That's the way it goes, it'll all work out

My living room is almost done!!!! We ran out of plaster (okay, joint compound) with part of a piece of a wall and a strip in the middle of the ceiling left. Martin will go tomorrow after work and buy the last bucket of joint compound, all of the trim (1X4's and 1X6's) and baseboard, and the white paint. I still have to pick out the shades of blue that I want. We should be completely done by the end of this weekend, so it will have taken a total of 3 weeks to totally renovate our living room. Pretty awesome!

Baby Chris is doing great. I am 36 weeks today. I am so NOT ready! After the living room gets done, I have to clean the rest of the house and rearrange our bedroom, and I still have to gather all the supplies for the home birth. At least, I finally ordered the birth kit.

Anyway, I don't have much of anything else to say tonight.

I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes

Yet another line from the Running Down a Dream...

Well, now, exactly 1 week and 1 day after starting the Great Living Room Remodel/Renovation, we are so far into it that I can taste being done. The last wall came down today. I started taking it down almost as soon as my midwife left after my appointment. Martin took the top part of the chimney down last night. He was so brave to get up on the roof and take off the top, and then we worked together to get it out of the attic down to the level of the ceiling. When he got home from work, he busted ass to get the whole thing out of the house. The yard looks like shit, but we are paying Mara to clean the yard up.

Tomorrow, my plan is to get up early, take Mara to school, and then work all day. I have already gotten "permission" from the head coach of the cheerleading team to miss practice tomorrow. On Tuesdays, I don't have to watch my nephew, so I can work from dawn until exhaustion. I want to be able to drywall when Martin gets home from work tomorrow so that on Wednesday, I can tape that wall and get started on all the finishing work. I have tons and tons to plaster, windows to drywall in, corners to bead, tons of electrical finishing work to do, and then tons to paint and trim. It is still a lot of work, but the hardest parts are almost, ALMOST, completely done.

I had my 35 week appointment today with my midwife. She didn't seem to mind what I was doing. She seemed to understand why we were doing it, and said that I was cool. About all she really said was no roofing (I told her that my dad is working on his roof, and I told him I would help if I was allowed, and she said she would have to say something about that if I were to get up on the roof with him), and to be careful on the ladder. She didn't even ask; she just knew I was up on it. She also said she was looking forward to seeing it in 2 weeks when she comes back for my 37 week appointment. I was worried that she would be mad at me for doing this kind of work while this pregnant, but no worries...she was cool with it. Honestly, though, I don't even feel all that pregnant. I mean I am not uncomfortable when I am working. I get the occasional braxton hicks contraction, but other than that, I barely notice. S/he only really moves around when I am laying down or sitting down which on my long work days is rare.

The only problem I am having at all with this pregnancy is that my carpal tunnel problem has come back all of a sudden. I think it is a combination of my pre-existing history of having problems with it, pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome, and all the work I have been doing with my hands in the work on the living room. Last night, my hands were constantly numb and tingly. So, I just have to remember to sleep with my splints on. I have already put them on tonight (otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to type this).

On my new job, I am waiting for someone to set up my computer at the office . Once that is done, I can start working for money again. I am kind of hoping it takes as long to get that computer set up and turned on as it takes me to finish the living room.

On the family note, Marty is sick. Poor little guy. He is so sad when he is sick. He doesn't want to do anything but sleep.

Anyway, my fingers are starting to get a little tingly, so I guess I should stop writing for a little while.

But, yeah, after 1 week, we have come so far on getting this living room insulated and better for our family. I can't wait for all the dust to be gone. This sheet rock and chimney dust is horrible. I think my lungs are coated with about 6 inches of dust. Talk about a nasty cough...

Anyway...I'm done for now...

I felt so good, like anything was possible

I am definitely running down a dream. Martin finally gave in. Since Sunday, I have been engrossed in the demolition and reconstruction of our living room. Martin made me promise that we would pay the costs off with our income tax return, find someone to help, and get it done quickly. Because of the dimensions of our living room, we are doing 13 feet at a time. Two of the walls are 13 feet, the other two are 26 feet.

