BookEndGirl's Xanga

Moving on...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:54:09 GMT

Hey everyone--

I've started a new blog site. Come on over and visit!

http://jenn-depaula.blogspot.com/

Jenn

Da bump...

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:28:47 GMT

Friends and family who live outside of Nashville have been asking for pregnancy pictures. I've never been a fan of the camera so this has been a tough one. Especially since I work from home and you will find me with no make-up, hair pulled back and, if you're lucky, in a t-shirt and jeans. On an off day, the good old pj's. Anyway, I figured I could take a self-portrait of "El Prego" and share it. I took this about a week or two ago. I'll be 25 weeks this weekend, so this was taken at around 23 weeks. Not much has changed since then. He's in there...I promise!!

We registered at Target a few weeks ago and I saw this and couldn't resist. He will be a cool little dude...

Worlds greatest bumper sticker...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:45:01 GMT

The amazing Caleb, as he is referred to in the dePaula household, continues to save our tails by helping Marcus with the basement/garage fiasco. We had to push the pause button on Friday because Marcus and I headed out to our church's women's retreat this weekend. Marcus was the lone source of testosterone this weekend...he is such a trooper. He's the Director of Operations at The Village Chapel and he was there to set up the sound system, run sound, do the powerpoint, and be the general "tech-head peace of mind" for our pastor's wife who was speaking. He was the lone male, but everyone loves him and he can hang with the ladies with ease. I was thrilled to have him there...

On Thursday I took a break from work to go downstairs and check on the progress. Again, amazing things can happen in just a few hours. They had the drywall up, the garage was making progress, they 'mudded' the drywall, and oh so much more. I was very impressed. I headed outside to get the mail when I saw what had to have been the funniest bumper sticker I have ever seen on Caleb's mini-van.

Caleb is a rare bird where this kind of bumper sticker isn't out of place at all. The man has a portrait of his parents tattooed on his left arm for crying out loud. I told him I loved the bumper sticker and he said, "Well, I support healthy breasts." As I'm sure most men do. Rock on Caleb.

We have a garage again!!

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Today marks the third day of Marcus' declaration of war on the basement, which has been a long and tiring ordeal for the boy. But let me just tell you, he and our friend Caleb have made HUUUGGGEEE progress in just three days. On Monday they ripped up all of the flooring and took that and a bunch of old drywall to the dump, which I think is Marcus' new favorite place. They only worked for four hours on Monday, but dang, they got a lot done.

Marcus took Tuesday to sort through a bunch of his crap...er...stuff...that was in the garage and took two huge loads to Goodwill. The problem with the garage was that it wasn't a full garage. The previous owners had taken the garage and built a "drum room" in more than half of it. It's hard to explain, so I have pictures to do that.

Today they tore down the drum room walls (yippeee!!!) and we finally have a garage!! Granted we have to organize and sort the rest of the junk thats in the garage before we can use it for its intended purpose, but still, I'm so happy it's actually happening!!

These aren't the most recent pictures (and I REALLY wish we had a "before" picture to give you an idea as to how insanely messy the basement was) but I will try to get a new picture as soon as the drywall dust clears ;)

This is what you see going down to the entryway...yep...lots of stuff from the basement to greet you.

...and more stuff...

This is the entry to the "bonus room" as Marcus calls it. This used to have hardwood flooring and was blocked by a huge desk Marcus got. Needless to say the desk was also covered with junk. But not anymore!!!

This used to be a closet with a door...they knocked the walls down and now we will use it to house the printer and other supplies. All nicely organized, of course ;)

The beast that started it all...the air conditioner, which still leaks. I don't know if I should hate it or give it a big kiss.

Believe it or not, this assortment of stuff is less than half of what was originally down there. Da Man has some sorting skills!

Garage stuff that had been sorted...

Boxes to be recycled...

This is the garage after two trips to Goodwill. The wall with the door on it is the drum room, which is no longer there (praises be!!)

Ahhh, look at my man working hard!! :)

So there you have it! Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it sure makes me happy! I'll try to get more pictures up of the progress. I'm so impressed with what they have done!!!

A gift from Lewis

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:16:10 GMT

I was working away yesterday when I noticed it was quiet...almost too quiet. This, of course, makes me rather suspicious so I peek outside my office door to find Lewis sitting at the top of the stairs, tail wagging. As I got closer I noticed a piece of red yarn between his paws. I think the pictures explain the rest.

And here is the proud little guy. Seriously, with a face like that, how can you get mad?!?

It's happening!!!

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:00:05 GMT

If you heard a strange, high pitched shrill of happiness coming from a far away land, it was probably me knowing that today Marcus was finally going to clean out the basement!! Yes ladies and gents, after a long three year wait (yes...three years) Marcus and our friend Caleb are declaring war on our basement. But there is a bit of a backstory here...

Last week Marcus went downstairs to do the laundry when he smelled a very odd smell. After some investigating he discovered that our air conditioner had been leaking water and it had gotten under the hardwood flooring, molded the drywall and had gotten under a small closet under the stairs. Yeah, it's a big fat mess and really set last week in a tailspin. So Marcus started to take up about 1/3 of the flooring and discovered mold and mildew under the wood. He blasted it with a bleach/water mix and it started to smell a lot better down there.

