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It’s been hard for me to sit down and blog lately, because I am so completely exhausted all the time. I think it’s partially post-Christmas letdown, partially the leftovers of that weird stomach bug, and partially the realization that I have a million tiny things on my to-do list before this baby arrives, and my due date is less than 5 weeks away, which is sort of making me panic. So I’m spending a lot of time in bed with the covers pulled over my head, trying not to think about it.

Although today I spent in bed with the covers over my head because it was freezing in this house. We finally got our electricity back, and then the furnace decides to stop working. I’m not kidding. Isn’t that lovely? We just wrote an exorbitant check to get someone out here to fix it today, so I’m starting to defrost now. (Sunday and a holiday! Double-overtime for you, mister! Happy freakin’ New Year!) Do I need to mention again that I want to move?  

Anyway, since this will be my last post of the year, and I can’t think of much to write about, I thought I’d rip off this little meme from Gwen and Shannon (thanks for the blog fodder, you two!):

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Made a baby. I’m sure there are other things too, but that’s the first thing that comes to mind.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I almost never make them, because for me, they never seem to last past January 5th or so. I don’t really have any in mind for 2007, either.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! One cousin and one cousin-in-law. And more in the near future. Not just me, but I also have two friends who both have due dates relatively close to mine. Oh, and the check-out lady at my supermarket is having a scheduled c-section on my birthday, January 16th. (Random, I know.)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not that I can think of. I know my dad lost at least one friend and one family member this year, but neither were people that I knew very well.

5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly, nowhere outside of the U.S. Although there was a big cross-country roadtrip in there, so I guess that helps.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
More patience. Less worry. Yadda yadda.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
* January 16th - I turned 30. Blaaaah.  

* February 16th - The day I flew to Memphis to help Kris move to Seattle.

* May 13th - Not technically our first anniversary (that’s May 15th), but the 13th was the night that Dave and I celebrated our anniversary. We went back to the inn were we got married last year, had a fantastic romantic meal, got sloppy drunk… and most likely, made a baby. (I was charting my cycles, so I’m almost positive that was The Big Moment. Apologies if that was TMI.)

* November 7th - I only remember the day of the mid-term elections because it was the same day of the big flood that kept Dave and I from being able to get home that night, and I remember watching election coverage on the TV in the hotel room. That was the first of the Signs from God we’ve gotten that we are clearly not meant to be in this house for another winter.

* December 14th - also known as The Windstorm That Almost Destroyed Christmas. Heck, also known as Sign from God #2 that we need to move. (I think the furnace dying today officially counts as Sign #3.)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Made a baby. (Sorry, I think that answer is going to come up a lot.)

9. What was your biggest failure?
I feel like I’ve been very wrapped up in my own little “holy god, I’m going to be a mommy” world, and in doing so, I’ve neglected some people who are very close to me. So I feel like I’ve been a bit of a failure as a friend - and sometimes as a wife, although I doubt that Dave would ever acknowledge that.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I’m a klutz, I’m forever injuring myself. I couldn’t even count the number of bruises I acquired this year. The only illness was that weird stomach thing that made me drop 10 pounds last month - which thankfully seems to be mostly over and done with, but my stomach is still somewhat iffy at best.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A video camera. And a ton of baby gear.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My husband’s. I’ve honestly never really needed Dave to take care of me, and it’s not easy for me to admit when I need help, or that I can’t do something myself. But the last two months have been really hard on me, and he’s just stepped in and made everything easier on me. He has earned so many Good Husband points over the past several weeks, and I don’t think he has any idea. I cannot begin to express how happy I am that I found him, and how much I look forward to seeing what a fantastic father he’s going to be.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Oh, Britney. I was so happy for you for about a week. Now I just want to give you a hug. And some panties.

14. Where did most of your money go?
The house. The hoooouuuuussseee. It’s never ending. Although I did also spend a small fortune on baby stuff and maternity clothes.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Baby! (Good grief, this is getting repetitive.)

