Midwife appointment

Today was our 28 week midwife appointment. After this we start going every two weeks. Wow - we're really going to have this baby soon! I passed my glucose test, got my FMLA forms completed, got a letter that states that I'm pregnant for K to give to her work, got a lab request for my Rhogham shot. My weight is good (10 pounds so far), my measurement is good (29 cm at 28 weeks), the heartbeat is good (150). All is well in the baby world.

Nursing clothes

Yesterday while we were out and about shopping for shelving, we stopped into Walmart. We never go to Walmart for various reasons (there's a whole documentary about reasons not to shop at Walmart, plus it's 45 minutes away). But we got a hideous diaper bag as a present that we were sure came from Walmart, so we wanted to return it for something more useful - nursing bras.

My breasts keep getting bigger. Before getting pregnant I was a 36B. In the first trimester I bought three bras in 38C. A month or so ago these became too small. I've been wearing them but they look ridiculous and I wouldn't exactly call them supportive. So I decided to buy more bras - this time in 40D - but I thought I should buy nursing bras so that at least I would have some when needed and it wouldn't be a complete waste to buy new bras.

Well, I was lucky to find that Walmart had a big selection, and I'm now the proud owner of 4 nursing bras in size 40D! They are massive, but they really support my breasts. I'm wearing one right now. I just can't believe that my breasts are that size - the bra looks so big hanging on the back of the bathroom door!

But at Walmart we found something even more exciting - a nursing night gown. It's essentially a night gown with holes for the breasts, pleated so that the holes are mostly covered most of the time. It's a smart idea. Everyone in my family said I should get one - they said they lived in theirs for the first month after birth. I came back from FL looking for one.

I couldn't find the gowns at all at Target, but there they were next to the nursing bras at Walmart. It makes since because my family loves Walmart. Seriously, they LOVE it. It's hard to have a conversation with anyone in my family without them mentioning Walmart, and how Walmart has everything and how they love to just go up and down the aisles and get lost in the stores. If you ask my mom where she got something, she'll just smile and say "Walmart! Isn't it great? They have everything!"

So I guess it's true that Walmart's great and Walmart has everything. I should tell my mom... We still won't be shopping there because of that whole documentary thing and the long drive, but I'm glad we stopped in yesterday.

I wore my nightgown last night to watch TV because it fits. I have few that fit now. So now I'm wearing nursing bras and nursing night gowns and I'm ready to nurse! But that's still a few months away.

Eating on my new diet

My new low fat diet gallstone diet places a lot of restrictions on our typical lifestyle - we like to eat out a lot. Not all of our favorite restaurants are high fat, but you do have to think about it. We've also imposed a 'no tomato' diet since all of my gallstone attacks seem to occur after I've eaten tomatoes (though I've eaten tomatoes a lot without getting sick as well - we're just being cautious because we don't like hospitals). So that rule restricts us even more on our choices. But this weekend I managed to eat out three times without cramping our style, eating food that I love and would normally eat anyway. Not bad.

Saturday I spent the day with A & C while K stayed home getting our carpets were getting cleaned (We thought it was good for me to avoid the chemicals if possible, even though the chemicals are supposed to be safe). We went out for Ethiopian and shared the veggie combo, which is basically vegetables and sauce over bread. Nice and tasty and probably low in fat.

Saturday evening K and I went to AC Moore for some decorations for our baby room and some iron on transfers to jazz up baby clothes and while we were out we went to California Tortilla, where I enjoyed the tasty Mexican Garden Salad, my favorite meal there. Very large, very filling, and all vegetables and black beans.

Sunday we spent the day shopping at Home Depot, Lowe's, and Ikea, buying shelving for our kitchen, bedroom, and nursery, and buying paint for the crib, and spending a lot of money. While out we stopped at Olive Garden for lunch, where I enjoyed the soup, salad, and bread stick combo. All vegetables, beans, and bread, all tasty, and all fairly healthy.

This diet doesn't seem to cramp our lifestyle at all. We did make a list of restaurants that are out for now - pizza, Chinese (typically very oily), probably Thai, burgers & fries, pupusas. Sad because these are some of our favorite foods. We just discovered half price burger night at a local tavern where we can get veggie burgers and tator tots for just $3 - a deal we will have to enjoy again in a few months. We have a lot of coupons for pizza at a local organic pizza chain that will expire by the end of this month - a shame for sure. Pupusas are always a delicious and cheap meal (we once had dinner for 2 for only $10!). Thai is one of our favorite go to foods, with our favorite restaurant just across the street - we'll have to walk by but not stop in for a few months. But we'll still be able to eat out and have fun.

