kapachino

Category: personal

  • Ten On Tuesday

    Today I’m jumping in with these questions hosted by Chelsea:

    1. What type of cell phone do you have and how would you rate it?
    I have an iPhone 3G. I am in love with the iPhone in general but mine is the older model with the new software so it is pretty slow. I’m eligible for an upgrade but that would still cost me $200 which I just can’t justify. So for now, I’ll consider it an exercise in patience-building.

    2. What has been your most serious injury?
    I’ve never had a broken bone or needed stitches, but once in middle school my brothers and some friends and I were playing a hybrid game of tag and hide and seek on a half-built house in our neighborhood. (Stupid, I know.) I climbed up on the roof (again, so dumb) and got cornered there by whoever was “it” and the only escape was to jump off (this completes the trifecta of idiotic decisions I made that day). I ended up with a nasty sprained ankle that was impossible to walk on, but I was so embarrassed that I didn’t even tell my parents what happened, or I played it down bigtime. So I didn’t go to the doctor, and for the next week I was forced to hop around without crutches. By the end of it the other ankle hurt almost worse.

    3. What is one movie you hate and why?
    I despise raunchy comedies that have no redeeming value whatsoever. The prime example of this, in my opinion, is Superbad. I’ve only seen clips because I can’t even bring myself to sit through more than a few minutes of it.

    4. How many email addresses do you have?
    My personal email, my work email, and two old accounts that I no longer use but still have access to.

    5. What website do you waste the most time on?
    I don’t spend a lot of time Internet surfing, but I do try to keep updated with Twitter. I couldn’t do it without the app for my phone, though.

    6. Which Mexican restaurant makes the best salsa?
    Not technically salsa, but Los Cucos has some amazing green sauce. (Does green sauce have a real name? I don’t know.)

    7. What is your dream car?
    I’m sort of driving it, my Toyota Prius. Although mine is six years old and pretty basic, so my dream car would be the newest version with all the extras. I love owning a hybrid, and I like small cute cars.

    8. If you could spend up to $100 with no strings or restrictions or guilt, what would you buy?
    I’d probably put it toward vacation or maybe even toward a phone upgrade, but that’s a boring answer. A more fun way to spend it would be on a pedicure ($50), a new pair of yoga pants ($20), a magazine subscription ($15), a book ($10), and a drink from Starbucks ($5).

    9. What is your favorite board game?
    For party games my current favorite is Buzz Word and my all-time favorite is Catch Phrase. I’m also a fan of Scattergories and Cranium. Cranium is the only one that actually uses a board, though.

    10. How often do you change your hairstyle?
    I think it’s probably 1-2 times a year. Nothing drastic, but I like to grow my hair out for awhile and then chop it off. I usually choose a slightly different style each time.

  • pregnancy to-do list

    In my last post I talked about how I really haven’t done anything yet to prepare for the arrival of a newborn other than try to fully enjoy  myself to the max. I don’t regret taking the time to do this one single bit, but I’m approaching the midway point of my pregnancy and, let’s face it, there is a lot to be done whether I want to do it or not.

    So I got to thinking that it might help me to write down an overview of things I need to do in the next 4-5 months. I don’t want to get into specifics yet, but I also don’t want to forget anything. Here’s what I’ve got so far.

    Sooner…

    >Find a home for Oliver. This is the biggest cloud hanging over my head right now. We’ve decided not to keep our dog Oliver because he just doesn’t get along with other dogs. He has fought with 5 different dogs, in different places, and he has fought with our dog Cleo several times, the last time producing quite a deep wound. On his own, he’s a sweet, loving pet. We shipped our other dogs off to our parents’ house for a week and we found that out. We wish we had the time and resources to train him, but in our current situation it’s too overwhelming for us, and too scary to keep him around our other dogs with a baby in the house.

    >Finish painting the house. Originally I wanted to furnish and decorate the rest of the house as well, but I know that’s not going to happen. Painting, though, is a hassle that I want to complete. I have plenty of help from my family and friends, it’s just finding time to actually do it that is the problem. There are several rooms, a hallway, plus all the trim and doors to do.

    >Start childbirth classes and formulate a birth plan. Since I’ve decided to do my best to have a natural childbirth, I know I need a lot of preparation. We settled on the Bradley Method classes, and I found an instructor in my area and signed up. The classes are 8 weeks long covering 12 weeks’ worth of material, and they start March 30. From what I hear, they cover everything from natural childbirth to breastfeeding to infant care.

    >Start attending La Leche League meetings. I really want breastfeeding to work out, and I’m at least going to give it the best possible chance, so I need to be informed. I have a friend who’s really involved with La Leche League, and I want to start attending meetings with her soon.

