Still Here

It has been so long since I've posted I forgot both my username and password to my blogger.com account. Took some noodling but I'm back online.

As some of you know, and the others I apologize to now for you finding out in this impersonal way, Henry and I made good on the New Year's resolution thing and we are pregnant. About 8 weeks along now. I know, it is risky to talk about it publicly while things are still so new. "Don't want to jinx it!" But really, I feel like what is going to happen is going to happen. And me blogging about it has no influence.

I've been really sick for a few weeks now. The kind of hopeless, desperate sick that makes you think there is no way I can or want to go through this for another 4-6 weeks. It's like I'm on that Marine Biology field trip all over again where the entire class went out on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic, with the last land sighted 2 hours back, and running into that major storm that sent puke from dozens of people, mixing and sloshing all over the deck. It's the kind of sick that you want to be unconscious for.

And I am for a lot of the day and night. I sleep. A lot. So much so that the back of my head formed this enormous hair knot that threatened to overtake my entire head of hair. But I really didn't care very much. I would just ball it up and shove it under the straight pieces on top and put it in a big clip.

Henry says I am in my Bag Lady phase. I have no energy to care what I am clothing myself with. As long as it fits. And I only have one pair of pants that fit anymore. One day he even suggested I wear his jeans to work. Please note, he is 6'2" or so and I am 5'4". But I put them on. The waist fit, thank goodness, but the legs were not even close. I didn't care on an aesthetic level, but I thought I might trip and fall on my tummy and hurt the baby. So I decided to wear my one good pair of pants. Again.

I wonder if what they say is true...that one day I'll just wake up and feel better. Right now, I'm kind of doubting it. I asked a friend of mine who was also sick during her first pregnancy why she decided to do it again for baby number 2. "You honestly just forget how shitty it is." I can't imagine forgetting. But women say they even forget the pain involved with labor and delivery. That must be why Nature shrinks womens' brains by 3-4% during pregnancy. So we'll forget all the awful stuff and focus on the new shiny beautiful baby in front of us after we finally give birth. It's an ingeniously evil plan.

New Year's Dinner

We had a great New Year's dinner at U.S. Sushi in High Point. Check out the pics.

Happy New Year!

2006 is here and, as always, it is bittersweet to look back at the year we are leaving behind. As most of you know, I don't like endings. But this year there was less of the melancholy. I am excited about the possibilities of the new year. Henry and I are working towards getting our house in order: painting, new wood floors, finishing the basement, thinking about adding a room and bath in the attic. All in anticipation of having a baby this year, or at least getting impregneto this year. We can't wait to have a little squirmy worm in the house.

We are both happy at our jobs. So this year will be one of growth and happiness in our work lives which is so important. And Henry's writing is going to continue being a priority for us. This will be the year he finds the right agent and he sells his first million books. Can't wait for that. Gah.

And I like getting older. It feels good to have another year's experience under my belt. I like looking in the mirror and seeing my one gray hair getting longer. I appreciate the time I've been given here on this earth and am content with my life in this moment, and am open to what is ahead.

I'm letting go of some of my disdain for endings because I'm realizing there are no real endings in life. Just more experiences that shape you as a person. The good and the bad are the same thing.

State Employment

So I just got hired as a UNCG employee in mid-November. I've been here for a little over a month. But already I have acrued 2 days of sick leave and 2 days of vacation, as well as a day of comp time. AND...AND (!) I get 10 days off in a row, paid, for Winter Break. Everybody should work for the government. It's the freakin' bomb.

Guinea

Why is Guinea so mean? She just made Bum Bum cry.

Our own personal coffee shop.

Yeah! We finished painting the kitchen/dining/living room! The colors we used were Grape Leaves (a very nice medium green with a hint of yellow) and 20 Carat which is a golden yellow. Actually, right now all we have up is the yellow primer, which looks great by the way, since we are running out of time before our holiday guests arrive. We'll finish with the real yellow paint after the new year. But with the new amber track lighting it feels just like a coffee shop. Our own personal Starbucks. My dream come true. Caramel macchiato, anyone?

Shopping: Online vs. Realtime

Well, Christmas is right around the corner. And this year we decided to do our holiday gift shopping entirely online. The idea of battling the mall crowds had just lost its appeal.

So, Henry and I spent last Sunday afternoon, browsing the Internet in tandem, and actually managed to check everyone off our gift list. Our eyes were blood-shot from staring at our screens for so long, but we both agreed it beat the heck out of wrestling for parking spaces, rude customer service reps, and sore feet. And we were thrilled that we could accomplish this all within a few hours, still cozy in our pajamas.

The convenience of being able to browse online really helped us come up with gift ideas that we normally might not have thought of by just going to the mall. The only downside is, of course, not being able to handle the goods. I'm a tactile person--I like to touch before I buy. But overall, I was able to get past this and rely a lot on customer reviews featured for the items we purchased. Those helped a lot.

We did get one of our orders cancelled due to it being on back order, but one out of 22 ain't bad.

Let's just hope they all get here on time and in one piece.