Pregnant = Exhausted

Mom and Dad left on Tuesday for a trucking trip. It is the first time mom has gone out since early May, and I hope she is enjoying herself.  I admit, I was looking forward to her return to trucking, because I thought it would mean a bit of a break for me....

not so.

Let me explain.  Mom must be directly descended from either those who built stonehenge, the whip-wielding slave drivers behind the creation of the pyramids or the architects of ancient Rome.  Hard work is in her very nature, and she doesn't know the meaning of "take it easy".  At almost 60, she put two of Taz's young male aussie friends to shame with her work ethic the week they were visiting.  She astounded them. She is up first, and to bed last every day, and works circles around most anyone.  Now, I consider myself a hard worker, and physical labour isn't something I shy away from, but holy sweet jesus, she beats me hands down.

And what's worse, she expects her level of work (or close to it) from any of us lucky enough to be sharing her abode.  So when she left for her 4 day trip with dad on Tuesday, this is the list she left me:

'Please'                                       

YARD

1. Mow balance of lower grass - around veg. gardens and along ponds

2. Tomato Patch:             

-Finish weeding

-Plant replacement toms

-Lay down newsprint along footpaths (in bag in tent frame)

-Water paths, fill buckets between toms

-Lay down straw heavily around everything (include perennials)

3. Lower Veg Gardens: Finish weeding squash patch, empty area in strawberry patch (large) and South of onions.  Add more straw for berries to lay on. 

4. Plant baby veggies in squash garden. Space leeks about 6 ins apart in 2 rows, eggplants about 1 foot apart.  Straw everything well. 

5. Lay straw heavily around cucumbers and squash.  

Maintenance

1.  Wash cloches and store in empty mulch bags (under blue weeding tarp)

2. Keep all annuals - in beds and flower pots watered every day (I need to emphasize here that there are MANY of these and this is at least an hour's job alone)

3. Keep eye on water levels in horse and cow troughs - use barn tap in basement. 

So, I tried. I honestly did, and I've got most of it done, except the lawn mowing (too bouncy for belly) some weeding, the veggie planting and the cloche washing, and some things probably need water today, like cows.  But I went into my doctor's appointment this morning, and instead of gaining weight at all in the last 11 days, I have lost a pound or so.  The doc took one look at me when she walked in and asked how much sleep I have been getting, and how much I am relaxing.  The answer to both: not much. In case you didn't notice, that entire list is outside work, involving bending, shoveling, lifting, hauling water in buckets and hoses, and nowhere on the list does it say "put your feet up".  But I have doctor's orders now, and I am supposed to take a nap in the afternoons, and rest during the hottest part of the day.  Good thing too, since it is supposed to be above 30 for the next few days, and yesterday was stupid hot. 

So I have a new plan of action: I will only garden during the cool of the morning, and evening.  In the afternoons, I will work on getting this house back to its normal self.  There is still an entire rec room full of wedding stuff that is about 1/2 organized, thanks to today and yesterday, and the kitchen and dining room are a disaster.   The problem is, in the last 4 days I have noticed a genuine drop in energy. I can't even muster the desire to go for a walk, much less clean or garden.  I guess that's supposed to happen, but it makes me feel guilty when there is so much to do, and I'm the only one here to do it. At least the doctor told me I need to rest more - can't go disobeying a doctor's orders, can I? I hope mom doesn't mind that her list will pretty much remain where its at, because this girl is going for a nap. 

Full-Term and a Married Woman

We did it! We survived a home wedding! Amelia stayed put, Taz and I got our wonderful day with family and friends, and now, in the blink of an eye, it is all behind us.

People told me before the wedding that after, I would have a list of things I didn't do/wished I had done. I didn't think much of it then, but two nights after the wedding, just as I was about to fall asleep, I sat bolt upright in bed, and declared, "My god! I walked down the isle without mascara or lipstick on!"  It had just occurred to me.  In the frantic last few hours, I'm lucky I remembered underwear and hair, much less lipstick.

