Day 1386: Thirty-five weeks and counting
Check-in:
Spirituality! Has not been great and could use improvement but I haven't given up, so that's what counts. I need to catch up on my reading for Easter Week. We don't have a lot of specific rituals/traditions for Easter Week, but it's a pretty big week, and I don't want to treat it lightly. We're probably going to be on the road for Easter anyway, but still.
Fitness! Could be better, could be worse. On the one hand I've been working pretty hard helping with packing and cleaning (I scrubbed the refrigerator all by myself), but then I get tuckered out and end up taking a nap. Walking back and forth just putting things in boxes and sorting things racks up the steps on my step counter, though, so I guess that's a good thing.
Tidiness! Has been pretty good of a necessity, since now pretty much everything is in boxes and also we need to keep the place as neat as possible so the realtor can start showing it.
The Good:
Saying goodbye is always hard, but time with friends is good! The ladies at church were super sweet and threw me a baby shower, which was just downright adorable. Nothing fancy as far as games, just good food and gifts, and also seeing some ladies who'd moved out of the ward but were good friends (I still need to write thank-you cards, but unsurprisingly my card supplies are...hard to come by right now).
Cody and I also had a goodbye dinner with my college friends, which involved a fun gift for Cody (a 3D printed custom nerf blaster), good food, and playing way to much Super Smash Brothers (somehow I was not the worst every fight, but then there were eight of us and it got chaotic fast).
We had a goodbye dinner with Cody's older brother and Brent, who'd also been one of our roommates for a while, and that was nice. We also had a goodbye dinner with my sister, her ex and kids, and Cody's younger brother and his girlfriend, which was pizza and watching epic fights (and Cody drawing with the kids, because he's better at drawing and the kids like him more than they like me).
We got all the repairs and big cleaning jobs done on the house. I cleaned out the fridge and freezer and gave all the useful frozen food to a family down the street who took in some relatives rather unexpectedly. Cody's mom stayed through till yesterday, and then we had a goodbye lunch with her and she hit the road, and I had a farewell dinner with my girls Rose and Naomi, and then we hung out at Rose's place and gave each other henna tattoos.
Best of all...we found a place to rent in New York! The rent is painfully expensive since we got a super short-term lease and also we have to pay pet fees, but...we can bring the dogs with us! Not being homeless when we get out there is a huge win.
The movers come tomorrow to pack stuff. (But Nagi, you packed everything. Well, mostly we packed it to get it out of the way for cleaning purposes. They are going to repack it much better than we did.) Friday they load up. Saturday we hit the road.
The road, you ask?
That's right. We're driving to New York. According to the doctor, who I saw last week (baby girl is fine), I am well past my no-fly date, but we can drive. So driving it is. The doctor said to make sure we stop every couple of hours so I can stretch my legs and get circulation going. As if pregnant lady is going to be able to go without peeing for two hours at a stretch. It's going to take us about four days to make the drive (thirty or so hours, according to google maps). We downloaded some audiobooks to listen to on the way. We can take turns driving, which will be nice. I have tentatively divided our trip into four parts, and each night we can stop at or near a large city, which means we will be able to find pet-friendly hotels. I am hoping to maybe have dinner with a friend or two in Omaha, which will be nice.
Last week Cody had a graduate banquet that he was mildly reluctant to go to. But since his lab boss nominated him for a prize - outstanding graduate student - and he'd RSVP'd and there was going to be nice food we went. He was very sure he wasn't going to win - after all, no one had notified him of any such thing. But then a couple of his lab mates got prizes, and they looked quite surprised, so I told him it was entirely possible he'd won, but he was still pretty sure he hadn't.
And then...he won! I was super proud of him. He took pictures with his lab mates, and on the way back to the car one of his professors walked with us and congratulated him. According to Cody's oldest aunt, he is the first in his family to earn a PhD, so we are very proud of him. Cody was also very proud of his lab mates who got awards, because he's mentored both of them.
We managed to get preapproval on a mortgage to buy a house out in New York, but of course we haven't found one yet - looking for one till Cody starts work and till baby arrives will be huge (and we will have to keep looking after, but won't have nearly enough time).
Also we are getting ready to list our house here to sell. Our realtor is pretty confident it'll sell in about a week.
The Bad:
We are driving to New York. For four days. Either crammed into my little car with luggage and two dogs, or less crammed but in the super rickety blue van (which gets lousy gas mileage). I keep hearing about the awful weather across the midwest, so that's going to be fun.
Also Cody keeps patting my belly and telling the baby to wait till we're in New York before she arrives.
I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks, but I can tell it's related to me not drinking enough water at times during the day, so I am doing my best to stay hydrated (thanks to the hydration tracker on my phone - everything is on my phone these days).
I am going to miss my friends and family so much! Even though I rarely see most of them in person and most of our contact is via social media or texting or whatnot, knowing that I'm going to be far away super sucks.
The pain in my left wrist has been lousy. My thumb will just lock up every now and again. Things were way better after I had a final visit with my awesome massage therapist yesterday, but of course scrubbing things kinda undid her good work. My right wrist doesn't hurt but all my finger joints will lock up. So much sympathy for people who have arthritis in their hands. All the things I love doing - writing, crafting - involve my hands. I'm afraid I'm going to be bored to tears on the drive out east even with awesome audio books to keep us going.
Cody discovered a weird lump on Ivy's back yesterday. I took her to the vet and she checks out so far, but...I'm worried about her all the same. Between this lump and her seizures, she's our delicate dog.
Honestly, though, life hasn't been bad. I'm nervous to move, but so many things are falling into place, and I think we will be all right.
I am hoping baby shows up approximately on schedule, though.