At home the diet is easier. We typically eat healthy at home so it's not a major change. The no tomato rule is the hardest because I typically buy a jar of pasta sauce to keep around for any night we don't have something to eat - an easy and healthy meal. Our freezer is full of frozen ravioli and lasagna for easy meals. I need to rethink our easy meals. Last night for our anniversary celebration I made a big pan of low fat macaroni & cheese for us to eat all week. So this week is covered at least.

9 years

9 years ago we were young and carefree, naive college students in love. Today we are responsible adults with a mortgage, full-time jobs, a dog, and a baby on the way. And we're still in love. Thanks for a great 9 years, babe! I can't wait to see what the next 9 will bring.

Always a surprise

My sister has already volunteered to come up and stay with us for a week to care for me and the baby when I have surgery. She's always surprising me - in both good and bad ways!

Gallbladder update

I just got back from my appointment with my surgeon. My gall bladder will need to be removed surgically but not until after the baby is born unless there is an emergency. Probably within a couple of months after birth. During maternity leave would be best since I'll already be off from work. For now I just need to eat a low fat diet (your gallbladder processes fat) and hope not to have any more attacks. Looking back, now that I know what I have, I think I've had 5 attacks since Christmas and only one has sent me to the hospital, so hopefully I will be okay. The good news is that since my gallbladder is getting removed, I won't have this issue for the next pregnancy.

My gall stones

Tuesday evening I started to feel the pressure I feel in my abdomen right before I throw up while I was doing my pregnancy yoga DVD. So I rested and then went to bed around 9pm. As soon as I layed down, I jumped back up and ran to the bathroom to puke. Fun. Then I tried to go back to bed, but I was still in pain and still felt sick. Usually this subsides about 20-30 minutes after I get sick, but it wouldn't go away. So I layed there for a while, and then got up and went searching for a position that felt more comfortable - sitting on the chaise, sitting on the sofa, laying on the sofa, laying on the floor. I ended up laying on the floor on my right side for a few hours, in pain, but resting. Finally I yelled for K to wake up and she started reviewing the pregnancy books trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Then I threw up again.

By now it was 2am and I thought we should call the midwife. She said to eat and drink nothing for 2 hours (I had been trying crackers and ginger ale) and see if my stomach calms down. In the next two hours, I threw up 5 times. So we called her again, and she said 'Let's try 2 more hours and if you're still getting sick, you should go to the emergency room.' Okay, we'll try again. But about a half hour later I threw up again and K said 'Why are we waiting? Let's just go to the emergency room.' By now it was about 5am.

So we called the midwife and told her we were headed out. Our midwives only work with Shady Grove Hospital, which is 12 miles away, but Holy Cross Hospital is only a few miles away. We were all assuming I had a stomach flu at this point, so she said I could just go to my closest hospital, I didn't need to go to Shady Grove.

We were at Holy Cross in no time and they checked us into Labor and Delivery (which I guess is where pregnant women go even if they aren't there for something related to their pregnancy). After seeing Holy Cross, we are very happy to be delivering at Shady Grove. The rooms are small and dank, the nurses and doctors were rushed and didn't even introduce themselves. It was crowded and loud. And it's super Catholic - crosses in every room, a prayer over the intercom at 6am. Not somewhere I want to spend three days. But they did give me a blanket right out of the dryer which was super warm - I really liked that.

They hooked me up to an IV to rehydrate me and gave me some medicine to keep me from throwing up more, and then did a series of blood and urine tests. Then the doctor tells me there is something wrong with my liver - possibly chronic liver disease but he couldn't tell without further tests. That was scary and coming out of nowhere. He said that I needed to get a lot of tests done, but that they should be ordered by my midwife so that my insurance would pay for them. That meant we had to go to Shady Grove. By now it was around 10am.

Off we go to Shady Grove, hospital #2 in just one day. Shady Grove is so much nicer. Large rooms with bathrooms, lots of lights with big windows, friendly staff. Definitely the place I want to give birth.

