Sunday, February 28, 2010

dear shawn

Dear Shawn,

As of today, you're officially twenty-seven years old. I know you hate all this mushy-gushy stuff - most especially when it's public - so I'll keep it short.

I'm so grateful for your life, Shawn. I'm so grateful for the way your parents raised you, for the experiences you've had, and for the way God has molded you over the past twenty-six years. I have more admiration and respect for you than you could imagine. Since we've been friends, I've been drawn to you, knowing that there was something special about you. I wasn't mistaken.

You have a strength of character and integrity that I've never seen in another, and being around you makes me want to be better. Don't get me wrong, I know you're not perfect, but I admire the way you handle criticism, mistakes, and even attacks.

Thank you for being an example of strength and servanthood to me. Thank you for helping me better understand Jesus' love for the church, and most importantly - thank you for being you. Without a doubt, the most amazing man I've ever met. I'd consider it a privilege just to be near you, and I consider it more than I deserve to call you my husband. I love you, Shawn. Happy Birthday.

Love,

Me

Friday, February 26, 2010

auctions, clean homes, and dogs

I wanted to make sure you guys knew that bidding is still open for Jonah's EB Auction! The auction has been a huge success so far, but it still has a bit longer to go so you can get in those last minute bids. At the very least - check out some of the stuff they have - it's awesome! I've been keeping an eye on the Long Sleeved Bib that I donated, and I have to admit that I was kind of afraid that it either wouldn't get bid on at all or would only end up having $1.00 bid. I was so excited to check on it yesterday only to see that the bidding is up to $25!That's almost double the retail price! I can't lie - I'm pretty flattered!

And now I feel like I need to tell you about the highlight of my week. Nay, my month! You see, February was crazy for Shawn and I. Usually only one of our schedules get insane and the other one is able to carry the weight at home and even some of the burden for the one who is running ragged. February though - notsomuch. Life just got crazy for the two of us. I knew it was going to happen in January, I could see how much stuff was going on our calendars for the month, so I decided I needed to schedule SOMEthing at the end of the month as a "Congratulations! You made it!"

I came across some great reviews for a local cleaning service, and found out that they were having a really great Spring Cleaning deal. Now, I've never had my home professionally cleaned. The thought has never crossed my mind, and it always seemed like a luxury for those with a bit more money. Still - that price was awesome and just knowing that I could let the house go for a week or two was a huge relief. I saved and saved through the month, and scheduled Yvonne (CLICK HERE for her website) for this past Wednesday. I spent my entire day at work thinking about how excited I was to come home to a clean house - and I was not disappointed in the least! The house smelled amazing, and looked even more incredible. There's nothing nicer than walking into an immaculately cleaned house, huh?

Jude and I left for church that evening, and on the way home I was excitedly telling Shawn about how nice the place looked. As soon as we walked in the door, my heart dropped. Coletrane had pooped (and peed) right in the middle of my newly cleaned living room.

In many ways, I think that was probably his last straw. Shawn and I had talked about getting rid of him before, but it's always been couched in, "Well, maybe we could still keep him, but we should probably start looking for a place anyway." We're now both pretty set that we just can't adequately take care of him and two children.

I firmly believe that his accidents in the house are because of neglect on our part, and that if he's in a home where he's walked a couple of times a week or allowed space to run outside, he'll be just about the most perfect dog you can imagine. Because really - he's a great, GREAT dog. My frustrations with him come solely from the fact that life has been overwhelming. So if you happen to be in the market for kind and gentle dog, here are the details about him:

He'll be four years old in August and is a Labrador mix (mixed with what, we don't know). He's around 95 lbs. and is entirely black. He's actually a very pretty dog - strangers stop us all the time to tell us how beautiful he is. Creepy, but true. Coletrane is GREAT with kids and has incredible patience. He is easily excited by kids and tends to want to play with them. Not realizing how big he is, he has knocked down a few children in his excitement (and theirs!). I know I keep saying it, but he is very, very sweet and loves to lay at our feet. He's actually warming my cold feet right now and likes to just be near us. Cole's very protective of us, but has never bitten anyone. As soon as he sees that we think the person is okay, he's immediately best friends with them.

