Movin' on Up!

Where the hell have I been lately? Exactly. Oh, I mean, it rhymes with that.. er, um, I mean... I've been at work.
Lots and lots of work. and then working hard to try to relax a teeny bit for all the anxiety work is producing... but that's a bore. turning to much funner topics:

last weekend we **finally** moved furniture upstairs. YAY!! Mr. Price's 'twin' cousin came over --thanks, Eric!!-- and they moved the things he couldn't move on his own. There is now a lovely sitting area, a rug, a desk, lamps, bedside tables... it's all there. That's right, folks! In the words of Pinocchio, it's a "real boy" (or in this case, a real room). Woohoo!

Also, the rest of my closet was moved upstairs and although I now cannot wear 99% of my clothes, they are in one place where i can actually see them (ironic, eh? just in time to remind me of all the clothes that were shoved into a tiny closet space for so long...) On top of that, I did some serious maternity clothes shopping so it is actually a pleasure to get dressed in the morning - as I had started to seriously dread it.

Can't believe it took so long to crank out this post (can you imagine sitting on such an exciting update all week long??). But then again, I can. I am now severely behind on all things personal and until the quarter is over and holiday campaign planning is put to bed, I guess it may stay that way. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel... of this I'm reminded each day when I step upstairs and it is really, finally done.
Done done done.


(this is my happy face)

Animal Noises & Party Tricks

So I've been meaning to post something about this for over a month now, and I'm finally catching up. My brother documented some of Poopsie's party tricks and uploaded them - so now I can see them whenever I get the hankerin' to.

Enjoy:

Still Smiling for Now...

...despite the back, chest and rib cage aches.

Repossession!

...that's right. We have re-possessed our home from the clenches of the City of Austin and their ability to tell us what we can and can't do in, on and with our house. Yep! Today, friends, we PASSED FINAL INSPECTION!!

Not without some quick thinking, acrobatics, diplomacy and ingenuity. Who knew so much was required of a building, mechanical and plumbing inspection? But when the City mandates some random code in which the lone person they send to your home is the police, judge and jury on what you can do...well, you end up with lawlessness.

Best summarized by the fact that after several protests and complaints (all of which were meet), he finally determined he couldn't pass us because... duh duh duh: the end of the EXTRA stair railing we had to install during the last renovation didn't connect to the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Funny, it was perfectly okay last time. And the time before that, and that.

Determined to pass today, Mr. Price persisted and the inspector made him drill a hole into the end of the otherwise lovely railing and make it touch the wall. Somehow, I don't think I can quite capture this with words. Here ya go:

Yep. that's right. THIS passes code. Really? because I am QUITE sure that is was much safer before.

But nonetheless, once he witnessed the uglifying of the railing (and creation of a new hazard) - he passed us.

Done. Done and Done.

Mayberry?

I started this post awhile back and never finished it. On a walk tonight in the dark, already, at 6:30. Not all of the few street lights in the 'hood are working at this time yet (strangely, because one would THINK that light sensors are a better approach than timers, but whatever... after all, it is the City of Austin we're talking about here) - but I saw shadow of a guy on a walk carrying a grocery bag on the other side of the street. Probably the 10th person or so we'd seen on our short stroll, but then he came into view of the one streetlight working for a couple blocks- and it was my Dad! YAY! Good fun. He invited us over for dinner but we were already prepped for scallops and green beans. Anyway... the point is that the encounter reminded me I had this unfinished post. So, here it is:

Original Post date and time 10/14/09 9:13PM

Came home tonight and before pulling in my driveway, saw my neighbor Will walking Emma (their yellow lab) and stopped to chat for a minute. Caught up on each other's plans for the weekend and other small talk.

Got in the house and Mr. Price was already home and wanted to go on a walk! So we suited up and headed out in a matter of minutes. Got to the front yard and saw our neighbor John walking his pup. John worked with the Mister back in the day at the firm and we love seeing his post-firm happiness and free time. We all revel in it =) He's quite excited for our pending shorty and had a bunch of questions about how I'm feeling and how the little guy is doing. Of course wanted to be reminded of his approx due date. Lovely conversation and they were off to continue their walk.

Took a lovely tour around the neighborhood - passing the TriPrices house and waving and chit-chatting with other folks. Everyone seemed so cheery and relaxed.

A couple blocks from home and hear a bike coming up behind us. Then we hear in a familiar voice "I thought that was you two! You're walk is a bit different than usual..." It was my Dad! He was riding his bike to the store and detoured a block when he saw us =) So he rode in circles around us until we made it to the driveway. He was going to come in and see the new sonogram pictures, but by the time we made it to the house, we'd all forgotten and he peddled on down our street to the store.

