First things first....
Michael has a great job now with a thriving (read: BUSY) company. They see his knowledge, skills and work ethic as valuable (like I do). However it means he's been traveling a TON. 5-7 days at time, all over Texas. The pay is good but the hours are long. I miss him a lot, but we're making do. We do get to talk a good bit though since he drives so much-(a small investment in a great hands-free headset can make all the difference) The overtime hours have allowed us to bank some vacation time pay for Michael for when the baby comes...prep and buy things for baby in advance and allowed us to get tickets to the Cowboys home game on Thanksgiving, a dream of Michael's for quite some time! (since it will be just us and the baby...we're taking the baby to see the boys!)
With Michael traveling I've had to discover some new ways to keep busy.
The first... PACKING! Since we are moving in a month to a larger apt in our same complex I've taken to stuffing a box or two a night while he is away. It's cathartic to pack. I get this great feeling of accomplishment closing up a box, knowing that I've reviewed the contents for usefulness and keep-ability, and organized it for easy unpacking. Might sound a little crazy but Nesting- so common for pregnant women is incredibly hard to do when there is no space to put the baby things. My "nesting" has become prepping for the move. Once into our bigger apartment I'll have the space to set up the nursery/guest room, and really nest. (that all hinges on when exactly Baby G decides to make his or her grand entrance) Michael is secretly hoping its just before moving day so he can deal with the movers. He seems to think I might be easier or smoother if I'm not there.... LOL.
Second time-consuming exercise I've discovered or rather re-discovered is my craftiness. As you may know I was becoming the scrapbooking queen before we moved to Texas. I've always loved to paint, draw, color, and design things. Nothing fancy just for fun. Since we've been here though I haven't touched a single craft box, sticker, paper, or pencil. I just have had no inspiration, or desire. Before, when we were living in MA we had so much going on and were rarely just home to relax, so on Tuesday nights while Michael would go play volleyball I'd turn the living room into a crafters paradise.....I think, before it used to be a stress reliever for me to be creative, a time to be alone and enjoy the quiet. Since we've been here it's been nothing but quiet, no chaotic weeks full of working late, visits to family and friends and running errands- things we stressed about before we were actually taking for granted. I can honestly tell you from my heart that as much as we are both glad to have the opportunity to spread our wings we can't wait to fly home for good again. Being far away takes so much out of you. We will always be grateful for the opportunity and the time we've spent here- as a couple we've become so close and I think it was important for us to have this time together...but we cant wait to come home.
I digress...back to crafting....
A few weeks ago I discovered a Paint Your Own pottery place right near our house, called Color Me Mine. I decided to try it out. The people who work there are so helpful and the first night I went I actually cried on the way home. (now it could have been hormones but..)It felt good to paint...it felt relaxing, like I was finding my way back to a little bit of normal. It brought me back to the ceramics classes we used to do in NJ with my mom. She used to paint things for decorations at the house and we'd get to paint our own too. In that spirit I painted a little baby ghost with a pumpkin for Baby G and wrote 1st Halloween 2011 on it. (I made something for Michael too but he hasn't seen it yet so I wont ruin the surprise :-p). I went back the other day to order a custom pumpkin to paint too. Where the smile is will be letters that spell Gallerane, and it comes with a light inside, so we'll have our first mommy made decoration for our house too. Thursday is ladies night at CMM and I went last night and made a gift for my little niece in the making Maggie. <3 It might turn out that some of our Christmas presents will be custom made gifts from me...you've been warned! :-)
Here is my little ghost punkin....
Before....
after paint before firing...
Finished!
I also went to Target and took advantage of the back to school sales and bought new markers and colored pencils and a GIANT Winnie the Pooh coloring book. I decided if we were going with a Winnie the Pooh themed nursery then I could make my own wall art instead of buying some. See for yourself...
Baby Prep Notes: We completed our prepared childbirth classes with the hospital which was awesome and further enforced how great of a husband I have. <3 We will also be going to a baby care class and breastfeeding prep class too...oh and getting the car seats checked for proper installation! I've also started cooking and freezing some crock pot meals for post baby recovery!
Love you all!
