Swimming and Savings

I got up off my lazy butt and actually went swimming today. It was pretty good. The place was less crowded than I expected for a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, and the lap pool was almost completely empty so I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour going up and down the lane switching between walking (when I could touch) and actually swimming. It felt soooo good to be in the pool and almost completely weightless. Getting out of the pool and walking back to the locker room was a different story...

On my way home, I stopped by a consignment shop that my mom told me about and found this awesome bassinet! I've been looking at bassinets as an option for having the baby sleep in our room that doesn't take up much space (there is very little room between the wardrobe and my side of the bed). This not only fits where I need it to, but it's the same height as our bed, which will minimize my lifting the baby up from the bed, and converts to a changing table and the bassinet part turns into a Moses basket, not to mention a side hanging thing to store diapers/wipes/accessories AND a shelf underneath. I hit the jackpot with this bassinet! I got it for $46 and I checked online, this sells for $150+ brand new, aside from a few nicks on the wood, it's in great shape. I was so excited to find that and the lady at the store says that they don't get in many bassinets (mostly due to recalls, this one is fine though).

I feel comfortable having the baby at any time now because we have the minimum stuff that we need (place for him to sleep, diapers, a car seat--my mom got us one off the registry--and a pediatrician interview lined up). I'm nowhere near as anxious about his arrival as I thought I'd be at this point, I've had almost no baby dreams, I had more of those when I first found out I was pregnant (and mostly those were about accidentally leaving him at the hospital lol).

The weekend is here!

Dan got a CamelBak after me having one (and loving it) for a month. I saw it when I got home from work today and smiled. I was so glad to leave work today, I've been so tired all week. I bought a bathing suit yesterday in attempt to get in some swimming time (there's an aquatic center near my parents' house), but I was too tired to even try after work today. I might go tomorrow, I should go tomorrow. I need to get some sort of exercise in because my days consist of going to work, coming home, eating, then sleeping until getting up the next day. I can make it until around 9pm then I start getting really, really tired, no matter what I do up until then.

Different Symptoms

So at 36 weeks pregnant, I've had some newer symptoms pop up. The heartburn is less frequent now, thankfully, since the baby dropped, and I've been able to eat bigger portions. The swelling has come back in full force and lasts the whole week at work.

This week has been difficult at work, despite having a long weekend preceding it. Since I'm now going to the doctor's office once a week, I'll be making the appointments during the day on Wednesdays and have a day off in the middle of the week so that I'm not doing a whole bunch of driving every week now. Up until this week (and including this week), I've been making my appointments for Tuesdays after school, which means that my mom and I drive separately to school (which is 30 miles from my house) and I drive all the way to Reisterstown (which is 20 miles away from school) and then all the way back home (another 20 miles away from there). Every month, and even every other week wasn't a bad trip, but every week is way too often to be driving that much, especially at rush hour. I will also enjoy being able to relax in the middle of the week and rest. I've been getting less and less sleep, and being able to nap in the middle of the day is a blessed thing to be able to do.

Just for fun, here are some fun facts I found about Baby G ;)

This time next year your baby will be 49 weeks old!

Your baby will start kindergarten in 2016, be old enough to drive a car in 2027, finish high school in 2029, and will graduate from college with the class of 2033, give or take a year. Can you imagine?

The couch is here!

Ok, only part of the couch is here. The loveseat part of the combo had the arm on the wrong side so that's coming next week but at least we have a couch for now! It's super soft and comfy and we love it!

Engaged and Dilated

This was what I found when I came home today. The flowers have been slowly blooming for the last couple of days and they are now almost all completely open.

I had another doctor's appointment today. I gained 8lbs. which is not great (I've gained 40ish pounds as opposed to the 25 that my doc wanted me to gain), but the baby has officially dropped (which is called "engaged") and I'm 1cm. dilated. My doctor said that if we make it to 40 weeks, the baby will weigh more than 8 pounds but she also said that my hips are wide enough to handle him. Both my body and his are on track and both are doing what they're supposed to. Just because he's engaged and I'm dilated doesn't exactly mean labor is imminent or even a week or two out, but both are good things to have happen.

9 Months Today

I am officially 36 weeks (or 9 months) today! Next week, the baby is officially considered "full term" and if he were born now, his lungs have a really good chance of being mature. I have 4ish weeks left to go, and I have a feeling they'll drag on and take forever. Today, I finally had my maternity shoot with my friend from school. Our schedules conflicted until now, but I'm glad that we could do it today. I can't wait to see the proofs, we had so much fun shooting and it's always good to see people from school :) I'll upload a picture later once I've gotten my pictures from the shoot.

