Thursday, July 22, 2010

progress

Moving began today! It was so great to start moving boxes and furniture into our new house!

The cats aren't quite sure, just yet, what to think but they will adjust just fine and I think they will love it here. I already do. Tomorrow will be more of the same; packing up last minute things, sweating in the humidity and hauling endless loads of stuff into the new place. Just to think about the endless months of waiting are finally coming to an end. This was the first domino in the series. That is SO exciting!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

delays

After all these months of waiting, we are on the brink of three very cool things:

  1. Munchkin will be home in 11 days (yes, I'm counting)

  2. the new place is ready to move into

  3. the Stowaway makes her grand entrance


I have a theory about all this waiting.  I know I've posted before that patience is not one of the virtues God gave me.  Well, I think He intends to prove otherwise and, by stacking three things about which I am overly excited all together, He gives me an opportunity to experience and practice patience (whether I really want to or not). 

God is so good about giving us what we need and He knows that patience is one of those things that all mothers need.  It is, after all, one of the fruit of the Spirit.  Colossians 1:10-12 says,  

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.


So, instead of thrashing around because I wanted to pick up the keys yesterday and start moving things in today, I will thank God for an extra day to pack and grow new ideas about how I want the new house to look.  I will be thankful that the builder is being thorough and making sure all the inspections are finished and everything is ready for us to move in.  I will remain flexible if the timeline is pushed again. 

Instead of watching the clock for August 1, I will enjoy seeing the pictures of Munchkin and let the anticipation grow.  Her dad and soon-to-be-stepmom have been so sweet to send LOTS of pictures this summer - I am eager to hear all the stories that go with the pictures!

Instead of whining because I am tired of my belly feeling so stretched, my back hurting from the pain of carrying this all out in front little girl, the heartburn and braxton hicks and all the other discomforts that come at the end, I will marvel at this amazing work God has created inside me.  I will think of all the footie kisses I will very soon be giving her, I will imagine counting the red (hopefully) fuzz on her head.  I will continue to anticipate those first smiles, cries, yawns and all the other amazing little things that come with a brand new baby.

Instead of being impatient and grouchy, I have an opportunity to be thankful and amazed at all these blessings God has promised - very soon! 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  1 Chronicles 16:34

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

countdown

12 days until my baby girl is home.  I can't wait!  I think she's probably grown a foot since she left. 



At Disney (beginning of June)



A week ago.

OOH - SO ready to see her again!!!!

Home Again

Back from San Antonio.  Coach & I went down Sunday for Coaching School.  We stayed in a very pretty hotel, just across the street from the Convention Center and the Rivercenter Mall.  We were about three blocks from the Alamo and a very short drive to everything else.  We had fun walking through the exhibit hall with all the vendors and I found a great book I'm going to buy for my Mentor Board.  He found some leadership stuff he's going to use with his boys and he's really excited about it. 

The drive back was nice - we took 130 around Austin, instead of cutting up through the I-35 traffic and I'm telling you, we may never take I-35 through Austin again.  DEFINITELY worth the extra few miles of open country! 

Met a few of the wives while at CS and, like the vast majority of everything else, it was all about football.  I can see how Coach gets a little huffy around stuff like that.  I know this is Texas, folks, so I don't need to be reminded about Friday Night Lights and how football is god around here.  I love football.  There is something visceral about the crisp October air, the buzz of the stadium lights, the marching bands, ... well, you get it.  It's part of the Texan psyche. 

BUT.

While my love for high school football isn't diminished (I dreamed about season tickets last night - yes really), I have discovered a new love.  The look of real grass, the intellectual game that is able to tie you as tight as a bowstring with suspense - the players' game (as Coach calls it) - Soccer.  I really do love the game; even though there are parts of it I still don't understand. 

It would have been nice to find a few soccer wives there to visit with but I have a hunch that if they are as independent as their soccer-coach husbands (and most of the soccer coaches I've met walk to their own drummer anyway), that might not happen very often. 

But, it was still fun. 

We ate REALLY good Mexican food the whole trip. 

Casa Rio, on the Riverwalk


mi Tierra with their wonderful bakery and foil decorations that dazzled your eyes - and the food - best tamales I've ever eaten!

