Frightfully cold, that is! Temperatures have been staying in the 20's and 30's around here, which makes me very sad. I've never been a fan of cold weather; was even less of a fan of it when I worked my 12-hour dayshifts and the only time I could see the sun was through the windows or when I was taking a discharged patient to meet their ride. I usually get that seasonal depression really bad around this time of year. So far though, I've been doing pretty good. Heck, my attitude's been better in the last three weeks since I went back to evening/nightshift than it had been the last three months of summer! I feel like I can get up in the morning and accomplish things before I go to work. I can do a load or two of laundry, get my grocery shopping done, clean up the mess from the day before, do some crochet, make sure J has some supper (and possibly a lunch for the next day), and/or spend some time with Logan so he doesn't destroy the house when I leave (he had been good about being left alone since he was neutered in May, and started doing it sporadically for spite in July after I got pregnant). Sometimes its only a few things on the list, sometimes it's everything. I've noticed I'm also waking up earlier/sleeping shorter periods than usual since I went back to "my" shift. Occasionally I still have days where I sleep 12 hours and feel like I could've slept more, but for the most part I'm waking up anywhere between 7 and 9 after my nights off, and around 10 or 11 the day after I work (getting home and to bed between 3:30 and 5am). I think the nicest part about it though, is that our thermostat is programmed to have the house a nice toasty 72 degrees by 5ish for when J gets up, so the house is soooo cozy and warm when I get home AND he already has the bed all warmed up and is all soft and cuddly and eager to snuggle when I crawl in. There's nothing worse than crawling into a cold bed in a cold room and trying to fall asleep after working 12+ hours...maybe that's part of why I sleep so well now!
Last week though, I really felt like I spent no time at home. I worked Sunday night, spent Monday running errands with a girlfriend; went with my brother down to my grandmother's old house almost 90 minutes away (where my uncle and aunt now live) to pick up some furniture and dishes on Tuesday; dropped Christmas stuff off at my other grandmother's and went shopping all day with my mom on Wednesday; and then Thursday and Friday were a flurry of cooking before going to work because nightshift had our own Christmas party while the rest of the unit was out partying Friday night. I'm hoping I wake up at a decent time tomorrow to go get my grocery shopping done before work, because I plan on staying home and doing little things I keep missing on Wednesday - one of which being finishing a chenille blanket I started sewing for Aimee months ago (and didn't finish because I needed to know what color binding to put on it), finishing my parent's Christmas presents, and taking a good chunk out of the Christmas wrapping. I've been putting that off because I didn't know where to put everything once wrapped, since Logan developed a taste for wrapping paper last year. He totally destroyed the wrapping paper and box for my father-in-law's gift last year!
Another thing I need to do Wednesday - Christmas cookies. I made a double batch of oatmeal cookies with butterscotch and dark chocolate chips yesterday, and that's the ONLY batch of cookies I've made this year! I'm thinking only single batches this year though...I had way too many leftovers last year and ended up throwing some out bc they went stale before we ate them. This year's list includes oatmeal (done), peanut blossoms, chocolate chip, and possibly sand tarts. I think I already have sand tart dough in the freezer from last year, but if I don't I won't bother with them. Unless J is desperate for decorated cookies, that'll be about it this year. Other than shopping, I'm a bit of a Scrooge this year - probably because I'm working all Christmas weekend and don't see the point of going all gaga for a holiday I'm not really going to get to enjoy lol
Not much to report in the baby department. We did finally start working on the BRU registry...hoping my mom will go down with me on Thursday to give insight on "Yes you need it/forget about it". Belly is finally starting to expand at an alarming rate, though I'm wondering if part of that is that I can't remember the last time I had a decent BM. O the joys of pregnancy nobody warns you about until you experience it...like when you're too big for your own clothes, but too small for maternity clothes so you try to wear a belly band over your pants and still have to keep hitching them like a gangster...or that you'll spend more time adjusting your clothes AFTER you go to the bathroom than you will actually GOING to the bathroom...or the fact that even though your boobs were more than plentiful before pregnancy, you're eventually going to give Dolly Parton a run for her money. Ugh. I'm going to need to order new bras again next paycheck. That part's getting old. Fast.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
It's a....Girl!?!
Well, guess intuition is not to be totally trusted in pregnancy!! I was completely caught off guard by this one! I had joked with J that unless the doc could positively show me proof that this was a girl, I was going for a 3D/4D ultrasound, even if I had to put it on the credit card I'm trying to pay off before the baby comes. Well, when he pulled the probe back to get a kidney shot, I got a clear view of everything. Then he "officially" looked...and even though I knew he was right, I made him recheck three times! He finally looked at me and said, "Unless she sprouts a penis in the next 20 weeks, it's a girl. This is as good a shot as you're ever gonna get!" Normally he's very serious and straight-faced with me, but I DID make him laugh a little when I told him, "You don't understand - my mom is never going to let me live this down. She told me she knew this was a girl, just like she knew Geoff [my brother] was a boy even when you said he wasn't." Knowing my mom for as long as he has (over 30 years...22 of which as her OB/GYN), all he could do was laugh at that one...because it's definitely true!