That was pretty much all I did today, besides cleaning the sink full of dishes. It got up to almost 90 degrees today and even though it was only 75 in the house, I was still hot. Doing the dishes helped a lot because I used cold water instead of hot (seriously, like I was gonna use hot water) so having my hands and wrists constantly cooled felt really good. The problem is now I don't feel like cooking dinner or making anything for dinner. Originally, I had intended to go out and hit the grocery store to get stuff for lunches this week, but it's now almost 9 and I am tired and don't feel like moving from this chair. The fan is currently aimed at me and the cool air flow feels good, I really don't want to move.

Sleeping has been getting really rough. It really is a double-edged sword because I get tired and I desperate WANT to sleep, but I get into bed and my hips hurt or I can't get comfortable. I've been going to sleep the last couple of nights with an ice pack for my hips and that helps a little bit. The pain has made it difficult to get in and out of bed and the ice packs numb my hips and I can move because the pain has been numbed, which is better than nothing. The heartburn is hit or miss. Some nights are good and some are bad. The positive thing that came out of that is the Tums I've been taking for the heartburn (which are a miracle and I can't live without) are a good source of calcium and I haven't had any really bad leg cramps since I started taking them.

Easter

These pictures aren't from today, they're from the beginning of the month when Andy, Jackie, and Jimmy were out here for a visit. Because it's Easter, my mom can get on Facebook again and posted these pictures from the visit. These two were from when everyone came over to our new house and had pizza and hung out (despite our lack of comfortable furniture).

Today, we went to 7:30am Mass because last week's noon Mass wasn't nearly as crowded as this week's would be and was almost too hot for me to sit all the way through. The church hasn't turned their AC on yet (and why should they? It's only April) and the windows and fans can only do so much in a crowded church. 7:30 was a good Mass to go to because it wasn't that crowded, even though it was Easter Sunday. It was still warm, but this week I brought my water bottle with me and that helped a lot. It's been warm all day today, and I've been drinking water constantly. I've noticed that my feet and hands swell up especially on warm days because of the amount of water I'm drinking. When it's cool, and I don't need to drink as much water, I'm more comfortable.

We went over to my parents for dinner and Dan's family came over too along with one of my uncles. My grandmother had an early shower present for us, a bag filled with necessities that we will most definitely use. She gave us diapers, wipes, Desatin, lotion, shampoo, and a couple other things that will be used for sure. She got the idea from Dan's mom who--at our wedding shower--gave us a laundry basket full of cleaning items (detergent, Windex, etc.), all of which we have since used and were glad to have.

Bretzel Rolls (Bavarian Pretzel Rolls)

Recipe found on Food.com.

I'm not a very good baker. For some reason, I have trouble with the whole "follow recipe exactly no matter what" aspect of it. With cooking, you can improvise, if you're a teaspoon off it's not that big a deal. Baking, on the other hand, require precise measurements for everything to come out right. If you're even a half teaspoon off, things can go wrong. The recipe seemed pretty easy, albeit a little intense for my cooking skills, and I resigned myself to following the directions exactly.


The only part that I was really worried about was the baking soda bath with boiling water. I've never had to bathe food before and I was afraid I'd over-bathe them or something. I don't have tongs (and keep finding myself in situations where I think, "Gee, I'd like to have some tongs" so I may get some on my next trip to Target) so I used a big, slotted spoon to flip and drain the rolls after their bath. The recipe says to only bathe two rolls at a time once the water is at a "rolling boil" and that was good because two at a time was definitely what I could handle. The amount of steam and bubbles that popped up (because of the baking soda) made it hard to see and the rolls weren't supposed to bathe for longer than 30 seconds. I figured a few seconds less than 30 probably wouldn't hurt them--rather than aiming to get both rolls out at 30--so I counted "Mississippi"s and not a single roll was in the water more than 30 seconds. I ended up cutting more rolls than the recipe called for, so they were smaller than what was intended but that worked out because they fit perfectly in my spoon and I didn't have any trouble flipping or draining any of the rolls.

Unpacking Has Begun

We finished putting my wardrobe together today and while I normally don't like to unpack, I enjoyed seeing how much I could fit into the wardrobe! After sorting through my clothes and separating things to donate as well as things to throw away (found a few pairs of pants with holes), I fit everything that had been in my dresser and my closet, plus a couple of boxes, with room left over.

