Bridesmaids again...

Harmonic Holiday

I believe I have mentioned before (I'm not linking because I have no time to dig for a link) that I sing with a women's chorus. A women's barbershop chorus to be exact. It keeps me sane and gives me one night a week when I can get out of the house and participate in an activity with other adults. That is not work. Or diaper changing. It's great. For those that know barbershop, I sing baritone. Does another part actually exist?

Anyway, I will be away this weekend with my chorus for our regional competition. It's the event we work toward each year, and for the last six years we have come in second place five times and third once (the year I missed competition because I was having a baby...I know, terrible excuse). Last year, we missed first place by two points. The scores were quite high (607 versus 609) so we're talking tiny, tiny details that made a difference. Given that the chorus taking first place had twice as many people on stage for their contest performance, we were more than pleased. Most of us were crying tears of joy and were never so happy to come in second place. It was the best contest I have attended yet.

This year, we want to be the brides, not the bridesmaids. And if we win this year, we compete at the 2008 international competition in...get this...Hawaii. Alooooooo-HA! Needless to say, we're a bit excited. If you have a moment on Saturday at 2:45 EST to send us a good thought, prayer, or little cheer, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll let you know the results on Monday (unless I can get on the net earlier).

Toodles till then!

a new 'do

I finally updated to the new blogger. Honestly, I thought that when I updated my passwordy thing I had updated the blog. Um, no. (See, I am so technologically savvy). So, I finally took the plunge and they have only screwed up a little bit. Not bad. Since some of my regular blogrollers were deleted on transition (sorry Julia and Jen!) I revamped it a bit and added a few others that I have been reading. I usually "try" other blogs through other people's sites. It's like sneaking in a bit of chocolate that you know you really shouldn't have. No one who visits your site would even know that you had been there. I actually read quite a few more and will try to keep the list growing as I find new places that amuse me. Not that my blog is a great clearinghouse of information, mind you. It's more than I am lazy and don't want to have to remember whose blog had the link to the cool blog I read last week. Bad memory, my friends, is the worst pregnancy symptom of all. I am normally the elephant. No, change that- I am the guru who teaches the elephant. Yes, that's it. Great memory. And it seems that a consistent pregnancy symptom for me is to let my brain leak out of my ear.

Wait, what was I talking about?

Gettys-doh!

PSA for today: If you ever get the movie Gettysburg through Netfl*x, you might want to pay attention to the fact that only half of the movie is on each side of the single DVD. And you just might want to watch part one first. You know, for good flow in the movie.

I'm just sayin...

Share the Light

I complain about my transportation "needs" and another blogger is losing her spouse. Makes you rethink a lot of things. I found Snickollet recently through other blogs, and I am joining the campaign to light a candle for her and the twins as they face losing a partner and father in the next few days. And I light it for her husband that he may find peace.

Updated to add: The end has come.

Driving Me Crazy

The great debate has started in the Dish household about whether we need to get a new car with a second child on the way. And, if said car is to be obtained, what type do we consider? One thing that is for certain: new is really not an option. New to us- yes. New-new and get gouged by the high prices- no.

And the funny thing is what brought us to this discussion in the first place. It was not whether two carseats will fit in the current vehicle (they will). It was the fact that with two carseats installed and two adults in the front, there is nowhere to put...the dog. Yes, we are that strange. We are considering a new-to-us car for the sake of the dog.

Make it a Double

I made my first new baby purchase last night. Ok, wait, that’s not quite right because I did find those cute little pink Santa pajamas on the clearance rack at Old N*vy. Yeah, that was definitely the first thing. And until last night, the only thing. Heck, I have enough baby stuff around to dress three kids, so I have no need to run out and buy new stuff. “But you’re having a girl this time,” come the cries from the peanut gallery. Yes, true, but I also kept Gabriel’s identity a surprise until delivery, so I have lots of stuff in yellow, green, and white. Plus, unless it says “Daddy’s Little Boy” or is loaded with sports crap, I’m not opposed to dressing a girl in blue. Even the sports crap is ok within reason. (Actually, as a rule, I hate that stores are overloaded with sports-related clothing for boys. But you don’t look a gift outfit in the balls.)

Back to last night. From the great and wondrous place known as eB*y, I scored a double stroller. And to make it even sweeter, it was for pickup only. In my city. In an area that I visit every week for chorus rehearsal. The only way it could have been easier is if it magically appeared in my garage without my having to lift a finger. Wait, it essentially did because the lovely man at the home where I fetched the stroller loaded it into my trunk for me.

Aaaah, sweet baby shopping.

Must look into soap...

Well, my houseguests that invited themselves at the last minute also un-invited themselves, you guessed it, at the last minute. Ok, they did so before the end of work yesterday, which prevented me from running home, inhaling dinner, and hurriedly vacuuming the house (I didn’t get that far until after Gabe was asleep the night before). So, at least I was saved late day chaos. And I do have a clean guest room.

But then my coffee meeting for yesterday afternoon also cancelled.

Do I smell bad?

Operation Nursery...commence!

Ok, actually it is the beginning stages of the nursery ramped up by the unexpected arrival of houseguests for Thursday night. Sh*t! Don’t get me wrong, we love having guests. And we have the space to house them. But I also tend to use the guest bed as the Grand Clean Clothes Sorting Station^TM and the clean clothes, well, they haven’t made it to their homes in a while. I can see the bed...sort of...but it’s going to take some doings tonight to get everything to its rightful place. Hey, at least they are clean clothes.

Given that the furniture from the guest room will be the nursery furniture (minus the bed, of course) this whole process was necessary to start clearing out the random crap that has accumulated in the guest room for centuries. Ok, maybe not centuries, but there’s a lot of crap. And it really is just crap. Our church has a flea market in a couple of months, so once I get to that (after Thursday) I will have two boxes handy in the process- fleas and crappy crap- you know, the stuff that shouldn’t even make it to the flea market it’s so useless.

And we have more houseguests coming at the end of May, some of whom have specifically requested sleeping accommodations in the attic. It’s a finished room, we’re not going all V.C. Andrews on our family. But it is also the realm of chaos. Given that some of the bedroom stuff will end up being shuffled up there, it is, again, a good thing that outside influences are prompting us to get it in gear.

Too bad my transmission only goes into low these days.