Friday, December 11, 2009

Hazel Is Feeling Chatty and Gifty

Hello, Friends. I'll be 35 weeks along tomorrow. Yes, I'm excited!! Here's my belly at 34 weeks:



Blueberry weighs approximately 5.25 pounds, as much as a honeydew melon:


And now I'm craving honeydew melon. Otherwise, I've been feeling great, lots of energy, hip pain is all gone, hardly anything to complain about, but give me a minute and I'll think of something. Oh, here's something.

Decorating work on the nursery has stopped, because there are always more important things to do than putting up pictures and painting a mural. Like putting insulating window film on various windows (mostly done), getting the car seat inspected (did it yesterday), writing up a birth plan (done) and packing the hospital bag (not yet begun, but I have a packing list). Maybe I'm afraid that if I get the nursery done, then I will get antsy waiting for the baby. You would think that having the nursery done would make me less antsy, but not in my world.

Speaking of antsy, I've had these weird, interesting emotional spells for the last three nights in a row. Not tonight yet, but it's early. It usually happens around 9 or 10. I'll have about 10-20 minutes of non-specific anxiety and I can't use reason to get myself to calm down. It's not as severe as a panic attack, per se; it's like I'm nervous about something but I don't know what. Sure, maybe I'm nervous about the baby, but it's just the weird timing of the anxiety that I can't explain.

Another weird emotion I've been having is homesickness. It's not really homesickness, because I'm home, and there is nowhere I'd rather be, but I periodically (10 minutes/day?) have that feeling I would get as a child when I had been away from home for a while, such as at church camp or at Grandma's, and I missed my mom. That wistful, aching feeling. Are you familiar with it? Well, it's come back from my past to haunt me for no good reason. Hmmm. Maybe I'm feeling it so that Blueberry will get used to feeling it, so she'll be more attached to her parents. Yeah, that's got to be it.

I chalk it up to raging hormones and I'm kind of enjoying the ride. I have lots of good emotions, too, but those are not as interesting.

New topic. When we first moved in to our house in the Fall of '07, our neighbor across the alley was a newspaper delivery person and he would toss us a free paper pretty much every day. It was great, except for the guilt about all that paper we had to recycle. After about a year, he stopped. We don't know why. Now, as of four days ago, suddenly we're getting the paper again! It's great. A Christmas card in one of the papers shows that it's from a different family, but the weird thing is, they live at the same address as the first guy. Maybe it's his daughter and son-in-law? Oh well, free paper, don't question it.

It's officially winter: there is snow on the ground (it fell on Wednesday and Thursday) and it's not likely to get above freezing for a couple of months, so the snow is here to stay. Looks like it will be a white Christmas. Yay! I had kind of been dreading the snow this year, but now that it's here, I realize how much I like living in Minnesota. The winter is cold and bright, and helps you feel alive. And the other seasons are nice, too.

My favorite online magazine, Lonny, just put out their second issue; check it out. I haven't yet, so if it sucks, I apologize. I'm waiting to browse through it on our new computer because it has a big screen which makes it easier to read. Yeah, that's right, we got a new computer. A desktop PC. It's nice to have. We put it in the living room in place of the TV, and moved the TV down to the basement. I really like not having the TV front and center anymore. When we watch TV now, it's because we make a special point to watch something: most recently, last night's Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of the Yeaw. I can't help it; I love that stuff. And tonight, we're watching the film "Burn After Reading" which Stanley just picked up from the video kiosk at the gas station. Anyway, not having the TV nearby has naturally made us eat dinner in the dining room rather than at the coffee table, and I really like that. We're facing each other and having a focused conversation. It's revolutionary. So we're getting more use out of two rooms: the dining room as well as the basement. I can see myself hanging out down there, doing laundry. Here's a photo of the new TV room.


It's a little hard on the eyes because of the blue and orange, but that's what I had available, and the walls were already orangey. If anyone has any suggestions on color or any other aspect, feel free to share. It's a work in progress.

Speaking of interior design, my designer and Facebook friend, Meredith, of Spire Design Group, has a blog that I have been enjoying. She is trying to expand the reach of her blog and would like to acquire 100 "followers". I'd like to help her out, so here is a contest. Go to her blog, check it out (she has lots of interesting and inexpensive new design services), scroll down, look on the right for the "followers", click "Follow" and follow the instructions. Once you've completed this and can see your icon on the list of followers, comment on my blog or email me with language to indicate you are following her blog (I will also be able to see your icon with your username on her list of followers, but you need to comment, or email me, that you are following to be entered in the contest). The winner, chosen at random, will win ONE of the following (your choice):
  • A Christmas card from moi, containing a dollar
  • A box of homemade cookies, made by moi
  • An amateur artistic abode adjustment from moi, based on one or two photos that you provide of an area in your home and any extra info you care to give me about your decor issues. The abode adjustment shall consist of 100-150 words of amateur advice.
  • A 2-3 minute recorded video message from moi, unless I don't know you
  • Six or eight Avon crystal champagne glasses with an etched hummingbird design that I have been meaning to give to GoodWill but I could send them to you if you want them. They look like this:

The deadline for entering the contest is 8:00 p.m. on Friday, December 18th, 2009. Good luck!

Have a great weekend!

1 comment:

Amacrine said...

Hey Gena! Glad to see you blog. Sorry you're feeling weird. I still am. Did I tell you I cried in front of people at the hospital? Well, I did. Kinda scared BD. I also feel happy, disappointed, frustrated, elated, depressed, content - all at the same time. You look great. Maybe your back won't hurt like mine did because you aren't carrying as far out as I did. On the plus side, my body snapped back pretty quickly. trultro