Tess Shebaylo

The news on the video camera effort from last time is that the thing won’t even turn on, so I guess that’s a no-go. It’s very old but in lovely shape and barely ever used, I think it literally just may be too old to charge. Giant bummer. But I did use iMovie for the first time ever to edit this cell phone video of my belly freaking out, so here’s my underwhelming foray into the video world.

I’ve been on evening rotation this week so I’m pretty exhausted — Friday mornings are always tough after working until 10pm the past several nights. Wednesday morning I had a great yoga practice and felt pretty energetic afterward. Yesterday morning I had another doctor’s appointment (these things are happening weekly now), which went fine though I’ve been put on a zillion milligrams of evening primrose plus four cups of raspberry leaf tea per day. In addition to the other 43 vitamins I’m taking every day. Congratulations, me. I am now essentially a limp bag of flesh and bones, being held up by vitamins. Ah, the dignity of being pregnant! I feel like this stuff is all fighting a giant battle in my stomach, but I’ll choke them all down for these last few weeks and hope for the best. Because the professionals said so.

Afterward I had a nice lunch with Ted at Aziza’s, then headed back home to survey the baby birds growing in the nest on our front door, make some potato salad for later, and start my work shift. Tonight we have a date after work, so it’ll be nice to be out and about before a weekend that I suspect will be full of yardwork.

More nursery decor pics coming soon to a blog near you, as soon as I hang up one of the last things I was waiting to arrive in the mail.

This rose tree I bought last year did not do well, and though I moved it to a better spot, I thought it was pretty much dead. But now it’s in full bloom. Such a cheering sight.

So much has been getting done, and the stress has really just ebbed away as I feel more “ready” for the baby to come. The current list:

- getting remaining essential baby supplies
- baby shower thank-you notes
- rearrange kitchen cabinets so I can put away baby milk / food supplies we got at the shower
- make or buy some bunting or something cute for the bare nursery wall by the crib
- make a packing list and pack the suitcase to bring to the hospital
- make a vet appointment for Sophie
- paint nails, avoid looking like a hobo clown
- take pics of vintage baby clothes
- make City Group main dish ahead of time
- set up video baby monitor
- do thank-you notes for additional gifts received this week
- take Sophie to the vet
- add more small wire shelves within existing kitchen cabinets to create more levels / space
- disassemble, wash, and put away baby bottling supplies
- take photos of bar, edit them, and post
- run errands, including picking up stuff we need for the hospital
- pack more stuff in our hospital bags
- organize baby clothes in size-appropriate piles
- regular household chores that somehow still need to get done when all of this is going on
- learn how to use Dan’s little video camera so I can take videos of the baby
- finish book I’m reading so I don’t jeopardize the Nook I’m borrowing from Lianna for the rest of her life

I’ve been managing to get all of that done without too much grief for my feet, though my knee does hurt again today after too much time spent running around yesterday.

Even though Dan finished his project with the bar mirrors and I’ve been taking care of everything listed above, the real hero of this week is Sophie. She had a really stellar day yesterday. She rode to the vet without too much of a fuss, let me carry her in without much squirming (I decided to just wrap her in a towel after the nightmare of cramming her into a carrier last time), calmed down in the exam room and didn’t freak out when the vet examined her, and got all the way out of the vet’s office and back home without a freakout. We’ve also been trying to get her to use the electronic cat door that Dan installed for her, but she’s been really confused about it and has only gone in and out of it with a bunch of coaxing. But when we got back from the vet yesterday, she hopped out of the car and I gathered my things up and started calling her, expecting her to follow me inside. But when I finally got inside she was already in there — she had run around to the back of the house and came in via her personal door. Then later I saw her go in and out of the door twice on her own. So she’s figuring it out steadily. She’s got a fresh supply of asthma pills, she gets fed with her automatic timed bowl, and she gets in and out of the house via her tiny door. She’s been such a trooper with all this change and I’m super glad that her needs are taken care of so she’s not screaming for stuff when the baby is here.

