Hobbit feet

In case anyone thinks I'm joking when I say my ankles have disappeared, check these babies out! It's only 2pm and my feet are massive!



See the complete lack of definition in the ankles? See the puffy toes that look like vienna sausages?

Lest anyone should accuse me of not taking it easy, I've been sitting ALL DAY. I tried elevating my feet while I work, however, it causes lower back pain. I guess I'm just doomed to have Shrek feet for another month!

BAH!

A memorable memorial day weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun. Our friends, Andy and Hilary, came to town - they stayed with Jay and Erin. We spent our entire weekend surrounded by friends, we spent some time at the outlets, and some much needed time on the lake.

On Friday evening Brian and I headed over to Jay and Erin's to hang out with Andy for a while before they headed off to pick up Hilary from the airport. The gang went down town, but Brian and I went home and watched a movie instead because my feet were already swollen.

Saturday we bought a new couch! we picked it up for a steal at a furniture place on Burnet Road. I talked the guy down by $200 ;-) Mike and Brian picked it up (which saved us another $100 in delivery fees). It's an L-shaped sectional, leather on the bottom/back, with micro-suede cushions and various shades of brown throw pillows. It's super comfy and is perfectly sized for the room. We had been to almost every furniture store in the city and in most cases the secitonals were all too big. We're very happy with it.

Saturday night was spent over at Jay and Erin's with Mike and Tara and Andy and Hilary, and a few others. We grilled, hung out, and had a hilarious evening of cheesy Kareoke, complete with video, which I'm hoping will be posted on youtube.com in the near future. You haven't experienced Kareoke until you've heard Andy and Jay's rendition of Sonny and Cher's "I got you babe". Brian and I made it home around 3am.

On Sunday, Brian camped out on our new couch in front of the Indy 500 while I took a trip down to the outlets in San Marcos with the girls. we spent a good 5 hours there and I bought one thing for the kid - a race car night light from Pottery Barn, some awesome linen trousers for me, some red mugs to match our other dishes from Crate & Barrel, and of course, smelly lotions from Bath and Body Works. While we were gone, Brian took a 6 hour power knap. Apparently our new couch is *really* comfy. So much so that Brian didn't answer anybody's calls and was only woken up by Mike opening our garage and moving more stuff into it. Then Brian went back to sleep until dinner time.

We had dinner at Chuy's on North Lamar. What's interesting about this Chuy's is that there was no wait and it was relatively dead. Yet when we called over to the Chuy's at 183/Duval there was a wait of 1.5 hours! After dinner we went to Main event for some bowling and basketball.

Monday we woke up to awful weather and it was looking like our lake plans would be cancelled. We headed over to Mike and Tara's for some pancakes and lattes while we waited for the weather to improve. By noon it was brightening up so we packed up the truck and went to pick up the boat, then headed out to Volente to launch. The rest of the gang met us at the boat launch and we headed off to Devil's Cove for some sun and people watching.

Due to the weather, boat population in Devil's cove was relatively light at first, but as the day progressed the number of boats increased, as did the number of girls in tiny bikinis making complete arses of themselves and humping each other's legs, and the number of young guys shotgunning beers. We met up with Bob and his crew in the cove and tied up at a respectable distance from all the debauchery that we could observe unobstructed. It was very entertaining.
We did get pulled over by the police on our way into the cove and they did a check to make sure all of us had life jackets, etc. But I think we were the least of their concerns.

The day turned out to be perfect. The clouds burned off and the air temp was in the low 90's while the water temp was in the mid 70's. Perfect for cooling off. The kid seemed to go a little nutso when I went in the water. I suspect that it was due to the temperature differences between being baked in the sun vs doused in 75 degree water. By the end of the day we all had a healthy glow from the sun and were exhausted. After putting the boat away, Mike, Tara, Brian and I headed to Rudy's for some BBQ before heading to our respective homes for a much needed shower and some relaxation in front of the TV.

I'm SO over American Idol

I had recorded Tuesday's American Idol and watched it yesterday before the finale. Based purely on those performances, Jordin deserved to win. Blake is going to do very well in his genre, but he really isn't that good of a singer.