Both families are ecstatic - my brothers were hoping for a niece to spoil rotten, and me being the only girl means my dad has a LOT of little girl spoiling left in him! (Mom already "knew", but she's excited for tea parties and princess cakes.) And J's side? Well, this is the first girl born in his dad's family since 1865 - they all thought there was no way we could have a girl. So yeah, I'd say they're just a little thrilled. :)
So our ultrasound was a week ago tomorrow...and I'm finally getting used to the idea that we're having a little girl and not the boy we thought we were going to have. I've finally stopped calling her "it" and "him" (what can I say, I spent 18 weeks thinking it was a boy!). She has a name. I have settled a color scheme for her room, though exact colors won't be decided until closer to Christmas. I hit the thrift stores on Friday and bought some pink and purple onesies and jumpers. And the first of many crocheted blankets this little girl will have has been started.
So without further ado... Aimee Lynne's first pictures...and a new belly shot!
Both families are ecstatic - my brothers were hoping for a niece to spoil rotten, and me being the only girl means my dad has a LOT of little girl spoiling left in him! (Mom already "knew", but she's excited for tea parties and princess cakes.) And J's side? Well, this is the first girl born in his dad's family since 1865 - they all thought there was no way we could have a girl. So yeah, I'd say they're just a little thrilled. :)
So our ultrasound was a week ago tomorrow...and I'm finally getting used to the idea that we're having a little girl and not the boy we thought we were going to have. I've finally stopped calling her "it" and "him" (what can I say, I spent 18 weeks thinking it was a boy!). She has a name. I have settled a color scheme for her room, though exact colors won't be decided until closer to Christmas. I hit the thrift stores on Friday and bought some pink and purple onesies and jumpers. And the first of many crocheted blankets this little girl will have has been started.
So without further ado... Aimee Lynne's first pictures...and a new belly shot!
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| Hand in front of her nose...it's a very skeletal shot |
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| Much better face shot |
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| 20 weeks..so about 2 weeks ago. I can barely get those pants over my thighs/hips now...they're in the "postpartum" bin in my closet. |
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Sick sick sick...(18w.5d)
Ugh, I hate getting sick. I can handle an allergy attack...much prefer those, since I just take some claratin and a nap and I'm good to go. But this...this sucks.
I started in with a sore throat as I was falling asleep Monday night...figured it was still some post nasal drip from an allergy attack on Saturday, no big deal. Woke up yesterday, and my throat felt like it was on fire! That was pretty much the only thing going on...but I should've taken a clue, since I wanted tea instead of coffee. Anytime I actually *want* to drink hot tea, I am most definitely getting sick. It's like my body knows that cold fluids aren't going to be well accepted. Anyway, at the end of the day, I had the whole body aches, chills, and a low grade temp - even with Tylenol in my system. By the time I got home, I felt so horrible, I sat on J's ottoman and just cried for a while. He finally put me in the bathtub and said a few things that made me feel better about calling off work today.
So now I sit here at home, burning 12 hours of PTO that I really can't afford to burn right now...waiting for my momma to bring me my family's traditional "sick time" foods - egg drop soup and 7up. She's also bringing me popsicles, mucinex, milk, and steakum for J's supper. I think she misses taking care of me when I'm sick. I've always been the really independent one in my family, and the only time I ever really let her baby me was when I was sick. Then I got married and moved out...and the few times I've been sick since then, she stepped back and let J do the babying.
Baby-wise, everything seems to be going well. I started feeling movement at night when I'm trying to sleep a couple weeks ago, and last Friday started feeling it a little bit during the day. Ultrasound is in 3 weeks, and I can't wait. I will be absolutely shocked if this is anything but a boy, though! I've been feeling boy pretty much since the day I found out, though I did have a spell of wishfully thinking it might be a girl. J's rooting for a boy (to carry on the family names), as are both his grandfathers and my grandmothers. Anytime I see either Pop Pop, first thing they ask me is "How's my great-grandson doing??" LOL I think Poppop K would have the big one if we have a girl - they haven't had a girl in 6 generations!
I haven't been good about taking pictures so far, either. But there's not much growth to document right now, unless you want to see how much my chest has expanded!! I'm now in an "E" bra, and even that feels tight on my bigger breast. Thankfully I found a website last year that carries weird bra sizes, and has an awesome return policy. Only trouble is they're in the UK, so if something's the wrong size, it'll take a while to get it exchanged. But I managed to get three decent nursing bras for about $50 including shipping, which is less than my mom paid at Motherhood Maternity's "buy 3 get 1 free" sale in August, and I didn't have a salesgirl telling me to buy the wrong size.
(True story - I KNOW my bra size, and the girl at MM told me I measured 2 band sizes too big and a cup size too small. I just looked at her and said "I need XYZ size right now. How is my cup size going to go DOWN in the next several weeks?")
Anyway, I should get moving here. I want to at least attempt to move the mound a dishes from one end of the counter to the other so it doesn't look quite as messy when my mom gets here...
