I Want to Be All Professional and Stuff

But I've decided I'll have to settle for updating however and whenever both the spare time and the motivation to write collide in my life. If there's one consistent thing about me, it's that I am inconsistent. It drives me batty, and I bet it drives the rest of you even battier. Is that a word?

I mean, how many projects have I started on here? Let's see . . .

1. Eat and buy products sourced only within 200 miles of my location. Status: Failed. Reason: The parasite rendered me incapable of anything but laying on the couch and whining. Mark had no interest in procuring locally, and it fell to him to keep us fed, clothed, and at least one step above misery. He's done a great job, so I have no complaints about our continued global shopping habits. Now that I'm feeling better, maybe we can try again.
2. The Why I Choose Homebirth series. Status: Failed. Reason: I'm a chicken, and I'm afraid I won't do the argument justice. But I haven't squeezed him out yet, so maybe it's not failed. Maybe just on hold.
3. The Julia-isms: posting one bizarre thing Julia said everyday. Status: Failed. Reason: Julia moved out.
4. The 30 Days meme. Status: Failed. Reason: I tell myself the topics are boring.
5. I'm sure there's something else, but I want to write, not scour my old posts for evidence of my failure. 

I plan to complete the Homebirth series no matter what. I really need to take a bit of time to organize my thoughts and decide a coherent approach, and that will help a lot. Every time I think about it, I think of a new order in which to present the material, and each time the new order seems like it's more compelling than the previous one. You know what would be really compelling? Actually writing something down. Yeah. Now there's a thought.

Meanwhile, here's where we all are:
Mark:
My dear, sweet husband is doing well. I still want to scalp him from time to time, especially when he starts hovering over Burgundy. I know my stuff when it comes to parenting. And I know my child better than he can ever hope to, but he insists on micro-managing and cross-examining me about Burgundy's progress in school, and it drives me crazy.

Having said that, in every other area, we're doing great. He's even been [slowly] working on the garage, and yesterday he mentioned cleaning off his desk. He's perfectly happy with our steady diet of rice, beans and pizza with the occasional Julia Child-inspired gourmet meal whipped up when I don't feel like I've been trampled and pooped on by a giant dog.

We're one week from the end of the 2010 fiscal year, and his job in FY 2011 (starting October 1) still isn't solid. The good news is that the rumor mill holds that the task order will be signed, it's just a matter of time. In other good news, his new company has excellent benefits. His new insurance actually covers maternity medical at 100% with no co-pay.

His book-selling business is going well. He's subscribed to an online service that manages his inventory and sales for him, and he currently has books listed on 15 or so sites. Last month he sold over $1,200 in books, and he was able to reinvest over 80% of that in the business. At first I groused because I thought the profit (some $900) should have been put in savings. The more I considered it, though, the more at peace I am with his decisions. First, if my hobbies paid for themselves as well as his clearly does, we'd be rolling in it, and second, if we consider this a legitimate business, he should be reinvesting most of his capital early on. Of course, he's done it all debt-free and from the ground up.

And starting in mid-September, his book business is contributing a small amount every week to our emergency savings account. He's as tickled as a little boy bringing a bouquet of wildflowers to his mom, and I am just as happy for him.

Me:
I'm 27 weeks pregnant, and The Parasite is now 2.5 pounds and about 16 inches from head to toe. All curled up, my little man supposedly takes the space of a head of cauliflower. And if a head of cauliflower shoved up my hoo-ha doesn't make you giggle, I can't help you in the humor department.

My weight gain has been very slow. I think I'm still under 210, for a total gain of about 14 pounds in 27 weeks. Given my obesity prior to pregnancy, I'm very comfortable with the slow gain. Most people, upon learning I'm "only" 6.5 months, blurt out, "Are you sure you're not having twins?" So I'm pretty sure (she says with an exasperated eyeroll) that the Parasite is getting everything he needs.

I, too, have a week of employment remaining. I'm told that the budget for the next fiscal year's task order funds me through December, which is really great news. The only problem is the minor question of Congressional inaction. Our task order depends on a chain reaction of bureaucratic activity: Congress must pass a continuing resolution (CR); the CR must fund Constellation, which in turn must fund MOP sufficient to justify the task order on which I work. MOP then must decide to fund our task order, and if all that happens in the next seven days, I have a job on 10/1. If not, well, that's why we have unemployment insurance.