    >Meet with my doula. I’m lucky to have a friend who is completing her doula training and she’ll have her certification by the time my due date rolls around. I want to get together with her soon to get advice, recommendations, and to discuss my situation and desires in more detail.

    At some point…

    >Get our carpet replaced. This is an expense I’d rather skip, but the future nursery used to be the dogs’ room of choice to have all of their “accidents.” We’ve since kept that room closed off, but not only are there stains galore but it smells. The rest of the carpet is stained too, as well as chewed and eaten in some places.

    >Create a nursery. This is obvious, but it still has to get done. I see so many nurseries that I love, but I need to figure out what kind of style will flow best with the rest of our house.

    >Register, have showers, & stock up on supplies. I’m a little bit terrified of this whole process, but kind of excited, too.

    >Choose a name. Right now we have several boy names that we like, because we just cannot fathom having a girl. Even after we find out (next week!) what we’re having, though, I don’t know if I’ll be able to commit to a name until the last minute. It’s so much pressure!

    >Read up on childbirth and parenting. So far on my list: Creating Your Birth Plan by Marsden Wagner, Nurtureshock by Po Bronson, The Birth Book and The Baby Book both by Dr. William Sears. Any others along the same lines that I’m missing?

    >Make a post-baby budget. I’m dreading this and will probably continue to put it off until I can’t anymore.

    >Take a short vacation or two. I can’t go crazy with my days off since I’m trying to save them up for maternity leave, but one of my best friends & her family are coming to stay with us in April for a long weekend and I’m looking forward to a couple extra days off to be with them. My husband and I are also planning on taking a long weekend trip this spring to visit my uncle & aunt in South Carolina.

    >Figure out maternity leave. This is really just a matter of talking to my manager. It shouldn’t be a big deal because she’s very supportive and just had a baby last year herself. I think I get six weeks plus whatever PTO I’ve managed to save up, but I’m not sure of the details and at what rate I’ll get paid.

    >Hammer out childcare details. I’m SO lucky that my mom has decided to retire and stay home to take care of our baby once I go back to work. We’ll be paying her, but it won’t be near as expensive as daycare and I hope it’ll be a little easier leaving the babe with her.

    Later…

    >Book photographer (maternity & birth). My friend Cio has agreed to be our birth photographer. I know it might be hard to coordinate since she lives a couple hours away and births don’t always happen at convenient times, but I really hope it works out!

    >Prepare birth details: phone tree, hospital bag, plans for dogs, birthday cake. Not gonna worry about this for awhile, shouldn’t be too difficult.

    >Pick out and prepare birth announcements. It’d be nice to get as much of this done as possible ahead of time, anyway.

    >Last minute stuff: go to the spa, have the house cleaned, stock up frozen meals. All very important things, am I right?

    So tell me, is there anything else I should add to the list? (Please don’t tell me I’m missing something major. Well, DO, but I just hope that I’m not.) Anything on the list that isn’t really necessary? Help me!

  • Currently In February

    I try to get these currently posts up in the first few days of each month, but here we are nearing double digits and I’ve been woefully absent. Ah, well.

    Current Book(s): Oh, I’m reading such a fantastic book called Great With Child by Beth Ann Fennelly. It’s a collection of letters from the parent of a toddler to a newly-pregnant young woman, but the letters read almost like poetry. It’s helping me with my own pregnancy, but it’s also inspiring me in so many other ways.

    Current Playlist: The only music I’ve really listened to lately is when I’m in the car with David. He’s obsessed with the band Against Me! right now, and I reluctantly admit that their songs are quite catchy.

    Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Possibly watching The Bachelor, but I’m not really ashamed. It is what it is, y’all.

    Current Drink: Lots and lots of water. I’m fighting off a cold, and I really don’t want it to get worse! I just bought myself this Nalgene water bottle, and I love it; it makes drinking so much easier and more fun.

    Current Food: My pregnancy nausea is now gone, if you don’t count my nightly ritual of gagging while brushing my teeth, and I have now entered the stage where I have to restrain myself from eating everything in sight. My latest desire has been BLT sandwiches, of which I have eaten more in the past few weeks than I have in all of 2010. However, my overindulgence in food has also led to some rather uncomfortably fullness and heartburn, so I am now back on the (mostly) healthy eating train.

    Current Favorite Show: There are a lot of TV shows I wish I could watch, but I don’t want to start in the middle of them. I’ll eventually catch up on Netflix. But I decided to watch American Idol again this season, and so far I’m loving it.

    Current Wishlist: I would be so grateful to have a new computer. My little MacBook is about five years old now and doesn’t support many of the upgraded Mac features. It crashed once, but I was able to get it back up and running and it is still chugging along nicely, but recently the screen got damaged so that there is a huge black line running through it diagonally. It’s pretty dang annoying. Anyway, since mine is still working fine I’ve decided to save up for a new one over a year. Gotta stick to the budget!

