an ending means a new beginning...

today is the last day of september.

hello october.

more importantly today is my last day at work.

my full time job is over in less than 8 hours.

this is a bit scary all of a sudden.

i have been working full time to support myself since i moved out of my parents house when i was 18.
this is the first time since then that i will not be working a regular paying job and now i'll be embracing a brand new full time job.

as a mom.

hopefully i am good at this new job.

it will be a steep learning curve but i am pretty sure that together fernando and i will figure out this parenting thing. i've managed to keep him mostly in line the past 6.5 years... that has to count for something... right?

i know that there will be moments when i will wonder what i have gotten myself into...
but i'm looking forward to the new experience and challenges.

now the countdown is on.

how many days until the sea monkey arrives?
nobody really knows!

was grandma right? is there another one coming?

its been a disappointing couple of days for me.


day before yesterday i had my first bad etsy experience.  i purchased a necklace and ended up having to send it back and have now been waiting for months to get it back. it was apparently lost in the postal system but the seller was not willing to replace it for me unless i wanted to pay for pricey shipping. i didn't think it was fair for me to pay more for something that i had yet to receive.  i ended up having to file a complaint through etsy and i hated having to do that but as a seller i would NEVER have even considered charging a customer  more to re-ship something that was lost in the mail. especially something that had to be returned in the first place because it was not as described in the listing. i would not have shipped something that wasn't the same as the listing to start with, but that is neither here nor there.


yesterday i find out that i have been basically kicked out of the Handmade Mafia.
i don't know why.
i have been trying to figure out what happened but rather than tell me that they didn't need/want my help i was just ignored.
finally i was told that they're "going a different direction" and didn't need me any more.

lovely feeling.

i'm going to look at is as a "door closes, but a window opens" opportunity.
what choice do i have?

i don't need to be upset right now and the only way i can think of to kind of balance out the hurt and disappointment is to tell myself that this is going to be my opportunity to move forward with my own business and built my brand without having anything else to worry about.
i enjoyed my time with HMM but i'm not going to stick around where i'm clearly not wanted and i want to associate myself with people that at least have the proffessional courtesy to communicate.


my grandma always told us that bad things happen in 3's... i'm going to be looking over my shoulder and waiting for the next bit of bad news now... fingers crossed that it is nothing major.

i may go crazy waiting for it and take a page out of her book.
even though i'm having a rough couple days, thinking of this makes me smile.
my grandma was a firm believer of bad things happening in 3's.
if she broke a favorite cup she would immediately get 2 more dishes out of the cupboard that were not her favorites and smash them. she told me that was to get the other 2 bad things out of the way and protect her favorite dishes.
crazy?
maybe?

will i try it?
who knows.

bump day - 36 weeks 4 days

less than a week and the sea monkey will be considered full term.

how crazy is that!?!?!?

hard to believe that before i know it i'll be holding the sea monkey in my arms and having to call it something other than the sea monkey... though i suspect the poor kid will have to live with being nicknamed sea monkey for the rest of eternity.
could be worse.
i've definitely been called worse! HA!

i would like to say - i LOVE lycra.
thanks to the wonderful stretchy fabrics available i have managed to make it through this pregnancy without buying a single maternity shirt. i have some that were given to me but the majority of my tops are all regular shirts.

i am officially unable to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans. the baby has dropped too low to accomodate the waist band of them even with the handy dandy hair elastic through the buttonhole trick.
i'm hoping i'll be back in them shortly after the sea monkey arrives, though i'm pretty sure i'll live in leggings a lot so i'll only need "real pants" if i'm going somewhere.

belly button update:
for everyone who thought my belly button would pop... still an innie and so far i'm still wearing my regular belly button ring.

fernando will be picking up the crib today from his parents house so this weekend i'm hoping maybe to get it set up!!  i can't wait to see it!! and get the mattress!

i'll be at a craft sale all day and night saturday but hopefully by the end of sunday it will be set up.
if it doesn't get set up this weekend i'll have to get my dad to come and set it up for me because fernando's tour starts next week.

tasty tuesday - mint spritz

ok, i know its nowhere near time to get started on christmas baking, but i couldn't help but start thinking about it when i was shopping on the weekend and saw christmas displays popping up all over the place.
these are my favorite christmas cookies that i ALWAYS make.

