Blogging Fun

Because I don't get all of them...I've picked a few "You know you live in Maryland when..." phrases.

You can pronounce and spell "Pocomoke," "Mattaponi," "Accokeek," and "Havre de Grace"

You prononce "Bowie" BOO-ie not BOW-ie or BAUW-ie

1 hour is an easy commute to work

You refer to your state as "Merlind"

You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name for a body of water.

You color with "Crowns", take a "Share" with "Wooter" and think the president lives in "Warshenton."

And just for fun because Virginia is so close to us:

Speed limits are just suggestions

You have at least two friends who have no idea what their relatives do...because its "top secret" government work

When people ask where you're from, you tell them DC because its easier to explain

You are amazed when you go out of town and the people at McDonalds speak English

You or someone in your family has a Smart Tag

An inch of snow and you miss 3 days of school

Subway is a fast food place. The transportation system is known as Metro, and only Metro.

If you stay on the same road long enough, it will eventually have three new names.

You have to dial the area code to call your neighbor

And for the state we left behind...

You can pronounce Tooele.

The U is not just a letter - Neither is the Y.

You have actually eaten funeral potatoes.

You've gotten both heat and frost burns off your car's door handle in the same month.

You are not surprised to hear words like "Darn, Fetch, Flip", "Oh, My Heck" and "Shoot".

Your tulips get snowed on three times after they come up and twice more after they bloom.

30% humidity is muggy and almost unbearable.

Somewhere in your family tree is a polygamist.

You know the difference between a 'Steak House' and a 'Stake House'.

The elevation exceeds the population

You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you

You can see the stars at night

There is a similarity between a ward basketball game and the L.A. riots.

Cars in the slow lane are traveling the fastest; cars in the fast lane are traveling the slowest; cars in the middle lanes are always trying to exit.

Sandals are the best-selling shoes.

You're on your own if you are turning left.

People wear shorts and T-shirts if the temperature rises above 32 degrees.

There is a church on every corner, but they all teach the same thing.

People drive to Idaho (or Arizona) to pick up a gallon of milk so they can play the lottery.

In-state college football rivalries are bigger than the Super Bowl.

You think "You're a 10 cow wife" is a compliment.

Love, Safire

What kind of American do you Speak?

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Dixie

10% Midwestern

10% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Important life events all tie into horseback riding...

Hi all,

I did a great post about a new phrase that Juice and I use all the time, but then it got lost in cyber space as I tried to publish it. So look for that again in the near future when I can stop being mad at Blogger for loosing it.

Last week Juice and I went to our first child birth class. It was interesting. I think the only thing I didn't know about was the placenta. Yes, I knew it had to come out after the baby was born but how it looks when it comes out was a surprise to me. And how big it was! That AND a baby fit into my belly...Fascinating!

Anyway, we also learned about labor, when to call your doctor, what to do if you go into early labor, etc. The class was 4 hours long, and we go for the next few Saturdays. It was funny because as everyone walked in, you could see the other pregnant mothers checking out each other's bellies. I'm still the smallest one, even smaller than some of the ladies who are due in July! There is one other couple whose due date is before ours, and everyone else is due after us. We are also the only ones who are not having our baby at Shady Grove Hospital, which is where the class is. And why is that, you ask? Well, our local hospital is Shady Grove. It's about 10 minutes down the road from us. We decided (okay, I decided) to have Butterfly in Virginia at the hospital near my work called Inova Fairfax Hospital (http://www.inova.org/inovapublic.srt/ifh/index.jsp). Momentary laps of sanity, I think since it can take us up to an hour to get to this hospital in rush hour traffic. Although that's only during rush hour...it takes about half an hour mid day or after rush hour. And it is right across the street from my work. Also, my OB's practice is across the street from my work too and since I have to go there a lot, it was easier on my to just have to walk across the street instead of driving back home for every appointment.

So why did we decide to do our birthing class at Shady Grove? Well, they offered Saturday only classes. And we only have to go to 4 of them instead of 6 weeks of them. Inova doesn't offer that. And it was cheaper, we got a free breastfeeding class along with it, and it's so close to our house.

What does this have to do with horseback riding as my title suggests? Well, besides going over labor and birth in the class, we also went over some relaxation techniques. How to get your mind out of the way so that your body can work through the contractions. Every single thing she said I thought, "Oh, I used to do that when I rode." or "That makes perfect sense, that helped me when I used to ride." For example, we talked about muscles in your bodies competing for oxygen. And since your uterus is one big muscle and its working hard to get the baby where it needs to go, it needs all the oxygen it can get. If you clench other muscles, they steal the oxygen and make your contractions worse. So if you can relax the rest of your body, your contractions are a little more bearable. And you can relax your body by taking one limb at a time and telling it to relax. I used to do that all the time when I was on an especially hyper horse. I would start at my feet and move up my legs...Relax, relax, relax. Not only did it help me stay ON the horse, it also helped the horse relax because I was relaxed.

Another thing our teacher showed us was the pelvic tilt. It's used to help open up your pelvis to allow the baby to get into position, and also to strengthening your back muscles to help during labor. She showed us how to do it, and I thought, "Oh, posting." (That up and down motion that you do when a horse trots.) So I already knew how to do it.

So thanks Mom and Dad for letting me take horse back riding lessons. It's helped out in ALL aspects of my life...amazingly enough!

Love,
Safire