A BORG is a boy OR a girl

Ultrasound scheduled. First weekend of June we get another chance at finding out if that 80-90% prediction of girl is actually true! Huzzah!

Cleaning and Gelato-ing

Cory and I started cleaning, organizing, and planning for the little babe's nursery a couple of weeks ago. We're making good progress, but yowza, there's a LOT to do.

First step was to go through all the boxes in the spare bedroom and start sorting into "keep", "toss", and "shred" piles. That part is done! It took us a good chunk of a Sunday to do that, and then move all "keep" stuff to the attic. Yesterday I spent the afternoon cleaning out the closet in that room and moving a few pieces of furniture around that we will be keeping in the nursery. Now we need to relocate the spare bed upstairs so we can really get moving on putting things together.

I also spent some solid time sorting through all of my clothes--making piles of "seriously, get rid of it already", "This will totes fit me post-maternity", and "fits me right now". I have two bins of clothes to get rid of. Which feels good and will make so much more room. It was totally overwhelming at first...I have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF! It will feel good once it's all clean and put away and the 'give-away' stuff is out of the way.

Lots of reorganizing still to finish up in the coming months--cleaning out our laundry/storage room and organizing that, putting the nursery together, setting up the spare room in the attic, and replacing our couch in the living room with a hide-a-bed, or something of the like. Not to mention all the cleaning and recleaning that's needed! We're making progress, but boy do I just want it to be done and ready to go!

Also, a quick Gelato Review. Stop #3--QFC. It is horrible. I agree with Alex on this one. I tasted a few flavors that were pretty standard: Mocha Almond Fudge; Chocoloate Mint; and Strawberry Shortcake. The chocolates were okay--texture was wierd. The Shortcake was horrible--the texture and taste was like Pillsbury vanilla frosting. Way way waaaaaay too sweet--couldn't taste the strawberries, and the service was subpar (not that I expected outstanding service at a tiny gelato bar in the middle of a grocery store--they have other things to focus on). I couldn't finish it--after probably 10 or so bites, it found it's way to the old circular file! Does that make me an 'elitist'. Nope (not about this anyway). If it were good gelato, I'd eat it from any establishment!

Next on the list: Fainting Goat in Wallingford!

A Borg is a Borg is a Borg...

Baby Calhoun wasn't so willing to show off his/her private bits at the Ultrasound on Monday. I told Cory we are already raising this kid right!

The Radiologist did tell us that he thinks it's more likely we're having a girl, and threw out a percentage of 80-90% chance girl! While I appreciate some kind of info...I really just don't understand how he came up with those odds. Especially considering both the Doc and the Tech each said the babe just wasn't giving them a good view.

However, he did say that everything looked good so far on the ultrasound, and he didn't see anything that caused him concern. So..PHEW! I think we were both really nervous this time. Not sure why, but just were.

I may be able to get another ultrasound to confirm gender...working on that. But if not...we'll just have to wait and see!

Get Outta Here!

Early departure from the office today, AND the sun is out.

This 'knocked-up' gal (stay classy, Mirms) is knocking off work early today and is taking the day off tomorrow. A much needed break from my cubicle corner! Oh, and have I mentioned that Monday is BORG day? (Boy or Girl--thanks Cor!) Next ultrasound is Monday morning. Stay tuned for results!

On the docket:
$5 Hi-Life Brekky w/Alex tomorrow
Gelato Stop #3--QFC
Yard work--getting my veggie garden in shape. Lots to do!
Not think about work!

Who wants to join us for breakfast tomorrow?!?

Well...that just happened.

Subaru Dealership: "Okay, so your clutch and hoses need replacing. That'll be $1750. We also found that your head gasket is leaking oil and that will need replacing eventually. If you have it replaced today, you can save $900 in labor, and your total will ONLY be $3600. What's that? Oh, the estimate on replacing your two front seatbelts that your dog chewed? You're looking at about $950.

Me: "@#$%^&!"

"Oh WOOOW...so that's ONLY $4550 before taxes. That is an AMAZING deal. Wow. Thanks! Let me call up the bank and see if they'll let me sell them one of kidneys or a lung or something...those are body parts that I can live with only one of, right?"

"@#$%^&*&^%$#@!!!!!!"

"I'm going to wring Zeke's adorable little neck."

"I want some french toast."

"F Money. Just....F it!"

What was actually said:
"We'll hold off on the gasket and seatbelt repair...just the clutch today, thank you. Yes, that's right. JUST the clutch. Yep. JUST THE CLUTCH."

The good news: Cory and I are both employed and have been able to save some money pretty aggressively in prep for the arrival of Baby Calhoun. For this we are very gratfeful. We have good jobs, good benefits, and work for a good company. I won't complain about that. Unfourtunately I also had to fork out money for a large bill last week--so we are almost back to square one. However, we still have about 5 months before the little peanut makes his/her debut, so that is encouraging as we should be able to tuck a few more dollars away. We are also grateful we had the money when we needed it. Generally, that hasn't been the case for us, due to many circumstances. So it feels GREAT not calling on our family for hep this time. GREAT!!! The frustrating part is that when you're starting to make progress and then something comes up and you hve to fork it over. BUT...it's the way ye olde cooke crumbles, as they say...I guess. It'd just be really great if we could avoid any crumbling cookies for a while...like a good solid year. Give us a full 365 days--that's all I ask!

