Standard Time is Nice

In addition to gaining an hour by turning clocks back last Saturday night, I took long naps on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  I was so perky today!  I took dirty dishes to work with me because after at least three months, our dishwasher still has not been fixed.  The church has two dishwashers, and they don't mind my using one occasionally.  A load of dishes is heavy, and I had to be careful not to break mugs and glasses when I set the basket down in the parking lot while I unlocked the car.  But I came home with clean dishes.  That made the rest of the kitchen look much more manageable.  Right now I'm waiting for Matt to wash a sink-full of dishes.  I got a dishwasher's load done at work and did another sink-full when I got home.  I decided it's his turn to wash some.  I told you I was feeling perky.  :)

After work I went to Big Lots (a.k.a. the happiest place on earth) to buy enough matching silverware for Thanksgiving dinner.  The set I bought cost only $20, which is just enough for a qualifying purchase toward my next 20% off coupon.  I've been thinking that I need to start planning Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm considering a turkey breast and a ham.  People who love dark meat might be a little disappointed, but as long as I make really moist turkey breast, they shouldn't mind too much.  Of course, there will be yeast rolls, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole.  Mashed potatoes are probably expected, but scalloped potatoes are great with ham.  Oooh!  Twice-baked potatoes!  I could make extra potatoes and serve baked potato soup for one meal.  I'll probably make the tandoori chicken for another meal.  The chicken and wild rice soup is always good and would work with leftover turkey.  I like planning.

I've done a lot of planning for my class tomorrow.  I still have some worksheets to grade tonight and a few homework questions to write, but I've got this week's classes planned.  I get another batch of paragraphs to grade tomorrow.  We're in the home stretch.  Their final paper is due the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  The next week is finals week, and then grades are due.  I've been reviewing (free!) textbooks, researching electronic grading, and making plans for next semester.  I'm looking forward to a fresh start to see if my new plans work any better than the old ones.

I took a break from class prep to clean the kitchen a bit more.  I listened to my MP3 player, danced around, and put away dishes and food.  I'm pretty excited about the new shelf I built in the kitchen.  I think it's really going to help keep me organized.  If nothing else, it will give me another flat surface to clutter and perhaps relieve a section of counter space.

I've still got a few things on my to-do list for tonight, but I'm getting sleepy.  Maybe Monday Night Football is tranquilizing me.  The game has been exciting so far (blocked punt!), but I sleep really well during televised football games.  I think I'll take worksheets to bed and grade until I fall asleep.  If I don't get them all graded, I'll put them under my pillow and hope the Grading Fairy visits.  He probably won't do any grading, but I'd settle for waking up to an empty kitchen sink and a pile of clean dishes.

Oh So Productive

Though I didn't get any grading done today, I washed all the dishes, which was was significant because we had NO MORE clean dishes.  And I cleaned the bathroom.  Matt mowed the lawn.  Then we watched TV, ordered a pizza, and played Family Feud online.  It wasn't a trip to Louisville, but it was a good day.

A Room of My Own

Our guest room is now my room when we don't have guests.  Matt and I share the bedroom, and the study and the living room feel like they're Matt's because his books and movies are in those rooms.  I always seem to have stuff cluttering other rooms because my stuff didn't have a place.  Now it does.  Matt calls it my junk room.  I prefer to call it my play room.  I plan for it to be a place for me to set up my keyboard and my bicycle trainer.  I can also work on craft projects there.  Right now it looks more like a junk room.  I've got stuff from other rooms piled in there waiting to be sorted and put away.  As far as I know, we don't plan to have guests until Thanksgiving, so I've got time to get everything tidied up.  I'd like to get something to sit on (a daybed would work), a table for projects and to set my sewing machine up, and a small bookshelf for my computer books.  Should we need the room as a nursery, I'll probably have to move everything upstairs, but I'd have less time for the projects anyway.

