18w1d ... busy, busy, busy

Sorry I've been away readers.  I've just been really busy.  Here is a non-exhaustive list of what I've been up to:

• Getting over that head cold that lasted 3 weeks.  Not a head cold from hell, no, but problematic, yes.
• A week long business trip over a weekend.  Allowed me time to see my niece and nephew and get started on baby shopping.
• Aborted attempt to fly back from said business trip because it was too hot and the airport was using the short runway because of construction on the other.  They couldn't take ANY checked baggage on the flight to Toronto and since I sort of need to fly with my work bag even if checked I volunteered to get off the flight and take a credit which I have a year to use.  I think they removed between 10 and 15 people from the flight.  Stayed overnight at my parents', unexpectedly, but got to see 2 waves of awesome lightning that night.
• 2 weekends working in the yard which has yet to become a garden of any sort.  ;-)
• 1st weekend I decided to work in the back on a Sunday morning.  Holy hot sun when the temp is only 23 Celcius at most!  I was done at noon and hadn't even gotten everything finished.  Thank you stupid sandy soil packed so hard it was like digging through a brick.  Planting completed the next night when it was much cooler.  Lessons learned:  no gardening in the back yard at any time other than the evening AND getting the yard in planting shape is going to take way more work that I anticipated.  More planning must be done this fall.
• 2nd weekend turned into 2 mornings of working in the front yard which is heavily shaded in the morning.  In fact, my entrance is shaded 24/7.  First morning I dug out the weed patch next to the front porch area (we don't get eavestroughs installed by the builder and until a month ago that area of my lawn was rotting from all the water and the only thing that seemed to grow was a crazy variety of weeds ... which I don't want).  Worked up and added soil so I can plant things easily next year.  Then tackled the weed patch under my city tree.  Watered city tree and covered the ginormous hole (way bigger than anyone else's on the street) the sod guys left with cedar mulch.  Awesome tan started developing.  Second morning I finished up the patch in front of the house and covered with cedar mulch to discourage weed growth.  Raked the sad looking front lawn of dead grass (unusually dry summer + water ban = dead lawn) and cut the parts that are actually okay.  Then that evening watered it to see if I can salvage any of it.  Bought extra soil and organic material for yard stuff next year.  I won't have time to just pop down to the store.  
• August long weekend - took the Saturday to do something fun.  I went to the National Art Gallery to see the Cara.vaggio exhibit.  My other bright idea flopped since the Ec.co store in the mall downtown had closed, unbeknownst to me.  No new shoes and must do that in the U.S. in a couple weeks. Bought the best organic oatmeal I've yet found at the health food store a 1/2 block from where I used to live and popped into a French bakery for a couple of pastries which I still haven't finished.
• Cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen so I don't have to do lots of this while 9 months pregnant and after baby arrives.  On the long weekend I got a pot of split pea soup made.  Not as tasty without the bone but at least I had some leftover ham in the freezer.  Had to discard the other container of frozen ham since it had gone bad.  So, no double batch of soup.  This weekend I made 3 batches of blueberry muffins.  Would do more but I might run out of blueberries.  Besides, I have to catch a plane today.
• Headaches caused by my home builder.  I took a Wednesday off before the long weekend so they could come in and fix the outstanding items from my 1-year inspection.  The guy who booked the appointment forgot to schedule stuff!  I was livid and sent a terse email telling him how I would now be 1 month behind on setting stuff up for my impending baby.  Not impressed.  But drywalling guy came to 'fix' nail pops.  I will have to redo them in the future since they weren't screwed in further, just covered.  They came Friday to do other things and discovered they can't rip up the floor to fix the creaks because the carpentry guys finished at 1 pm.  Rebooked that and insulation installation for the 24th ... An inordinate amount of time was spent moving things over the past 3-4 weeks from my bedroom to the front 2 bedrooms to allow them to access my attic and the creaking/cracking floor.  I feel like I am living out of a suitcase in my own house.  And baby organization is on hold.
• Aborted attempt to get to book club on August 2nd thanks to a nasty headache that developed during the day and just got worse.
• Purchased diaper bag at BR.U.  Got a brown, hobo style one that I can wear cross body which is great since I don't have great shoulders and purses and bags just fall off. 
• Purchased crib mattress yesterday.  Took 20 minutes to find someone to help me ... discover I have to pay then go over to the extra Ik.ea warehouse I didn't know existed.  Pretty seamless once I discovered the necessary process but annoyed there was no one in the children's area for 20 minutes.  Mattress fits snugly and perfectly in the crib.  Discovered some really cute fabric and curtains that I might be able to consider.
• Watching my summer obsessions on TV:  Tr.ue Bl.ood and Roo.kie Bl.ue.  Combine that with raging 2nd trimester pregnancy hormones and all I can say is that the Viking and Officer Swa.rek can visit me any time.  ;-)  I didn't realize I'd seen AS in things before TB but I'm a big enough girl I can admit I've had a thing for Ben Ba.ss since I first saw him on Fore.ver Kni.ght.  Oh boy, that takes me back quite a ways ...

Then there is just everyday life stuff that happens.  Oh, and discovering someone swiped the back bumper of my car that I've had for just over a year and has just 3800 km on it.  *sigh*  Really?  I have to figure out what to do with this one and whether it is worth claiming it or just paying out of pocket with money that should really go to student loans or my baby but what the hell, I must have lots of cash so why not just hit my car parked far away from all the others in the parking lot.  Grrr ...  Nasty status update on FB ensued.

I've been stocking up on things that have gone on sale just so that I don't have to get them for a while.  I had a decent toilet paper collection started but it has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few weeks.  Stocking up on tissues too ... allergies and baby spit up.  And laundry detergent.  I was always mad that I never seemed to be able to hit the sales on the day they started and by the time I got there the next day or day after that there was nothing left.  Seriously, who doesn't work in an area of new houses such that they can line up at the stores and buy all the laundry detergent on the first day of a sale?  I used to be a cashier ... the strange things people do.  Decent sales at a pharmacy and grocery store lately so I've stocked up nicely.

Oh yes, and I told the team at work.  Some people are surprised especially because I haven't been sick.  Um, not everyone gets sick you know.  And our admin assistant, as sweet as she is, can really stop asking me every single day how I'm feeling.  Really, I was 16 1/2 weeks pregnant before you found out and no one cared how I was doing enough to ask every day so it isn't required to check to see how I'm doing every day now that you know.  Only one person touched my belly and I actually like her so I didn't get highly annoyed.  Just a little. ;-)

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way I can say that my belly is trying hard to pop out.  Some days it is very flat and others it is definitely more noticeable.  Here it is at 16 weeks before heading out on errands:

Belly at 16w0d

I can't believe I didn't post a shot between 12w and 16w but such is life.  ;-)  And here is the shot from yesterday at 18w0d.  I'm now in maternity clothes because they're just more comfortable but they definitely allow the belly to protrude further.

Belly at 18w0d

I'm off on another business trip today, albeit a shorter one at just 3 nights away.  My parents are going to join me for a couple nights so they can do some shopping at Lee Val.ley To.ols which they don't have in their city.