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
I’ve been listening to my iPod in the car all year instead of the radio, so I don’t really know anything new. So, whatever. This isn’t a new song, but I’ll pick “The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits, because I heard it for the first time this year, and I’ve been obsessed with it (playing it over and over) ever since.  

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier overall; only sadder because of the hormones, but I know that’s a temporary thing.
b) thinner or fatter? The number on the scale is basically the same, but I feel huge. Weird how that works. Ask me again next year and we’ll see.
c) richer or poorer? We paid down some debts and acquired some new ones, so I think we’re pretty much breaking even with 2005.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise. Yoga. Relaxation. Sex. Reading. Generally making the most of my downtime.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying. Moping. Feeling sorry for myself. Being a big whiny ball of hormones.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Project Runway! Oh, Tim Gunn, how do I love thee…  

25. What was the best book you read?
“Night” by Elie Weisel. Yeah yeah, I know, Oprah’s book club, I should be ashamed of myself. Whatever, it’s really good.

27. What did you want and get?
To get pregnant. And a new job for Dave, because I knew he was unhappy at his old one.

28. What did you want and not get?
A new house. Or even better: this exact house in a totally different location. Like the suburbs.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Finding Neverland. I think it came out last year, but this was the year that I saw it. I also loved Little Miss Sunshine, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night & Good Luck, The Family Stone (which surprised me because I thought it was going to be silly and it totally wasn’t), and a whole bunch of others that I know I’m forgetting.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30, and it was drunk cosmic bowling. Worst hangover I’ve had in a looong time, but it was a lot of fun.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Weird that I can’t really think of anything. I know I whine a lot, but I’m actually pretty content with my life, I can’t think of anything that would make it that much better.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Maternity. Comfy, but not very sexy.

33. What kept you sane?
I don’t know if that’s a “what” answer as much as a “who”. The #1 answer is Dave. Next on the list is my mom. And pretty much everyone else in my circle of family and friends.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
George Clooney. That one doesn’t really change from one year to the next. It’s pretty much been Clooney for the past decade.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
God, do I have to? I imagine that I’ll have a lot of them next year, after I’ve experienced this whole motherhood gig. The only valuable life lessons I can think of right now are that (a) pregnancy really can be just as miserable, and just as awesome, as some women describe it; and (b) apparently I am actually capable of surviving for nine days in a house with no electricity in the middle of winter. (That second one was certainly news to me, since I am not what you would call a “roughing it” kind of girl by any stretch.)

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
This is impossible, because there are a million song lyrics that I could use. So I picked one that’s totallly cheesy: it’s from a Sarah McLachlan song (”Push”), and it is absolutely 100% for Dave:
“There are times I can’t decide, when I can’t tell up from down;
You make me feel less crazy, when otherwise I’d drown.
But you pick me up and brush me off and tell me I’m OK,
Sometimes that’s just what we need to get us through the day.”

Yeah, I know. Sorry. Feel free to go throw up now.

Oh, and since I haven’t said it already - happy New Year, everybody. May we all have a fabulous, joyous, blessed, kick-ass 2007.

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I really had to give up on the idea of having my house in perfect condition before my family arrived. Let’s face it, there isn’t much you can do when you have no electricity for nine days. I couldn’t vacuum, couldn’t do laundry, I had to wash dishes by hand… hell, I couldn’t even charge up the drill so I could hang the curtains in the guest room. (Although technically that would’ve been Dave’s job, because I don’t drill.)

So I thought to myself: you know, my parents’ house is often cluttered (not dirty, they just have lots of stuff), my brother probably wouldn’t notice any degree of messiness, and the only reason my sister would ever go nine days without power in Manhattan would be in the event of some sort of nuclear disaster, so she couldn’t really judge me either. (Not that she would.) So what the hell. I did what I could with the house, and let the rest of it go. It wasn’t easy for me, since I tend to be a little OCD-ish about those types of things, but I tried to just relax and be happy that they were all able to fly here for the holidays.

