Sad, neglected little blog

Things have been busy around these parts and add in a good bit of laziness when it's not busy and this little place ends up a bit neglected. From my vantage point, however, things are going well for our little clan.

Paul had a business trip to Berkeley right before Thanksgiving. It was his first in many months--good and bad. It's always nice to have him home but since the lack of travel is due to lack of funding, it's not necessarily a plus. Because he didn't get home until Tuesday afternoon following a 24-hour shift, we opted not to travel any farther than his parents' house for Thanksgiving. It was just the four of us for dinner, football, and board games. A nice way to spend the holiday.

I had a doctor's appointment just before Thanksgiving. I will admit that I have an issue with the nurse who does all the vitals--she won't let me pee before she weighs me. She's nice enough except for that because while I know I'm gaining weight at a healthy rate, I'm enough of a girl that I would prefer to be naked and empty before stepping on a scale. I did convince her at this appointment to let me take off the boots I was wearing because I knew they weighed about 2 pounds (I'd weighed with them on and off at home just to see). Small victories. I saw the PA for this appointment with the OB popping in briefly just to check that things were OK. He said that personally, I was quite interesting but medically, I was utterly boring which is just how he likes his patients to be. I've had very little swelling (only one day after a VERY salty meal), my energy level is still good, Baby and I are both gaining weight and growing at a healthy rate. I was sent with orders to return in four weeks, just before Christmas, and to have the 1 hour glucose test done before the next visit.

I played hooky from work on Friday to complete the glucose test as well as run an assortment of errands that just never seem to get done when I have to do them after work. I had been advised by several friends and my sister to select the orange flavor and chug it like I was back in college. And to hope it was cold. I did just that (and the drink was cold). I don't think there should be any problems with gestational diabetes. I've been asked by several people about traveling at Christmas--I've not actually asked the doctor (nothing like waiting until the day before we're scheduled to leave to do that) but again, I don't think there should be any problems. I've not had troubles with the pregnancy at all so while I know I'll be grounded to ABQ during January and February, this will be one last trip I can make. And if the doctor says no, we'll just pull a Smokey and the Bandit except for trying to run beer across state lines with a really cool Trans-Am, Paul will be transporting a pregnant woman in a Subaru Forester. Eh. (Oh, but I just looked on IMDb to make certain I had the right movie and Sally Fields character's name was Carrie. Didn't remember that at all but I probably haven't seen that movie in 25 years.)

And in other news, I met with the remodeling contractor and that is scheduled to get started on December 14 with a completion date of Dec. 22. We didn't get to add the lovely flooring I'd selected to the project at this point in time. Holy cow--I have good taste. When I saw that 1/3 of the cost would be floors, it didn't take much time for me to say that the current carpet will be just fine. It's not a big room so that might be a DIY project for us at a later date. In anticipation of the remodel, we sold the hall tree bench and the futon that was in the guest room on Craiglist last week. I probably didn't price them high enough since I sold both quickly but if I'd priced them higher, I might not have gotten any takers. Catch-22. But both pieces are gone and we've got a little extra money in our pocket to put towards new furniture for the room.

We've decided to go ahead and do the our neighborhood holiday party even though we'll have construction happening. I didn't wrestle up a Christmas tree this year because between the construction and the belly, it just didn't seem worth it. My MIL gave me a 4-foot pre-lighted tree so I've got that and will probably do the mantle and put out a few other things to gussy up the joint beforehand. Our neighbors probably won't even notice the difference in decorating that I normally do, and if they do, I think they'll understand. We figure that if nothing else, they will probably be curious to see what's up at our house when they see the contractor's truck again.

I promise I haven't forgotten about this place

I don't know if it's a case of the don't wannas or what that's keeping me from writing. I've been busy but not *that* busy in the evenings. I have had a case of the sniffles but it's not been too bad--it's mostly made me have an overwhelming desire to determine the comfiest napping position on the new couch. After a short disagreement with Paul on Sunday, the cat has decided to start speaking to us again and he's right there with me in determining the coziness factor of the couch.

