Tuesday, July 29, 2008

only 4 days, 3 nights left

so it's true...we have 4 days and 3 nights left here in Brant Rock. We signed our lease today for our new place in Quincy. very exciting. We have the keys and will be moving our stuff on Saturday...we've rented a UHaul, enlisted the help of some great friends and loving family, and are doing the packing now.
Tomorrow I intend to do most of the kitchen, a big chunk of upstairs and then well, we'll be just about ready to go. We've packed a lot of stuff all ready but it's hard because we still need to live here for the next few days so a lot of the stuff we're not sure about packing...but i figure a few things will just be tossed in bags/boxes last minute. It's not like we're moving it 1,000 miles, we're moving it approximately 17 miles, so if things aren't packed 100% perfectly, I won't be too upset - as long as things don't break...i'll be fine.
Another good thing with this move is that we don't have any furniture for Baby G yet. If we did, it'd be ALL bad. that would be WAY too much stuff to move, which is weird to think about because next time we do move, we will have a child and all his or her stuff to move as well. Though I also hope that next time we move we are going to be going somewhere that we are buying...not renting.
Anyway - it's an exciting and rather messy time here in Brant Rock...but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

"let ME eat cake"

SO turns out I don't have Gestational Diabetes! Yeah for me! I was so worried since I failed my 1 hour Glucose test that I would fail the 3 hour, but I got the call this afternoon that I passed the test! I went in this morning at 8 am. I fasted last night, and did the test this morning.

My glucose level was good to start this morning and they took my blood every hour after I drank this orange glucose drink. Turns out I had 1 score that was 4 points higher than it should be, so I do NOT have GD, but I do still need to go see a nutritionist to talk about eating choices and a healthy diet I guess, it's what the Doctor has you do when you test high during the 3 hour. If I had been over on 2 of the readings they would have diagnosed me with GD. I will be hearing from them this week to make an appointment for next week. I figure it can't hurt me to learn more about nutrition, honestly I've always wanted to learn more about how to put together a healthy diet. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies anyway, but I also LOVE candy and sweets and I think I could really benefit from talking to a professional anyway. Especially having a child on the way, it can't hurt to know more about smarter ways to eat.

Anyway, so that's the good news...I am free to eat cake...not in excess of course. It's nice to have one less thing to be worrying about in the next few weeks. Between going back to work, packing up this apartment, moving to a new apartment, all my doctor's appointments and then grad school starting back up, I am going to be really busy trying to do everything that I have to do before Baby G joins the world!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

packing - oh the joy!

Since the move is imminent, today I will be doing a lot more packing. I've started packing up things in the guest room and I am amazed at how much stuff we have (and here I thought that we had cleaned out that room before Dave's mom came to visit!). My plan today is to take my time and pack a few boxes at a time without stressing myself out too much. I also need to go the Registry and change my license. FUN!

Dave and I talked about the move last night, and though we have this place until the 15th of August, we will have to move all of our belongings by August 2nd. The weekend of the 9th we have a wedding and a birthday party and then the 15th falls on a Friday. Dave won't be able to take a day off from work to move anything and being that I'm nearly 29 weeks along I can't really do ANY heavy lifting...so we need to rely on the help of others! Luckily between my family and Dave's friends we have a bunch of people who are willing to help! It's great to know so many people who really care about us and our willing to help for some beer and pizza.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

carmelized onions

Today I learned how to make something new - carmelized onions. Ok so seriously it's not that hard to make them but since I barely have been able to boil water until recently, I thought it was worthwhile to figure out HOW to make something new. That being said, I was cutting onions for salad while Dave was cooking steak so I got out my Better Homes & Gardens Newlywed Cookbook (thanks Kathi) and looked up Onions. That's when I learned that all I needed was butter and a skillet...ok...easy enough...so I did it. I carmelized onions all by myself. Dave and I both had them on our filets and they were awesome. Clearly if you follow the directions cooking is much easier.
This is the second time I have used my new cookbook...The first time I used it was to figure out how to make chocolate chip cookies. And apparently I did that pretty well as well, even my Grammy thought so, and if I could impress her with my cooking then obviously I'm doing something right!
I figure that since I'm about 80 days from becoming someone's mother I should know how to make more meals. I am very lucky that my husband likes to cook for me, but I think I should know how to make things as well. I feel like it's such a change from my single gal ways, but isn't life really all about change? I never have been much of a cook (though I can make an excellent salad) but I know that if I am going to have a family I should be at least able to feed them.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

move along, move along....

well, it's happened...we are moving. i am sad to say it, but i know it's the right thing to do. Dave and I have been going back and forth on it for a while. We both LOVE Brant Rock and our beach house, but we know that with the impending arrival of little baby G we needed a place that would be more condusive to having a child.

We live in a place now that doesn't have a washer/dryer in unit (we go to the laundrymat across the street), we have metal spiral stairs, which are cool, but i am nervous about carrying a baby up and down them, plus for me, the commute to work is anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half each way depending on traffic (imagine doing that drive with a six month old with a diaper full of poop) so we decided it was time to move forward and get a place that was closer to Boston and inbetween our two jobs.

