Life with a newborn

The latest game

I'm trying to figure out of those little bubbles that feel like they keep popping in the same place of my lower abdomen are my first little kicks, or just gas... Hopefully the doctor can enlighten us at our doctor appointment tomorrow!

Holiday News

Since I haven't been very good about updating this blog, I figured I'd post our holiday photo that we're sending out this week. Note the bottom middle photo...we're expecting in June!

Wow. Yes, we can.

What a great night. What a gracious concession speech. And what an inspiring acceptance speech.  I love that we have a president elect that it's looking to the next election cycle but is looking to the future. 

"America, we have come so far.  We have seen so much.  But there is so much more to do.  So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?  What progress will we have made?  This is our chance to answer that call. 

This is our moment.  This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

(Full text of his speech can be found here)

I voted

It's the day we've been waiting for, after two years of intense election coverage.  I'm an absentee voter, and this election I actually managed to fill out my ballot correctly and mail it in on time. (The past two elections, I either lost it or accidently voted the wrong way and had to vote provisionally at the polling place.)  Wow, did absentee voting pay off! Bryce went down to the polling station at 7 AM, right when they opened - and he was STILL in line at 7:45! I'm so excited about the high voter turn out. I hope this means that there will be a land slide for Barack Obama.  I also hope this means good things for Prop 8 (or rather, bad things, since I don't want Prop 8 to pass), but I think that both the left and the right has been mobilized so high voter turn out may not be in our favor for all things.  That said, I'm just glad to see that people are motivated, and that this election was exciting enough to get all the apathetic folks into the polling booth.

The Lake of the Devil

 

I'm visiting Madison. I have few friends left in Madison these days. I wandered down States Street yesterday, and enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but didn't want to do that again today.  So, I reserved a car at the airport (only $20!) and drove.  I took the familiar drive from downtown to the place where I lived in high school... past the farms (and new subdivisions where some farms used to be) and gloried in the oranges, yellows and reds of fall.  Went to the Shoe Box in Black Earth (for some reason, the world's best shoe store with a huge selection is in Black Earth, population around 1000) and bought two fabulous new pairs of shoes for prices way lower than they would be in Berkeley.  Then, I picked up a picnic lunch at Piggly Wiggly and drove up to Devil's Lake, where I would "hike" in high school and college.  After wandering around to find the familiar CCC trail, I started up.  Even going a slow pace, it only took 20 minutes to reach the top.  This was a real wilderness hike for me ten years ago! The top rewarded me for my effort (easy at it was) with fabulous views of the fall colors.  On the way down, it started to rain, and yellow oak leaves were drifting down around me.  It was serenely beautiful.   Then, I headed back to the modern world and met a friend at the newly redone Hilldale mall to eat at Pasqual's. We thought about seeing a movie at the new Sundance theatre, but were scared off by the $11.75 price, and decided instead to see Wall-E at Market Square for only $3.   All in all, a great day.

Dry Garden

You'd think that a dry garden wasn't something you'd desire. But, I spent the past couple weekends redoing some of our wine barrels to create a dry garden - a hardy garden that doesn't require very much water. We got some plants from a nursery up the street (aptly named "The Dry Garden"), then went to town. We have two great wine barrels in the back yard (on wheels, they roll around on our driveway), and a new wine barrel up front. (Well, not new... it was in the back yard and had strawberries growing in it, but the strawberries' irrigation got clogged and they died... Fitting to replant it with a dry garden.)

I'm really excited. The best part? We got all the plants (17 total) and soil (3 bags worth) back on our bike trailer. (Two trips, though...)