Life as a Crook: #11, 12 & 13

Dear Little-

We got to see you this week. ALL of you! Well, I didn't see all of you, but your daddy did. He wanted to be the one to surprise me with revealing what you were...besides precious. During the ultrasound, you were super wiggly again. It made me happy to see you again and to hear from the tech that you were "perfect".

This past week, I finally met a little boy that is in my Biology class. "Little" as in 8. As in he's a third grader. He was very nice and too smart for his own good. It made me feel like a failure after I talked to him. When I was his age I had a bad perm and wore floral print vests to school. I'm sure he will grow up to save the world one day. After class, I realized that, although I was envious of how smart this kid was, I also knew that I didn't want you to be like that. I want you to be smart and confident, but I also want you to take some time and be a kid. I hope that you like reading as much as I do, but that you also will like playing in the dirt and climbing trees and getting into a little trouble.

For the record......I AM DYING to know what you are! Your daddy is telling me tomorrow, on our anniversary, and I can't wait! Even though I wanted to find out what you are when we went to the doctor this week, I also wanted your daddy to be a part of this whole pregnancy thing in any way he wanted. Since he seemed really excited about the idea of surprising me, I wanted to let him. I think it must be hard for him to really understand what this journey has been like so far; I've been the one to be sick, moody, sleepy, hungry and outgrow my pants. If this was what I could do to include him on our journey, how could I deny him that?

Here's more things I want you to know about me:

#11- 5 pet peeves you have:
1- stepping on something wet when I have socks on.
2- when cabinet drawers or doors are left open
3- people who use religion as an excuse to be discriminatory
4- stupid drivers (not using their blinker, cutting me off for no reason, riding my bumper, pulling out in front of me when there is NO ONE behind me, people that are driving like crap and then when I drive by, see them texting on their phones...etc, etc.)
5- people that are rude to any one who works in the service industry (airline workers, janitors/housekeepers, hotel staff, public transit workers, healthcare professionals...)
BONUS! 6- people with no manners. Saying "please", "thank you" will not kill you.
Double bonus!! 7- when I go to the bathroom and there is no toilet paper and I have to drip dry.

#12- describe a typical day in your current life:
Well, it depends on the day. Its always super glamorous. Monday, Wednesday & Friday go like this: alarm goes off at 7, hit snooze until 7:20 while I snuggle with Pongo, get ready for class (i.e. pull hair into a ponytail and be sure to wear my belly band so my pants stay up), eat a quick breakfast, class from 8:30-3, come home starving and eat, do homework, make dinner, watch tv/play tetris and go to bed. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday I work...boring. Sunday is church day and after church, I wear pajamas all day and hang out with your dad and brother. Its nice to have a day to do nothing. Sorry life isn't more exciting.

#13- the hardest part of growing up:
Learning to not care so much. Good grief! I cared too much about how I looked, what I wore, what I wasn't wearing that was "cool", why I didn't have a boyfriend, why I had a crappy boyfriend, why I had to move my sophomore year, why I didn't have more friends. I worried about my grades constantly. Anything less than an "A" was an "F". I worried about being the best softball player on the team. I worried all the time about college. I wanted to go to UCLA, but I also realized I could never afford it. So, my advice would be to chill out. Things always work out. If you're too busy over-stressing, you'll miss all the fun stuff that you might never get to experience again. Just remember to be nice to people and work hard, and you'll be fine.

To prove to you that you can have some horrific "awkward years" and still survive....here's proof of my maturation out of & into weirdness (sorry, you'll have to turn your head to see some of these beauties):