photogseattle

Hurray! We have someplace to move TO in Colorado. I don't think I can overstate how much better I feel now that that's taken care of. We're renting a duplex, which should be nice. No shared walls! (There's a garage in the middle). We have to do yard care. We're excited about mowing, isn't that funny?

I even have a new doctor in Colorado already. How strange to have appointments set up in a different state. We went to the dr today for Evelyn's 2 week checkup (a little early because mom and dad were worried about her color) and he wants her to be seen in another 2 weeks because she hasn't quite gained back her birth weight. So our goal is to pork her up and get her to gain a pound in two weeks. And since we won't be here in two weeks, this necessitated choosing a dr in Co. And since I need to go in too, we just picked one who was recommended by Steve's new boss.

The house is 75% packed. We're eating off cheap picnic plastic and using plastic utensils. This way I was able to empty the cabinets yesterday. Packing while sleep deprived is fun. I plan what goes into each box, and then usually leave out something and end up wandering around the house looking for something to fit into that space, only to find the original item sitting next to the box after it's all taped up. I'm sure when I unpack and am hopefully more lucid I'll be greatly entertained by some of my boxes :)

We took the baby and went for a walk at Golden Gardens tonight; that was really nice. I'm sad that she isn't going to have any memories of Seattle to take with her. We've really enjoyed living here and there's a ton of stuff that we're really going to miss. I was looking forward to exploring the city through her eyes. I guess she'll be able to visit someday, and it's not like Colorado is without its wonderful places to explore.

Ok...enough rambling. I'm just stream of consciousness writing now; it happens when I'm sleepy...

Evelyn Frances Railsback arrived on Saturday, June 9 at 3:37am. She was 7lb, 2oz, which is a good healthy weight. She was pretty stubborn about coming out, but now that she's here is enjoying the world immensely. We came home on Sunday afternoon and have been getting to know each other ever since.
She acquired her daddy's tech skills, so she has her own blog and website already. www.babyrailsback.googlepages.com if you want to check her out

We're making the big move this time. Steve got a job as a programmer for Colorado State University, so we're moving to Fort Collins! We're super excited, since it's closer to family, and much more affordable, and a job in the direction that Steve's been wanting to go professionally.

So here's the panic part: His start date is July 2. So, sometime in the next 5 weeks, we're going to pack our apartment, have a baby, find a short term rental in Colorado, and move across the country. We will definitely buy when we get there, but that's a bit much to tackle in 5 weeks, sight unseen.

We just got unpacked! Oh well. At least we kept the boxes :) And we have a moving allowance, so we can afford to hire people to physically move our crap. I'm fine packing, but it will be nice not to be doing the hauling.

My mind is racing, since we just found out this morning, so forgive me if this is a bit disjointed. I really need to start a list of all we need to do, because I keep coming up with more "oh yeah!'s" that need to get done.

Anyone know anyone who wants our apartment? We're 2 months into a 12 month lease, so that could be fun...oh well. I don't think they'll have any problems re-leasing it. It's a good location, good price, etc.

Current goal: get mostly packed before baby arrives. she's much easier to care for right now :)

I hate moving. It's not the packing up, or the unpacking that get to me. It's the physical act of moving all my worldly goods from one place to another that just drives me nuts. And I can't even complain about the hauling this time, because I'm not allowed to physically move any boxes. Poor Steve.

BUT, he took the day off today to finish emptying our old place, and we should be 100% in by the end of the day. A week spent wondering "where are the screwdrivers? have you seen the wok?...Oh, they're in the old place!" is enough to drive me absolutely batty. And I wasn't able to take any time off this week at all, so have only been picking at unpacking and putting away for a few hours a night. Very frustrating for someone who can unpack and organize the whole place in about a day and a half, if I had a day and a half to do so.

On the up side, our new place is very nice, it's only a few hundred feet bigger, but it's amazing what having two levels does for your perception of space. Assuming we get unpacked in the next millenium, we'll have a bbq and show off the new space. Steve already made friends with the blond next door. She's about five and has rollers on her shoes. They had a nice chat the other night. It was cute :) The washer/dryer come tomorrow. I can't wait to do laundry again. And play with my new toys :) I know, I'm a dork.

We started baby classes Wednesday. That was prety interesting. Steve learned some stuff I'm not sure he ever wanted to know :) Of our entire class, we're the only ones who have opted not to find out the sex of our baby. So we're the freaks. Oh well. Everyone seems nice, and I'm sure we'll get to know each other pretty well over the next 8 weeks.

