No More Unsightly Holes Part II

Whew!  We made it through another Christmas successfully.  If you've been wondering where I have been, I apologize.  The holidays can seriously stress me out, and I needed to focus my efforts on survival.  With our new found free time, we decided to start thinking about house projects again.  

This hole has existed in our otherwise fully functioning kitchen for going on 10 months now.  As far as I know, we have not lost anything down there! 

Jason tackles the hole with some hardie board while George Costanza looks on.  Jason bought that tv with the Christmas money from his uncle.  Thanks Lee!  

And tada!  This hardie board is certainly hardy.  When we FINALLY make a decision and pick some tile for the backsplash, the tile can go directly on this stuff.  In the meantime, we do not have to worry about losing a measuring cup to the black abyss of DIY remodel living. 

But the REAL reason why I have been neglecting my blogging is that I'm PREGNANT!  Anyone who reads this blog most likely already knows that, but it's fun to shout it from the blogosphere mountaintops.  I've basically been too exhausted the last couple months to do much of anything besides dragging myself through the things that I HAVE to do, so blogging and housework have fallen by the wayside a little bit.  Today I'm 12 weeks, so I'm hoping the second trimester will bring some of my enthusiasm back. 

So is this blog going to turn into a baby blog?  Probably, just warning you.  I still plan to make posts about DIY projects and other random things, but who am I kidding, are we really going to have much time for that stuff?  This blog is about the details of our day to day lives (that I choose to share with you all), and this is pretty much the most exciting thing that will be going on with us for a while!  So for my Mom and anyone else who cares, here is a picture of the belly!  

(Clearly I did not put much effort into my appearance today, but it is my day off.)  So there it is, 12 week belly.  I've had TWO people tell me I'm showing already.  That kind of bothers me.  I'm not ready to be fat, not yet!  I want to hold it off as long as I can.  I've definitely gained some weight, but I was hoping I could pull off carefree 20 something a little longer.  Gini and Jason say I'm not showing yet, but I think that is their job to say that.  Honestly though, looking at that picture, it isn't as bad as it feels.  I feel like a huge bloated blimp, and that looks like maybe I wasn't sucking in for this picture.  But I was!

Trying not to OD on Christmas Cheer

Christmas is in full swing and I FINALLY gathered the energy to get my decorations out.  

Yep, this is about it for me.  I have the stockings my mother made, a quilted throw a student made, some elf shaped candles, a cat in a rude pose and a thousand Christmas catalogs.  

 You have to see these stockings close up!  They are so detailed and took my mom forever to make them.  

 This is the first time I've been able to enjoy them upstairs since she made them!  They are definitely my most treasured Christmas item.  

 I really like this wreath because it doesn't really say "Christmas" but more "winter".  (also it has metal stars all over it!)  You see, I'm not really into Christmas.  In fact, usually I detest Christmas so much that I begrudgingly pull out the decorations for the sake of my students only.  What I don't like is the rampant commercialism, the incessant tired old Christmas carols that I have to play a million times at gigs, and the pressure to buy, buy, buy.  I also feel that many of the emotions are contrived and insincere.  But maybe that is just my emotions, I'm coming to wonder!  I usually grumble through the season and hope it will pass quickly, but this year I have decided to try and look at things differently.  I don't WANT to be a scrooge, and I think there are some good things I can find in this season.  I have Netflix so I can easily avoid the commercials.  I no longer work in a department store, so the emotional trauma of the one hour cd of Christmas carols they played back to back ad nauseam is slowly numbing with each passing year.   This year, I'm trying to focus on family and traditions.  

 Unfortunately I don't actually get to see any of my family this Christmas, but I put up a few things that remind me of them.  My grandmother on my mom's side was Swedish, which only makes me 1/4 Swedish, but I still like honoring her and remembering Christmas at her house.  Here I have a Swedish straw Yule Goat and a Dala horse.  The Yule goat is missing some of his beard I think but I've had him for a while.  The reindeer was purchased at Target and isn't Swedish or family oriented in the least but I think it makes a nice trio with the others!  I have some other decorations, but I left them in the box this year partially out of laziness but mostly because a little Christmas goes a long way for me and I don't want to OD.  I am trying to be optimistic here and I'm taking baby steps! 

When we purchased the house it already had these rope lights up, so all we have to do is plug them in.  That's just the right amount of effort for us.  There is a dead spot in the middle of the rope, but we really don't care enough to do anything about it.