gotta love a good deal

april 4th proved a good day for deals

we had our new cedars delivered
bought patio furniture
deck/fence stain and laminate for the back unit

but this didn't come easy

zellers had this amazing 2day sale which is still on today
and patio sets of 6 chairs, umbrella, and glass top table - $177...so knowing this special would run out i called all of the ottawa zellers at 830am but they were actually open at 8
almost everywhere had already sold out except st laurent blvd and teresa there was kind enough to hold a set for me
also had a midwife appt the same morning but somehow made it over in the rain after the cedars were delivered just before 10, bought the set zoomed back home to pick up steve and made it to the 11am appt
a bit of stress for a great deal

but then we went to rona
and i had insisted we start pulling up the carpet in the back unit because it is in terrible shape
so anyhow...we got our laminate (glue free stuff and all) for 5$ a box!...when it was first rung in it showed the original price of 240$ and we got it for 35$!!!!! then got some deck/fence stain in cedar...3 gallons of it for 2.50$ each instead of 20$
gotta love rona

i guess it is appropriate given it was my dad's birthday. and the scots are i suppose somewhat known for their frugality.

almost 34 wks

latest preggo pic...

and am still holding on to my belly button!

roisin pic

from 2 weekends ago when i was in toronto for my baby shower...not quite a prodigy but good at banging on the keys!

c'est le jour...finalement

voici le moment que steve a anticipe pour quelques semaines!
l'election au quebec, c'etait l'obsession de steve...qui va gagner?
plus que ca change...

damn i don't know how to put the accents in but steve's obsession with the election will end tonight and finally he can stop talking about it!

me at 31.5wks pregnant

time is getting closer...now here i am at 31.5wks pregnant

the places you can see in a year

well combined from january to january
steve and i have been to a lot of places
i started off january of 2006 with 3 weeks in thailand to study thai yoga massage and thai reflexology
and then...between the two of us there was...the canary islands; guatemala; jordan; uk; antigua; st lucia; barbados; puerto rico; dominica and the states if you count that as really all that foreign...hmm feel like i am leaving something out but just wanted to share a few photo memories
makes me happy to think of all the places we have travelled to that i never thought i'd visit
we'll have to catch the baby up on the world travels when he gets here
guess i tried to upload too many photos so the following is a selection of what made it into this entry

camels in the canaries





thai massage - pictured above

dominica - left







doi suthep in chiang mai at left and the pitons in st lucia above

leave it to blogger

it had a meltdown when i was last trying to post

was in the gta last weekend for the baby shower
and the day was just perfect
felt very loved
made me miss being there a bit
people aren't as open here
and it has been very isolating
i can count on one hand the friends i have seen since i became pregnant
and it isn't like i have the plague
i just can't go out for a few drinks right now
i try to write it off as people being at different stages in their lives
but it kinda hurts
my social life has become one of chatting with my air canada colleagues who all ask how i am doing and seem excited for the additional new person to come
better than nothing
but not the same as spending time with good friends

we got a last blast of winter last night - about 10cm of snow
so no class this morning
and instead i think it will just be a day of writing thank yous and catching up on the website work
the new york times co. waits for no one so i keep writing and editing

not sure of how i feel about this post so think it is done

on the storm front

woke up to freezing rain pounding on the window
which mixed with the snow might make a fun walk for me today to get more tests done
i tell you
in the past several months i think i have had more appointments, blood work, and other tests than in the past decade!
and still another ultrasound to come
the first one i couldn't even focus on as my bladder was feeling full enough to burst
i just kept focussing on not peeing
so thankfully steve was there to report what happened as i went into a meditative state to distract myself from the discomfort of a full bladder at the end of my first trimester

but the bloodwork is always interesting
i am not afraid of needles in any way...i watch the blood seep out as it is drawn into those tiny vials
but i have deep rooted veins that hide from the surface
so the needle insertion can be a bit painful
i had a student midwife fumble around under the tutelage of my midwife
and she left a bit of a track marked look on my arm
when she missed a 4th time the midwife was like ok that's it enough chances for you
and plunged into the vein and filled the 4 tubes in no time

plus finding out i actually have a rare, negative blood type when i thought i had a common one

the things you learn

so i am off to brace myself against the storm and get some more blood sucked out this morning

now that i am in my third trimester...

