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So I should be feeling pretty good right now: I’m starting to get excited about having this baby, we find out the sex next week, and all the first trimester maladies have pretty much disappeared. Except I’m horribly depressed.

Life had to throw an enormous wrench in everything. On Monday, I discovered a walnut sized mass on George’s back between his shoulder blades. Holy shit, how could I have missed something so large? Have I been that preoccupied with myself? Perhaps… :( I immediately scoured the internet looking for clues. My closest guess was Fibrosarcoma. A brief conversation with the vet on the way to work yesterday confirmed my fear: Based on my description of the tumor, he suspects that type of cancer as well. I spent most of the day bawling my eyes out, unable to get much done. Today, I brought him in so the vet could examine him and hopefully get a needle sample of the tumor tissues to send off to lab. George was a wonderfully good sport and barely even put up a stink. I was so proud!! We all know what a pill he can be (his file has a giant orange “CAUTION” sticker on it).

So herein lies my problem: The tissue sample they sent might not provide any conclusive results that it is Fibrosarcoma. At any rate they recommend immediate surgery. The problem I have with that is threefold. First, IF it turns out to be Fibrosarcoma: the cancer is extremely aggressive and would require radical, invasive surgery — possibly having to remove bone and back muscles. Second, everything I have read says that the rate of recurrence in Fibrosarcoma is not very good. In other words, it could crop up again mere months from initial surgery, and with a vengeance. Finally, George is almost 12, and I’m really not keen on putting him through all that. But IF it turns out to be something less aggressive with a better prognosis, I might consider the surgery. So we’re in a rock and a hard place here. I guess we just need to wait and see what the lab results show. Hopefully, the results give us some conclusive data so we can make an informed decision!!

What would you do?? I mean, I really think people can take it too far in terms of “caring” for their pets. When do you draw the line?

I’ve had some people ask to see progress of the baby belly, and until now there really hasn’t been much to see. I present: weeks 10 thru 17. This last week I’ve definitely seen some growth, but I think these pics are a little misleading; especially since I usually wear looser clothes to conceal the bump. The most remarkable transformation so far has got to be the boobs… GOOD LORD, THE BOOBS! That’s all I’m gonna say.

Week 10

Week 12

Week 14

Week 17

While I’ve only put on about 5 pounds, my clothes are not my friends right now. I removed most of my wardrobe from the closet so that I wouldn’t get distracted by favorite garments that no longer fit me. It’s depressing when all you really want to do is wear that adorable wool skirt, but you can’t because it won’t zipper! So it taunts you from across the closet, making getting dressed a painful chore.

I am still rebelling against maternity pants, however. They are evil devices made to torture pregnant women. First, they only come in S, M, L… etc and they are tremendously unflattering. Second, I hate the sensation of fabric clinging to my stomach, so I must wear them slung low. Third, they fit ok for about 10 seconds until they stretch a little, and then I must resort to hiking them up every 5 minutes. If only I could get away with yoga pants at work. While not the image of fashion, at least they’d be comfortable.

So I was driving to work a few weeks back after a pretty substantial snow storm the evening before. Along my journey I saw a peculiar site: two or three guys standing proudly around a large mound of shoveled snow at the end of their driveway. I thought it was kind of odd, but I didn’t realize what they were looking at until my drive home. They had unmistakably embellished this perfectly shaped mound of snow to look like Jabba the Hut!

Another snowstorm fell, quickly covering him up, and I didn’t get to take a picture until the next thaw. Luckily, he was still in decent shape. :) You be the judge… Jabba the Snowman??

Since the cat is out of the proverbial bag at work, I am free to make the public service announcement: I am pregnant, knocked up, bun in the oven, gestating, preggers, whatever. It took a lot for me to keep this whole thing under wraps which is why I have been rather absent here of late. Some of you (and you know who you are) are slamming your hands down on the desk, screaming, “I KNEW IT!” Yeah, well… SURPRISE! It was inevitable, really.

[ November 11, 2009 ]

I recall a time when having kids was the last thing on my mind! You see, unlike some of my friends, I never had the overwhelming urge to procreate. The thought of stepping foot in a baby store used to give me the sweats, and quite frankly, I still hate going in them. I really haven’t enjoyed very much of the first 3 months — with the sole exception of seeing the first ultrasound. I can’t see myself being one of these women that proclaims to the world how much they love being pregnant. But then again, who knows; it’ve got a long 6 months ahead of me, as I start to balloon and not be able to fit into my clothes.

[ I didn't need the ultrasound tech to put the word "BABY" followed by 4 exclamation points to know what I was looking at here. ]

I would like to just skip through the pregnancy, labor & delivery business, but we all know that doesn’t happen unless you adopt. I know I sound negative about being pregnant. I don’t exactly hate it, but I just prefer how I feel when I’m not pregnant. I’m told by those more experienced that once you can feel the baby moving, it starts to get fun and interesting. I’ll keep you posted on that. :)

As the “all day” sickness is finally waning, Mike and I are starting to get excited about the prospect of being parents. Well, it’s a mixture of excitement and terror, but I challenge you to find any first time parent-to-be who isn’t a teensy bit terrified.

So throughout this whole adventure, I plan to resume blog business as usual (hopefully with a little more regularity) but perhaps also with pregnancy updates and maybe some “crafting for baby” fun. Sorry if that’s not what you were hoping for, but with the offspring growing inside me, it’s hard to think of much else.

