We got back in town late Thursday night (or early Friday morning, to be precise!). We’ve since been trying to recuperate, get adjusted, get unpacked, get some work done, make some major decisions, and get ready for a regular week tomorrow. I woke up this morning to a white snow laden back yard view out of my kitchen window (it’s about 35-40 degrees but a little snow). I laughed to myself at how every one, and I do mean every one, we spoke with in Florida asked us if it’s cold in Portland (and complained about how cold it was there, in the 50’s and 60’s with not a cloud in the sky).

It’s good to be back. It’s a bit like visiting another planet, or at least, another life. Some things were harder for me than I expected, being in the places where Hubby and I first met and dated… the dreams I had for us then and how differently things have turned out. I spent the majority of my time on Marco Island trying to soak up time with family I haven’t seen in almost 2 years, where we did lots of field trips to Florida wildlife reserves and the beach. We ate tons of food, laughed a lot, and every one played a hearty, loud game of Apples to Apples while I sat in a tub with a tummy ache, lol. By the time we got to Naples mid-trip I kinda “crashed”, so I spent most of my time zoned out, knitting or painting or otherwise in my own world observing what was happening around me. We slept in a lot and rested, got to see a lot of family members (Hubby’s side) that we haven’t seen in a long time, including Hubby’s grandma who flew up from Puerto Rico and his aunt who flew in from NYC. We had an “Obama Inauguration Party” that grew in size spontaneously which was also a lot of fun.

I got to see dear friends Steph/Tim and Karina/Kubby, which was so much fun. Steph/Tim decked out their place in LOST paraphernalia for the premiere last Wednesday (which rocked my world, btw), and many new memories were created by the “colorful” older couple who invited themselves over and talked during the commercials about the UFO’s they have seen. No, I’m not kidding.

Lil’ E was 99% angelic for the entire trip, even on the long ride back when he slept through our landing in (who knows where?) where we didn’t switch planes, so it was perfect. (He has not, however, been angelic since our return, so it’s been a long few days!) I got lots of knitting done while there, esp once Steph demonstrated what I was doing wrong when switching from knit to purl so I could do the ribbing on a hat pattern. I finished a wool bib and two wool “pixie” hats. I started on booties but after I did the first one I could tell they were much too small for a normal sized baby so I’m looking for a new pattern!

Well, I guess that’s the update for now. It could take me a while to get back in the swing of things with so much I am processing right now, but at least I’ve spit some of it out before it gets lost in the far reaches of my memory. I’ve got a work day ahead of me and hopefully finish the unpacking, readjusting process along with it.

P.S. No funky kitty smells while we were gone so, thus far, Paz gets to stick around now, that he has been de-maled .

It’s 7:30am, I’ve only been up for one hour, but already I have this “bad day” kinda feeling. Dealt with some correspondences that made me think about debt and the pregnancy, two things that I really don’t want to think about before the sun comes up (or at all, frankly!). It’s frustrating, as always, to barely have enough to pay our bills, yet make too much to get state insurance to cover my birth. Disappointments with my midwives over the last few months have been really eating at me, as I’m more than half way to the birth and there is still no budge from my insurance, along with other things that have made my intuition and feelings about my midwives kinda muddled and complicated. My last few appointments have left me with an unsettled feeling and fighting tears on my 45 minute walk home, which can’t be good… I’m praying God will lighten this one load a bit – either give me some breakthrough with them that leads to some peace, or throw a new midwife in my lap. (I just need something to not be a struggle or a fight, just a nice, flowing, easy process. Is that so much to ask?! )

This year has including some major disappointments, and with less than 2 weeks left of 2008, I’m really, really, looking forward to sloughing it off and hoping for 2009’s triumphant entry. This year, particularly the last 6 months, has been a bit like getting one of those really deep pressure massages that, despite its healing properties, leaves you dehydrated and bruised. The difficulties of this year have left my good juju so depleted that little things (like the painful cheek bite that has left me unable to eat anything solid for 2 days!) make me want to scream “IT’S NOT FAIR!” and kick over a trash can. Ah, yes, how nice would it be if every once in a while, an adult could feel totally justified in throwing a good ol’ fashioned FIT!

Of course, there’s a flip side, there always is. I’d like to think the struggles have left me wiser, less apt to throw my energy into useless causes, (i.e. at this point, if the news gets too heavy and ridiculous, I turn it off!) It’s easier to filter what dramas I let get to me and to differentiate what activities and people hold value. I am also usually more aware of my insecurities and over-explanations, my tendency to get consumed with work instead of what’s going on inside and around me, and less concerned if I’m understood or even liked. Why I ever cared about the opinions of people who have hardly spent any time with me in my life I doubt I’ll ever get. Classic, but insane. It’s refreshing to be exhausted at my old habits, and to realize I don’t have to feel either defensive or apologetic- particularly because I’m allowed to make mistakes and grow. Amen?! lol To be able to recognize even the teeny beginnings of this change in myself is encouraging, because I know that if I continue to work this process of dealing with my life, I’m only going to learn more and get healthier as time goes on.

