out with the old... (and other newsworthy tidbits)

yep--that's right. i bought a new car. my car sales guy was awesome. i just went to look at it, but then--he gave me everything i wanted. i was forced to ask myself, "self? what are you waiting for?" the answer was that i was waiting for the car fairy to give me $20k so i didn't have to start paying for a car. and since THAT wasn't going to happen, i sucked it up and bought the thing. the good news is that my once-rather-damaged credit is now such that i was able to do it all by myself like an actual grownup. whoo hoo! and the new car is so far--AWESOME! it's a 2008 mazda 5, something like a cross between a car and a minivan. it's going to be great for wrangling the squeaker, and it's going to be awesome for road trips. in fact, i took it on one the day after i got it from the dealership. so much more comfortable than my sentra was, it's not even funny. my sentra served me well for 11 years, but it was just time for me to move on. always odly bittersweet for me--letting go of something that's been in my life that long...

anyway.

so yeah--i took the new car and went home to see my mama, whose quality of medical care has been pure total ass. my mother and father don't ask all that many questions of the doctors, so basically, we have no idea what the heck is wrong. she had a BP spike, was given meds that caused the BP to plummet, they thought she was having a heart attack, so they moved her to a heart clinic where there were tests and drugs that found nothing at all wrong with her. in the process, they gave her a blood clot, fucked up her arm, and sent her home with no charts, no record of what had been done, no scheduled follow-up, and a nasty case of foot and mouth disease. yay. the good news is that she feels better (after a week and a half!)--the bad news is that no one knows wtf happened to her. her follow-up's not till april fucking 9th. this is one of those times when i wish desperately that i lived closer to home so i could help her with this mess. or at the very least, keep her company. i went home for the weekend, but could not stay longer. and for the first time in my life, my mother said to me--i wish you didn't have to go back. this is a woman who asks for nothing from anyone. it made me so sad to leave her, and lord, but i wish i could go back for longer. but you know--pregnant--near the end--kind of need to stay around here. and oh, so much to do before the baby comes.

and oh yeah--he's coming all right. i am less than a month from my due date now, and oddly in denial about it. i hae to keep telling myself that i only have a few more weeks to work/clean/get ready. all those things i don't have from my baby registries, i need to get NOW. i am having weekly appointments with my doctors now, which is actually ok by me. because i have chronic hypertension, i get to have all kinds of extra tests here at the end, which is actually kind of great. they ahve added to my normal regimen (which is go in, pee in a cup, get weighed to find i have gained nothing or gained or lost the pound i keep gaining and losing, make them take my BP manually rather than with the evil machine, knit for 45 minutes, see a doctor for 5 minutes while they measure my belly, check the heartbeat, and ask me if everything's ok, then go to whole foods for a reward muffin and a bottle of water) a nonstress test. this, my friends, is the most awesome thing ever. they put a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor on me, lay be back in a big cushy leather recliner, turn up the volume on the baby's heartbeat, dim the lights, and leave me alone for 20 minutes with nothing to do but hit a little game show button when the baby moves. it's like going to a spa. the baby's heart rate rises and falls and he flails around and i listen and click my button and chill. i'd like to have one of these tests every day. the baby? he's great--super active. tuesday, he measured at 6 pounds and 12 ounces, more than i weighed when i was born.

time is just flying, y'all. i have more to say and no time to say it. there are hats. and pictures of hats. and baby sweaters. stuff about the cats. ultrasound pictures that need to be scanned in. i'll get to it at some point, hopefully... for now, i shall leave you with one final thing. check out the size of this belly!