When we started to put the shelves in, we found out that the set of shelves we got at the store, weren't wide enough to go all the way back in the wardrobe. At first I wasn't happy (we already made a second Ikea trip last weekend to replace the doors that had been damaged), but I wasn't upset either. Turned out to work out nicely because once I started hanging up my long, formal dresses, they could hang all the way down behind the shelf. I may be using this to help me store my wedding dress (since we have no real closets and I don't want to keep it in the shed), but I'm afraid of adding too much weight, so we'll see.

I felt pretty proud of how much I had unpacked once I was done. I emptied the entire dresser (which after the pain-in-the-ass that was putting my wardrobe together, Dan will be using instead of getting a wardrobe for him) as well as 3-4 boxes worth of clothes. We still have a lot to unpack, but clothes were a big part of that and now that the carpet is installed, we can unpack at our own pace.

Couch is on the way!

Today we ordered our new sectional sofa and dinette set. The original couch we wanted had been discontinued, but the replacement was close enough so we ordered that instead. The newer version didn't come in the original color we liked, but it did come in a color called "spa" which is similar to the color on our bedroom walls. The other color options wouldn't have looked good with the paint and carpet we picked for the living room, so we went with "spa".

The dinette set is awesome. It's close to bar-height and the table has sides that drop down or come up to make it smaller or larger depending on what you want. It also has a stone Lazy Susan built into the center and a drawer in the bottom of the base. The set comes with four chairs and the highchair I put on the baby registry actually straps into existing chairs, so the height isn't going to be an issue :)

The sofa is set to be delivered next week and the table was back ordered so that's going to be coming sometime in early May. We were fine with that because the sofa was the big thing we wanted soon anyway. The table in our kitchen currently has a bunch of stuff on it from when the carpet guys were here and it had to be moved out of their way, so this gives us time to clear all that off.

One more day until break!

Today I worked on my lesson plans for my sub after I start maternity leave. That was the extent of my day, scheduling and lesson plans. I got home and since the bed frame is now put together, we can start storing things underneath. I took all the sheets and blankets I could find, put them in boxes that fit under the bed. The bookshelf is also in place in the living room so eventually I'll be able to put the books away on it, I just need Dan to carry the boxes in from the shed.

I'm also hoping to put my wardrobe together soon because that means clothes can get unpacked as well and I can stop feeling like a hobo living out of boxes ;)

We has carpet!

The bedroom is almost complete. We have paint, curtains, new carpet, and my wardrobe in pieces (to be put together and filled shortly now that the carpet's in). All we need is Dan's wardrobe and the new computer desk and our rehab of the bedroom will be complete! The living room is next, we'll be ordering the couch this week (super excited about that because I will be sleeping on it for the remainder of my pregnancy because I'll be able to sleep sitting up) as well as a new table and chairs for the kitchen.

The baby's room is last because, well, we've been using it to store things. Unpacking will happen in earnest now that we have carpet and can permanently place things. Once we're unpacked, there will be plenty to do to set up the baby's room. He'll be rooming in with us for the first couple of months anyway, so it's not like we have to be 100% set up when he gets here.

Chrism Mass Tailgate!

So our youth group at church is pretty awesome. We've been tailgating the Chrism Mass for several years now. What's a "Chrism Mass"? It's the annual Mass where the bishop blesses and consecrates the three oils used in the sacraments throughout the year by the Archdiocese. Priests can bless the first two oils (for baptism and anointing of the sick) but only a bishop can consecrate the oil of Chrism, used for the sacrament of Confirmation. Our youth group has been going to this Mass together for I'm not even sure how many years (I think we started in the early/mid 2000's), and we've been bringing our Confirmation candidates for the last several years since this is where the Chrism that will be used for them is consecrated.

I was very happy to be able to go this year. In past years, I've had to get up super early the next day or been up super early that day. Today, I was feeling pretty good when I got home from work and since Dan is working evenings, I figured I'd actually get out of the house instead of sitting alone until bed. I didn't even have to drive through the city to get to the cathedral, we had enough drivers that I could hitch with a bunch of other adults.

