Angie: January 2006 Archives

Unfinished Business - The doctor's appointment yesterday was the same as every other doctor's appointment lately. They did a monitoring session and the baby kept moving away and didn't want his little self to be monitored on their seismograph like machine. LOL The doctor came in and said, "Why are you still pregnant?" I wanted to scream at him, "Because you won't induce me, you bastard!" But I didn't. I kept my manners and said politely, "I don't know, you tell me why." Then came the disgusting part that involves a glove, lubricant, and major dignity damage. Nothing, nada, zilch. No thinning. No dialating. NOTHING! My cervix seems to be like the airlock on a submarine. The he says, "Let's wait and see if you go by friday." Right about now I am thinking all of you people jinxed me and this baby won't come until the next full moon which is February 13th. You and your damn guessing games. Who put the whammy on me? Which one of you did it? One day you will get yours, I promise you. I say that as sweetly and kindly as possible. I love you all. :-) I am keeping tabs, ya know ...

9 lbs., 2 ozs? On January 11th and probably 21" long. kenju 7lbs 10oz and 20 inches long on January 12. LadyBug 6 lbs 15 oz on January 13th - Judy 7 lbs. 6 oz. January 14th. She'll go into labor two hours after finishing his nursery! Lucinda 7.3 pounds. 21 inches. January 15 at 3:05. Raehan I say 8 pounds - 20 inches. Jan 16th. As for a time? Whenever he feels like poking his cute little head out into the world! :) MommaK January 17th. 8lbs. 10 ounces. blackbird on the 19th (great ppl born that day, lol)and weighs 7lbs 14oz and will be 20 3/4" Hope 7 lbs. 4 oz., 20 inches, January 23rd. L January 25, 9 pounds (sorry, Angie) and 21 inches. MistressMary January 26, 8:17 pm, 8 lbs 11 oz, 21 inches long. InterstellarLass 9.1 lb Jan 27..20 inches. J&J's Mom Jan 28 at 8#6oz. ; 20 and1/2 inches. Vicki Jan. 28th weighing 8lbs and 4 oz. and 21 inches long peggy 7 Lbs 9oz and I think our little cowboy will arrive on the 28th. jakapk 9.3 on jan 29th! jennifer January 29th and weigh 9 lbs., 2 ounces Susie Sunshine 8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. And he'll be here on the 30th. Jenny Feb. 1, 9 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches. Carolyn R. 7 lbs, 14 ounces. Feb. 2. 19 3/4" old horsetail snake 8 lbs 5 oz 21 inches long Born on February 2 (Groundhog Day) Lorraine 8 lbs 11 oz 21 1/2 February 5th! kate

In all of this guessing the absolute funniest of them all to me is Lorraine's. You have no idea how groundhogs have tormented Steven all summer and fall. I even commented once this baby was hibernating like a groundhog and probably will try to climb back in if he sees his shadow during birth. O'kay so maybe it's not that funny after all but it made me laugh. Funny Business - I find this to be very funny. I have my own collection of my kids in similar positions over the years. Old Business - I mean what I say and say what I mean. If I meant to say something else I would have said something else. Thank you. New Business - If you link to me would you please be a dear and let me know? I am working on a whole new me to be revealed when I get my body back and don't have to share. I don't want to leave out anyone and would be ever so grateful if you just left a note in the comments or whip off an email to let me know you read here. I would really like to come visit you in return. During the 8,678,903 hours I will spend sitting and nursing a crying hungry baby I know at some point I will multitask and read ya'll at the same time. Who knows I may even be able to type one handed and leave many more comments when this is all over and done with.

For the record:

a.) I am not a prude. I can be prudish at times. b.) Please use some common sense and know if you are a person who reads here regularly I am not talking about you. c.) If you read something that offends your senses and sends you into an outrage then maybe I am talking to you and you need to take a long hard look at yourself. You can only grow when you face your short comings and actively choose to make a change in yourself for the better. d.) There are some seriously sick people in this world who have no idea they are sick.

