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Jennie Day Blog

Announcing

March 12, 2018 By jennie

Our daughter, Ramona, has arrived! She was 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and 19 1/2 inches long.

Her birth was a very positive experience, and I wrote it up in excruciating detail and wanted to share. This is without any gory details, but it’s childbirth so there’s a bit of TMI.

***

I’d been having Braxton-Hicks, the so-called practice contractions, for a week or two that had started to pick up in intensity. Every time, I’d think, “is this it? Will I know when real labor actually starts?” As it turns out, yes, I would. At 1am on my due date, I was woken up by a contraction that was obviously not just for practice, and they kept coming. “What a punctual baby!” I thought to myself. They were regular and about 10 minutes apart, so I knew it was just the very earliest stages but the excitement and anticipation, as well as the physical contractions, kept me awake until about 6am. At that point I finally was able to drift off and slept for about an hour.

I had an appointment with my OB that morning, so we got ready and headed out. The contractions had spaced out a bit, but I was having some other obvious symptoms that early labor was starting. The doctor checked me and confirmed that I had made some progress from my appointment the week previous and said, “I sincerely think you’ll have your baby this week.”

Joel had a class that morning, and I didn’t want to drive so I hung out and had a cup of coffee. I made it about 90 minutes before the contractions started to pick up, so I went back to the car to wait. I sent a text to let him know where I was, and about 10 minutes later, he showed up after walking out in the middle of a lecture!

We went back home to let nature run its course. While waiting for Joel, I’d emailed our doulas to give them an update, and the plan that we’d discussed with them was to labor at home for as long as possible. So that’s what we did. They’d given us some suggestions for comfort – I took warm baths and showers, ate and stayed hydrated as well as I could (which wasn’t much, as I was nauseated by every contraction), and used the TENS unit they’d loaned us.

By about 2am, I was miserable. The contractions were getting more intense and I’d had an hour of sleep in the 25 hours previous. My pain was tolerable if I was up and moving around, but I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was lie down which intensified the pain. I called the doula to check in, and she said it still sounded too early to head to the hospital. She offered to come sit with us if we needed the support, but we all acknowledged that I was in for a long ride and decided to wait until morning.

That gave me a little boost – just a few more hours until morning, surely I’d have made enough progress to head to the hospital by then. I watched some TV and listened to podcasts to distract myself and Joel got some sleep so that he’d be safe to drive us.

By morning, though, more of the same. It was like this all day long. I’d occasionally get a break of 10-15 minutes and I’d nod off, but the next one would wake me up. I repeated over and over in my head, “every contaction gets me a little closer to meeting my baby,” and then, “every contraction gets me a little closer to getting my epidural!” Finally, in the early evening, the contractions were about a minute and a half long, four minutes apart, and that was consistent for over an hour. I called my doctor’s office and checked in with the doctor on call, who told me I could head in to labor and delivery whenever I wanted to get checked out, but I’d need to be 4 centimeters dilated to be admitted.

So immediately after talking with the doctor, I started obsessing and second guessing myself, wondering how far along I was, and the contractions basically stopped. We checked in with our doula again, and she decided to just come over and sit with us for a while to give her opinion.

By that point, I could talk and breathe pretty normally through the few contractions I was having. I was pacing around our living room, as I’d been doing basically all day. She said, “this is a tough call. We don’t see early labors this prolonged very often, and it sucks, and you’re obviously exhausted.” We ultimately decided to go to the hospital to find out where I was in the process, knowing we were very likely to be sent home, but that I’d be able to get some pain relief to let me sleep.

On the car ride over, I had four excruciating contractions. I was so mad that I was going through all of this when we were just going to have to turn around and go home again. Joel was optimistic and had brought our packed bags along, and I was really upset that he’d jinxed it.

Obvious foreshadowing aside, we got to triage and got strapped in to monitor the contractions and Ramona’s heart rate to make sure she was tolerating them well (which she was.) The nurse checked me and said, “you’re 3-4 centimeters, I’ll go ahead and admit you.”

What a relief!! At about 11pm, the on call doctor came in to introduce herself and said, “your baby will be born tomorrow.” Now that I knew we’d be staying and that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, I relaxed and the contractions picked up again. We waited in triage for about 3 hours — apparently it was a popular night to be in labor! I was undressed from the waist down but needed to pee every half hour, so I’d get unstrapped from the monitors, wrap up in a sheet, waddle down to the bathroom, have a contraction on the toilet, waddle back to the room to get strapped back in, repeat ad nauseum.

Finally at about 12:30, my room was ready and my L&D nurse came to get me. I knew long before my labor started that I wanted an epidural – the only question was when. But at that point, knocking on the door of 48 hours of early labor and almost no sleep, there was no question. We got into the room, my nurse hooked me up to an IV, and the anesthesiology team was there within minutes.

