I need this book.

The Messies Manual: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Good Housekeeping by Sandra Felton

7 Quick Takes Friday

Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. My sunburn is much better, thanks to the vinegar. I put it in a spray bottle and misted it over my legs. It helped the pain, and I've never had a sunburn fade so fast. We did have a wonderful time at the waterpark despite the burning (and neither of the kids got burned, thank goodness).

2. Collin and I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We don't have any big plans for the day, but Collin's mom gave us a $20 gift certificate to her favorite restaurant and offered free babysitting as well. I think we'll go on Thursday night. If we manage a movie, I'd love to see Ponyo.

3. I'm in my second-to-least favorite part of pregnancy -- the early second trimester where the m/s is gone but I still don't feel movement. I'm always so paranoid that something will go wrong and I won't know. I wish I had a doppler, but it's an unnecessary expense right now. My next appointment is Sept. 18 and I'm anxious.

4. I'm craving a tuna Subway sub today, so I think that's what I'll do for lunch. Tuna, cheddar, spinach and mayo toasted on honey oat bread... Mmmmmmmmm.

5. Still no word on the house situation; we're still waiting for the owner's bank to respond. In the meantime we'll start looking at more houses next week. Collin will look on his days off and only have me and the kids look if he thinks it's a strong possibility. It'll be slightly less exhausting that way.

6. Collin's bosses suddenly realized that his new schedule required him to work 10 days in a row, and arranged it so he has tomorrow off instead of next Thursday. So we'll have tomorrow together and we can go to church (and probably reconciliation). He has to work overtime tonight, though, since Apple just released a new OS.

7. My house is a mess. Collin keeps saying he'll clean it on his days off, but in the meantime the mess keeps growing. I hate the thought of cleaning on one of the few days we have off together, but the mess is really driving me crazy and I'm too tired to clean most weeknights.

Sorry this post is a bit of a downer, but it's been a long, tiring week.

Ow.

We had a lot of fun at the waterpark yesterday, but I didn't reapply sunscreen often enough and now my legs are horribly sunburned. Ow, ow, ow. I think I'll take a cool vinegar bath tonight in hopes of getting some relief.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Thanks, as always, to Jen.

These will be quick because my lunch break is almost over.

1. I really, really don't feel like working today. It's awful but I keep hoping for a power outage or something so the office will close early. Not going to happen but it's a pleasant daydream.

2. This weekend is our last weekend together for the next six weeks (if not longer) so we've planned an excursion to the new Wet N Wild waterpark in Glendale. Collin is terribly excited. I won't be able to do much, but hopefully it'll be a fun day.

3. Homebuying is going slowly. Our realtor has submitted a bid to the bank that has the mortgage to our house, and the owners have sent in documents requesting a short sale. We're just waiting to hear what they (the bank) have to say.

4. I've really been craving cheez whiz lately. Especially on toast. Mmmmmmm....

5. The temps here are starting to cool down lately, and I'm glad. It'll be nice to be able to take the kids to the playground during the say.

6. We're going to a free introductory Bradley course on Aug. 31. The teaching couple have 10 kids, all born at home! I don't know if we'll take the actual course due to money reasons, but I at least want to check it out.

7. I find that patience is in short supply for me these days. It's probably hormones, but I feel bad because it seems like I'm constantly snapping at my family. *sigh* I need to work on that. St. Rita, pray for me!

11w6d appointment

I had an appointment this morning. The nurse found the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler - nice and strong at 160bpm. What a beautiful sound!

I've lost a few pounds but my bump is more noticeable. Second tri, here I come!!

7 Quick Takes Friday

Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. We've put homebuying on hiatus until September. Our lease isn't up until December 31, so we need to shoot for a November closing date so we're not stuck paying rent and a mortgage payment in the same month. Plus we don't want to spend our last two weekends together looking at houses.

2. We are looking a little closer at buying the house we're in, though. Originally we'd been hesitant because it'd have to be a short sale, and those can be long and complicated. However, the current owners of our house seem gung-ho about it, so we've decided to explore our options in that regard. We love our current house, and it'd be nice not to have to move!

3. I have a prenatal appointment on Monday. I'm hopeful I'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat via Doppler.

4. I also spilled the beans at work this week. Everyone's excited for me, though my boss (an unmarried guy about my age) seemed a bit weirded out. :P

5. Elanor got into my purse the other night and drew all over her bedroom door with lipstick. She was punished and had to help scrub the door, but it was a rather nice drawing. I kind of wish I'd gotten a picture!

