Testing, testing 123 (and in this case 4)

Four sticks, that is. In my poor arm. Actually, the phlebotomist (however you spell that) was great...I don't even think I'll have a bruise. The test was pretty much no fun. I didn't eat or drink anything after 10pm last night except for a couple of sips of water. I went in at 9am and had blood drawn. Then the lady is like "here's the stuff you have to drink...it'll either have no affect or it'll make you feel very nauseous and sleepy." Well, for me it was the latter...sick on the tummy and sleepy. We (James went with me...he's a doll) sat in the waiting room for the 1st hour. After that blood draw, I was able to leave. So we ran a couple of errands and came back for blood draw 3 and then ran another errand before blood draw 4.

After that (it's like 12pm now), I'm HUNGRY. So she tells me to make sure that I go home and eat. So I did as I was told (plenty of protein, nothing sweet) and still ended up getting a little sick (sorry for the TMI). I'm thinking it was the fluctuation in blood sugar...which makes no sense to me. These people think that I have a problem regulating blood sugar, so they make sure I half starve to death, then drink straight sugar, then starve some more, then finally eat? Anyone else see a problem here?

All jokes aside, I'm grateful that God has blessed us with medical care and insurance to allow for tests like these. I may whine and pout about not eating candy apples, but I'm very blessed to have my health. I should know in a few days whether I have diabetes or not and I shall post any and all thoughts on the subject at that time.

In other news, we have found a good home for Mr. Colby (the kitty). This HAS NOT been an easy decision and I've gone back and forth on it a million times. But I really feel like moving Colby to a home without small children (or in this case, any children) is the best plan for him. He will receive lots of love and affection at his new home and I won't be paranoid of him hurting my baby with his jumping, running and occasional paw swipes. I also won't have to worry about him making me fall, as he has almost done three times lately...this would not be good for obvious reasons. I'm sure I'll be a basketcase when he leaves Tuesday (and so will James even if he won't admit it).

Everyone have a great weekend!!

I heart October...

...because of PUMPKINS!!! Just got back from Whole Foods with our three pumpkins and two mums for the front porch. It's so funny how just the sight of a pumpkin can cheer me up. I highly recommend you get your pumpkins and mums there - they are cheaper (3 for $13 as compared with $8.99 each at Kroger for the pumpkins and 2 for $15 for GIGANTIC mums as compared with $11 each at Lowes) and they are beautiful. Now that I've advertised for Whole Foods, I shall go take my nap...nighty night.

*Note - if you know of a cheaper place for pumpkins and mums, don't tell me...I hate it when I think I've gotten a good deal and someone bursts my bubble. So just keep it to yourself, folks.*

Alas - no candy apple for me :-(

Got the call from the OB nurse today letting me know that my blood sugar was elevated after my glucose screening on Tuesday. Not good. In fact, it was quite elevated...they consider it a problem for your level to be above 140 and mine was 175. So - I have to go back in Wednesday for the 3-hour test which will work like this:

No food or drink after 10pm Tuesday night (sips of water are the only exception).

Blood drawn at 9am Wednesday.

Another round of super sweet fruit punch.

Blood drawn at 1 hour, 2 hour and 3 hours after I drink punch.

Then I'll know for sure. If I do have diabetes, I'll be sent to a nutritionist who will tell me what my new (strict) diet will look like. In the meantime (between now and when I find out for sure), it's no "concentrated sweets" for me. Suddenly the fair has lost it's appeal.

Seriously, I would appreciate your prayers. Of course, I don't WANT to have this, but if I do, please pray that I would be able to control it with my diet and that I'll be very disciplined in that area (which is NOT my strong suit).

I'll keep ya posted!

Doctor vist

I went bright and early this morning for my OB checkup. It was time for the gestational diabetes screening, so I downed some super-sugar fruit punch before I went back for my checkup. The drink wasn't bad at all...thankfully. My blood pressure looks good and I'm up 2 pounds (which brings me to an 11 pound gain thus far). She didn't seem concerned about that, although I am because I'm closing in on the 15 pound mark that I was originally told and I still have a ways to go. Could it be the onion dip kick I'm on?

She listened to Kendall's heartbeat and measured my tummy (right on track there) and then it was back to the waiting room for me. I had to wait until my hour was up and then have my blood drawn. Now, usually this isn't a problem for me at all, but homegirl hurt me this morning. I'll let her slide because she was quite pleasant and didn't make me wait forever.

We're off to look at baby room decorations. We actually cleaned out the baby's room and closet last night (PROGRESS!!) so now it's time to decorate. We'll see how this goes...could get interesting.

Week in review...actually more than a week, but who's counting?

Things are great around the Mason household. Basically back to normal after a fun-filled IMPACT weekend last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had 9th grade girls stay over here and they were so, so sweet...I love them already and I'm just getting to know them. I had four girls total, which was a really cool thing because I was able to spend some individual time with each of them. This year's emphasis was on evangelism and boy was it convicting. It was very eye-opening to "lead" a group in the mall on Saturday and shake like a leaf when trying to talk to people. I feel remorse for the time that I've wasted when I should be telling everyone that'll listen what Jesus has done in my life. But this is a good thing...I feel like I've been motivated into action. I may not stand on street corners any time soon, but I can at least hand out tracts or invite someone to church. It should also be noted that my super fantabulous mother stepped up to the plate once again and stayed over for IMPACT with us. She's great (and also a faithful reader of this blog - HI MOM).

