How do I fill my days?

The Great Grandma Showdown: Leavenworth Grandma (LG) and Olathe Grandma (OG) went to lunch together this week! They have never been the best of friends, but LG has had a wild hair up her ass that they should go to lunch. First, a backstory. My mother’s maiden name, C___, was also MY middle name (before I changed it after getting married). My sister decided to give HER daughter this name as a middle name to honor my mother and because it had been my name as well. However, we have all dreaded LG’s reaction because she still resents my grandfather even though 1) he has been dead for over 5 years and 2) they have been DIVORCED for over 50. So, yesterday at lunch, OG took it upon herself to tell LG what my sister was planning. As expected, LG started railing on my grandpa. However, she was stopped short when OG declared emphatically, “Well, she [my sister] isn’t naming the baby after him, she is naming her after her grandmother and aunt.” [meaning my mother and I]. Apparently, that shut LG up right then and there. OH, how I wish I could have been there! As my OG said later, “I am not afraid of her - after all, I am OLDER than her!” hee hee
Go, Go Grandma!

Rancid Rave: Anyone that knows me in real life knows that I am not a makeup fiend. I gave up years and years ago on trying to look cute or gorgeous. However, I have to rave about Loreal’s True Match. You take a plastic card with sample colors on it and put it against your wrist. Whichever color disappears, is the color to go with. Yes, I know the experts say the wrist match isn’t the way to go, but THIS WORKED. The ultimate test? After applying the foundation for the first time, I got into my car to head out. I flipped down the visor and lo and behold - the foundation DID match. Gals, you all know what I mean by the “natural light test”. The foundation itself was pretty good, too - very light and it held pretty well.

Fill ‘er up!!:
Warning: The rest of this post is where I talk mostly about me, me, me. One of my favorite topics!

I’ve had several people, including X, ask “So, what do you do all day?”. In short, I am unapologetically enjoying my free time! I have worked non-stop since I was 16, so I am looking at these few months as a way to catch my breath before a new type of madness takes over. For the most part, I have used this time to get all the stupid, small household chores done that I had been wanting to do since we moved it. For example, I am working on organizing the garage. Truth be known, all the tools and gadgets are MINE and it drives me crazy when I can’t find what I need. Also, I recently replaced all the door pulls in our kitchen - there were 45 of them, so that was no small task. I am also going through all my storage boxes again in an attempt to see what else I can get rid of. And of course, I have been working on the Freeloader’s room. At this point, it is 50% Kid Room and 50% Junk Room, so believe it or not, that is considered PROGRESS. Yesterday, I did my first load of baby laundry, which was a bit disconcerting. It’s one thing to have the little guy kicking (and screaming?) inside of me, but it’s another to wash his clothing. In short, this guy is COMING OUT someday. Eek. Also, I did stock up on the necessities like baby wipes, diapers, etc. At this point, we are ready - the Freeloader could come tomorrow and I would be fine with that. The nursery is not really critical at this point, because he has a place to sleep in our bedroom. I am certainly not going to stress over decorating a room that he won’t even be using until next year. I am more concerned with getting our HOUSE, my OFFICE, and our PHOTOS in order. The house is almost done, the office is a nightmare and the photos frighten me a bit. The photos are particularly important to me right now, because as much as I love taking pics of the cats, the little Freeloader is probably going to be used to lights popping in his little eyes (um, just like the cats are now, come to think of it). (Rancid Reader Request: How do YOU organize your digital photography? Do you name each individual file? I have folders named according to subject and year - for example, 05 Nephews, 04 Christmas, etc. I used to name each file, but this new system on the Mac isn’t letting me do that so easily. I am wondering the importance of naming each file since I am very organized according to year and subject matter.)

For the most part, I have noticed that I have settled into a routine. I try to be up every day by 7:30am and I go downstairs for what I like to call “The Changing of the Guards”. The Inside Cat goes out and the Outside Cat comes in - usually, in their rush to exchange positions, they will bump into each other nearly every time. I make a pot of coffee, then I meander upstairs to my office for email, blogs and news. At that point, I enter some sort of time warp and the morning flashes before my eyes. Sometimes, I forget to eat and that isn't helping this whole "3rd trimester nausea" thing. Sigh.

I was surprised to find that I watch very little TV. I was worried that I would get sucked into that. While, I will occasionally watch something the DVR recorded the night before, I have found that DAYTIME TV SUCKS ASS. I get frustrated with the news channels and would rather READ my news, than WATCH my news. The silly talk shows irritate me (Star Jones, why oh WHY are the tabloids following YOUR stupid, inane, shallow, vapid, egotistical ass?) I even tried to watch some children’s programming just to see what is out there. SCARY. I realize, I need to stock up on some DVDs - the Freeloader can’t live by Wallace and Gromit alone OR alternately, with a mother hopped up on tranquilizers to stem the seizures caused by all the shitty animation out there these days. Cripes.

I had hoped that with my not working, that I would get to see my family more and by god, I HAVE been to the nursing home THREE times in a span of a week. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you view it), my Great-Aunt P is in the home for right now. The jury is out if she will remain there. This place is a kick-ass nursing home, folks. Very clean, smells nice and has tons of amenities (yep, all you Sopranos fans out there, repeat after me in a Jersey accent “It’s a retirement COMMUNITY”). However, my great-aunt has a slight addiction to the TV show Law and Order and the HOME DOES NOT GET TNT. I seriously doubt she is going to make it. It is actually a bad situation because she can’t live on her own anymore and she has no living relatives to take care of her . Well, we are taking care of her, but we are actually her in-laws and have no legal authority to step in and take over. She is on her own, so to speak. Also, I should note that in my family, if you are in a nursing home, you are guaranteed at least 1-2 visitors daily - certainly more on the weekends and the holidays. A nursing home doesn’t HAVE to be a dumping ground and it is truly a travesty that many people ARE just dumped into them. I can tell you for a fact, that residents are not mistreated when they have daily visitors and have obnoxious family willing to get into the administration’s face. We have had great experiences with 3 of the nursing homes in our town.

Finally, the thing I love most about staying home, is that I feel like I am getting to really enjoy this pregnancy. For the most part, it has been a great experience. I love playing my favorite game, BellyWatch 2005 - if the little guy starts kicking, I am free to just sit and watch! If I was working, the Not-So-Supervisor would have surely frowned on that. I guess, for me, because I really doubted this would happen, I am still SO appreciative that I get to have this very cool experience. In fact, at the very end of her pregnancy with Older Nephew, my sister commented that she was a little wistful at the thought of not being pregnant with him anymore. I thought she was insane at the time.

However, now I understand completely.