Shopping at El Mercado (I found a gorgeous flowerpot that I can't wait to put on our new patio!!  :)


It was a great trip.  San Antonio just might be my favorite city in Texas to escape to.  It's just different and wonderful and yet so very familiar from years of visiting.  It's like seeing an old friend - you may go years before visiting again but, when you get there, it's as if all is still right where you knew it would be.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

it's all guessing

Mom:
7lbs 6oz
Water break 2:30am or 8:30pm
8/16/10

Dad:
7lbs 7oz
Water break 10am
8/26/10

Any other guesses?

Friday, July 16, 2010

up and at 'em

Awake early this morning - actually slept all through the night!  (I sound like a baby)  I haven't done that in I don't know HOW long!  Hopped up and made the bed, folded a load of laundry, started another load, put away clean dishes (thank you, Coach!) and sorted through some clothes of Munchkin's that she's outgrown. 

So thankful for a good night's sleep.  It's amazing how different the morning looks when approached after a solid 7 hours of sleep! 

Really motivated to get a lot of packing done this weekend.  We have several areas almost finished. 

  • The kitchen is just lacking the pantry, every day dishes and pots and pans to be finished.

  • Munchkin's room is almost finished but for one small box of toys, her clothes (still need to finish sorting) and some misc. books and things

  • Our room is just lacking the rest of the closet (that's going to be a big task), our photo albums and my antique books


Areas that haven't been touched yet:

  • China Cabinet

  • Bird Cabinet

  • Bathrooms

  • Misc. Decorations - throughout the house


We still have a lot to do.  The China cabinet will take several hours because there are so many pieces and they have to be individually wrapped and I need to get more paper.  I've thought about going through that stuff and getting rid of what I won't actually use but most of the knick-nacks were my grandparents and I don't think I should give them away.  *sigh*  It's hard to know what to do there. 

Munchkin will be home in 17 days!  I am SO happy and I can't wait to have her home again.  I know she's had a good time and this is an important part of her summer but it is SO great when she comes home. 

I think, instead of trying to buy a bed right away for her, we'll use the bed she has without the long legs (she'll go from a very tall bed to a very short bed) and do something fun with fabric to make a little canopy/tent with her lights - it'll be her very own little space. 

We have a list running of things we need/want for the new house.  The chairs we bought last year at IKEA haven't fared well and several of them need to be repaired and we've put new ones on our list of things to buy (eventually). 

The Stowaway is pretty much set - we have her crib, bedding and stroller and we're going to re-use Munchkin's changing table/dresser.  I will probably use bins in the closet for clothes and keep as much stuff hung up as possible.  That seems to be easier for Munchkin to manage, rather than stuffing folding clothes into her drawers.  *grin*

I've gone through all Munchkin's toys and gotten rid/donated LOTS of stuff.  It will be so much easier for her to manage.  She still has barbies; just not 50 of them and all the little pieces that go with them.  She still has baby doll stuff; it's just organized.  She has all her teacher stuff; it's just been organized.  I think she will be very happy with what we've done.

The best (and only really good) part about moving is the ability to really cull your stuff of clutter, things that don't fit, books we won't read again and stuff we just don't want/can't use.  I'm even doing it in the kitchen.  I have some great metal mixing bowls but I never use them because they are too big for the dishwasher and they don't fit in any of the cabinets.  I don't think I've used them since we moved into this apartment.  So they are going.  I would love to get rid of my square dishes (very asian) but Coach likes the deep cereal bowls.  *laugh*  I'm going to thin out my coffee cup collection - do I really need 30 miscellaneous mugs?

Well, it's just about 8am and I am going to get my bowl of cereal then go ahead and go in to the office.  Have a great day!!!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

yes we CAN!

TXU found the house!  We've scheduled electricity!  Now we can move!  Today, I'll get the lease and let Coach go down to the City and set up the water account and the two critical items will be done.  Yes, yes, we'll schedule Time Warner Cable but seriously, folks, these people are clueless.  Yesterday, they told me I couldn't move service from one zip code to another without starting a whole new account and that we would get a credit but we'd lose the rest of the MLS Direct Kick package we bought. 

