Friday, July 25, 2008
Yikes!
Do you see that blue bar of babies above? I can't believe there's only two babies left for me to go to get to the end of the bar! Yikes! I keep having these little reality checks, as if the bulging belly isn't enough...We're really gonna have a baby here!
Leaving Again...
Okay...since Cape Cod, I went back to work for two weeks teaching a summer school program, practically full-time...but alas, today was my last day! The staff there, people I hardly knew at all, pitched in and presented me with all kinds of books and goodies for the baby...very very sweet and unexpected after a quick two weeks. I was honestly "touched."
It seems like every day after working, I was running around trying to get things done, whether it was stuff around the house, or more often, baby-related stuff. I met Jill to do some additional registering at Babies R Us after Trav and I had made an attempt on our own and were all confused in the first aisle we walked down with the scanner when we realized that there's actually "sizes" on pacifiers...who knew!! That was but the beginning of our adventure. I knew that once Travis had strapped himself into the demo back seat of a car in the carseat aisle that he was just about done being there. It didn't help our decision making either that the stock was limited/low. There were empty shelves and whole sections of wall...We thought that we'd want to pick what was supposed to be there since everyone else must have bought up all the good stuff, but now I think it's likely more related to recall items given the propensity for such in the baby business.
Aside from general registering has been an ongoing furniture search...Me being who I am, I have managed to make the process nearly impossible...At first I was looking for good, quality furniture, then I decided I didn't want the changing table/dresser "combo" because they have a cabinet on the side rather than just drawers, then I thought why contribute to more consumerism than I need to and buy from craigslist or something, then I realized that I really don't want someone else's child's teethmarks on my child's crib, nor do I want to have to drive all around the state scoping out other people's furniture, then I met Becky to check out a couple furniture places and taught her how to "smell the drawers" because I find that most dressers (that are not just plain old good ol' fashioned wood) have a chemically smell to them...yuck...and we got lectured by a man who apparently didn't believe me that I wasn't thrilled with his "best" furniture line and tried to convince me that I really liked it...thank goodness Becky is a little more assertive than I and told him we needed to go...
Then I went to a Raymour and Flanagan whose main product line is the same as the other guy's, BUT, I actually didn't mind one of the dressers...I educated my salesperson about children's furniture the best I could (he's only been there a couple of months) and he proceeded to share his life-story with me...ugh! But, he meant well, he just wasn't very helpful...it's a good thing I'm so smart!
Groceries were neglected this week, so was the house, more or less, and the dog, though he had some good ball time down at the park both Thursday and Friday...My feet too have been on the neglected side as I have finally come to terms with the fact that flip flops are not the most supportive shoe for walking up and down the hill to the park everyday AND up and down the long hallways at school everyday, particularly when lugging an extra 15-20 pounds of body mass. Today's after school mission was to hit DSW for a new pair of comfy shoes but I was unsuccessful...my feet just don't want shoes on, that's all there is to it. They would prefer no shoes and no walking...My Keen shoes are comfy, but I can only get them on in the morning and there's no putting them on after I've taken them off...I'm not sure what I'll do, Crocs actually crossed my mind since they are good and wide and soft...(but ugly to me not to mention that my husband is actively anti-Croc with his special anti-croc t-shirt--everybody needs a cause I guess;) Maybe this week I'll find shoes while at the Jersey shore...Perhaps I'll get back in some Birkenstocks...but not the standard look I had in the past...I'm thinking a more femininish pair...we'll have to see...
Which leads me to my tomorrow departure for Beach Haven, NJ...a tacky little beach town on Long Beach Island (LBI)...it' where my family went when we were kids and where my dad went when he was a kid so there's good family history there:) It's also where I had my second date with Travis when I was hit in the face with an orange! I met Travis for the first time the night before I left for Beach Haven 7 years ago (which also means my dad has been cancer free for 7 years, knock knock on wood!) Hows' that for stream of consciousness and connections...I'm looking forward to being there, though it's already 10pm on Friday and I'm exhausted, hardly packed and the house is a mess...I guess I finish everything in the morning, and whatever I don't finish, Travis will since he won't be joining us until mid-week...or else it will get done another time, and that's all good...Be back in a week!
