Dream Home?

Your home is a Spawn-camping Wizard's Stronghold Your kitchen is manned by a team of Keebler Drow Elves. There's a pantry with emergency backup caffeinated beverages. You also have some breakfast cereals in there, but you haven't had breakfast since last Spring. Your master bedroom is decorated to look like the treetop village of the Galadhrim. Your study has every fantasy novel ever written, including multiple editions of the Silmarillion and advance copies of Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition. One of your garages houses your Hummer, and others contain your H2, and H3... with room for an H4, if they ever invent one. Your home also includes a roost for griffons. You've never actually seen a griffon, but you keep the roost ready anyway. Your guests enjoy your home theater with hi-def plasma screen TV, and the thrones you watch it from. Outside is the moat that protects your home from goblin invaders and extended family. And, you have a pet -- a unicorn named "Shadowhooves". Below is a snippet of the blueprints:

Build YOUR Dream Home!

I like the Unicorn named "Shadowhooves", though the 4 Hummers are not quite my style. But I like the overall design of the house. Lots of room for the cats.

Well luckily most of it didn't get cut off. Grr.

The Pixie has not Landed.... Yet!

I have an excited pixie running around the house at the moment. My friend DD from the Gencon forums sent me an anatomy book for drawing and three fairy wings. Smiles immediately grabbed one set of wings and took off. Literally. Smiles is very happy and the wings are beautiful. I had been thinking I would keep them hidden until Halloween but I could not not open the package without Smiles seeing the contents. Haha. Now I have sparkles all over my floors!

It was a nice boost when I got home from the Doctor's office today. Which by the way my blood pressure read 116/68 today. So I am thinking I just had a bad weekend and it reflected itself in my blood pressure that day. Otherwise I am healthy and the baby is doing fine. I did mention to my Doctor that I was depressed after both of my previous kids births. After Smiles I even went on anti-depressants for a year. So I know that I am at risk with this pregnancy and know it is important to let my Doctor know now.

1. Swept my floors. (Before the sparkles arrived)
2. Moved more books into our bookshelves in the living room.
3. Ordered the new FREE computer. (With Hubby's help)
4. Got the ringer on my phone changed from 3 rings to 6 rings before going to voice mail. Hopefully this way I may actually have time to get up from my nap if the phone rings.
5. Let a little girl play with a new costume piece.
6. Lowered my blood pressure back to normal. Yay!

Salsa Sizzle! Pregnancy drizzle....

I have fed my daughter a fresh tomato slice. Now for the wait to see if her lips turn red or if she gets hives from it. Since I am thinking that it may be a factor of how much over how short a time span I may give her another tomato later on today just to make sure. Otherwise I am back to wondering what it is that made her break out? The rest of the tomatoes are to be turned into a salsa! I picked up the cucumbers, jalapeno banana peppers, and fresh cilantro and I think celery and onions are added into the mix too but I haven't received Raven's salsa recipe from her yet so I am not entirely sure. Hint hint! Still anyway it is made it will use up this plethora of tomatoes that I received and grew this year.

Since I can't remember what else I wanted to blog about I think I'll leave it at that!

Oh wait I remember now....

Pregnancy Detail that is gross but must be shared!

Why is it that when a 7 month pregnant lady goes walking she immediately feels pressure on her bladder? I mean I went to the bathroom before leaving the house but as soon as I am moving my bladder tries to tell me "Pee Time! Now! Pee Time! Pee Time NOW!" And if I go to the bathroom upon returning it is a small dribble. Grrrrr! I hate this stage. The third trimester is a good one because it means your in the home stretch, but come on I do not have that many inner organs displaced by this gestational parasite. Of course then there are the Braxton hicks contractions. (I am sure my spelling is off on that one)

I mean if I go driving for 20 minutes now I end up having these waves of muscles going "Haha just you wait til its the real deal missy!" I have trouble getting out of bed (common complaint at this point) and am starting to think I should do sit-ups just so my stomach muscles really have something to complain about! Of course going back to the pee problem I am now at the stage where I am lucky if I get 6 hours of sleep at night. Sigh! I hate having to get and go the bathroom every 2 hours. Yes, yes I know it is my body's way of getting me ready for when the baby wants to be feed every 1-3 hours. Sigh! I had a lady at Safeway read my shirt and comment on it saying she liked it. "Damn right I'm good in bed - I can sleep for days." Me, I think it is totally appropriate at the moment. Mainly because all I really want to do is just sleep like I have nothing to get up for.