Elsewhere in news:

It is snowing outside and its really, really pretty right now. Nice thick snow and not too cold out (mid-30’s). It looks like a postcard from my window sometimes, as these large evergreens line the backyard fence and now have frosting all over them

I’ve been working on revamping my business, name and website, this week, and will be excited to launch it by the new year. Finding the time to design something new has been a long time coming, but I think it will be much more encompassing of my current services and skills.

I’ve begun reading a communication book (Hubby has been obsessed with these social/emotional intelligence and teamwork/leadership books lately so I have some catching up to do). I’m starting with “People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts” by Robert Bolton. The start is cheery (not) — the highlight being the T.S. Elliot quote that typical families are:

“Two people who know they do not understand each other,
Breeding children whom they do not understand
And who will never understand them.”

From first hand experience, I can attest to the correctness of the authors statement: “Marriage, the most complicated of human relationships, cannot flourish without effective communication. Couples hoping to establish an enriching marriage often lack the needed relational skills and end up living parallel lives in a marriage without intimacy… Proximity without intimacy is inevitably destructive.”

I’m also reading “Abide with Me”, a novel by Elizabeth Strout. I need to start on the next Imago Book Club book (hopefully I won’t be leading a third discussion in a row having barely finished the book minutes before we joined!) which is a Henri Nouwen book, “The Wounded Healer”. When not doing one of these other things, or while working at night to keep myself awake, we’re starting our Lost marathon, hoping to watch all the seasons by the premiere on Jan. 21st, though we don’t have the funds to buy the latest season on DVD just last week. I’m surprised at how little I care about that this year!

That’s about all I can think of for today. Chow for now!

Jealous I didn’t come up with this list

Any one who cares about Lost’s finale already knows how my questions were answered, but for the sake of tying up loose ends, I’ll recap:

• Who’s in the coffin? The man in the coffin is referred to as Jeremy Bentham through-out the two hour finale. It was obvious this man had been visiting the Oceanic 6 recently in order to tell them to go back to the island, and that Sayid believed that with him dead (he suspects foul-play, though it was determined a suicide) the Ocreanic 6 were in danger. In the end, we see that the man in the coffin is none other than John Locke.
• Does Jin and/or Claire die? I am holding out the Jin is NOT dead, despite how it looked in the finale. We saw people jumping into the water and we did not exactly see Jin get blown up in the explosive, so I am hopeful that in the end, he is still alive. Nothing was really answered about Claire, except that she appears in Aaron’s bedroom 3 years later when Kate burst in on them. And just as quickly as Claire warns her, “Don’t you dare bring him back to that island!”, she disappears. The whispers on the phone in Kate’s flash forward dream, when played in reverse, say, “The island needs you. You have to go back, before it’s too late.”
• How do the “Oceanic 6″ randomly bump into each other (as at the moment, they are more or less scattered) and hitch an exclusive, one-way ride off the island? — We all know how they end up together and how Sawyer sacrifices himself so that the other 6 can get a little further with a low tank of gas. Ah, sigh. Wondering about what Sawyer whispered to Kate before the kiss and jumping out of the helicopter? Check this out.
• Why are the Oceanic 6, in flash-forwards, keeping the true story about the island from the rest of the world? This reveal wasn’t very convincing to me. In Jack’s opinion, Locke is a flake. So why did he decide they should all lie at the last minute when they see Penny’s boat? And why do the other Oceanic 6 so easily accept this is the only way to do it? I get it, that if people know about the island, then every one else is in danger, sure, but the willingness to make up a fake experience seems a little unrealistic.
• What is the deal with the time difference between the island and the freighter? I think the only thing that touched on this concept was the delay from the dead man’s arm signal on the island and the detonation of the bomb on the frieghter.
• Who is the ageless Richard? Do do do do… still a mystery. Though, he may not be agless — he might just be time traveling, a ghost, or on an island that has been “jumping” time.
• many, many more…

By the way, some of us over at my house were totally annoyed by the preview for alternate endings to Season 4. (Not a great move by ABC, in my opinion, as most casual viewers thought, “I KNEW they don’t have a real plan about what is happening on this show!”) Turns out, from what I am reading, these alternate endings were created in order to fake out any spoilers- if anything got leaked or any cast member knew the one and only ending, it could ruin it for people, so they made a few fake ones.