Here she is riding home from the vet in the baby seat.

Other, non-to-do-list things that have been going on:

On Thursday we toured the labor & delivery unit at VCU with our pregnancy group, and I feel like I know a bit more about what to expect now. It was good to get a feel for where everything is, and for what happens in what sequence when you get to the hospital. People asked lots of good questions and I got some more ideas about stuff to bring with us, etc.

Friday morning I had a pile of gifts on my desk from coworkers, including the video baby monitor I’ve been pretty excited about. Friday evening some of us toured Blue Bee Cider, and we learned a ton about cider-making and were allowed to climb into this big tub with the apple-destroying equipment. Awesome.

Saturday night Beth was in town and we went to the Roosevelt and then had drinks at home, catching up about all things nerdy and having a marvelous time as always. While we were sitting out on the front porch with Dan and Tom, a storm brewed and the wind and lightning were delightful until the rain drove us inside. I always love the first thunderstorm of the year. Beth spent the night and we got to hang out a little more before she left in the morning. I miss her all the time but I’m so thankful for friendships like these that are easy to pick up where we left off.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and we did a picnic brunch at Maymont with Mom, Megan, and Pete. Everything was delicious but I was particularly proud of my raspberry trifle, which will probably be a go-to dessert from now on. After we ate we took a nice, long stroll around the park and it only took me 9000 years to climb the steps back up to parking-lot-level. NBD. Later we went to the Sweet Frog in Oregon Heights, which is blessedly free of rude, pushy children, and I was informed that my baby bump “counts” and so I was given a Mother’s Day discount. Whoa! Totally not expecting that. Back at home I was also not expecting Dan to surprise me with a sweet card, hilarious Safe Baby Handling Tips book, and some framed ultrasound pics. Then we went to the Savory Grain for dinner, which was good, unrushed, and very relaxing. And we capped it all off by seeing The Great Gatsby with Megan and Pete. I think I had such high hopes for the movie that it never could have lived up to them. But visually it was really cool, and of course the dresses and accessories were exciting the entire time. But I think the movie doesn’t let you slowly figure out what’s happening the way that Nick does in the book; rather it bangs you over the head with the obviousness of it all, right out of the gate. I like the sort of creeping realizations that Fitzgerald accomplishes for the reader and kind of wish the movie would have allowed for that as well. A lot was said out loud that should have been left implied, etc. It almost starts you out from a point of being suspicious of and disliking characters like Gatsby and Daisy, when it should have first made you fall in love with them, obviously. But anyway, diamonds! Parties! Champagne! It’s worth seeing.

Yesterday I took Sophie to the vet, then ran errands, put stuff away, and did a mountain of chores. Last night Dan finished installing the mirrors for the dining room bar, and they look great. More about that on the Shebaylo Times. I’m glad to have all the barware put back where it lives, of course.

Okay, I’m off to mess around with this video camera and see if I can figure out how to work it.

As predicted the past couple of nights have indeed been full of rapid list-destroying, but of course for every two tasks I complete I think of another one to add to the list.

That being said, one of tonight’s tasks was quick and quite a pleasure to do: take photos of a few vintage baby dresses we’ve accumulated.

Pwecious, right? I love the details on these two colorful dresses, which came from Through the Garden Gate.

This last one was a baby shower gift and it came from Bygones. The bonnet is fierce.

These plus the ridiculous quantity of baby clothes we’ve been given have resulted in a downright scandalously sized collection. It doesn’t look that crazy in this picture, but these are JUST the dresses. The rest is crammed into those drawers. Overall I think there are almost 100 garments. We have bought a grand total of 2 of those garments. Crazy! Even Sophie is judging us.

Last night we also hung the rest of the art on the walls, but there is still one thing missing so I’ll wait to post pictures of entire walls. I’m really loving one thing we received as a gift from Sarah, a framed copy of the hymnal music for my favorite hymn.

