leaving the city

So my week with Mike in NY is over - so sad. It's definitely going to be different being at home without him in SC - the pregnancy just adds an unknown factor, but I'll take it one day at a time. 

While we were here, we visited the MOMA museum and I realized ... I don' t get modern art. I just don't get it. I mean, there were some pieces that were nice and that I saw took talent, but there were 3 times as many that just didn't make any sense to me - not visually, emotionally or any other way. It probably didn't help that I was exhausted after walking quite a bit, as I took the train to go see Mike's work first, and let me tell you - NY blocks are long - especially when you've been sitting on your butt for the previous few weeks. I do need to get some exercise in there. I was also asked, for the first time, in pubic, by a stranger, if I was pregnant! I guess I'm really showing then! We were waiting in line to check Mike's backpack and the guard directing people looked at me - did a double take and then said "Are you pregnant!?!" Like - what is a pregnant lady doing waiting in this line? or at the museum at all? It was a bit odd. It may have been what I was wearing or how I was standing, but it was definitely a shocker. 

We've also been to two different villages - one near Mike's work in Greenpoint, and one called Williamsburg - both cute areas with little shops and restaurants. We've had NY and NJ pizza and I do like their crusts - not like you can find in the south. Today we're thinking of hitting Central Park and tomorrow I head back to SC.

I was able to upload the video of my cute niece singing on Memorial Day - here is her singing debut to the world:

 

She's so cute!! I also finished the chicken - well except for a couple of spots, but pictures will have to wait until I get back to Charleston. I am working on a baby jacket by Debbie Bliss in a pretty plum color and here is the Ravelry link, but pictures would just bore you as it's just stockinette right now. 

Off to the park - and maybe a yarn store - see ya Brooklyn!

in the Big Apple

New Yooork City!

Well, actually, I'm in Brooklyn - but close enough. Mike and I took a nice drive up through DC, stopped by to see my brother Carlo and his family - it was great to see them - Kristin looks great and Gabriella was as cute as ever.

Then we traveled to Rumson NJ to see Mike's brother and family - man! those kids have gotten big! We had a great time hanging out with them, and even got to attend a Memorial Day parade (as well as have an impromptu one of our own by the kids). If I can figure out how to upload the video from my camera, I think I may have another American Idol candidate. My niece did a beautiful job of serenading us with "God Bless America". Very cute!

Mike started his internship today, and I can't wait to hear how it went. I'm in the process of setting up my 'out-of-the-office-office" and praying I can get the internet phone to work properly. If not ... it's going to be a looong week. I'm hoping everything will work out.

pregnant!

As most of you already knew, Mike and I are expecting! And those that didn't - I'm in the family way, I've got a bun in the oven, I've been... we'll you get the picture. I wanted to make sure immediate family and my work knew before posting publicly and now they all do so I can talk about it!

Plus my belly has 'popped' so it's getting harder to hide. I feel like I just look like I need to hit the gym, but my friends insist that no, it looks like I am pregnant and have a little person growing inside of me.

I'm due the first week of November, the 2nd or 5th. Mike and I aren't finding out the sex of the baby - we want to be surprised. And those of you that know my family or reads my blog, also know that both of my brother's wives are pregnant as well! They're both due in August, so there will be 3 babies on the 'Tamburro' side born this year!!! It's pretty exciting. They're not finding out either, so no one's discussing names and as my knitting friends agreed - this does put a small crimp in knitting something cute and gender specific, but I'm sure I'll find something.

My first trimester went pretty well. I had some 'evening sickness' which was more like a mild hangover, no vomiting, just an uneasy feeling if I didn't eat - so I made sure to always have something on hand to nibble on throughout the day. I told one of my workmates that I was on a new diet - 6 small meals a day! Up until this week, (I'm at 15 weeks now) I haven't gained any weight, but according to the doctors scale at work (don't ask me why there is a full doctor's scale at my office -it's really random!) I've gained 2 pounds this week - which I think is on target. My next appointment is the first week in June so we'll see then.