The anesthesiologist placed my epidural, and then my nurse and doula helped me get set up on my side with a peanut ball between my knees so I could get some rest. Hilariously, before the anesthesiologist left, he explained how the booster button worked and accidentally pushed the button, so my epidural worked pretty much instantaneously. The doctor came in to check on me and was pretty skeptical that I was already so numb! By that point I’d dilated to 5, so we all settled in for some sleep.

Not that I could get much actual sleep – the blood pressure cuff on my arm went off periodically, the baby monitor went off because it ran out of paper, and at 3, the doctor came in again to check me as my contractions had slowed down due to the epidural. And … I was still at 5. The doctor broke my bag of waters to see if that would pick up the pace again, and when it didn’t, started an IV drip of Pitocin.

I know I finally got some sleep because next thing I knew, it was 7:30am and doctors would be changing shifts for the day. The on call doctor realized I hadn’t been checked since 3am, so she did that before the changing of the guard – I had dilated to 10 and baby’s head had dropped into the birth canal! I had zero pressure or urge to push, so they decided to let me labor down and the next doctor on call was my primary OB at the practice who I saw throughout my pregnancy so it was perfect timing that she’d be the one to deliver my baby.

She came in to check on me and explained that she had to go perform a C-section. I was awake but still totally numb and contentedly munching on gummy bears (I was restricted to a liquid diet, but apparently gummy bears are liquid. Who knew!) so I ended up waiting another 90 minutes or so.

We got set up with my doula and Joel each holding a leg, the two nurses setting up the baby warmer and keeping an eye on the baby heart rate monitor, and my doctor using her hand to help guide me where to push. I still couldn’t feel a thing but everyone in the room kept encouraging me and telling me I was doing great. My doctor assured me that my body was working hard and I’d be sore the next day – it didn’t actually set in until 2 days later, but by then I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

I ended up pushing for about 50 minutes, and then in one surreal moment, everyone in the room stopped chanting “one last big push” or “you’re doing so great” and instead started oohing and aahing, and this slimy alien creature was placed on my chest.

I don’t know that I can describe my reaction in the moment – I was elated and exhausted and amazed. After all the heartbreak and worry, she was here. After the months spent daydreaming about her, she was both exactly like what I’d expected and completely not what I’d expected.

Her APGAR scores at 1 and 5 minutes were 9 and 9, but then one nurse suddenly whisked her off my chest and rushed her to the baby warming table and the other was calling a NICU team to our room. Later, when everything settled down, my doctor and the NICU team explained that because her delivery had been quite fast, she hadn’t been able to clear all the amniotic fluid from her lungs so she couldn’t breathe well and her heart rate suddenly dropped. They suctioned a ton of fluid out of her and watched her for a bit to make sure she cried and was breathing well. I was still totally numb on the table, my doctor stitching me up, and Joel went to Ramona to talk to her. This was the point I most needed my doula and was so glad she could stay with me and report what was going on. It was very scary and I’m tearing up writing it out, but I’m so grateful for modern medicine and that in the end Ramona is fine.

We were in our L&D room for about 2 hours after the delivery but it felt like 15 minutes. I know that after I held her a while, I was finally allowed solid food and I ate while Joel held her, then he ate and I held her again. Then the nurses helped me get out of the bed and into a wheelchair and hauled us up to the postpartum floor.

Ramona slept for the first several hours we were there. My dad stopped by with smoked salmon for me – after not being able to eat it during my whole pregnancy, it tasted so good! After my dad, my mom visited, then later Joel’s brother and family came by.

The postpartum room was a tiny little box just big enough for my hospital bed, a fold out bed for Joel, and Ramona’s bassinet. We were due to be discharged the next day, which meant we needed ALL THE TESTS before they’d let us go home. There were people in and out of our room every 10-15 minutes all day long. It was exceedingly frustrating and made me all the more excited to get out of there!

Life right now is lots of nursing and baby snuggles and very little sleep. No complaints. (Okay, that’s not true. I have some complaints. But baby Ramona is totally worth it.)

Filed Under: Baby

Baby Watch

February 20, 2018 By jennie

I’m still pregnant, but hopefully not for much longer … My due date is next week and as of Monday, I’m officially on maternity leave! I was really torn about starting my leave before my due date or working until her birth so I could have as much time off work with her as possible, but around Christmas I started to get more uncomfortable sitting in my desk chair, so it was a no-brainer. Also, I knew I’d be in for some comments from my coworkers, however well-intentioned, like “you’re still here!” or “no baby yet, huh?!” So far, I’ve been doing some deep cleaning projects around the house, prepping food for the freezer, and spending the rest of my time lounging on the couch watching The Great British Bake Off or reading.

Since I have a bit of free time, I figured it would be the opportune moment to share some updates!

Baby Showers

I had 2 – my mom threw a baby shower for the family, then my sister organized a shower for my coworkers. Both were lovely!

Mom ordered gluten free carrot cupcakes from Dukes (in the weeks leading up to the shower, we taste tested several gf carrot cakes – it’s a tough life) and thought of all the little details, like repurposing the vases from our wedding.