So, back to sheer productivity. This is what the list looks like now.

- getting remaining essential baby supplies
- baby shower thank-you notes
- rearrange kitchen cabinets so I can put away baby milk / food supplies we got at the shower
- make or buy some bunting or something cute for the bare nursery wall by the crib
- make a packing list and pack the suitcase to bring to the hospital
- make a vet appointment for Sophie
- paint nails, avoid looking like a hobo clown
- take pics of vintage baby clothes
- make City Group main dish ahead of time
- learn how to use Dan’s little video camera so I can take videos of the baby
- finish book I’m reading so I don’t jeopardize the Nook I’m borrowing from Lianna for the rest of her life
- regular household chores that somehow still need to get done when all of this is going on

Progress. Progress. I ought to do chores now but after a couple of hours of lasagna-making so that I don’t have to rush through it tomorrow night, my feet are currently in no shape to get back up and do chores. So I’m going to work on reading that book now…

Captain’s log, stardate 34.5 weeks pregnant. Just imagine me weeping profusely while writing one million thank-you notes for baby gifts. That’s kind of what life looks like for me lately. But look at my first crop of roses this spring! They are huge.

Saturday morning’s train ride back from New York was blissfully uneventful and calm. When I got home Dan was unloading the first of the day’s loads of bricks, so I changed clothes and helped him do that, organizing each armful in a line to form a neat pile. It was really frustrating that my arms weren’t tired at all and can handle tons of bricks, but the small of my back was killing me after just a couple of minutes from having the stress of the baby pulling on it, plus me bending over with weights in my hands. Soon Dan left to pick up another load of bricks, and I went to Lowe’s to get a few things (including some obligatory front porch hanging ferns) and to Martin’s for groceries. Got back, put everything away and hung up the ferns. Went through the mail that had piled up, changed clothes again, and helped Dan with brick load #2. Then he raced off to return the rented truck to Home Depot while I changed again and headed to the movie theater to get us some seats for Iron Man 3. We were exhausted but glad the night ended with RDJ sassing it up on the screen, as expected.

This trend of go-go-going that started Saturday is the new thing, at least for a while as we struggle to get everything done that needs to get done. On Sunday morning after I had gotten up, eaten something, showered, dressed, and makeupped, I was already dying to sit down and rest, and I hadn’t even started my day yet. I fought that impulse and went to Babies ‘R Us, trying to find a few necessities that we didn’t get at the shower. They had exactly one of the 8 or so things I was looking for, so it was pretty much a wasted trip. Plus I just left feeling kind of disgusted at all the ridiculous products and dumbed-down decor they have for babies. The nursery decor aisle is full of cartoony daisies or monkeys. Take your pick.

I kind of sat in the parking lot for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do next. Try another store? Go to a consignment store? Meh, not for diaper-y type things, right? What’s even open right now? I’m tired. I don’t want to do anything. I ended up driving home and bursting into tears and just sitting on the couch trying to breathe deeply. I realized that for all my urging and pressing us to get stuff done “early” (before I got to the uncomfortable, hard-to-move part of the pregnancy), I didn’t set hard due dates and stuff just kind of didn’t get done. There are various reasons, and none of them are laziness on my part because you know I’m NEVER not doing some household task. With supplies, I wanted to wait until after the shower to get any leftover stuff that we didn’t receive. Since most people got us cute clothes, bless their hearts, that actually ended up being a lot of functional supplies that are still missing. With some things that need to be done in the nursery and around the house, they require being up on ladders or using power tools or just stuff that Dan can accomplish way more efficiently than I can, so it’s not really up to me when they get done.