So...there you have it. Our home won't be nearly as joyful without Cole, but he's getting the short end of the stick here. He's taking the brunt of our frustrations and isn't well loved right now. He deserves so much more than we can give him in this stage of our lives, and despite our reluctance to let him go, it's what is best for him.

It looks like Jude's decided his pacifier needs a dunk in my coffee. Guess the kid needs a pick me up today - I should probably go address that.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

white poop and temper tantrums

It seems like it's taken Jude about a week and a half to fully recover from his stomach bug. Since he got sick last Monday, his poo has actually been white. I wasn't terribly concerned about it until I googled the symptom, and sure enough Dr. Google told me it meant his body wasn't producing bile, which meant his liver was failing, which meant he could die immediately if we didn't get him to the ER.

...So we waited a couple of days and Shawn took him to our pediatrician's sick clinic. They assured us that it was a common affect of a stomach virus, and that we should probably just stop giving him milk for a few days. We started replacing his milk with apple juice and gatorade on Tuesday, and today....we have BROWN POOP! Hooray!

Never in my life did I think that I would type "brown poop" in capital letters with an exclamation point at the end. Just sayin'.

And while I'm not sure if it was because of the sickness or if it was because of mine and Shawn's crazy schedules lately (and so Jude hasn't had much stability or routine from day to day), Jude has become quite the temper tantrum artist. On top of which, he's been waking up at 6:00am every morning and taking half an hour naps - but only after screaming for forty-five minutes.

This morning though, he slept until 7:00am, took an hour and a half nap and has been a joy to be around. My gut is that it's partly because his little tummy is finally getting back to normal, and partly because he finally has a day at home with a predictable schedule.

We took this video a couple of days ago, and you can see that when Jude falls (which he does all the time) how upset he gets. Thank goodness those days seem to be over!




Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

happy graudation

In my efforts to clean and organize every room in our house, I came across my college graduation tassels. Jude was instantly fascinated, and had a lot of fun dragging them after himself around the house. Rather than letting him choke himself on them, I decided they'd make one heck of a belt. I think you'll agree.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

old school sunday

In 2003, after Shawn and I had only been dating a few months, I took a semester long mission trip to England with several other girls I had never met. The trip was life altering, and while not at all indicative of other mission trips or even that particular organization, it left me scarred and broken for years afterwards. I might some day describe some of the details from my standpoint, but that's not really my purpose in this particular post. I only want to convey that my teammates and I went through some spiritually very difficult things (the likes of which I'd never faced and haven't since faced) and sweet Shawn was across the ocean, trying to understand, help, and give wise counsel.

So I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when Shawn told me that his gift for our 2 year anniversary was a mission trip to England. I was excited about the opportunity to serve with Shawn, the opportunity to see a new place and culture with Shawn, and the opportunity to work through some of the lingering questions and doubts I had about my first trip. My only regret is that Shawn and I weren't able to travel to the town in which I'd stayed in 2003, but that was understandable given that we were ministering on the opposite side of the country. No worries, we'll get there some day.

The trip ended up being incredible - on many levels. Shawn and I on the plane flying to London:

Serving peanut butter and jelly at snack time of the VBS (or Holiday Club) we led. If you can even believe it, they thought we were weirdos for putting jelly on our peanut butter sandwiches. Our lesson was about having faith that even things we think are strange, difficult, or don't make sense will work out for good.
Shawn and I at the gate of Buckingham Palace:


I love - absolutely love - being in England for mission trips. There's no better way to get to understand a culture than to serve it, and I enjoy seeing parts of the country and the people we wouldn't normally see. Still, Shawn and I are both hoping that we'll be able to make it back to Great Britain as vacationers. There's still so much more we'd like to see and do! Maybe if we start saving now we'll be able to afford it by our 20th anniversary!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

catching up

It's amazing how much gets put to the side when you have a sickness run through the family. Everybody here at the Maurer home seems to be on the mend, so I'm spending my day catching up on laundry, cleaning, organizing, sewing, etc. It certainly won't all get finished today, but it feels nice to have some energy and gumption back. Yes...gumption.

I wish I had more entertaining things to post about today, but I just wanted to let you all know that we're all starting to feel better. Shawn and I are eating regular food again, and while Jude's still easily worn out, he's sleeping well and is back to his joyful, spunky self.