Mint Spritz With Chocolate Centers

2/3 cup sugar


1 cup butter -- softened

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon mint extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

green food coloring (optional - but i always add it... it's festive!)

mint chocolate chips - one per cookie

 
Heat oven to 400F. In large mixer bowl combine sugar, butter, egg, salt, vanilla, and mint extract. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in green food coloring, adding just enough to acheive the desired color. If dough is too soft, cover and refrigerate until firm enough to form cookies, 30 to 45 minutes. Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. I always make pointettas. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Immediately after removing cookies from oven place one mint chocolate chip upside down in the center of each cookie then let cool on a cooling rack until the chocolate is set.
 
variations -
 
don't add the mint extract or food coloring and instead add some almond extract and a piece of candied cherry in the center of the flower. super delicious.
 
i usually use margerine instead of butter just because i always have blocks of margerine in the fridge... works just fine.
 

36 weeks

the countdown is on!

this is my last week at work. 4 more days after today.

after my doctor's appointment on friday reality has started to sink in.

she told me that she didn't think anything would probably happen for a couple weeks still... but that's not a for sure thing depending on how much progress there is the next little while. the sea monkey is dropped and in position. "locked and loaded" if you will.

i think i'm ready for the baby to be born.

is the house ready?

nope.

not even close.

getting fernando to help has been like pulling teeth and to be honest i don't really feel like fighting about it.
he is very good at telling me about all the stuff he is going to do but when it actually comes down to completing these tasks the success rate is pretty dismal.

how i see it...

fine. don't get things done. i can still help now...
when we have a new baby and no place to put it i will not be helping. i'll be holding the baby.

the crib is sitting in wetaskiwin, the basinet is still packed in the box. the car seat is still packed in the box... everything is still in the freakin box.

the only thing that is not in a box is the dresser and chest of drawers. and only because it never was in a box.

thanks to my parents for getting those ready for me and getting them to the house. they provide a much needed place to keep the baby's clothes and stuff.

i'm hoping that next week i will be able to get more done since i won't be working all day and can instead spend that time getting things done at home! and since i'll be home during the day, i'll be able to supervise fernando and make sure that he's actually helping and not sleeping in!

bump day - 35 weeks

35 weeks 4 days... this is what it looks like.

one picture.

that's it.

i tried to get one of more than just my belly....

it was scary.

i do not look friendly today.
and definitely would not be winning any "miss photogenic" awards today!!
bad sleep and achy hip paired with kick boxing to the ribs makes for a slightly grumpy incubator.


that aside, i bought myself/the sea monkey a diaper bag.

it's not actually a diaper bag, but its just like some of the ones that i absolutely loved but would not pay $300-$500 for.

it has a super similar interior and i think it will be just perfect. if not, it will be a great purse.
either way its a win win for me!

i LOVE ostrich.

and i love how comfortable it is to carry.

tasty tuesday - the meatball

this weekend i have left the schedule open. there are so many things that i need to get done still and i'm hoping to get a few more check marks on my to-do list.

one of the things i am planning on doing this weekend is make meatballs for in the freezer. i am going to pick up a bunch of ground meat and mix up a big batch of meatballs to freeze raw. that way when i want to use them i can just brown them in the frying pan (or not) and throw some sauce on and they're good to go.
i thought about cooking them and then freezing them, but i like being able to pick what kind of meatballs i want depending on what i feel like that day.
and lets face it.... no matter how lazy/exhausted i am i can manage to throw a bag of frozen meatballs in the slow cooker and dump on some sauce. then all i need to do is throw some rice in the rice cooker with some veggies in the steamer...
dinner is served.

its pretty easy. and literally ZERO work. i'm pretty sure i could even direct fernando how to do this without any major issues.

i might get lazy and make a couple meatloafs to freeze as well (if i get tired of rolling meatballs) because they're super easy to freeze and then just throw in the oven. throw a couple of potatoes in the oven with it while its baking and then all i need to worry about it a veggie of some sort. again... something i think no matter how rough things get, we should be able to handle.

i just love how versatile meatballs are.
you can make so many different kinds of meals with them just depending on what kind of sauce you put on them.
i'm a big fan of sweet and sour meatballs (with a dark brown homemade sweet and sour sauce), creamy mushroom meatballs (we all have fallen victim to a can of mushroom soup at some point in our lives) or tomato sauce with lots of basil oregano and garlic cooked with shredded cabbage in it so it tastes almost like cabbage rolls.
sometimes i add bbq sauce and just let them simmer in the slow cooker low and slow...
SOOOO many options!

what's your favorite meatball?

