Happy Birthday Mom!

As all of you must know by now, we are expecting a little one in early January. I assume, like most things in life, fatherhood is one of those things that cannot be conveyed usefully from a self-help book. As I think back in my own childhood, which was pretty good I must say, I do remember key moments in my own development. In fact, I think an acute memory is more helpful than most advice. I have never been a father, but I have been a son. Anyway, I remember the stories Mom (Sue) used to tell us as children. I don't know if their purpose was didactic ("stay away from strangers!") or was designed in/for sheer delight –maybe both? One particularly vivid story, or rather set of stories and variations on a theme, pertained to mean ol' Mr. Cacascrotch, the(mythical?) man who lived down the street. In the style of one of Grimm's many collected German folktales, and with Heather's artistic skill, we have put together such a story for our soon to be baby, so he too can enjoy the psychological legacy my mother has bestowed upon me. (wink) So this first story, of many to come, is dedicated to my mother,whose birthday falls on the eve of Pooky Night (Oct. 31). Happy Birthday, Mom!

For a downloadable version, click Cacascrotch.pdf

Skies

Last night we drove to the store and the sky was spectacular. We sped home for the camera and made it there just in time for me to waddle up the hill and take this picture. Whereas I see the main stage attraction, Randy always notices whats going on on the side stage. He's gets pictures of things I never even see. The other day when I was oogling over the flowers in the dump, Randy got this great shot of something that required him to look in the exact opposite direction. I never even heard the darn thing and look how low it was!

Confessions of a Wuss

I am the most torn adventuress that I know. I've always been that way. Its a good thing that I married someone with no fear, because I'm a giant chicken. All my life I've longed to do new, exciting things, and yet those things scare me to the point of immobility. My first real experience with my ridiculous anxieties was the summer before 7th grade. I'd been home-schooled up until that point and I wanted to go to regular school. I fought tooth and nail to be allowed to go, and then when the time came, I threw up on a daily basis out of sheer terror during the month before school started .
My reactions aren't so dramatic these days, but I'm still torn between an overwhelming desire to do certain things, and a crushing fear that EVERYTHING is going to go wrong.
We'll get lost. Our car will break down. We'll get car-jacked. These are not fears that I had in the States, but here, there is enough evidence to support their existence.
Randy wanted to drive over the mountains on Sunday. Chicken-me thought "No way! Its so hot out! Our car will break down! We don't know whats on the other side! We have no one to call!"
But Curious-me said, "Sure, why not."
So we drove. And it was hot. And my window wouldn't roll down. And the other side of the mountain is full of strange villages and shantytowns. And then, horror, the car began to overheat after we'd just filled our leaky radiator with water.
Randy must have sensed my rising anxiety and casually said, "You know, this car just isn't meant for mountain driving. Lets turn back."
The closer we got to our side of the mountain, the more my muscles relaxed. I even managed to eek out a few pictures (even though I still couldn't roll my window down).

This is False Bay. The tall buildings on the coast are on The Strand.These are the foothills of the Stellenbosch mountains.And this poor guy has more sense of adventure in his pinky than I do in my whole body. He was pushing this cart up an unusually steep upgrade, and there is nothing in the direction he's going. I wonder if he knew that or is he was just feeling adventurous?When we got home, I was broiling hot after a car ride with no ac and a rolled up window. And I was a little shaky after my inward nervous struggles. But I was glad we went. Now we know whats on the other side of the mountain.

On another note: there are three reasons for today's lunch conglomeration.
1. I seem to have inherited my mom's "Lets see whats in the fridge!" eating habits.
2. We ran out of bread and the Farm Stall was so packed I couldn't even get in.
3. It looks good to me.

PS- the white thing is an egg. I always rip off the top for Wumpy. I can't stomach too much egg white in one bite. I don't know why......

That nursery with the cafe.......

Thats where I wanted to go on Saturday morning. Randy said, "Apidistra?" and I was like, "Uh, the one that has food.....?"
There is a nursery about a mile and half down the country road from us (out in the middle of nowhere). Its enclosed in high walls, so all you can see from the outside are the giant palms. And the sign that advertises a cafe within (actually, we just drove by today and saw that there is no sign advertising a cafe. I just knew.......).
We always pass it and we've both been curious as to what, exactly is inside. Randy remembers the bizarre name, I remember potential edibles (or I make them up in my head).Most of the grounds are a spectacular nursery/outdoor garden store shaded by enormous palms and filled with dozens of bird cages full of beautiful birds.
(you would have loved the birds, Denise)And Randy even got this great shot of a cow that just loved the big bright birdies.

