A list of hopefuls

Sooooo, day one was almost a complete fail. I tried really hard to stay on the "schedule" that I made up, but it seems that once you get off track, its very hard to get back on. The hour that I gave myself to strip down the living room and clean, ungraciously fed on my planned crafting hour that followed. Sophia's 15 planned minutes of schoolwork was an unholy disaster that led to tears and frustration in a matter of seconds. Apparently if its not coming out of Elmo's mouth, she doesn't want to learn it. Dinner happened at 8 instead of 7. Bed didn't happen until 11:30 on a plan of 9:30. All in all, I was productive and I'm trying not to lose faith in lists and schedules, but yesterday didn't help that.

Just so I feel like I did something:
Living room
-Took everything out of every drawer and off of every shelf, cleaned and reorganized and DOWNSIZED most importantly
-Cleaned the windows and door
-Rotated Sophia's toys and downsized
-Took couch apart, washed cushion covers, took cushions outside and lightly sprayed with bleach/water. Yeah I said bleach, its called nesting, get over it.
-Vacuumed under cushions and floor
-Washed curtains
-Got Hubby to pack up his manhood--ie Super NES, wrestling DVDs, and numerous PS2 games that haven't been touched since we moved in. I know this to be fact because I carbon-dated the dust crust on them. :-P And, don't flip out, I want him to get a mancave going so he can keep all of his junk in a place that does not affect the space I need to stay organized. I would never force the boy to part with his toys. Jeez. I'm not a monster.

Others
-Laundry completely done...for about 5 minutes
-Dishes completely done...for about 2 minutes
-3 batches of frozen pesto
-1 frozen dinner
-1 dinner for us PLUS the chicken I need for 3 other dinners
-pulled up carrots, basil, and a few tomatoes from the garden
-conditioned chickens that if they step into my garden they WILL get sprayed with the hose
-Made dark chocolate hazelnut ice cream

Today, I adjusted the list and times for things. Hopefully this will help me stay on schedule. Now, lets get this party started.

"51" days until BABY!!

Day ONE and countdown to meeting belly buddy face to tiny face.

I've been begging for this day to come since the heatwave rushed over the Ohio Valley. I had high hopes of major house cleaning and prepping for my wee one and most important, spending some undivided attention on Sophia. In a normal setting, i.e. sans baby belly, I would go at the cleaning like a mad person, tackling every room on the first day. This time, I HAVE to pace myself. I have made a list for each room of things that I want to get done. Each room is broken down into two days. Hopefully this will allow me to clean for a bit, cook for a bit, rest for a lot of bits, and play with Sophia. I'm also trying to make a little daily schedule to make sure that my allotments of time are not overwhelmingly full of cleaning. I am a very "go go go" person. I want everything done yesterday. This is not going to be easy.

52 days until her due date...

Cherry Stained Brain

After a few months hiatus, shocking and so unlike me, I know, I'm ready to return to blogdom. I have spent a good portion of my pregnancy not looking forward to much in life because working while pregnant has been unintentionally sucking the life out of me. I say unintentionally because everyone at work has been so good to me and helped me out as much as possible, which has left me feeling guilty and unworthy of their kindness...another lovely positive direction for my mood to go. Not. The heat has taken its toll on my body, mind, and most importantly, soul. I haven't maintained my garden. The chickens get food and water tossed at them and barely a "hello" is spoken. I can tell they are sad because every time I get home from work, there is a feathery frenzy at the fence, beckoning me to come play. Gertrude hops the chain barrier and runs after me, bawking the whole way. Its hot. Too hot. I just can't get out there alone. I have felt so unmotivated and unproductive. I look at the garden and its over-growness with a broken heart and sympathetic eyes. It needs me. The chickens need me. My job needs me. My family needs me. I haven't been there. I took on the FAILboat and haven't returned...until today. My light at the end of the tunnel is now right in front of me. My heart is a little bit lighter. I feel something along the lines of excitement and hope. All because of 3 lbs of cherries...

I feel like I need to talk about my whiny pregnant self for a moment though. I need to get it out. Let it go. And, hopefully move on. I feel like the worry/anxiety is leaving me. In a nutshell, an on going construction project has left my brain spinning. For a year now, we have been working on Sophia's bedroom. Stripped down to bare studs, raised the ceiling, new insulation, and new drywall, we are finally at a point of "almost there." Up to this point, I have not done anything to prepare for my new belly buddy. She has no place to sleep, almost no clothes for her butt, and speaking of butts, I decided to try cloth diapers to which I have only a few samples of those and I'm not totally sure what to do with them. Trial and error. Sophia has been in our room since she was born, but all of her toys and clothes, at least, were in her "room." Now, everything is in our bedroom. There is no room and its driving me crazy. We are at the mercy of my dad to help us with this room. He is incredibly talented at remodeling and making my visions become reality. Unfortunately, he also has a life and must work, so I can only get bits and pieces of his time. I am grateful for every second, but it has taken so long that I wasn't sure if it was every going to get done. Now, there is paint on the walls and the trim is almost ready to go up. There is a light and switches and a fan. I'm beginning to see the end. When Sophia's stuff is moved into her new room, there will be space for new munchkin's things, like a crib and tiny socks. Her tiny socks.."her" still being nameless. Thanks for the reminder of my inability to find a suitable name! You guys are jerks. J/K But even though it seems to be a small thing and no big deal, I'm frazzled by the fact that I haven't had that EUREKA moment of her perfect name. I did with Sophia. In fact, I already had a girl name picked out and the second I found out she was actually a SHE, the name was no longer good enough and when I came across "Sophia," even with every one's comments about Sophia being a little old lady's name, it was perfect and sooo her, albeit I hadn't really met her yet. It fits her so perfectly that I can't picture her with any other name. I've decided to take a break from even trying to name this one. I feel like I've been through them all. My family thinks that I have a name and I'm being secretive, which would be awesome to do if I could actually keep a secret. Sorry, no name yet.

Now, back to the cherries...
Hubby's birthday was Tuesday. He wanted a chocolate cherry pie from the Pie Kitchen. Its pretty much the only thing he asked for. I could have just bought it. I know he already likes it. But I have a competitive mind in the kitchen. It may be the only place that I'm competitive. I have it in my head that if something is mass produced or even produced commercially on a local scale, I can do it better. So arrogant, I know. But what is better than HOMEMADE and HEART. Those two things, I feel, give me an advantage over businesses, big and small. So back to the cherries. I've never made cherry pie before so I thought I would just make a basic one to start. I bought the cherries. Sweet, fatty, and the most gorgeous deep red I've ever seen. I'm not sure why women don't just wake up, cut a cherry in half to use as lipstick, and walk out the door. Its by far, sexier than any tube of lipstick I've ever seen and it doesn't come off!! I'm typing this with cherry-stained fingertips, so this is fact. I felt at peace pitting the cherries. I haven't made bread in awhile and I forgot how nice it is to do a mindless lengthy task while looking out the kitchen window at chickens and grass. So the cherries are pitted, the dough is chilling, and there is cherry pie in Hubby's future. Stay tuned for pending virtual "cherry-pie-cooling-in-the-window" smell.

(picture taken with my "new mommy" / birthday present from Hubby...healing me with retail therapy one purchase at a time) :-)