Does this sound like good business practice to anybody?  This entire summer, TWC has been irritating us with their sloppy billing errors, multiple mixed messages about our service and, in general, the poor quality of service.  And then to tell me I can't move two miles away from this apartment in 76504 to a house in 76502 (in the same city) without basically starting all over again - just about takes the cake. 

I told the gal on the phone yesterday DirectTV was looking better and better.  (not that I really want satellite, mind you, but I'm just about at the end of my patience with our current set-up.)

In other news...

Wait, there isn't other news - we're in full moving mode.  I'll spare you today. 

Work is good.  The great thing about summer is that I can pretty much focus on one task at a time.  It's such a nice change from the hectic pace of the school year when 20 things are happening or due at once. 

I'm working on the website today and getting some letters out and order thank you notes for our new donors.  I might go in a little early so I can get started.  After cereal, of course, Oscar...  No, sweet kitty, I won't forget your milk.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

uneasy

Woke up this morning with an uneasy feeling; like time is running out and I still don't have all the stuff I know I need to do done. 

Have I mentioned I hate moving?  Oh, the packing and unpacking is tedious and exhausting but that's not the moving part.  It's all the formalities: deposits, leases, documents, details, details, details....  (and you know how much I love details)

transferring services like electricity and cable has proven to be more impossible than it should have to be because the house is brand new.  TXU can't see the house because they don't have the meter in the system.  Even though Oncor has been out to install the permanent meter now, TXU's website still couldn't find the address. 

This probably wouldn't be an issue but for the fact that the house is going to be ready earlier and we are going to try to move a week sooner than originally planned.  This is wonderful news because I've been getting antsy to get out of this awful, cramped, chaotic MESS of an apartment - the sooner I get out of here, the better.

I hate mess.  Oh, I'll never go back to the frantic clean-freak I was but not having enough space to keep things straight is maddening.  (aside - that frantic clean freak business wasn't really me anyway; it was a manifestation of terrible anxiety) I can't stand stuff just put somewhere because there is nowhere else to put it.  Or stuff that "temporarily" locates somewhere that comes to live there on a permanent basis.  Unfortunately, one of the perils of late pregnancy is that drain of energy that leaves you feeling somewhere between an overcooked spaghetti noodle and wilted lettuce.  Combine that with the energy-sucking feeling that happens every time you walk into a cluttered apartment and 'VOILA' you have a perfect recipe for general disquiet. 

But I digress.  I will call all the utilities today and try to figure out what we need to do to get stuff up and running next week because moving with no electricity is NOT going to be fun.  I'm certain once I get the utilities squared away, I will feel all better about everything.

Speaking of electricity, our electric bill jumped $50 during the month of June.  Maybe I need Starbucks this morning.

Monday, July 12, 2010

just checking!

Braxton-Hicks aren't new in this pregnancy (33 weeks) but Sunday they took a definitely more enthusiastic tone and threw in a little pelvic pressure and the ability to take my breath away. 

When they continued yesterday morning, I decided it couldn't hurt to call and talk to the OB nurse.  Of course, she recommended I come in and get checked.  Two hours and half a roll of paper later, nothing is happening and they are, after all, just B-H. 

Surely as I sit here, though, had I NOT gone in, it would be true labor and then we'd have a real crisis. 

I know it's better safe than sorry and I'm glad nothing is happening (I'm ready to meet this little critter but not this week) but sheesh, it's like taking your car in when it's making a horrible noise but dang it if it will make that noise when you get it to the mechanic... 

On the up-side, we did get to hear our little soccer star's beautiful heartbeat and, when they hooked her up to the fetal monitor, we were treated to the sounds of her rambunctious movement - something to go with the alien-esque contortions of my stomach! 

--------

On another note, the house is set to be ready a little earlier than we'd originally thought so we are going to start moving in NEXT week!  I'm SO excited!  I'm so ready to get things settled and set up for the Stowaway and I really wanted to have Munchkin's stuff all set up for her too when she comes home.  I wasn't really happy about things still being in semi-transition when Munchkin comes home but didn't think we really had a lot of options because of the timing of the new house.  PIctures to come - as soon as we can get inside the house to take pictures, I'll post them!

