Monday, October 29, 2007

Excited!

I think I may have my very first order for a wedding cake. :-) I'm so excited, I've not yet made a cake for someone who A) was willing to pay me or B) for a wedding. That sounds bad, but most of my cakes have been for family who I wouldn't ask to pay me anyway or for the church get-together's where they turn to me because they won't HAVE to pay.

The design the bride wants is very simple, and I'm quoting her basically costs plus a tiny bit for my time. I think it will save her money, and will give me a WEDDING CAKE for my cake portfolio! We'll see how it turns out...I'll update you when I know more!

I love Fall

It's my favorite time of year, and while last week was full of the rain and the dripping and the semi cool and the wind and the lightning... this week? Is full of sunshine, and cool weather, and changing leaves... its wonderful. I'm enjoying it greatly from the comfort of my couch.

Yesterday officially marked Hubban'ds last day of work for a couple months. Until the house is finished and exams are over, he has transitioned to a "alternate" status and will only work when no one else can be found. Perfect timing, too, as he has a chemistry test on Wednesday and the first full draft of his research paper is due tomorrow.

For me? Freelancing on weekends and working on weekdays means just laundry and dishes and sleeping in between. Im planning to quit the extra work at the end of January...we'll see how it goes!

I have now filled an entire entry with nothing news and nonsense. Happy Monday!

Monday, October 22, 2007

90% means 10%!

URGENT BULLETIN!

On October 27th, 2007, LadyBoyd discovered she was not 100% wrong! >cue cheers<

Seriously! Apparently I accurately predicted that Hummingboyd was having a boy. I'd forgotten my "guess" as to gender and figured it was wrong like all the others, but NO! My average is now 90% wrong instead of 100% wrong.

Don't you just love 10%?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Embarking on our 4th year....

Yesterday was Hubband and I's anniversary and we celebrated in style by installing the floor in the living room. We got most of it in and then dolled ourselves up and braved the tempest (literally--Memphis had flash flood and tornado warnings last night) to go out to our favorite restaurant in the area. We'd dickered back and forth with the idea of going someplace "new", but the Grove won out.

We indulged ourselves and shared a spinach and goat cheese salad and had steaks. Mine? Was on a bed of gorgonzola mashed potatos, with a brandy cream sauce, and some fresh rosemary that I gleefully ripped to shreds and scattered around the plate. It was so yummy! Hubband says Im probably the only person to actually USE their garnish. :-) We finished up with a pecan tart and vanilla gelato with COFFEE (mine was decaf, but STILL!).

We blew home and fetched into our foyer like drowned rats, giggling as the umbrella tried to race down the road with the wind. Went straight to the bedroom to change out of our soaked clothes and as we stepped into the room, lightning hit a transformer down the street (zing. pop. BOOM) and the lights went out. So the rest of our anniversary was romantic indeed, fully candlelit!

Hubband woke me up this morning with a kiss and a murmured "Happy 4th year". How did I get so lucky?

Sunday, October 14, 2007

BREAKING NEWS!

As of 11 pm on the 13th of October, Hummingboyd is IN LABOR. Last word at 745 am (545 her time) she had just received her epidural. Will fill you in as we know more!!!

UPDATE:
Our newest nephew, Oliver Dean Pooley, was born at 8:47 am Pacific time, weighing in at 8 lbs and 8 oz and a whopping 21 inches long! He and mommy are doing well. :-) More pics over at CMom's page!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

20 Weeks


As you can see from the strange expression on my face, Hubband made a remark of some ilk just as he shot the photo. And then our battery died... so. Here is my 20 week belly and very odd expression. Enjoy!

Monday, October 08, 2007

ITS A GIRL!!!

So I was wrong... again...which puts my average at 100% WRONG with guessing baby genders be they of friends, family, or self. Hubband says that means I'm also 100% right if you figure that its always the opposite of what I say. :-)

The appointment went well, everything looks like its where and when it should be, although she's a little bigger than her original dates so they moved our due date to Feb. 24 now. We're wondering if she may make an appearance on her Grandpa Boyd's birthday (the 26th).

