Faster than a two legged turtle.
More powerful than the toddler next door.
Able to leap out of bed to rush to the toilet in a single bound.
Look! Sitting in front of the computer. It's a walrus. No, it's a whale.
It's SuperHime!
Yes, it's SuperHime - strange female from a voluntarily non-babydoll childhood who came to the Northwest with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal pregnant women.
SuperHime - who can obsess about everything all at one time, eat more peanut butter than a ravenous elephant, and who disguised as just another prego, mild-mannered neighbor moved here from the east coast, fights a neverending battle against swollen feet, carpal tunnel, and the Dairy Queen down the way.
Sigh. Yeah. That's me.
I had a OB/GYN appointment on Friday. Not much has changed. I am still only at 1cm and the baby has moved just a "bit" lower. Her head is way down in my pelvic area now. Doc said that if it feels like I have a bowling ball stuck down there, it's the baby. I guess I'm still close or a little more than 70% effaced. Get on with it, kid! Whatcha waiting for?
I forgot to tell ya'll last week that I tested positive for that GroupB Strep bacteria. Bummer. This means that I'll have to be treated with IV antibiotics at least 4 hours prior to giving birth. What they do is hook up an IV line into the back of my hand. Every 4-6 hours they'll plug me in and shoot some antibiotics through the line. So, the rest of the time I can get up and walk or move around to my hearts content. The bacteria can be very harmful to the baby, so this is a must do.
The baby's heart rate is fine, my blood pressure is normal. The problem is that in the past week I have gained another 6 pounds. 6 pounds in one week. The week before that, I gained 5 pounds. What is going on here? According to everything that I've read about the last month of pregnancy, your weight gain is supposed to slow or stop. That is just not happening. Of all the body changes that I have gone through, I think this is the worst. It seems impossible that I will be able to lose all this extra poundage after baby is born. But, everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) says that the pounds melt away. Hmmmm. I'm sorry, but I am a bit skeptical.
According to the doc, the weight gain can be attributed to my swollen ankles/feet and hands. I am retaining a lot of water. As soon as I give birth, this should all go away. That's all fine and dandy. My feet will once again look human, my wrist won't ache and my fingers won't be numb but what about all the other "spots"? What about my double (soon to be triple) chin, what about my ever-widening ass, what about my globulous upper thighs? Ugh. I think it doesn't help that I haven't done any excercise (besides unpacking boxes) in a week and a half. It might sound to you that I am being hard on myself and, quite frankly, yes I am. I don't like this whole not being in shape thing. This whole, "I can't go out and run a mile if I want or hike up a mountain or lift that garsh darn box" thing. It's just the way I am. Huzbend is out right now biking his way around the county and I am stuck here doing laundry. Total suckage.
I also asked doc about the carpal tunnel issue. Do you know that only about 20% of pregnant women experience carpal tunnel due to the swelling of the blood vessels in their hands? Yes. I am THAT lucky. She said that I could either get physical therapy or buy myself a wrist support. I chose the later. I use it only at night to keep my wrist stable. This magically eliminates the ache and for some reason my fingers come back to life. I'm afraid to wear it too much during the day as I don't want to weaken the tendons and muscles.
When I put the thing on, I feel like a superhero. I guess, kinda like Spiderman. Like, I should be able to press a button with my middle finger on the metal support bar that covers my palm and have a web or maybe soft serve ice cream shoot out of it. How cool would that be?
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
For Your Viewing Pleasure
This is what my feet look like with my shoes on. Notice the laces.....
This is what my feet look like without shoes. I don't think the photo does them justice. My calves literally extend down into my feet. There are no ankles to be found. Huzbend says they look like ogre feet. I have to agree with him.
Here's a nice series of pics that I took in our new backyard. People always want to see the belly. Well, here it is in all it's glory!!!!
If you want to see bigger versions of these pics, I can send them to ya via email. Just let me know! Ciao!
Where to start......
Jeez. It's not easy taking a week off in this blog business. I've gotta remember all the way back to last Monday. Well, here goes nothin'.
Monday, July 17th:
We packed up the remaining things that we had lying around in temp housing and then bid a hasty retreat. Good riddance! I went to do some last minute errands and then was going to head over to the new house. Huzbend was off to work.
I called Sears to confirm the delivery of our new fridge, since I didn't get a call on Sunday. They were coming between 1:45 and 3:45 that afternoon.
At about 12:30, my phone rang. It was the delivery guys. They were ahead of schedule and heading to the house with the fridge. After a momentary panic, I called them back to say that I was on my way. I arrived about 10 minutes before they got there. Phew!
The lead guy walked into the house and quickly began to measure doorways and access points comtemplating along the way and "Hmph-ing" to himself.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but this unit is just not going to fit in here," he said apologetically.
"But, we measured the dimensions and made sure at the store that it would fit in the space...."
"That's not the problem, Ma'am. The kitchen door is too small to fit through and the sliding glass patio doors are also too small. The only way we would be able to get the fridge in here is if you were to somehow take the sliding patio doors off. Other than that, we are going to have to take the fridge back and you will have to return to the store to select a smaller model."
I quickly looked over the sliding patio doors. There was no way that I could figure out how to take the damn doors off. After consulting with huzbend via phone, I told the guy that we'd have to send it back and contact the store for a smaller model.
The truck pulled away. I was totally ticked off. It was abso-frickin' ridiculous. For some reason, I decided to look at the doors one more time. I jiggled the screen door and it came off easily. Okay........now for the sliding glass door. I lifted up and pulled out using anger induced strength. It came off. GREAT!! The guys had just pulled away and I got the doors off. Figures.
I picked up my back east cell and tried to call them to get them to come back. The phone kept dropping the call. I tried to call huzbend to have HIM call the guys. Again, with the dropped calls. I reached my limit. The tears of frustration started to flow. If I could have strangled my phone, I would have. Finally, I got through to the delivery guys. They made time to come back in the afternoon and delivered the fridge.
After they left, I had to promptly lay down to take a nap. I used up so much energy ripping the door down, that I had to wait for huzbend to come home to put it back up.
After a birthday meal at huzbends favorite burrito place, we decided that there was no way that we were going to both fit on our inflatable mattress (our only "furniture"). We took up our friends offer of a place to stay until Thursday, when the movers would be dropping off our stuff.
Tuesday/Wednesday, July 18th & 19th:
I'd have to say that the sofa sleeper was way more comfortable than the inflatable mattress would have been. Besides that, I had a tv to watch and a nice flat neighborhood to take walks in. Nothing much happened on these days besides me lounging around someone elses house and watching the Tour de France. I got to see those mountain stages I was talking about. Good ole' Floyd Landis had gotten himself the coveted yellow jersey on Tueday. Then on Wednesday, he imploded. He lost about 10 whole minutes of time to his rivals, as well as the lead. He completely ran out of energy on the climbs and fell WAY behind. It was a horrible thing to watch. Nothing like having your absolute worst moment broadcast for thousands to see. Poor dude.
Thursday, July 20th:
I got up bright and early to meet the moving truck at our new house. On the way, I received a call from the truck driver. He was lost. One weird thing about this area is that almost ALL of the roads are numbers, not names. For example, they use names like 120th Street Northwest instead of Maple Drive. It makes it really confusing as there can be 120th Street Northwest and then within two blocks there is a 120th Avenue Northwest. Two totally different streets. Anyways, he was confused, but eventually figured it out.
The movers showed up about an hour later and began the task of unloading. My job was to check off each box/peice of furniture that came into the house and then direct them where I wanted it to go. I quickly realized that we had A LOT more stuff than would fit in the house. Yikes. Too late now.
In the middle of this, the cable guy came to hook up the house. I totally didn't have time to watch over what he was doing. I know that he said that some of our wire was old and not up to snuff, but that things should work just fine. Then he left. While he was here, I noticed for the first time that there are no power lines. They are all below ground. Weird.
It took the movers 5 hours to get all the stuff into the house. Then they left. I was alone, surrounded on all sides by boxes and furniture that didn't quite fit in the rooms.
I went out to figure out the mailbox situation and on the way got caught by two neighborhood moms, one being my new next door neighbor. "Howdy neighbor!" they called to me. I stopped by to introduce myself quickly. They were really nice and welcomed me to the neighborhood. We had a quick chat and then I excused myself to get back to the task at hand, which at that point consisted of wrapping my head around the prospect of unpacking.
Huzbend came home. I don't remember what we did for dinner. I was exhausted and just a tad grumpy. I had been standing most of the day and my feet were screaming at me, "Sit down, you fool! If you do not, we will be forced to swell." Which they then promptly did. I felt just a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of boxes and crap strewn about our new house. The movers were nice enough to put our bed back together and huzbend hooked up the tv. I was able to watch Floyd ride the hardest he has ever ridden in his life, up the sides of, like, five mountains and past all his rivals to come within 20 seconds of the lead of the Tour de France. Floyd rocks.
I, on the other hand, did not rock. That night, I had to sleep sitting up with my feet propped up on three blankets.
Friday, July 21st:
We decided that the first task of our unpacking odyssey would be to tackle the kitchen. I decided I would do the best I could after my morning OB/GYN appointment. Of course, as would be my luck, this day was the first day of a Northwest heat wave. It was going to get above 90 degrees and be humid. Great.
I went to my appt. and everything was fine. The baby had fallen a little lower. She had grown a bit and was still within normal size range. No ultrasound needed. I was 70% effaced and still only 1cm dilated. According to the doc, things were moving along smoothly and she was convinced that baby would definitely be an August baby. I asked about the foot swelling, which was getting worse. Doc said that it was normal, there were no other indications of any problems and that I should just take it easy, drink plenty of fluids and avoid salt. Take it easy? I had a whole house to unpack, lady! Let's see you "take it easy." I also gained four and a half pounds in a week. Doc said that it was all in my feet. Water weight. Holy crap. Four and a half in ONE week. I wondered what the amount was going to be next week.
