Turn Around, Bright Eyes

Not as funny as the Chinese Backstreet Boys, but still pretty damned amusing: shirtless lipsynching jocks do Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Digital Camera

I'm fed up with our camera. It takes 10 pictures, maybe before the battery dies. Unacceptable!

Does anyone have camera advice. I'd like something small and lightweight, easy to use, with a decent battery life. Doesn't have to be too fancy, as Bill and I are pretty sad photographers, but we need something before the runt gets here or we won't have any pictures and will probably have some irate grandparents on our hands.

It's a bit late to put this on the Christmas list, maybe it can go on the birthday list.

More Holiday Fun

Quotes from the 7 (ish) yr olds on the Holiday Lights Trolley Tour on Saturday:

"Market Basket? They should take that out and put in a Whole Foods so we can get healthy food."
"My name's Bob." "No it's not, his name's Simon!"
"We're not orphans, we're dolphins."
"I like sushi!"

Sunday we went over to a friends house that I met through Boston Parents Network. Every year she has a caroling party with her mom on piano and her husband on bass. They go all out with 13 pages of printed lyrics, and a huge spread of snacks and cookies that everyone contributes to. I was wallowing in the peanut butter chocolate fudge and the chocolate covered peanut butter balls. Bill was initially reluctant to go because of his no singing policy, but once he got there and saw how many people there were, he felt more comfortable since he wasn't personally expected to sing.

Last night I got together with a few women from the doula workshop for a cookie swap and solstice celebration. It turned out that only two of us had time to make cookies, and both the women who knew anything about celebrating winter solstice had to cancel, so mostly we just lit tealights, ate cookies, and talked about birth. Still a very good time and we're planning to get together monthly as a book club to read the books on the reading list.

Now I get a brief rest for a few days, before heading out to Dad and Cyndi's on Friday. We're going to be there a week and there is already something scheduled for every day. Should be a great time as long as I can keep my energy up. I'm especially looking forward to the warm weather!

Belly Mug Shots

Yesterday I realized we haven't taken any pictures of me since I've been pregnant. Hopefully there will be cameras and Christmas, because it was like pulling teeth to get Bill to take these. The word "nagging" may have been thrown around and there was huffiness on both sides. At least I have the excuse of pregnancy hormones.

Time for new gloves

Did I mention that it's 4 degrees outside? And feels like -10? I have got to get more gloves. My white ones are permanently filthy, my blue ones are ugly, and the green ones are way too loosely knitted. What I really want are the kind with the fingertips cut off, because mostly I keep my hands in my pockets, where they get sweaty and then freeze if I have to momentarily remove them (from my pockets, that is, not my hands. No detatchable fingers for Emily.)

Baby Shower

After thinking I would be too far away over here on the East Coast, it turns out I will have a baby shower after all! Grace is hosting on Feb 4, so save the date.

Updated: Grace's house is in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco, so hopefully my Yuba City family will be able to make it. Bill's sister is coming from Reno, and hopefully Nikki, too.

"I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?"

Ok, Christmas must be infecting my brain, because I enjoyed Cute Overload entirely too much, and I hardly even gagged.

All the news that's fit to print

You can tell it's December, because I've been crazy busy.

On Friday, I walked through a blizzard to my first midwife appointment. Pretty short and sweet. She was running way behind due to the weather, but said she'd give me more info about Birth Center Orientation next time. Waiting there wasn't so bad though, because the women who work there in the office are so friendly and a new mom came by with her tiny baby, so I just chatted, sat on the couch, read alternative parenting magazines, and got water from the kitchen. Way better than a doctor's office. It seems like we did something Friday night, but I can't remember, maybe watched a couple of Netflix movies? Or was that Sunday?

On Saturday, I went my moms group, this time all the way out in Newton, and it took extra long to get there because of construction on the T, but by the time I was finnaly on the green line, the ride was really pretty because everything was covered in snow. Four of us hung out eating snacks at one of the moms houses with a couple of babies. After I got home, we went to some friends house for Mexican sushi, which is pretty much like regular sushi, but they dip it in soy sauce with lemon and peppers - delicious. She even made a plate of non-raw-fish sushi for me! After dinner, they watched a movie, Innocent Voices, about civil war in El Salvador (the hostesses former roommate was the daughter of the president of El Salvador, how crazy is that?). Unfortunately, we couldn't stay because we were off to another party.

This one was about 10 block from my place at the home of a woman I met at the doula workshop. It was a wine and cheese and chocolate tasting, so good it made me make the Homer drooly donut noise. (She works at Trader Joes, so knows the good stuff.) I couldn't have the wine, of course (pout), but she had got me yummy sparkling cranberry juice. Two parties, two food items just for me; I felt very special. I also met a woman who does photography and would love a pregnant model, so I get to have professional pregnancy photos for free!!! Amazing.

On Sunday, Bill and I trekked out to South Boston for PS Page Me Later, the show I passed out flyer for so we could go for free. It was hilarious and we had a great time. They had even put my name on the program under the "special thanks to" section. Then we came home and watched Netflix movie. (Yep, definitely Sunday, so what was Friday night?)

Then yesterday, I did ALL my Christmas shopping and went to yoga with a friend. That was enough.

Today I'm going to lunch with Bill's group. Magalie is leaving to go home to France this Saturday and her boyfriend is visiting, so I want to see as much of them as possible. Thursday night is a Central Square pub crawl with them and Friday is her going away party. After lunch, I'm headed to Boston to walk around the common with my mom's group, then yoga again tonight with Cecile.

Whew! Also, on Saturday, we're going to take a trolley around Somerville that goes by all the best lit and decorated houses then end with coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies. Hopefully Lara and Chuck will come. I'm going to dinner with Lara on Wednesday, assuming she's not coming down with the cold she suspects she is. And I have to call a woman I met last Thursday and La Leche League to hang out sometime this week.

I think that's it.

The war on Christmas

"I, Jon Stewart, will not rest until every year on Dec 25, families gather together to spend the day at Osama's homo-bortion-pot-and-commie-jiz-porium."

Doula Workshop

This weekend, for a total of 26 hours, I participated in a workshop to train childbirth assistants. It was an incredible experience that every pregnant woman should be so lucky to have - three whole days surrounded by women who want to support other women giving birth, hearing positive messages about childbirth. I came away from it actually looking forward to giving birth, which probably sounds bizarre to most people given the overwhelmingly negative and even terrifying things that are said about birth in our culture. Of course I'm still nervous a bit and not relishing the idea of going through pain, but I'm way more excited than I am scared.

We covered so much, it's difficult to recall all of it now, the stages of labor, common hospital procedures, positions for labor, pain management techniques, ethical dilemmas, how to talk to, support, encourage pregnate women to make their own choices and direct their childbirths; it was a flood of information. But as much as I learned, the best part by far was meeting the other people taking the class, getting connected the this community of women. I plan to stay in touch with several of them, and am going to a party next Saturday at one of their houses just a few blocks from my place.

It's almost December

I got my first xmas card today! Pretty soon I'll have to start playing the music, which drives Bill crazy.

Anatomy scan

This morning was my second ultrasound where they take longer to check that all the bits are in the right places. Everything looked great; you could see all the bones and the chambers in its heart, little baby fingers and tailbone and stomach. It was pretty cool seeing it move on screen and feeling the kick at the same time, but it was also freakier than last time, since you can see the bones better and were looking at just parts most of the time, so it was like a ghoul baby or something. Though it was pretty cute when the little skeleton head yawned. Here's a pic of its little hand. More will be up on the side bar soon.

In the waiting room outside, we met another pregnant woman there for her 3-hour glucose test. She's due in February and is just a few months younger than I am. After looking over the ultrasound pictures and having the standard pregnant lady convo - how far along, where are you giving birth, have you picked out names, do you know the sex - we exchanged email.