35 weeks!

the sea monkey is starting to run out of room. things are getting squishy in there... which means when an arm or leg is stretched out now i REALLY feel it. most of the stretching seems to be aimed up at my ribs. the arm stretches are just cute when they make my belly ripple.
though... i have to say its a little sci-fi when i watch an arm slide along the side of my belly... like aliens have taken over my body.

an interesting/scary thing i learned... my uterus has expanded to 1000 times its original size.

FOR REAL?!?!?! yikes!

my stomach may not have stretch marks but i'm sure that my uterus does!

the sea monkey is approximately 5.25 lbs these days.

i'm still hobbling around like an old lady. my hip is still out of commission. i was really hoping that i could get it back in working order by now but so far no luck.

we're starting to get really excited to meet the sea monkey.
i'll be done work next friday and that just makes it seem so much more real. and soon!

i still have tons to do in the baby's room so i'm hoping to get a bit more done each day so i don't have to do a ton all at once on any given day.

starting to get my hospital bag packed... just incase.
doesn't hurt to be prepared.

fernando asked me last night if he should pack his backpack just incase too... i asked him what he was going to pack.

his response...

stuff to keep him busy so he's not bored.

i'm pretty sure he shouldn't be bored!!?!?

i am now picturing how this will play out. 
if he is here for the baby being born he will sit in the waiting room playing video games and wait for news.

or...

 if he's feeling especially brave, he will play video games in the room.

for all of you who wondered why i wasn't super concerned that he will be on tour for part of the beginning of october.... this is why.

just because...

i don't have any real reason to have a blog post today, this is just rambling...
just to give you fair warning.

i enjoy my rambling, but if you don't then check back in later.

some random things going on these days.
you know, since i don't spend enough time on here going on and on and on.

• fernando text stalked me about finding him nail polish. yes. you read that right. unfortunately for you the entertainment value of this fact is significantly decreased since its not for his fingers (or toes) but to touch up some dings on his bass.

• the dogs act like they are velcro attached to me at any given opportunity. they've always been momma's boys but it has gotten significantly worse.

• today marks 10 more work days left (2 weeks until my last day)

• i am starting to feel really unprepared. i need to get my shit together. ASAP. i have almost everything but a lot of it is still in boxes and unassembled.

• my brother is living with us while he goes to NAIT. i kinda feel sorry for him. i don't know if i'd enjoy hanging out with me every night...

• i'm excited for the fall tv lineup like never before. i plan on being a couch potato as much as possible and getting as much crocheting done as physically possible before the sea monkey arrives. i love that i can PVR all my shows and watch them sans commercials at my leisure. awesome invention.

• i have a LOT of crocheting to do. i am selling at the winter/christmas Make It! show which runs November 17-20th. should be interesting since i'll have the sea monkey with me the whole time.

• i can't find a diaper bag that i love that isn't ridiculously expensive. i am debating just buying a really big purse at winners.even if i spend $100 on it that is only a fraction of the price of the diaper bags i have found so far.

i still can't believe i'm almost 35 weeks pregnant.
this last little bit has just flown by sooooooooooo quickly.

bump day - week 34

presenting to you..... THE BUMP!
34 weeks 4 days of brewing.

i woke up sunday and felt like i was all of a sudden WAY bigger than i was when i went to bed on saturday.
i don't know if i actually "popped" overnight or if i just feel that way because i can barely move so everything just takes so much more effort.

this picture is to prove that even though i can barely hobble around right now and i totally blame the sea monkey... i'm still happy.