The midwife met us there and we did more blood and urine tests and an ultrasound checking out my liver and other related organs. In the ultrasound they found multiple gall stones, which cause pain and upset stomachs. I asked if this was common for someone my age because I always thought it was something women in their fifties got. But she assured me that it's common for pregnant women because of all of the hormonal changes. So we made an appointment with a surgeon on Friday, and at that point I'll find out more. We went home around 2:30.

She also started me on a soft foods diet until Friday. At the hospital they gave me jello and juice and that went down okay, so we stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and got soup, jello, yogurt, juice. I yesterday I had jello, juice, yogurt, and soup, and so far so good. No puking yet. This morning I've had jello, yogurt, and juice and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I also got prescriptions for a medicine to take before each meal to coat my stomach and a medicine to take if I start getting sick, but I haven't picked either of these up yet.

I had a good night's sleep, so I'm back at work today. Since I seem to feel okay, I'm saving up my sick leave as much as I can. So now we wait until tomorrow to find out more. I was really hoping for a uncomplicated pregnancy!

Baby names

At my family baby shower, I told everyone that if it's a boy, his middle name will be my grandfather's (Papa's) last name. My grandma (Granny) teared up a little when she heard this. My family seemed very happy about it. My cousin-in-law, who never met him, was at first confused at who I was talking about. I said "You never met him, but he was great. Everyone loved him." And she said "Oh, I know. I've heard all about him, and I've heard that you were his baby." That made me tear up a little. I hope we have at least one little boy so that we can do this.

The best dressed baby in the neighborhood

Yesterday we picked up three bags of baby clothes from Freecycle. Lots of quality things, some brand new. The best things in the pile were a camouflage outfit (hat & shirt), a onesie that says 'I might barf', a very warm coat with matching shoes, and a Chinese outfit (shirt and pants). We also got a crib sheet, two bassinet sheets, and a mobile. Freecycle really is awesome.

Two baby showers

We had a wonderful weekend with our families in FL. On Saturday was the baby shower with my family followed by my niece's 2nd birthday party. It was nice to see people we hadn't seen for over a year and laugh and have fun together as a family. We got to meet two babies for the first time.

We spent Sunday at the baby shower with Karen's family - an all day affair in true Indian fashion. It ended with K and her teenage cousins playing rock band late into the night. We also hadn't seen them in over a year. Both parties were really nice and it was great to see our families one more time before the baby is born.

Our favorite presents: two handmade cross-stitched blankets (from my mom and a family friend), two handmade knit blankets (from my aunt), an I Love NY onesie and a Barf Vader t-shirt (both from my cousin-in-law), a black & white 'I'm a Rock Star!' blanket (from my cousin-in-law), an Indian outfit (from K's mom), a handmade night gown (from K's mom), a 'What happens at Grandma's house stays at Grandma's house' onesie (from K's mom), the mobile that I had on my crib as a baby 30 year ago that still plays music (from my mom), and the puppy dog stuffed animal that I made in middle school and gave to my mom years ago. We also have a baby frame with a big mat that everyone signed that will hang in the baby room. We also got tons of other very useful stuff. Thankfully, my mom took some of it to be shipped, but we still were able to fit a lot of stuff on the airplane with us. K is an excellent packer - it's one of her talents.

I was again reminded that traveling while pregnant is hard. For one thing, if my belly were any bigger, I wouldn't be able to put the tray table down on the airplane! For three nights I couldn't sleep. Without my body pillow, my body just aches. And it's so hot in FL (80 degrees in February), I just layed in bed without anything on, sweating, all night long. You can't even open the windows because K's parents haven't bothered taking down their hurricane shutters yet (which also makes it really dark in the bedroom). Then, at the end of the second party, when K and her cousins were playing Rock Band, I got really sick. I threw up all of my party food and more. It was late and we needed to drive one hour home and I threw up twice in the car. It was my worst vomiting episode yet. I think I only stopped throwing up because there was nothing left. This is definitely our last trip. From now on, we stay at home, sleep in our bed, and eat healthy food and wait for this baby to be born. As of yesterday, we were three months from our due date.

Don't divorce us.

This certainly tears me up.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Character reference #1

We need three character references for K's second parent adoption paperwork. She asked her mom. Her mom didn't know what to write, so K said if she sent K some notes with what she wanted to say, K would put it together into a letter. Here's what she sent.

