27 Weeks

Just wanted to update on some stuff, so this post will be all over the place.

So, last week I thought I was having preterm labor, but it turns out that I was just on the toilet for so long that my digestive system started cramping.  I'm figuring (from the soreness) that I did the equivalent of 13 million situps, so you know, it's all good.

My mom and BFF have been helping me declutter my house most weekends and we've really been accomplishing a lot.  No before pictures, just imagine Theo Huxtable's room when he was in junior high.  I now have access to a sliding glass door that had been blocked with stuff, and we can now see carpet in the bedrooms!  We threw out a ton of stuff and were able to donate many huge bags of clothing and household items to Goodwill.  Mom and BFF each deserve gold stars!

Work has been really stressful lately, as I try to complete Mission Impossible.  Today I just completely broke down in tears and it was hard for me to calm down.  I think that I have been trying to do too much all by myself, and I really needed to ask for help earlier.  I now have some more help on the project and my boss was able to relax on the deadline when he realized just how much work this mission comprises.

I gained 6 pounds from Month 5 to Month 6, and my doc really wanted me to make sure that I not gain as much in subsequent months.  I've been trying to be really conscious of my food choices and increase my activity level, and I think I've only gained 2 lbs this month!  Hopefully, I can keep making good choices the rest of the pregnancy.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday!  Yay her!  We got her an awesome gift, if I do say so myself; I just hope that it arrives on time.  :)

First Day

Today is JD's first day of work at his new job. Thank G-D.

Since I got up early to help him get out of the house on time, I was able to accomplish a ton last night and this morning.

Last night I:
-Filled and ran the dishwasher
-Filled the tea pot for the morning
-Set out mugs, teabags and spoons
-Set out our clothes for the morning
-Charged JD's phone
-Set up my bags and bag of dry cleaning by the door

This morning I:
-Made the bed
-Made tea
-Emptied the dishwasher
-Put all the breakfast dishes, spoons, etc. in the dishwasher
-Brought in the dry cleaning
-Deposited checks at the bank and took out money
-Brought The Boy to day care

I wonder if I can keep this level of effectiveness up?

Accomplishments

First, thank you so much for your comments and caring. Your notes truly get me through my days and I turn back to them again and again.

I got a lot accomplished last night and this morning so I thought I'd write it down, not to brag, just to remember that I can accomplish lots when I try.

Last night I:
-Created a new "intention" - telling the baby "You can go if you need to go. You don't have to stay because I want you to stay. You can go if you need to go. I'm letting you go. I love you." Concentrated on my intention several times during the evening and before bed.
-Cleared the table after dinner
-Took out trash and recycling
-Rinsed all dishes and loaded the dishwasher
-"Fluffed" the clean load of laundry sitting in the dryer
-Loaded a load of towels and the Pesach tablecloth (only 2 months after Pesach) in the washer)
-Folded and put away the equivalent of 4 loads of laundry
-Made the bed
-Put my shoes in the closet
-Laid out workout clothes and work clothes for this morning
-Took down old, ripped shower curtain and bad shower curtain rings and hung up new shower curtain with new rings
-Deadheaded flowers
-Put plastic footstool that had been holding giant pile of laundry in bedroom onto the balcony to live with its matching chair
-Walked The Boy
-Washed my face
-Flossed and brushed teeth
-Went to sleep at 10 PM

This Morning I:
-Got up after only two snooze cycles
-Concentrated on my intention
-Took myself on a half hour walk in the rain (I am HARD CORE!) and blissed out to my C-SPAN podcast on Lincoln's time as a president-elect (I am HARD CORE DORK!)
-Took a nice shower
-Got dressed for work
-Made tea for me and JD and put his tea (covered) on his nightstand so it's ready for him when he wakes up
-Made a healthy breakfast for me of Greek yogurt, blueberries, banana and walnuts
-Ate my breakfast and drank my tea while reading a book
-Cleared off table, rinsed dishes, loaded them in dishwasher and started the dishwasher
-Remembered to bring SIL's Kale and Salmon Quiche with me for lunch
-Took The Boy to doggie daycare
-Put on makeup
-Took my pills (Zoloft and prenatal vitamins)

Now I'm at work. I'm hoping to finish comments on the monthly financials and "attend" several conference calls. On one of the calls, my boss is trying to surpass the world record in how many times he uses the F word on one call. Will let you know how that goes.

Um, uh, hm

A cold, a cough, congestion, Chinese food and crappy TV. Happy New Year!

New Year's resolutions? I'm not gonna be fooled by that crap again. No resolutions; I give them too much power.

My three wishes for 2009 (because good things come in threes too)

1. Health (mental and physical)
2. House within 15 minutes of company ready (see FlyLady)
3. Happiness (2008 was a 6.5; I'd like to make 2009 at least a 7).

Much love and good wishes to all who are following my journey. I thank G-D for all of you each day. Happy New Year!!

A Picture of My House

Yeah, right. Nice try. You ain't seeing this till it looks like people live there, not a wild pack of Alsatians.

(Plus, I forgot to take a before picture and when cleaning, JD tends to go with the whole "it gets worse before it gets better" routine, even in "just 15 minutes" sessions. I will try to take a picture tonight, however, so that you can see that progress is being made on our 2nd bedroom/computer room/JD's cave.)