After the appt., I came home and began the daunting task of setting up the kitchen. It took me all day. The packers had used SO MUCH packing paper that I thought it would be the equivalent of an entire Brazilian rain forest, creepy green frogs included.
Huzbend came home and quickly complemented me on my handy work. After dinner, he took over unpacking duties in the gym and I retreated to the bedroom to veg out with my feet up in the air. My feet had grown about 6 sizes. It hurt to walk on them. They were so swollen that I couldn't even bend them. It was then that I noticed that my fingers were also swelling. My middle and ring finger of my left hand were also going numb periodically. It was SO FRICKIN' HOT. I had 3 fans going, all pointed at me. It was a miserable night again sitting up in bed.
Saturday, July 22nd:
It was errand and unpacking day and yet again, it was sweltering. We got new cell phones, bought a lawnmower (a non-gas, non-electric push mower), bought a propane tank as well as miscellaneous equipment for repairing a shoddy cable line to our tv room. We ate lunch at the Olive Garden. Mmmmmm, eggplant parm. Yummy. Then we came home. Huzbend did some handy work in the tv room installing a cable connection, mowed the front lawn, organized the tv room and cooked an absolutely awesome steak dinner on the grill. It was so nice to have grill food again. It had been so long. I kept myself busy working on the baby room and the office.
Next-Door-Mom stopped by and dropped off four loaves of bread. Her mom owns a bread bakery and she had given them wayyyy to many leftovers. We got parmesan infused bread, challah bread, wheat bread and cinnamon swirl bread. Her husband had introduced himself to Huzbend earlier in the day. They are just way too nice. There must be something wrong with them.
After a long hard day, we retreated to the bedroom (with a 3 fans a-blasting) for some foot-resting, Tour veiwing time. Floyd gained back more of his lost time and reclaimed the lead of the Tour de France. He was large and in charge.
Sunday, July 23rd:
Huzbend took that cinnamon swirl bread and made french toast. He also created syrup by mixing bananas, strawberry jam and sugar together in a sauce pot. He so totally rocks. I love him so. It was awesome. I was glad that I unpacked the kitchen.
MORE unpacking and even more heat. Would it ever end? The whole day was dedicated to unpacking. We finished a good majority of the house. It was almost livable, except for all of the paper and empty boxes crammed into every available open space. The only thing left to do was the garage and the library.
The epilogue of the Tour de France was this day. Mostly a ceremonially ride (except for the sprinters who want dibs on the stage win), Floyd road down the Champs only the 3rd American to ever wear the yellow jersey. Yay, Floyd!
Monday, July 24th:
I targeted the library this day. I would put all the damn books on the shelf even if it put me into labor. You know what, I DID put all the books on the shelves. But, alas, no labor. Get OUT of my belly!
I also registered the truck and got myself some nice new license plates. Problem is that now I can't use the "Please excuse me for going the wrong way, but I am from out of state" look on other drivers. Darn.
I did our first grocery shopping for the house too. It was a busy day. Again, I was grumpy when huzbend got home. He takes it so well. He's constantly on my case about taking it easy and saying things like, "Um, should you be lifting that?" or "Um, why don't you take a break." I don't know what it is, but it's really hard for me to take a break. I feel like such a wuss. Because of my feet, which are still swollen, I hobble around the house like I am walking on broken peanut shells. Its pretty ridiculous. I have also developed carpal tunnel from the swollen blood vessels in my hands. My fingers go numb constantly. And yet, I cannot force myself to slow down. If I sit on the couch or in bed for even 5 minutes, twenty million things pop up into my head that I COULD be doing at that exact moment. I think I need medication.
Huzbend has been dealing with the ups and downs of the new commute. Sometimes, it's really good and it takes about 30 minutes to get home. Other days, it's a nightmarish hour long ride. Hmm. They have a cool real time traffic alert system, but it doesn't seem to help. I hope that he can find the right routes and the right times so that he doesn't get too frustrated.
Tuesday, July 25th:
Next-Door-Mom stopped by to visit and ask me to come over later to chat. We were supposed to receive via UPS the closing papers for our house back east. I wanted to get my new license and I had a meet-and-greet appointment with a family practice for the baby. The meet-and-greet went well. The doc was very forthcoming with her answers to my questions. My only issue was the size of the place. There are, like, nine doctors there. It also had a hospital feel to it, not very cozy. I decided that I might set up another appointment with a smaller practice. The best part about both these places are that they are only five minutes away.
Next, I searched out the drivers license place. I walked in and the place was packed. The gentleman behind the counter said, "I'm sorry, but our number system is down today. Please take this." It was a paper with number 197 on it. I found an empty seat and sat down. The same gentleman then announced, "Number 154. Number 154, please." What?!?!? They were only at 154? No way was I going to sit there that long. Off to visit huzbend at work, I went. Sign papers we must.
I hadn't eaten lunch, so I was able to eat at huzbends cafeteria. It was really nice. He can use his key card to pay for lunch (it's deducted from his pay check automatically. You can contribute an amount towards lunch just like a 401K). They have a really nice set up with seating outside next to a landscaped waterfall. Yes. A waterfall. Very Disney-esque. It's like an geeky utopia.
We got the papers signed and I voyaged back to the house. When I got back, I did my neighborly duty and stopped by Next-Door-Moms house. I met her two kids. They are pretty cute. We ended up gabbing for about 2 hours about all sorts of stuff: mommy-hood, the area, where we came from, our families, etc. I know. 2 hours. We also invited one of the other moms into conversation. I learned that they are both VERY religious. That doesn't bug me at all really, but it kinda creeped out huzbend. As long as they are nice decent people and they don't try to force their beliefs on me, I'm fine with it. Huzbend has a much harder time. Wait until we invite them over and they take a look at our book shelves. Book shelves full of Harry Potter, Stephen King, Dan Brown, titles such as "Hitler's Mein Kampf", "The Big Book of Porn" and "Atheism: The Case Against God" among other things. They may never talk to us again.
The rest of the day was taken up with moving boxes to the garage in preparation for the next day.
And that, my friends, brings me to today.
Wednesday, July 26th:
Today, I had a cleaning lady come in to tidy the place up. The service was recommended by some friends out here. Yes, I paid someone to come and clean the house. She did a really good job. Let me tell you, it is SO NICE to have the house clean. There was just no way that I would have the energy to do my usual new house cleaning. Besides not having the energy, I probably shouldn't be working with cleaning products anyways. So, we decided to splurge.
It's amazing what you can learn about people by being super nice. She was an older woman originally from Italy. She came over to the U.S. as an exchange student and then came back to go to school for Tourism. She works part time as a cleaner and part time as a tour guide to Italians that visit the Seattle area.
After she left, I went and registered huzbends car. No personalized plates this time. Well, at least not yet. Then I came back home and starting writing this novel. I think I have been working on this now for about two hours. I was interupted once by Next-Door-Mom and her daughter. The daughter wanted to make sure the baby hadn't come yet. So, she poked my belly and was content.
Today, the heat finally broke and it is beautiful out. It's about 80, sunny and breezy. Perfect once again. My feet are still swollen, my fingers are still numb and I will probably still have to sleep sitting up with my feet propped up on blankets. But, you know what, it doesn't really matter. Our house is 80% unpacked, it's clean and it finally feels like a home.
I love it here.
Monday, July 17th:
We packed up the remaining things that we had lying around in temp housing and then bid a hasty retreat. Good riddance! I went to do some last minute errands and then was going to head over to the new house. Huzbend was off to work.
I called Sears to confirm the delivery of our new fridge, since I didn't get a call on Sunday. They were coming between 1:45 and 3:45 that afternoon.
At about 12:30, my phone rang. It was the delivery guys. They were ahead of schedule and heading to the house with the fridge. After a momentary panic, I called them back to say that I was on my way. I arrived about 10 minutes before they got there. Phew!
The lead guy walked into the house and quickly began to measure doorways and access points comtemplating along the way and "Hmph-ing" to himself.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but this unit is just not going to fit in here," he said apologetically.
"But, we measured the dimensions and made sure at the store that it would fit in the space...."
"That's not the problem, Ma'am. The kitchen door is too small to fit through and the sliding glass patio doors are also too small. The only way we would be able to get the fridge in here is if you were to somehow take the sliding patio doors off. Other than that, we are going to have to take the fridge back and you will have to return to the store to select a smaller model."
I quickly looked over the sliding patio doors. There was no way that I could figure out how to take the damn doors off. After consulting with huzbend via phone, I told the guy that we'd have to send it back and contact the store for a smaller model.
The truck pulled away. I was totally ticked off. It was abso-frickin' ridiculous. For some reason, I decided to look at the doors one more time. I jiggled the screen door and it came off easily. Okay........now for the sliding glass door. I lifted up and pulled out using anger induced strength. It came off. GREAT!! The guys had just pulled away and I got the doors off. Figures.
I picked up my back east cell and tried to call them to get them to come back. The phone kept dropping the call. I tried to call huzbend to have HIM call the guys. Again, with the dropped calls. I reached my limit. The tears of frustration started to flow. If I could have strangled my phone, I would have. Finally, I got through to the delivery guys. They made time to come back in the afternoon and delivered the fridge.
After they left, I had to promptly lay down to take a nap. I used up so much energy ripping the door down, that I had to wait for huzbend to come home to put it back up.
After a birthday meal at huzbends favorite burrito place, we decided that there was no way that we were going to both fit on our inflatable mattress (our only "furniture"). We took up our friends offer of a place to stay until Thursday, when the movers would be dropping off our stuff.
