Returning to Normalcy...and Highschool

We Bruces move into our 'temporary housing' tomorrow and are excited to give Becky her space back and return to our normal routine. This Bruce is not excited about all this movement, but I bet that my sweet husband is just as not-excited since he is the one doing the moving. I'm just directing and putting sheets on beds!

But we do still have the option of living like Gloria and Bob now that we are 'dried in' at the new house and have passed our electrical and plumbing inspections. Siding goes on next week, wow!
John, we hope to see a lot of this when we open our front door
(actually, we hope you just come on in)

John, by the way is often known as either my other husband or my son. Love him, love him, love him. John and I go all the way back to middle school at good old Calvary Baptist Day School. In fact, we go all the way back to me being a cheerleader for him on the basketball team. Let's review here, because you all saw how I can only jump maybe 3 inches off the ground at best, so you know what a joke it is that I was a cheerleader in middle school. But it was no joke that John played ball; he and Terry still 'ball it up' as they say every Saturday morning with a group of guys, and I'm pretty sure they dominate out there on the court. Not quite like Terry's years of sitting the bench at Mt. Tabor in highschool.

Last weekend, we went to a baby shower for another old Calvary companion for me and App companion for Terry - Jesse & Elizabeth Watson. I had been home in Winston getting my haircut, and Terry drove from Charlotte, so he had not seen my hair yet until we met there. When he saw me, he said "Woah, highschool!" I'm pretty sure I just might have taken 10 years off my looks by taking those 10 inches off my hair! I really do look just like I did in highschool!

[I would write more below, but blogger is being fickle and not letting me get text in below these pictures - guess that means that's all for this week! Back to more insightful and entertaining blogs next week with updates from our new temporary casa]

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Home Sweet Home

No more rat folks, no more rat. Unfortunately this isn't because we have caught it or killed it or found it dead. It is because we have a new home. And because we're over it. Done and done. Well, several new homes actually. Our current one includes this big family. We are living with our dear, lovely, fabulous and gracious Becky in her condo. Her condo is part of the development - Williamsburg onCommonwealth. Her next door neighbors are her/my BFF Kelly and her soon-to-be-hubs Robby (pictured in green beside me, gently cradling his beer). Kelly was out of town. Becky's great and super patient 'boo,' Mike, also lives in Williamsburg, and next weekend, we Bruces will be moving out of Becky's bedroom and into the condo on the other side of hers for 3 months until our other (new) casa is ready.

Friday, Matt & Kat had a 'rep-your-hood' party to break in their new patio that they did an amazing job building with their own 4 hands. They might need back surgery, but it looks awesome! We grilled out burgers and Kat's homemade black bean burgers, which were fabulous to me, the guys played corn hole in their newly dug corn hole pits, and the girls sat and ate. We do that really well! (See all that long hair going down my back? It's getting chopped this weekend for a donation - not sure which - Pantene, Locks of Love, or Wigs for Kids) - depends on how much I have!

*Mom - this is my nanna-lou dress by the way*

We had our ultrasound last Friday and all went well - minus the really rude (not my normal) doctor who did the ultrasound...no picture to share because (a) she only gave us one and (b) I'm blogging from Becky's computer, so I haven't taken pictures and uploaded them. But we could see the pea moving around, stretching its arms and legs - I can't feel that yet, but maybe just 2 or 3 more weeks until I can. We go June 12th for our next appointment and then will be able to tell you if this pea is a he or a she! I'm completely feeling and LOVING this second trimester boost of energy, no more morning sickness, and am definitely looking pregnant! I think my belly just popped out this week and all of my pants other than my jeans are uncomfortable, so I bought some great things at GAP maternity tonight - on sale, YAY! After my long day of work and shopping though, I needed to wind down and since I can't have a glass of Chardonnay like I really wanted, I settled for some bubbly Welch's white grape juice, but treated myself to enjoying it in a wine glass. After all, I knew Terry was downtown at Speed Street enjoying a few brewskis with the guys, the pea and I didn't want to be totally left out!

