FML

I'm having one of those months where it feels like the universe is out to settle a personal score against me.

My AC is dead.  My car is dead.  And I mean dead as in the chances that these items can be repaired is less 5%.

Because financial burden is exactly what I need while grieving and planning for my first child.

This month has royally sucked.  I'm going to crawl into a hole now.

Alula

Meal Planning

So I'm knocked up now, and the employee share of healthcare costs is about to skyrocket for about 2 years (Q, your husband's company rocks--Mr. Borealis' company is going HSA only starting January 1).  I have commenced a stranglehold on my household budget because I'm unsure if I will want to return to work after I pop in April.

Realizing that I've kept this decision very private up to this point, and have been very career-oriented, let me explain this logic.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not hate children, and nor have I ever said that I do not want kids.  I have said that I would be okay *not* having kids, and this is still true; I don't view the ultimate purpose of my life to be producing or raising offspring, and I am blessed with a large family and many personal goals worth pursuing.  All of that is not to say that kids are unwelcome--I just view a child as one more along for the adventure (...kind of like my husband).  

I have not caught the "baby fever," and we were waiting to be prepared and ready.  Anyone paying attention is aware that last year we moved from a condo into a 4 bedroom house with a sweet backyard in a good school district.  I am not shopping for tiny booties or tiny bibs or tiny whatever else the normal female response in this situation is.  I have no desire to hold other babies and "practice".  I don't feel magical--I feel exhausted and sick, and if I have to listen to one more female relative tell me how wonderful it is being pregnant and how great I must feel, somebody is going to get smacked.  And for goodness sake, I am now entering my second trimester, and it isn't getting better, and I wish people would stop saying that I will feel better soon--my back pain is increasing, my nausea and exhaustion are now coupled with migraines in the evening, I'm told I have started sleepwalking.  

Also, my grandmother passed away on the 11th, and being pregnant at that funeral wins the awkward moment of the year award.  I'm still not over her death.  Hearing "Congratulations, you must be so happy" repeatedly during a loved one's funeral is exactly what I didn't need.  I hung out with my grandmother a week and a half earlier and she was so happy and said she wanted to babysit, and she didn't get to.  She was someone I really would have wanted my kids to have a connection with, and she was someone I was close to, and I am still messed up about her death.

...And back to the work thing.  We had privately discussed that putting our kids in daycare full time is not our preferred option, and especially not at an early age.  So, I may be taking a short career break to take care of things at home.  I'm planning to get a part-time job during that time, or I may go completely insane being trapped inside the house day after day.

To cover the lapse in income, I am investigating how to cut our food costs.  And I discovered this site:  http://www.grocerybudget101.com.  It's pretty neat; I'm going to try it.

That's all for now,

Alula

Guess who is pregnant?

Well the first step is checking the blog, I will be interested to see who see's the Baby count down first.

Heavenly Creatures

Ladies,

I just watched this one on Netflix, and I HIGHLY recommend it.  It's about an obsessive friendship and fantasy life that develops between two teenage girls.

One of them grew up to be mystery author Anne Perry.  That's right, it's based on a true story.

Don't be misled by the cover--it isn't horror genre (except for the first and last 5 minutes of the movie, which feature a murder).  There is sex and one murder, but nothing too graphic in nature.  It has some very creative scenes depicting the fantasy world that the two friends imagined together, kind of on par with Big Fish.

Alula

Organization

OK so I think I need a professional organizer for my house because I have no clue how to organize my house.  Its starting to make Mr. Man pretty frustrated because we can never find anything. I fail has a house mom.

Orange is the New Black

From the creator of Weeds, Jenji Kohan.  It is hilarious in all the same ways as the glory seasons of Weeds (those being 2-5, IMHO).  However, be warned that it is grungy and kind of nasty in all the same ways as Weeds, so don't watch it with children old enough to repeat things heard or prudish husbands.

Q, if you haven't watched it yet, it's pretty good.  But you have to give it 2 episodes--the pilot is loaded with a bunch of flashbacks and non-linear story telling, but the following episodes aren't like this.

It's about a woman who was previously involved in an international drug cartel, and years afterward, someone turns her in for her past crimes.  She has since cleaned up her life, so she goes from a very normal suburban lifestyle to a pretty rough prison life.  It's kind of like the section of Weeds that they cut out between seasons 6 and 7 when Nancy was in the clink--that they should have left in--because it would have been hilarious.

Favorite quote so far (said in a Russian accent):  "All I wanted was to eat a chicken that is smarter than other chickens and absorb its power...and make a nice kiev."

Alula

6 Souls

The movie is part thriller and part horror flick (...but definitely more of a thriller).  It stars that guy who played the philandering king in The Tudors.  In this one he plays a crazy man with multiple personalities who is actually a crazy religious nut that's sort of possessed.  Character is played well, and the story was a good tell.  I kind of wish the ending had offered a little more, but I liked the souls and curses theme throughout.

I have now moved on to watching Walking with Monsters: Life Before Dinosaurs.  I turned it on because Mr. Borealis had a bad day at work, and who doesn't love dinosaurs?

Also watching a lot of Glee and Supernatural lately; we discovered Supernatural earlier this year, and it is all manner of awesome.

Alula

Almost killed my bamboo

Gardening--indoors and out--has been the focus of my week.  My mom got me a Captain Kirk hosta a couple of weeks ago, and on the 4th of July I went and got two other hosta cultivars to keep it company and planted them in the backyard.  I also added some zebra grass, a red lupine, and a heucherella.