I started in with a sore throat as I was falling asleep Monday night...figured it was still some post nasal drip from an allergy attack on Saturday, no big deal. Woke up yesterday, and my throat felt like it was on fire! That was pretty much the only thing going on...but I should've taken a clue, since I wanted tea instead of coffee. Anytime I actually *want* to drink hot tea, I am most definitely getting sick. It's like my body knows that cold fluids aren't going to be well accepted. Anyway, at the end of the day, I had the whole body aches, chills, and a low grade temp - even with Tylenol in my system. By the time I got home, I felt so horrible, I sat on J's ottoman and just cried for a while. He finally put me in the bathtub and said a few things that made me feel better about calling off work today.
So now I sit here at home, burning 12 hours of PTO that I really can't afford to burn right now...waiting for my momma to bring me my family's traditional "sick time" foods - egg drop soup and 7up. She's also bringing me popsicles, mucinex, milk, and steakum for J's supper. I think she misses taking care of me when I'm sick. I've always been the really independent one in my family, and the only time I ever really let her baby me was when I was sick. Then I got married and moved out...and the few times I've been sick since then, she stepped back and let J do the babying.
Baby-wise, everything seems to be going well. I started feeling movement at night when I'm trying to sleep a couple weeks ago, and last Friday started feeling it a little bit during the day. Ultrasound is in 3 weeks, and I can't wait. I will be absolutely shocked if this is anything but a boy, though! I've been feeling boy pretty much since the day I found out, though I did have a spell of wishfully thinking it might be a girl. J's rooting for a boy (to carry on the family names), as are both his grandfathers and my grandmothers. Anytime I see either Pop Pop, first thing they ask me is "How's my great-grandson doing??" LOL I think Poppop K would have the big one if we have a girl - they haven't had a girl in 6 generations!
I haven't been good about taking pictures so far, either. But there's not much growth to document right now, unless you want to see how much my chest has expanded!! I'm now in an "E" bra, and even that feels tight on my bigger breast. Thankfully I found a website last year that carries weird bra sizes, and has an awesome return policy. Only trouble is they're in the UK, so if something's the wrong size, it'll take a while to get it exchanged. But I managed to get three decent nursing bras for about $50 including shipping, which is less than my mom paid at Motherhood Maternity's "buy 3 get 1 free" sale in August, and I didn't have a salesgirl telling me to buy the wrong size.
(True story - I KNOW my bra size, and the girl at MM told me I measured 2 band sizes too big and a cup size too small. I just looked at her and said "I need XYZ size right now. How is my cup size going to go DOWN in the next several weeks?")
Anyway, I should get moving here. I want to at least attempt to move the mound a dishes from one end of the counter to the other so it doesn't look quite as messy when my mom gets here...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
blah...
This weather has me so blah feeling...I hate when its nice for a day or two, then right back to cold. I haven't done anything today and it's already after 12 (?!?!), mainly because it is just too darn cold to get out from under the covers!! Ah well..
So pregnancy so far in a nutshell:
My boobs hurt.
Sleeping less than I was at first, with occasional lapses (waking up between 7-8 again, though I usually fall back asleep until the room warms up more around 10) Yesterday was really weird, though. Got up around 10 (after 11 hours of sleep, mind you), did stuff around the house and went to my appointment...fell asleep on the couch around 7:30...got up around 10 to pee, crawled in my bed around 10:30, and slept until just after 9 this morning. Seriously...I am so tired of sleeping all the time...
Belly's finally started to pop a little. Everyone keeps saying how little it is, but it feels huge. I can see it under my baggier t-shirts now, which is kinda weird. And the only jeans I own that still fit comfortably are these stretchy old-lady-ish ones I got at walmart a while back.
I am terrible at remembering to do belly shots. Maybe I'll get J to do some this weekend if we get bored.
Heart rate was 160 at my first appointment...and 154 at this one.
Oh, and I did the intelligender this morning just for kicks...came up pretty positive for boy. We'll see...I know at least one person that definitely had the opposite of what intelligender said...
So pregnancy so far in a nutshell:
My boobs hurt.
Sleeping less than I was at first, with occasional lapses (waking up between 7-8 again, though I usually fall back asleep until the room warms up more around 10) Yesterday was really weird, though. Got up around 10 (after 11 hours of sleep, mind you), did stuff around the house and went to my appointment...fell asleep on the couch around 7:30...got up around 10 to pee, crawled in my bed around 10:30, and slept until just after 9 this morning. Seriously...I am so tired of sleeping all the time...
Belly's finally started to pop a little. Everyone keeps saying how little it is, but it feels huge. I can see it under my baggier t-shirts now, which is kinda weird. And the only jeans I own that still fit comfortably are these stretchy old-lady-ish ones I got at walmart a while back.
I am terrible at remembering to do belly shots. Maybe I'll get J to do some this weekend if we get bored.
Heart rate was 160 at my first appointment...and 154 at this one.
Oh, and I did the intelligender this morning just for kicks...came up pretty positive for boy. We'll see...I know at least one person that definitely had the opposite of what intelligender said...
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Soo...it's been a while...
Life kinda gets in the way of things, doesn't it? Don't worry, I'm not dead...I just have been so exhausted and limited on energy/inspiration these days. Why's that? Well...we had a little surprise hit us the end of last month...
Yup, Baby K will be joining us end of March/beginning of April next year. Quite the surprise, as we had just started talking about TTC after the new year (and I was on the Pill). Guess The Bean (or Whozits, as my mother calls it) knew we were ready for him/her.
