My new favorite cheese

Yesterday, I was planning to have the lunch of champions - cheese and bread. A coworker encouraged me to try a new cheese instead of my typical cheddar - Dubliner Cheese. I must say, I'm very glad she did. I have a new favorite. We were at a loss to describe it, but the above entry says it all. "It has a robust tangy flavour; it pairs well with apples and grapes, or a well-balanced red wine. It combines the sharpness of mature cheddar, the nuttiness of Swiss, and piquant bite of Parmesan." Or put another way "YUMMY!"

Thanks, Allison!

Holy cleaner, Batman!

I just mopped the house (both floors, all intact rooms) in an attempt to clean up some of the dust from this week's demolition/construction. Holy moly! So so so so much better. It's not perfect, but I can see the hardwood again and the house doesn't feel gritty. I wish I had the energy to do it sooner. Maybe I'll tackle the other surfaces next, after a brief rest. :-)

BTW, I used 1 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon warm water. Worked wonderfully. Cuts through the plaster dust and dirt. It doesn't smell "chemically" or antiseptic. There is a slight vinegar smell that fades as the floor dries (good thing hubby is still away.) Eco-friendly and pregnant lady friendly too.

Registries

I went to Babies R Us today with Eugene. He's shopping for a crib for Ethan and I needed to work on the baby registry. Let me tell you, it's overwhelming. I know my family would prefer that I do my registry there, but OY! I don't want to be limited to their selections only. I've decided that I'm going to do an online registry that let's me add items from any retailer of my choosing. No limits on selection now! This also allows me to do some bargain hunting in the process.

I've got my Baby Bargains book in one hand, a browser window opened to Consumer Reports, and another browser window ready for searching. Let the shopping begin!

Water Bubbles

It started raining yesterday morning and continued to do so for 12 hours. It stopped briefly during the overnight, but has started again. Normally, a rainy weekend doesn't bother me. More time to curl up on the couch reading, watching a movie, or napping (most likely.) This weekend is different. On Wednesday and Thursday, the decking and studs for the first floor addition were put up. There's no second story floor yet (more to come on that in a separate post.) All this rain means that the addition could get wet. Luckily, we knew beforehand that it would rain, and rain a lot. Tarps were bought by the cartload. But I didn't expect this to happen:
This is one of three water bubbles that have collected in the tarps. I tried pushing the water out of them, but the angle is too steep and there's a lot of water. The tarps are stretched to their max now and the water is starting to drip through the threads. As a stop gap measure, I bought more plastic, laid it on the floor and found as many buckets as I could to collect the dripping water.

Tomorrow had better be a sunny day.

Pardon Our Dust

This weekend we accomplished in terms of demolition. The kitchen is gutted, except for the exterior walls. The floor proved to be a challenge - they had to jackhammer out the tile, then cut the two layers of linoleum and 1" thick plywood. At least one saw blade was ruined. The floor was finished this morning.

We had lots of help from friends on Saturday and Sunday and we made relatively short work of the guest bedroom and office. Both of those rooms are completely to studs. When you walk up the stairs you encounter a skeleton of the old rooms.

Just as everyone predicted, we made a lot of mess and there is a fine layer of dust everywhere. Our bedroom is the only dust-free room in the house. (Thank goodness for that draft stopper!) I am constantly washing my hands and feel gritty all the time. Yummy. We don't move out until Oct 1, so there's another 9 days of this. Thank goodness for neighbors who will let us use their guest room.

A big thanks to all who helped out this weekend, from big demo work, to clean up to holding the light while I cut wires. We are very grateful to you.

JACKHAMMERING

I'M SHOUTING AT YOU BECAUSE ERIC AND ANTHONY ARE JACKHAMMERING. THE KITCHEN FLOOR IS STUCK. 1/2 INCH THICK TILE + GROUT + WIRE MESH + SCREWS + LAYER OF LINOLEUM + 2ND LAYER OF LINOLEUM + PLYWOOD. THE ENTIRE HOUSE IS SHAKING.

AFTER THE FLOOR COMES TEARING DOWN THE WALLS TO STUDS, THEN BRING THE CEILING TO JOISTS. BABY AND I ARE HIDING ELSEWHERE AT THE MOMENT TO AVOID DUST AND THE NOISE. OUR LUCKY JOB IS TO SORT OUT THE JUNK DRAWERS. GOOD TIMES.

Baby Droukas: 22 weeks, 6 days

I haven't given a baby update in a while and I've been getting lots of requests.

The last ultrasound was in early August and everything was checking out well. We chose not to find out the gender (well, I chose and hubby has to deal.) I have pictures of the ultrasound that I'll post (backdated) but things are kinda fuzzy. You'll get the idea, though.

I still feel great. My energy level is normal, although this past week I've been falling asleep at 8pm. I think that might be more because of work-related stress than the baby. I still walk 3+ miles several times a week. I don't finish the walk in 45 minutes like I used to, but I'm blaming it on Indigo's frequent potty breaks.

This past week, maybe Tuesday, I really started to feel the baby kicking. It was like getting thumped on the arm; not hard, but you feel it. I liken it to Azure stretching on the bed and pushing us out of her way. Baby just wants more room.

The week after Labor Day I "popped". I'm officially in the "Is she fat or pregnant?" stage. Those who know say they can tell now. I just started wearing maternity clothes. The pants are still a little big, but I'm sure I'll grow into them. It's been months since I wore pants that fall down. I think I need to get a few more Bella Bands.

A few weeks ago I solicited recommendations/suggestions for maternity and newborn products, books, etc. I have an awesome network who responded with fantastic ideas. I am using what they suggested to create my registry on Wishpot.com. I'll share what they said here in a few weeks. It's a long list to compile. Also, my BIL is very generous and giving us the baby furniture from his girls who have recently outgrown it. Thanks BIL! My SIL is giving me lots of great tips and sharing clothes from her boys. The Droukii are a very supportive family. If anyone else has advice to offer, please, send it on!

Other than that, I am just trying to manage life. I've got three big things going on and I can only reasonably handle two of them at any given time. For the last two weeks, it's been Baby and Work (big product release that is not going as planned,) much to hubby's dismay. Next week things should shift to House and Baby. Let's hope the energy level stays high.