Mass was beautiful, I love big Masses concelebrated by lots of priests, it's like a reunion. Being Catholic can be a small world, and it's awesome. When the "collars" heard we had free food in the parking lot, we had a rather large group of them show up after Mass as well as a few nuns. One of the sisters I met at Mount 2011 was there and she recognized me and we were talking for a bit. I'm sure I was easily recognizable as my stomach is now gigantic. I found out later that not only was that group of sisters from Mount DeSales high school, but the one in particular that I was talking to was the principal! She's very nice and I'm sure I'll end up seeing her again at some function. The picture above is me with one of our favorite priests. He spent a couple of years before being ordained with us at our church and with the youth group specifically. The kids loved him (of course) and he also concelebrated our wedding when he was a deacon and when the now-Monsignor Jarboe of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen was our pastor.

As soon as we were telling people that we were pregnant, I e-mailed Fr. Cibelli and asked if he would be free for a baptism. We set a summer date for Baby Gibson's baptism and we are super excited. My parents offered to host the after-party at their house where everyone will be able to go swimming--which is totally an awesome concept for a baptism party ;)

Palm Sunday

The blackout curtains worked really well. At some point, I'll definitely be going back to Target to get another panel for the other window. They blocked out the light but not the sound, the neighbors were running a table saw until at least midnight last night. I know it's not their problem that I go to bed early, but midnight seems pretty late to be running anything that makes lots of noise.

Anyway, we headed up to Ikea to exchange my damaged wardrobe doors (I love Ikea, their return department is so on top of things) and I ended up buying more curtains as well, this time for the living room. On the way home from Ikea, we stopped at Target for another blackout panel for the bedroom. I also got two "holdbacks" for the bedroom curtains so we can easily let light in when we want it. I got Dan to show me how to use our drill and I put them up myself (with a little more help from him). I liked using the drill, I'll have to use it more often to put things together ;)

Just Relaxing

Today was all about relaxing. Dan woke up not feeling very well, so he called out of work and went back to bed. I spent the whole morning with my feet up watching TV. When he got up, we had breakfast and watched more TV. For lunch I made "cheeseburger pasta" which was a recipe on the back of a cheddar soup can and it was delicious! It felt good to actually make something again instead of just microwaving it (which has been the majority of my meals lately). I like having the energy to actually stand long enough to cook.

After lunch, Dan felt well enough to venture out to Target to look at curtains. The curtains in our bedroom got left from the lady before us and the only reason I left them was there are no other shades on the windows for privacy, so I had to leave them. They're these old pink things and they let lots of light in. The neighbors on that side of the house have been rehab-ing the house (actually, we're pretty sure the people there had been renting and got kicked out and the actual owners are fixing it up) and there are no curtains in their windows either. They've been working on the house pretty late (although they're good about not going past midnight) so lights shine directly onto our bedroom windows. Our curtains keep out some light, but it's pretty obvious when the lights are still on next door. Target had some blackout curtains that are the color I wanted for the bedroom, so I bought one panel to give them a try ($20 a panel!) and see how we like it before I get a second panel for the other window.

Happiness Is: Kitchen Shelves

We got these shelves and hooks at our trip to Ikea last weekend and today Dan put them up! He sent me pictures on my phone while he was putting them up, so I got to see pictures all the way through. When I got home from work, I put everything on them. The frying pans and saucepan we use all the time, moved the bread to the shelf (it was on top of the toaster), the rice cooker, and the strainer, all in easy reach and I don't have to bend over. I also have a place to hang my lunch bag for work and the spices we use a lot are also in easy reach.

The table will get pushed back against this wall, but we'll still be able to get everything from the shelves when we need them.

And just because I can, my poor swollen feet. They're getting worse, I'm glad it's almost the weekend and I can spend the whole time with my feet up and iced. For whatever reason, my left foot has swollen worse than my right every time. They don't really hurt, although towards the end of today the left was bothering me, but it drives me crazy how puffy they keep getting.

Dermographism

Medical term: Dermatographic urticaria. Also called "skin writing" for what should be obvious reasons. I started to really notice it in college. From my internet research, several things don't surprise me. It can start during times of stress (college wasn't a cake walk), it shows up in people who are fair skinned and don't tan (me), and also shows up in people who have other allergies (also me). At first, I just figured I had sensitive skin, and in some ways that's true. What's happening is the cells in my skin that hold histamines (which play a part in the immune system) have weak barrier walls and rupture without the presence of allergens. Even very light pressure or scratches can trigger a response like the one seen above. No worries though, the worst part about the condition is that it itches a little bit. It didn't hurt at all to write "hello" on my arm, I did it with the blunt end of a pen.

