Who doesn't love four day weekends?! Thank you US Army! For once, it didn't feel like this one flew by. Maybe because John had to work on the 4th of July but we were actually able to hang out a little while he worked, so it wasn't so bad. Although the weekend was pretty great, the loss of a friend weighed heavy on my mind.
Veronica was in school on Thursday, so we took a trip with Adri and our friends to Chinatown for lunch. I considered taking my big camera with me, but didn't. I'm kicking myself for that now. It was quite the interesting place. And actually, there were many more Vietnamese shops versus Chinese. Lots of produce and stuff being sold on the side of the street. Strange smells coming from the market with a whole pig head just chilling in the cooler.
My Friday started around midnight or 1:00 am with the news that one of John's fellow platoon leaders while we were at Fort Stewart had been killed. I ended up only getting an hour of sleep after that. Although I constantly had the whole situation on my mind, the 4th ended up being a pretty good day.
It was my first time celebrating Independence Day on an Army base, and I was relatively impressed. In the afternoon we walked to where the little carnival was, and the girls got to go on rides. Later on, I returned with a friend to catch a glimpse of the the Third Eye Blind concert. Semi-Charmed Life is one of my all-time favorite songs, but the concert really wasn't all that great. Oh 3eb.. It's been so long. After dark, we were able to watch the fireworks on post from our backyard. We'll probably never live on base again, but I'm glad that we decided to do it here.
One of V's friends from school had a party at Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday. I was seriously concerned about going, and the place being nasty, but it ended up actually being a good time. I took both girls with me while the husband did some golfing. We played a bunch of games, the girls rode on some little mechanical ride thing, and over all just had fun. The place wasn't as dirty as I was expecting, so there was no need for a bleach bath afterwards.
Sunday was that time of the month for me... Pedicure day! I had my nails painted in an awesome neon pink color in honor of the baby girl coming soon. Every time I look down at my toes, I can't help but smile. Seriously, such a fun color! We got together with some new friends for dinner. Surprisingly, Veronica did really well playing with their son. Usually, she hates boys, unless they're older. Adri just kept taking her clothes off.
Today is my 38 week appointment. How crazy is that?! I'm being seen by a doctor other than my usual guy, so I'm hoping she's receptive to my request for an induction. This pregnancy started out with all of these crazy high-risk concerns and telling my how I'd have to be induced early and have to be monitored several times a week. I'm glad that everything has gone normally as far as my blood pressure, but can I please still have that induction that I was promised?
