SB

SB could stand for many things: Strong Bad, Silly Billy, Sauna Bird. But here, it stands for Spring Break, which, of course, ends tomorrow.

Technically it ends this evening, since we will be going to bed early enough to be semi-awake for tomorrow morning's 9 AM classes.

I have so many things to write about, so I will list them, and then you can go find the corresponding number further in the text if you don't want to have to read a novel. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. Ultrasound
2. IKEA
3. New PLAN!!
4. Dolls
5.

1. ULTRASOUND: So as you may know, based on the ongoing saga of wombs and ovaries and babies that I've related in past entries, I had to visit the health centre here at school for one last checkup on my ovarian cyst. This time, I took Nathan with me (we had both been priviledged to see Amia Carmen Allmart ultrasounded in her mommy's womb a few days prior) so he could see what all was going on inside of me!

First of all there were no babies there. I want to warn the reader at this point that one side effect of using natural birth control is that you aren't given the 100% assurance (or 90%, as it is with most other types) that you will not become pregnant, and so these entries will be riddled with worries about babies. And each time, they're just false alarms. I'm a worrier, to which my mother and grandmother can attest.

Secondly, everything was back to normal - the 13 ounces of fluid in the cul-de-sac (such a funny name) were gone, and both of those ovaries were around 4 square inches (last time, the left one was over twice that size). SO HOORAY HOORAY! I also learned from my mother, on whom I've relied for health infomration for all my 24 (almost) years, and who said, "Oh no!" when I first told her about my cyst (not a good sign from a biologist), that my paternal aunt has had similar issues, and that made me feel a little better. It is good to know that you aren't the only one in the worlds with a certain problem, and even better to know that someone in your family has gone through a similar time.

2. IKEA - Here's a funny story: we got a new bed. From IKEA. In Chicago. And we brought it home tied to our little Kia Rio Cinco. In the rain. It took 5 hours. It ususally takes 2 and a half.

And, when we finally did get home at 9.30 PM from what had initially begun as a morning excursion, we found that although I'd measured the hallway and the doors to make sure we could get the bed inside our apartment (thanks to an earlier bout with a long couch - ask my dad about that), I'd neglected to measure our bedroom, assuming a bed would fit in it, when in fact, the bed frame was 2 inches too long.

2 inches.

The mattress fit, but the frame didn't. Whereupon we bought 9 cinderblocks and some particle board from the local hardware store and propped that badboy up on blocks. It still smells a bit like a lumber yard, but it's a far cry better than the lumpy matresses we used to sleep on!

3. NEW PLAN!! Last Sunday was Naw Ruz (which means New Year in Persian), and which is the New year for Baha'is as well! A New Year means a New Plan, or at least that's how we saw it.

Let me preface a bit: when Nathan and I decided that we wanted to think about getting married, we decided that there was a possibility that we may not be doing the right thing. And since we were such good friends, we decided that it would be best not to lose that friendship. So, in order to keep that freindship going, and because we didn't really know what else to do, we made a plan. Our plan was very detailed and touched on spiritual as well as social matters - and we developed it with the idea that if it turned out that we weren't supposed to be married, that such an idea would be made plain, and we would have at least grown in our friendship.

Of course we got married. I would like to say that I knew we would, but I'm a worrier, you know.

Anyhow, we've tried to keep revising our plan to keep it fresh and up to date. And this Naw Ruz, we decided to revamp it. So here's the basics:

--Simplify

That applies to everything - spending, eating, thinking - all of it. Simplify.

Of course, there's more to it than that, but it's rather complicated and sort of boring for this context. Email me if you want to know more.

4. SQUIRRELS - Did you know that squirrels prefer peanuts in the shell to shelled ones? According to a study which I conducted on my front stoop yesterday, the peanuts in shells disappeared almost completely before the shelled ones even got noticed. I would have assumed otherwise, since it's easier to eat the shelled ones (as I found out while waiting for my squirrels to bite). Nathan suggested that it has something to do with instinct - how opossums who play dead don't get eaten because the instinct to kill isn't aroused in their predators. Maybe. But it's interesting nonetheless.

That's all for now. I think I'm going to lay on our new bed for a while (I've been doing it all day - I'm trying to maximise the few remaining hours I have before school stretches out and claims me in its icy grip...). Actually, it should be nice - it's been warmer and yesterday I took the plastic off of the windows. I am looking forward to the next few weeks - the Break is over, the the Spring's just begun!