The other thing I did find out, because I got suspicious, is that people who have dermographism typically don't have scratch tests done to determine allergies. I had a scratch test done last year to try and figure out the cause of my EE (Eosinophilic Esophagitis), which is also allergy-related. At the time, I didn't know I had an official skin condition or I would have mentioned it to my allergist. I just knew my skin was sensitive and I did have to sit for 15-20 minutes after they scratched me (the average time it takes for my bumps to go down), so I didn't really think anything of it. They measured my "reactions" and the ones that I was "positive" for were based off measurements, not merely the presence of the bumps. The tree nuts and shellfish welts were HUGE, extremely obvious that I was allergic to those. The rest were all so-so. In the end, they decided I tested positive for those two plus corn, soy, and peanuts. I went on elimination diets of all those things to see if any of them were what was causing my EE. I was on several elimination diets for two weeks at a time (I think I might have spent 4-6 weeks eliminating total), and nothing actually helped. It wasn't until I got medication that the symptoms of the EE started to go away.

Remembering all this, a couple things come to my mind. Firstly, it is entirely possible that the corn/soy/peanuts results were false positives. Not that all allergies present in the same way, but whenever I've had an allergy to anything, I know it. I'm pretty in tune with my body. Corn does bother me, but mostly when it's by itself and not an ingredient in something (like corn chips). I grew up with soy sauce and peanut butter, neither of those things have ever bothered me in the slightest. Secondly, the elimination diets. The fact that nothing happened during those diets makes me lean even more towards the false positive idea.

When we have decent health insurance again (which will be this summer with any luck), I'll be going back to my allergist (or finding a new one) with this information and figuring out how to go from here.

200 Posts!

We are officially done standardized testing at work! I just have to finish packing up the answer sheets and they get shipped out Thursday. Dan was busy today at the house. He put up my awesome Ikea clock, set up a door bell (one of the stick up kind), and set up his computer in our bedroom (which I'll be able to use like a TV/DVD player). When I got home, despite being super tired and having swollen feet (which haven't been this bad since I hurt my ankles 4 years ago), I got the laundry out of the dryer, folded baby clothes and put them away, and arranged a slightly better temporary clothing set up in our room.

I had a doctor's appointment today. Blood pressure and belly are measuring fine, but we gained 7lbs. since the last appointment two weeks ago and that's not great. I couldn't think about what would have made me gain that fast until I was driving home and realized that during the time we were moving, we ate fast food pretty much every day. That had to be the culprit. Now that we're in the house and have done some grocery shopping, we've been much better about eating what's in the house. I'm hoping when I go back in two weeks, I won't have gained nearly as much weight. Next time, she'll actually be checking my cervix to see if I've started to dilate. I'm excited about that and not at the same time. I think it's going to be uncomfortable (and I like having appointments where I can keep my clothes on) but I know that once they start checking my dilation it means we're getting closer to having the baby :) If I've done the math in my head correctly, and I think that I have, after my next appointment, I'll be going back every week until the baby comes. 6 weeks to go (if we're lucky), it seems like such a long time and such a short time all at once!

Belly Progress

It's been a long time since I did my last belly time line so here is another. It's missing several weeks from when I couldn't find my camera (we eventually found it buried under the couch when we took it apart to move).

26 Weeks

29 Weeks

31 Weeks

33 Weeks

It's getting harder and harder to sleep because I have a hard time getting and staying comfortable. I also wake up due to my bladder and heartburn in the middle of the night. Last night I did pretty well, and only woke up once around midnight to use the bathroom and get a snack (snacks help with heartburn) and once before my alarm went off. My mom and I aren't going to school together today and when we drive separate I can get up later. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall back asleep after my first alarm went off so I just got up and have been on Facebook and blogger until now. It's time to go make breakfast and my lunch and head off to work. I cannot wait for Easter Break (which starts next week). Things have finally settled down at the house and I'll be doing my maternity shoot over break, not to mention I didn't get to take a break during Spring Break so I will actually be able to relax also.