Give me twenty years or so. I hope!

A day in the life...

1. Dishes.
2. Napped.
3. Laundry.
4. Read Smiles more books.
5. Helped Bear with homework and didn't have him break down in a total crying fit. (Came close though)

I know I am sick. I am pretty sure that Hubby is still sick and that is why he's gone to bed at 7pm. Smiles is most likely recovering or almost over the cold she has and that leaves Bear to come down with hers or another one. Sigh! Some weeks you just can't win.

Last night I went swimming with Raven which was good. We even got to play jellyfish, hehe. The pool had added new inner tubes to the wave pool area which are clear plastic rings. Raven and I got to play in the current section with them and all I can say is "Raven! No kicking the jellyfish!" Though I will admit I am definitely going to need a new bathing suit once this pregnancy is over and done with. Don't try and force yourself into a clear plastic inner tube when your bathing suit is already stretched to its limits. At least I do not think I flashed anyone.

Fox had brought his husband and a friend along and they went to the gym to work out. So eventually we all ended up in the hot tub and then went out for a bite to eat afterwards. We went to a Greek restaurant where Raven and I were able to help everyone share their orders. This way we have new converts to Greek food. Fox's friend was so pleased by the olives that he asked if he could take a small container home. We tipped well just because it was good food and good service. Yummy. I am so glad Hubby knows how to make this wonderful Greek food. I should see if he would be willing to make Spanokapitas's again soon. Hmmmm Yum! Keftedes, Saganaki, Mousaka and my all time favorite Dolmethes (or Dolmades depending on the spelling).

Anyways I did do a self monitor check on my blood pressure last night and it is high but not in the danger levels yet. I was at 134/76 with my pulse at 90. Since I have to be worried about over 140/90 I think I can relax a bit until my doctor's appointment on Friday. Though I do know I need to keep trying to relax and not get stressed out over things. One of these days I will be hit in the head and no longer have the functions of being able to worry about any of this stuff. Yeah, that's it! I can only hope, eh? Until then I will continue to do my best not to freak out at my husband and kids. Today I got lucky, Smiles was in too good of mood not to reciprocate it. I love her tickle fests.

Stress is bad

So I went to the doctor's this morning and found out that my blood pressure is high. I mean today of all days when the worry from that is just going to get me more stressed why did that happen? Probably because I am stressed! See I know I have a problems right now and life is not going according to my plans or desires. Yes the kids are back in school and yet Bear has been more difficult at home. He doesn't mind and do the things that he's supposed to do. Like on Friday I decided not to do his homework right after school. This morning Bear was all proud of the fact that he didn't do his homework this weekend. He remembered, I did not! Arrghh!

My Hubby thinks I am making mountains out of molehills everywhere and all that I do is nag him. My housework is atrocious and I only get the feeling that I am falling further and further behind in it. So yeah I am stressed and depressed and have high blood pressure. The doctor was so concerned about it that she asked me to get self monitored tomorrow and to come see her again this Friday.

Pregnancy Detail that may not be to some people's tastes! Small paragraph only.
Oh and I have high levels of sugar in my urine. Which I have no idea what that means. I took the gestational diabetes test and came back negative so I don't know if this is related or not to the blood pressure. Arrghh!

That and Hubby's asthma has been getting worse and I am certain he's not over his strepthroat/bronchitis from last week. So yeah! Ain't life wonderful some days!

Simple chores and dreams

I have been smote by the sickness bug once again. Fortunately it does not seem to be the strepthroat that Hubby had last week. I am just really tired and foggy headed and not wanting to do much except sleep. Which means the plans for moving boxes out of the nursery is most likely not going to get done. Though I did do housework yesterday including mopping the floor. *Trumpets toot and there is a great cheering of voices* (at least from Hubby anyways). So Smiles friend from Kindergarten did not show up for the planned playdate yesterday. His mom was supposed to call if they couldn't make it so I was a little annoyed at that but I understand since she did warn me that if her husband came home from work early they would probably do something with him instead. Also B was sick on Friday - hmm maybe that's where this came from.