Random Posts I have Started Over The Past 6 Months but never moved from Draft to Publish: 1. Blahgers who like to tell journalists how and when to post and make up rules so that if you do not follow their rules they won't "evah come back." Goodbye. Please don't come back. I don't like threats or being made to feel as if I am your hostage. 2. Anonynmous commenters have no balls, love to dish shit but are not adult enough to pick up the spoon and eat their fair share in return. 3. Women who see nothing wrong with letting their small children witness the birth of their new siblings. No child should have to witness the spread eagled, knees around your ears, grewsome display of childbirth. It is no damn petting zoo. It can be very traumatizing. I hope all of your little boys do not grow up with Frued's complex issues with his mother. 4. Yes, all children are curious about any given subject on any given day but there is this thing called age appropriate answers by parents to children with questions about their genitals, sex and where babies come from. At the age of 3 - 10 there is a thing as TMI!!!! These children do not need to know about orgasms, masturbation, nor how good it would feel to let someone else rub their private bits. Where is this world going? Why do people think it is amusing that a child know far more than he should? 5. Online journals are the same as someone's home. If you are invited in to have a look (as journals are public it is an invite to look-see) you really should use your manners and not be mean to people, argue with other commenters or dishout random assvice. It is one thing to know the journalist and know you are welcome to speak your mind. It is another to pull a terrorists strike and leave your drivel and hate spread across someone else's door. 6. Blahgers who refer to their children with derogatory nicknames or those names that lend an air of evil. I find that the tone being used is often the more offensive. How can a parent think it is continually funny to disrespect, degrade and humilate the innocence of their child, their own living breathing flesh and blood, with their own written words? 7. You don't know if you are a good mother? You garner sympathy from readers by exposing the mess in your head? You sicken me to the very pit of my stomach. It has been my experience if you do not know you are a good mother (a mother that has done her very best to give her children a loving, moral and solid foundation to grown upon) you probably are not a good mother. I will not blow smoke up your ass to make you feel good. Get your shit together and do right by your children. It is too late to think that once they are in this world that maybe you should not have had them. Grow up and grow a pair. 8. Your husband doesn't give in to your demands all the time? You withhold sex and physical loving to get what you want. F*ck you, sister. Your husband is an adult. He is not your slave, your handmaid, your plaything or any number of other adjectives such as doormat, lapdog and punching bag. To withhold physical intimacy as a leverage to get him to do something he doesn't want to do is the most disgusting, pathetic, childish tactic known to mankind. You should so be ashamed but you won't be because people like you have no shame. 9. That goes for you men bashers as well. It is one thing to say things in a comedic light, as all of us women are prone to doing at times, but it is another to continually bash men and leave them lower than dog shit on a curb every single day. 10. Any or all of these can be directed pointedly at men. It is not just women who are screwed up. 11. When visiting a journal or blahg and finding yourself offended, repeatedly, click the X and never go back. It is just that simple. 12. I really don't care if you don't agree with my point of view. When you pay for my webspace, as I do, I do not use a free service, you can censor me and my words. 13. I do not discuss politics and religion in open forums. I find it leads to more arguements than educated discussions. Southern women are raised to know that it is rude and vulgar to discuss either, including money, in mixed company. I am a southern woman. I won't be provoked. Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is a sign of strength not weakness. 14. No I am not in a bad mood this morning. I am just cleaning house and putting to rest all of the pieces and parts labled "draft". Sometimes some things just need to be said. Let this be another 14 things about me you probably didn't know.

Blackbird has asked to see our computers for show and tell this week.

We have many machines in our house. They are all networked into a wireless network because I will not let Steven drill and knock holes in the floors and walls of this house like he did in the townhouse. The network is code named "Graceland".
	Our Network, code name Graceland, is run by a machine that Steven built many years ago. Her name is 'Cilla, in honor of Priscilla (the freshly married, black dyed hair, very young, wife of Elvis). She controls internet access, file shares and who knows what else. She runs 24/7 and is only shut down the week we go on vacation. On occassion she has to be rebooted due to power outages or something with the stupid cable company.
The companion that serves as a file server is known by the code name Red, in honor of Red West. Red is not running right now. I don't even think he has been running since we have been in this house, the reason why escapes me.
	Steven's workhorse, you-name-it it-is-on-there machine with tons of RAM is Elvis. This machine was the #1 machine when I met Steven. This is the macine he used to telecommute for work and the machine we chatted on for a month or so before a phone call was initiated.
His old laptop was LisaMarie but she has been retired as LisaMarie2 and his new laptop is now LisaMarie.
	Each of the girls have their own machines: Colby's is AnnMargaret
J's is NannerSammich
	Gracie's is HoundDog
I have 3 machines of my own. My HP Windows machine is Pink_Cadillac.
	My frankenmachine I built from an old HP I had that runs Linux is TheColonel.
My laptop I got for my birthday this past August is Memphis.