Childbirth Class

So this whole pregnancy I've been doing the things that I'm "supposed to do", and childbirth class was one of those things. Our hospital offers them in several options, either a several-week session or an all-in-one-day session. We opted for the all-in-one because of Dan's work schedule and because of how far we live from the hospital. The lady running the class was very nice and knowledgeable, but she was older and could have run the class much more efficiently. She had a lot of visual aids that were physical, and most of them were posters, so she had to spend time showing them around the room to everyone when behind her--the entire time--a projector was on and ready to go. There could have been a digital presentation which would have gotten information across much more effectively. The other thing is that most of the information she had, was all stuff I had read about already. We went partly for me to see if there was more information but also so that Dan could hear things and practice things that would help me once I'm in labor. But, I did what first time moms are "supposed to do" and I can check it off my pregnancy to-do list.

After the class the day was slightly more fun. We stopped at the mall and I got a couple more shirts to wear to work in the warmer weather. Tomorrow is Dan's mom's birthday and we had dinner with them at a local Italian restaurant, so that was really nice too. I had been out of the house for almost 12 hours so I was tired, Dan dropped me off at our house then headed over to his parents for cake.

A handful of Norsemen

There's a song called "Ikea" by an artist name Jonathan Coulton and it's hilarious. My favorite line is "with some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen." I love Ikea and have had several things saved on my shopping list for when we moved into the house and got paychecks in order. Today we actually had time to go to Ikea and make a big trip. We got shelves for the kitchen (super excited about those), a wardrobe for me (which can't get put together until the carpet gets put in because of its size), and this adorable clock. My mom gave me money for a housewarming present and we also got a coupon that basically paid for the clock. Intending to go in and only get exactly what was on my list and not make impulse purchases, changes did have to be made based on what the store had in stock. Several changes were made, but the only impulse buy was batteries for the clock because I didn't know if I would be able to find the ones we had at the house (they could still be packed somewhere), everything else that varied from the original list was something that changed from one thing to another. I changed from a larger size of something to a smaller size for instance. I only added an additional thing for my wardrobe, but my downsize choices enabled me to stay inside my budget and I actually came in under budget when we got to the register! I was very happy about that, I almost never come in under budget.

Testing Continues

I'm 33 weeks this week. That's only one month from being considered "full term" which makes me really happy. The closer I get to 37 weeks, the happier I get because if he comes anytime after 37 weeks, he won't be considered a preemie and will have significantly less health issues. The longer he stays in, the healthier he is. I have a hard time waiting now, I really want to have him in my arms and cuddle and kiss him, but I know the longer he stays where he is, the better off he'll be overall.

Standardized testing is still going on, and will be going on until Monday when we have our make up tests for kids who miss. So far there will only be a couple of kids making up tests, which is good. Testing also makes my day go by quicker, and this week has gone much faster than other weeks where my mornings weren't completely non-stop.

RENT

Today Amanda and I went to go see RENT at our Alma Mater because one of our close friends, and several people we actually went to school with, are playing major roles. It was also my first time seeing the show all the way through. I knew some of the songs and had seen parts of the movie, but I actually got to see all of it and I got to see close friends who I haven't seen in a long time. Andy, Jackie, and Jimmy are all also in town until the end of next week. They're staying with my parents and if I'm not tired and they're home after work, I'll come in to say hi and snuggle with the baby <3

Testing Begins

Today went by pretty quickly at work, despite not having internet until the end of the day. I had 3 7th graders in my room for testing and I administered their tests. While they were taking the tests, which was in between me reading directions to them, I read Anne of Green Gables, which is one of my all-time favorite books. I got through 100 pages after testing was over for the day, which was pretty good considering I'm not sure what the last book I actually read was. Even though I didn't have any classes today, I still had plenty to do after testing was over with, I'm going to be glad to send everything back on the 15th and be done with it all.

The picture above makes me happy because the frames are in the living room where I can see them every day. The frame on the left was something we found during the move, it's a picture of me at Mount 2004--which was Dan's first one and technically our second date--that I had framed for Dan before we were married. Then there's my favorite picture from our wedding, it hung over our bed in the apartment and will be displayed somewhere prominent once we get settled. The third picture is a framed 3D sonogram. I had gotten the frame for another picture entirely, but I couldn't get the right size printed, so the frame sat empty for a while. Then, after we had the last sonogram, I realized that the prints we got were the perfect size. I framed the one that was the favorite of both of us and Dan's face lit up when he saw it for the first time. It's a cute picture and we say that he looks more like Dan, but has my nose (poor kid!), I'm glad that the frame worked perfectly :)

Official Answer

Today dragged on. I didn't have my first class because of standardized testing this week rearranging the schedule and my only other class wasn't until last period. Then, because weather has been bad the last couple of days, the sky let loose and we lost power in my building three times. The internet came back up after the first two, but after the third failure it didn't come back. So for the entire day, our building didn't have internet.