And now, here it is. The uncomfortable part of the pregnancy, and I’m all but useless and still so much is left to handle. I don’t care that everybody’s always like “Oh you have PLENTY of time;” I’ve always ignored that in life and end up scrambling less than most people because of ignoring that impulse to procrastinate. But I really wanted to get baby stuff finished way, way ahead of time so that these last few weeks of pregnancy could be spent sipping smoothies and putting my feet up and getting absorbed in a good book. Now that’s out the window, as we have five weeks left and all I see is to-do list items in those five weeks.

As I was sitting there on the couch despairing about a given thing not being done, something else would pop into my head that needed to be done too, and soon it was like there was a battle going on in my head over which one was the most important to do immediately. And it occurred to me that actually we may not even have the five weeks I keep taking for granted. The baby could realistically come at any minute and they’d probably be like “everything looks good, you’re having this baby now.” Ack! One million things to do and all I can get done is rubbing Sophie’s belly (admittedly, a mutually pleasant activity that I don’t do enough).

Eventually I dried it up and rallied. Okay, I need to make a list of things to get done. I went up to my office and did so. Just having the list in RTM and out of my head felt better already, as it always does.

- getting remaining essential baby supplies
- baby shower thank-you notes
- rearrange kitchen cabinets so I can put away baby milk / food supplies we got at the shower
- make or buy some bunting or something cute for the bare nursery wall by the crib
- make a packing list and pack the suitcase to bring to the hospital
- make a vet appointment for Sophie
- paint nails, avoid looking like a hobo clown
- learn how to use Dan’s little video camera so I can take videos of the baby
- finish book I’m reading so I don’t jeopardize the Nook I’m borrowing from Lianna for the rest of her life
- regular household chores that somehow still need to get done when all of this is going on

That list is for me, and doesn’t include things Dan is working on like hanging the baby mobile, hanging remaining art in the nursery, installing car seat bases in our cars, installing the cat door, antiquing some mirrors and installing them in the dining room bar, and oh yeah, the brick patio.

Since I felt so feeble that day I decided to tackle the least athletic things on the list, the first of which was getting the remaining baby supplies. Way more efficient and less soul-sucking than stupid physical retail spaces, Amazon came to the rescue and I ordered the last few things (diapering-related stuff that I don’t want to get from a consignment store or anything). Next up was thank-you notes. Transcribing the gift list into a spreadsheet, then return-address stamping, postage stamping, writing the actual notes while feeling emotional, etc. You see where I was at with the opening sentence of this post. Also the ice cream truck seriously seemed to be circling just our block over and over again. The music was maddening as was the temptation to run outside and demand ice cream. But I still got a lot of thank-you notes done.

When Dan got home from sound board duties at church, I was almost done making dinner and we ate, cleaned up, and he installed the cat door (which Sophie promptly ignored). Then we took a long bath as he read to me from his Expectant Father book. Finally went to sleep feeling much more sane and relaxed.

Yesterday was another hectic one; after an early-morning Common Good RVA meeting followed by work work work, I finished the thank-you notes, then tackled rearranging the kitchen cabinets and putting away baby stuff, finishing it just in time to pick Brandi up and go to Balliceaux for Secretly Y’all (note: laughing and dinner with Brandi are statistically proven to comfort 100% of pregnant Tesses). Before bed, while working on a packing list for the hospital bag, we watched a couple of episodes of the Office.

Today: WORK. And this lunchtime blog post. And tonight, probably packing that bag with all the things that can go into it this early.

This concludes this uncharacteristically panic-filled post. I feel like a mess. But hey, since I get overwhelmed like this so rarely, I figure it’s good to document it for posterity’s sake, right?

It really has been a great trip. Here’s the view from the roof of the Scholastic building after UserConf today.

Last night I met up with Karen and Talia at the Meatball Shop and had an amazing dinner. It was so nice to catch up with those two and seriously, those meatballs. What a simple and delicious concept. Meatballs, served any way you can possibly want, with veggie options, various sauces, various sides, etc. etc. What a comforting night. I also really enjoyed walking through Chelsea and exploring the neighborhood a bit on this warm spring night.