Forgot to add - the tech said based on the measurements, it's 11oz, which is in the 76th percentile for weight, and that's using the projected due date from the last ultrasound, which is a week earlier than the due date based on when my last period was. I had better not have a ten pounder.

(Non) Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. As the token Americans, we hosted two French girls, a Danish Guy, a Dutch guy, a Mexican girl, and a Bolivian girl. No bird, obviously, but a bunch of other traditional T-Day food: mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweetpotatoes, and more pies than you can shake a stick at. Everyone stayed until about 11:30, then I put in the call to the parents and dragged my tired pregnant ass to bed.

Friday I put up a bunch of flyers for a local comedy show so Bill and I could get free tickets. It was a beatiful clear sunny day for walking around, although we did have to stop peridically to warm up with tea, as it was in the 20s. The whole process took about 3 hours, and that afternoon I was ready for a nap, but Bill's advisor was having the group over for chili, so I threw together a fruit salad and went of to that. Fortunately I got my second wind and we had a great time; there are a lot of really nice people in Bill's group.

After dinner, the boss' kindergarten daughter and her friend from school decided to put on a play for us. An excerpt:

Girl1 and girl2 sit on the stage (floor), with a book in girl1's lap.

Girl2 (announcing): Two girls reading a book
Girl2 (to girl1, in a whisper): GO! GO! GO!

This is such bullshit

It is illegal for grocery stores to be open on Thanksgiving around here. Stupid attorney general.

Bill felt the baby kick for the first time last night and my uterus has started doing weird size and shape and position changing. My next ultrasound is Monday, and no, we're not going to find out the sex, so you'll just have to wait.

Theme song of my pregnancy

(hummed under my breath whenever applicable, which is pretty much any time I'm more that 50 yard from my house. also hummed in time with my steps.)

I have to pee
Like a motherfucker
I have to pee
Like crazy

Repeat ad infinitum or until a bathroom is located. It's quite the jaunty tune.

Opening night at Frog Pond

Last night was the opening of the outdoor ice rink in the Boston Common, with ice skating demonstrations by local kids, followed by a free skate for the public. The weather was unseasonably warm, about 60 degrees, and although the rink was refrigerated and there was a layer of ice, the refrigeration wasn't powerful enough to keep the huge puddles on top of the ice frozen, so anyone who fell would up getting soaked. It was pretty funny as long as it wasn't you.

Bill and I had a lot of fun until he fell, taking me down with him, and seriously wrenching his back in the process. It was so bad that I don't think the poor guy would have gone to work today if he didn't have a presentation to prepare for APS this weekend.

What it feels like to be an atheist

This is a pretty accurate description of what it's like to be in the head of an atheist. It definately resonated with Bill and I.

Cambridge Birth Center

Last night was info night at the Cambridge Birth Center. It's a birth center in an old victorian house right across the street, and on the grounds of, the Cambridge Hospital. There are three private birthing bedrooms with queen-sized beds, large jacuzzi tubs, birth stools, birth balls, you name it. There's a full kitchen and a dining room and you can have whomever you want there. They even do water births, although I don't think I'm interested in that.

I liked it so much that I'll be switching my prenatal care to one of the midwives there after my next ultrasound. My OB is fine and all, but even she was encouraging me to go with a midwife because they really do provide better care for healthy, low-risk pregnant women. This birth center is on the conservative side as far as birth centers usually go, because it is so closely affiliated with the hospital; they only take women without any complicating factors, and their exclusion criteria is pretty long. But so far I make the cut and here's hoping that will continue to be the case.

Lip Synching

Saw this on Cynical-C and couldn't stop giggling. Make sure your sound is on.

Scratch that

Nix the luggage as xmas present idea. Someone's already called dibs on it as a gift for Bill.

Another Milestone

The books and webpages I've been reading say that the first kicks feel like butterflies in the stomach or gas. Well, I've been feeling a lot of that; unfortunately, there has been no time that I have not had gas, so I couldn't tell if it was the baby or my lunch.

Today in yoga, I was doing a very mild supported bridge (on your back, feet and shoulders on the ground, hips in the air), which caused my spine to push my uterus forward. I felt a little gurgling, put my hand on my stomach, and felt a definite kick! It was a small class so I said,

"Oh, I felt a kick."
"You're kidding!" (Jesse, the teacher)
"Yeah, the first one!"
"No way!"

He immediately jumped up and put his hand on my belly, but it was way too soft for him to have felt it. I'm sure they'll be plenty of opportunity later. One of our guests last night was saying that near the end or her sister's recent pregnancy, you could actually see a foot move under the skin, or the whole belly shift right to left and back again.

Why has no one thought of this?

They need to make maternity pants wit suspenders because a drawstring or
belt around the bottom half of an egg is an inherently unstable
situation. Not to mention that anything binding enough to stay put is
pretty uncomfortable. I don't need any additional pressure on my tiny,
tiny bladder, thank you. So I'm thinking I might have to find a pair
(?) or two of whimsicalsuspenders to keep my yoga pants from pooling
around my ankles.

Last night while pulling pumpkin seeds out of the oven a lightbulb went off in my brain and I blurted, "I just realized that I'm barefoot, and pregnant, and in the kitchen!" Too bad Bill was the only one that got it. We had to explain the cliche to our non-American (French, Dutch, and Mexican) guests.

Perfect Fall Day

Just barely cool enough for a sweater, brilliantly sunny, slight breeze. You would never guess that it was snowing like crazy yesterday.

We're having our pumpkin party tonight, so I'm thankful for the extra daylight savings time hour to get ready. We spent the morning rearranging the computer area; it's been something of a disaster since we got the new coffee table. In doing so, about ten pound of gross dust was uncovered. I will be so glad when the renovations to the house next door are done - they are making such a mess. The house does look a million times better, a huge improvement over the boarded up windows look visible in our move in pictures.

Too Soon

First snow of the season today, and I have to walk through it to get to yoga.

Time for new luggage

After wrestling with the broken zipper on our carry-on, I gave up and pulled the contents of the bag out through the partially open slit. That's one more thing for the christmas list.

Reposting email: the lazy way to blog

I emailed Grace an update on the rest of our trip to CA after we had a BBQ at her place on Saturday, and figured I could get a blog entry out of it, too. Clarification in Brackets where necessary.

[What I would have said at the beginning of the email if I had any social skills at all: The BBQ was a bunch of fun. It was so great seeing you, and Mel and Jose, and Marianne, and Tammy; we don't get together often enough.]

The wedding was beautiful. [The reason for the trip was that one of Bill's roommates from college, Sasha was marrying his highschool sweetheart, Megan.] Heather Farm is gorgeous - a lake with fountains, a huge rose garden, vine-covered gazebo, and other smaller gardens - and the weather was perfect. They kept the ceremony nice and short and used non traditional music that really suited them; their party favor was a CD of the music. We didn't know, but Sasha's mom had died this spring so he read a ee cummings poem in her honor that made me cry.

Monday Sasha, Megan, and Marc [another college roomie] came over to hang for a while and Tuesday we went up Mt Diablo, which I had never done before. Since it was the middle of the week we had the peak to ourselves. If you've never been, you should consider it; the view is amazing, supposedly the first or second largest in square mileage in the world because the area around it is so flat that you can see really far, instead of just to the next peak over, like in most mountain ranges.

Baby's same. Bill's parents agreed to store the diaper genie [gift from Grace] until it's born, so we can keep the extra 2 square feet for now :). Monday I'm going to the meet the midwives night at the birth center, and if it meets my expectations, I'll probably switch my prenatal care over to them as soon as I figure out if I need a referral and other insurance hassles.