Thank you, Auntie Barb, for sharing your photos 🙂

My sister organized dinner at Moctezuma’s, where I’ve eaten quite often this pregnancy because I can’t get enough enchiladas. Hilariously, at the end of the night, our waiter brought me a dish of ice cream and sang “happy baby to you,” but about half the table sang “happy birthday.”

Thank you to all of you who celebrated baby Ramona and for your generosity – we are both so lucky to have so many people who care about us!

Nursery

I think Joel nested more intensely than I did in this last trimester 🙂 Well, that’s not entirely true, we just had very different priorities about getting ready for baby’s arrival. I wanted to deep clean every square inch of the condo (not that I actually had the energy to do so), and Joel wanted to make sure we had the nursery ready to go. I LOVE how it turned out, and wanted to share a few pictures.

When I moved into my condo in 2009, I picked what I thought was a light lavender for the spare bedroom … but no, it’s purple. I’ve always liked it, and I think it’s a great color for a nursery, so we left one wall lavender and picked a tan for the remaining three walls.

The La-Z-Boy recliner was our first baby related purchase – so glad we’ll have a comfortable chair and hopefully it will last long past the baby years.

And no, we didn’t really pick a theme for the nursery … just baby things. We chose our favorite prints and photos that we already had, and the black cat curtains were an impulse buy from IKEA, because how could we pass those up?!

Third Trimester Update

Picking up from where I left off after my last update … pretty much the day my pregnancy app popped up the notification that I’d reached the third trimester, I started feeling progressively more uncomfortable. I don’t want to complain much – after what I’ve been through in the last year, I feel very fortunate to be pregnant and that I’ve had an utterly uneventful pregnancy (so far, anyway! Don’t want to jinx anything right before her birth.)

Between getting up 3+ times to use the bathroom, getting hungry in the middle of the night, and the hip pain, it’s been months since I got a good night’s sleep. And yes, I am well aware that I’m in for many more sleepless nights — but I’m looking forward to at least being able to lie comfortably on my back. Oh, and just when I was starting to think I was lucky enough to avoid the swollen feet and ankles, it set in and I’m down to two pairs of shoes that fit.

The last round of progress pics: 31 weeks, 34 weeks, 39 weeks. You’ll notice that I had to stop wearing my rings and watch because of the swelling. And I think I’ve pretty well maxed out my favorite purple tee.

I’ve definitely had more cravings in this trimester, and only sweet things. I woke up a few weeks ago and said to Joel, “we need to get strawberry milkshakes today.” I think it was the second or third strawberry milkshake I’ve had in my life – usually I like vanilla! We went to Dick’s Drive-In, where I can have not only the milkshakes but also French fries because nothing goes in their fryers except potatoes. I’ve also sent Joel to Trophy Cupcakes for a gluten free cherries jubilee cupcake, and I’m currently on the hunt for a caramel and chocolate covered apple.

***

I don’t expect to be blogging much in the next few weeks – I hope to post an announcement when she arrives, and maybe a birth story. But you will be hearing from me because I’ve finally finished my Belize recaps! Until then …

Filed Under: Baby

Welcoming in the New Year

January 1, 2018 By jennie

The thing that makes me most sad about how little I’ve blogged in the past several years is that I gave up my tradition of writing a pair of posts every New Year, one about the year ending and one about the year beginning. They’re some of my favorite posts to go back to revisit.

Looking Back at 2015 // Looking Ahead, 2016 Edition

Parting Ways with 2014 // Here’s to 2015

Greatest Hits of 2013 // Bring On 2014

Looking Back, 2012 Edition // Welcome 2013

Goodbye 2011 // And Hello, 2012

But here we are at the beginning of 2018 and now seems like an appropriate time to revive the practice. I’ll combine the two, starting with a look back:

Things that happened in 2017 (the good)

-Probably goes without saying, but #1 was learning that we had a bun in the oven and having (so far, knock on wood) an easy and healthy pregnancy.

–Our road trip!

-Spending Thanksgiving in Hawai’i with my family.

-Last spring, I started taking a lot of barre and Pilates classes, and completely loved both! I hope to get back into them, but have been taking a break since I got pregnant because I have so many other plates spinning.

Things that happened in 2017 (the bad)

–Saying goodbye to Eggs

-I left my weekend massage job in the spring. It was a bittersweet decision, and I cried like a banshee on my last day at the clinic. I miss my clients and fellow massage therapists and practicing massage. (And I won’t lie, the extra paychecks!) But I do not miss working 7 days a week and having no free time to spend with my husband.

***

I guess we are getting old because once again, we were both asleep before midnight this year! We watched Wreck It Ralph and Captain America: Civil War, and I baked cookies and recreated the New Year’s Eve feast that we had at the end of 2011 – ham steaks, collard greens, cornbread, and black eyed peas.

I think the turn of the year might be my favorite holiday, because I love the symbolism of starting fresh and all the energy towards self-improvement, and also because both of my parents are New Years enthusiasts and we talked about resolutions every year when I was growing up. This year, I’m making one big, “starting tomorrow” style resolution which is to get up with my alarm and not hit the snooze button.