So far I've been pretty lucky. At first, I could sleep 12 hours, take a 3 hour nap, and go to bed at my normal time and still sleep 12 hours. I'm slowly getting over that point, though I still have days where I can definitely nap, and J definitely knows better than to try to get me moving before I'm ready on the weekends. I've also been blessed in that I haven't really been sick. The first two weeks after I found out were pretty interesting, as it seemed I had to eat every hour or I would feel nauseous. Now I can go a couple hours in between snacks and meals, which is great since they generally frown upon eating snacks at the nurses station... The biggest complaint I've had so far has actually been belching - every time I eat, my stomach feels so swollen and I belch for hours. Not cute ones, either - the nasty rips that bring back the flavor of whatever I ate last! (TMI, I know - but it's true!)
Sorry, I know I'm jumping around a lot, but my mind is so scattered lately...I need to grab a shower soon - J is coming home from work early, and the doctor's office is supposed to call in about an hour to start the health questionnaire before my appointment in two weeks. So, I leave you with the first official belly pic of the pregnancy.
Yup, Baby K will be joining us end of March/beginning of April next year. Quite the surprise, as we had just started talking about TTC after the new year (and I was on the Pill). Guess The Bean (or Whozits, as my mother calls it) knew we were ready for him/her.
So far I've been pretty lucky. At first, I could sleep 12 hours, take a 3 hour nap, and go to bed at my normal time and still sleep 12 hours. I'm slowly getting over that point, though I still have days where I can definitely nap, and J definitely knows better than to try to get me moving before I'm ready on the weekends. I've also been blessed in that I haven't really been sick. The first two weeks after I found out were pretty interesting, as it seemed I had to eat every hour or I would feel nauseous. Now I can go a couple hours in between snacks and meals, which is great since they generally frown upon eating snacks at the nurses station... The biggest complaint I've had so far has actually been belching - every time I eat, my stomach feels so swollen and I belch for hours. Not cute ones, either - the nasty rips that bring back the flavor of whatever I ate last! (TMI, I know - but it's true!)
Sorry, I know I'm jumping around a lot, but my mind is so scattered lately...I need to grab a shower soon - J is coming home from work early, and the doctor's office is supposed to call in about an hour to start the health questionnaire before my appointment in two weeks. So, I leave you with the first official belly pic of the pregnancy.
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| 8 weeks, 5 days. Already uncomfortable in my jeans, and busting out of bras bought three weeks ago. |
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| Belly already?! (I can assure you this is not bloat. ;-] ) |
Monday, July 18, 2011
I'm thinking...
a 365-day challenge based solely on pictures is just TOO MUCH for me to do!! At least at this point in my life...
So I'm going to steal an idea from justduckea at Grumpy Bear Lair - a 30-day challenge involving more writing than pictures. That's a little more my style anyway lol.
Soo, here's the revised list:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- Look up your horoscope for today and explain how accurate it is
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- 5 things you need to say to 5 different people
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Something you can't seem to get over
Day 11- One of your favorite memories
Day 12- A quote you live by
Day 13- Name 5 things from your 'wishlist'
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- If you were in a fire and could only save one material possession what would it be?
Day 19- Favorite quote from a book
Day 20- How would you like your life to look in 10 years
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- The last dream you remember having
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- Top 10 favorite movies of all time
Day 27- Your favorite quote about friendship
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song
That being said, I'm going to skip day 1, since I did that with day one of previous challenge. so tomorrow starts day 2 :)
Another random fact, I get easily bored with things that take too long. Hence why I have such a hard time finishing big crochet projects and have all but given up on knitting...
So I'm going to steal an idea from justduckea at Grumpy Bear Lair - a 30-day challenge involving more writing than pictures. That's a little more my style anyway lol.
Soo, here's the revised list:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- Look up your horoscope for today and explain how accurate it is
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- 5 things you need to say to 5 different people
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Something you can't seem to get over
Day 11- One of your favorite memories
Day 12- A quote you live by
Day 13- Name 5 things from your 'wishlist'
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- If you were in a fire and could only save one material possession what would it be?
Day 19- Favorite quote from a book
Day 20- How would you like your life to look in 10 years
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- The last dream you remember having
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- Top 10 favorite movies of all time
Day 27- Your favorite quote about friendship
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song
That being said, I'm going to skip day 1, since I did that with day one of previous challenge. so tomorrow starts day 2 :)
Another random fact, I get easily bored with things that take too long. Hence why I have such a hard time finishing big crochet projects and have all but given up on knitting...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Just a quickie...
This is going to be a semi-quick one, since I'm expecting J home in about 45 minutes and I need to finish supper...
The deck is finished!! J and his dad finished it over Memorial weekend, and we had it decorated by the end of the following week. It just needs to be stained yet, but that will have to wait a couple more weeks until the wood finishes drying out. It's suck a nice feeling to be able to hang out on my deck at the end of a bad day at work...only problem is, as much as I love the LOOK of my table and chairs, but backside goes numb about 20 minutes after I sit down. :-/ I also was hoping to have room for a bench or "sofa", but the grill J is looking at is so huge there is no way I'll have room for that. Oh well. At least it's pretty.