Tuesday/Wednesday, July 18th & 19th:
I'd have to say that the sofa sleeper was way more comfortable than the inflatable mattress would have been. Besides that, I had a tv to watch and a nice flat neighborhood to take walks in. Nothing much happened on these days besides me lounging around someone elses house and watching the Tour de France. I got to see those mountain stages I was talking about. Good ole' Floyd Landis had gotten himself the coveted yellow jersey on Tueday. Then on Wednesday, he imploded. He lost about 10 whole minutes of time to his rivals, as well as the lead. He completely ran out of energy on the climbs and fell WAY behind. It was a horrible thing to watch. Nothing like having your absolute worst moment broadcast for thousands to see. Poor dude.
Thursday, July 20th:
I got up bright and early to meet the moving truck at our new house. On the way, I received a call from the truck driver. He was lost. One weird thing about this area is that almost ALL of the roads are numbers, not names. For example, they use names like 120th Street Northwest instead of Maple Drive. It makes it really confusing as there can be 120th Street Northwest and then within two blocks there is a 120th Avenue Northwest. Two totally different streets. Anyways, he was confused, but eventually figured it out.
The movers showed up about an hour later and began the task of unloading. My job was to check off each box/peice of furniture that came into the house and then direct them where I wanted it to go. I quickly realized that we had A LOT more stuff than would fit in the house. Yikes. Too late now.
In the middle of this, the cable guy came to hook up the house. I totally didn't have time to watch over what he was doing. I know that he said that some of our wire was old and not up to snuff, but that things should work just fine. Then he left. While he was here, I noticed for the first time that there are no power lines. They are all below ground. Weird.
It took the movers 5 hours to get all the stuff into the house. Then they left. I was alone, surrounded on all sides by boxes and furniture that didn't quite fit in the rooms.
I went out to figure out the mailbox situation and on the way got caught by two neighborhood moms, one being my new next door neighbor. "Howdy neighbor!" they called to me. I stopped by to introduce myself quickly. They were really nice and welcomed me to the neighborhood. We had a quick chat and then I excused myself to get back to the task at hand, which at that point consisted of wrapping my head around the prospect of unpacking.
Huzbend came home. I don't remember what we did for dinner. I was exhausted and just a tad grumpy. I had been standing most of the day and my feet were screaming at me, "Sit down, you fool! If you do not, we will be forced to swell." Which they then promptly did. I felt just a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of boxes and crap strewn about our new house. The movers were nice enough to put our bed back together and huzbend hooked up the tv. I was able to watch Floyd ride the hardest he has ever ridden in his life, up the sides of, like, five mountains and past all his rivals to come within 20 seconds of the lead of the Tour de France. Floyd rocks.
I, on the other hand, did not rock. That night, I had to sleep sitting up with my feet propped up on three blankets.
Friday, July 21st:
We decided that the first task of our unpacking odyssey would be to tackle the kitchen. I decided I would do the best I could after my morning OB/GYN appointment. Of course, as would be my luck, this day was the first day of a Northwest heat wave. It was going to get above 90 degrees and be humid. Great.
I went to my appt. and everything was fine. The baby had fallen a little lower. She had grown a bit and was still within normal size range. No ultrasound needed. I was 70% effaced and still only 1cm dilated. According to the doc, things were moving along smoothly and she was convinced that baby would definitely be an August baby. I asked about the foot swelling, which was getting worse. Doc said that it was normal, there were no other indications of any problems and that I should just take it easy, drink plenty of fluids and avoid salt. Take it easy? I had a whole house to unpack, lady! Let's see you "take it easy." I also gained four and a half pounds in a week. Doc said that it was all in my feet. Water weight. Holy crap. Four and a half in ONE week. I wondered what the amount was going to be next week.
After the appt., I came home and began the daunting task of setting up the kitchen. It took me all day. The packers had used SO MUCH packing paper that I thought it would be the equivalent of an entire Brazilian rain forest, creepy green frogs included.
Huzbend came home and quickly complemented me on my handy work. After dinner, he took over unpacking duties in the gym and I retreated to the bedroom to veg out with my feet up in the air. My feet had grown about 6 sizes. It hurt to walk on them. They were so swollen that I couldn't even bend them. It was then that I noticed that my fingers were also swelling. My middle and ring finger of my left hand were also going numb periodically. It was SO FRICKIN' HOT. I had 3 fans going, all pointed at me. It was a miserable night again sitting up in bed.
Saturday, July 22nd:
It was errand and unpacking day and yet again, it was sweltering. We got new cell phones, bought a lawnmower (a non-gas, non-electric push mower), bought a propane tank as well as miscellaneous equipment for repairing a shoddy cable line to our tv room. We ate lunch at the Olive Garden. Mmmmmm, eggplant parm. Yummy. Then we came home. Huzbend did some handy work in the tv room installing a cable connection, mowed the front lawn, organized the tv room and cooked an absolutely awesome steak dinner on the grill. It was so nice to have grill food again. It had been so long. I kept myself busy working on the baby room and the office.
Next-Door-Mom stopped by and dropped off four loaves of bread. Her mom owns a bread bakery and she had given them wayyyy to many leftovers. We got parmesan infused bread, challah bread, wheat bread and cinnamon swirl bread. Her husband had introduced himself to Huzbend earlier in the day. They are just way too nice. There must be something wrong with them.
After a long hard day, we retreated to the bedroom (with a 3 fans a-blasting) for some foot-resting, Tour veiwing time. Floyd gained back more of his lost time and reclaimed the lead of the Tour de France. He was large and in charge.
Sunday, July 23rd:
Huzbend took that cinnamon swirl bread and made french toast. He also created syrup by mixing bananas, strawberry jam and sugar together in a sauce pot. He so totally rocks. I love him so. It was awesome. I was glad that I unpacked the kitchen.
MORE unpacking and even more heat. Would it ever end? The whole day was dedicated to unpacking. We finished a good majority of the house. It was almost livable, except for all of the paper and empty boxes crammed into every available open space. The only thing left to do was the garage and the library.
The epilogue of the Tour de France was this day. Mostly a ceremonially ride (except for the sprinters who want dibs on the stage win), Floyd road down the Champs only the 3rd American to ever wear the yellow jersey. Yay, Floyd!
Monday, July 24th:
I targeted the library this day. I would put all the damn books on the shelf even if it put me into labor. You know what, I DID put all the books on the shelves. But, alas, no labor. Get OUT of my belly!
I also registered the truck and got myself some nice new license plates. Problem is that now I can't use the "Please excuse me for going the wrong way, but I am from out of state" look on other drivers. Darn.
I did our first grocery shopping for the house too. It was a busy day. Again, I was grumpy when huzbend got home. He takes it so well. He's constantly on my case about taking it easy and saying things like, "Um, should you be lifting that?" or "Um, why don't you take a break." I don't know what it is, but it's really hard for me to take a break. I feel like such a wuss. Because of my feet, which are still swollen, I hobble around the house like I am walking on broken peanut shells. Its pretty ridiculous. I have also developed carpal tunnel from the swollen blood vessels in my hands. My fingers go numb constantly. And yet, I cannot force myself to slow down. If I sit on the couch or in bed for even 5 minutes, twenty million things pop up into my head that I COULD be doing at that exact moment. I think I need medication.
Huzbend has been dealing with the ups and downs of the new commute. Sometimes, it's really good and it takes about 30 minutes to get home. Other days, it's a nightmarish hour long ride. Hmm. They have a cool real time traffic alert system, but it doesn't seem to help. I hope that he can find the right routes and the right times so that he doesn't get too frustrated.
Tuesday, July 25th:
Next-Door-Mom stopped by to visit and ask me to come over later to chat. We were supposed to receive via UPS the closing papers for our house back east. I wanted to get my new license and I had a meet-and-greet appointment with a family practice for the baby. The meet-and-greet went well. The doc was very forthcoming with her answers to my questions. My only issue was the size of the place. There are, like, nine doctors there. It also had a hospital feel to it, not very cozy. I decided that I might set up another appointment with a smaller practice. The best part about both these places are that they are only five minutes away.
Next, I searched out the drivers license place. I walked in and the place was packed. The gentleman behind the counter said, "I'm sorry, but our number system is down today. Please take this." It was a paper with number 197 on it. I found an empty seat and sat down. The same gentleman then announced, "Number 154. Number 154, please." What?!?!? They were only at 154? No way was I going to sit there that long. Off to visit huzbend at work, I went. Sign papers we must.
I hadn't eaten lunch, so I was able to eat at huzbends cafeteria. It was really nice. He can use his key card to pay for lunch (it's deducted from his pay check automatically. You can contribute an amount towards lunch just like a 401K). They have a really nice set up with seating outside next to a landscaped waterfall. Yes. A waterfall. Very Disney-esque. It's like an geeky utopia.
We got the papers signed and I voyaged back to the house. When I got back, I did my neighborly duty and stopped by Next-Door-Moms house. I met her two kids. They are pretty cute. We ended up gabbing for about 2 hours about all sorts of stuff: mommy-hood, the area, where we came from, our families, etc. I know. 2 hours. We also invited one of the other moms into conversation. I learned that they are both VERY religious. That doesn't bug me at all really, but it kinda creeped out huzbend. As long as they are nice decent people and they don't try to force their beliefs on me, I'm fine with it. Huzbend has a much harder time. Wait until we invite them over and they take a look at our book shelves. Book shelves full of Harry Potter, Stephen King, Dan Brown, titles such as "Hitler's Mein Kampf", "The Big Book of Porn" and "Atheism: The Case Against God" among other things. They may never talk to us again.
The rest of the day was taken up with moving boxes to the garage in preparation for the next day.
