Stuff

The last week and a half have been quite the roller coaster around our house. And I'm not sure if it's slowing down or speeding up...

Since I don't remember the actual order of events, I'll just tell you about each, which means the rest of the post is not the least bit cohesive. Just go with me.

Last Saturday was my paternal grandfather's 90th birthday party. His birthday was earlier in the month, but this was the first weekend we could get everyone together. It was fun, but also drama filled and stressful as only family events can be. Ryan was gone on Saturday (more about that later) and Carson was either not feeling well or just overwhelmed by all the people. He was very clingy and for the first part of the party would not leave my lap. Most unusual for my social butterfly.

Hubby was gone on Saturday for a job interview! He interviewed with a school just across the river from downtown St. Louis. He thought it went well and we will hopefully be hearing something from them soon. He also had a phone interview for the position as Chair of the Percussion Department at a school in Boston, and had another phone interview yesterday afternoon with a university in Missouri. The scuttlebutt on the "local" job has been interesting to say the least (at least to us), but Hubby has not heard from them as of yet. He would really like to at least get an interview, but we'll just have to wait and see.

I am 28 weeks as of last Saturday, and start going to the doctor every two weeks. My glucose screen came back normal (no three hour test, yeah!!), so at this point everything looks good. The doctors in my practice are meeting this week to go over the current research regarding women with elevated hormone levels in quad screens followed by normal amnios (me) to see what changes, if any, they are going to make to their protocols for third trimester care. The midwife said they would do an ultrasound at 32 weeks for a growth check, but we won't know how often I need to be seen after that until my appointment next week. While we will do whatever we need to for a healthy delivery, going twice a week will be a pain, not to mention I doubt the insurance company will cover all the visits. We already had to fight over the Level 2 ultrasound, even though I called and told them about it before it was done and was told it wouldn't be a problem as precertification wasn't needed for that. I'm sure the maternity care coordinator enjoyed the phone call we had after I got the letter telling me they were declining it as "not medically necessary."

On Monday we had to have our cat put to sleep. Since he had to have twice daily injections for his diabetes he had to be kenneled over the weekend while we were at my parents. He seemed to be doing better at his last appointment with the vet, but they called Sunday morning to say he had been throwing up and was dehydrated. We put him on IV fluids, but when we talked to them Monday morning we were told he had full blow ketoacidosis, which they could treat but it is not an easy treatment, it may or may not work at all, and it is very expensive. The vet and her staff were wonderful, supporting our decision and doing everything possible to make things easier on us. The sweet vet came out to talk to me when I picked him up Monday and gave me a hug (I'm not sure she knew exactly what to do with a pregnant woman and her hormones, but who does? I don't.); they also gave gave us a pawprint they had made and sent a sympathy card that we received yesterday that included handwritten notes from the vet and the office staff. So far Mess 1 has not missed him, which is good, as Hubby and I are still not in complete agreement as to what to tell him. Whether or not pets go to heaven is not something I ever expected to be a topic of scriptural debate...

Yesterday was Graduate Student day at the university, and included an awards ceremony where Hubby received two awards. One for outstanding teaching from the School of Music, and one from the Graduate School for outstanding teaching in the arts and social sciences. He also was asked to perform as part of "paper" presentations, and may or may not have given a poster presentation (I lost track of what was happening with that one). We know at least one of them included a cash award, so the savings account (aka the moving/medical expenses fund) will get another nice deposit. And he took me out for ice cream at Sandy's (although we ended up using my cash, how did that work??).

Tonight we are meeting with the first of the two realtors USAA recommended to start the process of getting the house on the market. We have a number of projects scheduled for this weekend, and I'm sure there will be more once we meet with the realtors. I'll just be relieved to get the process started, even though I am not looking forward to having to keep the house "show ready" all the time.

So I think those are all the big things. As time permits between house projects I'll try and post some of the pictures and funny stories from the last few weeks. Time to lighten things up in this little corner of the blogosphere :0)