I managed to keep hubby's gifts a surprise. He never found the hiding place (or at least won't admit to it). He was very happy with the loot he got from my parents and from me. Sadly, his own parents didn't even send him cards, although his mom and dad did call him. I felt really bad for him because I know he took it hard. He's been extremely stressed out with the night class he's taking, and then his parents not even making the effort to send cards was the cherry on top of it all. I know I'd feel really badly if my family did the same.

We finished the day off with take-out from the best pizza place in town, and a copy of The Butterfly Effect from Bl0ckbu$ter. Not a good choice for a pregnant woman, but neither of us knew exactly what the movie was about. Let's just say I won't be checking the mailbox anytime soon.

This week's birthing class was much better than the last. We had a good time and finished about 45 minutes earlier than last time. Mr. Mouth wasn't there (surprise, surprise). We did feel bad - his wife is having severe headaches, something along the line of cluster headaches, and couldn't make it to class. I really hope she can get through them with acupuncture.

On our way home, we stopped at a chain pharmacy for some protein bars for me. I don't generally eat a lot of meat and am not too fond of beans, so I'm not meeting my minimum protein requirement every day. I tried the first bar yesterday and it was vile. I could taste all the nasty vitamin supplements that are in it, and then realized that the added vitamins in it, plus my prenatals may not be such a great idea.

As we were leaving the parking lot, an owl swooped down about 4 feet from our car, in pursuit of a huge beetle. I think he heard us yelling "Holy shit, did you see THAT?!" and got scared and flew up into a nearby tree...it was the bug's lucky night. It was one of those amazing, spiritual nature moments. At first I thought it was a barn owl because he looked very pale, but I didn't notice a face disk, and he seemed too big. I was too much in shock to really get a good look. I'm pretty sure there were no ear tufts, so it may have been a barred owl, but I remember them being darker. Regardless, it was awesome. I never would expect to find an owl in a parking lot next to a busy 4-lane road.