...thought i should post a pic of what i look like today at 28wks and 2 days pregnant

fun with names

have already picked out the name for the baby boy but i enjoyed this name site as it has history, popularity, namesakes, etc. kind of fun actually

http://www.behindthename.com/

and now a few afters

we lost some our upstairs den space with the new bathroom. but in the den the window was replaced with a french door and in the bathroom a bizarre rusted door was replaced with a much smaller window. the pictures don't really give the whole story. the bathroom is tiled all the way around to 4ft high, usual sort of whirpool bath and raindrop shower head and then cherry vanity with a plain porcelain sink. simple, and tried to keep the feeling of late victorian/early edwardian with the tiling. i like it, it fits this old house. and it is nice to house our extensive native art collection throughout.
and some of the chair railing that has been done in all of the hallways up and down stairs.

before and after photo time!

ok...it has been a while since our first set of renos were done so thought it was time to put in a few before shots and next blog some afters...oh and a photo of roisin from december

so the photos are the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms and the kitchen before...thank god for living in between chinatown and little italy - lots of cheap, and good food for the 2 months we didn't have a kitchen.

oh and the renos to the upstairs bathroom were while i was the 1st trimester peeing queen so for days i had to trek downstairs several times a night - depends were looking really good let me tell you.

there was a lot to clear...a lot demolished...a lot of dust...but it is done

joys of pregnancy

just back from the trip late last night
hence no blogs for the past several weeks
don't even want to talk about how nice it was to get away
so
now that i have been pregnant for half a year
suppose i have been reflecting on it
and what i have discovered about myself

i have an incredible capacity for paranoia - incessant worrying - piling stress on myself as if every pang and twitch is laden with doom

i hate dreams - at least the ones i have had since this pregnancy began - vivid, lucid, stress-infused dreams

i don't sleep well - even though i am tired a lot, my capacity for sleep has not increased so i am sort of moving about in a fog of lethargy most of the time

i am more forgiving of myself than i thought - i see a few veins popping and a little stretchmark or two and that is life, i am not fretting about it

i miss a great glass of port - enough said...may can't come sooner...can it?

i enjoy spending time on my own - i think this is more responding to the impending change about to hit me in a few months

i miss my friends and family - it is nice having a few good friends, and my brother here, but it just isn't the same as the people you grew up with

i am not a big fan of being pregnant - some women revel in it, i think i am just more about it being the means to an end. i am not "enjoying" it i guess as i should be, i think the joy will be present when i get to meet this little boy and man can he kick...a lot...at any time of the day or night

cruising

so steve and i are off this weekend on our last trip before the baby comes
off to cruise the southern caribbean
love to see the islands this way...pampered and well fed
a few of the islands we've been to, but there are ones we have yet to visit
then a week of island hopping by air afterwards
sigh
can't wait

the river today

steve and i took a 2hr walk along the ottawa river pathway this morning
and with the sun and no sign of snow i saw signs of spring
not flowers budding or anything
but lots of cyclists
and there were a fair few of us walking
an older gent stopped and chatted with us about all of the plaques that have been added along the route
about rafts and logging and the fires that destroyed about a 5th of ottawa at the turn of the 20th century
the things you miss on a bike
or when they are covered by snow
the things you miss in the cars somewhere above the pathway on the parkway
are more numerous
the air was crisp and mild
the water calm
and it was hard to imagine the rapids at chaudiere falls, and pine logs moving downstream
but it was a beautiful walk
and a cute baby was sporting sunglasses as his dad ran and pushed the jogging stroller at a rapid pace along the path

in case you wondered...

steve and i went to the ultrasound clinic and i found out the sex of the baby today

let's just say my intuition was right!