Papillon Rouge is here

Details of her arrival and what-not to follow eventually, and trust me, it will be an exciting story.

But for now, here she is.
Papillon Rouge (not her real name)
Born Saturday, July 10, 2010
8:21 pm
Weighing 9 lbs, 3 oz
21 inches long.

Papillon's Room

Did you want to see Papillon's Room?


I thought you might.


Here is the official blog tour.

I will refrain from saying which parts are my favorite, because pretty much I love everything in the room. So consider it all my favorite. Starting with her book nook.

A well stocked bookshelf for a not-yet-born little girl, if I do say so myself. Complete with many of the classics like Kippers Toy Box (of course), Madeline, Frog and Toad, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Curious George, Splat the Cat, Dick and Jane, and many many more.

This is the view as you come into the room. Note the wonderful glider rocker (a yardsale find) waiting to be reupholstered (tis super comfy despite the slightly dated fabric), the "Moses Basket" (aka amazingly portable bassinet type thing), the baby swing (another yardsale find) and the jungle animals around the window.

Also note the rather loud window AC unit which I anticipate Papillon will get so used to hearing that she will have trouble sleeping in the relative silence of anywhere else. Its like teaching your kid to fall asleep to a certain CD of lullabies; then they can't sleep without said lullabies. Only in this case, the lullabies are much more mechanical sounding. Oh well.

To the left as you walk in, is the front window / changing table stand (another yardsale find) fully stocked with diapers, wipes, burp clothes, blankets and more, with an alligator overhead, just for fun.

Then their is the armoire (a yardsale freebie, if you recall), fully (and I mean super-fully) stocked with baby clothes. Dresses, jackets, onsies, socks, hats, and everything else. Papillon has a ridiculous amount of clothes. It all fit perfectly in the wardrobe a week or so ago...then more clothes came in. You will note the recent additions sitting on top of the armoire. I figure this is the only time in her life all her clothes will be clean at once; so I just need her to get here and get some dirty so they will all look like they fit in the drawers again.

From inside the room, you can turn around to view the beautifulness of the jungle animals on the doors. Though jungle animals tends to be more of a boy-theme, who can resist the cuteness of monkey wall appliques? Not me. So Papillon's room is perhaps the first ever purple-jungle themed nursery.

Coming full circle (note the book nook on the left) we have her crib. Jungle sheets, jungle mobile, monkey wall applique watching over her....

...now we just need Papillon and the room will be complete.

Weddings and the People you Encounter at Them

Mon Amour and I have had the pleasure of attending quite a few weddings.

We very much enjoy weddings.

The bride was gorgeous, and the groom could not have looked any happier.

My sister was in the bridal party, and of course looked fabulous!

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this particular wedding was running into a person from my past. About 4 years ago, my sister and I went on a whirlwind, insane 3 week trip to Europe. We had heard that it was a super fun idea to just pack your bags, and armed with a train-pass, just fly by the seat of your pants on an ad-libbed trip through Europe. We were in Europe for perhaps 2 hours before we concluded that this was insane.

So, we were hugely grateful that our friend (the groom in this wedding) had given us the name of his cousin who lived in Paris. The very first thing we did when we got to Paris was call him. It was probably the most random call he has ever received - "Hi, you don't know us, but we know your cousin, and we are in Paris, and are in need of rescuing"

That's essentially how it went. And he did rescue us. Found us a hotel, and gave us some traveling advice (in a nutshell - don't show up in a new city where you know nothing, no one, not even the language, without some semblance of a plan).

Well, he was at the wedding. And it was quite fun (though mildly embarrassing) to see him again.

Lots has changed since we saw him last.
He has a son, and I am expecting a daughter.
Little Sister has gotten much more savvy world travel....and I have not.


Weddings are always an excellent place to encounter random people from one's past.

Catching Up with Friends

One thing that is super fun about our new city-life, is that there is a lot more opportunity to randomly catch up with friends. People never "just happened to be in the area" of our farm. But here in the city, from time to time, we get word that someone is going to be in town, and we are always like to at least try and meet up with them!

Earlier this week we had just such an opportunity - and even though schedules were tight, we managed to make it work! We met up with one of Mon Amour's friends from high school, who currently lives many hundreds of miles away, and who just got married. It was fun to catch up and meet her husband!

It's not the best picture, but was worth documenting anyway.

So, consider this your general invitation. If you are in the area, or just passing through town, let us know! We would love to cross paths!

You might be nesting when...

You might be nesting when pitting about a million cherries for freezing seems to be of the utmost priority.

