Rain, Rain, Go Away

I have yet to take pictures of the crib or mobile...I know...I'm sorry - but my time has been crunched lately - due to work, doctor appointments, theater rehearsals, and errands. Add to that the fact that my commute to and from work has truly become a nightmare. I work near O'Hare (about an hour commute on a good day)...and lately it's been taking me up to 2.5 hours to get one way! It's exhausting and frustrating. I am always thankful for my Prius in times like these!

A good deal of the commute issues this week came after the flooding of rainfall over Chicagoland last weekend. For those who didn't know - we got record amounts of rainfall, certain areas were declared "disaster areas", major highways were shut down due to flooding, and some people even had to evacuate their homes. Luckily Dain and I didn't have any housing disasters - our area wasn't as badly hit as others. Near O'Hare - where I work was a different story. This photo was sent to a co-worker of mine. Her friend took this at O'Hare airport on Saturday...
I can't believe it. I keep hearing stories from another co-worker of mine who lives just across the border in Indiana, where some of the worst damage occurred. He had helicopters circling the area on Sunday...

Though all this seems a bit crazy...I can't help but think of those affected by the hurricanes. In fact, I got this link e-mailed to me this morning - of some truly unbelievable photos of the damage to Texas/Haiti from Hurricane Ike. You won't believe this...(copy and paste in a new window) file:///Users/mariemeyer/Library/Mail%20Downloads/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.htm

It makes you grateful for the things you have. It really makes me less concerned that our hot water line is still leaking under the sink...and the fact that we've just shut off the hot water to the kitchen to avoid the problem until Dain has the time and patience to get under there to figure it out. I would - but squeezing my big butt under the sink is not pretty!

Voila #1

HOORAY! The painting is done! (Well, except for some touch ups, etc). We just finished last night and I'm thrilled with the results!
We went with different widths of the stripes (the bluey green color always being smaller), so that taping would be easier, and because I like a little more of a "creative" look, not so calculated and exact.

We're still going to be getting new window coverings, stuff for the wall, more furniture in the room (Dain's putting together the crib tonight) and new lighting - so the room will essentially look very very different, but I know some of you really wanted to see the paint...

(These photos aren't really that "color" accurate - but you get an idea). Don't judge the white spots in the paint (we have touch ups) or the mess - it's a work in progress people!

29 Weeks of Boogie-ing

Here she is - pay no attention to the fact that I look half dead...it's 9:00 a.m. and I couldn't sleep past 8:00 on the ONE day I desperately wanted to sleep in (AND I was up until 1:00 the night before)! So, I made some coffee (decaf, calm down mom) and decided to give you all a peek at the hugeness that I've become - without grooming myself whatsoever...
(Caution: Bumps are larger than they appear)

We're finishing the painting today/tonight - so stick around...more fun to come!

Kids By The Dozen

Has anyone seen this new show on TLC?? Kids By The Dozen. It features families that have more than 12 children...and follows them through an event or something so you can see how the family operates.
The Heppner Family has 16-17 kids.
The Arndt Family has 14 kids (13 boys and 1 girl!).
The Jeub Family has 13 kids.
And there was the Sentman family with 17 kids - who were thinking that a puppy would be too much work!!!

There's one family they've featured on TLC lots of times (on their own specials) - The Duggars - who are currently cooking baby #18. (www.duggarfamily.com). I like to refer to these people as the Crazy's. But that's for personal reasons I won't go into on this blog. (You don't want to start me on some of these things). Either way - if you look at their website - you'll see photos like this:
Uh - they have a cafeteria in their house...They have a COMMUNITY closet for all of them...One of the bathrooms has two toilets next to eachother?! Um...
WHAT WHAT WHAT???

Okay okay okay - so when I was little, I used to write stories and draw pictures of families with 12+ children. I loved naming them all. I loved giving them all the same face in the picture - just different heights and hairstyles. I loved having a few sets of multiples in there. Don't ask me why I did these things....I don't know.

Maybe it's because big families aren't that strange to me. My mom is one of 9. Every holiday gathering everyone is there...and it's a madhouse - but it's kind of amazing that she has that many members of her immediate family. The idea of being covered in family and grandkids and love was always appealing to me when I was younger - I used to think I wanted a ton of kids. I would always tell people I was going to have 7.

Now - I am wondering if it will go beyond Boogie! I can't imagine having that many children - making time for all of them - paying for all of them - sending them to college/dance classes/the movies?!?! WHAT? Nothing would be do-able anymore! You'd HAVE to streamline everything - you'd spend half your life preparing meals - these kids would be raising eachother partially, and isn't the point of having kids in the first place to raise them?

