How Time Flies

WOW! I don't look like that anymore (previous post.) I'm more or less back to where I was before I had Connor. I'm still wearing Tom's jeans and still have some weight to loose.
Life is just plugging along and we're taking it day by day. To say that 2009 was a bad year would be an understatement. Connor was the only bright spot. In case I haven't said it, I'm sorry I've been so bad about getting back to people and I do want to stay in touch. I miss everyone and think about you all a bunch. I want to send a special thanks to Robyn Lui for teaching me how to chart and to Becca Thompson for my day of counseling and comradery. Thank you both for my baby! He is so beautiful and the absolute joy of my life. I love him and don't know how I ever got along without him. Though, I did have more sleep back then...just kidding!
I'm still saddened by the loss of my Grandmother in July. She passed away three weeks before 76th Birthday and getting to meet Connor. We made the planned trip to Massachusetts anyway so Connor could meet the family and we could attend her memorial service. I'm still heart broken that I never got to see her hold Connor. I know she is no longer in pain, but I've lost a bright light in my life. I just have to be content to know that she did get to see pictures of Connor. That has to be enough.
While I was in Massachusetts for Grama's service, Tom got news that the Ken Disler, his Grandmothers boyfriend who was as good as a grandfather to Tom, had had a stroke and he passed away a few days later.
It was sad to go through my book of old Christmas Correspondences and see Cards from Gram and notes from Ken. It's the little times like that that sneak up on you. It was really hard when I found an old birthday card from Gram. I will just be going along and think "Oh hey, I need to ask Gram..." and that hits hard. So many things I wanted to ask her, needed to know and they are gone. I'll miss her soft skin, her laugh, and the way she would threaten us (jokingly) with her cane. I'll never be able to smell Noxzema and not think of her.
Here are some pictures of our backyard a few weeks ago. This is our Water Feature=)

Eight Years and Still Going Strong

Well, here we are! Eight years later, and what a ride it has been. I never would have guessed when I met Tom (just 9 1/2 years ago) where my life with him would take me. I never expected to leave North Adams. Now I've moved not only to Boston, where we lived a great year together and had a beautiful wedding, but also to Portland, Oregon for 7 full and fabulous years, and now to Charleston, SC. My life has been full in ways I couldn't have imagined. I still can't believe I have been to Italy, or that I got engaged there. I can't believe that I've learned to ski (mostly) and scuba dive. I became an Orthodontic Assistant all thanks to Tom's patience and persistence.

My life has been full in ways I never would have expected or predicted. I can only hope that Tom feels as blessed to be married to me as I feel to be married to him. We have had our rough spots, and at times it has been lonelier then I ever thought it would be, but being married to Tom has made me more independent and self reliant then I would have been otherwise. Our marriage has been a fine dance, one that I hope we keep dancing for many more years. Right now I am deeply in love with my husband, I can't imagine my life without him. I have grown as a person in his presence, and someday I only hope I can be half the woman he sees me as.

March has been Busy!

Along with more doctor appointments and getting the house as squared away as we can before Peanut arrives, March is just slipping away!

Tom had an out of town conference in St. Pete Beach, FL from March 12-15. Luckily I got to go along (with some convincing from Tom.) It was really nice. Our hotel room looked out over the gulf of Mexico and we had a beautiful beach to walk on. Tom was only in conference from 8-noon and all meals were included, so we were pretty carefree! We really needed it, too. Tom has been working so much that he was pretty beat down and I really needed to have some time with him. It was nice to just spend time together.

It had the added bonus of revitalizing Tom, too. When I asked Tom about getting some yard work done yesterday, he was quite willing, which was a big help to me. I've been starting to worry about how I'll get everything done before the baby comes. We got bulbs planted and mulch put down and the yard mowed. Honestly it makes the whole place feel a little more homey and more like our own.

Other projects are starting to fall together now, too. We had the roof replaced at the end of December and the new heating/air conditioning system goes in on Thursday. Both were unexpected expenses, but I suppose it gets chalked up as the joys of home ownership. I had a guy out to do a "tune -up" on the HVAC system in December and he more or less delivered nothing but bad news which included the inside of the air handler being covered in mold. Since the system is 9 years old and we will likely be moving again in the next few years it only made sense to upgrade and clean it up. It especially makes sense with a Baby on the way and because Tom got sick back in December and it really didn't clear up until we put him on Claratin at the end of January. I would chalk it up to the mold. Hopefully the souped up filter system we're having installed will mean he can get off the Claratin.

I also had some of the gutters fixed early this month. Then once the HVAC system is replaced I can have ALL the carpets and living room furniture cleaned. We never managed to do it when we moved in, but honestly I'm just as glad now that I found out about the mold. Now we can clean everything at once. When the carpets are cleaned I can finally put the crib together and start getting ready for Peanut to come home. It really feels good to be marking stuff off the list.