This is the machine I use every single day for every single purpose. I also share and the kids use it when they need a fast work horse game playing machine and are too lazy to go play on their own. It is a Toshiba Satellite P-35 S605 with a 17inch monitor. I love my laptop. Because my monitor has much real estate when I make graphics I often make them too large forgetting that I see things much smaller with my 1440x900 resolution. 800x600 seems soooo primitive now. I am now off to the doctor for my weekly fetal monitoring session. See you all later.

I spent yesterday cycling in and out of false labor. At times the fake contractions leaving me gasping for breath, hopeful they would set into a rhythm, only to stop and leave me pissed off because I am ready to be done!!!! I am now ready to take suggestions on what will bring on real labor. 'Cept I am not drinking the castor oil so please don't suggest it. To otherwise keep you occupied while I continue to ripen like a summer melon I found this to be a rather time consuming and intriguing little piece of gray matter work-out material. Here is my result: Click here to view the screen shot of the test when I gave up on it. No peeking for the answers. Seriously, test your intelligence and skills. Steven and I sat for over an hour working on it quietly. When I finally gave up we talked about our answers. The ones I left blank because I could not figure them out are ones he knew the answers to. This is a part of a Mensa test. ***** I have no plans at the moment to work on any of my many and varied projects. I plan to come around and visit all of you beautiful woman who come here to visit me. For those who wonder about my ambition and the tackling of projects - Steven wonders why you think I need his permission or even his input. LMFAO!!! That would be like telling the tides when and how to roll. As for paying a professional to come in and strip my floors and my staircase - it's called M.O.N.E.Y. My floors are 100 year old heart of pine planks. The nail heads are also 100 years old. When a floor is stripped they use a machine that is not really a sander. It takes as much as 1/8th of an inch off of the floor boards. This will not work in my house. It would chew up the nail heads. My floors need restoration work. Which means good old fashioned elbow grease (and harsh chemicals). To pay someone for that kind of work would cost me a medium sized fortune. Being the tightwad that I am I prefer to keep my money, bitch and moan about the paint, strip them myself, so one day I can sit back and proudly see the fruits of my labors. Once all of the paint is removed the floors will need to be lightly sanded. Depending on several factors I may just rent a floor sander and give them a once over myself. The part I am already dreading is the cleaning up of all the sanding dust BEFORE they can be stained and varnished. We did the floors in our house when I was a child. Holy Hell they were alot of work vaccuuming up every tiny particle on our hands and knees crawling along the baseboards with tack clothes and mineral spirits. Ack. Maybe I need to win the lottery and spend the winnings on my floors. :-/ But then again there is NOTHING like the satisfaction of a job well done.

I am not a person who trusts the "As Seen On TV" products. I am VERY skeptical about things that appear to be too good to be true through the magic of television. So when I saw this product in my trusted and true local paint store I decided that it must be a good product because they don't sell crap that wastes your money. I have watched the infomercials several times and secretly hoped this product would be everything it says it is. I wanted so badly to go against my instincts and order one of the starter kits. But I held out. Stubborn to the end. The reason this product has interested me is because my staircases (front and back), 3 upstairs bedrooms floors and 1 downstairs floor was painted by the previous owners. Not just any paint mind you. They are painted with chocolate brown enamel porch and floor paint. Why would someone fathom to do such a thing? It would have been less work to lightly sand them and mop on a coat of clear varnish. The nature and size of this project of stripping floors has haunted me since we moved in. It is one of those things I want done so badly but know it will take an amazing amount of time, effort and elbow grease on my part. Not to mention money for supplies and possibly having to have a professional come in and sand all the floors at one time before they are stained and varnished in the end. When I look at all the little grooves in the wood between the floor planks I become overwhelmingly tired thinking about how much work it will be to scrape out all of that paint that is caked up along the entire length of each board and joint. It is a daunting task. It is also a task that may never get done if I don't do it. So, I stood in the paint store going back and forth in my head and finally reach down and picked up a tub of the very safe and environmentally friendly paint and stain stripper. I walked to the counter and plunked down $34.50 plus tax and headed home. Sunday night after finishing the baby's room and a bowl of ice cream I gave in to temptation in a hurry to see if the product really worked like they advertised in the infomercial. Steven opened the bucket for me and I promptly sloshed liquid on my feet and the dog bed. Liquid? The stuff on tv looked like a green paste! Why was liquid sloshing out? Steven cleaned up the mess on the dogbed and put the cover out to wash and I ran to the bathroom to scrub my feet. Not because it burned like normal stripper would have done but because I have a fear of absorbing something through my skin that could harm my baby. With clean feet, paint stick in hand I stirred the goopy mess in the bucket. Just as it was mixing well the stick broke and I finished stirring with a paint brush. Seated at the foot of the front staircase I painted on a nice thick coating of green snot. I made sure it was a good thick coat across the entire tred. The container reads that the product will dissolve up to 7 layers of paint. I believe there is only 2 layers of paint on stairs but I heeded the warning of not applying too thin. I was very liberal. I then blocked off the staircase to keep the dog from walking through it in the middle of the night. Monday, mid morning, when everyone was gone, about 12 hours after I applied the stripper, I sat down again at the foot of the stairs with scraper in hand. The green goop had turned white indicating it was finished working and was ready to be removed. Scrape. Scrape. Is that wood I see? Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Nope no wood. Just the bottom layer of the paint. And most certainly only 2 layers of paint, no where near 7. Just primer and the floor paint. A bit peeved, ok alot of cussing later, I once again glopped on a thick layer of the very expensive stripper, blocked off the staircase and went about my business not happy at all. Another 12 hours later I sat and began to scrape away the newly turned white mess. Underneath it I found the wood of the staircase. I scraped, picked with toothpicks and skewers, scrubbed with a bucket of hot water and a brush. Wiped with old towels and paper towels over and over. This is the result: Look what is under all of that nasty paint. Why would someone hide this under chocolate brown paint? Look how beautiful the grain of the wood is. That my dear friends is 100 year old wood. That is hand hewn stair treds. That is beauty to behold! That is also not finished and needs another coat of stripper because there is still a fine layer of paint in some of the worn grooves and along the edges. Now, about the product -