These are actually pictures from a few months ago that I just haven't had the chance to post. They're not particularly interesting, but definitely show off the constant battle we have of keeping Jude's sideburns down. Speaking of which -if any of you know of anyone local adept at cutting wiggly boys' hair, please let us know!


Friday, February 19, 2010

one, two, three strikes you're out

Shawn got hit with Jude's stomach bug on Tuesday night, and I got hit with it on Wednesday night. Thank God this is only a 24-hour bug, but man oh man it's no fun. Jude actually seems to have recovered pretty well, although I think he's still trying to catch up on all the sleep he missed. Both Shawn and I are trucking along pretty well, though we're both still sticking to pretty bland food - just in case. Because I was worried about excessive vomiting causing contractions (remember all that drama with Jude starting at 29 weeks? Turns out it's just because I have an "irritable uterus"), I took a couple of the Zofran pills I had leftover from the morning sickness days. I still got sick, but I think I avoided the worst of it and managed to keep crackers and Sprite in my stomach throughout most of the day.

But would you like the know the worst part of this whole thing? Remember me telling you about Rhonda, our doula with Jude? Well, she recently got a break from schooling (she's now officially a nurse! woo-hoo!), and offered to watch Jude on Wednesdays for us because taking Jude into the office was becoming increasingly difficult. Even though Jude was over his sickness by Tuesday, I still called her Tuesday night to let her know that Jude had been sick and that he was currently running a low fever. Rhonda's response was, "Don't even worry about it! Bring him on over! And if you or Shawn get sick from this, I'm glad to take him for you on Thursday, too!" So Rhonda kept Jude on Wednesday for us, and then again on Thursday since I did end up getting it. I honestly don't know how we would've made it without her, to be honest. Well, we've just found out that Rhonda ended up getting the stomach bug yesterday afternoon. There's nothing worse than someone doing you a ginormous favor and repaying them by leaving them with the sickies.

So our tiny little 20 pound son managed to knock three....count 'em...three...grown adults off of their feet. Little stinker.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

the yuckies

There's been a stomach virus thing going around, and it looks like Judeabug has been its latest target. He woke up from a long nap yesterday afternoon and was a little more whiny than usual - crying easily when he fell, throwing a fit when he didn't get something, etc. We had dinner as a family, and Jude didn't eat a whole lot, which was strange but not unheard of. Because he was being so whiny, around 7:00 I just held him on the couch as we watched the Olympics. After a few minutes of chilling with me, he sat up, took his pacifier out of his mouth, whimpered a little, and projectile vomited.

I've always thought being with your kid when he's throwing up would be one of the grossest parts of motherhood. I had a feeling I'd be one of those Moms who kept a two-feet distance from her vomiting child and would then follow him around with Lysol and a gas mask. While it certainly wasn't the most pleasant thing I've experienced, I surprised myself by just holding Jude tightly - not caring that my hoodie had just been vomited on and that we both suddenly reeked - kissed his head, and told my sweet boy that it was okay.

It was just about bath time anyway, so we gave him a bath (during which he vomited again, and after which he vomited as well). Jude would be a little whiny right before he got sick, but once he got sick, he'd be almost normal. After putting in a call to our Pediatrician, we were told it was most likely a stomach bug (he didn't have a fever and hadn't really eaten anything that could've gone bad), and to wait until morning to give him food or liquids. They told us that if he wasn't keeping water down by 10:00 the next morning to take him in.

So we attempted our normal bed time routine - changing him in and out of vomited on pajamas, taking breaks to clean up the carpet, and watching him wriggle out of our arms to play in between spewing session - and after a whole lot of work, Jude went to sleep around 8:30.

I was really hoping that once he went to sleep his little body would sleep it off - the throwing up was already becoming much less projectile, and more like painful spit up. He did sleep until about 11:00, and then was up about every 45 minutes until 3:00. The sweet boy would wake up and spit up a little. Shawn and I took turns going to his room, wiping his mouth, giving him back his paci, covering him with his blanket, and "ssshhhh"ing him back to sleep.

Jude's known by everyone who spends time with him as a little mover, and quite the independent child. Before my eyes, I saw him transform into a boy who just needed his Mommy. As I was rocking him before we laid him to sleep at 8:30, I couldn't help but tearing up a little. My little man wanted his Mommy. He wanted to snuggle with me, he wanted my arms around him, and I made him feel safe. I was struck with what an honor that is, with how much he trusts me, and with how important I am to his world.