Spring is definitely in the air here in Charleston. The trees are budding and the flowers are blooming. The bugs are buzzing. I've already seen a large Palmetto Bug skittering across the garage floor and with all the outdoorsy stuff I've been doing I have been eaten alive. My forearms are just bug bites on top of bug bites.

A Table for Four!

When we moved to Charleston in June we had our dining room table (for the dining room) but no table for our eat in kitchen. I have been searching and searching for a table that would work and FINALLY today I found one! It was the perfect shape, size, has the right chairs and is a pedestal and comes with a leave to make it oval if we need more room. I found it on Craig's list for a reasonable price (I thought, but Tom wanted to haggle - and he's sore that I didn't let him) and it was still available when I called on it. I told Tom the ONE and only thing I can think of that would have made it better was if it had had a drop leaf so that we could have the extra space, but not have to store the leave somewhere else.
I was so frustrated with the whole situation I was about to give up. Tom had mentioned at one point how great it would be if we had a couple of recliners in the kitchen so he could stretch out and relax while talking to me when I made dinner. I told him on the way to look at this table that if it wasn't what we wanted I was seriously temped to make a little sitting area there with our love seat, a small coffee table and an area rug and call it good. Once I saw this table, however, I knew it was the right one.
Craig's List in Charleston doesn't work as well as Craig's List in Portland. In Portland there were rules about posting and your ad was removed after 7 days to keep if fresh. Here you'll see the same ad placed day after day and people don't go in and remove their ad's once the item is gone. There were many times I got all excited about a table only to find out it had sold several days before. I can't believe I found one that was so perfect and mine for the taking.

Life's a Beach

When we were in Oregon going to the beach was a very fun thing to do. We would load the dogs in the car and some toys and water, towels and bowls (all the necessities) and drive the hour and a half to Del Ray Beach on the coast. You could drive right down onto the beach and we could just open the back of the car and let the dogs go. They would run and play and wade in the waves. The one downside seemed to be the bath when they got home.

Well after months of living in Charleston, we finally made it to the beach with the "kids." We loaded the car and drove out to Sullivan's Island this morning and walked and played on the beach. During winter months you can go from 5am-noon and let your kids romp and play. During the summer I think it's only until 10am. It was a little harder with the time restrictions. Even though it is a shorter drive (25 minutes or so) it is a longer walk to the beach. It's a pretty walk, but it's very hard to walk calmly, without pulling when you're an overexcited Brittany named Sam. He'll be 6 in May, but he doesn't seem to realize that he should have mellowed out a bit by now.

Much fun was had by all and it was good to get out and do something. I think even the dogs would agree, even if it did mean a bath.

Christmas In A New House... State...Culture

WOW! What a difference between Charleston and Portland! First off I must say that I am highly jealous of everywhere else in the US that is getting snow, because we certainly aren't! Portland got a complete dump for Christmas and I think they are expecting more. I on the other hand was sweating my buns off and fighting mosquitoes while trying to hang my outdoor lights.

Yes, it was quite an adventure decorating the outside of the house. An adventure in Folly! Now Tom and I haven't decorated the outside of the house in a few years and we've obviously never decorated the outside of this one. So it started with the idea of getting some net lights to drape the bushes in front of the front porch. We bought one that sounded like it would be the perfect size. However I assure you they are not as wide as they claim. The one we bought was enough tho cover the end of the bush and I had to go by two bigger ones to cover the rest of the bush.

Then I found these cute little prelit saplings to flank the driveway. However the cord that runs between the saplings is about 2 inches off the ground. The HVAC guy walked through and killed the first set and I walked through and killed the second set and the third set I bought just plain didn't work. I bought another brand through Home Depot which were bright white LED lights and you could have landed small aircraft with them. So we'll just have to find something else next year.

Then I was trying to find time for Tom and I to decorate the front porch and garage together, but one way or another it didn't happen. So, I did it myself on night, and as I said it was warm, muggy, and buggy. I got it done about 10 minutes before Tom came home. So I said " I got the porch, you get the garage!" Well then none of our ladders worked because they were to short. When we did manage to get Tom on the roof, he felt it was to steep. So I have two unused strings of icicle lights that never managed to make it onto the peak of my garage roof to finish to look I was going for.

Then came the Christmas Tree hunt! I saw a tree at the local fruit stand we liked. It was gorgeous and would have cost us $60-$70 in Vancouver. I almost died when I saw the price tag - $250!!! We didn't get that tree, and it was still sitting there a few days before Christmas. We did visit tree farms in the area, but their idea of a Christmas Tree down here is Leland Spruce, or larger versions of what I grew up thinking of as a shrub cut into Christmas tree form. We were getting very discouraged. We did find a lovely tree - from North Carolina - at Chik-Fil-A (think the Burger King of Chicken breasts.)

Happy New Year EVERYONE!!!