Saturday, October 24, 2009

Mr. Big: 39.5 weeks

Who do you think you are?

Well it was that that guy John James Preston (Chris Noth) of Sex in the City.

However, I am currently assuming the title.


Because I am large. And in charge.

At least of mom's bladder.
Small power trip.

Really, she keeps encouraging me to come out and meet everyone, but... I don't know.
It's so comfy in here... I might just stay a couple more weeks.

Though rumor has it mom has been encouraging people to do labor chants, prayers, spells, etc. So maybe she's trying to tell me something.

I mean that and when she says, "Marcus, you can't sit like that -- there's no room." Or "Why, how, is your foot over there?!?"

Friday, October 23, 2009

Wonderful World

Mom and Dad, ok, mostly Mom, have mad crafting skillz, as previously mentioned. Mom Started singing Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World to me when I was a wee tyke. And I really like it. I always give her a good thump of approval.
Or maybe I'm telling her to be quiet.
She'll never know.

Regardless, Mom kind of thought it would be nice to make a book to accompany all the great images Mr. Armstrong sings about. Plus, Dad has a really hard time remembering the words. (He can remember his phone number from 25 years ago and the combination to his 7th grade locker, but a song? Not so much.).

She finally finished it this week. It's pretty nice. I don't think her wobbly recording and turning the pages all at one time necessarily do it justice, but at least you guys get to see it. Clearly, my mugshot is MIA at the moment, just waiting to get my good side.
Feel free to hum along...



And now you know what on earth Mom and Dad were doing a couple weekends ago.

Goldilocks

"Uh oh," said Baby Bear, "Somebody's been sleeping in my bed"


"And he's still there!"

Looking rather non-plussed about being awakened.

Needless to say, Mom ramped up her taping efforts.


See, she discovered that cats really hate to get tape stuck to them -- as evidenced by the chunk of fur that seems to be missing from Zsa Zsa's tail. And the shredded roller tape found strewn about the house one morning.

The crib was the last bastion of Tape-Free. The dresser and changing table were annexed first.

Tenzing hearts my changing pad -- especially when it was right side up and contoured to his body with the soft cushy cover. Even when Mom flipped it over, though, he was all, "Mmeh, s'all right. I am so cute that no one will mind. Mom put this up here for me, right? "

Clearly the whole:
  1. It's broad daylight which means I can be seen
  2. I'm on top of a dresser -- clearly furniture that is unlike the other ones I get to lay on
Did NOT factor into his reasoning.

TZ is very lovable. No one ever said anything about his smarts.


On the plus side, Goldilocks 1 and 2 aren't chilling in my crib anymore. Or on my changing pad. Or in my chair -- technically they always loved the chair and had been sleeping in it* for a couple years, so I guess it was their chair.

Not that I don't want to share... It's Mom, I swear it. She's always enforcing all these restrictions. I think she's just making them up as she goes, but don't tell her I told you that.

* literally, they used to sleep in the chair. In it's previous life as Dad's leather man chair, it had a piece of fabric covering the bottom that made a lovely hammock for all manner of kittens. Up to 5 at a time. And then there was the time ZZ got stuck inside. Mr. Stuart, Mom and Dad's landlord came over to take care of them and hung out reading the paper for a little while. ZZ climbed in, he finished the paper, and, well, you can imagine how happy she was when he came later in the day...

Monday, October 19, 2009

Framing: Part II

The framing continued apace and here's what Mom and Dad got to see last weekend. Yes, Mom even hauled my butt inside to check things out. She drew the line at climbing a ladder to the second floor, for some strange reason.



living-dining
kitchen
The roof should have been finished (probably not shingled) sometime this week and they get to do their electrical walk through to make sure everyone is in agreement over where switches and outlets are going. I suspect my input will not be requested, which I could hold a grudge over. And time my grand entrance accordingly, but I'm too nice to do that... And I think hatching next week fits my calendar better.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The boss


Really. Need I say more?

I'm not quite sure what ZZ will do in the new house (since there isn't going to be fridge access).

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

38 weeks


And looking rather melon-ish, if I don't say so myself.

Do the stripes make my butt* look big?

*My butt tends to be located on mom's upper left side.

Got Wood?

Or plumbing?
Or lighting?
Or appliances?



As you can see we've started framing. In theory, we should be done with the framing, but the weather.

Oh the weather...
Rain rain go away. For more than 12 hours.

Mom and Dad are hopeful that the dry spell next week means the construction guys can get ahead.

Now I ask you, how can this ray of sunshine (Larry) not just dry things up at the job site. He claims to be doing a sunshine dance, but maybe he missed a few steps...


In the mean time, the outhouse issue has been resolved: Apparently, some contractors can get a little territorial about sharing the Pot-o-Gold. So, there are dueling porta-potty on either side of the street. I think our's is much nicer. Not that I've used it.

their Pot-o-Gold (L) vs our Nature Station (R). And the winner?

And while all of this on-site stuff is happening, Mom and Dad are furiously trying to finalize choices for plumbing, lighting, and appliances. They seem to be operating under the impression that they will be unable to work on these things in the near future. I suspect they want to pin that on me. But I'm innocent. I swear it.