Jude woke up around 3:00 and despite the many things we tried, would not go back to sleep and instead opted to scream his head off. We tried rocking him, we tried "ssssh" ing him, we tried putting cartoons on so he could zone out, we tried singing to him, we tried walking around the house with him, we tried changing his jammies into something warmer, we tried giving him a cracker, we tried changing his diaper, and we tried letting him cry it out.

Finally I grabbed a sippy cup of water that was about 1/4 full, and gave it to him. The poor kiddo drank it like it was gold (not that you can even drink gold...but you know what I'm getting at), and then began screaming again once he emptied the sippy. In order to hear each other above Jude's screaming, Shawn and I discussed what we should do next:

"SHOULD I GIVE HIM MORE?" I asked.

"DO YOU THINK HIS STOMACH CAN HANDLE IT?" Shawn replied.

"I REALLY DON'T KNOW. BUT HE SEEMS TO WANT IT. IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT'LL CALM HIM DOWN!"

"I GUESS SO..."

So we gave him another 1/2 sippy cup of water, and the three of us cuddled on the couch (and watched the Olympics...did you even know the Olympics are ON at 4:00 in the morning?!) while Jude finished his sippy. Where the air had been filled with piercing screams, there was now silence. Beautiful, golden silence. Jude finished his sippy and instead of screaming this time, held it in his arms like it was a teddy bear, and laid in his Daddy's arms. We stayed in the living room for about 35 minutes because we wanted to make sure the water wasn't going to upset his stomach. We looked down at Jude, and he had fallen asleep in Shawn's arms. I can only name one other time that Jude has fallen asleep in our arms without crying, so we knew he must have been exhausted.

We enjoyed the sweetness of his resting face and the silence of his sleeping for a minute or two, then laid him down - fully expecting him to be up in an hour feeling sick again. Thankfully, Jude slept for about three hours - until 7:40 this morning.

Besides being ready for naps earlier today and the stench of vomit I'm currently working on ridding the house of, you really would not have guessed that he'd been so sick yesterday. As soon as I picked him up out of his crib, he wriggled out of my arms and tried to climb on top of his baby piano. We're taking it easy with crackers and mostly water (I'm just now giving him little bits of his milk) today, lots of cuddling and early naps, but it looks like we've weathered our first stomach bug.

If you think of it - please pray that neither Shawn or I get this. Shawn quite seriously prays to die when he's throwing up, and I'd just as soon not deal with vomiting/caring for a toddler/working/being pregnant.

So the next time Jude gets the yuckies, we now know to try a little bit of water once the worst of the vomiting has passed. Maybe it won't take us an entire hour to figure it out next time!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

will you be my v-a-l-e-n-t-i-n-e?

Did anyone else sing that song in elementary school? If you will, you'll surely know how happy I can be. Sugar, spice and all things nice is what you are to me. Will you be my V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E?

There are many times in my relationship with Shawn that I bust out in some song or dance movement with much enthusiasm and excitement, thinking it's something every child learned. I quickly glean by the very amused look on Shawn's face that apparently most people did not learn it. So right now, I'm picturing you all giving me that same look about my Valentine Song - one of raised eyebrows and patronizing amusement. So seriously - if you know that song, it'd really make me feel much less a fool if you'd comment, email, tell me that you know it. And my siblings don't count - we went to the same elementary school.

So anyway, I'm so sorry about that tangent. Shawn and I celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday, and we had so much fun together! We got dressed up for each other (he bought new stripey socks and I busted out my "smokey evening eyes" make up) and went downtown to Xia's for dinner. It's been a long time since we've been out to eat without Jude, and I kept marveling at how nice it was to not have to move all of my drinks and food to the center of the table. Our conversation was uninterrupted and it was just...nice. After dinner we went to the Winston-Salem Symphony. We've been a couple of times in our time here in Winston, and I just wanted to give 'em a quick plug. If you haven't been, I'd highly recommend it - our experiences there have been nothing but awesome. The tickets are reasonable, and their plugged in pops series is a lot of fun! CLICK HERE for more info. On our way home from the symphony we made a quick stop at Krispy Kreme for some ice cream and donuts.

