Incidentally, I am glad I was wrong about American Idol although I did lose $20 in my bet with Andy over who would win. I guess talent really did mean something in the end. Also it's comforting to know our country does not reflect my 1980's era segregation-influenced high school. Let my Prom Queen Theory die along with big hair, Mia flats, and Polo cologne.

I have not felt like writing that much. I've been busy at work and some of my family is in town. Often I have a thought and I mean to put it down into words but I don't get around to it and then I forget. My brain is definitely missing a little bit because of the pregnancy--it's been proven that our minds literally shrink a small percentage while we are knocked up.

I finally made it to the Flagler Beach Farmers Market this morning; it was quite wonderful. Luscious and inexpensive produce of every variety. I got a watermelon, cantelope, grapefruits, and two big heavy tomatoes. I think we will start going there every Friday and try to stop buying our produce at the grocery store. This particular farmers market was actually one of the ones that had a reckless senior citizen drive their car right into it a few months back, during that time it seemed like old people and their vehicles had something against farmers markets.

It hasn't rained for a long time and it's quite hot. My garden begs for water. Once June comes then we'll begin to get our daily afternoon storms, but so many of my plants need that spring drench so they never quite thrive as they would up north.

In a few weeks we are going home to Annapolis for our co-ed baby shower at my parents. We registered at Target and will probably go to Ikea and pick out something while we are up there. They have a changing table that you mount on your wall called Gulliver which is kind of cute. So we are definitely starting to get prepared for this kid. Although we still haven't put the stroller/car seat thing together yet.

My friend from work is leaving for a different job. I'm pretty bummed but I understand. Most of my favorite people eventually move on it seems.

Connie's Pregnancy Tip #1: For those of us who like to lay or sleep on our stomachs and find it uncomfortable by about mid-pregnancy, I have discovered a way to do it occasionally. It helps if you live near the beach or vacation there: when you lay on your towel in the sand, first dig a hole below where you belly goes so that it fits in perfectly. You may have to do the same for your breasts. But it feels great and it's a nice release for your back after being forced to abstain from that position for so long.

Tonight, finally, I get to have my Chart House fix. And I will save room for dessert.

OK I just got one of the best spam subject lines ever: "PAI MAI-Five Point Penis Enlargement Technique". Of course you will have had to have seen Kill Bill Volume 2 to get the reference but still, pretty clever.

There's a great interview with Simon Cowell in the NY Times today. He really is the man. He predicts Diana diGarmo will win American Idol and I think he's probably quite right. Her success will reflect my Prom Queen Theory: that when many races of people have to pick someone in a contest of this kind the most likely winner will be mixed race or very light skinned African American girl. I came up with this theory when I was in high school and noticed that every year it was this type of female who won prom and homecoming queen; most of her friends were white but she was also accepted by people of color. I went to a public school with a large minority population and I suspect the voting audience of American Idol reflects this same age and demographic. I don't think Diana is too bad of a singer either, not as outright great as Fantasia but she's certainly better than that painful-to-listen-to Jasmine. The only thing I can't fathom about Diana is that she said her favorite movie of all time was Bowfinger.

Tonight I'm going to Victoria's birthday celebration at the pottery studio which should be really fun, getting to hang out with the same cool chicks I met at her Mary Magdalene seminar. I'm thinking about doing a large plate or bowl with an intricate spider web design painted on.

We've had this strange bird become obsessed with Andy's minivan. It started at least a month ago, we started seeing a lot of birdshit on the passenger side of the van by the rearview mirror. It accumulated more and more and also littered the driveway beneath it. One day while out in the yard I finally saw the culprit: a male towhee of black, orange, and white. I told Andy about it and he eventually saw him in action too. The bird basically lands on the rearview mirror then flutters up against his own reflection that he sees in the tinted glass window. Over and over again. And like I said it has literally gone on for the entire mating season. At first I thought he was in love with his own reflection but Andy thinks he is challenging what he perceives as another male trespassing on his territory. Perhaps his mate has a nest very nearby. It's been very bizarre and entertaining and the past few days we have been trying to catch him with the videocamera.

More about passion flowers including a stunning film of one of the blossoms opening.

Pregnancy has brought me three things that I have wanted all my life: a clear healthy complexion, thick fast-growing hair, and long strong nails. I am enjoying these lovely side effects but only to a point because I also dread the time when this will be over and I will go back to spotty skin, limp hair, and wimpy nails. It's just such a tease. I want to bottle whatever it is that is making me so improved, it's like the fountain of youth only better.

