My Housekeeping Fantasy

You know those big, gorgeous, to die for houses with the huge front doors, the enormous bay windows, the immaculate landscaping in the front AND back yards??? Most people look at those houses and say to themselves "I want that!". Most people dream about owning and living in such houses (and if you are one of the lucky people who do well then God Bless ya!!)Most people drool over those beautiful and large proportioned houses with their 2 and a half baths, 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen filled with the finest stainless steel appliances and a great room with a fireplace. These are the homes showcased on the DIY network or HGTV.

                                                        **Not my home by the way**

Now I look at those homes and the first thing that pops into my mind is "How will I ever keep up on the house cleaning in that house?!!"  I mean seriously I can barely keep my own house clean and it is only a two story little Cape Cod type house.  To be perfectly honest the upstairs is just the teenagers bedrooms so I NEVER go up there. And we don't have a basement. So literally it is one floor to keep clean. A kitchen, a living room, our bedroom, the bathroom, the laundry room and the back office (soon to be nursery).  That is it. I have trouble keeping up with the clutter and cleaning. I didn't even have the baby yet and I have trouble keeping up!

My Hubby is an ex-military guy so you would think he would be a neat freak, right? Ummm noooooo. He is a slob. His clothes never hit the laundry basket. The floor to our bedroom is apparently the laundry basket.  Every day before work I spend a significant portion of my time getting ready picking up his trail of clothes. Sigh.

Also,  Hubby loves to cook. He is a phenomenal cook. He is a fantastic baker. (Confession here: I am an utter disgrace to my Italian heritage and never cook...eek now you know!) I love his meals. I devour them! But Hubby also feels the need to dirty every dish, every utensil, every pot, pan, and other tool used for cooking when he is creating his gastronomic masterpieces. And guess who gets left with the dishes to wash? Yes that would be me.

The teenager likes to leave piles of her crap going up the steps to her room. This stuff never actually makes it to her room unless I physically move it all to the front of her door in hopes that she gets the hint. Sometimes it works...most times the stufff just lays in a pile onthe landing by her door.  Her room is so messy I am afraid of what actually lives in there so more often than not I do not put  things in her room because that would mean having to open the door and that could mean taking my life into my hands.Teenagers have an amazing ability to not see clutter, dirt, or large species of unknown bedroom monsters lurking in their midst. It boggles my mind.

So ever since I found out I was pregnant and would be able to take a year off for maternity leave I have been fantasizing about how I will be home so I will be able to do the laundry, dust the furniture, vaccuum the rugs, scrub the bathrooms, and keep the kitchen clean! It will be great!

I will no longer be making an almost two hour commute each way to work, I won't have papers or projects or lesson plans to do at night, no more open houses, report card conferences, or staff development meetings to attend! I will be home 24/7 and finally I will able to become
"June Cleaver" and keep my house clean and sanitized! It will sparkle like the top of the Chrysler Buildiing, it will gleam like the top of Mr. Clean's head, it will dazzle and amaze my family and friends with how clean and lovely it is! Everyone will oooh and aahhh over how I am able to take care of a newborn and keep my house as clean as the day we moved in!

I lapse into this fantasy quite often. It makes me smile. It has become my happy place in a sea of chaos and clutter. Whenever I come home home and see a sink full of dirty dishes and trash that is overflowing I just stare off into the distance and go to my happy place. Most women fantasize about George Clooney. Not me. No I am fantasizing about a clean house.

                                               **Not my idea of a fantasy!**

Here is my fantasy:

                                           **Look at the polish on that table!! Oh my!!!**


Shhhh DO NOT DISTURB--I don't want to come back to reality!!

Much luv!
Laura

Why I Love Being Pregnant

Sounds strange to love something that makes you incredibly hormonal, gain weight, break out in zits and waddle like a penguin when you walk...but I have to admit it--I love absolutely everything about being pregnant!  I guess it's because I waited so long for this blessing and now even with the complications...I truly am enjoying pregnancy!!

  Here are my top ten reasons why I love being pregnant:

10. Hubby is so sweet and will cook me special meals or go out and buy me a regular sized Rita's just to indulge my cravings for sugar free water ice!

9. Getting to register for all the baby items--that was so much fun! I love being able to pick out the design elements for the nursery and the lil onesies and all the cute and practical things! I love it!

8. The deferential treatment from salespeople and cashiers at stores as I waddle in to make my purchases. So far everyone has been super nice and uber helpful! Plus now I get to park in the "stork" parking or the "mommy to be" parking spots that so many stores have these days! I used to long for the day I could do that and now I can!!

7. Pre-Natal Vitamins--My hair and my nails are growing so long!! My nails would probably be in better shape if I wasn't a nail biter (ugg something I need to work on!) but my hair is growing super fast! YAY!! I want my hair to be really long again so this is a great help!

6. I am over my caffeine addiction and that is awesome!I never in a million years thought I would be able to give up caffeine! Before I was pregnant I was literally drinking a pot to a pot and a half of coffee a day!Plus diet cola... Now all I drink is water and I have no intention of going back to either coffee or cola after the baby is born! So pregnancy has some health benefits too!!!