Happy Wednesday!

enough already

Remember when you were little and played hide and seek with your parents and you were just sure that if you just closed your eyes, they couldn't see you? Or as you got older if you put your fingers in your ears and sang 'lalalalalalala' that you couldn't hear what they were saying (sorry mom & dad). Or maybe as you got to college and you thought if you just didn't write that paper, maybe you wouldn't have to turn it in, like it was never an assignment anyway. I wish I still didn't know about object permanence, and I think that's what I've been doing this past week not updating you about the rat - if I just pretend it isn't still living in our house, eating holes through our dishwasher and cabinets, avoiding new traps from a more motivated exterminator [who told us this is a roof rat which can weigh up to FIFTEEN POUNDS and fit through a hole the size of a quarter] - then maybe it will just go away. But it hasn't worked.

We left it this note with an rat poison laced treat; in case you can't read it, it says:

"Dear *!#@ Rat... We hope you DIE. We hate your stinkin' guts. Eat your arsenic laced treat & enjoy your last meal as you realize the Bruces are having the last laugh. P.S. You owe me a $100 to GAP body. DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Well...he didn't eat it. It avoided the trap by it's entry hole and we don't think it appreciated the note, because this is what it left us in response.

Yes that's right, it ate through the cabinet and dishwasher. And actually the hole got bigger. We covered that hole in duct tape that night and it ate the dishwasher to the left of the original hole all the way over to that metal hook you can see in the picture. Since then, we have continued to cover the hole in duct tape nightly, and it eats through the duct tape. Nightly. So recently I realized we could put poison on the back of the tape and it would have to ingest it if it ate through the tape. Well, it's eaten through the poisoned tape the past 3 nights, but is still coming back. I'm hanging on by a thin thread here folks. If it's not gone this week, we're out of here.

Terry's parents came into town today to see the progress on the house, go to church and lunch with us and continue their travels since they've been on the road and in the air since January. His mom told us the story at lunch of how they moved into their house when it looked pretty close to this to get their builders motivated to build a little faster.

What a pioneer you are Gloria! Unfortunately, I am not like Gloria or the pioneer woman, although this looks better than a roof rat infested house...Fortunately, our builders are plenty motivated on their own. The roof is almost fully shingled now, and we are supposed to be 'dried in' (windows sealed in, etc) this week. And we had some fun in the house after staying at the lake the other weekend with all the dogs. Kat had some fun with the camera, I had about 502 pictures to choose from to post here! But here we are standing in our 6 foot window in our living room off the porch. The microwave belongs to the builders. Even when they were just clearing the land, the microwave sat on the ground plugged in by a tree, and they would bring their lunch with them and heat it up. This is so resourceful and ingenious to me, I love it. If we move into the house in the current state, we wouldn't even have to bring our own microwave!

We go back to the doctor Friday for our next ultrasound, we'll be 13.5 weeks. Pray for a strong heart beat and that the pea would be growing as fast as my baby bump. I had to go on antibiotics this week for double ear and double sinus infections that were killer, and of course it made my first time mommy self a wee bit nervous. Grow strong & sweet pea.

Meanwhile, DIE RAT DIE.

Nesting

...

I felt like these pictures needed to be introduced with nothing more than themselves. Normally nesting has this fabulous cozy quality to the word that makes me think of moving into our new house and getting ready for this babe. But now, I cannot hear 'nesting' and not shudder. Because this rodent has been nesting - under our dishwasher, just as I expected.


That's right, nesting. As in with the insulation from our dishwasher, 8 pairs of my underwear from out of my laundry basket (including one pair that was not mine...anyone missing some?), 4 or 5 socks, a shirt that I just wore this past weekend (ew recentness of rodent being in my laundry!), all the steel wool I kept putting back there, and elephant sized droppings!

Freshly vacuumed out with the fabulous Dyson wand and equipped with enough poison and large rat traps, we are praying to catch this thing and its family TONIGHT FOLKS. Stay tuned.

Updates

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming...

