Drum roll please

“Aunt Jenn, your belly looks like a drum.”

This is the greeting I receive from my delightful 3-year old niece each time I’ve seen her for the past month! It’s adorable.   (Her comment, not my belly.)

I mostly agree with her, although I think my belly looks more like an alien pod.  Some strange little being has taken over my insides–so much so that the other day, after having some lunch, I heard and felt the food digesting a bit.  You know how this *should* feel, right?  Somewhere in your stomach area, you feel a gurgling as the food gets processed.

Well, I felt the gurgling on my sides!  Where my waist used to be!  I was alone at the time but couldn’t help but laugh out loud.  My intestines are on my sides!!  How freakish is that?

The event reminded me that I am truly in the final stretch of pregnancy; T-minus 13-ish days until Buddy makes his debut!

In the mean time, I feel pretty good. I’m tired, large, and I grunt each time I get up, sit down, or try to put on shoes.  I’m having a few contractions each day, but nothing too painful or consistent; the docs say it looks like I’ll be right on time.

So, since all signs are healthy, and I still presumably have a few weeks of freedom left, I’ve been doing a lot of my favorite things that might be put on hold for a while after Buddy comes:  meeting up with friends, taking naps, and. . .of course. . . playing drums.

Yep! Believe it or not, I finally had the opportunity to play drums at church again!  A few months ago I decided it was time to take a hop of faith and introduce myself to the music leader (Dave) at church.  Since then, I met up with him for an informal jam session, after which I was scheduled to play last Sunday, May 31.

I nervous beyond belief!  Not only had I never played w/ anyone in the band, but I had also never played in front of a church of 700-ish people!  The band didn’t rehearse prior to Sunday; Dave simply sent me the song list, a few mp3s, and rhythm sheets.

The people in the band are amazing; a number of them play at different churches or are paid professionals.  So for this team, not rehearsing before Sunday isn’t a big deal.  They get their music, look it over, play through the song once, and they’re good to go!  For me, I’m used to running through the song–in its entirety–at least 5-6 times before it’s “show time.”

I could go on about how different this experience was than my 6 years of playing at Ambassador, but in short, the most important part was exactly the same:  I had a blast.   It was so much fun to play and be an active part of leading the congregation into worship.  I can’t wait to play again!

One funny, and rather unexpected moment arose when the Associate Bilingual Pastor got up to do announcements after the first 2 songs were complete.  He said, “Wow, the band sounds amazing today.”  He gave a shout-out to the 5 female vocalists and mentioned how beautiful their voices were, then he said, “And how about our mom-to-be on drums?”  The congregation cheered!   I blushed like nobody’s business.

Nate couldn’t be there because he was at work that day, but I was glad my mom was there; it was nice to share that morning with her.  (Thanks for coming, Mom!)

Although playing drums will be on hold again for a little while, I look forward to getting on the regular rotation some time this fall. . . you know, after Buddy comes. . . and my belly no longer looks like a drum.