Tuesday Musings

It is a beautiful day outside. It feels like spring, which makes me happy. But there is something about spring that makes me feel nostalgic. I love late spring when the fireflies are out and the honeysuckle is in bloom. And twilight. There is something magical about this combination for me. Fireflies always seem to make their way into my writings. When I was young and lived up north, I remember my first real firefly experience. We were renting a house out in the country and took a walk one evening. We went past a field of corn that had been harvested, and it was full of fireflies. I had never seen so many. On our way back, the stars had come out, and we were far out enough that it was pretty spectacular, and the fields were still full of light. It was breathtaking. Starlight and firefly light. Trees and fields. Walking through quiet streets. Like songs from my youth, fireflies are memories.

Days like this I wish for a swing. It’s a day for reading poetry. It’s a quiet kind of day.

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I feel like I should blog, but I'm having a hard time with a topic. I even looked at lots of memes and quizzes, but nothing struck my fancy. I guess it's good I don't have much to talk about, no one's hurt, I'm feeling a little better.

I often apologize to splitcat for my lack of conversational topics. Neither of us are chatters, so it can be very quiet around here. Since I don't work anymore, I don't even have that to talk about.

I guess in honor of my recent sugar binging, I'll talk about my favorite easter goodies. Easter is the best holiday for candy and sugary treats. Mainly for three things you can only get at easter.

1. Peeps. Yes, you can get peeps at just about every holiday, but you can only get the chicks at easter. The secret to eating peeps is to open the package and let it sit overnight. The sugar coating hardens and becomes a slightly crunchy delight. Why do I prefer the chicks? They're bigger.

2. Bunnies and Chicks. I can't find a picture, but they are made by Brach's and are basically like a circus peanut, but in pastel colors shaped like chicks and bunnies. They are soft and sweet.

3. Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. I'm not a big chocolate fan, but I love peanut butter and chocolate.

Honorable Mention: I have to give an honorable mention to Robin Eggs. These are my sister's favorite, and are quite good.


So there are my favorite Easter treats. Wasn't that an exciting topic. Do you feel like you know me so much better now?

What are your favorite Holiday treats?

A Dream

Pregnancy can bring on some pretty bizarre and very realistic dreams. Last night I dreamt the twins were boys. Their names were Evan and Thomas. Many women say they dream about their babies, but I hadn't yet. Evan means Young Warrior and Thomas means Twin.

It was a very strange dream.

The Great Name Debate

We are having a terrible time agreeing on names. We usually end up making up corny combinations. P. gets mad at us when we do this. But his only contribution to the debate has been the name Aaron. As my dh has recently blogged, we have both chosen unusual screen names and have a preference for unusual names. I took my screen name from an obscure series of fantasy by E.R. Eddison. It has been my online identity for five or six years. My first online identity was Thursday. I got it from The Man Who was Thursday by Chesterton. I used it in chat rooms on Excite, but I lost it. I thought it was nicely gender neutral. I was also briefly Callay. Using a word from Jabberwocky as your screen name is a great way to meet other nerds. The first time I used it in a chat room I had at least three people quote parts or all of the poem. When I joined Pogo, I chose another name from Eddison, so there I am Campaspe4. But of late I have stuck to fiorinda. My memory isn't good enough to remember so many names.

Our children were both named for family members. P was named for his father's favorite Uncle. His middle name was chosen because it was the favorite boy name of both of us. I agreed to the first name because it is the name of my favorite singer and the main character of one of my favorite books. E. was named for one of my great-grandmothers. Her first name also happened to be our favorite girl name. But we call her by her middle name because her first name is very common(also my g-grandmother was called by her middle name).

So this time around, we've got nothing. For me, the meaning of the names is very important. My children's names mean Humble Defender of Mankind and Princess Pleasant or Lady Living Light. We're working on the pleasant part, we've got the princess part down pat.

So here are the girl names I've picked so far. Feel free to leave comments on which you like or add some. We need help! I'll do boy names another time.

