Souvenirs

Last night, I was checking myself out in the mirror (trying to make myself want to exercise after having to see the cellulite and all), and I noticed that I have soooooo many varicose veins. Soooo many. It's just awful. I had a few before I had Alyssa, but wow, after having her, it's like ugly city down there. This sucks.
I am complaining about my body, and then bam, I see something on National Geographic about some poor boy who was born with a rare genetic disease that makes him horribly disfigured and puts him in serious danger of dying young. I know, put into perspective, these are minor things to have to put up with, but I am wholly unsatisfied with the shape I'm in.

We are almost completely unpacked, but take a look at what I was faced with still, only days ago:

In what will be Alyssa's room.

What a freaking mess. This is one area of the living room.

The breakfast bar looking into the kitchen.

And a bag full of recyclables because for whatever reason, our community does not recycle...we'll be taking them in ourselves.

Little by little, this townhouse is starting to grow on us. One thing I miss most? No where to sit and see nature; nowhere to even go for a walk, unless we want to make the 20 minute walk to the beach. We do have some really nice parks near us, and I will probably end up taking Alyssa there so that she can experience some "nature," but there are no more opportunities to sit outside and feel the breeze while watching birds peck around at our grass or out of our bird feeder. There is no greenery here to speak of. I am determined to make one of our patios on the top floor, our own secret garden. I'll post a before and after.


The 22nd was my birthday. 26. We celebrated with a sweet potato pie and dinner my mother made for me. She loves me. Michael bought me a new laptop, and my brother's gift to me (at my request) will be taking us to the Premier in Boca to watch Transformers this weekend.
Oh, and can I say how excited I am for the new Harry Potter?

Aly and Mike at birthday dinner:




Yo:
Check out half of my allergy testing:

I am allergic to oats, barley, rye, and slightly to almonds. Although, I eat almonds all the time. Especially when they're coated in chocolate.
And outside of food, I am allergic to just about everything else on earth. My doctor said I'm the type of person they'd write papers on. Ha!

Enough about me. What's new with you?

A Little Change

The picture above was taken in the half bath in our new townhome.
It is so sterile and big compared to our old, tiny home that we just came from.
Old, tiny housing is what I'm used to. And now this...the building lacks any character whatsoever. However, nothing is falling apart or broken, and we have more space, and so, I am happy. It will just take awhile to make some memories here.

Actually, the first memory that I can associate with this place so far, is of me being incredibly frightened. The very first day we came to measure for blinds and check it out before officially moving in, Michael and I brought a multi-grain Pizza Fusion pizza with us to eat.
I was just finishing my second piece when my entire mouth swelled up. It was so bad that you could see it on the outside. My cheeks were huge.
I panicked because I know your throat can close in these situations. We left in a hurry to get to the hospital in case I needed help.
I was two days away from having insurance though, and didn't want to go in unless I absolutely had to. We waited, and the swelling began to die down. It was with me for a couple of hours, but it went away, thankfully.
So, that was my first memory here in our new home. That of panic.

Fast forward two weeks, and I am afraid to eat anything bread-y. I went to the allergist and a preliminary test showed me as allergic to oats, barley, wheat, and some grains.
I used to have food allergies: chicken, yeast, mint, etc. But I haven't had any since I was a very young child. I guess they are back, and with a vengeance because my mouth never swelled like that. I used to just break out into hives.

I go back tomorrow for more conclusive testing, but the sheer fear of swelling up like that and possibly of having my throat close, has kept me away from any kind of breads and oats. The only carby thing I'm eating is rice. As a result, I have gone down a dress size. It's crazy. I'm a size 2 now. This may be the best diet ever: a diet based on fear, lol.

So tomorrow will be busy with picking up contact lenses, going to the allergist for a couple of hours (oi!), and cleaning the rest of the mess in the house.

Happy Fathers Day to all you papas out there!! And to the one in this picture. He is a doting father. That is for sure.

Favorites

There she is. The most delightful person I think I may ever have the pleasure of meeting.

Before I became a mother, I used to imagine that having a child was akin to seeing your heart walking around, entirely too unprotected. And now that I am a mother, I now know that she's even more important to me than my own heart. She's awesome.

Sooooo, we have moved in, y'all.
The place is really nice, but a bit too big for my liking. It is by far the largest home I have ever lived in. I prefer small, cozy homes with character. And while this townhouse is beautifully new and clean, with upgraded appliances and a nice master bath, it is cookie cutter and cavernous.
At least, that's my opinion.
Nonetheless, I'm not asking anyone to kick me out of here! It is a nice place to live.
I'll post pictures later tomorrow. I actually haven't even taken any. We've been strapped for time.

Today, I went to the allergist. Something I ate last week, made my mouth and face swell up immensely. A preliminary test shows that I am allergic to: oats, rye, wheat, and barley. Nice.
I have officially sworn off multi-grain anything and cannot even eat my favorite pre-made cookies. I have to go back on Monday to take one last test before the doctor gives me the final list of items to avoid.

Ok. So, off to bed. I am exhausted.

Ellamennopee

Sorry I haven't been on here for a while. I have been very busy! Very busy indeed.
Michael and I have been trying to get our lives in order, and apparently, that will take up quite a bit of your time. Ha!

So, as you probably do not know, Michael owned a real-estate title company.
A few months back, he shut down because he was not producing enough and thus, was more a of a liability for his underwriter, than was worth it.

Here we are, several months later, and he is still looking for a job.
He has been looking, but I think he was banking on the possibility of asking his sister to see if she could get him a job at her place of work. Unfortunately, as he found out this week, they are not hiring for any position that pays what he wants to make.

I have offered to get a job, and he can stay home with the baby, because I can make what we need, in order for one of us to stay home. But he insists that it is his role to provide, and that Alyssa needs me, not him. He loves us. But I wish he'd be open to that option!
And if that was not already complicated enough, let me throw in a foreclosure.
When Michael originally lost his job at the title company he was working at before he opened his own, we could no longer afford our house. From there, we wouldn't have fought for it even if we could (which we could not), as it has devalued tremendously- I'd say, by about $150,000. Ridiculous. So, we have the sale date of our home- July 8th.

Fast forward to today. We make the decision to rent a townhouse in a nice neighborhood (a serious upgrade from our current one), at a really reasonable price. (It will be only a few hundred dollars more than our last one-bedroom 900 square ft apt, and this is a 2500 sq ft townhouse)! Florida is freaking expensive...And we won't have to pay for the first two months.
So, in a couple of weeks or less, we will be moving into a brand new, never-lived-in townhouse. I like this. However, I do not like that we are living off of savings. Yuk.

I am so anxious. I want to start looking for work for myself despite what Michael says. I really wouldn't mind being the one to work. I'd be happy if one of us could stay home with Alyssa no matter which one of us it is.

Okay, so tomorrow, we will have grandma and grandpa over to watch the little babooshka so that Mike and I can start packing and cleaning.
I will also take that opportunity to post pictures!

Sunday will be spent with the in-laws. Not sure yet what the plan is though...
And Monday will be spent with Julie up in Lake Worth.

And lastly, I would love to see this movie this weekend, but I doubt that will happen. Time constraints and all: Away We Go.

Okay y'all. Goodnight!!!