It seems like every day after working, I was running around trying to get things done, whether it was stuff around the house, or more often, baby-related stuff. I met Jill to do some additional registering at Babies R Us after Trav and I had made an attempt on our own and were all confused in the first aisle we walked down with the scanner when we realized that there's actually "sizes" on pacifiers...who knew!! That was but the beginning of our adventure. I knew that once Travis had strapped himself into the demo back seat of a car in the carseat aisle that he was just about done being there. It didn't help our decision making either that the stock was limited/low. There were empty shelves and whole sections of wall...We thought that we'd want to pick what was supposed to be there since everyone else must have bought up all the good stuff, but now I think it's likely more related to recall items given the propensity for such in the baby business.
Aside from general registering has been an ongoing furniture search...Me being who I am, I have managed to make the process nearly impossible...At first I was looking for good, quality furniture, then I decided I didn't want the changing table/dresser "combo" because they have a cabinet on the side rather than just drawers, then I thought why contribute to more consumerism than I need to and buy from craigslist or something, then I realized that I really don't want someone else's child's teethmarks on my child's crib, nor do I want to have to drive all around the state scoping out other people's furniture, then I met Becky to check out a couple furniture places and taught her how to "smell the drawers" because I find that most dressers (that are not just plain old good ol' fashioned wood) have a chemically smell to them...yuck...and we got lectured by a man who apparently didn't believe me that I wasn't thrilled with his "best" furniture line and tried to convince me that I really liked it...thank goodness Becky is a little more assertive than I and told him we needed to go...
Then I went to a Raymour and Flanagan whose main product line is the same as the other guy's, BUT, I actually didn't mind one of the dressers...I educated my salesperson about children's furniture the best I could (he's only been there a couple of months) and he proceeded to share his life-story with me...ugh! But, he meant well, he just wasn't very helpful...it's a good thing I'm so smart!
Groceries were neglected this week, so was the house, more or less, and the dog, though he had some good ball time down at the park both Thursday and Friday...My feet too have been on the neglected side as I have finally come to terms with the fact that flip flops are not the most supportive shoe for walking up and down the hill to the park everyday AND up and down the long hallways at school everyday, particularly when lugging an extra 15-20 pounds of body mass. Today's after school mission was to hit DSW for a new pair of comfy shoes but I was unsuccessful...my feet just don't want shoes on, that's all there is to it. They would prefer no shoes and no walking...My Keen shoes are comfy, but I can only get them on in the morning and there's no putting them on after I've taken them off...I'm not sure what I'll do, Crocs actually crossed my mind since they are good and wide and soft...(but ugly to me not to mention that my husband is actively anti-Croc with his special anti-croc t-shirt--everybody needs a cause I guess;) Maybe this week I'll find shoes while at the Jersey shore...Perhaps I'll get back in some Birkenstocks...but not the standard look I had in the past...I'm thinking a more femininish pair...we'll have to see...
Which leads me to my tomorrow departure for Beach Haven, NJ...a tacky little beach town on Long Beach Island (LBI)...it' where my family went when we were kids and where my dad went when he was a kid so there's good family history there:) It's also where I had my second date with Travis when I was hit in the face with an orange! I met Travis for the first time the night before I left for Beach Haven 7 years ago (which also means my dad has been cancer free for 7 years, knock knock on wood!) Hows' that for stream of consciousness and connections...I'm looking forward to being there, though it's already 10pm on Friday and I'm exhausted, hardly packed and the house is a mess...I guess I finish everything in the morning, and whatever I don't finish, Travis will since he won't be joining us until mid-week...or else it will get done another time, and that's all good...Be back in a week!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Back from the Cape
Trav and I arrived back home yesterday early afternoon after a wonderful and relaxing trip to Eastham in Cape Cod. We stayed at the same place as last year, which was nice and comfortable and this time were able to explore more of our surroundings, mostly via our bikes. Trav did lots of (almost daily) fishing on the pond the cottage is on (never caught anything though),
and we went to a different pond/lake/ocean beach every day for a dip or to just sit. Sitting was the theme of this vacation for sure, though actively sitting, if there's such a thing:) 
We sat in the cottage and read, we sat on the cottage deck and read (or just sat), we sat on our bicycles to ride to 4 different beaches and consequently sat at each beach (on our new "backpack" chairs that we brought with us everywhere we went on our bikes...novel and comfortable upon arrival, but on our longest (8 mile?) bike ride on the Cape Cod Rail Trail we were both ready to ditch our chairs which were acting like sails in the wind (not to mention they're kind of heavy and uncomfortable), but alas, we sucked it up and made it to our destination and the 8 mile ride home was thankfully MUCH easier.
