5 Years

It seems to strange to me to say that today is our 5 year anniversary.

For some reason that feels like a long time.  So much longer than 4 years.  Maybe it is because I probably can't call us newlyweds anymore.  Although I don't think we have felt like newlyweds in a VERY long time.

I just can't even believe all that the last 5 years has entailed:

-  Phil's dad's Liver Cancer
-  The PE Exam
-  Infertility
-  Thyroid Cancer (diagnosis, LID, RAI)
-  Cancer Free
-  A puppy
-  Getting pregnant
-  Having a baby
-  Losing Phil's Dad
-  Buying a house
-  Phil finishing his PhD


What's funny is that when we were picking out the song for our first dance, we kept going back to Steady as We Go by Dave Matthews Band.

And the basic message of the song is that no matter what happens, we'll get through it.  Steady as we go.  And that's exactly what the last 5 years have been.

I know everyone says it, but I really did get the best guy out there.  Through everything we have been through, Phil's been an absolute rock.  He works hard.  He's kept his focus.  He's kept us on track.  He's kept me going when I didn't know if I could.  He goes along with my crazy ideas.  He is kind (everyone likes him more than me).  Marrying that guy was, without a doubt, the best decision I ever made.

Phil, I'm so glad I followed you around at Ryan's birthday party.  :)  I love you!  Thank you for being amazing during 5 of the best and hardest years of my life.  Here's to 60 more!

Baby's 1st Guitar Lesson

Have you ever noticed that bloggers seem to go MIA for a while and then suddenly they return with an announcement that they are pregnant?

Yeah, that's not why I haven't been blogging.  :)

Between the holidays, my mother-in-law visiting, throwing a baby shower, and work (I worked over 50 hours this last week), I really don't have a ton to blog about.

BUT...

Last night, I was at a meeting and Phil decided Henry needed his first guitar lesson.

And because he is the best husband in THE WORLD, he filmed it.  And then he made a little movie.

It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Here you go.



Baby's 1st Guitar Lesson from Natalie Janney on Vimeo.


I'm really hoping to get a life here soon, so I have something to blog about.  :)

He PASSED!!!

I'm a few days late on posting this, but...

PHIL PASSED HIS DEFENSE!!!

I had really zero doubt in my mind that he would, but still there's a little part of you just can't wait for the relief that it is actually over.  He did a great job with his presentation, his public questions went well, and I am sure he did a great job with the closed door portion too.

So Phil is officially a doctor (of philosophy, not medicine).  I'm no longer the most educated person in the house.  :)

It is kind of funny because Phil almost doesn't know what to do with himself now that his dissertation and defense are done.  Not like he doesn't have a few things to do (he has a few revisions that he has to make), but it isn't the 24/7 type of work he has been doing.

And I am just totally exhausted.  As Phil was going through his presentation on Monday, I kind of relived the last 7 years.  There were parts of his research that I had kind of repressed a little.  Late nights, long hours, weekends alone, frustration in the process, etc.  By the time everything was said and done, I felt drained.

I have had a couple of days to kind of process everything and I am starting to get more and more excited about the fact that grad school is over.  It is definitely one of those things where it is good you don't really know what is ahead of you when you start down the road.  Graduate school is not for the faint at heart and neither is being a graduate wife.

Our first order of business after Phil's defense was to get him some ALUMNI gear.

{The ornament looks like of red, but it is actually orange}

After all, he most definitely earned it.  We had kind of discussed if Alumni stuff was appropriate for graduate work (since it seems like most of the time people only have that for undergraduate degrees), but then Phil pointed out that he spent more time at Oregon State than James Madison, so it made sense.

The last 7 years have been so crazy... Phil moved across the country. We met.  Moved in together.  Got engaged.  Got married.  His dad was diagnosed with Liver Cancer.  We found out we had some fertility challenges.  My nodules were found.  I had cancer.  I beat cancer.  We got a puppy.  We had a baby.  Phil's dad passed away.  We bought a house.