A small rant: Thank you Congress. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your dithering on the NASA budget. [Profanity redacted] you bunch of [profanity redacted]ing imbeciles, how difficult is it, really, to say, "Huh, dur, ya know what, uh, NASA oughta be funded, ah-yup," and pass a darn continuing resolution? For the love of Pete, the House and Senate versions aren't that far apart. Our Illustrious President said he would sign it. Get it together and pass something! WHARGARBL!

Burgundy:
I hate band season, and I hate sending my daughter off to high school every day. I don't mind most of the challenges. It's good for her to face authority figures who drive her nuts. It's good for her to figure out how to deal with bullies and how to face her own temptations down. However, I hate that she comes home from school so upset with listening to cursing and swearing all afternoon on the marching band field. I hate that her teachers don't have the time (and some not even the inclination) to help Burgundy really learn instead of asking her to regurgitate facts.

Having said that, it's going well for her over all. As it happens, Burgundy lettered last year, her first year in high school. She did not letter in writing, debate, or band as we might have expected. After all, she wants to major in English and Music. She lettered in Science Fair. Yes, science fair.

She started pre-Calculus this year, a Senior-level class in which she is the only Sophomore and definitely the youngest person. She has two Seniors paying her $10/hour for tutoring after school. We don't know what to do for math in the next two years. The only two non-remedial math courses at the school that she hasn't taken are AP Calculus and AP Statistics, and the counselor said she won't be ready for AP Calculus if she hasn't taken pre-AP Pre-Calculus, but there's no non-AP Calculus course offered. She could take AP Statistics, but I hate for her to leave the Calculus track for a year to head in a completely different direction. We might have her take AP Cal over the summer at Rice.

She's very excited about her little brother, and she chose our nursery theme: Monkeys. The picture here is a piece of wall art we registered for, but those are the general colors for the nursery; we love them.

Soren (Disclaimer: The dog said he had something to share, but I can't be held responsible for his frippery. He is, after all, a dog.):

WOOF! WOOF WOOF! AAAAAHRUUUUUUGGH, woof.

Oh! oh! oh! oh! I am so excited because I am a dog and my eyes are big and OH MY GOD HAVE YOU SEEN MY TAIL IT'S  HUGE AND WITH IT I DOMINATE ALL THINGS!

My lady, she taught me a new trick! It has to do with the puffy air thing and the drool! She says it is, "Stop breathing!" and then she makes the hand motion, and I close my mouth and do not let any of the air out, and when I feel all blown up and my tail is sticking out because it is full of air, then my lady says, "Good boy, free!" and then I can let the air out, and I puff and pant and do the thing that is blowing slobber all over the big puffy soft thing that my lady calls the couch and she yells, "Gross! Get away from me! Ew, GO AWAY!" and then I use my tail to dominate the room while I turn around and walk away!

And the man! The man is so NICE! But he doesn't know how to do the thing where I stop breathing. Because that is only for my lady to tell me to do! And the man gives me food and makes me stand on my back legs and he tells me, "LEFT PAW!" and "RIGHT PAW!"

And yesterday, my lady took me to the dog park! And it was fun, and there were other dogs there! And some of them wanted to do the thing that is hop up on my giant, dominant tail and hump me to prove they are more dominant than my dominant tail, but I did not let them! I said, "WOOF!" And also I am very big and my lady says "One hundred pounds" and talks to the invisible man about me and calls him, "Christ," because he knows I am big too and that's why the other dogs can't hump my tail! And then I found a dog that was very small; my lady said that dog should have gone to the little dog park! And I tried to hump her face to show her how special I am, but my lady yelled at me and called me a BAD DOG, and it made me sad.

And then she put me in the car, and she made me put my head out the window because she does not like it when I drool on her shoulder, but I left lots of drool on the door and also some of the stuff that she says is snot on the car seat.

I'm so glad my lady loves me! Peanut butter!
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Well. I guess we can all see why Soren does not have a regular spot on this blog. I'm so sorry to have exposed you all to his sordid, canine mind.

Procraftination

A few years ago, I took up quilting.  My first two quilt tops were nine-patches arranged into a neat little optical trick. The design is called an Irish-something-or-other; I've forgotten now. It took three years to lay them out, sandwich them with their battings and backings, and pin them together for true quilting. In that time, I did most of the piecework for another quilt in beautiful peach colors, and I made a snail's trail quilt for my daughter our of all blue fabrics with a bright yellow mariner's compass in the middle.