And that, my friends, brings me to today.
Wednesday, July 26th:
Today, I had a cleaning lady come in to tidy the place up. The service was recommended by some friends out here. Yes, I paid someone to come and clean the house. She did a really good job. Let me tell you, it is SO NICE to have the house clean. There was just no way that I would have the energy to do my usual new house cleaning. Besides not having the energy, I probably shouldn't be working with cleaning products anyways. So, we decided to splurge.
It's amazing what you can learn about people by being super nice. She was an older woman originally from Italy. She came over to the U.S. as an exchange student and then came back to go to school for Tourism. She works part time as a cleaner and part time as a tour guide to Italians that visit the Seattle area.
After she left, I went and registered huzbends car. No personalized plates this time. Well, at least not yet. Then I came back home and starting writing this novel. I think I have been working on this now for about two hours. I was interupted once by Next-Door-Mom and her daughter. The daughter wanted to make sure the baby hadn't come yet. So, she poked my belly and was content.
Today, the heat finally broke and it is beautiful out. It's about 80, sunny and breezy. Perfect once again. My feet are still swollen, my fingers are still numb and I will probably still have to sleep sitting up with my feet propped up on blankets. But, you know what, it doesn't really matter. Our house is 80% unpacked, it's clean and it finally feels like a home.
I love it here.
Monday, July 24, 2006
I'm Baaaaaaa-aaaaack!
I know! I know! You're all saying "Post something already, dammit!"
I'm working on it, trust me. I've got a lot to write about, so be patient people.
Just to hold you over:
Moved into house (boxes EVERYWHERE)
Unpacking as I type (why did the packers use so much packing paper?)
I'm fine (hot, grostesquely swelled and totally uncomfortable)
Huzbend is fine (also hot, not swelled and totally sympathetic to my plight)
Baby is fine (as always she is at body tempurature, is causing the swelling and could care less if I was comfortable as long as mommy eats every hour)
I'm working on it, trust me. I've got a lot to write about, so be patient people.
Just to hold you over:
Moved into house (boxes EVERYWHERE)
Unpacking as I type (why did the packers use so much packing paper?)
I'm fine (hot, grostesquely swelled and totally uncomfortable)
Huzbend is fine (also hot, not swelled and totally sympathetic to my plight)
Baby is fine (as always she is at body tempurature, is causing the swelling and could care less if I was comfortable as long as mommy eats every hour)
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Hee-Hee-Hee-Hee-Hoooooo!
This is going to be the last post for a few days. We have to be out of temp. housing by 11am tomorrow and the internet shouldn't be set up at our house until Thursday night at the latest. Bummer, I know. I won't have cable either. This means that we are going to miss the most important stages of the entire Tour de France - The Alps. Total suckage.
We bought a fridge today. Funny thing is that it is almost exactly the same model as the fridge that we had in our house back east. We picked a different color though to try to match the hodge-podge of appliances in our new kitchen. Our dishwasher is brand new and a "bisque" (off-white) color, our super-old stove is black and silver, our equally old cabinet mounted microwave is black. Sooooo, we ended up picking "Ultra Satin" color. "Ultra Satin" looks like stainless steel, but you can stick magnets to it. It also doesn't fingerprint as easily, or so they say. We'll see about that. I think I still need to get special cleaning fluid to get fingerprints off. According to the guy at Sears, they are supposed to deliver it to our house tomorrow. I haven't gotten a phone call with a time yet. I'm not going to hold my breath.
Saturday, was our "Fast Track Birth" class. Huzbend thoroughly enjoyed the class. No, I'm not kidding. He really did. The part that he didn't like was the uber-smelly guy that sat next to him. He smelled so bad that I could smell him too. It was a double knock-out: bad breath and B.O.
The class went over all the stages of labor, pros and cons of medications, potential complications and interventions, ceasareans and postpartum information. Because it was in a one day format, we didn't get to practice the positions, the breathing and relaxation. I have to say that it was a good thing that I bought those prenatal yoga and strenth training DVDs. Not only do they both have a section on relaxation/meditation, but they encourage you to hold positions for extended periods of time. For example, in my prenatal yoga dvd, you have to do a squat that takes your butt almost all the way to the ground. You have to hold this squat for a minute or two. It turns out that this position is good to use during labor as it spreads your pelvis further to let baby come flying out.
Huzbend thought the best part was when they talked about methods that he could use to help me deal with the pain, like massage techniques. There's this, for lack of a better word, "move" called the "Double Hip Squeeze". You can use it when the baby is head down but is facing toward the front of the mom (they are supposed to face towards the back). When the baby is in this position its head causes the ligaments of the pelvis to spread further than normal. The head also pushes hard against your sacrum. The partner can put his/her hands on each of the laboring partners hips and squeeze inwards to "push" the pelvis back together. This takes a lot of shoulder strength. Perfect for huzbend. I think he sees this as a chance to get in a small workout. Fine with me. It feels great.
We did have to watch two videos. One was a non-medicated birth and the other was a ceasarean birth. Huzbend thought that he was not going to be able to watch. Turns out he watched both with no trouble. As soon as the babies made their appearances in the videos, all the prego women started sniffling. I admit, I teared up a bit. I couldn't help it. Even though the babies looked like little purple Golem's, darnit if they didn't evoke that "Awwwwww, isn't that cute" feeling.
We're as ready as we'll ever be, I guess. I've read about 4 or 5 entire books, huzbend has read one, we've both taken classes. What else can we do, but wait for baby to decide its time. I admit, I'm still anxious about the whole thing. Just thinking about the prospect of giving birth gives me a sick feeling. It's almost like the feelings you get prior to competition. Like the tummy butterflies that you'll get before stepping on the mat for a judo match, before taking those first steps of a half or whole marathon or starting to pedal your bike for your first century ride. You think back to all the time that you spent preparing for this moment. You've only got ONE shot at it. These nine months have been training.
Put me in coach. I'm ready.
We bought a fridge today. Funny thing is that it is almost exactly the same model as the fridge that we had in our house back east. We picked a different color though to try to match the hodge-podge of appliances in our new kitchen. Our dishwasher is brand new and a "bisque" (off-white) color, our super-old stove is black and silver, our equally old cabinet mounted microwave is black. Sooooo, we ended up picking "Ultra Satin" color. "Ultra Satin" looks like stainless steel, but you can stick magnets to it. It also doesn't fingerprint as easily, or so they say. We'll see about that. I think I still need to get special cleaning fluid to get fingerprints off. According to the guy at Sears, they are supposed to deliver it to our house tomorrow. I haven't gotten a phone call with a time yet. I'm not going to hold my breath.
Saturday, was our "Fast Track Birth" class. Huzbend thoroughly enjoyed the class. No, I'm not kidding. He really did. The part that he didn't like was the uber-smelly guy that sat next to him. He smelled so bad that I could smell him too. It was a double knock-out: bad breath and B.O.
The class went over all the stages of labor, pros and cons of medications, potential complications and interventions, ceasareans and postpartum information. Because it was in a one day format, we didn't get to practice the positions, the breathing and relaxation. I have to say that it was a good thing that I bought those prenatal yoga and strenth training DVDs. Not only do they both have a section on relaxation/meditation, but they encourage you to hold positions for extended periods of time. For example, in my prenatal yoga dvd, you have to do a squat that takes your butt almost all the way to the ground. You have to hold this squat for a minute or two. It turns out that this position is good to use during labor as it spreads your pelvis further to let baby come flying out.
Huzbend thought the best part was when they talked about methods that he could use to help me deal with the pain, like massage techniques. There's this, for lack of a better word, "move" called the "Double Hip Squeeze". You can use it when the baby is head down but is facing toward the front of the mom (they are supposed to face towards the back). When the baby is in this position its head causes the ligaments of the pelvis to spread further than normal. The head also pushes hard against your sacrum. The partner can put his/her hands on each of the laboring partners hips and squeeze inwards to "push" the pelvis back together. This takes a lot of shoulder strength. Perfect for huzbend. I think he sees this as a chance to get in a small workout. Fine with me. It feels great.
We did have to watch two videos. One was a non-medicated birth and the other was a ceasarean birth. Huzbend thought that he was not going to be able to watch. Turns out he watched both with no trouble. As soon as the babies made their appearances in the videos, all the prego women started sniffling. I admit, I teared up a bit. I couldn't help it. Even though the babies looked like little purple Golem's, darnit if they didn't evoke that "Awwwwww, isn't that cute" feeling.
We're as ready as we'll ever be, I guess. I've read about 4 or 5 entire books, huzbend has read one, we've both taken classes. What else can we do, but wait for baby to decide its time. I admit, I'm still anxious about the whole thing. Just thinking about the prospect of giving birth gives me a sick feeling. It's almost like the feelings you get prior to competition. Like the tummy butterflies that you'll get before stepping on the mat for a judo match, before taking those first steps of a half or whole marathon or starting to pedal your bike for your first century ride. You think back to all the time that you spent preparing for this moment. You've only got ONE shot at it. These nine months have been training.
Put me in coach. I'm ready.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Doh!
Yesterday, we got the keys to our new house. I met huzbend at work and we decided to drive up together to check it out. It took an hour for us to get from campus to the house. Not good. We are definitely going to have to check out the maps for a quicker route. He was not a happy camper.
We finally got to the house and found that it was in pristine condition. The people that lived there left everything as neat and clean as could be. The house still has that 80's feel to it, though. All of the trim and doors are made of this fake wood stuff. Add to that, the ultra-cheesy sliding closet doors (made from the same fake wood). I HATE sliding closet doors. I'm not really sure why. Even the walk-in closet in the master bedroom has a sliding door. Just dumb. We (and by we, I mean huzbend) are definitely going to have to do something about those closets. I guess I should be happy that there is no wood paneling.