So when are you coming to visit again?

Brief political interlude

This is embarrassing for my hometown "newspaper".

I give up

I know it's what my OB told me to do, but sitting with my legs not crossed is impossible, I tell you, impossible!

Sci-fi Movie Meme

Ok, I'm not really a meme person - I ususally yell at people who forward me crap - so I'm not going to tag anyone else, but I couldn't resist posting the Sci-Fi movie canon, as picked by John Scalzi in his Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies, which I first saw on WWdN in Exile.

The movies in bold are the ones I've seen. Clearly I've got a lot of work to do. Better go rearrange the Netflix queue.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
Akira
Alien
Aliens
Alphaville
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Brazil
Bride of Frankenstein
Brother From Another Planet
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Contact
The Damned
Destination Moon
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
Escape From New York
ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
The Fly (1985 version)
Forbidden Planet
Ghost in the Shell
Gojira/Godzilla
The Incredibles
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
Jurassic Park
Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
The Matrix
Metropolis
On the Beach
Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
Robocop
Sleeper
Solaris (1972 version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The Stepford Wives
Superman
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Thing From Another World
Things to Come
Tron
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
2001: A Space Odyssey
La Voyage Dans la Lune
War of the Worlds (1953 version)

Ultrasound

The ultrasound today was to figure out if I was having twins or not, since my uterus was a bit bigger than expected. Turns out the fetus is just about the size of a 14 week old, rather than the 13 week old it is, so no twins, thank god.

This is really happening

Today I had my first appointment with the obstetrician. Bill and mom got to go with me to hear the heartbeat, which sounds like a very busy freeway, with a couple of cars whooshing every second. The doctor said my uterus was a bit bigger than expected for being 12w, 6d, so she scheduled an ultrasound for Monday, which mom will be able to go to too, since she doesn't leave until Tuesday.

We've been maternity clothes shopping and comparing strollers, since that will likely be my only major piece of baby accessory for a while: no crib, bassinet, car seat, high chair, etc. Doesn't seem to be much between the $100 piece of junk and the $800 does everything but change it's diaper, but we're still looking.

On Sunday night we're going up to Rockport for the night. They're having their harvest festival this weekend and mom wanted to see a bit of the shore.

I'm off to get my hair cut now - finally, it's been more than a year. Toodles.

Ig Nobels

As you may be aware, the Igs were awarded last Thursday night, for such studies as "Will people swim slower or faster in syrup" and "Pressures produce when penguins pooh". The winners only get a minute for their acceptance speech, but yesterday in a series of short, informal lectures, they each got five, and took questions. As it was only about a 10 minute walk from our place, Bill and I decided to go.

All of the speakers had a great sense of humor, and their work was actually pretty interesting. The author of "The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers" explained how the spontaneous combustion of clothes on the line and seats in the saddle (really) was due to an herbicide used in New Zealand becoming combustible when mixed with the natural fibers, like wool or cotton, of some clothing, and an audience member asked if the sheep roaming the fields ever exploded. It was two hours of fun science with oreos at the end.

Good to be back.

Coming home and doing laundry is such a let down after vacation. So, we're back, and yes, we had a fabulous time; I wish we could always spend 24/7 together. We took a few pictures, and as soon as we finish off the second roll and get them developed, I'll post.

I have a head cold, and can't take any medication for it, so everything's a little jumbled, but I can say that the food in Prague is delicious, and we had a lot of fun riding a seesaw in Croatia and laughing about how the word means "tit" there.

For now, I'm going to rest up for Mom's visit, which starts on Saturday, and pay some bills: fun, fun.

Paris

Been here 5 days; but having trouble with this French keyboard. Tomorrow we leave for Slovenia! Having a great time; will write more when I get back.

Frappe, my ass

I was dissapointed with Toscanini's for the first time today. Chocolate milkshake cravings had taken me there and I was momentarily worried when I couldn't find milkshakes on their menu, but finally remembered that in the Boston area milkshakes aren't milkshakes, they're frappes. A frappe with chocolate no. 3 (dark chocolate) was ordered and I was happy again - until I got it. Totally runny, more akin to very cold chocolate milk than a satifying, filling, thick milkshake. All the milk dumped in dilutes teh taste of the ice cream and it's so thin you gulp it down in a few swallow harldy even realizing it.

Maybe frappes aren't the equivalent of milkshakes and are inherently wussier? Or maybe Toscanini's just makes really bad ones? Either way, I won't be trying that again.

Annoying

There is a wedding across the street - with an accordian. Gah.

In happier news we got our plane tickets for Sasha and Megan's wedding. We'll be in CA Oct 21-25!

Vacation

We leave for Europe on Wednesday. This morning we got our Paris hotel reservations and it finally seems real. So excited. We'll be back Oct 5 (there won't be any posting while I'm gone).

Unattainable West Coast Cravings SUCK

I want It's-its and grilled cheese from In-N-Out. Grrr.

As I was reading a magazine in front of the science center today, a guy approached me and asked me if I would do a survey for the psychology department...

I hesitated

... for candy.

Okay!

It's a pretty savvy strategy for getting participants: ask people who are seated so don't have the chance to keep walking or pretend they are busy, and offer sweets around lunchtime. I saw them talk to a bunch of people and none of them refused the survey.

In case you were wondering, it was about a robot that either hit or saved a child, with various outcomes, and in some cases meant to and others did not. You had to judge which situations were better or worse than others and sometimes had to weight intent against outcome.

The cravings are coming

Last night I would have given anything for nacho fries from Izzy's. They're round slices of potatoes instead of the traditional fry shape, fat and soft and delicious, covered with nacho cheese sauce and jalapenos. Too bad it's in Yuba City and not there anymore (some stupid fish place the last time I visited).

Specialized footware is a pain

I was almost to the bus stop when I realized that tennis shoes would
probably be more appropriate than ballet flats for going to the gym.

Great day

While volunteering at ALACE this morning, I got to watch a bunch of
birth videos, which wigged me out at first, but were ultimately really
cool and tear-worthy. And they gave me Ina May's Guide to Childbirth as
a present. Best of all I felt energetic and had a happy stomach.
(While I haven't had morning sickness or overt nausea, sometimes my
stomach felt kind of blah and I couldn't tell if it was hunger or
queasiness.)

After a 20 min nap and hummus and tabouli making, I was tired, but had
to go to Harvard square to give Bill a change of clothes for ultimate
frisbee, so I dropped by yoga and had the awesome fortune to catch an
almost empty class - only one other guy there. Reenergized from yoga, I
went to see how the ultimate game was going and got roped into playing
when someone left. I scored to (lucky) goals. Now I'm walking back to
the square where I'll read my new book while I wait for sweatmaster Bill
to shower before we meet our friends for Mexican food.

Talons

[Heh. Sent to wrong blog. I am not eating my nails.] I don't know if it's the prenatal vitamins or what, but these thing won't break. When your nails are so long that they click when you type and stab you when you rub your eyes (we won't talk about nose picking), then it is time to hack those suckers off.

Pee Machine

I thought that the urge to urinate every two seconds would wait until my uterus was actually big enough to push on my bladder. I was so, so wrong. If my body is retaining any electrolytes, it would be a miracle.

Bone crusher

What is it with people with inappropriately strong handshakes? It's so bizarre and aggressive that it makes me think of a psycho killer who feels like he has to prove something and is set off on a murdering spree because of some imagined slight that showed "lack of respect". Or maybe Lenny from Of Mice and Men, without the mental capacity to realize his own strength.

Score

There was a craigslist posting for free books just a few block away, so Bill and I mosied over. Jackpot - most of them were vegetarian cookbooks I would loved to have bought for myself anyway.

