1. Generally feeling a little weird about work. I am in that strange transitional period between being very busy and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel which is my 4.5 month maternity leave. A few recent developments have got me thinking about my career and where it is going (and how I can get there more quickly).
2. Also feeling weird about the fact that I just scheduled the birth of my second child… down to the hour. 10am Monday May 19th. I always imagined myself having a natural childbirth (well, as natural as possible with as many drugs as I can legally take), but my doctor was pretty convincing (not pushy – just convincing) about the dangers associated with a vaginal birth after a c-section. Thomas’ c-section was not planned – in fact quite the opposite. Very much a last minute decision. The good news is that I won’t have to experience the “excitement” of his birth. I can do without that type of excitement.
3. Weird dreams – dreamt I was flying from Melbourne to far North Queensland (Australia) with Thomas. The weird part is that we had to transfer about 5 times to get there. THEN I missed one of my flights but luckily made it just in time for a better, more direct flight. Woke up just as I reached my destination. Anyone want to decipher that one for me?
4. Mental retention – Have had a song in my head for about three days thanks to Eli Stone. Seriously love that show and not JUST because they share my appreciation for George Michael. Yes, the secret is out and I am NOT ashamed to admit it. I still remember my first George-related experience. I must have been in year 7 or 8 at High School and I remember seeing a big sign (printed on a dot matrix printer) and posted above the year 12 common room door that said simply “I Want Your Sex”. I went to a very liberal high school for the first couple of years of my life…

Anyway, this is the song in my head… And don’t worry, it’s not “I want your sex”.

 Thanks for letting me share.

Hell week is officially over. We are back at work and daycare, away from the noise and enjoying the thrill of returning home to a house that looks a little bit different every day (and the dust that goes with it).

You can actually see the shape of our house as they start framing it up. Click on the pic for a larger view.

Our contractor told us this morning that everything is moving along very quickly and we may even be able to move some things earlier on the schedule (yippee!). Must be the cold, wet, snowy weather we have been enjoying lately. The crew has to move quickly to keep their appendages from freezing.

In other developing news – this baby is coming along quite nicely too. He’s definitely a lively little thing. It’s like he’s trying to remind me that he is in there on a regular basis with a good swift kick to the ribs. Good thing he does though because with so much going on I often forget that I am pregnant. That is until I try to bend over and realize that I have no flexibility in my mid section or I walk more than a few feet and find myself out of breath or I park too closely to the car next to me and find myself unable to squeeze out of the drivers’ side door.

This is about where I am right now…

I have been terrible about taking belly pics but I may ask Kei to take a couple tonight. Of course I will try and erase the stretch marks before I post. Nobody needs to see that.

Nicole

I was prepared. Well, I told myself I was prepared. “They are going to rip off the roof of our house” is a good punchline (and a good excuse). Of course it’s all fun and games until someone (or something) get’s hurt.

This is how our house looked before…

And this is how it looks this morning.

And this is the big mud pile that was once our backyard. Good thing we put off all that landscaping. 🙂

The only thing more shocking than the way it looks is the noise. Thankfully we have been able to avoid it most of the week but I can sense that Thomas is getting a little tired of our nomadic lifestyle. Kei is with him today and I am actually a little grateful to be back at work where I can concentrate for extended periods of time.

The good (actually great) news is that they start framing today. The little demolition project is over and we are now officially in the rebuilding stage. Good thing too because the Portland weather just isn’t cooperating. There was actually snow in some parts of the city today. Yes, snow. And we’re almost in April.

Oh, and I should mention that our Aussie friends did arrive yesterday but brought a nasty stomach bug with them so they chose to check into a hotel instead. Probably best for everyone involved – especially me and my weak pregnant stomach. We hope to catch up with them today if they’re feeling better. I guess when it rains it really does pour.

This is me this week.

Starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

Our out of town guests are due to arrive any moment, the roof is currently being ripped off our house, I am working and Thomas is sitting at my feet watching TV. And what I really need is a long nap.

I wish one work person in particular was more understanding. And this person really SHOULD understand being in a similar stuation herself. I just need a couple more days for people to cut me some slack and then I’ll be good until maternity leave. In fact, I will be glad to go to work if ony to get away from the noise and dust at home.

Thomas has been really good and I have managed to get some work done but with everything going on this week I am counting down the days to the weekend. I plan to sleep then – A LOT.

Well that was a downer post… Let’s finish it off with memories of better times in the form of my Hump Day lift LO.

Hope YOU have a better day than mine.

Nicole

Remember this?

Now it looks like this.

The second floor of our house is completely gutted. The walls are gone, toilet and sink disconnected, drywall has been removed and the insulation has been thrown away. They have also removed the chimney that vented our hot water heater which will free up a lot of space upstairs. We still have the chimney from the fireplace but that doesn’t cut right through the middle of the house.

The roof is still on but we expect that to be demolished this week and I am hoping that, for once, the rainy northwest doesn’t live up to it’s reputation. Weather reports are not looking great but I have my fingers crossed.

Thomas and I are hiding out at a friend’s house during the day because did I mention that Daycare is closed this week? Yes, great timing. I still have to work so we are asking a lot of favours from friends right now just so Thomas can play and I can work in dust-free peace and quiet.

Yes, there is dust (and there will be more dust), people walking through our house and lots of noise, but so far nothing we can’t handle.