And he still managed to produce some great work and finish his doctorate degree.

Phil, I am so proud of you and everything you have accomplished.  With absolutely everything you have faced, I am sure most people would have given up.  But you endured and still managed to provide emotional support for me through the last crazy 6.5 years.  Congratulations, love.  I am so so proud of you.

Oh hey, I have a blog

I've been fairly silent on social media for the last few weeks.

Henry's ear infection turned into another ear infection (with antibiotics that he would only take if you turned on Frozen).

{I don't know what it is about Frozen, but it seriously puts him in a trance.}

Then I got bronchitis.  Now I've had bronchitis before, but this was the worst by far.  I've never gotten it before with a fever.  We are talking fever, body aches, chills, severe sweating for 5 days.  Thankfully on Day 6, the antibiotics were kicking in and I was able to resume normal life.

Day 6 of my sickness was also the day Henry got Croup.

Did I mention that this whole sickness relay also happened while Phil has been working almost around the clock finishing up his dissertation?  I am so thankful for my parents who watched Henry for basically the entire weekend so Phil could work and I could be sick on the couch.

So between sickness, the dissertation, keeping everyone fed, clean, and clothed, blogging has fallen to the wayside.

Don't fret my pets... the end is in sight.

But seriously, Henry and I apparently need to invest in large quantities of vitamin C.  I'm pretty sure the only reason Phil hasn't gotten sick is because of adrenaline.

One thing I have noticed, even when I was healthy, was that without Phil's help I really can't do everything.  Not that this should be a huge surprise.  And it's not like things don't get done.  But they don't get done well all of the time.  Laundry from two weeks ago is sitting folded in the bonus room.  And I haven't done any laundry since.

Sometimes making dinner means chicken nuggets.

 Sometimes it means pizza.  And sometimes cleaning means doing the absolute bare minimum for the house to not be gross.

Henry has been in disposables, partially because antibiotics have been havoc on his poor little digestive system and partially because I haven't wanted to deal with the extra laundry.

Ultimately, none of that crap matters.  We are getting through the end of graduate school.  And as long as we are mostly happy, loving, and supportive of one another, the details don't matter.

Henry's happy, so I must be doing something right.  :)

Stay healthy, people!

I don't even own A spice...

One of my brother's favorite Wayne's World quotes is:

"A gun rack.  A GUN RACK.  I didn't even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack.  What am I going to do with a gun rack."

So naturally anytime you say something with the word "rack" in it, he says the quote.

Yesterday, Phil installed the spice rack he made for me.

{Isn't it beautiful?!  We have plans to paint it white, 

but I didn't want to wait for the rain to stop to paint it.}

It's almost like Phil wrote me a poem.  But it is made of wood and holds spices.

When we found out we were getting this house, I told Phil I wanted him to make me a spice rack, using THIS tutorial.  I have WAY more spices than a person should have (I think when we moved, I had like 4 bottles of cinnamon) and they take up A LOT of room in the pantry.

I didn't want Phil to take any breaks from working on his dissertation to build it for me, so we bought the supplies and I told him to get to it when he had the chance (probably not until he finished grad school).  But slowly, during much needed breaks from the computer, he worked on it.

AND IT IS DONE!

Seriously, I love it.

It inspired me to go through everything else in the pantry and throw away expired food.  Turns out I had cans with a "BEST BY" date of 2009.  That means I moved it from our apartment, to the duplex, to the house.  Efficient is my middle name.

Next up, Phil is going to make me THIS foil holder.

When Phil asked what I would be blogging about today and I told him, "The spice rack" he replied with, "Oh I thought it would be about trick or treating with Henry."  Mother of the Year.

The Favorite

I think we know who everyone's favorite is...

I'm not jealous.  He's my favorite too.  :)

There are several reasons why he is my favorite.  One of the reasons: he's my bug killer.

