NOT Baby Related, For Once (except for maybe #3)

I'm going to try my hardest to come up with some non baby news. I have a feeling this will be even more difficult once I have the baby. But anyways. Here we go.

1. We went to a TobyMac concert last night. It was awesome! He puts on great shows. What's funny is that it was a last-minute decision. I'm think we only bought the tickets four days ago. Art heard he was coming to Seattle, and he really wanted to go. (I didn't realize my husband was such a big TobyMac fan until quite recently.) He finally looked up the tickets, and realized that they were pretty cheap, so he asked me if we could go.

He's so funny. He's like a kid sometimes. I keep joking that we don't need to have a baby, because I already have one! Anyway, he asked me if we could go, and of course I said yes! I'm glad we went. I suppose I should feel a bit bad that Art didn't get to go right down to the stage. He told me that he's ALWAYS in the mosh pit. But he stayed in our seats for me, because there was no way I was going that close!

I was a tiny bit worried about the loud music, and if it would affect the baby, but it's all good. Many pregnant women have gone to rock concerts, and their babies didn't suffer hearing loss or anything.

2. I mentioned in my last post that I need to improve my eating habits. I've been eating perfect for over a week now, and I feel like myself again! (Perfect = no processed foods, no refined sugars, no grains. If it has a list of ingredients, and those ingredients are not real/recognizable foods, I don't go near it.)

I actually began to notice a difference within 24 hours of eating better, and in three days, everything was normal again. I did treat myself to some ice cream last night, but I haven't noticed any negative symptoms yet. But I'm going to keep up with the perfect eating, because I don't want to fool myself into thinking that it was just a temporary thing, and then start "treating" myself on a regular basis. Because I know what it does to me, and it's NOT a treat.

3. I was hoping to have a cloth diaper shower, but now I don't think it's going to happen. My friend (who is also going to be my doula) wants to host one for me. She is so very sweet and selfless, and her intentions bless my heart. But in this case, I think that perhaps, maybe, it's just not realistic.

She doesn't live in the same town as we do ("we" being Art and me, and all the people I might want at the shower). Plus she lives in an apartment, so she can't host it at her place. We live in an apartment, so she can't host it at my place. Also she doesn't know any of the people that I would want at the shower. My connection to her is completely separate from every other connection that I have. (Yes, believe it or not, she and I have no mutual friends.)

She doesn't go to our church, so she doesn't know the church ladies I might invite. She doesn't go to the gym, so she doesn't know the gym ladies I might invite. What I'm trying to get at is that if this shower is going to happen, it's up to me to figure out where the shower can take place, and it's up to me to invite everyone. I'm half planning my own shower.

And not only that, but the women that I would invite? I don't feel like I know them that well. Especially the church ladies. I've spoken to a few of them only a few times. I never see these people outside of church or the gym. I consider them my acquaintances, not my friends. (I would love it if they were my friends, but these things take time.)

Overall, it just seems awkward and tasteless. Am I overreacting? I know I have a tendency to focus on the negative. I call myself a "realist", which usually ends up being more "pessimist." But I seriously can't see a solution here. And my friend and I have been stuck at this point since she first suggested it, back in....October?

Also, I just shouldn't be planning my own shower. That just isn't done. So I love my friend for wanting to do this for me, but I'm thinking that it's just not going to go anywhere. And I hope I don't sound selfish, like I'm hoping more people buy me more things. It's that I feel bad for my friend. She's had her heart set on this for so long, and I don't know how to tell her that I don't want to have to work out the logistics. She's such a gentle person, and it's going to hurt her if I tell her to let it go.

I'm going to ask Art if we can use our tax return to purchase the remainder of the baby items (which include diapers, and also some bigger things like the playpen and stroller). I've only got a couple of months left, and no more showers.

(Actually that's not true. Art's mom wants to throw me a shower. Some of you might remember my talking about the Filipino wedding shower that she hosted. Everyone bought us crystal. Lots and lots of crystal things that we will never, ever use. Filipino's are warm and generous people, but they're not big on using registries. They have their own ideas as to what new brides or new moms should have. Needless to say, I'm really curious to see how the Filipino shower turns out.)

4. So that's a bit of...disappointing?...news. But I've also got good news: we're moving! (Again?!) Yes, again. The apartment suite right next to ours is a two-bedroom. When we moved into this one-bedroom, we realized that our next door neighbors were friends of ours! And they told us that they had been in that place for five years, and their lease was about to expire, and they wanted to get out of there.