Royal Grinders - Gelato Stop #2

I almost forgot to blog about my net stop on the Gelato Train! Okay so I lied about QFC being my next stop. It WILL be the next one.

This is how it all went down:

Had a lovely brunch with Miss Thafz, Alex, KHall, and the Hubster on Saturday April 30th at Roxy's Diner. YUM! A Monte Cristo BREAKFAST sandwich...YES...MUCH more of THAT please!

After breakfast what else would four lovely ladies do on a gorgeous sunny Seattle day, but indulge in a delightful frozen treat. (No, I'm not calling Cory one of "the ladies". He escaped to go pay our rent.) I mean it was only a block away...it was practically staring us in the face. We strolled our way down the street, moseyed on over and said hello to Lenin's statue, and meandered in to Royal Grinders. There was some kind of competition taking place outside in the courtyard area. No one seemed intereted in our help though...weird, right?

In we walk to Royal Grinders--immediately greeted by the super cute (and super young) hipster dude behind the counter. (Sorry that I don't remember your name Hipster-guy). He was incredibly sweet, to boot. Duh--with four gorgeous babes right in front of him...he was in Hipster Heaven! He let us sample as much as we wanted, which was great because there were a lot of interesting flavors I wanted to try. In the sorbet department we had Strawberry Jalapeno (DELICIOUS, and no I'm not kidding). It had a great balance with just enough spice to give a tiny kick, but not knock you over. There was also Pineapple Basil--also delicious. A great balance, and tasted like Summer. I would definitely go back for more of that.

I decided to skip the sorbet this time though, since my main goal here is gelato, gelato, gelato. The best flavor they had was the Almond Caramel. but alas, there was only enough left for a tiny sample. The Cinnamon was also quite good. Though I decided to go a little more traditional route when it came time for choosing for my order. I went with Mint Chip with a tiny scoop of Chocolate Cappucino on top. That "tiny scoop" is what they deem their Lenny Scoop. A free 2nd flavor of your choice as a tiny dollop on top.

In the service department Royal Grinders beat D'Ambrosio hands down. They let us mill about and take our sweet time, also letting us sample as much as we wanted. However in the gelato department, I'm giving it over to D'Ambrosio so far. They have the upper hand when it comest to texture of the gelato, presentation of the product, and the flavor choices. Though, service definitely can not be ruled out as an important factor. D'Ambrosio's service wasn't terrible...it just wasn't particularly noticeable.

It's a good thing there are many more places to try...a good thing that QFC is pretty much on my way home...tonight!

The times they are a-changin'

As a mama-in-progress, at any given moment there are a gazillion thoughts running through my mind about bringing a new life into the world. I'm beyond excited! I'm over-the-double-rainbow-excited! The more that my belly begins to grow and the more flutters of movement I feel, the more excited I become. The more my body develops and the baby's growth progresses, and the more I read about what is happening with the little bug's progress each week, the more I am fascinated at the process and in awe of what the human body is capable of. The less "clinical" it is feeling, and the more "there is a human being--a little tiny person emerging" in there. A couple of nights ago I was reading about the process of labor and delivery, and though there is definitely fear and uncertainty that come with it, reading about it makes me feel more at ease about what my body will be able to do.

Most of my fears spring up while I'm trying to fall asleep. And most of the thoughts that I get a bit anxious about are not about caring for a newborn. Though that will certainly come with its own challenges, my fears are more deeply rooted in what challenges lie in our child's future. I'm sure my parents (well, all parents really) faced these same fears as they brought children into a new generation--facing the unknown, changing technology, the state of the ever-changing World. Mostly I think I am terrified of the things that I cannot control. Without getting into the debate of "but are we really in control of anything"--more to the point, it's the outside influences that send me reeling: Violence in schools; Keeping up with technology; The economic and political state of the United States and the rest of the World.

But at the very root of those fears also lies what I think pushed Cory and I into the decision to have a baby. We have always wanted to have children, but we did debate about it now and then too. There's so much that you can be terrified about living in the World that we do. There are horrible things that happen every day. There's so much FOCUS on horrible things. BUT, there also are many, many wonderful things to be thankful for--to celebrate and to experience. And why shouldn't one of those experiences be bringing new life, full of so many possibilities, in the World?

Is it overly optimistic, or even narcissistic to think that we would like to contribute more to our own little corner of the World by doing what we can to raise a caring and compassionate human being? When I look at the community of people that Cory and I are connected to, I just can't help but think that this is one of the most important decisions we have ever made. (Okay, duh!) But also one of the most important things I think we can do to try and perpetuate the kind of community that we would like to see continue in our tiny corner of the World.

I'm sure there will be many things we discover about parenthood that are incredible surprising--even astounding. And I'm sure that will come in both positive and negative ways. It will come with heartache and happiness. There will be lots of discoveries, challenges, changes, laughter, tears. The one thing I am certain of is that we will do the best that we possibly can to make sure our child knows that he/she is loved.