And when the only thing keeping you from making more freezer meals is the lack of space in your freezer.

This week's grocery shopping was forced to center around pantry-items due to the lack of freezer space. Perhaps a picture of the pantry will follow later....

And yes, in case you are wondering, 95% of my nesting urges have involved food. The house still needs a thorough cleaning, and I really should figure out what I need to pack for the hospital (I am half-packed), but all that takes a back burner when there is food to be stockpiled!

Change is in the Air

In recent days, Marge has been a bit more on edge than normal. She is usually kinda jumpy and skeptical of anything out of the ordinary. But recently it has been much more pronounced.

Despite the heat, she is increasingly embracing her lap-dog side.

She follows me around the house, sitting on my feet whenever I hold still.
If it weren't so hot (and if she weren't such a tripping hazard) it would be adorable.

Our only theory for her increased protectiveness is that she suspects change is coming. We have been told that dogs can be super-sensitive to change.

Is that what your problem is, Marge?

Can you tell that Papillon is coming?
Perhaps.
Don't hold your breath though. She is "due" on Monday. But in the words of my doctor, your due date is really the first day of your "due week". So we are not going to even think of her as over due until the end of said "due week".

In the mean time, Marge will continue to try to sit in my (non-existent) lap in anticipation of the upcoming change.

Retirement

Yesterday ended a fairly significant chapter in my life.
Yesterday I retired from my job.
People think its funny that I use the word retire...but for some reason it seems to fit. I am not on maternity leave, its more permanent than that. And quitting just makes it sound insignificant or something. It really was a career in many ways, and it really is ending, hence, I am retiring.

This is my desk.

This used to be my desk. It was much bigger. But I didn't mind being down graded, cause that happened when I started working from home, which was a fabulous perk
When I started I did not get my own desk. I started super-part time as a glorified errand girl. I remember the day they called me about a job. I was working at Chick Fil A, quite happy with my chicken job for the time being. My mom picked me up from work and told me that DP (my, then, future company) had called and wanted to interview me. "Random" was my first thought, and my 2nd 3rd and 4th thoughts as well. I had no office experience, was not looking for a job, and while I did go to church with all DP's employees, I didn't know any of them very well. The interview was equally random. They told me that one of my main jobs would be answering phones. I am fairly confident that I informed them right then and there that I hated answering phones....and they gave me the job on the spot. I guess that's what we call a God-thing.
6+ years later, I have come a long ways. DP doesn't like to give out official job descriptions, but my unofficial title was the "Office Hub" which meant that at least 99% of the information flowing through the office was filtered through me in some way. I kept my finger on the pulse of absolutely everything related to the office.

It was a nice office - waterfront, with a nice view.

This is the poor "pineapple plant" that lived in our office. We got it one summer from a vendor, and I watered it faithfully, until I went away to college, and it went a full semester without water. After that it vacillated between being over-watered, and being completely desert dry. As a result, it has never really grown, and yet it won't seem to die. Maybe its actually fake. Its hard to say.

My job at DP has taught me a lot, and they are responsible for a lot of "firsts" in my life. Here is a bit of a summary...

At DP I made my first long distance phone call (I had to call someone in Texas, and couldn't figure out how to get the call to go through...note to self, you have to dial a 1 first)
I drove through my first drive through (McDonalds..first of many trips)
I had my first manicure / pedicure.
I had my first massage (oh the joys!)
I flew on an airplane for the first time.
I made my first international phone call (Yes, they answered in Dutch, and like a true American I just started speaking English and expected her to switch languages. She did)

While at DP I graduated with my Associates Degree.
I took a semester off and worked full time (my first full time job)
I met (and later broke up with) my first boyfriend
I went away to college.
I met my 2nd boyfriend.
My sister and I went on an insane trip to Europe.
I got engaged to my 2nd boyfriend.
I graduated with my Bachelor's.
I got married.
I moved into my first apartment
I moved to my 2nd apartment
I went on another trip to Europe - less insane, but just as much fun
I got pregnant.
I bought a house and moved again.

So much more happened while I was at DP. But there is too much to remember in one blog post.
There were crazy times; some crazy fun, some crazy hectic.
Every day was different. Even after 6 years of party planning, people still managed to ask new and unexpected questions.
But the people I worked with were always fun (tis a requirement for working at DP). Here is the current crew (a lot of fun people came and went during my career), at my baby shower. Don't we look like fun?

So much more to say, but I will not bore you any longer.

As much as I enjoyed what I did at DP, it is time to start a new career, the career that I have wanted all my life.

Being a Stay at Home Mom.