My big project is still getting well.  My cold is lingering: nose blowing and coughing.  Another fever blister appeared yesterday.  I have also been awakened with an upset stomach a few nights this week.  Wednesday night, I vomited and then spilled the puke bag contents on my lap, the floor, and the bath mat.  Last night I was up for at least 3 hours with what turned out to be incredibly bad gas that felt like heartburn that threatened to make me vomit again.  Early morning gastrointestinal difficulties do not help me rest and recover from my cold.  I've considered that it's a new twist on irritable bowel, so I'm going to try the pro-biotic yogurt again.

My second big project is preparing for my class.  I've got tons of handouts, practice sheets, assignments sheets, homework worksheets, and quizzes to write.  I've never been the primary teacher for this level of student, so I'm starting from scratch with most of what I'm doing.  It's exciting but a lot of work.  Once I have a semester's worth of material, I can tweak it for future semesters as long as it works this first time.

That's enough big projects for now.  I've got many small projects that I want to work on, but healing, teaching and cleaning are a good start.

The DIY Life for Me!

Gardening has led to a renewed interest in all my crafty hobbies.  I've been cooking things with my produce and am looking for more recipes to use the bounty of green beans and squash that has already begun.  I made green bean fries in the oven.  Other than being a little salty because of the extra garlic salt I added, they were really good.  And yesterday I made a potato squash gratin that I wouldn't mind eating every day.  I made watermelon granita with the half a melon Aunt Donna and Uncle Johnny sent home with us from vacation.  And I made peach sorbet (in a couple of Ziploc bags) with the peaches that were more soft than I care for.  I like my peaches firm enough to pull cleanly away from the pit.  Anything softer used to sit in the fridge until it was shriveled and moldy, but now it can become peach sorbet.

I've bought a storage tub to use for my own compost heap.  It's first use will be as a trash can until we can buy the style we like from Walmart.  Someone stole out old garbage can while we were on vacation.  And I've begun to suspect Walmart since the garbage cans were in stock on Monday but not on Wednesday.  I think they've been going around stealing cans to increase demand for garbage cans.  Ingenious!  :)  The $4 storage bin has a lid to keep critters out, so it will give us an OK place to put the trash.  And it doesn't matter if it gets stinky because I'm just going to fill it with newspaper, grass clippings, and vegetable rubbish for my compost heap.

I've started my ABC quilt made from the fabric from Matt's holey plaid boxers.  I think I'm going to try altering a cheap Walmart t-shirt into a shirt with more shape and style.  I've found a pattern for an easy blanket to crochet.  My friend Beth knits and is teaching our friend Susie.  We could start a knitting club.  They are both thrifty, crafty people, so we have a lot in common.  And their garden plots border mine.  Susie asked me the other day if I'd like to go to a one-day class on canning.  Sure!

I've been cleaning and organizing the house.  I've still got a long way to go, but I'm making progress.  I've also been reading a lot of blogs about thriftiness, crafting and green living.  I'm not passionate about saving the planet (I care, but I'm not passionate), but green sites have great ideas for reusing things you already own, which is thrifty.  I'm working up to a big de-cluttering.  I like the idea of streamlining my life by owning less stuff, but I'm a hoarder.  We'll see how it goes.

The other day I told Matt that I keep getting distracted from organizing because of all of the blogs about organization that I've found.  :)  He said that would be in his top 10 quotes that describe me.  Oh how well he knows me!  

Semester-End Cold Ends Fun and Productivity

Last week I was very busy and social.  This weekend my to-do list was untouched, and my social calendar was cleared by a cold.  I used to get a cold at the end of every semester in college because I'd wear myself down doing final projects and taking exams, but it seems I don't have to be a student to catch the semester-end cold.  I had wanted to take a little trip to Cincinnati over the weekend to get away during Mother's Day, but Matt had too much grading to do.  So instead I got a cold, which effectively kept me away from Mother's Day.  The cold started with a sore throat on Saturday morning and has now progressed through sinus congestion, coughing and--new today--chest congestion.  Hurray for progress!  I'm drinking a lot of tea and water and making trips to the bathroom as if I were still pregnant.  I bathe in baby vapor bath and slather Vapor Rub cream on myself. I've blown my nose so much already that I'm getting occasional nose bleeds.  And although I lounge on the couch all day, I'm not sleeping well at night.  I got less than 4 hours last night, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to nap today.  Even with all that ickiness, this cold isn't as bad as the one last fall.

