Monday, June 21, 2010

On Pests and Gawkers

It’s the first day of summer, and I’m adopting a sunny attitude! I’ll start with a brief blog post to halt my hiatus from this place called Life in A-Town.

I’m 34 weeks pregnant today. It’s not a comfortable state of being, but it is, in many ways, truly glorious. I don’t want to write too many pregnancy musings. In fact, I think that’s why I haven’t written much at all—because it’s difficult to think of other things whilst hefting a 20-pound sac of miracle around all the time. The other 20 pounds (so far) are padding my extremities, including my neck, which seems frog-like to me in the moments I allow myself to look in the mirror.

I will say that while I do remember, in past pregnancies, swelling to the size of Violet Beauregarde, I don’t recall feeling as self-conscious about it as I do now. When I walk to work or lead hymns at church or simply waddle into the grocery store, I feel like a bit of a spectacle. People gawk—most of them subtly, but many do double-take my appearance. It’s part of the discomfort of the third trimester experience. (One friend attributes these last 3 months to the Genesis curse.)

OK, I’ve said I’d keep this brief, and I must. Will is now awake and will be hovering for his chance at the computer in just a couple minutes. So, time for a quick non-pregnancy-related tidbit from our Life in A-Town—it’s a product endorsement:

We had a seemingly serious ant problem in our house up until a couple weeks ago. I casually mentioned our infestation to my brother-in-law, knowing that he and my sister had successfully battled the bugs in the past. What I feared was that he would confess to chemical warfare. In my “delicate” condition, I didn’t want to employ any potentially poisonous pesticides in the ant-elimination process. What Don recommended was perfect: Poisonous only to the ants! Got ants? Get Terro! A little bottle, a few drops on a half-dozen tiny cardboard target cards, a few refills—about 2 days later, the ants were outta here!

One less annoyance is a special kind of blessing these days.

1 comment:

Nina said...

Yay! for the ant solution!!! :)

I was HUGE with Greg -- looked like I swallowed a watermelon in horizontal position pointing forward. I elicited many audible comments when in public, such as a man who said, "That woman looks like she will deliver in the store!" And then there was the church choir that broke into laughter when I entered the sanctuary. :\ Of course, that wasn't so much about my size as the fact that I had not delivered yet. Embarrassing nevertheless.