and as a side note...
i'm not cutting my bangs until after the baby is born.
i don't care how silly this may seem to people, but the idea of having to wrangle sweaty bangs into some sort of restraint makes me stressed.
yes.
i'm stressing about my hair even though that is probably the least important thing ever.
sweaty bangs are a big no no for me.
especially when they get frizzy and curly if they get a chance to dry a bit.

so even though i have had bangs for years, they're going to be retired until after the sea monkey arrives so i can easily pin them back and not worry about them.

you may wonder why i don't just wear a headband.
well...
me and my giant melon head (fingers crossed the sea monkey isn't sporting my massive cranium) doesn't fit well in headbands. the plastic ones will usually snap in half part way through the day, the metal ones crush my skull and the super comfy looking stretchy ones just pop off.

so growing my bangs to ensure i can easily pin them back is something i have decided i need to do to eliminate that problem from my labor experience.

feel free to laugh.
scrunch your face quizzically.

i know its silly to worry about my hair when i should be worried about the whole having a baby thing...
labor doesn't scare me.
sweaty bangs do.
so i'm crazy.
i have known that for a LONG time.

here's a better bump picture now that we're not focusing on my hair.

and this one i just had to post.
my boobs look HUGE!! and my feet look tiny.
this is opposite of how i've spent my entire life.

even if its just for one picture at a weird angle, my boobs are so big they make my feet look small.
wooooooohoooooo!

for someone special... you know who you are...

just couldn't help myself.



tasty tuesday - ode to the slow cooker

i LOVE my slow cooker.
there is nothing better than throwing a pile of things into a pot putting the lid on and then coming home 8 hours later to a delicious smelling house and a meal that is pretty much ready to go.

AMAZING.

sunday i made a pork roast that i happened to spot in the freezer. i threw it in frozen and tossed in some mushrooms, some red onions, and some montreal steak spice. put on the lid, turn the dial to auto and voilla!
i made fernando a dinner for work of super tender roast pork and vegetables to be paired with his favorite dinner rolls.

easy!

and what's even better?

i shredded the rest of the roast for pulled pork sandwiches.

for this normally i just add a generous blob of my favorite habernero bbq sauce (thank you superstore for making such a delicious bbq sauce!), some cilantro leaves (quite a few), fresh cracked black pepper, and some peaches and cream corn.
then i close up the dish and let it soak in the fridge until the next day

makes some super delicious pulled pork sandwiches.

there was a slight change of plans for last night's pulled pork since my brother is living with us for the next six weeks while he finishes his 3rd year at NAIT.

he doesn't mix things. his food stays segregated. his plates look like those sectioned dishes that little kids use. except there are no actual dividers.

meat and bbq sauce he does allow to touch, but nothing else. no corn. definitely no cilantro...
so he can dress his own.
with lame bbq sauce, and probably just plain bread.

when i make mine, i will add the cilantro fresh to the sandwich, delicious sweet corn, and maybe even make it on garlic toast.

or if i'm feeling especially decadent... make a pulled pork grilled cheese.
YUM!

i have one other favorite way to make pulled pork... i'll post that one another day.

34 week update... getting closer!

34 weeks... only 3 more weeks until the sea monkey is considered full term. EXCITING!

hopefully fernando won't miss the arrival of the sea monkey.
for those of you that don't know, fernando's band The Preying Saints will be on tour with the Matadors for a western Canada tour. it starts out on October 6th and he'll be playing locally and fairly close to home umtil the 9th and then on the 10th heading to BC. 
he will be home October 17th so hopefully the sea monkey stays put until then! never know though.
i've been getting a lot of early predictions so we'll just have to wait and see.
conveniently for me (not so much for him) my giant little brother is staying with us while he goes to school so i won't be home alone. he'll be staying with us until October 21st so chances are he'll be there for the arrival.
he might end up be the one taking me to the hospital.
i assured him i would sit on a garbage bag to protect his precious truck. HA!
this is the 3rd time he's stayed with us while he's at NAIT...
good thing this is the last time since he might never want to come back again after dealing with an uber pregnant sister.
he's going to be carrying things around for me left and right.
if my hip/back doesn't get better soon he might be carrying me. good thing he's big and strong.