Pros No smell No burns Easy to apply Biodegradable Cleans up with only water

Cons Is NOT fast Is NOT cost effective Is NOT time efficient

I used almost 1/3 of the bucket to do 1 step. That is $11.50 and 24 hours per step. With 15 treds on this staircase to continue with this product will cost me an estimated $172.50 in stripper and 360 waiting hours of time for it to work. and that would be just the treds. It would take even more for the banister, newel posts and the detailed wood work along the outside and inside of the staircase. I will not be buying this product again after I use up what is left. I'll wait for warmer weather, open the doors and windows, and apply the old school stripper. If you have a delicate project that might be ruined by harsh chemicals by all means invest the time and money in this product. Otherwise, for a larger project, it really isn't that great of a deal considering how expensive it is and how long it takes to actually do the job. One other thing that is VERY important!!! I have found this no where except on the bucket itself - Known to cause "reproductive toxicity" according to the lable Which makes it not very safe in my opinion!!!! If you love your ovaries and plan to use them I would be very cautious with this product making sure to wear gloves and other protective gear.

Ready Strip is safe for your family, it works like no other paint stripper and it is so easy to use. Ready Strip is biodegradable, safe to touch, virtually odorless, fast, easy and we could go on and on.

I am afraid someone did not read the lable and wouldn't this be a bit of false advertising as to the safety of this product? I do not plan to get pregnant again. I also do not plan to purchase this product again either. Updated to add: Today is exactly 1 year that we moved into this house. We signed the papers at 6:30 pm and the moving trucks were here and unloading from 7pm until 2am. I really expected to accomplish much more then I have at this point in My Old House.