In addition, I have a number of ongoing goals for 2018:

  1. Have a baby!
  2. Continue to save money for retirement. Since I first made this a goal in 2015, I’ve almost doubled the amount in my retirement accounts with little more than paying attention and automation. This year will be more difficult, because baby expenses, but what’s important to me is just to keep up the habit of saving.
  3. I’d like to do the Kettlebells for Women program by Lauren Brooks again, which I did in the summer of 2016 and completely loved. I know it’ll take time after the pregnancy to get back to my “normal” exercise habits and it will sometimes feel like I’m starting from scratch but that’s pretty well where I was when I did the program originally.
  4. Read 50 books. This might be a little ambitious, considering I barely managed it in 2017.
  5. Maintain my daily habits around the house even when there’s a tiny and fully dependent human being living in it, so that we don’t end up living in a pigsty.

Oh, and I should add #6: continue blogging regularly!

Filed Under: Lifelog

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2017 By jennie

Wishing all of my friends and family and online stalkers a Merry Christmas <3

P.S. – Here’s a fun throwback …

Filed Under: Lifelog

A New Day

December 11, 2017 By jennie

Hi! It’s been a while. I paid the hosting bill for my blog a month or two ago, and thought to myself, “oh yeah, I still have a blog. Maybe I should update that.”

Mostly because there’s one pretty major update: Joel and I are expecting a daughter in February <3

We are over the moon excited and I’m feeling pretty good, but it’s been a very anxious time because last fall, we got pregnant with a baby that we lost to miscarriage at 10 weeks, just before Christmas. Due to some complications from the procedure that ended that pregnancy, it took about six months before we were able to get pregnant again, which I realize is very average and not terribly long and we were actually very fortunate. But those six months stretched out like an eternity when I was in the middle of it, and it sometimes feels like I’ve been pregnant forever.

I’m currently 29 weeks along, which means I’m officially into the third trimester and slightly overwhelmed about how much we have to do before we have a small human being living in our home! I don’t have a fun story to share about finding out that I was pregnant, or about telling Joel – my emotions were all over the place, particularly in the earliest weeks. I was grateful and relieved, and a little hopeful, but mostly anxious and in denial and trying not to get my hopes up.

We’d learned from our previous experience that we’d want to share with our families regardless of the outcome, so we decided to share with immediate family and a few close friends pretty much as soon as we knew we were expecting. It was a weird place to be, hearing their excitement when I wasn’t ready to let myself feel excited.

The First Trimester

Due to our previous loss, my new doctor was willing to see me earlier than normal. At approximately six and a half weeks, we saw on an ultrasound for the first time a tiny embryo with a beating heart. Everything looked good, but the doctor reminded us that we weren’t out of the woods and encouraged us to come in more often than the “normal” once monthly schedule in the first trimester, mostly for my peace of mind. At nine weeks, approximately when our first pregnancy stopped developing, the little embryo had tiny arm buds flailing around and a little heart still beating. We scheduled our nuchal translucency scan at another ultrasound clinic in the eleventh week, and by then, our baby looked like an actual human baby with arms and legs and sass (direct quote from Joel!)

Morning sickness started in the sixth week, and I was SO RELIEVED every time I ended up with my head over the toilet. I turned my nose up at scrambled eggs, red meat, and melted cheese (I still can’t stand pizza.) There were a few weeks I survived on chicken nuggets and waffle fries, or really, potatoes in any form. But I didn’t really realize how bad I felt until it started to lift, somewhere in the twelfth week, so I was stuck in this weird mental limbo of feeling bad but worrying that I didn’t feel bad enough.

I know most women complain about fatigue in their first trimester; I struggled with insomnia due to the anxiety. In between the two pregnancies, Joel and I started seeing a therapist who specializes in maternal mental health, miscarriage support, and pregnancy after loss, and her help has been invaluable.

The first trimester wrapped up while we were on our road trip to see the solar eclipse, celebrate our wedding anniversary, and be in/at my friend Morgana’s wedding! I plan to write about our road trip in a separate post.

The Second Trimester

Lucky for me, the morning sickness let up – if I remember right, I only got sick one time after I reached the second trimester. Most of my food aversions subsided, and my appetite ramped up dramatically. The hunger is 0-60 – one minute I’m too full from my last meal to even think about eating, and a few minutes later, I’ll be so hungry it’s painful. As far as cravings … just chocolate 🙂 It’s funny because I never wanted chocolate in the first trimester, only gummy candy and jelly beans, and now it’s exactly the opposite.

We were surprised (although not disappointed) to find out at our 20 week anatomy scan that we’re having a girl! Although we never got to find out, I had a strong gut feeling and frequent dreams that our first pregnancy would have been a boy. I never had a strong feeling either way this time around. One person made a prediction: my dental hygienist, when I got my teeth cleaned at 12 weeks, proclaimed, “your gums aren’t bleeding very much — it must be a boy! Women who are pregnant with girls usually have more bleeding.” Most of our friends and family who’ve had babies in the last few years have had girls, so it follows that someone would have a boy.