I went over to Barbie's to watch the finale and Michelle joined us, too. Impromptu girl's nights in are always so much fun. Barbie made dinner for us, and a special treat for me, Razzleberry pie with vanilla ice cream! YUMMY!
We watched the show commercial free, and right before they announced who the winner was... what happened? the damn DVR stopped recording it. The show must have ran over time, but the DVR isn't smart enough to know that. So we missed the announcement of the winner!

OK, so we know Jordin won because it's all over the AI web site. But I have to say, Jordin did not deserve to win over Melinda. No way. I can't wait to buy Melinda's album, though.

A few observations from the finale:

• Kelly Clarkson rocks. Love her. She's gotten a lot cuter since her arrival on the scene, too. I love that she's starting to explore more rock type songs, like the two she has in the charts right now. Rock-on Kelly!
  
• Carrie underwood - I don't like country music, but I do like that one song "before he cheats". I think she has a beautiful voice, but honestly, her remake of "I'll stand by you" doesn't compare to the original. Especially since she didn't change it up at all and make it her own. I thought it was very kareoke-like. Nobody can sing like Chrissy Heins, so don't even try.
  
• Ruben Stoddard- Dude, you're rich. Get a personal trainer. Being called the velvet teddybear is not flattering.
  
• Taylor Hicks - Taylor who? I haven't heard a damn thing he's done since winning idol. Very disappointed here. Chris Daughtry should have won that season. You hear his voice on EVERY radio station.
  
• Who the heck were those two people Melinda got stuck singing with??
  
• And finally, how did they choose the winning song that Jordin will now release? Who's responsible for that crap? That's the cheesiest song ever. It sounds exactly like all the other cheesy songs that the winners have to record. Poor Jordin is gonna have to work hard to erase that one from the minds of America. I wonder if those guys who wrote it did it as a joke? I hope they're laughing all the way to the bank with royalty checks from that. That'd be the jape of the century!

And for all my whining and complaining about the unfairness of the competition, and my incredulousness about the tone deaf population voting, I am looking forward to the next season.

Barbie's Birthday

We had so much fun for Barbie's Birthday. We met at Donn's, then headed to Hut's for dinner, then back to Donn's for a little Murphy's Inlaws. Generally what happens at girls night stays at girls night, however, these pictures are too funny to not share. So here you go:

A little T, but no A.


Workin for tips so my baby daddy can get a new grille!


Andi's your private dancer.


She works hard for the money.

Two for the price of one!


Girls just wanna have fun!

1 year of married bliss!

Today is our one year anniversary!
It's been the most awesome year, and fortunately, the bad things that happened in the Dominican Republic were no indication of the year ahead. It seems we got all of our bad luck out of the way before the wedding :-)

In our first year of marriage, we've travelled South East Asia, bought a beautiful new home, and became future parents. There isn't one minute of the last year with Brian that I'd do differently. Even down to the black ankle and jelly fish sting on my wedding day. While those things were inconvenient, they have become part of our memories and a funny story. During the past week I've spent a lot of time daydreaming and remembering the most fun wedding I've ever been to - 9 whole days of fun in the sun, spent with all the people we love most in the world. The only bad thing about our wedding - we may never have another vacation as fun as that!

As I think back on those times, it makes me long to be on a beautiful white sandy beach with a turquoise ocean to play in, and surrounded by friends. I am hopeful that one of my friends will have a destination wedding soon, and we can do it all over again. (Hint, HINT! - you know who you are.)

I'm looking forward to another amazing year with my perfect man (ok, so he's not perfect, but he is perfect FOR ME), and despite my objections and foot dragging on becoming a mother, I can't wait to see Brian as a dad.

Here's to another fun year!

American Idol Shocker!

I'm completely stunned that my girl, Melinda, didn't make it to the finals. I thought for sure she was gonna win. She was by far the better singer of the three. I'm so disappointed. No matter, though. She's going to make it big, and I will certainly buy her CDs.

Between Blake and Jordin... I think Jordin gets my vote. Blake's beat boxing is starting to get old, and when he sings he's just a little bit nasal. Blake seems like a nice chap, though. I bet he'll be a huge success.

