What a day!

Let's start out with happy stuff, okay? Here are some things I found amusing today and observations I have had about life on Saipan for a while:

Street names:

I have to give points to Saipan for actually having street names and coordinating signs. For the most part. It is better than Guam. On Guam, we lived in Yona ("Y" is pronounced as a "J" so it sounds like "Joan-ya") on a little street called Clubhouse Drive. Must be because we lived on a golf course. There was a sign for Fairway Drive, but not Clubhouse Drive. I am glad to know that here on Saipan, I won't have to use the boonie dogs as landmarks. "Turn left at the first boonie dog" is the famous direction that I heard.

Some funny street names that we have seen include: EASTER LP; STRING BEANS LN; and my all time favorite, APPLE PI. I think it is supposed to be short for Apple Place, but we lovingly call it "Apple Pi"...get it like Apple Pie, but pi (3.14159 or the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet). I know, we are nerds.

I think that most mini trucks have some sort of calling to come to Saipan and Guam for their retirement years. You know, those low-rider things that are usually Toyotas that aren't worth $500 but they have a $2,000 stereo system in them. And they want to share the love of music with everyone by turning up the volume so you can hear it a mile away. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across one that listens to NPR, but if any of you little truck drivers on Saipan happen to be reading this, set your dial to 89.1. Thanks much!

Is it sad that I wasthisclose to stopping today at the pregnant boonie dog on my drive home from errands to give her the last of my chicken mc nuggets? I think that the really sad part is that I am selfish and didn't. I feel like an asshole now. There is a pack of boonie dogs that is always chilling at one spot on the side of the road on our way home. One of them, I named her Snoopy, is pregnant. She likes to run after DH in the mornings when he is riding his bike to work. I don't think that she will bite him, but you never know with the boonie dogs.

For the mainlanders, a boonie dog is basically a dog that is of mixed breed, almost always in a state of pregnancy/nursing / mating and does not necessarily belong to anyone in particular. A boonie dog may go their entire life without seeing the inside of a Vet's office. But boonie dogs are smart. Our dog, Lady is a boonie dog. Unfortunately, she wasn't so smart and got her ass captured and turned into the animal shelter in Guam. But that was her lucky day because she became our pet while we were volunteering at GAIN.

Stitching:

I finished stitching my top secret project! And it is in the mail. But like a moron, I was so busy rinsing it, ironing it and packaging it up, I failed to obtain a snapshot of it. Not like I will share it yet anyway. Oh well, it is on it's way winging over the water now. I will just ask the recipient to please take a photo of it when it arrives. It turned out cute. When I showed it to DH he said "That's nice, it is one of those things." Since I can almost read his mind, I said "A sampler?". He said, "Yeah! A sampler."

I have some WIP's that I need to work on and I am going to start on my SAL with Carolyn & Jo. My fabric arrived for A & B so I am going to give it a go in the next day or so.

I got my Village of Hawks Run Hollow in the mail! Yahoo! And they packaged it in a very sturdy carboard envelope thingy...much better than 123stitch's bubble envelope. I might be shopping with them more often! www.allstitchedup.com

By the way, go take a peek at the new stuff at Prairie Schooler. I love the autumn one. Absolutely gorgeous! And while you are there, check out the new freebie design. Too cute!

Baby

Today was my appointment. We got to hear the heartbeat and that was simply amazing, to be blunt! It was wooshing away so fast in there. I was not impressed with the doctor and will request another one next time we go (in 4 weeks). I was very disappointed to learn today that according to this doctor, they do not do ultrasounds at all during the pregnancy unless there is a problem. Boy did that ever burst my bubble. He said some other things that I thought were ridiculous and once we got into the car, I was in tears. I had been looking forward to an ultrasound near 20 weeks so much! Granted, I am glad that there is no "need" for one since I am not having problems, but an ultrasound is almost like a rite of passage for my generation during their pregnancies. I wanted ultrasound pictures to put in the baby book, damn it!

I am thankful that we did hear the little heart wooshing away in there. That was cool.

Peace