The sonographer started by showing us the spine, the extremities, the heart and lungs and kidney and digestive system. Baby’s head was low in my pelvis so the tech said she’d want me to get up and use the restroom to see if that encouraged baby to move so we could see the skull and brain. “But first!” the tech said, “let’s find out what you’ve having,” and zoomed in on baby’s bottom. It was a very anticlimactic moment – baby’s little ankles were crossed so we couldn’t tell for sure. I got up to empty my bladder, thinking “I’ve only ever heard of baby girls crossing their ankles …” and sure enough, it turns out she’s a she.

Oh, and I passed my gestational diabetes screening! I had no real reason to worry that I wouldn’t, but the prospect of needing to change my diet was giving me a lot of anxiety. Between eating gluten free, the pregnancy diet restrictions (no soft cheese, smoked meats, sushi, etc.), and some lingering food aversions, my diet feels pretty restrictive to me. I’m relieved that I can eat peppermint bark and bake gluten-free cookies this Christmas.

I’m not great at remembering to take pictures, but here’s the progression from 17 to 22 to 28 weeks.

Baby

In spite of my doubts and anxiety, baby is doing really well. We chose to have genetic testing done in the first trimester because we don’t know what caused our miscarriage and the overwhelming likelihood that it was due to a chromosomal abnormality. It’s helped my anxiety so much to have had that extra screening and know that our baby is normal/low risk for Down’s Syndrome or neural tube defects.

She’s remained as active and wiggly as when we saw her on those early ultrasounds. Joel said to me at one of them, “you’re going to love that when baby is bigger,” which I think he meant sarcastically as in, “you’ll love it when baby is big enough to punch you in the bladder!” But actually, I do! Feeling her movements has been very reassuring, and I think I actually started feeling her really early (around week 14) which is not typical for first time moms.

At first, I could feel movement only occasionally, and only when I laid really still on my right side and my bladder was completely empty – the best way I can describe the sensation is like champagne bubbles, if that makes sense. Within a couple of weeks, I was sure what I was feeling was baby, and the sensation was stronger, like popcorn popping. A couple of weeks after that, I started feeling distinct movement, like “that has to be either an elbow or a knee,” particularly just after I ate. Now I can not only feel but see her movements from outside my belly – Joel jokes that she’s destined to be a powerlifter.

***

Well, that’s probably enough out of me. I’m hoping to start posting more often, but I doubt it will be at all regular, particularly after baby arrives! I haven’t fully decided how much about her I’ll share on my blog or social media – my inclination is not much, but I’ve thought about starting an email list for family members who want baby pictures and updates. I’m open to input – how much do you want to hear about baby Day? However, I do want to share about our road trip, what I’ve been reading, and what else I’ve been up to. I miss blogging, especially taking pictures.

Until next time!

Filed Under: Baby

February Wrap Up

February 29, 2016 By jennie

I know T.S. Eliot said April is the cruelest month, but man, in my experience it’s always been February. In Februaries past, I’ve dropped out of school, been dumped, and probably worst of all, returned home from an amazing vacation.

But this year, February was tolerable, if not actually pleasant. Some highlights:

valentines_date

Our Valentine’s date at Agrodolce. Afterwards, we went home to watch So I Married an Axe Murderer, which has been my Valentine’s Day tradition since I was 16.

Since we knew we’d be having a nice dinner the night before (and because I had to work in the morning), Valentine’s Day was very simple. We went out for pho, and then went to see Deadpool. (Neither of us are really into doing gifts for Valentine’s Day.)

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We learned how to make Thai food!

Our bathroom was put back together – just in time for me to go on vacation 😉

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And I finished another 10 books, bringing me to 20 for the year and 27% of the way to my goal of 75. (Granted, three of them were graphic novels, one I started in 2015, one I started in January, and two I’d read before!) I’m still delighted with my newly rediscovered love of reading.

A few standout titles:

–The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown – it’s enjoying a moment of popularity, so I assume those of you who haven’t yet read it have heard of it, but it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s the story of the University of Washington crew team who won gold in the 1932 Olympics.
–Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood – Another beautifully written Atwood novel, this one about an artist who visits her childhood hometown and upon returning to the city, is flooded with memories from her coming of age.
–The Passage by Justin Cronin – I reread the first book from this post-apocalyptic vampire trilogy in preparation for the third book, which comes out in June! Read my original review here.

In case you’re wondering, the no-TV-on-weeknights thing is still going really well. While it was easy in January, on several occasions in February I had to talk myself out of turning on the TV. I was really busy (mostly getting ready for the vacation I’m going on) which you’d think would would keep me away from the TV remote because there wasn’t time for it – actually, it made me want to watch more because I was tired and wanted to turn my brain off. I ended up mindlessly cruising the internet instead. I’m not sure that’s an improvement.

