I'm baaaa-aaaack...

My apologies for the prolonged April absence. No, Baby Lowry did not make an early appearance. Mama Lowry is just feeling kinda lazy, kinda un-bloggy and kinda meh. I do miss all you folks in bloggerland though.

Also, I'm having trouble taking deep breaths as Bumbo pushes upwards on my diaphragm, so sitting at the laptop for extended periods hasn't been high on my list after work hours. On the plus side, it does mean I have the uncontrollable urge to fling off my bra (aka the torture device) at some point every day, which D finds faintly disturbing. Yesterday he found it hanging from the pantry door. Whoo hoo!

Anyways, apart from bra-flinging, here's a quick Someday Diary update:
1) Epic April Snowstorm
10 cms, 60km/h winds, freaking horrible driving conditions. In the 2nd week of April. #$%^&*@!? Yeah, that's what I said.

2) Epic visit from Moscovite sister!
My loving, beautiful and wonderous little sister Tanzi shocked the crap out of me by calling me a day after my birthday to announce that she'd be waiting for me to pick her up in Waterloo (ONTARIO! CANADA!) the following Monday. She's been teaching at a fancy school in Russia, and I haven't seen her since August. She won't be able to be here for the birth of Bumbo so she planned a whirlwind week's visit to Canada just to see my belly. Is that sisterly love or what? Apparently D, my Dad and my other sister were all in on the scheme. How they managed to keep it a secret, I'll never know. So I got to spend two great days with her all to myself and even had Easter dinner together. How cool is that? SPACEBO, Tanzi. You rock.

3) RIP Comfort
Yep, poor Comfort the barn kitty finally succumbed to her various infirmities and is now resting peacefully in the east meadow. Whatever infection she had was resistant to penecillin (which D faithfully injected her with) and morphed into a raging open wound that was truly awful to behold. The vet took one look and pronounced her incurable. Poor puss.

I learned just how squeamish I really am when she tottered like a little kitty zombie up to the house every day for her bowl of eggs and milk (she stopped eating her cat food) and wanted to get on my lap. I was able to gingerly pat her on the back, but I couldn't even bring myself to look at her head. Even the vet's assistant confessed that SHE was grossed out, so I didn't feel so guilty. Gah. How the hell am I going to change diapers??? Or look at an umbilical cord stump???

Let me also note here for the record how impressed I was with D. He's never been much of a cat person, but he faithfully carried Comfort back to the barn each night (it's quite a distance from the house), made sure she got her shots and actually encouraged me to reconsider euthanizing her ("She might perk up with the warmer weather!" Apparently warmer weather + open wound = maggots, according to the vet's assistant, so I'm glad I didn't listen to that idea). D even dug Comfort a little tiny grave. I'd never seen that side of him with a barn cat before. It did my hormotional heart good. I will miss her quite a bit.

4) Not too bad a birthday
I turned 39 on April 2nd and it wasn't too bad a day, considering that the anniversary of Rose's birth and death was the very next day. D's aunties took me out for lunch, I had a pedicure, a massage and a big steak dinner with C and D in the evening. To cap it off, my MIL made me a giant, ooey, gooey chocolate cake before she left on holidays, which C delivered with great aplomb when he came over for supper. She also wrapped up an extra-long shoehorn since I can no longer bend down to put my shoes on. God bless that woman! D also took me out to a posh restaurant with C and his girlfriend later that weekend. It was divine...

5) Easter eggstravaganza
Most people would think that eating a venison roast for Easter dinner is somehow wrong, but I loved it. When you're at Dad's cabin, it just works. I made a nifty apple pudding for dessert which was a hit with everyone (except Dad, who declared it "too doughy." "Dad...it's a pudding. It's supposed to be doughy.") And don't get me started on all the chocolate we scarfed down before supper even started. Or the chicken wings and potato chips we ate for lunch beforehand. Or the fact that the pretty pink blouse I'd chosen to wear for Easter made me look like an enormous Easter egg...

So that's the update folks. I will try not to be so anti-blog in the coming weeks.