We are one week in with about 15 more to go…

I am now at that stage of parenting when it is important (or seen as important) to get Thomas involved in some traditional activities around the holidays. Before the age of two it’s really about the parents since the kids have little clue about what’s going on. Now that Thomas is two and a half, however, he fully understands the implications of events that involve chocolate or presents or cupcakes. For example, he tells me at least once a week that it will be his birthday tomorrow. Poor kid doesn’t realize he’s only half way there.

Now I fully support special events like Christmas and birthdays but Easter is another matter. It’s not that I don’t appreciate that holiday itself, it just seems a lot more commercial here in The States than it does at home. Maybe it’s the way we celebrated when I was a child. Every easter we would go camping thanks to an extended 4 or 5 day weekend and the easter bunny would leave eggs around our tent for us to find in the morning.

In America there is no holiday and the easter bunny brings toys (and seemingly anything else) rather than just eggs. The one tradition I thought would be fun was the Easter Egg hunt. Now that is something I can support – very little effort on my part and fun for Thomas. So when I found out about an easter egg hunt at the park near our house I thought perfect – this will keep Thomas occupied for at least an hour. I was wrong.

The eggs were thrown out on the grass so there was really no “hunt” and the whole thing was over in two minutes – no exaggeration! I guess I was a little disappointed. I had expected more time for photos after all… 🙂

I guess I do have to take some responsibility. As you can see from the photos, Thomas doesn’t really look like the catalogue images of toddlers in pastel Easter outfits with little wicker baskets. He chose to wear his “Pirate” shirt and carry a cookie monster easter basket for the event. I did try to dress him in something else but his closet is not really overflowing with pastel colours. It’s not really my (and therefore Thomas’) style.

The eggs were plastic and filled with a variety of little toys, nick nacks and chocolate.. oh and some money which was a little weird for a toddler event.

We went to a friend’s house after the hunt and on the way home Thomas decided to look through the goodies in his easter basket. I had forgotten that there were some Hershey’s kisses in there but didn’t think Thomas would know to unwrap them and eat them anyway. So I was driving down the freeway (not able to stop) and this little voice from the back seat says “Mummy, it’s broken”. I look back and he has managed to peel the foil off one of the kisses and it’s melting in his hand. So I said “you’d better put it in your mouth before it melts than, but no more”. A minute later “Mummy, this one’s broken too”. Needless to say, all Hershey’s kisses were gone by the time we got home. This kids is definitely starting to outsmart me.

This morning after I woke up… I got my two year old ready for daycare, got myself ready for work and answered questions  the construction workers currently demolishing part of our house. Then it occurred to me. I have a child and another on the way, I have been married almost nine years, I have a “real” job with real responsibilities AND I am paying off a house that is now under major construction that costs money. This is no longer just the house we live in for now, this is our investment.

Oh, and I am 32 years old (OK – nearly 33). How did this happen? I certainly don’t feel like a grown up. I don’t feel much different than the 20 year old university student who felt way out of her depth student teaching high school kids who were just a couple of years younger than me.

So I went to the internet in search of answers – the place for everything that is meaningful and profound.

I guess it’s official…

So we finally have a start date for our house renovation – next Monday!!!

In case you haven’t been following. we are building a dormer on our second floor which basically involves tearing off the roof of our house and rebuilding it. It means we have to move to our two (small) bedrooms downstairs and will be in noise and dirt hell for about 5 weeks while they do the initial demo and build. I am (partly) kidding about this post title. 🙂

Oh and if that’s not enough:

The good news is that at the end of all this we’ll have an extra bathroom, a walk in closet and three very new bedrooms upstairs. Can’t wait for that part – if we’re sane enough to enjoy it of course.

Oh, and I should have plenty of photo opps for my photo of the day.

Are we crazy or what?

1. Me + pregnant belly = open, approachable and willing to talk to cab drivers about just about anything.

I don’t like talking while I’m in a cab. In fact, I hate taking cabs anywhere. Sometimes I wish I lived in LA or NY where the cab drivers and unfriendly, take you to where you are and that’s it.

But no, I live in POrtland where people are friendly and cab drivers want to chat – in this case about their wives who may be pregnant (“She missed her menstruation… She has been sick…”). So my belly apparently makes me an expert on pregnancy and an open door for cab drivers to ask about whether having sex with his wife while pregnant is safe. Yes, he actually asked me that.

Thankfully I live only 20 minutes away from the airport. Who knows where the conversation may have gone after that.

2. I look like a 36 year old Asian Man

When you travel from Portland to Seattle they call it the shuttle – partly because the flight is only about 40 minutes when you are in the air, but mainly because the plane you travel on is about the size of a bus (and WAY more bumpy). The good thing about the shuttle is that you are allowed to take the express lane through security. Apparently though, express means more than just “fast”.

I walked up to the security guy with my boarding pass and drivers license in hand. He looked at my boarding pass, looked at me, looked at my boarding pass again, looked at me again, wished me a good trip and sent me on my way. When he handed the drivers license back, something wasn’t right. There was some weird sticker on it that I had never noticed before. When I looked more closely I realized that somehow Kei’s drivers license had made it’s way into my purse. I had given the security guy the drivers license of my 36 year old asian husband and apparently he was comfortable that we had enough of a resemblance that I would not be considered a security risk.

Best remove that half empty bottle of water from my hand luggage though… OK, maybe that’s fair. After passing for a MAN I may have been tempted to throw it at someone.

Work is making me crazy right now so I have been lagging in the P365 department. I have taken photos (some admittedly a little dodgy and taken VERY late at night when I remember) and will upload later today. 

Nicole