5. Boobs...omg I have boobs!I lost a ton of weight a few years ago and of course one of the first things to go was my boobs! But now that I am pregnant I no longer have deflated little boobs I have  Massively large boobs..which the Hubby adores!LOL I forgot how much fun they could be!! But I know they are only a temporary gain here..but I'll enjoy them nonetheless!



4. Bursts of creative energy! I am feeling extremely creative these days. I am writing more now than I have in years --I just feel so inspired everyday!Journaling, poetry, short stories...tons of ideas floating in my head!! I am back into crafting--I have not one, not two, but three cross-stitch projects going for the  Lil Sweet Pea and I am even looking to pull the sewing machine out this summer to work on a quilt! I kind of lost my crafting mojo there for awhile but boy oh boy has it come back full force these last few months!!

3. Taking time for me. Pregnancy has given me a reason to slow down and relax. Take time to pamper myself with some much needed "me" time. I am able to just sit down in the evenings and read if I want or watch a television program because I can ( and usually because I just don't want to get up off the couch!!)

2. My Baby Bump!! Oh my gosh ...you have no idea how long I waited to be pregnant or how excited I am everyday to look down and see this tummy popping out! I love shopping for maternity clothes and getting to show off my bump! I have never felt more womanly and girly girl than I do these days!! I love it!

1. And the number one reason I love being pregnant:  Getting to feel all the little kicks and hits from the Lil Sweet Pea and hearing that heartbeat and then getting the ultra-sound...and just knowing my little one is in there growing by leaps and bounds every day and that in a few short months I will be holding the Sweet Pea in my arms. It makes me smile everyday!!

Much luv!!
Laura

Help! Technical Difficulties

Does anyone know or can anyone help me with replying to comments on my blog?? I can not for the life of me figure out how to reply to someone specifically. Or do I just post a new comment under the comments already there??

Also--why will Blogger not allow me to post any of my own pictures but I can upload a picture if it has a URL? I am finding these things to be very frustrating everytime I try to write a new post and upload a picture or reply to a comment.

Oh and one more question --why can I easily comment on some people's blogs but on others it keeps making me re-sign in and then won't let me post under my name anyway????

Blogger is giving me gray hair I swear! Any advice or help would be much appreciated!!!

Much luv!
Laura

Today is My Baby Shower

Today is my baby shower that my lovely Sister-In-Law is throwing for me. I can not say enough good things about her or what she means to me! She has been my best friend for sixteen plus years and I love her to death!! She is the sweetest, kindest, most loving person I have ever known and she is always doing something sweet for me. Like throwing me a baby shower.

Which can't be easy. Without getting into details now(I will definitely post about it later and in greater detail) about a year ago a significant portion of my relatives and I had a falling out over family issues that apparently had been bubbling over in many people's minds for a long time. It got ugly. It was not pleasant and my family with whom I thought I was so close to cut off all ties from each other for over a year. Needless to say baby steps have been taken to try to repair the damage and hurts on both sides. But it is still a bit awkward and tense.

Which makes me a bit nervous for today. I don't know what will happen or who will actually be there. It may in fact just be me, my sister-in-law, my step-daughter, and my one aunt. Sad but true. As for my own mother-she is an alcoholic whom I have seen or spoken to since I was fifteen so I know she won't be there!!! But the whole thing makes me a bit sad since this is supposed to be such a joyous time but it is bittersweet knowing that I just don't have all my girls in my family around me anymore.

But I am going to try and be positive and not let the pessimism and sadness overide which should be a joyous day no matter who shows up to celebrate my Lil Sweet Pea. The people who do are the ones who matter the most and really no amount of sadness or regret will instantly repair those relationships so I just have to keep moving forward and focus on the joy of my Sweet Pea.

So I am going to smile brightly and just enjoy the happiness of the day and those who are there to celebrate with me! I'll post later and let you know how it went! But in the meantime...Happy Baby Shower Day to me and the Lil Sweet Pea!!!

Much luv!
Laura

Sleep...It's What I Dream Of

 I have been getting up at 1 a.m. to go to the bathroom for quite some time now throughout my pregnancy and it was fine. I would get up, go to the bathroom, climb back into bed and be blissfully asleep again within a minute. Which was necessary considering I get up at 4a.m. to get ready for work. Because I am a restless sleeper to begin with--I toss and turn alot normally so I need to sleep and everything was working out fine with this little bathroom schedule. No problems there for the longest time. It became routine and I was used to it.

Until last week.

One night last week, I get up at 1 a.m. go to the bathroom, climb back into bed and am ready to re-enter dreamland when BAM! Nothing happens. I lie there wide awake listening to the a/c hum and trying to make myself sleep. I lay there and lay there. I open my eyes and look at the clock --2 a.m. uh-oh I have to get up in two hours, this will never do!! I lay there some more and by about 3:15 a.m. I believe I fall asleep only to have the hubby wake me up at 4 a.m.. I drag ass at work that day. But I figure it was a fluke and since I am so tired I will definitely sleep fine tonight.

