Hotlanta

I saw a snippet of the news and the weather will be climbing into the high 90.s.
But, am I afraid, non. I try to be outside in the early am or later at night. I don't really mind the heat but Oh, air conditioning you are my love.

I took Sofia to the Dirty Dog dog wash. There were two twin summer shaved Golden Retrievers and a Doodle dog who was not diggin the dryer

I also tried out my new curly hose. The roses in the front walk were looking bad, I gave them some miracle grow and I'm hoping for a miracle...That they will perk up.

I plan on watching So You Think You Can Dance, a show my sister Debra turned me on to.

Well those are the highlights of Wed.

Holiday Time in Georgia- L

Sofia and I are mostly ready for the holidays. It is a Kimono Christmas this year. I do so adore a theme.
Today we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. The plan is to have a lazy, lovely day watching The Grand Chef ( it should be in my mail box) on the fold out couch, which Sofia loves. We have a Thanksgiving feast of Cornish Game Hen, orange cranberry sauce, sausage, cornbread,apple and pecan stuffing , green beans, and butternut squash with maple syrup and ginger. Apple pie will be the dessert. Le Grand Chef is perfect viewing for a foodie holiday.

Really? Still no baby? - A.

And so I continue to wait. I am now 39 weeks pregnant (wow!) and am going back to the midwife today. Although after several weeks of "You're going to go into labor any second...no, really!" I have a little less faith in them.

I am trying to remember that little Finn will arrive when he's good and ready and I should just enjoy these last few days of freedom/TV/reading/sleeping. Still, it's hard to focus on anything other than the when is he coming question.

For Thanksgiving tomorrow K and I are picking up some already prepared food from Whole Foods. I would happily have skipped the whole thing and had pizza, but he wanted something a little more traditional. I am looking forward to the pie at least.

Then this weekend his mother and her husband are coming down for Thanksgiving part II.

And the waiting game continues....

-L.

Minilogue - Animals from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

Ring, damn you, ring! - A.

So at this point, all I am doing is waiting to go into labor.

The doctor says it will be soon, but that term is both vague and relative.

I have that feeling where you have one ear cocked for the phone and you're waiting for it to ring so part of your mind is always focused on that.

Other than that I am at least attempting to be productive (cleaning, scrapbooking, etc.)

Such is my very pregnant life.

I'm too pregnant to be a hostess

At 36 1/2 weeks pregnant (yikes!), this is now my approximate size:



Thus, I am really far, far too big to have my family visit for six days. And yet, they did.

It's not that it was a bad visit, it's just that all I am really up for is laying around, sleeping, eating, and endlessly, endlessly peeing.

And yet instead I went out for long meals, toured the world of Coke, and explored historic downtown Roswell.

It was far too much for this pregnant woman, and the end result was crankiness and feet that look like they belong to a duck billed platypus. Too much.

But now my house is returned to normal and today the only thing I have to do is go to the doctor.

This weekend we have two whole social engagements, which for us is a ton, but they should both be lots of fun. And I am going to try and get K to install the car seat and co-sleeper, at which point we will be officially be complete ready for the little one's arrival.

A birthday note to K - A.

October 27, 2008

To my wonderful husband on his 30th birthday:

K,

Happy, happy birthday! I can’t believe that you were only 22 when I met you and now we get to celebrate your 30th birthday together. You have become a more wonderful man and husband every day since I have been with you so I can’t wait to see what a new decade will bring.

You are the best person I know and I am so blessed to have you in my life. You are funny, smart, and kind. Every day I spend with you makes me love you more. I am counting on us getting to spend at least the next hundred lifetimes together because it is already clear to me that just one won’t be nearly enough.

I can’t wait to see you as a father. Finn is so lucky – he not only inherits your fabulous genes but gets to grow up with a great man like you as his role model. There is no one I could feel better or surer about having as my partner as we go into becoming parents.

I hope you have an amazing birthday. I love you endlessly and always will.

A

What a lovely Sunday - A.

I had the best day yesterday.

K and I blew off everything we had planned and spent the day curled up on the couch watching movies, Tivo, and football except for a brief Trader Joe's trip.

It was so nice, and just what I needed. He's been working a ton and our weekends have been ridiculously busy, so it was lovely to have some at home together time.

This weekend we're going up to his parents and then the next weekend my parents are coming down. Plus with the soon appearance of Finn, I know that just us time is quickly running out.

A perfect way to spend a Sunday.

I am Target's bitch - A.

I really need to stay away from Target. Now that I'm not working, I find myself wandering in a couple of times a week. Sure, I always have a "reason" and am planning on just running in and picking up something small. But then I am just sucked in.

