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Adventures of a Domestic Goddess

Weekend in Review

Apr 2nd, 2012
by gazelle.
4 comments

No new pics today – I mostly just take pictures of cats now anyways. Of course, you should thank me, since soon, this will all be pictures of Alvie. And cats, too, probably.

So – the days are all running together now. I am (mostly) done with work. I do need to log in today & do a few things, as well as put in my out of office message. But – not going into the office has really messed up my concept of the passage of time.

Ummm…so…Friday! Friday I went to acupuncture, then made my mom go have mediocre suburban Mexican food with me before hitting Target for a couple of last minute baby items (like toilet paper and swiffer dusters to dust the ceiling fan – totally baby related). Whilst at Target, I started having contractions. “Yay!” I thought. Immediately followed by “I think I should leave Target now and go home.”

I made my mom drive home, and spent the rest of the afternoon having contractions. It was very magical. Or something. I did call the architect and ask him to come home a bit early – just in case. And he did! He skipped work happy hour and the promise of fried cheese sticks to come home! I showered and put on my going to the hospital outfit, and then…they just fizzled out. I made the architect miss cheese sticks for nothing! I am a bad wife.

I was pretty exhausted Friday night, though, even for just 5 hours of false labor.

Saturday I did…nothing.  I rested. I hydrated. I crossed my fingers.

Sunday I had bursts of energy! I was putting away the flat ware from the dishwasher and realized that the drawer in which I store the flat ware was GROSS! So I (with the help of my mother) decided to clean it out. And then, I needed a new flatware tray, so we went to the dollar store. And then to the new nursery down the street (they had baby chickens! I didn’t get any) and then there was cleaning! And organizing! And more ceiling fan dusting (not by me, though – I am not allowed to climb on ladders).

Then, of course, I was wiped out.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and web surfing, and playing of Words With Friends.

And today – today is Alvie Bean Day. However, I do not think that Alvie is going to make an appearance today. He is just too cozy. Of course, there is now a FB movement to Free Alvie, and possibly a petition, and many people pleading my case (because Amy needs gin), so maybe he’ll listen.

I do, however, feel pretty confident that by the end of the week, I will have a new baby friend.

Happy week!

Darwin says you WILL have a good week...or else

Birthday Weekend Retrospective

Feb 27th, 2012
by gazelle.
7 comments

How did I do with my birthday 35 things? Let’s take a look:

  1. Eat pancakes for breakfast
  2. Delicious dinner
  3. Cake!
  4. Yoga
  5. Take a nap
  6. Walk (possibly 35 minutes!)
  7. Put on pants (this will be a harder one)
  8. Watch a few episodes of Vampire Diaries
  9. Play a little Dragon Age
  10. Take a nap
  11. Read some trashy vampire novels
  12. Cuddle with the cats
  13. Hang out with the architect
  14. Do some laundry
  15. Take a nap
  16. Make cupcakes
  17. Install the carseat
  18. Make a pillow fort
  19. Watch the Academy Awards (this may or may not happen)
  20. Take a nap
  21. Recline on the couch
  22. Drive out to the gorge for nature looking & lunch
  23. Another yoga session
  24. Sniff some gin longingly
  25. Take a nap
  26. Sip a Double Mountain IRA
  27. Listen to 35 of the 69 love songs
  28. Soak up some vitamin D
  29. Grilled Cheese Food Cart!
  30. Take a nap
  31. Purchase the bathroom accessories so the bathroom can finally be finished!
  32. Hydrate!
  33. Have some ice cream (perhaps in Blizzard form!)
  34. Have fun, stay relaxed, and be happy
  35. Take a nap

Surprisingly, there was no cake this weekend. I didn’t feel like making myself any cake, and no other cakes appeared to me. However, I know I get a cupcake on Wednesday, so it’s okay! I feel pretty good about my weekend. It was very relaxing, and it was nice doing very little. We didn’t get the careseat installed, but we did get the crib put together & the changing table mounted to the wall. I’m not really into decorating or anything, so I’m not making Alvie’s room some kind of wonderful nursery showcase. It’ll be a nursery/guest room for the next few years, and he’s a tiny baby & most likely doesn’t care what I do to the walls. When he gets old enough to have an opinion, hopefully we’ll be in a house where he can have his own room & we can decorate it however he wants. But for now, it’s staying espresso, sage & red. It’s also staying a little cramped.

The only pictures I took this weekend show off items 12 and 22. I got the cutest baby robe (it’s a shark! and it says “let the fin begin”), and since I don’t yet have a baby, I got Darwin to model it for me. He was THRILLED! I was going to try to get his arms (front legs?) in the arm-holes, but that was further than he was willing to let it go. I wish I had a docile cat like Jen’s (scroll down to the last picture – trust me, it’s worth it)!

Lola & Darwin watching Vampire Diaries with me

 

the drive home from Hood River

 

Darwin-shark! (doesn't he look excited?)

 

Happy week!

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Feb 23rd, 2012
by gazelle.
6 comments

1. I love how many guesses there are so far on yesterday’s “guess the baby arrival day” contest. Everything ranging from March 14 (which, no! too early John!) to April 10 (which no! too late, Megan!) My personal preference would be to give birth sometime between 3/31 & 4/6. (Although if I’m completely honest, if I could wrap up my work stuff & have that baby any time after March 19 would be fine. So – get your guesses in! Win a prize! Because who doesn’t like guessing on a perfectly random event?