    Current Needs: To figure out what to do with our dog, Oliver. He got into another fight with our other dog Cleo, the worst one yet. They both have wounds, but Cleo’s are worse because Oliver is twice her size. Oliver has now attacked at least five dogs. David is fed up and wants to get rid of him. I guess that’s best but…he’s still so sweet to us. I’m attached to him. And also, where will he go?

    Current Triumphs: I went to work today when I really, really wanted to call in sick. Sometimes it’s the little things, right?

    Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Keeping the dogs apart is a HUGE pain. But if we let them in the same room with each other, a fight will break out. Also, I’m having a lot of trouble being on time to work. The company policy says that once you have six tardies you get a warning, and you are terminated once you have ten (in a calendar year). Well, I already have FOUR! I’m bitter because, for example, this morning I woke up at 5 a.m., left my house at 6:10 a.m., and didn’t clock in until 7:40 a.m., ten minutes late. My commute is brutal and I’m dependent on the bus.

    Current Celebrity Crush: No new ones at the moment, what about you?

    Current Indulgence: See above answers under “current food” and “current favorite show”.

    Current Blessing(s): An absolutely perfect birthday weekend which I just might share more about if I get around to it!

    Current Outfit: I’m totally bummin’ out in sweats.

    Current Excitement: My second birthday dinner tomorrow night, finding out our baby’s gender in three weeks, the fact that I’m finally getting a little bit of a bump, writing real letters to friends, and the weekend. I’m always excited about the weekend.

    Current Link: Free desktop wallpaper!

    Happy February!

  • stuff and things and whatnot

    So it’s February now, and I want to admit that I completely, utterly, and rather spectacularly failed at my January goals. Apparently I overestimated the amount of work I can get done during the week, and underestimated pregnancy tiredness. Here’s a summary:

    I meant to…

    • Declutter the whole house, but I only did my bathroom and one drawer in the kitchen
    • Exercise once a week, but I only did yoga once
    • Walk the dogs twice a week, but I only took Oliver twice
    • Accomplish two nagging tasks, but I didn’t do any of them

    I’m okay with this. These are just going to have to become ongoing goals. I discovered that I’m really not going to be getting much done after work during the week other than daily chores, and if I don’t block out some time on the weekends to work on projects then the time will be taken up by social outings or TV show marathons.

    In other news, my birthday is on Saturday so I’m celebrating all week long as usual. Even though I was given a not-so-welcome gift of freezing cold weather, I’m still having a great week. Work has been going so well, David and I have had a couple of relaxing nights together, I have some fun plans for this weekend, and I let myself order a few things that I’ve had my eye on. I love birthday week.

    I have no pregnancy updates for you, considering I’m still not really showing and I haven’t felt the baby move yet. It’s pretty hard not to get anxious about it, but I’m trying my best because I know this is normal. I could do without the almost-daily hormonal headaches, but it’s an even trade for the return of my voracious appetite.

    Anyway, to bring this bit of rambling full circle, this month I plan to continue working on the house, focus on my marriage a la The Happiness Project, and hopefully thoroughly enjoy myself. How about you?

  • Weekend Haps

    This past weekend didn’t start out so great, but every day got better. Let’s just skip over Friday night when I came home to the evidence of my dog having completely lost any sense of what it means to be house trained, I had a mini breakdown, and spent the rest of the evening cleaning up his mess.

    And we can go ahead and skip over Saturday morning too, where I woke up with a headache, went to a funeral, and came home having lost all motivation to conquer my to do list.

    My remedy for this problem was to take Oliver on a walk in hopes that it would help boost my energy, then to take two Tylenol and park myself on the couch in front of Mad Men. In just a few hours I was feeling much better and went to see the Narnia movie with a friend. Afterward David and I went to his parents’ house to spend time with his grandparents before they returned home to Pennsylvania. They’ve been in town since before Christmas, and it’s been so lovely. All of my grandparents died almost ten years ago and I never got a chance to relate to them as an adult. Nowadays I feel like I have the soul of a grandparent so hanging out with them was just perfect for me.

    Sunday was better. I woke up early and did some yoga – first time I’ve exercised in months – and even cleaned a little bit. After church I did some grocery shopping and then actually (gasp!) cooked dinner! I’m super embarrassed but this is also something I haven’t done in a couple of months. I have to say, it wasn’t too bad and it was extremely satisfying to have a home cooked meal with leftovers to take to lunch. I won’t be cooking every night or anything, but maybe I can handle twice a week?

    While I was cooking I spent some time decluttering the junk drawers (for my happiness project) and then David and I settled down to watch The Social Network after dinner. I love having weekends off, and this one was a good mix of productive and relaxing.