Augh...

The painter's son is sick so he's not coming today. We were up late last night moving furniture out of his way. One extra night of chaos... not cool. We are so looking forward to having our house back to ourselves, neat and tidy. He has a lot of work to do yet - our whole hall and living room, entry, closet, and touch-ups all over the house. So he's coming tomorrow. DH won't be happy about it. I'm not particularly happy about it either.

The last of my seven no-longer-pregnant friends had her baby last night - a sweet little boy named Jonah. I adore the newborns (seven in the last two months, good grief), and their moms - but here is my confession. It makes me feel so sad inside as well. I would have been just over 23 weeks pregnant if I hadn't had the miscarriage. I wish the heartbreak would ease. It is not easy to let go of what might have been when you are surrounded by others' joyful successes. It makes me feel so alone; all of my friends are now busy with their new babies and I am still wishing for one with all my heart.

The thing that also sucks is that my cycle is all out of whack since it happened. I am not sure when I'll be back to normal physically... it's a constant reminder - like I needed one.

If you've come for the usual giveaway list, I'm sorry - I'm taking a day off from that today... I may change my mind later today when I'm feeling more myself, but for now I just need to think about something other than great baby products. Most of the time I'm full of hope but today I feel so desolate and am having trouble dealing. I don't usually vent too much but I needed it today.

Two more days

It's almost over. Two more days of chaos and we will be back to normal - just a different colour normal.

Today the painters are working on the hall, powder room and dining room. I'm having doubts about the colour I chose for the kitchen (uh oh). It's a muted green and I'm just not sure I love it for that room. I guess I'll live with it for a while and then decide. Maybe it will look different once the adjacent rooms are painted, too. Hmm.

and more painting...

Will it ever end? Today the house painters are finishing the upstairs (yay) and starting downstairs.

Did I mention how chaotic the house is? I can't stand it! Hubby and I are a little obsessive about keeping things neat and tidy (can you tell we don't have kids yet!). The painters even commented on how clean our house is which I thought was nice! We are going nuts with all our belongings either piled up in the middle of rooms or piled haphazardly in the 'wrong' rooms where they have already finished painting.

Last night we reclaimed our two bedrooms (master and guest - no, we don't sleep separately!) and our great room. It was SO AWESOME to sleep in our bed last night instead of curled up on the loveseat! And then we had to move the washer and dryer out of the laundry room, the fridge and stove out of the kitchen... We have been moving furniture all week and we're so tired.

Say, if you're enjoying my posts... or not... I'd love to hear about it.

If you are really feeling the love, you can "reward" me by clicking on one of those google ads on the top left sidebar. They're not just for show - they are supposed to link to interesting stores and such based on blog content. And the clicks coming from my blog end up shooting a few cents my way from the ad sponsors. Really, it's like 6 cents or something. Not much but it (hopefully) will add up some time in the future. It's a simple way to make a blogger happy. I know I try to click on a few google ads out there in blog land when I'm enjoying a blog. Karma, baby!

Progress...

The painters are finished our bedroom, the spare room and the great room - finally - no more nights on the couch, we can re-assemble the bed! I am loving the colours I chose so far (patting myself on the back). They still have a lot to do, though... they'll be here all week. And yes, we did get a decent price - we shopped around for quotes and called references!

Just a couple of giveaways to share -

For baby:

• Priscila mentioned her giveaway in a comment, check it out at Little Miss Heirlooms - win a $25 gift certificate for vintage baby and child items.
  
• Win a diaper cake by Sweet Baby Cakes N More at The Bragging Mommy - but hurry as it ends at 10 am tomorrow (September 23).
  

Paintity Paint!

Hooray! Today's the big day... the painters are here! Our house is finally being painted after living with 'builder's beige' for two years.

Yesterday was sooo long as we cleaned, moved all the furniture into the center of each room, emptied the closets, then cleaned again all the spots where furniture was, and wiped down all the baseboards. it took about 8 hours to do the upstairs. The tv and curtain rods had to come off the walls, the beds were disassembled, it is some serious chaos up there.

We haven't done the downstairs yet (well it's clean but not the moving and second round cleaning), they are starting on the upper floor. I am SO excited to have colour in our home!

Last night we slept on the two sofas pushed together - of course hubby got the long sofa and I got the loveseat! I was so squashed all night. I don't think I got a wink of sleep. And tonight I'm teaching until 10pm... it will be a long day!

A few giveaways to share with you today -

For baby:

• Win $75 worth of Burt's Bees Baby Bee skin care products at Organic Girl! Ends September 30th.
• Win a Hotslings baby carrier at My Charmed Life. Ends September 30th.
• Win a Fisher Price Trio Building Set at Mom Central! Doesn't this remind you of Tinker Toys? I loved those. These look equally fun! Ends September 27th.
• Win a Trendy Tadpole tee at Candid, Clever & Cost-Effective. Ends September 26th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win your choice of a pair of shoes from Must Have Shoes at Jabbering Jessi. They have a huge selection, this would be great for adding to your fall shoe wardrobe! Ends October 9th. This is part of Jessi's Back 2 Blogging Bash - check out all the giveaways while you're there!
• Win a Blush topless undershirt at Helping Mommys Win. Ends September 24th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $75 Old Navy gift card at Bargain Moose! This is for Canadians only! Ends October 7th.
• Ostensibly for children, the Nintendo DSi would keep anyone entertained. Win one at Mom Central. Ends September 27th.
• Win a Sophia's Gourmet Salad Dressing Sampler at Sweeps4Bloggers. Yum! Ends September 26th.