We re-seeded the bald patches in the backyard, and I am hopeful that the grass makes a recovery.  I think Mr. Borealis has been trimming it too short, contributing to the over-drying and yellowing.

Indoor gardening today included moving my giant coleus from my kitchen to the outdoors; I kept a clipping to grow indoors in case the whole thing dies on me, but so far so good.

I re-potted my ever-growing jade plant.  While attempting to switch the jade and my Norfolk Island Pine, I accidentally knocked over the bamboo plant that my mom got me when I turned 16.  It was in this cute little planter shaped like bamboo with a mama and baby panda climbing on it, and I broke part of the planter.  : (

Majorly upsetting, to say the least.  I spent two hours this afternoon trying to gently remove my bamboo from the broken planter without destroying the roots or further breaking the planter (still salvageable as a pen or brush cup, but it will definitely never function as a planter again).  The roots had crowded every inch of the tiny planter, which makes sense, as they've been growing in there for 13 years.

I am anxiously hoping that the bamboo survives in its new home.  It will be a sad day if it dies, as it's the oldest plant in my indoor garden.

I have clippings available if anyone wants any of the following, which would be easy to re-root:

- Coleus: easy to grow indoors and out, and difficult to kill.  Mine is a maroon, green, and tan variety.

- Spider plant:  I currently have several babies off of the main plant that need new homes.  Grow indoors, shade tolerant.

- Jade plant: grow indoors, needs sun.

Alula

Red Lights

Okay--some of you are aware that Q and I used to share a Netflix account.  This happened mostly because my husband is a moocher, but that's not the point.

An unusual perk of sharing an account was that we could see what the other household was watching, which inevitably led to conversations and recommendations.  This link was (mostly) severed when Mr. Borealis was finally told to get his own damn account.

Talking today, Q and I were lamenting that we no longer get to have those conversations, or play jokes by adding bizarre or suggestive titles to the mutual instant queue.  So, I have decided that I am going to start posting my Netflix viewing habits, reviews, and recommendations to this blog.

This will commence now.    (Please note the use of tags.)

I offered up Red Lights for Movie Night tonight.  The movie stars Robert Di Nero as psychic Simon Silver, and Sigourney Weaver as the physicist skeptic paranormal investigator trying to prove that he's a fake.  There are several moments that will make you jump, but no overtly scary images or keep-you-up-at-night overly intense moments.

I highly recommend this film.  It had an ending I didn't expect, and enough intrigue to pull my attention, even while trying to write.

Alula

P.S.  I am now watching Star Trek: TNG with Mr. Borealis.

Yard Sale

ok here is an idea little man wants to sell some toys to make money to buy new toys.  I was thinking of having a yard sale at my moms house June 19th and 20th.  If anyone would like to add to the pile or help out let me know.  Could be a good time to get the girls together.

A quick post over lunch

Well, I now live close enough that I can come home for lunch.  Still regretting the fact that I have moved so far away from friends and family.

However, it has done great things for the amount of time I have to write.  I have been avoiding that alia for a couple of weeks now, and trying to refocus on the story I need to finish, but to no avail.  I have a few pictures I have been meaning to post, and some already on my other blog (not that one--the other other blog...email me if you haven't found it).

News in my life...well, we recently discovered that our master shower has been dripping from somewhere, causing light damage to the ceiling of the guest room.  We hung up a woodpecker house (made by my dad and refurbished by my husband), hoping to deter the bird that has been trying to nest in the side of our house.  I have recently discovered a love for Greek yogurt.  I now go to the gym 3 times a week (yay for free time due to short commute!).  We inherited a third pet turtle from my parents, and their awesome tank setup has led me to revamp the other 2 tanks in our house (pictures to come).

Hope everyone is doing well.

Alula

Baby

little miss was born on 2/5/13 we are home and doing good!

Almost

Well we are almost their! I am on 2 day a week Doctor visits, what fun that is. I have been very good at pyramid solitaire. But otherwise not doing too much.  Little man is doing good still not sure if he really gets it that he is having a baby sister, but that will all come in time.  I am a little worried Mr mans work has him working 2 hours away from the hospital and my mom is at home 3 hours away so if I go into labor early and have to have an emergency c-section I will be all by myself but I will survive. Well wish us luck!

Happy New Year!

Hey Ladies!
     I  found it disappointing the apocalypse was not what the movies and internet made it out to be.  I don't know about you guys but its been a few weeks now and I have yet to see a zombie or meet my doom, and I have not heard anything about California falling off!

I'm still not one for New Years resolutions, I prefer Birthday resolutions; however, in lu of my major life change I have decided to make my resolutions now.

1) Get Mini Q to nurse. (the altrunitive is to pump for six months to a year... Ouch!)
2) Drop the 10lb that came with Mini Q and more if I can!
3) Be prepared for next years craft season!
4) Write something, and aim for publishing in 2014! (Look out E L James! If you can do it, a blind monkey can do it!)

Happy New Year, Sisters!

Firstly, A Happy and Healthy New Year to you all!

Q has started a new blog, which I will be adding to the links in the sidebar: What the Sisterhood did not tell me!

This year, my major resolutions are:

1) Write at least one more novel, and get at least one novel published.  Bonus points if I can get at least one short story written, published, and made available for free on Smashwords.

2) I need to lose weight.

3) Goal number three is a secret, but I'll be sure to let everyone know if I accomplish it.

Alula

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone, I have made no resolutions this year lets just see if I make through the year somewhat sane.