Yeah, I've been a slacker about posting. We've had a lot going on lately. A couple of weeks ago, we painted the baby's room and then barbecued at the beach with some friends. I ended up getting too much sun (not a bad burn or anything, but it ended up making me sick) and then it took a few days to recover. Last weekend we had the 2 day childbirth prep class. It was scary. Enough said about that for now. This weekend is the baby shower and my mom, my friend Teri and my friend Stacey are flying down from Seattle - mom and Teri for the weekend, Stacey just for the day!

In between all of that I've been tired, and the baby's starting to crowd out my lungs, so I'm short of breath. Two more months of fun! On the plus side, the doctor has said that if I haven't delivered by September 23rd, he's going to induce because of my history of high blood pressure (it's fine right now, but I've been on meds for five-plus years), which means we'll have a baby by the 24th at the latest.

So yes, I promise there will be upcoming blog entries on Derek Boogaard's new three year contract with the Wild, the baby shower, more about childbirth prep and a rant on how to be a good patient. And probably some other stuff, too. It's just going to take me a few more days to get my world under control enough to write something coherent.

Bryan's boat hosted a dependents' cruise for the families this year while they were doing the security zone for the fireworks barges in San Diego harbor. This is the second year they've done it, and after not getting home until after 1am and having to be at work at 7 the next day, this year I learned my lesson and took July 5th off.

The dependents' cruises are a nice perk to being a Coastie family. In December, we've been along for the ride during the (boat) Parade of Lights and other events. They kicked off the afternoon with a barbecue at the pier and then we loaded on board and got underway. It's not much of a "cruise" for the guys - Bryan had to be out in the small boat virtually the entire time, but our friends Jasmine and John came as guests, so at least I had friends to hang out with! (I wish I had a picture of the "special" helmets the guys have to wear when they launch the small boat - small boat/short bus, if you get my meaning!)

The main point of the cruise was to keep overzealous boaters away from the fireworks, and this put us in prime viewing location for the fireworks displays, not just in the harbor, but the ones off Coronado, Ocean Beach and Mission Bay. The weather was pretty good - needed a sweatshirt by sundown, but certainly not as frigid as the Parade of Lights! I brought my hearing protection (always an audioloigst) because when you're that close to the barge, it's pretty loud. I'm not worried about the baby's hearing anymore, because when there was a particularly loud boomer, he let me know he heard it too by giving me a good, hard kick. Thanks, kiddo!

We pulled back in to the pier around 10:30 and disembarked. The crew had to get ready to get back underway (they'll be home in a few days - welcome to life with the Coast Guard), so Bryan only had a few minutes to help me carry the beach chairs back to my car and chat. I waited around until about 11 before heading out, and it still took me over an hour to get to the freeway, and about another 40 minutes to get home.

A leisurely Thursday spent with Bailey, and then it was back to the grind at work. Luckily, I've been named "Employee of the Month" for July, which isn't actually that exciting, but it comes with a reserved parking spot in the patient lot, which is a fabulous thing right now. The powers that be decided to build an employee parking garage while they've cut parking because of hospital expansion, which means if you're not there by 7:15, you won't be parking onsite, you'll be parking at the local stadium and taking a shuttle. The fab parking space means I can get there at a more human hour - 8, for my 8:30 start time, and that I can actually go off campus at lunch to eat or shop. I'll be sad to turn that pass in at the end of the month!

Like most folks out there, I have friends and family spread across the country. Heck, I even have a few friends that are in different countries. With Bryan in the Coast Guard, we make friends who move every few years, and there's a decent likelihood that we'll be moving within the next few years.

This is great when you're looking for a cheap place to stay on vacation, but a little less convenient for major life events, like weddings or babies.

That was part of the reason we got married in Vegas - it meant everyone had to travel, so neither of us had an "edge" in terms of who would be able to attend, the way we would have if we'd married in Minnesota or Seattle. We've been able to travel to various places when our friends have gotten married, and on vacations, so it's worked out fairly well overall.

My friends at work are throwing a baby shower for me next week, and my good friend Teri (who lives in Seattle), will be coming down to throw a local shower at the end of July. My mom will be able to come, too, which is really cool because we've now lived down here for four years and this will be her first trip to see us.

However, this "people scattered across the country" thing has made designing a guest list a little complicated. At first it was only going to be my small group of local friends. Then other friends and family heard about it and asked that they be invited, even though they wouldn't be able to make it. It's a weird thing to juggle, trying to figure out who'd be upset if they don't get an invitation, and who might receive one and think I'm fishing for a gift, since the shower will be in San Diego and they're not. Personally, I say I'm always happy to see friends and family and if you're going to be down here, come on by! I don't have a place for you to sleep on the weekend of July 28th, unless you're willing to pitch a tent in the backyard and shower using the garden hose, as all sleeping space has already been spoken for (and Bailey's not willing to give up her bed or her crate!).

So, to make a long story short (too late), if you didn't receive an invitation to the shower and wish you did, I'm sorry, I didn't want to look like I was fishing for gifts. If you did receive one and you're wondering why, since you don't live in the area, I'm sorry, I'm not fishing for gifts, I was either instructed by a third party to make sure you got an invitation, or I thought you'd like one.

Or I can just disavow all knowledge of the guest list and blame Teri. She came up with the idea in the first place!