Amber in Real Life

Clarke and I are taking on the task of painting the nursery this weekend. We went to the Home Depot and picked out our paint color…a nice spring green. We’ve decided to stick with our “jungle” theme, especially since it’s very neutral (boy or girl). I am a little nervous about how everything will turn out since this is basically the first “home improvement” project that Clarke and I have ever done. Keep your fingers crossed…I will post pictures when we get the entire thing finished.

Well, I’m finally starting to show.  Tomorrow will be 14 weeks.  I have measured myself and have grown a whole inch in the past four days.  Crazy….reality is starting to finally set in.  I have my third doctor’s appointment this Wednesday.  I’m not sure what they’ll be doing…I don’t think I have my next ultrasound until 18 weeks.  Clarke and I have decided not to find out the sex of the baby, but I’m already worried that one of the lab tech’s will slip during our ultrasound.  I keep hearing stories of how often that happens.  Hopefully that won’t be the case with us.

I guess since Clarke has already posted this news on his blog, it’s time I should post something on mine. Clarke and I are about the embark into the wonderful world of parenthood! I’m due February 1st…still doesn’t seem real at this point, but I’m sure it will completely sink in during the next couple of months. We’re both very excited and nervous, but I guess that’s to be expected. Any tips on how I can get Clarke through the delivery process without passing out would be greatly appreciated.

Today was another day at work…can I get some exciting rehab diagnoses or what? I’m tired of all the “back and ortho” patients. That is exactly why I am not working at an outpatient clinic. Can a get a neuro patient please??

On another note, Clarke sent in his Mylist for “mylist mornings” on 96.5 the buzz, and of course they selected his list to play (since he did have all 90’s songs). He got to go into the station today and record his bit….he will be airing on the radio tomorrow morning at 8:00 am for anyone who is interested. Clarke is going to try and record it since I will be at work and won’t get to hear the entire hour. He also managed to snag a prize box with a couple concert tickets and a few cds.

This past weekend we packed our bags and headed to Tablerock lake where Clarke’s family had rented a cabin. We spent three days there…the cabin was cute and set back in the trees with a beautiful view overlooking the lake. We actually lost electricity one night, and ended up playing cards by candlelight. Sherri and I spent the day shopping on Sunday and then met the boys for dinner and drinks at a great Mexican restaurant, which I can’t for the life of me remember the name. It was good food, though. Then we took a “duck tour” which made me sick to my stomach from getting so hot…but overall a very fun trip, although my back is still sore from sleeping on that horrible bed in the cabin. I also managed to make it an entire day at Whitewater without getting sunburned. Pretty amazing…

This past weekend was a fun, but busy weekend. Clarke and I went back home to spend some time with our families. We also managed to squeeze in some Grandma time, seeing both of his grandmas and celebrating my grandmother’s birthday yesterday. We spent the fourth watching a parade and fireworks show, but best of all…watching our dogs experience swimming for the first time. Ernie was a natural and after the first time, decided that swimming was actually kind of fun. Gracee did well, too, although she had more difficulty keeping her head afloat compared to Ernie, but she does have a little more weight to carry around.

Tomorrow is finally Thursday, or what feels like Friday since I had to work last Sunday. I’m looking forward to finally having a nice long 3-day weekend. Clarke and I will be packing up the dogs and heading home tomorrow night. Fourth of July weekend always seems to be more fun back home…maybe it’s because you hear people shooting off fireworks the whole week before. Up here in KC, it seems to be non-existent. This is probably because no one allows fireworks up here…what fun is it if you can’t shoot them off yourself? This is one thing I miss about the small town atmosphere. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. At least we won’t be driving back home in a blizzard like we did for Christmas…

This week started out slow, but the past few days have been so crazy at work. Today I got home and felt completely exhausted. I’ve been working late every night, but still don’t seem to get everything done. I’ll be so glad when the week is over.

On another note, my brother is coming into town this weekend. Should be getting here tomorrow. I have not cleaned my house as well as I would have liked, but I guess I’ll get over it. On the surface it looks fairly clean. I guess that’s what matters most when you have limited time to do it.

Gracee has been driving me crazy tonight. Sometimes she just goes psycho and runs around the entire house growling and barking at nothing in particular. It’s kind of weird actually. And…to top it off, it’s raining again and our basement is again leaking. So many things to do…too little time to get them all done. Such is life.

So we’ve had a lot of rain the past couple of weeks here in KC. I don’t mind the rain, most of the time. It means I don’t have to go outside and physically water my flowers and plants, however, our basement has been leaking and this I do mind. The main problem is that we’ve never really gotten a chance to go through all the stuff in our basement since we’ve moved in. There are still boxes laying around everywhere, and now they’re getting wet, and I don’t even remember what’s inside them. Not good…my goal was to get the basement cleaned out this summer, but it’s hard when you have to work every weekend. Looking forward to July…I know, sounds crazy because we just started June.

Well, I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything. Things are going well here. I’ve gotten back into the swing of things at work since getting back from Florida. Our rehab unit is actually pretty low right now so we’ve had some downtime at work. I’ve had some difficult patient since I’ve gotten back…well, basically difficult personalities would be a better description. But I’m trudging through.

I’m hoping the next month flies by. I working three weekends this month so not much to look forward to, but…my brother should be visiting in a couple weekends. I haven’t seen him since Christmas. Mom, dad, and the girls came up for Memorial weekend. It was nice to have the family together. I miss being around them and wish we had more time together. Clarke and I will be heading back home for the 4th of July for a few days.

Gracee got her first haircut this past Sunday. I was afraid she would look weird with her new “do” but the groomers did a good job. I also had to tell Clarke that no she really is not fat, she was just super fluffy. She does like to eat…everything, but I guess that’s what puppies do.