My Darling, I am so proud of both of you. You are my daughter and I have known you all your life , that you and J have been together from school days and are committed to each other, you know each other for at least 10 years .You were planning to have a large family, and raise the children together. You are both wonderful people, committed and church going, you both are good volunteers for your community and will give this child the best in all the endeavors, church, school and the best home environment. I love you both and cant wait to see you....Love Mom.

My mommies rock!

A family friend came to town this weekend from Chicago. Unfortunately, we are going out of town this weekend. She came over this morning for breakfast at our place, so we got to spend a little time with her. She brought baby shower presents from her and her mom. From her mom, we got a cute little onesie that says 'I'm the best', which is hilarious. From her, we got a very cool onesie that says 'My Mommies Rock!' It's our first pride related onesie and we love it! And it's not pastel and cutesy, which we also love. Sadly, after she left, I realized we forgot to take a picture of her with my belly.

Bug juice

I had my glucose tolerance test this morning. I had to drink the orange drink and get my blood drawn. I've heard how horrible this orange drink was, but it wasn't the worst thing I'd ever drank. It actually tasted like that orange drink they used to serve at McDonald's when I was a kid in the 80's. It was at every school function in elementary school because McDonald's was always a sponsor. All of us kids hated the drink and we called it bug juice. I don't know why - it doesn't even make sense. I'm sure McDonald's doesn't make the drink anymore - it was gross. But drinking that as a kid prepared me to drink the glucose drink today. It was a familiar flavor. I was able to down it in the short amount of time required.

I noticed that when I feel a kick, my shirt moves. We haven't really seen the movement yet. We've been feeling it for a while, but not actually seeing it. Today I saw it. Hopefully K can see it tonight.

A woman at my work who always comments on my size, saying 'wow, you're really big' or 'you're growing fast' today asked 'How far along are you?' I replied 'about 6.5 months.' And she cocked her eyebrows and said 'So you're still growing more than that?' Um, yep, I'm going to get much bigger. Thanks for noticing! Let's keep your comment on my size down, huh?

Baby showers and nursery decorations

We spent the day yesterday sorting through our nursery stuff. We picked a crib of the three we've been given, we picked a crib mattress, we found online installation instructions for putting together our crib and the infant swing. We decided to buy black paint for the crib we chose, and researched the safety of painting a crib. We recognized how lucky we are to have been given these things.

Then we started the fun stuff. We're decorating the nursery with stuff we've had since our childhood. We don't have a theme for our nursery. Our theme is essentially 'us'. But I think it will work because it's just things that are meaningful to us. For me, this means hand painted ceramics made by my mom and aunt and me, a carousel horse collection, two cross-stitched carousel horse hangings made by my mom and grandma, and a painting K made for me in college of the members They Might Be Giants playing instruments under a tree. For K it means a wall hanging that says 'Kindness goes a long way', a picture of her grandma, and lots and lots of Star Wars stuff. We also have our wedding picture and a pug pop art piece that was given to us by A & C. We spent the day sorting through things, framing things, getting rid of things, deciding what is a toy and what is a decoration, and deciding how we will lay out the room. We can't actually do anything yet because we don't have shelves to put things on, but we are excited.

We've made plans for a home improvement day with our friends C & D in a few weeks. D loves home improvement projects and has every tool ever invented, so we were very happy to take them up on their offer to help us get our home in order. The big plans we have for the day include installing shelves in our bedroom, in the kitchen, and in the nursery, hanging pictures in our bathrooms and living room, putting together our crib, putting together a storage bench for the living room, and maybe some more stuff. None of it is hard, but there's a long list, so it's nice to have help to get it all done in one day. I'm going to cook lots of tasty food while everyone else does the heavy lifting.

Our friends J & S and their kids B & E stopped by unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. K & I were unshowered and still wearing our PJ's, but we were still happy to see them. The four of them are throwing us a baby shower for our local friends in March. Because we are decorating our nursery with so much Star Wars stuff, and because K, J, & S all love Star Wars, they've decided the theme will be Star Wars. They were excited about the menu - Yoda Soda and Wookie Cookies and other Star Wars goodies. They seem very excited about the shower, which is fun. We're excited too.