Paul is traveling quite a bit again. Currently, he's in Nashville for a contract review on what is his second trip of this very new year. Next week, he'll be at Berkeley for testing. I believe he has mentioned a fourth trip in early February. I think he's got the same cold I have but unfortunately, he's not able to join me and the kitty in our supreme laziness. We've discussed taking a short trips in the next couple of months but if he's traveling this much, I doubt we'll take those trips. We are planning a two-week trip to the U.K. in June, God-willing and the creek don't rise. I'll settle for just that trip if Paul's able to make it. I've told him that he has to let me know before the first part of April if he plans to bail so we'll be able to change the name on the ticket to someone else. I don't think he will bail but I've already had several offers for stand-ins--I've debated making it an essay contest to determine who would be Paul's stand-in should the occasion arise.

I have finally uploaded all the Christmas pictures--I'm always impressed/amazed with the volume of pictures Paul takes. But that is what photographers say to do--snap away and get rid of the ones that aren't good. The problem is Paul thinks all his pictures are good. . . I'll put some of my favorites up soon--there are some fun ones from our get-togethers with our families. Here's a teaser of what's to come:

In Jub's stocking this year, there was a little mouse that can be filled with catnip (woo!) and this mouse on a string. Because we're classy like that, we twist-tied the end of the string to the back of a dining room chair. Jub's method of attack is to lay in the other chair and whack at the mouse as it swings by. My cat is incredibly lazy with his playing. He's definitely not a mouser--that would require too much energy. (And in another classy decorating touch, we have old towels on the dining room chairs and upholstered chairs to try to save them from Jub and his fur. I try to remember to remove them before we have guests over.)

And I also finally got a frame for our portrait from our photography session in October (which also produced our Christmas card and several Christmas present portraits). It's an odd size portrait--10x10--and I was feeling cheap about how much it would cost to have it framed here in town. Using The Google, I found several places that do custom-sized frames for much, much less than what I'd pay here in town. I love a good bargain and was thrilled that it was only $50-ish with shipping for the mat, frame, mounting board, and UV-protected acrylic, all archival gallery quality. Go Me! (and go framedestination.com). Even though I can hang the picture, I'll probably keep it on the mantel with an easel. I've posted our wedding picture on this place before--it's one of my favorites from our wedding. My absolute favorite wedding picture is the one of us snapped as we were walking back down the aisle and we're both grinning from ear to ear. We didn't get the cropping quite right on this portrait--it was supposed to be more middle of my forehead and less of Paul's chin. While we were talking with the photographer, she showed us several different cropping ideas and we didn't get it back to the original one. I think this one is still good, though.

Finally, four days in Kansas in December and this week's cold weather has once again convinced me that I can never live where it's really cold for extended periods of time. Say, for example, Winter. I get whiny when the temperature dips to 65 degrees, cranky at 45 degrees, and down-right mean at 25 degrees. I just don't do cold--I need between 65 and 85 degrees with a moderate humidity level, say 40%. Then I'm a happy camper. Unfortunately, the temperature will be hanging at that mean mark for the rest of this week. If the meteorologists get it right, it is supposed to be about 12 when I leave for work tomorrow with wind chill in the single digits. I would like a Cold Day--just let me stay home until it warms up so I don't have to go outside at all. Just stay in my comfy spot on the couch with my slippers and blanket until mid-March or so. Basically, I need to hibernate.

Already humming "Tiny Bubbles"

So, where to begin?

I'm amazed at how busy life became after Spring Break. Like, BUSY busy. Not typical for me. Paul, yes--he's always logging 80 hour work weeks and loads of travel. But even when I'm "busy" it typically doesn't carry over into the evenings. Not that the past six weeks have been bad--just unusual. Here's a short recap of the past six weeks (and I'm not on the computer with the pictures so those will have to wait for a different post).