Childbirth class 2

This week's class was much less gory than last week. We talked a lot about drug options and asked a ton of questions. The video this week was of a woman giving birth who had an epidural. It was much more pleasant, and the videographer spent less time on the full frontal crowning shot, which I appreciated. I was actually able to watch the whole thing without closing my eyes. The woman in the video looked a lot more relaxed. She was a race cyclist and was in very good shape when she got pregnant, so her endurance was probably pretty high, and throughout her pregnancy, she continued to work out as normal.
I saw a lot of similarities between this woman's pregnancy and my own and that instilled me with a bit more confidence that I can do this. It reinforced that my working out is going to help me during labour and recovery. I need that kind of positive reinforcement right now because working out is hard when you don't have much energy and you hurt all the time. It's all I can do to drag my tired arse to the gym anymore.
We got many of our questions about epidurals answered, including how many people have been paralyzed from the epidural at this hospital. The answer is zero. Which is comforting. There is a slight risk, but I do think the benefits outweigh those risks.
Next week we're going to see a cesarian section delivery. I made the mistake of watching one on the web a month or so ago and I just can't imagine having that done.
As we get closer and closer to delivery, I am getting more and more freaked out about all this. I know I'm being a huge pussy, and I know I can do this, and it's not like I have much choice anyway, but nothing anyone says is going to make me feel better until it's over and I can look back on it.
And on top of my fears of delivery, another issue has surfaced: despite me wanting to get this prgnancy over with, and my body back, I'm not ready to be a mum yet!

I'm trying to remain positive. Truly I am.

Running Mojo and Pregnoid Pics

Yesterday Barbie and I went down to beautiful Town Lake for a bit of exercise. We only did the 3 mile loop, but it was so great to be outside excercising again. We did about 50% walking and 50% running. The running was uncomfortable, but bearable. The extra weight made my muscles feel sluggish, and of course it didn`t make the cardio easy either, but it felt good to actually run and it did wonders for me mentally. It is just nice to know that I can still do it, even at 7.5 months pregnant. Of course, I am still going to the gym 3 - 4 times a week, but it just is not the same as getting outside and enjoying the beautiful trail around Town Lake. I can not wait until I can go running with my girls again on the weekends.

For those of you who have been bugging me for more pictures, I have posted a couple of new ones in the gallery for you to ogle my ever growing belly. Here's one for you instant gratification types:



And also, I did my first bit of decorating of The Kid's room. You can see pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/keylimeypie/TheKid
Check out the awesome crib that Grandma and Grandpa B got for him :-)

Childbirth class 1

Last night Brian and I attended our first in a set of 3 childbirth classes. Imust admit that I didn't want to be there and I certainly didn't want to see a video of child birth. The instructor was wonderful, though, and the class was very informal, which I liked. Here are a few things I learned in class:

• Despite well meaning people who comment on how big my stomach is getting, I am actually average/smaller than average - though this doesn't make me feel any less of a whale.
  
• We really need to choose a pediatrician ASAP
• We really need to get our car seat ASAP because I could deliver at ANY MOMENT! ACK!
• Being in the room with someone you care about while they give birth is a much different experience than watching a stranger on a TV screen.
  
• Deep breathing while something the size of a watermelon is pushing its way out of me is NOT GOING TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!
  
• I'm completely freaking out.
  

During the video, I had to look away. I can see all other manner of gory things, even open heart surgery doesn't bother me, or face lifts... but for some reason childbirth is the most disgusting thing in the world. I think women who choose to do this naturally with no drugs are completely insane.

OMG! OMG! OMG! What have I done???

Cinco de Mayo, etc.

The weekend was action packed! For you Brits reading this, Cinco de Mayo -- meaning 5th of may, is a Mexican holiday. It seems this weekend was the weekend that everybody chose to celebrate something. We had to skip a few parties but did attend several, which were awesome! Being the only sober (or at least non-drinking) person in a room is interesting. In the beginning of this pregnancy, I granted all of my friends ONE uninvited stomach groping opportunity. Several people cashed in their chips this weekend, and some people were even granted additional future opportunities because I was feeling charitable at the time. It's actually not as bad as I anticipated since I actually know the people doing the stomach groping. But strangers beware, you will get the full force of my indignation.

