to stay or not to stay.

So as many of you know Jeff and I change our plans just about as often as possible.

Proof: we have a house in AZ and are living with his parents in UT.

Since moving here we have both really liked it and have seriously been talking about staying here permanently, if possible. But at the same time the idea of just going back to our house in AZ is really enticing. It would definitely make things a lot simpler. Leaving his family would be really hard for Jeff. I am a little different than him with that, I tend to do okay as long as I can talk on the phone with family as often as I feel the need. Especially if I know that it will be possible to fly to visit whenever we feel the need. It will be sad for him to leave. I am more nervous about having a tiny, literally newborn, baby to take care of without family around to bale me out if necessary! I just realized this morning that if we do decide to move back and he is able to get a job down there, the schools start the first or second week of august in AZ so we will be moving with a 2 week old. (And that's assuming he is born sometime close to his due date!) Or maybe he will be a pal and decide he wants out 2 weeks early instead!

When we first moved to AZ, I was working 50 or more hours per week, plus commuting. (Hard to believe now, considering my general state of sitting-around-doing-nothing-ness.) Jeff was working his 40 hours at a job he absolutely hated while stressing out about grad school costing all sorts of money that wouldn't be made back in the career path it would put him on. And even with all of that we still liked AZ. But because I only had 10 vacation days all year (holidays aren't an option) and we were gonna be po' the possibility of visiting our families regularly was basically zero and big events (aka family reunions) were out of the question. So AZ felt a lot farther away than it really was.

With Jeff teaching and me being a stay-at-home-mom (still can hardly believe it), we will have a ton more freedom to go places and visit family and friends than the last time around. Plus we already have a house that we love. I still can't believe that we basically just got up and left that house exactly as it was when we were living in it. Seriously, all we moved out was our bed and bedroom set. Oh, and I cleaned our stuff out of the master bath too. What the?! Who does that?! So actually, when I say move all we will really be moving is our clothes, bed, a couple bikes, and whatever gadgets we acquire for the new baby (and the baby, of course).

Housing prices in Southern Utah are basically ridiculous. Of course that is how it works: We buy a house in AZ and the market immediately drops through the floor and then we start looking in UT and it manages to be the one county in the entire nation not to know there is housing collapse supposed to be taking place! Nothing like stating the obvious: we will have to spend a whole lot more money to get a whole lot less house here while stressing out about keeping the house in AZ rented.

So, to be honest, I vote that we move back to AZ. Maybe not forever, but at least until the housing market picks up again. And no one knows how long that could take. I am standing neutral when I talk to Jeff though because emotionally it will be a lot more difficult for him to leave and so he gets to reach a decision one way or the other for himself. And who knows, maybe we won't even be able to find him a job in AZ and this small novel was all for naught.

glass booth

This is pretty cool. Check it out.

http://glassbooth.org/

And I thought it would be bad with a girl . . .

Okay so anyone who knows Jeff at all knows that if we had (or have, there is still that 10% chance!) a baby girl he would be about the most protective parent in the world. Since last week when we found out it would be a boy I have been mentally preparing myself to enjoy watching team sports and not worrying so much about how I was going to handle Jeff's overprotectiveness.

At least until last night.

Yesterday I wore a t-shirt and skirt and for some reason my belly looked bigger than it ever has before. Obvious-pregnant, not obvious-that-girl-just-ate-too-much. Jeff hadn't seen my stomach in anything sort of form fitting in a couple of weeks so he was really attentive to it. Meaning, if I folded my arms, or tapped my stomach, or anything in between he was chastising me that I was going to hurt the baby. I was trying to explain to him that if it doesn't hurt me then it probably isn't gonna hurt the baby because he is in there floatin' around. So Jeff grabbed a measuring tape and measured out 5 1/2 inches (because that is the average size the baby should be by now) and held it up to my stomach to prove that he is bigger and probably getting smushed if I my arm touches my belly.

If this is how he is when the baby is in utero what am I gonna do after the baby is born?!

I obviously need to re-think my mental preparedness strategy and maybe focus on the dealing with over-protectiveness first and then maybe give myself the next 5 years to build up to the team sports thing.

1 point for domesticity

Yesterday I made Jeff 3 meals. Okay maybe not 3 meals since one was a sack lunch (that he usually eats for breakfast) and one was just spaghetti, but he ate 3 times yesterday thanks to yours truly so I am countin' it.

When Jeff's dad walked in last night while I was cooking dinner he went back in his room and came out exclaiming, "The thought just occurred to me: Kristina is being domestic!" I think it shocked him so bad that it took him over a minute to truly comprehend what he had just witnessed.

The mood rollercoaster that pregnancy has thrown me on is strange because last week the idea of making dinner would have inspired me to *pop Jeff in the nose before I would have even really considered making food. Yesterday I came home from swimming and cooking was my own bright idea and I didn't mind doing it. So weird.

*I am really not violent with my husband, I promise.

took the toot right out of my horn.

So this afternoon I went swimming. I was pretty proud of myself for making the 3 minute drive to the pool. Especially since I didn't have my car until after 2 pm and usually if I haven't done something by then, it just ain't happenin' that day. So I get in and start swimming the workout that the Master's team had posted for the day, just to see if I could pull the yardage off (obviously paying no attention to the set times). That's a whole different story, anyway, so I am using the kickboard, I don't have my glasses on, I've just turned around the far end of the pool and I see a guy on crutches walking toward the lane next to mine. As I get closer, I quickly realize that one of his legs is amputated about 3/4 of the way down his thigh. So I start feeling really awkward, not wanting to stare, but not really having a whole lot of other places to look since I was using the kickboard and my neck is tight when I turn it to the left so I can't even lay my head down that way. As I continue swimming I see him put one fin on, use a buoy between his legs, and then he swam, a lot, pretty fast too.

Long story short:

Today I felt very proud of my lazy butt self for actually making it out of the house and to the pool. Then when I made the decision to swim a whole mile I felt like I was the pregnant champ of the world. Then a guy with only one leg not only made it to the pool but he proceeded to swim circles around me. Then I eventually got out of the pool, my two legs slightly wobbly, feeling a lot less proud than when I got there.

yay!

I love it when I expect something to happen in a couple of days and it happens today instead. And for once I am not being sarcastic. One night last week I ordered a few books from Amazon.com. Then everyday since then, starting the next morning, I tracked the order to see when they would get here. It looked like they weren't going to get here until Thursday so I was thinking that maybe I would actually get some of the quilting I need to get done, done, even though I really was wishing the books would get here sooner. And they did! Tonight as I went to go up the stairs I saw the package waiting for me. Today has actually been a pretty terrific day (again, I actually mean it seriously) and this just made it even better. I will let you know about the books as I finish them because I know you are just waiting on the edge of your seat in anticipation.

blessing or curse?

Yesterday was the Super Bowl. I don't know what number, something with the roman-numeral L in it. Yesterday was also the only day this winter that it has snowed in St. George and been below freezing. Therefore, yesterday was the day that all of the men in this house became very agitated and stayed agitated when the satellite dish went out during the middle of the first quarter of the Super Bowl and stayed out the rest of the night.

At first, this was very amusing. But I don't know if it is worse to have to sit through the super bowl or sit through grown men crying out in frustration throughout the duration of what would have been the culmination of the year's pro football tv-watching.