Had my doctor appointment today, complete with cervical check. Joy. Not. At least I don’t have to have another one (check, not appointment) until 37 weeks.

The scale said I lost two pounds over the last two weeks. Not sure how that happened. But the upshot is: I have license to eat because while I shouldn’t be gaining a lot of weight, I shouldn’t be losing it either. Bring on the ice cream. Well, bring on the vegetables and occasional bowl of ice cream. Or maybe just more of M’s cookies from Sunday and E’s spinach pastries (see, vegetables, those are good for me and V.).

Had to ditch the wedding ring as of last night. I was having a hard time getting it off and I still have a strong ring indention where it was on my finger. I offered to use a Sharpie and draw it back on based on the indention, but the spouse seemed to think that was a dodgy idea. And even my calves are starting to get fat (not water-weight puffy, just pudgy). Now, if my fingers and legs are getting fatter, where did those two pounds go? Oh well.

I’m ready for another game night tomorrow night. Now to see if I can drag the spouse away from the online gaming for the evening. I give him props for withstanding an evening of budget discussion last night, so he’s definitely earned some gaming time. ?

Now that birth class is done, our Wednesday ?nights are free again, so we headed to B&G tonight for some board game playing. The spouse threw down for some El Grande and I tried out Wealth of Nations. I would definitely play again (and I prefer it to El Grande, for which I’ve never really mastered a strategy) though preferably with fewer players; we had the maximum of six and it was . . . so . . . dang . . . slooowwwwww. The game. And some of the other players. And none of them were named Matt, either.

Picked up Acquire at 20% off (game night discount). Between that, our $10 discount redemption (5% off the last $200 we spent at B&G) and my $10 downtown dollars (redeemed from tokens at work), it was only $5. Huzzah.

Now it’s past my bedtime, so good night.

Hurrah for bank holidays! Today, I slept in, petted the cat, comforted her when the spouse had to kick her out of the crib (again), ran errands and did useful things, and baked banana bread. It’s still in the oven, so if you want some, get over here in the next 45 minutes or so for some nice, warm, anti-rainy-day banana bread. Sorry, Sunday’s pumpkin bread is all gone: the spouse ate it all. Apparently, he likes pumpkin bread.

Only 15 days until the next holiday: Thanksgiving.

As of tomorrow, countdown has begun: nine weeks to go. We’re down to the single digit weeks of waiting. I’m starting to wonder what I’ve forgotten to prepare. And I’m beginning to wonder where we’re going to put all the clothes: a co-worker cleaned out her 3-month-old’s closet and gave me a huge bag of clothes, including another 21 onesies. That puts the count up to 88 total.?

Have been debating getting a prenatal yoga DVD to practice some more breathing techniques and stretches for ramp-up to labor.?

And have begun reading the boys’ name section in the baby name books. The spouse has still not confirmed my suggestion of middle name; he’s quite busy cramming in a few more weeks of online first-person shooter games before the baby’s arrival. I’ve given up on his choosing the middle name. Doesn’t matter anyway: if he’s passed out on the floor at the time of birth, I’ll just choose whatever name I want. He he. So, if he’s passed out, and it’s a boy, I’m calling him Colin. (I really do like the name, not just because it’s Colin Firth’s name.) So, spouse, you’d better get on the naming gig, or at the very least, make sure you’re awake in nine weeks.

Go vote. I have. Walter R. Cox has my vote seven times on everything from county commissioner to supreme court justice. But Barack Hussein Obama has my presidential vote. That one was my hardest decision. Now that I’ve done my part, I think I will sit at work and watch the election all day. Yes, I think that’s a good plan.

And once you’ve voted, go to Starbucks and get your free very small drip coffee.

I should be filling out my ballot; I am instead procrastiblogging. Have not yet decided on my presidential candidate, though am reasonably certain on governor (the number of Dino Rossi fear mailings groups clogging my mailbox having a definite negative influence on his chances of my vote).?

Also spent time this evening on church budget. My two cents: people, give to your local church budget. I freely admit that up until a couple of years ago, I did not give to church budget myself. I figured that I gave my tithe and that was doing my part. Now I have grumped a fair bit in the last year about the church demanding my tithe and telling me how much to give and why the church leaders should get to decide how my tithe is appropriated and even tell me what percentage of my income I should be giving to each of the stock offerings.

Logically, If membership is local, shouldn’t there be more emphasis on local support? Why do I give all my money to the conference so that some old white guy (statistically speaking) can decide whether my local church should have any of that money? I’m not saying we should go congregational, because I understand completely that smaller churches would have a hard time supporting a pastor, evangelism needs, etc.?

So, my short answer to the tithing/church budget dilemma is this: give (more) money to your local church budget. But more than that: give your time and talents. I’m continually surprised by the number of things that are supported by the church budget that I never thought of. I hear that people struggle to find other members who will help with projects or needs, but I never even knew those projects or needs existed. I kept my mouth shut this evening when I wanted to volunteer for about four different things that I could do, because I don’t think that now is the best time for me to be adding projects to my life. In general, I’m trying to cut back so I have lots of time for family come January. But still, there must be something we can do to match people’s talents with the church’s needs.

Preaching (er, rambling?) and procrastiblogging done. Must finish ballot before bed.