>:)

There are pathways through the more manicured areas filled with all kinds of cool plants and big beautiful pots.At the back of the premises is a pond surrounded by palms and aviaries. We spent a while on the bridge. It was shaded an cool and quiet.Then we found the outdoor cafe. It was just a little hut that served as a kitchen and then a stone patio shaded by enormous palms and other trees. The tables were so cute that I could hardly stand it. Sue, you would have loved it. They did the greatest things with bird cages and old soda cans.The rest of the property (the orange thing you see in the background of that last picture), is a big house with a pool and its own private (humongous) garden. Some lucky person has a great business going right in their own front yard. It was cool.

Surf City

Apparently, South Africa is an amazing place to surf (if you don't mind the overabundance of hungry Great Whites.....).
We can see False Bay from our road, and we've been to The Strand over the winter, but there is nothing like driving down the coast of False Bay towards Cape Point.
The surfers are out in full-force.
And all the little surf shacks are busy.
But there are also long stretches of empty sand and lone vessels. These are my favorite.
Speaking of lone vessels, I sure do miss my friends and family this week. Its hard to hear of big events from afar and not to be there. But I know that God works his miracles whether Heather is involved or not.
:)
I love you, friends and family.

Kayalitsha

There is a township that lies between Stellenbosch and Kalk Bay. Its very near the coast, but that doesn't make it a good place. There is a sewage plant across the highway from it, which makes it even more dismal. As we got closer to it, we noticed more and more people on the side of the road. Some of them were walking to the beach, or just walking. This is the sign that they want a ride.But like I've said before, sometimes its hard to tell the hitchhikers from the prostitutes, whether women......Or men.There are a lot of children out, some by themselves. Some are with mothers.

And some are completely ignored as they walk along one of the most narrow highways in the Cape. The little boy at the end couldn't have been more than 3 years old.Then there are the cute grannies out for a stroll.But the township itself, is shocking. As we drive along the highway we see little shacks lining the road, but can't see beyond them.But then we drive up the hill and see how big the township really is.


Hundreds of thousands of people live in this crowded, poverty-stricken place. Most of them don't have running water and most of the "houses" are tin shacks.
Its amazing to me that the government here shells out all kinds of money on various things (mostly themselves) while so many people live without the basic necessities.
Why is it that I am so blessed as to have been born in the US? There are a lot of things wrong with our country, but not this kind of wrong. Its a real eye-opener.

Curry for Heather

Many of you may know what a wuss I am when it comes to food. My brother Andrew and I were both that way until we married Gauthiers. We're both macaroni and cheese type people. When we go to a restaurant we always order the same thing. I think its a result of growing up on meals like plain hamburger patties and noodles with butter. (Actually, my mom did branch out in later years and is a fabulous cook!).
Randy will try absolutely anything without fear or hesitation, although he does have issues with yogurt, raisins, pineapple and fruit-related desserts.......

Anyway, I've always thought I HATED curry. I went to a Thai food restaurant with a friend once and she ordered a curry soup that smelled like a bowl of barf. I couldn't handle it. So all these years I've been avoiding it like the plague. I never realized that Curry is a more generic term and there are all kinds and flavors.
And Randy is the KING of spices. We went to the store and found all these great spices for like 20 cents a bag. Stuff like, cardomon seeds, tumeric and tandoori masala.
Ever since, Randy has been creating his own concoctions. Let me tell you what, they are so darn good! He thinks its nothing to be able to whip together this spicy, healthy meal without so much as looking at a recipe, but I think its amazing. (this one is chicken korma with tomatoes, potatoes, onions and cashews). Heaven for Heather!