Speaking of Mexico, my parents are gonna be there tomorrow for a couple of weeks in celebration of my Dad's birthday and also his retirement! So congratulations, Dad, on reaching this milestone in life :-) We wish we could join you in Mexico, and we hope you have a wonderful holiday!

In addition to partying this weekend, we also did some redecorating. The Kid's room is now no longer girly pink, but is a rather more manly shade of blue. Since nobody will agree to let me paint while pregnant (though I think it's a load of crap), Brian had to paint the room himself. I felt awful and guilty the whole time because I know how much he hates to do it. And it damn near killed me to not be able to pick up a roller and help out. I actually love to paint. I did tape off all the baseboards, windows, and ceiling for him, though, which made the job much easier.

Brian put the crib together on Saturday morning and it is beautiful -- a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Bauman for hooking The Kid up with such a sweet bed. Sadly, in our eagerness to see the crib in its assembled glory, we neglected to measure the doorway to The Kid's room, and the crib wouldn't fit through the door! After partially disassembling it, we got it into the room and it looks wonderful! this is one lucky kid.

As far as pregnancy ailments, well now I've developed some weird pain in the balls of my feet. It's most pronounced at night when I get up to pee, and in the morning. It feels like my bones are bruised. I read that it could be due to a change in posture (due to pregnancy, obviously), which causes an uneven distribution of weight on the metatarsals. It makes sense I suppose, and the only way to relieve it is to get more supportive shoes. I guess my Crocs aren't doing a good job of being supportive, though they are roomy.

Today is our first childbirth class where we learn all the gory details about childbirth. The class is for 3 hours and we have one every Monday for 3 weeks. I'm hoping that the time spent in this class will actually be LONGER than the time spent in labour. Wishful thinking, I suppose. I am not very enthusiastic about taking this class. Sometimes it's better to just not know and go with the flow, than to be too informed. I think that your body will know what to do when the time comes, and if not, some bossy nurse is gonna tell you what to do. Plus I'm planning on getting drugs so hopefully I won't feel anything. Like I've said before, I could go my whole life and never experience the "miracle" of childbirth and be perfectly happy.

Tomorrow is Baby Care Basics. Hopefully they will teach me how to not vomit while changing a nappy (diaper to you yanks), and how to not put on his clothes backwards - yes I've done this to poor Ethan in his first few months of life.

More Idol Ramblings

I was not disappointed by the Bon Jovi American Idol performances. I generally don't like Phil, but his performance of Young Guns was awesome! By far the best male performance of the night. He so didn't deserve to be voted off. I thought Jordin's rendition of Livin' on a Prayer was rather screechy and she fell flat on the pitch change half way through, though I loved her big hair. I liked LaKisha's performance and thought she did it major justice, but again, blown out of the water by Melinda, who completely ROCKED OUT Tina Turner style. LOVE HER! As a Bon Jovi purist, I had mixed feelings about Blake. But as a Blake fan, I liked it. Very original. I had hoped that Blake would do Dead or Alive, but Chris did it, and while it didn't suck, and I was impressed that he didn't make it too "boy bandy", I thought it was a little too soft. Of the choices left, Chris definitely deserved to go home.

Regarding Bon Jovi's performance - while I embrace any chance to see them perform, and I did enjoy it, I was slightly disappointed that they didn't do a more upbeat song. It was kind of the Diet Coke of Bon Jovi performances. Bon Jovi Lite. But nontheless, I am still a true fan and always will be. He can do no wrong.

My Idol on Idol!

OMG! Jon Bon Jovi on American Idol??? I've died and gone to heaven!

I missed last night's show because I was out at the Melting Pot with the girls, but rest assured I have it on the DVR and will be glued to it the moment I get home this evening.

I first fell in love with Bon Jovi back in the late 80's after hearing the song Runnaway. I have bought every album they've made since then. I've been to many of their concerts, including one last year in Houston, I still have them in my CD changer in the car, and I rock out to them at the gym 4 times a week on my iPOD. No, I'm not stuck in the 80's (though I do sometimes miss my big hair). Bon Jovi has done a fantastic job of reinventing themselves, they're like the Madonna of rock. Jon Bon Jovi has been voted sexiest man alive on more than one occasion, and in my opinion, he is second only to my husband (and maybe tied with Will Smith) ;-).