--------

One more thing - I still can't post many details but suffice it to say something for which we've been praying seems to be on the verge of happening.  My brother and I have been so concerned about Mom's health this last year (couple of years actually) and even her doctor has warned her about the amount of stress she lives with.  It seems like there may be another option for her that will still allow her to use her gift (teaching children about life through theatre) and not be subjected to the same set of circumstances that has put her in the hospital two years in a row.  But enough on that now. 

Since I came home early yesterday to rest after the excitement of the morning (well, not exciting per se, more like the "omgosh, could I be in labor NOW?!?!" reaction and subsequent exhaustion), I'm going in early today.  Later, gators! *grin*

Saturday, July 10, 2010

were you singing that just now?

Have I mentioned Coach and I are a match made in Heaven?  No, really.  We are like peas and carrots, as Forrest Gump would say. 

Besides all the great compatibility things that we have in common, my very favorite thing about our marriage is how much we laugh.  All the time, I tell you.  He tells horrible jokes a lot of the time and we have our own ways of laughing about it.  (I'm the funny one, Dear.) 

What's fascinating though is how often we do things together.  Now, I don't mean go places together or spend time together.  I'm talking about simple stuff, like saying the same thing at the same time, SNIFFING at the same time, yawning at the same time (not one of us yawns then the other - I mean, literally, at the same time) and a million other things. 

Last night, I'm sitting on the couch and he in his chair.  I'm playing Harry Potter and he's fiddling around on his computer.  All the sudden a certain praise song pops into my head and I start singing it.  He looks at me and says, with a very astounded look, "were you singing that just now?"  Apparently, it was in his head too!  We had not heard this song on the radio.  We had not heard it on TV.  It spontaneously popped into BOTH our heads AT. THE. SAME. TIME! 

I just love that!

----

So. I had several very random and bizarre dreams last night.  In one of my dreams, we're back in my grandfather's house.  (which is currently being occupied by his horrible widow; a woman who, immediately after the funeral, shut us out of her life and the home my mother and brother grew up in.  She now allows a man, to whom she is not married, to live there with her, in my GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE.  She dishonors his memory by her very presence and I am disgusted to say she was ever part of our family.)  Ok, sorry...  So, Munchkin and I are in my grandfather's house and I'm going into the kitchen when I notice a giant frog in the floor.  In the dream, I tried to find a big tupperware bowl to cover it up so we could safely get it out of the house when it starts hopping around Munchkin, trying to get away from all these people!  Well, the frog is hopping, and Munchkin is hopping (and squealing) and I'm standing there, with this big bowl in my hand.  Then I woke up.  I don't know what they mean; I'm just reporting the news, folks.

My second dream had a different tone. 

We were at Mother's house and had all laid down for a nap.  When we woke up, we noticed several walls of the living room had been BLOWN OUT and a house down the street had a target on it.  I told Mother to call the insurance company because you can't stay in a house with no walls.  (logical - now here is where it just all falls apart into weirdness)  Mother says we should call the police because, obviously, somebody blew up her house and the house down the street was next!  So, we call the police but the FBI shows up.  They say there were reports of an american flag in the sky over the house about the time of the explosion (how we slept through a BOMBING is beyond me but that's my dreamlife, I tell ya) and this was domestic terrorism and we would have to all be questioned. 

Then, this lady (the human equivalent of Roz, in Monsters Inc.) sets us all around a low Asian-style coffee table (I told you it was odd) and starts asking dumb questions that I can't remember now.  What really took the cake was the fact that the FBI agents, one of whom was Brad Gunn, a coach at the High School, discerned the explosive device was cleverly hidden in a baseball they found mostly blown up in the front yard.

Where does my brain come up with this stuff?

Well, it's 7:45 and I'm going to start getting ready for church.  (that means I'm going to have my first bowl of cereal)

Speaking of cereal - funny thing.  I went to the store the other day and picked out three new boxes of cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Life, and Frosted Mini Wheats.  YUMMY.  My only problem is I can't decide which cereal to eat.  I think cinnamon toast crunch gets the nod this morning.  THen, I'll have a bowl of life cereal later this afternoon and finish off the day with frosted mini-wheats for dessert.  Hey, it's better for me than oreos and milk.  And, babycenter says the baby needs extra calcium right now so, by golly, I'm going to give it to her!  :)

I joked yesterday all this cereal makes me a "cereal killer."  As those words were coming out of my mouth, Coach said, "just don't say killer after cereal."  Told you we're weird.