34.5 weeks pregnant

 

2. I made steel-cut oats this morning for breakfast for the first time. Much tastier than my usual instant oatmeal. Also much more time consuming. I think that I will have to make this ahead of time & start taking it to work to heat up. Any oatmeal advice for me?

Image used under creative commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

 

3. Today is the first day of my exciting birthday 4-day weekend! Which means tomorrow is my birthday! This is the weekend of 35! I will turn 35 tomorrow. I will be 35 weeks pregnant on Monday! Also on Monday? 35 days left until my due date! I feel that I need to do 35 things this weekend. Or maybe just eat 35 pancakes…or cupcakes…or some other kind of cakes. ANYWAYS – happy weekend of 35 to me!

Weekend in Review! (now with photos!)

Feb 6th, 2012
by gazelle.
7 comments

I feel that I had a pretty productive weekend. Friday, I left the house! And had lunch with a friend! And went to New Seasons. And then, had to rest for the remainder of the day.

Saturday was yoga, then visiting with a neighbor, then cake making!

I love to make cakes, and make very good tasting cakes. I just don’t necessarily make pretty cakes. Part of the problem was, I think, that my baking powder was at the end of its useful life, so I got poorly risen, lopsided cakes. Because they were just for me, I didn’t bother leveling them, but it did result in less pretty than hoped-for cakes. Also, I have not yet mastered the art of the dripping glaze down the sides in an artful & beautiful manner.

BUT – the cake is delicious.

 

Sunday was another busy day (well, new pregnant-Amy busy, not old Amy does lots and lots of stuff all the time-busy).

I made banana bread – two loaves; one to freeze and one to eat now.

 

I cleaned the kitchen. I helped the architect do some garden stuff. As I was doing the garden stuff, I made a discovery! The tulips are starting to poke up:

 

 

I am hoping that this week is infinitely less stressful than the last couple. I am hoping to get some swimming time in Monday, Wednesday & Friday this week. I am having an ultrasound this afternoon, so new baby pics for the bumpday update this week! (Because I know you’re dying to see grainy b&w pics of my fetus.) Actually – lots of baby stuff this week: u/s today, waterbirth class tomorrow, daycare tour on Thursday, and childbirth classes on Saturday & Sunday.

Sometime in there, I’ll need to do some school work, but I’m so close to being done! YAY!

Happy Monday, y’all!

Weekend update – and recipes!

Jan 30th, 2012
by gazelle.
3 comments

 

I can’t believe the weekend is over already! So many things! Friday, I went back to my Hatha 2 yoga class, and lo! it was good. I’m definitely slower than I used to be an getting into poses, and I just watched everyone else do the arm balances, but overall, it was great – challenging but not TOO challenging.

After yoga, I caught up on my yogathon duties since I’d missed my meeting the night before – I’m on the planning committee again this year, and will be talking more about that once I know more. :)

The rest of Friday was spent writing – I am thisclose to being done with my capstone. All that’s left at this point is about 2/3 of the conclusion and some formatting! YAY!

About 8 pm Friday night, I realized I hadn’t gotten up from my desk in almost 7 hours AND that I hadn’t eaten in about 8 hours. I also realized that we were nearly out of food. I ate the last of the eggs and then waited for the architect to get home from his guys’ poker night. I would’ve loved to go to sleep, but I can’t fall asleep when he’s not home because the power of my awakeness keeps him safe when he’s driving. This probably does not bode well for having a teenage son who might want to stay out past 10 pm.

Saturday, I was back to yoga – this time the prenatal class. It seemed WAAAY harder than the Hatha 2 class. After I got home, the architect & I took loads of stuff to Goodwill. I feel so much lighter! Then, we met with a new doula candidate – and I think she’s the one! (The one now equals the one much less likely to QUIT on me.) Then – a walk. It was such a pretty day! I’m not sure when I turned into an elderly invalid, but that 1.5 mile walk was too much; I could barely move the rest of the day. I guess it’s swimming & yoga for me from here on out.

Sunday was groceries, writing, and a little project. I love coffee (this is well-documented, I believe), and I love flavored coffee creamers. However, I do hate the creepy ingredients in most flavored creamers. I usually deal with this by ignoring the ingredients lists. But no more! Yesterday I made my own coffee creamers – vanilla & hazelnut.

I looked at a lot of different recipes, and then ended up going with a mixture.

French Vanilla Creamer

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup heavy cream

2 TB maple syrup

1 vanilla bean

Scrape the seeds and whisk with the rest of the ingredients. Heat up to a gentle simmer. Turn off heat & allow to steep for 30 minutes. Strain & chill. (I skipped the straining.) Cool.

Hazelnut Creamer

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup heavy cream

4 TB hazelnut syrup

Whisk together. Heat to gentle simmer. Turn off heat & allow to steep for 30 minutes. Cool.

They smelled awesome, but as of this writing, I hadn’t tried them yet. I’ll add a note to let you know how they turned out.

 

Not the most ambitious of DIY projects, but the most ambitious I’ve been for awhile!

 

Have a good week, everyone!

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