Why hello there! It makes me sad that I've had to abandon my blog in the past few weeks. If I could compose blog posts directly from the thoughts in my head, then I would be one happy blogger. But alas...
I've had several challenges recently that have kept me from chilling in front of the computer or writing in a notebook. I am now 34 weeks pregnant! Thirty-four! What happened to those weeks of yore in my early pregnancy when I spent much of my time within running distance of the nearest toilet? What happened to those days when I still attempted to squeeze into my regular work pants without splitting the seams? Our due date seemed so far away. So, so far. And now look!
Now our days are becoming a mad scramble of baby preparation. We never properly set up the second bedroom when we moved into this unit last November, so it's always been "THAT" room- the room of the boxes that have no place, the room of accumulating piles of tools and magazines that you don't want to clutter the living room yet don't wish to throw away. You shut the door- the clutter goes away. Simple!
But with a baby on the way, there is no more ignoring this space. And so I started to get that "if we don't fix this room now I AM GOING TO FREAK OUT!" feeling. I think my husband started to feel that way too- a sign that we had indeed passed into a critical situation. We found a professional organizer (through a coupon deal at www.twobuckduck.com- a daily coupon website for Chicago businesses) and had her walk through our whole place with us. We learned a lot from her- where to store certain items, how to better utilize certain spaces in the apartment, and how to set up the baby's room. It was first time we ever had someone over where I didn't feel like I should clean or tidy beforehand, which was pretty nice!
We had been planning on going to Ikea to purchase some furniture for the baby's room, but the organizer gave us great tips on how to use the closet storage that we already had. We just needed to get the crap out of that closet before we could proceed. That took us to the next phase, which started a couple weekends ago. Nothing could happen until we went through and thinned out what we already had. We emptied the closet in that room completely. The process sent after-shocks into the remainder of the unit. The kitchen island overflowed with the crap that spilled out of that bedroom and the junk we brought home each day that normally would have gone back IN to that bedroom. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink (one residual pregnancy sensitivity of mine- I cannot stand the smell of any kitchen sponge we use! Blech!). Our clean laundry lay strewn across the dining room table for days before being folded and put away. The wave of chaos then crashed into the living room. It was a full on entropic assault.
I don't know about you, but when my living space becomes un-liveable, I need it fixed right away. But we couldn't attack it right away. This is the first free weekend we have had since July! Our time to work on this mess was relegated to the 2-3 hours of evening time that we had after work. But even our evenings have been busy! And, in the third trimester, it takes a bit of extra effort to be on your feet doing housework after working an 8-10 hour day. My daydreams of lying on the couch each evening of the last month of pregnancy, feet up with a bowl of bon bons at my side, were quashed.
This brings us to this weekend. This is the weekend when we will take on the offensive front in this battle. The pile for Salvation Army is growing. Baby clothes are washed and waiting to be put away. Our newly-purchased shelving system and storage containers are practically leaping off the wood floor in earnest, waiting to be used.
With all of this discussion, why am I still sitting on the couch typing? There is work to be done! Remind me that I need to blog more. I have to post about our lovely baby shower thrown for us last weekend in Michigan, the deals I've found on baby stuff, and how the joints in my hands are now so swollen and painful every morning that I must avoid tasks involving utilization of fine motor skills (just when I was coming close to finishing knitting that pair of socks for myself- rats!). And don't even get me started on our lack of food or meals to eat. God bless leftover Thai food!
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