I'm hoping to be well enough by Thursday to have coffee with Beth in the morning while her 23-month-old son Elliot is at "school" (a.k.a. Mother's Day Out).  And on Thursday or Friday we should go to Elizabethtown for our car's 50,000 mile check up and oil change.  But I'm not going to push myself if I'm not healthy yet.  I need to get completely well so that I can work in the garden(s) and clean the house and exercise and have fun.

Yesterday I worked for a little while on switching out my wardrobe from winter maternity to regular summer clothes.  I think all of the maternity clothes and pregnancy books are in boxes and ready to go to the attic.  While we were at Walmart last night buying cold medicines, we bought another storage tub and I put the 3-6 month and larger baby clothes in it.  That can go to the attic, too, to free up some space in the nursery so that it can be used as a guest room.  The newborn and 0-3 month clothes are in the plastic chest of drawers, so I'm just going to leave them there.  We haven't set up the crib, so it can be taken to the attic with most of the baby gear.  I like the arrangement of things on the changing table and it's a pain to assemble, so I plan to just cover it so it doesn't get dusty.  We will probably move the rocker/recliner to the study and leave the little bookcase and books where they are.  I'm looking for a daybed/trundle at a reasonably price so guests have somewhere to sleep.  It could be moved to the study as a couch when we need a nursery again.  We probably won't actually move the baby stuff until we have something else to put in the room.  I find it helpful to work to make the room useful, since it can't be used as a nursery until next spring at the very soonest.  I put a lot of energy into making it a nursery, so I'm redirecting that energy to make it a guest room.  For a while, I was having trouble getting interested in shopping or eating because Neil had been my motivation for those things for several months.  Now I'm making a list of things we need to buy for our house (several number buttons on our microwave no longer work), and I'm back to my pre-pregnancy state of having strong food cravings.  While I'm trying to focus my energies forward, it's kind of weird to realize that my due date was exactly one month ago.

Home Again!

My blood pressure was about as high today as it was last time, so I was a little afraid we'd have to go through all of the tests again, but we didn't have to.  Dr. Reynolds was in fine form today.  He came in singing and carried on a very animated conversation with Matt that had us all laughing.  I laughed so hard I cried.  My blood pressure might have been better if they had taken it then instead of before we saw him.  He felt my abdomen, commented on how the baby felt like he was a good size, and tested my reflexes, which were as outrageously touchy as usual.  He repeatedly asked us what he was supposed to do with us and declared us to be a pain in his bum because we aren't following a typical maternity story line.  Neil is small and I have gestational hypertension, but we're healthy.  Babies with Neil's growth numbers are supposed to need to be delivered early so that they can thrive, but he's growing and well-developed.  Mothers with my blood pressure numbers are supposed to develop preeclampsia and need to be induced, but I feel fine and have no other symptoms of preeclampsia.  We're supposed to need intervention from doctors, so the fact that we don't is making the doctors nervous.  We're off script.  

Dr. Reynolds didn't check my cervix again, but he said at the rate I'm going I might not deliver on my own until week 45.  He told us that as long as Neil's non-stress test at the hospital went OK (and it did) that he could give us until Monday to try to have the baby without inducing.  He said he can't really see us waiting past Monday.  We'll see.  We're scheduled to see Dr. Ackermann on Monday.  We want to wait as long as possible, and if they do have to induce, it's better for Matt's schedule if they do it at the end of the week.  So if Neil doesn't come on his own before then, we're hoping he arrives on or just before my 30th birthday.  I asked Neil last night which birth date he has picked out for himself, but he didn't answer.  Matt has tried asking Neil to come out to play.  I asked what they would play, and Matt said, "Changing diapers."  I suggested that it might sound like more fun to tell Neil he could play sprinkler. :)  Matt didn't like that idea as much.