So instead of hosting B and his brother I ended up getting into a huge argument with Hubby over the housework. Sigh, I just want him to do his chores. After all if the kids can pick up their clothes and put them in the hamper why can't he? They put away the folded clothes, help with the dishes and Bear feeds the cats every morning. These are little things but I end up nagging him to do a simple task for over a week and then he gets angry with me for nagging him. So it is a vicious cycle and I am hoping that he gets where I am coming from. I have already stated that I am not that great of a housekeeper but I do try. I just get tired of picking everything up after everyone has gone through a room.

And if I am sick, wow, nothing gets done around the house. It is very frustrating because then instead of recuperating like I am supposed to I end up spending all my energy on just trying to maintain the status quo. Which quite frankly is minimal to be begin with, but at least I can see my floors and know they are dirty as opposed to some people I know. I also ran out of dish soap and need to get more before doing the dishes tonight. I do understand Hubby's position where he has been working long hours lately and is tired when he comes home. But if he can help me with a few simple tasks then it makes it easier to get the larger ones done. Such as changing over the nursery. I was hoping to get that done before September ended but I may have to wait til mid October.

Anyways I have been trying to wash all of my fabric purchases and want to get some sewing done before the baby is born. Because quite frankly I do not know if I will have the energy or time once baby has arrived. So my plans of making double the cloaks I made last year may be overly optimistic. I think reality will be closer to me making as many as I did last year which if I remember correctly was around 10-15 cloaks. Also Raven and I have been going to the gym with Fox and that has been fun. But by the time we are done (if we can get to a hottub in time) it is getting late and I do not want to stay up very late because of the kids and school in the morning. So our sewing plans have not come to anything like fruition lately. I am hoping that changes soon since bending down and crawling on my knees cutting things up will only get harder for me. haha.

Positive blogging. Except for the sickness thing...

I am not in the mood to blog so I'll just do my positive reinforcements for today.

1. Dishes.
2. Did grocery shopping.
3. Went to the Meet the Staff night at school tonight.
4. Bought some books at the bookfair for the kids.
5. Napped.
6. Read more books to Smiles for her Reading Log.
7. Put the kids to bed an hour earlier than usual since they have been tired lately.

I think I am coming down with Hubby's strepthroat or hopefully it is just a cold. Though it could just be me wearing myself out these days. Oh and Raven (in a small voice) I bought more fabric. Mostly twills though which is good so now I have linings for some of my wool cloaks. I am currently in the process of washing most of them. I do still plan on attending Raven's Friday night of gaming though. Hmm maybe I should finish making up my character. Lol.

Oops

1. Rescued the swings wound up around the poles at school this morning.
2. Read Smiles more books.
3. Took a good long nap.
4. Helped Bear with his homework.
5. Blogged.

So I accidentally fed Smiles some ketchup at lunch time. I was not thinking and offered some for her patties. Oops. Her lips didn't swell though nor did the hives increase in size so I am thinking that it is the fresh tomatoes that may be the problem. To be on the safe side I will still try to avoid tomato products for the rest of the week.

Hives

So I have discovered to my dismay that Smiles may be allergic to tomatoes. Last night after eating the homemade tomato sauce I made from the dozens of tomatoes I have lined up on my counters she had red and blotchy lips that were slightly larger than usual. After giving her the spaghetti again for lunch today, her lips swelled again and a few hours later she developed red spots all along the upper part of her arms and chest. Since I know she did not get bitten by anything I am fairly certain they were hives. You see I have never actually encountered hives before in person. Sure I have heard lots of people talk about how they or their children get them due to one allergy or another.

Sigh to be absolutely certain I have to make sure that Smiles does not partake of any tomato products at all for the next week. Since I doubt all of my green tomatoes will be ripe before next week I can give her one then and see if she reacts. I am wondering if it fresh tomatoes or just the sauce. Since Hubby has a mild intolerance to fresh tomatoes this is a bit of a surprise but not a huge one. He has no problem with cooked or canned tomatoes so it must be the enzymes in the skin of the tomatoes before it gets cooked off or changed when put into salsa. But I peeled the skins off before making the sauce last night. Of course I only cooked it for about 45 minutes. That might also have made the difference. But alas I won't know until next week sometime.

