Middle names

Currently we are struggling with middle name choices for the soon-to-be kid. We were wondering if my brother-in-laws offer of $500 to name the kid JOHN would convert to $250 if it were a middle name. That might influence things??????? Wonder if anyone had name suggestions. I'm a firm believer that middle names should have some sort of meaning...either a family name or some profound meaning of some sort. Can't just be given because it goes along well with the first name....

Marr-waage....

"Marr-waage....is what brings us together" the famous line from one of the best movies ever.....Princess Bride. Today Chris and I were driving home from the gym and stopped behind a mini-van with two bumper stickers.
#1 No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace.
#2 Marriage = (silhouette outline of person with pants) + (silhouette outline of a person with long hair and a dress)

We initially assumed this meant marriage= man + woman, but then got to thinking that the silhouttes could just represent a woman dressed in pants and a woman dressed in a dress or a man dressed in pants and a man with long hair with a dress on. I mean...did you see what THIS KID did just to prove to his school that their dress code policy was unfair to the guys?

Something to think about.

Words of Wisdom for the week: Chris just said "You know what's funny about cats? They don't feel guilty about anything they've done or are caught doing". I said...."yeah....a guilt free life...that's why they live so darn long!"

Weekend Update

A very exciting weekend was had by SDMoose and her loyal husband, dog, and cat. C and I got new *matching* bedside tables. How very adult! No more blue plastic bin acting as a bedside table! No matter that we got them from Target and C made sure that just because we have adult bedside tables it didn't mean that we couldn't sleep in until 9 or 9:30 on a Sunday morning. Of course not! We also made it to the ND gym on Sat. and Sunday. I wanted to walk the indoor track because the weather sucks here. We were supposed to get snow Friday night (enough to ski), but all we got was lots of rain and a dusting of snow. C even got some used XC skis in anticipation of a Saturday morning ski in the woods. C walked with me on the track Saturday. He got pretty bored! We did see the ND football quarterback down on the B-ball courts. He looked small to me from the track, but Chris assured me he was not. Chris had been down there watching a game when he walked by. Guess he only came up to his shoulders or something. And Chris assured me that Brady's upper body was a wee bit bigger than Chris's! Ha! Chris opted to play pick-up B-ball on sunday instead of walk the track. At least he went with me. We watched some football onSunday. According to Chris it doesn't matter that none of the 4 teams were ones we cheer for (out of the 2938 or so that we do)...he said that there are only 3 games left in the season...they are ALL good games. Ugh. I napped during the 2nd one. We also went out to eat Sat. night at a Japanese/Korean place. we had had great Japanese food in LA and I wanted to try and relive that. Wasn't quite as good, but at least it wasn't McDonalds or something....Also heard about this cool medical story about a woman who was blind for over 20 years and got her site back after a heart attack!

 
 

My only talent

Here I am imitating Sasha Cohen (she's an ice skater). My friend Lizard exclaimed that NO ONE could do that leg-in-the-air while skating thing.....well...I can't do this while skating, but pretty darn good to be able to do this whilst in "my delicate condition".

Cute toys

Chris found these on-line at Peace-toys and ordered the elephant. Very cute. Just need to keep it away from the dog! She loves stuffed animals!!! She's already claimed a baby blanket that I got as a hand-me-down.

Interesting blog

Heard about this blog on NPR today about the strange uses of chinese and japanese stuff in American culture.
I'm sick---just a cold--but boy does it make you feel crappy.

Warmest Wishes for the New Year...

 
 

What NOT to say to a pregnant woman....

I'm compiling a list of phrases that people have ACTUALLY said to me that I'm not so sure are the best things you should say to a pregnant woman. What do you think?
1. You'll need to get some new clothes soon!
2. You're HUGE! (although...this was more in jest)
3. When is she due....she's really swelling
4. You're filling out nicely
5. Hard to zipper that coat with a big belly

Instead of saying the above, my advice is to simply say "you look great" to the pregnant woman....even if it's not true!

Addendum to last entry

Check this out: "Time to make the donuts"
Did we foresee this happening? It's a sad day for donut lovers.....

Time to make the donuts

This morning I had to get up REALLY early (like 7am...when I usually get up at 7:30). It was still dark outside. I was struggling to get up and Chris finally said "It's time to make the donuts" (You all remember that commercial, right?). On my way to work I have to drive down this awful road with strip malls and fast food places (I pass by 2 McDonalds and 2 Burger Kings). Just before I turn off that road there is a Dunkin' Donuts. Today the drive-through was packed!!!!!!!! Parking lot was PACKED. I have to admit that their T-day sign a few weeks ago advertising Pumpkin Donuts sure sounded tempting. Then I saw a patient today for follow-up who had lost her job a few weeks ago because of her vertigo (dizziness)...she had a lot of her plate and I was pleased to hear that she had found another job and I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard what it was....making donuts for Walmart. She has to get up at 4am to go to work...TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS!!!!

Cure for anything

I've discovered that Hot Chocolate can cure just about any ailment. Just thought I would pass on that free medical advice....

