phew.

Our toilet is working again. And we FINALLY have a working laundry room. Hooray!

We're going to install some flooring today... the hallway I did last week looks awesome, so here we go with Mr. December's office!



Last night I had a scary dream. It had nothing to do with my pregnancy, but I woke up with the feeling that something bad had happened. Immediately my thoughts turned to Lumpy... I dug out the doppler... it took a full 90 seconds to locate Lumpy's heartbeat, during which time I nearly stopped breathing. Finally - the "hoofbeat" sound I was looking for. I listened for 5 minutes until Lumpy moved away, presumably to get some shut-eye. Can't say I blame the kid - I was pretty exhausted myself. But it still took me a long time to get back to sleep.

the tree giveth and the tree taketh away

We have a city tree on our lot. It shades our whole front yard and gives it a cozy cottagey feel. It keeps parked cars cool. It's a giving tree.

Of course, it's also a taking tree... insidiously breaking into our sewer pipes and stealing precious nutrients from the sewage. Blocking up our drains. Taking away my ability to pee in comfort in the middle of the night.

The plumbing guys are here, and they're going to replace the cast iron drain stack and about 5 feet of sewer pipe. The whole shebang will cost us about 2 grand... guess we're not going furniture shopping this weekend.

On the upside, since it's a city tree that is most likely causing the problems, the city will give us a $2000 grant to repair the damage. On the whole, we should come out even.

And as Mr. December says, it's a good excuse to renovate the hideous basement bathroom.

Now get your asses over here and here and give my peeps Reality and Shlomit some encouragement. It's a fucking hard road. They need lots of virtual love.

Update from the semi-conscious.

I am so fucking tired. I slept for three hours this afternoon. Still fucking exhausted, like non-functional exhausted.

It's not our toilet that's blocked. It's the whole main stack for the house. The bigass drain pipe in the basement is FULL of water. Gross raw sewage water. Much of which has now been splashed on the bathroom floor by the man with the 25-foot toilet snake.

I think we'll sleep elsewhere tonight.

20 weeks

Had my 20 week appointment today.

Our Down syndrome screening is back. Our risk is 1:50,000 - the same as the risk for a 15-year-old.

The ultrasound report is back (from two weeks ago). Lumpy looks perfect, but was too shy and demure to show us any relevant bits. So... we're still having a mystery.

I have other things to say, but I'm really tired and hungry. Maybe later.

Nothin says lovin like...

... puking up half a large pizza and a jumbo bubble tea.

Yes, I am 19 and a half weeks pregnant. Yes, "morning sickness" (don't get me started on that misnomer) is supposed to get better for most people at the end of the first tri. Once again, I am in an uncomfortable minority.

My diclectin ran out. As in, no more refills. I don't see my doc til Wednesday. I honestly thought it wouldn't be a problem... maybe my nausea had gone away. Right? Right? Wrong.

I'm back to feeling brutally hungry in an instant, then progressing to nauseated. If *anything* smells a little off (like the inside of my brand new dishwasher), I gag. Sometimes that escalates to full-on puking. The entire contents of my stomach, gone. So much for nourishing Lumpy. Fortunately I've got enough fat reserves for the kid to live off until he graduates from university.

At least Mr. December got it right last night. While I was hunched over our lovely new toilet, he massaged my shoulders, stroked my hair, and said "you're doing great, honey. I'm so proud of you." I know it sounds over the top right now, but I swear it made me feel ten times better. And it was way better than his usual "eww! don't forget to flush twice!"

So yeah, that's where I am. Too sensitive to smells to do much around the house (the whole place is full of strange smells). Too nauseated to fix myself a meal, but hungry all the time.

But it's all okay...

Lumpy kicked me this morning. That makes it all worthwhile.

Moving right along...

Our bedroom is pretty much organized now. I can cook in the kitchen. Lumpy's room is a temporary dining room. My office is fully unpacked.

Things are moving right along.

