good news...i think:

Mississippi leads nation in low credit card debt
ttp://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080730/BIZ/80730028

note that the article says "median" not "average"...there's a difference!

baby update

holy crap crap! nine weeks left!

How your baby's growing:
This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3
pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth
spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and
body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath
his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble
sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take
comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and
healthy.
(babycenter.com)

yeah, she's putting a lot of pressure on the ol' ribs right now.

also, i have this encouraging article about new orleans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/dining/25orleans.html?pagewanted=1&hp

roy comes home tomorrow from a youth group trip and boy am i ready!
Yesterday when i got up, i was just ready for him to come back. Monday
- Wednesday I was okay, it was almost even an adventure for it just to
be me and Iris, but...Thursday...I was ready. So, tomorrow! yay!

well, i think i'm going to go home and hang out with my lil sis...
but ya'll have a good weekend. i know i will, just because it'll get
to be with Roy. yes, we really are that cheesy. sorry.

bye.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/23/poll-blacks-whites-dont-see-eye-to-eye-on-race-relations/

if anyone has cable/tivo

I really want to see the "Black in America" thing that CNN has...but
we don't have cable...so if you want to save it for me, feel free!

links:

interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1820828,00.html

embarrassing!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/11mississippi.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

oh dear:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/20debt.html?pagewanted=4&ei=5087&em&en=0409650470deb162&ex=1216872000

wedding pictures!

i just printed all (well, almost) the pictures that my sister took my
wedding weekend. and when i say "I just printed" i mean i just ordered
them online. they should get here next week sometime, i think. I'm
kinda excited. we haven't printed any of our pictures out, except like
on regular paper with our own printer, which just doesn't look as
good. i did print out one 8x10 at walgreens, but it just didn't look
very good--and roy's mom had her mouth open. so I'm excited about
this. and they'll have a white border around the edges. you can come
to our house and look at them. we have so many pictures, though, i'm
afraid we're going to have to amke a serious investment in photo
albums...i don't have the patience to sort through on the computer and
only print the "good" ones, so i'm just going to print all of them out
and then go from there.

whee.

baby update ( a lil late) and other stuff

Iris is ten weeks away from her due date. Holy Crap!!!! I forget what
exactly babycenter.com said about her, but i think it's that she's as
large as a cabbage. I can definitely feel her a lot better. Also, I
went to the doctor yesterday, and apparently everything is going fine.
They had to prick my finger and make sure I wasn't diabetic, but I
wasn't, so that's good. She's growing and kicking a lot. I have four
stretch marks! Since Roy is gone, last night I just watched TV and she
kicked a lot then. I'm definitely starting to feel the heat a lot
more...i don't really go outside in the heat of the day, but
basically, at this point in a Mississippi summer, every time of the
day is hot and humid. Yesterday Jackson tied the record at 101
degrees! Yikes!

Roy is gone, and I'm finding that I do really miss him...but also that
it's just really boring without him. I watched three hours of TV (not
counting the news) because I couldn't think of anything else to do
(even though i could have cleaned up the kitchen or something useful
like that). I didn't want to read a book 1) because we don't have any
new books and 2) because I just finished "Their Eyes were Watching
God" and loved it and wanted it to sink in some more. So ... i just
watched TV? I got really sick of the same ads over and over again,
even though it was amazing how the food ads really drew me in. I
really did keep thinking, even though I had already eaten, "maybe i
should go get some of that and it would amke me feel happy!" but I
didn't. Most likely because I was too lazy. Pray for him that he would
be safe. They are doing a lot of manual labor--even though i think he
said they didn't have to work outside, but my paranoid pregnant mind
is still worried about him. But i'm trying not to worry too much.

We had a great ol' party for Roy Sunday night. Someone left almost a
six pack of good beer at the house, though, and I kinda wish they
would come back and claim it--I can't drink it and Roy's not here to
drink it, so it's kinda just a sad reminder. :(

Okay...i'd better get back to work...maybe Roy will post from the Bay??

Birthday Gathering for Roy!

Hello Friends!

Roy's birthday is next Wednesday, but he's going to be gone at RYM. I
don't really have the energy to have a whole real party for him, but
I'm planning on making some kind of tasty treat to eat Sunday night,
after church, at our house...and we'd love for you to come! (That
makes the approximate time 7:30, I guess, but it kinda depends on
who's preaching!)

If you want to bring anything, I won't turn it down [the benefits of
being pregnant!]--food, presents, balloons, flowers, cards--but you
certainly don't have to bring more than yourself and good wishes.

And please tell other people you know that love Roy--I most certainly
don't have everyone's email addresses...but everyone is invited! I'm
probably going to have to hack into his email to invite other people,
but feel free to invite other people that like him.

Thanks! I look forward to seeing all of ya'll that can come!

Oh, and he'll be 27!

-Emily (and Iris)

holy crap!

Too Muslim to be French?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1822189,00.html
(and some of her practices are things that evangelicals like!)

and this one, just for fun: Hellboy review
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821613,00.html

oddly enough, this is the only comic book movie i've felt like going to see.

Baby update, quickly...

ROy's on his way to get me (yay for the weekend...)

but this is what they are saying about our baby:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and
is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs
are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room
for his developing brain. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of
calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

also, (drumroll please) she has a middle name!
Iris Lorraine Hubbard

Roy came up with it and i LOVE LOVE it.

and when i ate ginger snaps last night, she wouldn't stop kicking. it
was kinda painful.

well, that's about all from here. have a good weekend!

Oh dear...

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/the-shame-of-mississippi/?ex=1231041600&en=d57ec07b9cf841d4&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M051-ROS-0708-L2&WT.mc_ev=click&mkt=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M051-ROS-0708-L2

i just skimmed this...