Except at the office (because he can't come to my office whenever I encounter a bug).  Right now, we are having a bit of an ant problem at work.  At one point today, I thought about just giving the ants my desk.  That would have been the easiest solution since the ants were EVERYWHERE and I hate all bugs.  Lyme Disease and a bug bite that had to be surgically removed will do that to you.

Have I ever really mentioned on here that I had Lyme Disease?  I did.  I used to be totally fine and levelheaded around bugs.  But when a bug bite makes you violently ill, requires you to take weeks worth of antibiotics, and then takes another two months to get over, it kind of fosters an irrational fear of them.

So like I said... I wanted to abandon my desk and all of my belongings in it.  But I put on my big girl pants, went and got an ant trap, and put it under my desk.

When I told Phil, he sincerely applauded my bravery.

Another reason he is my favorite.

This might be the weirdest love letter ever.  Whatevs.

Photo Dump

I am awful about downloading pictures from my camera.  This is evident on my DSLR and my iPhone.  I had over 1,300 pictures on my camera.  Finally, I downloaded them all and then deleted them from my camera.  Apparently it happens less than once a year.

I really should do it more often because I found all kinds of gems.

Like Cotton checking out Henry in his napper on his first day home.

Early smiles.

 Hanging out with Daddy on his first Father's Day.

One month old.

Getting baptized.

Hanging out in Virginia.

First trip to the beach.

Jumpin' fun.

Pumpkin Patch.

Chillin' with Sophie.

Christmas Tree.

I really should download pictures more often.

5 Things Friday

Are you keeping track?  This makes my FOURTH post THIS WEEK.  That's like a post-Henry record.  When I was driving to pick up Phil last Sunday, Henry was sleeping peacefully in his carseat and I had something VERY relaxing playing over the car radio (*cough* Harry Potter *cough*), I was able to really relax.  And it got me thinking about some things.  One of which was that I wanted to start blogging more again.

So lucky you!!  4th post of the week.

Here are some random things to wrap up the week.

1.  Last Friday, my dad and I continued our tradition of going to the Dad's Weekend Oregon State Football game.  We have gone every year for the last 10 years (well the first 2 years, I was on Dance Team so we didn't technically go to the game together and then my senior year of college I was in England) so it is fun to continue the tradition.

It was a little different this year though since I had an extra duty I needed to perform a couple of times during the game.

Pumping.  You know... your usual Father-Daughter activity.

My dad is VERY understanding and not at all weirded out by it.  Even when I decided to go ahead and pump in the stands.

{my view during the pump session}

This might be the weirdest place I have pumped/breastfed.  But I gave myself a little pat on the back for not letting breastfeeding run my life.

2.  I found a new sewing project online that I am SO EXCITED to do.  I went to Jo-ann's Fabrics at lunch yesterday to buy my fabric.  When the ladies asked me what I was making, I showed them the picture and they were all so excited about it, they are thinking of using the project for one of their sewing classes.  Made me even more excited.  That excitement helped when I needed to cut 192 squares.

Since the time change has Henry falling asleep by 8:00 at the latest, I decided to getting my cutting done while he slept.

Cutting stuff out for a project is my least favorite part. But it is DONE and waiting for naps during the weekend so I can get sewing.


3.  While we watched the Oregon Ducks get beat against Standford (GO BEAVERS!), Henry decided he needed to wear Daddy's hat.

All the pictures are blurry because somebody wouldn't hold still, but I can't handle the cuteness.

It is rare that Phil doesn't have a hat on.  I think Henry might be a hat guy as well.

4.  The dogs have had a Freaky Friday body exchange or something.  Cotton used to be the naughty/annoying dog.  Now Taylor has taken his place.  I find myself turning to scold Taylor and the words, "NO COTTON!" come out.  For once, it isn't Cotton's fault.  Weird.