The Dump

We had a GREAT Sunday. After lunch, Randy dragged the porch chairs into the grass and we both sat in the sun. After a while we retreated to the porch. I pulled out some cushions and lay on them and Randy and Enkidu lounged in the chairs and took naps. Wumpy crashed on the cement next to me. It was quiet and the sun was warm and the breeze was cool enough to feel like AC. It was so wonderful.
After that we took the dogs out to do their bidness.
There is a trash pit on our property and every week the workers come out and burn the trash. Depending on which way the wind blows, we can have a happy day or we can have a day filled with the smell of burning plastic. During the winter, the area is a big ugly eye-sore. Dirt, mud trash, junk that never gets dealt with (like several old hospital beds, etc).
But on Sunday, we saw that the entire dump was completely overrun by flowers, except the small hole in which they dump and burn the trash.Randy said, "Put your tall boots on and lets go get some flowers."
After the dogs were done we put them back in the house and put on our jeans and boots to climb the overgrown hill surrounding the pit.I grabbed my scissors and we headed out. I'm not sure if the area used to be a garden, or if these are just wildflowers growing everywhere, but they are bright and beautiful. Together we picked quite a few.Then we took them back home and dumped them on the table so I could find a "vase" to stick them in.
A plastic water jug worked just fine. Aren't they pretty?
PS-y'all are seeing an awful lot of me with no makeup. Cathy, will you tell me to go put some lipstick on?

My favorite seaside town

I love Kalk Bay. The busy seaside town was less than 10 minutes from our house in Noordhoek, so we used to go a lot more often. But we haven't been since we moved out to the wine country.
On Saturday we went and the streets were packed with surfers going one way and day-travelers going the other.The street that runs along the bay is lined with old mansions and quirky shops, cafes, and restaurants. The neighborhoods climb straight up the mountain and the sidewalks leading into them are often just hundreds of stairs winding into the greenery. The streets are steep and most of these houses have an incredible view of the Atlantic.We met Jim and Julianna at the Olympia Cafe and Bakery (pictured here on the corner). It was in an interesting building and from the window we could see a whale splashing around in the harbor. That was very cool. The best thing about the cafe was the bathroom. You had to walk through the kitchen and through a semi-outdoor terrace before finding it. The food was good too, although I think I've been spoiled by the spinach pochettes and almond croissants at La Madeline in San Antonio and I tend to measure all other ladylike foods against theirs.Randy wasn't "posing" in this picture, he was just waiting for Jim to come out of the cafe. Wanted to be sure nobody got the wrong idea about Randy and his anti-posing beliefs.
(I, however, am posing in my picture......) You can see our car parked in the background in Randy's shot.After we ate, we walked down the street and looked in the shops. Not only is the beach street lined with shops, but every alley is full of tiny boutiques (and some not so tiny). The buildings are over 100 years old, so every store has its own character. And if the shop had no character, luckily, I brought my own.
This little shack was erected in an empty lot by the beach. The inside was stone and it had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and all kinds of cute things.After we walked around, I got some ice cream and Randy got a drink and then we drove home alone the coast with the windows rolled down. It was a fantasy day. I was one happy girl!

A new season in our house

We're officially having more warm days that cool ones. It is totally spring now!
Oh man, I'm so excited! I love having the doors open and the ceiling fan on. I'm so happy to be able to sit on the porch in my big-girl clothes and be warm.
I love the fruits and the flowers and the breeze. Our house feels different now.We walked through the vineyards again last night. There was no moon so it was pitch black. I paced myself this time, however, and I survived.
There are small lakes scattered throughout the hills and we can't see them but we know where they are because we can hear the millions of frogs doing whatever they do around the lakes at night. The sound is overwhelming and very....rural.
I wish y'all were here to see and hear it all. I have an extra chair.......

Tate! (and other food.....)

Jim and Julianna came over yesterday and did some laundry to hang out and then we went and picked some strawberries. It was hot out!!! (Yes!)
When my beloved got out of class he came home and made us a curry dinner and it was wonderful. Then we made coffee and cut up some strawberries and ate the cake.It was just all too good.
I told them last night that sometimes I feel like God is spoiling me rotten. On Saturday I sat on the porch in the sun with an orange and just relaxed. The baby was kicking and the breeze was blowing and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
Thank you Lord for giving me this time in my life!

Tate!

As my little brother used to call it oh-so-enthusiastically. He couldn't pronounce his C's or K's.You would think that this far along in my pregnancy, I'd be dreaming of babies. I've had a couple of baby dreams, but it was always somebody else's baby. And I've had a couple of pregnant dreams, but for the most part, I dream of stupid things (Like the last one in which one of the presidential candidates gave me new jeans and a purse because he'd accidentally been rude to me).
But one reoccurring dream theme is baked goods.
In these dreams, I go to someone's house and they are baking hundreds of cupcakes or pies or cakes in general. Night before last my mother-in-law was baking buttery, flaky, sugary pies with bright blue filling, plus an assortment of thickly iced cakes.
The other reoccurring theme is that all these baking women are baking these delicacies for a church picnic. Or a book club. Or a school function. And I'm not allowed to have any. Never. Not even a bite. Not even once.