And tonight I get to watch as my favorite American Idol contestants pay tribute to Bon Jovi's work with a full hour of Bon Jovi songs. I hope I'm not disappointed by the performances. Jon's going to be a hard act to follow. I have high, high hopes for Melinda.

OMG! I can barely wait to get home to watch now!

Me = Excited. It's the little things in life that make me happy.

Edema - Just a fancy word for "cankles"

So with only 8 weeks to go until The Kid graces us with his cone-headed, wrinkly presence, I thought I'd update you all on my latest pregnancy related ailments and little "challenges".

I've been suffering with edema lately. To put that in lamens terms, it's when your body parts, in my case hands, feet, and ankles, swell up. I am finding that if I spend more than a couple of hours on my feet, my ankles completely disappear and I appear to have a calf that extends down to my foot. Commonly referred to as "cankles". Very unsightly.

In addition to the cankles, my toes are so swollen that they have lost the ability to bend and resemble those little mini sausages you get in a can of beenie weenies. Lovely. I can't fit into any of my totally cute sandals now. Thank the makers of Crocs for the best flip-flops ever! Every pregnant woman needs a pair of crocs. I know they're ugly, but get over yourself and buy some.

When we were in Chicago, I got a weird swelling - it was behind both my knees. Gross! It has only happened once since then, and I can attribute it to my office chair.

My fingers are nice and fat when I wake up in the mornings, too. They tend to decrease in size as the day goes on and I drink lots of water. My wedding ring sure does make a lovely dent in my sausage fingers, though. At least when I have to take it off I won't have to endure the evil stares of the judgemental old ladies at the grocery checkout who notice the absence of a ring and assume you're an unwed mother and doomed to hell! no. I have my wedding ring indentation that clearly tells them that I'm no sinner ;-)

A swift kick in the ribs, anyone?? nobody can ever prepare you for when you're sitting at dinner with your friends, and suddenly, seemingly for no good reason, someone kicks you right in your 3rd rib on the left. I'm not talking a little tap here. I mean the kind that causes you to jump up, swear, and look for the nearest person to retaliate on. Sadly, the person who did it is INSIDE you. In that creepy "The call is coming from inside the house" scary movie kind of way!

Due to the swelling, I drink a lot of water. I'm talking 80 0z a day or more. You can imagine how often that translates into a trip to the toilet.

A penchant for pie - it's not a craving, but more of a preference for pie over anything else that might be available for me to eat. So the lesson here is to NOT have pie in the house. On Saturday morning, I ate blackberry pie and ice cream for breakfast! And I didn't even feel guilty one bit.

I still can't claim to have had any cravings. Brian is feeling a little disappointed because he feels he hasn't been able to come to my rescue as my knight in shining armour, bearing the very thing that I'm craving, at ridiculous hours of the night. I'm still convinced that these stories you hear about women sending their men out in the middle of the night for pickles and ice cream are merely urban legend.

And finally - this isn't really an ailment, but just a sign that I'm getting incredibly bored with being pregnant - I'm very tired of strangers asking me when my baby's due, what it is, and how I feel. I'm thinking of printing up a card to hand out that says:

Thank you for your kind inquiry. I hope this card will satisfy your curiosity:

• It's due on July 4th
• We're hoping it's human
• I'm fine, but my feet are swollen and I need to pee, so much as I'd LOVE to regale you with the details of my pregnancy, I must dash!

Nursery decorating and 1st birthday parties

I'm completely new to the concept of decorating a nursery. Who is it really for, anyway? the kid isn't ever going to remember that you got him the cute crib set with the dinosaurs or race cars on it. He's very likely to poop, puke, and pee all over what you get him anyway. I can only conclude that nursery decorating is for the parents. By the time the kid's old enough to recongize what the hell we've done to his room, the crib will be just a memory and his big-boy bedding will be in place.

So why is it so damn hard to pick a damn crib set?? why? And more to the point, why do I even care? why do I need a set??? I bet you I didn't have a cutesey crib set, complete with matching bumpers when I was a baby. And why would I even need a matching throw pillow? isn't that a suffocation hazard?