Sign outside of a menswear shop.

Our pre-dinner dessert at Billy’s Bakery.

UserConf today was probably the best conference I’ve ever been to. Hours of inspiration and practical ideas for support, and it all zipped along so quickly and in such an upbeat fashion. I was still tired by the end of the day, but it’s amazing how they kept the energy going for such a long time. And of course just being around people who are in the same jobs we’re in and facing the same challenges we’re facing was therapeutic.

Later Jim and I had a nice, leisurely dinner at Tre Stelle, which capped off our hectic trip perfectly. We’ll be back on the train early tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to get home.

Filed under: what's up

Well, I’m really not resting right now. I’m in a hotel room in NY, getting a quick post in before I go to dinner.

Since the weekend was so hectic, I’m actually feeling more calm now and it’s the middle of the week in a city that’s not my own.

Monday night I got everything in the nursery put away, at least as much as it can be put away for now. It’s back to looking lovely again, and it’s a nice / strange sensation to open up all the drawers and see them chock full of baby clothes.

Tuesday evening I had a church-related meeting at Valerie’s and then I went home and cooked some sautéed scallops with kale and leftover jalapeño mac n’ cheese (success). Over dinner I talked to Dan about surveying our baby registry and seeing what necessities we didn’t receive that we absolutely need to have on hand in case the baby comes, and we went on an impromptu Target run to scope some of those things out. Our culture is a funny thing. One thousand pink onesies and not a baby wipe in sight? Hilarious.

Last night I packed for my NY trip and went to yoga, where I had an okay practice but felt pretty obliterated afterward. It’s hard to start losing my grip on yoga, because I always felt so refreshed afterward and would look forward to that feeling of restoration, but now I just feel energy-depleted and kind of wrecked after huffing and puffing through it. Still, I should be thankful I can make it through a class at all. And I’m glad to stay active in any way I can at this point.

Inevitably I think we never enjoy the present moment and instead are always looking forward to the next thing, and I definitely see that tendency taking root in me as the pregnancy rolls into its last leg. Over the past couple of days (probably since I saw everyone at the shower and then a bunch of friends here in NY) I’ve caught myself thinking about how nice it will be when this is over, and what things I’m going to do, and how many margaritas I’m going to drink, and how many rollercoasters I’m going to ride, and what clothes I may wear, etc. etc. etc. Certainly some amount of that kind of thinking is positive and helps you through the uncomfortable parts of pregnancy. But really it’s nonsense. I’m happy and healthy right now and obviously I need to just relax and enjoy that, no matter how much my feet are swelled up. I’m sure that looking back I’ll remember the sweet times and the moments like wandering down baby aisles at Target with Dan like “what is this device for?” way more than the aching feet.

So, here’s to enjoying right now. I was a little nervous about traveling with my feet and joints in their current state, but it’s been great! The train was a piece of cake as always, we worked all the way up here, it’s a beautiful day in the city today, and it was great to see everyone at the NY office. It was a short walk to our hotel, which so far is very comfortable, and I’m getting ready to meet Talia and Karen for dinner a few blocks away. I’m excited about the conference tomorrow. All is well.

The baby shower was incredible.

After brunch and a little antiquing with Mandy, we walked into the house and saw that the place had been transformed into a magical baby wonderland, with flowers everywhere and a growing pile of gifts and treats a-go-go and a parasol suspended from the parlor ceiling, trailing flowers and twirling in the breeze. There were fruity drinks with striped straws and baby-themed temporary tattoos and candies that Mom made out of Lifesavers that looked like pacifiers and advice cards to fill out and add to a little “tree” on the mantel. There were tiny cakes and a yogurt bar and of course, chips and dips. For favors there were heart-shaped lavender seed bombs and a cooler full of pickles made by our friends at Cair Paravel Farm. And the best part was that the house soon filled up with people I love, and I kind of wandered around in a haze, eating sugary things and admiring my friends’ dresses. I opened gifts for what seemed like hours because of the overwhelming generosity of everyone, chirping out my possibly-annoying commentary on every gift as I went. We got so many beautiful things and I’m embarrassed to report that my unborn daughter now has more clothes and accessories than I do. After most people had left, my family and a few friends cleaned up most of the mess, and then took a break to play a game that Mom devised that involved baby-related puns and candy bar names — which, as far as baby shower games go, was the best one I’ve ever played. When everything was clean and everyone had gone, I moved quietly around downstairs putting things away and lighting some candles and feeling very loved.