There’s so many theories about so many unended mysteries that I don’t even know how to begin, but here’s some of the good one’s I have come across today:

- DocArzt theories (which are more like additional questions?)

-ABC’s Lost message boards theories

- Lost-pedia theories about this episode

With a long 8 months til next season, I’ll try to do some more reading

I’ve gotten 40 hits to MamaNeedJava this week that were for “Lost Theme Party” keywords, and you betcha I’m as excited as all of them for tonight’s 2-hour Season 4 Finale!

So, as we ALL know, this season was cut a wee bit short because of the writer’s strike. We’ve been intrigued by flash-FORWARDS, introduced to new characters (Freighties!), seen some time-travel, learned who the “Oceanic 6″ are, witnessed the tumultuous return of Michael, and seen several characters die. The short season has been interesting, certainly, and has taken a bit of a dark turn, if you ask me. No longer do we bop our heads to some acoustic tune while we watch slow close-ups of our beloved characters in the last few minutes of the episode. Nope. Now we’ve had to stomach some pretty gruesome and intentional crud, perhaps most significantly, the death of Ben’s Danielle’s daughter, Alex — mercenary style.

As I gather the spread of goodies for tonight’s 3 hour (total) event, I’m thinking about all of the questions I still have (wouldn’t be “lost” without them!) and the things I expect to find out a little bit more about in tonight’s finale.

Here’s a few:

• Who’s in the coffin? Last season’s finale included a funeral scene, in which only Jack was in attendance. He tells the parlor that he is “neither” friend, nor enemy, to the deceased. He later asks Kate if she went, and she replied, “Why would I go?” This episode shocked everyone when we realized it was set in the future, the first of more to come for Lost. My speculation is on Ben or Michael being the coffin’s mysterious dweller.
• Does Jin and/or Claire die? Last we left off, Jin was in a room on the freighter with Michael and Desmond — and a whole bunch of explosives. We know from a flash forward that Sun, his wife, delivers their child back in Korea, alone. She also tells her father that he is one of the men responsible for her husband’s death. Claire, the aussie mommy, has wandered off in the middle of the night following her (presumed dead?) father, Christian Shepperd (who, coincidentally, is also Jack’s father), leaving her newborn behind with Miles the ghost-whisperer and Sawyer. Later, John Locke seeks and finds “Jacob’s cabin”, but instead of the invisible and allusive Jacob being there, it is Christian Shepperd and Claire. Are they both dead? Are they both alive? WTF? All we know is that the baby winds up with Kate, who raises him as her own after she finds “rescue” with the other “Oceanic 6″.
• How do the “Oceanic 6″ randomly bump into each other (as at the moment, they are more or less scattered) and hitch an exclusive, one-way ride off the island?
• Why are the Oceanic 6, in flash-forwards, keeping the true story about the island from the rest of the world?
• What is the deal with the time difference between the island and the freighter?
• Who is the ageless Richard?
• many, many more…

Well, you east coasters don’t have to wait very long (hopefully) for some of the answers, while I am stuck over on the Pac NW with 3 hours to go!

So I’m gonna go stay busy so I don’t hyperventilate.

I was delighted with the information shared with us by Aaron and Joelle (who I have affectionately nicknamed “The Pretties” on Lost night: $3 dollar wine!

Am I the last to know about this??? While I dish out 8-20 dollars a bottle, there’s this extreme cheapo wine that’s really not half bad! Charles Shaw, you’ve saved Lost night (because Lord knows I can’t keep up with the goodies offered at the premiere!)

So we’re headed out to Trader Joe’s today for groceries (first time!) and I can’t wait to see if they have any other hidden cheap gems!

Gotta love a bargain!

EDIT*  OHMYGOSH I am a new BIG FAN of Trader Joe’s. How come so many people told me it was expensive!??! Since my nearest grocery store is Whole Foods, I found Trader Joe’s full, FULL of cheap foods. I mean, organic apples for 69 cents a pound?! Avocado’s for 75 cents each (this was the cheapest they ever went in central FL and that was at a produce stand so they were over ripe!) A quart of maple cream top yogurt (I normally pay $4-5 dollars for) was only about $2.50. Just about everything I found was 25-50% cheaper than I usually pay for it. This is my new grocery store, without a doubt!

Last night’s premiere (only 1 hour, btw -NOT cool, ABC, not cool) was neato- particularly the whole Hurley finding Jacob’s cabin thing! We are debating- was it or was it not John Locke’s eye in there with Jacob rocking in the chair?! Did Jacob move really really fast or was Locke in there talking to him? (Check the message board thread to see some other theories!) And another flash forward, Hurley’s this time, set just before Jack’s flash forward in the Season 3 finale, was cool in a still-so-confused kinda way! We’ll be watching again today just to wrap our brains around it!