We measured for the fridge. I really want a side-by-side with water in the door, but huzbend has his eye on a french door fridge. Those are the ones with the two fridge doors that open at eye level and the freezer is in a drawer on the bottom. Problem is that those don't have the water dispenser. I really like having the water dispenser. You get cold filtered water any time you want. It's like having THE poland spring in your kitchen.
Today, I stopped back at the house to move some stuff in. Most of the stuff was baby stuff, but my plants made the trip too. I hope they aren't too lonely tonight. It was nice to see it during a nice, sunny day. The neighborhood mommies and their children were out in force; running around, riding bikes, playing tag and the like. The guy next door was mowing his lawn. Welcome to Suburbia! This is definitely the place to raise some kiddies. Our backyard is absolutely gorgeous. I have NO IDEA how we are going to keep all the plants alive. The grass feels like a carpet. It was nice to be in the house today. I can't wait to get our furniture and start making it a home.
We get kicked out of temp. housing on Monday. I've got the cable/internet people coming on Thursday of next week. That was the earliest they could come. That sucks. What the hell am I gonna do that whole week? Ugh. Talk about cut off from the world. The cleaning people are coming Thursday too. Right now, Thursday looks like one of the highlights of next week. We should get a call from the movers next week. They are supposed to have our stuff to us by next Friday at the latest. Hurry up, dammit!
When I called the cable/internet people today to set up that appointment, I talked to a guy named Jim. I have this theory that if you are nice to people they, in turn, will do their best to be nice to you. This helps when your looking to get a deal. Sometimes, it leads to much more. Here is what I learned about Jim:
Babies heart rate is 164bpm. My blood pressure is perfectly fine. Baby is head down and ready to go. The doc mentioned that she thought that she was a little on the small side. She is still within normal range, but on the low side of that range. Doc is going to keep an eye on baby to see if she grows in the next week. If not, we may schedule an ultrasound to be sure that she looks good and to make sure there is enough fluid left in there to sustain her. I didn't like that news very much. I guess you've all been right when you kept telling me that I wasn't so big.
I also learned that my cervix is 50% effaced and that I am 1cm. dilated. The doc says that doesn't mean much. Most first timers can walk around that way for weeks before delivering, but as a precaution we should pack a hospital bag. Okay. While she was explaining this, she then says "Oh, there's the head. She's pretty far down there". What?!??!!? The head?!?!?!? She was, like, touching it or something. Um. Wow. That kinda brought things into perspective. The baby is on her way. She's coming and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to be a mom. We are going to be parents. We are going to be a family.
We have birthing class tomorrow.
We finally got to the house and found that it was in pristine condition. The people that lived there left everything as neat and clean as could be. The house still has that 80's feel to it, though. All of the trim and doors are made of this fake wood stuff. Add to that, the ultra-cheesy sliding closet doors (made from the same fake wood). I HATE sliding closet doors. I'm not really sure why. Even the walk-in closet in the master bedroom has a sliding door. Just dumb. We (and by we, I mean huzbend) are definitely going to have to do something about those closets. I guess I should be happy that there is no wood paneling.
We measured for the fridge. I really want a side-by-side with water in the door, but huzbend has his eye on a french door fridge. Those are the ones with the two fridge doors that open at eye level and the freezer is in a drawer on the bottom. Problem is that those don't have the water dispenser. I really like having the water dispenser. You get cold filtered water any time you want. It's like having THE poland spring in your kitchen.
Today, I stopped back at the house to move some stuff in. Most of the stuff was baby stuff, but my plants made the trip too. I hope they aren't too lonely tonight. It was nice to see it during a nice, sunny day. The neighborhood mommies and their children were out in force; running around, riding bikes, playing tag and the like. The guy next door was mowing his lawn. Welcome to Suburbia! This is definitely the place to raise some kiddies. Our backyard is absolutely gorgeous. I have NO IDEA how we are going to keep all the plants alive. The grass feels like a carpet. It was nice to be in the house today. I can't wait to get our furniture and start making it a home.
We get kicked out of temp. housing on Monday. I've got the cable/internet people coming on Thursday of next week. That was the earliest they could come. That sucks. What the hell am I gonna do that whole week? Ugh. Talk about cut off from the world. The cleaning people are coming Thursday too. Right now, Thursday looks like one of the highlights of next week. We should get a call from the movers next week. They are supposed to have our stuff to us by next Friday at the latest. Hurry up, dammit!
When I called the cable/internet people today to set up that appointment, I talked to a guy named Jim. I have this theory that if you are nice to people they, in turn, will do their best to be nice to you. This helps when your looking to get a deal. Sometimes, it leads to much more. Here is what I learned about Jim:
- he's a diabled veteran who is against war in all of its forms
- he has a girlfriend named Jodie
- she has worked for the "Evil Empire" since 1984
- she's some kind of VP in charge of Asian markets
- she used to travel to India a lot
- he had a friend that moved to Vermont about 6-7 years ago
- he has 5 grandchildren
- one of them is old enough to drive a car
- he lives on a farm and sells eggs to people
Babies heart rate is 164bpm. My blood pressure is perfectly fine. Baby is head down and ready to go. The doc mentioned that she thought that she was a little on the small side. She is still within normal range, but on the low side of that range. Doc is going to keep an eye on baby to see if she grows in the next week. If not, we may schedule an ultrasound to be sure that she looks good and to make sure there is enough fluid left in there to sustain her. I didn't like that news very much. I guess you've all been right when you kept telling me that I wasn't so big.
I also learned that my cervix is 50% effaced and that I am 1cm. dilated. The doc says that doesn't mean much. Most first timers can walk around that way for weeks before delivering, but as a precaution we should pack a hospital bag. Okay. While she was explaining this, she then says "Oh, there's the head. She's pretty far down there". What?!??!!? The head?!?!?!? She was, like, touching it or something. Um. Wow. That kinda brought things into perspective. The baby is on her way. She's coming and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to be a mom. We are going to be parents. We are going to be a family.
We have birthing class tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Boobs and Houses
So, last night I went to "Infant Feeding" class.
It really should have been titled "Breastfeeding 101". It was just about the only thing that the instructor talked about. I'd say a total of about 3 minutes was spent talking about bottle feeding.
Okay, okay. I know that breastfeeding is the preferred method of feeding. Not only does it have extensive health benefits for baby, it also speeds along my recovery after delivery. But, what about those ladies that just can't breastfeed? What about the ladies that have to go back to work and just don't have the time to pump? What about the ladies that want to get their hubby's involved in the feeding process? There have to be some tips on mixing and warming formula, what formula to give, tips for feeding babies bottles. I don't know. Maybe my inexperience is showing here. Maybe bottles are just so easy to use that there really is nothing to learn.
Anyways, I DID end up learning a lot about breastfeeding. The instructor was a really nice lady that used to be a nurse. She demonstrated techniques at the front of the class using a stuffed toy boob and a baby doll. It was kinda funny. Everytime she would manipulate the stuffed boob, I wanted to laugh. I just couldn't help it. The boob looked like it had a pull-string on it. Like the pull string on one of those toys for kids that teaches them farm animal sounds, "The cow says MOOOOOOO." I wonder what the string on the boob did? Alas, I will never know. The instructor dropped the stuffed boob on the floor once and said "Oh no! There goes my breast!", as it bounced along the floor. BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry.
It's all well and good talking about the breastfeeding stuff, but about actually doing it.....we'll see. It seems that it's really hard to get started. Both you and the baby are learning at the same time and it seems like it takes a bit of practice at the beginning. Sounds like I just have to make it through those first days. At the end of the class, the instructor had a woman come in with her 3 month old. NO, she did not breastfeed in front of the class. She answered questions from the class. Huzbend asked that very same question. Shame on all of you.
I came home armed with all sorts of knowledge, which I immediately began to share with huzbend. He immediately told me to stop because I was freaking him out with all the nipple talk. I wonder what's gonna happen to him when within an hour of delivery I'm whipping out my boob for babies first feeding time? I can hear it now, in front of the whole delivery team, "Whoa! Dude! You're totally creepin' me out here!"
I got a call yesterday from the escrow company handling the purchase of our house out here. I guess they do house closings a lot differently than back east. There is no "sit down" with the sellers to sign paperwork, distribute funds and get the keys. You never even see the people. We had an appointment today to sign all the house and mortgage paperwork. The escrow people act as a nuetral third party in this case. The escrow people then send the paperwork to the lenders, who review to make sure all is in order. Then the papers go to the local courthouse to be recorded and after that they pass the keys to our real estate agent. Totally weird.
All this is supposed to happen by sometime tomorrow. Seems like a lot to get done in one day. We hope that we'll get a call from our real estate agent tomorrow afternoon to say, "I got the keys! Come on down."
Oh yeah, I also recently got set up to work remotely for my old company. I started today with a good 3 hours of work. It's nice to be making some mula again. I hope that I can keep up with it.
We've got a lot to do in the next week and a half:
Tomorrow: Hopefully we'll own a new home. Then we can start to get tv, internet and other stuff set up.
Friday: I have an OB/GYN appointment. I'll be 36 weeks. Maybe move some of our stuff from temp. housing to the new house. We have to buy a refrigerator and have it delivered to the new house by Monday. The sellers took their fridge.
Saturday: Huzbend and I attend our "Fast Track Birth" class. He thought he was creeped out by breastfeeding. I might have to stop and buy some smelling salts before class.
Sunday: We have to move the rest of our stuff from temp. housing to the new place. We'll also have to find that refrigerator if we don't get time for it on Friday.
Monday: We will be officially kicked out of temp. housing, so we have to be sure we've got everything out.
