Ch-ch-ch-changes...

It's funny how life throws you a curve ball when you're least expecting it.  My husband and I found out we were going to be parents at the beginning of December.  After the obligatory waiting and tests that need to be done  because I am at an "advanced  maternal age" I finally took the big step of announcing my pregnancy on Facebook.   After all, it's not truly official unless it's on Facebook.  I've been surprised and touched by all the outpouring of congratulations and well wishes from everyone.

I guess all of this is finally sinking in to me that after all these years of wanting, I finally get be what I've wanted from childhood and playing with my dolls, a mom.   Hopefully I'll be able to keep a level  head, do and say the right things to my child, and be a parent (not just try to be their best friend) when it counts and provide guidance when necessary.

In the realm of trying to set a good example before the baby is born, I decided to do some research and join a CSA.  I purchased a working half share, which means I (or the hubby) will need to work on the farm 25 hours during the CSA season (eleven months.)  Except for the month of August (when the baby is due) I don't see this as being a problem.  I am looking forward to organic produce, eggs, honey, and maple syrup and socializing with other CSA members.  It would be nice to make friends nearby, especially ones that might have small children or babies.

Other than that, I am going crazy looking on Amazon and other baby related sites picking out baby things.  I already decided to do a sort of gender-neutral room for the baby even though we are going to find out the sex.  My thought was if it's a girl, she is going to be getting tons of pink stuff, so why not expose her to other colors?  Same with a boy and blue.  I had thought about doing a robot themed nursery, but after seeing an adorable turtle and bird themed crib bedding set on Amazon, I knew that was the one!  Bonus points for it also being "gender neutral."  I don't know if I want to buy all the pieces, I don't want the nursery to look like a showroom.  I've also found lots of adorable turtle prints on Etsy that would go great with the bedding & the lamp of this set.

 

Laguna nursery set by Carter's. So cute!

 So yeah, lots of big changes in Amyland, thus the reason for no updates in such a long time.  I have a "terrible" feeling that this blog is about to get a huge injection of baby soon, lol!

Inspiration is where you find it, which is easy on the 'net.

I have been obsessed with decor ever since I was a little girl. I played with my doll house and constantly rearranged the furniture to suit my dolls' ever-changing needs. As I got older, my decorating progressed from the doll house and into the Sims. It was the Sims and the custom content that was available that got me hooked on mid-century modern designs. The works of Eames, Eero Saarinen, Herman Miller, and countless others became part of my digital world and I swore when I had a house of my own, I would try to incorporate some of their design aesthetics into my own space. Unfortunately I haven't won the lotto yet, so my office isn't the Eames office suite of my dreams, but in time I think I can make it a shrine to my "furniture/design gods."

A screen shot from one my Sims 3 houses.

There was time time where I would pour over my Martha Stewart Living months after they came out dog-earring pages for that one day.  I still get MSL but add to that various blogs devoted to style, crafts, and food.  A few of my favorites are Apartment Therapy, Eddie Ross, Antique Home (while I love mid-century, our house is a Cape Cod, and the hubby would like to incorporate that into our decor), Our Humble A{Bowe}d, Not Martha, ljcfyi, Nicodemus Green (he's witty plus I own one of his "Bacon is Like a Little Hug from God" prints), and last but not least Welcome to Deluxeville.  I could easily spend hours reading and bookmarking pages for future reference.  Now if only those darn lottery tickets would pay off... mommy needs an Eames recliner and a Mirra chair for her office!

So yeah...

Honestly, I did start out with good intentions.  Maybe all this gratitude stuff isn't me, perhaps I'm just a crabby geek who wants a new graphics card and more RAM for her computer.  Well, some to think of it, NVIDIA did just come out with a new card on Tuesday and I do have 4 more slots for memory on my mother board....

It's not that I have nothing to be thankful for.  Time gets in the way, I started feeling that I needed to write Pulitzer Prize worthy material for each topic, and honestly, I every time wrote about something I was grateful for, I had to wade through a swamp before getting to the puppy dogs and rainbows.  No one wants to write a blog entry with a big ol' storm cloud over their head, or at least I don't.

So I guess I'll cease and desist with the gratitude thing and get back to something I know...
 

