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I just found out on Monday that I'm pregnant and on Friday, my doctor estimated that I'm about seven weeks along. I'm excited (and ravenous and tired...) of course. However, this dampens my husband and my weekly or twice weekly trips to the wine bar. (We're up to "Norm!" status, even.) One of the owners bought some sodas with ginseng in it, but from I researched, it's not good for pregnant women. (She has other customers who come with friends, but don't really drink. She does make really high kickin' coffee.) We talked about some virgin drinks and that I found many after doing a search for "mocktails" and as of yesterday, "virgin drinks" Sure, I could search the hundred of recipes. However, I thought that if I asked here, I could find something in a more concentrated spot. The wine bar does have all of the common liquors and juices and I thought that if I came to her with some recipes, it would be more fun than just having coffee. (And for when we go to other places.) I don't mind doing the occasional soda (two or three times a week) while pregnant, but drinks that are more juice concentrated would be better, as it would be better for the baby. (I only drink juice when I'm pregnant.)

I'll keep searching the sites, but would appreciate input here, too. Thanks.

Last Thursday I got my hair colored for the first time in just over two years. On Monday evening I finally washed it for the first time over a week; I wash it about once a week. Today is just Thursday and it feels greasy already. I didn't really do anything to it on Tuesday, just wet my fingers and fluffed it at the roots as it still looked good. Yesterday, I sprayed it with vinegar and brushed it and it just looked flat, which it used to not really do. Today, it still looks flat and greasy. I tried to cover it from the rain yesterday morning and this morning with a nylon hood, but the hair escaped from the sides. Usually, to fluff it up between washings, I wet it, spray it with the vinegar/water spray and a bit of hair spray before brushing it. When it dries, I brush it again. I would like something less high maintenance. (Any suggestions on what to do other than that? There seems to be several mothers at my son's school who look as though they roll out of bed with low maintenance hair and minimal makeup. I hate to admit that I'm jealous, but I kinda am.)

Today, I'm just going to pick up my son from preschool, so I don't really plan on "pretty-ing" myself up much. However, I just wonder if this is common as I don't recall it happening in the past. I'm thinking about getting up early tomorrow just to shower. I don't want to shower often as it's not good for the hair. Thank you.

Tomorrow, we are going to my husband's aunt's house for the afternoon. Since there won't be much food-wise, in which I would be interested, I thought I'd cut two or three sweet potatoes tonight, or tomorrow, before we leave. I know that with white potatoes they might brown, but I don't know about sweet potatoes. (In the past, I've cut white potatoes for my daughter in the afternoon and had too much. I put them in a Tupperware container, in the fridge and they were brownish by the evening. I microwaved them for myself, though.) Anyway, I searched on-line, but found inadequate information.

Thank you.

On Wednesday I had a couple of ovarian cysts removed and my right ovary. (The bigger one was the size of a baseball.) Thursday afternoon, while in the hospital, I walked and went into the visitor restroom for a mirror. I did not like what I saw. Prior to going in, I was a flat-bellied 150. (I'm six feet tall.) It looked as though I gained 15-20 pounds. Yuck. However, I've still been eating too much. (Last night it was just because I needed food with fiber and not overcooked canned vegetables and white bread from the hospital.)

I can still fit into my clothes, including the tight fitting size nine jeans I wore into the hospital, but I don't wanna look fat, especially when my chest is still small and I can see my ribs between them and my ribs still kinda stick out under my breasts and between the swelling.

I've done some searching on-line, but I've not found much regarding recovering from ovarian cyst removal. I have seen some information for hysterectomies and C-sections, but even that seems to be lacking. (I've looked on Web MD, the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, random searches... They just go over what an ovarian cyst is and types of surgery. Nothing about post-surgery.)

I know I've been babbling some, but I needed to vent. Thank you for any help.

My husband and don't always just crack open a Bud and drink. (Okay. We don't normally drink Budweiser, either.) We like to to silly things like pair alcohol with "holidays" for a theme. (i.e., Warsteiner for Reformation Day, Three Philosphers for Epiphany... Though this year, since we didn't have access to good liquor stores and good grocery stores, we did do Budweiser-- The self proclaimed king of beers; We had three for the traditional three wise men) My husband is a history geek and started doing Abraham Lincoln's birthday and George Washington's birthday to help teach history for our daughter.

For Washington's birthday, I thought of cherry wine and Sam Adams beer. However, I was trying to think of something for today, just for the heck of it.

...Will I totally kills the battery sooner?

When I got the ChromeBook over the summer, I had been really good at waiting until my battery died. before recharging it. However, a few times (okay, maybe more than a few) this past couple of weeks, I've been charging it before the battery died. (Usually when there was less than half an hour left.) Today, I waited until it died, to charge it. (Actually, it had four minutes left, and when I tried turning it back on, it signaled that the battery had died.) I waited yesterday, as well.

Yesterday, when the battery died after a three hours, I charged it and was pretty good at unplugging it when it was done. (I try and do that so it's not connected for too long.) It seemed to last just a few hours again. This morning, I opened my computer about nine and after a few minutes, checked the charge time. It told me 2:57 in less than a half an hour, even twenty minutes, the time dwindled down about twenty minutes. Ugh.

I also got in the habit of not turning my laptop off when I wasn't using it, as I discovered that it seemed to recharge while on. Did that help kill the battery too?

When I first got it, I turned it off between uses because I thought that would help keep the battery charged longer. (I noticed once that it seemed to self charge when I left it on, so I got into that habit.) Am I actually hurting it by leaving it on? (We visited my parents for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year's. I forgot my charger and left my laptop on to keep it charged. It worked for that.)

There was a time when I had to mess around just to kill the battery, now it seems to be draining quickly. I suppose it's getting older, but after just four or five months? (Since getting it, I rarely use my PC, as this is portable.)

This only a netbook, which I don't like. When my husband gave it to me, and he realized it too, I should have sent it back. However, I liked having a laptop again, and one I didn't have to keep plugged in. (My old laptop I inherited from my husband. He had dropped a large computer speaker on it and basically left it for dead. However, a computer tech friend of ours resurrected it after my husband got a new laptop. My old one worked great for having in the living room while playing with the kids or while I was breastfeeding my son.) The thing I don't like about my netbook is that it doesn't have Word and I'm rediscovering my enjoyment of writing. (Though nothing replaces the enjoyment of putting pent to paper, I would like to transfer it. I still have my ancient PC for that, I guess.)

Also, my SIL has an identical laptop that she's had for a year. She keeps hers plugged in for hours on end to charge it and it doesn't seem to effect the battery. (She also has a regular laptop that she kept plugged in thinking that was better. My husband, who is not computer ignorant overall, made the same mistake with both of the laptops. She uses that one as well. She also has an iPhone and and iPad.... I don't know why she "needs" all of those, but that's a different discussion.)

Anyway, what can I do to preserve my battery?

Thank you for reading my rambling (I told you I rediscovered my enjoyment of writing)'

Thank you for any advice you might have to give me.