weekend recap countdown to goldfish

this weekend i just prayed. i prayed God if the goldfish decides to come this weekend let it be and let it be awesome but if it’s ok with you just give joe and i one last weekend as the two of us. i feel a bit like we’ve been given this gift to be able to see things coming. to know that the days of just abby and joe are coming to an end (in a wonderful way) and we are going to make this journey into parenthood together on or before thursday. but by thursday we will have a real live human goldfish here on earth with us. and we are soaking it up every minute we can.

friday we were going to go wander downtown saugatuck but as we drove by salt of the earth we pulled right in. we are hoping to have our “last date” at salt wednesday night but no matter how many times a month we eat there it just seemed like the right place to go. we sat and split a pizza and the smore and just talked about the excitement of whats to come. i’m trying very very hard not to let my mind wander to the dark places it could go while at the same time bracing ourselves for the possibilities and the future of the goldfish’s grape size heart. it blows my mind to this day that the doctors can see and attempt to repair abnormalities with the heart the size of a grape. i dont’ like being blind sided but i’m just focusing on one thing at a time. step 1. grow goldfish step 2. birth goldfish step 3. treat goldfish 4. take goldfish home. as we had dinner we could feel our conversations start to drift to the what ifs and would kind of try to get back on track by talking about assembling more baby furniture and washing clothes and the “fun stuff” that comes with the pending arrival of the goldfish.

we called it a night after dinner because we were so exhausted. it was my last day of “work” before maternity leave and i had been hustling for a few months trying to work ahead and get things ready. it was bittersweet to leave the office that day because i love my job, i take pride in my work and it’s hard to rely and trust that others are going to pick up the torch while you are out. but at the same time it ignited an excitement in me that this is coming.

saturday morning we “slept in” until 6:15 and had coffee in bed, read magazines and books, slowly got up to do chores and headed north to pentwater. we took our time getting there stopping at farmers markets and for lunch at the deck in muskegon. we watched the beach volleyball players while we ate and continued up north. we arrived in pentwater around 2pm and checked out the cottage. surveyed our progress and walked around and actually shopped the downtown area. usually we work all day and by the time we’re done the shops are closed. we checked out the super awesome toy store that is located on the far corner of the street. it’s seriously amazing and the owners are so passionate about their shop. we bought this little fuzzy lamb puppet for the goldfish. i mean come on. it’s a lamb AND a puppet. made sense that a baby would need that.

after a bit of shopping we walked back to our cottage and took a nap. it was glorious. i don’t know why but i can never nap at home but at the cottage it’s like the instant i lay my head down. we then headed to our friends house and grilled up some steak and veggies and enjoyed the pie we picked up at the farmers market. we laughed and hung out joking about our “last days” of hanging out. we had a wonderful time catching up before heading home.
sunday was about the same morning routine. woke up to coffee and reading then slowly started the day. it was driving me crazy all of the zucchini we had on our counter so i made it all into bread (8 loaves!) and then wrapped it for the freezer to enjoy later. while i was doing that my dear husband installed car seats in my car and his and then assembled the rocking chair that arrived on friday. it’s seriously the most beautiful chair. i’ll show it to you later. he fed the animals and i picked up around the house. we spent the morning just doing little things here and there before cleaning up and heading for brunch in saugatuck at everyday people. (ps they have brunch and bottomless bubbles saturday and sunday $20) i just got the brunch though. cause you know. they frown upon that sort of thing.

we walked around the town and stopped an antique store before driving to grand rapids to pick up a few supplies from the brewing store (we are getting into fermentation now) and grabbed some coffee. headed to get groceries and other things (batteries and deodorant very exciting) and then headed to joe’s parents house for pizza and more pie. we got home around 9pm and needed to still rack the cider that joe has been working on. that took us to about 11pm and we left the kitchen a mess and called it a night. (goldfish please don’t come while kitchen is still a mess please).