In 2 hours on Sunday night, we were able to get one of the 13-foot walls torn back to the studs. Since then, we have gotten the window on the wall torn out and a new one in with new framing (I did that today), a moisture barrier which I had to staple up last night leaving my dominant wrist in severe pain all day today. Tonight, Martin helped me get the insulation up (the biggest reason we are doing this). The only things left to do on that first wall is to finish running the new electric in the attic and put up new sheet rock. After the sheet rock is up, I can move to the next 13-foot section. After that section is done, I will go back and tape and plaster. Hopefully, I will be able to get up in the morning and get back up in the attic to finish the electric. I wanted to do it tonight, but it got dark, and the flash light was messing up. If I can get that done, I get to start on the sheet rock work. Not too bad if you ask me. Most of Monday was spent shopping for supplies, so that was time not spent on the job. So as of right now, I spent 2 solid days (including shopping time) on 13 feet, for the most part by myself since Martin has to work.

Did I mention that I am 7-1/2 months pregnant doing all of this???

All that really means is that I have to give up all the heavy lifting stuff. So, I called my dad to have him come over and help Martin get the sheet rock out of the back of his truck, and I won't be able to install the rest of the windows by myself like I did today. I have a friend who has volunteered to help me on Thursday since she is off work that day, and this weekend, I will have all day Sunday to work with Martin helping. If I have something he can do, then I may have him work on something while we are doing cheerleading at football games on Saturday. Of course, just between us, he has difficulty understanding me when I give him instructions on construction matters. I had hoped that he would be the one (as he does not have the baby growing in his gut) to climb up in the attic (which you have to go over a lower roof and through a small hole to get in it), and redo the wiring, but when I was trying to explain what we would have to do, he got that look...you know that look...the one that says "I have no clue what you just said and there isn't a way to explain it that I will understand."

Anyway, when I bought this house 5 years ago, my plan was to redo all the rooms. So far, in those 5 years, the only rooms that have been redone are the bathroom and our bedroom. The bathroom was in the worst shape, so that was first. Our bedroom was done next because I was pregnant with Marty, and there were spots in there where mold was growing on the sheet rock. Marty was born in March so we only had a few weeks really that was cold at all. With this poor baby due in November, I just couldn't stand the idea of being locked away in our room (the only insulated room) all winter long. Most of the wire in this house is still cloth wire which desperately needs to be replaced. There is no insulation that I haven't put in. The kids' room really, really needs to be torn out and redone, but until their room stays clean and managable, I can't even get in there, much less pull everything out. So, I figure when we get our taxes back in 2010, their room will get the special treatment it so desperately needs.

On top of all this work, I have a cold...a very nasty cold that is causing a horrible pain on my belly everytime I cough. At least Martin was nice and rubbed my back and feet. Of course, then we insulated the wall, so my back was right back to hurting. Oh well...

I guess that is enough for this week...that really is all that is going on with my life. I'm not even spending that much time online lately since I am working so hard on the room.

Oh yeah...my job finally came through. I have to attend a class on Friday and after that I will be able to do what amounts to pretty much my old job from 2 years ago (with a different title and supervisor) from home. One of the guys who I got to see again on Monday told me that he was soooo happy I was coming back. I told him he was going to make me cry.

Anyway, I guess that really is enough for now.

10/15 UPDATE: Wall #1 is complete as far as drywall. We are going to get all of the interiors of the exterior walls sealed and drywalled first before we go back to tape and plaster. After all the walls are done, then, of course, we will paint the entire room. We hit Home Depot today and bought everything we need to get long wall done, so if I work quickly tomorrow (and my friend comes to help), Martin is hoping to insulate and hang the drywall tomorrow night. So this really is moving quite along. It took about a month to completely do our bedroom, and it is half the size of the living room and had much less electric or windows. Well, I need to clean up from the drywall cutting so we can start tearing out the next wall with a clean room to mess up.