Ok so today I also did

1. Dishes.
2. Put books back into the bookshelf now in the living room.
3. I read books to Smiles.
4. I hosted Little H for a couple of hours this afternoon.
5. I folded and put away the laundry.

Yesterday I did stuff too but other than be grouchy for no discernible reason the only things of note was making the tomato sauce and having swept the floor. Now hopefully one of these days I will actually get around to mopping the floor. Oh and growing an increasingly active child. Wow this kid has good kicks and punches. I let Smiles feel the baby kick today before I took a nap. She was quite happy about it.

A better day despite still being sick.

Today has been a slightly more productive day.

1. I played basketball with Smiles.
2. I am almost done putting the games away in the blue cubby.
3. I have sorted through most of the winter gear and have it ready for winter snows. Except for new boots for Bear - he grew - who knew! Haha!
4. I have partially swept the floor and helped Smiles clean up the Lite Brite pegs she spilled.
5. I went through all of the tomatoes from our neighbour and our own and am thinking of making another tomato sauce from them.
6. I found a check that had gone missing! Yay!
7. I went to the General Assembly at school.

These are all little things but all in all they have made me feel good. My kitchen is still a war zone of boxes, papers and a filthy floor but at least I feel like I am making progress. I guess it was because I went to bed at the same time the kids did last night. Wow I had been tired. I am hoping this cold goes away soon so I can continue on getting things organized before the baby comes. There is still lots to do. Of course my mantra for the last week to remind me that Hubby is not all bad has been "He mowed the lawn! He MOWED the lawn!" It took awhile but he did it. Now to see if I can get him to help out with the other tasks.

Bad Day

I am sick. So are Bear and Smiles. It is just a cold but since I am now in the third trimester I am wiped. Smiles lost my sunglasses somewhere in the house and on the way home from school I tripped taking down Smiles as well. So the two of us have matching scrapes on our left knees and hands. So yeah, it has been a bad day today.

That and I have left the dishes since yesterday and now they are piled high by the sink. Ugh! I just want a nap but if I don't do them the kitchen will just get messier. It's already a jungle of boxes and winter clothing and papers from school.

The Internet is back at our House!

Yay, we have Internet again! This will make Hubby extremely happy. He has been a bit miserable without his daily WoW fix. Also because I canceled our newspaper subscription he has nothing to read in the morning. He needs to stimulate his brain into productivity before work. That and I am happy to be blogging again.

Anyways while the technician was working today I got a lot accomplished. I seem to have this compulsion that if someone is doing work around my house (especially if it is a stranger) then I need to do work as well. Even if it is just to make it look like I care about the state of my house. Hah! Anyways the conversion of the computer room to a nursery is still in progress and not going as fast as I would like, but eh whatever. We still have a few months to go. At least we have all the necessary components now to get the nursery finished. Yay! Thanks to my brother with his crib and playpen. I also told him if there was any other baby things he did not want to keep storing let me know and we would probably take them.

So with the change table from Raven all I need now to is to talk to Star and see about the baby clothes and car seat she had mentioned earlier. We already had Big D (elder Vacuum brother) give us some diapers from a friend who did not need them. And I got a diaper bag sent to me from Nestle. Woohoo! I am pretty much set once. Just need to get the room set up. Hehe.

Oh, and a big round of applause should go out to Hubby who finally mowed the lawn on Sunday. Yay! Balloons and doves fly up into the air! and all that.

In other news since the pool is closed for maintenance Raven and I checked out the Gym and actually got the nice guy there to show us some of the equipment. He was very glad to help out and pointed us to machines that would not harm the baby. (Which by the way is kicking alot more now! Erg!) Also we are switching from Thursdays to Tuesdays so that Blankshield can go Capoeria-ing (I know this is spelled wrong - eep! Sorry Star) more often.

And lastly Smiles is having a blast in Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and even though it is a big class the teacher already knows her name. Probably because out of 29 kids she is one of the 8 girls in the class. Bear this morning told me he hates school because now he can not watch TV in the mornings anymore. Oh well, too bad, so sad! As it is he'll have fun trying to learn the new channels for his favorite TV shows since we switched providers. That and movie nights are now limited to Fridays since the kids do not have school the next day.

