And So I Don't Forget...

Week in the Life: Saturday

With December only a few days away and a busy weekemd between now and then, there is no chance I'm going to complete my Week in the Life album before December Daily-ness begins. But, I have started with Monday's photos and most of Tuesday's printed and in the album. That's progress! And I am committed to blogging that final day's photos so at least some thoughts are recorded here.

Saturdays are for turning off alarms and sleeping in.

Saturdays are for cozying up in my favourite morning spot with a book.

Saturdays are for watching, with a few laughs, as he slowly wakes up; chatting and sharing about our week.

Saturdays are for taking advantage of good light. I set up my tripod and photographed a new spread in my wedding album, which was prompted by the Simple Scrapper Story Starter theme of the month.

Saturdays are for running errands. Mike got some cash from the ATM while I dashed inside the shopping centre to pick up my new sunglasses. I managed to break the strap on the wedges I was wearing, but thankfully had packed a pair of flats as well.

Saturdays are for outings and new adventures.

Saturdays are for indulgent lunches.

Saturdays are for getting together with friends. My Mum wore that hat when she was pregnant with me, many many years ago.

Saturdays are for cheering and hoping, betting a little, winning a little but losing more.

Saturdays are for appreciating food we didn't have to cook.

Saturdays are for treating my sweet tooth.

Saturdays are for people watching.

Saturdays are for snuggling into my armchair and relaxing in front of the TV.

Saturdays are pretty awesome.

Week in the Life: Friday

Tea, toast and Bloglovin'.

My breakfast view, every morning.

The plant that was miraculously flowering when we returned from our last trip. The lilies I bought for $5 at the market on Sunday. The D heart M pillow that was a wedding gift. The other cushion that Mum made from a screen print I made at a workshop that was my Christmas gift from Jenna. The green and red banners that have lingered from my Hens party. So many items, so many stories.

Ready and off to work. Drive, park, walk, wait, train, tram, walk.

Not organised this morning, for lunch I indulge in a chicken schnitzel sandwich - avocado, lettuce, cheese and beetroot - at a nearby cafe. Their three cheese pide is also a favourite.

Eventually, another work week complete.

And home. Parking on the street as Mike's car and trailer are taking up the driveway. Appreciating these sunny evenings of daylight savings.

I consider being productive - there is always something that needs doing - but bed beckons. While not as tired as first trimester, when evening after evening disappeared on me, I am trying to listen to my body and be gentle with myself.

Waking with a start, Mike tells me that dinner's ready. #awesomehusband

We eat in our lounge room chairs, watching TV and chatting, me snuggled under a blanket.

Him - black tea. Her - hot chocolate.

The room is a mess - constantly - but it's ours.

Him - internet browsing, building RC planes. Her - blogging, editing photos, scrapbooking.

A good mess.

Another spread for my wedding album, fulfilling a Simple Scrapper assignment. And here the evening disappears.

Week in the Life: Thursday

This is how my mornings start, everyday. Finishing breakfast with my cup of tea, wrapped in a rug.

It makes me laugh to see the tip of Mike's nose peeking out above the doona. Showered, dressed and putting on shoes, which has already become that little bit more challenging.

After a sunny start to the week, it's turned cold and dreary again.

Leftovers from the freezer for lunch; my favourite kind of lunch.

Mike likes making jokes about me having dirty feet, because the water wouldn't hit them in the shower anymore. I can still see them, just. I'm also called scaffolding and, anytime I'm in the water, submarine.

After two nights home alone, only mumbled greetings when one of us gets in or out of bed and generally a lunchtime phonecall, Mike's home. He has finished his two afternoon/night shifts and has begun 4 days off. Much better to be greeted with a hug at the door than a silent house!

I know they will not last long, a little bruised already, but the scent from the pink/mauve roses is incredible. Catching the hint of them from their spot in the lounge room makes me happy.

Dinner guests tonight - Ben, whose been volunteering in Nepal and we haven't seen since before our holiday, and Esther. Mike will still barbeque the meat but our plans for eating outside have been abandoned.

From my garden. Love that.

Pottering around, distracted by these adorable little moccasins, a birthday present from my sister.

His chair. With Mike in charge of the remote, better than average chance an episode of Top Gear was playing.

We divided on gender lines, the guys outside overseeing the barbeque while Esther and I chatted inside. I offered a suggestion or two about dinner, but execution was all Mike.

Lamb wraps with tzatiki, feta and salad. Simple, but delicious.

Chatting, laughing, and a friend who's used to my photography eccentricities. We really don't do this enough.

I'd need to check to be certain, but I think Ben has appeared in my two previous Week in the Life projects as well. I know we were climbing during 2013 WitL, and camping the one previous I believe.