If you don't run, you rust.

That is the greatest line in a Petty song that I have heard lately. If you don't run, you rust. It fits my life lately perfectly. Between 3 days a week of cheer practice per week, 1 day of games a week, trying to get tons of little things done before baby Chris comes, keeping up with the kids I already have, trying to get my new job started, and everything else that is going on or comes up, it seems I never really have time to sit down and enjoy everything that is going on. So, we keep running.

In the off-chance that I do just sit, I feel horrible that something is not getting done.

This week was especially bad because despite everything I did do, I was sick. I had some horrible stomach virus. From Monday night through Thursday night, I don't think I kept much food down. In fact, I think at 1 point, I was down 4 pounds, and I had only gained about 6 with my entire pregnancy. I think what I actually was able to digest included a baked potatoe, 1 bowl of chicken noodle soup, and a few tuna fish sandwiches (with miracle whip and pickle relish). There really wasn't that much that I was able to keep down. I think I am mostly better now, or at least I hope that I am better now.

This morning, I woke Martin up and told him I wanted to go to town, so strangely, he got up and off we went. We went to Kohl's which has finally opened here. I honestly was not that impressed. I am just not a department store-type woman...at least not the type where you have to spend lots of money to get something you can get cheaper somewhere else. Give me Wal-Mart any day! We did get Marty a cute new hoody, 1 pair of sweat pants, and 2 cute long-sleeved shirts. They also had stuffed Curious Georges for $5, so we got him one of those too. I still think we spent way too much on those few things. After that, I got to go to Michael's which is one of my favorite stores. I had to buy stuff to use to make the gift I am doing for my friend's wedding present. I can't mention anything else about it, of course, as she is one of my few readers!

After that, we went to Target. This was basically a wasted trip to a store I have no business going into without my own paycheck coming in. I managed to do a fairly good job not spending money, but we still managed to get stuff we didn't need. Of course, I just had to have the extended cut of the Sex and City movie. I never ever watched the series on HBO, but an ex-boyfriend bought me a random season, which I watched and managed to get hooked. So, I had to buy all the seasons. My son has managed to destroy most of those DVDs, so I am hoping that someday some kind soul in my life will love me enough to rebuy me the entire series in the big pink case that I can keep hidden from all the little demons running around my house. Martin had to have 4 bags of Halloween candy. We had gone back to the Halloween section just to see if there was any costume that we might want for Marty for this year. I am so not really into the whole dressing up thing this year. Maybe if Mara picks something interesting, I can bridge off of that for Marty. Last year, they were both pirates and I loved that. The year before, I made Mara a costume from scratch from a character in one of the books she was reading (Skye the Blue Fairy). Marty was a cow. Of course, we always called him Marty Moo.

I have had no luck finding a maternity dress in any store I have looked in. I am going to have to order the one I have found online. I love the dress, but likely, it will be worn 1 time and never again. Another friend has offered a nonmaternity dress that she doesn't want. If that works, then, I won't order the dress.

We needed to go grocery shopping today, but because we never know when my ex-husband will return Mara, Martin wanted to come on home instead of getting food. He said he didn't want to be too far from home when her dad tried to call (if we weren't home).

Saturday was a fun day. It seems that I drove most of the day. I picked up my nieces first thing in the morning at about 7:15 and then picked up the head cheer coach, who is also a dear friend. We drove all the way to Archer for a 9 a.m. football game. I had to have Mara back at the house for her dad to pick her up at noon. It was almost 12:30 before we got back and he, of course, just sat in the yard and waited instead of being friendly with Martin who was in the house. Back to Archer I had to go for a 3 p.m. game. I think I finally made it home at like 7 p.m. Somehow, after being out in the sun and heat and driving all day, when I got home, I managed to have the energy to go through all of my clothes and fix my dresser that had decided to try to fall apart. One of the tracks had come off, so I had to rescrew it in. It was actually much easier than I had feared it would be, and now my dresser is back in working order with clothes that actually fit in the dresser. I had been living with all of the clothes I actually wore on top of my dresser.