Once I got to that point, I had a pretty awesome time.

You can see the rest of the photos from Christmas here.

Oh, and speaking of photos, since I’m able to use the scanner now (ah, the simple joys of electricity!), here’s my favorite photo from the ultrasound last week.

Have you ever seen such a perfect little profile? I think not. And those lips! I cannot wait to meet this kid in person.

Oh, and just to complete this very visually-oriented post, here’s my first experience at uploading a video on YouTube.

(If that embedding trick doesn’t work, you can see it here.) Some background: we were cooking Christmas Eve dinner, and my sister and I were trying to find some uptempo, dance-y music to keep us energized while we were working. So yes, that is in fact “Bootylicious” and the N’Trance remix of “Stayin’ Alive” that you hear. Our iPods might be a bit dated, but they’re fun. And it’s proof that at any of our family gatherings, all of the action really does happen in the kitchen.

And if nothing else, when Baby Girl decides in fifteen years or so that she wants to sue her parents for emancipation because we are certifiably insane, this ought to help her case in court. I mean for heaven’s sake, just look at how her parents were behaving only weeks before her birth. Atrocious.

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Apologies for the “He-Man” reference, but that is just how excited I am to finally have my electricity back.  

Lesson learned: the next time we have some sort of weather crisis, I apparently just need to get my sister on a plane. I’m not kidding, five minutes before she got to our house, the utility crews showed up on our street. Nine days with no electricity, and they finally got to our neighborhood.

To give you an idea of just how “in the boonies” we really are: our utility company’s website bragged this morning that they had successfully restored power to 96% of the people who lost power from the windstorm. We’re the last four percent, folks. That’s just pathetic.

After she got here, T and I walked up and down the street handing out York peppermint patties to all of the workers. Don’t laugh, it’s all I had. Everything in my fridge and freezer is trashed, and that is literally the only “festive holiday treat” that I had in the house. I offered to go down the street to fetch Starbucks for all of them, but they said they were fine.

An hour or so later, the utility truck was in our driveway. I asked the foreman how much longer until we had our power back, and he said that he estimated about an hour or so. I almost burst into tears of joy. Instead, I just hugged him. No kidding. My sister went back inside to warn Dave that I was hugging random utility workers. Dave promptly came out to restrain me and bring me back in the house.

Sure enough, about an hour later, our entire neighborhood had their electricity turned back on.

I would try to think of a way to describe exactly how happy this makes me, or something profound about how I learned that I am a stronger person than I thought I was by surviving this way for over a week (and pregnant! Bonus suffering points for pregnant!). But honestly, it just occurred to me that I can finally take a shower in a bathroom with working lightbulbs - as opposed to candles - so I’m afraid that I am outta here.

Hope y’all have a lovely, warm, well-illuminated Christmas.

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Lest anyone think that everything is all hunky-dory in our part of the world (ha! ha, ha!), here’s the latest:

1. My family will all be on their respective airplanes, heading toward Seattle, in approximately 12 hours.

2. We still have no electricity.

You have no idea how badly I wish I could drink right now. I know pregnant women are permitted to have the occasional glass of wine, but since I don’t like wine, that doesn’t help me very much. Can anyone dig up some fetal health benefits of vodka? If I mix it with cranberry juice, it would be good for my kidneys, right? Anyone?

Sigh.

The good news is that we’re hearing stories of people in Duvall (the town we live in) getting their electricity back today. So at least it’s getting closer to us? I hope?

For the record, we originally lost our power on Thursday, December 14th. It is now almost Friday, December 22nd. That means we’re going into Day Nine. Holy god.

Oh, and here’s another important life lesson which I can thank my sister for: did you know that dry cleaners will do your regular laundry for you? I guess this is something she’s picked up living in Manhattan, but I had no idea that it was universally true. But apparently it is, and Dave and I now have clean clothes for about the same cost that it would’ve been to haul all of it to a coin-op laundromat and do it myself. So that’s awesome.