The front room is also almost finished. We had a long talk with my mother-in-law last weekend about what I wanted to do in that room as opposed to what J wanted to do. The biggest problem has been that my tastes are so varied that if we put everything I like in there, it would completely clash with both itself and the rest of the house. So we finally came to a decision with what we wanted to do, the look we were trying to go for. We hit Big Lots the next day, and found the perfect sofa at a steal (about $1000 new, and we paid $300). We also found another Broyhill table exactly the same as one that we have in the living room for $40, which I just HAD to have (we paid $150 for the first one last summer). I love me some Big Lots... :-) Now I just need some new bookshelves, a big comfy chair, and some paint. I also have a large granite-topped table from my MIL that I'm debating if I can put in that room.
Well, I better scoot. I still have to boil corn and make potatoes to go with dinner (first ever attempt at spare-ribs, done in the beloved crock pot), plus I've been cleaning all day and need a shower before the boss gets home. (Why yes, I am totally still in my nightgown - why do you ask? :-P)
Side note, Logan came through surgery like a champ! He is still his crazy little self, and destroyed a pair of Daddy's flip flops the other day, but as long as there's nothing out that he can chew, we are able to leave him out when I'm at work. Yay!! Also, no more pillow-humping! :-D
The deck is finished!! J and his dad finished it over Memorial weekend, and we had it decorated by the end of the following week. It just needs to be stained yet, but that will have to wait a couple more weeks until the wood finishes drying out. It's suck a nice feeling to be able to hang out on my deck at the end of a bad day at work...only problem is, as much as I love the LOOK of my table and chairs, but backside goes numb about 20 minutes after I sit down. :-/ I also was hoping to have room for a bench or "sofa", but the grill J is looking at is so huge there is no way I'll have room for that. Oh well. At least it's pretty.
The front room is also almost finished. We had a long talk with my mother-in-law last weekend about what I wanted to do in that room as opposed to what J wanted to do. The biggest problem has been that my tastes are so varied that if we put everything I like in there, it would completely clash with both itself and the rest of the house. So we finally came to a decision with what we wanted to do, the look we were trying to go for. We hit Big Lots the next day, and found the perfect sofa at a steal (about $1000 new, and we paid $300). We also found another Broyhill table exactly the same as one that we have in the living room for $40, which I just HAD to have (we paid $150 for the first one last summer). I love me some Big Lots... :-) Now I just need some new bookshelves, a big comfy chair, and some paint. I also have a large granite-topped table from my MIL that I'm debating if I can put in that room.
Well, I better scoot. I still have to boil corn and make potatoes to go with dinner (first ever attempt at spare-ribs, done in the beloved crock pot), plus I've been cleaning all day and need a shower before the boss gets home. (Why yes, I am totally still in my nightgown - why do you ask? :-P)
Side note, Logan came through surgery like a champ! He is still his crazy little self, and destroyed a pair of Daddy's flip flops the other day, but as long as there's nothing out that he can chew, we are able to leave him out when I'm at work. Yay!! Also, no more pillow-humping! :-D
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Playing catch up...
I am sooo bad at this blogging thing. I think part of my issue with keeping up with this has been that up until lately on my days off all I did was run from one thing to the next. I would sleep late, spend a few hours shopping (spending money I shouldn't on things we don't *need*), and get home just in time to start supper before J gets home. Then J lays claim to the computer for the evening...and you see where this is going. So went my days off for quite some time. And then...
All I wanted was $20 worth of gas to hold me over until payday....and we ended up with $6,000 worth of repairs (both vehicles combined). Thank god J has a friend whose father owns a collision shop only a few miles from here...and that he's in network (or whatever they call it with auto insurance) with our insurance provider!! J was able to get our $1,000 deductible cut in half for the claim (and in half again for any future mishaps), and I was able to pick up overtime to help cover it. We even ended up paying only about half of the deductible because the insurance paid him for a tire we didn't need. So all in all we ended up only paying about $40 more than our current deductible!!
That was enough of a money scare to get me to start spending more time at home on my days off though!! So hopefully I will have more time to keep this updated...
All right, enough about all that, here's the skinny on what's been going on lately:
1) I made whoopie pies for the first time. They ended up very...interesting to say the least. Not at all soft, and kind of chewy. Thinking about using a pastry bag and piping the cookie part instead of scooping it as they ended up very rounded and not very whoopie pie-ish...
Apparently they tasted just fine, since the ones I took up to Mom's disappeared within a day or two...and most of the ones I kept here disappeared within a week or two.
2) I decided a white bathroom was just too cold feeling and painted it warmer. (lol) It's bad enough that the bathroom at my parents' house could fit in my current bathroom twice - the white walls, white ceiling, and no decoration made it seem sooo much bigger and colder! So now we have this beautiful maroon color in the bathroom:
I forgot to take a picture of the print J hung on the wall at my side of the sink after this photo was taken. It's a pretty flower in this neat Oriental-looking frame that we picked up at Big Lots (love that store!). It fits nicely above the towel bar just beyond the left edge of the picture above.
3) Logan has developed a jealousy of my many yarn projects. Before, it was just that he was curious what I was doing. Now, if he wants my attention and I'm crocheting (or knitting, though I so rarely do anymore), he was climb in my lap, sit on whatever I'm working on, and paw at my neck while licking me incessantly until I make him get down. I have tried petting him for a little and then going back to my work, but that only irritates him enough that he will tap dance on my bladder and neck until I have to push him down for hurting me!
