12-20-05
Andrea & Danica's Christmas Dinner Party

Devin, Andrea, Danica, Eden

Andrea, Sean

Andrea & I

Casey, Me, Travis, Laura

MJ & Tanya

Mark & MiHwa
Thanks again to Travis, Laura, and Andrea for the dinner! It was great to see everyone. Manuel you shoulda come up for it!
We don't leave until Friday, but I already have a list of things to do before we leave, and I'm already a bit stressed about it. Although I'm pretty sure this happens every year. I just need to get organized.
(10 weeks pregnant now!)
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12-18-05
I think I'm just gonna leave December up as one page, since we're leaving for Florida soon. Yep. It's time for Florida again. And Sean's going again this year! It makes such a difference when he's there. And just in case you think we're crazy for going on a vacation while we're broke, remember that my Grandparents always pay for this trip - plus Sean's job stopped Friday and doesn't pick up again until Jan 2nd, and I don't start working until Jan 3rd*, AND we booked the tickets last February before we had a clue as to where we'd be living or what we'd be doing. Which means that we're flying out of Seattle (I didn't know if we'd be in Vancouver yet) - which adds another half-day of traveling, but oh well.
* Pending hire by 10th Ave Starbucks and OMG if that doesn't happen then I have much bigger problems than I thought.
BTW did you know you can't work at both Motherhood Maternity and Thyme Maternity at the same time? It's a breach of trust. MATERNITY CLOTHES. BIG SECRETS. I'm choosing Thyme because their discount is 50%, Motherhood's is 30% after three months.
So the plan is Starbucks full-time M-F and Thyme on Saturdays, if all goes as planned. HEH.
Jon was here this weekend to take Sean to a Canucks game, which was awesome. I also went to a Christmas party that same night - pics are on Flickr.
Special thanks to Diane & Morrie Mayfield for the baby gift. BABY GIFT!! GAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHH!
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12-14-05
My clothes are getting tight - not enough to panic quite yet, but enough to go ahead and spend part of my gift certificate at Motherhood Maternity from Mom. Or so I thought. Maternity clothes are NOT messing around. Unless you have a big protruding belly, you look like you are wearing an XXL dress over your pants. The sales girl suggested that I try on the pregnancy pillow (provided in each dressing room) and then suddenly the clothes fit. I said "This is nice, but I'm looking for clothes for the near future, not the end of my pregnancy." And she responded "The pillow represents six months."
Oh.
Oh Dear GOD.
Meanwhile, my seal-barking cough that I've inherited from Sean is now forcing Sean to sleep in the second bedroom. Which is a total rip-off because I've slept next to him for the past sixteen SNORING years. The cough is so bad it makes me gag, AND it makes my head pound to the point that I have my head in a football clutch while coughing. I was making dinner and I was in the middle of like five different things and I had a coughing spell that made me PEE. I DID NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR THIS.
Last night I decided to call the Nurse Hotline from my old insurance company in Seattle, since BC Med doesn't seem to have one, and the 18-year-old boy on the phone said I could safely take Robitussin DM. So off to the store we went, me in my Nike sweatshirt from my senior year in high school (that would be 1988) and no bra and unwashed hair and we had the pharmacist at Safeway look up the warnings for Robitussin DM and pregnancy. Apparently there was a study and they had pregnant women take mass doses of the main ingredient (whatever it is) and the only problem they found were partial limbs. Other than that, though, no problems. Sean starts walking away saying "Okay, our kid's gonna have limbs" and that's when I read the dosage they were giving these women, which was enough to basically have psychedelic hallucinations throughout the whole nine months. My dosage would be, you know, enough to erase maybe like 1 IQ point. I WAS WILLING TO TAKE THAT ONE IQ POINT. THAT IS NOT THE SAME AS A LIMB.
Besides, any time something goes wrong in my kid's life, they can blame me and the Robitussin.
Kinda sucky, though - I'm still barking/coughing/clutching my head/hopefully no longer peeing. So I'm not even sure if it was worth it.
Speaking of sucky - I am still looking for work but I had a couple more leads today. Please stop sending me e-mails about how I can make money. It's not just the money. I need a legitimate job that takes out taxes and employment insurance, so I may take parental leave once the baby is born. I will need 600 hours paid into the EI for me to take the paid leave. And for some strange reason, there is a HUGE number of employers who pay cash up here.
I do appreciate all the Cheer Up e-mails. Thanks, you guys.
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12-12-05
I haven't posted because nothing is happening. I had yet another job interview today but she called a half-hour before the interview to cancel, since her car was in the shop, and now the interview won't happen until Friday. This is unbelievable. What I thought would be a week of unemployment is turning into a month.
Sean is still sick and depressed about money so now he hardly speaks and we just sorta hang out the house not talking since neither of us can go do anything. Yayy! Baby! This is exactly how I dreamed it would be, with an ultrasound in silence with not even a grin at the blinking heart!
This is so fun!
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12-10-05
Maybe if we all just think about it at the same time
Is there some way we can all band together to stop Andie MacDowell from being famous?
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12-06-05
Thank you
My dear friend Maggi in Seattle sent me a surprise gift and I received it today - two books that I had on my Amazon wishlist. It couldn't have come at a more welcome time, as times are tight right now, and we don't see any signs of things letting up until after January. Sean's construction job ends next week, and there's no more work until January. And I'm still unemployed. If it wasn't so cold I'd be barefoot and pregnant. Tomorrow I'm applying at Starbucks after I hear what sort of schedule I may get at Motherhood Maternity. It's like one step forward, two steps back.
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12-03-05
Snow!
Probably not that exciting to those of you who live in areas that actually get snow regularly, but pretty exciting in Vancouver and Seattle, when it does happen. Oddly, the snow melted everywhere by that night, which was.. Monday? Tuesday? But our back yard is still covered in snow. It's clear everywhere until you get to our block.
Sean and Pete completed phase three of who-knows for the kitchen, pictures on Flickr. I still have a dishwasher covered in foam and a strawboard hunk of wood for a countertop. But the dishwasher is hooked up and running! Baby steps!

SIX VIALS of my blood

Mom & I, 1974
I had my first midwife appointment last week but we didn't do anything but talk about a birth plan. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday, December 21st. At that time we'll be able to see and hear the heart beating. Later on I was sent to a lab to give a bunch of blood for many tests. Results back in a week.
I also had a job interview at Motherhood Maternity (!!) and if it's only part-time by January then I will also have to work somewhere else part-time, so I'm thinkin' Starbucks. Who woulda ever thought that I'd be right back where I was? At least it'll be fun.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom, who is going to be an awesome Grandma!
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