Yesterday afternoon, we finally showered and dressed and went to be panelists for our church's high school youth group. They are doing the sessions for the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sex-ed curriculum, and this week they were talking about GLBT issues. So K & I served on the panel with other GLBT adults (a gay man and a trans-woman). We all told our coming out stories - how we realized we were GLBT, how we told people, how people reacted. I talked about how my family rejected me, the trans-woman talked about how she got fired from her job, the gay man talked about how his dad fully accepted him and became a pflag advocate, K talked about how great her mom has been but how she's lost her relationship with her dad. The youth just sat there staring at us. They had zero questions for us. Who knows what they thought of the panel. Hopefully they got something out of it.

This weekend we fly to Florida for our two family baby showers. The weather will be in the 70's, which is awesome. And it's orange and strawberry season in FL, my favorite season. We noticed that people started buying things off our registry (3 very small things, but it's something). My family is big on handmade stuff, so we're excited to see what we're getting as gifts. Handmade gifts are our favorite! All of the drama seems to be settled down, so we should have a fun time with family and friends that we don't see often. I'm even meeting one of K's aunts for the first time, driving all the way from Ft. Lauderdale to Palm Bay (2.5 hours) for the shower.

I can't believe we're doing baby showers already! The baby seems so close and yet so far away. We'll be in the third trimester in just 2 weeks!

Snoogling

I was given a Snoogle a few months ago, and I put it up in the closet and didn't think about it. Lately I've been having trouble sleeping. One night I had leg cramps that woke me in the middle of the night repeatedly, but that was only one night. The midwife said eat more dairy, so I've been having a yogurt every day. Most nights I have aches in my hips and my legs go numb. Always a side sleeper my whole life, now I can't sleep on my side, which sucks because now I'm supposed to sleep on my side. Sleeping on my back, like I want to , deprives my baby of much needed oxygen or nourishment or something really important like that. So I toss and turn all night, with achy hips and numb legs. I wake up on my back and force myself to roll over. I mentioned this to the midwife yesterday and she said to use a body pillow to stop myself from rolling onto my back. So I pulled out the old Snoogle and tried it out. It was comfy and felt like I was snuggling with K all night. My legs didn't go numb and I did not lay on my back. My hips still ached and I tossed and turned all night. Every time I wanted to roll on my back while sleeping, I would be blocked from doing so and this would wake me up. When my hips got achy, I wanted to roll over, which was difficult while wrapped up in this thing and my sheets/blankets. I didn't sleep well last night but I think I'll keep using it because I want my baby to have oxygen and nourishment and other important goodies, even if I can't sleep. I wasn't sleeping well before, so I can't complain too much.

Thrifty

We love to save money. We have decent jobs, we're definitely financially secure, but we'd like to be more financially secure. Childcare's not cheap, maternity leave hurts the bank account, and things will certainly be tight next year. Since the economy is bad, everyone is on the saving money band wagon and there are tons of magazine articles and news programs about how to stretch your dollar. We read these things hoping to learn something new, but we never do. Today while waiting for the midwife (for an hour), we read Fit Pregnancy magazine and read these common sense tips on how to raise your child affordably:

1. Use hand-me-downs. Kids just grow out of these things anyway.
2. Don't buy brand name $1000 cribs when the $200 crib will suit you just fine.
3. Buy multipurpose furniture - a dresser with changing table attachment, a crib that turns into a toddler bed - so that you don't have to buy new things too soon.
4. Don't register for clothes - these will be given to you anyway. Ask for the big things that actually would cost you lots of money and tell people that they can give you gift cards to put toward the item or have your family give you a joint present.

This is all so common sense. Tell me something useful, something I'm not already doing. I could even add a few - shop at thrift stores, join freecycle, join your local moms listserv (on ours people are always posting things they don't need anymore, but they want it to go to a good home), shop craigslist, breastfeed (it's free), use cloth, reusable baby wipes made from material bought at thrift stores or on mark down racks, use reusable diapers (these cost a lot so there is an upfront cost, but if you register for them, you might be able to get them as gifts, and some brands are one size fits all so you will save money in the long run), go to clothing swaps (there is one hosted in our neighborhood every year and one hosted in our church each year).

I wonder how much people get paid to write these easy, say nothing, throw away articles. We could totally write these articles ourselves. Maybe instead of looking for more ways to save money, we should start our own magazine or TV show and start bringing in more income.