over the weekend i feel like i've turned into an octogenarian in need of a hip replacement.
NOT FUN.
this is the first pregnancy discomfort i've really had so i can't really complain because i know that i've been really lucky up until now.
but DAMN!
if this doesn't ease up i'm going to need a freakin walker to get around.

next doctor's appointment will be on September 23rd and at that point she will be checking my cervix (if this is TMI for some of you just pretend you didn't read it because i tend to overshare if you haven't noticed) to see if i've started dilating at all. it will also give a starting point to judge things from there on out

i will be done work September 30th so 15 more days of work (including today) until i'm offically a SAHM. i have to say... i'm super excited for that! not because i don't love my job, but because i'm ready to start this new part of my life.

that is all for now.

thankful thursday... a sneak peak

this is just a little teaser.

my parents decided that i am not allowed to paint anything while pregnant... so when i decided that i wanted to use an old dresser and chest of drawers for the sea monkey they offered to paint it for me.

it was white already but it had pink knobs. they were not so gender neutral.
it got a fresh coat of white and the previously pink knobs are now black to fit in with the sea monkey's colors.
once the room is set up a bit better and the clutter is cleared out i will take some nicer pictures.
for now all you get is a quick cell phone picture.

just for a little history.

i am obsessed with old furniture.
most new furniture doesn't even come close to comparing to the quality pieces.
can you imagine your current furniture in 60 years? probably in a landfill.
everything is so disposable now.

this dresser and chest of drawers were made for my grandparents sometime between 1945 and 1955.
unfortunately thats as close to knowing as i'll ever get. we know they got it after they were married and before they had my mom.

here's a peek!

bump day - 33 weeks!

not the best dress for bump pictures but its going to be a hot one out there and i thought i should be prepared for the half hour i will spend driving home in the warm weather.

i wish i got to be outside more and actually enjoy the gorgeous weather.

maybe i will go for a walk at lunch... or just walk until i find someplace to sit that i don't have to share with a homeless person. my being pregnant makes them smell worse....

or maybe they just smell worse in the summer because its warm out.

either way, i'm not going to share a bench with any smelly person. homeless or not.

brind wanted in on the pictures too...
18 more days in the office then brind gets to go home.

i have to say i'm not a big fan of the new blogger... or maybe i just haven't quite figured it out yet.

not sure.

it seems difficult sometimes.

so i will apologize in advance for any wonky posts i put up.

 the bump is growing.

shaving my legs is getting harder.

so please don't look too closely if presented with the opportunity to check out my legs.

wait.

who am i kidding.

nobody looks at my legs any more.

they're just there to hold up my new boobs and belly.

sometimes i even find women staring at my boobs.

i do too sometimes.

i can't help myself.

i've never had boobs like this before!

33 weeks - a HONEYDEW!!!

OMG a honeydew? that seems huge!
but its getting close... so yes the sea monkey is growing.

this weekend was a busy one. crossed a few big things off the list.

i am now the proud owner of a super adorable Peg Perego car seat so the sea monkey will be able to come home now once born.

we decided (i actually made fernando come back to the store with me and help decide) on the grey one over the black one because i thought that the black one might get pug hair stuck all over it.
all in all, i'm really excited for finding a super adorable seat that is my style that fits nicely in my car.

we also have the stroller and the peanut (bassinet) at home now. is it crazy that i want to rip everything out of the boxes and assemble it all now? maybe i should... i don't know.

the long weekend kicked my ass. i spent the majority of yesterday (monday) on the couch feeling sorry for myself. i think it was a combination of lugging things around, trying out carseats in my car and just being constantly busy all day satuday and sunday. i am not used to being THAT busy for 2 days straight. i didn't have a single nap all weekend. i would have yesterday if i'd been able to get comfy, but instead watched an entire marathon of Pawn Stars.
i know.
exciting.

i also bought the changing pad for on top of the dresser so now i have to decide what fabric to use for covers or whether i'll cave and just buy at least a couple for the beginning. or maybe i'll just throw a towel over it. i'm pretty sure the baby won't really judge me.

foto friday

i want this.
it would make me laugh every time i looked at it.

even short dogs can enjoy the toilet water now!