On The Express Lane To Babytown

Lovely yarn received in trade: Yarn Love in "Fig Tart" & Dashing Dachs in "Pumpkins"

 
Jigga wha?
 
WTF? Whatchoo say? All these popped, unbidden, into my head after my doctor’s appointment on Monday.  The one where I was told that I “will not” make it to my original March 9th due date and that our doctor will be surprised if I make it more than 2 weeks from now without having to be induced.  After both R. Darling and I picked our jaws up off of the floor, we settled in for the explanation.
 
For a few weeks now they’ve been sending me in for stress tests to make sure the baby is doing o.k. as my blood pressure has been steadily increasing.  Though Knittymunchkin is happy as a little clam inside my belly, my body is not doing nearly as well and I’m showing signs of impending Pre-eclampsia.  That means that I now have to go in every 3 days or so for a fetal stress test and blood panel to check the progression of my symptoms.  The doctor says he’s seen worse, but he’s seen better and that he is very sure I’ll have to deliver early.  If we’re lucky things might slow down to the point that the baby can be in there for 3 more weeks which would be ideal.  2 weeks is more likely, according to our doctor, but that means they would have to keep the baby for at least a week at the hospital and we don’t like that idea at all.  I’ve been told to take it easy, and am not on strict bedrest or anything, but I am doing my best to take it as easy as I can.  I want to give my body the best chance it has to maintain things just a little bit longer.  Bed rest sounds nice and all, but you have no idea how tiresome it gets after a few short days.  The good thing is, I have a little bit of time to finish up those last minute knitting projects that will never get touched again once Knittymunchkin arrives :)
 
The yarn up there?  That’s some lovely stuff that I traded to an extremely generous fellow Raveler for an exclusive sock club colorway that I wasn’t really feelin’ and thought deserved a better home.  She unexpectedly sent me 2 hanks of yarn even though our original trade was just for the pink & green Yarn Love.  Such a lovely surprise!  I tell ya – knitters are just the nicest people ever ;)

Hey Homeskillet

Well my list of 101 things in 1001 days that I mentioned the other day is up and ready (check the tab up top for a static link).  I decided I’d make my start date January 1, 2010 just for convenience, though I’m not officially posting it until today.  Though not particularly self-edifying or inspiring (no summiting of Everest, or winning an Oscar, on the list here), my list does encompass quite a lot of things I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time.  There’s a mix of things easily accomplished and things somewhat more difficult to achieve.  And though you’ll notice “Grow a munchkin” is on there and I quite technically started that process last year, I don’t count that one as fully completed until Knittymunchkin is here safe and sound :)  Have fun looking it over and laughing (yes, some of it will likely strike you as goofy) and rest assured I’ll be reporting to you on my progress as I work my way towards completing everything.
 
First stop – “Try 10 new recipes”.  I should probably have made it more challenging and said 100 recipes or something, but we’ll shoot for 10 and see what happens.  I mean, pretty soon I’ll be feeding a baby every 2 hours and cooking will seem like a distant memory. Hear that honey?
 

Frango no leite

 
There’s a lovely little restaurant in Victoria, B.C. that we discovered purely by accident on our first visit to the city.  Hungry and on foot, we stumbled across Santiago’s as we walked from our hotel across the street toward the waterfront.  Boasting a South American menu, brilliantly colored surroundings, and strings of twinkling white lights inside, we could almost envision ourselves sitting in an outdoor cafe in Brazil with city life and scrumptious smells swirling around us.  That first time we ate there twice in 2 days, and every time we go back we make sure to stop in for at least one meal.  On our last visit (for our 5th anniversary this past September) we spotted a cookbook as we were walking in and asked the waitress about it.  It was a bit pricey, but the food was just so amazing that we had to have the recipes to make it for ourselves when we returned home.  I believe I mentioned that was in September?
 
