Goodbye

This is our last night in the old apartment. My list of goodbyes:

Goodbye old apartment, phone number, address
Sink that overflowed my first day of graduate school
Tree out front with huge roots
Square foot of land where I tried to grow flowers
Walls I taped to stop the paint chipping
Cement steps a female firefighter called "hazardous"

Stove that caught on fire

Hardwood floors and large windows
Dining room where we played games with friends
Common area where the cats caught crickets
Basement from which I heard strangers snoring and neighbors doing laundry
Thin walls I heard college kids partying until 3:00 a.m.
Home of our first family with Figaro and Marley
Location where we started again with Sophie and Athena
Living room where we watched so many movies
Computer room where I wrote so many papers
Outside stairs where I sat on pleasant days
Space where we hosted family and friends
Place where we lived eight years
Where Marley died
Where Jonathan started life
Where we grew into our marriage
Where we leave with regret, relief, and more than a few memories.

Nature sends little love notes

You just have to look to see them. I found this perfect heart leaf walking home to the new house for the first time Saturday. It was on campus outside Duncker. Saturday was such a lovely day, sunny and full of fall color.

Things are going well since we closed on the house Friday, October 23, 2009. Right now J.D. is in Colorado Springs for a leadership training program.

During their time off today his group tried to drive up Pikes Peak, but there was too much snow. J.D. told me that during his personal free time he took a walk in the big flakey snow and that there are swans on the lake.

We are halfway moved into our house. When J.D. gets home we'll move the rest. (I'm not too useful for moving things right now).

But tomorrow I do have a busy day of fixing things around the house (or rather being present while skilled professionals fix things). I'll walk over from the apartment at 8:30 a.m. It's only about 9 blocks away. Hopefully by 9:00 a.m. AT&T will be there to set up our new phone/internet/cable; we'll get our washer & dryer & fridge around noon (yippee!), and then by 3:00 p.m. the handyman will fix our dryer vent for us. So, the joys of home ownership begin.

I hope we're up for this! :)

p.s. I did REALLY enjoy using my first dishwasher today. It was fun.

"The World Thinks 'Morgan' Sounds Stupid..."

You may need to search and select the interview for the book "What to Expect When You're Expected." It's a self-help book for the unborn. :)

To Dig or Not to Dig

For many years now I've tried to grow flowers at our apartment. Before I prepared the soil and planted them, there was nothing but weeds in their spot.

Since then, each spring my daffodils do pretty well. My orange lilies have been another story. Each summer it seems something happens to them. It usually involves an animal or the weather. But this last summer, for the first time they were going to reach full bloom. That is, until someone picked them all and left a desolate spot where my lovely flowers would have been.

So, now that we're moving, I'm wondering if I should dig up my bulbs or just let them be. When I planted them, I intended to keep them here. I liked the idea of leaving this place a little better than I found it.

Except now, Quadrangle (our landlord) has placed rocks on top of them, which they might have just grown through, but they also layered a weed-blocker mat over them, which I'm pretty sure will block my flowers from coming up at all. They will probably die if I do nothing.

I have a couple of options I suppose:

I could dig them up and store them over the winter to plant at our new house in spring.
I could dig them up and try to plant them right away at the new house.
I could remove the weed-blocker and let them stay.
I could do nothing and write them off.

There are a couple of other factors. Since I'm pregnant, I'm really not supposed to go around digging in the dirt too much, and I'm not sure where I would store them at the new place or how much energy I'm going to have for immediate planting. Also, I've never dug up bulbs, so I'm not 100% clear on how to do it. I might lose a few to the learning process. Additionally, since we don't have a lot of discretionary cash right now, it will probably be next fall before I can buy any replacement bulbs for the new place.

Anyway, I know it's a minor question, but still, I do care for these silly flowers.

So Chic

I found this and thought I would share.

Apparently the song doesn't play for some, so here are the lyrics:

It's so chic to be pregnant at Christmas

I feel like the "round yon virgin" of yore,

'Cause though I have a warm bed to sleep in

There's no room for me when I go to the store.