We knew that we needed to get the basement taken care of anyway, so I think the Lord intervened on this one ;) We are moving my office (and the home of BookEnd Media) down to the basement and turning my current office into another guest bedroom. This will come in quite handy when family and friends come down to visit us and the baby. The baby has the smallest of the guest bedrooms, so it should work out nicely!

It stinks that we have to put up new drywall and redo the flooring downstairs, but I am soooo thankful that things are finally underway. Seriously folks...three years!!!

I'll post some pictures soon :)

And you shall have a...

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:58:58 GMT

Today I woke up with a start because I was about to embark on a big day...the day where we find out the gender of the baby! According to the directions my doctor gave me to get ready for the ultrasound, it said that I had to drink at least 26 ounces of water about an hour before my appointment. Apparently having a full bladder gives you a better picture...not sure how that works, but, I went along with it. My concern was the pushing and prodding that takes place during the ultrasound on a full bladder. Um...yeah.

Anyway, I got right into the room and the nurse got me ready for the big unveiling. It was amazing! We had not seen the baby since the 7 week ultrasound and at that point it was just a little grain of rice. Now it has long legs and arms, we could see the spine and it's sweet little face. But the big news is...it's a boy!! I had a hunch it was going to be a boy and we are so excited!!! But he was just chilling out down there, happy as could be. What made my heart skip was we saw him move his little mouth, like he was saying "Hi Mom & Dad!" It was pretty overwhelming. We have a video of it and I think I'm going to watch it over and over today. He's been moving around quite a bit and it's feeling more "real" every day. It's pretty amazing!

Now we just need to agree on a name...

Pretty fitting that I'm listening to Travis "The Boy with No Name"...didn't even mean to do that.

Fall...you can't come soon enough...

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:47:17 GMT

As seasons come to a close, I think that there is always a sense of anticipation and eagerness to start things over. I'm not sure why Fall has always been that "renewing" season for me, but I am so anxious for it to finally get its tail over here.

On Thursday I decided to take the long, leisurely drive to a meeting. Though the leaves have not changed quite yet, I had an overwhelming need to open my window and have the crispness sting my nostrils and have the cool air envelop the car and take us to the wonderful world of autumn. Instead the air was sucked out of me by the hot and humid stickiness that is a Tennessee summer.

I think what made my mind play tricks on me was the fact that I was listening to one of my all time favorite albums, The Man Who by Travis. I don't know why, but this is a Fall album for me and it triggers my mind into that season like no other. Listening to that album, as well as the fact that we are on the cusp of Fall, I've made a list of songs that remind me of Fall. They don't have words of the season or any particular reasoning behind them. They just happen to remind me of my favorite season.

Writing To Reach You--Travis
Homesick--Kings of Convenience
The Hounds of Winter--Sting
Newborn--Elbow
Hallelujah, God Is Near--Robbie Seay Band
Starry Gazey Pie--The Bees
Building a Mystery--Sarah McLachlan
Wrapped Up In Books--Belle & Sebastian
Crazy Love--Van Morrison
My Stupid Mouth--John Mayer
The Only Thing I Need--Jon Anderson
Fade Into You--Mazzy Star
Don't Panic--Coldplay
Catch--Leaves
Spoon--Dave Matthews Band
Paranoid Android--Radiohead
Something More Than This--October Project
Goodbye--The Sundays
Wild Horses--The Sundays
Drift On--Butterfly Boucher
Odessa--Bee Gees
Not Lived Out--Disappointed by Candy
Beautiful Day--U2
Redemption's Son--Joseph Arther
OK--Mute Math
With Regards to Summer--This Holiday Life
In My Place--Coldplay
Moondance--Van Morrison
Secrets and Lies--Jonatha Brooke
January Rain--David Gray
Precious Things--Tori Amos
Communication--The Cardigans
World Where You Live--Crowded House
Driftwood--Travis
Sometimes (Lester Piggot)--James
Smells Like Teen Spirit--Tori Amos
Bullet the Blue Sky--U2
Side--Travis
Possession--Sarah McLachlan
Great Lengths--PFR
Crash Into Me--Dave Matthews Band

Hmmm...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:06:40 GMT

Last night when I was getting into bed, Marcus looked over at me and said, "Look at you being all patriotic."

I looked down and I was wearing a red-ish shirt and blue-ish pj bottoms.

"So I am red, white and blue because I'm so pale, right?"

"Bingo!"

Wiiiiiiii....

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:59:31 GMT

The other night we had a lovely evening with our sweet friends the Vinings. They flat out rule. They have a four year old girl named Olivia who is hands down one of the funniest kids I have ever met. We grilled out, chatted, played with Olivia, ate chocolate cake, which constitutes a great time in my book. But the kicker was that we played with the Wii for several hours, which turned out to be hysterical. Imagine Wii bowling with a four year old and having her kick your tail. It was the cutest thing ever!

When Miss O went to bed Stacie and Ray took on Marcus and I in couples tennis. Marcus is soooo good at tennis, but I on the other hand...not so much. I pulled us down and the Vinings kicked our butts for two rounds. I take full responsibility for our loss because I am just that bad at Wii tennis. Granted, if you were to place us on an actual tennis court it would be monumentally embarrassing. And, really, can Wii tennis compete with the real thing? I don't think so. It's like people who call themselves a golfer because they play "Tiger Woods Golf" on X-Box or Golden Tee and have never set foot on a golf course. What is this world coming to?