Ode to the Green Machine

This week was the week of the green machine. It is one of the more unsightly cars on the block due to fact that it is often full of house II paraphernalia. He added to the oddities in the car by leaving a fleece jacket that he intended to give away. In the morning this unsuspecting car was relieved of a window and the jacket to be given away was taken. That jacket now cost $160 - for the window repair.

On Saturday Carlos loaded the machine up with lumber until the tires appeared ready to burst and the back bumper was inches off the concrete.

On Sunday Carlos had a run in with a homeless lady by the 7-11. Her grocery cart of items included none other than the fleece jacket that was taken from the car a couple days earlier. In response to Carlos asking her where she had gotten the jacket she put a hat over her face as though it made her invisible and refused to say anything. He told her that he had intended to give it away anyways, but she didn't seem to register much remorse. It seemed unlikely that she broke the window - but it would be interesting to find out how she ended up with it.

Although the car and Carlos had their share of travails this week, Kumquat has been doing well. According to the weekly BabyCenter emails he is the size of a chinese cabbage and has eyelashes. Carlos and I are both taking note of strollers that pass on the street and I often stop and interrogate total strangers about their stroller choices. It's like strollers are to me the way dogs are to others - I don't even notice dogs, but I'll stop and try to pet any stroller that passes by....

If Carlos were birthing Kumquat....

I've heard that stress can induce labor and if so I am sure glad that Carlos is not carrying Kumquat....

Friday was a particularly fun day in this regard. Having to run house errands before work, Carlos got up early and as usual conducted business over the phone in spanish next to my head as I put more and more pillows over my face. He rushed to the police station to get a parking permit for the workers and from there went to House II. Some jerk ignored the OFFICIAL no parking sign out front so Carlos called to have him towed. He then proceeded to work where he realized that his wallet was gone - license, credit cards and $100 cash. bummer. Over lunch he had scheduled to pick-up a skylight, but to do so he needed a truck and to do that he needed an ID and money! He drove back from Rockville to Capitol Hill (a terrible commute at any hour) and borrowed the workers' van to pick-up the skylight. Despite the power of the green machine, he wasn't quick enough and in the meantime an inspector was waiting for him. Our beloved neighbor had called the city yet again regarding our house being too close to her chimney. Of course it made more sense to call the city then talk to Carlos...The visit was inconclusive as the plans were not present, but it appears to be a civil matter. Not that relations with her are very 'civil.' Back to the van - he had to write an IOU at the roofing center to get the skylight. Luckily they had a roof promotion free hot dog (because hot dogs and roofs go so well together) which served as lunch. Unfortunately it was burnt and ketchup spilled on his shirt. But hey, who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?

Now that his lunch break was over he had to hurry back to work. Except that he didn't have enough gas to get back to work! Against all odds he made it back to work - ketchup stains and all - and sat down to finish a hard day's work :)

That's why I'm glad Kumquat is with me. This is the first week of the last trimester and I received some scary email about practice contractions starting now. ugh. But I'm still comfortable - in fact the three of us have been going out a lot and next week is the school's spring formal. I've got to find an expandable dress by then....

PS - I have no idea why this photo won't rotate. It's driving me mad. But just as well, my smile is pretty fake...

Law Enforcement Visits

The last few weeks have been full of law enforcement characters. The first baseball game at the new stadium brought a steady stream of metro riders disembarking at Capitol South and walking by the house. The influx brought new parking regulation and inspectors too. Carlos got in a fight with one inspector that didn't like the wording of our parking permit. This week the witch called the police to complain that she thought some workers were on the roof (which wasn't true). Carlos called the police to get a car ticketed.

The house looks good. They completed an extension off the basement that will be an extra storage space and bathroom. They also worked on the roof. I'm attaching a video of the roofing - too bad I can't attach the fumes too :) The fumes of the roof was bad, but so was some feces treat that an untamed worker must have left behind....

The baby is kicking/punching a lot and more forcefully. But I still can't figure out what is kicking and what is punching or headbutts or a butt. I've been feeling and looking quite big these days. People at school call me 'huge' - which doesn't make me all that happy given that I have another 3 months to go! When I'm zoning out in class I check on strollers and bedding, but no great finds to speak of yet....

This week Carlos put the cornice on the house so the facade looks like a real facade!  It looks great and even with its bare bones it looks better than our neighbor's!!  They put the windows in and have been working on the roof.  The interior is framed but we are still negotiating the design a bit...as always...For instance, despite having had the design for months, last week Carlos said "we need to re-design the bathroom TONIGHT."

On the baby side I'm starting to look pregnant and not just fat - I've put on 13 pounds!  I started looking for cribs and such but was quickly demoralized by the home depot-esque cheap looking, over-priced options at popular places like buy-buy baby.  Terribly ugly CRIBS for $1000!  So my alternative online search led me to an auction in Richmond where a sweet old wooden bassinet was being auctioned.  My mom and I played hooky and drove down on Wednesday afternoon.  As novices we weren't totally prepared for the experience.  We got there early only to realize that the auction would go on from 3pm until midnight - 9 hours - and the crib was #540!!  We also couldn't understand the auctioneer - at one point my mom bid against herself and he had to tell her that she had already bid!  As always we left having spent more money than anticipated and I did get one crib, but the bassinet I came for was bid up over $700 - well beyond my reservation price.  Here are some pictures from the house and my belly.

NEIGHBORHOOD JOYS

The day that Carlos left for Costa Rica we got BIG FAT RED stop work order for house II.  There are a few neighbors who seem to have nothing to do but dislike us and believe it is their sole purpose to complain about every little thing; we can't possibly fit our feelings about these neighbors into this blog so suffice to say we don't see eye to eye with them....So work stopped while Carlos was away.  I figured this meant for sure that Kumquat the Squatter would take the lead.  But upon arriving home Carlos worked his magic with 5 city officials visiting the property for an on-site outing.  Somehow it looks like we'll begin work again soon...And the race is back on!  

KUMQUAT IS A.....

BOY!! 

For two weeks the red envelope has been awaiting Carlos' return from Costa Rica.  So for our ceremonial opening we enjoyed a great dinner at the chef's table at Mio.  After seven courses we pulled out the envelope.  It wasn't clear who was more nervous - me, Carlos, the kitchen staff or the owner.  

We thought Kumquat was a girl, but I always wanted a little boy ever since I saw a picture of Carlos when he was little.  I think Carlos was looking forward to a little girl - but I'm sure that if he knew what a terror I was as a baby he would be counting his blessings.

The picture is less than clear to me...I'm not really sure what is what, but I'll trust them...

Here are some pictures from 19 and 22 weeks as well as from the unveiling last night at the restaurant.

KUMQUAT KICKBOXES!

It appears that Kumquat-may is the future national champion at kickboxing. All weekend s/he was beating up my uterus lining. Today we were supposed to turn Kumquat-may into Kumquat, but the gender will have to wait as Carlos was pulled away for a last-minute work assignment. In the meantime I visited Boston and got to interact with real babies and real kumquats. It turns out that real Kumquats aren't as sweet as real babies. This is Karen's (one of my college roommates) and David's baby. soo cute!