Saturday!

So much ambition, so little motivation. I woke up this morning, thinking, "today would be a great day to finish packing Munchkin's room." That was an hour ago, and I'm still sitting at the computer. *sigh*

I am going to do it today - no messing around. Well, I'm going to eat breakfast first and then put on some kind of clothing and get Coach to get boxes out of the car....

Ok, I guess I have a few things to do before I can get started.

Wish me luck!

Friday, July 9, 2010

The most confusing part of life

The conflict between having a desire to help those with nothing and facing the reality that, for some, their misery is self-inflicted. You help because you do not want the children to suffer for their parent's poor decisions but then you worry your "help" enables the cycle of poor decisions and learned helplessness to fester.



I will give you a perfect example: a family comes for assistance. You are glad to give it because you have it to give and you know that it will help. But then you have to scratch your head handing over the help to a parent talking on their smart phone. Really?! That phone easily costs $200 to buy and $100 a month to maintain. Where is the priority? If they had chosen a non-data cell phone with a lower plan, they could very easily have taken care of the issue they came seeking assistance with in the first place. I don't get it?!



It's a hard question because, without a doubt, those children wouldn't have what they need if it weren't for the assurance of some kind of help from others. Or would they? If parents knew that they were truly responsible for making sure children had needs taken care of, would their priorities change?



This is the part of life that confuses me the most.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

my turn to be awake

Normally, I'm the one nodding off by 9:30 and Coach is up all hours of the night.  He's a night-owl and I am a crack of dawn kind of girl.  But, tonight, he went to bed early and I'm still sitting here.  Oh, sure, it's only 10 o'clock so it's not like I'm shaking hands with morning just yet.  The Stowaway is moving and shifting in not-so-comfortable ways and I think that's keeping me from getting settled. 

I'm planning on trying to sleep in about 30 more minutes... 

'night y'all.

That Special Book in My Life

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I LOVE this story. It is dark and there is a lot to process but the writing is SO good! It is a RICH story. I wish she'd write another book!!!

Sleeping by the door

For some reason, Oscar the cat (the one I suspected of hiding my fancy moving list) has taken to sleeping by the front door and I don't know why.  There are no shoes over there.  This cat has a shoe fetish.  If there is a pair of shoes, you can bet Oscar has laid on them.  He's like a mother chicken, waiting for her little shoe-lings to hatch. 


Seriously, he is a darling cat (even if he has destroyed the carpet).  I got Oscar when he was six weeks old.  I knew he was the one for me when he stood up on his little toes, stuck all his baby fur out and hissed at me with as much ferocity as an animal that could fit in a Starbucks cup could muster.  Then he ran up into the wheel well of a friend's car - thinking we couldn't reach him there.  He was going to be a perfect friend for my 9-month old diva cat, Kali. 

Kali is a petite calico.  She is the runt of the only litter her mother, also named Kali, had before she died.  Momma Kali was a lanky, grey striped shelter cat I picked up when we had to put our dachshund, Trixie, down after she hurt her back.  Momma Kali got out of the house one night when the kittens were about 3 weeks old and was hit by a car.  She made it back up into the driveway before she died and that's where I found her.  I resolved, then and there, to never let another whiskered child (cat) of mine be an outside cat - it's too dangerous for them and they are no match for a car. 

I managed to keep 3 of the 6 kittens alive and kept the littlest, a calico with her mother's eyes.  I named her Kali.  She's been with me 13 years and she is still my diva cat.  She will not accept she is not my eldest child and has never quite gotten over the indignity of being "replaced" by a human child.  Wonder what she'll do with the Stowaway...  (I won't tell her about the great Dane puppy we are planning to adopt this fall - that might just send her over the edge.)

By the time she was about 9 months old, I was a senior in college and she was by herself all day - she needed a friend.  In comes Oscar.  It was loathing at first sight.  She was practically an adult, MOTHER, and how could you bring a baby in here who has to be taught everything all over again?  (if cat's could suck their teeth, she would have done it)

Within a few months, though, Kali & Oscar were dear friends.  Even had two litters of kittens together before I decided we'd had enough romance in our house, thank you very much. 