Witness:
Moosewood Cookbook
The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest (by same author)
Vegetarian Sushi
Vegetarian Dishes from Around the World
Party Dips! (their exclamation point, not mine)
The Hallah Book (one bread recipe, but tons of really cool braiding patterns)

There were also a few books of fiction which we may keep, a couple of outdated Boston and New York restaurant guides we won't, and, inexplicably, a road atlas of Britain.

So close to a Darwin award

At 6:00 am Sunday morning, we woke up to loud noises in the alley outside our window. Bill looked out the window to see a couple of young guys climbing the scaffolding on the building next door (under construction). They then grabbed a ladder and suspended it between the ledge on our building and the roof of the one next door and climbed into a second story apartment, drunkenly crooning "Good Moooorning!" Anyone being that conspicuously loud couldn't be burglars, but we called the landlord anyway and he showed up panicked, with cops in tow, because that apartment was aparently empty now.

Turns out the drunken idiot theory was correct: the previous tenant had given his key to a friend (!), who had come home to crash after going out drinking. His friends, however, stayed out later and not having a key to the place decided to improve their entry. They were still so drunk when the cops came they could barely stand up. It's amazing they didn't kill themselves getting in.

Cutest Maternity Shirt Ever

I saw this on popgadget a few months ago and still think it can't be beat, although some of their other shirts give it a run for its money. At babu.

What to expect when your wife is expanding

Dad and Cyndi, which means Cyndi, got us a hilarious parody of pregnancy
advice books. Some choice excerpts:

Q: Now that my wife is obviously showing, our pregnancy feels so
public. I know it's probably ridiculous, but I keep thinking that
people will know that we "did it".

A: Yes, that is ridiculous. Your feelings are silly and wrong.
Nonetheless, if you must do something, when strangers nod and smile tell
them immediately that you only "did it" once, and it wasn't even that
much fun. This will make everyone feel much more comfortable about you
and your pregnancy.

Thinking

Every time I pass someone on the street these days I say to them (in my head), "Ha! Lapped by a pregnant lady."

We woke up today to a delivery of flowers from Bill's parents, and there was a rainbow in my shower this morning.

Knocked Up

As some of you already know, or may have been astute enough to figure out by the new "now with more fetus" tag line up there, I'm pregnant! Two home tests and one at the doctor's office can't be wrong. Hence the crying and the looking at baby clothes.

I hate brick sidewalks

While it's true that they are unfriendly to high heels and rollerblades, the real reason they suck is that they trap cigarette butts in their cracks.

Yoga

Today in class, as a familiar song was playing, I started to cry. Don't worry, they were happy tears. It just suddenly hit me that this yoga studio would be one of my fondest memories of living in Cambridge; I was so glad to be there and I would miss it so much when I was gone - the practice, the teacher, the other students, the careful instruction.

I had missed my regular classes a lot recently because of travel or friends visiting (which, don't get me wrong, I love), but starting a daily practice again reminded me what a nurturing space it is and how good it is for my mental health. I heart you, Karma Yoga Studio.

Food News

The hummus I made today has a weird aftertaste of sprouts because I forgot to cook the garbanzos.

On the up side, as it's Thursday and there was a 3:30pm today, I got free ice cream at Harvard: chocolate chocolate chip, coffee, peanut butter cup and hot fudge, hooray. Not as luxe as Toscanini's, but it beats the price.

Holy Helenic Festival, Batman

The Greek orthodox church across the street is erecting huge tents for a Greek festival this weekend. I am so going to chow down.

Baby gear

You gotta love these onesies: retro baby.

Walking to lunch I saw a boy about 14 and a girl about 9 next to a big
cooler of bottled water. They were apparently selling the bottles for a
buck each. As I passed, she was moving her chair about 10 feet away
from him and whining something unintelligible. He was scolding, "Lisa,
you have to have you chair over here. Do you want me to fire you?"

How to make me smile

Unexpected gifts that suit me perfectly, completely by chance. We just got the cutest egg cups from Bill's great aunt Anne. How perfect: very small, so even we can find cupboard space, totally unexpected (I had never even heard of her), and tres useful as oeuf a la coque is one of our favorite breakfasts.

I was on my way out to get a pregnancy test and some chocolate when I almost tripped over the small package at the door.

The cups

Visits

Jess and her new guy, Cory, came for the weekend and we had a great time, although it was so hot they went out and bought an extra fan so they could get more sleep at night. On the plus side (besides the obvious greatness of seeing Jess again) we found two nummy new places to eat: sushi in Chinatown at Ginza and breakfast (french toast stuffed with pears and goat cheese! asparagus and tomato eggs benedict!) in Somerville at soundbites.

The previous weekend we went camping with Bill's parents and siblings for Dean and Agnes' 30th anniversary. I can't believe we have never been camping together. We've always meant to, but most of our time together has been on the East Coast and the camping out here seems kind of eh. This trip we escaped the heat on the coast in N. California, at Patricks Point, where they used to go camping as kids. It was lovely and foggy and cool.

Right before camping, Grace and Jason cam out to visit. They must bring out the mean streak in us:

We went to grab a couple of drinks and play darts at a local pub. We were having a good time, hanging out and quite often missing the board entirely, more out of suckiness than drunkeness, when about halfway through our game a chick came by, called next game, and put what looked like a less-than symbol on the board. Bill and Jason missed it, but Grace and I saw her. The game dragged on due to our complete lack of skill, and a while later, she came by and asked huffily, "Is this still the same game?" and getting nods from us continued, "You can play doubles, you know."

Whoa. Nice attitude, but whatever. Eventually I eeked out a total luck win by a very narrow margin, and Bill took the darts back to the bar. She saw us clearing out, and came over to ask if we were done. We said yes and she rolled her eyes. "Finally. Where are the darts?!" She was pissed that Bill had taken them back to the bar, since he didn't realize she was waiting. "I had next game. My name was on the board." in the nastiest voice possible.

"That's funny, I didn't see where it said bitch." I had meant this to be sotto voice for Grace only, but it must have come out in drunk voice because she whipped around, “What did you say?”

Being total wusses, Grace and I hightailed it out of there, but as Jason was in the bathroom, we had to settle for the next room over rather than out of the bar entirely. Meanwhile, Bill went over and wrote SUX under her less-than symbol before following us into the next room. Being the feisty little bar fly she was, she came after us, demanding to know why he wrote that. In typical Bill-fashion, he gave a nonsensical answer about hating the number 7 and when she said it was an L, not a 7, he just said that made it worse because it was a backwards seven. There may have been something about the devil in there too, I don’t remember.

Then it got weird:

“This is a friendly bar. We like friendly people. You guys are the meanest people I’ve ever met.”*

“Well you weren’t very nice to us.”**

“You know, you guys should be careful, because you never know who works here.”

“Do you work here?”

“Uh, no, but you should be careful, because you never know who does.”***

*Empasis added. Wow, meanest ever? We felt like we should get t-shirts to commemorate the occasion. Although to be fair, she might not quite have a grasp on mean, since friendly apparently means as huffy as possible.

**Grace swears she said this out loud, because her heart started racing right after, but none of us heard it, and I’m pretty sure she just said it in her head.

***Somehow, I think being banned from a bar is much more devastating in her mind than it is in ours.

Visits

Jess and her new guy, Cory, came for the weekend and we had a great time, although it was so hot they went out and bought an extra fan so they could get more sleep at night. On the plus side (besides the obvious greatness of seeing Jess again) we found two nummy new places to eat: sushi in Chinatown at Ginza and breakfast (french toast stuffed with pears and goat cheese! asparagus and tomato eggs benedict!) in Somerville at soundbites.