5.  Henry still comes with me to work one day a week.  This will be the case for at least a couple more months.  Not sure how long exactly.  It depends partially on when a spot opens up for the 4th day at his daycare.  For the time being, this is my view:

Can't say that I hate it.  :)

6.  Here's an extra one for you.  Someone found my blog this week with the search words of "knock the bitch up".  Awesome.

Have a great weekend!

We survived

Phil came home on Sunday.  He was gone 10 days.

Henry and I survived.  So did the dogs.  Although we did have a couple of rough moments.  Like Saturday morning.  Henry woke up at 5:20 am.  I got him back to sleep and in bed by 5:40.  When I put him in his crib, he woke up and then I realized he needed his diaper (and jammies) changed.  So I changed them and by this point, he was AWAKE.  So I started rocking him to get him to go back asleep.  At 6:00, Phil's alarm starts doing off (cause he accidentally left it on when he left).  So I put Henry in his crib and went to turn off the alarm.  At this point, Henry is starting to put himself back to sleep so I got back into bed thinking I could get a little more sleep.

And that's when it happened.  I took a couple of sniffs.

Dog poop.

Cotton had pooped in his bed.

By the time I got everything cleaned up, I had to light candles in my room to get rid of the smell.  I couldn't fall back asleep with candles burning, so I folded laundry.  And never got to go back to sleep.

The next morning, Cotton threw-up.  Twice.  Because he couldn't get to one of his toys.

So like I said... we survived.  All four of us.  But I was extremely glad to have Phil home.  Apparently Cotton requires about as much attention as Henry.

Part of what happened while Phil was gone... Halloween.

In case every other blogger didn't let you know.

 My brother, sister-in-law, and nephews let Henry go trick or treating with them.  So that's what we did.

And we are SO GLAD Daddy is home.

Three

Today is our third wedding anniversary.

{Photo by Miller Photography}

In some ways, it seems like we surely have been married longer than three years.  In other ways, I feel like we have experienced enough stuff in our marriage to fill way more than three years.

Last year, our anniversary celebration was changed a little because my uncle had a heart attack and I had to cover a meeting for my dad.  We ended up taking the Taylor to the park and eating McDonald's for dinner.  It was romantic in a different kind of way.  Perfectly representing the fact that our marriage has been full of surprises and efforts to make the best out of difficult and less than ideal situations.

This year, our celebration will be less than typical as well.  Our plan is to go out to breakfast with our new little man.  Hopefully he will cooperate.  He does pretty well in the morning.

The second wedding anniversary gift is cotton.  As you may know, we interpretted that a little loosely and ended up with this:

While the traditional third wedding anniversary gift is leather, we decided we'd go a little bigger this year...

So much better than a new wallet.

And each day I am reminded more and more of just how amazing the man I married is.  As if the whole thyroid cancer experience wasn't enough, now I get to watch him be the world's best dad.

I hit the marriage jackpot.

Who will he look like?

I'm so curious about what Baby Janney will look like.  These pictures might help give some foundation.

{Phil's newborn picture / My newborn picture}

I guess we shouldn't be surprised if he is born with hair.

And perhaps the discrepancy in our cheek volumes is the fact that Phil was born weighing like 6 lbs and I was born weighing over 9 lbs.  Ok so Baby Janney will probably have my cheeks.  :)  Hopefully not my birth weight.

And yes, I was born with a perfect "blue steel" look.

Cleaning is Expensive

Sunday morning I was overcome with an intense need to scrub the kitchen sink, hand scrub the entire kitchen floor, and finish all the laundry.  We have a VERY busy afternoon/evening scheduled, so I needed to move quickly because GOD FORBID any of these super important tasks not be completed.  The world may have come to an end.

Can we say nesting?

I got up, put on my robe, threw my phone in my robe pocket and headed downstairs to eat and start the mad dash to finish my very rational to-do list.

After breakfast, I tackled the sink first (which made the least sense later when I realized that I poured dirty floor water down my recently cleaned sink).  A little Comet, a little elbow grease, and the sink looked like new.  I had however, gotten Comet ALL OVER the front of my robe.