Fast forward 12 years.  Oscar and Kali are an old married couple.  They have their favorite food bowls and don't spoon anymore when they nap.  They are fiercely competitive for my attention (Kali is SUCH a hater) and completely indifferent to Munchkin (thus the impending addition of the dog).  Kali will kiss (groom) Oscar and then, in a heartbeat, hiss and smack him as she runs off - leaving a very baffled (and somewhat henpecked) Oscar.  Oscar is a wonderful singer but is terribly shy so you'll probably never get to experience it.  Kali will steal food from your hand/plate/countertop if you are foolish enough to get it within her reach while Oscar smugly sits on the floor, looking up at you with an oh-so-innocent "Mommy Dearest, may I please have a bite of the delectable little morsel in your lovely hand?" 

In the musical Cats, Bustopher Jones is a fat cat and I imagine the song very much takes after my darling Oscar (except that the show predates him).  He has never been thin.  Until now.  Well, thin isn't a good word.  Thin enough that, for the first time in his life, I can feel the bones in his shoulders and back.  I don't know if it's just that he's getting old (hey, aren't we all) or if there is something wrong with him that I don't really want to know about. 

I don't really know what I'll do without the kitties when they go to Heaven.  (yes, I think they will be there)  They have been with me most of my adult life.  They are my constant companions.  They know all my secrets.  Kali knows when I don't feel well and will cling to me as if to say, "I know my being near makes you feel better."  (and it does!)

I'm so glad God created kitties.  They are funny, outrageous, darling, exasperating and infuriating.  Dogs are great and I do enjoy them and am looking forward to the Dane puppy.  But I am, and always will be, a cat person.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Gripey.

I feel entitled to, on the rare occasion, just gripe. 

Gripe because I'm hot.  I hear the news reports of the "critical" heatwave in the northeast and my pregnancy hormones want to scream back at the TV, "SO WHAT?!  I live in Texas, people - it's ALWAYS hot like that - get a fan and get over it."  But that's not very nice.

Gripe because I'm TIRED of my back hurting.  I swear I walk like a sway-backed mare.  The Stowaway is riding in a ball and she's really low in my uterus so my back is just killing me. 

Gripe because I'm hungry alll the time but when I DO eat, I can't eat more than a few mouthfuls because the Stowaway is squishing my stomach! 

Gripe because the time is totally dragging.  I feel like I've been 32 weeks FOREVER.  I want her and I want her NOW. 

Gripe because I don't really want to be at work but if I go home, I'll just be reminded I still have an entire house to pack... 

Gripe. Gripe. Gripe.

....

I try very hard to NOT be a gripey pregnant person.  In fact, it's been remarked that I'm one of the more easy-going pregnant people some have met.  This is not my first pregnancy so there aren't very many unknowns in this (at least of the stuff I can control). 

I don't know if it's just a combination of wishing I was home, hot, hormones, or whatever but today is a day when I just want to be anywhere but where I am.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

one more thing

...remember that spiffy moving list I made and was going to hang on the front door so we'd stay on track blah, blah, blah??

I'm not really sure where it is.  I put it down when I got home the other day and that's the last time I saw it..  Coach, did you hide it from me?  *giggle*  Maybe it was Oscar..

warning: uber-dork post



This game is SO stinkin' fun!  :)  I've been waiting for it since Christmas, when they announced a March-April release...  puh-shaw - it released last week sometime... 

Oh well - it's still fun and defintely was worth the wait.  I'm remembering all kinds of things from the books and that's helping get through the levels without any walkthroughs...  (yes, really)  It made me even more excited about the November release of Year 7: Part 1.  WHEEE!!!  Bring on the midnight showing - yes, I will be there.  Nana, please plan to have the girls. 

Coach even gave it a spin and, even though he experienced some technical difficulties late last night (or very early this morning, as it were), I think he likes it too...

Munchkin called this morning from Jersey and said her dad read on facebook that I got the harry potter game and she wants to play it once she gets home...  *laugh*

My Dork Empire is nearly complete!  Now, if we can raise the Stowaway to the Dork-side, we'll be masters of our very own Dork-iverse... 