So for the past week since the wedding I've been focusing on the apartment search. Dave went back to work and I called all sorts of places to schedule appointments to look at different apartments all around the Quincy, Braintree, and Weymouth areas. First, let me say that I was HORRIFIED by the quality of some of the places we saw. I can't imagine that someone is going to want to pay $1,200 plus utilities on a two bedroom place in a brick building that smells like trash. Disgusting. Second, let me say that I am amazed at how some creative photography can make a place look nicer than it is. These homeowners and real estate agents should become part of the paparazzi considering how wonderful their work is. Anyway, we looked at 7 places in total. Our biggest challenge which limited the search was the quest for a de-leaded apartment. Apparently anything built before 1978 would have lead paint in it. This means that any exposure could be damaging to baby G's development. And yes, I do realize that I grew up in a house with lead paint and so did my parents and their parents, BUT I don't want it on Dave and I that we didn't take proper precautions to ensure our childs safety. If for any reason it develops a learning disability or brain damage because we didn't ensure that it was living in a de-leaded environment then I'd feel awful and probably never forgive myself.
That is what limited our search. I called 20 places that were not de-leaded so it wasn't even worth us going to look.
We ended up going into a random realtors office who had a place for rent in Quincy, in a very nice area called Hospital Hill. It's very residential, 2 and 3 family homes, kid friendly and quiet. We looked at it and put in our deposit this past Thursday.
It's amazingly nice - 2 bedroom, hard wood floors throughout, completely re-done and de-leaded (I spoke to the painter who de-leaded it), and has a back patio, storage, central AC and a washer/dryer downstairs in the basement. It's a beautiful home that is owner occupied, so that makes it even more desireable. if the owner lives there, you know you are getting a better deal because they LIVE there. They take care of the property. I love it. It's not beachfront, but as Dave has told me, we got LUCKY finding this place. It was the 3rd one we looked at. We loved it right away and for two people starting their life together it was perfect, but now it's time to move on and share the wealth!

Friday, July 18, 2008

my wedding...

well, the wedding was amazing to say the least. i LOVED it. i got to wear a beautiful dress, which at first honestly i didn't like but looking back on it, it looked perfect on me. i need to trust other people's opinions a bit more i think.
dave looked handsome, my grandfather even told me he thought he looked like a movie star! dave is dreamy - that's for sure.

the ONLY minor hiccup in the day was when the Justice of the Peace forgot that she was supposed to do my ceremony that day. she actually didn't show up. i had to call her and ask her if she was coming only to find out that she had forgotten. so she wasn't there for nearly an hour...so i did the only thing i could think of...i had the hotel re-open the open bar for another hour and i talked to the kitchen and they were able to serve dinner early...so people ate and drank and when Melinda got there we did the ceremony...it was wonderful! i was really pleased with how it all turned out. we ended the night with karaoke. it was fun and everyone took turns singing, which i loved. it was such a great day. everything i imagined my wedding would be, except i was sober and pregnant...but hey...i married my true love - what's better than that!
now it's time to focus on so many other things. we are married, moving to a new place and the baby is coming in early October. I am excited, scared, happy, overwhelmed. it's wild how many things I need to do...moving is going to be a lot to take on, but it will be fine. I'm off for a few more weeks so I have time to pack most of our stuff even though I can't move it really. Being pregnant does limit some of the things I can do and how much i can really lift, but i figure i can pack during the day and then after the 1st we can move most of the small stuff and then do the bigger stuff over a few days with the help of family and friends.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

the bachelorette brunch

Nicole, Rachel, Jessica, Me and Kerrie

Beth, Sara and Danielle touching Baby G!

Auntie Sandy, Auntie Patti, Me, Auntie Mary & Auntie Karen

My Mom, Me and Grammy

i had a lovely bachelorette brunch on Sunday, June 22nd at the East Bay Grille with my family and a few friends. Obviously with my current condition (I'm 26 weeks and 2 days pregnant) a traditional bachelorette party wasn't going to cut it. i certainly wasn't going to be going out to any bars and living it up so my sis and bridesmaids thought a brunch would be better. that being said, they planned a small family gathering of my aunts, mom, grammy, and a few of my south shore friends who couldn't make the bridal shower. it was a wonderful time truthfully since i don't get to hang out with these women a lot and it was very sweet of them to think of me.

it's amazing how much kindness weddings bring out in people. i guess it's the thought of true love that makes them want to do nice things for one of their friends...my grammy also went above and beyond and paid for the brunch, which i thought was amazing and very sweet of her. i know my girlfriends were very appreciative and really thought it was just so generous of her.

the food was soo good at the East Bay Grille too. I love it there anyway, but I had a very nice breakfast and got to chat with my friends and family. it's nice to get to spend time with people i care about in such a casual and fun way.

i have had a hard time with so much of the wedding stuff because i always feel like i need to be "ON" or be the center of attention, but truthfully it was so nice because I wasn't the center of attention, well, ok I was, but I certainly didn't feel like it. It just felt like a nice breakfast with family and friends.