Thank goodness I was doing laundry, I thought to myself.  I'll just throw it in the last load.

Cue 2 hours later... I had cleaned the sink, scrubbed the floor, gotten all the laundry through the wash, folded and put away half of it, cleaned out some kitchen cupboards, one bathroom cabinet, and cleaned off all the kitchen counter tops (I also showered, but that's a minor detail).  It was time to dash out the door.  We wouldn't be home for like 9 hours, so I needed to make sure I had everything I needed.

Where did I put my phone?

Oh crap...  I never checked my robe pocket.  My robe, which was in the washing machine.  About to begin the final spin.  We stopped the cycle and waited (impatiently) for the water to drain so the door would open, knowing that we needed to head out the door.

Please please PLEASE don't let my phone be in there.

Phil and I pull out the sopping wet items from the washer including my phone.  My barely 6 months old iPhone 5.

I was livid.  How could I have done that?  I ALWAYS put my phone in my robe pocket, I should have known better.  How much were they going to charge me for a new phone?  We have been so good about saving money, I really don't want to blow all of it on a new phone.  How am I going to handle not having a phone?  What if someone calls me?

We shoved the phone in a bag of rice, hopped in the car, and sped off for our very busy Sunday afternoon/evening.

I was so mad at myself.  Phil spent pretty much the next several hours trying to calm me down.  It wasn't just the money or the inconvenience, it was the hormones.  And then the spousal guilt.  If the roles had been reversed, I would have been pissed at him and here he was comforting me and not mad at me at all.  It was another example of how wonderful of a man I married and how much growing I need to do as a wife and person.

When we finally got home at 9 Sunday evening, I had calmed down a little, but the hormones kept on pumping.  I'm not sure I ever really calmed down.  And at that point, it had nothing to do with my phone and EVERYTHING to do with how wonderful my husband was.

Phil did some research, told me it wouldn't be as expensive as I originally thought to get it fixed, told me he would take care of it first thing the next morning, got me some cookies and milk, and put me to bed.  He didn't know I stayed up another 2 hours, oscillating between exhaustion and then crying over the kind, thoughtful, and amazing man who loves me.

So here's what I learned from my expensive sink cleaning experience:
1.  My husband is even more amazing than I give him credit for.
2.  I'll never put my phone in the washing machine again.
3.  My husband is the better spouse, and I need to work harder to be better for him.
4.  Pregnancy hormones can be a real B*$#h.

At least my sink looks really good.

*Truth be told, I kind of think this would have happened eventually to me anyway.  If not now, it would have been in like 4 months when I have a newborn and am doing laundry every single day, half asleep.  At least this way, I didn't lose any pictures of my baby (just some of Cotton) and Phil had the time and energy to deal with it for me.  Now I feel like I'm more likely to NOT do it again.

Ants

{This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I figured it needed a picture 

and I think it is funny that Cotton thinks he is a cat}

They are EVERYWHERE.

All over my desk.  No joke, I have probably already killed at least 50 of them and the day isn't even half over.

During the last week, my desk has become infested with tiny little ants.  I'm told it is because my desk is next to an exterior building wall.  I know it isn't because I keep food on my desk, because I don't.

I hate ants.  Actually I hate ALL bugs.  You get Lyme Disease, then horrible spider bites that turn into months of rashes that require steroids to go away, and then another spider bite that turns into a pseudolymphoma that had to be surgically excised and we will see how you feel about bugs.  Even though I know ants are fairly benign, the idea of something small, creepy, and crawly on me makes me want to vomit... A LOT.

I didn't used to be so afraid of bugs.  I prided myself on being fairly independent and able to kill all my own spiders.  Now the sight of a spider makes me want to cry.  I'm not exaggerating.  Remember... LYME DISEASE (which isn't from spiders, but whatever).