Eventually, last period came and went. Dismissal finished and the kids were gone. It was time for a staff meeting. An e-mail had gone out from our principal (that was physically passed on to those of us without internet) stating that there would be a meeting to announce/discuss the decision of the Board from last night's meeting. The news was not a surprise, but heart-wrenching nonetheless. This will be the last year that the school remains open, there won't be a next school year in the fall.

First Day Back

Today was the first day back at work after break and it was busy! I had my three normal classes then I subbed for another class, plus I had lunch and dismissal duty. I was moving almost non-stop the whole day. It was not too bad because it made the day go by faster. Dan finished up at the apartment, got the last few things out and finished up the cleaning, we're officially out of the apartment and into the house!

Once I got home, I made dinner and tried to watch some DVDs, but I was tired so I grabbed my laptop and headed to the bedroom. I attempted to nap but the house faces west and the sun was coming right through our curtains. It was totally cool that I didn't get to nap because Amanda called and I got to talk to her for a while! Then, while I was talking to Amanda, Lyndsay called from California! I got to talk to Lyndsay for almost an hour and that was awesome because we haven't actually talked since before she left for boot-camp in January.

After talking to Amanda and Lyndsay, it was dark out and I got to sleep. It wasn't a nap, I slept until Dan got home from work, talked to him for a bit and went back to bed. I love sleeping.

Brissa's New Diggs

Brissa's new spot in the new house :) We didn't have space to keep her cage and her playpen so she just gets the playpen. I got the idea to set up towels outside the playpen to keep her mess confined to her area. I learned at the apartment that she'll just tear the playpen cover apart and it won't do any good. There was a huge, nasty, old carpet left in the house and I commandeered it for Brissa. It's heavy and there's no way she's going to chew/dig all the way through it and because I've set up these towels just out of her reach, I don't have to worry about the mess spreading through the rest of the laundry room. I've checked on her at various points in the day and she seems to be adjusting well, the furnace kicking on or the fridge don't seem to bother her. It'll be interesting to see how she reacts to the washer/dryer.

I'm useful again!

My ability to drive a manual transmission has come in handy and I get to have an official moving job now! Our friend lent us his truck to move big stuff and take bigger/multiple loads (including my car) over to the house at once and it's a stick. Dan can drive stick, but I've had way more practice so it's officially my job :)

Dan and his friend moved the mattress and box-spring over and tonight will be our first night in the house!

We're finished moving--April Fools...

Yeah, we're still working on getting everything out. We made SUPER progress today. I had previously been overwhelmed by the idea of cleaning out the closet and Dan was gracious enough to brave it for me while I steadily packed other things around the apartment. The closet is almost completely cleaned out (2 small boxes left) and later tonight we'll take our bed frame apart so that when our friend comes tomorrow with his truck we'll be ready. I'm trying to get done what I can today because I have to work tomorrow at my other job and won't be home until at least 1600. The bed is definitely going to the house tomorrow and with the bed going over, that means WE are going over too, if anything is left by tomorrow night, it will be little stuff. I'm hoping to spend today and tomorrow cleaning so there's not much left to do once everything is out. This involves me borrowing my parents vacuum because ours sucked up too much rabbit hair.

We won't have internet at the house until Tuesday because we forgot to tell Comcast we were moving and that's the earliest they could come out. I'm ok with that because there will be plenty of unpacking left to do (although it will be done in small stages until the carpet gets installed), we've got hundreds of DVDs, and I have knitting. I'm excited because we don't have other bills, we decided to upgrade to "real" cable and will have the basic package. I'll have History Channel, Discovery, and Comedy Central again--all we have right now is "glorified rabbit ears" because it was cheaper to get that in a combo with the internet than it was to get internet by itself.

Dan found this moose while going through boxes that were in the closet. I think I bought it for him originally, but since VJC changed their name to Stevenson, I've been grabbing up anything that still says Villa Julie on it, including Bulwinkle here. I'm not sure where I'll put him at the house, but I will definitely find a place.

At the very least, it looks like we'll definitely be done in the apartment by the time I have to go back to work on Monday, if not earlier. I'd really, really just like to spend Saturday and Sunday cleaning, but realistically there will probably still be things to move over Saturday when I'm done working.