Before Bed Routine

As a fluttering FLYbaby, I'm trying to follow the instructions for putting together and WRITING DOWN a short before bed or evening routine for myself. Here's what I've got:

After Dinner Routine

1. Check calendar
2. Pack lunches and snacks for tomorrow
3. Clean up kitchen

Before Bed Routine

1. Walk The Boy
2. Check calendar; bring glass of water to bedroom
3. Set out clothes for tomorrow
4. Wash face/brush teeth/take pills
5. Time with JD/go to bed

Happy Fourth of July

Wishing you a wonderful holiday!!

John Dear, The Boy and I will be grilling over at SIL's house with that side of the family. SIL lives out in the country (chickens, ducks, and no streetlights) so JD is hot to light some fireworks. We bought some yesterday and have yet to blow up anything or any body parts -- my chief worry.

Have managed to talk Gramie and Elle (my sister) into coming, so I've got familial backup and support. The Fourth has always been a pretty big holiday in my mother's family, so I'm glad that I can be with Gramie today.

It is on this day that I especially miss my Grampie. He was warm, caring and funny. He taught me to love history and travel. Grampie served in the Marines in the South Pacific during WWII

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In honor of the day, I have made Gramie's Ladyfinger Cheesecake for the first time. While it doesn't look as nice and neat as when Gramie makes it, I'm sure we'll be lapping up the crumbs anyways. :) Will try to post a picture when I can.

**Gramie's Ladyfinger Cheesecake**

Serves 10-13, depending on who's eating
11 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 pint heavy cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 packages of ladyfingers
1 can cherry pie filling (can also use strawberry or blueberry)

1. Blend cream cheese and sugar together. (Use a standing or hand electric mixer!)
2. Whip cream and vanilla till soft peaks form.
3. Combine cheese mixture and cream mixture.
4. Line up ladyfingers in a springform pan, first around the edges and then the bottom. You can use torn ladyfingers to fill spaces in the bottom.
5. Pour half of the cheese-cream mixture into the pan, spreading to make even.
6. Top with a layer of ladyfingers, then pour the rest of the mixture in.
7. Pour the pie filling onto the top of the cheese filling, carefully spreading to cover the top, and leave the ladyfingers uncovered.
8. Chill for several hours or overnight.

Just 15 Minutes!

Thank goodness for FlyLady's principle of "you can do anything for 15 minutes." This morning I was faced with the prospect of: a full (albeit clean) dishwasher, a sink and kitchen counters overflowing with dirty dishes, pans, glasses and cucumber peels, a necessary trip to Costco to pick up some food for tomorrow, and, because I decided to get all Martha Stewart-y for 4th of July, the need to take my lovely Kitchenaid Stand Mixer out of its box* and wash the contents so I could make my Gramie's Ladyfinger Cheesecake (for which I still need to pick up ingredients).

So, being the super-productive diva that I am (ha ... ha ... ha), I woke up, got dressed, fixed my face, put on my iPod and proceeded to tackle the kitchen at 7:48 AM, figuring that I could at least put away the clean dishes before I needed to leave for work, I'd do the dirty dishes this afternoon when I got home, would go to Costco, come home, make dinner and I could make the cake tonight. At 8:03 AM, exactly 15 minutes later, I hung up the dishtowel after having put everything away, put all the dishes in the dishwasher including the unpacked mixer bowl and accessories, started the cycle, and shined my sink. Yay me!!

I didn't even wake up John Dear by slamming cabinets and pots around (wasn't trying to, but I can be loud in the kitchen). Course, JD sleeps with a CPAP machine**, so the noise from the blower probably drowned out any noise I was making. The Boy probably heard me, but knew that food wasn't being prepared so there was no rush to get up and look pleadingly at me.

So, this afternoon JD and I will go to Costco and the grocery store, pick up The Boy from doggie daycare, and I'll make the cake tonight after cleaning up from dinner. Will now call JD at home to see if he can take a break from the job search to unload the clean dishes. Fingers crossed!!

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*Yes, I got the mixer from my lovely friends for my wedding -- almost 2 years ago -- and it has never been opened. Better late than never? (sheepish shoulder shrug).

**CPAP Machine: used by JD, MIL and many others to combat sleep apnea, where the person stops breathing for short periods of time while asleep. Sleep apnea is characterized by very loud snoring, gasps for air, and marital discord from overtired spouses. JD's CPAP looks like a small alarm clock connected with a vacuum hose to a fighter pilot's mask. When he first got it, we sang "Highway to the Danger Zone" before going to sleep. This did not make me believe that John Dear was Tom Cruise, but it was still pretty cool. :)

Procrastination Diva

I was sooooo unproductive last week at work; I really must do something about that. Umm, maybe actually do your work, Jendeis? Was going to go into work this weekend to catch up, but instead slept a million hours. Not sure if I'm coming down with something, or if I'm pregnant (more on that in an upcoming entry) or if I was just really, really tired. Despite his new RoboCop/Transformer leg (again, more on that in an upcoming entry), JD thoughtfully let me sleep and took The Boy out for several walks.

To be completely cheesy, "today is a new day," so with the help of FlyLady and Ta-Da List, I've been able to accomplish a few tasks, including working up some documents and making necessary phone calls.

My desk is still loaded with paper though -- ah, the life of a lawyer. Plus, I think someone has just heated up meatloaf and the smell is wafting through the office. Mmm, meatloaf. Maybe we'll put that on the menu plan for next week.