead of Kate?" (Luckily he knew the right answer.) Such a question surely speaks to insecurity over my lack of dedication and ability to provide creative, tasty, and healthy meals for my family. But on a deeper level, I think I was kinda wishing that I was married to Kate.

PEOPLE WHO SHOULD PROBABLY SEND ME CHOCOLATES FROM VOSGES HAUT-CHOCOLAT OR THE SAMPLER FROM POPCORN FACTORY THAT I'VE BEEN CRAVING AND THEN I WILL REALLY, REALLY LIKE THEM AGAIN

1. DH.* Last night as were going to bed, I unleashed the belly so we could hear those sweet little heartbeats on the doppler. "Woah!" DH exclaimed, eyes wide. "You are getting huge." Yep.

After we listened to the calming, rhythmic whoosh-whoosh-whooshing, I turned to DH. "Do you want to hear something scary? In a week and a half, I will be 19 weeks, which is already halfway through this pregnancy**."

DH: "That actually makes me really happy to be so far along..." (Awww, how sweet, he is excited to meet the babies!)

He continues: "... because your belly is so big, it looks like you could go into labor at any minute."

Grrrrrrr.

*I'm just kidding sweetie. You still rock my world! But tasty presents never HURT...

**God willing, we'll get to 38 weeks!