and we went to a different pond/lake/ocean beach every day for a dip or to just sit. Sitting was the theme of this vacation for sure, though actively sitting, if there's such a thing:) We sat in the cottage and read, we sat on the cottage deck and read (or just sat), we sat on our bicycles to ride to 4 different beaches and consequently sat at each beach (on our new "backpack" chairs that we brought with us everywhere we went on our bikes...novel and comfortable upon arrival, but on our longest (8 mile?) bike ride on the Cape Cod Rail Trail we were both ready to ditch our chairs which were acting like sails in the wind (not to mention they're kind of heavy and uncomfortable), but alas, we sucked it up and made it to our destination and the 8 mile ride home was thankfully MUCH easier.On Wednesday (July 9) we celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary with our now official "tradition" of pie a la mode and wine on the beach. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the strawberry rhubarb pie from our wedding bakery this year so we had to go with your standard apple which, like last year, we put in the oven to heat before we left for dinner. After dinner we stopped home, grabbed the warm pie, cold ice cream and wine (and backpack chairs) and hit the beach for sunset. A lovely evening. (And yes, I did have a long awaited glass of wine (or portion thereof since it wasn't that great) to celebrate our anniversary and the excitement of the year to come!
Here is a classic "Lisa-shot"...meaning eyes-closed (or otherwise ridiculous expression). This is our first ever miniature golf experience together at quite possibly the most primitive golf course on the Cape. We went there because we arrived at the Drive-In (note sign in background) early so we parked the car in a prime drive-in spot and walked out to the mini-golf. I still stink at mini-golf because I don't like to concentrate during my leisure activities...
On Friday we hit Provincetown for a walkabout on the strip there. We had passed a pizza place that smelled soooo good when we first got there and I noticed it had a deck overlooking the harbor, but we were rushing to find a public restroom for the pregnant girl and it wasn't quite eating time yet. So I bathroomed, we strolled, went in a handful of shops, and then went to find the pizza place...unfortunately, as is our fortune with dinner, there's always some kind of issue, need, catch, conundrum it seems, and the pizza place with the irresistibly scented pizza and deck was nowhere to be found (we walked up and down the same strip like 4 times in disbelief that we couldn't find it). Gone. Regardless, we found another restaurant with a deck right on the beach and enjoyed a delicious pizza and a cold beer...Can you spot the impostor below?...
No, I didn't order a real beer, I tried my first ever O'Douls...tastes strikingly familiar to Natty Light...
On Friday we hit Provincetown for a walkabout on the strip there. We had passed a pizza place that smelled soooo good when we first got there and I noticed it had a deck overlooking the harbor, but we were rushing to find a public restroom for the pregnant girl and it wasn't quite eating time yet. So I bathroomed, we strolled, went in a handful of shops, and then went to find the pizza place...unfortunately, as is our fortune with dinner, there's always some kind of issue, need, catch, conundrum it seems, and the pizza place with the irresistibly scented pizza and deck was nowhere to be found (we walked up and down the same strip like 4 times in disbelief that we couldn't find it). Gone. Regardless, we found another restaurant with a deck right on the beach and enjoyed a delicious pizza and a cold beer...Can you spot the impostor below?...No, I didn't order a real beer, I tried my first ever O'Douls...tastes strikingly familiar to Natty Light...And finally, you get your belly shot below, as gruesome and voluptuous as it gets (okay, I admit it WILL be getting much worse over the next 12 weeks before it gets better, that's for sure!!). Yeah, I should have bought the pregnant lady bathing suit but I figured why bother...now I see why I should have bought the darn suit...the hands and face are making reference to my 26 weeks of "gachungus"...lovely.