He has also started chewing again...flip flops and couch pillows beware!! I seriously cannot leave any shoes other than boots out, nor can I leave any throw pillows on the couch when we leave him out while we're gone. I've lost several pairs of flip flops, and several sneakers and sandals have been damaged lately. I also may have lost one of the throw pillows that came with our sofa...I haven't had the heart to assess the damage to see if it can be reversed.
But he is sooooo cuddly in the mornings! Every morning he greets J with a happy wiggly bottom and a toy in his mouth...and if I am off, as soon as J is dressed he jumps up in bed with me, where he happily snuggles until nature calls and he gets me up for the day.
4) J and I celebrated our first anniversary a little over two weeks ago!! I can't believe a year has gone by already...and this time last year we were settled in at his dad's house waiting for this house to be built...what a difference a year makes! The day before we went to the long-awaited wedding of one of my friends from work (congrats again, Mel!!), then skipped the reception for our own dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Sunday (our actual anniversary) we left early and spent the morning at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. :) I love the aquarium...unfortunately I don't have any pictures since we forgot the camera and my phone was dead, but I DO have a picture of the top layer of our cake that Mom kept in her freezer for us!
5) I had told J a while ago that I felt uncomfortable knowing that there was no way to prevent someone from coming in the house through the basement window. (I know it's unlikely in our neighborhood, but still.) So one day while I was at work, he bought and installed a locking doorknob on the basement door! Such a wonderful husband...
He also installed new hardware in both bathrooms for me...
6) Started the deck!!!! Lots of rain recently, so it's going sloooooowly...but it's going! J and his dad are hoping to pour more concrete in the footers tonight, but by the sound of the rain outside, I highly doubt it.
8) FINISHED!!
9) I finally decided what I'm doing with the front bedroom...updates and pictures to come...
10) I have TOTALLY not done anything I said I would from my last post...except trying to keep up with my sleep!! And you know what? I am feeling GREAT! Only thing I'm really doing different is giving up doing overtime, and started resting during the day when I'm home. And that helps.
I think that's about it for now...hopefully I'll have some pictures of an actual deck frame next time...and some finished projects! (and that it won't be 4 months before the next update!)
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| Yep, I'm the country girl. Grand total of the damages to the Jeep: $2400. |
All I wanted was $20 worth of gas to hold me over until payday....and we ended up with $6,000 worth of repairs (both vehicles combined). Thank god J has a friend whose father owns a collision shop only a few miles from here...and that he's in network (or whatever they call it with auto insurance) with our insurance provider!! J was able to get our $1,000 deductible cut in half for the claim (and in half again for any future mishaps), and I was able to pick up overtime to help cover it. We even ended up paying only about half of the deductible because the insurance paid him for a tire we didn't need. So all in all we ended up only paying about $40 more than our current deductible!!
That was enough of a money scare to get me to start spending more time at home on my days off though!! So hopefully I will have more time to keep this updated...
All right, enough about all that, here's the skinny on what's been going on lately:
1) I made whoopie pies for the first time. They ended up very...interesting to say the least. Not at all soft, and kind of chewy. Thinking about using a pastry bag and piping the cookie part instead of scooping it as they ended up very rounded and not very whoopie pie-ish...
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| the first complete whoopie pies... |
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| you can see how well these are going to sit when they're stacked...not. |
Apparently they tasted just fine, since the ones I took up to Mom's disappeared within a day or two...and most of the ones I kept here disappeared within a week or two.
2) I decided a white bathroom was just too cold feeling and painted it warmer. (lol) It's bad enough that the bathroom at my parents' house could fit in my current bathroom twice - the white walls, white ceiling, and no decoration made it seem sooo much bigger and colder! So now we have this beautiful maroon color in the bathroom:
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| first coat. and yes, I did paint AROUND the shower bar and curtain. It was a pain to put up with two of us; I was NOT taking is down alone! |
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| second coat - and no paint on the curtain! |
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| finished. J picked the mirrors on one of our "dates" at Lowes |
3) Logan has developed a jealousy of my many yarn projects. Before, it was just that he was curious what I was doing. Now, if he wants my attention and I'm crocheting (or knitting, though I so rarely do anymore), he was climb in my lap, sit on whatever I'm working on, and paw at my neck while licking me incessantly until I make him get down. I have tried petting him for a little and then going back to my work, but that only irritates him enough that he will tap dance on my bladder and neck until I have to push him down for hurting me!
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| The face of innocence...the pillow on the left could be the one he ate... |
But he is sooooo cuddly in the mornings! Every morning he greets J with a happy wiggly bottom and a toy in his mouth...and if I am off, as soon as J is dressed he jumps up in bed with me, where he happily snuggles until nature calls and he gets me up for the day.
Next week he goes back to the vet to be neutered and micro-chipped. I'm hoping that will help with the slight tendency towards possessiveness he has been showing with me (and the chewing!), but we'll see...