Good friends also help carry heavy purchases in from the car. Mike couldn't resist ripping into our new ceiling ladder, set to be installed next week. (Turns out babies need lots of stuff, and we need more storage.)

There's always tomorrow. Good night.

Week in the Life: Wednesday

I did peter out with daily posting of my Week in the Life, but I kept snapping away. On Sunday Mike looked at me and said, 'This ends tomorrow, right?' ;)

My daily dose of vitamins: a prenatal, Vitamin D and occasionally a magnesium tablet too.

My slow start to the morning. On weekday mornings, and often on weekend for a period of time too, I seem to have the house to myself as Mike is either at work or, like this morning, still asleep in bed.

Breakfast and a cup of tea on the front couch while I browse Facebook, Bloglovin and Instagram.

Dressing off the clotheshorse. Given that it's placed right in front of our street facing windows, I probably should have planned better. The windows are covered with sheers, but still.

My pregnant self needs to eat 3 times a day at work now. Morning tea about 10:30am, lunch (banana sandwich today) at noon and afternoon tea around 2:45pm. With food requirements making it harder to buy something suitable near work, I'm trying to be more organised and planning ahead.

It's a very rare moment or two that my car couldn't do with a wash. Can we call it a contribution to water conservation?

I'm wearing my pregnancy jeans today ($49 from Target) and a new top I ordered online from Old Navy. They definitely show my bump in all it's rounded glory.

I'm not always organised enough to have a book to read on my daily commute, but I'm always more rejuvenated when I do. I don't settle as well when I'm relying on my phone for entertainment.

Work is what happens between food breaks. ;) Or fire drills, like this morning. Due to the rainy day outside, thankfully the drill was cut short.

Nothing beats a sweet, ripe mango. Juice running down my arm and strings stuck in my teeth, totally worth it.

An early finish today, leaving work at 3pm to make my Obstetrician appointment.

I struck up a conversation with two women down from Qld, joking that I'd appreciate it when they talked of facing forward so they wouldn't throw up. One of them asked when I was due; people are just starting to feel comfortable assuming my belly is baby, not chocolate related.

Just a routine checkup at 23 weeks pregnant. I'll have monthly appointments until 30 weeks, after which Dr Alex will see me fortnightly.

A healthy 143 beats per minute for Chip, and blood pressure fine for me. I was convinced Chip was a boy, until our 20 week ultrasound and now I'm thinking girl. Mike's the exact opposite - was thinking girl and now believes Chip is a boy. Absolutely, we both are wishing for a healthy baby, with a good sleeper coming second. But there is no denying, I feel more ill-prepared for boy than a girl.

My friend Nicole was in the waiting room, next up to see Dr Alex. Yep, we share an Obstetrician although not intentionally. (We both booked in without knowing the other was pregnant.) Nicole's bump is super compact because she is due in about 6 weeks!

There was time for some catching up before Nicole was called in for her appointment.

I read my book in the car, waiting for a call back from Mike so I could give him a Chip update, before heading home. I was really enjoying my book, the first in a Nora Roberts witches trilogy. I did watch The Block, but picked up the book again in ad breaks.

With no Mike at home, a simple dinner.

There's always watermelon in our fridge at the moment. A perfect snack, even if preparation required.

With the cleaner due tomorrow - a luxury that is totally worth it for our harmonious, equitable marriage - there was some tidying up before bed. These paint chips, colours we're considering for the nursery, had been laying around all week.

Snuggling up with a hot chocolate and my book.

Week in the Life: Tuesday

I'm a creature of habit in regard to breakfast, and I'm still missing my morning coffee. Tea just isn't the same.

Envious that he gets to remain in snuggled in bed. Working the afternoon shift, this is the only time I'll see him today. 

And off to work I go. 

I don't think it's possible to take a pretty photo of a gladwrapped sandwich. 

 

Heading home again. A beautiful spring day in Melbourne. 

Two stops on the walk to the car. I was out of books and bread.

Love the colours and scents. I don't buy roses, but so pleased to grow them.  

Enjoying the weather as I potter in the garden. 

I've got mail! 

Unstacking, loaading. 

It seems to be an endless cycle; dirty dishes forever waiting to be cleaned.  

Simple food, just cooking for one.  

I seem to be able to loose hours in that chair at the moment.  

Growing baby belly means new clothes.  

I've fallen out of the habit of relaxing in here of an evening, and I want to get it back. 

Making preparations.

 

Week in the Life: Monday

7AM – Alarm sounds; it's a two snoozes morning. No Mike, as he’d left hours earlier from his 4:30AM morning shift start. 'Stupid o'clock' he calls it. 

