Birthday

I celebrated my birthday Saturday in typical fashion, by mopping a lake of water from the kitchen floor and doing dishes in the bathtub. Nothing like a frozen, busted pipe to help highlight the day! On the bright side, the kitchen floor has never been cleaner. On the extra-bright side, none of the water seems to have penetrated the down-stairs kitchen, the one that Don has spent six months renovating. When Don and I went to Lowe's yesterday to get the replacement parts he needed to fix the sink, everybody else there seemed to be getting the same stuff, and the stock of valves and hoses looked as though it had been ransacked. Guess we weren't the only ones in the neighborhood to forget about leaving the cabinet doors open and the tap dripping. It just doesn't get that cold here very often, so one forgets the routines.

I also got a pedicure, for the first time in many months. When I walked in, the proprietress looked me up and down and said, "You look different!" This has got to be the best, most discreet inquiry I've heard, because there are so many possible answers: "Well, I'm pregnant!", "I changed my hair", or whatever. So much better than a direct, "Are you pregnant?" that could be embarrassing if the answer were 'no'. I've gotten to the point where I'm visibly pregnant, for the most part; a nice change from just looking ten pounds heavier than usual. The pedicure was a birthday treat (from me), but I also consider it a frugal expenditure, because I get the worst in-grown toenails, and a pedicure is still cheaper than repeated trips to a foot doctor. Then again, I am a master of justification-- just ask me about the Ben & Jerry's that I'm consuming for the calcium. (What?)

This morning the baby was doing his usual acrobatic routine of thumps and kicks, and I could feel one kick quite clearly with my hand that was resting on my belly-- the first time I have felt anything externally. So I woke Don up and made him roll over, so that he could feel. The baby immediately stopped moving. So it's going to be like that, little fella, huh? Being difficult for mama already? There are sometimes these funny little kicks directly to my side, that make me think of when swimmers reach the end of a lap and do that turn-kick thing on the side of the pool to start the next one; I keep waiting to get one on each side so that I can time the laps. Less funny are these new kicks straight down, that I guess are probably hitting my cervix but feel exactly like a punch to the Girl Parts and are about as pleasant as they sound. Still, I welcome any and all movement, even the crotch-kicks, since nothing keeps me calm and relaxed like knowing that the baby is still alive. It's a good feeling.

Don and I reached our goal of no-dinners-out-until-my-birthday, perhaps our longest stretch of home-cooked meals to happen while we were both employed. That bit is going really well, especially since I've been quite good about keeping the kitchen clean, the biggest obstacle to cooking in my home. I've been trying to get some of the other rooms under control, too, and have filled two big boxes with clothes for Goodwill. Today I will actually drive them there and drop them off, which I have discovered through trial and error is the only way to actually get said boxes out of the house. It's funny that just having the good intentions and filling the boxes isn't enough; they will sit in the corner of the bedroom forever without that crucial last step. This should help a little with the ongoing Laundry Issue. I figure the more goals I get done in January, the better, since New Years ideas tend to fade with time.