These are the True Signs of Pregnancy.

Forget nausea and frequent urination. Almost every pregnant woman in her first trimester has those. For those of you who have been pregnant before, this is old news. But, in my opinion, these are the sure-fire signs of pregnancy:

1.  You cry hysterically over Princess Buttercup and Wesley's 

     words in the Princess Bride

2.  Acne erupts like Kilauea, as if you are 13 again

3.  Your pants fit fine in the morning, but are unbearably tight in the evening

4.  You awaken at 3a.m. and feel so faint that if you don't eat a cracker 

     immediately you may die

5.  You crave a tuna-fish sandwich all day, but after you make it you cannot 

     stand the sight of it

6.  You nap at 10a.m. and 4p.m., but still can't make it much past 8p.m.

7.  You eat breakfast, lunch, lunch, dinner, dinner, and then continuously 

     before bedtime, but you can't poop

8.  You wish you hadn't become pregnant

9.  You can't remember how old you are

10.You gag for no reason

11. Life is miserable

This is My Dilemma.

So, we've been ordering this certified organic food box from Washington state for about 6 months now.  It costs $48 per small box, and we get a small box every other week.  I think $12 of it is shipping, and the other $36 is for the food.  By the time the food hits my countertop, something is always going bad, like a soft onion, a moldy orange or brown, soggy greens.  You absolutely have to use "fresh/green/Evert" bags to make the stuff last.  There're a lot of things in the box that I need recipes to cook and that I would not normally purchase, because I've either never heard of them or some (e.g. red dandelion greens) are really not that good in my opinion.  And, I think I can probably buy organic food at Fred Meyer or Safeway for a better price.  

So, why do we buy this?  The real reason is that I don't always want to have to wash pesticides off of my food, and if I shop in the store I'm going to buy non-organic because there are a lot more options and it is a lot less expensive.  But, more importantly, I hate going to the grocery store.  These fruits and veggies really cut down my shopping time, and they are insurance that my composting red wiggler worms will have plenty of scraps to eat.  It's amazing what we'll pay to avoid a burden like grocery shopping.

Plus, gardening in Fairbanks is a lost cause.  I'm embarrassed to show this.  My carrots and green onions may never mature.  And the lettuce and radishes were overgrown when we returned from vacation.

What is wrong with my beans, anyway?

Not that they'll feed me or anything, but at least the new trees are thriving.

This is Why We Live Here.

We awaken at 7a.m., have breakfast, play. At 8a.m., in long-sleeves, we go for a walk through our subdivision's dirt roads. It's about 2 miles and we don't meet a single car. It's bright. The skies are clear and blue, and it is a perfect 70 degrees. It's dry, but fresh. The air smells of white spruce trees, fireweed, and tundra grass. Light-pink flowered wild rose bushes, purple fireweed flowers, and red raspberries dominate the undergrowth. It's time to pick the berries.  

I pick. My son eats. There are no woodticks, no snakes, no frogs, no bugs. Anything that survives the winter is big and slow, and these are mostly night-time mosquitos and the spruce beetles that eat the trees. We don't meet a single bug this morning.

Clapping at the sight of the berries

All in the mouth, none in the bucket

We eat again.  Yummy.  I am pleased by our simple life this morning.

It's Time for Hot Licks.

We're back from our splendid vacation on the farm, where I grew up, in Minnesota (pictures to come).  

I have one major gripe. How hard is it to feed my dog 1/2 cup of his dog food twice a day? I mean, the guy I used to work with who has pugs would let him eat dog food continually, so he would gain 30% of his weight in less than 2 weeks. This is the same guy who feeds his dogs bacon and eggs for their birthdays. My in-laws can't resist table feeding; plus, the last time he came back he was limping for about a month. And my husband's friend's place is good, but dirty. There are other dogs, big dogs. He comes back with an infected face (okay that's what happens to pugs who play outside a lot), but this time with severe vomiting and diarrhea as well. One of the big dogs apparently got into Harley's allotment of food, and who knows what Harley ate to compensate.

On the bright side, despite the fact that it maybe only rained once while we were gone, the place is greener than ever. My husband's grandma took care of the newly planted trees and garden, and I think the retired neighbor's to the left snuck the river pump and fire hose on our yard daily, because the lawn has not ever looked this good before! And, as a bonus, the retired neighbors to the right mowed their entire lawn. The wife likes it to grow wild, supposedly for geese, and every time she goes to the lower 48 her husband mows it :) It looks much better mowed.

I'm not really as pleased to be back as I thought I would be. Yes, I'm glad to have my dog back, puke, poop and all. And I'm very happy to sleep in my king-sized foam bed. I'm excited to see my play-date friends. But, other than that, I could leave it. The summer is winding down. Forest fires smoke has replaced our clean air.  And the town of Fairbanks leaves much to be desired.  

But, now that my errands are done, there are some summer favorites I will hit up tomorrow:  the Egyptian Felafel Stand and Hot Licks Ice Cream Shop.