7:20AM – Mixing up my routine this morning with a shower first. Don’t think this routine is a winner; slowly wake up in the shower but still linger over breakfast.

7:40AM – Sitting in my favourite breakfast spot, listening to 3AW through my phone as I browse email, blogs and Instagram. It's a chilly morning, radio says 9 degrees in city, but warming up to top of 25 and sunny.

8:25AM – Out the door. My car bings to remind me to get petrol. I park in my normal spot with a short walk to the train station. 

8:40AM - There's a few tears as I read my book on the train. It's sad! Catch a tram then arrive at work. It's a quiet morning, lots of chatting with my boss about our weekends. 

NOON – A chicken sandwich and sliced watermelon for lunch. I'm almost finished my book, and organise to attend a Good Food event via Facebook messaging with Esther.

5:45PM - The afternoon picks up a little at work. Some calls with the Real Estate agent and it looks like I have a new tenant for Yellow House. Finally! For the first time, someone offers their seat on the tram to me because I'm pregnant. I don't need the seat, but it seems gracious to accept. 

6PM - Mike's already home from work (he finished at 3:30PM) pottering in the shed. I check on my new little seedlings, watering some of them. Need to remember to lay some snail bait. 

6:30PM - Mike gets much enjoyment that I have a tripod in the laundry to grab a few photos. Says he'll add it to 'the list of things my scrapbooking wife does'. 

6:30PM - Sorting a mountain or two of laundry, from the floor as per normal. I wonder how long till my belly makes this impossible?

6:40PM - A birthday present, last year, from Jenna. Almost our first wedding anniversary; it's been an incredible year.   

6:45PM - I stack the dishwasher and start the dishes while Mike cooks dinner. After I went a little mad at the supermarket yesterday, Mike's attempting to cook kangaroo for the first time. 

7PM - Kangaroo is a little gamey for my taste, but mixed with feta it's nice enough. We flick over to an episode of MASH while waiting for The Block to start.  

8PM - Mike skipped his afternoon nap this afternoon but his energy's worn away and he's regretting that decision. I'm arguing with the TV when some contestants on the show are petty and loose my sympathies. In the ad breaks I clean up after dinner and continue washing the dishes. 

8:15PM - Oops! A casualty when I knock Mike's digital thermometer off the window ledge and straight into the sink filled with dirty dishwater. I so appreciate having a husband who just laughs at me, taking simple mistakes like this in stride. 

9:15PM - After we hang the wet clothes on the clotheshorses in the front room, I join Mike in the study/scrapbooking room. He's been watching a documentary on spy planes and working on his model airplane. I upload photos and create this post. I make us some drinks, hot chocolate for me and a black tea (most of which he'll forget to drink) for Mike.  

11PM - Bedtime. 

Documenting this Week

The camera battery is charging (on a new charger due to an unfortunate incident with an open window on the yacht in Croatia), the remote control has been located and the tripod is at the ready.

Tomorrow I begin documenting a Week in the Life.  

Although I was travelling and didn't/couldn't participate along with Ali Edwards and others back in August, I definitely want to record what life is like for Mike and I right now. How do we spend our evenings? What are we eating? What are our weekend plans? Who does the cooking, washing and cleaning? What routines make up our days? 

This time next year we will be a family of three and our week will look different that it does now. Dramatically different. 

Week in the Life: Friday and Saturday

To document my Week in the Life project, which I recorded back in September, I decided to use pocket page protectors with a spread to each day. 

I've selected my photos and had most of them printed, adding the time to the photo in a little circle.  

Although I documented Monday to Sunday, I decided to start embellishing the Friday spread first. Despite knocking a cup of tea all over my scrapbooking table - there was cursing and paper flying as I worked to save photos from the spill, everything spread out over the rug for a day or two to dry off - the Friday and Saturday spreads are finished. 

Just a little embellishing - enamel dots, stars and wood veneer mostly - some Studio Calico Project Life cards and a title or two. 

 

And Next Up...

With my December Daily finally complete, I'm into the next project. Or more accurately it's back to the project previous. Week in the Life, from September 2013. Photos are printed, embellishment will be minimal; this project shouldn't take me long to complete. I hope.

Week in the Life 2012: Completed Photobook

I arrived home the other day to find my Week in the Life photobook waiting by the front door. After working on the project on and off for over twelve months, I finally got it finished. All that time, effort, umming and ahhing, forcing myself to pick up where I left off, chasing down screenshots and details - totally worth it.

Love it.

Right here in these pages, it's my week captured. Thoughts, happenings, emails, text messages - it's all here.

This is the first photobook I've made. I used Blurb and chose the 7x7 inch size. 

Love, love, love.