Midwife appointment

We had our midwife appointment today with a midwife we hadn't met yet. Our practice has three midwives, but somehow we've only seen one of them. Today we finally met a second one and we were not impressed. We had an 8am appointment and she was an hour late (as in she arrived to work an hour late!). They tried to talk us into rescheduling, but we wanted to get it over with. Last month I had a 2:30 appointment and waited 45 minutes. I hope this is not becoming a trend. She was professional and answered all of our questions, but because she was so behind, she was really rushing through everything.

Then I asked her for two things - to fill out the FMLA form for my work that is required by law and to write a basic letter on letterhead for our second parent adoption stating that I am healthy . For each of these, she sighed, rolled her eyes, and said "I can't do this now, I'm running late." Actually, I assumed you couldn't do this now, which is why I'm giving it to you so early. Please just do it by the next appointment. I'm confident both of these will be forgotten or lost by our next appointment.

Then we asked for medical records from other doctors that we gave two months ago. The copy machine was broken when we gave them, they asked to keep them until our next appointment. Well, they seem to have lost them since then, as their policy is to review records and then destroy them. Well, it would have been nice for someone to tell me that when they asked to keep them! I let them know I was very annoyed at this whole thing. They are doing one more check to see if they can be located, but since their policy is to destroy them, this is unlikely.

Generally I get that they are disorganized. I think this is part of the 'charm' of a midwife practice - more earthy, more homey, less professional, less organized. I don't have high expectations, but I expect some level of professionalism. Don't lose my records, don't get annoyed when I ask you to fill out the same form any women in the US needs completed by law in order to take any maternity leave, don't misplace my charts, have copy machines that work, have computers that work, show up on time, be polite, don't rush me just because you are late to work, etc. We're doing all of this so that the labor day can be nicer, and from what I hear about doctor assisted births, I think it will be. We just have to get through the next few months for that one day.

But besides that, the baby is doing great. We heard the heartbeat again (which is always my favorite part), my belly is measuring at 25 centimeters (which she said is right for 25 weeks), my weight gain is right on track (9 pounds so far), everything is looking good. Next week I need to go to the lab for the glucose tolerance test. Next midwife appointment in 3 weeks when we get to 28 weeks. Then every two weeks from there. Wow, that's a milestone - when you switch to bimonthly appointments. This baby is actually going to be born sometime soon!

We're next

In our pregnancy support group, we've seen three births. We started when we we just 2 months pregnant and were always the babies of the group. But now we're next. We're the farthest along and there are three couples behind us, watching us to see how it goes. It's kind of weird to realize that we're next.

Finally ready

Ever since getting pregnant, I've been avoiding all talk of labor. I've been working with a midwife, and said I want to do natural childbirth, and signed up for a childbirth course, but that's where it stopped. When I would think about labor, I would think, 'I'll worry about that later'. Labor made me nervous and I wanted to avoid it.

Well, something changed last week and I decided that I'm ready to learn about labor. Starting slowly of course. I started reading the labor & delivery section of the book Great Expectations. Next I'm going to get these two books from the library, both recommended on our childbirth class's website:

An easier childbirth : a mother's workbook for health and emotional well-being during pregnancy and delivery by Peterson, Gayle H.

Ina May's guide to childbirth by Gaskin, Ina May.

I'm not going to obsess over this because it still stresses me out. But I want to prepare myself. This will be hard, I can do it, but I need to be prepared.

Weekend roundup

We spent all day Saturday picking up baby stuff from friends and we got quite a haul. It's so great to be able to reuse this stuff. Babies use them for such short amounts of time. We went to three houses and got 2 cribs with mattresses, a swing, a bassinet, a bouncy seat, towels, diaper bags, a potty, burp cloths, a first aid kit, wash cloths, snow boots, and more. When we got home, we saw an email from a friend offering us a car seat and snap n go stroller frame, both only used for one child for about 9 months. People are so generous.

We went to our pregnancy support group yesterday and met a new couple. The live 1.5 miles from us and we really liked them. We asked what they planned to do with their dog during labor and they suggested that we trade favors - they watch our dog and we watch theirs. We just met these people and they have already solved one of our biggest dilemmas! Hopefully this works out.

Last night we celebrated our annual Superbowl tradition by going to see a movie. It's awesome because the theatre is empty and quiet. We've been doing it for about 8 years, since grad school. This year we saw Milk, which is a great movie. And makes me think, what am I doing with my life? I was amazed that all of that was happening only 30 years ago, the year I was born. So much has changed in 30 years. I am thankful for Mr. Harvey Milk and the others who came before me.