It's not about us people!

The Today Show spot was "How to Treat your Loved Ones Like a Celebrity this Christmas" and the person presenting is a professional shopper who can find all the things that are the "musts" if you want to copy celebrities' lives. The first item on the list--these "Ho Ho Christmas Stockings" that replace the traditional stockings hung by the fire. I don't know where to start....just to say that Christmas is not about making us feel good or feel happy or feel like a Celebrity. I'm not sure what it is about except that it is the annual observance of a season of the Christian year. And somehow from this observance we have derived "Ho Ho Christmas Stockings." It makes me want to run and hide in a convent the rest of my life.

My second cousin and my first pregnancy photo

My second cousin Nancy was in-town over the weekend for her husband's company Christmas party. She is the one who I recently met who has been sharing Simonds family photos. We had tea at her hotel...the Hotel Palomar (my first time there even though I've driven past many times). The top picture is the two of us in front of their hotel Christmas tree. The bottom picture--OH MY GOSH...my first time to see a picture of me looking pregnant. I think I'm having a baby!

DayTimer.com wins store of the year

Something good happened today--not quite a Christmas miracle--but as close as possible for the retail world. And the ending of the story is that Daytimer.com wins Retail Store of the Year in my book. I recently ordered my 2008 page-a-day calendar from them (this is my 3rd year using their system). I mentioned to the phone person that in the past year, I lost one of the screws that holds the rings to the binder. I asked if she could send me a screw. And she said she couldn't send me a screw, and she suggested that I could find one at the hardware store. The conversation felt funny and actually stayed with me the past few days, but I just didn't feel like pushing the issue.

Today, just 10 minutes ago, I received a phone call from the Quality Assurance Division of Daytimer.com. Upon reviewing the call, it was decided that my request was not accurately handled. I never knew that that pre-recorded message "Your call is being recorded for quality assurance" really mattered. Their apology--they are sending me a brand new binder. I would have been happy with a screw, but I will accept a new binder! I'm a small fish for them--I order once a year my pages--yet they treated me like my business really matters in the large pond of retail. Thanks Daytimer.com for brightening my day.

Buddha Belly

We had our 20-week sonogram this morning and we are celebrating the miracle of life. Baby Ransdell has become incarnate and all organs and anatomy are in-place and looking good. In fact, our little baby has a big belly for his/her age (already taking after Grandpa Self...). Big bellies were signs of godliness in Buddhas, which is why you always see Buddhas with bellies. The big belly actually represented the capacity to hold great breath, which is considered the source of all life. So, we have a baby with a Buddha belly!

And he/she has a long femur. Both are signs of a healthy, long baby! Troy likes the top photo because it looks like the baby is using his pointer finger to ponder life. I like the bottom photo because it shows the tiny details of his/her hand. And talk about temptation--the three different people who viewed our sonogram said they could clearly see the gender of the baby--but we held strong. It will now be a surprise because they did not write it in our chart. Here's to surprises in life.

The sonogram doctor said something funny...he asked if this was my first pregnancy. I said yes, and he said, "Good job...You grow them good." So now I have to keep this bun in the oven baking for the next 20 weeks!

A girl might change her mind

Since falling in love with the first nursery theme, Wabi Sabi, I found another Oriental theme by the same designer--this is called Sticky Rice. I think I like the deeper red and creme color scheme better than the rust and white of the other pattern. So, this is our theme, officially!

I think I've got my nursery theme!

Troy and I want to be surprised on the day the baby is born with the gender of the child. This is not the choice either of our parents want us to make. But there are so few real surprises in this world, and we want this to be a surprise for us when the child is born.

This decision makes some things more difficult. Grandparents have to work harder to find gender-neutral colors. And we had to become creative as to the nursery theme.

I had already decided I didn't want to buy into the consumeristic Disney narrative for my child's bedding nor did I want a pastel color scheme. After a friend told me that babies primarily see the colors red, black and white, I had a brainstorm--I would have an oriental theme nursery.

I was so excited by my idea and I had one friend, as well as my husband, think it was a good idea. From others, I would get a reply like, "Well, that will be 'interesting'." I could hear the hesitation in their voices. I searched long and hard on the Internet for oriental baby bedding/nursery themes and up until today found only two ideas that I really didn't like.

Then, I found Wabi Sabi by Glenna Jean. And I love it. I love the colors, the incorporation of the bamboo, and the different textures on the quilt. And, I love the mobile--little brown bears wearing skirts made out of the bamboo pattern. I also like the design idea in the picture above, incorporating oriental lamps. Since we plan to move sooner than later, we decided we didn't want to paint the walls so the red paint isn't possible--but there are some other ways to incorporate that color.

Of course, I haven't considered the cost and whether it is in our budget, all I know is this is what I have envisioned my nursery/study to look like.

I'm glad to know that I'm not strange to have an Oriental theme for our nursery--that someone else in the world has thought about it also! Check out the other pieces in the theme at http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/glj/glj38240.html

Nursery themes are definately for the priveleged and I must confess that I struggle with the stewardship perspective of having a nursery theme when there are people out there who have nothing.

A final note to November

Just wanted to add a "PS" to my November blog entries -- today starts the beginning of my 19th week! Almost half-way there!