5) I had told J a while ago that I felt uncomfortable knowing that there was no way to prevent someone from coming in the house through the basement window. (I know it's unlikely in our neighborhood, but still.) So one day while I was at work, he bought and installed a locking doorknob on the basement door! Such a wonderful husband...
He also installed new hardware in both bathrooms for me...
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| the towel ring in the hall bathroom...got the picture at Shady Maple for my birthday |
7) Work in progress updates:
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| This got frogged... |
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| ...and got turned into this. |
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| Clockwise from top: finished and gifted, finished and kept, frogged and yarn in the idea pile, finished and gifted |
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| Clockwise from top left: frogged and yarn in idea stash, frogged and redone/kept, frogged and restarted as granny squares, frogged and yarn in idea stash |
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| Christmas present in progress...using homespun yarn in five or six dye lots |
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| another Christmas present in progress...this was a twice-frogged project...using Red Heart in white and three blues |
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| granny square lapghan in progress for Grandmom |
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| some kind of kerchief thingy J asked me to make for his lightbox...going VERY slowly...(I hate how slow knitting goes!) |
8) FINISHED!!
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| Bear caps, diaper cover, granny square baby blanket."Baby shower in a bag" gifts for Jill at My Journey to Mommyhood |
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| The granny squares from the first WIP photo. Birthday/Christmas gift for Missy K at Missy's Thoughts & Blurbs |
10) I have TOTALLY not done anything I said I would from my last post...except trying to keep up with my sleep!! And you know what? I am feeling GREAT! Only thing I'm really doing different is giving up doing overtime, and started resting during the day when I'm home. And that helps.
I think that's about it for now...hopefully I'll have some pictures of an actual deck frame next time...and some finished projects! (and that it won't be 4 months before the next update!)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
photoimpression fun
I usually end up using either picnik or photo impression for my photo editing (mostly because I'm cheap they're free and easy to use). This is one I took of Logan on our walk Friday SOOC:
Then I opened it in photoimpression, auto-adjusted the levels, cropped, and dropped both the saturation and the brightness and ended up with this:
Definitely like the cropping, but can't decide how I feel about the saturation. Maybe a little more color?
linking up for "show off your shot friday" here:
Then I opened it in photoimpression, auto-adjusted the levels, cropped, and dropped both the saturation and the brightness and ended up with this:
Definitely like the cropping, but can't decide how I feel about the saturation. Maybe a little more color?
linking up for "show off your shot friday" here:
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
New year, new diagnosis, new decisions
2010 was the ride of a lifetime. It was one of the craziest, most emotional, most life changing year I've experienced in this lifetime. I married the man I truly believe I was made for. We bought, built, and moved into our first home. We brought home a puppy, who has become such a huge part of our lives, we sometimes forget we didn't always have him. I brought home and "A" in a psychology class that I barely participated in around wedding planning, working out the house, and working full time. I survived my first year of 12hour dayshift.
But I'm not gonna lie.
Not all of it was amazing.
My relationship with my mother went through such an upheaval that some days I thought we'd never speak again after I moved out. By the time my wedding day came, I was so tired of planning and thinking and stressing that I basically just endured the day. (The photographer captured some of that in at least one shot.) Between a bad cold and a concert in the city, Valentines day was a disaster. We came home from our honeymoon to my father-in-law's house, where we lived for the next two months.
And then there were the physical things, bot pre and post wedding. I could wake up one morning feeling fantastic. I'd get my laundry done, run some errands, spend time with Jason, do all kinds of things around the house, and feel good. The next day, I couldn't move. I'd sleep until 10, barely get moving, maybe take a nap in the afternoon, and go to bed early. Everything hurt, pretty much all the time. Even on a "good" day I'd feel tired if I stood still too long. And not just your normal "oh, you've been working too hard" tired. No, this is your "I haven't slept in 24 hours" kind of tired. A tired that doesn't go away when you wake up in the morning, no matter how long you've slept. I had chronic sinus infections. I had mood swings like crazy! One minute I'd be laughing, then next I would literally be crying or screaming. And forget about a sex drive, since every intimate touch sent me through the ceiling in agony.
So we did bloodwork. Maybe I was anemic. But no. CBC was completely normal, despite the fact that I foolishly had it done in the midst of Aunt Flo's visit. We did allergy testing. Big surprise, dog and cat dander came up high, along with several different grasses and molds. So I started on allergy meds. We checked thyroid levels, since hypothyroidism runs in my mother's family. That was fairly normal, but we started a low dose of meds just to be sure. After a couple weeks I felt even worse and took myself off them. After some research, I thought maybe it was the birth control I had changed to, and we switched me back to one I had been on previously. That helped with the mood swings, but not much else.
So more bloodwork. Another CBC. Another thyroid panel. Then an Epstein-Barr titer. Bingo!! Positive! We finally had an answer.
Apparently, the Epstein-Barr virus is connected to several diseases, including Mono and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Through process of elimination, my doctor has diagnosed me with CFS. Thankfully, it's only a mild case. I've been reading stories of people diagnosed with CFS that can't get out of bed for days at a time, and barely have the strength to get from the bed to the bathroom. (For more information on CFS, check out the CDC's case definition )
So now that we know what's going on in my body, how am I going to handle it? I bought two books off Amazon last week (you can find them here and here ). The first one arrived the other day, and I devoured it in about an hour. The author had lived with CFS for a couple years, and beat it. I'm waiting till the other book comes, but I think I've got a handle on what I need to do.