And the last week of the month, my mom and I have spent on vacation! But I’ll tell you more about that later.

Happy Leap Day! Real life is for March.

Filed Under: Lifelog

A Month Without TV

February 1, 2016 By jennie

… Well, *without* TV is hyperbole, but a month into the new year, and I’ve stuck to my New Year’s Resolution to not watch TV on weeknights.

Truthfully, I slipped one time: Joel and I really wanted to watch The Martian but weren’t able to spend any time together over a weekend, so I relented and we watched it on a Tuesday night. But that still leaves 19 out of 31 days that I didn’t watch any TV – not bad!

But I still need something to keep me entertained, so I read ten books in January (and have nearly finished another.) (Never you mind that two of those I started in 2015, and two were graphic novels!) I think I’ll write a longer post about my reading habits, but in a nutshell, I fell far short of my 2015 goal to read 48 books; and I’ll read way more than 48 this year if I keep up this pace.

Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 7.37.11 PM

Notable reads:

  • Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (see my review here)
  • Tidewater by Libbie Hawker – a historical novel about Pocahontas, John Smith, and the Jamestown colony, written by a Seattle-based indie author
  • American Wife by Curtis Sittinfeld – a sort-of romance novel about a first lady (based loosely on Laura Bush) whose views don’t align with her husband’s politics
  • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – an old favorite that I reread – look for another post to my favorite books series soon!

Of course, my hope in keeping the TV turned off wasn’t just that I would read more, but that I would be a little more productive outside of work hours. I started off the month with a lot of motivation to come home after work and get the condo tidied up. I got it clean, and kept it clean, until … we tore apart the bathroom (again.)

Yep, it’s sad-but-true, and in fact, it was just a few days after I posted that we were finished with the bathroom and everything was “smooth sailing.” I TOTALLY JINXED IT. So we’re back to brushing our teeth in the kitchen and showering in the cats’ bathroom. (What, you haven’t dedicated your guest bathroom to your cats?! And you look at me like I’m the weird one.)

And, as I’d hoped, I used the time that I was cleaning and doing other chores to listen to the backlog of podcasts I had downloaded. A new favorite I’d like to plug: After These Messages, which is a delightful analysis of TV commercials. It’s possible that the reason I’ve taken to it is because it fills the void in my life where TV commercials used to be, now that I’m not watching much TV — but I’m really enjoying it.

In case you were wondering, based on my enthusiasm for season one of Serial, I have been listening to the second season, but I’m not nearly as enamored of it as I was the first season.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. I know this is the moment in the year when many of us start to falter on our new year’s resolutions, but I think this is one I’ll keep up. I’m happy to be spending my free time on more productive ventures, which makes me feel like I actually have MORE free time, and don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything by not watching TV. I have a lot coming up in February – I’ll look forward to telling you about it in future blog posts!

Filed Under: Lifelog

The Saga of the Bathroom Remodel

January 18, 2016 By jennie

I’ll just warn you at the outset – this is a very long story.

Here’s the short version:

It took way longer than we thought. I shed many tears over things that went wrong. In the end, we have a lovely new bathroom.

The long version:

Way back in 2014, we noticed that the caulking around our bathtub and the grout in the pink-tiled tub surround was starting to erode. I wanted to get rid of everything pink (those damn pink tiles are in both bathrooms and the kitchen, and I hate cleaning them) so we decided it was time for a new bathtub, too.

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We got this crazy idea that we could update the entire bathroom in just a couple of weeks on our tight budget by doing much of the work ourselves.

I spent almost every evening in July watching HDTV and shopping for bathtubs online. When we found the bathtub we wanted, we ordered it right away and crossed our fingers that it would get here in time. The tub arrived within two days, and sat in our living room for two weeks until we were ready for it.

“Better early than late,” Joel and I laughed to each other. Little did we know, this was just the first in a long line of things not going according to plan.

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We started the demolition on Friday, August 22. Of course, we didn’t have anywhere to store the cabinets that we tore out … so they went into the living room with the new bathtub. The cats were very excited about this.

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The following Monday was our anniversary and we spent it working on the bathroom (no weekend work is permitted in our building.) We rented a U-Haul and went down to Home Depot to buy some greenboards. When we got them home, we realized they wouldn’t fit in the elevator or the stairwell. We ended up carrying each piece into the parking garage, cutting them in half, and then loading the halved sheets into the elevator.

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We took a well deserved break and went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. We were SO tired, but we toasted to the new bathroom and patted ourselves on the back. The plumber was scheduled to come the next day, and the contractor who was installing the new tub surround was scheduled to come Thursday. Our labor intensive work was done, and within a week, we’d be enjoying our new bathroom!

… Or not.

The next day, I was back at the office, excitedly texting Joel “is the plumber there yet? Text me pictures!” and he informed me that the plumber’s van had broken down en route. So we rescheduled for Wednesday. But – the new vanity was delivered, so Joel had plenty to do.

