I know I’m not supposed to be moving heavy things or straining myself but I just can’t seem to stop these days. I blame it on Toby.

As the wife of an architectural photographer, who shoots mostly at sunset, I often come home to an empty house. I’m alone usually until 9 pm. That means lots of time on my hands and sometimes I get lonely. Not lonely like I want to go out and get a drink with friends or anything but I get a bit stir crazy if I don’t have something going on. I know I should relax after a long day at work but I sit all day at work and I just don’t feel like sitting more. Besides, even if there was anything good to watch on television (which there isn’t since we don’t have HBO), I can’t sit still very long. My extra girth seems to make me uncomfortable if I stay in one place longer than twenty minutes. I need projects to keep my mind off my little aches and pains.

Yesterday’s project actually stemmed from our lack of comfortable seating in front of our television. We don’t have a couch or a chair in our t.v. room. We normally just sit on the floor with pillows against the wall. It’s a small room and it seemed like a good sacrifice to lose the extra furniture. Besides, we figured we shouldn’t watch that much t.v. anyway. Who needs to lounge around in front of the t.v. when there is always work to be done! Well, we are fools. We still lounge around on the floor and often fall asleep there too. Then we wake up with cricks in our necks.

We do, however, have plenty of seating in our living room. In fact there is a big chair that is torn and tattered and doesn’t belong in our living room. It bothers me constantly that it is the first thing you see when you come into our home. It’s old, threadbare and the stuffing is coming out of its cushion and arm rests. It’s an eyesore. But it’s comfortable and it was my great grandmother’s, so I keep it.

So what do you think happened yesterday at 6:15 in the evening as I was moping around my house looking for something fun to do? Into my head, popped a brilliant idea of moving the big ugly chair into the back t.v. room! Sure, it’ll be crowded but it’s temporary (I intend to have it re-upholstered and move it into the baby’s room when we do the big move. BTW Anybody know anything about upholstery?). Plus, it’s really comfortable! I can sit my fat pregnant booty in it and watch t.v. all night long! When I get antsy, I can hang my legs over the arms and relax that way. What a splendid idea, I thought as I hefted the humongous chair end over end into the hallway and then sideways through the narrow doorways. Of course that lead to moving the book shelf from the hallway into the living room to fill the empty void. And then the stereo and the amp had to be moved to accommodate the bookshelf. By the time I was done, it was 9 pm and I was sweating just a teeny tiny bit.

Not really a good idea for my condition. But I was happier than a clam! You should have seen me eating my microwaved left-overs dinner in my new big soft comfortable chair in front of the television. Life doesn’t get much better when you’re home alone on a Tuesday night. And hey! Sex in the City comes on TBS at 9 pm. Who needs a husband?!! Just kidding, of course.

I hate to admit it but I’ve been down these last few days. I think it’s a combination of surging hormones (even though all those pregnancy websites say I should be evening out at this stage–I think they are wrong) and the fact that I had a fun filled weekend at my mom’s with my nieces. It’s always hard to come home to an empty house with a husband who’s a workaholic after an action packed weekend with my crazy loud happy family.

I don’t like to complain about this because Toby is a very good husband and he’s an amazing artist. It’s not fair to compare his lifestyle of forced solitude to the boisterous family I grew up with where everyone constantly interrupts each other. I knew my life would be like this way way before I ever decided to get married. I knew I would always get jealous of his work. I knew I would get lonely. But a lot of the time I like my alone time. In fact, maybe that’s what attracted me to Toby in the first place. I’m very independent and I always have a million hobbies to keep me happy. I like it that he encourages me to be my own person. However, I just think being pregnant has brought out the neediness in me. And sometimes I need constant attention.

Or a really a big project!

So far I still feel fine. No cramping, no bleeding and the baby is still kicking away. Maybe she likes moving furniture too! And yes, I plan to take it easy from now on. Promise.