So we got our oven fixed and I made another Italian Creme Cake. Its my favorite and it takes hours to make (because its 3 layers and we only have one pan. and we don't have a mixer). But I made it anyway and tonight we're gonna eat it!
Tate!

Needy

Yesterday was a needy day. It was coldish and we didn't have any running water. I was tired and slightly cranky. I was doing some work on the computer and felt paws on my knee. The dogs were needy too.I told them (crankily) how it was. "You brats gets more than enough attention and I think you can survive an hour or two without being pet and kissed and spoiled. Lay down and keep your grubby little paws to yourself."
Apparently, Wumpy concluded that Enkidu's presence was hurting his chances for love, so he did something he rarely does. He went on the offensive and Enkidu got an open-paw whack to the face.This is something Enkidu himself usually does to Wumpus, so he was totally caught off guard.But he quickly retaliated in the most irritating way possible. I put them both in time out and they slept until Randy got home. When Randy comes home he lights up the house and makes it warm and makes us all happy after a day of getting on each other's nerves. We couldn't survive without Randy.

Bed Time

I love bedtime!!!!
Even if I haven't done anything particularly rigorous that day, and even if I don't sleep much, and even if our mattress is a hard lumpy slab on the floor, I love bedtime!!!
I think by then I am just ready to lay down. It feels so good to prop up on pillows and not have to haul around this extra poundage. This it when the baby wakes up and starts really kicking. Plus, I like the lighting in our bedroom. And I like our blankets.
The dogs get to come in for a little while before going to their kennels to sleep, and we all hang out.They also get some extra love from Randy, and they love it.Its relaxing and entertaining for me. Better than TV. I love my little family.

Saturday Blog

All this time we've been convinced that Wumpus has nothing but the sound of the ocean between his fluffy ears. He isn't a problem solver. He'll get stuck behind a chair because he doesn't know to turn around and walk back the other way. Poor dumb dog. He's a lover, not a thinker.
But every once in a while he'll have a smart attack.

Yesterday morning we were in the bedroom and Wumpy wandered over to the corner and barfed. Great.
But then he looked around, spotted a pair of my shorts on the floor, grabbed them and dragged them back over to the barf puddle and used them to wipe it up. Then he left them there, moving them around a little with his paw to make sure everything was hidden. Then returned to his former spot at the foot of the bed.
Wumpy solved a problem, albeit a gross one that ruined Heather's shorts; but still, we were so proud of his sudden skill. I'd like to know, though, what exactly the problem was that he thought he was solving. Was he embarrassed? Was he worried about getting in trouble? Is he a neat freak? By the look on his face, we knew he thought he'd pulled one over on us. Smart, but still ridiculously stupid.

My Mama

I’m sad to say that I have no pictures of my mother. They are all in Andrew and Cristin’s attic. I have one of her in the 70’s wearing a pair of serious bell-bottoms. Her hair is long and brown and she is tan and beautiful. I have one of her in the 80’s wearing one of those flowered jumpers (the pants kind) that were so big then. It seems to me that she was pregnant throughout most of the 80’s. I have one of her in the 90’s, still with her long brown hair, beautiful tan skin. She has Adam on her knee and they are feeding the ducks.

My mom is a very unusual woman. She was born and raised in Berkeley California, if that tells you anything. She is the kind of person who has never understood her own beauty (she is 6ft 1 and has always had a great slender figure, even after bearing 6 children). She is shy and brilliantly talented. Her college friends once told me that they were in awe of her. She could pick up any musical instrument and figure out how to play it. She is an artist and a writer and she has a beautiful voice.

My mom is a quirky woman. She collects cat whiskers. And rubber bands. She used to jog up and down the alley until she got attacked by a pit-bull. Now she jogs along the fence in the backyard. She and her dogs have worn a path in the grass all the way to the dirt. I’m sure the neighbors can see her silver hair bobbing up and down above the 6 foot privacy fence. She is also an obsessive (and brilliantly talented) whistler. She whistles while she's washing the dishes or scrubbing the floor or hanging the laundry. She has a heart for animals. She has buried dead dogs she's found on the side of the road and brought home live ones. Before the pit bull incident she ran into a giant burnt pig in the alley (he was still alive) and it nearly broke her heart. I love her for that.