Fast forward to Sunday night (January 17).  What better way to kick off my 101 things in 1001 days journey than with a new recipe from one of our favorite places?  I chose the Frango No Leite (this is most definitely not Spanish that I recognize; perhaps Portuguese?) because that’s the dish I usually order when we dine there, and then made Santiago’s Rice to go with it.  The rice is made with coconut milk and it was definitely interesting to go back to the old school way of making it in a saucepan rather than a rice cooker.  I had visions of burnt caked on rice having to be scrubbed off the bottom of the saucepan afterwards, but no such thing.  It came out perfect and the house smelled divine (who doesn’t love the smell of coconut?).  For the Frango No Leite, as the recipe is Canadian (and therefore metric), I had to do some mini-calculations.  As well, the spicing combination is made for a huge batch of chicken, while the cooking portion of the recipe is made for a one-dish preparation.  So there were some conversions to be worked out there too.  Overall though, I think it came out nearly exactly like the dish at the restaurant if only a tad spicy (too much cayenne pepper; next time I’ll half it).  A perfect blend of lemon, cream, tomato & chicken.  Yum!  Not bad for coming from the homeskillet ;) And the best part? R. Darling gave it a 10 before he remembered that nothing in our house gets a 10 unless it’s served sans clothing. So I guess this one’s a winner!
 
And now we’re officially on our way!

Friday Fill-In #159

My last shipment of Sock Club yarn from Hazel Knits

 
~Sigh~ Isn’t it lovely?  Let me tell you, it’s breaking my heart to not be able to join the Hazel Knits Sock Club for the next round.  I had a whole year or so of yummy yarny goodness and now I have to call it quits.  That no workin’ thing kinda cramps the yarn buyin’ style if you know what I mean.  Realistically though, I have enough sock yarn to knit at least 40 pairs of socks already.  And that’s a way conservative estimate.  So I need to just go ahead and use it up, otherwise it’s just hanging out taking up space.  I’m really going to miss Wendee’s sock club though.  I haven’t exactly been around the block when it comes to sock clubs, but Wendee’s was truly perfect.  Each shipment came beautifully packaged, with a lovely little pamphlet through which Wendee would share a recipe, some thoughts on her inspiration for the month’s colors, and other little tidbits to give you a peek into her creative and exciting world.  Usually there’s some cool indie swag too and then, well, that drool-worthy yarn.  On top of that, Wendee is the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet (and we still haven’t met yet)!  Maybe someday in the future I can join up again, but for now I’m going to have to say goodbye.  Sniff, sniff…..

 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday Fill-In #159
(get yours here)

 
1. The lesson I learned yesterday was waiting to put your honeymoon photos (from 5 years ago) into a photo album can really put a damper on deciphering where exactly your photos were taken & just what the heck you were doing at the time.
2. Big life events are the crossroads where friends and family meet.
3. All these years I’ve longed to be able to look at someone and see a resemblance.  Pretty soon I’ll get to do that!
4. My dog was waiting for me, soaking wet, when I arrived.
5. The truth is I kinda like staying at home.
6.  The doctor saying “I’m sorry” is what I remember most from that day.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to eating a good steak with my hubby, tomorrow my plans include meeting Troy to talk about baby shower stuff and Sunday, I want to knit for a while (that Baby Chalice blankie is kicking my butt)!
 

Have a beautiful weekend bloggy peeps!

Doula Oblongata

Chameleon Scarf In Progress

 
This past weekend we attended our intensive weekend Parenting & Childbirth class through the local technical college.  As always, I approached this kind of thing with my usual trepidation.  You know the drill: they make you introduce yourself, ask/answer questions and participate.  I hate that crap.  Just give me the info and I’ll ask my questions when/if I feel like it, thank you very much.  Please don’t force me to talk.
 
The absolute worst part was the forced hen party on the first day.  Get together Moms, and talk about how you’re feeling physically and emotionally right about now. Oh puh-lease. I let the group go ahead and figure that one out on their own because honestly, I felt almost nothing like any of the rest of them said they were feeling this far along.  I don’t throw tantrums or get angry for no reason, I don’t have any weird cravings, I don’t expect extra help, nor do I resent it when I get it and I don’t watch A Baby Story incessantly for my daily dose of pregnancy and childbirth info.  Not that there’s anything wrong with all that stuff. Everyone is different. Though I do feel tired and my joints ache, and I occasionally cry for unknown reasons (I did that before anyway, so nothing new there), not much has really changed other than my growing belly and a little bit of that nesting instinct coming on.  I feel very very normal.  Maybe this is weird and I should be worried.
 