I know by now my whining sucks. So I'll try not to complain too much about how tired I am and how ready to be done I am. I have managed to keep myself busy so that I don't sit around and wallow in my discomfort, heartburn, restlessness and all around moodiness with accomapnied bad attitude. How have I kept myself busy? I am so glad you asked. I finished the baby's bedroom. Even though there is no hurry because he will be sleeping in a cradle in our bedroom and most likely in our bed for the next few months I felt the need to have his place in our home ready for him to come home to anyway. When I started this room was a spare bedroom, catch-all, out-of-sight out-of-mind, just close the door kind of room. We moved out all of the odd pieces of furniture that piled up in there up to the attic. (Now I need to clean up the attic.) All of the boxes, speakers and other clutter left from when we moved here almost a year ago went up to the attic as well. This room had no closet doors, no shelf and a broken closet rod. The paint color was attrocious. The plaster had cracks. On Thursday I began to remedy all of that. Steven built shelving and put up a nice new metal closet rod. Colby primed and painted the interior of the closet. The paint color is Gentle Dill. It is soothing and very calming shade of green. The time I have spent inthis room was very relaxing and pleasant as I painted. It was also a lot of work. It took two coats of Kilz2 Latex Primer and two coats of the green paint on the walls. The trim required 2 coats of primer and 1 coat of the very lucious and sexy cabinet paint that I love to paint with. The paint that the previous owners used was very poor cheap paint. The walls just soak up paint like crazy. Since I have now done 4 bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs I have used 9 gallons of primer, 8 gallons of wall paint and 4 gallons of cabinet paint on the trim and doors. The bed linens and duvet sets are from Overstock.com. I purchased the duvet sets on clearance back in the summer for $25 a set. The feather beds and down comforters were purchased on sale at the same time from Domestications. Yes, I LOVE to shop online and get those great deals! The rug is a stock model from Lowes. Last winter we had to have something on the floor when this room was used as Gracie's bedroom. It is a floral pattern filled with rich greens, tans, creams, browns and golds. The curtains came from a discount store. We have not dressed the crib yet. I am waiting until we see proof positive that this baby is indeed a boy. Then the bedding will be washed and the crib dressed and waiting with its mobile and other fun things. Until then I am on the cautious side and not taking the price tags off of anything incase we have to return it for girly stuff. I have resigned myself to using the crib and changing table I had in the attic. I just don't feel like searching for a new crib since the one I wanted was recalled. We will just wait a couple years and then purchase furniture pieces as this baby grows up and out of a crib and into the beds. I have told you many times I am not a cutesy Disney/cartoon theme nursery kind of momma. I have chosen a paint that went with things I already had in this room. I tried to create a nice room that can be used as a nice soothing baby's room but will not need to be redecorated in a couple years. Now all we need is the baby. The waiting is making impatient. I am ready for breastfeeding, dirty diapers, sleepless hours, cuddling, pressing my lips and nose against sweet baby skin ... and having my body back to myself. For all of you who have asked about a post when I go into labor - I do plan to take my laptop to the hospital with me. I don't know if I will be able post and let you follow the delivery stages but I will have it with me to make notes. Steven has his email on his phone so someone will be emailed if I can't leave a post. It is the best I can do because I know he will be so wound up he won't remember to write a post. I know I suck these days because I don't leave comments or a post every day. All I can say is I am sorry, but I am a lowsy friend right now. I have been around to read but I just don't seem to have it in me to make the effort to leave comments. I also suck at email. If you have written me I apologize but I haven't even answered email from my family. It's all there sitting and waiting for me to get to it. I will. But I don't know when. Tomorrow morning is my weekly doctor's appointment. I really dislike going to the doctor. BTW, no I am not resting. I have this half gallon of very safe and friendly paint and stain stripper and I am going right now to slather it on my staircase and see if it works to remove that aweful brown enamel porch paint that is on every single tread and three of the four upstairs bedrooms floors. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. Maybe a little ice cream first. Want some? Vanilla, chocolate or Sponge Bob?

posted early

Thirteen Things about Angie 1. I did not paint the nursery. Everything is ready I just need to get in there and actually do it. 2. Instead I took a nap. 3. And another nap. 4. The boxes from Amazon arrived with all the baby shower gifts. 5. Thank you all again. 6. I took a photo of the 38+ week belly. 7. I have never shown a belly photo and don't know why I am now. 8. I know the mirror needs to be cleaned. I don't feel like doing it right now. 9. Does this qualify for half nekkid thursday? 10. I did pack my bag for when we have to go to the hospital. 11. If I ever go into labor. 12. Did I tell you all that I am so ready that I am miserable? 13. I am. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. MommaK 2. Raehan

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- Early morning doctor appointment -check - Purchase new Seally Baby Posturepedic crib mattress - check - Pick up some fresh veggies - check - Finish Laundry - check - Light fire under ass and start painting baby's room - sort of check but not really, still thinhking about it. - Send thank you notes - check Other Things I Did - - served spinach salad and chicken parmesian for supper - took a nap - drank a diet coke - had a stress test for the baby (everything is fine) - had some last trimester blood work - gained 1 pound

