jelly belly




Dear Readers,

Lately I have found myself counting.  Obsessive, I know.  But, here are just a few of the things I've been tabulating...

1.) Today, I am 18 weeks and 5 days pregnant. 
2.) In the past week, I have eaten what probably amounts to 100s of jelly beans.
3.) In the next 45 days, the three and a half of us (Me, Ian, Abby, and "the pea") will have to move out of our lovely and cozy nest and into what is hopefully an equally good place to call home. 
4.) In the past month since the alleged "first day of spring," the average temperature in Albany has been 50 degrees and the general weather has been gray and rainy. 

All of these numbers have really taken a toll on me recently...until today.  It is true that when I look out my window, I could easily make the mistake of thinking it was a bleak wintry day...gray skies and leafless trees...but this morning I was awoken by the sweet sunlight streaming through our bedroom windows.  I thought about how long it seemed to have been since I saw real, unbridled sunlight.  Even the priest this morning in Mass said something like, "I bet you were all wondering what that strange light coming from outside of your houses was." It has been a very long winter for all of us "Albanians."  But this morning laying in bed in the sunlit room I could feel my mood change literally like a switch had been flipped.  I mean just yesterday I was wallowing around the house in my pajamas until 4:30 in the afternoon playing the world's smallest violin as I stewed in the thought that here it was the end of April and if I were to leave the house I would have to put on a heavy coat and to add insult to injury, a coat that can no longer button around my torso. 

Even though that sunshine only lasted for a few hours this morning, it's still almost 60 degrees out there and here I sit in happiness as I listen to the buzz of a lawn mower coming from a neighbor's yard.  Thank you, God, for this reprieve.  And thank you, Dad, for the jelly beans that got me through the past week.  And thank you, Ian for holding it together for the 3 and a half of us while we figure out what's next for our family.  And thank you, Showtime, for showing me in my darkest hour and fattest pants that Twilight can cure all ills for 122 minutes despite my resistance to joining in on the whole vampire craze.  I already know that the next week promises rain for days, but I will remain uplifted because I am blessed with love and life, inside and out, and I have so much to look forward to. 

Oh.  And if you, dear reader, are in need of a boost yourself, might I recommend (in addition to Twilight, sunlight, and jelly beans) taking a look at this hilarious blog that turns in the mundane into the absurd and this amazingly witty yet poignant piece of work by mother and comedienne Tina Fey. 

With love and laughter,
Katie
xoxo