For the rest of next week: We'll have the movers dropping off our stuff and I have a lady coming in to clean the house for me. We can begin to unpack. We have to have our services set up. Then comes shopping for baby.
Hmmmm. The books say to stay busy during your last month of pregnancy to keep your mind off of what's to come. I think we are taking this to a new ridiculous level.....
It really should have been titled "Breastfeeding 101". It was just about the only thing that the instructor talked about. I'd say a total of about 3 minutes was spent talking about bottle feeding.
Okay, okay. I know that breastfeeding is the preferred method of feeding. Not only does it have extensive health benefits for baby, it also speeds along my recovery after delivery. But, what about those ladies that just can't breastfeed? What about the ladies that have to go back to work and just don't have the time to pump? What about the ladies that want to get their hubby's involved in the feeding process? There have to be some tips on mixing and warming formula, what formula to give, tips for feeding babies bottles. I don't know. Maybe my inexperience is showing here. Maybe bottles are just so easy to use that there really is nothing to learn.
Anyways, I DID end up learning a lot about breastfeeding. The instructor was a really nice lady that used to be a nurse. She demonstrated techniques at the front of the class using a stuffed toy boob and a baby doll. It was kinda funny. Everytime she would manipulate the stuffed boob, I wanted to laugh. I just couldn't help it. The boob looked like it had a pull-string on it. Like the pull string on one of those toys for kids that teaches them farm animal sounds, "The cow says MOOOOOOO." I wonder what the string on the boob did? Alas, I will never know. The instructor dropped the stuffed boob on the floor once and said "Oh no! There goes my breast!", as it bounced along the floor. BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry.
It's all well and good talking about the breastfeeding stuff, but about actually doing it.....we'll see. It seems that it's really hard to get started. Both you and the baby are learning at the same time and it seems like it takes a bit of practice at the beginning. Sounds like I just have to make it through those first days. At the end of the class, the instructor had a woman come in with her 3 month old. NO, she did not breastfeed in front of the class. She answered questions from the class. Huzbend asked that very same question. Shame on all of you.
I came home armed with all sorts of knowledge, which I immediately began to share with huzbend. He immediately told me to stop because I was freaking him out with all the nipple talk. I wonder what's gonna happen to him when within an hour of delivery I'm whipping out my boob for babies first feeding time? I can hear it now, in front of the whole delivery team, "Whoa! Dude! You're totally creepin' me out here!"
I got a call yesterday from the escrow company handling the purchase of our house out here. I guess they do house closings a lot differently than back east. There is no "sit down" with the sellers to sign paperwork, distribute funds and get the keys. You never even see the people. We had an appointment today to sign all the house and mortgage paperwork. The escrow people act as a nuetral third party in this case. The escrow people then send the paperwork to the lenders, who review to make sure all is in order. Then the papers go to the local courthouse to be recorded and after that they pass the keys to our real estate agent. Totally weird.
All this is supposed to happen by sometime tomorrow. Seems like a lot to get done in one day. We hope that we'll get a call from our real estate agent tomorrow afternoon to say, "I got the keys! Come on down."
Oh yeah, I also recently got set up to work remotely for my old company. I started today with a good 3 hours of work. It's nice to be making some mula again. I hope that I can keep up with it.
We've got a lot to do in the next week and a half:
Tomorrow: Hopefully we'll own a new home. Then we can start to get tv, internet and other stuff set up.
Friday: I have an OB/GYN appointment. I'll be 36 weeks. Maybe move some of our stuff from temp. housing to the new house. We have to buy a refrigerator and have it delivered to the new house by Monday. The sellers took their fridge.
Saturday: Huzbend and I attend our "Fast Track Birth" class. He thought he was creeped out by breastfeeding. I might have to stop and buy some smelling salts before class.
Sunday: We have to move the rest of our stuff from temp. housing to the new place. We'll also have to find that refrigerator if we don't get time for it on Friday.
Monday: We will be officially kicked out of temp. housing, so we have to be sure we've got everything out.
For the rest of next week: We'll have the movers dropping off our stuff and I have a lady coming in to clean the house for me. We can begin to unpack. We have to have our services set up. Then comes shopping for baby.
Hmmmm. The books say to stay busy during your last month of pregnancy to keep your mind off of what's to come. I think we are taking this to a new ridiculous level.....
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Happy Feet
My feet have returned to "almost" normal status. My left foot is still somewhat bigger than my right and both are just a smidge swollen, but nothing like they were this past Friday.
Thinking back, I should've taken a picture. It would have been a grotesque picture to say the least, but interesting at the same time. I have never, and I mean NEVER, seen my feet look like that. As soon as we got home on Friday night, I looked through all my prego books to find a solution to balloon feet syndrome. It took all of Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday for them to shrink back down.
Saturday, I did a nice slow walk on the treadmill and then we did some errands. I decided to wear my sneakers all day to give some extra support to the feeties. I had to loosen the laces so much that I couldn't even TIE the damn things. How embarrassing.
The first major time trial of the Tour de France happened on Saturday. A time trial is a race against the clock - each individual rider tries to finish the course as quickly as humanly possible. One of the hopefulls from the U.S. had to "abandon" the Tour. That's what they call it when they have to drop out. Bobby Julich negotiated a turn incorrectly while going somewhere between 20 and 30 mph and his back tire skidded out. He fell over sideways and slammed into a curb. He ended up with an exposed wrist fracture. He said that when he looked down at it he could see the bones and tendons moving around through the hole the curb had ripped in his wrist. Poor dude. And I think I have problems....I should stop complaining.
Sunday, I stuck with the excercise thing and did my usual Cirque Chick workout and then did NOTHING for the rest of the day. The feet were a little better, but I could still feel liquid squishing around in them when I walked.
The World Cup ended on Sunday. Bummer. The game was good and ended even more dramatically than I would have guessed with Italy winning in the penalty kick round. The best part of the game came in the 2nd overtime session when Zidane (the French captain and one of the best players in the entire tournament) head-butted an Italian player full on in the chest and knocked him flat on his ass. I'm sure you've all seen it on the news somewhere. I guess they were exchanging insults and the Italian guy went one too far. Zidane received a red card and was kicked out of the game. The media is still speculating as to what exactly was said to make Zidane freak out like that. Supposedly, later this week both players are going to make statements about what actually happened. I can't wait to find out.
Monday was prenatal yoga day. My feet were much, much better. For the rest of the day, I also did NOTHING. I guess NOTHING is the cure to swollen feet. Why didn't they put that into the books? Today, they are looking much more human-like.
I'm guessing it could have been a multitude of things that made my feet look like watermelons:
1) The back east weather. It was pretty hot and humid while we were there, at least more than here in the northwest. I guess I have acclimated to this climate and you know what, I like it. Today it's about 65-70 degress and partly sunny with no humidity and it's freakin' July! It rocks.
2) Lack of excercise. I've been committed to doing some sort of excercise every day. The entire week we were back east, I did nothin'. Unless you can call vacuuming excercise.
3) Hamburgers and hotdogs must not be conducive to a pregnant lady keeping petite feet. I ate extraordinarily bad while we were back there. I mean B-A-D. Not only the picnic food, but we had to eat-out alot. You KNOW that isn't healthy. I had pizza, like, twice. I had chocolate cake and a few other desserts. It was all heavy food. I totally got off of my preggie diet and I think I suffered because of it. Curse you people and your tasty not-so-healthy food!
Well, I can only hope that it will be smooth walking from here on out.
Recently, I have noticed that the ring finger on my right hand occasionally gets the tingles, like it's falling asleep. According to the books, this is also normal. Blood vessels swelling and all that jazz.
Will it ever end?
Thinking back, I should've taken a picture. It would have been a grotesque picture to say the least, but interesting at the same time. I have never, and I mean NEVER, seen my feet look like that. As soon as we got home on Friday night, I looked through all my prego books to find a solution to balloon feet syndrome. It took all of Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday for them to shrink back down.
Saturday, I did a nice slow walk on the treadmill and then we did some errands. I decided to wear my sneakers all day to give some extra support to the feeties. I had to loosen the laces so much that I couldn't even TIE the damn things. How embarrassing.
The first major time trial of the Tour de France happened on Saturday. A time trial is a race against the clock - each individual rider tries to finish the course as quickly as humanly possible. One of the hopefulls from the U.S. had to "abandon" the Tour. That's what they call it when they have to drop out. Bobby Julich negotiated a turn incorrectly while going somewhere between 20 and 30 mph and his back tire skidded out. He fell over sideways and slammed into a curb. He ended up with an exposed wrist fracture. He said that when he looked down at it he could see the bones and tendons moving around through the hole the curb had ripped in his wrist. Poor dude. And I think I have problems....I should stop complaining.
Sunday, I stuck with the excercise thing and did my usual Cirque Chick workout and then did NOTHING for the rest of the day. The feet were a little better, but I could still feel liquid squishing around in them when I walked.
The World Cup ended on Sunday. Bummer. The game was good and ended even more dramatically than I would have guessed with Italy winning in the penalty kick round. The best part of the game came in the 2nd overtime session when Zidane (the French captain and one of the best players in the entire tournament) head-butted an Italian player full on in the chest and knocked him flat on his ass. I'm sure you've all seen it on the news somewhere. I guess they were exchanging insults and the Italian guy went one too far. Zidane received a red card and was kicked out of the game. The media is still speculating as to what exactly was said to make Zidane freak out like that. Supposedly, later this week both players are going to make statements about what actually happened. I can't wait to find out.
Monday was prenatal yoga day. My feet were much, much better. For the rest of the day, I also did NOTHING. I guess NOTHING is the cure to swollen feet. Why didn't they put that into the books? Today, they are looking much more human-like.
