I'm not the type of person who asks for help, typically, but this week ended up being a bit more difficult than I had imagined.
Mom and Dad were here from Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon. They were here to watch Nora while I went into surgery, and Dad drove me to my OB appointment that was on Tuesday. Mom totally buffed up my kitchen (it looks all shiny in there now), and really helped pick up the house (after Nora had completely trashed the place). Dad took Nora to a local park on Tuesday, too. I think she had a blast with them. (Thank you for being here for us, guys.)
Mary Brown (my mother-in-law) came on Wednesday to help out. She gave Nora a bath, took us out to lunch, and entertained Nora all day while I did some work (for work). She got Nora outside some (which I think Nora appreciated: she's not been a fan of me not taking her outside as often as I usually do). I think Nora had a blast with her, too. (Thank you for being here for us, Mary!)
Thursday, a good, old friend of mine from high school, Bethany (Gerber) Johnson, came with her little girl. Nora and Emily got along really well (and I got some cute pictures of them playing that I'll have to upload eventually). Emily wore Nora out, and Nora napped incredibly well for me that day. Bethany helped pick up my living room, and she brought some food with her to share for lunch (and she left some goodies behind when she left, too). Bethany also lifted Nora up for me every time I needed, and that was really, really appreciated. I was also able to take a shower and get some work done that afternoon. It was lovely. It was so nice to catch up with Bethany, too. She's such a nice girl. (Thank you so much for coming to help, Bethany! It was good to see you after such a long time!)
Today, my best friend from high school (and probably the longest running, closest friend I've had) came 1.75 hours to be at my aid. She brought her sweet, little Cora Belle. They were not only pleasant company (that baby is seriously sweet), but Lena also managed to do, like, three loads of laundry (including washing our bedding) while she was here, she dusted for me, and she totally picked up my living room before she left. She also brought us presents. I should be bringing her presents! She was an amazing help. She also lifted Nora up for me every time I needed to lift her. What's sad: I had totally intended to do this for her when Cora was born, and here she was doing it for me! (Thank you, Bean. It was so nice having you and Cora here.)
Right now, Roomba (I will soon have a name picked for him) is vacuuming my bedroom. I love him. Seriously.
Thank you, guys! It's so awesome to be so blessed with such kind friends and family (and robots).
Willi will be here in just a few minutes. Then, we intend to take it seriously easy this weekend. I hope to not need any extra help next week.
Dilly out.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Birthday Present
In light of the fact that I'm, like, somewhat useless around the house at the moment, Willis decided to give me my birthday present a bit early (to help ease my mind). Check. It. Out.
It's an iRobot Roomba 560!
I'm so friggin' excited, I can't even contain myself. This thing has got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen (or owned).I've always dreamed of having one of these things (as long as I've known about them, anyway), but I always figured it was just that: a dream.
He must like me or something.
This thing is so cool: you can program it to clean your house at specific times and everything. We got a little trigger happy tonight and tested it out for ten minutes. You wouldn't believe how much dirt (and pet hair) this thing picked up in that time. I just vacuumed a week ago, too.
My life is about to be a little easier, I think. (And a little bit cooler, too.)
The cat and dog are utterly freaked (muahahahaha!). I hope Nora doesn't try to ride it (she was asleep for the test run).
Thank you, Willi! This proves that you not only read my blog, but you also, like, listen to me talk sometimes. That's neat.
Dilly out!
Monday, July 27, 2009
We Lived!
The baby belly and I are still a-kickin'.
I may be a bit on the sore side for awhile, but we're still here!
Now, we wait.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers, everybody.
I may be a bit on the sore side for awhile, but we're still here!
Now, we wait.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers, everybody.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Feel-Good Action
Back in February, NIPSCO came and chopped up a bunch of trees along the backs of our properties (our neighbors and us) to keep them clear of the power lines. They ended up leaving a ridiculous mess, and they never really came to clean it up (even though Frank called them repeatedly and asked them to).[1]
Willis and I cleaned up the remainder of that mess (they had left a huge, initial mess, cleaned up some of it, and left some behind) from our property about a month or two ago. It was a serious undertaking.
Frank and Dolores had a ton of wood, brush, and grossness left behind that they weren't going to be able to remove by themselves (plus, the alley way that goes back there is blocked off by some guy's car). Dolores has been working for several weeks on getting the stuff organized into piles so that Frank can mow that area. I've been feeling so bad watching her work (she typically would work on it during the week and during the day), and I wished I could go over there and help her (baby belly and Nora kind-of made that impossible).