Damn them and their reasonably priced merchandise. I am completely unable to stick to my list. I always end up with extra clothes/food/candles/house stuff/toiletries.

I would say I would give it up, but we all know that would be a lie.

Damn you, tiny dog.

I'm a terrible blogger - A.

I swear, I used to be good at this. I used to have things to say.

Not so much at this moment, however.

Blame pregnancy brain. I can barely even get through a book anymore. Last week it took me two days to get through a copy of people. I just can't focus on anything and am always flittering off to go to something. Call is nesting, or just some kind of not working anymore stupidity.

Either way, every day I open this blog and then can think of nothing to write.

Basically, I am currently a boring pregnant woman. I eat, sleep, complain about how uncomfortable I am, and worry. It's not quite the stuff of Hemingway.

But I will try to do better, I promise.

Heading to my baby shower - A.

I am headed home for my baby shower tomorrow. It will be very nice to see friends I haven't seen in ages, although I fear they will be shocked by my HUGE pregnant belly. All in all I am looking forward to it, although I am already exhausted at the thought of all the traveling and going out and about.

Cross your fingers for me that everything goes well.

Fun with triathalons...well, for some...- A.

So this weekend we went up to Lavonia, Georgia for K to take part in the Tugaloo triathlon.

Lavonia is now added to the many places I am glad I don't live since it has the small town-ness without any small town charm.

For me, it was a lot of waking very early, but I was very proud of K for doing the triathlon and it was fun to watch him.

Before it began - notice the sun is not up!

After the swim, which he totally rocked!

After the bike, starting the run.

What's a pregnant girl to do? - A.

How am I whiling away my time in these last two and a half months?

I have created a master "To do before the baby comes" list, broken down by month. L very nicely assures me every couple of days that it will, in fact, all get done. I am hoping she is right.

I continue to practice "nesting" not by cleaning or organizing, but by buying a bizarrely large amount of fall and winter scented candles. Why? I couldn't possible explain. But I find it very soothing.

This week I was forced to buy new (and larger) maternity clothes. My belly was no longer willing to be contained in what I had. Soon I expect to be clad solely in muumuus.

Less than three months! - A.

So I am currently swinging wildly back and forth between wanting the baby to hurry up and get here and feeling like there is no way I will be ready when he does come.

I am currently falling more in the latter camp, largely because my panic comes hand in hand with an increasing amount of pregnancy fatigue, which makes it seem very unlikely that I'm going to be able to get anything done other than lay weakly on the couch.

We shall see how it goes.

On the upside, have I mentioned how nice it is to have L here? Just lovely.

That is today in the life of a pregnant lady.

For A. -from -L. Looking Good.

What's up? - A.

I know, I know. My blogging here has become much less regular. Bad me.

Leisure Girl takes up most of my blogging attention is my main excuse. I can only be so creative in any given day, after all.

Plus, my life is exceptionally uninteresting at the moment. I feel like a chicken sitting on an egg, just waiting for it to hatch. I am actually pretty busy (well, relatively) during any given day, but not with anything earth shattering (cooking dinner, going to the gym, perusing Babies R Us, doing laundry).

None of these activities really lend themselves to much blogging.

But I will try to be better, since I know everyone is waiting with bated breath for what I will say next.

Two sisters together - A.

Sister L. is now officially a Marietta resident and I am SO glad. She has rented a lovely house nearby and I can only imagine the fun and high jinx we will have now that she's here.

First up? Probably reorganizing the kitchen and painting the nursery.

It is just so nice to have one of my favorite people ever to be able to hang out with. What a luck pregnant girl I am.

I'm officially unemployed - A.

Up until now, I was just a teacher on summer break. But my first day back should have been on Monday, and here I am, still home.

I am so, so excited for the baby and being a stay at home mom, but it definitely feels odd to not be setting up my room and getting ready for a new class.

I keep feeling like I'm forgetting to do something, plus having a bunch of work anxiety dreams.

I think I might even end up missing it a little, or at least miss the pay check.


Not me any longer!

L's upcoming move - A.

I am so excited that in the not too distant future L. will be in the same town as I am, at least for a little while.

We will have such fun, and there is so much baby prep to do. Plus I need someone to hang out with as I spend hours on the couch reading magazines, watching, TV, and feeling poorly.

And who would I rather spend that time with than my darling sister? No one, clearly.

All of Marietta is aflutter with excitement.

Back from the DR - A.

I returned Monday evening from my week in the Dominican Republic.

Overall, it was a super fun trip. The beach was beautiful and K's family was lots of fun. We had a great time until I woke up Monday (the day of our return) as sick as a dog.