I'm guessing it could have been a multitude of things that made my feet look like watermelons:
1) The back east weather. It was pretty hot and humid while we were there, at least more than here in the northwest. I guess I have acclimated to this climate and you know what, I like it. Today it's about 65-70 degress and partly sunny with no humidity and it's freakin' July! It rocks.
2) Lack of excercise. I've been committed to doing some sort of excercise every day. The entire week we were back east, I did nothin'. Unless you can call vacuuming excercise.
3) Hamburgers and hotdogs must not be conducive to a pregnant lady keeping petite feet. I ate extraordinarily bad while we were back there. I mean B-A-D. Not only the picnic food, but we had to eat-out alot. You KNOW that isn't healthy. I had pizza, like, twice. I had chocolate cake and a few other desserts. It was all heavy food. I totally got off of my preggie diet and I think I suffered because of it. Curse you people and your tasty not-so-healthy food!
Well, I can only hope that it will be smooth walking from here on out.
Recently, I have noticed that the ring finger on my right hand occasionally gets the tingles, like it's falling asleep. According to the books, this is also normal. Blood vessels swelling and all that jazz.
Will it ever end?
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Home
Show me the way to go home...
July 1st:
We were up at 4:30 am to prepare for our trip back east.
Huzbend wanted to get in a workout before spending the day on the plane. To allay your fears, there were no cougars spotted on the walk to or from the gym.
Our flight was at 8:45am and we wouldn't get to where we were going until 7pm. Ugh.
I guess that my belly is large enough now to attract attention. The TSA lady at the metal detector waved her hand over my belly wishing my child to, "Beeee Healthy, Beeeee Smart". It was a nice gesture, but kinda creepy at the same time.
Before boarding the plane there was a couple in line behind us that had to lip-smack kiss every five seconds. It was the most annoying thing ever. Here's an example of their conversation,
Dude: "Are you excited about this trip?" KISS, KISS, KISS
Dudette: "Yes, I really am." KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS
Dude: "I can't wait to get there." KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS
If they started to call eachother "Shmoopy", I think I would have turned around and bitch slapped them both.
We landed, picked up the rental car and headed straight for Bertucci's. They don't have Bertucci's out here in the NorthWest. I inhaled what will most likely be my last Margherita Pizza. Bummer.
We headed for the old house. It was strange coming back. It was like we were "home", but not quite. All our stuff was there, but it didn't have that same "home" type of feeling. I once again fell in love with our couch and our mattress. For the first time in about a month, I got to sleep an entire night in a BED. Sigh.
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed.....
July 2nd:
We awoke and found that our dish tv had not yet been shut off. That meant that we were able to watch the 1st stage of the Tour De France. At the end of the race, Thor Hushovd was shown lying on the ground well past the finish line apparently injured. It turns out that right as he crossed the line, he was hit in the head with a spectators camera and was gashed in the arm by a big cardboard "#1 Finger". Because his heart rate was elevated from sprinting, the blood was pumping out of his arm in time with his heart beat. Grody.
We headed up to huzbend's parents campground for a get together. We got to visit with mom & dad-in-law, bro & sis-in-law as well as G-Ma & G-Pa. We ate what huzbend would sarcastically say was a highly nutritious meal consisting of hotdogs, cheddar & bacon infused hamburgers, pasta/potato salad and chocolate cake while watching a Mike Tyson Fest on ESPN Classic. It was soooooo good. The food, not the fights.
The day was kinda hot and just a little humid. My feet began to swell a bit, not allowing my feet to fit in to my leather sandals. I guess it was my own fault. For some reason, I decided to stand up more than I should have. That didn't help at all. They wouldn't go back to normal for the rest of our trip...in fact they got worse.
I had a little drink about an hour ago....
July 3rd:
In the morning we got a call from our back east real estate agent. The majority of the inspection results had come in. The buyers were happy with the results and were not asking for anything additional. I was floored. Boy, they must really like our place. The only stipulation was that if the Radon Air results came back over the EPA posted limit of 4.0, we would have the problem fixed by installing a mitigation system. It was great news. We signed the contract and both breathed a sigh of relief. The last inspection done on our house came up with a Radon Air level of 3.5, so we figured that we were good to go. Our house was SOLD!! Okay, well, almost.
We stopped at a FedEx Kinkos. We parked the car and a guy pulled in right next to us leaving about a 6 inch space between us. There was no way me and my belly would be able to fit out of the car.
So, I had to wait in the car. How lame.
And it's gone right to my head.....
July 4th:
Today, we headed down south to visit with my family for a picnic. We arrived at my middle sisters house where we hung out with her, her husband, my parents, my youngest sister along with her boyfriend, and Poppop.
The first thing I heard from them was that I was "not as big as they thought I was gonna be". Hmmmph. I think I'm huge. I guess it's good not to be TOO big, though. But again, I have never weighed this much in my entire life.....happy thoughts, happy thoughts....
The cravings were satisfied yet again with hotdogs, hamburgs, my moms totally awesome potato salad, Mema's cheezy ziti recipe, corn on the cob, as well as cookies, cakes and fruit pizza. I had two helpings of the potato salad. There is nothing like comfort food to make you feel "all better" no matter how big your feet may become.
Over the past couple of days, there were many questions asked about the baby and how I was feeling. I'm not really good at handling all the attention. It feels like I dominate the scene. Sometimes, I just don't know how to answer the questions that I am fielded. There are so many unknowns. I mean, we have a plan in place for what we would like to happen at the birth and afterwards. But who knows, right? I've read all the books and yet I still feel woefully inadequate when it comes to the whole being a mommy thing. Guess that's normal for a first-timer.
Wherever I may roam....
July 5th:
The packers got to our house at about 9am. There were 3 of them.
It took them 4 hours to pack up ALL of our stuff. It was absolutely incredible. Each person took a floor and just went to town. The guy that packed the kitchen put on his headphones and proceded to wrap and pack each individual plate, bowl, cup, etc.
We were impressed. As everyone knows, packing is the absolute worst. It was just shocking to me that these people had made this their JOB, for cripes sake. They were good. What would have taken us weeks to do they did in one day.
In the middle of the packing frenzy, our back east real estate agent called. The Radon Air results were back and they were NOT good. The level that came back was 9.8!! Can't we catch a break, here? Jeez. So, we decided that we would get a written estimate for the mitigation system to be installed and then credit the buyers at closing. I just can't believe that the level could rise that much in only a few weeks time. But, what are we gonna do? We wanna sell the damn place.
Since all of our possessions were now in boxes, we had to move to a hotel for the night.
At the hotel, there were some ladies that asked me when I was due. This was the first time that someone that I didn't know asked me when I was due. They then barraged me with questions and advice such as: what I was having, that their girlfriend was due in August as well, that I look good for being so far along, that everyone they knew was having a boy, and good luck. I guess the belly now speaks for itself.
The hotel that we stayed at offered the Sleep Number bed as one of their perks. Totally NOT impressed. The bed sucked. I had it set on a really soft setting and I just could not get comfortable. I think it was just, like, one step better than the temp. housing mattress. To tell the truth, I would have picked sleeping on the temp. housing sofa than sleeping on this bed.
By land, or sea, or foam....
July 6th:
We got up bright and early to head to the breakfast buffet and then off to the old house. The movers showed up at about 9am. There was a woman that took an entire inventory of our house and there were three actual movers. It took them 5 hours to pack it all into the truck. According to the moving company, we should see our stuff anywhere from a week to two weeks at our new place.
It was very strange sitting around watching the house empty around us. Soon, there were no chairs left and we just had to park it on the floor for a while.
And then, it was empty. The movers had left and it was just us. Alone. In our old house. It was so quiet. So plain. So sad. There was nothing left to do and it was time to go. As we grabbed the two bags of garbage, I gave huzbend a big hug. I loved our house. When we bought it, I remember thinking, "This is where we are going to have our kids. This is where we are going to have our dog. This is it!". But, things never turn out the way you think they will. Life changes. New opportunities open up. You've got to be ready to try something new, even though it might be a little scary.
Suprisingly, I was okay with leaving. I teared up a bit as I was locked in the hug, but that was it. We filled up the rental car with the garbage and pulled out of the driveway. I remember smiling, thinking to myself, "Now, our new life can really begin. Bye house! Thanks for the memories!"
After stopping at the transfer station (aka town dump), we had nothing left to do. We decided to spend a gift certificate for a local store and then called to see if we could hook up with bro & sis-in-law for some dinner.
Dinner was do-able and we met up with them later that afternoon. Huzbend put on his chefs hat and created a spectacular meal. Bro managed the grill while huzbend concocted his first "relish". Originally, we called it a sauce but I thought that it was quite a bit chunky to be called a sauce. It was made from scratch with veggies that he just picked out on the spur of the moment. I tell you, if he ever had to leave his career as a software engineer, he could always do the chef thing. I'm such a lucky woman. The way to a pregnant womans heart is DEFINITELY though her tummy.
You can always hear me singing this song.....
July 7th:
-BRIIINGGGG, BRIIINGGGG-
-BRIIINGGGG, BRIIINGGGG-
A very tired huzbend answered the obnoxiously loud hotel room phone, "Hello?"
"This is the front desk calling with your wake up call!", a cheerful voice said.
It was 4:30am and we had NOT placed a wake up call. Ugh. Only us.
Our flight today was leaving at about 5pm. We decided to splurge and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Mans Chest. I liked the movie, but huzbend wasn't that impressed.
We got to the airport a little early, only to have our flight delayed about 30 minutes due to "fueling issues". My feet, by this point in the week, had tripled in size. The swelling now included my ankles. I can't even describe what they looked like. They were so big, that I was having trouble shoving them into my flip-flops. To add to my misery at the delay, the air conditioning in our section of the airport was not working.
