Month: January 2009

IOU a decent post with some photos and whatnot, but this weekend does not really warrant that. For one thing I only touched the camera to move it from spot to spot. And for another, it just wasn't that sort of weekend.

To be sure, we had good fun with friends and family and Tabby was an absolute joy, but really, I have no idea where the time went. I know our water bill will be higher this month because I did a huge amount of laundry and dishes. And I know we got things accomplished … you just can't see it like some other weekends. Kind of disheartening.

An inspiring title if there ever was one, right? I really have sat down to blah blah blah to you all a couple of times, but it's been hard for some reason. Not that much interesting is going on, honestly … and I've been having trouble keeping my eyes open in the evenings when I do the interesting things.

I had my 24 week OB appt on Tuesday which would have been quick, except that my OB was out sick and they were backed up … so I saw my NP instead (which is fine – I like her lots). Little guy was so busy moving she could hardly get a doppler reading on him, but finally she did and that was great and so were the measurements.

I also sent an email to Panera re: our experience at their cafe last Saturday. They responded quite promptly and offered to give us a gift card to make up for the crappy experience which I think is entirely appropriate. It will definitely get me to go back there a lot sooner than I probably otherwise would have. I still don't plan on going back to that location anytime soon.

Matt's brother has offered to come watch Tabby this Sunday so that we can get a bunch of stuff done around the house. So now I need to figure out the best way to spend our free time. Matt needs to finish up the garage projects from last go-around and I could probably work on purging the basement, but I am not such a good heavy-lifter at the moment, so we'll see. Maybe I should just take a break. Cleaning up my office last week made me realize (once again) that I have tons of great crafty stuff JUST SITTING THERE. As it has been for nearly two years. Doing a little crafting would be a nice break.

We also found out that some friends of ours who weren't sure if they could make it out to visit this year (and go skiing) will be able to make it. I'm so looking forward to seeing them!

And to celebrate the new year, I re-tooled our budget to reflect some changes in bills, income and my upcoming maternity leave. I also started another college savings account and a fund for home-improvements … to save for things like a plumber and an architect (both with a PhD) – huge bonus points and maybe a prize if you know that reference and are not my sister – when we get into the nitty-gritty of basement remodeling. And I spent some QT analyzing our spending from last year which was pretty damn interesting. In the year of hugely awful gas prices we spent hardly anything on gas … hitting below that budget target easily pretty much every month … but FOOD is our problem spot and I am going to work hard to put a stop to that.

Wow, seems I actually had a LOT of nothing to talk about.

SNOW. Loads of it. That hardly anyone was expecting. They say it will be only 2-5 inches and let up around the time rush hour ends (swell timing, Mother Nature) but in the meantime, my normally 20-25 min commute was transformed into an hour and 45 minute slog from hell. And I was one of the lucky ones in a gas-guzzling SUV with four-wheel drive and heated seats. I feel incredibly bad for the people in the teeny tiny Geo Metros and Toyota Celicas that got stuck and anyone who had to keep hopping out to re-clear their windshields and wipers.

So that is the big news here in the wild west. Also, Broncos have a new head coach. And he's kinda cute.

That is all.

Back to defining my time in terms of weekends and non weekends. Kinda depressing but oh well. So the weekend is almost over. We had nothing on the schedule, per se, but of course it has been jam-packed.

I spent all Friday afternoon cleaning out my office. I boxed up some junk (anyone want Readymade Magazines? If so, email me, I have extras) and removed my defunct desktop computer and vacuumed and all that jazz. It looks way better in there … but there's probably plenty to do still.

Saturday we went to the car dealership and had the coating put on the front of my car to protect it from chips and rocks and stuff (very necessary here with the tons of gravel on the road) and then we went to breakfast at Panera. Never again. $15 for breakfast and there were no tables to sit at except outside (in 20 degree weather) because there were tons of people taking up tables for 4 with nothing but them and their laptops … not even a cup of coffee in sight. I was not pleased. We never did get a table and ended up eating in the car.

Nothing quite went right on Saturday, somehow, right down to the brownies I made for my grandma's b'day party. A recipe I've made at least 10. They weren't getting done in the middle and so I kept cooking them and suddenly they were burnt on top and still really gooey in the middle.