I hate new year's resolutions, because you're basically making promises to yourself you're going to break by the end of April. So along with my "treatment", here are my 2011 decisions
But I'm not gonna lie.
Not all of it was amazing.
My relationship with my mother went through such an upheaval that some days I thought we'd never speak again after I moved out. By the time my wedding day came, I was so tired of planning and thinking and stressing that I basically just endured the day. (The photographer captured some of that in at least one shot.) Between a bad cold and a concert in the city, Valentines day was a disaster. We came home from our honeymoon to my father-in-law's house, where we lived for the next two months.
And then there were the physical things, bot pre and post wedding. I could wake up one morning feeling fantastic. I'd get my laundry done, run some errands, spend time with Jason, do all kinds of things around the house, and feel good. The next day, I couldn't move. I'd sleep until 10, barely get moving, maybe take a nap in the afternoon, and go to bed early. Everything hurt, pretty much all the time. Even on a "good" day I'd feel tired if I stood still too long. And not just your normal "oh, you've been working too hard" tired. No, this is your "I haven't slept in 24 hours" kind of tired. A tired that doesn't go away when you wake up in the morning, no matter how long you've slept. I had chronic sinus infections. I had mood swings like crazy! One minute I'd be laughing, then next I would literally be crying or screaming. And forget about a sex drive, since every intimate touch sent me through the ceiling in agony.
So we did bloodwork. Maybe I was anemic. But no. CBC was completely normal, despite the fact that I foolishly had it done in the midst of Aunt Flo's visit. We did allergy testing. Big surprise, dog and cat dander came up high, along with several different grasses and molds. So I started on allergy meds. We checked thyroid levels, since hypothyroidism runs in my mother's family. That was fairly normal, but we started a low dose of meds just to be sure. After a couple weeks I felt even worse and took myself off them. After some research, I thought maybe it was the birth control I had changed to, and we switched me back to one I had been on previously. That helped with the mood swings, but not much else.
So more bloodwork. Another CBC. Another thyroid panel. Then an Epstein-Barr titer. Bingo!! Positive! We finally had an answer.
Apparently, the Epstein-Barr virus is connected to several diseases, including Mono and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Through process of elimination, my doctor has diagnosed me with CFS. Thankfully, it's only a mild case. I've been reading stories of people diagnosed with CFS that can't get out of bed for days at a time, and barely have the strength to get from the bed to the bathroom. (For more information on CFS, check out the CDC's case definition )
So now that we know what's going on in my body, how am I going to handle it? I bought two books off Amazon last week (you can find them here and here ). The first one arrived the other day, and I devoured it in about an hour. The author had lived with CFS for a couple years, and beat it. I'm waiting till the other book comes, but I think I've got a handle on what I need to do.
I hate new year's resolutions, because you're basically making promises to yourself you're going to break by the end of April. So along with my "treatment", here are my 2011 decisions
- Stay hydrated. I am notorious for being chronically dehydrated, which contributes to my sinus issues. To make this realistic, I've decided to drink at least six 6-oz glasses of fluid a day. This makes it easier for me to measure my progress, as the "fruitables" and juice boxes I've been packing for lunches are approx. 6oz each...get 6 of those down during a 12 hour shift is mentally a lot easier than trying so suck down one huge 32oz bottle!
- Have some salt One of the points I read was some CFS-ers tend to have a drop in blood pressure when they stand up, and that their blood pressure tends to drop in the afternoon. My goal is to get down some kind of tomato-based juice (which is actually pretty high in sodium) in mid afternoon when I start feeling the late day drag, and see if that helps.
- Better diet! Diet plays a role in recovery from CFS just like any disease. Hubby has been encouraging me to create a diet for him so he can shed some excess baggage, and the Flat Belly Diet really seems to be something that would work for us. My decision is to follow the recipes from the (3) cookbooks I got as much as possible, and to cut down our eating out to once a weekend instead of most of the weekend.
- Exercise This one actually isn't too hard to follow, and actually helps my symptoms! I received a stationary bike as a birthday present, and my mother-in-law recently gifted us with her old treadmill. These are set up side-by-side in one of the spare bedrooms, and on the days I'm off Jason and I spend half an hour on them after supper. As long as I'm on the treadmill more than 4 hours before bed, I actually sleep a little better.
- Have some "me" time" My parents gave me a gift certificate for a massage for Christmas, and my hope for the year is to set a little money aside each pay and go for a massage once a month.
- Finish the projects! For each sewing/knitting/crochet project I want to start, I must finish at least two that I currently have in progress. I have entirely too many projects in process (more than I had shown previously!), and keep starting new ones! My hubby says I have an obsession...I'm thinking he's right.
- Clean out the closet, decorate the haven My closet is such a sore spot for me...I just have no inspiration for how I want it to be set up. It tends to be the place where hubby throws stuff when he's trying to straighten up when someone is coming over unexpectedly...and it shows. So that needs some organization. Also, my big project for the spring is to finish decorating our bathroom, since that's really the only room left to do.
I'm sure I can think of more, but I think this is enough for one year and budget!!
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