Another Busy Weekend

Hopefully soon, a busy weekend will mean running around keeping a certain little munchkin out of trouble. But for now, it still means just getting me and my house ready. So here is a run-down of everything.

I worked all weekend on the house. Since I am not married, I have to rely on the goodness of others when I need help around the house. I am fairly handy but some jobs are beyond my expertise and/or skill/strength level. Although not having a husband to help with these kind of jobs is a disadvantage (who's to say he would even be good at them anyway?), it means I have three very talented individuals with different skills and areas of expertise to fall back on..Dad and my two brothers. So this weekend, Todd was the lucky brother! Or, as the case may be, I was the lucky sister.

My garage is a source of a big headache. I use it as a storage area (which is okay) but it had gotten out of control this year. Since I had cleaned out one room to make into a nursery plus decluttered and child-proofed, the garage had exploded into a disaster area. It was hard to get the car in easily, forget car seats and strollers and baby in my arms. So we spent all of Saturday fixing up the attic into a storage area and hauling everything up there. It was a massive, tiring, but fun project. And my garage looks AWESOME! So much room!

The garage before...
Todd hard at work...

Todd still hard at work....

Todd not so hard at work...

Boo-boo! Sorry Todd, only Dora or Strawberry Shortcake bandaids in the house.
The attic before...(no after pictures because the amount of junk up there is embarassing)...
The storage platform we built between the rafters...

Our "walkway" between the rafters with flooring laid beyond it for more storage...
The garage after!!!!!

On Sunday, I resumed my cleaning endeavors. I even moved the refrigerator to clean behind it (thanks Dad for coming over to help fix the leak after I did something to make the water line drip, drip, drip after moving the fridge). I cleaned under the stove...the cats had been using it to hide their mice under so I found 8 furry mice that were beyond gross (but that didn't stop the cats from batting them around and now they are ALL missing again). I put a laundry cart beside the washer/dryer...not that I needed the storage space, it will keep the cats from getting behind the dryer and sitting on the hose. Somehow in the course of doing this, the dryer stopped working (thanks Mom for coming over to help me since moving the dryer alone is not easy). Anyone see a theme.

I also put up a medicine cabinet in the "anteroom" to my bathroom (not sure what to call it, my vanity is separate from the toilet/tub/shower part of my bathroom). I had been storing all my meds - I own a mini pharmacy! - in my nightstand which I figure isn't safe. So now the medicines are in the medicine cabinet. I washed the gigantic curtains that cover the patio doors. Then I just finished my regular cleaning...laundry, vacuuming, scrubbing bathrooms, changing bed linens. Whew!!! I'm tired thinking about it!

On to other things...I am now on antibiotics because one of the kids I took care of this week at work tested positive for pertussis (whooping cough). This is one of the vaccinations that I had in August but my employer didn't care and put me on the abx anyway. So this weekend I had to put up with those side effects--don't ask! I think I need to wear a mask to work my last few weeks because I don't want to risk getting sick before I go to Ethiopia.

And when is that you ask? Who knows??? On our yahoo group, someone said their SW told them 6-10 weeks for a court date...I wasn't told this but I wasn't told any time frame, just to expect to travel in about three months (which would be the beginning of January). So that depressed me. Then I read about a fellow blogger that "lost" her child that she was very close to picking up because the parents changed their minds. One of the great things about Ethiopia is that the parent has to go to court to declare that this is truly what they want for their child (cuts down on some of the corruption faced by other countries) but it also makes it more difficult for parents to "just walk away." While everyone wants what is best for the child, it is also devastating when the child you have grown to love will not be coming home to you. It is something I have thought about a lot...let's just hope court hurries up and all goes well.

Next weekend my family is giving me a baby shower. I am super excited! I never had a bridal shower (for obvious reasons!) but I did have a house-warming party when I first moved out into my own home. That was slightly embarrassing because I don't like everyone looking at me...but a baby shower is different because it is all about the baby. My cousins Juli (who came last month to visit me) and Christy are coming from KY to spend the weekend and go to my shower. They are leaving their sons behind in the care of their hubbies; Christy is bringing her daughter Callie who is about 6 months old. So I will get some baby time this weekend! I'm so excited.

Well, that is all for now. Busy week this week...work, work, work. I meet with the pediatrician on Friday so I need to compile a list of questions (do the lists ever end?). BTW, I now have a new binder (aren't you proud Stacie...back to the binders!) that is divided into all my lists...paperwork yet to be done, packing list, pet to-do list, house to-do list, thank you list, etc., etc., etc.

I'll leave you with one final picture. Mickey has claimed the crib! He thinks I bought it just for him...good thing I had put down the beach towel to protect the bedding. Hope Amari finds it as "sleep-able."