Monday, August 31, 2009

My To-Do List For This Week...

I've got lofty goals of things I want to accomplish this week--
  • Put the nursery back into some semblance of order.
  • Wash the newborn clothes and sort the rest of the baby stuff into totes for later.
  • Hang artwork and decorate the nursery.
  • Write out various posts in advance for this blog--starting with various etsy photographers that I admire--in order for them to okay the use of their work and what I have to say about them before it is posted.
  • Post every day this week.
  • Clean up the studio yet again--that room gets away from me so easily.
  • Finish up the two books that I'm on the brink of completing--The Sun is my Undoing and The Persian Pickle Club.
  • Photograph my printmaking pieces and list them on etsy.
  • Perhaps, maybe, hopefully, go see Julie & Julia.
  • Go down to Vincennes to visit with my previous professors and visit the stockyards and lurk around the library.
  • Write down some goals for me, this blog, and The Gallivanting Girl.

I want to make this blog a combination of Cold Antler meets Design Crush meets Yardsale Bloodbath meets Bloom, Grow, Love meets a travel blog unlike any other. Wish me luck and I'll do my best not to just relax and lay in my bed while my baby sucks all the energy from my bones--because believe me that always seems like the most appealing option for my daily activities.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Welcome to Allergy Season.

Every year, around August 20, I become a sneezing, bleary-eyed mess even with allergy medicine. The culprit? Ragweed. And because I'm so very allergic to ragweed I become sensitive to every other scent and allergen in the air. Being pregnant this year I was worried about the effect of medicine on my little fetus. The doctor said I had a few options, gave me some samples, and home I went. Usually my belly is constantly moving with the baby's kicks and jumps, but after I took the allergy meds she stopped. Scared me to death. I decided if it was affecting her enough to change her movement it might be affecting her in some other way as well. I decided I'd rather be uncomfortable and feel her moving instead of comfortable but unsure if she was truly okay or not. So...no allergy meds for me.

What does this mean for me? Well it means I sneeze A LOT during the day, but that I can smile every few minutes when I feel her move. I'm house-bound for the most part (although I do go out to feed the livestock with my husband's respirator that he uses when he tears out the walls in our house). I'd love to be out gallivanting and taking photos all day long, but instead I have been researching other blogs, artists, and people that I've found. That's going to be where my upcoming posts are going to come from. I'm going to write informative, mini-research paper-type posts that will be informative for all of you and that will be helpful in getting me ready for when I can get back out into the real world and interview people in person.

I was going to upload a photo from a previous gallivant, but blogger is giving me trouble today--maybe later I'll add one for spite. Oh how I wish I could be outside. I miss exploring the countryside. If I get too stir-crazy from being stuck inside I might crank up the Air Conditioning in my truck and venture out anyway. If I can find a nice rainy, stormy day when the allergens get knocked down from the air you can bet I'll be back on some dirt road finding the forgotten places that I love.

PS--only seven weeks left and I'll be due--seems like just yesterday I read that test and my life changed completely. Now my husband and I are anxiously awaiting the chance to meet this little rolling ball in my belly.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

First actual sale on etsy!!

"Turning Pages" sold on etsy on Sunday--such an amazing feeling to have your dream job still moving in the right direction! Let's hope the good luck streak keeps going. I'll be adding more to my shop really soon--just need to polish up my photos of my work first.

Lots of Goings-On...

First off, I had some pumpkins come ripe early, so I turned them into puree for some later season recipes I have high hopes for.
Fresh cut pumpkins from the patch.
Cutting and scraping out the innards.
Bucket of innards.
Finished Product.
Then my family and friends had a lovely baby shower for me at my house a few weekends ago. We had a wonderful time, but there was a lot of preparation beforehand, and by the time the party was over I was one tired pregnant woman. Of course directly after the shower our green beans were ready to can, so we've spent the last week putting all of them through the canner. We also processed some tomato juice too.
Then last Friday my husband and I were heading to town and went over the culvert bridge down our road and saw the fish below on the edge of the bridge. Incredible gar, huh? Somebody had apparently caught him and then left him to die on the bridge--quite sad really, but I found him so neat that I had to take a photo. Never know what you'll come across when you're riding around with me.
Other than that I just keep getting bigger and bigger. Only nine weeks left and I'll have a brand new life in my arms. It still seems so surreal. I have tons to do with the nursery still, but if that doesn't get done before she comes home it's not the end of the world because I figure she'll be right by my bedside for quite a bit anyhow.