The previous weekend we went camping with Bill's parents and siblings for Dean and Agnes' 30th anniversary. I can't believe we have never been camping together. We've always meant to, but most of our time together has been on the East Coast and the camping out here seems kind of eh. This trip we escaped the heat on the coast in N. California, at Patricks Point, where they used to go camping as kids. It was lovely and foggy and cool.

Right before camping, Grace and Jason cam out to visit. They must bring out the mean streak in us:

We went to grab a couple of drinks and play darts at a local pub. We were having a good time, hanging out and quite often missing the board entirely, more out of suckiness than drunkeness, when about halfway through our game a chick came by, called next game, and put what looked like a less-than symbol on the board. Bill and Jason missed it, but Grace and I saw her. The game dragged on due to our complete lack of skill, and a while later, she came by and asked huffily, "Is this still the same game?" and getting nods from us continued, "You can play doubles, you know."

Whoa. Nice attitude, but whatever. Eventually I eeked out a total luck win by a very narrow margin, and Bill took the darts back to the bar. She saw us clearing out, and came over to ask if we were done. We said yes and she rolled her eyes. "Finally. Where are the darts?!" She was pissed that Bill had taken them back to the bar, since he didn't realize she was waiting. "I had next game. My name was on the board." in the nastiest voice possible.

"That's funny, I didn't see where it said bitch." I had meant this to be sotto voice for Grace only, but it must have come out more like drunk voice because, she whipped around. "What did you say?"

Being total wusses, Grace and I hightailed it out of there. We would have left the bar, but Jason was in the bathroom, so we had to settle for the next room. Meanwhile, Bill goes up and writes SUX under her less-than symbol and follows us to the next room.

Furious, she comes to confront us and asks why he wrote sux under "her name." In typical Bill fashion, he gives a non-sensical answer about him hating the number 7 and so he wrote that it sucked and when she said it was an L, he just said it looked like a backwards number 7.

Then it got weird.

"You know, we like friendly people in this bar. You guys are the meanest people I've ever met." *

"Well, you weren't very nice to us."**

"You should be careful, because you never know who works here."***

"Do you work here?"

"Uh, no, but you should be careful, because you never know who does."

*Empasis added. Wow, the meanest ever? We thought we should get t-shirts to celebrate or something.

**Grace swears she said this out loud, because her heart started racing right afterward, but none of us heard it and I'm pretty sure she said it in her head. We argued about it the rest of the week.

***Something gives me the impression that being banned from a bar is much more devastating in her mind than it is in our non-pathetic-bar-fly minds.

Creepy

I had to use the phrase "my husband" in a sentance last night, when
introduced to new friends at bowling.

Volunteering

I'm on my way to a recording session for RFB&D again, finally. My work
schedule got a little unpredictable at the end, which made it difficult
to commit to slots ahead of time, so I haven't been in a while. I'm
looking forward to getting back on that horse, as well as start sailing
again.

Yesterday I started volenteering at another organization, Association of
Labor Assistents and Childbirth Educators. In exchange for
volunteering, I'll get to go to one of their labor assistent training
classes, helping me learn more about the process. Hopefully it won't
scare me off.

fun, fun

Last Friday it was party time at the Hill-Rist...etc house. We had most of Bill's labmates, all French with a token Dutch guy, over for cocktails and snacks, lots of cocktails and snacks. At least 9 bricks of cheese, 2 loaves of bread, four packs of crackers and 3 bottles of hard liquor were consumed. The group is super generous and friendly: they brought at least 2/3 of the stuff, plus a few naughty treats from Hidden Sweets that were a total crack up. Underwear for two? How could that possibly be comfortable and/or erotic? Much fun was had and there are the pictures to prove it, but some are rather incriminating and as I don't have their permission to post, you will just have to use your imagination and come up with things entirely worse than actually happened.

Saturday we got together again at Magalie's house, much subdued, but still had a good time - Bill taught them Mow (Mao?) and bullshit. Her roommate turned out to be fun and outgoing, as well as a chef at one of the best restaurants in town; I sense an outing coming up. But first it will be bowling in Wednesday, and I think something else on Thursday. They are a social bunch.

In other news, my sunburn that I got two and a half weeks ago at Bill's certification dive started peeling today.

hitched

So, if you haven't heard by now, Bill and I got married this weekend at his uncle's place in Carson City. About 30 people showed and we had a terrific time, soaking up the sun sans humidity and seeing so many people that we miss being out here. We also managed to squeeze in a bit of hiking and a brief trip to south lake tahoe. It was short, but wonderful, and totally worth the four hours of waiting on the tarmac (never fly through O'Hare, especially not on a holiday weekend). We thought flying on the 4th itself would cut down on the volume, but no such luck, although it did have the cool bonus of seeing fireworks all over Chicago from the air.

Our pics are in my photostream (left) and my dad's are here.

Yay

I'm walking home from yoga and it's almost too warm, at 9:00 at night!

Parental units

The past couple days I toodled around Boston and Cambridge with dad and
Cyndi. We did the freedom trail yesterday, including the 294 steps up
the Bunker Hill monument, which was particularly impressive considering
that they had taken the red eye from California and had been up for
about 36 hours at that point. Today was Harvard Square shopping,
geocaching, and sugar. My nourishment for the day: almond bear claw
from Carberry's, hot chocolate and Luxemburgers from Burdick, spicy iced
chai from Tealuxe, and a hot fudge sundae from Toscanini's. Now I'm on
a bus to New York (I missed my train) to hop on New Jersey Transit to
Princeton for Bill's graduation.

Freedom trail

Dad and Cyndi are here, dead on their feet from taking the red eye last
night. Now we're taking a tour of the freedom trail but our guide is
the least interesting speaker ever.

Phone pheatures

My sidekick has instant messaging capability but only for AIM and
everyone I know is on Yahoo or msn. The being able to write blog
entries on the T* totally makes up for it, though.

*Even in the dark. The subway car lights are out.

More wind effects

And the stoplight's out and there went that guy's hat.

If you're standing up straight it's not that windy

I'm walking to the T leaning sideways against the wind. I just passed a
girl and when we made eye contact we both started laughing because this
is so absurd.

Parental visits

Bill's parents arrived last night. Unfortunately the weather was less
welcoming than we were. On our way to Mexican food through the rain I
said, "At least it's not that windy." They thought I was crazy, but
they don't know from windy. Wait until it almost knocks you over, then
you can call it windy.

Sidekick

I got a new phone that sends and receives email and this is my attempt
to compose a blog entry on it. I'll be trying to send pictures next.
--ehill

Out of town

I'm off to Orlando to attend ASCO until Tuesday, so may be out of electronic touch. I'll have my phone on me though, if it doesn't keep losing its charge. We need new phones in a major way.

Weekends

As some of you have figured out, the new picutures on the left are from our B&B trip last weekend. We had an awesome time, even though the weather was crummy. It did ease off the rain long enough for us to rent bikes and ride to the ocean. The little town of Newburyport is about an hour north of us on the commuter rail and is very cute, with tons of pretty shops to browse in and lots of gorgeous displays in the flowerboxes that were outside each one. The Clark Currier Inn, where we stayed was very comfortable and welcoming. Our room had four window seats as well as a little sitting room over the front porch. We spent lots of relaxing time reading and having afternoon tea.

When we got back Sunday we did a bunch of shopping for Bill since he's decided to look a little nicer as a postdoc than as a grad student. We continued the shopping this Sunday, finally finding him some shoes (thank god, he is a grumpy shoe shopper and I did not want to have to do that again.)

