Refrigerator Wars...

The day before the Hubster's 29th birthday I had a diva moment.  Over the refrigerator.  Earlier in the evening we had rode over to the cabinet maker's shop to go over details of our cabinetry.  Our cabinet maker is pretty much an expert and very technical... so I have to pay a lot of attention to what he is saying to try to keep up with what he is suggesting.  A few years ago the Hubster decided that he wanted to learn how to make cabinets, so he spent a couple weeks learning how over at this shop.  My husband and the cabinet maker speak the same language... apparently.

So I'm listening to him explain how the mantle piece over the cook top will be however many inches wide and that because of the width that would mean that we wouldn't have enough space for the spice rack that we wanted and so on.  And then he mentioned that the refrigerator that we had bought was going to stick out about 5 or 6 inches from the cabinet.  And that is where I put everything on pause.

What?  The refrigerator was supposed to be counter-depth.  The Hubster looked confused.  I swear sometimes he blocks out time in his mind.  He didn't remember anything about a counter-depth refrigerator.  In fact he doesn't even remember talking about buying a refrigerator.  I assure you, the appliance man and I had a long conversation about the importance of a counter-depth refrigerator.

I immediately say, "well, it is still in the box.  It is going back!" and then the Hubster looks at me like I've lost my mind.  He says, "Who cares if it sticks out?"

I'll tell you who cares-- I do.  And for that matter, the cabinet maker did too...

I text the contractor as soon as we get home who immediatley calls me.  He says he'll get it fixed in the morning.  The Hubster went outside to smoke a cigeratte and talk to the dog, something he does a lot since we started building this house.

I'm not sure he still gets it.  He kept saying, "but a counter-depth one is much smaller than what we've got?  Don't you want more space?" 

In a perfect world, more space would be ideal.  But this is not a perfect world.  Kitchens do need to function, but they also need to look good.  I guess because I wear my 3 and 1/2+ heels every single day of my life, I learned that lesson long ago... function and style do not always speak the same language.  Sometimes you've got to give up on one for the other.... and style always-- always wins out.

Pin Cushion Crock-Pot...

Since I don't respond to any of the easy oral medication that would make me ovulate, the Hubster and I decided to be brave and just see if I would respond to the hard stuff.  The injections.  Little shots of hormone... hormone I would find out that is made from urine, something I don't like to think about much. 

So on day 14 or so of my cycle, after crying all the way home from Raleigh... I decided to be brave and let the Hubster inject me.  Was I upset about not responding???-- No...it was the thought of having to have a shot. 

In all my panic... I forgot that part of his job is to give injections to baby pigs... so I was taken aback when he took the needle from my shaky hands a few days later and started to mix up the drug.  He had the whole process down pat.  I was the basket case. 

Generally he is the one that faints when he sees blood, especially human blood in large quantities.  He is after all, the man that cut his finger, passed out and hit his head on the edge of his mother's kitchen island because of all the blood coming from his hand and had to be rushed to the emergency room for stitches for not only his hand but also his head.  He is after all, the man that has to go outside and smoke a cigarette and lay down during his volunteer fire meetings when they show graphic training videos.

He just picked up that needle and headed straight for me.  Of course I got up and ran around in place.  Nervous.  I walked around the house taking deep breaths as the Hubster just sort of cocked his head to the side and stared at me like I was crazy. 

I got the courage to lay down on the couch.  Since the injection had to be in my stomach area anyway, that was probably the safest position.  I put on my sunglasses, don't ask why... thanked God I had a little bit of extra skin and fat to squeeze so maybe, just maybe the shot wouldn't hurt too bad.  And before I  knew it, I was stuck.  And it was over.  And I was fine. 

A few days and a few injections later I was to go back to the doctor to see if anything had changed.  Nope.  Nothing.  I started to worry that I was permanently broken.  But the nurse told me that this was normal.  Considering that I had lots of little follicles in my ovaries, they had to go low and slow with the drugs or else we could be looking at another Octomom.

Low and Slow?  Where I have I heard this before.  Oh yeah, a million times while watching the Food Network.  Apparently I'm a crock-pot.

Up-to-Date...

I've been a little lost lately... lost in my own little world of work, house building, party planning, birthdays... the fertility doctor's office.  Just believe me when I say I've been too busy, too stressed out, and too uncomfortable to write anything about anything interesting that may or may not have been going on in my little life.

But I'm on Spring Break.  One of the many perks of working for the school system and now that I'm finally feeling rested, I can catch everyone up on whats been going on.

March 26th was my sister's engagement party/karaoke bash at our Uncle and Aunt's house.  My sister is in the middle, I'm in the blue one strap Tibi dress.  The other girls in the picture, going left to right:  our cousin Annah, our cousin Sarah, and our other cousin Audrey. 