This week marks my second at the new job and I LOVE IT. Such a great atmosphere - laughing, joking - people seem genuinely happy. I'm not doing much of anything that seems important, but hey - that's cool with me. I spend most of my time helping Ali, a Muslim gentleman from Jordan. We've had some interesting conversations about the differences in our faith and I pray daily that the Lord will change his heart. He knows a lot about the Christian faith as his wife is a Christian (believe me, I've had a ton of questions about how their relationship works with such differences in faith). I don't know what kind of an affect our talks has on Ali, but I just pray that the Lord will use me in some way.

Tonight mom, Megan and I headed to the mall for some Christmas shopping (I want to be done WAY in advance for obvious reasons this year). It was lots of fun, even if I did prove to NY&Co's entire staff that I have the worst case of pregnancy brain known to man kind...but that's a LOOONNNGGG (and pretty boring) story, so I wont go there. I just have to say that Megan and Mom were very patient with me as I went back in the store for a second time because I "changed my mind" about purchases I made 10 minutes beforehand. DUH! Anyhoo - it was good to hang out with them - we always have fun together. Megan is spending the night tonight and we're all heading to the County Fair tomorrow - should be fun!

Baby is doing well (I assume...she sure moves around a lot) and I feel great! I head to the doctor on Tuesday for my diabetes screening and checkup. I can't believe I'm in the 3rd trimester already! I praise God for this miracle! Now if we can just make some progress, any progress, on her room - we'll be in good shape (what can I say - we're unorganized by nature).

So I'm bad at this whole blog thing...

...but in my defense, things have been a bit busy. I picked up a temporary full-time job on the 11th, thinking that it was going to last until December. It was the whole 40-hour, office-work type thing out in Mebane. Needless to say, three months ended up being 2 weeks. But, I have to admit, I was relieved because #1 the drive was a bit much and #2 I just wasn't "clicking" with the people there. I consider myself pretty easy to get along with, and it's not like anyone there was rude or mean or anything, but it just didn't feel like a good situation to me. Lots of talking behind each others back, cursing, yelling from the boss (not at me, thank heavens...I don't think he knew I existed)...just things I'm not used to in a work environment. This taught me a couple of things. First of all, I took my old place of employment for granted...BAD. I was there for 8 years and really got along great with everyone. I had three awesome Christian girlfriends there, one of which changed the way I look at a lot of things. It was a laid back, fun place to work and I just didn't appreciate it the way I should have. And secondly, I also learned that I lack faith. Plain and simple. When I found out that the job was ending (yesterday was my last day), I went into an all-out panic about finances. Although I was relieved that I wasn't going to spend another 8+ weeks at that particular job, I had been counting on that salary. Not that we would have been starving, by any means, but I had planned on having some extra income until the baby is born for various reasons. So I was literally FREAKING out - talking it to death with anyone who would listen (be glad I didn't blog during those few days), crying, the whole nine. Of course, I also prayed and prayed some more, which is a good thing.

Anyhoo - fast forward to yesterday when I left work. There was a message on my cell phone from the staffing place that she had another job opportunity. I called her back and found out that she has a part-time, accounts payable job that is in Durham and will last until December. This really excites me because it's only 20 hours per week, which will give me time to keep up with the housework, etc. And it's in Durham (off Miami Blvd.) which is a wonderful location because of church, mom's house, Brier Creek. So I start Tuesday and I am praying that it goes well.

This whole situation taught me a lot about myself and even though it hurt to realize that I have so far to go in trusting God to take care of me - I count this as a good experience.

In baby news, she's moving around a TON (which I just love). I feel great, have plenty of energy, and am just really enjoying being pregnant. I can't wait to meet the little one!!

And yes, I realize that I haven't finished up my vacation Part II blog...what can I say? I'm a slacker. Sue me.

Trip Part I

Hello to all! We returned from our trip(s) on Thursday evening, so I thought I'd go ahead and post about the first part of my trip, which was to Pensacola, Florida with my dad, stepmom and 3 sisters.


I flew out Saturday morning at the atrocious hour of 6 a.m. It hurt to get up at 3:30, but I wanted to make sure I arrived on time and all that jazz. James dropped me off at around 5 a.m. and by the time I checked my bag and made it through security, it was time to board. The flights went well, both from RDU to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Pensacola. The only thing that I regret is requesting a window seat. I wasn't considering the fact that Kendall's new favorite past time is kicking Mommy's bladder, so I had to interrupt my neighboring passenger (as well as the beverage service) to go to the itty bitty bathroom. Good times.


Saturday was spent getting the girls (Lexie, who is a Junior and Lindsay, who is a Freshman) somewhat situated. We shopped for some dorm essentials and ate on campus - all pretty fun. They have a beautiful campus and really nice dorms. They're at Pensacola Christian College, both majoring in education.


Sunday, we went to church on campus, then lunch and naps. Allie (youngest sister - she's a 7th grader, but would have gladly stayed with her college sisters if given half the chance) and I went to the Planetarium that they have on campus (nice, right??) and caught a show before evening church. I really enjoyed the college pastor...especially the evening service.


Monday, Lexie and Lindsay had business to attend to on campus, so we just kind of hung around the hotel. We attempted the beach later in the afternoon, but that didn't work out too well. I beat Allie in Phase 10, which is always a pleasure. That evening we headed to the Sports Center on campus where they have ice skating, bowling, ping pong, air hockey (whooped Allie in that too!) and a few other things for the students to do. I personally love to bowl, Dad vetoed that. Evidently pregnant ladies can't bowl for some unknown reason?


All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed being with them since I'm not with them nearly enough. And it felt good to be with the girls for such a big occasion.

Stay tuned for Part II - Hilton Head...

Only took 2 measly pics while I was there:

Lexie, Lindsay, me, Dad, Putt, Allie at church

Allie, Lexie, me and Lindsay during our attempt at the beach

(you can't tell but there was a thunderstorm going on)