But I think wendell berry usually has good things to say:

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/05/0082022

baby update (a day early)

Okay, since tomorrow is the 4th, i won't be at work, and therefore
won't have internet (and will probably be sleeping), so this is our
baby update. (again, courtesy of babycenter.com).

How your baby's growing: (week 28)
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a
Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to
her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her
eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in
through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her
brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside
world.

also, I'm apparently in the third trimester (or i will be tomorrow!)
yay! this also means that i could be ready to give birth in as little
as nine weeks! I forget the right terminology, but apparently most
babies are actually ready to come into the world at 37 weeks, but 40
weeks is when the doctors tell you your pregnancy should be over...and
labor usually happens closer to that time, as well. any nurses want to
explain all that?

on a slightly related note, i've realized that iris will be born about
the time football season is getting underway, and i'm kinda hoping
that i have labor on a saturday, so at least i can watch a game while
i'm struggling through. her due date is actually the day before the
MSU/LSU (my and roy alma maters, respectively) game, which kinda feels
significant. I don't think i would go so far as to be induced on
purpose, but....I really like college football. a lot. especially
mississippi state football. of course, i'm not sure how this whole
labor thing will be, but i've just been thinking about that. my
mom's first labor was only six hours, so if i'm anything like her,
that's only a little bit longer than a football game. sorry this
paragraph is so foolish.

i went to the doctor on monday and i don't have gestational diabetes
(yay!), my uterus is 27 cm tall (is that the right dimension?), i
heard her heartbeat, and they didn't tell me i'd gained too much
weight. i'm pushing 160 at home, 165 at the doctors (i guess their
scale is the accurate one, right?) and i feel huge, but apparently i'm
doing okay. being pregnant is the only time i've ever felt guilty for
not eating enough AND eating too much. i definitely have too many
people's voices in my head about weight. odd. my next visit is three
weeks from monday and then i'll start going every two weeks.

I've done some registering, too. I still haven't really gotten serious
about putting big-ticket items on the registries...I'd so much rather
buy them at the Pear Orchard baby sale they are having at the end of
august, than have someone else pay full price for something that's so
extravagant and beyond our needs--it seems like it's impossible to
just get plain stuff. oh--they are at target and babys'r'us, by the
way. I also went to Lemuria (local indie bookstore) and made a list of
books I would like to have. I had to remember that i needed not just
the books from my childhood, but also books with characters of colors.
i could have stayed there all day instead of goign to the actual baby
stores to register.

other things i'd like: the miracle blanket (to help with swaddling), a
baby sling (i forget which kind), toys without batteries, things that
aren't pink.

things i have already been offered: a crib, a pack-n-play (it's
wonderful--all my older sister's friends are apparently deciding that
their childbearing days are over after a coupla kids, and i am reaping
the benefits!), an infant car seat (even though i still haven't
decided if i should take it, because it's older than six years and the
industry says you shouldn't use one that's that old...but are they
just protecting their products? I don't know), and then four of my
friends are going in together and buying me a Mountainsmith for
a diaper bag, which i'm really excited about. i guess it's a little
spoiled of me, but i just can't see myself walking around with a quilted bag
with monograms. and i know i could just use a tote bag or something, but...i don't know..i also kinda wanted one that would look good on roy, too, since he'll be pretty involved with childcare. though to be honest, i didn't ask his opinion at all.

I've had my calf cramp once and my toes once, and i'm definitely
starting to swell a lil bit... but it's damn hard to put your feet up
when you can't sit comfortably (aka slouchy, in my case) because your
uterus will squash your nerves. I'm still figuring that out.

non-baby related things:

I cooked a chicken and made cookies last night...I haven't been that
productive in a while. but i didn't clean up, either. now i have one
tub filled with chicken pieces, two very nice looking chicken breasts,
one tub full of broth, and some oat-meal raisin cookies. i'm trying to
figure out how to make those into meals. (not the cookies). I'm trying
to be better about not letting food go to waste, so...we'll see what i
come up with. i'm thinking chicken salad for the pieces (or just
eating it for lunch), using the breasts for a meal (they taste SOO
good...i basically stewed it with onions and green pepper and celery
and poultry seasoning and of course, salt and pepper), and using the
broth to make either soup or red-beans-and-rice (which i'm really
leaning towards). the recipe i read had beef broth, but will it really
matter? i'm also still eating on the vegetables from our sunday
pot-roast. hopefully i'll be done soon.

i really like cooking.

roy is speaking tonight at summer ruf. i like to call his talk "why
are Christians so annoying?" but it's really "why are christians so
judgmental and ______?" (i can't remember the other word.) he's using
the passage about the publican and the pharisee. it should be pretty
good.

also, my little sister is raising money to be an RUF intern, so if
you've got a few extra bucks, or some time to pray for her, please
give generously. she'll be at colorado state university. heck, you can
give sacrificially, too, if you want to. i can tell you that you will
definitely enjoy receiving her newsletters. i wish i could just direct
you to a website where you could give real easily, but i don't think
RUF has that capability.

We (or Roy, really) are raising money for RUF-Tougaloo, too (and some
of you have given and we really appreciate it!), but her need is
definitely more immediate, since she can't go to the campus until she
raises 70% of her support (=.70*~30,000)! She's making progress, but
every little bit helps. she and roy have the biggest hearts for the
gospel and sharing the gospel of any people i know, so i really want
her to be able to go tell the hippies about Jesus... (and roy to tell
the tougalooites)...and I'll just tell Iris.

okay. I need to get to work. but i just wanted to keep y'all updated.