Dolores was doing all this cleaning up around the time that we got our trees cut down (and we had a bunch of wood laying in our yard because we knew people wanted the firewood). Then, I got the idea to put their wood (and maybe any wood that we might have left if we had any left—but we didn't have any left) on my Freecycle list. There's always someone on there that's willing to do some grunt work to get something for free (some guy came and shoveled our sand pile into his truck when we built our patio awhile back). So, that's what I did.
The guy I chose (there were several taker wannabes) came over here with a truck and a trailer ready to go and grab all the wood (he even brought help). (Incidentally, this guy wants to use the wood to heat his house.) Unfortunately, his first attempt was unsuccessful because that guy's car was still blocking the alley way.[2] The man that owned the car said that he'd have to change his tire to move the car, and he said that he'd call him when it was moved. I had a feeling this could go on for months (or forever). I was bummed.
Today (just two days after the first attempt), the man from the Freecycle list stopped by my house with his car and trailer utterly loaded with wood. He came up to my door to tell me that the man had fixed his car, moved it, and called him this morning. I was stunned. I seriously could not believe that the guy (who owned the car) was nice enough (and motivated enough) to actually, like, change his tire and move his car so this guy could get some wood. That was really cool.
So, the wood is gone! Frank and Dolores won't have to worry about ever having it moved, and that makes me feel so happy. They help me out so much and so often, I was so glad to be able to do this for them. (And the timing couldn't be better for a boost of feel-good action.)
And now, I spread the feel-good action onto you. Have a good weekend!
[1] NIPSCO is seriously evil. Seriously.
[2] I learned from the man who picked up the wood that La Porte has apparently abandoned all of its alleyways. So, technically, the man parked in the alley probably has the right to do so (or half the right). Possibly. Maybe he moved it because he was afraid that, perhaps, he didn't? That's a possibility, too. Even if that's the case, a lot of people still wouldn't be motivated to move a car that's been sitting for months (or even years). So, I'll give the car-owner the benefit of the doubt. I'm starting to like this town more and more.
Willis and I cleaned up the remainder of that mess (they had left a huge, initial mess, cleaned up some of it, and left some behind) from our property about a month or two ago. It was a serious undertaking.
Frank and Dolores had a ton of wood, brush, and grossness left behind that they weren't going to be able to remove by themselves (plus, the alley way that goes back there is blocked off by some guy's car). Dolores has been working for several weeks on getting the stuff organized into piles so that Frank can mow that area. I've been feeling so bad watching her work (she typically would work on it during the week and during the day), and I wished I could go over there and help her (baby belly and Nora kind-of made that impossible).
Dolores was doing all this cleaning up around the time that we got our trees cut down (and we had a bunch of wood laying in our yard because we knew people wanted the firewood). Then, I got the idea to put their wood (and maybe any wood that we might have left if we had any left—but we didn't have any left) on my Freecycle list. There's always someone on there that's willing to do some grunt work to get something for free (some guy came and shoveled our sand pile into his truck when we built our patio awhile back). So, that's what I did.
The guy I chose (there were several taker wannabes) came over here with a truck and a trailer ready to go and grab all the wood (he even brought help). (Incidentally, this guy wants to use the wood to heat his house.) Unfortunately, his first attempt was unsuccessful because that guy's car was still blocking the alley way.[2] The man that owned the car said that he'd have to change his tire to move the car, and he said that he'd call him when it was moved. I had a feeling this could go on for months (or forever). I was bummed.
Today (just two days after the first attempt), the man from the Freecycle list stopped by my house with his car and trailer utterly loaded with wood. He came up to my door to tell me that the man had fixed his car, moved it, and called him this morning. I was stunned. I seriously could not believe that the guy (who owned the car) was nice enough (and motivated enough) to actually, like, change his tire and move his car so this guy could get some wood. That was really cool.
So, the wood is gone! Frank and Dolores won't have to worry about ever having it moved, and that makes me feel so happy. They help me out so much and so often, I was so glad to be able to do this for them. (And the timing couldn't be better for a boost of feel-good action.)
And now, I spread the feel-good action onto you. Have a good weekend!
[1] NIPSCO is seriously evil. Seriously.
