I just found out that Disney and Pixar is making a movie about talking cars, which will be released in June 2006. The movie is simply titled “Cars”, and the trailer looks interesting. Check it out at http://www.carsthemovie.com .

I woke up a little late this morning coz we were playing Katamari all night long. Ahh, Thanksgiving Day, very exciting. Today I will be in charge of getting the Turkey ready - we have been marinating the Turkey in an Apple-Brine solution since Tuesday evening, so now the bird should be nice and juicy. At 1pm I will be putting it into the oven to bake for like 3 - 4 hours. I’ll also be making a Garlic Mashed Potatoes, which I’ve never made before, so I’m crossing my fingers.

Our relatives from Irvine will be visiting us later today. They started driving up in the early hours of the morning, and should arrive at around 5pm. They ended up arriving earlier than we expected, at about 4pm. We were still outside getting last minute groceries. I don’t know how Charlotte & Cayenne’s first reactions were, but I’ll bet Charlotte would be barking pretty aggressively like she always does. She takes about a day to get warmed-up to visitors.

The food was ready by 6:30pm, and we all enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner together. The turkey turned our really well, tasty, and not too dry. It was a great get together.

I discovered a fancy little messenger app yesterday called Meetro. It uses your geographical location to link users. Here’s an explanation of what Meetro is from the site:

“Technically speaking, Meetro is radius and proximity based software. Untechnically speaking, it finds like-minded people around you instantly. Wherever you are. So whether you’re in-town or out of town, Meetro gets you on the town with old friends or new acquaintances.”

I’m waiting (impatiently) for a Mac OS X version. C’mon guys! Do it! Do it!

I’ve upgraded my Gallery 1 to Gallery 2. Please access the new gallery page here.

Yesterday Doug and I went for our regular checkup at the OBGYN. So far so good. The midwife taught me how to feel the baby in my stomach, and to my surprise she said that Rebecca’s actually in an upside down position. I had always thought she was upright, since my upper stomach is bigger than my lower stomach. Turns out it was her butt that’s taking all the space! LOL. Funny gal. Though I can feel a little bit when I press my fingers down on my stomach, it takes a lot of imagination to visualize her position and posture. Heartbeat is normal (130), so that’s good. I’m in my 33rd week now, and the baby can be born anytime between 37 weeks to 40 weeks or a little over. My mom told me that usually for the first child labor would take a little longer, I just hope that mine will be bearable. I’ll keep an open mind about the pain killers, even though I’ve heard a lot of stories and read a lot as well, nothing beats experiencing it yourself, and right now, I’m not sure what to expect.

This morning I woke up with horrible cramps on my calves, I think it was caused by not moving my legs for about 2 hours while I’m sleeping. It was so painful, but luckily was gone in like 15 seconds. The ratties were sleeping with me, and they just got that puzzled look on their faces when they saw my grimaced face. They are no help I tell ya. If the pain would have prolonged I would be shouting for Doug. Fortunately, that didn’t have to happen.

My legs are now feeling pretty weak and soft from the cramps this morning. Argh.

Last Saturday I experienced for the first time the possibility of losing one of my dogs. I’ve always been very careful about securing them, and making sure I’m aware of where they are at all times, but last Saturday we were getting ready for my mother-in-law’s arrival, so I was on the second floor cleaning and packing. Knowing that I couldn’t spend much time playing with the ratties, I let Charlotte and Cayenne out into the backyard to play.

There never was a problem of them escaping, and the only “hole” I’m aware of is a small one just under the wooden gate of our fence. I’ve always assumed they were too big to go through that hole, they had to go down and under and had to literally squeeze themselves out of it.

So there I was, upstairs, folding the clothes, and then went downstairs to check on the girls. All I saw was Cayenne on the couch. So I called to Charlotte, but there wasn’t any reply. I ran out into the backyard and no Charlotte. I started to have a sick feeling in my stomach, thousands of thoughts ran through my mind, from thinking she had been kidnapped, escaped, or got poisoned and was laying unconscious somewhere. I quickly ran out of the house to look for her, but she wasn’t anywhere. After running one round around the complex, I ran back into the house, and shouted to Doug, “Charlotte’s GONE!” and broke into tears. I was crying like a baby, and Doug freaked out. I was at a total loss. Doug went out to look for her, and I went another way to look again. Nothing.

It was a one of my nightmares coming true. I was sooo afraid she might get hit by a car, and all I would find was her dead body. Oh you wouldn’t believe all the things that were going through my mind, I was worried, afraid, sad, guilty, all at once. We were looking for her for about 15 minutes, at least that’s what it seems like, but it might be longer. As I walked back to the house, in the corner of my eye, I saw an object to my left running towards me, and OMG, it was Charlotte! I called out to her, and thankfully, she kept on running towards me. It was such a feeling of relief and the realization of how close I was to losing her. What happens if she didn’t come home? It was awful to think of that possibility.

I picked her up and hugged her, and I think she was wondering why the hell my face was wet with some salty water. She didn’t feel that fazed about the whole thing, which was good, that means she hasn’t been traumatized in any way. I quickly checked her body for any broken bones or wounds, and there was none. My little girl’s home and that’s all that matters.

I get excited every November/December because Starbucks would start offering my favorite latte - Eggnog Latte. Bought one this morning (decaf of course) and oooh, it tastes so good.