Because I'm a dork, I looked back at my calendar to see what exactly it was that I've been doing. I think my evenings were mostly filled with a couple of meetings a week between school, Junior League, and a school group (which actually meets during the day but I'm the one who creates the agenda, etc. so I end up working on it during the evenings). There were also a couple of evenings filled with concerts by the singing group my father-in-law leads at church. It's billed as "Bluegrass" but really they're more "Old Time Gospel" or as I like to tease, "The Baptist Hymnal Group" (OK, that's funnier if you know that we attend a Methodist church but I was raised Baptist and Baptists and Methodists have many of the same old hymns. Eh, maybe it's not even funny then.)

Back in April, we also had a progressive dinner party with some of our neighbors and we hosted the entree portion of the evening. I made fajitas. Paul made margaritas. Both were very good. We're very fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors. One of my sisters said our neighborhood was very Stepford-esque because we do things like dinner parties and cocktail hours and there are always people out walking dogs and pushing strollers. Perhaps it is a little Stepford-esque but so far, we have yet to discover the pods of any of the neighbors.

Also in April, we went to Texas for a family reunion/anniversary celebration for my maternal grandparents. It's always a little worrisome when we get together with the family--not because we don't enjoy seeing our families but. But. Thankfully, what could have gone horribly wrong (lots of people, lots of small children, all that family dynamics at play) turned into a really pleasant weekend. All the children (there were 10 or so under age 7) did a great job of maintaining and Paul and I both had a great time playing with them (I think they were being plyed with lots and lots of sugar--I know Paul was starting with the shaved ices we had before the event started). I also enjoyed visiting with with my cousins and their spouses. The weather got a little iffy later in the evening--tornadoes, rain, hail, wind--but happily the really bad stuff missed Amarillo (and the weather gave the men something to do. There was the circle of men outside watching the clouds and the circle of men inside watching the weather in the back room).

That Sunday, my mom, sisters and I went to the cemetary to put flowers at my father's grave. It marked the 30th anniversary of his death. I'm glad I could go with my mom to do that but, as I told Paul, it definitely put me very introspective. I was so young when my father died, almost 2 1/2, that I have no memories of him. It's hard to miss something that you never really had. Not that I don't miss having known my father but I've been very lucky that the people who did know him are willing to talk about him. It's a little skewed when I talk with my paternal grandmother but everyone else has painted a definite picture of this man I was named for but know so little about. And I guess that is what I miss--knowing all about him for myself. But I didn't miss out on having a dad because of my stepfather (who I sometimes forget is just that) so that's when the emotions get a little muddled. Dunno. It's just one of those things I have to mull over from time to time. . .

The chair we ordered in March was finally delivered and it's very comfortable and looks lovely in our bedroom. Last week was the spring book fair so I was super busy with that. And of course, the one day with bad weather was the evening of the Spring Fest family night which made the evening a bit of a dud for me. No one really wanted to walk outside in a downpour from the gym and cafeteria areas where the other events were being held to the library to see the book fair. It got a little busier when it finally stopped raining but the evening's total was only about half of what it had been in years past with nice weather.

Today, we finally got our airline tickets for our trip to Hawaii. Ten days in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach in July. Before Don Ho's untimely death a few weeks ago, I'd told Paul that we'd be making a side trip to see him just for the kitsch factor. I'm not so sure Paul was looking forward to that. Paul's in the conference for five of those days but I'm more than willing to entertain myself with fruity drinks on the beach (where I'll be found slathered in sunscreen, wearing a hat and my lovely cover-up to keep any sun from touching my yes-I'm-a-real-redhead very fair skin).

There are three weeks left in the school year--a mere 14 days now. At some times, it doesn't seem possible. Other times--it can't get here soon enough. The library will officially close for the year on Friday so I can spend the last two weeks of the year completing a library inventory and tracking down all those overdue books. I've also got another book order due as well as all the end-of-year stuff I have to do before May 25. So I'm still busy but without all the stuff in the evenings thrown in to the mix. Hopefully I'll make it back here before then.