One of our friends, who lives in town (and by “in town,” I mean within the city limits of Duvall, as opposed to the unincorporated part like us), stopped by tonight to drop off our Christmas card in person, and to check to see if we had our power back yet. (She had just gotten hers back on.) As luck would have it, she’s a real estate agent, so I told her all about my plans to move to the suburbs as soon as it’s feasibly possible. Moving isn’t really an option right now, but it could potentially happen later this year (maybe in the summer), so she and I are going to sit down in a few months and have a serious talk about that.

I’m not kidding, I don’t think I can deal with another winter in this house.

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I think I’ve at least somewhat recovered from my little meltdown yesterday. We still don’t have power, but I’m not feeling quite as fragile and on the verge of tears about everything today. Just so I’m not terminally whiny, here’s some good news:

* The hospital tour is over. I don’t know why I thought it would help alleviate some of my anxiety about childbirth, because being in one of those birthing suites only made me feel like I was going to faint. (It’s a very nice hospital, but still, it’s just the idea of what I’ll be doing there that scares me.) Maybe it’ll help when the time comes, to know what everything will look like when I arrive at the hospital in labor, and it won’t all be so new and foreign. But for now, seeing the room and realizing that I’m going to be using it in about a month or so honestly just scared the crap out of me. I’m not sure that I’d recommend it to a first-time mom.

* The ultrasound today was good, and I’m really looking forward to getting our power back so I can scan the photos. Baby Girl is in the 45th percentile for size and weight, which is good. As my doctor pointed out, I really don’t want to give birth to a 12-pound baby, so not being in the 90th percentile is just fine and dandy. I’ll take that average size measurement without complaint.

Also? Baby Girl has got a serious kisser on her. Dave and I both have pretty full lips, so I’m not sure whose DNA that is, but it looks like we’re going to have a little Angelina Jolie on our hands. Dave says we could just stick her to the windshield and let her lips act as a suction cup. Maybe we’ll just tell people that we had the pediatrician give her collagen injections. Hee.

* When we got back from the doctor’s office, and I felt like I had been run over by a steam roller and had to lie down for an hour? My wonderful, darling, amazing husband tidied up the kitchen and living room for me.

I don’t know if I’ve sufficiently given Dave credit for how awesome he’s been during this past week, but seriously, he has rocked the house in a big way. I’m not used to feeling so feeble and weak all the time, and it’s not easy for me to admit it when I physically can’t do something. (Especially when it’s something easy that I should be able to do, like drive two miles down the street to pick up sandwiches for lunch.) He’s just taken over and made this all so much easier on me, and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for it.

* My family is booked at a hotel for both Friday and Saturday nights, and my sister is renting a car, which will save me a whole lot of headaches. (Like the 25-mile trip to the airport, for example, which I was going to have to do twice on Friday. As she has done so many times in the past, my sister has saved my butt yet again.) I’m hoping that we’ll have our power back soon, so we can have the whole family here on Christmas Eve (Sunday), but we’ll do what we have to do.

My family is another one that deserves a big shout-out, because they’ve all been so understanding of how emotional I’ve been feeling lately, and they haven’t complained once about the last-minute adjustment to their holiday plans, or how it’s going to suck that they have to pay for a hotel in addition to all of their other travel expenses, or any of that. (Well, my dad might gripe about the hotel. But my mom has already assured me that if he says one word about it, they will all jump down his throat before his words ever reach my delicate little ears.)

* I was able to take a hot shower last night. Yes, the water was brownish – not that I could tell since the only light in the bathroom was candlelight. (Trust me, it’s not nearly as sexy and romantic as it sounds.) But it’s funny how something as simple as being able to attend to your personal hygiene can make the world feel like a nicer place.