The house is getting painted this week and next. Soon all we'll have to do is wash the floors and unpack the boxes. I can't wait to be able to walk around barefoot without turning the soles of my feet black.

Last night I'd had enough. We haven't watched an episode of Angel in at least three weeks. I was in withdrawal from Dav.id Bore.anaz's hotness. I set up my old computer (thank God I never got rid of it), ransacked the basement boxes until I found the DVDs, and popped some popcorn. Lovely. Now all I need is that IKEA sofa-bed in my office so that I can lounge while I watch stuff.

Now that my old computer is running, I've discovered that there's an unprotected wireless network nearby... so my days of internet withdrawal are over. I'm trying to catch up on the blogs. Did I mention that my days of productive housework are over, too?

Tired. Sleepy. Unable to write complex sentence structures. I'm going back to bed.

It's all good...

We've moved in. We're finally sleeping at our house, as dusty and gross as it is. We have a wardrobe in our bedroom now, so we can upack our clothes. I spent this evening scrubbing our bathroom (there were globs of dried grout and caulking [i]everywhere[/i]) and unpacking our toiletries into it. Before and after pictures will be posted, but probably not for a couple of weeks because...

My computer has died.

and

Our internet isn't hooked up yet.

So forgive me for not posting as frequently as before. If you need me, call. My phone is working. Otherwise I'll be back online as soon as I can.

Oh, and I had my 18-week ultrasound on Thursday. It's stupid, the technician isn't allowed to comment at all... so we saw Lumpy, but no word on whether all the measurements are normal, AND no word on the sex. We have to wait til our next doc appointment for that.

What'd I miss?

Just got back from a long weekend in Vegas. I love Cirque du Soleil.

Very tired and not up to blogging much right now, but I wanted to reassure you that I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

So leave me comments... and tell me what happened, please. I need to catch up!

We moved. Finally.

The movers arrived at our apartment at 5 p.m. It took six hours to load the truck. They unloaded until about 4:30 in the morning.

I have to say, the guys we ended up with were real troopers. Even at 3 a.m. they were joking and smiling, and they did their job really well. I would never again use that company, but I gotta hand it to Ernie, Steve, and Phillipe... they did good.

Since we still have some painting to do, we're not unpacking much yet. We slept at my parents' house last night - er, this morning. We have to go back to our apartment today and clean up a bit.

So tired. My whole body aches. I'm going back to bed.

oh, and for those who know me IRL, our home phone number remains the same... but it won't be hooked up until next Tuesday.

so begins the smear campaign...

Holy fuck. Shit. Dammit.

While nowhere near as devastating as Shlomit's BFN, this is seriously fucked up.

But let me preface it by saying that Lumpy is FINE.

The moving company never showed up yesterday. When we called, we were told that their morning move which was supposed to be a 2 bedroom turned out to be a 4-bedroom... so it took all day. So we got bumped. After some hysterics, they assured us they'd be here between 9 and 10 this morning.

Guess who's not here?

Mr. December called this morning to inquire... apparently they sent their driver to the wrong move first. Bumped again. Mr. D. pointed out that they've already made him miss a day and a half of work, they've fucked up twice, it's most definitely their fault and not ours, etc. He even mentioned that both our brothers are lawyers who've confirmed that there are financial damages involved here. He said several times, "you have to make this right. this is your own doing... you guys brought this on yourselves."

They've assured us that they'll be here by 2.

I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, I think I'll buy the new Harry Potter book. I promised myself not to buy it until after the move, so as not to keep me from preparing properly, but I think at this point that's no longer a concern. Everything is packed.

As Homer Simpson said, I'm tired of the waiting game. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos.

_____________________

Oh yeah, the smear campaign. Do not hire Two Small Men with Big Hearts moving company. They fucked us over royally, and they seem totally incompetent. Tell your friends. These guys totally suck.

_____________________

UPDATE: they're still not here at 3:22 p.m. When we called, they said they just had to swing by the loading dock to pick up a third guy. They should be on their way. I'm not holding my breath.