I don’t think anything else got done that needed to be done. So despite all my running, nothing got done.

Oh yeah, while we were at Target, I dragged Martin to the baby section and asked him his opinion on the carseat issue. I want to just buy a new convertible carseat. I don't want a carrier car seat with this one and I intend to never use it as a carrier, and I know that if I have the option, I will do just that. Anyway, I pointed out the options, and he said that he wanted to wait until closer to time for the baby! I couldn't believe it. I guess for him less than 2 months is a long time. For me, it does seem like a long time...but 7 weeks sure doesn't. I will be 33 weeks on tomorrow (Monday), so I have 7 weeks until my due date. That is 6 weekends to accomplish everything. In the end, we decided to TRY to wash our old one. I am hoping it still looks disgusting and/or when I pull it out of the shed that it will be nasty beyond fixing, and we can get the one I want (which he did agree he liked).

Martin did the most unexpected thing tonight...he made me cry...in a good way. I came out of the bathroom and laid down on the couch. He was wandering around the living room and then turend on his Xbox. I figured he was going to play one of his many video games he hasn't finished (there are new ones coming out that he wants, but I told him he needed to finish the ones I had already bought him before getting new ones). Then he goes and grabs this CD or DVD from in the kitchen. At this point, I had no clue what he was doing. All of a sudden, our song came on. He had downloaded and burned our song...Kenny Chesney's Me and You (or You and Me... I can never remember which order it goes in). This was the song we would have danced to at our wedding if our reception hadn't been rained out. I just started bawling crying. He made me get up and dance with him...not just once...three times through. I think I cried most of the time. MY husband does not do things like that. I have to promise sexual favors to get a salad from the Olive Garden when I am craving one. He has promised me for 3 weeks to bring me an ice cream cake (I have NEVER had ice cream cake). He doesn't bring home flowers or treats without prompting. He forgets to do things he has promised to do. However, this one day, he did something so out of character just for me, just to remind me how much he loves me. It was really perfect because I actually did need to be reminded in a nonverbal way that he loves me at all.

I KNOW he loves me, but sometimes, in the running (to keep from rusting), we get so busy that we forget to be there for each other. We tend to yell too much and get too upset about little things. There has been multiple periods of time lately in the last year or so, that I have moved to couch because I just don't feel close to him anymore. When that wasn't the problem, it was too damn hot in the bedroom. While I have been sleeping in the bedroom for a while now (since the temperature started to go back down), it was really just a place to sleep. While I am carrying proof that Martin and I are occasionally intimate, it has been few and far between. In the day-to-day, we have drifted apart because of all the running we are doing. I am so thankful that he took the time and effort tonight to help us stop for a minute and rust a little bit. There really is no one on this earth that I would rather rust with than Martin.

Now, I am on to another week of running. Three days of cheer practice, a day of games with a Cheer-A-Thon on Saturday night. If anyone wants to donate money to the Waldo Wildcat Cheerleaders to go to competition, let me know, and I can tell you how you can help these wonderful little girls who are working so very hard to raise the money to go.

I also have an appointment with my midwives tomorrow afternoon, and I am supposed to start my old job as a new job on Thursday now. It was this past Wednesday, then it was moved to Tuesday, and now it was moved to Thursday. I still don't have anyone to watch Marty while I go in for what will hopefully be one of the few days I have to go in. If I hadn't agreed, I had a feeling it would be another week before I could start.

Anyway, I am sorry for those who are reading this that I waited so long to write a new blog. I had planned to write this one with this title last weekend when our van decided to try to blow a tire...long story that I forgot to mention this time. Instead, I had to keep running all week long and never got to sit down for any long period of time and write.

I guess it is time to go to bed. There doesn't seem to be anything on television tonight and I don't want to watch my new movie yet, and I am starting to get tired. After being sick most of the week, I really need my rest anyway. Hopefully, if my weight really is down, my midwife won't be too upset with me. I will try to update soon (or at least sooner than this last time).

Night...