Carolyn
Clara
Constance
Eleanor
Eliana
Elisabeth(as a middle name)
Esther or Estelle
Jane
Laura
Lillian
Lucy
Mary, Marilla, Mariah-(this is a name I would choose to honor my long-time friend Mary Jo, since it means bitter :))
Mercy
Millicent(call her Millie)
Naomi
Rachel
Ruth
Tallis
Verity
Violet(maybe call her Lettie)

The only combos I've come up with are Lillian Jane, Eliana Ruth, Clara Beth.

So please feel free to leave your 2 cents. Dh isn't overly fond of any of these names, but he hasn't had any better suggestions.

Some sad news for Atlanta book lovers

Last night my husband broke the news. The Goodwill book sale is no more. While this news may not be devasting to most of my readers, it is very sad for us. It has been an important pilgrimage for splitcat and myself since our marriage in 1995. Since it usually occurred about the same time as our anniversary, we had a good excuse for spending money on books. In recent years it has been held two to three times a year, and we have tried to attend at least once a year. Fortunately I have a thrift store and a Goodwill not too far my house. But it is not the same. I will miss our annual pilgrimage very much, as it was a time for splitcat and I to be truly ourselves, getting lost amid stacks of books, then sitting in a corner revealing our finds, counting up the cost, and removing the less intriguing books. I owe most of my science fiction and needlework collections to the book sale. It will be missed.

A Proud Mother Moment

Since splitcat reminded me I said I'd blog about this, I figured I'd better. As you may know, we have recently begun having family movie night. This has been really fun for all. I get the most fun out of watching my children's responses. My favorite so far was when during the ending chase scene of The Incredibles, P. stands up and starts shouting, "They need to call the Police, why don't they call the Police?"

Due to various circumstances, we did not have a movie night for some time. So a week or so ago P. devised his own movie fun night. I was in the recliner trying not to throw up and/or sleeping, but I noticed that he was putting a lot of effort into what he was doing. There was much scribbling and muttering at the play table. I saw splitcat go over and sit for a few minutes, then he returned to whatever he was doing. P. then came and got me out of the chair and told me it was time for Movie Fun night. He directed me to a large pillow on the floor and informed me that E. had to sit in my lap. Once we were all settled, the movie began. My movie was about zoo animals. The narrator tended to mumble, so I didn't hear much of the story, but it was accompanied by appropriate pictures. He had colored about ten pages or so and showed them one at a time as he told the story. When I asked splitcat about his experience, he was shown a movie about dinosaurs(with different pictures than my show). P. had created two separate movies for our entertainment.

I was very proud that he had devised his own entertainment. I have always hoped to have children with good imaginations.

Crochet-o-rama

I've been meaning to post these pics for awhile. This is a poncho I made for a lady at church. She had some really beautiful very heavily beaded jeans she bought on a trip to Rome(Italy, not GA) and wanted a long poncho, so I came up with this. She is about half my size, so it is much longer on her. I made up the pattern as I went along. With the help of a friend(hi Lindsey!) I found a really cool yarn that was cashmere and microfiber(and something else I can't remember) that was the same pink that the jeans had been washed in. Then we found a beautiful and funky eyelash yarn that had all the colors that were in the beads on the jeans( that's the fuzzy stuff you see in the picture). I also had it on the wrong way, the seam should be on my other shoulder, but I was running late for church that day and was in a hurry. But you get the basic idea. It took me over three hours to knot all the fringe(or it would unravel). It was fun to make. I will post pictures of the one I made my sister another time. I need to get the chilren's ready to go to the grandparents and me ready to go to the dr. I'll let you know how my visit goes.



PS. Everything went well at my dr. visit. the midwife couldn't find the heartbeats so we used the ultrasound. they were both still there, about twice as big as last time. One of them put on a show for us, kicking its legs and waving its arms. They were both pretty active. My next formal ultrasound will be in 5 weeks. I feel much better knowing that everyone is growing like they are supposed to. I was pleased that I had only gained 7 pounds in the last six weeks, and the nurse thought I was crazy(since the ideal is 3-5 pounds) until I told her it was twins and that I had been eating every two hours for the last month. Then she understood why I thought that was good. Only 6 months to go!