Shawn actually planned the entire evening, and it was one of our most romantic Valentine's Days ever. Not because of the specific things we did (which were very romantic), but because we got to spend the evening with a friend with whom we're head over heels in love. That man is my best friend, my strength, my partner, my sounding board, my counselor, my leader, my provider, and more than I could have asked or imagined. He's amazing, and there's nobody else with whom I'd rather take this journey than him.

Friday, February 12, 2010

on the homefront

Update on the Maurer goings ons:

Shawn: Is still pretty busy and still extremely handsome. Pinedale is launching a third service (called SOMA) that he is helping to head up and plan, so he's been pretty consumed with that. The launch date is March 28th (or 23rd maybe? Hmmm...the last Sunday in March), so as I'm sure you can imagine - things are pretty hectic.

Jen: I'm actually feeling a little better. I've neglected three major things in my life recently that I'm really working at incorporating again - 1)Time with God 2)Exercise and 3)Healthy Eating. While not doing those three things are not the cause of me breaking down or being overwhelmed, they definitely contribute to my inability to handle life. Our life circumstances don't allow me much time to do any of those three things, but a few minutes a day of each make a world of difference.

Jude: Oh, Jude. That kid's amazing. After that rough week last week, he seems to have calmed down to his normal feisty, mischievous, sweet self. He's still climbing everything and he still throws a tantrum when he's frustrated, but he's not nearly as angry and whiny as he was. Teething? A cold? Reaction to Mommy's stress? Who knows. Who cares - he's past it and for that I'm grateful. He's continuing to grow into a very loving, cuddly, and affectionate little guy which of course - I don't mind in the least.

Baby Maurer: I'm already 14 weeks along and into the second trimester! At 14 weeks, the little one can make facial expressions (grimacing, smiling, squinting), and its' little hands can now grasp things. Beyond being a little more tired than usual and some days a little more cranky than usual, I'm feeling great.

...And Jude just woke up - have a great weekend!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

jonah's EB auction!

I can't believe Jonah's EB Auction is coming up so quickly, and I can't believe even MORE that he's soon going to be one entire year old. Crazy and super exciting! If you're interested in helping out an amazing cause, make sure you bid on tons of stuff. And I'm not just saying that because one of my Serwa Chic Bibs will be in the auction and I'll feel like a total loser of nobody bids on it - I'm saying it because I'm genuinely hoping this thing raises a ridiculous amount of money for debra.

So CHECK IT OUT and save yo monies to help an excellent cause!

Monday, February 8, 2010

i think you dropped this

**I feel the need to preface this blog post with saying that I, by no means, hold a corner on the Life Is Tough market. This post isn't to complain about my life or make it seem like I have things any tougher than anyone else. I just want to be honest and not hide behind my "others have it worse" face. **

I've kind of had a difficult week. There are a few things that factor into it, but truthfully, there's no one thing that is the cause. Jude's been a handful this week. He's either teething or a toddler. I'm worried about the future - both in a way that's completely logical and makes sense given the circumstances, but also in the way that I specialize with worry. Which is to say completely worst-case-scenario, all-consuming worry, stress, and fear. I'm worn out with life - so tired of doing and doing and doing and doing and having nothing to show for it but more stuff to do and more things to worry about. And then of course, I'm pregnant, so my hormones are wack-a-doo.

We're dealing with a lot in our family right now, and I'd say that 85% of the time I can truck along, take things day by day, and just deal with what's in front of me. But for whatever reason, that didn't work on Saturday. I lost it in a way I rarely do.

Saturdays and Sundays are usually Shawn's longest work days, so I was having one of those self-pitying days when I envy all the wives who have their husbands home to help on the weekends. Jude was being particularly fiesty, and I just wanted him to stop whining for five minutes. I'd just read something that I took entirely too personally and was getting fired up about it. I was - literally- overwhelmed with worry about the future, and I was trying to pin fabric with Jude tugging on my leg and head butting my knees. I looked around our house and saw clutter and chaos that I knew I wouldn't have a chance to address.

And all of a sudden, any pretenses of calm or patience I had vanished. I sat on one of our dining room chairs, put my head in my hands, and cried. I clenched my teeth and screamed, "Are you even listening? ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING???"