Finally, they fixed the problem and we were on our way. For both flights I was able to sit in an aisle seat. Sooooooo niiiiiiiiice. I could get up and go to the bathroom as many times as I wanted. And let me tell you, it was about once every 30 minutes. I had to hobble down the aisle and it felt like everyone was staring at my feet.
We finally got back into SeaTac at about 11pm.
We close on our house out here on Thursday, the 13th. The temp. housing situation is only going to last one more week. I am now 35 weeks pregnant. Things are looking up. It felt really good to be here. To be home.
Show me the way to go home.
July 1st:
We were up at 4:30 am to prepare for our trip back east.
Huzbend wanted to get in a workout before spending the day on the plane. To allay your fears, there were no cougars spotted on the walk to or from the gym.
Our flight was at 8:45am and we wouldn't get to where we were going until 7pm. Ugh.
I guess that my belly is large enough now to attract attention. The TSA lady at the metal detector waved her hand over my belly wishing my child to, "Beeee Healthy, Beeeee Smart". It was a nice gesture, but kinda creepy at the same time.
Before boarding the plane there was a couple in line behind us that had to lip-smack kiss every five seconds. It was the most annoying thing ever. Here's an example of their conversation,
Dude: "Are you excited about this trip?" KISS, KISS, KISS
Dudette: "Yes, I really am." KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS
Dude: "I can't wait to get there." KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS
If they started to call eachother "Shmoopy", I think I would have turned around and bitch slapped them both.
We landed, picked up the rental car and headed straight for Bertucci's. They don't have Bertucci's out here in the NorthWest. I inhaled what will most likely be my last Margherita Pizza. Bummer.
We headed for the old house. It was strange coming back. It was like we were "home", but not quite. All our stuff was there, but it didn't have that same "home" type of feeling. I once again fell in love with our couch and our mattress. For the first time in about a month, I got to sleep an entire night in a BED. Sigh.
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed.....
July 2nd:
We awoke and found that our dish tv had not yet been shut off. That meant that we were able to watch the 1st stage of the Tour De France. At the end of the race, Thor Hushovd was shown lying on the ground well past the finish line apparently injured. It turns out that right as he crossed the line, he was hit in the head with a spectators camera and was gashed in the arm by a big cardboard "#1 Finger". Because his heart rate was elevated from sprinting, the blood was pumping out of his arm in time with his heart beat. Grody.
We headed up to huzbend's parents campground for a get together. We got to visit with mom & dad-in-law, bro & sis-in-law as well as G-Ma & G-Pa. We ate what huzbend would sarcastically say was a highly nutritious meal consisting of hotdogs, cheddar & bacon infused hamburgers, pasta/potato salad and chocolate cake while watching a Mike Tyson Fest on ESPN Classic. It was soooooo good. The food, not the fights.
The day was kinda hot and just a little humid. My feet began to swell a bit, not allowing my feet to fit in to my leather sandals. I guess it was my own fault. For some reason, I decided to stand up more than I should have. That didn't help at all. They wouldn't go back to normal for the rest of our trip...in fact they got worse.
I had a little drink about an hour ago....
July 3rd:
In the morning we got a call from our back east real estate agent. The majority of the inspection results had come in. The buyers were happy with the results and were not asking for anything additional. I was floored. Boy, they must really like our place. The only stipulation was that if the Radon Air results came back over the EPA posted limit of 4.0, we would have the problem fixed by installing a mitigation system. It was great news. We signed the contract and both breathed a sigh of relief. The last inspection done on our house came up with a Radon Air level of 3.5, so we figured that we were good to go. Our house was SOLD!! Okay, well, almost.
We stopped at a FedEx Kinkos. We parked the car and a guy pulled in right next to us leaving about a 6 inch space between us. There was no way me and my belly would be able to fit out of the car.
So, I had to wait in the car. How lame.
And it's gone right to my head.....
July 4th:
Today, we headed down south to visit with my family for a picnic. We arrived at my middle sisters house where we hung out with her, her husband, my parents, my youngest sister along with her boyfriend, and Poppop.
The first thing I heard from them was that I was "not as big as they thought I was gonna be". Hmmmph. I think I'm huge. I guess it's good not to be TOO big, though. But again, I have never weighed this much in my entire life.....happy thoughts, happy thoughts....
The cravings were satisfied yet again with hotdogs, hamburgs, my moms totally awesome potato salad, Mema's cheezy ziti recipe, corn on the cob, as well as cookies, cakes and fruit pizza. I had two helpings of the potato salad. There is nothing like comfort food to make you feel "all better" no matter how big your feet may become.
Over the past couple of days, there were many questions asked about the baby and how I was feeling. I'm not really good at handling all the attention. It feels like I dominate the scene. Sometimes, I just don't know how to answer the questions that I am fielded. There are so many unknowns. I mean, we have a plan in place for what we would like to happen at the birth and afterwards. But who knows, right? I've read all the books and yet I still feel woefully inadequate when it comes to the whole being a mommy thing. Guess that's normal for a first-timer.
Wherever I may roam....
July 5th:
The packers got to our house at about 9am. There were 3 of them.
It took them 4 hours to pack up ALL of our stuff. It was absolutely incredible. Each person took a floor and just went to town. The guy that packed the kitchen put on his headphones and proceded to wrap and pack each individual plate, bowl, cup, etc.
We were impressed. As everyone knows, packing is the absolute worst. It was just shocking to me that these people had made this their JOB, for cripes sake. They were good. What would have taken us weeks to do they did in one day.
In the middle of the packing frenzy, our back east real estate agent called. The Radon Air results were back and they were NOT good. The level that came back was 9.8!! Can't we catch a break, here? Jeez. So, we decided that we would get a written estimate for the mitigation system to be installed and then credit the buyers at closing. I just can't believe that the level could rise that much in only a few weeks time. But, what are we gonna do? We wanna sell the damn place.
Since all of our possessions were now in boxes, we had to move to a hotel for the night.
At the hotel, there were some ladies that asked me when I was due. This was the first time that someone that I didn't know asked me when I was due. They then barraged me with questions and advice such as: what I was having, that their girlfriend was due in August as well, that I look good for being so far along, that everyone they knew was having a boy, and good luck. I guess the belly now speaks for itself.
The hotel that we stayed at offered the Sleep Number bed as one of their perks. Totally NOT impressed. The bed sucked. I had it set on a really soft setting and I just could not get comfortable. I think it was just, like, one step better than the temp. housing mattress. To tell the truth, I would have picked sleeping on the temp. housing sofa than sleeping on this bed.
By land, or sea, or foam....
July 6th:
We got up bright and early to head to the breakfast buffet and then off to the old house. The movers showed up at about 9am. There was a woman that took an entire inventory of our house and there were three actual movers. It took them 5 hours to pack it all into the truck. According to the moving company, we should see our stuff anywhere from a week to two weeks at our new place.
It was very strange sitting around watching the house empty around us. Soon, there were no chairs left and we just had to park it on the floor for a while.
And then, it was empty. The movers had left and it was just us. Alone. In our old house. It was so quiet. So plain. So sad. There was nothing left to do and it was time to go. As we grabbed the two bags of garbage, I gave huzbend a big hug. I loved our house. When we bought it, I remember thinking, "This is where we are going to have our kids. This is where we are going to have our dog. This is it!". But, things never turn out the way you think they will. Life changes. New opportunities open up. You've got to be ready to try something new, even though it might be a little scary.
Suprisingly, I was okay with leaving. I teared up a bit as I was locked in the hug, but that was it. We filled up the rental car with the garbage and pulled out of the driveway. I remember smiling, thinking to myself, "Now, our new life can really begin. Bye house! Thanks for the memories!"
After stopping at the transfer station (aka town dump), we had nothing left to do. We decided to spend a gift certificate for a local store and then called to see if we could hook up with bro & sis-in-law for some dinner.
Dinner was do-able and we met up with them later that afternoon. Huzbend put on his chefs hat and created a spectacular meal. Bro managed the grill while huzbend concocted his first "relish". Originally, we called it a sauce but I thought that it was quite a bit chunky to be called a sauce. It was made from scratch with veggies that he just picked out on the spur of the moment. I tell you, if he ever had to leave his career as a software engineer, he could always do the chef thing. I'm such a lucky woman. The way to a pregnant womans heart is DEFINITELY though her tummy.
You can always hear me singing this song.....
July 7th:
-BRIIINGGGG, BRIIINGGGG-
-BRIIINGGGG, BRIIINGGGG-
A very tired huzbend answered the obnoxiously loud hotel room phone, "Hello?"
"This is the front desk calling with your wake up call!", a cheerful voice said.
It was 4:30am and we had NOT placed a wake up call. Ugh. Only us.
Our flight today was leaving at about 5pm. We decided to splurge and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Mans Chest. I liked the movie, but huzbend wasn't that impressed.
We got to the airport a little early, only to have our flight delayed about 30 minutes due to "fueling issues". My feet, by this point in the week, had tripled in size. The swelling now included my ankles. I can't even describe what they looked like. They were so big, that I was having trouble shoving them into my flip-flops. To add to my misery at the delay, the air conditioning in our section of the airport was not working.
Finally, they fixed the problem and we were on our way. For both flights I was able to sit in an aisle seat. Sooooooo niiiiiiiiice. I could get up and go to the bathroom as many times as I wanted. And let me tell you, it was about once every 30 minutes. I had to hobble down the aisle and it felt like everyone was staring at my feet.
We finally got back into SeaTac at about 11pm.
We close on our house out here on Thursday, the 13th. The temp. housing situation is only going to last one more week. I am now 35 weeks pregnant. Things are looking up. It felt really good to be here. To be home.
Show me the way to go home.
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