Our trip to the hospital today was better in several ways.  There were no needles or catheters.  I didn't have to take my clothes off.  I was given a drink and a snack instead of being starved.  Once again my blood pressure was better at the hospital than at the clinic.  And Neil didn't fight the monitor quite as hard this time.  He still didn't like it, but he didn't kick it for a full hour.  Today's technique was more about applying a lot of pressure to the monitor so that it might pop off.  He also seemed to try flipping it over, which would have moved it more towards my rib cage.  He was unsuccessful, but I applauded the effort.  I don't want to discourage him if this is what it takes to keep him feisty during labor.  I did tell him that to ultimately defeat the monitor and rule mommy's tummy he needs to come out.  When he comes out, he can lay on mommy's tummy all he wants and the monitor will go away. We'll see if that entices him.

Neil was really lethargic this morning, and I felt crampy, so I kept trying to figure out if he was having problems or I was having contractions.  Since then it's become clear that he's fine and I'm not in labor, but not knowing if I was having a baby today made today's errands more urgent.  I had prescription refills to pick up and mouse traps to buy.  Matt found a mouse in our kitchen this morning, and we think it scurried under the dishwasher.  We've been finding mysterious pellets in the kitchen that we now know to be mouse droppings.  We've got some serious cleaning to do.  Yeah, we needed something else to keep us busy right now.

Partial Home Tour

We've finished the nursery and the study, so I thought I'd share some pictures of a few rooms.



Home Tour Slideshow

Hot Mama...and Daddy!

Our air conditioning is just now fixed.  A maintenance guy just came to look at it and temporarily solved the problem.  I called to report the problem first thing this morning and called again at noon and mentioned I was pregnant, days away from my due date.  I thought that would get me some sympathy, but it didn't.  So I turned on all our ceiling fans and was reasonably comfortable this morning.  This afternoon I went out for an iced coffee with some new friends.  Matt and I ate dinner at the university cafeteria.  The thought of cooking in this heat or even eating in this heat was miserable.  When we got home, we changed into our swimming suits and went to the pool.  Even Matt went swimming this time.  Before we left for the pool, I called the emergency maintenance number and told someone about our lack of air conditioning.  That's how we got someone to come out after 9:00.  It turns out there's something wrong with our thermostat.  It's telling our heater and air conditioner to work at the same time, and the heater is winning.  So they turned off the gas to the heater, and cold air started coming out of the registers.  They're coming back tomorrow to permanently fix the problem. Hurray!  Even without air conditioning, today was better than yesterday.

Another Day, Another Doctor

It was time for a refill on my anti-depressants, so I had to go see my nurse practitioner, Tammy Lamb, who prescribed them to check in and get a new script.  Today my blood pressure was 110/82.  I think my blood pressure is really sensitive to stimuli.  Unlike yesterday's doctor's appointment, I was going to a doctor's office in Campbellsville that doesn't require a long drive and I was going for the purpose of getting more "happy pills" and I knew the nurse practitioner had no intention of doing anything to me or my baby.  Less stress meant better blood pressure.  Tammy also told me that she delivered healthy multiples at 34 weeks and 5 days, which is where I am today.  That made me feel better, but I still don't want to be induced.  The video at the childbirth class made it sound like nearly anything was better than induction, and I've heard horror stories, most of which ended in C-sections.