And now we're back in the swing of things...The dog returned home after "camp" at Jill's and my parents' houses where he was able to hang out outside most of the days and apparently played non-stop. When he came home yesterday, all he did was sleep all afternoon... very unusual for him, but good for us to get to ease back into being home ourselves. Summer school started today...doesn't seem like it will be so bad...only 9 days left of that...then I'm off to the Jersey shore for vacation #2!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Blog Slacker...
Hi. I know. Everyone probably expected I would increase my blogging now that school is out...officially one week today at 1:30, however...I've been preoccupied and BUSY...(in a Good Way though:)
Let's see, last Friday was the last day of school--yay--after which I immediately had to leave to catch the tail end of a "summer school" meeting in another town...I raced to the meeting to find it ended early and mind you I had only just learned I would even be teaching summer school the day before...how's that for short notice! I had inquired about the program a few months back and was told all positions were filled, which I was fine with after learning it was pretty much a full school day long, but alas, after all that complaining about my week longer of summer and therefore less pay, I feel that it's the least I can do to make a little extra cash, not to mention I'll only be able to work for two of the three weeks of the program, so really, who am I to complain. The downside of this summer-schooling is that this past week was my only "me" week for the month of July...meaning my only "get stuff done, prepared, organized" week as I've been so looking forward to heading into my summer. I, like Amy, am a List Girl. I've done quite a bit this week, but there's SO MUCH MORE TO DO...mostly involving preparing for the lil' peanut, half of which is fun and what I spend more time doing (looking into the Stuff we'll be needing/registering for/buying) the other half of which is tedious and time consuming (finding a pediatrician/looking into birth classes/exploring health insurance options--*gag*) But alas, things could be much worse and these "stresses" are not stresses at all in the grand scheme of things...they're simply logistics.
So anyway, last day of school, meeting, then met Travis and drove up to MA for Travis' first Jiu Jitsu Tournament. He had been dieting (starving himself and exercising) so that he could compete in the lowest weight class and needed to "weigh in" on Friday night to see if he qualified. Luckily he did...two pounds under-weight actually, so then we headed to Amy and Chris's to spend the night...what lovely hosts they are, and that little Nolan is a cute little pip! Trav was able to eat a hearty meal for dinner and delicious pancakes for breakfast...(Thanks Chris for giving Travis a little more incentive for using our espresso maker...) Bo hung out with the Gemmiti's while Trav and I waited all day in the steaming hot, crowded gym for Trav's two chances to compete...I'd say we arrived around 11, his first match was at 1:30 and his second match wasn't until 7:30...ugh...AND we had no way of know what time these matches were going to be so we just waited and sweat and waited, etc. Love sitting on bleachers in 90 degree heat for 8.5 hours...The things you do for love!
We drove back home late on Saturday night, Sunday was a lazy relax day, Monday was off to Danbury to search out prego bridesmaid dresses to wear to Abby's wedding, unsuccessfully, and to check out some of the baby stores in the area. It was a nice visit with Jill especially the sitting and having lunch part.
Tuesday was run-around and do stuff in the morning and then a visit with Jenn, Vanessa and Reilly, which was much over due. It was my first swim of the season (shame on me), but really, I've had no interest in going outside in the heat these days. Usually I'll head to the beach for an hour or so here and there, but not so much right now...