They weren't able to get a good shot of her face, so we get another US next visit. Everything they COULD see looked good, no spina bifida, no down's, etc. They didn't give us much, but here's some pics of our beautiful little girl!After our appointment, we went to lunch and then picked up our first baby purchases. GIRL purchases. Guess which one I picked, which one Hubband picked, and which one we jointly picked?

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

LET THERE BE LIGHT! and... water? and... RATS?

Hubband got our pendant lights put in (yeah! pretty kitchen necklace of lights), but just as he finished the washer suddenly overflowed as it tried to drain. Apparently we have a clog somewhere... and then, when we tried to clear it, it backwashed into the master bath toilet. I swear with this house if it isn't one thing its 12 others. As we were leaving the bathroom in a newly dry state, we noticed Priscilla had found a dead rat and was playing with it in the backyard. EW. ICK. GROSS.

BUT! pretty kitchen necklace, see?

Sticker Shock, Somersaults, and Snot

Sticker Shock-- We spent a lot of money yesterday on the car, and she still needs more! Thankfully, we have this blessed thing (with horrid interest) called a SEARS CARD so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We had to renew our registration ($106) and get new tires ($518; our old ones were literally bald in the front). They also did an alignment for us, and tried to charge us $200 for new brake pads to be put on, but as Hubband has done that in the past and we can get the pads for $35 at Advance Auto Parts, that one just went on our "to do" list along with a new windshield and an oil change and interior detailing.......

Somersaults-- Every time I start to worry because I haven't felt the baby move in a while he/she will suddenly decide its time to compete on Dancing with the Stars. Yesterday, he was either doing the rhumba or the flamenco or some sort of complicated gymnastics routine suitable for the olympics. I don't think she likes when I cough, as I also had the new experience of not just feeling the stretching of my uterus as the baby moves but actually having the baby rap on my stomach with its hands or feet. Felt like someone was knocking on the inside and waiting for an answer... so i knocked back. Not sure he liked that too much....

Snot-- What?! It's alliterative... and true, sadly. You know you have a bad cold/cough/infection when there is so much mucous built up that the pressure pushes tears out of your eyes when you breathe. So far I have escaped without a fever, and thus without being forced bodily to the doctor, but I think the day is coming (today...) when Hubband will no longer take no for an answer. Not only is he worried about me and the baby, but starting last night he began to fear for his own sleep. Apparently I coughed in my sleep all night long. So, today I will at least start taking some OTC medicines that are on the "approved" list from my OB and if they don't work, by Friday I'm going to be in the doctor's office.

Furthermore....
Hubband was able to start working on the house again this week. Not a LOT, but SOME! He's got all the wiring finished and the first coat of mud over the patched drywall in the ceiling over the island. All we have to do now is sand and paint and touch up and then my pendant lights go in! He also finished the final touchups on the mud on the new archway we framed in the dining room/living room junction. It had been molded sort of like a really wide doorway, so we've torn off the molding and reframed the edges where they'd built it out and redrywalled it. This week was the last coat of mud. Hopefully today the final mud goes on the ceiling, the dining room light is moved to our room (no more ugly ceiling fan, hurrah!), and the last pot lights are installed in the dining/laundry rooms. Of course, Hubband DOES have homework, and classes, and work... but a girl can dream, right?

Dallas was great fun; Danger Elf and I roamed with abandon... usually around our hotel suite with books in our hands. It was fun to just relax, chat, eat good food (at the meetings) and ok food (hotel restaurants) and great food (the one mexican place we traveled off the convention grounds for). Of course, we got home and I was swamped with work, her kids got sick, then I got sick, then she got swamped with things....On Friday we were wishing we could go back to Dallas, just to sleep!

This shot was taken at the dessert reception our last night of meetings. For those of you who don't know, or who forgot, or who I forgot to tell... we were there for the relaunch of Victoria magazine. It looks like we both may end up getting some freelance out of the deal, too!