Cutest. Puppeh. Video. EVER.

The FEETS, people, the feets! And the shtoompy legs! And the seepy eyes! And the floofiness! And the floppity ear! And the wee pink tongue!

*gack*

The long, slow demise of proper etiquette

Another nail in the coffin of proper etiquette...the fading away of the RSVP. What is it with the lowly RSVP that causes people to shun it so? I've had three instances in which invitations for an event were mailed with a clearly stated request for a reply. In each situation, I had to track down many of the invitees and see if each was planning to grace the event with their presence. And, in each, I had people who declined the invite show up, and people who said they would come but did not.

The first event was my sister's bridal shower. The second was my own wedding. The most recent is my baby shower, being graciously hosted by two of my aunts. The party in honor of my sweet unborn daughter will be held on Nov. 11th. So far, only one person has called to give their response to my aunts.

What gives?

A close call at 3 a.m.

My crochet group had a meetup today at a local yarn shop, but I could not drag my carcass out of bed this morning to attend. We had an interesting event last night at the casita that caused me to be up well past 3 a.m.

I was in bed barely asleep and my husband was playing a computer game at about 2:45 a.m. when our phone rang. Some guy on the other end asked my husband if he sold drugs. Of course my husband said "No," but the guy was persistent and then told my husband he'd better go check his front door.

Needless to say, that freaked my hubby out a little. He woke me up, 9mm in hand, and we both listened quietly (inside the house, burglar alarm set) for several minutes before calling the cops. The local PD showed up pretty quickly and checked things out. We talked briefly to them and they left. I went back to bed, but the adrenaline kept me awake for quite a while.

It was likely either a wrong number or a prank, but if it had not been, someone could have gotten their stupid arse shot by either my sweet darling or by me. Never mess with two good shots who have a baby, ourselves, and 3 beloved dogs to protect!

I need a freaking miniature Dachshund like NOW

Taken from this post on my favorite blog, CuteOverload.

Yet another reason why dogs are better than humans

Dog saves owner, but dies trying to rescue cat

Pregnancy update

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant with our baby girl. Things are generally going well. She has been very active, kicking and punching me on a regular basis. My husband can now feel her move, mostly on my left side where she kicks. I've tried to explain to him how it feels- it's not painful at all, but it's certainly disconcerting sometimes. My best comparison for most of the movement is that it feels like the strong gut rumbles that signal trouble down below.

I'm continuing to have elevated blood pressure, so my doctor has put me on modified bed rest. Basically, when I'm not at work, I'm supposed to be taking it easy. This means no shopping trips, no more Jazzercise classes, and more time sitting or lying down.

My husband has made a moderate effort to help, usually helping me make dinner, and doing the dishes every night. It's hard for me not to correct how he puts things away (in the wrong places), and last night I watched him wipe crumbs from the stove onto the floor. I asked him why he did that, and he didn't have a real answer. I just rolled my eyes. He's not a generally messy person, he picks up after himself, and I really appreciate the help, so I'm doing my best to shut my mouth.

I've also now been prescribed blood pressure medication called Aldomet, which is supposed to be safe during pregnancy. They'll probably have to up the dose, since I'm still having elevated pressure after over a week.

The first four nights of this week, I didn't sleep worth a good goddamn. Yesterday morning, I took a few hours off in the morning (which luckily, I can do at my job) and tried to get more rest. I finally figured out that aside from numerous nightly bathroom trips, what was keeping me awake was hip and pelvis pain.

Basically, you're supposed to sleep on your side after a certain point in pregnancy, which I have been doing. The problem was that apparently I'm experiencing a lot of muscle and ligament stretching in my pelvis and hips, which is normal but can be quite painful, especially when lying on your side. The pain was keeping me up and making me toss and turn. So I started sleeping with a pillow between my knees, and last night, I slept fairly well.

I'm also starting to feel like my guts have all been shoved northward. Most of my big belly right now is the upper half, which is not baby, but my innards. I can't eat as much at one sitting before feeling stuffed, and I've had indigestion and heartburn pretty frequently. A bottle of Tums is now my best friend, because although I keep getting heartburn, I still love spicy food and acidic things like juice and tomatoes. Such is life.

All things considered, I really enjoy being pregnant. But I also can't wait for mid-December, when we get to finally meet our tiny daughter and see her precious face. She's pummeling me right now, probably reminding me, "Mama, get back to work!" And so it goes.

Some of my favorite quotes

"You have to forget about what other people say- when you're supposed to die, when you're supposed to be loving. You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven."
-Jimi Hendrix

"As I would not be a slave, so would I not be a master."
-Abraham Lincoln

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary."
-Thomas Carruthers

"A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students."
-John Ciardi

"It's not your blue blood, your pedigree or your college degree. It's what you do with your life that counts."
-Millard Fuller

"College isn't the place to go for ideas."
-Helen Keller

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."
-William James (1842-1910)

"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."
-Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy."
-Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

"Pray (v.): To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy."
-Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

"When government takes responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves."
-George Pataki

"Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work."
-Al Capp

"We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know anything and can't read."
-Mark Twain (1835-1910)

"The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal."
-Erich Fromm

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
-Albert Einstein

"A liberal is a conservative who’s been arrested."
-John Grisham, The Brethren

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears."
-Buddhist adage

"He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
-Albert Einstein

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."
-Albert Einstein

"I respect faith, but doubt is what gives you an education."
-Wilson Mizner (1876-1933)

"To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition."
-Woody Allen

"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart."
-Henry Louis Mencken

"There are two rules to success in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know."
-Unknown