*EDIT* Check out the Lostpedia screen captures of the scene I’m referring to! (go down “Hurley meets Jacob”) It is CHRISTIAN SHEPPARD in the chair and possibly Jacob’s eye! I’m so scured and confused…

It was fun to have the Auel’s and Aaron and Joelle up for Lost last night! We even did pretty good about not talking until the commercials, wow! I’m SO looking forward to the next 7 weeks, which to some might seem vaguely pathetic- but to you I say, YOU DON’T know what you’re missin’, maaaaaan.

So here’s a little nerdy pre-company Lost video I snagged because I couldn’t find my camera. Just had to get that Lost wine bottle on record, lol. I’m keeping as a souvenir, fo’ sho.

(Okay, when I wrote that, a little pee came out.)

Some might call me *mildly* obsessed with the greatest [tag]show[/tag] in the history of [tag]television[/tag], by which I mean [tag]Lost[/tag], of course. I don’t care, I heart Lost like its no body’s business. If my dvd collection, blog posts, and constant bringing it up in unrelated topics of conversation do not reveal my devotion, a simple glance at my [tag]Facebook[/tag] groups autta do the trick:

I even have a google group, Lost in Portland, by which Portland friendies can be in the know about coming to our pad for “Lost Night”. Yeah, so what that there are only two other people besides me and my Hubs. We are new here. These things take time! (And all you who didn’t accept the invite, yeah, you- you know who you are… the [tag]BLACK SMOKE MONSTER[/tag] IS GONNA GET YOU, ISLAND STYLE!)

But I am not the only one who thinks the idea of throwing a [tag]Lost theme party[/tag] to celebrate the [tag]season 4 premiere[/tag] (WOOT! WOOT!) on Thursday is a fantabulouso idea! (And no, I don’t mean my BFF Steph who is throwing one simultaneously over in Florida with her ‘rents- she is a girl after my own heart…*tear*).

Check out this and this and this for ideas on throwing your own Lost theme party! Mine are simple, and include printing out these [tag]Dharma[/tag] logos on sticky paper to make beer and wine labels and serving mangoes and bananas and maybe putting a candle in an empty peanut butter jar, among a few others goodies. If money weren’t an option? Ohhhh shoot, I don’t even want to THINK about the plane wreckage, bamboo and banyan trees, and other such [tag]island[/tag] props I would no doubt spend a fortune on to do this thang right! (BTW, I’m this close, THIS CLOSE, to dressing up my bunny as a Polar Bear.)

So tune into the 2 hour season premiere on [tag]ABC[/tag], Thursday eve!

Okay, I’m going to go breathe in a brown paper bag now.

P.S. Refresh your cache and check out the site’s new Valentiney feel!

 Many of you have seen the official trailers (see them below if not!): Lost is to return for its fourth season on January 31st! Interestingly, it will not be on Mondays evenings as previously leeked, but instead on Thursdays at 9pm. This is a prime spot for ABC, one usually taken by shows like Grey’s Anatomy.

(An aside: If you haven’t yet seen this little “Lost in roughly 8 minutes” thing, check it out! What a CONCISE recap!)

So what’s behind Lost’s movement? Most likely the writer’s strike, oddly enough. Since eight episodes were completed before the onset of the strike, (and ABC hits like Grey’s, Ugly Betty, Brother’s & Sister’s and Desperate Housewives have no new programming at this point), the network decided to bump the Lost epi’s into a prime viewing spot and give it a little more promotion. Supposedly, they figured 8 new episodes is better than none at all (can I get a WOOT-WOOT!). I’m crossing my fingers that the strike will end in enough time to get the other 8 episodes shot for a consecutive 16 episode season… am I being idealistic? But you, my friend, might be a man of science, and I; a woman of faith.

It’s been a long, hard wait for season 4 of Lost, let me tell you. My last Lost episode was May 23rd, having just move to Portland in time to catch the finale with my Hubby. Last week our season 3 dvd’s arrived, so we’ve rewatched the episodes and the bonus features, though have yet to listen to the commentary’s which have a few more season 3 “easter eggs”. Check them out here.

The “Lost; Missing Pieces” have provided a little scratch for my itch (yeah, just enough to make me realize just how bad that itch is!) and now I can’t wait until the next season’s premier, not 36 days away! This is the home stretch, ya’ll- so dig in deep and pull out that extra “umph” for the final inning, got it?

Don’t forget, you can follow the links in this post and also check out the latest spoilers if you just can’t hold your horses. If all else fails, join a dynamic Lost message board. The island will understand.

For those who haven’t yet seen it: Lost Season 4 Trailer