Luckily, my mom could make a batch at her house and brought them with rest of her well-made dinner. We had dinner with my parents, sister, aunt and grandma and that was by far the nicest part of the day. My parents took Tabby home with them so Matt and I could sleep in today and get a few things accomplished.

This morning we got our extra sleep and then I went to prenatal yoga while Matt ran on the treadmill. After our workouts, we attacked the garage. A few mice had gotten in earlier in the season and we'd waited until they stopped coming in to clean up their mess which was mostly (of course) in our garage pantry. We also moved a hand-me-down fridge into position which sounds easy, but involved switching the swing of the doors to the other side and cutting an inch of a shelf to make it fit.

This was step 1 of 234203895 in the whole get ready for baby and basement remodel scheme, I suppose … but it felt like a hell of a lot of work for very little tangible results. And we still need to make a good-will run, add doors to the pantry and construct another set of shelves. Another day.

We met up with my mom and sister for lunch and to collect Miss Tabby. After the late lunch and errands, we came home to collapse on the sofa and watch Little Einsteins and Barney (Tabby's choices).

Now it's time to put Tabby in the bath and then to bed. But there's no rest for the weary. Matt and I still plan to finsh up laundry, pick up the house a little and assemble a pre-fab shelf for Tabby's toys. Work sounds easy right about now.

I don't really do the resolution thing, except sort of in my head … things I want to do better on and I usually take stock. 2008 was a pretty great year all things said and done and I am proud of lots I accomplished. I don't really believe in regrets anyhow.

The world seems kind of chaotic, but I am pretty optimistic about 2009, mostly because being pessimistic doesn't really get me much of anywhere. And we've got lots to look forward to, including Miss Tabby's Second B'day and the arrival of our new little guy.

But as I might've mentioned, we're sort of out of room in our house and while he won't take up too much space for a while, eventually he's going to need to move from the p'n'p in our room to an actual crib … and knowing our habits, he'll probably have a fair amount of clothing, so he's going to need some storage space.

We have three bedrooms upstairs. Currently two are used as bedrooms and the third is Matt's office. The obvious thing would be to kick Matt out, stick him somewhere else and put baby boy in the office. But the office has many nice built-in cabinets and counter-space. These make for a great office, but not such an awesome nursery. They don't exactly exude coziness and they are more storage space than your average nursery needs. But they would make some nice storage for say … TOYS. So we are thinking of having the kiddos share the bedroom and turning the office into a playroom (and moving some of the toys and books from the nursery to make room).

Which leaves us with one big question. Continue reading “2008 Gone, 2009 Here We Go”

Today is back to work. To say I'm not really looking forward to it doesn't quite cover the issue. We had a very nice break though, even if it wasn't as long as I might've liked (is it ever?). I had a few very lazy days hanging around the condo in Vail while Matt skiied. Tabby was in a pretty good mood most of the time and even took a couple of naps with little or no protest. She is also obsessed with her Barney DVD her sitter got her for Christmas. With my MP3 player at 11 I can totally drown him out, though, so it's OK.

The main thing I'm excited about going back to work for is getting back on our routine. It's been weeks of anything but our normal schedule and it's taking it's toll on everyone, but no one more than Tabby. Our usually excellent night sleeper has been waking up and wanting cuddles and reassurance. Sweet as it is, no one is getting excellent sleep. And I WANT SLEEP. I think getting back on schedule will help immensely. Beyond that, I like my routine and I'm sick of eating out too often (thus spending $$) and never being at home. I miss Loki and Tivo.

Just wanted to drop a note off on my blog and tell ya'll we're doing just fine. I know it's been a while but we've just been busy enjoying a few days off. Other than getting ready for some company, it's been lots of lying around, playing with Tabby, playing computer games, napping, fighting with Tabby about napping, fingerpainting, skiing, cooking, movie watching and anything else that falls into the general category of RELAXING.

I've still got two more days off and maybe then I'll think about getting back to the normalaties of life. Until then, I'm living in fantasy land.

Hope your 2009 is going great so far.