If I find an ant on me at any point during the day, I'm going to have to throw a monster size tantrum and go home.

It doesn't help that I have a massive case of the Mondays.  I'm partially bitter because it is a federal holiday and I am working.  I get like this every paid holiday teachers and state/federal workers have that I do not.  One of the joys of working in the private sector.

I also blame my case of the Mondays on the fact that I was up late last night.  We had our Bradley class which included a rather lively discussion about vaccines.  Second to the conversation on circumcision, this was the most riled up the class has gotten.  I was pretty proud of Phil for keeping quiet during the whole discussion.  Being that he is studying toxicology, he knows more about vaccines that I ever care to know.  The conversation got a little one-sided and not fact based, but Phil managed to not say anything which is always best in those situations.  Those are debates you never end up winning.

Anyway, after that class (aka hippy natural birthing class) we went to dinner at a very yummy little restaurant (which also happened to be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free friendly aka hippy restaurant).  And because we were feeling a little too granola-ish, we stopped at Wal-Mart.  Walking contradictions.

I must admit, I hate Wal-Mart.  My inner cheapskate fights with my inner hippy every time I go in there.  But we needed something that we could ONLY get at Wal-Mart so it was a necessity.

Anyway... the moral of the story is that we got home late and then it took me a while to wind down and relax for the evening which means I'm tired.

And NO ONE is still reading this because it is the longest rambling post about nothing ever so I will just stop.  At least the Bachelor is on tonight.  :)

Valentine's Day

Usually, I hate Valentine's Day.  It's partially because it never turned out the way movies and television told me it should.  And it is partially because my birthday is so close to it, that I have ALWAYS gotten the "combined" Valentine's Day/Birthday gift.

Combined event gifts suck, amiright?

Anyway... This year, I'm excited for Valentine's Day.  Why is this, you ask?  I will tell you why...

{Confession... I don't care to receive flowers anymore.  Some very kind people were nice enough to send me flowers when I first got cancer and when I had surgeries, but I found it really depressing when they died. Probably because I was so scared of dying.  I didn't care for the symbolism.  I know...I'm weird.}

Low expectations.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about Phil.  Despite years of me telling him that I didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day, he has always done something nice for me anyway.  The low expectations are ENTIRELY related to last year's Valentine's Day.

In case you want a refresher, here's the recap of last Valentine's Day.  And here's the post that qualified as my husband's gift.

So I'm thinking most things will trump having surgery and spending the evening in pain because the nurse never did get my anti-nausea pain so I could take my Vicodin.  Or almost throwing up from morphine (which would have really hurt the fresh neck wound).  Pretty sure.  Not that I didn't love getting to spend time with my parents, nephew, husband, and Rikkie (who came to visit me in the hospital), because that was great.  And I definitely felt loved.  But since I won't have to re-open my neck scar this year, I'm a happy camper.

Everyone asks if we have big plans for our Valentine's Day.  And we don't.  I think we will stay home, make Taco Salads, watching DVR'd episodes of Chopped, have some kind of chocolate dessert while playing with our pups and feeling our baby move.

Those plans kick last year's plans' ass.  Just another reminder of how far we've come in the last year.

Come to think of it... I can't think of anything I'd rather do for Valentine's Day.  :)

Nursery Checklist

I think nesting has officially kicked in.  Now that the nursery is cleaned out, I REALLY want to get it put together.  Here's a list of the things I want to get done for the nursery.


Nursery To-Do List:

-  Clean out Nursery

-  Put furniture on Craig's List

-  Pick Nursery color

-  Paint Nursery

-  Put together nursery furniture

-  Make Baby's Quilt

-  Make Chenille Baby Blanket

-  Crochet baby booties

-  Make Mobile

-  Crochet baby hat

-  Make cover for cradle pad

-  Make Car Seat Cover


My goal is to get most of this list done before my baby shower in the beginning of March.  I figure, at that point I will be 31 weeks and don't need to be spending time hunched over my sewing machine.  And since we don't have Sunday to do much of anything, this pretty much means you'll find me in the sewing room during all my free time.