Gotta go get the baby checked for "gayness" before it's too late!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003618753_gaybaby15.html

Beyond words at this man's stupidity, and that of the guy who lauds this as "openmindedness."

Although, one of my coworkers did point out that we could use this newfound knowledge to fix all the heterosexual babies too. :)

at least right now I do. stupid pollen getting all over everything and making me a swollen, sneezy, stuffy, cranky, mess. Of course, only half of my head seems to have allergies, so I look really wierd dripping out of one eye only. ugh. I'm thinking of moving to the arctic tundra where nothing grows, so there is no pollen. it's becoming a more viable solution every day, since I've been like this for a week now. And of course I can't take drugs without consulting with the dr.
tundra. if you need me, that's where i'll be. breathing.

We're moving! We aren't buying, but found a nice townhome in Lynnwood that we really like. It's cheaper than what we're paying now, is at least 200 sq ft bigger, has a bath and a half, and a backyard. And STORAGE! Yay! We can't move in until toward the end of March, which is ok, since I'm not home to pack anyway. Packing and unpacking is my job, Steve gets to move everything, and we'll split the cleaning. The place comes with washer and dryer hookups, but not the actual washer and dryer, so we'll be scouring Craigslist, but I see those all the time. No worries.

Other than that excitement, we're doing well. I'm sick right now, which is of course no fun, but it's just a cold so I can't complain too much. Well, I can, but I shouldn't. We took a tour of the hospital this week to see the birthing unit, which was good but scary, and classes start for us next month. And we own a stroller. And we know how to fold it, which is both strange and impressive, if you've never tried it, it'll make you feel fairly incompetent. :)

Not much new going on. Still getting my body used to this whole getting up at 6am thing, but it's getting better. The tradeoff is that I now go to bed at 9pm, which I haven't done since middle school! We drive in, since we tried the bus, and I apparently get extremely motion sick, so that was a bust. Oh well. We'll want the car near as next quarter ends anyway. The job is good. Basic administrative stuff, great people, I get to interact with students again, which I'm loving, and having money never hurts. Especially since I've started researching daycare. ouch.

Went to the dr today; baby is good, I'm good. She's started kicking me, which is kinda fun. Totally weird, but mostly in a good way.

Yeah, that's about it. No drama, which is a nice change :) Just settling into a nice little rut and trying not to worry about the future.

I gots me a job! It's at the UW, which makes getting there super easy, and it doesn't start for 2 weeks, which means I have time to find the floor in our apartment. Anyone in the mood to clean/declutter? I have projects for you! :) We started a long overdue purging of the second bedroom yesterday just in case we're still here in June. So the room's looking pretty good, but the rest of the place, not so much. We hit the delirium point a few times yesterday before finally calling it quits.
Anyone want a clarinet? Piano music? Random books? We have it all, the problem is that we're not sure why we have it, and we're out of space to store it, so out it goes. We also have a really nice photography backpack and a sturdy corner desk going really cheap. ugh.

Yay, a reliable connection! This makes me very happy. We've been doing well. Went to some friends for Thanksgiving, which was nice. It's the first Thanksgiving in 5 years I haven't had to cook, which was kind of odd, but relaxing just the same.

Our sad news is that Spike the geriatric hamster went to the big wheel in the sky Thanksgiving morning. He'd been really sick for a few days, so we were feeding him baby cereal and pedialyte from a medicine dropper and keeping him warm with water bottles, but his little body finally gave up. He died in Steve's hands. Funny how attached you can get to a rodent. But he had a great personality. He will be missed.

In an effort to fill the empty cage, we went to Petsmart to pick out a new hamster, and there was a guy there selling rescue animals. They do everything but cats and dogs, so he had rats, bunnies, turtles, an iguana, and hamsters. So we got a rescued hamster, which I like a whole lot better than buying from Petsmart's stock. He's got a special tail. It grows straight up his back, so he's kind of funny looking, but very cute nonetheless. We're still getting used to each other, so we'll see how we get along. He scares the cat, which is a good start :)

That's about all the news I can think of. It's time to get serious about that job thing. Seattle is not a good place to live on one salary.

I'm going to be a mommie! Which also means that Steve is going to be a daddy, but it's more fun to say it my way. It's still a bit unreal to us, but writing it here and in our Christmas cards means that it's really going to happen! When I'm not busy throwing up or freaking out I'm excited, but don't let anyone ever tell you they're ready to be a parent until they've been to Babies R Us on a busy Sunday afternoon and tried to figure out how to fold a damn stroller, much less use a carseat. It's humbling stuff, indeed.