I then proceeded to vomit my way through two countries, two airports, 12 hours, and a very long plane trip. It was one of the worst days of my life.

I am starting to be on the mend now, but am still a little woozy from not eating anything for 48 hours.

My mom is coming to visit for six days on Friday, so I am slowly trying to put the house to rights today. Such is post-vacation me.


A lovely vacation pic of pregnant me and K.

Off I go - A.

Tomorrow morning I depart for eight days in the Dominican Republic. So exciting. I am looking forward to lots of sun and food, food, food.

Also, last night I had my first dream about actually having a baby. I was on an airplane with him and he was delightfully well behaved. I consider that a good omen of things to come.

I shall return on the 29th.

I found a Golden Bowl at Crunchyroll -L.

My first response to JDorama vs. K-Drama was a hands down win for K-Drama. I was wrong. JDorama has an inventiveness and quirkiness I enjoy and at Golden Bowl, there is Kaneshiro Takeshi, one of the stars of The House of Flying Daggers. The story has a bowling alley as a back story, so I delayed checking it out, I was wrong again. So good.

Baby shopping crazy - A.

I'm calling it "the nesting instinct" (under the assumption that that's harder for K to argue with) but really I am just crazy for baby shopping.

I am doing my best to at least focus on places I can buy things used, so it will be a little cheaper. Thus I am now spending hours a day on Craig's List and Ebay. I just can't stop myself.

I also have been attending garage sales.

I got this on ebay for half it's original price.

What am I doing today? - A.

So after all the haircut hoopla of this spring, I haven't been back (since March) and am desperately overdue for a trim.



I have liked this haircut, and it is definitely cute, but I think I'm going to go for something a little lower maintance. I figure since I am embarking on the path of stay at home mom, my hair should need fewer products, and I would dearly love to be able to pull it back into a ponytail.



I am hopefuly I can convince my uber-chic hairstylist that giving me more "mom hair" is all for the best.



Oh how I miss my ponytail.

Pregnant sleeping - A.

Here is what I am discovering. Pregnant sleeping is no easy task.

First there was the whole "you have to start sleeping on your side" conundrum. Not easy for me, as I am not a side sleeper. I have discovered in the last few nights, though, that if I accidentally start sleeping on my back I wake up with one or both legs completely dead asleep, thanks to the added weight of my baby boy.

It's just hard to get comfortable, and I am doing a lot of tossing and turning.

My giant pregnancy pillow, the Snoogle, helps, but the bed is getting quite crowded between it, me, K, and the dog.

I have heard rumors that it gets harder and harder to sleep as your pregnancy continues. That just seems too cruel, though, so I am choosing not to believe it.

Living alone... - A.

I am now on day 6 of being by myself with K off traveling.

I think I enjoy being alone more than most people, and as a whole this time hasn't been too bad. I've watched movies, read, hung out with the dogs, and just generally enjoyed my solitude.

But I am officially ready for him to come back. I am tired of my own head and no one to hang out with. Enough with being alone!

Crazy for Crunchyroll -L.

Sometimes I worry that I will have used up all the K-Drama. But the Universe provides. Enter Crunchyroll I have just finished watching Summer Scents. A classic K-Drama. Very good with a happy ending. 20 episodes. And the best part of Crunchyroll, each episode is a full hour long. No need to click from part 1 to whatever. Yum.

It's a boy! - A.

I went to the doctor yesterday and - It's a boy!

Shocking, really. I totally thought I was having a girl. I have officially come to terms with it, though. And it's really quite exciting.

I have even bought my first new piece of baby boy clothing:

It's so cute, no?

Now I am spending hours looking at crib bedding and planning the nursery.

Miracle make-up - A.

I have never been able to wear eye shadow. My eye lids are oily and it is always gone within the hour, leaving only little creases behind.

I have tried all kids of bases and shadows, all to no avail.

Until, that is, my dear friend Emily introduced me to Urban Decay Primer Potion.

It is a miracle product. You put it on, and then your eyeshadow, and the eyeshadow stays completely intact. It is a revelation.

My own tube just arrived from Sephora and I am very excited to start sporting eyeshadow.

the Saving Grace of Books -L.

That Christmas feeling comes many times a year with online shopping and Amazon. Sure the bill comes to me, but opening up the box of goodies always feels good.

Next week I will be receiving 2 books. I found the reference to them on Bookshelves of Doom.

House of Many Ways and Suite Scarlett will soon be here to take me away from the days of waiting for what will be , and into the world were all the answers of what will happen are just a page turn away.