Geek Decor

My office, while a lovely shade of teal, is lacking in the wall decor area and decided that I needed to do something about it. I've become smitten with typographic posters and have always loved the neighborhood posters at Ork Posters but because they didn't have a Detroit one and I wanted something a little closer to home than Chicago, I just admired them from afar.

All that changed however, when I discovered that Jenny did a print of the Great Lakes.  I opted for the brown screen print and now my walls will be sporting Magical Mitten State pride.  I can't wait to hang it up!

 

While I was at it, I decided to pick one out for the hubby's office.  I figured with his boring white walls he could use a little color.  Now I just need to take both of them to the frame shop down the street from his office so we can both enjoy them!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Nine

A Good Friend

Wow, this one is a toughie. Several people come to mind and I can't narrow it down to just one person.  Through recent events I came to discover just what great friends I do have.  I've also found out what it's like to find out someone isn't as good of a friend as they seemed to be, a wolf in friend's clothing seems an appropriate description.

I am lucky to have people in my life to remind me that I am better than a person who constantly talks about you and others behind your back in an effort to make them feel better about them.  Finding out someone isn't the "bestie" that you thought they were can be a crushing experience. I know I felt like an asshat for thinking this girl was my friend when she never truly was.  Though I could have fired off an nasty missive back at this person attacking her for her lack of character, loyalty, and clear breach of trust, I decided against it, mainly after having my friends talk me down from it. 

When my friends make me laugh, cry, smile, or all three if I'm laughing hard enough, I am glad they decided to trust me enough to let me into their life.

Confessions of a Gadget Whore

I love gadgets!  Whether it's the latest and greatest kitchen tool, graphics card for my desktop, mp3 player, or smart phone, I gotta have it.  I've managed to cool off my consumption and not buy anything major in six months, which is a huge milestone for me. Sad, I know.  I'm up for my biyearly upgrade of my cellphone and I'm left to wonder, which phone should I get?

I currently have a Blackberry Storm, which has served me well the past 18 months.  The Storm and I have grown a lot together.  This was the first phone I've hacked the operating system for, bought apps for, and learned to love browsing the interwebs whenever I wanted.  Blackberry is way behind in the cellphone race, so I decided earlier this year to go 'droid.  "Amy," you say, "why not go with an iPhone? Why 'droid?"  I'll tell you.  I decided a long time ago never to get combination anything.  No television/dvd players, no microwave built into my exhaust vent over my stove, and lastly, I'll keep my music in an iPod, that way if anything goes wrong with it, I still have a phone and vice versa.  Some people would think I'm crazy for wanting to carry around extra baggage.  Oh well!

So here's where things get a little more complicated...  I have my eye on three phones, the Droid X, the Samsung Fascinate, and the Droid R2D2.  The geek in me says to go R2D2, and then the gadget whore in me gets all kerfluffled...

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Eight

A Part of Your Body

I have had corrected vision for the majority of my life.  I remember as a child I resented my eyes, hating the fact that I was called a "four-eyed freak" for wearing glasses, and waiting for the day I could get contact lenses.  I didn't truly appreciate the fact that I had my vision, all I could focus on was having to rely on the glasses to see everything the way people with 20/20 vision would.

Point Iroquois Light on Lake Superior

I'm older and wiser now, and I've gotten past the fact that I need to wear glasses or contacts.  Heck, some people wear fake glasses as an accessory now, so I guess I was ahead of the curve style-wise.  I've been some pretty cool places, like Tahquanemon Falls, the Grand Canyon, the various lighthouses of the Great Lakes, and the Saguaro Desert.  I can't imagine not being able to take in all that beauty that surrounded me.   Vivid colors, the landscape, the wildlife, all things that I delight in so much.  Life would be so dull not to be able travel and have the ability to take photographs of what I've seen.  Just seeing those pictures bring me back to when I first visited those places and enjoy those memories all over again.

Without my eyes I wouldn't be able to appreciate even the daily things that I take for granted.  I wouldn't be able to see the plants I've grown flower, see my cats play with their toy mice, or even my husband smile and shake his head when I make an off-color joke.  I've even come to love the person I've grown in to. Instead of loathing the girl with the glasses looking back at me in the mirror, I see her freckles, dimples, and even slight wrinkles, and I am grateful to be her and to have traveled this life's journey.