Wednesday I met mom for lunch and to go to a little shop that carries a variety of cloth diapering systems to check out...checked out some cribs on my way back home...that's been the most recent preoccupation now that I've selected a carseat and stroller...I'm being my anal old self and being a stickler for quality...I want a set that's going to last and it seems like so much of the baby furniture out there, dressers especially, are crappy feeling or not real wood. I want real wood. I actually went to a big antique warehouse in town here and looked for well-built old-school dressers...found some, but then it would be hard to coordinate a crib to. (no, I won't be buying an antique, wobbly crib for our child, don't worry!) But I am hoping to look at some Lane bedroom furniture I saw on Craig's List tomorrow...Lane has a good, solid furniture reputation, right??
Thursday was run around some more, look at more furniture, pick out sunglasses (finally) so that when I go to my eye appointment on Saturday and get my eyes dilated, I'll still be able to order my new prescription sunglasses...yay! I HATE my old prescription sunglasses...very not cool at all but I've really been sensitive to the sun lately. I also have been seeing "floaters" which by itself is probably good incentive to get in to the eye doctor:) I've also been clearing out my soapmaking/smelly stuff from the second bedrooom...I had to make my last couple of batches of soap the other day for Abby's wedding favors and now everything is all boxed up and in the basement for awhile. Little by little that room is getting cleaned out. I still think it will be interesting to see how we end up managing all of our CRAP that has been in that room for the last 4.5 years! We'll figure it out...Speaking of CRAP, does anyone else ever feel like they just have too much STUFF...I can't even stand going up into the attic now that it has most of my past 10 years of teacher materials up there...Ugh! I hate it all! I wish I could just get rid of it all! I notice every dumpster in the neighborhood and dream of tossing stuff in it...is that what is commonly known as "nesting"...I've got a bad case of it either way!
As for the belly shot...well, we've taken a couple but really I'm just too lazy to get the camera, download and all that jazz...picture me with a soccer ball under my shirt and larger boobs and there you have it! What a weird thing this growing belly is! I can't imagine another 3 months of it! Scary!
So there's the update. On Sunday we leave for the Cape again, with boats and bikes, yippy! Who knows if we'll be able to ride the bikes though...Trav messed up his knee at the tournament. Most likely torn cartilage which he'll have to have orthoscopic (sp?) surgery for...He had an MRI last night but doesn't see the doctor until after our vacation...We'll see! I'm just glad to be getting away. When we come back I start summer school right away for 2 weeks then head down to Long Beach Island, NJ with my parents, Jill and Chase...Lenny and Travis will join us later in that week. THEN after that is when I get to have the regular, sit home and do nothing (except accomplish what the lists dictate) kind of summer I've been looking forward to.
Sorry so long. Now I'm done. Pictures next time or the time after that;) Not even going to proofread!
Let's see, last Friday was the last day of school--yay--after which I immediately had to leave to catch the tail end of a "summer school" meeting in another town...I raced to the meeting to find it ended early and mind you I had only just learned I would even be teaching summer school the day before...how's that for short notice! I had inquired about the program a few months back and was told all positions were filled, which I was fine with after learning it was pretty much a full school day long, but alas, after all that complaining about my week longer of summer and therefore less pay, I feel that it's the least I can do to make a little extra cash, not to mention I'll only be able to work for two of the three weeks of the program, so really, who am I to complain. The downside of this summer-schooling is that this past week was my only "me" week for the month of July...meaning my only "get stuff done, prepared, organized" week as I've been so looking forward to heading into my summer. I, like Amy, am a List Girl. I've done quite a bit this week, but there's SO MUCH MORE TO DO...mostly involving preparing for the lil' peanut, half of which is fun and what I spend more time doing (looking into the Stuff we'll be needing/registering for/buying) the other half of which is tedious and time consuming (finding a pediatrician/looking into birth classes/exploring health insurance options--*gag*) But alas, things could be much worse and these "stresses" are not stresses at all in the grand scheme of things...they're simply logistics.