Sunday thoughts

It snowed today. It didn't stick or anything, but it was very relaxing to lay in bed with the kids and watch. Poor dh was in the kitchen dealing with an ant invasion. It's been awhile since the last invasion, but it has rained alot lately, which is when they like to storm the castle. During the hurricanes last year, we had five separate forces invade the kitchen and dining room. But they did not prevail.

I missed church again today. If church was at about 1:00 it would be alot easier for me to make it. I did manage to get out for a couple of hours late this afternoon. But I am finding myself more and more willing to just stay comfortably at home. This makes splitcat happy as that means I am not out shopping.


I am, however, losing my powers of concentration. I went to starbucks last week and wanted a decaf mocha frappucino. But I walked in, looked at the menu board, and went totally blank. I had no clue what the drink I wanted was called. The nice lady behind the counter helped me through. No one told me that this would happen when I was pregnant with P. I was finishing up my BA degree. I took a class on mystery writers during my first trimester, my professor was also my boss and had a lot of mercy on me, as she had seen me sitting at my desk trying not to throw up while I did schedule builders, answered stupid questions, and taught the phd's how to use the copy machine. I can't remember if I took any other classes. I remember that one because it really got me into reading mysteries(Agatha Christie rocks!). My final semester in college I had to take French 4. I needed a D to graduate. At this point my brain was total mush. I was lucky if I remembered my name in English. My teacher didn't understand why I wasn't doing as well as I had the first time I was in one of his classes. But how do you explain to a man whose wife had never been pregnant and does not speak English as his native language that your brain is mush, and all you want to do is graduate. I managed somehow to get a B. I did not go to graduation. It was on Dec. 18, P. was born on Jan. 12. People always asked me what I wanted to do when I graduated, and I would tell them, have a baby. I'm glad my plan worked!. The worst thing I discovered in my first pregnancy, was that I could not read anything longer than a magazine article. I have been known to read ten to twenty books in a week. I couldn't believe that I couldn't read. My dh even bought me a set of new books, but I couldn't read them. I felt so guilty. I eventually regained my power of reading. And then experienced the same thing with E. It has already begun again. Which is probably why I am boring you right this instant. I've got to fill my time up with something. I taught myself how to crochet and tat when I was preg. with E. I haven't found my time filler for this pregnancy yet. So far it is to sleep. and then sleep some more, if I can find some time between eating every two hours. I am sure that more reminiscing is sure to follow in the ensuing months. so stay tuned.

Can you get this out for me?

E. came up to me a few moments ago as I was catching up with my internet life and said, "Can you get my fruit snacks out for me?" Puzzled, I turned to her and was presented with three blue Lego Duplo blocks. Each hole on the bottom side had been stuffed with a fruit snack. The use of a Cro-tat hook quickly remedied the situation. A trip to the bathroom to put water in a sippy cup revealed a sink lined with upside down Lego bricks filled with water. This is apparently not the first time they have been used for food storage.

I think the shock of having twins is wearing off, for me at least. Now I am more concerned with keeping us all alive and healthy. Being pregnant with one is hard enough when you are trying not to worry, now there are two little beings dependent on my body for their care and upkeep. My next dr. visit is on Valentine's day, hopefully we will be able to hear/see two strong heartbeats. I continue to have pretty bad morning/noon/night sickness. The medication helps, but also leaves me very sleepy and very cranky.

My sister took pity on me and took E. the other night so I could take P. to his 5-yr checkup without being distracted. He's doing fine. My pediatrician opened a new office much further from my house, so I have to switch over to the other doctors in the practice. Fortunately, they are all very good.

Well, I'd better go finish my internetting before the motion sickness hits. Just wanted to let everyone know I am surviving.