My advice for anyone planning a wedding is this: if you are having it at home, do NOT also cater part of it, and make your own dress and the groomsmen's ties, have homemade bouquets, decorate the hall yourself, etc. etc. the way we did.  It was a week of late nights and a crazy busy last two days.  And that's with a small army of men and women working alongside mom and I!  If I could do it all over again, I would delegate more, and do less myself. The night before the wedding saw mom and I as the last two soldiers standing, cooking at the reception hall kitchen at 1:30 in the morning. When I finally did go to bed, I fell asleep and woke up in the exact same position.

All in all though, it ended up being a beautiful day.  We managed to fit the ceremony between two separate storm cells, and when the second rainfall began as we were signing the marriage registry, all the guests rushed in under the gazebo to stay dry.  We ended up socializing there instead of Taz and I walking back down the isle together.  That was kind of neat, and it broke the ice for a lot of people who didn't know each other.

Despite the rain, we got lots of photographs.  Bob House posted a teaser album on facebook, and I am trying to get the photos off his page to post on this blog, but my stupid computer keeps closing safari each time I log onto facebook, so it will have to wait.  Yet another one of the things that got forgotten was the use of our camera to take pics during the wedding. Such a good quality camera, and I didn't get a single pic on it :(

The reception hall looked beautiful.  My good friend Madison really put her all into it, and it showed. I couldn't believe how different it looked when I walked in from the empty sterile hall we had unlocked the day before.  The speeches were nice (and sober, hurrah!) and we managed to get Taz's parents' wedding speech played over a projector off of youtube thanks to my brother Danny and Loreena's boyfriend John's expertise.  My sister Moriah put together a slideshow of pictures of me, and another one of Taz and I.  My cousin shelby made a gorgeous wedding cake that FAR exceeded my wildest dreams.

After the reception, there was a barn dance. I hear it was a good time.  I wouldn't know. By 10 p.m. I was ready to drop, and we still had a bit of a drive to our wedding night destination. Best Western: only the classiest for this gal.  We left everyone changing into shorty shorts and cowboy boots and drove off into the night, as Mr. and Mrs. Ward.  We left guests behind to party for us. I hear it was a unique mixture of country and house music (dad calls it "that reggae stuff").  I also hear that multiple places around the property were used for clandestine romantic moments, but I won't name names.  You all know who you are, and I'm glad that it meant a good time was had by many.  Mom told me that at one point she was dancing with the scarecrow, and when we stopped to see auntie Marjie on the way home from the honeymoon three days later, she was only just recovered enough from her hangover to be drinking coolers again.  Good on ya, ladies!

I knew beforehand that getting married is an even unlike any other in your life.  I knew it is meant to be special.  But no one told me there were going to be moments that would feel absolutely surreal.  Walking down the isle seemed to happen at two different speeds: way too fast, and ridiculously slow.  Looking into Taz's eyes when the J.P. pronounced us husband and wife, the whole world disappeared.  Holding my husband's hand for endless photos and feeling the bump of his wedding ring - that's a unique thrill.  My mom calling me Porsche Ward.  It's going to take a while for me to get used to that, too.

6 days after our wedding, Amelia and I hit full term. And even though I can't wear my wedding or engagement rings right now due to sausage fingers, the idea that in a few short weeks, I will be both a wife and mother, and surrounded by all the love that brings is thrilling.  Now that the wedding is over, I have time each day to pay attention to my surroundings. I am trying to take it all in, and memorize how a Canadian summer feels at the time my baby will come into the world.  The dasies, lilies and sweet pea dominate the ditches on the drive to my hospital.  Bullfrogs thrum at night down by the natural pond.  Everything smells like freshly cut hay (ok, and like liquid pig manure, because that's the fertilizer of choice around these parts)  Yesterday, since I had the farm to myself, I opted not to take the day's worth of ripened strawberries up to the house, but instead ate them right off the vine, warm from the sun.  Life on a farm is so full of tangible physical experiences and it makes me more aware of the variety of life growing and thriving around us.  It's a good place to have a first baby. It's a good place overall, to be.