Oh, but we're not done yet.. the along comes another neighbor ending his run and stops for a minute to talk home renovation progress (they, too, are doing some work on their house).

Seriously, are we in Mayberry or what? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It's All Uphill From Here!

It was a truly lovely birthday in spite of my first birthday surprise: getting sick on birthday eve and losing my dinner (to the point that I wondered if I threw up the baby) starting at approximately 12:08. My first birthday 'gift' was Mr. Price putting the barf bucket by my side of the bed just in case. Good times. Oh, and don't forget the extra pillows so I could 'sleep' sitting up. Didn't sleep much at all and felt like hell all night long. Good news: no fever. But I did wonder if maybe my body was just rejecting the 30s?

So from this perspective, it was all uphill from here, right? I mean, when you start the bday off puking (and NOT because you had too much fun and were over-served)- it can't get worse, right? Well, in this case, it didn't; i'd already hit bottom. (whew)

Definitely didn't go to work becuase I still felt like hell in the morning -and here's where it starts to turn around-- Mr. Price stayed at home with me. I finally got to sleep around 7am and slept on-and-off until 10, then got breakfast in bed (can't get enough of those honey nut cheerios lately!). Eventually got dressed and we went up to Central Market to get lunch which was tasty - even if I was still slightly queasy... I figured it was better to eat through the pain ;)

Followed by some light shopping, my side-kick in tow and repeating that it was my birthday and I got to pick. Worn out, I headed back home and much to my dismay had to take some work calls/shoot off some emails and try not to be too annoyed. Thankfully, I had a hard stop with work due to a 3pm doctor's appointment (which came in handy given the prior night's events). But I DID take the calls from bed and Mr. Price DID bring me my favorite tea, with my fancy honey, in my favorite mug. So that takes the edge off, you know?

GOT to love those wonderful ladies at my Doc's office. Nothin' but love for them!! =) I was feeling a better by then anyway, but two of them squealed and hugged me when they saw me which ABSOLUTELY made my day!! **I later suggested to Mr. Price that we take the first letter of each of their names and come up with middle name for Shorty. But for some reason, he didn't go for that idea... go figure**

Anyway - great appointment. All is well and we heard shorty's heart on the doppler (and a couple swooshes and kicks which impressed her) and we were about to leave and she found a sticky note in my file that said I get a 'free' sonogram for fun. WOOHOO!! So that was LOADS of fun. I had just accepted the fact I wouldn't get to see him and BAM! on goes the sono gel and there he was in all his glory. GOOD times, folks. GOOD times. She sent us home with some pics from the sonogram.

With a clean bill of health (I might have lost my dinner, but no swine flu here!!) Mr. Price suggested I move up the time on my massage appointment (which he suggested I call and set-up earlier in the day) and lo-and-behold: they could take me early... and I was dropped off right after the doc. WOOHOO. AND THEN - my massage lady didn't have anyone after me and decided to 'just keep going' as she told me later. WHAT!?! when does that ever happen?? She didn't even know it was my b-day. YAY for pre-natal massage. Even if you do have to lay on your side. =)

Got picked up from that by Mr. Price... in... MY CAR!!!! it is finally done. A month in the shop and wowza- it looks great. I missed it. But at the same time, after being all repainted and shiny, we're thinking of selling it while it is in such good condition. hmm. something to think on.

Don't forget that approximately a MILLION wonderful friends remembered me and sent me notes, messages and voice mails to wish me a happy day. Okay, maybe not a million, just enough, and those few are certainly WONDERFUL! So I kept checking my phone and seeing more and more sweet messages.

Went home, changed, headed out to Hudson's on the Bend for dinner. Mmmmmm. Given that I was feeling better, we decided to press on with our plans. -oh, but it gets better! We had some extra time before our reservation, so... Mr. Price smartly suggested we stop by the baby super-store to try to figure out what we need for shorty. (I'd already been and started the process with sister Kim)

YAY! why so excited? Lately, I have suddenly felt the urge to figure out what we need to get and make the choices of what type/kind/size/quantity of the seemingly never-ending list of baby things. You know I'm a list maker and this for me is bringing order to chaos. We are making decisions. We are picking things out. We are making a list. Ahhhhh.....