Another mystery to me. 1st birthday parties. Who's that really for? honestly. I mean does anyone remember their first birthday? no. did you have fun? probably. Would you care if you didn't get one? most likely not. It's not like the kid will remember it, and so you show him pictures of himself smothered in cake, you think he's gonna be all nostalgic, and all like "gee, you sure are the best parents ever"? No. Let's get a grip here. It's a fricking baby. A drooling, pooping, crying creature that doesn't give a crap what you put in his crib, and doesn't understand why all those people are staring at him wearing cake on his face!

My earliest memory is from about 3 years old and it's a crappy memory at that.

So after much debate with Brian over what to register for with regard to foofy crib sets, I'm taking a new approach. Get whatever you want and I will pick a wall colour that will work with it and any future soft furnishings we decide to buy. It shouldn't be this hard. In my mind, the important part comes when he's old enough to recognize and express preferences for himself.

And don't say I didn't warn you about this: If anyone buys my kid Winnie the Pooh ANYTHING, I will smile politely, thank you for it (and mean it), but it will be re-gifted to the next unfortunate and unspecting person I know who's gonna have a kid.

Goodbye old house

I have no mixed feelings about leaving our old house behind. Despite the fact that it was my first house, and the first place I really felt like I had allowed roots to grow. Brian and I share many great memories, and a few very sad ones, of that house. One of the first things I did at the new house was to unpack Ember's ashes and put them on the mantel. Not for his benefit, I don't believe in heaven and afterlife, but for mine, so I could just feel like a part of him is still with me. I miss him so much.

If there is any sadness over leaving the old house it is completely eclipsed by the joy I feel over being in the new house. Since Wednesday we've been living in the new house and getting used to all the quirks that come along with it. Adapting things to be more convenient, such as putting the lamps in the living room and bedroom on X10 switches, and relocating things when we find their current location to be awkward. There are a few things for which I need to find solutions, such as where to put our shoes when we enter the house, and where to store all of the stuff that used to be in the office closet in our old house. The office in our new house is lacking a closet.

Brian went to Houston this weekend and I spent some time hanging out at the house and putting up art work. The house looks so bright and beautiful with all the colourful paintings up. The wall colours chosen by the previous owner really compliment the paintings, too. It must have been meant to be ;-)

Brian had a fun time in Houston and took some really good pictures at the Grand Prix with the Nikon D50. Some might even be art-worthy. Meanwhile I worked on a project for our anniversary (which is coming up on May 20th!) and spent some quality time with the girls (and Ethan). I had dinner with Jen and Ethan and Barbie on friday night. Jen's got some exciting things going on in her life right now. I won't disclose it because it's up to her to do that, but suffice it to say that it's a big move, and she's super excited, and we couldn't be happier for her and Ethan.

On Saturday I found myself completely lacking in energy and it was all I could do to get off the couch and go run my errands. I seemed to pick up some energy around 2pm or so and headed off to the mall to see if I could find something cute to wear for girl's night. I did find a couple of tops and a really cute pair of pink sandals. It's surprising, but I did not own a pair of pink sandals. Shame on me! Saturday night was so much fun hanging out with the girls down town. We went to Cuba Libre for appetizers and drinks, though mine was a Shirley Temple. Delicious! Then we headed to the Key bar, and ended the night with some blueberry bread pudding at 219 West. I got home at a very respectable 1:30am. A big thanks to Jen B for planning some much needed girl time. Our lives are all so busy that we sometimes don't remember to spend time with those who are important to us, and I always say I'll try harder to make time for my friends. I really need to act on that more.

Yesterday (Sunday) Brian came back from Houston and made a final trip over to the old house to mow the yard and pick up the last load of things from the garage. He unfortunately got a little over zealous with the broom and managed to snap the wire to the garage door sensor. Consequently, we had to make another trip over there with the tools so he could fix it. I did a final walk through of the house to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, and we reprogrammed the garage door keypad to its factory setting so that the new owner can choose his own code. Then we waved goodby to our old house forever!

Thank you, America!

I have many things to blog about this week, but let's get the most important thing out of the way first. I want to thank America for doing the right thing this week. I must admit that I was confused by your willingness to keep a lesser Idol in the running, and concerned that your judgement was suffering more than a momentary lapse. But you came through, America. Sanjaya is no more! (see the results show recap here).

