They've started some insane construction near where Jeff works, so he has been getting up earlier to avoid traffic. Getting up earlier is starting to wear thin - yes, I know that I stay home all day, but I avoid naps unless I'm physically worn out (like when I was unpacking the boxes). In order to keep myself from becoming a total unemployed cliche, I get up when Jeff gets up, have breakfast, shower (okay, sometimes that doesn't come til closer to lunch, but still!) and 99% of the time I put on real clothes after that. I will admit that in the beginning I mostly put on real clothes because we were getting packages every day and I didn't want to look like a total slob - I have this weird thing about that, even when it's 'just' delivery people or maintenance people and I know they don't give a fig. Regardless, I decided that it would help me feel more productive and less lazy, plus I think it helps stave off the semi-depression that comes with staying home all day because you don't have a job. Anyway, I'm hoping that eventually Jeff will start going to bed earlier to compensate; even though I know I can go to bed earlier, that rarely works out well because I'm a light sleeper, so even if I fall asleep I'm restless until he turns off the lights and TV and actually comes to bed. For a while in MD I was getting up two hours earlier than him and he made fun of me for going to bed before 11, but we'll see if he changes his tune now that he can't sleep in!
Yesterday I had a midwife appointment so Jeff stayed home to work on grant applications in order to let me have the car without screwing his day up too much. Hopefully the construction will be done soon and we'll be back to our regular routine, where I just drive him to work beforehand and pick him up later (and then I have the car all day!). It will kind of suck doing that once a week, but I don't mind too much. Since he was around we spent some of the morning doing errands, like getting a new cable box (which ACTUALLY works!) and registering the car. So now we are official Washington residents!
In the afternoon he worked while I basically did nothing. I made chili in the slow cooker and added some honey cornbread - delicious! I've noticed that me being home has led to a huge increase in how frequently I have to do dishes and take out the garbage, since I'm cooking 'real' food more and also eating all of my meals here. I shouldn't complain too much, I enjoy the food and the cooking (for now) and we do have a dishwasher. Plus it gives me something to do, while I still feel like it. I froze down the leftover chili and I'm debating whether to keep it for after the baby comes. She was being insanely active yesterday and it was actually really uncomfortable and even painful at times, I really hope I don't have that to look forward to for the next 6 weeks. I think it's mostly when I'm in an upright sitting position, which probably gives her a lot less room to maneuver, so I'm avoiding that today.
Yesterday evening we went to visit an in-home daycare, and I have to say it was a bit disheartening. We are on several waitlists for centers and I have been really freaking out about the prospect of not finding daycare, so I started looking into in-home daycares but I'm wary of them for multiple reasons (not saying there aren't good ones out there, but it's so hard to know!). The woman was very nice but I am concerned about her ability to care for a young infant with three older kids running around, plus she home-schools her two older kids. Her daughter actually acts as an assistant, so there are two people watching the kids (when she's not home-schooling, I guess? Weird situation) but she's 16 and I just don't know. Jeff and I decided that it's a good backup in case we don't get in anywhere, and we will jump on the first available center opening so hopefully the baby won't be there long.
To end on a good note: I finally scheduled my thesis defense! It will be in late December. I didn't hear back from one of my committee members so technically it's still tentative, but it was the only day the other four were free so I jumped on it. If the fifth guy can't make it, I think I can just replace him with someone else. It's a big relief, and now we just have to figure out our holiday plans - I'm not sure how much time Jeff can take off, so he may have to fly out a few days later in order for us to have Christmas with his family. I would really prefer that he fly at the same time as me so that I have his help, so I am advocating the option of visiting them right after my defense. Then if we can't be there for Christmas Day, we will just celebrate a little earlier with whoever can make it. Since his family all lives so close together, I think it should be fine, even if we don't do the usual huge Christmas dinner (which is fine by me). I know it's a bit selfish but Jeff is uncomfortable with the thought of taking a lot of time off, since he will have just taken off a week when I give birth (I know, wow, a whole week :-/ Sucks being a post-doc). I still haven't heard anything about a job so I have no idea what will be going on with me vacation-wise, but I am excited to get my defense out of the way!
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