Snap, crackle, pop!

It's 6:30 a.m., and the siren song of a bowl of rice crispies called me out of bed. So hungry this morning!

BIG belly - I think I've discovered my first stretch marks. Actually, I know I have; I'm just in denial. The midwife thinks Audrey is about 6.5 pounds in there. We both think she'll come earlier than April 6th... Let's hope, b/c oy! my whole torso itches pretty much all the time, and I don't know where/how else I can expand to accommodate her getting much bigger! :)

My lifelong friend, Ora, visited me this weekend, and it was great. We met over 20 years ago in Paris and became fast friends on an impromptu weekend trip to Monte Carlo, Monaco. I've got the photos somewhere - all blue eyeliner (with matching blue mascara), sequined tops, and big hair.

It was so fabulous to have so many loooong conversations this weekend -- instead of the must- cram-an-update-into-a- 5-or-10-minute-phone-call-while-picking-up-or-dropping-off-her-son-
or-oh-shoot-I-gotta-go-back-to-work- or 'damn, my cell phone reception just crapped out,' or whatever, you get the idea.

On Friday night, we had dinner at Chateau Marmont (famous, iconic hotel off Sunset Boulevard that was built in the early 1920s and is a celebrity hangout) and sat one table over from cult film director John Waters ("Hairspray," etc.). We also saw actor Jason Statham (starred in action flick, "Crank" last summer) and some misc. tv personalities. The celeb sightings were a bonus; I took us there b/c I really love the architecture of the place (art deco meets European gothic castle), and the food is good - high pricey, but not exhorbitant.

On a completely different subject, thank you, thank you to you fabulous people who commented on my earlier post - both on the blog, itself, and via email. I really appreciate your thoughts, encouragement, and support. I wish I could convey more eloquently how they truly touched my heart and comforted me, but this simple thanks will have to do.

Since my earlier posting, Ken and I have learned that great friends of ours from Austin, Ari and Terri, might be game to pursue a sort of "co-housing" with us - i.e. the four of us with our kids (their two, our one) renting a duplex together, to start with. The idea could expand into sharing gardening and childcare/animal care activities, recycling efforts -- basically, looking for ways to pool our resources to diminish our ecological "footprint" together, as well as foster more neighborly, "intentional family,""village-ness" in our day-to-day lives.

Over the next 3-6 months, we'll all be looking at whether to maybe move to Minneapolis, MN., Spokane, WA., Madison, WI. or for Ken and me, maybe back to Austin, TX. Ari and Terri currently still reside in South Austin, but they're open to the possibilities of other areas -- Terri's mom lives in St. Paul, in fact, I think. If we (all) moved to the Twin Cities area, Ken and I would be within an easy day's drive from my brother and his three kids in the far west Chicago suburbs...

The draw to moving back to Austin is definitely there, b/c we were (and are) certainly blessed with some great friends there; yet, on the brink of parenthood, I find myself feeling the pull of my own midwestern roots/imprint. And, Texas is more like the Midwest than anywhere else I've lived, but it's TEXAS - with its own personality and culture. I enjoyed its personality and differences while I lived there, but like I said, at the moment, I'm feeling a nostalgia for four seasons, sledding in the winter, maple and pine trees and lilacs.

Well, another bowl of rice crispies is beckoning me from the kitchen, so I'll sign off for now. :)