Cabin Fever

It is a damp Tuesday morning here, and I am starting to catch a bit of cabin fever. I am working on painting our kitchen cabinets from a dark walnut stain to bright white. It keeps me occupied for a good part of the day, until my hand gets really tired from holding the big paint brush! I take lots of breaks so the smell doesn't overwhelm me, and it has been warm enough to keep a window generously cracked open.

We attempted to have some social interaction with folks from Chris's work on Friday. They have an office indoor soccer team that plays at Chelsea Pier on Fridays, so I met Chris after work, and we planned to grab dinner (with some other spectators from the office) and then go to the game. Everyone who was playing or going to the game opted to just work late rather than eat, and then the other spectators bailed from even coming to the game. Chris says it is a good thing that he and I enjoy each other's company, because that seems to be all we can rustle-up most of the time. It isn't that we had a very active social life in Boston, but I think moving to a new city, there was some hope that there might be different opportunities to meet people here. Plus, I had lots of social interaction from teaching lessons on a daily basis back in Boston.

Hope is not lost...but we are looking forward to the occupation the new baby will provide, since it will not be a sacrifice of some other social life we are already accustomed to here.

Rainy Day in NYC

There is a steady rain coming down outside our apartment this afternoon. I spent my morning going to see my midwife. My midwife/OB practice is right next door to the hospital where I will be delivering the baby. It is located almost 30 miles from our house, in the town of Westwood NJ, and takes about 40 minutes to drive there. I really like that town...it reminds me of Sudbury MA, with lots of tall, mature trees lining all of the neighborhood streets. The town center is like a smaller version of Wellesley.

My appointment was good. The debate over my due date is being settled by the 3rd vote, my midwife. She said that from sizing my belly today, and considering all of the facts, she thinks May 3rd is the most accurate marker. She made detailed notes in my chart, and plans to establish a consensus with the OB's so there won't be further disagreement about it down the road. And, if I am earlier, so be it!

After my appointment, I decided to explore the town center of Westwood a bit more. Okay, there was a gem and bead shop that was calling to me...so I started there, but went on to the post office, and then took a little adventure to find the nearest branch of our bank. There aren't any local branches of our current bank (the one we left from Massachusetts) and until we change banks, I get to travel a little to make our deposits. It is a good way for me to explore, and acquaint myself with new areas of New York and New Jersey. I try to keep mental notes of which towns I really like, and which ones I want to keep driving through without stopping. Someday, we will probably want to be somewhere other than Jersey City.

I will say this, Phoebe and Annabelle really like watching out the front windows at both the squirrels in the trees, and the people and cars passing by on the streets. There is no shortage of activity throughout the day, and the view from the 2nd floor is extensive.

A story about the power of instant Karma

Has anyone else noticed how life is speeding up these days? And the results of our actions appear almost instantly? I will give a case in point. I have been waiting for a package to arrive from Pittsburgh, containing my mouth guard, which I accidentally forgot there two weeks ago. The package was mailed 2nd day delivery, and should have made it to NJ by last Thursday.

Today, I thought about what I could do to help this package find its way home to me. I remembered that there were a few pieces of mail sitting downstairs in the entryway, that were delivered to our address by mistake. Those letters had been sitting there for at least a week or two, if not longer. I thought maybe my package had been delivered to the wrong place, and the best way to help matters was to return these pieces that I had to their rightful addresses. I walked out the door, and immediately saw my next-door neighbor. He received the first letter. Then I walked up about 10 houses to deliver the second parcel, and returned home when I was done.

Within the next hour, the doorbell rang, and a mailman was at the door handing me my package from Pittsburgh!

I know it might sound silly to some, but I do feel that my taking action helped bring the desired result. And I know my teeth thank me for that.

Baby Boone Sighting

Okay, We always know where Baby Boone is...but today we got to see the baby on Sonogram TV for the second time. I am glad to report that the baby is in the 50th percentile of size if its due date were ...April 11th. That's right, another bump up in the due date! Either it is growing at an exponential rate, or it is going to be one LARGE baby. At any rate, the pool for naming the baby's birth date is more uncertain than ever.

I am really starting to wish that our childbirth classes were sooner than the end of March!

What you are looking at here is a 3D ultrasound of the baby's face. You can see the nose and eye sockets, lips, forehead, and a little claw of a left hand, already in good form for playing the piano. This ultrasound wasn't as impressive a show because there is much more baby, and we can't get as much of it in the frame, but we did get smiling baby pictures this time. It was squirming around in there during, and had its left hand up the whole time, as if shy.

Chris and I could not stand the surprise anymore, so we did ask for the gender of the baby to be revealed. For all of you Grandparents who guessed BOY...let the gloating commence now! We will have some BOY-specific decisions to make right off the bat (that was not meant as a pun) so it is good we can contemplate our choice, and focus on the name too. We were going to be delighted either way, and now it is good to have a couple months of knowing.

Our friend, Ann Marie, is sorry to learn that this was her first incorrect guess out of nearly a half dozen right ones, but she is pleased to know that her future little league baseball team is filling-out nicely!

Belly Picture...a self portrait

Here I am...in all of my pregnant glory to date!

At 5 am this morning, the baby and I were playing "paddy cake" together. The baby's hands push out, I tap back...we did that for about a half an hour. I was trying not to giggle too much and wake up my sleeping husband.

