Happy Friday, guys and dolls! How’s it going? A horrible troll took residence in my chest for the past couple of days. He gave me a beastly trollish cough, and a sore throat from all his trollish larking about, but now that my voice is slowly disappearing, I think he is, too. And that’s the first slice of Good News!

In more good news, Samaritan’s Feet South Africa made the news! We’re featured at SA Good News today, so click here to check it out! And nevermind that I wrote the story and the editor of SA Good News is one of my best friends and was a bridesmaid in my wedding. We’re in the news!

And in other really good news, God is a God who answers prayers. My Dad and brother had offered a while ago to help with our tickets home, but we felt like we were lacking more than we wanted to ask for. Before we’d even chatted with my Dad about what we were lacking and what we thought we should do, he rallied to the cause and spoke with my brother and an elder in his church. With the generosity of my Dad, my brother and some folks from the church, it looks like we’ll have the rest of the cost covered in time to pay for the flights we’ve had reserved on Tuesday! And that’s good because Tuesday is the last day we can pay! We may have to put one flight on a credit card, which is not our favourite way of doing things, but we’re confident it will be paid off before we’ve exited American soil on our way back to SA at the end of our trip! Whooo-hooo!

{NB: I just have to pause here to say I haven’t seen my Dad in over a year, and it’s been a year and a half since I last saw my sister, and I’m gonna get to meet my niece for the first time! This is just such Good News!!}

For a few more slices of Good News to complete this Good News Edition of the Free-for-All Friday series, I thought I’d share the long overdue pregnancy update I’ve been promising you! Sorry I don’t have a picture for you…I’ll get on that soon. So here are some details, in no particular order, and as they come to mind in my pregnant brain.

• I am baking like it’s going out of style. Banana Bread, Brownies, Chicken Pot Pie Crust, Muffins… pretty much if the recipe calls for sugar, I’m interested. The Bear has been standing on a chair in the kitchen, in front of the counter, and has learned to stir as I add ingredients. Sometimes I let him add the ingredients, but it gets a little wild.
• I am not even in my thirties, and I am tinkling 3 to 5 times a night. Nevermind, this is supposed to be Good News.
• Today marks the pregnancy halfway point! Can you believe that? I am exactly 20 weeks pregnant today!
• I’m still ralphing on a weekly basis. From what I hear, that means the baby is very healthy, so we’ll treat that like Good News.
• I might promise you a year’s worth of homebaked goodies if you could find a way to get me a few Bill’s Hot Dogs from Washington, NC. {The Good News: We’re heading to the Carolinas for the holidays, and Bill’s will be mine! I’m drooling already.}
• We ARE going to find out the gender of this wee one on the way at our appointment next month! (Our doctor requested a minimum number of ultrasounds and since we would prefer to stick with her, we’re going to do them.) But, we’re going to ask the OBGYN to put the pictures and the diagnosis in an envelope and we’re going to open it at Thanksgiving when we’re at home with family and find out together! I’m really excited about that since they won’t be around for the baby’s arrival. While I won’t have any ultrasound pics for you in this space, because, well you know, we will at least have an announcement to share with you during the holidays! I think my sister and her husband did the envelope thing last year, and it sure does sound like fun!
• I can still zip and close the button of some of my jeans and other trousers. That’s Good News. While it’s often more comfortable to loop a rubber band through instead, it makes me feel like I might not turn into the Mac Truck pregger I was with the Bear. Seriously, I was like an ambulance…I needed a warning siren to back up. Here’s hoping I do better this time!
• It seems like the Bear is really looking forward to having a real, live playmate around the house. He’s already practicing:

So, folks, that’s the Good News! Pretty good, huh? Hope you enjoy your weekend!

xCC