Like eyes for the blind...

Okay, before I say what I have to say, I will get to the exciting stuff first...it is a boy! Nate and I found out on Monday morning and have the sonogram shots to prove it (little guy, you can thank me later for not posting them, the tech actually inserted an arrow to clarify!!) Nate and I feel that our cups overflow!

And Friday was my birthday, which was very nice. We drove out to WV for the weekend and just as the trip got underway, Nate asked me to pull over. When I did, he quickly popped up an awesome GPS unit onto the windshield!!!! I could not believe it--he had already set it up and we used it on the way (we knew where we were going, which was good, because apparently it didn't--it would have gotten us lost in my parent's neighborhood...) It was a nice chance for Nate to demonstrate all of the cool features, including a soothing British accent. I could tell that he wished it was his, which somehow made it seem even cooler! She seemed a bit demanding while I knew where I was going, but I liked her anyway and named her Geraldine.

Now to some this would be a cool or neat extravagant toy in their car, but as anyone who knows me could testify, for me it was like getting glasses after a lifetime of squinting...like a wheelchair for my broken legs or even coclear implants for my deaf ears. I know this sounds dramatic, but it is not, I swear. I have a real and true disability when it comes to navigation. There is no map that can save me from myself. Not only to I lack the ability to create a mental map of an area and can not even imagine how roads relate to one another, but I also tend to panic in navigating situations and make decisions that no rational person would. I have been lost in almost every town I've driven in and spent countless hours taking random turns, u-turning, asking dudes at gas stations, and praying to the mighty Lord above all the while wondering if I was going to have to move because I would never find my way home. I have driven down roads in tears after realizing that I had already been down them twice, and when we first moved to Maryland, I was very well known in Nate's office--because there were so many times that I would have to call him and tell him where I was while he used Google maps to guide me home. If I didn't have a cell phone, I would probably be out there somehwere...just lost!!!!!

I think I'm a reasonably smart person in other aspects of life, but in this area, I am truly lacking any ability at all. My only survival technique has been route memorization. The worst is when I know how to get from my house to the mall, and from my house to work, but trying to figure out how on earth to get from the mall to work is exhausting!!! But thanks to my thoughtful husband, this curse will plague me no more! I'm a free woman! Goodbye my dear gas station attendants...