There are a few projects I still want to get done after the baby shower, like making some wall art and hanging things up on the walls, etc.  But I figure those things will be more manageable when I am a little... bigger.

I just need to make sure I fit in time for my husband, pups, and sleeping at the same time (and cooking, cleaning, and laundry).  No big deal.


PROGRESS REPORT:
Phil painted the samples on the walls Monday night.  After looking at them at night and with sunlight, I am 95% sure we have picked a paint color.

The baby quilt is ALMOST done!  So so close.  All it will take to finish it is one evening with enough energy to concentrate and I think I can finish it.  I'm not super in love with it, but Phil is.

I bought a few patterns for the baby booties and have kind of muddled my way through each of them.  Then I tried them on my cousin's 3 month old and discovered they were TOO SMALL.  I'm so glad I know that before I made a bunch of them.  Looks like I will be making the next size up.

To Do List

So after my mid week freak out last week, I decided the best way to deal with my mounting anxiety (can we say nesting?) was to make a list of everything we needed to get done and talk it over with Phil.

Phil agreed.  He'd much rather help solve the problem than deal with a frantic, irrational pregnant woman.

Saturday morning, we went out for a coffee date.

We split the cinnamon roll and my coffee was decaf.  No worries.  I do miss caffeine.

And we made the nursery to-do list.

Now I know you can't see the entire list in that picture.  Just know this... it's LONG.  And most of the stuff on the list, I have to do (unless Phil suddenly learns how to sew which I don't see happening).

But the good news is that I realized most of my projects won't actually take as long as I had inflated in my mind.  And that is good news because I kind of want to get the nursery done before March 9th (the date of my baby shower!).

We have a list and we have a plan!  Now if you need me, I'll be holed up at my sewing table and going through crap stuff in the nursery.  And don't be surprised if most of my posts are centered around craft pictures and the amount of crap stuff we are getting rid of.

Domingo

I spent most of yesterday in a funk.

I'm not sure what caused it exactly.  It could have been the fact that it was New Year's Day and I kind of hate New Years.  Or it could be that I had 4 days off and knew I would be going back to work the next day.  But honestly, I blame the weird dream I had the night before.

I dreamt I had had the baby, only he was born like 9 months old and Hispanic.  Phil had left (probably because I had had a Hispanic baby) and I was back living with my parents, in my old room.  I had named my Hispanic 9-month old "Domingo" (I have no idea where that came from) and was doing an awful job mothering him.  I had only fed him twice in one day and had let him slowly slip from my lap and fall on the floor.

I woke up very confused and actually had to convince myself that there was NO POSSIBLE WAY any part of that dream could be real.  There was NO CHANCE I could be having a Hispanic baby.  NO WAY it would be born 9 months old.  And ABSOLUTELY NO POSSIBILITY we would be naming him Domingo.  Phil also reassured me when I woke him up to tell him my dream that he wouldn't be leaving us.

Plus I slept like absolute garbage when I wasn't dreaming about Baby Domingo.

I was finally able to shake the bad feeling at about 8 o'clock at night.  About an hour before I would be heading to bed.  Poor Phil.

The good news is that I woke up today feeling much better.  The funk was gone and I'm feeling optimistic and energized.  And that's a much better way to head to work than in a funk.

But I'm not sure which dream was weirder, this one or the one with the flexing Asians?  This is a weird contest.

5 Days and A Smart Husband

After my desperate plea to just be able to throw in the towel on my novel the other day, I decided to just buck up.  I had just a little over a week left.  And if I took the wonderful advice you guys all gave me and just focused on doing a little more at a time, it was possible for me to still finish on time and not lose my sanity.

So I am buckling down... 5 days left.  I have to be done on Friday night by midnight.  And currently, I have 11,321 words left.  It kind of feels like a lot, but not really when I think about the fact that I have already written 38,679.