Later I made dinner and the Artzes (who were staying the night) joined us, and Lianna came back over as well. Just some roasted veggies and pasta, and good friends around the dining table. The perfect end to a beautiful but tiring day.

Sunday morning we got up and had a big breakfast that included some delicious sausage fresh from the farm, and went through all the gifts removing packaging and tags and such so that the items could all be put away.

Then I went to a 1920s-influenced wedding-themed photo shoot for Christine’s burgeoning wedding planning business, and pranced around with the usual suspects in period garb around the John Marshall ballroom. You know, just a regular Sunday for us. Afterward we headed to the new Era warehouse to check out Diana’s new digs and current midcentury gems for sale. The theme of my 20s was “going to shows and art openings to support all of my obnoxiously creative friends” and I guess the theme of my 30s will be “going to events in support of my obnoxiously motivated friends’ various small businesses.” Then it was back to the house for a late lunch, and Dan and I tried to put the nursery back together as much as we could before my family came over and we all went to Bottom’s Up for pizza.

Besides all the external love and excitement around me, as much as I try to vaporize it by not acknowledging it I think the unpleasant part of pregnancy is here. I’m having quite a bit of knee trouble now and my legs / feet in general are just not stoked on life, and I think last night I finally experienced my first non-Cure-related wild mood swing. This basically means that I started weeping uncontrollably and could barely catch my breath enough to explain to Dan that I wasn’t really sure why I was crying.

This morning was gray and uncheerful, and this unsinkable morning person had a hard time getting up. I hobbled in to the office and kind of zombied through my day, and had very little energy for my last tutoring session with Harmony. She kept asking me a bunch of questions that were hard to answer (like “what are ancestors?”) and which elicited even more questions (like “what the heck is evolution?”). But eventually she reluctantly read a bit with me, and of course lit up like a firefly when I told her I had brought her a gift. She snatched the bag (full of markers, light-up jelly bracelets, temporary tattoos, and other such things) and ran off gleefully down the street. I hope that’s not the last time I ever see her but if it is, it’s probably quite fitting. <3

Saturday morning Dan and I went to WPA for a quick breakfast treat, which was nice because usually I go there alone or with other friends. I think of it almost exclusively as a day-off thing that I’ll do on comp days or whatever and follow it up with a solo walk.

Then Dan headed off to collect some bricks for the backyard project he’s about to embark on, and I headed to Ashland Berry Farm to scope out possible shade plants we could get. I realized on the way there that I’ve been to their haunted hayride a bunch of times but I had never been there during the day. It’s really beautiful out there — so many glimpses of picturesque fields and houses and such every time you come around a bend. I didn’t see much I liked as far as plants go but I picked up some herbs and took a nice walk around the grounds.

Since I was already out that way, obviously I needed to stop by Class and Trash. There was actually a particular chair I wanted to look at there, but I wasn’t sure I was entirely in love with it so I didn’t get it. Saw lots of other things I wanted but wasn’t sure about, so I just left empty-handed. I had better luck at Through the Garden Gate though, where I picked up an old piece of linen to serve as a makeshift tablecloth for the parlor and some adorable teeny-tiny little girls’ dresses. I hadn’t bought any clothes for the baby myself because I kept thinking “we’ll have way too many baby clothes anyway, and if I start buying them now it’ll just get ridiculous fast.” And I figured I’d find some real gems for cheap if I picked around at antique / thrift stores and waited to find only the best things that simply screamed out at me, which was true.

