I’m a little bit country but way more rock and roll January 19, 2009

Wow, what a weekend.  My folks came up (or down or sideways) and went touring in Nashville.  I am not much a country music fan.  I like the classics, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, but that’s about it.  Well, we got ourselves out of bed ay 6am in order to make there for the bus tour.  People, this is the way to go if you have interest in actually getting out into the cold or finding parking or having to plan anything on your own.  We went to the Ryman which is where the Grand Ol’ Opry originated.  We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and I really enjoyed Elvis’s gold coated piano and large car of somesort.  We also saw some of the orginial Hee Haw costumes and corn stalks.  Classic.  After lunch, things sort of went down hill.  The tour bus took us by the wax museum which was closed (kinda glad about that) and then over to the Willie Nelson and friends Museum and the Dukes of Hazards Museum.  Um…these were hilarious!  They both smelt of oldness, kinda like Mamaw’s house and had some of the most random stuff.  Like, at the Willie Nelson Museum, there were stuffed cats (not real) and totem polls.  It was a head scratcher to say the least.  And the Dukes of Hazards thing was equally hilarious complete with bumper stickers that read “I heart Cooter” and Daisy Duke Underroos. 

Wil and I on a 9 week until baby countdown.  If I sit too long, my hip bones ache.  It is so weird how I can feel them starting to “soften” up in preperation.  Baby Keith is one active little thing and I get kicked in the ribs or the bladder atleast twice a day.  I was getting into bed last night and I prop my stomache up on a pillow.  Well, I was grunting and groaning with the whole activity that Wil just bust out laughing.  It must have been a sight to see.

Something New from the Old January 7, 2009

I am currently enrolled in an EfM group.  What this means is that one night a week, after reading many many pages of a guide and the Bible, I go and discuss it with a group of people.  [Sounds like a Bible study but it isn't quite that].  I have learned SO much.  Having never read the Bible and knowing slim to none about it, the whole experience has been challenging but I have started to make connections and have those moments where things actually make sense.  We are reading the Old Testament right now which is like reading really crazy poetry at times.  The more I read about the God that is portrayed in the Old Testament [very angry, very destructive], the more I question…well, everything!  I am a shacky “Christian” as is so when I read all this stuff that seems impossible, it makes me scratch my head even more.  I am not sure about Jesus and all that (you know what I’m saying) and have been trying to find answers even though the more I try to find answers and the more questions that arise, the more I think that’s the whole point…..that’s what faith is all about.  We are not supposed to know, we are supposed to trust.  That’s a hard one for me. 

When I go to wear one of my five crucifix necklaces I really have to talk myself into it.  In some ways, I feel hypocritical for wearing it since I am not “onboard” with all that it symbolizes.  I end up making it into my own symbol.  It represents the things that I believe in when it comes to Jesus and God. 

Moving away from the Bible, I also was thinking about prayer and the purpose of prayer.  Another barrier I have is when I want people to know someone needs their thoughts, I still have a hard time saying “pray for so and so”.  Instead I say, “Be thinking about so and so.”  I do not think God is this human figure that sits up in heaven and listens to our prayers and tries to “grant” them or has a list that he checks or anything like that.  So what’s the purpose?  Wil says it is so we can litsen to God.  Okay I like that but for me, I think it has to do with energy.  So if I am thinking/praying for so and so and so are you and so is Joe and so is Betty then that’s a lot of energy going towards someone.  Does that energy bounce off the heavens and descend to the person?  I don’t know.  And that’s just the point:  I don’t know. 

I am so thankful for my time in EfM right now because it has me thinking.  I had become spiritualy stagnant and now the juices are flowing again but in a different way then they ever have before.  Something I do know is that my life is different when I am praying and my week is different when I do go to church.  I also know that that’s just me and someone else is for sure to feel differently. 

Isn’t America great?  I can write all this stuff down and not be hunted down by crazys.

You Want Some of This? January 2, 2009

It’s official.  I’m now a grumpy pregnant lady.  My right knee hurts, my back hurts, the baby’s training for some sort of kick boxing event, I still have acne, I’ve begun to waddle, I’m out of breath, I have heart burn, I’m constipated, all I want is chocolate, and I am completely unmotivated to do just about anything besides be a couch potato.  Welcome to 29 weeks Amanda!  Well, it really does sound worse then it is.  Like, my knee only hurts when I walk or stand, the baby only karate chops when I’m trying to relax, I’m only out of breath when I walk on any non-flat surface, and acne has only burdened my face. 

Wil and I toured the ol’ Southern Tennessee Medical Center this week.  We were first ushered into the paperwork room where I signed my name on many a line and I am still not positive that I didn’t sign away the rights to have my baby when the time comes, I might get someone elses.  Then the lady asked if I needed to talk to the anesthesiologist.  Is this really a question?  I said hell yes.  Okay, technically, I want to go all natural but the option better be there for the good stuff….just in case.  Then we saw the birthing rooms and recovery rooms.  It’s no Best Western (eww) that’s for sure but it will do because I don’t plan to be there long. 

Something that concerns me is that I have no questions.  The nurse tour guide was like, “Any questions?” and I was like, “Nope”.  Wil did ask if he was able to be with the baby the whole time after delivery which got a yes response and I asked about shots the baby would get after it was born and if the epidural has degrees of strength but beyond that, I am clueless.

As I wait for Wil to come and get me so we can go eat ( and I do mean eat, likes lots and lots), I ponder what we will do once we actually have this baby.  It’s a head scratcher really………….