So anyway, last day of school, meeting, then met Travis and drove up to MA for Travis' first Jiu Jitsu Tournament. He had been dieting (starving himself and exercising) so that he could compete in the lowest weight class and needed to "weigh in" on Friday night to see if he qualified. Luckily he did...two pounds under-weight actually, so then we headed to Amy and Chris's to spend the night...what lovely hosts they are, and that little Nolan is a cute little pip! Trav was able to eat a hearty meal for dinner and delicious pancakes for breakfast...(Thanks Chris for giving Travis a little more incentive for using our espresso maker...) Bo hung out with the Gemmiti's while Trav and I waited all day in the steaming hot, crowded gym for Trav's two chances to compete...I'd say we arrived around 11, his first match was at 1:30 and his second match wasn't until 7:30...ugh...AND we had no way of know what time these matches were going to be so we just waited and sweat and waited, etc. Love sitting on bleachers in 90 degree heat for 8.5 hours...The things you do for love!
We drove back home late on Saturday night, Sunday was a lazy relax day, Monday was off to Danbury to search out prego bridesmaid dresses to wear to Abby's wedding, unsuccessfully, and to check out some of the baby stores in the area. It was a nice visit with Jill especially the sitting and having lunch part.
Tuesday was run-around and do stuff in the morning and then a visit with Jenn, Vanessa and Reilly, which was much over due. It was my first swim of the season (shame on me), but really, I've had no interest in going outside in the heat these days. Usually I'll head to the beach for an hour or so here and there, but not so much right now...
Wednesday I met mom for lunch and to go to a little shop that carries a variety of cloth diapering systems to check out...checked out some cribs on my way back home...that's been the most recent preoccupation now that I've selected a carseat and stroller...I'm being my anal old self and being a stickler for quality...I want a set that's going to last and it seems like so much of the baby furniture out there, dressers especially, are crappy feeling or not real wood. I want real wood. I actually went to a big antique warehouse in town here and looked for well-built old-school dressers...found some, but then it would be hard to coordinate a crib to. (no, I won't be buying an antique, wobbly crib for our child, don't worry!) But I am hoping to look at some Lane bedroom furniture I saw on Craig's List tomorrow...Lane has a good, solid furniture reputation, right??
Thursday was run around some more, look at more furniture, pick out sunglasses (finally) so that when I go to my eye appointment on Saturday and get my eyes dilated, I'll still be able to order my new prescription sunglasses...yay! I HATE my old prescription sunglasses...very not cool at all but I've really been sensitive to the sun lately. I also have been seeing "floaters" which by itself is probably good incentive to get in to the eye doctor:) I've also been clearing out my soapmaking/smelly stuff from the second bedrooom...I had to make my last couple of batches of soap the other day for Abby's wedding favors and now everything is all boxed up and in the basement for awhile. Little by little that room is getting cleaned out. I still think it will be interesting to see how we end up managing all of our CRAP that has been in that room for the last 4.5 years! We'll figure it out...Speaking of CRAP, does anyone else ever feel like they just have too much STUFF...I can't even stand going up into the attic now that it has most of my past 10 years of teacher materials up there...Ugh! I hate it all! I wish I could just get rid of it all! I notice every dumpster in the neighborhood and dream of tossing stuff in it...is that what is commonly known as "nesting"...I've got a bad case of it either way!
As for the belly shot...well, we've taken a couple but really I'm just too lazy to get the camera, download and all that jazz...picture me with a soccer ball under my shirt and larger boobs and there you have it! What a weird thing this growing belly is! I can't imagine another 3 months of it! Scary!
So there's the update. On Sunday we leave for the Cape again, with boats and bikes, yippy! Who knows if we'll be able to ride the bikes though...Trav messed up his knee at the tournament. Most likely torn cartilage which he'll have to have orthoscopic (sp?) surgery for...He had an MRI last night but doesn't see the doctor until after our vacation...We'll see! I'm just glad to be getting away. When we come back I start summer school right away for 2 weeks then head down to Long Beach Island, NJ with my parents, Jill and Chase...Lenny and Travis will join us later in that week. THEN after that is when I get to have the regular, sit home and do nothing (except accomplish what the lists dictate) kind of summer I've been looking forward to.
Sorry so long. Now I'm done. Pictures next time or the time after that;) Not even going to proofread!
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