I discovered a veritable field of wild blackberries in the lot to the left of our house, the one owned by the water company that is supposed to never be built on. These were the sticker bushes that have seemed so annoying all this time and that Andy tore out on the other side of the house. In Florida you just never know what's growing wild right outside your door. A few weeks ago near the blackberries I found a vine with one beautiful passion flower on it:



Anyway I braved the thorns this afternoon and picked as many blackberries as I could get. They are quite tasty drenched in nutella. I want to get enough for a cobbler but I will probably have to cover myself head to toe with some kind of pricker retardant clothing.

We are halfway through the pregnancy and I guess you could say I am showing.

I am really ready for my reality television viewing to be over for a while. Survivor got on my nerves towards the end, the romance was cheesy and the other contestants were fools to let that alliance continue all the way to the end. And it was sad to see one of my favorites, Latoya London, get voted off American Idol last night. Just a reminder that America cares little for talent and more for--what? Cuteness? I guess so, that would explain Britney Spears anyway.

I'm having mood swings which are supposed to be common in pregnancy. I've had a few days where I feel happier than I've ever been in my life and then some where it's like the worse PMS I've ever felt. Today is more one of the latter but it's partly my own fault for not avoiding the things that bother me, the facts that I am powerless to change.

On a positive note, my artist friend Eva Lake has her own web site now...I love her square abstracts and wish I could own this one:

Yesterday my gardenias started to bloom. The flowers seem a little larger this year, absolutely beautiful. For the next few months I will be picking blossoms and placing them to float in bowls of water on the kitchen table. The jasmine is getting ready to fade but has reached the height of its sweet fragrance. I love to sit on the back porch and catch whiffs of it while I read. My echinacea has come up now, with hope maybe it will put out a flower or two this year. I bought a hummingbird feeder and I'm going to post it outside my office window where it won't get too much sun. I'll also move the yellow allamanda trumpet vine that is hidden by the hedges in the front so that it is by the feeder. They say that it helps to attract hummingbirds if there are flowers around that they like. Also below the feeder will be my purple leafed plant and I love the combination of purple and yellow together.

Right now I'm reading Cane River, a depressing Oprah book about generations of slave women in Louisiana. I only have twelve books to go then I'm finished with her old book club list. Next I'll probably take on her new book club list, after I've covered the list of books I've been compiling in my Amazon wish list. I noticed that my library has an actual real life book club and I'd like to join that, but so far they've assigned books I've already read.

Being that his parents are such Webheads, it's not surprising that our baby should already have his own site:

http://www.merrittrice.com

My appetite is really picking up lately. Snacking does not satisfy like it used to. And I need to eat before I go to bed. Still no strange cravings, just the desire for raw onions on salads and hamburgers when I get them. And one of these days I will drive to the Chart House for the caviar/sour cream/capers/onions/water crackers that they have on the salad bar, which I have been fantasizing about for quite a while. Maybe this weekend if I'm lucky.

A painting called Boy With A Pipe from Picasso's Rose Period sold for over 100 million dollars recently. Even as an artist I find it rather bizarre someone would pay that much for a painting. Silly really. It's not so much about the art as it is about the name Picasso, he knew that himself. I'll never forget the story I heard of how he was known to go to the market and when it came time to pay, he would draw a little sketch on the back of his check. That way the clerk had the option of either accepting the check as payment or paying out of their own pocket for Picasso's groceries so that they could keep an original piece of his art.

Personally I prefer Picasso's Blue Period:

The weather is absolutely gorgeous the past few days, sunny but not too hot. It won't last. Summer is here. And so my garden grows. Tonight we are going to a business network happy hour for Cinco de Mayo. I wonder if they can make a virgin frozen margarita? Hopefully. Lately I've been watching episodes of BBC's The Office on DVD, it's positively hysterical. Very Spinal Tap/Best in Show/A Mighty Wind dry humor which I adore especially when it's delivered with a British accent. I'm going to stop buying sweets to eat and stick to healthy foods at home--except fruit juice popsicles. But the novelty of letting myself eat whatever I want is starting the wear off as I am reminded how nasty junk food really is.

It's a BOY!!!

The ultrasound today made it abundantly clear, there was no mistaking that extra appendage. The images were incredible, I had no idea it would look so much like an actual baby. We could see the bones, the skull, and the coolest thing was the spine. The greyish tones of the sonogram gave it a very HR Giger biomechanical look. He even moved a bit for us while we watched.

I can't believe I'm having a boy. Coming from a family of four girls it's very exciting for my family. And on the other side it satisfies the only son of an only son of an only son of an only son, etc. lineage that Andy is part of. To me it just means that I have a chance to put another good man in the world, someone like his father who loves and respects women, who will contribute positive change to the universe. Enabling my son to be like that is my responsibility.