can't think of a catchy title.

The baby widget says "1 day to go" and I roll my eyes and shake my head. I doubt it.

At yesterday's doctor visit, I had my membranes swept. (Google it if you really want to know what it's all about. I'm not going to get that personal here.) It's a procedure that can start labor within 48 hours if it works. It's been about 18 hours and not much has happened. A few random contractions last night, but that's it. I'm not convinced that it's going to work, but it was worth a shot.

Cleo feels even lower than before--which I didn't think was possible until she's really on her way out--and it's making everything pretty uncomfortable. Walking sucks. Sitting up is a pain and I'm really tired of lying around all day.

In other news, the county should call the end of the rainy season next Tuesday, and that means construction projects can begin. Ours is ready to begin once the county signs off on it. For that to happen, we needed 3 signatures on the final lot split map. The fire chief's, PG&E's and the Land Use Division of some department at the county. Well, the Land Use Division guy called today and asked where our map is currently, since his has to be the last signature of the 3. The fire chief signed it without hesitation. It has now been sitting on a PG&E guy's desk for a week. When we called him today, he said he would have it signed by 3:30. I sure hope so. I've always tried to give people their space when working on a project, but I'm finding out that that's really not the way things work with government agencies and utility companies. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as they say. It's the only thing that works short of a bribe.

Anyway, we're going to pick up the signed map after 3:30 today, and I'll deliver it to the guy in the Land Use Division tomorrow morning. (So it can sit on his desk for awhile.)

On Tuesday we met with our architect and drafter to make final changes to the plans. I am getting very excited about the status of the house on paper... but there's still so much that has to happen before we can building it. Here's a quick run-down, in a fairly specific order:
1) PG&E has to sign off on the final lot split map.
2) The Land Use Division at the county has to sign off on the final lot split map.
3) We finalize our house plans, with all the engineering stuff and submit them to the County Building Dept. for approval.
4) We get the deed for our split lot.
5) We take the deed to the bank and apply for a loan, and hope that they approve us for enough money to complete the road improvements and the house construction.
6) Construction on the road improvements is started and finished.
7) The county signs off on the road improvements.
8) We pull the approved bulding plans and start construction on the house.

So, as you can see, there's STILL a lot that has to fall into place before anything happens. Meanwhile, we're having a baby.