When I told Matt about today's blood pressure, I told him that I think my blood pressure at the OB is better when he's present.  The drop in blood pressure that I attributed to no longer working at Luther Memorial (still a valid hypothesis) also coincided with Matt's accompanying me to appointments.  My blood pressure has typically been better when he's with me.  He smiled and said, "So you now have empirical evidence that I need to spend a lot of time with you when you're pregnant." (I'm a little clingy for Mr. Independent sometimes.)  I told him that all I was extrapolating from the data is that he MUST go with me to the rest of my appointments for this pregnancy so that my blood pressure will please the doctors.  Though next pregnancy, I'll probably go with his interpretation of the data. :)

I've also decided that on Monday, I'll have the doctor define "significant progress" more specifically.  If we're going to be graded, I want to know the criteria and grading scale.  I've proven before that if you give me a syllabus, I'll find a way to get a good grade, whether it's an A in Lifetime Fitness or a B in a grad school class after the professor recommended I drop it because of absences.  Give us parameters, and Neil and I will rise to the occasion.  I figured that at some point I'd teach Neil about working systems to his advantage, but I thought he'd be born first.

I took a long hot bath last night and went to bed early and got about 10 hours of sleep (11 hours in bed minus trips to the bathroom every 2-3 hours).  And I took a 2-hour nap this afternoon.  When I woke up this morning, my wrists were a normal size.  They've been a bit pudgy recently.  They still hurt (pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel), but they looked better.  My ankles were still puffy; there was no bump from my ankle bone.  But there was no indentation over my ankle bone, so it wasn't as bad as it has been at times.  After my nap, I walked to the swimming pool to write down the times for free swim.  It was nice to move about in the sunshine, and there was springy green growth under my feet.  Free swim on Friday is 9-11 p.m.  If I can stay awake that long, I'll go tonight.  I love to swim, and I don't care if I look like a whale as long as I can feel as graceful as one when I'm in the water.  After I got home, I sat down to blog, and Neil got busy wiggling and kicking.  Apparently, he's getting his exercise, too.  Way to improve that muscle tone, son!  I've also got a stretch workout routine that I recorded from the fitness channel that sounds really good right now.  I've done it once before and felt really loose and relaxed afterward.

I'm all about relaxation right now, and my house looks like it.  Tonight after making dinner, I'll make a detailed to-do list and enlist Matt's help to get it done this weekend.  Maybe before I start dinner, I'll clean out the car so that I can install the car seat tomorrow.  I probably need a few minutes to figure out what I'm cooking anyway.  I made a menu for the week, but I think the living room ate it.  Yes, my house is that bad right now, but I refuse to get stressed about it.

A Sneak Peek at Neil's Room

I seriously cleaned the nursery today (dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping) and arranged the furniture a bit, so I thought I'd offer an online tour of the nursery.  I've embedded a tiny slideshow without captions (you may need to mouse over the image below and click play), but I'm also including links to a larger slideshow and the online album so you have the option of seeing larger photos and captions so you can really see and understand what the nursery is like.  We still need a few things, but I'm feeling much better now that the room is clean.  I even baby-proofed the electrical outlets while I was at it.

Nursery Tour Album: View at your own pace

Larger Nursery Tour Slide Show: Use the control pad to play, pause, or move forward or backward through the show

My New Kentucky Home

I took some pictures of our new rental house shortly after we arrived in the early morning of Friday, August 14.  Our house is white, not pinkish.  That's the sunrise reflecting off the house. :)

We're across the street from the university tennis courts, which is kind of handy if you play tennis. We just occasionally try to play tennis and do it very badly. Unfortunately, the lights on the tennis court are very bright and nearly light the entire interior of our house with a warm fluorescent glow when they are on.

I don't have photos yet, but we have a back deck and a kind of trellis pagoda structure that we will try to put a temporary roof on so that we can store my bike and the lawn mower under it. I have grand plans for an airy white woven roof, but we'll see what I can find the materials and skill to pull off.

I took pictures of the inside, too.  But I'll wait to show those until after we've finished unpacking a little more so that I can share before and after photos - so Trading Spaces of me.