No such luck. Up again at 1 a.m. for the potty run...wide awake until 3 a.m.. This is not good. This will not do! This happens all of last week and into this week.  I am not a happy camper. I take my sleep very seriously and while I know that when the Lil Sweet Pea arrives sleep will be compromised I also know I will not have to get up everyday and make the hour and a half commute down to work and teach thirty second graders on very little sleep. I will at least be home and most likely still in my PJs!

I still have two weeks of regular school to go and four weeks of summer session left to teach so I need to do something so I can get some semblance of a good night's sleep. So I go to THE BOOK. You know the one-- What To Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff. The one I have dog eared pages upon pages in over the past six months. The one my husband keeps threatening to take away from me because he says it makes me "neurotic". (So I may just get a teensy bit anxious and down-right panicky at times if I or my body seem to be doing something not according to "THE BOOK" is that neurotic??? -- I seem to drive the Hubby crazy..) Anyways so to the book because yet again last night there I am twiddling my thumbs in the darkness wide awake and frustrated....

Here is what THE BOOK said " Don't just lie there. When sleep's eluding you-and you've run out of sheep to count-get up and do something relaxing (read, watch TV until you feel sleepy." Which would be great advice except for one small problem. By the time I get sleepy enough to go back to sleep it is time for me to get up for work!!!! Ahhh...

I also did not find this gem from THE BOOK  helpful either " Don't lose sleep over losing sleep. Stressing about your lack of shut-eye will only make it harder to grab any. In fact, sometimes just letting go of that "will I ever fall asleep? worry is all it takes to drop off to dreamland." Ummm not helpful to me either. I just may be handing THE BOOK over to the Hubby....

Hopefully this only a little phase my Lil Sweet Pea is putting me through and soon I will be able to sleep more normally again. In the meantime--its the crack of dawn and I have gotten the laundry done and all the dishes cleaned so I may be sleepless in Podville but at least I'm productive!! LOL

If anyone has any tips or advice on sleep I'd love to hear them!! Thanks so much!!

Much luv!!
Laura

**Not my bedroom by the way--I just thought it was appropriate!**

The "I Hate The Heat" Rant

It is the first day of June and we are in our third day of the summer seasons first heat wave. Can I just tell you something? Make a confession of sorts here? I do not like the summer.I may be a teacher who gets summers off (except this year when in a fit of insanity apparently I signed up to teach summer school)But do I enjoy the summer??? Nooo! Not one bit!I dislike summer with a fiery passion! 

Do you want to know why?? Well since you twisted my arm I will tell you! Here goes....

I am not like the other Italians in my family, namely my father and brother, who adore, look forward to and bask in the hot weather days. Both of them can be outside for hours on end in the heat and they never, EVER break a sweat! (How is that possible, I ask you?????!!!)They don't even need to be in a pool or anything...they will just hang out in the yard ...IN THE SUN! They are those very fortunate people who just tan naturally. They can be outside for an hour and they will have beautiful, warm, golden tans. They never burn, they never turn red, they never peel. They got all the good Italian genes! Siiiiigggh...

I, on the other hand did not get blessed by the Italian genes that  give a spectacular tan. Noooo, I may have inheirted the dark eyes, the dark hair, and the attitude of my Italian ancestors but unfortunately I also inheirted the pale white alabaster skin of my Irish ancestors.I spend an hour in the sun with SPF 145 and I still wind up red, splotchy, and burnt to a crisp! I do not tan. I merely burn and then spend weeks peeling. This is not attractive or fun.

 I do not glisten sexily in the sun...I SWEAT. I sweat buckets and this is also not attractive or fun. I have been referred to on several occasions as "SWEATY BETTY" by my darling brother. This is not amusing. Also my curls take on a life of their own in the summer heat ...they grow bigger and fuzzier and kinkier. My brother who thinks he is a comedian has asked me on several times in summers past if I needed "Afro Sheen". Again dear brother I am not amused. I am just hawt and sweaty and verging on miserable in the summer heat. I am never amused.

 Actually nothing about summer amuses me. Except ice cream and air conditioning! They always make me smile in the heat.

So now let's take my intense dislike for all things summer and heat related and amplify it to about a thousand percent because now I am pregnant on top of all the other stuff! I am wilted right now. My make-up has melted off my face, my curls have frizzed and knotted up so much I can no longer get my fingers through them, my feet are swollen, my hands puffy. I am sweaty. And not the sexy sweaty either. I am a wilted, melted, pregnant mess here  at the end of the day. I have all summer to go before the lil sweet pea's arrival. How will I survive???? EEK! I am worried that I will melt into a big puddle and never make it to the lil ones arrival.  Summer hasn't even officially arrived yet and I am stressed and hot and uggggg!

But things are improving...I am in the a/c now, feet are free from work shoes, out of my work clothes and in something cool and comfy.So its not all bad now. Now if I just figure out a way to hibernate in the a/c until September!! LOL

Much luv!
Laura