The baby is smiling in this picture, can't you tell?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is a special day for Chris and me; it is the six year anniversary of our first date. I still remember waking up on that day, and telling the Universe that it needed to light a fire under that cute guy in the NKU scene shop (figuratively speaking...I'm all for shop safety!) so that he would ask me out. Let's just say, I have never doubted the power of prayer since he DID ask me out that day. Technically, he asked me out in a general, "let's have lunch together sometime" kind of way, and being the typical Aries that I am, I replied with, "I'm not really here most days at lunchtime, how about dinner...right now?" (Aries- not so much on the patience factor.)

With Chris trying to mask his shell shock, we proceeded out together to find a restaurant. Every place was packed full of cars, and we were both too nervous and distracted to even realize why...until Chris chuckled, nodded his head and announced, "I know why all of the restaurants are crowded; it is Valentine's Day!" What can I say, we were two single people who up until 15 minutes before had had no expectations of plans, romantic or otherwise, that evening. We opted for the most unromantic place, Kaldi's, a coffee house in downtown Cincinnati, where we knew we would be seated without delay. The details of our meal and conversation don't particularly stand out in my memory.

Chris later told me that when we returned to NKU, so I could get back to working on the pianos and he could pick up his truck to go home, he thought it was a good sign when I took his phone number by directly entering it into my cell phone. But the best move he made was when he called the very next day, and invited me out on a REAL date for the next night, with theater tickets, dinner, and a flower when he arrived at my door. (His parents raised him well!) He was shy in the beginning, but always a gentleman.

Six years later, the shyness has worn off, but the gentleman part...that's just who he is.

I do believe there is someone for us all, if we are willing to search a bit. I am blessed to have found my Valentine. I'm wishing everyone else the same good fortune on this day of love.

Does the Baby like my piano playing?

I am getting reacquainted with my piano this week after not having played it for quite a while. Each time I start to play, the baby becomes so active, it is rather uncomfortable! If I were to imagine what is going on in there, I can either picture it holding up its hands and feet defensively, as if to push as far back from the sound coming from in front of it. Or, it is dancing to Chopin...

I think I am going to have to take up learning lullabies and quiet Nocturnes if it continues to squirrel around so much when I play. I am reminded of what my former cat, Greta, used to do when I practiced. She would run to the front door and paw at the doorknob, while meowing plaintively to get away. Didn't damage my self-confidence at all! (Please don't send me snide comments about the quality of my piano playing; it really did rattle me, and I have clearly not yet fully recovered.)

Even good piano playing is loud from in there ...that must be all that it is...

Flat Lola visits NYC

One of my students from Boston, Monika, is doing a geography project in her second grade class, where they are each sending out a paper ("flat") character with a travel journal, and some instructions about where they would like to go between now and the end of the school year. I was given her character, Flat Lola, to see some sights in New York City.

On Saturday, Chris and I took Flat Lola on a subway ride, and a chilly walk to Grand Central Station, and the United Nations Building. Chris had never seen the U.N. building in person, and Lola was willing to accompany us there. We took pictures to be placed in Lola's travel journal, and will get a postcard to send back to Boston to report her whereabouts. She was shivering a bit from the cold temperatures, but otherwise was an excellent sport, and always wears a smile.

Lola is going to travel with us to Pittsburgh this weekend, and meet up with a friend who lives in Florida. One of the places Lola would like to go to is Florida, according to her journal, so we are trying to facilitate that possibility. She won't have to worry about shivering for much longer!

Brrr...

It is a cold week here in NYC!

It was 9 degrees when we went out to the car, and now it is a balmy 13 degrees since I have returned home.

I stopped for warm bagels and a hot coffee (decaf, of course!) after taking Chris to the train station this morning. I realized while I was there at the bagel shop that this was the first time I was ordering a "coffee regular" since the last time I lived in NYC...10 years ago! I remember prior to moving to NY the first time, my father explaining the difference between what New Yorkers understand a "regular coffee" to be, and what the rest of the world understands it to be. Dad, being a true coffee drinker, only takes his black...and learned from experience to ask for Black Coffee. I, on the other hand, am a recreational coffee drinker, and am perfectly content with a dessert version of the beverage. "Coffee Regular" as it is understood in these parts, consists of 2 heaping tablespoons of sugar, and lots of milk. If it has a light beige color and makes your teeth ache, it is the right stuff. So, I revisited this beverage phenomenon this morning, and discovered that it is TOO sweet to be tolerable anymore. Apparently the bitter flavor of Starbucks has trained my taste buds to expect something different in the last 10 years. With age comes wisdom...

Beginning a New Chapter

Chris and I are beginning a new chapter in our lives. I have completed 5 months of commuting between NYC and Boston, where I had a wonderful collection of private piano students. This past week was my last week of teaching. I am really going to miss Boston, mostly because I will miss the families I have come to know. I will not miss driving back and forth between the two cities!

I have a lot of home projects to do now that I will have a few months before the baby is due. The baby is going to get the 2nd bedroom, which until now has been Chris' office. We have already begun rearranging the apartment. For every baby item we bring into the house, we are needing to eliminate or store other things to make room. After all of the moving we have done over the last 5 years, I have lost my sentimentality for all things that we don't use in our daily lives! I am going to be painting the kitchen cabinets, and finally assembling our wedding album from 2003. (I think that should be done before I start the baby book!)

The latest update on the Baby Boone is that all of my tests have come back normal and healthy. My OB's and Midwife (there are 3 in the practice I have been seeing) have some debate about when my actual due-date is...it falls somewhere between April 22nd and May 3rd. The picture above is of Baby Boone from my first ultrasound in December. I am having a second ultrasound on February 20th. Chris and I are going to try and resist the urge to find out the sex of the baby until it reveals itself on its birthday.