Wednesday, the plumber showed up and got to work plumbing in a second sink. This takes a while. I stopped on the way home from work to pick up some takeout (remember those sheets of drywall? We didn’t have anywhere to store them either, but not wanting them to be in the way of the tub, put them in the kitchen, rendering the kitchen unusable.)

When I got home, the plumber was still there working, and Joel and I still had a ton left to do before the contractor came out the next day to install the new tub surround. We had to get those sheets of drywall out of the kitchen, installed around the tub, and painted!

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By the time the clock struck midnight and I was still standing in the tub in my work clothes slapping paint on the boards, I admitted defeat. The rest would have to wait until morning.

The contractor was scheduled to show up between 8 and 10, so we figured we had plenty of time. And wouldn’t you know it, we got the guy who showed up promptly at 8! He suggested that we reschedule the appointment so that the paint would have plenty of time to dry. I was bummed, but it gave us a little breathing room to get to some of the detailed stuff that we hadn’t had a chance to address. We ended up making FOUR TRIPS to the Home Depot that day.

In between Depot trips, we figured out that the new bathtub had been installed incorrectly. So Joel scheduled another appointment with the plumber to have it fixed.

The next week, the plumber came back and reinstalled the tub. It was better, but there was still a weird strip down the center where the floor wasn’t properly supported. The plumber suggested we try hiring someone else.

So we did. On September 7th, a second plumber installed the bathtub for the third time. This time, when the issue with the floor persisted, I contacted the manufacturer to say that we’d gotten a defective tub. This ended up being kind of a long process, too, but they sent a local fiberglass expert to evaluate, and thankfully, it was an easy fix.

At long last, on October 5th, the contractor came out and installed the new tub surround!

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Now, at this point, the tub was technically functional, but part of the floor had been damaged when we took out the old tub, so I asked Joel to fix it before we started using the tub. As he was in the throes of midterms, it was another week or two before he had time to get to it.

Once he did, I let him take the inaugural bath in the new tub. It had been nearly three months since either of us had taken a bath! (Before you give me too much credit for my generosity – I used the bathtub in my hotel room when I travelled in early October, so it was only fair!) And when he did (ominous music) the drain leaked.

Now, when the first plumber installed the new drain, there was a bit of an issue because he couldn’t access it from below (as in, through the ceiling of our neighbor’s shower.) He’d had to cut a hole in the wall behind the tub, and luckily, our laziness paid off because we hadn’t yet gotten around to patching that hole. The plumber made yet another trip out to tighten up the drain, but from then on, it’s been smooth sailing.

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(Well, smooth sailing of the bathroom project anyway. In the middle of this, we also had to replace our washing machine and all of our heaters. Please, no jokes about the joys of being a homeowner. I don’t find them particularly amusing right now.)

The week before Christmas, Joel finished installing the molding around the bathroom and we decided to call it good. We still need some kind of cabinet or shelving to store our linens, but I don’t think I can bear anymore work or shopping for bathroom furniture.

***

In conclusion, I have some advice for anyone contemplating a bathroom remodel: don’t.

Okay, fine. If you must, hire a project manager to make all of the decisions and trips to the hardware store for you, and take a relaxing vacation to come home to a finished project.

Filed Under: Lifelog

Looking Back at 2015

January 7, 2016 By jennie

I usually do this in the opposite order that I am this year, but those of you who’ve been reading for a while may remember that I like to end the year by looking back and highlighting posts and pictures from the year.

Parting Ways with 2014 // Here’s to 2015
Greatest Hits of 2013 // Bring On 2014
Looking Back, 2012 Edition // Welcome 2013
Goodbye 2011 // And Hello, 2012

Weeellll, since I only published six posts in 2015, there isn’t much there to feature! So I decided to just change the format a bit 😉 Instead, I’ll go through my camera roll and tell you about some of the things that happened that I haven’t yet shared.

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January 1

I don’t remember why, but I ended up at my parents’ house and took a selfie with their kitten (I call her “Tori,” short for Victoria, but she also goes by Violet, Snowball, Butterball … among others.)

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January 7

Stormy had surgery for her glaucoma and spent several sad weeks wearing the cone of shame. (You’ll be happy to know that she’s been doing exceedingly well since her surgery.)

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January 8

Meredith and I took a sewing class together. Look, we made bags! I’ve been keeping my lipsticks in mine.

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January 24

During the final retreat for my yoga teacher training, we celebrated/mourned the end of our time together with *just a little* wine.

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February 7

I packed my suitcase for a business trip where I gave a presentation(!) with help from the entire family.

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February 21

Allegra gave me my slightly belated Christmas present. It’s Stormy’s doppelganger!

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March 26

Joel and I saw Colin Hay, formerly of Men at Work, play at Benaroya Hall.

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March 29

We celebrated my sister’s 21st birthday! (A couple of days early 😉 )

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April 15

Yes, it was tax day, but that memory was eclipsed by the small but scary fire in my building’s parking garage that afternoon. Thankfully, our car was not parked in the garage during the fire.

