S upgraded me to wordpress 2.x.x – so I’m just trying out new themes and the new version in general…I’m not too sure I like this one, but we’ll see how it works out.
Here’s another photo of the yard in progress…
new retaining wall and everything – will try to post more pix (that you can see without a magnifying glass) this coming week.
Not even 1 week, and…well, I wouldn’t say I’m bored. Am bringing it on myself really because I am procrastinator extraordinaire! Seriously, there’s only so much I can do, right? I get tired after standing for too long and need to sit or lie down.
My last day at work was quite nice, my immediate department took me out to lunch – Mexican, of course – and presented me with a nice little gift card to Toys ‘r Us / Babies ‘r Us. Then a couple hours later, my higher up department, had a cake party for me: “german american” chocolate cake and a cheescake! I also got a nice little plant to take home – on my to do list, transplant the plants into pots.
Due to a shakeup in our schedules, Lucie has been and will be out with Tailwaggers everyday this week. I’m assuming she’s been to the beach the past 3 days because she comes home wet, dirty and extremely tired. And we all know that a tired dog is a good dog! 🙂
Chez Rebaud, phase 2
Progress on Jardin de Rebaud is coming along quite nicely. I couldn’t upload all the pix I took since they can’t be bigger than 1MB 🙠but here are some pix of the cleaned up front and side yard…
Complete with rock garden. I kinda like the wagon in the front, but I think it belongs to the landscaper to cart rocks around. Note: this is NOT finished…
Not the best pic – but amazing how much space there is after the massive clean up…
Peanut-watch…
I’ll be at term this Saturday. From my last OB visit, I’ve got 9cm to go…(is that TMI?) I’m getting a tad bit anxious and sadly it just dawned on me that our little family of 3 is getting another member! (It takes me a while for things to sink in.)
Tomorrow is my last day at work. Yikes! Don’t get me wrong, I greatly look forward to being away from work the next 5-1/2 (yes, that’s right, can proudly say I’m not going back to work until February 2-0-0-7!) months, but I have a feeling the “work” at home will be even more trying.
But enough of that…only good and positive thoughts from here on. 🙂
All I can think about lately is what cleaning products I need to get to clean the bathroom and what neat-o things we need at the Container Store to organize, not only Peanut’s room, but the rest of the house. You know I’m serious about this when I bought shelf and drawer liners!
So, in my quest for a spic-and-span home, I started to collect and (somewhat) organize the books we’ve accumulated. I can proudly say we are a frickin’ pregnancy / baby book repository! Here’s a list of books, how we acquired them and a quick commentary (if I’ve read them):
Babies by the Bay, a gift – great resource book for pregnancy / baby related things, covers everything from prenatal health to education to clothing stores.
Consumer Reports Guide to Baby Products, purchased – a must have, especially if your husband is into “investigating” items before purchasing them
What to Expect When You’re Expecting, a loaner – okay book, good info, but may make you paranoid if you read into too much
There’s A Baby in the House, Preparing Your Dog for the Arrival of Your Child, purchased – good primer to prep your pup, glad to know that Lucie knows some of the commands that they recommend: sit-stay at her bowl before chowing down, sit-wait at the front door before heading out. Need to work on the begging, though.
Happiest Baby on the Block, purchased – was recommended by everyone and their mother, after reading the first chapter, I was sold. We also have the DVD on loaner from my mom, she already claims to be baby swaddler extraordinaire.
Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn, free from Childbirth class at DayOne – only skimmed through the childbirth section, quite informative.
The Nursing Mother’s Companion, free from Breastfeeding class at DayOne – another highly recommended book, will definitely be taking this to the hospital with me, includes quick reference sections by baby’s age.
Baby & Child Question & Answer Book, free from Newborn Parenting class at DayOne – published by the publishers that do those pictorial travel guides I love, like that it covers both baby and child.
The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy, gift – hilarious! a must have for every pregnant woman, not quite the physiological book you’ll get with What to Expect… or the Mother of all…, but real answers to what you may be going through and what you need.
The Mother of all Pregnancy Books, recommended purchase – a good, easy read
The Birth That’s Right for You, gift – didn’t really look into it yet since I know that I’m going for the epidural and know that my ObGyn practice doesn’t work with doulas. But will give it a read for post-partum stuff.
We’ve also got some name books (3 total, 2 are from France) and “daddy” books (2 total, 1 from France) – that I think S has given up on reading.
Buh-bye yard…
First the sad news…turns out our property line may not include the ginormous side yard. S had paid a visit to the Assessor’s office and they said that a lot of homeowners assume (and remember what happens when you assume?!) that side yards like that are part of their property. They’re not. It’s city property – yet it’s understood that the homeowner should maintain that property and sidewalk (remember weeding the sidewalk?). So, our plans of revamping the back and side yard have changed drastically. No, we can’t send the partial bill to the City.
The good news is that they starting with cleaning up the current jungle Tuesday and already it looks better! We estimated that everything would be complete in 6-8 weeks. Of course, when we revamp the yard, the agapanthus’ that I planted in the front are starting bloom!
…was a somber day if you were French and a mad crazy day if you were Italian! Needless to say, it was somber for a few hours, then S got over it (I think) and we’ll be boycotting Italian food for a while. 😉 All I have to say is that the Italiano must’ve really pissed off Zidane for him to “viciously” (per ABC commentators) head butt him in the chest (something about racist remarks, I hear). And to have your top 3 players on the bench for the penalties? Ouch! Oh well, there’s always 2010 in South Africa, non? (Maybe not even so, I also hear that the finances for this event are in disarray.) It seems I hear a lot of things these days.
Saturday was the Darling’s 4th Annual Fry party. This is the event where people come and more or less fry anything under the sun…well almost anything. Highlights were the deep fried cheese curds (baby cheese) from Wisconsin, deep fried pickle chips, deep fried tacos, and the battered & deep fried oreos. Yes, folks, deep fried oreos. Yum! The deep fried Almond Roca was pretty good too! Last year’s winner was the deep fried Big Mac – sounds nauseating, but really was quite tasty. There were non-fried foods there too and they looked really good after stuffing yourself with mysterious fried bits.
Not too much has been going on…we’ve been caught up in World Cup mania and recuperating from the holiday.
For those of you in the know – peanut’s in the 34th week. The last OB visit went well and we’re estimating a 7-pounder. Hey, at least it’s not 10!
Also, 1 more Monday, 2 more Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and a half Friday of work!