Seriously, tomorrow is the first of August

And about 80% of the people whom I internet-stalk/keep up with (K. laughs at me for referring to my "friend" in France, who has no idea I exist) have not updated. That gives me the freedom to talk about whatever I please.

1st. The Trip
The beach was as expected, with the exception of the bloody pawprints on the door; my mother's dog did not take kindly to being left in a bedroom on our one evening in town when there was a thunderstorm, and he tried his damnedest to get out of the room, ergo costing mom a whole lot of moolah. But the bloody pawprints tickled me, they really did.

On our way back, K. and I began Our New Method of Traveling.

K. hates spending money, and isn't so good at enjoying the trip; he always wants to get straight to the destination. This means that when we travel across America, we stay in budget motels conveniently located off the interstate, eat in gas stations, or a cracker barrel if I throw an absolute fit.

But this is changing, a wee bit.

Saturday night, we reached our goal of Conyers, Georgia, desirable as a location only because it's about 30 miles outside Atlanta, and we were planning to hit the Atlanta Trader Joe's in the morning and didn't want to pay Atlanta hotel rates. So we stopped, got a room in a chain hotel off the interstate, and then, while K. showered, I took advantage of the free wireless to google the town's history.

Turns out even Conyers has a past, and after I'd told K/ about it, we got directions to the old town of Conyers, which turned out to be about a half-mile from all the interstate sludge. We parked behind some beautiful old brick buildings and promptly ran into...an Elvis impersonator. "Good evening," he said, and we good-eveninged him back. He drove a white SUV, which matched the jump suit.

After walking down an alley and following our ears, we came upon a darling little street that was blocked off for a block party; locals stood talking, eighties music played, and it was all very cute, especially in front of buildings like these (this pic was taken the following am, on Sunday, when all good Southerners are in church):



We ate at a supremely good (and cheap!) Thai restaurant, right there, very happy that we'd passed by the Cracker Barrel. It was a truly nice time, and we could have so easily not had it.

2nd. The Baby

I ain't posting tomorrow, so here's your update: the kid's alive! I went to the doctor this afternoon and heard its heartbeat; it kept moving, so she was sliding the cold listening-thingie all over my stomach, trying to keep up with it. I can't feel the baby move yet, but the doctor said that she'd be surprised if I could; my official freak-out date about that is 23 weeks, so not for another whole month.

We find out the baby's gender at the next appt, and I cannot wait. That appt was to be August 21st, but K. and I just realized he has yet another business trip planned, so we're hoping we can bump it up a day. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here's a picture of my not-so-svelte self:



I'm kind of nekkid-pregnant now, meaning my belly is sticking way out, but it still kinda fits under normal clothes, so you can't tell unless I'm...you know.

Still, happy 19 weeks to the bebe. We're still trucking.