Friday night was karaoke with work people. A ton of fun, despite being forced to sing. But I suppose if you're going to dish it out, you have to be willing to take it. Saturday we had Lara and Chuck over for game night, which was as fun as expected. We always have a good time with the two of them. Sunday was dim sum in Chinatown, the aforementioned shoe shopping, and Enron (the movie) with a group that gets together for dinner and a movie on Sundays. It turned out to be all computer programmer types, although only on archtypal super nerd, and they swore it wasn't always like that, but Bill found it unsurprising since it's a quasi-made-up social event coordinated by email and RSS feeds. It was fun both from a go to a movie angle and from a check out these people angle. I think we'll try it again sometime and see if the dynamics change.

He passed

NO REVISIONS!!!!!!

GOOD LUCK!

Bill is defending his thesis as we speak. OK, we're not speaking, but you know what I mean.

Visits upon visits

Mom's stay was great. Mostly eating and walking and hanging out. I
have a few pictures which I will eventually get around to posting.

Jess' visit this weekend was similar, just with less walking due to
the crappy weather and lots more Carcasonne, a city-building game that
we hooked Jess on. It was awesome finally seeing her again (not since
November!) and there will be trips both ways this summer.

This weekend Bill and I are staying at a B&B up the Massachusetts
coast. Bill imagines our itinerary thusly: Take a Friday evening
train from North Station to scenic Newburyport, MA Check into the
Clark Currier Inn Enjoy some New England seafood for dinner Saturday
morning after continental breakfast, walk over to Riverside Cycles to
rent bikes for the day. Enjoy afternoon tea back at the inn. That
evening, take a sunset cruise along the river. Enjoy upscale dinner
that evening. Mosey home on Sunday afternoon.

The next weekend we're having Lara and Chuck over for game night, then
two weekends after that Dad and Cyndi and Bill's parents are visiting,
then in a couple more weekends we're going to Carson City for 4th of
July, then to the redwoods for 30th anniversary camping with Bill's
parents the beginning of August. Whew!

And since I haven't blogged since dad's b-day this weekend - Happy Birthday Dad!

The smell of spring

Whatever they're using as fertilizer around Kendall Square gives off
the foulest stench. I thought walking to work in the warmer weather
would be more pleasant. Ha!

Chemical cocktail

At the Harvard Square T stop free samples of diet cherry vanilla dr.
pepper were being distributed. It sounds like they were trying to
pack in as much artificial flavor as possible.

Woof, woof

This morning heading down to the T stop I heard barking and looked
around for the dog. It sounded like a ankle biter, but turned out it
was a 250+ pound man. Great dog impression but decidedly odd. He
eventually stopped barking and read his newspaper.

Patriot's Day

Today Massachesetts has its own made-up holiday, which is cool because I get the day off and can hang out with mom. It's also the day of the Boston marathon and we may go down to check out the spectacle later.

Mom

Mom arrived on Wenesday morning and we've been having a very mellow time walking around and enjoying the weather. She went to yoga with me yesterday, bringing the number of people I've dragged there to four. We may even schedule a private lesson for hte two of us before she heads home, if we get around to it. Now she and Bill are out shopping for dinner and I think we'll have a night of scrabble at home.

Call you mom and tell her you love her. Moms are good things.

Sweetie and Sherlock

Check out the cuteness that is mt parents' dogs.

Spring on the river

I wore short sleeves withoug a jacket today! The weather was beuatiful so Bill and I spent a couple hours rollerblading along the Charles river. We weren't the only ones enjoying the sunshine: there were a ton of bikers, runners, walkers, and strollers along the path. It was even warm enough for one woman to work on her tan in her bikini.

Later, we went down to Community Boating for orientation and both decided to sign up. Soon we'll be sailing, kayaking, and possibly windsurfing.

High tech for the low brow

Walking back from a coffee run, my coworker (female) and I passed a construction worker, who electronically wolf whistled at us.  He actually had a recording of a tone that simulated a wolf whistle, which got me wondering: is he saving his breath for truly important utterances like “yo” and “hey, baby”? Is this some sort of sexual harassment aid for the whistle-y impaired?  Did he get in trouble for whistling at women and this was deemed less offensive?

Work

Most of the drama in my life is work-related at the moment, and I’m not going to put all that here so give me a call if you want details.

 

I have done a few fun things with coworkers outside of work, though.  Besides the hugely successful game night (did I write about that already?) and the dinner party (I’ll be hosting the next one – Mexican food), I saw friends from work twice last weekend.  On Friday a bunch of us went for drinks and on Sunday we went to a 5K race to benefit pancreatic cancer.  Got some exercise, then went out for clam chowder and fried fish after.

 

Tonight I’m dragging a coworker to yoga, then we’re going to get dinner*.  After that she is starting swing dancing lessons with her husband and I am super jealous.  It would be cool if she started going regularly.  That way I’d have a twice weekly ritual of yoga and dinner with a friend.

 

*Now last night.  I tried to post this yesterday and it didn’t work.  We went to Finale, a dessert place, and had sweets for dinner.  She is my kind of girl.  We were supposed to meet her husband at 7 so he could eat with us before their dance class at 8, but he had such problems finding parking in Harvard Square that he drove around for 45 minutes before finally parking in the top floor of an almost full parking garage.  The poor guy showed up hungry at ten minutes to eight and didn’t get any dinner.

Free stuff

Tonight Bill and I are going to a secret screening, where they preview a movie opening this weekend, but you don't know what it will be beforehand. I'm on a free ticket roll: tonight, another secret screening last week for Melinda and Melinda (eh), and the New England Spring Flower show last weekend.

The most interesting stuff in my life is all happening at work. But you'll have to call me for those details, I'm not going to be dooced.

It's not a tumor

I'va been getting dizzy occasionally so I mentioned it to my doctor. She believed it was Benign Positional Vertigo, which is basically harmless and can be corrected with non-invasive procedures but, you know, just to be sure, she wanted to get an MRI to rule out a brain tumor. Just the two words you want to hear when you go in for a routine checkup.

Today was the MRI and it was a breeze, but what your dying to know is, what were the results? Fine, normal, a-ok. You can all breathe easier now.

I hate weather

Yesterday I was goingto post that it finally broke 50 and yay and whatnot, but tonight we're supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow, so bleh.

Good weekend

On Friday, did the yoga thing, then went to a fabulous dinner with my yoga buddy Theresa.

Saturday, we went to anouther couples's house (I know her from work) for game night. You can't go wrong with a night of dance dance revolution, karaoke, cranium, and plenty of munchies. We even scored leftovers for breakfast this morning. They are a ton of fun and we shall have to reciprocate soon.

Today, Theresa and I checked out the New England Spring Flower Show, a fascinating combination of beautiful and absurd and tacky.

Finally tonight Bill's brother is flying in. We're putting him up for a few days while he's in town to check out BU and are totally looking forward to seeing him.

That's all for now. Guacamole calls.

Who names food?

My carrots that I am snacking on are called Bunny Luv.

It's spreading

Jess has a blog now!

Random tidbits

Our heat's out. It's in the 30s outside. I think we'll be spending most of the day elsewhere.

Last night several women from work got together for dinner at one of our houses. The wine and cheese was great, as was the rest of the meal, especially just sitting around and chatting. I brought a chocolate strawberry tart that was so rich there was a ton leftover, so this will be a chocolate intensive weekend.

Bill is going to yoga with me today. He went last weekend while his back was sore and I thought he's never go again, but he was the one who suggested it, so I'm jumping on it while I can.

More Happy Birthday

The presents just keep on rolling in. Dad and Cyndi also sent a gorgeous necklace by Rena Tom and Reading the Vampire Slayer.