In hindsight, I see now that these several weeks of contraversy served to keep me glued to the TV every Tuesday and Wednesday night in anticipation of what this kid would come up with this week, and even, I dare say, a glimmer of hope that he'd redeem himself and actually measure up. I didn't get to see the shows this week due to other commitments, though it was well timed because I am not a fan of country music.

I'd also like to thank Sanjaya. Because of him, I will be getting FREE SUSHI in the not so distant future - as soon as I'm able to eat all the good stuff again and rack up a good bill ;-) And Mikey, just to show you what a good sport I am, I'm giving you a few months to build up a good buffer in your bank account. HEHEHE! Freeeeeeeee sushi!

Chicago trip report - reader's digest version

Over this past weekend we spent some quality time with the Hoffelt family in Chicago. This trip was badly timed from a move perspective, but a very welcome break from the stresses of juggling a full time job, a pregnancy, buying and moving into a new house, and selling a house.
We arrived Friday afternoon and were met by Uncle Ray, who I recognized right away becaue he looks so much like Joan. We arrived at uncle Ray's house and he gave us the grand tour. Aunt Vivian made a brief appearance while we were geeking out for a while in the basement as Ray showed us his home theatre system, complete with home automation. Then uncle Mike and Grandpa dropped by for a quick visit.
That evening we met up with Kris at Gale Street Inn for a very relaxed and delicious dinner. We loved spending time with her, the only down side was that it was too short.

On Saturday, we went out for breakfast with the whole gang and I met Aunt Pam, who had made us a beautiful fleece blanket for the baby. After Breakfast we spent some time with Uncle Mike sightseeing around Chicago and ended our sightseeing tour with a visit to the Science and Industry museum. We could have easily spent many more hours in there because it's so interesting and so much to see. I, of course, pushed every button I could find. Afterwards we all went for Chicago Pizza at Gino's East. Brian was hoping that real Chicago pizza would change my mind about pizza (while I'll eat it, it definitely is not my favourite food). Sadly, though, it didn't. I thought the crust was better than the stuff we get at home, but the actual pizza was the same as you get at Mangia's.

After pizza Pam and Mike took us to Oberweis, which is an ice cream place in Chicago. The nearest thing we have here would be Amy's. I had a snickers soft serve ice cream. Uncle Mike being the supportive uncle he is, of course, joined us as we gorged ourselves with ice cream, lest we should feel like total pigs ;-)

On Sunday we went out to get bagels for breakfast, followed by a trip to Ohaire, where Uncle Ray took us up the ops tower for a stunning panoramic view of the airport. We got to watch planes taking off and landing and all the ground operations happening, as uncle Ray explained to us what was going on. I could spend all day in the tower just watching the planes take off. It reminded me of when I was a kid and mum and dad would take me to the airport just to watch the planes take off and land. I think it also helped me with my flying issues (well, taking off issues). I hate to take off. I think it all tracks back to that bad experience I had in St. Louis on my way to England many years ago. Since then I get very nervous taking off. Seeing all the planes taking off and landing so easily put me more at ease.

After the airport I mentioned the word "pie" and like a genie granting my wish, the next thing I know we are stopping off at Baker's Square where we all got pie. I got a slice of Bavarian Blackberry pie that was probably THE BEST pie I've ever had. After pie we all veged out for a while and then Brian and I showed uncle Mike, who has a complete aversion to computers and technology, how to view our photo gallery online, and this blog - so hopefully he's reading this :-)

We went for an early dinner over at Vince's Italian restaurant, and a very pleasant surprise - another set of family memebers - Brian's second cousins, lisa, Linda, and Craig, joined us. We spent a good few hours chatting over dinner. Afterwards we headed back to Grandpa's house and he showed us old photos of the family, some dating back to 1935. We got to see Joan, Ray, and Mike's baby pictures as well as pictures of Grandpa when he was very young (about 7 years old onward). We hung around Granpa's after Mike and Pam left and chatted for a couple more hours before turning in for the night. It was time well spent with Grandpa. He has a million stories to tell!

On Monday we departed. We had a wonderful visit with the family and arrived home feeling rejeuvenated and ready to continue tackling our long list of things to do for the move.