Burgundy's quilt should have been a masterpiece. And to be fair, Burgundy thinks it is. But my piecing was so poor that my inexperienced self was afraid to lay it all out and machine quilt it. And I was WAY too lazy to hand quilt it. So I tied it with pieces of blue yarn (God bless knitting; it saves me yet again), and she put it on her bed and loved it.

I should add here that I gave Burgundy the nearly-complete quilt top for Christmas in 2007. I gave her the "finished" quilt the following August. Procrastination, I am thine. Love me for my devotion.

Meanwhile, I made about 76 stupid snail trail squares, didn't need most of them, and they've been sitting around in the craft room, taking up space ever since. So earlier this week, I decided that my craft project du jour would be to make and quilt a matching pillow sham for Burgundy's quilt. I finished piecing it yesterday, and I zoomed through that ugliest quilting job ever attempted on a machine yesterday for about 45 minutes before deciding to stop for the day. It's about 1/3 quilted.

Today I plan to finish quilting it, cut out, hem, and sew on the back of the sham (in that overlapping envelope style), and have it on her bed before she gets home from school. Wish me luck!

Around the House

Let me apologize in advance: boring list-post is on the way.

With JB here for the next three weeks, we are hoping to get several projects done that Mark and I would not otherwise be able to complete. JB's working very diligently, trading some of his labor for room and board (yes, BabyDaddy stays with us during the holidays. It works very well for us. Burgundy learns that people can love each other no matter what. We all win). Right now he's in the middle of three different projects, each in various stages of completion.

I understand why they're all simultaneously in process. It allows him to rotate his efforts among activities and avoid any downtime. I really appreciate that. So while the paint dries in the bathroom, he tapes the floor and walls around the baseboard to apply the second coat of paint there. While that paint dries, he takes the measurements for the replacement of the fascia outside the house and paints the test coat on the back. This way, we can decide which paint we want. And so on.

Even though I understand, I find it very stressful to have my whole house in so many varying degrees of upheaval. The girls can only shower and use the toilet in their bathroom. Furniture all around the house is pulled out from the walls while he works on the baseboards. Happily, the fascia hasn't had anything done to it yet, but I know it's coming. I think that for my own sanity, I'll have to insist that he not start the fascia or the bathtub (more on that in a minute) until the guest bathroom and the baseboards are finished. Those should be done today (knock on virtual wood).

Ironically, the big project we asked him to complete while he's here is replacing the bathtub in our master bathroom. We've known for the last year that it needed to go, but we've been too busy to do the necessary rearrangement to our lives to make it happen. Happily, with JB here, he has both the skills and the time to do the work, and we'd much rather give the money to him than to a stranger.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even get started on it until this weekend, so he has been working all these other projects in the meantime. Here's what he's doing:

Girls'/Guest Bath:

• Paint the walls
• Replace the hideous 1964 mirrored cabinet with gilt plastic edging with nice, simple mirrored cabinet with beveled edges
• Replace the light fixture over said mirrored cabinet
• Replace the baseboards (some were rotted from 35 years of water hitting them out of the shower)

Foyer, Hallway, and Living room:

• Finish the baseboards currently in place (recess nails, caulking, spackle, and repainting)
• Apply new baseboards where my ADD attacked and I didn't finish the job
• Apply quarter-round throughout to hide the gap between the baseboards and the pergo

Miscellaneous:

• COMPLETE: Replaced the food disposal under the kitchen sink (that project's been waiting on me for about six months; SO happy to see it completed).
• Tried to mow the lawn, but the mower crapped out, so . . .
• Tried to fix the mower, but I distracted him
• Sundry loads of dishes and laundry

I'm having him keep track of his hours, and he claims he'd normally get paid $8 for this kind of work. I would expect to pay some of the day laborers around here that much, but not someone of his skill and talent level. I suspect he's giving me a low figure because he knows I'm going to insist on paying him something reasonable.

So far, he's earned $132. We had agreed on $50 per week for room and board while he's here. For anyone wondering why we'd charge a guest room and board, well, it's not exactly like that. He isn't exactly a guest, and we're not exactly making any money (he'll eat $50/week in groceries easily). We have a ton of backstory that I won't go into here or anywhere else because it would be inappropriate; however, it's the right thing to do for our family (and I include JB as a member of our family).

He asked me not to give him cash but instead to keep a running total of his earnings and expenses. He doesn't want to just blow the money. I will honor that, but I'll have to give him some money here soon so he can go Christmas shopping.

That's about it for now. Have to get a move on with my day.