We got about an inch and a half of snow yesterday. Which means school was cancelled yesterday and continues to be cancelled today. There is talk it will be cancelled tomorrow as well because of ice that might appear. It’s delightful for those of us who love snow and love being snowed in, but frustrating for the more practical set who meander around the house complaining that if this state actually cleaned off its roads appropriately, kids could go to school, and hours could be billed, and those grumpy people might actually be able to take some time off at the holidays.

As for me and Penelope, well… SNOW!

Yesterday we baked cookies and cleaned up the house after a terrific Christmas party on Saturday night. Today we will bake some more cookies and possibly zip out to the grocery store. But if not, that’s fine. I’ve got a fireplace and hot chocolate and a snuggly turtle with no need to really go out.

If Tennessee keeps up these cold and snowy winters that they’ve given us since we moved here a year and a half ago, I might just stay for life. Keep em comin’, Southern Comfort!

Over the past few weeks we have been diligently working in our breakfast nook and have made significant progress. Matt finished installing crown moulding and building the door trim, baseboard, and corner bench (which opens for storage!), which we then caulked, primed and painted. We still have a bit of touching up to do on the paint, and the whole process has made it such that we will need to completely repaint the floor. But that’s how renovations work. Project begets project.

Here’s what it looks like today:

From Daily Daguerreotype

My mom and dad come into town tomorrow, so I’m excited to capitalize on my mom’s sewing expertise to create box cushions for the bench. I’m hoping to find a gray and white (or will settle for blue and white) ticking to use.

About a year ago we bought this print from Hatch Show Print to hang on the wall. It’s an odd size, so I need to hunt around online for the appropriately sized frame.

From Daily Daguerreotype

I have high hopes of painting all the doors in our house black, including that door to the basement pictured above. Then when Matt finishes the window trim, I’ll put up cafe curtains that I’m going to make from this Anna Maria Horner fabric I picked up a while ago.

I love seeing that which I envisioned a year ago finally coming to fruition. And I so adore my husband for making it all happen.

I have so little to write about. When I’m not trying to psych this baby girl out of my womb, I’m reading voraciously, napping, or doing housework. I occasionally run errands. I take extended showers that start out very cold since I’m constantly sweltering despite the fact that Matt says we’re living in an icebox. Then I gradually turn up the water’s heat until the skin on my lower back melts off. It feels very nice. Tonight I took the dog on a very long walk. I honestly couldn’t predict who would die first.

Matt is out trying to catch Conan and Jack White at some show in in the city. I am dubious that he will be able to get in, but I hope he does, for his sake. Because at least one of us should have one last night of pale-skinned comedy. I’ll stick to pale-skinned vampiric tragedy.

What did you do while waiting for your first baby to arrive and turn your world upside down?

Off to pay some bills while rolling around on my birthing ball…

I’ve broken many of the rules of pregnancy in that I’ve indulged in the occasional salami sandwich, regularly forgotten to take my prenatal vitamins and have sipped on four glasses of wine with a few glurbs of Matt’s beer to boot. All in all, I’ve tried to be pretty good, but the fact of the matter is that by nature I’m a rule breaker. There are few rules that I believe really matter in life, and the rest I feel can be bent a little bit.

Despite my penchant for living on the other side of the law, I have held firm against my biggest desire – Wellfleet oysters on the half shell. Luckily I live in TENNESSEE and am not faced with this temptation on a daily basis. But this past weekend while in DC we went out to a yummy seafood place in Old Town Alexandria with my lovely cousin and her husband. And what should Matt order? Oysters on the half shell. Because deep inside his puritanical spirit enjoys snickering while I am forced to OBEY.

I have never wanted to dive into something face first more than I wanted to dive into his plate. Thank the good Lord in heaven that the conversation was so interesting I was distracted from his plate long enough for them to be slurped up swiftly behind my back.

While I have vigilantly given up raw seafood while pregnant, you better believe I won’t let breastfeeding stop me. And as soon as that baby girl pops out of me you know I’m going to be demanding that Matt provide me with a dozen Welfleet oysters on the half shell. In Tennessee. In June. Which doesn’t have an R.

I consider that ample payback for the twinkle I saw in his eye the ONE night he ate oysters while I was pregnant. What goes around comes around, boy!

I really didn’t sleep last night. I may have been laying in bed for five hours, but I remember most of it, which leads me to believe that no sleep was had.

It was a late night – Matt accidentally downloaded a bad file that sent trojan viruses through the computer, which I stayed up late trying to repair. I think all is well now, but I will not be surprised if a window pops up with an African-American basketball player rapping about my credit score – I’ve already seen him once today.

When I did finally lie down for the night, Pendragon wouldn’t stop squirming around. Overall she’s a pretty mellow chica, but last night she was wide awake. There really must be something to the “sleep when the baby is sleeping” since she really, honestly kept me awake. Downside is I’m fairly certain “the baby” hasn’t slept in 24 hours.

I was up early to go to a friends house for a women’s prayer group and got absolutely lost on my way over there. So much for going into it “totally knowing how to get there.” I was calling her every five minutes for directions which seriously inhibited my driving as I’m not good at multi-tasking while driving a manual yet. I kissed the sky that I was in Tennessee as Mass drivers would have slaughtered me with my erratic behavior.

Overall it feels like a day that is challenging me to stay posicore. Just as I was about to kick the cat out of frustration, Matt texted me saying  ”Extra fun surprise coming!!” When I inquired further he responded, “Special treat.”

Instantly, out of nowhere, my mind ran to “I hope he’s won $250,000.” I’m not sure why that figure came to mind, or how exactly Matt would have won that sum of money, but that’s what I thought.

I’d also settle for a bouquet of flowers.

OR A WHOLE BOTTLE OF PINO GRIGIO ALL TO MYSELF.

Whaddya think it is? Bets and/or affirmations of the wine/$250,000 theories are welcome in the comments.