Mommy is bringing me a double-decker taco - I'm hungry already!  I can't believe it - I ate a BIG bowl of Lucky Charms (M's favorite cereal) this morning.  Must bring snacks.

Ok, back to work.

Monday, July 5, 2010

why yes, I'd love to use your time machine

Ok, I've decided I'm just stuck in the 32-week spinzone.  Time is slowing down to a non-crawl.  I know time is moving forward because we keep running out of toilet paper.  But golly, gee, willakers - is this pregnancy EVER going to be over?!  I could bore you with the endless whine that is late 3rd trimester stuff but I'll spare you.  See how understanding I can be?

please hold for a coffee break

[insert musak here]

now we return you to this regularly scheduled blog...

Ok, that was silly. 

So, World Cup is almost over. 

Yeah, I want to talk about pregnancy too.  The greatest thing about the Stowaway getting as big as she is, is that I can feel her moving all the time and it makes me smile (most of the time).  She had hiccups day before yesterday and that's the first time I've felt them.  She's such a pistol!  She moves and rolls and kicks and the instant I invite Dad or Nana or somebody else to reach out and feel, she stops.  Stinker. 

So, I'm watching HLN this morning and they are showing this wife-carrying contest in Finland or somewhere that has silly games like this that make it to international news.  It made me stop and ask myself what, exactly, determines whether something is "newsworthy."  I had that show on, in the background, the last 45 minutes and there was not a single mention of Iraq or Afghanistan.  I heard about a 100-mile car chase in California, tar balls in Galveston from the BP spill, wife-carrying games in Finland, LeBron James *yawn*, and on and on and on...  The only thing I could see that might remotely resemble news would be the continued MESS in the Gulf because of BP's reckless disregard for ANYTHING. 

If France bans the Islamic veils, they just might surpass us as the most hated non-Muslim country.  Ah, the world in which we live... *sigh*

90-degree heat in the Northeast?  So what? 

Ok, I'm quitting.  I promise this will be the last time I blog while watching the drivel masquerading as "news."

Have a great day, folks.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

clock watching

I start my new schedule at work today: 10am-3pm.  It's a little odd, considering I've never worked half-time before.  It will take a little adjusting to until I have children at home again. 

With Munchkin in Jersey for the summer and the Stowaway still in the slow cooker, I don't really have anything to do first thing in the morning.  Now, don't get me wrong - I am NOT complaining!  Au contraire, I think it will be really nice to have a few extra hours to get around and straighten things up and work on the endless packing project before we move.  And then, to have the afternoons to spend with Coach, who is enjoying his summer by recording every scrap of futbol he can find on television.

I made my official Moving To Do list this week and I'm going to tape it to the front door so everytime we go past it, we'll see what's left to be done.  It will keep me on track and give Coach some things to do during his day when I'm at work.  *wink*

I feel rather helpless knowing I'm so pregnant and can't really pick up heavy stuff, or do a lot of, well, ANYTHING.  The logistics of doing a lot of bending are just absurd at this point.  It's not that I can't see my shoes, I just can't reach them.  Not without huffing and puffing and feeling like, surely, I'm folding the Stowaway in half which, I'm sure, she doesn't appreciate one iota.

I'm FINISHED with all my scrapbooking endeavors for a while - our engagement, bridal and wedding albums should be delivered today and I ordered the Disney album last night so it should be here late next week.  I am so excited to see the albums!  I am really enjoying learning about digital scrapbooking and plan to do a lot more of it. 

Now that we have a good family camera again, I can get picaboo and smilebox transferred over to the house computer.  My next project is to do another album for Munchkin and then, in September, I'll do our family pictures Andrea Crosswhite will come down and take.  She's our "family photographer."  She took Coach and my engagement, bridal and wedding pictures so we thought she'd be perfect to take pictures of our family - from now on. 

Well, my friends, I'm going to enjoy the last 30 minutes of morning before I need to start getting ready for work by making a cup of coffee and taking all the artwork off the walls.  You know, that's my least favorite part of moving.  Bare walls are lonely walls to me.  That, and packing away my books.  Not being able to see all the wonderful spines and be reminded of the stories whenever I pass by is a little sad.  *laugh*  I'm a dork.  Yes, I know. 

Have a happy day!

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