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May 13

We finally got to visit the new Blue Moon Burgers that opened in my neighborhood! I met the owners at the gluten free tweetup back in 2012, and they said they’d been considering opening a location not far from where we live. I was delighted that they did.

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June 20

We saw Jurassic World, and I ate gummy dinos, because that is obviously the only reasonable movie snack for Jurassic World.

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June 21

Joel sported his Husky gear when we went out to Pasco, to tell his parents the good news of his acceptance. (This was at the local comic book store, he couldn’t resist trying on the Joker hat.)

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July 3

We celebrated Independence Day weekend by doing some touch up painting and swapping the old almond outlets in our living room for white.

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August 21

Joel posed for one last shot in our old bathroom, before we began the process of tearing it apart. (I still plan to post a full recount of the bathroom remodel … probably next week.)

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August 24

We took a break from the bathroom remodel project to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary! We got well-earned massages, and had fondue at The Melting Pot.

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September 5

I finally had a spare weekend to spend in the San Juans! And got some more snuggle time with the kittens (note that this is the same kitten from the January 1 photo … she just looks a little different 9 months later 🙂 )

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September 8

I celebrated my birthday with a seafood bonanza! My dad took me to Duke’s Chowder House for lunch where I had a salmon Caesar salad for lunch. (Duke’s, it turns out, is *wonderful* at gluten free – my dad has known this for a while, but has been holding out on me because I only just figured it out this summer.) We split this gluten-free carrot cupcake.

Then in the evening, Joel made crab risotto with the four whole crabs that came home with me from the San Juans. I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture! You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was delicious.

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October 9

I went to Anaheim for the annual industry trade show (the first time I’ve been invited!) NASA was there showing this awesome suit.

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November 16

Several months into the bathroom remodel project, and we finally had a functioning bathroom again! Stormy took it upon herself to test the new faucet.

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November 26

Joel and I headed back out to Pasco to spend Thanksgiving with his parents and their very rambunctious dogs.

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December 12

Meredith, Allegra, and I made a whirlwind trip to Portland for some Christmas shopping! I took only one picture, outside of Powell’s Books.

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December 24

We headed down to my parents’ house for Christmas Eve dinner with my mom’s side of the family. Here are the sisters 😀

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December 25

Back to my parents’ house for Christmas dinner, and more kitten snuggles, and a round of the game Tummple (one of the presents Joel gave me just that morning!)

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December 26

My BFF Morgana and I finally got to see each other! We had brunch and went for a very cold walk around Greenlake.

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December 27

We roasted a turkey for “Friendsmas!” I made my third batch of gravy in 2015 (and the *best* batch of gravy I made in 2015 – third time’s the charm, I suppose.)

Filed Under: Lifelog

Looking Ahead, 2016 edition

January 4, 2016 By jennie

Hello again! I know it’s been ages since the last time I blogged. I actually have several good excuses this time:

  1. I was distracted by our FOUR MONTH LONG bathroom remodel. That project that we started in August — was finally finished last week. (Thankfully, it’s been a functioning bathroom for the past month, but still. That’s a long time.) I promise to fill you in on all of the ups and downs, but it deserves its own post.
  2. During the summer and into September, I taught a ton of yoga classes and picked up some extra massage shifts on top of my day job and the bathroom project, so … for eight weeks, during the little free time I had, I pretty much zoned out in front of the TV.
  3. When I finally felt the inspiration to sit down and blog, my site was down! I couldn’t access the site, and somehow got locked out of my account with the hosting company, so it took some time to sort that out.

But, as promised in my last post, I will be back with regular posts … at some point. And maybe this time will be different. As in years past, my first post of the new year details my resolutions, and my number one this year:

Stop watching TV on weeknights. I’m hoping that in the time that is suddenly not sucked up with Netflix binges and channel surfing, I’ll start doing things that are worthy of being blogged, and spend more time writing (among other things.)

I’ve often wondered where all my time goes, and why I never have as much free time as I think I will. Well, I figured it out. And I figured out where I’ll find the time to listen to the podcasts that are backed up on my phone, and practice my piano, and do yoga or go for walks, and keep up on chores and cook regularly.

To be honest – I’m nervous about this. The most difficult part will be the 15 minutes after I get home from work, and I’m worried that a day will come when I’m tired and forget and one bad day will lead me to give up on this. I was also concerned about how I’d keep up with the Mariners once baseball season starts … when I remembered that they also broadcast those on the radio. I’m just so attached to my TV remote that I forgot about that.

(I *may* allow myself the exception of turning on a Pilates DVD that I really enjoy, but perhaps sticking to youtube videos will be better, knowing my tendency to slide down slippery slopes.)

Finish yoga teacher training homework. I’ve checked off a couple of boxes on the list of homework since my training program ended last January, but I still have a few projects to do that I’ve been ignoring. Another thing I can do when I’m not watching TV 😉

Well, that’s all I have for today! You can expect another post from me later this week with a look back at 2015.

Filed Under: Lifelog

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