Today has been a medley of fun little activities. We had dim sum at Mary Chung's, a few blocks from our house. The scallion pancake, dun dun noodles, and steamed bun with bean paste were tasty, tasty, but the highlight was the fried bean curd with ginger. It came out as a giant block of tofu about the size of a rubiks cube and we were afraid it woudl be bland. As it turns out it was injected with sauce and had a lovely soft jiggly texture outside surrounded by a crispy fried layer. We'd never had anything like it.

After lunch we went ice skating on Frog Pond in the Boston Common and then walked down Newbury St for some window shopping. Now we're taking a break with drinks made of Absolut Mandarin, Chambord, Meyer lemon juice, and club soda. We'll watch a few episodes of the Simpsons before heading out to the Green Street Grill for carribean food.

Happy Birthday to Us

Tomorrow is my birthday as well as Bill's, and I have to say, the presents are good this year. You have to love it when people get you stuff from your wishlist, that way you're guaranteed to want your gifts.

Grace got me tickets to the Brattle, where I saw the Loony Tunes, as well as some film noir earlier this year. Such a great place. Thanks a bunch!

Dad and Cyndi got me a Purseket, a fabulous blow drier that Grace has, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy. Yay! Kisses all around. They also got Bill scuba diving lessons, an amazing present.

Can you see our house?

Actually, no, it's off to the left.

The view from the Prudential center, on Monday evening.

That's all folks

On monday the Brattle was playing a bunch of Loony Tunes shorts so I went to the theater and watched them with all the little kids. The parents were laughing as much if not more than their children.

Fresh produce

I recently subscribed to Boston Organics and today was my first delivery: 2 apples, 1 avocado, 4 bananas, 2 broccoli heads, 1 bunch of celery, 1 grapefruit, 4 kiwis, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 1 mango, 2 onions, 3 oranges, 2 pears, and 2 tangerines, all organic and delivered right to my door. I am so psyched!

Busy, busy

Every night the past couple of weeks I've been volunteering or in yoga, sometimes two classes a night. This city living is pretty cool. Tonight was my first time recording on my own (they said my demo was excellent, yay) and it was pretty cool to just go in, get my material, and start reading on my own.

After RFB&D, I walked over to Kendall Cinemas to see Nobody Knows. I had a pass from being a member of the film club. The movie was amazing, sad but mesmerizing: highly recommended if you don't mind being a bit depressed when you leave the theater.

Cancun, finally

Well, I’m still sick (new and fun symptoms every day!), but I figure if I put this off any longer, it won’t ever get done. So here’s my top ten list from Cancun.

1. Lying on the beach or poolside, soaking up the shade, and NOT BEING COLD.

2. Visiting Tulum, a small archeological site overlooking the beach. Followed by snorkeling in a lagoon (bay?) at one of the other resorts in the chain. There were crazy big cave fish. When we left, they asked us to fill out a comment card about the resort. Bill answered the first question – would you stay here? – “no”, and the second part – why? – “too many tigers”.

3. Reading Consuming the Romantic Utopia while consuming the romantic utopia, in its quintessential form, even.

4. Completely trouncing Bill in a round of mini golf. I was up by ten strokes by the eighth hole.

5. SCUBA DIVING! It was Bill’s first time and now he wants to take some diving vacations.

6. Coming across a café/bookstore in Isla Mujeres with a very cool backpackers vibe. If we had been doing the shoestring student vacation instead of the fat, lazy American all-inclusive vacation, I would have loved to hang out there all day.

7. The AAGGHHH! story*

8. Stretching and yoga on the beach.

9. Drinking pina coladas from the swim-up bar.

10. Watching moonrise and sunrise on the beach.

And one for immediately after Cancun:

1. Coming home and eating falafel to flush out all that buffet food.

*The scene: about 10am, we’re sleeping in, both on our sides facing the same way, me closer to the edge of the bed.

“What’s that sound?”
“I was wondering that too. It sounds squeaky and croaky. Maybe a frog? or a bug?”
“There it is again. Are you farting?”
“No. It sounds like it is coming from behind us and below our feet.”
“You are farting. That’s you.”
“Bill, I am not farting! Go see what it is.”
He rolls partially over.
“AGGH!” *jumps*
I jump all the way out of the bed, thinking there is a giant bug in it or something.
“AAGGHHH!”
“A cat?”
“Yeah, I yelled because it swatted at me when I rolled over on it.”
“How did a cat get in our bed with us noticing it?”

Sick leave

I'm coming down with something, so I'm going to eat a bowl of soup and go to bed; the Cancun update will have to wait.

Cancun

Ok, people, the damn photos are up - stop nagging me. I have to run to yoga now, but will try to write a bit about it tonight if I'm not too pooped.

Escaping the cold

There is a huge snowstorm coming in tomorrow night and I will be in Cancun!!!!

Work and yoga and volunteering have kept me insanely busy this week, so I've had no time to post the updates I wanted. Hopefully when I get back I will have lots of sunny pictures to share.

Starting Work

I had a great first day at work today. The morning was pretty routine, with HR orientation, a picture for the directory (below), and a bit of safety and IT training, but it picked up from there. My work has a buddy system, and I was matched up with a very friendly woman about my age who took me out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We managed to chat for more than an hour and mostly keep work out of it. After lunch she brought me by my office, where I discovered Cyndi had sent me some beautiful tulips for my first day. (Thank you!!) Then we went around for the requisite introductions. She is pretty chatty and outgoing, so that took almost 2 and a half hours, which left a bit of time to start organizing my office and to briefly meet with my boss.

Now I'm chilling for a bit before heading to yoga. I found a studio that I love. It's not as convenient as the gym by work (which is one block away), but I think I have a better chance of going regularly if I'm enjoying myself. I'm actually actively looking forward to going to tonight. Except for the walk through the 20 degree (w/ windchill, 3 degree) weather.

Best. Boyfriend. Ever.

and his taste is improving.

I walked over four miles today, even though it was rainy and in the 30s: go me. I was on a geocaching trip to the Musem of Science's Solar System. Models of the planets are scattered throughout the Boston area in a 1 to 400 million scale model. To get credit, you have to take a picture of yourself at a minimum of three planets. I used a Brain happy meal toy that dad gave as a stand in, since I was by myself. My first attempt, last weekend when I went to the MoS with Bill, was thwarted when by my failure to put the memory card in my camera. Today I made it to Saturn, in the main branch of the Cambridge Public Library (very castley), and to Mars, in the Cambridgeside Galleria before running out of time before my 6pm orientation at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.

RFB&D is an organization that records textbooks for people who can't read them. Interestingly, they're headquartered in Princeton and their biggest recording center is here in Cambridge, because of the large number of scientifically trained people in the area who are able to read textbooks in their fields. It is conveniently on the same block as my work, so I hope to volunteer there regularly once I get trained and they accept my demo tape.

On my way home, I stopped to see Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst. I wasn't very familiar with the story, so I found it fascinating. What a mess.

Experiments with hair dye

Deciding that it would be a good idea to get rid of my 2-inch roots before starting work next week, I grabbed a box of dark brown and went to work. Now most of my hair is a beautiful chocolate brown and the ends in the front - you know, the part that frames my face - are BLACK.

Goodbye Dragon Inn

After dinner tonight, I went over to the Brattle to catch Goodbye Dragon Inn. I tend to like my films a bit more arty and unusual than average, but I was nowhere close to being able to handle this. It was shot after excruciatingly long shot of nothing happening. Each scene was an excercise in endurance. Ugh.

Update: I forgot to add that there was approximately 60 seconds of dialogue in the movie, about 30 half-way through and about 30 ten minutes from the end.

What I'm Eating

I have become increasingly obsessed with interested in food blogs. Though I admit that there is no way I could really do one justice, they have inspired me to cook a few new things and to try new restaurants, which has made me want to start archiving meals I have enjoyed.