I don't know where this blog came from - other than the fact that I watched this show the other day and was fascinated and horrified simultaneously. I can't imagine this lifestyle...and maybe it's because I realize that each one of these women were pregnant that many times...

Mobility

This post isn't about mobility - it was a "clever" titling by me - until I realized, "hey, this COULD be about mobility".

I am no longer the mobile wonder than I once was. I have always been a quick-walker, a stair-climber, and a floor-sitter. Nope, not anymore my friends. I have discovered within literally the past few days - that I have become a waddling blob. Okay, this is partially true because we painted the 2nd set of stripes in Boogie's room and I was doing a lot of bending and squatting. I noticed that I can't pop up from sitting on the floor anymore - and bending over for anything makes me feel like I'm squishing poor Boogie. I did a lot of squatting, which led me to have soreness in my thighs, which leads me to look like the waddling blob. All of yesterday I literally was groaning when getting up, and had to make Dain slow down numerous times in the walk through Home Depot to find a new kitchen faucet to replace our broken one. (Yeah, that's a good story -- we are going back tonight as after all that went along with replacing it - our cold water connection looks like Old Faithful under the sink when you turn the water connection back on - but that's for another day). Anywho - Dain even laughed at me coming down the stairs last night, because here I was groaning and complaining, looking like a ball of stiffness, and wearing a t-shirt that did not cover all of the bulge that is the growing child in my stomach. What a sight I've become.

I got around much better this morning - but realized the spring in my step is not going to be with me until Boogie pops out. I will waddle. I will walk slow. I will moan when trying to get something off the floor. I WILL be a stereotypical pregnant lady...and that just has to be okay.

NOW - back to the original plan for this post...

I'm MAKING A MOBILE for Boogie! That's right. I'm making a mobile for above Boogie's crib and I'm super excited about it.

I couldn't find a mobile I liked - and a few of the ones I found on etsy.com (the homemade website) were cute but not what I wanted. I realized I could have one custom made there - or I could just suck it up and make one that I like that I create in the colors and patterns I want. If I don't like it, I have no one to blame but myself (and probably Dain, just because I like to).

I bought the supplies to make the hanging items - felts in greens and browns, 2 colors of thread, and some cute buttons. SO, now I just have to get crackin. I promise to post pictures if I ever get the thing done...

Back in the Saddle Again

That's right! After TOO long a hiatus - I'm back in the "official" theater saddle again!

For those of you who don't know (which I can't imagine who you are) - I'm a theater gal. I've always considered myself to be a theater gal. I was involved in high school, loosely involved in college, and involved on and off with community theaters, children's workshops, etc. When I moved to Chicago after college - I started auditioning again at community theaters, and just getting back into the groove. Then, when we finally bought our house in Geneva - I found my "home".

First Street Playhouse in Batavia became a home-away-from-home for me. I started producing shows, assisting with promotions, and stage managing. Soon I was on the public relations committee, volunteering at events, and even got back to my favorite part - being on stage. And then - I became a member of the board of directors, overseeing all the marketing efforts of our non-for-profit community theater. I got on stage some more, and even directed.

After 5 years of operating at the location on Water Street in Batavia, First Street Playhouse went dark (closed its doors) late last fall. It was truly sad...but had to be done for many reasons. However, the board stayed together - and set our sites on reopening in a new and better location - and in a city that needed/wanted us more - Geneva.

After months and months of planning and board meetings, and hosting a murder mystery fundraiser dinner - we finally are reopening!! We got the special use permit (needed for any theater in any commercial space) approved by the Geneva City Council last night, and tonight through Friday nights are the auditions for our first show! I'm so excited I could wet my pants (which actually could happen at any time to a pregnant lady!).

The new theater will be on State Street in downtown Geneva, in the basement level of an office building next to Urban Grille restaurant. We will be now known as the GENEVA UNDERGROUND PLAYHOUSE. And, I even designed our new logo!! Here it is!


So - that's my excitement. Of course I've been doing theater things for months - but now it's official - and I finally have a new "home"!

Now to pick which plays I read to Boogie first...

Boogie at 27 Weeks

No - I don't have a new photo of me.
No - I don't have a photo of the nursery painted (we only have one of the three colors of striping done).

BUT - I do have a picture from babycenter.com of how Boogie is looking in there as of this week.

He is a constant ball of motion in there during the day - kicking and punching his way around. He also keeps taking up residence under my ribs on my right side. I have to push him out of there at least once a day, which is bizarre in itself. It's incredible to feel him in there. He's only going to get bigger and stronger - so even though it gets a bit exhausting now - it's only going to get worse! But, I'm excited.