She has had a quiet time with the Lord Every morning that I have been alive, and she has the verses on hand to prove it. She could quote everyone from Moses to Paul when we were complaining about hamburger patties and lima beans for dinner. Some verse always seemed to apply to that situation.

When times got hard, my mom never complained. She got a job as a bus driver and also started cleaning houses. She has real, true joy in what she does. Even when it means getting up at 4 in the morning to warm and clean her bus and drive a bunch of cranky middle schoolers around.

I am nothing like her. I wish I was. But every once in a while I’ll do something or say something and I’ll delight in the fact that just then, I did something my mom might do.

I love you Mama. Happy Birthday.

Big Ole Girl

I never realized exactly how active I used to be until now. I'm suddenly surprised that I can't climb certain things or lift certain things. I'm like, "Wait, whats going on here?"
I was telling a friend that the other night Randy wanted me to go on a walk with him. It was about 10:30 at night and we took the dogs and snuck onto a vineyard up the hill. We didn't have flashlights, but the moon was out and we were up high and it was beautiful.
At first it was fun and I was trotting along merrily behind Randy. But after a while my nerves started pinching and my ligaments were hurting and my Big Ole Girl belly was jostling around. Randy could hear me huffing and stumbling and waddling behind him. He kept saying, "Do you want me to go get the car?"

I think my problem is that I don't pace myself. Like when I clean the house. I go into battle mode. I start sweeping and mopping and that turns into rearranging the furniture and that turns into painting bricks on the wall and that turns into adding a hem to the curtains. Then my left eye gets fuzzy and I realize I'm so tired that I can hardly function.
So now I do a lot of intermittent sitting. It helps.

Man vs Nature

Ever wonder where all the supremely untalented architects of the world make their living? No, its not Lubbock. I'll tell you where it is. They unleash their creations in the miles of industrial and auto wasteland on the outskirts of Cape Town.
We drove down a road that led towards the city, away from the winelands, just to see where it went. At first, the town streets were pretty and interesting.Then, suddenly, the world turned into dusty streets and huge ugly buildings that housed the headquarters for various auto industries. The smaller store fronts were all auto services, glass installers, mechanics etc. It would be one thing if we drove past 5 or 6 blocks of this, but it was MILES. I would have taken more pictures, but it was all too hideous. I couldn't bring myself to do it.Of course, little sights pop up here and there that let you know you're still in Africa.
After all that it was nice to get home to soft, uber-fluffy things.

Fame and Glory

A couple of you may not know that in the late 80's I was a member of a girl-band. We called ourselves Brittany's Peers (and unfortunately our fame was later eclipsed by a pop star who's name sounded eerily similar to our own). We did mostly Milli-Vanilli cover songs, although we usually pre-recorded them because none of us could sing and dance at the same time. Actually, none of us could really dance......or sing. And when I say "pre-recorded" I mean that some of our less "cool" acquaintances sang the songs in a recording studio and then we lip-synced to the tracks while doing stationary-foot choreography on-stage (like The Robot, or The Wave).
Of course, when the whole world discovered and consequently thrashed Milli-Vanilli for masquerading as the singers of their own songs, we saw the error of our ways and disposed of our old repertoire. Luckily, Vanilla Ice came on the scene and we were able to cover some of his fine tunes, and it was all "rap" so we didn't have to sing anything (although we still pre-recorded because we couldn't "rap" and do The Wave at the same time).I often compared us to The Beatles because we too had a fifth member in the beginning. When she left the group it was a real blow. She was the only one who could do The Running Man.

(An old friend of mine posted these pictures on FaceBook and I might have completely overlooked them if it weren't for my brother commenting on the length of my pants. I have no recollection of these pictures being taken, or of wearing those pants, but I can tell you that I probably borrowed the whole outfit because nothing in my closet was that long or cool)
>:)

Strawberries

The strawberry fields have been open for picking for several weeks now. On weekends the place is crawling with people so we haven't gone out there yet. But yesterday we had a decent afternoon so we walked out there with our baskets. Hardly anyone was out but the scarecrows.
Some areas have been pretty picked over, but there are still tons of big juicy ones in the lower fields.We weren't going to pick many because neither of us are huge strawberry eaters. We got this many and then had them weighed. It only cost $2 and ended up with quite a bit more than we had intended.
Then we got home and I remembered that we had some powdered sugar. So we sat down at the table and OINKED. We'd just gone on a long walk, and the cold strawberries to too good. We couldn't stop cramming them in our face. I think we ate most of them. And Wumpy ate a few.
We're definitely going back. We walk over there almost every day anyway. I love that farm stall.