* I read online today that the next town over from us (Carnation: home of the milk of the same name, for those of you who like random bits of trivia) got their power back yesterday. That means it’s getting closer and closer. I’m hoping, praying, crossing my fingers, and making wishes on pennies/stars/whatever I can find that we’ll get ours tomorrow. You guys all do the same for me, ok?

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1. Still no bloody power.

2. Hospital tour tonight.

3. Ultrasound tomorrow morning.

4. The fact that we have water (because my brilliant husband got our well’s pump working), but that it’s brown. REALLY brown. I’m thanking my lucky stars that we got a water filter installed in our kitchen sink last week. I’m still not huge on the idea of showering in that stuff, though.

5. My entire family (mom, dad, brother, sister) will be arriving on Friday. As in four days from now. See #1 as for why this is a problem. It’s looking like they’re going to be spending Christmas in a hotel, which they’re all fine with, but I hate it.  

6. This sentence, which Dave said to me on at least three separate occasions yesterday: “Ok, I’m going outside to work on the generator. If you hear a loud bang, don’t worry because I’m nowhere near it.” I spent the next several minutes with my cell phone in hand, waiting for any loud-ish type noise to trigger the 911 call.

7. That I have no. energy. whatsoever. I usually think of myself as pretty tough in a crisis situation, but I am just not doing well with this whole disaster scenario at all.

8. To follow up on my lack-of-toughness in this crisis? I read this on our utility company’s website this morning, and promptly fell into a puddle of huge, heaving sobs:

Carnation, Duvall, Fall City, Snoqualmie and North Bend areas

The North Bend, Snoqualmie, and Snoqualmie Valley areas were among those hardest hit within our service area. Work is focused on restoring the high-voltage transmission grid and the substations that feed electricity to local neighborhoods. We hope to have our substations in these areas re-energized by midweek. Once this work is complete, we can concentrate solely on repairing the local distribution lines that serve customers. Restoration work in the heavily damaged Snoqualmie Valley will continue through the weekend.

Yeah, that Snoqualmie Valley area where the work will be continuing through the weekend? That’s us. And that’s really all I can say about that. Merry flippin’ Christmas to us.

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Ok, since that last post was written on Friday night, I guess I need to finish up the remainder of our weekend:

Saturday: After freezing my butt off all night and running outside to fill a bucket with water to force the toilets to flush manually (thank God we are lazy people and never put our wheelbarrow away, because I don’t know where I would’ve gotten all that water otherwise), I decided that this whole “roughing it” business was not for me. Dave’s plane was due to arrive around 11 a.m. In the meantime, I got up, packed a suitcase, made sure there was tons of food and water available for the cats, and started calling hotels to try to find us a place to stay for a night. Or two.

It’s worth noting that in a situation such as this, calling hotels.com’s 800 number is totally freakin’ useless. The first person spoke so little English that I got frustrated, hung up on the poor guy, and tried calling back to see if I’d have better luck with another operator. (I know it’s rude, but the guy just couldn’t understand that I wanted suburbs of Seattle, not specific neighborhoods in the city. I’d say “Bellevue or Redmond,” and he’d say, “Belltown, yes?” Um, no. Not the same thing at all, dude.) I did have better luck with the second operator, but then she booked us at a hotel that still didn’t have their damn electricity back yet, so that didn’t do us a fat lot of good either.

Meanwhile, Dave and I had talked on the phone and agreed to meet up at the hotel, since we were coming from different directions. (Me from our house, him from the airport.) We got there, found out the place had no power, and decided to take a leap of faith and drive to the hotel we stayed at when we got flooded out and couldn’t get home last month. And once again, the lovely Indian ladies took one look at me and were all like, “You’re expecting? Oh, you poor thing. Here’s the king suite. We’ll give it to you for half price.” (I’m not kidding. Love. Them.)