So we talked to the landlords, and they said it would work. We're not breaking our lease, and we told them we could guarantee them three years. So they asked for a holding deposit, and now we officially have dibs on it! Our friends are done moving out (I think), so the landlords just need to go through and paint and clean the carpets, and make any repairs that need to be made, and close things up with the old tenants, and I don't think that will take too long. They're great landlords, and they get things done quick.

So in a couple of weeks, we (hopefully) get to move in! And it's going to be the easiest move ever. We just have to walk out our door, and walk across the connecting "balcony/walkway" and through the door of the new place. No stairs. No packing. I can literally pull a stack of dishes from one cupboard, walk over, and put them in a cupboard over there.

And did I mention it has two bedrooms? (AND two bathrooms?!) The baby will have his or her own room! No playpen in the living room! And more closet space! Yeah. I'm pretty stoked. The bedrooms are smaller, unfortunately, but we've done tiny squishy bedroom before. Plus, the master bedroom has its own bathroom. So Art and I get to have separate bathrooms. :)

My bathroom will be the "public bathroom", because my bathroom will always be clean. And my bathroom has a linen closet in it. And I get to say "my bathroom." (I just realized that this means we also have to buy another shower curtain, and more floor rugs, and another soap dispenser, and two sets of shampoo and conditioner, and two toothpastes....maybe I'll make it all pink and purple, just to be ridiculous.)

5. Things are going well at work. We just got some new programming put into place, which will make our jobs easier. We've been in our new database for over a year now, but I don't think our parent company really realized how inconvenient it was for us. The database wasn't really meant for the type of things our company does. But we had to transition to it, because our "parents" said so.

This year, the managers at our company finally got to sit down with some of the programmers, and they got to see, firsthand, just how difficult our lives were. They were astounded at how long each process took, and the insane work-arounds that we had to do just so that we could keep operating the way we had always done.

So they came up with a bunch of new programming that is specific to the type of things that our company does, so that we can work more efficiently, make fewer mistakes, and ultimately, have happier customers!

My supervisor made a joke that we're such cheap dates. As in, the littlest things make us all so happy and giddy, like how the current date auto-fills in certain screens, instead of us having to type it on ourselves. Or, when we have to choose something from a list, the list is now alphabetized. Stuff like that. But it really does make a difference! I think the biggest thing, for me, is seeing how the higher-ups are actually working WITH us on this. I think a lot of times we feel like they don't care about the little people.

So I'm happy that these things are improving. I won't be there much longer, but while I'm still there, I want to see these types of positive changes. (And hopefully positive changes keep happening long after I'm gone!)

And that's the latest news in my life! See, there ARE other things happening around me besides having a baby in my tummy. It's just that I'm mostly focused on the baby. (As if that wasn't obvious.)

Oh, I thought of one more thing:

6. I just bought a new deodorant/antiperspirant. I think the brand is called Sure. And I hate it. It doesn't work. So all week, I've felt as though I stink. My BO is just out there, for the world to enjoy. I've been trying to compensate by applying yummy lotions and perfume, but I can still smell my less-than-lovely pits, and I'm paranoid that others can as well.

Here's the thing: I hate deodorant/antiperspirant for women. It's either a white stick, or a gel, or a powder. And they ALL say "Goes on clear!", except NONE of them do. If it's a white stick, it goes on white. If it's a powder, it goes on white. If it's a gel, you end up with sticky pits. No matter which way you slice it, your pits and clothes will carry the evidence of what you applied to your underarms that morning.

I don't understand why deodorant/antiperspirant companies don't make an ACTUAL clear stick for women. They do it for men. Why not women? (And no, I'm not going to start using my husband's clear stick. I don't want to smell like a man. I won't lie: I'm tempted. But I've resisted thus far. Although I may have to cave if this continues.)

So, I need advice. What do you use? Do your pits and clothes display it and you just put up with it? Or have you actually found a brand that "Goes on clear!" like they say it does, despite the fact that it's a white stick or powder? And where do you buy it?

I usually just go to Target or Wal-Mart for these things, but if I don't find something soon, I guess I might have to resort to buying online. Which irks me, because I would have to pay shipping for such a small, basic item that I SHOULD be able to find in stores.

Okay, I'm done for real this time. Have a great weekend!