Monday I woke up to a complete surprise that caught me off guard and speechless. MommaK, Raehan, Mistress Mary, Lucinda and J&J’s Mom threw me a Blog world baby shower! How cool and thrilling and exciting is that? It was Ubercool! These women are the sweetest, dearest women I have ever met on or off line. The internet has been so very good to me by allowing such warm hearted beautiful women to come into my life. You all have no idea who much I admire you, want to be like you, wish I could write like you. You inspire me, give me reason to laugh, warm my heart clear down to my cockles and can bring a tear to my eye without trying. I am in love with each and every one of you. I want to thank you each personally and set about trying to that earlier this week. But I got side tracked and interupted. No I did not get the babies room painted yet. *sad face* I went to the doctor for my now weekly visit. He hasn't given me a reason to like him. Instead of picking a date just before my due date and getting it over with (as my other doctor in Ga has always done) because near the end I begin to swell and bloat feel like shyte and its gross and takes me a longer time to recover from it he has deemed that he will not consider inducing until i am PAST the due date and then it is an iffy thing. Needless to say as I have been increasingly moody and have had a shitty attitude that gets shittier by the minute he realized my mood and called me moody. I corrected him by saying I was not moody I simply had a very bad attitude that would be getting worse as we approached the end. Steven has taken to calling me Grumpy Gertie. So Wednesday I had this bright idea to have chinese takeout for lunch and we could have the leftovers for supper later. I was carefull and ordered the chicken with string beans for myself. It has nothing sweet in it and is a very straight forward stir fry with no sauces. Colby had the beef and broccoli, Steven the General Tso Chicken and Gracie the shrimp lo mein. Colby and I shared ours. I had about 1/4 cup of rice and healping of lo mein. OMG _HUGE_ GIANT_ mistake of all time. It knocked me for a loop and off my ass for two (count them 1, 2) whole days. My blood sugar which I had been monitoring and was perfect, indicating as the doctor agreed that I am not gestational diabetic I just can't tolerate wheat and other grains well, went through the roof. I drank gallons of water to flush my system. I felt like I was dying. Sick sick sick like I had been beaten and thrown out of a car onto the curb. It was bad. No more chinese takeout from that place for me. No one else was sick. So by the time Friday roled around I realized how many days had passed since I had posted, checked email or otherwise made contact with all the beautiful people who had thrown me a baby shower and sent all the lovely guests to visit me. I apologize to you all. I have just been a mess. We went today looking for the car seat/stroller combination perfect for us and our baby. Because we really need to have a carseat opr when the baby is born they won't let us leave the hospital without one. We found one at Walmart that Steven liked well enough but hated the wheels on it. We purchased it anyway knowing that we could return it should we find something better to his liking. It really didn't matter to me as long as it has nothing with cutesy Disney crap on it. Why is almost EVERYTHING covered in Disney patterns? Those things are fine for 20 somethings and first time baby makers but by age 40 you are so over that stage. sorry to those of you who adore the cutesy Disney stuff. I just AIN'T into it. Never have been either. We then headed over to ToysRUs/BabiesRUs. Immediately we found the perfect combination "traveling system" having read all of the reviews on Amazon of what not to buy and things people agreed they "hated it!". We chose this lovely item - the Profile Travel System in the Tahoe print. Steven liked all the features and the feel of its handling, the way the seat sat on the base, the quality of the buckles and car seat belts, etc. I like the color. It matches my Excursion - ha, lame way to choose a car seat and stroller, huh? When I checked my email I found a gift certificate from all the lovely women and guests who gave me the baby shower so we sat down and took inventory of things we needed and wanted and we went shopping online this evening. Thank you all so very much. Each and every time we use these items I will think of you and smile. You all never fail to surprise me. This is the list of items I ordered this evening. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being so kind to me and this baby. Contoured Changing Pad, Changing Pad Cover, Ultimate Wipe Warmer, Diaper Champ, Large Swaddle Me Microfleece Blanket, SwaddleMe Adjustable Newborn Fleece Wrap - Ivory, Koala Baby - Knit Crib Sheet - White, Posh Pouch Infant Car Seat Cover, and Baby Call Nursery Monitor - 27 Channel Now, after I have supper I will be visting each one of you and catching up on everything I have missed in a week. In the mean time I do know of two women who were finalists in the Best of Blogs awards. Let me see, here, I have 8 machines in this house so techinally unless every one of them is networked and shouldn't show a different IP I could go around this evening and vote for you two gals on each machine. Sounds like a plan to me. Time to eat. See you all very soon. :-) BTW, Lucinda ... the hoo ha story I did read, you kill me!!! I nearly busted a gut! Updated to add: I am ignoring all of you who predicted I am having a 9#+ baby. The doctor says he predicts a 7 1/2 - 8lb baby. And - The crib I had planned on ordering for the baby (Aspen Stages Cherry 4-in-1) -RECALLED!! Now I have to look and hunt and search for another perfect cherry crib with matching dresser. Arrgghhhh! I think we may end up with the simple Jenny Lind crib and matching changing table that is sitting in my attic from when Gracie was a baby.

