Last week

It was probably the most stressful week I've had so far. Nothing to do with the pregnancy just life in general. We received noticed from our renter that she was giving her 30 days. Being she signed a contract till Sept 10th I was a little upset about this. However in the long run I'm grateful that we can put it back on the market and try to sell it. We've done very well as landlords but I'm getting tired of having to take care of a mortgage when we don't live in the house. And I'm tired of wondering what the inside looks like since we don't live there.

On Tuesday I received a call from the Sixth Floor Museum asking if I could send some headshots over. I asked why and they said they were doing a reinactment of the assasination of JFK and remembered how much I resemble Jackie O. I was very flattered and told them thank you but I am 8 months pregnant. That might put a hitch on the fitting. I sent in the headshots anyway and thought what the heck you never know. The next day I received an email saying that I was still in the running. The curator was so impressed with how much I do resemble Jackie O that he was really pushing for them to select me. He needed pictures of my full figure to figure out how the camera could work around my pregnancy. Again I was flattered and then my hopes began to rise. So I waited to hear the news that day and all day Thursday.

Also on Thursday we received our first call to show the house. Now normally I would have been very excited about this however I knew it wasn't show ready. I tried to put off the realtor but she insisted that the buyer was wanting to make a decision and really wanted to see the house. In retrospect I should have told her that I'm sorry it just isn't ready and she can see the pictures on line. But instead I called the renter who didn't answer and left a message. Then I became nervous of how the house really did look since we never really go inside. So Mom and I took Hank in the car and went over there. I ended up waking up the renter's kids and told them the situation. They didn't argue or close the door on me. I was amazed at that. I asked them to turn on the lights and make sure the a/c was on. I already knew that it was cluttered and a bit dirty inside. I met the realtor and buyer in the driveway and explained the situation as well as told them all of the updates and really tried to sell the house before we walked in. I'm so glad I did because it was worse than I had imagined. I was actually embarrased to be in the house and be showing it. The realtor was really nice and understood that you can't control how a renter lives. She was helping me to sell the good points and I told her that we would call her and make an appt to show the house again once they had moved out and we had it professionally cleaned.

Once they left I got in my car and began crying. I'm not sure really why (pregnancy, hormones, crazy stress) but I just couldn't handle the stress. I called Tyler and told him everything. Then I called Mom and Elissa and told them what had happened. (Mom had to go to a hair appt and took Hank. I had my own car.) Elissa is in the process of trying to sell her house so she really understood the frustration. I met Mom over at her hairdresser and she knew that I needed to just unload. So we got a sandwich and went back to the office. Then I received another call from another buyer who was also interested. This was positive news but I didn't know what to tell her since I didn't feel like we could show the house till it was back in shape. So I called Tyler again and being so wonderful he told me to not worry about the house anymore. He would take care of it. Then my thoughts shot back to the Jackie O shoot since I hadn't heard anything and needed to make our plans for the weekend. I checked my email and there was nothing. But instead of not thinking about it anymore the thought was there in the back of my head that it was still a possiblity and that drove me nuts.

Also I couldn't really feel Elizabeth moving all day on Wednesday which made me worry. I know that stress, rather I realize I am or not, can affect the baby.

On Thursday night I was waiting for Tyler to get home so we could make dinner. He asked me about my day and I just lost it. I had no idea how much I was holding in till we began to talk about it all. He told me that my job from that point till Elizabeth is born is to take care of myself and he would take care of the rest. He didn't want me worrying anymore about anything. And he surprised me with the prettiest roses! He is so wonderful. He made dinner while he demanded I stay in bed and watch movies. Then he gave me a back rub, foot rub, and told me that I'm doing a great job juggling everything. And that he thinks I resemble Jacki O. I cried for a while and just thought that no matter what else happens in our lives we are bringing this wonderful, beautiful baby girl into the world and that is all that matters.

I slept better that night than I had in a very long time! Elizabeth moved all night and has continued to move since. I welcome all kicks, turns, hiccups, and other discomforts that she makes.

Friday I decided to write the curator just to have the final news about the shoot. He wrote back with the nicest words:

Hi Erica,

Thanks so much for sending photos and information! I wish the final decision had been mine, for you are the best!

Unfortunately, the production staff in Los Angeles, which has been working with a local casting agent, had settled on five possibilities and had already found a person and costume to fit her. While your pregnancy would not have shown significantly on camera, and would not have been a problem for the show, they couldn’t get come up with proper wardrobe in time.

So, like so much in life, timing is everything and the timing just could not work in this case.

Good luck to you, your husband and your new baby. And if there’s another show needing a Jackie look-a-like, I know exactly who to recommend.

Gary

Now wasn't that a sweet email!

My response was:

Hi Gary,

Thank you for letting me know. I figured as much but I didn't want to make alternate plans until I knew for sure. I'd love to do any Jackie look-a-like work in the future that you will need.

I must admit that nothing beats knowing that I'll be having a baby girl in September! Have a great weekend!

And that sums up last week.