In an attempt to get as much writing done as possible, I decided I am cutting out all things extra this week and spending a little extra time on the couch and at the coffeeshop, staring at the computer screen, typing away.  I had roped Phil into going with me to the coffeeshop yesterday morning when he told me that he didn't really want to go.  Instead, he showed me the list of things he wanted to do around the house.  And it was a LONG list.

Then, since he is learning the ropes of this whole having a pregnant wife thing, he asked me if it was ok that he stay home and get those things done.

Oh smart man... Of course it is.

So I headed to the coffeeshop and he stayed home with the dogs to whip the house into shape so we could decorate for Christmas tonight after I got home.  I managed to bust out over 3,600 words in just under three hours.  If I can keep this up, I will finish the 50,000 words by Friday night.  I am not sure my story will be done, but I will have 50,000 words.

And Phil managed to get A TON of stuff done while I was gone, so we were able to get the house totally decorated.

There's a little more than the picture shows: some details on the bookcase, garland on the stairs, candles, etc.  But so far, I like it.  I'm not too willing to put a lot more effort into decorating, since we won't even be home for Christmas this year.  But thanks to Phil, it was a pretty painless process.

He is super smart.

5 days.  11,321 words left.

A New Day

As it turns out, my retail therapy worked.

And in case you were wondering, I only bought one pair of undies with inappropriate words across the butt. I know you were super curious.

This morning, Cotton woke up 3 minutes before the alarm went off.  Only 3 minutes.  It's usually like an hour and a half.  So 3 minutes early was completely welcome.  I hopped out of bed and decided I wouldn't do the usual and crawl back into bed after he did his business.

I was going to get stuff done.

-Got ready for work
-2 loads of laundry
-Unloaded the dishwasher
-Re-loaded the dishwasher
-Made my lunch
-Made Phil's coffee
-Made cinnamon rolls (ok they were just Pillsbury, but still.)  I was inspired by Misty.  :)

Basically I got more done this morning for work at home than I have at home in the last week.

So when I woke up my husband before I left for work, the house was fairly cleaned and smelled really good.  I'm hoping that means he will get a ridiculous amount of work done today.

Hopefully I will too.

Happy Thursday everyone!!

update update update

Thanks so much for your kinds words on Friday.

I got an update from Phil Friday afternoon.  It was the kind of update that required a phone call because there was a LOT of information.

It started with Phil telling me about the intern that was supposed to be helping him with part of his dissertation.  He quit.  That officially put him on my ish list.  Phil has spent so much time showing him how to do things and putting together a step-by-step procedure for him.  And then he quit.  I just LOVE that my husband ended up wasting time showing him how to do it and then he didn't even stick around long enough to actually do the task.

Then Phil told me about his dad.  Long story short, he will be starting chemo right away.  There is only one chemotherapy drug available for Liver Cancer and it is in oral form.  It has some different side effects compared to the more typical chemotherapy.  The main side effects are extreme fatigue (makes sense), some  stomach problems (no details needed), and sores on the palms of the hands and bottom of feet (which is really weird and sounds painful).

He'll start on half the normal dose and then have some tests done to make sure his heart and thyroid (hey I know that word) are functioning properly.  The medication is six week on, two weeks off.  And he should be just starting when we go visit them this month.

Hopefully he has an easier time with the specialty pharmacy than I did.

I was relaying this information to some of my friends this weekend to which they replied, "How does Phil handle all of this?" and then they started listing all the craziness that Phil has had to endure.  His brother dying.  Moving across country.  Dad with Cancer.  Wife with Cancer.  Finishing a PhD.

And he's not a huge jerk, totally stressed out, weigh 300 lbs, or addicted to anything.

It's more totally the opposite.  Once again, I am totally in awe of him.

I'm such a jerk, I didn't even make his coffee this morning.  Bad wife.

Phil and I agreed Friday was a FULL day.