The Past Week

For the past week I have been working on getting my old blog put into a book format so I can send it off to be printed and bound. I am pretty serious about this too. We're talking full color, hardbound book that will one day grace a box in my daughter's attic! If I have a complaint, and I only have one, it would be that it is going to take me FOREVER to get this book to a printer because I do document design and layout for a living. That translates into my need to be a perfectionist. BIG TIME.

At first I tried using the templates from Blurb.com, and I am sure they are great for people who don't do design for a living, but for me, they were too limiting. I have an idea in my head of what I want this book to look like, and I am going to make it look that way dang it! I kid you not that I literally lost sleep going back and forth between deciding whether to use their templates or put it into my design software. In the end, I opted to create my own template and format it exactly the way I want to.

It took me half a day to work up my template, and not surprisingly, I'm not 100% happy with it. I am sure I will change the fonts at least 2-3 more times before all is said and done. And because I want all of the comments from each post in the book as well, this thing is going to be huge. I may have to break it out into two or more books. But the way I see it, I spent 4 years of my life writing this blog, so if I'm going to make it into a book, I'm going to do it right. No regrets.

I have actually even thought about advertising my skills and starting up a blog-to-book business. Why? Because I love what I do!

Other than that I have spent a lot of time sleeping. I wish I had spent more time laying around instead of noticing how dirty my house is. Surprisingly, I've been really uncomfortable from this surgery. It isn't anywhere near as bad as any of my other surgeries, c-section included, but it is still no walk in the park. I keep thinking that because it doesn't hurt as much, I can do more, but I end up paying for that by the end of the day.

My belly button hurts. And it looks gross. Baby Bean keeps asking to look at it so she can go, "Ewwwww!" Then she tells me to look at hers and say, "Ewwww!" My other incision sites twinge every now and then, but for the most part, I don't feel them. I definitely can't do blue jeans or any kind of pant that isn't stretchy yet. I might end up having to buy pajama jeans for work next week, but I hope not. I go in for my post-op appointment tomorrow, so I am kind of excited to hear what Dr. D has to say. Honestly, I think he might have fixed the problem because I am noticing some differences already.

On Saturday Baby Bean and I went to get our annual birthday pictures done. That was the first time I had put on jeans since the surgery, and boy was it hard to smile through the discomfort, but I managed. Baby Bean did awesome too. We got some really great pictures. We even got to take some pictures with a bunny, which is always fun, and always makes me want to get a pet bunny. They are so soft and sweet!

Baby Bean also attended her first birthday party for another kid on Saturday night. I wore my blue jeans to this event too because I only had mauve stretchy pants, and I didn't want people to think I was a weirdo. The kids got to run around in this cushioned room that had foam pits and trampolines everywhere. BB had so much fun. I even forced myself out of my shell and met a bunch of the other mothers. I don't know when I became so anti-social again, but I have, and I find I am having to work hard again at being social. I actually ended up having a really good time too. I got a couple of RSVPs for BB's birthday party this Saturday while I was there. The most important one was from BB's best friend's mom. I made it a point to meet her, and we hit it off.

The one thing that surprised me about the party was that I was one of the youngest moms there. I grew up in Utah, and I know if I had attended that same party in Utah, I would have been one of the oldest moms there. So it was kind of nice to be the pup, especially since I am no pup. Most of the kids were also only-children, and some had a younger or older sibling, so all of the kids were around the same age. I don't know why, but it was comforting to me. The birthday boy is an only child, and BB's best friend is an only child.

I am really excited for this week. Thursday is BB's birthday, and my mother-in-law is coming up for the special day. I plan on doing a family party that night with cupcakes, balloons, and presents. I am supposed to do a presentation about her at daycare that day too. Then on Saturday is the big birthday party at the art studio. I am finding that even though it is hard for me to watch my baby grow up, I am really enjoying the birthday anniversary events, especially how happy and excited they make my baby girl. She really is the joy of my life, and anything that makes her this happy, makes me happy too.

Speaking of BB, I am going to go pick her up from school now. Ta ta!