Just in case I haven’t already mentioned it somewhere ’round these parts where you would have happened to see it, I want to happily announce again (for the first time?) that we are headed to beautiful Scotland on Wednesday the 4th. {And I don’t think I’ve spent a 4th of July in the US since 2005, so it’s a funny thing that we’re leaving on this one and I’ll nay be eating a hotdog and watching fireworks on the long flight from Boston to Amsterdam.}

The Bear will be kilting up to carry a couple of rings down the aisle. I will be squeezing into a lovely purple bridesmaid’s dress — I am as yet undecided as to whether I should remove the attached shoulder pads. Do women wear shoulder pads these days? Feels like a throwback to the Roaring 20s or something. {Would you axe ’em or leave ’em? And will somebody try to get married when I’m not preggers next time? Kidding.} The Hubs will be capturing the event from behind the lens of a camera.

He is practicing with his new flash. Taking pictures of me. Right now. Two-chinner-winners!

But most important, Agnes will be marrying Alan. {Yes, Agnes! Remember Agnes staying with us in South Africa? And her wonderful guest post when she was leaving us? As in, if it wasn’t for Agnes I might’ve had a home birth with Tiger Tank while we were trying to figure out what to do with the Bear at 3 am, Agnes. Yes, that one! Getting mawwied!}

{Um…it might not look like this while we’re there…}

So in a couple days’ time we’ll be in that familiar mode again — travel mode — and between now and then I’ve got to get some laundry done, find some tall socks and a long-sleeved white shirt for the Ring Bear, and pull out some sweaters and rain gear for the trip! {The 5-day forecast says highs will be in the 60s [F] and there’s a rain cloud on the picture for every day… won’t you say a prayer that the sun will shine for Agnes’s wedding on Friday?}

In other news, blame the pregnancy, I absolutely cannot remember whether I told you we had a doctor’s appointment and might find out the gender of the baby Friday. I’m sure you’ll believe me when I tell you if we had found out the gender of the baby I would’ve let you know quick quick. We decided not to be all dramatic and open an envelope together this time — but apparently this little one has a flair for the dramatic and wasn’t cool with being upstaged by parents who just wanted to know without trying to do something to make it extra-special.

He or she decided to straddle his or her umbilical cord, meaning… OUR VIEW WAS BLOCKED! The Ultrasound technician changed angles a couple of times and tried to see what she might see — this was really just supposed to be an ultrasound to confirm my due date, and she was doing us a favour by trying to look for the gender for us — but in the end she just didn’t feel confident that she could say either way. She did seem to allude to thinking that this one was a girl… but we’ll have to wait until August 1st to (hopefully) hear a more definitive conclusion.

If it’s a girl, I would like to ask for a sewing machine for my birthday. And then it’s gonna be on.

I’m gonna go Gussy. Ruffles out the wah-zoo. Whatever the wah-zoo is. There will be ruffles comin’ out that. Oh yeah.

{Have you visited Gussy Sews and seen her cute stuff? Oh man, it is so cute. And she is just so likeable. But auto-correct doesn’t like that word. Is it a word? When autocorrect takes the ‘e’ out that looks like something you’d pronounce lick-a-bull. And I’m sure Gussy is great, but I don’t want to lick her. And I am sure she doesn’t want me to, either.}

Anywhobiddywho, I’m sure I’ll be able to keep you posted on the adventure from the other side of the pond — and I’m very sure I’ll have some pictures to share of the Bear in his kilt! The last time he wore a kilt it looked like this:

Been a while, eh, ye wee crackin’ Scotsman?

That’s it for the news from me guys and gals — except that there was a hectic storm in this neck of the woods on Sunday evening and it’s a mess around here. Please pray for the folks who lost family members or their homes.

 And let me know your thoughts on shoulder pads.

xCC