Two random facts

Have we mentioned that the president of South Africa resigned last week? Now there is a temp filling in. The government is in turmoil (again) and we have yet to hear a word out of the locals about it. What we do hear is passionate, critical tirade's aimed at the US President and the current candidates. Everywhere we go we get bombarded with harsh opinions.
I find it funny that white South Africa is obsessed with US politics when their own presidential candidate has been accused of rape and is currently facing charges of corruption (and he doesn't have a high school education....).
I want to tell them that I am open to their criticisms as soon as they get their own politics sorted out. Randy is funny. He just cuts them off at the knees and tells them mid-stride that he doesn't talk about politics here: period. He's gotten a few huffs but he is spared the long-winded suggestions.

On another, completely trivial note, this is OUR duck.I refer to him as OUR duck, because as soon as we learn to fire off a well aimed dirt clod, his butt is OURS. He sits on the telephone pole right outside our house and quacks at the top of his lungs. He's not talking to anyone, just making noise (at 6 in the morning). He does it all day. We can hear him over the saws as they cut through cinder-blocks. One of these days........

Heather's Pout-Fest

So, everybody knows how I like to whine about the cold. Well, its been especially cold lately, and since our space heater decided to fry itself, I've been living in a coat and scarf. Me and Enkidu just can't seem to get it together. I've been putting his pathetic little sweaters on him and he still gravitates towards stationary warmth. Even if it mean sitting ON TOP of the Wump.

We've been forlorn.

Well, about a week ago, I looked at the forecast and saw that the next Monday would be hot and sunny. Finally, I would be able to open the doors and we'd be able to go outside. Since we got our porch chairs, we haven't been able to spend anytime on our first porch ever (at least our first private porch). I had big plans. Laundry! Reading! Lounging outside with the dogs!
So I wake up that Monday morning to the sound of saws and drills. I look outside and our yard is full of workers. The landlord has decided to turn the shed in our yard into a big cottage. There were about 6 guys in the yard. Their tools and jackets were all over our porch. And as soon as I stepped outside with my drink and my laptop, they all stopped what they were doing to watch what I was doing. They like to stare. So I got back up and went inside and SULKED. Sulked with a capitol S. And U. And L. And KED.
After I got over the initial sulking, I decided that at least I could have the door open. But once all the saws and drills started up, the noise was earsplitting. I had to close the door on the sunny day. And then I noticed that the guys were still staring in and so I had to close the curtains. Once again, completely enclosed!
Here is a picture (I took it after the end of the workday). Bummer. They are working on it 6 days a week from 8 in the morning until 6 at night. Thats a lot of noise and a lot of stares.
But here is the good news. The landlord wandered over in the midst of my sulking and I did a little bit of controlled whining, and he said that anytime I want to, I can go sit by their private pool. So I might do that when it warms up. But I would love to be able to use our porch. It would be so nice to hang our clean underwear without an audience.
I'm thinking that maybe once they finish this side of the building, they'll all move to the other side and I can sit in peace.
Pray for my attitude. There is a reason for everything!

My long happy birthday

I've had several birthday days over the past few weeks. Its been great!
Strangely enough, I found most of what I wanted for my birthday at the grocery store. I got a plastic trash can for the kitchen area. The kind with the foot lever!
Then I got a bunch of clothes hangers (we only had 8 before). I found a little metal basket to put in the dish drainer for silverware. We also got some fudge.
Randy teased me about my birthday wish list saying that I was suddenly turning into a housewife. We both had a good laugh at that.

We also bought two wicker chests from the guys on the side of the road. We got one for the bathroom to put all our toiletries in (they've been in a box for a year and we have to dig around to find what we want). We got another one for the living room to put baby stuff in. The lamp is the final birthday purchase. Thank you everyone! I feel so organized and happy.
Last night we went over to Jim and Julianna's and they made us dinner and a cake!It was a cake mix from the States and man was it good! Thank you Jim and Julianna.
Here is my official 3rd trimester picture. Apparently, now that I'm 34, I've acquired a serious adult face. (I don't know that it works with my pigtails or my thermal shirt with the little dinosaurs on it)

Oh, no, wait. That last face must have been a fluke.....