... I do not know how to rest. Or "How To Decorate For Under $200" After Christmas I was exhausted. The holidays kicked my butt big time. But then after a couple days I got bored, then sick, then better and then I got this burst of energy that had to be unleashed. I figured I should get on the ball and finish the upstairs bedrooms that have been waiting for almost a year for me to decide what to do with them. New Year's Day we spent 6 hours in the truck on the road to collect a $40 clawfoot tub. The same tub that the restorer will be returning to me FRIDAY looking like brand new. I am so completely excited!!! So on our return last Sunday afternoon I was sitting on the couch while Steven took J. back to her mother's and I was bored. I went upstairs, looked around her room, grabbed a paintbrush and roller and in 2 hours had primed her entire room. The next day I painted. The next day I hung the curtains and put everything back. Then I took a couple days to recoup and think and plan. Friday morning I attacked Colby's room and finished it this morning. In one week I have completely made over 2 bedrooms, top to bottom. I spent less than $200 each for materials, supplies, furnishings, and accessories. The pink room I did for Gracie back in the summer/fall can be seen here. MommaK can vouch for the complete change of these rooms since I have no idea which CD the before photos are on to show you. This room is paneled. I don't know why someone would do this but I am not pulling it down. I don't have the energy or the will power to rip it out right now and have the room drywalled.
I had Steven put up moldings to imitate the look of old rooms with the high ceilings and plate rails. Everything below the molding was then painted in a Williamsburg reproduction paint. The paint is cabinet grade and will be durable and won't scratch eaily.
The bedding was purchased back in the summer. The girls love their featherbeds and down comforters. We searched a long time and found the duvet covers online and on clearance. This bedding retailed at $399.00. I purchased it for $59 through Smartbargains.
The curtains are embroidered sheers with an attached valance. I found these at the dollar store and paid $10 a pair for them. I have seen these same sheers in a department store for $30 a panel. So take this as a lesson, don't be afraid to be seen in a cheap dollar store and keep your eyes out for bargains. These curtains are part of a misrun and are seconds but the flaw is not noticable. There is a pink thread trapped in the embroidery that cannot be seen. I hunted for the second and found it only because my mother was a weaver and taught me how to look for the flaws.
This little desk is solid pine. It was hideous. I found it in a thrift store and paid $30 for it. Using the same cabinet paint it was given a face lift. The hardware was on clearance at the local hardware store. I paid $1 for each china knob. I have less than $40 invested in this cute desk.
The pictures over the bed and desk came from a dollar store. They are not pictures I will keep. I bought them because the frames are solid wood and they have glass inserts. I paid $10 for them. I could not buy the empty frame anywhere for $10. We will be keeping our eyes open for artwork to replace the current prints.
I started on Colby's room Friday. I wanted her room to reflect a grown up taste and be a lovely restful haven for her to come home to after long days of classes. School starts back for her tomorrow. This room was builder's beige and all the trim was turquoise when we moved in. Colby took the time in the week after we moved in to paint the trims and doors. It was hideous.
The shade of paint I chose for the top of the wall I had the guy at the paint center mix at half formula to get the same hue but a lighter shade. Choosing yellows is so very hard for me. I really like this shade.
The lower portion of the wall is a reproduction Williamsburg paint. The doors and moldings are a Duron bright white for contrast. I chose the least expensive chair rail avalable at Lowe's and Steven put it up as well as finished the base boards with quarter round. The molding added the most expense to this room.
The curtains I found on ebay this summer. They are some overstock from Ikea someone was selling. I paid next to nothing for them and they add a softness to the room.
The wallpaper border is a stock paper from Lowe's that was on clearance. It was chosen not because I loved the pattern but because it contains the exact shade of yellow as the paint I had chosen. I was considering adding crown molding to this room but when I found the wallpaper I opted out for the lesser expense.
The most expensive part of this room is this rug. I have searched for 6 months for a proper rug that I could live with and found this one last week at a furniture store. It was 3/4 of my room budget but I think I did well over all. The upstairs is turning into a rainbow of color. Gracie's room is pink and white. J's room is blue and white. Colby's room is yellow and white. The baby's room will be green and white. Each room is different. The colors compliment one another. The upstairs is beginning to flow. This afternoon I am headed to Lowe's for paint rollers and a few supplies. Tomorrow I attack the nursery and attempt to pull it together before I go into labor. I am so ready to be finished with this pregnancy but I am willing to wait a little longer if this baby will just let me get his room finished first. Please. Since my bathtub will be back Friday I am thinking Saturday I can start papering and painting in there. I am thinking red -deep rich wine reds.