So, with that goal, I have started What I'm Eating. If you're curious about what I'm eating, and where, or how I made it, go there. It's also linked under the "Me" menu on the right.

Date Night

Last night we had a great time. We strolled through a snow-covered Boston Common, and down Commonwealth Ave. The trees that line the street were still lit for the holidays* and were quite pretty.

We warmed up over seafood stew and the largest, tastiest veggie platter I've ever seen at the East Coast Grill, followed by warm chocolate pecan pie with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream from next-door Christina's that made my eyes roll back in my head.

Then we killed a bit of time in ultra-hip, dripping-with-irony kitsch stores for a bit before going to the show at Improv Boston. It was only 9:15 when we got out, so we walked over to the Kendall** for The Life Aquatic.

Finally, we had a couple of scotch and sodas during the Simpsons*** to close out the night. Good times.

* Maybe they're like that year round?
** With a bit of a disoriented detour
*** Thanks dad and Cyndi!

Yay for organization! or, We are lazy bastards

We are unjustifiably excited to have a new spice/utensil rack for the kitchen. Because now our stuff is right there! And you don't even have to reach up to the cupboard! Or into the dishwasher! Because they can just dry on the rack once they've been washed! Yay! Exclamation points galore!

I would like to thank Economy Hardware for making this possible. I should also thank Grace, for providing the utensils, and Bill's sister Terri, for some fantastic Indian spices.

Our new rack:

Errands

No more New Jersey, looks-like-it-was-made-in-my-cousin's-garage driver's license for me. I went to the Registry for Motor Vehichles and in two weeks I'll have a MA license, complete with a hat-hair, psychotic chipmunk picture of me on it.*

It is really annoying when the register clerk at the grocery store gets all judgmental about the price you pay for your produce. "You really want all these tomatoes? You know they're $3.99 a pound, don't you? We do sell other tomatoes, you know." Yes, I know, but they were crappy, and I can't help all the natural disasters and bad weather driving up the price of tomatoes. I need my tomatoes, damn it!

*I don't know what they did to the photo, but it's also elongated somehow and I have a minor conehead thing happening.

Secret Santa

Did somebody get me a subscription to Games magazine and not tell me? One showed up at my apartment unexpectedly.

Recipe: Fruit Salad

Bill and I decided to have fruit salad this morning, so we headed out to buy fruit. Of course it had snowed all night and was still coming down. Our usual stroll was covered in several inches of frozen powder and slush. Suprisingly I wasn't cold and actually kind of enjoyed the walk. It's amazing how much less you hate snow when you don't have a car and do have a landlord to shovel it for you.

We picked up our fruit and stopped at the local bakery to get bread for dinner as well. It reminded me of being in Paris where we would assemble a meal from several different specialty shops instead of getting everything at one big grocery store. Hopefully we will go back someday.

Here is the delicious recipe. Mom made it for us when she was visiting, just trowing together whatever we happened to have on hand. It was so good that we've made it several times since.

2 bananas, sliced
1 honeycrisp apple, diced
1/3 bunch grapes, halved
3/4 c. plain yogurt or kefir
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 c. pecans, chopped

That's it. Just toss it all together in a bowl and you've got instant yumminess. The creamy, sweet, crunchy combo from the yogurt, syrup, and pecans is marvelous.

I'm-a workin' girl agin

After considering a couple of offers, I have accepted a position!!! My start date is Jan 17, so I'll be at work a week, then off for a week in Cancun.

My hands are covered in newsprint

My stepmom is right: putting away xmas decorations? So not the fun of putting them up.

Flickr

If you have eyes, you may have noticed that there are now a bunch of pictures on the left side of my blog. They are hosted by a very cool service, Flickr, which allows you to comment on each photo the way you would a blog entry. There are a bunch of other cool features, but they aren't really of interest to anyone except other users.

Click on any pic to see a larger version or to comment.

I hope it's warmer where you are

Snow in front of a nearby church

We're Ba-ack

What I did for my Christmas vacation:

1. Spent much fun time with Bill's family and our college friends.
2. Was involved in a crazy drama-laden car crash.*
3. Snowboarded until I was ridiculously sore (i.e. for a few hours).
4. Relaxed in a swimming-pool-sized hot tub.
5. Got a job offer while walking through the Las Vegas airport.
6. Ate free tapas.
7. Got hit by a bus.*
8. Snarfed aproximately 763 lbs. of chocolate, but no cookies. Where were all the cookies this year?

*No one was hurt.

The car saga:

Bill was driving Grace and I past Fairfield at about 1:30am on our way back from Sacramento, where we had hung out with his roommates from school. As he describes it, a car, the only other one on the road, came racing up behind us going what appeared to be well over a hundred miles an hour. Since we were in one of the middle lanes, and there were no other cars on the road, Bill’s fist thought was that the other car was trying to ram us on purpose. He tapped the brake to say, “Hey, dude, there’s someone else out here, too.” The car veered around us to our right, lost control, and swerved back, sideswiping the front of the passenger side. The impact spun us around and we came to a stop perpendicular to the road in the fast lane. We were able to make it to the right-hand shoulder before any other cars came by.

The other car had wound up off the road to the left, and no one was getting out, so Bill went over to see if anyone was hurt. A disoriented, wobbly, obviously chemically-altered guy staggered out. He looked very sketchy and for a few moments Bill wasn’t sure if he would wind up shot. The guy was unresponsive to questions, so Bill came back to check on us and call the cops.

On the other side of the road, the guy starts unloading his luggage from the trunk. He comes over and asks Bill if he can use his phone. Um, no? Bill says he’ll call if the guy will tell him the number. I guess that wasn’t to his liking because he changed the subject asking for a ride, apparently thought the better of that, too, said, “Don’t call the cops,” took off with his bag, and hopped the fence. Did I mention that his car had no plates? Yeah, stolen rental car.

Despite the hit-and-runner’s advice, the cops were called, and they told us to take the next exit to the AM/PM. Although there was very little cosmetic damage to the car, the alignment was shot, and Bill had a tough time just driving it straight, so we knew we would have to get it towed. While we were waiting for the cops at the gas station, we went into the store to grab some coffee. Grace sees a guy she thinks is the other driver, but doesn’t mention it because she figures no one could possibly be so stupid as to steal a car, smash into the only other car on a four lane freeway, ask to borrow a phone and get a ride, run away, and then go for a snack at the nearest AM/PM, but she was wrong.

Anyway, the cops come, and by this time the guy’s gone. They take our statement and start searching the area. He is found in the Motel 6 next door, in bed with a couple. We’re a little fuzzy on the details here. Some of us remember the cops saying that he was naked and some of us remember them saying the couple was naked. Either way it was pretty weird. Who opens their hotel door in the middle of the night to someone banging on it and asking to be let in? While you’re naked? Or he is? What??

Bill ID’s the dude and at some point a tow truck is called. (Thank god for AAA.) Of course it’s a regular tow truck with seating for three in the cab, including the driver, so either one of us stays, we wait two hours for the neared quad cab to arrive, or we squish. We pick door number three, with me on Bill’s lap. We’re headed to Oakland airport to the rental car company, but that means that if we take the freeway, we stop at the scales, and get in trouble for our overstuffed truck. So we have to take the back streets, with me sideways and leaning over on Bill’s lap, at 5:00 am. Not a fun time for my back.

There was a bunch of paperwork at the rental car agency, but we got through it and Grace’s husband was wonderful enough to come pick up our tired butts. Thank you, Jason.

We’re still waiting to hear who is going to end up footing the bill for this mess, but we weren’t hurt, and worst case scenario, we get stuck with it, it won’t break our bank, so at this point we’re just feeling lucky that there wasn’t a semi bearing down on us when we were stopped in the middle of the freeway.