Anyhow, all these choices are half fun, half exercises-in-frustration. We won't recount all the gory details. Suffice to say, the plumbing expedition was followed by copious legwork online to find things that were closer to being in budget -- sometimes the same item, sometimes different.
Mom is truly genius with a spreadsheet.
And not an Enron kind of way.

The lighting quote hasn't actually come back yet, but the nice lady was really good about directing mom and dad to the things in budget (barring obscenely low line item allowances). They're pretty sure that quote will be on target with the allowance.


And appliances. We shouldn't dwell. Mom and Dad have excellent taste and have chosen great stuff. They started on that part of the house a long time ago, given that the kitchen is Mom's favorite room. Here's the range they're going with:


Beautiful, no? And college might still be in my future.


Monday, October 12, 2009

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married...



Ok, more like going to the park and bringing the chuppah.

Mom and Dad's friends, Tanya and Mike, got married over the weekend in a beautiful ceremony at the park. We were all a little worried about the weather, but it turned out to be a clear, remarkably temperate evening.

They didn't get any pictures of the ceremony, which is a bummer, but it really was nice. And Dad was totally enthralled with how the chuppah was put together.

The bride and groom were lovely, the food was great, and Mom even shook a tail feather -- in heels, no less. They got to re-connect with some former clerks and generally had a great time.


And I got cake, which is always fantastic. Mike's aunt made the wedding and groom's cakes. Mom and Dad were fortunate enough to sample some of the tastings that went along with that process. Delicious.

I'm kidding, they didn't have the armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias...

It was waaaaay better than that. And it had a little marzipan diorama of Tanya, Mike, and Maggie duck hunting in a canoe. Or maybe they were fishing. It was quite impressive.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Almost 37 weeks... and still a cooking machine

Mom and Dad had another super busy weekend. They kicked off Friday by having one of Mom's former colleagues and her friend over for dinner. Kristal was a research assistant at UPenn and is now in her first year of medical school at Tulane. When asked her favorite thing about being down here, she told Mom and Dad: The weather. Specifically the humidity.

We're all a little puzzled. Especially since she's from Canada.

Different strokes... It was a lot of fun and Mom and Dad, of course, showed off all my stuff -- as per usual. And Mom made a really nice quiche (with a new crust recipe), a yummy salad, and some awesome apple pear crisp to go with the caramel pear ginger ice cream she had made the weekend before.

Then Saturday Mom and Dad squeezed in a walk.

No, Silly, Tenzing didn't go with them. But they thought about it. Tenzing was all, I'm digging on my new ride. Mmkay.


Truly, is nothing of mine sacred?
I'm pretty sure Mom's been thinking about playing dress up with the cats -- you know, all in the name of practice. If I find cat hair in my onesies....



I did go with them: See how fantastic I look?


Later in the morning, Mom and Dad checked out the lot and said hi to Larry, who was playing with his backhoe and some piles of sand. We get framed this week, barring continued rain... In which case, the framing might be for an arc instead of a house.

And then they went to the plumbing store. Woo hoo.
Yeah, it was a good time. Never a promising sign when there aren't prices on anything, right? Mom gets to go back for a marathon morning session of picking out faucets et al -- probably 2 of everything: What they like (and might find online for less) and what fits in their allowances.

Almost as much fun: Dad spending an hour and half in T-Mobile for his Crackberry... Mom did manage to read 3 plumbing catalogs, check her email, look at every phone in the store, and threaten to shoot herself with a bazooka before finding the greener pastures of World Market. Despite Dad's intimation of stabbing his eyeballs out with a sharp stick after the first 35 minutes, they were still intact when he met up with Mom. And his problem had been remedied.

Thankfully, they survived the Crackberry fiasco and came home just in time to get ready for a little outing to the art district: Art for Art's Sake.

They mostly went to see works by Billy Solitario. Billy paints the most amazing clouds ... and if you think my room is cool, you should his son's room -- it is WOW. Incidentally, he also did Semester-at-Sea, so we're all wondering if that's why clouds are one of his favorite subjects. Here's some of Billy's work and a picture of Dad with Billy and is wife, Niki (Dad's colleague).




Mom and Dad went and whooped it up a bit on the town afterwards. Here they are:


Ok, they didn't really whoop it up seeing as they were home for like 9... Which is good because there were some angry kittens waiting for dinner...

Sunday was kind of bleh and and rainy, but that's ok... they had a lot of stuff to take care of around the house, a super fun art project, and early dinner guests.
What on earth can Mom and Dad be up to now?

get it: Earth. What on Earth... I kill me.

We capped off the post dinner party cleaning with some audio for me. Unfortunately, it was not so much fun last night. Mom discovered I really REALLY don't like those stupid chanting Benedictine Monks. Like, if she wants to induce labor, she should go right ahead and play them again, but otherwise we agreed to steer clear of them in lieu of Jack Johnson. Or Enya. Or any of mom's workout music.
See, I am happy listening to Jack Johnson.