Ben's Days Off

Last Thursday Ben's alarm went off at 5:30 and he declared he didn't want to go to work. Being the good wife that I am, I said, "Well then, don't go." He was a little surprised. First, I figure we only have one week left where he won't be in school and we won't have a baby- for the rest of our lives. Second, my mother never made me go to work or school. My eighth grade year I think I missed over 2 months of school, in high school I didn't have 80% attendance (I did, however, pass seminary), and in college I skipped more classes than a responsible student should. Who am I to tell him he has to go to work?

I already had several things planned for the day. Even though he went back to sleep at 5:30, our discussion of whether or not he would go to work had made me fully conscious, and I could not go back to sleep. I got up and made French toast. Yumm. Then we headed off to the distribution center. We shopped at DI waiting for them to open. We found a Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog game for only $12. We seriously contemplated buying it, but I was afraid I would be severely disappointed if it didn't work, and then I would have to try to find another one to buy.

Then we went to my WIC appointment. In some ways, I really like how Alaska did things. They asked for very little information and identification and then handed you checks for 3 months worth of cheese. At the end of 3 months you had to go in and look at posters about nutrition and then they gave you another 3 months worth of checks. Idaho isn't quite so laid back. There were tons of people in there, with tons of babies. Maybe it is their attempt of birth control, but for the majority in there it is too late. Then we had to wait 20 minutes for our appointment. If she was so rude to me last time I was there because I didn't have an appointment (you don't need appointments in Alaska) then I would expect them to be running reasonably on schedule. I don't ever have to wait more than 5 minutes at the doctor's office. Little did I know, my appointment was with a registered dietitian. First, she weighs me, and makes me take off my shoes. Who does that? I was wearing ballet flats. Then she plots my weight onto a little chart and then tells me I am right on track for weight gain. Oh goody. "Are you currently taking any medications?" "Prilosec." "Are you experiencing any of the following discomforts: heartburn, swelling, nausea, vomiting, constipation?" "Heartburn and occasional swelling." "Is that why you are taking Prilocec?" No, lady, I take it for my headaches. "Yes." "You should talk to your doctor about the swelling." Really? "I have." "It can be a sign of more serious complications." "Thank-you."

And then she pulls out this little chart and sets it in front of me and acts like it is the newest, hottest thing in nutrition. It's the food pyramid. I restrained from rolling my eyes, I hear it's rude. "Do you get 2-3 cups of dairy everday?" "Yes." "How much milk do you drink?" "Maybe a glass a day, or every other day." She looked at me like I was a liar. "What other dairy do you eat?" "Well, yogurt, cheese, ice-cream, pudding..." "How often do you eat yogurt?" "Uh, everyday, maybe every other day." "What about cheese?" "Everyday." "How much cheese? You would have to eat quite a bit of cheese to get in all of your daily dairy." "A lot of cheese. I like quesadillas." "It sounds like you aren't getting enough dairy. You need dairy because it is a source of calcium. Calcium is very important when you are pregnant." "Well, I take prenatal vitamins and make sure to buy calcium fortified foods whenever I have the option." Like Lucky Charms. "You should try to drink more milk." "I don't like milk. I never drank milk before I was pregnant." "Try putting some chocolate in it." "I don't like chocolate." "You might consider a calcium supplement." "Thank-you."

"How many servings of vegetables do you get a day?" "Not enough, I am sure." "What kind of vegetables do you eat?" Candy corn is a vegetable, right? "Lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, pickles, green beans..." "How often do you eat green beans?" "I don't know." "You should eat more vegetables." "Thank-you."

"What about fruit?" "I like fruit." "How many servings do you get a day?" "A lot."

"What about grains?" "I really like grains." Cinnamon rolls, yum.

"How many servings of protein do you eat a day?" "Enough." "What kind of things do you eat?" "Meat, eggs, beans." "Do you eat peanut butter?" "No, I don't like peanut butter." "What about any other nuts." "No, I don't like nuts." "How many times a week do you eat beans?" "I don't know." "Everday?" "More like every other day." "How often do you eat meat?" "Everyday." "How much meat do you eat?" "I don't know." "A three ounce serving is the size of a deck of cards." Is that a standard deck? "I don't know. I eat a lot of meat."

She scribbles down notes and starts typing things on the computer. "Can I get beans instead of peanut butter on the checks?" "Well, I already printed them out." "I don't like peanut butter."

Then we get back in the car and Ben says, "How does Olive Garden sound for lunch." My husband is awesome. We went to Olive Garden and did the soup, salad and breadsticks. After 2 bowls I was more than full. I could tell Ben was still hungry and encouraged him to eat to his heart's content. Hey, I wanted to get our $5.95's worth. He ate 2 more bowls.

Then to the fabric store. Ben was very patient as I told him repeatedly that the colors he was picking out didn't go together. He never knew there were so many different colors of pink. After 2 hours, I couldn't find what I wanted. To fabric store #2. 45 minutes later I reached the same conclusion. To fabric store #3. This time it only took me 20 minutes. My very patient husband exploded. "What's wrong?" "It's frustrating that we haven't found anything yet." "I know." "Why didn't you say you wanted to do something else?" "I didn't think it was going to take four hours." "Well, I'm slow." "Let's do something else." "Like what?" "Go look at baby clothes or something." I finally figured out how to get Ben to enjoy shopping for baby clothes- just take him fabric shopping first. Then we went and looked at baby clothes and then went grocery shopping at Sam's Club and Winco before heading home.

Friday Ben went to work and then I went shopping with Kari in Idaho Falls. Ben called when we got to Idaho Falls. I thought he was on lunch break. Turns out he was at home, because the boss decided Friday was a half day. He told me to have fun and take my time. I think he was just glad I had someone else to go shopping with. I found some good buys on baby clothes. That night we watched a movie and went and got pizza at 10:30. Ben still likes my pregnancy cravings.

Saturday we decided to spend cleaning the house so we could play all day on Monday. It really only took us an hour to clean the house, but we spread it out over the entire day. Ben did some studying and I did some sewing. I was just starting to feel bad about our really boring Saturday, about 9:30 that night, when Ben's Dad called and asked if it would be alright if they crashed at our house that night. I was really glad we cleaned the house. They got in around 2:30 a.m., which didn't even interrupt my sleep, sadly. We were glad to get to see Dan before he headed off to the mission. Marlene and Dad Nelson will be back later this week to move Marlene into her apartment.

Sunday we went to church in our new building, it was really nice, although I think they need to work on the heating/cooling system. It was really hot. We had traditional cheese sandwiches for lunch and then went for a walk/drive around the campus. They left around 3:30. Around 6:00 I was so tired all I wanted to do was go to bed, but I knew if I did I would wake up at 1 in the morning and not be able to go back to sleep. I took a nap for 30 minutes and woke up even groggier than before.

Labor day- Ben and I decided to live up the day, because it's the last time the two of us will have a day just to ourselves. Next week Ben starts classes and work on Saturdays. And then in 2 months there will be three of us. We went to a BBQ for lunch, then to look at clearance baby clothes, then bowling, and a movie. We snuck in chips and then bought a drink to share. The plan was to go to dinner after the movie, but we kinda filled up on chips and pop. We came home and played SkipBo while waiting to get hungry. Then we went to Hard Hat Steakhouse. We got cheesefries. They brought them out and I was very disappointed, enough so that I made Ben stop eating them and after finally getting our waiter's attention, got a new plate of cheesefries. And I ate way too much. And I forgot to take Prilosec. So I was up most of the night sick with heartburn so bad that it made me throw up.