37 week update

37 weeks ... without much news.
3 cm dilated now, so 1 cm over the last week but no other real action.  Baby is in a good position and will come when it's ready.  It's so strange to live life when it's possible that the baby might come and change everything tonight... or not for 4 weeks!

OCS
Still haven't heard about my big PT exam that I did in March.

Altitude PT Job
I am scheduled out with patients for 2 more weeks, with my last day June 28.  Of course each day we all wonder what might happen to my patients if I go into labor, but I am doing my best to survive as long as I can.  It has not been easy, as I am very tired and not very comfortable and trying my best to be kind to my body while I work.  In truth, I have experienced quite a bit of dizziness and back pain at the end of each day because I am not doing a great job.  My schedule has been so intensely busy since January that it's been an exhausting year.  I am very thankful that we have hired a replacement therapist now and she has been spending time with me to transition patients to her, which is comforting to me.  I'm still just trying to survive the next 10 work days, and wishing I had decided to stop working earlier.  But it will all be ok.

I have officially decided not to return to my job in the fall.  I have enjoyed my experience at Altitude over the last 15 months for the most part, and have a lot of respect for the team there.  However, the last 6 months in particular have really burned me out and I need a break from the clinical world to focus on family and figuring out what I want out of my career next.  I feel really good about this decision and am looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom for a little while.  I do plan on returning to work as a PT, but I won't plan on looking in 2013.

July trip to VA
Recently we learned that a very close friend from Terrace, BC will be coming to Denver in July for a conference.  This means that we have decided to stay in Colorado to see her, and will embark on our road trip East starting July 16.  Although we keep debating about which direction we want to go, we think we've decided to go North first.  With any luck, we will follow some version of this itinerary for our journey:
July 16 - drive toward Nebraska/Iowa border
July 17 - drive to St. Louis and see friends
July 18 - either spend the day in St. Louis and delay for one day of recovery, or continue onward to Charleston, WV where we hope we can see Uncle Jim, Aunt Beth, and cousin Matthew in their home that we have never seen.
July 19/20/21 - drive to Sterling, VA to arrive at Grandma's house
Next two weeks: see family in MD/VA and enjoy some beach time in North Carolina
Early August - start road trip home via a southern route, possibly including South Carolina/Georgia/Tennessee/Alabama/Mississippi/Arkansas/Oklahoma
We hope to be home for a few days of prep before Jason starts working at school on August 15.

Canada trip August/Sept
Sadly, my cousin Justin is getting married in July and we will miss his wedding.  I feel terrible as I have now missed many cousin weddings and would love to see the family.  But the wedding is only a few weeks after the baby is due and even newborns need passports to travel abroad.

Depending on when we can get a passport for the new baby, I plan to take the kids to Canada for a couple of weeks at the end of August and come back sometime after Labor Day.  Dates flexible, but I plan to spend most of my time in the Victoria area with some time up island and some time in Vancouver.  I don't plan on making it to the Okanagan, but would love any Penticton folks to come to the coast and meet up.

I am very much looking forward to seeing the West Coast, family, friends, and showing off Rachel and Little One.

Landscaping and house projects
We spent quite a few weeks in March/April determining a landscaping plan for our backyard.  Although we had anticipated the project to start around the middle of June, a late Winter has forced all construction back significantly and now we are wondering if middle of July might be more likely.  Perhaps this is a good thing, since landscapers can be loud while we are away and we can come home to a finished yard for fun and safe play time.

We have also decided to go ahead with solar panels on our roof.  We had hoped to do this all along, and got mostly electric appliances because of this plan, but were disappointed in Feb/March when we learned how much it might cost.  However, recent changes in promotions have made this much more affordable and cost-effective for us longer term.  So we look forward to having solar panels by the Fall.

Slowly these days Jason is catching up on little house projects that just didn't quite get done when we moved in.  We still have a huge list that we imagine we might finish before the baby arrives, but little bit by bit we feel more organized.  It's taking a while, but it's coming!

Fires
Weather is always fun to discuss around here, since it can very well snow one day and be hot the next.  We had hardly any snow all year.  Then some rain in March, snow in April, a beautiful warm and green May, and now it's ridiculously hot.  On Monday it was 102 degrees F.  Monday night thunderstorms brought lightning to a hot, dry land and many fires erupted.  Our cousin Michael left Monday morning and drove south, through Royal Gorge and onward to Mesa Verde.  By Tuesday the entire Royal Gorge area was closed with a 400 acre fire threatening the bridge and evacuating much of the Canyon City area.  Colorado Springs (which took a huge hit last year with the Waldon Canyon fire) has another huge fire this week - 380 homes destroyed, some bodies found, and 38,000 people evacuated.  There are two other small fires nearby in Estes Park and up Lefthand Canyon.

Wed night the skies above our house were filled with smoke, and breathing was uncomfortable.  A little bit of rain on Thursday went a long way to clear the air, but it's a scary thing.  The pine beetle-killed forests and many years of drought are thought to be huge factors.



Anyway, soon we hope to have more significant news to report and possibly a new SLR camera to take pictures and post with.

Love to all.