There has been more things that have happened in the last week but I am tired and will have to go get Bear from school soon. So later everyone!

Last Summer Vacation of the Year

So I am tired but I just wanted to say that apparently our old internet provider has decided to not switch off the internet connection but I am not currently paying for it either. Oh well. They may figure out their mistake at any time now so I will just do a quick post now and if my internet is still on tomorrow I will give more details about my adventures this weekend.

First off the trip down to visit my family and friend was very good and the kids really enjoyed themselves. The dinosaur museum (Royal Tyrell Museum) was fun even if it started off frustrating. The main note here was when we arrived at the museum I needed to use a washroom. Only to discover they did not have any out door public facilities and the only washrooms were inside the museum. Which had a huge line-up in front of it so I was in agony for a good half an hour maybe longer. I don't remember. After that it was a fun time had by all despite Hubby wanting to actually stop and read everything whereas the kids and I zoomed through most exhibits. Well as fast as I could waddle anyways.

At my brothers house was fun and I got to introduce my sister-in-laws to Speed Scrabble both of whom absolutely loved it. It was a fun game and Auntie C squealed a couple of times when she won a round. It was quite amusing. Saturday mostly consisted of trying to get the kids to sleep while I played Speed Scrabble with Auntie C. Hubby played on their computer. Sunday was a nice relaxing day where we got up late. Except for EEK(my brother) who had gotten up when he heard Smiles playing quietly in the bonus room. He gave her breakfast (toast) since all of their cereal was past the expiry date. We later went shopping for muffins for Mondays breakfast. Sunday we had Brunch where I helped cook the pancakes and Auntie C did the eggs. In the afternoon we took the kids to Let's Play where all the kids had fun. Bear had taken up a chant of "Let's Play! Let's Play!" when he saw the Let's Play sign. It was cute for the first 30 seconds. Nephew E loved running around the ball section and EEK was the main one who looked after the kids helping them down slides and such. He was such a nice brother.

Later that evening we had my other brother and his wife and kids over for supper. Which consisted of a buffalo roast Hubby and I brought down to share with EEK and Auntie C as a thank you for letting us stay with them. EEK made roasted potatoes and Auntie G had brought salad and 2 pies. Yum! Then we had fun with Speed Scrabble again where Auntie G won(lost) by getting to a hundred points first. She's such a good sport. We had a lot of fun. Both nights I stayed up way to late but it was nice being able to chat with Auntie C. I really like her and am glad EEK chose her for a wife.

Today we woke up and had organic chicken sausages that EEK and Auntie C had picked up from the farmer's market. Oh by the way my brother and his wife are very much into the organic foods. Everything they buy is organic. Sigh! At least I recycle and they don't so I don't feel like I am totally unsophisticated and unenvironmentally sound. Still it was yummy and then we loaded up the truck with the baby stuff that EEK had stored in his basement which he will no longer need. Nephew E is 4 and they have stated that they won't be having anymore. Nephew E is mostly likely Autistic and I am hoping they get him tested soon. Though that is their decision and I understand their frustration with doctors sometimes. I hate being patronized too.

Then it was off to the C Zoo where I met my friend and her family. Her daughter is one year older than Bear and her son is one year older than Smiles. So it was absolutely adorable when both girls were walking around holding hands. I had a made a comment to the boys how they too must be partners today and they grinned before giving each other a high five. My friend's son then insisted that he and Bear hold hands as they walked around looking at animals and it was adorable seeing both sets of kids walking holding hands. I amazed at how quickly they became friends and enjoyed each other's company. It was so sweet. They even gave hugs when it was time to say goodbye. So we are definitely planning on going down again next year if we can because we had a really good time this year. Despite coming back with more stuffies and toys for the kids than I would have liked. Haha. Oh well they are happy and now I just get to look forward to Bear starting school tomorrow.

Oh, on the note of the cat, the change in cat litter seems to have done the trick. We did not come home to an offensive smelling house and I actually saw the cat in the cat litter box using it. So now I just have to find that Gal Friday stuff Auntie Ski recommended for the past offenses.