This has all been part of the reason I haven't been blogging. There were so many things I wanted to talk about, but they all had to do with the pregnancy! Also, I was more tired and was trying to get more sleep and just wasn't motivated to do much for the first trimester.

This weekend I am traveling with Mike up to NY to spend a week with him as he settles into his new place and internship. He's never been to NY so I'm excited to go with him. I'll fly back on Sunday and be here in Charleston by myself for most of the summer. I will take another visit sometime in the next month or two, in between doctor's visits. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the lovely craziness that a baby brings!

trying to break out of the laziness slump

...which in this case, starts with a bit of overdue blogging. I know I've not been posting for a while - so I'll try to do a recap of what's been going on with us here in SC.

First off - Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there, and mothers-to-be (Amy and Kristin - my SIL's included!!) May your day be joyous and .. simply wonderful! Mike and I are quietly celebrating our 6-yr anniversary as well today :) And he has started his own blog to write about his plaster adventures.

What I've been up to...the main thing that's been going on, is we've been trying to work Mike's internship for the summer. As part of his schooling, Mike is supposed to work for a company, in his trade, for the summer to gain experience. It can be anywhere in the world, it's just supposed to be at least 8 wks and paid. He's been working on finding one since December, and due to one thing after another - nothing was working out. Finally after writing to a company he was thoroughly impressed with, Mike was offered a 12 wk part-time internship in NYC! And, of course, the next day his school presented him with an opportunity for an internship in England. Now what to do!?

So then, a 6wk England/6wk NY internship was suggested, but didn't fit well with the NYC parameters and so, upon their suggestion, he focused on the England opportunity - only to have it fall through due to the company not being prepared for an international student and not having a work visa ready. Luckily, the company in NY, Foster-Reeve generously extended their offer again and Mike has accepted for 8wks. YEah!! The stress of not-knowing and waiting to hear back was almost worse than not having one.

Now Mike is trying to find some temporary housing in the lower Manhattan/Upper Brooklyn area for the summer months of June and July. (Email me if you know of anything!!) Once that is settled, we'll decide for what extent of time I'll be joining him. This will be the first time in the 6 years (as of today- Happy Anniversary Honey!) we've been apart where I'll be living by myself. The previous two times we were apart, I was either staying with family or had roommates move in for the interim. It'll be interesting - especially with my current developments (to be discussed in a future post - and I promise it won't be too long before I post and it'll include an explanation of another reason for the lack of blogging lately). We've got a couple things in the works and we'll just have to wait and see what works out.

In other 'happenings', I did get to see the Cirque du Soleil a few weeks ago here in Charleston - it was really amazing. There were just so many people doing things you would have thought were not doable! There were trapeze artists, jugglers, pole climbers, flippers, people doing all sorts of acrobatics on top of one another - it was really neat. The arena was also small enough that there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. I didn't quite understand the storyline, but it kept me engaged anyway.

In knitting news, I haven't been doing much knitting. More so the equivalent of pushing your peas around your plate but not really eating them - you know - looking at lots of patterns, and sorting through my stash, but not coming up with much. I'm in a bit of a knitting slump, but here are some pictures of a couple of projects.

My finished cable hat called Clamber or the Lilac Cable hat:



I am very pleased with how it came out, and it'll go perfectly with my Evangeline hand-warmers - although it may be a while before I'm able to wear either of them with summer being here but that's what I get for taking so long to get things done.

I have gotten a bit farther with my Dotty chicken thanks to the ladies at Knit-nite the other night. It was looking a bit phallic and I wasn't happy with the way it was turning out, so it had been put on hold, but with a bit of encouragement, it's looking a bit more like a chicken:


I really like the way the beak came out, but I'm not really thrilled with the crown, I may redo it. Now I need to fix up the tail feathers and add some spots!

So that's enough for today - I'll be back to write more soon - promise. No 3 week hiatus this time. And pictures and news next time. Just have to finalize a few things at work first....