Immediately, I realized that I didn't even mean those words. Of course He was listening. I thought back to all of the circumstances in my life through which He'd brought me, all of the mire out of which he'd dragged me, all of the blessings He'd poured out to me, and all of the discipline He'd lovingly given me. But sometimes it's hard to know He's there. It's hard to imagine why He won't swoop in and change everything with a wave of His wand. It's hard to feel close to Him when you're angry with Him.

I took a deep breath, wiped away the tears, stood up, and kept plugging away. Thankfully, Jude seemed unaffected by my outburst, and Shawn came home just a couple of hours later. He could see the weariness all over my face, and I asked if we could get out of the house for a little bit, so we decided to take a drive and pick up some ingredients we needed at the grocery store. We took the long way (the very long way - driving in a large circle basically) to the store, took advantage of Jude happily playing with his shoe in his car seat, and I just kind of vented to Shawn. By the time we got to the store, I was feeling better, lighter, and significantly less overwhelmed.

We walked around the grocery store, picked up the items we needed, and spent our energy making each other laugh by coming up with ridiculous baby names. After we checked out, we walked next door to an auto parts store to check on their ice scraper prices. With groceries and Jude in hand, we headed back out to the parking lot to load up for home. As Shawn was putting Jude in the car seat, I noticed a man walking purposefully towards us. I was trying not to stare him down, but was watching him from my peripheral vision because I wasn't quite sure what he was going to do. As he got closer, he held out his hand, and said, "I think you dropped this in the store."

I have a ridiculous amount of things in my purse, so I assumed he was handing me some old receipt or piece of paper that'd fallen out. Embarrassed, I said, "Oh, well thank you," and held out my hand to take what he had. It was only after I was holding it that I realized it was cash - with a quick glance I saw a $20 bill.

"Oh no," I said, holding it back out for him, "I don't think that was us, we don't usually carry cash." He started to back away quickly and said with a smile, "No, I think it was you guys," and turned around - walking to the other side of the parking lot.

Shawn and I got in the car, and I realized that he had handed me three $20 bills. "Honey," I said, "That guy just gave us $60!" We stared at each other for a second, mouths hanging open. I recounted the events for Shawn who'd been too distracted with Jude to catch most of the conversation, and we just sat in the car for a minute, shocked.

I have no idea who that guy was. Neither of us recognized him, and to the best of our knowledge, he didn't know us. We were looking at the clearance aisles, but as far as I remember, we didn't have any conversations about not being able to afford something or not having money for something-or-other.

And the truth is - $60 isn't going to fix our problems. It's a huge blessing, and I'm so grateful for that gentleman's generosity, but I recognize that it doesn't address all the things with which I was so overwhelmed. But as we were driving back home - still sitting in shocked silence - I heard Someone speaking to me.

"I do hear you, sweet child. I know this isn't easy, but I do have a plan for you. There's a purpose to this, I promise. I love you and I am listening."

Saturday, February 6, 2010

poop-tastic

North Carolina seems to have gotten an excessive amount of rain/snowfall in the past couple of months. We found out the hard way yesterday that excessive rainfall can cause one's septic tank to overflow into one's bathrooms (that one meticulously cleaned, scrubbed, and organized a week ago). Unfortunately, we didn't realize the problem until 5:00 when the water in the guest bathroom was soaking into the hallway carpet, and it was dark and pouring rain outside.

After many, many calls, we got two companies to tell us they might be able to make it out the next day, and one guy to tell us there was a chance he could make it out last night. Apparently the overflow was happening to a lot of people in our city, and septic tank workers were a little overworked. Until that point though, we were going through our towels like nobody's business, and this pregnant woman wasn't allowed to pee in our own toilet.

Debating whether Jude and I needed to stay in a hotel or find a friend's home to stay in for the night, our family headed to WalMart to pick up more towels, flashlights (some people across Winston were having power outages because of the ice), and carpet cleaner to hopefully salvage our hallway carpet. And then because we were trying to keep Jude out of our sewage smelling home for as long as possible, we stopped at our local Mexican restaurant for dinner. Somewhere in the middle of my chicken nachos, Shawn got a call from one of the companies who'd said they wouldn't have time to come out until the next day - who was now saying he could come out in about an hour!!

We knew we were probably going to get price gauged, so we were surprised when we were told the cost would be $300 (we were expecting more like $500-$600). The guy who came to fix the tank was so nice, and took care of the problem quickly. He told Shawn that there's basically nothing we can do to prevent this from happening again - beyond hoping it doesn't rain this much in the future. He DID say our septic tank and pipes were in great shape, which is always nice to hear.

