Little Earthquakes....

So............
Those of you who know me really well know that I'm a little bit of an earthquake phobic. Living where we do and having gone through several large quakes (one where I was completley alone), I'm a freak about being prepared and I have this immediate instinct to jump up from where ever I am and RUN to the nearest doorway at the slightest threat of one. I can usually hear them coming before they really begin, or I feel that teeny-tiny sense of shaking, and I'm off to the doorway before even I know what's happening. It's kinda funny. It just happens. So....why am I telling you all of this? Well....three times now in the last week, I have felt that 'earthquake instinct' to run to the door, however only once (a few nights ago while laying in bed just before sleep) have I actually RUN for the door. And do you know why? Baby kicks. Tiny, but body bolting baby kicks. Ha! Isn't that hilarious!?! (And kinda embarrassing!) :) Her movements have changed now that she is bigger and she doesn't just kick and nudge in one spot so much anymore. Nope. Now her movements are whole body movements and come from multiple directions at once; jolting out in different directions at the same time and rumbling my innards. In my own defense, the night that I actually jumped out of bed, it really wasn't because of the baby. It was actually the dog's fault. She was laying on Ty's side of the bed where I could not see her and did not know she was there. She did something that rattled our bed and caused that low, deep, quiet rumbling sound for the briefest of instants and sure enough, my flight or flight instinct had me up and halfway to the door before I could say "Boo!". I scared Tess too with my bolting, and she made the dash with me! Ha! I'm laughing at myself as I'm sitting here typing....its pretty funny to think about! But the other two 'episodes' have been when I am sitting really still on the floor, propped against a big pillow for support while I put on my makeup in the morning. I must just be so still in those moments and her little jumps and jiggles feel like an impending quake. I haven't actually gotten UP for those, but I do admit to feeling that very familiar, brief moment of panic until I realize it was just my teeny-tiny babe in my belly. Silly me!

Aside from belly quakes, this week hasn't been quite as humorous! I was car-less for all of Monday and Tuesday, since Ty's car was in the shop AGAIN...costing us WAY too much money to repair. We hadn't really planned on another repair (who does, I guess!) and especially so soon, but so it goes. During the last poop-out on his car, we had talked about how, if the car had more problems, we would re-evaluate as to whether or not to repair or search for a new car. That was our intention this time around, and we told the car repair place to phone us with their repair estimate BEFORE they made the repairs, so that we could decide. But, having the bad luck we do, they just went ahead and made the repairs and then called us. Hmmph! I was miffed, but what are ya gonna do at that point? So, we dumped more money into a car that is worth hardly nothing and now we pray, pray, pray for a good, long while until something else goes wrong with it. We really can't afford a car payment right now.

And how long did our good, long while last before something else happened to it? FOUR HOURS. Yes.....you read that right. Four hours. I picked up his car on Tuesday afternoon at 4pm and Ty had a bow-hunting club meeting at 7pm that night. While he was parked at the meeting, someone backed into the driver-side front wheel well and completely dented/trashed it. So much so, that Ty had to get help from the fellow members to pull the metal out enough so that he could open his door. There was no note....and Ty had no idea who might have been the culprit. Talk about bad luck, eh? Ty went back into the meeting (that was now over) and talked to the president (it was held at his house) and they determined who had been parked next to/kinda in front of him. Ty was quite upset, as you might expect, and the president of the club was very adamant that we would all get to the bottom of it. In his words "If there is some who is a member of this club who behaves in such a way, there will be some serious discussions at the next meeting. I will not tolerate this kind of thing." Most of the members are upstanding, honorable, christian men, so our chances of having a positive outcome were pretty good. Ty got the email of the guy they thought was parked near him....an older gentleman, with a large truck. Ty emailed him last night and sure enough, he emailed back saying that he had in fact felt 'something' when he was leaving, but when he got out to investigate, he didn't see anything and left. He admitted to be in a hurry to leave and anxious to get home, as his wife had just had a biopsy that day. :( Guess that bad luck wasn't just ours. He gave Ty his insurance information and we'll get to figuring out the details today. Thank goodness he was honest! But it still means another trip to a repair shop. Maybe since it was a 'collision' the rental reimbursement from our insurance will actually take effect this time. I won't hold my breath!

Okay...enough gloom. In our time at home the last few days, Luke and I have actually been pretty productive. The baby's dresser is now completely painted and the inside of the drawers sealed, and the chair rail is now ready to be installed (FINALLY!) The paint color came out just fine the second time around and hopefully her room will be ready to 'move into' this weekend.

Since we had to miss Gym on Tuesday due to the lack of car, I took Luke down to the free play session yesterday afternoon and he had a BLAST! I guess he's getting used to the routine because as soon as we walked in the door, he made a b-line for the carpet circle and sat down, just as we do during class time when we begin. Except, during free play, there is no circle time. Kids of all ages just come to play, with no structure. Once I explained this to Luke, he didn't hesitate one moment longer, and he was off running for the remainder of the hour. Literally. He ran from activity to activity; giggling and smiling the entire time at the prospect of doing whatever his little heart desired! He buried himself in the ball pit several times, ran up and down and up and down the carpeted slide/ramp, attempted to climb the rock wall, jumped on the trampoline ump-teen times and even played a cooperative game with an older girl using a gigantic rolling circle. Good times! He was happily exhausted when we left!

I've also been quite the cook the last few days. I've been on a banana bread baking kick this last month, and have actually made at-least one recipe a week of the stuff. I'm been searching for a super-moist, awesome recipe and had to try 4 until I hit the jackpot yesterday with one I picked up on the net and varied a little. Mmmmmm....it was perfectly banana-y and moist! yum! I made a double recipe (I had WAY too many bananas that were ripe) and tucked one away in the freezer to eat when Baby comes home. I made homemade enchiladas on Monday....a tedious process but oh so good, and tucked a tray of those away in the freezer too, for later. And last night, I made our favorite oven-baked fried chicken tenders for dinner. I'm actually pretty proud of myself...in the last week, I've made 5 of the 7 dinners we've eaten from 'scratch' rather than frozen from a bag (read: Trader Joe's gnocci or Orange Chicken with rice). A pretty good track record for me! I am fairly consistent in cooking a sit-down meal for my boys....that is, when Ty is home for dinner, but to make it all from scratch is less of a consistency for me. Yay for me! I guess when you're home ALL day, with no option to leave, you have more time to be Suzie Homemaker! :)

Well....this morning will be our make-up My Gym class for Luke at 10:30 and then a errand to JC Penny to pick up a drapery rod for our curtains in the kitchen, and then home, I guess. Not too much planned. It's just nice to be out and about! :) I'm going to run for now to 'shake a tower' and get ready for my day! Happy Thursday, peeps! :)