March 2009 Archives

I'm bored. Hubs and I are over at the 'rents. He and dad are trying to put together a new server for work. I'm here for moral support. And strawberry shortcake. Thank goodness I brought the trusty (knock on wood) laptop. Really and truly, all I need to have fun these days is the laptop, a wireless connection, iPhone and charger. (Which, by the way, I did not have, but managed to scrounge from dad's massive Closet of Chargers. Not kidding.)

View above was taken from about halfway down the ninety-foot gallery that runs the length of my parent's house. It was a cool feature when they bought the house, but having now sat here for an afternoon, I've now decided that it's not so functional. Everything is VERY far away from where you want it to be when you need it.

I'm having fun with this nursery designing thing. So much of my design style has been "forced", if only by the process of evolution. Ex(s): The walls are too much trouble to repaint, so I decorate around them. The sofa is on sale, so I make it work. My mom is giving away furniture (again), so by golly, I take it. Things have evolved well, but I've ended up with a house that is decorated beyond my years. And really, it isn't very "decorated". I would call my style "old school" or maybe even "wasp-y". I've used what I've been given, or what I've picked up at estate sales, and it is all very nice, just not hip or trendy.

So the nursery is a completely clean slate. We have no hand-me-down cribs, no bedding I'm trying to work in to save a dime, no existing window treatment to preserve. And I'm excited about it.

A couple of weeks ago, we met my in-laws for dinner. My mother-in-law had just returned from a visit to her sister in North Carolina, where they had gone fabric shopping. Both women are accomplished seamstresses, and have a knack with home decor. Mother-in-law had snapped a picture of this fabric, which I instantly thought would be great for girl or boy. I liked it:

So I emailed her sister, Aunt Katy, to send me a yard of it. It arrived yesterday. I rushed upstairs to see what it would look like in the room. The repeat is very large, which I'm not sure I like, and the background is VERY blue, and I'm much more a fan of aqua than blue. But the funniest thing about it was, it looked perfect against the existing wall color, Ralph Lauren's Climbing Lily, and like it was made to match the carpet, which is a gold tone.

Since I'm so inspired to start with a clean slate, I REALLY want to paint the walls, and I don't just want to use the fabric because it works so perfectly. I'm tempted to take the elements that I like (the animals) and use it as inspiration, redesigning something into more of a circus-theme, with an aqua background, and pink and brown and yellow and green touches everywhere.

I have updates about furniture, but I'll save that post for later.

We watched two movies last night--The Duchess, and Definitely, Maybe. And during the day yesterday, I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. (Not much progress was made on unpacking more boxes.)

Definitely, Maybe was painfully long, but ended sweet. Halfway through I wondered if we couldn't have skipped half of that--it was like listening to a friend regale you with her junior high crush stories. You care, but desperately wish she'd cut to the chase.

In stark contrast, I found myself savoring every minute The Duchess. After Vanity Fair, I have to admit that I found myself waiting for annoying, unrealistic drama at every bend in the movie, but by the end, I was pleasantly surprised. There was drama, to be certain--Georgiana Cavendish was best friends with her husband's mistress, who ended up living with them for twenty-five years (WEIRD)--but it did actually happen. Her husband was portrayed in the movie as being a horrid jerk, and while I can't confirm that on Wikipedia, I'm fairly confident that the general consensus on male behavior in 1767 not only accepted and allowed that sort of behavior, it probably perpetuated it. And Georgiana was a bit impetuous at times. I watch the movie constantly wishing her into making better decisions, or stating her true feelings, or asking her husband to state his, which meant that I truly connected with the story. It was great acting, and thought provoking, and the story isn't too far off from the truth, which is nice for a historical drama. I have added it to my list of "watch your way through history" movies, which someday I will formally compile and present to the internets.

Mr. Magorium was darling, as well. Very Nanny McPhee, in terms of graphics, magic, imagination and child-filled delight. It was sad, so I cried, and happy, so I smiled. It reminds me of why I like kids so much--I particularly related the accountant, whom Mr. Magorium christened as "Mutant", who said "he never quit working" and therefore, had no time to play.

Which reminds me to be a tad more excited about this kid on the way.

Middle of the night, can't sleep. If I ever write a book, you can almost be certain that it will happen between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sometimes I feel like I wouldn't be productive without my crazy work hours.

We moved the hubs this weekend. It's been very emotional, but not in a tear-jerking kind of way. Maybe it is just the pregnancy hormones, but my emotions have run the gamut.

I'm slightly fearful. It's crazy to think about us both under one roof, finally, but the planner in me doesn't know where this road ends. And I guess I don't like unknowns. I know we will both miss Dallas (me, the shopping, him, the friends), but we are both grateful to be in OK. We're sad--we will miss Fuddruckers, and Hollywood Nails, and Chuck Church, and hubs will miss his 67" television (I'm the horrid wife that made him sell it), but we just couldn't keep going in two houses. The expenses were starting to overwhelm.

At the same time, I've felt a little selfish (this is MY house), and I know that attitude will have to quickly be demolished. I'm worried about losing my "me time"--there are days I come home from work, put on pajamas, and get in bed at 5:30, and just work, hardcore, until the middle of the night. You can't do that when there is a husband who wants dinner, and TV time, and doesn't like falling asleep to the flicker of my computer screen.

I'm worried that hubs will desperately miss his dear friends. I love our friends in Dallas, but can't come close to explaining how much he LOVES them. You don't see a bunch of guys like that very often. For the most part, they've known each other since high school, though thank goodness, they've left the "remember when" days far behind them. Their relationships aren't so much about reminiscing as being a part of each others lives going forward. I can't even count them--the group waxes and wanes at times, always coming back to the same core ten or so guys--but they welcome anyone who can laugh at a good joke. There have been a plethora of marriages in the group in the past year, and now there are three pregnancies. It's hard to imagine life without them. And I know hubs won't be without them, but I'm just worried he won't be able to form relationships like that here. It's just not the same.

Note to self: it won't ever be the same. Don't try to make it the same, because that's only setting things up to disappoint. And, it's playing the awful comparison game, which just isn't fair to anyone.

He's heading back to tie up a few loose ends at the house on Tuesday, and from there will call on a few customers, hopefully heading back through Dallas on guys' night. He's barely been gone a week, and he still isn't going to miss a guys' night. Maybe things might not change as much as we think.