It is time for Thursday Thirteen but I am doing good just to type this out in this form today. Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants I followed the doctors orders -even though I know me far better than he ever will. I went to the pre-diabetes management classes. Steven sat with me and we asked the right questions, listened carefully, followed along in the little booklet. Afterward we went grocery shopping and made sure to have the best whole grain breads and cereals, plenty of yogurts and cottage cheeses, brown rice, dried peas and beans -exactly what this woman (Steven calls her a Home Ec teacher lol) said I should be eating 8 servings of daily. Even though I told her I could not eat like that and there was no way I could eat 3 meals and 2 snacks daily, especially before bedtime. Thursday my blood sugar was higher than I expected it to be. Friday was higher than Thursday. Saturday it was over the limits of normal. By Sunday afternoon my blood sugar was consistantly over 230. I was also sick. I felt lethargic, dizzy, not quite right. I even had a period where I felt as if I were trapped in another body and was looking out through someone else's eyes. The baby was far less active as well. I had not felt hunger in any form since the Wednesday before the appointment. I quit the high complex carb diet. I stopped eating all the snacks. I resumed my normal eating habits of eating when I actually felt hungry. I also went back to eating very low carbs, bunches of fresh vegetables and lean meats. I cut out all of those whole grain breads and heavy starches. I stopped the before bedtime snacks. My blood sugar came back down to normal. My energy level increased. I began to feel hungry a day later. The baby resumed his high level of activity. This week (Tuesday) when I went to my OB appointment I took my chart showing everything I had eaten as well as the blood glucose levels I was testing 4 times a day. I explained what I was feeling and how very sick I had become by New Years day. He immediately and completely agreed (as I had tried to tell him before and he would not listen) that I could not eat all of those carbs, that I did not feel well when I consumed a lot of complex carbs and that it was far more food than I could reasonably eat. I further stressed how I was forcing down inbetween meal snacks, sleeping poorly, with heartburn that never went away, walking around feeling at times like a zombie. As he reviewed the numbers he looked taken aback. He looked extremely surprised. He agreed I was one of those rare people who cannot eat complex carbs and function healthily. I have an appointment this morning with the pre-diabetese/nutritionist/Home Ec teacher. I get to inform her that I don't have to follow her shitty diet, I don't have to eat the snacks and she owes me big time apologies for causing me to gain a whole pound in four days. Arggh!!! So today I am back to normal. I feel good. I feel better. I actually feel hunger a few times a day and eat at those times. I am waiting a bit impatiently for the stork to arrive. I am also in the home stretch visiting the doctor weekly now. OMG PEOPLE!!!!!! I am going to have a baby -like really soon!!!!

"ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ...... " I think that just about sums it up perfectly. ******* On other more interesting news - We are off this morning to go look at a clawfoot tub for my downstairs bathroom. We are biting the bullet. My bathroom is going to be the first real renovation to get our house back to the period in which it was built. The tub is a roll rim, clawfoot, cast iron tub measuring 5ft long with the original faucets, no chipping to the porcelain. Asking price? $40. Who wouldn't take a drive and pick it up in order to save $1360 -the price difference in one around here and this one I found online? Wish me luck I really want this to be THE Tub for my bathroom. I want to bring it home and look at it every time I pass it. I want to see Steven's face when I give him the go ahead to start cracking into walls and pulling down tile. He is just biting at the bit to really get into these walls for one reason or another. We will be replacing the 1980's drywall with wainscoting. The bathtub will be converted with the shower unit and the hanging assembly from the ceiling. I love this look. Most of the houses in this area with clawfoot tubs have the shower in place and the look is just wonderful, and charming, and takes you back to another time. I have found a small pedistal sink and will buy a new white toilet. Steven will one day build me a medicine cabinet to fill the hole behind the mirror where someone ripped out the one belonging to the house. We will also be replacing the ugly 1990's floor with pine flooring planks (Why in the hell the floor was torn out in this bathroom is completely beyond my understanding. The people who owned this place before us were idiots.) I have such plans for this small bathroom and adjoining dressing room! I am soooooo excited. Can you tell?