For pictures from out trip, go here: Chicago_07
Sadly, I just realized that I neglected to take pictures of Uncle Ray and Aunt Viv!

keep on movin'

So far we've moved the contents of the garage, both bathrooms, my closet (including 3 boxes of shoes!), the guest room and closet, the office, all the chachkas and knick-knacks, the plants, and 3/4 of the kitchen, including food. I've unpacked all of the closet stuff, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, and taken over all of my art work and staged it in the dining room to make it easy for me to select where to hang things. The new fridge arrived yesterday, too. It's a perfect match to all the other appliances. Thanks to Brian's extensive research. All this in 3 evenings :-)
I've scheduled the carpet cleaning to be done the day before the movers take our furniture over. Transferred all of the utilities over to the new place, except the cable/net/phone, which Brian is researching to see if he can get us a better deal than Time Warner. I plan to move the fish the night before the move, and the cats the morning of the move.
I still need to pack up the remaining kitchen items and of course the things in the closet I am still wearing, and move Brian's closet over.
All that will be left then is a quick cleaning of the old house and final walk-through to make sure we didn't leave anything behind.
Brian's going to Houston for the Grand Prix next weekend, so I plan to spend my 1st weekend at the new place organizing the house, hanging art, and I might even pick out a paint colour for The Kid's room and start taping off the trim.

Idol threats

So I made a bet with my friend, Mike, that if Sanjaya wins, I would treat him to a sushi lunch. If Sanjaya loses, then he will buy me a sushi lunch.

Mike is one of those mindless drones who is voting for the worst (sorry, Mike, but the truth hurts sometimes ;-))

Today he sent me this:
LOL! He so funny. He crack me up long time.

New House!

Today we signed the papers on our new house!!! Everything went very smoothly, thanks to Barbie.

After work Barbie and Scott came over to help us run a couple of loads of small stuff over to the new house. We borrowed Mike's truck and packed it up with all the things we don't want the movers to move (pretty much everything but the furniture). Barbie and I filled up my car with clothes from the closet. It's not like I'm going to need them any time soon anyway, given my current shape. Brian and Scott loaded up the truck with all the boxes and small furniture, etc.

When we got to the new house the old owner was visiting with a neighbour so we got to meet her. She is really nice. We met our neighbours on either side, and the one directly across the street and one across the street one house further down. It was like they rolled out the welcome wagon. All of our neighbours were super friendly and very sincere about welcoming us to the neighbourhood. I was very happy to meet the woman who owned our house previously because I had wanted to tell her how much I liked the colours she chose. It's always nice to hear that people like your taste.
When I went into the house, I discovered that Barbie had put a little care package in the kitchen, consisting of the necessities, like TP/Paper towels, paper plates, dish/hand soap, a sponge, and a cooler stocked with beer, water, gatorade, and snacks!! All the stuff you need, but never remember to bring. She also put a plant and some lucky bamboo in the house for a little splash of colour! That was the sweetest thing ever!

Barbie, Scott, Brian and I made short work of the first load and headed back to the old house for round 2. When we got back to the new house we ordered chinese food to be delivered and I set about unpacking my kitchen. I have all the kitchen boxes unpacked already! That's the most fun part about moving. Deciding where to put everything in the new house. Unpacking the kitchen is my favourite part! Stacy had left the house spotless, too.
When the food arrived we made a makeshift table out of the two TV tables and 4 folding chairs and set it up in the breakfast area. I found a candle in one of the boxes and we lit it for a little ambience.
In one day we have gotten so much done with the help of our friends. I would like to say a big thank you to Barbie and Scott for all of their help today, and also to Mike and Tara for loaning us their truck. We have the most amazing friends.

In other news, I guess I've been a little stressed lately. Friday night I became dizzy and saturday I spent the whole day feeling drunk. Obviously I wasn't. Mum thinks I was suffering from high blood pressure. Mine is usually low, so I imagine high blood pressure for me wouldn't be much above normal for most, but I certainly felt weird on Satuday. I tend to handle stress outwardly very well and usually appear together and calm. Inside, though I guess I am stressing quite a bit. Juggling a full time job, moving, and creating a life must have just caught up with me.
On Sunday I felt quite a bit better and today even more so. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment and a screening for gestational diabetes.