So that's our big news. That and we're trying to buy a house, so we've been spending quality time with our realtor, learning more about what we're not looking for that finding our place, but it will come in time :) Morning (afternoon, evening, nighttime) sickness has put the brakes on my job search temporarily, but I should be able to start interviewing soon. I may just go with a temp place for now, since I've got some flexibility there, but I'd really like to get back into the college scene. Stupid saturated market. bah.

Steve and I were thinking it would be fun to be social some time soon and gather for dinner or late night snacks or something equally exciting. Let me know if you're interested and we'll start to figure something out.

havin' a party; sent out an evite. check your emails. it shall be fun!

Life is bumping right along. Still haven't found a job, but have several that appeal to me that I will apply for, most in the area, one in Colorado, and one back in Iowa. Maybe I'm nuts, but moving back is more and more appealing as I look at house prices and cost of living. Plus, it's at my undergrad institution, and I really did like that place. I made Steve promise to apply for a tech job there as well. Private schools pay well, and it's a wealthy private school, which is even better :)

So I'm just hanging around home, wishing I had internet so I could stay in touch more often, and catching up on my reading. And packing, because one way or another, we're determined to be in a house by Christmas. Hello, Realtors!

On a happy, ecstatic, dancing for joy note, today we got a Cuisinart food processor for our anniversary from Steve's folks, and we went out and picked out our gift to each other, which was a fabulous Le Cruset cast iron stovetop casserole. i love it i love it i love it! The food processor will come in handy since we went to Yakima last weekend and came back with 100 pounds of fruit. My week shall be spent making apple pie filling and canning it. Steve made 14 quarts of salsa already. I'm scheduled to make hot sauce tomorrow, and grape juice too. Apparently we'll be going back to Yakima in a few weeks to pick more fruit, so if anyone wants to go, or wants us to bring back anything, just let me know.

That's about all the excitement around here right now. Giving the cat a bath tonight, which is always an adventure/bloodbath. We're heading to Wisconsin in a few weeks for my best friend's wedding and taking a side trip up to Door County, which has incredible fall foliage and lots of fruit. I think I have some sort of obsession with fresh fruit. I've never come home from Yakima with less than 50 lbs, even when I was single and lived alone. We'll get to stay with my youngest brother and his wife, and hopefully see my godson and his mommy. Cutest baby ever!

We keep seeing these signs with a mooing puppy in people's lawns, so I got curious enough to look up the website listed, and I'm so excited! http://www.borndifferent.org/ It's a great move forward for an otherwise conservative town. I want a sign too!

We saw 3 bighorn sheep yesterday at Garden of the Gods. And of course had forgotten the camera. But they were incredible. So magnificent and proud. Definitely made my day.

Wow...my first posting....where to start, where to start? I originally thought this would be a great outlet for my in-law venting, but people at work provided enough immediate relief, and the in-laws are gone now, so that's not as vital. We are heading out there this weekend for a job interview, so that could be fodder for lj. Truthfully, I'm a little scared. It always smells so incredibly awful there that I've already decreed that I will not step foot in that house when (if) I'm ever pregnant, or have kids. You can't tell me that inhaling the ammonia and other odors from 400+ mice and rats is healthy. AND now they've got two massive puppies who apparently chew anything they can reach and haven't yet figured out the whole "you're a dog, you poop outside" thing. So I won't bring anything I particularly care about, and will just be very, very tidy with my shoes and such.

I really hope that Steve's interview goes well. It hit me yesterday morning when I woke up in the throes of an anxiety attack that I quit my job and have nothing immediate lined up. Not that I'm terribly worried, but rent did just go up 150 this month. grr. It would be nice to make a move, be able to buy a house, and feel like life can finally begin. I hate feeling stuck in limbo like I have for the past year, just drifting, not getting ahead, certainly not attaining any goals, whatever they may be. On the plus side, I made friends :) Seattle is a hard place in which to make friends, so that is a not insignificant fact.

Enough rambling for one night. The upside about Steve's parents house is wi-fi, so I am looking forward to that aspect of the visit. And like 300 TV channels. And I'm not making that up. Full expanded cable, plus at least one satellite. 17 different home shopping networks. How ever can I live with my 8 channels? It's called literacy :) One of the best things my mom ever did for me was take me to the library every week, and let me check out whatever I wanted, as long as I read them all.