[2] I learned from the man who picked up the wood that La Porte has apparently abandoned all of its alleyways. So, technically, the man parked in the alley probably has the right to do so (or half the right). Possibly. Maybe he moved it because he was afraid that, perhaps, he didn't? That's a possibility, too. Even if that's the case, a lot of people still wouldn't be motivated to move a car that's been sitting for months (or even years). So, I'll give the car-owner the benefit of the doubt. I'm starting to like this town more and more.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
34 Weeks
Here's the belly at 34 Weeks.
Nora was a bit too cranky to get in on the first photo.
She decided she wanted in on the second one, though.
Here are some other pics of Nora from this morning:
I couldn't find her for a minute, and then, this is where I eventually found her.
She's a serious monkey.
Nora was a bit too cranky to get in on the first photo.
She decided she wanted in on the second one, though.
Here are some other pics of Nora from this morning:
I couldn't find her for a minute, and then, this is where I eventually found her.
She's a serious monkey.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
My Little Mover
In the last month or so, Nora has started playing in different ways. She likes to move things from place to place, and she likes to move them one at a time. She has some sort of method to her madness, but I'm not sure what it is. All I know is: I kind-of like it because she actually will stay in the same area for more than 20 minutes while she does this. She will move a set of toys (or objects—we have some wood on the patio she loves to do this with) from one place to the other and back again. She will do it over and over again.
Another thing she has been doing is trying to move her riding toys up and down the stairs (and across rooms and into different rooms—especially the bathrooms). That's actually a bit scary (she threw her rolling/riding toy down the stairs a few days ago, and it freaked me out because it was so loud that I knew she had to be falling down the stairs with it. Luckily, she had just pushed it). It's all part of this toy movement obsession, though. She's such a strange one.
Another thing she has been doing is trying to move her riding toys up and down the stairs (and across rooms and into different rooms—especially the bathrooms). That's actually a bit scary (she threw her rolling/riding toy down the stairs a few days ago, and it freaked me out because it was so loud that I knew she had to be falling down the stairs with it. Luckily, she had just pushed it). It's all part of this toy movement obsession, though. She's such a strange one.
Mood Shift
Today has been much better than yesterday. The weather is awesome. Nora's been stinkin' sweet (and has taken a really good nap today). I didn't get my blood drawn. I got a lot of work (for work) done today. So, I'm finding it hard to complain.
I did, however, find out that when they told me that I have to fast for my surgery, that also includes water. How stinking harsh is that? They may not need to even put me under with that business. I can definitely complain about that, but on the whole, it's been a decent day.
After talking to the technician at the surgeon's office, calling my OB, and reading up on the internet a bit, I think I'm finally at peace with the decision to have the surgery on Monday. An article that really put things into perspective was one that Willis found and sent to me this morning. Here's the link to that article.
The most important part of the article that has helped to set us both at ease is this:
"Despite all of these potential problems, the workup on a palpable mass during pregnancy and lactation should not be postponed, as delayed diagnosis is one of the greatest dangers in this population. Because hormonal changes continue to progress during gestation, deferring diagnostic studies is not beneficial. If the patient plans to breast-feed, it is essential to establish a diagnosis as early as possible preferably before delivery. This approach avoids the risk of increased exposure to potentially detrimental high estrogen levels, may improve prognosis by detecting malignancy at an earlier stage, and reduces the risk of operative complications."
As much as the whole idea scares the crap out of me, I feel like I am actually making the best decision. That helps me.
I did, however, find out that when they told me that I have to fast for my surgery, that also includes water. How stinking harsh is that? They may not need to even put me under with that business. I can definitely complain about that, but on the whole, it's been a decent day.
After talking to the technician at the surgeon's office, calling my OB, and reading up on the internet a bit, I think I'm finally at peace with the decision to have the surgery on Monday. An article that really put things into perspective was one that Willis found and sent to me this morning. Here's the link to that article.
The most important part of the article that has helped to set us both at ease is this:
"Despite all of these potential problems, the workup on a palpable mass during pregnancy and lactation should not be postponed, as delayed diagnosis is one of the greatest dangers in this population. Because hormonal changes continue to progress during gestation, deferring diagnostic studies is not beneficial. If the patient plans to breast-feed, it is essential to establish a diagnosis as early as possible preferably before delivery. This approach avoids the risk of increased exposure to potentially detrimental high estrogen levels, may improve prognosis by detecting malignancy at an earlier stage, and reduces the risk of operative complications."
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