There’s a small roadside cemetery about a mile from my house that I’ve driven by a hundred times without stopping. But this afternoon seemed like the perfect time to pay the deceased a visit; I had some free time and the clouds were dramatic. It’s nothing compared to the enormous historical cemetery downtown, but it’s a little slice of local history. Meandering among the marble and granite, one can’t help but notice that the names on the headstones match many of the area street names. Here are some favorite shots of my outing.

My husband thinks it’s weird that I like cemeteries… Maybe it is a little strange, but I kind of like the sereneness of it all. I like coming up with stories based on the various headstones. Then I’ll spot a tiny stone that belongs to a child; sometimes with a little lamb perched on top. There seem to be so many of them in older cemeteries. Sometimes I wonder what made the living choose a particular design for someone’s memorial. It’s a fun little game I play. Perhaps my love for cemeteries is a little ironic considering I don’t intend to make one my “eternal resting place.” Nevertheless, I imagine the lingering spirits enjoy the company. :)

I think I was in first grade the year I wore this gypsy costume… although it could be second grade; I’m not 100% sure. At any rate, this was one of my favorite costumes of all time — mostly because of the Fraggle Rock tambourine with flowing multi-colored ribbons! I vividly remember my love for the instrument, however I’m sure I annoyed the crap out of everyone around me with my exuberant tambourining! Again, my mom made this costume. I think that skirt was one of my mother’s that she shortened, using the extra fabric to make a babushka. This costume inspired me to make my more recent gypsy costume.

Also, gone are the days when schools host Halloween Parades (or so I’m told). Here’s me with a bunch of my classmates. Who knows what I’m pointing at, but it was funny for sure! :)

Yesterday afternoon I ventured into our creepy crawl space to pull out the bins of Halloween decor. I probably should have done this last week, but I’ve been busy! Judging by the looks of it and the fact that I have some new items this year, I think I need to buy another storage bin.

I’m starting to fear that my time is going to be stretched very thin over the next few weeks! In fact, I KNOW it will. A new freelance project came in, and since making money kinda takes precedence, I’m going to need to be very wise with the way I utilize my time. Looks like I need to start creating a master-list! My real problem is going to be sticking to my to-dos; I’m a classic procrastinator! I think pumpkin Domo is starting to look panicked don’t you??

There’s nothing quite like Fall in the Northeast! You don’t have to look hard to find people in the Halloween spirit. Around the corner from my house is a nursery that always decorates for Halloween. As August comes to a close, big round hay bales start arriving. By mid September, they’re all painted with adorable halloween faces. About fifty feet from the road, about 20 painted bales sit in a long line making funny faces at passers-by. Even local businesses get in on the fun by purchasing painted hay bales and placing them outside their businesses; they call it Pumpkins on Parade. On weekends in the fall, they host family fun days where kids can participate in pumpkin painting, hay rides, face painting, and all kinds of seasonal Fall fun. At the back of the grounds is a “Goat Hotel” where live some adorable, yet bossy goats.

In search of some new subject matter for my camera, and needing content for the Countdown to Halloween, I trekked over there and snapped away.





See the rest of the set here:

Those here for the Halloween content can check back a little later, since I’ll be writing something on that subject later this afternoon. :) When we bought our house, the powder room off the den was decorated in a frightening shade of dull cocoa brown. It had no mirror, the same brown asbestos tile that was in the laundry room, and a brown toilet that took at least 8 seconds of holding down the lever to flush! The only nice thing was that the previous homeowners had replaced the old faucet with a shiny chrome one. We not-so-fondly nicknamed this bathroom “the poo room”, for obvious reasons!

A few years went by and I painted the room an apple green — a reject color that I had purchased for the dining room, but ended up opting for something darker for dining. At least it brightened up the brown a bit. Then I got a mirror and put in a little tile backsplash because I noticed the wall was always getting wet. But then I never grouted it… I also bought ceramic tile and all the accoutrements to to do the floor, but never got around to starting that either. Notice a trend?? I am LAZY!

When we had the upstairs bathroom re-done, we ordered a second toilet in the hopes that some day we’d replace the old toilet down in the powder room. Fast forward to last weekend when my parents were visiting. We’ve been planning to bite the bullet and do the floor ourselves in preparation for the upcoming party (I guess this is about Halloween after all). So my dad offered his expertise and moral support for doing it ourselves. The hard part was laying the tile and I’m glad he was here to guide us through that process. I did the grouting/sealing during the week thanks to Tim the builder and yesterday we installed the toilet and a brighter overhead light. Violá! It’s a totally new room now!

My parents were visiting this weekend, and while they were here my dad wanted to pop into the camera shop to check out a few accessories for his camera… I tagged along and started poking around the sale items. I occasionally check out the DSLR prices; not because I’m in the market, but more as a frame of reference for when I win the lottery. But seriously, it’s always fun to dream. I noticed a clearance Sony A200 in the case and it was a phenomenal price. As a comparison: three years ago I bought my point-and-shoot Sony H2 for about the same price.

My parents saw I was eyeing the case and told me if I wanted it, I could have it for Christmas… Not really a tough decision there. However, I wanted to go home and check out reviews. Long story, short: I am now the proud owner of my first DSLR. And while it’s entry-level, I really don’t need anything too complicated or high-tech. So Christmas came A LOT early this year, but it doesn’t bother me one bit!

I definitely have to get used to using a more robust camera, but I’m getting the hang of it. For practice I’ve been taking a bunch of pictures around the house and my most interesting subjects are the cats. Here are a couple of my better shots.