Weeks Fly By

Not much has been going on in Arizona-land, but per Mom's request, here's a little update.  The weather has been beautiful the past week or so (it's about time!), and Kyle and I have been enjoying every bit of it, even the rain.  And yes, rain is beautiful weather, especially here in the desert.  We hiked a little mountain trail that led to a pool surrounded by Native American petroglyphs, which I loved, of course, and dined on gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the top.  We tried a new pizza place that was delicious to the nth power, and spent a lovely Sunday afternoon in the park playing a rousing game of Bananagrams (we're not actually very good, but playing a game made us look less creepy every time the mini-train full of children drove past the spot we were hanging out).  We grilled burgers by the pool and I drank strawberry soda for the first time in probably 10 years, and that's about it....oh, wait--we also got through my FIRST TRIMESTER!  That's right, folks--there's a baby in my belly!  Here are a few pictures that I think are kind of lame, but my mom insists on seeing them. :)

This was after baby's first ultrasound at 9 weeks!

And this is at 3 months.  Please excuse the awkwardness of this picture. My camera takes like an hour  before it snaps the photo and I was getting a bit tired of waiting...

Things have been going very well with the pregnancy so far.  I haven't experienced any morning-sickness, and have just been a little more tired than usual.  But the baby's been meddling in my life in other ways already.  For example, I was craving some of my granny's macaroni and cheese for weeks, and I finally got around to attempting to make a batch.  I was so excited, and it actually looked perfect, but right as I was picking it up to put it in the oven, the baby pushed me out of the way and threw the whole uncooked pan on the ground!  Don't believe me? EVIDENCE:

You can imagine my sadness.

And then, a few days later, something happened that made me realize that the baby has nothing against me, but something against macaroni and cheese.  Since I was unable to obtain the macaroni dish that I deeply desired, a few days later I went for the regular ol' out-of-the-box-mix-in-the-powder-cheese kind of macaroni (which I also happen to think is delicious, even though I'm a full-fledged mom-to-be now).  And do you know what the baby did this time?!  After I fixed myself a bowl, I got a glass out of the cupboard and the pitcher out of the fridge.  Then the baby forced me to pour about half the contents of the water pitcher into my bowl of mac and cheese before I realized that it was not my water glass.  I didn't take a picture of this second disappointment.  It was too tragic.  The baby should just think about who is going to be in charge of feeding it during its helpless years before it strikes again...do they make macaroni and cheese baby food?  Mwahaha!

The next thing on our to-do list is catch a plane to Utah for our good friend Daryl's wedding this weekend.  I know, Arizona is finally beautiful and we're going to leave it for snowy, icy Utah?  We're just crazy like that.  Pictures to come!

Resolve

It's time I made a confession: I've always wanted to be a writer.  Writing is the only thing that has consistently appealed to me over the years, as exploits and explorations into anthropology, teaching, audiology, finance, ophthalmology, museum studies, and even history all flickered briefly then fizzled down to nothing.  I'm still interested in most of those things, as most things in the world are interesting in their own right, if you really think about it, but the thought of devoting countless hours and even years to any of them seems akin to taking that dark, scary path through the woods that leads to nothing but rabid wolves and icy anguish (think Maurice and Philippe in Beauty and the Beast).

But's it's hard to admit that you want to be a writer because, well, it's honestly not very practical.  And also because people then will have to read the things you write, and that is extremely intimidating.  It's one thing to write for fun, or for myself and my own personal reflection, but to share those thoughts with the world is something altogether different.

Anyways, the reason I'm vocalizing this confession in blog format is to make myself accountable.  It's the new year, right?  Time to form some resolve.  And stick with it.  

A few years back, I decided that I would publish at least one piece every year, even if it was just something small in the local newspaper.  If I could do that, then that would mean that I actually had potential, and am not just some crazy nut writing barely decipherable manifestos in the back recesses of some creepy mountain cabin (random quiz time--which are creepier: Smoky Mountain cabins or Rocky Mountain cabins?)  And that has worked out, four years running now--sometimes with more than one piece published.  It's not much, but it's something, and it's time to aim higher.

So, this year, I'm going to go for the book.  You know.  THE BOOK.  The dream.  I'm not sure I'm really up to it yet, but there's no better time to start than now.  I'm having a hard time focusing, though, since moving to Arizona.  I honestly just don't feel very inspired here--it's not beautiful to me, in any sense of the word, and is completely lacking in charm. It's all so...commercial.  And crowded.  And brown. Dismally brown. (What color should we paint our houses? How about the same color as the dirt, which coincidentally is actually the same color as our "grass" and "trees"? That sounds lovely).  Blah.  It's hard to get in the mood to write.  But that's why I'm making this goal.  To give myself a deadline, and force the creativity! Because that's how creativity works, right?  Haha, we shall see.  In a few months, I need to have a draft completed.  And no, you can't read it.  Not yet. :)