Let's just breeze through this rats' nest in our bed scandal okay? After all, we are still sleeping in this house and in this bed. Here's the skinny: One night a poor innocent pregnant lady was cooking dinner for her husband after working a 9 hour day, baking 2 dozen muffins and needing to pack for her 6 hour drive to a 22 hour course for work over the weekend [poor girl, I would not want to be her]. When she finally went to pack for the weekend, she pulled her bags out from under the bed and found stuffing on the floor behind them, looked up and found a dishtowel hanging from a hole in the box springs. She promptly sat down on the floor and sobbed. Her heroic husband and scared friend came to the rescue (armed with a BB gun). They upended the bed and found a nest of dishtowels and stuffing from all corners of the box springs formed into a nice little nest. They took solace in the fact that they had not heard said rodent in said nest in several weeks and prayed their way into a mostly restful night's sleep. THE END.

...we wish.

Then the same poor pregnant lady (you remember her, you pitied her earlier in the story) had in a frugal and organized fashion packed snack size zip lock bags for herself of her homemade chex mix for her long drive and 3 day conference; and put them in her purse on the guest bed with the door closed before having that restful nights' sleep. On her drive the next day she reached back to get one and...it wasn't there. None of them were there. Not chewed through with crumbs in the bag, just all taken out of the purse. By the rodent. UGH.

Then the exterminator came over. Again. Today. PRAY we have stories of death and destruction to tell next week!

Onto happier updates. Since that was enough drama for last week, our only other updates are of the house, and we will let those tell themselves in pictures.

Easter Saturday - April 11th

Footings Poured & Foundation Built

Monday, April 20th (after rain delay)

Floor Joists - Me in the middle of the house

Tuesday, April 21st (yes ONE day later!) - Framing of the 1st floor completed

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

This is the Emergency Broadcasting Network. This is not a test. We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this important announcement: The Bruces are incapacitated as they have just found the nest of the rodent. In their room. Under their bed. Technically. In their bed. In the boxsprings. Full of washcloths and other things to come. They are currently dismantling their bed and might be spending the night at a hotel. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming once the emergency has been resolved. Next week's news: the foundation for the house is up, we're into week 10 and the pea is now a fetus. Beeeeeeeep.....

Progress

progress(n): (a) a journey or expedition; (b) a forward or onward movement; (c) gradual betterment

We've got a whole lot of that going on around here folks. Definition (a) probably best describes our little piece of earth. Every time Terry and I walk the mile and a half to our new little piece of earth where things are moving right along, I feel like it's 1492 and I am Columbus sailing the ocean blue! (Thanks mom for that rhyme!) From our loft when we first got married to our rodent-infested house [yes, still infested. on this week's wanted list: flowers out of the bathroom, steel wool that we stuffed in another hole near the dishwasher, a dish towel stuffed behind that steel wool with many holes in it (see picture), and two - yes two - more pairs of my underwear, but I digress] to this new plot of land and building a house. This has been a definite journey and will continue to be an expedition.

Here is the untouched land - it looks so small to me, I kept wondering how they would fit a house on this (granted, it's not big, but still)

Then, they cleared the land on Thursday - oh that's where the house will go!

Then, they dug the footings for the house today. Progress folks, progress.

But that little piece of earth is not our only unchartered territory. So is definition (b) "forward or onward movement." This is how this little pea feels - or at least how we feel about this little pea. Moving forward and onward in life to what comes next, and for us now, this is family. Remember the manatee you saw at week 7? Well at week 8 (and 3 days) we got to see this.

It's okay if you can't tell what everything/anything is, we couldn't either at first. Head on the left, turned to the side and looking down. The dark empty spot is the brain (takes after its daddy!) you can see one little eye lid. The white spot is the heart, and then you can see little arm and leg buds. And that little white spot was pounding. 171 beats per minute loud and clear and music to our ears. And now we are moving through week 9 and things keep growing and changing - including my waistline which has added 4 pounds which I'm feeling when I button my pants!

(c) gradual betterment. This would be because of each other and the 2 years of being married that we just celebrated on Tuesday. Our marriage has definitely been that so far - the gradual betterment of each of us, of each other, and of our marriage - already great and getting better every day.

Here we are 2 years ago; and here we are this weekend

That's a whole lot of love, and a whole lot of progress.