It's Electric!

The electricians are officially done with our house. It took about two days longer than planned - one day because they had to re-do some wiring in the pretty room, and then they had to come back today because at the end of the day yesterday when testing circuits, they found two places in the house where the current voltage would trip the breaker if everything on the circuit was flipped on at the same time. So they ended up putting in new breakers and running new wires to the master bath and the microwave/kitchen. The crew that they sent was great and really nice. A lot of attention to detail, a dedication to making it "perfect" and a lot of patience with the changes I asked for as we went along. They cleaned up after themselves throughout the whole process and made sure that I was happy with how everything looked and worked.

The painting however, is yet to be finished. They brought the patching/painting guy out on Tuesday, but his work has just been less than awesome. Of the three non-kitchen-related patches, only one of them wasn't HUGELY obvious. We kept asking him to fix the other two, but they just ended up being bigger and more obvious. The kitchen ceiling itself is still a total mess, and the painter kept on saying that it was fine and once the paint dried it wouldn't show. Umm... the color might be different, but those raised edges are going to show. Turns out, we also need our living room ceiling repainted, but that's on us, not on the painter. SO. They've pulled the current painter off the job and tomorrow Pat is sending "a crew." I've got my fingers incredibly crossed that they can be done by the end of the day, since most of it is only a coat of paint. I am so ready to scrub the heck out of my house. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WALKING ON THE CARPET WEARING THEIR SHOES, FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I also want to mop the floors like crazy. If they can finish the painting tomorrow, then Tim and I have our Saturday fun already planned! (what? Cleaning is fun!)

I'm just ready to have my house back. Getting up at 6:30 and immediately having to start worrying about cat children is hard while also putting the finishing touches on a baby. Today I ended up imprisoning the cats in the baby's room, which seemed to please both of them just fine. Lulu laid on the changing table, which is her favorite perch. Thory got to hide under the bed, which he loves almost as much as hiding in my closet (I ended up shutting him in there for a few hours yesterday - it was easier than dragging him out to jam him in the guest bathroom.) Also, it's nicer for me to visit the kitties when it's the guest bed because then I can lay down and dooze on and off. They both came out from under the bed and snuggled with me off and on. And then, when the guys left and I let them out, they both went back under the bed and hung out there for two more hours. Oh my practice kids, you make me crazy. It doesn't help that Jonesy is coming around in the evening hours lately and picking fights. Last night we had a big hissing and biting fest before bed, and then when I woke up at midnight to use the bathroom, Thor was sleeping on Tim's feet (his usual location) and when I scooped Lulu off the floor, she immediately laid down in between our pillows and started purring. That's my kind of family co-sleeping.

In the meanwhile, I've gotten all of the baby's outfits and blankets washed, folded and organized. I also put together all of my photos and mementos in my baby shower book and my belly book/pregnancy journal. I've got shots of my growing belly week by week and all of the various ultrasound photos all pasted in. Sometimes I wonder what baby #2 will think, because I don't know that I'll be as dedicated the second time around (and hopefully with #2 I'll get less nonsense about my blood pressure, which will mean I won't have to show up every week for an ultrasound.) I'm still in a state of disbelief that in a few weeks she'll actually be here in my arms (and in the arms of all of the people who have loved her over the past nine months.) It's certainly exciting, but I'm still not sure I'm ready to be done being pregnant. It's such an amazing experience (for example, right now she is giving me the butt-jam in the ribs while also hiccuping.) Slowly but surely though, I'm starting to feel ready for the Big Day!