Winter Biking

 


Here is my cool new exercise bike! I just bought a bike mount at Play it Again sports and it converts my regular bike into a stationary bike! Now I can bike when I get home from work. I've been having fun using my cross-country skis. We've had good snow over the last few days. They had a few layers of dust on them from sitting in the bedroom in California for three years..... 

Busting at the seams

Well....haven't posted in awhile. About all that I have to report is that I'm feeling like the old belly is busting out. Had to change my sweater this morning to something that would better cover the expanding waistline. ugh. I suppose all the Thanksgiving food and sitting on my ass watching movies all weekend didn't help. I did see a few good movies...one of which is the new Johnny Cash movie "Walk the Line". Also watched Pirates of Carribean (didn't love it), Mean Girls (funny), and Christmas Vacation (classic). And tolerated a few episodes of SOuth Park (14 year-old boy humor)

Spent an hour at the ND gym yesterday walking the track and riding the stationary bike. I know it is a bit irrational but I kept thinking that one of the young athletic students might come up to me and say "hey, I know of some great ab workouts...do you want me to teach you some....looks like you could use it!" Ha ha....wouldn't that be funny. Weather is crap here in Indiana...but at least it didn't rain today. Maggs and I got poured on during our walk yesterday. Nothing like the smell of a wet dog to brighten your day!!!!!!!!

A book and a joke

Saw this article about a book in the NYT and I liked the joke about the Panda.

"Truss, a self-described stickler, a woman incensed by the gratuitous apostrophes in grocery-store signs that say "Apple's for Sale" or "We Have Lemon's and Lime's and Video's," had achieved the not inconsiderable feat of making punctuation hot. She turned the apostrophe into a form of mass entertainment.

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" went on to sell some three million copies in hardcover. It fared well even in foreign languages, including Japanese and Swedish, the go-to grammar book for those studying English as a second language. In America, the book easily held its own against "Harry Potter," diet books and the plethora of pre-election screeds, remaining on the New York Times best-seller list for 44 weeks.

The book's title, by the way, refers to a joke about a panda that walks into a cafe. He eats a sandwich, fires a pistol into the air and then leaves. On his way out, he tosses a wildlife handbook at a bewildered waiter, who understands everything when he turns to the section marked "panda" and notices a grievously misplaced comma: "Eats, shoots and leaves."

IT's WINTER!

It snowed last night and there is a nice white covering on the ground. It is cold. 25 degrees is a lot colder than the 55 degree weather we were having a week ago! Saw this article in the paper...and made me think of "you-know-who":

"How low can thermostat be safely set?" With winter looming and heating costs on the rise, many people will be keeping their homes on the chilly side this winter. It's an effective strategy; it's estimated every degree lowered on the thermostat lowers the heating bill by about 3%. But how low can you safely go? The Am. Coll. of Emergency Physicians says that 65 degrees during the day and 55 degrees at night is the lower limit for most people, provided they bundle up. People taking certain meds or suffering from certain diseases may not be able to tolerate those temps, said Dr..., "The increases in heating costs can have a terrible effect on the poor and elderly", he said.

The Original Dog-Powered Scooter

Check out the dog-powered scooter! Could be the answer to the energy crisis!!!!!

FOOOOOOOODDDD!

Oh, I'm so HAPPY!! We got Thai take-out last night and it was just fabulous. I am currently eating some left-overs. There are a serious lack of ethnic restaurants in these parts and I seriously miss them. I cry when I think about the lovely fish tacos in San Diego or our favorite Chinese and Afghani restaurants in Baltimore, the Ethiopian place in DC, etc. Fortunately there are two Thai restaurants relatively close to us and they aren't bad...so not all is lost. I had cashew tofu stir fry with spicy sauce. YUM. I wonder if people could tell me about the wonderful food they've been able to eat in those REAL cities out there......

At least I've been inspired to cook more. I found a great cookbook...called Simply in Season. It is great. I like that it organizes recipes by season. Lots of good veggie and meat options.

The Old Man and the Sea

I just love this picture. It is of my dear friend Eliza's dog Sebastian (Bas). They sent me this picture to make me jealous of the fact that they still live near the ocean. Bas is getting up there in age and walks slowly and with a bit of a limp. I just wonder what he's pondering there on the beach?  

Three's a charm! or Sympathy for Chris??

This post is not for those with a weak stomach. Yesterday was certainly an interesting day. I woke with quite a headache and just not feeling good. Had to go to work. Sort of gagged before my shower...thought that was all it was going to be...but NO....I had to later RUN back into the bathroom (while Chris was showering) to REALLY barf. Yuck. A tylenol and a glass of milk later had me feeling no better. So ONE MORE TIME before work. Last night Maggs thought she should get into the act and barfed three times in the living room during the Daily Show. Chris had to clean it up. After I went to bed I heard the lovely hacking noises from dear grey cat Mao. She didn't want to be left out...so she coughed up a few hairballs or something in the living room. Chris got to clean that up, too. Poor Chris!!!