Monday fun
Lindsey at like a hamster on a wheel invited me to take part in a get-to-know-you meme. How fun! And perfect for a Monday when I’m too tired to think of a “Not Me Monday.”
Here’s how it works:
The Rules:
- Post these rules
- You must post 11 random things about yourself
- Answer the questions set for you in their post
- Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
- Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
- No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!
11 random facts about me:
- My go-to tool of choice is a gluegun. You can use those suckers for just about anything, and I have the finger burns to prove it.
- I am religious about skincare. I moisturize every single morning and night. I think it’s because I was a part-time drugstore cosmetician during my high school and university days.
- I’m horribly allergic to flowers. Darling Husband once bought me roses for Valentine’s Day and I was in bed (alone) doped up on Benadryl 20 minutes later.
- I put on makeup every day, no matter what.
- I never seem to like the popular TV shows when they’re actually popular. But a few years later? I decide to try them, and usually end up liking them.
- My favourite thing about my previous career as an entertainment reporter was interviewing celebrities. My best interview was Hilary Duff, and I was so excited that I bought a new outfit for the ocassion (even though it was a phone interview).
- I have never broken a bone, yet I’ve been in a leg cast twice (damn orthopedic surgeries)
- My brain goes to mush when I’m pregnant, and I think my husband secretly enjoys it, because I stop acting like I know everything and just keep admitting that I’m temporarily very, very dumb.
- I don’t eat anything from the sea. It’s not an ethical thing, it’s a gross-seafood-smell thing.
- I never watch award shows. I find them really boring, and they’re on too late.
- My favourite stores to wander around are Fabricville and Michaels. I could spend hours going sloooowly up and down every aisle.
- What was your favourite food as a child? French fries
- What’s your favourite food now? French fries
- What is your favourite quote? “If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.” I painted it on a canvas in my kitchen/dining room so I can see it every day!
- If your life had a soundtrack, who would sing it? Hilary Duff.
- If you could be a fictional character, who would you choose? Can’t think of anyone fictional, but I would like to be Amalah!
- What makes you most nervous? The possibility of being late. Financial ruin. (Hmm, funny how I seemed to list those in a not-very-practical order)
- What was your last big-ticket purchase? Probably paint, when we first bought the house? I feel like we don’t buy anything anymore, except food.
- Which chore do you hate the most? I despise sweeping, but cleaning the bathrooms is a close second.
- You have one day of completely free time. What do you do? Ooh, that would be so nice. I would eat out with friends, go shopping for fabric/craft supplies, and then have the girls over for a crafting marathon.
- If you could receive any gift, what would it be? I’d really like a serger, but I’d probably pick the gift of a cleaning service. That would be dreamy.
- What happened in the last dream you remember? I was in a six-level mall with two friends (J and J) and I was determined to walk each level to figure out what all the stores were. I determined the bottom floor was mostly mens’ stuff, the second floor was designer stuff, and then I woke up when we were on the third floor. I’m even organized in my dreams!
My questions to you, my lovely readers:
- What does your partner do that drives you up the wall?
- What’s your dream vehicle?
- If you could only eat one cuisine (i.e. Italian, Mexican) every single meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- What are your favourite and least favourite kiddie TV programs?
- If you could bring three luxury items on Survivor, what would they be?
- What’s your favourite scary movie?
- What’s your most memorable moment from junior high?
- If you were forced to delete your Facebook account permanently, how would you feel?
- What’s your favourite outfit for a typical Saturday?
- What’s driving you crazy about your house right now?
- If you won $10,000 in the lottery, how would you spend it?
I tag …*
Emily at imperfect
Melissa at Dear Baby
The Great and Powerful Amalah
Leah at Marital Bless
MrsHix at Life After Mum
Kate from Love, Life and Bunny Crackers
Natalie at Nat The Fat Rat
Katie from Bower Power
Candy from The Laughing Stork
Dusty from All Things G&D
Heather from Small Fry & Co.
*No pressure to participate, of course! And sorry if you’ve already been tagged!
Weekly re-cap of pregnancy #2: Week 29
Week 29
(Feb. 11 through Feb. 17)
Symptoms: Heartburn (so so so bad). Stomach tightening. Maaaaaajor shortness of breath. Have-to-pee feeling almost all the time.
Body changes: This marked the week I started to occassionally feel that OMG-the-baby-is-going-to-fall-out feeling … and I know that will only get more pronounced as I get further along! During a brief shopping trip, it was actually really hard to walk around comfortably. Ugh.
Baby movement: Lots of stomach contortions as our little lady twists and wiggles. It actually started to hurt a bit this week!
Cravings: French fries soaked in an inhuman amount of vinegar. Tea biscuits with butter. Cereal with milk.
Aversions: Whatever grosses me out at that particular moment (usually meat).