'Cause the aisles are so narrow and crowded--

Christmas shopping has never been such a pain (gasp)

Here comes another Braxton-Hicks contraction

And I'm knockin' over knick-knacks again.

Oh, the salesclerks are so friendly this Christmas

One said, "Oh God, lady, don't have it here--"

Their discretion and manners go right out the door,

When I and my stomach appear.

People like to put their hands on my fundus,

And they want to know exactly when I'm due

I say, "Why do you care? Are you planning to be there?

I could use an extra labor coach or two!"

I am such fun at a party

Trying hard to get high on life

Desperately avoiding the smokers

Being introduced as someone's "little wife" (Not-so-little wife).

No, I enjoy being pregnant at Christmas

Though my identity is draining away

And if I ever get asked my opinion again

I'll simply smile and continue to...crochet?

It's so Biblical to be pregnant at Christmas,

No matter what stories you believe.

And I may suffer from gravid senilis...and heartburn and nausea and charlie horses and overwhelming fatigue...and frequent micturation and varicose veins and...swollen ankles and shortness...of breath...and that...tired, achy feeling in the grooooooin...

But I won't be alone on New Year's Eve!

Fa-La-La-La-La La-La La La!

It looks like this song is from an album called "Momnipotent," which includes other humorous selections:

1. I'm Babbling
2. It's So Chic to be Pregnant at Christmas
3. Memo to Droola
4. Child on Board
5. Suzy Money Gone Away
6. Everything Turn to Ratshit in My Life
7. Momnipotent
8. Stroller Ladies
9. Daughters of Feminists
10. Leonard Cohen's Never Gonna Bring My Groceries In
11. Mammas Have a Secret
12. The Children's Entertainer
13. Open That Can

Prenatal Visit

Little boy likes to rest his arm across his face and keep his legs pulled tightly against his chest. Today he had his arm by his cheeks and forehead, in a pose that seemed something like what I would do to jokingly reference Béla Lugosi in Plan 9 from Outer Space. So, I couldn't help but laugh. The ultrasound pictures this time around don't really capture it, but here they are anyway. We also got to see his spine, kidneys, bladder, and heart again. The technician even pointed out a tuft of his hair. Everything is going well. He weighs 4lbs. 4 oz. or 1918 grams. His heartbeat was 153 beats per minute. And it was confirmed again that he is most definitely all boy. As for me, everything is fine too. I got my seasonal flu shot, and I passed my glucose test. So, we're both doing really well.

All the Absurd Things

In the universe find their way to me.

Tonight we watched The Mutant Chronicles, which is a movie based on a table-top game J.D. used to play. My favorite part was the Netflix description that started with these four magical words: "In a futuristic world. . . ." OK, you KNOW you're in trouble when you read that! At first I read it normally, but then, I just had to reread it in my best impersonation of the dramatic-movie-guy's voice.

Also silly today: I was on the elevator leaving my doctor's appointment. A man got on when it stopped on the second floor. There are three levels to the parking garage: G1, G2, G3. The man entered and stared for a long time at the elevator button panel. Then he turned to me and asked: "Where's my car?"

I politely indicated that I didn't know. He pushed all three buttons and said he would just explore each level. I waited until I was outside before giggling.

Also of great absurdity: All pregnancy magazine ads. I can't believe the stuff people think they need. Take for example this ad:




















So the message here is that it's just consumer "lust" if you buy a $149 hospital gown but a "must" have at $50? Perhaps even more disturbing is the entire underlying message that a woman must be concerned first and foremost about her looks, even while giving birth: "looking good just feels better, doesn't it?" Sure, when I'm in labor I'll really care about the print on my hospital gown. Never mind the fact that your most personal parts are on display. . . you should care about what floral pattern you're wearing!

And then there's this delightful number advertising a breast pump for every glamorous socialite. I won't even go into my criticism here: