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Project #3 Complete

Sand. Varnish. Sand. Varnish. Sand. Varnish. It takes a while, but now it's done and we've got our very own butt-wiping station. As usual, my perfectionist hubby complained the entire time he was building it that it was hideous and plagued with flaws. He's still complaining a little, but was a bit more complimentary of his work last night when it was all done. We both came to the conclusion that we really like birch. It is so pretty when it's got just a clear varnish on it … almost iridescent (if wood can be so) and the grain is beautiful.

While we varnished, I watched like 8 eps of Martha and Rachael Ray (in about 3.5 hours). Even after all my love-spats with Tivo last year, I really do love it!! It is so handy for fast-forwarding through those commercials and the obnoxious segments where Martha shares all of her 8281763 beauty products with the audience and Rachael Ray has a schmaltz fest with err… whomever.

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Waiting Game

What's going on while we're playing this little waiting game …

* The weather has been sunny and clear (if a little chilly) the past couple of days. It's supposed to snow tomorrow though. Boo.

* Two eco links: plant 450 trees for $45 with Trees for the Future, clean water becomes child's play with play pumps.

* Matt is almost finished with a piece to go on top of the dresser for changing little one … it's basically a raised platform for the changing pad with a drawer underneath to hold changing supplies. We're going to put poly on it tonight (don't worry people, it's water-based and safe for pregnant women).

* I did (sorta) pack for the hospital this weekend. You can breathe easier now, Yvett.

* Every day that I work in construction, my skills for spreching Deutsch seem more and more useless. Why didn't I learn Spanish?

* Grey's Anatomy (which I haven't even been watching) was on for 2 hours last Thursday and so my Tivo didn't record The Office (which I watch w/o fail) or My name is Earl. I'm a little peeved.

* I bought the cute robot pendant from Imogen's Etsy site. I've had loads of compliments on it. Just $8.50 including shipping … you can't go wrong!

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Happy Feet


I had a very nice weekend. Friday we got together with my mom, sister and grandma and went to our neighborhood Italian restaurant. It was the first time we'd been there since it went under new management. Parts of it (the service, paticularly) were better than the original. Most of it was very similar. And parts of it (no pine-nut cookies) were not as good. They did give us samples of their bellinis. I had a sip or two … YUM. As soon as it gets warm, I want to go sit outside and enjoy a bellini.

Saturday we went to breakfast with my parents and Kelly and then mom and I spent the rest of the day hanging out, shopping and getting a mani (her)/pedi (me). My mom's sweet friend and nail tech, Judy, gave me a pedicure as a baby gift. I picked “Diggeriedo Your Nails” for the color and Judy put some orchid decals and rhinestones on my big toes. They look awesome (as you might be able to tell from the photo). Matt and Kelly took Loki to the dog park and then Matt went to the woodworking store. Saturday evening we got together with our friends and had meatballs and tortellini for dinner and hung around chatting. Continue reading “Happy Feet”

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Blessed Friday

Yay for Friday, that's all I can say. It's been a kinda weird week and I more feel like I've been floating through it as opposed to living in it. It's simulataneously gone really fast and really slow. On Wednesday, I couldn't believe it was only Wednesday, but every night when it gets to be about 8 (approx 1 hour before bed) I'm amazed that the day has gone by so quickly.

Confession time: I have not packed for the hospital yet (not for labor, not for post labor, not for Matt, not for little one). The car seat has not been taken to a firehouse to be installed properly. The pack 'n' play, where we plan to have her sleep the first few weeks (in our bedroom), has not been taken out of its box or assembled. I am still not caught-up on thank you notes. The house is a mess and I've been grumping at poor Matty to pick up his trash and put his dishes in the dishwasher almost relentlessly. Actually, I've been grumping in general quite a bit the past few days. I have very little energy at the moment to correct any of these situations. I also don't care a whole lot.

FYI: I will probably not be posting this weekend, so when you don't see any updates, this is planned and probably not because I'm in labor.

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Hanging in There

Hi all! Just wanted to let you know that baby and I are doing fine and she's apparently going to hang in for a while yet. Yesterday was a sort of frustrating day. Actually, I should take that back. It was a frustrating morning followed by some R&R to recover from the frustrating morning. I won't get into details because I don't want to re-hash it in my mind and get annoyed all over again and besides, it would probably bore the pants off you. But that's the reason I didn't post anything yesterday.

Today I am boring. Actually I'll probably be quite boring until little one decides to make her grand appearance. Lately all I've been capable of is sleeping (still doing miraculously well at this), eating (mostly junk because I can't be bothered to cook right now and Matt is busy in his shop), working (at my job, not at fun/interesting things) and resting … with activities, such as they are. I've watched a little TV (Degrassi, Gilmore Girls and Scrubs re-runs yesterday, I believe) and read some books (historical romance I can't remember the name of and The Baby Whisperer) and I'm *this close* to being done (well caught-up anyhow) with thank-you notes.

I'll try to catch up on emails and blog-reading t'day. Thanks to you all for your notes and such.

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Not Yet!

No induction yet! My labs came back and I was on the low-side of normal for whatever they were testing for (protein I think). My ankles are back to normal too. Now I want her to hang on at least long enough so I can get my pedicure on Saturday. I'm also happy to have s'more time to get things in order at the office and at home. But I'll fully admit that I was a weeeee bit disappointed. I'm just so anxious to meet her!! Luckily I am still sleeping pretty well and I don't feel too uncomfy (most of the time). So I'll count my blessings and look forward to her arrival.

Interesting fact: my sister and I were both born two days after our due dates. Both of our due dates were the day before a full moon. Lil one's due date is likewise the day before a full moon.

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Oh Baby!

Morning kids. I guess you all get some baby talk today. For those of you who don't like to hear about the more … medical … parts of pregnancy, you might wanna skip this. I will likely mention my cervix at least once more. I had an appointment with the docs on Friday. I am apparently dilated a bit, “a centimeter or so” and “a bit” thinned. Possibly of more interest is that I had highish blood pressure. Don't quote me on these numbers, cuz I am not positive, but I think it was something like 148/88 and I really don't know what that means. There was also some swelling, particularly in my ankles and something was amiss with the pee. I think they said protein. So I won the jackpot as far as OB visits go and got another stress test, ultrasound *and* blood work-up. I got my favorite phlebotomist though and she got me in one stick. Yay. I also got to do the “pee jug” or 24-hour urinalysis. All kinds of fun for the weekend. But it's done with now.

What all this means? Possibly preeclampsia. I'm sure most of you know generally what that's all about, but for those of you who don't, here's a link. It explains it better than I could. So I should hear back today whether they want me to come in for more tests or if they just want to take a “wait and see” attitude or if they want to induce me sometime soon or what. For the record, I do not know how I feel about induction at least emotionally. I don't think I'll really know until they tell me what their decision on all of this is and then my gut will tell me. Academically, I am not thrilled with the idea of induction since it's supposed to be a harder, much more painful labor, but if that's what baby and I need, so be it. God invented epidurals for a reason. Continue reading “Oh Baby!”

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Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Snow Dragons

Snow has been an issue here in Denver this year … to say the least. We are just now finally getting streets cleared from the many snows that piled up and froze into mini glaciers and blocked our streets, sidewalks and driveways. And I won't even go into the potholes the white stuff has created. Cuz we know what's really important the city of Denver has wisely decided to pony up $30,000 to rent a “Snow Dragon” for a month in order to get our baseball stadium's parking lots clear.

The behemoth machine takes in snow, melts it, heats it to 120 degrees and spits it back out to melt more snow. It also filters the water before it goes out so the ickies don't go back into our storm water drains. They swear it'll be save the taxpayers big $$ and we'll finally be able to park at Coors Field. And the people rejoiced.

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My Funny Valentine

Valentine's day seems to have gotten a bad rep as of late which is sort of a shame. I know it's been commercialized beyond all recognition, but it's namesake was known for marrying couples against the law which is pretty romantic to me. Matt and I don't make a big deal out of it by any means. There will be no dinner reservations or dozen long-stemmed roses. We both sort of believe that occasional unexpected gestures of love are more important than having this dictated by the calendar, but I am planning to make him something he paticularly enjoys for dinner and whatever we spend our evening doing we'll make sure to do it together. I count myself very lucky to be able to call Matt my Valentine. He's a wonderful husband and friend … and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him be a wonderful father.

And of course, Happy V'Day to all my other Valentines: all of you who make my days brighter and happier and sillier and funnier. Hugs!