So for the next week or so - until this crazy wet weather passes - he told us to just conserve water and toilet paper, and to not flush wipes down the toilet (which I didn't think we ever do, but apparently he found some while he was cleaning). There's apparently a good chance - in this weather - that it'll overflow again. Some days I hate being an adult.

And now, for listening to me whine about our septic tank, allow me to include some pictures of cute bath-time Jude (and a video of his sweet giggles)!




Friday, February 5, 2010

happy pants are offiically on

Not knowing that I was having a bad day and not finding out until I posted a blog about it (and being a little upset at having found out via blog post), Shawn called me as soon as he'd read what I'd written yesterday. He picked me up before his meeting and we went out to get some sewing needles and a few things we'd been meaning to get for Jude. Then my thoughtful and amazing husband picked me up a taco salad from Wendy's (a weird craving I seem to have only when pregnant).

By the time he headed back in for his meeting yesterday evening, I felt thoroughly loved and as if I had someone to turn to when I was overwhelmed.

Jude also started running a low fever and having an out of control running nose. Realizing that he's actually sick helped me having more patience and understanding, so I made sure he got some extra cuddles and was well cared for. With a propping of his pillow, a dehumidifier running at night (or humidifier, I get them confused), and a good night's sleep, he's a little whiny but not snotty and not fevery at all today.

And then I woke up this morning to SNOW! In case you haven't been keeping track, that's three significant winter storms coming through in just over a month. Incredible. And beautiful.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

cranky pants

I can't lie. I'm cranky right now. I woke up a little cranky. Then I realized I was going to have to cancel a Worth the Wait thing tomorrow, which means extra work for me today and then extra work for me for whatever day we reschedule. Then Jude decided he was going to be in a funk today.

Doesn't he know Mommy's in a funk, and this house can only handle one funkified person at a time?

I actually think he might be teething, plus it looks like he might be beginning a cold so really - I guess he has dibs.

And I was kind of starting to get out of my cranky mood by trucking along with sewing stuff I had to do. I was so excited because I was making headway - finishing up an order and finally being able to start on some bibs that Pinedale Daycare has ordered. Then my needle broke. And wouldn't you know it - it's my last needle. And double-wouldn't-you-know-it - we only had one car at the house today, which Shawn took into work. And of course he has a meeting tonight which means 1)Cranky Pants and Cranky Pants' Mom are stuck together with no hope of reprieve until the blessed hour of 8:30 when he goes to bed, and 2) I won't be able to get a needle until at least Monday because there appears to be an ice storm headed our way tonight.

And I'm just feeling sorry for myself about some things that I can't control, I can't change, and I'm not happy about. So there you have it. I have no good reason to be a cranky pants, but I can't seem to shake it.

Every tough problem needs a plan of attack, so here's my cranky pants POA (Plan Of Attack).
1. Play with Jude and enjoy his smile
2. Put Jude down for a nap
3. Eat pizza snacks and maybe cookie dough. Salmonella Schmalmonella.
4. Watch something inane and inconsequential on TV
5. Do some productive housework
6. Remind myself that I'm ridiculously blessed and loved by the Creator of the Universe
7. Take off my Cranky Pants and change into my Happy Pants. If I can't find those, I'll change into my Quit Whining and Be Happy With What You Got Pants.


I sure hope they still fit.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

cravings, what?

No, I'm not having any cravings.



Why do you ask?

Monday, February 1, 2010

snooooow!

Yes, you read that correctly. It substantially snowed in North Carolina twice in one winter. Can you believe it?! Me neither! On Friday afternoon-ish it started snowing and it was beautiful. Absolutely Beautiful.

And then it continued snowing. Almost all weekend. I didn't measure, but I'm guessing we got somewhere around six or seven inches. It just kept falling in its beautiful white snow-ey-ness that made me dance a little "It's Snowing!" dance that caused many a giggle from Jude.

I know we're totally lame, but we didn't actually venture out this time. Jude's just now hitting a long stretch without being sick, and I had an insane amount of sewing to do, so inside we stayed. But don't worry, Jude and I excitedly peered out the door and windows at least twice an hour to make sure it was still beautiful outside.