The Stripey Family

So I shared this story with some family members on the email, but thought if anyone else is reading this blog (doubtful, but possibly) you might enjoy....

The Adventure of Mr. Stripey!!

So Thursday morning, Steve left the house around 6:30am to commute to work on his bike. He saw a little 12" black and white critter with a long bushy tail scurry under the oh-so protective boards (NOT!) that our crappy landlord had installed over the foundation hole entrance on the alley side of the house. He calls me at lunch to check in, and was like, guess what I saw going under the house this morning? Mr. Stripey. I'm like, oh dear. He means a skunk.

Now Steve has always thought skunks are cute. and you know, they kind of are... in their own special way.

however, Mr. Stripey decided to spray under the house on Friday night and we woke up at 3 am to a lovely odor emanating from (of Course) under our bedroom. Not the living room, but of course, under our bedroom.

So on Sunday, Steve moved the boards around to make it harder for Mr. Stripey to get back in, save for the fact that skunks are nocturnal, and we weren't sure if he was sleeping under there or what. Sunday night (Monday morning) at 2:30am, we hear this mix of a scurry, a angry hiss, and a low squeaking go from under our bed towards the front of the house. "it was outside" Steve says as we both bolt up in bed. "No, that was UNDER the house" i said. Argh. We lay there. Was Mr. Stripey getting into it with a neighborhood cat? Or was he really PISSED that he couldn't get out b/c Steve moved the boards?

So Steve gets out his "beat 'em up" police flashlight and puts on some clothes and tromps around the house to move the boards, just in case Mr. Stripey is a little pissed and is stuck. He came back to bed and Mr. Stripey rewarded us by shooting off another spray.

We slept with the window open in the bedroom even though it was 45.

Last night, i awoke again to this "tsk tsk tsk" sound - this time at 4am. And at 6:30 when Scupper whined to go out and pee, we heard the dead holly leaves rustling out along the alleyway. Steve throws clothes on and walks outside. There is Mr. Stripey pulling in leaves and whatever into the crawl space hole.

wait one minute... wait a sec, could it be? No?

YES! Maybe it's MRS Stripey?? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So now we think maybe it's a "she" and "she" is building a nest. Great.

I have left repeated messages for the landlord and have two different human trappers on hand ready to be paid mucho bucks (not by us, i'm hoping) to get out Mrs. Stripey before she decides to have babies.

Steve thinks baby skunks would be cute.

Um. Sure.

Just not under my house.

Symbolic Items

So i'm sure in all the junk that I've read in my PhD program, there is probably some theory for why we attach feelings to certain items. There has been a carseat sitting in my office for a month now and every time I look at it, I have to remind myself that a baby is going to be sitting in there soon. And then I jump when I realize it's OUR baby.

But today Steve picked up a rocking chair that I found on Craigslist ($20! woohoo!!) and as I walked in the office to check email, I saw the rocking chair and immediately this feeling of matronly love came over me. Matron. Maybe it's because the chair looks so stately. But, Yes. That word specifically. Matron. It was like, holy crap, I will be sitting in that chair and be a MOTHER.

Eek. Am I ready to do that? I think I have a bit of Peter Pan syndrome.... (let's all sing "I won't grow up!")

Word to the wise...

Just a note, in case any of you are wondering -

pregnancy is not the time to try to introduce new vegetables and then try to put them into a creamy soup that you think is going to taste really good but you end up just pouring down the drain two weeks later and feel bad you spent all the money on the veggies.

ah well. said veggies? Turnips and parsnips. I've had parsnips before but mixed with turnips, not so much.

I happily ate a big bowl of baked ziti today however. Yes, at 10:45am. But who can go wrong with cheesy pasta goodness?

If only I was as productive as our new president...

I think Barack Obama pretty much rocks. I teared up in the middle of a bunch of Steve's co-workers at the inauguration (the theater put up a big screen and sound system to watch it Tuesday morning!) - and then he comes in Wednesday morning to work, takes off his suit jacket, and sends up some pretty amazing executive orders in about 2 hours. Damn. I have no excuse for not finishing up revisions on a 32 page chapter, ya know? And then Thursday, he shows me up again and issues a few more... at this rate, I think they will actually close Git-mo before my darn dissertation is completed.

In a positive light - Steve mentioned the other night at dinner that little Speedy will grow up only knowing a black president for the first years of her life. How cool is that? Part of me wants to explain to her how important that is, and then again, I would love it if she just took it for granted... that it was just something that was a part of life here in America. Now that's a pretty awesome thought.

In other news - here's my big belly. 26 weeks (a little over 6 months)...
In other news, we went to the Velodrome last weekend to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. She is the head official at the track and I worked with her all season flipping the lap cards for her. She was doing 3 round of 50 laps to celebrate - how awesome is that? (that's about 50 miles my friends! 50 miles!) She was resplendent in all pink - including a new black track bike with pink bar tape, pink pedals, and a pink bike chain. Here she is, with some pink accessories given to her by friends.
I hope I look that happy after doing 100 laps on a bicycle track at 50. We can only hope. I flipped lap cards for a round for them, and then everyone got pink sunglasses to wear when we ate cake. Speedy looks pretty good with them eh?
And last but not least, here is Scupper new favorite spot. No, not just the bed, but my belly. Steve had not put him in his crate for the night, and as he was brushing his teeth, Scupper scampered up with me - and promptly found a good spot. Last week while watching a movie, he also preferred laying his head on my belly to sleeping on his poobah pillow. Go figure. Wonder what Speedy thinks?
Sorry there are no recent pics of Steve, but he's had a hold of the camera lately.

In other news... we got another bicycle. When I get a good pic of it, i'll post it, but let's just say the grand total is up to 15.

Yes. 15. Steve has some up for sale on craigslist today, so maybe that number will go down soon. I can't complain though, b/c the bike is for me - it's a pre-WW2 ladies touring bike - very rare, made in Germany, all original parts and paint and let me tell you how good a condition it's in. Wow. We picked it up at the swap meet this weekend for pittance. I mean, we couldn't help ourselves... how awesome is a baby carrier going to look on that? ;)

Oh focus, where did you go?

Dear Aimee's Focus:

I miss you. You used to be there for me - making me sit for hours on end, writing dissertation chapters, reading dissertation books, and without a care in the world.

Now, you come for 15 minutes to a half an hour, and leave without notice. You leave, and then I sit and doodle on the internet or send emails.

Somehow, you like to reappear when I'm researching baby things. Why is that? Why do you want to reappear then? Then, you stay for hours and hours, letting me concentrate on the knitted dress I am making, on the blogs about pregnancy and raising children, about all sorts of information related to the little person growing inside me. Then you stick around.

But frankly, I need you to come back once and awhile to help me on my work. Distractions are so multiple these days (including the little bumps and kicks inside my body).

I'll make you baked goods, Focus. I'll make you the best chocolate chip/oatmeal whole wheat cookies you've ever had.

Just come back, for a little while. Say, until April 15. Is that ok?

Missing you,
Aimee

For your consideration

So just to put things in perspective.

My uterus used to be the size of this:

And now it's the size of this:
'nuff said.

Happy New Year from SASS!

Here's hoping 2009 is WAY better than 2008... well, at least we know it's going to be radically different!

Love to everyone -

SASS (Steve, Aimee, Scupper & Speedy)