Then on to dinner. And a superb dinner at that. Lobster, Duck, fancy shrimp thingies with fancy sauce and an ancho paste (the 'ancho paste' thing obviously stuck with me...) and then... stop it. really? get this: our kitchen back (in some restaurants this would be the bus boy, but at Hudson's it takes more skill and attention) decides he wants to TREAT US to dessert! what!?! then our uber-professional waiter comes over and says something about it is an occasional perk they get to do and our guy was pulling that card for us! he said to pick what ever we wanted (i knew from the beginning of the night) but then they brought an extra THIRD dessert. WHO DOES THAT!?!?! I want to put them and the nurses/PAs and the masseuse all on a boat and throw a big party for them!

To top it all off, when we got home, Mr. Price had gotten me some Divine bath potions, candles and such from my favorite: L'Occitane and a little bath caddy for the tub so into the tub I go for a nice long soak. Mmmmm...

It was a happy birthday to me.

My Blue Heaven

Ying to the Yang

On the bright side (!) and after the last Debbie-Downer, dose-of-reality posting:

-In the midst of starting to realize all the things i'll need to get my arse in gear to prepare for Shorty's arrival - some INCREDIBLE friends are starting to plan baby showers! The busier our lives get (and the more we've all been on the other side of coordinating and prioritizing to host a party for friend)... the more I appreciate the offer and the effort. I really goes make me feel loved. --sorry it that sounds cheesy. but it's true, so deal.

-I scored two backstage and two VIP tickets to ACL! Sweet action. we went with the cousins (sans their trio of shorties) and had an excellent time! They already had Saturday tickets and we had already talked about going together if we got Sat tickets... but it was SOOOO much fun to get to 'upgrade' them =) Shorty loved DMB and I was proud to have made it there and back (in spite of the rain and mud) - i consider that exercise and maybe this will start a new trend for me!

-As of this past week, you can feel Shorty kick from the outside!! It's Mr. Price's new favorite past time. And it is SO hard to not keep my hand on my belly non-stop so that I can catch that little elbow, kick or head bump whenever he decides to flip around and wiggle - which is pretty often as it turns out.

-We got a TON accomplished on the house yesterday (my closet is full of drawers and hanging bars, now) and we even have access to all our attic storage now. Furthermore: I put some real thought/consideration into what the nursery may look like (after receiving many detailed questions about what I wanted...) so am starting to not feel quite so overwhelmed. yay.


-oh - and the new pool pump has been installed and is working like a champ! the pool water swirls around like i ain't never seen. and with another few more gallons of chemicals and hours of Mr. Price's precious time - the pool should be good as new.

When it rains....

The past couple weeks have been the definition of 'murphy's law': if i can happen, it will. and apparently, it will all happen at once.

Besides everyone at work going COMPLETELY INSANE... (i cannot recall a time where things were so stressful that i literally woke up in the middle of the night stressed-- almost panicked-- from things at work)

And without getting into the weeds, I offer a sampling of what has been has transpired at our house:

-the tree that fell on my car has turned into the body shop and the insurance company fighting it out. if you'll recall, it rained a TON the weekend the tree fell... resulting in water and electrical damage on top of the body work needed. it's been a month, i still don't have my car back and won't for another week at best. really tired of the truck, but just glad that Mr. Price is dealing with the many phone calls back and forth, appointments to meet the adjusters, etc.

-the cat got sick. arm swollen like the Michelin man. i will spare the nasty details. i can't really help out given the whole prego thing - so again, Mr. Price having to step in and take care of things. including the miserable trips to the vet.

-the pool converter (?) broke - meaning the pool pump cannot run. with all the rain, kinda need that pump running! the first pool repair guy took a piece of the converter (to get a replacement part) then goes AWOL - doesn't show up when he said he would and doesn't answer nor return calls. find new pool repair guy and learn that pump is shot - need new pool pump AND converter. he vanishes for over a week. pool turns green and is full of leaves. again, Mr. Price busy finding, calling and scheduling pool people. anyone - help. please. we'll pay you, just fix what you said you were going to. show up when you said you would.

-the marble under the tub cracked. cracked big time. Mr. price calls the tile people - who explicitly told us that wouldn't happen because they would lay the tile 'right' and guaranteed it. for two years! (it's been two weeks?) they no-show the first appointment (which he hustled from across town to meet them at). they eventually reschedule and bonus: the guy shows up this time(!) and they offer to fix. no problem, we'll just have to get a plumber back in to remove the tub so they can get under there. oh, any buy more marble, lest you forget.

sound like fun yet? if you've got a running list, that would be... expensive, annoying, time-consuming issues with: the Car, the Cat, the House, the Pool. What else are we missing?

i suppose there were other relatively minor things, but i think you get the picture.