At least this time I was able to pack ahead, unlike when we were stranded and couldn’t get home. I even put my body pillow in a hefty bag and dragged it along with me, because lord help me, I cannot sleep without it at this point. We managed to find some places around here that were open so we were actually able to get some hot food, and we were both sound asleep before 9 p.m.

Sunday: Not such a good day for me, emotionally. I was ok until I checked our utility company’s website, and saw that our town is listed as one that will remain without power “throughout Monday and likely longer,” due to some extensive structural damage to their transmission system. I’m trying to hold out a tiny ray of hope that maybe we’ll get ours back sooner rather than later, since we live in the unincorporated part of Duvall, and there have been times when the entire city lost power, and we were just fine. So maybe that means we’re on a different circuit? Or that our power comes from a different transmission system (maybe one that isn’t so “structurally damaged”)? Who knows, but it’s what I’m hoping.

In the afternoon, we went back to the house to check on the cats. [Side note: when Dave went into the garage and told me that everything in the freezer had thawed - the dishes I had pre-made for Christmas, the meals I had prepared and frozen for after the baby arrives, everything - and that it was all going to have to be thrown out? It took everything in me not to burst into tears on the spot. I knew everything in the fridge and the indoor freezer was a loss, but I had been hoping that the garage freezer would be ok because it's been so cold outside. Sadly, that isn't the case.] The kitties seemed to be coping ok, although I worry a lot about Teenie, just because she’s old and has always been an indoor cat. Dave’s cats occasionally stay outside overnight, so they’re a bit more used to braving the elements than she is. I seriously contemplated sneaking just Teenie back to the hotel room with me. But alas, my husband, he had a plan… 

Since I was feeling a tad emotional (read: cranky, tired and weepy), I came back to the hotel while Dave set off to gather the necessary supplies to rig our circuit breaker to our generator. I still don’t understand what his plan was exactly, but he promised that we would have heat, water and lights, which is a heck of a lot more than I was able to get the generator to do. (One lamp and the Internet router. Go me!) It’s funny, I always forget that Dave has a degree in electrical engineering until stuff like this happens and then he goes into Boy Mode and is all, “Ok, so I just need some electrical tape and a soldering iron, and then I can blah-blah-blah…” (Note: he never actually says “blah-blah-blah,” but that’s what it sounds like to my totally confused ears. He might as well be one of Charlie Brown’s teachers with the “wa-waaa-wa-waa” stuff.) Yes, ladies, apparently I married my own little McGuyver. Sorry, he’s taken.

There is the issue that whatever he does might not be exactly legal or up to certain county-regulated code standards. But I don’t think we have to worry about that until we decide to sell our house. (And my god, I do hope that day is fast approaching, because I’m not sure how much more of this “country life” crap I can stand.) Meanwhile, nobody call the authorities on us, ok? Desperate times, desperate measures, all of that, yes?

As soon as I got back to our hotel room, I crawled into the bathtub and stayed there until I got prune-y. (Baths are kind of fun these days. I can just lie back and watch my belly make involuntary movements when the baby flops around. Totally creepy and alien, but cool at the same time.) After that, I was a little calmer – at least, I didn’t feel like I was about to burst into tears at any moment, so that’s good. We’ll see how well I do when it’s time to clean out the freezer.

At 10 p.m., Dave called to say that he had the water and the lights going, but not the heat. He said that he would keep working on it if I really wanted to come home that night, but he sounded so exhausted, and he’d been working on it for hours. I told him to just go to bed (because he apparently doesn’t mind sleeping in the freezing cold), and that I’d stay at the hotel by myself. I mean, what the hell, we’d already paid for the room and it was too late to check out and get any of our money back, so I figured I might as well stay where it’s cozy and warm (albeit husband-less, which sucks).

Monday: Dave got the furnace hooked up to the generator late last night, so I checked out of the hotel and came home this morning. It’s already warmed up from 37 degrees inside the house to a balmy 52, so I’m optimistic that I might be able to take my coat and gloves off at some point in the next few hours. Here’s hoping.

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