After more errands at Target I raced home, put everything away, and headed to a hair appointment with Karen. It’s always so relaxing to have my hair cut by her; I really look forward to it. This time I begged her to take some of the weight out of my hair because it had gotten unbearable and felt like a huge weight on the top of my head, and she did a great job. I’ve got some layers and everything feels way lighter now. I’m like “so this is what normal hair is like.” Apparently as she was sweeping up, the apprentice commented that she couldn’t believe how much hair was on the floor and how much hair was still on my head. Welcome to my life.

After this my feet were killing me and I felt like doom, so I think I just had a quiet night at home.

Sunday I worked, and then Dan and I took a long walk to Bottom’s Up and got some pizza. It was really fun and relaxing for everyone involved except for my knees. You see how the achiness is creeping into my life despite my best efforts to keep it out? But I really can’t complain; I feel mostly amazing.

Monday was a comp day and of course I filled it with a zillion to-dos. Went to Strange’s to check out their gardening selection, and actually saw a ton of shade plants that we will probably go back and get soon. I love visiting nurseries but I think it’s best that I do this alone, so that I can walk up and down every aisle and pluck out every little info tab and read about every plant and just be as slow and annoying as I want. If anybody is there and rushing me along I’m like “There’s too much information, I’M OVERWHELMED!” I have to take it slowly. So this is why I have to run errands alone, if there are actual objectives involved. If I don’t really have anything that needs to get done I’m delightful to run errands with. Unless I’m hungry.

Next I went to the craft store to get RIT dye and to Shades of Light to visit Kathryn at work, where she showed me all around the store and I was impressed by both her knowledge of lighting options and the selection there. Don’t get me wrong, shopping there can get very expensive very fast, but it’s a beautiful showroom and walking through it and talking about which fixtures we liked and why was a good solid Tess n’ Kathryn activity. I’m glad she’s back!

Then I quickly breezed through West End Antiques Mall looking for a few things on my antiques list and not really finding them. Finally, I went to Little Mexico to meet Dan for lunch (dollar tacos on Mondays, y’all). It’s always nice to get to see him in the middle of a workday.

Back at home, it was time to tackle a mountain of other tasks. I dyed the little tablecloth I had gotten at TTGG and put it on the coffee table. I can’t decide if it’s an improvement or not, but the color turned out nicely. I did laundry and all the other weekly chores and I don’t remember what else.

For the rest of the week I was on evening rotation so there was a lot of smushing everything into the mornings / early afternoons before work. Tuesday I cleaned up the nursery some and got it ready for some photos, then lunched at Johnson’s Southern Comfort with Jim and Thomas (food was decent, atmosphere was abysmal). Wednesday I had a super hectic morning trying to get those herbs into the ground before I had to be at yoga (I was successful), but I had such a nice, calming yoga practice that it leveled out the day. After changing clothes I went to a Common Good RVA meeting, then to the office, meetings and meetings, then Mekong for a farewell dinner for some folks from this office that are moving up to NY. Home exhausted to finish out the evening shift.

Yesterday morning I went out for more errands and groceries, baked some parmesan-scallion puff pastry pinwheels (amazing) which I’ll pull out tonight when we have guests over, hung up baby clothes, and put the new duvet on the nursery bed. I really wanted the nursery to be ready to receive a bunch of new stuff after my shower this weekend, so I’ve been scurrying around putting everything in its place in there. I blogged about the woodwork that Dan did and all the other progress over at the Shebaylo Times if you want more details, and there are a zillion more pictures of the nursery here.