Besides a few awkward moments with Sarah's soon-to-be ex-boyfriend... I think a good time was had by all.  I learned that my sister and her soon-to-be really love to sing... loudly, as does his brother and father.  Best of all about the party... my friend Olivia and her husband were able to attend the gathering, which was great because I never get to see her or him.

The end of March was a blur where the house was concerned.  Things really started hopping-- not that they haven't been hopping all along.  Soon after this party the siding and bricks went up... and the sheet rock... and then the flooring went in.

Not soon after the engagment party I was in Mosaic Tile picking out tile for the kitchen, back entry, laundry room, and baths agonizing over grout colors.  I never knew grout came in all those colors.  More and more I find myself overwhelmed with the decision making process.  I keep saying, much like I did when I was getting married, "if this was anybody else's house, I'd have no trouble picking out colors." 

Luckily my contractor has me working with the best in the business, so I feel like I'm getting expert advice when it comes to picking out things for the house.

The master bathroom tile

The master bathroom shower and tub

The kitchen, back-entry, laundry room, and powder room tile.

And the upstairs bathroom tile.

Yesterday I got my mom to ride with me to Apex to pick out granite.  Another hard decision, but again, my contractor has me in good hands.  This is what I've decided on...

Giallo Ornamental Premium Granite. 

The girl assures me that it is fabulous, true to the sample and has lots of movement.  I'm very excited about the granite.  In the last couple of weeks we've picked out applicances and decided on off-white and cherry stained cabinets for the kitchen.  I think this piece of Earth will look great with those colors.... hopefully.

The hardwood flooring is in the living room, dinning room and foyer.  We have to pick the stain color, but we get choices... so I'm feeling very relaxed about that decision. 

Today... in a half hour, I'm to meet with the contractor to talk closets.  Hopefully I can get what I want.  My contractor wasn't too excited about my decision to put some wallpaper in my foyer.

Generally, I hate wallpaper.  I remember being about 7 years old and my mother removing all the wallpaper in the whole house and cussing and fussing the entire time.  But I've decided that my dinning room will be metalic silver and my living room will be neutral.  Because metallic and neutral really don't live together in harmony, I found a wallpaper that will help make the transition and I'm really excited about it. 

My contractor on the other hand... is not.  He says that they never put wallpaper in a house under a million dollars and all his subs are outrageous in prices... but the Hubster assures me that he knows someone that can hang it-- practically free.  And so, I'm not loosing hope just yet.

I think that brings everyone up to speed where the house is concerned.  Hopefully I'll have more to write about soon.  And if you have paint color suggestions, I'm open to all comments.  I'm at a loss as to what to do... I'm going back to the paint store this afternoon to match colors to the wallpaper sample... so wish me luck.

Today, Last Week, and This Weekend...

My allergies are acting up... probably because I spent the majority of the weekend volunteering my time at the local Civil War battlefield's anniversary weekend, outside.  Our local chapter of the United Daughter's of the Confederacy is funding a rather expensive project for the site and we were begging cash from all the tourists that happened to stop by our table.

I'm a horrible salesperson. 

The weather has been very summery lately... which is a great thing because that means I can actually walk in the afternoons after work which I find to be a great stress reliever.  Seeing how we are in the building process and it is testing season at work, I can use all the stress busting I can get.  I love walking. The white legs and pollen on the other hand-- I could do without.

Today was a long one for me.  This morning I had a follow up visit with the RE... and then back at work I had to give a Quarterly Assessment to a group of rowdy 4th graders... one of which shoes' smelled like dead mice... We only tested from 9:15 until 1:20.  The RE visit was a little unnerving.  You will soon be looking at a 100 pound pin cushion... and I'm not really thrilled about it.  But the Hubster is.

As for the house building... things are rolling right along and I have pictures to prove it.

All the doors and windows are officially in.  The framers have basically finished and now the plumbers and electricians are moving in on their jobs.  Yesterday we got our soaking tub, upstairs shower/tub unit, and our back entry shower for the dirty man that lives with me.

Friday I had to pick out plumbing fixtures-- I was notified of this decision on Friday.  We also had to make the decision on whether or not we would have a central vac system as that has to be decided on early on.  My parents decided that they would do that for us.  And I'm very greatful.  I'm so lucky to have such caring and supportive parents.  They really go the extra mile, without ever being asked.  My sister and I are very fortunate girls.

And speaking of my sister this weekend is her first official Pre-Wedding Party.  Her Engagement Party is taking place this weekend at my Uncle and Aunt's house.  I'm so excited to see everyone-- espeically my friend Olivia and her super sweet hubby! 

Hopefully I'll be able to still a few more moments this week to continue the house updates!