High point: Celebrating Valentine’s Day with the toddler and Darling Husband. Going to the meeting of a local breastfeeding support group with friend J, and getting to meet great new mommy friends!
Low point: Still struggling with caring for the toddler at times, when I’m alone with him for days on end. I got Darling Husband to install the baby gates (which we only ever needed at my mom’s house, since he was younger then) just to keep the toddler on the same level as me, since he kept escaping and I’d have to chase him up/down the stairs.
How does this week compare to Week 29 during pregnancy #1? I’m happy I don’t have any swelling yet, and hope it continues to stay far, far away. I also don’t seem quite as famished this time around — maybe I’m not as hungry because I’m not working full-time, and dealing with the hour-long commute anymore?
Baby preparation: Nursery is done! *happy dance*
Lent for preggos
Things I am considering giving up for Lent:
Having plenty of oxygen and never feeling short of breath
Painting my toenails
Heartburn
Frequent pee breaks
Mood swings
Sweeping the floors
Not Me Monday
- I did not, for some reason, insist on wearing a stretchy non-maternity tank top and non-maternity long-sleeved tee around the house last night, even though my stomach kept jutting out. And I would jump every time it brushed against a cool surface.
- While playing cards with Darling Husband last night, I was extremely sharp and dazzled him with my skills. I was definitely not a complete moron who kept repeating, “What level am I on?” and “What level, again?” and “Um … what level, again?” #pregnancybrain
- I was very reasonable when Darling Husband bought tea biscuits from the *other* grocery chain, and ate them without a single complaint. I did not take a bite, make a face, say, “Tea biscuit, you are a huge disappointment,” and then repeat the process.
When you’re at odds over crying …
The toddler recently had a bad night.
We’ve gotten spoiled, I suppose, with him sleeping peacefully from 8:30 p.m. until 7:30 or 8 a.m. Granted, it did take THIRTEEN MONTHS of horrible sleeping (and the end of breastfeeding) to get to that point. But now that we’re here? It’s really, really as awesome as it sounds.
Randomly, he will have a bad night. And that happened to fall on the evening of Feb. 13 (and into the morning of Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day). Riiiiiight as Darling Husband and I were drifting off to sleep.
The toddler screamed — SHRIEKED bloody murder — from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. Nonstop. No breaks. And no real reason for crying.
Once he started, Darling Husband went in and tried to soothe him. He was fine, as long as he was in his arms, and then started screaming the second he was put back in his bed.
When he left the room, I immediately asked if he had checked the toddler’s diaper. That’s really the only reason that he’ll shriek like that in the middle of the night — a rare middle-of-the-night poo explosion.
He hadn’t checked.
I sent him back in.
It turned out? The diaper was clean. That wasn’t the issue, as Darling Husband so smugly reported.
So we waited.
And waited.
I went in once, and had the same results as Darling Husband. Nothing was wrong. He just wanted someone in there with him. So I held him for a minute, then tucked him back into bed and left. And he screamed.
Here’s the thing: Darling Husband kept FALLING ASLEEP! The toddler was screeching through a thin sheet of drywall or whatever the hell walls are made from, and he just fell asleep! Repeatedly!
Me? I was lying there, incredibly tense, saying things like, “He never does this. I wonder what’s wrong? I wonder if he had a bad dream. He sounds terrified. Do you think it’s a night terror? Why does he sound so terrified?”
There was no way I could sleep through his screams! He honestly sounded like he was being tortured in there. I kept thinking of how scared I used to get at night, seeing shapes and imagining they were horrible creatures.
Hell, I was terrified of the dark after watching The Blair Witch Project at 16, and then again when I watched The Ring at age 19. Is that what my sweet baby was feeling? Was he scared to go in the woods, or be near a television or a phone?
(Crap, now you’ve got me thinking about The Ring again. I’m not going to sleep easily tonight. Damn, that movie is scary.)
I felt kind of horrified that Darling Husband could tune out our baby’s screams so easily. So, of course, I woke up him whenever he fell asleep.
“Wake up! Distract me! Keep me from going in there!” I kept whining. Yes, whining. Keep in mind it was after midnight at this point.
“He’s fine! He just has to tire himself out,” was Darling Husband’s sleep reply. “Just ignore it and go to sleep.”
As I lay there thinking of it, I decided that it wasn’t that Darling Husband was a creep for being able to ignore our baby’s blood-curdling screams. He just wasn’t wired to feel them the way I was.
To him, it was just an annoyance that he could tune out if he tried, and easily fall asleep.
To me, it was like every nerve of my body was willing me to rush in there and comfort him.
The clock flipped over to 1 a.m., and I swear, he stopped screaming suddenly and went to sleep. Finally I was able to fall asleep. Darling Husband had been asleep for ages, of course.
Do other mothers find themselves in this crying connundrum, where Dad can easily ignore it and Mom feels like she’s going to jump out of her skin? Please share!
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