After that I started work early since I had a Centering Pregnancy meeting, which was fine but kind of awkward as usual. We “made” socks with uncooked rice in them, which can be placed around your neck or used as a bolster for your back to soothe achiness. Actually they work quite well. Yesterday marked 33 / 40 weeks, and everything looks good with the baby’s progress. Head is still down, belly is still getting huger all the time. We watched a terrifying video about supposed “relaxation techniques” during labor but there was nothing relaxing about it. I’m excited for the next session because we’ll get to tour the labor & delivery area and see where we’re actually giving birth. Whoa.

Speaking of all of this getting very real, tomorrow is my baby shower. Whoa whoa whoa!

Today at work Mathieu shared some spam text that included the phrase “xylophones for the underprivileged,” which for some reason I just loved. It has a ring to it. And it is absurd.

This week was pretty hectic at work, and just slogging through all the tumblrgencies kind of threw all other projects to the wayside. Wednesday was supposed to be the most hectic day of all because we were to have NY visitors down, but they ended up not being able to make it. After work, I sliced up a bunch of strawberries in preparation for making this no-bake strawberry icebox cake, and then went to yoga. I had a terrible practice, which I think was a combination of eating too much, having swollen feet and ankles, having someone pushing on my ribs from the inside the entire time, and not being able to take very deep breaths. Anyway, the worst part isn’t that I had a bad practice — I’m sure that’s to be expected this late in the game, and I should count it a victory that I’m still showing up to yoga at all. But really it’s just my pride. I keep thinking that if I don’t acknowledge the limitations that are creeping in, I won’t have to modify anything and stall my progress. Or my perceived progress. Really this just boils down to me having such a great pregnancy that I balk at the tiniest inconveniences. Back at home, I finished making the cake (which took way longer than it should because I was getting OCD about the thickness of the strawberry slices and lining them up perfectly on the graham crackers — hello, nobody cares that much about the stupid strawberries!) and then went upstairs and frowned at my ankles for a while before bed. I was exhausted and probably the most uncomfortable I had been so far.

Later it occurred to me that after work on Wednesday I was either on my feet or at yoga for a span of about 5 hours, which in my sedentary desk-dwelling life is a long time, which is probably why I felt like garbage.

Yesterday marked 32 / 40 weeks, which is crazy. The baby is supposedly as big as a large jicama, and weighs almost 4 pounds. After City Group (in which everyone enjoyed the aforementioned cake), I got ready for bed and unmake-upped / took off nail polish while Dan read aloud to me from the bathtub. He’s reading The Expectant Father, which seems interesting and pleasant to read in the way that Bringing up Bebe was. Conversational and matter-of-fact without being judgey, with nerdy tidbits about different studies that have been done, etc. We’re “intellectuals,” as Bill Cosby would say.

Then I went to sleep and woke up at 1:30am and didn’t know where Sophie was, and I couldn’t find her by calling at either door. Went back to sleep and dreamed vivid pregnancy dreams about vampires and werewolves and woke up to Sophie waiting patiently clawing at the front door.

Today at work we had delicious treats from Dixie Doughnuts and lunch from BoDillaz (also good despite the ridic name), and either someone has been pressing as hard as she can on my ribcage or I’m experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. I can’t tell the difference.

Yesterday after work a few of us headed over to the 2nd annual i.e. Start-Up Competition, an event that Tumblr sponsors. A bunch of local startups compete for a grand prize of $10k and a peoples’ choice award of $2500. Jim and I introduced i.e.’s new Tumblr blog onstage, which was a lot of fun. And it was just neat to see all the entrepreneurial energy in Richmond and the incredible ideas these people have for providing services that are clearly needed. I saw merit in pretty much every single presentation, but my favorites were The Storytellers Channel, RVAFarms, Speakeasy, Tumbleweed, Richmond Food Co-op, and HourWise. Some of these guys had fantastic ideas, and you can read a super-short synopsis about each of them here. Speakeasy ended up winning the grand prize, with Dragon Grips winning the peoples’ choice award. All of this promising news about creativity and innovation in Richmond, plus cheese and wine and nerdy conversation? It was a good night.