All's Well Now that the End's Well...

So I made my second visit to the Reproductive Endocrinologist's office this past week.  My monthly, well-- sometimes monthly friend came to visit me and because of that little visit, I had to go get a baseline ultrasound to see if I had anything wrong with my lady parts.

Apparently, the end is alright.  Which was a relief, because I tend to think the worst in all situations and knowing my luck... I thought I'd be eat up with cysts or crud or at least a small collection of cancerous tumors.  But I wasn't and so I was thrilled.

So thrilled in fact that on the way home, well actually on the way back to work, I completely forgot about where I was at and got a little lost.  But in my defense, I was really relieved and I was listening to Bob and Showgram on G105, so it wasn't completely all my fault.  The one time I didn't bring the GPS.  But no worries, I found my way back to I-440 and got back on track in no time, after making a very panicky phone call to the Hubster.

It is a little scary to think about how easy it is to slip into auto-pilot mode when you are driving, isn't it?  I was talking to one of my friends yesterday about how weird it was when I first moved into the house the Hubster and I live in now.  Every so often, I would wind up back at my parents house and I'd have no idea how I got there.  Or like when I have a meeting in Smithfield and go there straight from home-- sometimes I'll just take the road to work instead of staying on 701.  Old habits die hard, don't they?

I have to go back to the RE again pretty soon... hopefully this next time I'll pay more attention to where I'm going.

The Week, in a Nut Shell...

For those of you new to the blog, which would be most of you, the Hubster and I recently embarked on building our dream home.  After years and many months of talking and planning we have now officially started and I could not be more pleased, except when I start to think about how much money this is costing.  Let me just forewarn you, house building is not cheap.

"So let's start at the very beginning-- a very good place to start," to quote the Sound of Music.  Monday the framers came and put in a floor system.  I didn't feel it necessary to capture that on film...  Our framer's name is Sam Well.  He is a hard worker, very talented-- as is his crew-- and a snappy dresser!  On Tuesday they started framing...

Tuesday they started putting up the exterior walls and started working on putting in the interior walls.  On Tuesday I panicked because the master suite looked too small.

My brother-in-law walking away from the master suite.

Looking in on the foyer and dinning room.

Wednesday and Friday things started taking shape.  The framers continued to frame the inside of the first floor and continued to work on the outside.  Thursday it rained and so very little was done on Thursday.

The back of the house.

The side of the garage.

Under the balcony in the living room, as shot through the wall of the dinning room.

This was taken Friday afternoon... our house building project is drawing quite the crowd.  My future brother-in-law, my cousin-in-law, my father-in-law and my daddy are standing in the future living room.

The beginnings of an upstairs.

By Wednesday, once the particle board was up I stopped worrying that the master bedroom was too small.  Granted, it will not be huge, but it will be plenty big.  I'm excited about all the new things that keep happening... but things are moving so fast that it is hard to keep up.  I was told that by next Friday the shingles could be up... Today I went to the paint store and picked up some paint chips.  We also went to the fabric store and looked at samples.  We've picked out kitchen appliances, that I will soon blog about as well.

Remember... it's time to Spring Forward!  Have a good rest of the weekend everyone.





All I Can Say is Yuck...

I've been thumbing through the new J. Crew catalog while I type this entry and I just got to the section with swimsuits and all I can say is yuck.

I realize that summer is just a season and a piece away, but I don't feel like wearing a swimsuit anytime soon.  Did I mention that while I thumb through the J. Crew and work on this entry I've been eating Pringles Potato Chips like a woman on the edge?  Lord help me if I had some Girl Scout Cookies!

I swear that Pringles puts crack in those things.  I can eat a whole tube in a sitting, easy!  I literally have to make myself stay away from them and even then, its not a guarantee.  Even the Hubster is obsessed with them.  I think he might be tracking how fast they disappear, which is sad really.

I know, soon enough I will need to start gearing up for the beach and the pool and all that good stuff... but at the moment I'm feeling skinny-fat...  I'm afraid I'm getting a potbelly full of Pringles and that is just down right embarrassing.

I have a coworker who gets up every morning and goes to the gym near our work.  I'd do it too, but that would mean getting up three times as early and having to shower in a gym-- which isn't going to happen on either part.  Neither one of those scenarios is motivating me to get into shape, this coming from a person that snoozes the alarm for 45 minutes each day.

No, what will happen is I'll start coming home a little earlier and do my Hip-Hop Abs or walk... and then, just maybe then I'll be able to feel less freaked out by all the bathing suit ads that keep coming to my door.  OR I could just give up carbs or gluten... but gluten makes the world go around and our digestive track slow down....

Either way-- I know my couch potato Pringles days are numbered... thanks J. Crew