As I looked around the group at all the bright, shiny, young, eager faces, I wondered what I was missing.  These kids – yes, I say kids, because most of them appeared in their very early to mid-twenties at most (no offense to you readers out there of this age group, just sayin’ that compared to me, you guys are young ‘uns!) – these kids looked so excited and unworried about the way their lives were about to change in just a few short weeks.  What do these kids know that I don’t?  Is it just blissful naivete?  Because, frankly, I’m pretty much scared shitless.
 
Though much of the class was spent going over things I didn’t really find entirely useful, we did learn a few really interesting and valuable things that I think made our time worth it.  For one thing, I had no idea that a large portion of your labor can be experienced at home.  You don’t really need to go to the hospital until things are pretty much imminent, but you could spend 12 hours or so chillin’ at home with occasional, and then periodic, contractions first.  Meaning I could knit a couple baby hats during the first part of my labor and  not think twice.  The other thing I really didn’t realize was that the doctor (in a hospital birth, which we’re having) is really only there for that last few minutes of action when you are finally pushing the baby out.  The rest of the time you are on your own honey.  I had heard of Doulas before but really had no clue what they did, being under the misconception that it was sort of a hippie thing I wouldn’t be interested in.  Turns out, I was incredibly wrong and I am very sure now that I want one present when I give birth.  I think R. Darling might be even more inclined to have one than I am!  We have an appointment with one on Monday, wish us luck that we like her.
 
The best part though?  We were doing some modified breathing exercises with R. Darling laying on his side in front of me, pillow between his knees, and me laying behind him, my leg on top of his legs, and Knittymunchkin kicked him in the back.  He nearly jumped out of his skin!  “Was that the baby?”, he asked.  I laughed and told him that’s what I feel all day long, only from inside too ;)
 
By the way, Bruno/Deuce has a new name, along with a sex change.  R. Darling, in all his infinite cleverness (which is really quite abundant) has renamed our vehicle Ros (pronounced Roz).  That is R-O-S: Result Of Sex.  So appropriate!

Friday Fill-In #158

Wow, it’s been a while!

 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday Fill-In #158
(get yours here)

 
1. There are places I will always dream about going, and maybe someday I’ll get there.
2. Nothing like a hug from hubby to blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the dark, staring at the moon and stars, is something I never do often enough.
4. Only 8 weeks left – oh boy!
5. He went out tiger hunting and you can see his stripes so you know he’s clean.
6. Being exhausted is the only thing that keeps my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to knitting while hubby studies, tomorrow my plans include baby class and Sunday, I want to finish up the baby class and then just rest!
 

Have a wonderful weekend bloggy peeps!

Growing Up Is Hard To Do

Something weird happened on Saturday.  We traded in my cute little Volvo S40 (aka Zippy) and got ourselves a Volvo XC70 Station Wagon.  Yeah, you heard me – station wagon.  On purpose.  And even worse, we like it.  A lot.  Craps.  I think I might have just become a grown-up.  It’s all downhill from here.
 

The New Shaggin' Wagon

 
What’s funny is, we feel entirely irresponsible for buying it.  The S40 was almost paid off and now we have saddled ourselves with a car payment for the next 6 years.  But the car seat was seriously not fitting in Zippy and the stroller was a major squeeze to get it into the trunk.  So here we are.  I immediately named the new car Bruno, which R. Darling hated, so we’ve changed it to Deuce (as in my second Volvo, and the second new-to-me car we’ve gotten since we got married).  But secretly, I’m still calling him Bruno.  What better name for a meaty guy that’s hired to protect you at all costs?  I still have yet to do much other than test drive it as R. Darling is seriously in love with the thing, but you know me.  I’m not keen on driving anyway, so I’ll have my chance soon enough.
 
No New Year’s resolutions to report.  I’m going to be posting soon about 101 Things in 1001 Days, which I’m sure you’ve seen around and/or heard about.  I’m working on my list and checking it twice.  Believe it or not, it’s kinda hard to think of 101 meaningful things to do and I can’t cop out and say, “do less of this or that” or, “do more of whatchamacallit” because everything is supposed to be quantitative so you have an actual end result.  But I think I’m up to 95 or something so it will be up soon.
 
Other than that, knitting knitting knitting and getting my insides kicked to high heaven :)  It’s all good!