6. William and Elanor were dancing together to the Wiggles the other night. It was the cutest thing!

7. Collin and Elanor went to the grocery store last night, and came home with flowers for me. :) So sweet!

Feeling discouraged

We put an offer in on a house we just saw on Monday and loved. Unfortunately, our offer was rejected. We counter-offered -- rejected again. There's no way we can offer higher. We're going to take a break on the homebuying front for another month anyway -- just too stressed right now to deal with it.

Collin got his new work schedule today. In two weeks' time, he starts a Saturday-Wednesday schedule. :( That means we will have no days off together, and we're both very disappointed about it. At least we get the next two weekends off together (since he'll be doing training Monday-Friday). He's due for a new shift in October and I hope and pray it'll be a better one.

The job schedule is going to make life more difficult. It means I have to keep the kids out of the house or very quiet the entire weekend, so I get zero relaxation time. It's hard to deal with since I'm so exhausted during the week the way it is.

*sigh* We're trying to count our blessings. There are a lot of people in this country who'd be grateful for a (rented) house to live in or any job at all.

House-hunting

After Mass this morning (where I didn't get a chance to get a picture of the new crucifix), we spent today house-hunting with a realtor. We looked at nine houses (I am absolutely exhausted).

We found two extremely good possibilities and it's going to be difficult to decide between them. One is gorgeous but doesn't have all the appliances; it's also a split level, which is nice in some ways but not in others.

The other is very nice and has brand-new appliances, but we're not sure about the layout. It is about $20,000 cheaper than the first house, though, and in a great location. Collin is going to go see them again tomorrow with his mom -- we really trust her judgment and could use her opinion -- and go over our financials again before we make any decisions.

A good day so far

Lo and behold, I seem to have a bit of energy today (for the first time in several weeks). I've gotten supper in the crockpot already, as well as the dishwasher emptied and loaded again, and a load of laundry in the washer. There's still tons of housework to be done, but I'm feeling somewhat productive nonetheless.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. We apparently had a small visitor in our home last night. Collin woke me up to tell me that he'd caught a baby lizard, and did I want to see it? I was still half-asleep and mumbled that I'd rather not, then went back to sleep. Apparently he did show the kids, because the first thing Elanor asked this morning was, "Where's the baby lizard?" I explained that Daddy had put it outside so it could be with its mommy and daddy. Her reply was, "Let's go look for them!" In lieu of that, I promised her we'd go to the local library this weekend and find some books about lizards. She seems excited about that. Perhaps I have a future herpetologist on my hands! (Yes, I had to Google that.)

2. In homebuying news, we're going out with a realtor on Sunday to look at some potential houses. It doesn't seem likely that we'll be able to buy the house we're currently living in, which is a disappointment -- I really didn't want to move again, especially not while pregnant. But owning our own home takes precedence, and what we've seen online in our price range so far looks promising. There's one house I'm particularly excited to see -- it's only a few blocks from the public library, and it has a gas fireplace! I've always wanted to have a fireplace. Kind of silly in Arizona, I suppose, but winter evenings here can be cool.

3. Speaking of the weather, the high today is only 103! That's a pleasant change from the 110-115 degree temps we've had the last few weeks.

4. The kids and I had a good time shopping last weekend. I had a book to return to Barnes & Noble, and we stayed there looking at books and playing with train table for a while. They both were well-behaved so they each got a treat; Elanor picked out a stuffed elephant and William got a new book, The Berenstain Bears and Baby Makes Five (Mommy picked it out for him). After that, we went to Saver's. I got four pairs of maternity pants, four maternity shirts, and six gender-neutral baby outfits, all for less than $40! Our last stop was Wal-Mart, where we got the van's oil changed and picked up some groceries. I was absolutely exhausted when we got home, but it was fun.

5. While at Wal-Mart, I picked up "Horton Hears a Who" for the kids. What a fun movie! Elanor loves it too -- she's always acting out parts of the movie with her stuffed elephant and kangaroo. Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, and Carol Burnett all do an excellent job. It has a great pro-life message, too -- "A person's a person no matter how small."

6. My goal for tomorrow is to tackle Mt. Laundry. I can't see the bedroom floor anymore because of the layers of dirty clothes. Maybe I'll get ambitious and clean up the living room, too.

7. Our church has a gorgeous new crucifix. I'm going to try and remember to take a picture of it this weekend, and if I do I'll post it here. It's simply stunning.

Well, ciao!

Bronchitis

Since I've had a chest cold for 10 days now, I finally went to see the doctor. The diagnosis is bronchitis. Lovely. At least I'm getting some medication to deal with it.

The nurse decided to do a u/s to check the baby, so that was a pleasant surprise. S/he looks great! I didn't get a pic, but we have one adorable alien baby.